GM-Reno's Crypt-Masks-City Trilogy

Game Master evillmonkey

Current Year 4717

Crypt of the Everflame

Over the years, the Crypt of the Everflame has become an important part of the history of the town, now simply called Kassen. The townsfolk view the crypt as a memorial to those difficult first years of the town’s history. Every autumn, a few of the townsfolk make a pilgrimage to the crypt to light a lantern from the flame and bring it back to town, where it is preserved all winter, a symbol of the town’s resilience. Most years, the town mayor and a group of dignitaries perform this quest. Every few years, however, a handful of younger townsfolk are given the honor of lighting the lantern. Many see this as a passage into adulthood, a taste of adventure before settling down to work and marriage. The quest starts out as a solemn ceremony in town, where the townsfolk gather to wish the adventurers luck, just as it was when Kassen himself left to fight the mercenaries. When the adventurers return a few days later, the town holds a great celebration in their honor. This also marks the final harvest celebration before the long winter.

This year’s quest for the Everflame is special: it has been 4 years since the mayor last decided to send a group of young heroes to the crypt.

Background:

Ekat Kassen was a crusader and fortune seeker who came to serve Lastwall in the year 4515 ar. While he fought with distinction, he soon realized that he wanted more from life and left the Lastwall military to find his fortune elsewhere. His travels took him all over the region around Lake Encarthan, and he decided to settle down in 4522 after a very profitable adventure. Using a sizable portion of his fortune, he set out to tame a small area of the Fangwood on the banks of the Tourondel River, making it a natural stopover for those traveling up and down the river to Skelt. For the next 10 years, the town, which was then known as Kassen’s Hold, grew and prospered.

All that changed when Asar Vergas came to Kassen’s Hold with a host of mercenaries under his command. Asar raided the town relentlessly for 2 months. Finally, the townsfolk managed to locate Asar’s camp in an ancient crypt deep in the forest, and Ekat himself went out to deal with Asar. The battle was terribly bloody, with only a few townsfolk coming back to tell the tale. In the end, Asar was slain and his mercenaries scattered, but Ekat suffered a mortal wound. He died 2 days later, on the 11th day of Neth, 4535.

In honor of their beloved founder, the townsfolk buried Kassen in the ncient crypt, interring his bones in a place of honor, above the simple sarcophagi used to inter Asar, his mercenaries, and the townsfolk that lost their lives in the bitter struggle. They placed an eternal flame above Kassen’s final resting place, so that all who visited might find warmth in the wilderness.

Kassen:

Kassen is a small town ruled by Mayor Uptal, a fair, but mildly grim man. While most of the “townsfolk” actually live in small homes or camps in the woods and fields surrounding Kassen proper, the town is quite tightknit. As with most of the folk in Nirmathas, they stand up for one another and refuse to be pushed around.

Hamlet conventional (mayor); AL CG
Base Value 500 gp
Population 750
Type isolated (human 93%, halfling 3%, half-orc 2%, elf 1%, half-elf 1%)
Jonark Uptal, elected mayor of Kassen
Colbin Vetnar, woodcutter guildmaster
Gregor Wisslo, captain of the guard
Holgast, town sage
Rantal Prasst, priest of Erastil

Masks of the Living God
City of Golden Death