Beyschosz summons up fresh blasphemies and provides them physical form before hurling one at Impasha.
touch
The sharp edged words leave her wounded and bleeding.
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As Impasha comes to the bottom of the steps and rounds the corner toward the dais, the vile words of the devil lance through her shield and armor and sear into her flesh like arrows of flame. She grits her teeth and brings her sword fist to the armor over her abdomen.
"Inheritor, sustain me as I venture to do your will!" she exhorts in a calm but intense voice, never breaking stride.
She pushes on east across the room, head down, shield forward, sword held up and back in case she should run into her prey...
"Face me, fiend!
Kal'Ryon gets almost big enough to match his opponent's size and then lays in with his glaive. The darkness foils his second attack but his first strikes true.
Diazepane seems to be bombing the wrong place.
Impasha heals herself up.
"You mortal little $#!%s! Your gods are dead, and no one cares!" Beyschosz snarls.
More sharp fire springs into existence and hurtles at Impasha, three different branches this time.
Touch
Touch
Touch
All three hit but it is not enough to take the sturdy paladin out of the fight.
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The withering force of the devil's unholy words burns into Impasha's flesh, cooking her within her armor and causing her such pain that she groans at the agony she feels. For a moment, she nearly wilts and falls to the ground as her head spins in the smothering darkness.
But she steadies herself, desperately grasping at the Light within her, refusing to die just yet. Now certain where her opponent is, she summons the sanction of her god.
"Iomedae, bear witness, I do your holy work!. My poor life for your greater glory and the cause of righteousness!" she intones in a ringing voice, then begins swinging her blade with all the force her failing body can muster, hoping to land enough blows to slay her foe before it can launch more vile blasphemies at her. Her sword sings through the air, vibrating with holy power like a screaming angel.
Impasha's first swing is stymied by the darkness, but her second one hits while the third goes wide.
One of Kal'Ryon's strikes also hits but the other one misses.
That blow is enough to finish off the devil and the light in the room suddenly returns and you can see the devil's cut and broken corpse.
The memory engram falls from his hand, clattering to the floor and rolling under one of the desks.
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Impasha drops to one knee as the light floods back through the room. Blood drips from nearly all the joints of her armor, pooling around her. With a trembling hand as she wavers on the edge of consciousness, she clumsily sheaths her sword and calls again upon the healing powers of her god.
"Iomedae, your work is done and evil is defeated yet again. Save your servant." she mutters with closed eyes, almost as if to herself.
A glow of healing spreads over her.
The paladin then stands again, slowly and heavily, and removes her helmet. She is pale, sweating and creased with the dark lines of infernal affliction, and she smells heavily of burning sulfur. But her eyes are clear as ever. She takes a deep breath and allows herself to lean back and half sit on a nearby table.
She places her helmet on the table, crosses her hands and lays them gently against her chest, lifts her eyes to the sky and begins to wordlessly pray, her lips moving faintly in private devotion.
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"Not surprised it hid in the darkness like a common fiend, but surprised at how little it actually helped it"
Impasha finishes her personal devotion and stands again.
"All devils are cowards and bullies. At least in my experience." she says with casual disdain. "Fortunately for us, we had it trapped in a small room and could surround it quickly."
For the first time she looks at her companions since the darkness has fled.
"You seem taller." she says in a weary, slightly amused voice to Kal'ryon.
She tilts her head and cocks an eyebrow at Frost the bugbear. "And you could use a shave."
She stands again and lifts her holy symbol to the edge of its cord, takes a deep breath in and then exhales heavily, and a wave of healing energy pours out through the room.
"Is anyone else still hurt?" she asks, looking from person to person appraisingly.
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Impasha accepts the healing from her sister paladin, motionless and head bowed, like a penitent being shriven of sin. After 5 rounds of healing, she holds up her hand and nods a little, indicating that she's feeling better, then heals herself once more.
