Esirelle finally manages to follow the trail of clues to an abandoned building south of Salt Gate. It's time to round up these saboteurs!
CATCH THE CULTISTS
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The Stranger impales Ekleios with two javelins, badly damaging him. He recalls animated skeletons don't have any particular weaknesses but are resistant to many types of damage: cold, electricity, fire, piercing, and slashing. Ekleios backs around to the far side of the altar, using dark magic to mend some of his injuries. The three skeletons clatter forward, stabbing at Kalli with their gladiuses. The first one scores a critical hit, and the second lands a blow as well, leaving the corsair badly hurt.
Enemy Status: E -6
Telvir hurls a huge chunk of rock right into Urbulinex's skull, leaving a mighty dent and causing massive damage! Caraid zaps the undead dragon with holy energy, while Humerus smashes her leg wit ha fist and tries to evangelize to no avail. Aily slices and stabs the ravener, and with her final strike, the dragon shrieks as she discorporates her body into pure soul energy and vanishes. Telvir knows that she will reappear somewhere nearby within a few hours, but her threat has been neutralized for now. Urbulinex’s hoard contains 105 pp, 2,241 gp, 10,250 sp, 50,400 cp, four 500 gp rubies, a flame navette, a greater flame tongue, a greater winter wolf elixir, and a vorpal rune on a runestone that looks like a misshapen skull.
As Visna predicted, once it becomes clear that the Prince of Wolves is dead, the other remaining demons quickly flee into the Abyss. A cheer goes up from your allied armies. The battle is won! With the Prince of Wolves and his demonic minions defeated, you enter the ruined fortress. The central chamber contains shadowy version of the towering crystal stele that interdicted your planar travel into this realm. It radiates intense shadow magic, and is likely the source of the Prince's ability to create his own umbral duplicates, as well as other abilities. Fortunately, it doesn't take long to shatter the crystal into a million pieces, thus ensuring the Prince's reign of terror is truly at an end. Another chamber here contains the Prince's treasury. White continual flames illuminate this room, and the chamber contains chests, a table covered in red cloth with two stools, and several niches with display pedestals. On display are myriad items related to harrow cards, all arranged around a recently constructed stone statue of the Prince of Wolves. Chests and other containers hold coins, jewels, and art objects worth a total of 25,000 gp. Leaning against one wall is a broken Huge-sized ranseur blade with the name “Mogaran” inscribed on it in Abyssal—a +3 greater striking anarchic greater corrosive ranseur once wielded by its namesake vavakia. Thirteen elaborate and incredibly rare harrow decks of varying ages are stored here as well, each featured in an ornate carrying case with an antique harrow mat. The harrow collection is worth 32,500 gp in all, as among these sets are no fewer than a dozen rare harrow cards, including two copies of the Prince of Wolves. Ten oversized metal tiles with harrow images made of rare materials hang on the wall, each of which is worth 1,000 gp. One niche contains two potions of undetectability, while another has a particularly powerful deck of illusions [ooc](this is an 18th-level item with a price of 19,000 gp, and the illusory creature spell it casts when activated is heightened to 7th-level)[/oob]. A circlet of persuasion sits atop the crown of the statue. Perhaps the most important item here is a lacquered black box on a pedestal that contains the Deck of Harrowed Tales. Returning this item to the corrupted Sonnorae in the Harrowed Realm will allow her to finally undo the damage to that place the velstracs caused.
Skaytar and Njinga take down one of the remaining wights with their vitality lashes, then Caine stabs the last one and Melor blows it to bits with two critical hits from his gun! The undead rake Caine with their claws one final time as they fall, then they lie still, destroyed.
A search of the campsite search the campsite uncovers mostly clothing and personal items, as well as a few common and orc weapons, 20 gp worth of assorted jewelry, and a shark tooth charm. A communal tent contains a healer’s toolkit, a repair toolkit, and a traveler’s any-tool.
You struggle a bit to find the hideout.
