You have received an unusual summons to meet District Councilmember and priestess of Abadar Jostlyn Ferqqyr at the Vault of Abadar in Absalom’s Ivy District. Upon arrival, Ferqyr is already waiting at the compound’s main gate flanked by two stern paladins of Abadar. The priestess waits quietly, with a nod as each of the Pathfinders arrives.
"Greetings. I have your mission briefing and materials as entrusted to me by Sorrina Westyr, per our contract with the society. We will proceed when all are present."
|
A bright-peach-skinned gnome with fiery orange hair is flying just high enough to be on eye level with whoever she's talking to. She's fidgeting, as though she's so full of energy that she can barely contain it, and her words come out in a babbling rush. "Ok hi! I'm Pai! How're you? Who're you? I didn't catch your name. Any hints about what this mission is yet? Or where we're going? I'm sure the others will be here shorty. --I mean shortly. Heh! Shorty! That's me, mostly, though I manage to compensate pretty well for that, don't you think?" She wiggles her feet a bit to emphasize the fact that she's floating in the air.
|
|
"Oh hi! Hi, I'm Pai! Nice to meet you!" She flies over to shake hands with the big guys, a little ball of energy zipping back and forth between them. "Ooo! You're shiny, Sukit. --Oh, great question, Mörök! Why isn't she briefing us herself? You know, I have so much darned trouble coming up with questions. Good thing you're here to take up my slack. Don't worry; I can totally pull my weight most of the time. Just not with questions."
Maybe if she stayed quiet for more than two seconds, a question would occur to her. Oh, well.
|
A well built lavender skinned Tiefling enters the room, letter in hand he nods at the priestess and begins to eye his team members. This seems a rather veteran group, I may be the least seasoned in the group. I'll do my best to pull my weight. Vrothum thinks to himself. He's a very fit and well built tiefling with red eyes and bronze tipped horns, scales and claws. I am Vrothum pleasure to join you on this mission. I hope I can prove my worth, so what's the mission? Vrothum exchanges pleasantries then sits awaiting his orders.
|
A half elf entered, rather opulently dressed with a stylish Taldor beard entered the compound on a fine warhorse. "Greetings, I am Lorian, Lorian the Peacemaker" he said, addressing the priestess and paladins by their respective titles after a glance of their livery before addressing the others in turn.
"How is everyone doing today?" he asked
Looking over the assembled, he does a mental calculation on their fighting ability and to see if Ryuunosuke would be needed to help supplement the group. Seeing three powerfully built warrior types, he might just stick around to help inspire them in battle and not send his henchman on this mission.
Handing over Boris to one of the stable boys, he held up a hand as a warning "Careful, he bites. Ripped the face off a Tiefling antipaladin at the Worldwound when the Army of Exploration took Silvershore." he added when the horse looked over at Vrothum.
Jostlyn smiles slightly at Lorian's formal address, and waits for the last introductions before continuing. "I believe this is everyone. I do not know why Sorrina did not choose to brief you personally, as the Temple of Abadar has been hired to act as transport rather than as an advisor for your mission." Jostlyn hands over a satchel containing a letter from Sorrina and a number of supporting documents. "Perhaps her letter will explain. Please, follow me."
She leads the Pathfinders through the temple and down into a sub basement. She passes through several locked and guarded rooms and descends two staircases, before finally unlocking a vault that contains several small stone plinths, each containing a lockbox. Jostlyn unlocks one and carefully lifts out a golden miniature the size of a dinner plate in the shape of a circular city. She carefully hands the intricate golden miniature to one of the paladins beside her and pulls out and reads from a small scroll.
"The Vault of Absalom hereby contractually gives permission to the Members of the Pathfinder Society here present to make use of the miraculous powers of the Golden City of Tumen to travel to and return from the realm of the Master of the First Vault, thrice-blessed be his name. During their stay in Axis, the Pathfinders shall conduct themselves in a matter befitting their role as representatives of the Church of Abadar, and not bring ill repute upon it or any of its subsidiary organizations."
She turns to each Pathfinder in turn. "Do you each accept these terms and conditions?"
|
|
Lorian pondered the request as he mentally formulated his reply. "While I am not a lawyer, as you have formed the terms and conditions as a verbal contract between this group as representatives of the Pathfinders and the Church of Abadar and its subsidiary organizations, that request is rather open ended. Given that there are many subsidiary organizations of your Church, we could end up offending one aspect of the Master of the Vault while helping another." he said.
"I am sure we can work out an arraignment that is beneficial to the both of us." he added with the smile of a politician as he started to hammer out an agreement.
"A fair point, Lorian. The church of Abadar is willing to strike the subsidiary clause and restrict the contractual obligation to one of Abadar's main tenents. The spirit of the agreement is that you will follow the Laws of Axis and behave in a civilized, temperate fashion that does not reflect poorly on the church for sending you, not to try and trip you up with potential inconsistencies between subsidiary organizations. We're not the church of Asmodeus, after all." She responds with just a hint of a smile in her eyes.
