Secrets of Serenton
Setting
This campaign takes place starting in Serenton. Jesster is GM.
Intro
Five years after plagues ravaged the city of Serenton by the sea, killing most of its population and laying waste to its vast orchards and vineyards, the city thrives. But as is often the case, along with prosperity comes intrigue and struggles for power and wealth. This campaign will start a couple of months after the events of The Mines of Malis. The party will be constructed of individuals in Serenton at the outset of this adventure.
Character Guidelines
Characters need not be from Serenton, but must have a reasonable back-story.
Characters should have diverse but realistic skill sets. That is if you've been a baker's assistant your whole life, you're probably not an expert rider and swordsman, but you may have high manual dexterity, a good cooking skill, some herb lore, and perhaps be strong from lugging around bags of flour and making deliveries or such. In that example you may also be overweight for gorging on your own tasty sweet specialties.
I expect role-playing in this adventure, not just hack'n slash dice rolling. I will be awarding extra character points for playing your character and for good role-playing.
You are likely all young adventurers or perhaps elder citizens who've never risen to heroics previously. You are not likely complete novices. It is possible you are Serentonian Guards, mage apprentices, devout religious followers, wandering tradespeople or mercenaries. I would like interesting back stories perhaps to use to enhance the campaign. It is also altogether possible you have spent the entirety of your life in Serenton or any other city for that matter, coming into Serenton only recently. It's possible you are not an experienced adventurer, but then it would be unlikely that you have a 15 riding skill and a 18 crossbow skill, for example. Your points might be invested into trade skills or "book learning".
Regardless of your origin and past you have to have some reason to be involved in the campaign. That means you have some reason a highfalutin merchant would hire you to help with some errands. Perhaps you are the niece or nephew of some local dignitary or have ran errands (sometimes adventurous) for him in the past.
Check out this page for some ideas, and maybe some tie-ins to the world.
As there are primarily only humans native around Serenton, if you desire to be another race, the following templates may be implemented:
Elf - -5 pt unusual background
Dwarf - -5 pt unusual background
Half-elf - no cost
Half-orc - -2 pt unusual background
Gnome - -5 pt unusual background
Other race - with DM consultation
Character outlines must be presented to the GM by the 20th of February in order to be in the outset of the campaign (perhaps the 22nd of Feb 15th of March).
- For new players, I want only a story, two sentences to two pages...more than that and you’re going too far. I will build your initial character sheet for you, we’ll chat and tweak to keep it simple at the outset. If you enjoy playing, we can dive deeper into the rules and get more technical.
- If you would like to bring back a previously used character, contact me so we can balance points and fill in recent history.
- For experienced players interested in building their own character sheets:
Characters will have 120 points to start with and up to -50 points in disadvantages with an optional additional -10 points to be used specifically for Enemies, Reputation or Debt disadvantages, but these must be a tangible part of your back story and your character during role-play.
Characters will be illiterate by default. Being semi-literate (B p24) in the Common tongue will cost 1 pt, literate 2 pts.
Equipment Characters will start with the TL3 starting wealth of $1000.00 which in Gurth recently has been one-thousand silver pieces. This can be modified by choosing the Wealth advantage or disadvantage accordingly. Clothing, weapons, armor and gear should be purchased at base cost in the Characters book from starting wealth. If you have $1000.00, you have nothing and are naked walking the streets of Gurth. A gold piece is ten silver pieces. Specialized adventure gear and magical items from Dungeon Fantasy - Adventurers are fine. Magic items must be purchased with character points, at a cost of 1 point per $1000 cost.
- You may buy power stone(s) by spending 2 character points per power level, with a maximum of 12 power level total in all stones/items. Spending 20 points gets you a single 10 point powerstone, or two 5-point stones, etc.
Characters
- Sirus Donovak played by Brady
- Ulrich Tollhouse, played by Brant
- Selena Meriwether played by Melissa
- Theodor Smythe played by Jordan
What Happened
So it Began...
In the back of a restaurant, a bit past the common meal time, Don Lau and his acquaintance,Ulric Tollhouse finished their meal with conversations of the recent history Serenton, the House of Knowledge and of spice and silk trade in the kingdoms of Drannor and Durkin.
