Aetheric Order


 * -|Main=

Pathfinder: Aetheric Order is a Pathfinder campaign written and hosted by Sonic. The campaign's first session ran on June 26th, 2022, and it is currently ongoing.

= Story = Prologue: The World We Know

After hearing a mysterious voice calling out to them, a group of newfound adventurers journey to the floating city of Atmos. They all arrive in the central plaza of the city just in time to meet each other. The group wastes no time in introducing themselves, all agreeing that they had also heard the voice. After introductions, Saga feels an overwhelming sensation and a mysterious individual approaches the group. They introduce themselves as Alias and speak of how the party was chosen, and ask if they are looking to prove themselves. Alias hands the party a map as an explosion is heard in the distance. Alias tells the party that this is their chance before disappearing.

The party heads in the direction of the explosion, discovering a band of hooligans running out of a building, bags in hand. They confront the group, taking most of them down- though a single thug is able to escape with the loot they had stolen. Investigating the scene, the party finds a piece of Dravelite and see that all the thugs are sporting Haikaran emblems.

After the attack, the party heads to Nehilo Investigation Agency, meeting Ezra's secretary Crescinia Quintesce and their bodyguard Vernas Koshuth. They discuss the situation and play around with a microwave before heading to the Charging Swine to relax for the night. That night, they hear the strange voice again in their dreams saying that if they continue down their current path, they will meet soon.

Chapter 1: Proving Ourselves

The party awakens to begin their investigation on the attacks in Atmos, and Relta recalls a merchant named Zayel who has a side business of selling information. The party heads across the city to meet Zayel in their shop. They are unable to afford the price for the information they desire, but Zayel offers to give it to them for free if they simply retrieve a shipment from the nearby docks for them. The party heads to the docks to retrieve the shipment, but are attacked by a mob of sea creatures that hid within some crates. They defeat the creatures and return to Zayel with the shipment. Zayel reveals the attackers to be the Ketsueki Clan and that they target places that contain stores of Dravelite. They also reveal the clan's next target, a warehouse they would attack that same night, and warn the party of the clan's leader. The party exits the shop as Zayel mysteriously disappears using a pendant that came with their shipment.

The party moves to stakeout the warehouse, sitting in an alleyway until nightfall. Night comes and the party spot a group breaking in who they quickly follow. They confront the burglars in warehouse, taking out all but one who they interrogate. The man reveals the location of the clan's hideout and the passcode required to enter. A group of city guards then enter, ready to arrest everyone before Ezra shows them his detective badge. Just as this happens, one of the criminals gets back up and attempts to stab Ezra in the back, but Milo quickly unsheathes his sword cane, glowing a vibrant blue, and takes out the criminal before he can harm Ezra. The party agrees to discuss what they learned later and leave to get some rest.

The next morning, the party regroups at the Charging Swine and Milo's sword begins to glow brightly. The sword speaks, introducing itself as Caerus, stating that he was awakened by Milo's desire to protect others but seems to have lost most of his memory. Milo agrees to help Caerus and they head to the detective agency to learn more about black blades from Crescinia and her blade Comet. Afterwards, they locate the Ketsueki Clan hideout, and use the secret password to enter. They fight their way through until they encounter Bold Barry, who had escaped from the party's first fight with the clan. Barry states that he's getting revenge for his brother and a fight breaks loose. Barry however, is not as strong as he claims and is quickly defeated by the party.

The party continues clearing out the clan's hideout, scoring some gold before entering the chamber where Ketsueki herself awaits. Some banter ensues as Ketsueki states that she cannot let the party continue and the fight begins. As the fight progresses, Ivala is briefly knocked unconscious and the wind begins to pick up before Saga senses someone coming. Ketsueki prepares a final attack but is interrupted by the arrival of Zealys and the cloaked figure on an airship, who tell her that she needs to come with them to Leau. Ketsueki reluctantly agrees, hopping on the ship alongside her subordinates under the cover of a smoke screen and they all fly away. Alias then appears behind the party, telling them that they should be pursuing the group to Leau before leaving.

The party returns to the Charging Swine for the night, noticing that all the Ketsueki Clan members they had defeated mysteriously disappeared. Meanwhile, Alias has a discussion about the strange group that Ketsueki has connections to with an unknown individual.

