Running through this one, and things are going great so far.
Regarding areas like the Bleeding Forest and Bonetown, creative geography edits are definitely the way to go. I put the waterfall cave in the bleeding forest, for example, so that the players would realize themselves after searching the rest of the river that the place they were looking for was somewhere beneath that crimson canopy. It worked perfectly.
The most unexpected thing I've faced thusfar is how resistant the PCs are to scouting forests for lumber, and stone for quarries. They complain a bit about always being sent on the dangerous missions, and insist that Ramona and Carver are trying to get them killed, but they still ultimately do those dangerous missions. "Go look at trees", on the other hand, sends them into fits of rage about having to do such a pedestrian job.
...I'm probably just going to let them keep finding other things to do until the plot moves on. They seem to take some mild pleasure in deliberately shirking that work in particular, so there's no hurry to say that an NPC eventually gets around to doing it in their stead.
How did the final encounter play out for you? Are you supposed to randomly determine from which patch the fire spreads? I guess if every patch keeps spreading the PCs don't stand any chance to stop it at all.
One of the motivations would be exploring the rest of the island to map it and identify / deal with threats to the colony.
Here's a trick that worked to get my group to these locales. I had Ramona subtly mention that Captain Ancorato had scouted a third possible landing site on the northern stretch of the island. The player's immediately jumped on the possibility that the missing alpha colonists could be there and off they went.
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How did the final encounter play out for you? Are you supposed to randomly determine from which patch the fire spreads? I guess if every patch keeps spreading the PCs don't stand any chance to stop it at all.
Might be advisable. I rolled once for each fire (I ran only two weakened stalker goons that fight as the party triggered the encounter early and disrupted the alchemist's fire plan) - the building was engulfed within four rounds.
My group have just reached Nal Shaker, so I have read Helekhterie in more detail.
She has a Spell lattice 2nd. What spell is in it?
She has 6/4/2 spell from her level plus the inflict spells plus Colour Spray and Hypnotic Pattern. So as written it has not been taken into account.
I was tempted with Shield of Fortification to stop the fight ending to early.
My group have just reached Nal Shaker, so I have read Helekhterie in more detail.
She has a Spell lattice 2nd. What spell is in it?
She has 6/4/2 spell from her level plus the inflict spells plus Colour Spray and Hypnotic Pattern. So as written it has not been taken into account.
I was tempted with Shield of Fortification to stop the fight ending to early.
Oh! I hadn't noticed the spell lattice. Thanks for mentioning it! I feel like they might have left it empty so it could work as loot for any party, based on what we want to give, though it may also be an oversight.
Shield of Fortification does sound like a good idea. I didn't particularly like that spell until I noticed it works for sneak attack as well as crits. It will be especially efficient if the party has a rogue. In fact, between that and the mists, if there is a rogue in the party, they might not have much fun.
Do you have a spontaneous spellcaster in the group who might enjoy using this spell afterwards? If so, I think it would be pretty cool. It will likely prove useful for the party later on.
For my own game, I'm thinking of giving her either Silence (a good overall spell which the group's bard might be happy to have) or Twisted Futures, mostly for thematic value, though it might become of use against some of the player's abilities as well.
No my party have no spontaneous casters.
So I am just looking at what will suit Helekhterie.
I do have a rogue in the party, I take you point it would really ruin a climactic fight.
I will look at Twisted Futures.
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My group is making steady progress through this part of the adventure, so I thought I'd share some insight into what I've done to make he story work out more smoothly for my group.
1 - The Sunken Laboratory - The pit that descends into the lab is 80 feet I think. Without LOTS of rope, pitons, and/or trees (that can survive fireballs), the party can't get down without levitation or feather fall or something. Add fireballs blasting every round (unless they 'kill' the haunt for the day), and this is just too hard. My party crafted makeshift ropes ladders with sturdy vines from the forest nearby and I had some scraggly trees that could support the weight. Getting back up was impossible with a group with all low Climb skills and no magic to get out. They had to rely on Monkey Fish spell to get 1 party member out who then hoisted the others out. How did Durvin Gest get down here centuries ago? Maybe I would add some more permanent chain ladder that he left behind to get down next time.
2 - I added some details to the map that the Sahuagin had in the Reef area. The map included a scrag meetup camp near the Bleeding Forest where they transferred their prisoners to the Scrags, who then took them the rest of the way up to Nal Shakar via a hidden mountain path. I added the waterfall to this map, so the party would be motivated to check out that site as the possible site Durvin recorded.
3 - I added story detail to motivate the party to visit Bonetown. The water naga and locathah shared stories about the small Gillmen settlement that mysteriously disappeared about 2 years ago after rumors of conflict with Skum. Maybe their disappearance is related to the colonists that went missing and clues could be found at Bonetown. Ramona suggested to follow up on investigating Bonetown for clues. It's kind of a red herring, but it helps to keep the party out of the colony so the faceless stalkers can continue their takeover.
4 - I added some background of continued conflict between Onthooths Skum allies and Helekheterie's Sahuagin allies. Onthooth was winning the conflict, but with serious attrition among his Skum allies. The Hag's sahaugin forces have been rebuilding slowly and the Skum can't procreate without human hosts to breed with. Onthooth really needs breeding stock for more Skum to keep control of the region. This leads into other stuff I added....
5 - The Skum have kept nearly all the female colonists in a slave camp on the small island in the center of the map. They are keeping them in very good condition to use as breeding stock. However, Skum can only breed once a year at the summer solstice...so the women haven't been corrupted yet. This Skum slave camp is run by a Skum Druid and Alchemist. The druid uses his magic to control giant sea turtles with rafts that can be attached/pulled. This is how the colonists are easily transported from Ancorato to the other islands. I just couldn't fathom how rowing back and forth in a 4 person boat would work, so adding this druid and his giant turtles helped this part of the story make more sense. The alchemist can help brew potions for the Skum and Faceless stalkers to assist in their takeover of the new colonists.
6 - I added Monkey Goblin allies with classes levels (Rangers and Sorcerers) to the Hag's tower. This made the fight with the Hag much more interesting and challenging, since she really didn't have much offensive capability. I also modified the orrery description to include details of metal whirling rings with the planets attached that were 20 feet up. The hag used her Fly potion to fly up to the planet rings to use her spells from above on the party while the Vampiric Mist and Monkey goblin fought. This made the encounter more fun and challenging. The hag really seemed to have too few allies in the story to seem threatening to Onthooth or even able to keep control of the island. More could be added to this to make the story seem more real. I also added some river drake allies to the crater area to make it seem like the hag had more 'control' over the area.
Other things I would consider changing next time include:
Reducing the power of those necklaces of air adaption. They are too valuable for the party to have so many by the end of the story, plus I can't see the hag spending so much time constructing them when she is so obsessed with her Oracle stuff in the tower. Maybe they could be nerfed to provide air breathing in a 10 foot radius (also to bypass the tower sound burst trap in 10 foot radius) and no move speed bonus. Then the sahuagin and scrags would only need like 1 each, or at most 2.
A few more things.
Eliza escaped at the end of Part 1. She retreated to the Skum slave camp and now willingly works with the Skum and Onthooth at Onchymua's request. My party hasn't quite reached this encounter, but I know they'll be happy to finally get revenge on her. I changed her background some, making her an Aspis Consortium agent that had greedy intentions all along. I had to find a reason for her to be exploring Azlanti ruins, so making her an Aspis spy worked well.
Also, about half of the original colonists will be alive and 'well' and can be rescued. I like that idea rather than the idea of Onthooth burning through nearly 100 test subjects during their capture. His facility in Part 3 isn't really big enough to deal with that many captives over an extended period of time.
I'm looking forward to Part 3 soon...
I also recommend considering some changes to loot in this adventure beyond the necklaces of air adaption. At one point, there is a wand of freedom of movement with quite a lot of charges in the treasure. This spell can trivialize many aquatic encounters, especially with so many free charges. Part of the challenge of some of the underwater encounters is the environment. Eliminating the challenge with 'free' freedom of movement might require rebalancing some encounters to make them tougher. The party can't even cast that spell yet at the level they should be when they acquire the wand.
Another change I made was the languages spoken by many of the monsters and races throughout the adventure. It made no sense that these cultures that have had little to no contact with Avistan would all speak Common. Most creatures encountered that speak Common in the Bestiary were changed to speak Aquan, Merfolk or an Azlanti dialect instead.
My party did have a challenge communicating with the Scrags in this adventure. They only speak Giant, and no one in the party spoke it. Fortunately Hags speak Giant, so at least that part made sense. The party had to rest with the cleric swapping spells to be able to understand the troll. I think the spell was Share Language or something like that. I didn't know that Comprehend Languages is a Personal only spell.
How does Thanaldhu impersonating Carver bluff off the fact that he can't cast spells even though the real Carver can? That seems like a big hole in his disguise. <snip>
In my game, Carver posed as a farmer until revealing himself as a Pathfinder at the end of Chapter 2 in book 1. Even then, he only admitted to being a scholar and archaeologist. We're at the end of book 2, now, and the PCs still have no idea of the extent to his (original Carver's) skill set. If the PCs were in need of a curative spell they would go to the chapel (now ghost-free!) and pay Eamon or Kurvis for one. Generally speaking, I think its a good idea not to reveal class/lvl of NPCs. Focusing on their role in the campaign rather than their abilities seems to make for richer storytelling, IMHO.
I also recommend considering some changes to loot in this adventure beyond the necklaces of air adaption. At one point, there is a wand of freedom of movement with quite a lot of charges in <snip>.
Zenori - I very much appreciate the recap and suggestions! These are some good ideas and I wish I had thought of some of these. Its fun to read how different groups have tackled the challenges presented in these first two books and how the GMs have tweaked and modded things along the way to fit with the particular story being told at everyone's individual tables. I often wonder what Adam Daigle and the various authors think when they get to read how their creations play out.
I left the haunts and encounter challenges as written because I wanted my players to deal with the dangers and to spend time really figuring out how to to deal with haunts. Temporarily killing the haunt at Ankyhathyra before heading down was a good challenge that they had to think through. Communicating through the story that the haunt was laid to rest when the last blast shadow was destroyed was the tricky part. I wanted them to realize that they had accomplished something - a "healed the land" moment.
They have not taken on Nal-Shakar yet, and I think I will add in those monkey-goblins. Great idea! The place feels a little empty to me and this should add some spice.
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I often wonder what Adam Daigle and the various authors think when they get to read how their creations play out.
I really enjoy reading and listening to how different groups have approached situations in this AP (and other adventures and APs I've worked on). I've even read some play-by-posts here on the boards.
