House GM test send - please ignore.
At the looming foot of Droskar’s Crag, a dormant volcano, the Pathfinder Society’s base camp bustles with activity. Wagons arrive with new goods as merchants set up shop. A steady stream of Pathfinders trickles into the camp, and joyful greetings fill the air, together with whispered rumors about the mission ahead. Venture-Captain Luna Aldred has called everyone here for a major expedition, and if the rumors are to be believed, the secret road to a legendary lost city awaits!
You may actually already know a thing or two about Droskar’s Crag based on rumors, previous expeditions or examination of the local area.
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Merchants from Olfden and beyond followed the rumors of a large Pathfinder Society expedition in the hopes of a quick profit.
You can make purchases at the start of the adventure or when you return to the base camp. At the start of the adventure, you can purchase:
Keep this slide in mind to remind yourselves.
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Precious is often mistaken for a child's toy; he stands under a foot tall and wears a helmet made from a thimble. Hanging over his dented plate armor is a tablecloth that's been cut into a tabard and painted with a crooked yellow sun that has a smiley face. His lance far too large for him and makes him constantly wobble around. Precious is carried around base camp on the shoulder of his squire, a one-eyed old beggar named Pouk.
A high-pitched voice echoes out from the thimble. "Hi! I'm Sir Precious Thimble, a real actual knight!"
Pouk nods. "That's right an' true, Sir. A knight can't lie. No sir. An' I'm Sir Precious's squire, Pouk. A real-life squire, ain't I? Found each other in Lastwall, we did." He vigorously scratches his behind.
"I was a casualty!" declares Precious. "And now I'm a knight!" precious pats a tattered book of at his side; scrawled on the cover is the word Shivalry. "If you believe you're a knight hard enough and follow the code of Shivalry, then you're a knight. That's the rules."
"Ain't that so, ain't that so." mutters Pouk as he produces a battered tin flask and takes a nip.
Precious waves his dangerously sharp lance around. "Yea! And we're gonna go pillage ruins and stab monsters. Like real knights! Who're you?"
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A thin but muscular hobgoblin stands with ars crossed before the throng of Pathfinders. His resting face comes off quite aggressive. He looks down at the comical poppet carryig an oversized lance. "Do you need aid?" His voice grunts out as he claps a fist to his chest and nods. "Krek."
[dice=Society]1d20+10
A knight must carry his own burden.
Precious leaps down off Pouk’s shoulder. He holds the lance aloft, stumbling around with the oversize weapon. The gleaming tip rocks back and forth at eye level and Pouk involuntarily steps back.
That’s the Shivalry way!
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Jayma wanders into camp and asks around for where she's supposed to be mustering. A couple of younger Pathfinders fall over themselves to point her in the right direction and she rewards them with a brilliant smile in return.
She looks up at Droskar’s Crag, also known as the Pallid Peak, a dormant volcano. that erupted nearly 800 years ago in a cataclysm known as the Rending, which toppled the great dwarven empire of Tar Khardurrm. She'd heard that previous expeditions into the Pallid Peak had uncovered a wide range of dangers, from vermin to duergars to fiends, so trouble was to be expected and should be prepared for.
As she approaches the area assigned to their group, she's surprised to see a hobgoblin waiting there in the company of a one-eyed old beggar with a doll on his shoulder. "How odd. I wonder if the rest of the group will be as interesting."
When they turn to face her, they see a small female gnome dressed in an impressive set of cutting-edge clothing of the latest Absalom fashion. The eyes are first drawn to her pixie-cut bright orange hair framing a beautiful, but strangely otherworldly face. They soon move to take in the multi-colored hooded coat covering a peplum bustier that barely conceals her ample charms. Her leather breeches and boots in coordinating colors complete the outfit. At her belt are two sheathed matching daggers. In her hand is a staff that looks like a blackened and burned length of ashen wood. Moving unceasingly from one shoulder to another, occasionally diving into her coat or sleeves only to quickly emerge elsewhere, is a white ermine with oddly intelligent eyes.
