A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 5th- through 8th-level characters.
While the city-states of Iblydos have a long, storied history, the Pathfinder Society has little connection and fewer resources in that part of Golarion. Thus, when Venture-Captain Calisro Bennary has the opportunity to get a lodge set up in Hoimpeia, one of the chief port cities, she races back to Absalom to collect veteran agents for the task. Her contact isn't giving connections and a site for a lodge away for free. Something has been harassing shipping, and while the authorities are happy to let merchants take a longer route, the change has cost a particular merchant dearly. If the Pathfinders can clear up the shipping lanes, the merchant will move heaven and earth to get them a foothold in Iblydos.
You begin the adventure after docking in Hoimpeia, having just arrived on the Glorious Payoff. Their journey across the Obari Ocean began after receiving urgent orders from Venture- Captain Ambrus Valsin:
Hail Pathfinders,
I have a mission that requires agents with your skill and experience. Venture-Captain Calisro Benarry nearly knocked down my door, bearing urgent news from the nation of Iblydos. Per her report, raids have disrupted trade between Casmaron and Hoimpeia, an important port city. Benarry’s contact in Iblydos promises to help the Pathfinder Society gain a foothold in the area in return for stopping these attacks.
Rendezvous with the venture-captain on her ship, the Glorious Payoff. She sets sail as soon as you arrive. We have little information on this nation or its customs, so follow Benarry’s lead. She’s one of the few Pathfinder agents to make the journey to this archipelago.
We cannot miss this opportunity to earn the respect of a potential new ally.
Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin
After you rendezvoused with Calisro Benarry then set sail at a furious pace to this strange, beautiful archipelago. The entire journey so far has been a blur of shouted orders, eating standing meals, and sleeping only a few hours per day, but otherwise uneventful.
Now, lush green mountains rolling across the horizon herald the first sight of the Iblydan isles. As the Glorious Payoff sails east, cities nestled within the valleys along the rocky coastlines come into view.
Even with Calisro extolling the crew for more speed, they regularly pause to admire the tall gray cliffs and white sand beaches of the inlets and harbors. A steady stream of ships from all over Golarion put into Iblydos’s western ports, but as the Payoff approaches Pol-Hoimpeia, the eastern horizon bears no sails. The flow of trade from the east is missing.
The crew moors the Glorious Payoff in Hoimpeia’s harbor, and Calisro wastes little time leading you ashore to Vilana Taverna, a kapeleia not far from the docks. The windows of this simple building are open wide, allowing the sea breeze to soften the oppressive heat. Calisro orders bread, cheese, olives, and a light white wine for the table before leaving to rendezvous with her contact in the city.
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Can't we get an omelet with mushrooms in this tavern?
The slightly shaggy-looking man wears a leather armor without his cape with a sickle at the belt, but what most undoubtedly intrigues is the absence of shadow behind him.
He is accompanied by another but tiny man with deep black eyes as well as an opossum.
I hope you don't dislike the omelets anyway. That would be a shame! That's Vilmur who tells it to you. I've created a new recipe of omelet with Kreighton Shane himself, me.
He's a bit disappointed that something to eat has come on the table but no omelet...
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Miladistra sticks to the nuts, bread and mushrooms. "If ya have anything green I'll eat it. Especially rhubarb. Someone has been skipping on his diet." She looks at the wolf who has been following her since she boarded the Glorious Payoff.
She sighs as the wolf hides under the table, sniffing for scraps. "Howdy ya'll... I'm Miladistra. This is Deroff." She motions under the table as Deroff sniffs looking for something to sate his hunger. "The raids have left their mark. Did ya see the bay? No one's venturin' out there. I bet we'll have ta, though."
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"Funny how often I end up sailing to the ends of the world with her", a tall bonuwat man in hide armor says with a wry grin. He samples the olives and the wine, seemingly at ease, though a perceptive observer may notice that he's positioned himself to ensure his back is not to any door. "Hello, Miladistra and Deroff, and to you, Vilmur. I am Chumwi, and this" he says, pulling back the flap on his satchel to reveal a small leafy form that pops up with a wave.
"And this block of dwarven dishonesty..." he says with a teasing grin, gesturing to the dwarf sitting beside him, "well, perhaps I'd better let her introduce herself."
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A tall man with homespun robes joins the group. He notices a pair of familiar faces and hurries to greet them.
"Miladistra! Deroff! So nice to see you again. It's been ages since we adventured together!"
