After a hurried summons to the Grand Lodge in Absalom, a quick conversation with Venture-Captain Alissa Moldreserva, and a wet, stormy trip across the Inner Sea to Andoran, the small, warm Pathfinder Lodge in Augustana is a welcome break from travel. “I can’t believe we are wasting our time on this matter,” says Caudron Wallace, the venture-captain of Augustana as he paces the main hall. “Frankly, I want as little to do with it as possible, so I’m passing it on to you.” Wallace nods toward a door at the back of the room. “The vagrant through there was found collapsed on our front steps gripping a wayfinder of all things. We still don’t know who he is. Talk to him, for the tale he tells is amazing if true, and then come back here.”
As you enter the room at the back of the main hall, you find a small sitting room with six comfortable chairs and a few bookshelves filled with the latest Pathfinder Chronicles. An old, withered man sits in one of the chairs, half-dozing when the Pathfinders enter.
His skin is shockingly pale and his features are sharp with high cheekbones and a jutting chin. Despite his incredibly filthy visage, matted white hair, and infirmity, when he awakes he regards you with a look of absolute, confident superiority.
“My loyal subjects, welcome! I know that some of you might not recognize me in my current state, but it is truly me, Gandros, the long-lost Prince of Augustana. I have been in hiding since the untimely death of my father, the Emperor, preparing for my return to glory. Unfortunately, I bear ill news. The army I have been gathering in the otherworld has been infiltrated by agents of our enemies. When last I called my forces together for inspection, dark assassins attacked me and I barely escaped with my life.”
He takes this opportunity to roll up his sleeve and reveals a series of recently inflicted claw and tooth marks on his right forearm. He then launches into a breathless retelling of how he came to be in the Lodge, without pause or acknowledgement of interruptions.
“I fled back through the magic portal to this realm. Grievously wounded, and with the assassins in close pursuit, I leapt into the dark river. I floated past the Almsman’s Sanctuary, but couldn’t climb out of the water. I did manage to grab one of the bridges, but a plank fell in with me. I held on for dear life and continued to drift downstream. I went over a waterfall and then emerged in the lake of ships and crawled to shore. Augustana has changed since I last walked my city’s bright streets, but I managed to find this house, bearing the symbol of my father’s empire.” He holds up the wayfinder hanging from a chain around his neck. “I knew I would find help here! If you remove the threat from my kingdom below and help restore me to my rightful place as Emperor of Andoran, I will grant you any boon within my power!”
Gandros informs you that he will answer anything you want, however he informs you that he expects to be addressed by “My
Prince” or “My Liege” or “Your Royal Highness.”
Once you are done talking to Gandros, you can return to the main hall to converse with Venture-Captain Wallace.
“My diviners say that there is some truth to his story. There has never been a Prince of Augustana, nor an Emperor in Andoran, but the old fellow has a surprising amount of knowledge of the pre-revolution noble families of the city. He may be the lost scion of some noble line. If so, he’s fallen far. From the filth and stink on him when we found him, we’re fairly certain he’s been living in or near a sewer. The wayfinder is also a mystery, but for now, it makes him one of ours. However, I’m more interested in his supposed gate to the otherworld. If it exists, I want to know about it."
"Implausible as it may seem, I’m certain that his injuries were caused by otherworldly beings. We must take the possibility of a portal seriously. I don’t want to dirty my hands with this, but you don’t have that choice. Retrace the old man’s path through the sewers. The Almsman, whom he repeatedly mentions, is rumored to be an eccentric priest who runs some sort of hidden beggar’s sanctuary in the sewers. He may know where our prince’s portal is, if you can find him. But be warned; a local gang calling themselves the Steel Wyverns claims the sewers near the Almsman’s Sanctuary as their own territory.”
Venture-Captain Wallace shows the Pathfinders the spot on the map of the likely sewer outlet from which Gandros came. It’s near the north end of the crowded Augustana harbor, near where the north harbor wall hits land.
