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Lasada Anchor

Spoiler:
You probably don't need the players to find Otari's ghost at this point, unless they need the xp. The important thing is they find the rest of the dungeon. If you're willing to skip the Roseguard icons, you can skip the spectral barrier, too.

Dorianna's illness and Carman's shenanigans should be starting now, and you could use either or both to point your players back at the Vaults.

If your players are after the sword, great; if not, have the Garrison put a bounty on Carman. Either way, let the party track him to the Smuggler's Refuge and discover he's gone through the secret door (which will be unblocked in this scenario). Dori's illness is easy to connect to the Vaults once the players have an idea of what's going on with her.

If you need something else, see what the Vaults offer you besides another kidnapped anchor. For example, Will-o-Wisps are intelligent, fly, and can be invisible. You could have more and more showing up around Gauntlight keep, and coming into Otari to spy for the Voidglutton or just cause terror on their own. They could easily kill a few NPCs and stir up paranoia. Make sure your players know they're attracted to the energies from Gauntlight. If they don't realize they might have missed something, have the Mayor ask them to investigate.

Good luck!
INSPIRATIONAL MEDIA

Can I riff off of James Jacobs' mention of "The Willows" (which is a beautiful and creepy story) by mentioning a novel that riffs off of "The Willows"?

_The Hollow Places_ by T. Kingfisher was not my first thought for a recommendation for Abomination Vaults inspiration (it starts off in present-day NC USA, and has a fair amount of humor), but it actually has some good stuff to check out. There are very creepy scenes featuring Things moving just behind the skin of reality, and what they do to some of the people they find is great nightmare fuel for body horror encounters.

It was inspired by/an homage to "The Willows," and has atmospheric river and swamp scenes. And for bonus points, the Wonder Museum the protagonist runs would fit very well in Otari with just a few small tweaks.
I didn't know there are so many elements from the real world mythology in Lost Omens!
2 people marked this as a favorite.
TheMountain wrote:
Aenigma wrote:
Really? Aldinach, Nocticula, and Socothbenoth are from the real world mythology? I searched their names on Google but I couldn't find any. So I thought those names are 100% created by Paizo.

I believe that Socothbenoth is inspired by Succoth-benoth, a babylonian god.

Aldinach is a demon from egyptian mythology and I think Nocticula is god found in Roman mythology, but I'm not sure.

Nocticula seems to be a medieval European witch goddess, akin to or another name for Hecate, Benzosia and Habondia. At least, this guy's blog post cites Paul Huson and Gerald Gardner as saying so:

https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/09/in-search-of-nocticula.html
Paizo Blog: Pathfinder Tales Bundle
3 people marked this as a favorite.

I noticed Liane Merciel's _Hellknight_ isn't in the bundle. I have a copy already, but since it's my favorite of the Pathfinder Tales I've read so far, I looked for it anyway. Just curious -- why was it left out?
Create Fleshwarp
Thebazilly wrote:
Here is the document if anyone else wants to steal from it! As I mentioned, though, it's mainly reflavored magical tattoos.

Thank you for the link; I look forward to reading!

Edited to add: I sent the link to my partner and GM, too. She's got a homebrew PF2 setting we play in sometimes, and there are a couple societies in it that use fleshcrafting/fleshwarping as a beneficial medical and cosmetic practice. It'll be a lot of fun to have mechanics to play around with!

I'm running Abomination Vaults, but it'll be a while before my players reach the 6th floor. I doubt that party will be anything other than horrified by the fleshwarps, but we'll see.
"But What do they Eat?"
Dan Moss wrote:

Hey folks. Just wondering for those more familiar to the module -- is it ever explained how the creatures survive, and what they eat? To me, for a dungeon to be believable, they have to be able to sustain themselves via an abundant food source that all denizens can access in some way or another.

So, what to the dungeon denizens of the Abomination Vaults eat?

The morlocks are probably foraging the swamp at night. Their leader offers the PCs a quest to kill the drake, who makes it difficult for them to move around; but their part of the ruins is described as being full of waterfowl bones and big beetle shells. So they must be heading outside for food, dodging the drake as best they can.

Create Fleshwarp

Coming on this months late, but I think it's a great idea. What did you end up going with?
Pathfinder Harrow Deck

Exciting! I have the original deck and can't wait to see what this version looks like (not to mention get it in my hands)! I have yet to create a reading for players, but I use it all the time when I'm stuck about a character's motivations or direction.
Paizo Blog: Paizo Recognizes United Paizo Workers

Very happy that you chose to recognize the union. This is historic!