Selena entered the establishment and Don Lau motioned her back, her a drink and introduced the two. Don Lau had told Selena that he would be introducing her to people that may be able to assist in her in her hunt.
In short order, both Sirus and Theodor had joined the table and all were introduced.
Don Lau told of his mission for them to acquire him a rare, possibly unique, horn of an ancient beast from the vault beneath the fortress of one Skreez Malis.
After introductions in the quest was given the party was first ordering to meet again in the morning at Timothy and Todd's general store and bed and breakfast.
Ulric interviewed the bartender and boats to plague in Serenton, Selena prayed to Luna the Moon goddess, and that Theodore worked his street contacts and caroused at a local bar meeting a mercenary named Ralphie. Ralphie reported that he was on hired for a job at escorting slaves to the estate the morning after next.
The following morning the party reconvened that Timothy and Todd's general store bed and breakfast where they ate jellied toast and fresh squeezed grapefruit juice. Don Lau had provided them four horses laden with basic supplies for their journey.
The party decided to visit the office of land management in Serenton. The proprietor was an elderly slow-spoken man wearing a mustard yellow shirt and a purple corduroy vest with small front watch pockets. He showed them a map of Serenton and surrounding lands. Celine and then began to inquire about the agriculture of the local area, planting seasons, local crops and many other topics irrelevant to the quest. The party eventually asked the proprietor for any records pertaining to lord Skreez Malis' property. He needed time to do research. While the researched Ulrich and the Selena chatted about theology and philosophy while Theodore tried to convince Sirus to play cards. After some time that the proprietor returned at showing the party where the first and largest of Skreez Malis' real estates was as well as a few mines that he owns around Serenton.
When the party was about to leave town Theodore mentioned that he had met Ralphie and he hatched a plan to follow Ralphie and his mercenary friends as they picked up slaves and escorted them to Malis' estate. The party could then follow the mercenaries into a potential secret door or some other way into the estate. They left town riding eastward and camped in a small boulder outcropping near the river where they could see the road and any passersby. That night they ate beans and rice slightly overcooked by Selena.
The next morning Selena went to the river to fish with the help of Ulrich. Eventually Theodore and Sirus got up and watched the road. From the east they saw a group of red armored individuals approaching. As they grew closer Sirus fainted when he realized that they were not human, but instead large lizard men or draconians. Theodore watched them pass with their large stone-wheeled wagon pulled by a large squat komodo dragon style beast.
Shortly after Selena had polished her armor, Ulrich was helping her put it on when the band of horseman approached from Serenton. They pulled up near the camp as some of the party stepped into the road. Ulrich greeted them and it turned out it was Ralphie and his mercenary friends. The party made some story up and Ralphie and his group rode eastward. Selena made haste to break camp and give chase however the party decided to follow out of sight using Sirus' tracking skills. They followed some 20 miles east of Serenton before turning north off of the road and heading through grasslands into a small forest. At the edge of the forest the men left Selena with the horses and pursued on foot. After doing so for some time, Sirus' climbed a tree to get a better vantage. From above he was able to see two wagons in the distance being escorted by the horsemen. He hurriedly climbed down and sent Ulrich running back to Selena and the horses. The party then followed the slavers through the woods to the edge of a large grassy bowl-shaped field upon which the far side rose a plateau. Atop the plateau was a large beige and yellow limestone structure presumed to be the estate of Skreez Malis.
The party awaited nightfall before leaving the cover of the woods. Under the cover of darkness Sirus' crept up to the plateau and followed the road around the south side climbing up past an iron portcullis. On the eastside at a switchback Sirus began climbing in the shadows where he encountered a large steel trap. After dislodging himself he he went on to the edge where he saw a guard pacing the grounds in front of the large building. He then carefully descended and returned to the party as Selena was chanting in candles to the full Moon. Again leaving Selena with the horses, the three men crept in the darkness past the portcullis back to the edge of the switch back up to the estate. As Sirus climbed the cliff edge, Theodore simply walked up the switchback followed by Ulrich. As the guard noticed Theodore, Ulrich disappeared making himself invisible. Theodore weaved a web of deceit stating he was bringing an urgent message about the Serentonian Guard to master Malis. As the guard escorted Theodore towards the door Ulrich crept behind him and dazed him with magic. The two then walked to the door in the darkness as Sirus snuck up behind the dazed guard. As Ulrich sent Theodore into the door, Sirus' dragged the murdered guard off into the shadows.
