She’d allied with the Gaian, and that was her first mistake. She thought their affinity with water would help, but Ashē-Manara forgot, or did not care, that their rivalry with the Royan is their utmost trait. The Naiad do not live close to the civilised place. There aren’t enough of them to matter. She could not have guessed how much that conflict impacted their lives. Their culture. She did not realise that the only Gaian she would find to undertake such a bold mission so close to the reaches of the empire would be those that might have the stomach to tolerate them.
Their affinity with water did help. They, who call the jungle as home, had no problem clearing out the old temple. They dug through the underground river and started excavation on the machine (useless collection of rocks). And progress was good. But the Gaian care too much for the forest. Started asking questions about what they were doing. Ashē-Manara learned that Gaian see things she doesn’t. Their long stay in the jungle gave them new eyes. She could see them see things she missed.
So when Zornān, a trouble maker, she knew, promised everything was okay, she should not have trusted him. But she did. And when the damn Expeditionary Force came, her entire operation failed. And she died. Ashē-Manara did not know what the Gaian know.
Everyone thinks they own the jungle. But the jungle is changing. The Royan and the Gaian may learn they aren’t the first to make this mistake.
My thursday group has started up a new game, this time in Pathfinder 2nd Edition. It’s like an extension to a one (six)-shot I ran going through a temple.
Things to know:
Previously: The party are members of The Royan Expeditionary Force, a task force the empire uses to sort out nasty things in the jungle. Mostly boring guard duty, the party was lured to a temple by rumors of Gaian incursion (Gaian mostly keep away from the prudish empire). Unusual, so close to the land. The party delved into an ancient temple in the jungle, fought a bunch of Gaian, and found them excavating something that looked like a giant mechanical elephant. They killed their Naiad leader (Ashē-Manara, above) and collapsed the elephant dig sight back into the earth. Throughout their adventures they earned the interest of a Gaian they had spared named Zornān, who now follows them. With a very abnormal, and possibly dire, report, the party has been summoned to the Governer himself in Kuljak, the seat of power in this region of the forest.
7 players!!!