Yarr. Game is played here. Feel free to read the handout on the slides and introduce yourselves and engage in light roleplaying as desired.
Upon official start you'll all be arriving in Aspenthar.
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A well dressed man, a gentleman's gentleman, disembarks from the ship. His manner was graceful as he allowed the more important guests to leave first, but still ensured his own departure predates those who travelled steerage.
Once ashore he helps others with their luggage before looking around to try and locate the rest of the Pathfinder team he has been assigned to help.
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Targoth Blastforge unloads the ship the same way he's done everything else this trip, with military precision.
Dressed in an immaculate military uniform from Iolite, the only marring of which is the missing patches.
Criss-crossed with a couple of bandoleers of glass and metal bottles, Targoth's only soft spot appears in the form of a crow which he calls Crow, but shows great affection for.
Each of you receives a letter from Ambrus Valsin requesting your presence in the Thuvian city of Aspenthar.
Arriving in Aspenthar you find the streets showcase the trappings of wealth and militarization in equal measure. The main road cutting through the heart of the city is patterned with brilliant mosaic stonework, and to each side are seemingly endless rows of proud and opulent structures.
The neatly ordered streets give way to the city’s chaotic and bustling docks, where a Garundi woman waits wearing subtle but expensive-looking clothing. She extends her hands in a grand welcoming gesture.
“Welcome, Pathfinders. I am Gol Amri. I greet you as a representative of the great Prince Zinlo. Let us conduct our business! I am sure you are eager to search for hidden treasures, and I wish you no delay.”
Valeros joins as well smiling and drinking from his mug.
You all are familiar with Prince Zinlo whom is known to be ambitious but also has a reputation for fairness, honesty, and benevolence.
Gol nods "I am not personally familiar with the guide but I have been assured that Sefu Moyo, your Dwarven guide, is up the utmost quality as the Prince would give nothing less. Although I would have thought they should have honored us by arriving at a suitable time."
Gol looks around with a bit of annoyance, clearly having expected your guide to be here already.
Before they have a chance to get too annoyed a dark skinned Mwangi Dwarf with bright pink hair arrives.
Seeing Gol's frown, he smiles and starts talking before any sort of reprimand can come out."Ahh, you must be the Pathfinders. I am Sefum and I will be your guide today. Come we have about an hour of walking to get to the site, and I'm sure the Prince's treasured servant Gol Amri has better things to do than stand in the street and talk with us. So please finish your business with them and we will be on our way."
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Slightly suspicious, Jeeves peers at the man. He has had under-servants try to fob him off with their friends before.
"My good dwarf, I assume you have some form of identification? If you would be so good as to provide your credentials then we may be off forthwith! What can you tell us of the site and the route there?"
ID cards aren't really a common thing in Golarion but Gol looks to you "One moment, and I will confirm their identify."
Gol pulls Sefu Moyo aside and after a brief conversation Gol presents them "This is indeed Sefu Moyo, the guide I am to introduce you to."
Sefu shrugs and smiles "I think it's unlikely that anyone knows what's in the site but you've got a 60ft climb. Mr Valsin sent me a short list of supplies to provide you with, which I've got in this crate, most notably a 60ft rope latter and plenty of metal anchors. I wouldn't expect any trouble on the way to the site, but if you didn't already have me to show you to it, it's be harder to find than Cayden's Sobriety coin."
Sefu shakes their head "Mr. Valsin did not include any light sources among the supplies."
It's easy enough to get any supplies needed. Eventually.
Sefu marches along the waterside edge of Aspenthar, leaving the city and continuing on for nearly an hour to a seemingly unremarkable stretch of land bordered by a cliffside overlook of the Inner Sea. T
he terrain grows gradually steeper, and by the time Sefu motions to stop, he stands in the biting wind as large waves crash and rumble against the cliff. Leaning through the biting wind, Sefu points downward to a barely visible landing that juts out from the cliff face, about sixty feet down. He grunts lightly. “It’s not exactly what I’d call a fun climb, but that’s the site down there. Mr. Valsin said you'd need to secure the ladder here to make it possible for the full exploration team to enter safely.”
