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Holman thinks on the murals as well.
"That sixth mural is of Ashkurhall, where we are right now. Look, see how the parts that were built later are shown to be architecturally more impressive?"
"Not sure on that one..."
"The dwarf in the last mural is a Taralu. They're jungle dwarves that practice a version of ancestor worship alongside the worship of totems based on local creatures, particularly dragons and wyverns. They have a small but notable presence within the city of Kibwe."
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Snapping out of his prolonged daydreaming, Jhalan studies the murals.
The seventh and tenth murals catch his eyes particularly.
"That dwarf... he's bearing the mark of doom, isn't he? He looks worried and has lost much weight. A terminal disease, most likely."
"You're right, Holman, this is Taralu."
The Golden Guardian nods approvingly. “You truly are the worthy bearers of the talisman, so I shall tell you a story that Sigrin of Ashkurhall, the founder of this place, once told me.
“Long ago, when Sigrin’s father ruled as king, the dwarves rose from the depths and built a citadel so mighty that even a titan would gaze upon it in awe. Centuries later, a shower of stars rained upon a land not far from the dwarven hold. The dwarves marched to investigate. They found many wonderful things, the greatest of which was the mysterious artifact they named the Sky Key.
“But dark times soon followed, for their cousins from the underworld fell upon the dwarven citadel. Caught unprepared, the dwarves knew they could not hold off against the siege. The king ordered all but his most trusted guards to leave, and stayed behind to buy his people timed to escape. Before Sigrin and her three siblings left to lead the dwarves to safety, the king gave each of them a piece of the Sky Key, and kept one for himself. The dwarves traveled far and wide, but the dangerous journey across the unknown land caused rifts in their clan. One by one, the king’s children went their separate ways, each taking a piece of the key and a part of the clan. Sigrin’s dwarves made their way to this continent, and though they found it quite inhospitable, they pressed on. After much searching, they found gold and started building this place. Their prosperity grew with each passing decade.”
Grinning, the Guardian continues, “That’s when I entered the picture. We didn’t get along at first, but I came to realize they were decent people, who appreciated stone and gold as much as I did.
“Their luck did not last, however. A sickness came over the dwarves, and the survivors were too few in number to continue their lineage. Rather than slowly die out here, they chose to leave. However, they wanted someone to watch over this place. They chose me. Sigrin went to her grippli allies and gave them her piece of the key. Where the dwarves were going, they couldn’t hold onto their memories and traditions. I think Sigrin made up a monstrous story about me—I probably deserved it,” the Guardian says with a grin, “but the story was to protect this place and the piece of the key.”
The Guardian stares at the last mural for a long time. “The dwarves left to join their cousins who lived in the jungle to the east. They never came back.”
Just as the adventurers finish speaking with the Golden Guardian, the group of kobolds returns, screaming “More intruders! They attacked us!”
The kobold cackle gleefully You should have seen the damage caused by the dragon head! And Stinkeye bit one of the agents in the leg, hee-hee. Of course, someone was stupid enough to collapse the rubble trap, or we would've stopped even more.
Only moments after the adventurers make their preparations, the Aspis agents enter the temple. Looking severely bruised and beaten, they're still looking for a fight.
---
Holman
Cacumattus
Pitbull
---
Leader
Agent
Agent
Big Cat
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Grimaldus
Jhalan
Marra
---
The Aspis agents fall for the trap without error. They head straight for Marra and Grimaldus. The cat sniffs through the illusory double, and bites at the halfling, merely winking out an illusory double.
---
Grimaldus
Jhalan
Marra
Holman
Cacumattus
Pitbull
---
Leader
Agent
Agent
Big Cat
---
---
Jhalan attacks the closest of the aspis agents, who finally succumbs to his wounds. This opens the way for Holman the throw his knife at the leader, who can just turn quick enough to save him from catching the knife with his throat - at the cost of a severe wound to the arm.
---
Grimaldus
Jhalan
Marra
Holman
Cacumattus
Pitbull
---
Leader (16)
Agent
Big Cat
---
Asbo rushes in on the attack, but clucks only at the air. Pitbull attacks the weakened leader, and this time her neck is hit, spouting a jet of gore as the head rolls away. Grimaldus wastes no time attacking the next aspis agent, and with a forceful blow brings that one down as well, leaving only the big cat to contend with.
---
Grimaldus
Jhalan
Marra
Holman
Cacumattus
Pitbull
---
Big Cat
---
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Cacumattus springs from his hiding spot, crossbow searching for a target and finding... no humanoids still upright, and Pitbull waving people off from attacking the cat. Slightly crestfallen, he speaks a few magic syllables , then, as he slowly, nonthreateningly moves towards the cat, "Easy, kitty. We can still be friends..."
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Seeing that it's important to Pitbull to take the cat alive, Marra cast gallant inspiration {link} to aid Cacumattus's attempt to tame the angry feline.
The cat purrs, and calms down, not seeming to be interested in getting hurt. Friends, good. No pointy bits! it responds.
Some times passes, several heartbeats (), until the next group of Aspis agents runs in! They look as worn down as the previous group.
---
Pitbull
Marra
Jhalan
Cacumattus
---
Agent
Agent
---
Holman
Grimaldus
Prepared, Pitbull hacks at the Aspis agent, cleaving the chest of the man diagonally and bloodying the doorstep. She defeat the wounded man with a single blow. Jhalan's stab from reach nearly does the same thing, leaving a single, mortally wounded aspis agent at the temple entrance.
