The game will begin Aug 13, 2018.
The Sapphire Sage Amenopheus has sent you to Merab, the largest of Thuvia’s city-states. Construction workers recently unearthed an ancient complex that predates Merab’s earliest surviving records. When the workers broke through, the some sort of entity tore free and wreaked havoc in Merab. Amenopheus would like you to learn more about the creature, especially its intentions and destination.
We will begin our story there.
The adventure begins in the Twisting Garden Lodge in Merab, an expansive garden maze surrounded by a few small buildings that house caretakers, residents, and visitors. The proprietor of the Lodge is Diya Akan, a half-elf who retired from adventuring when a potent curse—one that magic has yet to overcome and that she has accepted—in an ancient tomb left her blind. The same mission left her quite wealthy, so she established this lodge to continue her service to the Society. Since Amenopheus’s revival of the Jeweled Sages, Diya has also taken an interest in that faction and lent her aid to the sages when she can.
It takes nearly five full minutes, even with a guide, to traverse the maze of hedges and sandstone walls leading to the center of the Twisting Garden Lodge in Merab. The path eventually opens onto a spacious courtyard with a large pavilion at the center. A voice calls out, “Please, join me, before the food grows stale!” The guide gestures to the pavilion, where cushioned benches line the edges of the shaded area and surround a large table covered in delicacies. There Diya awaits, wearing a loosely wrapped red and white headscarf affixed at her shoulder with a scarab pin. She is fairly nonchalant about her blindness, and just to confirm who has arrived, she requests introductions (which some of you have begun!). Once she has a sense of who is present, she introduces herself.
"I am Venture-Captain Diya Akan. Please, eat. Then we shall talk." Her eyes, though clouded with blindness, betray her elven heritage. A dog with sand-colored fur snoozes at the venture-captain’s feet, his ears giving the occasional twitch when someone speaks.
Diya continues. If you have spent any time in Merab these past few weeks, you have no doubt witnessed the ongoing construction as this city expands to meet its fast-growing demand for housing. You may have also heard that an archaeological dig team accidentally loosed an angry spirit on the city when they broke into an ancient section of the undercity. Rumors are swirling, and the creature is causing serious harm. Usually this would be left to the city watch, not the Pathfinder Society, but—well, I will let the Sapphire Sage explain." She hands a letter to Daeron. "Read it aloud, would you?"
The letter reads:
What should have been a routine survey expedition in Merab
recently unleashed an evil being of unknown nature upon the city.
I have since felt the creature pulling at me and my sapphire jewel,
as if yearning—nay, hungering—for its powers. I believe that this
creature can sense relics of great import to the Jeweled Sages,
and it is searching for something with great intensity. I dare not
approach the city myself lest it turn its search on me. I entrust you
with the task of tracing its path, determining its destination, and
acquiring whatever objects it seeks.
-- Amenopheus, the Sapphire Sage
The venture-captain continues, Merab’s officials have requested that your first order of business be to inspect and clear the ruin. You may learn something of the creature’s purpose in the process. I suggest you interview the dig team and speak with the scholar Obahar, who is probably already nosing about the site. You can trust his assistance. After investigating the ruin, follow up on these leads, and any others you discover. We must discover what this creature wants, as Amenopheus asked."
The leads:
—A woman under the care of Sarenites at the Temple of the Redeeming Sun started
raving in Ancient Osiriani, and no one can cure her. The creature could be responsible.
See what she has to say.
—A young alchemist is suspected of poisoning his customers. Official reports state he
blubbered about a “demonic face.” Insufficient evidence for an arrest, so they closed his
shop. Talk to him—get more details. Could be related.
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I speak Ancient Osiriani. I've been in Osirion since more than 200 years, a short time for me but enough to learn this language as numerous ancient artifact lays in the tomb of Ancient Pharao.
I can be the lead interrogator on this.
I'm also a little bit competent in alchemy, so we can start with the alchemist.
Having some well-read people in the group, you know:
The people of Thuvia are often quite religious and observe a number of superstitions. Citizens may be reluctant to speak of evil creatures.
The most common type of fiend encountered in Thuvia is the div, a creature spawned from a corrupted genie that seeks the corruption of all things.
During Merab’s millennia of continuous occupation, its citizens have as often demolished or build atop of older structures. As a result, it’s not unusual for dig crews to stumble upon long-concealed layers generally referred to as the undercity.
Typically, such ruins are uncovered as the city expands outward, but this discovery was near the center of the city, where previous construction is being cleared to make way for newer, sturdier buildings. These ruins likely predate any known structures.
Diya asks for members of the Scarab Sages faction to stay for a few moments longer.
You might want to re-read the intro regarding leads vs first priorities. You may, of course, do as you like... but I suspect you may have missed a bit.
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"A spirit, hmmm. Seems like undead dog my trail."
Deluge seems a bit put upon to be there, particularly annoyed to hear about spirits, but faces the mission with resigned acceptance. Deluge looks a bit sedentary and, well, perhaps a bit too fond of rich food. The man is middle aged, fat, and mostly bald. He wears a dragonhide breastplate, darkwood shield, and has a stout club at his side.
