GM Ietsuna's 10-15 Tapestry's Trial (Inactive)

Game Master Ietsuna

Eleven-Sun-Truth, this area here...how long has the stats of anarchy been going on for? Is it recent?

Pooka listens closely as they walk, paying attention to the answer to Rallas' question. He also offers one of his own, "You mentioned the Godmind. I assume that is who you serve? Does Hao Jin serve this Godmind as well?"

What are they fighting for?

Eleven-Sun-Truth, this area here...how long has the stats of anarchy been going on for? Is it recent?

It has been thus since the death of Aroden. They fight for control over his previous domain.

You mentioned the Godmind. I assume that is who you serve? Does Hao Jin serve this Godmind as well?

Yes, I serve the Godmind and Hao Jin is here at the request of the Godmind to study the Empty Court and perhaps find clues about Aroden’s death and disappearance.

What are they fighting for?

See above

"Fascinating. If I can be of any assistance to the Godmind and Hao Jin in finding clues for Aroden's death, please do not hesitate to ask."

After 20 minutes you arrive at the Amphitheater of the Last Azlanti, an ancient, multistory theater built into the side of a hill. The structure’s outer walls bear faded murals of Aroden’s life: his mortal life as a blacksmith, his leading of the Azlanti survivors from the ruins of Earthfall, his planar travels, his raising of the Starstone and creating Absalom, his battle with the wizard Tar-Baphon, and more. Inside, the amphitheater’s stadium-style seating partly surrounds a raised, stone stage where a small tent is pitched next to a campsite.

Sitting nearby is a human woman dressed in Tien robes and with flowing red hair. As you approach she looks up from her study and sketching of several dozen broken glass sculpture pieces. She gives you a courteous nod without breaking eye contact.

Welcome, Eleven-Sun-Truth. You have not brought me visitors in some time and certainly never from my home world. What calamity has befallen Golarion that you come all the way to the Eternal City to find me? Has the Whispering Tyrant escaped his confinement? Has a new spawn of Rovagug been released in Casmaron? Or has Arazni perhaps decided to stir from her torpor and lay claim to Garund? What is the matter? I see the strain of grave news in your faces.

Yanndu bows with utter and genuine respect in front of Hao Jin.

"Great and wise Hao Jin, it is an honor to meet you. Surely your time is worth untold riches: would you allow a mindlink to pass on to you all the information we are here to convey? I am afraid that some unknown party has been monitoring us via scrying since our arrival in Axis. Therefore, the mindlink should allow me to pass all the information to you securely and leave nothing to these eavesdroppers..."

Yanndu pulls out a scroll of mindlink, as well as the letter sent to him by the Master of Spells, as well as the satchel containing all the records of Pathfinder Society activity within the Tapestry.

I will allow a mindlink, but you must have a care. I do not wish to overwhelm your cognitive functions.

Ok, so you are limited to the information that you can pass in 10 minutes. We will need to agree on what you can pass in that amount of time, but we'll play it by ear? Also what is your intention with the letter and satchel?

Yanndu hands everything to her that he knows about this mission, pure and simple: both in thoughts and in physical evidence. This can save some time reiterating the plot so far... And yes, Yanndu will be careful to upload and not download, so as not get his mind blown by her awesomeness! :)

Yanndu nods to the sorceress and briefly reads the cheap aide-memoire scroll. It crumples in a small flare of blue arcane energy and Yanndu's head and right hand begin to swirl with arcane patterns. Yanndu then kneels in front of the powerful sorceress, keeping his eyes towards the ground with humility and extending his right palm towards her so that she can touch it to gain the offered information.

Can she reply via the link? The spell doesn't seem to say that she can.

No it's just Yanndu uploading a ton of files to her brain. I thought you were speaking in terms of flavor, i.e. Yanndu getting a fleeting glimpse of her awesome mindscape due to the part of the spell that says "You link your mind to that of a touched creature". :) The cadillac two-way telepathy is the 5th level spell 'Telepathic Bond' which I have cast twice to link the entire party together. If Yanndu gets a sense that she would also like to provide him with some data/thoughts/concept he will not hesitate to do her bidding and fully link his mind to hers via Telepathic Bond.

At the end of the mindlink, Yanndu leaves a question, ***...my mind is linked to the entire group assembled humbly before you...if you wish, O Grand Sorceress, I can also link you to my mind so that you can speak to them all through me...that, or we could relocate somewhere that is shielded from scrying...***

Ok, I am going to leave this up to you. There is a bit of back and forth here including an opportunity for you to ask clarifying questions of Hao Jin. With the nature of Mindlink it would take multiple castings to have a "conversation". Telepathic bond is yourself plus 1 creature per 3 levels. I don't think you have enough levels to get Hoa Jin and the other 5 of your party involved. What's the plan?

