~
Victory in the Ruby Phoenix Tournament earned the Pathfinder Society a pick of the legendary treasures of the Tian sorceress Hao Jin, and the Decemvirate knew just what item to select: a frayed and dirty tapestry hidden deep in Hao Jin’s vault.
This unassuming tapestry acts as a doorway to another dimension in which Hao Jin stored her most massive items, including entire buildings, battlefields, and the ruins of ancient civilizations. The Pathfinder Society is now methodically exploring and cataloging the diverse locales tucked within this extradimensional space.
Deep beneath Absalom’s Grand Lodge, the Pathfinder Society’s Master of Spells, Aram Zey, gestures at the tapestry hung on the wall, surrounded by ladders and scaffolds.
Scholars and diviners scurry around the tapestry, analyzing its abstract patterns and comparing insights.
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Piotr gently closes the door behind him and walks slowly into the room. Looking a bit haggard as usual, his brown hair is mussed and dark circles surround his tired eyes. He glances at the missive in his hand then stuffs it into his pocket.
"It seems th-th-this is where I'm s-s-supposed to be."
He mutters quietly to himself.
He adjusts the gleaming sword sheathed on his back and shifts uncomfortably in his kikko armor. A morningstar with a silvery head shaped like a rose entwined with thorns swings from his hip. Wondering what all the excitement is about with people hurrying around, he notices the large tapestry on the wall and Aram Zey waiting patiently to the side. He takes a few steps closer and gazes at the marvelous map sewn into the cloth before addressing the Master of Spells.
"G-g-greetings, Master Zey. It a-a-appears I am a b-b-bit early."
He nervously glances toward the door, anticipating the arrival of his teammates.
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a young lithe woman about 5ft 11, dressed in Varisian garbs, makes her way to the room just to see the doors close, opening them and looks around though the light around her seems to dim some, her hair jewel toned Onyx Ruby, as her skin would lead you to believe she is Varisian. Her tone of voice however seems very airy as she speaks
"Looks as if I am a bit early, seems I was not as late as I thought."
she carefully shifts the scarf around her though you can hear some slight clink sounds as she does, as it moves over her Mithril shirt
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Piotr holds up a shaky hand in greeting to the shadowy girl.
"Hello. I'm P-p-piotr."
He gulps in embarrassment.
"S-s-sorry. Let me t-t-try that again..."
He takes a deep breath.
"I'm Piotr."
He manages to not stutter his name and actually rolls the R quite nicely in his thick Ustalavian accent.
Finding it difficult to hold the beast within, sweat beads on his forehead and he pulls at his collar for some fresh air.
He gives a warm, but nervous, smile to the girl.
"H-h-have you been in the T-t-tapestry yet?"
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Looking over at Piotr, smiles a bit though its a bit covered in shadows,and nods
"Serata Minly Vaako, and no I've been mostly climbing a stupid green dungeon for the most part, so I'm glad to take a reprieve from that"
rolling her neck as she moves to take a seat in a chair as she keeps the scarf around her shoulders
"but hopefully this should be an interesting mission if it involves the Tapestry"
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Elena is a young Varisian woman (18yo) with tan skin, straight shoulder-length black hair and black eyes. She wears a mithral breastplate with a blue cloak over her shoulders. She carries a longsword sword at her side in her belt, and more than a few other weapons on her back. She enters the room herself with confidence and a friendly smile looking around.
"Greetings. I'm Elena Endari. Nice to meet you," She gives a nod to Serata and Piotr. Her attention then shifts to the Tapestry and the scholars studying it. "Well, that's more impressive than I first thought..."
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An elegant kitsune woman enters the room, wearing a formal white dress that looks much more suited to finding a husband at the prince's ball than adventuring in damp caverns. Most of you are familiar with her, but she immediately greets the faces she is not familiar with.
"My greetings to each of you, honored friends," she says with just a hint of an accent that you can't quite place. "My name is Soni Alemnin, and I believe I am here in case we discover someone in the Tapestry that does not immediately try to kill us."
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Piotr gives a weak smile, amused by seeing a bird pout.
"G-g-good to see you again, Soni. And y-y-you too, Oleksandra. I m-m-might need to change form v-v-very soon. I h-h-hope it's not much longer we h-h-have to wait."
Piotr trembles and looks quite ill.
He then turns towards the others.
"It is a p-p-pleasure to meet you all. This will b-b-be my first time in the t-t-tapestry."
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"N-n-no. I'm alright, Miss Elena. I s-s-suffer from what some may call a c-c-curse. However, I have learned to l-l-live with it. I'll be okay after I ch-ch-change form as s-s-soon as we get into the t-t-tapestry, away from these p-p-people who may be frightened."
He puts a hand on her shoulder not only as a friendly gesture, but also to steady himself.
He glances down and notices the Maiden's Order symbol on Elena's armor.
"I look f-f-forward to fighting b-b-by your side again."
As you arrive, and Aram notices you, he snaps his finger to quiet the room and speaks rapidly.
