TEXT: BY RON LUNDEEN
  THE 
  BLIND CITY
  
  PYRE WOEBRINGER 
   TIER 8
  Huge bulk freighter
  Speed 4; Maneuverability poor (turn 3); Drift 1 
  AC 20; TL 20 
  HP 200; DT 5; CT 40 
  Shields medium 120 (forward 30, port 30, starboard 30, aft 30)
  Attack (Forward) gravity gun (6d6) 
  Attack (Aft) heavy laser cannon (4d8) 
  Attack (Turret) light plasma torpedo launcher (3d8) 
  Power Core Nova Heavy (200 PCU); Drift Engine Signal Basic; Systems basic medium-range sensors, crew quarters (good), mk 4 armor, mk 
  4 defense, mk 2 mononode computer; Expansion Bays cargo holds (4), general science lab, medical bay, recreation suite (gym), sealed 
  environment chamber (2), synthesis bay 
  Modifiers +2 to any 1 check per round, +2 Computers (sensors only), +2 Piloting; Complement 30 (minimum 20, maximum 50)
  CREW 
  Captain (1 officer, 2 crew) Diplomacy +16 (8 ranks), gunnery +10, Intimidate +16 (8 ranks), Piloting +16 (8 ranks)
  Engineers (2 officers, 5 crew each) Engineering +16 (8 ranks) 
  Gunners (2 officers, 2 crew each) gunnery +12 
  Pilot (1 officer, 2 crew) Piloting +20 (8 ranks) 
  Science Officers (2 officers, 2 crew each) Computers +16 (8 ranks) 
  Pyre Fleetworks, an efreeti-run company on the Plane of Fire, manufacturers the Woebringer, a large, cumbersome starship that many efreet use to 
  haul slaves. It is slower and less armored than most efreeti ships of its size, but its wide cargo compartments contain rows of thick iron chains and 
  neuroactive docility fields to ensure captives remain quiet and compliant during trips. In addition to standard slave quarters, a Woebringer holds 
  two sealed environment chambers that can be configured for a variety of uses. Sometimes they are filled with water, alien gases, or even vacuum to 
  maintain a minimum survival environment for special slave cargo. Other times, they are emptied of all furnishings and used as isolation chambers 
  for recalcitrant slaves. Rebellions are rare aboard Woebringers, thanks to tales of would-be freedom fighters being thrown into one of the sealed 
  environment chambers and left to suffocate as slowly and painfully as the ships’ sadistic officers can arrange. A Woebringer is fitted with a massive 
  gravity gun to grab smaller ships and haul them close enough for efreeti crew members to capture its crew as slaves.
  Serving aboard a Woebringer is considered a favored posting, because the ships include reasonably comfortable crew accommodations, exercise 
  facilities, and good opportunities to vent any frustrations on docile slaves. Officers aboard a Woebringer have even better accommodations and 
  are permitted access to an entire wing of the ship containing the most opulent furnishings and delicacies.
  Woebringers are rarely deployed for forward action. The same cargo chambers used to haul slaves can ferry soldiers for short journeys, 
  although such quarters aren’t comfortable. Most efreeti captains remove the chains and docility fields from the cargo chambers before loading 
  them up with soldiers, although others have found that the presence of the chains serves as a good reminder for the fate the soldiers face if 
  they fail in their tasks.
  
  ON THE COVER
  BY RON LUNDEEN
  THE 
  BLIND CITY
  Paizo Inc.
  7120 185th Ave NE, Ste 120
  Redmond, WA 98052-0577
  paizo.com
  THE BLIND CITY 
  2
  by Ron Lundeen
  CULTS OF THE GALAXY 
  38
  by Lyz Liddell
  STRANGE GEAR 
  46
  by Leo Glass
  ALIEN ARCHIVES 
  54
  by David Gregoire, Violet Hargrave, and Ron Lundeen
  CODEX OF WORLDS: ASTEVINT 
  62 
  by Ron Lundeen
  STARSHIP: PYRE WOEBRINGER 
  INSIDE COVERS 
  by Ron Lundeen
  This book refers to several other Starfinder products using the following abbreviations, yet these 
  additional supplements are not required to make use of this book. Readers interested in references to 
  Starfinder hardcovers can find the complete rules of these books available online for free at sfrd.info.
  This product is compliant with the Open Game License (OGL) and is suitable for use with Starfinder or the Pathfinder 
  Roleplaying Game.
  Product Identity: The following items are hereby identified as Product Identity, as defined in the Open Game License version 
  1.0a, Section 1(e), and are not Open Game Content: All trademarks, registered trademarks, proper nouns (characters, deities, 
  locations, etc., as well as all adjectives, names, titles, and descriptive terms derived from proper nouns), artworks, characters, 
  dialogue, locations, plots, storylines, trade dress, the historical period called the Gap, the terms kishalee, sivv, skyfire, Dreamer 
  (the official Open Game Content term for which is “dreaming barathu”), and the Drift (the official Open Game Content term for 
  which is “hyperspace”). (Elements that have previously been designated as Open Game Content, or are exclusively derived 
  from previous Open Game Content, or that are in the public domain are not included in this declaration.)
  Open Game Content: Except for material designated as Product Identity (see above), the game mechanics of this Paizo game 
  product are Open Game Content, as defined in the Open Game License version 1.0a, Section 1(d). No portion of this work other 
  than the material designated as Open Game Content may be reproduced in any form without written permission.
  Starfinder Adventure Path #16: The Blind City © 2019, Paizo Inc. All Rights Reserved. Paizo, Paizo Inc., the Paizo golem logo, 
  Pathfinder, the Pathfinder logo, Pathfinder Society, Starfinder, and the Starfinder logo are registered trademarks of Paizo Inc.; 
  Dawn of Flame, Pathfinder Accessories, Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, Adventure Card Society, Pathfinder Adventure 
  Path, Pathfinder Adventures, Pathfinder Battles, Pathfinder Campaign Setting, Pathfinder Cards, Pathfinder Combat Pad, 
  Pathfinder Flip-Mat, Pathfinder Flip-Tiles, Pathfinder Legends, Pathfinder Map Pack, Pathfinder Module, Pathfinder Pawns, 
  Pathfinder Player Companion, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Pathfinder Tales, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Combat 
  Pad, Starfinder Flip-Mat, Starfinder Pawns, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, and Starfinder Society are trademarks of Paizo Inc.
  Printed in China.
  Amaldrel Vershian, an unexpected enemy, stands in 
  the heroes’ way in this cover by Matias Tapia.
  Development Leads • Jason Keeley and Chris S. Sims
  Authors • Ron Lundeen, with Leo Glass, David Gregoire, 
  Violet Hargrave, and Lyz Liddell
  Cover Artist • Matias Tapia
  Interior Artists • Diana Campos, Sergio Cosmai, Mark Molnar, 
  Mirco Paganessi, Mary Jane Pajaron, and Ainur Salimova
  Page Border Design • Firat Solhan
  Cartographer • Damien Mammoliti
  Creative Directors • James Jacobs, Robert G. McCreary, and 
  Sarah E. Robinson
  Director of Game Design • Jason Bulmahn
  Managing Developers • Adam Daigle and Amanda Hamon
  Organized Play Lead Developer • John Compton 
  Developers • Eleanor Ferron, Jason Keeley, Luis Loza, 
  Ron Lundeen, Joe Pasini, Patrick Renie, Michael Sayre, 
  Chris S. Sims, and Linda Zayas-Palmer
  Starfinder Design Lead • Owen K.C. Stephens
  Starfinder Society Developer • Thurston Hillman
  Senior Designer • Stephen Radney-MacFarland 
  Designers • Logan Bonner and Mark Seifter
  Managing Editor • Judy Bauer
  Senior Editor • Christopher Carey
  Editors • Amirali Attar Olyaee, James Case, Leo Glass, Avi Kool, 
  Lyz Liddell, Adrian Ng, Lacy Pellazar, and Jason Tondro
  Art Director • Sonja Morris
  Senior Graphic Designers • Emily Crowell and Adam Vick
  Production Artist • Tony Barnett
  Franchise Manager • Mark Moreland
  Project Manager • Gabriel Waluconis
  Publisher • Erik Mona
  Paizo CEO • Lisa Stevens
  Chief Operations Officer • Jeffrey Alvarez
  Chief Financial Officer • John Parrish
  Chief Technical Officer • Vic Wertz
  Director of Sales • Pierce Watters
  Sales Associate • Cosmo Eisele
  Vice President of Marketing & Licensing • Jim Butler
  Marketing Manager • Dan Tharp
  Licensing Manager • Glenn Elliott
  Public Relations Manager • Aaron Shanks
  Organized Play Manager • Tonya Woldridge
  Human Resources Generalist • Angi Hodgson
  Accountant • Christopher Caldwell
  Data Entry Clerk • B. Scott Keim
  Director of Technology • Raimi Kong
  Web Production Manager • Chris Lambertz
  Senior Software Developer • Gary Teter
  Webstore Coordinator • Rick Kunz
  Customer Service Team • Katina Davis, Virginia Jordan, Sara Marie, 
  Samantha Phelan, and Diego Valdez
  Warehouse Team • Laura Wilkes Carey, Will Chase, Mika Hawkins, 
  Heather Payne, Jeff Strand, and Kevin Underwood
  Website Team • Brian Bauman, Robert Brandenburg, 
  Whitney Chatterjee, Erik Keith, Josh Thornton, 
  and Andrew White
  Alien Archive 2 
  Armory
  Pact Worlds
  AA2
  AR
  PW
  PART 4 0F 6
  THE BLIND CITY
  
  2
  PART 1: READER’S RESCUE 
    3 
  Cultists kidnap the expert the PCs need to decipher the writing on the horacalcum tablet 
  they recovered in the previous adventure. The PCs must rescue this odd scholar to learn 
  what the tablet says.
  THE BLIND CITY
  ADVANCEMENT 
  TRACK
  “The Blind City” is designed 
  for four characters.
  7
  The PCs begin this 
  adventure at 7th level.
  8
  The PCs should reach 8th 
  level during their initial 
  exploration of Ezorod.
  9
  The PCs should be 9th level 
  by the end of the adventure.
  PART 2: A SOLAR OUBLIETTE 
  16
  The translated tablet serves as a map and a key to Ezorod, a structure deep in the sun. 
  Once they arrive in Ezorod in the Sun Diver, the PCs search for a way to gain access to 
  Ezorod’s control center while contending with its ageless guardians. 
  PART 3: INTO EZOROD’S HEART 
  29
  Ezorod’s center is a series of geometry-defying chambers called the Illuminant Heart. 
  Within, the PCs can claim Ezorod’s technology, but they must confront the master of the 
  god-prison and risk unleashing its prisoner.
  
  ADVENTURE  
  BACKGROUND
  In eons past, the Outer Gods came to despise a multipartite 
  entity named the Eshtayiv, the Incandescent Doom, by 
  its mortal pawns. Whether it is a rival deity or some other 
  equally mighty being, the Eshtayiv represents a grave threat 
  to all creatures that lurk in darkness. The Eshtayiv is a 
  creature of light, but not one of warmth or growth. Instead, 
  they are a force of consuming illumination, a radiance that 
  destroys flesh while scorching the mind and soul. Drawn to 
  lightless places, the Eshtayiv reaches out with their baleful 
  and unmaking light, obliterating all they touch.
  Agents of the Outer Gods couldn’t defeat the Eshtayiv, 
  so they imprisoned the being. To do so, they built bubbles 
  of perpetual darkness and placed them within the sun that, 
  from afar, look like little more than pinpricks of darkness 
  within the dazzling light. Legend holds that during a titanic 
  battle, the Outer Gods cast the Eshtayiv into the sun, where 
  the god-thing could not detect the darkness of deep space 
  but was instead drawn to the gloom of the prisons. Aware 
  they had been fooled, but unable to pull their gaze from 
  the dark anchors, the Eshtayiv began the slow work of 
  illuminating and destroying the prisons. Now, only one of 
  those anchors remains, a structure called Ezorod, powered 
  by an ancient fusion of magic and technology. As long as 
  Ezorod exists and maintains its darkness, the Eshtayiv 
  remains a captive in the sun.
  However, Ezorod is no safe harbor. The Eshtayiv’s horrific 
  spawn destroy anyone foolish enough to venture within. The 
  original wardens of Ezorod were destroyed long ago in its 
  halls of monumental stone. Although these former wardens 
  could stave off a pervading curse called the Eshtayiv’s Touch 
  by keeping light with them, they eventually succumbed to 
  darkness, died, and rose as undead creatures burning with 
  their own eternal illumination. Soon, the only creatures that 
  existed within Ezorod were those that shed their own light.
  During the Gap, much of the lore regarding the Eshtayiv and 
  Ezorod was lost. Only followers of the Outer Gods remembered 
  their old enemy and the prison in the sun. The obscurity of the 
  Eshtayiv’s legend has served them well. 
  Until now.
  During the previous adventure, “Sun Divers,” the PCs 
  gained a starship capable of traveling deep within the sun. 
  They also recovered a strange horacalcum tablet with Aklo 
  writing that squirms and writhes. This object is the key to 
  finding and opening Ezorod. Although the PCs don’t start the 
  adventure knowing what this relic does, cultists of Azathoth, 
  led by a wicked elf named Amaldrel Vershian, recognize the 
  tablet’s importance. They’ll stop at nothing to destroy it.
  The adventure begins when the PCs receive a message from 
  Nib, the PCs’ ysoki friend and liaison to the Deep Cultures 
  Institute. When you’re ready to start, let the players know 
  Nib has called them together over refreshments at her 
  favorite ysoki restaurant in Stellacuna, the White Rat. If Nib 
  is on good terms with her wife, Taeress, the lashunta woman 
  is also present. Read or paraphrase the following.
  Nib bounces excitedly, twitching her whiskers as she says, 
  “Listen, I know we’ve had trouble translating that tablet. It’s 
  weird. Hmmm...”
  She looks around conspiratorially, then, after popping a 
  yam into her mouth, says, “I found an expert on this bizarre 
  stuff. Name’s Otlo. I’ve talked to them before, but I needed to 
  confirm we could trust them with this. A lot of... individuals... 
  who speak Aklo aren’t, well, that trustworthy. Otlo is. They 
  can read Aklo...” Nib pauses to make air quotes, continuing 
  with, “‘stored in multidimensional encoding,’ as they put it 
  when I described the problem.
  “Thing is, we have to bring the tablet to them. Comm video 
  can’t transmit the encrypted text, apparently. And I want 
  you to come with me. We need to do this ASAP—after dinner, 
  of course, if possible.”
  If the PCs have questions, Nib does her best to answer. PCs 
  who attempt Computers checks to search for information have 
  enough time to take 10 or even 20 on each check. Nib is eager, 
  but she realizes waiting an hour, more or less, won’t make a 
  difference—especially considering the group is enjoying a meal.
  You’ve spoken with Otlo? “Yeah. Only via text and vid chat, 
  though. They’re reclusive, with good reason. But they’ve got a 
  personal connection to Aklo.”
  Good reason?/Personal connection? “Otlo... well... they’re 
  an orocoran.”
  Orocorans (Starfinder Alien Archive 90) are agender, 
  sapient aberrations from the planet Aucturn, as any PC who 
  succeeds at a DC 19 Culture or Life Science check knows. 
  Members of the species tend to be malevolent and slothful, 
  addled from overconsuming the black ichor that runs beneath 
  Aucturn’s surface. Nib is clear about Otlo’s nature even if the 
  PCs don’t know what an orocoran is.
  A PC who searches the infosphere for Otlo and succeeds at 
  a DC 25 Computers check finds a series of essays describing 
  Aucturn, its religion, its bizarre flesh and fluids, and the 
  possibility of freeing orocorans from the planet’s influence. 
  These essays were authored by someone named Otlo. The 
  work is scholarly, if eccentric.
  3
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  PART 1:  
  READER’S RESCUE 
  
  We should trust an orocoran? “We can trust Otlo. Listen, 
  Otlo’s not like the typical orocoran. Sure, they’re not normal, 
  but who is? Not me. Not you. None of us, that’s who.
  “Besides, Otlo’s a scholar. They know a lot about wacky stuff 
  like this. They’ve always come through for me in the past, and 
  they had to reveal what they are to do this for us. Otlo’s taking 
  a risk, too.”
  Why do you want us along if you trust Otlo? 
  “Well, it pays to be safe, right? I 
  mean, I trust Otlo, but others 
  know about the tablet. 
  It’s a risk to remove 
  it from the Deep 
  Cultures Institute, 
  even for a little 
  while. Having you 
  along,” she smiles and 
  winks, “reduces that risk.”
  Where is Otlo? “They use 
  an abandoned clinic as a lab here in 
  Stellacuna. It isn’t far.”
  Abandoned Clinic? “Yeah, it was 
  called the Salubrium. Rich folks used to 
  get treatments and such there. It closed 
  down years ago. Its owner died, I think.”
  A PC can search the infosphere and 
  confirm this information by succeeding at a DC 19 Computers 
  check. The Salubrium was a high-end clinic financed as a hobby 
  by a wealthy dwarf named Sutrum Lem. If the check succeeds 
  by 5 or more, the PC learns that when Sutrum died, his heirs 
  were shocked to find that the clinic had been left to someone 
  named Otlo, along with a small trust. Apparently, Sutrum’s heirs 
  managed to seize and sell most of the valuable equipment and 
  medicine from the clinic, which promptly closed.
  What’s the hurry? “I’m a little nervous because one of my 
  associates at the DCI has been pressing for the tablet to be 
  sequestered until we know more about it. If he convinces the 
  board he’s right, who knows how long we’ll have to wait for 
  another opportunity to decipher and use it. Anyway, he said he 
  believes the tablet is dangerous and should be put away until 
  proven otherwise. So, if he gets his way...”
  Who is this associate? “Name’s Amaldrel Vershian. He’s a 
  specialist in solar religions and cults. A good scholar—educated, 
  thorough, sharp. He seems pretty scared of this tablet, though. 
  Got a little wild-eyed when he couldn’t convince me to side 
  with him on sequestering it.”
  Can he read it? “I don’t think so. He claims to recognize it 
  from myths he knows. He told me he thinks it’s a key to a place 
  called Ezorod, based on hints in the Aklo words we’ve seen—
  and if that’s what it is, he claims it shouldn’t be used. Ezorod 
  is surrounded by dark legends, apparently, but he didn’t tell 
  me anything concrete. I think he probably doesn’t know for 
  sure. That means he’s being irrational, if you ask me. Anyway, I 
  wouldn’t trust him to read it for us even if he could.”
  A. THE SALUBRIUM
  The PCs have time to gear up, retrieve the tablet, and head for 
  the Salubrium. Formerly a state-of-the-art clinic and lab, the 
  closed facility now has only one occupant, the orocoran Otlo.
  OTLO
  Unlike most orocorans, Otlo enjoyed mental enhancement 
  from consuming the ichor on Aucturn. Otlo began 
  to examine the lore of the Old Ones, the 
  chemical composition of the planet, and 
  the possibility of creating a substitute 
  that could free orocorans from the 
  world’s hallucinogenic influence. 
  The scholar wrote factual essays 
  and distributed them on fringe 
  infosphere sites across the Pact 
  Worlds, attracting the attention 
  of cultists who considered Otlo’s 
  inquiries to be sacrilege. When 
  these fanatics tried to murder 
  Otlo, the orocoran fled from 
  Aucturn. Otlo arrived on the 
  Burning Archipelago and found 
  soon after that the good-hearted 
  Sutrum Lem was an admirer of 
  Otlo’s work. The philanthropist 
  offered Otlo a job at the Salubrium to continue this research. 
  Since the clinic closed, Otlo has lived in the facility and used a 
  small income from a trust Sutrum bestowed to quietly pursue 
  intellectual goals. Otlo has had some success in producing 
  an ichor substitute, but they have largely neglected the 
  Salubrium’s upkeep.
  Jittery and telepathically talkative, Otlo has trouble sitting 
  still for too long and shifts topics quickly. They mentally 
  broadcast alliterative, repetitive phrases, such as “patter pat 
  patter pat” or “say sibilant silence, say sibilant silence.” Otlo 
  can come across as peculiar, but they are a legitimate expert 
  committed to helping the PCs.
  Otlo subsists on a self-manufactured substance they call 
  “ersatz ichor.” Because their body contains no actual Aucturn 
  ichor, Otlo lacks the augury and hallucinate abilities of most 
  orocorans. However, perhaps as a side effect of not ingesting 
  Aucturn’s fluids, Otlo has several unique psychic powers.
  OTLO 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  Agender variant orocoran (Starfinder Alien Archive 90)
  CN Medium aberration
  Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., see invisibility;  
  Perception +13
  DEFENSE 
  HP 80
  EAC 18; KAC 19
  Fort +5; Ref +7; Will +9 (+11 vs. mind-affecting effects)
  Defensive Abilities unflankable
  4
  OTLO
  
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee proboscis +12 (1d8+6 P; critical bleed 1d6)
  Ranged corona laser pistol +15 (2d4+6 F; critical burn 1d4) or
  projectile vomit +15 (1d10+6 A)
  Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6th)
  1/day—lesser restoration
  3/day—detect thoughts (DC 16), disguise self (DC 16), 
  unseen servant
  At will—psychokinetic hand
  Constant—see invisibility
  STATISTICS
  Str +0; Dex +4; Con +2; Int +4; Wis +0; Cha +1
  Skills Life Science +18, Mysticism +18, Physical Science +18, 
  Stealth +13, Survival +13
  Languages Aklo, Common, Dwarven, Elven (can’t speak any 
  language); limited telepathy 60 ft.
  Gear business stationwear, corona laser pistol with 2 batteries 
  (20 charges each); Augmentations standard datajack
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Projectile Vomit (Ex) As a standard action, Otlo can spew a 
  thin stream of vomit at a target within 30 feet.
  SALUBRIUM FEATURES
  The Salubrium has the following common features, with 
  exceptions noted where they occur in specific areas. The 
  facility has a practical and severely institutional design. It 
  also shows signs of its neglect, with sputtering electric lights, 
  debris-littered floors, and other evidence of the hasty removal 
  of equipment and long-term abandonment. Most of its exterior 
  doors and windows are locked, sealed, or both, and they’re 
  strong as steel. Interior plastic doors are unlocked, and most 
  slide open with the squeal of their seldom-used and poorly 
  maintained mechanisms. A sign outside a given area or room 
  indicates its original function, though some of these indicators 
  have been knocked off the walls or are missing. Ceilings are 12 
  feet high throughout the building. Most of the computers in the 
  Salubrium are inoperable. 
  Small domes of transparent aluminum tinted with one-
  way-mirror material cover security cameras throughout the 
  Salubrium. The PCs can easily determine that there is one 
  camera in every area and two in larger areas. Only four cameras 
  in the clinic still function: two in area A13, one in A18, and 
  another in area A21. Others are inoperative.
  ARRIVAL
  When the group arrives, read or paraphrase the following.
  This large building consists of a wide central entrance and 
  a wing extending to either side. Although the curve of the 
  entry’s wall is made of transparent material, most of the 
  windows have been painted over on the inside or sealed 
  with opaque panels. The structure has the forlorn air of 
  extended abandonment.
  Otlo left the front doors unlocked so expected visitors can 
  enter easily. Nib encourages the PCs to accompany her through 
  the front double door. 
  [map: half page M1 “The 
  Salubrium”]
  1  SQUARE  = 5 FEET
  a. salubrium
  A19
  A19
  A19
  A18
  A20
  A21
  A22
  A7
  A7
  A7a
  A6
  A7
  A3
  A2
  A2
  A4
  A1
  A5
  A8
  S
  A17b
  A14b
  A14a
  A14
  A14
  A14
  A15
  A17
  A17a
  A12a
  T
  A13
  A7
  A7
  A7
  A7
  A9
  A10
  A11
  A12
  A16
  A12b
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  5
  
  It is assumed the PCs enter through area A1. If the PCs 
  instead circle the Salubrium, they might find the hidden door 
  to the hallway in A9, and come to the loading dock (A12b). The 
  smaller upper floor isn’t obvious from the clinic’s front, but it is 
  apparent from the back. The hoverpad (A22) isn’t discernible 
  from the ground, since its landing lights are inoperable. If the 
  PCs climb to the roof, they might find it and the nearby access 
  door, as well as the elevator hatch on the upper story (see A17).
  If the PCs take a different direction when entering the 
  Salubrium, no cultists are initially present in any areas they 
  explore, and the explosion (Event 1) hasn’t affected any areas. 
  The encounter order should only be adjusted if the PCs avoid 
  meeting Otlo, who stays in area A1 until the group arrives there.
  A1. Reception
  An expansive, curved reception desk stands in the center of 
  this vaulted chamber. Its front bears the words, “Welcome 
  to the Salubrium: Unsurpassed Compassion, Sophisticated 
  Care.” A curved transparent wall surrounds a double door 
  to the south, although the windows are painted or paneled. 
  A hallway labeled “Inpatient Wing” extends to the west. To 
  the east is a corridor labeled “Research Wing.” Behind the 
  reception desk is a short hall bearing signs with the symbols 
  of a lavatory, stairs, and an elevator.
  Creature: Otlo squats awkwardly on the only chair at the 
  reception desk, measuring substances in three small beakers. 
  Nib greets the orocoran by name. In a buzzing telepathic “voice,” 
  Otlo asks everyone to keep their hands in sight and looks the 
  visitors over, seeking any signs that indicate fealty to the Outer 
  Gods. Otlo asks the PCs about any such marks, requesting to 
  cast detect thoughts on anyone who seems suspicious. If Otlo 
  finds no such signs or is satisfied with the answers given about 
  those found, the orocoran asks to see the tablet.
  When Otlo has the tablet, read or paraphrase the following.
  Otlo’s six eyes widen as they scan the tablet.
  The orocoran’s telepathic voice buzzes, imparting a feeling 
  of surprise, saying, “This tablet tells of Ezorod. Tablet tells, 
  tablet tells. Ezorod is especially ancient, an anchor of an 
  elder entity, a dwelling of darkness deep in the sun. Dwelling 
  darkness deep, deep. Who speaks of it? None you want to 
  know. Wicked worshippers. Malevolence marks, marked 
  malevolence. Layers of knowledge here, yes. Strata span 
  strata, in veins vie various visions.”
  Otlo’s eyes narrow. They chitter and rub their head.
  “Takes time to translate. In interim, a small task I ask. Task 
  I ask, task I ask. Orocorans eat Aucturn ichor. Far from there, 
  I eat ersatz ichor, simulated sustenance, sustenance simulated. 
  I refine recipe repeatedly. Within the western wing, in Storage 
  and Sterilization,” Otlo gestures with a claw, “I need a few flasks 
  of phenotyll. Find them, fetch them. Find them, fetch them. 
  Livid Lems left lookouts. Vex me, vex. New friends, strength 
  superior to sentinels—destroy them for me. Strength solves. 
  Small price, small price. For my help, finally fetch phenotyll.”
  “I’ll stay here,” says Nib. “I’d feel better if you take the 
  tablet with you. Don’t let it out of your sight.”
  Nib wants to stay with Otlo to find out more of what the 
  orocoran already knows about Ezorod. She’s nervous about 
  having the tablet “out and about” and doesn’t want to take any 
  chances. The PCs, she feels, are the tablet’s best guardians.
  Otlo can clarify Storage and Sterilization’s location (A4), and 
  that it’s clearly marked. Robots left by the Lems still guard the 
  area, and they attack whoever ventures there. Otlo has been 
  unable to defeat them. If the PCs ask what “Lems” are, Otlo 
  briefly describes the family of his dwarven benefactor and how 
  they left robots here to guard the remaining equipment and 
  supplies they claimed ownership of when Otlo inherited the 
  building. If the PCs press for more, Otlo gives more of the story 
  related to Sutrum Lem until the PCs are satisfied.
  6
  
  A PC trained in Medicine or Life Science knows phenotyll is a 
  component of a tier 2 mental excitant (Starfinder Armory 133), 
  expensive but of little resale value on its own. If asked, Otlo can 
  explain its use and confirms wanting the substance to heighten 
  mental clarity and as a new constituent of ersatz ichor.
  A2. intAke Rooms
  No signs mark these doors.
  This small office contains an old desk, a few configurable 
  chairs, dust, and a bit of debris.
  Anyone trained in Medicine or an appropriate Profession 
  (medical or psychological, or a similar consultation area) can 
  tell these areas are intake rooms or doctor offices.
  A3. West HAll
  This wide hall has bare walls with lighter areas hinting that 
  artwork or signage once hung on them.
  A4. stoRAge (cR 6)
  This room is clearly labeled “Storage and Sterilization” with a 
  plaque outside the door.
  This room contains racks and shelves holding sparse amounts 
  of medical equipment, including bedding and towels. A whiter 
  silhouette on the white wall and attachments left dangling 
  indicate a large machine was removed from the northeastern 
  corner. Doors lead out to the north and west, and a sign near 
  the western door reads “Chemical Storage.”
  A character trained in Engineering, Life Science, or Medicine 
  can guess the machinery removed from the room was used to 
  sterilize various reusable supplies.
  Creatures: When the Lem heirs looted the clinic, they 
  sent the facility’s security robots to this room to guard the 
  remaining supplies, but the heirs never returned to claim them. 
  The robots remain vigilant, one in each southern corner. They 
  warn intruders that they have 10 seconds to leave. The robots 
  then attack those who remain in the room or open doorway 2 
  rounds later.
  PATROL-CLASS SECURITY ROBOTS (2) 
  CR 4
  XP 1,200 each
  HP 52 each (Starfinder Alien Archive 94)
  TACTICS
  During Combat The robots remain separate and fire on 
  intruders. PCs notice that, despite the stun setting 
  common on tactical arc emitters, the robots use lethal 
  force immediately. (A “gift” from the Lem heirs to Otlo.)
  Morale Their programming gives the robots no option to flee. 
  They fight until disabled or destroyed.
  A5. cHemicAl stoRAge
  Metal cabinets line the walls of this room, each with a door 
  of transparent material. Most of the cabinets are empty. 
  One door is ajar, and a trail of viscous slime leads from the 
  cabinet’s interior to a puddle on the floor. An acrid tang hangs 
  in the air. The room’s only door is set into the east wall next to 
  an emergency wash station.
  A PC who succeeds at a DC 19 Life Science or Physical 
  Science check can tell, based on the lack of any damage to 
  the area, the acrid goo is harmless despite the odor. It must 
  have needed refrigeration to remain stable, and the open door 
  allowed its temperature to rise too high.
  Treasure: The cabinets are neatly labeled, as are their contents. 
  Finding several bottles of phenotyll is easy. The cabinets also 
  contain 16 tier 1 medicinals (five analgesics, three antiemeticsAR, 
  two antitoxins, one coagulantAR, three excitantsAR, and 
  two sedatives) and four tier 2 medicinals (two analgesics, one 
  antitoxin, and one excitantAR). The other chemicals in the cabinets 
  are of little or no value by themselves but, if you wish, they could 
  be used as components to make other medicinals.
  A6. nuRses’ stAtion
  Three chairs sit behind a desk, the top of which is five feet 
  from the floor of the hallway it overlooks. North of the desk 
  is an archway leading to a three-way junction. A sign over the 
  arch reads, “Consider Our Patients. Quiet, Please.”
  This desk overlooks area A3. A computer panel, set into the 
  desk’s surface, no longer functions. The hall beyond the arch 
  contains numbered doors (see area A7), and a door labeled 
  “Mechanical” leads to area A8 at the east end of this hall.
  Event 1: Explosion occurs as soon as the PCs leave A4 to 
  return to A1 after recovering the phenotyll.
  event 1: explosion (cR 9)
  Amaldrel Vershian and his cultists assault the Salubrium. 
  Each PC who succeeds at a DC 23 Perception check hears 
  someone stealthily moving down the hall from A1, followed by 
  a whisper in Common: “Duck and cover.” Just after that, read or 
  paraphrase the following.
  A massive explosion rocks the clinic, sending shock waves 
  through the hall. The eastern end of the passageway collapses 
  with a roar and a cloud of dust.
  Any PC who fails a DC 15 Fortitude saving throw 
  falls prone due to the shock wave, but those who heard 
  someone approaching receive a +2 circumstance bonus to 
  this save. The explosion collapses the eastern end of the 
  hall, destroying the easternmost room of area A2. It blocks 
  passage to A1 and destroys most of that area, too. The map 
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  7
  
  shows the blast area, which is blocked with a pile of rubble. 
  A ring 10 feet beyond the blast area is difficult terrain due 
  to scattered debris. For 10 minutes following the explosion, 
  dust in areas A1, A3, A6, and A17 is as thick as heavy smoke 
  (Starfinder Core Rulebook 404).
  It’s obvious to the PCs that the entire front of the Salubrium 
  is rubble. They must find a way around the destruction.
  Creatures: Just 1 round after the explosion, three humans 
  clad in metallic gold-and-white jumpsuits with red accents 
  move down the hall toward the PCs, wielding glowing hammers. 
  These cultists ducked into this hall prior to the explosion and 
  avoided being caught in the blast.
  AZATHOTH ASSASSINS (3) 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400 each
  Human solarian
  CE Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +3; Perception +13
  DEFENSE 
  HP 90 EACH
  EAC 19; KAC 19
  Fort +6; Ref +8; Will +11
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee solar hammer +16 (2d6+11 S; critical wound [DC 14])
  Ranged resonant dirge pistol +13 (1d8+7 So; critical sicken 
  [DC 14])
  Offensive Abilities stellar revelations (black hole [25-ft. 
  radius, pull 15 ft., DC 14], blazing orbit, stellar rush [3d6 F, 
  DC 14], supernova [10-ft. radius, 7d6 F, DC 14])
  TACTICS
  During Combat Amaldrel, knowing the PCs are here, told 
  these cultists to kill anyone they find in the west wing of 
  the clinic. When they notice the PCs, the cultists’ intent 
  becomes clear—they were looking for the PCs. These 
  killers pursue anyone who flees.
  Morale In their zeal, the cultists don’t back down. When one 
  falls, the others use that as an excuse to seek revenge and 
  continue the fight.
  STATISTICS
  Str +5; Dex +3; Con +2; Int +0; Wis +1; Cha +0
  Skills Athletics +18, Mysticism +13, Stealth +13
  Languages Common
  Other Abilities solar manifestation (solar weapon),  
  stellar alignment
  Gear ysoki refractor suit, resonant dirge pistolAR with 1 
  battery (20 charges), least gluon crystal
  Treasure: In addition to their gear, each assassin wears an 
  ornate pendant with an 8-pointed star cast in black and white 
  metal. The geometry of the star symbol seems slightly out of 
  alignment or phase, causing a sense of unease when viewed. 
  Any PC who succeeds at a DC 15 Mysticism check identifies 
  the symbol as that of Azathoth, the Outer God of devastation, 
  entropy, and madness. These pendants are made of valuable 
  metals, and due to that and their odd geometry, each is worth 
  100 credits. After the problems at the Salubrium are solved, Nib 
  says the Deep Cultures Institute is willing to buy the symbols 
  for the institute’s historical records. At your discretion, the PCs 
  might be able to acquire more from a collector.
  Development: Once the fight ends, the PCs receive a 
  message from Nib, breathing as if she has been running. Read 
  or paraphrase the following.
  “We’re alive! Otlo’s terrified. Says it’s cultists of Azathoth. Says 
  they’re here for the tablet. Reception’s collapsed. We ran up 
  the stairs. Otlo says you can circle through a hall, employees 
  only, near the patient area. I’m going silent. Be careful! And 
  please, please find us!”
  Nib closes communications, and the PCs receive no response 
  from her thereafter. Cultists capture her and Otlo shortly after 
  her message and take them to area A21.
  8
  AZATHOTH ASSASSIN
  
