The Shackled City - Golarion Prelude

[ahayford]

Yuathyn takes the small trinket Nia offers her, and repeats the sealing ritual. She presses the tooth into the soft wax, leaving a distinct pattern behind.

The contract is now sealed. Only by satisfying its requirements or destroying both signets will its magic be broken. I will expect my cure without much delay. I’m afraid I may may have exaggerated slightly the onset time of the disease....You might ask yourselves...why would I be infected but none of my children? Or in fact...none of the ghastly skulks that are constantly lurking about?

Her wicked laugh sends a cold shiver down your spine. She stands and her children again emerge from the invisibility field, removing the desk.

She motions to the broken desks and papers scattered about the room. You now realize that they are not, in fact scattered...but organized into several distinct piles, as if someone was researching something.

You might find the gnome’s documents useful. They contain information about the disease you might find....enlightening.

I shall keep my end of the bargain. My children will no longer haunt you as long as you keep clear of my personal quarters. The rest of this place is open to you. I suggest you hurry. If I die without being cured...I suspect that would violate your part of the contract.

 

[jkason]

Caytis Maggerin, half-elf magus

Oddly enough, Caytis visibly relaxed when the contract was fully sealed.

I shall keep my end of the bargain. My children will no longer haunt you as long as you keep clear of my personal quarters. The rest of this place is open to you. I suggest you hurry. If I die without being cured...I suspect that would violate your part of the contract. [/color]

Caytis frowns and angles his head quizzically.

"Really?" he says with a tone of confusion. "Did I miss the conditional clause that set a deadline or laid out a requisite state in which your body needed to be? ... hmmm ... no, I believe the wording was no more restrictive than 'delivering unto me a cure.' "

He shrugs, and a mischievous glint flashes in his eyes.

"Odd. Sounds to me like we have to bring a cure to you; not when or that you have to be in a state to be cured when we do."

He holds up his hands to fend off reprisal.

"Look, I'm a man of my word. We'll bring you what cure can be found," and now his eyes and tone turn cold. "I just wanted you to know: I don't like being toyed with, especially when it comes to my life. The blood of linnorms and shaitans flows through my veins. Always be careful how you word your bargains and wishes with my kind."

The saber-rattling hopefully then over with, his attitude evaporates as if he'd never had it, and he turns attentively to the papers. "So, then, research..." he says.

[sblock=mini-stats]Caytis Maggerin
HP: 10/10 AC: 15(19) AC(T): 12 AC(FF): 13(17)
(values in parenthesis with Shield active)
Init: +02
BAB: 00 CMB/CMD: 00/12 ACP: -1 ASF: 00 Spot: +05

Conditions: none
In Hand: Quadrens

Saving Throw Total Base Mod Misc Special
Fort: 03 2 +1
Ref: 01 0 +2 -1*
Will: 03 2 +1

* -1 Reflex (Wyrm Blooded trait)
** Conditional: Immune sleep, +2 vs enchantments, +4 vs acid

Weapon Attack Damage Critical Special
Quadrens +2 1d6 19-20/x2 1 pt bleed on crit
Quadrens, Spell Combat +0 1d6 19-20/x2 1 pt bleed on crit
Composite Shortbow +2 1d6 20/x3 Range 70 ft.

* Conditional: +1 attack with Arcane Pool enhancement.

Arcane Pool: 3/5 remaining

Spells Prepared:
* 0 Level (3): Prestidigitation, Detect Magic, Light
* 1st Level (2, DC 15): Shield, Shield[/sblock]

 

[ahayford]

If not for me...well...you'll find out soon enough.

Safe journey heroes...

gnomish: Return to your post




With that, the woman slinks down the passage to the north. At the woman's command, the automaton springs to life again, moving back to the corner from which it emerged.

The room you are currently in appears to have been a mage's workshop. Other then the two shattered crystals providing the odd invisibility fields, there are several shattered bookshelves and desks. The aforementioned stacks of papers cover every available surface.

The rough-hewn tunnel you entered the room from lies to the east. A city passage leads to the south and north. Another rough-hewn passage extends to the west.

