Okay, I made it into the S&S but the rest of you didn't - sorry to hear that, but good news is that I'm still going to run a campaign. Now, since I'm in S&S now, I'd prefer not to run it unless everyone is adamant that I do so. Then I will :)
I have all the Paizo products so we can do any AP. I'd like to hear all of your opinions on it. I've read some reviews of them and have my druthers, but I'd like to hear everyone's views and desires.
I am in! I want to use the same concept.. Keeya the Sylph Rogue.
Welcome! Join us on the discussion thread.
Hi! Thanks for OKing the Divine Channeler.
A courier delivers a message to you, you break the seal and read the following:
I am Sheila Heidmarch, Venture Captain of the newest Pathfinder Society lodge - and the only such lodge in Varisia at this time. You have come to my attention as someone who possesses a certain amount of skills and interests that make you an excellent addition to a highly specialized team I'm putting together for a matter of grave import, not only to the Society, but to Varisia as a whole. Please report an hour before noon to Heidmarch Manor - you will be compensated for your visit, but that reward will pale in light of the riches that await you should we come to an agreement on my proposition to you. I look forward to meeting you soon!
- Sheila Heidmarch
Heidmarch Manor is located in the Alabaster District of Magnimar, not far from the city's easternmost gate. Some of you are relatively new to the city, but the manor is well known, and easy to find. The estate grounds are surrounded by a stone wall, but the front gate hangs open as it always does during the day; visitors are always welcome to the manor, which has recently come to double as the first Pathfinder Lodge in Varisia.
Upon arrival at the appointed time, a butler apologetically asks each of you to wait in the foyer with the explanation that, "Venture Captain Heidmarch is finishing up a meeting with an unexpected visitor." You find yourselves with a few moments to get better acquainted until your hostess arrives.
Taize nods and takes a seat if one is available. She also looks around the room to see who else has been invited for this 'specialized team'.
Talon stares for a moment at the Heidmarch Manor, getting a feel for it. The last time he had stepped into such a place was as a child, his parents showing him the wonders of the Pathfinder Society. He'd tried to throw himself off of that path, and yet here he was, invited to listen to some proposition from the Venture Captain. He could only hope that it was his exploits in Serpent's Run that garnered her attention, rather than some letter of recommendation from his parents.
Stepping inside, he nodded to the butler, walking in and taking note of the only other person waiting - obviously he hadn't been the only one invited, though she certainly had an exotic appeal. He wasn't here to hit on women, and he doubted she'd want that kind of attention. Besides, he was getting an otherworldly feel from her - like an itch on the back of his throat. Better not to tick her off.
He leaned up against the wall, keeping his weight off of the low-slung two-bladed sword strapped to the back of his belt - folded, it probably didn't look dangerous, but he'd seen fools cut off their fingers by improperly drawing it and extending the blades. There was a reason not many specialized in the weapon.
Looking back over at the blue-skinned woman, he figured that he should probably introduce himself. "...I'm Talon. Talon Neverion. Looks like we might be working together, unless you've already set your mind on saying no to whatever Captain Heidmarch is going to ask us to do."
"I am Taize Vesper. I serve Gozreh and my superiors in the Lantern Lodge. As they seem to have placed me in service to this branch of the Pathfinders, I do intend to at least listen to what she has to say."
Talon takes a moment to really look at this woman, paying more attention to her clothing. Hakama, haori, and then there was the comment about the Lantern Lodge. "You're pretty far from Tian Xia," he comments back to her, running his fingers through his messy hair. "But I suppose that every society needs to places their fingers as far as they can reach. Technically speaking, I'm not affiliated with any lodge - yet. I'll probably officially apply to the Grand Lodge later."
Pai read the letter and smiled. She always smiled, as she was an optimist. And she thought that smiling made her pretty because it brightened her eyes and made her face shine.
"Aha! Someone recognized my talents!" she said to herself, as she often did, because she thought of herself as her own best friend. Who else could she trust with her secrets?
