Entombed with the Pharaohs

As part of our process to reacquaint ourselves with d20 and Pathfinder in particular, we took up a mid-level adventure…Entombed with the Pharaohs. Now, obviously, there are going to be some definite spoilers below the break but I do just want to say that this module, written by Michael Kortes, has exactly what I love to find in a pre-published adventure. Although there is something of an “end-goal” involved with the module, it didn’t feel like an overly linear adventure. Instead, Mr. Kortes provided various NPCs, scenes, and tools to reach that end-goal but with enough openness that I’m guessing different groups will find this module play out quite differently. Exactly how I like a module to be written.

Below is the journal from our first session. It was nearly a month ago so I might have a few details wrong. Oh, but first, the characters…

• Nuala, a 6th level elf rogue played by Rachel.
• Kyra, a 6th level human cleric played by Bridgett.
• Ezren, a 6th level human wizard played by RJ.
• Nasir, a 6th level human fighter played by Todd.
• Scott, a 6th level Sorcerer played by Austin.

Now on to what happened in the first session…obviously there are spoilers below for Entombed with the Pharaohs.

The adventure began with the characters being sponsored by the Pathfinder Society to find the rumored to be recently uncovered Pyramid of the Four Pharaohs of Ascension, four rulers from Osirion’s past. The Society had paid for and obtained papers to allow the party to operate in Osirion. The PCs had recently arrived in Sothis to meet with Venture-Captain Jaldan Krenshar.

Captain Krenshar informed the party that, in return for the Society’s sponsorship, the party needed to recover something worthy of Pathfinder tradition as well as turn over a 10% cut of whatever valuables they recovered from the Pyramid. She also explained that the Society had found a survivor of a prior expedition to the Pyramid some 50 years ago and that a Pathfinder agent, the Mithral Scarab, was arranging for the PCs to meet this survivor. The party could meet the Mithral Scarab at an auction of antiquities the next day. She would approach them after they gave a pre-arranged signal…the party decided that Ezren would make a bid on something by raising his cane with a red ribbon tied around it.

The party obtained the services of a guide, Nahmen, a young boy that worked at the Lodge and decided to scout out the site of the next day’s auction. They learned a couple of things. First, Sothis is big, crowded, and a place that they are likely to get lost without someone who knows their way around. Second, the auction is going to take place in a large pavilion surrounded by many other large pavilions. Guards were outside of the auction tent. With no windows and no other obvious entrance outside of the guarded one, the party decided to leave well enough alone and retired back to the Lodge for the evening.

The following day, the party headed off to the auction…along with 500gp given to Ezren by Captain Krenshar for buying anything that might be of interest to the Society. Arriving at the auction, the party found many interested parties had come. In particular, they learned that the Archdocent, the curator of Sothis’ Exhibitory, and the Crook Bearer, a collector of notorious repute, were participating. As the party, specifically Ezren, were examining the objects on display prior to the start of the auction, they also made the acquaintance of a rather rude, overbearing, and haughty Chelish noble, the Paracount Julistar and his six Chelish guards. In fact, Ezren was almost goaded into a fight with the Paracount’s guards after being bumped into by the Paracount. The old man was, however, able to hold his temper in check and not attack a foreign dignitary.

Most of the items being auctioned off are from the dynasty of the Four Pharaohs of Ascension. It also became quite clear that, despite the large crowd, there were really only three major players in the auction: the Archdocent, the Crook Bearer, and the Paracount. With a few exceptions, one of those three had the winning bid on the various pieces of value. The Paracount, in particular, seemed to take a perverse pleasure in outbidding Ezren during the proceedings…perhaps a continuation of their prior encounter. Ezren, or perhaps it was just RJ, was rather annoyed by this turn of events and particularly by the smugness and disdain with which the Paracount outbid Ezren.

