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Xun looks at the college. The building seems magnificent. As his allies wonder about the body lying on the ground the bard reaches to his bag.
He takes out a small figure of a dog and puts it on the ground. He draws a circle around it and calls for the spirit living in the statue.
The small figure soon grows and turns into a bit oddly shaped animal resembling a dog. His eyes are shining with a green light but besides that, it looks rather normal.
"This is onyx, he will help us scout the place." Xun makes a move with his head and onyx walks towards the body and pushes it with his nose
Roots presents the oat bag to the riderless horse. It takes a good while to get the point across to the animal, but eventually it overcomes its hesitations and gladly accepts the feed. Through the offer of treats and a few friendly gestures, Roots is able to get the horse to the cart, and attach it to the beast of burden.
Kló unsheathes his dagger and cuts open the rotting undead horse's stomach. Butchery itself is a gruesome business, but overall harmless. Butchering an undead creature, however, poses some risks for one's hygiene and health...
As Kló makes the first incision, sickeningly rancid gas spreads out. Surprised by this, Kló inhales some of it, and suffers a bit. After covering his mouth and spending 10 minutes on the autopsy, the deed is done.
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As the group leads the horse-pulled cart to the college, Sky inspects the fancy-dressed corpse. He spots a few subtle but distinctive features in its torn clothes, and recalls that this type of fine clothing was popular among the nobles in Taldor. This more or less confirms that the corpse belonged to Clement Marten -- who else wayfinder-owning Taldan noble would be at Goldenflame but him?
Arfsnarf, motivated by a healthy amount of necrophobia, telekinetically launches a fist-sized rock at the corpse on the porch. The rock pounces off, and there's no reaction from the corpse.
Xun utilizes his magical artefact, and his onyx idol transforms into the form of a living dog. The party has gained a new member!
Onyx, while eagerly sniffing the ground, walks to the corpse. After some more sniffing, it turns its head to the party and lets out a small bark. Judging from the way it excitedly wags its tail, it seems the corpse is safe to approach.
You walk to the veranda, your attention focused on the face-down body. The corpse is clad in dirtied white-and-red robes with gold trim, shredded from the back, presumably by claws of the undead.
You find a small notebook near the corpse; it presumably fell from the victim. The journal's pages stained with dried blood.
From the veranda, two large doors seem lead to the college building's main hall. There's also doors leading to what appears to be a small lobby or reception area.
The group's leshy and goblin separate from the group to sneak around the college building. The college is surrounded by a foresty thicket, which gives Roots ample opportunities for camouflage.
Led by your new dog companion, the rest of you enter the college from the center entrances, into a reception area of sorts. The lobby is a small and modest room: a dusty sofa and small chairs are the only furnishings that remain. Two small windows to the east look out over the front lawn. Aside from the two entrance doors, a third door leads into the main hall. Onyx sniffs at the sofa a bit.
You open the door slightly, and cautiously take a peek into the main hall. Perhaps once majestic, the vast hall now resembles a cave: dark and damp. Dirt and standing water obscure the once-pristine white and gray tiled floor, and a series of stone columns stretching to the ceiling are covered in grime and mold. Sweeping staircases to the northwest and southwest lead upward, as does a spiral staircase. Smashed statues and torn paintings line the walls here: the signs of a struggle. Several doors exit to various rooms to the north, south, and east.
Meanwhile the two small sneaky agents discover, well, a well, near the college building exterior. The well is equipped with the requisite bucket.
Arfsnarf and Roots then take a cautious peek through the nearby door, and discover the aforementioned main hall.
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Xun follows a couple of meters after Onyx into the rooms. He bypasses the sofa in the reception and enters the grand hall.
"This must have been an amazing place at its times." says Xun realizing that its times were not so long ago which brings him a bit down.
As he sees some branches and leaves on the other side of the hall followed by a Goblin, he asks
"Arfsnarf? Is that you? Oh and Roots! Obviously."
Xun looks around
"Ok I will search the reception room."
The group halts the exploration for a moment in favor of investigating the clues and scenes.
