Arrival of the Horsemen

[TerrickTerran]

Eons ago, the Horsemen ran roughshod on the world, causing an apocalypse. Several heroes bandied together with gifts from their deities drove them away, to a realm which they call their own. Despite all the power they have, the horsemen stewed. They wanted revenge but for centuries, they were forbidden to do so. They needed an out, a way to exercise their power and control again. They planned and plotted but each solution came to a dead end. They might never have found their revenge until a new cult leader emerged. He had started a faction in Westcrown. Though many questioned the wisdom of forming it in a dying city, that was why it had made perfect sense. What better place for a cult of destruction than in a city that was dying. With the help of Allistair Strongbones, they got the anchor they needed and founded new avatars and champions. With their powerful minions, they could finally bring about the new apocalypse they dreamed. Now a small group of adventurers driven by forces known or unknown have caused them to group together in Absalom.

[Rhaegar14]

The elf had arrived too late.

He had crossed more than 300 miles in three days, urging as much speed from his magical mount as it could maintain for the duration of each casting. It was meaningless. He had seen the smoke before he had even finished crossing the Inner Sea. Absalom was gone.

Zavain let out a heavy sigh as he dismounted the black horse at the edge of the city, finding a place to hide it. The spell still had a few hours left, and it was possible he could get a few more miles out of the steed. The brown-skinned elf cast up his hood as he slid Korianna from her sheath; he wanted the sentient blade's senses to augment his own. Zavain disappeared into the shadows, keeping to the cover of those buildings that still stood. Even as he looked on the fate of Absalom, he could scarcely believe it. The entire city was gone, lacking a single trace of life or even death. He saw no bodies, only ruins and the signs of struggle. It was Melathlenora all over again, except Absalom was much larger than the city of his birth.

The exile wondered, not for the first time, if he was in over his head. I told you they were powerful, elf, his rapier chided.

How many times have I asked you not to read my thoughts when I am not speaking to you, Korianna? Zavain retorted.

He slid through the smoking ruins, his green cloak obscuring the gleaming chainmail beneath and his footfalls making scarcely a whisper. The smoke stung his eyes, and the salt and ash stung his nostrils, but Zavain kept his senses sharp as he looked for... something. He was not really sure what he hoped to find; perhaps a sign of where the cultists or daemons that had done this had gone, or a sign of where the entire population of Absalom had disappeared to, or a clue to where they would strike next. If nothing else, enemies on which to visit some small vengeance for the great city would be welcome, and his time in the Dreadwolves had taught him much about interrogation. A prisoner or two would be a good way to start gleaning some information.

[Rhaegar14]

Stealth: [roll0]
Perception: [roll1]

Note: Zavain benefits from the Alertness feat while he wields Korianna. This is how he gets the extra +4 for +22 to Perception.

[lostsole31]

The woman, achingly beautiful yet obviously celestial and non-human, steps out of the summoning circle with spare items, but distinct jewelry and a tattoo on her forehead: not the classic blue, open palm of Irori, but a more esoteric one - abstract, and called the Master's Rebus. She submits herself to the questions put to her by Vipin of the Verdant Fist, head of the Irorans at the Abbey of Avnindra, and is sure to include old Purushottam and the now solar-inhabited Singh Ghadavri. With his new powers and his own insight, Ramesh could see the favor of Axis shining through her, and none of the three men detected any trace of evasiveness in this woman, Satha Amala. Vipin recognized the ancient word, "satha," which had been infected only slightly to the more modern "sathu" (meaning "done well"), and is an identifier for one who is or attained enlightenment.

For these men the satha gave to them her history, and that she had been sent in place as a function of need that was recognized. Word in Irori's Serene Circle is that Raumya's forces were mobilizing on Golarion in his area of the Impossible Kingdoms and even Jalmeray. Of particular note is that Raumya (major god of evil in the Vudran pantheon) was sending asuras on various missions, and his alliances with other deities and some "external influence" that was as-yet unidentified. With as much humility as a four-thousand-year-old resurrected human could muster with the following pronouncement, Amala stated flatly that she would not have been called back to service like this were it not for a problem that threatens far more than just the Impossible Kingdoms or even Casmaron, but possibly one that likely threatened all of Golarion and maybe even beyond.

