The Other Side of the Canvas (Sarenith (VI) 18th, 4709 AR)

The invisible stalker fought until the Well-Dressed Gentleman died. Darius tried to defend himself but was inevitably killed by the invisible stalker. The heroes returned him to life.

When the heroes saved the Well-Dressed Gentleman from the invisible stalker, he attempted to fast-talk them to affect his escape. When the heroes detained and confronted him with the events that have transpired since he delivered the trapped paintings, he surrendered but became defensive and claimed innocence. He merely delivered a quartet of packages for a man willing to pay well for his services. He admitted it was a strange job, but the man's coin made it worth the trouble. His natural intuitiveness led him to track his employer back to his place of residence on Sandalwood Lane, but he knew nothing about the man since he hadn't had time to ask around yet. Darius willingly revealed that he delivered the third package to Endrik Archerus.

With the information the heroes learned from their encounter with the Well-Dressed Gentleman, they had just one last painting to deal with. The paintings of Endrik Archerus, himself an international celebrity, are duplicated and hung in many manor houses, universities, and royal courts across Golarion. Protecting him from harm means more than just saving a local artist, it means keeping alive a part of Absalom's cultural identity. His immodest home is located at 3 Blue Sapphire Avenue.

A tall stone tower partially covered in flowering vines overshadows the neighboring manors. An iron plaque beside the front gate reads "Endrik Archerus, Artist." A flagstone path leads across a handsome yard to an ironbound door at the base of the tower.

It didn't take long for the heroes to learn that Endrik was missing. He received a wrapped package earlier in the day and took it up to his studio to examine. Since then, his servants have not seen him. They told the heroes that he does not leave without letting them know, and none of them saw him exit the tower. The servants worried that something unnatural had happened to him, but if the heroes could unravel the mystery they wouldn't need to send for the watch.

Five servants lived in and worked in Endrik's home. The 40-foot-diameter tower rises to a height of 60 feel and contains five levels, with Endrik's studio located at the top.

Harvester of Souls

When the heroes offered to help, the servants escorted them up to Endrik's studio. The studio is a cluttered mess of easels, boxes of paints, stools, workbenches, brushes, rags, unfinished paintings, and stretched canvasses still waiting for brush and paint.

A three-foot-by-six-foot oil-on-wood painting appears to be a recent addition. Thick brown paper lies wadded on the floor around it. The painting, full of grays, depicted a horrible crone with dark skin and bright glowing eyes sitting astride a black warhorse. The hag waved a long pole ending in an iron spike at a pair of ugly humanoids with glowing emerald eyes and covered in chains. They struggled to pull a two-wheeled handcart filled with a writhing mass of large fat worms with humanoid heads. More of the vile creatures crawl in the dust around them, their humanoid faces twisted with hate and self-loathing. In the background loom piles of rubble and a massive stone wall that seems to rise into infinity.

The surface of the painting appears slick and wet. Additionally, the subjects seemed to actually move, albeit at an incredibly slow rate. Anyone who touched the surface of the painting was instantly transported into an extradimensional space within the painting. While the active subjects of the painting existed, anyone transported inside remained trapped.

A sheet of vellum on the floor in front of the painting contains a cryptic letter.

"It is said that the souls of thieves and liars are damned to an eternity of torment in Hell.

So then, Master Archerus, gaze upon this portrait, a gift to you, and ponder whose damned soul you see.

Ah, and lest I forget: your compatriot, you should know, will join you soon. The sting of his duplicity gnaws at him, you can be sure."

One of the worm creatures was Archerus in his new form. The chain devils were real. The creature on the horse was a soul harvester, a painted version of a night hag.

The kytons animated the chains that bound them to the cart, then attacked in melee. These kytons fought ferociously to the death.

Some of the worms tried to bite at anything that came within reach in order to defend themselves. The soul harvester attacked the nearest enemy with its bite and fought until destroyed.

Destroying the kytons and soul harvester caused the extradimensional space to collapse, shunting the heroes and Endrik Archerus back into the painter's studio in a flood of wet paint. Endrik Archerus immediately reverted back to his normal form.

Endrik Archerus knows exactly who sent him the trapped painting – Imron Gauthfallow. He recognized the style as soon as he unwrapped the painting. Endrik also understands the meaning of the cryptic letter that accompanied it and tells the heroes he has reason to believe Gauthfallow might have harmed Tharivol, a friend of Endrik's and servant of lmron's. He claims lmron has it in for him and attributes it to jealousy. A foreign artist, lmron recently gained fame very quickly with his refreshing and shocking style and subject matter.