This adventure technically begins the instant the PCs claim the Scroll of Kakishon at the end of “House of the Beast,” even though you’ll still need the previous adventure to close out their adventures there. Take your time and let things work themselves out organically—in fact, the longer the PCs have the scroll in their possession outside of the hidden levels below the House of the Beast, the better, since that allows more time for the various interested parties to learn that the scroll has resurfaced. Certainly the fact that the scroll was so sought after by the evil janni Zayifid should be enough to intrigue the PCs, as should its seeming invulnerability, the powerful magic it exudes, and its other unusual qualities. To a certain extent, this adventure depends on player curiosity more than anything else—ideally, it’s the PCs’ attempts to decipher what their new item actually is that sends them to the city of Katapesh for answers. If one of the PCs carries the weapon Blizzard and is the windspeaker (see Pathfinder Adventure Path volume #19), they certainly has a strong urge to claim the scroll, although this urge should be presented to that player more as an almost-overwhelming sensation of fear at the very thought of the scroll falling into the wrong hands. The windspeaker feels that it is important to maintain control over the scroll and not let it pass to anyone else—at least as long as its properties remain unknown to the PCs. Of course, this is the spirit of the janni Templar Vardishal urging his symbiotic host to retain control over the scroll until they can ensure that Jhavhul will remain trapped inside.
Although the PCs can learn a few things about the Scroll of Kakishon, what they learn should be nothing more than tantalizing hints. Knowledge (arcana) is the proper skill to learn more about the obscure but powerful artifact; bardic knowledge will also work, and you can even allow characters to use Knowledge (history) or Knowledge (the planes) if you wish. If the person making this knowledge check is the windspeaker, he gains an asset bonus on the check as the spirit hiding within his soul provides unanticipated insights. The results of any of these knowledge checks, be they made by PCs or NPCs in the town of Kelmarane, are listed in the sidebar on the opposite page; any information equal to or less than the required DC can be learned with one roll. A legend lore or vision spell reveals all of the information at once.
If none of the PCs can successfully make these rolls and they seek out aid among their allies in the town of Kelmarane, their patron Almah Roveshki is particularly intrigued. Which of their allies is most suited to assisting them depends in large part on who the PCs have come to trust over the past two adventures, and who is still alive.
Father Zastoran or the bard Felliped are the two best choices to fill this role, and Almah herself can even step in if you wish. In any case, you can assume that the NPC expert the PCs choose to go to knows as much about the scroll as can be learned by a Level 5 check above (even if the NPC in question doesn’t actually have the proper skill). In this way, you can give the PCs enough information about their find that they know where to go to uncover more information, but at the same point don’t give away the two higher results for free; instead, set these results aside as rewards for PCs who make the checks themselves, or delay that information until the PCs actually reach the city of Katapesh.
Once the word “Kakishon” is known, Almah’s expression brightens. In her time in the city of Katapesh, she’s made countless contacts with various notables, and one in particular comes to mind when she hears the word “Kakishon.” This is an old family friend, a man named Rayhan, who has made a comfortable life for himself as a merchant, a scholar of note, and a wizard. She has visited with Rayhan several times in the past, usually when seeking his advice on mercantile matters involving the arcane and bizarre, and particularly with matters involving Katapesh’s neighbor to the south—Nex. Almah specifically recalls one visit when Rayhan had been researching numerous legendary and mythical realms supposedly conquered by Nex during the Age of Destiny. A place called Kakishon was said to be the most beautiful and valuable of these conquests, but no modern map of the world indicates where such a place may be, or even may once have been. In Rayhan, the PCs have the compelling combination of vast knowledge and a friendly disposition—the only problem is that he lives in the distant city of Katapesh.
Level: 10
Aura overwhelming conjuration; CL 23rd
Slot —; Price —; Weight 3 lb.
When inactive, the Scroll of Kakishon looks like nothing more than tattered parchment bearing a single, immense rune. At certain times (when viewed as a reflection in a mirror by a character that can cast arcane spells, by someone just woken from a deep sleep, or under the light of the rising or setting sun), the rune seems to waver and transform into a map of a region whose coastlines closely match the rune. Comprehend languages causes the rune to resolve into a map of the island archipelago for the duration of the spell, and observing the map through any remote viewing spell such as clairaudience/clairvoyance or scrying reveals the actual contents as well.
