Taldor
Gain control of Absalom through political manipulation and intrigue.
Since the Age of Enthronement, no nation in the Inner Sea has had as wide-reaching and influential an empire as the kingdom of Taldor. Sadly, decadence and overconfidence led to the empire’s relatively swift decline centuries ago, as vassal after vassal broke free from the crown. Despite its waning influence worldwide and constant internal political strife, Taldor is one of the five nations most strategically poised to take control of Absalom from within. Using the same tactics of espionage, sabotage, blackmail, and deception employed by Taldan nobility for millennia, agents of this political faction hope to manipulate the nobility and citizenry of Absalom to recognize the nation’s rightful place as the natural ruler of humankind throughout the region.
Pathfinders allied with the Taldan cause often hail from the nation itself, though sometimes foreign agents find themselves working for the empire because they share the modus operandi of using courtly intrigue to their own advantage. While many Taldan natives in the faction claim some noble blood, just as many come from the nation’s poorer classes and hope that if they increase their nation’s influence in the Inner Sea region, some of the inevitable prosperity will trickle down to them and their families. Pathfinder allies of Taldor should be willing to spy, coerce, blackmail, cheat, lie, and publicly humiliate their enemies. Most Taldor Faction Pathfinders are neutral-aligned.
While her predecessor often sent Pathfinders on missions to recover opulent art to decorate his many palaces and manors, Lady Gloriana knows that Taldor must reclaim its position as the bastion of humanity through constant vigilance. Pathfinders in her employ should be skilled at the arts of deception, misdirection, and stealth, while also knowing how to navigate Absalom’s complex aristocratic landscape. Those with the ability to speak honeyed words to a rival noble while simultaneously pilfering damning documents from his satchel will go far.