Pathfinder - Module - The Pact Stone Pyramid.pdf

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J4 The Pact Stone Pyramid
A 3.5/OGL ADVENTURE FOR LEVEL 8
J4
module
By Michael Kortes
 
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The Main Level
areas 1-8
300 feet
The Song Tubes
The Throne Level
areas 15-17
Area 14
The Pact Stone level
areas 9-14
area 8C
The Pact Stone
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The Main Level
300 feet
areas 1-8
The Song Tubes
The Throne Level
areas 15-17
Area 14
The Pact Stone level
areas 9-14
area 8
area 8
area 8C
The Pact Stone
N
7
8
w
E
8A
S
8B
4
5
3
2
6
c
c
f
1
one square = 5feet
THE PACT STONE PYRAMID TM
Design: Michael Kortes
Development and Editing: Christopher Carey, Sean K Reynolds, and James L. Sutter
Editor-In-Chief: James Jacobs
Art Director: Drew Pocza
Cover Artist: Concept Art House
Interior Artist: Bentobox Studios (Ciaee, Haruningster, Kiat, Jerry Teo, and Svetlin Velinov) , Andrew Hou
Cartographers: Rob Lazzaretti
Managing Art Director: James Davis
Vice President of Operations: Jef Alvarez
Director of Marketing: Joshua J. Frost
Paizo CEO: Lisa Stevens
Corporate Accountant: Dave Erickson
Sales Manager: Chris Self
Technical Director: Vic Wertz
Publisher: Erik Mona
Special Thanks: The Paizo Customer Service and Warehouse Teams
J4: The Pact Stone Pyramid is a Pathinder Module designed for four 8th-level characters. By the end of this module, characters should reach
9th or 10th level. This module is designed for play in the Pathinder Chronicles campaign setting, but can easily be adapted for use with any
world. This module is compliant with the Open Game License (OGL) and is suitable for use with the 3.5 edition of the world’s most popular
fantasy roleplaying game.
The OGL can be found on page 31 of this product.
Paizo Publishing, LLC
2700 Richards Road, Suite 201
Bellevue, WA 98005
paizo.com
Product Identity: The following items are hereby identiied as Product Identity, as deined in the Open Game License version 1.0a, Section
1(e), and are not Open Content: All trademarks, registered trademarks, proper names (characters, deities, artifacts, places, etc.), dialogue, plots,
storylines, language, incidents, locations, characters, artwork, and trade dress.
Open Content: Except for material designated as Product Identity (see above), the contents of this Paizo Publishing game product are
Open Game Content, as deined in the Open Gaming License version 1.0a Section 1(d). No portion of this work other than the material
designated as Open Game Content may be reproduced in any form without written permission. To learn more about the Open Game License
and the d20 System License, please visit wizards.com/d20.
Pathinder Modules are published by Paizo Publishing, LLC under the Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
All other trademarks are property of Paizo Publishing, LLC. ©2008 Paizo Publishing.
Printed in China.
Pathfinder Module j4
j series adventure
module J4
THE PACT STONE PYRAMID
eath is but one thing the pyramid-raider faces. When it comes to the ruins
of ancient Osirion, it is the fear of a curse that governs. Mere death is
a natural end, but to have one’s fate manipulated like a piece of clay is
something else. Take the case of the exploration of the necropolis of An-
Hepsu IV in 4502 ar: it was only ater the raiders were compelled to seek
out and garrote all of their sons and daughters that they at last found themselves
with enough command to take their own lives. It is further recorded that ater exiting
the Liquid Pyramid of the Pharaoh of Nagas in 4691 ar, Taldan divers slit their
bellies open and tied each others’ entrails to an ankh embedded in the ocean loor
before resurfacing. I oten wonder what manner of man it takes to persist where the
risk of a curse is omnipresent—insanity comes to mind.
—From the foreword of Venture-Captain Jalden Krenshar to “The Veinstone Pyramid” in
Vol. 67 of the Pathinder Chronicles
2
D
THE PACT STONE PYRAMID
Adventure BAckground
The Four Pharaohs of Ascension were renowned for the
mythic pact in which they at last ended their violent feud,
joined forces, and presided over a period of legendary
prosperity. The Fiend Pharaoh, the Radiant Pharaoh, the
Cerulean Pharaoh, and the Pharaoh of Numbers—together
these four god-kings ushered in an age characterized
not only by inexplicable technological and magical
advancement, but unprecedented military conquest.
