Darence the Earnest (Pathfinder Character) is a versatile Human and Lastwall Survivor.  He has committed himself to the path of Warpriest, Cleric, and Lastwall Sentry.  His soul is linked to Starlet (Starfinder Character) who is a Companion Android that is almost indistinguishable from a real human.  Starlet hails from Absalom Station where she is a performance Icon who has an Envoy class.

Darence lived in Vigil, the capital of Lastwall, with his parents, wife, and son. Like most young men in Lastwall, he trained with weapons and armor, but he had little passion for it. Darence's father was a Knight of Ozem, but Darence had no plans to follow in his footsteps. Darence was content to work odd jobs in town. He worked at the smithy, the stables, and at several different shops. He was a hard worker, but he struggled to find his calling.

Iomedae was a popular patron in Lastwall, and Darence was drawn to her by stories of her honor, valor, and her penchant for justice. Iomedae espoused traits that Darence admired in his father.

Then Tar-Baphon, the Whispering Tyrant, escaped his prison at Gallowspire and unleashed his wrath upon Lastwall.

Darence's parents were killed in the blast of Radiant Fire that obliterated Vigil. Darence, his wife (Samantha), and son (Oliver) fled Lastwall for Absalom with a band of refugees, but they were overrun by a pack of ghouls. Darence and the other refugees were able to fight off the ghouls, but his wife and son were taken. Darence searched for his family for weeks, but Lastwall was overrun by the dead. Darence was forced to give up his search, but he continued on to Absalom anyway in hopes that, against all odds, his family would find him there.

Darence rededicated his life to opposing the Whispering Tyrant. He trained in combat and became a cleric of Iomedae. Darence admires the Knights of Lastwall, and he hopes to soon join them on their forays into the Gravelands to clear undead and rescue displaced innocents. Above all, he hopes to someday be reunited with his lost wife and son even if it is only so he can give them their final rest.

Mary (Starlet) was a custom-order one-of-a-kind android designed to function as a live-in maid and nanny. Her design was funded by a wealthy merchant family who spared no expense. She was outfitted with a custom impersonation matrix and given the appearance of a 25-year-old human female. She is difficult to distinguish from a living person. Her programming simulates most biological functions, including breathing and blinking. She was also equipped with a state-of-the-art singing voice capable of achieving 7 octaves. But that was over 150 years ago, before the Thyst Rebellion. 

After Mary was granted her freedom, she bounced around Absalom Station from career to career for years. One day she started writing songs and found she had the knack for it. Her ability to write songs and perform them has afforded her some level of success. She changed her name to Starlet, and she is starting to gain a reputation for singing original material at local night clubs. One of her songs has seen airplay on local alternative wave stations. Most people believe she is a real human female.

The foundry that assembled Starlet was forced to fuse magic and technology to design her impersonation matrix. Technology alone was not capable of achieving the desired level of realism. Through necromancy and other dark magics, techno wizards at the foundry were able to defy the guardian archons of Heaven, and they drew out one of the purest souls at rest there. They were able to sever a piece of that soul in order to bind it with their impersonation matrix. That is how a piece of Darence’s soul was used to create Starlet, and that is also why Starlet is so generous and kind.

Coralie (Pathfinder Character) is a Hunter Automaton with a Clockwork Researcher background, who has an Eye for Numbers, and whose chosen class is Ranger Pathfinder.  Her soul is linked to Pelayo (Starfinder Character) who is a Copaxi with a Xenoseeker theme and Solarian class.

Coralie has strong ties to nature and the flow of life (water).  She has vague memories of her past and who she was before she was turned into an automation.  She has an uncanny ability to fight and survive.  She finds comfort in tinkering with gears to create new clockwork items.  Coralie knows that she was built to fight, but she has lost most of her memories after being buried under debris for hundreds of years.  She was recovered by dwarves from Highhelm that were doing a dig in Numeria.  Coralie moves faster as a quadruped, which comes in handy when she acts as a scout in the Five Kings Mountains.  She has little need for rest and can see in the dark.

Pelayo's soul was partially linked to Coralie after Coralie's core leaked into an ocean at the time of her demise and became part of the cycle of evolution for a sentient coral species.  Pelayo has a natural ability to lead other sentient creatures towards peace, safety, and preservation of nature.  He is highly diplomatic and speaks many languages.

Jane Massey (Pathfinder Character) is a Human with a background as a Farmhand.  She is Wintertouched, strong as nails, and an excellent Fighter who prefers to use a battle axe.  Her soul is linked to Sybil Waraczyk (Starfinder Character) who is a Verthani with a Scholar background and who works as a Mechanic.

Jane has only ever lived in one small, agrarian community, and her experience and responsibilities were bound by what her parents needed done to survive until the next harvest season. Her beliefs represent not a commitment to a rigorously considered worldview but are more a set of unexamined assumptions. She lived with her family as far north in the Linnorn as agriculture is reasonably practical.  The winters were long and harsh, and conditions fostered a kind of pragmatic selflessness. Thus, Jane helps other people while adventuring not from a deep well of empathy, but from an understanding about how duty to others makes the world work effectively.  She is inclined to trust authority figures and familiar family structures.  Jane has a younger sister, Violet, who was about 10 years old when Jane left home. Violet is old enough to be expected to help with farm work but young enough that "You'll have to take care of our parents by yourself when they're old and infirm" is kind of a big ask. This makes leaving home forever seem a little more personal for Jane.

Sybil was an engineer on a weapons program that fundamentally ended her world. Almost everyone she knew is dead from a horrible explosion caused by her employer. Sybil feels guilt from her small contributions to this accident, but she finds some solace in the fact that the explosion cost her an arm since she was an accomplice to and survivor of that destruction. Sybil is disillusioned from any form of ideology, highly wary of capital-C Causes, and has been making her living as a starship engineer in the years since, bereft of goals or beliefs. She has an Exocortex because she is trying to reconstruct the personality matrix of a twin brother who was killed in the disaster, as though recreating something lost may somehow amend her past mistakes. She refers to her Artificial Intelligence (AI) as Syd or Sydney.

Rhavin (Pathfinder Character) is a Vourinoi Elf Seer with a Blessed background who is a Bard Firebrand.  Her soul is linked to Val (Starfinder Character) who is a Phentomite Operative and Ace Pilot

Both Rhavin and Val are kindred souls who have kept their backgrounds secret for the time being.

Tink (Pathfinder Character) is a Nyktera Sprite with an Artisan background who is a Liberator (Champion) of Desna.  His soul is linked to Lumen (Starfinder Character) who is a Kiirinta priest of Desna who works as a Spellsoldier.

Little is known about Tink or Lumen except that they are called to serve their companions in a timeless endeavor.

Zevrin Ardastin or Experiment 3 (Pathfinder Character) is a Human (Kellid) who is an Amnesiac with a Psychic Firebrand class.  His soul is linked to Bob (Starfinder Character) who is a human from Absalom Station who is a Precog class that works as a Paranormal Investigator.

Zevrin found himself wandering the streets of Starfall, confused and disoriented, with no memories of his past.  He was a pawn of the Technic League during the chaos of their downfall.  Fortunately, he encountered a band of Varisian nomads while stumbling about the city during the Black Sovereign's crackdown.  The band's harrower realized there was something unusual about Zevrin, and quickly hid him amongst the caravan.  Once outside the shelter, the elderly harrower and follower of Sarenrae performed a reading about Zevrin and the results were startling, though she never shared the details.  Between her determined kindness, and whatever prophecy she learned about Zevrin, he was soon integrated into the caravan, though he did stick out.  After being on the receiving end of so much cruelty at the hands of the Technic League, Zevrin was greatly impressed by his adopted family's kindness and soon began worshipping Sarenrae himself.

Bob's adoptive parents were scientists working for a company that brought extinct species 'back to life' (in a similar manner to 'Jurassic Park'). They would then sell these creatures to zoos, amusement parks, wealthy collectors, etc. One day they got word of a derelict spaceship that had some old genetic material. Apparently, this ship had been a 'generation ship' (i.e., a colony ship) that had run into unknown difficulties in its journey and had been found drifting in space. Aside from several ancient species that had been on board (presumably for agricultural purposes or to be used for terraforming), there was also some human DNA found on board (in the form of several incomplete and damaged cadavers). Mitochondrial analysis revealed that the DNA was extremely old, probably from the dawn of human space travel. The ship it was found on was also subluminal (i.e., it did not appear to have any drift capability). Additionally, the DNA had some unusual gene sequences that the company's best simulations couldn't successfully analyze.

Since Bob's parents were both recessive carriers of potentially fatal genetic diseases, in an unusual move they both decided to convince their employer, and the government, to carry a baby 'made' from the one complete genome found on the ship. And thus, Bob came into the world.

As a child, Bob had little interest in the sciences and instead developed a keen interest in history, folklore and mythology. This was not only an interest in determining his own heritage, but in the psychic and magical potential of humans.

Non-Player Characters (NPCs) of Note

Ambrus Valsin, Venture-Captain (PSG pg. 68-69) - is the steward of the Pathfinder Grand Lodge located in Absalom.

Ainsley Rae, Knight Commander - is a Psychic Champion (Liberator) and the leader of the Anomalous Endeavor and faithful follower of its pantheon and prophecies.

Passenger (F pg. 45) - is the leader of the Firebrands group Fire's Finest (F pg. 26) and is the undisputed owner and operator of the group's traveling home, Scrapheap, which is a repurposed annihilator robot.

Ulthun II, Watcher-Lord of Lastwall (KL pg. 48) - is the leader of the Shining Sentinels and the Knights of Lastwall who are currently stationed in Absalom.

Zusgut, The Goblin King of Absalom (A pg. 385) - is the self-proclaimed leader of the goblins that Uthun II saved from destruction when Lastwall fell and is now a lifelong ally and friend to the Watcher-Lord.

The story opens in Absalom in the year 4720 Absalom Reckoning (AR).  The characters have been gathered by the Firebrand Passenger from all corners of Golarion and transported to Absalom in their giant annihilator robot, Scrapheap, which resembles a giant scorpion.  The characters have been informed that they have been called to service by a union of Firebrands, Knights of Lastwell, and the Pathfinder Society.  The union is being led by an individual calling himself the Knight Commander of the Anomalous Endeavor. The characters are promised compensation for their time and attendance, but only after they consider a proposal from the Knight Commander.

The characters are taken to the Pathfinder Society’s Grand Lodge (PSG pg. 64-69), provided private quarters, and treated as favored guests with all their needs catered.  Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin ensures that each character is made to feel safe, welcomed, and for want of nothing.  The characters feel as though they are royalty.

Watcher-Lord of Lastwall Ulthun II, has posted knights under his command as a security detail for each character.  They do no restrict character movement within the living areas of the Grand Lodge, but they do prevent the characters from leaving the vicinity due to their own safety and security.  The Knights of Lastwall ensure the characters that the heightened level of security will only last until they hear the Knight Commander’s proposal and choose to accept or decline it.

Prior to the formal event, Passenger, Ambrus Valsin, and Ulthun II will make themselves available to individual characters for small talk and to answer questions about their groups and membership details.

BACKGROUND

In 4698 AR, a devastating earthquake struck the Precipice Quarter of Absalom (A pg. 192-201) and leveled this district.  The district used to contain high-end restaurants, glittering dance halls, celebrated playhouses, tea gardens, noble houses, and Beldrin’s bluff, which was named after the powerful and mysterious wizard that made this district his home.  Two of Beldrin’s three spires crashed into the sea and tore away great chunks of the cliffside as they fell.  The cause of the earthquake has always been a mystery or considered an act of the Gods.

The earthquake freed some long-buried spirit of destruction that now rampages across the ruins.  Panic, dark rumors, migrant hatred, violent mobs, murderous cultists, demonic influences, and malign magics infested the now devasted district.  Death cults sprang up and the Grand Council barricaded the district and prevented people entry or exit. This changed 20 years later when Watcher-Lord of Lastwall, Ulthun II, arrived in Absalom and was permitted to set up shop in this district to eradicate the evil and undead within it.  The Grand Council’s hope is that Ulthun II’s efforts can resurrect the sector.

The Story of Zusgut, The Goblin King of Absalom

When Lastwall fell, Ulthun II helped to rescue a group of goblins under the command of Zusgut.  This kindness endeared the Goblin King to Ulthun and the Knights of Lastwall cause.  Zusgut became a recruiter for goblinkind to join Ulthun on his crusade and to become knights themselves.  Many goblins have taken up residence in the Precipice Quarter as a result and work tirelessly to help purge it of undead and other evils.  Many of the goblins under Zusgut’s command have discovered rumors of a star that crashed into the Precipice Quarter about 22 years ago.  Some of these goblins have provided proof of this rumor in the form of miniscule pieces of a precious metal known as mithral (dawnsilver).  Most recently, goblin spies have observed an increase in undead that appear to be searching for something within the ruins, with a focus on The Boneglutton Pit’s (A pg. 195-196) graveyard area.  The Duskwalker community within the Precipice Quarter have confirmed the increase in undead despite their efforts to eradicate them.  The Senior Priestess of Pharasma’s Spiral Shrine (A pg. 199) recently received a prophecy that may explain the situation and sent word to the Knight Anomalies.

Shortly after the discovery of the prophecy, the Knight Commander of the Anomalous Endeavor arrived in Absalom and had council with the Firebrands, Knights of Lastwall, and Pathfinder Society.  A union was born and with urgency Passenger was dispatched to locate the characters and bring them to Absalom.

GM BACKGROUND (As discovered by the players and now shared as common knowledge)

The falling star was actually a spaceship from the future that had failed in its mission.  It was attacked by the forces of evil as it entered a wormhole, its engines and steering controls destroyed, the pilot did their best to guide the ship to Golarion, where it crashed.  The pilot was a Knight of the Anomalous Endeavor.  The precious metals being discovered are part of the ship’s hull that was destroyed upon impact.  It was this ship crashing that set off the destructive earthquake that destroyed the sector.

ORGANIZATION BENEFITS

Prior to the formal meeting with the Knight Commander, each leader of the three factions (Firebrands, Knights of Lastwall, and the Pathfinder Society) meet with the group and gave their recruitment pitches.  Each leader desired the characters to join their faction and they clearly outlined the requirements for membership and the benefits of joining their faction.

Firebrand benefits include unique feat training (F pg. 76-77), new archtypes (F pg. 78-81), and access to new equipment and spells (F pg. 82-91).

Knights of Lastwall benefits are based on faction selection.  Characters joining the Vigilants (CG pg. 94) may receive specialized feats (KL pg. 74-75), Reclaimants (CG pg. 95) may receive specialized feats and focus spell (KL pg. 76-77), and Sentries (WG pg. 47) may receive specialized feats (KL pg. 78-79) or other specialized feats (KL pg. 80-81).  All Knights gain access to specialized training, equipment, and spells (KL pg. 82-95).

Pathfinder benefits include access to unique gear, contacts, archives, and all lodges.  Each Pathfinder is also given a Wayfinder (PCR pg. 617).  Characters that take the Pathfinder Agent Dedication (WG pg. 23) gain access to unique feats (PSG pg. 40-41).  They may also gain access to Scrollmaster archtype feats and spells (CG pg. 113; PSG pg. 44-45), Spellmaster archtype feats and spells (CG pg. 114; PSG pg. 48-49), and Swordmaster archtype feats and spells (CG pg. 115; PSG pg. 52-53).

