Pathfinder Tales--Reaper's Eye

by Richard A. Knaak

  Shiera said nothing as he first mounted, then offered her a hand up. She slid in behind him. “What will you do now that you don’t have to fear being hunted?”

  “It’ll take time for word from Harricka to reach Nerosyan. I’ll still need to be careful. And even so, the best thing would be to leave the city again as soon as possible and stay away.”

  “Hmmph.” She reached into her pouch, where she felt the medallion the Reaper had given her. Memories of the entire expedition flashed through her mind. As breathtaking as it had been at times, the medallion was all she had to show for it. “Would you consider extending your contract?”

  He had just been about to encourage the horse on. Instead, without looking back, he asked, “What do you mean?”

  She fingered the medallion. “I think I’d like to look into this other demon … just to be safe, you understand? It might have sensed something about me when it sought Tzadn. It would be better not to take a chance.”

  “And in the process, you might also happen to find something that could help build your reputation further?”

  Her tone was all innocence. “That could happen, too, I suppose. I think I can get sufficient funding for at least the two of us to go searching.”

  Daryus finally looked over his shoulder at her. “It would take us far from Mendev?”

  “Very far.”

  He smiled and gently kicked the horse in the sides. The animal started on, slowly at first.

  “There will be no need for a contract,” Daryus said.

  “You’ll do it, then?”

  “Someone needs to be there, just in case you do run into the demon in the process.”

  Shiera exhaled, feeling relieved in more ways than one as Daryus urged their horse to a faster pace.

  However, as the animal obeyed, Shiera felt some guilt. Daryus was more now than just a hired hand. He was a friend. She supposed that meant she should have told him about what Tzadn had shown her at the end, the tantalizing images of places and objects, and what they might mean for them both.

  But then, there was still plenty of time.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I’d like to thank everyone at Paizo who enabled me to play in their world, and especially Executive Editor James L. Sutter and Senior Editor Christopher Paul Carey for their work on this book.

  GLOSSARY

  All Pathfinder Tales novels are set in the rich and vibrant world of the Pathfinder campaign setting. Below are explanations of several key terms used in this book. For more information on the world of Golarion and the strange monsters, people, and deities that make it their home, see The Inner Sea World Guide, or dive into the game and begin playing your own adventures with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook or the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner Box, all available at paizo.com. Readers interested in the Worldwound specifically should check out Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The Worldwound.

  Abadar: Master of the First Vault and the god of cities, wealth, merchants, and law.

  Absalom: Largest city in the Inner Sea region, located on an island far to the south of Mendev.

  Abyss: Plane of evil and chaos ruled by demons, where many evil souls go after they die.

  Abyssal: Of or pertaining to the Abyss.

  Aroden: The god of humanity, who died mysteriously a century ago.

  Brevoy: Frigid northern nation famous for its swordlords.

  Crusaders: Soldiers, often organized into military orders by ideology, religion, or governmental allegiance, who fight against the invading demons coming through the Worldwound. While many crusaders are high-minded zealots bent on protecting civilization from destruction, the crusade’s forces also include mercenaries, criminals, and other undesirables.

  Demonic: Of or related to demons.

  Demons: Evil denizens of the plane of the afterlife called the Abyss, who seek only to maim, ruin, and feed on mortal souls.

  Elven: Of or pertaining to elves; the language of elves.

  Elves: Long-lived, beautiful humanoids identifiable by their pointed ears, lithe bodies, and single-colored eyes.

  Familiars: Small creatures that assist certain types of spellcasters, often developing greater powers and intelligence than normal members of their kind.

  Five Kings Mountains: A large and ancient mountain range inhabited by the dwarven nation of the same name.

  Golarion: The planet on which the Pathfinder campaign setting focuses.

  Grand Lodge: The headquarters of the Pathfinder Society, located in Absalom.

  Grimslakes: Armored, maggotlike creatures that devour nearly any living creature they come across, or else use the corpses as incubators for their young.

