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A tall woman enters the room and sits down on her chair. Shifting uncomfortably, she pulls out her favorite book, heavily dogmarked. "Anger Management and you: 30 comfortable ways to execute your inner strength." She smiles at one of the pages, and then realizes she should probably greet the others.
"Meredith." She gives a quick smile, then sits down to continue reading.
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"Meredith." She gives a quick smile, then sits down to continue reading.
"Excuse me, Miss Meredith. You're needed elsewhere." The elven woman takes off her ostentatious tricone hat to reveal a scroll. She hands it to Meredith, who slams her book shut and reads it.
"Damn it, wrong room." She mutters. "Thanks." Meredith stands up and leaves in a huff.
"Always in a hurry. What an odd woman." The elf bows to the others in the room. "My name is Evarice Bue. Usually I stay in Absalom, but I think it's time to stretch my legs. Besides, it gives me a chance to practice my performance!"
She pulls out her symbol of Sheyln and draws a piccolo from it. She puts it to her lips and blows an energetic tune.
An energetic, off tune, cacophony. She stops halfway through and pulls a ribbon from the piccolo. "Oh, that's where it was..."
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A tiny gnome enters the room. She's got a wild shock of blue hair extending in every direction. "Did one of you hear an awful noise? It sounded like a sick cat being choked by a drunk monkey.". She looks around the room and sees one of the fellow members sporting some sort of instrument.
"Ah..., she struggles just for the right word to say. "Well, anyway I'm Doodlevain. My friends call me Doodle. I'm pretty handy with a few magic tricks. I've had a couple missions so far. I fought a Minotaur! Well, actually, I almost drowned in a creek while everyone else stayed the beast," she says turning a brighter shade of red, "Wasn't my finest moment to be honest."
Doodle talked a lot, and really quickly. Once she gets going, the group realizes she would be hard to interrupt.
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A little halfling of sharp face raises and eyebrow as the others arrive. He is dressing in a long tunic, for a short person like him, and carries all kind of wands an scrolls around. It also calls your attention a mark on his front and the occasional sparkling running around his hair.
"Enchanté! Ledt is my name" he makes the typical greeting of Andoran liberators with one of his hands "Do you know anything about the mission we will be appointed to?"
You have been summoned by the Society's Master of Spells, Aram Zey to the Grand Lodge in Absolom. Some of you have a few adventures under your belts, for others, this may be your first time.
Your "invitation" instructed you to present yourself the following morning in a vault deep below Skyreach, ready to travel immediately, and to dress warmly.
It's likely you've heard rumors of the Society's success in securing the Hoa Jin Tapestry, and as Pathfinders, have heard additional rumors that it's being stored safely below the Grand Lodge.
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Evarice takes this time to buy some cold-weather gear, as well as some paint to make it a bit more "lively". She buys a flask of alchemists's fire and 50 feet of rope from the local alchemist. Finally she also stops by the local church of Sheyln to buy another flask of holy water.
With her preparations complete, Evarice stops buy the Almsman and thanks him for allowing her to help the beggars in town. She plays one last performance for them
which they tolerate, and is soon on her way to the vault.
You know the Tapestry is valuable, and is somehow connected to various locations the Society seeks to explore. (And possibly exploit.) The Society won the Tapestry in the recent Ruby Phoenix Tournament.
Skyreach, a huge five-towered fortress, is the home of the Pathfinder's Grand Lodge of Absalom. It's also home of the Decemvirate, the ruling body of the Society.
Abasalom (map) is a major hub of commerce in the Inner Sea. They trade with just about everybody.
You arrive at the appointed time, and are escorted through a maze of tunnels, past armed guards, security checkpoints, narrow hallways, winding stairs, and even one elevator before you are ushered in to a luxurious room with a sole occupant.
A five-by-seven-foot tapestry hangs on the wall, surrounded by a series of platforms and ladders to allow a close view of any spot upon it. The room is otherwise empty, save for the Pathfinder Society’s Master of Spells, Aram Zey, who paces impatiently before the Hao Jin Tapestry, glancing up as the door creaks open.
“Thank you for your quick arrival, Pathfinders,” Zey says curtly, speaking without making eye contact, as though his mind is moving faster than his mouth. As he continues his focused pacing, he gestures toward the tapestry.
“As I’m sure you know, we recently came into possession of this wonder behind me—the Hao Jin Tapestry—by winning the Ruby Phoenix Tournament in distant Goka. Within this piece of fabric lies an entire world in which one of Golarion’s greatest magicians placed treasures and mysteries beyond imagining. And it was supposed to be ours alone. But the Aspis Consortium found a way into Hao Jin’s astral vault that bypassed the tapestry altogether, and Aspis agents are now busy stealing whatever they can move, hoping we will act too slowly to protect our winnings.
“Fortunately, a recent mission into the tapestry managed to uncover a clue about a possible Aspis base within the tapestry. That is your destination.
“The camp, interestingly, is within a great stone temple complex uprooted from the Vudran jungle many centuries ago by the sorceress herself. Since her disappearance, that part of the tapestry has been encased in a massive glacier. This temple—dedicated to a Vudran monkey-god, we believe— could prove enlightening on its own, notwithstanding the Aspis presence there. It’s a grim thought imagining what the Consortium has done to the place, but apparently more than three-quarters of it is still protected by the glacier, so we can still salvage a great deal.
