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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mystraschosen" data-source="post: 849200" data-attributes="member: 9614">Ingredients:Shadow crocodiles                    manacles                    animate dead                    Paladin                    Judge                    Joyful laughter        extra:::Owlbear       RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION----------Encounter levels:This is a short adventure for characters of 2nd to 4th lvl.It would be helpful if the party had characters with some skill at diplomacy,gather info and arcane/divine magic.A careful group can handle this adventure withjust one good fight at the end,byt a careless party is likely to becom overwhelmed by sheer numbers.Adventure background:The town of Anias is a moderate sized thriving town with a firm base of operations for the clerics and paladins of Heironeous.The lesser mebers of this clergy divide their time between making items and going on short adventures.The leader of said group is a male human paldin named Moisean Hawkeyes ,lv7 paladin (ad hoc stats and equipment),that tolerates no unlawful behavior within the town.He also works with the local leaders to keep the town and surrounding countryside safe.Moisean lends his "brothers in faith" to the local militia to aid in rousting small groups of monsters from the surrounding countryside.(Which gives these npcs the chance to gain xp so they can craft magic items,scrolls,and potions.)One of the paladins under Moisean's leadership has fallen out of favor due to a dereliction of duty.The manacles of Heironeous have been stolen in the midst of the night right out from under the churchs vigilance(or shall we say lack of vigilance).The manacles of Heironeous have the following abilities.....they are masterwork adamatine manacles,and they are enchancted with a antiamagic field targeted on the manacles.This is a potent set of handcuffs when dealing with magic users that need to be suppressed. Adventure Synopsis:  When in town the adventurers hear rumors about the trial of Alain Morgenis(male human paladin lv3 ad hoc stats and equip),the paladin who was on watch in area of the temple that the manacles were stolen from. A bit of  gather info (dc 16) reveals that the trial takes place tomorrow at noon in the courtyard of the temple,with moisean to attend as judge.When the characters attend the trial ,they witness alain standing with his head bowed in shame.Moisean's judgement is that Alain shall retrieve the manacles and restore them to the church.He is to go without assistance of any kind from his order,and has but 72 hours in which to complete this task of penitance.Character hooks:* Alain just so happens to be"coincidentally"an old friend/relative of the pc's.  *The pcs need assistance from the church,and what better way than to aid Alain in his task.   *The pcs are approached by Moisean or the mayor of this town and  commisioned to destroy a source of monsters(in which case their paths will still converge with Alain's)for which they will be handsomely rewarded.(ad hoc reward)     Encounters:Each of the next 4 items can be treated as a n enconter with one or more people depending opon the effectiveness of the adventureers questions.*Alain was found asleep at his post ,but he vehemently protests that he was under the influence of some enchantment,and a skull was left in place of the manacles. *Strange reports of skeletons(unusual for these parts) plaguing caravans have depleted the trade of  Anias over the past few months.*Two weeks ago the church  sent two paladins and a cleric to vanquish the undead force and they have not been heard from since.*It appears that the undead come from the marsh to the southeast,at least that is where the bony tracks lead to after they attack the caravans.....The marsh: The marsh of Alkanessa seems to be the source of all of Anias' problems.It is 25 miles of dark,deep,damp,and oppressive bog.There is an ever present miasma of foul rot that lays heavily over the place like a brownish fog impeding movement,vision,and hearing.After a few hours of searching around the fringes of the marsh, the adventurers will notice broken planks of wood and trade goods leaving a trail into the marsh.Obviously the skeletons are not very intelligent and have not been covering up their mess on their way back to their home.They also notice heavier tracks,almost as if the  person that made them is wearing plate armor(It seems they are about to meet Alain once more).About an hour after they begin to follow the trail they hear muffled claniking coming from ahead.It is Alain and he does not seem very well suited to be trudging through the swamp.He says"Who is there?Face me you foul minions of evil(well he is a freakin paladin after all)! When the pcs announce themselves and explain that they too look for the undead force.He takes it all in stride and welcomes them(after sensing motive of course).If they choose to camp instead of heading on,it is about dusk now,Alain will argue that they must not delay.If they still decide to make camp he will strike out on his own warning them that it is not safe to rest in this marsh.If they still rest shadow crocodiles begin to form a ring around them(dc 20 to spot).When they are encircled the 20 or so crocs will attack.Ad hoc stats.The House of bone:If the pcs choose not to rest or by an act of god escape or defeat the crocs then they will soon reach(about 3 or 4 hours later) a palace made from the bones of the marsh animals.It is about 50 by 40 feet in dimensions and 2 stories high.All along the well trodden path to the house of bone are skeletons strewn along the ground.They don't move at all and don't respond if touched,jostled,hit by a thrown object from beyond the path.However once the party advances one fourth of the way down the path the skeletons begin to stand up to perform their duties.The 11 skeletons(ad hoc stats and size) are powered by the animate dead spell and are ordered to remain at rest until any living creature advances more than a fourth of the way towards the house.This is so the victim may be encircled and trapped from leaving.:::NOTE:::The fighting will alert any foes in the actual bone house::::Alain is likely to notice as well as the heroes that 3 of the skeletons are wearing holy symbols of Heironeous.The Necromancer Iliesein: The house of bone is the personal domain of  Iliesein a 6th lvl necromancer(ad hoc stats and spells and equip).Tactics:If iliesein hears the fighting(meaning if the pcs do not look for another route and advance down the path)he casts invisibilty on himself and  buffs himself with a couple of spells,readies his wand of magic missile(see later in entry) and lies in wait inside the farthest room from the front on the top floor(His laboratory).The manacles are in this room also.If the heroes succeed in defeating him,Alain will insist that they take him prisoner (if he still lives) with the manacles and present him to Moisean.Either way they will find a spellbook containing all o level spells,8 1st lvl,5 2nd lvl,and 5 3rd lvl spells.A wand of magic missile heightened to 7th lvl with 8 charges left(if the necromancer did not use any which is unlikely).Ad hoc the rest.Righteous indignation:As you make your way back to the town Alain is beaming with satisfaction for he will restore his dignity and pride.When you get back to town Moisean is full of righteous indignation over the circumstances of this deadly plot of the necromancers,and abashed that he did not even know the lengths of trouble in his own region.He then apologizes to Alain and asks his forgiveness and seeks to promote Alain to his lieutenant,Alain's response is a burst of joyous laughter as he heartily accepts.He then thanks you  brave adventurers for your help and pledges to always treat you as dear friends and allies if ever you are in Anias again.Moisean then keeps his word and rewards the adventurers handsomely.If nothing else at least you have a sept of divine might allied to you!</blockquote>

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