CNichols's page

Still think all this is a big fake-out and Asmodeus is the dead god walking (due to the continued shedding of connections back to D&D content).

But I am greatly ignorant about many things.

CNichols wrote:

Hey. Just a quick question.

Has it ever been established which daemon harbingers serve each Horseman? If not, does anyone have solid guesses as to who works for who?

There is not a chart in print that states which harbinger is ostensibly loyal to which Horseman. Some of them have had allegiances provided in the flavor text in either BotD3, the hardcover BotD, or Planar Adventures.

For example, off the top of my head, Jacarkas the Collector is mentioned in PA as being a servitor of Trelmarixian, while elsewhere it has been mentioned that Zelishkar of the Bitter Flame is in thrall to Szuriel, Vorasha the Ophidian is the consort of Trelmarixian, Pavnuri the Lord of Nothing is for the moment in thrall to Apollyon, Tamede serves Apollyon, and Geon serves Szuriel.

And in this thread, Todd states that Aesdurath's commander is Charon.

Giving us:

Apollyon - Pavnuri, Tamede
Charon - Aesdurath
Szuriel - Geon, Zelishkar
Trelmarixian - Jacarkas, Vorasha

That's a fair start. Thanks!

Hey. Just a quick question.

Has it ever been established which daemon harbingers serve each Horseman? If not, does anyone have solid guesses as to who works for who?

On trying to read the Playtest rules more closely, I noticed a change that I found quite positive and which I have not seen any comment on. On page 16, we have the following sentences:

Your character’s age is a major factor that shapes how she interacts with the world. There aren’t any mechanical adjustments to your character for being particularly old, but you might want to take it into account when considering your starting ability scores and future advancement; for instance, an old and wise character might have a higher Wisdom score, so you might want to make sure to put one of your free ability boosts in Wisdom.

Which is far more player friendly and inclusive than the PF1e rules on aging.

With age, a character's physical ability scores decrease and his mental ability scores increase (see Table: Aging Effects). The effects of each aging step are cumulative. However, none of a character's ability scores can be reduced below 1 in this way.

1 At middle age, –1 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

2 At old age, –2 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

3 At venerable age, –3 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

Which left venerable characters with a cumulative -6 to all physical stats! This made certain character concepts, such as a grandmother cleric of Andoletta for instance, difficult to play.

Edit: Also, this removes the need for the age resistance line of spells, so less clutter in the spell lists.

So I found this change very positive. Personally, I'd like information on playing young characters too, for adventures that try to capture the Steven Spielberg preteen adventure movie feel. However, I realize such a section would necessarily be several times longer than the current paragraph on age and aging, so it seem unrealistic for inclusion in the PF3e rulebook.

Between the Bestiaries, Carrion Crown, and Strange Aeons, we now have a fairly robust roster of Elder Mythos monsters for Pathfinder. Are there any more Elder Mythos monsters you want or hope to introduce into the game?

What are the restrictions on using and adapting Elder Mythos elements from various authors and sources?

Personally, I hope to see the lloigor and Tcho-Tcho adapted into Pathfinder someday.

I don't know if this would be useful to you, since you're concentrating on the above-ground. Great work, by the way! ^_^

I worked up a bunch of additional stuff for the Vampire Underground - mostly additional vampire personalities. I can dredge it up if you'd like to see it.

Please post anything Caliphas related that you have! I look forward to seeing what other Pathfinder fans come up with.

Chris Nichols

More about Whiteshaw:

• Whiteshaw (continued) The CDCI has long been institutionally divided between Constables, officers who work a regular patrol on the streets of Caliphas, and Inspectors, detectives who focus on more complex crimes. There is considerable friction between the two divisions. Both sides often hold unflattering opinions of the other division – constables view inspectors as wild-goose chasing pseudo-intellectuals, while inspectors view constables as incurious, intellectually lazy dullards. Not every constable or inspector holds these opinions, but enough do that interaction between the divisions is always fraught with tension. As Captain Hoptler started his career as a constable, as did multiple generations of his family before him, the division of constables usually comes out ahead in interdepartmental conflicts. One of Hoptler’s actions based on disdain for the inspectors’ division was expansion of the constables’ work area and the movement of the majority of the inspectors’ office space to Whiteshaw’s uncomfortable fourth floor. While the office rearrangement happened almost six years ago, grudges based on it still simmer. Further complicating matters, corruption exists in both divisions. Various constables and inspectors owe allegiance to Dr. Low's criminal syndicate, the vampires of Caliphas, Countess Caliphvaso, and other factions, tainting the department's efforts to stem crime and its reputation.

Next - NPCs of Whiteshaw!

Chris Nichols

Great work Dr. Nicolsi. Have you seen Wes' novel btw?

Also are you a fan of Legendary Games Gothic Grimoires?

I am indeed looking forward to Wes' Bloodbound, though it doesn't drop until December. It looks like it will cover some of the same ground I've been covering for these campaign notes - secret agents of the Ustalavic crown! - so we'll see how closely I've gotten to Wes' ideas.

I'm not familiar with the Gothic Grimoires series. I'll have to give it a look.