Legends state that the four pharaohs were only able to
set their mutual distrust aside and ally with one another
ater they magically bound their fates together in a solemn
pact that rendered any further attacks against one another
suicide. But where did such powerful binding magic
suddenly come from? And where is that magic now? For
one Osirian noblewoman, the wealthy Exemplar Khymrasa,
the search for an answer to these ancient questions has
slowly simmered to the point of obsession.
Scraps of lore from the oldest of codices refer to a
mysterious device called the Pact Stone , and to the fact that
the stone was somehow employed by the Four Pharaohs of
Ascension in their collective binding. Khymrasa also knows
(as does every neophyte Osiriontologist) that one pharaoh
died from an incurable disease and dragged the others
to their deaths by the very pact that was once the secret
to their success. Although several theories still circulate
to this day, it was never known which pharaoh’s sickness
brought down the rest.
bound him inside the pyramid, employing the devil as a
hedge against enemies that might seek to steal the power
of the Pact Stone . From there the iend and the pharaoh
began their negotiations: Suekahn bargained for his release
while Hetshepsu bartered for a term of service. Their inal
agreement was for a thousand Osirian souls in exchange
for the devil guarding the pyramid, payment to be made
when the iend had slain 56 intruders.
No sooner had the contract been forged than each party
went to work to cheat the other. Suekahn used his power
to lure working slaves into the pyramid to rapidly inlate
his kill-count. Hetshepsu arranged to alter the pyramid’s
construction, eventually making it near-impossible for
anyone but the Four Pharaohs to enter.
As the pharaohs’ need for secrecy grew, the citizens of
Tumen were forbidden, on pain of death, to look at or
even speak of Ahn’Selota. It became a crime for sages to
even record the Pact Stone Pyramid’s location in writing.
Suekahn’s new home became a forgotten ghost town,
and without the means to fulill his terms of service the
devil’s coninement stretched into an eternity. Eventually
the capital city of Tumen was lost as time covered it with
crystal-white desert sand. The devil’s body count froze at
17, leaving the immortal Suekahn with nothing to do but
pace the pyramid halls for eternity, growing ever more
crazed as he dreamed of 39 more kills for his freedom.
But Suekahn’s dreams have suddenly slipped closer to
reality. Several weeks ago, a lone nomad tracker chanced
to pass directly overtop the pyramid, and Suekahn was
able to telepathically reach out and touch the tracker’s
mind. A few tantalizing messages later and the traveler
returned with some friends to investigate, among them
an enterprising water merchant named Anchrovin.
Enticed with the promise of treasure, Anchrovin traveled
to Sothis to sell the secret of his friend’s discovery. It was
only a matter of days before the location was purchased
by Khymrasa on desperate speculation. Soon her own
people reported back to her that there were indeed
unseen whispers of Ahn’Selota rising from the sand. The
Exemplar then began to organize what might be the most
important dig of her lifetime.
khymrasa’s Plan
According to the Exemplar’s sages, if the fabled Pact Stone
were to be located and destroyed, the three pharaohs who
were once compelled to die by their pact would be freed
from their oaths and would resume the remainder of their
natural lives. Only the fourth pharaoh, the one who truly
succumbed to disease, would remain lost.
Khymrasa believes that if three of the Four Pharaohs were
to return, the golden reign of pharaohs would begin again.
She further maintains that the Four Pharaohs understand
that their balance of power only works when they act as a
group of four, and that the woman who revived them is the
perfect choice to replace their lost comrade.
The Exemplar’s plan had a law, however: no one knew
where the Pact Stone was. Although it was said to be secreted
away deep within a pyramid known as Ahn’Selota (the fabled
Pact Stone Pyramid), such a place had never been found.
the Shrine of Horns
Suekahn’s message traveled farther than he expected.
Anchrovin resold his tale to an Osiriontologist from
Cheliax, whereupon it then reached the ear of the
Asmodean monks of the Shrine of Horns in Egorian,
the capital city of the devil-tainted nation. The monks
concluded that the Exemplar Khymrasa just might
be poised to ascend to power in Osirion. The Shrine
contacted her to provide their support in exchange for
a future alliance. They quietly dispatched one of their
masters, a terrifying warrior named Soan, along with
several of his hand-picked brethren.
Whispers From under the Sand
None of Khymrasa’s plans would have amounted to
anything more than an over-indulgent fantasy were it not
for the machinations of an ageless imprisoned devil named
Suekahn-Rana-Tep. Six millennia ago, when Ahn’Selota was
still an uninished pyramid near the ancient city of Tumen,
Hetshepsu, the Fiend Pharaoh, summoned Suekahn and
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