Dejected, Kalden walks off with slumped shoulders. Later, you hear that the city guard got involved to rescue Pelthia from the gallery. Some damage was done to the building in the process, no doubt ensuring that Kalden will lose his job. *** There are no more distractions for the rest of the festival. As the sun sets, festivalgoers head toward Temple Plaza, gathering in a ring around the plaza’s boundaries while keeping the central area open—here, the large, colorful tent that’s obscured the Circle of Open Hands portal is scheduled to come down as Queen Sorshen activates the permanent magical link between Xin-Eurythnia and Absalom. Thanks to your warnings, the queen has stationed extra security around the tent in the form of five ffrost giant guards. The crowd applauds as Queen Sorshen appears in the air, flying above the tent. She speaks to the gathered crowd in a voice magically augmented so that all can hear and understand in their native languages. “Welcome, citizens of Xin-Eurythnia and honored guests alike! Thank you for graciously attending the inaugural activation of the Circle of Open Hands, the key to Xin-Eurythnia’s next step in becoming better friends and allies to the world. Behold our future!” With that, she reaches down to grasp the highest flapping banner above the tent, then rises upward swiftly into the air, pulling the entire tent up and off the ground in one fluid motion. The tent fades away as mist in a high wind, revealing the Circle of Open Hand portal at the plaza’s center—an enormous circular archway nearly forty feet in diameter. Its intricate frame of metal and stone is shaped to resemble multiple figures of different ancestries holding their hands out to one another. The pair at the very top smile radiantly as they clasp hands held high in an arch above the portal below—these two figures depict Queen Sorshen and the goddess Nocticula. Cheers resound at the reveal. Sorshen smiles at the enthusiasm and floats back down when suddenly, the earth rumbles. Before anyone can react, three simultaneous events occur in rapid succession: • A rippling wave of energy washes over the entire region, bringing with it a moment of sharp pain. This does no lasting damage, but Alaznist realizes that this wave of energy was some sort of immense interdimensional shock wave. • High up near the peak of Mhar Massif above the city, Karzoug’s carved face cracks and begins to crumble, tumbling down the mountainside. The thunderous sound of the landslide hits the city a few seconds later. The landslide smashes into the Spires of Xin-Shalast and destroys the Pinnacle of Avarice, once Karzoug’s palace, creating a blinding flash of magical energy that, for a moment, lights the entire city up as if it were high noon. • A spiderweb of fractures radiates outward across Temple Plaza from the center, where the Circle of Open Hands portal stands. A moment later, a sinkhole opens in the middle of the plaza, consuming the portal with a roar as the forty-foot-tall structure collapses into the newly formed fifty-foot-diameter pit. From below, a deafening trumpeting sound rises up. Screams rip through the gathered crowd as people panic and begin to flee Temple Plaza, while Sorshen, who hadn’t quite touched down, now floats over a vast pit. As plumes of dust and smoke rise up around her, the hazy image of a vast elephantine shape with glowing violet eyes and six immense tusks looms over the plaza. Ranek and Torisen get a better glimpse of the figure through the smoke, and they recognize it as the legendary Oliphaunt of Jandelay, a monstrous creature said to visit worlds on the eves of their destruction. Floating in the air before the shape, right between those eyes, is a humanoid shape that Ranek quickly identifies as none other than Runelord Xanderghul—or at least, a realistic illusion of him! Sorshen gasps as she looks upward, then cries out, “You? How can it be you?” before a torrential wind vacuum threatens to pull much of northern Xin-Eurythnia into the depths. Sorshen throws wide her arms to counter this potent magic, and a moment later the wind lessens… then draws the elephantine shape, its humanoid attendant, and Sorshen herself down into the depths. A moment later, the sound of an impossibly large set of doors slamming shut sends another tremor through the city. The blast of wind ceases as quickly as it came, and the air fills with the people’s screams and distant rumbling of the immense landslide at the peak of Mhar Massif. Much closer to you, the sonorous shrieks of two immense birdlike monstrosities ring out as the creatures surge up and out of the pit, landing along the edge on seven long spindly legs. The fifty-foot-tall avians shriek again, and a wave of terror grips you! Initiative:
"Ekleios waits within. Be ready," Merosyne says. Kalli picks the lock, and you enter the shrine. This single-room building is dim and cool, sunlight filtering in through several narrow windows near the domed ceiling. A colorful mosaic depicting woman fighting various creatures extends along the floor from the door outside to a stone altar at the other end of the room, atop which shimmers a faintly glowing symbol a gladius with laurel leaves entwined around
An undead aivuran man lurks here, standing near the altar. His flesh is gray, withered and drawn, and he clutches a gladius. Three other animated skeletons stand around the room, also holding gladiuses. The man, Ekleios, gives you a ghoulish grin and lets out a sepulchral laugh. "Ah... Do you feel it? The wards have weakened. Power flows through me anew. Soon, I will be able to finally escape this accursed prison." "You will go nowhere, Ekleios!" Merosyne calls out. "It is time to end your sorry existence, once and for all!" She begins to strum an inspiring melody on her lyre as Ekleios hisses and raises his sword, commanding his skeletal minions forward! Initiative:
Uhe manages to get the lock open, but as he does so, the three huge statues of the Rivethun grind to life and step down from their plinths to attack! Initiative:
Idari's scroll falters, but he manages to break free of the tangling tail. Blooms hits both mutated beasts with an eclipse burst that injures them. Alkabah's divine immolation singes one but the other avoids it. The holy energy seems to harm the demonic beast more! Raneshi bashes the more wounded of the two creatures. Takarias misses with his arrow, but a wave of his banner inspires Idari and Raneshi to attack again. Idari's swing goeds wide but Raneshi delivers a critical hit! One enormous opossum moves closer to claw Idari while the other one snaps its jaws at Raneshi and claws her as well. The runesmith detonates her fiery rune but the creature resists some of the blast.
