Hi all, I've just started running a 4E RotRL campaign and have been working on a sidetrek loosely based on one my former GM used on us when I was playing in his campaign. While it's still a work-in-progress, I thought I would share what I've done so far with anyone here who might be interested, and hopefully get some feedback or ideas to improve it.
Late in the afternoon, the Headmaster of the Turandarok Academy, Ilsoari Gandethus, approaches the party asking for their assistance. It appears that one of the boarders at the academy has started manifesting strange powers and has become a danger to the other students. The truth is however much more sinister.
Roan Kolnas, a 7 year old male Varisian orphan, has become the object of an Attic Whisperer’s attention. Raised at the academy’s orphanage since his parents were murdered by Chopper 5 years ago, Roan has had a lonely and sad childhood so far and is extremely introverted. Generally ignored by the other children in his peer group, Roan has to be pressured into taking part in social activities with the other children and usually spends most of his time either reading or quietly daydreaming.
His tutors and caregivers at the academy are aware of these problems, and have been attempting to draw him out of his shell by finding ways for him to channel his highly active imagination and encouraging him to take part in group activities. These strategies were having some success until 1 month ago when Roan became even more withdrawn than normal, to the point where he seemed to be only dimly aware of his surroundings. What the academy’s staff don’t know is that Roan’s withdrawal is the result of the attentions of an Attic Whisperer.
Events took an alarming turn this afternoon when Roan was involved in some sort of altercation in the junior dormitory with one of his classmates. When academy staff arrived on the scene, they found the classmate lying battered and unconscious on floor and the entire dormitory looking like a whirlwind had ripped through it. Furniture had been moved around, in some cases overturned, and books, paper, and other debris had been strewn around the room while Roan himself lay in a catatonic state on his bed.
The victim of the “attack” has been taken to academy’s infirmary and is once again conscious. He initially claimed that Roan attacked him without provocation but eventually admitted that he had been taunting Roan and had shoved him onto his bed. The rest of his memory is a bit jumbled; but he remembers Roan turning towards him and giving him a “strange look” like he was both angry and terrified at the same time. He vaguely remembers something hitting him and knocking him across the room, but doesn’t know what it was, and Roan’s small stature make it extremely unlikely that it was a straightforward physical attack.
Roan remains catatonic on his bed in the junior dormitory as the academy’s staff have been unable to rouse him, and trying to move him causes furniture and objects in the room to start shaking and moving in a manner that has unnerved those that have made the attempt.
Roan is in fact a latent sorcerer and the presence of the Attic Whisperer has prompted his dormant powers to begin manifesting and in turn, the Attic Whisperer has started tapping into Roan’s power. This afternoon, the Attic Whisperer responded to Roan’s distressed mental state and channelled Roan’s emergent power into a massive burst of telekinetic force.
The expenditure of so much energy has exhausted the poor boy, causing him to become catatonic, and the Attic Whisperer is now defending him from anything it perceives as a further threat to his safety. If anyone attempts to move Roan, the Attic Whisperer attempts to scare them off by using a small amount of the boy’s power to telekinetically shake or move objects in the room, but if they persist it will reveal itself and tap into Roan’s latent power once again and animate several objects in the dormitory to aid it in fighting off the threat.
Notes:
I'm planning on running this sidetrek after Sheriff Hemlock has left for Magnimar, but before Ameiko goes missing.
This encounter is being designed for 4E and is using Scott Betts' conversion of the Attic Whisperer. As a result, I have added additional combatants in the form of animated objects so that it will be a challenge for the party. If you are running this for a 3.5 or Pathfinder game, then you may wish to remove the animated objects from the encounter.
I'm also still working out details of how the party might attempt to rouse Roan from his catatonia, and how the Attic Whisperer might respond to such attempts, so any suggestions on this would be welcome.
And I also still need to come up with a few names I can use for classmates and staff at the academy as I'm not very good at making up names at short notice, and I can guarantee my players will ask for names...