As the adventurers leave Jakes’, the Halfling clerk runs out
of the secret room and hands them a letter.
“As you’ve proven yourselves dependable, I’m reluctant to
see you go. However, I understand that you have your own agendas. That said, if
your path leads you towards Fennica, I request a favour of you. We recently
lost contact with our faction there and, after the events at Kobold Hall, I am
understandably concerned; it might also be worth following up the fact that
there was a dragon involved. As well-connected as I am, even I don’t have a
contact in the Dragonflight Union. I am sure that it would be in the interest
of all the citizens of Fennica if you were to investigate any similar threat
and deal with it in your own way. Caravans regularly leave from the market
area, if it’s to your convenience. Rutz will give you marks of note. Yours,
Black Jake.”
Rutz will give them each a PP coin if they wish to accept
it, telling them that they are to show in case they need to contact the local
pirates.
Whether the PCs accept or not, if they choose to try and
skip town, there are a few caravans looking for bodyguards. However, they must
complete a skill challenge using Streetwise to find the correct people to ask.
(250exp)
If successful, they find themselves at the market where two
caravans are shortly due to leave. One is going to Oakedge and offering 100gp
for a week’s travel and protection and one to Rootholme via Fennica for 500gp
(two weeks to Fennica, another four to Rootholme).
They also find Victor arguing with a man in a black hood; as
the PCs approach, the man in the black hood turns on his heel and leaves.
Victor turns back to the caravan leader going to Monk’s Retreat and starts
arguing with him.
Victor is arguing over cost; he wants 400gp, but the caravan
leader is having none of it. Victor tries to convince the caravan leader that
it’s worth it to have Victor on board, but he refuses.
If he talks to the adventurers:
“Hm. You again. Managed to get to land without meetin’ any
more trouble, I see?”
“Heard you had a bit of kobold trouble. I don’t have any
truck with the Pirates; they don’t pay enough to keep on the wrong side of the
law, but a man’s business is his own. Or a woman’s.”
“Hmm. I’ve done some information trading with the Union
before; my contact there hasn’t been in touch for months.”
Victor doesn’t know much but suggests the adventurers try
Sholtar, right there in the city, or I hear there’s a hermit livin’ out by
Oakedge that might be able to help. Damn wizards or somethin’. I don’t have any
truck with wizards.”
Victor eventually leaves and talks to the caravan owner
heading to Fennica, who subsequently leaves.
If the adventurers choose to go to Sholtar’s tower they find
it locked.
The magician’s tower is as described in the South Porton
file. His tower is made up of six floors, then the four that he inhabits. The
six floors have a variety of golems and treasures that are available for
looting. Ultimately he is peaceful and explains about the Dragonflight Union.
Sholtar is a tiefling and he expresses wonder that a
tiefling and a dragonborn are adventuring together; a successful history check
encourages him to expand on this as the Tiefling or the Dragonborn are vaguely
aware there is enmity between their races.
“The Dragonflight Union is just what we humans call them,”
Sholtar explains. As he talks his hands are constantly moving, rolling a ragged
cigarette, smoothing his beard or his robes or simply drumming on the nearest
available surface. “I’ve been in contact with them before, and we worked
closely in the past. The nasty business with the rogue automaton, they helped
with that, but that was two, three years gone now…”
If questioned about the rogue automaton: He reveals that the
SIC has less grip on its rogue scientists than others would believe. There have
been several engineers and researchers
who have been exiled from the College as their studies have become
unethical. One such researcher, Master Joseph Vorn, moved to Forest Edge and
began his project again. The product of his work was a mechanical slave
designed to free humanity from the drudgery of manual labour. In the event it
went mad and began to rampage through the town. A younger member of the Union
was sent as a kind of superweapon to prove his strength; The mechanical man nearly
killed the dragon but ultimately fell to a joint attack.
“I was in close contact with one of the Elder Dragons,
Vyzarrax, but I’ve heard nothing for over a year. They are incredibly wise,
dragons, you understand. I have his last missive here if you think it will
help.”
He gives the adventurers a piece of paper on which is
written, in legible human hand, a message.
‘To: Sholtar. Long has it been since last we spoke, and I
would that it were not so. I am anxious to hear of your advances in your work,
though I am still unsure why you labour in such a way for so long. That said, I
hope that the tomes of knowledge we sent to you have been helpful in your work.
We have found a most unusual thing here at Mountain’s Loft,
something you would do well to see. I cannot even begin to think yet how to put
it into words, save one: intelligence, where none was previously thought to
exist. I hope that I will have more to report in a future missive, but for now
I sign this off. Yours, Vyzarrax.”
