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About Mullet-over

Andrew the Hardy Lord of Moray

Venice by night, Tuesday March 11, 1309

Andrew folds the letter and places it into his jacket....

As Chu'ko completes the spell a Silver-white hair the color of a lightning strike whips about this poised elf-like archer, his eyes swirling with vibrant c

Campaign Info Tab:
Brindinford

Those with knowledge local
Brindinford

PC’s
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Please note…Ignore all references to non-pathfinder/Golarian information! ;)

Events and encounters
0.
Outside the gates (from web enhancement)
At the outskirts of the sprawling fair, an old woman hunches on the ground, clutching a wooden bowl and looking up at passers-by with a pleading look in her eyes.
The old crone offers you a blessing in a rough country accent:
“Pelor light your path and Heironeous guard your way!”
The old womans gaze meets each of you in turn and she adds
“Beware those who hear whispers in their dreams! They sleep fitfully now, awaiting the Speaker’s plans!” With that, she holds her bowl out to meet another group of travelers arriving in the city.
1. A trip to the fair
The town of Brindinford occupies a low hill beside the Brinding River. Crenellated stone walls, interrupted by tall watchtowers, surround the buildings, but the life of the town spills beyond its wall today. Colorful carts and wagons, flags and ribbons, and people of all sorts line the road for 100 yards beyond the gate. Dozens of Halflings in bright colored costumes are directing most activities. A busy, lively hum of noise rises from the fair, and the smells of roasting meats, exotic spices, and cut flowers fill the air.
Near the East/maingates, the movement of the throng of people making their way inside the walls slows to a crawl. Four town guards, wearing bright red tabards, give each visitor a careful look, though they seem relaxed and friendly. The guards can be seen peace-bonding weapons.

Knowledge local DC 10

"Hail, travelers! Welcome to Brindinford! You look well armed; you only need peace-bond weapons and spell components. Before we allow you past the gates, we must be certain of safety. Tell me, what news do you bring?"
"Peace bonding?, all you do is take a little strip of leather or rope and tie your weapon to its sheathe or tie the spell components bag closed."
The guard has strips of leather on hand and even demonstrates tying a weapon in the sheath.

Reluctance to comply
The next visitor to reach the gate is a tall, burly man, his clothes clearly marking him as a barbarian.
As the guards gently ask him to peace-bond his greatsword, he angrily pulls it from its sheath on his back, shouting with his thick accent….. "You may tie down my father's blade if you can wrestle it back into its sheath." He assumes a defensive posture while the guards hesitate, taken aback.
Guard @ Barbarian ”Sir we do not want any trouble here.”
Barbarian @ Guards ”Come on then You pack of dogs!” The barbarian’s face grows increasingly red.

”No do not kill him, grab him!”
The guards are pleased with the party, expressing their gratitude profusely. One of the guards says, “My brother owns an inn right here in Eastgate. Go to the Shield & Shingle just up the way and tell him Joster sent you. He’ll give you a room for the length of the fair, no charge.”

2. Alternative Entrances
Southspur Gate
Old Ford Gate
This alternate route into town has less traffic, and only two guards, however they seem just as strict on protocol as the guards at the main gate.
DM Note Copy/paste from #1 above

3. Around the Fair

The streets of Brindinford bustle with activity as the fair engulfs the main street thorough town. The main street—none too wide in the first place—is narrowed further by the carts and booths lining its sides. Fortunately, wagons are barred, but pedestrians clog the road effectively enough. Artisans, entertainers, and merchants, staff the fair booths, calling to potential customers and trumpeting their wares.
Above it all, two notable features define the town’s landscape. A walled keep crowns the hill at the western end of the town, and in the center of town a huge bell tower stands like a sentry.

Silver hill area- This neighborhood appears lavish and expensive and the fair here is classy and higher priced, the goods and foods for sale will cost you silvers to enjoy and the music is more dignified and less racy than the other corners of the fair….Dancers perform in elaborate costumes and upon proper stages. The food carts are well maintained and embellished with carvings. The smell of roasted pheasant and venison flows through the air….

The Eastgate is noisy and rambunctious; minstrels, comedians and poets all compete to be heard. Food includes meat pies, pastries, meads and ales.
The remainder of the town is mostly quiet the streets deserted or nearly so, the fair seems to be held on the roadways between the keep and Old Ford Road and Old Ford Road to the East Gate.

4. The Fair Gets Foul
A.
A shout from the middle of the busy fair spreads into an expanding ripple of cries and screams, accompanied by loud crashes that sound like carts and booths being overturned. These ripples of sound immediately transform into a wave of people, as bystanders try to escape whatever is wreaking havoc behind them.
Some type of disturbance has occurred 40 feet away, you try hard to see it, but a throng of a crowd rushes away from the trouble. Getting there will take either strength, grace, or intimidation (or some combination of those) a strength check, escape artist check, or intimidate check to get through each 10 feet of the crowd……DC 17 Hint you need 4 successes
B.
Several carts are toppled over, booths have been smashed, food is wasted upon the ground, pottery is broken over the cobblestones. A couple of merchants are using brooms and other improvised weapons to attack four hairy ugly rat faced humanoids!
Mugshot This hunched creature looks like a human in studded leather, but fur covers its body. Its face is rat-like, and it has a long, naked tail.
Which brave hero will arrive first?
First to arrive gets a surprise attack!

