Phaed is aghast at Pavo's actions, breaking her clock! She steps in, fairly pushing him aside.
Let
Unfortunately, Pavo cracks part of the glass while trying to remove the brain cylinder!
Luckily, Phaedria is able to remove it from the clock without further damage, or harming the brain!
Phaed looks at all the parts. How do we put it together?
"Whatever the answer is its not like that." says Tuco nervously.
Working together, you attach the vision module, the hearing module, and finally the speech module.
Immediately, a voice cries out in horror and panic!
"Where am I? Why can't I move? Why can't I see my body?"
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Phaed looks at Abella, and almost asks whether there is a difference between one's consciousness and their body… whether the "I" of personhood resides in their brain or their body, or if a brain separated from a body is even the same person as they were with a brain inside the body.
Then she decides asking these the garrulous necromancer such questions would be a terrible idea and it would just give everyone a headache.
You are in Xarwin Manor. We believe something terrible happened to you, but we are trying to help.
She introduces the party. "I am Phaedria, thespian and diva and inheritor of Xarwin Manor. I am here with my friends Shade, a worshiper of Desna; Pavo, also a desnite and a clever scoundrel; Tuco, a monk who sought an artifact here for personal reasons; and Abella, a necromancer who specializes in scientific studies of thanergy.
"That's 'Desnan'..." mumbles Shade.
"What's happening? Why do you look at me like that? What did he do to me?"
Faldur still seems quite panicked by his current state.
Tuco leaves the talking to the more charismatic of his allies.
Phaed looks to her friends, not sure where to begin.
"If it is a surgeon that is needed, I am your man. By the light of the Song of Spheres, I can help make you whole again."
”Oh this will be incredibly easy to fix. You have no idea how much arcane science has progressed, and who better than the genius housed in this flesh vessel here to take the lead on fixing you right up. Nobody knows thanergy and thalergy manipulation better than me.”
Pavo and Shade aren't able to calm the brain down, but Abella's mention of thanergy and thalergy seems to to the trick.
"Intriguing. I wish to hear more," says the brain, as though forgetting his other worries.
”I am Faldur, a professor of astronomy at the Sinkomakti School in Ustalov. One night, I was jumped from behind while stargazing in some nearby woods. I remember a long period of “floating in the dark” interspersed by strangely vivid dreams, periodically interrupted by a voice that asked me various questions about astronomy and other… occult matters. The voice identified himself as ‘Ioseff Xarwin,’ but I never learned more than that from this forever-unseen interrogator.”
”Tell me, who are you and what is this place? Am I to understand that something terrible has happened to me?”
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Phaed thinks and thinks. She has heard the name somewhere but she should have studied just a little harder in Chelaxian Finishing School.
Well, those clove cigarettes weren't going to smoke themselves after drama club.
Shade thinks for a moment as well, but cannot recall anything.
"A professor of astronomy, Faldur? I also have more than a passing interest in the stars, and of the moon. Mother Moon teaches us to gain inspiration from their freedom."
"Ah, I would love to see the stars again," Faldur says longingly. " If only I could move my body. Am I to understand you're a Desnan? I am one of the foremost scholars of ancient Desnan beliefs and practices. Ioseff was particularly curious about a group known as the Order of the Starless Night."
"Why, yes. The Song of Spheres is my patron, my guiding light. I would love to talk to you about the Order of the Starless Night, if you would be willing.
"We're working on restoring you as best we can, but I fear that whatever has happened to you has left you in an unusual state."
"Well, Order of the Starless Night, where to begin...?"
Given time, Faldur can adjust to his new condition. As long as someone remains at hand to care for his well-being via conversation, helping him to read or stargaze, or simply keeping him company, characters can keep the horror of his fate at bay until they can secure the means to restore him. There are also many in Kintargo who would take him in, not the least of which would include any of the good religions who maintain temples in the city.
Tuco listens and ponders before asking
"Can you tell us more about what the Starless Scope was used for? I'm curious as to what might make somebody desire it even today."
”Oh, I don’t believe many remain, but the Starless Scopes were a very powerful tool used by the Order of the Starless Night against the Dominion of the Black.”
Faldur goes on the explain.
Activate [reaction] Interact; Frequency once per day; Requirement you worship Desna; Trigger you use the starless scope as a divine focus; Effect You attempt to enhance the effects of a spell as you cast it by attempting a Religion check against the spell’s DC, as determined by Table 10–5 on page 503 of the Core Rulebook.
