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During the service, Raelene quietly imparts to her colleagues, "We should keep an eye on that one, she does not act as I expect. I wonder if there is someone here who can confirm her identity. We may have an imposter."
Throughout the proceedings, the young undine attempts to portray serene confidence and great respect. Her concerns regarding Umut add a few worry lines and distract her slightly.
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“Well, Raelene is very knowledgeable went it comes to matters of religion, Cade.”
Abdara adopts a big sisterly tone. “I totally believe her.”
“Speaking of knowledgeable people, what impresses everyone the most about Metella Rauger?”
Jakti al’Awar is the last to toast the hosts, concluding his remarks by saying, “And may our hosts carry on the legacy of the departed, may Sarenrae see her safely to Nirvana and its city of High Ninshabur.”
As he says this, suddenly a piercing scream tears through the air. One of the merchants is pointing a shaking finger at Zarmina's body, as it twitches to life!
The undead Zarmina clambers off the bier, tearing herself out of the shroud with a pained moan. Screams and chaos fills the temple as en masse, the merchants attempt to flee from the temple, but the double doors are only so wide. The undead points toward the door—in the same direction as Jakti, Metella, Temel, and Aaqir—and rasps “You have failed me! Betrayer!”
Aaqir is stunned briefly, but quickly gathers up his family. Passing you, you can tell that he is furious.
"Whoever did this, how dare they desecrate her body! Use whatever means you have - end this sacrilege!"
He quickly ushers his family out, while trying to bring some semblance of control to the crowd.
Zarmina has been raised as a desiccated mummy. Unlike typical mummies, these variants are surrounded by sweltering winds, as dry and draining as the deserts. Any one within 30ft of it who fails to resist takes nonlethal damage, and becomes fatigued, exhausted even.
(+1 vs traps)
]
(+1 in Cheliax)
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“Zarmina is now a desiccated mummy. Unlike typical mummies, she’s surrounded by sweltering winds which absorb moisture.”
Abdara frowns as she tries to recall what she knows about them. “Anyone within 30 feet of it who fails to resist takes nonlethal damage, and can become fatigued –– eventually to the point of exhaustion.”
She calls a warning to the Trade Prince. “Sheik al’Hakam, please have any unengaged guards detain Grand Mufti Umut.”
Al’Hakam looks at you and nods while securing his family.
"I will try to get her! You do everything to contain this undead! Please ... " he says with desperation in his voice.
Brakkik’s aim is true and he burns the mummy severely!
The mummy waves a hand and sand magically starts whirling around the mummy!
Brakkik, Cade and Aldar all feel an unbelievable desert wind hitting them!
Aldar can resist the effect and seems to now be immune but Cade and Brakkik inhale some sand and really are fatigued!
Abdara
Aldar, immune to sand
Raelene
Brakkik, -7nl, fatigued
Cade, -7nl, fatigued
Ferdrin
Mummy, -10, proneBOLD may act.
Brakkik hits the mummy with another bomb and pieces of flesh start to turn to dust!
Raelene moves forward and can weaken the mummy with her channel.
And Raelene also easily resists the sand storm!
Cade moves forward and but cannot penetrate the bandages of the mummy with his kukri.
~
The mummy then stands up ...
... and tries to slam into Cade but his armor is too tough!
Cade inhales some more sand and really is exhausted now! Brakkik can shake of the storm's effect.
Abdara
Aldar, immune to sand
Raelene, immune to sand
Brakkik, -7nl, fatigued, immune to sand
Cade, -16nl , can make AoO while still fatigued, is exhausted at beginning of turn
Ferdrin
Mummy, -44BOLD may act.
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Abdara maintains her bardic performance to inspire courage, before moving 15 feet to the east where she readies an action to ✨cast grease under the Mummy, if it is still up after Brakkik and Raelene have their turns.
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Just then, Ferdrin seems to break concentration from some prolonged incantation.
Suddenly a fiery apparition manifests near the mummy! As it steps forward, Cade and Aldar notice a distinct, burning sensation in their nostrils.
It slams at the mummy with its fiery appendages!
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Meanwhile Ferdrin rushes around the far side of one row of pews, so as to get a clearer shot at the mummy. When he arrives, he quickly executes a series of gestures to send a bright ray of positive energy at the mummy.
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“Brakkik, did your Mummy not teach you not to speak with your mouth full?”
“No,” Brakkik answers as he scampers down the aisle for a better shot at the creature. “She shaid I needed to have shtrong cheeksh sho ve could take more shtuff vith ush vhen ve had to leave shomeplashe in a hurry. Vhy do you ashk?”
