The Bloodmoon Conspiracy (A short 3-4 session adventure in The Nenitr Vale)

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I'm currently DM'ing another long-running 4E campaign also set in the Nentir Vale, but there are a few guys outside my group that have really wanted to play, so I created this short adventure to satiate them (and me) and welcome a new player into our ranks.

There are 5 players plus myself, and so far, we have met for only two sessions. The third session will take place tomorrow night. The entire adventure can be run in 3-4 sessions, and the only portion of the story I "borrowed" was Draigdurroch Tower, from Dungeon Magazine # 159.

A week or so before the first session, I sent the guys an e-mail laying out the races they could choose from, and a possible background to build off of.

A few days before the session, I sent them the following invitation:

GM: From the desk of Roderick J. Fairweather, Esq. You are hereby invited to the reading of the will of one Magnus Valentino, Hero of Baldric’s Pass, and leader of the Shield-Bashers adventuring agency. You have been named as a beneficiary in his will, and are required to attend the reading of said document on the 4th day of the Harvest month. The reading will take place at noon in the office of Roderick J. Fairweather, on the Avenue of the Sun, in the Hightown district of Fallcrest. Accommodations in Fallcrest can be found at the Silver Unicorn or the Dragon’s Breath Inn. You fold up the invitation and glance at the calendar. Just over a week before the reading of the will…you had better pack a bag and start your journey. By the next afternoon, you have made all the arrangements needed for your absence, and have procured a spot with a traveling merchant caravan. (It is best to travel in numbers, after all.) Early the next morning you walk out your front door, not quite knowing what to anticipate for this journey…

 

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The players:

Brocc - Gnome Psion

Sledge - Dwarf Fighter

Mallick - Human Ranger

Geoff Wilikers - Human Paladin

Supahiro - Half-elf Warlord


Two of them came from Hammerfast, and the others from Harkenwold, all traveling to Fallcrest at around the same time. This is where we started the evening. I described to them that the time of the year was late summer, but the winds had begun to cool quite early. During their journey, the temperature had noticeably decreased several degrees, and as they came within a few miles of Fallcrest, their was a distinct chill in the air. Their caravans met up and the caravan leaders decided to wait here for the rest of the day - they had two other caravans they were expecting.

The group set out on foot (Fallcrest is only a short distance away), but the weather quickly turned sour. The wind increased, the temperature dropped, and fog began to roll in. Just as they got within site of the city's outer walls, a blizzard struck them full force. There was a dilapidated watch tower just off the road, so they decided to take shelter there until the storm let up enough for safe travel. There were only about two stories left of the tower, but enough of a roof to keep the snow at bay, and the floor was dry paving stones. There was a broken trap door in the middle of the floor, which they collected enough wood from to start a fire.

The players introduced themselves to each other and tried to stay warm while the storm raged outside, showing no sign of letting up. Interestingly, none of them told the others WHY they were heading to Fallcrest. Soon, the snow that had built up on what was left of the roof became too much for the old timbers to bear, and the roof began to collapse. The party headed into the cellar just in time...

Lighting a few torches, they discovered a mostly-empty cellar, and a tunnel leading into a spacious cavern. The cavern had a few exits, most of them leading in the direction of Fallcrest, so they decided to see how far they could get underground. It wasn't log before they found the spiders...

GM: The party is at level 1, and this encounter is a level 1 encounter: 1 Deathjump Spider 2 Spider Swarms (actually Rat swarms, just described as spiders) 1 Fire Beetle This encounter proved really tough for the group, but that's the kind of thing this group thrives on. The Gnome dropped at least twice, and everyone was bloodied by the end. The Deathjump Spider is really too high for this group (it's a level 4 Skirmisher), but they handled it well. I wanted them to know right off the bat that this world is dangerous.

Once the caverns were cleared, they made their way through the passage (they chose the correct one - one of the other passages simply led to a pit) until they came out of a cave entrance at the bottom of a hill that overlooked the city gates. The weather was still bitter cold, but at least the blizzard had subsided.

As they walked down the path towards the gates, a shadow appeared overhead, and Sledge was hit by a falling piece of equipment about the size of a softball. Luckily, he's a hardy dwarf, and it bounced right off his armor, but he was a bit perturbed. The group looked up to see a hot air balloon above them, and a small gnome face peering out over the edge of the basket. He shouted at them that he is sorry, hopes no one was hurt, and to please return that equipment to him - he'll give them a reward! It was obvious at this point that he could not stop the balloon, as it continued towards the city despite him. He also yelled out "My name is Glimzig, just ask anyone where my workshop is!". With that he was gone.

