An Adventure for New Edom

[Tybalt]

This is for the New Edom setting. http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?24252

Part of this adventure reveals the real reason why New Edom is so important for conquest by the parties seeking to do it. The other part is a sort of climax to the war in New Edom, possibly paving the way to ultimate victory.

I'm making use of 2 Dungeon Magazine adventures in part in this, and have no intention of publishing this particular material, so please don't think I'm plagiarizing.

Adventure Background

Prince Obryn, the brother of the Duke of Cordewayne, is one of the senior commanders of the Celtic army sent to conquer New Edom. He currently holds the fortified town of Westmark, which guards a pass that is the only major trade route controlled by the Celts at this point. (since the port of Harbourtown fell) He is known to be hostile to Duke Anderman of Deva, the principal enemy commander in the region, and it is thought that he might be swayed to change sides.

One of the key factors here is the death of the king recently. Apparently the kingship of the current royal family requires at least one dragon companionship to legitimize it. The royal dragons are all dead, and the succession is very much in question.

The pcs are sent to negotiate with Prince Obryn and find out if he can be swayed. If Westmark were to control the western road on the part of New Edom then the Celtic forces and their allies would at the very least be surrounded--they might actually consider surrendering.

When the pcs arrive they find Obryn has been a tough but fair ruler--the local peasants and townsfolk are reasonably well fed, burned buildings have been rebuilt, firewood is in plenty, stock are safe behind barns and paddocks and offenses against townsfolk by the occupying forces are punished severely. On the other hand locals are forbidden to so much as touch a weapon without permission and most spellcasters not in the direct service of the Prince have been slaughtered or driven into hiding.

After finding out what the pcs want and who they represent it is discovered that Obryn is entertaining another group--representatives of the cult of Tiamat, who claim that they can summon dragons to the benefit of whatever claimant to the throne is willing to back them in turn.

No matter what scoffing and doubt or questioning is done, the cult representatives insist on taking the Prince, his courtiers and the party up to the roof to show them something. They show them a falling star streaking down, frightening close (perhaps a full day's ride away) that lands eventually with a thunderous sound that can be felt even so far away. The cultists look triumphant and announce that their folk are even now on their way to claim the Black Egg within the fallen star that will enable them to summon dragons.

The pcs must somehow defy this claim. It is not just the control of Westmark that is in question but whether or not the enemy can gather more powerful allies and turn the tide of the war.

[Matt Larkin (author)]

Have the PCs dealt with the dragon cult in the past (I don't recall)? If not, I'd say give them some way to investigate the cult a bit. If so, I'd say they should have some hint this is coming, but not enough that it spoils the surprise--just a bit of foreshadowing before these reach Westmark.

How do you plan to keep it from being a straight-up foot race against the cult to reach the egg?

Are there other players in Obryn's court that matter in this? His advisers, counselors, family, children, great aunts, or shady friends? Will any of them work with/against the PCs to make things more interesting?

Can the cult really summon dragons if the PCs fail?

Would they truly back Obryn, or play him false? What evidence might the PCs find of the cult's treachery beforehand (if they are treacherous).

Might a third party, say the sahuagin, a trio of dragonslayers, or an ambitious foreign noble also be after the egg, and thus add another layer to the plot?

I hope some of these questions might help a little.

[Tybalt]

Hi Phoenix, thanks for the questions, they are helpful.

1. The pcs have dealt with the Tiamat cult before, in fact they were holding part of the key to the Tower of Glass. They are known to be a significant faction among their enemies.

2. I have the following other significant npcs for Obryn's court:
- his senior officers (master of horse, marshal of the camp, steward) who are Lord Wemyss (a dour and cynical man, his master of horse) Sir Morin (a kindly though stern and dutiful man, his master of the camp and closest military advisor) and Sir Edric, who is not much of a warrior but as steward is a good administrator and organizer. These three men are very loyal and will be suspicious of treachery on the part of either the pcs or the Tiamat cult.
Thus far my thoughts are that Lord Wemyss will be negative and play devil's advocate, while Sir Morin will be polite and courteous and try to figure out how trustworthy the pcs are, while Sir Edric will be entirely pragmatic.

- his paramour, Lady Valyria, who will have special abilities in observation and the like and will be watching the pcs very carefully to figure out what relationships exist, what they're saying and not saying and so on. She is also a secret agent of the Yuan-Ti.

