This is a summary of my Pathfinder group’s game sessions. The group, the Guardians of Golarion, have been at this for over a year now and seem to be enjoying themselves so far. I don’t know if people are interested in this sort of thing, but I thought I’d post it for the sake of practice if nothing else.

Also, if you’re one of the players in my group I suggest you not read these summary sessions. Stick to the summaries on our World Anvil campaign page. What I post here may include potential spoilers for the Second Darkness campaign. More accurately, my take on the campaign. I have made several changes to this particular Pathfinder Adventure Path, which I will discuss in another post.

If you are interested in previous session summaries, you can check out the World Anvil page I mentioned above and catch up by clicking the episode links there. This will be a work in progress, and I will evolve these posts over time.

Dungeon and Dragon Part Three

Characters of Note

• Godric (Male Aasimar Paladin of Iomedae) – Of the four who started the campaign, Sir Godric is the last original full-time member of the Guardians of Golarion. Currently in possession of the Helm of Suffering and keeps it tucked away in his bag. He also possesses a holy longsword named Heartseeker whose lineage is rumored to be traced back to the time of Iomedae herself. He does not know the true name of the spirit that powers the sword, but it does not seem fond of the drow.   
• Reh (Female Human Bard / Swashbuckler) – Reh’s “uncle” approached the Guardians to watch over the girl and keep her safe. Hours later she was in the middle of a war between elves and drow over control of Celwynvian. She has been training with Sir Godric, hoping to develop her skills with the blade but is in no hurry to get any closer to the action that is necessary. Reh is the brains and support of the group. Seems to have struck up a fast friendship with Fjord. 
• Buck (Male Human Gunslinger) – Found a gun in an abandoned house. Took it. Wants to make a positive difference. Very much a man of mystery.
• Rooker Shango (Male Human Shaman) – From the Mwangi Expanse. Ally of Kwava, who sent him to help the Guardians.  Has an owl familiar named Jobu. Follower of Desna, a fan of the stars and opposes eternal darkness. During his talks with the spirits, he spoke with Alyuin’s spirit. She told him about the Guardians and what they were dealing with.  Been helping the elves with their war against the drow by providing them with wands. Had a vision of a man made of stars who warned of a great darkness coming.   
• Shen Stroheim (Human Psion NPC) – Strong with psionic power but weak on social skills or confidence, Shen lost his eyes when he put on the Helm of Suffering. The helm increased his psionic power but the helm’s visor grew spikes that gouged out his eyes. Been with the Guardians since the beginning, and other than Sir Godric is one of the few original members left.
• Nolveniss (Drow NPC) – Nolveniss is a high-ranking member of House Azrinae, and one of Matron Sallevrah‘s most trusted arcanists. He led the research team in Celwynvian for a number of years, and now, just as his research was reaching completion, the elves came to ruin everything. As a result, he is in a particularly foul mood.
• The Apprentice (Drow NPC) – The masked drow who had been tasked with retrieving the Helm of Suffering from the Guardians. His friend Jozzu had been killed by Nolveniss, which shifted his focus from retrieving the Helm to getting revenge on his master.

Session Summary

Staring down two drow mages casting Fireball spells, Shen Stroheim and Rooker Shango braced for incineration. The casting was halted by the intervention of Nolveniss Azrinae and the masked man the Guardians of Golarion had met previously. 

Nolveniss studied Rooker and Shen, then told the masked man he called “apprentice” to take Rooker below to join the others. The mages held their action, the trigger word hanging on their lips, ready to blast both Rooker and Shen if they stepped out of line. The apprentice took Rooker below, leaving Shen with the leader of the drow incursion in Celwynvian. Nolveniss looked into the pit and saw the body of the recently deceased Ella. He commented that she appeared to be one of his earlier experiments. That was a long time ago, and since then he had fine-tuned the ritual used to create ashblood orcs. He then spoke a command word, and Ella rose to her feet. She then exploded. Nolveniss was amused. 

Below, the apprentice reminded Nolveniss that Lasdo did not want the Guardians killed. Nolveniss agreed, then reminded his apprentice that he had been tasked to retrieve the Helm of Suffering from the group. He pointed out that the apprentice had so far failed to deliver, which had prompted Nolveniss to kill the kobold that had been partnered with the apprentice to eliminate any further distractions. 

Nolveniss then turned his attention to Shen. He told the young man that it had been he who had removed the tongue of Master Barretto and recently had done more than that. He produced what appeared to be Master Barretto’s face. Blood began dripping from Shen’s blindfold. “This is for killing my dragon,” Nolveniss said coldly.” 

In a telepathic rush, Shen’s last thoughts flooded Sir Godric’s mind before Shen’s head exploded. Meanwhile, Sir Godric and the Guardians had begun to attack the apprentice. Godric then turned his attention to Nolveniss, but it was too late to either save Shen or stop the mage from teleporting away. 

With the apprentice gravely injured, the Guardians began questioning him. 

• The apprentice hated that Shen and Ella were killed. He knew what it was like to lose a friend. Jossu, the kobold that the dragon killed, was his only friend.

• The apprentice removes his mask, revealing himself to be a drow. He said his people do not put much stock in friendship. It was seen as a weakness.

• Dragon Shard – when Zalatas attacked Golarion, Algolon fought it with the help of several powerful entities from Golarion. The dragon’s body was shattered into shards. Its essence was trapped in a crystal created by the demon lord Abraxas, which was then locked away somewhere deep within the bowels of the planet. The shattered body created Dragon Shards, which were used back in the Age of Darkness and Age of Anguish to create powerful artifacts like the Helm of Suffering.

• Lasdo didn’t want the helm for himself. He wanted to test the apprentice against his Chosen Ones. Lasdo wanted the helm so Nolveniss could remove the dragon shard within it and become a Draa’kyl.  Lasdo and Nolveniss were like brothers.

• The drow generally do not like the draa’kyl because they’re seen as abominations. But the Twilight Empire was not concerned with what drow society approved of. They remain somewhat loyal to House Azrinae, which gives them a position of power but tend to operate as they see fit.

The injured drow wanted revenge against Nolveniss but did not expect to survive the attempt. While the Guardians went to examine the rest of the cavern, the drow disappeared into the darkness. 

Heavily laden with treasure, the Guardians rested within the dragon’s lair. The next morning they returned to the surface and started to make their way back to the elves staging area. 

As they made their way through the city, the Guardians came across the remains of a recent ambush. There was a great deal of blood, but no bodies. However, they did discover the dagger belonging to Kaerishiel who had been on a supply mission with Fjord somewhere in the city. The Guardians chose to return to the camp, unload their supplies, then return to search for survivors of the ambush.

(Image by Ilya Nazarov)