Game is played here.
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The middle aged half-elven woman stood alone at the prow of the unremarkable ship as it rounded the jetty into the harbor of Sedeq. The air suddenly tasted like the dust of the desert as the ship was exposed to the morning's off-shore breeze that had been blocked by the massive boulders of the jetty. The crew quickly and expertly adjusted the sails as the woman had come to expect of them.
Vanetta Dariav, merchant trader and part-time Pathfinder agent, watched the all-woman crew and considered again what little she knew of them. Supposedly a vagabond trading ship, there were certainly a lot of "unused" but off-limits spaces in the hold, and she was quite well armed even considering the dangerous waters that she plied here just off the shores of Okeno. Vanetta suspected that The First Daughter was likely working anti-slavery operations under an Andoran Letter of Marque, but she couldn't rule out that they might just be pirates. Or maybe a little of both, for who's to say that Pirates can't be good people, too?
Captain Laulah bade Vanetta goodbye as she descended the gangplank into the chaos of the Sedeq docks. Touts and hawkers vied for the attention of the well-dressed and well-armed woman, but she ignored them. Instead, she stopped at a street food stall, bought some deep-fried local fish and got directions to the Vayn manor from the nice little-old-lady owner. Snack in hand, she headed toward the manor, unconsciously adjusting the rapier and starknife at her side, and patting her pockets and pouches to make sure everything was where it belonged. Her fingers trailed across the badge secured to her embroidered jacket, and she tried to recall what she knew of the Kelish peoples and local customs. Her memory of the language had quickly come back to her over the few days journey here, and it was nice to have gotten to practice with a couple of the crew that spoke it.
She wears a Diplomat's Badge so I'd like to get a DC 20 Society check regarding Kelishites. But she also has Kreighton's Cognitive Crossover for Society and Pathfinder Lore. So if she fails the Society check, she can retry with Pathfinder Lore for free. Both are +10 (Expert). But not sure how you want Secret and Recall Knowledge checks done in PBP.
Having just arrived in Sedeq, in southern Qadira in response to Venture-Captain Esmayl ibn Qaradi's letter you are able to meet up with your fellow Pathfinders before visiting Corvius Vayn's manor, or whatever else might strike your fancy.
The Keleshites (pronounced KEHL-esh-eyts) are a people born of the deserts of Casmaron, specifically the Padishah Empire of Kelesh, who reflect the heat of the desert in the fieriness of their passions. They are quick to anger and to forgive, and always pride themselves on their wit and intelligence. While Keleshites often have an arrogance that can be quite off-putting to outsiders, considering what they have achieved as a people, it is not surprising.
Class often inspires how Keleshites grant names. Lower-class Keleshites draw from the horse cultures of central Casmaron alongside their clan and family names, while important and wealthy Keleshites use a single name derived from imperial Kelesh.
Keleshite names can also be influenced by their traditional culture. Most who have no strong connection to a founding culture follow the conventions of the Althameri: a first name followed by a matronymic, with the prefix al- (such as Yaqib al-Marah, meaning "Yaqib, son of Marah"). When more specific identification is necessary, Althameri names can also include an ancestor, while in formal situations a tribal name, merchant house, noble family name, religious temple name, and home city might also be included (such as Yaqib al-marah Tiferi Bekhzadi Al-Hiraf, or Yaqib, son of Marah, a member of the Tiferi tribe and Bekhzadi merchant house, from Al-Hiraf). Members of the imperial family use the family name al-Parishat, with other names representing their branch of the family.
Those associated with the ancient Aishmayar, or artists and socialites who try to foster an association with them, have a single birth name followed by a string of names related to their life's accomplishments (such as Nur-Iqar-Shamah). The Khattibi, who are the ancestors of most citizens of Kelesh, follow an individual's name with a familial name (such as Darya Sadikci), though traditionally that was reversed (as Sadikci-Darya). Mideans, long associated with wealth and patronage, use personal names followed by a patronymic or family name (such as Mizha ibn Illiar, though recently the ibn prefix is dropped). The rare minority of Susianams only use a first name. Tzorehiyi use a first name followed by their tribe's name (such as Nerzad Batgui).
