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You travel to Lastwall, where you meet with the Venture-Captain Shevar Besnik in the back room of the Ace of Dreams, a gambling house that serves as the Pathfinder Society’s Uscalin Lodge.
Loud and raucous conversation filters through the door from the common room of the Uscalin Lodge, which doubles as the Ace of Dreams gambling house. I know it’s here. I had it just a moment ago. Venture-Captain Shevar Besnik lifts piles of papers and numerous boxes off of his desk, stacking them on various side tables and chairs in his clean but overly cluttered office. The tall, Varisian man’s face parts in a toothy grin as he lifts up a solid oak box. Found it! As if to punctuate his discovery, a crowd of players in the gambling hall erupts in cheers.
Distracted for a moment, Besnik stares at the closed office door that leads to the common room. Desna laughs. Well, she laughs at me, but she smiles on them. The venture captain shrugs. All they have is gold; what I have in here is far more valuable.
Besnik opens the box’s lid painstakingly slowly, careful to keep the contents out of sight. With reverence, he lifts a large tome from the box and gently sets it on the table. Careful, the binding hasn’t held up well. This is one of the few Tomes of Righteous Repose left in the world. I’m pretty sure there’s one in the library of the Sancta Iomedaea in Vigil, but I’m—well, let’s just say I’m no longer welcome there. That’s a story for another time.
Up until today, I’ve only skimmed the pages. I didn’t want to damage it, but now that you’re here, I can’t wait any longer. Care to plumb the depths of this most ancient and wonderful storybook? Oh, the marvelous adventures we will soon read! This tome is a collection of tales describing how various crusaders died gloriously and honorably. I’m hoping to find some clues in the text that will lead us to an as-of-yet undiscovered site or relic. Maybe we can trade a bit of what we find with the Knights of Ozem and earn ourselves some goodwill. After what happened last time, we need it.
Care to peruse the pages with me?
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"You called the right person. As a skald I collect stories, the wilder the better, even better when there is a hidden lesson."
With a drumroll on his breastplate he calls out "Lets get to it then!" Apparently he is as excited and anxious to plumb the mysteries of the book as the venture captain.
Syllyn is crimson crested lizard man with breastplate armor, a heavy looking shield, and an adamantine scimitar. His hands are in constant motion, rapping out rhythms on his belt, shield, breastplate, table, whatever is at hand.
"Huzzah!" shouts the mysterious warrior known only as The Shining Knight. With his gleaming full plate armor and glowing sword, he looks like chivalric hero from legend--just like one might imagine would appear in a tale from the Tome of Righteous Repose!
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Stepping through the door of the back room of the Ace of Dreams, a four foot nine Tengu, wearing a dark emerald robe, a grass hat laced with ribbons, Darkleaf Lamellar armor bristling with blades and a pair of goggles magnifying his yellow eyes to comic proportions. Moving to where the Venture-Captain stood with the box, ting watches Bsenik open the box and remove the book.
Cocking his head at the 'Captain's' question, ting shifts from standing on one foot, to the other, listening as the others answers. He looks from the lizard man to the two humans, shifting his feet again. Realizing Bsenic was looking towards him, ting speaks up his voice sounding somewhere between the caw of a crow and the sound of fingernails on a slate schoolroom board. "Names, Ting Tang, I's ain't much fer readin, but me Pappy taught me’s skills Pathfiners fine ‘elpful,"
Moving closer he raises his head and looks around. Making the eucalyptus tree shaped scar on his cracked and crooked beak visible. He nods towards the book, "An I's loike's bein’ ‘elpful, specially when a ‘ittle sparkly’s ‘vailable, Wroight?" He shrughs, "I’s got’s a way wit traps’s an locks’. I’s do ok’s wit findin’ me way around out o’ doors and I’s ain’t afraid o’ a ruckus, if’n ya catch me meanin’ wroight!”
Cocking his head as he looks at the team, lulling his tongue out of his open beak in a tengu smile he adds.""So's if'n 'at books a gonna lead us to's yer as-o'-yet un-covered site er relicy-thingy, I's would be's more 'an 'appy ta goes along, wroight."
