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Mimi, though momentarily disoriented by the temporary darkness, reacts quickly once the light returns and she notices the statue start to move. She spots Nefram making a run for it, but he is no longer at the top of her list of problems to solve. "After all, how far can the man go in the middle of a desert."
The swashbuckler decides that it would be useless trying to engage the statue in a battle of wits, which leaves her with no choice but attempting a daring maneuver to get her mojo going. Cutting to the north of the statue, she dives south and...
... expertly threading her way through its slowly moving legs, rolls once and flips back onto her feet. Feeling reenergized, she turns on her heel and lunges at it with her rapier...
...which glances off the stone leaving nothing more than a light scuff behind in remembrance.
Not wishing to provide the statue with an easy target, and seeing Lokoloko preparing to throw one of his splashy bombs, Mimi decides that discretion is the better part of valor and retreats to plan her next move.
"Oh yeah!" Chiselnits digs it. He retracts his spikes, rolls across the floor (with a spider-like assist from his vine-arms on the stairs), and stops beside Mimi. His spikes pop out as he stretches his thick, muscle-y arm out to trip the statue.
Acting swiftly, the eidolon strikes, dropping the statue to the ground. The statue lands prone, striking hard against the stone floor. However, the exterior of the statue is solid and it is the floor that gives way to its chiseled features.
"Buuuuuurrrrrnnnnn!" he cackles gleefully, his beady red eyes glowing maniacally.
The fire strikes the statue. The flames burn harmlessly on the stone statue, but their flickering does reveal the existence of a hairline fracture within the construct.
"I wonder if there are some weak spots in such an old statue?
Caitlin pulls out a pair of arrows, quickly firing one after the other.
Caitlin finds a weak spot, but only manages to chip the statue.
He then uses his shield to bash the statue.
Nosaj does much more!
The statue rises to its feet.
It then responds with its hard fists!
SHOWDOWN IN THE SHRINE OF SET! - Round One Cont'd/Round Two Begins!
Znobe Nordmann
Lokoloko
Nosaj -5 HP
Illnore Thornbriar
Caitlin
Mimi de Valence
Statue -9 HP
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Having seen the statue fall and crack, Mimi is more confident now that she can make effective use of her weapons. As the flames of Lokoloko's fire bomb die down, Mimi is on the move. She charges up to the statue and jabs at it with her rapier, aiming for one of the fissures in the hope of widening the crack.
Seeing the gap widen, she decides to put everything she has into a long sweeping smash of her shortsword against the crack.
"Yeah! On it!" Pumped at his earlier success, Chiselnits rolls around to the other side of the statue so it can't slip away easily and tries to trip it again.
She charges up to the statue and jabs at it with her rapier, aiming for one of the fissures in the hope of widening the crack.
Seeing the gap widen, she decides to put everything she has into a long sweeping smash of her shortsword against the crack.
Having found the gap with the edge of her blade, Mimi exploits it well!
"Yeah! On it!" Pumped at his earlier success, Chiselnits rolls around to the other side of the statue so it can't slip away easily and tries to trip it again.
The statue again clobbers to the ground.
SHOWDOWN IN THE SHRINE OF SET! - Round One Cont'd/Round Two Cont'd!
Znobe Nordmann
Lokoloko
Nosaj -5 HP
Illnore Thornbriar
Caitlin
Mimi de Valence
Statue -27 HP
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Having his shield raised, Nosaj reacts to the attack of the statue by blocking the fist with his tower shield (wooden shield reinforced with metal).
Having been grabbed, he invokes the power of Milani to destroy this enemy. Holding his shield aloft, Nosaj fills it with divine energy.
Nosaj then braces his shield with both hands, enhancing its potential for both offense and defense.
At the end of his turn, Nosaj uses his shield with both hands to bash the statue.
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Between adventures, Mimi can usually be found at the grandfather's fencinf academy in Gralton giving lessons on the proper use of a rapier.
Apparently she's very good at what she does. According to this table a crit success on a Quest is good for 4sp.
Nosaj shatters the remainder of the once animated statue.
SHOWDOWN IN THE SHRINE OF SET! - Round Two Cont'd!
Lokoloko
Nosaj -5 HP
Illnore Thornbriar
Caitlin
Mimi de Valence
Statue -35+
Znobe Nordmann
Although the statue lies in ruins, all is not silent. An eerie howl reverberates through the hallway as a pair of gaunt figures, wrapped in yellowed, tattered linens, shamble into the doorway!
