Not wasting any time, Adol walks forward and attempts to finish the remaining minion!
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Adol is ready to go and looking for a higher level game set anywhere in pathfinder! Some background: This character was a continuation of my first PFS character and statted out for a mythic homebrew PBP campaign at level 14/mythic tier 6, which I can easily adjust for the exact level range. His backstory is in there, too. This one was crafted from 95% actual events from PFS play edited slightly as the campaign needed everyone to have divine source/be a demigod, but the entire story works just as well without that. He just ended up accidentally worshipped himself when he ironically tried to stop people worshipping Golarians. :) The previous campaign he was in ended prematurely when the GM suddenly left, after around six weeks of play, due to real life issues. I'd like to play him again someday as I both like higher level play, PBP and the character. Hope to hear from someone sometime! Thanks for reading.
Ah. Well, I understand completely. Real life should always take priority. Truth be told, in my area, it takes me an 8 or so hour journey to play a game of pathfinder. When I somewhat recently became a father, I had to stop such excursions and many other similar things since time no longer allowed it. I was hoping play by post could fill this gap a bit. I can't deny I'm a bit sad to see this end so quickly, but such is life. Thanks for allowing me to partake in this and experience the PBP format. I'd failed a number of applications in the past and had grown a bit disheartened over it until this one finally worked. Out of curiosity, if I may ask two closing questions: what was going on in this village and what parts of the plot did we miss? Plot aside, do you have some advice for me for future PBP's, if any, based on what you experienced as a GM?
I think Alithea and I are simply waiting on DM Divinity's response, but he hasn't posted in a while. I sent a PM to ask if everything was ok. Without the DM, the adventure can't continue.
Was reading the discussion between Ulliaza and Rirsa, and all I could think of was: 'Aw, so much love for Adol!' You're making me blush ;) Jokes aside, in case there is some actual ooc resentment, then that was never the intention. I also don't plan on similar behavior in the immediate future now that we're no longer directly confronted by blatantly obvious and rather extreme evil operating under the guise of the local law.
Some ideas from the away team: There's still two notable clerics we haven't talked to. It might also help to ask around for the direction the dragon attacked from. Now that the mayor is gone, the guards might be more willing to cooperate and reestablish order, like Ulliaza proppsed. The mayor did indeed leave them all for dead, while we are still here trying to help them. As for the dragon, I am trying to think of some plan that minimizes casualties in case it attacks again before we get back. If someone had mythic obscuring mist, that might be able to hide the entire town in fog. If it attacks at night and you have cooperation from the guards, maybe you could set up a few fires away from the town and light then when it is about to attack to confuse it long enough for people to get into cover. Of course, neither of these will work is the dragon brings the gem from maika's vision and lifedrains the entire village at once. Or, If the dragon is after Eldran and Eldran hates the dragon, you could try somehow leading the Dragon to the mine away from the village and have the two of them kill eachother. I'm not sure how to pull that off; maybe by simply talking to it and offering to lead it to his enemy...? :)
Well, I don't expect to be able to convince the entire senate, much less to be given absolute authority :') But I hope enough authority to work with the local garrison and a group of guards at least able to slow down Eldran if it gets down to that. Anyway, the first part of the idea was involving the society and its contact with the crown. That might help out a bit.
Upon arriving in Oppara, Adol is about to suggest obtaining permission to use the royal Library in the castle, but finds himself already alone. He blinks once, twice, still no goddess of magic. "Was it something I said?" he wonders, then shrugs and heads for the Pathfinder Lodge by the quickest possible route, which is probably by air. Upon reaching the Capital's lodge, he introduces himself to the guards (if they don't recognize him already), shows his wayfinder and chronicle, and asks to speak to the local venture captain about an emergency. If pressed for details, he says that he needs to talk to the local leadership first, ensures it cannot wait until later and that many lives are at stake. On Adol's standing with the pathfinder society, for Divinity: Adol became a venture captain in the past after dealing with a traitor who was out to kill decemverate members, succesfully stopping him after about 3 kills. He is an agent on the short list to call on for the Society, whenever things go really, really bad - emerging Runelord levels of bad. While he was a bit of a joke earlier in his career for being extremely gullible, which was abused by many of his peers for fun, he has since steadily performed very impressive, almost logic-defying takedowns of extremely dangerous targets. On the flip side, he was almost immediately forced to drop most of his Pathfinder tasks when he suddenly became Regent of Arl shortly after dealing with the traitor. And it's probably known to some degree that he was also exiled from the order of Iomedae not too long ago. I'd like to think he is still in good standing with most of the society, but to what degree his fame and/or missteps extend is up to you, of course.
Well, that complicates things :') It's probably a lot harder to convince a conglomerate of rulers to do something than a single monarch. But I guess we'll have to make do with what we have.
