Agents of the Pathfinder Society have discovered the location of a back door into their private demiplane that puts the entire realm at risk of plunder and exploitation at the hands of the Aspis Consortium. Rather than close the access point into their adventuring paradise, however, the Decemvirate sends a crack team of Pathfinders to secure the gate for future Society use... at any cost.
In a stone chamber deep beneath the Pathfinder Society’s headquarters in Absalom’s Grand Lodge, a sea of scribes, scholars, and other studious types hover around a single, worn tapestry laid out carefully in this otherwise austere chamber. Marcos Farabellus, the broad-shouldered Master of Swords, sticks out like a sore thumb in this crowd of erudite individuals. His bald head and wide smile are only intensified through a booming laugh that blasts forth from behind a thick, black beard. Pathfinders! Gather here.
The Master of Swords strides toward a tactical map pinned against one of the wooden scaffolds that clutter the room at various angles and heights. With a meaty, scarred hand he points to the well- drawn map. We discovered the location of the Aspis Consortium’s forays into the Hao Jin Tapestry. Somewhere within this stone sphinx hides the Aspis Consortium’s base of operations. We believe a portal within the building somehow grants the Consortium a back door into our hard-earned Hao Jin Tapestry. I know the tapestry is usually under the purview of my spellcasting counterpart Aram Zey’s, but this mission is of a purely tactical nature: clear out their base and secure the portal for our own use.
Now, this stone sphinx is believed to contain a shrine dedicated to the demon lord Areshkagal. Whether the Consortium’s working with demon-worshiping cultists, I don’t know, so be prepared for anything. I don’t care how you reach the Aspis Consortium’s portal, but we need to teach those greedy profiteers a lesson for trespassing on Pathfinder territory. I need you to get in, wipe the shrine clean of Aspis filth, and secure the tapestry side of their portal. By no means enter it, however. Your job is to secure the site and activate the portal only. The Decemvirate plans to send a more experienced team of agents to investigate what lies beyond. Once you have activated the portal, report back here.
Any questions before you go into the tapestry?
The greenish incorporeal phantom stands beside his master as a faithful bodyguard.
Areshkagal is the demon lord of greed, riddles, and magical and mundane portals. She’s the daughter of Lamashtu herself. Whether the stone sphinx in Hao Jin’s collection is active with demons and cultists, we don’t know, but if it is, they will likely present as much of a challenge as the Aspis Consortium will.
Send word back to us as quickly as possible. We need to act quickly so the Aspis Consortium has little time to send reinforcements back into the Hao Jin Tapestry from the portal’s other terminal.
Perrine cannot recall anything to add at this point
From atop a nearby scaffold, a raven sighs heavily. ”Hopeless,” he declares, the suffering of years easily evident in his voice.
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”Now just a minute Casovir - there’s no reason to start complaining this early in the morning,” the man chortles. ”Why, if you keep that up, it’ll put you in a fowl mood for the rest of the day!” He bursts out laughing at his own joke, handing a heap of pages clearly not in order to the scribe and joining the Master of Swords.
Casovir just stares straight-faced at Perrine.
Areshkagal appears as a faceless female sphinx with six legs, midnight blue fur, and pale flesh. Her wings are draconic and her tail is a hissing viper. Her unholy symbol is a faceless woman’s head decorated with a bloody pharaonic headdress.
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An ifrit with red skin and a pirate's tricorne hat comes bustling in. "Sorry to be late! Hope I haven't missed anything important. Where are we going this time? Oh, the Hao Jin tapestry? I've heard of it. I can't imagine that anything could possibly go wrong in there..." He pauses and looks around. "Oh, where's me manners? Ivan's the name, Ivan D'Ifrit. You mighta heard o' me, on account o' my disreputable past - it's true what you mighta heard - I used to be a pirate, but I seen the light and now me criminal days is in me past. I promise."