DM Notes

C.
Three Dire Rats Attack
The Rat Pack All three swarm First to arrive
Attack #1 Rat bite [dice] 1d20+3[/dice] Damage [dice] 1d4[/dice]
Attack #2 Rat bite [dice] 1d20+3[/dice] Damage [dice] 1d4[/dice]
Attack #3 Rat bite [dice] 1d20+3[/dice] Damage [dice] 1d4[/dice]
Fortitude save DC 11 per bite!
Rats initiative “Them” [dice]1d20+4[/dice]
DM notes

Roll for “Us” Initiative!
D. Aftermath:
”Sorry about the hassle with the peace-bonding, accept these pins instead…”
The guard offers you some very plain lapel pins of three interlocking circles of pewter or iron, very dully colored and not at all flashy.
”Means proven, trusted, friends, the guards will recognize it.”
+2 to diplomacy checks town guards, officials, merchants and churches

5. The Big picture
Gather information
Check 10-14

Check 15-19

Check 20-24

Check result 25 +

6. What’s Next?
Depending upon information gathered the PC’s could head to a variety of places
Silverhill, East gate Go to 7
chatter Street Market Go to 8
South Spur Go to 9
Bell tower Go to 12
West Hill Go to 13

7. Stalked

Perception checks please ; )
DC 21

DC 26

Two were-rats in human form are stalking the characters hoping to catch and kill them.
The two humans shift into hybrid rat form in front of your eyes, they smile wickedly and advance.
Initiative [dice]1d20+9 [/dice] Beat that!
DM Notes

8. To Market
A.
It does not take long to figure out that the markets in Eastgate and Chatterstreet have born the brunt of recent illegal activity including extortion and burglary…..
You decide to ask around Make the rolls Most of the merchants seem only interested in selling you products (indifferent)
Friendly DC 15 (insert rumor from #5 above)
Helpful DC 30 ”Thugs been terrorizing honest folks for some time…you need to speak to Shoomma at her Smithy.”
B.
You find the business and under a simple sign that reads “Smithy” you are introduced to
Shoomma an elderly dwarven female, her face and arms are leathery from the heat of the forge, her eyes are sunk deep and surrounded by wrinkles.
”What can I do you for, in the market for the best weapons in town?”
C.
What Shoomma Knows:
”I have been thinking since those wererats showed up that the belltower is reported to be infested, I didn’t think much about it till the wererats showed their hand in things.”
”I used to know the man who kept the tower a man named Revven, his son is the keeper now Turvin be his name, I knew him as a babe, but no longer, the time goes by.”

”Captain Merdick Forren; a fine captain disappeared the day before the fair even started, he was patrolling the ChatterStreet Market, I saw him a few hours before he went missing, he was asking around about extortion.”

”I am the head of the merchant’s guild and have several reports of crime in the past few months, thefts some of it, and thugs coming around and offering to sell protection, from theft and vandalism. Some paid and some refused, them that refused suffered some loses.”
”I smell the wererats behind all this.”

The Town Guard
Ever since the wererats’ attack, an increased number of city guards are now combing the length of
Eastgate Road. They are there speaking to people and searching buildings and businesses………
Guard: ”I ain’t at liberty tah speak bout nothing, yer gonna has tah talk tah tha lieutenant.”

Lieutenant Shella ,a strong, stocky woman with a square face, a hooked nose, and a big bastard sword.
”Can’t you see I am busy here?’ Diplomacy check and role-playing…

Initial Reaction: Unfriendly, party gains +5 bonus to checks because of their previous accomplishments
Indifferent (DC 15): Nothing.
Friendly (DC 25): Information . . .
”Captain Merdick Forren; my superior disappeared the day before the fair even started, he was patrolling the ChatterStreet Market, I saw him that morning he was looking into some reports of extortion.”
”What we know thus far; these wererats apparently gathered in human form and all transformed into their “rat-man” forms at the same time, while the dire rats scurried out from their hiding places. There are no reliable descriptions of the wererats in human form, since no one paid any attention to them until they started changing shape.”
”This might be related to the grisly deaths in Southspur.”
”Another piece of that puzzle is a recent series of disappearances in Eastgate. Individuals,
mostly wealthy merchants from out of town, have vanished at the rate of about one per week for the
last month or so.”
”Like I said I am busy!”

9. Grimlock raid
Though the fair does not extend into this neighborhood, at least one group of entertainers has decided to set up a stage in Southspur, hoping to find an attentive audience. Prancing about on the back of a wagon, a trio of actors are engaged in a lame farce, though the object of their lampooning is not immediately obvious. Passersby slow their pace for a moment, watching, then shake their heads and move on.
Actors
”Men hast but two emotions: Hungry an Horny. If seen without an erection, make him a sandwich.”

Suddenly the back curtain of the stage is torn open to reveal a massive grey-skinned humanoid with wild black hair and no discernable eyes. It lifts an axe high overhead, apparently savoring the screams of the actors, while more of these strange creatures spill onto the stage and the surrounding street.
Mugshot
Knowledge (nature)
DC 6

DC 11

DC 16

DC 21
The wagon stage is 15 feet long, 10 feet wide and 4 feet off the ground.
Stage: 3 actors, 2 grimlocks
Street: 7 commoners, 3 grimlocks
Initiative [dice] 1d20+ [/dice] Beat that!

DM Notes

Tracking …..DC 19

Go to 11…….

10. Southspur
Investigating the murders…..
All the deaths occurred within 100 yards of where the actors were attacked.

No connection between the victims, beggars, business owners, male, female, armed and unarmed, young and old…..Individuals in the streets and entire families in their homes.

