A wide field of shattered weapons, barrow mounds, and mass graves surrounds the city of Absalom, a vast plain known as the Cairnlands. Rising from the war-torn earth like the grasping arms of the dead are countless siege castles, towers, and fortresses constructed over the millennia by would-be warlords who tried to take the great city and inevitably failed. Like forgotten monuments to failed conquerors, the siege castles of Absalom beckon the brave, the fearless, and the foolish with the promise of adventure and untold treasures, ever ready to create heroes or to entomb the fallen.
You are in Absalom, the mighty City at the Center of the World, and you’ve always longed to explore one of the countless ruins of failed conquerors that litter the plains outside the city’s walls.
You’ve heard rumors that one of the sealed siege castles has been laid open by a minor earthquake. Word on the street is that no one has yet entered the tower, which folks are calling the “Fallen Fortress.”
What better way to start a life of excitement and adventure than by exploring its long-abandoned, dusty halls and perhaps claiming its ancient treasures?
You have applied and have been chosen to be part of the Pathfinder group that will examine the ruined tower.
You are led through the Great Hall of Skyreach past a large table with a shifting illusionary Inner Sea map on its massive surface. Standing around the Hall are dozens of pathfinders of various races exchanging stories of their exploits. You are directed towards a smaller meeting room, past an ornate fountain with crystal clear water. You can feel the chill from the cascading droplets as some splash you on their decent to the pool.
The placard before the room reads, “The Pipeweed Nook”. Opening the door you see a long table, chairs.
You enter with the other Pathfinders but are still waiting for the Venture-Captain to arrive and give you the final briefing before you travel to the Fallen Fortress.
Now, you are standing in a meeting room with all the other Pathfinders that showed their worth and will join you on this adventure.
|
"Wonderful!" Fuzzzy exclaims. "Now, lets see here." He looks around the room and notices all the other Pathfinders. "Well, hello there! Have we met? I can't seem to recall..."
With a shrug of his shoulders, Fuzzzy says, "I am... Uh... Hmmm... What was my name again? It’s all kind of fuzzy… Yes, that must be it! Fuzzzy!” He sticks out his wrinkly hands for a handshake. "I'm Fuzzzy! And this is Bobby!"
Looking at the Pathfinders he asks, "Uhhh... Hello there! Have we met? I can't seem to recall..."
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
A Varisian man with a striped blue headscarf enters the room. He has a few earrings, a patch of facial hair under his lip. He nods at the other Pathfinders. At his hip is grappling hook attached to a coil of silk rope.
Ruslo listens to Fuzzzy’s babbled introduction.
Ruslo shakes Fuzzzy’s hand. ”Hey old man, I’m Ruslo. No, haven’t met you before. Nice bird you got there.”
Ruslo pulls out a small piece of his trail rations and offers it to Bobby.
Ruslo goes over to lean on a wall. A copper coin appears in his hand and the coin dances from finger to finger and back again.
|
A very pretty elf arrives; she gathers the attention of one of the servers, Would you happen to have any juice or cider? She looks around and sees a few likely candidates that may have been called to the same mission as her. However, Llorva remains silent, preferring others to make introductions first.
The Venture Captain enters the room and for a couple of seconds silently observes you.
“Welcome initiates,“ he says in a friendly, laid-back manner.
“I am pleased you could come so soon. I am Venture Captain Adril Hestram, and I have a task for you. Recently an earthquake struck the city, costing countless gold in damages as you can imagine. But it also caused a sealed siege tower from one of Absalom’s many, past, would-be-conquerors, to crack open like an egg. Word on the street is that no one has yet searched ‘the Fallen Fortress’, as the locals are calling it. However, against my commands, a young Pathfinder like yourselves, named Balenar Forsend, set off to explore the ruins alone. Now he is missing." he says shaking his head.
“While I applaud Balenar’s intentions, by going off against my words, he has violated the Pathfinder Oath, to explore, cooperate, and report. Hopefully he is still alive to full fill the last part of that oath.”
He clears his throat and stands, handing over a map of the Cairnlands marked with the location of this ‘Fallen Fortress’.
“Don’t forget initiates, during your explorations, keep your eyes peeled for anything that could be of interest to the society, especially historical or religious artifacts. Do you have any questions before you go?”
"Yes, please bring his body to me if he has passed away. He is young so talking about a distinct skill-set would be too much ... but he is a bard to be exact."
"He is a young man with brown hair, brown eyes and a winning smile ... he is a bard so some musical instrument should not be far away."
|
|
Ruslo shakes Fuzzzy’s hand. ”Hey old man, I’m Ruslo. No, haven’t met you before. Nice bird you got there.”
Fuzzy looks confused at Ruslo's words.
"Old? I'm not old." Noticing his long white beard, Fuzzzy looks surprised. He picks it up and looks at it. "This does look like and old man's beard. Bobby, how old am I?"
|
|
Fuzzzy smiles. "Ah, yes! Quite right, Bobby! I am twenty-five years old!" He smiles, very happy that's been sorted out.
He does not look twenty-five. He looks sixty.
---
When the others come into the room, Fuzzzy asks them each if he knows them, and then introduces himself--or he tries to! He forgets his name every time!
---
When Adril starts talking about his mission, Fuzzzy smiles. "Ah! A mission! I love missions!" He looks at the others and says, "I'm a Pathfinder, you know. Oh! Have we met? I can't recall..."
"No, sir! No questions from me!" Fuzzzy remarks after the mission briefing.