Seeing that she has their attention, she beams out a radiant smile and introduces herself. "My name is Jayma, and this..." she puts out her right hand into which the ermine leaps, standing up on its hind legs to look out at the others, "... is my friend Twyl, we're both quite pleased to meet you."
When Precious Thimble hops off Pouk's shoulder and introduces himself, Jayma takes a step back to avoid being skewered by the oversized lance the poppet is waving around. "Stranger and stranger yet" She emits a delightful laugh. "Ah! How wonderful! My apologies Sir Precious. I did not expect that one of my capable defenders would be so... diminutive."
She then looks up at the aggressive-looking hobgoblin standing nearby with his arms crossed. "And you must be another of my defenders. I'm terribly sorry, but I did not catch your name."
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A muscular Iruxi woman proudly strides in, her frills bristling with excitement and anticipation as she speaks.
"Greetings fellow Pathfinders. I hail from the Sable-Trip tribe in the Mwangi, from where do you come from."
A medium length Tien blade rests in a quickdraw sheath at her side while numerous other weapons and a healer's kit jingle off various rings attached to her full plate.
Knowing where her talents lie Samantha does not spend time listening to the rumor mongers and instead listens to her allies.
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Soon another agent joins the group. She is a 5 ft tall and muscular female. Her hair are braided and she carries a full plate armor. On her armor, you can clearly see Torag's symbol, she carries a Warhammer and a sturdy steel shield on her back.
She looks at the assembled
"May Torag smite me with his hammer if this is not Jayma, how are you doing? Aren't you afraid that underground that colorful clothes of yours may get dirty?"
She looks at hobgoblin, Iruxi and a poppet at the arm of another person
"Makai Goldenoak at your service, cleric of Torag. The forge father have all different tools in his forge " she looks at Sir Precious Timble
"but it takes all kinds to make a world."
She does not say it, but Makai is excited for that mission. Who knows what they will discover.
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The tall hobgoblin turns to Jayma and places his hand on his chest once more. "Krek, I will defend you little one." He points down to his flail. Jayma's eyes wander close to the flail and notices several sall vials of deadly toxins nearby. "It is why my clan calls me The Serpent. You will feel the bite but the venom is what will end you."
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When Samantha and Makai join the group, Jayma's spirits lift further. "My, what a surfeit of valiant protectors I'll have with me on this mission." When Makai shows concern for Jayma's clothing, she gives a tinkly laugh and looking down at her outfit, says, "Dirt is easily dealt with, but not being a seamstress, I'm far more concerned with what sharp, pointy or flamey things can do." Then, pouting slightly at the recollection, she adds, "My last coat was unsalvageable after my recent mission to Bhopan. It was a favorite of mine. This new one is nice, but is missing a little je ne sais quoi."
Noticing some dust on her sleeve, she passes her hand over it and quietly says, "deterge". The offending dust vanishes.
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A wild-haired halfling with a red scraggly beard grumbles as he nimbly hops off the back of a wagon. Over his chain shirt, his once-fine clothing appears to be constantly smoldering. At some point long ago, he stopped caring. As he approaches, it faintly smells as if something is burning. Rubbing his aching back, he turns back to glare at the driver. "For the return trip, I'll be riding up front! The jokes about the smoking section are always amusing." Upon hearing the driver still coughing, he rolls his eyes, mutters softly, "Oh Sarenrae ... give me strength..." and calls back, "Oh, you'll be fine..." "...probably." With his staff in hand, the halfling looks around for his mission companions.