THE FIRST MEETING (ASSIGNMENT)

After all the characters are comfortably seated in the meeting hall, the Knight Commander enters the room, strides to a central position overseeing the party, looks each character over for an uncomfortably long moment, and without any questions begins to explain why he brought the group together. The Knight Commander is stoic, has a fresh scar across his brow and over his cheek, and he wears traveling robes made of earthtones with green and red highlights.  His breast plate is a well-polished metallic green and he wears a shield upon his back emblazoned with red roses and made from the same well-polished green metal.  His eyes have sorrow in them and appear bloodshot and red.

He speaks, "Greetings, my friends.  My name is Knight Commander Ainsley Rae, I am the last survivor of an eternal order known as the Knight Anomalies.  My master, Grand Master Amara Alexandra, fulfilled her purpose and sacrificed herself so that I could make it to this prothesized gathering of the first meeting.  Thus, I hope you understand the gravity of my words and the importance of you listening to them.

My order moves through the endless cycle of time with the sole purpose of serving the pantheon of the Anomalous Endeavor.  The beloved goddesses Pharasma (fah-RAZ-mah; G&M pg. 38-39), Iomedae (Ahy-OH-meh-day; G&M pg. 28-29), Milani (Mih-LAH-nee; G&M pg. 66), and Sarenrae (SAER-en-ray; G&M pg. 42-43) have guided my path to you.  The future of the order, walkers of the eternal path, warriors of time, and keepers of prophecy.

I can see the doubt upon your faces.  But your belief is not required for truth.  My faith confirms that you are the first anomalies.  The beginning of the eternal cycle.  Each of you will fulfill your purpose because that is what the pantheon commands.  Each of your souls have been blessed for this purpose. In fact, you have always walked this path.  In some sense you know this to be true.  You have always felt unique among your peers.

Each of you will have a choice today.  To fulfill your purpose and walk together as a team to defeat a timeless evil.  Or leave the path, pretend that you can have a normal life, only to meet your end at the hands of the very evil you are meant to defeat.  Make no mistake, that evil hunts you now.  No one you love will be immune from its corruptions. You cannot protect them by yourself or by leaving the path. The evil will feed upon your despair, your grief, your terror, your ignorance, and your anger to fuel the end of all things.  Only you can preserve the balance of universal life. It is your fate. It has been prothesized.

Should you choose to walk the path, each of you will be tested.  You will also be bestowed with gifts from the divine to help guide you safely upon your new adventure.  The evil that hunts you is unaware of you to this point, but with each passing day it will pick up your scent and send minions to stop you.  It will never stop hunting you until you fulfill your purpose and destiny.

Before I proceed, do any of you have questions of me?"

Knight Commander Ainsley Rae patiently answered all the characters' questions to the best of his ability.  When there were no more questions, he continued.

"In 4698 AR, an earthquake destroyed the Precipice Quarter of Absalom.  The resulting destruction spawned all manner of evil in the district to include undead.  The district was closed off for 20 years before Watcher-Lord of Lastwall Ulthun II was allowed to settle there with his Knights of Lastwall.  They have been cleansing the district since that time.  Lord Ulthun brought with him a goblin tribe under the command of The Goblin King Zusgut that he had saved during the fall of Lastwall.  These Goblins have sworn themselves to the Knight of Lastwall’s cause and have been instrumental in patrolling the district.  Goblin patrols have been discovering new truths about the earthquake of 4698 AR.  Some rumors speak of a star that crashed into the quarter. The Goblins have brought back some proof in the form of minute pieces of mithral (Dawnsilver).  Additionally, undead patrols in the district have increased and they appear to be searching for something within the ruins. The Duskwalker community within the quarter have confirmed the Goblin Patrols’ findings, and their Senior Priestess of Pharasma’s Spiral Shrine received a prophecy that may explain the situation and sent word to my master."

The Knight Commander provided the prophecy to the group.

Prophecy of the Fallen

Shining shell, entrapped souls

Cast out and vilified

Tortured by the heavens

Shunned by the sky

Ray of light falling

Darkened sky, broken earth

Fallen and abandoned

Rumbling and collapsing

Tears in the eyes

Fear, anger, resentment, mourning

Lady of Graves awaits

Heart of Duskwalkers’ devotion

The Mithral star hides

Awaiting judgement

After the characters had a moment to reflect upon the prophecy, the Knight Commander continued, "Here is your choice.  You may accept this mission and begin walking the path of the Knight Anomalies by exploring the Precipice Quarter’s graveyard for clues.  Or you may leave, return to your home, and live your life as if what I told you was simply a fairy tale."

All characters chose to accept the mission, and each was given a unique gift.  Coralie was given a Tlil Mask (TV pg. 155), Darence was given a Grim Ring (BD pg. 19), Jane was given a Lesser Armory Bracelet (TV pg. 153), Rhavin was given a Diplomat's Badge (PGMC pg. 289), Tink was given a Corpseward Pendant (TV pg. 153), and Zevrin was given a Goggles of Night (PCR pg. 610-611).

BONEGLUTTON PIT GRAVEYARD

The characters traveled to the Precipice Quarter of Absalom and stopped at Vigil's Hope (A pg. 200-201) to gather information and potential allies.  Rhavin's friendliness to the goblin knights endeared them to her and they volunteered a patrol to help the Endeavor reach the graveyard on the outskirts of the Boneglutton Pit.  Thanks to the help of the goblin patrol, the characters were able to avoid undead encounters on their way to the graveyard.

Upon reaching the graveyard, the characters discovered the graveyard was surrounded by a six-foot high wall and had a single gate that was secured with a large lock and heavy iron chains.  The lock was easily overcome by Slick Pinky, one of the goblin patrol members with thievery skills, and the characters silently entered the graveyard. 

Inside the graveyard, the characters discovered a mausoleum with four undead skeletons inside.  After quickly dispatching the skeletons, the characters discovered that the skeletons had mindlessly tried to fulfill whatever purpose they were created for by scratching away at a wooden board showing the grave plots.  A single grave listed on the board was scratched away, to include deep scares into the stone under the board, which gave the characters a clue as to the area of the graveyard to search.

The grave was discovered under a twisted and evil-looking tree.  A broken tombstone lay on the ground with the internee's name lost to the ravages of time.  Beneath a carved human face, the only remaining inscription read, "Died 4670 of a broken heart and broken mind."

After 30 minutes of digging, the characters were able to unearth an iron coffin with a lid tightly shut with rusted iron chains and two locks.  After some work, the characters were able to break the chains and strategically open the lid.  Inside the coffin was a shrunken corpse with dried skin coated in purple blotches.  The corpse was wearing what was once fine clothing, now rotten, and in one hand it was clutching a small piece of paper.

When the characters disturbed the corpse, its bulbous eyes snapped open, and it screamed "Doom!" It then shrieked in a voice like the crack of lightning, "Doom to those who blindly follow prophecy! The Rough Beast keeps my spirit tied to this dead shell - it commands me to destroy Pharasma's puppets!"

The characters quickly ended the ghoul (B pg. 168) and retrieved its treasures due to their extensive planning prior to opening the coffin.  They recovered a gem-encrusted stickpin worth 50 gold pieces, and a map of the area.  The map detailed an area at the far western side of the Boneglutton Pit near the sea-cliff.  It contained notes on a way to scale down the cliff-side and to the shoreline below.  The map notes that the area can only be accessed during low tide.

Anomalous Endeavor

Areas of Concern fate, healing, honor, honesty, hope, justice, prophecy, time

Divine Sanctification must choose holy

Divine Font heal

Divine Ability Constitution or Wisdom

Divine Skill Medicine

Domains freedom, healing, might, zeal

Alternate Domains duty, repose, time, vigil

Cleric Spells 1st: mage armor, 3rd: ghostly weapon, 4th: fire shield

Edicts justice and honor, overcome despair to seize victory, provide aid to the sick and wounded, strive to understand ancient prophecies

Anathema abandon those in need, create undead, dishonor yourself, fail to strike down evil

Favored Weapon by chosen patron deity in pantheon (must take that deity’s edicts & anathemas as well as the Pantheon) – dagger (Pharasma), longsword (Iomedae), scimitar (Sarenrae), Morningstar (Milani)

Pharasma, goddess of time, assembled good deities that could be trusted in preserving the balance of universal life, death, fate, freedom, and time from others that wish to destroy that balance for their own ends.  She is joined by Iomedae who symbolizes justice, valor, and resilience in the face of evil; Milani who defends the innocent, fights oppression, and eradicates persecution; and Sarenrae who gives hope and healing to those who are worthy. Together, these deities find faithful followers (anomalies) willing to understand and act upon prophecy in order to preserve the multiverse.

Followers gain the special ancestry feat below at first level for devotion to the pantheon.

Knight Anomaly Favored Weapon Crafting (Feat 1)

You can craft a favored weapon that receives divine runes as outlined in Knight Anomaly Rank.  A devotee can only have one favored weapon at a time.  If a new weapon is crafted, then the old weapon must be used as part of the crafting materials thus destroying it. The crafted weapon only works for the character that crafted it.  If wielded by anyone else, it will act as a normal weapon made from the particular precious material from which it was crafted.

Knight Anomaly Rank

Favored weapon bonuses only apply to a weapon crafted by the knight and the knight must be in good standing with the pantheon.

Page – 1^st Level

• Must obtain precious material for favored weapon crafting.
  • Adamantine (uncommon)
  • Cold Iron (common)
  • Darkwood (uncommon)
  • Mithral (uncommon)
  • Orichalcum (rare)
  • Silver (common)

Squire – 3^rd Level

• Must craft favored weapon with assistance of their patron Knight. Need the monetary costs of the crafting for grade of weapon.

Knight – 5^th Level

• Pantheon blessing – Crafted weapon gets a divine rune for +1 weapon.

Knight Bachelor/Bachelorette – 7^th Level

• Pantheon blessing – Crafted weapon’s divine rune changes to a +1 striking weapon.
• Divine Sanctification Blessing rune – The weapon’s blade or ball glows with the fire of its patron deity when activated for battle.
  • Pharasma’s Dagger – blade burns with a bright white flame with blue electrical flashes upon contact.
  • Iomedae’s Longsword – blade burns with a bright red flame with white electrical flashes upon contact.
  • Sarenrae’s Scimitar – blade burns with a bright blue flame with golden electrical flashes upon contact.
  • Milani’s Morningstar – spiked ball burns with a bright green flame with red electrical flashes upon contact.

Knight Banneret – 10^th Level

• Pantheon blessing – Crafted weapon’s divine rune changes to a +2 striking weapon.
• Divine Sanctification Blessing rune (as above) plus the weapon gains +1 electrical damage upon successful hit.
• Pantheon protection rune – the Knight Anomaly gains protection during combat. This grants a +1 status bonus to Armor Class and saving throws against all creatures and unholy effects. (This ability does not stack.)

Knight Commander – 12^th Level

• Pantheon blessing – Crafted weapon’s divine rune changes to a +2 greater striking weapon.
• Divine Sanctification Blessing rune (as above)
• Pantheon protection rune – the Knight Anomaly and any companion that stays within 5 feet of the knight gain protection during combat. This grants a +1 status bonus to Armor Class and saving throws against all creatures and unholy effects. (This ability does not stack.)

Knight Champion – 15^th Level

• Pantheon blessing – Crafted weapon’s divine rune changes to a +3 greater striking weapon.
• Divine Sanctification Blessing rune (as above) plus the weapon gains +1 fire damage upon successful hit in addition to the electrical damage.
• Pantheon protection rune – the Knight Anomaly and any companion that stays within 10 feet of the knight gain protection during combat. This grants a +1 status bonus to Armor Class and saving throws against all creatures and unholy effects. (This ability does not stack.)

Master Knight – 18^th Level

• Pantheon blessing – Crafted weapon’s divine rune changes to a +3 major striking weapon.
• Divine Sanctification Blessing rune (as above)
• Pantheon protection rune – the Knight Anomaly and any companion that stays within 15 feet of the knight gain protection during combat. This grants a +1 status bonus to Armor Class and saving throws against all creatures and unholy effects. (This ability does not stack.)

Grand Master – 20^th Level

• Pantheon blessing – Crafted weapon gets a divine rune for +3 major striking weapon.
• Divine Sanctification Blessing rune (as above) plus the electrical and fire damage increase to +2 upon successful hit.
• Pantheon protection rune – the Knight Anomaly gains +3 protection during combat and any companion that stays within 20 feet of the knight gains protection +1 during combat. This grants a plus (+1/+3) status bonus to Armor Class and saving throws against all creatures and unholy effects. (This ability does not stack.)

NPCs of Note

Brawin (deceased) - an alchemist held against his will by Zareth and forced to make the coin of power in a fateful bargain to rescue his daughter. 

Goblin Knights of Lastwall Patrol

• Lieutenant Snell - A disciplined and distinguished warrior that prefers to fight with a short sword.
• Sergeant Beazlesz - Extremely loyal follower of the Lieutenant and strict disciplinarian. 
• Slick Pinky - A Swashbuckler Scout with an uncanny ability to pick locks using his pinky finger.
• Swosi - A good natured warrior who prefers to smash enemies using a spiked club.
• Staah - A warrior that prefers to communicate with her arrows first.
• Cobs - An experienced warrior that fights with an undersized longsword.
• Snib - A trustworthy bodyguard and hitman unmatched with a blade.
• Nib - A deft warrior that is mute, but kind to those in need.

Zaresh - A devious, powerful, and mysterious cult priestess of Rovagug that merges with the coin of power.

As the characters approached the sea-cliff, the wind along the coast was getting stronger and blew in from the sea.  Dark clouds could be seen on the horizon and were moving in from the sea.  It was a few hours before dawn and flashes of lightning and low grumbles echoed from the clouds.  Looking over the cliff, the characters could see a roughly 25-foot-deep depression with an approximately three-foot-tall irregular boulder that was covered in sea-life and barnacles resting in the center of the depression.  On the cliff side of the crater were two dark cave openings.  Between the caves was a small, crudely built, hut with smoke coming out of a crooked stone chimney.  Candlelight could be seen between its shuttered windows.

During the journey, Rhavin observed the goblin patrol chewing on something and then applying it to the exposed metal buckles on their equipment. They were using a Sinew Bar which granted a +1 bonus to stealth for 1 hour. Each bar had 8 bites and tasted like bacon. The applied sinew would dry out over the hour and fall away, once again leaving the buckles to rattle if not reapplied.

The wind masked the characters descent down the cliff-side and carried in the noises from below.  Voices were clear in the breeze and were coming from the vicinity of the cave openings.  The characters perceived two humanoid shapes moving about slowly.  They were wearing brown and red robes, and they carried shielded lanterns with forward facing cones.  The humanoids appeared to be guarding the area and when they heard a noise, they would open the lantern shutter and focus the light on an area to observe it better.

The characters observed two humanoids on guard duty, and two that were disrobed and swimming out to the rock during low tide who appeared to be mining something from it.  After careful planning, the characters and their goblin allies successfully ambushed the four humanoids and dispatched them without a sound.  The characters learned that the cultists were actively mining mithral from the fallen stone.

ALCHEMIST'S HUT

The characters' exploration of the hut discovered that it was occupied by Alchemist Brawin, who was being held hostage and forced to make a coin of power. The hut was a fully stocked lab and forge, and it appeared that Brawin had been at his work for some time.  Brawin informed the characters that Zaresh had his daughter held prisoner within the caves and told him that she would kill her if he did not complete the unholy coin, which is a minor artifact, and a terrible evil, which the cultists intend to use to unlock the power of Rovagug.

