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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 6067713" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 43 - VAULT OF THE IRON OVERLORD</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: <p style="margin-left: 20px">Cal Trop, human cleric of Kord</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Feron Dru, half-elf druid</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Galrich Slayer, half-orc barbarian</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Telgrane, human conjurer</p><p></p><p>"Vault of the Iron Overlord" was module #50 of Goodman Games' "Dungeon Crawl Classics" line. Written by Monte Cook and Søren Keis Thustrup, it had a cool dungeon feature: the Vault of Rings was made up of three concentric rings around a circular center, all of which could be moved by various methods from inside the dungeon. The whole thing was to have been a "training ground" on the proper running of the Kingdom for the next heir to the throne, but the king and queen are both slain without heirs, and the magic item, the <em>scepter of succession</em> - which will indicate who the next rightful ruler is to be - is stored at the center of the Vault of Rings. The PCs are hired to enter the Vault of Rings, fetch the <em>scepter of succession</em>, and return it to a grateful kingdom.</p><p></p><p>I used the actual dungeon pretty much as-is, but I changed a lot of the background information. I didn't like the name of the kingdom, as I felt "Eslan" sounded too much like "Aslan," the eponymous lion from "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" - so I changed the kingdom to Kordovia. In the module, the king and queen are slain on the same night; for reasons that will become apparent later on, I changed that to the queen having died two decades before, and the king putting all of his efforts (and a great deal of the kingdom's treasury) into the completion of the Vault of Rings; he never remarried, has no heirs, and thus the need for a group to penetrate the Vault of Rings remains intact.</p><p></p><p>Finally, the temporary regent, Lord Niel Hammersh, had a name that seemed incomplete, so I made it <strong>Lord Niel Hammershard</strong>. And I added another dignitary, <strong>Lord Targus Vandergrotten</strong>, as a schemer in the politics of the kingdom. I also wrote a quick section to the beginning of the module and another to the end. So this will be a weird little writeup, as I think I'll do the parts I added as fiction and leave the actual adventure pretty much undescribed, for the benefit of those who will eventually run through the module themselves. (It is a pretty cool adventure.)</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>Having successfully returned to the volcanic mountain range where the group left Old Clem, Fang, and the horses, it was a simple matter to retrace the path back to the small kingdom of Kordovia. Piddilink Dundernoggin’s cousin, <strong>Winkidew Dundernoggin</strong>, seemed pleased to inform the group that the <em>elixirs of love</em> that Piddilink commissioned were ready to go, and the little gnome handed them over to Feron carefully, each in a felt sleeve to help prevent breakage.</p><p></p><p>"Hey, while you’re here," mentioned the gnome, "I heard tell that Lord Hammershard's looking for experienced adventurers. Piddilink speaks highly of you guys – maybe you should go check it out." Winkidew gave them directions to the castle and the group decided to check out the situation while they were there.</p><p></p><p>Lord Niel Hammershard seemed a pleasant fellow. He informed the adventurers that their ruler, <strong>King Arsidan</strong>, died three days ago, after the group had left the kingdom to head up to the volcanic mountains to the north. As his wife, <strong>Queen Kathenta</strong>, had died many years earlier and there was no heir to the throne, there was currently no direct descendant to automatically assume control of the kingdom. Fortunately, he explained, Kordovia had a magical <em>scepter of succession</em> that would point out the next legitimate ruler of Kordovia. The scepter was a minor artifact said to show the will of the gods in the matter of the lawful rulership of the kingdom. In the meantime, Lord Hammershard was acting as Temporary Regent.</p><p></p><p>Unfortunately, in the past several years, King Arsidan had become increasingly concerned about his eventual successor, and had a mighty Vault of Rings constructed, inside which the <em>scepter of succession</em> was placed. No one but the king and the artisans who constructed the Vault of Rings knew of the details of its construction, but it was said to be a series of concentric rings, with the scepter stored in the very center. Allegedly, the intended successor would learn much about the kingdom’s history and the lessons of good rulership while traveling through the Vault of Rings. In the past two days, three separate groups of adventurers had entered the Vault of Rings to retrieve the <em>scepter of succession</em>, and thus far none had returned.