A Night of Run-ins
Theodore encountered Pyrrus Salorum, and shared a drink while introducing himself as Todd and sharing that Sten of the Serentonian Guard had informed him that Dildonius what on to Markall's business. Having fed "Todd," Pyrrus paid him for the information and gave him a scroll for Sarang the Vodelig back in Serenton. Sarang would likely be with the BloodGhost Syndicate and wears many shiny rings and chains despite being a thug.
Meanwhile, Selena had approached and was inspecting the portcullis in the darkness when she heard strange voices approaching from the darkness within. She crept around the corner and waited ax raised for the worst as she heard the voices speaking in a harsh unknown language approach and open the portcullis. Briefly she saw two dark-scaled dragonmen before one vanished back into the shadows as the other drew it's blade and dodged Selena's swing. As Selena and Tirang the draconian quizzed each other, Ulrich and Sirus descending the road and approached behind Tirang. He claimed Selena's friends were in the cave and that he would take her to them if she would lower her axe.
Sirus' arrow broke their conversation as it shattered against the stone. The dark-scaled warrior leaped into the darkness beneath the portcullis and Selena backed off. Sirus was set aflame by an orb of fire that shot forth from the dark tunnel as he approached Selena. After stomping his cloak out, he sprinted to Selena's side. After another flaming globe blazed past Ulrich, the portcullis rattled shut and the three descended toward the woods and horses. Eventually, Theodor joined the group and complained that they failed to take advantage of his distracting the denizens of the building atop the plateau.
In the late darkness Ulrich awoke and began waking the party before a fiery cloud erupted and began to grow next to Selena. Ulrich cast a spell and began directing Sirus and Theodore to a silhouette in the woods as Selena channeled Luna to extinguish the swirling flames. The chase was brief before the silhouette was lost in the night.
The party then broke camp and moved deeper into the woods where a small shallow den was found to keep the party out of sight. Later in the morning a group of armed mercenaries on horseback was heard approaching. The saw the parties horses and fanned out to surround the area. Selena cut the horses free and sent them scattering as the men surrounded the den. After Sirus shot one of the hunters through the gut, a brief combat ensued with the party mostly hiding in the shadows picking off the cautious horsemen.
The session ended with Selena bent over a wounded Ralphie and Ulrich gathering the horse of a fallen mercenary, while Theodore and Sirus crept from the shadows.
The Mansion of Malis
After much consternation and conspiration, the party planned a ruse. They would use the healed and convinced guards, Ralphie and Bort, to escort Selena into the slave pens for questioning as to the whereabouts of her companions. Theodor wore the armor of the dead guard, Mick, and Ulrich followed unseen. Meanwhile, Sirus was going to sneak up and climb to the roof to gain entrance via a trapdoor on the roof. He knew of the trapdoor because Luna exposed it to Selena.
Approaching the portcullis at the base of the manor, Theodor blew the horn found on the dead guard. Another guard, believing Ralphie and Bort to still be faithful mercenaries, allowed them into the stables below the manor. As they entered, Ulrich used his invisibility to conceal Selena's great axe. Within the stables, a large halforc emerged from behind a jailhouse door. The guard beckoned for the monstrous man to take Selena to a cell.
However, as the halforc, Manok, reached for Selena, Ulrich pressed the great axe into her hand. The guards were rather surprised to see the magic axe appear without warning. At that moment, Selena went to work on the guard with a torch, destroying him capably. Theodor went after the halforc, slashing at cutting in vain. After trying and failing to lock the adventurers in the stables, the halforc took off running down the hall with Selena and Theodor in pursuit. Meanwhile, Ulrich attempted to look after some slaves chained in the hallway.
The halforc disappeared down a set of dark steps. Ulrich cast light onto his staff so that he and Selena could give chase. Meanwhile, Theodor discovered what appeared to be a torture chamber. Within, he found a set of jail cells, containing a silent Draconian and an old man claiming to be an "ancient wizard." Theodor decided to ignore him temporarily and go after his companions. At the bottom of the stairs, Selena and Ulrich found four guards and a large group of slaves working on stone. Suddenly confronted with a woman in shining armor cradling an axe, they went into action. Two of the guards attempted to fight her, but only did minimal damage before they were cut down. Ulrich tricked the other two guards into laying down their weapons, threatening to blast them with the magic coming from his lit staff.
