The Blakros family is among Absalom’s most influential families, having secured considerable riches by smuggling goods between Qadira and Taldor during the centuries-long war between these nations. The secrets of their success were twofold.
First, the Blakroses married off their daughters in exchange for exorbitant bride price payments, growing the family’s wealth and establishing these daughters in positions of influence.
Second, the Blakros family established a millennium-long contract known as the Penumbral Accords, which granted the family untouchable trade routes through the Shadow Plane. In exchange, the family provided their fetchling partners in the Onyx Alliance, a sinister organization based in Shadow Absalom, with yearly shipments of slaves. Once each decade, the family was also required to surrender the eldest Blakros daughter to the Alliance.
Although the Pathfinders successfully disrupted the Penumbral Accords (PFS Scenario #2-11: The Penumbral Accords), the Onyx Alliance did not forget the slight (PFS Scenario #5-23: Cairn of Shadows).
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The adventure begins with Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin personally delivering a letter to each of the Pathfinders. Valsin doesn’t know the contents of the letter, only that it comes from one of the Decemvirate.
Valued Agents,
Know that your actions have not gone unnoticed, and because of this I task you with this most important mission.
Venture-Captain Drandle Dreng has undertaken a long-term extraplanar visit to Shadow Absalom. If you’re not aware, Shadow Absalom is the version of Absalom that exists within the Shadow Plane and is a sort of dark mirrored version of our own city. Drandle’s spent his time within the city investigating an organization known as the Onyx Alliance. He’s been operating undercover, keeping his affiliation with the Pathfinder Society hidden from all but a trusted few.
Over the past several years, the Onyx Alliance has taken bold moves against our organization, particularly striking our longstanding allies, the Blakros Family. Venture-Captain Dreng’s report indicates an upturn in recruitment and smuggling following what we thought was a long period of inactivity from the Alliance. Dreng’s since indicated he’ll be staying near the Glaresight Inn within Shadow Absalom
and continuing his surveillance.Meanwhile, the Blakros family matriarch, Hamaria Blakros, has requested the aid of skilled Pathfinder Society agents. Together, the timing on Dreng’s report and this request from the Blakros family suggest that the Onyx Alliance may be stepping up their activities against us.
For now, go to the Blakros Museum and meet with Hamaria. Assist the Blakros matriarch in whatever way you and your fellow Pathfinders can. If it’s clear that the Onyx Alliance is involved and you must travel to Shadow Absalom, then seek out Drandle Dreng at the Glaresight Inn for further guidance.
My trust is with you,
One of the Ten
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The gnome nods courteously as he receives the sealed letter from Valsin.
Personal delivery... it must be important.
No... it's nothing.
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Standing outside of the museum, waiting with his fellow agents, Arin thinks back to the contents of the letter that brought them all here.
I wonder if Hamaria's request will truly align with Dreng's efforts. I suspect this mysterious member of the Ten knows more than they let on...
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Aiden reads the letter again as he approached the Blackros Museum. Personally delivered by Valsin, like a damned errand boy. The Ten must be trying to show off a bit, or he's done something to warrant the punishment. I wonder if the Paracountess had something to do with it. He shivers involuntarily at the thought of her.
He had heard of the Onyx Alliance and their pact with the Blakros family from that fool knight with the limp. Keeping him in his cups for the evening had him spilling all sorts of tidbits about fletchlings and the shadow plane. Too trusting for his own good. Aiden smirks and shakes his head.
Seeing a gnome waiting, he decides to approach. "If you're waiting outside the Blakros Museum, I only assume you're on the same fool's errand that I am. Aiden Richter." He bows his head in greeting. The tall Chelaxian wears a rich blue cloak with a regal bearing. As you glance at his belt however, you see implements of butchery. A set of wicked knives, a barbed net, and a pair of well-used manacles can all be seen within his grasp.
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"If my guess is right, Captain Valsin is annoyed by errand of fools too." The voice echoes out from nearby, as the Ekujae approaches the duo. She's a half-elf with a mocha skin tone and a slightly unnerving gaze, almost like a jungle cat. She has leopard spot tattoos on her forehead and around her eyes that further this comparison, with her shoulder-length black hair hiding exactly how far back they go.
