So far, what we have is that most of the players are there for the Golden Hand, who worships the cult of Money Josh. They have an artifact or magical item and are planning on doing something during this banquet. Richard and Jake are there for almost the exact same reason. Brownie, Frank, and Carson have made friends with someone important, and are currently next to said person. Brownie and Cullen are just kind of there and dont know why. Aidan and mike are there to find the cultists, to kill or steal. Danny is there to find cultists for a different reason, but doesn't know who the cultists are... >Our adventure starts in the city of Crownspire, where the center of the city is the large hill where the castle sits. The steps leading to the main gate are long, and flanked on both sides with banners of the black sword. At the gate to the castle, a guard regiment stands out front to only allow those invited in. Todays session starts past this gate, as you all have been invited in some way or another. Past the gate is a vast courtyard with a big fountain in the middle, along with various shubberies on either side. Just past the fountain is the enterance inside the castle, with 2 large doors that are currently open. Inside would normally be where the king's throne would be, along with the standing area just infront of it, but for tonights event, the room has been modified. Now tables and chairs sit where the standing room was, and the throne is replaced with a rather ornate table with a few chairs on one side, presumably for the royalty. Inside and outside is filled with rich or powerful looking people having a blast. Some nobles are having a drinking contest along side a monk, a group of nobles conversing with a gnome, an owlman, a holyman, and a nature man, running frantically around looking for something, knights and a huntress obeserving the dance in the center of the room, waiters and waitresses handing out fish based food, and a confused looking wizard. A little background here. This banquet was being thrown in honor of the latest victory against the crimson knight. The generals believe the rebellion to be finished after they killed a crimson knight that they believe to be the leader of the order. >little free time here for people to ask questions about their backstories >As you are doing your own little things, your attention is immediatly grabbed as horns sound the arrival of General Barham. Barham is the lead military advisor to the Queen herself. He positions himself infront of the central table, and raises his glass. "I would like to thank you all, without your support for this great kingdom, none of this would be possible." Thundurous applause emerges from the crowd before the General raises his hand to silence it. "The reason we are all here, as we know, is to celebrate the death of the Crimson Knight. The royal military would not have been able to make this great achievement if it weren't for the noble actions of our grand wizard Mordekai!" He points at sap and gestures him to go up next to him. Sap speach, we'll see what happens here... During/after this speech, the cultists will emerge, proclaiming "KILL THE MAGE!" and a group of 10 cultists will dawn their cloaks and rush at Sap. Sheer chaos ensues, around 15 or so civilians (nobles) in the combat stage [will be grouped into 1 turn], the general will be weaponless and armorless. >right as combat starts, a whisper sounds in his ear "Kill the fakes, kill the cultists" -Cultists are base humans, 13 AC, dagger +5 to hit, +2 int, x10 -2 wizard cultists, base human +5 to hit, +1 int, x2 [See enemies for spells] -General Barham has 13 AC, +5 to swords, +3 int
Cultist will have a sketch of an item. looks like a scepter with a purple orb on top >General will say "looks like they were after your dark scepter Mordekai..." he doesn't know what it does. EXPOSITION ON ARTIFACTS: Mordekai's staff is one of many ancient artifacts from the First Empire. These artifacts posses powers that no magic caster could hope to replicate. Various artifacts exist and do a wide variety of things. Mordekai's staff is one that can improve the power of magic cast through it greatly, but appears to have some sort of affect on the user. (reduces INT to 8 for everything besides spell casting, but will multiply magic power by 1.5x, so 2D10 damage will deal 3D10. Scales with level of bond) There is rumored to be other items that do similar things, like magic swords or bows. Apparently there is even a chalice that can give the user who drinks from it a vision from the future. Another big rumor is that there was an artifact that caused the downfall of the first empire to create, and it can do unbelivable things, almost as if it made the user a god. >these must have been fanatics of that crimson knight. I can't imagine why they would attack with their leader dead... >you party of lads seem like the capable bunch, maybe you could figure this out? Head south and eliminate any crimson knight fanatics you find would you? there would be a healthy reward in it for you... Queen and princess are indisposed at the moment, were not there will not come out. Free roam in the city, find materials or weapons to buy, people to meet. Can also grab the staff in Mordekai's study, which the players will be allowed to enter. MORDEKAI STUDY: An unbelivable arrangement of books lays out infront of you, on the floor and on shelves. Papers lie everywhere with some kind of rune like text on them. Without all the trash everywhere, this already would be a smaller room, but the desk in the middle seems to be swimming in a sea of paper. Besides the desk is the scepter. Upon closer inspection, its a black wood scepter with an orb on the top filled with some sort of liquid. Touching the staff with a non-magic user will imbue a feeling of touching a