While all this went on, Sirus climbed up the sheer face of the manor. Up above, he found not only the trapdoor, but an unaware guard. Hoping to leave no witnesses, Sirus attempted to slit his throat. Unfortunately, he left little more than a bloody scratch, and the guard turned to him to fight. The guard pulled a crossbow, but fired a wild shot into the night. Sirus kept at him with a knife. In an effort to end the fight quickly, the guard grabbed hold of Sirus and dragged him to the edge, receiving wounds to the neck and groin the whole way. Unfortunately for Sirus, the wounds did nothing to deter him, and he was cast off the edge. Fortunately, his quick reflexes allowed to him to not only take the guard with him, but to grab hold of the ledge at the last moment. However, the guard was also quick and grabbed Sirus's leg, causing them to both fall down the side of the manor. Surprisingly, Sirus was able to fall on top of the guard, causing him to take no more than a few scratches. The other guard, with less luck, succumbed to his previous injuries as well as a high fall and the crushing blow of Sirus's body. Dusting himself off, he got ready to begin anew.
The Mansion of Malis continued
As the guards retreated up the stairs, Ulrich reassured the slaves of their eminent freedom as Selena broke their bonds with her magic axe. The slaves were lead back up the stairs and Sirus began scaling the wall again.
The party went into the room with the torture equipment and the cells containing the old man and the red-scaled draconian. Theodor tried vainly to pick a lock before breaking out the old man, then going about setting a fire beneath a large wooden door.
When Ulrich mentioned something below, the old wizard was greatly concerned and slightly unbelieving. He claimed that if the great beast below had returned that women and babies would weep endlessly and the strength of men would fail. When asked what the name of the beast was he would not speak it but instead wrote it on a page torn from Ulrich's journal. The name was Cthaeghya and the wizard claimed it was one of the great beings before the gods created the world and the continents were placed. As Ulrich was recording this, the old man noticed his journal and asked to read it. Ulrich obliged and the man stood single-mindedly reading each page, but in reverse order as the party went about it's business.
Sirus executed another rooftop guard with multiple short-range arrows after having a knife stuck in the nether regions of his armor.
Ulrich led the old man into the slave quarters towards the stables and he and Selena began to chain the door shut as Manok returned with an ogre wielding two pick axes. The ogre went to work on the chains and the iron barred doors until Ulrich stunned him with fear. Manok fired a crossbow at Theodor and shot Kluuz before a brief melee with Theodor. Theodor stabbed Manok in the leg, then Manok threw the crossbow at Theodor's face before exchanging slaps with the ogre and retreating down the stairs again.
Eventually, the ogre broke through and as it shoved its ponderous mass through the aperture of the bars, Selena split it's head like an over-ripe melon.
Most of the party convened in the slaves quarters for a few minutes to catch their breath and figure out next steps while Sirus crept about the 2nd floor of the building, finding multiple locked doors and some traps, then listened into a conversation between Pyrrus and some other men about the smoke coming up from below. Below, the old man noticed Kluuz and broke into conversation in an unknown language.
Theodor asked about Kluuz and the wizard said that Kluuz was captured a couple of weeks back when he was scouting for his group. According to Kluuz, Akriyal, his god, is trapped below and he needs to notify his people. The wizard thinks Kluuz is mistaken as he has heard discussions between Pyrrus, Manok and the dark-scaled dragon men that the creature below is referred to as Skorziak.
Selena put out Theodor's fire, and Theodor went back to pick try again at the burnt door lock when he noted two guardsmen coming forth from the door. Theodor convinced them to put aside their weapons and leave peacefully and Ulrich told the guards the party was shutting down the operation. Meanwhile, Sirus added tea to flasks of alcohol and went about murdering Pyrrus.
The party convened on the ground floor in the guards' quarters.
