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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.”
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Narayan approaches the group with his teeth bared in a grin that's... unsettling, but entirely heartfelt.
His jaw juts out over a very short neck, which with his broad shoulders gives him a somewhat squat appearance even though he stands comfortably over 6' tall. His clothing is simple and roughspun, but he has an small cache of various magical implements hung at his belt.
He gives you all a respectful bow with that same fangy smile spreading across his face, and introduces himself, "I am Narayan Ssingh. I musst confesss that I have not traveled the Tapesstry mysself. Have any of you experiencced it?"
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."
You can assess the damage!
You inspect the tapestry itself to help discern what might be happening to it.
You can interrogate the snakes!
You interrogate a group of Aspis Consortium agents recently arrested in Absalom, attempting to discern if the Consortium is infiltrating the tapestry again. The agents insist that the Consortium is not involved.
You can use your knowledge of the weave!
You recall or gather information about the Hao Jin Tapestry
You can Use the Power of Paranoia!
You get a strange feeling of being watched and investigate to determine what is going on.
You can Get a Supply Check!
You assess the repair team’s supplies, including climbing gear, traveling gear, food and drink, and supplies for magic rituals.
You can Swap Tales from the Tapestry!
You briefly swap tales of the Pathfinder Society’s previous adventures in the tapestry.
You can Get Travel Tips!
You share tips for navigating and surviving a variety of terrains.
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"Why is it when someone says something like that, I always wonder if I will have enough arrows?" Boros says to everyone and no one in particular. "I'll make sure to grab some before we head in."
"Boros Anwemane is my name, pleasure to meet you all." Standing amidst the group is a tall, slender... man? Well, bird-man might be more accurate. Golden eyes study each member, glowing as if they had a light of their own from within. His skin is the color of an overcast day and covered with scars where it isn't covered with feathers. Soft feathers that almost look like hair line the sides of his cheeks like mutton-chops, lining a broad face with a sturdy square jaw.
His chain-link armor drapes easily over his muscled shoulders, leather straps and bandoliers holding all manner of vials and potions. A black leather whip is tied to his waist and a longbow scrapes the ground at his feet with one end while the other arcs over his head. With all of that, the most stark feature of the Garuda-blooded Aasimar however, is his soft feathered wings that fold comfortably beneath his cloak, though not hidden.
"I've been an agent for quite some time now, and I've seen some things, as I am sure you all have. I've never been good at this introduction thing, I've generally spent the majority of my career with the same agents." Boros pauses for a moment, lost in thought. "Anyway, Callistria guides my arrows. I'll keep a weather eye out for danger and... Do any of you notice that? I've got a strange feeling of being watched." Boros looks around at the crowd in the room. Surely that is a very strange thing to feel in a place like this.
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Sparky is an average looking human wearing typical adventuring gear. 2 unusual things of note. One is the lifelike tattoo of a green scorpion on his neck. And the more observant of you notice that tucked under his cloak is a massive pair of what looks like insect wings.
He looks around the hall and winces every now and then.
"Greetings. I am Sparky. Professional alchemist, and I tinker with mechanical devices in my spare time. If there is trouble I tend to toss various bombs a it. Just try to stay still and you'll be fine."
The Exchange helped fund much of this so Sparky will check to be sure the gold is being spent well.
Not sure how many of those checks we can attempt, but I'll start with my best one.
You feel suddenly anxious and detect a malicious presence. Before fighting it off, you sense its intentions: to feed on the chaos and death in the tapestry.
BOON
Once during this adventure before attempting a Will save, one PC can roll twice and choose the better result.
[dice=Get a Supply Check to be sure some of the traveling gear is well made. Craft Alchemy]d20 +29
The repair team, grateful for the your aid, provides each of you with a potion of cure serious wounds. They also provides each of you with an additional potion of your choice up to 3rd-level.
The repair team is supplied well enough to set up a rudimentary shop in the Hao Jin Tapestry.
Get Travel Tips kn Natured20 +23
You recall 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.
You can assess the damage!
You can interrogate the snakes!
You can use your knowledge of the weave!
You can Use the Power of Paranoia!
You can Get a Supply Check!
You can Swap Tales from the Tapestry!
You can Get Travel Tips!
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"Greetings everyone, I am Keriassa of Isger, a pleasure to meet you and for the chance to work beside you. I am a paladin of Erastil and collector and teller of stories, so let's get to that. My brothers and I have been on many adventures with much to tell and I'd love to hear stories of yours."
Slinging her elaborate longbow over her shoulder she gathers a group of like-minded Pathfinders and pulls together the assembled collective tapestry experience.
