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Inside the foyer of Skyreach at the Grand Lodge, a masked servitor awaits. A specter in white, save for the ribbon of scarlet around their neck, the servant bows and gestures to the central staircase, silently leading the way upstairs to a large study for a meeting with the venture-captain Eliza Petulengro of Galt.
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The sounds of armor, shield, and weapons precede the arrival of the champion who strides into the building and up the stairs with pride. The full plate is polished, the shield displays the hammer of Torag, and the warhammer at their side appears well-made. They would be truly imposing, if they stood more than three-and-a-half feet tall. Strong hands remove the helm to reveal the dark mottled skin of a charhide goblin.
They survey the group, smile at any and all before them, and state in a low, scratchy voice, "I am Crunch. Pleased be of service."
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Zinadrina is a young jadwiga woman, equipped like an arctic mercenary wearing studded leather (loosely for ventilation in the hot and humid Kortos climate) and wielding a stout steel spear. She is accompanied by an unusually small arctic fox who has streaks of black fur down its back like a badger but in reverse.
"Hello. I am Zinadrina. I will not voice my disdain if you choose to call me Zina. I provide this team with my arcane spellcasting skills. Unlike silly men in pointy hats, I can also hold on my own for a moment in the front lines of melee, although I do not prefer it. Do not give treats to Rozen, my familiar, under any circumstances. I do not want him to get friendly with anyone else."
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A short, cheerful goblin bounces up the stairs after you. She's dressed all in vermillion which amazingly enough looks good with her rough skin. A wide brimmed hat, with her ears peeking out from the edges, completes the look. "Hello everyone, I am Krakazh! I am here to amaze and entertain and hopefully to chronicle the daring deeds of all who travel with me." She whips out a vuvuzela and starts to play a jaunty tune as she dances up the steps.
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A ruddy dwarf nods in turn to each Pathfinder nearby. Alonzo Tamarisk, reporting for duty. I am a child of nature, as are we all, and speak the language of it, and it speaks to me.
He then guffaws a bit. Ha! Sounds even more pretentious when I say that tripe than when old Wilsh did! HAHAHA!
Alonzo eyes the arctic fox with some interest — he is a Druid, after all — but tries hard to respect Zina's wishes.
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Following on the heels of the druid and the musical goblin is a tall red-haired half-elf. Her Ulfen heritage is demonstrated by the high color in her cheeks. She wears light armor that exudes a shadowy appearance, and is prepared for a fight with a shortsword on her hip, a bow strapped to her backpack, and intricately wrapped cloth around her hands. Her vivid red mantle seems out of place on the rogue.
Looking around she grins. "This looks like an interesting group! Hello, all. My name is Ashes, though I may change it to Sparks.
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The door opens to the study on the 13th floor.
Eliza Petulengro, the unmasked member of the Decemvirate, sits behind a wooden desk covered in neatly arrayed stacks of books and hand-written reports. She gazes quietly across the edge of her teacup. Setting the tea down, she glances to the side at a rune-etched sphere studded with strange metal canisters.
“I expect you know who I am, so I shall dispense with unnecessary formalities. Mostly, I deal in two things—truth and potential. I haven’t the time to shield the first, but I see the second in you. I need you to join me in traveling the Maze of the Open Road. It was once a great asset to the Society. For many years, the Decemvirate and trusted agents could travel all of Golarion in moments. A gift from an ancient druid king, the maze lent us power, discretion, and speed. In time, it also allowed for a terrible betrayal."
“The current Master of Spells, Sorrina Westyr, elected to seal the maze despite its advantages. And for some time I agreed with that wisdom. However, fate has forced our hand. The maze has grown dangerously unstable and we need its abilities now more than ever. With Sorrina currently traveling to the Mwangi Expanse, it falls to us to collect the necessary samples required to diagnose the maze and make it safe and reliable once more."
“Regrettably, this stabilization device,” Eliza indicates a hovering sphere honeycombed with canisters, “will require almost all of my concentration. I will need you ready to protect me as we gather samples along the path through the maze to the Woodsedge Lodge in Galt. Thankfully, Venture-Captain Armeline Jirneau is sending an agent to meet us, who should smooth our progress considerably. You have my trust in this. Any questions before we begin?”
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"Oooooh, I've never been to the Maze before. This is going to be amazing! Hahahaha!!!" Krakazh dissolves into giggles at her pun. Wiping tears of laughter from her eyes, she asks, "What kind of things do we need to collect? Bugs, turtles, leaves, plants, bottles, incense, scales, toenails, actual nails, squirrels...." She is obviously planning to continue listing things until she runs out of ideas.
