Pathfinder Society - Silent Tide 06/17/2019

General Summary

The Pathfinder Society gathered several of its recruits for their initiation. Maiki the Slayer, an elven exile from Kyonin. Oreleth the Grenadier, a Taldan human alchemist. Vrath the Armored Hulk, a halfling armorsmith from Kalsgard. And the mysterious Harok, an orcish shaman and follower of Valani, with his equally strange ioun wyrd familiar, Irok. They were to meet with their first Venture-Captain, and carry out his assignment
In Absalom, Adril Hestram told them of Yargos Gill and his discovery of an old archive from one of Taldor's many failed attempts at taking the city. He resides in the Puddles, one of Absalom's poorest districts, where strange wraiths were marching through an unnatural fog.

A bear of a man with only a few teeth remaining in his head, he motioned you into the meeting hall with a casual wave of his grizzled hand. The human captain outweighs most of Absalom’s half-orcs, and though a layer of beefy blubber coats his frame, those of you who have tangled with him in the Lodge sparring ring know that beneath this thin veneer of fat lies nothing but solid, steely sinew. Adril’s wild beard wags to the ponderous shake of his massive head as he examines a scrap of ancient parchment on the table before raising his eyes to greet your gaze and speaking:
“Come in then, friends, and thank you for answering my summons so swiftly. The society is in need. An old and quite penniless historian, a bespectacled wag-beard by the name of Yargos Gill has recently made a discovery in an old archive that we have a great interest in obtaining: an ancient codebook, left behind in the wake of one of Taldor’s many failed attempts at invasion. This several-hundred-year-old text would prove an excellent addition to our collection, and must be preserved.
“Yargos makes his home in ‘The Puddles,’ Absalom’s poorest district, suffering from a well-known reputation as a haven for lowlifes. Following an earthquake ten years ago, parts of the Puddles now rest below sea level, resulting in frequent and untimely flooding. Those who can afford not to live there—don’t.
“The district is the stomping ground of pimps, harlots, addicts, knifers, and hoards of unseemly derelicts. It’s never been a kind place, but recent reports reveal some new nameless terror on her waterlogged streets. Several persons claim to have seen cloaked, skeletal-like figures marching through an unnatural fog. Ill tidings indeed. Tracking down Yargos is now a priority—--lest some yellow-toothed thug cut him down, or one of these strange wraiths carry him beyond the pale. Find him, fellow Pathfinders, and find the codebook. Your exploits will be recorded in the Chronicles if you succeed.”

Maiki was for some reason immediately interested in tracking down the spectral skeleton soldiers and started seeking them out in the Puddles district. After some time spent trying to find them, the unnatural fog rolled over the district, and a patrol came upon them. They defeated them and Maiki quickly claimed the sickles for herself.
The party went to look for Yargos but found he and some friends had already been taken by some thugs called the Warhounders. They had taken Yargos and friends to a nearby cliff, and threaten to drown them in the sea.

Six brash young thugs covered with tattoos of vicious, snarling dogs are prodding four terrified older men off the edge of a cliff into the sea. The prisoners are shackled together in a line with heavy chains, which shall surely drag them to the sea floor in short order should they tumble from the cliff’s edge into the churning waters below.

The thugs pushed Yargos off first, with his three friends being pulled behind him. The last one, a retired watchman, was able to grab the ledge and hold on.
Maiki sneaked behind one, stabbing him in the back as Harok and Vrath charged from behind. Oreleth provided ranged support. One of them had a lucky shot on Maiki and dropped her with a crossbow bolt, but Harok was quick to revive her and heal her wound. The group was able to successfully defeat the thugs. Vrath rushed over to help the people on the ledge, but unfortunately was not able to lift them. They dropped into the water. Maiki dived into the water after them and was able to break the lock and chains by brute force and lead the four people to the coast.
Yargos thanked the party profusely, and tells them about the Silent Tide, and a master abort code, a signal that will end the entire operation. But without the book he cannot recall precisely what color and pattern will reproduce the code. The Warhounders were lead by a man named Nessian, who has the codebook. From one of the Warhounders they had taken prisoner, they learned where that Nessian was heading to the granary. And in the distance a red light and distinctive pattern was flashing.

