The Library of the Lion is carved from the same solid cliffs upon which the Kitharodian Academy was built.
Except where noted, the walls are smoothed stone, and the floor is carved into intricate patterns that also provide better footing than a polished floor might. Most of the rooms have strong wooden doors and wall sconces that hold glass spheres enchanted with continual flame.
You reach the first room. This long stone hallway stretches from north to south with several sets of doors along its east and west walls. The south wall bears a 10-foot-square field of carved divots that create no particular pattern. An inscription above the carving reads “The keenest eyes cannot see everything. Always remember to see the big picture.”
Make a perception check.
Those who pass a perception 10 check learn the following message:
“Our monarch’s virtues are our own.”
You reach the next room.
This well-lit room holds many chairs aligned towards two giant chalkboards that hang on the north wall. Along the opposite wall, several shelves hold books on sundry topics. Simple but colorful tapestries hang along the north wall, giving the room a bright appearance despite the lack of sunlight and the dour portrait of Grand Prince Stavian III affixed to the south wall.
Some of the bookshelves bear a minor enchantment that aids researchers, such as briefly granting the benefits of read languages or creating an unseen servant to aid in collecting documents.
Clue:
After the PCs roll skill checks to find documents, any of them may reroll the check before learning the result.
He is about to open another interesting book but alas this book is a testament to why libraries should prohibit food and drink; someone spilled a beverage on it and sheepishly put it back on the shelf, where it has sat for several months at least.
This room’s well-worn wooden floor sets it apart from the others. The west wall is lined with shelves that support books, a variety of instruments, and dozens of rectangular baskets that contain oose sheaves of paper. Several chairs are pushed against the wall, and a portrait of the Grand Prince hangs to east, surveying everything in the room with magisterial authority.
You can also use perform checks to search the room.
@Xuan finds the following:
This library uses a strange system for organizing its texts: it alphabetizes its texts based on the progression of major musical scales instead of using the Taldan alphabet.
Clue: You may use this clue to grant a +2 bonus on all checks made to find texts in a single room for the rest of the scenario.
Erica does find the following:
This text gives a detailed analysis of hundreds of proclaimed “ironclad” prophecies that have failed since the disappearance of Aroden. The author speculates that any prophecy made by Arodenites should be viewed with considerable skepticism.
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Erica skips through the book of prophecies, feeling a shiver go down her spine. She knew about the disasters that followed Aroden's death, but even then, seeing the powerful divinatory powers of the Seers be reduced to naught was truly horrifying.
Thankfully, the Heiress had welcomed a lot of Aroden's former worshippers. To think that some still clung desperately to the memory of the God, spending their whole life with their heads buried in the sand to avoid facing the unacceptable... Poor souls.
Thousands of books line the dozens of shelves in this high ceilinged library. Several tables and chairs near the center of the room provide a place to read quietly, and five rows of pewlike benches nearby face an immense lion’s head carved from the eastern wall.
This is the central archive for the Lion Blades, and they store thousands of dossiers, reports, codebooks, and histories here.
As there are literally all topics to be found all Knowledge skills and yes also profession soldier are useable.
@Bacleive you are too much fixated on ciphers. You do find some books on those topics.
You find the following clues:
-Eric:It appears that a long-dead historian wrote more than a dozen books on the topics you’re researching. Perhaps you can find other insightful books by this author.
Clue: You may use this clue to gain a +3 bonus on a single skill check made to find texts.
-Felltree: You have found several particularly engaging texts, and
you find it particularly easy to concentrate on the reading.
Clue: Use this clue beforea PC rolls a skill check to find a clue or text. He rolls twice and takes the higher of the two rolls.
-Baclaive: This text describes a cipher in which one must read the
message backward, reading only every third letter; all other letters are ignored. The example the book provides is “RMNEB SISWD IILPL OTRSES,” which means “soldier.”
-Xuan: This text contains an example of an encoded message that uses a common substitution cipher (in which each letter represents a different letter).
It claims that “DQFIZ KPIED WZYWS QIVKO ZKXFW ZIMVT DQFXW CFPAF PDFZ VFTJF” translates to “The orcs of Tar-Baphon circle around the lake’s western edge.
-Desynthria: Right next to one great discovery, you make another
incredible find!
Clue: Use this clue when you or another PC discovers a clue or text to find one additional clue or text, if any remain in the room. (If attempting ot use this in a room that doesn’t have any more clues, it doesn’t count; this clue can be used again.)
Please make a perception check
Xuan sees the eye of the lion cared on the wall is following the group.
Suddenly you all hear, but Xuan is the only one who sees it comes from the shield, a booming voice.
"Who are you? And what do you want to do here? Come closer?"
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"I am called Bacleive.", he answers, carefully looking around to find the source of the voice...
...."I was a soldier by trade, but now a Pathfinder by choice. My friends and I are looking for information about the Shining Crusade's war against the Whispering Tyrant. I has been a millennium since and we need to find accurate sources to continue the fight today. Would you be able and willing to help us? Time is of the essence and any help you could provide would help to prevent accidental damage to this great library."
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Erica grimaces, looking around her to try and spot the speaker. If they're caught so soon, things could go awry...
"We mean no harm," she adds. Although negociating isn't her forte (unless it involves tactfully and courteously asking a ruffian to trade information in exchange for their own physical well-being, of course), their orders were clear: confrontations must be avoided at all costs. "But helping the military effort against the forces of evil requires us to consult some of the library's book."