Plenty of places could hide a band of monsters, abandoned houses, deserted businesses, that sort of thing.

11. Grimlock Warehouse

Warehouse Layout
Under the open window, a raised platform, 15 feet-square, stands about 7 feet off the floor in the corner of this vacant warehouse. The stench of rot and decay fills the place, while dust and scraps of wood litter the floor below.
A set of stairs leads down to the main floor of the warehouse.

At the base of the stairs, you are suddenly enclosed in pitch darkness!
Initiative [dice]1d20+7[/dice] Beat that!
Darkvision

Darkvision + perception DC 16

Non-darkvision

DM notes

2 grimlocks (#9 above)
Loot: +1 battleaxe, masterwork studded leather armor, ring of protection +2
Under the stairs you find a locked chest
DC 25 to unlock

Loot: 200 gold, a black pearl, a ring of force shield, 4 scrolls, Scroll 1 Summon monster 1 & enlarge
Scroll 2 shield & tongues; Scroll 3 hold person & summon nature’s ally II ;Scroll 4 Summon Monster II & Mount [/spoiler]

12. The Bell Tower

The bell tower that stands in the middle of town is Brindinford’s architectural pride and joy. The tower rises 125 feet high and 30 feet square, a perfect combination of durable craftsmanship and elegant beauty. The great bells ring every three hours during the day. A stone staircase winds up the building on the outside.

The sturdy outside door is locked!

12.a. Antechamber
The door opens into an antechamber, with steep, narrow stairs leading up to the right and another heavy door straight ahead. Though the ceiling rises high above and another window pierces the wall above the door, all light is swallowed up in the dark granite walls and floor.

Perception check DC……stealth [dice]1d20+12[/dice]

See #7 above for stats

12.b. The tower keeper
An oil lamp flickering in the far right corner offers this room’s only illumination. It rests on a low bookcase, beside a comfortable looking, if weathered, armchair. In the far left corner is a bed, carefully made, and a small nightstand. From a 5-foot-square hole in the center of the ceiling, four heavy ropes dangle, coiling on the floor.

Upon the armchair sets an elderly man who appears to be staring blankly into the fire, he does not respond to your presence.

Stuff he says to them…….
”Are you daft? I have not seen ner heard any such tomfoolery.”
”Would you like some tea before you leave, I won’t have it said Turvin is no longer hospitable.”

”I guess you young whipper-snappers should be on yer way, I’m takin my old bones tah bed.”

”Iffen yah need some excitement thar be a Halfling camp floatin on tha river jus out o town.”

12.c. Nests
This small room is covered in a thick layer of debris and smells strongly of rodent waste and animal fur.
Three wererats snarl at you!
…….see 4 above for stats

Searching for loot?

12.d. Stairway Trap—

12.e. Nests Again
The stench of rotting meat suffuses the air, rising from much chewed carcasses of several cave rats, smaller vermin, and some suspiciously humanoid-looking body parts, all this lies upon the floor of filth, old bones, hair, and fur that combine to make a particularly large and vile nest.

12.f. Ropes and Pulleys
This large room is criss-crossed with ropes and enormous pulleys, the machinery that allows a single person to ring the enormous bells above with a mere pull on a rope. The agitated squeaking of a rat echoes high above you.

Four ropes descend from the ceiling into the room, one attached to each of the bells at the top of the tower. Before coming down here, each rope goes through a pulley in the roof of the tower. The ropes then snake from floor to ceiling, passing through a number of pulleys to distribute the weight of the enormous bells around the structure of the building. Four sturdy wooden beams, 1 foot wide cross the room 20 feet above the ground suspending the largest pulleys.

In the beams and rafters 20 feet over-head three wererats move quickly around, climbing ropes, walking along the beams and taking cover in and among the equipment.

Rats in the bellfree

All ranged attacks against these werrats, 20% miss chance due to movement, concealment and confusion

Initative [dice]1d20+ [/dice] Beat that!

Wererats shoot at you
Arrow # 1 @ [dice]1d20+ [/dice] Damage [dice]1d8+1 [/dice]
Arrow #2 @ [dice]1d20+ [/dice] Damage [dice]1d8+1 [/dice]
Arrow #3 @ [dice]1d20+ [/dice] Damage [dice]1d8+1 [/dice]

12.g. The Bells
The stairs end abruptly, and a gust of wind blasts through this topmost level of the tower. Open archways afford a splendid view of the town below, as well as the carved grotesques perched around the top of the tower. Overhead, four enormous bells hang in the peaked spire, each suspended in its own archway. Eight archways are open to the air with an unsightly gargoyle perched between each archway.

Perception checks please
DC 27

Gargoyles

DM Notes

13. Wystes on the Hill
For an instant the very fabric of space seems to warp---distances stretch to infinity of close to nothing, straight lines warp and weave, and vertigo assaults your senses. In the eye of this insane storm, space opens up, and a pool of thick blue slime oozes out onto the street. As your vertigo subsides, a huge wormlike creature rises up from the pool. Its translucent, purplish skin reveals strands of pulsing organs beneath it, and a ring of hooked tentacle like limbs surrounds a gaping lamprey like mouth.
Huge Wormlike creature
Initiative [dice]1d20+1[/dice] Beat that![/dice]
Impossibly fast this creature reaches out and strikes like a snake; the halo of tentacles around it’s head attempting to strike any available target!
@
Tentacle 1 [dice]1d20+5[/dice] Damage [dice] 1d4+6[/dice]
Tentacle 2 [dice]1d20+5[/dice] Damage [dice] 1d4+6[/dice]
Tentacle 3 [dice]1d20+5[/dice] Damage [dice] 1d4+6[/dice]
Tentacle 4 [dice]1d20+5[/dice] Damage [dice] 1d4+6[/dice]
Tentacle 5 [dice]1d20+5[/dice] Damage [dice] 1d4+6[/dice]
Tentacle 6 [dice]1d20+5[/dice] Damage [dice] 1d4+6[/dice]
Tentacle 7 [dice]1d20+5[/dice] Damage [dice] 1d4+6[/dice]
And attempts to grab you up, CMB 17 (+2 bonus for each tentacle that hit)