Each reaches out a pair of bony hands towards the goblin.
SHOWDOWN IN THE SHRINE OF SET! - Round Two Cont'd/Round Three Begins!
Znobe Nordmann
Lokoloko
Nosaj -5 HP
Illnore Thornbriar
Caitlin
Mimi de Valence
Blue
Red
Lokoloko takes a step back. Reaching into his bandolier, he pulls out a vial of red liquid and hurls it at Blue.
He then backpedals to put more distance between himself and the 2 creature.
The vial crashes against the wrapped creature.
Flames erupt on both creatures.
SHOWDOWN IN THE SHRINE OF SET! - Round Two Cont'd/Round Three Cont'd!
Znobe Nordmann
Lokoloko
Nosaj -1 HP
Illnore Thornbriar
Caitlin
Mimi de Valence
Blue -6
Red -8
SHOWDOWN IN THE SHRINE OF SET! - Round Two Cont'd/Round Three Cont'd!
Znobe Nordmann
Lokoloko
Nosaj -1 HP
Illnore Thornbriar
Caitlin
Mimi de Valence
Blue -6
Red -8
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Mimi is pleased to see the statue succumb to their attacks and is only sorry she could not have been the one to inflict the killing blow. "Veree nice, Nosaj. Almost makes me vant to get a sheeld of my own. Almost."
She turns to the doors when she hears Lokoloko's yelp as he's attacked by the two mummies, at least that's what they look like to Mimi. "Ah, more of de valkeeng dead I see. I am surprised ve deed not encounter deez fellows dureeng our earlier exploration." Mimi's mood, which had dipped with the destruction of the statue, now improves visibly at the appearance of more foes. Mindless enemies were not her opponents of choice, but one did not always get to choose ones sparring partners. She shrugs and charges at the creatures blocking the door.
At the last moment, she dives feet-first through the bandaged legs of one of her new adversaries, and...
... slides through unscathed to leap back onto her feet, spinning around to face her new foe in the process.
With an "En Garde!" she lunges at it with her rapier.
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Suddenly confronted by a pair of strange creatures dressed in bandages and obviously dangerous and unfriendly, Znobe immediately retreats. As he climbs to steps, he turns and identifies one of the creatures as his target for his bow, "Now it's time for action." And Znobe looses a arrow at the creature, but with his equilibrium unbalanced, his arrow goes high and wide.
"Coming, Illnore!" Chiselnits retracts his spikes and rolls to a position that allows him to be between the mummies and his companion. Re-extending his spikes, he takes a defensive positon. "Stay back, you uglies!"
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'I have a spare tower shield at home that I could give to you, Mimi!' Nosaj replies to Mimi, jokingly.
Having noticed the two draped creatures by the door, Nosaj gets in contact with them by crossing the hall.
◆ - Stride 20ft
◆ - Stride 20ft
And then bashes violently the mummy with his huge shield.
◆ - Shield Bash
With an "En Garde!" she lunges at it with her rapier.
The blade cuts precisely through bandage and desiccated flesh.
And Znobe looses a arrow at the creature, but with his equilibrium unbalanced, his arrow goes high and wide.
The arrows strikes only stone.
"Eeep! Chiselnits! The doorway!" Illnore turns and casts Electric Arc at the zombie on the right.
One of the undead drops to the ground in a singed heap.
And then bashes violently the mummy with his huge shield.
"Not what I expected, but let's get these things dealt with"
Deal with it, the party does and the last mummy drops battered and broken to the ground.
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"Quickly! Let's check this room before chasing after that slippery man!" Illnore dashes around, full of nervous energy, and discovers a dull gray aeon stone resting in an offering bowl in front of the largest statue. "Huh. Why was this in the offering bowl? It's just a little gray rock? Oh well. We can figure it out later. Let's get him!" And with that, she dashes toward the path that the faux Pathfinder took, but pulling up to let the ones with light go ahead of her.
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Mimi watches as Nosaj smashes the last of the mummies to the ground. "'Ow unfortunate. I vas 'opeeng for a leetel more of a challenge." She then looks about and not seeing Nefram anywhere, calls out. "You can come out now monsieur Tubeli; de danger 'as passed. Do not oblige us come and find you. I 'ave 'ad quaite enough of runeeng around dees tombe for von day."
Remembering the direction in which she saw him run, Mimi walks down the hallway towards the double doors and kicks them open.
