Today I greet you from a far off land, from the bustling streets of an enormous megacity! Upon this land I have met merchants from across the planes, bandits turned politicians, and even a very interesting little book club. I was lucky enough to be given a tour by one of their heroes! His name is Gamma and from what I hear he’s a scholar, an expert duelist, and an advocate for the downtrodden. He had some very interesting friends whose personalities I simply cannot do justice in our time together today. I even swear I smelled dragon on a couple of them but they all denied any connection to my kin. It was an incredible visit and as thanks to Gamma I dusted off my paint brushes and made him a little gift.

Tada!

(Art by me)

Gamma is a Pathfinder 1E character of mine that was a blast to play. He was uh… well mostly a fighter. But he was also an oracle, duelist, and bard. Talking to my GM led to him suggesting a charisma and intelligence based martial build. Basically it means he was really charming and smart. Originally I planned on playing him as a savvy information broker who learned all his smarts by guarding scholars delving in ancient ruins and having pleasant conversations with them. The information broker idea died almost instantly in game. Instead he was always digging up information and getting into trouble for what he knew and accidentally got the attention of one of the most dangerous people in the city. I could talk for quite a while about all the things that happened to him, I’ve always found a story to be more entertaining than an explanation. So without further ado a little bit of non-cannon storytelling!

“The café that Gamma was meeting Carter at certainly wasn’t the worst he had been to. It was one of many that had jumped on the trend of basing their theme on a celebrity or hero even prominent politicians. Unsurprisingly Scarlet was a frequent choice. He wasn’t sure if she was pleased or irritated by that. Gamma wasn’t planning on asking.

Energetic yet off-tune snippets of Scarlet’s most popular songs drifted outside whenever the door opened accompanied by the overpowering scent of the ‘Diva’s Delight’ pastries. Gamma snickered at the name. It was doubtful anyone running the café would have known about Scarlet’s history regarding the Grand Diva. If they did well… they would have chosen a different name.

It was still a pleasant day for Gamma. He hadn’t seen the sun much in a few days. He savored every moment of gentle warmth on his skin. There wouldn’t be many more days like this with the season quickly coming to an end. He was only half paying attention to the idle conversation with Carter. It was fairly common for people to try and ease him into the business he was there to discuss. It was clearly more for their sakes than his. While he certainly had the most friendly reputation among his friends by far, his wits and charm weren’t the only things he was known for. There were few that could cross blades with him and survive. At some point Carter would get to the point of their meeting. Preferably soon. Gamma was enjoying the day but he did have things to accomplish.

“Are you really not thirsty? I could order something else for you if that’s the problem,” said Carter as Gamma continued to idly swirl the bright red beverage with flakes of edible gold. He wasn’t keen on accepting food or drink from a new informant. That was a lesson he learned long ago. Especially since Carter had been glancing expectantly at the beverage since it was delivered.

“Ah, unfortunately it’s a new diet. You know how it is?” said Gamma as he flashed a smile. Carter nodded in immediate agreement as he fidgeted in his seat. Caution aside, he didn’t have much of an appetite. Not when he knew their conversation would eventually turn to the Beggar Burners.

“Well, if that’s the case then uh… how close do you think you are to finding the Burning Vault?” Carter asked staring at Gamma intently. He gave a non-committal shrug.

“Who can say. Hopefully much closer with the information you have. But these things are quite well hidden and guarded,” said Gamma.

“It’s very dangerous there. Even you might not be able to make it out,” said Carter.

“I’m aware but I won’t know until I try now will I? It’s not like you can just find survivors of the cult. Well ones still capable of communicating what they know,” said Gamma as he watched Carter’s body stiffen.

“Unless you perhaps know someone?” said Gamma. He was starting to wonder if the information he was promised even came from Carter. Wouldn’t be the first time he’d spoken to a proxy for someone who wanted to keep their identity hidden.

“I um… well I uh… I wouldn’t have asked you to come here if I wasn’t sure of where it is,” said Carter. His eyes glanced nervously to Gamma’s cup as he started to back his chair up.