Critical Success: Any attack rolls you make with the spell gain a +2 status bonus, and any saving throw a foe makes against the spell takes a –2 status penalty. If you would normally cast the spell from a spell slot, and the spell is 5th level or lower, you don’t spend the spell slot and cast the spell from the starless scope instead.
Success: Any attack rolls you make with the spell gain a +1 status bonus, and any saving throw a foe makes against the spell takes a –1 status penalty.
Failure: The spell is cast normally. Attempt a DC 11 flat check. On a failure, the starless scope’s lens shatters.
Critical Failure: The spell is disrupted and the starless scope’s lens shatters.
Activate [two-actions] (abjuration, divine) Interact; Frequency once per hour; Effect You raise the scope to your eye and observe a creature within 30 feet. You can attempt to identify the creature by Recalling Knowledge. The starless scope adds a +2 item bonus to this check. If the creature is associated with the Dominion of the Black or the Elder Mythos, or is a creature whose actions have blasphemed against Desna (Ioseff Xarwin’s ghost falls into this latter category), the creature must attempt a DC 27 Will save.
Critical Success: The creature is unaffected, and the starless scope’s lens shatters.
Success: The creature shines with starlight for 1 round. During this time, the creature can’t be concealed if it is visible. If it’s invisible, it’s concealed rather than being undetected. The creature takes a –1 status penalty to saving throws against divine effects while it shimmers with starlight.
Failure: As success, but the creature also suffers an additional effect. An incorporeal creature loses its incorporeal trait as long as it shines with starlight. Any other creature becomes slowed 1 as long as it shines with starlight.
Critical Failure: As failure, but the duration of the starlight is 1 minute, and the status penalty to saving throws against divine effects increases to –2.
”Now, could someone tell me where we are, and why all this interest in ancient history?”
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"We're in Ioseff Xarwin's--" Pavo glances at Phaedria. "Sorry. We are in what was once Ioseff Xarwin's manor in Cheliax. It appears that the manor was built upon the crypt of an ancient cultist and enemy of Desna's faithful named Tchekuth. Ioseff may have accidentally freed his spirit, cursed this manor, and led to the murder of his entire family, which resulted in more curses."
"Cheliax? But... If what you're saying is true, then we are in great danger! Based on my research, wakening Tchekuth will bring doom from beyond the Dark Tapestry, an apocalypse to Golarion!"
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We must prevent this calamity. Why, if there is a tragic worldly apocalypse it would include my home!
"Please, let us know what we may do to prevent this. As it happens, we have recovered a Starless Scope, perhaps the last one in existence. We have 3 lenses as well!"
Faldur does not know exactly what must be done, other than a vague idea that Tchekuth must not be allowed to awaken, and that you must put an end to the malevolence in the region. He is quite thrilled that you have found a Starless Scope, and three lenses no less!
Phaed dreams that night of how she will decorate her house. She'll host so many fundraising galas for the theater, and regale her guests with interesting tales of her manor! The tragedy of Fulvia might make for a good stage production, in fact…
Unfortunately, Phaedria isn't able to focus on Fulvia well enough to dream of her, but that doesn't mean a stage production wouldn't be a hit!
Abella does some dream research, following dear Phaedria’s instincts.
Shade dreams overnight about Fulvia.
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At first, Abella doesn’t dream of Fulvia, she dreams of the womb, that she is not alone, that someone else is with her, clutching her golden arm.
Then her dream shifts to the the Sinkomakti School, to Fulvia’s affair with Ioseff in Ustalav, their impromptu exchange of inscribed rings, their breakup over an argument about who should buy the starless scope, and her later arrival at Xarwin Manor with her son.
Abella also understands that Fulvia blackmailed Ioseff into letting her stay at the manor and use his resources, including the starless scope and the Void Mirror, to aid her own research. The dream ends with a brief flash of Fulvia’s conviction that the world was about to end and be offered up to a vast “devouring black star” by the Dominion of the Black.
Shade also dreams of the inscribed rings, and wakes with the understanding that the person who wears Fulvia’s ring will gain protection against Ioseff!
Tuco tries not to dream, but the malevolence won’t let him sleep easily. He dreams he’s strapped to a table, and feels a horrific lurching sense of vertigo as the point of view shifts upward and away, giving Tuco a brief glimpse of his own brainless, eyeless corpse on the table— smiling in relief before darkness descends!
"So, do we have Fulvia's ring yet? It will protect the wearer from Ioseff! Might be good to give to Phaedria when we find it."
"We're so close... so close." half encourages half mutters Tuco.
