Dotted
You receive instructions to travel to the remote village of Gundrun. Some of you may know this place by it's old name, Sarkoris. You encounter no threats of note during your journey.
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A halfling of slightly below average stature for his race sits in this meeting. His hair is a light brown, and his eyes are blue. He wears blue breeches, as well as an open blue vest with gold trimming and a multicoloured butterfly embroidered on the back. Sheathed overtop it in a partial scabbard is a shortsword with part of the sheathe missing, as if to display the three notches in the blade. He carries a backpack that looks like it was built for an individual one-and-a-half-times bigger than him, as well as newer-looking burlap bag. Through the trip, he rides a mule and has taken every opportunity for a joke, regardless of how terrible it was.
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Gundrun is a ramshackle village built on the remains of a once proud clanhold, yet it’s among the few proper settlements that eke out a living in what was once Sarkoris. From the rough yet sturdy buildings, a Mwangi man bedecked in polished, nearly golden plate armor emblazoned with the holy symbol of Iomedae steps onto the dirt road and approaches with a friendly wave. It’s Venture-Captain Jorsal of Lauterbury.
“Pathfinders, it’s good to see you again. Walk with me, if you will,” Jorsal requests as he turns toward a crude wooden structure. The he gives a quick signal to a standing guard and opens the door, motioning inwards.
“Though the Pathfinder Society doesn’t have an official lodge here in Gundrun, the locals have allowed us to use part of Clefthorn Lodge as a war room to discuss upcoming missions and objectives. Please take a seat.” As the room begins to fill, he closes the door behind him and makes his way to a small desk, where a large parchment map supports a host of red and blue figurines.
“During the First Mendevian Crusade, an Iomedaean cleric named Ghalcor and his assistants built a once-secret weapon to combat the encroaching demonic threat; however, the fighting ended before he could put it to use. I say ‘once-secret’ because the demons heard about the weapon and attacked the tower when combat resumed years later. It seems Ghalcor was caught off-guard. He and his team died in the assault, but not before they triggered special safeguards to keep anyone from capturing the weapon—demon, crusader, or otherwise. Since the weapon was never used, no one knows quite what it does or even how it works. What we doknow is that we’ve spotted demons scouting the site as if they intend to break in soon. I trust you understand how that could be worrisome.”
He picks up several of the blue figurines and moves them from Gundrun to a site labeled ‘Ghalcor’s Tower.’ “Queen Galfrey has sent some of her forces to hold the area around Ghalcor’s Tower, but she needs specialists to find a way in. You,” he says with pride, “are those specialists. Travel north to the tower, enter it, handle any hostiles, and find out how the weapon works; you may also be called on to arm and even activate it, if circumstances demand. A brigade of Nerosyan’s crusaders is already on-site awaiting your arrival, and the esteemed Ollysta Zadrian is due to arrive soon with a small contingent to reinforce their position. She may have more details once you arrive."
“Make haste, and may the power protect you.”
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"A worthy task if ever there was one", a tall shoanti man says as he pulls back the hood of his weathered cloak. "We will discover the weapon's secret or die trying."
Barek is a young shoanti with colorful blue tattoo-work on his face and the visible portions of his arms. He's lean for one of his kind, and though powerfully built, not one of the famed 'bred for war' types. He carries a bow strapped across his back and the clink of glass vials hidden beneath his cloak can be heard when he moves.
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"Mama always did say I was special. Ha!" Weiman takes much amusement in his own joke. "Are there any more records or pictures to look at about this Demon Blow-uppy Cannon?"
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“If there is documentation about how the weapon works anywhere, it’s likely in the tower. I have faith that with a little ingenuity and skill, you will succeed.”
“It’s approximately 20 miles north of here. Once you are fully prepared, I have an ally who can provide you swift and reliable transportation."
When you are ready to travel, Jorsal introduces you to a Kellid woman who wears a mask and requests he preserve her anonymity. She casts a spell and creates five translucent horses.
Communal Phantom Steed
"Good luck pathfinders." Jorsal says before leaving to aid the society elsewhere.
Ghalcor’s Tower looms over the surrounding wasteland on a plateau that plummets down to the defiled Sarkora River below. At a distance, the tower looks like nothing more than a large outcropping of weathered rock, though this is an illusion maintained by the towers safeguards to help it avoid attention; the mirage fades away at a distance of 100 feet to reveal an octagonal keep of smoothed stone with a central tower that soars more than 100 into the air. Surveying from the foundation to the top of the tower, there’s no obvious entrance; the structure appears sealed. Several hundred crusaders have erected a palisade crowned with cold iron spikes around the tower. Dozens of tents fill the enclosed space. Nearest the tower stands a large command pavilion, where a dozen crusaders strategize over battle plans and maps. As you approach, the crusaders call to you to identify yourselves and state your business. Ollysta Zadrian, a paladin and retired Pathfinder, joins the crusaders to vouch for you, welcoming you into the camp.
