Tanrov will summon his lantern archon over by the door, in front of it actually, in the hopes of blocking her escape.   The second summoning will be in front of Talis (Once he is visible).   After seeing Zer go down, bleeding and Miriam die, Tanrov will feel the full effect of despair come upon him, especially now with only three of his companions, including him, still alive.   Seeing Sam appear on an evil creature  who knows what she'll do now and Shushiro, fills Tanrov with dread fore who knows where the dark Halfling druid will strike next.   "Maybe now is a good time to let the big baddys leave and fore us to bug out as well.   Only in our case, with our known dead and wounded."   Tanrov will says rather down droddened and somberly."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:45, Tue 10 July 2012.

Talis grabs a potion and drinks it, turning invisible...at least for a little while.

Quick and dirty, will clean up later

Sam - Yells; "Xanesha, my Master demands your blood!" as she dives and attacks with her sword on the dire bat, but barely misses.  WNPF uses an Aoo, but Sam barely makes her miss.  Akihiro stands.

Jan - unconscious

Logalog - misses

Zer - stops bleed and stabilizes

Talis - turns invisible

Tanrov - starts summoning another creature
Lantern Archon1- hits once
              2- hits twice

WNPF (0 images/110dam )- seems shocked by this betrayal.  She cast invisibility.
[Private to GM: All 3 pc's know where she is.]

Zer stable [Private to GM: at -2hp of 15 con]
Miriam is dead
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:24, Thu 12 July 2012.

Logalog will hurl fire at Xanesha's last position .

cast acid splash and draw potion, with a loud gulp.
(hits, 13 hp; after she has taken an aoo vs Sam)
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:21, Sat 14 July 2012.

The third one, Lantern Archon will be put in front of both Tanrov and Logalog.   (In between us actually.)   This way, Talis' last known location is covered if he is still there and we, both Tanrov and the Half-Orc mage are covered with extra firepower.

Quick and dirty, will clean up later

Sam - seems to listen to the bat and grips her sword as she flies forward.  Xanesha turns visible as she lashes out at Sam with an Aoo with such force that Sam falls off the bat and falls to the ground.  Akihiro runs over to his master.

Jan - unconscious

Logalog - hits

Zer - stops bleed and stabilizes

Talis - turns visible as he casts an acid ball at her, hitting.

Tanrov - starts summoning another creature
Lantern Archon1- misses
              2- misses
              3- hits once

WNPF (0 images/146dam [Private to GM: out of 142+9falselife] )-those last few hit's actually drew blood and she seems to be breathing heavy.  She casts dimension door and vanishes.  [Private to GM:]

Both Sam and the dire bat look up and Sam yells, "Master..."

Zer stable [Private to GM: at -2hp of 15 con]
Miriam is dead
Sam is at ? [Private to GM: 13/52]
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:52, Sat 14 July 2012.

Talis will put away his bow and look at Tanrov, "Send them after her," pointing where Sam and the bat looked.  "We know where she is, don't we Sam.  I don't know what happened to you, but I doubt if its an improvement.  But an enemy of my enemty..."with a shrug. "Are you going to help us get up there to kill her or not?"  Talis moves toward Jan to look for a healing potion.

Tanrov somewhat taken aback by the turn of events, will stand unsure of what to do for a few moments, before coming back to the present and will send the three Lanterns after the big bad as Talis has suggested.   Once Tanrov, comes to his senses as it were, he'll look at Sam with a jaunticed eyed always keeping her at arms length, keeping his scimitar handy.   This is because he's not sure he can trust Sam, if he ever did, he's definitely not sure of her intention now, because of her sudden appearance with her brother who was openly trying to kill us, as a group, prior to this battle.

Tanrov will collect his weapons during this brief intermission within the action.   "Who is this MASTER you speak of, you two?", Tanrov will ask rather inquizzitively of Sam and her brother, always looking around. (SDOP)

Sam stands up from the ground and hugs her dog.  How it was miraculously healed, no one knows.  She was hard to read before, and now as a werebat she is even more difficult to read.  "My old Master...died.  I have taken a new Master.  The matter between me and my brother is no longer your concern.  You have taken care of the matter between Xanesha and the deathcult, but I think the matter between Xanesha and my Master is no longer your concern.  Leave, now."  She looks at the circling bat as she send Akihiro out of the tower, "Brother, we should hurry."