Realizing that he's just about ignored everyone else, he turns and bows to the group.
"Well met! Loong Laohu is what I am called, though, " he adds with a wry smile, "most of my friends just call me Tiger"
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A dour looking dwarf seems like she would rather be hiding in the shadows, but she pulls out a cigar as long as she's out in the open anyway.
She peers at your faces carefully, to see if any of you recognize her.
"I'm Dorrance."
Seeming to think that this is sufficient introduction, she deftly stabs a few olives on a toothpick and consumes them.
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"Oh, howdy Dorrance! Just tell me if Deroff is sniffin' too much. Usually he doesn't like smoke." Miladistra waves hello but lets the dwarf be. She knows the value of solitude.
"Chumwi! Tiger! Good to see ya again. And a please to see you too, Vilmur! That was a quick trip. Glad to get some space, I felt so packed on the ship, like a can of beans." She shudders. "Sometimes I heard too much and needed a break."
Calisro Benarry’s confident voice precedes her through the door as she boasts of the Glorious Payoff’s speed to a tall, thin minotaur trailing behind her. Finely made jewelry and a gauzy wool shawl woven with delicate patterns of gold testify to the minotaur’s obvious wealth and
influence.
“Pathfinders, say hello to Latanoris Galthangelou,” says Benarry with a beaming smile. “She’s a well-regarded merchant in Hoimpeia, and—”
“I was well-regarded,” Latanoris cuts in with a tight, sharp voice. “Much of my cargo now lies at the bottom of the sea. These attacks have nearly ruined my business, and more than that, sailors lost their lives. And the culprits? No one knows exactly who they are. Survivors report creatures—beautiful creatures—wielding weapons made of water, boarding the ships as the masts snap and hulls crack, sinking them in mere minutes. A few survivors even speak of a boy pulling them to safety before disappearing back into the sea.” Latanoris’ voice rises in obvious frustration, “I’ve lost four ships, cargo worth thousands in gold, including the Enoménos crowns, and these old fishers’ tales are all the information we have.”
Benarry gives the tall minotaur’s shoulder a comforting pat. “As I told you, we’ll not only find these raiders, we’ll stop ’em too. The Payoff will be the perfect bait, and these Pathfinders can handle anything that comes crawling out of the sea.”
Latanoris, still agitated, looks around the table as if doing calculations in her head. “I appreciate your confidence, Calisro. I pray to Pharimia that you are correct.”
oldest civilizations on Golarion. During Earthfall, a union between
the cyclopes and human inhabitants of this archipelago ensured their
mutual survival, but like much of Golarion, the land itself didn’t escape
the devastation that followed. Tidal waves swallowed coastal towns,
which now only exist as underwater ruins. Additionally, the Obari
Ocean is home to many underwater ancestries, including merfolk,
athamaru, and sedacthy.
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Deroff goes to sniff Latanoris, only for Miladistra to quickly check his collar. "Apologies. Deroff is always curious."
"Weapons made of water and a boy pulling them to safety? Sounds like we're dealin' with natives of the sea. Has anything happened recently to upset them? Maybe a shipping vessel got a bit too close to their home."
"But Cap'n's right. We'll do what it takes to stop the raids."
"Sedacthies do occasionally attack merchant ships, but they’re just as likely to offer trade as to engage in violence,” laments Latanoris. "I don't know of any incidents that would have up set anyone."
"The merfolk and athamaru have both been friendly communities, and good trading partners," Latanoris explains to Chumwi. "As to enemies, I have plenty of merchant rivals, but no one I think would go to this extent to ruin me."
"Besides," she adds, "My ships aren't the only ones that have been attacked. I was just the only one foolish enough to chance this route more than once."
"All of the attacks happened in a shipping lane that people are now calling 'Trader's End'; it's about 3 hours of sailing away from here," the minotaur informs you.
"We'll get the Payoff disguised by midday and head out there to investigate," Calisro assures her new contact. Turning to you, she says, "“Latanoris will accompany us on the mission. She’s determined to see these saboteurs with her own eyes. I’ve assured her that we’ll keep her safe. She can guide us to the exact location of the previous attacks."
Lem has been sitting quietly, missing introductions entirely as his mouth was stuffed with bread and olives, but the irascible halfling assumes that his reputation precedes him and doesn't bother to make his own greetings. He's been taking careful notes and nods appreciatively at everyone's questions, especially Maladistra's probing into the potential interspecies relations.