Goblin Squad Member
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I thought I share it here as well - as it gives all non-PFS players in PFO an opportunity to comment - IC or OOC or meta.
There is the issue that I now have two hats on that sometimes can be in conflict - as a PFS player and GM and now as a guild founder in PFO.
I hope you can enjoy it at least a little bit. Some reference might only make sense if you have played certain PFS scenarios - so apology to people who don't get them.
But I tried to build this up IC and in line with Golarion Lore. Paizo has generated a fantastic campaign setting in the form of Golarion and it will be interesting to see which influences from PFO will feed back into PFS - and which influences from areas like PFS will feed into PFO
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Theodum was walking around in his small study - his mind seeming elsewhere. How could the Decemvirate be so blind, how could they not have acted yet - or did they act and he was out of the loop? It was a possibility - he had voiced his opinion and they knew of his motives. It wouldn't be the first time that the Decemvirate would send multiple competing groups without knowledge of each other.
He placed a map of the River Kingdoms on his table and took another look at it. There - the small cross indicated the town of Thornkeep. Town - well - from what he had learned it rather deserved the title of backwater village.
And to the South-West of it - Fort Inevitable. These Chelexians and their most avid followers the Hellknights - heavily armed, well equipped, following orders to the letter - a group which you better didn't cross.
And in-between - the red cross he had added himself - the Emerald Spire. Not much was known about it yet - but it was ancient, heavily warded - as no information of it's interior could be find in any of the Pathfinder Chronicles - and - if his information was right - then the warding had been breached or was about to fail any time now.
So where was the Pathfinder Society in all of this? Theodum himself had chronicled the exploits of Hyjg Drogh - his dwarven friend who went deep into the Realms of the Mammoth Lords to find a staging ground to explore the Sky Citadel of Jormurdun.
Half of all Pathfinders had been involved in one way or the other over a full year to fight the demons near the Worldwound and to ensure the Society would be first to explore Jormurdun. Theodum himself had contributed in his own way as Wizard and Chronicler to make it a success.
And the year before that - oh – they had ventured far away to Tian Xia and the Hao Jin tapestry. How much effort had the Decemvirate spend to ensure the win in the Ruby Phoenix tournament?
So why this inaction now? Why did they ignore the Emerald Spire - a place that might become more important to Golarion as the Tapestry or Jormurdun ever would be.
Oh yes - he still heard their response to him. That is a different parallel realm to ours, created by foul Goblin Magic, generating a rift in the world and splicing an entity of their own. All they were interested was the 'real' Golarion - not 'the other one'.
Wasn't this foolish - especially in regard to the Tapestry - hadn't this also been a parallel pocket dimension. Why was that dimension 'more real' and more important as the one opening up right now.
Theodum stood up again - he had just formed a decision. He walked over to the stack with scrolls on the cupboard and started rummaging through it. There it was - the wax seal of the Open Road and the Decemvirate still unbroken.
He took out a knife and carefully cut it open - trying to preserve as much of the seal as possibly. He chided himself for being sentimental - once broken it didn't matter - but he had worked so hard for it, several years in the field to earn the scroll - only to discard it between his magical scrolls which he tended to value so much more.
There it was - written: Theodum, you are honored by the Decemvirate with the promotion to venture-captain.
Oh yes - then came the small print. A lodge wasn't included in the promotion. But after spending years of his time in the library of the Grand Lodge to do research between he knew the rules of the Society well - he might not be given a lodge - but as Venture Captain he was allowed to found one of his own - provided he managed to organize the funds and could find like minded followers.
He wouldn't follow in the steps of Grandmaster Torch and cause a second rift in the society. The wounds of the Shadow war still hadn't fully healed. No second shadow lodge for sure. He would do this in the open - with full knowledge of the Decemvirate.
A lodge close to the Emerald Spire to ensure a foothold for the Pathfinder Society - and Theodum would claim his rights as Venture Captain to found this lodge.
Money shouldn't be the problem - he had a small fortune amassed during his time as field agent. But the most important part of a lodge was the rooster of field agents.
He would start with his fellow adventurers. Harsk, Jazz Strongblade and Cathlessra had been promoted together with him. They surely would have some protégés whom they could recommend and send to this endeavor.
Then there were other adventurers he had worked with together in the past. Maybe some of them could be convinced to join as well - and from there - if he got lucky - word would spread.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Nice tie in Thod! Everything goes better with a sensible background. :)
Thanks for the feedback. Coming late makes it more difficult to recruit players - so I have to play the cards I'm given and need to offer undecided players something.
I noticed here on the boards that > 1/3 of posters have PFS flag in their account - some of them even PFS GM stars. This is my targeted group to get some more followers.I know that there are also PFS players and GMs in the other guilds and alliances - like the Roseblood Accord as well as PAX - and that is great. Our settlement should welcome every player who wants to visit or trade and not cause mischief or plunder (in our territory - we won't be policing other areas as I expect we will be too weak for that).
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
I continue to be astounded by how much Golarion lore there is to know. It appears I currently know none of it, so I have a long road ahead :-).
There is A LOT ...