Thankfully Heidmarch Manor was so easy to find. Dress in leather armor with her rapier on her hip and with her guitar on her back she bounded inside. She had thought about wearing a scandalous red dress for a meeting, and then thought against it. Better to show up looking prepared she thought rather than in some head-turning frilly thing.
"Why hello!" She said boisterously to the others there, and immediately began shaking hands and sharing smiles. Those with good charisma scores may get a wink. "Wonderful weather we're having, isn't it? Love it! I'm Pai. Yes, just like the dessert but with a different spelling. How have you been?"
Talon stares a bit at the fiery-headed gnome, kneeling down just a bit in order to shake the girl's hand - though she was probably older than him, despite her size. He hadn't even reached his twentieth birthday yet, she was probably past her half-centennial. He considered the guitar she was carrying - probably some kind of bard.
"I'm Talon Neverion. I'm fine, I guess. It's nice to meet you, Pai," He replies to her. She was nice enough, he supposed - he just had to look out for his shins if he made her angry. "I hope it's not just us three here. Though I suppose that depends on the size of the job," He comments, leaning against the wall again.
Tossing back her mass of curls Pai smiled, canted her head coyishly, and gave Talon a wink accompanied by a little giggle.
"A pleasure to meet you Talon Neverion, and I hope you're right. More the merrier, so they say. And will you introduce me to the woman beside you. I must say that she's a lovely shade of blue." She then turned to Taize and bobbed gracefully into a curtsy. "How do you do?"
Talon raised his eyebrows as he looked at the smaller girl as she turned her attentions towards the first to arrive at the manor. "I'm not exactly the best person to be giving introductions for anyone, but her name is Taize Vesper. Servant of Gozreh and the Lantern Lodge, if I'm recalling that bit correctly."
He glances around the foyer, paying attention to the front door. The stragglers would probably be here soon, seeing that it was nearing the meeting time - they were just the ones who' found the initiative to get her properly early.
"I suppose an introduction to what I do well might be in order as well," He spoke up again, patting the sheathed two-bladed sword behind him. "I do three things well. I make and fix armor and weapons; I fight hard; and I know more about the history of Golarion than a swordsman has any right to know."
Suddenly spun on point and threw her right arm high above her head, with a bit of a flourish.
"I'm a bard! she giggled, "And as for introductions, Talon, you did very well. Bravo!
"Just a bard, then? No particular specialties to set you apart from the rest of your ilk then?" Talon asked her, glancing off to the side to again look at the front doors.
"There are bards who know how to play every musical instrument ever created, bards who know everything there is to know about the world, bards who are more duelists than musicians and bards who are just a complete jack of all trades. People call themselves warriors or wizards or any other title they identify with, but there's no such thing as a one-size-fits-all title. Maybe I've got a general idea of what you can bring to the field, but I wouldn't know of your biggest strengths or weaknesses just from that."
All of a sudden, Talon was feeling a bit thirsty. He didn't normally talk to people so much. But then again, he didn't generally meet people he might have to rely upon to keep him alive, and who would rely on him to do the same. So he felt an overwhelming urge to be frank.
"For example, you could say my biggest weakness is that I tend to not notice key details - I guess you could say I'm not a very perceptive person. Need things spelled out for me at times, but once they are, I can understand it."
A young woman with brown hair stumbled into the room, her hair disheveled on her back a longbow. She looks Andoren, in that she has vague features that are hard to place and could come from almost anywhere around the inner sea. Along her body are a number of daggers in sheaths. She tripped slightly as she hurried into the room but managed to catch her balance. She smiled embarrassed at the group, blushing. her hands making a token effort to brush her hair back into position. Sticking out from one of her many pockets is a letter.
"Um, sorry Am I late? I am late aren't I? I am Keeya." her accent gives her away, a generic quality that could come from living in a port town, but clearly Andoren. She is pretty and her skin is tanned from hours of working under the sun. Her hair seems to move on its own as she stands up straight. She gives the gathered peoples a smile as she regains her composure. She is clearly young, but looks light on her feet.
