Dot here when ready.
The team has been summoned to the city of Vellumis in Lastwall to meet with Venture-Captain Shevar Besnik at the Uscalin Lodge. Perhaps unusually, the Lodge is in the Ace of Dreams, a gambling house. On arrival, you are escorted to a back room where the Venture-Captain maintains his office. Even through the heavy door, loud and raucous conversation can still be heard from the common room. "I know it's here. I had it just a moment ago." The Venture-Captain lifts piles of papers and numerous boxes off of his desk, stacking them on various side tables and chairs in his clean but less than organized office. The tall Varisian man's face parts in a toothy grin as he lifts up a solid oak box. "Found it!" As if to punctuate his discovery, a crowd of players out in the common room erupts in cheers. Distracted for a moment, Besnik stares at the closed office door that leads to the common room. "Desna laughs. Well, she laughs at me, but she smiles on them." The venture-captain shrugs. "All they have is gold; what I have in here is far more valuable."
Besnik opens the box’s lid painstakingly slowly, careful to keep the contents out of sight. With reverence, he lifts a large tome from the box and gently sets it on the table. "Careful, the binding hasn’t held up well. This is one of the few copies of the Tome of Righteous Repose left in the world. I’m pretty sure there’s one in the library of the Sancta Iomedaea in Vigil, but I’m—well, let’s just say I’m no longer welcome there. That’s a story for another time.
"Up until today, I’ve only skimmed the pages. I didn’t want to damage it, but now that you’re here, I can’t wait any longer. Care to plumb the depths of this most ancient and wonderful storybook? Oh, the marvelous adventures we will soon read! This tome is a collection of tales describing how various crusaders died gloriously and honorably. I’m hoping to find some clues in the text that will lead us to an as-of-yet undiscovered site or relic. Maybe we can trade a bit of what we find with the Knights of Ozem and earn ourselves some goodwill. After what happened last time, we need it.
"Care to peruse the pages with me?" He clears a space on a nearby work table and gently sets the ponderous tome down.
A funny and curious red creature flies into the room. It is the size of a large dragonfly and has the same wings, but otherwise it is a real red dragon. It also wears a masterwork chainshirt that fits its diminutive size.
My greetings to you! You might assume that the voice will be ringing, but it turns out to be unexpectedly low and powerful My name is Vellestir. I am escorting lady Zeta, mighty warrior of the Silver Crusade. And here she is!
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Following this message, a woman enters the room, dressed in stylish black fullplate which looks like it was made up of pieces from taldan and kelish heavy armor. Here and there on this armor are engraved fire-winged demonesses fighting with fire-winged feminine angels. Neither side looks like a winner in this battle.
Her skin is dark brown, her hair is bright red, and her red eyes are like two smoldering embers that can ignite at any moment. On top of everything else, she has small horns on the head and veins of bright red on the neck and hands.
She also has a lot of gold and silver jewelry* that slightly tinkling with each step (many repeat the theme of dangerous succubi and seductive fiery angels to one degree or another) and white scarf with golden kelish painting that can easily be turned into a hijab.
Hey! Zeta raises her hand and smiles playfully**. Her tone is not nearly as serious as her herald's. I have just finished searching for treasures in the tombs of Osirion and I will be just happy to search for new treasures in the tombs of Lastwall... in such a wonderful new company! She smiles mysteriously again.
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Sakura dismounts from her proud white horse with barding and walks into the VC's office. She walks with strong but slow steps and clearly is combat trained.
A spiny brown Hedgehog is sitting on her shoulder. When the hedgehog sees you it obviously feels threatened, and rolls up into a spiny ball as a defense mechanism.
"Greetings to you all Shenendril, Vellestir, and Zeta. I am Sakura." says the young woman with a neutral facial expression void of emotion.
Sakura’s whole form has metallic hues. Her silver and golden skin flickers and periodically coruscates with sparkling crystalline dust that has an exotic appeal. Her silver eyes lack any pupils and her hair shines with golden colors.
Her body looks strong but not quite agile. She does not have a natural presence and comes across as cold and distant sometimes.
Her full plate armor and shield as well as the great sword that is attached to her wrist with a very fine chain show that she is a warrior.
Facing you all she bows.
