Cathedral of Wrath and Levitation room.


Rise of the Runelords


One of my players, having defeated the resident boss in the area, has just declared intent to contact the Pathfinder society to try and sell them the ruins, including the levitation chamber and the statues held within the complex. Has anyone else dealt with this and/or what would others do/suggest in handling this situation?


Are you during Book 1 or Book 5? (During Book 5 you discover additional parts of the ruins.)

I don't believe Pathfinder Society would buy the ruins, they don't do such things afaik, especially since the PC isn't an owner. What he can do is to sell [b]information[/i] about the ruins. Pathfinder Society would value a well-written report on a previously unexplored ruins. Although if the players only explored the first level, the one with Erylium and levitation chamber, the scope of the report wouldn't be very impressive. And remember clearing the ruins of monster isn't equal to investigating it.

In the end the PC doesn't control the access to the ruin, so PS has no reason that to pay him for more than the information about the entrance and about what's inside. Eventually some pathfinder agent may come to Sandpoint to see if there isn't anything more to be found in the ruins, but most agents in Varisia have other jobs or their own projects, so it would probably take some time. For example you can bring him when it's time for Book 5 and a new part of the ruins is uncovered. Instead of playing it as written, you can make the Pathfinder agent discover the way and then perish inside.

The PC could have more luck contacting the Aspis Consortium, which doesn't care about the information but exploits ruins for anything of value. Still the fact that the ruins are in the middle of town is a problem, as they are aware they wouldn't be able to just rob the ruins of everything, with townpeople watching. And if the PC tries to move out the statues and other such items from the dungeon by himself, you can make Broder Quirk protest against such vandalism and appeal for the preservation of the ruins for detailed investigation, making the town council to forbid such actions.

Shadow Lodge

What Adjoint said, 110%.

The PCs don't own the access to the Catacombs of Wrath. The Sandpoint Merchant League at a minimum, and the Kaijitsu family more likely owns the access to the Catacombs. The Catacombs themselves are under Sandpoint, so the Merchant League would have the legal claim to the ruins themselves.

Now, the PC could try using the smuggler tunnels, but with Ameiko admitting that the Kaijitsu family has known about tunnels under the town for years, it seems likely that the town would seal those off.

So what exactly is the PC selling to the Pathfinder Society? And more importantly, how aware is the PC of the Pathfinder Society? Sure, players are fully aware of the Society, but PCs really aren't; and the Society really only set up a Lodge in Magnimar very recently. If your PC has some Society contact in his background story that's great. But if not, he really doesn't know more than rumors, if that, about the Pathfinders.

I have two PCs in my Runelords game that are familiar with the Society. One has parents that retired to Sandpoint that are retired agents. The other is a newly minted field agent sent to investigate goblin unrest in the area that could disturb other Pathfinder activities. They have knowledge of the Society, but none of my other PCs do. It's not like there's a Pathfinder Field Office in every town & City on Golarion.


Cheers for the replies. They're in book 1, at present.

Chiefly the player was interested in trying to sell the statue of the Runelord, and the levitation chamber/the metals coating the walls in that room, if they can be identified (as a side-note, are they identified elsewhere or is that material purely for atmosphere? My players are adamant that it must be some variety of evil-aligned metal...).

The PC is broadly aware of the Society, as he tied it in a little with his history. He's a Paladin from Mendev, and wrote a fair bit of background about his character's experience with that region/the Worldwound, which included a part about dealing with the Society's agents once or twice.


I believe the Levitation Chamber is simply meant to be the PC's first encounter with mysterious Thassilonian magic. I'd personally say the chamber as a whole counts a single magic item and taking it apart would have similar results to taking apart any other magic item (ie. it breaks and no longer works.) It would be up to you to determine if it could be repaired via Make Whole afterwards. (I would personally say no just to emphasize the "Ancient Magic Lost to Time" aspect of Thassilon.)


Well, if he manages to get the items out, he may try to sell them. I still don't think the Pathfinder Society would be the best choice though. Their primary objective is exploration, not gathering of artifacts. While the latter may happen during the former, it's only a side activity.