Yet all of this simply allows the user to examine the map of Kakishon itself, a map that is frustratingly vague and, in places, apparently unfinished. Worse, exact spellings of locations tend to appear differently depending on who examines the map, and any attempt to copy the map into another medium frustratingly results in maps that bear little to no resemblance to the source material.
The scroll itself resists all forms of damage; despite its tattered appearance, any attempt to burn, fold, tear, cut, or otherwise damage the map results in only fleeting disfigurement before the map repairs itself. If impaled on a spike, the map somehow finds its way off the spike in the blink of an eye; if torn, the map appears whole as soon as the tear is completed.
These qualities and traits are more than enough to intrigue and vex most scholars, but in truth, these are merely side effects and idle curiosities. The primary function of the Scroll of Kakishon is as an entrance to the demiplane of Kakishon itself, a closed realm of existence that was invented ages ago by the wizardking Nex to serve as a private “vacation realm.” Kakishon can only currently be reached via the Scroll of Kakishon, and the method of activating the scroll is hidden. Worse, previous attempts to force open this portal have damaged the connection to Kakishon, such that the next time it is opened, the ramifications for reality’s stability within could be dire.
The Scroll of Kakishon was irrevocably damaged when it was forced open hundreds of years ago by the wizard Andrathi to capture Jhavhul and his army. Building on his notes, another could recreate this method—but even opening the scroll’s portal as it was originally intended might finish the job and destroy it completely. Kakishon—and the scroll—are living on borrowed time, and the events in “The End of Eternity” chronicle the path of this artifact’s drawn-out destruction.
Knowledge check Kakishon Lore
Level 4: The scroll is not a typical magic scroll—it does not contain hidden spells, but has some other use. The rune on the scroll itself is not a character from any known alphabet, but it nonetheless bears a resemblance to runes of power utilized in the workings of arcanists from the southern nation of Nex.
Level 5: The strange rune on the scroll is one that is often associated with the mysterious wizard-king Nex, although this association is primarily with periods early in Nex’s rule, from a time after he had achieved great power but before his war with Geb reached its height. Runes like these were often used to mask the true contents of a page, and often one gifted in magic could pierce the obscuring rune with spells, by observing the map in a reflected surface or under certain kinds of light, while under the effects of mind-altering substances, or after waking from particularly vivid dreams. The rune itself is an obscure Nexian rune that symbolizes a mysterious realm called Kakishon.
Level 6: The realm of Kakishon is said to have been either conquered or created by Nex and used by the wizardking as a secret hideout or retreat for pleasure and private researches. Properly translated, the rune is said to transform into a map of the realm of Kakishon and to point out the way to reach it. Legend holds that a weapon of great power, something called the “Firebleeder” (thought by most to be a fiery falchion and by others to be a magical spell that allows total control over the element of fire), was hidden in a vault in Kakishon, along with a mind-boggling horde of other treasures as well, including a number of Nex’s own creations.
Level 7: This item is very likely one of Nex’s most ancient creations, and one of his first after transcending the typical mortal ken of magic and passing into the workings of the quasi-divine. This scroll is not only a map of the hidden realm of Kakishon, but is also the doorway through which one can travel to the legendary realm, yet only if the proper secret words and rituals of opening are known. The keeper of the Scroll of Kakishon controls the only point of entrance into and out of the mysterious realm. Nex is said to have used the realm as a place to experiment with his more outlandish theories, and what is hidden within could rival or even exceed the wonders the world knows today in his kingdom to the south.
When this adventure begins, knowledge that the Scroll of Kakishon has been uncovered is relatively confined. Yet this knowledge does not stay that way—as the adventure progresses, more and more interested parties learn that the PCs have a powerful artifact in their possession. Some of these interested parties want to buy the map from the PCs, while others are more interested in taking it from them. Discounting the various merchants who operate in Katapesh (any number of whom would try to get the map from the PCs if they knew about it), this adventure is focused on three groups in particular: the One Source Merchants’ Guild, the Sons of Carrion, and the Captain of the Sunset Ship. The moldspeaker character should be filled with trepidation at the prospect of anyone else getting their hands on the Scroll of Kakishon.