One of the groups I am running this AP for was, this weekend, just finishing up Ch. 4 Across the Shattered Shore before heading to Nal-Shakar. One of the PCs is a (cigar-smoking) catfolk and another is a summoner with an eidolon that resembles the Harvey-like rabbit from the movie Donny Darko. The group has allowed Koloshkora to tag along with them (after loaning her the Necklace of Air Adaption they got from Skurnagh in the Bleeding Forest) and they have convinced Vriskirsa to accompany them on this part of their journey.
The players were so very, very amused that their party included a cat, a rabbit, a snake and a fish. I kept back a laugh realizing that next game will probably take them to Sheshkadrann where, in all likelihood, they will be adding a bird to their menagerie.
BTW, this has been a totally enjoyable chapter from my point of view. We've got 1) island exploration 2) downtime activities from Ult. Campaign 3) Durvin Gest's trail 4) Events in Talmandor's Bounty 5) a roster of cool, unique random encounters and 6) the various side-quests (resources etc.), with the players absorbed in sandbox-like play, and all the while Thanaldhu’s scheme slowly rolling out behind the scenes. I've run things straight out of the box as written and it has played out perfectly. I have seen a few threads with concern about early discovery of the faceless stalkers or colliding/confusing plot threads - but, so far, my experience with two separate groups has been absolutely perfect. The group that is further along in the story suspects something is up with Carver, but are not yet concerned. This has really been a lot of fun and a unique game-play experience. I'll post an update on player reactions when we hit the end of Ch. 6 and it all comes unraveled!
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Here’s my monster lore notes for Chapter 4 “Across the Shattered Shores”. Hopefully this is helpful to someone.
Our house rules using these Monster Lore checks are: 1) if a character has ranks in the appropriate knowledge skill then they can assist another character on the check which represents a sharing of knowledge. 2 ) They can only assist on the roll out of combat. 3) If the check happens in combat, its unassisted and the results are sent privately to the player making the roll. In combat on their turn they can, as a free action, relate up to six seconds of lore per turn.
One of my groups playing this AP have built a book repository using downtime rules (recently upgraded to a magic repository). 4) They have the option of making a lore check one additional time after several hours of study in the repository. That group has allowed Carver and Peryl Beys free access to the repository and they often consult with those NPCs on lore. Carver/Thanaldhu secretly used these study sessions to learn more about the PCs and their strengths and weaknesses, often questioning them in detail about how they won each battle. And, 5) they have the option of making an additional knowledge check on these each time they level up, representing possible new knowledge they may have discovered.
DC 10 is usually just the color-text for each monster entry in the bestiary. The next DC will be 10+CR of the creature. Strengths, weaknesses, info on traits and abilities as well as lore from the Inner Sea World Guide are alternately added in at increasing DCs with some (but not a lot) of thought to what facts might seem more obscure.
Enjoy!
Chupacabra – Arcana (Bestiary 2)
DC 10 - This lizard-like creature stalks forward upon two muscular legs, a mane of spikes running down its scaly back.
DC 13 – You know of these creatures, but you never realized they possessed wings or could fly.
DC 15 – These creatures prefer to hide in and among rocks and boulder fields, waiting in ambush for suitable prey to wander near.
DC 16 – A ridge of exceptionally tough scales along their backs provides exceptional armored protection.
DC 17 – Chupacabras drink warm blood from their victims, often leaving a trail of desiccated corpses behind.
DC 18 – It has been reported that these creatures experience a short energy burst after even the quickest of meals.
DC 19 – They are nocturnal but can see very well in all levels of light.
DC 21 – Chupacabras are exceptionally nimble, quick, and stealthy.
DC 23 – Chupacabras are often seen together as a mated pair, but in truth, they prefer to be alone and only pair up during mating season.
DC 25 – On rare occasions, large packs of these creatures have been spotted hunting together, usually when the only food sources are larger creatures and greater of their numbers are needed to bring the prey down.
Draugr - Religion (Bestiary 2)
DC 10 - This barnacle-encrusted walking corpse looks like a zombie but is dripping with water and gives off a nauseating stench.
DC 12 – These foul undead appear to be zombies, but they do not move with such a slow, shambling gait.
DC 13 – Draugr live in the water and move around in it as if they were on land.
DC 15 – Draugr can see in all levels of light and are unaffected by powers that target the mind. Sharp blades, however, seem to affect their minds normally.
DC 16 – They are also not affected by bleed attacks, disease, paralysis, poison, sleep effects and stunning.
DC 17 – They never tire, they cannot be drained of life or energy
DC 18 – They have no need for food, sleep, or air.
DC 19 – Draugr are mightily harmed by exposure to positive energy of the heavens and holy water but are healed by energies derived from the darker spheres of influence, such as the Abyss.
DC 20 – The water that constantly drips from this creature creates a natural barrier that is mostly proof against flames.
DC 21 – Piercing weapons do very little harm to a draugr.
DC 22 – Draugr are undead created at sea, usually the result of a sailor lost or drowned.
DC 23 – These creatures often still wear the clothes or armor they wore when they died and the weapons they wielded, too. But they can do tremendous damage with their fists.
DC 25 – Victims struck by draugr are often beset by infernal stomach cramps, resulting in much retching and nausea.
DC 26 – Sometimes draugr are led by a drowned sea captain. These horrors can be identified by their red, glowing eyes.
DC 27 – Draugr captains are fierce fighters and their touch can drain the life from the living. Best tackle this monstrosity from afar!
DC 28 – Draugr captains bring with them the fog of the sea, for it forever enshrouds them, making them very difficult to strike in combat.
DC 20 Draugr are either infused with necromantic energy or haunted by restless evil spirits.
DC 22 Most often draugr remain near the place of their death. Sometimes, an entire crew that drowned with their ship reanimate, thereafter plying the seas in fearsome ghost ships.
DC 35 (or DC 25 Geography) Crew draugr are a known menace in the Shackles but can be found as far north as the freezing Ivory Sea.
Chuul Larva - Dungeoneering (Module)
DC 10 - This dog-sized creature resembles a soft-shelled lobster with underdeveloped claws and an oversized pair of mandibles.
DC 11 – These creatures are the larva of a massive aquatic beast. They are quick on both land and sea, but their shells are undeveloped, and they are quite weak.
DC 12 – Immediately upon hatching, these foul creatures begin the hunt for the brains or grey matter of any living creature, usually their first meal is the craniums of their clutch mates.
DC 13 – These larvae can spray a cone of digestive fluids at their intended prey. Think of it as a way to chew your food before it gets into your mouth.
DC 14 – Within the first year of life, the larvae branch into two groups. Those that manage to feed on the brains of others develop heightened intelligence and grow into massive, cunning evil creatures. Those that do not get enough grey matter become unintelligent killing machines. The intelligent variety will kill the unintelligent variety on sight.
DC 15 – A year after hatching, the larva becomes an immature variant, molting its old carapace, growing much larger in body, but sprouting a pair of enormous pincers. It grows a ruff of tendrils around its mouth that can paralyze smaller prey as a sea anemone might do, but it also secretes digestive fluids – usually through the eyes or nose of its victim in order to digest its brain first.
Chuul (adult) - Dungeoneering (Bestiary 1)
DC 10 - This lobster-like creature has a thick armored shell. A pair of tiny eyes gleams above a mouth full of writhing tentacles.
DC 17 – These creatures are massive aquatic beasts that deliver devastating, crushing attacks with their claws.
DC 19 – Chuuls have a thick brush of paralyzing tentacles around their mouths. The tentacles can hold prey fast while the chuul devours its victim alive!
DC 20 – Chuul are immune to poison.
DC 21 – Chuul prefer to eat land-dwelling creatures and lizardfolk are their favorite meal, although morlocks, duergar, and drow are also considered delicacies.
DC 22 – Troglodytes are shunned by chuul for their terrible flavor.
DC 23 – The chuul mating season occurs in the month of Desnus and is terrible to behold.
DC 25 – Chuul are intelligent and can speak common, albeit in a chittering, gurgling, manner. But they typically see no need to talk to their food.
DC 27 – Chuul decorate their burrows with grisly trophies fashioned from the remains of their meals.
DC 30 – Chuuls are an ancient creation of the aboleths. They were tinkered into life from the aboleth’s giant crayfish mounts.
DC 33 – They maintain an unusual relationship with the skum, which look up to them as older siblings while also fearing them as predators. Chuuls seem completely indifferent to any distant kinship and devour skum with relish.
DC 35 – They are known as “chu’ulothis” in the aboleth language.
Mordent Spire Elf – Local (Inner Sea World Guide. This entry is here because of the Mordent Spire mask in the chuul cave.)
DC 10 – These are a secretive and, well, scary, sect of elves.
DC 11 – They are known to patrol the vast seas of the Azlanti Islands, sinking ships and discouraging any would-be looters of Azlanti artifacts.
DC 12 – (or History) In -5293 AR, the elves of Golarion escaped the event known as Earthfall by stepping through the misty veil to another land., but mysteriously returned almost nine millennia later in 2632 AR.
DC 13 – (DC 10 Geography) The returned elves spread out to several parts of the world, but one peculiar bunch ended up at the tip of the Ironbound Archipelago and settled on the southernmost island.
DC 15 – These elves claimed to be the true inheritors of the Azlanti empire and have returned to claim the artifacts, wealth and knowledge of this lost empire.
DC 16 – Mordent Spire elves are unnaturally pale of skin, but nearly always wear elaborate masks.
DC 17 – Mordent Spire elves are often infuriating to speak with. They only use the Azlanti tongue and never look at who they are talking to. They rarely let a foreigner finish a sentence and treat non-elves as things not worth their time nor energy to pay attention to.
DC 18 – Mordent Spire elven ambassadors can be found at the courts of Almas and Augustan most of the time.
DC 19 – The truth behind the elves presence in Andoran is to spy on the government and to dissuade any additional attempts to colonize Azlant – such as the infamous Sun Temple affair.
DC 20 – Mordent Spire ambassadors call themselves Spire Envoys and also appear once a year on Absalom to meet with the Decemvirate of the Pathfinder Society, with whom they have a tolerant attitude.
DC 21 – The Vigilant Needle is a group of Mordent Spire elves who work in secret in the courts of man, as spies, saboteurs, and assassins.
DC 25 – Shrouded Seekers are another sect of the Mordent Spire elves who are fervent archaeologists, scouring the Azlanti Isles in search of ancient artifacts.
DC 28 – Mordent Spire elves use an armada of sea skimmers – arcane and technologically propelled watercraft, to hunt down and sink trespassing ships.
DC 30 – (DC 15 Religion) Mordent Spire elves worship Gozreh, but also revere the dead goddess Acavna – for whom the Mordent Spire is dedicated to.
Blast Shadows – Religion (Module)
DC 10 – A humanoid shape swiftly rises from a pile of hot ashes on the floor. Quick as a wink they are in your face with slashing claws, gnashing teeth and suffocating clouds of burning hot sulfur.
