You arrive outside of Venture Captain Ambrus Valsin's office. There are comfortable benches and chairs as you wait. Ambrus Valsin sticks his head out once, regards those of who are present, counting to himself, then says, "I'll wait til you're all here-- no point rehashing the mission more than once..."
During the minutes you wait outside his office, you have a chance to assess your fellow agents, and make introductions, if you're the talkative sort.
The next time Valsin looks out, he counts again, then nods, satisfied, and steps back to gesture you into his office. "Come on in. Tea?"
Couches before the Captain's desk offer a place to sit, and a bright-eyed halfling secretary serves you mugs of hot tea as Valsin sits heavily back behind his desk, looking gloomier than usual. Two objects sit on his desk-- a patchwork hide bag, and a rock that is vaguely egg-shaped, but about ten inches tall, and glowing redly.
"Thank you all for coming to my summons. I hope you got to know each other out in the waiting room. I'll get right to it: the Society has received a summons asking-- nay, demanding-- representation from the Society's agents at a meeting of Shoanti quah leaders." Valsin's thick, callused fingers tap a piece of parchment against his desk.
"We're being invited to a feast, but the dish being served is crow, I'm afraid.
"Let me explain. Some years ago, a solo Pathfinder field agent, a gnome named Lumketel Simset, returned to Absalom crowing about his discovery of a long-lost Thassilonian ruin in a remote section of Varisia. He had all manner of items recovered from the site, and all sorts of stories to tell. It was duly written up and entered into the Pathfinder Chronicles.
"The issue is that what Lumketel found was not a ruin of a long-vanished civilization, but rather, the burial grounds-- still in use-- of Shoanti tribal peoples.
"I don't know if Lumketel ignorantly believed his relics were truly Thassilonian, or whether his pride wouldn't let him admit to his error. I'd ask him, but the Society lost contact with Lumketel over a year ago. Trust me, if I could get my hands on him, I'd be sending him to answer for this embarrassment.
"The Shoanti tribespeople have discovered that one of their sacred sites was trespassed upon, damaged, and looted-- by us. They're demanding we account for what happened, and I'm sending you, as skilled agents with numerous accomplishments each to your names.
"This bag contains four relics-- carved, wooden items that Lumketel brought back. We're returning them to their proper owners. The stone is a handy little item called a scavenger's stone-- it can cast restorative magic upon damaged objects and items. Fixing whatever damage our lone agent caused-- and giving back what he stole-- is the least we can do.
"We do have some allies among the quahs, thankfully, but it'll be an uphill battle. The Shoanti are notoriously distrustful of outsiders... with good reason. Your mission is to try and make things right with these people... keep in mind that this is not just a religious issue for them, but may be deeply personal-- some of the leaders you are going to meet with may have parents or grandparents interred in the tomb that this fool Lumketel traipsed through. Be tactful. Be sincere with our apologies. Ask them for the chance to be allowed to make right the damage and the trespass.
"But I'd also be aware that Shoanti justice can be harsh, so don't assume this will be all chit-chatting. If they decide that the only suitable price is a blood price-- defend yourselves, obviously, I'm not sending you out to be killed as compensation. Try to extricate yourselves with as little bloodshed as possible, though. If we alienate the Shoanti as a whole, they may well decide Pathfinders shouldn't be allowed to travel through their territories at all-- making any further missions we do in Varisia, indeed, the north in general-- that much more complicated.
"Even if they do let you make things right, that may involve its own hazards, as per Lumketel's notes..."
Valsin straightens a stack of papers and sets them next to the bag and items. "I have Lumketel's original notes here, as well as the Chronicles entry he wrote about it. I'd suggest reviewing them before you enter the site-- IF you're granted permission.
"Any questions?"
Much to my shock and dismay, I was met with a towering monstrosity entirely made of glowing bone and decaying flesh, lurching from the darkness! From the bones leapt two alien canids, seemingly comprised of pure energy. Retreat was not an option. Quickly thinking, I dashed into the darkness toward a narrower passage, hoping to avoid engaging the fell beasts in the open. Where the skeletal monster couldn’t follow, the lightning creatures could, with fierce jaws snapping as I ran into the darkness. I found myself in a bizarre maze, unable to see and surrounded by twisting passages that boggled the mind. The wolves were on my heels. Darting through passageways and walls, I summoned the intestinal fortitude and magical might vested in me and dispatched the canids back to the unfathomable reality from whence they came. With the wolves gone, it was a duel between me and the bone beast. Needless to say, I wouldn’t be penning this Chronicle if I had lost! With a few choice spells and nimble dodging, I dispatched the monster, its bones and viscera scattering throughout the hall....
