Among the Living

Among the Living, a Pathfinder Society scenario written by Joshua J. Frost for tier 1-7, was released in November 2008. This scenario's story is continued in the Season 1 scenario Among the Dead, and concluded in the Year of the Ruby Phoenix scenario, Among the Gods.

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Famed Pathfinder Bodriggan Wuthers disappeared from his dig site beneath the House of the Immortal Son in Taldor's gilded capital of Oppara. Once a grand temple to Aroden, the Immortal Son is now Oppara's most opulent theater. Sent to locate Wuthers, the Pathfinders must attend an opera with members of the Oppara elite in order to gain access to the secretive theater's dig site. When a cult crashes the performance and the nobility change into hideous walking dead, the Pathfinders are forced to choose between finding Wuthers or saving themselves.

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Scenario overview

Level	1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th
Location(s)	Taldor Oppara

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Background

A promising young Pathfinder named Bodriggan Wuthers drew the attention of a Taldan cleric of Zyphus named Fel Bustrani. In 4707 AR, posing as a cleric of Irori, Bustrani contacted Wuthers with tales of a lost artifact known as the Zyphus Stone, which Bustrani believed to be sealed in an underground Azlanti tomb called the Chamber of the Stone located beneath the famous Opparan opera house the House of the Immortal Son.

Bustrani claimed that the Stone held the power bring the faithful of Zyphus back to life. In reality, the Stone held the power to create and control zombies. When the Azlanti buried the Stone, they buried one of their own along with it to test the stone's effects, and after thousands of years this Azlanti sacrifice became a disease-filled Zyphus zombie with the power to raise regular zombies by consuming corpses.

Together, Bustrani and the deceived Wuthers gained access to the opera house's storage area and began an excavation. After a considerable period of effort, in 4708 AR they finally dug through to the Chamber of the Stone. Upon entering the chamber, Bustrani used a codephrase to activate the Zyphus Stone and then slew Wuthers with a pick, before summoning his fellow cultists throughout Taldor to prepare for the next stage of his plan.

Adventure

Venture-Captain Eliza Petulengro assembles a team of Pathfinders to travel to Oppara and discover the fate of Bodriggan Wuthers, whose last known location was a dig site beneath the House of the Immortal Son. In order to investigate, the Pathfinders are expected to wear fashionable Taldan clothes and attend the opera as guests.

The opera being performed is Among the Living, a melodramatic and tasteless production.

During the performance, Bustrani sets his horde of zombies loose upon the theatre-goers, provoking chaos.

The Pathfinders fight within the opera house to eliminate zombies, defeat the cultists of Zyphus who have allied with Bustrani (including Bustrani's lover Deanaris Quint), and protect civilians (including the Taldan fourth district consul Magistros Sebastus Hustavan).

They eventually fight their way down to the Chamber of the Stone, where they confront and defeat Bustrani and recover the Zyphus Stone. They are then left with the choice of whether to present the Stone to the Pathfinder Society or destroy it.

Recurring characters, concepts, and locations

The following characters, concepts, or locations can be found in this scenario, but also significantly appear in the publications listed below:

Map support

Among the Living uses two custom maps.