Campaign Arc Features

Pathfinder Fantasy Group:

The features of the Campaign Arc:

The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse:

• Heads of the Daemons in Abaddon, an infernal plane in the Outer Spheres.  Where Devils are Lawful Evil (martial, harsh law, contracts) and Demons are Chaotic Evil (destruction and random violence, etc.), Daemons are Neutral Evil and push killing and death in the purest form.  Thus, the 4 Horsemen are concerned with mortal deaths by war, disease, famine and/or old age.  (Source:  Pathfinders Chronicles:  The Great Beyond pp. 23-27.)
• The campaign will deal specifically with Szuriel, the Horseman of War, and Apollyon, the Horseman of Pestilence. 
• Also the main protagonist behind all of the machinations is the Oinodaemon, called the First Daemon or Bound Prince.  Was once the ruler of all daemonkind but bound, imprisoned, tortured and occasionally consumed by the 4 Horsemen who fear his release.  He is also is an oracle of great power which has frightened the 4 Horsemen in the past and keeps them from letting anyone see him.  (Source:  Pathfinders Chronicles: The Great Beyond p. 25.)
• I will use him as someone manipulating a prophesy, flexing his bonds and setting in a puzzle piece that only he knows which affects a greater scheme aeons down the road and not dealt with in this campaign.  This campaign is about this piece of the puzzle:  the death and replacement of one of the Horsemen with someone needed as a better "fit" for Oinodaemon's farther reaching goals.  I'm leaving open for now which Horseman will be the target, but likely it will be War.  This will be determined by an NPC which is the half-brother of Blue's character (Blue is playing a Tiefling with the Daemon trait, and is completely unaware that his choice reflects on the campaign's arc.)  Slotting in PC backgrounds like this had been very successful in the past campaign, and there are times I feel like the players read my mind on what we will be dealing with (i.e. last campaign had Illithid and I had 3 players with Psi characters without knowing of the Mindflayer motif.)
• The Oinodaemon is manipulating the powers in Varisia of former Runelords, specifically Sorshen, Runelord of Lust and connected to Enchantment spells, whose slumber chamber is below Korvosa, and Krune, Runelord of Sloth and connected to Conjuration school, who was caught in Starfall and I am saying is slumbering in one of the ruins known as Desgard's Thousand Columns, a tower-like series of columns located throughout western Thassilon, stretching in the wilderness areas from Xin-Eurythnia (Korvosa) to Xin-Haruka (Krune's city) and beyond to Xin-Gastash (city of Zutha, Runelord of Gluttony and master of necromancy).  These Thousand Columnsare hinted as holding summoned garrisons, filled by Krune in the prime of his power.  (Sources: Pathfinder Campaign Setting:  Lost Kingdoms pp. 55-59, and Pathfinder Adventure Path:  Shattered Star - The Dead Heart of Xin, pp. 72-73 and 75.)
• The Column Krune rests under as he was away from Xin-Haruka during Starfall is located a few miles outside of Clearwater's Gate, which is the village the players will be based out of.
• For the campaign, at the bequest of an oracle of great power never named to Krune (the Oinodaemon in disguise), he had filled all 1,000 columns with daemon armies held in stasis until the time is right for release.  That time is shortly coming and will go up against the hordes of the Horsemen in order to kill and replace one of the Horsemen, as stated above.
• The Runelords, stirring in their sleep but still aware of the world, are none to pleased that their "powers over sin" are being used to manipulate circumstances and by some entity not known at this point and not them.  The focus seems to be the 3 Runelords mentioned above, although I may bring in others, as needed.  Krune is also seeing stirrings in the 1,000 Pillars, and his worry causes vexation for him in his sleep.  He, through dreams, will work to enlist a group of adventurers to investigate and prevent what they can:  his choice is the players' party.  So Good and Neutral characters will likely be working for and Evil patron of sin against a potentially greater Evil to Golarion and the entirety of the world.
• Sorshen is also vexed and has hired her own investigating team, which will be headed by the half-brother of Blue's character, also a Tiefling with the Daemonic trait; same Daemon parent.)  This will set up a counter party to the players working towards the same goal but with a different patron and a foil to the players "winning" the information they are hired for.  Also, Blue's half-brother is targeted as the "replacement" Horseman by the Oinodaemon at the end of the campaign . . . depending upon survival.

The Oinodaemon

So, the campaign arc shortened:

• The Oinodaemon wants to replace a Horseman to further a future event he has/ he has seen in prophesy.
• His past work with Krune, Runelord of Sloth, to fill Desgard's Thousand Columns with Daemon garrisons, will finally come to fruition to faciliate taking down one of the Horsemen.
• Krune and Sorshen (and Zutha, who will play a more limited role in this campaign at this point as he deals with things in the north while the players will be more south during the game) feel the Oinodaemon's presence, although they do not know exactly what the presence is.  The presense is manipulating the magic of their "sin" domains.
• The manipulation is also complicated by the touch of the 4 Horsemen, specifically War and Pestilence.  The combination of the sins and the death traits is creating havoc in Varisia.  And the Horsemen send minions to discover who is playing with their daemon minions as well.
• The characters are hired by a mysterious patron (Krune) through a third party to investigate and help prevent escalation, all while dealing with sins, daemons and other horrors.
• Clearwater's Gate is being affected by Sloth magic and Conjuration (Krune), while the decadent city of Korvosa is being rocked by Lust magic and Enchantment (Sorshen).  The later may bring notice from the country of Cheliax (which Korvosa was an outpost of) and the devil patrons.
• Korvosa is also home to a major school of magic and specializes in Conjuration and Summoning magic.  The school and city may send "superior" folks to deal with the conjuration magic in the backwater rural country, putting urban and rural attitudes at odds.  (Note:  Amon decided to play a Summoner as his character, which will add a significant dynamic to the interplay with the Conjuration school members.)

And that's the campaign arc features.  Now to begin to slot in scenarios to develop and build.