---
Pitbull
Marra
Jhalan
Cacumattus
---
Agent (18)
---
Holman
Grimaldus
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"No pointy bits," Cacumattus agrees, and after spending several seconds scratching his new friend behind the ears, advises, "go hide at the back of the room, and we'll make sure noone hurts you."
He then returns to his hiding place , and as the agents enter the room he steps out and fires his crossbow.
Following the example set by Pitbull, Marra makes a bloody mess of the last Aspis agent. Cacumattus comes out of hiding to fire his crossbow, but sees that the manis already dead.
From the shadow, suddenly a man with a longspear emerges, only barely missing Pitbull!
---
Holman
Grimaldus
Pitbull
Marra
Jhalan
Cacumattus
---
Zaril
---
Between the power of Pitbull and Grimaldus there is little the two cannot take down. This also holds for the newly arrived Aspis leader, who is taken out as soon as he makes his appearance known.
With the Aspis expedition thwarted, the kobolds assist the party in clearing the rubble from the collapsed corridor. There, they uncover the badly wounded body of a human male... carrying a wayfinder.
The kobolds allow the party to extract the remain of Venture-Captain Nieford Sharrowsmith in peace, but make it clear afterward that the society has overstayed its welcome, and should leave.
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"That was a glorious finish Grimaldus, they were helpless against our return strike, but what about Marra!" Pitbull smiles "I offee that man a chance to surrender but you just go in and mercilessly gut him before he gets a chance to, your bloodlust is to be admired and you would be held in good stead in my home of Belkzen Hold and Cheliax where mercy truly is considered a sign of weakness - but you are strong and have no mercy" - she smiles a sisterly smile of kinship.
She helps recover what is left of Sharrowsmith to begin taking him home. Pitbull takes time to rehome the great cat.
Pitbull also asks the Kobolds about statue person..
"Hey, can you fix the statue person that Stinkeye froze at the entrance? I reckon they might answer questions for our friends at the Lodge, none of these agents will be telling us anything"
The kobold explain we extract the blood of stinkeye to aid those he turns into stone. Apply it to your friend and he will restore to live. Just get him out of here.
The kobolds are staring you away.
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Holman retrieves his dagger, cleaning it on the clothes of the agent he wounded. "Well, that was a fine bit of work." He slips his daggers back into their sheaths and listens as the kobolds express their desires.
"Well, as disappointed as I am that we found him dead, I thank you for letting us return with his body." With that, he turns and makes his way back through the interior of Ashkurhall and out into the fresh air, to begin the journey back to Absalom.
The Aspis statue slowly turns back into a human again. Some stiffness and shock comes over the woman, and she briefly wails about how she failed her mission, and the magnitude of shame that comes over her now that her enemies have revived her.
I’m Vanei Thaskin. I was sent here to find out about any defenses. I got this far, but that... creature got me. I’ve had enough of this place and the Aspis Consortium!
Zaril Namoth sent me here, an aristocrat from Ustalav. He works for the Aspis Consortium. He’s a dangerous man. They say he used to hunt big beasts for pleasure, but a tribe of Bekyar captured him. Somehow he survived, but he had changed. Now he hunts people. He loves to impale people with his great spear and take their heads with his kukri. People say he learned these things and some demonic magic from the Bekyar!
Clearly, Zaril is the man that the group defeated in the last wave of Aspis agents.
---
Returning to Nantambu, the group finds Aya Allah waiting. She listens to the report of the pathfinders, and nods solemnly at the tragic news on Sharrowsmith.
“Nantambu will not be the same without my friend Nieford Sharrowsmith. When he was younger, he traveled to all corners of the Mwangi Expanse and truly made the region his home, despite having been born hundreds of miles away in Avistan. He never truly lost his adventuring spirit, and as this lodge grew, he found his hours dedicated more and more to paperwork and less and less to exploring the lands’ rich history. I know his soul would take no offense at my saying he died as he would have wished—active, engaged, and in the field. I take solace in being able to provide him proper funerary rites.
“With his passing, Sharrowsmith’s Exports has no venture- captain, but I have corresponded with Nieford’s colleague Ambrus Valsin and agreed to act as the temporary manager of the lodge. After all, the full extent of the Pathfinders’ involvement in Nantambu has remained a something of an open secret, and it would be an embarrassment for anyone but a friend or family member to take command of the business so soon after the owner’s death.”
“I dearly appreciate what you have done for the Society, for your venture-captain, and for me.”
Aya Allahe also examines the metal component the party found in the Krihirik talisman.
After a moment’s study, she quickly stands, recovers a piece of stationary bearing five graphite illustrations, and slowly smiles. “This is remarkable,” she announces. “The shape of the talisman matches one of the drawings Ambrus Valsin sent me. What you have found is a piece of the Sky Key, the device even now the rest of the Society is at its wits’ end attempting to reassemble!”
Then, with quiet affection, she murmurs to the Sky Key component, “Congratulations, Nieford. You and your agents have once again done what the rest of the Society could not—a fitting tribute, and a fine legacy.”
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I... I’ve had enough of this place and the Aspis Consortium!.
"What good things to hear, my friend Marra the Merciless says that Aspis are religiously sworn to die fighting Pathfinders. I reckon we give you a chance to see how sick of Aspis you are, maybe you spend time in Absalom now spilling beans"
***
Pitbull is surprised at the news from the acting Venture Officer, but not smart enough for the idea to register.