"Greetings everyone, I am Keriassa of Isger, a pleasure to meet you and for the chance to work beside you. I am a paladin of Erastil and collector and teller of stories, so let's get to that. My brothers and I have been on many adventures with much to tell and I'd love to hear stories of yours."
Slinging her elaborate longbow over her shoulder she gathers a group of like-minded Pathfinders and pulls together the assembled collective tapestry experience.
[dice=Take 10 Perform Oratory to Swap Tales from the Tapestry]10+23
You recall several stories of Pathfinder agents adventuring in the tapestry and dealing with all manner of different peoples and creatures, from ratfolk and lizardfolk to ancient mummies and manipulative demons.
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In walks a barely four-foot gnome in multicolored overalls and rainbow hued hair.
"Greeting all, I am Nugats, evoker extraordinaire. I can harness the power of the elements to dazzle and amaze you all. You are hearty adventures and I am sure that you all have been part of exciting adventures. You might have traveled with one of my friends, ones that can throw balls of fire, or create ice storms. Maybe you have even seen some that shoot lightning out of their fingertips." he pauses dramatically like a street magician.
"But you have never traveled with Nugats before! I can throw not balls of fire, but balls of acid. I can shoot bolts of ice out of my fingers, and make it rain fire like starfall when Aroden died." he ends with a cartwheel before going to each adventure in turn and shaking their hand. As he does so he looks in their pockets and packs for anything interesting.
When he reaches Boros, he exclaims, "Boros my old friend, it is good to see you. Good to see you. My how I have missed you." he strokes his feathers.
"Now on to business, how I have longed to study the tapestry.”
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"Speaking of spending most of my career with the same agents, Nugats! What a pleasant surprise. If only I'd known you would be here." Boros pats his old friend on the head.
"Pardon me for a moment. I've heard we have some of the Aspis consortium here that we can interrogate."
"Listen, if I allowed these welts and scars on my body because I thought they were fun, imagine what I could do to you? And please don't lie, I'll know."
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Narayan ambles cheerfully from place to place, easily swaying aside from the throngs of frantic agents. He has no pretense to great wisdom when it comes to arcane matters, but he has a certain intuition with strange artifacts, and he does his best to direct it to uncovering the Tapestry's trials.
When it comes to things he cannot put his hands to though... Narayan knows better than to rely on his own intuition. He instead circulates, asking those friends of his with more learning and understanding for all that they can tell him of the Tapestry's Weave.
"Speaking of spending most of my career with the same agents, Nugats! What a pleasant surprise. If only I'd known you would be here." Boros pats his old friend on the head.
"Pardon me for a moment. I've heard we have some of the Aspis consortium here that we can interrogate."
[dice=Intimidate - Interrogate the Snakes]1d20+20
"Listen, if I allowed these welts and scars on my body because I thought they were fun, imagine what I could do to you? And please don't lie, I'll know."
You believe the Consortium agents. The agents reveal that the Aspis Consortium recently tried to re-infiltrate the tapestry, but it was too unstable and they could not gain entry. You also gain information about the Consortium’s past dealings with groups in the tapestry.
You can assess the damage!
You can interrogate the snakes!
You can use your knowledge of the weave!
You can Use the Power of Paranoia!
You can Get a Supply Check!
You can Swap Tales from the Tapestry!
You can Get Travel Tips!
Continuing to talk with others, Keri gathers a trove of information about the tapestry.
[dice=take 10 to gather information about the tapestry using diplomacy]10+23
You recall or learn 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.
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a scrawny barely-orcish man dressed in green tian-style armor casually strolls in with no sense of the urgency filling the rest of this space...
"...oh, here's where everyone wandered off to. Ah this old rug again?!? So much trouble."
"That loose thread there's a bit'uv'a trippin' hazaard y'all."
"So many different attitudes in such a itty-bitty space does boggle me mind how's they didn't kill each other long ago."
"Anywho, me name's 'Tree'. No not like tha plant, tho I do enjoys ta climb one now n again. But actually I gots two older bruddahs an' me Mums not so good at spelling in Taldan. Gots a younger bruddah too, 'Four'. Mum gived up after dat."
[dice=AssessDmg(DisableDev)]1d20+20
"That loose thread there's a bit'uv'a trippin' hazaard y'all."
You notice that the largest holes appear around six of the regions that Pathfinder agents visited in the past few years and notice that the tapestry is radiating warmth. Despite the tapestry’s warmth, there are spots around the largest tears that are chill as a grave.
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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.”
Venture Captain Ambrus Valsin approaches with a steady purposeful stride as Zey returns to his work.
“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.” Pressing a scroll into Keriassa's hand, he nods curtly and moves to the next group waiting to be briefed.
