"Ah, interesting," Anafesto notes. "I know some craftsmen and alchemists who can produce them, provided you fund them for the first prototypes."
[Jiao and Hans can now craft early firearms in Venice. See here for some types:
www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment---final/weapons/firearms] ---
"Good to meet you, small one," Brandon says to Teo. "But these artifacts must be handled with care, for their master can act through them."
He seals the case into a sack covered with magical sigils, before slipping that into another bag.
"Yog Sothoth and its kind care little for our world, and would destroy our world with less thought than we would step on an ant hill while walking," Brandon explains. "It is not due to malice, but apathy, for we are less than ants to them. As a druid, I must combat these alien beings as the affront to reality that they are."
Alicia recalls there are other Great Old Ones, some of whom are antagonistic with each other. Most of them slumber or prefer to use mortal puppets, often cults of insane followers. Their magic would make even harden diabolists look sane by comparison. An alliance with cult opposing Yog Sothoth could be possible, but the risk of awakening something worse or being betrayed would make it an unattractive proposition.
"Yog Sothoth has cultists, insane followers and agents who are the types you have fought before: insane magic users, deluded leaders, magical beasts, and even simple thugs paid by gold," Brandon explains. "The three orbs I have located are all in dangerous areas, but there is potential for your own gain and glory as well. There are lands which merchants could trade with, warriors could help bring order, and believers to preach in. There is loot and lost knowledge alike to be gained, and lost kingdoms to be restored or damned."
Brandon notes Anafesto and Hans perk up when trade is mentioned. "I do not know the exact locations of two others, but one of these orbs brought ruin to my homeland."
The druid unfurls a map of Europe, far too precise to have been drawn by human hands and printed on a flatter substance instead of parchment, which Wu instantly recognizes.
"Does someone else in these lands know the art of paper making?" the cleric asks.
"Yes, and guns and others," Brandon says. He circles a small channel isle between Britain and France, with the name "Republic of Newton" written above it. "This was once my home, a channel isle home to stone ruins that predated the earliest druids. One day, however, a local fisherman pulled an orb from the waters nearby, and everything changed."
"Two men appeared in a stone ring, both appearing European but clad in strange clothes. It was only through magic that we could comprehend them," Brandon explains. "One had a white coat on, and introduced himself as Dr. Atticus Baines, a healer in a brutal war that divided his own lands. The other had a black coat and strange round hat, and introduced himself as Isiah Ewing, an arms merchant from the same land. They claim they were discussing a similar sphere, when they found themselves on our island."
Brandon stops for a moment, and then pulls a pistol from his own clothing. The weapon looks like a smaller version of Wu and Hans' blunderbuss, and reads "Dragoon Pistol Mark II, Serial Number 23, Mfg. in Rep. of Newton." He handles the weapon with a familiarity that belies his naturalistic clothing.
"They claimed to come from a future, or a possible one, where English colonies formed a republic that fragmented in twain," he slips the weapon back into his pocket. "They set to work trying top build their own era's advanced technology, but some of my order were turn over the issue. They initially required coal and deep mines, that would ravage the planet. We were stalemated until Baines and I devised alternatives; machines powered by elemental spirits, metal and alchemical reagents created by magical conjuring, and so forth. We received the benefits of their machines without the cost."
Wu is interested, and leans forwards to listen.
"We established a formal state called the Republic of Newton, named for a sage from their timeline. No citizen would be held a slave, every citizen could vote for leaders, and all faiths were welcome, provided they did not harm others," Brandon continues. "But it did not last. Ewing and his followers wished to exploit the orb, while Baines and I advocated caution with it. It defied their science and our magic, so we had it sealed away as our own civil war erupted."
"And which side is winning?" Jiao asked.
"It was a stalemate when I left," Brandon says. "And I was hoping you could help me end that, for I fear what a man like Ewing would do. Imagine if a man like this Vizzini had more powerful dark magic, mad science, and perverted druidic rituals instead of a drunken necromancer and army of brigands."
The druid notices the amulet that Hans is examining. "Vizzini acquired that amulet from the Republic, for I know of no other place with that type of technology," he says. "Ewing is also trying to make allies abroad by smuggling technology and war plunder across the world."
"Then what about the other orbs?" Jiao asks.
"I left to seek allies in destroying them before Ewing could retrieve them," Brandon circles two other locations on the map. One is a remote part of Scandinavia. Another is Constantinople itself. "I do not know where exactly these orbs are, but divination magic gave me an idea of the region."
He taps on the one in Scandinavia. "The First Dwarves mastered machinery and enchantment when the first men still found novelty in fire," Brandon explains. "Their inventions are more advanced than even Newtonian technology. Their civilization disappeared mysteriously, but their ruins are still full of roving constructs, lethal traps, and worse. I have reason to suspect one such ruin is home to the second orb."
His finger slides towards Greece. "It is unsurprising that the third orb would end up in Byzantium, given their flow of war plunder and tribute," Brandon says. "I do not know where it is, but the city is unstable now, as the local church has had tensions with Rome, in addition to political conspiracies. A syncreatic cult has arisen as of late, claiming Zeus is but an aspect of the Christian God, and Hercules is a lost brother of Christ. This order has gained power rather rapidly, and the city seems primed for riots, or worse."
He turns to the others. "Tell me, would you be willing to assist me in any of these endeavors?" Brandon asks. "The risk of death is constant and present, but the rewards could be grand, in addition to saving our world."