  A7. pAtient Rooms
  Each of these rooms has a numbered sign, starting from P1 in the 
  northwest corner and proceeding to P8 in a clockwise manner 
  to the east, then back to the southwest. Each room is similar, 
  but the southern rooms are larger, their furnishings more lavish.
  This room contains a hospital bed, a private washroom, and a 
  series of wall-mounted instruments.
  In area A7a, the bed has a humanoid-shaped growth of foul-
  smelling mold with tiny writhing filaments. A PC who succeeds 
  at a DC 20 Life Science check identifies this hardy but harmless 
  fungus from Castrovel, likely resulting from contamination.
  A8. mecHAnicAl
  This area houses machinery and control consoles to the east 
  and south. The southern console flashes red. 
  A PC trained in Engineering can tell what these machines 
  and control consoles do. To the south is an antigrav unit for 
  an elevator housed beyond the southern wall. To the east are 
  refrigeration controls for an adjacent storage area to the east. The 
  fridge controls work and show the unit is set to 42° F. However, 
  the antigrav unit shows the elevator has been knocked askew 
  in the shaft by the explosion. A PC can reset the elevator with 
  a successful DC 24 Engineering check but can’t take 20 on this 
  check, because failing causes the elevator to slip, increasing the 
  DC by 5. Failing the Engineering check by 5 or more causes the 
  antigrav unit to become broken. Fixing the unit requires 1 hour 
  of work, 50 UPBs, and a successful DC 24 Engineering check.
  A PC who succeeds at a DC 30 Perception check to search 
  the area finds the secret hatch to the north. This hatch is 
  designed for a Small creature. It opens into area A10.
  Treasure: A mk 1 null-space chamber hangs on the back of the 
  door. It contains dozens of pouches of Akitonian spiced jerky, a 
  master key for the facility (this locks and unlocks internal doors 
  via a physical mechanism), and a datapad. The datapad is a tier 
  1 computer that contains outdated maintenance schedules, 
  work-related communications for a custodian named Verti 
  Mino, and comprehensive schematics of the Salubrium. These 
  schematics show the secret panel in this room.
  A9. Access HAll
  The western door is marked “Employees Only” on the western 
  side. Lights here are motion sensitive.
  Ceiling lights flicker on in this long hallway. A few panels 
  continue flashing while the rest glow steadily. The hall has a 
  door at either end and two to the south in the hall’s eastern 
  half. A sturdier door stands to the north.
  The northern door, marked “Emergency Exit” leads to an 
  alley north of the Salubrium. It’s hidden from the outside, 
  requiring a PC to succeed at a DC 30 Perception check to 
  find it in the building’s uniform siding. It’s also locked, and its 
  interior control panel is powered down. To open the door, the 
  PCs must first reactivate the power and then disable the lock. 
  Reactivating the power requires a successful DC 19 Engineering 
  check from the inside, but from the outside, the DC of this 
  check is 29. Unlocking and opening the powered door from the 
  inside requires a successful DC 25 Engineering check to rewire 
  the panel or a DC 25 Computers check to bypass the security. 
  From the outside, which has no control panel, a successful DC 
  30 Engineering check can short out the door and force it open.
  A10. custodiAn’s office
  The door is locked. A PC can unlock the door with the key from 
  area A8 or a successful DC 25 Engineering check.
  This office contains a low desk, a low stool, and a large metal 
  cabinet. A partially disassembled drone sits on the desk near 
  a built-in computer console.
  This room was likely the office of a Small humanoid. The 
  cabinet contains an assortment of high-quality tools, and its 
  bottom drawer pulls out into a small bed that’s quite comfy.
  A PC who succeeds at a DC 30 Perception check to search 
  the area finds the secret hatch, designed for a Small creature, to 
  the south. The hatch opens into this area but leads to area A8.
  Treasure: The tools here are from three engineering specialty 
  tool kits for building maintenance. The bonus from these kits 
  applies to opening locks and rewiring security. Additionally, the 
  cabinet holds a bin containing 1,000 UPBs. A partially complete 
  elite deckhand drone (Armory 101) sits on the desk alongside 
  a smaller bin of 250 UPBs. It takes 1 hour, 25 UPBs, and a 
  successful DC 30 Engineering check to repair, reassemble, 
  and activate the drone. Failure means more time and UPBs are 
  required. If a PC takes 20 to succeed, the reassembly takes 20 
  hours and 500 UPBs. The drone speaks Ysoki.
  A11. RefRigeRAted stoRAge
  A sign, one outside each door leading into this area, identifies 
  the room.
  This room’s temperature is very cool. A mattress, several 
  pillows, and disheveled blankets form a bed or perhaps a nest 
  at the west end. A few tables set up nearby have numerous 
  apparatuses on them. The adjacent shelves and clear-faced 
  cabinets are stocked with chemicals and tools, though other 
  storage facilities here stand empty. A door exits north, and 
  another leads east.
  The temperature here is 42° F. Otlo enjoys the cold temperature 
  as a reminder of Aucturn, and the nest is their sleeping area. A 
  character trained in Life Science, Medicine, or Physical Science 
  knows that the tables and the equipment atop them comprise a 
  small but serviceable life science lab. The lab is also Otlo’s.
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  9
  
  A12. WAReHouse (cR 7)
  This warehouse has several tall metal shelves. Supplies at the 
  floor level are gone, but several racks hold pallets wrapped 
  in sheets of translucent plastic on their upper shelves. Three 
  doors stand on the west wall, the northernmost one labeled 
  “Employees Only,” the middle labeled “Refrigeration,” and the 
  southernmost labeled with a restroom symbol. Enormous bay 
  doors to the east are open, revealing a loading ramp. South of 
  those doors is a smaller entry door. An alcove to the southeast 
  contains another door between two shelves, labeled “Lab.” 
  Most of Amaldrel’s cultists entered the Salubrium through 
  this loading dock, rewiring the door’s lock from the outside 
  and not bothering to close the doors behind them. If the PCs 
  investigate the open bay doors in area A12b, they 
  discover a downward ramp for shipping vehicles to park at 
  the dock and a smaller ramp with a guardrail leading up to 
  the southern entry door. A character who succeeds at a DC 20 
  Perception check or specifically looks at the bay-door controls 
  discovers the panel has been rewired. A character trained in 
  Engineering can determine the panel was rewired during a 
  recent and successful break-in.
  Area A12a is an employee washroom that includes sonic 
  shower facilities.
  The materials stored on the upper parts of several shelving 
  units look like construction panels and struts. A PC trained in 
  Engineering or a Profession related to storage or structural 
  integrity can attempt a DC 20 check. On a success, the PC can 
  tell that the racks are unbalanced and potentially dangerous, 
  gaining a +2 circumstance bonus to notice the particularly 
  unstable shelf related to the trap detailed below.
  Trap: The cultists placed motion sensors on the shelves near 
  the door to A13. Upon detecting movement from creatures 
  larger than Tiny passing the midpoint in the alcove, these 
  sensors trigger minor explosive charges. The explosions 
  weaken the shelves along the alcove, which then fall, dumping 
  the materials they hold and potentially crushing anyone in the 
  area leading to the doorway to A13.
  OVERLOADED RACK TRAP 
  CR 7
  XP 3,200
  Type technological; Perception DC 30 (notice the motion 
  sensor); Computers or Engineering DC 19 to understand 
  it must be disabled from outside the alcove and at least 5 
  feet away; Disable two checks; Computers DC 24 to hack 
  the motion sensor with remote hack or Engineering DC 24 
  to direct an electrical charge at the sensor to short it out. 
  With another suitable plan, the DCs remain 24.
  Trigger location; Reset none
  Effect falling shelves and construction materials 
  (6d12 B; Reflex DC 17 half); multiple targets (all 
  targets in 10-ft.-by-20-ft. area marked on map)
  Treasure: If disabled, the trap can be 
  disassembled into a detonator and a few 
  compact charges that can be reused together to 
  produce the effects of a frag grenade II.
  Development: If the trap triggers, the noise 
  is sufficient to alert the eel in area A13 and the 
  technomancer in area A16. The technomancer 
  uses the Salubrium’s remaining security 
  systems to track the PCs’ movements.
  A PC who succeeds at a DC 20 (25 if 
  the trap went off, due to the wreckage) 
  Perception check notices a few scales the 
  color of dull brass on the floor. A successful DC 
  25 Life Science check allows a PC to identify the 
  freshly shed scales as those of a mountain eel, 
  although the coloration is odd for that species.
  10
  
  A13. lAb (cR 8)
  Several overturned tables, pools of steaming liquids, piles of 
  jumbled pills, and shards of shattered glass cover the floor of 
  this lab. Several office doors on the east wall each bear small 
  nameplates, while the west wall contains a heavy door near 
  a metal-latticed window that looks into a small waiting room. 
  Another door leads out to the northwest.
  The floor is difficult terrain due to the debris and spilled 
  liquids left by the creature here moving through the area.
  Two security cameras in the lab are positioned to view the 
  entirety of the room as well as A15. A PC  who succeeds at a DC 
  20 Perception check notices minute green lights indicating that 
  the cameras are active.
  Names on the office doors here, from north to south, include 
  Dr. Monaia Zahal, Dr. Lathea Hyl, and Dr. Shan Ki.
  The door to A15 is a sturdy steel security door.
  Creature: Cultists brought a genetically engineered mountain 
  eel with them to dispose of bodies and aid the assault. Amaldrel 
  raised it from an elver on esoteric drugs to enhance its physique 
  and gaze, giving its skin a brassy color and reducing its size. He 
  calls it an Azathoth eel, and tattooed it with symbols of the 
  entropic deity. The cultists left the eel here to guard the rear. If 
  undisturbed, it remains curled up in the southeast alcove.
  AZATHOTH EEL 
  CR 8
  XP 4,800
  Unique mountain eel (Starfinder Alien Archive 78)
  N Large animal
  Init +6; Senses low-light vision; Perception +16
  DEFENSE 
  HP 125
  EAC 20; KAC 22
  Fort +12; Ref +12; Will +7
  Defensive Abilities ferocity
  OFFENSE
  Speed 40 ft.
  Melee bite +19 (3d4+12 P)
  Space 10 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
  Offensive Abilities ominous gaze (60 ft., DC 16),  
  surprise charge
  TACTICS
  Before Combat If the eel is alerted by the trap in A12, the eel 
  watches the doors, preparing to rush forth once several 
  creatures it doesn’t know enter the room. PCs who fail a 
  DC 31 Perception check are surprised as the eel emerges.
  During Combat The eel charges into combat against anyone 
  it doesn’t recognize, favoring targets that aren’t paralyzed. 
  Given multiple targets, it attacks the creature that 
  recently dealt the most damage to it. 
  Morale Once blood is drawn, the eel attacks with such frenzy 
  that it doesn’t retreat. When its ferocity activates, it takes 
  a full action on its next turn to attack as many foes as 
  possible before it dies.
  STATISTICS
  Str +4; Dex +2; Con +6; Int –4; Wis +0; Cha +0
  Skills Athletics +21, Stealth +21
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Ominous Gaze (Ex) Looking into an Azathoth eel’s strange 
  compound eyes causes the muscles of most living 
  creatures to freeze up and their minds to fill with 
  horrifying visions. A living creature that can see and 
  begins its turn within 60 feet of an azathoth eel must 
  succeed at a DC 16 Fortitude save or be paralyzed for 1 
  round and then staggered for 1 round. A creature that 
  succeeds at its save is immune to that Azathoth eel’s 
  ominous gaze for 24 hours.
  Surprise Charge (Ex) An Azathoth eel can charge during a 
  surprise round.
  Development: The technomancer cultist in area A16, Lanis, 
  sees the PCs enter on security monitors. If they win the fight 
  here, she prepares for them, as described in that area.
  A14. offices
  This dusty office contains an old desk and chair.
  The office doors in areas A14a and A14b have nameplates 
  that read “Dr. Nihau Tiase” and “Dr. Hobar Evellent,” respectively.
  A15. dispensARy
  This room has two smooth plastic chairs, a door to the west, 
  and a heavier metal door to the south. The west wall contains 
  a lattice that extends from three feet up to about a foot below 
  the ceiling. A shelf at the bottom of the grate has a security-
  transaction drawer large enough to hold a few tiny items that 
  can slide into the next room to allow for secure exchange.
  A PC trained in Medicine or a Profession requiring secure 
  exchanges—such as banker, pharmacist, or security guard—
  recognizes this room as a place where people come to take 
  materials from the lab in a secure manner. The lock on the 
  heavy door to the south has long been disabled.
  A16. secuRity stAtion (cR 8)
  If the cultist, Lanis, is aware of the PCs, she hides near this 
  room, waiting to ambush them (see Lanis’s tactics on page 12). 
  This office has several wall-mounted view screens, most of 
  which are dark. An empty weapon rack is mounted on the 
  east wall, and the room’s single door leads south.
  Two screens show the laboratory (A13), one displays the 
  upper hall (A18), and another depicts the interior of the operating 
  room (A21). This last camera is askew, and its view screen 
  shows Nib and Otlo bound together with barbed wire atop an 
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  11
  
  operating table. A figure in white-and-gold robe-like armor with 
  long, blond hair and delicate hands prods them with a scalpel.
  Creature: When the cultists assaulted the clinic, Amaldrel’s 
  second-in-command, a ysoki named Lanis, stayed here to keep 
  watch. She identified Nib and Otlo as they attempted to flee 
  upstairs and directed Amaldrel to find and capture them.
  LANIS 
  CR 8
  XP 4,800
  Female ysoki mercenary technomancer (Starfinder Pact 
  Worlds 175)
  HP 105
  TACTICS
  Before Combat If forewarned of intruders, Lanis takes cover 
  around the corner from A16 toward A17. She hides there, 
  preparing to cast arcing surge on foes in the hallway near 
  A16. When she does so, she surprises any PC who fails a 
  DC 31 Perception check.
  During Combat Lanis casts arcing surge again if given the 
  chance to hit most of the PCs. She otherwise favors magic 
  missile each round unless she casts entropic grasp to deal 
  with melee attackers. She then relies on that spell and her 
  pistol until she needs to use another spell. Lanis is zealous 
  and murderous, aiming to inflict maximum damage. She 
  pursues foes who flee from her.
  Morale When reduced to about half her Hit Points, Lanis 
  facilitates her withdrawal by casting invisibility once to take 
  up a position on the stairs in A17 and continue the fight. At 
  25 Hit Points or fewer, she casts invisibility again to retreat 
  to area A20, joining the cultists there.
  Treasure: In addition to her gear, Lanis wears a holy symbol 
  of Azathoth like those of the assassins in area A3. Hers also 
  functions as an anarchic fusion seal (9th).
  A17. loWeR lAnding
  The curved northern wall of this landing is painted with a 
  mural of smiling, well-dressed dwarves around an elderly 
  dwarven man in a comfortable hospital bed. Script above 
  the mural reads, “The Salubrium: Elegant Care.” The mural 
  incorporates a restroom door as if it were a console near 
  the bed. A curving stairway leads up, but the explosion has 
  damaged it. To the west, underneath the stairs, is an elevator.
  The public restroom (A17a) is dusty and disused. Until 
  repaired in area A8, the elevator (A17b) is nonfunctional. Once 
  repaired, the elevator can be used to access the upper floor or 
  return to this one. Until then, a PC must succeed at a DC 12 
  Strength check to open the elevator doors. Tools from area A8 
  grant a +2 circumstance modifier to the check and allow a user 
  take 10 on it.
  The elevator has an emergency ceiling hatch 10 feet above 
  the floor; this hatch opens easily to a shaft containing a 
  maintenance ladder the PCs can use to climb to the next floor, 
  as well as to the top of the elevator shaft. Opening the elevator 
  doors on the second floor from inside the shaft requires a 
  Strength check identical to that required on the ground floor. A 
  steel hatch at the top of the shaft opens onto the roof, but it’s 
  locked with a physical lock and barred from the inside. It takes a 
  successful DC 25 Engineering check to open the lock; this lock is 
  inaccessible from the outside. Opening this hatch from the roof 
  requires breaking it (hardness 20, HP 60, break DC 28).
  A18. uppeR HAll
  This area connects the top of the stairs, a nearby balcony, 
  an elevator, and a hall with several doors. Three doors to the 
  west are labeled R1 to R3, and the sign on the door to the east 
  reads “Surgery Scrub.” The balcony contains a few sturdy 
  chairs and a small pool of blood.
  Cultists attacked Nib and Otlo here and captured them. The 
  blood here is Nib’s. A PC who succeeds at a DC 20 Medicine 
  check recognizes the blood belongs to a ysoki and knows this 
  amount of blood loss is sufficient to weaken but not kill one.
  The elevator does not function unless the PCs repaired it in 
  area A8. See area A17 for more details.
  A19. RecoveRy Rooms
  Each of these three rooms is labeled R1 to R3, going from south 
  to north. They’re similar to the patient rooms in area A7.
  A20. suRgeRy scRub (cR 8)
  This room contains a few cabinets on wheels and a long 
  trough sink. A sign on a door in the west wall reads “Your 
  Road to Recovery Starts Now,” while another on a door in the 
  east wall reads “The Care You Deserve is Ahead.”
  Creatures: An Azathoth assassin named Oké and a cult 
  initiate named Bisha are here, donning surgical gear to assist 
  Amaldrel in torturing the prisoners in A21. How they react to 
  the PCs’ intrusion depends on previous events in the adventure. 
  If these cultists are aware of the PCs because Lanis warned 
  them after retreating from area A16, the cultists move to hidden 
  positions around the room and activate the environmental 
  protections of their armor. They then detonate a charge on 
  an anesthesia canister, filling the room with gas before the 
  PCs arrive. A PC who succeeds at a DC 20 Perception check 
  notices Bisha, but it takes a successful DC 28 Perception check 
  to notice Oké and a successful DC 31 check to notice Lanis. 
  The cultists gain a surprise round only if they all go unnoticed. 
  Otherwise, those hidden at the start of a battle can use that 
  state to their advantage on their turns.
  If Lanis isn’t here, or if you decide she hides and the other 
  two cultists attempt a ruse, Bisha and Oké raise their hands. 
  Bisha tries to distract the PCs, claiming she and Oké are friends 
  12
  
  of Otlo, here as backup if the PCs proved disingenuous. Bisha 
  says she and Oké are also prisoners of the cultists. Surgical gear 
  covers the pair’s Azathoth pendants, weapons, and armor. A PC 
  who succeeds at a DC 20 Perception check notices something 
  odd, such as an exposed armor section, under the medical 
  scrubs and gains a +2 circumstance bonus on Sense Motive 
  checks against Bisha. A PC who succeeds at this Perception 
  check by 5 or more notices the bulge of the pistol holstered on 
  Bisha’s hip, which is likely to foil her ruse, and on a success by 
  10 or more, the PC also notices the contour of Oké’s Azathoth 
  pendant on his broad chest. If Bisha manages to deceive the 
  PCs, the cultists get the drop on the party and benefit from 
  a surprise round. They both use their actions to activate the 
  environmental protections provided by their armor.
  OKÉ, AZATHOTH ASSASSIN 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  Male human solarian 
  HP 90 (see page 8)
  TACTICS
  During Combat Oké moves into melee as quickly as 
  possible, using his revelations to keep foes from 
  closing with Bisha or the door to area A21.
  Morale A fanatic, Oké fights to the death.
  BISHA 
  CR 4
  XP 1,200
  Female human cultist envoy (Starfinder Pact Worlds 168)
  HP 45 
  TACTICS
  During Combat If necessary, Bisha uses her first 
  standard action to detonate a charge planted 
  on a nearby anesthesia canister (see Hazard 
  below). She then stays back and shoots at the 
  PCs. When using her envoy improvisations, Bisha 
  shouts mind-twisting pronouncements of doom at 
  her targets.
  Morale Bisha tries to flee if she’s reduced to 15 or 
  fewer Hit Points. She’s unwilling to be captured, so 
  she fights on if unable to escape.
  Hazard: The cultists have placed a small explosive 
  charge on an anesthesia canister stored here. The explosive 
  itself is visible, and a PC can notice it with a successful DC 
  26 Perception check. Disabling it requires a PC to succeed at 
  a DC 21 Computers or Engineering check. The device can be 
  remotely hacked to disable its signal receiver.
  If the cultists release the anesthetic gas, it creates a thin, 
  sweet-smelling mist in the entire room 1 round later. Anyone 
  breathing the air at that time is exposed to the soporific. A 
  creature breathing the anesthetic must attempt 
  a saving throw every round, ignoring 
  the normal frequency until after the 
  affected creature can breathe fresh air, 
  such as after it activates its armors environmental protections. 
  A creature affected by anesthetic gas can’t be cured until 
  breathing fresh air. Ventilation in the room clears the gas after 
  1 minute.
  ANESTHETIC GAS
  Type poison (inhaled); Save Fortitude DC 15
  Track mental (no latent state); Frequency once every 2 
  rounds for 10 rounds
  Effect Recovery requires only 10 minutes per step. A 
  creature trained in Medicine that has a medkit or similar 
  facilities can halve this time with a successful DC 15 
  check. If the check succeeds by 10 or more, the recovery 
  time is 1 minute per step.
  Cure 1 save
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  13
  BISHA AND OKÉÉ
  
  Treasure: Bisha has a detonator switch set to detonate the 
  explosive charge on the anesthetic canister. The focused charge 
  is so small it’s useless for anything besides a similar application. 
  Each cultist here wears a symbol of Azathoth like those of the 
  assassins in Event 1.
  Story Award: Even if the PCs manage to avoid the anesthetic 
  gas, award them 1,200 XP for the hazard.
  A21. opeRAting Room (cR 9)
  Most of the equipment in this operating room is covered with 
  sheets, although a bright light in the center of the room shines 
  onto a metal operating table with a swivel tray holding an 
  array of surgical instruments. The plastic door in the west wall 
  contrasts with a door resembling an airlock to the east. 
  Operating the complex lever to open the heavier eastern 
  door takes a move action, as does opening the heavy door itself. 
  A character who succeeds at a DC 15 Strength check can pull 
  the lever and open the door in one move action. If Amaldrel has 
  unbarred the door (see his tactics below), a PC who examines it 
  and succeeds at a DC 20 Engineering check or DC 25 Perception 
  check can tell the complex barring mechanism is not in place.
  Creatures: Amaldrel Vershian, depicted on the cover, is likely 
  to be ready for the PCs. See his tactics for details.
  He has bound Nib and Otlo together. She and the orocoran 
  have each been reduced to 15 Hit Points and are under the effects 
  of a strong drug with sedative and compliance effects. When the 
  PCs arrive, Nib is coherent enough to warn the PCs who the elf is. 
  Otlo telepathically babbles in Aklo. Nib and Otlo are unable to aid 
  the PCs. The PCs can easily tell that using any area effects that 
  would damage these NPCs could be enough to kill them.
  AMALDREL VERSHIAN 
  CR 9
  XP 6,400
  Male elf operative
  NE Medium humanoid (elf)
  Init +9; Senses low-light vision; Perception +23
  DEFENSE 
  HP 135 RP 4
  EAC 22; KAC 23
  Fort +8; Ref +11; Will +12; +2 vs. enchantment effects
  Defensive Abilities evasion, uncanny agility; Immunities sleep
  OFFENSE
  Speed 50 ft.
  Melee ultrathin switchblade +17 (2d4+11 S)
  Ranged called screamer decoupler +19 (1d10+11 A; critical 
  demoralize [DC 18])
  Offensive Abilities debilitating trick, trick attack +5d8,  
  triple attack
  TACTICS
  Before Combat Unless the PCs remain undetected while 
  approaching from area A20 or area A22, Amaldrel is aware 
  of them and waits to act until they are about to enter area 
  A21. He then activates his holographic clone ability, unbars 
  the door to area A22 (if it hasn’t already been opened), and 
  takes cover in the northeastern corner. He’s arrogant, so he 
  mocks the PCs as they enter. Amaldrel believed he’d have 
  to hunt the PCs down and is amused they’ve come to him, 
  remarking that they’ve saved him time as he attacks.
  During Combat Amaldrel activates his haste circuit on his 
  first turn. He keeps moving, making trick attacks with his 
  pistol against the most dangerous foe or capable healer. 
  His mentalist’s bane exploit and his amulet allow him to 
  apply his formidable will against powers that affect his 
  mind. He focuses his fire to bring down each PC one by 
  one, ranting about the PCs’ impending doom if they use the 
  tablet. Amaldrel moves out onto the hoverpad (area A22) if 
  he needs more space or if preparing for retreat.
  Morale Amaldrel flees when he drops to 25 Hit Points or 
  fewer, using Parting Shot if possible. He can jump off the 
  hoverpad, land with his jump jets, and then attempt to 
  lose the PCs in Stellacuna’s nearby alleys and streets.
  STATISTICS
  Str +0; Dex +6; Con +0; Int +4; Wis +1; Cha +3
  Skills Bluff +23, Disguise +23, Intimidate +18, Physical 
  Science +18, Mysticism +25
  Feats Mobility, Parting Shot, Shot on the Run
  Languages Aklo, Common, Elven
  Other Abilities elven magic, operative exploits (holographic 
  clone [9 minutes], master of disguise, mentalist’s 
  bane, uncanny mobility, uncanny shooter), operative 
  specialization (spy)
  Gear advanced lashunta tempweave (purple force field, 
  haste circuit, jump jets), called screamer decouplerAR with 
  2 high-capacity batteries (40 charges each), ultrathin 
  switchblade, red dwarf captive star amuletAR (with symbols 
  of Azathoth)
  Treasure: A physician drone (Armory 102) is covered with 
  a sheet here.
  Development: If Amaldrel escapes, his cover is blown. He 
  can’t return to the DCI or normal life in the Burning Archipelago, 
  so the PCs encounter him again only at your discretion.
  A22. HoveRpAd
  This rooftop platform provides a landing area for flying 
  emergency vehicles. A heavy door to the west allows entry 
  to the clinic’s top floor.
  The rooftop door is like an airlock barred from within. 
  Opening it from the outside requires a successful DC 35 
  Engineering check that takes 1 minute as the engineer pries 
  off parts of the seal to get at the barring mechanism. The PCs 
  can also attempt to break the door (hardness 35, HP 160, 
  break DC 40). If the PCs find a way to approach this door while 
  Amaldrel is still in area A21, tampering with the door alerts him 
  if they do nothing to silence their efforts.
  14
  
  RESCUING NIB AND OTLO
  Amaldrel has been torturing Nib and Otlo for information about 
  the PCs and anyone else who knows about the Noma tablet. 
  Once Amaldrel is defeated and the two captives are freed, Nib 
  and Otlo recover enough from their ordeal 
  to thank the PCs, especially if the PCs 
  offer aid. Finally, able to analyze the 
  tablet in peace, Otlo spends several 
  hours examining it. When the orocoran 
  is ready to report, read or paraphrase 
  the following.
  Otlo says, “Tablet tells the trajectory to 
  Ezorod, yes, tells trajectory, trajectory 
  tells. Multifarious map. Serves as a key. 
  Opens the black bubble of Ezorod, 
  bubble black, a barrier of darkness. 
  No door without the tablet.
  “Tablet tells, too, of Ezorod’s 
  treasures. Treasures told, too. 
  Magical 
  machinery, 
  machine 
  magic. Cold contrivances cloak and 
  conserve Ezorod in stellar fires.
  “But, tablet tells, too, of the Eshtayiv. 
  An eldritch entity, Ezorod imprisons. For 
  you, deadly darkness, darkness is death. 
  Keep to the light.”
  No information about Ezorod or the Eshtayiv is available on 
  the infosphere. This lore is vanishingly rare; cultists of the Outer 
  Gods have suppressed it for millennia. However, the PCs can 
  question Otlo to learn more information, based upon whether 
  they are trained in certain skills or succeed at specific skill 
  checks, as indicated below. 
  What is the black bubble? “Ezorod lacks light. Lacks light, 
  light lacks. Dark divides it from the sun. Dark divides. You’ll 
  know it when you see it. Divider, defender, doorway.”
  Otlo can explain that a very dark bubble encases Ezorod. The 
  bubble has no door. However, the tablet can create one.
  The tablet creates a door? “Yes, in part. The other part is 
  your vessel. Modified shields. Contact opens the black bubble. 
  Black bubble, the gate.”
  A character trained in Engineering understands that the 
  tablet could be installed in the Sun Diver’s shield generator. 
  Doing so carefully enough so as not to imbalance the ship’s 
  systems would take no more than a couple hours.
  Ezorod contains treasure? “Ancient artifacts. Ezorod’s 
  architects erected the enclosure, the black bubble, with eldritch 
  equipment. It ensures Ezorod’s existence over eons. We know 
  nothing analogous, yet. Lost lore, lost lore. The tablet speaks 
  of the Illuminant Heart, the treasure trove. Trove of treasures.”
  Any PC trained in Engineering, Mysticism, or Physical Science 
  understands Otlo must be referring to hybrid equipment that 
  creates a bubble strong enough to endure if not totally repel 
  stellar forces deeper within the sun, keeping out not only the 
  destructive forces but also the light. Nothing like that exists 
  in the known galaxy. Nib is excited about the possibility, since 
  such a find could further the DCI’s ability to explore the sun’s 
  interior. She requests the PCs recover any such tech they find.
  Illuminant Heart? “Ezorod’s center, it is there 
  and not there. Placement puzzling, puzzling 
  placement. It is inside, underneath, alongside, 
  above. All sides and none.”
  Before Otlo goes on, a PC who succeeds 
  at a DC 27 Mysticism check surmises 
  that this bizarre orientation suggests an 
  extradimensional space. Otlo either agrees 
  with this opinion or offers it. If this heart 
  is Ezorod’s center and source, Otlo or a 
  PC trained in Mysticism can venture 
  this place has an access point 
  within Ezorod itself.
  The Eshtayiv? 
  “Ezorod’s 
  eternal darkness anchors the 
  Eshtayiv, a cruel creature 
  of countless constituents 
  conglomerated. An opponent 
  of the Outer Gods, but no 
  friend of ours. The Eshtayiv is, they are, a 
  ravenous radiance, devourers of flesh and 
  soul. Ravenous radiance. Named also the 
  Incandescent Doom.”
  A PC who is trained in Mysticism and succeeds at a DC 23 
  skill check understands immediately why Azathoth cultists 
  wanted the tablet: Azathoth is one of the Outer Gods, and 
  if these entities see the Eshtayiv as an enemy, they’d want 
  Ezorod, the Eshtayiv’s prison, to remain secure. Otlo can impart 
  or confirm this information, as well. 
  Deadly darkness? “Ezorod is lightless. The Eshtayiv’s 
  attention curses the darkness. Their curse is death. Remain in 
  the light and live. Light, live. Live, light. If the light departs, you 
  die in the dark. Dark death.”
  Otlo recommends that the PCs carry light sources with 
  them. If they insist that they already have such devices, Otlo 
  recommends they acquire more, just in case.
  PREPARING FOR THE TRIP
  The PCs need to prep the Sun Diver, which appears on the 
  inside covers of Starfinder Adventure Path #15: Sun Divers, 
  for the trip to Ezorod. Allow the players to upgrade the Sun 
  Diver to a tier 7 vessel. In doing so, they can also refit the ship’s 
  interior to comfortably accommodate a crew of the party’s 
  size. These alterations, along with the careful installation of 
  the Noma tablet, have no chance of harming the Sun Diver’s 
  delicate systems.
  In addition, Nib refers the PCs to Beran, the DCI’s ysoki 
  supplier, for extra gear. Beran is noticeably warmer toward the 
  PCs after their success in the previous adventure, but she still 
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  15
  BERAN
  
  always holds something in her mouth that she passes between 
  cheek pouches. She requisitions 6 bulk of siccatite for the Sun 
  Diver, 300 UPBs for the mk 3 culinary synthesizer (Armory 129) 
  in the Sun Diver’s galley, and a credit line of 9,000 credits. The 
  PCs can acquire items with an item level of up to 8 with these 
  funds, contributing their own credits if need be. Beran once 
  again lends the PCs a survey drone (a specialized spy drone 
  with enhanced camera and shotgun microphone scanners; 
  Armory 107) and datapad (a hardened tier 2 computer with a 
  control module for the drone and secure data storage). Since 
  Ezorod is expected to be dark, the normally solar-powered 
  drone is fitted with a specialized battery pack that holds two 
  ultra-capacity batteries. These are enough to power the drone 
  and its systems for 100 hours, or half that time if the PCs add 
  a beacon or another light to the drone. The dedicated data 
  storage on the datapad allows the drone to download and store 
  several days’ of scanner data.
  Once the PCs are ready, they can take the Sun Diver to Ezorod. 
  The trip takes 6 days.
  EVENT 2: EFREETI INTERDICTION (CR 8)
  As the PCs travel through the sun to Ezorod, about 2 days into 
  their journey, an efreeti transport quite similar to the Breath 
  of Embers from “Fire Starters” approaches. Read or paraphrase 
  the following.
  A hail comes over the Sun Diver’s communications system. A 
  deep-voiced efreeti says, in Common, “Attention, crew of the 
  Sun Diver. I am Captain Hamat of the warship, the Ashen Rain. 
  You are in possession of technology known to allow entry 
  to the deep-sun site of Ezorod. That territory has already 
  been claimed and no trespass there shall be tolerated. You 
  shall relinquish this technology and turn back, or you face 
  annihilation. I give you ten minutes to choose your fate. Do 
  so wisely.”
  The communication ends. Hamat already knows where 
  Ezorod is and that the tablet is the key to opening it and landing 
  there unharmed. Although the PCs have no way of knowing, 
  Hamat is a servant of General Khaim. The general’s forces 
  learned of the tablet from the salamander Sulphrax’s survey 
  of Noma. A mole within the DCI confirmed the PCs have it, but 
  Hamat and his crew otherwise know less about Ezorod than 
  the PCs now do.
  A PC attempting to claim they have no such technology 
  must succeed at a DC 25 Bluff check. Hamat is amused if the PC 
  fails this attempt, but if the PCs succeed, the Ashen Rain scans 
  the Sun Diver. It takes the Ashen Rain 5 rounds of scanning to 
  discover the PCs are lying. The PCs can attempt to jam the scan 
  (Computers DC 23), but doing so once garners a stern warning, 
  and doing so again causes Hamat to attack.
  An engineer can attempt to remove the tablet from the 
  shield generators before the scan finds the tablet. Doing so 
  requires a successful DC 20 Engineering check. However, 
  unless the PC succeeds by 5 or more, the power flow in the 
  Sun Diver is harmed, and the power core begins glitching. The 
  PC understands this condition is likely to tip off the Ashen 
  Rain’s science officer, but a successful patch engineer action is 
  enough to disguise the glitch during the scan.
  If the PCs successfully foil the scan, Hamat contacts them 
  again, warning them away from Ezorod. He then allows them 
  to depart. Avoiding contact with the Ashen Rain on the trip to 
  Ezorod requires replotting the course and taking an extra day 
  of travel. Patching the tablet back into the shield generator 
  requires repairing any damage to the power core and then 
  spending 1 hour and succeeding at a DC 20 Engineering check. 
  Taking 10 is possible on this attempt, but the Sun Diver is too 
  delicate to allow for the hit-and-miss approach of taking 20.
  If the PCs agree to relinquish the tablet, Hamat targets them 
  with his gravity gun’s tractor beam, ordering them to eject the 
  tablet from an airlock or garbage chute. The PCs understand 
  that complying with this order means they’ll lose any chance 
  of gaining entrance to Ezorod. The tablet must be removed as 
  described above, except the PC has time to take 10. When the 
  PCs eject the tablet, the tractor beam pulls the relic aboard 
  the Ashen Rain. The efreeti vessel then leaves, and the PCs’ 
  attempts to recover the tablet or otherwise find entry to Ezorod 
  are beyond the scope of this adventure.
  Starship Combat: If the PCs fail to acquiesce to his demands 
  or to fool him, Hamat initiates combat. Place the Sun Diver at 
  one short edge of the map. The Ashen Rain starts 25 hexes 
  away. Each vessel begins combat facing the other.
  The area contains solar eddies. The PCs are initially aware 
  of these phenomena only if a PC succeeds at a DC 25 Physical 
  Science check during the initial helm phase. Once they witness 
  the efreeti vessel attempting to use eddies, the PCs understand 
  what’s happening if any PC succeeds at a DC 20 Physical 
  Science check. The solar eddies are unpredictable, but once the 
  PCs grasp what’s happening, their pilot can attempt the checks 
  related to them.
  If the number shown on the d20 result of a starship pilot’s 
  Piloting check in a given round is odd, the ship runs into a solar 
  eddy during that round. Its pilot, if aware of the solar eddies, 
  can attempt a DC 25 Piloting check. If successful, the pilot 
  gains the benefits of the maneuver pilot action while still being 
  able to take another pilot action, including glide. On a failure, 
  the pilot is able to ride out the eddy but can’t take advantage 
  of its benefits. Failure to attempt this check or failing it by 5 or 
  more indicates the vessel instead makes an immediate random 
  turn (with a 50% chance of turning either 1 hex face left or 
  right) and reduces its speed by half that turn.
  PART 2:  
  A SOLAR OUBLIETTE
  16
  