Common male Keleshite names include Aakif, Akkuya, Arasmes, Bahram, Ik-Teshup, Irizati, Khair, Kobad, Ormizd, Parumartish, Rusmanya, Warezana, and Xoshak. Common female Keleshite names include Amestri, Artazostra, Barezata, Iuni, Izora, Khismia, Kyra, Naadhira, Sahba, Shirin, Utana, Waajida, Xemestra, and Zarishu.
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A tall, lean human with skin of dark green - a testament to both his orcish heritage and having been raised in equatorial climates - wears colorful robes that are common to this region. When he speaks, his accent is mottled with a variety of different dialects. "Greetings. I'm Doctor Grime Percival Bloodshanks. You may call me Doc. If you have any special medical needs or conditions I should know about, please let me know, and I'll make sure I have proper medicinals on hand."
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"Nice to have a sea voyage without being pushed into the water or locked in my room," a pale-skinned goblin says as he disembarks. "Give my compliments to the captain."
He pulls out a flute and plays a tune that meanders as much as he does while seeking out his fellow Pathfinders. Once he does, he pockets the instrument and greets them. "Name's Jiki. I'm sure it will be a pleasure to work with you."
A lotus leshy follows him, idly shaking a pair of dice in her hands. "You can call me Sneezewort. I'm mostly here in case he gets lost again."
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A tall elf with white hair is the last off the boat. His long black robes flutter in the sea breeze, revealing a silver lining that glimmers in the sunlight. A pendant of a face made from silver hangs against his chest from a delicate silver chain around his neck - one side tarnished and dark, the other side polished to a mirror-like shine. "May the blessings of Nethys be upon us this day," he intones dramatically. "We shall unravel the mysteries of this magic, and harness its power to create and destroy."
Between the lot of you, you know the following potentially relevant information:
Genies are powerful creatures native to the elemental planes that rule massive elemental kingdoms in the Planes of Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. These elemental planes are some of many realities that exist alongside the more familiar reality of the Material Plane. Spellcasters from the Material Plane conjure and bind genies to leverage their magical power, especially the ability of noble genies to grant wishes. A genie’s wish is dangerous and must be phrased precisely, lest it be twisted by a vengeful genie to harm the wishmaker.
Corvius Vayn is a slave merchant and is known as genie binder. He’s tremendously connected in Qadira, particularly with those in the slave business, but he wields great social power and influence with all the nation’s wealthy elite. Corvius is notorious for the many genies he keeps in under his power, and Sedeq’s city guard likely don’t want to enter the manor because they fear the power of those genies.
Maldlethu and Vanetta both know that his reputation as a genie binder is overblown, born from his habit of keeping geniekin servants in his home.
Feel free to discuss, make whatever preparations and let me know if/when you're ready to head to the Manor.
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As she makes her way through the market, Vanetta picks up the sounds of a happy little flute tune. She smiles in spite of herself and nods her head to the rhythm. When she spots the goblin and his leshy follower, she's a bit surprised but reacts in stride.
"Hello, Jiki. And Sneezewort," she says as the leshy's name brings a wider smile to her lovely face. "The pleasure's mine. Oh, and welcome Doc," she adds smoothly as the half-orc arrives.
She peels back the paper wrapping of the fried fish, and offers any who care to share a piece. "Some kind of local fish, deep fried. I didn't catch what they call it, but it's pretty good."
She eats another chunk and is just swallowing it when Maldlethu arrives . She greets him in turn with an offer of deep fried goodness.
The group stands at the edge of the market, and she looks around poignantly. "Unless anyone needs anything else here, I guess we should head to Vayn's manor."
Approaching the estate, a boisterous crowd surrounds the manor grounds. In addition to onlookers hoping for strange sights, the crowd also consists of the family and friends of those trapped inside and slighted aristocrats who didn’t receive an invitation to the party and are now reveling in Corvius’s predicament. A guard commander in fancy atire keeps the peace and watches and the manor gate, which is sealed shut. Soldiers posted around the clock ensure no one enters by climbing the exterior fence.
What's the plan?
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Vanetta quickly surveys the situation and approaches the guard commander. Easily slipping into Kelish, she greets him with a smile that shows empathy to his duty.
