Grand Lodge

The Grand Lodge, with Skyreach Tower in the center. See also: Category:Images of Grand Lodge.

For another meaning of "Grand Lodge", please see Grand Lodge (faction).

The Grand Lodge is the world headquarters for the organization of explorers known as the Pathfinder Society. Located in the Foreign Quarter of the city of Absalom, it is a massive fortress surrounded by tall stone walls. Within the outer walls sit seven smaller fortified structures that each have a separate function, the largest of which is Skyreach, an enormous five-towered building, which also houses the Society's Grand Hall.

History

The Grand Lodge was officially founded in 4320 AR and becomes the organization's home base. The central building is a manor house on land that was donated to the Society by Selmius Foster in 4319 AR, which had been granted to Foster by the city as thanks for the opening of the Vudran spice trade to the merchant fleets of Absalom.

Entry

Those who wish to join the Society must present themselves at the gates of the Grand Lodge, which bears the Glyph of the Open Road. If accepted, the initiate lives and trains at the Grand Lodge. If an initiate is promoted to full Pathfinder status, the Confirmation ceremony also takes place here.

Staff

Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin runs the daily operations of the Grand Lodge at the Decemvirate's command.

Celebrations

Every Pathfinder is invited to return to the Grand Lodge yearly for a celebration known as the Grand Convocation. This is generally a boisterous occasion where participants share their past discoveries and journeys and engage in friendly competition.

Physical description

The Grand Lodge has been the seat of the Pathfinder Society for more than 400 years. Carved out of white stone, it is a five-towered fortress that can be seen throughout the city as a shining beacon of the Pathfinder spirit. Notable sights in the Grand Lodge include:

The Repository

The Grand Lodge is home to a vast collection of artifacts, books, and scrolls known as the Repository. The location of the entrance to the Repository is a closely guarded secret known only to the Decemvirate. Inside the Repository, 66 tongue-less criminals acquired from Absalom's criminal justice system toil under the magical motivation of geas, transcribing and illustrating reports from Pathfinders throughout the world for entry into new editions of the Pathfinder Chronicles. The Repository is rumored to contain the only complete set of the Pathfinder Chronicles in existence.

The Vaults

Beneath the Grand Lodge are massive vaults used to store dangerous items for future research. Cataloging and research efforts in the Vaults were once managed by the Dark Archive.

The Wall of Names memorializes deceased Pathfinders.

Wall of Names

The Wall of Names is a long, curving wall of black glass on a tree-shaded hill in the Grand Lodge's grounds. It serves as a memorial for all Pathfinders who have died in service to the Society since the wall's creation in 4330 AR, and its surface is etched with the name and date of death for each Pathfinder. For some prominent Pathfinders, a brief inscription describes their greatest deeds.

The statue of legendary Pathfinder Durvin Gest.

Statue of Durvin Gest

Inside the grounds of the Grand Lodge stands a 20-foot-tall statue modeled after Durvin Gest, the Society's most renowned member. Folklore holds that following the gaze of the statue for thousands of miles will eventually lead to the location where Gest found the secret to immortality.

Center House

Center House is the original manor house donated to form the Grand Lodge. It was mysteriously abandoned, sealed, and warded in 4400 AR on orders of the Decemvirate, the rationale for which is never explained. New members attempt to break in as part of their initiation.

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.