TEXT: The World of Aden originAlly creATed by ShAne lAcy henSley
  Credits
  Written by: Shawn Carman, based on
  Original Material by Brandon Snyder
  Editing: Shawn Carman
  Interior Artwork: Jayaraj Paul
  For Kyoudai Games
  Shawn Carman, Creative Department
  Rich Wulf, Mechanical Design
  Ryan Carman, Logistics & Development
   
  Butch Carman, Chief Financial Officer
  Mike Brodu, Graphic Design & Branding
  Original Graphic Design: Robert Denton
  There are rumors and legends spoken in Mekanus, mostly by those 
  who are desperate, hopeful, or inebriated, of an island somewhere to 
  the west of Urbana that is home to an idyllic village where the Dark-
  fall has not reached. The island’s bounty ensures that those who make 
  their home there want for very little, and the thick, cloying pollution of 
  Mekanus is completely unknown. Some say it is a forgotten hunting 
  preserve established by the royal line of Columbey, long since 
  forgotten. Others say it is home to the descendants of an ancient 
  tribe who struck out onto the seas rather than bend knee to the 
  new nations formed by the Peace of the Rose more than a 
  thousand years ago. The stories change from one person to 
  the next, always impossible, always too good to be true. No 
  one knows the truth.
  Paradise is very real. And it is not at all what people 
  imagine.
  More than a week’s travel west of the coastline of Urbana, 
  on the other side of a dangerous series of reefs that could 
  shred the hull of even the sturdiest sailing vessel, there is 
  indeed a large island blessed with abundant resources. A 
  day’s trek inland from the coast through thick jungle there 
  is indeed a village, a settlement that seems quite old and 
  was apparently discovered there long ago, standing silently 
  waiting for men to arrive as they first did centuries ago. The 
  people who live in the village, a mixture of races and ances-
  tries, do indeed call their home Paradise, and seem to want 
  for very little.
  Paradise is a prison.
  1
  
  The real civilization of Paradise is concealed underground, in a vast, 
  pre-existing network of tunnels and caverns that has been dramatically 
  expanded by one of the largest populations of ratmen, a prominent sub-
  species of ferrans, who arrived on the island dozens of generations ago 
  and promptly took control. The ratmen have tunnels that permit them to 
  access any portion of the island in a fraction of the time that overland 
  travel would require, and have extensively trapped the majority of the 
  island save for a handful of carefully plotted routes through the jungle, 
  most of which are not immediately obvious to the naked eye. Anyone 
  who discovers the island, which is not something that happens more 
  than once every year or so, will have difficulty finding their way inland 
  and surviving. If they manage to do so, they quickly discover that they 
  cannot leave.
  The origins of this strange arrangement are somewhat vague. The 
  people living in the village have little in the way of written records, and 
  as a species, ratmen tend not to care overmuch about history so much as 
  they care about surviving the present. It is generally agreed upon that the 
  ratmen occupied the island first, and regarded the village as little more 
  than a curiosity. Travelers whose ship was blown off course by a storm 
  found the island, explored it somewhat, and departed, the ratmen never 
  having revealed themselves. Unfortunately, the explorers returned later 
  with more ships and began harvesting the island’s resources, which was 
  an unacceptable outcome. The ratmen depended upon the resources for 
  survival, and the conversations they overheard indicated that the 
  explorers had no plans to remain there, only to take every-
  thing they could. The ratmen knew that they would 
  return, most likely again and again until they had 
  taken everything. This could not be allowed. 
  So they came together to find a solution.
  The ratmen who ruled below Para-
  dise were not bloodthirsty beings. They 
  had existed by themselves for many 
  years without bloodshed, and had no 
  desire to cause any. After many days 
  of debate, they settled upon a plan. 
  When the explorers returned again, 
  the ratmen used distraction and misdi-
  rection to guide them to the island’s 
  interior, where they found the village. 
  While the explorers stayed there, the 
  ratmen set countless jungle traps and 
  sank the ships the explorers came in. Then 
  they revealed themselves to the explorers in 
  the village and told them that they could either 
  remain in the village safely and have their needs met 
  through the ratmen’s largesse, or they could attempt to 
  escape the island and most likely perish.
