[PFS 2e] GM Ladile & the Pathfinder Society Present: The Absalom Initiation (Inactive)

Game Master Lady Ladile

No worries, Mald!

You all head towards the Blakros Museum, one of the most infamous locations in the lore of the Pathfinder Society. After all, how many times has the Pathfinder Society had to go there to quell monsters, stop planar incursions, and save the world from impending destruction from evil artifacts and elder gods?

A lot. The answer is a lot.

But then again, what else can you expect from a building that was originally erected by an insane wizard astrologer, then repurposed by the Blakros family to house all the cursed treasures they've found on their various travels? Society gossip notes that Nigel Aldain, the elvish curator and former Pathfinder himself, has modified the entire building with shadow magic in order to make it larger on the inside than the outside, to house even MORE exhibits.

As you arrive at the museum entrance everyone but Bubba can quickly see that although the sign on the door indicates that the museum is closed for the day, the door appears to be unlocked.
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What do you do?

"Should I give the door a good shove? Pop it right off those hinges I bet with a good kick..." It appears Bubba prefers the use of force when it comes to his problems. Its not surprising considering the sheer size of this halfling. More like three quarterling! Flex flex

Maybe we let the professional snoops check it out first, Bubba," Jirelle whispers to the halfling three quarterling, and to all the investigators on their team.

"Yeah, little one. Have patience, no telling what sort of tricks lay in wait for us." Ezren cautions the impetuous halfling

”Why would we do any of those things?” he asks flatly.

Salera raises a curious eyebrow as Bubba suggests going in loud, without reconnaissance. Swayaah quickly gets his attention and points at the lock. "The door's already open...we don't make noise unless we need to."

She looks around, checks the door, then looks to her companions. "No forced entry. Someone has the keys. I can look for traps and search ahead. Unless someone else wants to lead?"

Swayaah will choose to Search as her Exploration activity. She has the Trap Finder feat to notice any traps or the like.

Pawero's expression actually manifests some emotion for a moment as the conversation continues around him, arching his left eyebrow for a moment. His voice, however, maintains his familiar clinical affect. "This is a legitimate institution--whatever its storied history--owned and operated by a citizen and with fair relations with our Society, if I am not mistaken. And we're coming here to ask to copy a set of books from another citizen. Other than for the sake of sneaking, why would we sneak? We are not plumbing a lost Azlanti ruin."

Just as Pawero finishes speaking the door to the museum opens to reveal an elderly gentleman with a broom in his hand.

"An' you could always just...knock on the door first," the man points out; clearly he overheard at least part of the conversation the group was having out on the front steps. "Anyways, I'm gonna pretend you folks just now walked up. Name's Chayron. Is there something I can help you with?"

The elf holds his hand out supine and motions with it toward Chayron in a gesture apparently intended to convey the pointing out of the obvious. That wordless gesture seems a relatively cheeky expression from the otherwise flat elf.

Bubba pauses for a few seconds as the others mention the obvious. "Well ya, I guess that's a good idea too. So far my time with the Pathfinders has been not so polite I guess. Just following the crowd!"

---

Bubba nods to Chayron "Howdy, name's Mister Ho-tep. We're here about woman doing some shadow research?" He rubs his chin stubble waiting for the name to come or for someone else to save him from this awkward moment.

Jirelle acknowledges Pawero's cheeky gesture with a smile. It honestly hadn't occurred to her to just knock, but it does kind of make sense.

"Oh, hello. Chayron, was it? Hi, yes. Umm, we're looking for an associate of ours and were told we might find her here. Tavvar Hamavsi? Have you seen her?"

"Yeah, we need to talk with her on a matter of some urgency," Ezren chimes in.

Like the fact nothing good ever happens in a museum after closing hours!

Swayaah notices these amateurs and notices the first complication: a witness. Fine, whatever. Keep it cool.

"Tavvar Hamvsi. She's been sighted around here. We need to speak to her pronto. Is she inside, Chayron?" Swayaah grins.

"Ahhh, I see," Chayron nods. "Yes, Miss Tavvar and her friends are up the third floor. To get there, take that stairway in the northeast corner. You'll have to travel across most of the second floor to get to the third floor stairway, but I figure you can just follow the sounds of the chanting," he explains.