Adol exchanges a glance with Calxakti, Ulliaza and Rirsa, then nods and puts away his quill. "Okay. I'll leave the defense of the village to you all. Be careful. I agree with Ulliaza that it's probably best to have some diversion in place if the dragon attacks rather than meeting it head on without a full group. With some luck, I'll be back with reinforcements in only a few hours of time." He then walks after Alithea, ready to move on. "Are you coming with us, Maika? Or are you staying here to aid in the defense?"
I'd like to ask about a few matters up front for a coming scene. Given that we have a good defense team, Adol will go to Oppara. If he is given the chance to make his case directly to the Crown, or another ruling body that will take emergency cases, given how strict the time limit is but also how incredulous this all might sound, he would request giving his testimony under a magical effect that compels him to tell the truth. This so that it stands a better chance of being taken seriously. One of such possibilities is Abadar's truthtelling. Does the Court have such magical effects readily available? Is it a standard procedure for everyone who speaks to the ruling body to have to subject themselves to this, which I imagine it could well be? DO I need to make special preparations to have this with me? On the other matter, Eldran is an undead Crown prince from a few centuries ago. Taldor has just gotten out of a succession civil war. Do I know if Eldran's claim to the throne is legitimate enough to warrant a threat to the current ruler? What is the state of the nation? Would there be prople who would rally to his cause? Would mentioning this destabilize the position of the current ruler? And finally, who is the current ruler? Since I'm unsure, this is why I keep referring to the ruler as 'The Crown'. spoilers for war of the crown adventure path, which happened here prevously to this adventure: In the path, the adventurers start out supporting the noble and very progressive princess Eutropia Stavian, who cannot ascend to the throne because she is a woman and Taldan customs prevent this. They are opposed by a more evil count, who wants to keep things as they are. One complicating matter that comes to light eventually is that she doesn't have the ancient bloodline of kings to reinforce her claim to the throne. And near the end of the books, the princess is assassinated off-screen. I'm not sure what happens from there. I gather the PC's have to battle an ancient theeat tied to Taldor and that what eventually happens to the nation is mostly dependant on their actions. I think a good-aligned party would probably use their ninth level magics to resurrect the princess and instate her back anyway? Since this adventure takes place afterwards, this is all in the past now.
"Ah, welcome back, sir Calxakti. Was your search succesful?" Adol asks, looking up from his book, after which he quickly fills him on on what the party learned in the meantime. "Okay... So Ulliaza and Calxakti are staying behind, Alithea is going, and I am probably best used going if the defense team we leave behind is strong enough not to need me, as I could then use my local connections," he then summarizes. "Maika and Rirsa, what are your preferences?"
Though... thinking about it, according to my paladin code I don't think I can leave the village behind now to do anything else. If something did happen in the time we were away despite knowing there are two major threats nearby, the code of Esitvas states it is essentially my fault. I could write a letter to accompany those who would go to Oppara?
Adol looks through the window, sees the result of time going by and realizes again that the party was on a clock until disaster struck. "It's getting late, and we're at another crossroad. We can either stay here, which doesn't accomplish much on its own, go for Eldran or the Dragon directly with what we have, or get help for more information and to defend the village in our absense first. Personally I vote for at least some of us go to the Crown to get this help, but to do this reasonably quickly someone would have to teleport us to Oppara. Who supports this, is anyone among you willing to to go the capitol city, and able to use teleportation magic to get there for free? Or alternatively, able to pay Maika to have it cast for us? I can only do this once per day, and I already used mine to get here. I also do not have the gold on me at the moment to afford such a cast." He then takes out his chronicle and starts writing something on a blank page near the back. "Unfortunately, while I have allies in Oppara who could help us, my Code prevents me from leaving the town unguarded. If we all go there, I will stay behind to protect these people unless someone else volounteers to lead the defense in my stead. If I remain behind, I will send a letter along with the team going there, and try to find a trail that could help in locating the dragon. If the dragon has access to such a powerful necrotic artefact, capable of attacking an entire city, there might be a trail of dead vegetation to follow."
Thought on finding the dragon: if it travels around with a life-sucking gem that we saw in the vision, there might be a visible trail of dead vegetation visible from the air that someone could track with survival? If it exists, Adol is decent at tracking. On the defense of the village: it is possible t h at it is attacked while we are away. I guess i am hoping that since both the dragon and the undead were fought off earlier today, they won't return mere hours later. If it does happen, we could have a few people stay behind, though i'd imagine the dragon is beyond the power of like half the party. It raises an interesting point though: what is the time of day now? We lost a couple of hours waiting for the count to fall asleep and maika's spell had a 30 minute casting time. I guess it's now around 17:00?-18:00?
Ulliaza is still definitely thinking of finding and murdering the dragon. She thinks that it's lair can't be that hard to spot, after all, we're not talking about a young dragon here. This thing is massive, so it'd need a massive entrance to even get into its lair. Right? Well, I've fought dragons before with exotic types of movement. Earthglide, for instance. And assuming this old dragon also has caster levels, it could just dimension door/teleport. The entire lair could be underground with no obvious entrance or exit. Anyway, my vote is on teleporting to Oppara and gaining more allies/more information.
