Round 1, Match 1: Rune vs. Deuce Traveler
Ingredients:
Tattered Rug
Pitiful Baker
The Maimed Hand of Vengeance
Gothic Reunion
Cheerful Cellar
Itinerant Cleric
Vengeance and Pity
Using This Adventure:
This adventure is designed for use with D&D 4th edition rules and specifically makes use of the
Monster Vault, but is intended to be very close to system neutral. It should be challenging for a party of low level (3-5, or so). It is possible to run this adventure without any combat, but the potential exists for quite a bit of it.
This adventure further assumes the use of the “Points of Light” setting implied in the 4th edition, but should be easily transportable to any frontier location—particularly if that setting includes either a collapsed empire, or such an empire in decline.
Synopsis:
The PCs are asked by a cleric of Erathis to prevent an impending reunification of a barbarian tribe. The barbarians intend to take back the lost members of their tribe and to reclaim a scion lost to them, by force, if necessary. At the center of it all, a moral man has his own agenda...
Hooks:
If the PCs have any business in the frontier or wilderness, it should be simple for them to come across an itinerant cleric of Erathis named Pax Erath, or to hear rumors that he desperately seeks adventurers to aid him in a matter of pressing importance—and will reward them accordingly for seeking him out.
Alternatively, if the PCs find themselves in a temple of Erathis (not unlikely on the Frontier!), they could be asked to seek out one of their wandering ministers, from whom they have received word of a vital mission which cannot be undertaken alone. Thus far, none of the clerics sent to aid him have been able to do so.
The DM is encouraged to use this as a further hook—the reason could be as simple as this: Pax is in dangerous territory, and the barbaric tribes of the area may have driven off or killed the clerics of Erathis, ere they could succeed in finding him.
Wandering
Pax's work has taken him well into the wilderness beyond the Frontier. With a little legwork, the PCs should find him with no problems—Nature, Perception, and Streetwise (for tracking down and sifting through rumors in the towns he has traveled through) should all be useful in the search.
Along the way, the PCs may encounter beasts of the wilderness (see “Appendix: Animals” in the Monster Vault, pages 296-304), as well as small war-bands of barbaric orcs (MV 224-229) of the Goth tribe, from whom the PCs may learn that some great battle is imminent.
Once the PCs find Pax, he will begin to explain things (preferably through conversation):
- Decades ago, a tribe of barbaric orcs (the Goths) allowed Pax to travel with them as a missionary in exchange for his services as a healer.
- Pax wed the tribe's spiritual leader to a civilized (human) woman and a wondrous thing happened (praise Erathis!). A goodly number of the Goths split from their tribe and settled down to start a new civilization of their own!
- Pax has recently learned that the Goths are on the move again and intend to sweep down upon their former brethren and reunify them. This must not happen!
If the PCs will help him to stop this barbaric reunion, they will have his friendship and, once he has returned to Temple, wealth worthy of such action (which should be reasonably generous for the PCs' level). To do this, Pax believes they will first need to seek out the spiritual leader around whom the whole rift was centered.
Unless they have a more important use for him, Pax will accompany the PCs; his faith demands that he help others. Pax is a level 6ish Cleric, but will spend most of his time either healing or aiding the actions of others and, so, need not be fully fleshed out.
New Erath
The city, such as it is, was an outpost of the Empire of Nerath, sacked long ago by the Goths of the day. It is now home to a handful of former Goths, who renamed it New Erath. It is a vast landscape of towering ornate architecture, impressive in its grandeur, but now decayed and lonely—hollow.
Pax can lead the PCs to their destination if he is with them, or can give them sufficient instruction to find it themselves. It is...a bakery.
Within this bakery within the looming city of gloom, a one-handed orc whistles cheerfully as he works. He is immediately friendly and will readily welcome the PCs to stay for some of his fresh-baked delights (“Food is Love!” he enthusiastically tells them in common—with only the slightest hint of an orcish accent) before ushering them to a more comfortable locale...
“Welcome my cellar! I give of it cheerfully!” The cellar was sanctified by Pax many years ago and serves as a shelter from the gloom, above. It is brightly lit and cozy. Anyone taking refuge here for even a few minutes will be fully refreshed (hit points and healing surges, as if from an extended rest). Furthermore, any baked goods produced from the stores here (including those the PCs may already have consumed) will act as healing potions for the few days that they remain good.
Unless he thinks the PCs a threat to his community, the baker will be perfectly willing to impart any information regarding his background and that of the Goths.
- His name, now, is Confrere, though once he wore a more dire moniker—The Hand of Vengeance.
- The Hand of Vengeance is a position that one Goth per generation is reincarnated into. The Hand is a spiritual leader of the Goths.