"Commander, hello. We're a team of Pathfinders, and the city government asked us to help you investigate and contain the situation here. So what can we do to help you?"
Her gestures put emphasis to the team's readiness to assist, given that the Commander's probably been under a good bit of stress.
She continues the conversation, but occasionally slips into Common to see if he follows to make it easier on her companions.
How many are trapped inside?
Is there a guest list?
Is there a roster of staff?
Has anything or anyone left the premises in any way?
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Doc listens. Though Kelish is not one of the languages he speaks, he's well versed in enough languages that he hopes he can generally follow along.
When he gets a sense it is an appropriate time to jump into the conversation, he holds out his copy of the letter, saying in Common, "We were sent by Esmayl ibn Qadari, Venture-Captain out of Katheer Lodge. This letter should help establish our credentials."
He smiles pleasantly, trying to win over the guard to give help.
Though usually a bit socially awkward, at the moment he's extremely charismatic.
Guard Commander Suada Al-Sabri takes a look at the letter and nods. She seems equally comfortable in Kellish and Common and seems to have your help.
"Glad you're here. We lost a dozen guards when we first entered through grounds. Some burned alive, others suffocated spontaneously where they stood, clearly well beyond us...."
Following up with some more information "So Three weeks ago, Corvius Vayn hosted an exclusive party in his manor. He has a reputation for bringing his genies out of their bottles at his parties, to grant wishes and perform other magics for his guests, but I’d never believed those stories before now. We don't have a count of the staff but thirty people have been reported missing after attending the party, not including Corvius himself. Other than our ill fated foray on the first day nobody has been in or out."
She will hand you a full list of names, none of them stand out as being particularly out of place.
Atena Al-Samra
Atousa Radid
Azarnoosh Nim-Nur-Fan
Azarnoush Salal
Azita ibn Salim
Barsis Ibn-Saber
Camelia al-Kaiser
Chaliz Kariq
Chekameh ibn-Abdel
Chitra Ibn Sadris
Dima Jamila-Nur-Hir
Erika alWakimi-
Fariam Al-Sarrani
Fasiel ibn Sazadin
Golrokhsara Nim-Ran
Homaira Yando
Houka Kariq
Jahanfar al-Hameh
Kala Al-Amin
Keyghobad Sad-Ris
Khazar Vohra
Kiumartish ibn Sheikhail
Koushyar al-Sulaiman
Laili Hib-Yon-Ahezi
Maryan al-Saber
Melahat Radid
Naseem ibn Samra
ParvarAl-Sarrani
Shara Wasaki
Tutak al-Nazal
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Doc raises an eyebrow. "Suffocated spontaneously, you say? Would it be possible to examine the bodies? We may be able to gain clues about the nature of their demise that eluded detection. I realize if these deaths happened weeks ago, it may not be feasible. If not, could you describe exactly what happened?"
The list of names doesn't seem like any sort of puzzle
She responds "As you guessed they'd all been buried by now. The coroner reported suffocation as though they had been in an enclosed space with a fire and all the oxygen had been used up. Clearly not what should have happened out of doors but with out of control genie magic, anything is possible. Luckily as long as we've stayed out here, nothing has come in or out since."
She looks nervously around at the crowd and back to y'all "If you're ready to go in, I'd appreciate you getting on with it, Your presence is drawing even more attention and we're already getting stretched a little thin with available overtime guarding round th'clock here for 3 weeks."
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Vanetta peers over Jiki's shoulder as he reads the guest list and purses her lips. "So you've no list of the staff and not even a guess as to how many might be in there." She's clearly bothered by that, as one of their main aims is to help the workers that really didn't have any choice to attend.
"I appreciate your situation, Commander, but give me just a minute more."
She turns to the gathered crowd and tries to pick out a family member that looks like they're likely related to staff, not one of the tradesmen or insipid nobles. Though she sympathizes with them too, they're not who she needs to talk to right now. Instead she seeks out someone dressed more simply and appearing to be seriously concerned for someone that might well be their family's only breadwinner.
Approaching such a one, she gives a tight empathic smile and slips back into Kelish.
