"We should stay together," Daehalya says. "None of the journey so far has been easy, and there's no reason to think that will change here."
She looks over the areas Zeah suggested. "I think the library makes sense to start, or the tower."
Grundle nods. "Yes. I have a book to return there anyway."
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Nicky laughs as Grundle's joke. Yeah. Returning a book. Hopefully the librarian doesn't charge late fees.
Also, if demons overwhelmed this area, i doubt there's books really left at the library anyway. But, it's a good place to start. Let's look for Gods in the pages of composed prose!
Nicky is feeling upbeat. This place is right up his alley-
He looks around.
Alvarius, who was going to suggest the library, instead keeps quiet in case folks change their mind.
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Among the crumbling stone shelves of Domora’s last standing library lie weather-beaten tablets bearing the city’s greatest secrets. You find a bevy of historical information on Domora here, including old maps and useful details about the city’s layout.
Located near the northern edge of Domora, this twostory room is the only extant area of what was once a much larger library. A staircase connects the ruin’s western and eastern halves.
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Nicky pulls out the magnifying glass and reviews everything.
DC 23 Occultism
Hey, Maps. Maps and stone tablets are useful.
Alvarius, is your moth friend- Bee- still hanging out with us, or has she become bored to the bone with you.
PUN intended!
Nicky raises a coy finger.
I'd like to ask her to see if there are other moths around this library and might know a thing or two. Being they have the home field advantage.
Daehalya relaxes ever so slightly. "I will be honest, I thought it would be more difficult," she admits. "Some sort of monster we would have to slay before we were able to look through the stacks."
Still, she remains on guard, her focus on possible threats distracting her from looking through the books. Even with her skill with a staff, it's hard to search books while keeping both hands on it.
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Alvarius may not have spent more time than strictly necessary in a library, but he generally knows what he's looking for when it comes to all things occult.
Beatrice the moth flits about, following Alvarius as he conducts his searching. She responds to Nicky by ignoring him. "Your horny friend seems to see himself as a funny man. I don't like it."
The skeletal wizard responds. "Stick around. He might just grow on you."
"I doubt it." the moth replies in a tone as dry as the pages they search through.
"Yes, yes, a joke..."
Grundle surreptitiously slips the book back into his pack and begins to look around.
He scans the area in vain for a ladder.
"I will start with the lower shelves."
"There is yet time to learn that the pages are infested with some abyssal disease or the books will rise to assault the tribe for daring to steal the secrets of the god callers," he amurrun says before he slips away to investigate the old tomes and other relics of knowledge. He wears his wooden masked carved and painted to resemble a cheetah this day.
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You are able to uncover several facts through the dusty tomes at your dispposal.
Hieroglyphic inscriptions on the walls tell the story of how Domora’s first god caller, Domora Hume, summoned the goddess Dyzad to repel a massive party of invading raiders.
A series of stone tablets detail ancient Sarkorian god-calling rites performed on the shores of Hume’s Pool that far predate Domora Hume’s legendary feat, suggesting that the body of water had long been known to have sacred properties.
Domora’s founder, Domora Hume, saved his people from violent raiders by summoning a powerful water spirit named Dyzad from the lake just outside town. Henceforth, the water was called Hume’s Pool, and the people of
Domora revered Dyzad and Domora Hume as goddess and god caller. Future generations of Domorans continued the tradition of god calling, summoning Dyzad and other spirits to guide and protect the city.
The free-standing stone shelves filling the library once contained hundreds of tomes, historical artifacts, and other implements of higher learning. Though many of the library’s treasures have been destroyed or gone missing, the shelves themselves remain intact—barely.
Luckily you each notice the precarious shelving and avoid it.
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"The ruins of this once-proud city stand as a testament to the bitter irony of human faith and frailty. Here, its people, with unwavering conviction, called upon their gods, their voices raised in fervent prayer, pleading for divine protection. And yet, the city now lies in silent decay, its temples shattered, its streets overtaken by the relentless march of time and oblivion. The irony is sharp: the very gods to whom they entrusted their survival did not, or could not, intervene.
It is as if the stone and dust whisper of the futility of seeking salvation from forces beyond human understanding. In their desperate calls for protection, they overlooked the fragility of their own existence, placing faith in the invisible, while the tangible world around them crumbled. Now, those who once prayed are gone, their voices lost to the wind, while the ruins stand as mute witnesses to the ultimate indifference of the universe."