</p><p></p><p>Lord Hammershard offered each adventurer 2,000 pieces of gold from the kingdom's treasury if they could enter the Vault of Rings and bring the <em>scepter of succession</em> back to him. In addition, they would be free to keep any items they found in the Vault of Rings that weren’t from the treasury itself, housed in the central section of the Vault. Cal agreed on behalf of the group and said they'd give it their best shot.</p><p></p><p>As Lord Hammershard was explaining all of this to the group, a sour-faced wizard in black and purple robes entered the audience chamber and scowled at the adventurers. "So, these are the latest bumblers you’re sending into the Vault, Hammershard?" he sneered. "I doubt they’ll fare any better than our own home-grown, so-called 'adventurers,' especially if they count among their number a mongrel orc like this one! I say enough of this nonsense – I’m the logical choice to rule this nation. It would be best to just declare me the next king and be done with it!"</p><p></p><p>Lord Hammershard, naturally, refused to go along with the wizard's plan, and made arrangements for the group to be taken to the Vault of Rings and have its sole entrance unlocked for them. Before they left, however, Vandergrotten took Cal aside, under the guise of wishing them luck. "Listen," he said in a hushed voice. "I know that old fool Hammershard has offered you, what, 2,000 gold apiece if you return with the scepter? Well, there’s an extra thousand in it for you if, when you return, you bring the scepter to me instead of to him. I don’t trust him; I'd like to be able to examine the scepter myself to make sure there’s nothing...untoward going on with it. Just have a page take you to Lord Torgus Vandergrotten upon your return, and you'll be well rewarded." Cal gave a noncommittal grunt that Vandergrotten seemed to take as an affirmation, for the wizard spun on his heels and exited the chamber.</p><p></p><p>With that, the group was ushered over to the Vault of Rings, and a dwarven guard took a keyring from his belt and unlocked a door set into a small stone building in an out-of-the-way corner of the castle's courtyard. "Good luck to ye," he said, opening the door and waving them inside. "Just knock when ye get back; one of us is on station here at all times." Cal led the way through the doorway and down the stairs that led to the Vault, and the dwarven guard closed and locked the door behind them.</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>[The PCs make their way through the three rings of the Vault and into the central treasury, where they do indeed find the <em>scepter of succession</em>. They return to the entrance, pound on the door, and are greeted by another dwarven guardsman, pleased to see the group's success. He fetches a page to deliver the group - and the scepter - to Lord Hammershard.]</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>A large gathering crowded into the largest audience chamber of the castle, everyone eager to see who the kingdom’s next ruler would be. Lord Hammershard, the Temporary Regent of Kordovia, seemed just as eager to proceed, perhaps wanting to pass the responsibility of running the kingdom to its new legitimate king or queen. He motioned for silence, and the crowd’s murmurings ceased.</p><p></p><p>"Fellow citizens of Kordovia," he intoned, "We are gathered here today to seek the will of the gods as to who the next rightful ruler of this small nation shall be. At this time, we acknowledge the kind assistance granted to us by these proud adventurers from the Kingdom of Greyhawk, many leagues to the south of us, who risked their very lives to retrieve the <em>scepter of succession</em> from the Vault of Rings, placed there by our own King Arsidan, may he rest in peace."</p><p></p><p>"May he rest in peace," intoned the crowd in unison – although Cal noticed that Lord Vandergrotten failed to reply, his black scowl expressing his desire to just get on with it.</p><p></p><p>"Gods of light, show us the next lawful ruler of Kordovia!" called out Lord Hammershard, then swung the scepter behind him and tossed it underhand up into the air. Every eye was upon it as it tumbled end over end on its way up, then it seemed to hover motionless in the air for a brief moment at the apex of its arc – and then, surprisingly, it made a beeline straight into Galrich's hands! The startled half-orc grabbed it, then looked over at Cal with a look of confusion on his face.</p><p></p><p>"What treachery is this?" thundered Lord Vandergrotten. "How convenient that one of the low-born adventurers who retrieved the scepter is suddenly indicated as our next ruler? And a gods-be-damned orc at that? This will not stand, Hammershard! It’s obviously a feeble attempt to grab rulership of a nation by an unworthy – uh, what in the...?"