|
Reznor stands a little over six feet in height with an average build. However, everything else about him is a little unusual from the red streaks in his otherwise stark white hair to the vestigal wings folded on his back and his prehensile tail slowly swishing back and forth. His skin is pearl black in color, and his eyes are solid red without pupils. Attached to a black gold chain around his neck is a odd holy symbol, a moon with a pair of smirking lips and a seven-pointed crown. He carries a darkwood longbow on his back.
Reznor entered the hall in the company of a tall half-orc woman with long, red braided hair and numerous black and yellow tattoos. However, she quickly disappears into the back offices and halls of the Grand Lodge, though she can be heard cursing vigorously off in the distance from time to time.
Approaching the group, Reznor smiles, “Don’t mind my sister. I’m learning that she can be very . . . ‘enthusiastic,’” and introduces himself, “I am Reznor Misraria, recently delivered from the horrors of Darklands by the grace of Nocticula the Redeemer Queen.”
|
It had been a typical day for Vina. When not scouring the Grand Lodge's libraries, she had most often been seen outdoors in the nearby gardens, devouring a borrowed book while strangely speaking to a young 8-foot tall oak tree...
However, despite her upbringing in the hot jungles of Jalmeray, there was a certain stickiness to today's heat she didn't care for, and when Lakadee decided to uproot himself to seek shade, Vina took the hint the natural world had been trying to give her for the last four hours and followed the treant sapling; later, well past the evening and into the wee hours of the next day, she decided the night breeze insufficient to fully take the heat out of her fur's undercoat and thus she sought the cool stones of the Grand Lodge. The tree followed her without hesitation.
On her way in, Vina heard the general hum of a crowd gathered to discuss. Following the growing noise, she arrived at the main hall to see Pathfinders of all stripes and levels of skills, and the discussion appeared to circle around the Hao Jin Tapestry.
With a growing knot in the pit of her stomach, she waved Lakadee to lean so as to avoid defoliation by door-frame. Shrinking to small size, Vina climbed her tree friend, and from the perceived safety of her companion's foliage, dared to listen further. After she spotted a familiar tiefling she had met before in the halls, she managed to shyly ask, "Reznor y-yes? wh-what's going on? why are they t-talking about the Tapestry?"
|
|
Sulana looks around the crowded room uncomfortably. She's never dealt with a...demiplane? Is that what people are calling it? She's also heard a few people mentioning a tapestry, but that seems strange. Unless the two are connected...
It's pointless to speculate without more information, and it doesn't seem like anyone nearby knows any more than she does. For now she finds the least-crowded spot she can manage and waits for further instructions.
|
Niva is standing against a wall, observing and listening. A mysterious, sudden call by the Master of Spells himself. Rumors of either a textile or a plane of existence, two completely different things said with the same urgency, being involved have piqued her curiosity. This summons came all too soon after she finished her Pathfinder training, and something of this magnitude being her first mission was daunting to say the least.
She catches sight of a tiefling talking to a vanara, her eyes drawn to the tiefling. She's drawn to the tiefling, being ever interested in those with outsider blood ties, and she notes that Reznor seems confident and Vina timid, a perfect pair to try to get some more information. She approaches the pair with a blue-lipped smile.
"I'd assume the two of you have been summoned as suddenly as I have, with as little information? I'm Niva Ray. All I've heard so far is equally weighted rumors of either a textile work or a demiplane, and I'm too new around here to know the significance of either." She flourishes a small, polite curtsy as she introduces herself. Even while talking to these two, Niva's eyes dart constantly around the room, and her ears are perked, listening for more rumors.
|
|
"Tapestry is pocket reality created by great powerful sorceress called Hao Jin! Hee hee hee... rrr-rr-reality is like an onion. It has many layers. The magical, the natural, the ethereal, and many more. You can live your whole life looking at the outside of the onion and be fine. Some like to see the other layers, so they peel one by one. Some cut right to the middle with non-subtle means, but those are ready to shed some tears, as they know they're using a knife to cut the onion directly."
Vina pauses, seeing that some of her colleagues' eyes have glazed over.