You head over to the site, and the workers stand idly by while Obahar, an expert on ancient history and archeology, pokes and prods at the entrance to the ruins, looking for any clues about the structure’s origin or purpose.
If you like, you can interview Obahar and the dig team before descending to the site itself.
Nearly a dozen workers mill about the area as a wide array of excavation tools gather dust in the corners. A bearded man busily examines charts and objects laid out on a wooden table shaded by temporary awnings.
A muscular young man in his late teens walks up and says, “I am Anaref. If you’ve come to cleanse the ruins of evil, I’ll tell you all you need to know!”
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Deluge travels with the others, his not-so-trusty and quite nebby pack goat following along. Every once in a while, perhaps more than he should, he pulls out a drinking horn of some foul smelling liquid and squirts a bit into his mouth. He's also frequently digging into his rations. He seems to have a fondness for granola and jerky.
"Do you have a map of the place? How far have you gone and what happened while you were in there? Some kind of spirit, right?"
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Daeron lets his more talkative comrades discussing with the young Anaref while moving closer to Obahar.
Greetings, I'm Daeron, one of the field agent sent to be sure that nothing more go out of this place. Being myself some sort of an historian of Old Osirion, could you tell me more about this place? To what do I need to focus my attention to learn more about the purpose of this temple?
"I saw the creature with my own eyes! A floating head, with a tongue as long as my arm and eyes like ice. It tried to lick me! I asked my gran, and she says it was a vargywheel."
Responding to Deluge, the boy continues. "Gran says you should take a bath in garlic and vinegar before approaching such a thing. It can't see you then!"
The boy grins, shrugs, and runs away.
You start to ask others, and most shrug or just did not get a good look before whatever it was turned invisible. They agree that it was hideous, angry, and could fly. They direct you to speak with Kehlaviya, their foreman, who was the first to enter the ruins.
The leader of the dig team, called “Kehl” by her crew, prefers to breach any potentially hazardous areas herself; she got the best look. She is eager to get her team back to work. "We don’t earn silver sitting around..." — but she fears for their safety.
When you ask her about the incident, she simply shakes her head "no", emphasizes her curt response with an odd gesture.
(local) check, or worshipper of Pharasma:
"Yes. Are you a fellow worshiper?"
fears and describe what she saw:
Surprisingly, you help to convince Kehlaviya to overcome her fears and describe what she saw.
"It was a floating head, like the others say—thin and ugly. Seemed to be in quite a bit of pain. Reminded me of a rabid animal. I heard it in my mind. It said it was looking for the dungeons, and that ‘she who wears the spiral of death’ would be there. I have no idea what it meant. I’ll admit, I don’t scare easy, but it scared the skin off me. Please kill it."
Nearby, you see a man who examines some old blueprints on a table near the ruins’ entrance, occasionally glancing up at the tunnel and making thoughtful noises.
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Deluge listens to the story with curiosity, nodding at the comparison to a rabid animal.
"Spiral of death, huh? Sounds like an unholy symbol if you ask me. All these gods and religions confuse me though, so I could be wrong. I don't like the idea of a thing like that getting into your head, though. Frankly, sounds extremely unpleasant. Would give me bad dreams for weeks."
The man startles when he finally notices you approach.
"You must be the Pathfinders. I am Obahar, local expert on archeology and ancient history. I’m glad you’re here! With our combined expertise, we’ll have this all figured out soon enough! While I am eager to learn more about the ruins, I am afraid my adventuring days are long behind me. Please go inside and take careful note of what you discover. This is possibly the most important find in Merab’s history—aside from the sun orchid elixir, of course! Where was I? Ah yes. The ruins spat out one fiend already, so there’s no telling what awaits you. Whatever you find, return it as-is. When you report back, we can find out where this monster is from and what it might be up to."
Obahar makes a unique request of any members of the Scarab Sages: he asks that whenever they make an interesting discovery, they take note of what their senses—aside from sight—can tell them about whatever they found. He awkwardly explains that, after all, "the venture-captain will have need of such descriptions—the smell of the objects, the way they feel, and so on. Just don’t taste anything—could be dangerous!"
If you make a DC 12 Sense Motive check, open this:
The air cools as the tunnel leads deeper beneath Merab. Wooden supports shore up the walls in more precarious spots, and abandoned side tunnels show where the crew explored layers of older construction beneath the dig site. Eventually, the tunnel intersects a wall of much older construction than the surrounding area. Sledgehammers and other tools lie outside a hole in the wall large enough for a person to step through that opens onto a large room. The southern part of the room is largely collapsed. A sprawling message in red symbols covers the floor.
As you enter this room, the magic symbols on the floor writhe into a spiral, and a telepathic message broadcast by an irritated, deep feminine voice enters your mind.
"Pathetic slave! Your base obsession with secrets served its purpose for a time, but you have grown tiresome. And now you dare to turn this obsession against me?! Foolish! You could have served a higher purpose, empowering me for all eternity. Now, for your defiance, you will grow to hate your immortality. You will wallow in ignorance forever, and even I, your master, will forget you."
You know of several creatures obsessed with secrets, such as the powerful nalfeshnee demons and the ambitious doru divs. Given the construction team’s observations, it’s far more likely that the telepathic voice refers to a doru.