A couple of other events of note took place during the auction:

• Ezren bid upon some statuettes by raising his cane with a red ribbon tied upon it…the pre-arranged signal to notify the Mithral Scarab of their presence.
• A small bidding war erupted over a series of charcoal rubbings from the facade of one of the lesser pyramids from the complex of the Four Pharaohs of Ascension. A young woman tried to win the rubbings. When the bidding went beyond her limited funds, she was crestfallen. After the Paracount smugly drove the bidding way up and, to the utter dismay of the crowd, Ezren won the rubbings for 300gp, the woman approached him and offered all of her limited funds just to get a look at the rubbings. Assuming she was the Mithral Scarab, Ezren agreed to meet her in an hour at a nearby inn. Oh, it also turned out that the rubbings were worth a fraction of what Ezren paid for them…the Paracount really had gotten under his skin. 😉
• One of the last items that came up for bid was a collection of papyrus scrolls with a fairly high starting value. The Paracount asked to examine them and declared that they were fakes. The crowd was stunned. The auction was being run by the Kemesarian, an auctioneer with a reputation for having only authentic items. A halfling in the crowd immediately bid 1gp for the lot of fake scrolls. The Kemesarian was dumbfounded but the halfling insisted and the crowd, perhaps swayed by the Paracount’s swagger, turned against the Kemesarian. Scott jumped into the bidding and, as with the Paracount and Ezren, it seemed to get personal. This time, however, it was the NPC halfling that seemed to take things personally. In the end, the halfling won the scrolls for something like 35gp and the Archdocent agreed to take the scrolls to confirm their authenticity. Scott also appeared to have made himself the object of attention of, by all appearances, a rather paranoid and possibly psychotic halfling known as X who had a rather large, and heavily armored, half-orc compatriot.

At the auction’s conclusion, a veiled woman approached Ezren and, pointing at a map she was holding, asked if he could give her some directions to a nearby fishmonger. Looking at the map, Ezren noticed the Glyph of the Open Road incorporated into the map and quickly realized that this woman was the Mithril Scarab. The woman thanked him for his help and indicated that she needed to get to the fishmonger in question, which happened to be quite close by, within an hour (i.e., to meet her there in an hour).

With two meetings arranged for within the next hour, the party did what all parties typically do…they split up. Nuala and Kyra went to meet with the young woman interested in the charcoal rubbings, on Ezren’s behalf, while the others went to meet the Mithril Scarab.

Kyra and Nuala found the young woman at the inn she had told Ezren she would be at. As they entered, she had her back to the door and seemed to be reading some papers and taking notes. When the duo approached and introduced themselves, she quickly and nervously gathered up the papers. She introduced herself as Neferit, a young scholar of Osirian history and language. Looking at the charcoal rubbings, she quickly ascertained that the information on them is nothing new to her…it is pretty basic information about the Four Pharaohs of Ascension. She shared all this information with Nuala and Kyra. Although Nuala said that Neferit did not need to pay the fee she had agreed upon with Ezren, the young woman insisted…even though it would be the last of her coin. Nuala asked Neferit if she would like to work for them and the young woman quickly and enthusiastically agreed, jumping up to give the rogue a huge hug.

[Rachel rolled a Sense Motive check and got like an 8 or similar. Neferit seemed to be completely on the up and up. Oh, the hug will come back into play in a bit. 😉 ]

The others met up with the Mithril Scarab at the fishmongers. She bought some twenty pounds of fish and told the trio to carry it for her. They reluctantly agreed and she led them on a rather confusing route to an orphanage. She has them give the fish to the orphanage and then takes the three to the tent of Raegos, the sole survivor of a prior expedition to the pyramid of the Four Pharaohs of Ascension. She instructed them to leave anything with writing upon it outside of the tent. She even offered to hold on to all such things and await them at a tavern just down the street or, of course, one of them could hold on to these things and wait outside of the tent. They opted for the former option, although somewhat reluctantly.

