Separating the River Kingdoms from the land of Razmiran is the West Sellen River. Strength rules this land of opportunity, and many pirates and bandits can be found along the shores of its flow. It's not all lawlessness, though. The mighty Fort Inevitable is a bastion of Law at the border of the echo woods.
Aah, the echo woods. A vast expanse of wildland. It is here that we start our adventure. Let's zoom in a bit more. There, see that open spot in the woods? There, we find the Emerald Spire. A small fortress, seemingly made of glass, names after the green spire - crumbled at the top - that sticks out of it.
The fortress is a ruin mostly. The upper portions of the tower were ruined long ago, leaving half-broken, half-molten pieces of glass scattered across the surroundings. The spire's ruin are known to be infested with dangerous monsters.
Let's see if we can find our heroes, shall we? A bit further out, on that road there. Do they know what awaits them?
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Kellan had an extremely difficult childhood. Being a part-fiend living in Lastwall demands some very thick skin, as she dealt with constant discrimination by those who fight demons day after day. She was born to a beautiful young woman who had been wooed by an incubus, and Kellan may have been killed as a child if a particularly merciful Paladin hadn't whisked her away to the church of Saerenrae, the Dawnflower, the lady of Redemption. She was raised in the church, and the priestesses taught her to use her demonic abilities for the good of others. Before her 20th birthday, she had only left the church to train with a group of arcane casters, who taught her to harness her innate magical ability to fight demons in hand-to-hand combat.
Now that she is of age and the wardstones have been restored, Kellan has decided that her calling is that of the Pathfinder, and she now travels across Golarion, looking to help any she can, especially those who may fight against demonic presence.
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Ilya stretches her arms and yawns as she follows at the back of the party. She had to get up early this morning, to pick up her new sword at the blacksmith, and isn't quite used to doing so.
While she walks Ilya notices the Emerald Spire, the place they're headed for. "I have to admit I've no idea what we'll encounter inside. Have you guys done some research, perhaps?"
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Redke Orefall was born the son of a shopkeeper and his wife in the Menandor Mountains. In order to better his shop, Redke's dad, Berhes, made a pact withe Asmodeus that his shop would last for generations, if Redke, upon reaching maturity went to serve Asmodeus. Soon, the shop became an economic force to be reckoned with. Many flowed in and the family grew complacent, lulled into a sense of serenity. That all changed the day a messenger of Asmodeus arrived at the shop. Demanding Redke's service, Berhes remembered the pact he made, and had no choice.
The first task Asmodeus had for Redke involved the Emerald Spire.
Unbeknownst the Redke, the Infernal Lord did not mean for him to travel alone, and brought other along on His journey.
Redke walks up to group notices Kellen, and starts walking towards her, thinking to himself 'Oh, good! something resembling civilization after all these miles. The tiefling there must be a slave.'
"Slave! Slave! Where is your master. I am looking for the Emerald Spire, surely your master must know."
The words of Venture-Captain Holgarin Smine were baffling. Sure, you had heard of the Emerald Spire before, but like most people from this region never considered the possibility of exploring it. Two weeks ago. he explains two wizards from Thornkeep apparently did just that - they went into the fortress, but never came out again. Lady Iliara Starcloak, the leader of the Goldenfire Order, is seriously concerned about her two missing members. A concern, should we provide aid, we can obviously leverage to our advantage. I don't have to tell your that the Goldenfire Order can be a powerful ally. I want you to do as the wizards did, and explore the fortress, on the premise of a rescue mission. Of course, anything else you might find noteworthy to report is of value as well: you would be the first to emerge from the fortress since time unknown.
You'll find the Emerald spire in an open patch in the echo woods. It'll be a dangerous venture, so make sure to stock up with sufficient supplies. Fort Inevitable is nearby. It's being run by the Order of the Nail, so watch your step when you're in there - they're not a forgiving bunch, to say the least.
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Zen'yr was never short of bravado. She has been called a hustler, swindler, a thief. At least that is in Brevoy. She grew up on the streets, and she stole what she needed to survive. The only down side is she was never a great pickpocket. She was caught on more than one occasion, she managed to talk her way out of severe jail time and fled the local authorities to Minov.
It as there she plied her trade, making jewelry, in an effort to start a new life. Some she kept for herself, other pieces she sold for coin. She joined the Pathfinders as a means to turn her life around. She didn't want to end up in jail or dead. She figured the Society would also help her gain some coin to eventually start a jewelry shop if her own.
