A curious adventurer unlocks a gateway to another place, another time, and sets in motion a ripple that threatens the very fabric of his reality
Current Encounter Map
Ryko wakes and is comforted, some, by the sight of Kyan sleeping peacefully. He gathers his belongings, ensures his pack is stowed with the necessary gear, and then gently wakes Kyan saying, “Kyan, I am going downstairs to see if Surana has arrived. Come when you are ready.”
When he comes into the main room of the inn he sees Surana, and the muscular looking fellow she was talking to the night before, already sitting and having a light meal. It is warm in the inn, and the smell of cinnamon fills the air. There are a few others also having the inn’s traditional full breakfast and even though everyone seems to be enjoying the food, Ryko’s stomach is just not in the right place for food.
“Thank you for coming,” Ryko says to Surana as he approaches her table. He sees that she has brought a backpack, and he is glad she is willing to help him find some answers. “May I sit?” he asks, and then before she can answer, he slides onto a bench across from her.
He looks across to Surana, turns his head slightly and smiles at the stranger and then begins to talk, “I only hope I can remember, yes how could I forget, the way down through the catacombs below the Cathedral. We may have some trouble getting permission to enter the catacombs, my friend, the man who is now gone from this world, had a special relationship with one of the priestesses, a relative I understand, and he was also a part-time guard of the city watch. If for no other reason I intend to explore this place to the best of my ability in the memory of my fallen friend, a good man, well liked and respected. The name of Refan Moon will not be forgotten. As soon as my friend Kyan is ready, we can leave. Now there is the matter of telling Refan's relatives of his untimely demise, and I hope that speaking to the prietess we can take care of that matter.”
Male Human Fighter 2(Weapon Master) HP 22/22 AC 19 FF 17 Touch 12 CMD 17 (ff 14) Fort +4 Ref +2 Will +0 Init +2 Perception +6
Krevek, who really understands next to none of what was just said, nods along as Ryko goes on. He then takes another bite of his breakfast and looks over at Surana.
F Samsaran Wizard 1 [ HP 7/7 | AC 10 Tch 10 FF 10 | Fort +3* Ref +0* Will +3* | CMD 10 | Init +0 Perc +3* | Effects: none ]
Surana raises one eyebrow as Ryko speaks, but she does not interrupt. When he finishes, she tilts her head slightly. "A strange coincidence... Refan of the city watch, you say? How is it that I have seen him not one day past?"
Male Human Fighter 2(Weapon Master) HP 22/22 AC 19 FF 17 Touch 12 CMD 17 (ff 14) Fort +4 Ref +2 Will +0 Init +2 Perception +6
"The Name did sound familiar to me, I had just assumed it was someone else, but Refan from last night was a guard" Krevek ponders for a moment and then looks back to the woman "You think them the same, cause the Refan last night was certainly not gone from this world?
“No,” Ryko shakes his head and speaks softly, his voice trembling, “You are mistaken. I, I haven’t been able to talk about this, not to anyone, anyone, but I watched him die. Refan Moon, is dead. We, we, Refan, Kyan and I, explored a cave system below the Cathedral. We, we found a few chambers that appeared to be excavated by Goblins many years ago, there were a few coins, nothing really of any value, but we discovered a strange ghost like room with walls made from steel and in the center of the room on a pedestal there was the panel I mentioned to you before, where I, I withdrew the crystal. Kyan was some distance from us and when a wall shifted, he was cut off from us. Refan began pounding on the wall, and then his strength broke something. His hand went into the wall and he screamed. I’ll never forget that sound. Refan fell to the floor and I could not revive him, but something he had damaged had caused the wall to open and I found Kyan lying in a pool of blood, barely alive. I, I could not carry them both. I had to leave Refan behind, down there, in the dark. Refan Moon is dead. Why would you tell me he isn’t?”
