The PCs

Michael Tuk

Human (F)

A friar of the Monastary of the Whispering Winds- a monastic order based on perfection of self. Wandered away from the party out of the blue, citing that she felt the call of her creator to focus on book learning. 

Brody O'Duff

Half-Elf (M)

An associate of the Thieve's Guild. Killed in action distracting a witch away from the rest of the party. 

Kotkin Davieth

Aasimar (M)

A soldier here to defend the city. He died attempting to negotiate for the return of Brody O'Duff from a powerful mind control witch. 

Lady Vesper Nightrune of the Nation of Holly

Aasimar (F)

A woman looking for her lost childhood friend. 

Lord Pending of the Nation of Holly

Tiefling (M)

A bard from the College of Art looking to expand his celebrity.

Lord Nantar of the Nation of Holly

Blue Goblin (M)

A blue goblin with an interest in human religions who focuses his psionic ability on healing others. 

Psionics

 

Psionics is, in many ways, the 3rd type of magic (besides divine and arcane). Unlike magic, which is based on the environment, psionics is comes mostly from within, from your own spirit. In many ways it's the same as magic, in a few ways its different:

How is it the Same:

Most things that detect magic detect psionics also. Same with dispel, spell resistance, etc. Spellcraft is used as "Psicraft" and knowledge arcana can identify certain psionic elements. 

To your average peasant it's the same as magic (especially like spell like abilities that don't have components), so anyone who doesn't trust magic (like certain barbarian archtypes) would also distruct psionics. Most feats that affect spellcasters or casting defensively are equally usable against psions. 

How is it Different:

While there have been wild magic zones, psionics has been mostly unaffected. Likewise some magic dead zones may not affect psionics (though there may be separate psionic dead zones or areas where both are inhibited). 

While there is a huge mage's guild, which studies the "science" of magic, psionics are based more on the internal mind and spirit, and is harder to teach. As such, there are fewer guilds and schools that focus on it. True, there are psions in the mage's guild, and there are some that study at monasteries, but socially it is hard to teach in a classroom setting, so psions are still more rare.  

Thematically, divine magic comes from the gods. Arcane magic comes from the world (though having certain bloodlines may help you access the magic more easily). Psionics comes from the self. Divine magic can go anywhere your divine source is recognized (so certain alternate primes could suffer from a lack of faith in a god). Arcane magic can go anywhere that magical energy exists (so certain worlds may not have magic at all). Psionics can go anywhere you can go. 

While a psion can be mythic, there aren't as many mythic abilities that compliment a psion as there is a mage, and there doesn't appear to be mythic versions of psionic powers, so there's a negative. 

For creating magical items, psions create psionic items and spellcasters make magic items. 

Notable NPCs

 

Laplace Johnson

Any runner who knows anything knows about Laplace Johnson. Mr. Johnson seems to know things- that's his job. One of the big things he knows is people- and how to help people find other people. One of the other thinks most people know about Mr. Johnson is how much he DOESN'T know. He might introduce an "adventurer" to someone who "needs something done", and afterwards he seems to know nothing about it. This strange ability to know exactly where to find people, except when nosy people are asking questions, makes him quite a valuable ally. 

Bellis Zoophile

Anyone looking for Honest Work could do worse then Bellis Zoophile. She runs one of the most impressive zoos in the nation, with various strange animals and beasts, as well as a large museum called the "Companion Menagerie" with rare figurines. Supposedly each figurine is a petrified beast. She calls them her children, and she's always willing to pay top dollar for a new adoption. 

Foul John

It's a rare beggar who becomes somewhat of a minor celebrity. This guy is a beggar by trade- and he's proud of it. He's turned up opportunities to move up in the world, and he refuses to ally himself with the nefarious sorts who find him useful, as well as the lawful sorts who find him useful. Some say he's insane, others say he's brilliant. One thing we can all agree on though, is that he's a good place to go if you're desperate for information. I say desperate, because few people can stand the stench, or stomach the way he picks at his diseased boils when he speaks. And of course when he sneezes one gets the urge to get a remove disease done in a hurry. But still, there's very little that escapes his detection.

Lady Angelica Daedelus

There are the merchants, then the nobles, then the very rich. And then there's Lady Daedelus (or Lady Dee Dee to her friends). She hosts the most elegant parties and despite not being affiliated with any guild, has hosted city officials as well as guild leaders. Rumor has it that for some reason, thieves refuse to do any job related to her or her property. Is she affiliated with the mysterious Thieves Guild, or is her house so well protected that no one dares break in? Or is it that she has the means to get revenge on anyone who's wronged her? All we know for sure is that her family has various business interests outside of Druma that keep plenty of cash flowing in. 

