"Oh. Hello there," the dwarf says to Highwire. "I'm Gnethe Eraseen. I'm rather an expert on the Shining Crusade, maybe you've heard of me? No, probably not. Not a lot of other historians at this event." She makes a forgiving gesture with her hand and then strokes her beard. "This signet ring is an interesting curio. I had bid on it--thought I had bid higher, maybe my hand was as steady as I thought. Anyhow, I was just about to place a new bid since someone has outbid me."
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Bramblespine confides with Gnethe "Greetings, I am Bramblespine from the Pathfinder Society. I am surprised you would be interested in such an item. It is the ring of a young scion of house Avenstar. While a priceless personal item so some, I don't think it holds any historic value that one such as you might be interested in. Might I suggest the case of Aeon stones we have donated. Many of them trace their history back to the Azlanti Empire and we might be able to get you some extra information on where they were recovered from..."
"Oh! I never actually expected to meet a true scholar at this event," Gnethe says as she grins. "You believe those aeon stones have providence linking them to heroes--or villains--of the crusades? Very interesting..." Gnethe absently replaces the wax tablet in front of the ring as she follows after Bramblespine, talking the ghoran's ear(?) off for the next many minutes.
A little time and some chance to actually enjoy the food and drink afterward, a man in the uniform of the Absalom Navy staggers past you with a tankard in his fist. His face is flushed, and his eyes glazed. Suddenly, he turns back toward you and grabs hold of Maneki's arm.
"Youth! Youth these days!" he slurs with a glassy-eyed but earnest expression. "Don't understand what a glory it is to live in a world without a tear in the universe straight to the Abyss!" He hiccups.
"Soft! Soft is what youth are nowadays," he rambles too loudly, now using Maneki as support to keep himself steady. "Societal connection doesn't exist anymore! Ulthun shouldn't even be holding this fundraiser. No! He should be sitting astride his steed, ready to lead! The Io--" He hiccups again. "--Iomedars' leadership is a farce! Taking advantage of the situation to amass power, you see."
"No. No! Not the knights. Noble lot they are. Fought valiantly!" the officer clarifies rather beligerantly. "The Iomedars. Lady Clarethe Iomedar and Kalabryne Iomedar. They're usurping the power and authority that is rightly Lord Ulthun's."
He teeters unsteadily. He releases Maneki's shoulder to press his hand against his forehead. "Hmm. May-bye should have eaten some food before the ale. Anyways. Where was I? Yes! The Iomedars' scheming."
Bold may act.
Bramblespine: Counter Argument Fail
Grouper Dune
Highwire: Polite Attention
J'ndar
Maneki
Perian
"Oh. Erm. Yes," the officer stammers as Perian pushes back his talking points. He burps and flushes, leaving him speechless for a moment. "Um. Well, on another subject, have you noticed the price for lemons?"
He rambles onto a different topic and eventually wanders away from you. Shortly after he does so, Ulthun approaches you. "Thank you for derailing him from that tirade," he says. "Several of the knights were becoming uncomfortable with his outbursts."
"Bramblespine!" shouts an auctioneer at the silent auction's tables. "Bramblespine? You have a winning bid! Please come to the table to complete your transaction and receive your prize!"
You secure the ring simply enough and seek out Danbry. The expression on the scion's face is one of immense relief. "Thank you! Thank you more than I can express," he says as you offer him his signet ring. "I'm such a hare-brained fool for panicking the way I did and offering it up for auction. I will send you a token of my thanks to your lodge, I promise. Thank you!" He slips the ring onto his finger with a sigh.
While Danbry finishes expressing his thanks, you overhear a merchant say, "The Pathfinder Society? Oh, I believe I just saw those agents a few moments ago." Glancing in the direction of the speaker, you see he is addressing a dark-skinned woman with graying black hair twisted in a long braid.
Her face is a storm cloud, and she snaps at the man, "Well, if you don't know where they are, I'll find them myself!" She stalks away from the bemused merchant.
Critical Success:
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Highwire glances at Perian curiously, looking out a window at the sky. "Really? I thought it was a rather pleasant evening tonight ..." They shrug. Though not understanding why, they do their best at "blending" ... which you would think would be really hard for someone with their fashion sense, but they are surprisingly good at it. Being short helps.
Bramblespine: pending
Grouper Dune: pending
Highwire Sanja: Stealth
J'ndar: pending
Maneki: pending
Perian: pending
The Pathfinders scatter!
Bramblespine: Stealth
Grouper Dune: pending
Highwire Sanja: Stealth
J'ndar: Diplomacy
Maneki: pending
Perian: Stealth
Despite continually moving through the ballroom to hide from the fuming socialite--what could she want with you?--you do manage to salvage some entertainment from the food, drink, and guests. Shortly, you hear the tinking of silverware on glass.