Mindlink was just to pass on all the information we have. The rest of the encounter will have to happen as normal... if she's not worried about someone scrying, Yanndu isn't either.

Pooka is taken aback by the sight of the powerful sorceress. Seeing her in person is a bit surprising. It's not as if he didn't believe she existed, but standing in her presence was another matter entirely.

As was the litany of terrible things she listed that might be worthy of her attention. Pooka felt small indeed.

Pooka and Luna wait patiently, allowing Yanndu to expertly do what he does best. There will be a time for him to speak up. Just not yet.

Love this...

Rallas bows deeply in deference to Hao Jin's station.

It truly is an honour to meet you at last. I fear that yes, we do have some ill tidings to share. We were sent into the Tapestry to retrieve some of your findings. And there was...opposition. The true extent of our mission is beyond my ken...but we came to seek your counsel.

A flicker of annoyance crosses her face. Both the Pathfinders and these Aspis created backdoors into the Tapestry. That would most certainly not helped the stability and probably triggered the collapse.

Well we are where we are and we cannot be anywhere else. Tell me of the peoples within. How do they fair and have you had any direct contact with them? Also, please tell me of these Aspis. While I have some knowledge of your Society these Aspis are new to me.

You say you suspect you are being observed. Here gather close to me.

Hao Jin draws a cold iron scepter from within her belongings, waits for you to gather on her and beings to chant and wave the rod.

She just cast Aroden's Spellbane. Scrying has been negated in a 10 foot radius of her.

Sweet
Spellcraft DC 24 to id spell: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (18) + 20 = 38
"Fascinating!" says Yanndu out loud, wonderment clear in his eyes at the complexity of the spell Hao Jin just cast. "O Grand Sorceress, the Aspis Consortium is an unscrupulous multinational trade organization based in Ostenso, Cheliax, but with interests in many parts of Golarion. They have no loyalty to any crown, and most countries allow them free reign under the assumption that any trade is better than no trade. They will not shy away from starting a war in order to benefit from both sides of the conflict afterwards. In the last decade they have infiltrated the Tapestry and made some inroads with some of the Tapestry's inhabitants. However, yes, we agree with you that all these back doors and incursions have weakened the Tapestry. As you saw on the letter from the Master of Spells, the Tapestry is now frail and we need your help to restore it."

Shel snarled at mention of the Apsis. ”I know they attacked the Lodge not that long ago. Sent a team of assassins in to strike against us. Paying them back would be exceptional.”

Rallas nods as Yanndu expounds about the Tapestry.

We only got involved to stop the Snakes, as they are nicknamed, from exploiting the Tapestry's residents and properties.

“Although I cannot hold the actions of the Pathfinder Society and its rivals as blameless in the Tapestry’s demise, I know that at least the Society did not commit them out of malice. In the end, responsibility for the demiplane’s condition is mine. My time here on Axis has shown me how reckless I acted when I created the demiplane. I did not fully understand the implications and long-term consequences of my actions, but what is done is done and cannot be taken back.”

She lowers her eyes and lets out a long sigh, before continuing. If I understand you and the documents you have shown me correctly, I’m afraid there is nothing I can do to save the Tapestry; it has unraveled beyond the point of repair. There may, however, still be a chance to save the places and people inside it. My memory is not what it once was, but I believe that I could perform a ritual that reverses the process I first used to transport various sites into the tapestry, thereby returning a site to its original location. In that way that site could serve as an ark to carry any plants and creatures aboard back to the Material Plane.

I foresee two obstacles to myself performing the ritual however.

First the ritual would need to be performed on the Material Plane and fairly close to where the structure will be deposited. I am in exile here and so I cannot perform it. If your Society has grown as I suspect that it has there should be spellcasters among them capable of performing it in my stead.

Secondly I no longer know how to perform certain parts of the ritual. When I bargained with Axis to preserve the Tapestry, I allowed select memories and technical knowledge to be extracted from my mind. These memories are stored on devices known as memory engrams. If I had those memories back I could reassemble the ritual, although I fear that that would be the final death throw of the tapestry so there would be only one opportunity

We will do hat is needed. If we can save what we can, that is all I need for a mission.

”How do we go about retrieving your memory engrams? Obviously, we’d be willing to help however we could.”