As Brawin moved toward the coin in the forge, the wind picked up, slammed into the hut, and the door flew open.  All the candles in the hut blew out.  Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the light of the forge and a strike of lightning, stood a slim, tan skinned woman, with long, dark hair.  She was wearing brown and red robes that were trimmed with silver on its wide cuffs and a silver sash.  The sash hung loose, ended near her feet, and was wrapped around her waist and held by a round, golden clasp.  She wore a golden amulet with the symbol of Rovagug emblazoned upon it.  

Zaresh asked imperiously, "Who are you? What is this disturbance?"  Tink responded with a wise crack, which was met with Zaresh pointing her palm at the forge. The coin snapped from the forge into her open palm and immediately began to burn itself into her tightened grip.

"It's MINE! MI-AAAAIEEEEEE!" Zaresh screamed as her palm hissed violently and a puff of steam and smoke billowed from it.  She stumbled against the doorjamb and the weather outside unleashed a hellish storm.

Brawin yelled, "No! Its not finished yet! The last formula!"

Zaresh glared in pain, "The pain..." as she cradled her right hand, "...what have I done? A glorious disfiguration!" she shrieked. "Fools, such fools!" she screamed with a cruel smirk as a growl grew within her.  She pointed her closed fist at Tink and said with a growl, "You will DIE for this..."

Brawin screamed "NO!" and threw himself in front of Tink just as Zaresh unleashed a black bolt of energy from the coin.  The alchemist got hit in the shoulder, which ripped his arm from its socket, and then exploded into hundreds of pieces of flesh as black tendrils of crackling power danced across his body.  Brawin hit the floor with a sickening splat with blood pouring from every orifice. 

Confused, Zaresh mumbled some arcane words and vanished just as quickly as she had appeared.

Brawin warned the characters not to touch him unless they too wanted to die.  Before he perished, he asked them to rescue his daughter, and he tells them of another alchemist, Lahaan, with the power to create another coin which will be necessary to stop the first coin.  He states that Lahaan had excavated the Ghost Box from the falling star, and a new coin will require material from that artifact.

After this encounter, the characters finished clearing the caves and eradicated the Rovagug cultists residing within. Unfortunately, they discovered that Zaresh had killed the daughter long ago.  It appeared that she had been dispatched quickly and her organs were used to make an unholy machine the characters labeled a "meat radio."  The device appeared to be powered by divine magic and used as a communication portal with something on the other end.  Whatever vile creature spoke to them used the voice of the daughter and could see and hear what was going on in the room through the daughter's eye and ear affixed to the machine.  Jane destroyed all remnants of the evil device.

AFTERMATH

When the characters returned to the Knight Commander to report their discoveries, he informed them that they must travel to Dawnfoot (A pg. 263-264) on the outskirts of Absalom and speak with the wizard Beolain, a renowned sage to discover more information about where to find Lahaan.

NPCs of Note

Beolain - A powerful wizard in Dawnfoot that specializes as a sage of some renown. 

Crystal - A flirtatious bartender with an eye for Rhavin.  She set a date with Rhavin only to be ghosted by her.  Crystal did seem very interested in seeing Beolain's tower with Rhavin.  Were her intentions pure or did she have ulterior motives? 

Joa - Beolain's young apprentice.  He is a polite and dedicated servant. 

The characters arrived in Dawnfoot and discovered that it was as impressive as Absalom.  The place was huge, with people everywhere.  The noises were amazing.  The characters heard the sound of metal-on-metal ringing out in the distance, a vender shouting "sausages" and the constant chatter of citizens going about their business.  Men and women wore a wide variety of clothing from robes, togas, furs, cloth, and leather.  The diversity was remarkable.

Moving through the city, the characters found handbills on the walls, advertisements for hiring mercenaries, selling wares, and even a few official papers with recent edicts and various laws.  The characters immediately set about trying to discover Beolain's tower.

After some time, the characters entered a small bar and Rhavin did some mutual flirting with the bartender, a female human going by the name Crystal.  The two hit it off and Rhavin proposed a date later that evening.  She hinted that Crystal may be allowed to come with them to Beolain's tower if she let them know its location.  Excited for the date, she freely shared what she knew.  She would later be disappointed that Rhavin stood her up and the characters journeyed to the tower without her.

Beolain's tower was behind walls that were 15-feet-tall.  A closed iron gate appeared to be the only entry through the walls.  A 60-foot-tall tower sat in the main yard.  Next to the gate was a large bell that was set into the stone wall.  A thick rope dangled from the bell.  When the characters rang the bell, a young man wearing dark tight robes, and a leather apron approached the gate.

The man asked their business then went back into the tower to inform his master.  A few minutes later he came back out, introduced himself as Joa, Beolain's apprentice, and escorted the characters into a lavish waiting room where Beolain's servants, lovely young women, fed them lunch.

Beolain entered the room a while later.  He was an elderly man with thinning white hair and wearing a gray robe and simple leather belt. He listened intently to the characters and was interested to learn they were looking for the alchemist Lahaan.  He agreed to help scry the location of Lahaan in return for a favor.  The characters agreed and were asked to return at dusk.

Beolain's favor was asking the characters to retrieve some stolen magical books.  In return, he gave them a sack to retrieve the books in and a blank scroll.  He let them know the location of Lahaan was already written on the scroll, but it would not be visible until they returned the stolen books to him. Beolain cautioned that the books were likely stolen by a group known as the Band of the Palm, but who are actually members of the criminal organization Bloody Barbers (A pg. 109).  He directed them to begin their search at a rundown inn called the Blind Beggar.

After some investigation and slick negotiation, the characters were able to steal the books back from the rogues by pretending to be black-market buyers.  Well played diplomacy prevented bloodshed, but the characters were followed and had to lose their pursuers.  Upon returning the books to Beolain, the scroll revealed that Lahaan was located within Immenwood (WG pg. 19-20).

NPCs of Note

Tavarious - Which means misfortune, is an imp contained within a wizard's circle, captured for decades, but for what purpose?

Following the scroll, the characters traveled to the Immenwood on foot.  They followed a woodland trail that was narrow and appeared to be carved by indigenous inhabitants.  As the characters reached the spot on Beolain's map marked with an "X", they saw little but forest.  As they continued to search the area, they soon spotted the remains of a large stone castle.  The castle was covered in vines, forest growth, and debris.  Without knowing the location of the castle, it would have been completely hidden and near impossible to locate.

The characters had to hack through thick foliage, while swatting giant mosquitoes that swarmed about their heads, to reach the castle walls.  Some of the castle battlements were broken and some of the walls had holes in them.  The castle's portcullis and gates were sundered and rested on the ground inside the wall's outer bailey.

As the character's entered the castle's main keep through a set of wooden doors, a pair of mated apes (MC pg. 23) heard the commotion and left the inner bailey to investigate.  The male did not recognize the intruders and immediately became hostile.  He threw boulders at the party, and one struck Rhavin, almost killing her.  Rhavin was saved due to the teamwork of Coralie dragging Rhavin towards cover, while Zevrin cast some illusions to deter the apes and cause them to believe the doors were still secure on the main keep. Darence was able to heal Rhavin's wounds.

A search of the great hall located a bedroll with a journal labeled "Lahaan" on the cover.  Most of the entries dealt with the expedition that set forth overland from Absalom over a year ago.  The journal noted the loss of bearers and mercenaries quite often.  The entries near the end were the most interesting.  They read:

26 Lamashan, 4719 AR

Stumbling upon the castle before dark was a stroke of great luck. It can be used for shelter and a base camp. There are only four armed men, six scientists (including myself) and a dozen or so native bearers left.

28 Lamashan, 4719 AR

Native drums are beating and beating. I fear there may be cannibals and that we have intruded upon their lands. It would be best to depart this place, but the shelter it offers is excellent and it is a good place to set up a signal to any passing parties.

29 Lamashan, 4719 AR

I have taken the liberty of placing a magical device and scroll in the highest tower with the aid of our priest, allowing any who follow to find me. Tomorrow I will take the bearers, men, and two mercenaries into the interior to search for the city where the ice lays. I will leave this journal to aid any who might follow.

Use the magic to find me. The drums are louder. This place, once a godsend, might well become a prison.

There were no more entries.  As the characters read the journal, they noticed a solid balcony with ornate stone railing circled the great hall below.  A few doors lead off towards the east.  On one of the doors, the skeletal remains of a servant, still held together with leather-like ligaments and muscles, was speared to it standing upright.  As the characters approached, the skeleton became animated, attempted to unpin itself, and drew its boney finger across its own throat as its vacant eyes watched the characters.  The skeleton's chin started to chatter, resembling a boney laughter. Darence quickly dispatched the undead.

After locating the journal and destroying the skeleton, the characters decided to split the party to search the eight levels of the castle.  Jane tried to warn the group that splitting up the party was a bad idea, but she was outvoted.  She later shared an old bard's song that reinforced her perspective after the party reunited.

During the search, Jane had to save Tink from a swarm of Bloodseekers "Stirges" (B pg. 42).  The party avoided giant spiders, centipedes, diseased rats, and giant owls.  It became clear the abandoned castle was highly dangerous, and the party reunited to ensure their mutual success.  Darence did discover a ring of energy (fire) resistance and Jane a sturdy shield made to appear like a red dragon's scale during their adventures.

The important rooms that the group discovered included a treasure room, library, study, and temple.

The treasure room contained a dais on which stood an ornately decorated throne of brilliant gold.  Next to it was a heavy chest with a small, dark-colored cat sitting atop it.  There was also a vial on the throne and another chest pushed into a corner.  The cat jumped onto the throne and knocked the vial on the ground, then it pranced over to Jane, purring, and rubbing against her legs.  

It appeared to Jane that the cat was trying to communicate, so she followed its body language and drank the vial.  This allowed her to communicate with the cat telepathically.  The cat warned her that it was a guardian familiar charged with protecting the golden throne and chest.  The cat said it did not want to harm the party, and cautioned they were no match for it right now.  It stated that they could freely take whatever was in the other chest since it belonged to a different group of adventurers that the cat had to dispatch when they attempted to steal its treasures.  Inside the second chest was 2,730 silver pieces.  The characters noted the treasure room, but left it in peace, only taking the second chest.

The library was a mess and had books scattered everywhere.  A large blood-stained table was in the room.  A skeleton rested upon the table, rotting away.  As the characters searched the room, they witnessed a haunt within the room.  They witnessed a man appear seated at the table, reading a book. He had dark hair and wore out-of-date clothing. As they watched, he looked fearfully towards the door, was then lifted by unseen hands and placed on the table. Though he struggled, cuts began to appear on his arms, face, and chest. Suddenly, his chest burst open, and he let out a final, fearful scream before lying still. The body faded away, leaving only the skeleton on the table.  The haunt continued to repeat itself at random intervals.

The study contained a large circle made of precious metals set into the floor.  Silver and gold were interwoven with iron and steel in a double circle with runes between the two rings.  Two braziers stood close by the edge of the circle, while a third was toppled on the floor across the room.  Within the circle stood a raven, peering at the party. 

The party discovered that the raven was actually an imp (Tavarious) who had been captured by the castle's wizard at least a decade before.  The imp appeared to have been spying for Abrogail Thrune II, Queen of Cheliax (L pg. 8-9), when he was captured.  He may also have been responsible for the murdered man now haunting the library.  The imp begged to be let free and attempted to trick the party in letting him loose from the wizard's circle.  The imp kept saying he was sent by his master to observe a miracle and that he was not to report back until he witnessed it.  He did not know what the miracle was supposed to be.  He said his mistress said that he would know it when he witnessed it.  The imp continued to scream and beg as the characters left it trapped.

The temple contained tapestries that depicted a woman clad in silver armor and wearing a red, flowing cape and loin skirt, while holding a silver shield on her left arm, and with her right hand raised to the heavens. Golden light bathed her from above.  She was shown with knights bowing down before her feet. All of the tapestries were sagging and rotten, most of them with large rips and tears.  Darence immediately recognized this as a temple to Iomedae and received her blessings. 

Several skeletons lay on the floor, all with loincloths and clutching various weapons. In the center of this massacre was a bone scroll tube and a charred box with numerous knobs, buttons, and other instruments decorating its top.  The characters would later learn that the scroll tube contained a divine spell with Lahaan's location, and the box was the ghost box taken from the crater.

The ghost box was imbued with the souls from the dead spaceship, their souls being tortured by Rovagug, and their poltergeists raised the skeletons within the room.  Each skeleton attacked one of the characters.  As each skeleton was struck down, its associated poltergeist stationed itself above the ghost box, except for Zevrin's which instead entered his body and caused him to have a blue, glowing aura, and a vision. The rest silently observed the other characters. The poltergeists resembled a beautiful human woman, a weird creature made of coral, a tall humanoid looking woman, a lizard-like creature with legs built for jumping, and a mothlike fey. Zevrin became unresponsive until after the characters turned on the ghost box. 

Turning on the ghost box resulted in a voice echoing faintly from the box:  If you can hear me…[static – sounds of metal screeching and explosions]…drift wormhole was a trap. Do not enter the…[static-explosion]…without prep…[static-crash of glass-rushing wind]…is seriously damaged. I cannot regain full flight control.  We found…[static-rushing wind, sounds of debris striking metal]…I will attempt to land, but without…[static-rushing wind, sounds of fire]… that may be impossible.  May the Endeavor bless us.  I will do all I can to miss the…[static-explosions]…I have a bad feeling about this…[static-guttural and exhausted screaming as if someone is putting all their effort behind something]…oh no, I fear I have failed, I pray all the unfortunate souls find cover…[static-then silence]

Rhavin felt a strong connection to the voice, but did not know why.  As this is happening, Zevrin received his vision then dropped to his knees.

Zevrin witnessed a memory where he was gravely injured (blood was in his eyes making his vision blurry and he could see his arms and lower body were seriously burnt, his clothing was fused to his charred skin), someone he knew was rushing him to a cylindrical chamber and helped him inside. Sounds of explosions and metal shrieking, echoed loudly all around him.  The two of them stumbled and fell often on their way to the chamber.  Zevrin protested the entire way, telling his companion that he could stay and fight.  Zevrin’s companion told him, gently, in a gravel-like voice, that his fight was done this day.  As the chamber sealed, Zevrin’s blurry companion told him to sleep well.  A broken and mechanical voice echoed from a device on his companion’s head, it was the same voice coming from the ghost box.  It screamed: “Hurry! Get to the rear, jettison the colony pod, and hit drift! We have less than a minute to prevent the bulk of this scrapheap from smashing into that city!”  As Zevrin’s companion left, Zevrin heard the sound of air rushing into the chamber and his eyelids got heavy. As he looked up, he saw a chamber across from him.  It held what appeared to be a sleeping blue haired humanoid. The plaque above the chamber read “Passenger #322”.  Zevrin then felt his stomach fall and he recognized this as the colony pod separating from the ship and a drift entry and exit.

