Forward:
The Following Module was written in advance of the Superstar contest (2010) in hopes that my Wondrous Magic Item was successful. Since it did not place in the top 32 then I no longer need to keep hidden the module written for the Superstar Paizo contest. I give it now to Paizo allowing them to change the names, places, and items within it to their own design and hope that anyone who wants to use this module for their own campaign world will do so. It was an honor writing for the contest and I look forward to beating my efforts this year. Best wishes to those still remaining in the competition.
Feedback is appreciated of course on the work.
To Honor a King
Introduction:
King Vidye had long searched the lands for an armor smith to forge him a suit of armor that would truly honor his status as king. With his daughter's wedding on the horizon he of course had to appear his best before his citizens. He had his scribes issue a decree to all within his lands and those abroad that anyone who could craft a suit of armor worthy of a king would be handsomely rewarded and praised above all else for their craftsmanship. Of course the king’s true challenge was the thousands of would be takers who brought ideas from the far reaches of his lands and beyond. Some suits were designed with elegant trances of silver or gold while some were even so bold as to make the armor completely made of the heavy stuff. One such artist, so he called himself, even fashioned a suit entirely of Platinum for the king!
“Preposterous, cantankerous, and ridiculous all of them! Are there no true craftsmen left in the world?” Yelled the king to his statesmen and his scribes. Then a young scribe came forward with his arms around the shoulders of two white haired dwarves which were well groomed and appeared very humble to the king. “My lord, these are the lands most astonishing of craftsmen; Master Hoggorin and his apprentice Master Palior. These fine dwarves live in Nimble my lord many leagues to the south and I believe they can craft you exactly what you are looking for.”
Both dwarves smiled and bowed before the king who appeared astonished and amazed by their grace.
“Well now, lets see what you got shall we?” said the king.
To Honor a King is an adventure set in the city of Veldarah which along the Velashu River some 100 miles north of Riddleport and about 40 miles south of the Red Mountains. Not far from the Red Mountains is the city of Nimble a dwarven society of lawful and good dwarves that pride themselves on craftsmanship and mining. The adventure is for 5-7 characters of 5-8th level. This adventure includes details on the town of Nimble where the Player Characters must determine why the king’s armor has not been returned to him as promised by the dwarves and includes details of the surrounding lands between Veldarah and Nimble.
Adventure background:
The dwarves from Nimble furnish King Vidye with their ideas about the armor. He is deeply impressed at how they incorporate his ideas into their own. Finally they unveil to him a design sketch that lifts his spirits. The armor appeared to be a white suit of fine plate mail with an arching Golden Dragon on the chest; it had a white chain mail piece that extended over the lower legs and a fine cloak to match it. They showed him the fine metal and the cloth for the cloak and he smiled deeply. “The rest of you can depart and leave us to our work, I have found my smiths!”
It was then that the King and these Dwarves from Nimble struck a deal over the suit of mail to be delivered from Nimble to the King in 6 months time. The King gave to them half the funds to make the armor and the dwarves made their way home. In the next 6 months the King of course grew more and more anxious about the armor and at the dawning of the 6th month he was thrilled with anticipation, yet to his dismay the armor had not arrived. The days in court began to drag on and the ceremony which he wanted the armor for was quickly approaching. It would be a great wedding between a young prince from the south and his daughter Vyda. He summoned the scribe who presented the dwarves to him and told him thus, “Scribe, I hold you most accountable if I do not get the armor we agreed upon with those dwarves of nimble. Honor your King and get me that armor and fast! My daughters’ wedding is approaching quickly and time is of the essence!” The scribe bowed and hurried from the room.
Even though a common man might buck at this the crafty scribe instead made his way around to each guide house requesting they summon their most worthy to perform an errand for the king. Within a few hours the party is gathered together in a greeting hall and informed that they are to ride north to the Red Mountains where they will find the city of Nimble. There to find Master Hoggorin or his apprentice Master Palior and either recover the completed armor or recover the money provided to the smiths on behalf of the king. Within the hour the equipped party is given light riding horses and a guide to lead them to the fabled city of Nimble.
Adventure outline-
Act 1 – The Arrival of Mystery
The city of Nimble is only a fair evening’s ride from Veldarah. The trail is simple enough to follow up the river and slightly into the mountainside where the party comes across the ivory and gold gates leading into the city of Nimble. During the night time these gates will be closed and no one will be able to enter the city. The party will be forced to camp outside these gates as they are locked for the night without posted guards. During the night time they will hear all sorts of odd noises coming from within but no one disturbs the party by coming into the gates or going out of the gates.