[Private to GM: D+1= LA fly up (rnds left 1,2,3,4)
Xan bleeds to 149dam out of 142+9falselife; casts clw heals 11
              now at 138
D+2 = LA (rnds left 0,1,2,3) and they arrive at door out just below the bells
Xan casts clw heals 9, at 129

D+3 = LA (rnds left 0,1,2,) arrive outside and shoot once at Xan; all miss
Xan tries to smash the fountain,
BIG NOISE FROM ABOVE (fountain uses the last of it's power to curse Xan who fails with a natural 4)

D+4 = LA last 2 shot 4 times and miss all 4 times
Xan dimension doors away]

"So Sam, if the business between Xanesha and your master is none of our business and you feel that the matter between your master and her is concluded than whose concern, is it?"    Tanrov will ask Sam before preparing to leave. i.e. gathering up weapons, our dead and wounded etc.

     Talis will shrug as he moves forward.  "Well then since discretion is the better part of valour..." Talis lunges forward dropping his bow and pulling Desna's blade into a 2 handed grip.  He will try to take Shushiro's head off in one smooth action.  "You must die for all the innocents and children you have slain!"
[Private to GM:     Bluff 16+9=25 init 2+3=5
    Attack 19+8=27 conf 10+8=18 (dang) damig 5+6=11
    AoO as Shushiro moves by  20+8=28 conferm 13+8=21 (dang angin, I'm not ment to crit to day, but I Hit) damig 6+6=12]
Rolled 2 threats, but failed to crit on either.


[Private to GM: Tanrov failed to notice Talis plans so is taken by surprise (but does get init).  Shushiro is not taken by surprise, but just can't avoid Talis as he picks up his sister.  Sam was taken by surprise and gets int.

Shushiro gets hit twice by the silvery glowing sword, and doesn't like it.  But he does fail a flight skill and crashes to the ground, changing into his humanoid bat form.  At the same time, a loud >CLANG< is heard from above and both werebats look.  When Shushiro looks back he looks relieved, "Finally, freedom." ]
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:40, Sun 15 July 2012.

   "Damn!" says Logalog underneath his breath. " Double damn! I haaate it when they do that...get a good battle going, and your opponent decides to step out. Bad sportsmanship." He looks on the verge of throwing a tantrum.
     If he wasn't steaming already, Sam's comments send Logalog over the top. The last thing he needs to hear is that the giant evil snake lady who killed several of his companions, companions Logalog was just beginning to enjoy, should no longer be in his interest because some oversized flying rat and his kid sister said so.  Logalog will ignore the "idiot twins" and go over to Talis and give him a strength boost.

Tanrov and Logalog failed to notice Talis plans so are taken by surprise (but they do get init).  Shushiro is not taken by surprise, but just can't avoid Talis as he picks up his sister.  Sam was taken by surprise and gets int.

Shushiro gets hit twice by the silvery glowing sword, and doesn't like it.  But he does fail a flight skill and crashes to the ground, changing into his humanoid bat form.  At the same time, a loud >CLANG< is heard from above and both werebats look.  When Shushiro looks back he looks relieved, "Finally, freedom."  Sam gets up and Akihiro starts chaging in, teeth bared.  Sam goes "No Akihiro, stay, you might get hurt."

Tanrov misses his attack on Shushiro.
Logalog magic missles Shushiro for 13 dam.

Shushiro is hit by the magic missles and dies with, "But I was finally free...." on his lips.  Sam runs over to her brother and holds her brother in her arms and cries, "Brother, I could have saved you.  There was still good in you."

A look of Rage begins to come over Tallis's face as he hears about Shushiro's "goodness".  "No! No not really Sam, but you can ask him your self in The Bone Yard."  Then a 2 handed swing. "May Pharasma have mercy on your soul."  Turning to the group, "I've seen what a werebat does to a family, and it's not pretty.  I not taking chances with the lives of innocents..
 [Private to GM:     17+8 to hit 3+6=9 for damig,  sneek dammig? 9 pts.]

Talis kills her in 1 swing.  Akihiro howls with grief and runs away.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:03, Mon 16 July 2012.

Zer and Jan wakeup to a scene of blood and death.  Cat/Murphis, Miriam, Sam and her brother are all dead.  Akihiro (Sams dog) and the snake woman are nowhere to be seen.  They are told while the wand of clw gets everyone back to full hps, that she Dimension Doored to the floors above, and Jan is the only one who can fly.

Jan ferries the group up to the next level...

E2 The Terrible Stair
   The inner wall of this vast space is traversed by a winding wooden stairway supported by an intricate network of wooden beams but lacking, at many stretches, a handrail or other enclosure. In certain places, two or even three stairs at a time are partially missing or gone altogether.  There are gaps where the falling bell took out whole sections.

