The city of Katapesh is the second largest in the Inner Sea region, a sprawling, bustling port that forms the central hub of all trade for the nation. Governed by a mysterious group known as the Pactmasters, the markets of Katapesh are notorious for their eclectic contents and almost anarchic organization. If it can be bought or sold, it can be had in Katapesh. A summary of Katapesh, and an indepth investigation of its marketplaces, can be found on page 54 of this book. Although this adventure details a few specific locations in Katapesh, it does not require the PCs to spend much time exploring the city to complete it—yet chances are good your PCs are going to want to do just that, if only to go hit the markets for some wheeling and dealing. The Pathfinder Chronicles product Dark Markets, A Guide to Katapesh delves into much greater detail, presenting a wealth of information for GMs eager to expand adventures in this exotic city.
By the time the PCs reach the city, rumors that a powerful artifact has been brought for sale to an unknown buyer have already begun to circulate. Although to some extent this can be ascribed to the PCs if they’ve not taken many steps to hide the nature of the scroll they carry, Father Jackal is certainly not the only merchant in town to have agents in far-flung locales like Kelmarane. Unless the PCs have been very aggressive in advertising why they’ve come to the city, though, few know much more than these vague rumors, and they tend to overlap and compete for attention with numerous other rumors, some of which relate to things the PCs will soon face, and others that do not.
Once the PCs reach Katapesh, their first order of business should be to contact Almah’s friend Rayhan. If Garavel is still with the PCs, he can lead them to Rayhan’s villa; if the PCs traveled on their own and don’t have directions from Almah, a Level 4 Gather Information check (or a 5 gp payment to a local guide) is enough to secure directions to the merchant wizard’s home. As it happens, Rayhan’s villa is not actually located within the city walls itself, but in a well-to-do section of the city just to the southeast. This area, dominated by Castle Clarion (home to a relatively infamous family that has made its fortune in the slave trade), is popular among several of Katapesh’s more successful merchants who enjoy the convenience of the city but not the bustle and mayhem of actual city living.
Rayhan’s villa is a modest three-story structure built from heavy clay bricks perched on a cliff overlooking the Obari Ocean. The villa is certainly not the extravagant affair one might expect such a successful merchant to own. The villa itself consists of the main house, a few outbuildings, and a well-kept garden. Grass grows thick on the villa grounds—Rayhan employs a caretaker to maintain it and the garden, and often keeps exotic and sometimes dangerous pets in a nearby building. A gated brick wall surrounds the entire cluster of buildings.
Garavel and the guards have little reason to remain with the PCs once they reach the villa, in any event. Unless the PCs ask him to stay, Garavel leaves them once they arrive and takes the remaining guards to make several purchases in the markets before returning to Kelmarane to report their safe arrival to Almah. This adventure assumes that Garavel and the guards are not present for what is to follow—if the PCs ask him to stay around, you’ll need to adjust some of the following encounters as appropriate.
Rayhan is a wizard and a scholar, a somewhat intimidating man who made his fortune early in life as an adventurer and then went into semi-retirement. He maintains a healthy income both by selling magic items he’s crafted and hiring out as a sage and researcher. His specialty is the study and history of ancient magic items, particularly those dealing with the manipulation of dimensions and reality, such as bags of holding and portable holes. His current project is an exhaustive study of the well of many worlds, including a catalogue of the various other worlds these items open into. He has yet to secure one of the potent and expensive magical items for direct study, something that’s frustrated him greatly, and as a result his research is going slowly. His library is one of the most extensive collections of dimensional theory and planar lore in Katapesh, and Rayhan is considered one of the most learned individuals in Katapesh in the field of planar study.
Rayhan sometimes takes pupils, instructing them in the basics of magic and taking them from no skill at all to first level, after which he sends them on their way with instructions to return only if they can teach him something.
An examination of the heavens is included with their studies, because he believes that magic is an expression of the power of the natural universe, which can be directly observed by understanding the natural order of the heavens. When asked about its relevance, Rayhan simply states that the art of magic prefers a disciplined mind.
Rayhan is a bald-headed man who stands at a towering 6 feet, 5 inches. Just recently 50 years old, Rayhan remains spry and in fine health. Most remember him by his piercing gaze and the raucous raven Abaneshi that is never far from his side. Despite his somewhat intimidating appearance and brusque nature, he warms immediately as soon as the PCs give him Almah’s letter of introduction. Between questions of what she’s been up to and how she’s doing, he invites the PCs into his home to visit.
Male old human diviner
Health: 15
Damage Inflicted: 5 points
Movement: Short
Languages Ancient Osiriani, Common, Kelish, Osiriani, Vudrani
Modifications: Knowledge of occult topics and rituals as level 8
Combat: Before Combat Rayhan starts every day by casting unseen servant. He’s fallen out of the habit of casting mage armor when he wakes, but if he suspects trouble or danger, he casts mage armor as soon as possible.