  Many of the explorers attempted to flee the village. Some turned 
  back after the first few were killed. Others were rescued from certain 
  death by the ratmen and returned. Some insisted on forging ahead. Only 
  a few of the latter survived, and of those who did, the ones who lasted 
  long enough to build a raft to escape found themselves facing a watery 
  grave when they inevitably dashed the raft to pieces on the treacherous 
  reefs around Paradise. Initially there were only a handful of survivors, 
  but in twos and threes over the course of hundreds of years, more and 
  more have come to join them until the village became a true settlement, 
  albeit not a voluntary one.
  Since the Darkfall, the mood at Paradise has changed somewhat. 
  Only a few have found their way to the island since that cataclysmic 
  event, but those newcomers have expressed a profound gratitude to 
  have found a settlement with ample resources that is so well defended, 
  as the ratmen are completely ruthless in eradicating any nocturnals that 
  appear on the island. Unfortunately the change has not been uniformly 
  positive. After Lord Urbane’s attempt to destroy the ratmen population 
  of Mekanus with the alchemical poison arkana, a handful of ratmen 
  refugees found their way to the island as well, and their feelings toward 
  the surface dwellers are markedly more violent than that of their kin.
  Features of the Island
  • The Village – As previously mentioned, the village at the island’s 
  center is ancient, constructed primarily of stone, and its original 
  inhabitants are unknown to anyone who has ever seen it. The original 
  buildings are slightly more widely spaced than is normal for modern 
  settlements, and there have been some additions made to the village 
  by enterprising inhabitants who wished to add more structures. It 
  seems foolish, given that the settlement is large enough that all pre-
  existing buildings have never been occupied at any one time. Regard-
  less, the ratmen who oversee the island have never been especially 
  concerned with aesthetics, and thus have never objected to alterations 
  made to the village’s layout.
  • The Jungle – The climate on the island is very warm and humid, and 
  has resulted in a great deal of overgrowth by plants in any region 
  that is not frequently cleared away. This suits the island’s populace 
  just fine, for the most part. The jungles are heavily occupied with a 
  large variety of both flora and fauna, including some very dangerous 
  predators as well as a number of small game animals that the villagers 
  depend upon for protein. Very few villagers are ever permitted to 
  hunt, as most of that is done by the ratmen warriors who patrol the 
  region. There are a number of very productive fruit and nut 
  producing trees within the jungle, but an equal number 
  that are highly poisonous, and even more venomous 
  snakes and insects. All in all, it is an extremely 
  dangerous environment, and the fact that the 
  ratmen keep the villagers from entering it 
  probably saves just as many lives as it 
  takes.
  • The Caverns (Hell’s Switchback) – 
  The true depth and width of the tunnel 
  network and the natural caverns that 
  exist beneath Paradise are known 
  only to the ratmen who make their 
  home there; no one else has ever trav-
  eled beneath the island and returned. 
  The vast majority of the materials that 
  the ratmen harvest from newly arrived 
  ships are transported below ground, where 
  it becomes part of their bizarre and eclectic 
  construction. Entire caverns have been filled 
  with their mismatched method of construc-
  tion, which resembles nothing so much as an urban 
  slum created with all manner of refuse and castoffs from 
  wealthier homes. 
  • The Reefs (Shark’s Wrath) – Without question the most important 
  aspect of Paradise’s separation from the world beyond its waters are 
  the jagged, twisting reefs that surround it. The reefs are a known 
  navigational hazard to the very few water-going individuals who 
  have been in the vicinity of the island before. Of those few who know 
  where the island is, there are among them individuals who are aware 
  that no one who has ever set foot on the island has left. They do not 
  know the truth about Paradise, but instead assume it is home to some 
  horrific threat that has gone undetected by the outside world. 
  • “The Graveyard” (Regret of Bone) – The shallow waters immedi-
  ately surrounding the island are home to a vast number of scuttled 
  ships, the majority of which have had almost everything except the 
  hulls and keels stripped from them by the ratmen in order to expand 
  their subterranean holdings. Most of the wreckage is below the water 
  line to ensure that it does not attract unwanted attention from any 
  ships passing near the outer reefs, but at times of particularly low 
  tides portions of them are exposed. If someone had extensive knowl-
  edge of shipbuilding, a lot of tools, and an extremely long time, it 
  is possible that a small seafaring vessel could be crafted from these 
  remnants, but those who would make their escape from the island 
  have none of those.