If questioned about the golems, he becomes sad. “My wife,
you see… she died, five years ago, some sort of wasting disease. I… I don’t
know how to go on without her. She asked, before she left me, that I never
forget her and I never will. I am long-lived; my magic has cursed me with many
lonely years to live. I work in the hope that I can create an image of my wife
that is long-lived as I am. Those were just my failures. My countless,
countless failures…”
Essentially he suggests to the PCs that they head towards
the Dragonflight Union carrying his letter of recommendation. He points out on
the map where they should go.
If the heroes attack Sholtar, he is a level 4 tiefling
wizard character that initially wonders why he is being attacked. However, he
responds to violence. Searching his bureau the heroes find the letter detailed
above, but do not get a recommendation – the price of violence. They do,
however, find a wand, some robes and a scroll of indeterminate magic.
If the adventurers choose to take one of the caravans:
The journey is for a set number of days. Roll a d8 to
determine what sort of day they have.
1: The party is attacked by one level two human bandit and
five minions.
2: The party is attacked a single wild animal, level 3
3: The party has a day where tensions run high, both within
the caravan and without. There are several wild animal cries heard, distant and
close by, and though nothing actually attacks the party’s rolls suffer a
demoralising -2 the following day. A good night’s sleep will stop the effect.
4: One of the wagons in the caravan goes wrong – either it
falls into a pothole deep enough to swim in, falls off a small cliff, etc,
through negligence on the part of the adventurers. The caravan owner is furious
and demands 50gp up front to recompense him.
5: The party has to work hard; the terrain is tough and the
party consumes twice as many rations.
6: The party has a good day and nothing of note happens.
7: The going is easy, people are relaxed and easy-going.
Rolls on the following day gain +2 for the good feeling.
8: You come across a wagon that is deserted; the owner is
either gone or killed. There’s no evidence around to say what might have done
the deed. However, his misfortune is your good fortune; the wagon has some of
his goods, one lot of rations each, a small purse containing gold that, when
split, works out to 60gp each and a dagger. An extremely good perception check
(24+) will find a small hidden compartment carved into the wagon and cunningly
concealed which contains a gemstone of medium value.
If the adventurers choose to go it alone, similar things
happen. In the landscape they find the tower that Victor was talking about and
finally get to meet Sholtar, or a similarly-named person if outside of the
city.
If they go to Oakedge, the town seems to be in the grip of
some sort of madness by night. The Church of the One Tree seems to be the main
source, calling people to church by night where they emerge to rape and pillage
their own town. Property damage is kept light but people are often sporting
bruises or missing teeth the following morning and there are no longer any
virgins in the town. The community seems to be almost exclusively elves, with
one or two half-elves.
Streetwise skill challenge reveals that people are cagey and
unwilling to talk about it but generally happy with life; they do, however, all
look in the direction of the Church before they speak.
At the Church, Father Liam, a handsome elf, is happy to
listen to the adventurers and answer questions but suggests that they are out
of town by nightfall because wild things roam through the town.
If they stay until dark and/or join the congregation that
heads to the Church, they witness some sort of dark spell being cast on the
town’s local branch of the One Tree. The spell requires blood and causes fruit
to grow magically on the Tree which causes madness and euphoria when eaten.
However, Father Liam doesn’t eat the fruit. If unchallenged, he goes down a set
of steps and through the next room. If the party successfully stealthily follow
him, he activates a glowing glyph in the floor and moves on. The glyph is a Glyphs
of Madness level 6 trap which can be jumped, deactivated or sprung. Moving
through this room leads to a corridor, then another larger cavern immediately under
the Tree’s roots, which have pushed through the ceiling. They look blackened,
strange worms feeding and hanging off them. Several of them have twisted
together to form what appears to be a person’s face and it is this to which
Father Liam is talking. If and when the party attack him, on the first strike
his illusion is shattered and he is revealed to be a Dryad (Level 9)
He has several worshippers that come and support him from
behind in waves of two as level 1 human minions with stats similar to goblin
minions.
Almost immediately as soon as the Dryad is destroyed the
congregation regain their senses and drop to the ground, unconscious. One of
the unconscious people is the Mayor; he has a mayoral chain around his neck. He
wakes up when the PCs interact in any way with him. He begs them to take him to
the town hall, the large building in the centre of town, and lapses into
unconsciousness again.
The body of the real Father Liam is in the corner of the
chamber. He looks identical to the elf the Dryad pretended to be, except dead
and withered like his life energy has been drained.
By the time morning comes around the tree is withered to a
stump. The congregation are upset and several are ill, showing signs of
physical deterioration; they have been under the influence of some evil, and
the Church must know about the desecration of one of their holy sites. This
provides a useful opportunity for the PCs to learn a little about the religion
of Ehrian.
