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(Tier 3-4)
From all across Golarion, the Pathfinder Society answers the call to arms, seeking treasures and glory, knowledge of (and beyond) good and evil. A somewhat loose group adventurers, scholars, mystics, and warriors with a taste for discovery, they both within and without the laws the govern others, uncovering lost wisdom and artifacts, and are always on call to answer the summons of a new adventure.
This is one of those times. On rest from a recent discovery, passing through on your way to another job, or simply at the rightwrong place at the right/wrong time, your break in Absalom is cut short as you are "invited" to a late day meeting with a local Pathfinder authority. . .
“There’s trouble at the Blakros Museum again,” Venture-Captain Adril Hestram growled when you first entered the meeting room in the Grand Lodge earlier this afternoon. “The museum’s curator, Nigel Aldain, came to me this morning asking for help.”
“Apparennnttttllllyy, a wayward daughter of his illustrious patrons, the powerful Blakros family, has disappeared, along with a few of the museum’s watchmen who went looking for her. The Society has helped him in the past, and he wants us to find her, before he loses his job, or worse. Now Nigel’s an old friend, and a former Pathfinder, but this kind of missing person case isn’t really our bailiwick. Normally I’d tell him to find the district guard and leave the Society out of it.”
“But then he made me an offer that was too good to pass up. Not only will he allow the Society access to the Blakros Museum’s extensive and very private library, but apparently this same missing daughter just returned to Absalom with a pack full of ancient relics collected throughout Osirion and northern Garund. And Nigel promised the Society first pick of any of those pieces that catch our fancy. I don’t need to tell you what those kinds of things might be worth, so it looks like you’re heading to the Blakros Museum tonight. . .”
“The missing daughter is named Imrizade Blakros—half-Osirian herself and a pretty successful adventurer and fortune-hunter by all accounts. She just arrived in Absalom out of the blue a few days ago, after a couple of years’ worth of tomb-raiding in the Osirian deserts, and carrying an odd metal cylinder covered in hieroglyphs, like nothing Nigel has ever seen before. Nigel says she went straight to the basement of the museum to do some research in the family’s library, muttering something about ‘whispers in the dark’ and ‘old tapestries,’ or something. He didn’t hear from her for a couple of days, which isn’t unusual when someone is deep into their research in the archives, but he got worried when strange noises started coming from the basement. He sent a watchman down there to investigate, and when he didn’t return, Nigel sent a few more. That was last night, and they haven’t come back up either.”
“Go to the museum and find out what happened to Imrizade Blakros and the watchmen. Nigel would prefer them alive, of course, especially the Blakros woman, but the Society is more interested in what she brought back with her. I’ve got a hunch it wasn’t just grave goods and pretty jewelry. Whatever she found, the Society wants it, or at the very least some information about it.”
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A tall lanky lad (or is it a lass?) with a big-feathered hat wears tunics of dark greens and deep sea blues. A pen scratches furiously while listening, with the occasional touching of the leaf shaped symbol hanging on the tunic. "Heiroglyphic tube. Blakros. Nigel. Whispers. Tapestry. Pick of items," are heard as the venture captain speaks.
Turning to Griflet Seaweed says. "The museum is a wealth of information, curiosity, and both the end and beginning of many adventures."[/b] The voice is too deep for a typical woman, too high for a typical man. The cleric repeats the information about the museum. .
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"Bleah. A museum, how boring," Griflet says dismissivly. "I bet the girl is just having a 'party' down there with the guards, if you catch my drift,"
""Heiroglyphic tube. Blakros. Nigel. Whispers. Tapestry. Pick of items,"
With a slight chuckle, "I see you are familiar with the Blakros' then, and have at least heard of their museum, sir. More likely that not, that may be the case. Not all of our missions might be about saving the world, after all. But, just in case, be careful, represent the Society's interests well, and see what you can find out."
"I've no doubt that you lot will prove my choice in oporatives a wise one. The Blakros' are, . . . allies to the Society, and I do ask that you respect that "friendship", but as always, our goals are in discovering and reclaiming what is lost or hidden."
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"A pretty girl in a museum basement? Yer jes' findin' us the best o' jobs to be doin', ain't yeh?" Grundle barely tries to hide the disdain he has for this assignment.
He does smile, as briefly as a virgin's chastity on Festival Night, at the mention of "alive or dead".
"That's perfectly fine by me."
He fingers the one of the points on the spiked chain he wears wrapped around his torso in an X pattern. The scars on his face and body ripple as he moves to walk out of the room.
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Elwyns looks over the others in the room as they engage one another, taking it all in.
His arms crossed, he uses his back to push away from the wall that he was leaning up against and approaches the group. "I've not been a pathfinder for very long, but these missions often have more to them than one would expect. I'm curious to know the subplots for this one."
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"Indeed, life in the Society is often much more, . . . interesting, than we are led to believe at the start. I am certain you will find there is more to it as you progress, and I'm certain you can handle it. Be weary, prepair, and keep our eyes open and another Pathfinder at your back."
