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Post by Dungeon Master on Jan 8, 2015 17:24:24 GMT -5
*This quest was a Living Greyhawk Module by Brad Gardner which I adapted for this campaign.
Encounter 1
The city of Glorairine, sitting on the Isthmus between the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Stars, comes into view. Its clay tiled roofs and towering buildings can be seen for miles. These are the lands of the Amurites, best known for their wizardry and ending the Age of Ice.
The heroes arrived at Glorairine late in the evening, after a long day of travel along the Gnarly Road. Tired and footsore, they headed southwest toward Crooked Street for a night of rest. Two nearby city maintenance men light streetlamps to ward off the impending darkness. A sea breeze off the coast blows through as the heroes walk among the people going home from a long day of work. The scrape and shuffle of boxes could be heard from a nearby alley, as some of the city’s poorer residents settle into their “homes” for the evening.
A drunk Malakim dressed in fine clothes, yet smelling like beer and vomit stumbled into Captain Dagfinn. He apologized with a hiccup, and bemoaned his fate, as that night was the night he had finally given up the chase for “Howard the Coward.” Surprised at walking randomly into a man with a connection to one of his former crew, Dagfinn asked how the drunk knew the coward. Andargo immediately went into his life’s story, telling how Howard had stolen a precious family heirloom and deflowering his daughter before fleeing. The Malakim noble vowed to find Howard and have his vengeance, but he had failed. With his family fortune spent, Andargo gave in to despair and was heading home in disgrace the following morning. Dagfinn informed the despondent man that Howard was a former crew member on his ship, and that Andargo was welcome to search Howard’s belongings for his family heirloom.
Suddenly, the sound of an explosion filled the night air. Looking down a darkened alley, a plume of smoke rose from around an iron lid built into the street. The lid, now ajar, had been covering a hole in the ground. Screams echoed from down below. Andargo took off at once towards the sound of danger. Caution could not contend with his brave soul. Captain Dagfinn and his inner circle decided if they helped in such a situation there might be some reward.
A ladder descended deep into the city’s sewer system. Eventually the heroes emerged into a long, circular tunnel. A channel ran down the middle of the tunnel; a murky, foul-smelling liquid flowing through it. A narrow walkway ran along each side of the tunnel.
On the far side of the tunnel was an opening leading to a side tunnel. A pair of columns bracketed the entrance to the side tunnel. The columns displayed a variety of humanoid and monstrous faces, each in some macabre pose. Over the top of the tunnel is a bat-like creature with head of a goat, staring down as if in judgement. The wings of the creature form an arch over the tunnel. A large crystalline gate used to block the tunnel, but has since been removed by force. It lies across the primary tunnel floor.
There is a cave-in down the primary tunnel, its cause unknown. Muffled cries for help echo in the sewer. There were people trapped in the rubble. Quimby and Andargo rushed to clear the debris. Doing their best to help those in need. The captain stood on the walkway, refusing to besmirch himself in sewer filth. Journey was hesitating with entering the sewage, but when an ooze attacked he jumped in to defend his friends. The fight was difficult, as the heroes had never faced such a strange opponent. Andargo did his best to occupy the creature’s attention as the others freed the trapped workers and got them to safety. Despite his best efforts, the ooze overcame his skilled defense and consumed him. Before he was digested, however, the Captain lowered a rope into the ooze, and pulled Andargo to the surface right from the center of the slimy monstrosity.
At this point a city patrol had arrived too late to help. They were led by a detective, who thanked the heroes for their timely intervention. The sewer workers, grateful for their, nonetheless showed the patrolmen their anger, and stormed away. One muttered something about, “wizards and their refuse. We’re going to get the union to do something about this!”
The heroes headed to the nearest inn, to clean up and turn in for the night. Andargo followed them, still inebriated and having nowhere else to go. The innkeeper was a promiscuous woman of a certain age, who found Andargo charming and invited him to stay with her for the evening, to which he obliged. The heroes found this quite disturbing, with the captain downright disgusted.