In the morning the gates will open and a sentry with perfectly white hair and beard will lead the party into the city. Now they will see that the city must have come under some kind of attack during the night time as it is totally in a state of shambles. Many of the dwarves they pass are hurt, dirty and tired from a long night and they are all doing their part to clean up and fix the damaged community. The party will also notice again that each of the dwarves of Nimble have white hair, blue eyes and are well groomed as people go. They generally tend to wear all white and cream colors and tend very well their nails and bodies. So it seems odd seeing these folks are dealing with such a mess.
Finally the party is brought before Master Hoggorin and his apprentice Master Palior. Hoggorin is inside his workshop doing what he can to clean up the damage around a suit of finely made plate mail. It is apparently almost finished, but has been damaged from the attack. Master Palior cleans the forge area and the front room from damage while Hoggorin talks with the party.
Hoggorin speaks: “Greetings gentle travelers; I fear you have wandered into the nightmare my people have been dealing with for so long now. Forgive our curious condition and relax as best you can.”
If asked about the armor:
“The armor is and has been almost finished now for months! However each night our city is attacked and the armor is damaged preventing me from being able to send it on to your dear King. I have requested help in defending the armor but in the morning the same thing happens, we awaken and the armor is damaged anew.”
If asked what is happening here:
“Well I will start from the beginning and tell you what I know. Each day we wake into our broken city and spend the morning repairing the damage and removing the words of hate from the walls. We clean and toil until the noon day sun and then we all go to the Mead Hall for prayer to our god. Then during our third hour of prayer we call on the brewer and then I don’t quite recall much past that time.”
If asked what they can do to help them:
“Only the Gods know what happens here at night but whatever you can do to stop the attacks on the king's armor will help. I will let you stay in my armory tonight and protect the suit.”
If asked how long this has been happening:
“Honestly I don’t know, for as long as I can recall even though it doesn’t feel like a terribly long time. Perhaps a year or so but one can never know.”
After a couple of questions Hoggorin will inform them he has to get back to work on the remaining damage but that they should make themselves comfortable in his shop and prepare for the coming night. He directs them to the back room where two cots are already set up for Hoggorin and Palior to sleep in.
Act 2 – The Noon Bell Tolls
At noon the noon day bell will chime and all the dwarves of Nimble will stop what they are doing and make their way to the central Mead Hall for prayers. The smiths will both walk out of the smithy and bid good will to the party and Hoggorin will say: “Keep well the armor lads, least this again be for not and keep yourselves well.” After that they too wander off into the great hall. After about 20 mins of prayer there is a knock on the great Mead Hall as a scrawny Dwarf with long black hair stops his cart and knocks on the Mead Hall doors. Unlike the white haired dwarves this black haired one is not well groomed, not well kept, and doesn’t seem to take care of his teeth, face or body like the others do. This is very apparent from the slight odor coming from his area even at this great distance. The Mead Hall doors open and the white haired dwarves all take the kegs into the room while the dark haired dwarf smiles. He turns and looks at the party and stops smiling. Quickly he gets back on the cart and rides off once the cart has been unloaded. He appears to be in a hurry at this point.
Party Decision- Following this dwarf?
Following the black haired dwarf will lead the party to the brewery where the dwarf appears to live. He is unloading his cart and then making his way inside the building. The front of the building once had a glass encasement which is now gone but allows the party to see clearly inside the front of the shop. The dwarf is carrying around a crossbow with him as he moves food and water into what appears to be a secure storeroom.
Confronting the dwarf- He is certainly an unfriendly sort of dwarf and doesn’t seem to have much patience for anything. Time appears to be of the essence to him. He will speak when spoken too: “Go away, leave this place you’re not welcomed anymore. Since the gates lock at noon for prayer you must seek shelter before the attacks.” He chuckles to himself after saying attacks allowing an almost sarcastic tone to the word.
Asking him who will be attacking- “You fools the other dwarves will soon arrive and sack this place as they do every night. This serves these do-gooders some good with the way they pride themselves on their loftiness, now get out of here!”
Asking him where the attacks come form- “They pour into the city from its center <he sarcastically tries to hold in a laugh> I have not been able to figure it out yet, but I’ll get back to you once I do. Now be off with you!”
