Echos of The Desert (Legacy of Fire AP)

Game Master Rafael Bronzatti

“The desert is a harsh and cruel mistress. Obey her warnings, and you will be
lucky only to receive her lash. Ignore her, and she will forget you, and then you
shall be truly lost.” —Admonishment of gnoll slavers to their underlings, loosely translated

Seeking Adventure: The Pathfinder Society has long intrigued you—tales of the exotic lands and strange discoveries made by Pathfinders have enchanted your dreams and fired your imagination since childhood. When Pathfinders came through your village or neighborhood, they immediately enthralled you with their stories and knowledge. Yet at the time, you were far too young to join them, and when they left for adventure you had to stay behind. Now that you are of age, you’ve traveled to Absalom to apply for membership. The application process went well, and you’re now a full member. Your first assignment is to accompany Garavel’s group to Kelmarane—the Pathfinder Society has heard rumors of several ancient structures in the area, including a ruined monastery once dedicated to Sarenrae, and would like to learn more about them. Even more pressing is the mystery of what brought about Kelmarane’s ruin in the first place—reports of which are vague at best. If you can determine the cause of the village’s abandonment so many years ago, you’re sure the Society would be impressed. You begin the game with your own wayfinder, a loan from your venture-captain. You’ve promised to pay your venture-captain 500 gp for the wayfindersome day, but for now it’s yours to use. A wayfinderis a magical compass that grants you a +2 circumstance bonus on Survival checks to avoid becoming lost, and can be commanded to emit light as the spell (CL 5th) as a standard action.

Reclaiming your Roots: Your interest in the village of Kelmarane is more personal than most of the others who are heading out to aid in the reclamation. You aren’t seeking revenge against gnolls, glory, money, or anything else—to you, this is purely a matter of honor, as Kelmarane is where you were born. Your were forced to flee the village when you were only a few years old, and you didn’t discoverer this until a few years ago—perhaps you found an old document that revealed the truth, or maybe you learned the news from a relative. Both of your parents are now dead, and from what you’ve been able to piece together, one of your parents actually died in the village when whatever happened there happened. Your surviving parent spirited you away to safety to grow up elsewhere, but never spoke of Kelmarane and always told you that your other parent died when you were a child in a horrific tragedy like a fire or a flood that swept away the body. Now that you’ve started to uncover the truth, you are convinced that your heritage remains hidden in Kelmarane. Whether you just wish to find out what really happened to your parent that died there or you want to rebuild the village in his or her honor is up to you—but Garavel’s caravan to the village is just the opportunity you’ve been waiting for. When your other parent died recently, among his or her effects was a single item that once belonged to the parent who died at Kelmarane. This item is your most valued possession—a piece of jewelry worth 350 gp, any masterwork weapon or armor worth no more than 350 gp, or a wand containing any 1st-level spell (CL 1st) with only 20 charges remaining. If you ever lose this item, your resulting depression imposes a –1 penalty on Will saves for 1 year.

Gnoll Killer: You grew up in rural Katapesh, in a region where gnoll activity was a fact of life. You killed your first gnoll at a young age when a group of gnoll slavers attacked your village, home, or caravan, and your hatred of gnolls has only grown since then. Something in your past fueled your hatred of gnolls even further—perhaps your family was slaughtered by gnolls, or maybe you even served a few harrowing weeks as a prisoner of a gnoll tribe before a miraculous escape. When you heard that Garavel was looking for brave men and women to aid in retaking the village of Kelmarane from a tribe of gnolls in the service of the notorious Carrion King, you knew you had to be part of the group, and signed up immediately. You gain a +1 trait bonus on attack rolls and weapon damage rolls made against gnolls. If you are a barbarian and you’re fighting gnolls, your rage lasts 1 round longer than normal. If you’re a ranger and you select humanoid (gnoll) as a favored enemy, your trait bonus on attack rolls and weapon damage rolls against gnolls increases to +2. If you’re a spellcaster, you gain a +1 trait bonus to spell save DCs for damaging spells against gnolls.

Missionary: You’ve spent much of the last several years serving your faith, and the conviction and dedication to your church has impressed many. Perhaps you’ve donated much of your personal wealth or time to serving the church, or you’re the child of a powerful or well-loved member of the church, an orphan raised by the church, or a foundling with a strange birthmark that bears more than a passing resemblance to your faith’s holy symbol. The faith has long supported you, and you are eager to repay the church in some way. In Katapesh, the establishment of a new village is always cause for interest to the nation’s churches, as establishing new temples in villages is an excellent way to expand upon the church’s
resources and bring in more faithful. If the Pactmasters’
plans to revitalize and rebuild Kelmarane are successful,
the village will need a temple, and your faith is keenly
interested in being represented there. This campaign trait is particularly suited to worshipers of Sarenrae, as Kelmarane was founded near an old monastery dedicated to the Dawnflower, and reconsecrating that monastery is of great interest to Sarenrae’s church. Furthermore, a temple dedicated to her once stood in Kelmarane itself, but it has long since fallen into ruin; whispers among the religion tell that the church’s old pastor may have fallen from grace and may even have been part of the cause of the hard times that befell the village. You’ve joined Garavel’s band in hopes of helping to establish a new temple in the soon-to-be revitalized village. You’ve been selected for your dedication to the church and your strong social graces—pick one of the following skills: Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Knowledge (religion), Perform (any), or Sense Motive. You gain a +1 trait bonus on checks using that skill, and it is always considered a class skill for you.

