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Modra nods along with Bustral's history lesson and claps his hands together on seeing Vim take the comment to heart. Conscious that many of these bookish students might have interests that he does not share, he considers the handout again and approaches the changeling, Tels.
"Well, lad, is yer team all ready for the ruk season, then?"
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Yata's mouth watered at the idea of being served soup by a disgraced noble...but she snaps out of it quickly as Geltra starts speaking.
"How'd you meet Ruffles then, if you can't do magic yet? Honestly, I think you got potential, Geltra! A familiar, so quickly? You're going places. I'd be glad to give you some lessons, magic is soooo much fun! What are the classes there like? What would you say are your strengths and weaknesses?"
Yata tries to be friendly, be charming, this is someone to do pranks with! How joyous!
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Morthos makes a mental note that something seems off about the professor, but he otherwise leaves it for now.
I'll mention it to my companions later.
Before Lidya can go exhaust anyone with her energy, Morthos approaches Hari.
You seem like an observant student. What do you hope to get out of today's field trip?
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Tels meets the dwarf's gaze as he approaches, smiling at the mention of his favorite sport.
"Oh yes, we've been practicing without Coach Valsin against some of the Puddle gangs over the summer. We'll be more than ready for our title defence. I've put on about 10 pounds of muscle myself. He lowers his shoulder, bites his tongue and flexes his biceps.
--------------------------------------------------
Geltra looks shy as she explains her familiar. "I had to have some help with that conjuration, plus I studied extra hard for that one. I didn't want to accidently be saddled with an imp or something."
As the conversation turns to classes and studies, Geltra becomes even more animated, clearly enjoying Yata's genuine attention. She speaks of her love of reading as a strength, but her shyness as a weakness. She would like to get to know the other students better.
--------------------------------------------------
Hari nods to Alessandra and Morthos as they arrive.
"I absolutely love to learn. There's not a challenge in the world that can't be won with a bit of preparation or research. Even, today. Some of my classmates view this as a sort of vacation or something, but I see it as an adventure. We are going somewhere we haven't been and meeting people we haven't met. It is almost overwhelming. But I am ready. Professor Krelsun is a fine teacher. He tries to really help us understand the history we’re studying by imagining we’re diplomats from Kyonin negotiating a treaty or navigating the darklands in search of ancient sorcerers. His lectures are dull as dirt, though! So it feels good to actually be doing something.”
They pause for a moment of recognition about the bard.
"You are a elf of the caverns, are you not? How does it feel to see in the dark?"
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The casual circle of conversations is suddenly interrupted by the violent thunk of shoulders and chests meeting as Tels and Modra square off. Tels holds his own against the dwarf and doesn't budge, but pats him on the shoulder as they part.
"Feel free to join us at a scrimmage if you ever get bored." he laughs.
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Hari nods to Alessandra and Morthos as they arrive.
"I absolutely love to learn. There's not a challenge in the world that can't be won with a bit of preparation or research. Even, today. Some of my classmates view this as a sort of vacation or something, but I see it as an adventure. We are going somewhere we haven't been and meeting people we haven't met. It is almost overwhelming. But I am ready. Professor Krelsun is a fine teacher. He tries to really help us understand the history we’re studying by imagining we’re diplomats from Kyonin negotiating a treaty or navigating the darklands in search of ancient sorcerers. His lectures are dull as dirt, though! So it feels good to actually be doing something.”
I think you're right that this trip is an opportunity to utilize your skills and grow! What specifically would you like to develop on this trip? Fill in knowledge gaps? Practice a cantrip?
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Hari seems to enjoy the discussion immensely.
"I would love to chronicle the interactions of the Lodge with the populace during the last great uprising there. That may be a little much for a one day visit, but why not try?"
--------------------------------
Alec waits patiently for the skittermander to approach. When he realizes the question is for him, he flicks the hair from his face with his hand and answers.
"My parents transferred to the Grand Lodge from Ustalav three years ago and pulled me along. This is such a different vibe then that place, but I am a chameleon of sorts. If I had to say, I guess I like the tougher classes, like Contracts and Negotiations."