hot pan. As it stands, the scepter has no wielder and will need to be bound over the course of a week to be used. Aside from the scepter, there is one book on the desk that resemebles a notepad. Inside are the ramblings of a mad man. What you can make out from the scribbles is this "crimson knight... ------- killed ---- fire easily but ---- in the ----" On their way out of the city, when they pass the city gate they get stopped by some guards. Tell players its dangerous past here, the order has been raiding anyone for magical items. Notice Sap, and say "OH, great wizard, sorry for the hold up. we didn't notice you with these peasants. Go on through" and allow players to pass. As players move towards the Order's territory, they get ambushed by Crimson knights. Ask them what they are after, and want the removal of any magic users, get very hostile towards them. CAN convince them that they are investigating people who are after magical items and want to use them for no good (DC 16). Will lead party to crimson knight himself to tell him
CRIMSON KNIGHT: Nearly at the border between the Order and Dorwine, inside Dorwine territory is a large forest. venturing through the forest leads to a small encampment. Here you can see a lot of crimson squires and soldiers dressed in red. The center tent is larger than the rest and is brightly lit. the soldiers will lead you inside and introduce the crimson knight. He is a rather large man, in full red plate armor, none of his skin is exposed. He is sitting on a large wooden chair facing the entrance. Next to him is a huge black sword, around 6 feet long and very wide, like a greatsword on steroids. Next to the sword is a man dressed in a squire's outfit. This man greets you as he says: "Welcome travelers to the Crimson knight's encampment. What brings you here?" From here, the squire will talk for the crimson knight and claim to know everything he wants. Funnily enough, this is true, and the crimson knight entrusts this squire with all of his talking. Their goals: find out about this cult and want to destroy them, won't use or tolerate magic to do so. ALTERNATE: If the players kill the crimson soldiers (x5), then they have a map to the camp of the crimson knight. Inside the encampment is a large group of soldiers, too many to fight. But squire and crimson knight will exit the camp if the players get spotted and 1v1 someone in the group, or take them all on. ALTERNATE: If the players decide to question the Crimson Knight about the cult, the squire will tell them that he has nothing to do with them, and wants them dead infact. Show what happened to Mordekai here as well, he was captured and currently inside this encampment, but the scepter has caused his mind to detereioate too far, and is useless. In the event of party wipe, time loop it. They wake at the gate of Crownspire talking to the guard. The guard gets confused by their strange behavior. Side note: if players travel back, first run around went like so: Went up to gate guard, they tried to use mordekai guise, didn't work "yeah MORDEKAI huh? hahaha, we know you ain't mordekai." then richard tried to intimidate, then challenged to an arm wrestle match, where he beat both guards in a row ( i rolled 1 under him )
The road to Zilgate. The road there is fairly populated, as trade often travels down this route. The trek there is unamusing, lots of farmland and a lot of nothing. Traders passing by might tempt the players with some snake oil On the way there, the players will pass by a village Beywood. >Introduce princess Calista here, she will go by the name of Catherine. She is on her own headed to Zilgate. Claims her house was destroyed in the coup in Crownspire. Will travel with players after pursuasion check DC 14. >Juluis will be lurking around the village, in disguise. Players can notice his armor under his cloak with perception DC 18. If he isn't spotted, he will remain so unless players get into combat. If questioned why he is here, sworn to protect the princess, will not give up that vow. If questioned further (DC 16), will say that he has feelings for her... [SIDE QUEST]: Somewhere in the village (wherever is convienent), a man will approach the players. He is a burly Half-orc dressed in worn overalls and a straw hat named Roguy. He will ask the players for help; "you guys look like the tough adventuring lot, could you help us with a small favor? Recently, at night, our crops around the village have been burnt in a massive fire." (WILL SAY IT ISN'T RELATED TO THE FOREST FIRE THEY CAUSED, BUT IT IS RELATED) One man will come up and interject: "I saw it, it was a burning man! Looked like some kind of knight, but he was on fire, or at least i think it was fire, it was purple and pink, like a magic fire, and he was engulfed in it!" Roguy> "Regardless, it would mean a great deal if you could get rid of this fire hazard, our village is about to run into a food shortage because of it." Roguy> "reward? I guess me and the other farmers could put up a bounty for it, but I don't know how much I could give you at this moment. Close to 400 gold?" Calista needs to be here either during or before. If no good spot before, she will chime in with the other guy; Catherine> "that sounds awful! I'd be willing to help with your problem, free of charge! Well maybe some food would be nice..." BACKGROUND ON THE CURSED KNIGHT: When Sap started the forest fire with the scepter, the fire spread to an unmarked grave a ways away, and the magical fire interacted with the corpse in the grave. The man buried here was once the Great Hero of Hargonde. He had many expidetions and saved a great many people back in the day, and his armor was one of a kind. The fire reanimated him, and he began to backtrack back to Hargonde. His first stop was the village of Beywood, where he got