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"Do we know what sort of agent Venture-Captain Jirneau is sending? Will it be safe of them to move in the Maze to rendezvous with us? And will we meet in the Maze or here?"
"All in all, sounds like an exciting mission. I have always wanted to enter the Maze."
Zina eyes the sphere-canister-device curiously.
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A brief pall casts over the venture-captain's face as she responds to Crunch's questions. “An unfortunate series of events a decade ago cost the lives of several members of the Decemvirate. I’d prefer not to dwell on it, but suffice to say that the maze has been well guarded in the interim. It should be empty. Any of you that have perused the Chronicle about it will remember that once, the maze had a guardian in the form of an immortal medusa named Condria. The Woodsedge Lodge reports that other than the shattered remnants of her petrified victims, no sign of her has been found."
She smiles politely through Krakazh's frantic list and affirms Alonzo with a nod. "Keep a mental note of all that, my friends. All of those are possibilities, to be honest. Except perhaps the toenails, but stranger things have happened. I won't actually know until I see what we are dealing with on the inside exactly what to collect. As I have mentioned, I will be in control of the sphere and - though I can spare the concentration to move - any more and the field that stabilizes the samples might collapse. And with such strong samples, a collapse could be disastrous for the device. So I expect you will have to do most of the exploring and collecting for me."
Nodding to Zina. "Ah yes, the agent. We will have to meet them inside. I'm not exactly sure who it is, but I trust Armeline enough to know she would only send the very best. If they cannot traverse the maze safely, we have no hope of doing so."
Sensing Ashes' hint of worry, she leans in. "You are all well-rounded and trusted agents at this point, your usual preparations to be 'ready for anything' should suffice. Know that in the unlikely event that the mission proves too dangerous, I can evacuate us all to the Grand Lodge, but there may not be another chance to save the maze if I do.”
Pausing for any last questions, she concludes. "So it is. Finish up requisitioning any supplies you need and meet me in two hours at the Foyer of Worlds in the upper chambers of Skyreach."
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Eventually the group reforms in the Foyer of Worlds, prepared for the adventure that awaits them.
The shadowed arches running the perimeter of the room are portals that connect to locations all over Golarion. Dim light fills the chamber from an unknown source. A cadre of Pathfinder agents stand watch here, acknowledging your presence with calm purpose. Eliza stands with her back turned, hunched over and making one final reorganization of her pack.
Once you all have gathered, she mutters an incantation and the nearest portal spirals on itself, quickly forming a distinct passage teaming with verdant energy.
"No time better than now, let us begin..."
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A single step somehow stretches across the length of timeless moments until a strange sky snaps into place above you. The walls of the maze that surround you now are 20-foot-tall manicured plants with corridors of varying width. Eliza winces a bit and gives the stabilization sphere a look of concern. Blue sky has been replaced by pale lavender with a fringe of starry indigo. The orderly emerald walls of the maze are spotted with irregularities as ragged branches tear at the open air like talons and sections of new growth swell like verdant tumors.
“It’s worse than I feared,” Eliza continues, “Take some earth and clippings next to the portal threshold as a baseline. Keep your eyes out for other deviations.” She frowns and looks to the sphere as it obediently hovers to her side and eldritch bands of energy begin stretching from its protrusions to follow her commands.
A cheerful if somewhat road-worn halfling crawls from between wild and unruly plant growth. He spends a second brushing stray twigs from his curly hair before giving up on appearing presentable. Picking up his satchel and an unusually large, chittering squirrel, he addresses Eliza.
“You aren’t monsters! Could it be? Eliza, your picture does not do you credit! I am so glad I found you. The way to the Woodsedge Portal is particularly plagued by planar anomalies. We considered the Edme cavern portal instead, but as you know overland travel in Galt is nearly as troublesome. That device is fascinating! But since time is of essence, you can explain how it works as we travel.” He offers a letter marked with the seal of the Woodsedge Lodge, “My credentials.”
Eliza,
I am sending this letter in response to your request for an agent to aid you in exploring and mapping recent changes to the Maze of the Open Road. Rindle Rainfickle is possibly the most capable halfling I have ever known.