Enemy Status: -35, -167
Briar continues to rip and tear at the nalfeshnee demon, and with her second strike, she finally kills the nasty fiend. Meanwhile, Belmont scores a hit on the Prince of Wolves again. Visna slices the Prince twice more, and he is gravely wounded.
The mighty saurian demon bashes the Prince with his tail again, then opens his mouth and breathes forth ghostly green fire that engulfs the armored warrior. The Prince howls in agony, his cries getting weaker before abruptly falling silent. His body goes limp in Visna's grasp. The demon lets loose a victory bellow, then he disappears as he teleports away!
The west door leads to a pantry. Thick layers of dust cover the shelves and containers stored here. Most of the food stored here has long since rotted away, but a search uncovers a large supply of tea leaves, including a tin of rare tea worth 150 gp.
Hooli gives the room a more in-depth search and after several minutes, she finds a very cleverly hidden treasure under a loose floor stone in the southwest corner of the room—a type II bag of holding that contains an astounding amount of jewelry, statuettes, and other fine art, worth a total of 200 gp. She recognizes the stolen objects as things that went missing a month or so before the last day of spring earlier in the year.
Urbulinex dodges some of the skeletal hands that Telvir summons and resists Caraid's excision. As Humerus runs in to attack, the dragon bites him, her jaws infused with force. Despite the injury, Humerus delivers a critical hit to the underside of the ravener's jaw that sets her ablaze and wracks her with vital energies! Aily slips behind the dragon to stab her twice. The dragon assaults Humerus, snapping her jaws and attacking with claws and wings. Humerus ducks and dodges all of the attacks!
Enemy Status: -196 enfeebled 1 stupefied 1
Gentle Storm removes the quills and heals Felivaine, who grunts, "What took you so long?" Despite his demeanor, it's clear that he is grateful for the rescue, and he admits that he's been keeping an eye on you, which lead to his unfortunate (and violent) misunderstanding with Khasprickle. The cat looks up at Eilwith and his eyes widen. "What did Ghorus do to you?" he asks quietly, but despite the shock of her undead appearance, Felivaine rubs against her legs and purrs with joy. "Thank you for finding her. I thought she was gone forever. I don't know if there's a way to restore her to her former body, but either way, I will look after her now. And I will ensure that we are never parted again." The two of them depart. Now that you have the Cythbikian staff, you can return to the Rootweft Lodge, confident that Ruzadoya's agents will no longer be able to claim the dangerous weapon.
Wispil's roots impale the elananx, greatly draining its blood. Gentle Storm transforms into a dinosaur and grabs hold of the fiery cat, keeping it in place for Alessandria to impale and Kilitsi to hack and slash. The fey goes limp in the druid's grasp. Eilwith moves to Felivaine's side and gently reaches out to scratch the wounded dweomercat behind the ears. The cat groans, his body still festooned with poisoned quills.
Skaytar breathes forth a cone of flames, singeing the screamer and badly burning one of the other wights. Melor shoots the toughest foe as Njinga unleashes vital energies to heal Caine and wound the wights. Caine leads the screamer away from the other wights with his dance, then lashes out with his spear, scoring a critical hit! Though impaled through the neck, the wight slashes with its falchion a final time before falling.
Even as the first wight falls, the other two undead orcs move up to attack Caine again. He takes another hit.
Enemy Status: -34, -7
As the sun starts to set, you make your way through the hills at the northwest edge of the island. Sophreista's shrine is nestled in these hills surrounded by numerous outbuildings now crumbling to ruin; little of interest remains in them. A cobbled path leads to a hammered bronze door in a circular building of white stone, ringed by fluted columns. Broken statues and pottery litter the surrounding grass, and several myrtle trees provide shade for worn, pitted stone benches. An unsettling sense of dread and malevolence pervades the area.
When you are ready, you head south from the camp and approach the ruined lodge. Just outside the lodge, a circular platform surrounded by four stone steps rises from the surrounding fungi and undergrowth. Most of the platform’s surface is free from pollution save for a sizable mass of slimy mold pooled around a central altar stone. The altar is cracked down the middle, and the carvings of elk-headed hunters on its sides seem to have almost melted in parts. A large bloodstain, thick with clouds of flies, coats the center of the altar. Just to the south, the fungus-encrusted facade of a large stone building looms, its portico supported by six stone pillars that extend over the southern portion of the stone platform. This once was an altar to Erastil, though it is now thoroughly dspoiled and corrupted. You can feel hostile magic emanating from the altar, hampering you. Initiative:
Before you can react, two enormous creatures burst forth from their hiding spots amid overhanging branches atop the portico. The mutant beasts resemble enormous opossums the size of elephants, but corrupted by fungal blooms and twisted vines sprouting from their bodies. They shriek as they leap down and charge towards you, stopping 20 feet away and lashing out at Idari with their long tails! The first beast grabs Idari, the tail wrapping around him tightly. The other one bashes him over the head in a critical hit.