During Combat In battle, Rayhan can summoning a level 5 elemental spirit or 3 Level 2 elemental spirits that will do his bidding for ten minutes. He then cast displacement and fly and uses a spell, item, or device that inflicts 5 points of damage on normal creatures within long range, and 10 points of damage on a demon or spirit (or, instead of dealing extra damage, the effect confines the demon or spirit in some way).
He can also summon his familiar raven named Abaneshi that he uses to distract foes or spy for him. He is also a power diviner and has various spells he can use to scry or unlock lore and secrets.
Equipment: dagger, 4 cyphers, pouch of five 100 gp pearls.
When the PCs are invited into Rayhan’s villa, the scholar brings them into his study (area A7) to talk. The villa is an unusual structure—apart from a single groundskeeper/cook who lives in a small outbuilding (area A6), Rayhan is the only one who lives in this building. Cleaning and upkeep is generally handled by unseen servants, and Rayhan himself spends the majority of his time in his library working on his various projects. The villa has three guest rooms—when doing research for out-of-town customers, Rayhan usually allows them to stay in his home, free of charge, as long as they are well-mannered and quiet.
Guests are also welcome to share their meals with Rayhan, but his repasts are usually quite small and bland, limited to soup and vegetables from his garden—guests looking for more robust fare are encouraged to visit the Cliffside Tavern, a fine eatery just down the hill from the villa.
A ten-foot-high stone wall surrounds modest-looking grounds perched on a cliff overlooking the ocean, and a wide metal gate secures the only entrance. Within stand five buildings, the central of which, at three stories, is easily the largest and tallest. To the west, a small but well-tended garden seems to be well-stocked with vegetables and fruit, while the grounds themselves are well-maintained with trimmed grass and a few palm trees.
After dark, Rayhan’s groundskeeper Eramin locks the gate—this lock can be picked with a Level 7 Open Lock check. The walls themselves can be scaled with a Level 5 Climb check.
This single-story building contains five stalls, each large enough to fit a single horse or camel. The northernmost stall contains feed and hay.
Currently only two of the stalls are occupied—both with Rayhan’s horses, a white mare named Lightning and a black foal with a white streak on its nose named Starfire.
The PCs are welcome to leave their mounts here, but if the stables are simply not large enough to accommodate them all, Rayhan apologetically recommends stabling the mounts at the Cliffside Tavern down the hill.
The door to this building is kept locked. A DC 30 Open Lock check picks the lock; Eramin carries one key, and Rayhan keeps another in his room (area A9). This tool shed holds numerous items for tending to the grounds. The tools are meticulously sorted by type and function, with trimmers in one open-door cabinet, shovels and spades in another, saws elsewhere, and other assorted odds and ends in various areas. Piled near the doorway is a four-foot-tall pile of mud bricks.
Treasure: Among the tools stored in this building is a bronze decanter of endless water that Eramin uses to aid in watering the plants and to provide the villa with drinking water.
This small garden area contains a surprising variety of plants, including tomatos, berries, squash, potatoes, corn, peas, and artichokes.
This relatively small plot of land serves as a garden where Eramin grows the vegetables that make up the vast majority of his and Rayhan’s meals. A few of the plants grown here are used for spell components, but most of them are used for food.
This small building contains numerous odds and ends that Rayhan has accumulated but has no space for within the house. All of the items here are mundane, including things like packs, bedrolls, chairs, firewood, old clothes, sheets, towels, and the like. The walls and door to the building, though, are unusually stout and strong—Rayhan periodically uses the building to house dangerous or exotic animals that strike his fancy.
This small building is the home of Rayhan’s groundskeeper, a loyal man named Eramin Venshaw (LN male human expert Level 2). Eramin was, in his youth, a messenger, but after his tongue was cut out by a particularly cruel customer who didn’t like the message he had been hired to deliver, he fell on hard times. Rayhan hired him when no one else would, giving him a place to sleep and a job as a cook, gardener, and groundskeeper. Eramin is completely loyal to his master as a result. The owlish-looking man is quiet even beyond what one would suspect from a mute, and lives a simple life—there is nothing of any real value here as a result. Eramin keeps to himself and avoids interaction with Rayhan’s guests, but those who can manage to establish communication with him swiftly find Eramin to be both friendly and perceptive.
This room is filled with comfortable seating, several small tables, an expensive silk carpet, and a large overstuffed couch. Paintings on the wall depict all manner of strange and exotic locations, including a huge dead creature in a swamp whose body has been turned into a fly-shrouded throne, a vast graveyard with a skull-shaped moon in the night sky, an idyllic woodland around crumbling stone ruins inhabited by animals who walk like men, and a gold and silver palace at the edge of a mirror-like lake above which flying women with the lower bodies of snakes play. The largest of these paintings hangs on the northern wall and depicts a jungle-covered island with a strange ship moored at a short stone pier on the closest beach.
Rayhan normally meets with guests in this room, and it is also here that he lectures to his students, bringing in additional chairs from storage as necessary.