It looks to be a somewhat challenging climb and the winds and spray from the crashing waves below do not do you any favors.
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Hearing Targorth, Jeeves sighs. But spying the mans wayfinder nods, an improved thought coming into his head. "I have been meaning to acquire such a device. That would be better than a crystal."
Jeeves holds onto his hat with one hand, and takes a suriptitous swig from a bottle with the other as he gazes out over the clifftops.
"My good man, providing a means for one's master to ascend or descent in a dignified manner should be part of everyone's training. "
He looks around for a good spot to anchor the ladder at the top.
"I am willing to make the descent to try and secure the bottom. But I think attaching a rope to myself and having one of you solid fellow hold on to it may prove advantageous if a rogue gust of wind should knock me from my grip."
There's a nice spot to anchor the top of the rope ladder here that lines up nicely with the site down below and seems stable enough.
Valeros nods and winks "I've climbed a few things in my day. Want me to climb down with you. Looks like it'll take two of us to get that ladder attached, or would you rather me help lower you down first? Or maybe Rogue should go down? Lots of choices, and am flexible."
Valeros poses a bit.
No sign of things having been anchored here before, just enough solid but not overly hard rock to find good anchor point
Valeros helps make sure the top is secure as Percival heads down.
Pervical makes it about 20 feet down (3rd of the way).
Valeros shouts back "Sounds good!"
The middle 3rd of the climb is certainty harder than the first part, with more spray and some smoother rocks but Percival continues to make progress.
The good news is, the rocks seem a little more textured in the bottom 3rd but still covered in spray.
Percival gets down to the bottom without incident. From there you can see a short path over to the site, and relativly calm water and a small beach.
Valeros looks to Rogue the Rogue "You want to hold or climb? I'm happy to go either way" winks Valeros.
Valeros secures the top as Rogue the Rogue heads down.
The climb doesn't seem too bad, Rogue gets about 1/3rd of the way down without incident before approaching the hardest part of the climb.
Rogue barely gets through the toughest middle 3rd without slipping, but gets there without any danger.
While nothing surprising has happened yet, a sense of paranoid anxiety begins to creep in.
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Outside the cave, Jeeves holds the ladder as he watches Rogue descend the last bit of the climb. The feeling of being watched sends a small shiver down his spine and he pauses for a moment to take a small nip of something refreshing from a small bottle tucked into his waistcoast.
He then takes a moment to light his wayfinder and peer into the cave entrance before returning a calm gaze to the descending form of Rogue.
"Oh good progress. You are almost done."
A stone path rises and then descends back away from the water, curving out of sight before revealing anything interesting although the site itself seems like it must be below the current water level.
With Rogue reaching the bottom, the party is shocked to find nothing surprizing happen.
It's easy enough for Rogue and Percival to secure the ladder which allows the rest of the party to climb down without trouble.
From there it's easy to head into the cave, you quickly run out of natural light and have to provide your own. The path curves down into an increasingly large cave with an ancient complex opening up before you eventually.
Much of it seems ruined, but you can make an immediate right turn into an ancient room where scattered bits of ancient armor lie discarded haphazardly around the room.
Ancient tools, some plainly built for alchemy or armor maintenance and others much less clear in origin, are stored on shelves along the walls, which are adorned with carvings of figures in ornate plate armor.
Valeros looks around as well.
Looking through the debris you're certainty a little confused, Ancient Osirian armor tended to be light and the carvings here are of heavy plate.
No obvious answers to the questions raised here, but maybe you can learn more to the south.
Heading south you find several small rooms lineing this long hall, each containing the by-products of ancient alchemical experiments or broken mechanical devices.
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Percival inspects the alchemical implements with interest. Well, he gives a few of the old beakers a sniff, wrinkling his nose. "It's Not Jim Beam." he says as he works his way through the site.
"Alchemical equipment here, out of style armor there. This is starting to feel more like a museum or a set-up than a genuine site..."