- If asked why he has only one hand, he will soberly say, “Is it not better, then, to cut off thine own hand, than to use it in base vengeance?” Pax, if present, nods at this; he is familiar with the scripture.
- If asked what reason he has for vengeance, Confrere will fall silent, but Pax will answer: “Alas, the Goths slew his wife shortly after the wedding and consumed her body with flames, such that it could never be raised. Confrere may not have the heart for vengeance, but if ever a man had the cause, it is he.”
- When (and if) Pax informs Confrere that he believes the Goths are coming to undo all of Pax's accomplishments (and, oh, by the way, also kill Confrere), Confrere only smiles and says, “It is about time.”
- If asked what he intends to do to exact vengeance for his wife's death (by Pax, if not the PCs), Confrere responds, “I cannot. I am filled with pity for them; they are lost, no place of solace, no vision of a higher path. There way is violence and vengeance, but there is a better way. Compassion is the way—and this, I will show them.” The baker is confident and self-possessed, but is, indeed, pitiful—in the most fundamental meaning of the word.
It is his plan to invite the Goth Chieftain into this very cellar and show him hospitality, warmth, and love—in other words,
civilization. He seeks to heal the rift.
To Pax, this is folly. Not only is it likely to result in Confrere's death, the political ramifications of a reunited Goth people are dire, particularly for his church. On this matter, Pax and Confrere will not agree.
At this point, the PCs have a choice to make that will determine the course of events to come.
- They could assist Pax by disrupting the convergence of Goths through force. They will encounter war-bands consisting of orcs as described in the “Wandering” section, above. There are a total of roughly 100 Goths comprising these war-bands; if the PCs are not careful, they could easily be overwhelmed and would be wise to proceed cautiously. If they need to retreat, Confrere will let them regroup in his cellar, but he does not condone their course of action and will attempt to persuade them to change their minds at every opportunity.
- If the PCs wish to aid Confrere in his plan, he will ask them to parlay with the Goth Chieftain and convince him to attend Confrere's planned summit. To do this, Confrere hands them a very worn, tattered bear-skin rug. “This,” he tells them, “was once a symbol of my station as The Hand of Vengeance. I gifted it to my wife on our wedding day—a symbol of my new life with her; it is all I have left of her, now. You must take it. Present it to the Chieftain and he will know you speak for me.”
In this event, Pax will storm out in disgust. From this point on, he will do whatever he can to stop the PCs from parlaying with the Chieftain. He is no combatant, but has no qualms about setting others (the denizens of New Erath, or possibly even the Goths) against the PCs to achieve his goal.
- The PCs could seek out the Goth Chieftain on their own, and attempt to persuade him to alter his plans. This would be difficult, but not impossible. The Chieftain wants two things: to absorb the lost Goths back into the tribe and to either reclaim The Hand of Vengeance, or kill him so that another may be born. He will only be convinced to turn away if he believes the PCs can help bring these changes about in the near future.
- The PCs might ally themselves with the Chieftain and participate in the annexation of the ex-Goths, or even the assassination of the current Hand of Vengeance. This course of action would gain them powerful allies in the region, but would also gain them the eternal enmity of the Church of Erathis.
Consequences
If the Goths are repelled through violence, they will one day rise in numbers and attack again. Eventually, The Maimed Hand of Vengeance will die and a new Hand of Vengeance will be born, will mature, and will lead the Goths to great acts of butchery. Success in this course of action would be a short-term victory for the faithful of Erathis, but would present a host of long-term problems.
Should the summit come to pass, the PCs' choices may cause it to unfold in different ways. The Chieftain is an elite version of the Orc Pummeler (Monster Vault 228, double the HP and XP value, give it an action point, and +2 to saves) who will come with a handful of bodyguards—Orc Rampagers (MV 228).
If the PCs are
not present, the Chieftain will grow increasingly impatient with Confrere's hospitality—which he views as weakness. Failing to convince Confrere to reclaim his duty as The Hand of Vengeance, he kills The Maimed Hand, so a new Hand of Vengeance may be born. After this, it is a simple matter to welcome the lost Goths back into the fold with open arms (and chains).
If the PCs
are present, they might be able to intimidate the Goths into peacefully enduring Confrere's generosity. During this time, Confrere will break bread with his guests and will show them naught but compassion—killing them with kindness, as the saying goes.
If the PCs are not able to outright prevent the Goths from attacking during this summit, their presence will at least turn the odds. Once the Goths see that they cannot best the PCs, they will settle down.
The Chieftain is not likely to be won over in a single sitting, but the way might be paved for future progress. Eventually, a civilized reunion of the Gothic peoples may be possible. Although the short-term gain of this course of action might not be evident to most, the long-term gains would be immense. The PCs, of course, would have allies in the folk of New Erath and might eventually share goodwill with the Goths, as well. Pax, however, will ever be their enemy.