She has a dulled chain shirt on, further hidden with a drape of mottled brown and green fabric, and a long leather tunic. Along her hip hangs a quiver, with the end of a bow hanging out of it along with several arrow fletchings.
She continues talking, much more verbose then normal, as she looks over Aiden(Since she's already familar with Arin). "Dralneen should be inside too. Is working with Blakros. If letter is right, more kayal to hunt? What Society needs, Society should get,but whole thing smells like dung," she concludes, wrinkling her nose at that thought.
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Aiden is startled when Nali mentions Zarta. "The...Paracountess...is here?" He takes a deep breath and you notice his hands tremble slightly. He places them on the hilt of his knives to steady them. "Well, that's a surprise. But it explains a lot. Like my presence here. She, um, has a way of drawing me into things..."
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[ooc]I'm certain I've played with all these characters but can't remember which ones I've played with with this character, so forgive my genericness...[/b]
"From what I've heard, she has a way of drawing a lot of people into a lot of things," says the man that approaches the group.
All of his facial features, eyes, nose, ears, mouth are just a hint too big to be attractive. For that matter, his arms and legs seem just a bit too long, giving him a lanky appearance.
For all that, he's clearly fit and athletic and his sharp gaze and the quiet way he approached suggest that he knows his business.
Well, that and the veritable arsenal he's carrying. Silver sheened warhammer on one hip, throwing axe on the other, a quartet of javelins and quartet of darts protruding from a quiver on his back and the most complex shield you've ever seen, all spikes and runes and strange straps and...you're sure there's a flask of alchemist fire attached to the front.
He plants his hands on his hips and looks up at the museum.
"Has anything good ever happened in this place? I almost died in here, once."
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Oh joy of joys! I get to go in to this place again. I wonder if I'll turn into an ape again... a Taldan man says as he approaches the group outside the museum. He nods to the familiar faces he sees, then to the newcomers.
I'm Patros...of the Cassomir Therinors. Nice to meet you...
His weapon and armour tell of his profession...that of the Taldan rondelero. He has two wicked falcatas...one of cold wrought iron and one of gleaming adamantine.
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Back to where it began.. It was my first mission, in that museum! I'm sure the Captain must be not so pleased to send Pathfinders so frequently at that place..
Dru hastens her pace, while putting down her flask -which probably contains no burning oil, but perhaps something even stronger_in her side pocket.
Hi there! I'm Drusilla, but please call me Dru! Hope you haven't waited for me too long. I was finishing my morning prayers at the nearest temple. Well, it wasn't that near, in fact. And I think they haven't missplaced the Museum either. It's just that a few believers needed some protection to get back at home safely, and it's a sacred duty, even in the early hours of the day.
The blonde, tall woman seems to be a walking armory, but she has a warm genuine smile and looks fit and focused.
A clerk appears and welcomes everyone, directing them to a private office where Hamaria Blakros and Nigel Aldain wait.
Hamaria Blakros, matriarch and head of the Blakros family, gently rests the tips of her fingers on the wooden desk in front of her, the sound like the firing of a crossbow bolt in the silence. “Ah good, you’ve finally arrived. I see the Pathfinder Society remains eager to continue our ongoing association, and while I dearly wish this were a matter of import, I’m afraid this request borders on the... pedantic.”
Nigel Aldain, the elven curator standing at Hamaria’s side, twinges at the matriarch’s comment. He gives a weak smile and a brief nod before seeing himself out of the office. Hamaria motions for a clerk on the other side of the entryway to close the private office door.
“Pedantic, but important. You see, over the past few years, it has come to my attention that several important items have gone missing from our exhibits. Nigel believes that most of these disappearances are the result of Pathfinders, specifically the destructive means agents like yourselves tend to employ when working within the museum. While Nigel has cited recent actions involving Ralzeros or, as he puts it, the ‘so-called defense of our Shining Crusade exhibits from the northerners,’ I find it hard to believe that a conjured fireball could destroy magical relics that have withstood centuries or millennia of much worse battering. I’ve also heard rumors that these objects may have found their way into the hands of enemies.”
Hamaria gingerly walks her fingers toward a slip of parchment on the desk, pinning it in place with her two forefingers before sliding it across the table. “This is a list of items that Nigel recently catalogued as missing. I’d like for you to investigate these items and see what you can find within our records here. Our clerks can help you in whatever way you need, as should Nigel, though you may find it difficult to convince him.”