Treasure: The paintings on the walls are of various locations and sites throughout the Great Beyond: Apollyon’s Throne of Flies, Pharasma’s Boneyard, an agathion conclave on Nirvana, and the Thousand-Mirror Palace on Elysium. The large painting is of Kakishon, a masterpiece by an artist named Vormeesa Hoon. The painting bears a small bronze plaque that reads, “Lost Kakishon,” and the detail is almost realistic in its rendition—one can look at the 4-foot-wide, 6-foot-tall painting for hours and not find all the strange animals, creatures, and eerie ruins hidden in the junglescape.
The smaller paintings are all by minor artists and are worth only 50 gp apiece. The Hoon masterpiece is another story—it is worth 3,500 gp, and is one of Rayhan’s greatest treasures.
Each of these rooms contain a large bed and a variety of tables, chairs, and shelves to serve as guest rooms for Rayhan’s visitors. Each room is equipped with a chamber pot under the bed and a footlocker and key for the storage of valuables. It’s likely that, with only three rooms, there won’t be enough rooms here for the PCs to each have their own—Rayhan apologizes for the lack of accommodations but notes that he usually doesn’t have this many guests at once. He has Eramin bring in several bedrolls from storage in area A5 to make these rooms work for as many PCs as necessary.
This bedroom appears lived in, although orderly and clean. Thick curtains hang over the windows to the north and south, and the shelf to the east is heavy with books and various bits of statuary and odd sculptures.
Rayhan doesn’t always sleep here—he often sleeps in his library above. The contents of the shelf include a number of books and scrolls, mostly fictional accounts of visits to the Outer Planes, while the bits of sculpture and statuary are from all manner of locations throughout the planes. Most depict strange animals, holy symbols, or heroic figures.
All of them are in relatively bad condition—their value to Rayhan is more nostalgic and personal than monetary.
This room contains a long dining table and several chairs. A wine rack stocked with several bottles lies along the west wall. Along the east wall is an ornate cabinet that displays a set of china with a gold-inlaid pattern that evokes an ancient Osirian feel.
Treasure: The silverware kept here is all fine quality—the set as a whole is worth 50 gp. Likewise, the wine selection is quite good, with 9 bottles in all worth 75 gp apiece.
This simple kitchen features two wall-mounted preparation tables, under and above each of which are numerous cupboards and bins for storing utensils and vegtables. A compact woodburning stove sits to the north.
This is where Eramin prepares the daily breakfast and dinner for Rayhan; the two sometimes share their meals in the dining room. The stove itself bears a minor magical enhancement—any object placed inside it can be ignited by a command word that sparks several tiny flames. The flames won’t activate if the stove front is open.
The walls, ceiling, and floor of this room are decorated with white porcelain tiles, with other ornate adornments that make the place seem to be more of a royal bath chamber than anything else. A large, two-foot-deep pool in the room’s center and several braziers and bins for heating polished oval rocks complete the image.
One of Rayhan’s pleasures is luxuriating in long hot baths and saunas—this large chamber was the primary reason he settled on this villa when looking for a place to retire.
The small wood-burning stoves bear minor magics that purify smoke, preventing the room from becoming too smoky while wood is burned to heat the rocks needed to create a sauna-like atmosphere. The pool itself also bears minor magic—its porcelain sides are linked to the temperature of the rocks in the bins, so that as these bins are heated, the water in the pool heats as well.
This long chamber contains all manner of storage—items such as extra blankets and towels, firewood, cleaning supplies, and utensils. Nothing of value is kept here.
This entire floor of the building consists of a single, vast library. Wooden shelves heavy with books, scrolls, bits of statuary, and stone tablets covered with runes line the walls. Additional shelves stand in the middle of each wing, further increasing shelf space. A round table heaped with books and papers sits in the middle of the room, attended by a few padded chairs. Two opaque skylights in the ceiling help somewhat to open up the room’s otherwise claustrophobic feel.
Treasure: The huge collection of books here is perhaps the only of Rayhan’s treasures he values more than his Kakishon painting. The books themselves are painstakingly organized—alphabetically by subject, then author—and focus entirely on matters relating to astronomy, the planes, and other dimensions. While relatively small, the section on Nex’s hidden realm of Kakishon is nonetheless well represented. Taken as a whole, these books grant 2 circumstance asset bonus to any Knowledge checks made relating to the subject matter of the planes, other dimensions, the cosmos and stars, and associated magic. The collection itself is worth 10,000 gp as a whole.
This flat-topped roof is strewn with gravel to aid in footing during rain. Two large glass skylights are set into the floor, opening up to the floor below. A six-inch-high rim runs along the roof edge, and shallow gutters run away from the skylights to funnel water through several tiny gargoyles perched along the edge.
The two skylights are fitted with huge panes of frosted glass that are cleaned by the groundskeeper once a month.
The glass is thick enough that a Small creature can walk on it, but a larger creature crashes through into area A14 below. The skylights are fixed and cannot be opened.
