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The two pathfinders in the disgusting smoke manage to resist the urge to hurl, which is nice.
And if they move out of the fog as Khellek has suggested, they won't even need to worry about it anymore.
The voice echoes back up, "Sure whatever, I'll sign a copy of my book for you if you JUST GET DOWN HERE AND UNTIE ME!"
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"We're on our way. Just a quick health and safety check, be there in a minute.." calls out Khellek.
But it wasn't really a signing that I was after, more a discussion about whether the Valashai penchant for slaving contributed to its popularity in sucessor cultures."
Well, I'm not going into that fog until it clears.
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Talevia felt that now familiar tingling throughout her body...
...and her expression melted as did the rest of her body.
She managed to reshape herself with a curse. "We have no time for this. I can feel myself slipping away in this curse." Steeling herself, the Paladin covered her mouth and nose and moves through the noxious cloud towards the trap door.
Talevia has some issues and feels a bit of mental clarity slipping away, but decides that 'what the hell I'll risk the nuisance', charging downstairs into the cellar.
Fortunately, it isn't a trap. Well not anymore. She holds her breath well enough and locates an aging male human tied to a bench next to a wine rack. He is dressed quite pompously, but looks and smells like he really really needs a shower. His smell almost overcomes the stench of the magical spell.
Which, by the way, begins to fade quickly. Talevia can see the jerk is tied with simple ropes, easy enough to cut through to release him. He frowns, "Well, what are you waiting for? Cut me free already."
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Once the cloud dissipates Khellek is happy to descend into the cellar and welcome his fellow scholar.
"Ahh Dr Besai. I'm so pleased to make your acquaintance. Albeit under trying circumstances. Now, if you would be so kind as to follow me... yes, take care of those steps, they are not so easy to manage as they look. We'll be on our way."
He sputters as he stumbles up the steps, "On our way?!? Well then I assume you have already recovered all my gear, my Spellbook and have the Mutani Manual then?"
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"Hmmm. Pretty sure the Venture-Captain only said to rescue you... didn't say anything about your gear!" Ahmerisiel points out as he struggles to maintain his form.
"And seeing how it's taking every bit of will that I have to maintain the form I was born into, my vote is against going back for anything else. Take it up with the Kalistokrat."
True to his word, in not much longer than just a few minutes, Ahmerisiel collapses to the floor, unconscious and no longer able to maintain his form.
A victim can temporarily regain its own shape by taking a standard action to attempt a DC 15 Will save (this DC does not vary for a chaos beast with different Hit Dice or ability scores). A success reestablishes the creature’s normal form for 1 minute. Spells that change the victim’s shape (such as alter self, beast shape, elemental body, and polymorph) do not remove the curse, but hold the creature in a stable form (which might not be its own form, depending on the spell), and prevent additional Wisdom drain for the duration of the spell; shapechange and stoneskin have a similar effect. The victim takes 1 point of Wisdom drain from mental shock every round that it ends its turn in an amorphous shape—upon being drained to 1 Wisdom, further Wisdom drain ceases and the amorphous body effect is permanent until removed via magic (no further number of saving throws can cure the condition at this time).
Besai's sputtering turns into disbelief and his face turns cherry red, "WHY YOU YOUNG... LITTLE... DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY SPELLS?!?"
He takes a long angry breath and composes himself a bit, "Fine. I'll simply have it taken from your pay. It is of no concern to me now."
He looks around at the group, "Alright, who has the manual. It should most definitely be in my possession. Only I have the pedigree to keep a book of that value safe and undamaged."
After about five minutes, Aherisiel melts into a pile of goo and randomly tries to hit people. But he is slow and bad at it. It is actually pretty easy to just walk slightly faster than him and let him chase.
(no further number of saving throws can cure the condition at this time)
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"I think" says Khellek.
"That those who recovered the book will hold on to it." says the scholar has so been looking forward to a collegial conversation.
He tries once more to be nice to the rather difficult man. "I would hate for it to be confiscated from you after another misunderstanding with a local authority."
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Talevia felt herself slipping away, watching as her fingers began to dissolve. "Kyra! Save the others first! I shoul..."
She never finished her sentence as her physical form melted into a now familiar puddle of goo.
Failed! Wis 9/11
Failed! Wis 8/11
Failed! Wis 7/11
Failed! Wis 6/11
Failed! Wis 5/11
Failed! Wis 4/11
Failed! Wis 3/11
Failed! Wis 2/11
Success!
Failed! Wis 1/11
Success!
Success!
Unconscious
He snorts, "Misunderstanding? That Trollip was all over me. You could tell she wanted to get my personal signature, if you know what I mean. How was I supposed to know it was the jackhole's wife? I bet it was all a big setup."
By this point, the group has managed to exit the villa and is working down a small lane, hoping to find a bigger roadway. No one has melted, but Ahmerisiel is looking really bad.
The next day, at the inn:
Besai looks with a furrowed brow at Khellek for a moment, as if finally noticing him. His eyebrows raise and he gives the old man a smiling nod, "Ah yes! Finally someone understands the burden of being the smartest man in the room."
Khellek's inroads with Besai do little except allow him to open up about his mission. If it wasn't apparent already, the guy is a Grade A jerk, completely self centered and full of himself.
But let's be honest, the pathfinder society accepts anyone with adventuring talent and sometimes they have to send who they have to send on a mission. Fortunately they picked some good ones to fix his mistakes. Not that he would admit he made a mistake or thank you for it.
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Eventually it becomes like herding cats. Cats that are amorphous blobs that try to smack anything they can. Sacks are used at that point, mostly to just keep the blobs calm. Like covering a bird's cage. Kyra manages to get some rest and with the blessings of her deity, two pathfinders return to the land of somewhat normalcy.
But you can tell that their encounter with the primal forces of chaos will leave a stain upon their hearts. Anytime in the future they see a tentacle monster will cause an involuntary shiver of concern.
After another day of travel, the group is back home reporting their mission. The venture captain grills the five pathfinders about the mission, going over every detail multiple times, making sure that they didn't even come close to stealing anything. He is slightly concerned about the property damage in the library, but figures the Aspis bodies left there will probably be blamed.
Eventually he releases the group with a nice big bag of gold for their troubles saying, "Your normal collection of items gathered from these kinds of missions is limited, so this should help cover your costs."
Kyra sticks around another day to make sure the last blob gets un-cursed.