DC 15 – These, smoky shadowy creatures are actually undead.
DC 16 – Its is theorized these creatures were created in the aftermath of a massive, arcane catastrophe, such as a magical accident or other such explosive event.
DC 17 – Blast Shadows are immune to fire.
DC 18 – Blast Shadows take extra damage from cold.
DC 19 – These undead are extremely fast and agile, and they can easily outrun a normal human, usually resulting in the hapless victim being pounced upon and subsequently suffering a slow, sizzling death.
DC 20 – Blast shadows use their horrible, burning claws to rend their victims.
DC 21 – These creatures can surround themselves in billowing, choking smoke and embers which effect to hide the creature from attackers. The heat from this cloud can scorch the skin.
DC 25 – These creatures can see quite well in any type of light.
DC 29 – When destroyed, a blast shadow erupts in a massive explosion, usually taking its enemies with it.
DC 30 – A strange variant of this creature can be found near the Pit of Gormuz. These creatures are acidic in nature, rather than based in fire and flame.
DC 33 – North of the Worldwound, frozen varieties, Freezing Shadows, have been seen.
DC 35 – It is rumored another variety exists, the lightning Shadow, but no details are known to exist about this mythical undead.
Akkiti-Skah Strix – Local (Beastiary and module)
DC 10 – These winged horrors are known to haunt the lofty spires of The Devil’s Perch in the Menador Mountains of Cheliax.
DC 12 – While they often appear as winged humans, strix are commonly known to hunt down humans, elves, dwarves and other demi-humans, slaying them on sight.
DC 13 – Strix are have dark skin and a 12-foot wingspan covered in glossy, black feathers. Both sexes of strix are of a height and weight of a human man. Their soulless eyes lack pupils and their noses are but two slits in the center of their face. Their ears are long and pointed.
DC 15 – Strix speak their own language.
DC 17 – Strix seem to be nocturnal and travel or hunt only at night.
DC 18 – They eyesight of Strix are extraordinarily sharp and they can see quite well at night, but their eyes appear to be locked within their sockets and do not move, which requires them to rotate their heads or bodies in order to see around them. Perhaps their sharp eyesight and fixed gaze is what allows them a supernatural resistance to illusionary magic.
DC 19 – Their hands and feet end in long talons, which they are quite adept at using to attack their adversaries, but they are more often than not seen wielding weapons such as spears, lances, short swords, knives and even pole arms. Some have reported seeing strix use both arcane and divine magic and rare accounts claim to have seen the avians using powerful magical artifacts.
DC 20 – The strix are extremely xenophobic and violently repel all intruders to their lofty territories. They are almost always seen in groups and live in tight-knit clans or tribes.
DC 22 – (DC 15 History) In 4081 AR, Aspex the Even-Tongued led what was often referred to as the Even-Tongued Rebellion against Taldor. It was rumored that his ranks included a fair number of strix from Devil’s Perch, although after he won and became the first Chelish king, the strix reverted back to their isolated ways.
DC 25 – The strix maintain a host of origin myths purported to tell of a homeland far from Cheliax and the Devil’s Perch, but as far as you know, these stories have never been shared with outsiders, so the details are unknown to you.
DC 27 – The syrinx of the Aracadian Isles claim that their species actually created the strix to serve them as a race of slaves many millennia ago.
DC 29 – You are aware that the strix tribes on Cheliax actually do not get along with each other and tremendous distrust exists between them, however the origin of these ill-relations are unknown to you.
DC 30 – (only after meeting one in person – not just the corpse in the chuul cave) You have no idea who or what these Azlanti strix could be. As far as you know, there are no records of any strix outside of Cheliax and these strix look and act very little like the strix of Devil’s Perch.
Locathah - Local (Bestiary 2 and Inner Sea World Guide)
DC 10 - This lean humanoid bears crested fins on its head and back and has the wide-eyed and wide-lipped face of a fish. They are quite disgusting and should be avoided. Their scales and skin are a muddy orange color, tinged with green.
DC 12 - Locathah stand roughly as tall as humans, yet their fins jut out, giving them an imposing stature. Lean and strong, locathahs weigh roughly 160 pounds. The briny stench of the seashore is always quite strong when lacathah are near.
DC 14 – These creatures are quite agile within the water and move very fast within it. They breathe water readily, and can breathe air, but struggle a bit out of the water. Their legs are ill-equipped for land travel, but can lumber about at a slow, clumsy pace, if needs be.
DC 15 – Locathah typically speak the aquan language.
DC 16 – This aquatic race is often not welcome among the other aquatic races. Locathah are often found living in tight-knit communities at the edges of other land or sea civilizations.
DC 17 – Locathah use primitive tools made of coral or bone, sometimes they use ceramics. They are often seen in poorly fashioned undersea villages.
DC 19 – Despite their treatment by other races, locathah try very hard to fit in with other aquan or terran races.
DC 20 – Locathah are, to a fault, helpful to any in need, often seen swimming ahead of ships and warning them of danger, or undersea treasure. They are an extraordinarily friendly race once you get to know them.
DC 22 – These fish-folk are masterful craftsfolk with coral and bone and love to trade land-dwellers for ceramics and tubers, which they find irresistible.
The Sahuagin- Nature (Bestiary 1)
DC 10 - This scaly humanoid has a long, fish-like tail. Its arms and legs end in webbed claws, and its piscine head features a toothy maw.
DC 12 - Most sahuagin stand at least seven feet tall—having two arms and two legs they also boast a tail that ends in a fish-like fin to help propel them through the water. They weigh about 250 pounds. You know a little of these creatures except they are cruel and plentiful in underwater environs.
DC 13 - Sahuagin appear as some sort of cross between humanoids and fish, while their frame has much in common with humans, they are larger. A sahuagin's head is clearly piscine, with a mouth that gapes like a fish but it is filled with sharp, flesh-rending teeth.
DC 15 - Sahuagin breathe only water, but some possesses powerful magic that allow them to draw oxygen from the air. They see well in all forms of light, even complete darkness, but shun bright light.
DC 16 - They are fast swimmers and can even move upon the land as long as they are able to breathe or hold their breath.
DC 18 - Sahuagin are fierce combatants, most attack from afar using powerful, underwater crossbows before closing with razor-sharp tined tridents. They are adept with fighting with their claws and teeth in conjunction with melee weapons.
DC 20 - These creatures lose themselves when in the presence of blooded water; their base instincts overcoming rational thought and they attack with a near-mindless purpose of gobbling down as much flesh as their bellies can hold when blood is nearby.
DC 21 - It’s difficult to speak with sahuagin, but they often understand the Taldan common speak and the Aquan language. They also appear to have some sort of silent communication they share with sharks, even though no known formal language such as this exists.
DC 23 – (Geography 15) Sahuagin can be found in most of Golarion's temperate seas from the Obari Ocean and the Inner Sea to the nearly endless expanse of the Arcadian Ocean. They build vast cities in the depths of the ocean that rival the air breathers' great metropolises, while near the shoreline they create impregnable fortresses from which to launch raid after raid against land dwellers.
DC 24 - It is not just those above the waves whom the sahuagin hate, they are in constant conflict with other aquatic creatures such as the merfolk, gutaki and even the mighty aboleths. Their warlike tendencies have made the sahuagin one of Golarion's most hated races.
DC 27 - Sahuagin’s preternaturally fast breeding cycle and short lives make them susceptible to wild mutations. When a mutant is born it almost always rises to the society's nobility or rulership. The most common sahuagin mutation is an extra pair of arms, but rumors among scholars speak of the rare malenti—sahuagin who look not like sharkmen but aquatic elves.
DC 28 - Malenti are thought to serve as spies and assassins for sahuagin rulers, but rumors of all-malenti tribes in isolated reaches of the sea persist.
DC 30 – (Geography 20) While they are a threat to any creature they are near, the sahuagin are a particular threat in the western isles of the Shackles, especially around the port city of Ollo. You once read they are also one of the dominant races of the amphibious River Kingdom of Outsea, where they are strangely able to live in relative peace with the native population of merfolk.
DC 33 – (Geography 25) A visiting scholar from Tian Xia once lectured they are most commonly found in the undersea kingdom of Xidao, although they exist in smaller numbers than the dominant locathahs. DC 33 – (Geography 27) They dwell in the many caverns and crevices which honeycomb the underwater trench known as the Aya-Maru, where they live in nearly constant conflict with local merrow tribes.
Feeder in the depths – Arcana(Monster Codex)
DC10 - An immense gray-and-white shark glides through the water, its piercing red eyes revealing a vicious intelligence. Definitely, the best defense against something like this is to avoid contact with it all together.
DC 20 – At approximately 30 feet in length, this shark is far larger than even the largest shark you have seen.
DC 23 – You recall oceanic tales of evil sahuagin priestesses who worship the demon lord Ovonovo which raised massive sharks from birth and using foul magics, warped them into malevolent and intelligent monstrosities.
DC 25 – The tales go on to say that these sharks are fed the flesh of merfolk, sea elves, and other aquatic humanoids. As it dines on these sacrifices, the priestess chants blasphemous rituals, infusing the shark with malign power and the stolen intelligence of its victims. Over the course of 13 feedings over 13 midwinters, a new monstrous shark arises.
DC 27 – These creatures are known as Feeders in the Depths. They are exceptionally hardy beasts with hide that is thicker than that of an elephant. It can detect blood in the water from a mile away and can swim faster that a horse at full gallop.
DC 30 – Feeders in the Depths are impossibly fast and deadly when attacking their prey. They react with uncanny speed to any movement near them while attacking, and often strike with a flurry of blinding fast bites.
DC 32 – Their serrated teeth cause severe bleeding and legends tell of these creatures actually healing their own wounds from the very blood in the water.
DC 35 – Aquatic beings lucky enough to survive an encounter with one of these monsters claim that they can speak in the Aklo, Aquan, and Infernal languages.
DC 37 – Just in case all of this wasn’t enough, Feeders in the Depths are reported to be nearly immune to freezing temperatures and usually shrug off magical attacks and effects without a second thought.
DC 40 - Feeders in the depths view themselves as equals to sahuagin, not as servants. They have no special affection for sharks and can’t communicate with them. Feeders act as loyal companions as long as they’re respected and given the freedom to hunt. If not treated well, they rip their would-be masters apart and descend into the lightless depths of the ocean.
DC 41 - Although able to breed, feeders in the depths give birth only to monstrosities or normal sharks, never to other feeders.
Water naga - Dungeoneering (Bestiary 3)
DC10 - Slender spines and brightly colored frills stretch back from the human-like face of this massive water snake. Every motion of the serpent’s long form sets its brightly patterned scales and glistening fins to flashing like gems in the surf.
DC 18 – These snake creatures have superior armor in the form of their scintillating scales and a vicious bite with a powerful poison that steals the vitality of their victims.
