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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rune" data-source="post: 1187920" data-attributes="member: 67">IngredientsA once-cultivated place, now wild and overgrownAwakened ElephantShifty SmileRat BastardDivine InterventionCalm Before the StormThis scenario is designed as an introductory adventure for first-level characters.  It is mildly epic in scope and assumes at least somewhat heroic characters are playing through it, although this is not necessarily mandatory.  Indeed, the adventure may be quite fun if the PCs are not at all trustworthy.EntropyDecades ago a wizard lived, with an adventurous spirit.  Always, he searched for the unknown, exploring and marveling.  This wizard, Frost, by name, went far into the East once and, what he found there shook him to his soul.  Why or what that could have been, only Frost knew, but he returned from the East with a new god.  Literally--although he didn’t know it.  Frost had found something special in the strange religions of the East and built a temple to some strange Elephant-God.  His temple was unusual, designed as a hedge-maze with magnificent fountains and evenly-paved foot-paths.  Indeed it was a thing of peace and beauty and, consequently, Frost named his temple the Garden.But then something happened that Frost had not counted upon.  He died, and the Garden was overgrown.With the death of Frost, tales began to abound of a great fortune lost in the depths of his Garden, for few could truly believe that the man would be given over to such a bizarre religion.  Surely there was some other purpose for the Garden.  Rumors began to flourish all the more when pilgrims from the East began to make their way into the Garden.  What they did there, none could say, but some believed that they were looking for some treasure, and others believed that they were protecting some treasure.  Both beliefs were, in fact, accurate, but the nature of the treasure could not be guessed at.  The pilgrims sought their God, spirited away unwittingly by Frost in the form of what he thought was a statue, and failing that, set tests upon the paths of the Garden to insure that only the righteous would find their God.The PCs could be drawn to the Garden for any number of reasons, but the allure of treasure is probably the strongest.  Even if the PCs have worshippers of nature in their ranks, this particular religion would appear mostly alien to them, if they even hear word of it.  Upon arriving at the Garden, they will see a once-cultivated place, now wild and overgrown, once a hedge-maze, now a labyrinth.  Upon entering the Garden, a Magic Mouth will open before them on the ground and say, in an exotic accent:“Walk the paths of a thousand smiles, but stray only where you must.  He who would wake the Elephant must first find, and then trust.”Whatever the mouth means is not forthcoming, and, with a smirk, it closes into the ground again.  As the PCs travel the paths of the Garden, they will meet many such Magic Mouths, each with a different cryptic remark and a different, shifty smile.  Each remark is a variation on the first, saying the same thing in a different way.  They are mostly designed to infuriate and frustrate the person walking the paths.The Garden has another quality, another test.  As the PCs (and other folk within the labyrinth) travel through its passages, the over-grown walls writhe and mesh and twist apart and new paths open while old ones close.  This makes mapping a useless endeavor.Somewhere within the Labyrinth, the PCs will likely run across a creature that resembles a cross between a rat and a human by the name of Rededieb.  Rededieb will assert a great many things, but one is that he is of a race called “ratling,” a race that cannot shift shapes as can lycanthropes.In truth, Rededieb is as sly as they come.  He wears always a shifty smile on his face, but it is hollow and ever-changing.  He could talk his way into a dungeon and back out again without even breaking a sweat.  He is Lawful Evil and as self-serving and deceitful as that implies.  If ever asked about his goals, he will say that he is looking for answers in life.  This may or may not be true.  If ever asked about his past, he will say that he is atoning for past misdeeds.  This may or may not be true.  If ever asked about his family, he will say that he never knew his father and his mother died early in his life.  This may or may not be true.  Simply put, everything the rat-bastard says must be taken with a grain of salt.  Rededieb is a wererat, but almost always remains in hybrid-form, claiming that it is his only form and that he is of the race of “ratlings” (see nezumi in Oriental Adventures), which may or may not truly exist.  Rededieb has two levels in Rogue, with a focus on oratory skills and should be considered an accomplished liar.Rededieb is looking for the “treasure” within the labyrinth, rumored to be beyond measure.  If possible, he will attempt to accompany the PCs as they seek it out (for such he will believe them to be doing, despite any claims to the contrary).  Whether or not Rededieb accompanies the PCs, he intends to travel in their footsteps, so to speak.  He has become hopelessly lost and is desperately hoping that the PCs will be able to find a way through the labyrinth where he has not.  