• Table of contents
• Scenario 7-4A
  • Development
• Scenario 7-4B
  • Development
• Scenario 7-4C1
  • Development
• Scenario 7-4C2
  • Development
• Scenario 7-4D
  • Development

Scenario 7-4A¶

One week after your encounter with Letra, Eando Kline summons you to his office. The necromantic artifact he’d promised to lock away forever lies in plain sight in the middle of his desk, though you have to admit its unpleasant green glow seems to have died down some. “You thought your encounter with the Corrupted Priestess was the end of things,” he says. “Unfortunately, evil rarely works alone, and our research into the artifact has indicated this object has friends---a lot of them.”

Before you can ask whether these friends are alive or non-viable, Kline continues, “This statuette is part of a long-rumored collection of malignant magical items said to be buried somewhere in the Cinderlands. The bad news is, it looks like someone has found that cache. The good news is, evil always leaves a trail. Our divinations indicate a caravan of speculators has recently returned from the Cinderlands with relics bearing magical signatures that tie them to the statuette you found. Your mission is to confront these alleged merchants, obtain their collection by any means necessary, and determine the source of their ill-gotten gains. If necessary, head out into the Cinderlands and bring back any remaining artifacts before they can fall into the hands of more people ill-prepared to deal with the consequences.”

You head out to the address Kline supplies, trying not to think too hard about what means might be necessary. After all, purchasing is a means, and Kline will surely reimburse you for the expense. You knock on the door to the caravan house, and the woman who answers the door escorts you into a comfortable office. The merchant seems surprised that you want to purchase all of his collection and names a price more exorbitant than you imagined. As you close the deal, you inquire about the source of the relics.

Suddenly, the merchant’s demeanor turns cold. “You’re trying to cut in on my market, aren’t you?” he accuses. You try to assure him that you intend no such thing, but he doesn’t seem to believe you. He grabs a glowing green bell off his desk before you can stop him, and soon a haunting melody fills the room. Before you know it, several guards brandishing weapons enter the room, followed by something you really hope isn’t a golem. The merchant mutters an incantation, and he shoots a glowing arc of energy right at you.

Development¶

You look around the caravan house after the battle and are relieved to find no one else standing between you and the very large collection of artifacts. You look through the caravan’s most recent records and discover that the origin of these items is indeed in the Cinderlands, as Kline suspected. Even more interesting, it looks as if the expedition was sponsored by someone who signed their letters “L.” You breathe a sigh of relief that the caravan’s backer is probably the late Letra, until you notice that half the letters are in a different handwriting. Further examination of the accounting books indicates the expedition had two funders. But who could the second “L” be?

Scenario 7-4B¶

A perusal of the papers and artifacts provides you with no further clues about the second mysterious “L,” so you have no choice but to follow Eando Kline’s orders to head out into the Cinderlands and find the origin of this stockpile of magic items. You pick up a few supplies for traveling through a monster-infested wasteland and get one last good night’s sleep before heading out. The next morning, you head out of Kaer Maga.

The merchant’s map is difficult to follow through the featureless terrain, and twice you have to backtrack when you find yourself going too far south of your intended route. For three full days, you traverse across rocky sand, your lungs filling with the volcanic ash that permeates the air. You thought you had packed plenty of water, and while you’re in no danger of dying of dehydration, you wouldn’t mind more fluid to ease the itch in your throat. As you approach what you believe is your destination, you idly wish for a storm to fill up your waterskins.

The lightning flashes across the sky as if in answer to your prayers, but as the precipitation begins to fall, you remember how the Cinderlands got its name---the rain that falls from the sky is made of fire instead of water. You whip your head around, seeking cover, but find none. Knowing the entrance to the artifact trove is nearby, you race forward, dodging firedrops and hoping you’ve kept your course.