  [art: AP8 half-page “Part 2 
  Opener”]
  The solar eddies have a similar effect on tracking weapons. If a 
  gunner rolls an odd number on the d20 for a gunnery check, the 
  weapon’s projectile hits a solar eddy. The gunner can then attempt 
  a DC 25 gunnery check. On a success, the eddy slingshots the 
  projectile, allowing it to move 1-1/2 times its normal speed. If the 
  check fails by 5 or more, the projectile makes a random turn, 
  then moves half its speed before its course can be corrected.
  Losing shields in the sun can be deadly. At the end of a round 
  in which a starship’s shields are reduced to 0 remaining Shield 
  Points, that vessel takes 5 damage from exposure to solar 
  forces. The ship takes 10 damage at the end of each subsequent 
  round it remains at 0 Shield Points. Creatures inside an affected 
  ship are exposed to extreme heat (Core Rulebook 403) with 1 
  starship combat round equal to 1 minute. The inside of such a 
  ship is also bathed in low radiation (Core Rulebook 403).
  ASHEN RAIN 
  TIER 6
  Medium transport
  Speed 10; Maneuverability average (turn 2)
  AC 20; TL 20
  HP 85; DT —; CT 17
  Shields medium 100 (forward 25, port 25, starboard 25, aft 25)
  Attack (Forward) gravity gun (6d6), light particle beam (3d6)
  Attack (Turret) linked laser nets (4d6)
  Power Arcus Maximum (200 PCU); Drift Engine none; 
  Systems advanced short-range sensors, basic computer, 
  crew quarters (good), mk 4 armor, mk 4 defenses; 
  Expansion Bays medical bay, recreation suite, specialized 
  escape pod/brig, tech workshop
  Modifiers +4 Computers (sensors only); Complement 6
  TACTICS
  During Combat The crew of the Ashen Rain uses solar eddies 
  to outmaneuver the Sun Diver. Their goal is to capture the 
  ship to use it as a key to Ezorod.
  Morale If the Ashen Rain falls below 20 Hull Points, Hamat 
  orders a retreat to replenish the ship’s shields so it can 
  survive being within the sun.
  CREW
  Captain Bluff +13 (6 ranks), Diplomacy +13 (6 ranks), 
  gunnery +11, Intimidate +13 (6 ranks), Piloting +11 (6 ranks)
  Engineer Engineering +18 (6 ranks)
  Gunners (2) gunnery +11
  Pilot Piloting +13 (6 ranks)
  Science Officer Computers +17 (6 ranks)
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Fire Affinity The Ashen Rain is immune to the environment of 
  the Plane of Fire and similar fiery conditions. It takes half 
  damage from starship laser weapons.
  Solar Channel As the Sun Diver’s ability of the same name.
  Development: If the Ashen Rain is destroyed, a PC who 
  succeeds at a DC 24 Computers check to scan notices an escape 
  pod typical for an efreeti commissar jettisoning from the ship. If 
  the PCs attack and hit the Ashen Rain’s AC, they destroy the pod.
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  17
  
  If the PCs lose, Hamat uses the Ashen Rain’s gravity gun 
  rather than risking a boarding effort. He grabs and tows the Sun 
  Diver with the weapons’ tractor beam capability, but the efreeti 
  weapon also protects the Sun Diver from solar forces as if the 
  Sun Diver had 1 Shield Point in each quadrant. However, the 
  gun prevents the Sun Diver from regenerating its shields unless 
  the engineer succeeds at a DC 15 Engineering check to allow 
  normal regeneration or a DC 20 Engineering check to divert 
  power to the shields. The pilot can attempt a DC 24 Piloting 
  check to break free of the beam, but success also removes the 
  gun’s shielding benefit. Hamat reinitiates starship combat if 
  the Sun Diver breaks free or regenerates more than 10 Shield 
  Points. He threatens to destroy the PCs outright.
  Story Award: If the PCs survive, they earn 4,800 XP as if 
  they defeated the Ashen Rain in combat.
  EZOROD ARRIVAL
  When the Sun Diver arrives at Ezorod’s bubble, read or 
  paraphrase the following.
  A lusterless black sphere becomes visible on scans. According 
  to the coordinates, this dark bubble must be Ezorod.
  At your discretion, PCs who eluded or fooled Captain Hamat 
  might encounter the Ashen Rain here again. The efreeti vessel 
  might have instead towed or chased the Sun Diver to Ezorod (or 
  vice versa, if the PCs handed over the tablet).
  Scans reveal that the sphere is an anomaly made of extreme 
  force, like a mightier version of the bubbles of the Burning 
  Archipelago. If the Sun Diver approaches the bubble with the 
  tablet installed, read or paraphrase the following.
  The black bubble extrudes a secondary bubble, in which a gap 
  opens like a toothless maw.
  When the Sun Diver enters the maw, this secondary bubble 
  shunts the vessel into Ezorod. If the Ashen Rain is present, 
  Hamat attempts to follow the PCs. Unfortunately for him, 
  Ezorod’s builders predicted such a possibility, and as the Sun 
  Diver is shunted inside, the bubble-maw closes. The Ashen Rain 
  crashes against the closed bubble, taking massive damage. 
  With a pulse of gravitons, the dark bubble hurls the crippled 
  efreeti ship deep into the sun. Whether Hamat and his vessel 
  survive is up to you, but they aren’t seen again in this adventure.
  When the PCs enter, read or paraphrase the following.
  Entering the bubble is momentarily disorienting. The interior is 
  mostly lightless, although scanners show a massive structure 
  floating within. On that structure is an open area large enough 
  for the Sun Diver to land, as revealed by the hint of visible light.
  The Sun Diver lands in area B1. If the PCs don’t wish to land, 
  they can leave the Sun Diver floating in the bubble wherever 
  they like. Area B1 provides Ezorod’s only entrance, however.
  EZOROD FEATURES
  An immense ruin of blackened stones, Ezorod was built 
  millennia ago by cultists of the Outer Gods to bind the Eshtayiv. 
  Ezorod exudes a sense of great age and shows evidence 
  of innumerable fires sweeping through it. Most areas are 
  cavernous, with 25-foot-high ceilings.
  Ezorod’s few doors are made of blackened stone several feet 
  thick. These doors have stone pivot-mounts that allow them to 
  swing open easily. Only the Three-Key Door (area B3) is locked, 
  and it’s also magically sealed.
  Ezorod is dark. Its occupants and some room features 
  provide illumination. Read-aloud text assumes the PCs can see 
  the areas they’re in.
  The creatures here are rare. This rarity affects the DCs to 
  identify them with skill checks (Core Rulebook 133).
  THE ESHTAYIV’S TOUCH
  The essence of the Eshtayiv suffuses Ezorod, causing a curse 
  called the Eshtayiv’s Touch. A creature within an area of dim or 
  brighter light is safe from this pervading affliction. However, 
  to stand in darkness within Ezorod even for a moment invites 
  doom. The Eshtayiv’s Touch feels like a burning tendril inside 
  the victim’s body, seeming to hollow a creature out, sapping life 
  and moisture as the effect progresses. Eventually, the victim 
  withers into a husk.
  THE ESHTAYIV’S TOUCH
  Type curse; Save Will DC 17
  Track Charisma (special); Frequency 1/hour
  Effect The Eshtayiv’s Touch doesn’t affect the unliving. 
  The victim loses 7 Hit Points upon contracting the 
  curse, and this loss can’t be reversed until the curse is 
  ended. The curse’s track is the Charisma Poison track 
  (Core Rulebook 417). A creature that dies from the curse 
  becomes a pyric revenant (see page 60) 24 hours later.
  Cure The victim must benefit from two successful castings 
  of remove affliction within 1 minute, or the Eshtayiv must 
  be separated from Ezorod.
  VERTHANI EXPEDITION
  The PCs aren’t Ezorod’s only recent visitors. More than a year 
  ago, a verthani (Starfinder Alien Archive 118) xenoarchaeologist 
  named Lod Coster discovered a magical gateway within a 
  series of ruins on Aucturn. He investigated the portal archway 
  and discovered it led to Ezorod. He thought the portal might 
  still work, though he assumed incorrectly that Ezorod was an 
  extraplanar destination. Lod took months to research planar 
  travel and assemble a team. His group included a scholar named 
  Evik Ventrek, a mystic named Halpetta Ornesh, a professional 
  explorer named Themma Kett, and three bodyguards: Asan 
  Delothi, Cazindira Emenios, and Isella Haland.
  Five weeks ago, when he decided his team was ready, Lod 
  enacted a ritual to open the portal. He succeeded, but his 
  success resulted in disaster. Lod’s ritual led the group to area 
  18
  
  [map: full page M2 “Ezorod”]
  b. ezorod
  B8
  B5
  B6
  S
  B7
  B4
  B3
  B13
  B2
  B1
  B16
  B17
  B15
  B14
  B9
  B12
  B11
  B10
  1  SQUARE  = 5 FEET
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  19
  
  B1 but failed to keep the portal open, leaving the verthani cut 
  off. They prepared to explore further when a trio of dimensional 
  shamblers (see page 55) arrived, attracted to the ritual’s energy.
  Two bodyguards fell to the shamblers. The team fled to 
  B3, where they encountered several pyric revenants (see 
  page 60). Halpetta died there. The ill-fated expedition made 
  its way through B4 and into B5. There, given a few moments, 
  Lod recalled a recent mystic vision from the Akashic Record 
  that allowed him to find the secret door. This foresight didn’t 
  warn him of the colour out of space (Starfinder Alien Archive 
  2 28) imprisoned in the passage beyond. The colour set about 
  feeding on the team, and Evik fled, setting off the hazard in B5, 
  which he barely survived. His light was damaged, and it went 
  out briefly, subjecting him to the Eshtayiv’s Touch. He stopped 
  to rest in B2 and perished there.
  The colour out of space slew or converted the remaining 
  members of the team. Leaving the secret door in B5 open, 
  it used Lod to collect the keys to the Illuminant Heart. (The 
  Eshtayiv causes the undead here to ignore the colour and 
  colour-blighted creatures. See Lod Coster’s story in area C2 on 
  page 30). Then, the colour and Lod went inside Ezorod’s heart.
  b1. poRtAl pAd (cR 8)
  This open area is large enough to accommodate the Sun 
  Diver’s landing, especially since the vessel stands upright 
  when landed. When the PCs leave the Sun Diver, read or 
  paraphrase the following.
  Enormous circles ringed with runes cover this vast plaza of 
  enormous fitted black stones. This area has no ceiling. To the 
  north and east stands an imposing edifice also composed of 
  titanic, blackened stone slabs. A giant archway opens near 
  where the northern and eastern walls meet. Chunks of stone 
  litter the ground along the north wall, from which they fell. A 
  lanky corpse is splayed out among them, a light from a beacon 
  on the body illuminating the area.
  A PC who examines the runic circles and succeeds at a 
  DC 22 Mysticism check can tell they were once anchors for 
  teleportation magic. The etchings have tarnished silver in them, 
  but gathering the metal would hardly be worth the effort.
  Those who investigate the corpse see a verthani woman 
  sprawled amid a pool of her own blood, covered in slashing 
  wounds. She has a datajack, and her cybernetic dermal 
  plating, arranged to match her tattoos, has ruptured in 
  places from her wounds. In Vercite, the names “Asan” and 
  “Isella”—along with symbols of affection—have been worked 
  into her tattoos.
  Creature: A dimensional shambler arrives via planar travel 
  and watches the PCs, lurking in the northwest corner of the 
  area before attacking the PCs. During the third round 
  of combat, the pyric revenants from area B2 (see that 
  entry) drift to the entrance of that room and attack.
  DIMENSIONAL SHAMBLER 
  CR 8
  XP 4,800
  HP 125 (see page 55) 
  TACTICS
  Before Combat When the PCs disembark the Sun 
  Diver and move into the area, the shambler arrives. It 
  then uses its displacement spell-like ability. Only those 
  PCs who succeed at a DC 26 Perception check notice 
  the lurking creature. Those who fail to do so are 
  surprised when it casts dimension door to appear near 
  the PC with the fewest allies nearby and attacks.
  During Combat The shambler is a straightforward 
  combatant. It focuses on the creature that hurt it the 
  most during the previous round if the risk for doing 
  so isn’t high. With displacement active, it’s willing to 
  risk attacks of opportunity to do so until it takes a 
  few hits using this tactic.
  Morale When reduced to 60 or fewer Hit Points, 
  the shambler casts dimension door to teleport 
  inside the Sun Diver, where it tries to rip apart the 
  starship’s interior. The shambler can’t do much 
  damage, but the PCs hear it banging around. Once 
  it drops to 25 or fewer Hit Points, the creature casts 
  plane shift to escape. If it has a PC grappled, it might 
  try to take that person with it.
  20
  
  Treasure: The verthani wears freebooter armor II with a 
  jetpack upgrade and a lit beacon attached with a gear clamp. 
  She has a small satchel containing two R2Es, a personal 
  hygiene kit, a credstick (500 credits), and a high-capacity 
  battery (40 charges). She keeps a warfan engraved with the 
  name “Cazi” in Vercite on her belt. A static arc rifle with no 
  charges remaining can be found near the body.
  b2. AntecHAmbeR (cR 6)
  This chamber contains a jumbled pile of scorched equipment.
  Evik Ventrek succumbed to the Eshtayiv’s Touch here. 
  Creatures: If they didn’t join the battle in B1, two pyric 
  revenants, the remains of Evik and Halpetta, linger here. One is 
  willowy and almost 7 feet tall, and the other is closer to 6 feet. 
  Each has black orbs for eyes, like a verthani, that writhe in flames. 
  The remains of Evik’s cybernetics—a datajack, a vocal modulator, 
  and a hideaway limb—are apparent in the pyric revenant but 
  constantly ablaze. The other revenant has a burning datajack.
  PYRIC REVENANTS (2) 
  CR 4
  XP 1,200 each
  HP 50 each (see page 60)
  TACTICS
  During Combat The undead attack the closest creatures, 
  cursing in Vercite. If fighting in area B1, they might attack 
  the dimensional shambler. If they do, consider allowing the 
  players to roll for them.
  Morale The revenants attack until destroyed.
  Treasure: The pile of gear belonged to Evik and contains a 
  ruined estex suit II adorned with intact charms of numerous 
  deities or planes (most made of valuable materials, worth 300 
  credits in total) and a gear clamp holding a beacon (currently 
  off and malfunctioning—it flickers every 1d4 rounds while on). A 
  pair of aura goggles (Starfinder Alien Archive 25), a steel belt and 
  bandolier holding a holstered red star plasma pistol (containing 
  a battery with 8 charges), and a sheathed tactical knife, along 
  with three batteries (20 charges each) all remain intact. A 
  satchel affixed to the bandolier contains an advanced medkit, a 
  flashlight, a hygiene kit, a motion detector, a subdermal extractor 
  (Starfinder Armory 108), six R2Es, a box of 300 UPBs, and a 
  datapad (Armory 100) loaded with Evik’s personal logs.
  Development: Evik’s datapad is locked. Bypassing his 
  security requires a successful DC 17 Computers check. The logs 
  on the device describe the verthani expedition, starting just 
  after Evik was hired a few months ago. It talks unfavorably of 
  Lod Coster and his insistence that a planar expedition, which 
  could start anywhere, begin at a portal on “the cursed planet of 
  Aucturn.” Upon arrival in Ezorod, Evik and Themma Kett helped 
  Lod take “planar measurements” and quickly ascertained 
  the team was still on the Material Plane, but somewhere in 
  the sun. Then three monsters attacked. (Evik’s description of 
  these creatures matches the dimensional shambler the PCs 
  encountered earlier.) “A monster grabbed Asan, one of Coster’s 
  mercenaries, and disappeared with him.” The other verthani 
  fled for safety as the mercs fired on the remaining creatures. 
  Evik’s convinced they killed one and drove the other off, but 
  one of the mercs, who called herself Cazi, died in the fight.
  Evik waxes cynical about his use of the word “safety.” He’s 
  certain the shamblers were attracted to the magic the team 
  used to arrive in Ezorod. The logs also mention that the “halls 
  of Ezorod are filled with fiery ghosts and corpses.” A pack of 
  them killed Halpetta near the “Three-Key Door” with “fire we 
  couldn’t extinguish.” Evik later fled in horror when the group 
  encountered a bizarre, alien light in a secret passage—a light 
  that “disintegrated Themma’s flesh.” He was then cut off from 
  the group when the chamber he retreated into turned from 
  an odd scene with undead “screeching in a wall of fire” to one 
  “overflowing with burning undead.” He fled back toward what 
  he calls “the portal plaza.” On the way, his beacon malfunctioned.
  The final entry is dated about 5 weeks ago. In it, Evik 
  describes the Eshtayiv’s Touch, as follows.
  “My light failed. For only a few seconds I was in utter darkness. 
  In those moments, something immense and horrible touched 
  me soul-deep. I can feel an emptiness spreading, consuming 
  me. Curse Coster for bringing us here! Everyone has to be 
  dead. I’ve got to get out of here, but I’m so tired. So tired. A 
  short rest, then.”
  Although he didn’t know it, Evik also suffered from the 
  colour out of space’s aura of lassitude. He remained in this area 
  until he died, after which he rose as a pyric revenant.
  b3. tHRee-key dooR
  A stone cube, perhaps twenty feet on each side, stands 
  in the middle of this room, nearly touching the ceiling. The 
  southwestern corner of the cube has been cut diagonally, 
  allowing space for a door that looks to be made of the same 
  stone as the walls. It bears three indentations, each about 
  three inches across: one in the shape of a long flame, one in 
  the shape of a shining sun, and the last in the shape of an 
  explosion. The door has a blackened-metal push plate instead 
  of a handle, and its frame is carved with jagged runes.
  Four heaps of ash are piled around the front of the door, 
  badly burned humanoid skulls evident in each. Among them is 
  a stack of gear and burned modern armor resembling robes, 
  along with an inactive and charred drone. 
  Four halls lead away from this room, one in each direction.
  The remains here are those of pyric revenants. A PC who 
  succeeds at a DC 21 Mysticism check can determine the 
  remains are those of fiery undead. Anyone trained in Mysticism 
  can identify the remains without a check if the PCs discovered 
  the information from Evik’s logs.
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  21
  
  A PC who examines the walls and door of the central cubic 
  structure can see inlaid threads of coppery metal in the carvings 
  on the stone. A character who succeeds at a DC 22 Mysticism 
  or Physical Science check can identify this as the starmetal 
  horacalcum, likely alloyed with djezet as indicated by its color. A 
  PC trained in Mysticism who learns this information can deduce 
  the starmetal alloy aids in creating a magical barrier. The entire 
  structure has a strong magical aura of the abjuration school. 
  The door here has a magical seal (with an aura of abjuration; 
  caster level 17th) consisting of six bar locks, two of which are 
  tied to each indentation in the door. Each indentation matches 
  one of three keys—the flare key, the radiance key, and the nova 
  key—kept elsewhere in Ezorod. A PC who touches an empty 
  indentation sees a beam of light race from the door to the 
  hallway inscribed with the symbol corresponding to that key, 
  pointing to the section of Ezorod where that key can be found. 
  The flare key indentation goes to area B4, the radiance key to 
  B9, and the nova to B13. Only PCs who touch the door see the 
  light, instead feeling an uncomfortable burning in their limbs 
  for a moment. Touching the push plate before inserting all three 
  keys in their proper indentations imparts only a flash of longing 
  related to the unfilled indentations. Opening the locks from this 
  side is impossible—they’re bars on the other side of the 2-foot-
  thick slab that’s flush with the opening holding it. However, for 
  the purpose of knock spells or similar magic devices, each bar 
  has a DC of 35. In addition, a character casting knock or using 
  such a device must succeed at a DC 27 check (1d20 + caster 
  level or item level), or the door counters the spell or effect. The 
  door has hardness 50, 400 Hit Points, a break DC of 45, and 
  fast healing 20. A character who tries to open this door using 
  means other than the keys triggers the hazard (see below). In 
  addition, the area beyond the door contains a permanent planar 
  barrier. Incorporeal travel through the door here is impossible, 
  although it is possible from the other side.
  If the PCs place all three keys correctly and push, the 
  door opens for 1 minute, revealing stone stairs that descend 
  to area C1. The door slams shut loudly after being open for 
  1 minute, and the three keys teleport back to their original 
  resting places. Anything used to keep this door open is shunted 
  into area C1, and the door then closes anyway.
  Hazard: Any creature that tries to force open the door 
  without using its keys is subjected to the curse of the zealous 
  (Core Rulebook 418). For the effects of this curse, trying to 
  force open the door without the keys thereafter is considered 
  to be the first hostile action in a combat.
  Treasure: The drone is broken, but other than cosmetic 
  differences, it is identical to the one the PCs are borrowing from 
  the DCI. As seasoned experts, the PCs know this drone indicates 
  the professionalism of Lod’s Coster’s team. Halpetta’s datapad 
  contains recordings from the drone (see Development below).
  In addition to the drone, Halpetta’s gear includes ruined, 
  robe-like business stationwear armor (along with a destroyed 
  gear clamp and flashlight), a holographic sashimono (symbol 
  of Eloritu, Armory 104), a carbon staff, and a frostbite-class 
  zero pistol (with 17 charges left). A scorched but functional 
  industrial backpack contains six R2Es, five batteries (20 
  charges each), and the control datapad for the drone.
  Development: Halpetta used the drone much as the PCs 
  might use theirs. The control datapad is unlocked and 
  contains footage of the verthani expedition retreating 
  into this area just after the dimensional shambler 
  attack. In the scene, the verthani bodyguards can be 
  heard fighting the shambler off-screen. The drone 
  ascends from in front of Halpetta, a short verthani 
  woman wearing fashionable robes and her 
  holographic sashimono, as she cries, in Vercite, 
  “It’s on, Lod.”
  A muscular verthani man in an armored 
  harness nearby on the screen says, “Good,” 
  then yells, “Fighting retreat, people!”
  The woman, pistol in hand, orders the 
  drone to follow. Then gunfire erupts 
  in the room as four humanoids that 
  appear to be burning skeletons or 
  corpses rush from the hallway to 
  the south. The recording is chaotic 
  during the combat, and the spy 
  drone is knocked to the floor. From 
  22
  
  there, the tilted image shows one of the fiery undead striking 
  the woman, who combusts. The feed then fills with flame and 
  goes dead.
  b4. flARe entRAnce
  Ahead is a symbol of a long, curving flame—like a solar flare— 
  carved on the floor. The symbol and runes surrounding it 
  sprawl across the entire floor from one wall to the other.
  The symbol matches one of those on the door in area B3. 
  When the PCs cross the symbol on the floor, they see a solar 
  flare flicker before them. Each PC feels empowered with light 
  and gains the flare stellar revelation (Core Rulebook 104) while 
  in areas B4, B5, B6, B7, and B8. A PC who isn’t a solarian can 
  activate this revelation but can’t use any aspect that requires 
  being attuned. In addition, if such a PC used the flash from flare, 
  the revelation ends. A solarian also uses aspects that require 
  being attuned, and they retain use of the revelation even after 
  they use the flash from flare.
  b5. sAnctuARy (cR 8)
  Before the PCs enter this chamber, they can hear the roar 
  of flame from the illusory wall of fire in this room as well as 
  several voices singing strange hymns.
  A roaring wall of flame to the north illuminates this room, 
  which has a vaulted ceiling higher than the fire. The bottom of 
  a stairway emerges from the fiery wall on the western side of 
  the chamber. A section of wall stands crooked, like a slightly 
  inwardly open door, in a similar place to the east. Several rough 
  stone columns rise from the floor, but none reach the ceiling. A 
  statue in the room’s center resembles a series of orbs stacked 
  atop one another, with stylized fire and eyes carved into them. 
  A few carved tentacles extend the orbs, but most are broken. 
  The walls are scorched, particularly near the sheet of flame, 
  and bear runic carvings, some matching those on the statue 
  or depicting a figure resembling the statue. The walls also 
  show figures donning robes, venerating the central statue, and 
  walking through fire. Two doors stand in the east wall, and a 
  wide passageway exits to the south, opposite the curtain of fire.
  PCs who look closer at the wall of fire or seek the source 
  of the singing notice the creatures (see below) in the sheet of 
  flame. A PC who succeeds at a DC 16 Perception check also sees 
  apparitions similar to the revenants in the flames. This might clue 
  the PCs in regarding the pyric manifestation (see Hazard below).
  When the PCs enter this room, they have 5 rounds before 
  the hazard springs and creatures here attack. The only way to 
  avoid this eventuality is if all the PCs leave this area and head 
  into area B4, B6, B7, or B8.
  The wall of fire is only 20 feet tall, ending 5 feet below the 
  ceiling. It’s also an illusion. Those who move near it feel intense 
  heat, but they can see the sphere of darkness beyond the wall, 
  floating in area B6, as a disturbing circular blotch of shadow 
  on the sheet of flame. A character who succeeds at a DC 20 
  Mysticism check guesses the fire is a form of religious trial 
  given the hints in the wall carvings. Disbelieving the illusion 
  requires a successful DC 25 Will saving throw, although a 
  character who touches the wall or passes through it discerns 
  the illusion immediately. The wall does not impede movement.
  The pillars are also 20 feet tall and the surface of each is rocky 
  enough that a PC who succeeds at a DC 15 Athletics check can 
  climb one. From the top of any pillar, the balcony (B6) is visible 
  over the wall of fire. The creature there is also visible.
  The secret door to the northeast, which is slightly open into 
  area B7, is carved to depict a pit radiating light. A character 
  who examines the door can see inlaid threads of starmetal 
  alloy similar to that in area B3. This door radiates an aura of 
  abjuration, though the open door provides a breach in that aura.
  Creatures: Two pyric revenants stand in the illusory wall of 
  fire, wailing nonsense hymns in Aklo and gazing at the room’s 
  central statue. They initially ignore the PCs. However, if the PCs 
  attack, the hazard triggers, and the undead return hostilities. 
  The same thing happens if the PCs don’t leave the room, as 
  described above.
  A pyric wraith floats behind a lectern in area B6. If the PCs 
  trigger hostilities, the wraith joins the fight during the second 
  round, making this a CR 9 encounter.
  PYRIC REVENANTS (2) 
  CR 4
  XP 1,200 each
  HP 50 each (see page 60)
  TACTICS
  During Combat The undead split up to attack separate 
  creatures and spread their burning curse.
  Morale The revenants attack until the PCs retreat, at which 
  point the undead return to their worship. Otherwise, they 
  fight until destroyed.
  Hazard: If the PCs set off the hazard by lingering too long or 
  attacking the undead, read or paraphrase the following.
  The wall of flame explodes outward in a sulfurous wave of 
  heat. As it does, burning undead emerge from the floor and 
  walls in a fiery mass, filling all available space and reeking of 
  charred flesh and burned bone.
  PYRIC MANIFESTATION 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  Type magical; Perception Mysticism DC 29; Disable 
  Mysticism DC 24; a creature that succeeds at the disable 
  check deals the hazard 25 damage rather than stopping it 
  from manifesting.
  EAC 19; KAC 19; HP 80; Fort/Ref +6; takes half damage from 
  nonmagical non-area attacks; can be harmed as if undead
  Trigger location; Init +11; Duration 1 minute; Reset 24 hours
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  23
  