DM notes

Spoiler:

N AC 18 / Hp 50, speed 10, swim 50 fort +6, reflex +2, will +4 if grappled bite attack.
Bite [dice]1d20+9[dice] Damage [dice] 1d6+9[dice] If miss drops character

Initiative [dice]1d20+1[/dice] [b]Beat that![/dice]

Please post actions and initiatives

14. A Cry in the Mist
A.
Ahead, a 20 foot square building with a door opening to the street, a shrine decorated with the iconography of Heironous looms out of a bank of thick mist. A woman’s voice cries out from behind the shrine. The words are indistinct, but the tone carries a sense of urgency.
Shrine
As you watch an armored woman comes out of the front door looking vigorously around with her sword drawn, just as quickly the armored woman crumbles to the ground, the armor and sword clattering to the cobblestones.
The mist engulfs you and limits your vision to 5 feet, the woman went down ahead of you about 40 feet, though you can no longer see her.
B.

C.
Babbling of sorcerers…..
[b]”She must be out of the way for the gate to be open.”
”When the gate swings wide, our world will fall into the void.”
”The blessed will lead us in singing the praise of the Ones beyond, even as our bodies are consumed and our minds lost to madness.”
”The blessed hears the voice of the Speaker in Dreams.”
”When the bells toll, they will ring the end of time.”

The NPC Torea…
”I am Torea, paladin squire of Alein, she is my mentor and the care-taker of this shrine. We heard a cry from out back. She bid me remain within and ventured out. I heard some noise and came out as well and then I awoke to find you here.”
”I recognize that one he works at a bookshop in town called the reality wrinkle.”

15. The reality Wrinkle
Knowledge local DC 15

DC 20
The Reality Wrinkle stands in a row of similar-looking shops with apartments on the upper stories, built side-by-side. The first story is built of the dark stone common in West Hill, while the upper two stories are wood. The bookshop occupies the main floor. A short series of steps lead up to the heavy wood front door, which is currently closed for the evening. Iron bars blockade the windows.
Reality Wrinkle
The heavy door and average lock…..Break in / disable device DC 25

15.a. Storefront
Something is not right in this place. The angles formed by walls, bookshelves, floors, and ceilings seem wrong, as if space itself were warped here. You are assaulted by strange odors and sudden vertigo. Scrolls and tomes, some bound in materials you do not recognize, fill shelves that line every wall. A small table stands in one corner with two chairs pulled up to it. A counter juts from the opposite wall. Behind the counter, a brocaded curtain hangs in a doorway, its design depicting an alien landscape filled with tentacle creatures of unimaginable monstrosity.
The vertigo is taking over your senses of sight sound and even taste, Fortitude saves DC 15
Fail save

15.b. Back Room
More bookshelves fill this back room. The disorientation you experienced in the front room is more intense here. A door leads out the back of the building, and two more doors flank a staircase heading upstairs. A faint, lunatic humming emanates from the area near the staircase.
15.c. Basement
The stairway descends into what looks like a meeting room, with a long table surrounded by five chairs. A door is on the wall to the left. The vertigo attacks again…..
The vertigo is taking over your senses of sight sound and even taste, Fortitude saves DC 15
Fail save

15.d. Arcanium
What was before a vague sense of wrongness has grown into a grotesque affront to your sense of reality. This room defies the boundaries of space as you understand them. Distance seems meaningless, angles that should not exist clearly do, and the room itself seems to ebb and flow in time to an alien heartbeat. Garish brocades hang on the wall, and two figures in dark hooded robes stand in silence. An incoherent jabbering erupts from a pile on the floor, a living heaps of mouths and flesh and eyes—a bedlam of howling, hooting, and atonal singing. Curled into a ball on the floor at one end of the room—it is impossible to tell how far away—is a woman in red gowns, clutching her ears and covering her face with her arms.
Creature
The creature emits a horrible cacophony of maddening sound.
DC 13 Will save or be confused for 1 round (can not roll for initiative)
Figures initiative [dice]1d20+6[/dice] Beat that…unless you failed your save…

The woman upon the floor appears to be a knight of some sort…she is not coherent and is unable to speak….

Figures info….
Second Circle Cabalists
One sends Magic missles!
@ [dice]1d4+1[/dice]
@ [dice]1d4+1[/dice]

A jet of flames shoots out of the others hands!
Burning hand [dice]3d4[/dice] Reflex save DC 16 for half!

Once outside ”I am Alein, Champion of the Temple. I was captured by these scoundrels and brought here for some purpose I know not.”

15 e. The stairs leading up to and the entire top floor is shrouded in a dense fog of some sort.
15 h.