- Captain Falk, a mercenary and his senior field commander in the area, is a cunning and brutal man who is mostly loyal to who has the most to offer him.

- Lieutenant Marina of Dor, a female mercenary officer in over her head. She ran away from an unpleasant marriage but found that she had a lot less experience than she thought. Falk has made her an officer and has forced her to be his lover. She's found that her own troops (a platoon of archers) intimidate her but she's afraid to go home.

- Magister Lewin is a sage at the Prince's court. He is an important advisor and believes that Obryn would be making a mistake in betraying Anderman and ultimately the King of the Celts. This is mostly because he is a conservative old man.

(if there are other types of npcs who might be interesting I'm very glad to receive other thoughts)

3. The talisman being summoned is indeed capable of creating dragons--what it does is summon the souls of evil dragons from beyond the veil of death, giving them flesh through sacrifices of living souls. Roughly speaking at least 19-20 HD of sacrifice needs to be done and with a particular rod to perform it.

4. I'm not entirely sure about the treachery aspect...any thoughts on how that might work?

5. As for third parties...a trio of dragonslayers? That's an interesting thought...care to expand a little? The sahuagin/deep sea cultists might be an interesting group to have involved--it might be interesting if in fact they or maybe the Yuan-Ti or both tried to help the pcs to prevent their rivals from growing too powerful, but then tried to seize the artifact themselves.

6. I'm not sure that a straight up footrace ultimately is all that bad. I was planning on trying to draw out the negotiations a little--maybe have a couple of events like a tourney or evening of games to suggest that it is mostly diplomacy. So it wouldn't be like "the pcs arrive only to find out treachery is afoot and have to leave right away" I was hoping for at least a couple of days of diplomacy and stuff.

[Matt Larkin (author)]

1. Then I'd say, if you're not about to launch this adventure next week, leak some rumor about the cult searching for a lost artifact or something, that will only fall into place once they learn the cult is negotiating with Obryn.

Speaking of which, will the cult keep that secret? I think it might be cooler if the PCs have to find out about the negotiations through spying--or if one of the NPCs mentions informs them because they don't trust the dragon people.

2. Sounds like a very good list. As always, creating detailed NPCs sounds to be a strong point of yours.

3. Just curious on how it worked.

4. Do you mean you're not sure whether the cult would be treacherous, or how the PCs might uncover evidence? Evidence of treachery would be very difficult. They could overhear a conversation, which would be hearsay, but maybe enough to sway Obryn's more suspicious counselors. They might also find documents proving the cults ulterior plans (or if you had answered #3 differently, that the talisman won't work).

5. It was just a rather random thought, the idea being a race against two groups might be more exciting than a race against one, and gives them the opportunity to pit the two groups against one another. The dragonslayers might want to reach the artifact first to destroy it and keep it from their enemies in the dragon cult. Or maybe their dragonriders that want the dragons for themselves. I had actually meant a third party against the PCs and cult from the start, but an ally that proves treacherous might be interesting, too.

6. I like your ideas of playing out the in-town scene. When I say avoiding a straight-up footrace, I mean, how literally will you keep it from boiling down to Fort saves to see who can force-march longest (in high level groups this may well boil down to whoever started first winning because of the way the system works).

What encounters will you use to slow both groups down? What locations might they encounter each other? Are there secret paths through the wilderness a ranger might find? Are there physical (natural) barriers they must cross (or magical ones)? You get the idea.

[Tybalt]

Thanks, this is very helpful.

My pcs will have a time in Harbourtown during the occupation so perhaps I may introduce some lore at some point regarding the Black Egg at that point.

Perhaps either if a pc is sneaking around or if they seduce or charm a courtier they might get wind of the other negotiations. Are you suggesting that perhaps the pcs might not even know that the Tiamat cultists are present? That might be an interesting twist. It will also suggest that Obryn is being very clever.

If I did that then the third party thing might actually reflect that. Perhaps he is not merely playing two sides but three against one another--perhaps the dragon slaying trio might be from another noble house altogether that is hoping for Prince Obryn's support in an attempted coup d'etat. So that there are three plots he is considering:

1. Siding with the Tiamat cult and remaining on the side of Anderman.
2. Siding with New Edom.
3. Siding with the other noble house, seizing control from Anderman and keeping on with the war.