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A small and angular man enters the waiting room. Light strangely bends around him leaving him looking somewhat grey, as if colors try to avoid him. It's almost a feeling more than a visual effect. A discordant bright glint flashes light from the light armor concealed under his robes. a dark wood shield rests on his back beside a small longbow. He looks about the empty room. I seem to be early.
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A small female gnome appears.
"Aatish is Aatish." she says with a wicked smile.
Aatish is a small Gnome woman with grey-pink long hair that almost illuminates her surroundings. She has a mithral buckler in her hand and wears a custom-fit Haramaki suit that looks like it has been recently oiled.
Aatish is sitting on a military saddle on top of a riding dog that looks like a red wolfhound. It is clear that this dog can fight while carrying a rider and Aatish is not really fully in control.
On Aatish's shoulder you see a tiny Rhamphorhynchus flying dinosaur that has dark red scales and looks aggressive.
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A quiet, nondescript halfling dressed in drab clothes follows behind the gnome. Gery quietly slips inside the meeting room taking a seat in front. "I am sorry for being late, please excuse me. I am Gery, by the way." While he keeps his voice level, there is a note of unease in his voice. His fingers nervously stroke the hilt of his rapier as he listens silently to the briefing given turning to his new companions with a questioning look.
The Venture Captain nods, pleased as you all assemble, looking you over thoughtfully.
"Even the missions that I hope resolve peacefully sometimes still have an element of fighting, Agent Aatish. I'd be happy to tell you what I know about the people you'll be speaking with-- our allies have made some notes."
Valsin rifles through more papers. "The Council comprises seven people:
"Rollicks-through-Waves and Cousin-to-All are on it, and they are on our side already. You'll meet with them when you arrive, I hope. They will do their best to aid your arguments with the others.
"The other five are Payah-Against-the-Wind, Togimal-in-Shadow, Lake-at-Dawn, Kemchet Flame-Stoker, and Memory Tender.
"Payah is a fierce warrior who has earned respect for her leadership in battle. I'm told she's heavily scarred and carries a greatsword.
"Togimal is apparently a quiet sort," Valsin says, squinting at his notes. "...very quiet? Not much here about them. 'A person of few words,' Rollicks says. Make of that what you will.
"Lake-at-Dawn is respected for both wisdom, but doesn't shy from a fight when necessary. My notes say he is a leader of the ancestor worship the Shoanti practice.
"Kemchet Flame-Stoker is another war-chief, like Payah. He appears to have burn scars and wears the hide of an aurochs he slew singlehandedly while still a young man.
"Memory Tender is a title more than a name-- an honorific given to their oral historians, who pass down knowledge of the quahs each generation in complex song and spoken-word sagas. She's apparently a fairly young appointee to the position. Rollicks notes she was previously of the ranks of boneslayers - priests who maintain the burial grounds and guard against undead intrusions. She's probably especially invested, then, in the violation of one of their burial grounds."
Greyveil knows that the Shoanti are, yes, a culture of warriors, and that they eke out a harsh existence in the barren lands of of the Storval Plateau.
Aatish, Jacques, and Kuro know the same. They also know that the Shoanti formerly inhabited much of southern Varisia, until they were forced northward into the Storval Plateau after bloody conflicts with Chelaxian colonists. This violent history has led to many Shoanti being mistrustful of outsiders.
"You'll be teleported to the meeting place. Rollicks-in-Waves and Cousin-to-All should be there waiting for you. Do you have any further questions? If you need to buy anything, the storerooms are available to you, but let's not keep the Shoanti waiting too long."
"....well, if you run into Lumketel I would actually much rather he be brought back here alive so that if he has done anything like this elsewhere I can send him to take the consequences, not have to send agents like yourself," Valsin says drily.
"But somehow I doubt he's anywhere within 100 miles of this foul-up.
"The stone can be for both minor and major repairs to damaged objects.... or constructs. Touching the stone to an object will conduct a minor repair on the damaged item.
"In a dire situation, you can break the stone against the item instead-- it will release a wave of energy that will repair significant damage, but consume more of the stone's energy."
"If there are no other questions, I'll lead you to the teleport chamber."