Thanks for your questions!

Chris Nichols

Some notes on the district of Eskcourt:

Eskcourt (outlined in blue) is the beating heart of Caliphas, housing the palace and government buildings, the art district, and many businesses and cultural institutions.

• Whiteshaw

  As described in Pathfinder Adventure Path #47: Ashes at Dawn, Whiteshaw is the headquarters of the Caliphas Department of Constables and Investigators (sometimes shortened to CDCI). The cubic structure behind its low walls is named non-indicatively; the building and walls are gray, not white, and first time visitors to Caliphas are often confused by this (giving first-time visitors incorrect descriptions of Whiteshaw as a minor wild goose chase is a common prank).

  Once, Whiteshaw was an adequate headquarters for Caliphas’ law enforcement. But as Caliphas grew and especially since the city has become the new capital, the demand for expanded law enforcement has resulted in a building that is both understaffed and overcrowded. Captain Hoptler has worked to alleviate this by establishing a number of satellite stations – small offices that serve as a base of operations within a district. Station houses can be found in Blackwood, North Cushing, West Cushing, Dowell, Eskcourt, Hawthorne Rows, Leland, Valpole, Crossleigh, and Graystove.

  Behind its outer walls, Whiteshaw itself is a blocky building that looks half-finished in comparision to the more ornate and decorated architecture of Eskcourt. The first floor contains the various public-facing offices of the CDCI, booking, and assorted rooms used by the constables. The first floor is also the only entrance to Whiteshaw’s holding cells. The second floor houses more constables. The constables also claim part of the third floor, with the remainder housing Captain Hoptler’s office and some inspectors. The fourth floor is mostly occupied by the CDCI’s remaining inspectors. The offices on this level are notoriously stuffy. The basement level contains the holding cells, various supply and work areas. The sub-basement area contains Whiteshaw’s small morgue, overseen by Vicar Vyeden Moldenhauer (LN female human alchemist (vivisectionist) 5/cleric of Pharasma 3), and the begrudgingly allocated offices of the Bureau of Special Affairs (sometimes shortened to BSA). A discreet staircase leads from the Bureau of Special Affairs offices to an alcove next to one of Whiteshaw’s postern gates.

  One of Whiteshaw’s quirks is that while the holding cells in the basement and sub-basement levels run from B-01 to B-21 (or SB-01 to SB-21 on the lower level), there is no Cell B-13/Cell SB-13. There certainly used to be, but bad things happened when prisoners were put in the Thirteenth Cells. The prisoners died, or went mad, or disappeared. Eventually, the constables stopped using it after a guard was briefly locked in and apparently stabbed himself to death with his own sword. One of Captain Hoptler’s predecessors, Captain Georg Litlikker, became convinced that the cell numbers were the problem. If he simply eliminated the cursed thirteens, the problem would go away. Litlikker had new signs produced for the cells and changed B-13 and SB-13 to B-14 and SB-14 himself.

  A prisoner and a constable were found dead, one in B-14 and one in SB-14, the next morning. For twelve nights, B-14 claimed a constable and SB-14 claimed a prisoner, even when the entire building was emptied. On the morning after the thirteenth night, the cells opened again, this time disgorging foolish Captain Litlikker himself – half of him in B-14 and the other half in SB-14. After that, the thirteenth cells calmed down. As long as no-body is put into the two cursed cells, nothing happens. Everybody can safely pretend B-14 and SB-14 are normal cells, and if, on occasion, a prisoner who happens to be inconvenient to powerful people is booked into the wrong cell… Well, accidents do happen.

Sorry that took so long - was travelling, then had post-travel sickness. More on Whiteshaw and related NPCs soon.

Chris Nichols

Give us some more NPC one liners interspersed in the descriptions.

I'll try to include more NPCs in future posts. I've got some discussion of Diauden, advisor to Prince Ordronti and head of the Bureau of Special Affairs, planned for when I discuss Whitehall.

Thanks for the feedback!

Chris Nichols

More notes on the district of Dowell

Dowell is outlined in yellow.

• Silver Road (shown as a gray-blue line) is the route connecting the trade gate at Castle Balatz with the Coast Road. This broad road sees a constant flow of merchants and traders bringing their goods to Caliphas’ markets. Those new to importing goods to Caliphas’ are often frustrated by having to travel the longer route of the Silver Way after being turned away from the Skanegate.

• On the outskirts of Caliphas, the road known as Wolfbend hosts those wandering Varisians and their Sczarni cousins who visit the capital. The north side of the road is lined by a meadow wherein many wagons and campsites sit, filling the air with bright colors, music and voices, and the smells of cookfires. A small stand of trees on the far side of the meadow, called Deadmen’s Copse is avoided however. In 4459, mass hysteria and mob violence over alleged crimes by a Sczarni criminal family lead to the lynching of three dozen people, both innocent and guilty, one for each tree in the stand. The spot is still haunted and luminous spirits hanging from nooses appear in the trees each night.
  

Chris Nichols

Is there anything the people reading this list think Caliphas could use? Things that would be useful to others running games set in Caliphas?

