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The Pathfinder Society has decided to send you North to the River Kingdoms and the city of Tymon. Your letters of introduction give directions to a smithy that seems to be built in a Dwarven style that still blends in nicely with the surrounding buildings.
You all trickle in from your various previous assignments, you are greeted by a short Dwarven apprentice, that leads you upstairs into what looks like an adventurer's boarding house. He makes sure your comfortable and situated with a flagon of Dwarven Ale before letting you know that the captin' will be with you shortly.
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This Taldan swordsman is dressed in the latest fashions direct from Oppara with all the frills, ruffles, and gold embroidery right down to the engravings on his leather boots, symbolizing the upper class of Taldor. His black hair, though thinning in places is meticulously coiffured and his cheeks are dabbed in a thin smear of rouge. Most unusual of all his accessories and accoutrements however is the monkey, dressed in similar, though tiny finery over leather armor, that is perched upon his shoulder. However, his reputation within the Pathfinder Society has increased over the years so that most Pathfinders know who he is and know that appearances are not everything.
He calls himself Favian Aldori. He has no claim on nobility. Despite his Taldan heritage, he was born and raised in the River Kingdoms. Though he has taken the Aldori name, no Aldori Swordlord has admitted to training him and Favian names no teacher. In a land where the rule is "you have what you hold," Favian has holds what he most values, a name and the prestige that goes along with it, even if stolen. Favian lacks the manners and tact of one who navigates the Taldan Courts, and is known as a bit of a bully to those he considers beneath him.
"Greetings fellows. Worry not as to the inevitable success of our mission. The Society wisely sent me, Favian Aldori, swordsman, scholar, entrepreneur and gem of the Society."
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Favian's monkey, Desmond, retrieves and few nuts from the tiny satchel at his hip. After devouring a few the monkey hops down from his perch on Favian's shoulder onto the table. Favian eyes him suspiciously which causes Desmond to hesitate.
When Desmond thinks he has an opportunity, he reaches for Favian's ale, but is intercepted by a swat across the hands from the swordsman.
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A human man walks into the room, grey lines through his hair, despite being young. Wearing dark red robes that bear scorch marks, he strides in with confidence. Around his neck, a holy symbol of Nethys pronounces his allegiance... though the spell component pouch at his waist conflicts with the picture...
"I am Draa Faer, Priest of Nethys. I will have elven wine if you please."
Draa settles down and pulls a large tome from his Haversack and begins writing notes on his allies. Without looking up... "You should note that although i am a Cleric, I rarely utilize healing magics in the traditional way. I prefer to burn my enemies and patch up the wounded after the menace is put down."
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Hedra is beautiful human woman with eyes of different colors, black hair - loose on her shoulder - and of tanned skin. She's not very tall and she's clearly of chelaxian heritage.
She wore silken robes in brown and yellow tones, a small metal shield and at her side a beautiful longsword. On her neck a symbol with an winged open eye.
When she speaks, she's doing it with a melodious voice as beautiful and pure as an angel.
Around her, fly a winged Eye, looking at everyone with scrutiny.
She bowed gracefully to each of you and said
Greetings everyone, I'm Hedra Dreamcaster, cleric of Aroden. Before anyone said something she added and no, is not dead, even if some people have lost faith in Him.
What is not dead can Rise again.
After a pause she continues I could provide heal to those in need even if I can't draw Aroden's power through me, as most cleric do. Also I'm more limited in what I can do than other clerics. Aroden is not as strong as before, asleep somewhere in the universe.
A small voice cames from her side saying
He ! Don't forget us ! Aroden is great no doubt, but we also are here !
She smiles and adds Forgive me Gamin. looking at everyone she says This is Gamin, my sword and my friend. He guides me and helps me. And This she points to the flying Eye is EYE, Aroden's gift to me.
I. Am. Eye the Eye says.
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A wafting smell of oil, sweat, and chemicals proceeds the entrance of a wiry, tanned, and leather faced dwarf. A musket leans on his shoulder as he stalks into the room. Pausing he surveys the room, snorts, then finds a seat near a corner of the room. Fetching am oily rag from a pocket, he begins to absently wipe down his firearm.
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The door opens, letting in the echoes of hammers on metal while also revealing a sootstained dwarf dressed in blacksmith’s garb: Venture-Captain
Holgarin Smine. In one hand, he effortlessly carries a large basket, while the other holds a magnificent double-headed axe of lustrous adamantine. He sets both on the table before removing a cloth-wrapped bundle and a selection of bread, cheese, and cider from the basket. “All right, Pathfinders. Got a task for you—dangerous lands, dangerous task.” He speaks in his infamously staccato manner. “You come well recommended,” he adds with an approving nod. “I know you’re up to it.”