"Now if you haven't been here before, I'll warn you that things sometimes get a bit curious after closing time, so just keep moving and pay no mind to what you see," the custodian continues as he stands aside to allow you entry into the museum. "Though, to be honest, things have been...well, even curiouser than usual since Tavvar started doing her work here. But it's not the first time and she seems to have things under control so I try not to worry about it much. Above my pay grade either way."

Chayron directs you towards the aforementioned stairwell and nods. "Yep, just right up those stairs and then across to the other side of the second floor, then up those stairs to the third floor. I'll be down here dusting the taxidermied monstrosities if you need anything."
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You travel up the stairs to the second floor, passing a number of locked staff offices and unlocked public bathrooms. After traveling past the locked offices and unlocked bathrooms, you see before you the Blakros Museum Lecture Hall. This long, narrow presentation space has seating for around thirty guests, all facing a low stage at the south end of the room. At first glance the room appears empty, but a moment later, it seems as though the shadows of an audience still fill the plush seats. A chill draft sweeps through the room, and a whispery voice echoes from the podium.

"...and rather than engage in a responsible, controlled study of the codebook, Yargos Gill decided—imprudently—to simply execute the signals listed therein..."

The voice trails off into a looming silence.

Blakros Museum (2nd Floor)

"Thanks. We'll be quick." Swayaah waves goodbye to Chayron. "Alright, let's head up." Salera stays with Chayron.

Swayaah's frown continues as she goes upstairs. "This museum is always going nuts." She takes a look around the second floor. "Third floor, right?" She gets a low profile and moves ahead, searching for anything suspicious.

Swayaah will begin moving towards the next flight of stairs.

"Ah, shadow magic. An intriguing use to be sure." Maldlethu peers around the room, eyes wide open in search of the source of the illusions.

Following Swayaah. Exploration activity: Detect Magic.

"One moment," Pawero requests and then proceeds with the assumption his colleagues will wait. "Let me investigate this manifestation. The ritual may be spilling beyond whatever bounds Tavvar set." He moves around the room observing the shadows. He attempts to interact with them both verbally and physically.

Pursue a Lead: investigating the cause of the shadow phenomenon.

Swayaah lets the elves do their thing, but she's more interested in Pawero. He's stiff as a plank of wood, but he seems to light up once the mystery is afoot.

Both of them seem so excited about shadows. Good, not everyone is this receptive to the darkness.

"Think Pawero may be onto something here..." Ezren mutters here as he follows behind The elf scanning for further details of the magical auras.

Follow Pawero. Activity: Detect Magic.

Though Swayaah seems more interested in pressing on, several in the group find themselves intrigued by the strange shadow manifestations within the lecture hall and move to investigate further.

So you compromise a bit.

Swayaah moves a few feet past the door to the lecture hall, eyes open and searching for any signs of trouble or other shenanigans. Maldlethu follows her, scanning the wide open spaces ahead for magical auras, but doesn't pick anything up.

Meanwhile, Pawero and Ezren opt to investigate the lecture hall more closely. From his position just outside the door, the elderly wizard picks something up! The lecture hall does indeed seem to be suffused with magical energies. While Ezren is doing this, Pawero moves into the lecture hall and studies the strange shadows. He attempts to interact with them in a number of ways but all of his attempts are for naught; the shadows don't respond to visual or auditory stimuli, nor do they seem to have any sort of physical substance - Pawero watches his hand pass right through one when he reaches out to touch its shoulder.

All the while, the whispering lecture continues.

"...six flashes of red light to initiate an attack on the granary..."

"...auras of silence to interrupt the Metro-Cathedral's Oathday organ performance..."

Bubba and Jirelle hang back at the rear of the group, searching for anything of interest that Swayaah might have missed as well as keeping an eye and ear open for any potential danger that might be lurking at the group's back.

Shadows are nice and fluffy. They wrap around you, slow your descent, and guide you to your destination. Sometimes they lead you on wild chases, though.

"Hmm, reminds me of wasn't that about the recent Black Echelon attack?" She waits for the other investigators to finish their look around.

"Heck ya! I didn't join up to just go from A to B all day, been there done that... I gotta jump to P and Q once and a while." And with that Bubba lets the nerds investigate the magic shadows while he heads for a room in the middle, tugging Swayaah by the arm as he passes her.