Vipin, a powerful druid-oracle seer, had been tracking the movements of the celestial bodies. It does not take a touted astrologer like himself to notice something disturbing ... over the past three years, Groetus has been coming closer. He took them to the mountaintop as evening was well underway. Amala was unused to this sky, but now that his attention had been drawn to it, even old Purushottam could look up and see the face of the moon closer than he could remember. And tonight, it was a blood moon, an ominous counter-point to the summoning of an ancient heroine.

The three elders discussed what might be done, as the singh looked on. With the pragmatism of a mortal man far younger than these old men and this seemingly immortal woman, the singh drew his brilliant katana, cut his hand, and gave his oath. He was inhabited by an extremely powerful angel, and this could not be coincidental. He vowed to act as guardian and companion to Satha Amala, as well as a liaison to her in this modern age, but only so far as his darmapati would allow, for a singh's first responsibility is to his liege.

The next day the three set out (Ramesh, Amala, and Purushottam) and a few days later Ramesh presented the Satha Amala to his liege, the Rajah Bandyopadyay. The old rajah was taken in by the obvious blessing of this celestial. Through his own sources, the Rajah was able to discover that as was originally the impetus to go to Avnindra, there were now substantiations of activity by the mysterious cult of the Dread Dharmapati. The information was sent along through covert means, but the spy himself had been caught. Because of the danger this cult might represent and the personal knowledge the spy might have, Singh Ghadavri was commissioned with tracking down the man's last known whereabouts. Purushottam, too old for this sort of work, would stay behind.

Sure enough, with several battles and much teamwork Ramesh and Amala were able to defeat a local cell of the cultists (all had defected from worship of Vasaghati, and many were highly placed in society). Since Vasaghati is a goddess of the internal decay of civilized societies, it is metaphorically similar to a disease that is the internal corruption of a healthy body. If that was to be believed, then this cult cell might be focused on appeasing the dictates of the Dharmapati of Pestilence. After a great battle with plague zombies, ghasts, ghouls, a necromancer, and a half-asura anti-paladin, the heroes were victorious and managed to free the rajah's man on the inside, Seven-Shilling Shantanu, a Vudran man with uncommon hair ... dark red.

It turns out that Seven-Shilling was a thief and burglar of dubious background who was unable to fast-talk his way out of trouble when he was caught. He had thrown himself on Rajah Bandyopadyay's mercy (and that of Purushottam), and through the cleric's urging was redeemed, atoned, and used his varied skills and psionic powers to become a constable. Hated by his former comrades for being a "turncoat," Seven-Shilling was nonetheless quite successful at bringing criminals to justice. A master at infiltration as a faceless man (he wasn't so skilled at actually interaction) and with a wide palette of training and talents, he was recruited for special missions needing a constable who could work far afield of a support network. Ever desirous of proving himself, he signed on for this incredibly dangerous assignment, even though he would have neither handler nor partner to help him, only a contact for intel pickup.

When they returned to the rajah, he was elated and Seven-Shilling was debriefed. Desirous to use this heaven-sent creature to similar effect throughout his kingdom, Amala chided him, and even Purushottam stood his ground with her. The rajah was asked to put aside his personal "plans" for his kingdom but to understand the wider picture. Only through her great charisma and insight was Amala able to finally convince the rajah that they would be needed to track this problem to ground, wherever in the world that might lead them. Singh Ghadavri was given a temporary release of service of home service, but still was a dharmapati acting in the interests of his own liege. To aid him, Seven-Shilling was allowed to pledge his service directly to the singh, and Ramesh - while not a vassal - nonethless accepted that in these matters Satha Amala should lead.

And so they set out, in time exhausting the leads Shantanu had but heading ever northwards towards Avistan. First was a voyage to the Isle of Jalmeray to restock and then on to Stonespine Island at the port of Okeno. Speaking fluent Kele****e, Seven-Shilling again proved himself a valuable servant by being able to track down information on what might be a "Doom Cult" deep in the mountains. After some work, they discovered a mass grave: an entire Keleshi(t)e village had apparently committed mass suicide. Through magical divination and following mundane clues, the heroes discovered a flind (and advanced gnoll) mesmerist who had engineered the mass death via chemical and psychic means. Though a canny foe, one given less to open confrontation than before, the flind and his minions were dispatched. Evidence pointed to a distant cell well north in Qadira.

