"Finally!" The gangplank slams into the dock with a definitive thud. "Welcome to Ekkeshikaar!"
You arrive in the island-city full of iruxi (sometimes called Lizardfolk), alongside Venture-Captain Eras the Needle and Calisro Benarry herself, leader of the Horizon Hunters faction. As ship hands begin moving supplies and arguing with the quartermaster, a delegation begins to lead you to the embassy suite. Mirian Raas set up the expedition but she's an explorer, not a politician. She quickly bids her goodbyes and best wishes as she points you at the embassy.
A palace of white stone reaches above the city line and gives you a beautiful view of the sun-soaked island. The conference room is just large enough to fit all of you. Eras the Needle begins preparing documentation while Captain Benarry pulls out her favorite rum. Eras waits for you to finish introducing yourselves to your teammates before speaking about the mission.
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A dwarf wearing a leather armor is well seated in his chair. A pistol is hanging at his belt and a strange hammer is leaning against the table. A circle of smoke is moving up in the air. With his fingers having taken his cigar from his mouth with a beard, he says from under his hat: Hello, my name's Dran'Tilt, from the dwarfs from Alkenstar.
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Another of your companions is a young human man with a blond long hair. His blue eyes express all that great sadness and confidence in the depravity of the world, which is so typical for young people (about) eighteen years old. However, a few scars and an obviously strong body prove that this guy is definitely worth something in battle. In his hand he holds a light hammer.
Hi! Name's Radim.
"Greetings, everyone." Eras the Needle clears his throat. "Tomorrow is a very important day. The Pathfinder Society hopes to negotiate trading routes with the Ekkeshikaar council. While some of the Iruxi here are willing to listen to us, others are more reluctant-" Calisro burps and takes another swig from her bottle.
Eras continues. "First and foremost, we need you to recover some documents from the city’s Hall of Records. We’ve already identified the documents we need, which outline some of the finer points of local law, as well as the details of the original trade agreement with the people of Vidrian. We put in a request for the documents days ago, but we have continued to be met with red tape and bureaucratic delays. Without these documents, we’re essentially going into the negotiations blind."
"We do have an in, so to speak." He tilts his head towards Calisro, who raises her bottle in appreciation. "By happenstance, we’ve already agreed to send a stack of Pathfinder Chronicles to the Hall of Records to be transcribed. These particular chronicles come with a rather complex index written in Hallit, which is not a language known here. Someone will be spending a fair deal of time assisting the clerks in translating, organizing, and otherwise sorting through the chronicles. If it’s you, you’ll have plenty of time to get to know these bureaucrats—and perhaps learn a bit about the iruxi yourselves.”
Calisro kicks her feet off the table and produces a wooden box. "I have a faster way. See this stamp on the box? Taldan coat of arms, labeled ‘Voinarum Glade Winery: 4700 ar’. She grins. “I’ve never known a bureaucrat who would say no to a good bottle of wine. Just offer it as a thank you gift for ‘expediting our request,’ and try not to wink or nudge them with your elbow as you do it. That way, you don’t have to spend the whole afternoon sorting papers.”
Eras sighs. "Again with the bribery... I won't ask about your methods, as long as it is accomplished quickly. We have other tasks for you to accomplish, and the less time it takes the better."
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Samantha removes her helmet, revealing a frilled Iruxi with dark tips her frills. A slit in the back of the helmet seems designed to accomodate them.
"Samantha is my Taldane name" declares the heavily armed Iruxi.
"While I am not overly familiar with the local intricacies I can help with Iruxi culture in general. I'm glad to see other experts in legal documents."
It seems to go without saying that Samantha is clearly a dangerous swordmaster.
You all take a moment to remember what you can about Vidrian and Iruxi culture. Rysk makes a critical observation and shares the information with the rest of the team.
Cheliax colonized the land and named it Sargava, redirecting the trade northward. Troops were trained to recognize the iruxi as monsters and soon trade was cut off as the traders were unwilling to risk their lives.
The seeds of rebellion spread and revolution drove the Chelaxian rule away. The nation renamed itself Vidrian and now seeks to establish trade routes with its neighbors. Ekkeshikaar, their immediate neighbor is mostly divided on this issue.
The iruxi as often called "lizardfolk" by other humanoids. In central iruxi locations like Ekkeshikaar, they build impressive complexes of glass and stone, compared to the small simple villages of migrant communities.
It is rumored that a vast empire of dinosaur-riding iruxi, known as Droon, dominates southern Garund, in territory beyond any maps common to the Inner Sea region.
Iruxi hold astrology and other forms of divination close to their hearts and are vital to iruxi culture. Their strong ties to tradition and extreme patience often mean they are slow to act and slow to change.
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A quiet fungus leshy pokes their head out from behind the towering Samantha "Oh hi, sorry I'm late.. er Eddie!, there are so many neat things to see here I got distracted..." Eddie bobs their cap, sending the small version of Calisro's pirate hat bobbing as well, they wave at her in case she forgot.