</p><p></p><p>Lord Vandergrotten’s rant was cut suddenly short as a ghostly figure materialized in the middle of the audience chamber. It was a slight woman, dressed in tattered rags of deerskin. "Please forgive the intrusion, my loyal subjects," she said, "But I will not take up too much of your time."</p><p></p><p>"Your Majesty!” cried Lord Hammershard, quickly dropping to one knee. The rest of the crowd belatedly followed suit, amidst startled cries of "It's Queen Kathenta!" Lord Vandergrotten looked shocked – perhaps too shocked to genuflect as the others around him did.</p><p></p><p>"I, who have been dead these many years, have been granted this boon by the Gods Above, to appear to you now in your hour of greatest need," continued Queen Kathenta. "I wish there to be no fighting amongst factions, and no doubting, for standing before you is indeed your future king...my son, Galrich." Galrich stared at the ghostly woman with a mouth hanging open in shock.</p><p></p><p>"As most of you know, I went missing and was presumed dead when my carriage was attacked in the Vesve Forest on my way to visit my ailing mother these many years ago. I know King Arsidan spent many long months searching for me, and was eventually convinced of my death when so much time had passed and no ransom demands were ever sent.</p><p></p><p>"My carriage was attacked by a band of orcs, and I was carried away as a trophy. I, who entered this life as a commoner and was elevated as a young woman to the level of Queen by the love of good King Arsidan, spent my last year of life as slave to a brute of an orc in a tribe of barbarians. Eventually, some twenty years ago, I died in childbirth, bringing my only son, Galrich, into this world."</p><p></p><p>She turned to face the astonished half-orc, who at this point had his head lowered and was muttering to himself, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..." in a quiet voice. "Galrich, I deeply regret I was not there for you during the terrible days of your childhood, but rest assured I have watched you from the heavens above, and I could not be any prouder of the way you turned out. You have taken the strength and fierceness of the orc race and put it to good use. Twice already, you have held back the forces of evil that were ready to overcome this very world and remake it in their own twisted image.</p><p></p><p>"Citizens of Kordovia, by the will of the gods, my son Galrich will be your next king. And he will be a good king, and a wise king...but only when the time is right for him to take on the mantle of king. My son, you have lived the life of an adventurer, and performed a great many deeds, but I must tell you now that the time has not come for you to retire to the Kingdom of Kordovia and live out the rest of your days as ruler. The gods have many more tasks for you in the days and years ahead, tasks in which you will serve much more than a mere kingdom, but rather this whole world itself. You will know when it is time for you to return to Kordovia and assume the crown. In the meantime, I would ask you, Lord Hammershard, to continue on as Regent, until such time as Galrich is ready to relieve you of your burden." Lord Hammershard nodded his agreement with tears in his eyes at the sight of his beloved queen.</p><p></p><p>"Alas, my subjects, my time here among you is now spent. I return now to the heavens, where I am once again reunited with my dear husband, King Arsidan. Live your lives well, and peace be with you all. And you, my son," she said, reaching out to Galrich, "May you continue to make me proud. I will be watching...."</p><p></p><p>And with those final words, the ghost of Queen Kathenta was gone.</p><p></p><p>A complete and total silence covered the crowded audience chamber. Everyone turned and stared at Galrich, still holding the <em>scepter of succession</em> at his side and unsure what to do or say. Everyone was still on one knee, and it was slightly comical as the crowd scooted around on one knee to face their new half-orc liege. Everyone, that is, but Lord Vandergrotten, who stood there in silent fury, muttering under his breath.</p><p></p><p>Then, just as suddenly as she had disappeared, the ghost of Queen Kathenta returned, only this time she looked furious. "Are you all serious?" she demanded. "That was a test of your worthiness – a test most of you have failed miserably! Do you really think the Kingdom of Kordovia should be ruled by a gods-be-damned orc, of all things? Lord Hammershard, I am disgusted by your apparent willingness to give a savage, subhuman beast the keys to our kingdom! You are summarily dismissed from this realm – be gone from its borders by midnight, never to return! Lord Targus Vandergrotten, by the decree of the Gods Above, you shall be our next king, effective immedi--"</p><p></p><p>That was as far as she got, because Cal noticed Vandergrotten's lips moving during "Queen Kathenta's" second speech, and summarily punched the wizard in the gut with the full force of a cleric of Kord, God of Strength. Vandergrotten doubled over in pain, and his illusion spell froze up when he was unable to concentrate on it. The image of Queen Kathenta stood unmoving, then winked out in mid-sentence.