The dwarf unwraps the bundle, revealing a sheaf of twinewrapped notes. “Ever heard of Gojan the Sharp? Early Pathfinder, renowned explorer, he wandered Numeria for a decade. Found all sorts of strange places outside Silver Mount he couldn’t explore in one lifetime; one of ‘em was Sulfur Gulch. Society’s known about lots of these places, but not that one. Long time ago, the gnome Eylysia hid away the findings.” Smine exaggerates a scowl, adding, “Not good Pathfinding policy, that. Always report. You know that already.” Patting the stack of notes, he continues.
“Some others found the notes, so it’s good as new to us; you’d be the first to explore it. Trouble is that it’s Kellid territory—Ghost Wolves’ land. Lots of Kellids hate Numerian technology, but Ghost Wolves? They really hate it. The good news is Gojan did the Ghost Wolves a big favor and never collected. They owe us one, and that favor’s going to be not killing Pathfinders when they explore Sulfur Gulch.” Smine picks up the axe reverently. “We’ve set up a meeting with Xol-Nomag, the current chieftain. Bring this as a gift. Get safe passage. Don’t get killed by Kellids. Then go to Sulfur Gulch, and find out what it’s about— what was it for, who lived there, how it all worked. If you smuggle anything out, be real careful. Wearing fur doesn’t make Ghost Wolves stupid. They have magic and wits to spare. And try to make a good impression. We might need them on our side someday. Or at
least not killing us on sight.”
The dwarf rubs his calloused hands together. “That’s it. Any questions?”
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Draa looks up from his record keeping... "that name sounds familiar... this is the gnome we uncovered information under the wounded wisp.... she had a couple friends...."
Draa flips through his personal journals and thinks a moment... "a dead stonemason and an illusionist. Any expectation we run into this wizard? "
He pours over his new notes regarding the information presented.
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Yanndu silently mage hands the notes towards his table and goes through them methodically, seemingly heedless of the Venture-Captain.
While Yanndu is sifting through the notes, Draa, Hedra and Favian hear the following voice in their own thoughts: telepathic bond, 100 minutes duration
***...interesting... dungeon itself may have sentience... this may not be a complete waste of my time after all...***
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Ryster eyes widen a fraction as Smine comes in and he gives him the secret dwarven greeting of a beard pull and head nod.
Grabbing a piece of bread and cheese, he sits back and listens thoughtfully as he absently wolfs down the food. Then, wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve, he grabs a tankerd of cider and takes a long pull as the elf snatches up the notes.
Turning to Smine, he says, "And these Kellids, you think someone will remember 'ol Gojan? That was a long time ago."
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In my experience tribal communities have long memories. They make it a point to pass down such things through their oral traditions.
Favian allows Desmond to sample some of the food, giving the curious simian his fill.
Still, sometimes the exact circumstances and the little details that go along with them get cloudy as the years pass, so we should be prepared for their version of history to not match ours.
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Yanndu further extends his will outwards to include the rest of the party in his musings: telepathic bond, 2nd casting a.k.a. channel 2 - Hania, Ryster and Venture-Captain Holgarin Smine, 100 minutes duration.
Telepathy through channel 1 and 2 simultaneously:
***...the paladin is correct... antitoxins and antiplagues should be purchased by everyone... I also have a wand to summon winds to disperse noxious emissions... should alchemical and divine magic solutions not be enough...***
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I'm not able to protect everyone with a bubble of life, but like Hania and Draa, I could prepare a delay poison, communal spell.
Says Hedra before asking some questions to the Venture Captain.
Venture Captain, what can you tell us about Ghost Wolf and how they will honor their favor giving so long ago to us ? I'm afraid - like Ryster - that they could have "forgeting" it.
What about this chieftain, this Xol-Nomag, what do we know about him? Is the gift we are about to offer something he asks or something we hope he will like?
Also do we need to protect ourself from the cold once in Sulfur Gulch?
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As I said before, the fact that Aroden is rather difficult to reach make me unable to have access to some spells usually accessible to my cleric's colleagues like the one praying the usurper.
That's the case for Life Bubble.
But, if necessary, we could buy some scrolls of it if it ease your mind Favian.
Says Hedra.
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Speaking for the first time, Yanndu says, with a nigh musical elven accent, "I will contribute towards the purchase of two scrolls of Life Bubble."