Here are some items I want to cover in the future:

• More Dowell, then Eskcourt, Hawthorne Rows, Laurelight Hill, Leland, Valpole, Crossleigh, Graystove, and Wrenhyde
  
• Aspis Consortium compound
  
• Caliphas College
  
• Lamplighters Guild
  
• other guilds
  
• Department of Public Works
  
• Silver Way
  
• White Way
  
• Shaw Street
  
• Eskovir Keep (including City Hall, Mayor's Residence, City Courts, and Ornislovna Clocktower)
  
• the derro enclave of Voord
  
• bank/temple of Abadar
  
• Vojmorant Cemetery
  
• noble estates
  
• gentlemen's clubs
  
• hospital
  
• Neska Mining office
  
• industries in Graystove - stockyards, foundry, textile mills, porcelain
  
• Graybrume Lake
  
• bridges of Caliphas
  
• embassy building
  
• art district (theaters, galleries)
  
• cafes
  
• academic district
  
• publisher
  
• broadsheet offices
  
• Nidalese district
  
• Sczarni gathering place
  
• Wolfbend (road and Varisian campsite)
  
• museum of curiosities
  
• Seraph Dock
  
• some more haunted sites
  
• parks, gardens, other civic landmarks
  
• Anaphexia safehouse
  
• other factions within the capital and their holdings
  
• Caliphas' undercity and its divisions (Dr. Low's criminals, vampires, derro, rats, etc.)
  

Is there anything else that Caliphas needs?

Also, there have been others on the Paizo boards that have written interesting stuff about Caliphas and Ustalav. Try these threads:

• Expanding Caliphas: Vampires, Witches, Nobles and Other Dangerous Decadence
  
• Ustalav Government
  
• Does Ustalav Make Sense?
  
• And basically the entire Carrion Crown section of the Forum
  

Lastly, does anyone know anything about the Royal Accusers of Ustalav mentioned in Occult Mysteries? I haven't found any other references to this and if no conflicting information exists, I was considering just having it be an older name for the Bureau of Special Affairs.

Chris Nichols

Some notes on the district of Dowell:

Dowell is Caliphas’ northeastern district, surrounding the Eskmere. The district in largely composed of middle class to lower upper class homes.

• The cloudy waters of the Eskmere hug the city walls of Caliphas. Formed by the Tristevaso River as it flows southward, the Eskmere houses one of Caliphas’ more infamous haunted houses. On Suteflori Island, stands Szazvirag Manor. Once home to one of Caliphas’ elite families, the tragedy which struck in 4554 has left the island shunned. During a gala ball hosted by Destinee Szazvirag, youngest daughter of the Szazvirag family and a rising star of the Caliphas Comital Ballet, the young ingénue murdered everyone in attendance by flooding the house with poisonous gas. The subsequent investigation swiftly turned disastrous with most of the investigating party failing to return. The few who did reported that the island had changed. When they had set foot upon the island, the world became monochromatic, utterly drained of colors. The investigators found a ballroom full of fallen corpses whose spirits still danced and swirled to the tunes of a skull-faced orchestra, hallways where servants choked and died endlessly, rooms that shifted and warped, cloud of deadly vapors, windows that looked out on the dead Caliphas of the Whispering Tyrant’s reign, ancient spectres and shadows, throbbing drumming and chanting in ancient Kellid tongues from beneath the ground, and sudden surreal shifts in the surroundings. Some experts in supernatural phenomena have since speculated that the deaths of the ball attendees served as a tipping point, releasing the pent-up effects of a hidden history of horrors, unhinging Szazvirag Manor’s mooring in normal space and time, and transforming into a transition point between this world and some other, more strange and terrifying reality.
  Haunting (per Rule of Fear) wrote:

  Szazvirag Manor

  Nightmare House Without Color
  Master: --
  Inhabitants: danse macabre, ghost (Destinee Szazvirag), hounds of Tindalos, hungry fogs, shadow creature flying polyp (the Horror Bound Between), shadows, spectral Whispering Tyrant era undead, undead shadow lord Kellids, vampiric mists
  Hauntings: clouds of deadly gas, endlessly repeating moments of death, phantasmal time shifts, spatial distortions, surreal environmental alterations
  

Chris Nichols

Some notes on the district of West Cushing:

West Cushing (outlined in orange) contains upper-middle class and upper class residences and select businesses catering these classes.

• Hidden among the residences of West Cushing is The Widow’s Boudoir, a hidden brothel specializing in the intersection of sex and murder (discussed in Pathfinder Adventure Path #31: Stolen Land). The Widow’s Boudoir’s existence is an extremely closely-guarded secret and its clientele is a small, highly exclusive circle of the extremely wealthy and extremely depraved.

• The small military outpost known as Tower Janoglu stands on the spur of land known as Writhe Point. The tower houses a pair of searchlights used to illuminate the harbor during night-time disasters, storms, and police actions. Sirgut Janoglu was a Shining Crusade admiral who won a pitched battle against a force of undead sea serpents raised by Tar-Baphon to defend Caliphas in 3802. The skull of one of these monsters is still kept on display in the tower’s entry hall. Soldiers newly stationed at Janoglu Tower are sometimes told ghost stories about pinpoints of ghostly flame appearing in the skull’s eye sockets at night when all the lights go out.

