15 point buy
3 traits one must be campaign
Automatic bonus progression
Hero Points
5/7 players confirmed.
Over the past few days each of you have received a letter,
Greetings, fellow seeker of adventure!
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
It is now the morning of the appointed day. You each awaken in whatever location in Magnimar you call home.
Sunny wakes up the morning of the meeting with Sheila Heidmarch, excited to finally have a purpose again. She spent the last few weeks traveling from her homeland of Osirion, and as she’s gotten closer to Magnimar, more and more inns have suddenly found themselves full at the prospect of housing a half-orc.
Don’t they know half-orcs are blessed by Sarenrae? Sunny has pondered to herself. I guess these are the challenges of being an exchange agent. I will have to prove my worth to them with the goodness of my deeds!
But the constant questioning and suspicion can grate on even the most pious of souls, and Sunny thus looks forward to a noble task from this local branch of the Pathfinder Society that will allow her to prove both her value and that of her race.
Mordred rolls out of bed the morning of the meeting with Sheila Heidmarch, holding his head as it falls onto the ground.
"Ahhh, today already?" He sighs, pulling himself off the ground. The teenager has had a rather lackluster if not troublesome past few months, from drunken run-ins with law enforcement to rumor spreading, hes proven to be quite the mess to his father. Today, however, he intends to make things different.
"I can do whatever I put my mind to!" He assures himself, looking forward to the golden opportunity the Pathfinder Society has offered.
Verdant wakes up to the sunlight piercing his eyes in the early morning. He sits up and looks around to see himself in a crowded crop feild, not remembering how he got there. Wow! Apple juice really does crazy stuff to me!
As he finally decides to stand up he grabs his satchel and letter and reviews them carefully, trying not to forget anything.
Rope check,trail mix check, herbs check, hmmm might need some fresh food for the trip to Magnanar...
He starts harvesting various fruits and vegetables on the farm and heads toward Magnamar. Hopefully I’m up for the task, with how much money they expect us to get that’s a lot of apple juice I can buy!
|
"What a day. WHAT A DAY!" Pidge delightfully exclaims aloud, who has been watching the sun rise from Beacon's Point's vast dock area. She checks her hair quickly in a nearby murky puddle of seawater, flashes finger guns...
"lookin' flawless, Puddin'"
...and turns on a single bare foot to start marching towards the meeting area.
"Heidmarch Manor, an hour before noon. OH MAN. Manor. MANOR. That's where them rich folks live, right? OH MAN."
Each of you pass a gate house as you enter the grounds. The staff verifies you are expected and sends you up to the main manor. Heidmarch manor is a large estate with at least 8 buildings. You are greeted at the main doors by a butler and shown into a room with several tables and desks all covered in papers and strange objects. There are numerous large chairs and couches and a table with assorted small bites as well as a pair of steaming carafes. A dark haired woman in a green dress and a tattooed and pierced half-elvan woman already wait in the room in the midst of conversation. The dark haired woman identifies herself as Shiela Heidmarch. "Thank you for coming. We have one or two others who should be arriving shortly. In fact their late arrival might be fortunate. One of your companions in the matter I have called you on has a bit of a problem. His name is Chaine and he should be one of Varisia's foremost experts on Ancient Thasillonian magic and Xin-Shalast, the Empire of Greed. He was part of a group of adventurers who located the lost city and defeated the return of Karzoug the runelord of greed. However, despite all the trials and hazardous exploits he and his comrades went through, he displays little more magical skill and knowledge than a novice fresh out of on of Master Zeys lectures on basic cantrips. Furthermore he doesn't seem to be aware of the problem. As the matter I summoned you for also deals with ancient Thasillon, I thought it would be a good opportunity to see if you could find something the shed light on his condition."
"That was something long believed to be true, but stories of their demise might have been slightly exaggerated. At least one of the runelords placed himself into a kind of stasis and shielded his den from earthfall. Chaine was part of a group that thwarted the efforts of Karzougs minions and defeated the runelord of greed when he attempted to rise."
Mordred scratches the back of his head, confused.
"So what you're saying is that he was super strong, strong enough to beat a runelord and his minions, before and just.. lost it?" He looks around at the other spellcasters in the room. "He cant even see a problem with his sudden lack of skill?"
"I apologize for the delay, as I must conclude my business with
Pathfinder Azmeren before we begin our meeting properly. I should probably seek out our 6th guest as well. In the meantime, though, I thought you could help us with another minor issue. 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 and Koriah exit the room to leave to inspect the room, the box and the assembled notes.