“The aasimar nation of Tianjing contains a handful of temples to Korada, Empyreal Lord of forgiveness and foresight. The Pathfinder Society is interested in exploring these holy sites, but the aasimar disciples in Tianjing are reluctant to grant the Pathfinder Society full access to their faith’s secrets."
He looks at you for a brief moment.
"Fortunately, the custodian council of Tianjing gifted one such temple to Hao Jin centuries ago. This temple—the Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment—now sits vacant within the museum demiplane of the Hao Jin Tapestry. We need well-trained explorers to survey the isolated and abandoned site."
He looks to the tapestry.
“We will transport you to the Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment within the Hao Jin Tapestry and provide you with a small cache of supplies. We need a complete report on the temple with a focus on four key locations."
He then turns back to you again.
"First, locate the temple’s meditation room, find evidence of any meditative techniques described there, and record any effects of performing those techniques. Second, prepare a comprehensive catalog of all works in the temple library. Third, find the temple gardens and draft a detailed plan of the garden’s layout. Finally, enter the temple’s crypt and take rubbings of the carvings on each sarcophagus."
He then sighs.
“You will enter the tapestry within the hour. Any questions?”
Near the tapestry you see a carefully stacked pile of supplies, including plenty of food, water, ink, charcoal, parchment, rice paper, and measuring twine.
Aram sighs again.
“We have no reason to think that it is occupied. The temple is likely uninhabited except by ancient guardians or traps, although I suppose some scavengers may have found their way into the structure. But who knows. It could also be flooded!? Hao Jin created her museum demiplane with an environment identical to Golarion’s. It has air, weather, and gravity just as you’d expect. However, in the centuries since Hao Jin’s disappearance, the weather patterns within much of the tapestry demiplane have shifted, so we’re uncertain of the precise environment around the Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment.”
Aram is now a little bit agitated.
"Since when do we need legitimation to gather information? But as this is important for you: We urgently need the information about the temple to Korada because we are deciphering a document. And the sites I mentioned might hold the clues we require!"
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"Korada? Have I heard anything about Korada before?"
Piotr wonders.
"All I know about Korada is that Korada is the Empyreal Lord of foresight, forgiveness, and peace. He is a force of good, dedicated to peace and contemplation. Korada spends his time meditating in the Dream Lotus on the plane of Nirvana, balancing the spheres of existence in his mind and conversing with other enlightened beings."
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Goe Lem clomps into the room. His slow pace making him late to the meeting once again.
Those devoted to Korada are usually pacifists. Spinning spheres of glass to meditate. {sigh} While appreciate their devotion to 'doing no harm,' it usually falls to someone else to protect them. Though I suppose all have their place on the river of time.
"Any questions left?" Aram asks.
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"None you won't like, so instead of telling you to smile more and not be such a green furry thing of dislike, I'll keep my mouth shut and get this over with, cause for some reason you make the emerald dungeon seem tolerable"
Serata will then just move to an area with shadows and just sit there waiting till its time to leave
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"A research m-m-mission? I can't draw v-v-very well, but, I'll do my b-b-best."
Piotr walks over to inspect the pile of supplies.
"Th-th-that's a lot of stuff."
Piotr quickly shakes his head, anxious to depart.
"No. N-no more questions. I'm r-r-ready to go."
He hurriedly stuffs some writing implements and parchment into his pack and hefts a barrel of water onto his shoulder.
Piotr turns to Elena.
"I've never been into the t-t-tapestry. I did a research mission to the p-p-plane of Heaven a few years ago. The various laws and customs of d-d-different planes of existence is s-s-something to be wary of."
"None you won't like, so instead of telling you to smile more and not be such a green furry thing of dislike, I'll keep my mouth shut and get this over with, cause for some reason you make the emerald dungeon seem tolerable"
Serata will then just move to an area with shadows and just sit there waiting till its time to leave
"Oh yes, I forgot that you don't all know each other. I attempted to get the full team sent on the last mission together. But when Waggi was informed that there weren't going to be any more 'snake men' to fight, he was not interested. Miss Oe was here earlier but said something about 'deja vu' and Miss Katsu seemed to have forgotten that she went into the Tapestry in the first place...I get the distinct impression she had forgotten who I was, to be honest. Itham said he was coming, so perhaps he is simply running late," Zey explains.
"Serata Minly, you were chosen specifically because of your devotion to yourself it seems. I hoped that your knowledge would be of some aid so at least prove that to me please."
Then he gets back to business - "Do not forget to take rubbings of the carvings on the sarcophagi in the temples crypt." he says looking at all of you.
Zey then studies the tapestry and the work being done on it, giving some guidance to the scholars who are studying it while the party discusses things amongst themselves.
”Well, I will send you over then!” he says, turning back to the group after a few minutes.
He hands each of them a slip of paper with an activation word on it and shows you a spot on the tapestry that can only be reached by the stepladder placed next to it…unless someone can fly or levitate.
As each person touches the spot and says the word, they disappear from sight on the Material Plane.
At the same moment, they come into being within the demiplane within the Tapestry. Glancing back, they’ll spot the planar eddy that will allow them to step back through to the Material Plane but won’t see anyone else’s.