DC 19 – These creatures can attack with their tails as well as their fangs.
DC 20 – Water nagas are said to be reclusive creatures who can become very aggressive when disturbed. Careful interlopers upon their lairs report them to be very intelligent creatures.
DC 21 – These creatures can survive on land and under the sea as they are able to breathe both water and air.
DC 22 – They can see perfectly well in total darkness and have an uncanny ability to spot movement.
DC 23 – Water nagas are often around 10 feet in length and weigh over 200 pounds.
DC 24 – Most water naga travel extensively and, thus, can understand the common Taldan terrestrial tongue, but readily speak Aquan, the common language of seafolk.
DC 25 – Nagas are consummate spellcasters and hurl arcane magic attacks without the use of magical components and often do so whilst simultaneously engaging in physical combat.
DC 27 – Water nagas are known to have several lairs which they travel to throughout the year. It is said their summer lairs are exquisitely decorated and are wonders to behold.
DC 28 – All nagas are talented hunters and easily approach their prey without being detected.
DC 29 (DC 20 Religion) - According to myth, nagas are the children of Ravithra, the Vudrani goddess of snakes.
DC 30 – The greatest insult is to refer to a naga as “wormfolk”.
DC 33 - . Enjoying flattery, exciting tales, and the adoration of those they see as lesser creatures, most water nagas take pride in their role as travelers.
DC 35 – Nagas are said to be mortal enemies of the avian humanoid race of Garuda.
DC 37 - However, while rarely malicious, they quickly grow bored of repetitive, mundane anecdotes and often embellish the stories they’ve heard with their own fictions—caring little for the repercussions such misleading tales might cause for their listeners.
DC 40 (or DC 25 History) - the nagas did become the first rulers of Vudra in the Age of Serpents, with the vishkanyas, grippli, catfolk, and humans as their servants. The humans built great palaces and temples where the nagas could live and be worshipped, and the nagas in turn created classes of human professionals that would become the foundation of the future Vudrani caste system.
DC 43 (or DC 27 History) - Eventually, the naga empire suddenly fell. The exact reason has been lost to time: some myths blame Gruhastha and Sudachala, others blame Desna for having put them into sleep for 444 years while their empire crumbled, while some archaeologists of the Pathfinder Society claim that the cause was just a mundane human rebellion.
Crimson musk vampires – Nature (Variant Yellow Musk Zombie: Bestiary pgs. 288 & 285)
DC 10 - This walking corpse from which wet red vines have sprouted wears only a few soiled rags, its flesh rotting off its bones as it stumbles forward, arms outstretched.
DC 11 – This appears to be a zombie of some sort. However, you are quick to note that they do not move slow and herky-jerky like a zombie does, but with fast, fluid movement.
DC 15 – (or DC 11 Religion) This is not a zombie at all, but some kind of plant creature! These creatures are not damaged by positive channeled energy as undead are, nor are they healed by negative channeled energy
DC 17 – You recognize this as a variation of the yellow musk zombie, a plant creature created from the victims of the dreaded yellow musk creeper plant.
DC 20 – You are fairly certain that pointed and blunt weapons will have little effect on this creature. A good, sharp blade is what is called for here! Break out your machetes, or some of that defoliant your purchased from Alba Diviner a while back.
DC 22 – As this is a plant, you realize powers affecting the mind, such as charms and illusions and such, are worthless against creatures without a brain.
DC 25 – You also realize that plants are often immune to certain physical attacks, such as stunning, poison, polymorph and spells that put creatures to sleep will have no effect as plants do not sleep.
NOTE: As the crimson musk willow and its brood are unique to Ancorato, PCs will not be able to ascertain characteristics unique to the Crimson Musk Vampire – such as its Blood Drain attack.
Crimson musk willow - Nature (Variant Yellow Musk Creeper: Bestiary pgs. 294, 295 & 285)
DC 10 - Coiling around several humanoid skeletons, this wet, red willow tree’s sickly flowers smoke with a nasty red vapor.
DC 17 – You realize this must be some monstrous variety of the deadly Yellow Musk Creeper plant, but colored a deep red and in the form of an immense willow tree, its limbs and branches forming huge, twin cudgels.
DC 20 – The yellow musk creeper plant can kill animals and then take over their bodies, animating them into zombie-like creatures.
DC 22 – Yellow musk creepers spray a pollen at their victims, causing them to become entranced and helplessly give themselves over to the plant’s deadly control ability.
DC 23 – While these plants do not possess a brain, their lifeforce is particularly vulnerable to magic or powers that affects a creature’s resolve.
DC 25 – These plants can detect the approach and position of nearby prey animals through the vibrations in the ground caused by their movements.
DC 27 - As this is a plant, you realize powers affecting the mind, such as charms and illusions and such, are worthless against creatures without a brain.
DC 25 – You also realize that plants are often immune to certain physical attacks, such as stunning, poison, polymorph and spells that put creatures to sleep will not work as plants do not sleep.
DC 27 (or DC 20 Geography) - Yellow musk creepers can grow in a wide variety of climes, although they generally prefer temperate or warm forests, as well as, moist, underground environments. They have been spotted in such divergent locations as the Mwangi Expanse, and the Inner Sea coastal regions near the former Chelish capital of Westcrown.
DC 30 (or DC 22 History or Geography) - A particularly potent, purple-colored yellow musk creeper was bred by the druid Tharl Grimull in the River Kingdoms town of Nystra about a century ago. He used it to enact his revenge against the townsfolk who had murdered a member of his family. The plant, with the help of Grimull's silkgoyle allies, killed the entire settlement. The mutated creeper still lives in the ghost town of Nystra to this day.
DC 32 (or DC 25 Geography) - A gigantic, intelligent yellow musk creeper has been reported to live in the mythical city of Xin-Shalast in Varisia's Kodar Mountains. There, in an area known as the Tangle, it has created its own ecosystem in the presence of humidifying hot springs and mineral-rich soil. It is served by tribes of fungal creatures, such as vegepygmies.
NOTE: As the crimson musk willow and its brood are unique to Ancorato, PCs will not be able to ascertain characteristics unique to the Crimson Musk Willow – such as its Blood Drain attack.
Leechroot – Religion (Bestiary 5)
DC 10 - This tangle of rotten, seemingly lifeless crimson roots twitches slightly, moving the damp, bloody ground beneath it. The roots form a tangle from which a maze of red, thorny vines spread out across the forest floor.
DC 14 – This is a red-colored variety of the deadly leechroot plant! It was once a living plant, but died as part of a tragic bloodshed event, only to arise again in undeath. Plant undeath!
DC 15 – It is known that healing wounds caused by a leechroot is a difficult and taxing affair.
DC 16 - These monstrosities spread their curse by soaking other dead plants in their sap to spawn horrid offspring. It has an insatiable thirst for blood and hides among undergrowth while waiting for unwary prey.
DC 18 – Most undead never tire from exertion, and are immune to attacks that deal paralysis, poison, sleep, stunning, draining of abilities or draining of life.
DC 19 – Most, but not all, undead do not have functioning brains and are immune to mind-affecting powers, such as charms and compulsions.
DC 20 – Leechroot can travel slowly across the ground or underneath it.
DC 22 – These deadly vines do not need light to perceive their prey and can detect moving creatures from a great distance through vibrations in the ground.
DC 23 - An adult leechroot averages about 12 feet across (not including its thick, lashing root appendages) and weighs 700 pounds. By consuming enough blood, however, leechroots can grow significantly larger.
DC 24 – it becomes obvious to you that pointed or blunt weapons will have little effect on this plant, best to employ a sharp machete and hack the thing into tiny bits.
DC 25 – Leechroot can grasp its foes with its various tendrils and vines, sinking its sharp thorns into flesh and draining its victim of blood. Oftentimes, the vines pull their victims under the earth before sucking them dry of bodily fluids.
DC 26 – These plants can heal themselves from the blood spilt by its victims
DC 27 – Since leechroot are undead, they are harmed by positive channeled energy and healed by negative channeled energy.
DC 30 – Druids find these creatures to be an anathema to any environment and will always seek to destroy them. You learned from one such druid many years ago that it can be effective to grasp the roots and yank them out of the earth before hacking them up with a sharp sickle or scythe.
DC 33 - Sometimes a network of leechroots can reach a state of sentience, creating a creature called a leechroot hivemind. The hivemind has an Intelligence, which increases depending on the number of plants that compose the leechroot hivemind. This single mind shares a limited sentience, and it holds a bloody grudge against any who dare to slay a member, its cunning giving it the ability to plot against such hated foes.
Perytons – Arcana (Bestiary 2)
DC 10 –This creature has a stag's body, a hawk's wings and talons, and the head of a slavering wolf with a rack of sharp antlers on its brow.
DC 15 – In the wild, the peryton is considered the personification of pure evil. These creatures are bloodthirsty to the core and hate all creatures, even other perytons.
DC 16 – These foul creatures are exceptionally intelligent and cruel. They speak the common tongue.
DC 17 – It is known that the savage peryton can sometimes form small hunting groups, if the group is organized by a strong female. The group will consist of one alpha male and several lesser females.
DC 18 – Rangers and druids who have studied peryton packs (from afar!) have observed that male offspring of a peryton pack are run off or killed at a young age. Adult lesser males have been seen to approach a pack, usually bearing gifts of a still-warm or beating heart. Those males are often accepted into the pack for a short while – usually only as long as the alpha male tolerates the lesser male or until the lesser male leaves the pack (usually after kidnapping a lesser female for breeding purposes).
DC 19 – Peryton breeding is a violent affair and is typically fatal to the male.
DC 20 – Peryton females usually lay a single, black egg each mating season.
DC 21 – These creatures are chaotic in nature and have noticeably low levels of will or wisdom.
DC 22 – Perytons are good fliers and can see quite well in all levels of light. They possess a hearty vitality and a thick hide and quick reflexes, making them a challenging foe in combat.
DC 24 – Perytons prefer to use their antlers in combat and are known to target the hearts of their prey, often ripping them, still beating, out of their opponent’s chests and immediately devouring the organ on the battlefield.
DC 26 – The magical nature of these creatures provides for an uncanny resistance to physical attacks, but arcane attacks of all types affect them normally.
DC 27 – Winifred Snodgrass, in her book, “Dark Secrets of the Dark Forest” claims she had observed perytons in the field deploy an unusual magical attack upon prey that could pose a challenge to bring down. In her observations she reports seeing a flying peryton study its prey from above, at which point the peryton’s shadow took on the shape of the prey. When the peryton swooped in to attack, it was as if both the physical peryton and its morphed shadow teamed up to bring its foe down in an unusually savage and sadistic fashion.
Wihsaak - Planes (Bestiary 5)
DC 10 - Buzzing wings hold this gaunt creature just above the ground. While humanoid in stature, its head resembles that of a grasshopper.