Well... assuming the party gets reliable flight, I can probably use find the path to find the ruins of Talamir in a decent amount of time. But from there... I'm not sure how to actually find the dragon either. It seems to me the only way to get something belonging to the dragon is setting an ambush and intercepting the dragon as it is about to strike the village. But that would risk literally everyone inside. Does anyone know of a way to track a hugely powerful necrotic gem, as Maika saw in the vision? If we can't find the dragon, maybe we can find something it would probably keep on him or in his lair.
I guess TLDR there are lower-risk, lower-reward plays and risky, high-reward plays. Informing the local authorities, assuming we can teleport there, won't deal with either threat directly but it is probably the safest play if we can get back in a short amount of time. Not informing the authorities opens up the town to counterattacks from wherever we don't go, but it is a lot faster. Going for Eldran doesn't handle the presumably larger threat of the dragon, but we do have a better idea of where he is and what he is capable off, and we can capture or prevent whatever he is making. Going for the dragon is very risky as it gives Eldran full reign over the village and gives him time to finish what he's making, plus we don't have as much of an idea where he is. Also, we are potientially opening ourselves up to a knife in the back from him. But if it works, and we kill the dragon, it might also immediately end Eldran if his existence is tied to his hate for the dragon. My vote would be inform the authorities and assuming we have help, go for the dragon afterwards, and let the help defend the village vs Eldran. That is probably the second safest plan, after getting help and then going for Eldran.
Some things regarding Divinity's questions in the thread: -It might be slight cheating on my part, but I looked at Maika's vision, which took place on a mountaintop. Unless the dragon completely destroyed the entire mountain, I'm going to assume the town shown was Talamir and not Dalaston. And while I need confirmation from asking around in the village, I'll assume for now that the dragon came from the direction of Talamir and that his lair is around there. -I'm a bit worried on whatever Eldran seems to be making. He doesn't seem to be above the 'use evil to fight evil' approach and if some kind of necrotic-artefact doomsday device was used to destroy Talamir, he could be making something similar to use it on the dragon/the dragon's artefact. -I think the vision could be misleading; claiming you will protect your subjects forever taken literally means he will find a way to make them immortal. He could have attempted to use necromancy on his subjects with the gem, and that it backfired on him. If this is the case, he'd know how to make a second one. -That said, this is speculation and we have no idea how far along he is in completing it. He could be making something else entirely. -On the dragon, it could attack at any moment. It has been shown to be destructive, but it seemingly hasn't been destructive on the same scale as shown in the vision. However, if the dragon is able to repeat the thing from the vision then everyone from the village is in mortal danger. -Dealing with the dragon might also deal with Eldran, but we have far less of an idea of where the dragon is, it is probably significantly further away than the local mine (@ DM Divnity: is it? Is talamir's rough location further away then the mine) and probably also a lot more dangerous. -the crown's agents are probably more equipped to defend vs Eldran than the dragon, so if we get help id pick heading for the dragon. -@Dm Divinity, would 'find the path' with the location among the lines of 'where talamir used to be' work in finding the exact site? In conclusion I see pros and cons for going after either of them but would prefer to alert the Crown to have more of a defense up if we move away. With everything we know now I think heading for eldran now is probably my least favorite option, but ill go along with it on popular vote.
"Towns can change a lot over time. That wasn't specifically revealed." Maika noted. "Legend Lore is a strange spell that way. As for knowing how the dragon would be here... they've sacrificed many to the dragon over the years, yes? Some good research could have revealed that. And I did not like the color of its breath - black and red flames suggests negative energy along with the flames, and guarding against two powers in a dragon's breath is rather harder than guarding against one." "So... there was nothing to identify our current location as different from what you saw? What about the surrounding landscape? Where was the town you saw situated? A town or city can easily be destroyed, but changing the entire surrounding natural layout in a few centuries is a lot less easy. And... did the dragon have that blackish-fired breath when he attacked the village earlier today?" Adol asks Maika and the ones present during the dragon attack earlier today.
"Are you sure it was this town, Maika, and not Talamir, the town he ruled over? What exactly did you see?" Adol asks her. "If the dragon destroyed his original town, I guess it makes sense for Eldran to want to destroy it. But then we get back to questions like: how did Eldran know the dragon would attack this village, since he arrived first? And how did he go from a supposedly noble figure to... well, this? What did he promise to protect his his people from, and how? " he wonders. "Regardless, if the town in Maika's visage was Talamir and the dragon was Horronath, that raises an interesting point. Some of you were here when the dragon attacked last, correct? Did you happen to see in which direction the dragon left, or from which direction it came? If either of those is northeast, where Talamir used to be, there is a good chance the dragon's actual lair is on or near the site of where that town once was," Adol ponders, then marks the letters 'DRAGON LAIR??' and a circle around them near the presumed site of the once-capital of Taldor.