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After you cut the mummy, bomb it and wash it positive energy the body drops back into the coffin!
Chaos all around you as panicked people are still trying to escape the room.
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Raelene turns to the others in attendance and calls out in her most soothing tones, "Don't panic, stay calm, the immediate threat has been handled and we do not want any harm to come to you. We should all be able to leave in an orderly fashion, or even take a seat again and catch your breath before you do."
As an aside to her team she suggests, "We need to find Umut, or whoever is posing as them, and stop them before they do anything else harmful."
The temple finally falls silent after a brief while and Aaqir peers in.
Clearly furious that this sacrilege has taken place, he crouches beside the body of Zarmina, frustrated tear rolling down his face as he carefully lays the body to some semblance of peace.
The servants enter shortly, one bearing a large white cloth. After Aaqir has done what he can, the servants carefully covering the body with the cloth.
Aaqir takes a few deep breath to gather his composure before turning to you.
"It is fortuitous indeed that I had sought your help. If I had not, this act of defilement could have easily turned into a massacre as well. Clearly, something is afoot with Umut as you correctly stated and I can only seek your help again to uncover what has caused this... this..."
He stops here and lets out a deep sigh, uncertain how to continue. He looks up at you again, and despite his troubles, he is clearly grateful.
Grabbing one of his pouches, he presses it into your hands. "Here, a small appreciation for what you have done."
He tells you what is in the pouch.
By this time, a number of the guests, at least the braver ones, have started pressing back into the temple, looking on curiously.
Rumors and gossip fly about on how Zarmina have been raised but clearly, there are more flights of fantasy than solid evidence.
Aaqir shoos them back to their rooms to rest, making the excuse that the servants would need to clean up the temple.
Aaqir asks you to examine the body.
Somehow, Zarmina's body had been raised as a mummy and this must have been a very strong spell caster.
You search the discarded and torn shroud left unceremoniously on the floor, but other than a handful of dust you figured is magical, does not seem connected to her raising, but is simply what has flaked off from this rather unusual mummy.
The handful of dust functions as dust of dryness.
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“The handful of dust functions as dust of dryness.”
Having already ceased her bardic performance, Aeliah gathers the dust in a delicate lace handkerchief monogrammed with an A and the House Kastner crest, before standing to examine the contents of the Trade Prince's pouch.
“Has the false-Umut been found, Sheik al’Hakam? Were any of the VIP guests injured?”
If nobody objects, she slips the bead of force into her clutch. “At least I’ll be able to contribute physically in combat with this.”
She offers the scoll of endure elements to Raelene and the scroll of see invisibility to Ferdrin.
"Don't much like the implication that comes with that scroll, Freddy."
She then takes the scroll of cure moderate wounds and ✨casts it on Cade.
”I believe both Raelene and I have wands of CMW that will be more effective in combat than a single scroll.”
She then removes all non-lethal damage from Brakkik and Cade with her wand of CLW.
"Raelene, it might pay to remove the fatigue and exhaustion from Brakkik and Cade before we proceed. If you are concerned about depleting your wand of lesser restoration, I can offer you a scroll of five lesser restoration spells at the beginning of our next mission together."
Finally, she returns her attention to Aaqir. “So what is the next step? Is Zarmina's body still to left lying in state per Sarenraen funeral doctrine?”
“Should we be on hand to guard it and the guests, hunt for the false-Umut, or do something else?”
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Ferdrin nods at his elemental friend, signaling that it may be released from duty. It dissipates as quickly as it had manifested.
He then extends a hand to accept the scroll from Abdara, nodding when he safely clutches it. I suppose not, but it is just a tool. Thank you.
He tucks it away in his cloak for the time being. Most importantly, he awaits al’Hakam's response about whether the imposter has been recovered. ... and if not, should tracking her down not be our first task?
“Thanks to you no one was injured! You are absolutely right about Umut and I’ll send men out to search for her outside! Can you support to search the grounds?!“ the trade prince asks.
Together with the trade prince you scour the room for clues, but with the mass stampede following the rise of Zarmina the mummy earlier, you are unable to identify anything that might be useful.
Aaqir by this time is accompanying his spouse and daughters back to their chambers to rest from the ordeal.
He repeats his request to you to investigate further. "However, let's not let your earlier work go to waste. If the opportunity arises, please continue what you were doing to sway the merchants to our side."
