I never got round to polishing/formatting it correctly, but with a couple of hours to go till the Final 4 reveal, I thought I might share what I'd come up with so as to help people pass the time.
The Plans of Mice and Incubi
Flip-Mat: Battlefield
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Ideas can be more virulent and destructive than even blightburn sickness. When the incubus Rhaesso discovered the intoxicatingly oroboric ideology of Galt’s revolution, he knew that he had found his cause: to unleash Galt’s philosophy on Golarion, and plunge every nation into war. After a decade of fruitlessly sewing chaos in Isarn, however, he decided to take a more direct hand in whetting Galt’s appetite for imperialism: he would prepare the River Kingdoms for invasion.
For three years he explored the patchwork kingdoms, during which time he recruited the services of a doppelganger named Imixx and saved a pair of mist drakes from a predatory black dragon. Finally ready, Rhaesso set out to play Gralton’s hatred of Liberthane’s Lord Parshall to his advantage. Using a cap of diguise to appear like an old man, he insinuated himself into Lord Parshall’s court and soon became a trusted advisor. This allowed him to manipulate Lord Parshall’s eldest son, Sir Hector, into being kidnapped and delivered by Gralton’s Order of Vengeance to the closest Galtian border outpost. A week later his machinations caused a beloved Galtian revolutionary poet to fall into the hands of a Liberthane patrol.
The tension between Galt and Liberthane became excruciating. Rhaesso brokered a hostage exchange with Captain Armien, the leader of the Galtian outpost, and all was proceeding as planned until the PC’s visited Fort Liberthane. That night in his great hall Lord Parshall hired them to escort Rhaesso and his youngest son, Sir Elias, to the Galtian border. The following dawn, however, he stopped them at his fort’s gate and beseeched them to handle the negotiations themselves, charging them with making sure that the hostages were exchanged and war averted. Their reputation and valor, he stated, would prove more convincing than Rhaesso’s honeyed words.
Rhaesso was livid. At his command Imixx had already replaced Sir Elias, who lay bound in Rhaesso’s lair, and the pair would have sabotaged the negotiations with ease, turning a regional dispute into a matter of national concern. Riding behind the PC’s to the Bridge of Hope and Ashes, Rhaesso decided to execute his plan regardless. There was too much at stake for him to back away now.
The Bridge of Hope and Ashes (CR 9)
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Read or paraphrase the following upon the arrival of the PCs to the Bridge of Hope and Ashes.
Dawn is breaking when you finally catch sight of the bridge where you are to exchange hostages with Captain Armien. A thick morning mist rises from the East Sellen River, such that its waters and the base of the bridge are hidden. Four men stand at the bridge’s apex, which rises like an island from the fog. One of them is in manacles, his arms held by two others. The fourth stands before them imperiously, hands linked behind his back. In the near distance beyond the bridge stand four more Galtian soldiers, while behind them rises a sharp bluff some thirty feet high.
One square on the flipmap represents 5 feet. North is the top of the map as presented.
The PC’s approach the river from the NW corner of the map. The fog covers the river and the first ten feet of the river bank, including the base of the bridge where it touches land. The fog has been augmented by the mist drake’s fogburst supernatural ability, and thus faintly radiates conjuration magic.
Captain Armien awaits the party on the center of the bridge along with two Galtian soldiers who hold a manacled Sir Hector between them. Four more Galtian soldiers stand fifteen feet from the SE base of the bridge. A single Galtian soldier lies on the edge of the SE bluff, peering through the tall grass at the activity below. The difficulty to spot him is DC 30. A light ballista manned by four Galtian soldiers is set in the bottom SE corner of the map. It has total concealment from those on the ground below.
Svasha and Shasho the mist drakes float under the bridge. They have concealment and +15 Stealth due to the fog. If they are spotted and attacked before negotiations begin, Imixx cries out, “We are betrayed!” and attempts to kill the poet before charging Captain Armien on the bridge and enacting his feigned death plan.