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"So it's true," breathes a Gnomish woman presently at perfect eye-level with the Tome, her stunning opalescent eyes widening as though some tiny otherworldly were about to come out of them.
She cuts a rather strange figure, to be honest: She is short even by Gnomish standards, and her faintly-lilac skin and auburn hair are rather drab, though her eyes make up for it with a gleam that seems to be more than just reflective.
Hanging by her side is a dark-colored book of fine and exotic materials that easily rivals the Tome for size and grandeur (and the binding is in much better shape!). She wears a breastplate studded in semiprecious stones over aristocratic finery that bears evidence of both Ustalavic and Osirian fashion, and into which numerous tiny trinkets, tassels, and charms of unguessable significance have been sewn, stuffed, precariously balanced, and otherwise attached.
All this is topped off with a heavy amulet and an exceptionally striking hat - a sort of tall, deep-purple fez - both bearing a similar symbol: A scarab beetle inset with a stylized eye, intricately constructed from a combination of precious metals and stones, like a modern foreigner's amateurly-informed-but-technically-skilled attempt to replicate certain Ancient Osirian symbols of power. While the version on her hat seems more stylized, the one comprising her amulet looks much more realistic.
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"Are you a member of The Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye,might I ask? I collect lore so I would love to hear your views and opinions."
It takes her a moment to even be aware of the inquiry, but with a start, she turns her head partways to Syllyn (she still seems keen to keep one eye on the Tome, almost as if she fears it would otherwise cease to be).
"Oh, yes - I am Alexis Trismegistis, True Silvered Throne of the Order, and one of the quickest to ever attain that rank, in fact! I was with the Order even before the Society. It's strange, really; everyone I originally spoke with about it assured me that initiation into the Pathfinder Society was much easier than the Palatine Eye, yet I'd not found such to be the case at all! What did you wish to know?"
The Shining Knight looks around with a wide smile, flashing his perfectly symmetrical white teeth. He claps his fellow agents heartily on the back. "Even before the tome is opened, your own tales of valor fill me with reflected glory and a lust for adventure!"
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Shifting uncomfortably as he pauses to look at the gnomes amulet, Ting doesn't take his eyes off the amulet as the Lizard man and the gnome named Alexis talk. Convinced the amulet was moving on its own accord, ting hears the human address him. Turning towards man, he recognizes the family resemblance of his fellow pathfinder, Goran.
Lulling his tongue in a tengu smile he extends a talon to shake the clerics hand. "I's'l be a floggin' speckled 'en-hatcher, you's is bloody well 'is exact image." Shaking his head, "Floggin' waste, 'at was, 'ow's is you's supposed ta pick up a 'ole bloody building, wroight."
Pausing for a second, he looks from the handsome human to the other human, then the lizard man and finally the dwarf. "'An yer names is?"
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With a serpentine hiss, he take a brief break from his discussions on esoteric orders and responds (to Ting) "Sssyllllyn but you cand all me Syllyn"
To Alexis he says "Anything you care to offer. What is the purpose of the order. What missions have you gone on for them, or do they missions? Where are they located? Anything!"
"Curious!" he adds for no apparent reason though he does seem to be staring quite intently at the amulet.
"But perhaps all that should wait. We have a briefing to get through here. Please tell me more about this tome, Captain."
for information he might provide on the tome.
for information he might provide on lastwall.
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The last member of the party is a muscular dwarf in a basic yet a little exotic outfit (sandals, breeches and a loose shirt, bound together with sashes). His hair, beard and skin are light brown - nearly the same tone as his clothes. The dwarf is wearing a (holy?) symbol that seems to be a tiny stone dagger. He also has a few uncommon weapons: three sticks made of cold iron that are connected by short chains, another one made of adamantine, and also a sword with several branches.
"Hello. I am Baldrum Battlehand."
Huh? A moving amulet? Fascinating... I don't know anything about that symbol, though.