16. Closure
A messenger boy, a brown headed lad of about 10 years old brings you a message……
In gratitude for the great service you have rendered to our community, the citizens of Brindinford invite you to a feast in your honor, to be held at the Stony Gaze Tavern in Eastgate on the evening of the morrow. To you we owe a debt that cannot be repaid, but we wish to express our gratitude with splendid food and entertainment.
With heartfelt thanks, Shoomma the Smith, for the merchants of Chatterstreet Market and the citizens of Brindinford.

The relief upon the citizens of Brindinford is palpatable the fear is replaced with sheer joy now that the evil has been bested and a band of fine heroes was in town to save everyone.
The Stony Gaze Tavern features a stone relief sculpture of a medusa’s head glowering above the doorway. Sounds of merriment come from within.
A barbaric looking man stands at the doorway turning away those who were not invited or who have already had too much to drink.
Perception DC 15

Inside the banquet is prepared, a whole pig is upon a spit over the fire, Shooma and some others you recognize are already seated at tables..

Roleplay event and please level all characters to 6th level!

Events and encounters part 1…..
17. Assassins
A.
As the celebration ends you step out of the Stony Gaze Tavern and into the chilly night air.
A clear, loud low voice calls from an alley off the main road, ”Hey Heroes!”
Standing 15 feet away and across the road at the corner of the building is female Ogre, 10 feet tall, with emerald green skin, deep blue hair, and small ivory horns.
mugshot

You are blasted with a cone of cold, as the creature turns and flees rapidly rounding the corner out of sight.
DC 18 reflex save for half of the cold damage [dice]8d6[/dice]

Map
She is the red figure on the map and you are represented by the three pathfinder iconics
I need reflex saves, initiative rolls, perception checks and first round actions!

A bum seated near the exit is frozen solidly in place!

B. The two hidden assassins to the Left of the door (coming out of Stony Gaze Tavern)
Versus your previous perception checks…..
Stealth check 1 [dice]1d20+12 [/dice] Stealth check 2 [dice]1d20+14 [/dice]
The twang of longbows from behind you is followed by two arrows
Arrow 1 @ [dice]1d20+8[/dice] Damage [dice]1d8+1[/dice] and Sneak attack [dice]2d6[/dice]
Arrow 2 @ [dice]1d20+8[/dice] Damage [dice]1d8+1[/dice] and Sneak attack [dice]2d6[/dice]
You spin around in time to see two men.
Assassins
Initiative [dice]1d20+8[/dice] beat that!

Melee
Rapier @ [dice]1d20+7[/dice] Damage [dice]1d6+2[/dice] and Sneak attack [dice]2d6[/dice]
Rapier @ [dice]1d20+7[/dice] Damage [dice]1d6+2[/dice] and Sneak attack [dice]2d6[/dice]
DM notes

C. At the end of this alleyway a robed figure stands in the area close to you a swirling mist forms into a hellish deformed creature…. A roiling wave of flesh gushes forward. Amid the fatty surge wriggle half-formed limbs and a dripping tumorous face
Mugshot
DM notes

D. This alley opens up on both ends, as you rush down it the far end is suddenly blocked by a large five foot sphere of fire. The near end then also has a ball of flame!

Flaming sphere

DM Notes

E.
As you round the corner a man with a crude spiked club and a pig walks towards you in a weaving manner.

Mugshot
He reeks of alcohol and walks towards you!
Actions

”You sure got a pretty mouth.”
”Squeal like a pig!”
”You hear banjos?”

18. The Speaker in Dreams
Bizarre dreams trouble your sleep tonight, as images of your would-be assassins mingle with words that seem to come from an alien world beyond space and time. The hissing syllabyles, foreign to you, seem to twist and writhe together like snakes within your mind, making their sinister intent clear through you can discern no meaning. After what seems like an eternity of this, words suddenly ring out clearly over the hissing, as if howled by a madman: ”The bells toll! The gate swings wide!” Then you sink into a deeper slumber.
19. The Trumpets Sound
Early the next morning at the first bells the herald’s trumpets sound throughout the town. The bar-keeper lets you know…”At the second bell the baron will make a speech, options are to either go and hear it first hand or wait fer tha criers to repeat things through town.”
Which is it?
20. In the Crowd
A crowd forms outside the baron’s keep around the northeast tower. Less than half of the town’s nearly five thousand citizens are here, but the crowd looks enormous—and agitated. The morning sky seems agitated as well, with heavy black clouds blocking the sunlight.
The noisy crowd begins to hush as the herald’s trumpets sound again, and the figure that must be the baron appears on a high balcony near the top of the tower. He looks to be over 6 feet tall, dressed in a white tunic and purple cloak and sporting a close trimmed black beard. He raises his hands, and silence spreads over the crowd….
Another tall figure lurks in the shadows behind the baron. His features are shrouded in a hooded cloak…
Perception DC 23….