Chapter 2: The Real Enemy

The next day, the party heads off to Leau. During their weeklong airship ride to the kingdom, the party meets a small-time Ifrit adventurer named Kace who tells them about a recent issue in the lake around the capital where a strange creature has been attacking people in the waters. At the end of the trip, Kace gifts the party a map of Leau before departing.

Venturing into the capital, the party splits into two groups in an attempt to find any information about Zealys and the cloaked figure. Relta, Kyla and Saga discuss their pasts a bit more and discover more information about the beast in the waters including a bounty reward for slaying it, as well as an advertisement for a performance from the local band Killer Wail that night. Meanwhile, Ezra, Ivala and Milo discuss the Quintesce family before heading to a bar and learning of the potential connection between Zealys and the beast from a city guard named Otha.

Everyone reconvenes later in the day near the royal castle to share what they learned and agree to attend the performance by Killer Wail. They arrive at the concert and it begins. Midway through, the band's lead, Levi, asks the party to come on stage and challenges them to a duel to entertain the crowd- to which the party accepts. The party puts on a good show, defeating Killer Wail. Levi takes them all to a bar and explains that he is a Nephilim, a kind of people in Aetherus born with strange powers, and offers to assist the party in taking down the creature in the lake. The party spends the next few days preparing to fight the beast in the lake while Levi acquires a ship for them to use. Ezra manages to schedule a meeting with Viktor Quintesce and they meet with Viktor the day before Levi would have a ship ready. Viktor was surprised to see Milo alive and encouraged him to look for his family and unlock Caerus's power.

The next day the party and Levi head out onto the lake to defeat the Beast of the Lake plaguing the waters. They find it and manage to kill it after Ivala jumped into the waters and held its jaw in place. They then discovered that the dust remains of the beast were all heading to a small cove with a temple inside. They venture into the Mariana Lake Ruins, taking down monsters living in the ruins, and find the solution to a puzzle to raise a bridge. As they cross the bridge, Saga has a vision, stopping the party for a moment to tell them that Zealys and the cloaked figure are on the other side, but to be careful. The party prepares and finds the two, as well as Vathys, talking. Zealys tells that party that he can no longer let them live and a fight breaks loose.

After a severe beating, Zealys removes a piece of Dravelite from his amulet and transforms into a strange form, much to the objection of Vathys. Despite this, he still eventually falls to the party. Vathys attempts to step in but the cloaked figure stops him, telling him to take Zealys and leave. Vathys begrudgingly complies. The cloaked figure introduces himself as Oranos to the incredibly weakened party, and tries to kill them with Apocrypha, his scythe. The attempt fails as his attack is blocked by a yellow shield of energy. He laughs and states that they will meet again before leaving.

The party leaves with their loot, boarding Levi's ship once more. As the ship sails back to Mariana, they tell Levi what happened. After a heartfelt discussion and making a promise to not die, Alias appears and tells the party that their final test is coming and they will soon know everything before disppearing again. Everyone then agrees on a group name, "The Immortal Flames." Tired, the party heads to the inn and sleeps, once again hearing the mysterious voice directing them to head to the northern mountains of Arcadis for their final trial. Meanwhile, Oranos stands atop a mountain, swearing that this time he will succeed and Aetherus will be his.

Chapter 3: Blessed By Earth

The Immortal Flames take a day off to recover from their fight with Zealys. The day after that, they say goodbye to Levi, Elly and Daryl and board a ship to the northern regions of Arcadis. After a four day trip, as the ship reaches the edge of the island of Arcadis, a dense cloud of fog begins to form- A Cloudstorm. Two Air Elementals board the ship and attack the party, ignoring any attempts to communicate. The Flames defeat the elementals and the ship begins to change course. The captain profusely apologizes, stating that they were unaware of sporadic Cloudstorm activity in the area. The ship flies to the southern edge of Arcadis, landing at the capital Regium instead of the intended destination. The party heads into the city, realizing that they are going to have to head for the mountains on foot. They discuss the upcoming festival in Regium for the Day of Life, a day celebrating Gaea and the end of the Ancient War, before heading to an inn and sleeping.