As for the wilderness trek, I was going to have the artifact be hard to find, since sometimes such items are beyond normal ken and might not be able to be found with detection spells and the like. It is also winter so travel will be more difficult. The landscape will have a Tunguska Blast effect too from the impact, so that it will be confusing and the map will not be entirely useful. Strange beasts and creatures might have been unearthed or awakened by the falling of the star and the arrival of the Black Egg.

[LordVreeg]

[blockquote=Both Smart Guys]5. As for third parties...a trio of dragonslayers? That's an interesting thought...care to expand a little? The sahuagin/deep sea cultists might be an interesting group to have involved--it might be interesting if in fact they or maybe the Yuan-Ti or both tried to help the pcs to prevent their rivals from growing too powerful, but then tried to seize the artifact themselves. [/blockquote]
Sorry took me this long.  Been busy.  
How many Celtic counterparts are there for the PC's?  I;m looking at the Celtic NPC's and wondering why there are no adventuring loose cannons.  The Celtic belief systems would at least seem to point to some Tuatha de Danan hero-priests hanging around.

By the way, what is Marlee's take on the the claims of the Tiamat worshippers?  I know she pretends to know a lot more than she does, but I'd think she'd be a major source of knowledge here.

[blockquote=Tybalt]1. The pcs have dealt with the Tiamat cult before, in fact they were holding part of the key to the Tower of Glass. They are known to be a significant faction among their enemies. [/blockquote]  Very important to have perspective on how the PC's are viewed by the other factions.  

There is no way the Dark elves aren't involved...

[Matt Larkin (author)]

Are you suggesting that perhaps the pcs might not even know that the Tiamat cultists are present? That might be an interesting twist. It will also suggest that Obryn is being very clever.

I'm suggesting it's possible they don't start out with that knowledge, but rather have the chance to discover it, with enough leads that they might have a reason to investigate it in the first place.

But as with all the ideas, it's just brainstorming to get your own ideas flowing. Whether you choose to implement any of these thoughts is up to you.

[Tybalt]

Any ideas on Dark Elf involvement Vreeg? Maybe they at some point quietly replace one of the advisors with one of their own number via a polymorph spell or some such thing?

I think Vreeg has a nice point about the party having a dragon informant among them. That might be helpful towards Marlee being able to suggest whether or not the Tiamat worshippers are capable of fulfilling their boastful claims.

And yeah I like the idea of fleshing out a group of conservative Tuatha de Dannan worshipping types among the Celtic nobility, perhaps with claims to sidhe origins and ancestral weaponry they might claim can defeat the Tiamat worshippers' artifact.

[LordVreeg]

[blockquote=Tybalt]Any ideas on Dark Elf involvement Vreeg? Maybe they at some point quietly replace one of the advisors with one of their own number via a polymorph spell or some such thing?[/blockquote]
How does it sound to have a group of NPC adventurers that worship the Tuatha de Dannan, mainly Celts.  Have one of them, a sage/caster type, be an old student of Magister Lewin.  Have him be a very well paid agent of the Dark Elves, trying to play on the conservative feelings of the Magister, and be well protected by his friends.  These adventurers might 'respect the accomplishments and bravery' of the PC's, but compete with them all the same.
They may turn out to be friendly competitors, possibly bitter enemies.  There is even a good chance that the PC's do not figure on the Dark-Elve's spy in the other adventuring group.

[Tybalt]

This is a good idea and draws on the notion that the Dark Elves really want the war to continue but not with necessarily an advantage to one of their rivals.

Here are a couple of NPCs
The Tiamat Cult Representative: Machaeon Maelmorda (a big, red headed square headed man, with an eloquoent loud voice, fierce blue eyes and a thin hard mouth. He seems at a glance to be a blustering fanatic but in fact is very cunning in his fanaticism. He is a priest of the dragon goddess and will claim that she is the ultimate creatrix of life and that those who follow the 'rebel gods' are in peril of being accursed in this life and the next.)

The Tuatha de Dannan follower: Lord Alban is a man in the prime of his life. He has dark hair, dark brown eyes and has a gallant manner that disguises his ruthless intent to maintain the old ways of worship and of authority. He would be happy to make a treaty--provided it was with honor--with the New Edomites and withdraw from the area with some new territorial arrangements. He finds that the demon-worshippers have frustrated the issue by antagonizing the New Edomite War Hawks. (Lord Aholibamah and all) He himself is a renowned monster-slayer in his own country, descended from a hero who slew a huge landwyrm and married an earth goddess. With a specially blessed spear and his loyal followers, a renowned bard, a druid and a ranger, he intends to demonstrate that the Old Ways have more power than that of Tiamat's fanatics.

