A summons from Eando Kline requests your presence within the Pathfinder Society Vaults.
Your adventure begins in front of a dollhouse located within the Pathfinder Society Vaults beneath the Grand Lodge in Absalom.
Collectively, you were previously briefed by Eando Kline. He informed you that the apparent toy (now before you) was given to the Pathfinder Society by Queen Anastasia of Irrisen, and that all anyone knows is that it was a relic from former Queen Elvanna, a less than scrupulous ruler. The dollhouse is magical in nature, but it is unclear what its purpose is.
The dollhouse has been in the Pathfinder Society Vaults for some time, but that the Society was unable to look into it until recently due to other pressing matters. After an incident with the night hag Aslynn, a steward noticed that the house was affected, and Eando decided it was time to investigate it. He apologized for not having any further information for them, as yours is the first group to look the dollhouse over properly since it was stored in the vaults.
After giving instruction to make whatever preparations may be needed to examine and catalogue the dollhouse, Eando sent you down here to the vault where the dollhouse is stored as a party. Eando noted that he doesn’t expect trouble, as the dollhouse’s magic has been completely dormant, though he warned that any good Pathfinder should still be prepared for trouble, just in case.
The dollhouse, which is rather massive and nearly eight feet tall, stands on top of a short but ornately carved table. The legs and base of the table have crows, dogs, cats, and other similar symbols carved into every available surface. The dollhouse itself appears to be an extravagant representation of a house in the land of endless winter. Fake snow covers its roof, and sculpted icicles hang down, glistening.
Despite its formerly rich appearance, it is clear the dollhouse has seen better days. The fake snow and ice have yellowed with age. The paint, once bright blue and white, is dull and peeling. The wooden base has darkened with time, except in a few places where it has chipped and revealed fresh wood.
The most obvious feature, though, is the missing wall. Typical of a dollhouse, it would allow access to the interior of the house for play or observation. While the rooms and several dolls can be seen inside, it looks hazy and somehow off, as if something is interfering with the transition from inside to out. The small dolls appear to be in various positions inside.
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A large dog sits before the dollhouse, staring into the hazy interior. "I'm sorry, I don't know much about magic. I think I might be here in case something goes wrong. Hello, I'm Artemios."
Aside from the speech, there's something about the way the dog carries himself that sets him apart from a normal animal. The look of his eyes is particularly striking.
Of course, the first clues are probably the armor, and the greatsword strapped to his back.
Also perched on his back is a small cat. The cat is also clearly atypical, a paw holding open a large leather book as the other adjusts her spectacles.
Artemios recalls that Irrisen welcomed a new ruler several years ago; she is Queen Anastasia. The former ruler, Queen Elvanna, was rumored to have been taken away by her mother, Baba Yaga.
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Savan studies the large dog with some trepidation. Easy the catfolk thinks to himself.
He turns to examine the dollhouse, his geniekin eyes shifting from a bright orange to a cold stone-gray. "This was just sitting in the vaults for years? A gift from a queen? And now it's somehow activated?"
He straightens, shouldering his rifle. "Sorry, I'm Savan. What do you think it does?"
Savan's recollection concurs with that of Artemios. Several years ago, Irrisen welcomed a new ruler, Queen Anastasia. The former ruler, Queen Elvanna, was rumored to have been taken away by her mother, Baba Yaga.
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The hooded grey scaled lizardfolk stayed quiet until now. He hasn't much to say indeed and he knows he's not good at speaking. His leather lamellar and a whip at the belt are the only items which betray his martial condition.
Finally he introduces himself. My name's Zdenek. I'm not a kind of wizard and can't help here. Not sure I was the most suitable to summon here.
As soon as one of the Pathfinder's nose interacts with the dollhouse physically, even if the others don’t touch it themselves, some sort of magic is activated. There is little fanfare; one moment, the Pathfinders are standing outside, and the next they are... somewhere else.
The experience is a bit jarring and leaves them disoriented for a moment. Now, the Pathfinders find themselves within a grand foyer. A tumbleweed trundles along. A second look reveals this is not a tumbleweed but an oversized dust ball.
This grand foyer is not as majestic as it once was. Large flakes of bright paint peel off the walls. Dust covers wooden carvings and ornaments that are all just slightly too large for the cabinets they sit on. A dry staleness fills the air. The most notable feature is the lack of an eastern wall. Beyond it, the Pathfinder Society Vaults are visible, albeit appearing much larger than they were a few seconds ago.
You realize that you are all in the dollhouse. The entire party has shrunk down and been teleported inside. From your vantage point, upi can see the vaults outside where you had just been standing, but you cannot pass through the missing wall by any means. Indeed, nothing passes through the wall including sound or magic, meaning the Pathfinders are on their own.
What’s this? What have you done?
The lizardfolk looks around to find an escape.
"Are you talking to me? " inquires a voice from behind a nearby display case. "I didn't realize that anyone else was here."
From behind the case, appears a stuffed sloth holding a broom. She smiles warmly as she approaches. “Hello, visitors. Guests. Friends. It’s been so long since we’ve seen anyone else. My fellow workers have become hopeless over our lack of purpose, but not me. I knew someone would come eventually. You can help renew our reasons for being here.”