The search for the opening method serves as one of the focuses for this adventure. The actual procedure of opening the portal to Kakishon and what lies therein are detailed in the next adventure, “The End of Eternity.” If your PCs manage to open this portal before the climax of “The Jackal’s Price,” you’ll need to be ready to proceed immediately with what comes next in “The End of Eternity.” This adventure’s construction attempts to force the timing of this event so that it occurs at the end of the adventure, but PCs are nothing if not crafty and resourceful.
The adventure also assumes that the PCs retain control of the Scroll of Kakishon and don’t simply give it up or sell it, but again, the actions of PCs are hard to predict. If your players divest themselves of the scroll early, or if one of their enemies manages to steal it before the adventure’s climax, all is not lost. Feel free to continue this adventure with the PCs trying to reclaim the scroll as you see fit. The next adventure in the Legacy of Fire Adventure Path, “The End of Eternity,” offers several solutions on how to begin that adventure if the PCs no longer have possession of the Scroll of Kakishon.
The primary antagonist for this adventure is the One Source Merchants’ Guild. Known in Katapesh to be one of dozens of major importer/exporter guilds helping to keep the mercantile machine of the huge city in constant motion, the One Source is in fact a cover for a group of criminals who traffic in truly reprehensible items—including some trade that even the disreputable Nightstalls (Katapesh’s “black market,” run by a group called the Duskwalker Guild) would quail at offering. Yet the One Source keeps its taxes and payments to the Duskwalker Guild up to date, and thus even they are deemed useful by the amoral Pactmasters that rule the city, and are allowed to continue their cruelties mostly unopposed. What even the Pactmasters don’t know is that the One Source is not only dedicated to crime and cruelty, but to the Rough Beast himself—they are worshipers of the dark god Rovagug.
The One Source Merchants’ Guild is led by a mysterious man known to his followers as “Father Jackal,” a cruel beast capable of shifting between human, jackal, and hybrid forms. Many believe Father Jackal to be a werejackal, a man who can change into a slavering cur. In fact, the opposite is true: Father Jackal is a jackalwere, a beast that has gained the power to become a man. Little loyalty to humanity remains in Father Jackal’s soul—he has no memories of life as a man before being saddled with a curse that turns him into beast. He is a beast who has learned to pose as a man, and while he puts on airs of civilization, his true nature is savage.
Recently, the One Source Merchants’ Guild may have made a critical error in overestimating their ability to deliver to a customer. Katapesh is notorious throughout the Inner Sea region for its open policies regarding who may trade and what may be traded, making it a beacon for disreputable and sinister traders from throughout the region—and beyond. Once every 7 years, a strange ship with red sails comes to Katapesh, crewed by mysterious tall men who wear dark robes and tightly wrapped turbans.
They arrive in Katapesh seeking slaves, magical treasures, and rare books and documents, paying generously for the choicest offerings with handfuls of rubies. Yet few are brave enough to traffic with the Sunset Ship, as it is called, for something about its crew unsettles the mind, and those who fail to provide what they promise to the Sunset Ship’s captain invariably vanish.
Yet those are the fears of men, and Father Jackal is less than human. Seven years ago, when the Sunset Ship put in to port, the jackalwere approached the mysterious captain and offered his services. He learned that the Sunset Ship was particularly interested in two things this time around: a strange leathery ovoid known as a Rough Seed and a map to a mysterious realm known as Kakishon. The Captain of the Sunset Ship, as the strange vessel’s commander is known in Katapesh, gave no reason for his interest in these objects, but did show Father Jackal the boggling amount of rubies he was prepared to pay for these objects. Father Jackal promised that he would have them both for the Captain by the time he returned to Katapesh in 7 years. Time passed, and Father Jackal managed to recover one of the two objects relatively quickly.