"Maybe there's something neat in here eh?" He trudges around the corner and peeks inside.

Considering the size of his sling staff I have him carry it around most of the time vs imagining it tied to his back somehow, just fyi.

Jirelle does indeed continue to hang back. From what she's heard of this museum from this her current crew, she's inclined to keep a weather eye on their surroundings while the others are focused on stuff she can't begin to understand.

Why are there 7 tokens? Who is that standing next to Jirelle? I'm hoping it's a mistake, and not an enemy that snuck into their midst.

Jirelle does indeed continue to hang back. From what she's heard of this museum from this her current crew, she's inclined to keep a weather eye on their surroundings while the others are focused on stuff she can't begin to understand.

Why are there 7 tokens? Who is that standing next to Jirelle? I'm hoping it's a mistake, and not an enemy that snuck into their midst.

Sorry, that was Bubba's old token. I swapped his avatar not long after we started and forgot to update it in the token section.. or maybe its a wight ready to feast on your BONES! muhahahahahaa!

"Interesting," Pawero comments with a clinical monotone. "It seems to be an echo of a past lecture. It does not appear dangerous."

"Yeah, I agree," Ezren nods sagely, "Let's get moving." He adds as he rejoins the others.

Perplexed but otherwise not particularly worried about the shadow manifestations in the lecture hall, you continue across the museum's second floor. As you reach the next chamber you can see that carefully framed spellbook pages hang along this room's walls, while eldritch relics stand in small display cases in the room's center. In the far corner, shadows hang thicker than the rest of the room, and it seems a boisterous half-orc woman stands there, surrounded by vague figures, as she welcomes newcomers. Her voice is thin and reedy, but eerily familiar.

"Do you want me to spice up that beverage?"

As before, Ezren and Maldlethu's scanning for magical auras reveals that this chamber is suffused with magical energy.

Blakros Museum (2nd Floor)

"I dunno about some of this stuff... you guys sure these shadows aren't invading our minds or anything?" Bubba slowly backs out of the room before heading towards what looks like a bunch of stuffed animals.

"Oh nice, I see fur over here!" He quickly turns his attention to the new room, always intrigued by furry animals. Maybe there's something new in here I haven't seen before! He flexes his hands in anticipation of petting something furry!

These kids love running around the museum, poking around at everything in sight. Just like mom. Just like Fae. They'll look at everything but the Mystery. The sooner they find Tavvar, the sooner they can get out of here- Bubba!

"W-wait!" Swayaah keeps up with Bubba. "We gotta stick together, here."

Swayaah continues checking for traps.

As Jirelle makes her way into the room with the stuffed critters, she pauses to stare at the latest shadow manifestation.

"Hey, is that... Cap'n Benarry?" Jirelle wonders upon seeing the shadowy half-orc woman freshening drinks. "You guys said this was all a mirage, right? Like those crazy floating islands I saw off the coast of the Linorn Lands?"

"Invading? Maybe," Pawero comments absently. "Reading? Very possibly. Or perhaps it reading time."

"Magic is the key to enlightenment," Maldlethu intones. "And to our inevitable madness. Perhaps these images are not only present in the material world, but also in our very minds."

#TrulyPersonalizedExperience

"Have any of you attended a lecture here on the Black Echelon?" Pawero asks. "Otherwise, it may extend beyond our own experiences and memories, which leads to the question of what is the range of this effect?"

"Invading? Maybe," Pawero comments absently. "Reading? Very possibly. Or perhaps it reading time."

Bubba frowns at that statement, pulling his hat down a bit tighter and over his ears. "I don't need any shadow magic reading my mind, we better get moving along!" But not before he pets some furry things.

"Why would they trap a museum that kids and families come to?"

"I've been asking that question for years..." Swayaah mumbles. "My mom's old Court, yeah that place was a deathtrap. Kind of fun, though..." Swayaah's gaze wanders a bit.

"Money, no doubt," Ezren replies in disgust. "Profit drives a lot of the troubles in the world today!"

Though perhaps a bit unnerved you continue on, especially when it becomes apparent that the shadow manifestations in the small central room can't be interacted with either. The stairs up to the third floor lie just ahead, beyond a large gallery.

