How can we be so stupid? (some spoilers)

[Kernigahn Ross]

I was reading through some chronicles recently, and I cannot fathom how stupid we have become.

Three years ago, we were betrayed from within. It seemed that some Pathfinders had taken it upon themselves to split off and damage our Society's good name. After loyal agents contained the assault on the Grand Lodge in Absalom, the Decemvirate's damage control seemed to be haphazard and halfhearted, eventually getting the situation under control by making a deal with the person responsible, initially for the movement.

The fact that it took a good six months or so between his identity being known to the Qadiran intelligence forces is one thing, the fact that his intelligence was still being relied upon subsequently is another.

During those years, it was hard to tell which venture captains were reliable - who could be relied upon to follow the Decemvirate's orders, without pursuing their own sinister ends. There was mistrust. There were needless deaths of Pathfinders, and of bystanders.

Yet, after all was said and done, no internal review was performed. We have no guarantee on the trustworthiness of a given venture captain now, as we did back then.

Even last year, as we were wrapping up our business in Varisia, the real person responsible for the issues had been released from prison, and forgotten about. Yet her associate was still trusted to hand missions to pathfinders. And he betrayed us.

Yet, the Ten still have not undertaken checks. To even enter the Taldan Lion Blades, one's loyalty is tested. To attain any rank, tests for conflict of interest become more and more stringent. If a corrupt, decadent, failing empire can achieve this, for even their junior members, why cannot our trusted Venture Captains be trusted?

We keep being reminded of this, year after year. This year, all of Golarion is under threat from demonic invasion, because a Venture Captain has been associating with an enemy of the society and betrayed us. We had known that there were issues with him for years. The signs were there, but the Ten saw fit not to take action, or to undertake further investigation, but to simply ignore the problem, until it blew up.

Loyal and hard-working Pathfinders are taking increasingly difficult challenges to clean up this mess, yet the underlying problem still exists. It is inexcusable. Think of how much more exploration we could be achieving, how many more artefacts we could unearth and study, if we did not need to clean up our mess, and waste precious resources on this new crusade.

Just recently, a group of Pathfinders were dispatched to prove that the aforementioned venture captain was treacherous, notwithstanding the already existing evidence pointing that way.

To be clear: I am NOT advocating a Torch-like split within the lodge - that sort of divide solves nothing. What I am advocating is a complete, internal audit of the upper echelons of the Society, to ensure that our Venture Captains are trustworthy, and that any of the treachery never happens again. I am sure that we have no shortage of inquisitors and lie detection at our disposal.

[Kyros Deun]

"We have limited resources. If there's a Runelord in Varisia, you don't turn your back to look for a demon, and when that demon is there, you don't look over their shoulder for a traitor among the ranks."

[Pyrite Felsic]

Don't trussst anyone you haven't shed blood alongside.

[Kyros Deun]

"That excludes some of my childhood friends. And the man who taught me everything I know."

[Jarenthal]

I have shed blood in the defense of goblins for the society. Trust goblins! No. Wait...

[Jarenthal]

Kerigahn Ross wrote:

I was reading through some chronicles recently, and I cannot fathom how stupid we have become.

You joined a powerful organization where we don't even know who (or what) the leaders are and aren't allowed to know. You joined the wrong organization if you are looking for transparency. Our choice is really only one of stay or leave.

We do not know the makeup of the ten, and whether they are united. Though ten sentients agreeing on anything would be unusual. We have no way of knowing their agendas or affiliations. We accepted that when we joined. Any disjoint in the direction of the society likely reflect changing allegiances or makeup among the ten (assuming they are the actual leaders and not just figureheads).

Our senior pathfinders should be able to root out the leaders who are being duplicitous. However they seem to be protected by powerful and undetectable magics. They seem beyond the skills at the disposal of even the seekers among us. They are clearly very powerful.

The pathfinder society have apparently taken on the cause of Mendev, not because it is our problem, but because it is everyone's problem. We stand to have a much higher ranking in the world if we win, and like everyone else, none at all if we lose.

Of course this could all be part of some wider plan to build up trust for some collossal con, and with past history I am not ruling that out, but it's a take it or leave it organisation.

[Pyrite Felsic]

Kyros Deun wrote:

"That excludes some of my childhood friends. And the man who taught me everything I know."

Wimpsssss

[Aram bin Kaleel, Pathfinder]

There are many who would agree with you, Kerigahn. The Society has fallen far from its glory days, divided into factions and further corrupted by individuals using the Society to further their own ends. There is much that can be done, however, to improve the situation.

First, know this: the Decemvirate can only use the tools they are provided with in pursuit of the Society's goals. If the Grand Lodge turns out class after class of thugs with no skill beyond murder, the achievable goals of the Society are changed without any hidden agenda. When all you have is a hammer, everything begins to look like a nail.

For myself, I take inspiration from the early Chronicles, where Pathfinders such as Durvin Gest went alone into the unknown, able to handle any situation in pursuit of knowledge. As agents become more versatile, more resourceful, and less focused on deathdealing, we may see our masters find appropriate uses for us.

I feel that this method of leading by example will prove more valuable in the long term than any audit or investigation. An investigation only uncovers what the investigator wishes to find, and with such deep divides in the Society, "truth" seems an unattainable goal.

Take heart that there are others who agree and are doing their part to restore the Society to its rightful place as an organization of legendary explorers. It is better to light a single lamp, than to sit and curse the darkness.

[Kyros Deun]

"Not wimps. They're good people. We have different areas of skill."

[Jayne Munny]

All this talk. Nothing but rot and decay. Action is what is needed, rooting out corruption where you find it. I had thought I had been recruited to do just that, by that foul traitor who lead my faction. Nw his true colors come out.

I am still dedicated to rooting out corruption; to laying the judgement of Abadar (and Vera, oh yes Vera... She who took the breath out of the Runelords casting, saving us all). We shall not abide this demonic invasion, for it is a corruption far beyond what we mere mortals can hope to understand. They shall not prevail on our fair Avistan.

Worry about corruption when you see it. Do not seek it where it is not.

For those that do not know, Vera is Munny's ever-present companion; the musket that he forged in the Gunworks when he walked the Mana Wastes as a Shield Warden. Since then, he has heard the calling of Abadar, calling to root out corruption inside the Society. He is ever-watchful, ever-vigilant. He has been betrayed once by his leader... It shan't happen twice