"You gave me this nice hat in one of our last fun trips to the swamp in Taldor to help Tskikha!" They smile. From the looks of their lack of heavy armor, or many weapons besides a wooden staff and wooden shield, Eddie is at home in the wilds. "I do like to chat with new people though, this should be great fun to meet more iruxi people!"
After completing your purchases and initial queries you make your way to your first task.
The Ekkeshikaar Hall of Records is an imposing stone building with a massive central dome made of blue-green glass. Surrounding the main building are a number of tall, spiraling minarets that transition at the highest levels from smooth stone to gleaming glass. The interior is no less impressive, with the glass-filtered sunlight creating beautiful patterns on the stone floors, themselves engraved with different patterns, that complement and seem to change with the light as it moves across the floor with the time of day.
You are soon directed a female iruxi named Narsha. "Ah, greetings... Pathfinders." She briefly looks up from her seat before returning to her documentation. "As I told your superiors, your request was added to the queue and will be processed in the order it was received. There are many others who would like their requests processed."
If you critically succeeded, read the spoiler below.
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Eddie's face droops a bit, saddened by the news. Regardless, they follow Sam's lead by removing their pirate hat and bowing respectfully.
"Maybe you like wine? We have some extra wine brought as a gift!" Eddie retrieves a bottle and shows it off, almost like a fungus leshy knows a thing or two about the fermentation process...
You can see Narsha's eyebrow twitch as you bombard her with differing options. "Will one of you make a decision? I am very busy..."
With a sigh, Narsha takes the Pathfinder bundle and unwraps it. "Right here. The preamble is in Hallit. Something about radishes or rutabagas, I'm not certain..."
Over the next few hours you learn about vegetable trade routes, humidity and soil, exotic spices and harvest traditions and ceremonies.
Eddie makes quite an impression on Narsha, with their use of fermented berries loosening some of her reservations.
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Eddie still finds it confusing why people enjoy the taste of fungal excrement in their liquids. They have learned its a bad idea to bring it up though.
"Sorting through papers.. if you find some that you don't want I'll take them for dinner. Just add water!" Other wise they continue to keep Narsha entertained and distracted.
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Peering through his spectacles, Rysk begins, inspecting, sorting, and indexing the documents.
Rysk will activate his newly acquired spectacles to read the preamble before carefully delving into the rest of the documentation.
Rysk will pursue a lead (the documents) for a +1 competence bonus.
The spectacles provide a +1 item bonus to decipher writing.
Narsha guides you to the stack of papers and begins showing you around the office. You spend most of the day helping her translate the documents, categorize them by law, ordinance and stature.
Eddie manages to get on Narsha's good side with a small amount of fermented berries. Rysk isn't able to get to her initially, so he tries again and makes a critical impression on her. "Amazing. This categorization... I could use it in some of my other projects."
By the end of the many hours, you have the documentation you need. "Well, not all of you outsiders are terrible..." She snaps to attention as she realizes the effect of her words. Maybe it's the wine talking. "At any rate, here you are. Goodbye."
With that objective completed, you decide to return to the embassy.
You return to the embassy with a handful of papers. Eras nudges Calisro as she bolts awake, managing not to spill any liquid from her ceramic mug. "Wha-? Oh! Good job Pathfinders, I knew you could do it!"
“Yes. Wonderful,” exclaims Eras as he sets the papers aside after a quick glance through them. “I’m sure these will be invaluable tomorrow. But our work is far from over. There is a visiting diplomat of some renown, known as Kesstraka, who is visiting on business from further south. If we could convince her to help represent Vidrian’s interests, or at least argue in favor of the trade deal, her words would certainly carry a great deal of weight during the negotiations.
As luck would have it, she’s staying here in the same embassy building we are. She’s asked to meet with you in her garden quarters just outside.”
Calisro speaks up, waving a drink in the air as she speaks to underscore her point. “If you ask me, your best bet is the old ‘stick and carrot’ approach: talk some big talk about the last guys who didn’t want to trade, maybe drop a few hints that Vidrian’s navy is a bit bigger than it really is, and get her to agree to help out. You can always smooth things over later by holding a couple minor trade concessions up your sleeve.”
“Alternatively,” Eras interjects, mildly frustrated, “if you don’t want to risk starting an international incident, you could simply tell her a few tales of derring-do and adventure, and once she’s warmed up to you a bit, broach the topic of her aid then.”
“The important thing,” says Calisro, lounging back and taking a long sip of her drink, “is to get her on our side and come right back here, because there’s still one more job we have for you today.”
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"Oh yes, not terrible! No no." Eddie bobs along agreeing with themselves while shuffling out of the room with the group.
"She was nice. Less nice at first but nicer after the wine." Eddie again head bobs and agrees with themselves as they walk back to the meeting room.
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"Sticks and carrots.. mine is bigger than yours.." Eddie scratches their cap, flicking away a stray maggot with annoyance "The flies like the warm air, too bad too, so nice and moist in the shade!"
"Adventure and derring doo.. what's derring doo? Or derring did? Did doo?" Eddie starts confusing themself with the question.. or comment. Finally they just head bob and move on.
With no questions, you proceed onward to meet Kesstraka.
