Part 1: The Shadow Gambit
This beautiful adventure begins in the docks of Absalom. During your previous adventures, you received a letter to meet Venture-Captain Drendle Dreng. He's a decrepit old man, but very well respected, if perhaps a bit pushy. As you all approach him, you see he awaits you right besides a ship.
You sigh heavily, half-expecting to be sent to the other side of the world in some crazy errand, as is customary of the old man's missions. As you prepare for your meeting, you notice other Pathfinders have come with you, and realize you're in front of your new team!
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A well-kempt wolf the size of a small adult human wearing fine chainmail barding pads up to the gangplank. He pauses there, looking back questioningly at the halfling mounted on his back.
"That happened once! Reginald Bottleberry responds to his faithful mount, Rowdy's unspoken query.
Showing no sign of being reassured, the wolf accepts guidance to where Drang is waiting, sitting on its haunches.
The halfling moves with the motion, sliding off the wolf's back and onto his feet.
He leans casually against the wolf, his eyes twinkling in the sun as brightly as the well polished platemail he wears and the shield with a fruited vine growing out of a bottle he has strapped to his back.
His sideburns are impeccably groomed but half his hair sticks up wildly and the other half is plastered to his head as he removes his helmet.
"Reggie Bottleberry, at your service, Sir," he says to Drang, giving a little salute.
Well, well, well what do we have here. Dreng, but it's not the middle of the night and you're not disguised. See, to me, this means the mission you are about to send us on is above board. Not an assassination or B and E. No covering up for the society slip-ups this time. You did call for a sturdy halfing and a wolf so you are expecting some resistance. Did I get any of that wrong?"
A tattoo wayang standing 3 and a half feet tall walks up to the group. He wears a tan duster concealing guns holstered under each arm. The vials hanging on the bandolier clink slightly and glimmer in the sun. On his shoulder sits a bat.
"Name's Blackpowder."
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A very pale Taldan woman dressed in fashionable, yet conservative clothes strides up the gangplank. Despite the temperate Absalom weather, a long scarf is wound around her neck, covering it almost to her jawline.
The scarf snaps behind her in the breeze as she takes in the group assembled on deck.
"Another journey, Drendle? Where are we headed this time?"
As she waits for a reply, she directs a friendly smile at Rowdy, and coos at the large wolf. There seems to be some sense in the exchange.
As the first three of you approach and introduce yourself, Venture Captain Drendle gives you a crooked smile, cackling like an old geezer. He endures Blackpowder’s and Wilhelmina’s verbal slaps with a smile, and starts speaking and laughing like an old grandpa.
”Well, you are not completely assembled but here the basics: One of my good friends, a merchant in the Varisian outcast’s haven known as Kaer Maga, sent me a very strange letter, which I need you to investigate. The merchant—his name is Horis Collgardie—tells me that the residents of Kaer Maga are very upset about the Society’s plan to build a lodge in their city and even further upset that the agents we sent are making trouble, stirring up the delicate balance of power that exists in the so-called City of Strangers!“ -as he takes out a map of Varisia and points at a settlement near the arid lands of the Storval Plateau.
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"What are they afraid of? That crime, death and destruction are going to decrease in their city? Or that all their most attractive young men and women are going to lose their hearts to Pathfinders? Both, equally likely outcomes of a lodge being established," Reggie chimes in.
He gets more serious, though. "Any signs that there's reason to be upset? Are the agents really causing problems or is it someone framing them? Or do they have a good reason to upset the balance of power?"
He thinks back to another city with a balance of power that wasn't exactly balanced. He wasn't able to free the common folk there from the thumbs of their overlords and that fact weighs on his conscience.
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Rowdy's head jerks and he cocks it to the side, his ears rising then rising again as Wilhemina makes wolfy noises toward him. Then his mouth hangs open and his tongue lolls out before he yips and barks and howls in return.
Dreng’s smile turns into a suspicious serious expression after listening to Reggie’s questions.
He lowers his voice and says with a serious expression.
”The trouble is, not the Decemvirate or any venture-captain I can find gave the okay to build a lodge there. We know it would be folly to do so—at least right now—and so this idea that Collgardie has that the Society is there and doing just that is worrisome!“ he says and his eyebrows are going up and down as he returns to his normal off-putting smile.
With that said, he motions to the beautiful ship besides him, a merchant ship currently being loaded with clothes, silks and other textiles.
"In a few weeks time, you’ll be in Korvosa. From there, book passage on a river ship for Harse, then travel overland to the road’s end at the cliffs below Kaer Maga—the so-called Twisted Door!“
Standing atop one of the highest spots of the Storval Rise, the cliff-top city of Kaer Maga (pronounced kare MAH-gah) is built inside the ruins of an ancient fortress: a six-sided ring of 80-foot-high seamless stone, stretching more than a half mile in diameter and topped with towers of every shape and design. Also known as the Asylum Stone, Kaer Maga has served as a refuge for exiles, misfits, and ne'er-do-wells fleeing persecution and prosecution for thousands of years, and is known throughout Golarion as a place where anyone can fit in, and where anything can be bought and sold!
The city survives mainly on trade, as the surrounding lands are largely unsuited to agriculture. Its reputation for accepting all comers has resulted in an extremely cosmopolitan population, and the tradition of self-sufficiency has translated into an unwillingness to accept any central authority over the city as a whole.
The Twisted Door is the entrance to the quickest but most dangerous way to access Kaer Maga, the City of Strangers. The Duskwardens, for a small fee, escort travelers up the dangerous and difficult Half light Path, a series of tunnels, underground ruins, and cliff side paths that wind slowly and steeply from the bottom of the immensely tall cliffs, called the Storval Rise, on which the City of Stranger’s thick, alien walls rest. The Duskwardens pride themselves on providing safe passage.
Though an anarchic "civilization", a loose consortium of groups, gangs, and families rule the people of Kaer Maga. The entire city is a melting pot of citizens from all cultures, such as the Ardoc family of Bis; the Brothers of the Seal, who are ready to kill each other over whether they should open the great portal they guard somewhere deep in the caverns beneath; the gently whistling Sweettalkers of Tian, with their lips sewn shut to keep them from uttering the true name of their god; the Augurs, troll seers who predict the future by casting divinations with their own intestines; and the bloatmages, with the leeches that keep them alive attached to their bulging bodies.
Kaer Maga is one of the main halfling settlements in the Inner Sea region; halflings are the second most populous race in the city. Kaer Maga is one of the places escaped halfling slaves find welcoming. Halflings often join the Freemen of the Bottoms or live in the Halfway Houses in the Warren.
The city also has a sizeable population of mindless undead, sometimes referred to as the Twice-Born.
"I know the beat."
Blackpowder shares what he knows with the group.
Dreng is quite impressed with Blackpowder’s knowledge.
”Seems like you really know the beat!“ he says smiling.
He gives you the same map he's been using to explain the situation, and finally adds.
”At the Twisted Door you must pay the Duskwardens to escort you through the Halflight Path to reach Kaer Maga. Once inside the city, find Collgardie and find out what he’s talking about. If there are Pathfinders in the city founding a lodge, tell them I order them to stop at once. If this is some kind of ruse, get to the bottom of it and do what you can to keep our Society’s good name in Kaer Maga—we may not be completely welcome there, but neither are we unwelcome. Let’s keep it that way. Any questions?“
A tiny animal snuck into the room during the briefing. It lays underneath a chair.
Blackpowder takes some notes.
"Kaer Maga is a bad place for good people in many ways. In the ward where you set up was their any opposition to lodge? Any recent conflicts with locals?
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A large black raven swoops down and rest on Wilhelmina's shoulder. In an urbane accent, it says, "Your typical Pathfinder is dangerous enough. I can't imagine what trouble impostors would cause."
She reaches up and scratchs him under the beak. "Oh hush, Jonathan. You know that incident in Azir was a misunderstanding. The manor was burning down when we arrived."
"Any trouble in particular we should be looking out for?" Reggie asks.
Drendle scratches his beard and cheek.
"Hmm ... I don’t know. Most people won't even know about the Society, but big shots in the city are bound to respect representatives of our organization. Still, try to keep your head down and be smart. The balance of power in that city is fragile—upset it and you’re likely to die. Don’t go stomping about the place like it was a pharaoh’s tomb. Be cautious, be careful, and be courteous—even if the locals make fun of you for doing so. Oh, and the locals are likely not what you expect—you’ll see when you get there.” - he laughs as he gives Kavendell a slap on the shoulder.
"Rest assured, this mystery shall be quickly solved."
”You’re adventurous Pathfinders—I’m sure with Collgardie’s name and a few loose coin, you’ll find him in no time!“
"Well then I guess we should be off. Hard to find dirt before you start digging. Is that our ship?"
"Then, I guess we'd best be going."
*yawn*
The fox rises and stretches its legs.
Drendle smirks at the fox and replies, nodding.
"Yes, the ship will bring you to Korvosa. The fox here is a Kitsune Pathfinder by the way!“
He looks at you intently.