Renting one of the few honest ships in the pirate port of Okeno, up the western coast of Casmaron, and then up the Pashman River to the capital of Qadira: Katheer. During this time - the voyage, the river travel, and in Katheer, the heroes kept finding themselves a "target of happenstance" by disparate entities, and yet Amala believed them to be more than just whatever modern dangers Golarion possesses. Killing a blue dragon and chasing off its mate, the weary heroes finally make it to the pilgrimage town of ancient Gurat to resupply. From there, they followed clues to follow-up rumors of a mad druid. A renegade from the River Kingdoms, this "siabrae" would go from town to town and ruining crops and food supplies while his minions would control the roads to kill any people who might get aid (usually slowly and through torture). It is a slow and terrible way to kill, but already one small hamlet had succumbed to starvation and many small villages and towns were in dire straits. This man proved the canniest threat yet, with a mix of magic and mundane might, and turning the very blighted land against them. Still, in the end they were victorious.

Funds had been dwindling greatly ... the dragons were fought well away from their lair, and much of the heroes' funds were depleted through various scrolls, potions, and even a couple wands, as well as simply from paying for long-range travel. This druid must have offered little but fear and the satisfaction of inflicting misery on others, though, because his minions were poorly outfitted and for himself he had little. Still, there was one message that was curious and written in Taldane, rather than the more familiar Keleshi(t)e of this area or even Vudrani:
"Personally bring word of your success to Absalom. - Allistair Strongbones"


And to that, the heroes' returned to Katheer and procured a ship to take them to Absalom, and they paid pretty gold and even some unused magic in making this happen.
Upon seeing the devastation, Amala paid the last of their better coin for a rowboat that they might alone go to Absalom. Smoke still wafting into the daytime sky, the captain had little argument with this. Since he was paid only for this mission and with funds for return, he left them at once and wished them the favor of the gods.

Both men rowed them in while Amala stood with incredible balance, surveying the scene of destruction. They pulled along a quay that services fishing boats, tied the rowboat off, and disembarked.

Now in the desolate streets, Amala looked to Seven-Shilling than Ramesh. "With your permission, Ramesh, if there are any souls hiding they will notice us before we notice them. Let us actually seek attention rather than stealth, and have your servant sing a calming tune while we begin searching for signs of life."

With Seven-Shilling singing the three of us will begin looking for signs of life. Hopefully someone will hear us and come our way.

[PSinger]

Ramesh nods at Amala's suggestion, and that is all that is needed for Seven-Shilling to take the lead. He will not have his bow out, but he will not be overly-relaxed. Definitely cautious, but still singing.

Ramesh will have himself and Amala follow 10' behind. Head on a swivel. He has no weapons out.
All rolls include Amala's inspiration ...

Seven-Shilling
* Perform (sing) [roll0]
* Perception [roll1]

Ramesh's Perception [roll2]

[TerrickTerran]

There's little need for stealth, and besides the eerie silence, there's not much to notice for a while, but as you continue your search, you come across a goblin running around on all fours, behind her is a large bear walking on its back legs as if that was a normal thing. She seems to be chattering to him in goblin. Zavain would recognize it as "No, Crusher, Lupi not sure why we here, but must be clue somewhere." She stops suddenly, starts to sniff and then lick her lips a bit. In common she shouts "Are you friend or food?" the slight goblin creature carried no weapon yet somehow you got the feeling that was at best a minor inconvenience to her. She slowly started to move around, as if expecting an attack. "No one here but Lupi and Crusher." as the veins in her body seemed to strain in anger.

[PSinger]

Meanwhile, Seven-Shilling's voice (might be, depending on location in the city, since we are starting out by whatever docks) filling the eerie silence with a calming, but not disrespectfully jaunty, tune.

[lostsole31]

Satha will use her knowledge of music and mathematics to determine harmonies with which to accompany Seven-Shilling, but is likewise aware.
Perform (sing), untrained, only to Aid for a +2 bonus to SSS ... automatic success, so +2 to his Perform (sing).
Perception [roll0], includes her +4 morale bonus for Born to Lead since Ramesh and SSS are nearby.

