You arrive in Oppara, Taldor’s gilded capital city.
In the middle of the night, you are summoned to
the Grand Lodge. It is abuzz with rumors of something
monumental happening in Oppara. In the formal briefing,
the PCs are informed that transport has been arranged
and the team of agents is being sent to the Oppara Lodge.
A swift boat ride, a quick trip through Taldor’s gilded
capital, and a coded knock at the front door lead to the
unassuming, windowless Pathfinder Society lodge
masquerading as a bait and tackle shop called Rods and
Reels. The strong smell of old fish permeates the dwelling,
which has somewhat of a ill cared-for, haphazard
appearance. The light of a single, whale-oil lantern forms
strange shadows on the floor among the nets and buckets
that fill the lodge’s ground floor.
The middle-aged venture-captain who runs the
lodge—a ruddy-skinned and pockmark-faced man named
Muesello—emerges from the narrow spiral stairs to the
lodge’s second floor and addresses you.
“Thank you for coming on such short notice, Pathfinders. Let
me bring you all up to speed. It seems that I may have gotten
myself, and by extension the Society, into a bit of hot water. You
see, lately the Taldan government has been growing particularly
protective of what it considers its national treasures. Grand
Prince Stavian seems to have taken a personal interest in
anything older than last week’s fish stew, imposing heavy tariffs
on any antiquities being sent out of the country.”
The grey-haired man lets out a deep sigh and his shoulders
slump. “This is where my own idiocy comes in. I thought that
I could save the Society a few pieces of gold by smuggling
items out of the city, using my contacts in a secret cult of local
Sarenites known as the Dawnflower Blossoms. They receive
significant support from people in Qadira, and oversee regular
shipments to and from Katheer.
“Everything went very smoothly until last night. A group of
local guards known as the Porthmos Militia conducted a violent
raid on one of the cult’s safe houses here in the neighborhood
of Westport. A man named Chalfon Dalsine, a minor noble who was himself nearly a Pathfinder in his youth, led the attack. This
gang slaughtered half the members of the cult, even those who
didn’t fight back—it was horrible. A few members were able to
escape, but the rest were either slain or captured and dragged
away for interrogation.
Muesello goes on to explain that while the deaths
were tragic, his primary concern is that he had given the
Sarenites several parcels for transport just last week. The
parcels included a number of notes written in a personal
cypher, but anything involving codes eventually makes
its way to the Lion Blades, the secret spies of the Taldan
government. It’s only a matter of time before they crack
the code or use some divination magic to track him down.
Muesello continues his explanation.
The VC asks you to introduce your self and tell a little bit about your skill set.
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In the corner stands a rather gruff looking Kellid human. He is wearing breastplate that is made from the hide, but not of any creature you immediately recognise. Those more familiar, however, recognises it as dragonhide. Other than that, he carries rather simple looking gear: a scimitar and club hands from his belt, and a darkwood shield is slung over his back. The only other thing of note is a simple necklace made of leather thong from which hangs a bundle of feathers.
Seeing no one else speaking up, Garn's voice rumbles out. "My name is Garn. Garn Harlardon. From the lands of the Mammoth King up north. The Elk Lady blessed me with gifts of the lands, with which I aid my tribe in hunting and fighting back the orc tribes. I have recently learnt the art of taking the form of beast." He ends here abruptly, looking at each of you in turn.
Rubbing the head of a snow leopard at his feet, he suddenly speaks again. "This is Snowball."
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Back to Oppara. Despite all of the decadence, debauchery and derangement, Evarice did like the attention to theater and the arts.
"Well met Garn. My name is Evarice." She removes her ostentatious hat and bows. The symbol of Shelyn hangs off her belt. "It's good to see all of you here. I used to be in the elven militia, but that was a long time ago. Now I use the powers Shelyn, the Eternal Rose. I think I've met her once, but it's not an experience you should follow, if you can help it."
She turns to Muesello. "Venture-Captain, it's a shame to hear what happened to the Dawnflowers. If the rumors are true, Dalsine has a lot to answer for. So what's the plan? Are we to rescue the captured Dawnflowers? Investigate Dalsine's involvement in this?"
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You see a rather homely thin man in simple clothes. The small toad sitting on his shoulder suggests a caster but there is also a small rat peeking from one of his pockets.
"Ho. I'm Liminy. A wizard of some repute and a scholar specializing in ancient civilizations and artifacts of historical value. I focus on destructive magics or on just hindering hostiles."
"What did these parcels contain other then coded messages?"
The VC nods as each person introduces themselves.
[b] Yes, Master Dwarf, discretion is of upmost importance in this endeavor" he replies.
