*Splash!*
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Shonne casts blend and then sneaks into the meeting area, where she waits perfectly still somewhere in the background for whatever is supposed to be happening to begin.
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An unassuming human woman in simple clothes enters the room, laying out food and drink from a silver platter for the Pathfinder team being assembled. She then begins to tidy the room a bit.
The Commerce District of Niswan is packed with storefronts and stands populated with busy merchants and skilled artisans. The scents of spicy marinades and lush fruits mix with the smell of the sea, and the cacophony of shouts from vendors is almost overwhelming. The crowded streets wind away from the water, eventually leading to a quiet road with a view of Niswan’s famous terraced gardens. The Pathfinder Lodge sits at the end of this road. Inside the lodge, Venture-Captain Rashmivati Melipdra, a heavyset, middle-aged Vudrani woman, stacks books onto a shelf in her new office. Open boxes filled with books, weapons, unusual stones and crystals, and other knickknacks lay strewn throughout the room, and a brightly colored bird sits on a perch in one corner.
As she offers you tea and crunchy cookies, please introduce yourselves!
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A lanky Garundi man with dark olive skin topped with a shaved and tattooed head pokes around at the various knicknacks, always on the hunt for interesting sets of windchimes.
Seeing the Venture Captain is ready he politely takes some tea an cookies as he sits down before introducing himself
"Ushaka, may the Wind and Waves bless our journey."
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A Vishkanya woman enters the lodge right after the Garundi arrives, and she hears his introduction. "I'm Lyselsa Darklock. You can call my Lys. I'm happy to be on another mission. I've never been here before, but I know a thing or two. Thank you for your hospitality. It must be shared by all." She takes a crunchy cookie and a seat.
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An albino ratfolk dressed in a white lab coat joins the gathering. Both the lab coat and the fur are pristine. Well ironed and perfectly trimmed.
"Hello everybody. I am a distinguished exchange teacher from Akiton and I'm very glad to be able to share my knowledge here. As my Ysoki name is unpronounceable and unhearable by most non-Ysoki, I go by the cognomen 'Professor'. My work is mostly theoretical, but I do dabble in applied chemistry. Any questions?"
He turns to the venture captain.
"Oh, Jalmerian crunchy cookies and tea! I've heard praise of those, but never had the pleasure of consuming them myself before." he sais before accepting the offered refreshments.
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A few minutes after the serving girl leaves and another woman enters the meeting room. The Osirian carries book and quill, the silver nib ready to transfer ink to paper. She gathers the silks of her garment about her as she takes a seat.
She takes one of the cookies and sets it on the opposite side of her book from the inkwell.
"You'll have to forgive my appearance..."
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"... but some people find it alarming. As I promised the Society I would keep no secret from them, you too will see."
Her skin begins to change from a rich mocha to an ocean blue, a washed out shade of the color of her eyes. Then her fine silks become more simple, utilitarian garb. Finally, she grabs the quill awkwardly and it too changes, becoming a gleaming rapier which she sheaths. She then grabs her long brown hair and removes it from her bald head. She then produces another wig from her haversack, this one shorter and darker, with wavy locks rather than straight. She fixes it to her head and the adorns it with a bicorne.
"I am Ursahla, captain of the Nereid's Kiss, a vessel for hire no matter the destination or cargo."
"Indeed, I hope they will, Ushaka!" She beams at the compliments from the rest of the group, and smiles at Ursahla's unveiling. "That is exactly why I asked for you to be on this mission!"
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"Finally, the Croc has come back to Niswan", a huge reptilian humanoid says after a long dramatic pause.
The reptilian pathfinder is a hulking brute formed from slabs of muscle and mottled green scales with a crocodile's head. His massive brawny form is on full display as he's naked save a pair of dark briefs, a thick highly decorated wrestling girdle, and a glossy red cape that's draped around his broad shoulders. A tiny plover periodically perches on his jaw long enough to pick at the big man's teeth.
Leatherhead looks over the treats briefly before grabbing a fistful and shoving them into his toothy maw. Shards of cookie fly through the air haphazardly as he munches loudly.
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The Croc cocks an exaggerated hairless brow at the sailor’s inquiry. ”Of course one of The Millions of the Crocs fans would be here today.”
The enormous wrestler strikes a pose as he pontificates.
”The Croc remains the most electrifying man in sports entertainment. If we run into jabronis looking for trouble, the Croc would be happy to Layeth the Smacketh Down all over their Candy Asses and give you a chance to witness the People’s Elbow up close.”
"Now, if you're all feeling refreshed, I imagine you're wondering why I asked you here."
Venture-Captain Melipdra reveals a polished, pale gray stone sphere covered in faint ancient writing and runes. “I bought this in the market about a month ago, from fishers who dragged it up in their nets. This is most unusual writing: a combination of ancient Vudrani and Aquan. Not all of the writing makes sense to me, but it does clearly spell out the name “Monastery of Unbreaking Waves.” When I was a student at the Monastery of Unblinking Flame, I always thought it was odd that there were schools for air, earth, and fire, but not water. And now it turns out that there once was! Finding any information about the Monastery of Unbreaking Waves was extremely difficult. I had to call in favors to get access to the private archives of the Monastery of Unblinking Flame, but I finally found mention of the Unbreaking Waves. It seems that over a thousand years ago, the school was destroyed by a magically induced tsunami that swept the buildings into the sea and killed most of the monks. The other schools determined that the Monastery of Unbreaking Waves caused its own downfall and buried most records of it to prevent a future disaster.