  2
  
  Denizens of the Island
  The Villagers
  The denizens of the village at Paradise’s center are a mixture of 
  all races, predominantly human but including all manner of others 
  including a variety of ferrans of different species. The introduction of 
  newcomers periodically over the years has led to a strange variant of 
  Western Common with a large number of borrowed words from other 
  languages being spoken in the village, so much so that new arrivals can 
  acclimate quickly to understand everyone. Throughout the history of 
  the island, those who have spent long amounts of time in the village, 
  and even more so their descendants, have become increasingly content 
  with their lot and have not questioned it overmuch. New arrivals have 
  been more resistant and often violently oppose being kept in the village. 
  Such individuals who cannot acclimate over time often come to an ill 
  end, either dead by their own attempts to escape or, reluctantly, killed 
  by the ratmen to prevent them fomenting insurrection.
  In the past decade, the situation has changed significantly. 
  Newcomers to Paradise are surprisingly pleased to find an oasis of 
  respite from the Darkfall, as the ratmen keep the nocturnal presence on 
  the island brutally curtailed. Given that the villagers are allowed to do 
  whatever they wish within the village and its immediate surroundings, 
  the only restrictions being that they must produce certain items that the 
  ratmen require and that they may not leave the island’s interior without 
  consent and an escort from their largely benevolent captors. News of 
  the dire state of the world beyond the island, however, has begun to 
  inflame the interests of younger denizens of the island, those who were 
  raised there their entire lives, and sparked a fire in them to see beyond 
  their borders. 
  The Ratmen
  The ferrans are an incredibly diverse people, created for that precise 
  purpose in order to provide the nation of Aramyst with a varied popula-
  tion for use as slaves. While that did not work out particularly well for 
  the Aramystians, in the centuries since, their adaptability has served the 
  ferrans well and allowed them to thrive in a number of different envi-
  ronments. Perhaps because they are partially rats, a species of creature 
  than can survive almost anywhere, the ratmen are a particularly hardy 
  sub-species that is well known for being difficult to kill. Unfortunately, 
  this additional strength comes at a cost, as the ratmen also tend to suffer 
  from a significantly more stand-offish nature; they generally do not get 
  along well with other races, and even have difficulty with many other 
  ferran species as well.
  The ratmen of Paradise have developed a strange caste system over 
  the years that has, admittedly, served them very well in their endeavors. 
  Their ranks have been sorted into three broad tribes, each of which 
  fulfills a specific purpose within their society. Each of the tribes has a 
  leader, and those three leaders serve the Great Chief, who oversees the 
  entirety of their people. When the Great Chief dies, a new Great Chief is 
  generally selected from among the leaders of the three tribes.
  • The Warrior Tribe – The largest of the ratmen contingents by far, 
  the warriors are responsible for ensuring the security of the tunnels, 
  caverns, and the overland island itself from all potential threats, 
  including newcomers, nocturnals, and potential escapees. They patrol 
  the overland tirelessly, constantly on the lookout for any new threat 
  that may have manifested itself through the Darkfall’s foul presence, 
  as well as making sure that no excursions from the village have been 
  attempted. 
  • The Shaman Tribe – Although intelligent beings with experience 
  in modern society, the ratmen tribes of Paradise are nevertheless 
  somewhat primitive with regard to their outlook toward magic. The 
  affinity for magic seems somewhat less prevalent among their ranks 
  than among other races, and even among the other species of ferrans. 
  Those who possess it are inducted into the ranks of the shamans, 
  regardless of their birth. Likewise, those born into the shaman tribe 
  who do not possess an affinity for magic are fostered into one of the 
  other tribes based upon their perceived attributes. 
  • The Tinkerer Tribe – The smallest of the ratmen tribes consists of 
  those who have, either through natural proclivities or extensive study 
  of confiscated materials, come to understand the rudiments of steam 
  power and the various technologies associated with it. Needless to 
  say, they are quite skilled at less complicated arts, such as carpentry 
  and metalworking, and are responsible for ensuring that the jungle’s 
  deadliest traps are maintained, and they strip all valuable resources 
  from newly arrived ships before scuttling them. The tinkerers are 
  also responsible for setting up the processes by which the villagers 
  produce the goods that the ratmen need in order to continue their 
  civilization in the manner to which they are accustomed. 