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What you know:
Rellakarabee Fustbickle is a gnome poet, known mostly among literary scholars. His subject matter revolves around heroic figures and tragic deaths. His style is too melodramatic to gain significant acclaim, though he is popular in some circles.
Fustbickle based his poems on true stories from the Shining Crusade. However, the finer details are ambiguous at best. Rumors suggest he was on speaking terms with the mortal Iomedae.
Lastwall was established in 3828 ar, when it seceded from Taldor. It is a military dictatorship, primary focused on keeping the Whispering Tyrant locked away and the orc hordes of Belkzen at bay.
Lastwall originated from the remnants of crusaders living in the area after the conclusion of the Shining Crusade, the great war against the evil wizard-king Tar-Baphon (also known as the Whispering Tyrant, who rose after his death as a lich).
Lately, Lastwall has had to recruit less pious individuals to fill its ranks. On the borders, followers of Gorum and Kurgess are more common than paladins of Iomedae and Sarenrae.
As you peruse the book, you come across a significant piece of art next to one of the poems in the Tome of Righteous Repose. The piece depicts three samurai in a Minkai art style.
The Venture-Captain jolts upright. Minkai art! Let’s see, the Minkai Empire was founded in 3619, and the empire’s first explorers didn’t reach the west coast of the continent until at least 3691 ar, which leaves only sixty years before the beginning of the Shining Crusade itself. These women could have been among the first Minkai citizens to reach the Inner Sea! Let’s see, what secrets does the poem on this page hold?
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Nodding the lizard man, ting responds, "a pleasure Syllyn" then towards the muscular dwarf, "An' you's too Baldrum!"
Watching as the book is opened, he cocks his head and follows the turning of the pages with his beak. As the Venture Captain bolts upright, ting steps back, slightly startled. His eyes falling to the image that had startled the captain, ting looks at the three samurai, nodding his beak, "''em's er bloody-well fine lookin' blades, wroight?"
"Ah, armored warriors from an exotic land--and female ones, no less! Surely they will face grave dangers. Perhaps a noble knight will appear in the poem to save these damsels in distress!"
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The Venture Captain does so.
Besnik smiles reassuringly. We may not be able to read every word of this poem, but what we can read is more than enough to tell us that we need to investigate this site. What is clear to me is that the poem references some sort of protection against the Whispering Tyrant. The Knights of Ozem have always been secretive about the many and varied ways they keep that old lich locked away in Gallowspire, even among themselves. It’s possible that they have no idea this particular protection exists. Whatever Gydular is, it must be important.
Roll Knowledge Arcana, History or Religion, followed by Knowledge History, Local or Religion
"Fascinating, indeed! Well, I for one am ready to depart this very instant! I'm sure some of my learned allies who actually read books will be able to add a tidbit or two on the way . . ."
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Alexis pores over the page before slumping back in her seat with an unhappy expression. "What terrible poetry; I'm disappointed."
Looking back up at the Venture-Captain, she adds, "Well, it sound sound as though 'Gydular' is a place, wouldn't it? A place known for regular snow...well, unless perhaps it was someone with white hair, like an elderly Human, or perhaps a confectioner hiding treasure beneath mounds of flour and sugar, you know my Grand-Uncle-Twice-Removed Oswald Eohippus Mandolinoclast Von Yggdrasil once found a Gem of Brightness at the bottom of an apple-barrel he was able to use to bargain his way past a great and terrible witch's sightless undead doorman, or so he told me, it was so long ago and he was getting on in years himself...."
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Nodding in agreement with 'The Shining Knight' Ting turns towards Alexis as she begins to talk. He cocks his head, shifting from one leg to the other, slightly confused by the gnome's stream of consciousness. Eventually he turns towards the Venture Captain, "Tha Shiney blokes wroight, we's should bloody-well try's an' find 'is place, wroight."
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What you know:
Virlych is a desolate, mountainous county of Ustalav where nothing natural lives. The weather is punishing and the ground rocky. Travelers do sometimes pass through the accursed land, though.