When the party reaches the base of the bridge, read the following.
Haughty beyond his fifteen years, Sir Elias dismounts from his horse and extends the reins for one of you to take. The elderly advisor Rhaesso turns to you coldly. “There has been a change of plans,” he says. “Secret orders from Lord Parshall. You are to stay at the foot of the bridge and not intervene unless summoned. Do not humiliate us by arguing publically with me.” With that, he and Sir Elias turn to mount the bridge.
Rhaesso casts suggestion (Will save DC 18) while speaking on the party’s public face to command him to remain behind. Rhaesso and Imixx ignore all questions and protests and approach Captain Armien.
Encounter Timeline
Upon reaching the captain, Rhaesso and Imixx do the following unless the PCs stop them:
• Round 1: Rhaesso insults the captain, using bluff +16 to appear to be speaking reasonably
• Round 2: Reacts to the captain’s outrage by yelling “We are betrayed!” and bullrushing the poet over the side of the bridge as Imixx attacks Armien
• Round 3: Summons the PC’s to help fight the Galtians
• Round 4: Imixx feigns receiving a mortal wound and falls into the water. Rhaesso dives after in an attempt to save him
• Round 5: Both are ferried away swiftly through the mist by Svasha and Shasho
Creatures:
Rhaesso, Demon Incubus CR 6
XP 2,400
hp 76 (Bestiary 3 p73)
Tactics Rhaesso will call out to the mist drakes and bullrush the poet into the river if the PC’s spoil his plan. He will then use his summon ability to attempt to bring two schir’s into the fight, and then target as many PC’s as possible with crushing despair (DC 19). He then uses suggestion (DC 18) on the party’s fighters to order them to retreat, and seeks to teleport away if reduced to under 20 hp.
Gear cap of disguise
Imixx, Doppelganger CR 3
XP 800
hp 26 (Bestiary 1 p45)
Tactics Imixx feigns being mortally wounded and falls into the river if the PC’s intervene. He then changes shape to resemble the poet, and surfaces and begins calling for help in an attempt to divide the party. Any rescuers are promptly attacked.
Svasha and Shasho, Mist Drake (2) CR 5
XP 1,600
hp 57 (Bestiary 3 p9)
Tactics The mist drakes use their fogburst (DC 16) ability on the party, and then use speed surges and flyby attacks to strafe the party until they can fogburst again.
Captain Armien, Fighter CR 5
XP 800
hp 26 (NPC Codex p45)
Tactics The good captain fully intended to enact treachery of his own before he was attacked. His attitude is unfriendly toward the PC’s at the encounter’s onset. Once melee breaks out, he signals the watcher on the bluff to bring the ballista forward and for his men to begin escorting Sir Hector of the map. The sight of the mist drakes however changes his attitude toward the PC’s to indifferent, and a diplomacy check of DC 18 can shift him to friendly as he realizes the wisdom in banding against a common foe.
Galtian Poet, Aristocrat 1
XP 200
hp 8 (NPC Codex p45)
Tactics The poet seeks to cross the bridge to join the Galtian forces if possible once fighting breaks out. If bullrushed into the water, he begins to drown, his thrashing equal to a standard action each round.
Galtian Soldiers (6), Fighter CR 1
XP 800
hp 8 (NPC Codex p45)
Tactics The soldiers follow Captain Armien’s orders, with two of them seeking to remove Sir Hector from the map each round unless ordered to not do so. Those manning the ballista fire at the PC’s until the mist drakes appear, upon which they concentrate their fire on them.
Ballista, Light: 3d8 (19–20/×2)
Development:
Relations between Galt and Liberthane depend on the fate of the two hostages and whether Rhaesso survives the encounter. Should the poet perish and Rhaesso escape, Galt is outraged and prepares to invade Liberthane. Lord Parshall enlists the PC’s aid in rescuing his remaining son and defusing the war. Should the hostages survive or better yet be exchanged, tensions are abated, and both nations focus their energies on capturing Rhaesso.