[Eberron] Village of Fear

[Jürgen Hubert]

In our Eberron campaign, the PCs recently got their hands on lots of money (they basically sold a small but functioning Creation Forge to some less than ethical members of House Tharashk as a source of cheap slave labor and got more than 100,000 gp out of the deal).

Now they have invested into some really good magical equipment (we are not using D&D but GURPS as the rule system, but basically most of the PCs have layers of damage reduction that makes them nearly immune to attacks from creatures physically weaker than average humans, and their weapons cut through armor really well...), and now want to "do some good" (I will have to deal with the irony of this eventually - they are a bit old-fashioned when it comes to the rights of everyone who isn't human or nearly so...).

Since two of the characters come from the Eldeen Reaches and they have heard about monsters plaguing the more remote regions - both from the daelkyr below and the Demon Wastes beyond the mountains, that's where they will go. They were also grumbling that the last session didn't include enough combat (none, in fact), so there should be plenty of opportunity for fights where they can show off their cool new gear.

And since I think the campaign needs a change of pace from zipping around the world, I think I will base the next few adventures in a single region - a village and its surrounding areas. In the beginning, the plot should be straightforward - there is a monster-infested dungeon/cave system/forest region nearby, and the PCs go out there to fight the creatures. But they should gradually become aware that there is more going on under the surface, and that many inhabitants are not exactly what they seem - until they feel a sense of paranoia and claustrophobia and have some really big threat.

Any good suggestions for the setup of the village, the nearby "obvious" threat, important NPCs, and deep, dark secrets to uncover?

 

[shilsen]

A dead basic idea off the top of my head:

Location - a small village in the southern woods, slightly north of Greenblade.

Situation - a nearby, supposedly abandoned underground complex is spawning unusual monsters (strange animals and vermin, undead, etc.)

NPCs - the druidic leaders/advisors of the town, who want the PCs to go in there, clean the area up, and either (a) retrieve an item from there which is spawning the creatures or (b) place an item in there which'll stop the spawning.

Secret - the underground area contains a manifest zone to Mabar and this is the source of the creatures being spawned.

The Big Secret - The druidic leaders of the town secretly include, or consist of, members of the Children of Winter. After having studied the manifest zone, they believe that the item which the PCs will palce there or remove will link this area to the Gloaming, transforming the entire area between the village and the Gloaming into a giant manifest zone of Mabar.

Naturally, the above will be, to use the technical term, a double plus ungood situation. Depending on how mean you want to be, you can throw in an imprisoned daelkyr or rakshasa rajah, which will end up being released when the manifest zones are linked (perhaps one of the Lords of Dust is manipulating the Children of Winter from behind the scenes?).