Episode 10 - The Fallen

General Summary

Early in the morning, Sakali attempted to summon Rool and accidentally summoned a celestial eidolon instead – Algalon – an entity somehow connected to his bloodline.
Later in the day, Fred gathered the group and told Saul they were “going to church”. She suggested it as they had just freed a slave, and they’d had some tough times lately, it might be nice to unwind. And off to church, they went. Not just any church, of course. They went to the Publican House, the tavern temple of Cayden Cailean.
Once inside, they were greeted with a celebration of drink and merriment, as was often the case in the Publican House. Everyone was welcome inside (except Cyphermages) and the group partook in various events such as arm wrestling and bulls heart (darts).
As the main event, the party competed in a group drinking event known as the Hour of Honor. The party, taking the name of The Bastion Brawlers, faced off against the reigning champions – the crew of the ship The Bruizers. It was a neck and neck battle, 5 vs 5, but in the end, the Bastion Brawlers lost by a 3-2 margin (Sakali and Fred being the only victors). Everyone ended up quite intoxicated.
While Valarius worked to sober up the party, they were approached by a white bald tiefling woman with Varisian tattoos on her face and tattoos of two daggers, one on each wrist, named Kasu Ayamani. She was a well-known bounty hunter/assassin who seemed both amused and surprised that these adventurers with a small fortune on their head would put themselves in such a vulnerable position. However, she assured them that she was already on a high-profile job and the group wasn’t on her radar, yet. She advised them to be careful.
Valarius and Sakali were worth 400gp alive, 100gp dead. Alyuin, Godric, and Winifred were worth 400gp dead or alive.
The next morning, the group accompanied Sakali to use the Cyphermage’s library to learn more about Algalon, the Celestial Observer (the celestial eidolon). After Sakali’s curiosity was satiated, the group then went to the Golden Master for more information about the bounty that had been placed on them. Kenoshi was in a meeting, but Hank the halfling met with the group outside in private.
The man who placed the bounty read the note that Valarius had left, then handed it back and said: “My master is not interested in conversation.” Hank tried to follow the man but he disappeared.
The halfling felt the man was creepy, like Twilight Empire creepy. (Twilight Empire was the boogeyman organization of the criminal world.) The contract was for five days.
Upon returning to the Gold Goblin, the party found they had a recently arrived guest waiting for them – Pais, the female wizard who had been part of Shen’s original Pathfinder mission.
She wanted the party to come to Absalom and talk to Shen. She was worried about him. Ever since he found the disc, he’d been spending more and more time in the library and in private. Withdrawing. He’d gone days without eating. Something had him fascinated.
Pais had a high-level Teleport scroll with her so she could take herself and up to four others. Fred offered to stay behind at the Gold Goblin until the group returned.
The group teleported to Absalom, in the courtyard of the Grand Lodge of the Pathfinder Society. They were met by Master Baretto and an elf named Galineth.
Venture-Captain Shevala Iorae was in a meeting so Galineth took them to Shen’s quarters. He said it was Iorae’s idea to let the boy play with the disc, in hopes that he could discover whatever secrets lay within it. Galineth opened the door to Shen’s room. Shen was sitting cross-legged, hovering three feet in the air, arms outstretched and holding the disc. He had been in that position for almost a day, completely unresponsive. Galineth wanted the group to try and recover the boy by going into the Discworld and getting him out.
The party touched shoulders and touched the disc. They appeared in another courtyard with a shattered crystal in the center, the same one they found when they first entered the disc. From the courtyard, they approached a temple-like structure that was now visible beyond the shadows and pulled open a set of double doors.
Inside the doorway was a 30×30 foot room. Unlike the grey walls outside, the walls inside were made of black obsidian, with purple runes etched on them. Rha’gi, an elf with a narrow face, copper hair and green eyes wearing monk-like robes, was sitting cross-legged on the floor meditating. He stood when the group approached and introduced himself as a Sakaar Guardian. He then announced that the group had entered the Discworld of Khaylin Cirdanas, Sakaar Guardian. “Are you here for knowledge? Or power?”
Suspecting Shen was looking for Knowledge, they answered with knowledge. Rha’gi bowed his head, and blackness followed.