Male Human Fighter 2(Weapon Master) HP 22/22 AC 19 FF 17 Touch 12 CMD 17 (ff 14) Fort +4 Ref +2 Will +0 Init +2 Perception +6
Krevek opens his mouth to continue the topic, but instead follows the woman's lead and lets it drop. It wouldn't be that hard to investigate the situation he thinks to himself, but the woman is most likely right.
After Ryko departs their room, Kyan rolls back over and falls asleep again, dreaming of home. In the dream, he is following her through the woods, she moving as swiftly as a sprite while he stumbles over every leaf. Just as Kyan is about to reach her, a massive green scaled hand reaches from behind him, grabbing her and snatching her away. Kyan yells as he wakes with a start, drenched again in sweat.
Half delirious, he stumbles, rushing from the room, nearly breaking the door off its hinges. He takes the stairs three steps at a time, stopping at the bottom to look for a friendly face...
I'm going to assume that Kyan is ready to go, unless it is important that he isn't
Ryko reaches behind his head and ties hi loose hair into a pony tail with a brown string pulled from a pocket in his robe. "Let's be on our way. When we reach the cathedral we can ask for the woman who helped us a few days ago. I will be the one to tell her about Refan. Unless you think it better to not tell her because you think she will not let us into the catacombs."
Seeing Ryko, Surana and another man, Kyan stumbles towards them barefoot and not looking at all as if he is ready to depart. "Ryko! She's gone again!" he says, and then collapses in to tears on the floor.
Ryko turns away from Kyan, once he has fallen to the ground in fits of tears, and rolls his eyes.
He turns back to Kyan and says quietly, “Surana and her friend have agreed to accompany us back into the catacombs where we may uncover more about the strange injury you have sustained, Kyan. I’m sorry that you have had another bad dream, but we need to be on our way. Hurry and get your things if you want to try and discover what happened, or stay behind it makes no difference to me.” It strains his voice to speak so harshly to his friend, but he is sure that it is for his own good. “Surana, please, let’s be on our way. Kyan, hurry and follow us if that’s what you want to do. We’ll be a few moments at the cathedral getting the necessary permission, so you have some time to get ready, but not long.”
Ryko heads for the door leading out into the street, not looking to see if he is followed, but he says over his shoulder, “As for your friend, Surana, I didn’t get his name. If he needs to remain anonymous I can respect that, but I should have something to call him by if we are going to be working together.”
F Samsaran Wizard 1 [ HP 7/7 | AC 10 Tch 10 FF 10 | Fort +3* Ref +0* Will +3* | CMD 10 | Init +0 Perc +3* | Effects: none ]
Surana follows sedately, neither hurrying nor lagging behind. "His name is Krevek, and should you find the need to do so, you may address him as such."
As you wind your way through the streets of Absolom, taking in the everyday hustle and bustle of the people (of all kin and kind) you notice that Ryko occasionally looks back over his shoulder. When Krevek finally comments that it seems Kyan is not following them, at least it is clear he is not hurrying to catch up to you before you reach the cathedral, Ryko seems to deflate, but he no longer turns his head to look behind him.
Ryko does not notice Surana’s gesture.
Once you reach the cathedral I am ignorant of Absolom, for the most part, so let’s just say it is a cathedral of one of the major religions of Golarion, k? Ryko leads you through the building. It is a time between services, there are a few people wandering about, some with note pads, making sketches, probably students studying the art and architecture of the ancient building, and he seems to know where he is going.
Deep in the building, in an out of the way corner, down a long corridor only illuminated by sconces on the walls, he leads you to a small office. He knocks on the door, and then proceeds through it before there is an answer.
What you expect is a small closet like space, given the narrowness of the corridor you have just come through, but instead you are in a great room, the ceiling of which is high overhead and doomed, with an oculus above letting in daylight. The doomed ceiling is frescoed in a scene of the great voyage of a mysterious people across the sea. It is some kind of exodus, with dark and ominous clouds behind the fleeing ships. From the ground it is difficult to make out any other details it is a common artistic rendition, Surana has seen it in various forms around the older buildings of the city, and knows it is a mythological representation.
