Unfortunately I need to shut down this quest. Work has continued to be overwhelming and I just don't have the energy to keep the quest going. I really wanted to get through this fight but even that seems like too much of a task now.
And so, here is the rest of the story, or at least the abbreviated version.
The AA animagus gives way to another memory in which the Tiefling Lugen mentions the location of Henderthane's contract and animagus. Destroying Henderthane's animagus brings a memory of Lugen telling you where Jeggare's contreact is. With your suspicion already mounting, Sydney reveals another memory of her own. This time, it reveals working with Duranu to re-negotiate Thrune's contract. The memory contains details on how to access Thrune's contract dungeon as well.
You go after Thrune's contract instead of Jeggare's. There's no animagus there; but soon there is another visitor: Lugen. He's accompanied by Duranu, the exiled former general of House Thrune. Duranu, it turns out, wasn't too happy about being exiled from a government overthrow he organized.
The fight ensues and even though Duranu's magic is unlike anything you've ever seen, your overwhelming numbers and experience combating your own styles wins the day.
Lugen's pack has one more container of memories and once your safely away you open it and release them. This memory takes back to a meeting of Taishan, where Lugen reveals the full plane before you are bound and knocked out. Duranu and Lugen devised the plan, and used you and Taishan as sleeper agents to pull off the dangerous tasks. Neither of them could take the thrown, but Payk could. As the surviving ranking noble of House Narikopolus, if Narikopolus was the most powerful house than Payk could be appointed as a puppet king for Duranu. Of course, they didn't know about Sydney's memories returning you got to Thrune before destroying Jeggare's contract.
And then comes the decision. Destroy Thrune's contract and leave Jeggare in charge. Destroy Jeggare's and then Thrune's contract and leave Narikopolus (and Payk) in charge. Or leave the contract and Thrune's reign intact.
The chest springs open and a arrow flies out, just missing the invisible Glifdore.
The sudden sound from behind him startles Gray and he misses his attack. The leopard springs forward and attacks viciously, scoring two hits that don't quite dig into the animagus' flesh. Edmund unleashes an acid arrow at the animagus that scores a hit. Glifdore attacks as well, and scores two hits. Electricity bursts from his warhammer, surrounds the animagus, and then is absorbed.
I'm sorry to say that I have decided to shut down this quest. My work hasn't really settled down this and it doesn't appear to be changing any time soon.
I appreciate everyone participating, and sorry again that this didn't work out.
Edmund points to where the animagus is. The Azure Avenger saves the day by casting glitterdust where Edmund is pointing. It easily outlines the figure of the animagus clearly. The animagus is also blinded by the glitter.
Gray's attack strikes the animagus, but appears to have no effect. The leopard hits on the claws and bite, but it has trouble digging it's claws into the animagus.
Glifdore, still invisible, begins his war chant. The steady sounds lift your energy, but also inspires a great rage inside of you.
Active buffs:
Each round, you can choose to accept the rage song.
Rage =+2 Str, +2 Con, +2 Will Save, -1 AC = you cannot concentrate while raging (so no spells) and you cannot use Cha/Int skills.
Haste= +1 attack, +1 AC, +30 movement speed, +1 extra attack at full BaB
Map is updated. The gray area is greased. You can step (5 foot careful movement for one action) to advance through the grease without needing an acrobatics check.
Ziggie's alchemist fire sends the goblins into a frenzy. It strikes the one sitting next to the fire before he can react, and splashes onto the other two sitting there.
One goblin runs to a rope lever against the wall. Another surges forward into combat against Ziggie and attacks. The third goblins steps forward and casts grease on the area next to the tunnel down. Ziggie maintains his balance, but the goblin attacking him falls prone.
The other two goblins hesitate, not wanting to go into the grease area.
This large sunken chamber is more cavern than worked stone, and the tangle of damp flagstones underfoot provides an uneven surface. Water and slime drips from the walls, seeping in through narrow cracks above. A crude fire pit sits in the middle of the room, surrounded by filthy mats of fur and fungus. The stench of warm, wet bodies hangs faintly in the air, underlying the smell of overcooked meat.
5 goblins are in the room, and they spot Aramil as soon as he hits the bottom step.
Oh man, I just realized this PBP has been running for over a year!
Ziera's crew, disguised, picks up Glifdore, Dice, and and their guard and arrive at the cave just as guests are starting to arrive at House Charthagnion. The entrance is well away from the main complex , and it's a rough hike and climb to get to the goblin lair. Dice leads the way, and when you finally arrive he also does the talking with the goblins. The discussion goes back and forth, but soon the lead goblin turns and beckon you to follow. The others, twenty of them, form a ring of guards around your party.