Leaving the Mansion
The party began searching for the horn. They decided to attempt opening the gilded and trapped door that Sirus had attempted to open. Rather than fussing with needles to pick the lock, Selena brought a war hammer and broke the door down. Inside, they were faced with a large suit of armor. After throwing a glass at it, Theodor determined that it would not attack them. However, Theodore figured that the threshold was most likely still trap-laden. To demonstrate his theory, he shoved a couch through the doorway. The door promptly covered the couch in flame. To enter the room, Theodor gathered several blankets from the guards' quarters to shield the party while passing into the room. Inside the room they found a fancy and large four-post bed and what appeared to be a sex slave chained to the wall with a key around her neck. She made no effort to speak or resist when Selena broke her out of her chains. The lack of speech was revealed to be due to a lack of a tongue.
Additionally, there was a small trunk that Selena smashed open after it shocked Theodor, who tried to open it with a key ring taken from the guards. Inside were several unidentifiable potions. While exploring the rest of the room, the party also discovered a desk covered with a variety of papers. Many were common receipts detailing various businesses of Malis, while a few were in an unrecognizable language. Theodor took a few scrolls that he thought looked valuable. There was also a pouch of jewels, which Sirus and Theodor split after Theodor filched a handful.
Most frightening was a large statue behind the door of a large, tentacle-covered evil-looking being with a few chunks missing. Selena found a few of the chunks on a table, which were cold to the touch and caused her to fall into a trance while staring at the statue. Fortunately, Ulrich snapped her out of it. Finding no horn, the party jumped back through the door. Last to leave was Sirus, who spread poison all over the bed sheets and fancy clothes in the closet.
Moving back downstairs, the party settled down in some easy chairs for a well-earned rest, while Theodor proceeded to search the rest of the rooms, anxious for more wealth. While searching, he found the kitchen, where two slaves were cleaning up, completely unaware of the invasion. Theodor freed them and persuaded them to make a late-night meal for the rest of the party. Going back to the common room, Theodor tried the key from the sex slave on the stone door there. Incredibly, it opened, revealing a massive treasure room featuring fancy maps, pelts, books, and most importantly of all, a massive jewel-encrusted horn. Theodor scoured the room, acquiring a luxurious fur coat, an amulet with a color-changing crystal, and a ring that made him feel more invigorated. Nathaniel found an exhaustive book of demon lore than he keenly poured over.
Meeting back in the common room, the party decided that it was imperative to try and see what were behind the doors that Manok had disappeared behind. After sending off the two kitchen slaves with the sex slave in tow, Ulrich knocked, but to no avail. Theodor attempted his best Pyrus impersonation, and another ogre opened the door from within. Manok screamed at the ogre to close the door, but Ulrich was too fast with a stunning spell that left the troll unable to comply. Manok ran off into the darkness, followed by Ulrich, Selena, Theodor and Kluuz. The old wizard (now referring to himself as Nathaniel) stayed outside to scrub the walls with a bath brush he had taken. Sirus used his careful aim to shoot the ogre through the eye and kill him with one shot.
Suddenly, there was a deafening roar, and darkness began pouring out from the other end of the cave like a mist. Theodor and Sirus, paralyzed by fear, fainted. Kluuz began walking towards it, muttering the name of his God. Ulrich stood his ground, pointing his lighted staff at the oncoming darkness, while Selena ran outside to grab Nathaniel. Kluuz and Ulrich were the only members of the party who witnessed the veil of darkness pull back and saw what appeared to be a massive beast. They both promptly fainted.
Moments later, Selena was back with Nathaniel, and the beast had disappeared. While the rest of the party lay incapacitated, Selena and Nathaniel explored a corner of black rock jutting out from the limestone cave. Nathaniel theorized that it was a temple for a dark God and should be barred immediately, while Selena prayed to Luna for guidance. The rest of the party was eventually roused, and decided to leave as promptly as possible.
Over the next two days, the party walked back to Serenton, arriving at night. Selena, Ulrich, Nathaniel and Sirus bribed their way back into the city, while Kluuz and Theodor opted to sleep outside and avoid the fee. That morning, the party went back to Todd and Timothy's to eat and find out that it would be another day until Don Lau would return. Ulrich decided to spend that day updating his notes, while Selena wandered around Serenton and Sirus tried to get a message off to his guild. Theodor walked Kluuz back to his people, a group of miners, and ate with them.