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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jack7" data-source="post: 4626503" data-attributes="member: 54707">With inspiration from KM:D&D/Fantasy Adventure: The Serpent Coiled at Midnight - In the surrounding mountains are a series of caves in which a small community of prophets once lived. Those prophets one day uncovered a barrow in the cave complex that housed the body of a giant. But the corpse of the giant had not decayed, nor mummified. It was still intact, yet seemingly dead. Encased in a transparent blue crystal sarcophagus, covered in symbols of a long dead language. After this discovery one of the prophets left a message inscribed in the rock face of a stone altar he built nearby with a date affixed to the horns of the altar. The prophets eventually all died out but the local populace still recounts the stories of the group, and of the discovery they supposedly made of the sleeping giant. Hundreds of years later a cleric, whom many also considered a prophet in his own right, led an expeditionary force to the same region. Picking out a spot on the river he enlisted the locals to help build three towers, one (the minaret of Jam) on the river, one in the mountains, and another whose location he never disclosed. Rumor had it the secret tower was not built by human hands but by giants.<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Jam_Qasr_Zarafshan.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Once all three were built he helped establish a small contingent garrison force of Paladene (Paladins) from Armenia to inhabit the minaret. He took up residence in the tower on the mountain, and told the Paladins of the existence of the third tower but never disclosed any real details concerning it. The Paladins were also told that one day in the future there would be an earthquake which would uncover something very dangerous to all men and that the towers had been built covered in glyphs and sigils that were also mystical symbols for the name of God. And that the towers "resonated" whenever any one of the other towers was in need. Three years after being built the cleric appeared at evening at the minaret, assembled all of the Paladins, blessed them and baptized them in the river, then deposited holy water and sacred earth in stores within the underground complex running beneath the minaret. He left the next morning. Six days later there was a tremendous earthquake and the minaret rang like a gong and vibrated for seven hours afterwards. The Paladins became sick, saw visions and apparitions; fell into trances, and three of them died. The survivors sent half their number out to find the cleric only to discover that his tower had fallen, broken into pieces. The pieces were hot to the touch and some seemed to vibrate. After nightfall a terrible vision of an unearthly giant was seen stalking the ruins, but if the Paladins approached he disappeared. The next morning the Paladins searched the surrounding area but only found two things. The clerical robes of their leader, and the altar that had been built long ago by one of the prophets. They disassembled the altar and took both it and the robes with them. The search party, finding no evidence of the body of the cleric returned to their tower to find they could not approach the minaret. It seemed to repel them. As they called out for their companions they watched in horror as their friends and fellow Paladins mounted the top of the tower and systematically threw themselves to their deaths below. Suicide being a sin in their order they considered the tower now cursed. However they were in distress because they also were charged by obligation of their order with giving their comrades a proper burial. It was discovered however that someone wearing the robes of the cleric could approach the tower without being repelled. So one among them wore the robes and he gathered all of the bodies and drug them back to his friends for burial. The Paladins diverted the river and buried all 20 of their friends in the dry riverbank then returned the river to it's natural course, hoping the river would help wash away the sin of the mass suicide. Within three days whatever enchantment had repulsed the Paladins failed and they could safely approach. However none would except the man who had previously worn the robes. He went into the tower and was gone for a long time. He finally reappeared at the top of the tower and shouted down at them, over a strong, howling wind, "I've seen the Third Tower!" or possibly, "Seize the Third Tower!" Then he spread his arms and lept into the air and seemed to fly a short distance like a bird til he was over to the other side of the river, then he too plummeted to his death. Like a stone, splitting his skull in the process. The remaining Paladins recovered his body, washed the clerical robes in the river, though the blood of the Paladin who had died in it never would fade - it always remained bright red, and burned his body. However two parts of his corpse would never burn down to ashes, his heart, and his skull. Both relics were buried in secret. The Paladins then shut up and sealed the tower, calling it accursed. They left one of their number in the local village, and there reassembled the old altar and left the clerical robes with the last Paladin. That Paladin lived for sixty more years til he gave the robes to his servant and told him that one day others would come to find the Third Tower, and discover what had really been uncovered.  On the day the party comes within sight of the minaret there is another earthquake. The blood on the clerical robes begins to seep again, as if freshly bleeding. That night there is a vision for all to see in the air of flying man, of dead men rising from the river waters, and of a gigantic figure in the foothills. And the tower hums and wails and shrieks all night long. The next morning the old altar, which had stood in the center of the village has disappeared and now stands in front of the entrance to the tower. When the party arrives at the tower gate they notice that the date on the altar is for that very day.   Relics I would put into the Quest: The Clerical RobesThe Shattered Skull, the skull of the Paladin who had flown and then fallenThe AltarThe Scrolls in the Cave - scrolls partially hidden in ceramic pots in the old caves of the prophets. Fragments remain intact. Can be reassembled in different ways to give clues about the Towers, the giant, and what has been uncovered.The Helm of the Last Paladin - place it on the Shattered Skull and see what happens. You'll believe a man can fly.  Artifacts of the Quest: The Minaret itself is an artifact. The glyphs and sigils are also a code. They are also a transmitter allowing one to communicate with angelsThe Giant's Sarcophagus - found empty, it is also encoded. It also dampens arcane magic but amplifies clerical magic.The Third Tower is an artifact. It is also a prophetic timepiece/calendar moving backwards in relation to the outside world. What is it winding backwards toward?The Stone from the Cleric's tower acts as a spiritual lodestone, if pieces of it are taken. It glows and sizzles in the presence of demons, and will repel them. It also has other powers. Like acting as a compass to help locate the Third Tower.  Monsters of the Quest: The Giant, the Giant's ghost. The giant remains an enigma. Is he benign or malignant? Is he real or a sprit? Does he seek to aid the party or lead them to their deaths? He never speaks, only acts.The Demon of the Third TowerThe Khimera in the MountainsThe Dead Paladins - risen from their graves by the earthquake. For good or ill?The Serpent coiled at MidnightThe Ichor - the paint decorating the outside of the Third Tower is not really paint at all but the ichor of the Serpent Coiled at Midnight. But what does it do?The Flying ThingThe Old Man - one of the prophets, the cleric, something else in disguise?The River - the river is something other than what it appears to be, except when seen from the top of the third tower.The Bandits - a group of violent and desperate bandits inhabiting the wilds of the nearby mountain passes. Or are they bandits?</blockquote>

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