 

[Shayuri]

Nia heaves a long-suffering sigh and goes to the stacks of papers. She starts examining them carefully, trying to figure out the organizational scheme without disturbing them. Better, after all, if they don't have to redo what work had already been done...

 

[Maidhc O Casain]

The young Aasimar watches the woman's "retreat" with trepidation in his heart. This life of adventure may not be for me . . . I wish to do good in this world, to leave it better than I entered and in that way to repay the debt I owe for my life. But I'd much rather be back at father's inn, learning the family business and living in comfort than be down here mucking about with these nefarious creatures.

 

[ahayford]

You begin sifting through the papers left behind by the gnomish mages that once lived here. The paper is old and yellowed, but has survived its 80 year internment fairly well, all things considered. The pages appear to have been salvaged from numerous sources, perhaps the remnants of personal journals or logs.

<page 1>
The new dwarven council member is causing trouble again. He has been trying to push through new mandates to expand the city’s lower defenses despite our charter’s clear stipulations that no further chambers are to be excavated. Already, many of the gnomes have flocked to his side. I’m sure they were more then happy to sign his petition in exchange for promises of new laboratories and workshops. Their minds jump from one project to another faster then I change socks. I swear Senior Councilwoman Rosita changes her job title as her first order of business at every council meeting I have ever attended.

It doesn’t surprise me that Grimmel has found gnomes that are more then willing to ignore our charter. However, more and more dwarves are starting to come to his side as well. Whispers of untapped mineral veins in the right ears will surely get him the votes he needs to approve his mandate.

Old Jzadirune would roll over in his grave. Even my fellow dwarves ignore tradition. The Splintershield Clan cannot allow this to pass.

<page 2>
<illegible> 100 pick axes and 50 shovels. Order will be delivered to one
Councilman Grimmel on this day of <illegible>

<page 3>
I have finally won! The mandate has passed and the Splintershields have left the city. The entire family has retreated to the malachite fortress in protest. Bah...So much the better. Let those fools rot in that stuffy keep. Another buffer against a Darkland invasion that will never come.

My son, you will lead the expedition. It is important that a Stonehammer be at the head of any new excavations. You will be there to claim the best discoveries in the name of our family.

Contact your sister and have her push the council to claim the Splintershield’s unused chambers in the city proper. With the overcrowding in the commons, It should be easy to convince the council to repurpose the abandoned holdings for the good of the city.

<page 4>

It’s so exciting! When I heard Grimmel’s expedition would be excavating more of the chambers Jzadirune himself first discovered, I had to sign on! This would be a once in a lifetime opportunity! So much of our cities livelihood depends upon the Forge he discovered, who knows what other amazing artefacts we might uncover! Father is angry that I’ve given up painting to go dig around in the dirt. But, this time, I know this is what I’ve truly been born to do. I’m an explorer! The painting, poetry, metalwork, cooking and botany were but childhood distractions. I must go to the marketplace to get a new hat. Mihkal told me every good explorer needs a hat!

<page 5>

The first victims vanished completely today. When I did my rounds through the quarantine zone, I noticed many empty beds with crumpled blankets, as if they had been slept in and were just waiting for their occupant to return. We suspected this would be the ultimate result of the strange malady but we did not expect it so soon! Time...time we need more time.

The plague seems to have affected the scribes and councilmembers disproportionately to the rest of the population. Perhaps the government buildings are the source of contagion? Airborne virus? Perhaps waterborn... Mental note, check local food vendors for possible vector.

Jzadirune’s nephew has brought in a new batch of healing rings he claims can purge any contagion. I will attempt to use them this evening on the worst of the victims and will record the results tomorrow.

 

[jkason]

Caytis Maggerin, half-elf magus

Caytis' cold fervor melts away as the threat subsides, and he turns to the others a bit more sheepish.

"Sorry. Sometimes the temper gets a bit ... unruly," he says by way of explanation. He turns to the work of helping sort through the papers as best he can, though when he reaches the passages on the fifth sheet, even his obsidian-scaled skin seems to blanch a bit.