The cave is extensive, and off to the sides of the main run you can see many alcoves and rooms filled with boxes. Most of them are labeled with Henderthane's House seal, though a few bear Jeggare's mark. They lead you to a section of the cave that was clearly built, not cut from the rocks. Part of the wall has been covered by several deconstructed crates. The lead goblin points to the makeshift barrier, pauses for a moment, and then turns back to the entrance of the cave. Dice stops him with a clicked word in goblin.
Dice begins a much more fervent conversation with the lead goblin. Edmund translates the ideas to you. The goblins don't want to release whatever is behind the barrier, and they will not remove it. As Dice takes a step towards it, the goblins step between him and the barrier. Dice motions to the party and the guards, and states they are going into the room, and they are going to defeat the monster. The goblins back away a step and hiss at you. Dice steps past the lead goblin, grabs a board, and yanks on it. It doesn't come off the wall, but it does drive the goblins back a few more steps.
Dice beckons to the Azure Avenger, who is wearing a plain black cloak over his normal gear. The Azure Avenger drops his cloak, revealing the blue mask, hood, and second cloak, this one of course, blue. All of the goblins take a few steps back, and one even screeches. The Azure Avenger rips a board off the wall, and the goblins scatter.
Dice settles onto a nearby crate, and instructs one of the guards to get the cloth ready. As soon as the barrier is taken down, two guards cover the hole with the cloth and piton it into place.
The party gears up for the battle, Glifdore mutters an incantation and disappears. And then the party is rushing past the cloth into a wide open room. Chests line the walls, and lanterns adorn the walls. The eye is drawn to the center though, where a shape is unfolding. At full height it measures just over eight feet tall. A blue mask adorns it face, and a blue cloak covers the entire shape.
so the next section will be the dungeon crawl to the animagus. Dice needs to come to mediate with the goblins. You can bring one other NPC as well if you wish. Same enemy whether you take someone or not.
The elf gives you a wry smile. "I see you are a bit more discerning than most of my customers. "" He takes a look at the bracelet. "Ah, yes, I might have something that might be of use. Not, of course, my own make, but if that is what you're offering you won't be wanting anything that I made."
Options:
Wand of cure light (50 uses): 700 gold (any number available)
use of cure moderate (19 uses): 1625 gold (1 available)
The shop keeper, a tall elf in gaudy red and black out, shakes his head. why thank you, i certainly do. As tempting as it is to buy a wand for such an easy spell, i sell only my own products to ensure the best quality. I will buy back my own work, but nothing else.
Thats correct Aramil. So 11 damage to the 2nd quasit entering this round. Zach, I’ll drop your last attack because you’ll need to move to the 2nd quasit after Derkut toon down the one near you.
After Derkut takes down the first quasit, Aramil misses again on a projection. Zach is there to win the day though, as he dashes over to Gaetius and eliminates the 2nd quasit.
Dice nods. "If you don't want to wait you probably need to buy it from the Charthagnion noble. He's a little proud, so be careful of negotiating with him; he might just throw you out. But he has the best selection on hand. " He gives you directions to the shop.
Gaetius' prayer is interrupted as the broken pieces of the idol stir, and two tiny demon fly out of it. They take a second to observe the scene, and then dive at Gaetius and Zach.
rolls:
init Gaetius:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9
init Zach:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
init Aramil:1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12
init Derkut:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
init quasits:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Ziggie and Llaich haven't posted in a while. If you're still here roll perception for init.
The statue is not of Pharasma, but the identifiers on the statue tie it to the goddess. Your experience with Pharasma suggests something is off. As the goddess of both healing and water, any proper idol to her should not be entrenched in murky water.
A week later the group gathers again, this time with the wealth necessary to hire the guards. Your group had your own watch party at a seemingly abandoned warehouse. You alternated watches over three days but didn’t see a single soul enter or exit. You stayed out of the warehouse as instructed though, you know all to well the importance of secrecy on missions like these. But no use in complaining over easy work, as you’re now 5000 gold richer.
Of note, you also learned that House Charthagnion is hosting a gathering on the night of the 14th.
you have secured 5000 gold and can pay for the guards as well as buy some better equipment if you so wish. It is now the 13 of Pharast.
The sound of dripping water echoes through this chamber.
On the north side of the room, a nearly ten-foot-tall visage of a woman’s face is carved into the wall. Trickles of water run down her cheeks like tears into a foul and polluted reservoir below, which itself drains to a large pool of fetid black water on the south side of the room.
The sound of dripping water echoes through this chamber. On the north side of the room, a nearly ten-foot-tall visage of a woman’s face is carved into the wall. Trickles of water run down her cheeks like tears into a foul and polluted reservoir below, which itself drains to a large pool of fetid black water on the south side of the room.