[Rhaegar14]

Zavain set his eyes on a very curious sight. Normally, he would have assumed that the bear was the goblin's pet, but with the way the goblin was sniffing and walking on all fours, while the bear walked on its hind legs, he could not be faulted for doubting that assumption. Still, she had caught his scent; that was careless of him. He must have been upwind of them. Still, it did not seem as if she knew where he was yet. He slid Korianna back into her sheath, before pulling Silence over his shoulder and nocking a pair of arrows to the string. He slipped out from his cover, keeping his bow low and the string relaxed, but still ready to fire at the goblin if necessary. Zavain was enormous by elven standards, nearly six and a half feet tall and packed with lean muscle. His face was shrouded by his hood, but Lupi could see the silver eyes and black hair beneath, and his bare hands showed his brown skin. He moved with effortless, unnatural grace, and even at that distance exuded a predatory air.

"That depends," said Zavain, responding in Goblin, "on who Lupi and Crusher are. Did you and your... friend... have anything to do with this?" He gestured to the ruins of Absalom around them with his question. The elf found it unlikely that a single goblin and a bear were connected to the Cult of the Horsemen, especially if they were unsure what they were looking for in Absalom, but caution was always wise.

Zavain marks both Lupi and Crusher as studied targets. This gives him +3 to attack rolls, damage rolls, and a number of different skills against them; most notably Sense Motive in this situation. He's going to make a check to see if he believes whatever Lupi tells him, but I'm assuming it's going to be irrelevant.

Sense Motive: [roll0]

[TerrickTerran]

"Lupi not involved. If Lupi involved, there would be lots of blood. Something called Lupi and Crusher here." She moved from all fours to two feet, though she was almost as tall on her hands and knees. She continues to wander around a bit. "Something here somewhere, Lupi find, take back to friend. He tell her what it is." Despite what she's saying, she doesn't offer for what she is searching. She returns to crawling, curiously sniffing the ground as if on the trail of something.

Zavain
Lupi is telling the truth. Please make a knowledge roll either religion or local.

[Rhaegar14]

Zavain takes 10 on his Knowledge (Religion) check for a result of 28.

[TerrickTerran]

Zavain sees a symbol that seems familiar though he can't quite put his finger on why he knows it. It was like he saw it in a book somewhere. He can hear a tune in the distance so clearly there is some sort of life around here.

Satha and Ramesh can see a couple figures in the distance. Otherwise, the only sounds are the music they are making.

[PSinger]

Ramesh points out the figures in the distance to his companions, if they haven't seen them. Otherwise, move our little group that way.

[lostsole31]

Yes, walk forward to the group we see. Before we move to far, though, I ask that Ramesh call upon Omrataji's gift to note the purity in their hearts once we get closer. I am sure that before we get there no doubt this other group will prepare themselves or even come forward themselves to greet us. All weapons are to be away on our side (which works better for us, especially Ramesh, anyway).

Once it appears that the other group has seen us, thank Seven-Shilling for gifting us with his voice (a cue that he is to be done singing).

At about 20', and just ahead of the other two in our group, Amala will bow to this very strange group ... a bear, a goblin, and a rough-looking individual elf. She stands ready to hear Ramesh's Vudrani-spoken pronouncement while taking a broad measure of the group in general.She will detect evil in general (SLA, so no verbal-somatic), and then detect chaos in general. She will not wait for more finite measurements. She will speak her results in Vudrani to Ramesh.

Meanwhile, PSinger, if you could ... she asked Ramesh to do a generalized check on good and law. Once she gives him her review, she'll engage them in conversation. If there was any evil-ping, then if he can be more finite while she talks. Follow that up if there was any chaos-ping.
To the newcomers, she will hold up both hands, showing them her palms. She will be pleasant and patient if they have any shouted challenges, but she gives them a good looking over, which is something they will likely be doing themselves, even if that isn't backed up with any subtle divinations of their own.