Aram Zey continues to ramble slightly about the history of Vudran and the societal structure of the temple builders. It's all fascinating, surely, but it's hard to keep focused. You manage to refocus as he concludes.
“Even an abandoned temple is a holy place to its builders, as it is to most of us Vudrani as well, and we hope you respect that fact. If you can save the sanctuary from the insolence of the gods-damned Aspis, it may draw the mirthful and enlightened eye of Ragdya himself upon our Society.”
Hao Jin was a fabled Tian sorceress, and creator of the tapestry. She disappeared more than 300 years ago.
The Hoa Jin Tapestry is home to numerous pocket demiplanes, each activated with a different command word.
Aram Zay hands each of you a slip of paper with the command word. "When you are ready, touch here, and speak the word." There is a small flaming censer nearby for burning the scraps of paper before you depart.
“Owa Tahgoo Saiam”
The Master of Spells stands and watches you expectantly.
"If you encounter Aspis members, they are trespassing, and should be dealt with as criminals," Aram Zey confirms.
"If you think that's the most appropriate course of action, then yes. There is perhaps must we could glean from interrogation."
"But do not be afraid to defend yourselves, either."
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"We get to travel through the Tapestry!? That's going to be awesome! I can't wait. I wonder if it'll be weird teleporting? I've heard it can be tough on the stomach. I wonder if any gnomes have ever used the Tapestry before? I might be the first to ever use it. This is going to be a great mission, I just know it!"
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The halfling speaks, only then making his presence noticeable "Just one question sir? How do we come back?" he rubs his face "I wonder for how long we will have to stay there and how to communicate if we find unexpected... facts"
Ledt smiles to Doodlevain "I guess if a gnome has done this he would have added some smoke and gears for it to be 'more fun'"
The sorcerer will finally ask if there are anything in this 'plane' that works different than in the current plane.
Aram Vey begins to look annoyed with the questions. But then, he has a reputation for being annoyed by questions. "It seems you grasp the situation sufficiently."
"There is something different about every demi-plane. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain the many variables to you. But suffice to say, it will be cold, as you've previously been instructed."
"Your way back will be obvious, once you arrive. Simply touch the tapestry here," he points, "And say the words you've been given."
With that, he gestures that you should be on your way, and shifts to his next task, ignoring your presence.
Having touched the tapestry (all but a couple of you, anyway), you feel simultaneously compressed and expanded, and before you sense any time has passed, you're whole again in a new place. Each arriving character sees a a 2-foot-diameter sphere of pulsing blue light just behind them, As you look around, you don't see a similar light behind any of the other characters.
It is cold here. Quite cold. The slight wind adds to the cold, and the chill is biting. Ice covers the upper walls.
You see before you the remains of an open-air temple, partially overcome by what looks like a small glacier.
Symmetrical and colossal, the brownish-red stones of the Temple of Ragdya emerge from the glacier, hinting broadly at the scope and immensity of the vanaran complex.
Sinuous nymphs, mighty tigers, and trumpeting elephants—frozen in ruddy stone—encrust the temple’s outer friezes. Packed snow and ice clad depictions of vanaras in jungle scenes, creating an odd dissonance between the climate illustrated in the carvings and the frigid conditions of the temple. The wind howls, and muted voices drift from within the temple. Even more eerily, a strange hooting and shrieking issues from the temple’s cornices and spires, as if by some magical or artificial means the calls of thousands of monkeys echo the sound of the arctic storm. A wide doorway stands unobstructed, providing ingress to the
columned courtyard within.
The walls stretch up about 30'. The first 20' look easily climbable (the friezes provide a good many handholds), but the last 10' of each wall is covered in thick ice.
Four columns stand vigil in this open-air courtyard, a wide doorway opening in the center of each wall.
To the east, a huge banyan lies fallen across the wide bridge that once permitted access to the great gates of the temple.
To the north and south stretches a ten-foot-wide walkway running along the temple’s exterior wall. A wide moat of black ice separates this walkway and the inner complex. To the south, a crude wooden ramp leads from the walkway to the ice’s surface ten feet below. Two steep stone stairways lead up from the ice to doorways in symmetrical chambers flanking the main entrance on the other side of the moat.
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Ledt nods in acceptance and shredding himself in his thick cloths, he descends carefully through the stairs. If nothing is found in the icy courtyard, he advances stealthily and with sure-foot to the next building.
Instead of climbing the stairs there, the halfling peers around the corner and calls the group to proceed.
If nothing is found there around, he makes a sign towards the stairs suggesting the group front-liners to proceed there inside.
Ledt tries quietly to make his way down the ramp, which wobbles under his weight. It creaks audibly underneath him, so his approach isn't terribly silent.
The frozen moat is 10' below the walkway.
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Ledt starts to make signs clearly alerted to some place up the stairs in front of him. He draws his crossbow and makes signals, while trying to hide behind the stairs.
The halfling readies a spell, if the guard seems to spot him or any of his allies, he casts daze on the sentinel.