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The Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment is a wide structure atop a forested hill. The graceful building has no sharp corners; the white marble walls are carved with soft, round edges.
The edifice appears well-scrubbed, but despite this obvious care black flecks of mold cover its surface. A gravel path leads into an airy courtyard and up to a pair of large wooden double doors. The doors are carved with an image of four spheres resting inside an open lotus flower.
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"Well, now that we are away from prying eyes, I suppose I should do my adventuring prep."
To the faint sound of heroic, upbeat music with no apparent source, Soni's gown seems to unravel into a shower of white rose petals, trailing into the distance leaving only a silhouette, glowing brightly in a rainbow of colors as her muzzle shortens. The rapier at her hip, which seemed a dandy's weapon before, flies into the air above her as ribbons of silvery-blue cloth circle her limbs and torso, wrapping her now-human form in a short dress, gloves and boots. The raven-haired woman she has become reaches her arm to the sky and grasps her blade, which now appears wickedly sharp. In a flash of light, a golden tiara appears on her brow and a silvery shield with a white rose blossom device appears on her other arm. She slashes the blade through the air in front of her, cutting through the rain of petals and revealing her full vigilante identity as the music crescendos, then stops.
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At the same time, Oleksandra is surrounded by a sphere of glowing feathers. Through the gaps, you can see a similar avian silhouette. It grows larger, its beak extends, and the wings become more leathery. In a flash of light, the feathers disperse, and a rhamphorhynchus with gold-tinted scales appears.
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"Most of you know about my dual identity already, but I am called the White Rose Duelist. Whichever face I wear at the moment is the true me.
"Because this change takes time and is not particularly subtle, I will not be able to switch forms during a fight or in the presence of witnesses. I am not an incompetent fighter when I wear the fox's face, nor am I useless as a diplomat in this form, but I will be most effective if I enter each situation knowing which will be more appropriate.
"My companion also has two identities, though in this form she cannot speak with others. I call her Goldenwing.
"Well, nothing to be gained standing around here. Anything else we need to do before heading in?"
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Serata eyeing WRD and the transformation "now that is a handh trick, hopefully will be very handy"
Shifting a bit on her feet "research has never been a strong suit of mine, mostly stealth and fighting, and a couple things that help"
As she starts to make her way up along the path quietly, and looking around
In addition to the double doors ahead of you, the party sees another set of double doors in the Southeast corner of the courtyard and a single door in the Northeast corner.
You approach and start looking for traps but you find no sign for danger.
Testing any of the doors will find that they are unlocked and unsecured and the Pathfinders can easily enter by any of them.
A6. Entry
This wide entrance is a communal center of the temple.
The floor here contains an engraved Spiral of Korada, but the spiral is badly scuffed from centuries of traffic.
The Spiral of Korada retains a trace of magic despite its age and disrepair: every hour, the center of the spiral produces a weak mote of light that drifts up the ceiling and dissipates.
This is as a permanent dancing lights effect. Probably this light bursts hourly from the scuffed Spiral of Korada in the entry. This effect can act as a sort of clock, allowing to maintain a regular schedule you believe.
A9. Meditation Room
The meditation room is a lofty, open space. The stone walls are carved with several figures in various meditative poses. A few large mats cover the stone floor. The only other furnishing is a rack containing a few wooden staves and several stacked glass spheres, each no bigger than a plum.
A Tian man with hazel eyes and a streak of white in his hair looks up from where he is sitting as Serata enters the room with the mats on the floor.
His head cocks curiously to the side but then he smiles, invitingly.
"A newcomer? Unusual. No matter, all are welcome here. I am Zhuang, a devotee of Korada. Would you like to meditate with me? It will bring you peace and enlightenment."
Even as he speaks, he continues to spin 3 glass spheres in each hand, doing so without even seeming to realize he's doing it.
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White Rose turns to Piotr and whispers, "Dancing lights. Probably safe to wait on this part." She then closes the door and walks into the room past Serata.
"Greetings, Honored Zhuang," she says with a deep bow. "I am called the White Rose Duelist. We were not expecting to find anyone here - as, I'm sure, you were not expecting anyone to simply open the doors to your temple. For that rudeness, I apologize. However, it is quite fortuitous that we have found you here. Part of our reason to travel here was to learn meditative techniques. We expected to need to learn from scrolls or mosaics, but we are blessed to instead find a master who can teach us, if you would be so kinds as to accept humble students such as ourselves. So, yes, I would be honored to join you."
Zhuang smiles brightly and placidly at White Rose.
"It is so good to find those who are interested in Korada's meditation techniques, and mybe to find a new sister in the faith! Spectacular! I will tell you all that I know and will be happy to show you around and introduce you to everyone else."
He purses his lips.
"Oh, this has been my home going on 20 years now and we so rarely have visitors!!" he says.
"Now, as you can see, the positions for our meditation technique are carved into the walls. I'll walk you through them but if you get lost or confused in my description, the pictures are sure to help."
He hands you sets of the glass spheres.
"Anyone want to try? Surely you want to!?" he offers sets to anyone else interested before beginning.