”When your final companion arrives you can leave. Once you get to the base of Kaer Maga, the gruesome task of climbing the cliffs is made easier by a series of tunnels and caves known as the Halflight Path. The Duskwardens are rangers that will escort you safely through it, for a fee of course. While my reports indicate none of you are capable of flight, I would advise against it, as flying visitors will immediately attract the attention of unwanted citizens" Drendle says as he points to the map once more.
"I appreciate the warning Venture captain, but you will need to update your files. Flashpowder can fly. Great for aerial surveillance though I guess he is ground for the time being."
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"Well, I guess it's better to charge us a fee to guide us up than it is to push us off halfway to the top and gather our valuables from the rocks below," Reggie comments about the Duskwardens.
"It sounds like Kaer Maga is a place where having coins is the way to get friends," he continues.
He hops into the saddle easily and the wolf pads up the gangplank with no visible guidance from his halfling rider.
"It seems time is of the essence, so let's move. I have to say I do like that we are bringing a zoo with us."
As you wave goodbye to Venture-Captain Drendle Dreng, you prepare for the road ahead and know that you’ll meet the final team member in Kaer Maga.
It's a tiresome journey, as the merchants in your ship ask you continously to change your weary adventuring clothes for new ones, offering you custom-fittings and exotic fabrics.
Two weeks later, you arrive at the city of Korvosa, and address the not-so-easy task of finding passage to Harse, but eventually you get a good deal as hitchhikers for book merchants that are headed for Kaer Maga itself. Half of them chroniclers, you spend the next week just answering their various questions about your adventures.
Passing through Harse and traveling by land to the cliffs below the City of Strangers, you all get to know each other better.
But at last, you arrive at your destination: The Duskwarden Outpost right besides the Halflight Path. The rangers greet you, their gruff attitude hidden as they hear the promise of coin.
The leader of the book merchants, a half-elf by the name of Serro, pays them off and asks "Would it be alright for us to cover the payment to the Duskwardens? It's the least we could do for the information you've provided along the journey, and the privilege of being escorted by trained warriors and sorcerers!“ he says as he bows in respect.
The Venture Captain should know the agents, right?! :-D / Otha will join us soon.
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Reggie is happy enough to talk about himself, his adventures and his wolf to anyone who asks, though only back so far. Anyone listening closely will realize that he never talks about his childhood.
He doesn't particularly probe anyone else, either, though he listens jovially if anyone does reveal anything about themselves.
"Well, my Mama did raise a couple of fools, but I ain't one of them," he replies to Serro's offer. "You're more than welcome to cover the payment and with our thanks."
He pats Rowdy's neck roughly. He's sitting in the saddle, as it seems like he has more than half the time since they set out.
During the journey Blackpowder sits and listens he occasionally asks a polite way question and take a few notes. The morning of the arival he checks his guns. Whips up a few poison bullets by draining a bit of blood and ink from his tattoos and then fills his pitted rounds. He makes some of his extracts and feeds Flashpowder.
"We would be grateful and honored to accept such a generous offer." Blackpowder says to the offer of payment.
The fox casually strides along with the group. Maybe they have food?
The fox's ears stand upright, as it looks at the tian man.
It now visibly, if not noticed earlier during the trip, takes some steps to get a clear look at Fu.
Blackpowder spends a bit more time assessing everyone rather than chatting. Trying to assess battle formations, social skills, who is the deepest observer.
"Welcome. This is Reggie; Kavendell; a fox that is really not a fox or so we have been told; Rowdy, a wolf that is a wolf. I am Blackpowder, and this is Flashpowder who is a bat and a tumor."
The fox slowly approaches Egg Fu, and carefully smells at the jerky before carefully taking it and sitting down to munch it.
"We would be grateful and honored to accept such a generous offer." Blackpowder says to the offer of payment.
At Blackpowder’s remark, the leader smiles. "Good! The Ardoc family in Kaer Maga runs a golemworks business, so we are headed there and perhaps wrench some funding for another expedition. If you need anything you can find us there."
The idle chatter continues through the networks of caves and tunnels, as the Duskwardens notice markings from previous comrades, and notice which routes to avoid, claiming they've spotted bear tracks and steering clear of their direction.
—- CAVE IN ——
As you continue through the Halflight Path, your eyes sharp and prepared for any sort of bear growls, you are surprised to hear something much more...thunderous.
In the blink of an eye, you hear the cave's roof above you crack, and a truckload of rubble fall on you!
You're only just able to escape the falling rocks, before you hear maniacal giggles.
Squeaky voices, laughing and chanting.
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