You start patrolling the grounds of the extensive Bahjari estate. About half a dozen buildings have ample space to sprawl across the family’s land. The largest building is the manor house which you are in, a two-story structure made of whitewashed stucco over stone. The home has several wings that fan out through well-maintained gardens.
With some a wide area, the tasks of finding some clues is like searching for a needle in a hay stack. This does not even include the extensive gardens nor the other outbuildings like the kitchen, servant quarters, and what not.
While making your way along a corridor in the west wing, a servant boy approaches and hands you a note, saying it had come from Doritannia Raffella before he leaves.
You have barely finished reading when another servant comes by and hands you a note, sharing that this has come from Jakti al’Awar, before he leaves to return to his work.
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Ferdrin frowns while reading the first note.
Uh-oh... Doritannia has a not-so-little problem. However, is an accountant worth that much debt to Aaqir? I guess we find out.
No sooner does he blurt out this remark to the team than the second note arrives.
And, Jakti wants to see us. Let's stop by the temple to see what it is, and then we can go check with Aaqir about Doritannia.
Ferdrin leads and you make your back to the temple for the meeting.
When you arrive at the temple, Jakti and his two bodyguards are waiting for you. The servants have since cleaned up the worst of the mess from the earlier combat, and Jakti is now wearing a scimitar at his side.
Waving for his guards to stand outside the door to ensure a measure of privacy, he whispers conspiratorially, "Thanks for coming. I was uncertain if you were trustworthy enough to share this information with, but after your battle against the mummy, I see that you are most competent individuals and I believe you can help." he says looking at all of you.
“Some days ago I received information from... a trusted source... that a someone has hired several assassins in Katheer for a job this very night. This manor has one of the greatest gatherings of powerful people in the entire city, so I can only conclude that these assassins are meant to strike here. With that knowledge, I hired a few bodyguards for myself, but it would allay my fears if I were to have your protection as well. Of course, you may seek to protect everyone in the manor, and I would applaud you for such commitment to righteousness! I will be satisfied if no harm comes to my person before this night is over, whatever the circumstances. Do this for me, and I would greatly consider dealing with such competent individuals in the near future.”
Jakti appears to have other interests beyond his own protection, and he seems to know more than he lets on.
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Is an accountant worth that much debt to Aaqir? I guess we find out.
"Mm ... we can but put it to him, Freddy. I’m sure the Trade Prince will work out what's best for both himself and the Society."
“Of course, you may seek to protect everyone in the manor, and I would applaud you for such commitment to righteousness!”
Abdara bows at al’Awar’s comment, but doesn’t interrupt his speech.
The man utters ‘righteousness’ in discourse that emphasises his own selfishness. Nevertheless, his ignoble goal of self-preservation doesn’t currently conflict with our own objectives.
Abdara nods demurely, making agreeable noises while waiting to see if one of the others has better insight.
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Ferdrin frowns at the wording Jakti uses to deliver his message. It's what he doesn't say...
We would of course use this information to protect all within this manor. While I wouldn't expect you to give up your "trusted source," it would help us to know who the "someone" is, who allegedly hired assassins.
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Raelene listens politely though is not favourably impressed by the apparent self-centred approach of Jakti.
"We will of course protect as many as we can. May Sarenrae bless all who are worthy and bring them safely through this event. You are fortunate to have your own bodyguards. My good friend Ferdrin is correct, knowing your source or any other detail or suspicion you have may assist us in this endeavour."
Just as Jakti and you finish speaking, a series of loud crashes echoes through the house, followed by screaming from everywhere and shouts from the guards outside. Jakti’s eyes widen in alarm as he rushes to the temple’s doors only to discover that the entry hall downstairs teeming with the walking dead! The two guards retreat to stand beside Jakti.
Jakti draws his scimitar and, rallying his guards, start cutting his way down the stairs with them.
You can tell that whatever Jakti had been planning has changed in light of this development, and his sole attention now is on the invading undeads.
Just then, Aaqir al’Hakam emerges from one of the upstairs hallways. He takes in the situation quickly, and notes how well Jakti is in protecting himself. He calls out to the Pathfinders, "There are more zombies throughout the manor!" The breaking of glass elsewhere in the house emphasises this point.
"Jakti seems fine. Protect the other guests!"
Before he can clarify further, he rushes back to his quarters to keep his family safe.
Unfortunately, Temel’s and Metella’s animosity toward each other led them to take rooms at opposite ends of the manor’s ground floor. If you split up, it is unlikely that you could save either unless you go in full force.