The climax of this part of the adventure is an assault on Rayhan’s villa at the hands of the One Source Merchants’ Guild. As a result, you’ll need to know where the PCs are when this attack occurs, but you don’t want to encourage metagame thinking by giving the PCs unnecessary clues that something big’s about to go down, such as by asking them out of the blue where their characters are at midnight.
Instead, starting with the first evening the PCs spend at the villa, go around the table and find out what the PCs are doing that evening. Where are they sleeping? Are they posting guards? Are they alone or do they spend time with other PCs or NPCs? Are they going to take advantage of the baths in the villa to relax? Do they have a habit of raiding the food stores for midnight snacks? Are some of the PCs insomniacs or early risers?
Each night that follows, repeat this process. This solves two problems—it puts the PCs off guard if night after night passes without major events, and it lets you find out what the PCs are up to at night so that when the attack does come, you’ll know if any of the PCs are positioned to act early or if they’ll be caught off-guard.
This event occurs when the PCs first contact Rayhan. He invites them into area A7 to speak once he’s seen Almah’s letter of introduction, and when he learns that the PCs believe they’ve found the Scroll of Kakishon, he becomes skeptical and all but asks them to leave before they waste any more of his time. Yet once the PCs show him the map, Rayhan’s disbelief swiftly erodes. He examines it silently for several minutes, first without aid, and then with the assistance of magic, using detect magic, arcane sight, and identify. When identify fails to give him concrete results, he looks up excitedly at the PCs, his hands shaking and eyes wide as he speaks:
“It would appear that I was a bit hasty in my initial disbelief. This scroll is highly intriguing. I’ve studied the legend of Kakishon for years, and in that time I’ve seen countless shams and forgeries and dead ends. But this scroll… this could be the real thing.
“The legends say that Kakishon was created by the wizard-king Nex to serve him as a portable paradise and an impenetrable bolt-hole. Much as the more commonplace bag of holding opens into its own reality, the Scroll of Kakishon was said to contain this entire world inside of it—the scroll was not Kakishon, but the doorway by which Nex could enter and exit the realm. Kakishon was said to have been a paradise, a laboratory, a menagerie, a hunting ground, and even a tomb—most likely, it was all these things and more, with each island serving a different role.
“The legend of Kakishon falls into increasing obscurity after Nex’s war with Geb began. All signs point to the strong possibility that Nex had grown dissatisfied with Kakishon and had lost interest. When he vanished from the face of Garund in 576 AR, he left the Scroll of Kakishon behind.
Eventually, it was stolen from his castle and the scroll passed through many hands. Some used it as a prison for their enemies, others as a place to impress allies or as a vault for their treasures, the stories say. The closer to the present day we get, the more obscure the rumors grow—no sign of the Scroll of Kakishon seems to have surfaced over the past several hundred years.
“The last person to own the scroll, I believe, was a Keleshite wizard named Andrathi. The accounts of his life are vague and fragmentary, but it would appear that he was the lover of a genie named Nefeshti, the leader of a group known as the Templars of the Five Winds. Legend holds that the Templars fought somewhere in the mountains against a cruel efreeti warlord named Jhavhul, and that while the Templars of the Five Winds managed to capture Jhavhul inside of Kakishon, the defeat was shadowed in loss. No sign of Andrathi or the Scroll of Kakishon remained after the battle. No sign… until today.
“This is an important find. If you will let me, I would very much like to look into this matter, to research this scroll and decipher some of the writings upon it. And if this is indeed the Scroll of Kakishon, there are protections placed upon it to prevent undesirables from being able to open it and travel to the world within. Yet in time, I feel that I will be able to decipher these writings. You see, before he vanished, the wizard Andrathi went through the same process—yet he obviously managed to discover the way to open the scroll, even if it meant his doom.
Some of his writings have survived to this day, and as it happens, I own copies of these writings. By building upon the foundation he lays in his writings, I am sure that I will be able to duplicate his research and refine it. It may take days, even weeks, but if this is indeed the Scroll of Kakishon, I will find the key to open it.
“But once it is open, I will need your aid, should you be willing to provide it. The legends speak of great treasures kept safe in Kakishon, the greatest of which was Jhavhul’s own weapon, the legendary Firebleeder, said by some to be a falchion and others a living flame. Sadly, my adventuring days are behind me, but if I find the way, I would be honored to accompany you into Kakishon to find the truth!”
Rayhan normally charges steep fees for his work, but this case is unusual, and he tells the PCs that he is waiving the fee, provided that he is allowed to accompany the PCs into Kakishon if the map proves to be real. If the map proves false, he asks only to be allowed to keep the forgery as payment. Rayhan estimates that he’ll need at least a week to refresh his familiarity with Andrathi’s notes and to piece together his own research before he’ll be able to even attempt deciphering the trigger to open the portal to Kakishon. For this duration, he offers his home to the PCs as a place for them to stay while he conducts his research.