There was a loud screeching sound and as Zevrin looked up he saw that the other side of the ship had ripped and fallen away.  All that was left of the chamber that was in front of him was half a plaque reading “#322.”  Outside it was cloudy and storming.  Zevrin’s stomach dropped again.  There was a flash outside and now the sky was clear, and it appeared there may be tall, sleek, buildings on the horizon.  Zevrin slowly glanced toward where his companion ran and he saw him at the end of the corridor, doing his best to pull a lever, while trying to hang on from the rushing winds.  As the lever was pulled, the rear part of the ship detached further.  Zevrin’s companion flew violently outside the ship, spinning like a thrown starknife.  Just then, Zevrin’s stomach churned again.  Another flash.  The outside turned into a red sun, hazy skies, and as the rubble of his side of the ship twisted in its plummet towards the ground, Zevrin believed he recognized the terrain as Numeria. Zevrin’s eyes got too heavy to remain open.

This was the last he saw before his memory faded.  He was confused by the vision but knew the answers may come from Numeria.

In front of Rhavin appeared two ghostly vases, one with the symbol of forgiveness and one with the symbol for punishment etched upon them.  A ghostly rose appeared in each of the character’s left hands.  Each felt compelled to make a choice, a judgement, and to place their rose into one of the vases.  The majority of characters selected forgiveness and Rhavin was blessed with a divine tattoo. It was not lost on the party that Iomedae is the goddess of justice, and it felt as though this ceremony was meant to fulfill that purpose.

Deja vu Tattoo - When faced with a moment of prophecy, the character will get a boding feeling and may be compelled to say, “I have a bad feeling about this.”  If these words are spoken, the character will gain limited foreknowledge about the pending consequences of their intended choice.

NPCs of Note

Krunk - Chieftan of the Belsona centaur tribe.

Lahaan - Alchemist with the knowledge of how to create a second coin of power.

The characters decided to rest at the ruined castle for a night before continuing their search for Lahaan. In the morning, Darence read the divine scroll, and it produced a marble sized glowing orb that led the party through the Immenwood forest to the centaur village of Belsona.

Belsona is a lost city with a once great and powerful culture that is now occupied by a centaur tribe of about 100 members. The leader of the tribe was Krunk.  Krunk had been actively working to rebuild the ancient city for his own tribe to occupy.  His people had discovered a riddle, which his Shamen of Atreia-The Lambent King (RE pg. 116) had informed him would help to rejuvenate the ancient city and make their society powerful enough to defend themselves from Rovagug cultists.  A patrol of centaur warriors had freed Lahaan from a band of Rovagug cultists about six months prior, and discovered he was a scholar.  Krunk had kept him captive because he believes he can solve the riddle.

On their journey, the characters were discovered by centaur warriors and escorted to Belsona and brought before Krunk.  Krunk listened to their plight and negotiated with the party in good faith.  Krunk agreed to free Lahaan if the characters could help him to solve the riddle.  The characters also negotiated with Krunk to have his people move the valuable treasures and other items from the ruined castle for them using specialized centaur drawn carts made for the narrow and uneven trails running through Immenwood.  Krunk agreed to move these treasures from Immenwood to Absalom for 50% of the proceeds when the treasures were sold.  Krunk sees the party's arrival as divine intervention to help solve the riddle and to provide much needed funds to restore his city. The party agreed.

The party was taken to a guardian temple that was made of solid stone and was shaped like a flat-topped pyramid.  The exterior of the structure was overgrown with foliage, but at the top was a stone building with an opening that led into the interior of the pyramid. The characters followed the path down until it ended in a room where they discovered a 9-foot-tall bipedal stone creature.  It took a moment for them to realize this was a statue with odd runes, shaped like dancing centaurs in different positions carved on the statue's chest.  A circle was etched on the floor with arcane runes evident around the edges.

In one corner of the room was a small tent and provisions.  Within the tent the party discover Lahaan.  They informed Lahaan of their purpose and he was disheartened to learn of the death of his friend.  Lahaan agreed to assist the characters if they could free him from the centaur tribe.  Lahaan shared that the riddle was the key to the magical word to active the statue, which was actually a stone golem (B pg. 184).

Lahaan shared the Riddle of the Stone Golem with the party.

It’s sought by all

but found by few;

Sum of the law

combined with truth;

Often twisted and

often missed;

Fair when kept

with disinterest.

With some discussion and research, the characters were able to discover that the answer to the riddle was the ancient Belsonian word "Delakka" which meant "Justice".  It appeared the pantheon of the Anomalous Endeavor was sending a not-so-subtle message about the purpose of the First Meeting.

When the golem was given to Krunk, he was joyful and quickly fulfilled his side of the bargain.  Lahaan was freed, and over the next few weeks Krunk's people assisted in moving the treasures to Absalom to be sold.  Each character's share of the proceeds was 1,344 gold pieces.  The characters were now considered to be wealthy within the city.  By completing their mission, they had also fulfilled the requirements to join one of the factions assisting the Knight Commander.  Coralie decided to join the Pathfinder Society. Rhavin and Zevrin joined the Firebrands.  Darence joined the Knights of Lastwall as a Sentry.  Jane and Tink decided to remain independent, for now.

The threads of time would ensure that the souls of the characters would visit Belsona again, sooner than they thought, from a certain point of view. 

NPCs of Note

Ainsley 317 - an Android Precog, Priest of the Anomalous Endeavor, and Knight Commander in the future.  He was constructed to be a facsimile of Ainsley Rae, by an unnamed Master Knight, using incomplete historical records.

Aurora Burk - the undead mother of Sarah Burk and wife of Fin Burk.

Corporal Rivera - a highly professional Steward (SCR pg. 480) working as a minder for very important visitors from the planet Eox.

Fin Burk - an undead executive (corpsefolk; AA2 pg. 30-31) working for Descale Resources, a corporation from the undead planet Eox in the Pact Worlds (PW pg. 88-97).

Mark Calver - President of TriMark corporation.  He is stationed at Site 58 on planet Verces in the Pact Worlds (PW pg. 58-67).

Richard Jurgens - Corporate Officer working for TriMark corporation.

Sarah Burk - the undead daughter of Aurora Burk and Fin Burk.

This adventure is the players first foray into the future, 317 AG.  Their characters have all won tickets to Golarion World (planet Zinn 2 in Near Space), which is the galaxy's most famous resort world, owned and operated by New Horizons Luxury Retreats (PC pg. 64-73).  The characters are individually transported to Little Kortos, which is a space station in orbit around Golarion World where all visitors are greeted and then await transport to their final destinations on Golarion World. 

The characters all arrive and are placed in a waiting area to get to know each other.  The first character to arrive is Starlet.  A gift package was awaiting her upon her arrival.  One of the Little Kortos attendants gave her the package with a note from her benefactor informing her to interview the arrival of the other winners and stream it all.  Inside the package was galactic network enabled multimedia droid with all of Starlet's feeds and an Anomalous Endeavor feed preprogrammed.

Starlet was excited to build upon her audience, and she did a good job interviewing Val, Sybil, Pelayo, Bob, and Lumen as they arrived.  The characters took this time to get to know each other.  About 30 minutes after they all arrived, they were given a special limo-shuttle that took them to a more luxurious landing pad at the Belsona amusement park and hotel.  Each character was provided with a credit chip and a Golarion World rented universal translator from their benefactor.  The characters took some time to shop for souvenirs and then visited the Belsona cafe to await their benefactor.

The characters waited for several hours after their benefactor missed his scheduled arrival time.  To pass the time, they ordered a meal at the cafe.  During the meal, a Steward, Corporal Rivera, approached Starlet and spoke with her.  She informed Starlet that the little girl she was minding, Sarah Burk, was one of her biggest fans and she wanted to know if Starlet would speak with her. Starlet agreed.

It turned out that Sarah was a recently undead corpsefolk who was "unborn", also known as murdered, along with her mother, Aurora Burk, and father, Fin Burk, after her father had failed to read the small print on his new corporate contract.  Apparently, his new employer, Descale Resorces, on Eox required that all its personnel stationed on the planet be undead. The family was visiting Golarion World to ascertain if undead friendly theme parks could be fully developed on planet and bring in new visitors from Eox.  Sarah explained this to Starlet, who did a good job keeping her distaste for the undead hidden, while the little girl explained it all, as best as she understood, while eating a box of lab grown fingers with bile dipping sauce.  Sarah explained that the fingers were not as good as the farm grown ones on Eox.

Starlet had empathy for Sarah since she had no choice in her undeath, and just a few weeks ago she was a living fan.  Sarah knew all of Starlet's songs. Starlet gave her an electronic autograph on her personal computer, and they exchanged contact information.  Sarah's father and mother thanked Starlet for being so compassionate.  Shortly after this encounter, Ainsley 317 showed up.  He was chewing gum, was inconsiderate and rude, and was covered in dirt and mud.  He put his feet up on a table, introduced himself to the party, and told them to follow him to their hotel.

The characters boarded a bullet train from Belsona to the Immenwood Fallen Castle resort.  After exiting the train, the characters were met with the exhibit's multimedia hologram that played for all newly arriving tourists (think Gilligan's Island theme song).  The theme park was based upon an incomplete knowledge of Golarion's historical events.

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,

A tale of a fateful trip

That started from Absalom

With Pharasma’s fan aplomb.

Tonk was a mighty champion, (A picture of a blond muscle man, glint of light on his teeth, shining abs as he tears off his shirt, riding a beautiful Pegasus mount who also has shining abs)

Farmer Jim brave and sure. (A fit farmer holding a mighty axe walking away from his farm, a picture of his little brother and grandparents waving goodbye in the background)

Four other Anomalies set out one day

For an ad-ven-ture, an ad-ven-ture.

Their Endeavor got really rough,

One of them got tossed, (a picture of one of the adventurers, an androgynous bard character, getting thrown by a giant ape)

If not for the courage of the Anomalies

Their party would be lost, their party would be lost.

The party found the Immenwood ruins

With Tonk

The Farmer too,

The Firebrands Psychic and Bard,

The Auto-ma-ton

The Earnest one (a dwarven war cleric holding an axe and dragon shield)

Here at Immenwood ruins.

Ainsley led the group to the main keep, past several rides, such as the Ape toss, and to a private viewing room set up with "Congratulations Winners!" banners and treats (cake, soda, ice cream).  Ainsley explained to the party that his ship was damaged after getting into "aggressive negotiations" on his way to the planet.  He had to set down in the woods near the castle exhibit.  The bad news continued, he let the party know that they were all brought to Golarion World on false pretenses.  They were not actually random winners of a contest, but the prophesized Second Meeting of the Anomalous Endeavor. Ainsley then went on a rant about how his Master has been wrong about so much, he apologized to the group, said he was ready to leave the stupid cult anyway, if this did not work then he was done, and he was sure this meeting would be just another goose chase, and he would be let down again.  To say he was a defeated person would be an understatement.  He was definitely a man struggling with his faith.

Ainsley continued, their credit chips had limited funds, they were broke, they had no hotel accommodations, and they all would be staying on his crashed ship, an Odyssey transport called Two Brothers that was a well-armed Explorer Class vessel owned by the Knights Anomaly. He said that he had a plan to make some money so they could all get off this planet and back to their homes, but first he had to carry out his Master's latest scheme.  He presented the prophecy he had been given.

He flies from perch to sky

A wing clipped in a daring fancy

Down swoops the bird earthbound

Feathers shine and conceal the wound

He rests upon the perch

Younglings take flight as he once did to sustain him

Tired, with wound healing he sits

The younglings daily flutter makes him whole

Hidden eggs of time are not of the bird

It does not need any egg to fly

Time buries the eggs -nested- for a reason

The bird flies sans eggs after defending their hatching

He then pulled out a bag of ancient trinkets and threw them into the middle of the table and observed with anticipation.  Each of the characters immediately recognized the trinkets as magic spread out from them, and although the characters did not understand how this was all happening, they each reached for and reclaimed their own, past, magical items. As they were reunited with their items, their memories from the First Meeting returned to them.   Val (Rhavin) claimed an old brass badge with all the features and edges worn away due to time.  Sybil (Jane) recovered a small brass charm of a sword with a single link to a segment of what appeared to have once been a bracelet.  Pelayo (Coralie) found a bleached piece of preserved wood with dimly colored beads that appeared to have once been a part of a much larger item, likely a mask.  Bob (Zevrin) retrieved a single crystal lens that was cracked and opaque.  Starlet (Darence) picked up a well-worn ring that appeared to be made from gold and which may have looked like a skull at some point.  Lastly, Lumen (Tink) grabbed an old worn item that appeared to be a pendant, maybe it was a skull at some point.

Ainsley was shocked by the magical spectacle and appeared to rediscover some of his faith.  He led the group on a nearly two-hour walk through Immenwood to reach his crashed ship.  The characters picked out their quarters and Sybil assigned each member a task to help repair the ship well enough to get it to a functional port where further, needed, repairs could be made.  During this time, Ainsley set up a call with his contacts, Mark Calver and Richard Jurgens, so they could discuss a business deal.

And so began the Second Meeting of the Anomalous Endeavor.

During their down time on the ship, Pelayo and Bob learned that some changes had taken place over the eons with the Anomalous Endeavor Pantheon from what they remembered from the First Meeting.

Anomalous Endeavor – Starfinder Pantheon

Portfolio fate, healing, contracts, revenge, protection, defense, strength, prophecy, time

Edicts negotiate contracts to your best advantage, take revenge, attain victory in fair combat, provide aid to the sick and wounded, strive to understand ancient prophecies, keep your word

Anathema break a contract, become too consumed by a need for revenge, kill prisoners or surrendering foes, create undead, deny a repentant creature an opportunity for redemption, show continued mercy to the enemies of your people when such enemies prove they are undeserving

Pharasma, goddess of time, conspired to build an alliance of gods that she hopes can prevent the destruction of all universal life, and the concepts of death, fate, freedom, and time from The Devourer.  She is joined by Calistra who symbolizes lust, revenge, and trickery; Torug the symbol of protection and defense; Sarenrae who gives hope and healing to those who are worthy; Gorum the bringer of battle, strength, and weaponry; and Asmodeus the prince of contracts, pride, slavery, and tyranny. Together, these deities compel faithful followers (anomalies) willing to understand and act upon prophecy in order to preserve the multiverse from extinction.

Followers gain the special ancestry feat below at first level for devotion to the pantheon.

Knight Anomaly Plasma Sword Crafting (Feat 1)

You can craft a plasma sword that can receive divine runes as gifted by the Pantheon. A devotee can only have one plasma sword at a time.  If a new weapon is crafted, then the old weapon must be used as part of the crafting materials thus destroying it. The crafted weapon only works for the character that crafted it.  If wielded by anyone else, it will not work.  Devotees can craft the following plasma swords when they reach the designated level: Tactical (1^st), Red Star (4^th), Yellow Star (7^th), White Star (10^th), and Blue Star (14^th).

NPCs of Note

Alemir Akalzed - Lashunta pirate captain, entrepreneur, and member of the Free Captains (SCR pg. 476) vessel Rogue's March.

Lieutenant Winter - the incompetent leader of the Stewards' (SCR pg. 480) Planetary Observation Unit stationed at Golarion World.

Midshipman Karen Morrow - a highly professional and competent Steward that works overtime to prevent Lieutenant Winter's incompetence from making the Steward's look like galactic jokes.

The characters complete their temporary repairs of their ship and depart for Absalom theme park on Golarion World.  They find a port with the facilities to complete the needed repairs of their ship.  They are called to a holographic meeting in the Two Brother's conference room that was organized by Ainsley 317 with the leaders of TriMark, President Mark Calver and Executive Richard Jurgens.  Ainsley explains that he has had dealings with Richard in the past, but he does not know him well.  Ainsley believes that Richard is their best bet at finding work that will pay enough to repair their ship and give them credits to fund their Endeavor. 

