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Everyone in the party will have received a letter from Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin, tasking you with brushing up on your adventuring skills.
With the note from Venture-Captain Valsin in hand, you're left with your thoughts at Absalom's western gate. You know that passage has been arranged by Venture-Captain Valsin to the Cairnlands to the west, where the Red Redoubt awaits.
And so, you wait for a small caravan that should arrive shortly. You spend the time eyeing up the various travellers around you. You were to expect at least five others, where could they be?
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"Well better prepare." Safa begins to do stretches and getting herself pumped for this obstacle course. They probably figured that her physical prowess was a good way to test this course. Every few seconds she shifts her body to a new pose. If a monk was watching, they would be embarrassed for her. Her technique is terrible and a lot of the times just made up.
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Zeviss looks around and scratches his cheek, an awkward expression pasted on his wan face. Oof. What have we gotten ourselves into now? Given the nature of phantoms and Pathfinders' attitudes toward undead in general, he's not really keen on the idea of manifesting Haven before he gets the chance to warn the group ahead of time.
...then again, he can't really tell who he's supposed to be traveling with, so that could take a while.
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Human being solidly built, the skin and the hair, long and attached, are both colored with black and brown. Two daggers can be seen on a shoulder strap along the trunk. His clothes have tones of blues and whites. A spiraling comet lays on his breast, as an holy symbol.
He looks at the other ones around him. So they will be his teammates for this mission. Well, a mission. More a training. As if he had time to spend for a training. So many dangers lurking around them and the Venture-captain Ambrus Valsin send them here only for a training. Well, let’s see.
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Cork follows the directions to the meeting point. A few people are already gathered there. A stout looking Garundi and a half-elf are standing there while a woman seems to be doing some sort of contortions.
He approaches the three of them.
"Hi all. I'm Cork. Are you all here because of this?" He flashes his note from Valsin.
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Oops follows the directions, nervous for his second adventure. He doesn’t know if he’s gonna be good enough but Jimx makes sure to keep reassuring him.
Excuse me is this the meeting place? He eyes the group looking for a letter matching his. Well, you can call me oops, this is my friend Jinx, nice to meet you guys! Oops is a 4 ft, 60lb gnome with yellowish tinted skin and orange hair. Perched on his shoulder is a jet black raven.
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Before heading out to the Red Redoubt, as Pathfinder agents, you’ll have done your due diligence in gathering as much information and intelligence as you can on the place, either through research, rumour-mongering, or recollection of your prior knowledge.
Diplomacy (gather information) DC 15/20/25 - none
Knowledge (arcana) DC 20 - none
Knowledge (dungeoneering/engineering) DC 15/20 - Cork 19
Knowledge (history) DC 15/20/25 - Cork 22
Knowledge (local) DC 15/20/25 - none
In his travels, Cork has heard tell of the Red Redoubt of Karamoss, and as you wait for your sixth member of your adventuring party, he regales the party with tales of the curious structure; Like how The Red Redoubt is constructed almost entirely of a How supposedly, the entire structure rose in a single night. The fact that it was a siege castle created more than 1,000 years ago by the Karamoss in a failed attempt to conquer Absalom, and that his armies included .
As you wait at the gate, a small merchant caravan approaches the city gates, and the driver notices you five decked out with your adventuring gear. "Let me guess; Pathfinders, out to tour the Redoubt? Can I interest you in any supplies or provisions before you head out on your task?"
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A camel-led cart approaches the gate, with two amber-skinned men in Katapeshi garb atop the bench seat. The older driver tells his camels to stop, then catches your eyes while holding his hand up in a simple greeting. "Salutations! You are Valsin's most recent group, yes? I will take you to the Redoubt.
You clamber into the back of the cart, and with the combination of a whistle and a slight lash of the reins, the cart creaks forward down the road to the west.
The mid-day sun beats down from a cloudless sky, but the rugged landscape surrounding you diffuses the light as if through a stained glass window composed entirely of crimson panes. The deep red metal walls (beaten and broken by the passage of nearly one thousand years’ time) form an obstacle course through the landscape.
Clearly, when the Red Redoubt of Karamoss was named, it was not done ironically.
The marked path through the ruins of the siege castle leads to a large central chamber open to the sky above. Aside from the metallic flooring, walls, and rubble, nothing remains of the so-called “Machine Mage” Karamoss or his lost armies.
Refuse, old campfire rings, and other signs of life attest to the place being a haven for scavengers and vagabonds. The chamber before you houses a large, 30-foot circular hole in the metal floor, but one that is walled, a shaft with smoothly rolled edges that demonstrate superbly uniform craftsmanship.