Sledge grumbled a bit, and stowed the strange device, as they made it to the front gates. Their papers were checked, and directions given to taverns, lodging, and the location of Glimzig's workshop.

Some time after they made it through the front gates, they turned a corner to see a woman running towards them, followed by a large half-orc and a couple of human thugs. She cried out for help, and that the thugs would kill her, so the party bravely stepped in and protected her. The half-orc threatened the group and looked menacing, but he was out-numbered, so he did not attack immediately. The group used all of their wit and cunning to talk them down and figure out what was going on.

GM: This was a skill challenge. They managed to scare off the thugs, but only just. They are also now marked men, as they have angered one of the most powerful nobles in Fallcrest.

The woman's name is Circe, and is the daughter and only heir of a minor noble in town (Carlisle Delgado), who had just recently passed away. Her father owed a sum of money to Ulrich Von Greymoor, a VERY powerful noble - second only to the Markelhay family in riches and power. Greymoor is notorious for loaning money to folks in need, then using every legal (and quite often non-legal) means to foreclose on their property and buy it up himself. He did this to her father's estate and left her with nothing. Circe suspects that the documents Greymoor showed as proof of the debt were actually forged, as her father hated and feared Greymoor, and would never borrow money from him, but she can't yet prove it.

She has lost everything, but snuck into Greymoor's house and stole back her father's pocket watch - a family heirloom and the only real treasure Circe cared about. Marius (the half-orc) is Greymoor's bodyguard and main enforcer, and he caught her escaping the house. He would have likely killed her, but the PC's saved her, and she is eternally grateful. She flirted with Brocc a bit, and then let them know how to contact her if she could somehow repay them for their kindness.

As she left, the group decided to split up. Sledge and Mallick headed to the workshop, while the rest of the group went to the Inn. They found the place easily enough, with a tattered hot air balloon tied to the roof. Glimzig had all manner of magical contraptions and devices, and was overjoyed to see them, since that meant the return of his Turboencabulator. When asked what it does, he replied that it "supplies inverse reactive current for use in unilateral phase detractors, of course!". He gave them a small reward and thanked them profusely. They gathered at the inn with the rest of the group for a good night's rest.

 

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Waking early the next morning, the group headed to Mr. Fairweather's office for the reading of the will.

GM: Let me preface this by saying that not all of the characters know who this Magnus Valentino is, or why they are included in his will. Sledge (the Dwarf) and Geoff (the Paladin) are both sons of Magnus, but they never met him. They know he is a famous adventurer, and were both hoping to one day live up to this legendary figure. Brocc (the Gnome) does not know who his father is. He is being raised by his mentor, who does not think he is ready for adventuring just yet. Mallick (the Ranger) does not know of Magnus Valentino, except that he is some adventurer. He has spent the last year of his life in prison - he is a "recovering" thief. Supahiro (Half-elf)...this is my problem player. He had to create his character right before the session, so has no back story whatsoever, and has not come up with one since. Sledge also did not have much of a background, and did not get it to me early enough to include in the will. Hence neither Sledge nor Supahiro got interesting items...

Mr. Fairweather welcomed the group into his office, and read the following:

I, Magnus Valentino of Fallcrest, hero of Baldric’s pass, founder and leader of the Shield Bashers adventuring company, savior of Rushbottle, Scourge of the Undead (etc, etc,) do make and declare my last will and testament as follows:

To my son, Geoff Wilikers, born to Tatiana of Harkenwold, I give my Aecris Longsword. I have followed your career, and as a Paladin of Avandra, you seem to have inherited my love of adventure and justice, so go forth boldly and fight for the ideals you hold most dear.

To my son, Mallick, born to Lorelle of Harkenwold, I give my Barkskin Hide Armor, fashioned for me by the elven craftsmen deep within Harken Forest in payment for my brave deeds in dealing with their Goblin infestation. I realize that the news that I am your father may come as a surprise to you, but it is time you learned the truth. Though you were raised by Wallace , you are not of his blood. Your mother and I were together before she met your step-father, and he has always resented me, which may explain his harsh behavior towards you. Use this armor to redeem yourself of your past misdeeds, so that you can one day call yourself my worthy successor.

To my son, Brocc, born to Farah of Hammerfast, I give my “Orb of the Deft Negotiator”, a gift to me from the Genasi warlord Kaddim-Sul for my assistance in retrieving the famed Stormsoul Dagger. This orb will enhance your psionic abilities and grant you some control over your enemies. Use it wisely, and remember the teachings of your mentor Lyndon . I do not know if your mother ever told you about me, so I do apologize if this revelation of your heritage surprises you.

