Shattered Star

Ali goes to pick up the shard since no one else is really moving to it.

"Hold on, Ali," Anastasia interjects. "Given his enthusiasm for this project and overall... demeanor," which is a polite way of saying "cinnamon roll-ness" "As well as his back line status in a fight, I would be more comfortable if Bennett were in charge of handling the shards for the time being."

Cade, surprised at this, looks back to Anastasia and blinks.  "...Me?" he replies in disbelief.  "Truly?  Bu-but I, ah, well, that is to... ah," he glances back towards the Shard resting in the pedestal then back to the group.  Through his awkwardness of being put on the spot, the party can clearly see the stars shining in his eyes at the prospect of holding the relic.  "W-well, I have no objections, of course," Cade admits, "but recall what happened to Miss Genovese the day before.  Before we escorted her to Miss Heidmarch and tampered with the Shard, her demeanor was that of a... well, a tyrant.  Not to belabor the point, but... I will admit I am concerned."

Ali shrugs. "Alright, but given the way the lady from before was acting all crazy with the shard. I was thinking this might be a good way for him to see these effects on a person.

"Not to rush the moment too much, but we do still have to make it back out of here, with Flynt coming in right after us, and tower girls still on the way out," Meliora mentions. "We can mess around with the shard more later, right? For now, let's focus on getting it somewhere safe."

"That's exactly why I'd rather it go to someone I can trust. Someone with a level head, who has a vested interest in this project and who if I tell them while they're holding the shard that they'll get to keep it and do all of the research on it indefinitely, they won't want to run off with it. And, no offense to either of you," Anastasia looks pointedly at Ali and then at Cade. "Someone who I don't particularly consider a threat if I say the wrong thing and get on their bad side while they're hopped up on ancient Thassilonian crazy juice."

Cade sighs in relief, both with Anastasia's word and Ali's casual dismissal.  "Agreed," Cade adds.  "And Miss Sumner's comment has merit; Flynt and whatever hired thugs he brought with him could arrive at any moment.  We must secure the Shard and return to Miss Heidmarch with it as soon as possible."  With that, Cade takes a deep breath to quell his growing anxiety and approaches the pedestal.  He reaches out his hand to grab it, but hesitates as his hand begins to waver from the pressure.  Taking another breath and shaking his arm, Cade once again reaches for the artifact... and removes it from the pedestal.

It happens slowly at first; a pulse of arcane power sweeping through the wizard's thin frame followed by a feeling of grandeur and marvel as he holds the Shard.  Its jet-black face glimmers in the golden light while soft ripples of its magical aura expand and shudder as a warm hand embraces it.  Entranced, Cade silently traces a finger around the Shard's smooth edges, his eyes widening in awe while tendrils of ink-black magic envelop them.  A thing of absolute beauty, this Shard.  So unique, so rare... a rarity that could hardly be matched by anything on this plane.  Looking up, Cade steps back in confusion as the golden walls and priceless murals begin to desaturate before him.  The room--a room of ancient Thassilonian craftsmanship and artistry--seems to deteriorate before him into a mausoleum of banality and the mundane.  Cade's expression contorts into disgust as the walls become almost monochrome in hue to him and the fine details of the artwork blend together into something altogether revolting.

Shaking his head, Cade looks down at himself and lets out a audible gasp of disgust.  "...These robes," he says with a mix of confusion and discomfort.  "I don't recall them being so... uncomfortable."  At this, Cade begins to scratch at his arms as if trying to find a wandering rash.  "I can feel the very fibers brush against my skin.  It's as if I have donned a sack of burlap and unshaven wood!  And this--" Cade hisses as he removes his glasses with a squint "these spectacles are as ill-fitting as these robes!  How could I have come this far with such... terrible equipment?!"  As he complains about his suddenly-inferior personal effects, the party can now see his eyes clearly; a veil of roiling ink-black magic shrouds his eyes, with his irises barely visible beyond the Shard's grasp.

Ali sighs and pinches the bridge of their nose. "Let's get out of here then"

"C'mon Bennett," Anastasia sighs. "Once we get you out of here we'll go to Lady Heidmarch, I'm sure she'll have something more befitting your station."

After some quick discussion the party decides to set a trap for Flynt's crew in the noxious room. While they're able to figure out what kind of trap to set up, they're left with the problem that Anastasia knows how to disable traps, not set them. "Bennett, you know engineering and mechanical systems, right? If you set up this fire trap, you'll get first dibs on any and all of their stuff, and their gold.

"Hmph, I suppose..." Cade drones in response, his voice noticeably haughtier than before.  "Though I suspect this band of brigands have naught but rags and rust, their coin," he emphasizes with an uncharacteristic sneer "should act as sufficient payment.  Give me but a moment, paupers, and it shall be done."

The party lays in wait to ambush Flynt's gang. While they wait, Anastasia stands by in a forward position, watching the gas chamber from around the corner. After a few minutes of waiting, she hears the sound of voice arguing about a fight with devils. She tenses, but instead of heading south, they head west, towards the same loop of tunnel the party is down. She waits a little shy of 10 seconds after she can no longer hear them, then beckons to the party to follow her up the direct route through the gas chamber.