Mark and Richard are both dynamic and forceful in their presentation.  It is clear that these two want to make TriMark a power player in the theme world industry.  Mark tells the characters that Golarion Word is an important piece of their plan.  They state that New Horizons Luxury Retreats is bidding out numerous contracts to local companies that have support from off world firms.  Mark explains the history of Zinn 2 and how it came to be a property of New Horizons Luxury Retreats.

After recapping these facts, the two executives outline their current situation.  The Stewards have been contracted by New Horizons Luxury Retreats to help curtail criminal activity in the system.  This has led to more stability in the system and increased park revenue.  Golarion World is now looking to expand several of its planetwide theme parks, and they will need contractors to provide replacement parts, theme park supply operations, and labor.  Luckily, Mark says he has friends among leading production, installation, and maintenance firms, and his company, TriMark Industries, stands to gain a very profitable part of the Golarion World import contracts.  He says that agreements have already been signed, and delivery of the first loads of product will commence in another month.  This business will give TriMark a major boost over its competitors.

The executives state that several other concerns have obtained similar deals, but only the Grupharg Corporation is large and powerful enough to be a true competitor.  New Horizons Luxury Retreats have chosen to deal with smaller operations like TriMark to get better prices, and to have less chance of domination by some major industrial concern or galactic competitor.

With the Golarion World deal about to go through, Mark states that he needs Richard to be transported from Verces, along with the first imports, back to Golarion World.  Richard will be the General Manager of his operations on world.  Because TriMark does not own its own trading fleet, carriers will be needed to transport goods to and from Golarion World to Verces.  Verces is about 9 days from Golarion World via the Drift, and it is on the main trade route, hence it is an ideal base of operations.  Thus, TriMark has opened a manufacturing plant at Site 58 on Verces to take advantage of the Golarion World deal.

Mark negotiates with the characters for a 6-month charter. Since credits are tight, he offers to pay the expenses to repair their ship, pay their port fees, and provision their ship.  He also offers the characters 1500 shares of TriMark stock to be paid at the end of their charter.  The stock is currently worth 65 credits per share (97,500 credits).  Mark and Richard hope the share price will increase, and that the characters actions as a contacted carrier could play a role in the success of their company.

The flight to Verces was uneventful.  As their ship approaches Verces, Ainsley obtains clearance from starport control to land at Site 58.  The characters are told to enjoy the port since it will take about two days before the imports will arrive and Richard will be ready to leave.  Site 58 is not particularly extensive, since it is mostly an industrial plantation located within the cold expanse of Verces' Darkside.  The population of the site is about 250,000 people.  There are only a handful of vessels in port.  One is a Vesk trading vessel named Gayikugh that is owned by Grupharg, and which appears to be doing business with Descale Resources at Site 58.  Another is a Lashunta owned ship named Rogue's March.  There are no Stewards vessels at Site 58.  The ships all appear to be involved in picking up imports for Golarion World from their perspective corporate contacts.

The characters discover that the Vesks are actively hostile and verbally aggressive towards them.  The other ship crews appear to pay them little attention.  Val takes advantage of the nightlife at Site 58, while the other characters do research, where she meets Captain Alemir Akalzed, toured his ship, and discovered his penchant for android slave girls.

Val hears rumors about 15 TriMark employees recently killed after being hijacked on Golarion World.  The captains in port expressed their opinions that "the old days of illegal smuggling looked good by comparison" to the Stewards control of system security.  Captain Akalzed made his views clear to Val, "There is no difference between Golarion World now and Zinn-2 before New Horizons Luxury Retreats started to build their fancy theme parks - except that what was merely reprehensible before is now technically classified illegal, instead. You can perhaps picture my shock and dismay at finding that I was a criminal, when all along I thought I was merely a self-seeking adventurer."   The local captains laugh about the Stewards presence derisively.  Val learns that Lieutenant Winter is an incompetent buffoon with only 12 Midshipmen assigned to the entire system.  The only Steward of any worth is Karen Morrow.

When the ship is loaded, and Richard is safely on board, Two Brothers launches on its return journey to Golarion World.

Background Information

Sybil shares that she used to work at Site 42 on Verces which was operated by Descale Resources.  She did not know the exact nature of the work, but she was a junior engineer working on weapon technology.  Her perceptions of the corporation are it is untrustworthy, unscrupulous, and likely corrupt.  She recalls the codeword "eggs" being used among the senior engineers.  Ultimately, Site 42 was closed down after a devastating explosion that destroyed the entire site, costing hundreds of sentients their lives, wounded thousands, and cost Sybil her arm.  She was lucky to survive.  Frankly, she is surprised that Descale Resources is still in operation.

On the return trip to Golarion World, three things of note occurred.

First, the characters noticed that Richard kept to himself, a lot.  He was friendly, but distant.  He spent his time working on a personal computer and doing solitary pursuits (such as calisthenics, reading, chess problems, and studying the Vesk language).  When asked, he told the characters that he already speaks Vesk pretty well. He used to work for a company on Verces in his early business days that employed Vesk personnel regularly.  Richard did his best not to mingle with the characters.

Second, a newscast of considerable importance was captured on the galactic network:

"Late last night. another shipment of goods, the fifth in the last 63 days, was hijacked while in transit from a landing site in Absalom Island to the Immenwood Park.”

"As in all the previous incidents, the shipment was intercepted by some unknown assailants, who slaughtered the Golarion World importers driving the ground transport vehicle carrying the shipment. No clues regarding the identity of the hijackers have been found.”

"This shipment is the third hijacked cargo imported from Verces Site 58 and consigned to the off-world firm TriMark Industries. The other two hijackings were apparently unrelated, except in the style and execution of the crime. Investigators do not know if the Site 58-TriMark connection has any special significance. Neither company's representatives would comment on the matter.”

"Lt. Joseph Winter, the Stewards’ Planetary Observer on Golarion World, has announced his intention to take steps to reduce the chances of future hijackings, but failed to specify what these steps might be. ln view of the POU's past performance in the areas of shipment security and law enforcement, most people we spoke with were inclined to doubt the effectiveness of any new steps the Stewards might attempt to implement at this time."

The newscast did not wait much time before turning to speculation from its talking heads that the Free Captains were likely responsible.  An interview with Captain Akalzed was shown, with him laughing off their accusations.

Third, Starlet received a personal communication from Sarah Burk.  The communication said that her father had joked that Starlet had a mole on her ship. Sarah said that was funny because moles do not live on ships, they live under the ground, in the dirt.  Her father was just being silly.

Given all this information, the characters met with Ainsley 317 and the group decided to investigate the situation on their own.  Several of the characters did some investigating.  They discovered from starport administration that none of the ships in port had been present for the entire period of the hijackings.  The Vesk ship visited once 80 days ago, spent 10 days in port, and then departed.  It returned 8 days ago and was still present.  However, the ship did leave five advisors to assist Descale Resources in their operations. This was the first recorded visit for the Rogue's March for over a year.  It visited frequently prior to that.  The Rogue's March cargo manifest appeared to be very light given that the ship should be able to carry more cargo. They also learned that local citizens believed a street gang may be partially involved in the criminal activity.

Val used her operative skills to follow Richard to his residence, scaled his dwelling, and spied on him for an evening without getting spotted.  Richard was overheard using voice communications.  Only his side of the conversation could be heard, but it was clear he was compromised and working for someone else.  Richard was passing along security arrangements for a Tarsine Imports shipment, which was just left on the docks along with some cargo containers from the Vesk ship.  Val believed that Richard was being blackmailed based on the conversation she did hear.

The characters decided to hide in the ground cargo transport.  They colluded with Midshipman Morrow to inform the cargo security personnel of their concerns.  After the cargo was loaded, and during its transport, the characters investigated the cargo from the Vesk ship.  Inside the containers they discovered an EMP device, which they disarmed, and a combat drone with a remote activated switch, which they also disarmed.  It was clear that this cargo was going to be hijacked.

About midway through the transport, a team of six gang toughs being led by a Vesk mercenary, approached the cargo transport on hoverbikes. The characters used this as an opportunity to do a reverse ambush.  After some quick thinking, and the use of Lumen's natural defensive abilities, the hijackers were neutralized.  After the characters reported the encounter, Lieutenant Winter and his Stewards arrived to clean up the scene, collect evidence (take any unclaimed items the characters had not concealed), and took full credit for the successful operation via the local news.

The characters returned to their ship, detained Richard, and decided to return him to Verces, along with the evidence of his involvement in the crimes, to Mark and the Verces authorities.  On route to Verces, the characters discovered that Richard had a long criminal past. His criminal record included multiple counts of insider trading, Ponzi schemes, identity thefts, embezzlement, counterfeiting, money laundering, and espionage.  It appeared that the Vesk working for Descale Resources were using this knowledge to blackmail Richard.

NPC of Note

Tael Anyari - Vice President of New Horizons Luxury Retreats running Golarion World (PC pg. 64-73) and the self-proclaimed "greatest fan" of Pharasma and collector of Anomalous Endeavor artifacts.

Three important events happened on the characters' journey back to Verces.  First, they interrogated Richard Jurgens and discovered that the Vesk that were blackmailing him from the vessel Gayikugh were contracted by TriMark's rival, Grupharg.  Richard believes that Grupharg is likely a shell corporation of the Aspis Consortium (SCR pg. 495) and that they are working with Descale Resources to steal unknown artifacts from Golarion World.  The known artifacts on Golarion World include Power Cubes (PC pg. 68-69), but these artifacts are not the ones being stolen because they are highly protected by New Horizons Luxury Retreats security forces.  The unknown artifacts have the code name "eggs" which immediately sparked Sybil's curiosity because it was an "egg" that destroyed Site 42.

Second, Starlet received another communication from Sarah Burk letting her know that her father was happy that they found the mole. Sarah wanted to know if the mole was safely released back into its natural habitat.   The party decided to use the connection with Sarah to secretly communicate with her father Fin Burk.  Fin disclosed in coded language that Descale Resources had an illegal mining operation on Golarion World where these "eggs" may have been discovered.  He provided them with a general location of the mine.  He indicated he wanted the killings and hijackings to stop and that they may only be cover to allow the theft of the artifacts to go unnoticed by the Stewards. 

Third, Bob discovered in his research that Vice President Tael Anyari was an occult collector of Anomalous Endeavor artifacts and that he considered himself Pharasma's greatest fan.  Oddly enough, Tael did not appear to be religious at all, just an avid collector of her greatest artifacts that detailed her "career" and climb to power. 

After turning over Richard to the local authorities and renegotiating their deal with Mark Calver (received another 1500 shares of stock due to the hit the stock took from the Richard's scandal), the characters decided to explore Site 42.  The characters took some time to purchase extreme cold weather gear, and then departed via planetary shuttle to Site 42.

On approach, the characters discovered a powered down Descale Resources shuttle landed at the site.  It appeared that someone had been doing a lot of work in this area removing debris and building a reinforced tunnel into the collapsed site.  The characters landed the shuttle a couple clicks away and hiked in to prevent discovery.  They first searched the shuttle and discovered it had no meals, no water, no life support, or any other life sustaining supplies on board.  This caused them to believe the crew was likely undead.

The characters approached the worksite and entered the tunnels. They successfully defeated an ambush from six Occult Zombies (AA pg. 114) that were being controlled by a Corpsefolk Operative (AA2 pg. 30).  The characters discovered two artifacts in the excavated lab. The first was an ancient machine that resembled an egg about 5 feet in diameter and covered in lights. The second was a doll, that reminded Sybil of Jane's sister in the past, a sister that was left behind to help her parents manage their farm.  The strange part was the doll was encased in amber and looked well preserved in her nicest spring dress.  The doll may have been preserved for eons.

As Sybil took the doll near the egg. The egg activated and in a flash of light, the party watched Sybil and the doll disappear instantly. Sybil found herself in a perfectly white room that resembled a cube that stretched out into an unknown distance.  As she adjusted to the new setting, she heard a familiar voice from behind her.

"Hey Sis, it is truly a wonderful machine, isn't it?"

Sybil turned to face the speaker and noticed two things. First, her own hands no longer resembled a Verthani, they now appeared to be the unmanicured hands of a female farm hand. Second, a young female adult was walking towards her. Sybil knew she was now Jane, but she did not understand how.

The young woman approaching her was clearly Violet, but she was now 15 or 16 years old.  She stood about 5'4" tall and was skinny.  She had light purple hair done up into a French braid that ended in a ponytail that reached to her mid-thigh.  Violet wore a black body suit with white leather vest and combat boots.  She wore a black wool felt rambler style cowgirl hat.  Her face was painted white with black cracked lines that made her resemble a broken porcelain doll.  She had smokey eye shadow, black lipstick, and piercing brown eyes.

"I never thought it would take eons for you to make good on your promise to return for me.  I am so very sorry for all that I did to you...or all that I am going to do to you from your perspective.  I am so very tired, I have seen so much, and I am ready to be reunited with the rest of my soul."

The two sisters spoke.  Jane (Sybil) learned that the machine was a weapon developed to contain Rovagug after his escape, and his destruction of Golarion. Violet recounted the doll's endless drifting through time and space until it was picked up by an early space faring race.  That race seemed to gain spiritual inspiration from the artifact (doll).  The race was from Zinn 2, and they set about building the Power Cubes and Eggs.  There are 15 known sets.  When combined, they produced a weapon of unimaginable power.  The weapon has the ability to take a fragment of something, a poor copy, and turn it into something real.  Violet believes its purpose is to turn Golarion World back into the real thing and once again cage Rovagug to end his cycle of universal destruction. Violet spoke of watching the race that built the weapon die off in a great cataclysm, leaving her alone for many centuries.

The last thing Violet asked her sister to do was to release her from life.  She said that only the good part of her soul was contained in the doll.  The rest was taken by the Hag, which Jane (Sybil) believed may have been Zaresh.

When the egg powered down, Sybil and the doll instantly returned to the reinforced lab. Sybil quietly set the doll down and destroyed it with her weapon to the shock of all watching.  Her last goodbye to the memory of a sister long gone.

The characters decided to return the egg to Golarion World and to introduce themselves to Tael to see if he could be of assistance in reclaiming the other eggs.

Upon return to Golarion World they were granted a meeting with Tael.  He was eager to meet them and seemed to believe they were the second and final meeting of the Anomalous Endeavor.  He took them into a great hall that contained his entire collection of artifacts.  It included tons of now defunct Anomalous Endeavor artifacts, which caused the characters to think, "how many times has this happened?", and the walls were covered in artwork depicting the makeup of the Anomalous Endeavor pantheon over the eons.  The only goddess that remained consistent in every painting was Pharasma.  It was clear she guided the movement of the pantheon, and its membership based upon her understanding of the fabric of time. 

Tael was in awe of Pharasma's power.  He asked to see their unique magical artifacts, the remnants of ancient magical items, and used a special room lighting to show them a simple thread of light that emitted from each member's artifact, attached to their chest, and then shot off into the room merging at a single point.  Did this thread go on forever?  Did it extend through time? Did it connect them to their past?  Tael let them know that their artifacts were priceless, he would give them anything they wanted for them, and he shared that none of the other artifacts in the room still shared that power.  Their past owners were likely removed from time.  Knight Commander Ainsley 317 declined Tael's offer and ensured the artifacts were returned to the characters.

