Wulthur's blade cuts deeply into the neck and flaming blood is visible!
Kyra's attack cannot penetrate the dragon's thick hide!
~ ~
Initiative - Round 1
Flame Drake, -55
Zeldana Bordana
Winnie, -11
Kyra
Lorimyr Hoenheim
Henrikuaxian
Wulthur the Bold
BOLD may act!
|
Henrikuaxian, seeing the drake already well in hand by his compatriots, decides the best course of action is to stay well back and chip away from a distance. He flicks his wrist, and a wand springs out of his wrist sheathe and into his tiny right hand. He gives it a flourish, and a glowing orb of energy flies out of his wand, through everyone else, before landing solidly on the side of the drake and bursting in a flash.
The last missile almost drops the mighty dragon!!!
But it is only staggered and wants to get you.
It again bites at Winnie and severely hurts and burns her!
After that the dragon just drops to the ground unconscious!
Searching the creature’s nest reveals a mace made entirely of cold iron with a pentagram inscribed on the head and tarnished silver wire loosely wrapped around the hilt, revealing an inscription in Infernal along the handle. It would seem that this mace is the mace you seek, and that the inscription contains another portion of the fury's true name.
Close inspection of the table uncovers a hidden compartment containing a journal written in Common, a wand of pass without trace (CL 3rd, 10 charges), a scroll of fog cloud and a pair of feather step slippers.
The journal belonged to a hobgoblin commander called Malgrin. The journal details Malgrin’s strategies and victories. It describes his use of the foothills to lose pursuit and how he employed the druid medics under his service to conceal their tracks and modify the terrain for better camouflage.
The hobgoblin journal represents an insight into the opposition during the Goblinblood Wars. The journal details not only battles, but also Malgrin’s thoughts on the war’s direction and his concerns about new forces entering the field. He outlines new tactics to counter the new arrivals.
The table seems to have been used for maps and planning, allowing the unit to observe from the spiral.
The journal details not only battles, but also Malgrin’s thoughts on the war’s direction and his concerns about new forces entering the field. He outlines new tactics to counter the new arrivals.
The return to Umok is uneventful. When the group arrives back at the Badgers's Den to get some rest, they are greeted by Trigi Neppo.
"A letter for you guys arrived while you were on your quest! This was attached: a scroll of heroism. Somebody must like you! The messenger said it was urgent. "
Right after the battle, Kyra will move far enough from the drake and gestures Winnie (and everyone else, if necessary) to come near her for healing. Then she unleashes two waves of positive energy.
"Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? You are, Winnie! Good job!"
"Oh... sorry about that. I'm no expert on owlbears and their anatomy...
Good girl, Winnie!"
~ BACK AT THE LODGE ~
Moonlight streams through the stained glass windows in the old Cathedral of Aroden, now serving as the Almas Lodge of the Pathfinder Society.
Venture-Captain Brackett’s ornate desk is covered in neatly stacked bundles of documents. It is around midnight, and the venture-captain has called you here for a mission of great import.
“Your first mission was a success! Now I need you to investigate the Irrica family of central Isger as this is connected to the weapon you found on your last mission!” Brackett begins without looking up.
“The Eagle Knights have finally released their documents from the early days of the Goblinblood Wars, when they fought alongside Hellknights and Druman mercenaries to contain the goblin invasion up north.”
He nods curtly at a young man across the room, who wears the golden epaulets of an Eagle Knight. “Captain Bascomb?”
The officer steps forward smartly.
“The Irricas were supporters of House Thrune during the Chelish Civil War. After the Thrune family came to power, the Irricas stood up to a Thrune official’s extortion attempts. The Thrune agent apparently disappeared, and rumor was that the Irricas killed him using some sort of supernatural aid. The Irricas were not punished for their transgression; on the contrary, the family received several lucrative contracts from House Thrune and became quite influential regionally.”
Brackett’s eyes narrow. “Anything that could scare House Thrune into inaction is not something we want left lying around. Go to the Irricas’ summer estate and find out what sort of supernatural aid the Irricas had. Be here and ready to leave before dawn tomorrow. Any questions?”
The Irricas were an influential Isgeri family allied with House Thrune of Cheliax. They were based out of Elidir but often traveled the countryside in their dealings as merchants.
The Irrica family had a summer home on the south shore of the Conerica River, where they conducted business and entertained guests from across Isger and Cheliax. The last of them died defending this estate, which was more exposed to goblin attacks than their other holdings.