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Post by Dungeon Master on Jan 8, 2015 17:29:23 GMT -5
Encounter 2
The next morning Andargo strode down the stairs of the inn refreshed and with a wide, satisfied smile. The others already downstairs having an early breakfast, when a commotion passed by, marching through the streets outside. A small procession of people were marching, apparently heading toward the Civic District. Many were holding signs offering critical commentary on the wizarding establishment, and all were chanting, “More coins, less cubes!” The heroes, curious, meandered out into the street to view the goings on. The marchers walked down Lighthouse street, congregating near the entrance to the Dweomer Crafter’s Guild.
The marchers formed a walking circle stretching all the way from the entrance to the guild and the entrance to the Governor’s office, blocking Lighthouse Street as a result. The strikers start to walk back and forth between the two buildings in a circle, chanting slogans promoting better wages and safer working conditions.
As the heroes made their way closer passing a nearby corner, a cloaked figure gestured to the heroes from a nearby alley. The figure pulled back his hood, revealing a short gnome with a deep, raspy voice. “You look like capable folk. If you’re willin’, I have a job offer with considerable pay.” This caught the heroes attention. “I’m called Rasp, it’s not hard to figure out why. I seen you adventurer types around, and was hopin’ you help me out. See, I heard about the cave-in, which caused the strike, and I’m suspicious. That area was dangerous, but an explosion? Not likely. If you look into it, I can pay you 50 gold, each.” It may have seemed strange for a commoner to be able to get his hands on such a large amount. Rasp explained, “I’m a member of the Dweomer Guild myself, and there’s been a lot of accidents lately causing grief for the guild and the city. I know this isn’t my guild’s fault. It’s the Mages Guild that’s reckless with their refuse, and I want you to prove it.
“Both guilds have always dumped the refuse from their spellcraft in the sewers, but it’s never been a problem. The Dweomer Guild never dumps anything dangerous. We take the time to see that everything is properly disposed of. But the Mages Guild, they take chances. They dump anything into the sewer, and wall it off thinking it won’t cause any problems. The wall is a crystalglass gate, magically forged and well crafted, but you all know collapse is a real possibility. I heard its already been repaired, but you might wanna go back to the accident sight to look for clues. Or maybe head to the union. I heard they have a witness, but he ain’t talking.”
Deciding that a closer examination of the accident site was the best course of action to take first, the heroes went back into the sewers to investigate. The site of the accident looked the same as it did when the heroes first saw it, with one notable exception. The crystalline gate they saw covering the sewer in debris has been fixed, apparently by magic since there isn’t a scratch on it. On closer inspection they found a few clues: a strange residue left over from a fire in the tunnel. Journey’s expertise in herbalism revealed the residue was of an exotic oily plant from his native desert home. It is quite flammable when properly prepared. A few bright pieces of cloth were found, bright red with gold stitching. Journey also found the tracks of a barefoot humanoid, who appeared to have walked toward the accident site, stopped, then ran away back down the tunnel. There were a lot of possible places these clues could lead to, and the heroes decided splitting up would hasten their search.
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Post by Dungeon Master on Jan 8, 2015 17:29:28 GMT -5
Encounter 3
Quimby and Dagfinn went to the tailor first, which was nearest. A wooden sign hung over the door, “FINE THREADS FAST.” As they opened the door, their eyes were greeted to a riot of color. Rolls upon rolls of fabric, consisting of every conceivable color and shade, line the walls of this shop. Two pairs of knitting needles float in the air making an intricate wool blanket. Turning to the counter of the shop, an old woman sits stitching a pattern into a vest.
The woman meets the heroes gaze as she continues her work. “Greetings, I’m Gertrude. How can I help you?” Dagfinn eyed the floating needles while Quimby stepped forward. “Hi there! We wondering if you’d be able to help with us with identifying this piece of cloth.” Gertrude took the cloth and looked closely. “Yes, I know exactly where this came from. My shop. Though if you’re looking for information on my customers, I couldn’t give betray their privacy...for free.” A smirk crept on the old womans wrinkled features. She bargained with them and for the hefty price of 10gp parted with the information. The cloth belonged to the uniform of wizarding adepts at the mage guild, who all come to this shop for their robes. After they left the shop Dagfinn cursed the greedy old woman as they headed to Ye Olde Atlas & Book Shoppe. The sign hanging over the doorway depicted a small stack of books and scrolls. The somber atmosphere of the shop was striking. Rows upon rows of bookshelves lined the walls. ANother section of the shop held a large number of maps, some of which were on display. On the East wall was a gigantic map of the Amurite Republic, rising from floor to ceiling of the two-story shop. A ladder on rollers allowed for inspection of the upper half of the map. On the back wall is a large-scale map of the lands around Cevedes. A small desk sat in the back of the shop where a rotund, bespectacled man sits, scribbling on some parchment.