"Scribes and councilmembers both deal with one thing more than any others: paperwork," he says, staring at the stacks of sheets. He shakes his head then.

"No. That's ... it's nonsense. We'll not find anything out if we don't keep reading," he says, though it's not entirely clear he's convinced himself of the foolishness of his own notions.

[sblock=mini-stats]Caytis Maggerin
HP: 10/10 AC: 15(19) AC(T): 12 AC(FF): 13(17)
(values in parenthesis with Shield active)
Init: +02
BAB: 00 CMB/CMD: 00/12 ACP: -1 ASF: 00 Spot: +05

Conditions: none
In Hand: Quadrens

Saving Throw Total Base Mod Misc Special
Fort: 03 2 +1
Ref: 01 0 +2 -1*
Will: 03 2 +1

* -1 Reflex (Wyrm Blooded trait)
** Conditional: Immune sleep, +2 vs enchantments, +4 vs acid

Weapon Attack Damage Critical Special
Quadrens +2 1d6 19-20/x2 1 pt bleed on crit
Quadrens, Spell Combat +0 1d6 19-20/x2 1 pt bleed on crit
Composite Shortbow +2 1d6 20/x3 Range 70 ft.

* Conditional: +1 attack with Arcane Pool enhancement.

Arcane Pool: 3/5 remaining

Spells Prepared:
* 0 Level (3): Prestidigitation, Detect Magic, Light
* 1st Level (2, DC 15): Shield, Shield[/sblock]

 

[Maidhc O Casain]

Val reads through the papers with the others, mind working furiously to make connections and draw conclusions. Though the glimpses of life in Jzadirune are tantalizing, he's not able to put together the story as yet.

"Well, it's a start I suppose. Still much to do, and now we must keep in mind both our original quest - the rescuing of the children - and the contract we've signed to find a cure for this ailment."

 

[Shayuri]

"No," Nia says to Caytis absently, without looking up from the papers. She's reading more slowly than he, working harder at the language. "I tink you may be right. Dis woman here...she be gettin' de curse faster and worse den anyone, and she also be readin' about it."

She frowns and puts the papers down. "Maybe de curse ken only affect de people who know about it. De more dey know, de worse it is. A neat trap, since de ones closest to breaking it are de first to go."

"Den de question becomes, how much is too much? Are we already too late?"

 

[jkason]

Caytis Maggerin, half-elf magus

"Den de question becomes, how much is too much? Are we already too late?"

Caytis shudders as, this time, his odd theory seems to be gaining ground.

"If it's the knowledge, then I'm not sure there's a loophole to exploit," he muses. "But if it's reading the knowledge ... it's not a good option, but if only one of us reads, and conveys what he's reading as he goes ... maybe by trading off we can stem the tide long enough to find what we're looking for?"

[sblock=mini-stats]Caytis Maggerin
HP: 10/10 AC: 15(19) AC(T): 12 AC(FF): 13(17)
(values in parenthesis with Shield active)
Init: +02
BAB: 00 CMB/CMD: 00/12 ACP: -1 ASF: 00 Spot: +05

Conditions: none
In Hand: Quadrens

Saving Throw Total Base Mod Misc Special
Fort: 03 2 +1
Ref: 01 0 +2 -1*
Will: 03 2 +1

* -1 Reflex (Wyrm Blooded trait)
** Conditional: Immune sleep, +2 vs enchantments, +4 vs acid

Weapon Attack Damage Critical Special
Quadrens +2 1d6 19-20/x2 1 pt bleed on crit
Quadrens, Spell Combat +0 1d6 19-20/x2 1 pt bleed on crit
Composite Shortbow +2 1d6 20/x3 Range 70 ft.

* Conditional: +1 attack with Arcane Pool enhancement.

Arcane Pool: 3/5 remaining

Spells Prepared:
* 0 Level (3): Prestidigitation, Detect Magic, Light
* 1st Level (2, DC 15): Shield, Shield[/sblock]