In walks a young female; 5'4" tall, platinum blonde hair falling to the small of her back. Her hazel eyes twinkle in the light. She has a rapier strapped to her hip, a buckler on her forearm. A pair of daggers compliment her hips. She wears loose flowing dress, purple with olive green accents.
I got it Cap, explore and rescue if we find the others, she gives a wink at the Captain.
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Kellan gives Redke a hard and almost pitying look.
"I am slave to nothing but the will of the Dawnflower, my good sir, and she is a kind master indeed."
Kellan has little in the way of extra cash, so she asks the Venture Captain "Could the society provide any items of use for us? My most expensive item as of now is this wand of healing, and our spells may come at a premium if we're delving through this spire for a long time."
I'm afraid I'm getting by myself with limited resources. No need to worry though, you seem well-equipped, and you can rely on your training. And, as I said, Fort Inevitable is a good place to restock - as long as you behave yourself. The laws of the land may be open to suggestion here, but the version of the Hellknights leaves little open to discussion.
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A Tiefling that isn't a slave?? How backwards is this place we're going?
A shocked look crosses Redke's face as he hears the tiefling response before he regains his composure. When Kellen is finished talking, Redke flashes an all to obviously fake smile before saying, "Well, my name is Redke, and you said your name was... ? Alas, a slave to the will of the Dawnflower? Well, I can honestly say I've never had the ... ... pleasure."
Redke walks away from Kellen shaking his head, before engaging with Ilya, "Ilya, you said, and if I might be so forward, what are you good at?" Redke continues talking without waiting for a response from Ilya, "Magic is my trade, which is after all the most noble of pursuits, but pray tell, what is it you do, again?"
Noticing the young lady with the platinum hair, Redke walks over and asks "Excuse me, miss, you said your name was...?"
Hearing Venture-Captain Smine mention that the Order of the Nail was located nearby, Redke breathes a sigh of relief, muttering "Thank Asmodeus, at least there is some semblance of Civilization out here."
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Cringing at the talk of slaves, but is eager to hear more of the Emerald Spire Vayu listens to the venture captain.
"Yes, we will certainly report what we find.". thinking to himself that reporting is not giving.
To Redke, "Magic you say ... well apparently the spire eats wizards like you, you may want to stay home where you're safe! Ha ha."
Back to Holgarin, "Behave ourselves? You may need to elaborate"
Randomly rolling history tab items in hero-lab (ultimate campaign I think.
Vayu's parents were thieves. When they were caught they were offered a chance to go free if they gave their seven year old child, Vayu, in exchange and into slavery. Vayu was horrified as they readily agreed. And was further horrified when those they had stolen from killed them both anyway, right in front of his eyes.
Through his childhood Vayu served. (Mostly using his sylph wind manipulation to keep their lawn free of leaves.) His sylph blooded curiosity got the worst of him though. Eaves dropping and listing to the secrets of his masters, he learned where they had hid some interesting magics that he did not understand, but thought it would be fun to steal. He knew he'd likely be caught, but he didn't care. Ever since being betrayed by his parents, and then robbed of their lives he really did not care. They beat him to death. Or as near as one can get to death and come back without the intervention of the gods.
Left in an alley, lying in the filth of the city he was found by a Gunsmith who could use help. Nursing him back to life, Vayu was indebted to him. While the gunsmith was not kind per say, Vayu's situation had greatly improved, and he was learning a trade. Vayu continued his careless ways not caring about himself or anyone really and stole a gun from the smith. He intended to sell it, but he was caught by the gunsmith. Vayu, not planning to allow another beating shot and killed the man and immediately fled, taking the pistol and whatever meager belongings he had on him. With nowhere else to turn, he found his way to the Pathfinder Society.
With his horrible past years behind him Vayu has slightly more will to live, yet remains relatively care free and not overly loyal to any one or thing. The Pathfinder Society gives him some authority to experience life, and acquire what he wishes.
This is the land of the river kingdoms Smine explains the adagio here is 'you have what you hold', and you won't find the same rule of law as you would in cities like Absalom. Fort Inevitable is an exception to that: the order of the Nail is what you would call 'strict'. Inside the walls of that fort, I would steer clear from allowing yourself any liberties...
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Listening for a touch from the woods, Brayden remarks at the callous inhumanity of the Chelaxian. Braggart and fool. From this distance an arrow could easily pierce his throat. Or, I could let you tear him limb from limb...