</p><p></p><p>"Nice try, Vandergrotten!" sneered Cal. Lord Hammershard called forth the dwarven guard, and had the wizard taken away in chains. He was to be placed in a special <em>antimagic</em> cell to prevent him from doing any further mischief until he could be sentenced for attempting to violate the will of the gods and assume the mantle of King of Kordovia for himself. He was unable to put up much of a fight, as he was still doubled over in pain from Cal's gut-punch. The assembled crowd threw boos and catcalls his way as he was dragged off in disgrace.</p><p></p><p>With that unpleasantness finished, Lord Hammershard invited the group to spend as much time as they liked in the castle. He offered to tell Galrich (whom he referred to as "Your Majesty") everything he knew about his mother, the late Queen Kathenta. Furthermore, while his stated intention was to honor Queen Kathenta’s wishes and allow Galrich to return to his adventuring career, he insisted upon sending one of the elite dwarven castle guards with him as a personal bodyguard. <strong>Aerik Battershield</strong> stepped forward from the ranks and was assigned as Galrich’s personal bodyguard, entrusted with keeping Galrich safe until such time as he returned to Kordovia to assume the crown as king.</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>And that was pretty much the turning point in this campaign. I had turned a beer-and-pretzels series of unconnected dungeon crawls into a full-fledged campaign pretty much with this adventure. Everyone at the table was astonished ("gobsmacked" might be a better word) at the turn of events. Jacob, of course, was thrilled at the idea that he was getting a kingdom of his own to run, but I informed him that he would assume leadership of Kordovia exactly at the very end of this campaign, once everyone was at 20th level and we decided to retire it and start a new campaign up with 1st-level PCs. Vicki's reaction was funny; she was as shocked as everyone else at the revelation, but her first words to Galrich (as Feron, once the PCs were alone again) were, "Well, don't expect <em>me</em> to call you 'Your Majesty!'"</p><p></p><p>Aerik became our first adventurer NPC (Old Clem was used frequently, but he always stayed with the horses), who accompanied Galrich on all of his adventures and whose main concern was for his liege's safety. We started out allowing Jacob to run both Galrich and Aerik. but he seldom wanted Aerik to put himself in harm's way to protect Galrich, so we eventually had Dan and Logan take turns running Aerik. Once Jacob saw the way of things, he took ownership of Aerik again and started running him true to the dwarf's character.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 6067713, member: 508"] [b]ADVENTURE 43 - VAULT OF THE IRON OVERLORD[/b] PC Roster: [INDENT]Cal Trop, human cleric of Kord Feron Dru, half-elf druid Galrich Slayer, half-orc barbarian Telgrane, human conjurer[/INDENT] "Vault of the Iron Overlord" was module #50 of Goodman Games' "Dungeon Crawl Classics" line. Written by Monte Cook and Søren Keis Thustrup, it had a cool dungeon feature: the Vault of Rings was made up of three concentric rings around a circular center, all of which could be moved by various methods from inside the dungeon. The whole thing was to have been a "training ground" on the proper running of the Kingdom for the next heir to the throne, but the king and queen are both slain without heirs, and the magic item, the [i]scepter of succession[/i] - which will indicate who the next rightful ruler is to be - is stored at the center of the Vault of Rings. The PCs are hired to enter the Vault of Rings, fetch the [i]scepter of succession[/i], and return it to a grateful kingdom. I used the actual dungeon pretty much as-is, but I changed a lot of the background information. I didn't like the name of the kingdom, as I felt "Eslan" sounded too much like "Aslan," the eponymous lion from "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" - so I changed the kingdom to Kordovia. In the module, the king and queen are slain on the same night; for reasons that will become apparent later on, I changed that to the queen having died two decades before, and the king putting all of his efforts (and a great deal of the kingdom's treasury) into the completion of the Vault of Rings; he never remarried, has no heirs, and thus the need for a group to penetrate the Vault of Rings remains intact. Finally, the temporary regent, Lord Niel Hammersh, had a name that seemed incomplete, so I made it [b]Lord Niel Hammershard[/b]. And I added another dignitary, [b]Lord Targus Vandergrotten[/b], as a schemer in the politics of the kingdom. I also wrote a quick section to the beginning