This is our home base. It'll be where we discuss our table, ask questions, give feedback etc.
Part of the school includes the nuts and bolts operations of navigating Paizo.com and campaigns, so include those questions.
I plan on starting Monday in earnest, but by all means post questions here. I'll also open a Discussion tab.
Good evening, all.
I’m here.
Here I am.
Hey everyone, it's time to do this! Check the Discussion tab. Once we've chosen quests, we'll get underway.
It's tempting to be polite and defer, but that can slow down momentum. If you have one you like, call it!
The House of Harmonious Wisdom
Fragments
-------------------------------------
You have been summoned, literally, to the far side of the world. The journey has been....
long.
You eventually arrive in the small town of Ashima, in the young country of Shokuro, to meat your contact, an "old war hero" named Mai Chun. Your journals are already half full of wonders that you've encountered along the way, but it feels good to finally begin your actual mission.
The screen door opens on an unassuming house tucked in the small town of Ashima. Filling the doorway is an elderly woman of regal bearing who wears a lopsided smile. Long white hair meets her waist over colorful robes that would not be out of place in the salons of Tian Xia’s largest cities. The grandmotherly woman speaks with a deep, rich voice.
“What fates and fickle winds bring blooming lilies to our forest island."
She stares, waiting. Then you remember the countersign. It's been months since your briefing, afterall. " With such winds does history ebb and flow.”
Having introduced herself with this couplet, she bows and adds, “Yes, yes you’ll do perfectly. I hope you’re fond of bears.” She grins and steps aside, raising a welcoming arm. “Quickly, come in. And off with your shoes!”
Inside, Mai Chun’s house is delightfully cluttered. Papers and parchments are stacked perilously high, piles of books lean against disorderly shelves, and swords and shields are displayed on every wall. Mai Chun invites you to sit in this library cum classroom. " I'd like you to enter the nearby Li Sho forest and explore a ruined estate. I believe that it was an old estate for military officers during the days of Imperial Lung Wa. I hope it contains relics or information about Lung Wa that Shokuro can use to enhance its reputation among the Successor States. The forest is dense, but here are some foolproof directions...."
She gives the same lopsided smile before asking, "Are there any specific questions that you might have?"
|
Elemenar scans the room as he enters. The piles and piles of books and scrolls immediately draw his attention. What a veritable storehouse of knowledge and history and, no doubt, ancient arcane wisdom. But that will have to wait. He listens to Mai's request.
"We are honored at your request. Please forgive my ignorance but do you know if this estate in ruins is unsafe?"
"The building itself should be fine. It's really just the bear I'm worried about. The villagers I initially sent to scout the estate report seeing a dire bear prowling the courtyard. They fled, which is exactly what I would’ve wanted them to do. Who would make the harvest festival stew if Wu got his head bitten off? No one, that’s who. You lot, though? You look like you can handle a big bear if you had to.”
|
Even the house of a supposed ally gets a couple over-cautious glances around as Zadim enters the building. With no immediate threats obvious to him, the Kelesh troubleshooter relaxes slightly as the group is told why they were summoned this way.
"So, our goal is to deal with this bear that's living in the ruins of an old estate, then search the estate itself?" Zadim confirms after Mai Chun describes the mission. With an affirmation, he nods to the old woman. "It shall be done." After a moments pause, he continues,"You said that this trek was to enhance the reputation of this land among it's neighbors, yes? My apologies for being unaware, but I'm unfamiliar with this jockeying for status. Can you tell me about it and this Lung Wa that you spoke of?"
To Treble her smiles changes a bit to something... conspiratorial, "Sadly I can’t give specifics, as I don’t know exactly what’s there. Shizuru curse any looters that may have already gotten to it. But, if anything remains, I’m looking specifically for documents. Maps, letters, scrolls, things of that sort. Other than that, any treasure could be significant. If it’s shiny and not bolted down, pick it up. If it is bolted down, I have pliers.”
She turns serious when answering Zadim, "For nearly 500 years, Imperial Lung Wa united and ruled an immense portion of Tian Xia. With the death of Aroden, the empire fractured into the competing Successor States, with Lingshen, Po Li, and Quain at the shattered empire’s heart. So far, none of the three have managed to recapture the fallen empire’s glory and influence, resulting in a tense stalemate. Agents from each nation keep an eye out for anything they might use as a symbol of legitimacy as the empire’s worthiest successor."
As if the the talk of history brought the situation back to the forefront, Mai Chun stands. Her original smile returning, "Now, adventures are only so when you experience them, not when you talk about them. Rest up. It's a 6 hour trek tomorrow, so you'll want to leave at first light."
|
A gentle breeze follows the sylph as he enters the house, and stirs the papers and scrolls piled nearest him throughout the party’s meeting with the Tian venture captain.
After greeting their hostess in Tien, Eyden switches to common to avoid excluding any Pathfinders who do not speak the language.
“Do you have any reason to believe agents of any of the other Successor States will be searching the same area for similar ... symbols of legitimacy? And if so, do you have any preference as to how we are to treat them should we encounter them?”
"I don't expect to, as it's within our borders - and only recently discovered. If there are others, I'd imagine they are here for more nefarious purposes, and that they discovered this find by chance."
The unspoken tone is that you may fight them tooth and nail if you see any.
