The brass-shod heels of Ambrus’s finely-crafted leather boots clack loudly off the cobblestones of the Foreign Quarter streets as he takes his morning walk. The dwarven prince and Pathfinder, Gorm Greathammer, accompanies Ambrus this day, the two long-time colleagues enjoying each other’s company and the salt-sweetened ocean air that provides a welcome relief to the pungent milieu of sweating laborers and defecating animals who fill the district streets.
“So Dreng’s disappeared again, eh?” Gorm says, resuming the pair’s ongoing conversation.
“Aye,” Ambrus replies, “and once again without note or explanation. I suspect he’s slipped into the group preparing for that expedition to Iobaria, likely disguised as a porter. Or Eando Kline. Did I ever tell you about the time I was in the middle of a conversation with the man I thought was Eando until the real Kline walked into the room? It was just Dreng playing one of his inscrutable pranks, but Eando and I nearly slew him, thinking we’d been infiltrated by dopplegangers!”
Gorm unleashes a mighty guffaw, the golden clasps in his beard braids jingling in shared de light at the story. “Ah, I can see Kline’s face now! Good man, but almost as stodgy as you, my young friend!” As the man affectionately known as “Old Muttonchops” rubs the graying whiskers of said facial hair and raises a bemused eyebrow at Gorm’s use of the word “young”, the dwarf continues. “So, other than the news that my drinking buddy has wandered off, what stories do you have for me Ambrus? What legends in need of recording?”
Ambrus snorts as he replies, “What, so you can go running off to insert yourself in someone else’s adventure? You know Zarta’s filed another complaint about you leaving her to run the faction you applied for and founded, yes?” Gorm rolls his eyes in an exaggerated gesture of amused dismissal, nudging Ambrus to get on with answering the question. With a bemused sigh, Ambrus continues. “It sounds like Calisro and Eras actually found that Iruxi city they were looking for. An entire kingdom of lizardfolk with a political system as complex and nuanced as any dwarven or human court! Thank the gods I put Eras on that mission, only Norgorber knows what might have happened if Calisro was our only diplomat present.”
Gorm instinctively sketches the Iron Hammer of Torag on his breast at Ambrus’s mention of the dark god of secrets and murder before gesturing for Ambrus to finish.
“Anyways,” Ambrus resumes, “I expect that between Calisro’s guile and Eras’s diplomacy, they’ll do alright. I’m more concerned with the word out of Cassomir.”
“Ah, Cassomir,” Gorm interjects. “Is Hestia still running the lodge there? How is she? I’ve not seen the good lady in some time.”
“Well enough, last I heard. Cassomir, perhaps less so. Hestia has noticed that her district is in the grip of some dark malaise. She suspects a cult of some dark god, or perhaps a supernatural predator that preys on mortal emotions. She’s gathered a team to investigate the matter, so I expect to hear word on what she uncovers soon.”
‘Well then,” says Gorm, “sounds like I’m in the right place for the nonce! Now, you’ll need to tell me more about this expedition to Iobaria you mentioned, but first let me show you to this baker’s stall just down the way here. Owned by a lovely Vudran lady named Arvya who makes absolutely the best muffins I’ve ever tasted. I may have told her you’d be interested in arranging a regular delivery to the lodge…”
Left to right, illustrations by Tadas Sidlauskas and Michele Giorgi.
This month we have Pathfinder Society Scenario #1-22: Doom of Cassomir, a scenario for levels 1 to 4 by Calder CaDavid that takes the PCs to the city of Cassomir, where they must uncover the source of a depressive pall that hangs over the city district of Admiral’s Fen. Alex Riggs brings us Pathfinder Society Scenario #1-23: The Star-Crossed Court, an adventure for levels 3 to 6 that continues the story of the Pathfinder’s efforts to renew trade agreements with the lizardfolk city of Ekkeshikaar that started in Pathfinder Society Scenario #1-09: Star-Crossed Voyages. Rounding out the month’s offerings, Carlos Cabreras brings us Pathfinder Society Quest #11: A Parchment Tree, an investigative journey through the markets of Qadira in search of documentation that will prove who the proper inheritors of an important property truly are.
We’ve also got one final announcement: the sanctioning for the Age of Ashes Adventure Path is now available! You can find the instructions on earning credit for the Pathfinder Society as well as chronicle sheets on the Age of Ashes product page.
Come back later this afternoon for some last-minute information on ConCurrent, including a sneak peak of the Year 3 Starfinder Society scenarios.
Until next time,
Michael Sayre
Pathfinder Society Developer
June 2020 Pathfinder Society Releases
Thursday, June 18, 2020