You see Ulthun tapping a spoon against the side of an upraised glass. "Esteemed guests and supporters of the Knights of Lastwall," Ulthun says with a smile warmer than his golden armor. "It is my great honor to introduce Lady Hesla Embersplitter, who planned this party."
He gently guides the woman next to him with a hand touching her elbow. She dips her head and smiles, before saying. "It was great fortune that I met Watcher-Lord Ulthun this past season, so I can help the Knights of Lastwall gain the prominence they need for—"
A creature swoops from one of the watchtowers toward Lady Embersplitter. She screams and ducks for cover. A voice from the crowd declares, "Demons!" The donors rush toward covered awnings, while Ulthun draws his sword.
Watcher-Lord Ulthun gestures toward you with his sword and speaks with authority, "Clear the watchtower!" He then takes a protective stance in front of Lady Embersplitter and watches the air for danger.
Critical Success?
You hustle into the tower and begin climbing the spiral stairs. Around and around you climb. Perian's noble steed takes the lead, followed close by Maneki and Sanja. The three of them burst through the trap door in the center of the tower roof. There, they find three fiends waiting for them. One, a horned, red-skinned devil with wings hovering just over the tower, and two squat, gray-skinned demons with rolls of skin who are draped in chains.
The rest of you are close on their heels.
Clear the Tower! Round 1. Bold may act.
Stairs require 10 ft of movement to move from one floor to the other.
J'ndar (one floor below)
Blue Solid (Religion DC 16)
Grouper Dune (one floor below)
Bramble Spine (one floor below)
Perian (top)
Red (Religion DC 15)
Sanja (top)
Maneki (top)
Blue Dash (Religion DC 16)
J'ndar arrives and begins singing. The lyrics inspire your courage.
One of the pudgy demons snorts and jerks. It blinks its bleary eyes once and then grins a feral smile filled with dozens of teeth at Sanja, a moment before leaping at her. It assaults her furiously, windmilling its arms. Despite the flurry of swipes, the jagged nails only manage to scratch her. The pudgy demon looks a little dizzy and very much as though he'd rather go take a nap now.
Clear the Tower! Round 1. Bold may act.
Stairs require 10 ft of movement to move from one floor to the other.
J'ndar (shield raised)
Blue Solid (Religion DC 16) (clumsy 2)
Grouper Dune (one floor below)
Bramble Spine (one floor below)
Perian (top floor)
Red (Religion DC 15)
Sanja (-7 hp)
Maneki
Blue Dash (Religion DC 16)
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Perian draws a bead on the imp flying above the tower and strikes out with it with Raginori's blessing.
"Taste holy justice, fiend!"
for
Uncommon Manipulate Sanctified
Range 60 feet; Targets your hunted prey
Saving Throw AC; Duration 1 minute
You launch a magical dart at your hunted prey, which marks them with a nimbus only you can detect. Make a spell attack against the target. On a hit, you deal 2d4 spirit damage and the target is marked by a glowing nimbus of energy that only you can see. For the duration of your spell, the marked target takes an additional +2 damage from all your weapon or unarmed attacks. Invisible targets marked by your vindicator's mark are concealed to you, rather than undetected.
You can Dismiss the spell on your turn if your last action dealt damage to the target with a weapon or unarmed attack, instantly dealing an additional 2d6 spirit damage to it.
Heightened (+2) The initial damage increases by 2d4, the additional damage you deal increases by 1, and the damage dealt when the spell is Dismissed increases by 1d6.
Perian's mount stands on two legs to give Perian a boost, and the sylph lands his strike. The imp's chest blisters and hisses where the mark struck. The skin begins to slough and weep ichor. "Ah! You little mosquito-spawn!" the imp curses.
Clear the Tower! Round 1. Bold may act.
Stairs require 10 ft of movement to move from one floor to the other.
J'ndar (shield raised)
Blue Solid (Religion DC 16) (clumsy 2)
Grouper Dune (one floor below)
Bramble Spine (one floor below)
Perian (top floor)
Red Imp (-8 hp, bloodied) (Religion DC 15)
Sanja (-7 hp)
Maneki
Blue Dash (Religion DC 16)
The ghoran conjures an arc of lightning between the two demons that neither of them anticipates (certainly not the drowsy wingless demon). The pudgy demon stiffens and illuminates from within for a moment. When it stops shivering and glowing, thin tendrils of steam rise from the points of its horns. It mumbles something too quietly to be comprehensible, but it is clearly intended to be insulting as its eyes drift half closed.
The imp fares worse. The flying demon explodes in a cloud of smoke when the electricity strikes. That smoke gathers in on itself and then snakes its way down and to the west, eventually slipping through an arrow slit on the second floor of the keep.
Someone screams in the courtyard below, and the general volume of panic among the socialites rises. Those atop the tower catch sight of Gnethe Erasseen as they fall to the ground unmoving. Several guests run away from the body.
