Pathfinder Saturday Group-IC continuation

Re: Pathfinder Thursday Group-IC continuation

Just as the group of Pathfinders were about to find a ship to take them back to Absalom, they were greeted by another tiefling, named Elon who had come bearing letters and an order from the Grand-master himself to head to Oppara, in Taldor and meet up with the local Venture-Captain there.

Once there, they find themselves in the Pathfinder Society lodge—a modest building disguised as a bait and tackle shop. The Venture-Captain, an aging human man named Muesello greets you, “Greetings, and welcome to Oppara. Thank you for coming on such short notice."

Before jumping into business almost immediately, "We have recently received reports that an item of extreme antiquity has been found. The late Lord Tulwin of Oppara is—was—the patriarch of a clamoring host of children, and none of them were believed to care much for the miser. Toward the end of his life, he supposedly poured all of what was to be their inheritance into the acquisition of an item of extreme value—an Azlanti scepter recovered by a Taldan Army of Exploration centuries ago. Such was his disdain for his offspring that he arranged for his body and most valuable belongings—the scepter among them—to be spirited away within an hour of his passing so the ‘vultures’ couldn’t squabble over his treasures. The scepter was believed lost to time, until now."

“Our reports suggest that the scepter and the late Lord Tulwin lie entombed somewhere on Antios’s Crown. I need you to find the scepter and return it to me here in Oppara. If it truly is as powerful as the rumors suggest, then it must be brought to the Grand Lodge for safekeeping. You are among the few to whom we have given this information, and we expect it to remain secret. The last thing I need is a bunch of squabbling lordlings crowding Antios’s Crown with hired tomb raiders!"

Right, so loot it before the real tomb raiders come.

“You will know the tomb by the crest of House Tulwin. Look for a winged boar and the scepter should be nearby. When you are ready, we will transport you to the base of Mount Antios via magical means. Admittedly, it would be more expedient to send you directly to the summit, but sadly, no one here has a great enough familiarity with the area to do so without significant risk. Besides, with all the wards, shields, and other magical protections placed upon, in, and around the tombs of so many self-important, paranoid Taldans, who knows what sort of interference would be wrought!”

With his monologue complete, there will be questions that you could ask that might lead to an easier time of finding the sceptre.

 

Diin: "What dangers may be found on the mountian?"

"Are there any known paths to the 'Crown'?"

"If you know of others that may be looking for the scepter, what can you tell us about them?"

 

"what is the weather like on the Mountian?"

 

"Antios’s Crown stands atop the craggy peak known as Mount Antios, named for Taldor’s tenth emperor. Mount Antios is the third-tallest mountain in Taldor, and overlooks the Tandak Plains in the southern part of the World’s Edge Mountains, just above the break in the range known as the Porthos Gap. Again, it’s at the top of a mountain, a mountain that’s always covered in snow. Plan accordingly. There are no known paths up the mountain currently, it's up to you all to trail-blaze.”

“Legends and past Pathfinder Chronicles tell of an ancient white dragon that makes its home on Mount Kaltafarr, far from where you’ll be heading. Other dangers throughout the range include rocs, ice trolls, a few small clans of frost giants, and the dreaded koscimo—blue-shelled ice scorpions that can grow to be 10 feet long. Long story short: be prepared for anything! As for others, you are among the few to whom we have given this information, and we expect it to remain secret.”

 

Climbing up after rescuing Diin off of the ledge, the party moved on upwards until they reached a hollow. Of course, what actions would the party take before stepping into here?

An arc of tall, flat-topped columns surrounds what appears to be a cyclopean altar in this natural hollow. Centuries of exposure have not been kind to this once-regal structure, and spider-webbed cracks run the lengths of the bleached marble columns, their coroneted tops reduced to piles of crumbled and broken stone surrounding their bases. The altar, while still massive, has fallen into such disrepair that the deity or person it once honoured is no longer easily distinguishable in the carvings on its surface. Behind the altar, a raised tier of earth stands twenty feet off the ground, a steep path up to the summit rising from there. The smell of rotten flesh fills the air.