Blackness. You enter the shadows. It feels like a physical thing, the shadows pressing against you. With every step, you feel less and less like walking and more like swimming, your arms propelling you as much as your feet are. You’re no longer moving forward. You’re moving up, up to the surface. You look up and see the darkness slowly giving way to specks of light, and now you no longer swim through shadows. You seem to swim through the vastness of space, surrounded by stars. Comets, planets, and it all seems vast and endless.
In the distance, a large star sparkles brightly. You turn toward it and feel it call out to you. Space bends around you, stars stretch into long streaks of light. The star grows bigger, and you feel like you’re falling to the ground as it rushes up to you. It is huge, with uneven edges and a flat surface. When you finally stop moving, you seem to be mere feet from it. The star fills your vision, yet the light is somehow tolerable.
This is the Living Gate.
There is a presence with the gate. Or maybe it is the gate itself, you can’t be sure. You feel drawn to it and reach out to touch the flat surface. A giant shadow moves on the other side of the gate, something in the Dark Tapestry. A realm, a dimension, of nightmares.
Your head starts spinning. You hear voices in your mind, voices that seem to be arguing with each other. Some say to destroy the gate to keep the monsters out. Others say that the gate is the only thing keeping them out now. Then you hear a third voice. A child’s voice. The voice of the Living Gate. “Don’t kill me.”
You’re pushed back, faster and faster. The stars blur again, and the Living Gate is but a tiny speck in the night sky. You feel the voice this time, the words feeling cold and evil against your skin. If evil could be felt as a physical sensation, this voice bore that feeling. The voice said, “It is decided.”
Then a scream that hurts your mind so badly that you go blind. There is only blackness.
Then a blinding light. An explosion.
The destruction of something of unimagined power.
Your vision returns and the stars ripple under a shockwave so intense, the ones nearest the white light blink out. Glowing debris scatter across the cosmos, and you see one of these pieces, one about the size of a small moon, fly by you. You feel a sensation of fear and uncertainty coming from the rock, and you end up being caught up in the mighty comet’s tail.
Time passes but you have no way of knowing how much. Centuries pass by in seconds. You can still feel the comet, but that feeling of fear becomes something else. Acceptance. The excitement of the unknown. New challenges ahead, while still a feeling of dread somewhere deep down that the Dark Tapestry was not locked away like They thought it would be.
The Living Gate’s purpose hadn’t changed. Protect. Keep the darkness out. Maintain the balance of the cosmos.
You’ve lost track of time now. It feels like you and the comet have been flying through space and time forever. Planets, galaxies, all passed by in the blink of an eye. The comet starts turning and begins flying in another direction. The comet doesn’t like this. This is not a choice. Or chance. Something is guiding its path. You feel it start to struggle, then it hits something and you feel the impact tear the comet apart. Tear you apart. Not enough to stop whatever force was pulling on the comet, pulling on you. Parts of you now, parts of the comet – you are the comet – rush toward a planet. Fire surrounds you as you burn through the atmosphere. You just want to stop, but you punch through the clouds towards a land mass below. You get closer and now you can see things. Buildings. You feel the terror of the people below as you rush toward them. You hear a roaring, the voices of thousands of screams of people who know their time has come. You feel their fear. They know they are going to die. Because of you.
Impact.
Everything is dark now. Dark and quiet. You hear the soft cries of those still dying, and they trickle down like raindrops against your skin. Innocent people dead and dying. Someone did this to them. To you. But that doesn’t help keep back the sadness inside you. “I’m sorry,” you hear a voice say.

The group opened their eyes, still standing before Rha’gi. They did not find Shen. The monk suspected Shen may have gone for power, and a section of the wall behind him lowered into the floor.
They stepped into the shadows again, emerging in another courtyard much like the one they had just left. The Temple they found there was made entirely of black and shining obsidian, and every square inch of the structure was carved with complex runes that glowed a bright orange. The dark building was backlit by fire. No, not fire. Lava. The building seemed to be on the shore of a lake of molten rock.
Inside the temple, the spectral form of Shen Stroheim was fighting off the shadowy figure of an elf, the edges of the shadow crackling with a chaotic black flame. One dark tendril was wrapped around Shen’s waist, pulling him closer to the shadow. Five figures, all dressed similarly to Rha’gi, stood up from where they knelt before the shadow and turned to face the adventurers. They appeared to be zombie-like until they broke into a full run and charged at the group.
The group clashed, Alyuin advanced and two of the creatures took her down. Godric managed to use his lay on hands and the creatures turned to face him instead. They peppered him but could barely get through his armored defense. As the shadowy creature drew Shen close, both of them stiffened and fell over. The last of the undead were killed, and suddenly they were all back in Shen’s room. The room was dark, save for a single lantern hanging by the door. Shen’s body was gone, as was the disc.
But sadly, so was Alyuin Krisire. She had been killed before Godric could even lay on hands. In the chaos of the combat, no one could tell that the girl had perished until the party stood alone in the dark of Shen’s room.

Rewards Granted

XP

5375/9000 + 2200 = 7575 XP / 9000

Character(s) interacted with

Winifred “Fred” Aldysh – Fred admitted during their drunken condition after the Hour of Honor that she didn’t know her mother. She was an only child, and her mother died giving birth to her. Her father was a former Hellknight and wanted his son to follow in his steps. Since there could be no son, thanks to her, he expected Fred to take the Hellknight test and fight a devil by herself. She expected to die in the process, so she was in no hurry to take the test. She feels there is no way to prevent it, just avoid the inevitable for a time.
Galineth and Pais – Pais is the apprentice to the elven wizard Galineth. Galineth is a senior member of the Pathfinder Society, but not a Venture-Captain or any position of authority (despite his mannerism to the contrary).
Kasu Ayamani – Tiefling Assassin, two daggers tattooed on her wrists. She has a scary reputation. Most people who see her don’t survive the encounter.

Notes

Shen and the Disc – Galineth put a helmet of Feeblemind on Shen before he was taken by the shadow creatures. Putting the helmet on him rendered Shen’s spirit helpless, unable to protect himself from the creature. It also kept the shadowy form of Khaylin Cirdanas from escaping through Shen’s body. Had he escaped, he could have possessed someone even more powerful. He would have been impossible to stop. He was imprisoned once, and he will be again. A sacrifice of one, to save all. Pais swore to keep searching for a way to bring Shen back and imprison Khaylin once and for all.
The Vision of Knowledge – Seemed to be the telling of Earthfall.
Dark Tapestry — the darkness between the stars where the inhabitants of Golarion believe true madness lies. The few beings able to survive in the vast, cold void of space are too alien for even the gods to comprehend, and present one of the greatest threats to the known universe should they wish to do so.

Report Date

17 Jul 2018

Related Characters

• Winifred Aldysh