disorientated and burnt the crops. His curse can be removed, and he can be reasoned with, in some sense. By using the staff, the large amount of magical energy within the armor can be dispelled, but at a cost. If the scepter is pointed at him, the magical fire with grow, and explode. The black armor will fall to the ground, which can be recovered by the players. When the players return to the village, the Half-Orc Roguy will reward the players with 450 gold. He will also give Catherine a bag of food. By this point, it should be night time. If the players decide to leave in the night, ambush with some goblin raiders and let them go on with a level up, but the village will be sacked by zombies. If they stay, they will be woken in the middle of the night by zombies who are on fire with a purple and pink fire. there will be a lot of zombies, in groups of 8+D6 all over the village. Exterminating all zombies will reward players with a level up and 500 more gold from the village chief. Players ended here, killed 1 group, need to kill 1 more Level up to lvl 3 here
Julius appears at second zombie fight. He is the man in the cloak, and will approach Sap once zombies are killed. He SHOULD GET BADLY INJURED HERE, pls remember that Julius> “You did this didn’t you?!, that dang scepter, you unleashed this horde!” Clearly visible that this is julius now, princess will be surprised, didn’t know julius was here, but will try to keep her cover. Catherine calms things down, Catherine> "Lets all settle down, I'm sure sap didn't mean it! I was there, he was just trying to get rid of the cursed armor that was burning the crops!" Julius will back down immediatly when she says that, and the two stare at eachother for a bit. Julius> "I guess I should get this checked out, huh..." Catherine> "Yeah, probably a good idea" Julius> "You guys wouldnt happen to be going to Zilgate also, would you? I might meet up with you guys there, to keep an eye on some of you..." Regardless, Catherine will be headed to Zilgate, but would like to travel there with the party. If party wants to make pitstop at their fief, she will oblige. [FIEF]: The fief they have been given lays off of one of the main roads. there are fields of destroyed crop all around it, and a small castle on a hill can be seen. Upon closer inspection, the castle is in shambles and run down. At the steps of the castle is a dwarven man in a big cowboy hat, and is sleeping with his hat over his face on the steps to the door. When woken, he will say: Zigmil> "Howdy, the name's Zigmil. Been wondering when you guys would show up. Heard from some of the nobles that this castle came into new ownership and I saw a business opertunity waiting. Ye can see that this castle is in shambles, but i'd be willing to fix and furnish it for ye, for the right price of course." Zigmil> "To repair the outer works of the castle, it will run you around 750 gold, and to do up the interior, my wife will help with that, so around 500. I wouldn't recommend doing the interior before the exterior, since the exterior work could damage some of the interior." Zigmil> "I live in a village near here, and a lot of the villagers are looking for work as well. Just come on by if you want something done here, or want some work done just in general, I'm sure someone would lend a hand, for the right price of course." Technically, lordship of the village does belong to the players, but the villagers will look to the elder rather than the players for anything until the players can earn their trust. The village itself is very quaint, around 30 or so inhabitants. Mostly farmers, the village looks a bit rough, seems as if people are barely getting by. The crop yield is low here, because the people that farm are not very good at it. The people that do have skills lack the resources to put them to use. The town blacksmith makes horseshoes and nails, but claims he could easily make some halfplate armor if he could. [ZILGATE]: Immediatly you can see what the king was talking about with a rebellion. The city of Zilgate, which is usually a great farming city, has watch towers and makeshift walls all over leading up to the city, where fortifications are being built. IF FRANK IS WEARING THE PRINCE KNIGHT ARMOR: Catherine> "I don't know if wearing that armor is the best of ideas walking into the heart of the rebellion against the king. Might paint you as an enemy. Word around Zilgate spreads quick too, so once one person suspects you of being a Barham supporter, everyone else will too." If he ignores and walks in with the armor, will take pursuasion attempt after pursuaion attempt to keep people from getting angry at him, or suspicious. (DC 15) Just outside Zilgate, multiple banners can be seen. The Yellow Chevron banner of Avand can be seen, along side the banner of a Red Eagle banner of Edhen. On the other side, the half blue, half black banner of Erias can be seen, next to it is the Black Sword banner, but with a rose on the hilt. Walking through the city, the military of all these nations can be seen walking around. Catherine> "Thanks for traveling with me here, I'm going to go visit my, uh, grandma now. I'll be sure to put in a good word about you with her!" She will jet here, later to be seen at the city keep. Survival check of DC 18 to successfully follow her Regardless of what players do, they will encounter a man in a familiar dark robe. Might think its Julius, but its a cultist. Will spot player and hoof it. Should players follow, which they should, the Cultist will lead them through the city, into a warehouse towards the edge of the city. Inside the warehouse is a trap. Armored cultists, wizard cultists, and base cultists occupy the inside, along with one of the Cult's most devout fighter from Blackwood... NO HE ISNT A VAMPIRE, as much as i would want him to be...