His agents caught wind of an old rumor that a Rough Seed, said to be one of Rovagug’s eggs, was hidden in a cavern below an ancient ruin in the eastern Brazen Peaks. This half of the bargain secured, Father Jackal turned his attention to finding the Scroll of Kakishon. All he’s uncovered so far are maddening hints that the map was buried in a hidden crypt in the mountains to the west—he’s had agents scouring the cities and towns for further clues, but as of yet, they’ve heard nothing. The Sunset Ship’s return to Katapesh occurs as this adventure begins, and as luck would have it, word that the Scroll of Kakishon has surfaced reaches Father Jackal’s ears at the same time. He needs to get his hands on the Scroll of Kakishon before the captain of the Sunset Ship is ready to leave Katapesh, lest the Captain take Father Jackal away as a substitute for the promised scroll!
The denizens of Leng are inspired by the strange turbaned slavers who torment Randolph Carter in H. P. Lovecraft’s The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, one of the author’s most ambitious works. This story is perhaps the closest he ever came to an action-packed fantasy. If you’re looking for more information on Leng, the city of Inganok, or the strange denizens and their red-sailed ships, check out Chaosium’s (chaosium.com) excellent Dreamlands hardcover, or go right to the source with Lovecraft’s rousing epic of ghouls and ghasts, moon beasts and outer gods, and armies clashing on fantastic shores.
The captain and crew of the mysterious Sunset Ship are not human at all—they are in fact sadistic and malevolent explorers from a distant dimension called Leng. Travelers of multiple realities, the denizens of Leng who crew the Sunset Ship come to Katapesh once every 7 years when the boundaries between worlds are thin enough for the Sunset Ship to sail through the land of dreams and into the Inner Sea.
Once there, they make their way to Katapesh and dock at the same pier, one that the Pactmasters are bribed handsomely with rubies to keep available for these visits. Contacts and merchants in other dimensions pay well for certain forms of magic or life from the Material Plane, and the crew of the Sunset Ship always make a profit on their visits to Katapesh as a result.
The Captain of the Sunset Ship learned about Kakishon from the mind of a lost dreamer several decades ago, and has long sought a way to reach the fabled land so that he could add it to his ports of call—certainly an undiscovered world would hold a plethora of valuable commodities in the form of exotic slaves and magic to harvest. The Rough Seed, on the other hand, is a valuable form of life from the Material Plane, the misbegotten spawn of the god Rovagug, and as such much sought after by the priests of Inganok in Leng itself for various eldritch and unknowable rites.
The Captain hopes to kill two birds with one stone on this visit to Katapesh, securing the Rough Seed and the Scroll of Kakishon—or at the very least, the strange man-creature known as Father Jackal. While not as valuable as either of the other things he seeks, jackalweres are not completely without value in some of the more decadent and despicable ports of call coming up on the Sunset Ship’s eternal route between realities.
Although the PCs likely defeated the Carrion King and many of the gnolls of his tribe, there are far more gnolls in the Pale Mountain region than those that lurked in the House of the Beast. While many of the Pale Mountain tribes will exalt in the opportunity to have one of their own take up the new mantle of kingship, and while other tribes take the opportunity to attack onetime allies and glory in their newfound freedom from the regular tributes once offered to the Carrion King, one small group of gnolls takes exception to the death of their king. Word of who’s responsible for the king’s death spreads fast through the Pale Mountain tribes, and in each of the otherwise bickering packs, small groups of gnolls eager to avenge their king come forth.
By the time the PCs are ready to leave Kelmarane for the journey to the city of Katapesh, these gnolls have formed a hunting pack called the Sons of Carrion—their goal is not only to avenge the Carrion King’s death, but to reclaim the treasures the PCs stole from the Carrion King (including the Scroll of Kakishon) and return to the House of the Beast.
In addition to the gnolls and hyenas, the Sons of Carrion have augmented their numbers with a group of disparate raiders and bandits, including an ettin. The Sons of Carrion are led by three dangerous gnolls, but the most powerful of the three (and the one destined to become their leader soon) is a prophetic gnoll named Shiz—a gnoll whose visions of the stolen scroll and the Carrion King’s death have driven her beyond the edge of sanity.