The Third Riddle
The Third Riddle, a retired Pathfinder Society scenario written by Clinton Boomer for tier 1-5, was released in January 2009 and retired from organized play on November 15, 2010.
“When Pathfinder Colm Safan entered the Nethys-linked heart of the fabled dungeon known as the Ravenous Sphinx, the Pathfinder Society expected to solve one of Osirion's greatest riddles. Months passed with no word from Safan and you and your fellow Pathfinders find yourselves dispatched into the desolate wastes of Osirion's notorious Parched Dunes to find the sphinx, find Safan, and uncover the mystery he sought. With a band of cloaked riders on your trail and a trap-filled dungeon ahead, will you solve the third riddle before time runs out?
”
Scenario overview
| Level | |
| Location(s) |
This page contains spoilers for the following products: The Third Riddle.
You can disable this banner in your personal preferences.
Background
Nethys, god of magic, hid three riddles somewhere on Golarion during his reign as God-King of Osirion. When united, the three riddles were said to be able to "unbind the universe".
During the age of Ancient Osirion, the wizard-priest Mektep-Han discovered the locations of all three riddles. However, instead of solving them, he re-hid them to protect their secrets.
It is unknown where he placed the first two riddles, but the third was sealed in the Ravenous Sphinx, a huge bestial statue located in the Parched Dunes of Osirion. Mektep-Han constructed traps and tests within the Sphinx to protect the riddle, and slew the workers who built them once they were complete. Finally, he sealed himself into the Sphinx and sacrificed himself to Nethys, binding a Soulwrought Echo of his soul to the Third Riddle.
The tomb went undisturbed for thousands of years, but in mid-4708 AR it was unearthed by the Pathfinder Colm Safan with the help of numerous labourers. Upon entering the tomb, Safan was killed by the tomb's first trap.
Adventure
In early 4709 AR, six months after the unearthing of the Ravenous Sphinx, the Pathfinder Venture-Captain Norden Balentiir, a friend of Safan located in Sothis, asked Venture-Captain Adril Hestram to dispatch a team of Pathfinders to search for Safan and investigate the Sphinx. Around the same time, the Aspis Consortium also took an interest in the Sphinx and became eager to find the Third Riddle.
A team of Pathfinders successfully manages to reach the Sphinx before the Aspis Consortium and delves inside. Within, they discover three tests set by Mektep-Han—the Test of the Necromancer, the Test of the Evoker, and the Test of the Diviner.
If the Pathfinders successfully complete the tests, they win the approval of Mektep-Han's spirit, and receive an artifact called a Nethys Tablet bearing Third Riddle's solution. The Ravenous Sphinx then begins to collapse, and the Pathfinders flee the tomb before they are destroyed along with it. Afterwards, they are presumed to entrust the Nethys Tablet—which is useless without the other two Riddles—to the care of the Pathfinder Society.
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:
- Adril Hestram (Eye of the Crocodile King, Fingerprints of the Fiend, The Frozen Fingers of Midnight, Hands of the Muted God, King Xeros of Old Azlant, Lost at Bitter End, The Maze of the Open Road, Mists of Mwangi, Murder on the Silken Caravan, No Plunder, No Pay, Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained, Perils of the Pirate Pact, Red Revolution (scenario), Requiem for the Red Raven, Silent Tide (scenario), Skeleton Moon, Sniper in the Deep, The Third Riddle, Voice in the Void)
- Aspis Consortium (Abducted in Aether, Ageless Ambitions, All the Gods Beyond, Assault on the Kingdom of the Impossible, Assault on the Wound, Bid for Alabastrine, The Blakros Connection, Blood Under Absalom, The Bloodcove Blockade, The Bloodcove Disguise, The Bronze House Reprisal, By Way of Bloodcove, The Consortium Compact, Day of the Demon, Dead Man's Debt, The Deepmarket Deception, The Dog Pharaoh's Tomb, Encounter at the Drowning Stones, The Fabric of Reality, Fingerprints of the Fiend, First Taste of Eternity, Fury of the Fiend, The Ghenett Manor Gauntlet, The Ghol-Gan Heresy, The Golden Guardian, The Golemworks Incident, Grand Convocation 4712, The Green Market, The Greengold Dilemma, The Icebound Outpost, The Infernal Inheritance, Kaava Quarry, King of the Storval Stairs, Lost Colony of Taldor, On Sharrowsmith's Trail, Pagoda of the Rat (scenario), Portal of the Sacred Rune, Race for the Runecarved Key, Race to Seeker's Folly, Rescue at Azlant Ridge, Rivalry's End, The Rules of the Swift, Sanctum of the Sages (scenario), Serpent's Rise, Serpents Fall, Serpents' Ire, Severing Ties, Shipyard Rats, Siege of Serpents, Signs in Senghor... further results)
- Kelesh (The Cindersworn Pact, The Hydra's Fang Incident, In Wrath's Shadow, Murder on the Silken Caravan, Our Lady of Silver, A Parchment Tree, Shattering Golden Chains, Silent Tide (scenario), The Third Riddle)
- Norden Balentiir (Beacon Below, A Bitter Bargain, Caught in the Eclipse, The Dragon Who Stole Evoking Day, Drow of the Darklands Pyramid, The Faithless Dead, The Prisoner of Skull Hill, Raid on the Cloudborne Keep, The Rebel's Ransom, Sanctum of the Sages (scenario), The Sandstone Secret, The Sandstorm Prophecy, The Secluded Siege, Secrets of the Endless Sky, Terror at Whistledown, Test of Tar Kuata, The Third Riddle, The Tomb Between Worlds, The Trouble with Secrets, The Watcher of Ages, Wrath of the Accursed)
- Parched Dunes (The Rebel's Ransom, The Third Riddle)
- Ravenous Sphinx (The Third Riddle)
- Sothis (Beacon Below, A Bitter Bargain, The Dragon Who Stole Evoking Day, The Faithless Dead, Fingerprints of the Fiend, In Service to Lore, The Prisoner of Skull Hill, The Rebel's Ransom, The Sandstone Secret, The Sandstorm Prophecy, The Secluded Siege, Secrets of the Endless Sky, The Shadow Gambit, Terror at Whistledown, Test of Tar Kuata, The Third Riddle, The Tomb Between Worlds, The Trouble with Secrets, The Twofold Demise, The Watcher of Ages, Wrath of the Accursed, Year of Shattered Sanctuaries (scenario))
- Wati (The Third Riddle)
Available resources
The following Pathfinder Map Pack product is used in this scenario in addition to one custom map:
The module also refers players to the following products:
- Entombed with the Pharaohs
- The Pact Stone Pyramid
- Campaign Setting
- Osirion, Land of Pharaohs
- Gods and Magic
- Real-world articles
- Works by Clinton Boomer
- Artwork by Ben Wootten
- Artwork by Rob Lazzaretti
- Artwork by Corey Macourek
- 2009 adventures
- Adventures
- D&D 3.5 adventures
- Pathfinder Society scenarios
- Season 0 scenarios
- 1st level adventures
- 2nd level adventures
- 3rd level adventures
- 4th level adventures
- 5th level adventures
- Tier 1-5 scenarios
- Adventures in Osirion
- Pathfinder Society scenarios set in Osirion
- Articles containing spoilers
- Retired Pathfinder Society scenarios