Hao Jin’s looks concerned for a moment. Eleven-Sun-Truth, would recreating these rituals violate my agreement with Axis?

The arbiter’s eye rotates slowly in thought before snapping back to stare at Hao Jin before the inevitable states, In the cosmos, law is the ideal, not the absolute condition, thus requiring some interpretation from the inevitables who enforce order. Likewise in this situation, there is no one answer. How you interpret it reflects your identity as the judge.

Hao Jin scowls in response to this non-answer and considers the ramifications for a moment.

"O Grand Sorceress, I will quote Eleven-Sun-Truth's own wise words from earlier in this journey: 'Matters of dimensional stability are most important.' Moreover, having received the facts at hand, the safety of several civilizations rests upon your shoulders, at this time. With great power comes great responsibility. If any of us here could have done anything to prevent the cascade of destruction affecting the Tapestry, we would have not hesitated to do it. You gave birth to these civilizations, and now their fate is in your hands. Indeed, as Eleven-Sun-Truth says, "How you interpret this reflects your identity."

Pooka finally pipes up, to add to the discussion. "We will do whatever is necessary to protect the innocents within that tapestry. Many of them have been there for generations, and those alive within the demi-plane have no knowledge or memory of not being in it, save what stories and knowledge has been passed down. They do not deserve this fate. If we, the Pathfinder Society, has had a hand in it's unraveling then we will make the sacrifices necessary to make it right." Pooka's words reinforce what the other's have already said.

Pooka almost continues, but instead stops the next words from coming out of his mouth. Exile? How did she end up in exile? Can we save her from it? Pooka thinks so that others can hear telepathically.

Hao Jin ponders for a few minutes. The lives of those within the demiplane outweigh my current trail. I will assist you by recreating the ritual if you can retrieve the engrams. I will not retrieve them myself and will remain here in the Empty Court in confinement while continuing my service to Axis.

Eleven-Sun-Truth give no indication either way as to their feelings on Hao Jin's decision. Instead they produce six small electrum badges each marked with three vertical lines surrounded by a border of unevenly spaced dots. These are for you to wear. They will help others recognize that you are acting as Hao Jin’s advocates in recovering the engrams. Have a care though. These badges are for identification and not signs of absolute authority. These alone may not be sufficient to secure the engrams. Now do you have any further questions for myself or Hao Jin before we leave the zone of her spell?

"Two questions if I may. Grand Sorceress Hao Jin: can you provide a list of locations on the prime material plane where we will need to perform the ritual? is the ritual required at all locations or just one? Eleven-Sun-Truth: where are the engrams located? I would expect the authorities of Axis to have custody of these as part of Hao Jin's service terms? have the engrams been scattered by a third party?"

Grand Sorceress Hao Jin: can you provide a list of locations on the prime material plane where we will need to perform the ritual? is the ritual required at all locations or just one?

I will provide all of the details for the ritual, including locations.

Eleven-Sun-Truth: where are the engrams located? I would expect the authorities of Axis to have custody of these as part of Hao Jin's service terms? have the engrams been scattered by a third party?

There are three engrams of note, which are part of a more extensive library system. One engram stores a portion of my client’s creative innovation, and as an experiment, authorities in the Adamantine Forge granted it to now somewhat… Eleven-Sun-Truth scowls with disappointment. …eccentric inevitable in order to explore new inevitable-forging techniques. That inevitable frequents the domain of demigoddess Chaldira Zuzaristan in its downtime.

Another engram contains elements of my client’s magical theory, and it is in the Stylite. The arbiter winces and looks skyward before pointing to a floating building miles away. There. You should just be able to present your credentials and be done.

The last of the engrams I suspect she would need pertains to my client’s childhood and their first death. It was last checked out by Yakomo, an Iroran acolyte. Given the hour, I expect him to be busy with religious devotions for several hours yet, after which he would likely return to his home just outside the Serene Circle, Irori’s realm.

"Thank you both. We shall be on our way! Pathfinders, where do you wish to start? one of the location appears to require flight capacity, while another seem to require a portal or some plane-shifting magic. Of all three, it seems finding the Iroran acolyte seems the most pressing..." says Yanndu, awaiting his colleagues' vote as to where to start, and looking at Eleven-Sun-Truth in case he is forthcoming with directions or travel advice for any of the three locations.

The arbiter floats a little higher while proudly responding, As the foundation of order itself, Axis is an expanse of districts and departments, each connected to key partners by means of myriad forms of public transportation and sets of portals. I can provide you clear written directions.