Well, seemed like he wouldn't be the only human to join this group. Andoren, from the look and sound of her. A bit on the thin side, but if she could use that bow of hers properly then there was obviously some hidden strength to her. She looked even younger than he was, actually. It made him wonder just what she'd done to catch the eye of the Venture Captain.
"Talon Neverion." He reaches out to shake her hand firmly. "Unless we have someone else joining us, you're the last to arrive. And you're not late, there's still a couple minutes to go."
Keeya took his hand, suddenly very self conscious that her soft skin might be wet with sweat she smiled warmly at him, "I go by Keeya and its a pleasure to meet you."
Nervous she could not help but wonder if she gotten herself in over her head again. She eyed the people in the room. A blue woman who instantly caught her attention. She was beautiful and exotic, and a very cute playful gnome. She gave them all a soft nervous smile.
Talon didn't mind sweat - anyone who wasn't willing to work up a sweat wasn't a hard worker after all. He figured considering her youth she was more inexperienced than the rest of them, but certainly that limitation could be overcome in a number of encounters.
"We were just talking about our particular skillsets, strengths and weaknesses before you came in. If we're going to work together, best that we get to know what it is that we do best. Me, I'm really good with a two-bladed sword," He pats the weapon strapped to his back, "But I'm also good at fixing and making weapons and armor, and I've got a decent grasp of the history of the world in my head as well. My biggest weakness is a lack of perceptiveness. So be direct if you're pointing something out, because more likely than not I won't see it unless you do."
Funny thing was that his lack of perception caused him to miss things obvious to others about his own life - he hadn't even realized that he'd made fans in Serpent's Run until someone pointed out the large signs with 'Talon' on them they were holding up.
"Thats a rather exotic sword, where did you learn to use it? As for me I am a collector of artifacts, a liberator of the past if you will." She smiled sweetly and walked behind him looking at the sword.
"More recruits, I see. Nice to meet all of you. As Talon informed our fiery bard here, I am Taize Vesper. Fresh from Zi Ha in support of my superiors in the Lantern Lodge and also a servant of Gozreh. I specalize in channeling all forms of spiritual energy."
"Serpent's Run, in the Marble District. I crafted it myself," Talon tells her, with a little bit of pride. It wasn't the best craftsmanship - there were a few flaws in the blades. But once he improved his skills and gained enough money and resources he'd make a better one when he could.
"I've always felt better using a blade in either hand, and using a two-bladed weapon just feels natural to me. Not to say I can't use other weapons - I'm just better with this one after using it for so long." He would have taken it out to demonstrate, but space was a bit tight in the foyer, and he didn't want to risk accidentally damaging any of the decorations.
"You look more like an archer - I'm all right with a bow, but it's certainly not my specialty." Talon then looked over at Taize, his curiosity peaked. "So you're a spell caster, then? There should always be one or two in a Pathfinder group. At least, that's what I've always been told." His parents were always telling him the dos and don'ts of adventuring, though neither of them had ever been on one themselves.
She nodded listening to Talon, "Well I think its a fine blade Mr. Neverion." her hair whipped up in a breeze despite being indoors, a strand of her brown hair fluttered across her face before she caught it and tucked it behind her ear. She smiled and nodded, "I am okay with a longbow we used them back home a lot. Never really considered it anythin' special.
She turned her attention to Taize, "it is nice to meecha."
Mouth dropping in shock, she gasped and quickly clamped both her hands over it; her eyes wide and alight with indignation.
"Ordinary? Why, dear Talon I am anything but ordinary!" She then shifted her weight and swiveled her hips to smack them sharply into the side of his knee. "I am, as you will soon see, one of a kind!"
She then turned to Keeya and dipped into another curtsy.When she came up she canted her head with a coquettish flourish and winked at her.