"All right. I suppose that could have been handled better, yes. When he seemed to panic when we told him we knew the truth about Eldran, I thought I recognized a weakness and tried to go for it. But interrogation unfortunately isn't as simple as fencing, and I'll admit I have a lot to learn," Adol answers, sitting back down, and taking another look at the local map. "By the way, Ulliaza, I forgot to ask this, but did you catch the mayor telling us any lies? it might not matter at this point, but I am curious." "That said... regarding the mine, I'm pretty sure there is only one major one in the direct vicinity, which is why it doesn't have a special name. 'Dalaston's mine' is the only indication on the map. However... now that I think about it, if we go in there, and we arrange for nothing in the meantime, what happens to the town if the dragon attacks while we're out there? Whatever very questionable defense Eldran offered to the town is now absent. Essentially, the defense of this place against such massive threats is currently sorely our responsibility. That's why, if possible, I'd like to request aid from Oppara before we set out."
"I suppose that makes sense. If he was building something in a mine here, it would give the dragon a possible reason to attack a mine too, which he has done. If he did it in secret, the villagers wouldn't know why the dragon came there, either."
She gives Adol a blank look. "If you don't want to see overgrown men half naked, don't go into brothels." Shaking a head and mumbling to herself, she claps her hands. "No, bad news, I couldn't get anything out of the man. After you basically tried blackmailing him to helping us with the threat of the crown going after his head, he kept his lips sealed tighter than Abadar's own vault. The good news, is that we don't have to worry about him getting into our way. He got his family, a few guards, and fled the town to who knows where." "That's not what I mean... anyway, I stated the truth to him, then offered to help him at a price. That he viewed the truth as threatening is something I can understand, but it is only so because he made a huge mess of things for himself. Given what we knew of him, I figured that the prospect of losing everything would be severe enough to work with us and change his ways. But I see now that it was not; he still doesn't care one bit about anyone here and still hides from his duties, just outside the village. He'll probably also never take any responsibility for the children he asked to be given to Eldran simply because he was spineless and didn't take a single action to remedy things. To me, all this very clearly states his actual character and I can no longer view him as simply a victim of cicumstance nor overlook his role in the suffering that was inflicted on his people. If there was some good in him, he'd at least have told us eveything he knew. Maybe you can argue that it is not my place to care about what happens to his subjects under that kind of person, but I do. It's simply who I am. I don't think Estivas would have done different." He rubs his temples for a moment. "But if he is away, those concerns can wait for later. I remembered who Eldran was a few centuries ago, and Maika is trying to divine more information on him. Now what was that about a mine?" he asks, turning to Alithea. "Do we actually know exactly where he is hiding at the moment? If so, i'd say we go there now. If not, I'd recommend teleporting to Oppara to search more information and gain more allies. Allies with actual power who do care about the people here."
Adol smiles at Rirsa's antics and would have answered her, if not for Ulliaza suddenly entering the scene. "Is the good news something among the lines of the count tripping over his second chin and knocking himself out for the next few days?" Adol dryly asks the friendly neighborhood Drow. "If you must know, Rirsa, we found the Count hiding in a brothel," he then adds to her. "Let's say I'm glad no one else had to suffer the sight of him clad in only half his undergarments. Somehow I always encounter such horrors whenever I am forced into such an establishment... at times, I wonder if there is some kind of curse on me."
Some quick ideas: Is eldran tath hiding underneath the village? Is eldran realistically redeemable, given what he has done? Will destroying the dragon also deal with eldran? Is eldran planning on returning to the village? Did we destroy the majority of eldrans bloodless? Will the dragon or eldran attack the village in the next 16 or so hours? (Id probably ask this one most of all. Yes: we know an attack is imminent. No: we can probably rest and use more resources ib the investigation) Is there a secret to the village that explains why eldran and a legendary dragon arw both drawn here? If yes, is this realistically learnable by us in the town itself without resorting to high level magic?
"I agree. As i said earlier, I think a lot can be gained by a visit to Oppara in general. I'm sure someone can help us get back from there for free to conserve resources. After we arrive, we could inform the Crown, the Society, ask permission to search the archives, maybe ask for troops able to defend the village if we need to leave in search of Eldran or the dragon. Maybe even report the Count for what is he has done. I wasn't planning on doing this until he showed his true colours; I do genuinely feel as if the civilans would be better off ruled by virtually anyone else. But that will all take quite a bit of time." "On Ulliaza, she stayed behind to talk with the Count alone... I think," he answers. "She suddenly disappeared during the conversation. I'd normally be worried about leaving anyone alone with a man like him, but given how she led a revolt in the darklands I'm sure she can handle herself, if not just go invisible whenever she wants. She could be anywhere... even right behind me." He hesitantly looks over his shoulder. "You're not actually behind me, are you...?" he asks the empty chamber behind him, peering around.
