The Golarion Gazette

Last month, rumors of security breaches at several of Golarion’s major crafting and adventuring organizations were confirmed in dramatic fashion as Aspis Consortium agents released to the public a series of documents containing confidential information. In a statement, an Aspis Consortium spokesperson shamed the victims of the breaches, including the Technic League, Anviller’s Guild, Eagle Knights, and even the Pathfinder Society. “We gave them the opportunity to make this go away by paying a very reasonable ransom, but they refused,” said the spokesperson. “Let this be a lesson to anyone who does not accede to our demands.”

Many of the leaked documents, including personnel records, secret door locations, and ancient curses, are similar to documents leaked in previous breaches. However, this information dump included large numbers of crafting formulas. “There are over 1,000 crafting formulas in these documents, including everything from alchemical items to weapons to magical grimoires,” said crafting expert Victor Malvarna. “Almost every item in common use by adventurers is in here.” With the documents being copied and passed around like wildfire, observers predict that every blacksmith’s shop, alchemist’s lab, and workshop will have a copy within a few weeks, effectively making the expense and inconvenience of purchasing crafting formulas a thing of the past.

The release of the documents is already spurring massive technological changes. Crafters in Augustana, Andoran, the location of the Consortium’s original announcement and “ground zero” of the information leak, have worked together to take advantage of the “treasure trove” of information about various crafting techniques across Golarion to identify synergies and areas of improvement. The initial results of these efforts have far exceeded expectations, with the new techniques developed “almost overnight” allowing crafters to create items “nearly twice as fast” as before, with even more improvements to crafting speed still in the pipeline.

For many crafting and related guilds, control of formulas has been a major source of power and income, so organizations are scrambling to adapt to their sudden loss. Some crafters have attempted to stake out new territory, pushing new products to get ahead of the curve and preserve market share. The Gnomish League of Advanced Weaponsmiths is a notable example, announcing new lines of weapons designed to mimic the form factor of more traditional weapons, making them easier to learn. “Even wizards won’t have any trouble learning how to swing our new maces,” said Alva Brunhilg of GLAW. “And if you want to upgrade to something stronger, it’s a simple feat to become an expert in no time.” The Talisman Dabblers, an upstart organization operating out of Druma, have joined the fray. They have released a new line of “easier-to-use” talismans, although initial reviews have been tepid.

The Aspis Consortium may still have more tricks up their sleeves, as alchemists and toxicologists have reported that many poisons made from the leaked recipes are much weaker than what they are used to. Some suspect that the Consortium may have released these weaker versions on purpose, keeping the stronger versions to themselves as leverage in future negotiations. Any poison-related shenanigans are still speculation, though and only time will uncover the truth.