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"Agreed." Ellismus drinks a series of extract to get ready.
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Lady Vanessa stands and scans the crowd to see if Nigel Aldain is standing nearby. "Zhis is like vhen zhose demons crashed zhe Blakros wedding." With a dramatic sigh at having such a nice party interrupted, she nods in agreement to Ash and Ellismus' suggestion."
As the other casters buff up, she informs everyone (and gently reminds Grunjar) not to use holy healing magic on her. She points to the bandolier slung low across her ample but perfectly proportioned hips and indicates two vials with black crosses on their lids as being acceptable healing should she drop. "But I vouldn't use zhem on yourselves. Unless you vant a little pain. And if zhat's zhe case, I'm sure ve can arrange sometsing private for a more suitable time," she adds with a mischevious smile.
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"Works for me."
Grunjar draws his buckler and also his newly bought wand of lucky number, then first taps himself and then every willing party member with it.
He then stows his wand and draws his wand of bless.
The Grand Lodge’s campus is overrun with marauders and monsters, while support staff, initiates, and visitors run in peril for their lives. The team arrive at the Northeastern campus, only to find nearby groups of Pathfinders cluster together and argue about what to do about it, which team should stand back and support the other, and who has the best idea of what is happening. Before you got the chance to intervene, A figure approaches from the direction of Skyreach.
He displays a platium Wayfinder as he appraoches you: "I'm venture-captain Janiff Ivulxtin, former head administrator of the Grand Lodge."He speaks loudly to get his voice through the chaos that's in the campus. "Other venture-captains are busy investigating the potential source and goals of this attack, and the remaining few venture-captains is not enough to coordinate the masses of Pathfinder agents in the Grand Lodge; hence the chaos that you see."He gestures to the arguing Pathfinders a short distance away, "There is a vacuum of leaderhsip, and I need dependable agents to remind your colleagues that our motto includes the word 'Cooperate'. Do you think you can do that for me?"
Without waiting for answer, Janiff starts giving directions: "There are a number of visitors and guests who are here for the Grand Convocation that needs to be escorted safely off grounds and reassured that everything is under control. Make that your priority as we don't want to upset our patrons. Absalom's district guards also needs to be stalled at the front gates before they overrun the campus and make a mess of everything. Lastly, the Repository and the Center House, despite having wards and defenses, should still be cordoned off and protected from the outside." He looks at each of you in the eyes,"Elite Pathfinders, I hereby bestow you the temporary authority to act on my behalf as a venture-captain. Now go, and get those jobs done."
You rush towards the outbuildings located to the east. Upon arrival, you witness a group of Pathfinders, led by a dwarf, parting ways with several individuals dressed in noble attire. These nobles are left in visible distress as the Pathfinders head in your direction.
The leader nods and greet you guys: "Hey, comrade! We just told those guests to leave the Grand Lodge so that we can work on rooting out the attackers. I would suggest you do the same."
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En route to the Blue Zone, the Lady pulls a rod from her improbably voluminous handbag. She keeps the parasol in her other hand, ready to drop it if combat ensues.
Upon meeting the dwarf and nobles, our own noble lady - and a force of personality in her own right - steps to the front. Dressed in her finely tailored clothes and jewelry, she speaks to the nobles as they would expect to be addressed.
"Ladies, Gentlemen," she opens with a nod to anyone she recognizes from the numerous parties she's attended in Absalom. "As zhey say, zhe show is over. But I happen to know zhat Ser Giacometto is holding a soiree at his gallery in zhe Petal District. I vas hoping to attend after zhe Convocation, so I hope to see you zhere later. But for now, I tsink it vould be best to leave zhe grounds. Ve can escort you to zhe gates if you vish." She punctuates the offer with a wave of her hand toward the rest of her team.
Among the guest you see a familiar face——Nigel Aldain. He greets the Pathfinders as you approach him: "Greetings. It's such a shame that the Grand Convocation ended prematurely. Didn't expect to meet you guys here on this fine day at all, I though you guys are all very busy handling your Pathfinder business. Strange, the previous group just told us to leave by ourselves, and then you guys shows up offering to escort us. How your teams cooperate with each other is......interesting, as if the instruction you received conflicts with others." he pushed his glasses up his nose, "Though I certainly won't turn down the offer from the lady." he nods to Vanessa.
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Bon Jon also asks one of his comrades to use his wand of Mage Armor on him (1 hour duration) and he spends 1 ki to cast Barkskin on himself (80 minutes duration). He also slathers himself with Alchemical Grease (4 hours duration).
"Right, let's get 'em! Whoever 'em are..." He stops short, as he realizes that the pathfinders are being asked to be personable, rather than hit things. "Er, um, I mean, what I meant to say is, well, you noble guests, if you wouldn't mind vacating the premises, we have things that need punching and it might be disagreeable for you..."