DC 18 – This is a foul being which has crossed over from somewhere in the Outer Planes.
DC 19 – Ah! You recognize this beast as a psychopomp, denizens of Purgatory and the dispassionate stewards, chroniclers, and guides of all that die. The sole purpose of psychopomps is to ensure a soul gets from its newly departed body to its destination in the afterlife.
DC 20 – Psychopomps are notoriously neutral and are known to be treated with respect by all beings in the Outer Planes – save for certain daemons and various qlippoth.
DC 21 – Psychopomps are created by the death gods from the souls of the faithful who have served Purgatory in exemplary fashion. Other gods may evolve them into much more powerful and specialized psychopomps for duty beyond the pale.
DC 22 – Psychopomps always wear masks. You realize this one in NOT wearing a mask. Then you remember reading about a faction of rebellious psychopomps who are not so nice and have left the service of the death gods for other pursuits. This is a Sahkil – a psychopomp deserter!
DC 23 – Most Sahkils leave Purgatory for the relative safety of the Ethereal Plane – away from the death gods and faithful psychopomps who would see an end to their existence.
DC 24 – Sahkils abandon the masks that once covered their faces and adopt new forms - usually a form which corresponds with the personification of mortal fears!
DC 25 - From the Ethereal Plane, sahkils watch. They slip into the dark, abandoned places of the world, infusing the living with dread and giving fangs to mortal imaginings. When upon the Material Plane, most sahkils prefer to remain veiled, corrupting nature and turning people into monsters. They revel in the awe associated with terror and hear praises in every scream. When their victims have been sapped, drained of their capacities to hope and to fear, the sahkil feeds.
DC 26 – You recognize this particular sahkil as a wihsaak; one which feeds upon the mortal fear of insects. Don’t look into its multi-faceted insectoid eyes, for its gaze will cause even the stoutest of mortals to water their undergarments.
DC 27 – Wihsaaks are capable of moving between the Ethereal and Prime planes at will. When in the Ethereal, Wihsaaks can see and hear those on the Prime but cannot affect them. Those on the Prime cannot see or hear whiskas on the Ethereal but can use force effect and abjuration magic on them if they can somehow detect their presence.
DC 28 – Wihsaaks are particularly good at shedding damage, but good-aligned weapons affect them normally. They also shed electric, cold, and sonic energy damage and are not affected by death and fear effects, as well as mortal diseases and poisons. Spells and spell effects must be cast by powerful spellcasters to have any effect at all.
DC 29 – Wihsaaks move dreadfully fast on land and in the air and they can see in all manner of light.
DC 30 – They can attack with alarming precision with their four deadly claws but prefer to blight their enemies and call forth hordes of stinging and biting insects to damage their prey.
DC 31 – Wihsaaks use the sound of their beating wings to infuse madness into mortal beings and making them more susceptible to their sibilant whispers in the dark, goading the living into acts of unthinkable depravity.
DC 32 – To destroy a wihsaak, it must be bound to the Prime and anchored in place – not only to the very plane of existence, but within the Prime Material, as well, for this creature can naturally bend space to its will. Once bound, a good aligned weapon can destroy it with a swift thrust or two to the brainpan. Best of luck to you, merry adventurers. You will need it with this one, to be sure.
Will-o-wisp – Dungeoneering (Bestiary 1)
DC 10 - This faintly glowing ball of light bobs gently in the air, the nebulous image of what might be a skull visible somewhere in its depths.
DC 19 - This small, fleshy ball of light delights in leading the unwary into dangerous bogs and feeding upon the resulting fear. They often pose as lantern light in the fog or dark of night to lure travelers off the beaten path. Whether you call them jack o' the lanterns, corpse candles, walking fires, pine lights, spooklights, rushlights—all residents of bogs and marshes recognize them as dangerous predators and false guides in the darkness.
DC 20 – Will-o-wisps can turn invisible at will.
DC 21 – These creatures attack with wicked forks of lightning which they generate with a thought.
DC 22 – Will-o-wisps are immune to all magic, save for the magic missile spell and a few choice abjurations.
DC 25 – These creatures feed on fear and only fight as a last resort, preferring to hang back and devour the emotions of those in peril.
DC 27 – These creatures can create light of any color and can even create patters. Some will-o-wisps prefer to create the light-image of a skull within their luminous bodies to augment the fear of their victims.
DC 29 – Some will-o-wisps gather in huge numbers, called “strings”.
DC 30 - The rationale for any of their actions is beyond the ken of mortal beings for these creatures possess an intellect most alien, indeed.
Dc 31 - Their origins remain a mystery to mortals, but it is theorized amongst scholars that will-o-wisps do not age and can live forever, making them a potentially invaluable vault of historical knowledge. DC 32 - They are known to ‘speak’ the Taldan common and Aklo languages, but no living soul has, as yet, discovered how to motivate one of these monsters to divulge information that is at all useful.
Shambling mound - Nature (Bestiary 1 and Inner Sea Guide)
DC 10 - A mass of tangled vines and dripping slime rises on two trunk-like legs, reeking of rot and freshly turned earth.
DC 19 – This is a massive, monstrous plant thing with a fondness for living flesh, especially that belonging to the race of elves.
DC 21 – These tremendously strong ‘shamblers’ as they are sometimes called, are immune to electricity and are mostly unharmed by fire of any sort. Scholars believe shambling mounds can actually receive temporary sustenance from lightning strikes!
DC 22 – Shamblers are simple of mind and prefer a straightforward frontal assault whenever living flesh is near, striking out with hammering fists of rotting vegetation and ensnaring any whom they contact before pulling them into their massive bodies and strangling away all traces of life. Once dead, the corpse (or, dinner, from a shambler’s perspective) is slowly digested as so much fertilizer.
DC 25 – The flesh of animals is preferred, but in times of scarcity, shambling mounds will also devour other plants, like trees and the like.
DC 27 (or DC 17 History) - The origin of the shambling mound lies in the legendary Green Valley, which might be in a remote part of Golarion, or might even be outside Golarion altogether. Explorers from Azlant, possibly accompanied by elves from Kyonin, found the Valley and unwittingly became infested with strange spores. When they returned from the Valley, the spores turned them into the first shambling mounds. The victims fled into the wilderness, overcome by the horror of their transformation, and the knowledge of the Valley's location was lost.
Stirge – Dungeoneering (Bestiary 1)
DC 10 – Not much to this thing, it flies around, sticks its nose in your flesh and snorts your blood. Oh yeah, sometimes it leaves a little filthy present behind – get that Fort save ready to roll.
Belker – Planes (Bestiary 2)
DC 10 - Dull, red eyes, grasping claws, and leathery wings give a demonic aspect to this creature's smoky form.
DC 12 – This thing looks a bit like a giant, smoky bug. Its body, when you can see it, appears as a huge, flying black grub with wings and multi-faceted red, glowing eyes. While you spot a few larger, insect-like appendages protruding from its body, to your horror you spy hundreds of smaller crab-claw like pincers attached to it thick hide, continually clacking and grasping.
DC 16 – This creature is not from around here. You believe it is native to the Plane of Air.
DC 17 – While its insectoid form appears to be mainly made up of smoke, you surmise it is an elemental of some kind.
DC 19 – You are aware that most elementals do not bleed and are immune to a lot of physical assaults, such as paralyzing, poison and sleep attacks.
DC 21 – Elemental creatures, like this one, typically do not have identifiable weak points on their bodies, rendering attacks that target specific areas useless.
DC 22 – You are aware that most outsiders do not eat or sleep and you are also aware that elementals do not need to breathe, either.
DC 23 – Ah! This dread horror is a Belker! Nearly demonic in its nature, these hate-filled creatures live to cause pain and torturous agony to anything that moves.
DC 24 – These things are tough and tend to shrug off damage, both physical and arcane. It is best to overcome their natural defenses with overwhelming force.
DC 25 – Belkers fly very well and can see perfectly in all levels of light.
DC 26 – Belkers hate for all living creatures is only eclipsed by the insane rage they feel for djinn and jann who dwell upon the Plane of Air.
DC 27 – Belkers are drawn to places of volcanic heat and geological entropy. They do not maintain lairs, per se, but consider large tracks of land as their territory and typically spend their time killing anything that wanders into it.
DC 28 – These creatures can turn their physical bodies into a cloud of pure smoke, making them nearly impossible to damage. They have an eerie ability to make parts of their body material while keeping other parts smoky and intangible.
DC 29 – Belkers have been known to tolerate a few, select mephitis and elementals and sometimes allow them to aid in the defense of their territory.
DC 30 - Some scholars have speculated that belkers feed on either the mystical energy or the strange air that emanates from their turbulent homes. Other scholars, however, have theorized that belkers instead worship these instances of turbulence, while still others believe that these areas are necessary for the belkers to reproduce.
DC 32 - Belkers can be summoned and bound by powerful spellcasters to serve as guardians. Among the greatest of these summoned belker guardians was Aethsan, who was very recently bound by the powerful undead sorcerer Yithdul in the ruined Shory city of Ulduvai in the Mwangi Expanse.
Gillmen – Local (Advanced Race Guide)
DC 10 - The gillmen of the Inner Sea region most closely resemble the now vanished inhabitants of ancient Azlant. They have their forebears' pronounced and haughty facial features, and exotic, purple eyes. Their hair is generally dark and they have pale skin from years of living far from the sun's rays.
DC 12 - Three piscine gills on both sides of their neck, just above their shoulders, give them the ability to breathe underwater, even though they can also breathe air.
DC 14 - Gillmen cannot survive long away from sea or freshwater; they quickly develop organ failure if they are not submerged in either fresh or salt water once every 24 hours.
DC 15 - The gillmen, also known as the Low Azlanti, are amphibious humanoids who live in and around the Arcadian Ocean, Steaming Sea, and Inner Sea. They are believed to be one of the last direct descendants of the vanished Azlanti people.
DC 16 - The town of Escadar (located on the Isle of Kortos and within the domain of Absalom) is the only terrestrial city with an embassy of the Low Azlanti. It can be found in the House of the Cresting Wave, locally known as Wet-House. The gillmen offer information on the sea, meet with officials from Absalom's Low Council, and train the hippocampi instructors for the city's Sea Cavalry. The gillmen are often seen worshipping at the Azlanti ruins at the town's center or partaking in Escadar's many warrens of vice.
DC 17 - Gillmen can be found in the surface cities of Diobel
DC 18 – In Absalom there is a neighborhood named Gilltown,
DC 19 – Gillmen are common in the aquatic River Kingdom of Outsea.
DC 20 – It is believed the gillmen were once human Azlanti who were captured and genetically altered by dreaded aboleth.