”I’m fine with any of the above. As soon as we get started, we are that much closer to being finished.”

" I don't suppose you'd be willing to show us arround? I suspect you'd be a great boon navigating this place..." Ograk asks the arbiter, despite the detailed directions he provided.

" I don't suppose you'd be willing to show us arround? I suspect you'd be a great boon navigating this place..."

That should not be necessary. As is, I will need to attend to other duties shortly.

A map or some detailed directions should suffice. We appreciate your help, Eleven Sun Truth...

"If it doesn't matter what order we go in, and you feel that visiting Irori's realm is the most pressing, then we should head there first." Pooka votes.

Sound reasoning, I think...Irori's place first..

Your interaction with Hao Jin complete for now she wishes you a speedy return. Eleven-Sun-Truth would you please escort these agents out of the Empty Court. The streets and buildings sometimes switch places when you aren’t looking. I still haven’t figured that out.

On your walk back, Eleven-Sun-Truth begins to speak. After you have collected the engrams would you have some time to assist me? I would value your interpretation of Hao Jin’s past actions, her present disposition, and her future potential.

Many outsiders have analysed her dossier, but each approaches it with their own biases. Your perspective is unique as members of you Pathfinder Society, as well as being some of the few who have interacted with her tapestry and its inhabitants. You may also open the engrams if you wish and analyse the memories contained within. It is safe for you to do so and will not damage you or the memories. I would like to schedule an interview with you to discuss your thoughts.

"We would be honored to assist you in any way you see fit, Eleven-Sun-Truth. We will analyze the engrams and report our findings to you."

Shel nods. ”We are to help in any way we can. So that’s exactly what we will do. Could can count on us,” Shel promises.

Of course...an informed evaluation is always be better than an uninformed one, I would think.

Travel portals to the Serene Circle do not take travelers directly to the Circle itself, but instead deposit them in one of the small neighborhoods bordering the plaza proper. These neighborhoods are comprised of simple dwellings with plain but visually-pleasing architecture and designs.

Acolyte Yakomo lives just a short walk away from both the travel portal and the Serene Circle proper. The area is largely uninhabited as the majority of the petitioners who live in this area are attending the ritual at the Serene Circle. There are still a small handful of petitioners still in the area, enough that you are able to easily Identify Acolyte Yakomo’s abode following Eleven-Sun-Truth’s directions.

Reaching the house you find the stone door closed.

perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (13) + 14 = 27

Quickly...someone is inside, crying out...one moment... Rallas warns before checking again for a trap or alarm.

perception: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (9) + 16 = 25

if he find no trap, he will open the door...if he does, will disarm it

disable: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (6) + 23 = 29

Shel pulls a wand and uses it to cast Longstrider on herself, making her just as quick as the biguns for the next hour.

"Get ready Luna," Pooka says, a grin growing on his face. "Anyone want to venture a guess this is our spy friends trying to beat us to the punch?"

Inside the house, Pooka worries his lance might be a bit unwieldy, so he leaves it in it's leather strapping on Luna's right hip. He reaches with his right hand over to the left side and grabs the handle of his trusty flail, the tinkling of the chain harmonizing with the jingle of Luna's chain barding.

After leaving Hao Jin

Finally Nugats speaks up. "I have traveled far and wide, but I have never had a feeling like that before. I felt as if there were things that I could not do. Like if I did what I wanted there would be .... what's the word? Consequences. It is unnatural. For me at least." Shaking his head in consternation, he address the group. "I can't believe that was really Hao Jin. The Hao Jin. Never did I think to have contact with her. Fascinating. Perhaps when this is all over I shall endure all this" he waves his hands at the lawness around him "and return to learn from her." He remains mostly silent except for the occasional treats he throws to Luna.

Outside Yakomo's house

Nugats cast Shield and rushes to the house.

Rallas checks the door, finding nothing suspicious he slides his picks out and into the lock. After only a moment there is a click.

Rushing into the room Nugats finds an Irorian Acolyte bound and gagged in the corner. He struggles against his bonds.

Scanning the room intently, Nugats shouts at the Irorian Acolyte "Nod once if you are alone, twice if my life is in peril!"

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

The Irorian gives a single nod to the gnome.

Rallas darts in and quickly checks the room with Nugats.

We are friends...Pathfinders. Who did this? he says, whipping out a dagger with a flick of his wrist and slicing the ropes.

perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (5) + 14 = 19

Ograk patiently looks around, while also looking at the Irorian for any signs of injury.

heal: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (19) + 17 = 36