• Golbanze Road runs from the Coast Road south to Castle Golbanze. The wastrels and rakehells of the Bleeding Heart Club own a villa, Villa Gelosia, along this road. Using the emblem of a bleeding-heart pidgeon, the club is widely believed to be an exclusive group of young noble heirs with more money than sense or taste, who join together to waste their money on women, alcohol, gambling, drugs, mild blasphemy, and humiliating their more straight-laced peers. They also dabble in breeding and raising beautiful bleeding heart pidgeons. What is kept hidden is that the Bleeding Heart Club is a cult of Shax, demon lord of lies and murder. On a monthly basis, the club gathers to ritually vivisect an unfortunate victim in Shax’s name. The members of the Bleeding Heart Club commit more murders than just Shax’s unholy sacrament but try to keep these to a minimum and to cover their tracks thoroughly. Unfortunately, this requires restraint and moderation – something in short supply among club members. Typically, the Bleeding Heart Club has between three and ten members at any given time.
  

Chris Nichols

Some notes on the district of North Cushing:

North Cushing (outlined in green) is home to a variety of small businesses and middle-class homes. The Coast Road runs through the heart of the district

• A several locations in North Cushing are discussed in Pathfinder Adventure Path #47: Ashes at Dawn. The Hound’s Tooth, Haraday Theater, and Crown and Carriage Livery Yard are all found in North Cushing.

• The grim façade of the Steel Steward Orphanage (outlined in yellow) harbors Caliphas’ orphans. The grim features of a massive statue of the Steward of the Skein look down from the orphanage’s façade. The wardens raise the children brought here in the grim traditions of the Pharasmin faith, sometimes enforcing the harsher elements of the Pharasmin Penitence.

• Caliphas’ artisan district (outlined in dark red) lies in North Cushing just off Coast Road. Skilled craftsmen produce the capital’s finest goods here. One of the largest and most up-scale establishments is The Nobleman’s Stitch (outlined in orange), a fine clothing store that occupies an entire block and is detailed in Pathfinder Adventure Path #47: Ashes at Dawn. Ravenwood Furnishings, makers of fine heirloom furniture, lies directly across the street. Their products are noted for their dark finishing and intricate avian-themed carvings.

• The enclave of Hawkshaw is wedged between the artisan district and the Eskmere. Many of Caliphas’ non-human citizens live in this confusing jumble of dwellings and alleys. Established shortly after the city’s refounding, eight hundred years of residents living in this small area have resulted in the neighborhood expanding both upward and downward, with stacked residences that in places lean against the city walls and basements and sub-basements that lead into Caliphas’ undercity.

• For travelers heading north on the Coast Road from Caliphas, Cavalier’s Charge Goods is the last place to stock up on supplies. Located at the intersection of Coast Road and Silver Way, the store’s emblem of three charging cavaliers on white mounts catches the eyes of passersby. Cavalier’s Charge has been owned by the Stokov family for generations. The owner Sen Stokov (LN male human expert 2/fighter 2) knows the dangers of Ustalav well, having served in the military in various capacities until his recent retirement. Thus, adventurous customers can find a variety of supplies critical for facing the many dangers found throughout Ustalav at Cavalier’s Charge.

• Running through West Cushing from Blackstove to West Cushing is the Coast Road (marked in gray). This highway connects the capital with Vellumis in Lastwall and the Ustalavic cities of Vauntil and Thrushmoor. The Coast Road deteriorates and eventually peters out in the sodden town of Illmarsh.
  

Chris Nichols

Some notes on the district of Blackwood

Blackwood (outlined in brown) is an upper class district nestle between academic district of Leland and the heights of Laurelight Hill. Here successful merchants and lesser nobles make their homes, raise their families, and keep their secrets.

• Blackwood Academy is Ustalav’s finest boarding school, training the minds of Ustalav’s heirs since 3886. Generations of young Blackwood students have gone on to positions of fame, wealth, and power, giving this all-boys school both ironclad traditions and powerful patrons. The school is also regarded as a fertile recruiting ground for a variety of clandestine agendas, including the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye, the Aspis Consortium, the Sleepless Agency, the Whispering Way, the city’s vampire population, and even the agents of Countess Carmilla Caliphvaso. While many of Blackwood Academy’s graduates go on to attend Lepidstadt University, some stay in Caliphas to attend the more practical Caliphas College.

• Blackwood Academy is not the district’s only educational institution. The Caliphvaso School for Girls educates promising young women, following the Caliphvaso family’s traditions of raising talented women to positions of power. While the school is not as old as Blackwood Academy, it graduates are fully as illustrious and come from a more diverse background due to the school’s aggressive recruiting and extensive scholarships. Countess Caliphvaso often takes personal interest in especially promising students, and other factions within Ustalav do as well. Due to the close proximity of the schools, students of Blackwood Academy and the Caliphvaso School for Girls often engage in clandestine dalliances, despite both schools officially restricting students to their respective campuses. The sole exception is the Yearend Ball, when the schools meet to mingle and receive instruction in social graces.