”Good people of Brindinford, I address you today with a heavy heart, standing amid the chaos that has befallen our town. Lawlessness and disorder have reigned since this street fair began, and even the efforts of a heroic band of adventurers have not put an end to the madness. While we celebrated these heroes and feasted in their honor, assassins plotted to end their lives.”
”The guards of our fair city have been decimated. The streets are not safe to walk at night. Therfore I am forced to call upon a new force of law, one that will restore order in Brindinford. Let it be recorded that I, Baron Euphemes the Second, have decreed this day these new edicts.”
”The street fair is over. All booths must be removed from Eastgate Way before sundown tonight. Any booths, carts, or wagons found on Eastgate Way at sundown will be destroyed.”
”The gates of the city are closed. No one shall enter or leave Brindinford until futher notice.”
”The carrying of weapons in the city is prohibited. Anyone seen in possession of a weapon will be arrested.”
”The temple of pelor, whose god has not seen fit to defend our city, is closed, and its priests are declared outlaws. A warrant is hereby issued for the arrest of high Priest Forgrim and sun’s Champion Marith, as well as all acolytes who have served in the temple.”
”In order to maintain this new order in our fair city, I summon to duty all able-bodied citizens who have enrolled in the militia. They are to report to the barracks immediately.”
”Let the forces of lawlessness know that we will brook no disobedience of our law. Defiance will be punished by death, and justice will be executed without delay.”
Sense motive DC 15 [/spoiler] The baron’s speech went without pause and was devoid of all emotion[/spoiler]

As the final word is said a figure appears on the roof of the tower. It is humanoid, 9 feet tall, but gaunt to the point of being skeletal, a tail like you have seen on scorpions lashes around behind it, stinging the empty air. Mug shot
The baron slowly turns and disappears into the tower.

21. Criers
About half an hour after the herald’s trumpets announced the baron’s address, the horns sound again—this time, it appears, announcing the arrival of criers to repeat the baron’s address throughout the town…..

These are no ordinary criers! While the man carrying the trumpet, now unfolding a scroll to read, seems normal enough, the creatures that flank him are not Brindinford citizens. They resemble snarling, canine beast pads forward on all fours, its slender front limbs looking more like hands than a wolf's paws. Their eyes glow with unearthly excitement as the crier reads the baron’s words.
Mugshot

22. Martial Law
After the Baron’s proclamation and the town criers have repeated the message a thunderous crash is heard.
The dome of the Temple collapses and a gout of flame streaks skyward.
The fire continues to burn into the night glowing in the overcast sky, visible anywhere in town.
Soon enough reports of hellish creatures coming forth from those same flames and stalking the town are repeated in quiet whispers.

23. On Their Own
Gather information…..
”Sure is a surprise tha Baron doing all this, very unlike him to be so heavy handed.”

”He was never just plain cruel and mean-spirited before.”
”He has always ruled wisely, benevolently and with authority.”

Search for help…
Town guard-
You manage to track down the guard barracks at the corner of the wall that surrounds the Baron’s keep. It is a low stone building that juts out from the watch tower at the southeast corner of the Keep.
A couple of human guards and two barghests watch the entrance.
Watch is all they do as you pass into the building and find Lieutenant Shella, in her office at the barracks the strong, stocky woman with a square face, a hooked nose, and her big bastard sword lain across her desk, unsheathed with a whetstone nearby.
Perception DC 17

Directly in front of her is a piece of paper and she appears to be scribbling furiously.
”Can’t you see I am busy here?’ Diplomacy check and role-playing…
”Updating my report.”

”Really it is best you not interfere.”
”I recommend you stay indoors and obey the proclamation to the best of your ability/”
”Let me clarify it for you…the law is the law, strange as it may be to the likes of you, and the law is going to be respected.”

Thieves’ guild-
Rogues/Miscreants/ scoundrels only
Make a Gather Information skill check (DC 25)

Gold Tabard Merchant Company
This warehouse attached office and upstairs living quarters seems all the other busy businesses of Eastgate’s mercantile world. Perhaps your information was incorrect and the Gold Tabard Merchant Company is just a business like any other.

Thos
Initial Reaction: Friendly
Friendly: Information (the same as Gell or Nankiy in the Stony Gaze Tavern—see “The Medusa,” below).
Helpful:
”Look we were gonna look into this ourselves, we are discussing doing one of these things quietly tonight; scouting the Temple, scouting the Baron’s Keep, or Investigating Eastgate merchant recruitment.”
Other possibility…..getting them out of Brindinford through a tunnel!

Beyond the walls-
Brindinford is surrounded by a fortified stone wall 5 feet thick and 25 feet high (Climb
DC 30). The walls are crenellated, and there is just barely room (3 feet wide) for guards to walk along the
top of the wall.
Ten “watch” towers interrupt the wall at irregular intervals. These are normally not staffed, as the city guard cannot afford to keep that many guards in stationary posts. The towers are 35 feet high and 50 feet in diameter. They have three stories, with arrow slits on the outer side of the upper two, and crenellations at the top. Simple ladders connect the three stories and the roof. Heavy wooden doors, reinforced with iron and bearing good quality locks, block entry into the towers.
The captain of the guard keeps the keys secured away in the guard barracks.

A pack of hellhounds (over or under the wall) OR use encounter from web-enhancement….
Once you pass the wall and the town is behind you. A growling and barking noise greets you. A pack of hellhounds has been patrolling the area outside and they have caught your scent on the wind.
Mugshot
Actions please……

Halfling Camp-
A semi-permanent Halfling encampment floats on the river, a collection of barges, and rafts where the river-folk as some call them make their homes.
Knowledge local DC 15

DC 20
Diplomacy : Unfriendly, unless Halfling/gnome PC; then friendly
Helpful (
”Sure we be tradesman an unnerstand a good trade, we ken help yah but we have a fish problem tha needs a hand first, yah scratch mah back an I’ll scratch yers.”