This courtesy not only helps to prove his good intentions, but keeps the PCs close by should Rayhan’s research result in an unexpected breakthrough. He asks the PCs to keep quiet about the scroll, but admits he fears that knowledge of the scroll’s arrival in Katapesh is already spreading—no fault of the PCs, certainly, for the merchants of Katapesh are quite gifted at sniffing out news of valuable items entering the city.
As for security, Rayhan can think of no better guardians for the scroll than the PCs themselves. He’ll need to reference the scroll now and then for a few hours (and certainly for several on the first day of his study), but his research does not require constant consultation of the artifact. He tells the PCs that they should keep the scroll on their persons at all times, and to watch it protectively. If it proves to be the real thing and Rayhan discovers a method to open it, they can move things to a more secure location, but until that point Rayhan wants to keep things as quiet as possible. Certainly, allowing the PCs to retain possession of the scroll should set their minds at ease. How the PCs keep the scroll safe is left to them, but Rayhan encourages them to not let it too far out of their control. There are security services and vaults aplenty in Katapesh, but as a native of the city, Rayhan knows that with ensured security comes great expense.
Once the authenticity of the scroll can be proven, such expenses will surely become trivial matters, but for now, secrecy is the best defense.
For the next several days, the PCs are more or less on their own. They can spend this time shopping in Katapesh, crafting items, or perhaps even becoming involved in short adventures of your own devising. Pathfinder Chronicles: Dark Markets, A Guide to Katapesh provides ample adventure seeds and details for running adventures in the city, and the “Katapesh Marketplace” article on page 54 of this book should be of great help in handling trips to the city markets. The events to follow should occur in the order they are presented, but the timing of when they occur is up to you; they should take place at points that feel organic to the campaign while at the same time giving the PCs a chance to unwind and relax.
Despite attempts at secrecy, rumors of the scroll’s arrival in Katapesh spread quickly. At some point during the adventure, the PCs should be visited by three different merchants, each with their own interest and curiosity in the scroll they’re supposed to have brought into Katapesh.
When these merchants approach the PCs and in what order they do so is up to you. Some might accost them in the market. Others might “accidentally” bump into them at a tavern. One could even seek out the PCs at Rayhan’s villa for an interview. These encounters aren’t meant to be antagonistic confrontations, merely indications to the PCs that knowledge of the scrolls is spreading. The three merchants in question are detailed below—feel free to add more eager merchants of your own design to further vex the PCs as you wish.
Note that while each merchant offers the PCs a price for the map, this is more of a promise to deliver once Rayhan confirms the map is legitimate—none of the merchants want to purchase the map until Rayhan proves that it is what it is. And of course, the Legacy of Fire Adventure Path won’t be giving the PCs a chance to collect on these offers—these merchants are not intended to be a sudden source of wealth for the PCs, but rather as an indication of the incredible value of the object they’ve discovered. In all cases, a Level 5 Diplomacy check convinces a merchant to increase his or her offer by 10,000 gp (and by a further 10,000 gp for each Level of Difficulty that the Diplomacy check exceeds Level 5).
Marzuk (NG male human Level 3, diplomacy and negotiation Level 5): The middle son of the Mus’ad merchant family, Marzuk is the primary negotiator for the family’s business dealings. He is known as a skillful haggler, as well as someone other merchants can trust to stick to an agreement. His family’s interest in the Scroll of Kakishon is not motivated by trade, but by prestige. They would very much like to add it to their collection of rare and valuable magic items. If the scroll is proven to be legitimate, Marzuk is prepared to offer the PCs up to 55,000 gp in gems or coin. If his offer is rebuffed, Marzuk informs them that he is usually present in the bazaar and they are welcome to see him again if they change their mind.
Badra (LN female human Level 3, perception and intimidate as level 4; health 12; Armor 1; attacks inflict 5 points of damage): Badra started her career as a mercenary in the employ of a wealthy merchant. When a caravan she was protecting fell under attack and the caravan’s owner and half the caravan’s members were slain, she assumed ownership of the operation over the protests of some of the others who had a vested interest. Since then, she has taken what had effectively been a moderately successful traveling items shop and turned it into a small trading empire, with contacts in nearly every major city in the Inner Sea region. Her greatest customers are a number of wizards—Badra suspects that she’ll be able to make an incredible amount of money auctioning the Scroll of Kakishon to these contacts. Badra is polite and businesslike, but subtly insinuates that selling to anybody other than her could endanger the PCs’ lives. She is willing to make a first offer of 35,000 gp (adjusted via Diplomacy as above), but if she learns another merchant has offered more, she exceeds her rival’s offer by 5,000 gp.
