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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ahayford" data-source="post: 5834928" data-attributes="member: 6680745">The remaining skulk’s wicked grin fades as his companion strikes the flagstones. Svexyn slips through the rear door quietly, while Caytis charges through, eager to enter the fray. The skulk, fights on, knowing he is outnumbered. His once laughing eyes are now filled with a desperate madness. His blade moves defensively, but he cannot deflect the onslaught of an entire group. A quick deflective blade and a shoulder strike push Caytis’s strike wide, but the move leaves him open to Wilbur’s quick stab. Marcus brings his flail to bear once more. The heavy iron balls smashes into his face. A few teeth clatter on the floor as he recoils from the blow.Nia smiles at the creature. Maybe you’ll listen to me now, yes? Nia’s scream strikes the creature squarely, launching him off his feet. By the time he hits the ground, his spirit has already left his corpse behind.The group scans the room for any more ambushers and finds the store room devoid of any further threat. Marcus prods one of the skulks with his boot.These two are decidedly more deceased then I would have liked...A small groan can be heard from the back of the room as Keygan shifts boxes and piles of ingots off his bruised and battered body.Thank goodness! I thought for a moment that was it for poor Keygan. On any other occasion I might find the experience of getting rescued by band of adventurers exciting.Keygan brushes himself off and begins to compulsively re-stack the piles of raw materials just as they were before he was abruptly tossed into them.You have to understand, they never told me they were taking children. Just a few street folk here and there...no one that would be missed. I’m not proud of what I did, but they forced me to help them.Keygan finishes his stacking them turns to the group. The withering stares of the party are palpable in the air.L...L...L...et me start at the beginning. Gnomes aren’t very common here in Cauldron... But it wasn’t always this way. Back when the city was founded, Surabar granted the governance of the domains below the city to two of his allies: the gnome wizard Jzadirune and the dwarf warrior, Hathan Splintershield. The earth beneath the city is riddled with ancient basalt tunnels and dormant lava vents. It was a brilliant move really. He granted his allies lands equivalent to the entirety of Cauldron itself, and he provided the city a line of defense against anything that might poke its way up from down below. Keygan smiles at Surabars brilliance, but withers under the groups quiet stares.A...A...Anyway...the gnomes and dwarves built a beautiful city, one to rival even Cauldron in scale and housed as many gnomes and dwarves. The wizard Jzadirune lead the city to become a haven for crafters and artists. Before long, it was known throughout Golarian as a source of fine art and wondorous magical artifacts. Gnomes from far and wide came to Jzadirune’s city to learn or perfect their art, staying just long enough to pass on their skills to another before moving on. The city became more of a commune then a city before long. Paintings and sculptures covered every wall and hallway. I remember it so vividly.Jzadirune flourished for many years. It was such a magical place to grow up in. A perfect place for a gnome to settle down...as much as any of use do. There was always something new and amazing happening. Keygan sighs.And then, the Vanishings began. People would wake up one morning and slowly fade away....literally go translucent slowly before your eyes...until they simply vanished. It was only a few people at first, but then entire branches of the city just up and vanished. The city was abandoned. I remember leaving the city with my family, leaving all our worldly possessions behind lest it bring some of whatever taint lived down there with us to the surface.My family lived in Cauldron for a short time, but my father and mother felt the wanderlust and left for new experiences. Cauldron was so new to me then. So many humans, elves, and other talls. The sky was so huge above my head....I decided to stay for a while.But now I've stayed for too long...gotten complacent and set in my ways...Keygan laughs and pulls at his greying hair.I longed for my days in Jzadirune again...it was just that kind of nastalgic thinking that got me into this mess. The locksmithing business has gotten so tiresome. I’ve built, rebuilt, and disassembled about every mechanism I can imagine. My masterwork vault currently defends the city’s treasurey. There was nothing more for me here. I had tapped all the new experiences I could from Cauldron's well. I could feel the bleaching beginning...So I bought this house, not because I wanted a new storefront, but because it was constructed over the last remaining entrance to Jzadirune. I found my mother’s old spell book and started puttering around with illusions. Even managed to summon myself a familiar. I thought I was so smart...so brave. Thought I was some kind of adventurer...Keygan points to the door leading to the spiral stairwell.I dug open the entrance over the course of a week. When I finally gathered the courage to go inside, I didn’t make it ten feet. Those creatures were waiting for me. Probably heard me making a racket digging for miles underground. There were others with these creatures. Shorter, smellier ones dressed all in rags...never did see their faces....and taller ones similarly garbed....In addition to ones like these fellows here, with the chameleon skin...Keygan stops to stare at the now purple skin of the two slain skulks. Fascinating....Keygan suddenly snaps out of his reverie.They took my familiar down, deep into the darkness of that place and brought me back here. When they figured out that I had built most of the locks in the city, they forced me to forge skeleton keys for all my locks so that they could move freely throughout the Cauldron. I made them out of lead, hoping they’d break more easily...but they just forced me to make more. The beasts threatened to kill my familiar, and then me, if I did not comply. I know I am a coward...but you must believe I meant no on harm. They said they were just taking street folk....not children...</blockquote>

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