Clear the Tower! Round 1. Bold may act.
Stairs require 10 ft of movement to move from one floor to the other.
J'ndar (shield raised)
Blue Solid (-16 hp) (Religion DC 16) (clumsy 2)
Grouper Dune (one floor below)
Bramble Spine (top floor)
Perian (top floor)
Sanja (-7 hp)
Maneki
Blue Dash (Religion DC 16)
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Highwire waves their hands in front of them, glowing with spiritual energy of inner peace as releasing attacks upon the uninjured blue demon. Between the first and second punch, the color of the qi energy they're strike with changes.
+
+
They make a fluid kick in an effort to knock the pudgy demon over.
"Zagnut, soothe me!" they yell. Small furry squirrel paws stick out of their hair, rubbing Highwire's temples in a relaxing fashion.
Sanja slams her fists into the sluggish fiend on the other side of the tower. The spiritual bloom burns at the devil's flesh, but the vital flare seems to have a negligible effect. Her foot, however, has a great effect as it meets the fiend's face. The devil flips over onto his belly. "Immagunasleppeer," he mumbles.
Goupour Dune hides out on the stairs and sends a couple of force bolts to further punish the fat demon lying down on the job.
Clear the Tower! Round 1. Bold may act.
Stairs require 10 ft of movement to move from one floor to the other.
J'ndar (shield raised)
Blue Solid (-16 hp) (Religion DC 16) (clumsy 2)
Grouper Dune (taking cover on the stairs)
Bramble Spine (top floor)
Perian (top floor)
Sanja (-7 hp)
Maneki
Blue Dash (-21 hp, bloodied, prone) (Religion DC 16)
Maneki claws at the pudgy, gray demon and bloodies it. It manages to wobble out of the way of her follow-up slash.
On the other side of the tower, the demon lying down suddenly opens its eyes wide and hops to its feet with uncharacteristic vigor. "I'm awake!" He turns its gaze toward Sanja and scrunches up its face as it stares at them. Sanja begins to feel a yawn coming on.
Clear the Tower! Round 2. Bold may act.
Stairs require 10 ft of movement to move from one floor to the other.
J'ndar (shield raised)
Blue Solid (-20 hp; bloodied) (Religion DC 16) (clumsy 2)
Grouper Dune (taking cover on the stairs)
Bramble Spine (top floor)
Perian (top floor)
Sanja (-7 hp) (Fortitude DC 16 vs. Slow)
Maneki
Blue Dash (-21 hp, bloodied, prone) (Religion DC 16)
Sanja's body fights against the torpor. J'ndar continues to inspire their colleagues and then casts a spell to summon a bevy of darting needles.
The clumsy, little devil nearly trips on its face a moment before J'ndar's needles pass right over its shoulders. It straightens up, blinks once, and then snaps at Sanja with its shark-like mouth. The halfling proves too quick. The shame of failure is overwhelming, so the demon cowers against the corner of the tower and tries to look as small as its pudgy form allows.
Clear the Tower! Round 2. Bold may act.
Stairs require 10 ft of movement to move from one floor to the other.
J'ndar
Blue Solid (-20 hp; bloodied) (Religion DC 16) (cowering)
Grouper Dune (on the stairs)
Bramble Spine
Perian
Sanja (-7 hp; slow 1 - 1 round)
Maneki
Blue Dash (-21 hp, bloodied, prone) (Religion DC 16)
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With focus regained, Highwire continues waving hands around and causing them to glow ... this time exclusively with the energy that had good damage, punching at one demon and kicking at the other.
+
+
They then trip both demons.
Perian lashes one of the demons mercilessly. It blanches as the Bramblespine turns his gaze upon it. When the ghoran conjures another arc of electricity, the two fiends manage to roll their way out of a direct hit.
Sanja unleashes fury upon the demons. The covering demon explodes into drab, gray confetti that gradually melts away. The remaining fiend manages to backpeddle out of reach just in time to avoid being sent back to the Outer Planes, but not far enough to escape being knocked on its face. "Uuggh..."
Clear the Tower! Round 2. Bold may act.
Stairs require 10 ft of movement to move from one floor to the other.
J'ndar
Grouper Dune (on the stairs)
Bramble Spine
Perian
Sanja (-7 hp)
Maneki
Blue Dash (-35 hp, bloodied) (Religion DC 16)
Maneki's crane wing strike explodes the fiend into confetti of various shades of gray. With the last of the fiends destroyed, you have a choice to make.
Do you rush back to the courtyard to see what you can do to help? A small clearing has formed around the fallen dwarf, Gnethe, ringed by guests entranced by morbid fascination, paralyzed by fear, or locked into indecision by panic. Still more guests cry out and hasten to-and-fro in confusion. Or do you try to track the strange smoke trail formed by the imp's destruction while the memory of the window it snaked through is still fresh?