In the morning, the party rent some horses to begin their journey to the mountains. Ivala gets lucky and spots a single gold coin the the grass, happily taking it. Later, they hear fighting nearby and discover a cave full of acid where a paladin is fighting a black dragon. The party assists in taking down the dragon and the paladin introduces himself as Kylian Osecal. They continue traveling alongside Kylian, until the sun sets. They set up camp and have a lengthy discussion about dragons before heading to sleep. Kylian, Ivala, Ezra and Kyla keep watch overnight, with not much happening other than Ezra spotting some strange movements.

The next morning they head into Secundo, with Kylian heading to help out at a local church of Hesla and the rest of the party looking for something in town to do. The party regroups with Kylian after eating at a local restaurant and continue on their way to the north. As they walk they check out some ancient ruins and discuss Aetherus's past. As night falls they manage to reach the Bridge of Vecchio and stay at a nearby inn. The next morning they cross the, admiring the Remnant that hangs above the gulf the bridge crosses. They are then ambused in the middle of the bridge by a cultist dedicated to Ophion, alongside some allies, that claims they radiate a divine aura and must be eliminated. The party fights, defeating everyone. Kylian kills the cultist as the final enemy pleads for Ivala to not drop him off the bridge. They question him, make him drop his weapons and promise to change his ways. The man runs off and the party continues on their way. They inform the guards of the incident and sell their loot. At the end of the day, they set up camp, thinking about how the cultist managed to empty the bridge. Kylian is worried about something, though is hesitant to tell the party.

The next morning, the party packs up and heads into the mountains. As they enter the valley, the weather begins to worsen with fog and rain setting in. In the fog and as the wind picks up, they spot a figure in the fog. As they approach, it turns out to simply be a tall rock. Later, on a thin stretch of the path, it is blocked by a rockslide and the party turns around to take an alternate route along a promenade going over a river. On the promenade, the party is intercepted by Evian Varis, an old friend of Kylian's turned enemy. Evian refuses to listen to reason and a fight breaks out. When it seems like Evian is losing, he backs up and blows up the bridge, causing it to collapse. He laughs maniacally as the party and Kylian fall into the river and are washed away. The party is stopped by some rocks, and they swim their way out of the river and onto the shore. Kylian apologizes to the party for Evian, explaining their history. They party collects themselves and agree to stop Evian's schemes.

The party finds a place to rest and turns in for the night. The next day, they make their way to Tertius, talking to some people from the town along the way. As they reach the town they discover that it is already under attack from Evian and his brigands. Entering the town they find Evian, who tells them meet him outside the church and runs away as his goons cut the party off. They defeat the goons and head to the church where Evian awaits. Evian says that he doesn't care what happens as he's already done what he wanted, and a fight breaks loose. When Evian is eventually on the verge of defeat, he reveals his Nephilim mark to the surprise of the party and is reinvigorated by negative energy. He then unleashes a powerful burst of energy, weakening everyone and bringing Kyla to the verge of death. However, the party are quickly able to defeat him regardless. Evian still believes that its too late for him, but Kylian refuses to let him die, believing he can change, to which Evian begrudgingly accepts. The party spends the rest of the day helping the town of Tertius recovering from the damage done by Evian before resting.

The next day, the party says goodbye to Kylian as they head into the mountains for their trial. They reach a massive door embedded in the side of a mountain which only opens once everyone pushes it in unison. Within the massive hall they see murals depicting Gaea and a massive unknown figure. They then hear the voice of Alkaios who tells them about the trial and their destiny, after which the party enters. The party descends into the trial, taking note of the eight statues lining the walls. Entering the next room. they solve the first chamber's puzzle of mimicking a statue's movements. In the second chamber they battle elementals representing each primary element which they defeat by taking them all out at once. Finally they enter the third chamber and discover a massive battle field with enemy constructs. With some effort, the party manages to defeat the small group of constructs and move on to the next room. In the fourth chamber they open the path forward by traversing a trail of stars. Then, in the fifth chamber, they defeat dragons representing life and death. Finally, they enter Alkaios chamber where they see him meditating in the darkness. Alkaios commends the party for making it through the trial and asks them what it is that motivates them to keep moving forward. The party responds and Alkaios accepts their answer before standing, ready to test them one last time by fighting them.

= Characters = Player Characters

NPCs

= Trivia =
 * Prior to the reveal of its name, the campaign was referred to by the codename "Sky Campaign".
 * Aetheric Order started off as a different campaign with a similar world under the codename "Element Campaign".


 * -|Gallery=