DC 22 – Several decades ago, a contingent of gillmen visited the newly established democratic nation of Andoran. They presented the government with the keystone of the Arch of Aroden, which they had dragged there from the bottom of Hespereth Strait, symbolizing their support for Andoran's commitment to freedom and equality.
DC 25 – It is believed there are still gillmen living in the undersea canyons of sunken Azlant.
DC 27 – A mysterious connection currently exists between gillmen and aboleth. Gillmen have been reported to lose all sense of self when in the presence of one of these horrid creatures.
Scrag – Local (Bestiary 1)
DC 10 - This tall creature has rough, green hide. Its hands end in claws, and its bestial face has a hideous, tusked underbite.
DC 16 – This is some strange species of troll.
DC 17 – Trolls are consummate bullies. They troll better than anything on the planet.
DC 18 – Trolls are typically hunched over when they walk, making their actual 14-foot frame seem more like a measly 11 feet in height. Their claws look sharp, but, combined with their incredible strength, trolls can rend just about anything.
DC 19 – Trolls live only to eat…people.
DC 20 – Trolls are terribly fearful of fire. To destroy them you merely have to light them on fire.
DC 21 – Trolls regenerate their health at an amazing rate. Even if chopped into tiny pieces and scattered to the winds a troll will eventually mend itself back to full health.
DC 22 – Actually, to kill a troll you must burn their corpse or coat it in acid after they are brought low.
DC 25 – This is actually an aquatic version of troll, known as a scrag. They breathe underwater and are quite swift swimmers. Some say they are even more cruel than their land-based cousins.
DC 26 – Scrags must be in contact with water in order to regenerate.
DC 27 – Mother trolls are quite tender and kind to their young. Surviving scholars who study trolls have concluded the mother-young bond is the only example in trolldom where a behavior other than pure actions of bloodthirsty evil is exhibited. Trolls will viciously fight their own kind and even resort to cannibalism when prey is scarce.
DC 29 – Troll mothers give birth to a brood of two to six younglings each year and there is a small chance within each brood that a mutated troll, known as an aruk-taii, or a flood-troll, is born.
DC 30 – Flood trolls are stunted in growth and never get taller than seven feet in height. They are shunned by their families and are either eaten by their mothers or they find a way to escape and set off on their own.
DC 31 – Flood trolls are sterile and are not amphibious, so they must breathe air. However, they still must be in contact with water for their regenerative powers to function, so they tend to live solitary lives, filled with intense hatred in shallow rivers and streams.
DC 32 – a very rare occurrence is a brood with twin flood trolls, known as aruk-taikii. Trolls believe these mutants can call up massive storms so their families often pamper these offspring in hopes of currying favor with the weather gods.
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Here’s a few bits of lore that might be of interest or helpful when running Into the Shattered Continent.
Demon lord Dagon – Religion or Planes There are two altars to this ancient demon lord located within the wreck of the Joskadalr and is apparently worshiped by Skorika and his sahuagin buddies.
DC 15: Dagon is often depicted as a hideous monstrosity this is somewhat alien. A being that is not fully fish, eel, nor octopus; but some foul amalgamation of all three. Ancient pictographs describe him with the lower body of an eel, a horrific face, and four tentacles in place of arms.
DC 16: Dagon is usually worshiped in decaying churches, caves or lighthouses located near the sea, or in dark underwater cathedrals.
DC 17: Those that worship Dagon are often mad or outcasts from their societies. Isolated coastal dwellers and desperate fishing communities can sometimes turn to Dagon. Other followers of this demon lord include boggards, heretical sahuagin and skum, krakens, and marsh giants.
DC 18: Dagon is old. Very, very old. It is believed that he existed long before mortal life existed and even before demons. It is said he began as a powerful qlippoth lord in the depths of the Abyss. After the demons invaded the Abyss, a handful of qlippoth lords, including Dagon, observed the demon-lords grafting mortal souls to their essences. The qlippoth then mimicked the practice, eventually metamorphosing into demon-lords, themselves.
DC 19: Dagon goes by many titles, including The Shadow in the Sea, Shadow Lord of the Sea, and Demon Lord of the Sea and Sea Monsters.
DC 21: It is known that Dagon dwells within the sunken city of Ugothanok, in the inky depths of the Abyssal sea of Ishiar, of which he is lord and ruler.
DC 22: His worshippers often carry tridents, Dagon’s favored weapon, and wear colored robes of blue and gold thread. They brazenly display his unholy symbol, a gold disk inscribed with sinister runes around an open octopus eye.
DC 23 (or DC 20 Geography or Local): The Bekyar peoples in southern Garund are known to worship three demon-lords, including Dagon.
DC 25: Dagon’s domains of worship include: Chaos, Destruction, Evil, and Water.
DC 26: Dagon’s subdomains of worship are: Catastrophe, Demon, Oceans, and Rage.
DC 27: Legends say a kraken of titanic proportions, Kaktora ruled the seas of Golarion many centuries ago. It is said that her crushing tentacles destroyed thousands of ships. So mighty was her power that the sea demon lord Dagon could bear it no longer and in a mighty battle known as Kaktora's Last Stand, he slew the great kraken and scattered her remains across the sea. The aftermath of this battle gave rise to the devilfish when Dagon's blood mingled with Kaktora's remains.
DC 30: It is rumored that Dagon fears reverting back to his mindless, qlippoth state and will not tolerate any of those creatures within his realm.
DC 31: Dagon actively sends his faithful minions to the oceanic depths of Golarion in search of new worshipers. These demons have also been known to tempt coastal human societies, finding ways to interbreed human stock with twisted aquatic creatures of the depths in order to spawn horrific new species.
DC 33: The surface of Ishiar is inhabited by fiendish and half-fiend humans known as Ishians, who seek to impress Dagon by constantly fighting each other and claim new islands in his name.
Great Old One Orgesh - Religion or Planes Ikirkira the sahuagin deep racer prefers to worship this Great Old One, which is most likely why she has been kicked to the curb.
DC 15: Orgresh is thought to be a powerful being of the Dark Tapestry, the void between the stars.
DC 17: Like all of the Great Old Ones, Orgresh is believed to be an ultimate manifestation of chaos and madness.
DC 19: He is known, also, by the name The Faceless God.
DC 20: His current home is thought to be deep within the Orv, the deepest layer of the Darklands, in either the Land of the Black Blood or the Sightless Sea.
DC 22: Orgesh is a vaguely humanoid figure with canine legs, a hugely distended belly, and no facial features except an open maw filled with shark teeth. No one alive has seen it for millennia, but its statues are strangely resistant to damage.
DC 25: The domains of Orgesh are thus: Chaos, Earth, Evil, and Water.
DC 26: The subdomains of Orgesh are: Caves, Entropy, Fear, Ice, Metal, and Oceans.
DC 27: Orgesh is most notably associated with the Charda, armored beings of the deepest Darklands. Legends say the Charda were born from The Black Blood, unholy liquid that flows in the deepest deeps and is believed to be the blood of Orgesh’s mother.
DC 28: The unholy symbol of Orgesh is a disk in the shape of an open maw swallowing a rune.
DC 29: The favored weapon of Orgesh is a spear and his followers are often seen robed in dark blue and black garments.
DC 30: The Great Old Ones are nothing to trifle with. Theologians understand that if mortals were to somehow gain the attention of the Great Old Ones, or their dreaded masters, the Outer Gods, it would likely be the end of reality as we know it.
Ovonovo, Gluttontide of the Abyss -Religion or Planes Listed in the lore for Feeder in the Depths. Otherwise this is a red herring.
DC 15 – A nascent demon of the Abyss
DC 17 – A nascent lord who has amassed enough power to transmorph itself into a unique creature, but not yet enough to become a true demon lord. In fact, most nascent demons still serve a greater power. The nascent demons are rumored to number in the hundreds of thousands within the Abyss, but suffer from attrition as the chaotic nature of the plane lends itself to a typically short lifespan.
DC 20 – Ovonovo is known to be worshiped by evil pirates across Golarion.
DC 22- This demon is often in the guise of a human female and either poses as an adrift castaway clinging to a bit of flotsam, or as a deckhand for hire in bustling seaports – all with the goal of getting aboard a sea bound ship. Once aboard, Ovonovo finds a way to make the ship crash upon reef or rocks.
DC 23 – Ovonovo’s unholy symbol depicts a giant shark eating a ship.
DC 24 – The true form of Ovonovo is rarely seen by anyone still alive, for it is said to be that of a ship-sized great white shark.
DC 25 – Several bands of orcs and half-orcs within The Shackles are thought to worship her in cult-like fashion. Bands of sahuagin have been known to carry her symbol.
DC 26 – When Ovonovo causes a ship to flounder, she first sups upon the fear of the dying and drowning sailors. Once she has had her fill of fear, the demon changes to its true form and devours what is left of the crew.
DC 27 – It is known that she favors worshipers who wield a punching dagger and that she holds sharks as sacred animals.
DC 29 – The demon calls home The Flensing Rocks of Ishiar, in the Abyss.
DC 30 – A large school of were-sharks in the Arcadian Ocean are thought to worship Ovonovo, and are thought to roam the seas looking for sacrifices to make in her name.
DC 31 – Her domains are Animal, Chaos, Evil, Water.
DC 32 – Her subdomains include Blood, Catastrophe, Demon, Oceans.
DC 33 – Her colors are blue and red.
Knights of the Ioun Star – History Their symbol can be found emblazoned on the mithral breastplate at the site of the crimson musk willow.
DC 28 (Local or History) You recognize this sigil as that of the Knights of the Ioun Star, an order of wardens who originally protected the rightful emperor of Azlant.
DC 29 – (History) - The knights were an order of warrior-mages.
DC 30 (Local) - The modern incarnation of the group seeks more information about ancient Azlant and has sponsored expeditions to the ruined continent to search for lost lore.
DC 31 – (History) - Chapters of the Knights of the Ioun Star are known as almorains, an Azlanti term akin to "family" or "alliance".
DC 31 (Local) - The few Knights of the Western Star who survived Earthfall eventually came to serve the living god Aroden, while the Knights of the Eastern Star never believed that Aroden was truly the Last Azlanti. When Aroden died, the Knights of the Western Star faded from history but the Knights of the Eastern Star have remained scattered throughout Avistan and beyond, since Earthfall, ever searching for secret lore and the new ruler who would restore the glory of Azlant.
DC 33 - (History) - The sect of the Knights of the Western Star served the emperor and the empire's Throne of Glass, while the sect of the Knights of the Eastern Star searched the lands beyond the empire's borders for secret lore.
DC 33 (Local) - The strongest faction of the Knights of the Eastern Star, known as the Apotheosis Almorain, is currently centered in Oppara in Taldor.
Demon lord Zura - Religion or Planes Zura’s unholy symbol may be found upon Clarifisk at the Shrine of Zura or on Leahross from the random encounters. There may be other hints at Zura’s shrine that help the PCs identify who she is.