<"Hi. You have a family member inside that works here? We're going to try to rescue them, but I could use some information that the guards don't seem to have. What's their name? Have they ever said how big the household staff is, or who the head of the staff is? Do they have any friends inside that they've mentioned by name?>"
Checking in with somebody from the crowd Vanetta meets Hassan al-Rashid a young adult "My dad Rashid-al-Marah makes the most wonderful Baklava and he got a large order for the party here. Largest he ever got, he was super excited and delivered them personally to the party. Said he'd never been a a manor with over a dozen servants before. He hasn't come out... Nobody has come out. I hope he's okay. There's been strange magical effects. I don't know what they mean but there's been all sorts. Gouts of flame, sudden clouds, even weird creatures floating around? Clearly people are still alive in there."
Several knowledgeable ones among you suspect the descriptions of creatures are of Mephits and possibly air elementals, as well as elemental leakages from various other planes.
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A dwarf flows out of the crowd towards the Pathfinders. It's obvious that she doesn't spend a lot of time around people with the twigs in her hair and a few flowers attached to her tunic. She nods at the party, "Durg. The messenger got lost." with no other explanation. She's carrying a practically new morningstar, while her fists and feet are wrapped in cloth.
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Doc holds up two moderate antiplagues. "Anyone care to take a preventative before we go? I prepare three every morning and drink one of them, but they last all day. High in electrolytes, and really boost the immune system. This doesn't seem like an infectious situation, but better safe than sorry."
Once anyone has claimed and drunk the antiplagues, he pulls out his crossbow. He takes one of his lesser frost vials and mounts it in the strange looking bracket atop the crossbow.
With the party able to catch Durg up, Suada Al-Sabri lets you in the front gate, closing it quickly behind you. Past the tall stone wall and iron gate you see fruit trees, flowers, and fountains that fill the grounds.
Manicured stone paths lead to the house and to each individual outdoor area. There are gazebos of various sizes, a stream, and a large fish pond. The manor itself is two stories tall and made from red adobe bricks.
Windows of various sizes dot the walls, along with balconies small and large. The manor has a disjointed silhouette, as if the architect attempted to fill a single building with the dominant feature of every palace and castle they had ever seen, each now fighting with each other to be the focal point of the finished estate. A pair of ornate stone staircases guide the way to the manor’s main entrance.
Taking a closer look through the windows reveals that some rooms look like lavish but ordinary dining or sitting rooms, while other windows seem to peer into verdant jungles, sandy beaches, or underwater vistas. You can see shadows moving inside but nothing distinct as people, there seems to be some sort of magic protecting the privacy of those inside.
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With no one else speaking up to claim the "electrolyte" drink (whatever those are, Vanetta wonders), she takes it from Doc and quaffs it. "Heh, not bad. Could use some flavoring though. Maybe Orange, or Lemon-Lime?" she suggests.
The manor has a disjointed silhouette, as if the architect attempted to fill a single building with the dominant feature of every palace and castle they had ever seen, each now fighting with each other to be the focal point of the finished estate.
She surveys the tacky architecture. "Well, someone lacks taste, that's for sure. A little too impressed by his own ego and self-importance, I'd guess. So an arrogant ass that enslaves genies to grant wishes, and it all went sideways. Why am I not surprised?" she muses aloud.
"Should we do a survey of the grounds first? Walk the perimeter, then head in through the front door unless something else obvious presents itself."
If the rest agree, she heads counter-clockwise around the mansion looking for stray survivors or anything weird. Well, weirder than jungles, beaches and reefs in windows, anyway.
It's easy enough to take a lap around. You find the scorch marks near where you started of the poor guards the attempted the initial foray but not much of interest otherwise. The fruit trees, flowers, and fountains all seem in reasonably good shape, although a bit overgrown as if nobody has tended them in the last few week.
No signs of other creatures of note having entered or left the house.
Unsurprisingly, there is magic present.
Only the front door seems to have a functional handle, the other doors and windows don't seem to have any functional opening mechanisms.
The front door does not seem trapped at least.