Adol nods. "All right, thanks anyway, Rory. I understand that you should follow your church's teachings and instructions." "I'm afraid I don't have anything else, he says to the others. "I know Eldran was once the crown prince of Taldor and ruled from Talamir. Rumors say it was around here. What happened to it, I'm not sure," he takes out his chronicle, which is large enough to be considered a tome (though the weight doesn't bother him in the slightest), quickly flips through it and points to specific site on a drawn map of the region. "That's all I can do. The rest is up to you, Alithea, Rirsa and Maika. I hope your referenced magical effects can fill in the rest."
Adol, who had been thinking in silence for a while, suddenly gasps. "Wait, I think I do know!" he suddenly exclaimes, then pauzes. "But he should be long gone, so... no, he's undead- I guess it could be possible, but why him...?" He sighs, then sheepishly looks away. "Let me start over. I owe you all an apology. I might know who Eldran is, if it's the actual Eldran Tath. He was the crown prince who ruled the nation of Taldor from the city of Talamir, hundreds of years ago. As part of the royal family, I figured the name 'Eldran' was passed on through the generations, and that it meant nothing. But an actually powerful individual with the exact same surname, in this region? Since he's undead, he could have any age. It could very well be that exact same prince." "Of course, that doesn't explain why he turned up here, or why he did this..." he continues, gesturing over the damaged area and the stains of blood on the floor and carpets. Adol then closes his eyes and mentally goes over everything he knows from the era of Tath's rule, pacing a few steps back and forth as he does.
"About the information from the vault... is there anything in there that is stated to belong to Eldran Tath, either from recently or from a few hundread years ago, when he was the crown prince?" Adol muses as he thinks. "Anyone else have any ideas? I'm trying to come up with something that might help us catch him, but I'm not a banker. Maybe you have some advice for us, Rory? What kind of information can be learned from the records that you think might help us learn something about Eldran Tath or what he wants, if any? Are there any truly unusual transactions stated somewhere, preferably from around his reigning era or from around the founding of this church? Or failing that... is there anything of unusual power, value or uniqueness inside the vault, something that shouldn't have been present in a village like this? I promise we won't take anything - I ask only so that we know."
I do? Where in the story was his surname mentioned to us? Afaik, his surname was in the battle text, and when Divinity talked to us about how he needed more imput to make this work. I dont think his full name was ever mentioned to the party directly. But eh, of thats the case, lets assume your character was smart about this and asked around this super basic bit of info offscreen :')
Adol listens to Rirsa's new information intently, nodding along. "So his surname is Tath? I do not think it was mentioned before, so that is already good to know. And... you're saying Eldran showed up before the dragon attacked? Interesting. Assuming there is a connection between the two of them, that implies he knew the dragon would attack the town beforehand. It could be that they're enemies and that the dragon would attack him wherever he was. It could also indeed be that they are allied and that dragon attacked the town to give Eldran a chance to assert his power here. But... that last part makes less sense to me with what we currently know. Between the two of them, why would two intelligent beings of such malevolence and power risk this, oppening themselves to a counterattack on them, only to gain a foothold for Eldran in this small town? What could be here that is worth it...? And couldn't Eldran do that by himself? ...I think that without more information on the town or Eldran, we won't reach a reliable conclusion on this." When Rirsa mentions the clerics, Adol exhales a sigh, and sits down on some of the furtiture that was damaged in the previous two fights taking place here. "The mayor told me that too, that Eldran insisted the Abadaran clerics were heretics. I think he at least partially believed him. Worse perhaps, the mayor confessed to willingly working with Eldran even after he learned of how evil he was. He told me Eldran had killed a few of his guards, had taken over the town and that he saw no other way but to continu supporting him. At the same time, he implied having no plan of himself whatsoever to do anything about the situation. Not even basic things like sending a secret messager to inform the capital. He was content to just keep giving the village's children to Eldran even though the bloodless he turned them into were keeping the town hostage AND knowing full that Eldran was a murderer. Adding to this, he refuses to tell us anything about Eldran even though he knows full well this information is a life or death matter to all the citizens here. Not out of fear, but out of anger of being reminded of the reality of the sitution." He closes his eyes and rubs them with the buts of his gauntlets."In my humble opinion, the mayor is an egotistical coward only out to save himself, who cares nothing about the lives of any of his subjects, even his own family, hides in a brothel most of the time according to this guards and Ulliaza suspects he beats the workers there. He deems a few minutes of his time more valuable than sharing what he knows for everyone's defense, including his own. I gave him two seperate chances to begin atoning and work with us, but he refused twice. Honestly, under normal conditions I would have arrested him mostly on being complicit for the many deaths that occured partly to his abuse of power, and would have handed him over to the local law. Unfortunately, the fact is that he is the local law and that local law enforcement works for him." He stands up and stretches himself out. "I'm currently considering visiting Oppara and informing the Crown and the pathfinder society so that they know what has happened here. Maybe either of their libraries contain additional information on this, and the Crown might be able to help restoring order by dispatching veteran guards here that can actually fight the bloodless, if they return when we leave to fight the dragon. They might also be able to give us a royal writ that gives us the authority to officially perform this investigation, which might help if the mayor tries to somehow sabotage us. However, to do this, I will need the aid of someone to teleport me to the capital city, and I'm not entirely sure how long that will take compared to searching through the records here. If I reach the city, I'm sure I can find someone else to get us back..." He trails off, lost in his musings, as he watches Rory continue his duties. "Hmmm... Eldran Tath... Eldran Tath... did I hear that before, somewhere?"