Tael agreed to assist the characters in their endeavor.  He explained that the Power Cubes were "faith batteries" for lack of a better term. A marvel of divine magic and technology. His personal goal was to become a God himself, just as powerful as Pharasma.  He shared that he did not really believe in Gods, but simply powerful beings that had transcended from the mortal realm into the immortal realm.  He wanted that power.   Tael would have his security forces retrieve the remaining eggs and allow the characters to be present when they were reunited with the Power Cubes, after all, it would take the Anomalous Endeavor to activate the weapon.  In return, Tael would attempt to use the process, maybe, hopefully, to help him ascend to Godhood.

Tael never shared how he knew all this information.  He claimed he acquired it in the same way he acquired all his artifacts.  Through diligence and perseverance.  The characters pondered these words as they returned to Two Brothers to rest. Their dreams transported them back into the past.

As the characters' souls returned from the future to the present, they each received a vision in a dream.

Rhavin (Val) – Through a haze you see Val’s Phentomite hands manipulate her personal computer as she gets coordinates…for something…the room is familiar…a trusted ally is present…paintings of Anomalous Endeavor gods line the walls.  The haze turns to smoke, shattered transparent durasteel blows past your head, rushing wind fills your ears, fire surrounds you, and Absalom city speeding quickly towards you fills your vision.  A flash of light and you awaken staring at your own Elvin hands.  A feeling of betrayal washes over you.

Jane (Sybil) – A refreshing mist surrounds you.  You inhale the clean, moist, air that is so different from the dry air from your home world of Verces.  You reach out your hand to touch the mist. As you do, you watch your hand slowly transform from one of a Verthani into the unmanicured, strong, hands of a female human.  You know these hands are yours…you are Jane…you are home.  A figure approaches through the mist.  It takes shape as it walks.  Initially, the figure walks with confidence, hips swinging wide.  A pistol holstered under each arm. This is Violet as you saw her in the pocket dimension. Long purple hair in a French braid, mid-thigh-long ponytail swaying wildly in the opposite direction of her hips. She is in a black body suit, white leather vest, combat boots, and a black cowgirl hat.  Her face is painted white with cracked black lines that make her resemble a broken porcelain doll.  You see her piercing eyes beaming at you through her smokey eye shadow. Her black lips smile, gently, happily.

As she approaches, with each stride, she slowly transforms into the 11-year-old girl you left behind on the family farm.  Her hair is now back to its curly, blondish red color, and sits loosely about her shoulders.  She is wearing her beautiful spring dress to see you off.  You squat to meet her at eye level, and she gives you a giant hug. She whispers, “Thank you Jane for fulfilling your promise and coming back for me.”

Lightning strikes. Thunder crashes.  The moist air turns to rain.  Your sister is yanked violently away from your loving arms as rain begins to pour.  You see her frightened eyes, her wet hair matted against her face, as she disappears into the darkness, her screams piercing the rain.

The vision fades and you are left awake, heart pounding, staring at your shaking hands, a sense of impending dread fills you.

Coralie (Pelayo) – It is a sunny day. You feel weightless, the sun is spinning so fast. You are disoriented…falling…falling faster than you would like.  You see a starship in two parts streaking through the sky, smoke billowing from it, a bright flash and the larger part of the ship disappears, leaving only the tail end falling with you.  You look at your hand.  It is familiar, made of coral, but it holds a lever with the words “rear jettison” written on its knob.  You sense that you are falling between very tall, modern buildings, then all is dark.  When your eyes open your hand is metallic and holding a longsword coated in blood.  You sense your sanity, your memories, leaving you as the ages pass.  With each age the mound of defeated enemies, their bodies pile before you.  You scream in an alien, mechanical, female voice and cover your eyes.  You feel dirt being brushed away from your face.  When you open your eyes, you are met with a kind smile and warm hug from your adopted dwarven mother in Highhelm. You feel a urning to go home.

Zevrin (Bob) – You are in a dreamworld of rainbow colors.  It feels like you have been sleeping for an eternity.  You see a vision of a snake eating its own tail.  It is difficult to determine where the snake begins and where it ends. When your dream started, you knew you were gravely injured, seriously burnt, almost dead, mourning the loss of your friends so valiantly trying to…to what?  What were they doing?  Does that matter anymore?  The rainbow world is so peaceful, and you know that somehow you are whole again.  Time passes…a lot of time…your memories fade to be replaced by only the beautiful rainbow world.

Then the true pain and cruelty begin for you.  A loud squawking and rush of air awaken you from your peaceful world.  You are ripped from your slumber and your cylindrical, technological, womb into a chaotic world of suffering and servitude under the Technic League. Over time, you purchase more freedoms through recovered memory fragments of the marvelous technology found within the Silver Mount.  The fools…you know this is a starship…more powerful than they could ever fathom.  It can do…what can it do?  The purpose was so clear a moment ago…what was its purpose?  You know that the moment you remember, your usefulness to the Black Sovereign will end…and so will your life.  Still, you awaken very curious about what you have forgotten. You are with new friends, but you know they are familiar souls.

Darence (Starlet) – You are in a swirling vortex of motion.  Flashes of memories surround you. You find yourself performing for a crowd who cheer loudly. You catch your reflection in the mirrored backdrop of the stage.  You are the perfect specimen of a female human.  The desire of young males throughout the galaxy…but it is all an illusion…none of it is real.  No more real than your fabricated skeleton, fake smile, and programmed personality matrix.

As you stare at the mirrored image it transforms.  The crowd behind you is no longer an audience, but men and women fighting for their lives from a hoard of ghouls.  You see your true self, Darence, a son of Vigil, a survivor of Lastwall and the Whispering Tyrant.  In the chaos you lose sight of your wife and son.  You scream for them.  “Samantha!” “Oliver!”  You hear their screams.  You hear them calling for you.  “Darence!!!”  “Father!!!” “Help us!!!”

You run into the vortex…lost…surrounded by undead…a maniacal laugh erupts around you.  A dark voice echoes through your skull. “Your wife and child are mine, Iomedae’s whore and Pharasma puppet!”  You know that only you can stop their suffering.

You awaken to a scream and are startled to discover it is coming from you.

Tink (Lumen) – You are in the clouds. Adrift under a star filled night sky. A beautiful, fairy-like woman with wonderous butterfly wings, holds your hand as you flutter amongst the clouds.  She says, “Child, all of life is a dream.  In one instance you are a butterfly, and in the next a Sprite.  Each soul cocooned for the next brilliant emergence. Do not be led astray.  Safeguard your companions.  They will need you now more than ever.  The Beast, the Great Devourer, is undermining their resolve.”  Dark clouds quickly move in from the Horizon. Lightning, thunder, rain, and powerful winds consume your vision and your mind.  You are trapped within your own head, unable to get out, you hear voices in the distance say that you have temporal sickness.  You will be okay, they say, but they are not sure when you will wake.  You scream, "The mission must continue!!!" But no one can hear you.  You understand fully that Golarion, no, all of existence, depends upon you and your companions.

After the characters return to Absalom from Immenwood, they take a few more trips back and forth to clear out the valuable items from the ruined castle and sell them in the great city.  Meanwhile, Lahaan consults with the sage Beolain.  The wise wizard helps Lahann to acquire a small forge in the Foreign Quarter.  Lahaan spends a couple weeks researching the Coin and equips an alchemist's lab in his new home.  When Lahaan completes his studies, he invites the characters to his home for a meeting.

During the meeting, Lahaan informs the characters, "I have acquired most of the ingredients I need for crafting a coin, save three: a diamond touched by death, one pint of devil's blood spilled by a coward, and blue dragon's breath."  Lahaan thanks the characters for providing a pound of mithral and for preserving the ghost box because these items are essential to the Coin forging process.

Lahaan continued, "In my research on the coin, I also learned of a likely location for the first ingredient-a diamond touched by death. Some fifty years ago, a manor house owned by the Hiereed family stood in the woods west of Absalom. It burned to the ground during a lightning storm, though I have read a conflicting account that the locals burned it.  The last of the Hiereed family to receive a proper burial, Adool, was buried with a large diamond - the size of a pigeon's egg if the legends are true - in the crypts beneath the manor.  Though the house is long gone, I'm sure the crypts remain. I cannot continue my work until you bring me the diamond."

Coralie and Zevrin went to the Grand Lodge's library to research the Hiereed family. They discovered that the Hiereed's came to Absalom in 4674 AR from the north but refused to divulge from exactly where.  They were very rich and built a manor house out of wood and stone about twelve miles west of Absalom.  The house was nestled deep in the forest and off the main road.

The Hiereed family patriarch was rumored to be a powerful wizard who practiced dark magic and worshipped an evil god.  Tales of nightmarish things, especially at night, and in the twisted woods became common among the locals that traveled the road.  This filled the Absalonian people with dread and they would send patrols into the woods to investigate.  Nothing untoward was ever found.

In 4698 AR a captain returned from his patrol in possession of a ragged burlap bag.  The suspicious bag was taken to one of the Council members; and the old man reportedly went mad when he gazed within.  The bag was immediately weighed down and dropped into the sea south of the city.

Coralie and Zevrin learned that the people's fears of the house stopped in 4700 AR when the Hiereeds held a fabulous masque.  During this masque, which none of the noble of Absalom attended, it was purported that many ships from faraway lands, some very strange to behold, docked and disturbing looking visitors attended the masque.  Very late that evening, as the tales go, the manor was struck by lightning.  The manor burned to the ground with all the revelers trapped within.  Only the house's foundation survived.  Some rumor that it was actually a gang of angry Absalonians that burned the house down.

The characters took some time to purchase provisions and horses and then set out for the manor.  After locating the manor, they searched and found a stone trap door that led into the crypts. The characters' diligence allowed them to avoid a nest of giant rats (MC pg. 28) and to avoid most of the harmful effects of the foul air that exited from the crypt.  At the bottom of a circular set of stairs leading down into the crypt, the characters discovered a set of iron doors, secured with a large lock and chains. Evil looking symbols were inscribed on each door.  The characters were able to pick the lock and silently enter the tomb.

The tomb was about thirty feet wide and fifty feet long.  About 50+ coffins of all shapes and sizes were on stone shelves within the room. Each coffin, except for one, was labeled with a greenish plaque. On the opposite side of the crypt was a metallic door with script written on it.  All the writing in the room was in Taldan script, which none of the characters could read. Only the dates could be read.

Using the dates, the characters were able to narrow down the location of Adool's coffin.  Within it was some kind of creature that was afraid of the light.  The characters decided to leave it alone for a time, while they investigated the metallic door.  Coralie discovered the door was a clockwork that could be opened using spoken words, but the code that matched the Taldan script on the door would be needed.  Instead, the characters worked for a few hours to peel the cover off the door, and Coralie used her knowledge of clockworks and engineering to override the lock

Within the room the characters discovered an altar to Rovagug. There was a small stone desk to one side with a motionless doll sitting at it on a chair.  On the desk, in front of the doll, were several dried jars.  On the wall were mounted what appeared to be dried human organs (an eye, a heart, lungs, and ear, and veins connecting each and ending in the dried jars).  It was clear the characters had discovered another "meat radio."  Jane immediately set about destroying the monstrosity. 

The characters investigated the doll and decided to ripe it open to look for the diamond.  When they tried, the doll sprang to life and tried to get away (Soulbound Doll; MC pg. 318).  The characters were able to subdue it and question it.  They discovered that the doll had been trapped in the room since the manor burnt down.  The doll told them of rituals that occurred in the house involving children, and the characters noted that at least one third of the coffins in the crypt were indeed of child size.

The doll's communications with "the mother" had stopped when the magical fluids in the jars dried up and its radio stopped working.  It heard the characters breaking into the room and played possum hoping to be able to escape later, after the characters had left.  The doll pretended to be innocent and played on the characters sense of empathy and fair play.  Ultimately, the characters recognized the doll as a servant of evil and dispatched it (after it briefly escaped again forcing a chaotic encounter), retrieving the soul gem contained within its head.

Unfortunately, the soul gem was not the diamond touched by death, which left the characters with the problem still contained within Adool's coffin.  What would they do about it?

After much debate and planning, the characters decided to remove the sarcophagus' cover and throw it to the floor. The monster contained within quickly exited the sarcophagus and began its attack. The thing that came from inside was no longer human. It appeared to be a hideous combination of undead and sea creature. A true abomination. It had mottled gray skin that was rotting with tentacles thrusting out from its body. The most disgusting tentacles grew from around its mouth and from where its arms used to be. Something glittered from under its left armpit.

Due to the extensive planning of the adventurers, the monster was put down quickly with no damage suffered to the party. The characters cut open the growth under the creature's armpit and extracted the diamond touched by death.

RETURN TO LAHAAN

The characters returned to Absalom with the first ingredient and turned it over to Lahaan.  He was very pleased that they had found the diamond, and he immediately secured it in safe that was secured to the floor.  He then handed them a small iron baton for catching the blue dragon's breath.

The Goblin Patrol reported to Rhavin that they had noticed the house being watched by shady characters, likely members of the Bloody Barbers.  The Goblins let Rhavin know that they would double the watch.

Prior to Coralie sharing the knowledge of a potential dragon's location that she had discovered from the Pathfinder Society library, Knight Commander Ainsley approached her, looking proud, and carrying an item several feet long and gingerly wrapped in cloth.  He said, “Coralie, my squire and ancient friend, you have earned your place among the Anomalous Endeavor.” He unwrapped the cloth to reveal a marvelously crafted Dawn Silver (Mithril) longsword.  Coralie recognized the sword as a high-grade weapon of a Knight Anomaly.  The hilt was crafted with the combined symbols of the pantheon.  Within the pommel was the symbol for Clan Breakiron (H pg. 32) with an affixed clan gem.  The gem was a teardrop-shaped cabochon of rippled black and silver psilomelane, set point down.

Ainsley noticed that Coralie was fixated on the pommel, and he said, “Your mother, Elwi Breakiron, sent this back with a Pathfinder Society messenger to me.  She wrote that if you distinguished yourself and brought pride to the clan, then Clan Breakiron had agreed to bestow you with a clan gem for your divine weapon.  She wanted you to know that she awaits your return to Highhelm in the future so your family can celebrate your full attainment of clan status. You have made her very proud.”

Ainsley continued, “Before you accept this weapon, I must know that you are prepared to make any sacrifice to ensure that the Anomalous Endeavor’s mission is successful. What say you?”

Coralie answered “yes, of course, any sacrifice.” Ainsley then presented the weapon to Coralie, hilt first, and said, “Take your weapon my friend, and knight in training, and prepare to commune with the pantheon.” As she grasped the sword’s hilt, time immediately stood still for everyone else in the room except for Knight Commander Ainsley.  He continued to move around the room and to speak with Coralie directly.

“What you are about to see is revealed to all knights.  My understanding is the vision can change with the ebb and flow of time.”

Coralie saw the other party members and Lahaan sitting around the forge, but it was as if they were trapped behind a veil of mist.  The room changed into an endless black orb that appeared to extend into forever.  The outside of the orb swirled and absorbed all light and any matter falling within it.  A thin translucent wall appeared down the center of the orb and extended into eternity, neatly dividing both sides of the orb.  Coralie saw sparks of light appear on both sides of the wall that were in the thousands. The sparks closest to her could be clearly seen as representing sapient species.  Each was attached to a blue thread of light that pierced the wall and connected to another sapient species on the far side.  The figures appeared to be going about their business, almost in unison.