  Persons of Note
  Rhanne, Chieftain of the Warriors
  Male ferran predator (rat) fighter 5
  Medium humanoid (ferran)
  Init +5; Senses low-light vison; Perception +10
  Defense
  AC 20, touch 10, flat-footed 20 (+9 armor, +1 Dex)
  hp 52 (5d10+25)
  Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +4
  Special defenses bravery
  Offense
  Speed 40 ft.
  Melee masterwork greatsword +12 (2d6+9, +15 with Power Attack)
  Ranged masterwork pistol +7 (1d8+1)
  Statistics
  Str 18, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8
  Base Atk +5; CMB +9, CMD 20
  Feats Furious Focus, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Power Attack, 
  Toughness, Weapon Focus (greatsword), Weapon Specialization 
  (greatsword)
  Skills Climb +4, Perception +10, Profession (mercenary) +5, Ride +2, 
  Survival +9
  Languages Western Common
  SQ armor training, pack mentality, scent, weapon training (blades)
  Equipment 20 standard pistol ammunition, masterwork greatsword, 
  masterwork pistol, masterwork full plate
  The warrior called Rhanne is perhaps the largest ratman in the 
  Paradise warren system, standing a full head taller than a human. The 
  villagers of Paradise are terrified of him, although he has never killed 
  a villager, only disabled them and returned them to the village when 
  necessary. As a young rat, Rhanne read extensively of the few records 
  the shamans have maintained over the years, and was particularly fasci-
  nated with a human pirate lord named Rhawn who threatened the island 
  many generations ago. Dreaming of inspiring the same fear in others, 
  the little rat took the name Rhanne and eventually rose to the position 
  of chieftain.
  3
  
  Slithh, Chieftain of the Shamans
  Male ferran sneak (rat) sorcerer 6
  NE medium humanoid (ferran)
  Init +6; Senses low-light vison; Perception +4
  Defense
  AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 15 (+4 armor, +1 deflection, +2 Dex, 
  +1 dodge)
  hp 35 (6d6+12)
  Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +7
  Offense
  Speed 40 ft.
  Melee spear +2 (1d8-1/x3)
  Ranged masterwork longbow +6 (1d8/x3)
  Bloodline Spell-Like Abiliites (CL 6th; concentration +9)
  6/day – grave touch
  Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 6th; concentration +9)
  3rd (4/day) – vampiric touch
  2nd (6/day) – invisibility, scorching ray, spectral hand
  1st (7/day) – chill touch, mage armor, magic missile, shield, shocking 
  grasp
  0 (at will) – bleed, detect magic, disrupt undead, ghost sound, ray of 
  frost, touch of fatigue
  Bloodline undead
  Statistics
  Str 8, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 16
  Base Atk +3; CMB +2; CMD 16
  Feats Dodge, Eschew Materials, Improved Initiative, Spell Focus 
  (necromancy)
  Skills Fly +10, Knowledge (arcana) +10, Linguistics +2, 
  Perception +4, Spellcraft +10
  Languages Eastern Common, Fundamental, Lowland, Western 
  Common
  SQ bloodline arcana (corporeal undead affected by humanoid-
  affecting spells), pack mentality, scent
  Equipment 20 arrows, speak, masterwork longbow, cloak of 
  resistance +1, ring of protection +1, scroll of fly, scroll of gaseous 
  form, scroll of levitate
  Few outsiders who have encountered the ratman Slithh have any 
  inkling that the unassuming being is the chieftain of the shamans, so 
  unassuming is his appearance. Brown in color, with a slight build and 
  no unusual features to cause others to remember him. Slithh has an 
  obsessive interest in necromancy, the art of raising the dead. He does 
  not draw attention to this, preferring to allow it to remain a secret until 
  such time as his talents are required. Slithh has advanced to the position 
  of chieftain through carefully selected murder over the years, although 
  he has no particular ambition; he simply prefers to be allowed to do as 
  he wishes, and at present there is only a single being who can command 
  him: the Great Chieftain. 
  Whistail, Chieftain of the Tinkerers
  Female ferran sneak (rat) steamwright 4
  N medium humanoid (ferran)
  Init +3; Senses low-light vison; Perception +9
  Defense
  AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+5 armor, +3 Dex)
  hp 34 (4d8+12)
  Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +3
  Offense
  Speed 40 ft.