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"That is strange," Dawnfriend says, "you don't look anything like a chameleon, or any other kind of lizard. I know, I grew up around lizard creatures called the Vesk. Grumpy, too, but they just needed hugs ..." Normally quite charming, Brother Dawnfriend's attempts to bond with Alec are less than stellar.
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Alec's brow furrows as he struggles to understand Brother's confusion. He stifles a laugh. "Yeah.... no hugs needed, really."
------------------------------------
The awkward interchange is interrupted as the Profeesor chimes in over the din. One and all, let's us not delay, our hosts await. It is time to head to the Grand Lodge portal."
J moves to into the center of the group, clearly excited at the prosepect of departure. "Is everyone ready to go? Senior agents, do you have any suggestions? I mean “how to prepare for a mission” would be a great lesson for the students!"
Krelsun urges the group on, “Tsk tsk. You’re going to a Pathfinder Lodge, not the Pit of Gormuz!”
Pit of Gormuz is a chasm in the eastern reaches of the continent of Casmaron.
------------------------------------
In short order you find yourself in front of a muted spiralling portal in an otherwise nondescript room set behind several layers of guards and other protections.
"As I tell you class, time is a fickle mistress, she waits for the brave and the foolish with equal measure." The Professor goes through first and disappears into the hazy hedges beyond.
The students then intermingle with their preferred agents from the meet and greet and step through with a mixture of wariness and bravado.
------------------------------------
Suddenly, Hari darts a look across the group and asks, in an alarmed tone, “Where’s Professor Krelsun? Where are the chaperones?” The other students fall quiet, then burst out arguing about what to do. Professor Krelsun is nowhere to be seen.
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"Of course, of course! Let us prepare for a mission, class!" Yata started getting into this, it was fun. She made an elaborate show of preparing for a mission, bringing a little too much stuff (does she really need THAT many candles, after all?) but when it became time, she really didn't need to ask any questions of J or the professor.
Yata was very confused as to what was going on, she was looking around, and tried to identify what exactly is going on with the environment. (Rolling arcana in case that's the correct thing, but if nature is applicable, it would be 2 higher)
She looks at the students, scratching her head "We're right here! Something seems to be a bit off though, do you guys feel alright?"
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Before the portal, Modra made an attempt to follow up on the feeling about something having the professor feeling anxious or agitated. "Is there anythin' ... extra we could do tae make ye feel better about this mission? Anythin' ye want us to watch fer?"
Upon getting this answer (or not), he took up J's suggestion to set an example for the students about mission preparation and thoroughly checked over his gear, making sure armor and shield straps were adjusted properly, weapons were in their proper place, and items were properly stowed in his backpack. The dwarf approached and stepped through the portal with determination.
As the group arrives in this unnatural facsimile of the Woodsedge Lodge with the students not seeming to see the chaperones, Modra groans and mutters to himself, "Why'd they have tae call it a maze, anyway..." With others seeing if any immediate vocal contact can be established, Modra strokes his beard thoughtfully while considering the ground around them.
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As the group ponders the situation (rather unsuccessfully), there aren't any clear answers just yet. Brother Dawnfriend sees the requisite objects in the sky, but as mentioned it is a bright shade of green, truly odd and though tracks are made --- you are not quite sure if any one else sees them.
On a more pointed note, neither Morthos' or Alessandra's words to the students are met with any response whatsoever.
The students, however, do not hesitate.
“Maybe they’re stuck in the Maze. We should look for them!” Vim suggests.
Hari puts up a hand to halt her. “Absolutely not. Going in the Maze is strictly forbidden!”
“Let’s go inside for help,” Tels gestures toward Woodsedge Lodge. “They’ll know what to do.”
The students mutter assent and head to the Lodge, a two‐story manor house that sports rounded turrets on the front of the building. The students walk up the staircase to the front doors, decorated with a painting of a stylized wayfinder.