Just as you think you can run no more in the dust-filled air, you come across a giant rupture in the ground that looks as though something enormous once broke free of an earthen cage. Whatever escaped is long gone, though, and the outcroppings of rock should provide cover from the storm. As you use your last breaths to dash toward the opening, you notice movement around the edges of the chasm and hear the chittering of unnaturally large insects seeking out unsuspecting prey.
The spiny carapaces of several ankhegs scrabble over the rocks, as if something is chasing them, and you soon realize why. Behind them, an elephantine ankheg, nearly twice their size emerges behind them, its toothy maw dripping acid in drops larger than the flames still falling around you. You brace yourself for battle, reminding yourself that the slaughter of these bugs is all that stands between you and shelter from the storm.

Development¶

Covered in ash and acid, you deal one final blow to the monstrous ankheg, then dodge out of the way as the beast falls, crushing the bodies of some of its smaller kin. Taking little time to celebrate your victory, you run up the ridge of the chasm, then anchor a rope to throw down into the void. When you reach solid footing underground, you take a moment to breathe in the cool, clean air, then light a torch to take in your surroundings. Tunnels stretch out before you in three directions, with not a spec of treasure in sight.

Scenario 7-4C1¶

Three tunnels stretch out before you, beyond the edges of your admittedly limited torchlight. The map gives no indication of these underground pathways, and you wonder if you missed a second piece of parchment that demarcated the underground route. Unfortunately, there’s nothing to be done about that now, but exploring each cavern in turn would take a lot of time and resources, and you don’t want to get in many more fights like the one you just had.

Bending down, you study the ground, looking for signs of passage. In the first stroke of luck you’ve had on this journey, the ground seems undisturbed by the winds and storms of the Cinderlands above. Beneath the most recent scraping of ankheg tracks, you’re able to discern a number of footprints of varying sizes, and the most humanoid of them seem to head west.

You move stealthily down your chosen corridor, watching for any traps the merchants may have left on their way out to deter anyone else from stumbling upon their plunder. You come to a quiet halt when you notice an arrow bearing the caravan’s crest stuck in the rocky wall. The lack of blood indicates the projectile missed its target, but the triggered tripwire in your path shows the trap didn’t fire by accident. Someone has definitely been down this way since the merchants left.

Keeping close to the wall, you creep down the hallway another three hundred feet or so before you hear gruff voices ahead of you. “It’s got to be this way,” one says. “They left that trap back there. Besides, we tried the other two tunnels.”

You take one step forward, then another, until you can see the speaker within the dim light. The burly orc---and her equally sturdy friends---turn to face you with glowers on their faces. “What are you doing here, pinkskins?” she asks as she pulls a hefty battleaxe off her back. “Have you come for the treasure? It’s ours!”

You hold up your hands in the universal sign for “Let’s not be hasty,” hoping they’re smart enough to realize the folly of having a close-quarters combat in a narrow passageway. You assure her that you can make some kind of deal.

“Deal?” She throws her head back and laughs. “Very well. We shall compare our battle mettle with words rather than weapons! We shall see who can tell the greatest tale of bravery and valor!”

Development¶

The orc, whose name turns out to be Griftina, isn’t so bad once you get to know her. You discover she had been hunting the giant ankheg when she learned of the caravan’s treasure. She seems a little disappointed you slew the vile beast in her stead but praises your fortitude.

She shakes out her mane of black hair. “Very well, pinkskins, here is what I propose. We shall allow you to travel with us and assist us in defeating any foes between here and the treasure. In exchange, we shall allow you to take half of the treasure for yourself. What say you?”

Scenario 7-4C2¶

Three tunnels stretch out before you, beyond the edges of your admittedly limited torchlight. The map gives no indication of these underground pathways, and you wonder if you missed a second piece of parchment that demarcated the underground route. Unfortunately, there’s nothing to be done about that now, but exploring each cavern in turn would take a lot of time and resources, and while you relish the thought of more fights like the one you just had, you don’t have infinite resources..

Bending down, you study the ground, looking for signs of passage. In the first stroke of luck you’ve had on this journey, the ground seems undisturbed by the winds and storms of the Cinderlands above. Beneath the most recent scraping of ankheg tracks, you’re able to discern a number of footprints of varying sizes, and the most humanoid of them seem to head west.

