As each of you enters the alleyway the coordinates led you to, you realize that you've never been here before and that the cartographers of town maps that had so adequately aided you in the past were completely unaware of this dank and isolated locale.
The cobblestone path beneath your feet reeks of urine and excrement while small clouds of flies buzz lazily around heaps of putrefying refuse. Not a soul in sight you step warily into this festering armpit in the great metropolis of Absalom.
At the far end of the alley stands a steel bound wooden door built at the base of a small, worn set of stone stairs. A wooden sign hangs haphazardly from a crooked nail in the door, the sign seemingly made from a piece of driftwood and bearing the words 'Ode...n o... Re...lecti...n'
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Skizzit almost coughed with disgust as he walked through the alley, keeping well away from whatever flies he could avoid, lest their attraction to him cause them to swarm about him.
In other cases, he might take a deep breath to relieve such tension, but it was obvious that would not be a good idea here. Instead, he pinched his nose shut with mage hand and tried to bare it.
Squeak lay relaxed on his shoulder, nearly asleep.
Kunfahliil narrows his eyes at Skizzit from his mounted position atop of Gruin.
'seems I'm not alone' he thinks
Getting here had not been easy, especially because running around the city while riding a dinosaur was apparently not something that was looked kindly upon.
Gruin chuffs to get his attention and Kunfahliil reigns his mind back in
"Gruin, go". As his partner resumed his walk deeper into the alley, Kunfahliil stays silent and let's the loud thumps of Gruins footfalls echo through the alley until he stands directly behind Skizzit and gives him a long sniff.
Benedict crawls along the walls, expecting anything. After all, alleyways were the usual place for danger and evil deals.
As he sneaks his way to the meeting place the coordinates led to, he feels a little bile well up in his throat. "Oh my," he says disgustedly
As he nears a door, he hears the thundering of dinosaur steps "Oh myyy..."
Kejak is standing in front of the door.
He's carefully looking for any signs of a trap or ambush, but there seem to be none. Seems a strange place, but the directions are clear. It is here.
Some weeks ago, Kejak was enjoying a fresh drink in a tavern, recovering after his last adventure. His partners at the time and him were talking about their future plans, and when Kejak said he'd like to see Absalom, an old man from one of the tables nearby reached to him and gave him a scrap of paper with some erratic scripts on it.
-Going to Absalom, you say? Be sure to check the direction in the paper, you'll find what you need there.
So here he is. A trap? Help? A mission? He doesn't know, but somehow he feels an important part of his destiny is inside there. So he reaches his hand to open the door...
As each of you enters the pungent alleyway you begin to question all decisions you've made in your life and how each one of them has led you to standing in a putrid dung-heap of a place.
The alleyway initially seemed quite narrow but had somehow subtly expanded to accommodate you all, the slight form of Benedict slipping up close to the wooden door bearing the sign.
Skizzit deftly skirts the refuse while suffering the almost hilarious caress of entire clouds of buzzing insects, the tiny creatures nuzzling the rat-man lovingly, something he clearly found uncomfortable.
The thunder of a massive dinosaur should have at least shook a few roof tiles loose but the nearby masonry simply swelled outwards to allow the beast and its rider's passage, Kunfahliil noticing the effect almost immediately.
As your hand brushes the door handle you notice a slight shimmer at the corners of your eyes and the distinct smell of ozone fills your nostrils. A thrum begins from behind you as the far end of the alley seems to swallow itself up and the sky disappears into an impenetrable darkness.
The door flies open almost knocking you down and a swirling vortex of electrically-charged magic lies within, small scintillating bolts of arcane energy licking your body as it pulls you in.
You manage to scrabble at the cobblestones as the vortex tugs at your body, the lightning seemingly grabbing at you and wrapping about your limbs.
A few moments pass as you notice that the darkness above you has engulfed your field of view and the familiar structures about you have dissolved into it. The cobblestones begin disassociating nearby and start spinning off into the nothingness.