The masked monk starts flipping the notebook's pages. It contains hand-written, esoteric diagrams — it's as if the journal's contents were written in some sort of cipher. Sky turns the pages, each more complicated than the last. The words are in Common, but they make very little sense: "clock time two ball, emergence delay seven authority..." The diagrams, geometric shapes and graphs, are no help either. Perhaps you're missing context, or a cipher key.
Xun leads his dog to the reception room, and has a look around. Onyx once again shows some interest in the sofa, but once the half-orc pulls out the matresses the reason becomes clear: someone had dropped breadcrumbs between the cushions. After a while, the duo conclude that the reception area contains nothing that concerns their mission.
Kló walks past Xun and Onyx to continue his medical investigation. Who knew the man of the wilds would end up being the forensic specialist?
Sieglinde crounches next to Kló, inspecting the halfling corpse's robes. She doesn't have much to say about them.
Arfsnarf and Roots focus their attention on the well. With the help of Roots's rope and torch and Arfsnarf's bravery, the duo manage to lower the goblin deep into the well. There, Arfsnarf makes a great discovery! A frog! A bit slippery fellow. Aside from the amphibian, the well contains nothing valuable, save for drinkable water which could be considered valuable in the Gravelands.
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Arfsnarf yells up from down in the well, excitedly. "I found a froggy! Firstly, who wants a froggy? Secondly, any missing Pathfinders had froggy?"
After not getting an answer, he climbs up out of the well with Roots' help and returns with him to the group.
"Yeah, that frog had a lot of water. We hoping it shares."
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Xun looks at the sofa and ask Onyx
"Since when are you interested in breadcrumbs?" he pats the dog on his neck and under his chin. Onyx raises his head and looks Xun right in his eyes.
Xun feels chills run down his back. Sometimes he forgets and thinks of Onyx like a normal dog, but it is a completely different being animating this shape.
Xun shakes his head.
"Ok let us go and see what others have found."
Xun looks to the sides
"East or West first?" asks Xun
After a quick rendezvous, you decide to inspect the west portion of the college, and enter the door on the right. The room there has a velvet-lined sofa pushed up against its east wall, now covered in a layer of dust and sawdust. Broken chairs rest in the northwest. Judging from the layout of the furniture, this room served no apparent purpose, other than being a lounge, or a space for studying.
A small closet and empty office, both with their doors torn off or kicked in, are to the north. Closed wooden doors lead to the north and east.
Just as they're about to move on, Kló and Xun hear faint, ragged sobs coming from beneath the sofa. Onyx starts barking at the sofa, having heard the whimpering as well.
A scrawny half-orc scurries out from his hiding place beneath the sofa. Panicking and frightened, the stranger screams as he struggles to flee the cramped lounge, "No! No no NO! AAAAAAUGGH! Please no! Please no!"
He tumbles and trips in uncontrollable panic, and puts his back against the wall when he finds no path for escape. He's wearing camouflage-patterned padded armor. He appears to be unarmed except for a sling hanging from his belt. Kló spies a holly and a mistletoe tucked in his bracelet: sure signs of a fellow druid.
The half-orc druid is breathing heavily and doesn't show any signs of calming down soon. "I- I- I'm begging you! Spare me! SPARE ME!"
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The goblin bellows out vague commiseration with the newly found agent.
Yeah, I know! We really packed this room. Maybe we need rules like two at a time. I know what this guy means! Make room, make room on the sofa for him!
Arfsnarf tries to clear his companions away so the frantic man can have a seat. Once they comply, he gestures the half-orc back towards it to sit down.
You give the poor man some space by clearing the room, and defuse the situation. "Wh- What? Pathfinders?" he looks at Sky Shark, failing to make eye contact due to the monk's mask, and then the others. (He doesn't seem to understand what Roots is talking about.)
"Is it really possible? You- you're not- I mean you don't look like necromancers or undead." The panicked grimace on his face starts to dissolve into a smile.
