While spending some time in Oppara (whether on the invite of Vars, or another reason), you do become rather tired of the common level of debauchery. You stop by the local lodge, and the venture captain says there was an odd fellow who had some information he was willing to share with some experienced pathfinders. Not having anything but tenderfeet in the lodge at the moment he sends you group.
This takes you south to a small inn located to the northeast of Zimar. Arriving at this less than impressive hostelry The Lion Sleeps Inn, you are left wondering how people of your stature would find yourselves on any mission starting in such a humble place. inside you are directed to a private dining room.
In the room a man introduces himself to you "Greetings, I am Hanoris Dellum. I have learned of some important history, and everyone knows how you Pathfinders are so interested in history. The first information was that I am the last scion of the Adellas family. This was once one of the great Taldan houses, which fell into dishonor and ignominy. This lead me to further research my roots which revealed to me the location of the Tomb of the Iron Medusa which is the ancient Necropolis of my family. I would like to have someone investigate there to find any information which might restore the honor of my ancient lineage. I am certain that if you can find Infensus Mucro, the fabled sword of Marcus Junius Adella, that the honor can be reclaimed. There should also be vast wealth present, since the family was truly one of the greatest houses at the peak of the empire. Of course given their power at the time, they were also quite capable of setting up defenses of their family tombs, hence my need for very capable investigators. All I will need for you to find is the sword, any other treasures you might keeps. As I am the last of the line, it is my right to offer this bounty since it is my birthright. Are you interested? "
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"Greetings Master Dellum. I assure you the Pathfinder is grateful for this opportunity indeed. These are my associates." Lithuan gestures at the other pathfinders but does not presume to introduce them.
"I have heard of Taldan necropolises. They are not what one would consider friendly environments. Hostile as an Osirani tomb, although they tend to favor construct and spell over the restless dead."
"This sword, Infesus Mucro, why do you call it fabled? And where does this Necropolis rest?"
For knowledge history
House Adella’s great patriarch was Marcus Junius Adella, a common soldier who attained the estimable post of legionary high captain during the legendary campaign against the Whispering Tyrant. In 3758 ar, at the Battle of Istavala Vale, Marcus Junius’s courage and self-sacrifice saved an entire legion, the emperor’s son among them. Marcus’s posthumous reward was the elevation of his family to the nation’s aristocracy. Before two generations had passed, it was impossible to think of Taldan nobility without including the Adellas. As the clan grew, its members prospered, excelling in the arenas of entertainment, nautical skill, and tactics.
Unfortunately, this constant striving to enhance the family legacy, combined with the egotism it engendered, led the Adellas down a treacherous path. They increasingly turned to infernal sources for advice and aid, the leaders of the three Adella clans believing themselves the betters of the devils and fiends they secretly commanded in a display of hubris that would be repeated some years later in modern Cheliax.
Among the most talented of these infernal minions was the half-fiend medusa Suasandra, known in some circles as the Iron Medusa for her work in designing several relatively recent and striking additions to the infernal city of Dis. The greatest of her works for the Adellas was the family necropolis. Located in the foothills of the World’s Edge Mountains at a site where, it was said, the Adella dead could carry on the task of protecting Taldor from the Qadiran menace, the necropolis was well hidden from prying eyes, and well protected from greedy grave robbers. The Adellas spared no expense in protecting their dead, and in time, this necropolis would prove to be the only thing to prevent their name from fading into the gulf of history.
Within several generations, three distinct branches had emerged among the Adellas—the Sardisi, the Voxus, and the Daellum clans. But as the end drew near, critics commented on what appeared to be a race to self-destruction between the three clans. Certainly, the cancer of pride had worked its way into the Adellan psyche, polluting the noble house in ways both insidious and dramatic, and finally spelling the end for each of the three branches in succession.
The Sardisi clan was the first to fall. The Sardisis became preoccupied with pleasure and self-indulgence. The last of the clan, Drusus Adella, was known more for the fanatical devotion of his five daughters than for any significant accomplishments. Indeed, his lack of achievement was so profound he eventually retreated in shame to a self-imposed exile. By this time his daughters had been married off to important aristocrats, who were acutely sensitive to public humiliation. Their husbands forbade them any contact or correspondence with their disgraced father. Soon after the lonely and destitute Drusus committed suicide, opening his veins in the bath of a seedy Absalom brothel, his five daughters became infamous for murdering their husbands in 4222 and then vanishing from society.