When he finds the group, the wild-haired halfling introduces himself. "I'm Apollo. Hopefully your trip here was more comfortable than mine." He's pleasantly surprised to not see a team of giants like his last mission. He enjoys traveling with gnomes and dwarfs and ... is that a poppet? He eyes Precious curiously, steps a safe distance away, and casts Produce Flame to create a ball of fire in his palm. "I'm an oracle ... a master of fire magic." He considers and adds, "Perhaps master is too strong a word. Sometimes it gets away from me." Realizing he's smoldering once again, he explains, "You have almost nothing to worry about. Admittdly, there was this pub in Port Peril that ... took on some fire damage. But that turned out fine...ish. Eventually. The list of casualties was very minimal." Eyeing the flammable-looking poppet, he adds, "I'll endeavor to be careful near you, Sir Knight." The ball of flame dissipates.
Having grown up in the volcanic mountains of the Valashmai Jungle, Apollo is quite looking forward to a volcano expedition! Having a keen interest in the topic, he explains that the two largest cities lost in the Rending were Tar Khardurrm’s underground capital city, Jernashall, and its sister city on the surface, Raseri Kanton. Jernashall was overwhelmed by magma flows, and Raseri Kanton was swallowed up by the earth. While some areas of the ruins still contain magma chambers, this expedition’s route should avoid them. More-likely environmental dangers include flooded chambers and unstable ground.
While everyone is talking and making purchases, the lucky halfling prays to Sarenrae and uses his Wand of Lucky Number. He thinks, "Like nana always said, better to be lucky than good."
Agents all over get to know one another. Big missions like these can often lead to lifetime friendships.
In the hustle and bustle some initial scouting reports start circulating. Despite efforts to keep the information centralized, Pathfinders are curious by nature.
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Jayma keeps her distance from the smoldering Apollo; no need to singe her clothing prematurely. When the scouting reports are handed out, Jayma looks them over but none seem particularly interesting to her. She shrugs. "Doubtless we'll be investigating all of these oddities eventually. I have no preference; The Unsealed Way seems as good as any to start with."
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Makai looks at the others seeing them preparing for combat. She removes her shield from the back and holds it in her left hand. She closes her eyes for a moment and prays in silence You are the shield to protect the weak, you wield the hammer to smite the wicked, you work in the forge to create wonders, you are one of his people
Before they depart Makai keeps on praying sitting on the ground and at times drawing symbol of hammer.
Venture-Captain Luna Aldred bangs on her shield to gain the attention of the gathered crowd. As the noise dies down, she points to a piece of stretched canvas with a whittled stick. “When I was first told about the discovery of a ruined outpost under this mountain, I assigned a few agents to explore it.”
On the canvas, charcoal and chalk outline a sprawling underground complex. The map already lists names, discoveries, and potential hazards. However, three highlighted routes lead past the end of the explored segments. Each route is labelled with a name and shaded with a distinctive color: yellow for the Labyrinth, blue for the Sunken Halls, and white for Unsealed Way.
“Their preliminary explorations found extensive ruins, as well as signs that this path will lead us to a find that’s worthy of the Pathfinder Chronicles: the lost city of Raseri Kanton, which has been missing for almost a thousand years! This expedition warrants a large team. I reckon this group is enough, though I won’t turn away any stragglers.” Venture-Captain Aldred chuckles.
Her tone darkens as she continues, “This expedition was set to take months. However, the Aspis Consortium has heard of our plans, and they’ll surely be dispatching their own teams. We need to act quickly before those destructive louts claim the ruins. Move quickly, but not recklessly. Report back regularly. And for all that Aroden left us, don’t die.
“You know what to do. Explore. Report. Cooperate.”
A Pathfinder Society agent makes a note of everyone present and the locations they intend to explore before running through a memorized set of instructions. “Keep in mind that this is a coordinated expedition. If anything strange happens, report it back. If you fully explore an area, report back. If you find additional passageways, report it back. If Venture- Captain Aldred gives you instructions or you receive a courier to change locations, follow them immediately. If you ever find yourself in over your heads, retreat and rest. If you’re not sure what to do... I guess you should report that back as well. Best of luck down there."