  Effect Quasi-real pyric undead swarm the area, filling the 
  empty space from the wall of fire to 40 feet south of it, 
  including the second row of pillars. This manifestation 
  is only 7 feet high and has multiple effects, as follows. 
  D When the manifestation appears, each creature in it 
  takes 3d6 fire damage (this is pyric fire; see the special 
  ability on page 58; Reflex DC 16 half). A creature who 
  fails the save is also knocked prone.
  D Each move into an affected square counts as 3 squares 
  of movement. 
  D Each creature that ends its turn in the area takes 3d6 
  fire damage (pyric fire, Reflex DC 16 half). A creature 
  that fails this saving throw by 5 or more is also shaken 
  for 1 round. This condition is a mind-affecting fear effect.
  D At the end of each round, the area of the manifestation 
  expands by 5 feet.
  D Pyric undead in the affected area benefit from 
  concealment against attackers within 5 feet. Pyric 
  undead farther away have total concealment against 
  their attackers.
  b6. bAlcony (cR 6)
  This balcony is 10 feet above the floor of the wider templelike 
  area below it. A stone railing 3 feet high edges the balcony. 
  From the central point along this railing rises a stone lectern. 
  A sphere of darkness about a foot across floats just in front 
  of the lectern, about a dozen feet above the lower floor. To 
  the west, a set of stairs descends from the platform. On the 
  wall along their length and on the wall behind the lectern, 
  engravings show progressive images of a fiery ball, like 
  the sun in relief, swallowing a circular concavity. Once the 
  concavity is swallowed, tendrils from the sunlike form reach 
  inside it and eventually fill it with fire.
  A PC who succeeds at a DC 20 Mysticism check recognizes 
  the carvings as a common spiritual motif of light banishing 
  darkness. These images, however, suggest the light is 
  consuming the darkness rather than banishing it.
  The secret door to the east is like the door in B5, except it’s 
  closed. A PC searching the area finds the door with a successful 
  DC 30 Perception check. PCs who’ve studied the door in B5 can 
  see enough similarities in the engravings on this door to reduce 
  the DC by 5. The door opens inward with any application of 
  significant pressure.
  PCs can easily reach the sphere of darkness. Darkvision 
  can’t penetrate the sphere, although a creature that has the 
  see in darkness ability can see into it clearly. Without such 
  a benefit, a creature must stare into or study the darkness 
  as a move action or longer to notice the jewellike, flame-
  shaped ornament within, as it briefly flashes with dim light 
  like a vision on the edge of their sight. PCs who see this vague 
  image recognize it as similar to the flare symbol on the door in 
  B3 and the hallway at B4.
  As hinted at in the wall carvings, the dark sphere can be 
  banished with a light shone directly on it or placed inside it. 
  Flame applied to the sphere also works to banish the darkness.
  Creature: If the PCs evaded the danger in area B5, a pyric 
  wraith hovers at the lectern. It wails hymns like the pyric 
  revenants standing in the illusory wall of fire. The PCs must 
  claim the flare key (see Treasure below) within 5 rounds, or 
  else the wraith attacks. If it does so, the creatures in B5 join in, 
  setting off the hazard there, except the hazard fills the entire 
  area north of the wall of fire and south to include the two 
  northernmost pillars.
  PYRIC WRAITH 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  HP 80 (see page 61)
  TACTICS
  During Combat The wraith attacks the PC closest to it, 
  prioritizing any PC investigating the sphere of darkness.
  Morale If the PCs escape from the chamber, including into 
  the secret passage, the wraith goes back to its worship. 
  Otherwise, it attacks relentlessly until destroyed.
  Treasure: The ornament within the darkness is the flare key, 
  one of the three keys required to open the doorway in B3. A PC 
  can claim the object by reaching into the sphere and grabbing 
  it. The PC doing so feels the sensation of three points of heat 
  passing near the limb placed into the darkness. If the sphere is 
  banished with light or flame, then the key instantly floats to 
  whoever did the banishing. This key raises the light level one 
  step in a pulse that extends to a 20-foot radius for 1 round, then 
  dims to a 5-foot radius for 1 round, and then repeats.
  Story Award: If the PCs recover the flare key without 
  setting off the hazard or fighting the monsters, award them XP 
  as if they had (7,200 XP total). If the PCs later trigger those 
  encounters, they don’t earn additional XP for them.
  b7. plAnAR pRison (cR 6)
  PCs can see the green light of the creature before they enter.
  The black stone in this broad, high passage is cleaner than 
  elsewhere in Ezorod. The walls and even the floor and ceiling 
  are etched with twisting runes and bizarre images of alien 
  entities made of fire or stellar material. A reddish metal 
  threads through the rock, especially among the runes. Near 
  the center of the hallway is a pocked metallic nodule, cleanly 
  broken to reveal a tiny hollow. North of the nodule is a heap of 
  gear piled in a small mound of white ash.
  Starmetal infuses the stone here, like the walls and door 
  in B3 and the secret door in B5. The walls radiate an aura of 
  abjuration magic like those places do.
  The broken nodule is a metallic meteorite, which a PC can 
  identify with a successful DC 15 Physical Science check. An 
  iridescent greenish tarnish coats the metal around the hollow 
  24
  
  space inside it. The creature and ash are clues to the meteorite’s 
  origin. A PC who succeeds at a DC 25 Life Science check or, due 
  to the ooze’s eldritch nature—a Mysticism check using the same 
  DC—identifies it as the “egg” of a colour out of space.
  Creature: One of the verthani mercenaries, Isella, remains 
  here as a colour-blighted creature, exuding greenish light. 
  PCs can discern the nature of her affliction with the 
  same checks used to identify the nature of the nodule 
  here, and then use conjecture to identify the nodule 
  and dust. Isella has little sense of self and pays no 
  attention to events outside this hallway. However, 
  she is aggressive toward those who aren’t colour-
  blighted and attacks the PCs on sight.
  ISELLA HALAND 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  Female colour-blighted verthani soldier 
  (Starfinder Alien Archive 2 29, 
  Starfinder Alien Archive 118)
  N Medium humanoid (verthani)
  Init +5; Senses low-light vision; 
  Perception +13
  DEFENSE 
  HP 72
  EAC 21; KAC 23
  Fort +6; Ref +8; Will +7
  Defensive Abilities guard’s protection
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft., fly 30 ft. (jetpack, average)
  Melee warfan +16 (1d8+9 S)
  Ranged static arc rifle +16 (1d12+6 E; critical arc 1d6) or
  flash grenade II +16 (explode [10 ft., blinded 1d4 rounds, 
  DC 14)]
  Offensive Abilities fighting styles (guard)
  TACTICS
  During Combat Isella falls back on her training, moving to take 
  cover and throw her grenade first. She then focuses her 
  fire to bring down one enemy at a time. During the fight, 
  she moans (a PC who succeeds at a DC 20 Sense Motive 
  check can tell she is in pain), accompanied by abnormal 
  croaking. Occasionally, she says, “The colour... it burns,” and 
  “Nothing... nothing,” or similar phrases in Vercite.
  Morale Isella seeks an end to the constant pain she’s in. She 
  fights until slain. Then, with a sigh and a look of relief, she 
  crumbles to white dust.
  STATISTICS
  Str +3; Dex +5; Con –1; Int +1; Wis +0; Cha –5
  Skills Athletics +18, Medicine +13
  Languages Common, Vercite
  Other Abilities armor training
  Gear freebooter armor II (jetpack), static arc rifle with 1 high-
  capacity battery (40 charges), warfanAR, beacon, gear 
  clamp, satchel (3 R2Es, hygiene kit, credstick with 500 
  credits); Augmentations standard datajack, mk 1 dermal 
  plating, prosthetic arm
  Treasure: The gear in the white ash includes a suit of kasatha 
  microcord III (with a beacon on a gear clamp), a belt with a 
  holstered advanced semi-auto pistol, tactical knife, and a mk 
  2 null-space chamber. Inside the chamber are fifteen R2Es 
  and three days’ worth of field rations, along with empty 
  wrappers and containers for used R2Es and rations. The 
  chamber also holds engineering specialty tool kits for 
  armor, weapons, and technological gear are inside, 
  along with five mobile hotelier tents—four singles 
  and one triple—each with one battery. The chamber 
  also contains five mk 2 serums of healing, a grappler 
  with 200 feet of titanium cable line, a compact 
  case holding 1,000 UPBs, and a credstick (750 
  credits). The chamber might also contain any other 
  exploration gear you care to add.
  Development: The PCs might be interested 
  in saving Isella rather than dispatching her. 
  She has the colour-blighted template graft 
  (normally she has Constitution +2 and 
  Charisma +1) and is affected by the colour 
  out of space’s aura of lassitude. If the PCs 
  manage to accomplish the difficult task 
  of removing both effects, the mercenary is 
  relieved to have survived her ordeal, though 
  distraught at the loss of Cazindira and Asan. 
  She wants nothing more than to flee Ezorod 
  and prefers to wait aboard the Sun Diver 
  while the PCs conduct their explorations. 
  b8. Ablution cHAmbeR
  The centerpiece of this almost cubic room is a trough-like pool 
  filled with translucent fluid. Several stone pegs jut from the 
  walls to the south and east. The only exit leads to the north.
  A character trained in Mysticism recognizes the room as 
  an ablution chamber, a place in which the devoted wash in 
  preparation for sacred duties. 
  If a character disturbs the fluid, it ripples in a hypnotic 
  fashion. The creature that disturbed the pool must attempt a 
  DC 17 Will save. On a success, the ripples continue in a normal 
  fluid motion. On a failure, the PC sees the ripples amplify until 
  they rise and form an image only that character can see. 
  In the image, the entire party stands in this room, wearing 
  matching robes of black, gold, and white with bizarre symbols 
  on them. Another robed PC tells the viewer, as if instructing 
  a child, “We must put our true faith aside and placate the 
  Eshtayiv. In this way, we distract them while the others 
  complete the oubliette to hold them until the universe dies.”
  The PC’s companions remove their robes to hang them on 
  pegs before pulling cloaks of shimmering gold out of thin air 
  that they immediately wear. They look to the envisioning PC.
  The PC seems to speak, saying, “But does the Eshtayiv not 
  love the darkness?”
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  25
  FLARE KEY
  
  Another companion chides, “No, the Eshtayiv loathes the 
  darkness, seeking to burn it away with hateful light, which is 
  why they doom all they devour. Lest we imprison the Eshtayiv, 
  they would bring an end even to the gods of the Dark Tapestry. 
  Prepare and then come. We will wait for you.”
  The PC’s robed companions then walk out of the room, and 
  the fluid in the pool stills. As the vision ends, the PC experiencing 
  it must attempt another DC 17 Will save. On a success, the PC 
  senses a glow from a space in between realities. If the PC tries 
  to interact with the glow, a shimmering gold mk 2 diffraction 
  cloak (Armory 112) appears in their hand. Although any number 
  of PCs can experience the vision, only one cloak ever appears.
  b9. RAdiAnce entRAnce
  Ahead, a radiant star—bearing several flourishes and bizarre 
  runes, is carved into the passage’s floor. 
  The symbol here matches one of the indentations on the door 
  in area B3. When the PCs cross the symbol on the floor, they 
  see a shining star flicker before them. Each PC feels energized 
  and gains the glow of life stellar revelation (Core Rulebook 
  104), using their character level as their solarian level, while 
  in areas B9–B12. A PC who isn’t a solarian can activate this 
  revelation but can’t use any aspect that requires being attuned, 
  and once they use the revelation, this effect ends. A solarian 
  can use aspects that require being attuned and retains use of 
  this revelation after activating it; in addition, they can use the 
  revelation once as a swift action instead of a move action.
  b10. cells (cR 8)
  The PCs are likely to notice the light from the creatures that 
  linger here.
  This hall has several arched openings in the east wall, each 
  five feet wide and ten feet high.
  The bare cells along the hall contain only varying collections 
  of soot and ash.
  Creatures: One pyric wraith waits in the middle cell, and 
  another lingers in the northernmost chamber. When one 
  attacks the PCs, the other emerges to join the fight during 
  the next round.
  PYRIC WRAITHS (2) 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400 each
  HP 80 each (see page 61)
  TACTICS
  During Combat The wraiths divide their attacks to light as 
  many foes aflame as possible. They concern themselves 
  little with attacks of opportunity until reduced to 40 Hit 
  Points or fewer.
  Morale These wraiths keep fighting until destroyed, and they 
  chase foes who flee the area.
  b11. mAp Room (cR 8)
  The PCs can see the dim light the creature here sheds when 
  rounding the corner from B10. This creature pretends to be an 
  inanimate light; see its tactics.
  The eastern and southern walls of this rectangular chamber 
  bear a carving of a vast map of planets or something similar. 
  Wide archways lead out of this room to the north and west.
  The wall carvings here form a massive map of the sun’s 
  interior. On the map are seven marked locations, labeled in 
  Aklo. Six of the sites are scorched and gouged as if by three 
  massive, fiery claws. PCs who try to read the final site realize, 
  from seeing the word in Aklo before, that it bears the name 
  “Ezorod” along with other information.
  A character who can read Aklo not only learns the names 
  of the other sites—Kybyu, Dalorod, Nyartat, Og, Thuugha, 
  and Zadorod—but also realizes the additional information 
  contains astrogation coordinates. A PC who succeeds at a 
  DC 25 Piloting check can ascertain the location of each site 
  on its own and relative to the others. All locales are within 
  the sun. Each has also ceased to exist. A PC who succeeds 
  at a DC 18 Mysticism check can guess the marring indicates 
  this possibility.
  Creature: A pyric harbinger hangs like a miniature sun in the 
  southeastern corner of this room. With its life sense, it becomes 
  aware of the PCs before they fully enter the room. When the 
  PCs see the pyric harbinger, they might think it’s a decoration, 
  though a character who sees the harbinger and feels the 
  alien presence it exudes can recognize it as a creature with a 
  successful DC 22 Life Science check. If this check succeeds by 
  5 or more, the PC knows what this rare creature actually is.
  PYRIC HARBINGER 
  CR 8
  XP 4,800 
  HP 110 (see page 58)
  TACTICS
  Before Combat Mindful of its innocuous appearance, the 
  harbinger waits for PCs to become complacent, perhaps 
  even wandering into reach, before it attacks. It attacks 
  immediately if it senses its prey knows it’s a creature.
  During Combat The harbinger remains aloft and out of reach, 
  firing its pyric beam.
  Morale When reduced to 25 Hit Points or fewer, the 
  harbinger flees to area B12. It makes a final stand there.
  b12. solAR model (cR 7)
  PCs can see the glow of the model here as they approach from 
  the hallway. The temperature becomes warmer as the PCs 
  move closer to this room.
  This irregular room contains a vast clockwork globe made of 
  glowing curved metal pieces mounted on a metal armature 
  connected to a spherical pivot in the center of the room. The 
  26
  
  top of this pivot is hinged, like a lid. The air here is very warm 
  compared to other areas of this structure.
  A character who succeeds at a DC 25 Physical Science check 
  can tell the globe is an elaborate model of the sun. Studying 
  the model for 10 minutes allows a character to take 10 
  on this check, even if they previously failed the check. 
  The PCs recognize that the model is made of 
  siccatite. In addition, the model is hybrid 
  technology, and it radiates an aura of 
  conjuration. The model represents large 
  swaths of the sun’s surface, along with 
  deeper layers, including some farther 
  down than the PCs have yet 
  delved. This model’s details rival 
  technological models produced 
  in the Pact Worlds.
  The model is comprised of metal plates 
  mounted on rods that can be swung about 
  to allow examination of the inner pieces. 
  However, the closer the pieces are to 
  the center, the more difficult it is to 
  move aside the outer plates. The entire 
  model, therefore, functions as a giant 
  puzzle box, the center of which is visible but hard to reach. 
  In addition, the siccatite pieces are hot to the touch, becoming 
  hotter closer to the central spherical pivot.
  The model has four layers. Reaching the pivot requires 
  moving the pieces of each layer aside in a way that permits 
  the inner pieces to also move. The pieces move only if directly 
  touched by a creature with an Intelligence score of 4 or higher. 
  Deciding how to move the pieces requires the character to 
  first evaluate the model’s layer with a successful Engineering, 
  Perception, Physical Science, or an appropriate Profession skill, 
  using the DCs listed for each layer of the model, below. One 
  PC attempts the check, but others can aid the effort, though a 
  PC can assist only if they are able to see a given layer, so after 
  the first layer, such a PC must be in the model’s space. This 
  evaluation takes 10 minutes minus a number of minutes equal 
  to the amount by which the evaluation check succeeded, to a 
  minimum of 1 minute.
  Once the evaluation of a given layer is complete, the PCs can 
  attempt to move the pieces of that layer. One PC attempts an 
  Engineering check (using the DC listed for that layer, below) to 
  oversee and participate in moving the pieces, and other PCs 
  can assist by using Acrobatics, Athletics, or Engineering. A PC 
  can assist with moving the pieces only if they are able to touch 
  a layer. On a success, the PCs can access the next inner layer. 
  Moving the pieces takes only 1 minute. Failure indicates the 
  pieces interfere with one another, stopping further movement. 
  The PC must repeat both the evaluation and moving the pieces.
  The PCs can instead disassemble the model, layer by layer, 
  to forge a path. Doing so still requires a PC to successfully 
  evaluate as described earlier. Disassembly of enough of the 
  model to allow passage requires a PC to spend 10 minutes and 
  a succeed at an Engineering check with a DC 5 higher than that 
  listed to move the parts of that layer. PCs can still use other 
  skills to aid another. 
  Details of each layer are as follows. Temperatures described 
  in this section refer to heat dangers (Core Rulebook 402). 
  Radiation severity refers to rules on pages 403–404 of the 
  Core Rulebook. Fire damage is dealt whether moving the 
  layer was successful or not. Disassembling 
  the model causes the fire damage to double 
  and allows the environmental conditions of 
  an exposed layer to leak into the whole room.
  First Layer: Evaluation and moving 
  require successful DC 16 checks. 
  The air near this layer is hot, 
  but not hazardously so. Each PC 
  participating in moving the pieces takes 
  1 fire damage.
  Second Layer: The air between the first 
  and second layers is very hot. Evaluation and 
  moving the pieces require successful DC 18 
  checks. Each PC participating in moving the 
  pieces takes 1d6 fire damage.
  Third Layer: The atmosphere between 
  the second and third layers is one of severe heat and low 
  radiation. Evaluation and moving the pieces require successful 
  DC 18 checks. Each PC participating in moving the pieces takes 
  2d6 fire damage.
  Fourth Layer: The atmosphere between the third and fourth 
  layers is one of extreme heat and medium radiation. Evaluation 
  and moving pieces require successful DC 20 checks. Each PC 
  participating in moving the pieces takes 3d6 fire damage.
  Treasure: Inside the pivot is a small compartment that 
  contains a luminous crystal in the shape of a shining sun. This 
  object is the radiance key, one of the keys to open the door in 
  area B3. This key increases the light level two steps in a 20-foot 
  radius and one step for another 20 feet.
  In addition, PCs who disassemble the model can gather 2 
  bulk of siccatite from the first two layers, and 1 bulk of siccatite 
  from the third and fourth. The PCs can continue to disassemble 
  the model for siccatite, but doing so takes many hours.
  Story Award: If the PCs overcome the model to recover the 
  radiance key, award them 3,200 XP.
  b13. novA entRAnce
  Ahead, a carving on the ground looks like an explosion. 
  Runes and decorative trimmings cover the floor between the 
  passage’s walls.
  The symbol matches one of those on the door in area B3. 
  When the PCs cross the symbol on the floor, they see a sun 
  glimmer before them and then explode into cosmic dust. The 
  onrushing particles infuse the PCs, giving each access to the 
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  27
  RADIANCE KEY
  
  stellar rush stellar revelation (Core Rulebook 104) while in areas 
  B13—B17. A PC who isn’t a solarian can activate this revelation 
  but can’t use any aspect that requires being attuned, and once 
  they use the revelation, it ends. A solarian can utilize aspects 
  that require being attuned and retains use of the revelation 
  after utilizing it; in addition, a solarian gains a +2 bonus to EAC 
  while using the revelation and for 1 round thereafter.
  b14. WoRksHop (cR 9)
  Stone tables line the walls of this room, although they contain 
  only scattered shards and powder. Jagged runes pulsing with 
  a sickly green light cover a door near the southeast corner. 
  This room was once a laboratory for the devices that power 
  Ezorod. The door fills the whole room with dim light; it is an 
  enchanted object that radiates an aura of abjuration and 
  necromancy as part of the hazard (see below).
  Creatures: Two pyric revenants recline on the tables farthest 
  from the western door here. A pyric wraith paces in front of the 
  trapped door, remaining within 10 feet of it until a battle starts. 
  PYRIC REVENANTS (2) 
  CR 4
  XP 1,200 each
  HP 50 each (see page 60)
  TACTICS
  During Combat These revenants start combat prone, but 
  they stand to attack anyone opening the western door.
  Morale The revenants fight until destroyed, but they remain 
  in this room.
  PYRIC WRAITH 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  HP 80 (see page 61)
  TACTICS
  During Combat The wraith focuses its attacks on anyone 
  who tries to move toward the hazardous door.
  Morale If the PCs flee, the wraith chases them. It keeps 
  fighting until destroyed.
  Hazard: Lod Coster set off a trap when he came here to 
  retrieve the nova key. The active trap creates an ongoing 
  hazard, which the glow of the creatures here mitigates, since 
  the hazard doesn’t affect the undead.
  LIGHT-KILLING PULSE 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  Type magical; Perception Mysticism DC 32; Disable 
  Mysticism DC 27 (while touching the door, suppresses 
  the effect for 10 minutes); a creature that succeeds at the 
  disable check by 5 or more disables the trap for 24 hours
  Trigger location; Duration ongoing; Reset ongoing
  Effect A perceptible pulse of abjuration magic dispels magical 
  light and shuts off technological light by discharging 
  attached batteries. This pulse occurs at the start of every 
  third round. The light endures (and battery charges 
  remain) if the creature holding the light succeeds at a DC 
  17 Will saving throw. A creature that fails this save by 5 or 
  more is blinded for 1 round + 1 round for every 2 by which 
  they failed the save, up to 3 rounds.
  b15. miRRoR vAult (cR 8)
  Multiple mirrored slabs stand in this room, each fifteen feet 
  high, ten feet wide, and five feet thick. The light reflecting 
  around these slabs is dazzling, and the heat is intense. Pulses 
  of light and heat emanate from the southern end of the room.
  The heat here is extreme (Core Rulebook 403). While the 
  nova key remains in its niche (see Treasure), the heat and light 
  emanations continue from the southern section of the room.
  Ezorod’s architects perfected the mirrors used in area C5 
  here. These leftovers are imperfect but made of a composite as 
  strong as a starship bulkhead (Core Rulebook 408).
  Creature: A pyric harbinger wanders among the mirrors 
  here, fascinated with its reflection. If it notices the reflections 
  of any other creatures, it becomes enraged and attacks.
  When combat begins, each PC must attempt a DC 25 
  Perception check. Those who succeed identify the harbinger’s 
  correct position. Those who fail initially believe two harbingers 
  are in the room, and such a character has a 50% chance of 
  targeting the monster’s reflection instead of the creature 
  itself. Anyone who fails by 10 or more believes four harbingers 
  are present. Such a PC has only a 25% chance of targeting 
  the creature accurately. Once the harbinger attacks, the PCs 
  automatically identify the creature’s correct location until the 
  harbinger moves at least 30 feet on its turn.
  PYRIC HARBINGER 
  CR 8
  XP 4,800 
  HP 110 (see page 58)
  TACTICS
  During Combat The harbinger remains mobile. If it moves 
  at least 30 feet on its turn, it forces the PCs to reassess 
  its position. However, the subsequent Perception checks 
  are only DC 22, and a PC has at worst a 50% chance of 
  choosing the wrong target on a failure.
  Morale If reduced to 50 Hit Points or fewer, the harbinger 
  flees through the crack in the southwestern wall. It circles 
  the area and ambushes the PCs later near B13. There, it 
  fights until it drops below 20 Hit Points. It then circles 
  back to this room. If the PCs pursue it here again, it fights 
  to the death.
  Treasure: The monolith at the center of the room’s southern 
  end has a niche on its south side, 5 feet from the floor. This 
  niche contains a jewellike object that looks like a star that 
  just exploded. This object is the nova key required to open the 
  28
  
  door in area B3. When removed from the niche, the room goes 
  dark except for the light from the key, which is like that of the 
  radiance key found in area B12.
  b16. tecH vAult (cR 8)
  This room contains a few stone plinths at varying heights. 
  Several badly corroded devices—little more than piles of 
  powder—litter these pedestals. Similar grainy powder 
  covers a large, square section of the floor in the 
  eastern end of this room.
  The builders of Ezorod stored 
  devices here. Time and the 
  eldritch attention of the 
  Eshtayiv have caused 
  most 
  to 
  corrode. 
  When 
  touched, 
  they 
  crumble into grainy powder just like 
  that found in the eastern part of the 
  room. However, this dust can be of value 
  (see Treasure below).
  Creature: A bizarre six-armed golem of 
  Medium size and with an alien visage stands in the powder 
  to the east. It opens its glowing eyes when the PCs enter the 
  room and attacks.
  CYBERNETIC GOLEM 
  CR 8
  XP 4,800
  HP 125 (Starfinder Alien Archive 2 66)
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Ranged red star plasma cannon +16 (2d10+8 E & F [explode 
  DC 16]; critical burn 1d8)
  TACTICS
  During Combat The golem prefers melee attacks, and it 
  avoids attacking multiarmed foes. Its programming is 
  faulty. The golem knows to protect the vault, so it attacks 
  the PCs, but it listens intently to anything they say. A 
  PC who succeeds at a DC 27 Mysticism or Sense Motive 
  check guesses the golem is listening for commands or a 
  password. A character can cause the golem to cease its 
  attacks for 1 minute by succeeding at a DC 15 Charisma 
  check; language doesn’t matter, only intent. The golem 
  resumes hostilities if the PCs remain in this room after 
  that time or attack it again at any time. The PCs can also 
  calm a berserk golem as if they were its creators. 
  Morale The golem guards this vault relentlessly. It remains 
  here if intruders retreat.
  Treasure: A PC who examines the grainy powder and 
  succeeds at a DC 25 Engineering or Mysticism check realizes 
  the granules are similar to UPBs and could be used as such. The 
  powdered objects here total 2,000 UPBs (2 bulk).
  The cyborg’s weapons are alien technology, but PCs who have 
  witnessed their use need to attempt no checks to deduce their 
  function. Removing the devices takes a character trained in 
  Engineering a few minutes. Even if calmed, the golem resumes 
  combat if a character attempts to remove its equipment.
  Story Award: If the PCs calm the golem, reward them XP as 
  if they defeated it in combat.
  b17. tReAsuRe vAult
  PCs note the door radiates warmth before 
  they enter this room. The door is hot to 
  the touch. Hot air bursts into the cooler 
  hall when the door opens.
  Several stone chests 
  here are heaped with 
  precious metals and 
  jewels. The wall to the east is 
  cracked, and a narrow gap in the 
  stone extends back to where a pulsing 
  light is dimly visible.
  The room is full of severe heat that 
  becomes more intense closer to the crack in the eastern wall, 
  though it never becomes extreme. The crack is 2 feet wide.
  Treasure: The wealth here—silver, various other valuable 
  metals, and gems—weighs 25 bulk. These trade goods are 
  collectively worth 6,000 credits.
  Once the PCs have collected all three keys, they can open the 
  sealed door in area B3 and proceed into the heart of Ezorod, an 
  area known as the Illuminant Heart.
  C. THE ILLUMINANT HEART
  The stairs from B3 lead down to Ezorod’s control center. This 
  level, called the Illuminant Heart, is a small demiplane of 
  warped geometry. Halls and chambers of the Illuminant Heart 
  fold back on each other, making the level a loop. Despite its 
  strange geometry, the Illuminant Heart has the same thick 
  walls, omnipresent charring, and 25-foot-high ceilings as the 
  rest of Ezorod. Ilvatri, a pyric heliacus who resides here, has 
  altered parts of the area to suit him.
  c1. loWeR lAnding
  This oddly shaped chamber is made of charred stone, but its 
  dimensions seem subtly wrong, as though its straight lines 
  curve at the edge of vision. A wide staircase leads up to the 
  PART 3:  
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  29
  NOVA KEY
  
  north, narrowing dramatically as it ascends, and an opening 
  to the east emits a feeble glow in a strange, greenish hue.
  The stairs to the north lead up to area B3. From this side, 
  the door opens easily. It swings shut again after 1 minute, as 
  detailed in the entry for area B3.
  The glow from the east is noticeable, but it doesn’t 
  illuminate this room sufficiently to avert the Eshtayiv’s Touch. 
  The light comes from the colour-blighted Lod in area C2. 
  Identifying the color as similar to that which affected Isella in 
  area B7 requires a PC to succeed at a DC 20 Perception check. 
  Due to the bizarre planar nature of the Illuminant Heart, the 
  colour’s light extends into this area, but its aura doesn’t reach 
  beyond areas C7 and C8.
  c2. oveRfloW inteRsection (cR 9)
  The green light of the colour out of space in C7 is brighter here, 
  emanating from just beyond the alcove.
  This intersection has exits to the northwest, to the southwest, 
  and in an alcove to the east. The floor contains strange 
  carvings that appear to run in parallel or perpendicular lines 
  but cross each other at angles just at the edge of vision.
  Creature: Lod Coster stands here against the western wall, 
  using his skin mimic ability through his clearweave and staring 
  vacantly to the east. A thrall of the colour out of space, he 
  appears to be a bizarre, glowing statue. When the PCs enter 
  this intersection, Lod attacks. If any PC fails a DC 22 Perception 
  check, Lod benefits from a surprise round.
  LOD COSTER 
  CR 9
  XP 6,400
  Male colour-blighted verthani mystic (Starfinder Alien 
  Archive 2 29, Starfinder Alien Archive 118)
  N Medium humanoid (verthani)
  Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +17
  DEFENSE 
  HP 100 RP 4
  EAC 23; KAC 24
  Fort +6; Ref +8; Will +12
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee carbon staff +18 (1d8+14 B; critical knockdown)
  Ranged refraction perforator pistol +16 (2d6+11 So; critical 
  bleed 1d6)
  Mystic Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9th)
  9/day—mind probe (DC 20)
  At will—mindlink
  Mystic Spells Known (CL 9th)
  3rd (3/day)—mind thrust (DC 20), tongues
  2nd (6/day)—augury, force blast (DC 19), hold 
  person (DC 19), mystic cure
  1st (at will)—detect thoughts (DC 18), identify
  Connection Akashic
  TACTICS
  During Combat As battle begins, Lod mutters in Common, 
  “Ill luck to come so far and end here.” It’s unclear if he’s 
  talking to the PCs or to himself. He prefers spells such as 
  mind thrust and force blast, casting hold person on foes 
  who press him in melee combat.
  MORALE DRIVEN BY ALIEN COMPULSIONS, LOD 
  FIGHTS UNTIL RENDERED UNCONSCIOUS OR 
  SLAIN. STATISTICS
  Str +4; Dex +2; Con –2; Int +3; Wis +6; Cha –5
  Skills Culture +17, Life Science +17, Medicine +22, Mysticism 
  +22, Sense Motive +17
  Languages Aklo, Common, Infernal, Vercite
  Other Abilities access Akashic Record, peer into the future 1/
  day, skin mimic
  Gear clearweave IIAR, carbon staff, refraction perforator 
  pistolAR with 2 high-capacity batteries (40 charges each), 
  ring of sustenance, 3 mk 2 serums of healing, advanced 
  medkit, datapad
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Skin Mimic (Ex) See page 118 of the Starfinder Alien Archive.
  Development: Lod’s datapad is a tier 4 computer containing a 
  data module with a wealth of information about Aucturn, cults of 
  Verces, and planar gateways, along with a library of lore about 
  the Outer Gods. Hacking into this datapad requires a successful 
  DC 29 Computers check. It has a feedback countermeasure (Core 
  Rulebook 217). If the PCs hack into the datapad, they obtain 
  Lod’s logs, which allow them to learn much about the verthani 
  expedition. In addition, the datapad has information on numerous 
  bizarre cults, the Outer Gods, and Ezorod.
  Lod Coster was a serious man. He delved into lore of the 
  Outer Gods not out of faith or curiosity, but out of greed. Lod 
  realized that cults and fringe groups often discover and hoard 
  ancient treasures, and even better, nobody misses these cults 
  when they disappear. He tracked down such groups and took 
  their ill-gotten gains for himself. After a lifetime of research 
  and successfully disrupting numerous cults, Lod had amassed 
  a small fortune. He spent much of it on a gamble to find Ezorod 
  so he could plunder the relics he suspected it contains.
  The PCs might want to save Lod as doing so can gain them 
  a valuable ally. He is currently suffering the same afflictions 
  as Isella (see area B7); he normally has Constitution +1 and 
  Charisma +2. If cured, Lod returns to his former personality, 
  which is arrogant, self-assured, and greedy. Lod is glad to be 
  alive and far from broken up about the loss of his team.
  If he recovers in Ezorod, Lod is hesitant to share the spoils. 
  He joins the PCs, but he’s used to being in charge and becomes 
  coldly angry when disobeyed. If the PCs fail to heed his wishes, 
  he could withhold his aid until the PCs change their attitudes.
  In any case, if the PCs help Lod Coster survive, he might be 
  a good contact for them in the future. Even if they don’t, they 
  might learn via a speak with dead spell how he ran afoul of the 
  colour out of space and served it.
  30
  
  If they save Lod or ask the right questions via speak with 
  dead, the PCs can learn the following information. The Eshtayiv 
  doesn’t make plans the way mortal creatures understand them, 
  but they sometimes compel or influence other creatures to do 
  their bidding. Unable to affect the darkness engine directly, 
  the Eshtayiv called to a colour out of space to subvert the 
  device. The colour arrived in Ezorod in a metal meteor that a 
  corrupted guardian “discovered” and brought into the structure. 
  Unfortunately for the Eshtayiv, the sentinels of Ezorod here 
  were prepared for such invaders. They recognized the meteor 
  was a creature in its embryonic form and imprisoned it in B7 
  before it hatched. The colour lay forgotten in that chamber for 
  ages until Lod Coster stumbled upon it.
  The colour then used Lod to gather the keys and make its way 
  to the Illuminant Heart. Most of Ezorod’s current inhabitants, 
  indirect offspring of the Eshtayiv, ignored the colour and its 
  thrall. When the colour arrived in C7, it left Coster to his fate. 
  It inhabited the darkness engine, slowly infusing the darkness 
  around Ezorod with its alien hue.
  c3. cRAcked glAss HAll
  This angled hall contains two alcoves, each with countless 
  pieces of half-melted glass inset into the scorched stone of 
  the walls. A large block of translucent glass is also set into the 
  floor, and a hallway is just barely visible beneath it. Openings 
  lead out of the hall to the west and east.
  The alcoves (C3a and C3b) once bore depictions of the first 
  wardens of Ezorod and contained fragments of their souls. 
  Over the eons, the Eshtayiv’s rage caused the glass to melt 
  and fracture, making the images unrecognizable and nearly 
  obliterating the soulstuff trapped within. Each piece of glass 
  is only an inch or so in diameter, and if touched or jostled, 
  a fragment and those near it shatter, dealing 1d4 piercing 
  damage (Reflex DC 17 half) to creatures within 5 feet and 
  releasing a flash of psychic energy. A creature that takes 
  damage is also confused for 1 round (Will DC 17 negates). Each 
  mosaic contains hundreds of glass pieces, but an effect that 
  shatters them all causes the glass to deal no more than 10d4 
  damage to nearby creatures.
  The translucent glass in the floor is, despite its appearance, 
  just as sturdy as the stone throughout Ezorod. It allows a view 
  into C6 as though that area was directly below this room. A 
  PC who succeeds at a DC 20 Perception check when peering 
  through the translucent glass can hazily make out the three 
  stone cubes and the orb there, provided their light source can 
  illuminate the floor 25 feet below.
  c4. puRificAtion fonts
  This passageway angles slightly to the west. The northern 
  wall contains two triangular alcoves, and in each of them is a 
  large, semicircular basin jutting from the wall three feet from 
  the floor.
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  31
  
  The basins here were once used for ritual purification 
  purposes. The basin in the eastern alcove is cracked and empty, 
  while the basin in the western alcove contains a shallow pool 
  of gritty, gray sludge.
  Treasure: The sludge looks repulsive, but it is valuable. A PC 
  can recognize its effects by taking a few rounds to examine it 
  and succeeding at a DC 17 Mysticism check. The substance is 
  equivalent to serum of enhancement (sensate). The basin holds 
  enough for 3 doses.
  c5. endless HAll (cR 10)
  This long, straight hallway contains mirror-bright walls that 
  converge at a point that seems impossibly distant.
  This east-west hall looks impossibly long and, indeed, 
  a creature walking down it carelessly can do so forever and 
  never reach an end. Mirrored monoliths set into each or the 
  northern and southern walls create this spatial dilation. These 
  monoliths are essentially the same as the mirror slabs in area 
  B15, although these objects are perfected versions. They create 
  a teleportation field that affects anything, matter or energy, in 
  the hall.
  The field instantly teleports anything moving east or west 
  down the hall back to the entry side, making an apparently 
  infinitely long trip as the same 20 feet of hallway repeats over 
  and over. The teleportation field creates the visual illusion that 
  this corridor is made of a series of mirrored blocks 20 feet wide 
  and 25 feet tall, though in reality only two of these blocks 
  actually line the hall. Because of this field, anything to the east 
  of the mirrors is invisible to and cannot be reached by anything 
  to the west. Similarly, anything to the west of the mirrors is 
  invisible and cannot be reached by anything coming from the 
  east. Anything entering the space between the mirrors can 
  leave the side it entered by turning around and walking back. 
  No matter how far a creature thought it moved forward, upon 
  turning around and going back, the return distance is never 
  more than 20 feet.
  The field produces a detectable conjuration (teleportation) 
  aura, but a PC can overcome the effect in a manner similar 
  to disbelieving an illusion. A PC in the field can attempt a DC 
  18 Will save each round. On a failure, the PC remains in the 
  field for 1 round. On a success, the PC permanently overcomes 
  the effect, can move through the area normally, and sees the 
  20-foot section of hall as it actually is. A PC who witnesses 
  another creature move normally out of the seemingly endless 
  field gains a +4 circumstance bonus to overcome the effect. A 
  creature that has discerned the effect can’t carry an affected 
  creature out of the field. The affected creature still teleports 
  back to the entry point.
  Creature: A greater solar fire elemental waits at the east 
  side of this hall, out of sight of anyone approaching from 
  [map: half page M3 “The Illuminant Heart”]
  c. the illuminant heart
  C1
  C3
  C2
  C5
  C4
  C6
  C8
  C7
  C3b
  C3a
  1  SQUARE  = 10 FEET
  32
  