"N-n-now... the great Hao Jin... she collected some old onion peels in the universe, and with her magic, stitched them all together to make her own personal onion. It's not a real, living onion though, and the old, dry onion peels were only held with her magic... and since she's long-gone, I... I've hear r-rumors that... that the m-magic is failing... I'm not sure what will happen to the o-onion or whatever she put in it if the m-magic fails completely..."
|
|
Leaning against the wall and looking around, Sulana happens to overhear a nearby group talking about the tapestry and the demiplane as if they're the same thing. It sounds like they have a better idea of what's going on than she does, so she heads over.
"Excuse me, my name's Sulana. I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. So you think that the magic holding this other reality together may be failing?" She looks around at the large number of gathered Pathfinders. "If that's true, maybe we're going to be evacuating whoever or whatever lives there."
|
Cassiopia Minksalais a small woman, with graceful limbs and elegant hands. She has a lightly tanned skin and very long hair in the colour of honey usually braided and pinned behind her head. Her most defining feature are her eyes, one is crystal blue, the other amber.
|
|
At the mention of the word "evacuate," Reznor looks a little startled.
"Evacuate? As in rescue or save?"
"I hear there a mess of evil, bad critters in the tapestry. My sister-in-law, Anna, once went it with some other Pathfinders, and she ended up fleeing with all their bodies piled on her war rhino!"
|
|
A short, slightly hunched dwarf in a giagantic cloak that could only be the result of someone not knowing what size to buy or being way ovewieght, ponderously trundles up to the group. He gives a small frown at the lack of his beared bretheren, but given the lack of boisterous gnomes or halflings, decides to stay with the group.After listening some to everyone talking, he finally opens up some when Vina starts talking about the tapestry. In slow measured tones he comments, "It is a distint pleasure to make the aquaintance of someone versed in the tapestry. I am Dr. Toivo Talvislag, and have probably been called here to make sure any discoveries of a dwarven origin are properly kept safe and studied. I do find the use of a root vegetable analogy intriguing Mrs..."
|
|
Former Master of Spells Aram Zey addresses the assembled Pathfinders as more agents stream into the Grand Lodge. “Pathfinders, an entire world is in danger! The Hao Jin Tapestry is on the brink of collapse. If we do not act now, all its wonders and its people will be lost to us forever. Find your assigned group, aid in our preparations to enter the demiplane however you can, and await further instructions.”
|
Countless Pathfinders stand ready in a large stone room deep beneath the Grand Lodge. A ragged tapestry covered in clashing colors and abstract symbols rests on an inclined slab in the center of the room, surrounded by scaffolds and ladders. Scholars frantically rush along the scaffolds, studying a flurry of rips appearing on the tapestry.
A harried oread woman approaches. “I am Master of Spells Sorrina Westyr. I won’t mince words—the situation is dire. This cloth is the famous Hao Jin Tapestry, an ancient relic the Pathfinder Society acquired in the Ruby Phoenix Tournament six years ago. It contains a vast wealth of locations, treasures, and peoples torn from Golarion by the sorceress Hao Jin. We have explored many regions of the tapestry, struggled to keep the Aspis Consortium from turning its populace against us, and devised a means to use the tapestry for fast travel across all of Golarion. But now, it has begun to unravel. We must act quickly to repair the tapestry—and that means sending agents into the demiplane itself. Our former Master of Spells, Aram Zey, knows more about the tapestry than anyone here. He is preparing a formal briefing. In the meantime, familiarize yourself with your team, discuss any previous experience you may have with the Hao Jin Tapestry, and gather what information and resources you can."
"One more thing, and this is important: you will be able to retreat safely from the tapestry to Absalom. However, we cannot risk damaging the tapestry further by sending groups back and forth. Be sure that you gather everything you need before entering the tapestry, because once you return to Absalom, you will no longer be a part of this mission."
|
|
Vina notices a couple things about the damage on the tapestry, firstly the largest holes appear around six of the regions that Pathfinder agents allegedly visited in the past few years. Overall the tapestry radiates a warm aura but despite the tapestry’s warmth, there are spots around the largest tears that are chill as a grave.
|
|
Sulana studies the Tapestry for a moment. "So, it looks like we'll be heading into a variety of terrains. It might be a good idea to stock up on potions of Endure Elements, and maybe gear appropriate for several different climates. Going from a desert to a freezing cold mountain would strain anyone."