As the stones you hold onto finally dissolve you are quickly jerked through the doorway and into the swirling maelstrom of magic.
Some wizards argue that interplanar travel is a quiet and rapid process, the magically-induced wormhole enabling almost instant travel to distant worlds. This was not such a portal.
The energy ripping you through this lightless realm is warm and something tells you that you should be thankful as your breaths produce small plumes of ice crystals that drift into the void around you. A ringing begins in your ears and blinding light builds from your periphery, the vague curve of a spherical object of immense size barely visible before you suddenly halt.
The light fades but the ringing remains. You find yourself on the stage of a vast theater-like structure built from massive stone blocks, the passage of time barely noticeable but an instinct tells you that this place has seen eons pass.
The ringing fades as a shadow appears over head, the outline of a massive object descending from high above is obvious. Red flames wreath the comet as it descends towards you, the heat beating down on you and the screams of nearby crowds of people become deafening... there we no people here just a moment ago...
-Everybody seek cover and brace yourselves!
Kejak pretends to follow his own example. After all he's been through in the last minutes, anything can happen, but he can't help sticking to his own logic: run away from where the comet is supposed to land, and search for cover to protect him from the incoming blast. Maybe... behind the theatre!
-C'mon, get yourselves out of here!
As you duck behind the great stone steps you hear a deafening explosion as the enormous comet succumbs to the pressure building within.
Thousands of meteors of all varying sizes impact in the distance, the tremors from which knock people around you down and they all scramble for cover nearby. A little human boy with dark skin and violet eyes looks up at you and shivers in terror, his face somehow familiar.
A dark shadow looms overhead and the core of the descending meteor blazing past you into the distance and impacting the ground in an explosion of dirt and debris.
The sky begins to darken and the slow crawl of something towering and stretching across the horizon is visible.
This child looks on with you and mouths the word: TSUNAMI. His eyes wide in fear, the other people all running away from the imminent destruction.
Good Heavens.
-Come here, little friend.
Kejak takes the boy in his arms before even knowing what to do.
Now, how do we escape a tsunami? Run, of course... and... find somewhere high!
He takes a quick look around, searching for a place which would withstand the water, and conducts himself and the boy there.
You grab the boy, a familiar warmth suffusing you as you reach the highest step, the only genuine landmark within sight.
Looking back at the wave, it has traveled an incredible distance, the wall of water's shadow covering you and the boy in darkness just before it envelopes the stoneworks...
The water swirls around you, tearing the boy from your grasp. The feel of liquid and wet are familiar but the lack of pressure and your ability to breathe confuse you greatly.
The water level vanishes and at the center of the stage in a voluminous grey robe stands a solitary figure.
"Thus began the Age of Darkness,"the figure's voice is gravelly, the sound of metal scraping against metal discombobulating your sensibilities,"an era of dread and terror for Golarion and the harbinger of a singular being, the greatest human born up to that point."
The tall figure glides towards you silently, its legs not moving and its arms tucked together before it.
"You have been chosen for a great task, aasimar,"the figure pulls back its hood revealing a mechanical face, the machine parts whirring and clicking as it speaks,"As I, Solivagus, have deemed the necessity for a journey far beyond anything you have ever undergone..."
The mechanical being turns and gazes absentmindedly towards a different part of the theater,"I was expecting... more of you..."
Benedict stares in disbelief at what he just saw. Slack-jawed, he says, Wow ...
He looks around at the fellow occupants of the alleyway and says; "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going after him," and jumps through the door/portal.
Kunfahliil tilts his head at the door in front of him, and looks back at Gruin; who was lazily following a fly with his eyes, completely disinterested in the current location.
"I don't think your fitting in this door buddy...I guess you'll have to wait for me". He pats Gruins snout and grabs for the door.
Benedict stares in disbelief at what he just saw. Slack-jawed, he says, Wow ...