  Melee spiked gauntlet +1 (1d4-1)
  Ranged thundershot pistol +7 (1d8+1)
  Special attacks booby trap
  Steamwright Inventions (2d8 Firepower)
  Primary Inventions
  Thundershot: Mods – Custom Stock (pistol), Deadly, Efficient, Quick 
  Reload; Uses/day: 10
  Turret: AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 20 (+3 armor, +2 deflection, 
  +1 size); Mods: Accurate; hp 17; Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +4; Attacks: 
  ranged shot +5 (1d8+2)
  Secondary Inventions
  Grappleshot: Mods: Swift; Uses/day: 5
  Entangler sphere launcher (DC 14); Uses/day: 5
  Statistics
  Str 8, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 12
  Base Atk +3, CMB +2; CMD 15
  Feats Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, Skill Focus: Knowledge 
  (Engineering)
  Skills Craft (alchemy) +14, Craft (machinery) +10, Disable 
  Device +14, Knowledge (engineering) +14, Knowledge (local) +9, 
  Perception +9, Sleight of Hand +10
  Languages Jurak, Lowland, Sylfanic, Western Common
  SQ jury-rig, pack mentality, scent, masterworking
  Equipment 20 standard pistol ammunition, +1 chain shirt, masterwork 
  crafting tools, pistol, 2 smokesticks, 3 alchemist fires, 35 gold crests
  Ratman Steamwright
  Ferran sneak (rat) steamwright 1
  N medium humanoid (ferran)
  Init +2; Senses low-light vison; Perception +6
  Defense
  AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10
  hp 9 (1d8+1)
  Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +4
  Offense
  Speed 40 ft.
  Melee gearspanner +0 (1d10)
  Ranged pistol +2 (1d8)
  Statistics
  Str 10, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 14, Cha 12
  Base Atk +0 ; CMB +0 ; CMD 10
  Skills Craft (machinery) +7, Disable Device +7, Knowledge 
  (engineering) +6, Perception +6, Profession (steamwright) +6, Sleight 
  of Hand +6
  Languages Eastern Common, Lowland, Western Common
  SQ pack mentality, scent
  Inventions Aegis (secondary; mods: mounting), Belcher (primary; 
  mods: concentrated, mixed fuel)
  Equipment gearspanner, crafting tools, pistol
  Ratman Warrior
  Ferran predator fighter 1
  NE Medium humanoid (ferran)
  Init +1; Perception +7
  4
  
  Defense
  AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 16 (+5 armor, +1 Dex, +1 natural)
  hp 10 (1d10+4)
  Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +1
  Offense
  Speed 40 ft.
  Melee greatsword +4 (2d6+4), bite -1 (1d6+1)
  Ranged light crossbow +2 (1d8)
  Special attacks pack mentality
  Special defenses leathery hide
  Statistics
  Str 16, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 10
  Base Atk +1; CMB +4; CMD 15
  Feats Power Attack, Weapon Focus (greatsword)
  Traits Reactionary (+2 initiative), Ruffian (+2 hp)
  Languages Western Common
  SQ feral insight, pack mentality, scent
  Equipment 10 bolts, greatsword, light crossbow, scale mail, 15 gold 
  crests
  Adventuring Hooks
  • Both Slithh and Rhawn learn of a magical talisman found by the party 
  somewhere on the island. They both believe that the talisman will put 
  them in favor with their people and therefore, the Great Chieftain. 
  The party gets caught in a power struggle between both camps who 
  covet their treasure.
  • If there are any Golemoids or Steamwrights in the party, ratmen 
  steamwrights track down and attack the party at every chance to 
  claim any technology or manite carried by them.
  Expanded Adventures on Paradise
  Rather than simply a short and doubtless chaotic visit, it is possible 
  that the player characters could spend some significant time on the 
  island of Paradise, and in doing so change the status quo there for better 
  or ill.  In all likelihood, based on the island’s layout, it is most likely 
  that if the player characters discover the island at all, they will find their 
  way to the village at its center in relatively short order, as there is little 
  else on the island to draw their attention. Indeed, the only other notable 
  feature of the island as a whole is its noticeable lack of predators and 
  nocturnals; the island may well seem very much like its namesake after 
  the travels and horrors the player characters are likely to have witnessed 
  elsewhere.
