ARLCommunist Theocratic Colony of a Dead EmpireAlignment: LNCapital: Arl (44,000)Notable Settlements: Dalath (8,100), Kuro (19,500),

Mecombria (2,700)Ruler: Princess Verrish, Thurok of the Free People (LN

female Akitoni human aristocrat 8/ex-barbarian 2)Government: Totalitarian communal theocracyMajor Races: Akitoni humans, lizardfolk, shobhads, Ysoki Languages: Akitoni, Azlanti, Low ArlReligion: Azlanti pantheonResources: Foodstuffs, magic items, seabeast ivory,

textiles, water

Rising from its sacred plateau above a long-dead sea, Arl stands proud and strong, a bastion of Azlant's civilized culture amid the barbarism of Akiton's vast cold deserts—or so the people of Arl believe. The city-state is certainly among Akiton's largest, boasting a population of around 44,000 men, women, and children within its walls. Just under a hundred-thousand souls bow to Arl's banner, if one includes all the city's vast rural holdings and satellite communities.

Arl's government is a totalitarian communal theocracy, overseen by the clerics who interpret the will of the gods, the thuroks, and Azlant, in that order. Despite the fall of Azlant some ten-thousand Golarion years ago, the common people and even most middle-ranking clerics labor under the impression that the empire yet remains, and their good works as its most far-flung colony are noticed, appreciated, and rewarded. The higher one climbs the social ladder, however, the more of the truth is revealed: that Arl is alone, long cut off from its alien masters, and true rule lies in the hands of the clerics at the top of the pecking order. Most thuroks arise from this hierarchy, selected by their peers based on their obvious favor with the gods (or favor with their fellows in a baser political sense). During the times that a thurok from another world is in power, their decisions are subtly manipulated by these high-priests, and a thurok who takes too many liberties with their reign or attempts to enact wide-reaching reforms can expect retribution ranging from quiet assassination and disposal to public execution in Arl's Crimson Forum.

Upward social mobility outside of the priesthood is virtually nonexistent, though an occasional artisan or citizen-soldier might catch the eye of a priest and receive state sponsorship or induction into the Blessed Scions, the holy warriors chosen to protect the priests. In all other cases, each member of Arl's society is born into the role they will serve until death. Farmers farm, as their parents did before them, and as their children will. There is no economy in Arl; the state provides everything, with each citizen's goods taken and redistributed to the society. One-third of all product is reserved as a gift to the gods; one-third is taken to support the priest caste, whose metaphysical labors must be sustained or else Arl will fall; and one-third is distributed to all of the lower castes, so that farmers, craftsmen, artisans, and entertainers all benefit and suffer as the fortunes dictate. Despite this,

Arl's society is a highly productive one, and no dire famine has occurred in well over a millennium.

Aside from the Blessed Scions, there exists no standing army in Arl. However, every citizen receives military training, and the average farmer proves a surprisingly stout combatant. In times of war, the citizens take up their arms, fighting and working in shifts so that Arl may retain her footing in war while still producing the everyday goods and services vital to society. These shifts are staggered so that most of the army has served for a time as new soldiers are rotated in, allowing information from those on the front lines to be passed to the new soldiers replacing their comrades. Like all things in Arl, war is overseen by the priests, who give and receive their orders through the established hierarchy. That Arl has never been taken in military conquest is either a testament to the perfection of their society and favor with the gods, or else because few city-states on Akiton could muster the forces necessary to conquer the city, where every man, woman, and child can hurl a spear or wield a dagger with lethal accuracy.

Despite the lack of an internal economy, Arl does accept visitors and merchants who come to its gates to procure the vital foodstuffs, water, magic, and seabeast ivory the city produces in great quantity, or to indulge in the savage entertainments that the city prides itself on. All visitors are assigned a cleric who appraises the visitors' trade goods and assesses their wealth. This cleric then guides them to the state merchants or forms of entertainment they seek, oversees their transactions, and tallies the total cost. Once the visitor's business is completed, this tally is then charged as a fee, payable in commensurate trade goods or coin. Any visitor unable or unwilling to pay their fee is detained and their possessions confiscated. The offender is then put to work as the clerics see fit until the outstanding debt is repaid. The time of this service is up to the cleric to decide, based on the difference in value between the confiscated goods and the total debt, though some unscrupulous clerics use these rare events to essentially enslave the outsider for their own personal use.

Arl's current leader, Princess Verrish, has held the throne for only a little over a year, having inherited the title after her husband was killed and replaced by a traitorous Pathfinder agent, only to be driven off by adventurers from his homeworld. The resultant political upheaval, unseen in Arl for well over three millennia, caused chaos throughout the city and its holdings; only in the last few months has some form of stability been imposed.

But this may only be the beginning. Princess Verrish has begun instituting some small reforms, threatening the political stranglehold of the priest caste. The resulting political strife has threatened the previously indomitable priests, who see themselves as the foundation of Arl's society. Secrets kept from Arl's common citizens are beginning to leak out, and for the first time in centuries, there's serious talk of rebellion among the disaffected. In addition, a new threat referred to only as The Circle has surfaced, their goal seeming to be a reshuffling among Arl's priestly elite and the return to dominance of gods harkening back to Arl's more savage, violent, and expansionist past. Whether the city will hold fast remains to be seen.