A gigantic reptilian beast is on display in the center of this expansive gallery, ferociously leering over the collection of taxidermy animals and monsters. Shadows flit between the displays, meandering and shuffling shapes reminiscent of museum patrons. Then a distant shriek echoes off the walls, as the shadow of a stuffed owlbear lashes out at one of the shadow-visitors with its talons. The shadow of the tyrannosaur in the room’s center departs from its source and snaps at the misty image of another patron, tossing its head back and seeming to swallow its meal nearly whole. Other shadows snarl and hiss, scuffling amongst themselves as shadow-guests panic and run toward the exit.

Besides this madness, which radiates all manner of magical auras, there don't seem to be any lurking dangers. Neither Jirelle, Bubba, Pawero or Swayaah spot anything that looks like a trap or lurking foes.

Blakros Museum (2nd Floor)

It's simple.
If you're a strong beast you rule the roost and can claim the top of the mountain.
Watching the big lizard's shadow and the owlbear (stupid wizards, why would you make those?) swipe at patrons- Swayaah grins when she sees her shadow baring its claws. Maybe she'd go down fighting, but it would be a fun fight.

Besides, they may rule the mountain but they're dead, stuffed and in a cursed museum. So I guess they're not so apex, huh?

The coast is clear. Swayaah motions everyone toward the stairs leading up. Tavvar was messing with shadow magic, right?

"I wonder when that happened," Pawero comments.

"This place is just weird," Jirelle mutters more to herself than to anyone else. Maybe the shadows are listening, though.

"C'mon, Bubba, let's go see what's up topside."

She makes her way to the stairs, and as she steps around Swayaah she draws her rapier. The young half-elf gives her blade a few swishes in the air to limber up her wrist before turning back to her crewmates.

"Everyone ready?"

Ezren draws his own staff...and leans against it as he slowly makes his way towards the stairs. "Yeah, right behind you," he replies, even though he his lagging behind somewhat.

Curse these old bones!

With some of you now beginning to feel distinctly unnerved by the shadow manifestations that seem to be running rampant through the museum you hurry onward through the Hall of Beasts towards the third-floor stairway. The strange manifestations continue to grow more sinister as an aura of menace seems to seep downward from the stairwell above. Suddenly, one of the shadow owlbears pounces on Swayaah's shadow, which retaliates with a swipe of its claws! The shadow tyrannosaur utters a silent roar and charges at Bubba's shadow, only to find itself the target of attack as Jirelle's shadow leaps into the fray from the side!

A silent but fierce battle plays out across the floor of the museum as your shadows fight back against those of the taxidermied creatures, slowly but surely pushing them back and up the stairs ahead. Not about to let their foes escape, your shadows peel themselves away from your feet and race up the stairs, vanishing from sight.

And with nothing left to do but follow, you proceed up the stairs after your shadows...
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Another post to follow, please stand by~

Droning voices echo off the mahogany walls and domed, plaster ceiling of this luxurious room. The sumptuous furniture has been pushed to the sides of the room, making space for eldritch markings and mystical paraphernalia laid carefully over the plush carpet. The chamber seems muted and dim despite the crystal chandelier overhead, and a bone-numbing chill seeps through the space along with a metallic scent. A ritual is obviously underway here, but it doesn't seem as though it's working as planned. Shadowy energy lashes out from a twisting breach in the center of the room, and indistinct shapes flit and scuttle along the walls.

At the far side of the circle stands a white-haired woman, her face twisted in a determined grimace, whilst her three assistants each frantically gesture and chant. All of the participants in the ritual look frightened and exhausted – maintaining the tenuous control they have now is clearly wearing them down, and when the party arrives, the shadows' wild energy becomes even more frantic.

Nine flaws have appeared in the ritual circle, dancing like shadowy flames. Each of Tavvar's three assistants seems to be struggling to keep one flaw under control, while Tavvar herself clearly works to stave off something far more grave and destructive as the circle pulses with dark energy.

"I...was a fool!" she gasps, eyes briefly flitting over to you and then back to the ritual circle again. "The runes...I erred in drawing the runes! Please, help us!"

It only takes Pawero and Ezren a few seconds to realize what has happened here. Apparently in her haste to proceed with her research Tavvar made several mistakes when drawing her ritual runes and now the ritual is in danger of spiraling dangerously out of control. The pair know that in order to save the participants and stop the ritual, the flaws must be repaired or the wisps of shadow that the ritual is creating must be defeated.

