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Ugly is the new black
Seeker
Australia
81 Posts |
 Posted - 21 Sep 2007 : 12:45:00
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This is an adventure I plan on running with some friends of mine. It's nothing really special, I just wanted to run it by you guys to see what you think. I've got a lot of great ideas for the dungeon, and I'll run them by you later if you'd like, but this is all I'm going to post for the time being.
The intended group is:
Brother Olymer Al-Akhir, Human Paladin 3
Baracchus Son of Gramorn, Half-Orc Rogue 2 / Barbarian 1
Cnaerythelle Lumyrenar, Half Moon Elf Bard 3.
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Calimport, Calimshan.
Shieldmeet, 1372 (Year of Wild Magic)
The adventure begins in the bustling city of Calimport, where the PCs find themselves working with (or under contract by) a clandestine organization known as The Broken, whose operations are secretly funded by the church of Ilmater. Their holy mission is to stymie the suffering of the Calishites by freeing slaves and oppressed women from the shackles of servitude and smuggling them safely out of the city. The organization is led by a small but canny council, consisting primarily of Ilmatari clergy and the odd merchant or minor noble. Their need for secrecy is paramount, and so The Broken rarely hire on outsiders to assist in their operations. Every so often, however, there comes a job that simply cannot otherwise be accomplished, and the Ilmatari are forced seek the aid of sellswords. That's where the PCs come in.
(Note: Mercenaries looking to hire on with The Broken should check The Shining Tankard, a tavern located in the Faiths Ward, for an Ilmatari monk named Brother Habdu - word is he's the man to talk to.)
The PCs are informed that a recent operation has gone wrong; a tenday past, a monk named Brother Tariq (LG Human Monk 3) rescued at least a dozen slave girls from the personal harem of Pasha Kemar yn Kedadf el Dasanm, the Sultan of the Carvans Ward (CE Human Fighter 9). These virgin girls, known collectively as the Odalisque, are the Sultan's most prized possessions, and he is wroth to have lost them. Hoping to utilize the situation as an opportunity to advance himself politically, Kemar's cruel and treacherous nephew, Vizar Conol yn Agar el Dasanm (LE Human Rogue 5), has taken up the task of finding the girls himself. Although his methods are quite brutal (he supposedly executed half a dozen of the elite eunich soldiers tasked with guarding the Odalisque), he has yet to uncover their trail.
What Conol doesn't know is that Brother Tariq led the girls into the sewers underneath the Caravans Ward by way of a secret access point in the cellar of The Veiled Lamia Inn, as per the instructions of his mission. He then led them north into the labyrinthine tunnels beneath the Crypt Ward, where he was to hole up with them in a crude shelter for a tenday while the heat died down, then surface beneath The House of Bound Hands on the morning of the Shieldmeet, 1372 (the day the adventure begins). But that day has come, and there is no sign of Brother Tariq or the Odalisque.
What if they've become lost? What if they've been captured, or killed? If Vizar Conol yn Agar el Dasanm gets ahold of them, the Syl-Pasha will bring his wrath down upon the church of Ilmater himself! Someone needs to go down into the sewers beneath Calimport and find them, and fast! This responsibility, of course, falls upon the PCs, who will have to trek through three miles (well, six if you count the return trip) of filth, traps, dire rats, goblins (and goblin wererats), etc.
The Broken don't typically have a lot of money available to reward mercenaries, but if the PCs can pull off this job, they'll dig deep enough into their pockets to make it worth the effort.
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Anyways, tell me what you think.
love,
nathan.