Arl, Capital of the High Plateau Thurokdom LN metropolis Corruption +0, Crime +2, Economy +5, Law +7, Lore +5,

Society +1 Qualities academic, insular, magically attuned, pious,

prosperous, strategic location Danger +10 DEMOGRAPHICS Government Thurokdom (Thurok plus city council and

cabinet of religious advisers) Population 44,000 (28,000 Akitoni; 5,000 lizardfolk; 5,000

Ysoki; 2,000 shobhads; 2,000 Golarion humanoids; 2,000 other)

Notable NPCs Princess Verrish, Thurok of Arl (N female Akitoni human

aristocrat 8/ex-barbarian 2)Kol Voss, Brother of the Thurok (CN male Akitoni human

savage barbarian 10)Haluun, Arch-Priest of Abadar (LN male Akitoni human

aristocrat 3/cleric of Abadar 9)Nagkhet-Nhoshi, Arch-Priestess of Pharasma (N female

lizardfolk cleric of Pharasma 10)Drouhama, Commander of the Blessed Scions (LG female

aasimar paladin of Abadar 16)MARKETPLACE Base Value 25,600 gp; Purchase Limit 180,000 gp;

Spellcasting 9th Minor Items all; Medium Items 4d4; Major Items 3d4

Locations in Arl1. Pyramid of the Gods: Arl's largest and most prominent

landmark, the 500-foot-tall Pyramid of the Gods is capped with a portal to the world of Golarion. Unlike most portals, the portal atop the pyramid connects to multiple locations on Golarion, including the Maze of the Open Road in Galt and at least one ruined city on the shattered continent of Azlant. It is from this portal that Azlanti envoys stepped forth some 6,000 Akitoni years ago, upending Arl's simple civilization and creating the totalitarian theocracy that has survived to this day.

Since the fall of Azlant, the flow of visitors from Golarion has slowed to a trickle, yet each new visitor is heralded as a god sent from their divine patrons, the holy Azlanti. The theocracy, who know those who step forth from Golarion to be mere mortals, endorse and support this fallacy, for it keeps them in power and helps quell revolution, lest an angry “god” step from the top of the ziggurat and lay the unfaithful low.

This doesn't mean that every “god” can expect a long-lived reception. Travelers who refuse to toe the official line find themselves quickly decried as imposters and thrown to wild beasts or savage mobs in the Crimson Forum.

2. The Crimson Forum: A center of civic life and a form of savage entertainment in a city famed for its reserved citizens, the Crimson Forum may also be the biggest draw to outsiders from across Akiton. The coliseum can easily

seat 10,000 people, and when a gladiatorial match is scheduled, those seats fill with astounding speed. Matches can be anything from mostly-bloodless historical reenactments to battles pitching Blessed Scions against slaves, criminals, or monsters, and, rarely, public executions in a variety of creative and excruciating forms.

The Crimson Forum also offers the citizens their only voice in politics, where weekly meetings on civic needs are openly discussed and every citizen, whether lowly farmer or arch-priest and every caste in between, is given equal say. It is this seemingly democratic meeting that gives Arl its nickname as the “City of the Free People,” a nickname no one but a native Arlian takes seriously.

3. Thurok's Palace: This walled mansion features Azlanti architecture and traditional Arlian pictogram carvings, a mish-mash of styles that is surprisingly pleasing to the eye. Within its walls, beautiful grounds sport gardens of exotic plants imported long ago from Azlant maintained by magic to survive Akiton's colder, drier climate, and the grand mansion is narrow, tall, and airy. Blessed Scions patrol the grounds and walls at all hours of the day, and its residents are waited on by a staff of several hundred dutiful servants.

While the Thurok's Palace is small by the standards of nobility from other city-states, it makes up for this supposed shortfall in sheer opulence. Even the most humble surfaces feature gilt tracings or reliefs and frescoes from Arl's most talented artisans. Originally built for the Azlanti, many features of the palace seem strange to Akitoni, including a majestic pool that servants have been known to sneak water from to give to their families and neighbors. These “sacred waters”, bathed in by hundreds of previous thuroks, are believed to impart some of their divine gifts on any who drink it, and secret meetings where servants gather to ritually consume the waters have occurred since the palace was built.

4. Pantheon Eternal: Smaller than the Pyramid of the Gods but no less impressive, this smooth-sided pyramid capped with an eternally-glowing golden crystal serves as the grand cathedral for all of Arl's gods. Worshiping the Azlanti pantheon, the Pantheon Eternal also has a vast room where the remains of Arl's past thuroks are kept on display, permanently preserved via magic behind walls of invisible force.

The Pantheon Eternal is also where the majority of the schemes of the priest caste are hatched. Being the center of their political power and where the majority of them live and work, the halls of the Pantheon Eternal veritably drip with secrets and plots.

5. Walk of the Holy: The wide avenues surrounding the Pyramid of the Gods, collectively known as the Walk of the Holy, serve as a location for celebrations, rituals, and festivals where the whole of Arl's population are expected to attend. Six pillars capped with gargantuan statues of legendary heroes decorate the wide avenue between the Pyramid of the Gods and the Crimson Forum, and its broad cobblestones are swept hourly by citizens.

6. Collegia Celestia: The Collegia Celestia is the center of specialized education in Arl. Those occupations deemed too important to leave to the traditional mentor-protege apprenticeship are instead taught within the walls of the Collegia. It is here that those selected to serve as officers

in the Blessed Scions learn tactics, leadership, and law; that the priests study the forbidden tenets of Akiton's heathen faiths, and that Arl's gunsmiths learn their trade.

While the Collegia's collected knowledge could prove an invaluable commodity, everything taught within its walls is considered a state secret, no matter how mundane or well-known. No outsider may attend classes or even step within the Collegia's walls, and those caught discussing even the most banal of topics learned in the Collegia are branded as traitors and executed. Most Collegia graduates are notoriously tight-lipped as a result.