Asking him who he is- “I am Bardotty son of Baldoradar the prior Brewer.”
Asked what’s in the barrels- “That is sacramental mead for praising the gods, it is not meant for the likes of outsiders, now be off!”
He will answer no further questions and continue his work until he is done and then he will tightly close himself up in his little storage room.
Investigating the City:
The city is fairly large and holds over 4 to 5 hundred dwarves making the Mead Hall the largest of the buildings. Everything is built into the mountainside so the buildings as such are very strong. Glass blowers have managed to create some very nice works of art unfortunately most of their works are destroyed, their remains still left in pieces where they once stood. The dwarves have tunneled from above enough to create a shaft from the surface and placed glass in several places to allow for natural light to pour into the community from above. Water drains prevent these light windows from filling up with pocket water from above and funnel the water down dwarven made waterfalls that feed into fountains around the main Mead Hall. It is easy to see that these dwarves all trust each other like brothers and sisters as nothing is locked, money is laying about some places, doors are wide open, and food is apparently free for the taking. Also there is no one left other than the Brewer that is not in the locked Mead Hall.
Nightfall:
As the last of the light begins to fade from the skylights there is a strange sound of rushing moving through the rocks and then a whishing sound comes from the walls of the place. In no time natural gas powered lanterns begin to light up the inner city with light. Not much longer after that the sounds of singing and rowdy noises begin to come from the Mead Hall. It doesn’t take much longer before the sounds of fighting and yelling spread through the air. It appears to go on like this for hours until some time around midnight. (Any attempts to knock on the door or open it will result in yelling from the other side but the doors will not open)
Midnight:
The doors to the Mead Hall open and from within pour hundreds of dwarves into the city. These are aggressive black haired dwarves they each appear to have been in some form of combat in recent times. None of the white haired dwarves even appear left in the Mead Hall. Either the black haired ones defeated them all or they found an alternative way out. These new dwarves are violent, aggressive and very angry. They immediately attack the buildings with anything they can pick up. They attack the walls, the windows, the doors and the player characters if they are seen.
The Challenge of warding them off:
During the night several waves will attack the location of the armor giving the player characters several wave battles to contend with during the night. They will attack in waves of 5 or 6 roughly 4 to 5 times during the night as the DM’s see’s fit, challenging the party to the brink but no more.
Typical Black Haired Dwarves Male/Female Fighter 4
CE Medium humanoid
Initiative +1; Senses Perception +0
Armor Class 16, touch 11, flat-footed 15 (+5 armor, +1 Dex)
Hit points 45 (4d10+20)
Fort +9, Ref +2, Will +1
Movement: Spd 20 ft
Melee battleaxe +11 to hit (1d8+1/x3 one hand) (1d8+3/x3 two hand)
During Combat: They will use Power Attack, holding the battleaxe two-handed, sacrificing 2 from their Base Attack in order to increase their damage by 6.
Morale: None of the Dwarves will show fear and all will fight to the death.
Attributes: Str 17, Dex 12, Con 19, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +4
Feats Armor Proficiency (Light), Armor Proficiency (Medium), Armor
Proficiency (Heavy), Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Improved Bull Rush,
Martial Weapon Proficiency (All), Specialize: Battle Axes,
Power Attack
Skills Acrobatics +1, Appraise +2, Bluff +2, Climb +5, Craft: Armor +8, Craft: Weapons +8, Diplomacy -1, Escape Artist +1, Handle Animal +3, Intimidate +9, Profession: Blacksmith +9, Ride +1, Stealth +1, Survival +4
Languages Common, Dwarf
SQ Armor Training 1, Bravery +1
Gear battleaxe, masterwork chain shirt, 12gp generally each
The end of the night:
Most of the black haired dwarves will have either died in combat with the party, each other or worn themselves out falling down where they are and entering a death like sleep. It will be a surreal sight to witness this entire community lying dead around the Mead Hall and in some of the rooms. An eerie silence will set.
Act 3- The Arrival of Truth:
As the first rays of dawn flutter into the city the once black haired dwarves will begin to change into the white haired dwarves. Their once scraggly features soften and become clean again. Then after some time they each begin to stir looking over the damage from the night before and then begin the arduous process of cleaning up the mess and fixing what was broken during the attack the night before. Even those that seemed to have been slain awaken renewed as if by magic. Those that had lost limbs or other body parts will seem to have not lost them while body parts scattered about vanish from where they once might have been. In no time the city again is busy restoring itself to its prior mornings luster.