Tels knocks, and when no one answers, he opens the doors and leads the class inside.
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Yata doesn't know anything about the occult (really, she'd argue to you that who does really know about the occult) so she's completely lost in this situation.
"So it doesn't seem like they can hear us but...we are here...what's interesting is that no one answered the knock, maybe the people from the lodge have been trapped here too? But! Let me try this..." Yata approaches the door and tries to grab the door and swing it open and closed -- can she interact with the real world at all?
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Modra nods to Alessandra's suggestion. "Aye, an' let me at 'em first, just in case anythin'... funny comes along." After a beat, he looks up towards the strange emerald sky and adds, "Anythin' ELSE funny." He raises his shield before leading any who are following in after the students.
Once in the room (assuming no surprises), he turns back to watch Yata's experiments with the door with interest, trying to assess whether she really is moving the door and if so, whether the students notice the movement. Modra tries his own experiment, taking up his warhammer and tapping the handle against the ground in a pattern that a student who only pays attention in a martial kind of class (or who overachieves in every class) might, if they heard it despite this peculiar occult sundering, recognize as a signal to "Regroup here."
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Before entering, Bustral takes out his scroll saying, "At the start of any adventure, and each morning while progressing, it is usually prudent to cast any long-lasting defensive magics that you may possess before you move forward." He then reads the scroll and his metal form is clad in a faint greenish-gold sheen.
Bustral then peers around intently to see if he notices something that seems off, but barely so, as he knows Illusions tend to be an all or nothing type of magic.
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Proceeding forward, the group reaches the lodge entry. Your very steps on the ground seem strange though, as if it not "resisting" it as hard as stone or dirt should.
As Yata tries to open the door, she finds her hand pass straight through without budging it from it's now closed state (although it feels to her like pushing through water with a strong current). Modra therefore has no real problem just passing straight through it and into the room.
As the eveidence mounts, Bustral realizes what it all means. That you are all are slightly “out of phase” with reality. Not quite on the Material Plane any longer, though not what you would call incorporeal or ethereal, either.
Modra's crude attempt to communicate does elicit a bit of a reaction from the student group, but they quickly disregard the strange noise.
The lodge’s great room appears abandoned. Books lie open on reading tables and a fire is burns cheerily in the room’s massive hearth. A set of animal-shaped drouge tiles stands spread across a table as if interrupted mid-game, and an account book rests next to an abacus on the table in the southwestern corner. Hushed exchanges between students are the only sounds.
A few students begin settling into the cozy chairs as Alec Gracekin calls out, “Hello? Anyone there?” When no answer comes, he shrugs and says, “I suppose we can do whatever we like,” before collapsing sideways into a chair and throwing his feet up on a fine mahogany table.
“I’m going to get my assignment done,” Geltra counters. “There is supposed to be an interesting Taldan artifact in this room. It shouldn’t be hard to find.” She begins examining the metal plaques around the room, looking slightly abashed at having spoken up in front of everyone. Her pigeon, Ruffles, coos contentedly on her shoulder while the rest of the students groan at the suggestion that they should do schoolwork under these circumstances.
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"This all seems wrong somehow. Like we aren't in the regular world but not quite in an adjacent one either. Sort of somewhere between them both. It would be prudent to remain together and alert until we understand what exactly is going on. Thus is the life of a Pathfinder. Forever vigilant and seeking knowledge."
Now you know how I often feel!
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Dawnfriend darts over toward Alec. "No, no, nufriend Alec Gracekin! Do not put your feet up on the nice table! Now is not the time to misbehave."
Seeing what Morthos is doing, he has an idea and holds out his six arms toward the table ... casting prestidigitation in an attempt to clear any smudges that Alec Gracekin's shoes make on the table.
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Yata blinks seeing Alec and Geltra. ”You know I feel like I should feel proud that they’re misbehaving and acting freely but I still feel a little shocked at how they both immediately gave up on us”
Seeing how she can’t affect the outside world directly, she tries casting Figment to make a fairly crude ghost appear in front of Alec and see if he can see it at all and give him a little fright.
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Although it takes a bit more concentration that it should, Morthos is able to slide a book off the table and on to the ground with a clap.
The students all turn (a few even jump at the sudden noise).
"Who did that?" Tels asks. "We should really be more careful as guests, or we will never be invited back."
After the quick muttering denials, Hari moves over to the book. "No, it wasn't any of us. Don't you see? It's someone trying to communicate with us. Some one else in here with us. Like a ghost!"
She picks up the book and studies it. The Year of Shattered Sanctuaries: A Gazeteer of Pathfinder Forays for A.R. 4721.
"Look at this, the book landed open to this page. The East Hill Haunting. A ghost in Almas!" She shouts.
Alec scoffs, "Yeah, so what? Just straighten out the dog-ear like Tels said and put it back on the table. Not everything means something." Alec rearranges his feet but doesn't seem to notice the subtle cleaning of the spell as he does.
Geltra chimes in, albeit with a bit of hesitation. "The ghost in Almas was a memory from one of the chaperone agents. I think they are trying to contact us."
Yata's spell seems to fire to all of you, but the students fail to react to the vision.
CONCENTRATE LINGUISTIC MANIPULATE MENTAL VISUAL
Requirements Students are present to witness your attempt to communicate. There are appropriate means of communication, such as items of negligible Bulk to manipulate, powder to write in, or lights to make a pattern.
You try to communicate a simple message to the students from your phase of reality. Attempt a DC 15 Athletics, Diplomacy, Occultism, or Thievery check with the following results.
Critical Success You communicate a phrase of up to 10 words.
Success You clearly communicate one word to the students.
Failure The students cannot understand your communications.
Critical Failure The students misinterpret your message, gaining incorrect information determined by the GM.
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"Morthos, you're a genius! Let me try!"Yata looks for an older chronicle book, one titled for the Year of the Serpent and she tries dropping the book in the same way and put in the page of "Abducted in Aether" hopefully the students will understand what she means.
Gonna hero point it, why not
Somehow, with that presumably being a crit, she manages to highlight or convey a passage that says "Help", and another that says "trapped".
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Brother Dawnfriend claps multiple pairs of hands at Morthos. "Excellent! Really great job opening it to exactly the right page. When I drop books onto the ground, it's much more random ..."
He sighs as there are now more smudges as Alec rearranges. "Nufriend Alec Gracekin!" he implores. He tries to write on the dust,
And please keep feet off furniture. Thanks!
... but instead he just kind of cleans up a patch of dust, having gotten distracted half way through about his goal.
He glances toward Bustral. "You are a wizomancer, right? Do you know how to get us back into phase with our reality? Is there anything magical here that we can use?" He begins looking around and searching the place, nearly frantic about his inability to help people.
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"'twas a brilliant idea," Modra agrees with Yata, nodding to Morthos. "Least now we're knowin' the young'uns en't cut off from us entirely."
The dwarf considers the still-burning fireplace from a distance. "Lot o' mystery goin' on 'round here," he says. "What happened tae the Pathfinders o' the Lodge here? An' the Professor? Wonderin' if we can solve the problems while keepin' these young'uns on their lessons, and no' worryin' too much about us."
On this thought, Modra crosses the room towards the fireplace. While close by the fire, he observes its light, trying to decide if there's anything unusual about it, similar to the sky. He also takes note of whether he's feeling heat, or if that, too is different in this shifted plane. But his primary reason for getting near the fireplace is to try to trace out letters in the soot:
Having observed Morthos's technique, he's able to make a much better attempt at his previous strategy of communication, and with great effort, smudges soot onto the mantle with this message:
PATHFINDERS OBSERVING. TRUST YOURSELVES, COMPLETE LESSONS, EXPLORE, REPORT, COOPERATE.
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Encouraged with the success of the book reveal, Bustral cast a spell. A bright, pale, greenish-gold globe of light appears. he attaches it to the top of his staff and starts looking for a book on Automatons, Jistka, or the Chronicle describing his mission to judge the Locomotive in Irrisen. If he finds any of these he will start swirling the lighted end of the staff around the book while it sits on the shelf.
