After 3 rounds the shikigami retreats to the artifact it inhabits, albeit it is still vibrating angrily. Mercival continues to try to sooth it and says out of the corner of his mouth, "I'll have to stay close by this thing and keep it calm and relaxed, but you may take a self guided tour of this gallery, it should have everything related to what Master Shayne mentioned in his letters to me."
As you all start to look around at the various artifacts and exibits in the gallery, which is centerpeiced by a magnificent totem missing it's base, Corgrim and Tannivh notice something.
You notice a hidden compartment attached to the bottom of this Totem. Within the compartment is a sketch of a man wearing a triple-flanged helm without eyeholes, a black ring, and a scrawled note that says simply, “Helven took the base of this totem for some purpose I cannot ascertain. Perhaps he has taken it to Absalom?”
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"Helven took the base of this totem for some purpose I cannot ascertain. Perhaps he has taken it to Absalom."
He turns to the others.
"Find the matching base while you are looking around."
Tannivh lets the others do research and fills in at the end as he pretty much knew everything about everything.
He points to his new apprentice.
"Joyce, get hopping, these books aren't researching themselves. Do I have to do everything on this mission!?!?"
Jack clearly has no need for applicable skills, as he is cleary intelligent enough to get by without them and notices that Details of certain sites described in Helven Leroung’s published accounts differ from recent maps and surveys, suggesting she was never at those locations.
Tannivh, comfortable in any academic setting, notices the The word choice and syntax in Helven’s accounts are atypical of Chelish authorship, though suggestive of tales arising from oral traditions. Depictions on some Shoanti reliefs predating the arrival of Chelish settlers bear striking parallels and similarities to Helven’s accounts.
Lilac will attempt Perception
after a while of researching and comparing notes you are able to discover:
- that Helven provided intelligence to Chelish forces regarding the location of a Shoanti tribe known to be plundering sites around the region.
- Witnesses told Montlarion of a Chelish woman aiding a Shoanti tribe during the war before those Shoanti were slain.
- Montlarion had an altercation with Helven regarding Shoanti artifacts, which turned violent.
Once you finish your research, Mercival will return to escort you out of the museum,"Thank you once again Pathfinders, the museum is once again indebted to your wonderful organization. As a token of thanks from both me and the staff we would like to give you the ring you found in the compartment of the Totem." He says with a smile, " they have informed me it is magical but were not able to identify it's properties so do be careful with it!"
with all the pieces of the puzzle available to you, you are able to gather what has happened and report back to Kreighton Shaine; who listens carefully before thanking you for you're successful investigation, but uncharacteristically, says no more.
The Chelish nobleman Helven Leroung sought acclaim as a Pathfinder. As the Everwar closed, he joined other Pathfinders in Varisia, exploiting archeological sites made accessible by Cheliax’s advancing armies. Yet, Helven sought a quicker path to prestige. Traveling out ahead of the advancing army, Helven ingratiated himself with a Shoanti tribe by warning nthem of an impending Chelish attack. He then secretly began transcribing the Shoanti’s oral tales of the region’s history, sites, and wildlife. He also encouraged the tribe to amass items of significance as “protection” from Chelish “invaders.”
Ultimately, Helven betrayed the tribe. He gave up the tribe’s location to Chelish forces, which garnered favor with many inhabitants of the recently-established Fort Korvosa, including Montlarion Jeggare. With the Shoanti put to the sword, Helven appropriated their tales and artifacts for himself. Laden with ill-gotten treasures, he left many relics i Montlarion’s care before departing on one of the first cargo ships to sail from the settlement.
Returning to Absalom, Helven recast the Shoanti tales as his own first-hand accounts, which were published in the Pathfinder Chronicles. Following a bloody internal struggle in the year 4411 ar, he then parlayed these accounts to secure a place among the first Decemvirate. However, Helven’s stolen successes could not stand unchallenged forever.
Helven returned to Korvosa, where the now Lord Magistrate Montlarion had begun to suspect Helven’s betrayal of the Shoanti, and the source of his supposed heroics.
Montlarion questioned Helven and presented him with eyewitness testimony of a Chelish man providing wartime aid to the Shoanti. The Korvosans demanded Helven’s ill-gotten treasures be confiscated pending further investigation.
Helven was furious and a fight erupted. Using his Decemvirate helm, Helven channeled a burst of negative energy that consumed all those present, save himself and Montlarion. Weakened, Helven fled to Absalom, while Montlarion died soon thereafter. Once divination magic confirmed all witnesses of his crimes had perished, Helven believed his secrets safe.
However, the Pathfinder Eylysia came to suspect the truth and attempted to reveal Helven’s evil. While Eylysia was ultimately unable to unmask or defeat the canny Decemvirate member, she escaped with her life, leaving clues that she hoped would lead other Pathfinders to discover the true nature of Helven and the events surrounding the Chelaxian’s rise to the Decemvirate.
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Tanivh shakes his head and claps Jack on the back.
"You should have went to that fancy magic academy Joyce did, your talents are wasted just wielding weapons!! Well done pathfinders, it appears we succeeded. I hope you make sure you have me on your next mission or......"
He leaves the thought unfinished.
When you arrive back at the lodge after a successful days work, you see that there is a letter addressed to each of you.
