I have devised the following sidetrek plot to serve as one of the PC's motivation for going to Sandpoint. The PC is a dwarf from Magnimar who is Volioker Briskalberd's nephew. Anyway, I have the back story, but I need some help in figuring out where it leads!
Here it is:
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Fritham was a young wizard that didn’t take to the adventuring life. Instead, he settled in Sandpoint and sold his services to the locals, casting minor spells, brewing potions, and selling the occasional everburning torch.
Six years ago, Fritham purchased a shop and adjoining home on Main Street that could better accommodate his expanding business. He was renovating the basement of the home for a laboratory when he unearthed an underground chamber behind the eastern wall. Fritham entered, but was immediately overcome by a sense of extreme evil that permeated from the chamber, and fled back to his basement.
Fritham was both frightened and captivated by the possibilities of what may lie behind his basement wall. He knew the passage must be sealed, but he also wanted to prepare himself to re-enter and explore the chamber at a later date. He decided to install a powerful door sealed both by magical and mechanical means. Two locals were commissioned by Fritham: Das Korvut the smithy to construct a powerful iron door, and the locksmith Volioker Briskalberd to craft an impassable lock. Fritham would finish the seal himself with an arcane lock.
The lucrative contract included a pact of secrecy for Korvut and Briskalberd. Even without the pact, though, neither would speak of the palpable evil they felt emanating from the site. The door was installed, sealed by a superior lock, a spell, and a wall of bricks. The three never spoke of it again.
Only a few months later, Fritham fell victim to Chopper’s blade. The buildings were sold by auction to a taxidermist named Odo Raver. Raver owned the property for over four years without ever detecting the door hidden behind the wall of bricks.
A few months ago Raver lost the property to Jubrayl Vhiski, a local Szcarni leader, due to an insurmountable gambling debt. Upon taking over the property, some of Vhiski’s men discovered the hidden door while outfitting the basement for their nefarious activities. The Szcarni were unable to bypass the lock, but recognized it as Briskalberd’s handiwork.
For the last month, a Szcarni brigand named Belzent has been assigned the duty of getting Briskalberd to cooperate in cracking his lock, using the customary Szcarni method of intimidation. But even if Briskalberd had not signed a pact, and even if he weren’t terrified of what lay behind the door, he still would not have the means to crack the lock, for Fritham had the only key, and the lock is too complex even for its creator to bypass.
Briskalberd’s nephew Tropus caught wind of his uncle’s troubles, and took the journey from Magnimar to help get Belzent off of Volioker’s back. With the help of Tropus’ adventuring companions, Belzent was arrested. Through intimidation tactics of their own, the party learned from Belzent about the sealed door in the taxidermist’s basement…
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So.......... I did all that, but don't know what's behind the stinkin' door!! I figured, "What better place to get ideas than this message board?"
Thanks for reading, and for any ideas you have to offer! :-)
By the way, the PCs won't be opening the door any time soon. They don't even have the knock spell yet, let alone the skill to pick the lock (oh by the way, in my campaign knock can bypass arcane lock and simple locks, but nothing more complex).
Making them wait for it will make it all the more exciting when they finally break through. Plus, the baddies inside are too nasty for 2nd level characters to handle! :-)
By the way, the PCs won't be opening the door any time soon. They don't even have the knock spell yet, let alone the skill to pick the lock (oh by the way, in my campaign knock can bypass arcane lock and simple locks, but nothing more complex).
Making them wait for it will make it all the more exciting when they finally break through. Plus, the baddies inside are too nasty for 2nd level characters to handle! :-)
All sorts of fun ideas:
-Ancient horrors from old Thassalonia (Azlanist's minions' magic?)
-Path to the lair of the Sandpoint Devil
-Ancient links to the people of Leng (PF#6)
-Eldritch Horrors like gibbering mouthers, or other dark creatures
And maybe some link to the old Runelord magic, something to help keep the players on track if they have lost the plot....
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Maybe Fritham was Chopper's first victim. There is something behind the door that Chopper wanted and when he showed up to claim it, Fritham refused and was subsequently killed. Maybe this was the catalyst that pushed Chopper completely off the deep end. Chopper returned every night trying to pry the door open, but every time he was unable to, and he went into a mad rage and added another victim to his list. Maybe the final piece to Chopper's altar in his house was hidden behind the door and he was trying to get to it so he could compleet his altar of the bird demon deity. All kinds of ways you can go with this. Who hid it there and why? What will it do if it is reunited with the altar? Just some random thoughts on a boring Monday.
Great stuff guys, thanks for the ideas! I'm mulling it all over, still not sure what I'm going to do. So many great angles..... ;-)
Depends on if you want to tie it in to other elements of AP. Besides being something Thassilonian - which is a great idea, mind you - you could perhaps tie to the other baddies/plots in the AP.
-Some item or being the Skinsaw Men are hoping to release, thus bringing them covertly to Sandpoint.
-Something to tied to one of the other Runelords, perhaps something Azlanist took from one of them?
-Perhaps related to why the Stone Giants attack the town; maybe it's something they need to further their own plans.
-Maybe a key or item that is linked to something buried at Ft. Rannick, and then combines to make a stronger item to keep the dam from collpasing. Or maybe it could be used to repair the dam, or alternatively battle the beast (who's name escapes me) that gets free and terrorizes Turtleback Ferry.
-Or maybe there's some sacred lore in there that Brodert Quint needs to help the players when thet travel to Xin Shalast.
Just some ideas I am throwing out if you wish to keep the story tied to the AP itself.