A rope ladder descends into the shaft, anchored securely by pitons hammered into the floor panels.
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Before the merchant leaves Cork finds a nice looking amulet. "I'll take this," he tells the merchant and hands over a large pile of gold.
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Cork looks around the redoubt as the cart rumbles through. When it stops, he hops out of the back and goes over to the shaft in the floor. He peers down into the depths. "This is interesting. I suppose that we're doing to go down there."
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Zeviss steps over to the side, appearing almost relieved that they’ve arrived. “Alright - whatever you’re about to see, try not to freak out.” With that ambiguous warning left hanging in the air, he closes his eyes and begins to channel... something into the space nearby.
After about a minute passes, the shadowy form coalescing nearby reveals itself to be a hunched, dripping spectre of a woman who might have once been beautiful, but has been horribly disfigured by unknown sources. Zeviss wipes some beads of sweat off his forehead and gestures toward the phantom. “Haven here is going to help us with today’s challenges.”
Once the manifestation is completed, he peers at the opening and shrugs. “Another day, another dark hole to climb down. Let’s do it!” Haven seems significantly less enthusiastic.
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Climbing down the rope ladder, you find yourself in the middle of a red steel chamber. As you reach the bottom, you notice that the floor beneath your feet at the bottom of the shaft is canted at a slight angle. Looking 15 feet from every angle around you, you notice a seam where the floor was probably a circular platform of sorts that fit flush with the rest of the room, but at some point in the past thousand years, this 30’ foot disc you’re standing on has sank a foot or so.
Once off the 30’ circular part of the floor, you notice that the floors around the room’s perimeter are solid and even, with a slight textured surface to give better footing on the normally-smooth metal. The walls are riveted metal plates, fallen or torn off in places to reveal solid rock behind. Recessed slabs of metal with adjacent panels, presumably exits, are centered on each wall. Of what you assume are five doors, all but the northern one are marked with the triple-circle symbol that you know to mean “Do Not Enter” from Venture-Captain Valsin's letter.
The panel beside the northern door glows dimly, illuminating scorch marks and glistening red stains around it.
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Safa approaches the doorway, and she sees more of the red liquid. It’s all over the floor, and some has been strewn about the walls surrounding the door. It is even on the glowing panel next to the door, with a meaty handprint on it, still wet to the touch.
Upon closer examination of this macabre display, however, she can tell that it is some form of marker dye, not blood. A cluster of footprints have trampled through the mess, but it is difficult to ascertain exactly how many pairs of feet have done so.
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Oops mainly sits back and talks to Jinx, those paying attention make out that he’s talking about a previous adventure with flaming pumpkins, dancing, singing, and some creature called a leshy. Jinx fly down that hole and let me know it’s safe. When they get inside the tunnel, Oops casts light on his dagger, and then casts detect magic on the room. Well what’s all this read stuff? Is it blood?
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With Cork's insight, Zeviss recognizes the material to be a unique alloy of iron and the skymetal djezet called djezeteel.
With no handle or keyhole on the door to the next room, the only distinguishing feature is the glowing panel with the red handprint.
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Upon touching the panel, the light shifts in colour, and the door slides open, retracting into the stone and metal wall. The 10 foot wide corridor ahead is dark, completely absent of any light, apart from the remains of the daylight coming through the shaft to the surface above, and the light spell emanating from Oops' dagger, there are no light sources to be seen further in.
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After roughly five minutes of walking, you notice that the corridor comes to a crossroads, branching in four directions.
Straight ahead to the north, and on your left hand side to the west, the tunnels appear to continue unobstructed. But the eastern branch to the right is blocked with a stout metal grating marked with the sign of three crimson circles within a triangle - “do not enter”, as you recall from your letter from Venture-Captain Valsin.
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Unless you say that outloud, Safa continues down a little ways. She will try to remain unheard or noticed if any corners down the path. Also would like to keep her senses keen with a perception. If her party stops she will stop too but still keep her attention on the surrounding area and not so much on them.
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No one senses any possible danger, so Safa and Cork start off down the hall to turn the corner to the left path. Safa feels something against her shin, and the tension releases with a audible snap.
A split second later, a noise comes from both walls around them!
Safa barely manages an exclamation to warn Cork as she dives out of the way - the trap clasps on her leg, but she is relieved when realizes that it was not the metal walls that closed in upon her and poor Cork; the crushing contraption was made only of wicker.
Adding insult to injury, bladders filled with bright pink marker dye were attached to these wicker screens, which exploded upon clapping together. Cork is covered head to toe, and Safa's leg is a brilliant rose-colour from the thigh down.