He looks around at the fellow occupants of the alleyway and says; "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going after him," and jumps through the door/portal.
Init: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20
Benedict cautiously eyed the door, contemplating whether to go through it or not "Should I ... "
As you consider what lies beyond the door a infinitesimal notion surfaces in the back of your mind: This your destiny... do it... go through the door... glory awaits...
"I've got to do it," Benedict says with determination.
He knows in the back of his mind there's something behind that door, so he slowly, warily turns the doorknob.
The door knob is very warm to the touch and as you turn it it offers no resistance whatsoever, creaking open you peer into the strange darkness beyond.
You notice movement at the corners of your eyes and from behind you you hear shocked shouts from your compatriots as the sky above is engulfed by a dark pink material of some kind, the surface of which layered in long, horizontal ridges.
The tiles and bricks of the surrounding buildings transforming into giant, human-sized teeth, fetid breath washing over you through the doorway.
The transformation of the alleyway around you all is near instantaneous and nearest the door, Benedict looks markedly unsettled.
As if to amplify your ensuing panic, the cobblestones beneath your feet begin to feel soft to the touch and coated in a thick, sticky film. The only remaining light blocked out by a massive shape that you all realize is the new ground lifting up and rolling in your direction, pushing you all slowly towards the door...
The sudden shift in environment elicits a rumbling growl from Gruin as you both begin tumbling down the steadily inclining terrain, the massive carnivore lashing out vainly for purchase and carving deep gouges into the ground.
The damage to the ground draws forth a bubbling crimson fluid that smells disturbingly like blood and as the transformed alleyway shudders in all-too-lifelike a way a deep, guttural sound reverberates around you.
You try to blink away the horrible turn of events that has transpired in a few scant moments: the entire alleyway has transformed into some huge mouth that was now swallowing you all.
As you process this the scant daylight has vanished but not before you see the flailing form of a massive dinosaur careening towards you.
Deftly leaping to one side you latch on to the warm, moist wall nearby, the material you're gripping shuddering slightly.
-Necessity... for whom?- Kejak realises he's still in a crouched posture to protect the now non-existent boy, so he draws himself up. -Who are you? What are your plans and why have you included me on them?
A gust of warm air sucks you into the gaping abyss that was once the doorway and you tumble into the darkness beyond...
After a few moments of terror in the wet darkness of this giant mouth-thing, you all find yourselves somehow near one another, careening through a fathomless darkness all around you.
Around you grows a faint light that coalesces into a series of images: a small dark-skinned boy cowering in terror, a noble dark-skinned man lifting his hands to the sky as an immense structure emerges from beneath churning waters, a cloaked figure wandering alone through a hellscape beyond your imaginations, the glimpse of which causing you all to momentarily black out.
You snap back to awareness as a disembodied voice begins to speak:"Eons have passed since the imprisonment of the greatest threat to all of existence... one being dared rise to the challenge and save his people... now you have been chosen to change the fate of all that is... failure means utter annihilation for all of reality... success is a fool's bargain but I believe in you all... He would believe in you..."
The voice fades out as the images swirl into a distinct sphere of white light and you all feel the sphere pull you into it...
"Relax, dear Kejak, you have been chosen, like I said,"Solivagus' tone betrays a mild irritation,"and to save the entirety of existence, unless you deem yourself unworthy for such a task?"
The strange being shifts back to looking at you, the smell of oil and incense wafts towards you as a faint hum reaches your ears.
"Your world's fate hangs in the balance and your gods would wait for the apocalypse to be upon you rather than do anything in their power to avoid it,"a clear growl issues from his mechanical vocal chords, the sound dissonant yet melodious,"I disagree with such ideals. I would do all in my power to undo the horrors before they begin but I need the aid of one other, a man once... a god also."
"Ah, more arrivals, seems you have some company, Kejak."