"You can either avoid looking at the paintings or disable them through magical means," Kalden says to Ranek. He looks worried as Alaznist questions why they should bother helping, and he raises his hands at Batman's implication that this might be a ruse. "Cultists? I don't know about any cultists. I just don't want to get fired!" he insists.
Timdok and Kharya swiftly track down members of the Silken Thread to question them. These individuals reveal that the Silken Thread recently sold supplies (including the lockpick you discovered) to a small group of humans dressed in dusty gray robes and who kept muttering strange phrases like “Our hearths are cold,” “The sky is dying,” and “Time eats us all.” Silken Thread agents were curious and followed the group after they made the purchase, hoping to learn more, but lost sight of them soon after they entered the alleyways of southern Old Kintargo and split up. The Silken Thread strongly suspects the group has a hideout in that district. SEARCH OLD KINTARGO Infiltration Points 5 (group); Overcome DC 32 Kintargo Lore, DC 34 Society, DC 36 Perception, or DC 39 Survival
Merosyne shrugs. "I don't know for sure, but it's worth a shot. The shrine where Ekleios is imprisoned is not far from here. I can lead you there if you are ready to confront him."
"I don't know. But this falling star that struck the island has surely stirred things up here. Her shade might be drawn to its power. I would be willing to wager that we might find her near the site of its impact."
Kalden gives you a rundown of the art gallery's floor plan and what he knows of the traps within. He says that Pelthia seemed particularly keen on visiting a display of Ustalavic paintings in the gallery’s east wing. The outer chambers feature several simple, non-lethal traps. The entrance to the east wing is warded by magical paintings of artists that, when triggered, attempt to petrify intruders by transforming them into stone statues. Past them are defensive constructs built to resemble dancing aristocrats, and finally there is a trap designed to trap would-be thieves in a complex clockwork cage.
"A falling star... Intriguing. I cannot speak to any recent events, for obvious reasons. But I can tell you the tale of my love Sophreista, and the reason for my slumber." When you mention that Iokoris has already told you the story, Merosyne's eyes widen. "Iokoris! I would have thought him long dead by now. I am glad to hear that he still lives." Her joy gives way to wistful melancholy. "So you know Sophreista's tale, and that she yet wanders as a ghost. I convinced the naiads to let me sleep here, hoping my presence might give Sophreista some comfort. But she needs the help of heroes like yourselves to finally lay her to rest. I suspect that if she can gain catharsis by feeling that she's triumphed in her final battle at last, she may be able to move on. I promise that I will reward you well if you can accomplish this deed. Alas, my long slumber has left me weakened, and I fear I will not be able to be of much aid to you."
It isn't too long before something interrupts the festivities again. This time, a nervous guard named Kalden Dromit approaches for help. He hurriedly explains that an important guest, a provocative artist from Ustalav named Pelthia, has gone somewhere they shouldn’t—into the Nemteriak Art Gallery. Kalden explains further that Aun Nemteriak, the owner of the gallery, is in Absalom as part of a delegation from Xin-Eurythnia to help orchestrate the linking of the two cities via the Circle of Open Hands portal. Kalden admits that he works for Aun Nemteriak, but his only job was to stand vigil outside the entrance, noting that the gallery itself is well protected by numerous magical defenses while it remains closed. It doesn’t take much further to get Kalden to shamefully admit he accepted a payment from Pelthia to look the other way so they could enter the gallery to take advantage of this opportunity to admire some of Aun’s collection. Pelthia promised to only spend thirty minutes inside, but now it’s been nearly two hours and Kalden fears that either Pelthia has become trapped (or worse), or that they had some sort of nefarious plan to rob the place. Kalden admits he made a mistake, claiming that the bribe (a shimmering gemstone that is in fact an eye of apprehension) was too good to turn down and that he knew Pelthia by reputation and trusted them, and now he fears the worst. He has heard of your reputation and sought you out, hoping you can discretely help by entering the Art Gallery, finding Pelthia, and escorting them back out—all without making a scene so that Kalden can keep his job.
Wispil's roots continue to drain Khasprickle and the Elananx. Alessandria scorches Khasprickle with her flying flame but the feline fey is immune to fire. The centaur then jabs the pukwudgie, but his quills poke her back. Kilitsi braves the quills as she delivers two powerful blows with her axe, leaving Khasprickle groaning in agony as blood pours from the deep wounds. The pukwudgie weakly raises his hands to ward off furhter blows, but Eilwith's fist cracks into his jaw, shattering it. As the pukwudgie falls, she leaps upon him and continue to punch him over and over again, even after he stops moving.
Gentle Storm hits the elananx with needle darts. In response, it disperses into a cloud of smoke and burning cinders. Moments later, the feline fey reforms behind Gentle Storm, attacking the druid again!
Enemy Status: El -53
Exorcizing the haunt causes the rancid stew within to quickly evaporate, leaving behind a sticky residue.