Tamir (NE male halfling Level 5, deception and stealth tasks as level 7; health 16, armor 1, sneak attack or spell inflicts 6 damage): Tamir introduces himself as an associate of the One Source Merchants’ Guild, working as an independent scout and agent paid to seek out attractive new prospects and exotic artifacts. Tamir doesn’t present himself as anything other than the rogue that he is, pointing out that the One Source uses folk like him all the time to handle purchases of “sensitive matters.” If the PCs confront him with his alignment, he makes light of the accusation, shrugging and pointing out that there are plenty of other scoundrels in the city—why should he be held to a higher standard than any of them? The truth of the matter is that Tamir is one of Father Jackal’s closest allies—the halfling’s been charged with confirming that the PCs do indeed have the Scroll of Kakishon and making a token attempt to purchase the artifact. Tamir’s initial offer for the Scroll of Kakishon is 30,000 gp. He fully expects the PCs to balk at such a low price—the guild isn’t really interested in buying the artifact anyway. His primary goal is to scope out the PCs and to gather intelligence for the eventual assault on Rayhan’s villa, not to secure a legal transaction.
After the third merchant approaches the PCs with offers to purchase the Scroll of Kakishon, Rayhan confides to the PCs that he is growing increasingly certain that the artifact the PCs have is legitimate. Perhaps over dinner, Rayhan asks the PCs what they plan on doing with the artifact if it does indeed prove to be what they all hope it is. Do they eventually intend to sell it? If so, Rayhan points out that Katapesh is indeed the best place to sell such a rare artifact—he also points out that pricing such a thing for sale is tricky business. He asks the PCs their impressions of the merchants that have approached them so far with offers, noting that since the cat’s out of the bag, it might be a good idea to have those merchants up to the villa in a day or so for a dinner party—such parties are something of a tradition in the city when expensive sales are in the works. Getting all of the merchants into one area should give the PCs a chance to see if a bidding war is possible, but more importantly it’ll help curb the growing rumors and curiosity about the artifact.
Assuming the PCs agree, Rayhan has Eramin draft up invitations. Beyond the three merchants that have already expressed interest, Rayhan strongly recommends that the PCs invite a cleric of Abadar—in the presence of such officialdom, they’ll be able to dispense with worries about security, since no Katapeshi merchant would try something illegal in the presence of one of Abadar’s clergy.
Furthermore, it’s best to keep the church informed of big dealings in the merchant world—not hosting a diner party (and thus not inviting a cleric to put any rumors of misdealing to rest) would arouse the suspicion of the Pactmasters themselves, something Rayhan has no interest in doing. As a result, Rayhan goes ahead and schedules the dinner party even if the PCs balk—not all of the PCs need to attend, but it would look awkward if they didn’t.
The dinner party is relatively small—this adventure assumes that only the following four guests are invited.
If more attend, you should take the time to jot down personality quirks like those below to help guide roleplay during the event.
Marzuk: Marzuk arrives dressed in an expensive white outfit with a silk turban. He enjoys these parties and is likely to take an interest in attractive female PCs, offering one of them a tour of his “family grounds” later in the week. He grows increasingly loud and drunk as the evening progresses, much to Badra’s disdain and Tamir’s delight.
Badra: Badra is dressed in a decorative red silk dress and gold silk scarves. Her attitude is one of grim endurance—she sees these parties as something to be endured, rather than enjoyed. Much of what she says seems critical (the food is overcooked, the wine too bitter, the companionship too loud), with the exception of the Hoon painting of Kakishon, which impresses her greatly and about which she has many questions.
Tamir: The halfling Tamir doesn’t dress quite so extravagantly as the other guests, opting instead for comfortable (but clean and well-tailored) clothes and a constant smile. He jokes often, and may challenge a PC into a game of one-upping jokes with increasingly lewd or scandalous punch lines.
Kazim: As the official representative of the Church of Abadar, the beautiful Kazim (LN female human cleric of Abadar level 2, religious lore and all interaction tasks as level 6) wears an elegant but simple white and green robe. She is observant and quiet at the party, but when she speaks (usually to compliment someone or to make an observation that is relatively obvious), the other guests listen attentively and agree with her in an almost exaggerated manner.
The dinner party itself is scheduled for sunset; Rayhan has Eramin handle most of the preparations, but if the PCs haven’t been to the Katapesh market yet, sending them down to pick up some wine or other supplies can be a good way to get the PCs to experience the madness of the market. Rayhan also warns the PCs that, as the sellers, the PCs are expected to provide some form of post-meal entertainment to the guests. He leaves it to the PCs to determine what sort of entertainment should be provided—if they ask for suggestions, he notes that performances of art, lectures on matters related to the object to be sold, and even weapon or acrobatic demonstrations have all been used in the past. He also points out that although only one entertainment is required, multiple bits of entertainment are better since they’ll impress the guests (especially Kazim) more. And if Kazim is impressed, then Abadar and the Pactmasters will be more inclined to support the eventual sale of the Scroll of Kakishon with loans and other incentives to the buyer—which directly translates into much higher profits for the seller. Even if the PCs don’t intend to sell the scroll, getting in the good graces of Katapesh’s leadership is never a bad thing.
The guests start to arrive as early as an hour before sundown, and it falls to the PCs to keep them entertained until the meal starts. Feel free to roleplay this out if you wish—brief notes on how each guest acts at the party appear in the sidebar nearby.
As the appointed hour approaches, the partygoers move to the dining room.