Rutillo Irrica’s will was fled in Elidir in 4680 ar, but few of the people named in it survived the Goblinblood Wars, and no more recent will has been found. Other than a few personal items, none of the Irrica estate has been distributed.
Kyra tries to find out more about the Irrica family.
She then informs the party: "This is the knowledge I obtained."
"Good questions agents. The Goblinblood Wars were a bad time for Isger. As goblins and hobgoblins attacked settlements all across the region, the steward Hedvend VI ordered his forces to protect the capital and primary trade routes, leaving most outlying towns on their own," says Brackett, sighing.
"Little assistance came directly from Cheliax, so an improbable alliance of Hellknights, Eagle Knights, and Druman Blackjackets joined forces to fend of the goblin menace– but not without cost. By the end of the war several years later, many of the unlikely heroes of Isger had fallen before the goblin hordes, and the fghting had left the countryside devastated and under the control of roving bandits. The local economy still hasn't recovered twenty years later."
"As far as I know the house has remained unoccupied since the tragic attack," Brackett says, "Though you never know."
"Isger is relatively temperate this time of year, and we won't have to deal with any particularly unusual terrain, at least near the estate. It lies just north of the Cornerica River. There are mountains to the east, as well as to the south where the gnome city of Umok and the Hellknight Citadel Dinyar are located, and also to the south lies what remains of the Chitterwood after it burned. But those are all hundreds of miles from the estate. I wish us all good luck! We leave tomorrow!" the venture captain says.
The venture captain dismisses you, and the next morning you meet up once more outside the old Temple of Aroden.
~ ~
Travel to the Irrica estate from Almas takes 14 days by horse; the Venture-Captain is willing to lend you horses if you do not have mounts.
Two weeks into the journey, Venture-Captain Brackett points out a dark silhouette on the horizon.
"There’s the old Irrica estate. Check it out, and then meet me in Elidir to report. I’ll be staying at the Short Sorcerer Tavern, near the Druma Road gate."
The Irrica summer estate is a two-story gothic structure. The few narrow windows have been boarded up from inside, and the main doors are scorched and scarred but appear intact. The upper floor appears to have collapsed completely.
Broad stone steps lead to an open-air veranda and small vestibule. Sturdy wooden doors bar your entrance.
No ones detects the presence of any traps or hazards on the main doors, but on attempting to open them they seem to be not only locked from the inside, but also barred shut.
There are also two windows present on the exterior of this side of the house, both boarded shut.
~
As you make your way around the house, you find that the door on the northwestern corner of the manor lies in splinters, providing easy access up the steps and into the house.
The group finds themselves in a once-grand hall, now ruined. Marble pillars support a painted ceiling above an ornately tiled but bloodstained floor. Broken glass and debris cover the floor. Stern portraits of Irrica family members look down from gilded frames hung above the reach of goblin vandals. A wrought-iron spiral staircase, its railings evoking the fires of Hell, leads to the collapsed upper floor, and a pair of sweeping staircases are choked with debris.
The exterior doors are ornately carved and barred from within, save the one in the northwestern corner. There are several closed interior doors as well.
---
"This house seems to be not quiet as abandoned as it looks from outside. We should be careful..."
Kyra checks if the door in front of her is locked or just closed. If she can open it, she will peek inside from her current position.
|
Upon entering the structure, the druidess draws a spear from the long quiver on her back and casts a spell of know direction in order to establish her bearings and enhances Winnie's gait with an enchantment of feather step. Zeldana then goes to the south door and inspects the door. If it's free of mold or traps, she dusts it off with a few swipes of her leather gloves and puts her ear to it, listening intently for any sound...
The group begins to disperse and search the room, though some remain close to the door.
Zeldana takes a look at the southern wall, upon which hangs a large portrait of what he scan assume to be the entire extended Irrica family at the time of the fall of their house, a large assembly of Chelish nobles, with one notably wearing the armor of a Hell Knight, and another clearly the same man from the picture across room on the opposite wall holding a rod.
Henrik, you get the strong feelings that they are being watched. In fact, you are able to pinpoint the source of their feeling: as you walk about the room, some of the figures in the family portrait turn to watch you all.
The painted Irricas make no other movement, but a few of them certainly seem to be following the movements of those moving about the room.
Henrikuaxian wanders through the midst of the room. The floor is covered in brown splotches of old, dried blood, likely shed during the raid, but in places it is disturbed, as is the dust, as if other creatures had been in and out much more recently.
You all suddenly notice that there is soft light coming from down a hallway south of the main doors, like that from a lantern.
Simultanously, the air draws particularly cold, raising her hackles and sending a shiver down your spine. Then something draws the attention of everyone in the room.