7. Arch Victorious: A glorious work of art, the Arch Victorious is a grand structure of carved stone and precious metal inlays, with a pair of massive, 30-foot-high seabeast ivory doors set within it which remain open except in times of war, severe weather, or threat of monster attack. Ostensibly, Arl's citizens may come and go through the Arch Victorious at any hour of the day, but in reality, most traffic comes to a complete halt at sunset and resumes as normal at sunrise—most citizens fear not only the monsters that prowl Arl's plateau at night, but also the belief that such nocturnal passage merely invites unwanted scrutiny from the Blessed Scions.

8. Foreigner's Gate: All foreigners must enter Arl through its southernmost gate, thus giving it its name. The gate leads into Arl's Foreigner District, the only district in Arl where the business of outsiders is actively courted. Unless an outsider plans to visit the Crimson Forum, Arl's priests actively discourage visitors from traveling to the rest of the city, fearing the spread of dangerous ideas and heathen beliefs.

Like any foreign quarter worth the name, this district contains shops, inns, taverns, theaters, brothels, and entertainment of all types. Visitors are free to explore, consume, and purchase to their heart's—and coin purse's—content. Transactions are still regulated by the state, however, and many visitors find a priest over their shoulder and a squadron of heavily armed Blessed Scions on every corner an intimidating experience.

This district is also the only one where goods may be exported to areas outside of Arl or its holdings. Foodstuffs and bulk textiles are the primary exports, with wealthier merchants instead purchasing masterfully-carved seabeast ivory jewelry or exotic magic.

9. Traveler Market: To many travelers, the work involved in gaining entry into Arl proper can prove far more of a hassle than seems worthwhile. Small-time merchants, nomadic bands, and travelers on their way from one location to another would normally prefer to go around the city-state than spend hours in line before being led around by a suspicious priest, when all they need is basic supplies, a hot meal, and a warm bed. For these visitors, Arl built Traveler Market, a small village outside the city-state that functions like almost any other, save that it is backed by the immense coffers of Arl, whose walls loom not 300 feet from the village proper.

Traveler Market has an inn and tavern called the Wanderer's Rest, a stables, and specialized shops that offer simple but durable goods. The largest building in Traveler Market is the official government office, where visitors can file in advance to visit Arl at a later date, thus speeding up the process of registration when one wishes to

enter the city-state. All prices are set by the priests to be competitive with goods and services from other communities, but because the community can be run without generating profit, these commodities are of surprising quality; the priests of Arl see this small expenditure to be worth the goodwill it garners with merchants and travelers, who spread the word and bring ever more business to Arl's gates.

10. Sandship Depot: Every city-state requires a place for their sandships—and those of visitors—to dock, and this massive building serves that purpose to Arl. Part dock, part fortress, this vast structure contains docking stations for sandships of all sizes, and each dock includes its own office where priests and Blessed Scions register visitors and their cargo. A heavily-fortified section includes a small complement of Arl's own warships, and the roof of the structure bristles with cannons and positions for guards.

The Sandship Depot also includes docking platforms for foreign skyships (Arl's own skyships dock at stations atop the city wall's towers). Both foreign skyships and sandships require thorough checks before unloading any crew or cargo, and any vehicle deemed a “military vessel” (based off an extensive set of regulations regarding ship size, design, and armament) is prevented from coming within a half-mile of Arl itself. Any such vehicle attempting to press further is fired upon immediately.

11. The Invictus: Arl's mighty flagship, the massive sandship Invictus is fully detailed beginning on page 8 of this document.

PLOTS AND PERILS IN ARLWhile the rulers of Arl maintain their veneer of control, the city-state itself hasn't been this close to total political collapse and violent infighting in millennia, as threats from within and without gauge the might and stability of one of Akiton's longest-lived and most powerful civilizations. The following current events and hidden agendas could easily entangle visitors and locals alike.

Arch-Priest HaluunThe most politically influential priest in Arl, Arch-Priest Haluun finds himself facing his most powerful opponent ever in the form of Princess Verrish. Though they see eye to eye on many issues, the greatest wedge between them is one dear to Haluun's heart: his own political power.

For the past two Akitoni decades, Arch-Priest Haluun has ruled Arl in all but name. With the rise of Princess Verrish, he has found in her a worthy political opponent, and one who seems utterly immune to bribes, intimidation, blackmail, and covert violence. With most of the implements in his political toolkit proving useless, Arch-Priest Haluun find himself considering radical options.

First and foremost is the hope of interlopers from Golarion. After all, it was their interference that put her on the throne in the first place, and ignorant outsiders would prove the perfect way to legally depose the princess.

Second off is aid from one of Akiton's other city-states. Arl is one of Akiton's most powerful cities, and having the de facto leader of Arl owe one a favor would be enticing indeed, but Haluun is loathe to ask for aid or be beholden

to anyone, foreigner or no.His final option, and one that disgusts him the most,

would be to find a way to manipulate The Circle into deposing or slaying Princess Verrish and her brother, Kol Voss. Indeed, he would need to eliminate both, for if Kol Voss were to inherit the throne, the simple-minded barbarian would cause more damage than a hundred Verrishes ever could.

Under normal circumstances, Haluun would never consider attempting anything as base as whipping a crowd of revolutionaries into slaying the thurok—while he has certainly arranged more than one thurok's death, he did so within the convoluted rules of the theocracy—the temptation to goad these gangs of thugs, then take lawful action to destroy The Circle once they were caught in the act remains strong. And Haluun's desperation grows with every day, especially as he works to cover up a series of disappearances (murders, more likely) that are whittling his followers down, one by one.