• The fenced woodland of the Poltvas Zoological Park lies on the eastern end of Blackwood, encompassing the small wood that gives the district its name. Here, creatures beautiful, ferocious, and strange have been collected from throughout Ustalav, Avistan, and beyond. Previously, Poltvas Zoological Park was known as the Caliphvaso Comital Menagerie and was open only to friends of the Caliphvaso family. The menagerie, at the time in a state of considerable disrepair, was sold to the Poltvas family by the current countess’ father. The Poltvases, loyal retainers of the Galdanas of Amaans, rebuilt the menagerie into a small but well-appointed private hunting park and zoo. When the park passed into the hands of Harran Poltvas (NG male human aristocrat 2/ranger 2), the young noble eliminated the private hunts, expanded the zoo with an eye toward scientific research and education, and opened its gate to the public, requiring only token donations for entry. Harran is always eager to bring in new creatures and sometimes hires adventurers to procure specific exhibits. He dismisses fears of dangerous creatures escaping and rumors of even stranger and more deadly exhibits hidden away, but accessible though secret private tours, with equal genial ease.

• Running between Blackwood and the district of Dowell is the Laurelight Stream (marked with a blue line), a small but still relatively pure waterway which flows down from a spring in the hills north of town, emptying into the channels known as the Tideditch. The area around the Laurelight Spring is closed off to the public as the private preserve of the six wealthiest families of Caliphas, led by the Caliphvasos. Thus, the beauty, privacy, and purity of the Laurelight waters are closed guarded by wealthy patrons. The Caliphas public works department uses the Laurelight as the source of the city’s fresh drinking water. Until 4609, Caliphas’ drinking water was drawn from sources upstream along the Tristevaso River, but following the cholera epidemic of the previous year, city engineers were allowed to access the Laurelight Stream.

• From its intersection with Silver Way in Dowell, the Crossleigh Road (marked in dark red) cuts east across Blackwood as it leads to the outlying borough of Crossleigh. The length of the road is lined with low stone walls, dotted with carvings of unusual grotesques. On nights when thunderstorms roll up from Lake Encarthan to drench Caliphas, a spectral carriage races down this road, the skeletal coachman furiously lashing his equally fleshless team until they vanish at the Silver Way intersection.
  

Chris Nichols

Some notes on the district of Ashtown:

Ashtown (outlined in orange) occupies the southeastern section of Caliphas' city center. Home to the East Docks, tenements, the gambling and prostitution of Lantern Street, smoke-belching industry, Ashtown is the center of Caliphas' urban blight.

• The Ashheap, a section of the district ruined by the explosion of a chemical works in 4677, lies just north of the East Docks and the Seventh Eye. The area has bad reputation, with rumors about the area being cursed or haunted cropping up regularly. A few strange folk dare to live in makeshift dwellings hidden among the rubble, and still stranger still lurk in the Ashheap's deeper reaches.

• The intersection of Ipston's Cross (marked in gray) and Ratpen Alley (marked in dark red) has been the site of a number of disappearances. An individual wearing a cloak and cane, and the sound of small dragging chains, has been connected to these incidents.

• Near the dangerous intersection of Ipston's Cross and Ratpen Alley, stands the ruined St. Ipston's Church, abandoned after decades of fatal accidents and structural failures. A nosferatu lairs in the sub-basement, having driven out the previous occupants. He (or she; no name yet) submits to the authority of Luvick Siervage, but is secretly allied with the returned Viscount Oilic Galdyce.

• Running the length of Ashtown's southern shore is Fume End, a strip of factories and workshops which produce the smoke and ash that give the district its name. The largest industrial sites are the Redstag Cannery and Klapotke Dye and Paint Works, situated closest to Hawthorne Rows, while the eastern portion of Fume End is occupied by unsafe workhouses and sweatshops run by cruel overseers.

• Just one block over from the businesses of Barragaro Road is Lantern Street, lined with filthy dives, seedy brothels, crooked gambling parlours, and debauched drug dens, most owned and operated as part of Dr. Low's criminal empire. At night, the glow of red glass lanterns makes the street seem to be something out of a blood-soaked fever dream.

• Once the garish temptations of Lantern Street give way to tenements, one can find Brookman's Alley (marked in blue), Caliphas' most haunted street (as discussed in Pathfinder Adventure Path #47: Ashes at Dawn). Aside from the full moon's bloody hopscotch game, numerous other haunts and entities plague the street some dating back to the reign of the Whisering Tyrant. Fortunately, the unquiet dead of Brookman's Alley are limited to the alley itself; they can not leave the alley or enter any of the buildings lining it. The pragmatic natives of Ashtown have managed to deal with the hauntings by bricking up all the doors and windows that face the alley.