  Hallit: Primary language of Sarkoris before its fall, as well as many modern northern peoples.

  Inner Sea: The vast inland sea whose northern continent, Avistan, and southern continent, Garund, as well as the seas and nearby lands, are the primary focus of the Pathfinder campaign setting.

  Kenabres: Fortified crusader city along Mendev’s border with the Worldwound, somewhat infamous for its hunting and persecution of perceived demonic sympathizers.

  Mendev: Cold, northern crusader nation that provides the primary force defending the rest of the Inner Sea region from the demonic infestation of the Worldwound.

  Mendevian: Of or pertaining to Mendev.

  Nerosyan: Fortress city and capital of Mendev, situated along the nation’s southwestern border. Also called the Diamond of the North, after its shining towers and diamond-shaped layout.

  Order of the Flaming Lance: Crusader order based out of Kenabres, known for its fervor and hardline approach.

  Pathfinder Society: Organization of traveling scholars and adventurers who seek to document the world’s wonders.

  Pathfinders: Members of the Pathfinder Society.

  Pitborn: One of many names for mortals with a demon somewhere in their ancestry.

  Plane: One of the realms of existence, such as the mortal world, Heaven, Hell, the Abyss, and many others.

  Planar: Of or pertaining to the planes that compose the realms of existence.

  Queen Galfrey: The current monarch of the crusader-state of Mendev, and leader of the Mendevian Crusades. She rules from the capital city of Nerosyan.

  River Kingdoms: A region of small, feuding fiefdoms and bandit strongholds, where borders change frequently.

  Sarkoris: Northern nation destroyed and overrun in the opening of the Worldwound.

  Torag: Stoic and serious dwarven god of the forge, protection, and strategy. Viewed by dwarves as the Father of Creation.

  Venture-Captain: A rank in the Pathfinder Society above that of a standard field agent, in charge of organizing expeditions and directing and assisting lesser agents.

  Vescavors: Toothy insectile creatures from the Abyss that are ruled by queens and possess an insatiable hunger. Known to travel and attack in swarms.

  Vescavor Queens: These enormous insectile beings control swarms of their lesser kin via pheromones and mental commands.

  Warmonger Wasps: Native to the Abyss, these wasplike metallic constructs are now found throughout the Worldwound.

  Witches: Spellcasters who draw magic from pacts made with otherworldly powers, using familiars as conduits.

  Wizards: Those who cast spells through careful study and rigorous scientific methods rather than faith or innate talent, recording the necessary incantations in spellbooks.

  Worldwound: Constantly expanding region overrun by demons a century ago. Held at bay by the efforts of the Mendevian crusaders.

  Read on for a sneak peek at

  THROUGH THE GATE IN THE SEA

  by Howard Andrew Jones

  Aailable February 2017

  Copyright © 2017 Paizo Inc.

  2

  THE BLACK SHIP MIRIAN

  As she played the glowstone over the hull, Mirian imagined the vessel surging along the waves in its glory days, full canvas spread from the trio of towering masts, the dragon-shaped prow ris
ing and falling with the ocean current.

  And then she was once more staring at a sunken hulk.

  She was swimming slowly toward the bow, wand at the ready, when Jekka joined her. She gave him the hand sign for caution. There was no telling what might be using the wreck as its home.

  The figurehead was even more lovely than she’d supposed, carved with that minute detail she’d seen on many lizardfolk objects. Upon closer inspection, Mirian recognized it as a stylized rendition of one of her least favorite creatures: a sea drake. She scowled at the thing. One of the monsters had stalked her when she was a child, and another had chased her expedition through the tunnels of a lizardfolk city before killing Ivrian’s mother.

  Her hand tightened around the wand and she came perilously close to blasting the serpentine image into floating chunks.

  But she had better sense. Provided they could get the figurehead free, they’d probably get a tidy sum for it from some collector. Being a Pathfinder, she knew not to let personal feeling interfere with a historical find.