  BREATH-STEALER MASK
  The following item is found in area C6.
  BREATH-STEALER MASK 
  LEVEL  7
  HYBRID ITEM (WORN) 
  PRICE 6,800 
  BULK L
  This mask of dark stone is just large enough to fit over the 
  nose and mouth of a human, although it has a hole about 
  an inch across in the center. A ring of brassy metal, an alloy 
  of djezet and mithral, surrounds this hole on the mask’s 
  outside. The mask counts as a worn magic item unless you 
  install it in armor, taking up one upgrade slot.
  As a standard action while wearing the mask, you can 
  forcefully inhale. If you do so, creatures that need to breathe 
  within a 30-foot-radius spread of you must succeed at a 
  DC 17 Fortitude saving throw or become short of breath, 
  rendering them fatigued for 1 minute. You can exclude 
  any number of creatures from this effect. Environmental 
  protections offer no benefit against this effect. A target 
  exhausted by the mask can attempt a saving throw at the 
  end of each of its turns, ending that condition on itself 
  if successful. A target that succeeds at such a save still 
  remains fatigued for the full duration.
  Once you use this item, you can’t do so again until 
  you take a 10-minute rest during which you could regain 
  Stamina Points. If you use any breath-stealer mask, you 
  can’t use another for the same period. If you try to use 
  any breath-stealer mask more than three times per day, 
  the mask targets you and every breathing creature it can 
  within range of its power. You can spend 1 Resolve Point 
  to activate the mask without being subjected to these 
  limitations, but you can spend no more than 2 Resolve 
  Points per day to activate any breath-stealer mask.
  the west. This guardian watches intruders in the teleportation 
  field. As soon as a creature overcomes the field and can see the 
  elemental, it attacks.
  GREATER SOLAR FIRE ELEMENTAL 
  CR 9
  XP 6,400
  N Huge variant outsider (elemental, extraplanar, fire)
  Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +17
  DEFENSE 
  HP 145
  EAC 22; KAC 24
  Fort +13; Ref +11; Will +8
  Defensive Abilities void adaptation; DR 10/—; Immunities 
  elemental immunities, fire; Weaknesses vulnerable to cold
  OFFENSE
  Speed 50 ft.
  Melee slam +22 (2d10+15 B & F; critical burn 2d4)
  Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
  TACTICS
  During Combat The elemental stays on the east side of the 
  field, reaching into the field to strike with its slam. From 
  the perspective of any PC that hasn’t overcome the effect, 
  the attack looks like an impossibly long fiery fist coming 
  from the end of the hall, striking, and then pulling away.
  Morale Here to prevent anyone from going farther into the 
  Illuminant Heart, the elemental fights until destroyed.
  STATISTICS
  Str +6; Dex +4; Con +3; Int −3; Wis +0; Cha +0
  Skills Acrobatics +17, Athletics +17
  Feats Mobility
  Languages Ignan
  Other Abilities solar adaptation
  Story Award: The spatial dilation here increases this 
  encounter’s challenge. Award the PCs 3,200 extra XP when 
  they overcome it.
  c6. ARmoRy (cR 7)
  Three stone cubes, each about five feet on a side, stand in 
  this hallway. Each holds a strange device—one a mask, the 
  second a bracer, and the third a crystal. A spiny sphere about 
  five feet in diameter sits on the floor among them, under the 
  easternmost section of part of the ceiling made of translucent 
  glass. This glass provides a hazy view of a hallway above.
  Unlike the items in B16, the items here remain in good 
  condition because of the timeless nature of the Illuminant 
  Heart. Ilvatri has studied these devices and left them here, 
  trapped to foil intruders.
  Trap: In the center of the area, placed so it can hit anyone 
  near a plinth in this passageway, is a spiny sphere built as a trap 
  rather than a treasure. If the PCs touch the sphere or any other 
  object here, they trigger this trap. Its spikes burrow into flesh 
  and seek out vital organs.
  SEEKING-SPINES ORB 
   
  CR 7
  XP 3,200
  Type hybrid; Perception automatic to see the spiny orb; 
  Mysticism DC 30 to sense the pent-up energy and 
  recognize it as a trap; Disable Mysticism DC 25 (dispel the 
  spikes’ animation magic from a distance)
  Trigger touch; Duration 5 rounds; Reset none
  Effect spine +19 ranged (3d4 P); multiple targets (all targets 
  in 40-ft. radius); Secondary Effect at the end of each of its 
  turns, an affected target must succeed at a DC 17 Fortitude 
  save or take 1d4 piercing damage; on each failure, the 
  damage for the next round increases by 1d4, to a maximum 
  of 5d4 after the fourth failed save; a target that succeeds 
  at 2 consecutive saves ends the effect; a target that takes 
  10 or more damage in a single round from this ongoing 
  effect is stunned until the end of its next turn.
  Treasure: Three alien devices remain here on display: a breath-
  stealer mask, an arriver soul projector, and a bizarre crystal 
  equivalent to a minor gluon crystal. See the sidebars on pages 33 
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  33
  
  and 34 for descriptions of the first two items and page 180 of the 
  Core Rulebook for the crystal. The crystal’s function is apparent 
  to any solarian. Determining the function of an item otherwise 
  requires at least 10 minutes of evaluation and a successful 
  Engineering or Mysticism check (DC = 15 + 1-1/2 × the item’s 
  level). A PC can aid another using either skill. If a check succeeds 
  by 5 or more, the PC realizes that the item has been modified to 
  make it dangerous for the user. The detect affliction spell detects 
  the modification as if it’s a curse. Removing a modification works 
  as if repairing a broken object of the item’s level, but doing so 
  requires at least 2 hours and one successful application of 
  remove affliction (DC = 14 + the item’s level). Break enchantment 
  can remove the limitation without requiring repair (caster level 
  check DC = 10 + the item’s level).
  The harmful modifications vary by item. The breath-stealer 
  mask is modified so the wearer is also affected by every use 
  of the mask’s power. The soul projector is rigged to drain three 
  times as many Hit Points from its user. Finally, 
  the crystal is altered to inflict the crystal’s 
  critical hit effect on its user if the user rolls a 1 
  on an attack roll using the crystal.
  c7. dARkness engine (cR 10)
  As the PCs enter this room, they are close enough 
  to the colour out of space to experience its aura 
  of lassitude. An affected PC can’t willingly leave 
  Ezorod.
  A strange, coruscating light of a greenish hue 
  suffuses this odd-shaped chamber, eminating from a 
  massive machine of metal and stone that squats in the 
  southwest corner. Carved grooves in the floor around this 
  device resemble bizarre circuit boards. These grooves extend 
  out through a passage to the west and north through an 
  opening blocked by a curtain of darkness.
  The hybrid machine here maintains the darkness of Ezorod 
  that keeps the Eshtayiv bound. This “darkness engine” 
  resembles a solid-state computer server bank made of stone 
  and dark metal in a cube 10 feet on a side. It has no moving 
  parts. Only a low rumble and a few blinking lights indicate 
  it’s functioning. Constructed to operate for eons without 
  maintenance, the machine still requires occasional calibration. 
  However, the darkness engine can’t be adjusted from this room. 
  It is instead operated from area C8.
  Each 5-foot-cube of the darkness engine is as tough as a 
  starship bulkhead (Core Rulebook 408). Designed to repel any 
  form of sabotage, the engine also magically bleeds off damage it 
  takes through the “circuitry” in the floor. If the darkness engine 
  takes damage, the grooves on the floor flare with energy. Half 
  of the damage travels through the grooves into area C2 and 
  half travels into area C8. Creatures in those rooms take this 
  damage, electricity with the force descriptor, as the grooves in 
  those rooms flare. If multiple creatures are in a given room, the 
  SOUL PROJECTOR 
  The following item is found in area C6.
  SOUL PROJECTOR 
  LEVELS 9–20
  HYBRID ITEM (WORN) 
  BULK L
  MODEL 
  LEVEL 
  PRICE
  Arriver 
  9 
  15,000
  Returner 
  15 
  120,000
  Awakener 
  20 
  900,000
  A soul projector is a bracer of dark stone accented with 
  brassy metal. While you wear the bracer, you are proficient 
  with it, and you can’t be disarmed of 
  it. The bracer counts as a worn 
  magic item unless you install it in 
  armor, taking up one upgrade slot. 
  Unliving creatures can’t use a 
  soul projector.
  Each time you attack with a 
  soul projector, it draws forth a 
  tiny bit of your essence to power 
  itself, and you lose a number of 
  Hit Points equal to the number of 
  damage dice the projector deals to your 
  target. This drain of vitality bypasses DR, and 
  the soul projector fails to work if you take no 
  damage. However, if you spend 1 Resolve Point, 
  you can cause the weapon to work without taking 
  this damage.
  You can use the soul projector to make melee attacks 
  or ranged attacks with a range increment of 60 feet. These 
  attacks target EAC and deal piercing damage that has the 
  force descriptor. A soul projector is also a boost weapon, 
  although boosting the weapon increases the Hit Points the 
  weapon drains from you, with the total amount remaining 
  equal to the total number of damage dice rolled. The amount 
  of damage the weapon deals depends on the model of the 
  soul projector: an arriver deals 3d4 damage (boost 1d4), a 
  returner deals 6d4 (boost 3d4), and an awakener deals 10d4 
  (boost 5d4). When you score a critical with the weapon, you 
  recover the Hit Points you lost activating the soul projector, 
  as the weapon replaces your spiritual drain with a portion 
  of your target’s spirit.
  When your character level is within 2 levels of that of 
  the next-highest model of soul projector, you can upgrade 
  the item to its next model. To do so, you must acquire 
  magical ingredients including djezet, mithral, and diamond 
  worth the price of the more powerful soul projector, less 
  30% of the value of your current projector. You then use the 
  ingredients in a 1-hour ritual to upgrade your soul projector 
  to the higher-level model. You must also pay to upgrade 
  any weapon fusions you wish to keep on the weapon as if 
  transferring each of those fusions to a higher-level weapon.
  SOUL PROJECTOR
  34
  
  damage is divided equally among them. If no creatures are in a 
  room, the damage shunted there returns along the circuit in the 
  opposite direction, seeking viable targets in this room. In any 
  case, the darkness engine takes damage only if this cascading 
  energy finds no targets.
  Ilvatri is aware of the colour out of space, but he is 
  considering his next move. As a precautionary measure, the 
  heliacus sealed one direction of the passage between this 
  chamber and area C8. Creatures can come from area C8 to this 
  chamber, but not vice-versa. The curtain of darkness here is a 
  magical effect that acts as a one-way wall of force.
  Creature: The colour out of space occupies the space around 
  the darkness engine, and it can feed upon the darkness engine 
  as though it were a Drift engine. However, in the short term, its 
  feeding has had no effect on the device. It might be centuries 
  before the colour brightens the sphere around Ezorod enough 
  to set the Eshtayiv free, but the Eshtayiv and the colour are 
  both patient, nigh-immortal creatures.
  COLOUR OUT OF SPACE 
  CR 10
  XP 9,600
  HP 140 (Starfinder Alien Archive 2 28)
  TACTICS
  During Combat As soon as it detects other creatures in 
  the room, the colour starts to feed, switching to its 
  disintegrating touch if opponents attack it or prove 
  resistant to its feeding.
  Morale Confident in its defenses and prodigious immunities, 
  the colour out of space doesn’t retreat until reduced to 
  fewer than 30 Hit Points. If sufficiently injured, it flees 
  through the Illuminant Heart back to area B3, then flows 
  through the bubble and leaves Ezorod forever.
  Development: Ilvatri can open the curtain of darkness 
  between this area and area C8 at any time. However, if the PCs 
  defeat the colour out of space before meeting the heliacus, the 
  curtain remains in place. Ilvatri hopes the intruders perish to 
  other dangers before reaching him.
  If a PC attacks the darkness engine, then Ilvatri in area C8 
  takes any overflow damage. He watches to see whether the 
  grooves in area C8 continue to flare. If so, he makes his way 
  here to prevent further damage.
  c8. cAlibRAtion Room (cR 10) 
  If the PCs turn the corner from area C6 to area C8, they can see 
  the glow of the heliacus and the machinery before they enter.
  Ancient metal-and-stone devices, many bearing glowing 
  jewels in a variety of colors, rest in indentations on consoles. 
  A curtain of darkness obscures an entrance to the west, and 
  several circuit-like grooves span the floor beneath the curtain 
  to a console in a northern angled alcove. A dark orb studded 
  with luminous gemstones that pulse like breathing creatures 
  sits atop the console. 
  Any PC who succeeds at a DC 22 Engineering or Mysticism 
  check can tell this area is some sort of control room. Analyzing 
  the equipment requires more time than the PCs have if the 
  creature is present (see Development and Treasure on page 36).
  Creature: The heliacus Ilvatri broods here. He knows the 
  PCs arrived in the Illuminant Heart through his connection 
  to the devices here, just as he knows of Lod and the colour 
  out of space. The latter creature Ilvatri considers to be his real 
  problem, since he wishes Ezorod, his home, to endure. If the 
  PCs have already defeated the colour out of space, Ilvatri tells 
  them they’ve served a greater purpose—his. He spares them 
  long enough to exchange knowledge—see the Development 
  section. If the colour endures, Ilvatri sees a use for the PCs. 
  When they arrive here, read or paraphrase the following.
  A gigantic creature that looks like a blackened corpse mantled 
  with fire stands and gestures grandly. It wears garments of 
  coppery metal and dark stone.
  “Welcome!” says its deep telepathic voice. “I am Ilvatri, 
  master of this place. Please, do not allow my appearance 
  to set your limited, fretful minds into a state of irrationality. 
  Listen instead! I have an offer for you.”
  Ilvatri considers the PCs to be his lessers, and so he 
  is arrogant and rude. He pauses for pleasantries and 
  introductions. If the PCs allow him, he continues.
  “You are uninvited here. Nevertheless, you have come, and 
  like you, another creature has invaded my sanctum. This 
  bizarre colour has begun to defile the darkness engine. I want 
  you to destroy this creature. In return, rather than killing you 
  where you stand for your impudence, I shall entertain your 
  questions and exchange knowledge with you.”
  Ilvatri is careful to avoid any suggestion that he won’t slay 
  the PCs later—he intends to. In truth, he hopes to claim their 
  starship and, after learning how to use it, eventually leave 
  Ezorod. The heliacus is a poor bluffer, but PCs who are pliable 
  due to the Eshtayiv’s Touch might believe him anyway. Some 
  possible interactions the PCs can have with Ilvatri follow. Use 
  them to guide other avenues of conversation.
  What is this place? “This is the center of the Illuminant Heart. 
  It calibrates the darkness engine and the extradimensional 
  connections. In turn, it keeps the Eshtayiv bound.”
  Why are you here? “I was born here, long ago, from a mortal 
  shell. Unlike my kin, I ascended from hungering fire to this 
  glorious form.”
  Kin? “Other undead here could become like I am, but the 
  pyric fire consumes their minds. I have tamed the fire.”
  Pyric fire? “Magnificent in its form is the fire of pure death. 
  It burns that which can’t be burned, for nothing can escape 
  death in the end.”
  Why don’t you destroy the colour? “I could. However, I 
  admit the pyric fire is weak against it. You have other tools 
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  35
  
  Ilvatri is curious about the PCs and interested in how they 
  learned of Ezorod. He asks where they came from and how they 
  got here. He also inquires about PCs who have magical powers, 
  asking about their traditions and methods. Despite his thirst 
  for knowledge, Ilvatri remains haughty, and he is especially 
  scornful of religion.
  Eventually, the heliacus tires of the PCs. He attacks, perhaps 
  right in the middle of a conversation.
  ILVATRI 
  CR 10
  XP 9,600
  Male pyric heliacus (see page 59)
  HP 145
  TACTICS
  During Combat Ilvatri toys with the PCs, dividing them with 
  wall of fire. Initially mocking, he becomes deadly serious 
  when reduced to half his Hit Points, concentrating on 
  killing PCs who are the most seriously wounded.
  Morale If reduced to fewer than 35 Hit Points, Ilvatri 
  abandons area C8 and flees to area B1. He ambushes the 
  PCs and makes a last effort there, fighting to the end to 
  prevent the group from leaving Ezorod with the Sun Diver.
  Treasure: The solar inverter is a piece of hybrid technology 
  that dampens the heat and brightness of the sun to create cool 
  darkness like that in Ezorod. Identifying the device without 
  Ilvatri’s help works like identifying the devices in area C6. This 
  object is a part of its console, which is like the modules that 
  project and maintain the bubbles around the enclaves of the 
  Burning Archipelago. However, the solar inverter is an extra 
  component, making Ezorod’s bubble far stronger and more 
  efficient than anything known in the Pact Worlds. Its salvage, 
  which Nib requested, is sure to revolutionize solar-bubble tech 
  and could stabilize the Sun Diver’s systems, enabling the vessel 
  to perform better in the future. In any case, the object merits 
  study, and the DCI is likely to be the best place for that analysis 
  to occur. Removing the solar inverter from its console will 
  eliminate the darkness from Ezorod’s bubble, making it more 
  like the polarized spheres of the Burning Archipelago; doing so 
  requires 30 minutes of careful work.
  Development: If the PCs fail to otherwise gain the info, they 
  can spend time learning more about the alien tech here. Doing 
  so without help requires 4 hours, less a number of hours equal 
  to the amount by which a PC exceeds a DC 30 Engineering 
  or Mysticism check (minimum 30 minutes). PCs trained in 
  Computers, Engineering, Mysticism, or Physical Science can aid 
  on this check. Taking 10 is also possible, but taking 20 requires 
  10 hours of work, less 1 hour for each PC who aids in the task.
  CONCLUDING THE ADVENTURE
  Once the PCs remove the solar inverter, the darkness engine 
  cycles down to a lower level of function. The darkness in the 
  sphere around Ezorod fades over the course of 10 minutes. As it 
  does, Ezorod begins to quake violently, as if a massive creature 
  at your disposal. I can offer you an additional one, which only 
  those of your limited nature can use.” If asked what he means 
  by “limited,” Ilvatri shrugs and replies, “Mortal. Living.”
  If the PCs have the items from area C6, Ilvatri reveals that each 
  has a limitation he can remove. He offers to do so. To PCs who 
  lack those items, Ilvatri describes the objects and their location, 
  pointing out that his research indicates the soul projector is an 
  ideal weapon against the colour out of space. He also warns of the 
  trap in that area and explains how to disarm it. (If the PCs speak 
  of disarming this trap, Ilvatri mockingly congratulates them on 
  their cleverness. It’s clear he doesn’t mean the compliment. He 
  admits he isn’t surprised if the PCs confess to falling victim to the 
  trap.) Ilvatri won’t go to the armory to disarm the trap himself. 
  The PCs have to take the risk.
  Other Topics: If the PCs try to engage Ilvatri about other 
  topics—such as the technology in this room, the Eshtayiv, or 
  the verthani explorers—he waves a fiery hand dismissively and 
  insists that such information is a reward for a task well done.
  If the PCs agree to attack the colour out of space, Ilvatri 
  points out the passage to area C7 in the west end of the control 
  room. He also reveals that the passage is one-way. The heliacus 
  vows to reopen the passageway when the colour is slain, and 
  he honors this promise when the time comes.
  Further Discussions: When the PCs return after defeating 
  the colour out of space, Ilvatri talks to them for a while. The 
  heliacus is a font of information. He can relate the purpose of 
  Ezorod clearly, although he doesn’t know its history, which 
  spans the Gap. Ilvatri also describes the machines here, which 
  serve mostly to calibrate the darkness engine that keeps the 
  Eshtayiv captive.
  One machine allows its user to observe other parts of 
  Ezorod. A character touching the machine can cause it to create 
  a magical sensor in any one area of Ezorod that user visualizes. 
  Doing so requires a successful DC 20 Mysticism check, and the 
  sensor acts like an arcane eye within the visualized area. The 
  same machine allows a user to create a curtain of darkness, like 
  that between areas C7 and C8, on either entryway to area C8. 
  Doing so also requires a successful DC 20 Mysticism check.
  In addition, one user can psychically bond with this machine. 
  While Ilvatri exists, no other creature can do so. Once Ilvatri 
  is destroyed, bonding with the machine requires 1 hour and 
  a successful DC 25 Mysticism check, on which the user can’t 
  take 10 or 20, though failure merely extends the amount 
  of time required to forge the bond. A bonded user has a +4 
  circumstance bonus on Mysticism checks to use the machine 
  and can sense when someone or something new arrives in 
  Ezorod. Such a user also discovers a vast library of esoteric 
  lore stored in the machine, which is conveyed to the mind in 
  Aklo. What the connected PC might learn is up to you, but no 
  information exists from before or during the Gap. 
  If asked, Ilvatri describes the dark, bejeweled orb on the 
  console in the angled alcove as a solar inverter. The bonding 
  machine can also convey this lore to a bonded user (see 
  Treasure below for more information).
  36
  
  were thrashing inside it. Psychic quakes also occur, allowing 
  each creature affected by the aura of lassitude a new saving 
  throw with a +4 circumstance bonus.
  Ezorod begins to crumble from the shaking. Play this 
  crumbling up for effect to push the PCs back to the Sun Diver. 
  Falling debris might seem to threaten the PCs, but it doesn’t 
  stop them. Similar wreckage might smash foes in the PCs’ way 
  or cut those opponents off from making an effective pursuit.
  Shortly after the PCs take off in the Sun Diver, Ezorod 
  implodes. A massive psychic roar reverberates inside the sun, 
  momentarily overwhelming the PCs. Anyone still afflicted by 
  the Eshtayiv’s Touch is immediately cured, its hollowing grip 
  on their soul loosening and then pulling away. Although the 
  PCs can’t know for sure what has happened, evidence suggests 
  they might have released the Eshstayiv. That ambiguity is 
  intentional. The Eshtayiv shows up again in the campaign only 
  if you decide they do. The premature destruction of Ezorod 
  could instead have destroyed the Eshtayiv or banished them 
  to some other plane.
  While the PCs consider the ramifications of this occurrence, 
  they also feel an oppressive psychic force they weren’t aware 
  of loosen. Any PC who has telepathy or training in Mysticism 
  intuits that Ezorod, its prisoner, or both was a psychic dampener 
  of sorts, gathering and suppressing such signals.
  As this fact becomes clear, a strong sense of impending 
  doom washes over the PCs. Lashuntas recognize this sensation 
  as a stronger version of that which the lashuntas of Asanatown 
  constantly feel. The source must be the same. 
  [art: AP16 half-page “Final Battle”]
  Read or paraphrase the following. 
  The feeling becomes despair, but then it clarifies into a mix 
  of fear, desperation, and resolve, as well impressions that 
  communicate the emotions are associated with someone of 
  feminine gender. The telepathic feeling then shifts into a voice.
  She says, “I sense you receive me. I—Faeffell, Protector of 
  Kahlannal—greet you. Efreet have attacked our city, bent on 
  conquest. No one in the bright, burning void or the darkness 
  between will be safe from them for long. Take our warning. 
  Come! Help us and help yourselves. I beg you!”
  The PCs not only feel and hear this psychic message, but they 
  also see brief visions. In these visions is a cityscape similar to the 
  Burning Archipelago with significant enough differences. Eight 
  bubbles make up the city, connected by shielded tubes and with 
  a spiral tower in the center. Efreet and other creatures of fire war 
  on alien humanoids in the metropolis. A dragon with scales like 
  coruscating plasma appears. It and the city recede into solar fire, 
  until the PCs see the Sun Diver, then themselves. They intuitively 
  understand where the city of Kahlannal is, but the Sun Diver 
  can’t reach it without refitting. Any PC trained in Engineering, 
  Computers, or Physical Science suddenly has an algorithm, a 
  countermeasure code, in mind. PCs who receive this algorithm 
  know it must be programmed into the Sun Diver’s computer to 
  allow the starship to enter the city of Kahlannal.
  The exploration and liberation of this city occur in the next 
  adventure, Starfinder Adventure Path #17: Solar Strike!
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  37
  
  38
  “I was working a dull customs job on Vesk-2, and when 
  the sensors notified me that the mass of that Aballonian 
  ship didn’t match the manifest, I went to take a look just 
  to stretch my legs. That thing they built around the power 
  core... it was beautiful, in a weird way. I’m pretty sure some 
  part of a vesk was in there. One of its mouths moved. I never 
  heard what it said. I just blew the whole thing up, knowing 
  I’d get fired. But I didn’t. In fact, a couple of agents from 
  the Division of Disloyal Organizations showed up, said 
  they believed me, and offered me a new job with them. I 
  kept the old one. I don’t mind the boredom anymore.”
  —Jeskazurai, cargo-evaluations officer
  CULTS OF THE GALAXY
  
  39
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  g
  roups dedicated to ideas that diverge from the 
  mainstream—often venturing into questionable or 
  downright evil practices along the way. In a galaxy 
  of countless worlds and myriad societies, there is no way 
  to effectively document every cult lurking in the shadows, 
  though they all share a few common themes. Most are 
  secretive, offering “true knowledge” only once a member 
  has been properly initiated, and most cults discourage their 
  members from leaving. Some curtail communication with 
  the outside world entirely. Many demand contributions of 
  financial resources, service, political connections, or some 
  combination of the above from their members. All of them 
  promise some benefit to members, whether health, wealth, 
  happiness, truth, or righteousness, even if the delivery of 
  such benefits is limited.
  Perhaps the best-known cults in the Pact Worlds are 
  those of the Outer Gods, particularly with the rising fame 
  of Aucturn’s Carsai the King. The Cult of the Devourer also 
  appears regularly in Pact Worlds media; see pages 46–51 in 
  Starfinder Adventure Path #2: Temple of the Twelve for details 
  on this notorious organization. Players interested in exploring 
  their characters’ relationship to cults might choose the cultist 
  theme (Starfinder Pact Worlds 147) or the cult hunter theme 
  presented in this article. 
  ATAXXEA
  The Shadari Confederacy (Starfinder Core Rulebook 468) is 
  the home of fugitives and refugees from dozens of worlds, 
  many of whom were uprooted by the neighboring Azlanti Star 
  Empire. The most powerful bloc within the confederacy is the 
  parareligious philosophy of Ataxxea.
  According to Ataxxea, the inevitable course of entropy is 
  to be honored. Followers of Ataxxea refrain from preventing 
  the natural decay of the universe, creating only items that 
  hasten this decay through the use of negative energy. The 
  mysterious sceaduinars, native outsiders of the Negative 
  Energy Plane, quietly support Ataxxea with weapons, other 
  technology, and their very existence.
  MEMBERS
  Ataxxea has a widespread following, but its cradle lies in the 
  Shadari Confederacy. Its power is so great that even followers 
  of competing philosophies and religions in the region find it 
  expedient to offer lip service. Many individuals in the border 
  regions around the Azlanti Star Empire adhere to Ataxxea as 
  a sign of rebellion or simply to have an ally in the fight. The 
  cult’s message that the world should be left to rot resonates 
  with these unfortunates, even if they don’t have time to delve 
  into the intricacies of its esoteric philosophy.
  Ataxxea’s true believers are easily identified, having 
  received tattoos of the Eye of Enlightenment. The ink 
  used is infused with negative energy, which makes the 
  mark incredibly long lasting and often grants the recipient 
  supernatural abilities.
  LEADERS
  The preeminent leader of Ataxxea is Shabarae the Ascendant 
  (NE female draelik solarian). Having risen through the ranks 
  due to her skills in manipulating negative energy, Shabarae 
  has proven a focused and ruthless leader. Although she holds 
  no official position in the Shadari Confederacy, her input 
  sways many Low Council decisions, and she controls the 
  hierarchy of priestlike leaders, known as Enlightened, who 
  command vast influence throughout the confederacy.
  The sceaduinars, in as much as anyone has communicated 
  directly with these hate-filled outsiders, do not adhere to 
  Ataxxea so much as support its spread across the Material 
  Plane. The cult upholds these creatures as all but deific—an 
  ideal of existence—and as patrons who offer guidance and 
  gifts to further their goals.
  GOALS
  The philosophy’s grand goal is to shepherd along the stately 
  advancement of entropy, largely through negative energy 
  technology like the draeliks’ iconic shadowstaves. One belief 
  of some Ataxxeans is that once enough negative energy 
  has entered the universe this way, the rightful path of the 
  universe toward decay will be restored… and unstoppable.
  One tool, provided by the sceaduinars themselves, is the 
  Unmaker. Ataxxea’s leaders believe this being, a wounded 
  creature hailing from the creation of the universe, holds 
  the key to reversing that creation. After decades of study, 
  Ataxxeans have tested the secrets of unmaking on several 
  small worlds, leaving them lifeless and covered with crystals 
  that glow with negative energy.
  A smaller project of the faith—though no less significant—
  is an attempt to fabricate a soul composed of negative 
  energy, rather than positive. Some of the cult’s members, 
  including Shabarae the Ascendant, cultivate rumors that 
  they have made themselves into beings of negative energy 
  akin to sceaduinars, but to date no one has managed to make 
  anything close to a new soul. Most attempts have resulted 
  only in the creation of various types of undead.
  ENEMIES
  Ataxxeans have few allies. They scorn most deities, who 
  they feel betrayed the sceaduinars at creation, and they view 
  undeath as a disease that perverts negative energy. While 
  outsiders see little difference between the philosophy of 
  Ataxxea and the Cult of the Devourer, Ataxxeans resent such 
  comparisons and see followers of the Devourer as little more 
  than children trying to break a toy they don’t understand.
  But it is the Azlanti Star Empire that most threatens the 
  Shadari Confederacy by working to purge those who adhere 
  to Ataxxea wherever they find it. Ataxxea, in turn, reaches 
  out to other enemies of the Azlanti. Many refugees have been 
  shepherded to safety and resistance fighters gifted horrifying 
  weapons in exchange for simply listening to the philosophy 
  of Ataxxea.
  
  40
  THE FORGIVEN
  One of the major tenets of Sarenrae’s religion is the constant 
  striving to offer redemption to those who embrace evil. 
  According to the cultists calling themselves the Forgiven, this 
  means the best way to glorify her is to do the worst possible 
  things, be the worst possible person, and then ask for—and 
  accept—forgiveness. 
  The idea originated on Nukalara, a Near Space world, 
  where the high priest of a particularly corrupt church began 
  preaching the doctrine as a justification for his own vile 
  behavior—via far-reaching multimedia broadcasts. The idea 
  quickly caught on among the selfish and the cruel, and it has 
  spread still farther in recent years.
  MEMBERS
  Though the cult arose on a Near Space world, it rapidly 
  spread, given its leader’s growing celebrity status and 
  the appeal of the philosophy. Most of the Forgiven 
  uphold the doctrine in a facile sense to provide blanket 
  justification for a hedonistic lifestyle utterly free of 
  guilt and shame. These followers are less prone 
  to spreading the ideology—leaving that task 
  to the sect’s head—but the sheer number 
  of them lends credibility to the group as 
  a whole. 
  More 
  recently, 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  young people have embraced the 
  philosophy ironically, but more than 
  a few are brought into the cult 
  proper—typically at extravagant, 
  debauched parties—before they 
  realize that they have begun 
  upholding its tenets in earnest. 
  LEADERS
  High Priest Laroedahn (CE 
  male 
  aasimarAA2 
  envoy) 
  is 
  the undisputed leader of the 
  Forgiven, having originated the 
  philosophy to provide a cover 
  for his own terrible abuses of power. 
  He has since built a galaxy-spanning media 
  empire founded upon the ideology. This adoration 
  has convinced him of the truth of his views, which 
  he now espouses far more faithfully than he ever 
  did the doctrines upheld by most of Sarenrae’s 
  church. Less than a year ago, he claims he was 
  confronted by a pair of angels sent by Sarenrae 
  in “the ultimate test of his faith,” an encounter 
  he often recounts in media interviews 
  and that only furthers his sense of 
  righteousness. He surrounds himself 
  with a court of sycophantic and equally 
  despicable priests.
  GOALS
  Laroedahn doesn’t dream of anything so grand as ascending to 
  godhood or ruling the universe. Instead, he’d like to acquire a 
  private planet where he can indulge in his vices without having 
  to follow any rules of decency. He will offer the cult’s growing 
  political clout to any faction that can make that dream come true. 
  Most of the cult’s followers are concerned only with 
  having a good time through various debauches. Those in the 
  inner circles, however, end up spending just as much time 
  covering for themselves and one another as they do enjoying 
  the excesses of their faith. Much of the cult’s considerable 
  resources goes toward destroying evidence, disposing of 
  bodies, silencing witnesses, and blocking investigations. 
  ENEMIES
  The core church of Sarenrae has found that the more 
  it overtly condemns the Forgiven, the worse the 
  cult’s behavior gets and the larger its following, 
  and so the church has begun to enlist outside aid 
  in the form of independent investigators and even 
  the occasional team of adventurers to curb the 
  faction’s worst abuses. Local authorities (in 
  areas where they haven’t been paid by the 
  cult to look the other way) are also a major 
  problem for the Forgiven, as most of the 
  cults’ activities are not merely vile but 
  outright illegal.
  KEEPERS OF THE 
  LIE
  Shortly after the end of the Gap, 
  a group of vesk soldiers and 
  researchers on the icy wastelands 
  of Vesk-8 uncovered a being 
  encased in the ice. Though it 
  couldn’t 
  move, 
  the 
  entity 
  telepathically 
  informed 
  the 
  vesk they were being lied to, 
  their entire existences simple 
  contrivances, as the universe had been 
  created from whole cloth after the Gap.
  From that seed grew an organized crime 
  empire, now called the Keepers of the Lie, that 
  has since spread throughout the Veskarium. The 
  call to throw off the bonds of race, family, religion, 
  and past continues to draw the disaffected to their 
  ranks. Along with gaining a new family in the Liars, 
  as these street-level members are often called, they 
  also learn the ways of smuggling, extortion, and 
  slavery. But within that vast enterprise, 
  the story told by the mysterious frozen 
  entity remains the driving force of the 
  False Witnesses, the organization’s 
  innermost circle. 
  LAROEDAHN
  
  41
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  MEMBERS
  Still centered in the Veskarium, the Liars draw most of their 
  members from races found in that system. Vesk are naturally 
  the most numerous, closely followed by pahtras (Starfinder 
  Alien Archive 2 94) of Vesk-6.
  After an introductory mission, often symbolically chosen 
  to help the initiate sever their connection with the past, the 
  new Liar is given a new name and assigned to a gang. The 
  gangs intentionally include members of as many races and 
  backgrounds as possible, working to break down old ties to 
  make way for new ones.
  LEADERS
  The False Witnesses are the central council for the criminal 
  network, with one member representing each world on 
  which the Liars have a substantial presence. One last seat, 
  representing Vesk-8 despite its desolation, is held by the form 
  they cut from the ice centuries ago. Still frozen, now through 
  mechanical means for its own safety, the shadowy form rarely 
  speaks—but when it whispers, the council inevitably accepts 
  its judgment. Even the creature itself does not know its own 
  story. It awoke from the Gap knowing that it was once the 
  herald of a god but had been cast down. Without knowing the 
  reason for its dismissal or even which god it had followed, it 
  seeks a new truth for itself just as much as any of its followers.
  GOALS
  Although street-level members are mostly concerned with 
  daily criminal operations and burying their own pasts, the 
  inner circles of the organization use the resources at their 
  disposal to destroy the “lie” of the Gap. Smuggled artifacts are 
  destroyed, historical buildings are demolished, and databases 
  containing pre-Gap information are targeted for deletion. 
  Long-lived beings who recall times prior to the Gap are seen 
  as tools of the gods’ control to be discredited or even killed.
  Naturally, the False Witnesses do not currently have the 
  means required to wipe the slate clean, and so the organization 
  is always on the lookout for new opportunities, legal or not, to 
  gather more resources. 
  ENEMIES
  The Keepers of the Lie consider the followers of Lao Shu Po to 
  be their greatest enemy. A ysoki representative on the council 
  was revealed to be a spy for Grandmother Rat’s church, 
  beginning a vicious series of purges and reprisals that have 
  soured relations to this day. 
  The Veskarium’s official Division of Disloyal Organizations 
  was originally founded to help prevent the spread of the 
  Keepers of the Lie, and later expanded its mission to control 
  similar organizations. Some believe the division has itself been 
  infiltrated by the organization, as it seems far more effective 
  against other factions than it is against the Keepers of the Lie.
  The true mission of the central council sets the cult in 
  opposition to the Starfinder Society, but the groups haven’t 
  engaged in any sort of open conflict yet. However, as the 
  council recently appointed a member to represent Absalom 
  Station, that seems likely to change.
  LIGHTS OF NHIMBALOTH
  The list of the Outer Gods seems endless, and even the 
  strangest among them have mortal followers. One such cult 
  is dedicated to Nhimbaloth, the Outer Goddess of despair, 
  ghosts, and swamps. In ancient times, she was relegated to 
  desolate shorelines and tangled swamps, a parallel for her own 
  existence on the edges of the River of Souls, consuming those 
  predators that prey upon the spirits of the dead. A mysterious 
  cult referring to itself as the Lights of Nhimbaloth believes that 
  the Drift is a type of waterway with its own unique predators 
  and that Nhimbaloth encourages them to hunt those beings in 
  the same manner as she stalks the River of Souls. 
  MEMBERS
  The members of the Lights of Nhimbaloth patrol the twisted 
  stretches of the Drift in starships bristling with weaponry, 
  searching for creatures and other vessels that attacked 
  travelers and killing them in return. However, these crews 
  aren’t focused on protecting innocents; they usually wait 
  until travelers in the Drift are defeated by their foes before 
  swooping in to destroy those attackers. The Lights of 
  Nhimbaloth are ruthless when they strike, giving no quarter 
  and expecting none in return.
  Many of the Lights of Nhimbaloth are sentient undead 
  piloting starships with corroded hulls and engines that should 
  by all rights be nonfunctional. Whether living or dead, the 
  members of this cult cover their faces with masks or shawls, 
  presenting blank, empty visages. They also tend to go about 
  their deadly work in utter silence.
  LEADERS
  As most Lights of Nhimbaloth operate in small groups aboard 
  their starships, there isn’t any real organization or power 
  structure to be had, though a few individuals have been 
  around long enough that they’ve earned the respect of others 
  who know about them. 
  GOALS
  The cult has no true overall goal; they merely enjoy the thrill 
  of battle against those who prey upon travelers within the 
  Drift. They tend to live aboard their starships, stopping to 
  restock and refuel on the Material Plane only when necessary. 
  Some followers believe they are the chosen of Nhimbaloth 
  and aim to expand her influence over the universe. These 
  cultists seek to call her forth by leaving the carcasses of Drift 
  predators floating through the plane surrounded by beacons 
  that flash in particular patterns to catch the goddess’s 
  attention. None can say whether these sacrifices are effective, 
  as the bodies often are swallowed by clouds of Drift energy 
  before they can be found again.
  