DC 15 – She is also known to go by the name She Who Savors Flesh and her followers often sport a symbol of a crimson, fanged skull.
DC 16 – Zura, a demon lord of blood, cannibalism, and vampires is thought to be the first vampire ever created.
DC 17 – In life, she was thought to be a great queen of Azlant who was so obsessed with living that she took up the practice of eating her own kind and bathing in their blood.
DC 18 – Some theorize the ascension of Zura may have marked the descent of the Azlant Empire, eventually leading to the Age of Darkness which consumed all of Golarion.
DC 19 – It is thought Zura resides in the mountainous region of Nesh in the Abyss and exists as a demon-lord in the form of a succubus where she manipulates the powers of Chaos, Death, Evil, and Madness.
DC 20 – Legends entwine Zura and Urgathoa, the Varisian goddess of physical excess, disease, and the undead.
DC 19 – An occultist lecturing at Almas University once explained that the cultists of Urgathoa mirror the relationship of their goddess with Zura cultists: sometimes they work together, sometimes cultists of one are sacrificed to the other. Maybe this conflict is due to the similar natures of the goddess and the demon lord.
DC 21 - Zura's worship is most common wherever blood-thirsty vampires and their thralls can be found. She is most commonly worshiped in the haunted counties of Ustalav and decadent cities of Cheliax.
DC 22 - Zura is the most popular of the demon lords commonly worshiped by orcs and is normally. These orcs embrace their daylight vulnerability by rejecting sunlight entirely and trying to only emerge at night. These tribes are normally led by either a cleric of Zura or an actual orc vampire.
DC 23 – In a dusty tome from the Almas Library you recall reading that in the depths of Sekamina, Zura is worshiped by the drow of House Rasivrein, who serve as the slave masters of the decadent drow cities.
DC 24 – Those divine casters with a knack for Blood, Demons, Murder and the Undead. Her followers tend to favor the rapier.
DC 25 – You have heard that in the Sodden Lands, Zura is one of the Three Feasters, the deities worshiped by the Koboto tribe.
DC 27 – You are aware that Zura is s one of the main demons worshiped by the Bekyar tribes in the Mwangi Expanse.
DC 28 – The ferocious halflings of the Kaava Lands also worship Zura.
DC 305 – In one version of the legend of the mythical lost city of Zurakai, you were told that it was founded by misguided followers of Zura.
DC 31 - Some sabosan, batfolk of the Mwangi Expanse, have turned to Zura worship as they have recently failed to get spells from their erstwhile demon lord, Vyriavaxus.
DC 32 – One of the principles of Zura worship is the belief that Zura taught that by eating a person’s flesh and performing the appropriate ritual one could also consume the traits of that person.
DC 35 – While brushing up on Azlanti history you found a passage describing the effects of Queen Zura after she passed on to, according to legend, the Abyss. At the height of Azalanti civilization It came to pass that many nobles secretly worshiped Zura and kept shrines to her in secret dungeons beneath their homes, where they hosted horrific orgies that often resulted in mass murder. To silence investigation and to blackmail the influential in society, worshipers invited many nobles to attend who were unaware that the entertainments there would become so brutal, so real. By making people in power complicit in the horrifying acts, the cult of Zura assured its protection and flourished in high society.
Desna - Religion or Planes Questions about Desna are bound to pop up when the PCs visit Nal Shakar (assuming no knowledge of Azlanti Nal-Shakar perspective).
DC 10 – Desna is widely worshiped across Golarion as a goddess of travel, exploration and luck. The month of Desnus is named for her.
DC 11 – Desna worship can be found everywhere in Golarion. Her churches are few but her roadside shrines are innumerable. She is worshiped by humans, gnomes, elves and halflings. Varisians have a special fondness for her. The Ritual of Stardust, a widely respected practice, is held in her name at the summer and winter solstices.
DC 12 – She is known as: The Song of the Spheres, The Great Dreamer, Starsong, The Tender of Dreams, Lady Luck, Resplendent Goddess of Fortune, Goddess of the North Star, Queen of the North Star and Mother Moon. The Swallowtail Festival, held on the first of Rova, celebrates Desna and her principles of freedom.
DC 13 – She is depicted as a beautiful elven woman, with butterfly wings containing all the beauty of a clear night sky. She is often depicted as having dark hair, silvery eyes, and a coy but distant smile, wearing diaphanous gowns and sometimes accompanied by swarms of butterflies.
DC 14 – Her worshipers are often travelers, astronomers, gamblers and a whole lot of Varisians. Legend has it, Lamashtu killed Desna’s mentor in order to steal his domain of beasts. Desna and her followers have a particular animosity toward Lamashtu.
DC 15 – Desna is said to speak to mortals through dreams. At other times people claim to find her messages in swarms of butterflies or birds. Restless nights, loosing streaks and sore feet can all be attributed to Desna’s ire.
DC 16 – Desna is believed to be one of the first of eight gods, willed into existence by Pharasma, and responsible for building the heavens. Her domains are Chaos, Good, Liberation, Luck, and Travel.
DC 17 – Her followers hold the night sky, complete freedom and open roads as sacred. Gamblers know a good lucky streak is a sign of Desna’s favor.
DC 18 – Incarnations of Desna worship are everywhere. In the far north, the Uqtaal Necropolis at the base of the Wall of Heaven was built in her name. The great tunnel, The Path of Spirits, which leads from the Necropolis to the Great Ice serves as a function of her worship.
DC 19 – Halflings everywhere attribute their legendary luck to the goddess, claiming the halfling demigoddess, Chaldira Zuzaristan, is her best and most loyal friend.
DC 20 – Desna’s sacred colors are blue and white, her followers hold the butterfly as her most sacred of animals and the starknife as her weapon of choice.
DC 21 – Desna has a son, the demigod Kurgess, whose father is said to be Cayden Cailean before his ascension. She was also one of the gods who battled Rovagug during the Age of Creation.
DC 22 – Those close to her teachings know the story of how Desna’s insatiable curiosity resulted in her freeing the god of infections and parasites, Ghlaunder, The Gossamer King, from his prison-cocoon in the Ethereal. To this day she actively hunts the god.
DC 23 – Her faithful believe Desna uses large magical beasts known as star monarchs to communicate with mortal beings. Star monarchs appear in the night and are thought to travel to distant stars as well as across planes of existence.
DC 24 – Desna’s faithful keep few holy texts, preferring to maintain written prayers upon her numerous shrines instead. One small book, The Eight Scrolls, details the legends of her earliest years.
DC 25 – While she is thought to keep her distance from the other gods in the pantheon, she is also believed to be in simultaneous romantic relationships with Cayden Cailean, Shelyn, and Sarenrae.
DC 27 – Desna opposes Rovagug, Zon-Kuthon and Xhamen-Dor.
DC 28 – Most worshipers believe Desna to a goddess without a home, but in truth she often lives in a demi-plane which manifests on the Material Plane as bright blue star
DC 30 – The Herald of Desna is a dragon-sized butterfly named The Night Monarch.
Pharasma - Religion or Planes Questions about Pharasma are bound to pop up when the PCs visit Nal Shakar (assuming no knowledge of Azlanti Nal-Shakar perspective)
DC 10 – Pharasma is a well-known and widely worshiped goddess of life and death. Her worshipers can be found all over Avistan, Garund, Casmaron and far off in Tian-Xia. The month of Pharast is named for her.
DC 11 – She is known by many titles, including: The Lady of Graves, The Lady of Mysteries, Mother of Souls, The Gray Lady and The Survivor.
DC 12 – Pharasma’s followers believe she is the power responsible for ensuring the dead safe passage from the realm of the living to their final destination in the afterlife. She lives in her palace in the Boneyard.
DC 13 - Pharasma is most often depicted as an ashen-skinned Garundi woman with white eyes. She wears a dark, hooded, robe-like dress and holds an hourglass filled with red sand.
DC 14 – Pharasma worship is popular with both gravediggers and midwives. Her holy symbol is the image of a spiraling comet.
DC 15 – Her followers are often seen dressed in jet-black garb with silver trim. They are known to carry tiny vials of holy water.
DC 16 – Legends say Pharasma was the only being from the previous multiverse to survive its ending and was partly responsible for the creation of the new one, shielding it from the Dark Old Ones.
DC 17 – Pharasmins despise undeath and seek out the unliving as abominations to be destroyed. Many of her clerics are necromancers who refuse to use their powers to create undead.
DC 18 – Pharasmin churches and cathedrals are typically dark affairs, typically sitting atop sprawling catacombs to house the dead.
DC 19 – She has generally dispassionate relations with the other gods of Golarion, although a few still believe Pharasma had correctly divined the death of Aroden and the end of all prophesy, keeping the secret hidden from the rest. Iomedae, in particular, harbors a slight grudge against Pharasma for this very reason.
DC 20 – Pharasma is highly connected to psychopomps and her youngest daughter, Atropos, actually is one.
DC 21 –The weeks before harvest festival, her followers celebrate The Procession of Unforgotten Souls. The 5th of Pharast is widely celebrated as the Day of Bones in her honor.
DC 22- Her domains are: Death, Healing, Knowledge, Repose, Water. Her priest hold the simple dagger as her favored weapon.
DC 23 – Her sacred colors are blue and white. Her sacred animal is the whippoorwill.
DC 24 – The Bonelands in a Spiral is her sacred text.
DC 26 - The Voices of the Spire is a militant wing of the Pharasmin priesthood devoted to the extermination of undead.
DC 28 - The Pharasmin Penitence is an extremist sect that views worldly pleasures as going against Pharasma's plans and actively seek out those whom they feel upset their beliefs by making life easier, for instance, arcane casters.
DC 30 - The Casarmetzes are church midwives who are so skilled at the procedures of childbirth that they are able to keep both mother and child alive in dire circumstances.
Aroden - Religion or Planes He is depicted in the mural in Nal Shakar
DC 10 – Aroden was a god of prophesy and of mortal men. He championed humans upon Golarion and before his death, was worshiped by them from pole to pole.
DC 11 – Aroden was known as Last of the First Humans and The Last Azlanti Living God.
DC 12 – Aroden was an ascended human from the ancient Azlanti empire. Both as a mortal and immortal, he performed many heroic feats to champion the cause of all humans.
DC 13 - Greatest of his feats was the raising of the Starstone to the Isle of Kortos, resulting in the founding of the great city of Absalom and the Starstone Cathedral, which hosts the Test of the Starstone. These test are responsible for the ascension of three gods: Norgorber, Cayden Cailean and Iomedae.
DC 14 – Prophesy once told Aroden would one day lead all human to an Age of Glory. With his disappearance, however, prophesy died and the world slipped into the Age of Lost Omens.
