Chapter 1: Seeking confirmation

The Pathfinder Society is a fellowship of adventurers who maintain a global operation of explorers, historians, and thrillseekers that number in the thousands, with thousands more in support staff. The title of Pathfinder is known across the breadth of the world of Golarion, and none know of the Society’s exploits more than the citizens of Absalom, the so-called City at the Center of the World.

It's been a few years since all of you started as a pathfinder initiate, training in the Grand Lodge at Absalom. All with the goal of one day undergoing your confirmation, a task that upon completion would make someone a fully fledged pathfinder.

All of you have started thinking about finding sponsors to start working towards your confirmation before suddenly receiving a summons from the Three Deans of the lodge. So now you 5 all find yourself in one of the many meeting rooms of Skyreach, the central hub of the Grand Lodge.

For now it is just the five of you, no sign yet of the Deans. The summons said very little other than the meeting time and place, and you are left to wonder what this all might be about as you wait.

As you speak among yourself the doors to the room once more open and three individuals enter the spacious meeting room. A male elf, garbed in fine red robes with gold embroidery enters first. The second to enter is a woman with snow-white hair and a cluster of multi-coloured gems orbiting her head, laden with books. Finally, a bald human male with a bushy beard smiles widely and then curses to himself as the array of weapons along his back get stuck in the doorframe.

You all have been around long enough to recognise that these three are the deans of the Pathfinder Society. Kreighton Shaine, the elf Master of Scrolls; Sorrina Westyr, the oread Master of Spells; and Marcos Farabellus, the human Master of Swords.

Kreighton takes the empty seat at the head of the table, while Sorrina takes an adjacent seat to his side. Marcos half-jogs to join his colleagues, but after a few seconds of awkwardly trying to seat himself and his panoply of back-mounted weapons, he pushes his chair in and stands behind it with a wide, if apologetic, grin.

"Regrets for the sudden nature of this meeting. I’ll try to be brief." Kreighton begins. "One of our most enthusiastic Pathfinder initiates, a fungus leshy by the name of Rain in Cloudy Day, was recently approved for his Confirmation. In case you’ve forgotten, a Confirmation is a mission we send initiates on as a final test before recognizing them as full field agents. It was a mission to the nearby nation of Taldor to search for some ruins in a swamp near the city of Cassomir. Standard fare for a Pathfinder mission, but Rain hasn’t reported back, and it’s been a week since his expected check-in."

Sorrina Westyr extends a hand. "This is where you come in. Even though Rain in Cloudy Day is still an initiate, the Pathfinder Society doesn’t leave its own behind. Us three masters have agreed that a special exception is necessary. For those of you who haven’t finished your own Confirmation, we’re willing to offer each of you a place in a group Confirmation. We’ll provide a stipend of gold for you to book your passage to Cassomir, and from there, you’ll need to find out what happened to Rain."

The Master of Swords, Marcos Farabellus, chimes in with a chuckle. "Exactly what my associates have just said. Find a boat, head to Cassomir, enjoy a bit of the city’s livelier elements, and then head into the swamps to find our missing initiate. Of course, if you find little Rain alive and well... then you can really prove yourselves by helping him discover those ruins and finish his own Confirmation!"

'It was rains choice to go. He uncovered evidence of ruins in Taldor’s Blackwood Swamp, just north of Cassomir, that may date back to the time of the ancient Azlanti Empire. The Azlanti civilization effectively ended when a swarm of meteors descended on our planet in an event known as Earthfall. These ruins were likely built by Azlanti who survived the event, and are possibly 6,000 years old, or older. He waned to study them, and see what he could learn" Sorrina explains before Marcos cuts in.

'Now we didn't look closely into it ourselves, just looked over the research, it looked sound, and quite likely something might be there. As a bonus the swamp was also a perfect place for a pathfinder to prove themselves. It surrounds Cassomir on all landward sides. It’s a rotting marshland that’s filled with dense overgrowth, quicksand, giant carnivorous plants, monsters, and all sorts of other lovely things. ' He suddenly looks a little sheepish. 'Perhaps a little too perfect. Ol' Rain may have bitten off more than he could chew. Thats why we're sending a group this time.

He laughs at Noddy's questions. 'Now I'm sure you 5 will be fine. We learned from our mistakes. '

Kreighton shoots him a look. before also speaking. 'It is true we believe you 5 can handle it. We are not the sort to just keep throwing recruits at a problem. We are however seeing if we can get a couple for experience pathfinders to come near the area to be on stand by, just in case. Letters and messages take time however, so we have nothing set in stone yet