A Pathfinder Society Adventure Path designed for levels 3–5.
You are summoned by your contacts in the Society for a special mission. You are to travel to Sandpoint, a village in Varisia,
to meet with the local Sheriff Hemlock.
Departing immediately, you each arrive in Sandpoint and meet your teammates in the office of the local Sheriff.
He greets each of you and then closes the door to his small office.
"Greetings Pathfinders. I am so glad your Society
was able to send you so quickly to assist with our little problem.
We recently had a goblin raid, which is not unusual
for goblins to raid the town."
He turns to each of you with a serious look on his face.
"But it was the manner in how they raided...more organized than
usual and then some other events that have us concerned.
A half-elf named Tsuto, a local boy with a troubled past,
was somehow involved with these raids.
Although he was killed in the after-fighting,
we found his journal. This journal had plans that
led us to call your Society."
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The dwarf enters the room munching on a pungent, greasy sandwich. It seems to have all the spices the Varisians consider strong. He has a longbow slung over his shoulders, and his calloused hands shows he has used it. The mark of master bowyer adorn the handle which is grooved and worn. On his back ride an assortment of quivers that seem to be color coded to distinguish the large variety of arrow heads. Some are blunt, others shine silver, and others seem even more exotic.
"I'm Jory.", he says before unwrapping and starting on a second sandwich. The dwarf is uncharacteristically tall and slender. Maybe eating spicy foods does keep the weight off.
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"Aelfward Bloddyhanded" the tall Shoanti warrior replied to the dwarf. Over six feet tall and muscled like a circus strongman his shaved head and tattoed face and arms easily reveal his heritage. "You don't happen to speak Goblin do you? It's on my list of languages to learn but I simply haven't gotten to it yet."
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"Name's Andrazi. I can deal with some gobbos for ya."
Andrazi stands an even 6 feet tall and a little over 200 lbs. His shining olive skin is accentuated by his shaved bald head. However, unlike most of his kin, he wears little jewelry, save for a single earring on his left earlobe and a golden necklace with the symbol of Desna on it. Underneath his tunic you can spot a very shiny chainmail made of mithral.
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A scimitar-wielding Kelishite woman listens somberly. You think you may have seen her before, or perhaps she just has that kind of face. Her fingers dance subconsciously on the holy symbol of Sarenrae at her waist as her face darkens.
"It is a blessing when our Society's business allows us to leave a place better than we found it. My name is Kyra and I give you my word that if there is anything I can do to stop these bandits, I will. But you could have called many for aid, what was in that journal that made you call the Society?"
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The tall, slender elf chuckles a bit to himself at the aroma coming from the dwarf's sandwich. Oof, it has been a while since I've travelled with a dwarf, he thinks to himself.
Not quite as pale-skinned as most elves, Raoul keeps his black hair cropped short and slicked back.
He addresses his fellow Pathfinders with a slight bow, "I am Raoul Kasabian, student of the arcane. It is a pleasure to make the acquaintance of each of you." He then turns to Aelfward, "Though I am a student of many languages, I have yet to learn goblin. However, I do have a spell that could help us out if needed."
"Andrazi, I am certainly pleased to have your muscle on our side," Raoul notes, looking the Varisian up and down.
Turning his attention to the Sherriff, "What sort of plans were found in this young man's journal that would require Pathfinder assistance?"
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Another scimitar-welding woman, but this one seemingly of Cheliaxian decent, adds her thoughts to the conversation.
"You may call me Andraste," she glances at Kyra, noticing the symbol of Sarenrae, the same symbol that emblazons her own Scimitar, but quickly labels the Kelish woman as one of the more extremist members who often cause the dawnflower to be labeled as a mere cult. "I fear that I as well lack the means to understand the goblins in a timely manner, but I have many other languages which may be to our aid should the need arise." she looks at the rest of the group, they were a ragtag bunch to be certain, but this was rarely not true as a pathfinder anyway.
Andraste herself did not appear any more out of place then the others however, the chelish woman wearing breastplate with peasants garb, and a scimitar emblazoned with the symbolism of the dawnflower herself. This alone would be enough to make one wonder about the woman, but yet there was something else about her as well, she looked more at peace then most Cheliaxians, and if possible, less evil.
"I am also curious about why you sought the Pathfinders, not that it matters, we will do our best to aid you and your people in this matter."
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Kyra seems pleasantly surprised to see Andraste and the symbol of the Dawnflower.
"When we next rest I will implore Sarenrae to allow me to grant the ability to understand unknown tongues. She is always willing to help us understand each other. It may be very similar to what our elven compatriot can provide." She nods at Raoul.
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Jory smiles:
"My fourth mission involving contact with goblins--I consider myself a 'goblinologist' by now. I know you can talk to 'em, but do you really want to? I only met one goblin worth talking to, and she knew the common tongue."
Jory adds: "Dealing with goblins you want some horse meat and some alchemists fire. Better than pure diamonds when trading with 'em. Easy to sneak up on 'em 'cause they don't wash."
Jory looks at Raoul. "I can use some juice from this wand of magic armor when we move out. Feel free to use some yourself, as I think it may help you avert a shot or two."
Jory hands Raoul a wand with a looped thread with a pictogram of clear chain shirt on a parchment tag attached to it.
He says casually:
"I go in front and scout. I see traps, but I don't remove them. I am a skirmisher--I don't really retreat usually, just wait for the big boys to run ahead of me while I keep their heads down."
The Sherriff hands Raoul a small, leather-bound booklet.