---
When it's time to go, Fuzzzy says, "Wonderful! Time to go! Follow me, everyone! Uh... That is... Bobby? Where am I going?"
|
As it looks like the party is about to get started, Rumple pulls Llorva aside and speaks quitely to her. "I...umm" He coughs slightly, "There's ..... there's something you need to know." Another pause, clearly he is having difficulty bringing himself to speak the words..."I .... have a condition," he says finally. After that, the words come a bit easier.... though his eyes are always on the floor. "If you try to heal me, you'll likely kill me. Please... if you channel healing, please try to exclude me from the effects." He reaches into his pouch and pulls forth two dark scrolls. He caresses them slightly before tentatively offering them to her. Somehow he manages to look up at her face, "If I'm in trouble and you need to heal me, please use these instead."
When you look at the scrolls, you see each contains one Inflict Light Wounds spell.
Trying to act like nothing happened, the dirty-looking dwarf hurries to keep up with the rest of the party.
|
|
"If I'm in trouble and you need to heal me, please use these instead."
Llorva raises an eyebrow at the unusual request and then looks at Venture Captain Adril Hestram. With a nod from the venture captain, Llvora smiles and silently tucks the scrolls away in her back-pack pocket. Anything, to be of service to a fellow Pathfinder Rumple. She replies in a voice that, resembles high pitched wind chimes.
Ruslo flicks the coin into the air and easily catches it.
“Got it bossman. Explore, cooperate and report. Watch for artifacts and Balinar. Oh yeah, don’t do like Balinar.”
The coin starts to dance from finger to finger again.
”Everyone ready for the Cairnlands?”
[dice=Knowledge Local on the Cairnlands] 1d20+5
Cairnlands
The inevitable result of millennia of warfare and countless unsuccessful sieges on the walls of Absalom, the region known as the Cairnlands is filled with ruined siege engines and battlements. Notable among the ruins are the Red Redoubt of Karamoss, the dangerous El Raja Key and the infamous, immense, and strangely beautiful Spire of Nex. In addition to these rotting relics of war, the landscape is scattered with stone barrows, shallow graves, and makeshift tombs for those who fell in battle far from their native soil. While the promise of treasure constantly tempts adventurers and explorers to brave the crumbling castles of the Cairnlands, the walking dead buried without proper consecration provide enough of a deterrent that plenty of artifacts of ages past remain hidden among the rubble.
"Please get anything you need now in Absolom. Are you ready to leave?" asks the Venture-Captain.
The Venture-Captain wishes you all the best and you prepare yourself for the journey. After a few stops to gather supplies you leave Absolom for the Cairnlands. The wide fields of shattered weapons, barrow mounds, and mass graves are a reality that is hard to ignore when you travel through this barren land.
When you arrive at the ruined siege castle now being called the Fallen Fortress you see it rise out of the churned earth of the Cairnlands. No doors or windows mar the otherwise smooth expanse of the tower’s walls. The tower is quatrefoil in plan; its eastern wing has largely collapsed, exposing the interior floors to the open air.
Only the topmost level seems whole, though its eastern portion hangs precariously over the mountain of rubble left by the collapse. At ground level, the rubble frames a gaping hole in the side of the building that provides access to the tower’s darkened interior.
You stand before the tower in awe.
The tower stands 80 feet tall and its exterior walls are amazingly smooth. Some of you know that these are considered superior masonry walls, requiring gear and extensive training to ascend.
Climbing the ragged remains of the east wing’s walls is much easier although you see that you cannot reach the tower’s fifth floor by this method.
The ceilings within the Fallen Fortress are 15 feet high, and doors are of strong wooden construction. With the exception of the areas now exposed to the outside, all rooms in the tower are dark.
|
|
So what is the first/easiest place that we can get to? We have to climb?
The dirty little dwarf moans, "Oh, I hate climbing. But I do have a rope and grappling hook. Would one of you more physical types set it up please?" He begins digging in his backpack to produce the rope and hook, offering it to anyone who happens to be looking in his direction.
When you look at the tower, it is soon apparent that the collapse of the eastern wing has caved in much of tower’s first level as well. But it would be possible to enter from the east.
|
|
Ruslo flicks the coin into the air and easily catches it.
“Got it bossman. Explore, cooperate and report. Watch for artifacts and Balinar. Oh yeah, don’t do like Balinar.”
The coin starts to dance from finger to finger again.
”Everyone ready for the Cairnlands?”
[dice=Knowledge Local on the Cairnlands] 1d20+5
Cairnlands
The inevitable result of millennia of warfare and countless unsuccessful sieges on the walls of Absalom, the region known as the Cairnlands is filled with ruined siege engines and battlements. Notable among the ruins are the Red Redoubt of Karamoss, the dangerous El Raja Key and the infamous, immense, and strangely beautiful Spire of Nex. In addition to these rotting relics of war, the landscape is scattered with stone barrows, shallow graves, and makeshift tombs for those who fell in battle far from their native soil. While the promise of treasure constantly tempts adventurers and explorers to brave the crumbling castles of the Cairnlands, the walking dead buried without proper consecration provide enough of a deterrent that plenty of artifacts of ages past remain hidden among the rubble.
Ruslo shares his knowledge of the Cairnlands as the group travels.
You are just about to enter the fortress when you see three wild dogs stepping out from behind the rubble. These small dogs have rough coats and hungry looks in their dark brown eyes.
Ruslo: 24
Llorva: 21
Rumple and Kwannon are utterly surprised when the dogs run out. The rest of the group on the other hand heard the barks a little earlier and are ready to react.
Round 0 - Surprise
1. Dogs: Move action
2. Fuzzy, Ruslo, Llorva: You are up!
The three dogs run out of hiding and ravenously try to reach you.
Round 1
1. Dogs:
2. All PCs:
#Dogs: Full HP
#Fuzzzy:
#Ruslo:
#Rumple:
#Llorva:
#Kwannon: