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Working together and with Adelmare charging forward in the lead, the Pathfinders dispel that last of the wards on the magical oubliette prison. Within, you find Khione Thidos, Pathfinder agent, reporter, and gossip. Khione is disheveled but alive, and grateful for being able to speak again.
“Wow thank you so much for saving me! I knew Zarta and the others would come for me. I told those fake Red Mantises that, but they kidnapped me anyway even though I warned them they’d be in for it if they took a Pathfinder hostage and wow are they like silent monks or something? They said their leaders invented two brand new spells just to keep me locked up because I was ‘annoying’ the other prisoners and their guards. What’s up with that? Also, their whole organization is tackier than the Cult of the Screaming Grub if you ask me, and...”
Khione continues like this uninterrupted as you lead her out of the abandoned tavern. You deliver her to Zarta who informs her that the Pathfinders are in the middle of an armed siege of the Dispatch facilities. At this, she straightens herself up and grabs some parchment and a pen from seemingly out of nowhere, promising to follow her rescuers around and chronicle their glorious deeds as thanks for saving her. Zarta smiles knowingly, and suggests that everyone rest up and get ready for the final assault.
Khione will indeed follow your team around, loudly narrating out loud to herself everything that’s going on even as she records your deeds. The benefit of this is that she continually notifies you about enemy positions and tactics, giving each of you the benefits of the Deny Advantage Rogue ability.
"What have you heard about Zarta? Does she still have that collection of books on chocolate around the world? I've been meaning to borrow a few..." The Carnelian Signet is extra chatty with Khione.
Zarta, Eando, and Giovana gather the Pathfinders together once again, now joined by the rescued hostages and Viore. Zarta smiles at the assembly. “Well done, darlings, but we’re not finished yet. The remaining Dispatch forces have withdrawn into the smaller buildings, and we think their leaders have an underground lair beneath us.”
“In order to fulfill our obligations to the Red Mantis, we need to track down those leaders and take them out,” Eando says, while looking over to Giovana, who just grins back at him while cleaning her twin sawtooth sabers. “You’ll be heading into the remaining buildings and underground passages, so look out for one another—”
Kline is cut off as Viore finishes consulting with the hostages and barges forward. “I’ve figured out what they’re doing, and we have to hurry! One of the Dispatch leaders was recently in Kyonin, you see and stole pieces of several aiudara—teleportation gates. Combined with what we’ve learned today, I think they’re trying to build their own version of an aiudara here and might use it if we don’t stop them first!”
Zarta nods assertively. “That’s it, then. Get moving, Pathfinders. Let’s track the rest of the Dispatch down before they get away!”
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Venture-Captain Viore approaches your team, out of breath. “Pathfinders, the Dispatch leader Rowan is activating technomagical switches and devices, powering up their faux-aiudara. They must be preparing to escape. You need to chase after her and shut down all the things she’s been turning on over the last few minutes. Hurry!”
As you begin your pursuit, Rowan the Whispering hasn’t noticed that she’s being followed just yet. This gives you a chance to close the gap and catch up to her before she can activate more strange magical devices.
DC 16 Scouting or Warfare Lore to advance quickly
DC 18 Acrobatics or Athletics to race ahead
DC 20 Perception or Stealth to avoid notice while moving as a group.
Challenge: Playing Catch Up
Round 1
BOLD May Act
Eltis
Shalosar
Adelmare
Mrs. Crinkle
The Carnelian Signet
Zenari
"A gingerly chase!" The Carnelian Signet calls as she runs.
Only to get snagged on a few crates...
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First up, the ladies (well, two of them at least) move the group quickly to catch up to Rowan.
You find yourselves in a section of a the Dispatches’ underground lair where dozens of clockwork and technomagical levers and dials have been set to their activated positions on a series of switchboards along the walls, causing mundane and magical energies to begin building up.
DC 16 Engineering Lore or Crafting to find the right levers to pull immediately
DC 18 Thievery to dig into the guts of the machines and disconnect their wires manually
DC 20 Perception or Society to find clues as to which switches were touched most recently and deactivate those ones first
Challenge: Flipping Switches
Round 1
BOLD May Act
Eltis
Shalosar
Adelmare
Mrs. Crinkle
The Carnelian Signet
Zenari
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Shalosar and Adelmare point out which switches were activated recently as Eltis digs around in the guts of the devices to shut it all down.
Magical power, tied to pieces of stolen aiudara fragments from all around Kyonin and bound together here, suddenly flares to life, causing a cascade effect that must be cautiously and safely dissipated.
DC 16 Elf Lore or Kyonin Lore to understand the connection to the original aiudaras
DC 18 Arcana, Nature, Occultism, or Religion to create a magical counterbalance
DC 20 Intimidation or a Will save in order to use one’s force of personality against the supernatural effects
Challenge: Energy Influx
Round 2
Chase Points Accrued : Needed: 0 : 4
BOLD May Act
Eltis
Shalosar
Adelmare
Mrs. Crinkle
The Carnelian Signet
Zenari
"Oh, stop it. Back in order." The Carnelian Signet's hands flare are she bullies the shards into compliance.
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Shalosar brings his angst and pain to bear while Zenari focuses her anger into cutting through the magical energies. Eltis meditates upon the nature of the aiudaras to bring them back into balance. The Carnelian Signet is unable to muster the mental focus that the others have, though.
DC 16 Elf Lore or Kyonin Lore to understand the connection to the original aiudaras
DC 18 Arcana, Nature, Occultism, or Religion to create a magical counterbalance
DC 20 Intimidation or a Will save in order to use one’s force of personality against the supernatural effects
Challenge: Energy Influx
Round 2
Chase Points Accrued : Needed: 3 : 4
BOLD May Act
Eltis
Shalosar
Adelmare
Mrs. Crinkle
The Carnelian Signet
Zenari
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Intimidate: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14
"Oh, stop it. Back in order." The Carnelian Signet's hands flare are she bullies the shards into compliance.