After some convincing, the scrawny druid calms down enough to listen to reason. Words start flooding out from his mouth. "I- I don't know what to say! I'm relieved, I guess! I'm definitely relieved! Oh," he takes a saluting pose, "I'm Larraz Virtanne, Pathfinder agent! I, uh, we... our group is in a bit of disarray at the moment. Are you- you're here for a rescue mission, aren't you?"
You give a briefing about your mission. "That's great! Oh, have you seen my teammates? We were found ourselves trapped here in Lastwall when... Well, when the undead hordes swept through the land. The waters have been tainted, the trees have dropped their leaves. Even the undergrowth of forests has mutated into twisted, thorny forms," the druid laments.
His group, Larraz explains, found themselves trapped when the Whispering Tyrant's forces first assaulted Lastwall, and have since then been making slow progress towards Ustalavic border. About a month ago, the group found their way to Goldenflame, which had already fallen.
"We stopped at Goldenflame to stockpile for supplies and look for anyone needing a rescue. But the town had already fallen to the undead, and we were ambushed! The Wind and the Waves, there were many of them! During the battle, I was separated from my group and companion — ah, Desert Wind, my horse." You interrupt Larraz to tell him that his horse is safe and sound and right outside the college. "R-really?! Oh, Desert Wind, I knew you'd make it! Thank you! Thank you, truly!"
"Anyway," he continues his story, "separated and alone, I fled to Goldenflame College, seeking shelter here. I, uh, haven't really dared to go outside except to replenish my dwindling supplies." Larraz is indeed clearly in a malnourished state: pale, thin, and hunched over. "This place is really interesting, though! If you're looking for Lastwall relics, there's some valuable stuff upstairs, I'm sure!"
Larraz gladly accepts Arfsnarf's offer. "Oh, thank you Gibb."
He quickly notices his slip of the tongue and becomes a bit embarrassed. "Err, sorry. Old habits. I don't think we've been introduced?"
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Xun stops playing and says
"My name is Xun, this is Arfsharf, the big fella is Kló, behind a mask is Sky, the little one is called Root, and that is Sieglinde. Yes, we are a rescue party send to get you out of here. However, I must worry you so far we found only bodies, beside yourself and Desert Wind we found no one alive. Here is a dossier of who we are after."
He passes the documents to Larraz
"We believe to have found Clement Marten's body and Wayfinder. We found a body of a Halfling before the colleague which we believe to be Raelyn. Another body in the tavern of Halfing or a Gnome could be Kaili. We also found a body of a Goblin in the chapel which might be Gibb. I am sorry to bring the bad news. Do you have any information about the others? In case we are attacked do you have any weapons to defend yourself with?" asks Xun
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"Ah! A friend of the skies and seas! Travel where the wind takes me and Gozreh has shown me my purpose, to aid a comrade who follows the same path. Here, this should help." he hands over his waterskin to the half-orc so he can regain a bit of his stamina and revitalize himself. "Gozreh is not done with you yet druid, let's get you out of this foul place so you can continue to do their work."
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Roots introduces himself, "Yes, we're here to rescue you and all other living animals that we can find. And we're bringing back the bones and treasures for whoever we find that died. I'm Roots-Drinks-Rain!" The leshy extends one of his long, leafy arms towards Larraz's hand and shakes it as he has seen other people do.
Roots listens sadly to Larraz's account of the undead devastation that has plagued the land. "That is so sad. So many dead plants and animals...But we found you and Desert Wind! That's a good thing! We should search the rest of the house and maybe we'll find more animals to rescue! But we should hurry! There are undying mountains coming and we want to run away before they get close enough to stomp on us!"
Larraz examines the dossiers on one hand while eagerly munching on Arfsnarf's rations and gulping on Sky's waterskin on the other. The name Clement Marten, along with many others in documents, doesn't ring a bell to him. "Uh, no, I don't know these names... Gibb, Kailli, Osprey, and I were a team. ...Dear storms, there're a lot of names here..." his thought wanders off.
The news of Kailli and Gibb's demise depress him. "They were good people." He holds a moment of silence.