He sighs and recalls how Oratory class always just made him want to get back to the punching bag.
"Peaceful as usual. We do received some artifacts from the Worldwound, now that it's closed, but they still need to be catalogued and checked before putting on display." Nigel replies, "Lady Hamaria is very pleased with the help that Pathfinders offered on numerous occations, and certainly won't mind continue our sponsership to the Society."
The guests gladly accepted the offer of being accompanied to the front gate. You guys have casual conversation with the guests along the walk.
When you arrives at the front gate after minutes, you see a six-man pathfinder team barely managed to hold back a platoon of Absalom guards. A member of the guard has already entered the grounds, and is demanding loudly for an explanation for the chaos: “You tell Ambrus Valsin that this time it’s gone too far! When I come back, I’m bringing a small army and we’re going to find out what you people are hiding in all these creepy buildings. Once and for all!” This clearly rattles the poor Pathfinders.
Seeing senior Pathfinders approach, a halfling agent runs toward you guys, "The district guards demand entrance to investigate the chaos. What do we do to stop them? What if the guard won’t take no for an answer? Can I be arrested? Will someone post my bail? Maybe a venture captain should be doing this?” She seems extremely nervous.
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"Nigel, dahling, I didn't see you back zhere," the Lady says as she greets the Curator with an air kiss. "Zhe last time vas at Michellia's vedding on zhat little island. You simply must tell me all zhe best gossip - as ve get you to safety first ov course."
Assessing the situation at the gate, and listening to the poor halfling girl's worries, the Lady once again takes charge of the situation.
She strides up to the Absalom guardsman and confirms that he is the leader of this contingent. If not, she insists in her most noble but polite way that he get someone in authority to speak for all the guards.
Once she's assured that she has the Platoon Captain (or vhatever), she addresses him firmly but politely.
"Captain, I am zhe Lady Vanessa Reizende. I have been granted a temporary field promotion to Venture Captain. I assure you zhere is nothing creepy hiding in zhese buildings," she says with a side-eye glance towards Nigel Aldain, "but zhere are dangerous creatures on zhe grounds zhat ve are in zhe process of subduing. I'm sure you don't vant to put your men at risk defending Pathfinders, and ve don't vant to be responsible for zheir safety eizher," she says with genuine concern in her voice for the troops.
She glances back to the nobles they've just escorted up. "Perhaps you can serve your own citizens by ensuring zhat zhese VIP's get home safely," she suggests as a way of cooperating with the guard, getting them to leave, and allowing him to save face by taking on this Very Important task.
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Rani softly reassures the other halfling that, no - she's not going to get in trouble, yes - they have the authority of a senior Venture Captain to keep the guards out besides, they don't have legal jurisdiction in here, and if something bad does happen to her, she (Rani) will sort it out. She even gives the other halfling a pastry that had been obtained from the buffet table.
"Nigel, dahling, I didn't see you back zhere," the Lady says as she greets the Curator with an air kiss. "Zhe last time vas at Michellia's vedding on zhat little island. You simply must tell me all zhe best gossip - as ve get you to safety first ov course."
Assessing the situation at the gate, and listening to the poor halfling girl's worries, the Lady once again takes charge of the situation.
She strides up to the Absalom guardsman and confirms that he is the leader of this contingent. If not, she insists in her most noble but polite way that he get someone in authority to speak for all the guards.
Once she's assured that she has the Platoon Captain (or vhatever), she addresses him firmly but politely.
"Captain, I am zhe Lady Vanessa Reizende. I have been granted a temporary field promotion to Venture Captain. I assure you zhere is nothing creepy hiding in zhese buildings," she says with a side-eye glance towards Nigel Aldain, "but zhere are dangerous creatures on zhe grounds zhat ve are in zhe process of subduing. I'm sure you don't vant to put your men at risk defending Pathfinders, and ve don't vant to be responsible for zheir safety eizher," she says with genuine concern in her voice for the troops.
She glances back to the nobles they've just escorted up. "Perhaps you can serve your own citizens by ensuring zhat zhese VIP's get home safely," she suggests as a way of cooperating with the guard, getting them to leave, and allowing him to save face by taking on this Very Important task.
[dice=Diplomacy, Fashionable]d20+18+2
The guards seems calmer once someone in leadership role comes out and talks to them. "Right, I still have to give you guys a citation of disturbing the peace. Other embassies don't like it when there're many unknown creatures in the sky. And once this is over, one of your Venture-Captain needs to give a formal explanation to the city about what happened. Oh, and make sure to contain your black dragons this time. They did considerably amount of damage to the city five years ago."