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Yyrkoon appears to be an arcane trained elf who is still quite young and inexperienced, his clothing still showing the store shelf creases indicating a recent purchase. Upon entering the sitting room, he moves directly to the elder sitting within the chair and listen's intently to his story.
"Your Highness ... it has been some time since our enemies have showed themselves in this world. Can you tell us more about them so that we can more easily identify them? Can you tell us any more about the otherworld and the portal between us? How would re recognize it? How would we operate it?"
After the "audience" with Gandros, Yyrkoon returns to the main hall to speak with VC Wallace. Examining the map spread before them, Yyrkoon tries to remember what he knows about the parties involved. When given a chance after the briefing and before the party sets out, he will quietly search through the lodge chronicles looking for the following information.
Unfortunately, the Almsman remains something of a mystery still; however, Yyrkoon will share what he has discovered about the Steel Wyverns and the Sewer with his companions. Perhaps someone else knows something about the Almsman ...
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Tin, a Pathfinder of obviously questionable descent scowls at the so-called "Prince of Augusta". He hair is neatly groomed, accentuating his rather steep forehead. He wears a dark studded jacket and a single stud decorates his ear.
His body language suggests he has little patience or tolerance for Gandros's outlandish tales of lost nobility.
Tin speaks with mannerisms very similar to these as he steps aside and out of hearing range of the young prince.
"Yeah... you can put a title on it, but you can't hide the smell. "
Fluffing his studded leather jacket, Tin scratches his neatly groomed goatee as he considers the information that's been presented by Moldreserva and Wallace and makes a quick casing of his contacts in Augustana before rejoining the others.
"Yeah.. I know of these Steel Wyverns..."
Tin pronounces the name of the gang with a sneer.
"Bunch of cats runnin' about with spiked chains. Used to be big shots in Augustana. They probably got a chip on their shoulder as times been rough as of late."
Shaking his head, he continues.
"I ain't got nothin' on this Almsman. But if he's down in the sewers, I'm sure we'll meet his poverty-sticken a$$ soon enough. We can see what he knows and if this Prince's story checks out at all."
Tin gives a nod to Yyrkoon, his tone finally changing from condescension to something resembling appreciation.
"Yeah... you're right about one thing - that's the place this crazy-a$$ Prince likely popped out into the sunlight like a crying baby. That's a pretty popular way in and out of the sewers... I used to have some acquaintances down that way from my time back with the Calistrians..."
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Tristan listens to the "prince's" story, kindly patronizing the obviously deluded man. He bows referentially as he exits the chamber, making sure to never turn is back on the "royalty" before him.
Outside the chamber, the young paladin rolls his eyes at the story. "Another nut job, hard to believe we are taking any of this seriously. Must be a slow day..."
Tristan's memory is trigged as the VC mentions the Steel Wyverns. A less than reputable group that has fallen on hard times of late. He notes to watch for their "stings" the spiked chains they often wield.
Any other sewer mythology, or the entrance to such a place, is beyond his scope of knowledge at present.
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Dorgrin silently listens to Gandros's speech, showing no particular expression. He is a young, reserved dwarf with light brown beard and hair. He is rather thinner than the other members of his race and wears no armor, carrying only a buckler while a warhammer hangs at his belt. A nice-looking, well maintened heavy crossbow, nearly as big as him, is slung to his back.
He nods in affirmation when some of his companions speak about the location of the sewers. He seems also to know of its existence.
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"It seems that our first order of business should be to have a chat with this 'Almsman.' Then perhaps backtracking the 'Prince' with a hound ... if we can get one that is. Regardless, I should be ready to leave at first light ... not that I am eager for a stroll through the sewers, but I imagine any trails we may find are fading rapidly; although I admit that I know even less about tracking than I do about Almsman."
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Another man accompanies the other Pathfinders in listening to the story of this prince. His hair is fashioned in many small black braids that hang loosely about his shoulders constantly waving as though under the effects of a gentle breeze. His face has blue circular patterns drawn onto his cheekbones. Tattered leathers hang loosely about his body, with various patterns drawn onto them. Resting on his shoulder is a large hawk that has moved very little. During the meeting with the prince, Chatan begins scratching the hawk under the beak and whispering something to him.