The party decides to head around on the path they hadn't taken before. Though they pass a few cisterns, nothing attacks them as they make their way back into known pathways. They manage to make it back to the lower dungeon doorway unassailed. However as they round the bend on the level, they see that the door has been completely demolished with explosions. The room beyond is filled with Tower girls, all ready to fight. An unfamiliar but important looking wererat raises a bladed scarf. "There are the intruders! Let's get our revenge!"

The party is then swiftly assaulted by the ragged band of thugs and rats, forcing Ali and Anastasia struggle just to keep the frontline held.  As the important-looking wererat strides forward with the tide of their Tower Girls, Cade's hazed eyes gleam.  As if the items were illuminated by miniature lanterns, the wererat's belongings shone with unearthly splendor.  Mesmerized, Cade steps forward and shoots an outstretched palm from behind Ali and Anastasia's shoulders.  With a single word of command, a wave of flashing colors explodes from the wizard's palm and crashes into the mob of bandits.  The display swiftly overstimulates the few Tower Girls it reaches, leaving the leader standing amid a pile of unconscious underlings.

The battle suddenly shifting in the group's favor, Ali and Anastasia quickly establish an advantage using Cade's opening as Meliora continues to pepper the bandits and wererats with sliver-tipped arrows.  Some of the Tower Girls soon decide that their lives were not worth this fight and began to flee, leaving their former-friends to fend for their lives against a murderous gnoll and a thoroughly-peeved paladin.  The leader eventually regains their senses, but is met with their squad either dying, unconscious or scrambling away.  They screech at the remaining bandits to maintain order, but her words are abruptly cut off as Cade stymies her efforts.  With a single spell Cade flash-freezes the air and liquid surrounding their body, and with an ear-piercing crash of ice scraping against bone and flesh, the leader is frozen solid, muzzle frozen mid-order and their eyes bereft of life.

With the Tower Girls felled, the party loots the leader's body and hands her frozen gear over to Cade while Ali swiftly decapitates the remaining living gangsters. Once their business is tidily taken care of, they rush back up to the exit to find the ruins of their boat and an entirely different one floating in the water. Anastasia halts the party and inspects the boat closely, finding it trapped. Anastasia rolls her eyes. "Seriously Flynt? Predictable." She pulls out her thieves' tools and scratches out the rune set. With the trap disabled, the party climbs into the boat and rows away, leaving Flynt and his crew stranded and none the wiser.

The group quickly rows away, leaving the Crow in their wake. When they get back into town they waste no time in organizing a meeting with Lady Heidmarch. In only a few hours they find themselves sitting in her office once more.”So you’ve managed to get the next shard before our enemies. Good. Do you know which sin this one embodies?”

Cade fidgets in his seat as he not-so-stealthily attempts to hide the shard from view.  "Yes, we've retrieved my shard from the Crow," Cade replies, hazed eyes narrowing with suspicion. "and it... is aligned with the school of Transmutation."

"Well in that case," Sheila begins as she fishes through a drawer for a particular Ioun stone. "Take this and put it in the shard to increase your wealth tenfold."

Cade blinks in surprise at Sheila's claim.  He looks at the ioun stone resting on her palm, then back to the shard he hid behind his back, then back to the stone.  At first he does nothing, letting the stone quietly stay in Sheila's hand, then in one sudden, fluid movement he snatches the stone, springs from his seat and cackles madly as he slinks off to a corner of the study.  "Ahaha!  Mine!  Riches, jewels, treasure!  Oh, splendorous, golden beauty! Mine!"  Slotting the stone into the small edifice, the magicked gem shimmers and shudders as it fuses to the metal, vanishing into the shard's jet-black color.  Cade's maniacal laughter then slowly quiets down as his senses return to him, leading to a few seconds pause of silence.  Then, calmly, the wizard wipes his face with his robe, sets the shard down gently on Sheila's desk, then returns to the far corner of the room, his face beet red.

"You do not have to be so embarrassed, Cade," Sheila says. "The shard's curse made you act that way. It wasn't you. Now, as for the matter of the shard itself. You have the shard, but you're not in the clear yet. As long as Flynt has his own shard, he can track you. We need to ensure he loses access to the one he has now, else this venture will never be safe. Luckily, we can pull the same trick. If you focus on the shard of pride while holding this one, you should be able to see where it currently is. We can, of course, also find the next one. But to me it seems paramount that we seize our momentary advantage and claim total victory."

"We left him in the Crow with no way back," Anastasia says. "If they didn't bring their Shard with them, now would be the perfect time to strike."

"Let me try it out," Ali says, motioning to the shard

Ali is allowed to grab the shard. As they focus upon it, they begin to see images in their mind. They see a towering figure of a woman... no, a statue of a woman standing alone in a marshy landscape near the sea. The figure holds a grand scepter aloft and stares out at the seas beyond. When Ali shifts their focus to the shard of Pride they can see the crow once more at a zoomed out view.

Ali relays this information to the party. "I think Flynt may still have the pride shard on him"