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Title: Why I am leaving the Pathfinder Society, by Thorne, the Most Powerful Mage in *All* Absalom
4712-03-14
TODAY is my last day at the Society.
After almost 12 levels, first as a summer recruit, then in the Grand Lodge, and now in working in Sothis, I believe I have worked here long enough to understand the trajectory of its culture, its people, and its global quest for artifact hording. And I can honestly say that the environment now is as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it.
To put the problem in the simplest terms: the interests of the Decemvirate continue to be focused solely on the acquisition of artifacts and knowledge not destined for the good of Golarion. This is achieved at the expense of humanoid-kind, the natural environment, tombs of long-dead Osirian monarchs, and various Azlanti ruins. The Pathfinder Society is one of the world’s largest and most important artifact and historical heritage collectors and it is too integral to global procurement to continue to act this way. The Society has veered so far from the place I joined right out of the lodge that I can no longer in good conscience say that I identify with what it stands for.
The Society is one of the Golarion's largest and most important adventuring organizations and has too much potential as a peacekeeper and global sheriff to continue to act this way. The Society has veered so far from the place I joined right out of Grand Lodge that I can no longer in good conscience point menacingly (with words of arcane power on my lips) and say that I identify with what it stands for.
For more than two years, I trained and adventured with my fellow pathfinders, some of whom were unworthy copycats, through our grueling adventuring process (Explore. Report. Cooperate.) In 4710, I managed the summer expedition to recover in strange artifacts in Osirion with the 4 to 5 other recruits who made the cut.
I knew it was time to leave when I realized I could no longer explain to my fellow Pathfinders about what was happening to our returned artifacts with any certainty nor what the Decemvirate intended to do with them.
What happens to them after the Decemvirate gets the returned and acquired knowledge and artifacts? The Society changed the way it thought about acquisition of knowledge and power. Knowledge used to be about ideas, setting an example, and using that knowledge to the betterment of Golarion. Today, if you make enough prestige you will be promoted into a position of influence, even if you have no idea about the true motives of the Society.
What are four quick ways to become a leader in the Society? a) Execute numerous successful missions in which you risk your life. b) 'Hunt Oliphants'. In Common: - manipulate a massive Society-wide shadow conspiracy against the Society itself then leverage that shadow war into a seat as a Faction Head. c) Orchestrate numerous assassinations against the Decemvirate while working from the inside (Note: might end badly). d) Betray one's own chosen faction by assisting other factions and seeking their assistance in return, all in the pursuit of fame.
When I was a first-year recruit I didn't know what a wayfinder was, or how to tie my wrist sheathes with magic, or what wand I should purchase with my first 2 PA. I was taught to be concerned with learning to draw a weapon while moving, finding out what a Meteor Hammer was, and memorizing the correct spells so I could incinerate my foes with a single spell.
My proudest moments in life - when the Shadow Lodge attacked Absalom, fighting through the streets of Absalom then avoiding acidification at the hands of a ancient lizard - have all come through hard work, with no shortcuts.
The Society today has become too much about shortcuts to artifacts and knowledge and not enough about making Golarion better for anyone. It just doesn’t feel right to me anymore.
I hope this can be a wake-up call. I hope that the knowledge that the Society has gained over the last two years can be used to make Golarion great again: what is the point of uncovering lost knowledge if not to use it to remake the mistakes of the past? We need to weed out the morally bankrupt people, no matter how many dinosaurs they can summon, how many assassinations they execute based on orders from their Faction Heads, or how many weapons they use to flurry. And get the culture right again, so people want to join the Society for something more than the nihilistic pursue of knowledge for the pursuit's sake. People who care only about knowledge will not sustain this Society — or the trust of its Pathfinders — for very much longer.