A frown flashes across her face for the briefest second before she softens, her voice bubbling with enthusiasm. “Or maybe you could even help us finally leave this place! The Warden wouldn’t listen to me, but maybe she’ll listen to you. Or better yet, you can help gather everyone, and show them there’s a world outside. We’ll need to enlist as many as possible to our cause to even have a chance of gaining an audience with The Warden, but I think it might work. That is, if you’re willing to help.” Her button eyes stare longingly at the open wall. “Forgive me. I am Sweeper, a janitor of sorts around here, not of much importance, but I know everyone and everything. Pleased to meet you.”
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"Oh. Uh, right! I told you I'd sniff it out."
Artemios nods. "Hello Sweeper, we're representatives of the Pathfinder Society. We've been asked to look into this dollhouse, which was entrusted to us by the queen. But, uh... this house belonged to the previous queen, and she doesn't know what it's for. What is the reason you're here?"
That seems a good question to start with.
"Can you tell us who else we might find here?"
"Why you will find other awakened Poppets here in the dollhouse." Sweeper declares. "They were originally created to take care of a number of former prisoners. Some time ago, they all woke up to find the prisoners missing. With nothing else to do, they continued to do their jobs."
Artemios nods. "Hello Sweeper, we're representatives of the Pathfinder Society. We've been asked to look into this dollhouse, which was entrusted to us by the queen. But, uh... this house belonged to the previous queen, and she doesn't know what it's for. What is the reason you're here?"
"I am the janitor." Sweeper declares. "I am sorry everything’s in such a messy state. I try my best to keep it clean." The Poppet sighs. "Though, I admit that I have long dreamed of leaving the dollhouse. "
Alarmed at their transformation, Savan checks his rifle and ammunition. He finds that everything is in order and breathes a sigh of relief. He turns to their greeter. "Who is the 'The Warden'? You say that others don't know they're in a dollhouse?"
"Oh, the others know they're in a dollhouse." Sweeper replies, nodding emphatically. "They just don't seem to believe that there is a good reason to leave."
"I, on the other hand, think I would like to leave." Sweeper continues. "Cleaning up in here has gotten boring, and I can see there is a world on the other side of these walls. There must be things to do out there, but this house is the only place I’ve ever known. No, I’m sure I want to leave. The others, well, it’s not so straightforward. I can tell you that none of them are happy here. Most of them liked their old jobs, but with no prisoners to take care of, we’ve all become a bit lost; forlorn, even. Still, everyone is afraid of The Warden. They keep pretending to do their work, just to keep her from lashing out at us."
“You see, this house used to be a prison." Sweeper explains. "The prisoners all disappeared one day, but The Warden has stayed in charge ever since. She’s not the nicest person, but I think she’s just sad because she has no purpose anymore. She makes sure we keep working, but she mostly stays locked away in her office. She controls all the magic in here. If anyone could open the wall, that’s who it would be, but it would be pretty hard to convince her to do it. As long as we are all doing our jobs, it gives her some reason for maintaining her control of the prison.”
"Yet, I can tell you that none of the other Poppets are happy here." She opines. "Most of them liked their old jobs, but with no prisoners to take care of, we’ve all become a bit lost; forlorn, even. Still, everyone is afraid of The Warden. They keep pretending to do their work, just to keep her from lashing out at us."
"“If we convinced everyone that we were all going to stand up to her together, they might listen. The strength of the whole team standing together could be just the push they all need, and it might even be enough to get her to listen." says Sweeper. "Ya know what? I think this will work. Now all we have to do is convince everyone to join us.”
"Would you like to meet the others? " asks Sweeper. "I can accompany you around the dollhouse, make some suggests if I think of any. What do you say?"
We follow you. We will convinced your warden. What's this way ?
"That is the sitting room." informs Sweeper.
"But everyone here is friendly, right? I mean, you all know each other, so if you introduce us, there's no reason for them to be hostile, right?" Savan nods at Zdenek's suggestion to move into the larger room.
"All those that I see regularly are friendly," Sweeper concedes. "We may not agree on everything all the time, but I don't believe any of them would be hostile." The Poppet ponders for a moment, then adds, "The Warden is not the nicest person, but admittedly I haven't seen her in some time. I think she may be sad or upset. But, sometimes, people act none too friendly when they are upset."
"As for the others, I would be happy to introduce you to them!" She declares.
Ironwolf follows. "This is wrong. Holding beings against their will is wrong."
"The only way I can think of to possibly leave is to get the Warden to allow us to pass. And I think she is more likely to grant such a request if it came from a lot of us." Sweeper notes. "Shall we go talk with the others?”
But... didn't the dollhouse belong to the previous queen?
"How long have you been trapped in here?"
“It’s hard for me to answer that question."[/b] Sweeper concedes. "One on hand, I am quite sure we have all been here for more weeks than there are bristles on my broom. I would guess a hundred years, give or take. On the other hand, things were much more routine for a long time, and I barely remember that period. Something changed maybe a year ago. I feel more—er— free, I guess. I mean, I’m still trapped in a prison meant for someone else, but I feel freer. More alive, I guess.”