Mission kill the big-ass dangerous fish! It is Ok wand of air bubble.
Long-necked and long-tailed, this large, predatory reptile glides through the water on four powerful flippers.
Mugshot
Knowledge (Nature) DC 17

DC 22
DM Notes
The help = Send to holy Grove…
Directly across the river from Brindinford a druidic holy site and druidic circle maintains a place there, why they are there is unknown. As you approach the area you see a series of stones arranged in a circle, within the circle two elderly humans, a man and woman in simple robes speak in front of an assortment of younger initiates.
”Welcome brothers!” calls out the two in unison as you approach.

”They have opened a portal to another plane of existence in Brindinford, we believe if a cleric of good were to channel energy from the positive plane tha portal would collapse upon itself….though the cleric would have to be very close to the portal.”
”Could we help.”

24. The Temple
The temple is a sprawling stone edifice made entirely of stone, the main area is a dome in the center and two wings of halls that are two stories tall. Two huge stone doors block entry into the temple.
24.a. Sanctuary
A huge column of crackling fire, 20 feet in diameter, rises from the floor, licking the gaping hole in the top of this enormous dome. A thin layer of ash covers everything, smeared on the the floor from the passage of many feet. Symbols and icons of Pelor are carved in the wall and etched in the floor, but they all seem scarred, blurred, of broken. In the center of the sanctuary, where the altar used to stand, a gaping pit now yawns, spewing an unholy fire toward the sky, mocking the sun. once a holy place, Pelor’s temple now reeks with the stench of evil.

24.b. Hall
This large bare room was used for small gatherings, a closet under the stairs holds cleaning supplies and a portable altar.

Two hellhounds bay loudly as you enter and move to attack!

24.c. Meeting Room

This small room holds a large circular table and six wooden chairs, the tabletop is now marred with deep gouges of knives and axes.

24.d. Kitchen

The kitchen is a disgusting mess, pots and pans litter the floor, food from the larder is scattered over the counters and walls, wooden utensils are broken.

A two foot tall red-skinned devil hops around looking for things to throw and destroy.

24.e. Vestry
This large walk-in closet is stocked with clerical robes, braziers, candles, incense, and holy water.

24.f. Office
This office contains a large oak desk, two wooden chairs, miscellaneous papers and scrolls. A storage locker contains scroll cases, paper, ink and quills.

24.g. Library
The walls of this small room are lined with shelves laden with tomes, scrolls, and other writings. A small table with two chairs occupies one corner of the room.
Day: Two men are rolling dice and sitting at the table.
Night: A lump on the floor is a sleeping man

24.h. High Priest’s Quarters
This roomy chamber contains a bed, a bureau, and a curtained area with a bathtub and a chamber pot in the area beyond. On the wall opposite the Bureau is a small altar. Opposite the door is a large window that is barred from the outside with Iron bars.

A humanoid wearing dark half-plate fitted to it’s unusual features comprising of large ram-like horns jutting from his head, strange slitted eyes, and the hind-quarters of a goat all the way down to cloven hooves for feet.

”It seems you have arrived, whatever shall I do?”
Knowledge planes DC 15

DM Notes

25. i. Sun’s Champion’s Quarters

This roomy chamber contains a bed, a bureau, and a curtained area with a bathtub and a chamber pot in the area beyond. On the wall opposite the Bureau is a small altar.
Perception DC 16

26. Final Confrontation
To the keep to confront the Baron
As you plot to confront the baron you note, the Baron’s keep has walls equal to those around the city, with gates that are guarded. Once inside you have to find the Baron’s manor and then the Baron himself.
The gate into the Baron’s Keep stands open and unguarded. Beyond the gate, the luxurious estates of the city’s wealthiest residents spread out before you, the silver openwork that adorns their low garden walls brightly polished and gleaming in the light. An elderly male beggar, draped in tatters and rags, clutching a wooden bowl looks pleadingly up at you from the shadows of the wall as you pass.
No good deed goes unpunished!
As you meet the beggars gaze, the tattered hood looks like the bodies of serpents moving on their own accord, the beggar’s face is reptilian and you realize the danger too late.
Fortitude save DC 16 Fail

Intercepted – either on the grounds or in the house
A clear, loud low voice calls from an alley off the main road, ”Still alive!”
Standing in front of you is the same female Ogre, 10 feet tall, with emerald green skin, deep blue hair, and small ivory horns, that tried to kill you once already!
mugshot
DM Notes

Loot:

Battle engaged –
Baron Euphemes is a striking man, standing six foot 6 inches tall. He has distinct noble features, a regal bearing, and an excellent physique. He wears an ornate breastplate, greaves, and armored kilt, carries a fine steel shield bearing an eagle upon the surface, and a longsword. He is wearing a cloak of rick purple trimmed in sable fur.
The hooded figure that was reported with the Baron during his speech lurks in the background fully hidden with a voluminous hooded cloak of black velvet, embroidered with silver symbols and strange runes, a silver amulet with red bloodstones drapes around the neck of this mysterious figure.
The Baron draws his longsword….
”Assassins! You dare attack me in mine own keep!”
The Baron takes a swing!
@
Longsword [dice]1d20+6[/dice] Damage [dice]1d8+3[/dice]
The cloaked figure rises high into the air. 40 feet
A gurgling other-worldly laughter comes from the cloaked figure as the head whips back you see the humanoid for the first time.
mugshot

The creatures tentacles swirl weirdly for a moment as it attacks with a powerful mental blast of energy!
Random attack [dice] 1d4 [/dice]
1 @
2@
3@
4@
Alien thoughts assail your mind and senses, time seems to slow down….
Will save DC 17 or sunned for [dice]1d3+1[/dice] rounds

27. Conclusion
Grey clouds hang low over Brindinford, and a weak drizzle dampen the shaken town. As you leave the Baron’s keep a few towns people dog your footsteps – keeping their distance at first, but inching closer as the crowd of people grows.