Dagfinn and Quimby went straight to the proprietor, a middle aged scholar, and asked him about the map they found in the sewers. The scholar looked at the rude foreigners, not even bothering to introduce themselves, but then found himself more interested in the ruined map they held. “Ah, that is one of mine. A black raven filched it from me a few weeks ago. I saw it rummaging around the maps late one night, and went to shoo it away when it grabbed the map in its beak and left. Smart bugger too - it looked as if it was reading the map when I came in. It also got into some books. Didn’t think much more about it, since I haven’t been nicked since.” When they asked him about the books the raven was interested in, the man pointed them towards the section on buildings. A search revealed claw and beak marks on architectural drawings of the Mage Academy. The Captain and Quimby then headed to the House of the Toothy Smile, where they had agreed earlier to meet Journey and Andargo when their independent investigations were finished.
Meanwhile, Andargo and Journey walked through the east end of the Nobles’ District, encountering a large number of strikers. Slowly they made their way through the crowd as pro-union chants surrounded them. Finally after moving through the sea of people they reached the front door of the Dweomer Crafter’s Guild. Once through the front doors of the massive stone building they were greeted by a page who asked them their business. The pair asked to see someone they could speak to about the accident in the sewers, and the page told them to wait while their lead investigator was contacted. A few minutes later the page returned and took them through the building, up a flight of stairs and to a blank doorway. The page knocked; several moments later the door opened, revealing a well-dress middle-aged man. He motioned for the heroes to come inside.
“Welcome, welcome. I am Mandescent, head of Glorairine’s branch of the Dweomer Crafter’s guild. I wish to be completely open with you and share what we’ve learned.” Mandescent lead the heroes to a room full of unpleasant smelling barrels. “I had some adepts gather as much sewage from the accident site as possible to be searched through. I was just about to start. What’s mine is yours. Feel free to continue your investigations.” Journey and Andargo were quite reluctant to do Mandescent’s work for him, even if they might find clues among the garbage. Instead of doing the work for free they made a deal. Journey took out a fire mana crystal they found more than a week back, and negotiated to have the guild enchant a weapon with the mana in exchange. Mandescent agreed, and after several hours of rummaging through garbage, Andargo found a golden coin. On it were the words “Merchant Madness” and the number 572 etched onto the back of the coin.
Their second stop was the Wheatsheaf Academy. It was a long, two-story structure with fluted, marble columns next to the entrance and a sign portraying a bundle of wheat over the doorway. They entered the building into a marbled foyer. A woman sits behind the desk and inquired their reason for being there. Farther into the building, they heroes could hear a faint chorus of scratching sounds, as accountants balance business ledgers. Journey told the woman they were looking to identify a strange coin, and further asked what the place trained their students for. The woman told them the Wheatsheaf Academy was a subsidiary of the Mithral Mint, an international banking conglomerate. The coin was from last years Merchant Madness competition. Everyone who participated received the “Lucky Wheatsheaf” coin, as special gold coin which gives holders a one-time 10% discount on purchases. Each coin was marked with a number (572, in this case) for accounting purposes. Each number coined was associated with a contestant, and the records are maintained by the Academy. A little coin convinced the underpaid secretary to find who the coin belonged to, and she obliged. The coin was given to a Talbot Grandhearth, member of the Mage’s Guild and a student at their academy. The coin was never used.
Andargo and Journey then went to the House of the Toothy Smile to meet the rest of their party. The consisted of several sets of low, sturdy tables, a crackling fireplace, and a bar with a burly half-orc standing behind it. Painted over the doorway were three symbols: a white heart, a silver lightning bolt, and starburst of rubies. Numerous paintings line the walls, depicting half-orcs hard at work at a variety of tasks. Several humans and half-orcs sit in the tavern, quietly drinking.