"May the blessings of the Light go with you." she says softly in gratitude to Frost, and takes a moment to pat Ragnar's neck.
Noticing the engram still lying on the floor, she scoops it up and then her vision goes distant as she witnesses a sort of vision. Her mouth drops open a bit and her eyes actually moisten.
As her sight returns to the present moment, the paladin is obviously still gripped by emotion. Her jaw tightens and she looks down at the engram in her palm silently for a moment. Then she turns to her companions.
"I've had a glimpse of what this engram contains. It shows Hao Jun conducting a dark ritual, employing the souls of those who die inside the Tapestry being transformed by necromantic magic into energy to sustain the Tapestry's ecosystem. And her direct disobedience of Pharasma."
She stares at the ground, her jaw tightening even more. "It was abominable." she says with disgust in her voice.
"She will have to answer to Pharasma one day, and on that day, I pray there is justice. Her arrogance and disregard for others in the furtherance of her vain ambition to 'collect' them... it's a folly of staggering proportion. I only hope that when the Tapestry finally collapses, those souls can somehow still find rest."
She looks at the engram again, then packs it away into a belt pouch,
"Come, let's be gone from here."
She starts up the aisle, heading for the exit.
As you exit the lecture hall and cross the foyer the Librarian looks up for only a moment with a smile on his face. "Ah, thank you for your assistance in this matter. I am pleased to note that you are now the legitimate possessors of the engram. And, as you were respectful of the books, I'm glad to offer you a discount on some of our tomes in the gift shop," he gestures with his quill in the correct direction then immediately gets back to work.
Travel portals to the Serene Circle do not take travelers directly to the Circle itself, but instead deposit them in one of the small neighborhoods bordering the plaza proper. These neighborhoods are comprised of simple dwellings with plain but visually-pleasing architecture and designs.
Acolyte Yakomo lives just a short walk away from both the travel portal and the Serene Circle proper. The area is largely uninhabited as the majority of the petitioners who live in this area are socializing and meditating following a daily ritual at the Serene Circle. There are still a small handful of petitioners in the area, enough that the you
are able to easily Identify Acolyte Yakomo’s abode following Eleven-Sun-Truth’s directions.
The reinforced stone door to Acolyte Yakomo’s humble abode is shut and locked.
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As the group comes into the Serene Circle, Impasha still seems distracted by her revelation from the recent engram. She looks about at the milling, socializing petitioners with detached curiosity.
Then she notices Ingrge attempting to pick the lock on the Acolyte's house. She takes a step toward him.
"What are you doing?" she says in confusion.
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Impasha looks to the door quickly and frowns.
"The scrying... remember back when we were first going to meet Hao Jin? And we were warned someone else might interfere in this business. It would appear that they are trying to beat us to this last engram!"
"Well, at any rate, we shall now have some answers about who has been watching us." growls the paladin. "Ingrge, if that lock doesn't give way in about 30 seconds, we'll have to break the door down. I imagine the kick of a warhorse should just about do it."
Inside the dwelling, you discover a man tied up, gagged, and shoved into a corner of the room. When he is released he calmly rises to his feet and addresses you.
“You must be agents of the Pathfinder Society, I assume? Someone is looking for you.
Yakomo explains that he was attacked and tied up by a gloomy elven woman at a time you realize was shortly after when you arrived in Axis.
“She seemed… troubled, more than malicious,” Yakomo says, “as though she carried the weight of far more hardship than even an elf ’s long life could justify. While I am not pleased that I appear to have been drawn into a conflict between you and this woman…” Yakomo pauses for just a moment. “Perhaps all is happening as it should. I find that is often the case in this city. Regardless, the woman seemed to know you would arrive. She bade me tell you that you should seek me out in the Serene Circle. Given what I saw of her magic, I expect she was being quite literal and waits there in my guise even now."