???> "Took you long enough..." You find yourself in a barn like area, with flags of a Golden Hand all around. ???> “I was wondering when the investigators Barham sent would get here. Barham did tell you that he had other people in the city right? Anyway, the name's Jorin.” >wait he is a cultist?!? “Yeah, one of the first actually, he was good friends with the Chosen One. Personally I think he was after the throne more than our mission, but thats just me.” They don’t know the princess is back, they just know that the lord of Zilgate is the head leader of the rebellion. Need to get close to him to take him out, but opportunities are few and far between. So what do you say, get close to the lord to find out where the princess is..? CULTIST PLAN: Jorin> "We need to get ahold of this pendant," Shows rough sketch of a blue gem pendant Jorin> "Its said to grant the user extreme luck, but we need it for the artifact to bring Money Josh back, which means it can't be attuned to anyone. Last we heard, the princess had it after the Queen gave it to her. The only person who might know where the princess is is Lord Hendalt, the lord over Zilgate. We need information, and you guys might be our best bet." If players decide to play ball with Jorin, Julius will be wandering the streets looking for players rather than running up on the barn for the cultists. Players can choose to fight here, not too many cultists, but some they have never seen before. IF PLAYERS LEFT WITHOUT FIGHT: Will be wandering the streets when a familiar face approches them, Julius! Julius> "There you guys are, been looking all over for you" Will be accompinied by some soldiers of the black sword with the rose on it. aka rebels Julius> "The lord of Zilgate would like a word with your party, something along the lines of gratitude. It pains me to think some low life's like you would get recognized by the lord, but so be it." HATES LEX FOR SNOOPING Julius will lead players to the keep, a small castle towards the center of the city. Once inside, a rather plump human will greet players: ???> "Well howdy there travelers! I am Lord Hendalt, the Lord of this keep and this city." Hendalt proceeds to shake each players hand, Hendalt> "Thank you greatly for doing us a massive service. With the princess now in Zilgate, the rebellion against the usurper Barham will be stronger than ever!" ENTER CALISTA She walks in in a very princess like outfit, but the person looks exactly like catherine... Calista> "Thank you guys for bringing me here and showing me that there are still good people in this world!" Hendalt> "So, are you ready for your debut Miss Calista?" Calista> "I sure hope so, my mother never really prepared me for this whole ruling thing yet..." Hendalt> "You will do just fine my dear, just fine! All you need to do is tell the people that Barham will not have Dorwine! It belongs to the Evendors, not that general, who has no royal blood, might I add..." Speech for calista will begin outside the keep in an hour or so, Calista will be getting prepared in her room, Hendalt will invite players to eat as they wait for the scheduled time CALISTA SPEECH: Calista> "I am Calista Evendor. I know everyone has been wondering where I was after the uprising in Crownspire, so I'll tell you the horrors I've expierenced. During the ball, after the cultists attacked the ball room, me and my mother were inside the castle, in our rooms. In order to find out what was going on, I went to my mothers room, where I found her with a knife in her heart on the floor in a pool of her own blood. I only got a glimpse of the man that killed her, he had white hair with pointy ears, but he was quick to run... I called for the guards, and no one replied. I ran to my room where Julius was said to meet me in a time of crisis. Low and behold there he was. For a time we just sat there, but I knew something had to be done. I confronted Barham with Julius about it, and thats when I found out that he had my mother killed. He claimed that she was a horrible ruler, and let rebellion flourish under the crimson knight. He had us backed in a corner, but Julius defended me, and gave me time to escape. Once I was out of the city, soldiers saw me and started to chase me. Every place I went to hide, they would burn to the ground and kill anyone who helped me. So I ran, out of the city. I changed my appearence slightly by borrowing a dead girls appearence. As I wondered, I heard of a rebellion against Barham in Zilgate. And so here I am. I refuse to let Barham keep his claim on my throne, and I need everyone's help to get Dorwine back to its rightful glory! I am Calista Evendor, Queen of Dorwine and ruler of the black sword! Barham will die, and so will his followers!" Players can shed light here on Prince Knighthood and double cross. Hendalt will ask players to backstab the king (Cultist boss fight vs king) Players can also backstab the Hendalt here and get the cultists information and get them inside the keep. (Lord/guard boss fight)