The portrait of Rutillo Irrica animates and scowls at the intruders, shouting, “Vegoran Thrune, your time has come!"
A dark-winged, female figure appears in front of the portrait. She could almost be mistaken for an angel, except she seems stained, dirty, bruised, and scarred.
Rutillo mouths a four-syllable word or phrase that is both too soft and too loud to be understood, and the winged creature raises its sword to attack, flying forward towards you at breakneck speed!
You recognize the winged woman as an erinyes, a powerful devil.
You are fairly certain that this manifestation of a vengeful fiend is a haunt, and is largely illusory, though still dangerous. It could be temporarily neutralized by the application of positive energy, such as channeling energy or cure light wounds, to the haunt as it manifests.
If neutralized, the haunt will return in 1 hour, unless certain conditions are met. Often it involves parties admitting their guilt in a crime they, or perhaps their family, committed.
]
"It's a haunt! Be careful! I'll try to neutralize it with positive energy, but I can do so only temporarily!"
|
|
Henrikuaxian's eyes widen, first in fear, then in excitement as he realizes what they are facing. "A haunt of an erinyes, how marvelous! I do have just the thing for that, as it happens." He reaches down to a small pouch on his belt and withdraws a small vial. Inside the vial, you can see a small wisp of white vapor dancing around. "It is a haunt siphon! Picked this up after encountering a nasty haunt in one of my first adventures." He continues to babble on for some time, while simultaneously twisting open the top on the haunt siphon.
Henrikuaxian's item vs. haunts is not even needed as Lorymir's positive energy effect immediately dissipates the fallen angel and the evil aura that you all felt!
All of you suddenly hear footsteps approaching! You would say around 5 armored people are approaching from the south!
~ ~
Initiative - Round 1
Zeldana Bordana
Winnie
Kyra
Lorimyr Hoenheim
Henrikuaxian
Wulthur the Bold
???
BOLD may act!
Kyra casts Bull's Strength on herself. Then she moves up, drawing her scimitar in the process.
Kyra casts Divine Favor. She then tries to hide behind the pillar.
|
|
Henrikuaxian mutters a quick incantation, and gestures over to the side of the room by where the sounds are coming from. He snaps his little fingers, and suddenly an angelic looking form holding a longbow appears! Silver-white hair the color of a lightning strike whips about this poised elf-like archer, his eyes swirling with vibrant colors. These colorful eyes turn to look threateningly in the direction of the approaching footsteps, and it draws and notches an arrow, pointing it at the crowd but not loosing.
A sweet male voice warns you all.
"I think it is time to give up! You are ours now!"
But he does not walk out into the open.
~
A man with a crossbow appears and Wulthur's arrow hits him right in the chest! The man aims at Wolthur and hits his leg!
Another man with a crossbow appears who also aims at Wolthur but only hits the wall!
~
You see a madman with two axes charge the illusion of the Azata which is able to dodge his blow! "This thing looks dangerous Tavetti! What is it?!?" he screams.
~
Lastly, a woman comes around the corner and attacks Wolthur with two axes where the first swing sinks deeply into his collarbone!
~ ~
Initiative - Round 2
Zeldana Bordana
Winnie
Kyra
Lorimyr Hoenheim
Henrikuaxian
Wulthur, -17
Yellow, -9
BOLD may act!
|
|
The Azata-image smirks contemptuously at the awe wielder, takes a small step back, and looses the arrow, which zips off to the left. It briefly frowns at the miss, then draws another arrow.
Meanwhile, the little gnome grins slightly at his successful illusion work, and begins to think about his next trick. He moves forward at a brisk walk, then makes another incantation. A wave of color pours forth from his outstretched little hand, enveloping both crossbowmen and the awe-wielder engaged with Wulfgar.
Wolthur hits the woman with the axes hard and a bloody wound is visible on her chest.
~
Lorimyr's bomb really burns the poacher in red and slightly the other two next to him.
~
Henrikuaxian's color spray is dazzling and three of your opponents are stunned and blinded ... they drop their weapons!
~ ~
Initiative - Round 2
Zeldana Bordana
Winnie
Kyra
Lorimyr Hoenheim
Henrikuaxian
Wulthur, -17
Yellow, -16, 2 rounds blind/stunned
Dark Blue, -15, 3 rounds blind/stunned
Red, -9, 4 rounds blind/stunned
Light blue, -7
BOLD may act!
Kyra casts spiritual weapon. A golden scimitar appears and attacks the man in light blue right away!
Kyra moves east afterwards.