***...we ALL should...***, finishes Yanndu telepathically to everyone; his telepathic voice is a strong, powerful, and accentless baritone, which is a fantastic contrast with his actual delicate voice.
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Yanndu sneers at Favian. Telepathically:
***...I then propose that those who do have the funds for this protection go ahead with the purchase and avail themselves of the protection if required... a smaller number of recipients means a longer duration for the spell I believe, which means we may only need one scroll... those who can't afford it can always find other methods of protection and roll the proverbial dice, of course... Pharasma does not judge a soul based on its stupidity, so you are in luck...***
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Favian does some quick computations in his head.
I'm willing to contribute three hundred for part of a scroll if two others are willing to chip in two hundred apiece for the rest. I need two portions after all, one for myself and one for my familiar. Given how the spell has been explained to me, that would be split up four hours each for the others, three hours each for Desmond and I.
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Yanndu's smile vanish upon hearing the dwarf's unspoken thoughts. Observers near him can perhaps detect a hint of shame on his slightly reddening cheeks. Telepathically on channel 2 only: (Hania, Ryster and VC)
***...forgive my persistence with the issue... sometimes... difficult to deal with stubborn resistance to a clear solution for a given problem... I do not grasp desire to introduce needless risk to the mission... ***
Yanndu returns to his usual silence, both verbal and mental, carefully assembles the notes in a neat pile, and crosses his arms under his ample sleeves.
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"Can you tell us more about what this favor was?"
Holgarin leans back in the chair thinking for a bit. "I don't think much was mentioned about what the favor was, at least not in my hearing. You probably could look it up back in Absalom, but that's a far trip there and back for something that's taken as gospel around these parts. I don't have no fancy smancy tapestry to punt you into, and from what I hear most don't like the trip anyway."
"a dead stonemason and an illusionist. Any expectation we run into this wizard? "
"There be no one else around out types up that way, at least that have reported in and rogues where may be common up north are not that common around here. Doubt that you'll run into them, unless the Kellids have seen people that didn't check in."
Venture Captain, what can you tell us about Ghost Wolf and how they will honor their favor giving so long ago to us ? I'm afraid - like Ryster - that they could have "forgeting" it. What about this chieftain, this Xol-Nomag, what do we know about him? Is the gift we are about to offer something he asks or something we hope he will like? Also do we need to protect ourself from the cold once in Sulfur Gulch?
"Aye, you've been around the block a time or two, more questions before you even get answers."Holgrin smiles. "Ghost Wolves, Not much else to tell. They loathe technology. So if you’ve got any, don’t flaunt it. You can still bring what you have, though. They take these debts seriously, and they won’t attack—unless provoked.”
"They don't forget their debts, you'll find that among most of the Kellids, and they know your coming, so when things went about, they still remembered, if they don't still remember in a few weeks time, there be something else going on."
"Gift, aye, that be that shiny new axe there. It's not too cold up in those parts, you should be fine, its what passes for summer in these parts."
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Numeria is known for its mysterious technology. Many of Numeria’s ruins contain deadly mechanical guardians called robots.
Due to its extreme age, both the technology itself and the ruins it comes from are plagued with malfunctions and glitches. Pristine technology is extremely rare and extremely valuable, yet even partly functional devices are worth quite a bit. The Technic League maintains a tight embargo on smuggling technological devices, which drives up the price further for those who can make it out of Numeria with any goods.
Experienced explorers associate Numeria’s “ruins” with the remains of an otherworldly vessel that fell from the sky millennia ago. Little is known about the vessels’ creators, all of whom likely perished in the cataclysmic crash. Even the rare humanoid facsimiles known as
androids associated with Numerian technology struggle to understand their true origins.
The Sellen Hills are a harsh land, ill suited for human habitation. The only noteworthy settlement is Chesed, a city built where the Sellen River meets the Lake of Mists and
Veils. Beyond its walls, most of the population is nomadic and ethnically Kellid. Chesed serves as a capable base of operations for anyone risking the Numerian wilderness.
Like the rest of Numeria, technological ruins dot the Sellen Hills. Most of these remain
unexplored due to the danger of the region, to say nothing of the danger the ruins themselves hold. Even so, some explorers dare the protective locals’ ire and mechanical threats in search of profit.
Sulfur Gulch juts from the side of a gully in an expanse even more barren than the
surrounding region. The vapors that permeate the area have choked out nearly all plant life.
Most of Numeria’s population is Kellid. While many settled down in the region’s few cities, numerous tribes still wander the wilds. Their long history of clashing with neighbors for the land’s scarce resources gives these tribes a reputation for savagery, though many Kellids prove quite warm and hospitable under peaceful circumstances.