Section: The Unsealed Way
TACTICAL MAP
Darkness, ceiling 15'
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The party sallies forth, eager to prove their worth. It doesn't take long before finding a most interesting room. A slender post spans from floor to ceiling in each corner of this stone chamber. The bracket that holds the posts in the floor is chipped, leaving the posts only loosely attached.
The floor precariously wobbles with each step.
You can also explore straight ahead into the darkness....
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Jayma watches as the rest attempt to secure the floor so it won't give way when they step come to step on it. She is not terribly impressed by their progress, but unfortunately her skills are of little help in this case. "Perhaps it might be best if we followed the other route for the time being. We can always come back to this if it doesn't lead anywhere."
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Apollo enters the darkness. He's about to set something aflame so he can see, but stops as Samantha activates her Wayfinder. He has one too, but fire is always his first thought to solve any problem.
When he sees the others having trouble with the shaky floor, the smoking oracle pushes forward. "I normally keep to the back, but allow me." He unpacks his superb repair kit, and sets to work.
The party works together to stabilize the room for the moment, though it's hard to tell how long it'll last. Moving with alacrity, they check the room beyond.
The chamber’s central feature is a large stone wheel connected to a complicated gear shaft. After a bit of fiddling, you figure out that this is an elevator by rotating the wheel; clockwise to move the elevator up, or counterclockwise to move it back down. When first used, the wheel grinds slowly and creaks as the entire room moves up, shaking as it goes. After a few seconds, the grinding and shaking stops, and the wheel and room move smoothly for the first time in centuries.
While your curiosity is certainly piqued, you know that you've got a mission here, and not on the floor below...
Section: The Unsealed Way
TACTICAL MAP
Darkness, ceiling 15'
Samantha's Wayfinder, Makai: Mind of Menace
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The party pushes onward. The hall bends south a bit. Moldering bags and gear pile in the southwestern corner of this square room. Stone stairs lead upward to the south. Passageways show glimpses of rooms to the south.
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Makai moves down the corridor
"If that moving room was working we could assume that any traps of old could still be functioning."
She moves down the corridor shield in hand and helmet on her head. When she reaches the opening she stops and look around
"Apollo why are you squinting? Ahh you don't see in the darkness got it, got it."
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Apollo grins at Makai. "Yes, well, if you traveled around in a near-constant smoky haze, you'd squint too. Even with my keen halfling eyes, it's hard." He adds, "But at the moment, the squinting is helping! And besides, concealment works both ways."
After the conversation, the oracle does, however, 'see' Makai's point and he casts Light on the end of his walking staff. With the benefit of his magical light, he stows his repair kit and moves around the corner.
No sooner does Krek speak when some of the dead stir! A half dozen bodies rise up. The one nearest Krek seems weaker, armed with a long sword. The other five all wield greatpicks!
Assumes Thimble Scouting
Search (LLV)
Detect Magic (LLV, DV)
(DV) Defend
(DV) Defend
Search
(DV) Scouting
Section: The Unsealed Way
TACTICAL MAP
Darkness, ceiling 15'
Light: Samantha, Apollo. Makai: Mind of Menace
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Round 1:
Apollo: Go
Thimble: Go
Krek: Go
Makai: Go
Samantha: Go
Jayma: Go
Pick skeletons: TBD
Sword Skeleton: TBD
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When the dead rise around Krek, Jayma curses under her breath. A fireball would have been perfect in this situation. Wasting no time, she casts her spell on the apparent leader of the group.
Jayma's features turn a distinctly greenish hue as as she concentrates on the head of her staff. It then also turns a sickly green color and slowly starts oozing vitriol. Swings the head of her staff at the skeleton with the sword, she yells, "Burning bolt bites bony baddie." A stream of acid shoots out the head of the staff and flies in the direction of her antagonist.
Concentrating on the aeon stone in her wayfinder, she says the words, "scutum magicae," and the space around her shimmers a light pink.