DC 15 – The Starfall Doctrine prophesied the return of Aroden in 4606. Instead of his return, Golarion was wracked by dreadful storms and Aroden’s priests lost connection to their divinely gifted powers. It was apparent to all that Aroden had died. Most of his followers moved on to worship Iomedae in his stead.
DC 16 – When Aroden walked Golarion, he did so in one of twelve guises: artist, beggar, craftsman or artisan, farmer, fisher, hunter, merchant, scholar, shepherd, soldier, tailor, and thief.
DC 17 – Aroden’s holy symbol was the Eye of Aroden and his favored weapon was the longsword.
DC 18 – Aroden was the original patron deity of Taldor, but as the empire moved across the inner sea region, Cheliax came to become the epicenter of Aroden worship.
DC 20 – His domains were Community, Glory, Knowledge, Law, and Protection.
DC 22 - Aroden's holy texts were “The History and Future of Humanity” and “The Tomes of Memory”.
DC 21 – Aroden died in an epic battle with Asmodeus.
DC 22 – Actually, there are many theories as to the death of Aroden. Some think he died in a fight with Rovagug while others speculate he has simply traveled beyond the Spheres and will return someday. Still others swear that Aroden has returned to Golarion as a human, some of these poor folk claim he is their uncle.
DC 24 – Aroden is known to have defeated many of humanity’s greatest enemies: the Archmage Nex in 166 AR, a number of demonic and devilish lords, and the Wizard King Tar-Baphon in 896 AR.
DC 26 – After placing the Starstone on Kortos, he took five orbs from the Orvian vault of Vask and placed them in towers around the island, infusing the towers with his own magic. Soon after the islands became lush and fertile and remain so to this day. Many believe the aeon towers are responsible for the splendor that is Kortos and Absalom.
DC 28 – Aroden’s feats of heroism in the name of humanity were numerous. During his travels across Cheliax, a field of red roses outside Egorian turned white upon his arrival and remained so for over a thousand years.
DC 30 – In -1524 AR, Aroden famously met and traveled with Arazni across Acardia and studied cosmic forces at the Veins of Creation.
DC 31 – After defeating the demon lord, Ibdurengian in the Abyss, Aroden stayed behind in the Great Beyond while his army returned to the Prime. While away, he travelled across many planes and greatly expanded his knowledge of cosmos.
DC 33 – After Earthfall, Aroden led the Azlanti survivors across the seas to Avistan where he desperately tried to preserve the cultural heritage of his peoples. Some think it was this noble quest that granted him immortality. As the Azlanti people intermixed with humans and died off, Aroden lived on for millennia, making him the last Azlanti, or The Last of the First Humans.
DC 35 – Aroden was born in Azlant just as its final days drew near. He spent his youth as a master blacksmith and worshiped both the goddess Acavna and her consort, Amaznen, god of magic.
DC 38 – Many believe Pharasma knew when and how Aroden would die, but kept the secret to herself.
DC 39 – Some believe Pharasma knows the true fate of Aroden.
DC 43 – Aroden’s greatest creation during his days in Azlant was the diamond-bladed sword named the Azlanti Diamond. Some believe it was Aroden’s act of taking up this powerful weapon that caused the veiled-masters to bring destruction down upon the world.
Acavna & Amaznen
Demon Lord Deskari - Religion or Planes He is depicted in the mural in Nal Shakar
DC 15 – A demon lord of the Abyss, sometimes worshipped by peoples living south of the WorldWound.
DC 16 – His mortal worshipers typically disguise themselves as worshippers of Calistria.
DC 17 – He is known by many names: Lord of the Locust Host, Demon Lord of Infestation and Locusts, Usher of the Apocalypse and Locust Lord, to name a few.
DC 18 – He is depicted as part man, part locust and is never pictured without his scythe Riftcarver.
DC 19 – The domains of Deskari are: Chaos, Destruction, Evil, and War. It is said that Aroden single-handedly slew Deskari’s avatar and his loyal cult followers in 4433 AR by driving them into the Lake of Mists and Veils.
DC 20 – His unholy symbol is a pair of crossed locust wings dripping with blood.
DC 21 – Deskari is known to be the offspring of the ancient demon lord Pazuzu.
DC 22 – Deskari’s mother was a giant insect demon. His scythe if formed from her remains.
DC 23 – He lived within the Rasping Rift within the Abyss and gathered enough power to rival that of his father.
DC 24 – Deskari was known to have discovered a thinning of the veil between the Abyss and the Material World near the Kellid barbarian nation of Sarkorsis, where his influence grew strong and his cult gained much power.
DC 25 – The witch Areelu Vorlesh discovered the thinning in 4600 AR and pledged herself to Deskari, allowing him back into the world once more.
DC 26 – It is rumored that very recently, Deskari may have been destroyed for good.
Ghlaunder - Religion or Planes This demigod is listed in the lore checks for Faceless Stalkers
DC 15 – Ghlaunder is the demigod of parasites and disease. He is often referred to as the Gossamer King.
DC 16 – Worshipers of Ghlaunder are often seen carrying spears. While small pockets of intelligent creatures of a variety of races have been known to worship this demigod, it seems his followers are more often than not associated with the various shapeshifters of the world.
DC 17 – When depictions of this foul god are discovered, he is typically portrayed as a giant mosquito.
DC 18 – While often disguised as something else, those in the know realize that his unholy symbol is a mosquito.
DC 19 – Legends say this deity was accidentally released from an imprisoning cocoon by an overly-curious Desna during her travels across the multiverse.
DC 20 – Ghlaunder’s domains are: Air, Animal, Chaos, Destruction and Evil.
DC 21 – Ghlaunder cults are known to disguise themselves as worshipers of more benign gods and then, by subterfuge, ingratiate themselves with civilized communities, only to corrupt them from within.
DC 22 – When acting in disguise, Ghlaunder cults typically refer to their god by the names, 'the Tender of Dreams' or 'the Dream Tender'; 'the Slumberer'; or the 'Dormant Dreamer'.
DC 23 – Other worshipers of Ghlaunder explore the world in search of new diseases which they can incubate and then release into whole communities. When caught, these bioterrorists often claim their actions were done in order to strengthen the herd by culling the weak and feeble.
DC 24 – Still other Ghlaunder worshipers include sentient parasitical fungoid creatures and blood-drinkers.
DC 25 – A few copies of his unholy test, The Sipping Sacrifice, have been uncovered in recent years.
DC 28 – The race of Ugothol, or as they are more commonly referred, faceless stalkers, are most responsible for the spread of his church.
DC 30 (DC 18 Geography) – Rumors tell of a band of Ghlaunder cultists operating just outside Korvosa. The stories say they have raised a new breed of poisonous stirges which they send after non-believers.
DC 33 (DC 20 Geography) – It also said a larger cult of worshipers somewhere in the Mwangi Expanse have tamed a species of monstrously huge mosquitoes and await a sign from Ghlaunder to strike.
I'd probably have most of the events happen, maybe keeping the end of the strike (going from memory, here) for when they come back from the sea hag's lair. It might seem to the players like it's a lot, but it will also make it feel like the village isn't in stasis while the player characters are gone.
my players met the Locathas,
Not sure if this area of the forum gets much traffic these days, but thought I'd ask anyway.
My players have just encountered Koloshkora and the module states she knows Onthooth is lurking on the isle to the West. Did other GMs choose to reveal this? I wonder if it would be better to not reveal this yet? Or to allude to it in a more oblique manner.
Any and all advice welcome.
Clearly it depends on how well they get on.
Personally I waited till they proved themselves to Koloshkora.
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I wonder if it would be better to not reveal this yet? Or to allude to it in a more oblique manner. Any and all advice welcome.
I kept Koloshkora unaware of Onthooth in my game and I think it worked out for the better. I set it up so that Helekhterie was very aware of Onthooth and both Ikirkira and Vriskirsa were vaguely aware of a powerful/dark force inhabited the Isle of Zanas-Tahn but no details. However, my PCs killed Helekhterie and Ikikira before they could question them and never thought to ask those types of questions to the naga, so the first time they were made aware of Onthooth was when Thandhalu shouted its name in despair as his faceless stalkers impatiently ambushed the PCs.
It worked out great because the PCs kept theorizing who Othooth was. At first they thought it was a faceless stalker big-bad, then when they realized the stalkers were in servitude to the skum they thought it must be a skum boss. Finally, after taking down Glorandral and realizing they still hadnt found Onthooth, they began to get really worried as someone in the group suggested it might be an aboleth.
We added a fifth player late in my game and he decided he wanted to play Koloshkora as a PC, so she has joined the party and it has really been fun having her in the group - especially as they traveled to and explored Talisantri. I did have to make up a rather extensive guide for the guy playing Koloshkora that listed her rather extensive knowledge of the region - but it did not include knowledge of Onthooth's existence. :)
Thanks for the replies. So far, Onthooth has not been revealed in my game also.
I'm also thinking ahead about buffing up Helekhterie somewhat. We have a party of 6 with two pets, so always need to buff the encounters. Has anyone got a buffed sea hag stat block laying around? Just add a few more levels of Oracle? Also considering witch levels instead, as I feel witches make for some of the most vexatious foes in the game.
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I would add more minions (as well as adding some levels)
Witch is certainly more agressive (and very hag like)
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I'm also thinking ahead about buffing up Helekhterie somewhat.
~and~
I would add more minions (as well as adding some levels)
Witch is certainly more agressive (and very hag like)
I kept Helekhterie as written. It was a fun encounter, but not all that challenging. However, the party had camped at the foot of the volcano the previous night and made it to Nal-Shakar at first light. It took them very little time to complete the entire tower, and they headed back to Talmandor's Bounty that very same day, so I was able to spring the events of Part 3 on them immediately without rest from Nal-Shakar making the final fight a truly heroic/epic session.
So, that might be an alternative to bumping up Helektherie.
Totally agree with Haldrick on adding minions, too. But, I did it more for flavor than to challenge them. I think someone else in this thread may have suggested this, but I had the exterior of Nal-Shakar crawling with packs of monkey goblins - hundreds of them. With some study from cover the PCs could determine that the gobs were not all of the same tribe and that the seemed to have staked their own territory. I added brittle remains of suspension bridges from the tower to the crater's edge which allowed groups of gobs (but not the PCs) access across Caldera Lake to the jungle for food. The PCs were harried by small packs of monkey gobs (6-8 at a time) both outside and inside the tower. It gave the tower a dangerous and chaotic atmosphere and I really liked how that played out.
I also increased the ceiling height on each level to between 50 and 70 feet, giving the entire structure more mass and atmospheric foreboding.
I also used Steven Cormann's "Old Observatory" artwork to represent Nal-Shakar: [URL]https://static.messynessychic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/oldobservatory -e1492096206397.jpg[/url]
Looks like I messed up that link to Cormann's art. Here's a better link.