Were a group of competent-looking adventurers to make their presence known in Arl, foreigners with no knowledge of Arl's internal politics and no allegiances to speak of, Haluun would gladly take them under his wing, grooming them to be Verrish's assassins. That they would have to be put to death immediately afterward is an unfortunate, if necessary, tragedy.

The CircleFrom the beginning, Arl's priest caste has followed a convoluted, mutable calendar of ascension and decline of its divine patrons, wherein the power of the pantheon's individual gods waxes and wanes according to esoteric signs, portents, and the motion of the stars themselves. In the past, collating and processing the data required for accurate prognostication proved nearly impossible, but with the advent of the God Machine (see below), the priests could devote themselves to their true desire: maintaining their political stranglehold on Arl and its citizens. With the assistance of the near-omniscient God Machine, factors in divination could be understood, disseminated, and, eventually, altered. The faithful of Abadar and Pharasma in particular were quite adept at keeping their gods (and by extension, their political might) in a more-or-less permanent position of ascension, leaving the other faiths subject to the whims of the metaphysical tide.

Most of the other faiths accepted their lot, taking power as fate decreed, or being pushed into irrelevance when their fortunes turned. But two faiths in particular are no longer willing to accept the meager power their fellow faiths dole out to them. The cults of Groetus, god of the end times, and Nurgal, demon lord of the burning sun, once received their divine due, but neither faith has been in ascension since the God Machine was installed a millennium ago. And they are very, very angry.

Even in the best of times, neither faith proved particularly popular—Nurgal's threat of a vengeful sun to a cold desert world seemed a hollow one, and Groetus' insane, nihilistic, and frequently self-defeating clerics frightened off far more converts than they attracted. Even when the divine cycle put their faithful on top of the political heap, their leadership proved too chaotic and

destructive to remain in power long. But a millennium of second-tier status has fed a rage and zealotry that, with the recent upheaval in the city-state, has finally reached its boiling point. Individually, they were too weak to act, but a series of covert meetings convinced the high priests of both faiths that together they just might be able to avenge themselves upon their hated oppressors—or destroy the city trying.

Being chaotic faiths, neither cult is particularly adept at central leadership, and for now their agents function as occasionally-successful terrorist groups at best, or angry mobs at worst. The Circle (so named by its enemies for the circles they paint with the blood of their victims to represent Nurgal's sun, Groetus' skull-faced moon, and the proper cycle they hope to restore, now adopted by the cultists themselves) is made up of cells of the insane and dispossessed, each group led by a cultist of one of the two faiths who hide their true purpose under the guise of revolution. Orders are passed down from the high priests (neither faith has had an arch-priest in centuries) to the cell leaders, who then command the chaotic rabble to enact their will. Each order is supposed to further the goals of the organization as a whole, but more often than not are simple acts of petty vengeance to avenge some real or imagined slight against one high priest or another.

Under ordinary circumstances, this is as much as either cult could have reasonably hoped to achieve, if either cult were capable of reasonable goal-setting. But within The Circle's mass of squabbling leaders, two powerful figures have arisen who just might be able to pull off something of note.

From the Groetan camp, the high-priest Nehu (CE female cleric of Groetus 12) has begun to focus her underlings' efforts towards the singular goal of destroying the priesthood of Abadar with a targeted campaign of blackmail, arson, and assassination. A sociopath with a cold and calculating mind, Nehu possesses the charisma and focus necessary to keep her fellow-cultists devoted and on-task, and has personally sent a half-dozen of Abadar's high priests to the grave, leaving behind only an empty house scrawled with cryptic messages of prophesied doom that cause more fear than any brutalized body ever could.

The most powerful cleric of Nurgal in the city, Hegstrom the Godtouched (CE male tiefling cleric of Nurgal 7/demoniac 5), has hidden his faith for decades, serving as a Blessed Scion and masking his true devotion with layers of magic and lies. Now retired, Hegstrom collected a wealth of secrets and blackmail on many of the powerful priests in Arl in his time as a Blessed Scion; perhaps the greatest secret of all is how to get into the hidden chamber where the God Machine is housed. For the time being, Hegstrom is consolidating his power, playing the part of the radical reformer while calling in favors to assure that when he and his allies are ready to make their move, the God Machine will be poorly defended and ripe for “decommission.”

Even if one or both of these cultists are able to achieve their goals, they will inevitably sever their already tenuous alliance in an orgy of violence and betrayal. Neither cult is willing to back down once they find themselves in power again, and the only thing that is certain is that Arl's streets

will run red with the blood of believers and innocents alike in a genocidal purge until there's only one faith left standing—or nothing at all.

The God MachineA thousand years ago, the theocratic city-state of Arl ran into a problem: they knew too much.

Having tracked the motion of thousands of celestial bodies and other cosmological signs to aid the divination of their pantheon's will and its multi-circular states of ascendance and decline, it became apparent that the variables were becoming harder and harder to factor without significant man-hours and recurring mathematical error. It was obvious they needed something to process the mountains of written data: something brilliant, something infallible. As luck would have it, the cosmos delivered just that something, literally right to their door.

Verces was just beginning its trade with the residents of Akiton, and her ships were studying the planet's surface to select the larger city-states with which to engage in trade (the Vercites erroneously believing these cities to be capitals of a world-spanning group of nations, similar to the ones found upon their planet's thin inhabitable ring). Arl was a political powerhouse even then, and had made the list of populations to contact in order to trade valuable technologies in exchange for equally valuable access to Akiton's plentiful rare ores. As others prepared their descent to the planet's surface, one vessel landed before the great gates of Arl, and its occupants disembarked, bearing gifts to the leaders of the city.