"Did you get the letter too? Fantastic!" she clapped her hands together and beamed. She even hopped and gave a little giggle. "My name is Pai, pronounced just like the dessert. And, I am a bard, which I do -very- well."
She gave Talon a hard stare for a long moment before wrinkling her nose at him.
"Never said you were ordinary. In fact, I'm pretty sure I say that there's almost no such thing. Everyone's got something that makes them unique." Talon replies to Pai, stumbling about two steps when she smacked his knees with her hips. He'd offended her, unintentionally. Hopefully she wasn't the type to carry a petty grudge.
"So, a sword fighter, an archer, a servant of Gozreh, and a very good bard," he reiterated, looking back at Pai. "Hopefully, we'll get along just fine. If any of you need a guide to Magnimar, well, I've lived here my whole life. I know enough to point you in the right direction, whatever you might need."
"What an adorable little bend you are." She said with an innocent smile. Keeya did not know the local expressions well enough to know exactly what she was saying.
"I did, though I'm not so sure what I did to earn anyone's attention aside from the usual."
She added to Talon, "I'm an un-earther of artifacts and fin'er of items of import, not an archer... I just fin' the archery helps when not everyone appreciates what's you have happened to unearth. That and not being seen at all o'course. "
She looked to Taize confused for a moment confused about a lot about the woman in truth, "Um... Im afraid I dunno much about Gozreh. What exactly is he, or I guess she about if you dont min' me asking ?"
Further conversation is forestalled by the sudden entrance of two women into the room. The first is a striking woman, tall and imposing; she moves with an easy confidence, appearing ready to leap into action despite her elaborately-embroidered gown. She carries a masterfully carved quarterstaff of polished black wood, the head of which resembles a watchful raven.
She sizes up the assembled adventurers with a serious gaze, then speaks in a surprisingly deep voice, "Greetings to you all, I am Sheila Heidmarch and I thank you for answering my summons. My apologies for your wait. This is Koriah Azmeren." She gestures with her staff to the second woman, an attractive half elf dressed in leather armor and bearing a distinctive-looking mithral-and-redwood aklys (a hooked club attached to a cord) and bastard sword, sheathed and hanging from her belt.
The Venture Captain continues, "Pathfinder Azmeren has just returned from an expedition to the Darklands below Varisia, having successfully scouted out a new route down to Nar-Voth from the Fogscar Mountains. Perhaps more importantly, she also has returned with a surprising number of Thassilonian artifacts from this expedition. I apologize again for the further delay, but before we meet, I need to spend a few more moments discussing the implications of these discoveries with Koriah." Sheila pauses as though considering for a moment, then adds, "Perhaps while we conclude our business, you might assist us with another minor issue? Will you follow me please?"
Sheila leads the way into an adjoining room. The next chamber is clearly the lodge library and study. The walls are lined with bookshelves, while several tables in the middle of the room are heaped with scrolls and books. One table in the center, however, supports only a single object - an ornate cubical stone coffer covered with Thassilonian runes. Sheila motions for you all to take a seat around the table as she speaks.
"This stone coffer is an ancient Thassilonian puzzle, a cunning feat of magical engineering known as a paradox box. As you'll see from even a casual investigation, what appear to be seams on the sides are only shallow grooves - there's no obvious way to open the thing. Each paradox box has its own secret method of being opened. Essentially, a paradox box substitutes hidden catches and magical triggers for a lock. Given time, anyone clever enough could figure out how to open a paradox box, just as given time, a locksmith can open any lock. This particular box was among those items recovered by Koriah - the scrolls next to the box are her preliminary notes on possible triggers or methods of opening it, but she's not yet had a chance to sit down and properly investigate the thing. So... why don't you put your heads together and see if you can't do that for me? Even if the box is empty, as I suspect it probably is, knowing the method of opening it makes it a valuable find anyway. I'll return shortly, and I hope to see that box open! Think of this as an audition, if you will - because the actual task I want to speak to you about soon will require as much wit as it will brawn!"