Alkabah exorcises the mold, rendering it harmless. An investigation of the contents of the three tents is enough to confirm that this was once where Aravashnial and his assistants were stationed. There are some clues to be found here, given time, but the most significant cache of clues is hidden in the northwestern tent. After searching for a few minutes, you discover a bundle wrapped in cloth that was buried in the dirt in a corner of the tent. Within this bundle is Aravashnial’s grimoire, What Doors We Open. Tucked into the spellbook is a hastily scribbled note from Aravashnial, written in Empyrean. The short message reads as follows. “Under attack. Treerazer’s agents are active. They’re here. I’m hiding this in hopes it will be found. If you read this, warn the queen, and use the treasures within this book to save Kyonin!” An extradimensional space inside the back cover of What Doors We Open contains three journals’ worth of research on the blight Aravashnial found at Elkhaven Lodge. These also contain summaries of the methods he suggests would be useful to combat the demonic influence within Tanglebriar, based on his experiences in dealing with similar supernatural blights during his time in the Worldwound. Stored alongside these journals are three treasures, all of which bear Ekujae artisanship: a storm flash rapier, a greater primeval mistletoe, and a major saurian spike spellheart. It will take quite some time to examine the journals and the rest of the campsite. It would likely be best to eliminate any nearby threats first.
Your debate skills are quite impressive, and soon both spellcasters concede their argument. They thank you for mediating and reward you with a scroll of energy aegis and two greater healing potions.
The Stranger short-circuits the magic, dissipating it harmlessly. The woman’s eyes open, and she blinks blearily at those who awakened her, tightening her grasp on her lyre. Slowly, she shifts to sit up. “Who are you?” she asks, her voice melodic even while raspy from slumber. “How long has it been? If you undid the naiads’ spell, it must be time…” She stops, shaking her head. “I apologize. You are strangers, and you may not know of what I speak. It is rude of me to make assumptions before even introducing myself.” She waves one hand and then the other in a complex greeting. “I am Merosyne. Welcome to Eupherae, my home for… likely more years than I realize. But I must ask, what brings you here?”
Timdok's contact and Cerulean's disguises help get you ready for the infiltration. It's time to make contact with the Silken Thread and confront them about the sabotage at the Opera House.
CONTACT THE SILKEN THREAD
Once you are ready, you head down the east hallway from the monastery's entrance and go through the door at its end. A long clay furnace occupies the southeast portion of this simple kitchen. A large cooking pot atop the furnace bubbles beneath under a stained lid, a fire burning in the hearth below it. Elsewhere, ruined tables and shelves lie scattered on the floor. Doors exit to the west and to the north. Looking closely, Xiung-Lau notices a miasma of foul-smelling vapor with shrieking faces barely visible in the steam that bubbles up from the soup...
Kaz's spell falters. In her confusion, Jeni accidentally blasts Zenobius with a burst of water. As Nadja changes weapons, Zenobius slashes one of the deros with his fauchard but misses with his sweeping strike. He afflicts the foe nearest to Nadja, the same one he struck, with a litany of wrath. That dero casts a spell and reaches out to touch Zenobius, trying to drain his life force. The litany blasts the dero for his impudence.
The other two deros batter Kaz with barrages of force shards.
Enemy Status: -41, -20, -10
The screaming orc resists Njinga's vitality lash. Caine's dance grabs the attention of the undead as he stabs the screamer with his spear. The tough monster returns the favor, slashing with his falchion as the other fascinated undead converge on the battle dancer and attack with their claws.
Corrupting Spite (curse, divine, void): The wight's unarmed attacks and bound weapons inflict a curse that makes a creature grow weak and spiteful. If a wight inflicts corrupting spite on a creature already afflicted by it, the victim attempts a new save, ignoring the result if it's better than a failure. A living humanoid that dies while under the curse rises as a wight after 1d4 rounds, controlled by the wight that killed it. The wight spawn can't inflict corrupting spite and is clumsy 2. If its creator dies or after roughly a month of existence, the new wight becomes autonomous and turns into a normal wight;
Stage 1 drained 1 (1 round); Stage 2 drained 2 and doesn't treat any creatures as allies (1 round); Stage 3 As stage 2, except drained 3 (1 round); Stage 4 As stage 2, except drained 4 (1 round).
You head north from the naiads' grotto. This is the area where Iokoris told you Merosyne slumbers. It takes a bit of searching through woods before you find the cave. A fissure in the rock, nearly invisible behind hanging greenery, leads to a small cave within the mountain. Inside, the stone walls are overgrown with moss and vegetation; dappled sunlight shines through cracks in the ceiling. At the far end of the cave, a white-robed woman sleeps upon a stone altar, dark hair fanned beneath her, motionless save for the faint rise and fall of her breath. Her arms are folded over a golden lyre upon her chest. It’s apparent from her position and the spell circles around her that she’s in some sort of magical stasis. However, the ancient magic seems to be barely holding together. It shouldn't be difficult now to break Merosyne's slumber, though there is some danger if not done properly.