E3 The Bells
   Four immense brass bells hang from timbers here, affixed by rusting lengths of chain and thick ropes. Above the bells are immense gears and clockworks, although they seem both rusted and scavenged, as if many of the smaller components are missing entirely. The rickety wooden stairs wind up and around them but don’t quite reach the ceiling above, coming to an end at an opening in the wall. Here, the stairs continue up the exterior of the tower to a room that must lie just beyond the ceiling directly above the bells.

E4 Clocktower Rookery
A timber cabinet with a mesh door sits against the southern wall of this
room, while a boarded-up door stands in the wall to the east.  The cabinet contains a single black messenger raven like the ones you found with Ironbriar.

E5 Clockworks
This large and cluttered room is filled with immense gears and clockworks.  Most of them appear to have rusted into place.  Whereas the stairwell leading up the inner walls of the clocktower is quite rickety, the wooden floor of this chamber is solid.  The clockworks themselves have long since fallen into ruin—it would take many months of repair work by gifted tinkers to rebuild and restore the clock. The room looks sinister and dangerous with all its gears, and at first you think there’s nothing to be found here.  But at the back you find a magical hole in the floor (a portable hole).  Inside the hole is a beautiful fountain with Xanesha's spear sticking out of it, but no signs of that hated snake woman.

E6 The Angel
The smoky, filthy rooftops of the Shadow sprawl below this dizzying perch. The conical roof supports an onyx statue of an angel.  Towering like a god, her weathered features are caked with grime, making her seem almost demonic in countenance. At the far end of the hollow space under the roof, in the angel’s shadow, is a nest of cushions, silk sheets, and other incongruously fine bits of decor.
   Hidden in the nest is a long scroll bearing an extensive list of names and professions, many of which have been crossed out. The list bears the heading “Sihedron Sacrifices.” Some of these names are of folks from Sandpoint, but the majority are people who live inMagnimar—all of them merchants, moneylenders, gamblers, adventurers, and thieves—greedy souls hand-selected by Xanesha. Crossed-out names indicate murder victims.
   The most prominent name on the list, though, is that of Lord-Mayor Haldmeer Grobaras. In addition, it would seem that Xanesha has been taking extensive notes on the lordmayor’s habits—when he takes his meals, who he visits, his favorite taverns, and even the hours he sleeps. It doesn’t take much effort to determine that Xanesha was planning to assassinate the ruler of Magnimar. Nowhere in these documents does Xanesha give any indication why she was organizing the murders of so many souls— so her motive remains a disturbing mystery of its own.

With a horrified expression on his face Tanrov looks at both the spear and the fountain in the hole and whispers, "Evil, great evil.".
This message was last edited by the player at 17:26, Sat 21 July 2012.

   You are sure the snakewoman, Xanesha, has fled.  But the hole won't close with the spear in the fountain.  Someone will have to take the spear out.  With some effort, the spear is freed and the hole closed so the large fountain can be transported.  As you arrive back on the ground you find a guard patrol, led by a paladin of Abdar has arrived.  He had been warned by a friend that something was happening, and he takes everyone into "custody".  You aren't under arrest, but he just doesn't want you to leave until "... we get this sorted out."
    After spending the rest of the day answering questions you find yourselves in front of Lord-Mayor Haldmeer Grobaras.  While waiting for your audience, 2 servants are over heard saying, "When he found out he was the target of an assasination plot (The deathcult/Xanesha), he(Lord-Mayor) fainted dead away."
   Lord-Mayor Haldmeer Grobaras is a bombastic, paunchy, self-serving politico more concerned with his own comforts than the needs of the underprivileged he hears so much about. Having managed Magnimar for the last seven years, Grobaras handles the immediate needs of the city, indifferently settling matters relating to the distribution of city funds, use of the city watch, and the concerns of countless citizens groups, all while welcoming bribery and lavish gifts. Just the sort of target Xanesha was looking for, greedy to the core.  Although the finest Chelish fashions and his numerous chins make the lord-mayor’s self-indulgent foppishness blatantly apparent, they hide a silver tongue and the private wealth to give nearly any promise form.
   The secretary of the lord-mayor, Grobaras’s personal assistant and messenger Valanni Krinst is the one who makes the lord-mayor’s office work.

What do you say to the Lord Mayor?
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:29, Sun 22 July 2012.

"My lord, we are willing to protect you and hunt down these miscreants if you would be willing to fund or equip us so that we might not sustain the losses we have so recently endured.  We wish vengeance for our friend, so we are not lacking in determination, but clearly could use your financial assistance," Zer-wedula says.

 "M'lord, learning that you were on the dead pool list and most likely the next target in fact.   It would behoove you to rout out all such groups within your city.   It may be even prudent to change your ways", Tanrov says to the Lord Mayor.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:18, Sun 22 July 2012.