"Onye Dinta does not understand what Grundle said," the catfolk confesses to the gnome.
"I understand what he's saying. It's just jibberish is all. No offense, Grundle."
He considers what they've learned. "I think checking out Domora Hume's tower next feels like the right call. These books speak of them, and I'm willing to bet we'll understand them better by going to their home. And we can then skip all of the contemplation of mortal frailty. Trust me, it's not worth thinking about."
"Alvarius is right, to a degree. The gods can lead us -- Findeladlara brought my people to safety in the Crown of the World -- but we must act on our own as well. We mortals control our own destiny, for better or worse."
She considers.
"I agree we should go to the tower next."
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Nicky contemplates the varied opinions. He quickly agrees that the tower is the next best place to go. He makes other observations.
Yuppers. The Tower is next. You know Alvarius- I recall a rediculous story about a mage at the top of a tower who whispered to a moth like Beatrice and the moth beatrice then called an eagle to save the magus.
Does Bee have that kinda sway with giant eagles? Ask her. Say inquiring minds wants to know.
Also, I did find it interesting that the pool that had mystical summoning properties is now fully dried. I would probably write a story where the real waters of Hume's Pool are in a cistern deep underground. Hidden until the hero of ages arrives and the pool gets a new name- no longer Hume's pool, but Nicky's Water Park.
I'm just spit-balling. Now that I say it aloud, your deep religious talk was a whole lot better.
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The next day you decide to head as a group back into the ruins to investigate Hume's Tower.
After Domora Hume summoned Dyzad at Hume’s Pool, a stone tower was constructed near the city founder’s stables. From this tower, Domora communed with his goddess and trained aspirants who wanted to continue
the tradition of god calling. Even after his passing, Domora’s Tower was an important place of study for the city’s future generations of spiritual leaders.
Though badly damaged, the tower remains standing after all these years. A winding stone staircase circles the tower’s interior and connects its five stories. Each story is one large, open room.
"Not gonna lie, this place is interesting. Very interesting."
"Yes," Daehalya agrees. "Clearly a true place of learning."
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Five stories?! Weren't they worried about a Dragon attack? Or a Mind Flayer attack? Opps, sorry. Mind Flayers don't really exist. Just fancy tales to scare children. Even if they did, I spoke out of turn on how a 5 story tower would be detrimental to a mind flayer. Now a swooping dragon could crush a tower like this in 6,12,or 18 seconds.
Alrighty then- what can I find in this place. He has his magnifying glass out once again.
DC 21
"Is it not the essence of hubris to name a town, a tower, and a lake after oneself? It is an act that speaks to the human desire to defy impermanence, to etch one’s name onto the landscape as if the earth itself could be claimed and conquered by mere identity. The folly lies in the belief that such gestures of ego can resist the ravages of time, as if by naming these places, one could transcend mortality and secure a legacy beyond the fleeting grasp of human memory.
Yet, nature and time are indifferent to such grand proclamations. The town will fade, the tower will crumble, and the lake will outlast its name. In the end, the land will reclaim what was always its own, and the name, once spoken with pride, will dissolve into the same oblivion that swallows all things. To name so much after oneself is to believe that one’s significance is greater than the forces that govern existence—a tragic and timeless error in the human condition."
Grundle pauses.
"I suppose in this case the name outlasted the lake."
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The catfolk makes his way around the tower. "Domora name the lake? The people who came after to learn may have named the tower in honor of Domora," the catfolk muses. "Grundle may be speaking ill of the dead without foundation."
"Grundle may be speaking ill of the dead without foundation."
"You noticed that too, hey?"
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Tucked between the staircase and the wall are a quartet of large metal plates, each etched with a portrait and a fantastical story of one of Domora Hume’s most talented students. These four students came from four separate Sarkorian clans. Their names were Sagiyas Howlingblood, Jaki Allriver, Gennin Wintersun, and Alkin Stareye.
A tightly rolled tapestry hidden in the hollow leg of a table was spared destruction. The tapestry shows Domora Hume’s four successors standing in a circle, enacting a ritual. A beastly yet regal crustacean the size of a bear rises from a pillar of water between the assembled god callers. Sarkorian runes describe the scene, explaining how the city’s greatest god callers could, even after Domora Hume’s death, channel their combined powers to summon the original divine protector of Domora, the goddess Dyzad.