  Mirian drifted away from the figurehead and back along the narrow bow, light from her glowstone glinting off something half hidden in scum. She swam closer to investigate.

  A lumpy object was set into the planks six feet below the rail and about the same distance from the bowsprit, in the approximate place that Osirian mariners painted eyes on their ships.

  Often she wore gloves on salvage runs, but having anticipated recovering nothing more than a ring down here, she’d dived without them. She reached to touch the object gingerly with her left hand, wiping fingers through grime to reveal a large violet jewel.

  At that her eyebrows rose. If this were a real gem, it could easily be worth thousands of gold pieces.

  Realizing she’d been focused single-mindedly upon her discovery, she checked behind, above, and around her. Her father had taught her not to be so intent you forgot your surroundings. Nearly everything under the water is a predator, he’d told her, and some of them are larger than you.

  She saw Jekka’s light still playing farther back. Time to confer. She swam over to him and the lizard man’s slit pupils contracted in her light beam. She shined the light at her hand so he could see her signal to surface.

  His tongue extended, as it sometimes did when he was thoughtful or uncertain, but he followed as she kicked up, and in a few moments they were drifting in the darkness under the stars. Mirian’s instinctive sense of direction told her the Daughter of the Mist lay to her left, but she couldn’t see it, or even hear the lap of the ocean against its side.

  “Isn’t it amazing, my sister?” Jekka asked. “A ship of my people!”

  “It is amazing. I’d give a lot to know what they painted on the hull to preserve it so well. But there are two things, my brother. Listen well.”

  Sometimes, when she spoke with the lizard man, Mirian found herself unintentionally adopting his formal diction. She supposed she was learning some of his habits, just as he learned some of hers.

  “You have my attention,” he answered.

  “You must always signal me. And be watching for me, underwater. Don’t dart off like that.”

  He nodded, an exaggerated bob on that long neck.

  “We have to watch for each other,” she went on, “because there may be something watching us .”

  “So you have said. Forgive me, Sister.”

  “No harm done, yet. Don’t forget, you need to swim back to the ship and report in. Tell Rendak what we’ve found and borrow his air bottle.”

  “I don’t need it.”

  “You damned well do. You can’t keep popping up and down the whole time. I want to go inside the hull and look around, and I want someone to back me up. You could get trapped in the hull and drown.”

  “I don’t need it,” he repeated stubbornly.

  “You promised to defer to me in salvaging. Are you going back on your word?”

  He hissed. “You shame me, Sister. Very well. But how am I to watch you if you’re going alone to the wreck?”

  “You’re going to come back quickly. And I’m going to continue my inspection on the outside.” Not the safest option, admittedly, but Mirian was an old hand at this, and the seas seemed pretty calm at this drop.

  “I will do these things.”

  “Thank the oracle while you’re there,” she continued, “and apologize to her for the delay. Tell Rendak to turn four points to starboard and come a half mile before dropping anchor. And when he asks if he or Gombe should drop, tell him I’ll let them know when we’re done scouting.”

  “I will remember,” Jekka assured her.

  She was fairly certain he would. The lizard man had an amazing ability to retain oral information and repeat it word for word. Habits, like those of salvaging routines, however, were different from rote memorization.

  “Get it done and come find me. I’m as eager as you to see what lies aboard.”

  Then she waved and dove below.

  On her return trip to the wreck, she wondered what would have happened if she’d descended for the ring alone, or with Rendak or Gombe. Nothing, probably. She’d chosen Jekka in part because he needed to get used to what a salvaging run was like, but also because he’d been so excited to become a salvager. She guessed that was because he now saw the crew as part of his extended clan and wished to contribute to its well-being.

  While she waited for Jekka, she carefully surveyed the ship’s perimeter, familiarizing herself with the length and breadth of the vessel and searching for telltale warning signs that something large and unpleasant lurked within. Ocean predators weren’t especially noted for their intellects. If there were anything nasty living here, there’d likely be discarded carcasses crawling with bottom-feeders nearby.