Gallowspire is the Whispering Tyrant’s former fortress. When the Knights of Ozem imprisoned him there in 3827 ar, it marked the end of the Shining Crusade. They placed numerous secret wards and protections over his prison so that he could never escape.
The forces of Lastwall no longer have a direct presence there, having been expelled by cultists and the unholy presence of the Whispering Tyrant, even in dormancy.
To keep the Whispering Tyrant locked away, the Shining Crusade implemented a layered defense. Even if one line of defenses fails, there are several others keeping his immortal powers at bay.
The Knights of Ozem have compartmentalized knowledge of the locks on Tar-Baphon’s magical prison. This removes the threat of any one Knight becoming compromised and allowing an enemy to gain knowledge of all the prison’s safeguards.
Compartmentalized protection comes at a cost; if secrets are not passed down, then future generations will not know how to keep the lich imprisoned. Multiple layers of protection have been lost during the centuries following the Shining Crusade.
You can now attempt to discern the location of the ruin from Fustbickle’s poem. Make a Knowledge (geography) check or Survival check
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As soon as it is clear that Ting will make the attempt to 'trimutalate' the location on a map, Baldrum will ask him if he is allowed to help in several ways:
1) He casts guidance on himself and Ting.
2) He uses his Blessing of the Faithful on Ting.
3) He attempts to aid:
"I have faith in you, Ting."
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Ting gets help but doesn't really need it. ((The DC was well exceeded)). Gydular’s Point was once a famous peak in the Hungry Mountains, as the view it provided of the surrounding area was both majestic and militarily strategic. In 4187 ar, a powerful earthquake crumbled the peak, leaving massive slabs of jagged rock that locals renamed the Greyshards.
Besnik digs through his office and finds items to give you that may help you on your adventure: a traveler’s any-tool, a wand of cure serious wounds (5 charges), and a wand of protection from evil (7 charges). He also adds six flasks of holy water, one scroll of lesser restoration, two potions of lesser restoration and one soul stimulant
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Looking at the provided map ting cocks his head, almost turning it upside down, he must place his claw on his conical Sedge-grass hat to keep it from falling off. Eventually he straightens up, he places a talon on a spot in in the Hungry Mountains, a once famous peak called Gydular’s Point. "We's is 'eaded 'ear, wroight." Lulling his tongue in a tengu smile, he asks "So's when's is we bloody-well leavin'?
"Ah yes, good lad!" says The Shining Knight, patting Ting Tang on the back. "I suggest we leave directly. A world of adventure awaits . . . and three fair maidens!" It seems The Shining Knight is a little confused about the difference between what happened in the poem and reality.
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Once you have everything you need, you set off ((if you wish to purchase stuff, now is the time)).
As you travel through the lifeless Hungry Mountains in Virlych toward your destination, a drizzle transforms into an ever more aggressive snowstorm, as if the weather itself were keeping you away, and strange whispers fill the air. As a small consolation, the tedious climb is shallow enough that you are not exposed to the dangers of altitude sickness. Eventually, you find a toppled obelisk on a peak marking the entrance to the underground fortress. A staircase descends 30 feet into the mountainside.
In this room, a maze of sprung traps obstructs this large entrance hall. Blades, spikes, blast marks, and bones litter the ground. Carved holy symbols of Aroden, Sarenrae, and Pharasma cover the walls, but many of them have been vandalized.
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Moving carefully into the underground fortress and down the stairdase into the mountainside, Ting draws his exotic bastard sword, Moving carefully into the large entrance hall. As he carefully moves about looking from the graphiti on the wall towards the sprug traps, he comments, "Looks loike we's is not tha foist floggin' pathy'finders' ta come filchin' wroight."
"So many traps . . . dreadful things, I daresay! Never fond of the idea, myself. Face a man as a man, sword in hand! Let the sweat of one's brow and the courage of one's heart win the day--not some gnome's workshop tinkering!"
Striding boldly into the rectangular chamber, The Shining Knight looks around for anything of interest.