Golden Pegasus staging area

Game Master Sai Ling

Over the past few months, word has reached each of you of a grand fleet leaving Absalom, sailing under the flag of The Golden Pegasus. Sailing from Absalom, but not of Absalom, the expedition was funded by a private consortium. Brigades of cavalry and infantry would set sail to conquer the newly discovered lands, and hundreds of men and women were wanted to found a new city, a shining light of civilization in the unexplored wilderness, the beginnings of a new nation. The call went out for volunteers, and you answered.

The Captain of the expedition's flagship, The Golden Pegasus, had been Blackstone's mate, and had selected an ideal spot for a new city along the new continent's coast. A place with a sheltered harbor, with access to fresh water, with abundant forest covering rugged hills and flats alike. A paradise was promised.

When the fleet set sail, it was a glorious thing, three massive warships guarding no less than a dozen smaller brigs and caravels. A thousand men and women would found a new town, and everything they needed was provided, materials and supplies to last them through the first year, seed and livestock to establish a farming base, skilled tradesmen and the tools they would need to take what was needed from the forest and hills.

The fleet sailed across the inner sea and through the arch of Aroden without incident. A week into the Arcadian Ocean the storm struck. It came out of the north, a terrible storm that battered the fleet for days, and when it was over, half the ships were gone, either sunk or blown away from the fleet and vanished in the open ocean. The remaining ships were becalmed. A week passed without a breath of wind, and the captains put out the boats, to tow the heavy ships.

That was when the kraken struck. First it took the ships' boats and the crew. It ate its fill, and disappeared, only to return that night, dragging one of the smaller ships down, devouring crew, livestock, and colonists alike. On the remaining ships, hundreds stood in horrified silence, listening to the screams until they were silenced.

The next night, The Golden Pegasus was ready. When the kraken attacked one of the ships, it fought, ballista and catapults firing. The kraken sank back under the waters and the foundering ship's survivors climbed into boats, racing to the other ships. They were still in the water when the kraken returned, attacking the Golden Pegasus this time, and in the morning, the great warship was gone.

At dawn, the sun rose red, and the captains of the remaining ships met. They argued. They fought, and one was grievously wounded when swords were drawn. On all the ships, despair and crowding had people near to rioting, and more than a few trivial disputes resulted in murder. When the sun set that night, the wind came up. Two ships sailed west, towards the new land. three turned east, heading back to Avistan.

In the night, the wind blew harder, and just before dawn another storm struck. The wind and driving rain made it almost impossible to see in the grey light that filtered through the clouds, but it was enough to see land. Enough to see the other ship, running to the starboard side caught on rocks, breaking up before it was lost to sight. The captain of the remaining ship, The Laughing Lillend, personally climbed the main mast with his spyglass as the ship ran before the storm. Eventually, he must have seen what he was looking for. He pointed hard starboard, and the ship turned, cutting across the wind and waves, in the direction of the rocks that had broken the other ship.

Instead of rocks, though, the Lillend found shelter. A bay calm enough to drop anchor in and wait out the storm. Night fell again, and dawn came, clear and bright. A wide, sheltered bay that ran almost 20 miles inland, fed by numerous streams, with rugged hills rising to the west, flat plains extending north and east, all covered by lush forest. To the south, two arms of land embraced the bay, and you could just see the narrow passage to the open ocean. Of nearly twenty ships that had set sail, only one had reached the destination. Yours.

After a week spent on repairs, the Laughing Lillend would sail back for Absalom. The crew was near mutinous at the thought of waiting that long, but they knew the necessity of the repairs. They would leave one hundred souls on the shores of the new world, to do their best to survive. The captain assures you that he will return.

The new world is NOT a static environment. The colony will have an impact on the new continent, and the inhabitants will respond. Such is the nature of this fantasy world.

Simple survival is by no means guaranteed. Players should expect to face the wilderness with all its dangers, environmental hazards, etc. They should be ready to handle it.

Working together is going to be pretty necessary, and characters who seem likely to be able to do so are more likely to be chosen.