 

With the cleric defeated, the party decided to argue over what to do with it, of course, being able to attain the state of bleeding to death means that it was not an undead to start with, but someone who consorted with them instead. While they were arguing over whether or not to tie him up and take him down to face justice or just to summarily execute him, he bled to death.

With the Azanti Sceptre collected, the pathfinders descended the mountain without further incident side from hiding when the blue dragon flew overhead. Back at the Lodge, they reported back to the Venture-Captain that the Azanti Sceptre was a fake, and the rumours were from a cleric that wanted to lure people to their deaths. With him defeated, one risk that endangered treasure seeker's lives were immediately struck from the list.

 

The Pathfinder Society has turned its attention to the Ruby Phoenix Tournament—a world-renowned fighting competition, held once every ten years in the city of Goka on the eastern continent of Tian Xia. More specifically, the Decemvirate is interested in the incredible prizes available to the tournament’s winner—a choice of treasure from the legendary vaults of Hao Jin, the Ruby Phoenix herself. As part of the preparations for the tournament, Pathfinder Society agents have been deployed across the Inner Sea and beyond to seek out forgotten lore, allies, and magical items to be used by the Society’s tournament representatives.

Venture-Captain Amara Li, leader of the Lantern Lodge and Goka native, has uncovered information about one such item hidden amid the reaches of the Wall of Heaven—an Iroran relic known as the Braid of a Hundred Masters. Organizing the search from her base in the Dragon Empires, she intends to send a group of Pathfinders to the high mountain range in search of the braid’s ancient home: the Clouded Path Monastery.

Since your group has the most experience in mountaineering, and have recently scaled a peak in Taldor and survived, you have been selected as the to go to people for all future mountaineering assignments.

The two-week-long journey to the mountains began in the cosmopolitan city of Goka, where you relaxed from your latest adventure before passing through the surrounding villages and farmlands, and led thousands of feet up into the tallest mountain range on Golarion; all that remains is the final day’s journey up from the base camp...

 

Do we know of any other groups or people searching for our target?

Are any of the mountians hazards known?

What is the weather like?

How bad is the altitude?

Do we have any knowledge of creatures that make the mountain home?

 

A half-hour of traveling beyond the crevasse, you see two rock formations, shaped like a pair of thick pillars, stand prominently near a cliff’s edge. One pillar stands fifteen feet tall and the smaller stands ten feet tall. A shallow cave, just to the side of the pillars, looks as if it might provide some shelter from inclement mountain weather. The sun was falling, so it’s prudent to rest for the night.

 

With the Braid of a Hundred Masters recovered and given to Venture-Captain Amara Li, the group of adventurers took a well deserved rest in one of the few taverns which accommodate foreigners in Goka. While the Braid was recovered, when presenting it to the Venture-Captain, you made your report that while it’s magical and has an aura, there was no visible or magical effects associated with it. As such, she has left you to your own devices while she procures her own research upon the item. This all changed about a week from then.

“No time to rest, Pathfinders!” she exclaimed late one night, barging into the common of the ramshackle tavern you’re currently residing in. “I’ve looked into the situation surrounding the relic you found, the Braid of a Hundred Masters. As you may have noticed, the artifact appears to have been dormant for many years now, and in this state it’s essentially worthless to us. Fortunately, it can be reactivated, but only by the descendant of the braid’s last master, who, as you may know, was the master of the Clouded Path Monastery many years ago, a man by the name of Li Yao. I’ve discovered the whereabouts of his final living descendant—a woman by the name of Je Tsuin—but she now resides in the nation of Shokuro to the east, far from where her ancestor taught in his monastery in the Wall of Heaven. In order to reactivate the sacred relic, you’ll need to travel to the village of Nesting Swallow in Shokuro and find Je Tsuin to perform the necessary ritual.”