"The central tenent of Abadar is to obey all meaningful laws, but not those that are unenforceable or self-contradictory. Seek to obey the spirit and the letter of those laws. As you will be traveling to Axis, the realm of law, the local laws should be observed and order kept. Please inquire with the local authorities if you are unclear about any rules or regulations you may need to follow."
"Now, is this acceptable?"
"Axis should not require any specific protective magics for a comfortable stay. You will be visting the great city of Aktun, and while it may have dangers like any other cities, you should strive not to make enemies of the local law enforcement. As to what other enemies you may face, if any, I suspect they will be specific to your mission rather than a general hazard."
"Now, when you are ready, each of you please place one hand on the Golden City of Tumen."
When the Pathfinders are ready and place their hands on the Golden City, Jostlyn speaks the command word and the the world seems to fade away, before rematerializing. The Pathfinders find themselves standing in a reception room, tastefully decorated with ornate stone benches, tables, and chairs. It overlooks an enormous circular plaza hosting the Eternal Emporium, a miles-wide expanse of colorful stalls that comprise one of the largest markets in the Great Beyond. From there waft the smells of spices, cooked meat, fresh fruits, and much more, and beings from across the multiverse are visible buying and selling all manner of goods. To the right the Pathfinders can see one of the massive gates leading into Aktun, the center of Axis and domain of Abadar, decorated with gold- and silver-traced murals. Standing atop the wall looms the Lawgiver, Abadar’s herald who takes the form of a fully armored warrior made of gold and steel.
Lorian, Vrothum, Morok and Pai feel a distinctly uncomfortable tension seeping through their mind as soon as they enter the plane.
Strongly Law-Aligned: Creatures who are not lawful aligned take a –2 penalty on all Intelligence-, Wisdom-, and Charisma-based checks.
Enhanced Magic: A spell or spell-like ability with the lawful descriptor functions as if its caster level were 2 higher.
Impeded Magic: To cast a spell or spell-like ability with the chaotic descriptor, a caster must attempt a concentration check (DC = 20 + the level of the spell). If the check fails, the spell does not function but is still lost as a prepared spell or spell slot. If the check succeeds, the spell functions normally.
In the reception room, there a creature that appears to be a miniature draft horse, approximately 5 feet long. She has dark blue metallic skin, golden eyes, and a white-shaped patch on her forehead.
She speaks, and each of you hears her voice in the language you are most comfortable speaking.
"Welcome, Welcome Clerics of Abadar to the Guesthouse of the Cage! My name is Esfir, and I will be your guide if you require assistance. It has been quite some time since visitors have come from Golarion to our realm. Please, sit and tell me the purpose of your visit and how I might be able to assist you."
|
|
Vrothum grabs his head when they arrive to the new plane, and looks to the others to see if they feel off too. He then turns to the group and shares what he knows of Hao Jin. That's at least what I've heard anyway. Does that sound right?
Vrothum keeps to himself and lets the silver younger do the talking, concerned he may be ostracized for his appearance.
|
|
"Gah! What's up with my head? Anyone else feel wonky as soon as we got here?" Pai exclaims.
She keeps shaking her head as if to get water out of her ear for a bit, until the group is greeted by the small blue horse. Whoa! Now *that's* a horse of a different color. Ha! Oh man! I just hurt my own brain with how bad that joke was! Good thing I didn't say it out loud. How embarrassing would *that* have been? *Geez!* Finally talking herself into taking this seriously, Pai responds to Esfir's greeting. "Oh, hi Esfir! Thanks for the welcome. We're doing super-duper right now, but it's just the beginning of our mission, so that might change if you ask us later, depending on how it goes. Oh, yeah, and what Sukit said. We're looking for Hao Jin. Our last intelligence says she's somewhere on the Plane of Axis. Can you help point us in the right direction?"
"I think I've heard of Hao Jin before, though it has been a long time. I would need to go and investigate. But...you are clerics of Abadar, are you not? This entryway is supposed to be for the priesthood." She looks doubtfully at Pai and the other pathfinders.
|
|
Lorian smiled a slight smile. "Clerics of Abadar? No, Representatives of the Church of Abadar? Yes." he said. "We are here to prevent the chaos that would occur if the Hao Jin Tapestry was to unravel. Our understanding has lead us here to seek out Hao Jin, also known as the Ruby Phoenix, in order to prevent it from occurring".
"Ah, I see, I see. That makes sense. I will be happy to assist you in your mission. Come, let us investigate the visitor logs."
Esfir leads the Pathfinders down to the building's ground floor and consults a large book while turning pages with Mage Hand. At last shge reaches a very old entry and concludes.