That is when Arl attacked. Having received warning via magic of the strangers' imminent arrival, Arl mustered its forces of holy knights and great high priests under the guise of a welcoming committee, quickly overwhelmed the surprised Vercites, and stole onto their ship. They knew such a wondrous flying machine capable of traversing the spheres must have impressive technology indeed, and it was within the ship's deepest decks that they hit the jackpot: a Vercite navigation system.

The device was unhooked as gently as the priests of Arl could muster, along with one of the ship's power generators, and secreted away deep under their massive ziggurat temple. It took weeks of work to get the device in working order, and upon its reactivation, the machine's output screens ran with complex and alien symbols. As it attempted to communicate, the assorted outer machinery folded away, revealing a humanoid torso, stripped of its limbs and unnecessary sensory flesh, suspended in a tank of fluids and hooked directly to the technology they had stolen. It lived. It breathed. And more importantly: it thought.

As the priests jabbered, the man-machine hybrid quickly deciphered their alien speech, eventually hacking into its own auditory systems to communicate with the red-skinned strangers. It gave its name (a complex equation Arl's most science-minded citizens regard as a holy formula and work to this day to decipher), and asked what the priests required. Overjoyed, the priests spent months inputting their own data, while the man-machine processed the information into its own databanks, frequently correcting errors in the priest's own calculations and factoring in its own on-board star-charts.

Within half a year, the priests had taught it all they knew, and made their request to divine the will of the gods.

The machine began its formulation, outputting data onto its viewscreens, including a centrally-located multi-wheeled representation of Arl's divine order. With each calculation, the wheels moved, representing the rising and setting of the various key players in Arl's celestial order. It constantly required more information, from the broad to the oddly specific. Births and deaths across Arl were dutifully recorded and provided, as were sacred dreams of the priesthood, large trade agreements, and, in one instance, the travel patterns of one stone mason over the course of thirteen days. All the while, output poured from the machine's many screens.

The God Machine, as the high priests dubbed it, has to this day performed admirably. It predicted the ascent of Thurok Novelian thirty-three years before his birth, and accurately timed his demise, from accidental allergy, to the millisecond. Factoring in tectonic motion, it forewarned of a massive earthquake in time for the populace to shore up their homes and businesses, preventing a massive tragedy. However, two factors hinder its ability to directly aid the high priests in their endeavors.

The first is simple time and entropy: as parts of the God Machine fail, the priests must constantly seek out replacements, often at exorbitant cost from the tech-priests of Akiton or the Vercites themselves. Most of the God Machine's output screens have broken down and been replaced, often by crude printing devices of Arl's own design, and the Machine's power source, once considered eternal, will eventually fail as its core begins to melt down. Jury-rigged power supplies made from old tech and Akiton's subterranean gases will only delay the inevitable, and the priests worry that if they directly trade the Vercites for a ship's generator, their violent initial encounter will be discovered and they will be devastated by fire from an orbiting vessel in retribution.

The second development is the God Machine's own ever-expanding aloofness. At first, it seemed eager to receive and transmit the massive volumes of data that kept Arl running smoothly. But over the last century, it has become more and more withdrawn, accepting new input but often ignoring priests' requests for divination. Oblique references in its now-rare communications indicate that it has made contact with the Godmind of Axis, the dreaming terrors of the Dark Tapestry, or both, and its readings become more esoteric and oblique with each passing year. What little information it now presents seems to deal exclusively with the Origin Formula, a sort of all-encompassing mathematical calculation designed to understand the birthing of the multiverse, and the Contraction, the eventual end of all things. Both cause concern in the priests of Arl, who are every day being shown the futility and unimportance of their universe, their gods, their planet, their city, and even their very lives.

As word has slowly leaked out from Arl of the existence of the God Machine, the tech-priests of Akiton have grown increasingly curious about its design, and how they might make their own or, barring that, steal it. They know Arl's theocratic government would never willingly surrender the

device, and access to it is strictly regimented. However, if they could claim the God Machine as their own, the payoff would be astronomical. After all, if this machine can factor into account the movement of countless heavenly bodies, the lives and deaths of billions, and the divine will of the gods, surely it could advance technology at astounding rates of speed and efficiency. Akiton could become a technical paradise, outstripping mighty Verces and even the malevolent genius of Eox and become a beacon of mechanical advancement across the solar system and beyond. But Arl retains its death grip on the amazing machine. Anyone brave and foolhardy enough to steal the device and find a way to ship it to the tech-priests would be in for a payday indeed.

Princess Verrish and Kol VossHailing from Arl's loosely-controlled hinterlands, Princess Verrish and her brother Kol Voss are leaders among the barbaric peoples who still hold true to Akiton's ancient ways of life, paying lip-service to Arl's established hierarchy while roaming free as nomads, shepherds, and, when the opportunity presents itself, raiders. Since Princess Verrish's marriage to the late Golarion native, the former thurok Prince Odrian, she has set aside her savage ways and become an adept politician, and the political upheaval that rocked Arl a year ago has thrust her into the position of supreme leadership, a job she has handled far better than any of Arl's priesthood had expected.

Kol Voss, for his part, yearns for all of Arl to depose the current theocracy, whom he knows as servants to foreign gods, manipulating the common folk for their own betterment and robbing the people of their true freedom and heritage. He has seen this influence firsthand, as his sister, who once rode the badlands astride her mighty thook, now sits upon a gilt throne, listening to the whispers of soft city-folk and dancing to a tune played by greedy and deluded theocrats. Still, he loves his sister, and knows he lacks the natural leadership qualities to see the powers that be overthrown, so he whispers himself, hoping that Verrish will see the error of her ways, throw down the corrupt priesthood, and lead her people to a new and glorious age.

