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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MatthewJHanson" data-source="post: 5205251" data-attributes="member: 13968">Trapped in a Dead God’s HandA 4e D&D adventure for 20th level characters.BackgroundMillennia ago, a man named Adahn served an ancient god of knowledge. At first he was a faithful servant and his god rewarded Adahn well, but as Adahn grew in power he craved more. Adahn sought true prophecy, to see the future clearly, not thought a haze of dreams and cryptic visions. In his arrogance Adahn stole the power of foresight from his god, and in so doing he was cursed. Adahn gained the vision to see the future, but not the ability to change it. He knows what is coming, but can do nothing about it. As one final insult, his god cursed Adahn with eternal life, so Adahn could not find a release from his punishment, even in death.Throughout the ages Adahn tried to use his gift of prophecy many time to help others, but the others never listened. Now he uses his reputation as a prophet to help himself. Adahn has joined an astral ship called the Quicksilver Dragon. The vessel is as big as a small village. It is best known for its gambling hall, but offers a range of other amenities for wealthy pleasure seekers. The ship is silver colored and constantly travels though the astral sea high speeds. It never stops, even while resupplying or taking on passengers. Most think that the Quicksilver Dragon takes its name from the way it looks zooming across the Astral Sea, though the owner, Hermes Hyperion Glorioso Alexander d’Carceri von Dusseldwarf, knows otherwise. Adahn is something of a sideshow attraction on the Quicksilver Dragon, using his reputation as a prophet first to draw in wealthy gamblers who seek a glimpse of the future, and then to explain why he always wins.A Promising NoteThe player characters begin the adventure anywhere, though it is easier if they have access to planar travel. They wake up one morning to find that a note has mysteriously appeared with no indication of how it arrived. The note claims that one “Hermes Hyperion Glorioso Alexander d’Carceri von Dusseldwarf” needs their assistance and will pay the richly for their services. An astral diamond for each character is included with the note as a down payment. In case the characters need further convincing, the letter also promises the characters knowledge that they dearly seek. This knowledge should be tailored to your campaign. It should tie into the character’s long-term goals and personal back stories, and your plans for future adventures. Finally, the letter describes the Quicksilver Dragon, and how the PCs can find the astral vessel in the near future. If the characters ask around in an area where planer travel is common, the can easily hear stories of the Quicksilver Dragon, the astral pleasure ship that never stops. The character can also find somebody willing to shuttle them to the Quicksilver Dragon or find an astral skiff for sale at a reasonable price.Arrival at the Quicksilver DragonDocking with the Quicksilver Dragon is no easy task. Hermes never stops his ship, not even to take on wealthy customers. As the Quicksilver Dragon darts through the Astral Sea at break neck speeds, the player characters must bring their own vessel along side and secure it long enough to disembark. This is a skill challenge, and failure reflects that the heroes smash their own ship to pieces and barely manage to cling on to the Quicksilver Dragon while the crew of the ship helps them aboard.Once the heroes arrive on the ship, a man who appears to be an eladrin with silver eyes and hair greats the characters saying:Greetings and salutations. You have the esteemed honor of meeting Hermes Hyperion Glorioso Alexander d’Carceri von Dusseldwarf. Welcome to the Quicksilver Dragon, the finest ship in all the planes, and home to drink, debauchery, pleasure carnal and cerebral, a little gambling, and if you are lucky, a glimpse into your future. Who might you be?Hermes expects the characters to be another group of wealthy patrons eager to spend their coin, and when they explain the mysterious messages they received, he is utterly perplexed. He has no need to hire adventurers such as the PCs, but since they took all that trouble to get here, Hermes offers them free drinks and lodging for the night, as well as some complimentary chips to spend at the Dragon’s casino. He is happy to answer any questions the PCs have about the Quicksilver Dragon. If they inquire about “a glimpse into your future,” Hermes says, “Why, I mean the Prophet of course,” and he explains the nature of Adahn and his wager.Assuming the PCs take Hermes up on his offer to stay, they should have some time to explore the Quicksilver Dragon. They might meet some of the Dragon’s more colorful clientele, such as the inebriated drow named Tarzz who has not left the Dragon’s bar since its maiden voyage, or Lili, the dwarven academic who is writing a book on the Quicksilver Dragon, but does not participate in any of its activities for fear of “biasing her work.”Most importantly the characters should have a chance to meet Adahn. The PCs likely hear about him from other residents aboard the Quicksilver Dragon, and when they enter the gambling hall, the see him sitting alone at a table in the far rear of the hall. He catches the eye of the heroes and smiles at them each in turn.If they approach Adahn explains his wager. For ten thousand pieces of gold, they may have one chance at a dice game against him. If the PCs win, then he will answer a single question. If they lose, then they walk away empty handed. Either way Adahn keeps the coin.If the character take Adahn up on his offer the can make a series of skill checks, but no matter what they cannot beat Adahn, the game is rigged. Instead they can try to realize how the game is rigged. Adahn is a prophet, but because of his curse his knowledge of the future cannot help him win. Instead Adahn uses a set of magical