Languages: I've thought about this, and decided that the standard "terrestrial" pathfinder languages (elvish, orcish, sylvan, draconic, etc) have parallels in the new world. Any character with a skill point in linguistics can make a skill check to understand the Native version of a language that they understand. The check can be made each time that language is encountered. DC 15 will allow extremely simple (think toddler) communication, DC 20 will allow "broken" use of the language, and DC 25 means that you understand the native version of the language well enough to add it to your list of languages spoken. Languages associated with extraplanar creatures (celestial, infernal, auran, etc) will be the languages you are familiar with.

Background:
Be creative, but remember that this is the beginning of the story. While you do not need to be a complete neophyte, if you have more than one or two epic adventures worthy of Homer in your backstory, I'll be a little intimidated.
In addition to the standard character history, it is essential that you make it clear why you have chosen to join this expedition. You should also feel free to tell your character's experience of the voyage over.

Appearance:
Pretty self explanatory. What does your character look like?

Personality:
This is not a yes or no question. It's assumed that to a great extent, this will evolve during play, but tell us a bit about how we can expect your character to behave.

Goals:
This is very much a sandbox campaign, and a certain amount of self-starting is needed. Your character should have goals, plans, hopes and dreams. You may be tempted to be mysterious about these things, to intrigue and arouse curiosity. Do not be fooled. I have all the native curiosity of a rock. I'll just assume you couldn't be bothered.

Should have Appraise, may be a Craft or two of his own. Social skills are useful, so Diplomacy, Bluff, Sense Motive. Perception. Spellcraft and Knowledge:Arcana to support his wizardy studies.

Diviner(Foresight), a conscious study of his good-luckedness as being something more than random chance. So, a man of some rituals and superstitions, which serve as placebos to help him focus on tasks and thus seemingly improve his efforts and results, be they real or phantom.

He has a bow, and is not afraid to use it. I mean, he's an elf trained to go on an expedition! So, let's at least give him Point Blank Shot, in preparation for Precise Shot, so he doesn't accidentally kill one of his own when chaos ensues. I know, he technically can't, but it's a good reason to learn to be precise.

I think I have most of what I need. So, let's think about what he looks like:

str 13 | dex 14 | con 12 | int 16 | wis 8 | cha 12, becomes
str 13 | dex 16 | con 10 | int 18 | wis 8 | cha 12
(see below for motivation of stat distribution)

Trained in a bow, so some dex and a bit of str. Smart enough to learn the arcane arts. Some charisma since he has a bent for business. Leaving con and wis at the bottom of the list. That means:

int > dex > str > cha > con,wis

That feels right. I'll go with it.

So, if you followed all that, there you have it. I've got a bow wielding elf wizard merchant wanna-be. I'm gonna have him losing his bow along the way (since 150gp is not enough to cover both a good bow AND his trade/craft needs, not to mention his hoarded trail rations), so he'll need to make one at some point.

What's the 100gp downtime capital? Is that part of the Ultimate Campaign rules? Is it possible to use it to partially do something? It looks like I can get a shack, but that's about it. Or a pit, among a few other options.

- Land ho! - yelled - Land ahoy!

People moved synchronously, as used to the same jobs onboard, and he climbed down. He walked to the back of the galley, preparing to help, as his mind flew back, in memories. It was over four decades now that his father - foster parent, but who cares - told him the story behind his origins. "It was probably a day like that", he thought.

When the pirate Roosho told him the story, he was already an old man - but even at that moment Lareol looked young. Yes, gnomes live long, but it was clear already he was more than that... His silver green hairs were but a hint, but only much after the death of Roosho is that Lareol started understanding what he really was.

Roosho told him that when the pirates attacked the ship he was, most people onboard were already dead. Roosho couldn't precise exactly what happened, but the best guess was that a storm had hit the ship. The old pirate, by that moment, pillaged the pieces of it, and found Lareol - by the moment, a baby - barely alive on the lower decks, involved in the ship flag.

The memories stopped for a moment, as Lareol touched the very old rag of cloth in his arm. What a day it probably was. Around him he saw the other sailors preparing to drop anchor, and helped them pull the cord to release the lock. His mind flew once again to the past.