Though Batman fails to make an impression, both Ranek and Clifton make compelling arguments. Iesha's angry glare and Alaznist's detailed defense of arcane magic seem to land with both of the spellcasters, and their own arguments are starting to wane.
Briar grabs and savages the last of the boar demons. Belmont raises his guns and shoots the Prince of Wolves twice, causing him to flinch back a few paces. Visna rockets towards the Prince, finding a weak point in his armor to exploit. Both her axes find their mark as she snags and grabs the mighty blackguard. The saurian demon roars and ignores the grappled nalfeshnee as he flies out of the whirlwind and lands with a thud behind Visna and the Prince of Wolves. He swings his mighty tail down at the Prince twice in quick succession, and the Prince grunts as his armor buckles under the powerful assault.
The nalfeshnee bites and claws at Briar.
The Prince of Wolves gestures with the Harrow card, and the whirlwind moves closer to him, battering the big demon and Visna again.
He then swings both his weapons at Visna, battering her and slicing her!
Enemy Status: -218 nal, -218 PoW
Alessandria leaps behind Khasprickle and the pixie, splashing them with hot lava. Kilitsi charges up in her wake, cutting into the pixie and cleaving into Khasprickle as well! The minotaur recalls pixies are weak to cold iron, like most fey, and have innate magic spells like dispel magic and invisibility. Eilwith moves up next to Kiltisi and attacks Khasprickle, landing a hit with her poisoned fist but taking some damage from his quills in return. As Wispil retreats to heal himself, Gentle Storm ignores the elananx as he impales the pixie with more cold iron darts, knocking the little fairy out of the air! The pixie plummets to the ground and lies still. "Ingrates! Time to die!" Khasprickle spits. He assaults Eilwith with two of his quills wielded like daggers. By some miracle, she dodges all of his attacks. "What?!? Inconceivable!" the pukwudgie sputters.
The elananx yowls as it bites and claws at Gentle Storm.
Enemy Status: Khas -61, El -9, Eilwith -12
Urbulinex scoffs. "He is not my king. I serve only myself!" The dragon snarls and spreads her bony wings wide as she rears up to her full height. "Enough prattling. It's time that I ended you!" Initiative:
Before you can react, Urbulinex breathes forth of a blast of darkness that washes over all of you!
As you draw near, Melor notices some faint movement among several of the corpses. He gives a warning, and moments later, four of the orcs rise up, their flesh pale and drawn, their eyes glowing red with unholy light. Three of them brandish their claws, while the fourth hefts a wicked falchion and screams a battle cry! Initiative:
"I don't know how quick it will be, but we will spread word of your aid here. I swear that your efforts will be repaid in kind," Aliir says. She bows to you before gathering her party and venturing forth.
Once they have departed and you have healed up, you prepare to explore the area. The main lodge ruins are to the south, but to the east is the elven researchers' campsite. This campsite consists of three tattered tents and a fire pit surrounded by small, flat boulders that have been arranged as improvised seating. While the campsite’s gear looks relatively new, the growth of fungus and brambles throughout the area looks older than it should be, as if the site had been abandoned for a year rather than, at most, several weeks. Blooms in Darkness notices the presence of potentially dangerous fungi in the area. Indeed, caareful examination reveals withermold grows over all three tents. Withermold consists of coils of pale yellow thorny fungal vines which grow hundreds of brown puffballs that whip into thorny life when disturbed.
"The Bound One is among the mightiest of the darvakkas, undead formed on the borders of the Netherworld and the Void. Lesser creatures sometimes refer to them as 'nightshades.' The ghost king Geb bound it here long ago, channeling its essence as an endless magical battery for the defenses of Yled. "When destroyed, the Bound One crumbles into ash, only to reform fully healed a short time later. But the ash remains behind, and this essence is a vital ingredient in a powerful poison that can animate the dead after slaying them. And so he toils here, destroying the Bound One over and over again to produce shadow ash at the enormous scale required by his master in the city above."
Uhe disarms the trap, then realigns the stone patterns to unlock the door. It opens into a wide crypt that bearing a plaque naming the interred. Behind each coffin is a painted stone statue of a dwarf mounted on a stone plinth. Each unique carving wears vestments painted with a different color: one blue, one red, and one yellow. East Tomb: The east tomb is the resting place of “The Many.” The statue is yellow and depicts an armored, androgynous dwarf with various animalistic features. South Tomb: The south tomb is the resting place of “Talaine Everen.” The statue is blue and depicts a lightly armored female dwarf with curly hair. West Tomb: The west tomb is the resting place of “Gaeldred the Warden.” The statue is red and depicts a male dwarf with a long beard and gaunt frame wearing exquisite robes and carrying a fine staff. Doors to the northeast and northwest are locked, while double doors to the south are unlocked.