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As he knelt on the ground with his brothers around and the taste of his blood on his tongue,
His brothers knelt by him and prayed him a prayer, and he smiled and he laughed and he sung,
"Brothers, oh brothers, my days here are done, the Dornishman's taken my life,
But what does it matter? For all men must die, and I've tasted the Dornishman's wife!" |
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Halidan
Senior Scribe
USA
470 Posts |
Posted - 21 Sep 2007 : 14:28:25
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It's an interesting premise for an adventure, but personally, I don't like the sellswords aspect of the introduction. You've got a palidan in the party - why not have Brother Olymer Al-Akhir's church get the group involved with the Ilmaterians? You don't tell ius what faith the good brother is, but the Church of Ilmater is allied or at least quasi-friendly with most of the LG dieties in the Realms. I think it would be a much stronger lead in to have an agent of his church ask Brother Olymer to help out.
Using an agent allows you to add much more intrigue and cloak and dagger to the mission, if you want. Perhaps this agent doesn't have the authority to get his church involved. Perhaps the agent is not who he claims to be. Perhaps the agent is who he claims to be, but is known to the trecherous nephew? The possibilities are enormous.
Now, if your group is not likely to enjoy this sort of claok and dagger work, then you might want to use a more straight-forward sellsword approach. You know your players better than anyone else. But, if I were running a campaign in Calisham, I'd add as many shadowy figures and misdirection as my players would allow. |
"Over the Mountains
Of the Moon
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,"
The shade replied,
"If you seek for Eldorado!"
Edgar Allen Poe - 1849 |
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Ugly is the new black
Seeker
Australia
81 Posts |
Posted - 21 Sep 2007 : 14:43:29
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quote:
Originally posted by Halidan
It's an interesting premise for an adventure, but personally, I don't like the sellswords aspect of the introduction.
In truth, I only tossed the sellsword bits into what I wrote above so anyone could pickup the adventure and use it themselves. In my campaign, the PCs are members of The Broken themselves, and individually involved in the plot as well, so it's only natural that they get sucked in as the story unfolds.
love,
nathan. |
As he knelt on the ground with his brothers around and the taste of his blood on his tongue,
His brothers knelt by him and prayed him a prayer, and he smiled and he laughed and he sung,
"Brothers, oh brothers, my days here are done, the Dornishman's taken my life,
But what does it matter? For all men must die, and I've tasted the Dornishman's wife!" |
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Asgetrion
Master of Realmslore
Finland
1564 Posts |
Posted - 26 Sep 2007 : 00:15:46
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| Otherwise it seems like a very nice adventure, but why trudge for three miles in the sewers? Wouldn't it be far easier for players and DMs alike, if the PCs just entered the sewers near the "vanishing point" (The Veiled Lamia)? Or if there are no tracks to follow in the sewers, maybe the lost group is not too far from their target or the inn? Just some thoughts... |
"What am I doing today? Ask me tomorrow - I can be sure of giving you the right answer then."
-- Askarran of Selgaunt, Master Sage, speaking to a curious merchant, Year of the Helm |
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Ugly is the new black
Seeker
Australia
81 Posts |
Posted - 26 Sep 2007 : 06:51:04
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quote:
Originally posted by Asgetrion
Otherwise it seems like a very nice adventure, but why trudge for three miles in the sewers? Wouldn't it be far easier for players and DMs alike, if the PCs just entered the sewers near the "vanishing point" (The Veiled Lamia)?
That's certainly something that's crossed my mind. In the end, the choice is theirs. They can use the secret entrance beneath The House of Bound Hands and trek three miles underground, or make their way across town and enter beneath The Veiled Lamia Inn, or even search for an entrance somewhere in the Crypt Ward. I'll allow them to do whatever they think is best.
In this case, taking the long way through the sewers helps prevent them from being caught by the local guards, who may or may not be watching The Veiled Lamia. But again, ultimately the choice is theirs to make. I won't force them to take the slimy route.
love,
nathan. |
As he knelt on the ground with his brothers around and the taste of his blood on his tongue,
His brothers knelt by him and prayed him a prayer, and he smiled and he laughed and he sung,
"Brothers, oh brothers, my days here are done, the Dornishman's taken my life,
But what does it matter? For all men must die, and I've tasted the Dornishman's wife!" |
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Rate my adventure in Calimport?