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16
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"Gorok work with super secret group that break into places. Go on most important missions." The large half-orc frowns for a second. "City guard catch Gorok a lot, but when I get out of jail, secret bosses always say Gorok did good job and mission was success. This make Gorok happier, but Gorok no like jail. Always take away axe. Secret bosses buy Gorok new axe though."
The Venture Captain nods as each person introduces themselves.
A loud knock on the shop’s front door interrupts the venture-
captain mid-sentence. A strong voice calls out from the other
side, “Open this door! This is the Porthmos Militia. Open this
door in the name of the Grand Prince!”
The VC calls to the guards outside
the door that he must find the key, motioning for the PCs
to remain quiet. As he loudly fumbles around the shop to
make it sound as though he’s searching for something, he
whispers to the gathered Pathfinders. “Ten of the escaped
Dawnflower Blossoms members are hidden here in the
lodge. I was able to rescue them after the raid. They’re
all upstairs—five in my bedroom and another five in my
supply room.”
He knocks over three hay bales along the
room’s east wall, revealing a trap door beneath. He flings
it open to reveal a ladder descending into darkness.
“You’ve got to get those people out of here,” he pleads,
gesturing frantically at the hatch. “In my basement there
is a staircase leading down to the ancient catacombs under
the city. At the bottom of that staircase, there is a large
lever on the right, just a few feet down the connecting
corridor. Once everyone is clear of the staircase, pull it
down and it will collapse behind you. That should keep
anyone from following you. Once you’re in the catacombs,
just ask the cult members for directions; they should
know their way around. Ask them to take you to the Vault
of Sarenrae—it’s their last hiding place. Oh, and track
down this Chalfon Dalsine, and see if you can find my
parcels: two beautiful sets of armor crafted by the fey of
the Verduran Forest. Last I heard, the Porthmos Militia
had taken them back to Dalsine’s home.”
The pounding on the door increases in volume and an annoyed
voice calls out again. “We don’t want to break the door down,
old man. Hurry up!”
“Yes, yes, I heard you. Hold on, I’ve got to find a candle.”
Muesello turns back and whispers once more, “I’ll hold them
off as best I can. Please get the cult members out of here,
or they’re all as good as dead, and please don’t try to kill the
guards! This is a large group of serious guards who obviously
mean business. Any lethal attacks or, gods forefend, a death
could spell doom for the Society! These are city guards acting
on the authority of the Grand Prince himself!”
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Ragnar sighs deeply. "This is what comes of flouting the law, stupid as it is." He touches his ring and murmurs a word of arcane tongue.
[ooc]Using bond item to cast obscuring mist, trying to cover the path from upstairs to downstairs.
"Stick to the walls and use them to navigate. I'm slow enough, I'll head downstairs now while the rest of you fetch the others. Courage, lads. I'm sure we'll see this through."
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Self am Mwangi warrior. Self not sure, but self think spirit quest mean to keep bad things away from tribe, self must leave tribe and lovely jungle for this awful stone place.
...
Without a word, Hadanka sprints as quietly as he can for the refugees' locations. He will simply carry any who don't seem capable of fast movement down to the basement.
When he find them he quietly mutters, No screaming. Self and others am helping. Bad peoples is here. No yelling. Run basement escape in tunnels. Be quiet. Self will guard end of pack. No noise.
Thanks let me change them when i get to a comp
Everything should be on edit.
Liminy considers asking about the armor but figures there are more pressing concerns and heads upstairs with Gorok.
According to the module it will take 12 rounds to get all the cultists down which will be lessened the more people that help encourage them to move faster or might use magic to do this.
It takes a while to get everyone down the stairs in a more or less organized fashion.
As the last person climbs down
the ladder, Muesello casts arcane lock on the trapdoor,
after which he loudly surrenders to the guards.
Following Muesello’s instructions and descending
down the tight spiral staircase takes the PCs and cultists
to a narrow tunnel that connects to the ancient catacombs
below Oppara. Just as the venture-captain promised, there
is a lever a few feet down this hallway. Pulling it triggers
the stairway to collapse with a reverberating rumble, filling
the chamber with dust, but sealing off the way up. The PCs
must leave through the catacombs, and the only ones who
know how to navigate them are the surviving members of
the Dawnflower Blossoms.
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Evarice conjures as much water as she can to help the Dawnflowers, and provides light along the way.
"Your goddess blesses your every step, no matter the affairs of mortals. Had we time I would play my piccolo but we are trying to stay discreet." She smiles. "We haven't had much time together- what are your names? I am Evarice Bue, a humble servant of Shelyn."
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Ragnar grumbles as the humans slowly creep their creeping ways into the tunnel. "Finally!" He murmurs as they're all down and safely away. "Damn fool Venture Captain smuggling artifacts. Foolish, foolish, foolish. Let's pull the darn lever and be gone!" He makes sure to pull the lever once everyone is out and follows the Dawnflower Blossoms into the tunnel.