Hidden in the ceiling tiles is a series of vellum scrolls. The scrolls were written by Domora Hume himself, and they concern the matter of divine beings rising from the depths of the nearby lake called Hume’s Pool. Hume speculated that his city was a good place for god calling because the lake’s blessed waters ran beneath Domora via an extensive aquifer system.
Hidden within the ceiling tiles is also:
With this newfound information it unlocks a bit more of the overall tale of Domora.
Many of the deities summoned by Domora’s god callers were spirit guides. Spirit guides are phantasmal creatures that represent various aspects of the natural world. They often manifest as chimeric beasts that combine features from multiple animals or elements of nature such as plants and weather phenomena.
During the Worldwound, a demon called Malgamon took special pleasure in slaughtering spirit guides and the god callers who worked with them. Malgamon was known to lair in Domora’s underground cistern, but no demon slayers ever managed to penetrate this dungeon—the wells and tunnels that had once connected to the cistern were all destroyed during the demonic incursion. Still, Malgamon somehow managed to make forays to the surface, so a final entrance to the cistern must exist somewhere.
Grundle considers the feedback from his colleagues and the skeleton and summarily dismisses it.
"It appears that we may find a means to track down Malgamon's lair, although I do not yet understand how that will benefit us."
"I suspect that entrance may be in the mausoleum. Do we want to visit the battlefield first?"
"I think the battlefield makes sense. I don't want to fight a demon, but if it's still here, we should rid the city of it. Even if it's not immediately helpful, it will make Sarkoris safer again. The Worldwound was literally an injury to Golarion and we can help heal it."
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I predicted it! Holy Ghozrah! I predicted the cistern!
I even chastised myself for not having as good of discourse as Daehalya and Grundle. INSTEAD----- I hit a bulls-eye all along!
Nicky takes a moment to use various hand and arm movements to show his immense pleasure in himself.
Examples are two arms straight up (field goal), arms aimed to the side (WWF body pose from wrestler Zeus), even shuffling his feet along the dusts floors (Michael Jackson moon walk).
Settling down.
So, it's fighting demon time? Oh, we are going to the battlefield first. Smart. Then the Mausoleum. Battlefield- Onward HO!
And... someone take this cool magic. I'll hold onto the gold.
Alvarius grabs the magic bag and moves on.
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On your way to the cistern you investigate the last little bit of information you are able to muster at the battlefield.
This windswept battlefield is an obvious site, not far from the Reclaimers’ camp. For many years, Mendevian crusaders tried to retake Domora to establish a base of operations west of the Worldwound, but each attempt was beaten back by the demons occupying the city. The majority of these battles took place in these fields.
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battlefields are not my forte'.
Cisterns, story boarding, juggling, women and The Circus are my forte. I know a few of those things don't mesh well, but it's a rare person that can list those subjects and have better breadth of knowledge.
Nicky says as he kicks a heap he found on the battle field.
DC 23
Hmmmm. What did I find? Maybe there's MORE subjects I am an expert in!
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"Knowledge is half the battle, my friend," Daehalya reassures Nicky. "See, look at what you've discovered!"
She's so busy paying attention to him that she doesn't pay much attention to the landscape around her.
Alvarius is preoccupied by the banter as well. "Knowledge is half the battle. But what the books will gloss over is that the other half of the battle is... battle. Dying isn't something that the academics enjoy dwelling on."
Grundle finds himself agreeing with the skeleton. It is an uneasy feeling.
"Indeed, knowledge alone is passive. It is the foundation, the map, but not the journey itself. The other half of the battle lies in action, in the will to confront the unknown, in the courage to apply that knowledge amidst uncertainty and chaos.
To possess knowledge is essential, but it is the capacity to act upon it, to transform understanding into decisive movement, that completes the struggle. Many who know much are paralyzed by fear, doubt, or circumstance. It is the merging of knowledge and action, of thought and courage, that truly defines the battle."
"But I see nothing, so it appears I have no halves of the battle."
The catfolk moves rubble out of his way as he searches for clues.
