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The event seems a distant nightmare now. The dark underground, the horns, the desperate halfling. All a big blur, a hazy memory, another story for the chronicles.
It started simple. Too simple, given the gravity of the occasion. Just a small note, an invitation. Start where it all began.
Meet us at the Pig’s Paunch one hour before dawn.
The Pig's Paunch. Start where it all began. Just a run-down building, a sign of pig hanging over the front door. Arms crossed, folded above a corpulent belly. Laughing. Taunting. Inside, the reek of old sweat hung around, mixed with stale tobacco and leftover food.
Kreighton was there. The nimble elf, master of scrolls of the Pathfinder Society. The words he spoke are still clear as day:
Welcome! Welcome, my students! Please, have a seat!
The elf himself just sat on the table, cross-legged, looking around the place with reverent wonder.
Can you believe it? It all started here years ago—well, over four hundred of them at least. Under this very roof the Pathfinder Society was born.
It was an omen of things to come.
Today! Today you will begin your Confirmation! Master Farabellus, Master Zey, and I all agree you each have shown your worth and dedication to the Society, so there’s no better time to see if you can handle becoming full field operatives. Allow me to introduce you to Janira Gavix.
Gavix. That excitable halfling woman. She stood at only half the height of most patrons in the room, and she already wore that large backpack, with all manner of scrolls, pouches and tools attached.
Kreighton gave the credentials. Brightest pupil, invaluable resource. Credited with the discovery of a cave system under the Kortos Mounts. A cave system. The caves were the mission.
The halfling's voice was still cheerful, unaware of the peril that awaited. A greeting. An elaborate story: six months prior, she had discovered a cave entrance. She told the full story.
In the foothills of the Kortos Mounts, I witnessed a lone gillman entering a concealed cave. I thought little of it at the time, but I saw another one enter the cave again a month later as my Confirmation stretched on. A few days later, after I completed my assigned task, I entered the cave system, but was unable to find the gillmen.
Kreighton never interrupted, though at the very he spoke, and described the mission: travel to the caves, and explore its many passages, document them. Learn what the gillmen are doing in the caves.
Return alive.
Oblivious to the peril that was about to start, the elf jumped off the table and strolled out of the building. Humming a tune. All that remained were five pathfinders, their halfling guide and the questions in their heads.
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"Oh my word, how I cannot wait for this epic journey! I simply MUST write an epic play to commemorate our Confirmation once we've returned! I could play myself, even!"
Kandal is a handsome young man with long, red hair. He is a well-known player in Absalom's playhouses, and is a lady-killer if ever there was one. He wears a simple tunic and slacks, believing that armor is for those who defend him.
The halfling woman. Cheerful and happy, she opened her leather book. It was her idea that the troupe all introduce themselves. to better know each other she said, the most important factors that determine whether an expedition will be a success are cooperation and preparation!. As if to make an example, she went first.
Oldest of seven children, daughter to a courier. No stranger to the worship of Desna, but not devoted to her - keeps her options open. Joined the society four years ago. Aims to get her name into the Society Chronicles. Oh, how right she was.
Then those big blue eyes, the look of the femme fatale, looked up and said Your turn. Tell me why you joined the Society, tell me about your training.
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"I am an occultist by trade - I have always been fascinated with realms of existence and patterns of thought and culture which lie beyond the borders of everyday mundane existence; joining the Society seemed like the best way to gain access to such information, without taking too many risks - the libraries and vaults that the Society maintains are truly exceptional!"
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"I have traveled across the top of the world to Absalom to learn of life in these lands. While not the same as the land I was born in, good is a constant and wisdom is always sought. The Society is therefore a natural fit, though... admittedly... I'm much more comfortable in a room perusing books than living on the road."
The halfling looked puzzled, but shouldn't she? It was not everyday that she met aspirant pathfinders with such backgrounds. An epic storywright, An occultist. A city guard. A bookworm. A writer.
Eagerly, the halfling grinned: On to the details of the mission at hand.
After reviewing my mission reports personally, Master Shaine believes it is no coincidence that each time they entered the caves it was during a full moon, so it is also no coincidence that you have been called here now, just a day before the moon is full again. We both believe that tomorrow night is our best chance to find out why these caves are important and what exactly the gillmen are doing in there.
The caves we’ll be travelling to lie under the base of the Kortos Mounts. We’ll need to spend every minute of daylight possible to reach the caves by foot, crossing over the Cairnlands, taking the paths to Diobel, and finally making our way through the wilderness. With any luck we won’t run into any of the local inhabitants. Once in the caves, we’ll need to work together to explore and determine whether any gillman are present or have been recently. Keep an eye out for any other clues that might hint at the caves’ significance, too.
The woman gave some basic pointers on equipment. She recommended rope, rations, alchemist's fire. Acid, holy water. A light source. She handed out equipment to make notes ()
Just an empty parchment, nothing on it. It seemed a cruel trick at first, but then turned out to be only a helpful hint that an expedition like this requires careful note-taking.
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"Oh my, so much equipment we must carry with us?! Shouldn't we hire a porter or something to carry all of that? It seems ever so tiring to walk so far carrying so much!"
Despite his complaining, you can see from Kandal's various packs and belt pouches that he's actually fairly well-prepared for such an outing. The only major thing he's missing from the list is holy water.
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As the party leaves the establishment everyone is surprised to see the waitress speak up setting down her tray of dirty mugs.
"You know, to hell with this rowdy crowd! Kortos Mounts you say? Sounds exciting! Confirmation? I've been waitressing on the side to pay for my Pathfinder-ing school ... with the scoundrels I deal with here every day, I'm ready! Well, ready ... save some supplies I'd like to purchase per your recommendations."
Deftly, she adjusts her hidden implements of death under the apron, and from behind a charming smile eyes everyone with suspicion.
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"Have fun," Drake calls to the group as they leave the establishment. A few seconds later, he slips out the door and sprint to a nearby apparently abandoned building. A few minutes later, a white-feathered tengu with an even broader and flatter beak emerges garbed in a shadowy outfit with various purple hues and a very broad-brimmed hat.
He quickly tracks the party down and begins to follow them from a distance.
The appearance of Dolly was sudden and unexpected, but the halfling was apparently not startled by it. And so it was that a group of seven - six pathfinder confirmees and their guide, set out from Absalom.
It was a long trudge through the cairnlands, the vast plain of broken siege towers and other ruins. The Red Redoubt, the Fallen Fortress, the tower of the Wind Wizard, Bonekeep - the halfling knew them all and pointed them out with glee.
At the edge of the forest, the halfling took out an intricate-looking silver compass, emblazoned with the Society's logo, the glyph of the open road. Her present, she explained, from when she completed her own confirmation, Should we be successful on our journey, she explained you will get your own as well.
She flipped it open, and read the device. On the lid, the markings J. L. were clearly visible. The halfling spoke “We’re on the right path. We need to keep heading northwest past those large rocks up ahead.”
Only a little time later, the forest opened up to a little clearing. It turned out to be a filthy cesspool of wildlife and vermin alike. Only a few steps into the clearing, the group was beset by swarm of mosquitoes, angrily buzzing their way up to the pathfinders, looking for fresh blood.
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Drake
Lee
HP L
Kandal
Dolly
M. Reynard
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Mosquitoes
Janira
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