The scroll lists translations of the significant runes on the
box—one of the most oft-repeated symbols was 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 indicate that
this rune merely marks the box has having once belonged
to a citizen of the Thassilonian nation of Bakrakhan, and
that the rune likely has little to do with the method of
opening this particular paradox box.
Another of Koriah’s scrolls lists a few other key
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 thinks that this word is somehow
linked to the box’s mystery. She’s 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.”
Sir Heidmarch has a pile of messages and requests that have been sent to the lodge by various people.
Missing Persons
People go missing in a big city like Magnimar all the time, but lately, they've been doing so more often. The majority of these folk who go missing do so from the waterfronts and under the Irespan—neighborhoods without a strong city watch presence. Despite the fact that the majority of missing people eventually turn up (although living as vagrants with no memories of their time spent away from Magnimar—if indeed they ever left), rumors are spreading that the city has no interest in solving the mystery and preventing future disappearances. Lord-Mayor Haldmeer Grobaras has grown frustrated with these rumors and with the city's apparent inability to explain the mystery, and has approached a few key organizations with offers of rewards if the problem can be solved; one such group is the Pathfinders of Heidmarch Manor.
The stone box is covered in numerous runes.
One of the runes is repeated many times. A line of 5 runes features prominently on the top of the boxes lid.
To box has some runes on it that look like it might be magically trapped.
Mordred cranes his neck, leaning in over the table to inspect the box.
"Eh, a paradox box? You guys have a bard come up with that name?" He snickers.
He looks at the notes lazily and back toward the box. "Boy, they really liked that symbol, eh?" Is that the rune for wrath then or..?" He asks the rest of the people at the table.
Sunny feels a bit out of her depth that her first task for the local Pathfinder Society involves observation—-not one of her strengths. She will, however, attempt to notice something helpful along with another colleague.
Sunny sits a little less straight in her chair. ”Looks like a box to me.”
Sunny turns her head away and, though she would never ordinarily look an another’s correspondence, she can’t help but notice the term “Missing persons.” Now, that sounds like a problem I could solve.
At this point anyone can try to solve the puzzle directly with the clues in the notes or a series of linguistics/intelligence checks can get the box open. Please specify which you are doing if you attempt to open the box.
”Perhaps we’re supposed to rearrange the letters of CRUEL into another word? LUCRE is the only word I can think of using those letters.”
Verdant looks furiously at the box not knowing what it does,
Hmm it has runes on it but that’s all I can tell.
Verdant looks up to Sunny
That might work we should give it a shot!
Mordred cocks his head and picks up the box.
"Well, my dad was pretty wealthy, I think I heard that term thrown around a bit... you think that ancient thassawhatevers were rolling in money?" As he says this, he attempts to rearrange the letters into the word lucre using the instructions from the notes.
Once the letters are rearranged they begin to glow with arcane energy. The box begins to slide open from previously unseen panels. at the same time the runes flare and 3 clouds of smoke bust into the room. nasty little humanoids creep from the smoke as it begins to thin out and dissipate. They don't look happy to see you. Time for initiative.
”I’m still not sure that was the right answer...”
Friend or Foe? Welp we will see!
Mordred grips his sword, backing up a bit from the creatures advancing from the billowing smoke
"I dont know about that, but this is a puzzle I'm more willing to solve!"
Third slide has a map of the room.
ROUND 1
enemy 2
Mordred
Pidge
Enemy 3
Chaine
Verdent
Enemy 1
Sunny
Thye first tiny little puppy faced thing steps into Mordreds square an tries to stab at him with a tiny dagger,
but can't seem to get past his armor.
BoldMay act.
Mordred grins at the tiny dog faced creature and takes a step forward.
"Here it comes!" He boasts, taking his sword in both hands and making a large sideways swing.
He cleaves through him and continues his swing to the next one over.
The first two creature vanish in a puff of smoke as Mordreds sword cleaves through them.
As Pidge hesitates the 3rd creature steps away from Mordred and glares of his sword. Mordred make a will save. Roll twice and take the worse since you feel unlucky.
Bold may act
enemy 2
Mordred
Pidge
Enemy 3
Chaine
Verdent
Enemy 1
Sunny
As Pidge hesitates the 3rd creature steps away from Mordred and glares of his sword. Mordred make a will save. Roll twice and take the worse since you feel unlucky.
Bold may act
Everyone within 20 feet of the creature must roll twice and take the worse.
*
enemy 2
Mordred
Pidge
Enemy 3
Chaine
Verdent
Enemy 1
Sunny
Sunny nicks the gremlin but her weapon doesn't seem very effective.
Chaines polearm goes wide.
Bold may act
Everyone within 20 feet of the creature must roll twice and take the worse.