Cunobelin the bard was one of Magister Lewin's star pupils. While he proved able enough in studying the laws, histories and demonstrated some magical talent his real fire was put into poetry and music. Cunobelin is at a glance a gentle but strong sort of man, thoughtful, sensitive and perceptive, but nevertheless physically capable of long marches in difficult terrain and wielding his short sword with swiftness if need be. He could ably boast that as a poet, loremaster and harpist he is excelled by fewer than could be counted on the fingers of his hands.
What is not well known of him is that he is a spy for the Drow. He doesn't see it that way though, he sees elves (as some Celts do) as the descendants of the Tuatha de Dannan and worthy of respect. The one in whose pay he is has told him that the New Edomites are their enemies and that he will be richly rewarded. Already he has found himself gifted by new spells and lore that he might never have discovered without his mysterious patron. While he admires the pcs there is something to be said about having a worthy adversary...

[LordVreeg]

Perfect.  Lord Alban and Cunobelin are even better than I thought.  You did an amazing job of creating a real 'foil' for the PC's, someone they can respect, sometime agree with, but who is on the other side of the battlefield.  

[blockquote=Tybalt]As for the wilderness trek, I was going to have the artifact be hard to find, since sometimes such items are beyond normal ken and might not be able to be found with detection spells and the like. It is also winter so travel will be more difficult. The landscape will have a Tunguska Blast effect too from the impact, so that it will be confusing and the map will not be entirely useful. Strange beasts and creatures might have been unearthed or awakened by the falling of the star and the arrival of the Black Egg. [/blockquote]
Well, feel free to make the damn thing further away, for more interest.  I think this is a great idea.
 I'd also have some outsiders in the area, trying to find the damn thing.  Might be the players and the other groups may find the outsiders all over the place.
Another intersting effect might be if the egg can 'dragonize' other already magically created/enhanced creatures.  Giant Spiders, Owlbears, etc, all trying to protect the egg with their enhanced 'dragonish' abilities...

[Tybalt]

Thanks for the compliments Lord Vreeg.

There are a couple of elements I think I'd like to explore for this adventure. The first is the environment itself. There will be a sense of deep winter, isolation and strangeness.

The second is a sense of outright evil. I was thinking about the outsiders thing and thought it might be interesting if instead of rampaging around openly the fiends posessed a number of local villagers in order to fulfill their quest. The pcs might come across the scenes of horrible rites in some isolated village as they journey to the crash site.  

[Matt Larkin (author)]

Frostfell had some cool-looking monsters in it.

[Tybalt]

Yeah, I've picked up the Frostburn book. Good advice.

Westmark

Westmark is the rather simply named border town at New Edom's most western point on the map, guarding the southern pass through the Stvarstrike Mountains. (which loop along from the southern coast along the Celtic border and encircle New Edom in the north to its borders with the dwarvish kingdom of Svartaheim) The region is most noted for producing good wool bearing sheep and the copper and tin mines the mountains have. Unfortunately this is also a wild area where wyverns and manticores roost, orcs and giants roam and where strange creatures from forgotten ages are now and then unearthed by unwary miners. The hunting is good--mountain sheep, deer, bear, mountain cat and wolverine are to be found. In the rolling lowlands mainly oats, barley, hay, cabbage and various fruit are grown for food. The wooded lowlands are also good territory for raising pigs, which almost rival the sheep in numbers.

Westmark itself is a town of roughly 2,000 which is the main location for mills, wool factories and smelting forges in the area. Much of what is produced is sent on to Glasstower in normal times, which is the hub of refined work in western New Edom. Most of the merchants coming to Glasstowers are carvan organizers wanting to get first to raw materials they can sell at higher prices elsewhere. The New Edomite Republic frowned on this practice, insisting on foreign merchants going to Harbourtown instead. Under the Celtic occupation several mercantilers have been permited to reside in Westmark. This has resulted in them being able to control prices in such a way as to make them rich and the inhabitants of Westmark poorer. Naturally some of this is given in revenues to the occupying forces.