“Nessian!” shouts Yargos. “He’s signaling Black Echelon—the undead! Six flashes of red—I remember that signal… By the gods! That’s the granary! Nessian has sent those monsters to poison the granary! C’mon! I don’t know how, but we’ve got to stop them—we’re the only ones who know what’s happening.”

Within the granary they encountered several spectral Black Echelon Operatives, with vials of Gut Wither that they had intended to poison the cities food supply.
Desperate to find Nessian, Yargos took the party into the sewer maze of the Puddle District, a waterlogged labyrinth of dangerously flooded tunnels known as the Siphons. There they found Grandmaster Torch, one of Absalom's most notorious information brokers. He said he knew were Nessian was, but reluctant to sell the information about a potential future undeworld leader. He offered an alternative.

"I’ve recently come into possession of a series of safes. Unfortunately, the safecracker I employed has turned out to be quite useless. If you can coax even three of the five safes open, I could be persuaded to disclose Nessian’s location and dispense with my regular fee entirely. These chests are remarkably unique and I have the foreboding suspicion that, in this case, the receptacles just might be worth more than their contents, so I’d rather you didn’t smash them open. Oh! One more thing: if my diviner warns me you have crossed me and stolen the contents, there will be repercussions."

The first was the Devil Dial, which Maiki was able to open listening to the device. The second was the Box of Golden Faces, the third the Riddle Vault, the fourth a Smooth Stone Chest with no visible lock or hinges, and the fifth a Holed Safe. The party successfully opened all of them. Grandmaster Torch rewarded all of them and provided the whereabouts of Nessian.
Before heading to the Pyramid of the Dog, Nessian's and his minions had ignited another lantern, an interchanging flashing green and orange. Yargos recognized its significance instantly. It is one of the final and most important signals. The lights will send a team of operatives to attack the Metro-Cathedral, an old church of Abadar. And giant organ could be used to signal the entire Silent Tide, the awaiting Armada to approach the city and begin its attack.
The party was once again able to defeat the spectral operatives, but some damage occurred to the Metro-Cathedral's giant organ piano as a bomb flew into one of its pipes and detonated, disabling the piano and the correct tune from being played to signal the fleet.
At this time Maiki encountered a strange illness, perhaps tied to the Gut Wither that the operatives were attempting to use at the Granary. The party took her back to the lodge for her to recover with help, and recruited a couple acquaintances that Vrath was familiar with. Aclen Kemanir, an elf eldritch archer, and Emelnia Rosenys, a half-elf bard and speaker to animals.
The party made way to the Pyramid of the Dog, a decrepit lair of four ancient battered siege towers, three having collapsed inward towards the largest forming a giant wreck. Each had a sentry from a makeshift guardhouse. The party split up, with Vrath, Aclen and Yargos going one way, Oreleth, Harok, and Emelnia heading another. Oreleth was unfortunately spotted by one of the sentries and fired a shot at her. The party launched their attack on the tower, with Aclen missing a magical shot with webbing forming on the far inner wall of the middle tower. Oreleth threw a bomb, missing the sentry she was aiming for and ignited the tower and webbing which quickly caught the rest of the tower on fire. Nessian jumped from the upper floor, and surrendered to Oreleth aiming a crossbow at him. They recovered the codebook, as well as an indecipherable diagram of the final page, the abort code that Yargos was looking for. Vrath also rescued all the Warhounders from the burning building, intending to bring them all to justice.
The agents had passed their first trial and were accepted formally into the Pathfinder Society.

Rewards Granted

Passed initiation into the Pathfinder Society, promoted to Agent. Reputation increase within the Puddle District.

Missions/Quests Completed

• Found Yargos
• Found the Codebook
• Saved the Granary
• Stopped the Warhounders

Character(s) interacted with

• Venture-captain Adril Hestram
• Yargos, CG expert 2, hp 8, (military historian
• Tashen, NG commoner 1, hp 3, (tavern dish washer
• Ilmn, N commoner 2, hp 5, (soap maker and
• Samchar, N warrior 1, hp 5, (retired watchman).
• Grandmaster Torch

Notes

Oreleth damaged Abadar's Metro-Cathedral's Giant Organ Piano's pipes with one of her alchemist's bombs.

Report Date

17 Jun 2019