*
Mordred
Pidge
Chaine
Verdent
Enemy 1
Sunny
Mordred shakes his head.
Sunnys sword cuts deeper than it seemed but the creature lives
Mordreds sword has broken.
Bold may still act.
Mordred roars in anger and embarrassment over his sword being broken, he leaps toward the creature and takes a swing at it with his fists.
[using the confirm as the 2nd roll]
Mordred punches the pathetic creature dead in the face causing it to vanish is a puff of smoke.
End of combat
”Does anyone know what those things were?” Sunny steps cautiously over to look in the now-open box. ”I hope we didn’t break anything.”
The box contains a few purplish red gems, a fien looking silver dagger, and a gold ring.
Sheila and her half-elvan companion burst back into the room.
"What happened? The staff said they heard fighting. Is everyone alright?"
”We’re all fine,” Sunny assures her. ”Well, I guess except for Mordred’s sword. We managed to open the box, but it summoned some weird, dog-faced things. Probably a trap of some kind.”
“ First, allow me to apologize for that unpleasantness regarding the gremlins—but it does provide an excellent object lesson. The life of an adventurer is not one for the weak-hearted. That you not only took care of the gremlins but also got the box open in the first place is all the confirmation I need that my gut was right—you’re the perfect group for the job I have in mind.
You see—I’ve recently had trouble with one of my informants here in Magnimar, Natalya Vancaskerkin. She’s a half-Varisian who recently approached the Pathfinder Society with an offer to serve as a street informant. She runs with the Sczarni—I’m not sure with which group. A week ago, Natalya sent me a cryptic hint that her gang was on the verge of uncovering an item that would be of great interest to the Society. Since the Sczarnis’ methods of uncovering something often involves an armed robbery or breaking into somebody’s personal chambers, we thought it prudent not to press for further details and instead wait to see what it would produce. Suffice it to say, she hinted strongly that it pertained to Thassilon, and promised to meet with me to discuss this find three days ago.
She never kept that promise—instead, she seems to have simply vanished. Initially, I assumed that the acquisition of this item was simply taking longer than expected, but now I’m hearing rumors that the Sczarni are looking for her as well.
It seems likely that Natalya has absconded with this item she’s discovered. And this is where you enter, my friends. I want to know what it was that Natalya and the Sczarni found. In fact, I’m more interested in that than in what happened to Natalya herself. For now, I’d like to keep all of this quiet—if you can find out what happened to Natalya without letting a lot of people know she was also working for me as an informant, that would be preferable—that’s a big part of why I’m coming to you, as new members of the Pathfinder Society, with this task. You don’t yet have a reputation in Magnimar, and as such, the lowlifes and criminals you are likely to encounter may be more likely to talk.
So... go out there and look for Natalya. Find out what happened to her, and to this item she and her gang discovered. If you can secure the item, all the better—bring it back to me and I’ll have a reward of 750 gold pieces for you. And if you can bring Natalya back alive for me to speak to, I’ll double that!"
“Do we know where Natalya was last seen?”
Mordred shakes his head, only catching bits and pieces of the conversation, distraught over having to buy a new sword.
"Yeah... itd be a little nice to know where she last was, and also... can someone spot me a few gold for a new longsword on the way there? Haha.. I'm a little err.. broke."
"Unfortunately i can not offer you much information in that regard. Natalya was involved with a group of Sczarni The Sczarni have been a part of Magnimar from the start—they’re not the most dangerous or powerful of the city’s criminal organizations, but they are the most visible. The Sczarni generally don’t involve themselves in particularly violent crimes, and in many cases in Magnimar, they actually help to protect and police less fortunate neighborhoods, and as such are often well regarded by the lower-class. There are six major Sczarni gangs in the city: the Creepers, Doolun’s Lads, the Gallowed, the Tower Girls, the Washside Wringers, and the Wreckwash Blades, with the Gallowed being the most powerful Sczarni family in the city.
I've also been hearing rumors of Nidalese slavers prowling the streets of late, and if these are true, being abducted by a slaver in the middle of the night would certainly explain Natalya’s absence. She might even have been picked up by the city guard for some reason, in which case a visit to the Arvensoar, the garrison for the city’s watch, might yield some clues. Beyond that I'm afraid I don't have much information. Natalya valued her ability to act independently. "
She turns to Mordred ,"If you give me an hour I'm sure I can find one of my agents with a mending spell prepared. It shouldn't take them long to put the sword back together."
Mordred ponders that and scratches his chin.
"Hmmm... so we should probably head out to this Arvie...Arvensoar?
...place soon then, yeah?"
”I’d also like to try to gather some information in the city about who Natalya was working with.”