Soon people shout your names, call you heroes and reach out to touch you in joyful celebration.
A minstrel begins singing, people dance in the streets, carts and wagons appear again, and the smell of cooking food fills the air.
A rotund man approaches and looks questioningly at you.
”So what happened in the keep?”
The crowd responds to the question with cheers.

Townsfolk
Baron Euphemes II: Male human Ari5; CR 4; Medium-size humanoid HD 5d8+10; hp 74; Init 0; Spd 20 ft.; AC 17 (5 breastplate, 2 large shield); Atk +6 melee (1d8+3, +1 longsword), +5 ranged (1d8/19-20, light crossbow); AL LG; SV Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +7; Str 14, Dex 11, Con 15, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 14. Height 6’ 6". Skills and Feats: Diplomacy +12, Intimidate +10, Knowledge (history) +4, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) +4, Ride +8, Sense Motive +9; Iron Will, Mounted Combat, Skill Focus (Diplomacy). Possessions: masterwork breastplate, masterwork large steel shield, +1 longsword, masterwork light crossbow, 20 masterwork bolts, potion of heroism.
Commoner: Human Com1; CR 1/3; Medium-size humanoid; HD 1d4; hp 2 (average); Init +0; spd 30 ft.; AC 10; Atk +0 melee (1d3 subdual, unarmed strike); AL LN; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, will +0; Str 11, Dex 11, Con 11, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10. Skills and Feats: Craft or Profession (any two) +8; Skill Focus (Craft or Profession [x2]).
Lieutenant Shella: Female human War7; CR 6; Medium-size humanoid; HD 7d8+7; hp 47; Init 0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 16 (4 chain shirt, 2 large steel shield); Atk +7 melee (1d101/19-20, bastard sword), +5 ranged (1d8/19-20, light crossbow); AL LN; SV Fort +4, Ref +1, will +1; Str 12, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 12. Height 5’ 10". Skills and Feats: Intimidate +11, Listen +8, Spot +8; Alertness, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword), Weapon Focus (bastard sword), Leadership.
Sergeant Lennot: Male human War5; CR 4; Medium-size humanoid; (5 ft., 7 in. tall); HD 5d8+10; hp 36; Init 1; Spd 30 ft.; AC 19 (6 Banded Mail, 2 Heavy Steel Shield, +1 Dex); Attack +8 melee, or +6 ranged; SV Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +2; AL LN; Str 17 (3), Dex 13 (1), Con 15 (2), Int 11 (0), Wis 12 (1), Cha 13 (+1).
 Skills and feats: Climb +9, Handle animal +4, Hide +1, Jump +6, Listen -2, Move silently +1, Ride +9, Speak language +1, Spot -2; Mounted combat, Track, Trample.
Militia Member: Human War1; CR 1/2; Medium-size humanoid; HD 1d8; hp 4 (average); Init 0; spd 30 ft.; AC 11 (1 padded); Atk +1 melee (1d8, longsword), +1 ranged (1d8/19-20, light crossbow); AL LN; SV Fort +2, Ref +0, will +0; Str 11, Dex 10, Con 11, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 10. Skills and Feats: Climb +2, Craft or Profession (any one) +4, Intimidate +2, Jump +2, Swim +2; Endurance, Skill Focus (Craft or Profession).
Town Guard: Human War1; CR 1/2; Medium-size humanoid; HD 1d8; hp 4 (average); Init 0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 14 (4 chain shirt); Atk +2 melee (1d10, halberd), +1 ranged (1d8/19-20, light crossbow); AL LN; SV Fort +2, Ref +0, will +0; Str 11, Dex 10, Con 11, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 10. Skills and Feats: Climb +2, Intimidate +2, Jump +2, Spot +3; Alertness, Weapon Focus (halberd).
Veteran Guard: Human War2; CR 1; Medium-size humanoid; HD 2d8; hp 9 (average); Init 0; spd 30 ft.; AC 14 (4 chain shirt); Atk +3 melee (1d10, halberd), +2 ranged (1d8/19-20, light crossbow); AL LN; SV Fort +3, Ref +0, will +0; Str 11, Dex 10, Con 11, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 10.
DElite Guard, human Ftr1: CR 1; Medium Humanoid; HD 1d10+2; hp 7 (average); Init +5 (+1 Dex,
+4 Improved Initiative); Spd 30 ft.; AC 17 (+1 Dex, +4 chain shirt, +2 large steel shield); Atk +4 melee
(1d8+2/19-20/x2, longsword), +2 ranged (1d8, light crossbow); AL LN; SV Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +0; Str 15, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 9.
Skills and Feats: Jump +2, Listen +4, Spot +4; Alertness, Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (longsword).
DSergeant Brox, male dwarf Ftr2: CR 2; Medium Humanoid; HD 2d10+6; hp 18; Init +1 (Dex); Spd 20 ft.; AC 17; Atk +6 melee (1d10+3/x3, dwarven waraxe), +3 ranged (1d8, light crossbow); SQ +2 to saves vs. poison, spells, and spell-like effects; AL LN; SV Fort +5, Ref +1, Will +1;
Str 17, Dex 12, Con 17, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 6.
Skills and Feats: Listen +4, Search +2, Spot +5; Alertness,
Exotic Weapon Proficiency (dwarven waraxe), Weapon Focus (dwarven waraxe).