At the opposite end of the room, which is easily fifty feet across, there is a wide opening in the wall, blocked by an iron gate. There is a metal box on the ground, to the right of the gate and you can see the ends of wood poles sticking up out of the box (perhaps these are torches?). The gate is not completely shut. There is no one else in the room.
“Could you please wait here,” Ryko says. “I will try to find Refan’s sister and ensure we have permission to venture into the catacombs below. Once we are down there, it is a long walk through crypts, a dismal place, down a few flights of stairs, and then, near the end of a very old section of the catacombs there is a crack in the wall, just wide enough for a person to slide through, beyond that there is a natural cave, and beyond that a long, downward tunnel to the place I’ve told you about. We saw signs of Goblins, but did not encounter any when we were there. We should be on our guard. I’ll be only a few moments.”
Ryko is away for twenty minutes, enough time (though you really do not have a way to measure time this accurately) to begin to cause you some discomfort. When he returns he is visibly upset.
“Something is not right,” Ryko announces as soon as he comes through the door.”That woman seemed to believe that I was mad. She claimed she visited her brother yesterday afternoon, just before he took a shift as a mercenary watchman. And furthermore, she insisted she has never seen me before when I was standing right in front of her just a few days ago. Now when you mentioned that you spoke to Refan last night, I assumed it was a mistake on your part, but now I am not sure. However, she has given us permission to enter the crypts with the usual warnings of respecting those who are interred and something about a locked gate, one I don’t remember seeing when I was here before. It is all very unusual.”
Ryko walks to the partially open gate in the wall, takes a torch out of the box near the gate and asks, ”Should I use one of these or are you prepared to use a light spell?”
The torch flickers to life, the flame dancing in the slight breeze coming from below.
”Alright then, this way,” Ryko says as he opens the gate wide and begins descending the stairs.
You follow him, and marvel at the catacombs you have never seen before. After a short flight of stairs you find yourselves in a dark low ceiling area, with massive arched columns all around supporting the millions of tons of stone above you. There are recesses in the walls where the skeletal remains of dozens upon dozens of people lie.
Ryko walks purposefully, but not quickly. Occasionally he stops, at intersections, looks around, and then confidently makes a decision, and to your surprise, after some distance, you do not find yourselves back tracking.
Another flight of stairs, this one narrow, leads deeper below the cathedral. More low ceiling chambers, and the chambers are getting smaller. You are moving down a corridor, when Ryko stops, turns for a moment, retraces his steps for a short distance and then holds the torch out away from him, at the wall on your right (it would have been on the left the first time you passed it by).
The light of the torch shows a dark shadowy crevice in the wall that was easy to miss.
“It’s a bit narrow here,” Ryko says, ”but only for a few feet.”
He turns sideways and moves through the crack in the wall, and to you it seems he is being a bit too dramatic. The passage is not that bad. It is wide enough, in fact, for Surana to pass through without turning, but Krevek, being larger, does have to slide sideways for a few short steps.
As soon as you are through the crack, the passageway opens up into a wide high tunnel. It looks like a natural tunnel, but as you are looking at the wall, Ryko leans close with the torch and says, “See, here, and here, you can tell someone has worked the walls with tools here, making it wider.”
You follow him down the tunnel, which snakes left and right and has a gently but noticeable downward slope, until you come to a peculiar arch directly ahead.
Do you stop, or continue on through the arch? Ryko shows no sign that he intends to stop.
Going to assume you slow, but do not stop. As you get closer you notice that it is a pronounced architectural feature. It sort of stands out from the rest of the tunnel in that the rest of the tunnel appears natural or possibly shaped by crude excavation. The arch has a geometric shape, not curved, or even a simple arch at the top, but something more complicated. The columns of either side protrude into the tunnel a good half of a foot, and have almost square cut edges. You can make perception checks, it may reveal more information, but you are either going to have to stop and examine the arch, or continue through it.