  42
  ENEMIES
  Few know about the Lights of Nhimbaloth, and those who do 
  often see them as a force of justice, avenging those who are 
  killed in the Drift by violent forces. However, the Stewards 
  keep an eye for Lights of Nhimbaloth vessels that return to 
  Material Plane space, suspecting some might be responsible 
  for leading predators to prey, though it is difficult to identify 
  their vessels by sight alone. 
  Many priests of Triune see the Lights of Nhimbaloth’s 
  presence within the Drift as an affront to their deity. A small 
  faction of the cult has recently infiltrated Alluvion, the city at 
  the center of the Drift, and provided the city’s coordinates to 
  their allies, allowing them to resupply without returning to 
  the Material Plane. Triunite officials are busy attempting to 
  ferret out these cultists, all the while wondering why Triune 
  would allow them to approach their holy city.
  PORTALSEERS
  When a collection of rifts that looked out onto other planes 
  was discovered under the surface of Nazerum, a frozen world 
  orbiting the flickering core of an ancient star in Near Space, 
  the planet quickly became a tourist destination. Scientists 
  briefly studied these “windows” and determined nothing could 
  pass through them, and soon people from across the galaxy 
  came to witness breathtaking vistas of the Elemental Planes, 
  Heaven, Hell, and other planes in relative safety. Some believe 
  an ancient civilization created the portals as entertainment, 
  while others think they are naturally occurring.
  However, when stories began to circulate a few years ago 
  that the energy from the rifts could heal almost any affliction, 
  a pseudoreligious group coalesced from those wishing to 
  control and benefit from this phenomenon. They came to be 
  known as the Portalseers and gained complete control over 
  Nazerum. They now control access to the rifts, and access 
  comes at a high price. 
  MEMBERS
  Membership in the Portalseers is small, and the group has 
  only a few dozen members. Though they come from several 
  different planets, all of them now live on Nazerum in a bunker 
  that straddles the entrance to the mystical underground 
  caves. Most members rotate their duties within the bunker 
  and the caves, keeping the business of allowing visitors to 
  the rifts running smoothly. A scant few others operate on 
  other worlds, finding those who both need and can afford the 
  portals’ powers and ferrying them to and from the planet.
  LEADERS
  The leader of the Portalseers, Kaelee Cadlucaas (NE female 
  human envoy), keeps her past a secret, not even deigning to 
  speak the name of her original home planet. Kaelee is fond 
  of saying that Nazerum is her home now, and many of the 
  Portalseers follow suit. Kaelee controls nearly every aspect 
  of the Portalseers’ lives, establishing duty rosters and having 
  final say on which visitors are allowed access to which rifts. 
  The Portalseers view her as a kind, motherly figure—an image 
  reinforced by Kaelee’s gray hair and smiling eyes.
  GOALS
  Ostensibly the Portalseer’s goals is to aid the sick by using 
  the planar energies of the rifts, but their effectiveness is 
  questionable. The Portalseers seem to take in those whose 
  maladies are ill defined and, some would say, psychosomatic. 
  Of course, guests to Nazerum return home claiming to feel 
  recharged and energized, their expensive treatment worth 
  every credit. This word-of-mouth praise and the air of 
  exclusivity fostered by the Portalseers mean they will always 
  be able to find clients among the rich and gullible. 
  Though Kaelee claims that every credit the Portalseers take 
  in is used to maintain their facilities and study the effects of 
  the rifts, she secretly has a private bank account that is quietly 
  growing through embezzlement. Only a handful of other 
  Portalseers are aware of this account, and they do everything 
  in their power to deflect suspicion away from Kaelee, though it 
  is unclear how she has engendered this loyalty.
  ENEMIES
  The Portalseers don’t allow outsiders to study the rifts and 
  haven’t accepted a new member since their founding. This 
  hasn’t stopped a small group within the priesthood of Eloritu 
  from attempting to infiltrate the Portalseers to discover 
  Nazerum’s secrets. So far, they have posed as wealthy clients 
  but have been turned away twice.
  Kaelee’s hidden wealth has also attracted the attention 
  of the Aspis Consortium, who sees the supposed scam of 
  the Portalseers as another financial windfall it can control. 
  Several Aspis agents have sent communiqués to Kaelee to 
  establish terms for this merger but have received only thinly 
  veiled threats in response. 
  SCALES OF THE CONQUEROR
  Although worship of Damoritosh is widespread throughout 
  the Veskarium, the Conqueror and his church do not recognize 
  all who claim to follow him. One sect has been gaining 
  popularity lately, known as the Scales of the Conqueror, by 
  advocating for strict enslavement of conquered worlds.
  MEMBERS
  The members of the Scales are exclusively vesk, generally 
  recruited while serving in the Veskarium military, as several 
  commanding officers and some entire units have been turned 
  to the Scales’ cause. Even after military service, many of 
  the members remain supporters of the sect in civilian life, 
  leaving the Scales with an unknown number of supporters 
  throughout the Veskarium.
  Under threat from the families of those they have killed, the 
  main church of Damoritosh, and the Veskarium government, 
  active members of the Scales wear masks with the doshko 
  
  43
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  blades of Damoritosh’s holy symbol rearranged to form an 
  interlocking shield. For now, this anonymity protects the 
  Scales of the Conqueror as their numbers continue to swell.
  LEADERS
  Symbolically, the head of the organization is Damoritosh, 
  spreading his commands through warmonger devils (Starfinder 
  Alien Archive 2 36) summoned from his divine realm. These 
  messengers pass on orders that are then filtered through the 
  Scales’ strict hierarchy.
  However, the secretive First Scale (LE female vesk 
  technomancer) is responsible for summoning the devils and 
  feeding the summoned creatures their lines to be spoken in 
  Damoritosh’s name. She firmly believes that Damoritosh’s 
  priests are cowards, unwilling to encourage full iron-handed 
  dominance over the other citizens of the Veskarium.
  GOALS
  The Scales find the limited self-rule offered to 
  species like skittermanders to be incredibly galling, 
  tantamount to abandoning Damoritosh’s holy 
  mission. Ultimately, they wish for the Veskarium 
  to embrace their view of the Conqueror’s will, 
  likely with the First Scale installed as a ruler 
  above the high despots.
  In the meantime, members spend most 
  of their time leading normal lives, only 
  occasionally gathering to violently enforce their 
  will on conquered populations. These attacks are 
  often carefully chosen to attract retaliation and 
  gather more vesk support to the Scales’ cause. The 
  First Scale believes the residents of Vesk-2 in particular 
  are close to open revolt, and she is watching for the right 
  spark to allow for a broad crackdown.
  ENEMIES
  The Veskarium’s Division of Disloyal Organizations and 
  Damoritosh’s actual church are deeply interested in extirpating 
  the Scales, particularly because its members frequently 
  disobey direct orders from their military commanders or 
  their god. However, popular support is high enough and the 
  Scales’ membership secretive enough that no 
  large-scale purges have occurred.
  The Scales also clash with the Keepers 
  of the Lie, whose vesk members they see 
  as traitors. The First Scale strives to rein in 
  these fights, however, as the Scales aren’t 
  yet powerful enough to take on the much 
  older organization. 
  THOSE WHO CREATE
  The anacites of Aballon were created by 
  a mysterious precursor race known as the 
  First Ones. Among the anacites, Those Who 
  Become believe they should take over the First Ones’ mission 
  to colonize new worlds, while Those Who Wait believe that 
  all anacites should prepare for the return of the First Ones.
  The anacites known as Those Who Create stand apart from 
  both sects in their belief that anacites were abandoned by 
  the First Ones and that they should be spending their effort 
  not waiting for or emulating failed leaders, but building better 
  ones. They consider the machine god Epoch, now part of 
  Triune, to be a proof of concept that such a thing is not only 
  possible but within their grasp.
  FIRST SCALE
  
  44
  MEMBERS
  Although founded by anacites, Those Who Create welcome 
  all who would work toward their goals. Some androids and 
  SROs (Starfinder Pact Worlds 213) have joined the cause, 
  along with a few of the cult’s surviving experiments—beings 
  that are equal parts organic and technological, infused with 
  planar energies.
  LEADERS
  Each cell of Those Who Create builds and incessantly 
  improves upon its own “First One,” which whispers strange 
  and often confusing commands. The individual cells sift 
  meaning from the nonsense, but all pay heed to the cult’s 
  most successful creation.
  This being, known as Apex-01, is a collection of computers, 
  cultured tissues from dozens of species, and several bound 
  outsiders. It is fragile, kept on a massive ship hidden 
  somewhere in the Vast, but commands a tremendous 
  intellect. Though its observations are often delayed due to 
  the transmission time involved, Apex-01’s insights on matters 
  ranging from interplanetary politics to quantum-particle 
  research and development are terrifyingly precise. Bereft of 
  immediate purpose, it spends its cycles designing successors, 
  but none of these creations have approached Apex-01’s 
  insight, a problem that frustrates the intelligence endlessly.
  GOALS
  Each cell of Those Who Create is attempting to build its own 
  First One, often by dismantling androids, other anacites, 
  outsiders, or organic life forms for parts. As these creations 
  come online, they begin to whisper nonsense, slowly 
  coalescing into comprehensible commands that the cell 
  follows to the best of its ability.
  A cell’s activity is typically chaotic as its First One awakens, 
  beginning to grasp for understanding and meaning. However, 
  except for Apex-01, these artificial First Ones seem to fall 
  into logical loops, growing predictable after they pass their 
  initial learning stage, and the older cells’ activities reflect this. 
  Eventually, failed First Ones are abandoned, their cells often 
  breaking up to form new groups or join other existing cells.
  ENEMIES
  Aballon is a hostile environment for Those Who Create, as 
  Those Who Wait and Those Who Become both seek out the 
  cult for its blasphemy and its myriad crimes in gathering living 
  components. Generally, Those Who Create do little more than 
  recruit members on Aballon, conducting the majority of their 
  work on other planets or in the Vast.
  VOROC CARRIERS 
  The winged people known as strix (Pact Worlds 214) recently 
  warned Pact Worlds authorities that a group of their kind, who 
  fled into the Vast hundreds of years ago to seek a cure for a 
  psychic disease, has returned at the behest of its newest leader. 
  Unfortunately, the returned are still infected with the disease, 
  which the warning strix have called “voroc,” an ancient strix 
  word that loosely translates to “plague of the mind.”
  The voroc carriers were once typical strix who underwent 
  rituals to open their minds to the universe after the Gap in 
  an attempt to learn more about this period of mass amnesia. 
  Strix historians believe that something in the dark beyond the 
  stars, answered and set their minds on fire. The afflicted strix 
  became telepathic, but any creature that they contacted with 
  their minds also became a voroc carrier. Those in charge of 
  Qidel, a major strix enclave on Verces, sent the afflicted away 
  before it became an epidemic or spread to other species.
  Now, centuries later, the voroc carriers have returned, 
  having been convinced by their leader that the cure to their 
  disease lies in psychically contacting as many different 
  species as possible and that the right combination of foreign 
  thoughts will burn away the plague.
  MEMBERS
  Voroc carriers are exclusively the descendants of those strix 
  who left Verces years ago. Fewer than 30 of them live on 
  an unnamed vessel that is currently traveling through Near 
  Space, its origin point unknown. They have a fervent religious 
  devotion to their leader, whom they believe will free them 
  from their lifelong curse.
  LEADERS
  The voroc carriers’ leader is Brydier (CN male strixPW mystic), 
  a fervent and driven individual whose only goal is to cure 
  his followers of their plague. From the bridge of his starship, 
  he contacts civilizations as the vessel passes, claiming to be 
  looking for refuge for his people. Any planet or moon the 
  voroc carriers land on is quickly subjected to their telepathic 
  intrusions. Brydier and his strix then move on, leaving a trail 
  of mental illness in their wake.
  GOALS
  The voroc carriers simply want to be rid of their disease, but 
  they are adamant that Brydier’s way is the only true method. 
  They refuse to accept any other assistance, medicinal or 
  spiritual. Unfortunately, this has led to a handful of deaths 
  in Near Space systems, as non-strix victims who are infected 
  with voroc are stricken with incredibly high fevers and 
  terrible hallucinations, leading eventually to a full shutdown 
  of the nervous system.
  ENEMIES
  The Stewards are aware of the voroc carriers but remain 
  uncertain how to control the threat. A few more reactionary 
  agencies, having learned of the voroc carriers through their 
  spies and contacts within the Stewards, have sent out hit 
  squads to eliminate the voroc carriers, but all have been fatally 
  exposed to the disease. As Brydier’s vessel approaches the 
  Pact Worlds, the authorities are beginning to grow desperate.
  
  Your life’s work is to ferret out cults and free those who have fallen into their 
  clutches. You’ve studied their methods, and you know that they hide in plain 
  sight more often than not, and that confronting them requires a combination 
  of keen intellect, scrupulous attention to detail, and a fair share of defensive—
  and sometimes offensive—training. You may work for a legitimate agency like 
  the Veskarium’s Division of Disloyal Organizations or the church of Abadar, you 
  might pursue the cults for your own purposes, or you could even work directly 
  for a cult yourself to eliminate the competition.
  45
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
   +1
  CULT HUNTER
  WIS
  THEME KNOWLEDGE (1ST) 
  You’re obsessed with cults and know where to find them. 
  Reduce the DC of Culture checks to recall knowledge about 
  cults and of Diplomacy checks to gather information about 
  cults by 5. Sense Motive is a class skill for you, though if it is 
  a class skill from the class you take at 1st level, you instead 
  gain a +1 bonus to Sense Motive checks. In addition, you gain 
  an ability adjustment of +1 to Wisdom at character creation.
  CONSPIRACY WEB (6TH) 
  You can spend 10 minutes to lay out the evidence you’ve 
  gathered about a specific cult, as long as, at the GM’s 
  discretion, that evidence is enough to specifically identify that 
  organization. This helps you prepare against that cult’s tactics 
  and methods, but doesn’t count as a resting to regain Stamina 
  Points. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Perception and 
  Sense Motive checks against members of that cult and a +1 
  circumstance bonus to saving throws against its members’ 
  spells and effects. This bonus lasts until you create a new 
  conspiracy web. You can benefit from only one conspiracy 
  web at a time.
  FLASH DEPROGRAMMING 
  (12TH) 
  The process of deprogramming a cult member is long and 
  arduous, but you’ve learned tricks to grant a moment of lucidity 
  to even the most entrenched members. When attempting 
  a Diplomacy check to change a creature’s attitude, you can 
  spend 1 Resolve Point to do so as a standard action rather than 
  taking a full minute. In addition, when you use this ability on 
  a creature under the effects of a charm or compulsion effect 
  whose save DC is lower than the result of your Diplomacy 
  check, that effect is suppressed for 1 minute. The effects of 
  this ability are temporary, but repeated applications could 
  help a cult member begin a journey along the road to recovery.
  INSPIRING PREPARATION (18TH) 
  When you take 10 minutes to prepare to face a specific cult 
  using the conspiracy web ability, you recover 1 Resolve Point. 
  Alternatively, you can take 10 minutes to study a conspiracy 
  web you’ve already created to recover 1 Resolve Point; this 
  doesn’t count as resting to regain Stamina Points. You can 
  recover Resolve Points in these ways up to twice per day.
  
  46
  “Pick a creature, any creature, and I shall play you the song 
  of their soul! Every living being, every atom, every particle 
  in the Pact Worlds can be broken down into the harmonic 
  frequencies that represent it. Think you have nothing in 
  common with an electrovore? How about a squox? With 
  just a chord played on my Harmonic Reassembler, I can 
  prove you’re closer to these creatures than you think. 
  There is little difference between the inner resonance of 
  the mundane and the monstrous! Prepare yourself, for the 
  very fabric of your being is about to be warped by the 
  reality-bending power of song!”
  —Rumdigo, composer of the “Concerto of Shapes”
  STRANGE GEAR
  
  47
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  E
  ach of the unusual technological, magical, and hybrid 
  items that follow can be found or have been created 
  in the Pact Worlds or beyond. Much of this strange 
  gear poses a significant danger to the user or is just plain 
  disgusting. Other items can be used in ways adventurers 
  might not anticipate, result from extradimensional anomalies, 
  or represent the strange machinations and experiments of 
  distant worlds. 
  Some of this equipment is deliberately defective or cursed 
  and can’t normally be purchased from a standard merchant. 
  They might be found in stashes among more mundane items 
  or given as “gifts” by double-crossing individuals.
  TECHNOLOGICAL ITEMS
  Though strange, some of the following technological items use 
  a normal battery and are thereby subject to special abilities 
  that affect items using batteries, charges, or technology. Others 
  are one-use items.
  BLABBERSPONDER 
  LEVEL 6
  TECHNOLOGICAL ITEM 
  PRICE 4,550 
  BULK L
  CAPACITY 40 
  USAGE 1/day
  This small, rectangular box is approximately the size of a 
  handheld computer, with a nondescript carbon-fiber housing 
  attached to an external chip interface that can be plugged into 
  the computers of most starships. A blabbersponder’s case is 
  filled with a compact array of microsensors (often composed of 
  inubrix) connected to a miniaturized computer (treat as a tier 0 
  computer equipped with a control module) that, bolstered by 
  a signal booster, analyzes and actively transmits a starship’s 
  vital data to another source. While no astute starship captain 
  would ever install a blabbersponder on their own ship, such 
  devices are often sold in gray markets to saboteurs serving 
  the whims of corporations, or bounty hunters who wish to 
  gain vital information about a specific starship’s defenses. 
  Some clever pirates of the Diaspora are also rumored to sell 
  blabbersponders to gullible spacefarers by offering them as 
  upgrades to starship communication systems. They then use 
  the data they collect from the device to determine if the cargo, 
  defenses, weapons, and crew aboard the ship warrant the 
  effort of intercepting and ambushing it later. 
  To install a blabbersponder on a starship computer, you 
  must succeed at an Engineering check (DC = 15 + 1-1/2 
  × the starship’s tier). Once installed and activated, the 
  blabbersponder’s internal computer uses its control module 
  to automatically hack into the computer it’s attached to. 
  The control module reads and broadcasts all data related to 
  the starship’s systems, allowing any science officer aboard 
  another starship within passive sensor range (Starfinder Core 
  Rulebook 301) of the blabbersponder’s ship to use the scan 
  action on that vessel, even if the two ships aren’t engaged in 
  starship combat. Because of the detailed information provided 
  by the blabbersponder, the science officer performing this 
  scan action gains a +5 circumstance bonus to the associated 
  Computers check, and the broadcasting ship doesn’t add the 
  bonus from its defensive countermeasures to the DC.
  Detecting that a blabbersponder is in fact an instrument 
  of sabotage and not a benign technological device before it 
  is installed requires a successful DC 25 Engineering or DC 30 
  Perception check. Discovering an installed blabbersponder 
  aboard a starship requires a successful DC 28 Computers 
  check. When an installed blabbersponder’s battery is 
  depleted, it recharges itself using the starship’s power core in 
  a process that takes about 5 minutes; on the day this occurs, 
  you receive a +2 circumstance bonus to the Computers check 
  to notice the sudden, short surge in power use and discover 
  the blabbersponder on your vessel. Once discovered, a 
  blabbersponder can be easily unplugged.
  FLUSHBUSTER 
  LEVEL 8
  TECHNOLOGICAL ITEM 
  PRICE 1,300 
  BULK L
  A flushbuster is a palm-sized, malleable, one-use satchel 
  charge designed specifically to travel easily through any 
  water-propagated waste-removal system (such as those found 
  on many planets with standard gravity and aboard some 
  starships). It resembles a vacuum-sealed plastic bag divided into 
  two pouches, one containing a substance that looks like purple 
  clay, and the other containing a substance that resembles green 
  gelatin. The bag itself is made of a time-release polymer that 
  instantaneously disintegrates after 1d4 minutes of immersion 
  in water, allowing the two volatile substances within to mix 
  into a composite explosive that immediately detonates. Once 
  the bag disintegrates, the mixture of the composite explosive 
  and water generates a massive pressurized explosion that 
  overloads the pipe system, causing any toilet or latrine within 
  100 feet of the device and connected to it by pipe to explode 
  violently. Each creature or object within a 10-foot radius of any 
  exploding toilet takes 4d6 bludgeoning damage (Reflex DC 12 
  half) and watery sewage begins flooding into the room (filling 
  a 15-foot-by-15-foot room with 1 foot of water per round). A 
  creature that begins its turn within this sewage must succeed 
  at a DC 12 Fortitude save or gain the sickened condition for 1 
  minute. Any creature adjacent to an exploded toilet can spend 
  a full action to attempt a DC 20 Engineering check to stop the 
  flooding in that specific room.
  NEUROPOPPET 
  LEVEL 14
  TECHNOLOGICAL ITEM 
  PRICE 65,000 
  BULK 1
  CAPACITY 40 
  USAGE 1/use
  A neuropoppet is a small simulacrum of a featureless humanoid 
  creature, composed of a malleable eggshell-white polymer that 
  is wirelessly linked to a tiny needle-shaped neural receiver. 
  The receiver can be loaded into any ranged weapon that uses 
  darts as ammunition, though it deals no damage to a target 
  when fired (nor can it impose any critical hit effects). Instead, 
  the receiver embeds into the target’s body, injecting a small 
  numbing agent into the target’s bloodstream, making them 
  unaware of the embedded receiver unless they or an adjacent 
  
  48
  ally succeeds at a Perception check (DC = the result of your 
  attack roll to embed the receiver). Once found, the receiver 
  can be removed with a standard action and a successful DC 
  30 Medicine check. The signal sent from a neuropoppet to the 
  neural receiver can be jammed with a signal jammer.
  While the neural receiver is embedded in a living humanoid 
  target within 60 feet, you can manipulate the neuropoppet 
  as a full action with two hands (this uses up one of the item’s 
  charges), causing the receiver to send subtle electrical signals 
  through the target’s nervous system. You can then 
  designate the target’s next standard action, 
  chosen from the list below.
  D Attempt a combat maneuver of your 
  choice against the creature nearest to 
  the target (determined randomly).
  D Distract a creature of your choice 
  using harrying fire.
  D Take the total defense action.
  After the target creature attempts 
  the action you designate, it can 
  attempt a DC 25 Will saving throw. 
  If the save is successful, the neural 
  receiver sends a blast of haptic feedback 
  to the neuropoppet, dealing 6d6 electricity 
  damage to you (Reflex DC 25 half).
  REPLENIGEL MEGAVITAMIN 
  LEVEL 4
  TECHNOLOGICAL ITEM 
  PRICE 300 
  BULK L
  Replenigel is a nutritional gelatin interwoven with nanites 
  that bolster the immune system. Originally designed by 
  Abadarcorp during the war between the Pact Worlds and the 
  Veskarium, replenigel is intended to provide a soldier with 
  all of their daily nutritional needs and an added resistance 
  to afflictions, while digesting slowly enough to require a 
  soldier to eat only once per day. To minimize packaging costs, 
  Abadarcorp commonly shipped replenigel to the front lines 
  in 50-pound blocks that, unappetizingly, resembled marbled 
  sulfur. After the conflict with the Veskarium ceased, the 
  corporation found itself with a surplus of replenigel cubes 
  and no way to sell them. A particularly savvy marketing 
  executive realized that subtle tweaks to the product’s 
  aesthetics could have a dramatic impact on its commercial 
  viability. After extensive focus-group testing, Abadarcorp 
  created Nutrimanders, reshaping the gelatin into sizable, 
  1-pound megavitamins molded to look like skittermanders 
  and available in various artificial flavors and colors.
  It takes 5 minutes to consume a replenigel megavitamin. 
  You gain 10 temporary Hit Points and a +2 circumstance bonus 
  to Fortitude saves against diseases and poisons for the next 
  24 hours. In addition, you don’t need to eat food or water 
  for 24 hours. If you subsist on replenigel megavitamins for 5 
  consecutive days, you must attempt a DC 17 Fortitude save at 
  the end of that fifth day and on each subsequent consecutive 
  day you continue to eat these megavitamins; the bonus from 
  the megavitamin doesn’t apply to this save. Failure means 
  you develop a waxy sheen on your skin that makes you smell 
  vaguely like a fermented version of the flavor of megavitamin 
  you most recently consumed. Your skin remains this way for 1d4 
  days, during which time you take a –4 penalty to all Charisma-
  based skill checks; if you consume another megavitamin during 
  this time, the duration is increased by 1 day.
  SLEEPING SENTRY 
  LEVEL 5
  TECHNOLOGICAL ITEM        PRICE 2,750 
  BULK 15
  CAPACITY 20 
  USAGE 1/hour
  The sleeping sentry is an exoskeletal harness 
  equipped with an automated medical unit that 
  can deliver pharmaceuticals intravenously, all 
  mounted vertically atop a disk large enough for a 
  Medium creature to stand on. Sleeping sentries 
  are often used by eccentric corporations or 
  military organizations that want round-
  the-clock 
  non-automated 
  security 
  patrols but who don’t want 
  to pay for multiple shifts. You 
  activate a sleeping sentry by 
  leaning back into the exoskeletal 
  harness, allowing it to gently lock you into 
  a standing position while supporting your 
  neck, spine, legs, and arms. The automated 
  medical unit then injects you with a cocktail of barbiturates 
  that puts you instantly to sleep for the next 8 hours (or until 
  awoken by the sleeping sentry); an unwilling creature forced 
  into the harness can attempt a DC 17 Fortitude save to remain 
  conscious. Shortly thereafter, antigravitry circuitry within the 
  disc activates, suspending the entire structure approximately 1 
  inch off the ground and moving along a preprogrammed patrol 
  route at a speed of 20 feet. The disc can move over land and 
  over water, but not underwater. 
  Creatures who come within 30 feet of an activated sleeping 
  sentry must succeed at a DC 25 Stealth check to fool the 
  sleeping sentry’s motion detectors, or else an integrated high-
  frequency proximity alarm sounds, waking you and releasing 
  you from the harness to confront the threat. Any creature 
  that is more than 30 feet away from a sleeping sentry must 
  succeed at a DC 22 Perception check to recognize its occupant 
  is asleep or a DC 20 Engineering check to identify the device. 
  MAGIC ITEMS
  Spellcasters have known for millennia that magic isn’t always 
  reliable, especially for those who haven’t mastered the craft. 
  Each of the magic items presented here has a slight drawback 
  or unusual way of functioning.
  ELDRITCH ENCEPHALON  
  LEVELS 8–18
  MAGIC ITEM (WORN) 
  MODEL 
  LEVEL 
  PRICE 
  BULK
  Mk 1 
  8 
  3,500 
  L
  REPLENIGEL 
  MEGAVITAMIN
  
  49
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  Mk 2 
  13 
  12,500 
  L
  Mk 3 
  18 
  450,000 
  L
  Eldritch encephalons were originally created in yah-thelgaad 
  experiments when brain collectors sought to replicate 
  the way they use the brains of deceased spellcasters, 
  allowing other agents of the Dominion of the Black to also 
  share brains among themselves. An eldritch encephalon 
  is a lifeless, severed humanoid head inscribed with 
  necromantic glyphs that run from just above each eye, over 
  the scalp, and end at the base of the skull. A mass 
  of slender, writhing tentacles extends from 
  the neck or skull of the encephalon, often 
  roiling and trembling as if attempting 
  to grasp something 
  that isn’t there. 
  When 
  placed 
  on your shoulder, 
  or on any patch 
  of exposed skin that 
  can support the weight of an average 
  humanoid head, an eldritch encephalon 
  burrows its tentacles into your flesh 
  and merges with your physiology in 
  a process that takes a full 24 hours to 
  complete. Once attached, an encephalon counts as a worn 
  magic item and can be sundered, but not disarmed. Once this 
  process is completed, the command words to activate the 
  encephalon are transmitted psychically to your brain, and 
  the head seems to come to life as its runes begin to glow. 
  The encephalon occasionally speaks of its own volition, 
  espousing the thoughts and opinions of the spellcaster 
  it was in life. You can never be bonded to more than one 
  encephalon at a time, and removing one is a time-consuming 
  process requiring a special necromantic ritual that takes 
  several hours to perform. Any eldritch encephalon that has 
  not been joined with a host creature for more than 12 days 
  withers rapidly, disintegrating into dust.
  An eldritch encephalon allows you to cast a small selection 
  of spells as spell-like abilities depending on the item’s model, 
  using your character level as your caster level. The DC of any 
  spell cast using an eldritch encephalon is equal to 10 + the 
  level of the spell + your Charisma modifier.
  D Mk 1: Command, mind thrust (1st level), and reflecting 
  armor each once per day.
  D Mk 2: Hold person, mind thrust (2nd level), and see 
  invisibility each once per day.
  D Mk 3: Charm monster, mind thrust (3rd level), and remove 
  affliction each once per day.
  Unfortunately, being bonded with an eldritch encephalon 
  has its drawbacks. Whenever you roll initiative for combat 
  (or otherwise enter a very stressful situation, at the GM’s 
  discretion), there is a 50% chance that the encephalon 
  attempts to take control of your body. To fight off this other 
  mind, you must succeed at a Will saving throw (DC = 15 + half 
  the eldritch encephalon’s item level). Failure means you gain 
  the confused condition for 1d4 rounds.
  FALSEBOND TATTOOS 
  LEVEL 3
  MAGIC ITEM 
  PRICE 1,500 
  BULK —
  A falsebond tattoo is designed to specifically mimic the 
  partner bond between a dragonkin creature and a non-
  dragonkin creature, such as that experienced between many 
  members of the Skyfire Legion. Falsebond tattoos come in 
  pairs (with matching designs) and must be purchased and 
  applied at the same time; the listed price 
  is for two tattoos. The tattoos 
  can be applied to any non-
  mindless creature regardless 
  of its type. Once applied, 
  a mystical link is formed 
  between the recipients of the 
  two tattoos. These creatures 
  can communicate with each 
  other as if they had telepathy 
  with a range of 100 feet. In addition, 
  once per day, linked creatures that 
  are within 30 feet of each other 
  can roll initiative checks separately and 
  treat the higher result as the result for both of them. However, 
  when the creatures use this benefit, their brainwaves become 
  so in sync that they might be overwhelmed with sensory 
  information; each creature must succeed at a DC 14 Will save 
  or gain the off-target condition for 1 round.
  A falsebond tattoo doesn’t count as a worn magic item, and 
  it can’t be disarmed or sundered. Most dragonkin, ryphorians, 
  and members of the Skyfire Legion view these tattoos as 
  perversions of a sacred bond and, at the GM’s discretion, a 
  character wearing a falsebond tattoo takes a –4 circumstance 
  penalty to Diplomacy checks when interacting with such 
  individuals. You can attempt to hide a falsebond tattoo with a 
  Disguise check opposed by any onlookers’ Perception checks; 
  this counts as altering a minor detail (Core Rulebook 140).
  STARSHIP IN A BOTTLE 
  LEVEL 10
  MAGIC ITEM 
  PRICE 17,500 
  BULK 2
  When purchased or crafted, a starship in a bottle looks like a 
  miniature model of a generic starship within a plain, narrow-
  necked glass bottle. However, when placed in a prominent 
  location on a starship’s bridge for 24 hours, the model links 
  to that starship and transforms into an exact replica of it. 
  During starship combat, the replica can sometimes be seen to 
  turn and twist in the same maneuvers the linked starship is 
  performing. A member of the linked starship’s crew (meaning 
  anyone holding one of the major starship combat roles) can 
  hold the starship in a bottle in two hands and concentrate for 
  10 minutes to transfer all the Hull Point damage of the linked 
  starship to the replica. The linked starship is returned to full 
  Hull Points, while the various dents, scratches, and even holes 
  STARSHIP IN A BOTTLE
  