Rogar Hornbreaker

Governor of Garn is Rogar Hornbreaker. While most Druma cities are protected by the Blackjackets, Garn is far enough away from the capital and has too much guild influence for him to keep as tight a grip on things like you'd see in other cities like Kerse. Despite the higher crime, and his apparent inability to keep the guilds in line, the High Prophet Kelldor has made no signs that Rogar is to be replaced. Perhaps he's found some kind of delicate balance that allows him to make enough profit to secure his position, or maybe he's found some way of keeping secrets from the capital. What we do know is that most people who have a meeting with Rogar leave that meeting happy- happy that they were allowed to leave the meeting. As far as what they were meeting with him regarding, they often seem to forget what they were demanding and are happy just to be going about their business. Rumor has it that no guild leader likes Rogar, but that they all fear that any alternative would be worse for them. 

Julietta Rosen

A cleric of Naderi and the leader of the Naderi Player's acting troupe. Julietta puts out tragic plays of love lost, usually ending with the suicide of the lovers who society kept apart. Her plays are quite popular, and usually end with some kind of poem about the power of love and encouragement for people to find acceptance for all kinds of love. 

The Minotaur

Rumors have begun surfacing of a strange vigilante known as "The Minotaur". A sprawling city's streets can easily look like a maze to foreigners, and the Minotaur knows the streets like none other. Some criminals have been found gored, or chopped up brutally with an axe. Sometimes there are witnesses, but accounts are foggy. All we know is that the minotaur seems to only target people in the act of committing a crime- innocents seem to have been left alone during Minotaur sightings. Despite the minotaur helping to clean up the streets, the watch have issued a bounty for his capture. 

Captain Belmarnis Grimes

Captain of the City Watch is Belmarnis Grimes is a runners worst nightmare. While the watch may not have the numbers of the fighter's guild, or authority to enter some guild property for investigations, she knows that criminals have to use her city streets to get from place to place, and she is happy to capture criminals and bring them to justice. She has a major grudge against the guilds, especially since she knows that they (from time to time) are known to hire disreputable sorts to get things done. It's said that the Assassin's guild has stopped taking contracts for her after some unfortunate accidents that resulted in missing assassins. She may be a watch captain, but don't expect much quarter. The law grants her a great deal of discretion in regards to use of force, and she's not foolish enough to yell "Halt!" when a bullet to the leg will get the same thing done. 

The Guilds

 Nowadays there are guilds for just about everything. A farmer's guild, a carpenter's guild- and you can bet the guilds will come down hard on those who perform a trade without a license. There are plenty of organizations you can go work for. 

You get bigger than the guilds, and you get the governments- the city watch, local royalty. They make the laws, and they have the armies. 

Then you have the big guilds. The AAA guilds. These guilds have branches in every country, every major city (and a few minors ones!). They have membership to rival some nations, and some have coinage to match the most wealthy kings!

And these guys defend their lands! Sure they got to follow local laws, but it's hard for your regular badge to show up in the Mage's Guild and demand to look around. If he gets back out at all he might be a newt, or a turnip. Best case is he just comes out with no memory of the incident. 

The Mage's Guild

Might as well start at the top, huh? These guys have dedicated themselves to unravelling the secrets of the universe, and not everyone wants to see what's behind THAT curtain. They have such a monopoly on magical materials they basically set the prices (which is handy when you need an onyx worth a specific amount!) Inside the mage's guild is various factions based on certain school specialties, such as the Conjurers or  the Illusionists. With all this power, you'd think they'd run the world, but once you've unlocked the multiverse, ruling one dimension hardly seems worth the trouble. 

While your everyday muggle doesn't necessarily trust the mage's guild- and rightly so- last thing you need is a stray demon appearing in your backyard! Then again, it's nice to know you got a bunch of guys who can launch siege style artillery if the orcs decide to attack!

The Merchant's Guild

Give me control of a nation's money supply and I care not who makes its laws. The Merchant's guild sums that up. Barely a union or labor guild exists that doesn't pay some form of taxes to the merchant's guild. Their coffers are deep, and they finance many a new business- if they feel it's worth their while. If there's one thing they care about it's maintaining profitability. While the adventurers plunder an ancient tomb worth thousands of gold, they're content to take a small piece out of every grain of rice, every sword, and every tunic made. Turns out, that's the more lucrative business.