"Oh, honey, you need more oomph! More verve! Zenari's got it. Look at those eyes--she'll smack you if you don't Obey. Right. Now! Okay, try it again, dearie. You've got this! Heehee!" Mrs. Crinkle is so busy giving the Signet a pep talk that she forgets to try herself.
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Adelmare brings all of his focus to bear on the mystical energies of the aiudaras and shuts them down. But suddenly the energy cascade caused by the conflict between systems being activated by Rowan and then deactivated so shortly afterwards by the Pathfinders creates a negative feedback loop of energies that cannot be disabled—only survived.
DC 16 Fortune-Telling Lore or any Lore relevant to magic or the planes
DC 18 Medicine or Survival to help others through the energy storm
DC 20 Fortitude or Reflex saves to simply stubbornly resist
Challenge: Deadbolt
Round 2
Chase Points Accrued : Needed: 0 : 3
BOLD May Act
Eltis
Shalosar
Adelmare
Mrs. Crinkle
The Carnelian Signet
Zenari
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Mrs. Crinkle seems to enjoy the electrical discharges. Perhaps a little too much. The energy cascade continues, and the Pathfinders find they must simply survive the onslaught.
DC 16 Fortune-Telling Lore or any Lore relevant to magic or the planes
DC 18 Medicine or Survival to help others through the energy storm
DC 20 Fortitude or Reflex saves to simply stubbornly resist
Challenge: Deadbolt
Round 3
Chase Points Accrued : Needed: 1 : 3
BOLD May Act
Eltis
Shalosar
Adelmare
Mrs. Crinkle
The Carnelian Signet
Zenari
The Carnelian Signet hears Mrs. Crinkle and Zenari and takes their advice with her own spin on things. Flames flare around her to absorb and harmlessly dispel the electric feedback.
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Zenari and the Carnelian Signet brute force their way through the pain as Eltis prepares a concoction. Slowly, the magics dissipate, but as they do this part of the underground complex becomes unstable with arcane electricity, forcing friend and foe alike out of the area. You have but a moment to search before fleeing, and therein you find a +1 striking
dagger that was left behind by a hapless senior Dispatch agent.
Emerging from the ruins, you spot Zarta Dralneen. The Grand Archivist cautiously points toward a newly discovered underground passage, keeping her voice low. “The way ahead goes straight toward the Dispatch’s inner sanctum. No twists, no turns, just a straight shot. It almost seems to be too good to be true... which means it’s almost definitely a trap. Check it out but be careful!”
Taking but a moment to recover, you embark down the indicated Path. You find it’s a wide corridor that does indeed take a straight course from a set of doors on the surface straight toward the Red Mantis Dispatch’s inner sanctum. The way is lined with mirrors and reflective surfaces.
Suddenly, space changes around you, turning the corridor into a mirror maze with warped passages and mirror-walled chambers extending in every direction. You all see reflections of yourselves on every surface, appearing normal in some, but as unearthly monstrosities or bloodthirsty cannibals in others. Zenari as a deep-sea monster with a mouthful of needle-sharp teeth, and Shalosar as a pitch-black shadow ghost with no physical form. The Carnelian Signet sees herself as a marauding, murdering cannibal rampaging through the streets of Egorian, and Mrs. Crinkle sees herself as a werewolf. Oh, wait, no, that’s just a normal mirror. In a magical mirror, the fun, silly old lady sees herself as a were-puppy devouring children who just want to be her friends.
As you all process the mental trauma and horror, a hazy image of Sotroz coalesces in the center of the room and speaks to you directly. It is clearly an illusion, but also clearly a real-time conversation with the leader of the Red Mantis Dispatch.
Sotroz begins by sharing their knowledge of the Pathfinder Society’s good works in the past and remarking how disappointed they are to see the Society’s agents “stooping” to act as mercenaries for the Red Mantis rather than extolling their own ideals of “explore, report, cooperate.” They go on to make the point that this isn’t the Pathfinders’ fight, and you’re being used by the Red Mantis Assassins for their own ends.
The ghoul finishes by making a genuine offer: if you abandon the mission and leave the island immediately, Sotroz will telepathically share the location of a treasure cache they buried elsewhere on the island that nobody knows about (not even Rowan).
The Carnelian Signet sees her fear made manifest: her butt IS too big! But that strawberry cake was much too tempting...
The devil mowing down innocent lives gives her pause. Her family all but sold her soul before she was 10 years, but Grandma's stories gave her pause and a peace of mind enough to clear any contracts with her name on it. It wasn't easy.
This would have been the easy way out. Just use the power, take what you want. Who cares if you hurt someone along the way. You're safe, you're strong. Take whatever you need.
The thoughts disgust her. "I don't need the money. And if you wanted to keep the Pathfinders out of it, maybe you shouldn't have kidnapped them."
"Besides, my reputation is at stake. I can't reject a mission!" She chuckles.
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"OooOoo! Zenari! Why, my ears are burning, dearie! Heehee!" Mrs. Crinkle cheers on the potty mouthed pirate before spewing a string of profanity lewd enough to make the average sailor blush.
And then she tells Sotroz: "No thank you, dearie. There's more to life than treasure, though perhaps you've been undead too long to remember that. Heehee!"
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Adelmare looks grimly at the illusory ghoul, the creature has clearly hit a nerve. Maybe it was all the trainees in the other room.
"Sometimes I wish we were either better or worse people. If we were better, it make it harder to criticize our failings. If we were worse, your gold would be more meaningful. Sadly, us Pathfinders are stuck in the middle. I stand with the Society. There will be no deals as far as I am concerned."