These five scandalous murders had no clear connection to the other two clans, yet they triggered a cascade of increasing bad luck and ill fortune upon the family nevertheless. The Voxus branch was next to fall. Known for their nautical prowess, members of the Voxus clan traced their lineage back to Pasco Adella, admiral of the Taldan Third Fleet during the 42nd century and veteran of over a hundred sea battles. Later generations would exploit their family’s seafaring renown to become great import/export tycoons, controlling vast fleets of merchant ships plying the oceans of Golarion. But this branch of the Adella family withered during a literal civil war between twin brothers Vespacio and Vincenzo, who went so far as to field armies against one another.
The last surviving branch, the Daellum clan, at first seemed likely to weather the ignominious end of their cousins. The cunning and ruthless Bartolomae Adella, who led the Daellums, was an exemplary and highly successful commander in the Taldan military, and for some months it seemed that what had come to be known as the Adella curse had passed this final clan by. Yet Bartolomae went on to suffer a crushing military defeat on the fractious Qadiran frontier. Humiliated to the point of blasphemy (although some held that Bartolomae’s blasphemies were nothing new), he fell on his powerful sword Infensus Mucro in contrition, yet even this act was hardly salve enough to atone for the family’s military failure. Indeed, so appalled was Grand Prince Beldam II by the family’s impressive descent into murder, hubris, and blasphemy that he proclaimed the entire family damnatio—their memory was to be wiped from every public record and monument, and all members stripped forever of noble status.
"The sword is fabled because of its ownership by a legendary general who saved the empire as well as it's reputed power. While I don't actually know the details of its powers, it is known to be a magical sword capable of a great deal. In fact some rumors I've heard talk of it thinking for itself."
"Yes, from what I have gathered I am of the Daelum lineage. "
"Yes, I am more concerned with clearing the taint of my ancient name more than wealth. My trading endeavors have been reasonably prosperous."
"As for defenses, while I assume the are quite formidable, I really don't know any details. It was quite difficult to get what information I was able, there really was nothing more. I would just be suitably cautious. "
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Duhwoo finally stumbles in...
"Dang it -- Ah'm late agin! Ah guess Ah herd you guys say there was a Lion sleepin' in, so Ah slept in too! You meant this here place, huh?"
He sets his keg on a nearby table...
"not one o' my better doses o' 'shine, but it'll get us through the day. So whut's all this 'bout sum kinda 'tropolis? Ah ain't never hearda no Ironic Medusa..."
Looking somewhat exasperated Hanoris replies "Iron Medusa. I don't really know the history that well myself. I'm just glad I was able to ascertain the location. So is it agreed? You will delve the necropolis to bring me the sword, and the rest is all yours? "
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"Thangs been a bit slow 'round th' farm late-ly -- reckon a soiree to a tomb cain't be much worser than sloppin' hogs day in and day out...so guess Ah'm in on this Irony thang, fer shur! Lemme see that thar map, wouldja?"
(fumbling with the map upside-down) "Looks like some kid got loosed with a crayon or sumpthin' here -- is that s'posed to be the water? Or some kinda forest?? Shur wish Lord Vars was here -- he's good at maps! Reckon Ah gots me some shoppin' to do, if'n Ah'm gonna be goin' out 'venturin' an' stuff agin..."
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Lithuan looks simply exasperated at the commotion.
"I for one am interested in the venture. I must attend to some matters of preparation, friends. I will meet you back at the lodge later. Before I leave, I wanted to give you a piece of advice, Master Dellum. If we find this blade for you, it would best if you handled it with utmost care. If it truly is intelligent, as rumors suggest, it may have a powerful will of its own that may sway the lesser minds of mortals. Such objects are NOT to be trifled with; I would at the least hiring an abjurer to array you with protective wards when you do handle the thing."
He turns to Avoreal.
"Mistress Starseeker, perhaps I will join for a drink later tonight. Perhaps we may share memories for the passing of years."
He bows and takes his leave.