The Li Sho Forest is a surprisingly dense forest that thwarts easy travel. Mai Chun’s directions lead to a narrow path that was seemingly once a wide road. The forest has reclaimed most of it, with only a few paving stones peeking up from the soil. The landmarks that Mai Chun mentioned are easy to spot: corroded lantern poles overgrown with ivy, an empty hunter’s shack, and finally an old military watchtower.
|
|
That morning, before the group leaves, Treble sits on the floor and pulls three small stones he picked up from the courtyard the previous day. Each stone has two sides upon which they might land if cast upon the ground. Using a piece of blue chalk he keeps in his pouch, he marks one side of each stone with a drawing of a triple-looped knot. Holding the stones in his hand, he prays to Magdh, the Eldest one of fate, complexity and triplets.
”Great Magdh, of the ever intertwining loops of fate, guide me this day to fulfill what fate has in store. Mistress of Three, may your all seeing eyes of your faces let me know the course to take. Lady Seer of the Eldest, may the complexity of the First World and all others continue to unfold before you.”
Finishing his prayer, he casts the stones before him on the ground and attempts to interpret their meaning.
|
|
Finally, after way too much of a struggle along the overgrown road, Elemenar stops near the watchtower that was mentioned in the directions. "It appears, that this is quite along the route to our destination. So where to next?"
While speaking, Elemenar looks at the tower. If anyone was going to ambush the group, this would be a good place for it.
Elemenar looks around, and sees no sign of an ambush, but a reasonable climber would be able to scale the tower to see further.
Treble ascends the tower with little difficulty. The view is impressive here, and you can tell that you're only about an hour out. What's more the intrepid Pathfinder discovers a boon for the mission. The top of the watchtower contains a sturdy waterproof box with a longbow, a quiver with 10 arrows, and an old letter from a child to the soldier who stood guard here decades ago.
|
|
Eyden looks around the group, and shrugs when no one else volunteers to accompany the samsaran.
"Why not? Let's see what we can see."
The sylph climbs up, though not without some effort. The breezes that surround him ruffle the leaves as he ascends through the branches.
Once he joins Treble on the platform and sees the remains of the soldier, Eyden tries half-heartedly to figure out what killed him, then focuses on the letter, which he considers to be the real find, curious as he is about the lives of these people from so long ago.
"Maybe you'd have better luck identifying what killed him, Treble?"
The letter isn't anything overly interesting. It's a simple correspondence covering the latest news and gossip, but none of the names register. Still, you take a moment to soak in the notion that you're standing not just in a ruin, but something more recent, where a soldier did their duty.
With little else to do here, you opt for the final hour of travel.
After an hour the estate comes into view. Nature has largely taken over the area, but it's still impressive nonetheless. you take the opportunity for a quick walk around. There's no sign of anything like the reports said, and it's quite quiet.
You reconvene at the main doors to prepare before entering.
|
|
Eyden mutters something in Auran - "چشم باز است" - and casts Heighten Awareness. His eyes flare violet for a moment, then return to their usual gray.
He also casts a spell from a scroll. A pale blue glow begins at his feet and rises up to cover his entire body and up to the top of his head, then fades
With the party girded for this mysterious bear, they stand at the door. Nothing untoward or curious has assailed them... yet.
The door, and truly the whole building, seems quiet as a tomb.
Zadim concurs that there's nothing to hear, and cautiously opens the door.
The grounds of the ruined estate contain a few crumbled statues, overgrown hedges, and an empty pool that is now little more than a pit filled with decades of leaves, sticks, and mud. Bones litter the grounds...
Elemenar enters the grounds, and almost immediately there's movement in the overgrowth. Already expecting danger, the Pathfinders are ready!
It's the bear! It's not large or primal enough to be a dire bear, but it is clearly, extremely, agitated! There's also something... wrong with it. The bear is clearly not normal.
Round 1:
Eyden: Go
Bear: TBD
Elemenar: TBD
Treble: TBD
Zadim: TBD
|
|
There's something wrong with that thing. Eyden moves into the courtyard, staying out of the creature's direct path, and readies a spell to cast if the bear comes within range.
The bear, clearly out of sorts, indeed advances: , resisting the well placed spell. It's teeth gnash at the sylph:
, but Desna smiles and the bite misses!
Round 1:
Eyden: Color Spray
Bear: ATK
Elemenar: Go
Treble: Go
Zadim: Go
|
|
Elemenar looks calmly as the bear appears. It does, in fact, look odd but that will have to be handled later. The first priority will be to keep from getting harmed.
He digs through his bag and finds the wand he was looking for. The magic in the wand only extends so far so he holds it at the ready for when the bear gets close enough.
Elemenar grabs a wand, ready for the bear at extreme close range.
Round 1:
Eyden: Color Spray
Bear: ATK
Elemenar: Wand and prep
Treble: Go
Zadim: Go
Treble bolsters Zadim as the slayer himself studies his target.
Round 1:
Eyden: Go
Bear: TBD
Elemenar: TBD
Treble: TBD
Zadim: TBD
Eyden pulls away, never letting his guard down. The bear, devoid of strategy, simply moves of Zadim. Teeth gnash as spittle flies. The bear bites and claws at the slayer.
MISS
for
MISS
But only one claw draws blood!
Round 1:
Eyden: Withdraw
Bear: ATK
Elemenar: Go
Treble: Go
Zadim: Go