The heroes make their way to the teleportation chamber......... a Society wizard nods on hearing their destination, consults a map, and gestures them into a circle of runes on the floor...
****
Space folds around you. Lights and colors that don't exist in the normal spectrum flash across your eyes. There's a sensation of dizzying speed-- the world blurring around you-- then just as quickly, it fades.
The five of you stand in a natural cavern, a circle of runes etched on the stone floor around you. Two heavily-tattooed people are here, waiting-- they rise swiftly to their feet, smiling to your group.
One of them is tall and lithe, and carries some elven ancestry judging by the points of her ears. Half her face is covered in an intricate Shoanti tattoo of a hawk. "Be welcome! I am Cousin-to-All. It is good to see you-- I am pleased the Society is taking this seriously, and has sent someone. It would not be well if the Society had ignored the summons."
The other figure, a shorter man, chuckles. He is stocky, and his skin shows the weathering of a life of sun and surf, as well as many tattoos of a stylized wave pattern, and fish scales. "Not for the Society, and not for us either, neh? Greetings. I am Rollicks-in-Waves, of the Shadde-Quah. I thank the Society for the past help to my tribe and people. Let us walk, yes? The sooner this begins, the sooner it is done."
The two Shoanti chat pleasantly with you as you ascend rough-hewn stairs out of the cavern. They ask for your names, and look intrigued by your diverse appearances. They both state that they take the desecration of their ancestral tombs as the actions of a lone, rogue agent, and do not blame the Society as a whole.
"We will do our best to help you in the arguments, but unfortunately, we cannot speak for you..."
Cousin-to-All leads the last few steps up, and you find yourselves in the open air, atop a hill with a commanding view of the harsh plateau lands around you. Several dozen individual campsites are clustered around the base of the hill, each one with a cookfire going, and many Shoanti move in their camps, tending to gear, fires, and animals.
It is late afternoon, and the shadows stretch long under a wide-open sky streaked with tattered clouds. A stiff wind whips along the flat lands of the plateau, biting through your clothes.
The top of the hill has been leveled, and large stone benches sit here beneath the open sky, ringing a central firepit. Five other Shoanti await you there.
Payah Against the Wind stands with a massive blade in her hands, idly passing it between them like it weighed nothing, and watching your approach with a critical gaze. A jagged scar winds across her face, one eye socket empty in its path. The scar has been worked into a tattoo of wind and lightning. Her clothes are functional hides and armor.
Equally tall and perhaps even more muscular, the man who stands across the firepit from Payah must be none other than Kemchet Flame-Stoker. He watches your approach with a sneer he doesn't bother to hide, his massive arms crossed over a barrel chest that bears the scars of a bad fire.
A seated woman's tattoos are all of bones and skulls, wisping down her bared arms. She nods a measured nod of greeting at your approach. This must be Memory Tender. A vulture perches on her shoulder.
Next to Memory Tender, a man carrying a large staff topped by a skull sits with patient calm. He shows no signs of acknowledging you, only staring into the fire. This is Lake at Dawn.
Crouched lightly by the fire and tending it is a figure whose slim build is partly hidden by thick furs and a hooded cloak. By process of elimination, you would guess that this is Togimal in Shadow.
Cousin to All begins. “Thank you, all, for honoring my request and being here today. I understand that this is a situation of the utmost sensitivity, so I appreciate everyone’s reined tempers as we discuss this matter.
“As you all know, a Pathfinder Society agent has desecrated the Muschkal Sepulcher—a severe offense. However, the Society would like to right their wrongs. They have sent these representatives to present their case to you, voices of the quahs, on how to repair our bonds and fix this problem.”
Kemchet Flame-Stoker barks a scornful laugh. “What bonds do we have to repair? These tshameks deserve no such opportunity and no forgiveness. This is a Shoanti problem that only the Shoanti can fix, as we always have.”
“At least hear them out, Kemchet Flame-Stoker,” Cousin to All answers. “I understand your frustrations with this situation— believe me, I have some of my own— but the Pathfinder Society wants to make things right. It is only fair to allow them their words.” Flame Stoker scoffs... but falls silent.
It is Memory Tender who next speaks. "The damage to our people's shrine is considerable. The boneslayers report great disrespect done to the relics of the past, the bones of our ancestors. How do you propose to right this offense... Pathfinders?"
All of the gathered Shoanti look to you, expectantly.