Finding Haleen: You never knew your parents—perhaps they died when you were a child, or maybe you were taken from them and raised elsewhere as a slave. You owe your sanity and your life to a woman named Haleen. She could be your sister or merely a childhood companion, but whatever your relationship to her, she took care of you and protected you. She’s always been a part of your life, and although her temper often kept her from making friends or keeping a job, she’s always been kind to you. Haleen was instrumental in securing your freedom from slavery or making sure you got a good apprenticeship or job in society—but recently, she’d been growing strangely morose and depressed. You and Haleen normally kept no secrets, but whatever was bothering her wasn’t something she shared with you. One night, she vanished, leaving you a brief note, begging you to forget her and to get on with your life, but something about the note bothered you—something in the way she phrased her words struck you as forced. You may be convinced she’d been kidnapped, forced to leave against her will, or even magically controlled, but you also suspect that she left you to protect you from something—that was ever her way. You’re now convinced that it’s time for you to step in and protect her, but you had no idea where she may have gone until recently. Several months have passed since she disappeared, and you’ve spent those months searching for clues to her location, and you’ve finally found a lead—a mysterious note, a strange dream, the result of a back-alley divination, or a report of a sighting of a woman matching Haleen’s description has come to you, placing Haleen in the vicinity of an old ghost town named Kelmarane. What she’s doing there and how she came to be there makes nosense to you yet, but the lead is the strongest one you’ve had. This and Garavel’s advertisement for mercenaries to accompany him to the region is all the omen you need. You joined Garavel’s group and eagerly await the day you’ll be leaving for Kelmarane. Although Haleen chose to become a swashbuckling adventurer, she always encouraged you to seek your own path, and her support is the primary reason you chose the class you did at 1st level. This class is always a favored class to you, and your dedication to it is such that every time you take a level in the class, you gain +1 hit point and 1 additional skill point over and above what you would normally gain.

Role: As a wielder of a weapon first and foremost, the soulknife excels as a front-line combatant on the battlefield. Her limited armor options and defensive abilities can be a hindrance, but her varied blade abilities can make her an excellent mobile warrior or battlefield controller.

Bonus feat, form mind blade, shape mind blade, throw mind blade, Wild Talent

stats
str 20
dex 20 (18+2 human race modifer)
con 17
wis 16
int 13
cha 9 (or 10 GM correction needed)
Alignment: CN

Hit Die: 13 (d10+3 con mod)

Starting Wealth 600

Class Skills: Acrobatics (Dex), Autohypnosis* (Wis), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (psionics)* (Int), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Stealth (Dex), and Swim (Str).

*New skill or expanded use of existing skill.

Skill Ranks Per Level: 5 (4+1 from human race) + Int modifier. Skills Acrobatics (Dex), Autohypnosis* (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (psionics)* (Int), Perception (Wis) and Stealth (Dex).
feats Psionic Weapon [Psionic], weapon focus (mindblade)and Two-Weapon Fighting.
traits Gnoll Killer,Desert treasure hunter (reflavored Rich Parents trait starting gp now 600 not 900) and Desert Nomad.

equipment studded leather (25 gp), waterskin 10 (10 gp), trail rations 10 (5 gp),dagger (2 gp), four light crossbows (140 gp), crossbow bolts (80 so 8 gp) tent (10 gp, carriage (100 gp) 2 Ponies combat trained (90 gp for both) to pull the carriage, 10 feed (per day) (5 sp) and Hireling, untrained (four cp a day, reason will be explained in story).

Quillo as it turned out was quite good at directing animals and was soon employed as the carriage driver. On a rate of coin good enough to feed himself of course, as a great debt was owed to Sciri Valik one that halfling had to repay. (Quillo should be treated as a level one commoner with a high handle animal skill). Now Sciri Valik gathers brave adventurers on the hunt for Gnolls, adventure and of course great profit.

Kharvus stares out at empty desert, pondering his life, the events that brought him here to the surface, his goal. Living in a deep community of dwarves far beneath the earth, refugees from Zolurket. Learning to commune with the earth and harness its power and strength. Then, learnign that his twin Khriva, living as an adventurer in the outside world, had died in a place called Kelmarane. How strange it was to be on the surface, and to see the fabled sun for the first time! How the land baked under its glare! Kharvus travelled to Kelmarane, and retrieved his sister's belongings, including the fine crystal before him. Now, he ponders what the future holds for him.

I was thinking to play Kharvus as someone who has learned the traits of a monk, though perhaps not a monk in the traditional sense. He is a bit cloistered in the sense that he is a deep dwarf, having only just ventured out from below the earth for the first time. His campaign trait is Reclaiming your Roots, but with your permission I'd like to tweak it just a bit. Rather than growing up in Kelmarane and reclaiming his heritage, I wanted to change it to Kharvus travelling to that settlement because his twin sister had ended up there through her adventuring career. She has recently died fending off gnoll raiders, and Kharvus has been dispatched to retrieve her belongings. He also wants to see the place that his sister Kriva called home, and understand why the surface world called to her so. The surface world is a bit alien to him, but his heart is good. As per the trait, perhaps he could start with a 350gp-value gem, a reminder of his sister and a focus for his meditations.