Sheila hesitates just long enough to answer any brief questions, then excuses herself and Koriah from the room, leaving the party alone with the unusual box.
Talon takes a moment after being given the directions to think just how rather useless he probably was in this particular instance. Then again, he might be able to glean out something about how to open it - history was full of useful bits of knowledge. Looking over at Koriah and the Venture Captain, he had to wonder what Thassilonian artifacts had been doing far below in the Darklands. A mystery to think about later.
He will pick up the scrolls, looking through Koriah's notes on trigger methods, while trying to remember any details from history on paradox boxes.
"Pai, you and Keeya should take a look at the box. She knows artifacts, you've probably got a good head for magic, so together you can probably figure out the best way to open it. Taize, feel free to help me go through these notes."
Keeya's eyes go wide as she stares as the fascinating paradox box. "Wow".
A mysterious wind whips around her body catching pieces of clothing and hair and twirling them about, but she ignores it as she focuses on the box. "Paradox huh?" Keeya climbs up to the box and begins to push on the top as if to close an old suitcase tight.
"Maybe the paradox is you have to try ta shut it more for it ta open?" Keeya continues to thrust on and push on the box randomly undoubtedly making a fool out of herself.
"Hm. That's one possibility. Let me take a look at it."
She studies the box, reviews the notes with Talon, and tries to compare it to anything she might have seen or heard of in any of her lives.
Once Sheila and Koriah leave the room Pai deftly jumps into the chair and sits down onto the table besides the mound of scrolls. Quickly, she heaves the box in her small arms and examines each of it's sides. Poking here and prodding there, she looks for details seeing if it's decorated in such a way that would provide hints to its contents, and the method to its opening. And then it dawned on her. Someone already had made notes on that very thing. So, she began sliding open scrolls to quickly scan for clues. And while she read she put her curvy butt on the box.
"Well, let's begin with the basics. I've heard that please is a magic word, shall we try that? All of our mothers have taught us manners, so it would make sense and proper to try that first." Pulling her eyes from the scroll she looked down at the box and said in a sweet endearing tone, "Open please!"
"A voice trigger is always possible, though it may be language dependent. Does anyone here speak or understand Tassilonian?"
Realizing she likely looks like an idiot Keeya gets up, brushing her hair behind her ears and begins to look it over.
And then begins to fiddle with the box.
"I speak Elven, Gnome but no ancient anything"
You pick up the notes and read them. One scroll lists translations of the significant runes on the box... one of the most oft-repeated symbols is the rune for "wrath," which Koriah also notes is associated with evocation magic, and in the earliest days of Thassilon with the word "kindness." Her notes further indicate that this rune likely marks the box has having once belonged to a citizen of the Thassilonian nation of Bakrakhan, but probably has little to do with the method of opening this particular paradox box.
Another scroll, however, lists a few other, perhaps more important, observations - the key observation being that five of the box's faces are identical, but on one face, several additional runes appear. These runes spell out the word "CRUEL." Koriah has also noted that each of the individual runes in the word can be reorganized by touching two runes at once - doing so causes the two touched runes to exchange places for an hour before reverting to their original spelling of "CRUEL."
Knowledge( History ): DC 15
Paradox boxes were especially popular in Thassilon for their relative inexpensiveness as well as their superior security and durability. Many Thassilonian creators, burdened with arrogance and hubris, constructed their paradox boxes such that their surfaces were decorated with elaborate and carefully constructed riddles or wordplays that gave clues to their command words. These items are prize finds for organizations such as the Pathfinder Society, because a particularly clever investigator can often still open them, revealing their time-lost secrets even though the command word might have been lost millennia ago.
Perception and Disable Device show that the box has no seams whatsoever. It doesn't appear to be a 'box' in the conventional sense - there is no lid. And saying 'Please' in no way budged the box.
Keeya frowns at the mysterious box before reaching into her pack and pulling out a bottle of wine, uncorking it and taking a drink.