Roosho died on a cold morning. He had rum on his hands, but couldn't drink it - so Lareol, himself, helped his adopted father get drunk. No point on meeting Besmara sober, right? At that point in time, the young pirate had took his place already on the ship, not exactly as his father - a captain - but rather helping his father's immediate, now captain, to sail.

- Aasimar. - his father whispered on his ear, showing the biggest smile a drunken dying man could - That's what I think you are. Some sort of gnome, maybe, but with other roots.

- You got to be drunk to call me an angel. - Lareol smiled, but he himself had his suspects. He knew he was handsome, communicative, special. Maybe the most handsome gnome of all the Shackles.

- Hah! - the old pirate coughed - Yes boy! Aasimar. No haloed angel. We never found yer parents there at that old wreck, but ya father gnome probably got lucky with ya momma angel.

Lareol laughed, and the laughs slowly faded as he got back to the present. He was, after all, a pirate now, after all those years. Probably sixty, maybe more. He lost count. He always loved the life on the Shackles, and Besmara blessed him with the most fun existence a young gnome - or Aasimar, or whatever he was - could desire.

- Yo, shortie! - a crewmate yelled, and he turned around. He didn't mind any of the nicknames, since at the end of the day he'd be the happiest one on the taverns - anchor's dropped. Ya going on the first boat?

- Not now, mate. - he answered, and walked to the side of the ship, looking at the far port. He wanted new adventures. As much as everybody loved him onboard his old man's ship, he knew he had to find other places to be. Stories were being told about the ships sailing to the West - would there be where he needed to go? For now, it seems, Port Peril was his destination.

It was almost a week later when Lareol found his plate as the crew of a ship. An expedition was now going to a supposedly new continent - a new land, there is - and he immediately knew he had to be there. The professional sailor didn't have difficulties finding his place to navigate, and his maybe-even-more-professional smile just helped.

The ship sailed. It wasn't the flag ship, but Lareol was happy anyway. His presence on the ship was noticed - friendly and talkative, the Aasimar gnome knew how to sing and dance, and even during the strongest storms would keep the morale high. In fact, the storms seem to be where he better found himself - wet, happy, swinging on the ship cords and alive as never before. Alive as the "Angel of Besmara" could ever wish to be.

As it's known now, the expedition didn't have such a happy ending. Caught by disasters everywhere - storms from the north, a kraken, and much more -, only a single ship escaped from sinking, and it wasn't Lareol's. He though he'd die, but somehow managed to wash over planks, and the ship rescued him from the seas. He was sick, unconscious, and like that stayed for days.

His eyes opened only when he heard the captain of the Laughing Lillend announcing land had been found. And there, together with some other crewmen left behind, the Aasimar gnome knew his real adventure was actually starting.

The young outsider grew up to become a pirate and a sailor, as his stepfather (the NPC class "Warrior"). As time passed, however, he developed more to become a Bard - specifically, a Thundercaller Bard - and the warming heart of the fleet.

Lareol is smiling, charismatic and energetic. He's a skilled sailor, worships Besmara and, although not much of a fighter, somewhat competent when needed. His role is, actually, much more of a party supporter, an instigator and a face and voice when necessary.

A chance remark overheard by his last employer changed his fortunes. The employer was surprised to find that his seemingly brutish bodyguard was actually quite learned and was even more delighted to find out his breadth of language skills. He offered Vanik to accompany him to Absalom and be part of his entourage that was embarking on an expedition to found a colony in a newly discovered land. Vanik jumped at the chance.
We all know the details of that story, so we skip to the final two ships. Vanik was on the one that broke upon the rocks. Somehow, through providence and sheer will to survive, Vanik survived the wreck and washed up on shore. After the storm he was able to swim to the wreck and recover some supplies, but these have long been consumed. Since then, he has wandered the land alone eking out an existence, searching with waning hope for the other ship.

DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 15, flat-footed 15 (+3 Dex, +3 natural, +2 size)
hp 21
Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +5

OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee sting +6 (1d2–4 plus poison)
Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks poison

STATISTICS
Str 3, Dex 16, Con 10, Int 6, Wis 10, Cha 2
Base Atk +0; CMB +1; CMD 7 (19 vs. trip)
Feats Weapon Finesse, Alertness, improved evasion, empathic link
Skills Climb +7, Perception +4, Stealth +15; Racial Modifiers +4 Climb, +4 Perception, +4 Stealth

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Share spells
Familiar grants a +4 bonus on Initiative checks so long as the familiar is within 1 mile of the spellcaster.

Poison (Ex)
Sting—injury; save Fort DC 10; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect sickened for 1 round; cure 1 save. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Bebop
Bison, Combat Trained
N Large animal
Init +0; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +8
DEFENSE
AC 17, touch 9, flat-footed 17 (+8 natural, –1 size)
hp 42 (5d8+20)
Fort +8, Ref +4, Will +1
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft.
Melee gore +10 (2d6+12)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks stampede, trample (2d6+12, DC 20)
STATISTICS
Str 27, Dex 10, Con 19, Int 2, Wis 11, Cha 4
Base Atk +3; CMB +12; CMD 22 (26 vs. trip)
Feats Endurance, Improved Bull Rush, Power Attack
Skills Perception +8
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Stampede (Ex)
A stampede occurs if three or more creatures with stampede make a trample attack while remaining adjacent to each other. While stampeding, the creatures can trample foes of their size or smaller, and the trample's save DC increases by +2.

Shortly before she ran away from home for the last time, her father tried to sell her to settle his debts. She was taken in her sleep, thrown into the back of a cart and sent away. A small green scorpion of some intelligence cut her bonds, and allowed her the opportunity to escape, but not before overhearing what her horrible father had done and how her captors were planning to go back to collect Ysanne’s mother because of accrued interest; that wasn’t Ysanne’s problem anymore.

The scorpion became Greensting, Ysanne’s familiar, in the coming years living as a spoiled street urchin that spent most if not all of her time at an array of library’s until she finally landed a job as an animal handler’s assistant. Her boss was a disgusting man (turned out he wasn’t all that alive), but his wife was very kind and fond of Ysanne and took her in under her wing where she began down the path of witchcraft.

Ysanne set out to find her fortune after several years learning from her master, and now hopes to finally find the life she has always deserved.

Character Appearance
This 5’4” tall, woman has ivory skin with blood red eyes speckled with yellow and her hair is straight black and always very clean. Straight eyebrows compliment her narrow, mysterious eyes , her long nose and narrow lips give her an aura of dramatic magnetism.

She is very delicate looking in the robe and haramaki she wears with recklessness. A wide brimmed hat with feathers and ribbons sits atop her head tying a boldly colored outfit together quite well, even though it doesn’t seem entirely fitting to her apparent adventurous career.

She has a number of tiny red scars scattered over her body as well as a several tattoos. Her favorite tattoo is the large vivid green scorpion on her right hip. There is one dragon tattoo on the left side of her head, but it is covered by hair and only hinted at when she runs her hands through her hair. She has a set of tribal tattoos, two dark blue medium bands just above the bicep muscles. The tattoos are nothing more than spontaneous decisions during a long night of drinking and carefree living.

Character Personality
Psychology and perception: Logical and Intelligent
Self-discipline: Skeptical
Lifestyle: Untraditional, Hates routine
Social attitude: The center of attention. Self-aggrandizing and Self-confident
Honesty and honor: Values knowledge and Honesty
Emotional capacity: Cold and Unsupportive

Goals
Ysanne is self serving and ultimately dreams of servants waiting on her night and day. The mere idea of the routines of court politics or day to day civilian activities is offensive. She hopes to achieve her dreams by striking it rich by finding a huge treasure horde or being whisked away by rich royalty that respects her need for space and values her wanderlust.

Radimer Elvanna, great-grandson of the queen

She fell even deeper into her studies with Vasily at her right hand, determined to use her newly gifted skills to test all the theories she'd been working on for years. Her sections of the estate soon became eerie, spell-shocked places, riddled with mystical and alchemical equipment.

Zoriya came out of the wood a witch with a snowy white owl circling above her head. She was much calmer upon her return; Vasily, on the other hand, didn't make a sound for a week