Rayhan waits until everyone is seated (additional chairs are brought in as necessary), before he taps a spoon against a crystal wineglass and raises a toast.
“Welcome, honored guests! Kakishon has long been a place of myth and legend. Some scholars had turned away from the notion of this place after convincing themselves that the place was pure legend and did not truly exist. I distinctly recall the suspicion I felt just a few days ago when these fine folk arrived with what they believed was the Scroll of Kakishon itself. After seeing so many charlatans and forgeries in my life, it was hard to believe at first—but I believe what these folk have brought me may indeed be the real thing. I complete my research and appraisal in a few days, at which point we can talk prices. For now, though, let this toast be for the heroes who have brought to Katapesh a piece of history!”
The guests all raise their glasses and toast the PCs, after which the food is served. Eramin brings out plates of aromatic sliced meats, vegetables and fruits from the garden, salads, bread, and fine wine until the dining table is covered completely. Once the food is served, the table erupts into conversation. Some of the guests ask how closely Rayhan has examined the map and if he’s figured out how to activate it yet. Others want to know what the party intends to do with the map. Marzuk states that he simply cannot fathom the notion that they would wish to keep it, given that there are so many others who have been waiting lifetimes for a chance to learn its secrets. Yet at no times do any of the guests make offers—they’ve already stated their offers to the PCs, after all, and haggling and bargaining at a dinner party is considered crass.
As soon as the guests have finished eating, the party retires downstairs to the parlor, which has been set up to accommodate whatever form of entertainment the PCs have decided to provide to the guests. Bottles of wine are opened and drinks flow liberally among the guests during the PCs’ performances. Feel free to roleplay these performances out, but in each case, they should come down to skill checks. Perform checks can be used for things like music, acting, and dance. Knowledge checks should be used for lectures. Balance or Tumble should be used for acrobatic displays. Intimidate checks should be used for displays of martial prowess, and Spellcraft for displays of magical power. Each performing PC should make the appropriate check.
A Level 6 check is enough to impress the guests and earn the PC honest applause. Anything of Level 3 or less earns polite but stinging silence. A result between these produces polite applause.
When the performances are over, the guests thank Rayhan and the PCs and leave for their homes—Rayhan himself seems exhausted but returns to the library above, asking the PCs to leave him to his studies for the rest of the evening, noting that the party has put him behind schedule.
Ad Hoc Experience Award: For each Level 6 success the PCs achieve during the after-dinner entertainment, award the party experience as if they had defeated a CR 7 creature in combat.
After the dinner party, Father Jackal is ready to make his move. He realizes that once the scroll officially goes up for sale his only option would be to buy it, and with the other merchants involved, he knows the One Source Merchants’ Guild would lose out on a bidding war. But if he can get the scroll before it goes up for sale, or at the very least, get something the PCs hold dear that he can use as leverage, he’ll be able to deliver the scroll to the Captain of the Sunset Ship before paying the price for failing on his promise to them.
This event should take place at night after the dinner party—after receiving Tamir’s report, Father Jackal sends the halfling right back to the villa with a small group of thugs to make their move. If Tamir knows where the Scroll of Kakishon is hidden and suspects it is easy to get, nabbing it becomes his priority. More likely, he’ll instead make a two-pronged attack late in the night, using a summoned monster and the bulk of his thugs as a distraction while he steals into the library to abduct the man responsible for deciphering the scroll itself.
The logistics of this attack depend somewhat on where the PCs are located and what they’re doing at midnight.
The only real requirement is that Rayhan should be alone in the library when the attack comes—but if the PCs never leave him alone, go ahead and roll with it.
Creatures: The attacking group consists of Tamir and nine One Source thugs.
The thieves split into two groups, Group One (consisting of Tamir and two thugs) and Group Two (consisting of the remaining seven thugs). They approach the villa from two directions, timing their attack at a point late in the night after they suspect the PCs and Rayhan are asleep (anytime between midnight and dawn should work perfectly). When the assault begins, Tamir casts knock twice; first on the front gate and next on the front door, both from a point well across the street in the shadows of an alleyway (but still within his 170-foot range for the spell). A character at either location can make a Level 4 Listen check to hear the door or gate unlock. Tamir uses his scroll of dimension door to teleport atop the building with his two thugs while Group Two swarms silently into the grounds toward the front door. Once both groups are in motion, their invasion attempts the following schedule.
Group One: Tamir gives Group Two 5 rounds to infiltrate the house, then uses his scroll of summon monster IV to summon an earth mephit. He orders the mephit to fly down to the ground floor, enlarge itself, and loudly torment the horses in the stable, hoping that the resulting noise will distract the PCs and draw them out of the central building. If he hears an alarm raised before 5 rounds pass, Tamir summons his mephit at once. He then uses knock to open the door to the stairwell and he and his two thugs move down into the library. Once there, Tamir attempts to cast charm person on Rayhan; if that fails, his thugs attempt to knock him unconscious with their saps while Tamir hits the wizard with ray of enfeeblement or hold person. If they subdue Rayhan, Tamir bundles the wizard into his bag of holding, then uses dimension door to travel to a point 650 feet to the south. After this, he casts invisibility on himself, then fly, and moves quickly to the One Source Warehouse, where Rayhan is extracted from the bag of holding before he suffocates, gagged and bound, and taken to the dungeons below.