As Krevek passes through the arch, behind Surana, his shield grazes against the column. Centuries of soot and dirt are knocked off and the faint sound of metal against metal rings in Krevek’s ears.
Carefully, Suranna and Krevek dislodge more of the dirt and soot from the arch. The presence of soot, unmistakable, tells Surana that at some time in the past there was a substantial fire here or nearby. Krevek uses the edge of his shield to scrape away large fragments of dirt, and suddenly he reveals a crack, nearly three inches wide, in the center of the column. The crack is regular, uniform in width, but not deep, or at least it appears to be not deep as it is filled with dirt.
When the crack is exposed, Ryko peers closely at it and says, ”This is the same kind of trap that separated me from Kyan. It is a doorway. If we are not on our guard something could cause this door to shut. We should stay close together.”
Ryko continues ahead of you. He suddenly stops, turns and says quietly, “Careful now, just ahead is a room where we saw a Goblin nest. There were no Goblins last time we were here, but they could be here now.”
He walks ahead a few more steps and you notice the ceiling gets lower and the passageway gets narrower. The passageway turns to the right, goes straight for a dozen feet or so and then Ryko stops. He is standing at the entrance to a chamber that is nearly square, about fifteen feet on each side with another arch similar to the one you already passed through on the wall opposite where he is standing (there is no arch here, just a opening ).
”This doesn’t make sense,” Ryko says. “This room had a nest in it, and signs of a fire, bones, carcasses of cats and dogs. It was an active goblin nest I’m sure. I know this is the way. I recognize the arch ahead of us. Just through there is another room with rooms to the left and right. The table with the strange controls is in the room on the right, and Kyan was separated from us in the room on the left. But why, or what would have cleaned out this room I can’t tell you.”
F Samsaran Wizard 1 [ HP 7/7 | AC 10 Tch 10 FF 10 | Fort +3* Ref +0* Will +3* | CMD 10 | Init +0 Perc +3* | Effects: none ]
Surana ignores the room, instead staring intently at the man in it, trying to ascertain more of what may be happening. Does he seem sure of himself? Is there anything odd about his appearance/manner at all? Anything else unusual going on with him? (I don't have detect magic, so just looking at the mundane.)
You are certain nothing has “nested” in this room for a very long time, but you do see tracks of one or possibly two Goblins, though the tracks appear old
Surana:
Ryko stands with the torch, held up slightly, in his left hand, and his right hand is in the pocket of his cloak. It is difficult for you to sense what might be going through his head, what his motivation might be, but from looking directly at him you can see that he is perspiring, though it is cool and dry in the chamber you are in. His stance could be described as nervous, he fidgets, shifting his feet, and his hand, the one in his pocket, moves slightly.
”Just through this doorway, on the right, is where I had to leave Refan’s body. If we can, I would like to recover him, bring him back for his family to have a proper burial. There is little torchlight left, minutes perhaps, but we can stay and examine the rooms for as long as you like, as long as you can produce more light. I only ask that we all remember that the things beyond this door are so very strange and touching them could have dire consequences,” Ryko says looking straight ahead, and then waits for the two of you to decide to proceed.
at this point it seems Ryko is more interested in one of you taking the lead
Male Human Fighter 2(Weapon Master) HP 22/22 AC 19 FF 17 Touch 12 CMD 17 (ff 14) Fort +4 Ref +2 Will +0 Init +2 Perception +6
"These rooms have been unoccupied for quite some time, though goblins did once stay here." Krevek then moves to look into the room where Refan's body was.
Ryko smiles, and uncomfortable smile, and follows Krevek.
It is noticeably cooler in the room you enter. It is a chamber about fifteen feet square. There are openings in the walls to the left and right. These openings are wider than five feet, and have a similar, if somewhat smaller, design, as the arch you first noticed as being different. There is less dirt here, and the walls, ceiling and floor are smooth and it is difficult to tell what kind of material was used to construct this place. There are no unusual smells, only the expected scent of stale air and dirt.
