The Hao Jin Tapestry hangs on the wall of this stuffy basement room in the Grand Lodge. The tattered piece of fabric, five feet wide and seven feet long, looks more like a worn tablecloth than a storied artifact.
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A pretty elf enters the room. Her eyes are immediately drawn to the archer. "Jaysin, I see you've recovered quite well after that....unfortunate incident. Hopefully we will have better luck this time.". She nods towards the others, as she makes her way to a comfortable looking chair in the corner.
As was her habit prior to a briefing, she sat in the corner humming a happy tune as she pulled out knitting needles and began constructing some indiscriminate garment.
The Hao Jin Tapestry hangs on the wall of this stuffy basement room in the Grand Lodge. The tattered piece of fabric, five feet wide and seven feet long, looks more like a worn tablecloth than a storied artifact. The Pathfinder Society’s Master of Spells Aram Zey enters and stands before tapestry, his arms folded across his chest. He speaks without greeting.
“As you all surely know, the Society labors at some cost to assemble a dwarven relic known as the Sky Key.” The Master of Spells produces an intricately sculpted piece of metal decorated with fluid carvings. A sudden flash of excitement fills his weary eyes. “The object I hold in my hands is one of five pieces of that curiosity. The pieces that the Society has obtained so far share the same luster and artistic sensibilities, but have different shapes and functions within the assembled artifact. Today, hopefully, you will retrieve another piece. Previous missions lead us to believe that a fragment of the Sky Key lies within the tapestry, in the company of a dwarven clan that left Golarion for Hao Jin’s realm some time ago. Your task is to enter the tapestry and make contact with these dwarves, discern what they know about the Sky Key, and negotiate for their piece, should they still have it.”
The taciturn sage produces a hexagonal beard clasp of thick, polished metal. “Pathfinder agents retrieved this beard clasp from one of the sites that we suspected of holding the Sky Key fragment. It belonged to an ancestor of the dwarves who live in the tapestry, and it may assist you in your negotiations. Return it to me if it does not gain you the fragment you seek. We hold no particular ire for the dwarves. Retrieve the Sky Key fragment if possible, but try not to murder anyone.”
Aram Zey adds grudgingly, “Does anyone have any questions before I send you into tapestry?”
"The dwarves are the descendants of those who followed Prince Naldak, son of the last ruler of Jormurdun, King Gutheran," Aram Zey explains, "which is why we suspect they have a piece of the Sky Key. But we obviously have not had a lot of contact with them yet to discover much else."
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A small red haired gnome (all thought his hair color is difficult to determine most of the time since he will be covered from head to toe in ash, soot and other blackish stuff) waves happily at everyone
"Hello, my name is Ash, Do I have questions..off course I have questions. Do you think you can answer some for me? Do you want to answer some for me? You say we go inside a tapestry? How does that work? How do we get out again? Will be be flat inside there? Is there room enough for all of us inside there?"
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"The Hao Jin Tapestry is one of the Society's greatest artifacts," said the heavily-armored man blond man in enameled blue plate armor. "It contains a demi-plane inhabited by all sorts of fascinating creatures. Or perhaps more than one; I'm not too sure about that part."
Turning to Aram Zey, he said "Do you know where in the Tapestry these dwarves can be found? Have you had any word of them since the fall of Jormurdun? That was a long time ago."
"Hello, my name is Ash, Do I have questions..off course I have questions. Do you think you can answer some for me? Do you want to answer some for me? You say we go inside a tapestry? How does that work? How do we get out again? Will be be flat inside there? Is there room enough for all of us inside there?"
Aram Zey groans. One of *those* agents. "Each person who enters the Hao Jin Tapestry leaves an eddy in his wake. Simply walk into your eddy, which only you can see or interact with, to come back here. I don’t have time to stand around while you complete your mission at a leisurely pace—if you return before accomplishing your goals, I’ll send a more competent group of Pathfinders to finish the job."
Turning to Aram Zey, he said "Do you know where in the Tapestry these dwarves can be found? Have you had any word of them since the fall of Jormurdun? That was a long time ago."