The statue of Alaznist would definitely have some value as an art object, but has little value for the Pathfinder Society.

As for the levitation chamber, I would agree with Kalshane, the room is a single item. If the PCs manage to dismantle it they will destroy it, and putting it together won't restore the magic. The metal isn't evil-aligned, although it may seem like that: the black electricity circulating along are the soul of Scribbler, who appears in Book 5, and he's evil alright. He isn't bound to the metal though, so if the PCs start to dismantle the chamber, he's going to leave eventually.
The metal, like other Thassilonian materials, may turn out to be magically reinforced or have other qualities important for itemcrafting, and as such it may have some value in itself. I'd suggest selling it to the Golemworks instead of the Pathfinder Society though. As in the previous case, it has no special value to PS, while Golemworks are already known for using another Thassilonian material (Irespan granite) for their constructs.

Shadow Lodge

Also, a Paladin from Mendev? Kind of greedy for a Paladin. Keep an eye on this one.

Then list the room as a priceless artifact that cannot be sold (nobody has that much money). I also agree with the above comments that trying to move the room would likely destroy the magic to it. The statue might be sellable, but require item fort saves every time it is moved until it is in proper packing crates. Make it tough. The PCs are supposed to be adventurers, not antiquities agents.

Then have the Society not buy it, and berate the Paladin for looting an ancient archeological sight. Though if he tried to sell it to a museum he would have more luck. But make sure he gets a reputation as a tomb raider.


The Usual Suspect wrote:
Also, a Paladin from Mendev? Kind of greedy for a Paladin. Keep an eye on this one.

Mind if I ask what you mean by this?

As for the rest, thank you all for weighing in, it seems my player(s) have overestimated their ability to skyrim-loot and sell to factions. :P


Snipercam7 wrote:
The Usual Suspect wrote:
Also, a Paladin from Mendev? Kind of greedy for a Paladin. Keep an eye on this one.

Mind if I ask what you mean by this?

As for the rest, thank you all for weighing in, it seems my player(s) have overestimated their ability to skyrim-loot and sell to factions. :P

Not my observation but if I had to guess - Paladins are not typically focused enough on wealth acquisition to try to squeeze the last drop of value out of a "completed" dungeon. In particular, a paladin should be deeply alarmed about any effort to sell a complex that contains a long standing temple of Lamashtu. Also, you didn't say what happened to the runewell - an artifact the "ownership" of which should be an item of high concern to the paladin (and any other right-thinking, good pc.) At the least, some greed points seem to be called for...


True, the greed points are already accounted for, and as for the temple of Lamashtu, they're taking steps to brick that up. The Runewell itself is deactivated, and they asked the clerics in the Cathedral if it would be possible to arrange for the site to be cleansed/consecrated/purified, and have sent off to Magnimar for assistance in that regard.

I wasn't sure if he was talking about "greedy" in some manner related to being from Mendev, I know only a little about that area, so wasn't sure if there was something I should research/be aware of.

Shadow Lodge

Latrecis wrote:
Snipercam7 wrote:
The Usual Suspect wrote:
Also, a Paladin from Mendev? Kind of greedy for a Paladin. Keep an eye on this one.

Mind if I ask what you mean by this?

As for the rest, thank you all for weighing in, it seems my player(s) have overestimated their ability to skyrim-loot and sell to factions. :P

Not my observation but if I had to guess - Paladins are not typically focused enough on wealth acquisition to try to squeeze the last drop of value out of a "completed" dungeon. In particular, a paladin should be deeply alarmed about any effort to sell a complex that contains a long standing temple of Lamashtu. Also, you didn't say what happened to the runewell - an artifact the "ownership" of which should be an item of high concern to the paladin (and any other right-thinking, good pc.) At the least, some greed points seem to be called for...

Pretty much exactly this. In a game where the GM at least nominally tracks sin as a point value, a paladin falling into the habit of greed, especially this level of greed, would seem to be on a slow road to falling from grace.

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