To my son, Sledge, born to Bira of Hammerfast, I give my Amulet of Life +1.

To my son, Supahiro, born to Evestiana of Harkenwold, I give my Bag of Holding.

To all of my gathered children, these items I bequeath to you now are but a small sample of the wondrous and dangerous things I have collected over my long and illustrious career. The bulk of my treasure is hidden deep within a sealed vault, who’s location is known only to my trusted adviser, one Roderick J. Fairweather, Esq. If and when you prove yourselves capable of handling such unfathomable riches, Mr. Fairweather will reveal to you the location of said vault and make known the method of it’s opening.

To wit, I have assigned Mr. Fairweather the task of finding an appropriate obstacle for you to overcome, some quest that will thoroughly test your judgment, skill, and resolve. If and when you accomplish this feat, Mr. Fairweather will read to you the remainder of this, my last will and testament.

GM: The great thing about this will is the slow realization that each character is in fact one of the sons of Magnus, and that they are all half-brothers. This was by far the highlight of the evening, and the players really had a lot of fun with it!

 

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Mr. Fairweather gave them the task of discovering why the weather has been so unpredictable lately. "As you may know, we had a blizzard yesterday!" It's been bitter cold for an hour or two, then will get mild again, then will start snowing. This will wreak havoc on the crops, as it's not time for the harvest yet...and Fallcrest may have a very tough winter if this continues.

The group did some research - talking to merchants about where the storms seem most severe, investigating at the various temples to see if any prophecies are coming to pass, and even going to see the head of the Mage's guild to see if he can determine if the storm is magical or natural. They determined that it is in fact magical, and that the source seems to be somewhere north of town.

They visited Glimzig the gnome, and managed to obtain passage in his "airship" to scout out the area north of Fallcrest.

GM: The airship is really nothing more than a hot air balloon. The only difference is that the heat comes from a small container wherein Glimzig has cast the "Traveler's Fire" ritual, and fashioned a fairly simple mechanical device that covers and uncovers the container to regulate the heat output.

Once they were in the air, they could tell that the storm clouds, while exceedingly think and cold, were very thin did not go very high at all. They were soon speeding towards the Winterbole Forest, where it looked like they may find some answers.

As the neared the edge of the forest, two blue goblins "landed" on the front of the balloon's airbag, pulled out daggers, and began to shred it. As they group was reacting to this and making their way to the edge of the platform to engage the strange goblins, two more appeared and began to damage the airship as well. The group managed to kill them all rather quickly, but not before the balloon began to plummet. They fell through the cloud cover and crashed into the frozen plain below. They were all thrown two squares forward and knocked prone, except those that succeeded on a medium DC Athletics check.

They recovered just in time to see more than a dozen of these small blue goblins, and a great big one standing in their midst. Before they could brace for an attack, the big goblin scooped up a couple more of his minions and threw them right at the Paladin. The battle was on!

GM: This encounter was a fun one - my own home-brewed "Frost Goblin" was actually based on a simple Goblin Skullcleaver (level 3 brute), but the fact that he was huge, and threw 2-4 goblin minions at the players at a time really made an impact. (Pun intended.) This ended up being a level 3 encounter, but was easier than it sounds, because most of them were minions. That being said, they did have to work pretty hard, and we had three players drop to 0 before the end of the encounter. When the minions hit, they caused damage, and were put in flanking positions. They had a hard time keeping up with them!

This was the end of session #1. This was about a 4.5 - 5 hour session.

 

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Session #2:

After clearing the area of frost goblins and patching up poor Glimzig, they left him to make repairs while they headed towards the icy spire they saw in the distance.

GM: This next section is right out of "Draigdurroch Tower" from Dungeon Magazine #159. I modified a few minor things, but ran the majority of it as written. Overall, it was good, but it lacks enough story clues to let the players know what really happened. I had to break the fourth wall a bit to explain some things at the end. The group failed their skill challenge to fight the blizzard en route to the tower itself, so they all lost a few healing surges, but did finally make it to the tower. I skipped the first couple of encounters, and we just described how they broke through the ice and made it into the first floor of the tower.

Here's a pic of the scenery I built for the first floor - sorry no minis, I took this before the players arrived:

The party explored the frozen rooms before them, found the fireplaces with the mysterious frozen flames within, and continued up to the second floor. Here is where things got interesting...they were attacked by a group of ice warriors form the Elemental Chaos who had taken up residence in the tower. (For the explanation why, see the Dungeon article.)