• The Seventh Eye serves as the seat of the inscrutable Dr. Low's criminal network (as discussed in Pathfinder Adventure Path #47: Ashes at Dawn). This incongruous building, with its pagoda-inspired architecture, houses not only a restaurant, but also a market selling exotic foreign foods and goods and a school offering lessons in Tian philosophy, language, culture, and history. On the highest floor of The Seventh Eye are Dr. Low's private quarters, supposedly of magnificent exotic decadence. Beneath lies chambers that house the workings of myriad criminal undertakings - laboratories for drugs and poisons, dungeons for kidnapped victims and slaves, storerooms for smuggled goods, vaults for stolen loot, workrooms and armories for planning crimes and equipping criminals. Tunnels running through Caliphas' undercity connect The Seventh Eye with Traitor's Drop for easy disposal of bodies.

• The East Docks are the smaller of Caliphas' docks. Here, the dockhands are rougher, the water fouler, the cargoes less lucrative, the captains shadier, and the shadows deadlier. Being further away from Castle Mashir and the Harbormaster's watchful eye, the East Docks also have a higher level of crime. Dr. Low's business interests have the two slips closest to The Seventh Eye and the Ashheap on permanent reserve.
  

Chris Nichols

In preparation for a Pathfinder campaign based in Ustalav, I wanted to get a firm grasp of Caliphas in mind. On reading the article in Pathfinder Adventure Path #47: Ashes at Dawn, however I found that none of the city districts were labeled on the map.

So, I decided to make an expanded map with districts, a few missing locations from other Pathfinder products, and some new locations to flesh the city out. It's just a mock-up in MS Paint, but so far I like it.

Here's the modified map of Caliphas:

• Caliphas, The Fog-Haunted Capital

There are still some things that need to be added - a hospital, stockyards, a lighthouse, a label on the collapsed area in Ashtown. I'm quite open to suggestions for further locations as well.

The idea is to make Caliphas feel like a living city, serving as the PCs home base. The PCs will be new hires working under Diauden, the prince's advisor, as agents of the Bureau of Special Affairs.

Chris Nichols

Demiurge, your work here has been amazing - practically an whole bestiary worth of yokai! Thank you in particular for the binbougami I asked about.

Two questions: Are you planning to publish these as an actual yokai bestiary PF product in the future? And can you give us any hints about what yokai we'll see in the last few months of the Year of Yokai? Maybe the year will close out with something about the Hyaaki Yakou (night parade of a hundred demons).

Which regions of Tian Xia allow slavery? (I don't see this addressed anywhere in the Dragon Empires Gazetteer.) Does Minkai?

In the Dragon Empires Gazetteer, who wrote the section on the Dragon Empires Zodiac?

How does the Dragon Empires zodiac correspond to the actual Chinese zodiac?

In Occult Mysteries, who wrote the section on astrology and the Inner Sea zodiac?

How does the Inner Sea zodiac correspond to the Dragon Empires zodiac?

If not you, who can answer these questions?

Man, I love this thread! It's super useful for the city of yokai I'm working on.

As a request, could you do a binbougami (kami of poverty)?

What domains should the kyton demagogues grant their followers in your opinion?

I assume they have Evil and Law, being of an outsider race with the lawful and evil subtypes. Should all kyton demagogues grant the Darkness domain? Or perhaps they should all grant the Destruction domain, allowing access to the Torture subdomain? Maybe Evil, Law, one of Darkness OR Destruction, and one domain reflecting their area of concern?

Do dreamers in Golarion (at least those who dream deeply enough) reach the same regions of the Dreamlands as the dreamers of Earth? True, there is overlap with Leng and Kadath, but what of dream-places more closely attuned to humanity? Do Golarion's dreamers find themselves in the regions of Celephaïs, Dylath-Leen, Ulthar, Oriab, Ilarnek, and so forth, or have the collective dreams of Golarion created new regions further afield?

Hello Mr. Jacobs!

1) In a previous poster's question, the poster wanted a LG god for a pantheon worshipped by judges to go with Abadar (LN) and Asmodeus (LE). You suggested Torag. Why Torag instead of Iomedae, whose areas of concern include justice and rulership?

2) It has been established that the Osirian gods are in fact Earth's Egyptian gods operating on Golarion. Is Alseta, in a similar case, just the Roman god Janus in a female guise operating on Golarion?

3) Does Iomedae's sword have a name?

4) Why are dogs not available as familiars? Smaller breeds of dogs have comparable stats to existing familiars (equivalent to foxes), so it should be viable.

Thanks!

Just got the book and quite excited to read through the whole thing. Although, so far I have only read the part on Irori (being thinking about making a champion of Irori for some time now). I was kinda disappointed to notice there was no text related to paladins of Irori. I know many have posted about this topic in the last years saying that there were too few of then to have a code but I was still expecting a little something in this book. Anyone as an idea if there was ever a code published or if there will be one in the future (I read there might have been one when they published the dragon empires... but nothing since).

This is briefly addressed in the section on the Irorian Paladin archetype in Inner Sea Combat.

Bought the book at my FLGS last night.

My sole complaint is that I wish the assurance ranas, kyton demagogues, primal inevitable so protean lords, psychopomp ushers, rakshasa immortals, whatever aeons have, Tian Xian deities, Vudrani deities, forgotten deities, and dead deities had been included in the appendix tables. It would have been amazingly useful and given us plenty of new information to play with.