“I am ready to join you Pathfinders. I am eager to learn more about these documents that you speak of Venture Captain!“ she says.
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Kridash greets Besnik as he enters the room. "Odd place for a lodge. I must admit." she notes as he looks around. "Not complaining, but it seems unusual."
He looks at the carefully stored book, and makes sure to give it a wide berth. "Our only copy? So is it safe to manipulate with it? Is there a protocol? Perhaps it would be wiser to make copies and study those? I admit I am not an academic type, so I am not sure how these things are handled."
The half orc waves at the dragon with a raised eyebrow, then at the ifrit woman in his company. "Hi. Call me Ash."
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Shenendril straightens and stiffens as the dragon makes his announcement. After her last mission, she has learned to toe the line when it comes to people who feel important enough to have heralds.
Her trepidation disappears as Zeta enters and proves not at all pretentious.
"A pleasure to have you with us," Shenendril says to the Ifrit.
Then, Sakura enters and she is cold, at least.
"Welcome," she says, a bit guardedly. She is beginning to wonder if all the agents on this mission will be plane-touched when Kridash arrives.
She smiles and gives him a hug. "Ash! Good to see you again. I look forward to working with you."
With those introductions out of the way, she turns back to the book.
Zeta smiles affably and nods to everyone who personally greets her. Meanwhile, the dragon hovers over the book and looks at the unique tome with fascination.
He dons a pair of silk gloves before opening the book, the skill and care of his handling at odds with his otherwise louche and carefree affect.
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The brawny woman with metallic skin thinks for a moment.
“I happen to know a lot about this tomes context, like the gnome poet named Rellakarabee Fustbickle and Lastwall and some of the circumstances … mostly from my Tian mother and my studies at the order of the Tome! Let me explain… “ the rational fighter says.
“Venture-Captain, any dangers or topics of note that you’d like the share with us?“ she asks.
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Shenendril looks at the book reverently but listens closely as Sakura explains what she knows about the history of the tome and its author.
"So, there's a chance that we'll have to do some interpretations to find what we're looking for. It will be like looking for a National Treasure," she comments.
"And it sounds like we may have to worry about the people guarding against the bad guys as the bad guys, themselves."
Time passes as the Venture-Captain carefully turns pages, taking notes and allowing the party to do likewise. Most of the poems found are, as Sakura recalls, rather melodramatic, and in an archaic style that's occasionally difficult to follow. Then he comes to an unusual piece of art on the page facing a poem. The piece is in a Minkai art style, and depicts three warrior women in Minkai armor. At the sight Besnik jolts upright. "Minkai art! Let's see...the date conversion makes this tricky, but as I recall the Minkai Empire was founded in 3619, and their first explorers didn't reach the west coast of the continent until at least 3691--only sixty years before the start of the Shining Crusade itself. If the painting is of actual people, they could have been among the first Minkai citizens to reach the Inner Sea! Now, what do they have to do with this poem?"
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Ash seems a little startled when receiving the hug. He awkwardly pats Shenendril on the back to return the favour, but it seems clear this is a rare interaction in his life.
"Yeah, hi. Nice seeing you folks again. AND the people new to the pack."
He then listens to the reading of the poem, dumbfounded.
"Uh - I'm lost. Who or what is Mordesha?"
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The door flies open and a human woman bustles in. Dressed in the durable khaki clothes of an explorer, she removes a white pith hat and says, "Hi everyone! Is this the Pathfinder meeting? I'm sorry I'm late. I'm Professor Keighma Vashkaynen. Keighma is fine. I just arrived from a dig in Osirion. Would you believe there was no teleportation available?"
Her eyes go wide as she sees the book open before Besnik.
"Is that it?" she asks excitedly. "I'd heard a rumor that we'd be dealing with the Tome of Righteous Repose. This is amazing!"
Behind her, a small figure peeks around the door. "Momma?"[/v] says a small, girlish voice.
[b]"That's OK, Annie. Come on in," Keighma says.
The voice belongs to a doll with obsidian black eyes and dark curly hair tied in red ribbons.
"I hope it's ok that I've brought my daughter along. I promise she won't get in the way."
Or was he betrayed? A thoughtful miniature dragon carefully studies the poem.