  Once the characters discover the village, which the denizens call 
  Paradise somewhat ironically, the ratlings will become aware of their 
  arrival if they were not already (although it’s highly likely their scouts 
  will see them long before then). Once they are in the village, the ratlings 
  will make themselves known to the characters, and do so in significant 
  numbers, enough so that it should be clear that there is little chance of 
  successfully fighting one’s way out of the situation. The most likely 
  outcome is that the Warrior Tribe will see the characters stripped of 
  their adventuring gear and remanded to custody within the village after 
  interviewing them concerning their intentions and assuring them what 
  will happen if they attempt to leave the island. A second possible, albeit 
  less likely outcome is that the characters will fight their way free and 
  escape into the jungle, where they will be at a marked disadvantage 
  when it comes to avoiding the ratling scouts, but such an outcome is still 
  possible (they are player characters, after all!).
  The likelihood that the player characters possess magical appa-
  ratus and most likely an intact ship will be the impetus for significant 
  upheaval amid the ratling tribes. The avarice of Slith will be too much, 
  and he will use the opportunity to attempt to discredit the warrior 
  tribe and their current position as the favorites of the Grand Chieftain, 
  either because there are more people coming to the island than before 
  (if the characters are captured) or because the warriors were unable to 
  detain the characters at all (if they escaped). Slithh, in an uncharacter-
  istic display of charisma and cunning, will entreat the ratling race as a 
  whole to turn away from the policies of the warrior tribe and the Grand 
  Chieftain who so clearly favors them, leading to a conflict between the 
  warriors and the shamans, the first such inter-species conflict ever to 
  occur on Paradise.
  A conflict between the warriors and the shamans would change the 
  landscape of Paradise in a dramatic fashion. The warriors have superior 
  numbers and vastly better knowledge of the island’s geography, but the 
  shamans are more at home in the race’s subterranean home and have 
  significant magic at their command, which the warriors have had very 
  little experience fighting against. Thus, while it might seem that sheer 
  numbers put them at a major disadvantage, the fact that Slithh has been 
  preparing for a moment like this grants the shamans an advantage going 
  into the conflict. This is, of course, without taking into account the abili-
  ties of the average player character, which can and probably will tip the 
  balance in one direction or another.
  Allies
  The possibility that the characters can make allies of the various 
  tribes is a distinct one, particularly if the idea of either combatting either 
  hundreds of ratlings or leaving dozens of villagers to a potentially grisly 
  fate does not appeal to their (presumably) heroic sensibilities.
  • The Warriors – Perhaps more so than any other tribe, the Warriors 
  are deeply invested in the status quo at Paradise. They are, in large 
  part, its architects and guardians, while the other tribes merely aid in 
  its maintenance. The Warriors bear no ill will against the prisoners 
  of Paradise, and in fact regard the villagers’ safety as their responsi-
  bility, but neither will they easily permit any change that will poten-
  tially upset everything they have built here, which they genuinely 
  regard as being as close to paradise as is possible for their kind to 
  achieve. As such, it is unlikely that the warriors will easily choose 
  to ally with the player characters. However, if the characters prove 
  to be capable and at least reasonably honorable, and the alternative 
  is to face the destruction of their way of life by the overly ambitious 
  shamans, then it is possible. Once secured, their alliance is steadfast 
  unless betrayed. As the largest of the tribes, the warriors likely make 
  the best allies and an agreement between them and the average party 
  of adventurers is likely to ensure their victory.
  • The Shamans – The Shamans are least likely to accept an alliance 
  with the player characters, and in all honesty they are the tribe most 
  characters would least likely seek out an alliance with in the first 
  place. The shamans have very much become a cult of personality 
  under the control of their chieftain, Slithh, and even those who have 
  questions about his plans very much keep them to themselves as a 
  matter of pure survival. If, by some chance, the player characters 
  demonstrate a marked disinterest in the well-being of the prisoners 
  in Paradise, then Slithh may consider them as potential allies, albeit 
  only in the briefest sense and only so long as it remains convenient. 
  Anyone demonstrating knowledge of necromancy or similar dark 
  magics may intrigue the chieftain enough to prompt such an arrange-
  ment.
  • The Tinkerers – The Tinkerers are very much the wild card when it 
  comes to the three tribes of ratlings on Paradise. They have the least 
  amount of contact with the surface-dwellers and have no particular 
  interest in either keeping or freeing prisoners. Selfish though it may 
  seem, they merely wish to maintain their present activities, which is 
  5
  
  the development of new and different technology for their people. 