Just checked and could easily find approx. 40 Pathfinder Player Companions, 50 Pathfinder Campaign Setting books and upstairs are likely some 15-20 Pathfinder Tales. This is excluding all the hardcover books which are mainly Tabletop rules but also have such tomes like Campaign Setting, Inner Sea World Guide and the recent Inner Sea Gods.
We are talking here 330 pages hardcover just about Gods.
Add to this some 150 PFS scenarios and I think 80 Adventure Path books and you have a life time to read up on.
It will be interesting how PFO will fit into this. The great advantage is - it can feed on this vast amount of material. There are 4 bestiaries - so no worry that designers will soon run out of ideas what to throw against you - and more importantly - how such monster are supposed to act or where they fit in to this world.
The other part will be - how will PFO influence the lore. Will it just split or feed back into the world as it exists.
There is a reason for naming convention - Paizo might be interested to be able to feed back. Might the Lodge I try to found now in PFO one day show up as a lodge to start a PFS scenario - unlikely - but you can dream.
|
There is a reason for naming convention - Paizo might be interested to be able to feed back. Might the Lodge I try to found now in PFO one day show up as a lodge to start a PFS scenario - unlikely - but you can dream.
Exactly why this makes the game so potentially exciting, and why I am motivated on founding a lasting RP friendly, lore appropriate Settlement along with the Keepers.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
That's not a story - that's my life as adventurer in the Pathfinder Society !!
Theodum - level 12 Wizard, level 1 Pathfinder Chronicler
(ooc: the pathfinder chronicler is a real Pathfinder prestige class in the Core Rule book and Theodum represents some 150 hour RPG TT gaming since 2009 - there is no way to transfer him to PFO - but he will stay as chronicler and sponsor of whatever my PFO character will be.
Never seen any other character with this prestige class though despite GMing some 200 scenarios.
Theodum is the higest level character I have in PFS from approx. 10)
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
In large rude looking letters it stated - Bard and Chronicler wanted for the settlement of Aragon to write songs about the heroes - signed Notmyrealname.
Theodum looked at it with interest. His information was that this pamphlet was from the River Kingdoms. How it had made it's way here to Skyreach in Absalom was a mystery to him - but it showed him that other forces really were active while the Decemvirate still was silent.
He didn't bother to investigated the writing in any detail.
It was obvious to him - a rough, untrained hand, likely more used to swing an axe then use a pen. Yes - the River Kingdoms were wild areas - not anything for the faint hearted.
He carefully copied the writing over in his own chronicle . This looked much better now.
He then focused back on the mirror and carefully started a scrying spell.
The mirror stayed cloudy and nothing was to be seen. He guessed that the author was likely a barbarian - he should be a simple target for a scrying spell - but his lack of any further knowledge of him seemed to prevent finding out more. Well - maybe another time.
Depending what information he would gather he planned to visit the place - or to ensure he was as far from it as possible.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
But the most important part of a lodge was the rooster of field agents.
I think you meant 'roster', LOL.
A rooster of field agent would be Balazar's eidolon...
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Tagnut limped along the streets of Thornkeep, the dull pain in his shoulder throbbing with every step. He had been lucky to have hitched a ride most of the way with the crusading pilgrims, but had not been proud to have lied about his final destination.
He had already been to Mendev, and had little wish to go back any time soon. These were good people, but ultimately misguided; he had seen what came from the Worldwound, and it would not be held at bay by farmers' pitchforks and prayers.
He hoped they would come to their senses before they came to harm, but was in no mood to indulge in theistic debate, with ones so convinced of their spiritual duty. Best to slip off, with the excuse of searching for medicinal herbs, let them tire of waiting, and roll on.
He had questions that required answers, and had been told that Thornkeep was the place to get them. The creature that had delivered him his almost-fatal wound had been like nothing he'd ever seen before. It had been no golem, composed of one homogenous ever-plastic lump of metal, but had been hollow, like a jewelled egg, and when the shell had been cracked, it was filled with toothed wheels of such intricate design, it was hard not to believe it was an inhabitant of Axis.
But there had been none of the lingering planar debris, that one would expect to detect around the results of a summoning, and the remains of the defeated automaton had been ethically inert.
This was a piece of equipment, not a creature, and had likely been fabricated by mortals, albeit, mortals of singular skill. Not by The Spider, of that he had little doubt, since her forte was social manipulation, not engineering. But who? Another of her crime network? How many more would he have to slay, before her taint was gone?
He had applied for leave from the Society, and they had granted it, probably glad to have him out of Absalom, in the wake of the Spider's assassination, and embarrassed by the tangled circumstances surrounding it.
He would use this time to pursue a personal enquiry, having heard that the rusted shells of clockwork soldiers had been dug up in the River Kingdoms in years past. This made it likely their creator had lived and worked here, and others had fought them and lived to tell the tale.
He would learn what he could of their construction, and be better prepared next time they met. The surviving remnants of the late Spider's operation would not be able to hide behind these amoral objects for ever, and their smuggling of innocents would be exposed to the gaze of an avenging public, if he had to work with the Decemvirate's help or not.