Since they have the opportunity, she quickly grabs a variety of ammunition as well as some travel gear. Just in case.
Blunt arrows (20): 2gp
Cold iron arrows (20): 2gp
Silver arrows (10): 20gp
Cold weather outfit: 8gp
Wayfinder: 250gp
Total cost: 382gp
|
|
Toivo gives a small 'hmpf' over the smooth and well trained actions of the team he'd been standing around. "It's good to see that we are going in with people who know what they are doing! If you don't mind I'm going to go and ensure there is enough pen paper and ink here to document any findings, especially of anything Dwarven in nature before finding my assigned group. It has been a... pleasure, I suppose, to chat about the tapestry." The ponderously slow moving dwarf then moves up to the supplies provided and verifies there's enough paper for everyone.
He gives a small sniff of deep disapproval and tuts over the dismally lack of materials. "Seems there is not a single sheet of paper here. Nor over there either! Good grief I'm going to have to go and track down the quartermaster and break their foot over how underprepared these supplies are!" Mutter dark curses about flighty humans and their complete lack of foresight he tudges off, presumably to give said quartermaster yet another headache.
|
|
It's easy to see as Reznor looks into the Weave's that that many regions in the tapestry are pulled directly from Golarion. However, most of its denizens have lived in the tapestry for their entire lives, and some can trace back many generations to ancestors who lived on the tapestry as well.
Through Sulana's studies of the Tapestry, and in hearing stories in passing, she is able to tell the various terrain types from the Pathfinder Society’s previous adventures in the tapestry: buildings, caves and tunnels, ancient ruins, mountains, and deserts. Many more are known to exist within the tapestry as well.
Everyone has an odd feeling, suddenly anxious as they embark on the day. Niva's keen senses is able to realises that some malicious presence is within the room, attempting to enter your minds, the presences is seemingly weak now, but it lurks in the atmosphere.
Toivo runs around the repair teams tent, and points out an obvious flaw in their operations! Grateful for the aid, the lead provides Toivo with a potion of cure serious wounds and suggest he takes another potion of his choice.
|
|
Toivo trundles back to the group and tosses them a giant stack of paper for notes and the Cure Serious potion. "I am not going to have any need for this. Shouldn't be anywhere near the fighting, I move too slowly and am just to fat to be any good at it. Anyways I'm going to go find the group of researchers I'm supposed to be with. I hope your sixth member comes along soon."
Toivo moves off, delivering the few bundles of supplies he'd said he was going to deliver, before finding a quiet place to duck into...
|
|
Aram Zey cries out in alarm as a massive rip appears in the Hao Jin Tapestry. A silvery void dances within the breach. “The rifts are widening—we’re running out of time! Quickly, Pathfinders. Finish your preparations and gather around the tapestry.”
Aram Zey’s gaze remains fixed on the tapestry as he addresses the crowd around him. He is harried and pale, with dark bags under his bloodshot eyes. His hands tremble slightly as he sets a mug of coffee down on a table already littered with empty cups. “Pathfinders, the Hao Jin Tapestry is falling to pieces. Both the physical object you see before you and the mystical realm it contains have been unraveling for several months, possibly even longer. My only hope is that there is still time to save the tapestry
and those who live inside.”
The former Master of Spells glares at the tapestry for a moment, and then a new rip catches his attention. He jabs a finger at the frayed fabric. “There! You see? The degradation is causing—or perhaps caused by—rifts to the Astral Plane that are appearing throughout the demiplane. Fixing these tears is not as simple as stitching fabric or performing a few rituals. We must enter the tapestry itself, find the rifts, and repair them as best we can. But the tapestry is in chaos—undead horrors are emerging throughout the demiplane, and we do not quite understand why. On top of that, the people and creatures of the tapestry are reacting to the chaos, and they are only making matters worse! That, Pathfinders, is where you come in.”