Znobe finds signs of recent disturbance of the sand in the passageway beyond the doors.
Illnore readily tracks them to the stairway, which leads above ground.
At the top of the stairway, the tracks go only a short distance, ending in the form of Nefram, his arms raised above his head as he faces the tip of three spears, held in the capable arms of Officer Elrekah and her fellow guards.
Upon spying Mimi, Officer Elrekah turns her attention to the Pathfinder.
"You had asked me to remain here while you--how did you put it?--'brought 'eem to ground, yes?' " She playfully does a passable impression of the Pathfinder. Then, with a coy smile, she adds, "You really didn't that I'd let anyone slip out of those ruins without first making sure that they were properly--inspected--did you?"
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Mimi's face lights up when she comes out into the sun and sees Elrekah again. They had only been a short while in the tomb, but in that closed oppressive place it had seemed like weeks. "Ah, parfait. You 'ave no idée 'ow 'appy I am to see you vonce again Elrekah." She makes a curt bow in the officer's direction. "I see dat you 'ave appréhendéd our ersatz Pathfinder and saved us de trobel of pursueeng 'eem across de desert. 'Ow can I ever repay you for dees grande faveur?" She throws Elrekah a barely noticeable wink. "Doubtless I vill teenk of sometheeng."
Then turning to Nefram, her tone of voice becomes markedly more threatening. "And vhat about you, monsieur Tubeli? I stronglee suggest you be frank vith us or de situation for you vill likelee devolve rapidlee. You are clearlee no Pathfinder, so who are you reallee and vhat deed you teenk you vould accompleesh 'ere by passeeng yourself off as von of us?"
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Lokoloko catches up to Mimi and the phony Pathfinder.
"You'se thinks was good idea to impe..impers'nate a Paffinder? Why don't you'se tell me why you wanna do this? We'se no hurt you if you'se tell me"
Lokoloko has heard his sister tell stories of a 'good cop bad cop routine' though he has no idea what it means...
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"I'm Nefaram Subeli," insists the man, trying to distance himself from the spear tips. "That much is true!"
"But," he confesses, [b]"I'm not a Pathfinder. I'm a clerk. I work in the kingdom's permit office. When the request for a permit for this newly-discovered site came across my desk--well--I figured it might just be an opportunity for me. I mean, I approved the permit. That is what I am supposed to do--and I did!"
"It was just that--I admit--I knew the process of approval would take some time and realized that, if I could get out to the site first, I might secure a few treasures myself," he continues. "Posing as an agent of the Pathfinder Society, I hired a team of laborers to take over clearing the sand from the location. Once inside the ruin, I planned to engage in a bit of archaeology myself--though, admittedly, it is not my area of expertise-- and provide a report to the Osiriani government. And, if I uncovered a few trinkets along the way, all the better, right?"
"And, I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for your meddling Pathfinders and your snooping plant!"
Chiselnits had been hanging back with Illnore, guarding her just in case the bad man decided to do anything rash or violent. But at the reference to "snooping plant" he just can't resist a cheer. "Yay for plants! We snoop in your business and knock down your statues!" An effervescent grin spreads across his pinched face as he flexes his muscular vine arm like a body builder. The rest of the talking doesn't really interest him much.
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Illnore chuckles. "Heh-heh. Good job, buddy." Turning back to Nefaram, she glares at him, then shifts her focus to Officer Elrekah and asks pointedly: "How are cases like this usually handled in Osirion?"
Officer Elrekah hands Nefram over to the other bodyguards. "Ask them," she says. "I believe my shift is over." She hands the halfling her spear as she walks over towards Mimi. "Would you like to see my tent?"
Looking somewhat confused, one of the guards says, "The prisoner would need to be escorted back to Solis, I suppose? Formal charges would be need to be presented to a magistrate. A statement detailing the guilt of the accused would need to be given." The guard next to him releases a long sigh.
"Sure seems like a lot of work. Although, I wouldn't mind heading back to Sothis and, if the ruins have been declared clear--well, I suppose, they wouldn't need all of us to remain here just to watch over the sand." The guard then has an idea.
"Officer Elrekah!" he calls to the tent. "Gehmad and I are going to accompany these Pathfinders back to Sothis so we can hand over the prisoner. Do you think you can keep watch over the site by yourself for a few weeks?"
"GO!" comes a reply from within the tent.
"And, I don't think she will be all by herself," chimes another voice.