Like you, he too is a Galtan patriot though he spent time far and wide on the business of the Society. Particularly, he served for years freeing his distant kin from Chelaxian bondage. A number of the refugees have even become part of the community here in Woodsedge. I was a bit surprised to find that the two of you had not yet met. He is one of my most reliable scouts and explorers, and has already taken the initiative to begin mapping the changes to the maze. Hopefully you and Sorrina will find him as indispensable as I have.
Venture-Captain Armeline Jirneau
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The halfling kneels down to pick some elongated thorns from his leg. “Huh, yeah. There’s some weird stuff along the way… Strange symbols, luminous orbs, tears in reality, that kind of thing. At one point, I was almost buried in a wall of red sand. I have a map of the shortest route to the Woodsedge portal. Shouldn’t be too bad, really, as long as we keep our eyes on the path forward and don’t get lost. We should get going though. That portal you created might be doing more harm than good.” He pauses, then coughs for emphasis.
Still intently focused on her hovering orb, Eliza nods back to the still shimmering portal to the Grand Lodge. "Duly noted." and with a quick word of dismissal it shrinks back to nothing.
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"Right, then!" Riddle one-hops to his feet and starts to scamper further into the maze and rounds several bends with confidence.
Following him at at close pace, around a particular corner of the maze, a statue of a robed spellcaster rendered in the act of drawing forth a wand stands in a readied pose. Some of the statue’s fingers have been snapped off. Lichens spot its stone body here and there. Glinting sparkles shift in the topiary walls and a soft breeze comes from some unknown place, bearing clashing scents of cinnamon and tar.
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The group warily approaches the instant-preserved man. There is no movement and the medusa does seem to have left her lair, perhaps for good. Relaxing a bit, Eliza glances quickly around as the sphere wavers.
"Over there, what are those..."
She points to the wild rose bushes stretching across the near expanse of the hedge. Within the branches of the rose bushes lining the walls of the maze here, there are clusters of crystallized sap resembling emerald-hued amber growing directly from the limbs of the plants.
"Oh yes, that is something to behold." Riddle snickers as he bounds over to the bushes.
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Approaching the bizarre roses, Zina is able to closely examine the right angles and straight edges of the crystal which she realizes is a phytolith, where it becomes clear the influence of some greater force weighs on the ecosystem of the maze. Energies consistent with Axis, the Plane of Law, might explain the changes to the local flora.
Crunch and Alonzo agree that the humming is symptomatic of resonance between the phytoliths. Taking one as a sample might cause a disruption that will likely be harmless here but could cause a cascade of planar energies with unforeseeable effects further along the pathway. Collecting the soil at the base of the plants should provide a safe sample without exacerbating the energy imbalances affecting the maze.
"We should definitely collect that." Riddle exclaims.
"It would provide an adequate sample for the orb." Eliza adds as an afterthought.
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(( Uncertain what "that" Riddle is referring to. Assuming it's the roses rather than the soil... ))
Speaking quickly in Goblin, Crunch attempts to explain, "There is a resonance here that will be disrupted if we take any phytolith samples, and the dissonance might spread. We must limit ourselves to the soil only."
If they receive confused looks from Riddle and Eliza, they will say in common, "Soil only. Bad resonance if take flower."
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Zina shrugs and scoops up some soil from around the plants, using a dagger to dig if needed. She then throws some of the soil into a side pocket of her backpack, while offering the rest to Eliza's orb.
If no problems ensure, she then cleans her fingernails from the soil with a quick Prestidigitation spell.
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Soil's boring. I'd have taken the pretty crystals. But what do I know?" Riddle laughs as he continues on down the path.
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Keeping up with your halfling scout, you round a bend in the maze.
With a single step, the world explodes into darkness and light. Walls of green become swirls of verdant light. A dizzying array of symbols and runes swims through the air, accompanied by the aromas of dried spice and parchment. Several elemental guardians stand before a gate in front of you, solemn yet ready to engage if the need arises.
Looking down, even all of your bodies (and Rindle's) are now made up of these symbols. You find even basic movement difficult. Only Eliza is protected from the transformative effects.
Petulengro whispers "There is no other way forward."
Rindle mutters with a hint of fear "The maze didn’t look like this when he came this way before."
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Anjo is able to push the pure information that now replicate his muscles further toward the gate, his body becoming more substantive with every step. Zina and Ashes soon follow suit.
The guardians bristle slightly at the intrusion, the larger ones more than the other calmer gentlemen.
"Be careful, we might be angering them by reshaping this reality." Eliza warns.