“Thank you for coming on such short notice, Pathfinders,” Ollysta states calmly. “I hope that Venture-Captain Jorsal explained the situation to you fully because the demonic scouts that we found surveying the tower, have sent for reinforcements. Our movements have not gone unnoticed, and we spotted a large contingent of demons and fiend-spawn moving this way. There are more numerous than we had anticipated, so we are relying on you to secure and prepare Ghalcor’s weapon. I intend to assist in the defense of the camp, and everyone is placing their faith in your success . Venture -Captain Jorsal chose each of you for a reason, and I am confident in his decision.” With that, she dons her helmet, walks out of the tent, and calls to her crusaders.
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Before the party climbs aboard the conjured steeds, Barek spends a few minutes studying the party and creating a handful of infused oils. During the ride he hands them out.
"These will sharpen your senses, ward away doubt, and enhance your reflexes to bestial levels. The last one is the strongest but has... draw backs. Use it sparingly."
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@The masked lady
"Ha! I have a mask too!" Weiman draws (but does not don) his 50gp hat rubber clown mask from the Black Mask in Absalom.
@Barek: "Yeah, but more importantly, what flavor are they? I have some chicken stock in here somewhere if you wanted to go in more of a 'stew' direction, but I don't think that'all keep well..."
@The Tower
Weiman watches as the paladin leaves and is unable to come up with any good jokes about abrupt conversationalist paladins. He will, immediately before entering the tower, cast Acute Senses on himself to crank his Perception to +46 for 8 minutes. Also wanting to note that I also have Trapspotter and no fear of being up front.
-Posted with Wayfinder
After you leave the tent but before you enter the tower, Ollysta’s crusaders form a circle around her. “Without a doubt, the evil we face today is a challenge. It is a challenge of our skill at arms, and we shall be victorious. It is a challenge of our valor, and we shall bravely face the most dreadful threats as a united whole. Last of all, it is a challenge of our grace, for the Silver Crusade fights here not to conquer but to liberate. Do everything that you can to ensure that the weapon within this tower does not fall into the hands of the demons. Go, and bring light to this forsaken land. I trust each of you to do what you believe is right in accomplishing this goal, for the Society is watching and judging the merits of good by your actions.”
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As you approach within a few dozen feet of the tower, you notice that your wayfinders emit a pulsing tone, and the compass needles spin with each beat. Each pulse simultaneously sends minute motes of light dancing across the surface of the tower like ripples in a pond that emanate from the point closest to the wayfinder. When you getwithin 5 feet of the tower, the motes of pulsing light converge on a point at the northeast corner of the tower, and investigating near that point illuminates a hidden, unlocked door.
A curving corridor angles to the north before disappearing around a bend. The walls and floors bear gashes and holes, bearing testament to a terrible battle long ago, and a mass of corpses—some humanoid, some demonic, and all dead—litter the cold, tiled floor.
You sense two traps, set off by tiles in this room.
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"This is the first time I've ever actually found the way to something with this thing! Ha!" he says as the Wayfinder finds the door.
He stop after going into the room a little. "Them's two is traps. Hold on a moment."
If that fails, but doesn't set off the trap, he'll try other methods (rolling) unless anyone implies they can do it better.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Weiman successfully deals with both traps and recovers the ammunition.
This brass orb is a bit larger than a human fist. It’s covered with symbols of goodness and law and thick studs. If used as an improvised weapon, it deals 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage and serves as a good weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.The faith orb is activated when a special stud is depressed, usually marked by a different color metal. Activating the orb is a standard action, though the orb may be thrown as a ranged touch attack (10-foot range increment) as part of the same action used to activate it. At the end of the action or when it hits its target, it triggers a flame strike centered on the orb. Creatures caught in the blast area suffer 9d6 damage as the spell (Reflex DC 17 half). The faith orb is
consumed in the process.
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"That's not awkward, this is awkward;" He says, wedging a plier beneath a tile to pry it up. "Did you know that some gnomes don't always have the same colored hair in their more private parts?" He waits a moment to let the joke fester in silence. "Ha!" He turns back to his work, "Totes legit, though. At least the ones I've seen."