Princess Verrish is sympathetic to her brother's viewpoint, but is more concerned with the overall well-being of her people instead of a complete overthrow of Arl's extant government. Verrish sees much to love in her city-state, and works daily to impose mild reforms to weaken the priest caste and create a society with more opportunity for upward mobility. To Arl's priests, this idea is more dangerous than simple revolution, and she finds herself fighting on multiple fronts, attempting to maintain her overwhelming popular support and build political alliances while fending off opposition from the more entrenched priests. To this end, she seeks allies from outside Arl's established hierarchy—including foreigners—to invoke the changes Arl richly deserves.

Verrish also fears that the priests—Arch-Priest Haluun in particular—may stoop to desperate measures, up to and including assassination, to depose her. A group of powerful allies able to defend her from such threats would be well worth the investment, and such heroescould expect great rewards and places of honor in the new, glorious regime.

Special Note: The InvictusA combination of advanced tech-priest design and stolen Vercite technology, the Invictus is far and away the largest war barge ever built. Not only a weapon of war, it is also a mobile city, propaganda tool, and fearsome deterrent. The Invictus has been fielded only three times in its 530-year history and has only had to fire its battery of cannons once; since that time, the mere sight of the massive ship on the horizon sends envoys of a besieged city-state suing for peace. The ship is crewed by specially-trained Blessed Scions functioning outside of but subservient to Arl's theocratic regime whose loyalty is assured by potent magic; serving on the Invictus is considered one of the highest honors that can be bestowed on an Arlian citizen.

The ship's lowest deck is 30 ft. high and is reserved for the engine rooms, hangars, and bay doors (hardness 20, 960 hp, break DC 40) to load and unload tanks, soldiers, or supplies. The second deck houses the cannons, crew, and soldiers, and the third deck houses the pulverizer cannons, officers and armory; each of these decks is 15 ft. tall. The fourth deck is mostly flat save for the control cabin at the rear of the ship, allowing soldiers to fire upon targets on the ground or on walls of a besieged structure. The control cabin itself is 15 ft. tall, and has a covered observation deck for additional soldiers to fire on opponents.

Command on the Invictus is similar to that of Arl, though run by high-ranking Blessed Scions in lieu of priests. Few, if any, priests wish to be assigned to serve their empire and their faith so far away from the comforts of their lofty position. This is the sole exception to Arl's theocratic chain of command, and some clerics worry that leadership without the direct guiding hand of the priest caste could lead to dangerous independence, but none of them worry enough to take command of the ship, relying instead on the potency of geas spells to maintain their control.

The Invictus Colossal land vehicle Squares 3,000 (150 ft. by 500 ft.); Cost —DEFENSE AC 2; Hardness 20 hp 120,000 (5,999) Base Save +4OFFENSE Maximum Speed 120 ft.; Acceleration 30 ft. CMB +8; CMD 18 Ramming Damage 20d8 DESCRIPTION This entire ship is made of magically reinforced,

adamantine-plated mithral, and its sides are painted with stunning frescoes displaying the might of Arl and the Azlanti empire. During wartime, the Invictus carries 6 Vercite hovertanks and 2,000 soldiers. In its standard peacetime capacity, the Invictus instead carries 250 soldiers and up to 1,000 tons of cargo; its hovertank complement remains aboard to serve as scouts or to deliver emergency supplies to Arl's more distant communities.

Propulsion alchemical (50 squares of alchemical engines in the bottom deck at the fore and aft rooms of the ship; hardness 20, hp 1,000)

Driving Check Profession (pilot) or Knowledge (geography) +10 to the DC

Forward Facing the ship's forward Driving Device control panel Driving Space the eight squares in the front of the pilot's

cabin Crew 250 Decks 4Weapons 60 masterwork hellion storm cannons are

positioned in two banks on the port and starboard sides of the ship, and two masterwork pulverizer cannons (see below) are positioned in one bank on the fore of the ship. The siege engines may only fire out the sides of the ship they are positioned on.

New Siege Weapon: Pulverizer CannonPulverizer cannons are Gargantuan direct-fire siege weapons designed for firing at stationary targets. A vehicle equipped with pulverizer cannons must remain stationary for one round before firing, so a stationary vehicle firing a pulverizer cannon can fire once every other round. A pulverizer cannon has a range of 1 mile and fires in a straight line. Pulverizer cannons are direct-fire weapons, but target a 5-foot square, and if the target moves before the pulverizer fires, the attack is considered an automatic miss (though the pulverizer missiles may still strike a target in a straight line behind the intended target squares).

On a successful hit, a pulverizer missile ignores the first 10 points of hardness and does 500d6 (average 1,750 hp) points of damage. If the damage dealt is in excess of the target squares' hit points, that section is destroyed, and excess damage is transferred to the next 5-foot square in the line, doing so until there is either no solid object or until no excess damage remains. If there is no solid object comprising the 5-foot square next in the line, the effect is instead a 15-foot cone of shrapnel that deals 10d6 points of damage to anything in its area of effect (DC 20 Reflex save for half).