"How dare you to defile this noble halls. I understand your cause, but what has happened that the pathfinders go to such extremes to gather information?"
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"I think there might be some miss-comunication. I was not threatening to damage the library, just trying to express that I am not the most gracious and studious of our group, and that I am worried that I might do accidental harm during a clumsy search for vital information. This is why I had asked for your assistance. To make the search as quickly, thorough, an carefully as possible. Surely a learned scholar such as yourself can understand."
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PLease. We must request your help, not only for the good of Taldan, but for the good of the whole world. there is information we need, in all of these books, but so far we struggle to find it. I won't lie to you: we specifically need information about the Shining Crusade of past, because it could help the current Mendevian Crusade to find the creatures from the Worldwound. Historical books could help us to learn the strategies used, to see what worked and what failed. We Don't work for money or to brag about a successful mission in the Paffies den, we are here to save lives, to fight, in our own way, alongside those who battle demons. Our mission is noble. Only politics hinder us, and that's why we use as much secrecy as we can. But we aim at the greater good, including the good of Taldor, and you could be the Reason this mission fails or succeed. Of course, it would be better if we can keep that between us...
Hope I didn't told too much
You have now the chance to tell him of your glorious adventures.
For each good story you get a +1 on your final diplomacy check.
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"Perhaps a few tales of various adventure I have had the honor to be part of as part of the Pathfinders might help to convince you. There was a Druid in Andoran who had developed a Lorestone that provided valuable insight into the ancient Andoren druid circles. Unfortunately, when we arrived he had been murdered. With careful investigation, my companions and I were able to secure the Lorestone and bring the murders to justice."
"Another time, a Taldan Zyphus cult took over a famous Oppara opera house, murdered a Pathfinder, and turned dozens of Taldor's wealthiest citizens into the walking dead. My companions and I were able to set the souls to rest so the Oppara could be recovered."
"I was also sent on a number of missions throughout the metropolis of Absalom, pitting you against traps,thieves, and even an unruly devil, all in the pursuit of knowledge."
"There was another time when Artifacts were being stolen from the God's Market area as they were being transferred to the Society for examination. Once again, my companions and I were able to capture the culprit alive and with a great deal of evidence and turn her over to the authorities."
"But it think the most interesting adventure I have been on so far was to investigate an abandoned keep that dates back to the Chelish civil war, while negotiating the two opposing factions which each claimed the keep and kept trying to a war with each other in the process. It was very challenging for a simple soldier such as I, but during the investigation, my companions and I came across living and talking plant creatures called, Leshys. A race that is now starting to explore beyond their natural borders, and I hear, even have some of their numbers within the Pathfinder Society as well."
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"Although our ways may seem unorthodox to you, I assure you that the situation requires it. I was a trainee of the Iomedean Fiercely Virginal Order of Blessed Exoneration, and left a few months ago to become a Pathfinder in hopes of joining the war effort on the Worldwound."
"I have few stories of my own, but I can tell you about the ones that have already ended. Thousands and thousands of brave men and women who gave up their lives to slow down the swarms of demons coming out of the Wound. Slow down, and not stop. This isn't a regular war, and this isn't a regular army. The demons are countless, the Wound is expanding inch by inch, and there is nothing we can do except trying to contain them because they cross the borders and unleash on the world."
"In these conditions, we simply cannot afford to lose time or waste resources. The threat grows stronger with every fallen man. Soon, we won't even be able to send our best warriors. We'll have to resort to less experienced recruits, not because we seriously think we can win, but because it will be our last resort to keep the demons occupied."
"Inside this library, there may be a way to gain some time. There may be a way to prevent young, inexperienced warriors from getting ripped apart by demons they have not been trained to kill. Some of the books may hold a solution to one of the greatest threat to Golarion, and the situation is dreadfully simple. If you let us in, the worst that can happen is us not finding anything. If you turn us back, at best we'll lose a considerable amount of time and a few hundreds of lives. The worst that will happen will be, simply, an uncontrollable invasion of blood-thirsty demons."
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I was recently confirmed as a Pathfinder, oh glorious one. I went to a cave which had the remnants of gods long since gone. In that cave we found gill people and helped to defeat a cabal of undead and their creator, who had been making undead of the gillfolk. We also fought and bested a minotaur. The fight was glorious
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Xuan shrugs.
"This One has not travelled much, but this One has been involved in some unusual situations... For example, there was a time when a small town over near Belkzen was beset by Erinyes-blooded Orcs; this one helped to keep the populace safe, whilst other heroes dealt with the source of the plague - taking down an Erinyes-bound Orc, and her fiendish offspring.
This One was also involved in a journey beyond the bounds of Golarion - when a comet passing near this planet was invaded, and the prison of one of the Good-aligned Elemental Lords was breached... in order to do so, domains aligned with Earth, Water, and Fire needed to be crossed, andultimately a giant puzzle-box of a jail cell needed to be unlocked... finally revealing the gemstone containing the essence of the God."
...despite his rather dry, monotone delivery, some of the excitement of Xuan's stories manages to seep through.
With that many assists and aided by so many good stories, the guardian of the library seems to be helpful.
The guardian tells you about the blind caretaker who lives beyond, warns them that the doors are locked, and says that the most carefully
guarded books are kept beyond. It can also answer simple questions about where to find particular books in this room, granting the PCs a +2 circumstance bonus on their checks to find clues here.
To reach the next room you need to open the doors. And locked!