Flowing script of inlaid silver lines the polished walls of this octagonal chamber. A thick, iron door reinforced by four thick, horizontal bars of stone blocks the way to the west , and an open passage leads to the east. A niche in the north wall contains a glass octagonal prism clasped between a set of steel prongs. Liquid that glows with a blue-white radiance fills much of the prism’s interior. A stout lever is set into the wall next to the door.
The words in this chamber are written in Celestial and are little more than semi-coherent phrases praising The Inheritor Iomedae. In fact, the words merely frame lightly etched images of Iomedae’s miraculous feats and moments of greatest triumph. Each of the four bars across the door has four dials, each numbered from zero to nine with an eleventh blank facet, and each bar also bears a unique inscription in Common and Celestial.
A broken sword is reborn in knight-saving blood so that Absalom might withstand evil.
Inspired by her courage by fight of the righteous, the Black Prince was judged in the Halls of Aroden.
By escaping the wound, her royal servants helped her slay the King of the Barrowood, ascending her to godhood.
Because of The Battle of Three Sorrows, the cities of Eleder and Kantaria prospered with freedom and wealth.
You recall some of the eleven acts of Iomedae—deeds she performed while still a mortal.
Sixth: After the Whispering Tyrant used magic to break her sword, she fused it together with a prayer and an oath to bring an end to his evil, with her pure heart and righteous ire reforging it in an instant.
Eighth: She convinced the graveknight known only as the Black Prince to throw himself upon his sword as punishment for his evil. This reversed his undead state, redeeming his soul and allowing him to be judged in the Halls of Aroden.
Eleventh: At the Pit of the Starstone in Absalom, she cast her cloak of common wool before her. It straightened and expanded to become a firm walkway across the gap, allowing her to enter the Cathedral and take the Test.
You recall several of the eleven acts of Iomedae—deeds she performed while still a mortal.
Fourth: With heartfelt words and a prayer to Arazni, she convinced a regiment of mortally wounded knights at the Second Battle of Encarthan to hold back a wave of wraiths long enough for reinforcements to arrive at dawn to save them.
Seventh: An image of Iomedae appeared at a shrine to Aroden in Absalom, healing anyone virtuous who touched it and burning wicked folk who came too near. When she later became a goddess, the shrine was expanded into a temple dedicated to her, named the Seventh Church.
Ninth: She gave nine drops of her blood to free nine righteous knights imprisoned by the vampire-mage Basilov; she and the knights then slew him when he attempted to recapture them.
Tenth: She ruled the city of Kantaria for a year and a day while its lord, heirless patriarch of House Narikopolous, was missing. The city prospered despite constant attacks by shapechanging horrors—horrors which she battled personally.
You recall all of the eleven acts of Iomedae—deeds she performed while still a mortal.
First: She slew the fell beast Nakorshor’mond and cut the still-sleeping bodies of her circle from its gullets.
Second: She defeated a coven of Garundi witches, freeing the city of Eleder from their tyranny.
Third: While riding a griffon in an aerial battle, she cut the wings from Segruchen the Iron Gargoyle, so-called King of the Barrowood. While falling and before he could escape, she pursued and slew him.
Fifth: She smote Erum-Hel, Lord of the Morghs, at the Battle of Three Sorrows (where the Whispering Tyrant returned Arazni’s body to the Knights of Ozem). This drove Erum-Hel to flee, crippled, to Orv.
Weiman spins the dials as per instruction and a burst of light emanates from the prism in the wall. It oddly has no effect on the halfling. You also notice the prism is less full now. About 2/3 is left.
Holy Smite
This is known as a sacred prism. In addition to its use as a battery, a PC can use a sacred prism to augment spells he casts with the good descriptor, expending 2 charges to increase the spell’s caster level by 1, 4 charges to increase the caster level by 2, or 8 charges to increase the caster level by 3. A PC can also throw a prism as a splash weapon that destroys the prism and replicates a holy smite spell (Will DC 16) with a caster level equal to the number of remaining charges. A PC can recharge a prism in several ways. The prism absorbs spells with the good descriptor cast directly at it, regaining a number of charges equal to the spell’s level. When affected by a channel energy effect augmented by the Alignment Channel feat to harm evil outsiders or heal good outsiders, a prism regains a number of charges equal to the number of dice the PC would roll for the effect. Finally, a good-aligned creature can grasp a prism and concentrate as a full-round action to restore 1d4 charges, though doing so also gives the PC 1 temporary negative level for 24 hours. Prisms cannot hold more than 8 charges.