Shed of anything with writing, even coin, they entered the tent. Inside was a fairly modest home with string strung all about. Standing, like a spider in the center of her web, was an old, blindfolded man, Raegos. Nasir and Ezren explained that recent storms had uncovered the pyramid of the Four Pharaohs. Raegos was reluctant to say anything but the trio won him over with an offer of buying him many provisions. They had a long conversation and during their talk, Raegos provided them quite a bit of information:

• Raegos had been one of ten men hired by an elderly scholar, Imivus, to travel to the pyramid.
• According to Imivus, the window for finding the pyramid was short and was only open while the Ringed Planet was in its ascendency. None of them asked the scholar what he meant by this…in fact, they were all hired for this expedition exactly because they didn’t ask questions.
• They travelled to the location of the pyramid, some fifty miles southeast of Sothis, where four small pyramids sat. All four were made of a green stone.
• He explained that the recent storms could not have uncovered the pyramid because it exists on a different plane. Imivus summoned the Pyramid back to this plane by putting on a funeral mask made of gold with red and black feathers at the base of one of four small pyramids at the site to which they travelled. It was massive and made of some sort of green stone (just like the four smaller pyramids and many of the artifacts at the auction).
• Inside the pyramid, Imivus deciphered some of the many inscriptions. They indicated that anyone who dared intrude upon the pyramid and see the four symbols of the pharaohs would forever become enslaved monsters, serving as guardians of the pyramid. Although he refused to draw these symbols, he described the three that he had seen. They were, according to Imivus, the symbols for subjugation, desert, and fealty…each within a circle.
• One of the expedition’s bowmen cried out that he had seen the last of the four symbols as he became a withered husk, like the embalmed bodies they had encountered. This bowman, Seraton, then drove his arm right through the chest of Imivus and exploded the elderly scholar into dust.
• Everyone ran for the exit but Raegos was the only one to escape. Although he didn’t know why, he grabbed the funeral mask as he ran. Raegos explained that he barely made it back to Sothis and immediately sold the mask to the first buyer he could find. He could not, however, remember who the buyer was.
• Ever since, he has lived in fear of seeing the fourth symbol (thus the blindfold and prohibition of bringing writing into his home).
• And, of course, he said no treasures within the pyramid could be worth anyone’s life and soul.

After the conversation, the trio headed out to meet the Mithral Scarab and go purchase the promised supplies for Raegos. She, of course, was not in the tavern she had indicated…so none of their money or supplies with writing (e.g., spellbook) was either. As they turned to leave, she was standing right outside with a mischievous grin on her face. They got the supplies and delivered them to Raegos before heading back to meet up with Nuala and Kyra…and Neferit.

After meeting up again, the party, of course, split up again…do you see a pattern here? 😉

Nasir, who also knows Ancient Osirion, headed off with Neferit to some libraries to do research. They learn a few more things about the Four Pharaohs of Ascension as well as a bit about the Ringed Planet, Aucturn.

Ezren heads back to the Lodge to talk with Captain Krenshar. He shows her the rubbings that he bought for 300gp and she is NOT happy as the rubbings aren’t even worth 100gp. He shares the info that they had learned from Raegos as well. Krenshar wants the party to get to the pyramid SOON so no one beats them to it.

After a little more research, some of the PCs decided to find an astronomer to learn more about Aucturn. They asked Nahmen to take them to the best astronomer in Sothis. So he, of course, took them to the home of the Grand Astrologer of the Court of the Ruby Prince. They are disappointed that the Grand Astrologer is too busy to put aside everything at Court to come talk to some Pathfinders. They did manage to get an appointment scheduled for a couple of days later. When Namen realized that they just wanted to talk to an astronomer, he chimed in that his cousin, Kahsin, is one…though he is not quite right in the head.

Canceling their appointment with the Grand Astrologer, they headed off to speak with Nahmen’s cousin. They learned that Aucturn is believed to have a strong agitating effect on the elementals of the desert every 56 years when Aucturn is in alignment with Golarion. This is what accounts for the increased elemental activity and storms going on this season. Kahsin also informed them of the Dominion of the Black, a race of creatures believed to live on Aucturn. He then started babbling conspiratorially about these creatures and how they were responsible for the rise of ancient Osirion, the magics of the Four Pharaohs of Ascension, and, most importantly, how they will come back to Golarion some day…and it might not be in our best interest that they do.

At this point, the party was convinced that they would need to have an expedition numbering eleven.