"Their man, Mister Nigel Aldain is awaiting you at the museum. Once you contact him, he will open the doors to you, though I expect he will remain at his post and conduct his normal duties as curator. If there are no questions, . . . I do have other business, please. . ." as he motions towards the doorway politely.
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As you are heading out, VC Adril Hestram asks Grundle and Griflet to stay for a moment.
Defender of Democracy,
Rumors flow fast and furious about the exact nature of the Blakros trade across the Inner Sea. Officially, of course, everything is completely legitimate, but we have reason to believe that the Blakros family is also involved in trade of a darker nature. If you can find any documents proving these allegations, they would aid our cause immensely. If they can also be used to point blame at either Taldor or Qadira, so much the better.
Bring any such papers you find to me at once. My agents tell me that Imrizade returned to Absalom with a small metal container. We have suspicions of its dark origins and wish to hide it far from prying eyes. If she still carries it, take it from her and return to me and you will have done all of humanity a great service.
In Service to Freedom,
Captain Colson Maldris
As the others walk outside, discussing any preporations they wish to make, a Qadiran woman signals to Leonel. She offers a humble curtsey, than asks to speak with him for a moment ,
Loyal Servant of the Satrap,
The Blakros family has long engaged in cross-border trade between Qadira and Taldor. While the satrap remains indifferent to the specifics of the goods they carry, he is keenly interested in the trade routes they regularly use and have kept a family secret for generations. Do your utmost to discover any details about these smuggling routes—journals, maps, or anything similar.
Our agents could use this knowledge to great effect against our enemies. While you’re in their museum, seek the corpse of famed dwarven warrior Tar Taargadth. We have reason to believe that his spined shield has a map carved into its surface. Take the enclosed charcoal and unique parchment provided and carefully get a rubbing of the map. Be cautious! You get one chance with the paper—if you tear it or rub the map incorrectly you’ll ruin it and I’ll be quite displeased.
Warmest Regards,
Pasha Muhlia Al-Jakri
Seeing the others have departed, Elwyn Cintras and "Seaweed" hear a strang magical whisper in their minds-eye. A shifting of unnatural shadow atches their attention of by a tree, beckoning them.
Loyal sons of the Society,
The gods only know how many priceless antiquities Imrizade Blackros plundered from far away lands, but we know she acquired certain relics we would prefer to keep in our vaults rather than their museum. Of greatest interest is an aged papyrus scroll referring to “The Aucturn Enigma.” It is said to contains ancient knowledge that could grant us great insight. Recover the scroll from the Blackros' and return it to the Society.
While you are there, I would have you find yet another scroll. This one is known as the scroll of Ancient Pharaohs and details some early lineages of god-kings of ancient Osirion. The only known copy is said to be resting in a dirty, cobweb-ridden box somewhere in the Blackros basement. Find it and I will be in your debt.
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Afterwards, it does not take you long to reach the Blakros Museum. It is located in the the Wise quarter of Absalom, traveling from the Grand Lodge in Absalom's Foreign Quarter, a single major byway ushers you directly there, as well as offering great opportunities to shop at your leisure.
As you reach the Blakros Museum's grounds, a pathway leads up, displaying a variety of attractions, fantastic claims, and strange questions meant to stir the imagination. The museum itself appears to be a combination of an ancient (though small) fortress, with a notable observatorium in one tower, as a much more modern, medium sized manor-house. A sign above the thick wooden double doors states you are infact at the "Blakros Museum", though you also notice quickly that at this late hour, the museum is clossed for viewing. opening the door, you see an elderly human man sitting in a fancy bench built into the wall. He stands quickly as you enter, ooks you over uickly before returning his gaze to some papers he was reading and writing upon, "My apologies, good sirs, but I regret to inform you, . . . as the sign outside says, that museum is now closed. Please, come back tomorrow, and I would suggest doing so early to avoid waiting in line for too long."
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The man stops his work to look up at you once again, "I am Mr. Aldain, and I didn't realize that you where sent by the Society of Pathfinders. Honestly, I wasn't sure they would send aid. I'm glad you are here. You are indeed right, it is prbably best that you come whilst the museum is closed. As I told your leader, one of my family's brightest daughters returned not long ago from a long journy. She went beneath the museum proper saying little but that she had work to do. That's not uncommon, mind you, so no one said a thing. After a few days, no one witnessed her leave so I sent a servant to check upon her just in case she forgot to eat and the like, lost in her work."
He stops, placing his paperwork down, and stretching his back out, then returning to his story with a more serious tone, "She never retuned, that anyone knows off. So we sent a group, this time some of the museums guard-staff, and likewise they have not returned either. . . Since then, well, some people have begun to claim they "feel odd". Especially at night. Hear things that no one else did. Think they see something, always out of the corner of their eye, feel cold spots, that sort of rubbish.", he trails off to more of a whisper at that last section. "My fear is a bit more practicle, mind you. I believe that it's more likely that "Little Imriz" somehow managed to get herself lost or trapped somehow. I don't know exactly what she braught back, but I do know that the Osirion "mummy curses" are a little more real than some of the other fables the museum propgates, and the museum itself has a long history of mystery, and who knows hat sorts of secret rooms and chambers are hidden throughout."
