“You’ll not believe it, my friend,” Gorm says, scratching his nose with one calloused finger. “The world is spinning faster than I’ve ever seen it, and I’ve lived through three wars! Or is it four? What’s a siege count as?”
Gorm’s mule, Muttonchop, gives the same exasperated snort that’s been his only response to Gorm’s inquiries over the last few weeks.
“Stubborn as your namesake and half as handsome!” Gorm declares with a smile. “What do you care about the fact that Eliza is reopening the Maze of the Open Road not even half a year after becoming the unmasked representative of the Decemvirate? Nothing, I suppose.”
Gorm tightens his knees slightly around Muttonchop’s flanks and swings his lute down off his back, casually plucking a jaunty tune with fingers that that quickly prove much defter than their blunt shape would imply. “A lady fair with scarlet hair, walked through a winding maze / and though her mind was sharp and fine, darkness plagued her ways. What do you think, Muttonchop, too trite? I don’t think so either.” Slinging the lute back over his shoulder, Gorm quickly retrieves a notepad and ink pen from the voluminous pockets of his magical vest, sketching down the lyrics. “I suppose the rest shall have to wait until she makes it to Woodsedge and files her report. Hope it goes well; she brought some of our finest agents, but the Maze of the Open Road isn’t what it used to be. Dark things lurk in the passages and the walls between planes are exceptionally thin. Hah! I suppose I don’t need to tell the first mule to ever walk on Akiton about the dangers of the maze!”
The duo rides in comfortable silence for a few more miles, Gorm occasionally humming to himself in cheerful composition, Muttonchop displaying the same stalwart silence his dwarven partner had come to expect.
“Now, you know what’s going to really need a song, don’t you, Muttonchop?” Gorm asks with a wide smile. “That expedition down in the Mwangi! On the trail of a founding member of the Pathfinder Society, seeking out secrets lost to the mists of time! B’ah, we should have gone with, my friend! What legends might we find ourselves excluded from?” Clearing his throat, Gorm begins to sing a new song, slinging his lute back to hand and rapping out a percussive rhythm against its wooden face between strummed notes.
"Across the ocean dark and fierce, a legend for to find
A trail gone cold, a challenge old, a story lost to time
Lo the legend marks his steps through swamp and tree and vine.
Heed this story! Listen well, I’ll tell you something true
A legend lost’s a legend still, when found it’s something new."Gorm hums a few more bars while idly strumming the lute before slinging it once more across his back and jotting down the new lyrics. As he does so, Muttonchop crests a rise in the trail and the sprawling scape of Absalom comes into view. “The City at the Center of the World, my friend! Home from Otari at last. With any luck, Dreng will be back from his trip down to the sewers and we can swap a few drinks and few stories, old and new alike. Assuming I can get that cagey scoundrel to talk. Did you know he’s got medals from both the Eagle Knights and the Lion Blades? That one has more secrets than any other ten members of the Society rolled together!” The dwarf bard and his stoic mule continue along their way, following the road to Absalom.
Left to right, Rindle Rainfickle art by Hannah Boving. Wounded Pethjun art by Raphael Madureira
This month we have Pathfinder Society Scenario #1-20: The Lost Legend, a scenario for levels 3 to 6 by Chris S. Sims that takes the PCs through the Sodden Lands and into the Mwangi Expanse, following the footsteps of Gregaro Voth, one of the first Pathfinders. Christen N. Sowards presents an adventure into the Maze of the Open Road alongside open Decemvirate member Eliza Petulengro with Pathfinder Society Scenario #1-21: Mistress of the Maze, an adventure intended for characters from level 5 to 8. Last but not least (unless you’re talking about expected play time), don’t forget to check out Amber Stewart’s Pathfinder Society Quest #10: The Broken Scales, a 1-hour quest for level 1 to 4 characters where they meet up with the Society’s old allies, the kobold tribe known as the Sewer Dragons!
Check back later this afternoon for more scenario reveals when we preview the Starfinder Society May scenarios.
Until next time,
Michael Sayre
Pathfinder Society Developer
May 2020 Pathfinder Society Releases
Thursday, May 21, 2020