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"Yakomo, how did she overpower you? An advanced acolyte of Irori should be well versed in self-defense." asks Impasha in genuine surprise. "Can you describe the magic she used? And did she tell you anything about who she was and what her motives were?"
"Also, did she take the engram of Hao Jin? That was our reason for coming to you."
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The Ganzi snickers a little at the account of the capture, though remains quiet and focused as Impasha continues her questioning.
"We appear to be quite popular, and despite my best efforts... predictable", the last word of it smeared with disdain.
[b]"But yes, the engram. I assume that is gone?"[/b[
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"What could she possibly hope to gain by appearing in your guise in the Serene Circle? She could more easily ambush us elsewhere."
"Perhaps she only wishes to talk. But it's still an unusual way to get our attention." says Impasha, her brow creased a bit. "And I suppose if she intends to mingle herself in the crowd while she waits, she couldn't very well have the real Yakomo wandering around too."
"But why not use her true appearance? Or simply appear to be some other person who would not be known but would raise no suspicion? Perhaps she wishes to appear as a familiar person to the others here, to protect herself from us attacking her."
"My path to perfection lies in mastering my body, not in mastering combat," Acolyte Yakomo answers.
"And she took the memory engram with her." As is befitting a monk, Acolyte Yakomo does not believe in mincing or wasting words.
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Impasha sets down her helmet on a table and places her hands together in an Iroran gesture of respect and bows her head a little.
"Please forgive me if I sounded abrupt, I meant no disrespect." she says in a gentler, humbler voice. "We have just now come from a desperate battle with a minion of Hell, which has perhaps unbalanced my sense of manners and made me impatient. Our errand is urgent--there are many lives at stake and little time for us to waste,"
"As Frost says, anything you can tell us about this woman would be helpful."
"We are all on a path of constant improvement," Acolyte Yakomo replies to Impasha.
"She was a spell caster, which eased her task of capturing me, but I also overheard her muttering to herself about someone named 'Aslynn who she apparently believes has been manipulating and taking advantage of her. Perhaps this knowledge will help in your negotiations with her."
The Serene Circle is an open-air plaza where Irori’s followers meditate, learn, and discuss the intricacies of the multiverse with one another. Miles across, it is covered in light-colored sand and dotted with tranquil fountains, reflecting pools, and carefully managed gardens. Countless remade petitioners dressed in loose, white robes stroll about engaging in quiet contemplation or are in conversation with others of their kind. Others sit and meditate quietly in the shade of blossoming fruit trees. The entire area is suffused with a deep sense of tranquility and peace.
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"I know the name Aslynn, a little. She is a powerful and evil being from the Plane of Shadow. Some sort of hag, if I remember correctly." says Impasha, who starts to get that driven look again. She bows again to their host, gathers up her helmet and hurries from the house toward the plaza.
Impasha goes up to the first person she meets in the square. "Excuse me, have you seen Acolyte Yakomo anywhere about here?" She gives a hurried description of the man.
It is easy enough to track down Acolyte Yakomo's impersonator. Almost everyone they ask knows where she is, almost as though she purposefully made it easy to find her.
Along the way, one of the petitioners also winces at the volume of your question. "Please, this is a place of peace. Any loud noises will attract the attention of the Axial Monitors and I'm certain you don't want that. And of course, any type of violence or conflict is strictly forbidden."
You are directed to “acolyte Yakomo” where he currently meditates before a fountain shaped like an open lotus blossom, located about three-quarters of a mile from the edge of the Serene Circle.
When you get about 50' away, she drops her disguise and stands. "I have what you want," the elf woman says, patting a bag at her waist. "But it will cost you to get it."
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When the elf woman drops her disguise, Impasha stops and puts away her shield, then holds up her hands in a gesture of peaceful parley.
”Very well. We are listening. You will get a fair and honest hearing from us. We are sworn to the service of Abadar on this mission — it is a vow that I for one take seriously.”
”But if this is an attempt at deception, I can promise you will regret it.”