If queried about reward, the villagers are happy to take the
PCs before the Mayor of the town who has access to the chest containing the
town’s treasury. He gives them 500gp to split between them. The Mayor has the
body of Father Liam, hideously mummified as if the life has been sucked from
him, and he closes the door so that they are in private.
“Our town’s treasury is poor because of how we have invested
what money we have saved. Father Liam was not just our representative from the
Church; he was also our protector, charged with keeping Oakedge safe. With him
dead and the tree desecrated… we will all have to leave now. Father Liam’s role
carried with it some benefits, in that he had access to our town’s most prized
object, an item of magic. That he has not been stripped of this, and yet has
been killed, fills me with dread. No member of my town will willingly take up
his mantle now; the item is yours if you wish it.”
Father Liam has either a pair of Acrobat Boots (p246), a
Magic dagger +1 (p235), an amulet of protection +1 (p250) and a pair of bracers
of mighty striking (p244); roll a d4 to find out which it is.
“I remember nothing from the time we were under that
confounded Dryad’s control; the last things I remember were about three weeks
ago, judging by the moon, and they involve a series of messages arriving with
great speed by pigeon for Father Liam; he took them all to his house next to
the church. Then, one evening shortly before our evening gathering at the
church, an elf walked into town claiming to be an associate of the Father’s. I
took him to Father Liam’s house myself and the expression on his face when the
door opened… it was more fear than anything else, though he quickly welcomed
the elf in and closed the door. That’s almost the last thing I remember.” He
tells the adventurers that he has a spare key to Father Liam’s house, as he
does to all houses in the village, and gives it to them.
The Mayor goes on to explain why they will all have to
leave.
“You are newcomers to this land, yes? I’m afraid you don’t
understand the import of what has happened here. It’s simply a tragedy… you
see, all the branches of the One Tree, every single one, is a part of the
whole. When new towns were founded, they brought with them seeds or cuttings
from the One Tree, ensuring that they would be bounteous and fertile.
The local One Tree connects us together in a way that cannot
be seen or heard, smelled or touched. When times are good the Tree responds
with positive energy, happiness and good feelings. When the tree becomes ill,
the people become ill as you’ve seen here. There’s something you probably don’t
understand… I’m afraid that includes you now, as well. You’ve eaten the food,
drunk the water; you’re inextricably connected now. If you stay here long,
you’ll be dragged down by the death of the Tree. But there is a more important
reason for you to move on.
If some force has managed to distort or… pervert the tree’s
influence on us, it could spell doom for all of Lyria… no, all of Ehrian! That
dryad may just be an isolated incident, but it may be the first of many.
It’s vital that news and evidence of this gets to Rootholme
and in this I formally request your assistance, adventurers. Inform the High
Father of what has happened here. If something were to happen to the tree at
Fennica, it could mean madness or death for thousands.“
The mayor gets out a map of Lyria and lays it out onto the
table.
“You’ve got a few options from here. We have no horses to
give you, nothing that could speed your travel, but listen; a week’s travel
north of here you’ll find Easton. The SIC has a presence there, a research
laboratory, and I hear they awe working on some sort of mechanical wagon. They
may be convinced to give you access to it, though those scientists are a
closeted lot.
Alternatively, you could head through the Mildwood. It’s
generally safe, patrolled by people from this town, though in the last three
weeks we’ve neglected our duties there. Perhaps it is still safe. It is
certainly the most straightforward route to Fennica, and from there you could
charter a boat north up the Fen at least to Gult’s Blind, if not to Chasewood.”
The mayor points at a bag that is half-full with pieces of
twig and what looks like a gnarled hand. “The first thing the High Father will
need is samples of the One Tree here in Oakedge, and we have also included
samples of the dryad’s body. However, in discussion with my peers, we have
decided that the samples should extend to cuttings taken from the Mildwood
itself. I have sent some of my best woodsmen there this very day to find
samples. It will take about a day before we can have the parcel ready to go. I
suggest you take the time to avail yourselves of the shops in town. Your rooms
at the Tree Feller are free, as a token of our thanks.”
He knows a little about the events that surrounded Father
Liam’s death:
Father Liam’s house is almost completely untouched; in fact,
no-one has been living there for a couple of weeks. There is a bed, under which
a bag can be found containing 60 gold, and a writing desk. A picture of a
beautiful elven male is on the top of the writing desk. Opening the writing
desk finds a small pile of paper, the fragments of a burnt piece of parchment,
ink, a quill, envelopes and four letters in code. These are not vital to the
story, but do provide some background information. They are worth 125exp each
if decoded.
Overarching plot for this is that Oakedge is isolated but near
a large forest, the Mildwood; the One Tree has decided to test this method of
extermination in a powerful place where there are lots of backup units.
Pub in Oakedge is called the Tree Feller – the owner used to
be a lumberjack.
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