You move brazenly down your chosen corridor, ready to cut down anyone who stands between you and your plunder. Though you’ll have to return most of it to Eando Kline in the interests of not unleashing great evil unto the world, maybe there will be a piece or two that he will let you keep!

As you careen down the hallway, heedless of any danger, you hear voices ahead of you. “It’s got to be this way,” one says. “They left that trap back there. Besides, we tried the other two tunnels.” Trap? Instinctively, you look behind you. You didn’t notice any trap.

As you turn back around, you can see the speaker within the dim light. The burly orc---and her equally sturdy friends---turn to face you with glowers on their faces. “What are you doing here, pinkskins?” she asks as she pulls a hefty battleaxe off her back. “Have you come for the treasure? It’s ours!”

The grin spreads over your face as you count up your foes. They outnumber you, but only by a couple, and they’ll have to approach you one or two at a time in this narrow corridor. You inform her that you are under strict orders to keep the artifacts out of the wrong hands, and that hers almost certainly qualify.

She bares her teeth and cracks her neck. “So be it. I was getting bored of these endless passages. A pathetic arrow trap? Pah! Tonight I shall taste blood!”

Development¶

As you pick over the corpses of your fallen orc foes, you wonder if the leader had expected the blood she so longed to taste would be her own, though she did get in a few hits with her battleaxe, a fine weapon sharp enough to hack through most barriers. You find few other worthwhile trinkets, but one of the orcs bears a religious symbol of Rovagug the Worldbreaker, which lays to rest any doubt you might have had about the necessity of these orcs’ deaths. Without another thought, you step over the remains of your foes and head ever closer to your goal.

Scenario 7-4D¶

You continue through the tunnels, and before long, the corridor opens up into a spacious cavern with pale green torches in sconces along the wall. The cavern itself appears empty, but the pattern of dust and scrapes across the floor indicate this chamber once held a wide array of objects---presumably the relics you requisitioned at the caravan house.

The sickly light continues into another room beyond, and as you draw closer, you notice a number of magical items both large and small in that room. You wonder why the merchant didn’t bring those items along as well. He might not have had enough room in his wagons, but there may have been a more nefarious reason. Your suspicions are confirmed as you step across the threshold, and a raspy voice whispers, “Who are you to destroy my master’s treasure?”

The incorporeal form of a dread wraith coalesces in front of you, close enough to rustle the edges of your clothing. When it doesn’t immediately attack, you peer at it, wondering if it honestly wants to converse with you. You explain to it that you are Pathfinders and give it a rough outline of your mission in the cavern.

“Your purpose matters not!” The wraith whips up more wind around it as it screeches the words. “My master has forbidden anyone from entering this place except for himself. The only reason I have not drained you of your vitality and turned you into my minions is that doing so would damage my master’s treasure. But refuse to leave, and I will risk my master’s wrath to remove you from this sacred space!”

You refuse to leave. With a scream of primal fury, the wraith spins around in a frenzied circle, and as some of the statues in the room come to life and lurch toward you, you realize why it was so concerned about the artifacts. As the wraith rushes toward you, you decide that Kline wasn’t going to let you keep the objects anyway, and if you destroy the animate ones now, you’ll have that many fewer pieces to drag back with you.

Development¶

Once the moving statues lie still and the wraith is no more than dust, you set yourself to the true purpose of your mission: finding incriminating documents. The treasure is nice---really nice---but if you can’t figure out who the second “L” is, your journey will have been for naught. Fortunately, you are able to cobble together pages from the journal of a wizard named Lysanar. His notes focus a great deal on animating statues, though the wraith you defeated indicates at least a passing interest in necromancy as well. Throughout the writings, you find mention of something called the Vault of the Sleepers.

Satisfied with your progress, you pack up the remaining artifacts that have not yet tried to kill you and prepare to make your way back through the Cinderlands to the city.