The female some distance ahead of you is a very, very tall woman (6'5") but of incredibly narrow proportions (not even a buck-fifty if she has human weight proportions). She can't be human, and yet human is the closest analogy you might have for what she is. Her skin is the color, lustre, and shine of purest gold. One would think that she is actually made of gold if it weren't for the malleability of her otherwise efficient movement. Her hair is offset from this with the color of purest platinum, grown very long and in a braid that goes down to below the small of her back, gathered thick and beautifully. Her eyes aren't just blue, but of an iridescent, almost jewel-tone blue. She is achingly beautiful, and yet her manner and such is not the romantic-type of beauty that would have bards ashamed for want of words, rather, it is more of an unearthly, idealized type of austerity, a patrician beauty and with foreign features to boot, something reminiscent of lands to the far south. On her forehead, however, is a strange symbol that is tattooed there. She possesses some type of regal foreign bearing, not something quantifiable while definitely something palpable. You don't know of whom or what, or if she is friend or foe, but whomever she is .... she is a leader.
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/q755/lostsole31/Masters%20Rebus_zps9tdmkha7.png
An extremely rare and little-known form of alternate holy symbol for Irori, it is called the Master's Rebus. It deals with Iroran academics and mantras.She wears a simple silk robe with a colorful silk sash, and she does seem to have some jewelry on her, but otherwise has very little and absolutely no weapons.

"I am the Satha Amala," she says with a sonorous voice, her Taldane accented (with Vudrani, if you've ever heard it, even if you don't speak it). "This is my companion the Singh Ramesh Gadhavi, and that other is his man. We have come all the way from Casmaron following the signs and trials that have led us to what you in the Inner Sea call The City At the Center of the World, only to find it in ruins. By meeting you, it seems we have possibly doubled the current population of this ruin. May the Perfect Man and your own gods give you the wisdom to find your own strength in this calamity. With whom do I speak, for I do see a very strange mixture of souls before me?"
Okay, so this is always a tough one, because "Diplomacy doesn't work on PCs." Not that it should, of course, but what's important here is that there is a very real supernatural effect, not just high Diplomacy, and anything like that which requires a save ... which this does ... is not something that can out-of-hand be dismissed. That said, this isn't any kind of compulsion, and it is more of a mechanical way of seeing how very personable she can be.

So, first things first, the very first time a creature is within 30' of Amala, its attitude is shifted one category toward positive, if it was not initially hostile. I doubt your characters are overtly hostile, but if they are, that means we are fighting (otherwise, you're just unfriendly). So there is a Will save vs. a DC of 25 to negate this effect. This is a mind-affecting enchantment effect. Basically asking that if you fail a save you are on the honor system as to what your initial attitude might have been, and then RP-ing that as a shift to the right. That's all on you, but this is a real effect.

That said, the shift can be further modified by her actions, or it might change over time naturally. That's it. It's sort of an automatic greasing-the-wheel effect in social situations, but is an odd-ball where autonomous PCs are concerned the first time out.

[PSinger]

If the golden woman seemed tall, the man behind and to her right is a couple inches taller by two inches. The one whom she introduced as "Singh Ramesh Gadhavi" is no kind of human. In fact, he seems to be a leonine-featured catfolk.http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2013/111/1/a/lion_samurai_warrior___kirin_by_leightondickson-d62jgc8.jpgAlso, unlike the tall, spindly woman the singh is a bruiser though still lean. His hair is yellow-gold and his eyes differ from the typical lion type as they are a green. His armor is foreign (Vudran noble), but the best way to equate it would be a type of breastplate that allows for exceptional mobility, despite all of the lacquering and adornment. Sheathed at each side are two swords, at his back is a thick-strung bow, and hanging from his right hip is an adamantine morningstar - obviously a door-smashing item and construct-killer. Also unlike the woman, he has a masterwork backpack that seems to be absolutely stuffed with gear, though the singh seems to have no problem carrying it. He nods to you when his name is mentioned, though his gaze is intense.
His man-servant is a well-tanned Vudran with medium brown hair, but his eyes are covered by some type of lenses and have a dark-reddish cast. He is in classic Vudran garb for someone who would be the atypical adventurer, complete with drab-colored explorer's clothing. His left hand is wearing a cestus, there is a slender sword at his side (in a sheath), a bow at his back, and his belt includes a somewhat spiked bola, a net, and very high-quality manacles. No doubt that while his manservant doesn't have heavy melee weaponry or any armor, he performs some manner of law enforcement function for his master.