It contains two dozen parchment pages, most
of which Tsuto has filled with maps of Sandpoint or
drawings of a female of some other worldly sort.
The maps each depict different attack plans.
"The first set shows the attack
plans for a group of 30 goblins—one of these battle
maps is circled, and the sheriff recognized it
as the attack the goblins made on Sandpoint a couple weeks ago."
Looking at Kyra to answer her question...
"What caught my eye were these specific pages..."
"The raid went about as planned. Few Thistletop
goblins perished, and we were able to secure Tobyn’s
casket with ease while the rubes were distracted by
the rest. I can’t wait until the real raid. This town
deserves a burning, that’s for sure.Ripnugget seems to favor the overwhelming land approach,
but I don’t think it’s the best plan. The rest except
Bruthazmus agree, and I’m pretty sure the bugbear’s just
being contrary to annoy me.My love’s too distracted with the lower chambers to make
a decision. Says that once Malfeshnekor’s released and
under her command, we won’t need to worry about being
subtle. I hope she’s right.My love seems bent on going through with it—nothing
I can say convinces her of her beauty. She remains
obsessed with removing what she calls her "celestial
taint" and replacing it with her Mother’s grace.
"We need you Pathfinders to investigate this lead as my forces are spread too thin and we cannot leave the city.
The mission is simple...Travel to Thistletop south of the city, determine if any goblinsor worse are massing for a larger raid, and then report back here."
Sherriff Hemlock hands Aelfward a map of the Sandpoint hinterlands marked with the
shows the location of Thistletop.
"Follow the Lost Coast Road east, they can reach the Thistle
River crossing relatively quickly—it’s only a 6-mile journey.
Any questions?"
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Raoul takes the wand from Jory, "I have one myself, but rarely have I used it. Whenever the inevitable skirmish breaks out, I suppose the opposing forces do not see me as much of a threat, apparently." He places Jory's wand in a safe place. "But I do appreciate your offer to use this on myself. I shall make even use of both your wand and mine."
The wizard then flips through the pages of Tsuto's notebook. He pauses at the different attack plans and the picture of the other-worldly female.
"Hmmm... this looks interesting..."
[dice=Knowledge (Planes) to determine this "other-worldly" woman's possible origin?]1d20+9[/dice]
He hands the journal back to the sheriff, or to another Pathfinder, should they want a look. "So, just observe and report? My experience tells me this task may end up to be not so simple. Call it 'Pathfinder's Intuition'."
The sheriff continues.
"Definitely not ordinary goblin activity. This is beyond what my office usually deals with.
We are equipped to handle drunks, bandits, the occasional murder or goblin,
but not anything of this type.
That is why I sent word. I am sure your team is better equipped to investigate
the problem than I could. I can lend a pack mule to carry supplies, although
the trip is not far, so you may not need it. "
After finishing your discussion with Sheriff Hemlock in Sandpoint, your group makes its way along the coastal road for the 6 miles. You reach the spot on the map just before noon.
The briars and thistles that grow so rampantly in
Nettlewood are even more dense and tangled here,
close to the shore. Although not quite dense enough
to block the sound of waves crashing on the unseen
shores to the west, the undergrowth is certainly thick
enough to block sight and access to the coast. Few
trees grow this close to the edge of the sea, but the
briars themselves often reach heights to rival them;
here, the patch is nearly twenty feet high.
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"Well, the woman looks to be demonic, or perhaps aasimar. Strange..." Raoul muses on the drawings in the notebook.
Before leaving Sandpoint, Raoul stops by a local arcanist to procure a couple of scrolls.
scroll of blur - 150 gp
scroll of invisibility - 150 gp
scroll of scorching ray - 150 gp
No goblins are visible.
Jory, Roaul and Kyra point out a place in the hedge
where the briars appear can be lifted aside
to reveal a 4-foot-high tunnel leading deeper into the briars.
They also notice the thorns that comprise the “walls” here are quite
damp; the fog every morning and evening must be thick as pea soup.
Aelfward notices the same "doorway" into tunnels under the briar canopy. The briars look like they would be painful to fall into, but not trapped from what he can tell. They appear to be indigenous to the area, as you spotted much smaller patches along the road. The large clustering of the briars at this point most likely provided the name of the place you seek.
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"That's fine. Raoul"
Looking into the tunnel entrance "Well, it doesn't appear to be trapped. I'm of two minds about going in there, however. On the one hand the goblins will likely have few or no traps on their hidden trails. On the other hand for most of us this is going to be very tight quarters with us have to bend over, couch down, or even crawl to travel it. Which will make weilding weapons difficult. To me it boils down take the larger more accessable path which is probably filled with traps and ambush points, or take the secret path which is probably safer. On the first path we will have more options to deal with trouble, the second less. What do you think we should do?"
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"Hmmm, skirmishing in the tunnel may be more difficult, but as you have pointed out - the more open path presents uncertainties as well. I'm sure our goblin friends are much less likely to expect us using their hidden trail, so the element of surprise would lie with us..."
The elf rubs his chin and slicks his hair back as he thinks. "I must concur with our dwarven friend - I say I prefer the tunnel."
I never thought I'd agree with a dwarf.
Jory moves into the tunnel without having to stoop. About 10' in the tunnel forks.
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"Eh, what seems to be the hold-up, Jory?" Raoul gingerly makes his way up to the dwarf and peers over his head.
"Ah, a fork in the road, eh? Shall we flip a coin? Let me try to peer around and see if either way seems better."
Raoul rubs his temples a little, as if he were massaging a headache, and then takes a look down both paths, hoping to spot any visible dangers.