The owner, Jal, was a retired adventurer. He acts as part employment agency and part public relations for all savage races trying to make themselves into civilized folk. When the heroes ask about an orc who’s recently sprained his leg, Jal directs them to the back of the room, where his employee Manuel is stacking a shipment of ale barrels in a storeroom. Manuel witnessed the accident. “I was hurrying to catch up to the other sewer workers at my second job. Strike or no strike I still have a family to feed, you know? I stayed behind to finish up some repair work on a secondary access tunnel. When I got to the Doom Hall, I saw a humanoid in a bright red robe suddenly appear next to me, do some type of gesture, and then the tunnel exploded. Must have been wizardry. I started to run, but I fell and wrenched my ankle something wicked. Anyway, as I was lying there, I saw a black raven fly past me down the tunnel. I picked myself up and got out of there. Then reported what I saw to the union.”
The captain and crew knew they needed to question their prime suspect, adept Talbot. They all headed for the Mage Academy, the main floor of which had been converted into a tavern known as The Feathery Owl. It had a warm, cozy feel to it. A number of benches, chairs and couches were arranged into sitting area throughout the tavern. Behind the bar stood a dark skinned Malakim polishing a mug. The the back of the tavern was a wide set of double doors. A sign over the door, written in ancient Patrian and common below it said, “Guild Members Only.”
Looking closer at their surroundings, the heroes noticed a large number of animals wandering around the establishment. Several hawks congregated in the rafters, a pair of cats were sunning themselves on a nearby ledge while a rat and a toad sat on a nearby table playing chess. The animals were the familiars of the mages who belonged to the guild. About a dozen human patrons were scattered across the bar, including several students engaged in animated discussion.
Journey sent his hawk, Aesir, into the rafters with the other birds. Andargo asked the Malakim barkeep about Talbot, and he responded, “He’s right there coming down the stairs.” Talbot was a short, lithe human, wearing bright red robes with elaborate, gold embroidery like many of the other students in the tavern. As he approaches the bar, a raven leaps off his shoulder and flies up into the rafters, somewhere. He notices the adventurers all staring at him. Smiling, he says, “What can I do for you today?”
Journey, being a druid, quickly noticed that the other animals were all nervous about something, so he used his magic to speak with Aesir who had been gathering some info from the other avians. Aesir told him that the others are put off by this one raven that they’re pretty sure isn’t a real raven. The rest of the heroes were confronting Talbot about the evidence pointing to him, to which he replied, “I realize what it looks like, but I didn’t have anything to with the accident. I think it might be...urk!”
Dagfinn with his keen eye noticed behind Talbot’s chair a tiny, reddish, humanoid-shaped creature. It had spiky horns on its head and bat-like wings fluttering on its back. As he stared at it the creature vanished. Talbot grabbed Dagfinn, pulling him close. “Zith...must not have...what he appeared to be.” He stared out the window for a moment. His brows furrowed, “Sensing...shop...Darkleaf’s Treasures...trickery...used a love potion on me...Today! He plans to move today!” With that, Talbot fell silent as his body went stiff. Talbot was paralyzed by poison. Omar, the barkeep jumped over the counter, saying, “I can take care of him. Go get that thing!”
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Post by Dungeon Master on Jan 8, 2015 17:30:02 GMT -5
Encounter 4
The heroes went to straight to Darkleaf’s Treasures, a small shop located on Crooked Street. As they approached the establishment, it was easy to tell the shop was unoccupied. In fact, the windows were boarded up and a sign hung over the door which said, “Closed Indefinitely.” Quimby kicked the door in, and they headed into the empty shop. There was nothing there to see except stairs in the back leading to the basement. It was a dank place, occupied by an assortment of shelves, boxes, barrels, and a couple of ladders. They searched the place high and low, finding a hidden door in floor. Underneath it was a tunnel that went 30 ft down. They all went into the tunnel finding it extended 30 ft horizontally, and 10ft up at the end. Combing the place over the realized the whole of the tunnel was a crushing wall trap. Emptying out of the tunnel, Quimby went back in with the two ladders. At the far end he set up the ladder, climbed it, and opened the trapped door. He managed to adroitly grab onto the ledge as the ladder was violently crushed by the walls below. Once in the secret room, Quimby destroyed the mechanism, making it safe for the rest of the party to come through.