If Adol's knowledge check on his name yields nothing, he suggests that since Eldran is a confirmed liar and that someone that powerful and still active should have left some trace in recent history, there is a chance that Eldran Tath is a fake name, which might be relevant to magical attempts to gain information on him.
"Lady Maika speaks the truth. I believe none of us have any material interest in the contents of the vault. They probably rightfully belong to the citizens of this town. Therefore, taking any contents would be theft," Adol assures him. "However, we were hoping that the church records would contain something that would help us in our investigation, and that anyone you deem qualified for it could study them. The one who very likely killed all your fellow clerics here is an uncommonly powerful undead, who is currently on the run. At the same time, an uncommonly powerful dragon emerges who has also shown too much interest in this place. That two of such entities appear in a small, seemingly unremarkable town simultaneously feels strange to me." He pauzes a moment, scratching his chin. "I thought that maybe there would be something in the older records that could explain why they would come here, perhaps something regarding the town's origin or some old secret not known to the public. That might give us a lead in finding this undead and preventing him from inflicting similar harm and damage on anyone in the future." "Also... I believe someone said something about this town being attacked previously by the same dragon, around... 400 years ago?" he looks around at those more knowledgeable in history, which is probably everyone, for confirmation. "There might be a record of what happened there, the previous time this happened, and how he was driven off then. That might also help us going forward. Perhaps this undead was involved back then, as well."
@ Calxakti, I was wondering: since we saw Eldran melt into the earth, maybe it is worth asking one question to simply ask if he is hiding beneath the town?
Since the door is now open, Adol flies through the church entrace at some point during the process of categorizing the safe. "Hello everyone. It's good to see you made it back here safely," he says to Maika and Rirsa. "And with company too, I see. My name is Adol, and i'm a part of this investigation group. Pleased to make your acquintance," he adds to the clerics. "Did we find something of note, that could explain why all of this happened here ?" If Rory is still busy, Adol simply waits for him to finish, after offering his aid if he can in any way.
Adol, clearly unimpressed, seems like he might have answered, but then looks around, to the left, right, ceiling and floor, and finds no trace of Ulliaza. "It seems my companion wants to speak with you in private. I will take my leave then. In the words of your own advisor, I gave you a chance. Two of them, in fact, despite that you just confessed to all the crimes I mentioned earlier. Goodbye, ser." Unless the mayor or Ulliaza says something to change his mind and there is a window present, he opens the window and flies off. If there is no window, he walks away through the door. If no one stops him, he then heads for the church, with the intent of finding Alithea or Maika and securing a teleport to Oppara. Given how rotten the local law seemed to be, it was time to inform the Crown and ask for their aid in restoring local order. Perhaps this should have been done earlier, given the severity of the prophecy and the re-emergence of the ancient dragon. Maybe there was even something about this town in the library of the capital city, or the archives of the Crown.
Well, I tried. I think that's about as complete and reasonable argument or offer I could make. Do you have a backup plan, Ulliaza? I think the guy is pretty much explicitely beyond reason/redemption. I'd prefer not to leave like this since he might start to take his frustrations out on the prostitutes or the villagers, but I'm unsure of what to do with him. I could summon an angel to air-carry him to the pathfinder lodge or court in Oppara with a letter of everything he and his advisor have done and everything else that has happened here, which might also get us reinforcements eventually. That might temporarily destabilize town politics, but considering how careless he is towards the well-being of everyone here I think a solid argument could be made that everyone is better off without him. It might be sketchy on alignment from the lawful side, though I guess it can be considered arresting him and placing him under protective custody based on that he is directly endangering the lives of all of his subjects and the suspicions against him are quite severe in general. Beyond that, I'm running a blank.