Pathfinders,
Zaul Blystone was one of the more famous early Pathfinders operating around the time of the Decemvirates founding. Tales of his deeds and exploits gave him a kind of folk-hero status during that time. He purportedly recovered many magnificent relics for the Society, each tied to a grand tale, but the items themselves were occasionally less ‘magnificent’ then the stories seemed to indicate.
According to her notes, Eylysia distrusted Blystone; she suspected many of his treasures were forgeries. She further postulates that he may have kept the genuine items for himself. She was particularly interested in Autumn’s Cowl, a headpiece allegedly discovered in the Arthfell Forest. Shortly before she disappeared,Eylysia traveled to Arthfell Forest to investigate Zaul’s claims.
Eylysia’s only remaining note about her time in Arthfell is simply ‘A wayfinder will provide the path.’ As such, I have included a wayfinder with this letter in the event that such is necessary to find whatever clues she may have left behind. I entrust you with the task of determing the truth behind the relic known as Autumn’s Cowl. In addition, keep your eyes wide open for any further clues Eylysia may have concealed within the Arthfell Forest. Tread with care Pathfinders.
Sincerely,
Kreighton Shaine
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I've heard some special, magical stones can give Wayfinders special abilities, but that all I know for now. Maybe I should get one too. Besides, they are an easy way to know who is a Pathfinder, and so who can be an ally. But I suppose that since they exist, a few might have been stolen, or even simply lost and found, so that's not a sure way to find another Pathfinder. Probably our arcane partners know much than I do about these things
The Party safely arrive in Arthfell Forest near the location where Zaul discovered Autumn’s Cowl. The road they travel on ends at a thorn wall. The natural splendor of Arthfell forest falls away to a barrier of dried-out thorns that does little to obscure the lifeless trees beyond. Frigid winds whisper through branches that claw at the sky as a mist rises out from deep within the wood.
Tending to the thorns, you see a female clad in polished wooden armor who turns to face you,"What business do you have in this forest travelers?"
The radiant women seems tense and on guard until Tannivh Mentions you all being Pathfinders, "Oh pathfinders?" she says, visibly relaxing. "Hello, I am Adelyn, an Adept of the Greenfire Circle charged with maintaining the thorn barrier. I don't recall anything about any Blystone or a Mantle of Autumn; I am meant to keep the blight of this thicket out of the rest of the forest."
"So your job is to keep the thorn barrier from expanding to other part of the forest? If so, do you know where does the thorn barrier comes from?"
"Quite the opposite actually," She replies somberly,"... My order keeps the thorn wall alive in order too keep the taint within contained. Without us rejuvenating it, the wall would dry out and crumble away."
Tannivh is surprised she isn't impressed about his visit. "Tannivh my lady, master wizard. The fey like to play tricks but some can be dangerous. What do you know?"
She bows politely to the "master wizard", "Hundreds of years ago there was a senseless massacre of druids in the heart of this thicket, it caused a blight that withers plants and causes those traveling through to become lost."
"I know of you!" Lilac says happily. "I am from the Brazia circle. I attended your autumn festival once, it was extraordinary."
Adelyn Smiles warmly at Lilac,"Be welcome here, Lilac of the Brazia circle. It is always fortunate when we are able to experience the Rites and Rituals of another circle to expand our understanding."
Jack seems a little startled to be introduced as Tannivh's protégé. He doesn't know much about the area (no relevant knowledges) but is clearly interested in what is happening beyond the thorn barrier.
Would I be right in thinking that it looks very ... erm ... wintery in there ma'am?
She looks at Jack with a stern face before answering, "I will show you... and allow you to go through the thorn wall unscathed if your intentions are to cleanse the blight." she says aprehensively as she begins casting a spell, and an arch forms in the wall of thorns, revealing a foreboding woodland that fills the space beyond. Tall, naked trees are interspersed with the occasional needle-covered fir, and the ground is barren with no signs of fauna.
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Tannivh speaks as the walk through the barrier.
"This blight is nothing, when I was a child we had a blight where the trees weeped sap, animals all stared in a lethargic daze, and food was all rotten. This pales in comparison to a good elven blight. Good thing we are here."
Tannivh looks around
"Well I mean my apprentices like Jack and Joyce still have much to learn. And we did bring our own highly capable druid....."
any one who has a Wayfinder notices that it begins pointing directly into the center of the thicket (which is clearly south by southeast, NOT north) as soon as you cross through the thorn wall.
you both notice what appears to be a robed figures protruding from a tree.
The hooded figures appear to be portrayal of Ng. The mysterious hooded Eldest watches over the seasons, secrets, and roads.
despite everyone being confidently incorrect in their own assessment of the best way through the thicket, Lilac is able to steer you all in the right direction and you approach the center of the thicket in almost under an hour with no real distractions or hardship.
The heart of the Thicket is less visually imposing than its lifeless outer reaches. Deciduous trees burst with magnificent autumnal colors and the ground is covered in tangled gardens of flowers, gourds and vegetables. Thick undergrowth chokes the ground in this open thicket, and clutching ivy climbs the posts and eves of an abandoned lumber mill on the thicket’s far side. Though the light of the sun reaches all but the darkest corners of this vine-covered garden, the air still bears an oppressive quality, as though neither light nor humanoid life is truly welcome. A crumbling lumber mill, unremarkable except for the large wooden statue of Ng protruding from the front, stands to the north.