"Consumables? Um, I am a spice merchant, but I suspect that is not what you mean. I don't really carry around much in the way of interesting equipment or even survival necessities. That is what inns are for. I assumed I was getting experienced adventurers so would know what to bring yourselves. I certainly am not familiar at all with delving tombs. If it is not the case that you are familiar with such matters and can equip yourselves, perhaps I need a different group of people. "
Looking mollified he answers "No, not really. I'm just not used to this whole business. As I said I deal in spices, nott lost tombs and with adventurers. I'm really in past my depth here to be honest. But in fact I do have something which I think you'll need. "
Hanoris retrieves a white marble funerary baton from a pouch and places it on the table. He explains that this baton, the only physical object connected to the Adellas he managed to discover in his research, is a key of some sort to entering the necropolis. In fact, this very inn was once owned by the Adellas, and it was in a hidden panel behind a plaque on a wall here that he found the baton. Hanoris then twists the top of the baton, causing the tip to pop open and reveal a hollow inside containing a rolled parchment—the contents of this parchment are reprinted in the Handout above. He believes that in the Adellas’ last days, one of their members wrote the lines on the parchment as a sort of guide or map, in the hope that they could guide future descendents through the wards and defenses of the tomb so that proof of the falsehoods could be found. He hasn’t been able to find more information about the parchment, but he suspected that the “Slumbering Cat” mentioned in the first line refers to the Lion Sleeps Inn. Working from this assumption, Hanoris spent several weeks exploring the lands northeast of the inn, and after some time confirmed his hunch, finding the necropolis in the foothills of the World’s Edge Mountains. He has not had the courage to explore the necropolis itself, but he suspects that both the poem and the baton itself are the keys to entering the ruins.
The ParchmenT
Set thee off from Slumbering Cat Seeking where the Dead are at Journey north and east apace
To find Medusa’s iron embrace, Follow now the Spider Star Behind the Wall that hides its Face To our Sad, Abandoned Place
If visit ye the Long Deceased Find the Will to Feed the Beast Then Begin where all Men End Light go out and Breath Suspend Egress through the Stony Door After turning Face to Floor
Each Adellan Branch has Room
In its Silent, Musty Tomb
For at least one Careless Soul Wouldst thou fill that Empty Hole?
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Duhwoo will read the parchment aloud for everyone to hear. He'll follow up the reading with "Mares eat oats, and does eat oats -- and little lambs eat ivy; a kid'll eat ivy too. Wouldn't you?"
Luckily, the Scholar's Ring helps Duhwoo have some clue of what he's reading...
"If'n anyone o' you guys knows anything 'bout a Spider Star, ya might wanna mention it 'bout now..."
(All of Duhwoo's Knowledge skills have the same bonus, +1, so...)
He does give you an accurate description of the location of the Necropolis. The parchment is really just clues for what to do once you get there.
"Well if nobody has any questions, and to be honest I really don't know anything else, I think that concludes our business. I wish you all the best of luck, and hopefully this business will have a positive outcome for both of us. "
The inn is fairly remote, but has a few travelers in it. They would be happy to have any entertainment as minstrels rarely make it this far off the beaten path. Even a hoedown would be welcome.
The crowd (what there is, perhaps a dozen people, plus the staff) has one hell of a good time. They didn't expect such a quality of entertainment at such a bucolic inn in the sticks. The owner of the inn decides to waive any charges for food or rent for your party since you've made all his other guests so happy.
"We've never had minstrels of such quality visit us before good sirs. That was the show of a lifetime. You money is simply no good here, and you may return on that deal any time you wish in the future."
In the morning you head out for the location described to you by your patron.
The necropolis sits in a hidden dale in the foothills of the World’s Edge Mountains, surrounded by a 15-foot-high wall made of tightly fitted gray stone blocks. Wider sections resembling castle watchtowers are spaced along the wall.
Spaced equally around the wall between these towers are 10-foot- diameter iron discs decorated with the leering medusa face of the Adella family crest. The walls are covered in what appear to be sturdy vines that would be easy to climb.
Inside the walls are a lot of buildings in a state of ruin. You see no entrances to the buildings nor anything moving around within the compound.
Actually there are no gates. There are just walls, towers and Iron Medusa heads displayed on the walls between the towers.
I'll assume you take a look at one of those.
A masterfully wrought iron relief of a medusa’s head, ten feet in diameter, decorates the stone wall between the two nearest towers. A circular hole about an inch and a half in diameter sits at the back of the sculpture’s open mouth.