Aram Zey finally turns to face the crowd gathered around him. “The tapestry is a massive realm, and we have spent years exploring it and using it for travel. I fear that our activities are at least partly responsible for the degradation. I don’t think it’s a coincidence many of the six most damaged areas of the tapestry are sites of previous Pathfinder missions.” Zey’s face twists into a pained expression, “My efforts to repair the demiplane over the course of the last several days have met with nothing but failure. The decline continues to accelerate. I have no choice but to send you into the tapestry to deal with the chaos around these six sites. I’ll be sending in other teams to perform the laborious work of patching the rifts once you’ve established control of the situation. Then I can work on a permanent solution. Time is of the essence. By my estimates, in a little over two day’s time, the entire demiplane will collapse without your efforts. I don’t care what motivates you, whether you want to preserve powerful artifacts, save innocent lives, or be a good Pathfinder—get in there and get the job done.”
Aram Zey returns his gaze to the tapestry, raising his hand to his forehead and wincing in pain. In a low grumble, he adds, “You all are this demiplane’s last hope. Don’t let them down.”
|
|
As Aram Zey calls the pathfinders to assemble, a massive dwarf rushes up to the small group, and takes a few moments to get his breathing under control. He stands a good 4 feet 5 inches, and looks to be at least that of not more so wide, though at the shoulders, not the waist. His bare shoulders and upper arms show just how burly the dwarf is, with the deltoids and biceps seeming like two cantalopes on each arm. On one hand he has strapped a jagged edged shield bearing the mark of a flexing arm, with an identical looking one strapped to his pack as well. He pulls off his helm and pats at his sweat matted black hair and beard with a hand towel as the former Master of Spells speaks.
As soon as he can, the dwarf addresses the group. "Sorry for being late. I lost track of time, uh, working out. Glad I could make it in time. I am the Flexing Shield, you can call me FS, Shield or Flex if you want, and I'm here to impose myself between anything that might threaten you. That's right, there's going a good 300 pounds of solid dwarf between you and the undead menaces."
He offers a firm handshake to those willing to take him up on it, before double checking that his pack is in order and that the potion of Endure Elements that Toivo recieved is still firmly in place.
|
|
Cassiopia hears many of the wonders and horrors within the Hao Jin Tapestry, namely many of the creatures that could possibly be expected.
~~~
“As Aram Zey said, we have identified the six most damaged areas of the tapestry. Unfortunately, each of these areas is populated. In some of them, you’ll find allies who require aid, and in others long-time foes that would thwart our efforts. We must defeat these foes or win them over to our side. Choose your missions carefully! If you have visited the tapestry before, its people are likely to remember you, for good or ill."
“I do have one piece of good news—the tapestry’s attempts to repair itself have caused loose threads from these six locations to connect to each other. What that means for you is that traveling between those locations once you’re inside should be straightforward. Advance scouts tell us these connections look like bridges made of tattered fabric decorated to resemble the two locations in the tapestry that the bridge connects."
“As for getting back home, when you enter, you’ll leave a little blue portal behind you. It’s called an astral eddy, and it’s your personal connection to the Material Plane. Walk back into it, and you’ll reappear in Absalom. Once you’ve come home, though, we won’t be sending you back in."
“You have two days to complete as many missions as you can, but don’t be so hasty that you throw away your lives. Take the time to rest if you find a safe place.”
|
|
"Shouldn't we answer the call for help first? The mission briefing doesn't give too much information about what's going on with the Temple, just that its leader 'falters.' Meanwhile the entire mountain where the ratfolk live is unstable. That sounds more urgent to me." Sulana shakes her head, still studying the briefing.
"I agree the fountain is also a good idea, anything that could help with the repairs would be useful to secure sooner rather than later."
|
|
You make your ways into the tapestry and soon arrive at the temple where three aasimar guards approach and welcome you. The Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment, crafted of white marble, rests atop a forested hill. Three aasimars stand guard before ornate double doors that bear an image of four spheres resting inside a lotus flower. Recognizing agents of the Pathfinder Society, the aasimars open the doors and lead the way to the temple’s garden courtyard.