  50
  in the linked starship’s hull visibly transfer to the replica. Up 
  to 150 Hull Points of damage can be transferred to the replica 
  before it loses all its magic, becoming a mundane trinket of a 
  wrecked starship inside of a bottle. A starship can be linked to 
  only one starship in a bottle at a time.
  A spellcaster can cast either mending or make whole on the 
  starship in a bottle to repair the replica’s Hull Point damage 
  once per day, but doing so creates a feedback loop between the 
  spellcaster and the magic item. The spellcaster takes an amount 
  of Hit Point damage equal to twice the number of Hull Points 
  restored; this damage can’t be reduced in any way (though it can 
  be healed as normal). There is no other way to repair the Hull 
  Point damage done to the replica.
  WEATHERWEAR 
  LEVEL 5
  MAGIC ITEM (WORN) 
  PRICE 2,750 
  BULK 1
  Millennia ago, an enterprising guild of azer mystics discovered 
  how to weave garments entirely out of planar essence from 
  the Plane of Fire. This newfound fashion of flickering flames 
  was dubbed infernowear. It wasn’t long before the same azers 
  figured out how to make similar clothes interwoven with planar 
  fabrics from each of the Elemental Planes, creating garments of 
  shifting sands, roiling snowfalls, or writhing lightning (dubbed 
  dustwear, blizzardwear, and boltwear, respectively). These 
  crafting techniques were thought to be lost during the Gap until 
  an environmental scientist and amateur tailor found examples of 
  these garments at the Brass Bazaar in the Burning Archipelago. 
  She was able to reproduce these garments and began selling 
  them under the general name of weatherwear, though the items 
  have an unfortunate side effect, as detailed below.
  Each type of weatherwear can be integrated into any style 
  of nonmagical clothing (Starfinder Core Rulebook 230), granting 
  the benefits of that clothing in addition to its own benefits, 
  though weatherwear must be worn over armor and you can 
  wear only one type of weatherwear at a time. While wearing 
  a specific type of weatherwear, you gain resistance 5 to the 
  energy damage type associated with the garment’s elemental 
  fabric (acid for dustwear, cold for blizzardwear, electricity for 
  boltwear, and fire for infernowear). In addition, once per day, 
  you can reroll a failed saving throw that would result in you 
  taking energy damage of the corresponding type. However, if 
  you roll a 1 on that second saving throw, you lose the provided 
  energy resistance and instead gain vulnerability to that energy 
  type for 1 minute.
  ARTIFACTS
  Artifacts are powerful, one-of-a-kind magic items that can’t be 
  purchased or crafted. The full rules for artifacts can be found 
  on page 118 of Starfinder Armory.
  HARMONIC REASSEMBLER 
  LEVEL 20
  MAGIC ITEM 
  PRICE PRICELESS 
  BULK 22
  While the true origin of this artifact was lost in the Gap, some 
  believe it was created by a gnome inventor who sought to 
  permanently reverse the course of the Bleaching that affects 
  all of gnomekind. The Harmonic Reassembler is a large musical 
  instrument comprising a series of glass bowls overlapping one 
  another and set around a shaft of pure noqual. The bowls are 
  spun by an internal engine, and a musician gently touches them 
  to produce haunting tones, which can be adjusted by a series of 
  pedals and levers that send mild electrical currents through the 
  shaft. Some scholars believe the noqual shaft was selected for its 
  ability to resist magical effects, allowing it to serve as a sort of 
  nullifying “ground” for the instrument’s transformative effects. 
  When certain chords are played on the Harmonic Reassembler 
  by a trained musician, it can produce incredible magic.
  Before you can produce any magical effects with the 
  Harmonic Reassembler, you must first learn one of the specific 
  chords described below. Doing so takes 1 week of study and 
  a successful DC 30 Profession (musician) check; if you are 
  being taught the chord from someone who already knows it, 
  you gain a +4 circumstance bonus to this check. Once you 
  know a chord, you can play it as a full action; an additional 
  successful Profession (musician) check is required to produce 
  the desired effect, as noted in each chord’s description. 
  Playing a chord on the artifact is dangerous, as the magic can 
  backfire if you aren’t a talented enough musician. You must 
  be adjacent to the Harmonic Reassembler to play it, and you 
  can include yourself as a target of its effects if you wish. Each 
  effect produced by the artifact can target only living creatures 
  that can hear the music, so each effect is sense-dependent.
  Chord of Baleful Transformation: Playing this chord 
  requires a successful DC 34 Profession (musician) check. 
  When you do so, you can choose up to four creatures within 
  30 feet (no two of which can be more than 30 feet apart) that 
  can hear the Harmonic Reassembler to transform them into 
  Small creatures of your choice. This effect functions as per 
  the 6th-level version of mass baleful polymorph (Starfinder 
  Alien Archive 2 148) with a Will saving throw DC of 29. The 
  effect lasts for a maximum of 20 rounds as long you play 
  the Harmonic Reassembler each round (a standard action); 
  otherwise, the effect is immediately dispelled (unless you 
  have chosen to make the duration permanent, as noted in 
  the spell). If you fail the Profession (musician) check by 10 
  or more, you must attempt a DC 29 Will saving throw or 
  be immediately and permanently transformed into a Small 
  animal or similar beast, as per the final step of the 6th-level 
  version of baleful polymorph (Starfinder Alien Archive 2 147).
  Chord of Disassembly: Playing this chord requires a 
  successful DC 34 Profession (musician) check. When you do 
  so, you can choose up to three creatures within 100 feet that 
  can hear the Harmonic Reassembler to be affected as if they 
  were struck by the ray produced by disintegrate (Fortitude 
  DC 29 partial). If you fail the Profession (musician) check by 
  5 or more, you are affected by the disintegrate spell instead 
  (and must attempt the same DC 29 Fortitude save). If you fail 
  the Profession (musician) check by 10 or more, you take a –4 
  penalty to the saving throw.
  
  51
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  Chord of Reincarnation: Playing this chord requires a 
  successful DC 30 Profession (musician) check. When you 
  do so, you can choose up to four living creatures within 30 
  feet that can hear the Harmonic Reassembler 
  to have a seed of rebirth grow within them. 
  The next time that creature dies within the 
  next 30 days, it is immediately affected by 
  the reincarnate spell; it takes 1d4 rounds 
  for the creature to gain its new form. The 
  target also doesn’t suffer any of the negative 
  levels or Constitution drain normally imposed 
  by reincarnate. If you fail the Profession 
  (musician) check by 5 or more, you take 2 
  Constitution drain (no save). If you fail 
  the Profession (musician) check by 10 or 
  more, you also take 2 permanent negative 
  levels (no save).
  Chord of Rewiring: Playing this chord 
  requires a successful DC 32 Profession 
  (musician) check. When you do so, you can 
  choose up to 10 living creatures within 100 
  feet (no two of which can be more than 
  30 feet apart) that can hear the Harmonic 
  Reassembler to partially turn them into robotic 
  beings. This effect functions as mass rewire 
  flesh with Will and Fortitude saving throw 
  DCs of 29. The effect lasts for a maximum of 
  20 rounds as long you play the Harmonic Reassembler each 
  round (a standard action); otherwise, the effect immediately 
  ends. If you fail the Profession (musician) check by 10 or 
  more, you instead take 20d6 slashing damage as your organs 
  turn to steel components; you can attempt a DC 29 Fortitude 
  save to halve this damage. 
  The Harmonic Reassembler is currently in the hands of a 
  wealthy gnome composer and musician named Rumdigo who 
  uses it to transform paying audiences into squoxes and other 
  harmless creatures for brief periods. Some believe he is the 
  artifact’s original creator, though he vehemently denies this. 
  He is currently attempting to discover new chords that can 
  affect nonliving creatures and objects.
  CONQUEROR’S STAR OF THE 
  LEVEL 20
   
  HEADLESS VESK 
  MAGIC ITEM (WORN) 
  PRICE PRICELESS 
  BULK L
  Stories told by Veskarium warriors speak of an ancient Vesk 
  captain named Harakoye, who was awarded the Conqueror’s 
  Star, a coveted Veskarium military decoration, for slaying an 
  overwhelming number of enemy soldiers in a glorious battle 
  against all odds. Harakoye so prized the emblem, she slept with 
  it hanging around her neck. But one night, when sleeping in 
  the same barracks as her unit, Harakoye was betrayed by an 
  assassin who had posed for months as a loyal comrade. As the 
  assassin slit her throat, Harakoye awoke from slumber and 
  grabbed the doshko she kept by her bedside. As the assassin 
  continued to slash at Harakoye’s neck and stabbed out her 
  eyes, Harakoye hacked away at him. It was not until her head 
  was removed completely that Harakoye was finally slain, and 
  even then, soldiers of the Veskarium claim her body rose 
  once more, headless, to attack one final time, dealing a 
  fatal blow to her assailant. 
  The Conqueror’s Star of the Headless Vesk is an 
  adamantine medallion set atop an eight-pointed star 
  and molded into the form of a vesk hand clutching 
  the bleeding heart of an enemy in its claws. It is 
  spattered with Harakoye’s blood and affixed to 
  a gore-soaked turquoise ribbon. No matter how 
  much anyone attempts to clean the medal or the 
  ribbon (even using magic), the blood spatter 
  always reappears within 2d4 hours. While 
  you are wearing the medallion, you gain 20 
  temporary Hit Points that replenish after 8 
  hours of rest. If you are surprised by an attack 
  while wearing the Conqueror’s Star of the 
  Headless Vesk, you can call any one weapon 
  you own immediately into your hands as if it 
  had the called weapon fusion. In addition, 
  if you would be reduced to 0 Hit Points 
  by an attack while wearing the artifact, you 
  can attempt a Fortitude saving throw (DC = 10 
  + the CR of the creature whose attack reduced 
  you to 0 Hit Points + 5 if the attack was a 
  critical hit) to be reduced to 1 Hit Point instead. 
  Each time beyond the first that you activate this ability 
  within 1 week, the save DC increases by 5. If you fail this 
  Fortitude save, you can immediately make a melee attack 
  against an enemy within your reach before you are reduced 
  to 0 Hit Points.
  Unfortunately, wearing the artifact has a major drawback. 
  Any time you are struck with a melee weapon with the wound 
  or severe wound critical hit effect, the attacker acts as if they 
  had rolled a 20 on the Wounding Weapons table (Starfinder 
  Core Rulebook 183), and you must roll the Fortitude saving 
  throw twice and take the worse result.
  HYBRID ITEMS
  A few of the pieces of gear presented here are the result of a 
  glitch in a normal technological or hybrid item.
  ADJUDICATOR’S EYE 
  LEVEL 9
  HYBRID ITEM 
  PRICE 12,500 
  BULK L
  A few years ago, a Qabarat-based news agency broadcast an 
  investigative report about a small planet in the Vast called Aurok 
  6, which featured a near-utopian civilization on its surface but 
  a complicated infrastructure of prisons below. According to the 
  report, Aurok 6’s aboveground nations enjoy peace and quiet 
  due to the contributions of a planetary law enforcement agency 
  with international jurisdiction, known only as the Adjudicators, 
  who wield psychic technology and governmental authority to 
  CONQUEROR’S STAR
  
  A series of tuning forks of varying lengths, which protrude 
  from the top of the apparatus, move when a large mechanical 
  crank affixed to one side is operated. Three times per day as 
  a standard action, you can aim the device at a single creature 
  within 30 feet and turn the crank clockwise five full turns; this 
  requires the use of two hands. This causes the dimensional 
  modulator’s engine to generate bright flashes of energy, the 
  symbols on its display to change rapidly, and the 
  tuning forks to spin, rise, and fall, emanating 
  an eerie tone. The target must then 
  succeed at a DC 22 Fortitude save 
  or be immediately transformed 
  into 
  a 
  two-dimensional 
  creature for 1d4 rounds. 
  If the target succeeds 
  at the saving throw, 
  there is a 50% chance that you 
  are affected by the dimensional 
  modulator instead. You must attempt the 
  same saving throw, but if you fail, you are transformed for 
  1d6 rounds instead.
  Any creature that becomes two-dimensional in this way 
  is perfectly flat and thin as paper, as if the creature is an 
  animated painting or living shadow. Any equipment a two-
  dimensional creature is holding at the time of transformation 
  transforms with the creature. Such a creature can only move 
  and take the combat banter action to speak. They can pass 
  through other creatures’ spaces without provoking attacks 
  of opportunity and can move along ceilings, floors, walls, 
  and other flat surfaces as if affected by spider climb (though 
  they need not have any limbs free to do so) at double their 
  normal land speed. A two-dimensional creature can attempt 
  Perception and Stealth checks, gaining a +10 circumstance 
  bonus to Stealth checks if they move along a wall covered in 
  paintings, graffiti, or other images. A two-dimensional creature 
  can still be the target of attacks, spells, and special abilities, 
  but they gain a +8 circumstance bonus to Armor Class, a +4 
  circumstance bonus to all saving throws, and DR 20/magic. If 
  a creature dies while two-dimensional, their image is etched 
  permanently onto the flat surface where they perished. 
  Some believe the aliens who created the dimensional 
  modulators are still alive today, having transformed 
  themselves into creatures perceived in more dimensions than 
  most denizens of the Pact Worlds can comprehend. 
  HIVEJACK 
  LEVELS 3–15
  HYBRID ITEM (WORN) 
  MODEL 
  LEVEL 
  PRICE 
  BULK
  Mk 1 
  3 
  1,500 
  L
  Mk 2 
  9 
  13,750 
  L
  Mk 3 
  15 
  108,000 
  L
  During the combined efforts of the Veskarium and the Pact 
  Worlds to repel attacks from the Swarm, an enterprising 
  research team composed mostly of shirren and vesk mechanics 
  52
  act as judge, jury, and executioners when pursuing criminals. 
  Since the broadcast, several weapons manufacturers have 
  secretly visited the planet, and now examples of experimental 
  “judgment tech” weapons accessories can be found on various 
  dark infospheres throughout the Pact Worlds. The most 
  notable of these is a scope, known as an adjudicator’s eye, that 
  can supposedly determine the guilt 
  or innocence of a target.
  An 
  adjudicator’s 
  eye 
  functions as a combined laser 
  scope and nightvision scope 
  (Starfinder Armory 61), but it 
  also contains mnemonopathic 
  sensors capable of scanning 
  a target’s memories for 
  recollections 
  of 
  a 
  specified 
  crime 
  or 
  attempted crime. Once 
  per day, in a process that takes 1 minute, 
  you can program the scope’s sensors with a single yes-or-no 
  question testing responsibility for a particular crime, such as 
  “Did the target attempt to blow up my starship?” or “Did the 
  target plant the explosive device in the Eoxian embassy?” Three 
  times per day, you can activate an adjudicator’s eye attached 
  to a weapon as a move action. For the next 10 minutes, when 
  aiming or looking through the scope, the sensors automatically 
  scan targets to reveal their perception of guilt or innocence in 
  regards to that question. Each target must succeed at a DC 
  18 Will saving throw or the adjudicator’s eye searches their 
  memories for information about the specified question. These 
  memories indicate only whether or not the target remembers 
  themself as being innocent or guilty of the crime in question, 
  and they do not necessarily reflect the truth (as in the case 
  of someone who has been affected by modify memory). The 
  scope places a “guilty” indicator over any target that recalls 
  participating in the specified crime, and an “innocent” indicator 
  over any target that has no memory of the crime or who 
  succeeded at the Will save. Deactivating an adjudicator’s eye 
  is a move action.
  The adjudicator’s eye imposes a –2 penalty on attack rolls 
  made with the weapon it is attached to against any unscanned 
  target or any target the scope has deemed innocent.
  DIMENSIONAL MODULATOR 
  LEVEL 14
  HYBRID ITEM 
  PRICE 56,000 
  BULK 2
  Suspected to have been left behind by an ancient alien 
  civilization that abandoned its home planet sometime during 
  the Gap, a dimensional modulator looks like an asymmetrical 
  computer with a display depicting several vertical columns 
  of glowing digital runes that continuously morph and 
  shift. The display is attached seamlessly to a cylindrical 
  clockwork engine the approximate size and weight of a fire 
  extinguisher, containing myriad ancient-looking cogs and 
  gears incongruously integrated with more modern parts. 
  DIMENSIONAL 
  MODULATOR
  
  53
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  developed the first hivejack to allow a user to “hack” into the 
  hive mind of the Swarm in an effort to detect and manipulate the 
  thoughts of individual Swarm components. A hivejack consists 
  of a pair of small spherical applicators that are placed just above 
  or below your visual sensors; it takes an uninterrupted 24 hours 
  for the item to adjust to your mental patterns before you can 
  use it. Each applicator is connected to a long, wispy tendril that 
  lies flat upon your head or dangles from your face; this tendril 
  taps into the Swarm’s hive mind through replicating specific 
  pheromones, electrostatic fields, and psychic signals while, at 
  the same time, blocking your own thoughts from the hive mind. 
  Creatures with racial telepathy cannot use a hivejack. These 
  items have not seen much use since the invasion, however, as 
  prolonged use the technology leaves you vulnerable to being 
  dominated by the Swarm hive mind. The effects of a hivejack 
  depend on its model, as described below. 
  D Mk 1: You can understand the telepathic communication 
  between members of the Swarm within 30 feet of you. As 
  a result, you gain a +2 insight bonus to Perception checks 
  to notice any Swarm creatures attempting to use Stealth in 
  that range and a +2 insight bonus to initiative checks in a 
  fight against Swarm creatures that begin within that range. 
  D Mk 2: A mk 2 hivejack functions as a mk 1 hivejack, and 
  you also gain a +1 insight bonus on attack rolls against 
  Swarm creatures within 30 feet as you can anticipate their 
  movements. In addition, your bonus to initiative checks 
  increases to +4.
  D Mk 3: A mk 3 hivejack functions as a mk 2 hivejack, 
  and three times per day as a standard action, you can 
  attempt to influence a single Swarm creature within 30 
  feet as per suggestion, using your character level as the 
  caster level. The DC of the saving throw is equal to 10 + 
  half your character level + your Charisma modifier. If you 
  have successfully used this ability against another Swarm 
  creature that is within 30 feet of your target, that target 
  takes a –2 penalty to the saving throw.
  Continued use of a hivejack is not without its risks. Once 
  you have worn a hivejack for 1 week, you must attempt a 
  Will saving throw the first time each day you get within 30 
  feet of a creature with the Swarm mind ability (DC = 10 + the 
  hivejack’s model number + 1 for each previous saving throw). 
  If you fail, you feel an overwhelming desire to act as part of 
  the Swarm. You must then attempt another Will saving throw 
  as if you had been struck with the energy ray produced by a 
  dominate person spell cast by the Swarm creature with the 
  highest CR within 30 feet, with a saving throw DC equal to 10 
  + 1-1/2 × the CR of the Swarm creature. You can attempt a new 
  saving throw to shake off the dominating effect each day as 
  long as you haven’t come within 30 feet of a Swarm creature 
  within 24 hours.
  NULL-SPACE TUMOR 
  LEVEL 5
  HYBRID ITEM 
  PRICE 3,050 
  BULK 1
  While it is rare, some adventurers claim that exposing a null-
  space chamber to powerful teleportation magic (such as plane 
  shift) can result in an unusual metallic growth appearing 
  within the chamber. Scholars have yet to determine the true 
  nature of these anomalies, which they call null-space tumors. 
  A null-space tumor seems to have no obvious use or purpose, 
  and merchants might sell you a null-space chamber with one 
  inside without realizing it. The listed price and level is for a mk 
  1 null-space chamber with a null-space tumor inside; rumors 
  persist that larger and more disruptive null-space tumors 
  exist. A null-space tumor has 1 bulk and can’t be permanently 
  removed from its associated chamber. You can’t purposefully 
  call up a null-space tumor from its chamber, but each time 
  you call up another item from the chamber, there is a 20% 
  chance that the null-space tumor appears instead. When that 
  happens, the tumor’s unusual properties randomly cause one 
  of the following effects (roll 1d8 to determine the effect), after 
  which the null-space tumor immediately teleports itself back 
  into the chamber. The only way to destroy a null-space tumor 
  is to destroy the null-space chamber it’s attached to. 
  D8 Effect
  1 
  You and all your gear become invisible for 1d4+1 rounds, 
  but you move as if through a thick soup; your speed is 
  reduced to 10 feet during this time. 
  2 
  Duplicates appear around you, as if you were affected 
  by the spell mirror image for 1d4 minutes. However, you 
  see doubles of every creature and object, meaning you 
  have a 50% miss chance to attack a creature and a 50% 
  chance to waste your action when you try to pick up or 
  manipulate an object. 
  3 
  You gain the benefits of comprehend languages 
  for 1 hour, but anything you write down or type on 
  a computer during this time instantly vanishes as 
  per erase. 
  4 
  You gain the benefits of keen senses for 10 minutes, but 
  you take a –2 penalty to saving throws against sense-
  dependent effects during this time. 
  5 
  The tumor produces a wisp ally (as per the spell of the 
  same name) that lasts for 1d4+1 rounds, but you don’t 
  control it. The wisp ally chooses its targets and effect 
  randomly. 
  6 
  You instantly regain 1d6 Stamina Points, but lose the 
  same number of Hit Points. If you have all your Stamina 
  Points, you instead belch a ring of iridescent smoke.
  7 
  The next weapon you touch is affected as per 
  supercharge weapon, but it immediately gains the 
  broken condition after it is used to attack. You must 
  touch a weapon within 1 minute or lose this ability.
  8 
  You gain a small degree of telepathy and can detect 
  thoughts (as per the spell of the same name) for the 
  next 5 minutes. However, your idealized self-image 
  appears 15 feet away from you, as per a 1st-level 
  casting of holographic image, and you have no control 
  over this image.
  
  54
  “The Eshtayiv is a horrible enigma. They seem to be a 
  community of lesser creatures. They are an enemy to the 
  Outer Gods, but they are no ally to others who oppose eldritch 
  beings such as Azathoth. Instead, they seem like a virus of 
  light and fire that spreads itself through flesh and spirit. This 
  infection seeks an end to darkness, an impossible universe 
  of fire and light. The  constituents of the Eshtayiv had been 
  encountered throughout the galaxy before the destruction 
  of Ezorod. Troubling is that this event might have released a 
  multitude. But where?”
  —Renye Zi, DCI Xenoarcheology
  ALIEN ARCHIVES
  
  55
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  DIMENSIONAL SHAMBLER 
  CR
    8
   
  XP
   4,800
  CE Medium outsider (chaotic, evil, extraplanar)
  Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +16
  DEFENSE 
  HP 125
  EAC 20; KAC 22
  Fort +11; Ref +9; Will +9
  Defensive Abilities resist conjuration; DR 5/lawful
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee claw +20 (3d4+13 S plus grab)
  Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th)
  1/day—displacement
  3/day—dimensional anchor (see sidebar), plane shift
  At will—dimension door
  STATISTICS
  Str +5; Dex +3; Con +5; Int –2; Wis +2; Cha +0
  Skills Mysticism +16, Sense Motive +16, Stealth +16, 
  Languages Aklo
  Other Abilities dimension mastery, planar mastery
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any
  Organization solitary, pair, or gang (3–8)
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Dimension Mastery (Ex) After being affected by dimension 
  door, a dimensional shambler can take actions normally. 
  In addition, the shambler can attempt a Mysticism check 
  to ignore effects that prevent planar travel (DC = 10 + the 
  level or CR of the effect or its creator, whichever is higher). 
  If successful, the shambler ignores the effect for 1 round.
  Planar Mastery (Ex) When a dimensional shambler uses 
  plane shift, it does so as a full action during which 
  it shimmers and fades to transparency. The 
  shambler can arrive in a specific location if 
  it succeeds at a DC 20 Mysticism check. In 
  addition, a dimensional shambler can take 
  one unwilling creature with it when 
  it uses plane shift, provided the 
  shambler has the target grappled 
  or pinned. The creature can negate 
  the plane shift effect on itself with a 
  successful DC 16 Will save.
  Resist Conjuration (Ex) Dimensional 
  shamblers are immune to effects that 
  have the calling or summoning descriptors. A shambler can 
  sense when it has been targeted by such an effect and use 
  plane shift to travel to the location of the effect’s creator.
  Dimensional shamblers are lean, humanoid-shaped beings that 
  move as if intoxicated. They are relentless planar explorers. 
  Violence and abduction define their interactions with 
  other creatures.
  DIMENSIONAL ANCHOR
  School abjuration
  Casting Time 1 standard action
  Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
  Targets one creature or object
  Duration 1 minute/level
  Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance yes (object)
  You fire a ray at the target, making a ranged attack 
  against its EAC. On a hit, the target is covered in a 
  shimmering field that prevents planar travel. The target 
  can’t be affected by any effect that causes the target to 
  move extradimensionally or to another plane, such as 
  teleportation, summoning, plane shifting, astral travel, 
  ethereal travel, and so on. An affected starship can’t 
  enter or emerge from Drift travel.
  4
  4
  
  56
  MAGMA OOZE
   
  CR
    7
    XP
  3,200 
  N Large ooze (fire)
  Init –2; Senses blindsight (vibration) 60 ft., sightless; 
  Perception +14
  DEFENSES 
  HP 120
  EAC 18; KAC 19
  Fort +11; Ref +7; Will +4
  Defensive Abilities molten body, split; Immunities fire, ooze 
  immunities
  Weaknesses petrified by water, vulnerable to cold
  OFFENSE
  Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft.
  Melee slam +16 (2d6+12 B & F plus grab; critical burn 1d6)
  Ranged hurl magma +14 (2d6+7 B & F; critical burn 1d6)
  Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
  STATISTICS
  Str +5; Dex –2; Con +4; Int —; Wis +2; Cha –4
  Skills Athletics +14 (+22 to climb)
  Other Abilities mindless
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any underground
  Organization solitary 
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Hurl Magma (Su) A magma ooze can hurl magma at a range 
  increment of 20 feet to a maximum range of 100 feet.
  Molten Body (Su) Any melee weapon striking the magma 
  ooze takes 2d6 fire damage, ignoring hardness. If the 
  weapon’s wielder fails a DC 15 Reflex save, the weapon 
  gains the burning condition, which deals 1d6 fire damage 
  that ignores hardness.
  Petrified by Water (Ex) When exposed to a least 1 bulk of 
  water, such as in heavy rain or a pool, the magma ooze is 
  staggered for 1 round. A magma ooze is also staggered for 
  1 round if it starts its turn in such conditions. A magma 
  ooze staggered in this way for 5 or more consecutive 
  rounds becomes petrified. It remains petrified until 
  the source of the petrification is removed and the ooze 
  succeeds at a DC 20 Fortitude saving throw, which it can 
  attempt at the end of each of its turns.
  Split (Ex) If a magma ooze takes cold damage, provided 
  it has at least 12 Hit Points remaining, it splits into two 
  oozes. The new magma ooze appears in an adjacent 
  unoccupied space. If there is no such free space, the ooze 
  doesn’t split. Each ooze has half the original’s remaining 
  Hit Points. The new ooze acts just after the original ooze 
  in the initiative order.
  Magma oozes are living pools of bubbling molten 
  rock that churn and move of their own accord. 
  They can be found on the Plane of Earth and 
  the Plane of Fire. On the Material Plane, they 
  arise spontaneously from planar influences or bizarre 
  magic, usually in the vicinity of volcanoes. Magma 
  oozes have also been known to form when molten rock 
  is suddenly pulled into the Drift.
  A magma ooze has an extraordinarily high body 
  temperature. An agitated magma ooze can jettison chunks 
  of its superheated mass as projectiles of burning rock 
  and protoplasm.
  Although mindless, a magma 
  ooze 
  instinctively 
  avoids 
  water and extreme cold. 
  Cold causes the ooze to 
  split, while water causes 
  its body to harden. Prolonged periods of 
  submersion might even harden the ooze’s 
  surface into a stiff shell, rendering the creature 
  totally immobile until it emerges and becomes molten 
  once more.
  A typical magma ooze is 10 feet wide 
  when its body is spread 6 
  inches thick. It weighs 2 tons.
  
  57
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  MAGMIN 
   
  CR
    3
    XP
  800 
  CN Small outsider (elemental, extraplanar, fire)
  Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +8
  Aura searing (5 ft., DC 12)
  DEFENSE  
  HP 32
  EAC 15; KAC 17
  Fort +6; Ref +4; Will +3
  Defensive Abilities molten body; DR 5/magic; Immunities 
  elemental immunities, fire
  Weaknesses vulnerable to cold
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee slam +11 (1d6+4 B & F; critical burn 1d4)
  STATISTICS
  Str +1; Dex +2; Con +4; Int –1; Wis +0; Cha +0
  Skills Acrobatics +8, Athletics +8, Stealth +13
  Languages Ignan
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any land (Plane of Fire)
  Organization solitary, pair, flow (3–8), eruption (9–24)
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Molten Body (Su) Any melee weapon striking the magmin 
  takes 1d4 fire damage, ignoring hardness. If the weapon’s 
  wielder fails a DC 12 Reflex save, the weapon gains the 
  burning condition, which deals 1d4 fire damage that 
  ignores hardness.
  Searing Aura (Su) A magmin radiates volcanic heat, and any 
  creature that starts its turn in the aura must succeed at a 
  DC 12 Fortitude save or take 1d4 fire damage.
  The mischievous magmins seek places where their native 
  Plane of Fire touches the Material Plane, allowing them to 
  slip between planes. When a magmin appears on the Material 
  Plane, it does so in places of immense heat, such as within 
  lava. An influx of magmins can disrupt magma flows, causing 
  volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. 
  Though few mortals know what causes magmins to begin 
  their exodus from their home plane, the truth is that 
  magmins aren’t very imposing in comparison to other 
  creatures that inhabit the Plane of Fire. Such creatures 
  regularly push magmins around or annex their 
  territory, forcing magmins to migrate, sometimes in 
  large groups. Ousted magmins are untrusting and 
  inquisitive, bombarding intruders with questions 
  in a harsh tone. If magmins dislike the answers to 
  these interrogations, they can become aggressive, 
  even against stronger beings.
  Magmin settlements can be found within the protective crust 
  of magma pillars caused by geyser-like eruptions, where many 
  pools of lava can be found. Magmins enjoy dwelling in these 
  pools and use them for all sorts of purposes, much like other 
  species use hot springs. Unlike other species, magmins also use 
  these pools to kill interlopers and cook them, consuming the 
  ash, bones, and minerals left over as a tasty treat.
  Magma flows through a magmin’s veins and washes over its 
  body, giving off extreme heat. A tiny, fiery heart burns within 
  a magmin, like the core of a terrestrial planet. Few have seen 
  a magmin’s heart, however. Magmins cool quickly when they 
  die or disintegrate into the surrounding lava. Cracking a dead 
  magmin open reveals only dense rock and, sometimes, a few 
  even denser gemstones. What magmins lack in height, they 
  make up for in weight. They stand roughly 4 feet tall and weigh 
  around 300 pounds due to their rocky makeup. 
  
  PYRIC HARBINGER 
   
  CR
    8
   
  XP
    4,800
  58
  CE Medium aberration
  Init +6; Senses darkvision 120 ft., see in darkness, sense 
  through (life) 30 ft.; Perception +16
  Aura alien presence (30 ft., DC 18, sickened 1d4 rounds)
  DEFENSE  
  HP 110
  EAC 21; KAC 21
  Fort +9; Ref +11; Will +7
  Defensive Abilities amorphous, ash consumption, void 
  adaptation; Immunities bleed, death effects, disease, 
  electricity, exhaustion, fatigue, fire, paralysis, poison,  
  sleep, stunning
  OFFENSE
  Speed 10 ft., fly 60 ft. (Su, perfect)
  Melee tendril +17 (1d12+8 F plus pyric curse; critical burn 1d8 F)
  Ranged pyric beam +17 (1d0+8 F plus pyric curse; critical burn 
  1d8 F)
  Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (15 ft. with tendril)
  Offensive Abilities pyric fire
  STATISTICS
  Str +0; Dex +6; Con +2; Int +2; Wis +0; Cha +4
  Skills Acrobatics +16 (+24 to fly), Intimidate +21, Mysticism +21, 
  Sense Motive +21
  Languages Aklo; telepathy 100 ft.
  Other Abilities brightly illuminated, compression, phase, solar 
  adaptation, spaceflight (Mysticism), undying
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any
  Organization solitary or pair
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Ash Consumption (Su) When a creature within 30 feet takes 
  fire damage, a pyric harbinger regains a number of Hit Points 
  equal to the damage the creature took, up to a maximum 
  equal to the harbinger’s CR per round.
  Brightly Illuminated (Su) Light within 30 feet of a pyric 
  harbinger increases by two steps. Light for 30 more feet 
  beyond that increases by one step. Magical darkness 
  decreases this light only if the darkness is from a source 
  with a CR or level higher than the harbinger’s CR.
  Phase (Su) A pyric harbinger can move through objects as if it 
  were incorporeal.
  Pyric Beam (Su) Once per round as a standard action, a pyric 
  harbinger can project pyric fire out to a range of 120 feet. 
  This attack has the line weapon special property.
  Pyric Fire (Su) The fire damage of a pyric harbinger burns body 
  and spirit, ignoring fire resistance and dealing half damage 
  even to creatures with fire immunity. A creature burning 
  due to this fire can gain no bonuses to end that condition. A 
  creature that dies due to pyric fire damage becomes a 
  pyric revenant (page 60) 1d4 hours later.
  Undying (Ex) Pyric harbingers don’t age and have no 
  need to eat, drink, or sleep.
  PYRIC CURSE
  Type curse; Save Fortitude DC 18
  Effect A creature that fails the save gains the burning 1d8 
  condition. This flame is pyric fire (see special ability). While 
  affected, the creature succeeds at saving throws against 
  other pyric curses of the same or weaker potency. 
  Cure 1 save; successful saves against the burning condition are 
  successful saves against the curse.
  Though called “the spawn of the Eshtayiv,” pyric 
  harbingers are the constituents of this entity rather than 
  its offspring. These rare creatures travel through space to 
  find dark places to illuminate and beings to slay, creating 
  terror and pyric undead.
  A pyric harbinger looks like an orb of fire, but within that 
  flame is a gelatinous sphere that is 5 feet in diameter and 
  mostly maw. Those who’ve studied a harbinger’s ashy remains 
  estimate they weigh only 100 pounds.
  