of the module and another to the end. So this will be a weird little writeup, as I think I'll do the parts I added as fiction and leave the actual adventure pretty much undescribed, for the benefit of those who will eventually run through the module themselves. (It is a pretty cool adventure.) - - - Having successfully returned to the volcanic mountain range where the group left Old Clem, Fang, and the horses, it was a simple matter to retrace the path back to the small kingdom of Kordovia. Piddilink Dundernoggin’s cousin, [b]Winkidew Dundernoggin[/b], seemed pleased to inform the group that the [i]elixirs of love[/i] that Piddilink commissioned were ready to go, and the little gnome handed them over to Feron carefully, each in a felt sleeve to help prevent breakage. "Hey, while you’re here," mentioned the gnome, "I heard tell that Lord Hammershard's looking for experienced adventurers. Piddilink speaks highly of you guys – maybe you should go check it out." Winkidew gave them directions to the castle and the group decided to check out the situation while they were there. Lord Niel Hammershard seemed a pleasant fellow. He informed the adventurers that their ruler, [b]King Arsidan[/b], died three days ago, after the group had left the kingdom to head up to the volcanic mountains to the north. As his wife, [b]Queen Kathenta[/b], had died many years earlier and there was no heir to the throne, there was currently no direct descendant to automatically assume control of the kingdom. Fortunately, he explained, Kordovia had a magical [i]scepter of succession[/i] that would point out the next legitimate ruler of Kordovia. The scepter was a minor artifact said to show the will of the gods in the matter of the lawful rulership of the kingdom. In the meantime, Lord Hammershard was acting as Temporary Regent. Unfortunately, in the past several years, King Arsidan had become increasingly concerned about his eventual successor, and had a mighty Vault of Rings constructed, inside which the [i]scepter of succession[/i] was placed. No one but the king and the artisans who constructed the Vault of Rings knew of the details of its construction, but it was said to be a series of concentric rings, with the scepter stored in the very center. Allegedly, the intended successor would learn much about the kingdom’s history and the lessons of good rulership while traveling through the Vault of Rings. In the past two days, three separate groups of adventurers had entered the Vault of Rings to retrieve the [i]scepter of succession[/i], and thus far none had returned. Lord Hammershard offered each adventurer 2,000 pieces of gold from the kingdom's treasury if they could enter the Vault of Rings and bring the [i]scepter of succession[/i] back to him. In addition, they would be free to keep any items they found in the Vault of Rings that weren’t from the treasury itself, housed in the central section of the Vault. Cal agreed on behalf of the group and said they'd give it their best shot. As Lord Hammershard was explaining all of this to the group, a sour-faced wizard in black and purple robes entered the audience chamber and scowled at the adventurers. "So, these are the latest bumblers you’re sending into the Vault, Hammershard?" he sneered. "I doubt they’ll fare any better than our own home-grown, so-called 'adventurers,' especially if they count among their number a mongrel orc like this one! I say enough of this nonsense – I’m the logical choice to rule this nation. It would be best to just declare me the next king and be done with it!" Lord Hammershard, naturally, refused to go along with the wizard's plan, and made arrangements for the group to be taken to the Vault of Rings and have its sole entrance unlocked for them. Before they left, however, Vandergrotten took Cal aside, under the guise of wishing them luck. "Listen," he said in a hushed voice. "I know that old fool Hammershard has offered you, what, 2,000 gold apiece if you return with the scepter? Well, there’s an extra thousand in it for you if, when you return, you bring the scepter to me instead of to him. I don’t trust him; I'd like to be able to examine the scepter myself to make sure there’s nothing...untoward going on with it. Just have a page take you to Lord Torgus Vandergrotten upon your return, and you'll be well rewarded." Cal gave a noncommittal grunt that Vandergrotten seemed to take as an affirmation, for the wizard spun on his heels and exited the chamber. With that, the group was ushered over to the Vault of Rings, and a dwarven guard took a keyring from his belt and unlocked a door set into a small stone building in an out-of-the-way corner of the castle's courtyard. "Good luck to ye," he said, opening the door and waving them inside. "Just knock when ye get back; one of us is on station here at all times." Cal led the way through the doorway and down the stairs that led to the Vault, and the dwarven guard closed and locked the door behind