Arriving at the Temple of the Shining Star in Absalom, you are immediately directed to Ollysta Zadrian, the leader of the Silver Crusade faction operating within the Pathfinder Society. Ollysta is a paladin of Sarenrae, and though young in her years, she holds herself with the poise of a queen and warrior simultaneously. Once the group is complete, she addresses you in a strong voice.
"Greetings and welcome, blessed ones. I am overjoyed to witness such potential organized for this Confirmation. Though the challenge of that will be explained by others, I wished to arrange this meeting first and learn more about you."
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The beautiful Aasimar steps forward, bowing respectfully to the paladin. "It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am. I'm Reesa and I'm terribly excited to begin my career. It will be an honor to discover new and exciting things, as well as spread some good while we do it. I won't rest until I make this organization proud," Reesa coos, looking around at the others. She was dressed in basic equipment, but her heritage was clear as more than just a mere human, as bright colors abounded around her. She was certainly blessed by the heavens.
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A tall slender man with Long flowing hair walks into the room introduceing himself by shaking hands with all the men in the room and bowing and kissing the hands of each woman in the room. Treating all like they are the most important person in the world as he get to them.
"Greetings Ladys and gentlemen it is truly my pleasure to meet you all."Bows again to the room. "My name is Garry Bibb."
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An ebony skinned aasimar of commanding appearance enters the chamber. The texture of his skin reflects light like obsidian in moonlight; his eyes, bronze iris against corbeau; a circlet with antler motif crowns his hairless head; wooden armor and white tunic covers a muscular frame.
”I am Arumael, faithful servant of Erastil, defender and herald of his wisdom. I bring his blessings to this endeavor.”
Ollysta smiles as introductions are completed. "I am very pleased to have met all of you. There seems to be one yet to arrive, but I am sure they will find you before the Confirmation begins tomorrow. Here, I was given this, and instructed to pass it on to you." She hands over a envelope bearing the symbol of the Open Road. Within is a simple invitation that reads:
“Start where it all began. Meet us at the Pig’s Paunch one hour before dawn.”
The Pig’s Paunch is a run-down building with a faded sign of a large pig standing on its hind legs, arms folded above a corpulent belly. Inside, the air is thick with the scents of human sweat, stale tobacco, and leftover food. In the center of the room, surrounded by inebriates sleeping off their revelries, a familiar elven man stands high upon top of a large round table. “Welcome! Welcome, my friends! Please, have a seat!” With that, Kreighton Shaine, the Pathfinder Society’s Master of Scrolls, nimbly drops down to sit cross-legged on the table before looking about the tavern with a sense of reverent wonder. “Can you believe it? It all started here years ago—well, over four hundred of them at least. Under this very roof the Pathfinder Society was born." Shaine studies the room wistfully for a moment before continuing.
“But today! Today you will begin your Confirmation! Master Farabellus, Master Zey, and I all agree you each have shown your worth and dedication to the Society, so there’s no better time to see if you can handle becoming full field operatives. Allow me to introduce you to Janira Gavix,” he says as he motions for an excitable halfling woman to approach. She wears a large backpack and carries all manner of tools, pouches, and scroll cases around her waist. Shaine continues, saying, “Janira here will be going with you on your Confirmation. She was one of my brightest pupils and will no doubt be an invaluable resource on your journey, for she discovered the caves you are about to explore during her own Confirmation.”
Janira speaks up in an enthusiastic and cheerful voice, “Greetings, aspiring Pathfinders! Six months ago, while I was mapping cave entrances in the foothills of the Kortos Mounts, I witnessed a lone gillman entering a concealed cave. I thought little of it at the time, but I saw another one enter the cave again a month later as my Confirmation stretched on. A few days later, after I completed my assigned task, I entered the cave system, but was unable to find the gillmen.”
Master Shaine hops to his feet. “Initiates, for your Confirmation, you will travel to these caves to explore and document its many passages. Additionally, and most importantly, you are to learn what the gillmen are up to in there. Oh, and you need to come back alive as well.” With these parting words, the Master of Scrolls jumps off the table and strolls out of the building while humming to himself, as Janira turns her attention to your group, waiting for any questions.