The interior of the embassy is home to a sprawling and luxurious courtyard and garden, including several chairs and tables on a terrace overlooking a stream. Although at first glance the area seems peaceful and idyllic, with no sign of anyone else in the garden, a loud hiss draws attention to a hideous lizard-like creature with eight legs and an unsettling gaze.
The iruxi woman stares directly into its eyes. "Oh. That's not good..."
Standing in front of the creature, slowly backing away from it, is an iruxi woman, whose faded green scales quickly turn to grey, and then her body completely transforms to stone.
Eddie is so concerned with derring dooo they make a note to ask Kesstraka about it. No wonder they are the first to react when the iruxi is suddenly disabled.
Eddie
Purple Lizard
White Lizard
Rysk
Radim
Dran'Tilt
Red Dotted Lizard
Green Dotted Lizard
Samantha
Pre Fix
At first, Eddie isn't sure what those are. Then he thinks harder about the dreaded enchilada. A mix of flour, sliced plants, legumes and very oily spices. So many people try to eat them only to claim it's so "hot" later on. Then why do they keep eating such dangerous product? Confusing...
The White-frilled lizard moves across the raised platform before locking eyes with Samantha. She feels the world slow down around her.
The Purple-frilled lizard quickly advances, spending its sweet time to get between Samantha and Dran'Tilt.
As you start to move, both lizard react to your movement by staring right at you.
The Purple-frilled lizard stares right at Dran'Tilt, hoping he will feel the weight of the world around him.
Eddie
Purple Lizard
White Lizard
Rysk
Radim
Dran'Tilt (Fort Save DC 20 at the start of your turn)
Red Dotted Lizard
Green Dotted Lizard
Samantha (Fort Save DC 22, Fort Save DC 20 at the start of your turn)
Pre Fix
You can always choose to Avert your Gaze (1 action for a +2 bonus to Fort Saves) or close your eyes entirely (the Basilisks cannot be detected by sight, making them Hidden and requiring a DC 11 Flat Check to hit them.)
A recently petrified victim can be turned back by bathing them in recently killed basilisk blood. A basilisk can provide enough blood for 3 medium sized statues.
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Rysk draws his bow and the follows the movements of the closest one for a moment.
◆ Interact (draw shortbow)
◆ Devise a Stratagem
◇ Known Weaknesses - Free Recall Knowledge
"Basiliks! You may want to turn your gaze away."
But instead of averting his gaze, Rysk takes his shot.
◆ Strategic Strike AC 24 for
Radim delays.
Dran'Tilt takes action and gets a solid shot, although it isn't critical. Rysk takes aim and hits the same lizard.
The lizard with Red frills quickly approaches and glares at Radim to slow him down.
The other Basilisks also moves ahead and has so many people to glare at, so it stares at Samantha.
As you begin to move, the Basilisks glare at you. The Red Frilled lizard continues to glare at Radim, while the other one looks at Rysk.
Radim (Fort Save DC 22)
Samantha (2 Fort Saves DC 22. Then Fort Save DC 20 at the start of your turn)
Pre Fix
Eddie
Purple Lizard (20 damage)
White Lizard
Rysk (Fort Save DC 22)
Dran'Tilt
Red Dotted Lizard
Green Dotted Lizard
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Samantha digs deep, but doesn't let the lizards slow her down.
Things don't get any worse as she closes her eyes, draws her bastard sword
and tries to grab at the nearby lizard with a Snagging Strike before averting her eyes.
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I'm not... feeling well. Radim moves and even speaks slower than usual, but still spins his hammer and throws it at the lizard!
You swiftly assess your prey and apply what you know. As part of the action used to Hunt your Prey, you can attempt a check to Recall Knowledge about your prey. When you critically succeed at identifying your hunted prey with Recall Knowledge, you note a weakness in the creature’s defenses. You and allies you tell gain a +1 circumstance bonus to your next attack roll against that prey. You can give bonuses from Monster Hunter only once per day against a particular creature.
Despite the slowness, Radim determines exactly what kind of creature it is and points out its vulnerables to allies. His hammer hits the basilisk's skull and magically returns back to Radim's hand.
Radim feels the world slow around him, so he aims carefully and makes a critical attack, bashing the basilisk in its Purple jawbone.
Samantha looks away before swinging wildly, missing her mark. Pre Fix is much more accurate and the Purple-frilled lizard is looking quite weak.
Eddie notes the basilisks are quite clumsy, too.
The Purple lizard notices Radim slowing down and focuses its glare at him before wildly biting at Samantha.
The White frilled lizard runs down the stairs, past Samantha's watchful gaze, and moves towards Rysk and Dran'Tilt.
As you start to move, the basilisks glare in your direction.
Eddie (+1 Attack vs Purple, Avert Gaze, DC 20 Fort Save)
Purple Lizard (55 damage)
White Lizard
Rysk (Fort Save DC 22) (+1 Attack vs Purple)
Dran'Tilt (+1 Attack vs Purple, DC 20 Fort Save)
Red Dotted Lizard
Green Dotted Lizard (8 damage)
Radim (Slowed 1, Fort Save DC 22)
Samantha (Avert Gaze, AoO vs White)
Pre Fix (Avert Gaze)