He turns around and signal to his troop outside the gate. "Alright guys, we're done here. Let the Pathfinders dealing with their own mess." he then splits up the platoon into smaller teams to escort the nobilities back to their residence.
The halfing sighs in relief "Thank you so much, I don't know how we can do it without you, Lady......" she seem stucks on the name.
"...Lady Rani and Lady Vanessa." she shakes your hands in gratitude, "We will continue guarding the front gate. The city guard probably won't come back anytime soon. If your presence is needed elsewhere, please go! An inspiring figure is what people needed in chaotic time like this."
After dealing with the Absalom guards in the front gate, the team moves toward the Center House and the Repository to check on the security situation of them. It takes you minutes to make your way through the campus.
When you arrives at the Center House. It's——as you would expect——not defended at all. No Pathfinders has set foot in this building for as long as people can remember, after all. You do see a team of Pathfinders idling nearby...
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As the team leaves the front gate area, Vanessa discreetly suggests that Rani find out that young halfling's name. It seems she might benefit from some mentoring from a senior agent - or two.
"Ashvell, dahling, tsank you," the dhampir replies to the undine's compliment on her people skills. She graces him with her most beguiling smile and a light teasing touch on his upper arm with her silken-lace gloved fingertips. Then before he can say more, she turns to the other Pathfinders.
"You zhere, you are zhe guards ov zhe Center House? Have you been patrolling zhe perimeter and checking zhe vards?"
Rani acquired the name from the halfing fighter. Her name is Meesha Tenpenny. She very much would like to have a nice chat with you, but the chaos that's still ongoing within the campus deny you of that luxury.
A nervous male half-elf within the group answers Lady Vanessa's call. "Yes? I mean, No! Ehh....we are not guarding the Center House. Or I should say, we're not assigned to guard that building, or currently not. We are probably not the best choice for the Center House, anyway. You see, recently I've started sleepwalking, which is something I've never done before! And I woke up many times in the process of trying to enter the Center House. Venture-Captain Basia Kalistoff told me that I need to document my dreams, EVERY night! And it's also the special request of the Decemvirate. no less! I had my fair share of nightmare with the Center House already. Maybe you should ask someone with more experience to handle that building? Or maybe it doesn’t need to be guarded? It is haunted, isn’t it?" Other members of the team also show a dreaded face when you mentions the Center House.
”You lot need to shape up and look around. We are under attack! All we are asking you to do is defend this area instead of lollygagging around. If you don’t get in gear and take the position, I’ll be filing a report with the Decemvirate and have you drummed out of the Society!”
Intimidate 1d20+8
"If you ever catch a ghoul fever and survived, you will know better to not hang around haunted place like that. And we're not lollygagging, we're drafting our resignation letters. If you are so capable and valued by the Decemvirate, why don't you stay and guard this VERY building that Decemvirate forbid everyone from entering? It looks like you're the most qualified one around here."
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Vanessa had hung back from the team to admire the lovely architecture of these two old buildings. They reminded her so much of home in Nidal and her diplomatic assignments to both Ustalav and Cheliax on behalf of the Umbral Court. It was, of course, on that assignment in Cheliax that she met Zarta...
The raised voices of Ashwell and the junior Pathfinder jar her from her pleasant reverie.
"Resigning? Now vhy would you do zhat? Trust me vhen I say zhat being a Pathfinder is much better zhan many ozher options. I mean, vould you razher be a slave in a Kuthite temple, or a blood-bag for an Ustalavic vampire lord? I understand zhat zhese buildings ... how do you say ... "creep you out" ... but the Decemvirate knows vhat zhey're doing and they've said to keep out. Perfect, just keep out, and I vould consider it a personal favor if you vould also keep anyvon else out, too."
She pauses to give the most vocal of the idlers a smile that could bring said vampire lord to his knees (and has, at least once, she recalls.)
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And there's the perks too Rani continues. Travelling to interesting lands, meeting interesting people, making friends ... and maybe more with them she blushes a bit. And yeah ... facing death isn't everybody's thing but ... protecting those who can't protect themselves - isn't that what a Pathfinder is all about? And if we all work together we can beat this latest menace. So what say you ... are you with me? Gimme a cheer if you are
She frowns a bit. Her sister is better at this than she is. Come to think about it - where IS Prilla?
Grunjar figures out that those Pathfinders are essentially suffers from what people considered Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, likely from their previous adventures. It is not that they're unwilling to help, but the mental scars makes their adventuring life quite difficult, and being near a 'haunted' house clearly doesn't help.
Eventually, Lady Vanessa's charming voice and Rani's encouraging words calms them down, and they agreed to guard the Center House.