“Well thank you, I hope you didn’t put yourself in too much danger to confirm it’s location. If you’re worried they might have followed you, I know people that can keep you safe while they are dealt with,” said Gamma.

“Oh that’s fine they probably didn’t follow me,” said Carter dismissively.

“You can never be too careful. It really wouldn’t be a problem,” said Gamma

“it’s fine, really. And anyway you really should stay away, there were far to many of them there. You wouldn’t stand a chance,” said Carter.

“How many would that be? You would have had to get very close to see their numbers, are you sure you weren’t followed?” said Gamma. In fact he would have had to enter into the pocket dimension itself. They were always riddled with traps, including alarms and tracking spells.

“I said I wasn’t. I’m sure of it,” said Carter slamming his fist on the table and stared into Gamma’s eyes almost daring him to ask again.

“All right. But I think my companions will still insist on trying. They are terribly stubborn after all,” said Gamma. Not to mention that Gamma was getting increasingly curious as to why Carter wanted him to stay away. Fear for Gamma’s life was unlikely. Was he bribed perhaps?

“I really can’t convince you to walk away can I?” said Carter. Gamma shook his head.

“A pity,” said Carter pulling out a gem, crushing it and shouting a command word.

In seconds magic surged into the air as the ambush was sprung. The familiar warp in the air surrounded him as the gem tore the fabric of space to bring whatever wretched reinforcements were lying in wait. At the same time he felt the heat building beneath him as unholy flames consumed his chair and the stones beneath it and chains of molten gold encircled him. They reached greedily up towards him accompanied by His all too familiar laugh, intent on consuming Gamma’s flesh and delivering every valuable item and coin he carried to the Lord of Greed himself.

It wasn’t enough. Lights like a hundred miniature shooting stars erupted from the Shackle Shattering Star and tore through the chains before they could even come near him. He lightly stepped forward as the ringing of his assailants weapons echoed in his ears. Their strikes colliding with one another where he had been a moment before. Like a comet he surged forward creating distance between him and the Burners. He didn’t fear their strikes, he could already tell they would be no match for him.

But the Beggar Burners were never subtle.

The moment the chanting began, his eyes darted to the source. Four more cultists had appeared in a second wave of teleportation magic. Sickening flames turned his stomach as they rose between the cultists to form a dome and trap him inside.

Too slow.

The echoes of the first caster to fall could still be heard when the Star embedded itself in the chest of the next. His weapon leaving a trail of starlight in it’s wake, felled all four before the first assailants reached him. Without hesitation or fear, he glided between their strikes. They really didn’t plan this attack well. The bodies of his reinforcements hadn’t even hit the ground as Carter found himself face to face with Gamma once more. A gout of flame passed harmlessly over Gamma’s head as his blade found the tendons keeping Carter standing.

Ignoring the shouts of pain and threats against his life, the life of his family, friends, and so on Gamma crouched above Carter and held his blade to his throat. His friend hand reached into his pocket to dig out his sending stone. He felt it moved just out of his reach once, twice, almost three times before he finally grasped it. The spirits never could refuse a moment to inconvenience him.

“Good news, I think I may have found us a lead to the Vault,” said Gamma into the stone.

“A bit behind on things Gamma, I’ve already figured out exactly where it is. Now stop screwing around and get your arse back here so we can head out,” said Speirling in response. Well, that would be his luck today wouldn’t it? Speirling certainly had more accurate information than he’d get from Carter. Carter, who had stopped threatening him and begun chanting and cackling madly. Heat and unholy power was building in his entire body. Probably turning himself into some sort of explosive. The Star silenced him before the spell could build to a dangerous level.

Gamma took stock of the area. It seemed like no bystanders had been hurt this time. He could hear the footsteps of the guards rushing as quickly as they could. They were calling for reinforcements and medics just in case. He looked back to where he had been sitting and sighed heavily. It wasn’t the worst seat he had almost been killed by. Not even close. But if this kept happening he was going to be very irritated if he developed a paranoia about chairs.”

And that’s all for today! May luck be on your side and watch out for deadly chairs!

Onwards to adventure!

CozyPandaDragon