Episode 69

General Summary

by Paizo

The Guardians of Golarion were able to deactivate the device and open the "egg". Inside was a human encased in a temporal status resin. He “detected” as evil-aligned, but with a weak aura around him.
Freed and questioned, the man spoke in ancient Azlanti. He demanded to be released of his restraints. When asked why he had been restrained in the first place, he said he had been fighting to free his people from the mind-controlling effects of the Alghollthu, a member of the aboleth family. They were known as the Faceless Ones, a shadow government pulling the strings of the Azlanti people. “They dominated key people and played them like puppets, indirectly keeping us all under their control. They were clever. We were ruthless.” In the end, the Faceless Ones were able to gain control over his allies and he was captured, tried, and punished.
Rooker Shango explained that his time was very long ago and that the World above had changed. The Azlanti were no more, destroyed by the Alghollthu. Understandably the man was in shock.
It was decided that Rooker would teleport himself, the Azlanti, Phaeriel, and Reh back to Minas Amer. They would have the knowledge to help the man and bring him up to speed. Phaeriel would then teleport them back.
They teleported to Minas Amer and left the man with Naebler, who was also a creature from pre-Earthfall and spoke ancient Azlanti. Naebler was thrilled to have someone to talk to. The man, who introduced himself as Alduin, was not so sure.
Back at the Crystal Plaza, Wind Walk was cast and the party made their way to the Hanging Forest. After searching for almost six hours, they discovered the giant mushroom known as the Fetid Palace and the location of the second focus glyph - the Glyph of Vigilance. They also discovered one of the more dangerous denizens of the Land of Black Blood - the Moldering Emperor, a Black-blooded neothelid. However, it was asleep.
Outside the palace, four drow watched the party prepare to fight the Emperor. They did not react, possibly believing that the Guardians would be killed by the Emperor.
While Reh and Phaeriel worked to deactivate the glyph, the rest of the party kept the Emperor busy. In the end, the Guardians killed the Emperor, the four drow, and deactivated the second focus glyph.
Exhausted and resource-tapped, the Guardians set up camp within the Fetid Palace and prepared for the next leg of their journey - the Rotstone Hollows and the Glyph of Watching.