Ambrus reaches up and pinches the bridge of his nose, looking away from the stacks of reports piled on his desk. The reports got a little harder to read each year, and not just the ones with the names of friends and students listed in the casualty reports.
“About time for someone from the next generation to take over,” Ambrus mutters to himself. “Fola hasn’t won over the entire Decemvirate yet, but she will if she just spends a bit more time at the lodge. Ah well, no point dwelling on things to come when there’s a task to be done now.”
Finishing his sentence, Ambrus plucks the next report off the pile in front of him. “Muesello’s team is all outfitted... Good. If we’re going to claim the wayfinder as our badge of office, we should at least make sure we know everything there is to know about the things! Hmm... Looks like he’s using the captain I recommended for transport. He’s a cagey old fellow, he’ll keep things under wraps until we know what’s going on.” His ruminations complete, Ambrus quickly applies his seal to the document and moves it to the tray for reports marked “Not for Publication”.
The steward rolls his eyes and lets out an incredulous snort as he picks up the next set of reports and views their submitter’s mark. Two separate files, one stamped with the image of a mask in silver and the other containing Venture-Captain Holgarin Smine’s seal pressed into a lump of charcoal-blackened candle wax. Flipping through the pages, Ambrus suppresses a wry smile. “Should’ve known Smine wouldn’t be happy about me accepting that Razmiri’s application for a lodge. Of course, they’re up to trouble, old friend, that’s why I want us to be the ones keeping an eye on them. Gods preserve us if they team up with the Aspis or someone else with more ambition than sense. And Narsen... That one’s trouble even for one of his ilk, but he’s the finest magical crafter I’ve met since Muesello, and he’s not like any Razmiri priest I’ve ever met before.” Ambrus sets down the reports for a minute and sighs. “I hope you’re worth it, priest. If I’m wrong about you, it’ll be my own Pathfinders who run me out of here before whatever trouble you bring reaches me.”
Setting the reports in the bin marked “For Archival Review”, Ambrus picks up the next file, this one written on expensive white vellum in a crisp hand. “Always so precise, Sheila. Who’d have thought I’d be reading your report on recruiting... a squad of hobgoblin field agents from Oprak? Of all things! As though our last confirmation class promoting half a dozen goblins to full Pathfinder agent status wasn’t enough!” Ambrus sighs again before flipping to the second page. “Smart move to meet the new recruits in Kaer Maga. They’ll stand out a bit less and it might give us an opportunity to learn a bit more about the state of things over there—it’s been a bit too quiet lately.”
Finishing his stack of reports, his desk clear for a few blessed moments, Ambrus smiles and pulls a small cord near his desk, ringing the bell to summon a fresh pot of tea. “They’ll be fine. We’ve got good people. This lodge was here before me, and it’ll be here long after I’m gone.”
“What’s that, sir?” A young, gray robed halfling wheeling a small cart enters as Ambrus finishes his thought and looks up with confusion plain on his face.
“Nothing lad,” Ambrus replies, “just talking to myself. You’ll find that happens when you get a few more years on you and spend most of your days locked in a room reading over reports. Now, about that tea...”
Left to Right, Sergeant Drussem art credit to Leonardo Santanna, and Prefect art credit to Przemysław Gołąb
This month we have Pathfinder Society Scenario #1-18: Lodge of the Living God, a scenario for levels 1 to 4 by Alex Greenshields that takes the PCs to Razmiran to establish a new and unlikely lodge. Meanwhile, Mike Kimmel takes the Pathfinder Society to Kaer Maga to meet up with some potential hobgoblin recruits with Pathfinder Society Scenario #1-19: Iolite Squad Alpha, an adventure intended for characters from levels 3 to 6. Finally, don’t forget to check out Dustin Knight’s Pathfinder Society Quest #9: Wayfinder Origins, a 1-hour, repeatable quest for levels 3 to 6 that seeks to uncover ancient Azlanti secrets on a clandestine mission!
We previewed the Starfinder Society scenarios for April earlier this morning. You can check out the blog here.
Until next time,
Michael Sayre
Pathfinder Society Developer
April 2020 Pathfinder Society Releases
Thursday, April 23, 2020