The Pantheon

What holds more power than any church in Golarion? All the churches combined! Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of in-fighting amongst the different religions, but that's out in the country where they're sacrificing virgins to devils. Here in the city, the Pantheon keeps the peace- they've discovered that if they work together in big cities, they can set prices for healing services and rake in the money. All those temples, candles, and oils have to get paid for somewhere, and it's odd what a church of Asmodeus down the street does for the church of Erastil! Both seem to magically have more attendance (and tithes) than either would have if they were the only game in town! And here we have the pantheon- the agreement between churches to gather money in small towns, and kill each other out in the countryside. 

The Alchemists Guild

It's not magic, it's alchemy! While the churches focus on magical healing (for the faithful- or rich- only of course) someone has to be out there making plain old antiplagues for the peasants. And a mage might be able to lob a fireball at a horde of charging goblins, but ANYONE can throw an alchemists' fire! With magic dead zones in some areas of the world, and strange wild magic zones popping up, some good old fashioned alchemy can be just the ticket for someone who wants consistency!

The Artificer's Guild

Headquartered in Numeria, this guild is about finding the ancient lost technology and capitalizing on it. Whether it's supplying gunslingers, or trying to clean up radiation links, these guys have become mysteriously right. What have they discovered from the ancient civilizations that they haven't shared? I guess it doesn't matter- as long as they keep supplying the flintlocks! 

The College of Art

Also known as the "Bard's College" this is a multi-national university dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, culture, and art. They seek to categorize the history of the world, create masterpieces, and put on plays for both commons and nobles. Perform is the most profitable of the labor skills, and these guys know it! It doesn't hurt that archeological digs tend to turn up as much treasure as they do historical research! While the mage's guild studies magic and the churches teach the gods, these guys learn about everything else there is to know. And as they say, knowledge is power! What lengths do they go to in order to obtain that knowledge?

The Thieves Guild

Ever see this symbol painted somewhere? It's the mark of The Hand. Maybe it's like the watch says- that this is just an urban legend that vandals are propagating as a joke. But then, it's all over the world. The very concept of a thief's guild seems counter-intuitive at first. A group of scoundrels that cant be trusted and are after stealing things? But then, stolen things need to be sold, someone's crafting lock pics- and it's not all locksmiths, and someone's passing on the skills to the next generation. They say "The Hand" is the name of the master thief that got everyone together. Of course, it's all just rumors. 

The Assassin's Guild

While some thing it's silly to say there's a thieves guild, everyone seems to agree that there's a shadowy organization that supports killers for hire. It makes sense. People want to get rid of other people, and there's a definite need for skilled workers to meet that need. And unlike the thieves- who are most successful if they are never discovered, the assassins regularly leave calling cards so everyone knows that this was a hit job. Some people report seeing bodies dried up and shriveled, as if the very soul of the target was taken away. But in a world with resurrection, if you want something done permanently, I guess you need it done right! Not to say that there aren't plenty of killers out there that aren't aligned with a guild- but if you've got the money, you might want to pay extra for quality. 

The Pan Kowalski

 

The Pan Kowalski-

This is where the adventurers go to get their jobs. Go down to the postings board, find work what needs doing, and get it done. Hunting beasts, exploring caves, rescuing princesses- all in a days work for an adventurer.

But where's the real work, Chummer? Thems what run in the shadows can post their jobs in the open for any badge to see! You think the Thief's Guild or the Assassin's Guild (which don't exist of course) would just put up a poster saying what crimes they want done? No, you got to have a meeting! You need to get hooked up with the right people. 

Where are the right people? Well that's the trick, isn't it? Ever heard the saying, "Honor Amongst Thieves"? Don't count on that to save you. These people aren't posting jobs because the jobs aren't on the up and up- but they tend to make it worth your while- if you don't screw it up! 

Ironically enough, many a clandestine meeting happens at the Pan Kowalski. The innkeeper- Diga Kowalski understands that some people value privacy. They say that while when she pours a gallon of ale, she lets not a secret drip. Others say that more of her revenue comes from her keeping her mouth shut than her patrons opening up theirs! With several secret rooms, and all kinds of sound-dulling spells (for comfort of course), the Pan Kowalski is quite the place for a meeting.