“Unfortunately,” she continued, “we’re not the only group interested in Iroran artifacts. Our operatives claim that Lingshen, the Successor State to the southeast, is after the relic as well. Since Lingshen’s armies have a stranglehold on the overland routes from here to Shokuro, you’ll have to travel by river. Riding the Tuunma is faster anyway, though you might run into some hostile Mutabi-qi or goblinoids along the way. The river empties into the Sea of Eels—cross it and you’re in Shokuro, and from there you can follow the map I’ve provided to reach Nesting Swallow.”

“Any questions?” she interrupted her own info dump before droning onwards, not actually leaving you time to ask, “Ah, before I forget, you’ll also need you to make a quick stop along the way. The ritual requires a large amount of rare incense—more than I could easily procure from any of my local suppliers—so I’ve contacted a nomadic tribe in Shaguang, the Jhemulit, and they have agreed to provide you with the prepared herbs. I’ve already paid their shaman, a man named Ogokai, and I’ve marked their approximate location on your map, so it’s simply a matter of picking up the incense on your way to Shokuro.”

As she finally turned to leave, you finally get a chance to ask questions.

 

"How are we getting down the river? Is there anything in particular we need to take with us?"

 

"Ah yes, how could I forget?" she answered your question with her usual gusto, "I have obtained a junk for you to use, it's docked in the port at pier 6. Its name is Laughing Crow. You'll have to select a helmsmen among yourselves to steer it. As for anything special in particular, didn't I already went over that? I'll need you to pick up the incense that I've bargained for in Shaguang and bring it to the destination too."

 

The first day passed uneventfully, with Diin taking five villagers out to help her scout, the rest of the people were hard at work going at a breakneck pace to bring in the harvest.

She brings in dire news after her outing, the bandits would arrive in five days...

 

Day two, where some of the villagers get their first taste of swinging farm implements in an attempt to harm another living being instead of parting the soil.

While Chandra slacks off and did nothing, the villagers started flooding some of the fields to help obstruct the enemy bandits and learned under the guidance of Elon, Komana, and Tyrion. Diin brought back less dire news, instead the bandits should arrive in about five to seven days, revised upwards from her earlier estimate of five.

 

They continued with what they were doing on the second day with the third, Chandra slacking off and doing nothing again while Elon and Komana switched squads to continue training. Tyrion did his thing on teaching how to miss stationary targets, Diin came back with less than stellar info, the bandits should arrive in four to six days, give or take two days.

 

On the forth day, Diin commandeered all of the villagers who underwent combat training to be lookouts for her while she scouted, oh, she finally got Chandra off her lazy butt too while she was at it.

While Komana and Elon terrorized the new recruits, Tyrion continues on teaching away on how to aim at targets and miss.

When Diin returns with no new info, the bandits should arrive in three to five days.

 

Commandeering all the combat trained villagers again, Diin went out to scout, finally finding the time it would take for the bandits to arrive via their tracks. Three days, they have.

Komana, Elon, and Tyrion finally finish the villager's training, it wasn't much, but it was the best they could do.

Chandra manages to slack off yet again, and wasn't anywhere to be found.

 

The last two days before the bandits arrived, everyone took part in putting up a barricade around the village center, with the pathfinders making traps for the obstacle when its completed. Chandra, as usual, didn't make impressive traps, like the ones Tyrion and Merior made.

Elon, for lack of a better words, got to know the last descendent of Li Yao pretty well while the rest of the pathfinders worked on attempting to make traps, knowing that he's bad at that, he opted instead to share history and chat with the council member instead.

They finished right on time too, the day afterwards, at the first of dawn, riders are spotted in the hills, and by midmorning the entire force circles Nesting Swallow in preparation for launching a raid across the southern fields. The flooded creek halts the riders, however, and they fall back to rethink their assault. This gives the party and villagers time to take up positions along the barricade and prepare for assault from the only directions left open. The tengus wait out the rest of the day in the hillside forests, and attack at dusk.