Amid the mists of this land of dark superstition and dread secrets stand both those who would defy the return of evil and those who would seek its terrible favor. Can the heroes discern their allies from their enemies in time to save a tortured realm from a tyrant’s return? Pathfinder’s darkest and most frightening campaign ever sets the heroes against the agents of Golarion’s most notorious villain, the Whispering Tyrant, in a terrifying trek across a land of lurking horror and ancient mysteries.
Arrival: Toilday, 23rd of Calistril, 4710 Absolom Reckoning
Today: Oathday, 25th of Calistril, 4710 Absolom Reckoning
Our story so far...:
Cassandra Blackmoore, Davor Wolfriel, Professor Faradir Rokannon, Tamarie Lialda & Vivian Deberth arrived in the sleepy town of Ravngro in the Immortal Principality of Ustalav on the afternoon of Toilday, the 23rd of Calistril, in the year 4710, Absalom Reckoning. They had traveled to this rustic burg at the behest of their mutual comrade, Professor Petros Lorrimor, who had recently died & named them all as persons to be present at the reading of his will.
Upon their arrival, they made their way to Ravengro's Cemetary, called the Restlands as Ustalav is a land strong in the faith of Pharasma, lady of Birth, Death & Fate. Joining the funeral party, they found themselves, along with Professor Lorimorr's daughter Kendra, acting as pallbearers for the deceased. While carrying the professor's coffin to his intended place of repose, they found themselves accosted by a small mob of villagers, included among them Gibbs Hephenus & Faethor Grimmas. Gibbs Hephenus proceeded to declaim against the late professor, proclaiming the Graveyard was no place for a 'vile necromancer' to be buried. Though several harsh words were hurled back & forth, Vivian was able to calm matters sufficiently to allow the pallbearers to continue on their way & Professor Lorrimor's body was finally laid to rest, after which time they were invited by Kendra Lorrimor to the family abode to rest & hear the reading of the will.
At the Lorrimor abode, the five witnessed the reading of the will, including the mention that they were not the only person's invited, merely the ones to arrive in sufficient numbers to achieve a 'quorum' for the purposes of the will. After the reading of Professor Lorrimor's will, the five examined a number of documents which had been given to them in trust, including the Professor's journal, which contained notes implying that the circumstances of his demise were not so accidental as they might have believed...
In response, the five occupied themselves well into the night making use of the late professor's study & the books therein to research this hidden threat, only concluding their investigations when weariness overcame them.
Only to be awakened the next morning by a most unseemly pounding at Miss Lorrimor's front door!
Upon the door's opening, they witnessed Faethor Grimmas in the company of Ravengro's town Sheriff & the councilman who had, on the previous evening, read Professor Lorrimor's will. The three informed them that some vandal had defaced the town's memorial to the tragedy of several generation's past & that Faethor Grimmas had rather vocally blamed the town's recent visitor's Cassandra, Davor, Faradir, Tamarie & Vivian!
Upon investigating the location of the desecration, the five witnessed a rather excessive display of force on the part of the sheriff against Faethor Grimmas in preventing Faethor's possible escalation of hostilities, however they found little in the way of evidence as to who was responsible for the defilement of the monument, though they were able to confirm that it was not an irreversible act, requiring only the application of sufficient water & effort to remove the offending filth.
Returning to the Lorrimor's house, Davor, Professor Rokannon & Vivian asked Kendra to introduce them to Ravengro's priest, Father Grimburrow, in the hopes that he might answer certain of their remaining questions from the previous night's investigations. While the four of them made their way to Ravengro's town church, Cassandra & Tamarie remained, only to be joined by a belatedly-arrived additional companion of Professor Lorrimor's, brother Zander Drax, of the church of Shelyn.
At Ravengro's church, Davor, Professor Rokannon & Vivian found less than they had hoped for, but did inadvertently acquire the potential for more aid in the future as one of the lesser priests procured a handful of vials of holy water which he delivered to the Lorrimor house in their absence. Upon their return to the Lorrimor residence however, they were greeted by two surprises, neither entirely welcome, for though brother Drax expressed a desire to join them in their efforts, miss Blackmoore evinced trepidation & apologized to Kendra before leaving Ravengro to return to her own home.
That evening, Tamarie & Vivian enticed brother Drax to accompany them for a mild carouse while Davor & Professor Rokannon continued their attempts to glean greater information from the documents the late Professor Lorrimor had left. As Vivian & Zander became better acquainted & also succeeded in somewhat countering the townsfolk's sour attitude towards the visitors, Tamarie excused herself to return to the Lorrimor house, just in time to assist Davor & Professor Rokannon as they respond to a most unusual interruption. A spectral raven!