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"Oh, you're just in time!" Reginald replies happily. "We're removing some Aspis agents from a stronghold containing a shrine to Areshkagal. You know, I always though that her holy symbols suffered from the most peculiarly specific erosion because none of them have faces - just the bloody pharaonic headdress. Apparently they're made that way though because Areshkagal herself is faceless. Or do you think she lost her own face due to some peculiarly specific erosion? In any case, she likes portals and riddles. Some say she's even greedy for them." He guffaws at his own wit.
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A dark skinned female ifrit with fiery eyes and hair rushes in, almost dropping her two cups of coffee. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry. I'm here. Forgot what day it was."
She gracefully bows, spilling the coffee she was clenching to her chest all over the floor. She sheepishly sits down, chugging the remaining coffee.
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As Mika finishes chugging her coffee, she exhales a visible amount of steam before groaning. "It just doesn't have the same effect any more!
"Oh, oh. I'm Mika. Mika Zellhwiger, nice to meet all of you. Keep your purses closed, or you may see some's made its way to the Thieves' Guild." She then giggles a bit before declaring, "Well, that's what I would say if you weren't fellow Pathfinders!"
She then focuses as quickly as she chugged her coffee, "So, demon goddess lord thingy of riddles, portals, and general sphinx-iness. And the Aspis? Sounds like today's gonna be a good day. Hey, does anybody here know what works best against demons? Do I gotta go get a cold iron rapier or something? Never really liked cold iron. Feels weird, doesn't balance right, but it's worth more so, like, maybe it's worth it?" She trails off into unintelligible mumbling before bolting out the door with haste. She comes back with three more rapiers on her hip.
You travel to the portal into the tapestry and are whisked into the demiplane.
You arrive in Hao Jin’s realm as the last rays of the demiplane’s arcane sun crest the desert dunes. Looking around you see that you are approximately 100 feet south of the stone sphinx behind a large outcropping of rocks. To the west, several palms lap up crystal waters from an oasis that provides a welcome blue to the otherwise brown landscape. Near the stone sphinx’s paws, two statues stare off into the horizon. The area is mainly desert, and aside from the occasional shrub and rock formation, nothing else stands out.
Bartomoley casts about for magical auras but does not detect anything besides the "normal" background magic of the demiplane.
Brun follows his master.
Are you approach the oasis you see dozens of sets of foorprints . They lead out of the sphinx, around the water hole and back to the sphinx.
The statues flanking the sphinx’s entrance depict faceless women wearing a pharaoh’s headdress and wielding a sickle, and each features an identical rune etched prominently into its chest.
hidden in the sand beneath the statues’ ankles, each of the demonic effigies crushes a scorpion under her left foot. On the backs of the scoprions is a rune.
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”Oh yes, it’s Arushkagal again. Do you think it’s difficult to make a head without a face? Anyway, as Ivan says, each statue is standing on a scorpion. While this might simply reflect the builder’s dislike of arachnids and insects, it’s quite possible that this is a representation of a struggle on a more cosmic scale!” Reginald beams with delight at the chance to lecture.
Reginald recognizes the glyph on the scorpions as that of Arushkagal's half-sister Aldinach, demon lord of sand, scorpions, and thirst.
Brun starts to follow the footprints.
Brun follows the foot prints from the sphinx down around the waterhole and back to the sphinx in a counter-clockwise direction. The tracks lead back to the group.
As Brun is returning an arrow flies out of the interior of the sphinx at Bartolomey
The arrow lodges in his armour, but does no damage.
Combat Round 1 - Bold May Act
Blue
Brun
Ivan
Bartolomey
Kolris
Mika
Reginald
Perrine
Red
Green
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"Oh look, there they are!" Reginald exclaims cheerfully as an arrow lodges itself in Bartolomey's armor. "And look at that, Bartolomey - they've even given you an arrow! How nice of them!"
He glances up at the man in green. "You there - is this all yours? Why, it's just deserts if I'm not mistaken!" He bursts up laughing at his own joke, tears streaming down his reddened cheeks.
Brun quickly comes to the aid.
Between Bartolomey and Brun they reduce the Green enemy to a goo.