pukunui
Legend
Hi all,
I am running Storm King's Thunder for my home group. Last session, they decided to have their PCs escort a wagon of beer to the distant village of Mornbryn's Shield because they liked the sound of looking for and looting the eponymous ranger's legendary treasure-laden tomb.
I did warn them that Mornbryn had lived centuries ago and that no one had ever found his tomb. Their response was: "We aren't no one."
I don't want to disappoint them by saying that the tomb is just a legend and there's no hope of them ever actually finding it. Plus, one of the PCs is a ranger, so it would be a cool way to personalize the campaign.
I asked Ed Greenwood about the tomb, and he pointed me in the direction of the old 2e era Volo's Guide to the North. It has this to say about the ranger and his tomb: "Mornbryn was a ranger of some fame in the North, over 400 winters ago. Legend says that his underground tomb is somewhere under [the rocky ridge that gives the village its name]. It's said to be a complex of rooms crammed with the treasures offered by the many communities he had rescued from orcs and trolls. He would not accept these rewards in life, but they were laid to rest with him after his death."
It goes on to talk about how most people think the tomb is still hidden, while others think it was found and then built over so as to prevent it from being looted. It's also supposedly warded with some special magic-dampening stone that prevents people from locating it by searching for magical auras.
One footnote indicates that "Mornbryn's Tomb has unusual wards, details of which are only known to certain worshippers of Mielikki, and so don't appear here."
Another footnote indicates that there were two sisters who took offerings left for Mielikki at a shrine in the village and placed them in Mornbryn's Tomb. They were the only ones who held "tokens to pass its wards", which even Elminster considered scary enough to not want to discuss in detail.
That appears to be all that I've got to go on.
I've got four PCs of 7th level (one of whom is a ranger, as I mentioned above). I'd prefer something relatively short and with as much of a "ranger's tomb" theme as possible. I'm guessing that no such thing exists ready-made, so I will probably have to come up with something from scratch.
FWIW, as per SKT, there's also a contingent of Zhentarim mercenaries who have taken over the town with the intent of finding this tomb for themselves. I'm not sure if the PCs are going to let the thugs continue to bully the villagers, but I could attempt to turn it into something of a race, with the PCs trying to locate the tomb before the mercs do. If I play my cards right, I could maybe even pull off a little Raiders of the Lost Ark and have the mercs show up to take the loot after the PCs have braved the tomb's defenses to get it.
I also think it could possibly be fun to have Mornbryn's spirit show up and bequeath some kind of special ranger magic item to the ranger PC.
Any and all ideas are welcome!
Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Jonathan
I am running Storm King's Thunder for my home group. Last session, they decided to have their PCs escort a wagon of beer to the distant village of Mornbryn's Shield because they liked the sound of looking for and looting the eponymous ranger's legendary treasure-laden tomb.
I did warn them that Mornbryn had lived centuries ago and that no one had ever found his tomb. Their response was: "We aren't no one."
I don't want to disappoint them by saying that the tomb is just a legend and there's no hope of them ever actually finding it. Plus, one of the PCs is a ranger, so it would be a cool way to personalize the campaign.
I asked Ed Greenwood about the tomb, and he pointed me in the direction of the old 2e era Volo's Guide to the North. It has this to say about the ranger and his tomb: "Mornbryn was a ranger of some fame in the North, over 400 winters ago. Legend says that his underground tomb is somewhere under [the rocky ridge that gives the village its name]. It's said to be a complex of rooms crammed with the treasures offered by the many communities he had rescued from orcs and trolls. He would not accept these rewards in life, but they were laid to rest with him after his death."
It goes on to talk about how most people think the tomb is still hidden, while others think it was found and then built over so as to prevent it from being looted. It's also supposedly warded with some special magic-dampening stone that prevents people from locating it by searching for magical auras.
One footnote indicates that "Mornbryn's Tomb has unusual wards, details of which are only known to certain worshippers of Mielikki, and so don't appear here."
Another footnote indicates that there were two sisters who took offerings left for Mielikki at a shrine in the village and placed them in Mornbryn's Tomb. They were the only ones who held "tokens to pass its wards", which even Elminster considered scary enough to not want to discuss in detail.
That appears to be all that I've got to go on.
I've got four PCs of 7th level (one of whom is a ranger, as I mentioned above). I'd prefer something relatively short and with as much of a "ranger's tomb" theme as possible. I'm guessing that no such thing exists ready-made, so I will probably have to come up with something from scratch.
FWIW, as per SKT, there's also a contingent of Zhentarim mercenaries who have taken over the town with the intent of finding this tomb for themselves. I'm not sure if the PCs are going to let the thugs continue to bully the villagers, but I could attempt to turn it into something of a race, with the PCs trying to locate the tomb before the mercs do. If I play my cards right, I could maybe even pull off a little Raiders of the Lost Ark and have the mercs show up to take the loot after the PCs have braved the tomb's defenses to get it.
I also think it could possibly be fun to have Mornbryn's spirit show up and bequeath some kind of special ranger magic item to the ranger PC.
Any and all ideas are welcome!
Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Jonathan
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