Maybe this could added as a blog post at some point?

A question:

Giant, Cave, p. 127

No languages are listed in this entry. Is this an error or can cave giants simply not talk?

Is there a basic formula to determine the purchase price of a captive monster?

How much would it cost for a party to purchase a gelatinous cube? To purchase an otyugh?

I'd like something useable on my MacBook laptop (or PC laptop). We use the iPhone iCrit/iFumble apps in our games, so continued iPhone and iPad support is a must.

Yep, I've been working on a massive art order (and getting comments on the Top 8 this weekend), but I have this thread bookmarked, along with a private thread tracking which ones are still pending. :)

Awesome. I realize you're very busy, so thanks for taking the time to do this thread (and assuage nervous nellies like me when we get antsy).

As always, the Paizo team is a class act, through and through! :)

Just a friendly reminder that there are at least two remaining item critique requests pending - walking stick of the revered elder and meridian needles.

Hey, Chris! You made the Keep folder, so proceed on over to Sean's item feedback thread where he'll eventually give you a full-on developer's take for you item submission. In the meantime, I'll open up the judges' discussion for you to examine as well...

I saw that, and I'm thrilled that I qualified for the Keep folder! I've got my request submitted to Sean's thread, so I'm looking forward to reading that.

*FYI, it's the "this is usable a number of times per day equal to your Int bonus" that bugs me, because that scales up forever and is impossible to price.

This comment confuses me - I don't recall mentioning Int bonuses anywhere. Perhaps this is in reference to the reversed youthful appearance ability? It appears that I failed to specify that the ability is usable once per day.

I'd be exceptionally happy to receive an in-depth critique of my item, the walking stick of the revered elder.

I look forward to learning as much as possible from this and honing my RPG writing craft.

Here's the item I submitted. I appreciate any and all critiques and commentary.

Walking Stick of the Revered Elder

Aura strong transmutation; CL 13th

Slot —; Price 56,000 gp; Weight 3 lbs.

Description

Crafted of willow with a crow-shaped handle and silver ferrule, this walking stick is frequently associated with worshippers of Andoletta, the empyreal lord known as Grandmother Crow.

When used as an aid to walking and balance, this cane grants a +2 competence bonus to Acrobatics for balance-related effects and a +2 competence bonus to CMD against trip attempts. Additionally, the walking stick subtly resizes itself to match the length that is most comfortable to each user. The walking stick’s other effects depend on the age of the user.

When used by individuals younger than middle age, this walking stick produces the effects of the spell youthful appearance, affecting the user only and causing venerable instead of youthful appearance.

When used by individuals of middle age, the walking stick provides the benefits of constant lesser age resistance.

When used by individuals of old age, the walking stick provides the benefits of constant age resistance. Additionally, once per day the user can affect the cane with shillelagh as though it was a club.

When used by individuals of venerable age, the walking stick provides the benefits of constant greater age resistance. The user may use the cane’s shillelagh ability once per day, and summon a swarm of celestial crows three times per day. These luminous white crows act as the summon swarm spell, using a bat swarm with the celestial creature template, save that the swarm will not harm the summoner’s allies.

Construction

Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, greater age resistance, guidance, shillelagh, summon swarm, youthful appearance; Cost 28,000 gp

Comments: I was hoping to strike a chord similar to the sunblossom - a Golarion deity themed item, while also using a mechanic I hadn't seen used in conjunction with wondrous item before - aging categories. However, I realize that my item is too SIAC and SAK. Also, I don't think my theme was tight enough, and the middle-age category really needs some sort of effect. Also, it may be too plot devicey, although I felt it would open opportunities to play an unusual type of PC (as middle-age and older PCs aren't something people play very often).

nightflier wrote:

4) Who do you prefer for Graz'zt's father? Personally, I like the idea of Asmodeus being his dad. :)

Honestly? I prefer Nyarlathotep as Graz'zt's father. I believe I stashed hints to that in my Graz'zt Demonomicon article, but I can't recall for sure...

You did.

hellharlequin wrote:

Giant vultures(Huge CG Mountain/desert guardian with a dry Laconic wit)

Yeah, carrion birds get a raw deal. Ravens get romanticized every now and then, but the poor vulture?

Player: What do you mean he's CG? He's a vulture!

Vulture Guardian Guy: Ooooh! So now I'm the badguy! Guess you want dead bodies bloating and festering in the sun after you've looted them, spreading disease instead of letting someone get on with the circle of life in peace.

Player: ...well...no...

Vulture Guardian Guy: Okay then. ......so, you gonna eat that? points at dead party member/follower/BBEG

Yes! Though in my case, I want a hyena agathion in this role, with a big grudge against Lamashtu. Scavengers are a very important part of the ecosystem, but they always get cast as villains. And hyenas are awesome.

As you've said, we need more Dark Is Not Evil trope monsters.

I recommend using a 2 block by 2 block grid for each 5 foot square, with each wall being one block wide (but not counting against the normal grid squares). Since each Minecraft block is stated to be one cubic meter, this gives us a 5 foot square that is actually about 6.6 feet per side - a fair enough approximation given the blockiness of Minecraft. The reproductions of game sites won't be exact - but they'll be close enough.