Though the three are unable to pursue the ghostly raven, they do see a stealthy figure attempting to slink away in the darkness of the night. Pursuing, they catch up to & eventually capture a filthy tatterdemalion of a madman. Returning with the madman to the Lorrimor residence, all are soon joined by Vivian & brother Drax and the madman's disordered rambling, while still as seemingly senseless as before, begins to reveal several possibly pertinent details.
The madman was not always mad.
He seemed to have been driven mad by a tragedy in his past, likely having to do with the death or something worse of his wife...
Those responsible for his tragedy might have a relationship with (or be) those same individuals responsible for the demise of the late Professor Lorrimor.
These individuals were drawn to Ravengro by the events or results of the tragedy which ended the prison that Ravengro grew to support.
The Harrow Deck:
The Varisian cultural symbol/tool known as the Harrow Deck consists of 54 cards variously divided into either six aspects or nine realms.
The aspects are:
the Hammer, representing Physical Strength or force
the Key, representing nimbleness or Physical Guile
the Shield, representing Physical Health
the Tome, obviously representing knowledge but also reasoning ability
the Star, which represents those qualities of character which allow us to remain true to our-self
and the Crown, which represents those qualities of character by which we impose our will upon the world around us.
The realms are:
the Harmonious,
the Beatific,
the Free,
the Rigorous,
the Ambivalent,
the Impulsive,
the Tyrannic,
the Malevolent,
the Dissonant sometimes called the Discordant,
I will give them more evocative 'In Character' descriptions later, but for now, consider they represent the nine Alignments, from Lawful Good to Chaotic Evil
Each Card has a name in addition to it's aspect & realm.
They are:
the Avalanche, also known as the Key of Tyranny
the Bear, also known as the Hammer of Ambivalence
the Beating, also known as the Hammer of Malevolence
the Betrayal, also known as the Crown of Malevolence
the Big Sky, also known as the Hammer of Freedom
the Brass Dwarf, also known as the Shield of Rigor
the Carnival, also known as the Star of Impulse
the Courtesan, also known as the Crown of Impulse
the Cricket, also known as the Key of Beauty
the Crows, also known as the Key of Malevolence
the Cyclone, also known as the Hammer of Dissonance
the Dance, also known as the Key of Harmony
the Demon's Lantern, also known as the Key of Discord
the Desert, also known as the Shield of Freedom
the Eclipse, also known as the Star of Tyranny
the Empty Throne, also known as the Crown of Harmony
the Fiend, also known as the Hammer of Tyranny
the Foreign Trader, also known as the Tome of Ambivalence
the Forge, also known as the Hammer of Rigor
the Hidden Truth, also known as the Tome of Harmony
the Idiot, also known as the Tome of Tyranny
the Inquisitor, also known as the Tome of Rigor
the Joke, also known as the Tome of Freedom
the Juggler, also known as the Key of Freedom
the Keep, also known as the Hammer of Beauty
the Liar, also known as the Crown of Discord
the Locksmith, also known as the Key of Rigor
the Lost, also known as the Star of Discord
the Marriage, also known as the Crown of Rigor
the Midwife, also known as the Star of Beauty
the Mountain Man, also known as the Shield of Impulse
the Mute Hag, also known as the Star of Malevolence
the Owl, also known as the Star of Ambivalence
the Paladin, also known as the Hammer of Harmony
the Peacock, also known as the Key of Ambivalence
the Publican, also known as the Star of Freedom
the Queen Mother, also known as the Star of Rigor
the Rabbit Prince, also known as the Key of Impulse
the Rakshasa, also known as the Tome of Tyranny
the Sickness, also known as the Shield of Malevolence
the Snakebite, also known as the Tome of Discord
the Survivor, also known as the Shield of Beauty
the Tangled Briar, also known as the Shield of Tyranny
the Teamster, also known as the Shield of Ambivalence
the Theatre, also known as the Crown of Beauty
the Trumpet, also known as the Shield of Harmony
the Twin, also known as the Crown of Ambivalence
the Tyrant, also known as the Crown of Tyranny
the Unicorn, also known as the Crown of Freedom
the Uprising, also known as the Hammer of Impulse
the Vision, also known as the Tome of Impulse
the Wanderer, also known as the Tome of Beauty
the Waxworks, also known as the Shield of Discord
the Winged Serpent, also known as the Star of Harmony
I will post more regarding the iconography of the Harrow later. For now, I just wanted to make this information available for those players who might not have access to either a Harrow Deck or the inner Sea World Guide.
Those of you who are spellcasters also know there is a specific Divination spell called the Harrowing, which is on almost every spellcaster's list.