As the prince tells his story, Chatan listens without questioning anything. He is unfamiliar with many of the ways the people here handle royalty and takes note of the other individual's reactions. He was sent to join the Pathfinders as a way to help his people, and it is best he avoid doing anything that may make that mission any more difficult. Despite his unfamiliarity with prince's, Chatan leaves the meeting curious about this individual.
Those markings don't look like anything I've ever seen he thinks to himself And his story is very elaborate. Most people can't tell such intricate stories, especially when those stories are lies. So this man is either an exceptional liar, or he is telling us the truth.
Chatan takes mental note of the people and places that Venture-Captain Wallace mentions and scours the shelves for any information he might be able to find that would be helpful.
Chatan is able to discover the likeliest spot to enter the sewers, but finds himself at a loss for any additional information about the other subjects.
"It seems we know where this prince may have come out of the sewers, and who these Steel Wyverns are, so it is best we get more information about this Almsman since we seem to have very little."
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Tin continues to rub his chin and effects a nonchalant post.
"Like I said, I'm sure we'll run into this cat soon enough.. maybe once we get down there, we'll find some locals and we shake them down."
Tin gestures as if he's roughing up some imaginary criminal.
"All I knows is my inquiries turned up emptier than a keg at Cayden's godsday coronation, so he can't be all that hot."
The sewer tunnels under Augustana are divided into two types, major passages and minor passages. Both types have a single walkway running along one wall (the west wall of a north-south tunnel, or the north wall of an east-west tunnel). The ceilings are generally about 6 feet above the walkways. Minor tunnels have a channel 5 feet wide and 3 feet deep through which effluvium flows. The channels in major tunnels are 10 feet wide and 5 feet deep. Where passages meet, there are usually planks laid across the channels to allow pedestrians to cross from one walkway to the other.
The water in the channel is revoltingly filthy, and anytime a Pathfinder becomes submerged in it they are exposed to filth fever (Fortitude DC 11, incubation period 1d3 days, damage 1d3 Dex and 1d3 Con). The effluvium is difficult terrain to move through, and the current is fairly swift. Anyone or anything swimming or floating in the channel drifts downstream 20 feet per round.
As the Pathfinders enter the sewers by the outflow pipe, the first 100 feet are a major passage without a walkway, so they need to wade or swim through the filth. After that runs another 100 feet of major passage (with a single walkway) before reaching the settling pools from the west.
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Yyrkoon eye's the outflow pipe skeptically ...
"I doubt we could wade through that and not come down with some disease.
I think that we should consider other options ...
Either way ... it appears we are not as prepared as we thought.
Yyrkoon will depart to make which ever preparations and/or purchases the party agrees will most likely grant us success.
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Dorgrin looks warily at the water, apparently more annoyed by the fact that his crossbow could get dirty by the wading than he could come down with a disease.
"A boat could be a good idea" he says "but it might be tricky to take it up to there. If we have no choice but to wade into this, I surely will buy an anti plague potion or two."
The Pathfinders spend the next hour searching the streets of Augustana for another entrance into the sewers, but they are unable to locate anything that would allow their Medium-sized forms into the underground labyrinth. The best they can do is find a sewer grates designed to allow the detritus and rain to be swept from the streets during a rainstorm.
Perception:
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"That was disappointing. Frustration edging Yyrkoon's voice.
"I supposed it is time to consider our other options to see what is available?'
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If no other ideas are forth coming ... Yyrkoon will attempt to locate the following items in order of priority ...
- Diving Suit ... and verifying that it would serve as a water proof chest wader.
- If that fails ... a row boat or other water craft that could be transported to the entrance and used to ferry party members over that 100 ft of filth.
- Finally ... if that is not available ... anti-plague potions would be the last resort.
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Tin scowls at the lack of discovery of an alternative entrance.
"Well ain't that the way. Normally you got a suit and no party to go to, but it looks like we got a party and no suits..."