Solivagus nods towards a strange circle of light forming about ten feet above the stage. In quick succession a rat-man, a large carnivorous dinosaur, a grizzled beast of a man, and a rather confused looking man dressed in elegant attire unceremoniously plop out onto the stage.
"Glad to see you could make it. I am Solivagus,"intones a rather tall and odd-looking machine-being,"please be seated so we can begin, I shall answer all questions in due time."
Solivagus gestures towards the stone steps of this ancient stone theater that lay bare to the elements.
Kejak stands still, dozens of questions boiling in his brain. Above all, a suspicion about this man's true goals.
Is Kejak -and the others- being manipulated? Will they perform some dangerous task, believing they're doing it to save Creation itself, only to fulfill this Solivagus' agenda?
The other person you see is a well-built individual of clearly exotic descent.
He appears to be standing and balling his fists incredibly hard, beads of sweat forming on his forehead and the tendons in his neck are taut.
The bizarre machine being smiles, its lips formed from some kind of highly malleable metal and its eyes glint in a dark green light.
"Do not be afraid, my friends, all shall be explained."
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Skizzit's eyes widen a bit as he looks at the creature, petting Squeak to calm him as the rat takes deep breathes to calm himself. Not recognizing the creature, he opens his mouth. "Who are you?" he asks. At the same time, he thinks deeply, searching his knowledgebase for any hints of the creature's identity.
He also studies the creature's face, trying to discern any ill intent, and discern if he lies about his identity.
You recall a particularly strange tome covered in numbers and bound in powerful axiomatic magics. The book spoke of a strange race of mechanical beings that sometimes waylayed time-travelling wizards. Depending on the variety they would kill or simply detain the offender.
This being looked nothing like the pictures suggested.
"Another questing soul among you, this is heartening," Solivagus' voice reverberates softly in your head,"Please be seated, Skizzit, and assist your friend Kejak here, he is having similar doubts about me."
As he says Kejak you gain the immediate impression Solivagus means the rather tense individual near the stone steps. His words betray no ill will that you can discern.
Kunfahliil looks around in disturbed fascination, this place was like nothing he had ever seen before! Looking at Gruin, Kunfahliil notices his friend was growling at the machine man, he could feel Gruins unease and fear.
Softly nuzzling his face into Gruins side, Kunfahliil says
"Gruin, calm down." The words have the intended effect and the Allosaurus calms down, but not before sending a hungry glare at the rodent on Skizzits shoulder.
Happy to have passified his freind ,he turns to Solivagus and asks
"wise creature, what need do you have of Kunfahliil?"
"Your strength, Kunfahliil, and that of your brother, Gruin," the being nods with a smile,"A quest full of mighty foes and the promise of immortality should you all succeed."
The last words Solivagus speaks are louder than his others, clearly directed at the group.
"What if don't succeed, strange machine?"
Benedict also tries to remember someone/thing like Solivagus in his studies.
"Death," the being's voice is low and gravelly as he utters the word.
You vaguely recall overhearing some mages discussing the existence of a wondrous plane of mechanical things, some of which were humanoid. Maybe this is one of those... 'beings'.
Kejak tries to relax a bit, though the feeling that all these could en up being a big mistake still lingers...
-Alright. Tell us what you have prepared, and we'll see.
And, as you can apparently read my mind, you already know what's in it for you if you're deceiving us...
Kejak sits down in lotus position and pays attention.
"You have no idea how necessary that attitude is, Kejak," the voice echoing in your mind seems almost giddy with joy,"rebelliousness and skepticism, two traits your ancient patron crafted from a universe without reason. My search has not been in vain this day..."
As you all settle in on the giant stone steps, the being calling itself Solivagus floats roughly 8ft off of the center of the stage.
"Welcome, dear comrades, to my world," he makes a dramatic sweeping gesture with his right arm, a small globe materializing in the palm of his hand,"Most of you are probably aware that Golarion is not alone in the cosmos as life has flourished far and beyond your wildest imaginings."