“With all due respect to the Houses of centuries past, something about that story isn’t sitting right with me. What could any of the Houses of Perfection have done that was so terrible as to cause such a fate? I contacted Ashasar of the Concordance of the Elements to see if perhaps the marids knew anything about what happened to the school. He learned that a few marids remembered the event, and they agreed it was unlikely that the school brought the tsunami down upon itself. They believe that it was caused by someone else, perhaps someone jealous of the monastery’s power.” Melipdra examines the stone sphere in her hand once more before continuing. “I also spent some time studying the object itself, and I believe that it is a key. More than that, I believe that it is also trying to go somewhere. Watch.” She places the sphere on her uncluttered desk, and after a moment, it slowly but indisputably moves on its own. It very gradually picks up speed until it rolls completely off the desk, but Venture-Captain Melipdra easily catches it. “I’d like you to take this key and find out where it is trying to go, and what it opens. See what became of the Monastery of Unbreaking Waves. I’ve carried it as far as the coast, so you’ll need to take Ursahla's ship to go further. There's no need to leave before tomorrow, so you can take today to prepare. I suspect the key’s final destination lies beneath the water, so get what you need! I have a potion of water breathing for each of you, but if you don't need that, you can have a potion of cure serious wounds, instead.”
REFERENCE: Underwater combat!
Movement: Creatures with a swim speed can use it to move freely underwater. A creature without a swim speed that succeeds at a Swim check can move up to a quarter of its speed as a move action or half its speed as a full-round action. The DC of this check is 10 unless otherwise stated. If the creature has a surface to walk along, such as the bottom of a body of water, it can move at half speed without a check.
Melee Attacks: Natural attacks or attacks with bludgeoning and slashing weapons take a –2 penalty and deal half damage. Attacks that deal piercing damage don’t take these penalties.
Ranged Attacks: Thrown weapons are completely ineffective underwater. Attacks with ranged weapons except underwater crossbows (Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Equipment 39–40) take a –2 penalty on attack rolls for every 5 feet of water they pass through, in addition to the normal penalties from range.
Spellcasting: A creature that cannot breathe water must succeed at a concentration check (DC = 15 + spell level) to cast a spell underwater.
Fire: Nonmagical fire (including alchemist’s fire) does not burn underwater. Spells and spell-like abilities with the fire descriptor are not effective underwater unless the caster succeeds at a caster level check (DC = 20 + spell level). On a success,, the spell produces a bubble of steam instead of its usual effect but otherwise functions as described. A supernatural fire effect is not effective underwater unless its description states otherwise.
Freedom of Movement: The spell freedom of movement negates the penalty on melee attack rolls with bludgeoning and slashing weapons and allows creatures to move freely in all directions as if they had a swim speed equal to their base speed. Such creatures automatically succeed at Swim checks.
Invisibility: An invisible creature displaces water and leaves a visible, body-shaped absence of water where it is located. The creature gains concealment (20% miss chance) rather than total concealment (50% miss chance).
Off-Balance: “Off-balance” is a special state (though not technically a condition) listed in the Combat Adjustments Underwater table on page 433 of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. A creature off-balance in the water loses its Dexterity bonus to AC, its opponents gain a +2 bonus on attack rolls against it, and attacks it makes with piercing weapons are made at a –2 penalty and deal half damage. A creature typically becomes off-balance by failing a Swim check, which makes it off-balance for a round, even if it has a neutral buoyancy and doesn’t sink or rise.
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"I know the island or should I say the ocean that surrounds it well. I never had much reason to visit, most monasteries don't hold much interest to seafarers. Also don't you worry too much about the fact that it's called the Deadly Ocean Passage either. I might have been the cause of a few of those rumors myself, so whatever denizens swim those depths best be prepared to stay out of our way if they know what is good for them!"
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Ursahla being an amphibious undine opts for the healing potion.
"Those of you who cannot normally breathe underwater might want to buy your own water breathing potion and invest in one of those potion sponges. Underwater creatures that can use magic are likely smart enough to try to dispel such effects if they realize you are not native to the depths"
"Oh! I have potion sponges to go with the potions I just gave you. Lyselsa, I can't say for sure. This key was apparently buried underground for a long time, but there's also something magical happening with it. I would certainly be prepared for anything!"
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Ushaka responds, somewhat knowledgeable about these things "I've got a touch of the sea potion. A more powerful spell such as Ride the Waves is extremely useful for breathing and swimming for long periods of time." Ushaka twirls a wand into his hand with lightning speed before reholstering it. "Such a spell is beyond my means however."
At 4th level, a counterfeit mage can spend 1 hour practicing with a wand to designate it as his signature wand. He can draw that wand as a free action, and can activate it without having to succeed at a Use Magic Device check. He can change his signature wand once per day.
The weather is beautiful the next morning as you set sail!
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Once you get yourselves arranged, you need to do two things! Someone needs to hold the sphere and determine which direction it's pulling you. You can do this by reading the magical energies with a Spellcraft or Knowledge (arcana) check, or by sensing the small motion of the sphere with a Sleight of Hand or Dexterity check. Someone also needs to steer the ships in the right direction with a Profession (sailor) or slightly harder Survival check. You may aid with any of the appropriate checks, but you can only aid on one of the two tasks, if that makes sense!
I don't want to penalize you for having two ships, so you can aid even from the other ship.
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Once you get yourselves arranged, you need to do two things! Someone needs to hold the sphere and determine which direction it's pulling you. You can do this by reading the magical energies with a Spellcraft or Knowledge (arcana) check, or by sensing the small motion of the sphere with a Sleight of Hand or Dexterity check. Someone also needs to steer the ships in the right direction with a Profession (sailor) or slightly harder Survival check. You may aid with any of the appropriate checks, but you can only aid on one of the two tasks, if that makes sense!
I don't want to penalize you for having two ships, so you can aid even from the other ship.
The professor volunteers to hold the sphere and read the magical energies . Ushaka seems like the most able sailor with +20.