[ooc[A good question. I've now labeled the front door on the map. In this case the bit in front of the double doors is not walled, but that section does have an overhang to keep the weather of off guests waiting to enter. There are a couple cases in this adventure where the description and map don't seem to perfectly match and I'll try and do a better job of calling them out more explicitly as we continue. For clarity's sake I've also added orange dots to the map where the posts are that hold up the overhang.[/ooc]
Opening the door doesn't reveal the inside of the manor, so much as some sort of elemental rift from which dozens, if not hundreds of mephits of all sort come pouring out, flapping their terrifying little wings. All sorts of elements mixed together.
Inside you do not see the manor, but this strange shifting elemental landscape. You suspect you'll have to close the rift and defeat the mephits to get inside.
Initiative:
Durg
Rift
Maldlethu
Jiki
Doc Bloodhanks
Blue Dots
Vanetta
Green Dashes
Black Mix
Hallow Dark
White Solid
Durg is up!
Many mephits are burned rather badly, taking extra damage from the area of effect with numerous critically failing. Only a few dozen remain.
Rocks and other debris spiral out from the rift slamming into Maldlethu
Initiative:
Durg
Rift
Maldlethu (Ref DC 22)
Jiki
Doc Bloodhanks
Vanetta
Black Mix (-25)
White Solid (-25)
Maldlethu (ref save 22), Jiki, Doc Bloodhanks and Vanetta are up!
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Maldlethu ducks under a large pick of stone and spreads his arms wide. “Magic against magic, wild and untamed!” His eyes widen and shine with a fanatical glow before dimming in disappointment. “Yet it must be tamed. Honed, yes. Bottled to burn more brightly when called forth on purpose and not by accident! Yes!” His expression rises with each word.
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"You like magic? Let me add some of my own!"
◇ Cast Lingering Composition
3 rounds if they are level 10 or less, 4 rounds instead if they are level 2 or less.
◆ Cast Dirge of Doom
All enemies within 30 feet of Jiki are frightened 1 and cannot lower this value below 1 while within this range.
◆◆ Cast Dispel Magic
Maldlethu ducks under most of the rocks, moves up to the rift and shows off their impressive magical ability and manages to close the rift!
Jiki frightens the remaining mephits.
Initiative:
Durg
Rift
Maldlethu (55/60)
Jiki (2)
Doc Bloodhanks
Vanetta
Black Mix (-25) F1
White Solid (-25) F1
Jiki(2 actions), Doc and Vanetta are up!
The swarms are made of of mixes of elementals and there don't seem to be enough of any individual mephit to present energy resist to any of the swarms.
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Vanetta reacts instantly to the manifesting creatures. Her star-knife seems to leap into her hand from its strap on her finely tooled belt.
But as the nature of the threat becomes clear, the swashbuckler steps back out of the way of those better equipped to deal with such things. That doesn't mean she doesn't want to help, so she flings her star-knife at the swarm on the right. She doesn't really expect it to do much, but it feels better than just standing around.
She easily catches it and immediately sends it back at the same swarm.
Despite being a target rich environment, Vanetta hits a single mephit with their first throw against the frightened swarm, it's just not very effective. The second throw goes wide.
While Doc readies to throw a bomb Jiki fires an arrow into the swarm and drops a single mephit.
The first of the remaining swarms makes for the doorway, but it's met with Doc's readied bomb which finishes off both remaining swarms.
With that the doorway turns back into a normal door and you can see into the Main Hall of the house.
There you see a sandy beach oasis, complete with palm trees and a desert spring. Destroyed furniture and old food litter the ground, but the sky is clear above and the water glistens in the warm sunlight. Pillars, doors, and the stairs of the house all remain, disrupting the beach and drawing attention to the strangeness of the sight.
There are seven bodies that based on their clothing appear to be guests. Also easily removable from the doorway are several glowing orbs of
pure, crystallized elemental energy that Doc recognizes as alchemical components.
There may be more clues if you want to head in and investigate further.
Durg
Rift
Maldlethu (55/60)
Jiki
Doc Bloodhanks
Vanetta
Heading in doesn't cause any sort of disaster or teleportation effect to occur.
The various bodies and their impact craters in the sand seem to indicate they were dropped from quite a height.