Master Hoggorin and the apprentice master Palior return to their shop to see to the condition of the armor. If the armor is still in good shape because the party diligently protected it then they will be extremely grateful and will bless the party however if they have not solved the mystery of the “curse” then they will not allow the party to leave for fear the outside world would find out about the curse and Nimble would inherit a bad name in the southern kingdoms.
Confronting Bardotty the son of Baldoradar – If the party has assumed that the Mead has something to do with this and they encourage Hoggorin and Palior to come with them while they confront Bardotty they will find Bardotty very agitated by the investigation. “Get out of here I have work to do, I must create the mead for the daily ritual and have no time for inquisitive folk”. He will throw objects and act aggressive which is totally against how the other dwarves act.
If the party tries to taste test the mead- Bardotty will flip out on anyone opening the barrels to test it and will attack them. This will immediately encourage the other dwarves to stop him and the battle will be a short one before Bardotty is captured and subdued.
Bardotty Fighter 4
NE Medium humanoid
Initiative +1; Senses Perception +0
Armor Class 16, touch 11, flat-footed 15 (+5 armor, +1 Dex)
Hit points 38 (4d10+20)
Fort +9, Ref +2, Will +1
Movement: Spd 20 ft
Melee Poison Dagger +13 to hit (1d6/x2 one hand)
During Combat: He will charge and power attack if possibly, trading 2 points of attack for damage. He will attack whoever tries to taste the mead.
Morale: He has no fear of anything due to his insane desire to not get caught.
Attributes: Str 15, Dex 12, Con 19, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 7
Base Atk +4
Feats Armor Proficiency (Light), Armor Proficiency (Medium), Armor
Proficiency (Heavy), Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Improved Bull Rush,
Martial Weapon Proficiency (All), Specialize: Daggers, Power Attack
Skills Appraise +4, Bluff +8, Climb +5, Diplomacy -1, Poison making +8, Handle Animal +3, Intimidate +5, Profession: Brewing +9, Ride +1, Stealth +1, Survival +4
Languages Common, Dwarf
SQ Armor Training 1, Bravery +1
Gear Poisoned Dagger +2 (DC16 Fort save or suffer -4 to con for 2D20 rds and 1D10 damage for 1D4 rounds), masterwork chain shirt, 125gp
Once Bardotty gets his surprise attack on the party combat should begin. Note that the guards will arrive during round 2 and will bull rush Bardotty and capture him so the party and Bardotty will have only the surprise round and 1 additional round of full combat before their arrival.
How did he do it?
Once Bardotty is captured it will be easy to get him to admit to doctoring the mead. He spent years working on a potion that would force a direct alignment shift to the extreme nature of anyone that drank it unfortunately the potion had 2 terrible side effects.
1) It was not permanent and when it wore off the drinker was completely restored to their former self prior to drinking it, even if they were slain during the change.
2) He could not control the actions of those under the influence of the potion.
Bardotty believes that he had almost perfected his potion making it permanent when the party intervened to save the dwarves of Nimble.
Why did he do it?
Bardotty was always an outcast from the other dwarves being born with dark hair and not being as good looking as the other dwarves. He was pushed around and made fun of his whole life and his father was the worse one of them all. He used all the knowledge he learned of brewing to create something to kill his father and then later he thought to make the others kill themselves. He wanted all the dwarves to experience their inner demons first hand, hoping they would tare themselves apart (and the city) in the process.
Conclusion- The Honored King
Once Bardotty is captured and taken away the towns folk of Nimble will give three great cheers to their freedom from the curse in honor of the party. They will provide the party with flagons of Mead and the armor and send them on their way before noon. (The flagons of mead are not spiked with the Curse)
Once the party arrives in the city of Veldarah they will be escorted to the scribe who will bring them all before the king to present him with the armor. He king will be extremely happy with everyone and he will ask that the party reveal the details of their adventures in Nimble. He will then decree them heroes in the lands of Veldarah and bestow them with 5,000 gold coins each.
The King speaks: “Long will the bards speak of these daring men and long will they tell the tale of the dwarves of Nimble. Let no man forget them and their plight with their inner demons!”
With this the court room fills with cheers and all praise the young adventurers as Heroes!
The End