The count stiffens up and keeps on getting more stiff as Adol keeps talking. "You dare? You come in here, ignorant and arrogant, and you threaten to call in a higher authority on me? You threaten to have me exiled or hanged and to lie to ensure that it happens? Bah!" he spits on the floor of the bordello. "You have no idea of the hard decisions that are required for leadership! You tell me, Mr. Superior, what you would have done in my place. A dragon attacks, a creature takes over your town and demands your citizens, and kill the people meant to defend you. Tell me what you would have done in my place and I won't have the guards come in here and drag you out. In fact, never mind. I might have them drag you out anyway. You don't belong here. You're not doing anybody any good by coming in here and threatening me with death." "I am not threatening you with anything. I simply state the truth as it currently appears to me. Shouting at me will not make any of our problems go away." Adol replies, completely calm. "It is my belief that even if I were inclined to inform the authorities in Oppara of what you've been doing, it wouldn't matter in the end, since they will investigate on their own anyway. Like I said, everything I just told you is based on basic logic and equally basic research that anyone in service of the Crown would learn themselves. What I am offering you is a second chance and a potential way out, rather than remaining passive to your personal plight. Considering all that I'm asking is your cooperation in keeping your town safe , including you and your family , and a guarantee that if there is any truth to any of these rumors surrounding you that you will change your ways, that seems like a very small price to pay to me." "As to what I would have done, if you must know, I would probably have informed the Crown, and/or have those able evacuated from the village while I waited for their answer. The Crown has allies able to fight this dragon, like us, if not agents who could do it by themselves. I probably would not have trusted a random stranger who demanded children to be handed to him after the first of his projects started to prevent everyone from leaving the village. You could have sent a scout over the wall under cover of night to sneak a message to the Crown even if Eldran kept the main gate guarded. But by this point, that is in the past, and what you could or should have done no longer matters. What matters instead is the choices we make now going forward, in fixing this mess everyone here finds themselves in, now that Eldran has been exposed as an undead necromancer only out for himself." He crosses his arms and leans back casually. "You further say I have no idea what it is to lead. That is ironic, since I am the ruler of Arl on the planet Akiton, a city of around twenty-five thousand souls. We are a hardy people beset daily by the likes of dragon-like creatures known as behirs, ghosts, death worms, sand serpents and shoggoths. As I am their ruler, I am also responsible for their defense. Every. Single. Day, I need to make life and death decisions on who to send where, to keep my people as safe as I can. Sometimes, these result in death, whom way heavily on my conscience. That is also the reason I came here, since one of my men received a vision that disaster was about to strike in your town and many others following the events that would take place here. Even if it was none of his business to help any of you, he still did it, and was killed by your advisor for it. Partly in his legacy, and partly to see vengeance served for his death, I am now offering you the same offer of help. If even that is not enough for you, I have fought in a number of battles in the recent civil war here, including the opening one where the Count's allies tried to murder the entire senate. I know very well what it is to fight and lead in a battle, and as a Pathfinder my earlier job was to personally fend off horrors beyond common imagining." "So now that you know everything about the situation, the question is: what are you going to do now? Without your undead, child-murdering advisor, your clerics killed by him and the undead who were keeping you trapped to await being sacrificed by Eldran, it seems to me you are completely helpless against this legendary dragon. So I state again: I am here with a group of extremely experienced specialists, some of which are worshipped as actual gods. Do you want our help and work with us, or do you want to await your fate, either by the dragon or in the courtcase that will inevitably follow some time from now?" He pauses, then seems to consider something. "Actually... I will sweeten this deal for you. Promise to help us, mend your ways and answer all of our questions, and I will also give all of your collective guards the opportunity to shoot me and use me as target practice. If I'm not as good as I say I am, I will die, and you'll be rid of me." He says the last part extremely casually, as if talking about the weather, and winks at Ulliaza.
"Perhaps only Eldran," Adol follows. "You might be unfamiliar with these aspects, but it is the truth. Eldran is an undead. He has hidden it cleverly, and somehow managed to convince everyone here that nothing he did was suspicious, even though his undead constructs literally took the entire town hostage. He probably did this to both prevent word of his activities from reaching the Crown, and to hoard you all inside so that he had enough 'livestock' to keep adding to his group of undead," he says, bitterly towards the end. "And he probably killed most of the clerics both to give him a base and to murder anyone who might be able or daring enough to identify his constructs." He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath als calms himself. "Of course, that brings us to the core of this issue. You are obviously smart enough to now grasp the implications for you. Eventually, word of all this IS going to reach the Crown. There is only so long something as high profile as a legendary dragon reemerging to attack a village can go unnoticed by outsiders. Then, the authorities in Oppara will investigate what happened here." "When they do, they will learn that you were publicly seen supporting this Eldran, making you directly complicit in a manyfold homicide of your own subjects. Worse perhaps, is that you were heard openly asking for or demanding sacrifices for Eldran, from your position as mayor. This strongly hints of abuse of power of the foulest kind. And if they keep asking, they will also learn that while all of this was going on and the villagers were afraid and confused, you hid in a brothel, forsaking your duties of being there for your subjects. If we could learn this information, an inquisitor in service to the Crown could too. I am not intimately familiar with Taldan law, but I imagine the verdict for something like this can only be extremely severe. At best , you will probably lose your lands and possessions and be exiled from the nation." He lets the implications of this hang for a good ten seconds of silence. "Perhaps you think me harsh, but it is the truth as I currently see it. These events do not even require any intervention on our part. ...Of course, therein lies an alternative," he continues with a 'your turn' hand-gesture. "You could have a credible person testify on your behalf, insisting on how deadly and insidious this Eldran was, how skilled he was in warping the minds of others, and that you were simply here at the wrong station at the wrong time. He could say that this could have happened to anyone, and that the blame lies sorely with him. That person could be me. As I said before, I have some connections to the court." He then frowns. "However, at this point, it falls upon you to convince me you are in fact innocent, and that you are worthy of such aid. To be honest, that you are indeed hiding here while this crisis is going on outside does you no credit. There is also a rumor going on that you might be beating those who work here, further adding to the implication of abuse of power. And I surely misheard you when you just directly implied that a few minutes of your time were worth more than the collective lives of your lawful subjects, who look to you for leadership?" "I want to believe that there is good in everyone and that I can give you the benefit of the doubt in these extreme cicumstances, or at the very least a chance at redemption. Starting by answering ALL of our questions regarding Eldran, the Dragon, the mine and the remaining priests might be a good place to begin." He finishes with a nod, and takes a sideways glance at Ulliaza to gauge her approval. The ball is in your court, Mayor. "Oh, and regarding Eldran, in case you want to know, he is on the run. We easily subdued him and destroyed all the constructs that were with him. My intent is to ensure he meets justice for his crimes," he adds as an afterthought.