Gery tries to speak to Payah, but the tall woman looks down at his diminutive size and barks a laugh, shaking her head. "Your heart may be fierce, but how will you fight giants at your size? Go back to the cities with that thin little sword, Pathfinder."
Togimal speaks very little, but Kuro manages to work with that; Kuro sits by the fire as well, watching Togimal feed twigs to the blaze. Kuro can see Togimal's many trophy furs showing skill both at the hunt and the tanning-- each one is exquisite, and bespeaks long hours and careful skill practiced.
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Aatish is not amused.
Lake at Dawn is weak! He’s got no war in him. Aatish thinks.
She walks to him.
“Lake at Dawn. You are drawn to fire? I am Aatish. You like the unpredictable nature of fire with all good and bad attributes maybe? Fire is like a Pathfinder sometimes … wild! But we are here to control the fire that one of us has spread!!“ she says with glowing eyes.
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Togimal speaks very little, but Kuro manages to work with that; Kuro sits by the fire as well, watching Togimal feed twigs to the blaze. Kuro can see Togimal's many trophy furs showing skill both at the hunt and the tanning-- each one is exquisite, and bespeaks long hours and careful skill practiced.
Kuro ponders
Hmmm, as a former assassin, I used to 'hunt' for a living, but I never learned how to cure hides...
"Jacques, you told earlier you hunted large prey, want to share your experiences with Togimal?"
Lake-at-Dawn listens with light surprise to Aatish's passionate words, then smiles slightly, in a measured way, and spreads his hands.
"You speak truly, fire can destroy as well as help. Perhaps Pathfinders are the sort of fire that cleanses and allows new seeds to be grown. It is good that you wish to control the fire from being too large.... but intent and outcome are not always the same thing!"
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Greyveill approaches Memory Tender. I am Greyveil of the lands of shadow. I too have a bird friend. He opens his cloak and removes a raven that hides within and places it on his shoulder. I am a man of lore and knowledge. Perhaps we have more in common that birds?[/b]
He will both use Knowledge Local to try to learn other skills and will also use Knowledge Nature to try to impress her.
Right before the teleport circle was ready to be cast, a runner from Ambrus Valsin stuck his head hurriedly in the door. "Agent Jacque! Needed elsewhere! Orders from the VC!"
The tired agent hurried off elsewhere..............
Lake at Dawn blinks once at Aatish's continued speech, which has few words but plenty of passion-- and then he laughs. "I think you have a fire all your own, Aatish! Perhaps it is time for the change that only fire brings. The Shoanti people need a little burning for the making of spears, sometimes. Very well. I will help to kindle the flame of chance, with my voice."
Memory Tender looks politely distant at Greyveil's attempts to speak about her customs with her.
Greyveil comes on over to Togimal, after Kuro intimates that his knowledge of nature might find an eager listener in the quiet hunter. Togimal talks little, but responds well to the wayang's words of the natural world, and though Togimal says nothing at all about the matter at hand, you get the impression they are quietly impressed by your words of the delicate balance of ecosystems.
Poor Gery, meanwhile, persists tenaciously with Payah... ...only for her to laugh as if she is indulging a child.
"I'm sure you're courageous," she says, bending down with a smile. "If only bravery was the only consideration."
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Kuro will try and get a bearing on Memory Tender.
"It seems everyone has animal friends. Let me introduce Muzzlebeak, a rhamphorhynchus and this is X, an axebeak, who is currently in statue form for easy travel."
A tiny winged reptilian bird with leathery wings and a beak filled with needlelike teeth with a long tail sits on Kuro's shoulder. Kuro holds a statuette of an axebeak in his claws.
Kuroo sits down with his wee scaley bird and tries to sound out Memory Tender... with more success! Desna favors him, and sends success on wings, it seems. After a short discussion, he has ascertained that Memory Tender's title is quite literal-- she is an oral historian, and is curious about the history of others, beyond just the Shoanti. She says that the delivery can be almost as important as the content.... even, at times, tall tales.
A half-an-hour has elapsed in the careful talking and introductions. Cousin-to-All stops by in order to murmur that she thinks you're doing well. A chill wind blows across the plateau, causing the flames of the firepit to flicker and all the Shoanti to draw fur cloaks about themselves a bit further...
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Aatish nods at Kuro after he is able to get more information on Memory Tender.
She approaches him.