Sky, Kló, and Roots's words of encouragement lift his spirits, however. "T-thank you. You're right! There's still work to do! The mission isn't over yet! Explore, Report, Cooperate!" he hypes himself up. There's apparently still some explorer'e energy left in him.
"I left my equipment in the other room. I'll go get them," he tells Xun when asked about his weaponry and readiness for self-defense. "Thanks to the food you lent me, I think I have the strength to defend myself!"
Larraz can't wait to go outside and reunite with his animal companion, so you follow him to the cart. "Desert Wind! It's you!" The half-orc bursts into tears of joy, and the horse seems jubilant as well. The druid hugs and pets his companion, and for a moment you might forget the bleak realities of the desolate Gravelands.
After a brief celebration, his gaze turns to the bodies on the cart. "Are those...?" He inspects the goblin corpse that was found at the chapel, and confirms it to be Gibb. The small corpse from the tavern, however, is not Kailli's. Larraz breathes a sigh of relief and says, "May this poor soul rest in peace whoever they are. Kailli might still be alive, thank the gods."
"Wait, what was that about 'undying mountains' coming this way?" he looks at the leshy.
Finding a survivor is uplifting and seeing him reunite with his horse is heartwarming, to be sure, but you have a job to do. While Larraz is gathering his stuff and inspecting the bodies, you're simultaneously flipping through the notebook's pages.
The diagrams, the cipher, the secrecy of it all. What could it mean? The author was clearly writing with some purpose in mind. Though the notebook's true contents may never be revealed to you, perhaps someone else at the Vodavani Lodge is more equipped to decrypt notes like these.
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Arfsnarfs squints and looks towards the oncoming horde that Roots is pointing to.
"Can we get away in time? Or should we make it impossible for them to follow us upstairs and hide out for the night? Maybe block the stairway with furniture before we barricade ourselves in. I'm guessing Larraz would rather get out of here completely by now!"
You continue investigating the college, starting with the two remaining unexplored areas in the first floor.
You enter a relatively spacious room that was no doubt a classroom. It still contains some relatively intact seating and a dusty old rug. To the north, the floor is sodden, and part of it has collapsed, revealing a hole filled with shattered bookshelves, broken chairs, and other decor. Xun, searching for hazards and things of interest, peers into the hole in the floor, and notices a faint glint of metal.
Kló warns others to be careful if they wish to approach the hole: the floorboards around it are rotting and soft, and could give way.
Deciding to move on for now, you head to the other end of the main hall and enter a series of small offices. At first sight, dirty rugs, smashed-in doors, shattered desks, and long-dried inkwells are all that remains there.
"I, uh, wouldn't like to spend too much time here if I were you," warns Larraz, and you soon understand why: a putrid smell penetrates your noses as you notice a fly-ridden pile of corpses. On a closer inspection, it's just one corpse, surrounded by chunks of graying zombie flesh. The lone corpse, which lies sprawled and partially covered by the broken desk in the northwest corner, bears heavy claw marks. The dried flesh of zombies litters the floor around it. Scraps of cloth hang tattered around its mangled, stiff hands.
Sieglinde detects a presence of magic around the offices. As usual, it's hard to pinpoint its exact location.
Having obtained a better picture of the first floor, you decide to take a quick look into the second floor before you commit to anything. The space around top of the spiral staircase is, or was, a study area of sorts. The space is lined with bookshelves and sitting mats. Two smaller rooms branch from the main hallway, serving as private study nooks.
"I remember I saw something valuable in the dormitories when I did a quick tour around this place," Larraz tells you, pointing at the rooms in the hallway, "and the one in the middle, there's the dean's quarters, it ought to contain something worth taking home."
Roots hops into the hole and gently floats some 10 feet to the bottom. There he finds a sword lying amidst rubble and detritus. Though it is somewhat hard to tell in the darkness, the sword is quite ornate and impressive-looking: it has a golden, wire-wrapped hilt and a pommel set with large rubies.
With a little help from his allies, the leshy is pulled back up. The party deduces that, although it can be wielded as a battleready longsword, the sword’s normal function is to serve as an important ceremonial item in services held by the church of Iomedae.