Departing from Kahsin’s home, the party headed over to the Sothis Exhibitory as they had heard that it had an exhibit from the age of the Four Pharaohs. Looking through the exhibit, they found a funeral mask that perfectly fits Raegos’ description of it. Running back to the Lodge, Ezren got a letter of introduction from Captain Krenshar. With the letter in hand, they met with the Archdocent.

The party asked if they could “borrow” the funeral mask but was reluctant to tell the Archdocent why they wanted it. He explained that he had lost count of how many times someone had asked to “borrow” one of the artifacts from the Exhibitory. He also explained that these artifacts are not his; they belong to the Ruby Prince and he is simply the caretaker. The party came clean and explained what they need it for and the information they had learned about the pyramid, mask, and Aucturn. They also agreed to let him have first pick of purchasing the artifacts from the Pyramid if they could borrow the mask. In turn, he explained that the mask in the exhibit is a replica…the real mask is held by his arch-rival, the Crook Bearer.

A private collector, the Crook Bearer has his own “museum” of sorts, the Black Reliquary. Within it are unknown antiquities, many of which have most likely been obtained via less than legal means. The Archdocent explained that he had pleaded numerous times with the Ruby Prince to do something about the Crook Bearer and his illegal Reliquary but his pleas had always, for some reason, fallen on deaf ears. With that disheartening news, the party bid farewell to the Archdocent.

While at the Exhibitory, Scott spotted X hanging around. It turned out that the halfling was afraid that Scott was going to try and steal “his” scrolls from the Archdocent before their authenticity could be determined (which had not yet been done). Well, at least that is what X claimed. Heading to a nearby tavern, Scott and X discussed a little business proposition. Scott asked if X would be willing to kill and/or rob someone. The little psycho had no problem with that, especially if it was Scott that he could kill. When Scott said that it was the Crook Bearer, X wasn’t too interested in the killing part but had no problem with the robbery part. Scott explained that they needed a funeral mask, giving a description of it, from the Crook Bearer’s Black Reliquary. X said he could handle that and headed out to get started since Scott expressed that time was of the essence.

Scott also asked if X would be willing to participate in a little expedition that they were planning…remember, the party thinks they need eleven members.

With a good day’s work under their belt, the party headed back to the Lodge to rest and prepare for their upcoming travels. Ezren also spoke with Captain Krenshar to fill her in on what they had learned and planned to do. When the topic of X, the mask, and his robbing of the Reliquary came up, the Captain informed them that X is the notorious tomb-robber and killer, Xaven. Even worse, Xaven is working for the Paracount!

Making sure that Neferit was settled in at the Lodge (they didn’t want her to come along since they were sure there was going to be a fight), the party ran off for the Crook Bearer’s compound…guided by Nahmen. They hoped to either break in and steal the mask before Xaven could or catch him in the act. Arriving at the compound, Scott sent his air elemental to fly over the compound to scout while Nuala stealthfully skirted the walls looking for any traps or sign that someone had illegally entered.

While the two scouts were of scouting, the rest of the party saw another group of people approaching the compound. Their first thought was to scatter and hide but then they saw that it was the Paracount and some of his guards. Realizing that the Paracount had probably spotted them when they spotted him, they stood their ground and waited for him to approach.

As the Paracount reached the party, he simply told them to step aside so their better could pass. He had business with the Crook Bearer. In fact, he was there to let the Crook Bearer know that he had learned of a robbery committed against him…that someone had broken into the Black Reliquary and stolen an item. The Paracount smugly noted that he was quite sure that the thief had probably dropped a dagger while in the Black Reliquary, a dagger that looked just like the ones carried by one of their companions. Yep, he was framing the party!

That, of course, is where we stopped. 😉

It was quite a busy and very fun session even though I think there was only maybe a single die rolled all night…it was a lot of role-playing and information gathering. Somehow, I’d also be pretty surprised if other groups playing this module ended up hiring Xaven to steal the very “key” that is needed to get to the Pyramid. Although the module could be run in a pretty linear fashion, I don’t think it needs to be and I don’t really feel like it is written to be run that way. Like I said up top, the module provides a series of NPCs, locations, possible events, hooks, and information…how each group ends up dealing with all of those things is probably pretty varied. And this is exactly what I love about his module…it is quite open!