At the center of the Isle of Kortos stand the Kortos Mounts, the points on the island.
Entire tribes of centaurs, harpies, and minotaurs constantly vie for territory up and around the Mounts, with harpies being the most common at higher altitudes and centaurs controlling the lower slopes and foothills.
Also known as the Low Azlanti, the gillmen are an amphibious humanoid race believed to be the last descendants of the ancient Azlanti people.
During Earthfall, the Starstone struck Golarion and destroyed the human empires of Thassilon and Azlant. It is said that gillmen’s ancestors survived the cataclysmic event because they received the blessing of an aquatic entity that allowed them to breath underwater.
Most scholars believe the terrifying aboleths were responsible for the gillmen’s transformation. Any alliance between them appears to have fallen apart over the millennia, however, and the gillmen are now an independent people.
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I have never seen any gillmen before. They don't tend to visit my father's monastery.
Karina picks up her dragon tooth necklace and places it under her monk's outfit before standing. I am ready to proceed. This will be my first adventure as a Pathfinder! I am very excited!
Karina adjusts her temple sword that is slung across her hip and tightens the straps on her backpack after standing up.
Janira is very exited about the mission and as you make your way out of the Grand Lodge she chats constantly with an eager grin. “After reviewing my mission reports personally, Master Shaine thought it no coincidence that each time they entered the caves it was during a full moon, so it is also no coincidence that you were called now, just a day before the moon is full again. We both believe that tomorrow night is our best chance to find out why these caves are important and what exactly the gillmen are doing in there."
“The caves we’ll be travelling to lie under the base of the Kortos Mounts. We’ll need to spend every minute of daylight possible to reach the caves by foot, crossing over the Cairnlands, taking the paths to Diobel, and finally making our way through the wilderness. With any luck we won’t run into any of the local inhabitants."
“What inhabitants, you ask? Well, the area we’re heading to is controlled by a large centaur tribe. If we cross paths with any of them, they’ll see horses as an affront and might become dangerously unfriendly, which is why we are traveling by foot. Remember, our mission is to explore the caves and investigate the gillmen activity, not fight the local populace. But I'm sure I don't have to tell you folks that."
"The areas farther up the Mounts are controlled by minotaurs, and the icy peaks are home to tribes of harpies. They’re always vying for territory, but we aren't treading too close to their territory, so we should be able to avoid them and reach the caves without conflict.” Janira ponders a moment. "Of course, there’s always the chance we may run into bandits along the way, and there are dozens of kinds of predators in that forest, but that’s why we should always be as prepared as possible.” Janira smiles, trying not to scare any new recruits.
"Once in the caves, we’ll need to work together to explore and determine whether any gillman are present or have been recently. Keep an eye out for any other clues that might hint at the caves’ significance, too.”
Within the city, Janira offers a few suggestions to those interested in purchasing adventuring gear. "Rope is probably a good idea, a light source, food, a way to make fire, any sources of healing. Additionally, if you can afford it, alchemist’s fire, antitoxins, and the like. Last, but not least, as a Pathfinder you need to report your findings, and do so accurately. If you need them, please take these." She passes out writing supplies and paper to anyone who doesn’t have it already.
A handsome comes rushing in. "Apologies...apologies. I was detained!"
Phyton looks through his gear and nods. "I have one flask of fire and one of acid, as well as a rope."
Moving along at a brisk pace, Janira seems energized to be out of the city. "When I was in training, we students used to head out into the Cairnlands to an abandoned siege tower called Asad's Keep. Many a recruit have some memorable adventure there." She says wistfully. "After a time, the area was nearly cleared of anything of interest, so now the Society has the recruits range a little further out."
Janira continues like this throughout the journey, with an unfettered enthusiasm, pointing out local landmarks, flora and fauna, and distant mountains. The journey through the Cairnlands is uneventful and after a full day's travel, the party stops and makes camp.