Pulverizer cannons are not designed to fire at living creatures, but can still injure or kill a creature in its line of fire. A creature in the line of fire of a pulverizer missile may attempt a DC 20 Reflex save; immobilized creatures automatically fail this save. If a Pulverizer missile hits a Huge or larger creature, it does 100d6 points of damage (average 350 hp) and explodes in a 5-foot radius, dealing 5d6 points of damage (DC 20 Reflex save for half). If a pulverizer missile hits a Large or smaller creature, that creature takes 20d6 points of damage and is knocked prone; the missile continues traveling in a straight line until it hits an object or creature large enough to detonate it, in which case it functions as described above, or until it reaches its maximum range and disarms. On a successful save, a creature of any size dodges the missile and takes no damage.

Pulverizer cannons should not be available on the open market, but some PCs and GMs may want costs listed, so cost suggestions are given here. A pulverizer cannon should cost at least 50,000 gp and can only be mounted on a Colossal vehicle or object of at least 100 ft. x 100 ft. in size. A pulverizer missile costs at least 1,000 gp and weighs 1,000 pounds.

The Crew of the InvictusThe crew of the Invictus is primarily made up of 5th-level experts; these crewmembers generally flee if attacked, but if cornered or if it looks as though the ship will be taken over, they will fight to the death rather than surrender. Officers and soldiers aboard the ship, however, eagerly engage in combat, calling for reinforcements before attempting to repel, capture, or slay any boarders. Statistics for some of the senior officers and soldiers are provided below.

CAPTAIN TULONIC VURRASK CR 11XP 12,800Female middle-aged Akitoni human arcane duelist bard 12LN Medium humanoid (human)Init +3; Senses Perception +15DEFENSEAC 20, touch 14, flat-footed 18 (+5 armor, +1 deflection,

+3 Dex, +1 natural, +1 shield)hp 62 (12d8)Fort +5, Ref +12, Will +9OFFENSESpeed 30 ft.Melee +2 longsword +14/+9 (1d8+3/19-20)Ranged mwk revolver +13/+8 (1d8/x4)Special Attacks bardic performance 30 rounds/day

(bladethirst +3, dirge of doom, distraction, fascinate, inspire competence +4, inspire courage +3, inspire greatness, soothing performance)

Bard Spells Known (CL 12th; concentration +16)4 (4/day)—dimension door, freedom of movement,

greater invisibility, hold monster3 (5/day)—cure serious wounds, displacement, haste,

see invisibility2 (6/day)—blindness/deafness, calm emotions, cure

moderate wounds, hold person, mirror image1 (6/day)—charm person, cure light wounds,

comprehend languages, expeditious retreat, grease, identify

0 (at will)—detect magic, know direction, light, mage hand, message, read magic

STATISTICSStr 12, Dex 16, Con 11, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 18BAB +9; CMB +12 (+14 disarm); CMD 23 (25 vs. disarm)Feats Agile Blade*, Agile Maneuvers, Arcane Strike,

Combat CastingB, Combat Expertise, DisruptiveB, Dodge, Improved Disarm, SpellbreakerB, Weapon Finesse

Skills Acrobatics +18, Intimidate +19, Knowledge (engineering) +18, Knowledge (geography) +21, Linguistics +6, Perception +15, Perform (oratory) +19, Profession (pilot) +21, Spellcraft +15

Languages Akitoni, Azlanti, Edaian, Low Arl, ShobhadSQ arcane armor, arcane bond (longsword), bardic

knowledge +6Combat Gear wand of cure moderate wounds (17

charges); Other Gear +1 mithral shirt, masterwork buckler, +2 longsword, masterwork revolver with 24 bullets, amulet of natural armor +1, belt of incredible dexterity +2, cloak of resistance +1, ring of protection +1, captain's outfit worth 500 gp

*See the New Rules PDF.

Tulonic Vurrask is the 71st and current captain of the Invictus, and the second-youngest to hold the position, after the Invictus' first captain, the near-legendary Veldreccia Khass. A gifted officer among the Blessed Scions, Vurrask seemed destined from birth to succeed, and while she takes great pride in her current position, she also realizes it for what it is: the death knell of her career. The Invictus hasn’t been fielded in over 150 years, and hasn't fired her guns in an offensive action for over four and a half times that long. Being the captain of a ship that even mindless monsters refuse to attack means that Vurrask's military genius will never be tested. Because of this, Vurrask has secretly thrown in her lot with Hegstrom the Godtouched, hoping that his radical politics will give her an opportunity to test her martial mettle—even if it's in a civil war against her own people.

FIRST MATE K'HYMM CR 10XP 9,600Male Akitoni human gunslinger 11NE Medium humanoid (human)Init +5; Perception +16DEFENSEAC 25, touch 20, flat-footed 16 (+5 armor, +1 deflection,

+5 Dex, +4 dodge)hp 81 (11d10+11)Fort +9, Ref +13, Will +6OFFENSESpeed 30 ft.Melee mwk longsword +13 (1d8+1/19-20)Ranged +1 revolver +16/+11 (1d8+6/x4) and +1 revolver

+16 (1d8+6/x4) or+1 revolver +18 (1d8+6/x4)

Special Attacks deeds (bleeding wound, deadeye, dead shot, gunslinger's dodge, gunslinger initiative, pistol-whip, quick clear, startling shot, targeting, utility shot), grit 2/day, gun training (revolver, rifle, shotgun)

STATISTICSStr 12, Dex 20, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 15, Cha 8BAB +11; CMB +12; CMD 27Feats Deadly Aim, Dodge, GunsmithingB, Improved Precise

Shot, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Snap Shot, Two Weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus (revolver)

Skills Acrobatics +19, Intimidate +10, Knowledge (engineering) +14, Knowledge (geography) +9, Knowledge (local) +11, Perception +16, Profession (pilot) +16

Languages Akitoni, Low ArlCombat Gear 2 potions of cure serious wounds; Other

Gear +1 mithral shirt, 2 +1 revolvers with 60 bullets, belt of incredible dexterity +2, cloak of resistance +1, ring of protection +1, officer's outfit worth 300 gp

First Mate K'hymm is a man ruled by ambition. Born of common stock, K'hymm proved exceptionally adept at firearms and sandship piloting, allowing him to climb Arl's only ladder to political power—the Blessed Scions. K'hymm is bound by geas to obey his superior's commands, as are all the Invictus' crew, but K'hymm is nothing if not crafty about increasing his own wealth and prestige while still remaining within the bounds of his magically-enforced orders. Captain Vurrask is unaware of her first mate's schemes, much to the frustration of the ship's crew.