Westmark was seized by surprise by foresters and barbarians in the service of Prince Obryn, who in recognition of this important service was granted rule over the region by King Cleothas. Obryn has treated the conquered people with justice according to his views, but some deeply resent the following things.

1. Private citizens are no longer part of a free militia; those who are permitted to be militia members may not keep weapons at home and are required to draw them from an armoury when drills take place.

2. Large numbers of people have been forced by the merchants who act as sutlers and suppliers to the Celtic army into poverty and have had to indenture themselves merely to feed their families.

3. The local shrines of Ishtar and Moraddin have been forced to be entirely passive--for instance the Ishtarians are only allowed to have hierodules and healers as clerics.

4. Slavery, outlawed in New Edom, is permitted. Recently this has not been such a big deal and in fact most Celtic slavery is a form of bonded servanthood rather than total ownership but from time to time criminals or captured people are sold at auction.

On the other hand a general rising is discouraged largely for the following reasons.

1. Obryn generally has Westmark and the surrounding villages and farmsteads patrolled by his own vassals, but he also has two companies of mercenaries who are so brutally ruthless that the locals are terrified of them. They are the 'bad cops'.

2. Everyone at least has enough to eat. Even the poorest labourers are guaranteed two filling meals a day, if plain and simple. Everyone is given a good ration of firewood even if they have no woodcutting rights.

3. Obryn's laws are hard but fair. They are probably harder than the Republic's laws but possibly less confusing and troubled by bureaucracy.

Local Religion

Obryn is a trifle cynical about religion but would happily if he knew of them follow Machiavelli's advice about it. He attends druidic ceremonies and the worship of Tiamat quite amiably and even makes public donations to Ishtar and Moraddin. All religions are tolerated in Westmark but only worship of the Tuatha de Dannan and Tiamat are actually playing a role in public affairs openly. The worship of such demons as are followed by the Harlaws are regarded with distaste, mostly because of the social chaos they can create. Obryn wants only one person who uses might and cunning at will: himself.

Crime

Westmark's crime is rather on the small scale. Most local crime involves poaching, petty theft and the occasional brawl among miners and local labourers when there is too much drinking in town. However there are two significant crime rings going on.

In Westmark there is a thieves' guild that is partly a gang of cutpurses and robbers who have their stolen goods fenced and then sold via a corrupt royal bondsman, and partly a collection of prostitutes. The whores mainly cater to the Celtic soldiery, though some locals are taking to the idea. However for locals this venue has in other times been filled by Ishtarian hierodules as a form of worship. Prostitution is not exactly illegal in the Celtic Kingdom but it is often a cover for other activities, such as illegal gambling and drug use. The drugs mostly come from Nala via Kedward Bone's operation.

There is also an operation involving one of the merchants who is trying to corner the market on caravans and their security. He is in collusion with one of the mercenary captains. Problems with banditry and theft in fact really come from this mercenary company, which is bored with occupation anyway. For the right fees this merchant is able to guarantee a good solid mercenary outfit to act as guards, and to provide the right contacts and so on. Between the two they have managed takeovers of other operations and property enough to make them both rich.

In addition to this property owners are growing corrupt in Westmark. A number of property owners who rent space to labouring families have begun cruel practices to enrich themselves, including renting out the work of the poor as a way of paying of debts that may never be paid off.

Besides all this Westmark has a garrison of mostly bored soldiers, whether mercenaries or vassal troops, who often have too little to do apart from training and cleaning weapons, and who at times act in an outrageous fashion, further antagonizing the locals. Prince Obryn attempts to rein this in but it is difficult in wintertime. These incidents are relatively few due to the fact that he is perfectly willing to lop off offending hands or heads. His crack guard of shieldmen prevent people from thinking of provoking him lightly, as does his own personal prowess. Even the two tough mercenary captains are wary of personally provoking the prince.

Outside Dangers

In spite of tales of wyverns, manticores and giants, these rarely trouble Westmark and the areas near it. The regular dangers are wild beasts that grown hungry in winter and orcs.

Winter does not intimidate orcs much and they see the human settlements as potential targets for raids. These have not aligned with the Celts and will not--the mercenary captain Falk mistakenly saw to that by violating two of their most sacred places, thinking it would teach the orcs to attack supply caravans. Now the orcs seem to see it as a sacred duty to attack the humans in the area, between which they do not differentiate.