A large desk dominated the small room. Scattered across the desk were several sheets of parchment and an open tome. On the walls of this room hung several pieces of artwork displaying paintings of various alien landscapes. In the far corner of the room, a nest of torn up parchments and cloth had been assembled. On the desk lay the book “infinite Landscapes, by Tzunk Hokbrag.” The book was opened to page 72, which contained information on the interaction of extradimensional spaces. An underlined passage specifically noted the possibility that if a rope trick spell were cast in a particular portion of an extradimensional space, an unstable gate could be formed.
Also on the desk was a map of Glorairine. Several locations on the map were circled: the Dweomer Crafter’s guild, a temple, an abandoned mine just east of the city, and four other building in the city. Most of the circles had no information written next to them, except the Mage Academy. The following notes were hand written next to it, “Portal is in the Headmaster Room. Riddle. Northwest corner of room, 12ft up. Use silk rope with orange ribbon on each end. Possible instability. Need 15 minutes undisturbed. Must be performed Tuesday, 1st of Fading. Don’t forget rope trick scroll.” Realizing that day’s date was the 1st of Fading, they ran with full haste to the Mage Academy.
Omar was tending to the bar when he greeted them. “We got Talbot to the infirmary. He should be fine.” Dagfinn impatiently asked if the headmaster was in. When Omar said he wasn’t Dagfinn told him the situation, and Omar pointed the heroes to the headmaster’s room, on the top floor. The headmaster’s room was a sparsely furnished 10ft by 20ft room. A bed lay in the northwest corner, with a small chest at its feet. On the opposite side of the room was a full-length mirror, with a small washstand next to it. The frame of the mirror was inlaid with golden coins from various nations, and a sentence inscribed along each of the mirror’s edges. (Top) He who makes it does not keep it. (Right) He who takes it does not know it. (Bottom) He who knows it does not want it. (Left) He who gathers it must destroy it. They put their heads together, and after several minutes of straining the realized the answer to the riddle was “Counterfeit.”
The mirror began to glow with a soft white light and rippled slightly. Quimby touched the mirror, and felt a quick jolt of energy as he was whisked away to...someplace else. He appeared in a well-appointed room decked out in fine tapestries all along its wall. An odd scent hung in the air; a mixture of exotic herbs and...sulfur?
Toward the back of the room was a strange sight. A rope stretched up from the floor into a rip in the fabric of space. A tiny creature hovered below it, looking up. The creatures was reddish in hue, with spiked horns and long, bat-like wings. It was yelling out in a high-pitched voice, “Yes! It worked! I did it! I did it!” Quimby went back through the mirror and told his companions to hurry through. Just as they all arrived in the extradimensional space, a trio of manes had finished climbing down the rope. The heroes fanned out to fight when a fiendish minotaur jumped through the portal and charged them. It was a close fight, with the demons almost claiming the heroes lives, but Captain Dagfinn and Crew were victorious.
Quimby yanked on the rope, and once it was freed the rip in the universe writhed back and forth, rapidly expanding and contracting. Bluish-green sparks danced about the room. Then, with a sudden ‘Pop!’ the rip closed. The corpses of the demons, the remnants of the rope trick spell, plus the contents of the hidden room in Darkleaf’s Treasures is enough to convince the constabulary. Immediately, representatives were sent to the Dweomer Crafter’s Guild, the Mages Guild, and the Sewermen’s Guild. After an hour of negotiations, the union agreed to soften its stance and return to work immediately, with all parties realizing the strike was ultimately caused by trickery. A representative of the Governor issued a statement that all parties were negotiating in good faith, and thanked the union for taking a more reasonable. Rasp thanked the heroes, and paid them for their services. Finally, the heroes went to Mandescent, who took Quimby's great sword to enchant. Just before they went to leave, it occurred to Journey that perhaps this mage they were on good terms with might help him determine the origins of his people's sacred tome. On showing it to Mandescent, the color from his face drained, and he said, "I can not help you." Later in the evening, while the heroes celebrated their success at the House of the Toothy Smile, armed guards came and arrested Journey for possession of a Class 5 Forbidden Artifact.
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