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Scattering across the field of battle you uncover very little. The armaments and remains scattered about all vary considerably in age. Clearly, there was more than just one battle here—there were dozens over many years.
Even after Abyssal magic dried Hume’s Pool to a muddy pond at the center of a dry lakebed, it remained a sacred site. Knowing this, Malgamon lured his prey to Hume’s Pool, then funneled them into his lair through a now-dry tunnel to the city’s cistern system. Dyzad—the first Domoran goddess—and four powerful spirit guides were the last known deities to enter Malgamon’s cistern lair.
As you begin to gather back up to head towards the lair entrance at the cistern you feel the ground shake slightly. Looking to each other you see nothing of immediate concern. Then one by one bones begin to protrude from the ground as a huge hill soon forms filled with bone, mud, and worms. The hill shakes slowly at first then gives more powerful thrusts as hunks of dirt and debris from past battles fall free from a might ribcage revealing a powerful looking undead dragon standing between you all.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
➤ Nicholo
➤ Onye
⠀⠀➤ Uhu
➤ Grundle
Undead Dragon
Alvarius
Daehalya
The amurrun prowler calls upon the spirits of creation. A faintly glowing mist surrounds him and expands. When the mist recedes, a large, especially for the usually lithe hunting cat the mask he wore that day, represented--cheetah stands in his place.
The cheetah growls and clicks. In response, the shadowy eagle-owl wings around the ruin to the other side where Grundle and Nicholo stand.
"Companions, we stand on the edge of inevitable conflict. I fear that this is not a foe we can negotiate with, nor one that will heed any call to reason. What looms before us is a force of raw, unrelenting power, a relic of death itself."
He points.
"We must be swift and resolute, for hesitation will only feed the jaws of this skeletal abomination."
He then points at the dragon.
Finally, he skitters next to Nicky.
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Nicky's mind races for answers but comes up with little at the moment. All he knows for sure is this is an undead dragon.
Onye transforms into a lithe hunting cat as Grundle sends debris that bounces harmlessly off of the rotten skeletal structure. The dragon's eyes spark with a ghostly purple hue that reflects down part of its jawline. Its once mighty lungs and deadly breath are now filled with rotten poison and hunks of mud that spray against Grundle and Nicholo.
The bones and rotten corpse creak as it looks to destroy everything around it.
──────────
BOLD IS UP!:
──────────
➤ Nicholo
➤ Onye
⠀⠀➤ Uhu
➤ Grundle
Undead Dragon
➤ Alvarius
➤ Daehalya
HP 83/83
AC 25 (+1 vs. traps), deny advantage, cold resistance 3
Fort +11, Ref +17, Will +12 (+1 vs. traps)
Hero Points: 3
Deviant backlash DC: 10
Effects:
"Begone, bones," Daehalya says as she moves cautiously toward the dragon. "We come in search of Dyzad, not your remains."
She swings her staff, the color again leeching briefly from her as she turns to snow and ice, and brutally smashes the unliving monstrosity.
The cheetah growls and clicks again. The owl swoops toward the undead giant. Then the cheetah slips forward and snaps at the dragon while the owl harries the dragon's face.
+
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Leaving nothing to chance, Alvarius hurls a combination of crackling electricity and glowing force magic at the undead creature. "You're asking for it now, creature!"
Seeing the dragon remain a stationary target, Grundle spins up a trash tornado, centered on the bony beast that is not Alvarius.
He then mouths a Message to Onye.
"Do what you need to do."
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Seeing the bone dragon, he is not very impressed.
Some stupid people would look upon you and be scared of a corpse. Not us! Little Did you know We have our own skeletal mage that we've been traveling with. And experience has taught us that a skeletal version of a dragon is an inept comparison to the real thing!
No offense Alvarius! Just trying to prove a point to Boney here.
◆◆ Bot Mot
Pursue a lead bonus?
Then Nicky reaches out with his hand and fires a beam of fire at the dragon.
◆◆◆ Blasting Beams.
__________
Next Round.
DC 28 Reflex.
He licks his lips. Yup. Poison. I'm good at detecting poison.
◆ Shared Strategem - Devise a Strategy
◆◆ Shoot blasting beams.
◆◆◆ Pull out Rapier.
Ouch. Bad round for Nicky. Lots of damage to him.