A Just Reward

A Just Reward is a quest in Pathfinder: Kingmaker

Synopsis
"In defeating the Stag Lord, we not only completed the Aldori's task, but saved a beautiful nymph — the Guardian of the Bloom — who no one besides our daring leader had seen! A well-deserved reward awaits our hero(ine)."

Wait for the message from the nymph

 * Soon this stupid fog will clear away, and the nymph will regain her powers and send us a message! It would be nice if more than one of us could see her this time...

Meet the nymph in her Verdant Chambers

 * The nymph suggested the baron(ess) set off to her 'chambers' — an old tree, growing inside the ruins in the middle of the woods. She didn't invite anyone else! Looks like the nymph is only interested in offering her reward to the baron(ess). (Oh, I don't like this suggestion! If I were in the baron's/ess's shoes, I'd definitely stock up on invisibility potions, or some other means to avoid trouble!(

The chamber is empty

 * There's no one in the nymph's chambers. Maybe she'll show if the baron(ess) comes alone, as she asked.

Survive!

 * Oh, oh, the nymph's invitation turned out to be a trap! The baron(ess) must either defeat the monsters or escape! I would choose the latter.
 * (You will be attacked by 3 higher level monsters and have to either kill them all with only your main character, or escape them somehow)
 * (There will also be 3 gnomes with scythes which spawn on the walls/ramparts surrounding the court yard, called "red caps")
 * (Additionally, several newly trapped areas on the ground will now be set in the courtyard and at the entrance arch to the courtyard)

Walkthrough

 * This quest will not actually begin until the player has established their barony and first exits to the Main Square in their capital, Tuskdale. Once that happens the player will see an apparition of the Guardian of the Bloom, who will request to meet the player in person at the Verdant Chambers - alone.

Meet the nymph in her Verdant Chambers

 * The nymph suggested the baron(ess) set off to her 'chambers' — an old tree, growing inside the ruins in the middle of the woods. She didn't invite anyone else! Looks like the nymph is only interested in offering her reward to the baron(ess). (Oh, I don't like this suggestion! If I were in the baron's/ess's shoes, I'd definitely stock up on invisibility potions, or some other means to avoid trouble!)


 * If you aren't suspicious of the Guardian's request, you should be. Linzi's worries in the journal text are well founded, and the player should prepare themselves with just about any buff potions that they have on hand. A martial character may be able to make it through the upcoming section without too much fuss, but any casters or classes that aren't built to be on the front lines may struggle without some preparation. Martial classes should pick up a Cold Iron weapon of some kind from Hassuf or Verdel if possible as it will make a part of the encounters to come much easier, but this is not necessary.
 * Once the player has stocked up on all the consumables they think they may need, which includes some Camping supplies and rations if the player's character doesn't have Lore (Nature) ranks for hunting, create a hard save in the capital and set off for the Verdant Chambers. Again, depending on the player's class the journey may not be all that difficult, but consider trying to avoid any random encounters along the way if you aren't confident in your ability to tackle those challenges alone.
 * Upon arriving at the Verdant Chambers, everything is clear so take the time to explore the layout of the area; do not enter the interior of the keep yet, and do no interact with the tree in the courtyard until you are sure you are ready, which includes buffing your character up as much as possible.
 * To the east of where the player starts is a [Mobility 18] check to jump over to a small plateau. There are two ferocious wolves there, which shouldn't be too difficult for just about anyone to deal with. The real prize is the corpse here which contains two Potions of Invisibility, a Scroll of Freedom of Movement, the book "Of Transmutations and Bodily Poisons", Part III, which will be needed later for An Ancient Formula, and a Piece of Skymetal. There is also another area transition point on this plateau, which will become important later.
 * A Rune-covered Ancient Leather Scrap can be found in some rubble on the west side of the courtyard hidden by a [Perception 9] check, and there is a Token of the Dryad in some rubble underneath of the tree in the courtyard.
 * Be sure to explore the ramparts. There is an [Athletics 8] check to reach the courtyard from the collapsed section of the ramparts, but an [Athletics 22] check to get back up the collapsed section of the ramparts. The eastern corner of the rampart has a Torag's Pendant hidden in a pile of rubble with a [Perception 9] check, while the northern corner has another Torag's Pendant in a hidden pile of rubble requiring a [Perception 23] check..
 * The ramparts also have a fallen tree leading to the plateau with the area transition. The fallen tree requires a [Mobility 14] check to descend without falling, or a [Mobility 19] check to ascend.
 * Now that the player should have fully explored the area while it is free of threats, it's time to meet the Guardian. As soon as the player interacts with the tree in the courtyard, three portals will appear suddenly, summoning a young hydra, a manticore, and an owlbear, with a Redcap appearing on the ramparts with her. The player has a few responses to the Guardian as she appears:
 * (Lawful Good) The player expresses outrage at the Guardian's trickery.
 * (Neutral) The player attempts to come to an understanding with the Guardian,
 * (Chaotic Neutral) The player expresses sarcastic surprise, and asks why the Guardian wants them dead.
 * The player can ask if everything the Guardian said was a lie.
 * The player can threaten the Guardian.