The box doesn't look any better - even with alcohol :)
Talon thinks carefully after he looks through the scrolls and remembers what he knows about the paradox boxes. "Let's see here...CRUEL. That's the opposite of 'kindness', which was known in the earliest days of Thassilon as being associated with evocation magic, or 'wrath'. So, I'm thinking that the opposition to 'wrath' would be the solution - if there's a word you spell with the same letters as CRUEL to represent that. Who here knows anything about ancient Thassilonian schools of magic?"
He'll try to think if he remembers anything at all about the subject, while writing down on a blank piece of paper 'CRUEL' and start working through different combinations.
"ELURC...RULEC...LECRU...RECUL..." He mutters as he writes down combinations.
Pai scoots off for Keeya, and then helps Keeya probe the thing. Pressing letters she tried to see what other words the letters C-R-U-E-L made when rearranged. Seeing that Keeya had wine she smiled.
"Now that is the way to loosen the noodle. I hope you're willing to share."
"Wrath means to be angry. Whatever is the opposite of angry? Peace?"
Pai scoots off for Keeya, and then helps Keeya probe the thing. Pressing letters she tried to see what other words the letters C-R-U-E-L made when rearranged. Seeing that Keeya had wine she smiled.
"Now that is the way to loosen the noodle. I hope you're willing to share."
[dice=Perception] 1d10 + 7
[dice=Appraise] 1d10 + 6
Keeya smiles and shares her bottle with the bouncy bard, "The Thalossians used different names for the standard schools of magic, is there an opposition school to Evocation like there is with elemental magic? Hmm if only we had a Wizard. " she bit her lip trying to ponder a solution her cheeks becoming red from the wine. She took another drink and could not help but smile.
"From an emotional point the opposite of wraith I'd thin' be closer to forgiveness than peace. Wraith is anger, not violence in an' of itself."
"Pai, might not be a good idea to punch in random combinations - you might trigger some kind of trap installed in the box," Talon comments to her, continuing to add in more combinations to his list. "That's why I'm writing down combinations to see if there's anything that stands out. And I'm talking more about the opposite of evocation magic in ancient Thassilon, which was represented by the idea of wrath. I think that all of the different schools of magic were represented by sins."
CRULE...ECRUL...LUERC...LUCRE...REUCL... Talon pauses to go through his list, thinking again to figure out if any of the combinations he's written are actual words.
"Take a look. Any of these look like words you know?" He asks Pai and Keeya - frowning slightly to see them sharing a bottle of wine. "...Not the best time to be drinking, I would think. You should save that for after we've left the manor," He tells them.
"Wow, you weren't kidding about the history thing. You know you're stuff. What sin is opposite of Wrath then I wonder, Lust?" she trails on the word a moment before putting up her bottle,
"Sorry i am probably of very little help here.I don't think any of those are familiar to me, but I am not from this area, let me look closer. She seems to almost glide over to Talon, light on her feet as she is, with out making hardly a single sound and looks down at his notes.
She adds, "Ulcer?"
"Hmmm The word Cure is in the word Cruel, maybe we need to cast a Cure spell on it? The Thassalonian version of Cure Light Wounds would make an easy to use lock I'd thin'"
"Pai, can you detect magic? Maybe you can figure something out about it with that." He looks at his list again, before circling RECUL, CRULE, ECRUL, and LUCRE, figuring they're probably actual words even if he hasn't heard of them before. "Try these ones when you're done examining." Hearing Keeya's suggestion, he also nods to that. "Ulcer, too. Why didn't I think of that...Good catch, Keeya." He smiles at her for that.
At her next suggestion, he shakes his head. "First, these boxes were made by arrogant Thassilonians - they thrived on complex word plays and puzzles to tote their ingenuity. A healing spell probably wouldn't work - it's got to be something more clever than that. But at least you're thinking outside the box."
Keeya blushes at the handsome fighter's smile, "Lucre is money obtained through dishonest means."
She looks down at ground avoiding eye contact.