Merry Christmas everyone! Now that the holiday has passed I’ll get this back into full speed.
you have a couple of options here. One, you’re specialized enough that in Cheliax you could Gerbert some good money work. We don’t need to play that out specially, I’ll just give you some options for jobs and you can spend a few days to a week executing that. All of that would run through Jamie, Vince’s lawyer, so you could also do it pretty discreetly. As your own situation suggests, there are reasons for job payers to want secrecy as well.
2, you could just run the job and refuse to pay. It’s half up front and half at the conclusion, so you could scrape the first half together and then refuse the 2nd half. That will likely cause a fight, or just a complete disclosure of your clandestine operations.
3, you could go it alone without backup
4, you could choose to not pursue this at this particular time.
The conversation winds down, and the party splits off to find as many trustworthy allies as they can. Mercenary parties abound in Cheliax, but trying to find one that doesn't have a reputation for opportunistic ruthlessness is difficult.
Eventually it isn't a full party that you find, but instead a few tandems that at least have references that can attest to their discretion, if not specifically their trustworthiness. They're ready to go at a moments notice. Their total cost is 3,000 gold, with 2,000 for the work and 1,000 for the silence.
With the healing and pre passed, the group returns to the main room and investigates the last passage leading to the side (A4).
The narrow passage opens up into a small burial vault that
has been ransacked. Shattered remains of skeletons lie on
the floor in twisted heaps among scattered rocks and debris,
but the bodies of four recently killed goblins on display in
the four niches are much more intact.
Dice nods pointedly at Ziera, a rare smile filling his face. It quickly slips at the comments from Gray. He nods at Ziera's response though.
The goblins haven't investigated the area, and are loath to do so. We could entice them with money, but if they are killed, which should be a pretty easy task for an animagi, I will lose the source and we'll be stuck without information. I can likely guarantee that we are not bothered en route to the animagi. Post that, goblins are likely to take advantage of a situation, so you'll likely need to hire some mercenaries to watch your back if you are going to be knocked out again. I'm sure Morgrim can recommend some. It's going to be difficult to find trustworthy mercs who won't talk, but if they don't enter the actual area with the animagi you'll probably be fine." He hesitates as Sydney winces. "Probably."
Ziggie, Gaetius, and Aramil hurry to the room at the front where Zac and Derkut went, and then re-double there speed when they hear sounds of combat from the room. They arrive to see Zac and Derkut each cut down a centipede and then turn to the last centipede remaining upright. The centipede lashes out at Zach.
Dice shakes his head at the chatter. "I guess you need the context. You see, a goblin saw this a few days back, when they expanding their tunnels in the cliffs by the river. The rock gave way to a stone wall, and then they broke through the stone wall and found an open space with this figure in it. The figure came after them as soon as they broke through the wall, but it wouldn't leave the open space. They quickly closed it back up. They've been watching it since then, but the figure has not left the space."
He waits a moment, but when no one reacts he looks at the ceiling for a moment. "Oh, right, no memories. the cliffs by the river are also home to another dwelling... House Charthagnion."
Gaetius charges back into the room and veers to Ziggie. He pulls up short though, suddenly back in control of his sense.
Llaich attacks himself but then also regains his mental awareness.
Ok, so Gaetius and Llaich are back in cointrol of themselves, and are with Aramil and Ziggie at the entrance to A5. Zach and DSerkut continue to fight in A3
Dice feigns hesitancy. "Well, I wanted to wait until everyone else... He stops, then presses on quickly with Ziera's look. "I used to focus on goblin studies. Delightful creatures that are miscast in society by the ignorant or selfish. I was working towards a time when goblins might be accepted as standard members of society. I figured Cheliax would be a great base for that, since they already accept tieflings and devils and goblins are the picture of society compared to those.. " He freezes again at a look, this time from someone you are pretty sure is Sydney.
"Anyway, I got in pretty tight with local gangs, it helps being smaller than they are, but by the time I decided to change to contract research I hadn't made any progress on the unification of the species. I can only hope that others can take up that mantle now. But I have kept in touch with their informants, they have a very strong underground network of their own, and they showed me this."
He flips over his stack of parchments and starts sliding out pages to the group. There are only a couple so you have to share the copies between a few of you. But that isn't an issue as the picture is easy to digest.
A goblin is standing next to a giant being. The goblin is clearly meant as a measure reference, as the two are not interacting. By the height of the goblin you can surmise that the humanoid being is maybe 8 to 8.5 feet tall. It is also proportional larger, though that part is harder to sort out as the humanoid is a wearing a dark cape, that covers his entire figure, and a mask over his eyes.
Yes you should be level 7 now. I thought that I had said level up to 6 at some point after the first animagi but in searching the thread I couldn't find a specific post calling that out.
So it may be that you're going up 2 levels.
And dang it Edmund, your ruining subterfuge and stealth for everyone.