them. - - - [The PCs make their way through the three rings of the Vault and into the central treasury, where they do indeed find the [i]scepter of succession[/i]. They return to the entrance, pound on the door, and are greeted by another dwarven guardsman, pleased to see the group's success. He fetches a page to deliver the group - and the scepter - to Lord Hammershard.] - - - A large gathering crowded into the largest audience chamber of the castle, everyone eager to see who the kingdom’s next ruler would be. Lord Hammershard, the Temporary Regent of Kordovia, seemed just as eager to proceed, perhaps wanting to pass the responsibility of running the kingdom to its new legitimate king or queen. He motioned for silence, and the crowd’s murmurings ceased. "Fellow citizens of Kordovia," he intoned, "We are gathered here today to seek the will of the gods as to who the next rightful ruler of this small nation shall be. At this time, we acknowledge the kind assistance granted to us by these proud adventurers from the Kingdom of Greyhawk, many leagues to the south of us, who risked their very lives to retrieve the [i]scepter of succession[/i] from the Vault of Rings, placed there by our own King Arsidan, may he rest in peace." "May he rest in peace," intoned the crowd in unison – although Cal noticed that Lord Vandergrotten failed to reply, his black scowl expressing his desire to just get on with it. "Gods of light, show us the next lawful ruler of Kordovia!" called out Lord Hammershard, then swung the scepter behind him and tossed it underhand up into the air. Every eye was upon it as it tumbled end over end on its way up, then it seemed to hover motionless in the air for a brief moment at the apex of its arc – and then, surprisingly, it made a beeline straight into Galrich's hands! The startled half-orc grabbed it, then looked over at Cal with a look of confusion on his face. "What treachery is this?" thundered Lord Vandergrotten. "How convenient that one of the low-born adventurers who retrieved the scepter is suddenly indicated as our next ruler? And a gods-be-damned orc at that? This will not stand, Hammershard! It’s obviously a feeble attempt to grab rulership of a nation by an unworthy – uh, what in the...?" Lord Vandergrotten’s rant was cut suddenly short as a ghostly figure materialized in the middle of the audience chamber. It was a slight woman, dressed in tattered rags of deerskin. "Please forgive the intrusion, my loyal subjects," she said, "But I will not take up too much of your time." "Your Majesty!” cried Lord Hammershard, quickly dropping to one knee. The rest of the crowd belatedly followed suit, amidst startled cries of "It's Queen Kathenta!" Lord Vandergrotten looked shocked – perhaps too shocked to genuflect as the others around him did. "I, who have been dead these many years, have been granted this boon by the Gods Above, to appear to you now in your hour of greatest need," continued Queen Kathenta. "I wish there to be no fighting amongst factions, and no doubting, for standing before you is indeed your future king...my son, Galrich." Galrich stared at the ghostly woman with a mouth hanging open in shock. "As most of you know, I went missing and was presumed dead when my carriage was attacked in the Vesve Forest on my way to visit my ailing mother these many years ago. I know King Arsidan spent many long months searching for me, and was eventually convinced of my death when so much time had passed and no ransom demands were ever sent. "My carriage was attacked by a band of orcs, and I was carried away as a trophy. I, who entered this life as a commoner and was elevated as a young woman to the level of Queen by the love of good King Arsidan, spent my last year of life as slave to a brute of an orc in a tribe of barbarians. Eventually, some twenty years ago, I died in childbirth, bringing my only son, Galrich, into this world." She turned to face the astonished half-orc, who at this point had his head lowered and was muttering to himself, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..." in a quiet voice. "Galrich, I deeply regret I was not there for you during the terrible days of your childhood, but rest assured I have watched you from the heavens above, and I could not be any prouder of the way you turned out. You have taken the strength and fierceness of the orc race and put it to good use. Twice already, you have held back the forces of evil that were ready to overcome this very world and remake it in their own twisted image. "Citizens of Kordovia, by the will of the gods, my son Galrich will be your next king. And he will be a good king, and a wise king...but only when the time is right for him to take on the mantle of king. My son, you have lived the life of an adventurer, and performed a great many deeds, but I must tell you now that the time has not come for you to retire to the Kingdom of Kordovia and live out the rest of your days as ruler. The gods have many more tasks for