Harrow Points:
Current Hands: Cassandra:the Joke, also known as the Tome of Freedom Davor:the Vision, also known as the Tome of Impulse Prof. Rokannon:the Cricket, also known as the Key of Beauty Tamarie:the Desert, also known as the Shield of Freedom Vivian:the Paladin, also known as the Hammer of Harmony
At the beginning of each 'Chapter' of the story, each Player Character will receive a Harrow Card from the deck. The player may play their card at any time for one of two mechanical effects, dependent on aspect or realm; the player may also elect to keep their card(s) from one 'Chapter' through another or others. Once a card is played, it is removed from play for the remainder of the story: i.e.: the Wanderer will never be played more than once in the course of the Story.
Six cards have particular resonance to this Story & will only appear during the course of play. These cards are the Crows, the Eclipse, the Hidden Truth, the Marriage, the Survivor, and the Uprising. These cards effects will differ somewhat from the usual reflection of either aspect or realm.
Effects by Aspect: the Hammer: If played before a roll is made, this card grants you or another character a +8 luck bonus to any one d20 roll. If played after the roll is made, this bonus is reduced to + 4. To aid another's roll, you must be present & in some way able to act to assist their roll (such as distracting the opponent, shouting words of encouragement or some other means of aid).
the Key: You may play a Key card to take your turn immediately. Treat this as a readied action, moving your initiative to just before the currently acting creature. You may only take a move or standard action this turn.
the Shield: You may play this card on your turn to gain an additional standard or move action this turn.
the Tome: You may play this card to immediately recall a spell or spell slot you have already cast or to regain another use of a special ability that is otherwise limited. You may only play this to recharge spells, spell slots &/or abilities possessed by your character that recharge on a daily basis.
the Star: If you feel stuck at some point during the story, you may play this card to petition me for a hint about what to do next. If I feel there is no such hint that I can give you, the card is not played & remains in your hand.
the Crown: You may play this card to re-roll any one d20 roll you just made, with all modifiers. You must accept the results of the second roll, even if worse.
Effects by Realm: the Harmonious: You may Smite Evil, as the Paladin ability, gaining the benefits until the start of your next turn. Consider your paladin level to be half your Character Level, rounded down (minimum 1).
the Beatific: You channel Positive Energy that cures a creature touched of an amount of damage equal to 1d6 x your Character Level. This effect damages undead as cure spells equivalent to the highest level you would be able to cast as a Cleric equal to your Character Level.
the Free: You receive a +4 circumstance bonus on one CMB check to avoid or escape a grapple, or on one Escape Artist check.
the Rigorous: You gain a +10 untyped bonus to any single Sense Motive check, including hunches.
the Ambivalent: You may play this for a one-time insight into the future, as the spell augury, using your Character Level as your Caster Level. Meditating on the particular action in question requires 10 minutes and does not expend material components.
the Impulsive: You gain the effects of rage, as the spell, lasting a duration of 1 round + an additional round for every 3 Hit Dice you possess above the first.
the Tyrannic: You can give another creature a command as per the spell command. This command can affect undead that are immune to mind-affecting effects, but not other creatures that are immune to mind-affecting effects. The DC of this command is equal to 10 + your Character Level.
the Malevolent: You channel negative energy that deals an amount of damage equal to 1d6 x your Character Level. This effect heals undead as inflict spells equivalent to the highest you would be able to cast as a Cleric equal to your Character Level.
the Dissonant: You may instantly force any creature to re-roll a saving throw it has just made, taking the result of the second roll, even if doing so means the check will fail.
A= Town Square
B= The Posting Poles
C= The Laughing Demon (Tavern)
D= Ravengro Town Hall
E= Temple of Pharasma
F= Ravengro Town Hall
G= Ravengro Forge
H= Jominda's Apothecary
I= Ravengro Jail
J= The Silk Purse (Moneylenders)
K= The Outward Inn (Inn)
L= The Unfurling Scroll (Magic)
M1= Councilman Vashian Hearthmount's House
M2= Councilwoman Mirta Straelock's Residence
M3= Councilwoman Shanda Faravan's House
M4= Councilman Gharen Muricar's House
N= The Lorrimor Residence
O= Harrowstone Memorial
P= Road to The Restlands
Q= Shack
R= Road to Harrowstone
Total items:
four sun rods
six flasks of holy water
five potions of cure light wounds
two potions of lesser restoration
two scrolls of hide from undead
one scroll of detect undead
one scroll of protection from evil
one dozen silver arrows
ten +1 arrows
five +1 ghost touch arrows
two +1 undead bane arrows
one darkwood case containing
four haunt siphons
one brass spirit planchette
