Hi Granite,
first of all, welcome to the game. Now on to your question.
Unfortunately. I don't have the adventures here, but I'm pretty sure I can do most of it from memory. The best idea, however is to order the back issues from paizo.
b.t.w. upon reflection this is kind of elaborate. I don't know what the policy is concerning adventure synopsys. I tried to keep it to a bare minimum. Hope this is ok.
Flood Season
Flood season is the second installment of the adventure path. The adventure revolves arround a set of wands of water control. The city uses these to control the level of the central lake during the rainy season. Sarcem (st. Cuthbert's High Priest in Cauldron) has purchased a set of these wands and is on his way back to the city.
The adventure starts off when Jenya receives a sending from Sarcem. He's in a roadside inn called the Lucky Monkey and is mortally injured. The PC's hurry to his rescue but arrive too late. The inn has been assaulted by a gang called the Allybashers and their werebaboon leader. The only survivor is a druid and member of the striders of Fharlangh named Shensen (I believe).
The PC's return to Cauldron and learn the wands are in the posesion of group called the ebon traid. They're planning on ransoming the wands to the city once the rain begins. The PC's learn the location of the ebon triad's lair, a ruined underground city of the Copru. Within the Copru ruins, the PC's not only find the missing wands, but also a magical workshop used to create one of the soul cages.
Important Hooks/story arcs in this adventure:
* The PC's come into contact with the striders of Fharlangh and may make a few allies (Methias and Shensen)
* Jenya becomes high-priestess of st. Cuthbert
* The PC's may learn of the existence of the soul cages (although they will probably not understand its purpose).
* The adventure showcases the non-standard setting. (the volcano's crater, the sub-tropical jungle that surrounds Cauldron; the heavy rainstorms)
The Demonscar Legacy
The Demonscar legacy is the fourth instalment of the adventure path. The focus of this adventure is to find Cauldron's Paladin of st. Cuthbert, Alec Tercival.
The back story is that Alec, as a member of Cauldron's noblest families, has the right to challenge the lord-mayor or the captain of the guard (I don't recall which) to a duel in order to win his position. Another part of the back story is that due to ill fortune, the house Tercival is penniless. Alec is adventuring on the side, and using the spoils to buy back his ancestral home.
The adventure opens with a demonstration against the sharp increase in taxes, which quickly turns into a riot. In the riot a seargent of the guard (what was his name again?) is assaulted and almost killed. The PC's get to save him. In the confusion Vhalantru sends an assassin to kill one of the instigators, a merchant and member of the chisel (I'll get to that later), whom the pc's can also save.
The PC's travel to Redgorge to find Alec. They meet up with the Chisel, a group of merchants and artisans modelled (I believe) on the freemasons. From there, the PC's are sent deeper into the jungle and end up at a a ruined complex built by spellweavers. From the ruins, the pc's are telepored to a cave bordering the demonscar, where they find Alec. Alec turns out to have fallen from grace and is half insane. The PC's battle Nabatheron, the demon after whom the scar is named. Alec performs one last heroic deed by slaying the demon and the collapses. He delivers the prophecy at the beginning of the next adventure: test of the smoking eye.
Important Hooks/story arcs in this adventure:
* The city's alignment is slowly shifting from NG to CE. Some of the events in the adventure reflect this.
* The PC's are introduced to potential allies: the chisel
* The PC's first visit the city of Redgorge
* Alec's death is a (pale) relection/foreshadowing of Adimarchus' own fall from grace and (potential) redemption.
* Spellweavers are introduced as prior inhabitants of the region.
|
Also, welcome to the game.
I highly recommend getting the back issues. DUNGEON did a great job weaving the story, and I really consider all of the adventures crucial to the story as a whole. Each story introduces characters that come up later in the game. I'd see if you can back order them from Paizo. Chef's Salad did a good job of summing them up, so I'd say as long as you can keep the above info in the game, you should be able to make up your own adventures as you go. It might help to download the Flood Season update off of the website, as it can help flesh out some of the information.
I almost forgot an important ally the PC's meet in this adventure: Nidrama, a movaic deva and the protector of the region.
William is right, though. I you have the chance, order the back issues online from Paizo. They're numbers 98 (flood season) and 104 (the demonscar legacy).
Good luck!
Though all the adventures in Shackled City are "important", the only thing you'd really be missing from those two you do not have is Nidrama's involvement, and you can (if you so desire), just as easily work her in someplace else. She figures strongly into the final episode (where her stats appear, slightly modified to reflect her new status), but it shouldn't matter terribly, one way or another.
As far as i can tell, the only adventure you'd be hurting if you missed it is Test Of The Smoking Eye- The Smoking Eye is VITAL to several key locations later on, including the final battle itself.
... Just what the hell does Smoking Eye do, anyway? Or is it just a fluff template to justify reducing one of your player's eyes to a smouldering flame...?