Rising the next morning, the party begins travelling westward again, hiking throughout the day. As the day begins to lengthen, the party progresses deeper into the forest, the trees towering overhead begin to shield most of what remains of the day’s sun and the vegetation beneath grows denser. Janira pauses a moment and pulls out an intricate silver compass emblazoned with the Pathfinder Society logo: the Glyph of the Open Road. “I received this wayfinder when I successfully completed my Confirmation. Should we be successful on our journey, you will get your own as well.” She flips open the device and holds it in front of her; the initials J. L. are engraved into the inside of the device’s lid.
After studying the compass inside for a moment, she remarks, “We’re on the right path. We need to keep heading northwest past those large rocks up ahead.”
Just as you begin to move again black swarms begin pouring out from a couple nearby dead tree stumps.
"Oh no! Spider swarms!" Janira shouts, pointing. "Everyone prepare yourselves!"
INITIATIVE
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Reesa was enthralled by the storytelling of Janira. "Your tales are so wonderful! Mi can't wait until I have a few of my own to tell! You are truly an inspiration for all we youngsters to look up to."
Reesa was surprised when the swarms jumped out at the group. She pulls her vial of alchemist's fire and prepares to throw it when the swarm to the south approaches within 15' of her.
Ranged touch attack
Damage
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"Clearly Erastil had forseen this", Arumael calmly douses himself with vermin repellant and throws the extra vial to Karina.
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Phyton also draws and readies to toss a flask of acid at the swarm.
Arumael produces a vial of sweet-smelling spice and sprinkles it upon himself with confidence.
Garry was just about to start singing, but Janira's rousing banter is doing that trick already. Instead he gets out his own alchemist fire and hurls it along with Phyton and Reesa.
Both swarms go up in flames and one disperses!
The other closes in and swarms over Janira, Macarius, though they avoid Arumael thanks to his fresh scent.
"Ooo, gross!" Janira squeals, unable to hold it together with so many crawling things all over her.
Once she has recovered from her arachnophobia, Janira looks around at the group. "I hate swarms!" She laughs at herself. "Good work Pathfinders! Anyone hurt? Here, I'll get that with my trusty healing wand. I suggest you get one, even if you can't use it, as soon as you can afford it. Saved my bacon more than once it did!" Janira heals Macarius' spider bites, then twirls the wand and stows it away again. "Well, I suppose we should keep moving then!"
Your small party continues on through the wilderness. However, a bit of bad luck finds you when a trail is blocked by a rock-slide, and a shortcut known to Janira is discovered to be overgrown since her last trip through. These minor delays are costing you time, and Janira asks if anyone has some survival skills that might help speed things along.
Phyton begins searching for the trail.
With helpful advice from her companions Reesa is able to find a rudimentary deer trail that heads in the right direction. The dense forest soon opens to a wide clearing at the base of a sheer cliff with thick vines stretching 30 feet overhead.
“Here! The cave entrance is behind those vines,” Janira says with a broad smile as she walks to the cliff’s face. She pulls back several layers of vegetation to reveal a narrow crack in the cliff’s surface. “This is where I saw the gillmen enter.” As she motions toward the aperture, the surrounding woods come alive with the sound of small animals fleeing some unseen danger and a large creature crashing through the undergrowth.
The halfling worriedly remarks, “Quick, take cover before whatever it is spots us!” As if she’d summoned the creature with her words, a massive horned monstrosity emerges from the trees. Standing eight feet tall on a pair of cloven hooves and wielding a tremendous axe, the bull-headed creature roars with unbridled anger when it spots the group. Wisely assessing that a minotaur is beyond her charges’ capabilities, Janira screams, “A minotaur! This isn't part of the plan. Here, take this bag,” she continues, pulling off her backpack, “and head deeper into the caves. Finish your mission. I’ll lead it away from the caves, lose it in the forest, and join you as soon as I can. Now go! GO!”
She heaves her backpack into the cave, casts a spell, and darts off toward the minotaur before turning to lure it away.
Phyton draws his sword. "To arms! We must aid our fearless leader!"