The darker, more primal voice in his mind echoes back, indeed, oppressors are so fun to oppress. but he is to be your companion?
Brayden smiles, it would seem so. Time to meet the team.
Brayden steps out of the woods and strides forward toward the company of heroes standing in the road, his cloaked companion following close behind.
Brayden's every move is with style and grace, and his charmingly roguish smile is balanced well by the wide-brimmed hat tilted slightly down. Shaggy brown hair dangles from the back, and his well-oiled leather armor is expertly made.
"Humble apologies for my late arrival, took a wrong turn at some point. Are we ready to be off and into the grand dungeon then?"
...and that's how we got to be here. The emerald spire was once once a great stronghold, but is now but a ruined keep. It look out of this world, all made of green glass. Many years ago, a grand battle must have taken place, as a hole seems to be blasted from the front, and all around the ruins are chunks of melted, twisted and broken glass. The ruins themselves seems to have withstood the test of time, and the plants that overgrow it.
What was once the front entrance is now strewn with rubble, but there's a trail on the side.
Scouting around, Zen'yr finds several noteworthy observations:
There's a trail that's the obvious entrance to the keep, winding up to the side of the structure. The original entrance is to the west, but nothing more than a rubble-strewn cliff is left of the original staircase. Still, it would be possible to climb it and enter from that side.
On the east side of the fortress, a screen made of canvas and wood covers a third entrance points, cleverly hidden.
Zen'yr lifts the canvas-and-wood cover. Behind it is... pure darkness. It's like a veil of blackness, not even the outside light seem to penetrate any further than an arm's length. And Zen'yr, even though she sees reasonably well in low-light conditions, can't see a thing inside.
Kellan, on the other hand, has no trouble penetrating the darkness. She sees a tunnel leading into the fortress, heading west, then bending northward, all carved out inside a wall of solid green glass.
Kellan checks for traps, but doesn't find any sign of things being rigged up.
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Redke walks over to Ilya's sword, takes a look at it for a second, pulls out his spellbook, consults it for a few seconds, then says "Behold! The power of magic!" as he casts light on Ilya's sword.
"Now you can see. Since I will be staying near the back, feel free to save your thanks for later."
Muttering under his breath, Redke says "I knew we should have talked to the Hellknights before we decided to enter this Hell-forsaken place. After all, if The Tiefling can't see anything bad, we'll all be ok." with a voice that ends dripping with hatred.
The light source causes some of the darkness to recede, but the effect is apparently strong enough to make the range of darkness extremely limited: even with the light source, visibility is not more than five feet. Beyond that, impenetrable darkness. Which is no problem for Kellan, of course.
The hallway is filled with rubble, as is the room that it end in. It appears to be completely empty. The side that holds the tunnel has completely collapses into a pile of glass rubble, but there's still intact doors to the south, east and north, as well as a set of double doors leading to the core of the tower to the west.
Anyone moving in notices the rubble strewn mess that this fortress is. It's sure going to be hard to manoeuvre in the dark, stubbing your toes at every step.
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"As long as this light spell's active I'm happy, but thanks."
Ilya continues to walk, but moves very slow to prevent tripping. Despite losing her balance a couple of time she presses on, and eventually reaches the room.
"I'd like to suggest opening the eastern door first," Ilya says to the others. "Based on what I remember from the outside of this building it seems to be closest to the outer wall."
The door to the east opens up easily, The room behind is as dark as the hallway and the first room. Looking around a bit, the party finds that a plush, human-sized bed stands in this chamber, along with a table holding a bone scroll tube and jars filled with eyeballs, claws, and teeth. Various automaton parts lie scattered around.
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"I do care, because I'd rather start on one side and work to the other side," Ilya explains to Redke, "instead of start somewhere in the middle."
"It decreases the chance we'll be surrounded by creeps from different directions, you see."
Ilya takes in the contents of the room as she moves inside, and keeps an eye out for both traps and objects of value.
Ilya searches around, but beside the scroll tube, the automaton parts and the jars filled with... whatever those are... she finds little of interest.
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"Nothing at all," Ilya replies to Brayden. "Just weird stuff."
Ilya walks back to the room where the others are, and puts her ear against the door in the northern wall.
If Ilya hears anything, she'll let the others know. After possibly doing this, Ilya will open the door and step into the space behind it.
Ilya listens at the door, and hears something of a metallic sound. Something of a periodic whirring, followed by a clanging sound, and then a woodish tap.