Intermission (Kuthona [XII] 31st-Abadius 16th [I] 4708 AR)
Vine-Choked Gallery. Decaying vines carpeted the walls and ceiling of this room. The floor was riddled with narrow cracks and fissures, extending several feet below.
The only odor in this room was the earthen smell of decay. The
vines shrouding this room reduced the light level to darkness, and the cracks
provided difficult terrain.
Flowering Shrubs of Taldor Gallery. A collapsed sign near the door listed the exhibit that was on display in this gallery at the time of the earthquake: “Flowering Shrubs of Eastern Taldor”. Plants once grew in the large, ceramic planters that still hugged the eastern wall. Dozens of branches clinging to decaying leaves emerged from the wooden door to the north. To the east, a room with healthy trees and shrubs was visible through a glass door set in a wrought iron frame.
The door in the northern wall led to a
collection of corridors and ruined galleries, as well as the flourishing Plants
of Eastern Garund Greenhouse. The door to the east led to a gallery of magically enhanced flora.
Gallery of Magically Enhanced Flora. Dozens of healthy plants with vibrant and colorful leaves, fruit, and flowers emerged from the decay in this small greenhouse, spilling out of the pots and berths that once contained them.
Several of the plants in this room were enhanced with beneficial
effects, which affected anyone who ate the correct part of the plant. Others
had acquired negative effects. The
entire room radiated a faint aura of conjuration and transmutation magic.
Among the plants
in this room were a pair of walnuts that each provided the effects of a potion
of shield of faith, a tough length of ivy that functioned as a potion of
spider climb when chewed, two cherries that functioned as potions of
reduce person, and two watermelons that each produced the effects of potions
of enlarge person on the first person to eat a bite of them. Eating any of
these unusual potions would take a standard action. The garden also contained a snapleaf still on the vine.
Since the heroes resolved their
encounter with Majordomo Pip diplomatically, he directed the heroes to these plants
and truthfully explained their properties.
Plants of Eastern Garund Greenhouse. Several corridors and galleries from the Flowering Shrubs of Taldor Gallery eventually led to the entrance of the second intact greenhouse in the arboretum. A wooden plaque outside read “Plants of Eastern Garund: Please proceed with caution, as some are poisonous”.
Unlike the dead and warped growth in most of the Arboretum,
the plants growing in this greenhouse seemed to be relatively young and healthy.
Several raised beds of earth hosted strange-looking plants with long, sinuous
vines, and a small, gently flowing fountain with a red lion statue at its
center sat near the middle of the chamber. Against the wall stood a worktable
and chair covered in gardening tools.
When Khaya saw the heroes approaching, she yelled at them in Common to stay back, and accused them of
being gardeners from Quantium who have come to harvest her and her companions.
Even though the ghoran was an unusual creature, the heroes knew that she was not in her right mind. The heroes intuited that her suffering might be due to
the corrupting rain within the Arboretum.
Khaya began the encounter with an unfriendly attitude. When the heroes were able to shift her attitude, Khaya visibly calmed down and seemed to regain some of her senses. It was at this point that Khaya let the heroes approach to search the Red Lion statue on the fountain.
Carefully tipping over the Red Lion statue on the fountain revealed that it was hollow. Inside was a small package wrapped in many layers of wax paper: Grishan’s intelligence packet. Reading his notes revealed a number of secrets, all in Grishan’s hurried script, along with documents that provided proof of the allegations made.
"Case M7 In process, expect updates after Stilonius’s
birthday party.
Case D4 Lady Miranda Dacilane is rumored to have
committed numerous amorous indiscretions during her youth. The most outrageous
was that she was the mistress of Orias Deckland, a scandalous member of
Absalom’s upper classes, and bore him a child. She is also rumored to have
belonged to a secret society known as the Harbingers of Fate. Rumors come from
a drunken but reliable source.
Case M12 It is well known that the Morilla family
runs the Guild of Wonders, Absalom’s most prestigious espionage and
assassination organization. What is less well known is that the Aspis
Consortium, a Chelish band of fortune-hunters, hired the Guild of Wonders many
times to spy on the Pathfinder Society and the Blakros family. I successfully
created a diversion for the servant’s attention, and was able make copies of
several documents that prove that Lady Annasendra personally oversaw contracts
to assassinate members of the Pathfinder Society. If the number of events I am
invited to is any indication, they haven’t caught on yet, but I’m afraid to dig
deeper in to this situation.
Case N4 After hours of searching and days of asking
subtle questions, I’ve turned up absolutely nothing of interest. Surely people
this boring must be hiding something.
Case L3 The servant in charge of the kitchens has a
penchant for gossip.
Information Broker I read in a diary that an
information broker lives in Absalom named Torch. I hear he’s well worth his
coin, but is not to be trusted, because he’ll sell information to anyone.
Case Maldris 8 To my shame I have learned that my own
father, Merrin, is a charlatan who used the chaos of the Andoran’s People’s
Revolt to change his name from Vanoecker. I later learned that the Vanoeckers
were an Andoren noble family with a tyrannical reputation. The worst part was
that I discovered that my brother knew about this all along. So much for his
glorious, egalitarian ideals and Andoren purity. We’re just as guilty as the
rest of them!