  They are not a warlike group, and would be perfectly content to exist 
  peacefully alongside humans instead of keeping them prisoner… 
  again, if it allowed them to maintain their current status quo. Charac-
  ters with any form of steam-powered technology, notably golemoids, 
  mechamages, or thunder scouts, would be well received by them and 
  make their friendship easier to obtain.
  Enemies
  Obviously, the characters will make enemies of some tribes whether 
  they ally with another tribe or not. Some tribes are in a position to be 
  more dangerous enemies than others, but none are likely to spare the 
  characters their wrath when their plans have been upset.
  • The Warriors – As the architects of Paradise’s social structure, the 
  warriors are extremely unlikely to befriend any who threaten it. The 
  only possible way to avoid them as enemies is for the adventurers to 
  seem as a lesser evil when compared to the betrayal of the shamans. In 
  general, however, the warriors will present an intractable foe, as they 
  are both the most numerous of the tribes as well as the most imme-
  diate and martial threat. Given a choice, the warriors would merely 
  imprison the adventurers in Paradise and continue their normal way 
  of life. Barring that, they would prefer to kill them and keep the 
  villagers safe, as they regard them as their personal responsibility. 
  The betrayal of the shamans is something so beyond their contempla-
  tion that the warriors genuinely do not know how to respond to it and 
  they will eagerly believe the adventurers are the source of their woes 
  even when all clear signs point to the shamans instead. 
  • The Shamans – Other than the extremely unlikely possibility of the 
  player characters choosing the philosophy of Slithh as something 
  they can get on board with, the shamans will end up their enemies, 
  and they are dedicated enemies indeed. They will at every available 
  opportunity make the characters the scapegoats of their own machi-
  nations and misdirect the other tribes against the humans before they 
  finally reveal their plan to assume complete control of Paradise, its 
  denizens, and its resources. Even the most junior member of their 
  tribe is proficient in basic magical theory and can cast spells that 
  will prove highly problematic under combat situations. Regardless 
  of their initial inclination toward the characters, like the warriors, 
  it does not prevent them from planning to dispatch the adventurers 
  when it becomes convenient to do so. They, like the warriors, regard 
  the adventurers’ departure from the island as heralding the end of 
  their way of life, and find this completely unacceptable.
  • The Tinkerers – Making enemies of the tinkerers is relatively diffi-
  cult to do, as they are not keenly invested in the conflict at all and 
  will remain largely outside of it as much as possible. They are inter-
  ested in maintaining the status quo, and toward that end the shamans’ 
  rebellion is troublesome, but the idea of taking up arms against the 
  magically powerful tribe is one that is anathema to the otherwise 
  very cautious and cunning tinkerers. If the characters do somehow 
  manage to truly earn the ire of the tinkerers, the tribe will unleash 
  their greatest secret to see them stopped: a small number of patch-
  work, rebuilt golems with a number of mounted weapons that they 
  have been trying to program to hunt prey in the jungle. 
  Paradise after the War
  The adventurers may remain on Paradise until matters are resolved, 
  or they may depart before its conclusion of that opportunity presents 
  itself. Regardless, their presence will likely have had a significant impact 
  on the outcome. In the event that the adventurers choose to remain on 
  Paradise (which seems unlikely) or return at a later date (more likely), 
  there are various ways that the island may have changed depending 
  upon which faction may have ascended to a position of dominance on 
  the island. In each case, the tone may vary significantly depending upon 
  what manner of tone the campaign favors.
  If the warrior tribe is victorious, the shamans will be largely 
  expunged from the island, with only a handful being judged worthy to 
  remain in service to the Great Chieftain. The others who survive, the 
  most powerful and devious of the lot, will either flee the island to the 
  small satellite islands off the shore or into the deepest recesses of the 
  tunnels beneath Paradise. Without the magical support to which they 
  are accustomed, the warriors will come to depend much more heavily 
  upon the tinkerers, allowing that tribe to rise to a position of signifi-
  cant influence throughout the island. A more positive outcome of this 
  might cause the warriors to see the humans of Paradise as more capable 
  than they previously believed, and eventually accept them as equals. 