Range: 120 feet Duration: until your next daily preparations
You create an orb of light that sheds bright light in a 20-foot radius (and dim light for the next 20 feet) in a color you choose. If you create the light in the same space as a willing creature, you can attach the light to the creature, causing it to float near that creature as it moves. You can Sustain the spell to move the light up to 60 feet; you can attach or detach it from a creature as part of this movement.
You can Dismiss the spell. If you Cast the Spell while you already have four light spells active, you must choose one of the existing spells to end.
Heightened (4th) The orb sheds light in a 60-foot radius (and dim light for the next 60 feet).
Lidya rolls her eyes at her brother's breakthrough.
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Books begin to fall at a rapid pace and the students move to intercept them.
Hari notices the new book hint quickly "Yes, they are trapped somewhere on another plane or something, but they can maybe see us?"
Geltra, who has been examining the plaques around the room like a good student, stumbles on the note in the soot. "Yes, indeed. They are watching us. They want us to continue with our lessons."
With the combined efforts of the team, the lines of coomunication have been opened.
"Then let's do just that." Tels concludes. "let's make them proud... wherever they are."
----------------------------------------------------
Geltra interjects - louder than usual, “I’m glad you’re here. I can’t make any sense of these plaques! They’ve been separated from their displays, and the labels are very strange. Could you give us a hand, since we all seem to be stuck here?” She lays the four plaques on the table and steps back.
(To be fair, Geltra seems more upset at the prospect of not finishing her assignment than by the disappearance of the residents of the lodge).
I twinkle and gleam
Gentle light I supply
You’ll make a wish when
I streak down from the sky.
Starfall, 4350 ar
What could be lurking
Across the neighbor’s field?
Put me to your eye
It will soon be revealed
Skywatch, 4698 ar
I can’t make you honey
Or unlock a chest,
But I share the same name
As two from my nest.
Companion to Stavian I
Oppara, 4580 ar
I have never galloped
Through glades or past trees
If I swish my white tail
I move through the seas
Whitethrone, 4713 ar
With a quick review of the Main Hall, you spot several items that have places on their display stands for plaques:
A. A yard-long spiral horn embellished with emeralds and rubies
B. A taxidermied owlbear posed threateningly by the door of the lodge
C. A polished bronze spyglass
D. A fist-sized lump of pitted metal
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”No, no, guys! Why are we telling them to continue their lessons? We need them to free us! Or like, go get help! Is there a city near the lodge? …Okay, okay, fine. We can do that after they complete their assignments — seems they care far more about that anyway…”
She can’t help at all with most of the things but she’ll try to identify the spiral horn
She gets distracted with something else, though, not focusing at all.
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"Nufriend Yata, the teacher-friends will be sad if the students do not complete their lessons. Also, if they are not working on their lessons, they might be tempted to explore the Maze of the Open Road, which is definitely on the list of things they aren't supposed to do. This keeps them occupied."
Dawnfriend seems a bit distracted, though, at the prospect of a helpful project and considers the plaques and where they could go. He points at Plaque 2 and says, "This seems clearly to be talking about the spyglass," he says, sounding a little disappointed in Geltra. "It's really obvious. Did she even read these? I'm sure if she'd put in the effort she'd have figured that one out."
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Brother Dawnfriend points at the first one. "That is the horn of a narwhal, so probably this plaque here, about swimming in the seas." He points to plaque 4.
He then points at the rock. "This is a lava rock. Maybe from a big volcano or something? But none of these are about volcanoes." He scratches his head in confusion.
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Bustral studies the items and the plaques and shares what he knows about the 3 items. "From what I can figure, the Narwhal Horn goes with Plaque #4, the Owlbear goes with Plaque #3, and the chunk of Skymetal goes with Plaque #1.", he states as he looks around at the others, Pretty sure. What do the rest of yo think?"