When Kohl opens the locked room with the security code they have, he finds that this room looks like it belongs in a Chelaxian prison, with nothing more than a mattress resting on its hard metal floor, surrounded by the desiccated husks of dead rats strongly resembling the dead bodies outside the facility. When the door opens, > the darkhaired woman inside spins around < . Putting her hands on her hips, she speaks with a semi-playful tone. “Well, aren’t you bold to just walk into my room without knocking first! What if I wasn’t fully decent?” Her voice and expression harden a bit afterward. “No, don’t leave, please. I’m glad you’ve finally reached me. I’m trapped in this horrible place, and I need your help.”
The woman smiles.
"I am Experiment 287, or that's what they called me. I don't remember my life before I was a Conference Z test subject, and now I become a ghost."
"I have this uncontrollable urge to feed on the living daily, which I loathe but can’t stop myself from doing. Quiet embarrassing, but I have this usual cycle of feeding from the elementals and test subjects, trying to keep my feedings small enough to preserve their life." She then pauses. "I might be responsible for the deaths of the shipwreck victims, whose lives were so vibrant that I lost all control around them." she tells them.
"I really want to remember my real name so I can go to Pharasma’s Boneyard and face judgment as my true self and not as just a number. Are you willing to help me?"
287 smiles at every one of their assurance to help her and lets out a relieved sigh of thanks.
"Thank you so much, I know you can help me. And yes we will need that journal, please get it for me. And I don't think a kiss would hurt" she tells them. With everyone around, she then lays down on the infusion table.
Once the journal is retrieved from the office, "I need to open my memory, and using the journal and the images, you should, hopefully, be able to recover her name." she tells Jiki while scanning through the journal.
As 287 begins to concentrate, a whirlwind of ghostly energy fills the room! It looks like the unquiet memories of over 300 other unfortunate souls also linger in this place, and they all clamor to be heard at once when the procedure starts!
void damage
The spirits lashes out again to them, begging for attention and recognition of Pathfinders to know their names too!
void damage
Hobbs is overwhelmed by the spirits and falls to the ground!
PARTY CONDITIONS: ---
TERRAIN FEATURES: ---
MAP LINK: ENCOUNTER MAP
OTHER NOTES: ☘️: Hero Points. RS: Reactive Strike. OG: Off-Guard.
CHARACTER IN ➤ BOLD TYPEFACE CAN ACT! STRIKETHROUGH NAMES ARE ELIMINATED.
Conference Z's Victims | ◆◆ Disable with DC 33 Medicine or Society to determine 287’s first or surname through the journal text or DC 35 Occultism or Religion to connect with the spiritual energy bound to the journal to find her name. Two successes are needed, one for each part of 287’s name.
➤ Tremendous Kohl |
➤ Zarina Silvermist |
➤ Isaku Beru |
➤ Jiki the Flatulist |
➤ Raindrop | Drained 1 (Max HP - 8*1); |
⠀⠀➤ (Unnamed)
➤ Hobbs Picklesmith | Drained 1 (Max HP - 9*1); Dying 1 (Prone) |
Each time you get a full night's rest, your drained value decreases by 1. This increases your maximum Hit Points, but you don't immediately recover the lost Hit Points.
Zarina pulls Hobbs from the brink of death. She also heals herself. 287 speaks not but gives a serious nod at Zarina, indicating that she can be affected by the vitality energy.
PARTY CONDITIONS: ---
TERRAIN FEATURES: ---
MAP LINK: ENCOUNTER MAP
OTHER NOTES: ☘️: Hero Points. RS: Reactive Strike. OG: Off-Guard.
CHARACTER IN ➤ BOLD TYPEFACE CAN ACT! STRIKETHROUGH NAMES ARE ELIMINATED.
Conference Z's Victims | ◆◆ Disable with DC 33 Medicine or Society to determine 287’s first or surname through the journal text or DC 35 Occultism or Religion to connect with the spiritual energy bound to the journal to find her name. Two successes are needed, one for each part of 287’s name.
➤ Tremendous Kohl |
Zarina Silvermist |
➤ Isaku Beru |
➤ Jiki the Flatulist |
➤ Raindrop | Drained 1 (Max HP - 8*1); |
⠀⠀➤ (Unnamed)
➤ Hobbs Picklesmith | Drained 1 (Max HP - 9*1); Wounded 1, Prone |
Each time you get a full night's rest, your drained value decreases by 1. This increases your maximum Hit Points, but you don't immediately recover the lost Hit Points.
Raindrop heals herself while her eidolon bites nothing. Kohl skims thru the passages while also correlating it to the mental images 287 is projecting. One passage in the journal that the subject is previously referred as Kytania.
ISaku heals himself and Kohl. Jiki also uses the journal to find her surname, and he finds a full of the subject before he raises shield: Kytania Sothen.
PARTY CONDITIONS: ---
TERRAIN FEATURES: ---
MAP LINK: ENCOUNTER MAP
OTHER NOTES: ☘️: Hero Points. RS: Reactive Strike. OG: Off-Guard.
CHARACTER IN ➤ BOLD TYPEFACE CAN ACT! STRIKETHROUGH NAMES ARE ELIMINATED.
Conference Z's Victims | ◆◆ Disable with DC 33 Medicine or Society to determine 287’s first or surname through the journal text or DC 35 Occultism or Religion to connect with the spiritual energy bound to the journal to find her name. Two successes are needed, one for each part of 287’s name.
Tremendous Kohl |
Zarina Silvermist |
Isaku Beru |
Jiki the Flatulist |
Raindrop | Drained 1 (Max HP - 8*1); Fast Healing 8 |
⠀⠀(Unnamed)
➤ Hobbs Picklesmith | Drained 1 (Max HP - 9*1); Wounded 1, Prone |
Each time you get a full night's rest, your drained value decreases by 1. This increases your maximum Hit Points, but you don't immediately recover the lost Hit Points.