  This creates a more diverse and capable society that is actually closer 
  to its namesake. On the other hand, the war could cause the warriors 
  to become colder and less trusting, holding even the tinkerers at arms’ 
  length as they more ruthlessly oppress the people of Paradise, violently 
  culling anyone who behaves as though they have even the vaguest 
  notion of escape or freedom.
  A victory by the shamans will dramatically change things in Para-
  dise, and not for the better. Indeed, there is very little way for Slithh 
  to serve as Grand Chieftain and the people of Paradise not to suffer 
  as a result. The best possible scenario that might come from such an 
  outcome is that the warriors will become a largely brainwashed and 
  dominated group that carries out the will of the shamans, all under the 
  direct control of Slithh’s monomaniacal will. The denizens of the village 
  become little better than slaves, with most of their privileges and free-
  doms removed, and any transgressions resulting in their execution and 
  subsequent use as experimentation for the shamans’ new necromantic 
  pursuits. A darker possibility is that Slithh will see all the villagers 
  executed to continue their labor as undead, and may well repeat this 
  process with the large majority of the warriors as a result. The tinkerers 
  maintain their autonomy because their talents would be lost in resurrec-
  tion, but are very much second class citizens and will gradually come to 
  actively desire to overthrow the shamans at any cost, potentially sowing 
  the seeds for a second conflict in Paradise.
  Essentially, there is very little chance for the tinkerer tribe to ascend 
  to a position of rulership over Paradise without some manner of direct 
  intervention on the part of the characters. The group as a whole, much 
  less their chieftain, has very little in the way of ambition with regards 
  to their society, preferring instead the exploration of technology and 
  knowledge without the distraction of politics, logistics, or administra-
  tion. Still, if Whistail should become the new Grand Chieftain, it will 
  signal significant if gradual change is in store for Paradise and its deni-
  zens. The tinkerers have little interest in keeping the villagers as slaves, 
  and those few among them who are capable of producing items that 
  the tinkerers need for their work are more likely to be treated as equals 
  than as vassals, essentially growing to be a valued part of the tribe as 
  time goes on. With the tinkerers in charge, it is possible that the island 
  could become a sort of fascist technocracy, but that would require some 
  significant change in the psychology of Whistail and her tribe, again 
  likely as a result of some direct action taken by the adventurers. 
  6
  
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  System Reference Document. Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on material by  
  E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
  Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. Copyright 2009, Paizo Inc.; Author: Jason Bulmahn, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.
  The Book of Experimental Might. Copyright 2008, Monte J. Cook. All rights reserved.
  Tome of Horrors. Copyright 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Authors: Scott Greene, with Clark Peterson, Erica Balsley, Kevin Baase, Casey Christofferson, 
  Lance Hawvermale, Travis Hawvermale, Patrick Lawinger, and Bill Webb; Based on original content from TSR.Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary. © 
  2009, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author: Jason Bulmahn, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.
  Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Advanced Player’s Guide. © 2010, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author: Jason Bulmahn
  Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Ultimate Magic. © 2011, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Jason Bulmahn, Tim Hitchcock, Colin McComb, Rob McCreary, 
  Jason Nelson, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Sean K Reynolds, Owen K.C. Stephens, and Russ Taylor.
  Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Ultimate Combat.  © 2011, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Dennis Baker, Jesse Benner, Benjamin Bruck, Jason Bulmahn, 
  Brian J. Cortijo, Jim Groves, Tim Hitchcock, Richard A. Hunt, Colin McComb, Jason Nelson, Tom Phillips, Patrick Renie, Sean K Reynolds, and Russ Taylor.
  Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Ultimate Equipment. © 2012 Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Dennis Baker, Jesse Benner, Benjamin Bruck, Ross Byers, 
  Brian J. Cortijo, Ryan Costello, Mike Ferguson, Matt Goetz, Jim Groves, Tracy Hurley, Matt James, Jonathan H. Keith, Michael Kenway, Hal MacLean, 
  Jason Nelson, Tork Shaw, Owen KC Stephens, and Russ Taylor.
  Thunderscape: The World of Aden. © 2013 Kyoudai Games, LLC; Authors: Shawn Carman and Rich Wulf.
  Thunderscape The Aden Gazette #17, The Islands of the Known Lands - Paradise. © 2018 Kyoudai Games, LLC; Author: Shawn Carman.
  7
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Pathfinder/1st Edition/3rd Party/Kyoudai/Aden Gazette 17 - Paradise.pdf