VERCITE TANK CREWMEMBER CR 5XP 1,600Akitoni human gunslinger 6LN Medium humanoid (human)Init +5; Perception +12DEFENSEAC 22, touch 17, flat-footed 15 (+5 armor, +5 Dex, +2

dodge)hp 37 (6d10)Fort +5, Ref +9, Will +5OFFENSESpeed 30 ft.Melee mwk longsword +8 (1d8+1/19-20)Ranged +1 revolver +11/+6 (1d8+4/x4)Special Attacks deeds (deadeye, gunslinger's dodge,

gunslinger initiative, pistol-whip, quick clear, utility shot), grit 3/day, gun training (revolver, rifle)

STATISTICSStr 12, Dex 18, Con 10, Int 13, Wis 16, Cha 8BAB +6; CMB +7; CMD 21Feats Expert Driver, GunsmithingB, Point Blank Shot, Siege

Gunner, Siege Weapon Engineer, Skilled Driver (land vehicles)

Skills Craft (machines) +10, Heal +9, Knowledge (engineering) +10, Knowledge (geography) +7, Perception +12, Profession (pilot) +12 (+16 land vehicles), Survival +9

Languages Akitoni, Low Arl, VerciteCombat Gear 3 potions of cure light wounds, potion of

cat's grace; Other Gear +1 mithral shirt, +1 revolver with 24 bullets, gunsmith's kit, healer's kit, masterwork repair tools, pilot's outfit worth 50 gp

Arl's Vercite tank crews are comprised of elite members of the Blessed Scions, soldiers with specialized training in the maintenance and use of exotic and complex Vercite technology. Blessed Scions who show impressive aptitude during sandship pilot training are taken out of their basic classes and put under a special regimen that includes mechanics, repair, survival skills, and training in the Vercite language. Graduates are assigned to one of Arl's dozen or so hovertanks, which they pilot with their teammates in regular three-months-on, nine-months off rotations, spending their remaining time serving aboard standard sandships as mechanics or soldiers.

Due to the extremely limited number of hovertanks under Arl's direct command, the actual number of hovertank crewmembers is extremely limited. Each hovertank has a total of four teams of three crewmembers assigned to it, with new positions opening up only when a crewmember is promoted, dies, or retires (mandatory after fifteen full-year rotations). This means that, at any given time, there are no new hovertank pilots undergoing training, leaving skilled sandship trainees to work their way up the usual chain of command under the Blessed Scions. Some pilots have clamored for a reform of the system to allow the cream of the crop to get their training regardless of available openings, but Arl's staunchly traditionalist hierarchy has consistently dismissed such requests.

The statistics above are for an average crewmember; other, more ace crews certainly exist.

Vercite Hovertank Gargantuan land vehicle Squares 16 (20 ft. by 20 ft.); Cost 100,000 gpDEFENSE AC 6; Hardness 15 hp 640 (319) Base Save +4OFFENSE Maximum Speed 150 ft.; Acceleration 60 ft. CMB +4; CMD 14 Ramming Damage 4d8 DESCRIPTION Stolen from the Vercite Holdings, these hovertanks fetch

astronomical prices on the open market. Each is powered by advanced hover technology, providing it with impressive speed and maneuverability. A circular hatch on the roof of the turret provides access to the interior of the vehicle, where there are positions for a driver, copilot, and gunner. As long as the hovertank is functioning, creatures within the hovertank looking through its viewscreens are considered to have darkvision 120 ft. and low-light vision, if they did not already. The interior is sized for Vercites, leaving the cabin feeling surprisingly roomy to most Medium-sized creatures. A single creature can pilot the ship, but in addition to the penalties for piloting a craft with less than a full crew complement, the tank is considered staggered.

Propulsion alchemical (4 squares of alchemical engines in the bottom center of the tank; hardness 20, hp 80)

Driving Check Profession (pilot) or Knowledge (geography) +10 to the DC; creatures unable to read Vercite take a -5 penalty to these checks

Forward Facing the ship's forward Driving Device control panel Driving Space the eight squares in the front of the pilot's

cabin Crew 2 Decks 1Weapons 2 Large direct-fire siege engines or 1 Huge siege

engine in one bank (typically 1 hellion storm cannon) positioned on the turret of the ship. The siege engines may be swiveled to fire in any direction.

When crewed by 3 Vercite tank crewmembers and equipped with a hellion storm cannon (the standard crew and armament for Arl's hovertanks), the Vercite hovertank's combat statistics are as follows:

VERCITE HOVERTANKGargantuan land vehicleInit +4; Senses darkvision 120 ft., low-light vision;

Perception +12DEFENSEAC 22, touch 6 (+16 Profession, -4 size); Hardness 15hp 640 (319)Fort +12, Ref +12OFFENSEMaximum Speed 150 ft.; Acceleration 60 ft. Ranged hellion storm cannon +10 (8d6/x4)CMB +20; CMD 30Ramming Damage 4d8