The Exposition: "Did you know that Money Josh originated in the First Empire..? A curse tore him from this mortal plane and trapped him in another plane of existance. The artifact that did that to him was since destroyed, but there is another. An artifact that can pull the magic energy from other artifacts to recreate the one that imprisoned him. We can use that to free our lord. His freedom will bring a new order and prosperity to this realm." "We obviously need it, no one trusts anyone anymore, all these kingdoms want is power and riches. But Money Josh can fix it all, all we need is the artifacts and the realm will enter a new age." The Fight: with a party of ~7 players, 2 armored cultists, 3 wizard cultists, and 4 base cultists, along with Jorin of Blackwood (Lvl 4 fighter) If things get out of hand, can bring Julius in during combat. Post fight, guards will enter and try to detain the cultists and Jorin. BEFORE JORIN DIES Julius> "If we take Jorin alive, we can get valuable intel out from him." Players can interrogate Jorin to learn about cult and what they want, see The Exposition. Post fight, julius and rebellion arrest Jorin, invite players to meet the princess/queen of Dorwine, where they will receive recognition for their deeds. If they ask for money, say money is tight rn, but can arrange something later down the line if they want. Will also be a big announcement city wide about princess’ return held by the town Lord Hendalt Strella At some point, they need to ask players why they wanted to go to zilgate. This will tell me (josh) if players are still on fence or want to help princess. Calista is in possesion of a strong artifact, called the Pendant of Luck. This artifact allows the attuned wielder to have immesurable luck. It is a blue gemstone in a gold pendant thats been passed down the royal line, but has never been attuned to anyone. The attunement period is around 1 week, and during this time, the user will expierence a period of pretty bad luck. So as it stands, Calista has no idea that her pendant is actually a very powerful artifact. The cultists want to get their hands on it to build the ultimate artifact, along with others, but this is the one they are activly trying to get right now. LEVEL UP
After all of this, Calista and Hendalt will approach players. Hendalt> "it would seem you are an ally of the princess afterall.." "maybe now we can trust you to complete a task for us perhaps?" Calista> "This cult keeps growing, and we need to know more about them." "The ancient library might provide some clues as to who this Money Josh really is and what the cult might need to bring him back..." Ancient Library is in the capitol of Solus, Darne, and holds knowledge of almost everything in the realm. Calista> "Here," *hands pendant* "this may help with your investigation" On the road to Solus, they can pass by their fief (route will go through it) In their fief, which they havnt named, the grounds look worse than last time. everyone is in an even worse mood. The old man elder hobbles out of the Sly Dragon tavern (new sign). Sees players, and hobbles to them. Egrad> "finally... we could use your help. Some monsters came by looking for some kind of staff, and they took everything that seemed to match it, along with any magic items we had..." They headed north, band of kobolds/drakes/dragonborn. They are looking for a magic scepter, as requested by a cloaked man. Said he would bring them to the dragon that has recently been sighted in Aeris, but need to give him this staff and any magic artifacts they find along the way. staff looks like Mordekai's staff dragon dudes have a lot of random stuff, like the cane for the old man, his deck of cards, and a sussy flask. In the village, the blacksmith asks the players for a favor. needs to send a sword to a friend of his in another village in Edhen, called Estar. His name is Jack, also works a blacksmithy. give dragon hunt side quest here The road to Solus will be long and treacherous, can put a great many sidequests here...