As you prepare to return to the basement and confront Ioseff, Ezramalkun wishes you luck and reminds you that due to your efforts, the nosoi will come to your aid when the time comes.
You climb down the stairs, and explore the known parts of the basement first, the areas you learned of by discovering the manor's original plans.
The Scriptorium:
A pair of desks stand in the east side of this brick-walled room—one a writing desk and the other a bookbinding worktable. To the north, a cabinet with cracked glass doors shelters a collection of writing implements. A large nook to the west is filled with shelves containing mildewed parchments, paper, and bookbinding supplies.
The cracked cabinet contains sterling artisan’s tools usable for bookbinding and writing. In addition, a small wooden case contains three occult scrolls: a scroll of comprehend language, a scroll of hypercognition, and a scroll of restoration (4th).
Investigating the shelves in the northwest alcove reveals a hidden panel that, when moved aside, opens into a locked metal safe built into the wall.
The safe contains several small wooden coffers containing a total of 340 cp, 665 sp, 198 gp, and 8 pp, all that remains of the Xarwin family fortune. A leather ledger holds a few dozen IOUs and expired letters of credit with House Thrune; Near the back of the safe, wrapped in a bloodstained handkerchief, is Asethanna’s wedding ring.
The Family Crypt:
Mildew dots the brick-lined walls and floor of this damp room. Sarcophagi stand in alcoves along the rest of the walls, ten in all. Each sacrophagus has a bronze nameplate, though only four have been etched.
Four etched nameplates adorn the four southernmost sarcophagi and bear the names of Ioseff, Asethanna, Marney, and Mira. While Ioseff’s sarcophagus is empty, even a cursory examination reveals that the lids for the other three have been sealed with strips of lead pounded into the seam. Each contains the skeletal remains of Xarwin’s murdered family. In all three cases, the skeletons of Asethanna, Marney, and Mira have had the tops of their craniums surgically removed.
A strikingly lifelike representation of Ioseff Xarwin (with both hands intact) stands against the southern wall.
Upon inspecting the statue, the ghost of Ioseff floats out!
”I want what’s mine!” he shouts. But Abella presents presents Fulvia’s ring, and the ghost flees, shrieking into the wall.
Only a pair of double doors remain unexplored.
"This has to be it. Let us prepare a bit.
"I have a magic weapon spell, and a disrupting weapons spell memorized, as well as a heroism spell. I think we should probably use them all.
"I suggest that I give Tuco the heroism, and Pavo the magic weapon. I can charge two weapons with positive energy, but I think that they shouldn't be mine.
"What do you all think?"
Tuco nods.
Once again Phaed can't help but feel jealous the ghost is trying to murder Abella and not her. She hands her friend the ring with what might be considered poor grace.
Hmmh. What does she have that I don't… nevermind. I'm ready. I'll show Ioseff why he can't ignore me!
As you stand outside of the double doors, the red hunting axes begin to vibrate and heat up with an aggressive urgency.
You push open the double doors!
The pale lavender walls of this room ripple with glowing green fluid that drips up to pool against the ceiling. Alcoves in the walls to the east and west contain a few books and tools, while many more books sit on the numerous wooden shelves lining the walls. To the southeast, dark red curtains obscure what lies beyond: a horrific statue made of glass, bronze, and wood.
A depiction of a crab-like creature with several glass domes on its back stands to the north—human brains float within three of these fluid-filled domes.
To the west of this unsettling statue is an empty wooden mirror frame. A paper-cluttered desk and chair near this frame face the statue. A human skeleton clad wearing rotted black and red aristocrat’s clothing over a chain shirt slumps forward in the chair. The area around the body has been sprayed with dried blood and bits of leathery flesh—as if the figure’s skin and organs had burst from its body, leaving the skeleton intact. The skeleton’s left hand is missing at the wrist.
At the center of the room, a 10-foot-diameter, one-foot-high stone platform supports an eight-foot-diameter slab of six-inch-thick stone—almost akin to a slab covering a well. This entire platform seethes with pale green ooze that constantly extrudes wavering tendrils into the air before absorbing them over and over.
There is an inscription on the slab.
May you remain below, shrouded in stone, apart from the dark above. May your name be forgotten forever, and your evils left to the memories of the long dead. May all your nights remain starless forever more.
Shade moves up, avoiding the green ooze, and investigates the corpse. "What did you do, Ioseff?"
He looks around, "I wonder if that's the frame for the Void Mirror? Now that we've set it up already."
"Oh, and there's some brains, maybe the ones we need?"
Shade looks at the skeleton and sees that the right hand cradles a long silver telescope against its chest!