"To clarify: Yes, he killed all the Abadaran clerics, in addition to the things he did to the children," Adol added, nodding. "Not a very nice person indeed, this aide of yours, to put it lightly."
*Whispers* I can probably find a way to cast Atonement. Lol :)
I'll let you take the decision. I think if we go this route, it's important to point out how badly he needs someone to put in a good word for him when the Crown's investigation starts, and that we're the best/most credible options he has, but that in return we want some of time so that he actually answers all questions. Of course, only do this if you support that plan. Among others, it probably involves telling him the truth about what we is found at the church. You can make some argument that making him tell us about the plan and one other thing and then leaving works to some degree too, though it's not as much as we could have gotten.
Well, mostly, to simply get him to tell us what he knows, answer all the important questions and not dismiss us so easily. He seems overly dismissive of the threat and apparently believes the lives of potentially anyone/everyone in the village are not worth a few minutes of his time. I can't exactly condone that type of behavior from someone who is supposedly instigated to lead a village. I don't think any genuinely good person would. It feels like dereliction of duty and/or abuse of power at the cost of his citizens.
All right, I'll withdraw my suggestion. I'd like to ask one thing, then: currently, my interpretation is that things look very bad for him if this was taken to court. He was openly seen supporting Eldran in demanding sacrifices, his advisor turned out to be an undead that likely murdered an entire temple and was systemetically turning/killing children into things that kept the entire town hostage. As far as we know, the Crown has not been alerted. Amidst this crisis, he hides away in a brothel and when people do show up to help, he attempts to dismiss them within minutes when he knows the lives of his entire village are at stake, deliberately withholding important information. Logically, if a verdict was based on this alone it would probably lead to a severe punishment. What do you believe I could say about this to him that still falls within an honorable/LG algnment? I personally don't think pointing out to him how much trouble he is in is inherently dishonorable. The mayor's behavior, however, seems openly dishonorable and also unlawful if not downright evil. I understand there are things I do not know know about the situation, but if he doesn't help us understand better then it's not like I can know.
@Ulliaza, mostly: The mayor doesn't seem to be all that cooperative. Is this the point where we drop the act, remind him that he is currently complicit in the systematic murdering of many of his civilians, remind him that he is currently in major trouble unless someone vouches for him, then demand he tells us everything now?
"And a third thing we also really have to know: what was this plan you had for dealing with the dragon? Is it your plan, or the plan of this Eldran? You don't seem to particularly like him. Why is that? Or for that matter, who is he and why would he offer to help the village against such a massive threat?" He takes a deep breath. "These are life and death matters concerning everyone in the village. I can understand that you don't want to be disturbed, but dismissing us will not make the dragon go away - nor Eldran, if you feel that way. Please give us a moment of your time so we have that much of a better chance to actually make it so. The next dragon attack could claim anyone as a casualty, even yourself and your family, if we're unlucky. That's why it is important we succeed first."
Since others can contribute ideas, here are some things I can think about regarding Eldran as a person: -He is a powerful undead who has been seen sacrificing children to create more undead, as well as killing an entire temple worth of clerics possibly only to get a headquarters away from prying eyes. He probably has no morals or care for if others suffer as long as he gets closer to whatever goal he has. This makes him ruthless. -He presumably has some special interest in this town, linked to "his only chance to bring them back", in his words. He probably thinks his goal, whatever it is, is somehow noble. He is very fixed on something to the point of it making him misguided. Maybe he is vain or at least convinced he is superior to others to the point that he views his way as the only way. -Alithea said something among the lines of him being entirely fixed on some thing he wants to destroy. This makes him single-minded to a degree. -He seems to be a very good liar, since no one knows anything about what has really been going on, while at the same time succesfully telling everyone he is their best hope. He can be presumed to be insidious and manipulative. Possibly even resourceful. Of course, I might simply be reading too much into things.
"Indeed. And on that subject, what is the town mining in that mine? Was that attack on it also the first sighting of the dragon?"
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