The trip back--for those that make the journey--is hot and dusty, but otherwise uneventful. Nefram, eager to get back to civilization, makes no designs to rush off into the sand dunes alone. He and the guards part way with the party upon reaching the city limits.
At the Sandswept Hall, Venture-Captain Norden Balentiir is relieved to hear that you have explored the site and dealt with an unexpected
danger. When word of Nefram's capture reaches his ears, he Balentiir is deeply concerned, particularly upon learning that Nefaram had been feigning membership in the Pathfinder Society. Balentiir vows to work with government officials to root out the source of the problem. For now, though, you have each earned a rest in the gardens of the Sandswept Halls.
After a comfortable stay in the Sandswept Hall, you receive an invitation from Venture-Captain Calisro Benarry. She offers to take you away from the desert sands of Sothis to a new adventure that begins on the High Seas. She arranges for you to meet her aboard her vessel, the Glorious Payoff you voyage through the Inner Sea and then southward to the Garundi coast.
At Benarry's quest you arrive at the ship's helm. As a splash of salt crashes over the bow of the Glorious Payoff, Calisro Benarry deftly steers her ship through a hidden channel, carefully navigating through the barely visible rock and coral that protrude slightly from the water’s surface. Behind the Payoff, a slightly smaller ship—the Sea Sparkle—follows, making every effort to follow Benarry’s course as closely as possible.
Picture of Benarry now on Slides.
Off the port hull, the deep green of the Garundi coast is illuminated by the late afternoon sun. "I promised you an adventure! And now, you shall have it!"
“See those gulls?” Benarry shouts over the flapping of the sails, “that’s the sandbar we’ll be dropping you off at. Barely sticks up over the waves, but the seabirds flock over it to feast on crab.”
“As I explained earlier,"[/b she continues, [b]"Vidrian—you might have known it as Sargava not that long ago—needs explorers to chart the trade routes to the south that they couldn’t use back when it was ruled by Cheliax. Simple enough bit of adventuring, but the new nation’s been having trouble with the Free Captains of late. Turns out when Vidrian broke free of Cheliax, the locals stopped paying the pirates protection money, and now they’re the number-one plunder target in the Shackles. What’s more, the pirates have set up a blockade preventing our ships from making it down to Vidrian to assist.”
“Thankfully, we’ve got someone on the inside." she expounds. "Stella Fane, a Free Captain with ties to the Firebrands and the Pirate Council, has been in contact with the Society. She and members of the Society’s leadership have put together a fairly clever plan to help the Society’s ships pass through the pirate blockades unharmed. The Wind and the Waves willing, the Payoff and the Sparkle can sail to Vidrian, no problem. While we’re doing that, I’ve arranged transport for you to Port Peril to meet with Fane and get her to sign this contract making the whole thing official—she may be a pirate, but she’s the kind that holds to her word. You’ll need to avoid drawing too much attention until after the deal is done. Once she’s signed the contract her friends in the Pirate Council will ratify it and there won’t be much the lesser captains can do. Be careful. Anyone looking to put a stop to this need only ensure that contract never gets signed."
"Now, if you have a question or two before I heave you over the sides, you had best spit them out now." she urges.
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A tall woman with golden hair tied back steps up. The tips of her slightly pointed ears peek out from under her hair. She's simply dressed, wearing loose-fitting robes. She carries herself with the grace of one trained in unarmed fighting. Seeing a familiar face, her face breaks out in a smile.
"Caitlin! We meet again! I think the last time we met we were crawling in the sewers beneath Absalom while helping the Sewer Dragons!"
Turning to the others, she bows to each one in turn. "Kaitlyn Deathsbane, at your service. You may call me Kat for short."
Turning to Venture-Captain Benarry, Kat bows to her as well. "Are we on a timetable to get Fane to sign this document?"
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"She and members of the Society’s leadership have put together a fairly clever plan to help the Society’s ships pass through the pirate blockades unharmed."
"Ooh! What's the plan?" Illnore asks with an expression that's both sly and naive at the same time.
"Anyone looking to put a stop to this need only ensure that contract never gets signed."
Her eyes widen in alarm. "So..." She can't put any more words together for several seconds as an image of hordes of pirates charging at the Pathfinders in waves floods her mind. Shaking her head to clear it, she remarks with trepidation "So keeping a low profile is essential." Her hand finds Chiselnits's forehead, rubbing the island of smooth surface among his spikes like a worry stone.