The investigator accompanies the others down to the docks quarter and procures himself a waterproof diving suit along with a waterproof bag to make his way through the sewage.
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When the party returns to the sewer exit; Yyrkoon will put on the diving suit and place gear in the water proof bag (excepting weapons).
"Please ... after you." Yrrkoon says to Tristan, not really looking forward to this at all.
Holding everything over his head , Yyrkoon enters the stream cautiously.
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Setting his bow and arrows to the side, Tin dons his suit and moves most of his gear into his waterpoof bag.
"I feel like a circus clown, except I ain't got any makeup... or the right wig."
He quaffs an alchemical extract and returns the empty bottle to his bag .
Flexing, he almost seems content at his lightened load as he moves near Chatan.
"Yea.. and if it ain't obvious by this here bow, I'll be watching the back of the party with these two..."
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"If all of you wish to stand back, I claim the front rank for the glory of our cause and of the Inheritor. Stand firm, my friends, into the breach we go!"
Drawing his longsword, Tristan splashes into the effluent stream as proud as any captain marching into battle. He fights bravely against the current, not complaining or wavering until the tunnel path is reached inside.
Everyone packs up their gear and pulls on wetsuits, save for the Iomedaean Paladin who boldly trudges into the effluvient.
They make their way into the sewers and after a few twists and turns, the group stumbles into the Settling Pools. The smell of waste and rot is strong in this large chamber where filthy water flows in a series of cascades between tiered stone tanks. A raised platform along the east wall is connected to the passage’s walkways by several thick wooden planks creating a makeshift bridge. On that platform is what looks to be a makeshift alchemy lab on a rough-hewn table—beakers, glass vials, dirty bottles, and moldy buckets cover the entire surface of the table.
There are a total of three members of the Steel Wyvern gang here: two thugs sit bored on the south side of the wooden bridge, fiddling with their spike chains and quietly bragging about past crimes to one another. A third, nicknamed Firedrake if his embroidered leather jacket is to be believed, stands at the makeshift alchemy lab, bent over several beakers as he slowly pours two mixtures together.
As soon as the Pathfinders enter the room, the Steel Wyverns leap to their feet, while Firedrake spins around, Alchemist Fire in hand. What the f%+& are you doing in our lair?!
The thugs pull their weapons out and begin to menace the party. Drop your gear and get the f+@$ out of here. Leave the wetsuits too. Otherwise, we will be forced to take it by force.
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Recognizing the toughs as the Steel Wyverns, and knowing their reputation for violence and mayhem, Tristan utters a challenge. "Vile curs, surrender yourselves to my patron, Iomedae and repent of your misdeeds or be put to the sword, as all foes of justice must. I will not ask again! Toss aside your weapons and down on your knees!"
Brandishing his weapon, Tristan advances on the nearest foe, ready to accept his inevitable surrender.
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Chatan will continue to follow the party, with his longspear in hand. When there is room, he will move within range of the nearest Steel Wyvern thug so that he may attempt to impale him upon his spear.
The shaman begins whispering to Kele, then the hawk spreads her wings and takes flight overhead, despite the very limited height of the sewers. Kele circles the party, keeping a watchful eye over them.
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Tin fluffs his jacket slightly and gives the thugs a look of annoyance.
Yea, so let's get one thing straight. You all just tried to shake down a group of armed Pathfinders..."
Tin nods at Chatan's spear and Tristan's sword.
"Unless all you cats are really powerful wizards or somethin', I suggest you step back off these demands and start talking to us about this Almsman fella'... "
As Tin observes little response to his suggestion, he grabs his own crossbow and prepares himself for dispatching a hard lesson to the Steel Wyverns.
Initiative:
Surprise Round: Tristan
Tristan advances towards the northern Steel Wyvern, steel in hand.
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1st Round: Tristan/Dorgrin
Initiative:
1st: Tristan; Dorgrin
2nd: Firedrake
3rd: Tin; Yyrkoon
4th: Wyverns (#1; #2)
5th: Chatan