CHRONICLES HERE
SEASON OF PLUNDERED TOMBS
Catastrophe struck the world 10,000 years ago, and mighty
Osirion was one of the first great nations to rise from the
ashes. For centuries its pharaohs oversaw a golden age
of expansion and innovation while crushing rivals such as the
Tekritanin League and the golem armies of the Jistka Imperium.
Eventually, though, the kingdom began to stagnate, its leaders
unable to match the splendid accomplishments of their forebears.
Following millennia of decline and foreign occupation, Osirion
is once again autonomous and prospers under the Ruby Prince
Khemet III.
Hoping to uncover forgotten secrets that his kingdom might
employ while encouraging foreign traffic into the increasingly
prosperous land, the Ruby Prince opened Osirion to foreign
explorers approximately a decade ago. Those hoping to plunder
tombs and make their fortune are subject to Osirian customs
agents who reclaim the most historically sensitive finds and collect
a modest tax on other goods. Yet even this is hardly enough to
discourage treasure-hunters—not when one could uncover gold,
lost magic, or even a piece of one of the legendary Shory flying
cities from a lost age.
Among the region’s most influential archaeological operations
is the Pathfinder Society, an international league of explorers and
adventurers dedicated to discovering and chronicling the world’s
mysteries. You recently completed your training as a Pathfinder
agent in Absalom and set out for Osirion, dreaming of the ancient
secrets buried beneath the sands and stone. Before you embark
overland, though, it’s critical that you meet with Venture-Captain
Norden Balentiir, who coordinates Pathfinder activity throughout
Osirion and is an invaluable sage of which sites remain unexplored
and unspoiled by common looters.
As your ship approaches Sothis, you can take in its beauty
firsthand. Smooth-sided structures of tawny stone stand tall and
proud, many capped with sparkling domes and adorned with
spectacular columns. Famous temples tower over the skyline,
including the Necropolis of the Faithful, overseen by Pharasma’s
priests. It’s a stark reminder that even though Osirion condones
treasure-hunting, the Lady of Graves demands that all respect the
dead. Perhaps greatest of all Sothis’s monuments is the Black Dome,
a colossal, translucent scarab beetle that stands at the city’s center.
History says that this was once Ulunat, a destructive behemoth laid
low by the city’s founder and now inhabited by its elite.
There’s little time for sightseeing here, though—once you meet
with Norden Balentiir, the archaeological wealth of all Osirion will
be yours to explore. What you uncover might not just change your
fortunes; it could change the world!