     In response to Tanrov's statment Talis will stand with a hearty "Hear Hear!"  As Talis prepare to speek, his companions brace themselves for the inevitable anti-goblin diatribe; Thinking "How will he get goblins into this?"
     "Especially the death cult's that have allied themselves with the local goblins.  My companions, and I have personally experienced the menace of Goblin Ghoul.  For the safe and orderly expansion of the tax base, and the trade that sustains your great city;  They must be pushed back."

[Private to GM:      Natural 10+diplomacy ]

While Talis is talking, Tanrov's response is to roll his eyes and think to himself, "hot this again".   Outwardly he'll nod his agreement with Talis even though it might get him into trouble again.

   The Lord-Mayor seems to respond favorably to your suggestions, but puts them off for now.  He asks for your understanding for a couple of days as the investigation is still ongoing and he would like you to remains as his guests.  The next day the group has visitors from Sandpoint.  Ameiko, Mayor Deverin, Headmaster Gandethus and a couple of other Sandpoint nobles arrive to vouch for the groups identity.
   Ameiko gives Talis a hug and kiss and then whispers into his ear, "This is going to be great for business."  They have a very special relationship.  They are happy to see you alive, but sad that Cat is not present.

Cat
   a speak with dead is used and Cat is asked if she would like to return (by either Reincarnation or Raise Dead).  She responds she is fine where she is and does wish to return.  Having no close relatives, all she asks is for her and Murphis to be buried with Garious.  Her gear is to be divided amongst the group.  A memorial service is arranged by a Varisian druid (related to Madame Mivashti no doubt).
Is that about right Cat?

Miriam
   the church of Pharasma takes the body and arranges a funeral.
More to follow...

Sam and Shushiro
   a Speak with Dead and other divinations reveals Shushiro's ties to the deathcult, so there are no repercussions about his death.  Sam is implicated by being a foreigner and his sister, so her death is not seriously investigated.  Since they had no family, the group get's their possesions.

Justice Ironbriar/Deathcult Leader
   had many enemies, and any allies he had are quick to distance themselves from such bloody business (the deathcult), so since no one is willing to make a fuss, his death is seen as justified.

---

Everyone finds themselves hailed as heroes of Magnimar.  The Lord-Mayor throws a lavish party in your honor and gives you each 6000gp for stopping this great evil (though Sense Motive reveals it's actually for saving HIS life from a serious assasination plot.)

I will figure out loot and such soon, but for now, is there anything you want to do to take advantage of this new found fame?

OK, add 4000gp more (for a total of 10,000gp).  This is from selling all the loot that has a strike/line through it.  This includes evil stuff, small sized items, etc...  Stuff you can't use.  If you want to keep something from that list (for sentimental reasons), just buy it back with part of your 10,000gp.

Now, feel free to divide the rest of the loot.

Zer; your special wand gains
Iron wand It is an eternal wand. Instead of charges, you can just use the
powers (1/2 your caster level) in times per day (either Shocking Grasp (5d6 dam)
or Knock or Fly)

Val and Cat/Dal; please choose an item.  It becomes an item of legacy that is unique to you and will grow in power/ability as you grow in power/ability.

---

the faces of Ironbriar’s victims are ghoulish but worth little

Ironbriars Footlocker
-A fair number of books, sea charts, maps and etchings of vast rock formations
-a fine painting depicting a city carved from a vast frozen waterfall with towering ice cathedrals and domes (this painting is worth 200 gp)
-a wizard’s spellbook emblazoned with two entwined snakes (one
red, one green) [Private to GM: that contains the following spells: all cantrips,
blink, cat’s grace, chill touch, enlarge person, fox’s cunning, grease, haste, lightning bolt, mage armor, magic missile, scorching ray, shocking grasp, shrink item, spider climb, and web]
-an old and beautifully filigreed tome containing numerous handdrawn illustrations and titled The Syrpents Tane: Fairy Tales of the Eldest. The book presents tales of the Tane—goliaths of war and madness dreamt and stitched into being by the Eldest, the most feared of a group of notorious fey known as the Twisted. The Tane are said to be terrible to behold, and the stories speak of them stumbling into mortal lands, where they ravage kingdoms by creating firestorms, crushing keeps with their feet, and eating dragons. Specific Tane described include monstrous creatures like the Jabberwok (a thing of thorns and fire and crushing fury the size of a castle), the Thrasfyr (also known as the Dreaming Hill of the Dark, a barbed thing of iron and hooks and blades that the book claims took part in the Three-Thousand-Year War of the Eldest), and the Sard (the Storm of Insanities, a thing of boughs and briars and misery, an ancient Wychwood Elm given life and hate by the Eldest, a mad creature apt to pull a roc in two or fell a castle at a blow). This fine and rare tome is worth 500 gp.