On the right, through the opening in the wall, you can see the strange table like apparatus that Ryko described the night before, but nowhere can be seen the body of Refan. On the left, through a similar opening, you can see what look like wardrobe like storage units standing against the walls. The rooms to either side of the main room, the one you have just entered, are about the same size as this room.
”No, this is impossible!” Ryko exclaims as he comes into the room behind Krevek. He darts across the room and through the threshold into the chamber on the right and spins around holding the torch pout in front of him, at the wall. “This is where Refan broke the wall, right here. And this is where he fell.” He gestures at the floor beside him and then he runs across the room to the chamber on the left. He waves the torch back and forth, low, near the floor. “This is where I found Kyan. He was barely alive, and there was blood on the floor, but the stain is gone. What kind of magic is this?”
F Samsaran Wizard 1 [ HP 7/7 | AC 10 Tch 10 FF 10 | Fort +3* Ref +0* Will +3* | CMD 10 | Init +0 Perc +3* | Effects: none ]
"You waste my time, man. Have you seen a healer recently?"
Surana looks around, a somewhat bored expression on her face. After a few moments studying their current room, she moves gracefully toward the left opening to examine the wardrobes.
When Surana addresses Ryko he pouts. He turns away from her and notices Krevek going into the room across the way.
”Now be careful in there,” Ryko is saying as Surana wanders into the other room.
Surana:
The first thing you notice is that the walls, to the left and right, as you pass through the doorway, have a free standing metal cabinet about the size of a wardrobe against them. These cabinets were not visible from the other room, and they seem identical to two additional wardrobe sized cabinets against the walls. Now this is getting a bit complicated so let’s say you entered the room from a doorway in the center of the north wall. There are cabinets on this wall on either side of the doorway, and cabinets similar to them against the walls to the east and west. The south wall, opposite from where you entered, has a very strange apparatus against it. It is something Ryko has not mentioned and it resembles a curio cabinet (a sort of round glass enclosed cabinet), but the interior has no shelves. Hanging down from the top of this peculiar cabinet are long articulated, but delicate looking arms made from what looks to be painted wood in dull colors and it may be that the wood is encrusted with gems. The “wardrobe like” cabinets are six feet high and three feet wide. They are made of metal, or look as though they are and have a visible seam running from the top to the bottom down the middle of the front. On each side of the seam at about waist height are two, one on each side of the seam, silvery metal handles that point down.
Krevek does not hear Ryko, but notices that the elf is approaching him.
He does not see Suranan go into the other room.
Krevek:
The table in the center of the room is unlike anything you have ever seen. It is not level, which seems to defeat the purpose of it being a table at all. On the surface of this table are several recessed notches, and most of them are empty, but a few (three) hold slim and delicate looking possibly crystal objects. Two of the objects are blue, and the third is yellow. These objects are only as wide as a delicate blade, and are about five inches long. How far they extend into the notches they rest in is difficult to guess. You aren’t sure what any of it means, but as you examine it your hand glides across the surface of the table. You feel something under the thick layers of dust shift as your finger touches it.
The rooms shudder under your feet, and a loud groaning noise erupts in the quiet. Doors slide shut in only moments, completely shutting off Krevek and Ryko from Surana.
Surana:
The space behind you is closed by a moving door. You are momentarily in complete darkness. Then you notice a very faint blue light emanating from the curio cabinet across the room. You cannot hear Ryko or Krevek.
Krevek:
Behind you Ryko shouts, “No!” You turn as you feel the ground shaking and see a door slam shut across the opening through where you came. You also catchy a glimpse of a similar door closing across the room beyond and you are sure Surana is in that far room. You have the light of Ryko’s torch, but you cannot hear Surana.
Male Human Fighter 2(Weapon Master) HP 22/22 AC 19 FF 17 Touch 12 CMD 17 (ff 14) Fort +4 Ref +2 Will +0 Init +2 Perception +6
Krevek looks at the room, and back to the table. He looks back at the objects on the table. He blows the dust off the table, looking for any markings on it.