Survive!

 * ''Oh, oh, the nymph's invitation turned out to be a trap! The baron(ess) must either defeat the monsters or escape! I would choose the latter.


 * The conversation with the Guardian is over as quickly as it began, and she will teleport away as the young hydra attacks the player immediately. The hydra isn't particularly strong on its own, but it may give a solo player a run for their money given the amount of attacks per round that it has. The hydra is the only mandatory combat encounter as the player tries to escape, so feel free to use all of the spells and abilities at your disposal to survive the encounter.
 * Once the hydra is dead, the player has a few different paths they can take to escape. To be clear, all the enemies that are not defeated before the player leaves will still be present if the player returns later, so there is nothing to be lost by leaving the easiest way possible and nothing to be gained by defeating all of the enemies solo:
 * If the player has a character with decent athletics they can climb the collapsed ramparts wall with an [Athletics 22] check, which will lead to the Redcap that can be seen during the cutscene with the Guardian. The Redcap may take a while to kill for a martial class due to its DR 10/Cold Iron, but it will have a hard time hitting a player if they've managed to buff their AC a bit; casters may have an easier time since spells will bypass the Redcap's damage reduction. Once the Redcap has been defeated, the player can use the fallen tree to descend to the plateau mentioned earlier with a [Mobility 14] check; the player does not need to succeed at the check in order to leave the ramparts, but a successful check will prevent them from taking damage during the descent. Use the area transition on the plateau to escape the Verdant Chambers.
 * If the player can't climb the ramparts but is still good for a fight after tackling the hydra, they can stick to the northern side of the tree and approach the stairs leading to the ramparts. By staying to the north they will need to fight the manticore and then two more Recaps. Take the path to the right on the rampart, and follow the instructions from the option before this one; there will be several traps along the way which may go undetected and undisarmed if the player doesn't have the appropriate Perception or Trickery skills. Stick as tight to the center structure as possible until reaching the stairs in order to avoid the traps if you haven't detected them.
 * The owlbear blacking the main entrance is far too powerful for nearly any character build to handle by themselves at this level, so it would be pure luck if through a lot of reloads in order to kill it. Even if the player manages to kill the owlbear, there is still the matter of the Giant Flytrap blocking the main area transition, which is just as formidable a foe as the owlbear.
 * If the player picked up the two potions of invisibility mentioned earlier, they may be able to consume one of those and stealth out the main entrance past the owlbear and the giant flytrap, or even stealth to the ramparts and use the same method of escape listed above.
 * Finally, if the player is extremely patient and/or stubborn, it is absolutely possible for a martial class to kill both the owlbear and the giant flytrap. This method will probably cause the most frustration as it takes an extreme amount of luck for the rolls to work in the player's favor to the point that they can defeat both obstacles on their own.
 * Once the player has made it to the world map in once piece, return to Tuskdale to gather the rest of your party to come back and clear out the remaining enemies. Both fortunately and unfortunately, all of the exterior traps that were present leading to the main entrance and blocking off the interior entrance and ramparts are gone, so that source of experience is lost. Any bodies that were previously present will still be there, so they can be skinned if the player couldn't do that on their own.
 * Finally, to close out this area, if the player has a character with an insanely high Perception rank and another character with an equally high Trickery rank, enter the interior of the keep. Inside the keep before a locked door is a [Perception 36] [Trickery 36] trap, which will be very difficult for an appropriately leveled party to spot and disarm. However, disarming this trap will award the party a huge amount of experience since the trap is intended to be dealt with by a much higher level party; it probably won't be enough to experience to level anyone up, but it will put a good dent into the next level.
 * And with that, the quest is complete. This isn't the last we've seen of the Guardian of the Bloom now that she has shown her true colors, but it'll be a while before the player gets to interact with her directly again.

Outcome
"Even the most beautiful flower can be poisonous! Now we know that the nymph used our baron(ess), with the intention of killing him/her! But despite the cruel treachery of the vile liar, the baron(ess) managed to disrupt her plans and survive!"