"They are the descendants of those who followed Prince Naldak, son of the last ruler of Jormurdun, King Gutheran. You'll be sent near to their encampment. Finding out more is your job, not mine."
When all of you are ready to depart, Aram Zey teaches you a command word and instructs you to place your fingers one at a time on a specific spot in the tapestry. Soon enough you are whisked away into the demiplane....
The hot, humid air announces an abrupt change in the local scenery. A large earthen hill fades into view, surrounded on each side by hills covered in vines, grass, and stands of jungle trees. In one direction, mountains rise until they meet a haze of thick clouds. In the other direction, the deep blue sky is barely visible through an expanse of thick jungle. Just ahead lies a small village, its stone buildings overrun with vegetation.
While moving closer to explore the ruins, you hear a roar that sounds like a hammer striking an anvil coming from somewhere ahead....
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Kargen looks over to where Ash is pointing, but something catches his eye to the left. "Hang on. Look at this. This grave has been disturbed." He looks up and suddenly sees other signs of looting plain as day. "And there, that mural's been defaced. And that looks like something has been destroyed. All possible signs of vandalism. We should be careful."
You start to move closer until a horse-sized creature with the face of a dwarven woman wearing a silver nose ring steps into view. Her body resembles that of a large bear with scaly wings. A barbed tail writhes wildly behind her as she threatens with a sonorous growl.
The creature's scowl falters at Tess's words. "Yes, there were dwarves here once. I was servant to one. Master was last of Naldak's Point dwarves. They were good and proud until evil came and took the youth away. Now they live in the mountain to the east. Their heads are bald and their skin is gray. They should cut their beards in shame." She points to the eastward path as she says this. "Others came here, hurt Grodel and stole things. Looked like you but didn't talk."
The creatures waves Tessara's offers of healing away. "My master passed away forty years ago. About a year ago others came through here and attacked me, looted the village. Left very little. The other dwarves are not here, have not been for some time. They went off, becoming not-dwarves. Scandalous. Now they are gray dwarves. Shameful."
She waves the items away, as if she is not interested in them. As the creature's prompting, you decide to try looking to the east for these 'not-dwarves'.
To the east, a mountain reaches overhead, covered in lush trees and white mist. As warm winds whip around the mount's rises, wisps of cloud separate from the tick cover and float away. A brief plateau about halfway up the mountain features a sheer cliff, otherwise inscrutable from a distance.
The roar of the waterfall overhead explains the thick mist that covers much of the mountain. The vapors become gray clouds as they rise in altitude, but near the base of the mountain they are white wisps rolling out from the pool. The pool's water is clear and deep, with the spill forcing white bubbles back to a rippling surface. Deep into the pool, away from the frothy cascade, a glint of gold beckons the eye.
You move closer to the water to discern what exactly is down below but before you can figure it out, the treasure begins to move. At first you think this may just be the movement of the water or the treasure being washed downstream until you realize that it is an illusion dissolving to reveal a creature beneath the water; from the creature an enchanting music wafts towards the shore as it starts to ascend....
Only one of Kalendir's arrows hits the creature as it breaks through the surface of the water. This striking, blue-eyed man with luminous skin and flowing white hair holds an ethereal harp in his hands.
The blue-skinned man seems to stand on the water as if it were solid ground as he continues to pluck his harp.
As if this water spirit weren't enough to deal with, two more forms start moving beneath the water. They are barnacle-encrusted walking corpses that look like a zombies, but are dripping with water and giving off a nauseating stench.
13 dmg
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Kalendir begins to have a feeling it his gut about the wispy creature, it quickly turns to his stomach grumbling.
The shambling creatures are Draugr. These foul beings are usually created when humanoid creatures are lost at sea in regions haunted by evil spirits or necromantic effects. The corpses of these drowned sailors cling fiercely to unlife, attacking any living creatures that intrude upon them. Their attacks smear rancid flesh, rotting seaweed, and swaths of vermin on whatever they hit. You must slash them or bludgeon them to death. They are resistant to fire. Do not get hit by them as it will make you sick.
DR/bludgeoning or slashing; resistance to fire; getting hit by them can cause one to become sick
He fires once again at the blue skinned man