Paizoite Minecraft server - it needs to be done.

Has anyone tried making to-scale versions of Pathfinder Dungeons in Minecraft? (I tried building a version of Castle Ravenloft, but a game crash ate the world I was building in). >:(

Recreations of Sandpoint and other Pathfinder locales would be fun community projects on a Paizoite Minecraft server.

A question for Mr. Schneider: I'm having a bit of trouble wrapping my brain around part of the Ustalavan timeline. The timeline mentions a King Ardurras Virholt and his son Prince Ardurras II, both in 3204 AR. Then in 3206 AR, it mentions King Ardurras, the Last King of Ustalav.

Do both of these dates refer to the same monarch, or are these Ardurras I and Ardurras III?

Also is 'Ustalavan' the correct adjectival form of 'Ustalav'?

I would wait until Pathfinder #48 comes out before you start getting all Wiki-happy with Socorro.

Thanks, James! You're crazy awesome!

In another thread...

CNichols wrote:

Merisiel,

I could have sworn that you mentioned a story about you and one of your companions having to hide from Socorro, Butcher of Carrion Hill, in the tunnels beneath that town. But now I can't find it. Am I losing my mind?

Nope; we did indeed nearly stumble into Socorro's clutches one day under Carrion Hill.

Based on this, is it canon (via word of the developer) that Socorro is still undead and kicking beneath Carrion Hill (for the purposes of citing on the PathfinderWiki)?

Nope; we did indeed nearly stumble into Socorro's clutches one day under Carrion Hill.

Awesome and creepy! Was that the scariest and creepiest adventure you've ever had?

I didn't see any Yogsoths or whatever there, but the place was kinda nasty. Did you know they make roofs out of melted bugs? It's true. Gross.

Well, it was invisible most of the time and it'd be unreasonable to expect you to know the technical name of every gross, slimy thing you've fought. Here's a picture of you and Seltyiel fighting the creature to refresh your memory: pic

Ustalav is actually really beautiful and refreshing. I think Thrushmoor is my favorite place so far. The furrows are the worst.

Thrushmoor seems like an interesting town, but I hear that Count Lowls is kind of a jackmumblemumble.

Have you met any of the counts or countesses of Ustalav? You might get along well with Count Galdana or Countess Livgrace.

Merisiel,

I could have sworn that you mentioned a story about you and one of your companions having to hide from Socorro, Butcher of Carrion Hill, in the tunnels beneath that town. But now I can't find it. Am I losing my mind?

Well, if said story was just a figment of my imagination, that's okay too.

Either way, it is known that you've adventured in Carrion Hill. Did you enjoy your trip to Carrion Hill? What was being ententacled by the spawn of Yog-Sothoth like?

How are you enjoying you current visit to Ustalav? What's the best place you've visited so far? What's the worst place in Ustalav so far?

Are you having the same problems that you encountered in the Crypt of the Everflame - namely bats and stuff that ignores your stabbing?

Dear Merisiel,

I hear that you've visited the lovely town of Sandpoint (and in the company of Valeros, Seoni, and Kyra, no less).

What was your favorite thing about Sandpoint?

What was you least favorite thing about Sandpoint?

Did you make any new friends or enemies in Sandpoint? If you did, who were they?

Also, could you talk some of your fellow iconics into doing their own Q&A threads? I bet a lot of people would love the chance to talk with them.

I meant White Wolf's heavy duty tarot deck sized cards.

One of my prized possessions :-)

With amazing art by Talon Dunning!

Paizo definitely needs to hire Dunning to do some art for Pathfinder.

If/when Tar-Baphon returns, will Arazni lead a force of undead across the Inner Sea to try to stomp him down and avenge herself? Would she (briefly) play nice with the other forces arrayed against the Whispering Tyrant or would it bog down into a three-way fight?

Any chance that Zura has a cool non-demon chaotic evil outsider servitor monster, like Abraxas' xacarbas or Aghazhan's baregara?

Do other demon lords have similar servants?

Any chance we'll see more of these creatures in the near future?

If you had enough money, would THIS be your new hobby?

Of course, in horror movies, it seems like the attic is often just as deadly and scary and horror filled as the basement. "The Exorcist," "Paranormal Activity" are both great examples of trouble in the attic, along with "Insidious" which just came out a week or two ago.

So I take it that you've seen Insidious? I caught that this weekend. What did you think of it?

(Personally, I enjoyed it and found it effectively scary, but thought the second half was somewhat flawed.)

(in another thread) With the exception of a relatively small number of ret-cons (such as making Alkenstar a much younger country), things that were mentioned in the previous hardcover but aren't in this one ARE still in the game. Something like the Lumber Consortium in northern Andoran is still there, but they're focused on a small part of one region, and that just doesn't justify the group taking up any space in the book when we want to talk about more important elements (such as organizations that have been or likely will be playing key roles in Adventure Paths or the Pathfinder Society).

I find this very intriguing. Could you enumerate what the small number of retcons in the Inner Sea World Guide are?