The sphere shrinks and above Solivagus' head springs into existence a myriad motes of light, some revolving around brighter motes and others blazing trails across the display.
"The universe is enormous and largely inimical to life," a blazing object slams into a slowing revolving one, the slower sphere exploding lazily and having virtually no discernible effect on the display,"But there are havens where powerful beings have corralled and nurtured it as a shepherd or a butcher..."
He let the implications sink in.
"My world is not such a world," his tone stern and sharp,"and your stay here will be eventful and fulfilling, unfettered by the whims of gods and other beings that would seek to chain your essence to theirs."
The last statement almost seems spit from his moisture-less lips. As he finishes you each feel straps of fabric hold you in place.
"Hold on, friends, do not panic," the edge to his voice now gone and replaced by a consoling one,"I would like to welcome you to Hideaway, your new home."
The stone theater rumbles all around you and begins descending into the earth, the sound of gears turning and the hum of a massive machine accompany the event.
Once you're deep enough, some 50ft down, the shaft you're lowering into closes above you, metal plates sliding seamlessly into place.
Solivagus remains very quiet with his back turned to you all though he seems to nod every so often as if acknowledging some unseen conversation.
Bright, electrical lighting illuminates the platform as you all come to a halt, a metal link fence all that lies between you and a sprawling mechanical metropolis.
Gruin huddles closer to Kunfahliil, who was once again awestruck by Solivaguses display.
"Amazing..." whisperes Kunfahliil as he presses his face against the cold chain link fence, completely enraptured with the city.
Benedict's jaw drops, then closes as he says, "It's ... so ... BIG! And underground, too!"
The restraints gently release as another tall cloaked being appears very suddenly adjacent to Solivagus. Solivagus turns and bows shallowly.
"Ah, I must bid you all adieu. Other... tasks to attend to, you understand. This here is Altaen, he shall accommodate you with your stay here in Hideaway."
He gestures lightly to the newcomer who bows deeply, almost ceremoniously, and then vanishes in a bolt of lightning.
"Welcome, chosen," Altaen's voice is far more pleasant in tone than Solivagus',"I apologize is Master Solivagus is a bit gruff but he has been at this endeavor for some time now, he isn't who he used to be."
34 and Below: You notice only the pleasant change in company that Altaen brings.
35-39: A sharp pang of regret flashes across the machine being's face, barely noticeable.
Natural 20/40+: The sudden flash of regret across Altaen's face smacks against your senses, a ringing beginning in your ears as you notice a black armor clad individual slink into the distant shadows, glowing white eyes always watching you...
"Step forward for your mark to proceed to the Choosing," Altaen brandishes and wand from his cloak and twirls it stylishly,"Don't be shy, this is merely a precaution. A necessity to maintain our secrecy here in Hideaway."
As you listen to Altaen you notice something is amiss: you cannot feel your divine power anymore, the familiar warmth now replaced by a vacuum in your very soul...
Benedict moves one leg forward, then stops. He thinks,
It could be a trap, or worse! What does that baton do?
Then, considering the inviting tone of the machine, shrugs his shoulders and steps up.
"What's the worst that could happen."
-Wait, what? You can't be serious. Do you think we're going to let you brand us like cattle before even knowing what is all this about?
Kejak stands firm, making clear he's not going anywhere without a proper explanation.
Altaen nods to Kejak and bares his metal forearm, a glowing runic 'S' softly flickers just below the surface.
"I understand your hesitance, but it is all in good spirit, chosen ones," his tone somber and smooth,"I can explain the magics involved if you wish at a later time, but for now you are needed in the atrium for the Choosing Ceremony. I do wish you would comply without incident. I will warn you before such brash decisions are made, our enforcement procedures are swift and harsh. The choice is yours: take the mark willingly or be forced to take it."
Altaen's last statement is said nonchalantly and he even shrugs as if to accentuate the current predicament.