Okay, been a while, but typing this out strangely helps me get the details organized in my head. Good exercise. Haven't been able to because life is weird, however the campaign marches on.
Season 3 ended with a pretty good bang.
Underwater combat at the sunken seal was a party highlight. The party ninja stabbed a shark with knockout poison, earning the fear and respect of his own team.
As well, there was a three and a half hour party debate about keeping the Il Dracon de Mer... whether it is a ship or a boat... and what exactly the legality is of confiscating this ship in a place they technically should not be. Still chose to keep it, as they felt they needed a secret hide out. Somewhere they can openly discuss how far beyond the law they must go in order to preserve the law they serve.
The final session started off as a Mission: Impossible style kidnap heist. With all the information they need against their boss, they plotted and schemed exactly how to do a black bag operation on Saxby.
Much of the rest went as you'd expect the module would. I'll simply summarize the character arcs by this point.
Det. Goodwyne - Based on his findings, he thinks corruption in the government goes all the way to the top to the king himself. Started spending time on sending money to keep his family protected and moving them outside the city.
Mikkel - Given his disillusionment with the system, the docker gunslinger started clinging to the two other causes he believes strongly in. Attempting to start a workers union to protect the rights of factory employees, and doubling down on commitment to his faith in the Clergy. He's taking a particular liking to Morgan Cippiano and meets with him routinely for coffee and long talks about the ethics of what each other do. Mikkel is 100% convinced he's guiding Morgan through a redemption. In fact, after the capture of Finona Duvall... he's convinced he can 'redeem' her too. This player has taken probably the most liking to the NPCs who have shown up, and works hard to maintain connections with them, even as he slowly slides from simple outspoken man of the people into religious crusader.
Dr. Brinolt - The alchemist has started going down some interesting avenues. The discovery of a smashed golem became priority one for the aspiring golem maker, who called in some favours to have the golem moved to his private watertower laboratory. Early in the campaign, Dr Brinolt took on an adopted ward to train as an assistant. The course of the mission naturally took the good doctor away from this project, however young Sparky remained to continue the rebuilding as best as his little hands could. By the end of the season, Dr. Brinolt became host to Xambria. Before this, the team was growing concerned for the mental well-being of their tiefling colleague. He already carried the trauma of a tragic backstory where his family died in unfortunate events. His desperately seeking of any golem manuals on the open market with the intentions to rebuild his wife was the first sign that the constantly disheveled and drug addled alchemist was of questionable mental stability. Were it not for him being the best there is at potions, elixirs, and alchemical forensics, his presence there would come under scrutiny. Now he is host to a daring archaeologist.
Dr. Basch - The group psychologist is both thrilled and alarmed by these strange alien beings he's encountered this season. The fact that some kind of conspiracy is out there is becoming less of a priority to him, whereas weird thought based creatures of incomprehensible weirdness just beyond some flimsy prone-to-fail barriers seems like a thing more people should be concerned about. He wonders aloud to himself whether he's the only one smart enough to see the real threat behind reality and the others simply don't have brilliant mind necessary to comprehend the vastness of this danger. These fears are on hold for the time being, because the dual mind of Dr Brinolt and Xambria is too exciting of an opportunity to study. Will one consciousness dominate the other? Will they fuse together into a new identity? Such an exciting moment for science!
Cysgod - The ninja/Wolverine of the group, the recent betrayal from certain members of the agency has put the brooding loner in a difficult place, learning to trust in his team since everyone else seems to have other motives. His starting to change his build as he levels to find more non-lethal means of apprehending people (which in Pathfinder 1e, is surprisingly difficult). He also spent more than a few scenes in a game of cat and mouse chases with a mysterious woman who he seen monitoring in a variety of cover identities or from distant rooftops. Don't know what shocked him more, that the woman turned out to be of the same agency (Laryn Cyneburg), or that "
Director of Infiltration" is an actual job/title.
Threm - The swashbuckler himself remains a simple person. He drinks, he fights, he enjoys that he has a job allowing him to do so. Doesn't matter who signs the cheques or who his team lead points him at.
Thus, the group ended season 3 more confused than ever, and especially suspicious of the monarch.
As for the audit, they received a conditional pass. Though the team was considered reckless, at and at times careless, they did prove themselves loyal and focused on the tasks.
Like a group of loose cannons. Maybe they play by their own rules? Hard to define, but they can be trusted and were congratulated in a backwards manner as they were scolded by their superiors.