The Ghost Wolves are notorious for their open hatred of technology and their hit-and-run raids against the Technic League. Because they claim extensive stretches of the Sellen Hills, fewer sites there have fallen prey to scavenging opportunists.
Kellids have a largely deserved reputation for distrusting arcane magic. The same is not true for the Ghost Wolves, who celebrate and train promising spellcasters to help fend off the alien constructs that sometimes emerge from the ruins. The Ghost Wolves are especially fond of invisibility, which protects against the constructs’ deadly light beams.
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Yanndu shares all his knowledge telepathically with everyone.
***...in conclusion, consider adding ways to become invisible to your magical repository, if you cannot do so already...***
Before handing the notes back to the Venture-Captain, Yanndu attempts to mentally seek any psychic significance or residue within the notes.
Check: Once per day, you can concentrate for 1 minute while in physical contact with an item or location, during which you receive flashes of insight regarding the subject’s nature and ownership. After 1 minute, you attempt a DC 15 Appraise check to decipher the visions. You gain one piece of information about the historical significance or the last previous owner—such as a glimpse of the last owner’s appearance or its emotional state when it last used the item—determined by the GM. You learn one more piece of information for every 10 by which your check result exceeds the DC, as long as you concentrate for 1 additional minute for each piece of information. If you fail the check by less than 5 or the item has no significant psychic imprint, you don’t learn any information. If you fail this check by 5 or more, the item appears to be psychically significant even if it’s not, and the information you gain is wildly inaccurate.
If you attempt to use psychometry on an item affected by charge object or implant false reading, you automatically learn all information imprinted by the spell. You must also attempt a Will save. If the item is affected by an implant false reading spell, on a success, you realize the information was false, and can determine the true information as well. On a failure, or if the item is affected by a charge object spell, you believe the information is true.
Action: Reading an object requires at least 1 minute of uninterrupted concentration.
Try Again: Yes. Multiple readings on an object or place always give the same results unless its circumstances or ownership have changed, but additional checks might reach further back into an object’s history. You don’t reroll the saving throw to determine if a psychic imprint is false.
You can still use psychometry only once per day.
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As the conversation turns to invisibility, Favian pulls out his spellbook.
Vanish... check. Invisibility... check. Let's see here... ahh... Invisibility, greater, my most powerful spell. If we have enough time on the road I could let you scribe those spells into your own tomes, assuming you have use of them.
If we have enough time, we should probably coordinate our spells a bit. It's quite embarrassing when everyone whips out their licorice root at the same time.
Favian leaves his spellbook on the table in case anyone wants to examine it.
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Yanndu briefly looks at Favian's spellbook, then points to Grease, Ablative Barrier and Haste, and gives Favian a thumbs up.
Shortly after, he mentally activates his powers of flight, and heads outside. Rising several hundred feet above the city, he comes to a stop, crosses his legs, then steadies his breath. He then proceeds to cast three ancestral memory spells in succession, sending his mind reeling across space and time on a thread made of bloodlines, life, death and destiny.
You all hear telepathically:
***...shepherds of the Age of Legend, masters of the elf gates and the orbs they unite, reveal thy knowledge of the otherworldly vessel that fell from the sky millennia ago in the lands they now call Numeria...***
***...sons of Sovyrian, explorers of the world reborn and discoverers of the men-that-walks, reveal thy knowledge of the place they now call Sulfur Gulch and the nature of the poisonous vapors it belches in incessant defoliating incidents...***
***...Keepers of the Secrets of Lost Azlant, Spire Seers of the Approaching Starstone and Saviours of All Elves, reveal thy knowledge of the Numerian constructs and how the Ghost Wolves Kellids have eluded their depradation...***
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Draa cleans up his elegant writing and notes, and prepares to depart.
At Favian's suggestion... "I do believe an exchange of spellbooks would be beneficial."
1st:
Abjuring Step
Burning Hands
Charm Person
Color Spray
Crafter’s Fortune
Ear-Piercing Scream
Expeditious Retreat
Liberating Command
Mage Armor
Magic Missile
Mount
Vanish
Heightened Awareness
2nd:
Bull’s Strength
Flaming Sphere
Glitterdust
Scorching Ray
See Invisibility
3rd:
Fireball
Haste
Slow
Stinking Cloud
Suggestion
4th:
Confusion
Stone Shape
Stoneskin
Wall of Fire
5th:
Baleful Polymorph
Feeblemind