GM: The party is at level 2 at this point, and this ended up being a level 4 encounter. See the article for the stats.

Here's pic of the second floor:

One thing I did change, the "magic elevators" I turned into teleportation circles that activate instantly. One fun moment happened while the Dwarf Fighter was rushing over to help out one of his comrades and he accidentally stepped on the circle and was transported to the third floor. He spent two rounds investigating that floor before he went back to join the fight. Having their heaviest hitter out of the battle for a few rounds made the encounter a little tougher than it should have been.

here's what that looked like on game night- I had to keep all three levels on the table at the same time:

Once defeated (and the frozen flames were determined to be the portals from whence the Ice Warriors came), they destroyed the portals and headed upstairs to the third floor. Pic here:

There they found the Warlock's bedroom and did some searching. They found the secret door that led to his study, successfully disabled the trapped desk, and found his journal. they also found a bookcase that was magically warded, so the books were not destroyed by the frost. I found some suitable evil-sounding book titles elsewhere on the web, so they stuffed every one into the bag of holding:

Book titles: (Evil)

The Candle and the Void
The Book of Infernal Knowledge
Asmodeus and the Nine Hells
The Dark Obelisk
The Book of the Coming Flame
The Pandimonicus
A thick red book (no title – magically bound shut)
Chicken Soup for the Warlock’s Soul
The Dummies Guide to Forging a Dark Pact
​

(History)

The Decline and Fall of the Nerath Empire
The Destruction of Fastormel
Several accounts of the Bloodspear War
​

Once they were sure the tower was safe, they barricaded all the exits and took a much-needed rest:

 

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After their rest, they headed up to the roof of the tower to face the final encounter (see the article for details again). There's not much in the way of scenery, but here's what it looked like (I forgot to take any pics of the actual battle, sorry.):

After the conclusion of this little side quest, they ventured out and found Glimzig, who had (conveniently) just finished his repairs, so they headed back to Fallcrest.

I'll skip through the mundane business of travel and all here, and just get right to the group going to see Mr. Fairweather again. He read them the final part of the will:
Congratulations on completing the task set for you by Mr. Fairweather! I hope that it has sufficiently tested your skills and abilities. If any of your brethren have fallen during this, I offer my deepest condolences from the grave. Hopefully they will join me in the afterlife and regale me with the stories of your accomplishments so far.

Now, onto the matter at hand. I leave to my remaining children equal share in my stored riches. There is a vault hidden deep within the catacombs of this fair city. Mr. Fairweather will lead you to it. The manner in which the vault has to be opened is another matter. It is locked with an arcane ritual that only the most skilled wizard, after years of study would be able to penetrate. However, there exists a single key, the Bloodmoon diamond. This diamond, while somewhat valuable itself, is nothing compared to the wealth contained within my vault. Mr. Fairweather will advise you as to the location of this diamond. Retrieving it and bringing it to my vault will be the last task you will need to perform to inherit the valuables I have stored there.

Signed, Magnus Valentino

After he puts down the will, Mr. Fairweather informs the group that there is, of course, one small complication. The Bloodmoon Diamond is currently in the possession of one Ulrich Von Greymoor, the powerful noble that they have heard so much about.

GM: I advised the players at this point that they will need to plan out this heist themselves. Due to this thread where I asked your help some time ago, I have lots of good ideas for what to throw at the players.

That was the end of session #2. It took about 4 hours. Session #3 will occur tomorrow night, so I will give a recap of the events afterward. I hope you enjoy reading through this, and if you have any suggestions, please feel free to comment!

 

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Well, one of the players could not make it to session #3, so I had them play out a non-main-plot side quest. A player from my other campaign was able to fill in, so I had his paladin approach the group and offer them a job. A small keep north of town had been overrun by orcs, and the lord wanted it cleared.

I simply ran the level 3 Dungeon Delve for them. If you haven't seen the Dungeon Delve book, it's pretty nice to be able to drop in some encounters when you need something quick. This was just three encounters strung together, and the final battle was actually really tough! The Orc Chieftain was a level 8 elite brute, and they expended every resource available to them in the battle. I added some "extra grit" rules I found here http://www.unnatural20.com/blog/201...-your-game.html?lastPage=true#comment12110258with good results - the Warlord managed to sever the Orc Chieftain's arm during the last battle.

All in all, it was a very satisfying evening...even though we didn't get to the main plot and all the surprising revelations that I was planning. That's OK...there is always the next session...