After the security details of the Center House is settled, you turn your attention to the Repository. Despite the Repository houses many necromatic experiements that are probably not suitable to disclose to the public , it is not considered haunted. You managed to call over one passing by team of Pathfinder and ask them to guard the Repository.
Their leader, an Aasimar, refused immediately. “Why don’t you guard the stone building with no doors and windows? If anything goes wrong, the negative energy won't harm you at all." she looks at Lady Vanessa, "The Pathfinder Society has far better use of a team of our talents than guarding a building that takes a group of black Dragons and an artifact going haywire to made a dent on it. Enough chatting, we're going to capture that giant two-headed vulture!” Some of you recognize them as the team of Pathfinders that took down the Runelord from their medals on their outfit.
What giant two headed vulture? Rani asks
This gigantic two-headed vulture has greasy, night-black wings and sharp talons.
Big birds, two bites with two heads, fly decently fast, and big enough to swallow you as a whole.
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Some of you recognize them as the team of Pathfinders that took down the Runelord from their medals on their outfit.
Aasimars are all so arrogant. Like their angel blood makes them better than the rest of us.
She nods in thanks to Ashwell's informed briefing about giant birds, then stares the aasimar down with ice in her eyes.
"It may surprise you, angel-eyes, but Captain Ivulxtin deputized us to find zhe stragglers and loose-cannons and put zhem to task. In zhis case, your task is to guard zhe Repository - not go chasing off after man-eating birds. Captain Rosenthal iz on anti-air duty, and he iz far more fit to handle it zhan zhe likes of you."
Some of you recognize them as the team of Pathfinders that took down the Runelord from their medals on their outfit.
Recognizing the significance of the names you've mentioned, the Aasimar's expression shifts from discontent to solemnity. "My apologies. Given that the venture-captain is solely involved with the beast, it would be prudent to delegate this matter to Captain Rosenthal. If these are Captain Ivulxtin's directives, we will adhere to them with utmost diligence."
She then turns around and signal to her group: "New objective: defend the Repository. Spread out and cover all corners, deploy anti-invisibility and non-visual sensory measures, stay communicated and don't let any intruder get close!" The other Pathfinders start casting from scrolls and get into their position to guard the Repository.
You see a trio of Pathfinders flying in the sky, the cleric giving speech to inspires others while the druid, which you recognizes as Captain Rosenthal, unleashing many volley of arrows to take down the winged intruders. The wizard by their side is casting spells left and right to handle the bigger monsters.
Now that the task given to you by Venture-Captain Ivulxtin is finished. Which part of the Grand Lodge campus would you guys like to investigate for potential intrusion? All three area are still in red alert.
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Satisfied that the more powerful and much more arrogant agents are following her instructions (though who wouldn't, after all?), Lady Vanessa pulls out her wayfinder, pops open the cover to reveal a small compact mirror and checks her appearance. She doesn't really need to, given how perfect she always is, but it's an affectation that people expect. And it buys her time to consider where to go next.
Not that it mattered. She almost always lets the men decide where to go. It makes them feel useful and important, even on those occasions when she's arranged things such that they didn't really have a choice anyway.
She smiles in return to Rani's impressed gaze and then simply nods in agreement to Ashwell's recommendation.
After 20 minutes, you make your way through the campus,carefully searching for intruders on the way, and arrives at the Mausoleum. This enormous, columned stone structure is both temple and fortress. Two wings flank an open courtyard. The imposing structure is adjacent to a thick copse of trees.
The Courtyard, being the Mausoleum's main entrance, was a scene of destruction a few years ago when the dragons attacked, and intruders have smashed what the Society rebuilt. Shattered statues and religious sculptures pertaining to death and the afterlife are strewn about the courtyard. The eastern stone doors are barred shut from the other side. You see the bodies of two caretakers are slumped to the sides of the western doors.
Pathfinders, how would you like to proceed?
Rani and Ashwell discover that the caretakers, despite heavily wounded, are still breathing.
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Lady Vanessa follows Rani across the open courtyard, keeping one eye out for trouble, one eye on the prostrate guardsmen, and one eye on the lithe form of the gymnastic halfling. Well, she tries anyway, but she lets her imagination of the fun she could be having with Rani detract from watching the general environment.
As she tears her eyes from devouring Rani's taut and toned form, the red lenses in her ultra-high-so glasses sparkle for an instant as she registers the guardsmen's condition. Disappointed that they're not undead (Don't ask. Or do, but get Grunjar to tell you the story of Moo and Groo), she quickly casts a simple spell to stabilize them both. "Grunjar, dahling, zhey could use some ov your tender ministrations."
She smiles down at Rani beside her. "I'm afraid zhey're just not in suitable condition to handle any of my 'tender ministrations.'"