Item #1: Crusader’s Blade
A weapon used in the defense of Nerosyan during the commencement of the Fifth Mendevian Crusade. The crusading blade saw use during the siege when a family member attempted to retrieve the blade and perished from asphyxiation. A Pathfinder secured it shortly after and used the weapon in the battle against the demonic attackers.
Missing. I can’t prove the Pathfinders burned this one, so it’s not listed as destroyed. Instead, I have strong suspicions that this weapon “disappeared” during the recent Ralzeros incident.
Item #2: Fahrstad Wax Golem
A wax recreation of Linnorm King Elgar Fahrstad produced by the Golemworks in Magnimar. Left inanimate as part of a display piece showcasing Fahrstad’s saga of slaying the only known sea linnorm prior to reaching Valenhall. Activated only as a security measure in defense of the museum.
Destroyed. Fire this time. You may think I’m repeating myself, but the Pathfinders really do enjoy employing fireballs in confined spaces. This time they melted four of our golems, and I need not remind you that our gold reserves aren’t limitless.
Item #3: Nemes of the Cerulean Pharaoh
Headdress retrieved from an ancient Osiriani tomb complex. Believed to have once been in the possession of the Cerulean Pharaoh, though it was entombed with one of the Pharaoh’s trusted servants upon that servant’s death. The Pharaoh remarked in hieroglyphic writing that “Even death should not allow this valued servant from travelling the world as this headpiece has let me.”
Destroyed. This is a shame. A junior Pathfinder agent attempted to don and use the headdress during a simple cataloguing mission. They didn’t realize it was magical, and it created a backlash that turned both her and the headdress to dust. We really need to stop letting the untrained examine our relics!
Item #4: Yamada Osa Painting
A painting made by the renowned spiritual historian, Yamada Osa. This painting depicts an aerial view of a Tian Xia village positioned between a sprawling forest and a rising fog-shrouded mountain. Rain permeates the image and it has been reported that those who stare too long at the image note the smearing style of art may in fact be visible rain.
Destroyed by inattentive Pathfinders during the Shining Crusade defense. Melt marks from an acidic ray around portrait stall 12 are still visible and have yet to be properly cleaned.
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Aiden takes the parchment and examines it. "Nigel believes these items' disappearance are all be the hand of the Society? It would be interesting to question him about that..." He hands the report off to someone else. "It would be convenient for someone to blame a careless Pathfinder and then smuggle the item out themselves. It's a tactic that I...ah...I have heard used before."
"Really, Nigel's abilities to keep track of and control the effects of the museum's items have been known to lapse."
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Nice to meet you, Lady Blakros. My brother Mykel sends his regards. Patros says as he bows in deference to Hamaria.
And I trust Nigel as far as I can throw a dragon...his...lapses in judgement, shall we call them, have left me with many questions. But we will do our best to track down these wayward artifacts.
Nice to meet you, Lady Blakros. My brother Mykel sends his regards.
"I thought you looked familiar!"
Are the items marked as destroyed truly verified? They have eyewitness accounts that can be trusted?
"Nigel believes these items' disappearance are all be the hand of the Society? It would be interesting to question him about that..."
"The reason I've asked the Pathfinder Society to intervene here is twofold. First, it's unquestioned that the Society has noble intentions - and whatever report you present will be trusted by me, but more importantly, by Nigel. Second, although I've asked around, I suspect that my staff are trying to tell me what I want to hear, rather than telling me the truth. I need outsiders to investigate here."
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"Now, now, it's not like we don't have a penchant for tossing around fireballs and acid splashes. Or that some of us don't have a 'finders keepers' attitude when it comes to magic items," Djorn says, playing Asmodeus advocate.
"I'm not saying that Pathfinders really are responsible for all, or any of this destruction but this museum does seem to have more than its fair share of trouble and sometimes there's collateral damage when we're dealing with that trouble," he continues.
"Any suggestions on where we should start?" he asks Mrs. Blakros.
"Any suggestions on where we should start?"
"No suggestions," she shrugs. "Just be sure you investigate all of them eventually."