Entering the sitting room , the party finds that the wooden chairs and sofas that line this room are all slightly bigger than they should be. A heavy layer of dust coats everything except for a well-worn circle around the perimeter.
A figure appearing to be a stylized wooden Ulfen warrior with a large wind-up key in his back paces through this circle.
"That is Tartan," Sweeper discreetly informs the party. "Since the prisoners left, he mostly paces this room out of boredom."
Hello Tartan. It’s time to leave from here.
The lizardfolk stays in the distance.
Tartan stops pacing for a moment, then slowly looks around to identify the speaker. "Time to leave?" Tartan repeats. His tone is friendly and warm, if a bit lethargic. "That would be more exciting than simply pacing all the time. And we could definitely use something exciting to happen around here."
The wind-up Poppet then droops a bit. "But, how do you plan to do that?"
An impressive leap and admirable tumble catch Tartan's interest, though Areeza's words have little influence.
Areeza tries to explain how much better life is outside the dollhouse.
"Even if life outside were better, would it be safer?" Tartan inquires, clearly worried about the safety of the outside world.
"Besides, getting outside would likely require some doing by the Warden," the Poppet continues. "and getting her to do something like that has got to be difficult."
"Come now, there's lots of you to see in the world. Have you ever even seen a rifle like this?" Savan spins the rifle around his arm, catching it with sharp movement, snapping it vertically, then twirling it again in a silent drill.
"Yes! Well done! Very impressive!" Tartan cheers.
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“On the other hand, things were much more routine for a long time, and I barely remember that period. Something changed maybe a year ago. I feel more—er— free, I guess. I mean, I’m still trapped in a prison meant for someone else, but I feel freer. More alive, I guess.”
"Oh! I think that's normal for poppets," says Nadia, Artemios's awakened cat chronicler "Wizards make you for simple labor. You're not really supposed to have thoughts or feelings at all, but sometimes the magic just... grows."
"We had similar experiences!" says Artemios, "Though not quite the same. Obviously."
...was that obvious? If Sweeper had never been conscious while outside the dollhouse, she might not have ever seen a non-awakened animal.
In the sitting room, Artemios is excited to play on the oversized furniture. He bounds from the chair to the sofa to the wall, where he nearly crashes (intentionally, though he tries to keep that from being obvious to Tartan).
"Whoa! Not a lot of room to run around in here. This place is so small! I can't wait to get out of here so I can stretch and move properly."
"Very subtle," Nadia chides.
"Oh! I think that's normal for poppets," says Nadia, Artemios's awakened cat chronicler "Wizards make you for simple labor. You're not really supposed to have thoughts or feelings at all, but sometimes the magic just... grows."
"We had similar experiences!" says Artemios, "Though not quite the same. Obviously."
"You may be on to something," Tartan agrees. "Some random burst of magic seemed to wake all of them up, but then it seems that I became even more bored after that."
Seeing the Pathfinders engaging in flips and jumps, Tartan cannot help but join in. "What fun! What excitement!" The wind-up Poppet declares, mid-bound.
"If the outside world is at least as interesting as the lot of you, then I am completely behind the idea of speaking with the Warden." Tartan concedes, before muttering, "I just hope the plan to convince her isn't too ambitious."
The party heads to another room .
"That is the recreation room," Sweeper explains. "It was formerly used to give prisoners limited time out of their cells."
"Here, let me get the door for you," Sweeper offers. "You are welcome to check the room, but it should be unoccupied."
As Sweeper pushes open the door, however, she is proven wrong. Four mice, which appears several times larger than they should be, appear to be at home here.
Mice now revealed on map on Slides.
Sweeper ducks off to the side of the opening, as the mice take notice of the newcomers. The Poppet quickly hides, as she is not built for fighting.
NOT ANOTHER DOLL MOMENT! - Round One Begins!
Savan
Artemios
Zdenek
Mouse (white
Areeza
Grannik
Mouse (blue)
Mouse (black)
Ironwolf
Mouse (red)
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"But why didn't the mice shrink?"
They could probably just... close the door. But this might be a great opportunity for the Pathfinders to prove their competence to the poppets.
Drawing his sword, which gleams brighter then one would expect in this lighting, he bounds towards the nearest mouse and slices at it.
The red blood of the wound mixes with something gold and forms a distinctive mark over the cut.
Artemios slices into one of the mice . Zdenek joins the fray, tumbling past the mouse and finishing the rodent off.
NOT ANOTHER DOLL MOMENT! - Round One Cont'd!
Savan
Artemios
Zdenek
Mouse (white)
Areeza
Grannik
Mouse (blue)
Mouse (black) -20
Ironwolf (shield raised)
Mouse (red)
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At the sound of battle, Savan unslings his rifle and his eyes dance with sparks of electricity. He darts in with his rifle at the ready, suddenly feeling a bit like a toy soldier. At least I don't have a funny hat.
The gunslinger levels his rifle at the mouse in front of him and fires in a loud explosion. His years of training kick in and he immediately reloads his rifle as he watches the mouse react to the shot.