"The wreath! Yes, that's it! Thank you, my friends." He joins hand with the other naiads as he enacts the ritual. After several minutes, several of the cypress trees glow with golden light as they transform back into and the rest of their kin. They embrace one another, happy to be back to normal. As promised, Dimosis and the other naiads are happy to answer any questions you might have. They saw the bright-tailed star fall somewhere on the northern tip of the island, but haven’t investigated to find out exactly where, out of concern this could expose more of them to dangerous energies. They warn you that a territorial pair of hippogriffs lairs nearby. They also tell of you about the shrine to the north, mentioning that some malevolent presence is locked away within and they haven’t ventured inside. Dimoosis also offers you a lesser torrent spellgun as a reward.
"Yes, I am in charge," the ravener growls, preening a bit. "You have come seeking Kelganth, then. He is a mighty lich who granted me my wish to escape death from old age by transforming me into this powerful form. In exchange, I provided him insights with which to render the substance known as shadow ash from the essence of the Bound One."
Soon, another commotion nearby gets your attenion. Two wizardly students, who have been arguing over which kind of magic is more efficient at the creation of summoning rune hazards, have begun an illegal duel in the middle of the street. One of the two is the male human wizard Kespern Dantch, a student of the Runelord’s Academy who argues that summoning runes are best crafted via arcane magic, while the other is the female gnome druid Cilamali, a visitor from the Linnorm Kingdoms who argues that primal magic offers the superior foundation for these traps. Their spell slinging could cause collateral damage if you don't intervene.
DEBATE THE SPELLCASTERS: The PC chooses Kespern or Cilamali as their target to debate, and then attempts a skill check to reduce that target’s current DP total by arguing against their stance. Against either wizard, a PC can attempt a DC 32 Intimidation check or a DC 35 Deception or Diplomacy check. Against Kespern, a PC can attempt a DC 30 Nature check to argue against his thesis, while against Cilamali, a PC can attempt a DC 30 Arcana check to do the same. Once one spellcaster is reduced to 0 DP, the PCs gain momentum; reduce all DCs for this activity by 2 as long as one spellcaster is at 0 DP.
Critical Success: Both spellcasters are impressed. The target spellcaster loses 2 DP, while the other loses 1 DP. Success: The target spellcaster loses 1 DP. Failure: No DP are lost or gained. Critical Failure: The target spellcaster’s argument gains momentum, and they earn 1 DP.
Working together to examine the machinery, it soon becomes clear that the damage to the machinery was done by a masterful hand that very nearly hid all evidence of tampering. Searching the adjoining rooms, Timdok determines that the door to the basement that provides an exit to the loading ramp has been picked recently. In fact, he finds a discarded lockpick etched with a symbol that looks like a spiderweb. With his knowledge of the underworld, the halfling realizes that a Kintargan gang called the Silken Thread uses this style of lockpick. It looks like you're going to have to investigate the seedy underbelly of the city to track down the culprits...
Preparation Activities: Several of the standard preparation activities listed on pages 199 of GM Core will help the PCs get ready for the investigation. It takes a day for a PC to pursue a preparation activity; remember that each day that passes, the PCs also gain 1 Awareness Point, so each day the group spends preparing leaves them less time to complete their investigation. The following preparation activities might be of use to the PCs. If they come up with other ideas, use the DCs below as a guideline.
Bribe Contact: To bribe a contact in Kintargo’s criminal circles requires a DC 36 Society check or a DC 39 Diplomacy check. Gain Contact: To gain a contact in Kintargo’s criminal circles requires a DC 34 Underworld Lore check, a DC 36 Society check, or a DC 39 Diplomacy check. Gossip: A PC can seek out rumors with a DC 36 Diplomacy check.
Special: If the PCs obtained sponsorship from Ivran Xerysis or Mialari Docur, their sponsor hears of the sabotage and sends a cryptic message offering to put them in touch with “an acquaintance.” If the PCs agree, the DC of one check (two checks if the PCs obtained both sponsors) to Gain Contact decreases by 5, and the PCs can gain information from Bribing this Contact without the requisite payment.
So plagued by terror are Shenmen’s people that, more than once, their fears have taken lives of their own. Such creatures, known as “brainchildren” among scholars and arcanists, are more commonly called yohoi by villagers in Shenmen, for the sham exorcist Yohoi is widely blamed for bringing them to the region. Legend: The Exorcist's Extortion: Yohoi of the Yellow Reed was a sham exorcist and con artist who once plied his trade widely across Shenmen. As a young man, he traveled to the distant ports of Taldor and Cheliax, where he obtained a lens of focused fear: an unholy device crafted by dedicants of Zon-Kuthon that solidified victims’ terrors into physical forms. In short, it created brainchildren, and Yohoi used it to launch his career.