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Shenendril taps her chin thoughtfully. "It sounds like Mordesha is a place and they buried these heroes there but then someone else brought them back somehow.
"The real question though, is how do we find Mordesha? I assume it's not marked on the map? If it is, that would be extremely easy. But it sounds like they made a concerted effort to erase it from history," she continues.
She's gone into thought so just nods at the newcomers.
The Venture-Captain nods excitedly. "I don't know if 'Mordesha' is the name of a place or a person. Are the samurai the heroes who the poem evokes? Wherever these terrible events took place holds the answers to our mystery. Once we can verify the location, we can share the information with the Knights of Ozem. If some dark force still haunts the place, remove it. I have a ritual that can unravel evil magic." He searches through his office, eventually coming up with a finger-length scroll case.
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Sakura tries to shed some light on what she learned when her earlier interactions in the area.
"Well, some information I can provide. The nation of Lastwall is governed by their military through a single elected leader, the Watcher-Lord. Although the Knights of Ozem are prominent in both the military and politics, not all citizens are knights, or even soldiers.
Followers of good deities are abundant in Lastwall, but so are followers of other militaristic deities such as Gorum. Though known as a nation of paladins and clerics, many of the soldiers in Lastwall are not very religious.
Defenses against the orcs have been waning, and many Lastfolk are concerned that if the orcs organize enough to mount an offensive, Lastwall may not survive the attack.
The crusaders spend most of their resources guarding their borders, while dark forces go unnoticed inside the country. Yet if the knights move resources from the battlefront to patrol the interior, the borders could quickly crumble."
Besnik ponders what the party has put forth. "That's right! The Whispering Tyrant raised the dead crusaders as undead, so the crusaders had to act. I've read something about that...." His voice trails off as he rummages around in one of the bottom drawers of his desk before pulling out a folio volume and flipping through the pages. "It was in Blackwillow's Histories...got it! They'd protect their dead by interring them in hidden crypts, under consecrated cathedrals. Now, Tar-Baphon or his strongest students could still break through the wards and breach the crypts. Mordesha might be the name of one of those sites."
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Suddenly, the Aphrodite starts thinking.
“Well, I remember something now. Though Mordesha was apparently once a town, it appears on no official maps. However, some 45 miles or so north of Vellumis there's a field, still blackened by fire centuries after the Shining Crusade, with tall cairns. The locals call it Yua's Fingers, and believe it's an old druid site fouled by evil magic. The roads in the area curve a mile or so around the forest surrounding it. We should go there!“ she says coldly.
The Venture-Captain jumps as Camina speaks. "Where did you come from? Never mind that--I've got a few things that might help." Carefully closing the Tome, Besnik opens a locked cabinet and looks through it. "Here you are!" He hands over a traveler's any-tool, a wand of cure moderate wounds with 6 charges, a wand of protection from evil with 7 charges, an oil of bless weapon, and a pair of +1 flaming arrows.
It takes about two days to reach the location. The trip is uneventful...at least as far as hostile encounters are concerned. The weather is another matter entirely; a thunderstorm blows in on the afternoon of the last day of the trip, and it's a good thing that all of you are hardy adventurers and used to this sort of thing. After struggling through the dense forest, the party reaches a muddy field dotted with pillars of blackened stone clawing at the sky like skeletal fingers. Lightning flashes cast strange shadows across the ground.
It takes some time to find the entrance. The opening must once have been sealed shut, but time and erosion have revealed it, and it appears that someone--or something--has cleared away some of the debris to make it more accessible. A long set of stairs descends, water running down the stone steps and making them difficult to traverse.
The staircase ends in the north wall of a cavernous chamber that reaches east to west, with several smaller corridors branching outward from it. Dust (except where the rainfall has washed it away) and other signs of neglect mark it, and the corners are shadowed. To the east lies a single stone sarcophagus, with a lengthy text passage engraved in the wall behind it. A bronze plaque turned nearly black with verdigris is affixed to the top of the sarcophagus; it reads "General Dame Vheist," and under the name is the winged eye symbol of Aroden.
The text describes a mighty battle, in which the general led a cavalry charge into a valley filled with undead.
There's nothing else apparent in the vast chamber save for the multiple exits.