Case T3: There’s some big ceremony coming up at the
temple of Asmodeus in a few months. People were muttering about a great fire to
honor him, but I couldn’t hear many details. I can’t shake the thought that
those devil boot-lickers are planning to burn slaves in that pyre. I must
investigate further."
The heroes realized that this information could be quite damaging in the
right hands, but also quite lucrative for anyone trying to sell it. The
information was worth 3,000 gp on the open market.
Grishan had forgotten the details of his notes. He struggled to believe what he read about his family, but recognized his own faded handwriting. Grishan wished to talk to his brother, but instead postponed the conversation indefinitely. When J. heard the information about her mother, she was distraught and slightly disgusted, and quickly tried to change the subject.
Since the heroes didn't kill Khaya, she asked that they keep her presence in the Arboretum a secret long enough for her companions to sprout and grow. She wished to grow a presence of ghoran within the city and then petition the Absalom government to ask for her people to be freed from captivity in Nex.
Grishan's Brother Appears
As the heroes and J. left the
Precipice Quarter, Grishan’s brother Major Colson Maldris caught up to them.
Junia muttered under her breath, “brother is here.” During the conversation, Grishan hid inside J.’s mind, and J.
did not reveal his presence.
A man in a uniform similar to Junia’s, but with more medals
and polish, emerged from a side alley at a brisk pace. “Finally, I found you. I
heard around the lodge that a team of Pathfinders was headed in to the Tri-Towers
Yard.” Colson bowed his head. “My brother was one of many children who died when
the earthquake hit. As a result, I take great interest in expeditions leading
in to that cursed site. The last time you went in four months ago you found his
body, and as a result, my family was able to give him a proper burial. You also
found some...” Colson pauses, and then continues delicately, “reports about my
brother’s after-school activities that would have been quite embarrassing if
made public. Did you, by chance, find any information about my brother?”
Colson gave the heroes time to respond. When the heroes falsely claimed that they did not find any information, Colson was suspicious, and the obvious conflict in Junia’s expression allowed Colson to realize that something more was going on. He implored the heroes to share what they had found.
“I
know this looks bad.” Colson referred specifically to his
decision to conscript his younger brother to aid in spying. “And I’m not going
to try to justify my actions. But, Pathfinders, in situations such as this one, it is important
to consider the bigger picture, the greater good, and the unfortunate realities
of politics. Skilled orators can take even the hint of scandal and spin it into
a mountain to bury their target, preventing almost anyone from seeing the
accomplishments and value of the people beneath. Remember what you discovered three
months ago, my friends, and the seeds of corruption threatening Andoran. Members of that conspiracy among Andoran's politicians would tarnish not only my own
reputation, but the reputation of the faction as a whole, and by extension, the
reputations of all of the Pathfinders who tirelessly work under our banner to
promote the cause of freedom. It may even spell the end of our movement to
promote the cause of freedom throughout the Inner Sea and beyond!”
When the heroes still persisted in refusing to admit that they found anything, Colson was saddened, but he allowed them to proceed.
When asked why Grishan was spying in the first place, Colson responded: “Grishan had a brilliant mind, and he was eager to do whatever
he could to serve the cause of freedom. I suggested that if he helped the cause
of the Eagle Knights before he was old enough to be eligible, they would
certainly accept him.”
It fell to the heroes to decide
what to do with the information packet. When they gave it to Major Maldris, he
thanked them profusely and ensured them that they “will not regret their
contributing to the cause of freedom this day”.
After Major Maldris left, Junia
spoke for Grishan. Since the heroes had a lengthy conversation with the major, J.
simply said, “Thank you. From me and Grishan too.” The rest of the journey home
was uneventful. Grishan was conflicted
on what to do about the notes, and he believed the decision the heroes made with the notes was the right one. Since the heroes gave him the notes, he mused, “I’m not alive anymore, but I can still help Colson.
Good.”
Conclusion
Both J. and Grishan had learned
much about themselves. J. felt that she was ready to finally
leave the Drownyard behind her, but had come to realize that she could not follow
in her mother’s footsteps. She instead wished to strike out on her own. She also asked if any of the heroes might be
willing to sponsor her to begin training with the Pathfinder Society. When the heroes agreed to sponsor her, they earned the New Recruit (J. Dacilane)
boon.
Grishan, for his part, had a
better understanding of his past and his relationship with his brother. He
realized that his bond with J. was far stronger than the connection he still
felt with his brother, and he was determined to follow her wherever her
journeys might take her.
Since the heroes found
Grishan’s intelligence packet, they received the money for it listed in the Plants of Eastern Garund Greenhouse; Colson Maldris sent a hefty sum of gold their way when they gave him the notes. Since the heroes sided with
Maldris, Andoran faction members received the Loyal Liberator boon.
Several weeks later,
Venture-Captain Dreng reported that the haunts at the Drownyard had all
disappeared, and he thanked the heroes for their efforts.
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