Upon selecting a likely-looking village, one prosperous enough to be worth sucking dry but unprotected by inconveniently educated or powerful citizens, Yohoi would set up camp with his lens trained on the village. Then, disguised as a traveling storyteller, he would play his drums and sing chants about the ghosts of neglected ancestors who visited vengeance on disrespectful descendants. Yohoi’s tales always emphasized the yellow, bulging eyes of these ghosts, as well as their long dirty fingernails and hairy, humped necks, because he wanted to be certain that the lens created recognizable apparitions for him to dispel. He was also careful to stress that the ghosts couldn’t withstand the holy songs played on flutes by the priests of Tianjing, who carried sacred yellow flutes that dispelled the uneasy spirits. Once he was satisfied that he’d seeded the right fears, Yohoi retreated to his camp and bided his time. Occasionally, if the village proved resistant, he would desecrate a few graves, plant eviscerated animals in the local temple, or poison trees and flowers into ghastly-looking gray remnants. These disturbing sights usually sufficed to ignite villagers’ fears in Shenmen, especially since there were almost always a handful of families who felt they hadn’t sufficiently revered their ancestors or a local lineage that had died out and whose graves now remained untended. Minor as such sins were, Yohoi knew they could provide adequate tinder for his flames. Within a few nights, the lens would create a brainchild. Yohoi let it torment the villagers for weeks before he appeared in his second guise, now pretending to be a shaman trained in the traditions of Tianjing. By playing his yellow reed flute, he could banish the “ghost,” and since he’d convinced the villagers that the spirit was vulnerable to its powers, the brainchild also possessed this vulnerability. Then Yohoi claimed his pay, basked in the villagers’ adulation, and moved on to the next town. He practiced this trade successfully for years. Then, he came to Blind Crow Village. An aged monk who’d trained in Tianjing lived in Blind Crow Village, where she meditated daily beneath the statue that gave the village its name. Knowing that the old woman could barely hear or see anymore, and that she confined herself to meditating motionlessly beneath the statue from sunrise till dark, Yohoi broke his usual rule about avoiding troublesome citizens and decided to make his play in Blind Crow Village. This was a mistake. The old monk could still hear well enough to make out Yohoi’s stories, and as she’d studied in Tianjing, she knew both that his ghost stories described creatures that didn’t exist in the annals of recorded undead and that his claims of a Tianjing education were false. Worse yet, the old monk’s senses were keen enough for her to identify Yohoi as both the storyteller and the shaman; she was more attuned to the basic rhythms of speech than the nuances of accent and intonation that Yohoi used to disguise his voice, and her vision was too poor to be tricked by his changed appearance. She knew that he was a fraud, and she didn’t believe that his “ghosts” were really vulnerable to the yellow reed flute. Assuming that Yohoi’s “ghosts” were mere illusions—for the monk had never heard of “brainchildren,” which had never been known to exist in Shenmen—she reported her suspicions to the village headman. When she was informed that ghosts really had been murdering villagers, the monk was astonished but still suspicious. Her information broke the safeguard upon which Yohoi relied. Because neither the monk, the headman, nor any of the other villagers who’d been brought into their confidence believed that Yohoi’s yellow reed had any actual power over the brainchild, the brainchild broke free of that constraint. At the first opportunity, the brainchild killed its creator, seized the lens of focused fear, and fled Blind Crow Village. It stalked frightened travelers, feeding on their terrors and spurring them to new hunting
Few scholars believe that Yohoi’s lens is single‑handedly responsible for brainchildren in Shenmen, but none doubt that these creatures would have a far lesser presence in the region if not for the sham exorcist and his foolish greed.
When you return from the Whisperweb Shrine, the townsfolk of Willowshore are once again are in a state of dread. Another murder has occurred! This time, the victim is Elizeth Candora, caretaker of the town's temple of Pharasma, Her Fluvial Lady of Souls. Elizeth's body was discovered in the graveyard, sprawled over the top of Oono’s fresh grave, in the same state as the previous victim. The town is now on high alert, as it's clear there’s a monster—be they human or otherwise—stalking the streets at night. The town elders impose a sundown curfew. Children stay indoors or under close supervision, people become much more reluctant to forage for food and firewood, and no one ventures out after dark except in cases of emergency.
Elizeth's body now lies in state in the church itself, but Kamo leads a thorough search of the crime scene, and with his companions' aid, he sees Elizeth's broken flute in the grass near the grave. It appears to have been destroyed by sonic damage rather than a physical blow, likely from a shatter spell. Elizeth often played her flute over the graves of the recently deceased, believing that music would help guide them to the afterlife. Her flute being broken suggests, perhaps, that someone wanted to further ensure Oono’s soul would become lost and indicates an extra layer of cruelty to the crimes. The broken flute could also suggest a different possibility—the murderer might be a supernatural creature called a yohoi, as they’re said to loathe and fear the sound of flute music performed by a holy person.
Two of the deros jerk spasmodically as Kaz blasts them with lightning, then Zenobius splatters them with acid. Jeni's opening blast scores a critical hit to take down the one Nadja had stabbed, then batters the two uninjured ones with a big wave. The three surviving deros shriek with anger as they cast debilitating spells. Their eyes flash blue as they try to confuse you as well.
Enemy Status: -17, -20, -10
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