  She saw no such indications. That didn’t rule out the possibility of more intelligent creatures, like aquatic ogres or sea devils, lairing there, but she saw no sign of tracks or prints along the rail or upon any of the closed cabin doors leading into the bowels of the ship.

  Mirian almost missed the large gash at the vessel’s stern, in the shadow of the hull. She studied the damaged wood and realized she was probably looking at the ship’s death wound. Most likely she’d struck a reef.

  After a very careful examination, Mirian had a pretty clear picture of the ship. It was half again as long as a typical three-master, but perhaps a third shallower across the beam. The decks were high and rose steeply at the prow. Probably there were a good three decks below, and back of the quarter deck were two more above. Two masts were forward and a mizzenmast stood broken off almost to the deck, right through the wheelhouse itself.

  Mirian was looking at the wheel when Jekka finally rejoined her. He took hold of the wheel with one hand to steady himself. Straps of a haversack crossed his chest.

  Jekka had slid an object used by the other salvagers in her crew into a side pocket of his haversack, an item colloquially known as an air bottle. Once someone learned the trick of using one, it was possible to spend long hours below the water with them. It was her grandfather who’d invested in two for the family’s help, and hit upon the idea of a tube to affix to the bottle so the fragile object could be kept in a padded back satchel.

  The tube worked much better if you had lips to close around it—something Jekka lacked. When he’d first attempted to use it, he couldn’t pull air without water coming in as well, unless he jammed the tube so far down his throat he nearly gagged. She understood why he didn’t want to repeat the experience, but he’d have to adapt if he was going to become a salvager.

  A cool current buffeted Mirian as she examined a peculiar column rising beside the wheel. At first glance, it looked like another mast had been sheared off, but that made no sense. That would have placed it off-center from the rest of the vessel.

  She scraped at a layer of blue algae. Instead of a broken mast, she uncovered a diagonal plate resembling a display in an expensive jewelry shop. An array of gems was set into its black metal. She scrubbe
d harder, exposing tiny symbols incised beside each jewel.

  Jekka leaned close, running his scaly fingers over the letters.

  The writing certainly resembled the same language Mirian had seen on the lizardfolk book cones, but she knew many languages looked similar to the uninitiated. She pointed to the symbols and then back at Jekka.

  The lizard man nodded vigorously, touched a set of characters. “No wind!” he shouted, air bubbling out of his mouth.

  He put his fingers beside a flat, violet stone, and it took him three attempts before she could understand him through the water: “Opener of the way.”

  Jekka paused to suck in the tube, then pulled it out, coughing more air bubbles.

  There were four more gems with inscriptions. Mirian spread her hands apart in a silent question.

  Clearly perplexed, the lizard man shook his head.

  She traced the multifaceted ruby he’d told her meant “no wind.” It looked like it might turn in its pitted housing.

  Interesting. Slowly, carefully, she set her fingers on the gem and tried moving it clockwise. It didn’t budge. When she twisted in the other direction, the gem lit from within.

  Mirian looked to Jekka for explanation, but he merely shrugged.

  She made a second twist and the deck shook beneath them. Clouds of silt billowed up, and from somewhere below came a loud scraping noise. It wasn’t until she looked to port and turned her beam there that she noticed the landscape moving …

  No, the ship was! Mirian let out a colorful oath and quickly twisted the jewel all the way to the right so that it returned to its original setting. It ceased glowing and the ship slowed.

  She looked at Jekka as if to say, What the hell was that?

  The lizard man stared back at her, reptilian eyes blinking.

  This was a major find, but there was no way they’d pry any of the gems out of here. “No wind” apparently meant the ship could be set in motion magically when there was no breeze. She marveled at that, wondering whether a skilled enough magic-worker could remove it from the ship and install it on another. Like, say, the Daughter of the Mist, or that behemoth Ivrian was so set on building.