you in the days and years ahead, tasks in which you will serve much more than a mere kingdom, but rather this whole world itself. You will know when it is time for you to return to Kordovia and assume the crown. In the meantime, I would ask you, Lord Hammershard, to continue on as Regent, until such time as Galrich is ready to relieve you of your burden." Lord Hammershard nodded his agreement with tears in his eyes at the sight of his beloved queen. "Alas, my subjects, my time here among you is now spent. I return now to the heavens, where I am once again reunited with my dear husband, King Arsidan. Live your lives well, and peace be with you all. And you, my son," she said, reaching out to Galrich, "May you continue to make me proud. I will be watching...." And with those final words, the ghost of Queen Kathenta was gone. A complete and total silence covered the crowded audience chamber. Everyone turned and stared at Galrich, still holding the [i]scepter of succession[/i] at his side and unsure what to do or say. Everyone was still on one knee, and it was slightly comical as the crowd scooted around on one knee to face their new half-orc liege. Everyone, that is, but Lord Vandergrotten, who stood there in silent fury, muttering under his breath. Then, just as suddenly as she had disappeared, the ghost of Queen Kathenta returned, only this time she looked furious. "Are you all serious?" she demanded. "That was a test of your worthiness – a test most of you have failed miserably! Do you really think the Kingdom of Kordovia should be ruled by a gods-be-damned orc, of all things? Lord Hammershard, I am disgusted by your apparent willingness to give a savage, subhuman beast the keys to our kingdom! You are summarily dismissed from this realm – be gone from its borders by midnight, never to return! Lord Targus Vandergrotten, by the decree of the Gods Above, you shall be our next king, effective immedi--" That was as far as she got, because Cal noticed Vandergrotten's lips moving during "Queen Kathenta's" second speech, and summarily punched the wizard in the gut with the full force of a cleric of Kord, God of Strength. Vandergrotten doubled over in pain, and his illusion spell froze up when he was unable to concentrate on it. The image of Queen Kathenta stood unmoving, then winked out in mid-sentence. "Nice try, Vandergrotten!" sneered Cal. Lord Hammershard called forth the dwarven guard, and had the wizard taken away in chains. He was to be placed in a special [i]antimagic[/i] cell to prevent him from doing any further mischief until he could be sentenced for attempting to violate the will of the gods and assume the mantle of King of Kordovia for himself. He was unable to put up much of a fight, as he was still doubled over in pain from Cal's gut-punch. The assembled crowd threw boos and catcalls his way as he was dragged off in disgrace. With that unpleasantness finished, Lord Hammershard invited the group to spend as much time as they liked in the castle. He offered to tell Galrich (whom he referred to as "Your Majesty") everything he knew about his mother, the late Queen Kathenta. Furthermore, while his stated intention was to honor Queen Kathenta’s wishes and allow Galrich to return to his adventuring career, he insisted upon sending one of the elite dwarven castle guards with him as a personal bodyguard. [b]Aerik Battershield[/b] stepped forward from the ranks and was assigned as Galrich’s personal bodyguard, entrusted with keeping Galrich safe until such time as he returned to Kordovia to assume the crown as king. - - - And that was pretty much the turning point in this campaign. I had turned a beer-and-pretzels series of unconnected dungeon crawls into a full-fledged campaign pretty much with this adventure. Everyone at the table was astonished ("gobsmacked" might be a better word) at the turn of events. Jacob, of course, was thrilled at the idea that he was getting a kingdom of his own to run, but I informed him that he would assume leadership of Kordovia exactly at the very end of this campaign, once everyone was at 20th level and we decided to retire it and start a new campaign up with 1st-level PCs. Vicki's reaction was funny; she was as shocked as everyone else at the revelation, but her first words to Galrich (as Feron, once the PCs were alone again) were, "Well, don't expect [i]me[/i] to call you 'Your Majesty!'" Aerik became our first adventurer NPC (Old Clem was used frequently, but he always stayed with the horses), who accompanied Galrich on all of his adventures and whose main concern was for his liege's safety. We started out allowing Jacob to run both Galrich and Aerik. but he seldom wanted Aerik to put himself in harm's way to protect Galrich, so we eventually had Dan and Logan take turns running Aerik. Once Jacob saw the way of things, he took ownership of Aerik again and started running him true to the dwarf's character. [/QUOTE]
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