In order to stop the ritual, you can do two things:

(1) Make an Occultism check or a slightly easier Arcana or Thievery check to repair/disable a flaw. Each attempt at a check counts as one action.

(2) Defeat the shadow wisps that are beginning to coalesce. Each defeated shadow wisp will also repair a single flaw.

You may also intercede to protect someone else, such as an ally or one of the assistants, by shielding them from the negative energy bursts the ritual circle is giving off and taking the damage it deals in their stead.
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Round 1

Pawero
Bubba
Maldlethu
Swayaah
==============
Ritual
==============
Jirelle
Ezren

Active Conditions: None

Pawero, Bubba, Maldlethu and Swayaah are UP!

Blakros Museum (3rd Floor)

Optional Mood Music

Pawero bounds up the stairs at Tavvar's call for help. He quickly assesses the situation and then steps in to help regain control of the ritual.

Stride, Ritual, Recall Knowledge (Shadow Wisp)

Occultism (T): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

There actually aren't any shadow wisps on the map...yet. But that might change in short order...

As it turns out, Pawero can really move when the situation calls for it. Upon hearing Tavvar's call for help he races the rest of the way up the stairs to see what he can do to help and quickly realizes that his talents are best used in attempting to quell the flaws in the ritual. He moves in and quickly uses his knowledge of the occult to repair one of them!

Success! Five flaws currently remain. Pawero, you still have an action if you want to do something instead of RK.
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Round 1

Pawero (One Action)
Bubba
Maldlethu
Swayaah
==============
Ritual
==============
Jirelle
Ezren

Active Conditions: None

Pawero, Bubba, Maldlethu and Swayaah are UP!

Blakros Museum (3rd Floor)

More magic. More wizards poking things they shouldn't because it looks cool, or whatever. Swayaah shakes her head and runs up to Tavvar. "Alright. Keep calm. We'll take care of this in a moment."

Swayaah looks at one of the flames, looks at the lines, looks at the flame again and... oh, it's like a river. Just reroute the liquid and build a dam to redirect it.

Thievery: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23
Thievery: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Swayaah's pretty sure she did something right with one of the flames, but the other one draws a complete blank. She stays near Tavvar. "I'll keep you standing, just... close this damn thing."

◆ Stride to Tavvar
◆ Thievery check to fix a flaw
◆ Thievery check to fix a flaw
↺ Protect Tavvar from the incoming negative energy

Sensing the distinct possibility of violent trouble, he draws his parrying dagger.

Draw Weapon

Ready for anything, Pawero draws his weapon while Swayaah hustles forward as well and attempts to apply her own brand of ingenuity to repairing the ritual's flaws. She's easily able to repair one of the flaws and get it under control but finds herself stymied as she tries the same tactic on the next.

But it's the strangest thing. It almost seems as though Swayaah's success in wrangling that flaw has also calmed the energy emanating from the ritual circle just a bit.

Success! Four flaws remain.
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Round 1

Pawero
Bubba
Maldlethu
Swayaah
==============
Ritual
==============
Jirelle
Ezren

Active Conditions: None

Bubba and Maldlethu are UP!

Blakros Museum (3rd Floor)

"Upstairs?" Bubba follows Jirelle up 'topside'. "Woah, I think we found the shadowy problem... I'll help though!" He rushes through the room to stand near a tired chanting lady with a sweaty brow.

"Hold up, I got you ma'am." He dabs a bit of sweat from her brow then holds up his tree trunk and looks around. Yes I'll be sure to smash any shadows that show up Mom!

Stride and Ready (2 actions) to smash a shadow if it shows up near me!

Maldlethu bursts onto the scene in a whirl of robes and white hair. "What wonderful magic!" he cries out in delight, a half-mad grin on his face. "This is truly a blessed occurrence to be so delicately straddling the line between sanity and madness, between power and death." Standing behind the woman he can only assume to be the curator, the elf begins tracing mystical sigils in the air beside her.

Arcana: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

Stride twice to accommodate the Difficult Terrain for ascending stairs and move out of the way of the other folks [AA], then attempt to Repair a Flaw [A]. If the Occultism DC is lower than the Arcana, he would attempt that one instead with the same bonus.