  59
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  PYRIC HELIACUS
   
  CR
    10
   
  XP
    9,600
  NE Large undead
  Init +5; Senses darkvision 120 ft., see in darkness, see 
  invisibility, sense through (life) 30 ft.; Perception +19
  Aura alien presence (10 ft., DC 19, sickened 1 round)
  DEFENSE  
  HP 145
  EAC 22; KAC 22
  Fort +9; Ref +9; Will +15
  Defensive Abilities ash consumption; Immunities fire,  
  undead immunities
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft., fly 30 ft. (Su, average)
  Melee slam +18 (2d8+10 B & F plus pyric curse; critical burn 
  2d4 F)
  Ranged arcing pyric beam +18 (3d4+10 F plus pyric curse; 
  critical burn 2d4 F)
  Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
  Offensive Abilities eclipse shroud, implosion, pyric fire
  Spell-Like Abilities (CL 10th)
  1/day—greater invisibility, wall of fire (pyric fire)
  3/day—dispel magic
  Constant—see invisibility, nondetection
  STATISTICS
  Str +0; Dex +5; Con —; Int +2; Wis +8; Cha +3
  Skills Acrobatics +19, Intimidate +24, Mysticism +24 
  Languages Aklo; telepathy 60 ft.
  Other Abilities illuminated, unliving
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any
  Organization solitary
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Arcing Pyric Beam (Su) As pyric beam (page 58). In addition, 
  once per round after hitting a target, the heliacus can bend 
  the line, causing it to continue along a new trajectory.
  Ash Consumption (Su) See page 58.
  Eclipse Shroud (Su) As a standard action, a heliacus can force a 
  creature to succeed at a DC 19 Will saving throw or take 4d8 
  cold damage and become blinded for 1 minute. An affected 
  creature must repeat the saving throw at the start of each of 
  its turns, taking 4d8 cold damage on a failure and ending the 
  blinded condition on a success.
  Illuminated (Su) Light within 10 feet of a pyric wraith 
  increases by two steps. Light for 10 more feet beyond that 
  increases one step. Magical darkness decreases this light 
  only if from a source with a CR or level higher than the 
  heliacus’s CR.
  Implosion (Su) When destroyed, a heliacus implodes, becoming 
  a gravitational singularity, as the spell (+22 to attack, 5d6 
  damage), in a random square of its space for 3 rounds.
  Pyric Curse (Su) See page 58; Fortitude DC 19, 2d4 fire damage.
  Pyric Fire (Su) See page 58; Fortitude DC 19.
  A few sapient pyric revenants master the spiritual fires within 
  them, becoming pyric heliacuses instead of pyric wraiths. With 
  phenomenal mental discipline, a heliacus can bend fire and light, 
  including cutting victims off from warmth and sight. Heliacuses 
  hunger for knowledge as much as flesh and spirit, so they 
  converse with other beings and seek out repositories of lore. 
  However, heliacuses are imperious and malevolent, consuming 
  anyone who fails to edify or impress them.
  As a heliacus’s enlightenment grows, so does its body, until the 
  creature tops 12 feet. However, as little more than flame, skin, and 
  bone, a heliacus weighs only 300 pounds.
  
  60
  PYRIC REVENANT
  CR
   4
     XP
  1,200 
  CE Medium undead
  Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +10
  DEFENSE 
  HP 50
  EAC 16; KAC 18
  Fort +6; Ref +6; Will +5
  Immunities fire, undead immunities
  Weaknesses susceptible to water
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee slam +12 (1d6+9 B & F plus pyric curse; critical  
  burn 1d4 F)
  Ranged pyric bolt +10 (1d4+4 F; critical burn 1d4 F)
  Offensive Abilities pyric fire
  STATISTICS
  Str +5; Dex +3; Con —; Int +0; Wis +1; Cha +0
  Skills Acrobatics +10, Athletics +15, Intimidate +10
  Languages Aklo
  Other Abilities dimly illuminated, unliving
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any
  Organization solitary, pair, or horde (3–10)
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Dimly Illuminated (Su) Light within 10 feet of a pyric 
  revenant increases by one step. Magical darkness 
  decreases this light only if it’s from a source with a CR or 
  level higher than the revenant’s CR.
  Pyric Bolt (Su) A pyric revenant can launch a bolt of pyric 
  fire with a range increment of 20 feet and a maximum 
  range of 100 feet.
  Pyric Curse (Su) See page 58; Fortitude DC 13, 1d4  
  fire damage.
  Pyric Fire (Su) See page 58; Fortitude DC 13.
  Susceptible to Water (Su) A splash of water deals 1d4 acid 
  damage to a pyric revenant, while a large amount, such 
  as heavy rain, deals 2d4 acid damage. Full immersion 
  in water deals 4d4 acid damage per round to a pyric 
  revenant. However, water can’t reduce a pyric revenant 
  to fewer than one-fifth of its Hit Points (typically 10). Ice 
  does not trigger a pyric revenant’s water susceptibility.
  When pyric fire kills, it roasts flesh while kindling the spirit. Left 
  unchecked, this otherworldly flame awakens a slain creature as 
  an undead of ash, embers, and fire. Some pyric revenants smell 
  of charred meat, which can be the first indication one is nearby.
  A pyric revenant retains negative traits, such as low cunning 
  or the desire to seek out and torment previous adversaries. The 
  revenant might remember unfinished business and important 
  people, and attempt to destroy such vestiges of its former life. 
  If undirected, however, the creature is straightforward in its 
  malice. It carries out no long-term schemes.
  PYRIC REVENANT TEMPLATE 
  GRAFT (CR 3+)
  Pyric fire can turn a creature into a pyric revenant.
  Required Creature Type: Undead.
  Suggested Array: Combatant.
  Traits: Immunity to fire, dimly illuminated, pyric fire, 
  susceptible to water; melee attacks deal half fire damage 
  and impart pyric curse; gains a pyric bolt ranged attack 
  that deals fire damage; speaks Aklo and might retain 
  one or more languages spoken in life.
  Burning Attacks: A pyric revenant’s attacks have the 
  burn critical hit effect that deals damage according to the 
  creature’s CR, as follows: 3–5, 1d4; 6–10, 2d4; 11–15, 3d4;  
  16+ 4d4.
  Suggested Ability Score Modifiers: Strength, Dexterity.
  
  61
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  PYRIC WRAITH
  CR
  6
     XP
  2,400
  CE Medium undead (incorporeal)
  Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +13
  DEFENSE  
  HP 80
  EAC 18; KAC 18
  Fort +5; Ref +10; Will +8
  Defensive Abilities ash consumption, incorporeal; 
  Immunities fire, undead immunities
  OFFENSE
  Speed 40 ft., fly 40 ft. (Su, average)
  Melee touch +16 (2d4+6 F plus pyric curse; critical burn 
   2d4 F)
  Ranged pyric ray +16 (1d10+6 F plus pyric curse; critical  
  burn 2d4 F)
  Offensive Abilities pyric fire
  STATISTICS
  Str +0; Dex +5; Con —; Int +0; Wis +3; Cha +2
  Skills Acrobatics +13, Intimidate +18, Sense Motive +13
  Languages Aklo
  Other Abilities illuminated, unliving
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any
  Organization solitary or pair
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Ash Consumption (Su) When a creature within 30 feet takes 
  fire damage, a pyric wraith regains a number of Hit Points 
  equal to the damage the creature took, up to a maximum 
  equal to the wraith’s CR per round.
  Illuminated (Su) Light within 10 feet of a pyric wraith 
  increases by two steps. Light for 10 more feet beyond that 
  increases by one step. Magical darkness decreases this light 
  only if from a source with a CR or level higher than the 
  wraith’s CR.
  Pyric Curse (Su) See page 58; Fortitude DC 14, 2d4  
  fire damage.
  Pyric Fire (Su) See page 58; Fortitude DC 14.
  Pyric Ray (Su) A pyric wraith can launch a ray of 
  pyric fire with a range increment of 30 feet and a 
  maximum range of 150 feet.
  Over centuries, pyric fire consumes a pyric 
  revenant’s flesh, leaving behind an apparition of 
  ash and embers. This pyric wraith is made of swirling 
  cinders rippling around a heart of brighter flame. The 
  smell of ash and smoke often precedes a pyric wraith.
  A pyric wraith retains only a desire to burn living things 
  and consume the energy released. These beings rarely make 
  full use of their incorporeality. Overwhelming malice compels 
  them to kill without stealth, inspiring horror as they do so. 
  Further, pyric wraiths hate passing through the darkness 
  within objects.
  PYRIC WRAITH TEMPLATE 
  GRAFT (CR 5+)
  A pyric revenant can eventually become a pyric wraith. The 
  example in this entry was once human.
  Required Creature Type: Undead (incorporeal).
  Suggested Array: Combatant.
  Traits: See in darkness, immunity to fire, ash consumption, 
  illuminated, pyric fire; gains a touch attack; gains a pyric ray 
  ranged attack; attacks deal fire damage, impart pyric curse, and 
  have the burn critical hit effect (see Burning Attacks); speaks 
  Aklo and might retain one or more languages spoken in life.
  Burning Attacks: As a pyric revenant; see page 60.
  Suggested Ability Score Modifiers: Dexterity.
  
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  62
  ASTEVINT
  The Lantern World
  Diameter: ×1/2; Mass: ×1/8
  Gravity: ×1/2
  Location: The Vast
  Atmosphere: Normal
  Day: 27 hours; Year: 902 days
  The planet Astevint shines brightly in the Vast, orbiting a 
  dying orange sun. The stones of Astevint are charged with 
  a strange energy, causing them to radiate photons without 
  emitting heat or other energy. As a result, the entire planet 
  shines like a dim star. Only the planet’s natural stone glows, 
  including any particulates like gravel or sand, causing 
  anything else to cast strange shadows. Although Astevint 
  rotates as most other planets do, it doesn’t have a typical 
  day/night cycle—the planet is perpetually illuminated.
  Plant life is abundant on Astevint, particularly clover 
  and a form of massive, broad-leafed fern. Plants here draw 
  sustenance from the soil, but also gain energy from the 
  ground’s illumination rather than from the light of Astevint’s 
  distant sun. Such plants grow most densely in areas of rocky 
  soil rather than in deep loam, and bear leaves that are low 
  to the ground and inverted. As such, the low-lying ferns 
  and shrubs are the lushest and healthiest, while those with 
  leaves on tall stalks must subsist on illumination refracted 
  through the atmosphere and are usually stunted and twisted. 
  A rare few petrified “beacon trees” radiate Astevint’s shining 
  energy from their tall trunks, providing eerie radiance even 
  when the ground cover is too dense for any of the planet’s 
  light to shine upward.
  Stone removed from Astevint quickly loses its illumination, 
  although very dense stones shed light for as long as a month, 
  and transplanted beacon trees glow for up to a year if fed 
  and watered. Physicists specializing in the obscure field of 
  esoteric optics maintain research bases on the planet to study 
  the planet’s peculiar illumination. These bases are usually 
  located near groves of beacon trees, where physicists and 
  botanists work together. What originally turned Astevint 
  into a planet-lantern is a mystery, but scientists posit that 
  some ancient calamity—perhaps caused by the builders of 
  the eons-old brass ruins that dot the planet’s coastlines—
  permanently altered the world long ago. A few roving packs 
  of violent bryrvaths (Starfinder Alien Archive 24), glutted 
  on Astevint’s illumination, appear to be the planet’s only 
  other intelligent life-forms. Whether these creatures are 
  descended from the planet’s original inhabitants or are later 
  arrivals remains a mystery, as the bryrvaths are perpetually 
  addled and entirely uncommunicative.
  
  63
  SOLAR STRIKE
  By Mark Moreland
  Forces loyal to efreet from the Plane of Fire have nearly 
  conquered Kahlannal, the deep-sun settlement of the 
  anassanois, a peaceful telepathic people. The fiery creatures 
  threaten to destroy the anassanoi way of life before it can be 
  understood. The heroes must infiltrate the occupied city, make 
  first contact with allies within, and defeat the oppressors. As 
  a strike team, the group takes out high-value targets, opening 
  the way to take the fight directly to the occupiers’ leaders. 
  But when they accomplish this mission, the heroes learn that 
  this attack is merely a beachhead for an efreeti invasion that 
  threatens the sun and all the Pact Worlds!
  KAHLANNAL
  By Mark Moreland 
  The city of Kahlannal is home to the anassanois. These 
  refugees from a distant, dying star are trapped far from the 
  rest of their kind and isolated even from the nearby cultures 
  of the Pact Worlds. The Gap robbed the anassanois of their 
  history and forced their culture to regress, but Kahlannal 
  remains their home. This survey of the metropolis presents 
  additional locations the PCs can explore and equipment they 
  can use during their adventures there.
  DEEP CULTURES
  By Kate Baker
  The Pact Worlds sun, Mataras, isn’t the only star containing 
  living creatures or the remnants of dead civilizations. From 
  the Azlanti Star Empire to the Vast, other stars in the galaxy 
  support strange beings or hide ancient mysteries, their origins 
  lost to the eons or the Gap.
  SUBSCRIBE TO STARFINDER 
  ADVENTURE PATH
  The Dawn of Flame Adventure Path continues! Don’t miss out 
  on a single exciting volume—head over to paizo.com/starfinder 
  and subscribe today to have Starfinder Roleplaying Game, 
  Starfinder Adventure Path, and Starfinder Accessories 
  products delivered to your door!
  Open Game License Version 1.0a
  Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. (“Wizards”). All Rights Reserved.
  1. Definitions: (a) “Contributors” means the copyright and/or trademark owners 
  who have contributed Open Game Content; (b) “Derivative Material” means 
  copyrighted material including derivative works and translations (including into 
  other computer languages), potation, modification, correction, addition, extension, 
  upgrade, improvement, compilation, abridgment or other form in which an existing 
  work may be recast, transformed or adapted; (c) “Distribute” means to reproduce, 
  license, rent, lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit or otherwise 
  distribute; (d) “Open Game Content” means the game mechanic and includes the 
  methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not 
  embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any 
  additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, 
  and means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative 
  works under copyright law, but specifically excludes Product Identity. (e) “Product 
  Identity” means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks 
  including trade dress; artifacts, creatures, characters, stories, storylines, plots, 
  thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, 
  depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic 
  and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, 
  spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special 
  abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or 
  supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other 
  trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the 
  owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game 
  Content; (f) “Trademark” means the logos, names, mark, sign, motto, designs 
  that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or its products or the associated 
  products contributed to the Open Game License by the Contributor (g) “Use”, 
  “Used” or “Using” means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate 
  and otherwise create Derivative Material of Open Game Content. (h) “You” or “Your” 
  means the licensee in terms of this agreement.
  2. The License: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains 
  a notice indicating that the Open Game Content may only be Used under and in 
  terms of this License. You must affix such a notice to any Open Game Content that 
  you Use. No terms may be added to or subtracted from this License except as 
  described by the License itself. No other terms or conditions may be applied to any 
  Open Game Content distributed using this License.
  3. Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Content You indicate Your 
  acceptance of the terms of this License.
  4. Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing to use this License, the 
  Contributors grant You a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license 
  with the exact terms of this License to Use, the Open Game Content.
  5. Representation of Authority to Contribute: If You are contributing original material 
  as Open Game Content, You represent that Your Contributions are Your original 
  creation and/or You have sufficient rights to grant the rights conveyed by this License.
  6. Notice of License Copyright: You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion 
  of this License to include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open 
  Game Content You are copying, modifying or distributing, and You must add the 
  title, the copyright date, and the copyright holder’s name to the COPYRIGHT 
  NOTICE of any original Open Game Content you Distribute.
  7. Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product Identity, including 
  as an indication as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed in another, 
  independent Agreement with the owner of each element of that Product Identity. 
  You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with any Trademark or 
  Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work containing Open Game Content 
  except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner 
  of such Trademark or Registered Trademark. The use of any Product Identity in 
  Open Game Content does not constitute a challenge to the ownership of that 
  Product Identity. The owner of any Product Identity used in Open Game Content 
  shall retain all rights, title and interest in and to that Product Identity.
  8. Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly indicate 
  which portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Game Content.
  9. Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents may publish updated 
  versions of this License. You may use any authorized version of this License to 
  copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under 
  any version of this License.
  10. Copy of this License: You MUST include a copy of this License with every 
  copy of the Open Game Content You distribute.
  11. Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Open Game 
  Content using the name of any Contributor unless You have written permission 
  from the Contributor to do so.
  12. Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the 
  terms of this License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due 
  to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not Use any 
  Open Game Material so affected.
  13. Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply 
  with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming 
  aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License.
  14. Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, 
  such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it 
  enforceable.
  15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE
  Open Game License v 1.0a © 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
  System Reference Document © 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors: 
  Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on material by E. Gary Gygax 
  and Dave Arneson.
  Starfinder Core Rulebook © 2017, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Logan Bonner, Jason 
  Bulmahn, Amanda Hamon Kunz, Jason Keeley, Robert G. McCreary, Stephen 
  Radney-MacFarland, Mark Seifter, Owen K.C. Stephens, and James L. Sutter, 
  with Alexander Augunas, Judy Bauer, John Compton, Adam Daigle, Crystal 
  Frasier, Lissa Guillet, Thurston Hillman, Erik Mona, Mark Moreland, Jessica Price, 
  F. Wesley Schneider, Amber E. Scott, and Josh Vogt.
  Ooze, Magma from the Tome of Horrors Complete © 2011, Necromancer Games, 
  Inc., published and distributed by Frog God Games; Author: Scott Greene.
  Starfinder Adventure Path #16: The Blind City © 2019, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Ron 
  Lundeen, with Leo Glass, David Gregiore, Violet Hargrave, and Lyz Liddell.
  NEXT MONTH
  THE BLIND 
  CITY
  PART 1: 
  READER’S 
  RESCUE
  PART 2: 
  A SOLAR 
  OUBLIETTE
  PART 3: 
  INTO EZOROD’S 
  HEART
  CULTS OF
   THE GALAXY
  STRANGE 
  GEAR
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF 
  WORLDS
  
  Launch into an exciting universe of science 
  fantasy adventure with the Starf nder 
  Beginner Box! Streamlined rules help you 
  create and customize your own futuristic hero 
  to play through challenging adventures and 
  action-packed battles against dangerous foes! 
  The Starf nder Beginner Box is the ideal 
  introduction to the Starf nder Roleplaying 
  Game, and includes two books, player aid 
  cards, a complete set of dice, six pregenerated 
  characters, blank character sheets, pawns and 
  pawn bases, and a double-sided Flip-Mat.
  AVAILABLE NOW
  ALL 
  SYSTEMS 
  ARE 
  GO!
  BEGINNER BOX
  Paizo, Paizo Inc., the Paizo golem logo, Starfinder, and the Starfinder logo are registered trademarks of Paizo Inc.; 
  Starfinder Roleplaying Game and Starfinder Flip-Mat are trademarks of Paizo Inc. © 2019, Paizo Inc.
  paizo.com/starﬁ nder
  KASATHA
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  OBSERVER ROBOT
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  SECURITY GUARD
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  SPACE GOBLIN 
  HONCHOHEAD
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  SPACE PIRATE
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  KHEFAK
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  PERATHI
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  SECURITY GUARD
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  SPACE GOBLIN 
  ZAPERATOR
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  SWARM CORROVOX
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  MARAQUOI
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  RYPHORIAN
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  SHARPWING
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  SPACE GOBLIN 
  ZAPERATOR
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  KHEFAK
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  OROCORAN
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  SECURITY GUARD
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  SPACE GOBLIN 
  ZAPERATOR
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  SPACE PIRATE
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  LIVING HOLOGRAM
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  RUTHIG
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  SECURITY ROBOT
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  SPACE GOBLIN 
  ZAPERATOR
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  VERTHANI
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  MI-GO
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  SARCESIAN
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  SKITTERMANDER
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  SPACE PIRATE
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  ROBOT DRAGON
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  PZO7110-Beginner Box-Pawns.indd   5
  AEON GUARD
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  BARATHU
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  DROW
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  EVIL OPERATIVE
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  GANG TOUGH
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  AKATA
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  CONTEMPLATIVE
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  ELECTROVORE
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  EVIL TECHNOMANCER
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  GRAY
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  ASSEMBLY OOZE
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  CYBERNETIC ZOMBIE
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  EVIL MECHANIC
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  GANG TOUGH
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  AEON GUARD
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  BONE TROOPER
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  ELECTROVORE
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  EVIL SOLDIER
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  GARAGGAKAL
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  ANACITE
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  CYBERNETIC ZOMBIE
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  EVIL ENVOY
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  FORMIAN
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  HESPER
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  ASTEROID LOUSE
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  DRAGONKIN
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  EVIL MYSTIC
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  GANG TOUGH
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  KSARIK
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  PZO7110-Beginner Box-Pawns.indd   3
  CHOOSE THE ENVOY IF 
  YOU’D LIKE TO…
  BE A CHARISMATIC PEOPLE PERSON
  MAKE FRIENDS AND INTIMIDATE FOES
  INSPIRE YOUR ALLIES
  UNDERMINE YOUR ENEMIES
  ENVOY
  Navasi was raised to inherit her affluent family’s business and join the ranks of 
  society’s most prominent socialites, but she wanted neither—only freedom. On the 
  eve of her eighteenth birthday, Navasi slipped out of her family’s manor and stowed 
  away on a ship to become a space pirate who lived by her own rules. But the reality 
  of life in a pirate enclave hit Navasi like a meteorite, and when the pirates decided to 
  target a medical ship carrying much-needed supplies, it was the last straw. Taking on 
  Navasi believes in freedom for all, and she takes pride in her ability to take care of 
  herself and her crew. As a scoundrel, fast-talker, and brilliant negotiator, Navasi is 
  happiest when the chips are down and lives hang in the balance, as that’s when you 
  CHOOSE THE OPERATIVE 
  IF YOU’D LIKE TO…
  USE A STEALTHY APPROACH
  TRICK YOUR FOES TO DEAL 
  MORE DAMAGE
  EXCEL AT A VARIETY OF SKILLS
  BE BOTH A PERSON AND A MACHINE
  OPERATIVE
  CHOOSE THE SOLDIER 
  IF YOU’D LIKE TO…
  SOLDIER
  and hit hard. Brilliant on the battlefield, Obozaya has little patience for intellectual 
  pursuits not directly related to her vocation. She believes that honor demands honesty, 
  and while she’s not against lying by omission, she would rather die than break her 
  BE THE STRONGEST AND THE TOUGHEST
  USE THE BIGGEST WEAPONS
  USE THE BIGGEST WEAPONS
  USE THE BIGGEST WEAPONS
  WEAR THE BEST ARMOR
  WEAR THE BEST ARMOR
  WEAR THE BEST ARMOR
  WEAR THE BEST ARMOR
  EXCEL IN MELEE AND RANGED COMBAT
  CHOOSE THE SOLDIER 
  IF YOU’D LIKE TO…
  SOLDIER
  BE THE STRONGEST AND THE TOUGHEST
  BE THE STRONGEST AND THE TOUGHEST
  BE THE STRONGEST AND THE TOUGHEST
  CHOOSE THE MECHANIC 
  IF YOU’D LIKE TO…
  BUILD AND MODIFY MACHINERY
  HAVE THE RIGHT TOOL FOR ANY JOB
  HAVE A CYBERNETIC 
  PROCESSOR IMPLANTED 
  IN YOUR BRAIN
  HIDE OBJECTS IN YOUR CHEEK POUCHES
  MECHANIC
  Quig taught himself the basics of engineering while growing up in a poor scavenger 
  family. One day he witnessed a bounty hunter capturing her quarry, and he realized 
  that this was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. That afternoon, Quig 
  gathered up all of his belongings, said farewell to his family, and set off into the wider 
  world as an apprentice bounty hunter. When his mentor retired, Quig was ready to 
  Quig is personable and outgoing, and his constant traveling for work has left him 
  with friends and contacts across the Pact Worlds. He prides himself on being a good 
  judge of character, and while he’s savvy enough to withhold actual trust until it’s been 
  earned, he’s not above throwing himself into a fight on behalf of a near-stranger if he’s 
  CHOOSE THE TECHNOMANCER 
  IF YOU’D LIKE TO…
  BLEND MAGIC AND TECHNOLOGY
  TECHNOMANCER
  WIELD MAGIC TO BLAST YOUR 
  ENEMIES
  USE TECHNOLOGY TO POWER YOUR 
  MAGIC
  READ MINDS AND COMMUNICATE 
  TELEPATHICALLY
  CHOOSE THE MYSTIC 
  IF YOU’D LIKE TO…
  HEAL AND HELP YOUR FRIENDS
  SLING PSYCHIC BOLTS AND 
  TELEKINETIC PROJECTILES
  USE AND DETECT MAGIC
  COMMUNICATE TELEPATHICALLY
  MYSTIC
  decision-making. While quite capable in combat, he prefers to act as a healer and 
  medic. Keskodai believes that death is not an ending, but a doorway: an entry into 
  a new existence and way of being. He greets this transition with joyful reverence, 
  STARFINDER BEGINNER BOX: GAME MASTER'S GUIDE
  GAME MASTER'S GUIDE
  . Write down the 
  initiative result of each PC and group of monsters, in 
  Take turns in initiative order. On its turn, a character 
  or creature takes exactly one action, and it can move 
  Start a new round. Everyone takes another turn, using 
  the same order established in step 1. Repeat steps 2 
  ISEPH—ANDROID 
  OPERATIVE
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  ANDROID
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  HUMAN
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  SHIRREN
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  VESK
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  NAVASI—HUMAN ENVOY
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  ANDROID
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  LASHUNTA
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  SHIRREN
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  YSOKI
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  QUIG—YSOKI MECHANIC
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  ANDROID
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  LASHUNTA
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  VESK
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  KESKODAI—SHIRREN 
  MYSTIC
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  ANDROID
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  HUMAN
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  SHIRREN
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  YSOKI
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  OBOZAYA—VESK SOLDIER
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  ANDROID
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  LASHUNTA
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  SHIRREN
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  YSOKI
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  RAIA—LASHUNTA 
  TECHNOMANCER
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  HUMAN
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  SHIRREN
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  VESK
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  CREST-EATER
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  PZO7110-Beginner Box-Pawns.indd   1
  10/17/18   5:56 PM
  d4
  d6
  d8
  d10
  d12
  d20
  8
  6
  20
  20
  10
  12
  4
  CHARACTER SHEET
   ABILITY 
  MODS
  ABILITY 
  SCORES
  STR
  STRENGTH
  DEX
  DEXTERITY
  CON
  CONSTITUTION
  INT
  INTELLIGENCE
  WIS
  WISDOM
  CHA
  CHARISMA
  RACIAL TRAITS (pages 20–23)
  SKILLS (pages 46–51)
  SKILL
  TOTAL
  ABILITY 
  MOD
  CLASS
  LEVEL
  MISC
  ATHLETICS
  STR
  +
  +
  +
  CULTURE
  INT
  +
  +
  +
  INTERACTION
  CHA +
  +
  +
  MEDICINE
  INT
  +
  +
  +
  MYSTICISM
  WIS +
  +
  +
  PERCEPTION
  WIS +
  +
  +
  SCIENCE
  INT
  +
  +
  +
  STEALTH
  DEX +
  +
  +
  SURVIVAL
  WIS +
  +
  +
  TECHNOLOGY
  INT
  +
  +
  +
  Theme Knowledge
  CLASS FEATURES (pages 26–45)
  FEATS (pages 52–55)
  CHARACTER INFORMATION
  NAME
  PRONOUNS
  RACE
  THEME
  CLASS
  LEVEL
  ALIGNMENT
  CURRENT XP
  NEXT LEVEL
  DEFENSE
  ATTACKS (pages 78–79)
  MELEE ATTACK
  TOTAL
  STR +
  CLASS
  RANGED ATTACK
  TOTAL
  DEX +
  CLASS
  WEAPON
  WEAPON FUSION
  TOTAL 
  ATTACK
  DAMAGE*
  RANGE
  SPECIAL 
  PROPERTY
  CRITICAL HIT 
  EFFECT
  WEAPON
  WEAPON FUSION
  TOTAL 
  ATTACK
  DAMAGE*
  RANGE
  SPECIAL 
  PROPERTY
  CRITICAL HIT 
  EFFECT
  GRENADE (page 64)
  TOTAL
   ATTACK
  DAMAGE
  RANGE
  SPECIAL 
  EFFECT
  REFLEX 
  SAVE DC
  VS
  AC 10
  INITIATIVE
  SPEED
  TOTAL
  FEET
  WEAPON PROFICIENCIES (page 57)
  ¨ Basic Melee
  ¨ Small Arms ¨ Grenades
  ¨ Advanced Melee
  ¨ Longarms
  (–4 to attack if not proficient)
  * Add your STR to melee weapon damage.
  EQUIPMENT AND SPELLS
  ARE ON THE REVERSE
  MISC
  HIT POINTS
  RESOLVE POINTS
  TOTAL
  CURRENT
  TOTAL
  CURRENT
  SAVING THROWS
  TOTAL
  ABILITY
  MOD
  CLASS
  MISC
  FORTITUDE SAVE
  CON +
  +
  REFLEX SAVE
  DEX +
  +
  WILL SAVE
  WIS +
  +
  E
  A
  B
  C
  D
  G
  F
  H
  I
  J K
  ARMOR CLASS (AC)
  TOTAL
  10 + DEX +
  ARMOR +
  MISC
  ARMOR
  ARMOR PROFICIENCIES
  ¨Light   ¨Heavy
  ARMOR UPGRADES
  +
  DEX
  Each turn, you take exactly one action, and you can move 
  before or after you take that action.
  MOVE (optional; Heroes’ Handbook 77)
  TAKE AN ACTION (mandatory; Heroes’ Handbook 78)
  Attack Actions
   
  Melee Attack (Heroes’ Handbook 78)
   
  Ranged Attack (Heroes’ Handbook 79)
   
  Hinder Foe (Heroes’ Handbook 79)
   
  Support Fire (Heroes’ Handbook 79)
  Use an Item (Heroes’ Handbook 81)
  Use a Skill (Heroes’ Handbook 81)
  Use a Special Ability (Heroes’ Handbook 81)
  Cast a Spell (Heroes’ Handbook 82)
  Extra Move (Heroes’ Handbook 82)
  Defend (Heroes’ Handbook 82)
  RESTING
  With 10 uninterrupted minutes 
  of rest, you can spend 1 Resolve 
  Point to regain Hit Points 
  equal to half your total Hit 
  Points (rounded down; Heroes’ 
  Handbook 84).
  With a full night’s rest (8 hours 
  of sleep or more), you regain Hit 
  Points equal to half your total 
  Hit Points (rounded down), all 
  of your Resolve Points (Heroes’ 
  Handbook 84), and all of your 
  daily-use abilities and spell slots 
  (Heroes’ Handbook 72).
  BASIC ROLL: 
  D20 + MODIFIERS
  WHAT CAN I DO ON MY TURN?
  Starfnder Beginner Box
  10/17/18   6:16 PM
  VESK
  VESK
  VESK
  VESK
  VESK
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  of sleep or more), you regain Hit 
  daily-use abilities and spell slots 
  Starfnder Beginner Box
  YSOKI
  YSOKI
  YSOKI
  YSOKI
  YSOKI
  YSOKI
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  YSOKI
  YSOKI
  YSOKI
  YSOKI
  YSOKI
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  YSOKI
  YSOKI
  YSOKI
  YSOKI
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  YSOKI
  YSOKI
  YSOKI
  YSOKI
  YSOKI
  YSOKI
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  © 2019 PAIZO INC.
  Launch into an exciting universe of science 
  Launch into an exciting universe of science 
  Starf nder 
  Starf nder 
  ! Streamlined rules help you 
  ! Streamlined rules help you 
  create and customize your own futuristic hero 
  create and customize your own futuristic hero 
  to play through challenging adventures and 
  to play through challenging adventures and 
  action-packed battles against dangerous foes! 
  action-packed battles against dangerous foes! 
   is the ideal 
   is the ideal 
  introduction to the Starf nder Roleplaying 
  introduction to the Starf nder Roleplaying 
  Game, and includes two books, player aid 
  Game, and includes two books, player aid 
  cards, a complete set of dice, six pregenerated 
  cards, a complete set of dice, six pregenerated 
  CHOOSE THE SOLDIER 
  IF YOU’D LIKE TO…
  BE THE STRONGEST AND THE TOUGHEST
  BE THE STRONGEST AND THE TOUGHEST
  USE THE BIGGEST WEAPONS
  USE THE BIGGEST WEAPONS
  WEAR THE BEST ARMOR
  WEAR THE BEST ARMOR
  EXCEL IN MELEE AND RANGED COMBAT
  EXCEL IN MELEE AND RANGED COMBAT
  
  1
  3
  4
  2
  5
  5
  9
  10
  16
  11
  17
  17
  18
  15
  14
  12
  13
  7
  10
  10
  a
  b
  8
  c
  c
  6
  10
  7
  1  SQUARE = 10 FEET
  FORWARD
  MAP KEY
  1. Medical bay
  2. Captain’s stateroom
  3. Synthesis bay
  4. General science lab
  5. Officers’ quarters
  6. Temple
  7. Gunnery station 
  8. Bridge
  a. Pilot’s station
  b. Captain’s chair
  c. Science officer’s station
  9. Officers’ mess
  10. Cargo hold
  11. Port airlock
  12. Galley
  13. Crew quarters
  14. Crew mess
  15. Washroom
  16. Starboard airlock
  17. Sealed environment 
  chamber
  18. Engineering
  PYRE WOEBRINGER
  
  When the heroes seek an expert to translate an ancient, eldritch tablet, a sinister cult strikes from out of the 
  shadows, intent on destroying the relic and all who know of its existence. After facing off against these zealots 
  and deciphering the tablet, the heroes learn of another deep-sun locale called Ezorod—and the evil elder entity 
  that has focused its attention there. The heroes quickly discover that the tablet is both a map and a key to 
  Ezorod, allowing them to enter and explore this weird and lightless oubliette. There they will encounter ghastly 
  creatures and uncover sophisticated technology that could advance sun-diving by light-years. But even if the 
  PCs manage to escape the deadly solar dungeon, they’ll be forced to wonder about the malevolent 
  being they have unleashed upon the galaxy—even as they receive a mysterious message heralding a 
  future confrontation!
  This volume of Starfinder Adventure Path continues the Dawn of Flame Adventure Path and includes:
  • “The Blind City,” a Starfinder adventure for 7th-level characters, by Ron Lundeen.
  • A peek into several cults of the galaxy, along with a cult hunter character theme, by Lyz Liddell.
  • A catalog of strange gear from across known space, including bizarre artifacts, by Leo Glass.
  • An archive of fiery threats—some of which burn both the body and the soul—from cruel dimensional 
  shamblers to the mischievous magmins, by David Gregoire, Violet Hargrave, and Ron Lundeen.
  • Deck plans and statistics for an efreeti warship and a survey of a world in the Vast that 
  shines its own light into the void, both by Ron Lundeen.
  TRAPPED IN THE DARK
  paizo.com/starfinder
  Printed in China. PZO7216
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Starfinder [multi]/Adventure Paths/SF13-18 Dawn of Flame/Dawn of Flame - 04 - The Blind City.pdf