Whose haunted wayfinder did I inherit?

[Noranti Pralatong]

A wrinkled, silver haired old elf with an odd third eye in the middle of her forehead enters and looks around.

"Excuse me, dears. Maybe one of you can help me figure something out."

"My name is Noranti. You may have seen me in the Grand Lodge, where I've worked as a chef for the past few years. But now, Venture-Captain Valsin has asked me to go out in the field with Pathfinder agents, to make sure they eat properly on their missions, and share my breadth of experience, since all my knowledge might help them. And I figure I can look for gems for that nice, wise dragon while I'm out there."

"But my question is about this wayfinder that I got from the quartermaster. I have an interest in old objects with storied histories, so I specifically asked for a wayfinder that isn't shiny and new, but one that's been used by others before. He looked at me funny and gave me this."

She holds out a dull, scuffed wayfinder.

"It works fine as a wayfinder, but I'm pretty sure it still has a partial spirit within it. I think the last Pathfinder who owned it left part of their soul inside when they died. I think it must have been a healer of some sort, because my herbs and medicinal cures seem to be more potent now that I have it."

"It looks like there might be initials engraved here, like that nice halfling girl told me they do for new Pathfinders after their confirmation missions. But they're faded, so I'm having trouble reading them. Maybe with some polish, I'll be able to determine what the initials are."

"Does anyone know what healer in the Pathfinder Society died, and left me their wayfinder, with part of their soul inside?"

So who wants to tell me about their dead PFS PC, so I can build it into the story of my new character?

Since it's relatively obscure, let me explain what's going on. She's an occultist with the haunt collector archetype. Since a compass can be used as the implement item for conjuration spells, I gave her a wayfinder for that purpose. And it's her level 2 implement, which I used with the archetype to trade out the normal resonant power for conjuration in order to get the medium class's hierophant seance boon, among other things. So basically, I give up extended duration on Glitterdust eventually in order to get +2 HP healed whenever I cast cure spells (and I already have Cure Light Wounds known).

But the fluff behind that is that the wayfinder is haunted. I thought it would be fun to add some flavor and have it be haunted by an actual deceased PFS PC. Let me know if you have an appropriate former character in mind.

[Ahz]

That's an awesome idea! Sorry I can't help with your story-line, I just wanted to tell you that's a great way to develop your character.

[Drognar RockGroin]

Drognar was a rather flamboyant Dwarven cleric of Calistria.

Sky Key Solution Spoilers:

His fellow Pathfinders said confronting Lady Arodeth was foolish, but Drognar knew that somebody had to do it.

Despite Calistria's blessing rendering him invisible he was still caught in the foul villian's black tentacles and eventually burned from the inside out via Corrosive Consumption.

A Core level 3 Cleric confronting a level ~16 Magus went about as well as one might expect.

Happy to answer any other questions.

[Hmm]

I love this idea! What a great piece of backstory!

Hmm

["Dragonfly"]

A wispy female Sylph floats over and turns her head to the side, revealing a tattoo of a maple leaf on her neck, just below her ear.

"I had a dear friend once. We met to explore a Fallen Fortress in the Cairnlands one day and enjoyed the thrill so much we decided to become Pathfinders. We graduated our Confirmation together. "Leif" was his name. "Leif of the Lucky Puck", we called him. He was so nice. Could never bring himself to draw blood or say a single mean word. If someone got disagreeable with him, sure, he'd knock them to the ground... Sometimes repeatedly... But he always offered to help them back up. He said it came from years of practice playing this game on frozen lakes with sticks and flat river rocks.

And then we heard there was adventure in the River Kingdoms. "The Halls under the Hill", they were called. At first we found Goblins, and the occasional undead villager, but nothing could have prepared us for what we found in the Menagerie. It had wings and claws and was definitely not of this world. When it came time to flee, we knew that the first to move would trigger it's wrath. I froze in terror, and Leif paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Today I wear this tattoo in remembrance of him. Maybe if his story is told by others, he can live on even longer than I."

Not my character but someone who no longer does PFS after their "hockey player" PC died in Thornkeep.

[Faelyn]

I wholly endorse this fantastic character development going on here! My very first PFS character died on his second mission. He was a half-elf Heaven's oracle, although less inclined to healing that which you are looking. However, if you're interested, he's available to you!

[Utu Noranti Pralatong]

D'oh! I posted under the wrong character name the first time. This PC "died" on her first mission - my only PC marked permanently dead. I still wanted to play her, so I just added 1 to the character number and started her over.

"Were Drognar or Lief dedicated healers? Or very peaceful people who cared about their fellow Pathfinders, even? Both sound like they could be the soul trapped in the wayfinder. It might take some more research to find out."

[Drognar RockGroin]

I wouldn't describe Drognar as a dedicated healer. That said he is a positive channeling cleric with a positive charisma despite being a Dwarf. He definitely wasn't hitting anything with his 8 strength instead assisting the party with a variety of social skills thanks to the trickery domain, and a variety of cleric spells. He did have a variety of healing consumables such as a set of lesser restoration scrolls etc. Also very into his bling and accessories with mithral armor and shield.

["Dragonfly"]

Leif was basically Canadian. Does that count?

[Ancient Dragon Master]

Great way to do backstory I personally never focus much on any characters backstory it's too much work but I love reading others it'll be interesting to see where this goes

[Utu Noranti Pralatong]

I've actually learned from experience not to focus too much on back story that won't come up in game. It's the story elements that you can quickly and easily use at the table that make things fun.

In this case, Noranti needs to use her wayfinder as her focus component for all her conjuration magic (including healing), so she'll be pulling it out and talking about her haunted wayfinder regularly. I can just imagine trying to heal a paladin or something and saying (in my best old lady voice) "Now just hold still, dear, while I touch you with the haunted wayfinder".

"Well, it sounds like it could be Drognar or Leif. They certainly seem like the type of friendly fellows who might want to help their fellow Pathfinders even from beyond the grave. Does anyone have other possibilities? Faelyn, who was your dead friend?"

I might go with maintaining the mystery, and just have a list of all the possibilities for who it might be, instead of picking one. Noranti could babble about them occasionally, referencing different dead PCs each time.

[MeriDoc-]

My bard Dorian died in the dark battling an demonic killer. He escaped the fiend only to be murdered by an evil mage. Already wounded he traded spells as he beat a fast retreat to the castle exit. With his hands on the doorknob out, magic missiles burned through his spine (max damage else I'd have lived). His flesh was removed via taxidermy and he entered a collection of victims that haunt the stones of a certain keep in Cheliax. The wayfinder was discovered by a later group of pathfinders.

He always wanted to be a dragon disciple, but left this world a level 3 bard.