The garden’s plants are brown and withered. A Tian man sits at the edge of a dried-up fountain, staring forlornly at the noble turtle in its center. The man has hazel eyes and a streak of white in his hair. Several temple acolytes are busy preparing incense, meditating, and inscribing symbols on the fountain. One of the aasimar speaks. “This is Zhuang, our leader. After you Pathfinders defeated the demon, Dakang, and purged the temple of corruption, Zhuang was determined to set us on a better path. We now aid wayward travelers in the tapestry and spread Korada’s teachings. However, Dakang’s deceptions have always plagued Zhuang, and he is on the verge of abandoning the temple. He has been sitting like this for many days, and neither speaks nor eats. Will you help us with a ritual to bring peace to his mind?”
The acolytes soon begin conducting a ritual that allows for you to travel into Zhuang’s mind and see the temple as he does. As your spirits apparate in his subconcious, you see a version of the temple that is aa desolate place, locked in perpetual dusk and filled with anguished screams and howling wind. It becomes vaguely clear to you that in order to clear his mind, you will have to face the horrors that he faces.
Before you know it, you find yourselves inside the temple, in a room full of Dozens of skeletal figures clawing at one another as they crawl their way out of overflowing sarcophagi.
|
|
Reznor runs straight for the lids as Lakadee and Vina turns to knock the creatures back into where the crawl from. Reznor's lightnight fast reaction manages to put a stop in any of the skeletal figures causing any real harm or damage...
But as soon as you're able to recover from what you just saw, you now find yourselves within a room with an array of shelves filled with books! A library perhaps? In the room, Two young acolytes sit facing each other on the floor. Their facial features are a little unclear, but they look familiar to you. They read aloud from unholy texts, and tears of blood drip onto the pages from their unblinking eyes. Soon in your minds, your task is clear, you must quickly react and stop these two priest from continuing their madness!
|
|
Flex gives a small start as they find themselves in an odd situation. "Wait the temple didn't look like this in the room before..." He's so distracted that he fails to recognize the threat that the skeletons represent before therest of the group have already handled them.
Silently breating himself for not staying on top of things, he moves into the next room swearing to move faster. He recognizes the problem almost immediately, and decides to search for a different holy text to let them read.
He bumbles about the place, not really able to grab ahold of things with two shields strapped to his arms.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Seeing the acolytes and their bleeding eyes, Reznor begins speaking so as to distract at least one of them from their reading of these unholy books.
Hello good monks, I have come to speak to you of the glory of Nocticula the Redeemed who rose from the Abyss as you can rise from those pages of evil which have ensnared you . . .
|
|
Sulana is thrown by the rapidly-changing environment of the temple. Fake temple? How are we in someone's head...oh I suppose it doesn't matter. The important thing is to help conquer his inner demons.
Possibly literally, depending on what else this place throws at them.
Knowing nothing about Korada, she quickly scans the shelves to see if she can find a book that will help free the acolytes from their madness.
The books seem to twist and warp before her eyes, making it hard to even read the titles. Hopefully the others are having more luck, because I don't think I'm going to be of much use here.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
In this library, Niva is able to recover much more quickly than the first shift, and she immediately knows to search for a replacement book for these acolytes.
As she frantically searches, She hears Cassiopia begin reciting and hopes that is enough.
|
|
The holy text seems to be a lot more difficult to discern among the countless books in the shelves. Anytime a book was attempted to be picked up, it vanished in your hands.
Reznor attempts to preach the monks away from their unholy ritual, and it work momentarily as they focused their thoughts away but they seem to be slowly falling back into the abyss, until Cassiopia is able to recite the words perfectly to the Words of Korada, breaking them from their cycle of pain. They begin to mutter different words but as soon as they do, the scenery becomes grainy and you're soon transported again into a new environment.
You find yourself now standing between the meditation room (C3) and the chapel. (C4) On one side, several monks perform grotesque contortions and throw glass spheres to one another while reciting the mantra, “bind my soul to Sifkesh.” Countless worms carpet the floor and walls. Somethings seems terrible off in this picture and the solution that comes in your mind is odd, but you realise it has to do with meditation techniques that help calm the mind.
On the other side, A bloated corpse stands upon a balcony at the front of this vaulted chapel, preaching heresy and ugly truths to a crowd of rapt worshipers. This monstrous act must be stopped before things get out of hand!