Together you touch the Tapestry and hear a word of magic spoken, then you arrive at the Muckmouth, the cavernous home of the Muckmouth lizardfolk. The caves and their inhabitants were accidentally transported into the tapestry when Hao Jin extracted her intended target—a network of serpentfolk ruins. When you arrive at the Muckmouth caves, the guards usher you inside.
The Muckmouth tribe’s caves are dry but littered with the bones of cave-dwelling fish. In the central cavern, a small band of bedraggled lizardfolk watch as their ancient leader limps forward. Long strings of tiny bones dangle from her armbands, clacking on the stone floor.
“Welcome, Pathfinder friends. I am Oosthic, and I remember my tribe’s debt to you for rescuing our eggs and our home. We must call on your strength once more. Our water has vanished. Without water, the Muckmouth grow weak. Many have perished seeking water in the ancient ruins beneath our home. The ruins are crumbling, and the living dead slither from the walls. I fear the serpent empire seeks vengeance against the Muckmouth for disturbing its ruins, but we had no choice. Destroy the undead and secure the lost magic of the serpentfolk for our tribe. The Muckmouth must survive!”
When you are ready, the Muckmouth sentries lead them through twisting passages to a ruined serpentfolk city cradled in a steep-walled mountain valley.
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Walking briskly up to Oosthic, he begins to examine the bones hanging from the elder's arms. "Are these the bones of your slain? How does one sneak up on their prey if you wear these rattly bones? Do you keep them on when love making?" realizing that he might have gone a bit too far in his queries on the last one, Nugats realizes that none of his companions are joining in his questions.
"My sincerest apologies, Oosthic. I am a bit uncouth in ... what was it called ... yes social norms." he beams proudly at his recall of the unfamiliar words. Everything is just so interesting. I am so exited to save your people from the evil undead in the caverns. We can chat more when I get back. Toodles!"
The gnome begins hopping along with the others as he cast shield on himself.
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Boros nods along with the others, eager to deliver vengeance for the lizardfolk allies. He feels a pang of pity for their beleaguered state.
"Do you have any descriptions of the types of undead we will face? You mentioned slithering... Are we about to run into undead snakes?"
As the group moves in to explore the threatened area, Boros uses his eagle eyes to search the room for both threats and sources of water.
The feathered aasimar pulls a handful of blunted and standard arrows from his quiver while also pulling a vial of holy weapon balm from his bandolier. As they get ready to move into the cavern, he applies the precious pink gel to his ammunition.
Walking briskly up to Oosthic, he begins to examine the bones hanging from the elder's arms. "Are these the bones of your slain? How does one sneak up on their prey if you wear these rattly bones? Do you keep them on when love making?"
The venerable lizardwoman nods.
"Yes small one, those are the bones of slain foes. Although that was decennia ago. I fear the times of me either sneaking or lovemaking are long since past."
"You have our word that we will aid your tribe as we did before. Fear not."
"I knew we could count on the pathfinder society to help us again!"
"Do you have any descriptions of the types of undead we will face? You mentioned slithering... Are we about to run into undead snakes?"
"What my scouts told me is that although the undead were corporeal, they could move through the terrain as if it was not there. They also seemed to sense the presence of the scouts, which is why my scouts quickly retreated, forgoing a detailed description in favor of their safe return."
You emerge from the tunnels into a valley filled with crumbling buildings and a massive ziggurat. The lizardfolk guides staying behind at a safe distance waiting for you to clear the area.
As the bottom of the valley on which the ziggurat stands is 10 feet higher than your current position you can't see much at the moment, but you can hear some movement.
Narayan is up!
Narayan taps himself with a wand and advances, eyes dimly peeled for any undead horrors as he falls into a broad, shuffling stance.
[dice=UMD]d20+17
From the ruins to the east two undead creatures advance to Narayan's position, moving through the walls and undergrowth without any hindrance.
The first undead to reach Narayan has a thick tangle of discolored entrails that clings to its skeletal torso and winds upward to loll from its jaw like a clawed tongue.
The creature's tonguelike appendix tries to lick the Nagaji.
Hits
[dice=Reroll]d20+11+2+2
[dice=GM Star Reroll]d20+11+2+2+2
The necrotic ichor from the vile creature’s tongue passes through Narayan’s skin and stiffens his limbs, but the nagaji manages to resist the effect!
The second creature to approach Narayan is a desiccated figure wearing linen wrappings and tarnished jewelry. Its humanoid body is topped with a withered crocodile head.
It moves into a flanking position and tries to bite.
Boros
Sparky
Nugats
Tree
Keriassa
Purple
Narayan
Bone
Green