In addition, Rededieb plans to ambush the PCs if they actually do find the treasure, though he hopes that they will lead him out of the labyrinth first.  Essentially, he is a deceitful rat-bastard.Finally, the PCs may actually come across the Statue of the Elephant, thought by Frost to be an idol, but in fact, actually a petrified avatar standing atop a pedestol.  There are no Magic Mouths in the presence of the statue, for the pilgrims never found the statue, but the writhing nature of the labyrinth makes it possible that there are Magic Mouths on the  other sides of over-grown walls close enough to be triggered, anyway.  If this is the case, the will all speak at once, contradicting each other and making rational thought difficult (increasing the DC of all concentration checks in the area by 5).  At the base of the statue, the following prophecy is inscribed:“Beware the Calm Before the Storm,For in fertile peace grows the seed of entropy.The God of Cycles slumbers an ageThat He may be on hand to stem the tide of sandThat would drown all things living.But he must wake, or all is lost.Give of yourself and the ground that gave you birth,Earth breeds blood; and blood breeds earth.”Below that, a small hollow in the base of the statue seems to desire that something fill it.It is not documented how the Elephant allowed itself to be petrified, but the effects of it are far-reaching.  With the absence of a living avatar in the world, the Nature God of the East has had no influence in the world, and the East has increasingly been overrun with desert.  This has been mostly gradual, but, very soon, a vast sandstorm will rage throughout the East and only pockets of lush life will be left in isolated oases.The Elephant is an avatar of an exotic Eastern god of nature, unknown, for the most part, in this part of the world.  The Garden is its temple and its home, since being brought to this part of the world by the wizard, Frost.  The Elephant is Neutral in alignment, but may have a vested interest in aiding the PCs if they awaken it.  The Elephant should be considered potentially very dangerous in temperament, but also potentially benevolent.  It should have the stats of an awakened elephant with a few Druid levels--the avatar is actually not extraordinarily divinely powerful.  Rather, it is expected to live and die within the natural cycle, only to be replaced by another avatar.Once Rededieb sees the statue, some quick mental calculations convince him that, sold to the right buyers, the chunk of stone could be worth a fortune.  The only problem is that he has no way to move the statue.  That, and that the PCs may try to awaken it.  At this point, in desperation, Rededieb will spring his ambush, especially if the PCs seem to be trying to figure out the (relatively simple) riddle (placing a drop of blood and a bit of earth within the hollow of the statue) to awaken the Elephant.Rededieb will sneak attack the least combat-able PC, if possible, and then will threaten a coup-de-grace against that PC if s/he still lives. If not, Rededieb will attempt to fool the PCs into thinking that the PC still lives and will attempt to hold that life a hostage in either case.  Rededieb will attempt to force the PCs to push the statue out of the labyrinth for him.  This task should be beyond the capabilities of the PCs, but Rededieb is not above asking for the impossible in such tense situations.Ironically, if the PCs have already filled the hollow in the statue with earth, there is a slight chance that the spraying blood of the sneak-attacked PC will waken the Elephant.  Now an awakened elephant, the avatar will need to take sides.  The Elephant, although an avatar of Nature, still has its biases and a rat-creature (all-too mouse-like in appearance) holding other creatures hostage is not likely to win in such a situation.  If awakened at such a moment, the Elephant will charge Rededieb, a divine intervention of the most direct sort.Of course, if the Elephant is not (yet) awakened, the PCs will just have to think of a way out of their mess.Even with Rededieb eliminated and the Elephant awakened, the PCs still are not necessarily safe.  The Elephant must still decide whether or not to trust the PCs and, consequently, the PCs must still decide whether or not to trust the elephant.  The Elephant has the power (really, the mass) to rush straight through the over-grown walls of the labyrinth and lead the PCs to freedom, or could use Druid spells, but he will only do that if he thinks they have the best interests of Nature in mind.  However, the Elephant desperately needs to get back to the East, where its divine presence is needed to intervene between the sand-storm that would envelope the East and the inhabitants therein.  If the PCs would help the Elephant to make this journey, they are sure to be appreciated and, possibly, well rewarded.If the Elephant is never awakened, the East will become an almost-total desert within the next year and once-thriving cultures will be lost.  This will certainly have repercussions in the West, but what those might be are left to the DM and could likely be the basis for a campaign.</blockquote>

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