Group Two: The thugs, using Move Silently, enter area A7 and then split into four groups. One thug remains in area A7, while the others form groups of two each and check the doors to the guest rooms. If they find the PCs asleep inside, they bide their time; groups that find no PCs immediately move up to the second floor to continue their search (all six move up to the second floor at once if lights in windows or undue noise seem to indicate the PCs are all upstairs).
Once they hear the shrieking mephit and panicked horses in the stable (or after a minute passes), the thugs attack, hoping to catch the PCs unaware for a sneak attack. The rogues then retreat back to area A7 to make their stand, attempting to lure the PCs to this room to give Tamir time to finish his work in the library above.
Health: 12
Armor: 1
Damage: 5 damage
Modification: perception, stealth, and speed defense tasks as level 4
Languages: Common, Osiriani
Combat: The thugs want to avoid killing PCs, knowing that murder is likely to make the PCs more interested in revenge than bargaining for Rayhan’s release, and thus favor saps in battle.
Morale: The thugs fight to the death.
Equipment: studded leather armor, short sword, sap, hand crossbow with 10 bolts, thieves’ tools, two small flawed rubies worth 250 gp each.
Male Halfling Arcane Trickster
Health: 21
Armor: 2
Damage: 6 Damage
Modification: deception, stealth, trapfinding and speed defense tasks as level 7.
Languages: Common, Halfling, Kelish, Osiriani, Sahuagin, Terran
Combat: Before Combat Tamir casts mage armor and shield just before beginning the invasion.
During Combat Tamir relies heavily on his available cyphers in combat, as he needs his spells to abduct Rayhan and escape.
Burning arc spell: Send out a burning arc of fire that strikes anyone within short range that does 3 ambient fire damage and set flammable objects on fire.
Grasping Shadows: Shadows come alive and entangle anyone within short range.
Tamir can also summon his snake familiar Inephees.
Morale: Tamir abandons the attempted abduction and flees back to the One Source Merchants’ Guild if brought below 5 health.
Equipment: scroll of dimension door (cypher), scroll of summon monster (summon and control Level 5 demon spirit for 10 minutes) (cypher); Other Gear dagger, bag of holding (Artifact, depletion 1 on a 1d20), six small flawed rubies worth 250 gp each.
This small humanoid creature seemingly covered in soft earth and mud has leathery wings and malformed rocky small horns and a vague shape of a face and stone eyes that gleam in the light.
Health: 12
Damage Inflicted: 4 points
Armor: 1
Size: Small
Movement: Small
Combat: An earth mephit can slash a foe with one of its sharp claws. It can also sling heavy adhesive mud at a creature. If it hits a target they must make a might defense check or be either blinded, cover a mouth so it may impact communication and spellcasting, or possibly knock down a person.
A victim of a mud attack begins to be weighed down at a rate of 1 point of Speed damage (ignores Armor) per round, starting in the round following contact. To stop the spread of the mud, the victim can pulled free of the mud only with a difficulty 5 Might roll.
Development: If the assault is successful and Rayhan is abducted, the PCs find a short message pinned to his desk in the library by a small knife (reproduced as Handout 1).
If the abduction fails, award the PCs experience as if they had defeated a CR 7 creature. The invasion should be an obvious indication to the PCs that someone is willing to go to extreme lengths to get the Scroll of Kakishon, and Rayhan suggests the PCs go on the offensive and seek out their enemy before the enemy strikes again. If the PCs don’t take the battle to the One Source and Father Jackal in a few days, the enemy does indeed strike again. Father Jackal knows that another invasion would doubtless arouse retaliation from the Pactmasters, but attacks on visitors who are not citizens of the city are another matter. Using his agents, he tries to spy on the PCs’ actions, and then strikes when one is alone, sending a group of eight thugs (and Tamir if he still lives) against a PC or Rayhan in an attempt to abduct him.
Alternatively, if Garavel is still in town, he could become the victim, replacing Rayhan as the abducted.
This assault focuses on Rayhan’s abduction mostly because it assumes that the PCs have taken steps to ensure the safety of the Scroll of Kakishon. Father Jackal knows that a direct assault against untested foes in an attempt to simply take the artifact is risky—abducting an old man who is a friend to the PCs feels safer.
Yet if Tamir learns where the PCs are keeping the Scroll of Kakishon, he and his thugs might instead try to get the map itself. In this event, they leave no ransom note—the PCs will need to use their wits (and perhaps a few divination spells) to determine where their treasure went in this case. As described in Part Three, Father Jackal does not immediately turn over the scroll to the Captain of the Sunset Ship; from the time he gains the scroll, the PCs should have no more than 3 days to get it back from him before it’s gone for good.