“May Aatish speak to you about the past? And a potential future? Aatish does not know how you see war!? But war also has many sides to it! Sometimes history is a changed to see war differently than it really was. We are in war now! A war to find truth and to give us the opportunity to right the wrongs of one of our former colleagues. Give us the power to correct history and have real fond memories in the future!“
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Memory Tender regards Aatish with interest as the bright warrior-gnome comes nearer-- she has seen Lake at Dawn's reserve break and is curious to know what made him react so. She smiles, the corners of her eyes creasing, as Aatish speaks in her unique cadence.
"You have great passion. Your words are almost like a dance themselves. History is also a dance. As you say, sometimes one side takes the lead on the dance. Maybe we will see what happens when the other side gets to pick a dance too, hey?"
Kuro continues his pattern of adroitly assessing the psychology of those they face. After observing Payah's interactions with Gery, he thinks that perhaps the simplest way to get her attention would be a very physical show of strength-- or a demonstration of knowledge of warfare.
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Kuro activates his axebeak statue and gathers some logs to make into firewood.
Then he approaches Payah Against the Wind.
"You might think a small halfling, a small gnome, a small wayang and a scrawny tengu might not be that powerful and you would be right if you would measure us by pure physical strength as we are more subtile. However, if need arises we do have brute strength available."
Kuro signals the axebeak, who then smashes the logs with its beak.
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Greyveil tries to add to the discussion of history, bringing a gnomish slant to Memory Tender's understanding of events. For a moment it seems he might falter-- but Rollicks in Waves comes on over, and adds his voice, translating a few terms to Shoanti, at which Memory Tender nods in sudden understanding...
Gery listens to Kuro's explanation of how to impress Payah, then nods. "I'm stronger than I look... and maybe I can teach her not to judge me by my size," he says with a wink.
"Mind if I try out that sword of yours, Payah?"
The woman laughs as if this were a great joke. "If you can lift it!"
To everyone's amazement (including possibly Gery's), the halfling DOES lift Payah's enormous sword, and manages to execute a few test sweeps with the blade in a competent fashion. Payah looks shocked, and then grins. "Gorum's damnation! Perhaps you've the spirit of a warrior after all, little one-- and the muscles to match."
Putting his brain to work after Gery's muscular display, Kuro has an idea, and uses Axebeak attack! It's super effective.
Kuro's companion pecks the hell out of the bundled twigs, making Payah laugh and slap her knee. "By Gorum, that overgrown chicken can bite!" she says. "Alright, alright, I get it-- you are all saying I shouldn't judge by appearances... ...but still.... Kemchet is right, this is a Shoanti matter..."
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Gery approaches the hulking brute Kemchet Flame Stoker with a calm look on his face, "It is clear you do not like any of us so I do not see how mere words can sway you otherwise...I doubt even actions will convince you of our sincerity..." He watches how the man reacts to his words, hoping to glean any way to influence him.
The Pathfinders murmur amongst each other that Kemchet seems to have an enmity that will not be softened. As the other Shoanti are slowly won over, he seems to brood and look more and more thunderous.
Togimal quietly nods to the words of Greyveil and Aatish, and Payah is currently proposing that she armwrestle with Gery; the last hold-out rises angrily to his feet.
"Look at this! Actions desecrated our people's tomb, the bones of our fathers and our mothers! Actions! One of these PATHFINDERS stole the very grave goods from the barrows! And an hour's worth of talk and all of you are ready to swear brotherhood oaths with them. It creates sickness in me, I tell you truth!"
Cousin-to-All stands up. "That is not accurate, Kemchet. Your flames rise high, and burn everything in their path. No brotherhood has been sworn: only a chance is being proposed. A chance to fix their offense."
Kemchet cuts the air angrily with both his hands, as if to silence Cousin-to-All. "Talk, talk, talk!" He turns to Memory Tender, and says, "Memory Tender! What is the history of other people, compared to that of our own, that has been desecrated? Would the spirits whose stories you keep and re-tell be pleased, that we allow in the same thieves who have been once, to tidy the hut? Can you not see this nonsense with me, sister?"
Memory Tender frowns. She touches the bones of her staff, her brows knit, and looks to the vulture next to her.
"It.... is a complicated matter, Kemchet. But... you are not wrong.... that the spirits cry out for justice.... I must think on this."
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It is not so complicated Memory Tender. History is full of times when a lone rogue acted against the wishes of his or her group. The person who desecrated your holy place is not with the pathfinders now. We do not even know where he is. It is not correct to blame us for his actions even though we want to make it right if we can.