287 turns to Hobbs, as if waiting for more about her name. "Kytania...?"
Kytania’s face takes on a serene look as her form begins to fade when she hears her name, Kytania Sothen.
"Thank you!" she stands and spins around a bit, her ghost looking healthier and more vibrant even as it disappears. As she disappears, an object that was suspended in her ectoplasmic form drops to the floor. The whirlwind of spirits also ceases, whispering their thanks until they are no more.
Zarina Silvermist (12/78 HP) [2☘️]
Isaku Beru (40/95 HP) [1☘️]
Jiki the Flatulist (64/116 HP) [1☘️]
Raindrop (87/102 HP) [2☘️] | Drained 1 (Max HP - 8*1); Fast Healing 8
(Unnamed) (87/102 HP)
Hobbs Picklesmith (57/69 HP) [2☘️] | Drained 1 (Max HP - 9*1); Wounded 1, Prone
Scanning this journal reveals this subject was Dr. Maccov’s crowning achievement, turning an elven Aspis Consortium agent into the first test subject capable of going on true field tests, even if the doctor was forced by superiors to brainwash 322 into being an assassin for another Aspis faction known as the Korholm Agenda. The journal’s footnotes mention her first assassination went perfectly, with the death and soul-theft of then-Pathfinder Society Master of Spells Aram Zey. An angry footnote indicates the doctor’s opinion that 322 was given “too much independent thought,” because her conscience caused her to “go rogue” not long after the assassination, leading Conference Z to lose track of her when she was taken in by the night hag Aslynn. Ghostly writing on the final page of the journal indicates 287’s ghost often visited 322 to comfort her during the elf’s pre-experimental imprisonment at the facility, and that the two became close friends.
The Pathfinders also find a slip of paper tucked inside the journal’s front cover with the passcode to door A15b . Inside this room, identical to area A15a, they find a chest, almost exactly as the Waterfall described—small, made of white oak, with a rectangular yellow garnet set into its lid.
With the facility fully explored, having collected everything that needed to be collected, and freed the animals back to their natural habitat, the Pathfinders easily make their way back to the Misty Misfit. The trip back to Absalom is very pleasant and relaxing (and is still mildly pleasant even for those that do). That ends upon their arrival at the Grand Lodge, when Ambrus Valsin immediately summons them to a meeting in Skyreach.
The chamber is full with the Pathfinder Society’s faction heads and school masters. Ambrus Valsin leads the field agents forward to present their findings and recovered items to the Waterfall, who sits at the head of the gathering. Opening the box, she picks up each item in turn, before setting them down and nodding to Valsin. Ambrus furrows a brow, whispering, “are you sure you want to do this?” before relenting when the Waterfall gives a simple nod in return.
“I wish to thank you for recovering these items, our most expert agents.” She begins. “I must also apologize for obscuring part of the reason why you were sent after some of these in particular.” She trails off as her hands reach up, lifting the Decemvirate helm off of her head, unmasking herself before all present. Standing in front of the gathering now is the elf known as 322.
“With the help Ambrus has given me, these items are enough for me to remember my name. I’m no longer 322, who served both Aspis and Aslynn. I am Csilla, who chose to become a Pathfinder after our encounter in the city of Axis. I have worked to help us defeat the foul hag... and now, I am myself again.”
Reactions around the room are extremely mixed. Valsin clearly knew this secret before it was revealed. Valais Durant gasps in surprise. Eando Kline clenches his jaw, turns on his heel, and moves to the back of the room, a deep frown on his face. Fola Barun of the Envoy’s Alliance whispers to the PCs that Eando and Aram Zey never saw eye to eye, but Eando had also sworn to bring Zey’s killer to justice. She stops talking and exits the room, trying to calm Eando down. Gorm Greathammer of the Grand Archive begins whispering excitedly about the stories that could come from this revelation. Master of Scrolls Kreighton Shane just sits there and smiles, apparently happy to be there.
Other reactions are a bit more animated and amicable. Head archivist Zarta Dralneen grins wickedly, beckoning with a hand to Horizon Hunters leader Calisro Benarry, who sighs playfully, then tosses Zarta a bag of gold coins as payment for some kind of bet. Current Master of Spells Sorrina Westyr and Master of Swords Marcus Farabellus approach Csilla, warmly and formally welcoming her.
Then, without warning, Verdant Wheel leader Urwal suddenly sticks his head through a nearby window. Hanging upside-down and covered in paint, he exclaims, “The mural I was painting finally makes sense! The power of the Decemvirate Helm now shows all its obscuring greatness. A dream I had, three sets of two stars each, shining out in defiance against darkest blackness.”
Csilla turns to the PCs and thanks them once again. As she looks over the items they brought back, it’s clear she’s somewhat disturbed by the sight of the golden owl mask, but she is very pleased at everything else they recovered on either a professional or personal level. She doesn’t order them to keep this recent revelation secret but suggests their discretion might serve them well in the days ahead.
|
What? What? WHAT???? YOU'RE 322??????????
To say that Zarina is surprised is an understatement.
How in the Deeps did THAT happen????
She stops, blushing deeply with embarrassment at her outburst staring at the floorboards.
Um ... we also rescued 287 a.k.a. Kytania Sothen. She was a ghost, a rather cute one in my opinion.
|
Once Raindrop collects her jaw off the floor, she lets out a dramatic hmph at Zarina's comment. She puts her hands on her hips and tries her best to pout, but bursts into tiny giggles within seconds.
To Csilla, she'll add, "Seems you two were friends? Or at least friendly? Shame what happened to her, and all."