a slim volume near the bottom of the chest seems to be a journal, though it seems to be in a cipher that none can read.  Miriam identifies the handwriting as Justice Ironbriar's.

three strangely silent but trained ravens
a quill, and a vial of ink, as well as several thin parchments

Stolen Goods
lead lined chest
three bags of 100 gp
three potions of barkskin +3
a beautiful crystal decanter set with an obsidian stopper 300 gp
a tiny wooden box containing three poorly cut diamonds worth 200 gp each

Manager
Mw shortbow  330gp
Mw Arrows x50
Efficient Quiver
Mw Mithral chain shirt (gives +2 on stealth checks) 1100gp+
mw bracers w/concealed punching dagger
A figurine of Wondrous power that has a conntection with Logalog

wand of cure moderate wounds (12 charges - command word in journal)
mithral shirt 1100gp
+1 war razor
reaper’s mask (EVIL) 12000gp
Ring Gates
2x 4th level scrolls - Imbue with Spell Ability and Lesser Planar Ally
wand of Summon Monster 3 (46 chgs)
x13 masterwork war razor 13x 308gp
x13 skinsaw mask (EVIL) 13x 1500gp
260 gp

---

Bought From the Temple of Pharasma
Talis +2 cloak

Logalog wand of Protection from Evil (50 chgs)
                              scroll of dispel magic

Jan +2 cloak

Miriam Wand of CLW (50chgs)
                            potion of csw (3d8+5)
                            scroll of dispel magic x2


Tanrov  3x healing potion (cmw 2d8+3)
                   6 +1 arrows with (flame or shock or frost)

Zer-wedula +2 cloak

---

Sammiya Koi
- +1 Katana small
- +1 Wakizashi small
- Mwk Lance  small
- +1 Daikyu small
- +2 Agile Breastplate small
Everburning Torch
Eternal Candle (a smaller version of the torch)
Cloak of Resistance (+1 resistance bonus on all saves) small
Wand of Cure Light Wounds (50chgs)

Catessa Fallowfield
- a type 2 bag of holding
- nice elven made small sized cloak (+1 resistance to saves)
- <s>jade amulet of natural armor +1 that she can cast magic stone
(druid level)/day. - +1 returning dagger -small sized; (1d3+1/19-20)
- +1 spear
- Bag of Everlasting Rations; a small sack (with runes on it and trail rations
in it), 1/day create trail rations for 1 med creature
- wand clw (1d8+5; 10 chgs)
- +1 Hide shirt dog barding made of dragon scales (choose a color - black, red, white, green, blue)
+5 ac(armor), +5 max dex, -2 acp, allows full speed light
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:50, Tue 07 Aug 2012.

   The winter passes quietly.  No more ghouls or deathcults.  According to Talis, the local goblins are involved in a civil war.  Apparently the tribes don't like a druid being a chief, while Chief Gogmurt of the Thistletop tribe tries to recruit more druids to his aid.  Rynshinn recovers from her ordeal.
Dal;
   meets another elf on the road heading to Sandpoint, her name is Shalelu Andosana.  She is traveling with an officer from Magnimar.  They too are looking for the Heroes of Sandpoint.  After seeing his skill with a bow, she invites Dal to come along on their trip.

 Val and Zer;
   are invited to dinner by Shalelu Andosana and an officer from Magniamr that you have met before.  He makes you an offer, "The Lord Mayor would like to extend his greetings and ask if you would like to do a job for him.  It seems the there’s been no contact with Magnimar’s most distant holding, remote Fort Rannick near Hook Mountain, for quite some time. The Black Arrows," the soldiers stationed at Fort Rannick, "have traditionally been isolationists, but such a long silence is uncharacteristic even for them. The Lord Mayor and the Council of Ushers wants me to offers you 300gp each to cover your expenses for the trip and to pay you to go investigate this silence."  This includes Dal.
   By land, it’s a journey of 450 miles through lightly patrolled regions. By foot this amounts to a 19-day journey, while on horseback it’s only a 9-day trip. Alternatively, there are many river barges that ply the Yondabakari and Skull Rivers from Magnimar all the way to Turtleback Ferry (at a total cost of 50 gp per person), in which case the journey takes only a week.

---

"I suggest speed and the barges, if you are all agreeable," Zer-wedula suggest.

---

Dalliemor quirks am eyebrow sideways, looking first at Zer then the officer, "Is there a need for haste? It could be as simple as a lost or delayed message. I'm more than willing to help out but would like to see the country side to get a feel for the land."