Coralie noticed that she was not connected by a thread. Instead, her line appeared to make a full circle between her and Pelayo.  She noticed a similar ring also connected Zevrin with his counterpart on the other side of the wall.  The rest of her party were connected to their future counterparts by a single thread.

Ainsley spoke, “You are seeing the multitude of knights who have come before and after you. Notice that you and Zevrin are paradoxes created by the pantheon to confuse the enemy.  You both exist, and do not exist, without both a present and a future self.  You are the proverbial chicken and egg, in other words, which came first? You are how I know this encounter in time is the prophesied first and second meetings of the Anomalous Endeavor, the ones who end the cycle permanently and undo the great mistake that birthed Rovagug.”

Coralie noticed the sparks of light being extinguished in twos, one on each side of the wall.  As each set of sparks vanished, the wall grew in width.  After several hundred sparks had gone out, she recognized that the wall represented the Drift.  Within the wall, the vast clouds and colors of the Drift swirled around as if she were moving through it.

Ainsley said, “The pantheon carefully machined, through their mortal servants, the creation of three artificial intelligences that grew in power over time until they merged to become a single entity. That entity became the god, Triune (SCR pg. 490).  Triune’s purpose was to build the Drift to allow travel amongst the many stars without the use of magic.  I do not fully understand how, but this was necessary to overcome the growing power of Rovagug.”

Coralie saw tendrils of dark void move in from the outer reaches of the orb and where the points ended, she saw dark figures emerge.  The distant figures moved toward connected sparks, and when they touched a thread, the sparks turned to clouds of dust and the drift grew again, only this time, when it grew it consumed the matter on the other side of the wall, twisting it, and incorporating it into the Drift.

Ainsley continued, “We do not know how or why, but it appears a pact was developed between the forces of death and Rovagug.  This pact twisted the Drift and allowed Rovagug to use it to his ends too.  Between Rovagug’s aberrations, and the Grim Reapers, many Knight Anomaly timelines have been permanently ended.  We must defeat the evil contained within the Coin of Power to prevent this timeline from being destroyed, and with it, the multiverse. Nothing else matters.”

As Ainsley finished, a Grim Reaper appeared several hundred yards from Coralie's position.  It noticed her and let out a silent scream that reverberated within her consciousness, and it began to advance toward her position.

“It is time to go now, remember, my friend, there will be sacrifices.  What matters is that you continue our timeline and ensure our mission is successful, or all will be lost.” Time resumed, the vision faded, and Coralie returned to her companions holding a divine longsword.

THE SECOND INGREDIENT

Coralie reminded the other characters what she had learned about a potential blue dragon's location.  The characters planned a trip and provisioned a ship, The Forsaken, to carry them across the Inner Sea to the Rahadoum Desert (WG pg. 55-56).  The journey took 17 days, and the characters anchored the ship offshore from a small village about 100 miles west of Manaket (WG pg. 49).

On the 17^th night of the voyage, Jane awakened in a cold sweat after having a nightmare so vivid that it could only have been a vision meant to torment her.  As if she were a bird flying above a formation of militarized Kholo (Gnolls), all wearing the symbol of Rovagug on their uniforms, she saw the small army of hyena-like humanoids enter her lone farmland, laughing uncontrollably, and moving towards her parent's modest home.

She witnessed her mother and father grab Violet from her work in the fields and rush her towards their house.  They barricaded the door, but it was no defense against the aggression of the Kholo.  Within no time, the door was destroyed, and her mother, father, and little sister, Violet, were brought out of the house.  Violet was terrified, crying, and screaming for her parents.

The Kholo soldiers separated Violet from her parents and looked down the road, in fear themselves, as a monstrosity approached the home.  The Kholo’s nervous laughter continued as what could only be described as a ferocious looking, six-legged bear, with bull-like horns, and draconic scales, with a fire-breathing serpent for a tail, stood before the Kholo and Jane's parents on its hind legs.  The abomination let out a roar that caused Violet to drop to her knees in fear. She covered her ears with her hands and started screaming in absolute terror.  She wet herself as she lost control of her bladder.

The thing smiled as it turned its head towards Violet, and its snake-like tail let loose a cone of fire that incinerated her parents, their home, and the Kholo guarding them.  The screams from all were something nightmares from hell are made of. Jane was grateful the screams were short-lived as the bodies crumpled, burning and lifeless, to the ground.

Animated chains sprang forth from the thing and wrapped themselves around Violet's limbs.  The chains raised her from the ground and brought her within inches of the thing’s face.  Violet's limbs were stretched as far apart as possible, without quartering her, and her face became a jumble of pain. She no longer had air to scream, and her brown eyes showed she was terrified beyond her years. 

The thing screamed into her face, spittle flying, and its eyes glowed a brilliant crimson.  Violet's eyes turned from brown into her namesake.  Her face went neutral, and she began to mimic every movement of the thing.

A commanding female voice from behind the thing ordered it to release Violet. “That is enough! Her mind is fractured. Release her, now!”  Jane saw Zaresh approach the thing, holding a gem between her finger and thumb.  The thing looked at the gem and its eyes stopped glowing crimson as the gem took on its own crimson glow.  “Perfect,” Zaresh growled as she placed the gem into a pouch.

As the thing placed a crumpled and exhausted Violet on the ground, Zaresh ordered the thing to continue razing any surrounding farms and to bring any children to her.  She ordered the Kholo to exterminate any other beings found on those farms.

As Zaresh walked toward Violet, her image changed from a robed priestess of Rovagug, into a gentle and pretty, elder woman.  She still wore a necklace of Rovagug, and she reminded Jane of a gentle librarian, but Jane could see through the costume, and she saw the vile monster underneath the disguise.

The woman knelt next to Violet and gently embraced her. “There, there, child.  I won’t allow anyone to ever hurt you again.  I am here to protect you.  I cannot ever replace your mother and father, but I can try to be an adopted mother to you…if you will have me.”  A terrified Violet slowly looked up into the face of Zaresh.  Her eyes no longer brown, now the color violet.  With tears rolling down her face, she embraced the woman, the monster, and called it mother.  Jane saw the woman clean the tears from Violet’s cheeks, using a clean cloth, held in a hand containing a coin burned into its palm.

LIFE FROM STONE VILLAGE

Jane did not share her vision with the other characters, but they could tell something was wrong.  The characters rowed to shore, towards a stone dock, in a dingy.  After they tied up, the dock was attacked by two water creatures, likely Octopi, and crushed one fisherman's boat and yanked another unfortunate fisherman from the dock.  The village men around the dock started to attack the creatures.  The characters assisted, and Rhavin's music was able to calm the creatures and draw them back out to sea. Unfortunately, one fisherman lost his life.

The characters willingness to put themselves in harm's way for the villagers, endeared them to the people. They were taken to the village elder and leader.  He welcomed them to rest at the village and take water from the blessed boulder.  He learned of their journey to find the dragon, and he offered the support of some village guides.  After making peace with the village cleric, a worshipper of Lysianassa, Empress of the Torrent, the adventurers were graced with a total of five guides and five borrowed camels to carry their water supply (two gallons per person, per day, for an estimated 6-day round trip journey).

The Desert

The characters let nothing distract them from their journey to the dragon's cave.  They went around a sinkhole containing an unknown creature; they bypassed several deadly unidentified plants; they avoided a roving band of desert nomads that the characters' guides warned them were racial purists; and they refused to investigate an abandoned village, even after hearing hyenas laughing from that vicinity.  Perhaps the weirdest thing they ignored was the illusion of a dark-colored tent, covered in odd symbols, recognized by Zevrin to have been seen on the Coin of Power, and with a sign hanging above its door that read "Fortunes."  Tink did try to sneak under one of the tent's sides but had to stop his endeavor after seeing only flashing colors and successfully saving against some kind of magical energy. This tent appeared on two separate days in line with the characters' journey.  The characters were left to wonder about the tent's purpose.  Due to the characters' single-minded purpose of reaching the dragon's lair safely, they were able to do it in four days without incident or injury.

THE DRAGON'S LAIR

The characters arrived at a 200-foot-tall cliff with a large cave opening.  Their guides and camels remained outside, while the characters entered.  Inside, the characters found Fzen'nal, the gargantuan blue dragon.  They flattered Fzen'nal and presented him with a 3000-gold piece saphire as a present.  Rhavin also sang Fzen'nal a poem she had written about all of all the dragon's most important exploits she had discovered in the Pathfinder Society's library.

The dragon agreed to assist the characters for a price.  The dragon had recently developed a frustrating problem, his lair was overrun with some kind of parasite living in the cave cracks.  When the dragon left to survey his lands, the parasites would steal his precious treasure.  In return for eradicating the parasites "mites", sealing whatever entrance was allowing them in, and returning the dragon's lost treasure, then he would blow his dragon breath on their iron rod.

Entering the cave cracks was no easy job for medium sized humanoids, so the party initially had Tink attempt the job on his own.  This was slow work, so Coralie entered the crack with him.  They were able to kill 8 mites, but at this rate the job could take many days or weeks.  The party will need to decide if this is the way they want to proceed.

The adventure began with Tink and Coralie continuing to eradicate the mite infestation in the dragon's lair.  Zevrin maintained mental contact with Tink and Coralie and they communicated strategy back to Darence and Rhavin.  Both Darence and Rhavin noticed that Jane had disappeared.  Not figuratively, but literally.

Rhavin and Darence both watched Jane freeze in time and simply fade away.  Could this have been a temporal anomaly or something different?  The characters discussed their concerns and then focused back on the task of exterminating the mites.

After a very tedious search and destroy mission, the mite infestation was eliminated, their tunnel opening was collapsed, and all the dragon's items and riches were retrieved.  Fzen'nal was true to his word and breathed his lightning on the iron rod and gave it back to the party.  It is what the dragon said next that surprised and terrified the group.

"Now that is done, you may leave the camels and your guides at the cave entrance, they will make a tasty snack for me later today."

Coralie started to protest that this was not part of the deal, when Fzen'nal continued, "Oh dear, you misunderstand me, the camels and guides are already dead. You had a visitor while you were killing the mites. Come, I will show you." The party remembered, that at one point in their extermination efforts, that the dragon had laughed a good belly laugh at something he found humorous.

Fzen'nal walked over to his pool and cast a spell.  Mist rose from the water and recreated a scene outside his lair.  A robbed figure approached the guides' camp and lowered its hood to reveal Jane's face.  Jane appeared to speak at length with the guides, and then without any hesitation, she cut down three of them.  Eshrekso Jevv Jevvan, the coward amongst the guides, ran into the cave opening and hide inside a crevasse.  Jane then killed the camels and slashed all the water bags.  She grabbed the youngest guide, 16-year-old Ka Fanso-Neta, and dragged him forcefully back down the cliffside to a waiting tent.  Both figures entered the tent and then it vanished with the breeze.

Fzen'nal explained, "The scent of divine and illusion magic was powerful with this one.  It used scrying magic the entire time of the attack.  Apparently, it wanted others to see what transpired.  It never entered my abode, likely for fear of death.  The smell was familiar to me, but I cannot place it.  What I can tell you is it was not your missing companion.  You should be aware that you are facing a very powerful foe that uses magical trickery."

After the party asked some questions, Fzen'nal continued, "Now, feel free to take as much water as you need for your journey. You may rest at the cave entrance until you choose to leave tonight. Do not tell anyone of my cave, or I will destroy you.  You are not welcome back unless you come with a present more valuable than the last and you have a tale of your unexpected visitor."

The party immediately set to work in finding the hidden coward and repairing some water bags for their journey back through the desert.

DEATH IN THE DESERT

Jevv collapsed after three days in the desert and needed to be revived with medical attention and rest.  After four days, the characters arrived back at Jevv's village to discover that most all the villagers had been slaughtered.  The only survivor was Venik, the cleric of Lysianassa.  She did not give the characters a warm welcome upon their return, and she was grief stricken.  She blamed the village's tragedy on the characters' arrival.  They were a curse.  She explained that she was the only survivor because she took the form of water and hid in the ocean.  She watched as Jane (the imposter), their companion, used a dark magic that spread through the villagers, killing them all. 

It was around this time that the party also discovered that their dingy had been stolen and their ship was missing.  Venik explained that Jane took the dingy out to the ship, and shortly after she boarded, the ship set sail back towards Absalom. 

DESPERATE PLAN

The party made a desperate plan to travel 10 days through the desert to get to Manaket, a large city in the Rahadoum Desert located along the coast.  It was a hard journey, and Jevv had to receive medical attention three times.  During the journey, the party was ambushed by orc raiders being led by a bugbear.  Using quick thinking, and sheer brutality, the party managed to cut down the invaders without sustaining any life-threatening wounds.  Darence used his magic to bless his sword, and in one mighty swing, he shattered the bugbear's shield and gave him a mortal wound.  Coralie put the bugbear out of his misery.  The party discovered two wands on the bugbear, but they did not recover the wands' command words.

After their arrival, the party secured voyage on a ship back to Absalom.  The journey took 22 days.  Midway through the voyage, Darence had a restless night and a nightmarish vision.  He witnessed his wife and child held within a cage made of bone.  Their life energy was being bled away to bring a monstrosity to life.  As he watched, he realized the cage was actually the rib cage of something foul, both undead and magical.  A bone monster with the skulls of some long extinct giant as its hands.  Hands that would be capable of ripping apart a victim in mere seconds.  He realized that to kill the monster would also mean killing his family.

THE FORGE

The characters arrived late to Absalom and reported to Lahaan immediately.  Lahaan took the iron rod from them and told them all to report back before midnight.  At midnight, Lahaan and Beolain completed a ritual with the characters' help to infuse the second ingredient into the coin.  The process was loud, created a ton of blue smoke, green flame, and a violent flash of lightning.  It also caused a thunderstorm to develop over the city and got the attention of the neighbors.  The party was concerned that the ritual called upon the divine powers of Asmodeus, Gorum, Lamashtu, Norgorber, and the night's dark soul. 

The goblin patrol captured a suspected member of the Band of the Palm, who called himself Refro, who was trying to peep through the windows.  Refro agreed to see if the leader of the Bloody Barbers would negotiate a price for the books that the characters had taken in exchange for forgiveness.  The party released Refro unharmed.

Coralie guarded the coin throughout the night, and at one point she believed she could hear whispers coming from it.

PREPARATIONS

In the morning, the characters did some research at the Pathfinder library to try and determine their next direction, what happened to Jane, and ways to contain an Imp so they could have the coward safely drain its blood.  Rhavin went to the Grand Bazaar and located a Thaumaturge that was selling a magical cage that could be used to contain devils trapped within a circle of protection.  The party felt ready to set out to retrieve the final ingredient for the coin. 

NPCs of Note

Violet "Hex" Massey - A younger version of Jane's sister who she met in the Starfinder future.

Discovering Jane

The characters started preparing to travel to the Immenwood Ruins to collect the third ingredient to making the Coin – devil’s blood spilled by a coward. They were worried about what happened to Jane, but they also knew that they had to get to the Imp before Zaresh could figure out their plans.

Rhavin, a Firebrand Second Mark, was out collecting supplies in Absalom for the trip when she was approved by some children. The children were fans of Rhavin, slayer of bugbears, tricker of dragons, and collector of heads, and wanted to impress her that they had found Jane. They informed Rhavin that Jane was wandering around the Absalom docks begging for money.