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Mr. Aldain, our condolences on your family's troubles. We will do everything in our power to retrieve your missing kin. How many people have gone missing since her return? And can you tell us where she is, or where her workshop is? Unless you have a better idea where to begin?. Seaweed's pen poises above the small ledger made of light brown leather.
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"Master Grundle, I'll wager I've spent significantly more time buried deep in archives and museums than most of us here. I guarantee you, there is little more disturbing than an unexplained noise in a vast, dark library or catacomb. If the museum has swallowed up a squad of guards, and less explicably, one of the intrepid Blakrose ladies, I have little issue with characterizing it as 'precarious'."
Turning to Mr. Aldain, "Mr. Aldain, is there a section of the Blakrose museum dedicated to the history and legacy of the museum itself? Our friend 'Seaweed' has reminded us of the basic history of the museum, and some have asked after a map or floorplan of the museum. If there were previous disappearances, halls or galleries freighted with stories, or explicitly known traps or labyrinths, they might be a starting place. If chronicles of the museum might provide important information to recover the Blakrose daughter."
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Grundle scowls at the dwarf and in response says, "Yer right, ain't had much use or time fer archives. I bin to busy learnin' from experience rather than some book. And who knows how "intrepid" this lil Blackros girly is."
He crosses his arms in front of him. He shuffles his feet a bit and then animatedly moves forward, "A'right old man. I'll go in myself and have a looksee!"
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Afew miniutes after Angruf... i too must confess a sarrow for my lateness i got lost getting here... darn direction seem to have been wrong." a person states looking like their definitely trying to hid something about themselves. He's wearing a military looking uniform with a few patchs on various locations and a rifle slung over a shoulder and Scimitar by their side... giving a quick look around then announcing "Hi I'm Garak... Garak Tsador" he then simle at realization he knows a few of the other pathfinders...
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Nigel responds, "We have sent a total of five individuals down to inquire about Little Imriz. I say that, because as a child, the wafe would often come here to play, though it is not suitable these days. The girl has grown up, strong and smart. . . Anyways, back on tasks, I have sent a serving girl as well as four guards. None have returned."
"There are maps of the museum all over the museum, but none of the private research rooms, archives, or libraries beneath it, which is where you will be heading. However, I'll take you there, so there is really no need. Inside, if it is as I believe, if she has found some sort of secret room, even to us, then that is where you will come in."
Removing a set of keys from a pouch, and whispering minor words of magic, he begins to chain and lock the front doors, then leads you throught the museum. As you travel, he offers sleight explanation to various exibits, but does not elaborate as a tour guide might. Finaly, after a good bit of a walk, he leads you to a set of doors marked as "Private", unlocks them, and says "Down there somewhere."
As you leave Nigel, a dark 50ft long decending walkway leads into an unknown abyss. Nigel offers you luck, and closes the doors behind you. With the doors closed, feight light eminates from the floor, allowing you to see enough to travel down, but not to make out much detail of the otherwise plane, stone tunnel. Reaching the end, you come to two doors, each marked with a simple sign "STOREROOM 1" and "STOREROOM 2".
In the original onslaught of Cheliax's infernal House Thrune "claiming" power, many palaces in Westcrown was plundered by enemy agents. One of the objects taken was a statue of Mephistopheles. While the statue itself has no real value, several important contracts were hidden inside the sculpture and we believe the Blackros family has it. Should you come across this statue while at the museum, retrieve the documents inside. Be warned, we are not like the Decemverate, that I would send you out and not tell you of the dangers. There are powerful curses upon these scrolls. Do not attempt to open them yourself, simply retrieve them.
Also, if you happen to see my man Hodd there, he’s quite overdue on delivering to me his newest report of the museum’s activities. He keeps those reports in a hollowed out club that he carries as a night watchman and delivers them to me weekly. Please take the club from the filthy man, then tell him he’s fired.
Torch
P.S. Please destory this page in the usual fashion once you have read it. :)
Loyal son of the Society,
The gods only know how many priceless antiquities Imrizade Blackros plundered from far away lands, but we know she acquired certain relics we would prefer to keep in our vaults rather than their museum. Of greatest interest is an aged papyrus scroll referring to “The Aucturn Enigma.” It is said to contains ancient knowledge that could grant us great insight. Recover the scroll from the Blackros' and return it to the Society.
While you are there, I would have you find yet another scroll. This one is known as the scroll of Ancient Pharaohs and details some early lineages of god-kings of ancient Osirion. The only known copy is said to be resting in a dirty, cobweb-ridden box somewhere in the Blackros basement. Find it and I will be in your debt.
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Angruf is not feeling immediately suspicious of the nice gentleman. Angruf will listen intently to the explanations of the exhibits. As a consequence, he notices any significant inconsistencies.
Speaking to the rest of the party (not so much to Aldain), "This place was originally a wizard's fortress. It was carved from a single solid stone." Tapping a fist against an exposed rock face, "A solid stone of just this type. We've been trending down into this mountain. I assume that means we're moving deeper into the original fortress."