The blade has been gone for over a year, so direct evidence will be scant. However, there are two routes forward:
1. A PC can inspect archival sketches of the blade to get a sense of its appearance. ()
2. A PC can canvas the staff for assistance. ()
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It seems quite a stretch to see the tall blonde, covered in steel as if she had a rendez vous with Death on a battlefield, to be used in the art of the peaceful discussion, but her amiable manners, her down to earth attitude, and a few shared drinks with the staff from the flask which never leave her side seems to loss some tongues as she tries to get some information about the missing sword.
Aiden and Nali investigate the archival sketches of the blade, but nothing jumps out at them.
The rest of the team spreads out to talk to the staff, and one of the staff members describes who he thought was the last person to look at the blade. About a year ago, an interested Pathfinder took the blade off its pedestal, looked at it for a while, and then returned it. The blade disappeared a few weeks later. This agent was a tall, golden-skinned woman with curly black hair, brown eyes, and a habit of humming to herself.
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"Kaliba. Kaliba Damazi. The humming to herself makes it nearly certain. But she was last seen fighting during the Onyx Alliance’s raid on the Grand Lodge eight years ago. Almost certain she's dead, so whoever was here a year ago was not her." Aiden pauses, then continues. "I think someone posed as her to make it seem like the Society was the last group to have possession of the blade."
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The staff, when asked about the wax golem, reluctantly offers to show them a cordoned off area that they simply refer to as “the waste pile,” which they say is the result of an overeager Pathfinder hurling a fireball spell into a group of advancing wax golems.
There are, again, two ways to proceed.
1. The PCs can examine the "the waste pile." ()
2. The PCs can ask the staff about their reluctance. ()
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"I can't say I fault somebody for tossing a fireball at 'advancing' golems," Djorn says when he hears the story behind the pile.
"Sounds like a 'melt or be killed' sort of scenario."
He squats down next to the mass to examine it more closely, moving around it slowly in a crouch from time to time before stopping to check out a particular spot.
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Aiden listens to the staff's explanation of the waste pile and the likely remains of the golem. As they break up and move to head back to their duties, he approaches an older man who seems to have been around for a while. He leads the man into an empty corridor. "You seem to have some reluctance to your explanation. You see, your mistress asked us to examine all possibilities. Is there something else about the wax golem that you would like to share? If your mistress finds out there's something you're not telling us, that could go badly for you. And trust me, I'm an expert on things going badly."
Drusilla and Djorn aid Nali in the investigation, but even then, they can't make heads or tails of the mess. (!) However, Nali does find little flakes of wax on the floor, not randomly but in a trail that leads to a vault.
Aiden, on the other hand, browbeats the staff into admitting some unsavory tales of the golems. Various staff members remember seeing the
Fahrstad golem in different poses after periods of supposed inactivity. The staff are hesitant to speak of the golem because they find it unnerving, and they sometimes tell each other scary stories about it in hushed tones. Some of them express relief that the golems have been destroyed.
Documented cases of wax golems sometimes obtaining a modicum of sentience have been reported.
Aiden works for several minutes to open the vault, but cannot open it. (!!)
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The Pathfinders begin investigating the nemes next. The disappearance was blamed on a Pathfinder named Chalos Visanda.
The Pathfinders inquire about the neme, locating a museum clerk who remembers the incident and convincing him to speak of it. The description the staff member gives matches Nigel’s report, however:
Cerulean Pharaoh was said to have access to powerful teleportation magic, which he made regular use of to travel around his lands.
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The last listed item is perhaps one of the most mysterious. The painting, which depicts a village in Tian Xia, has yet to be replaced. The still unrepaired stall bears several acid marks.
There are two ways to proceed.
1. Examine the wall with Craft (alchemy) or Spellcraft.
2. Question the staff with Sense Motive.
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Arin approaches the stall that bore the intriguing painting.
I would love to experience the real rain-feeling of that painting some time, and maybe try to figure out how the effect is had...
His eyes scan the borders and the various streaks of acid damage...
He points out several minor details to Aiden, feeling that he has the better overall handle on it.
Aiden and Arin examine the painting, and discover that the the acid is alchemical in nature.
Nali and Drusilla immediately can tell that the staff are shooting each other furtive glances, and are hiding something.