"Here: Hao Jin, a sorcerer of considerable power arrived 333 years ago, after which there’s no formal record of her having departed. This designation here indicates she received formal reprimand from the Eternal City soon afterward, and the last entry points to her performing research in the Empty Court as a guest of the axiomites.”
|
|
She looks doubtfully at Pai and the other pathfinders.
Pai gives her an innocent, wide-eyed look, as if to say: Who, me? *Never!*
-------
Piggybacking on Lorian's inquiry, she adds: "Yeah, and it may have left traces or clues that we could follow to find her." Pai's hands twitch and flutter as if they have minds of their own as she lets her mind wander for a few seconds while Esfira looks up some stuff or takes way too long to answer. (Anything longer than a second feels way too long to her right now.) Oh my gosh I have such an urge to be absolutely ridiculously silly, just when I *really* can't! Argh! As soon as I can get away with it, I wanna prank someone, or scream, or explode, or *something*!
"Hm. I don't have the details, but it just says "Threatening Planar Stability and Violation of Cosmic Law". Her case worker may know more.
As for finding her, there are numerous forms of accelerated transportation in Axis, including a host of gateways for public use. I shall take you to the most convenient one, which should take you to within sight of the Empty Court. Come.”
Esfir guides the Pathfinders out into the Eternal Emporium, along several streets and to a small rotunda where a semicircular wall partially encloses a fountain. Seven arches in the wall each have a lantern that hangs nearby, with flames that ignite and extinguish for a minute at a time. While the flame burns, creatures periodically walk into the arches and disappear, and while a given flame is out, creatures sometimes step out from that arch.
Esfir makes for the rightmost arch, and a petitioner serving as the rotunda’s custodian briefly tries to warn her about that portal before she waves the petitioner off. She explains that this portal doesn’t see much use anymore, but that it travels to within sight of the Empty Court.
"You should be able to make your way from here. Just walk through the flames when they are active and you're ready. Now, do you have any additional questions, or is there anything else I can assist you with?"
|
|
When Esfira totally shuts down the person warning them about that portal without even letting them have their full say, Pai's curiosity is piqued. "Wait, what? Is it..." ...actually safe? On a lark, she sidles over to the petitioner and, while eyeing the portal critically, quietly asks: "So what was it you were trying to say? I didn't catch it all."
Esfir nods to the group. "I'm not sure where her case manager would be found or their name, but I suspect they will find you if you go looking for Hao Jin. You should be able to return through the portal in the same way; wait for the fire and walk into it."
The Petitioner turns to Pai. "Oh! This portal goes to the Empty Court, miss. It is no longer part of Axis since the disappearance of Aroden, and may not be safe. I would not travel there unless you have business there."
|
|
Pai feels some skepticism. These sticks-up-the-back-of-their-shirts-(that's-the-nice-way-to-say-it) here might think some innocent fun pranks are "dangerous" just because they involve breaking a few rules. But then again, if that area isn't part of Axis anymore, what caused that? Clarification is definitely necessary. "So, when you say 'may not be safe', do you mean that folks might be unlawful and dangerous, or that the very fiber of the universe might cause us to be torn apart, or something like that? 'Cause that's a pretty important distinction. One of those is way easier to handle than the other. And by 'not part of Axis', do you mean in a 'the universe sundered it' type of way, or a 'folks decided not to be friends with us anymore' type of way?" Look at me! I'm thinking of questions! *Good* questions, too! I feel so smart now!
The Petitioner starts to look somewhat uncomfortable at the questioning. "Mostly in the folks being unlawful and dangerous. When Aroden died, it stopped being part of Axis proper and fell to ruin. It is no longer a lawful place, and outsiders not of Axis are living in and fighting over the area."
Esfir chimes in. "It is not particularly safe, but it shouldn't be that dangerous for a short trip. Most of it is empty, and it should be guarded. Ask for direction to Hao Jin and it should be alright. The flames will continue to work properly for your return trip, the portal will drop you off right outside the Empty Court but still in Axis."
|
|
"Oh, sure! Just wanted to get a feel for what's up where we're going. Thanks, person! Appreciate your help! Have a great day!" Pai waves jauntily at the petitioner and flies up to the portal. "Last one through's a rotten egg!--Oh wait!" She pauses a moment to activate her Water Shroud, then darts through the flames as soon as they're lit.
The gateway deposits the Pathfinders in a largely abandoned neighborhood several hundred feet from the Empty Court. Once a vast city with towering marble spires and broad crystal domes, Aroden’s realm has crumbled into a wasteland of dust and ruins. A golden wall rises around the area, with a nearby gateway guarded by two large creatures with a tentacle, three legs, a torso consisting of three torsos fused together, and a head with three faces. They are carrying Glaives.
As the Pathfinders approach, the two guards tap their Glaives on the ground, and one steps forward to speak.
"Halt, and state your business."