Rhavin collected the group, and they traveled to the docks where they found a disheveled Jane. It took her a minute to recognize her friends. She did not understand what had happened to her. She said that she was “pulled behind the painting” and all she recalled was speaking to their guides, walking through the desert, speaking with the village priestess, and rowing a dingy out to meet their ship. The last thing she remembered was begging for coins at the port and purchasing snack cakes to eat from the children with those coins. She believed that she had been in port for almost two weeks.

The party took Jane back to Lahaan’s place where they nursed her back to health. When she felt better, they took her to the wizard Beolain to see if he could determine what happened to her. On their way to Beolain’s tower, Rhavin ran into his old friend Crystal, who as it turns out was a member of the Bloody Barbers and she was not happy about being stood up. The price to end their debt to the criminal gang was raised to 2,200 gp due to Crystal’s personal disgust for Rhavin. The group agreed to pay.

Beolain gave his services freely due to the trouble he had caused the group with the Bloody Barbers. Beolain was able to surmise that Jane had been the victim of immensely powerful domination, illusion, and likely mind reading magic for several weeks.  This had damaged her brain. Beolain was able to fix the damage, but he did have unwelcome news. His best guess was that Zaresh was behind the kidnapping, but what they thought was a simple priestess of Rovagug was highly likely a Cuckoo Hag (MC pg. 191).  The Coin had likely enhanced her powers beyond what he could fathom, and if she were working with a coven, their ritual magics could be almost unstoppable.

Return to Immenwood

The characters returned to Immenwood and discovered an unsettling silence had fallen around the ruins. Coralie used her clockworks to scout the area and discovered the two great apes had been killed and decapitated. Darence investigated the bodies further and discovered lead balls had violently entered their chest cavities. Jane discovered that the apes had been bled out via several masterful cuts with a slashing weapon before they were cut down. Zevrin used his powers to ascertain that the last owner of the lead balls was a teenage girl, painted like a broken porcelain doll, and who was feeling immense joy at killing the apes.

The characters decided to enter the ruins cautiously and found them the same as they had left. The main room still contained the broken great table with destroyed chairs strung about the room.

The group went to the fourth floor and found the imp still contained via its magical bonds. The imp was very unhappy to see them again, and even more so when he learned they were there to bleed him. After the imp was caged, Jevv was convinced to stab it to retrieve the blood. The blood was collected in a vile and stored by Rhavin. Rhavin then dispatched the imp, who immediately burst into flames. It was at that moment that Rhavin remembered that the Coin also required a sacrifice to create, and she had just eliminated their best candidate for that function.

Hex’s Birthday Party

While Rhavin and Jevv were dealing with the imp, Zevrin and Coralie set up guard at the door. During the process, they heard children singing a birthday song coming from the stairwell. They immediately secured and locked the door. A few minutes later, a small knock was heard at the door, and an invitation to Hex’s birthday party was slid under the door.

The characters decided to investigate the noise by descending to the second floor so they could overlook the great room. They discovered the room was now well lite, the furniture was all in perfect condition, and the place had been decorated for a birthday party. Looking over the balcony, they could see two older adults, a male and a female, at the heads of the table. Jane recognized these two as her parents.

Four children were sitting around the table with plates full of cake. One of these children was Ka Fanso-Neta, who had been kidnapped from their guides at the dragon’s lair, and the other three the characters did not recognize. Two giant cakes were on the table, one at each end, and empty place settings were waiting for more guests. Dancing in the middle of the table was Hex. Her moves were graceful like a ballet dancer, but also sharp like a marionette.

The characters recognized this had to be illusion magic at work, but they failed to disbelieve it. Jane and Coralie decided to enter the illusion. Hex acted and quickly demoralized the party and coerced them to take their seats at the table without violence or disruption to her party. She made it clear that she wanted her birthday present, a vial of devil’s blood, so that she could give it to Mother Zaresh. Each of the characters were served a piece of cake, which they would be grateful they did not eat about 10 seconds later when Darence cast a dispel magic spell.

The scene turned into something from a nightmare. The cakes were actually the apes’ heads with their skulls opened up so that their brains could be scooped out onto plates.  Jane’s parents were actually the burnt corpses of her parents that were now animated as zombies.  The children were all soul dolls. Hex was on the table, but she was armed with combination pistols (one dagger and one rapier). Both Darence and Tink jumped into action to try and attack Hex, and Jane did her best to get in the way and prevent violence. She did not want to see her sister, or anyone else, get hurt.

Unfortunately for the party, Hex was a very skilled swashbuckler and gunslinger, who was likely also enhanced with magics from Zaresh or some other aberration.  Hex’s eyes would go from beautiful brown when she found pieces of Violet within her that recognized Jane, and to violet that burned with the brightness of the hells when she identified as Hex.  Hex was proficient with her weapons but was also precise. She was careful to shoot and stab Jane in areas that were not vital organs, as she went about trying to kill Tink and Darence.

Rhavin “had a bad feeling about this” and called upon her divine tattoo for guidance. She determined the group’s best chance for survival was to deceive Hex. She was able to convince Hex that Jevv, the coward, had screwed up and killed the imp before its blood could be collected. Hex believed the story, opened the Hag’s Portal, and fell through it along with two soul dolls. After the portal closed, the group set about ending the remaining zombies and soul dolls. They were lucky to escape with their lives from this trap, but also lucky that some part of Violet remained and maybe wanted to give them some grace.

Battle for the Coin

The characters returned to Absalom and Lahaan's forge.  Lahaan began the process of forging the coin exactly at midnight.  The characters all had parts in the ritual, and were warned they could not leave the ceremony, or the coin would be ruined.

Knight Commander Ainsley freely chose to sacrifice himself as the last ingredient of the coin.  He took the place of Rhavin who had volunteered to be the sacrifice.  Ainsley's spirit pulled Zevrin, Coralie, and Rhavin into the spiritual plane.  Ainsley had put up a wall of force blocking Death from advancing on the characters.  Ainsley spoke to Zevrin, saying, "You are the paradox who must carry the coin. Remember my willing sacrifice when your time comes.”

Ainsley then stoically looked to Coralie, and said, “you are now the Knight Commander. Ensure Zevrin stays protected. Your paradox exists for that single purpose. He must finish this mission. Trust in your companions especially Rhavin. The multiverse literally depends upon your mutual endeavor.”  As Ainsley spoke, the characters could see that the Drift was beginning to collapse.  A distinct disruption was being caused throughout the realm as similar scenes with various timeline versions of the characters played out as far as the eye could see.  Ainsley flicked his wrist towards the characters, and they were returned to their bodies as they witnessed Lahaan finish the coin.  Zevrin took the evil artifact without question.

During the forging process, Hex returned with threats from "mother" that Rhavin needed to be punished for her lies.  The Knights of Lastwall goblin squad defended the ceremony from Hex at great cost.  Lt. Snell, Sgt. Beazlesz, Slick Pinky, Swosi, Snib, Nib, and Cobs all fought valiantly, but at the cost of their own lives.  Only Staah survived and escorted the characters to safety through tunnels the squad had dug during their stay at the forge.

The tunnels lead to a Knights of Lastwall barn where the characters horses had been readied for flight.  As the characters climbed out of the tunnel, their timeline switched to the future.

Change of Seasons

The transition to the future occurred as they climbed the ladder out of the tunnel.  Their perspective changed to climbing into their ship, Two Brothers, via its entry hatch.  An alert was blaring, and red warning lights were flashing. In addition to noticing the obvious racket, the characters were also aware that they had just finished preparing for their last TriMark cargo run and that Vice President Tael Anyari had recently installed the last egg and was planning to power up the system.  Bob noticed that he had a divine tattoo on his wrist where the coin had been strapped in the other timeline.

[ALERT!!! ALERT!!! HELLKNIGHT DREADNOUGHT INBOUND!!! ALERT!!! ALERT!!! ALL AVAILABLE CREWS ARE TO REPORT TO LITTLE KORTOS CENTRAL COMMAND TO ARRANGE FOR A DEFENSE OF ZINN 2!!!]

As the last character boarded the ship, Ainsley 317 rounded a corner and directed them to disembark and follow him immediately, "We cannot take off.  We have been summoned to Vice President Tael Anyari’s office.  It appears you are about to be introduced to my Master at long last.”

When the characters arrived at New Horizons Luxury Retreats headquarters, VP Anyari started screaming at Ainsley as soon as he stepped into the corporate office, “What have you done! It cannot be coincidental that the minute, THE VERY MINUTE, we activate the artifacts that a Hellknights Dreadnought jumps into the system!!!”

VP Anyari’s internal communication system squawked, and a disembodied voice informed him, “Sir, none of our reinforcements can drift here. It appears some kind of disruption is preventing drift travel. We are on our own.”

VP Anyari, “What do you mean disruptions!?!”

Voice, “It is hard to say sir, reports are coming in from all over the known galaxy. Entire ships just disappearing, ship crews appearing out of nowhere on random worlds who just moments ago were piloting ships through the drift, reports of anomalies appearing on ships within the drift, navigating the drift has become impossible, ships cannot enter or leave the drift using their drives…”

VP Anyari, “Okay, okay! I got it. Keep me apprised. Something tells me the culprits are in my office.” He glared at Ainsley 317, “You had better start explaining or I will have my guards rip the truth from your carcass!”

Before Ainsley had a chance to respond, three loud blasts, like the sound of thunder, erupted in the room. It forced all of the characters to cover their ears and try to block out the sound. A wormhole appeared in the room, and a bright, hot, red light poured out of it. The light was so bright the characters could not bear to look directly at it. They could make out a hulking shadow moving towards the entrance. They feared they were looking at Asmodeus himself, exiting the plane of hell. Three loud taps and the wormhole disappeared. The room once again fell into normal lighting. The sound of crunching metal could be heard.

The characters looked up and saw Ainsley taking a knee in front of a figure they immediately recognized as the imp, Tavarious, who Rhavin (Val) had murdered at the Immenwood ruins. Tavarious looked ancient. He wore a high-tech suit of power armor that was well kept, black, and shiny. The imp was missing a single wing, and in its place was a bionic replacement. The imp held one hand high above its head in a fist.

Tavarious spoke, “If I were you, I would exit that power armor now.”

The two corporate guards in the room exited their power armor just in time. Both suits of armor got crushed into balls about one quarter the original size.

Tavarious spoke again, “Flee, now.”

Both guards ran, stumbling over each other, out of the room.

Ainsley 317 said, “My Master, it was as you said. The second meeting of the Anomalous Endeavor has been successful. My faith has been renewed.”

Tavarious, “I am pleased to hear it my friend.” The characters all heard the crack of thunder, the room filled with the purple light of a plasma sword igniting, and Ainsley’s head came to rest at the feet of Sybil. Tavarious shut down his plasma sword, waved his hand, and Ainsley’s head was lifted from the floor and into Sybil’s waiting hands. “Catch”, Tavarious said, “we will need that. Now, all of you follow me. Zinn 2 is under Hellknights protection. VP Anyari, do come along. We will need your authorizations to access the artifacts.”

Figurative, Not Literal

On the way to the artifact room, Tavarious explained to the characters that "the problem with mortals was they think so linearly and so literally.  Not all the tales of old, or of the gods, should be taken in that fashion."

He said that "they may have learned, according to the Windsong Testaments, that after the current incarnation of reality came into being, Pharasma’s own fears started chewing and gnawing beyond her perception. It was her own fears, her fears that her creation and her time would end, that led to the birth of the first deity absorbed by that fear.  The deity transformed by that fear became Rovagug.  This set off an endless cycle of time where Pharasma created, and Rovagug worked to destroy, all that ever was.  It is only this cycle that prevents the multiverse from being destroyed by Rovagug."

Tavarious continued, "three different worlds—Earth, Androffa (you know it in this time as Zinn 2), and Golarion—exist as one in different time and space.  Pharasma intends to stop this endless cycle by uniting these three worlds into one and setting the multiverse free from her own fears.  She has come to terms with her eventual death and the need for the multiverse to work through its natural cycles of rebirth.  We are her tools to set her mistake, her fear of her own eventual death, right."

Tavarious explained, "Ainsley’s head contained a powerful AI program known as Dou-Bral, who will become Zon-Kuthon, after it is attached to the artifact.  It is this program that will allow them to rescue the ships from the drift that are needed to destroy Rovagug once and for all.  Dou-Bral will provide the coordinates for the Two Brothers to jump, and after our crew places a 'drift flare' in the target ship’s computer, Zon-Kuthon will be able to jump that ship back to Zinn 2."

Tavarious continued, "as the story goes, Calistria lured Rovagug to Golarion and then distracted him. The very first ship we must rescue is the Calistria.  Then, Torag and Gorum forged the shell of the Dead Vault, thus the next two ships we will rescue include the Torag and the Gorum."

He continued, "Pharasma imbued the Dead Vault with potent wards against escape, you are looking at the artifact which does that job. Sarenrae then sliced open a rift in the Windswept Wastes on Casmaron on Golarion's surface, it appears this job has fallen to the Paradox Zevrin -your name is not Bob, in case you have not figured that out yet. You are Sarenrae’s instrument in this story."

"After Rovagug stumbled into the Dead Vault. Dou-Bral -Ainsley 317’s brain-impales him with the Star Towers -that would be a coordinated fleet of starships surrounding Zinn 2 - that prevented Rovagug from hearing prayers – or jumping away and escaping- and the archdevil Asmodeus, my ship, bound him with a key crafted by Abadar, that would be Abadar Industries tractor beam, that only the Prince of Darkness could turn (Tavarious takes a bow). That is my role, I am here as a servant of Asmodeus and captain of the ship bearing his name."

"Sarenrae -again, that is you Zevrin- then repairs the rift, leaving behind a smooth scar and, if we are successful, this time around, we will destroy Rovagug for good. Ending the cycle."

"VP Anyari, all of these vessels are under your employ. You will feed those ships’ last known coordinates into the artifact, so that the Anomalous Endeavor can track them down and fulfill prophecy."

The Calistria

The Calistria is an explorer class ship registered with Reclama Observatory that is currently under contract with New Horizons Luxury Retreats. It is sitting listlessly in the drift. Its running lights are off, but its life support systems are showing as on. A single, unidentified lifeform is on the vessel. The Two Brothers cannot pin its location down due to some kind of sensor interference. A docking port is active.  Tavarious had warned the characters that physics may not be working correctly in the drift right now and to expect anything.

As the characters entered the Calistria, they discovered that the inside of the vessel had a light coating of snow in the corridors and rooms, and it was actively snowing. A light breeze blew and carried with it the smell of holly, potpourri, and the faint sound of bells ringing in the distance.  The characters discovered cloved hoof prints melted into the snow and smelled wet, greasy, animal fur.

The characters surmised that the ship was occupied by the demon Krampus, and they faced four moral and ethical trials to prove their worth of taking the ship.  Each successful trial earned them a piece of the ship access codes.  Each failed trial earned them a piece of coal.  If the characters failed to prove their worth, that they were "good", then they would be cursed for an entire year.  They faced the rich man's dilemma, the bowl of noodles dilemma, the weight of ice dilemma, and Calistria's scrutiny.

The characters were successful in their trials, earning more pieces of code (3) than coal (2).  The characters were able to successfully enter the mainframe code, upload the drift flare and the ship was immediately jumped back to Zinn 2.  The ship systems returned to normal, the snow disappeared, and no sign of Krampus remained.