dice that always roll the value the Adahn want them to roll. If they figure this out Adahn admits the truth and asks, “What does this tell you about prophecy?” Regardless of how the PCs answers, Adahn responds by telling the characters a little something about them that he has no reason to know, and the adds, “And Hermes Hyperion Glorioso Alexander d’Carceri von Dusseldwarf seeks your employment.”As soon as Adahn says this (or when the heroes give up trying to figure out his game) ask the PCs to make an Acrobatics check to avoid falling prone.Flies Swarm the DragonThe Quicksilver Dragon lurches, knocking passengers from their feet. A hail of cards, coin, and dice flies through the air. Everything becomes quite except the hum of the Dragon’s drive system straining to move, and a low groan of something pressing against the hull. But despite the effort, a glance out the windows reveals that the Quicksilver Dragon, the ship that never stops, has stopped.As the passengers and crew of the Quicksilver Dragon struggle to come to grips with their predicament, heroes see something through the window a black cloud moves swiftly in their direction. As it draws near the heroes make out greater detail. The cloud is made of hundreds of flies, ranging from the size of your fist to that of a large horse. They are so black they look like a hole in space. These are astral flies, born of maggots that feast of the flesh of dead gods. The first of the flies thud harmlessly against the window, but then one of the largest smashes through and the PCs are the only one who can save the residents of the gambling hall from the tearing mandibles of hungry insects.The casino is not the only breach. Should the heroes investigate cries from another part of the ship, the find more flies battling a shimmering, slender, agile, silver-colored dragon. The dragon is Hermes in his true form. While he finds it more customer friendly to look like an eladrin, he is actually a mercury dragon and when lives are at stake is not afraid of using tooth and claws.After the battle everybody has time to take stock the situation. The Quicksilver Dragon, as it turns out, flew close to one of the many dead gods that litter the Astral Sea, just as it has done a hundred times before. But this time the god was not quite as dead as they thought dead. It somehow reached out its massive stony hand and clenched the Quicksilver Dragon in its fist. No matter how hard they try, the crew cannot dislodge the ship.Hermes believes there is only one choice. Somebody must leave the Quicksilver Dragon and see if they can find a solution on god-island. Naturally the player characters are the only reasonable choice. The God IslandThe god-island trapping the Quicksilver Dragon is teeming with life and unlife. Astral flies and other monsters inhabit the lower region of the god, but there heroes have no need to travel there. They are much more likely to encounter the Hungriest Ghouls and the third eye.The Hungriest GhoulsThe most informative area on the dead god, and also the strangest, is the encampment of the Hungriest Ghouls, found on the chest of the dead god. The heroes may be quick to attack the ghouls, but the ghouls are hesitant. They fight back reluctantly and try only to subdue the heroes.These ghouls all worship the dead god, who the reveal to be a god of knowledge. While they crave the flesh of the living, and in particular “the b-word,” they refuse to eat it because “the b-word,” houses more knowledge than can ever be written down, and once it is gone it is lost forever. Should any PC say the “brains” aloud, the ghoul fly into a fit of hunger and the character must make a quick Diplomacy or Intimidate check to keep the ghouls from gnawing on their skulls.The ghouls also can give the characters some advice. That the dead god saw the truth through the third eye in the center of his forehead, so that eye too might hold the answers that the heroes seek.The Third EyeThe dead god’s third eye is in the center of his forehead and is the size of a town square. Clues suggest the characters must see the eye, but when the heroes arrive it is closed. If they examine the head directly above the eye, they find an incitation saying “I open for seekers of knowledge.” The characters have two primaries ways to open the eye. First a character may perform any divination ritual while standing on the eye. Alternatively the party as a whole can recall sufficient knowledge by scoring at least one success each for Arcana, Dungeoneering, History, Nature, and Religion.If the heroes manage either of these, the eyelid opens, but underneath there is only a black chasm. Any character standing on the eye falls, while those standing near it are pulled in by an irresistible force.The Dream of a Dead GodThe characters cannot tell how long they are falling, but instead of landing, a temple forms around them, its floor appearing beneath their feat. Before them is an alter made of crystal, and built into it, a open and empty sepulcher. The only inhabitant besides them is a faceless man whose form shifts and bends before the PCs. This is the last memory of the dead god. It does not have a true mind, but is more like an impression left upon the sand. It responds to the heroes questions with cryptic phrases.Just as the heroes seem to tire of the vestige, Adahn appears in the temple, and in an instant the faceless man changes. Three circles of fire appear in its featureless faces, and it screams with rage. It remembers Adahn and hates that memory. It accuses the PCs of bringing him here and attacks.The temple and the figure are both made of thoughts and can shift just a fluidly. The heroes find the terrain warping around them, but if they are of strong will they can also shape the terrain to their liking. The only thing that cannot change is the crystal altar. The faceless man strikes at their minds and creates minions out of thoughts to rip the characters apart.As the heroes strike the final blow, the man and the temple dissolve, leaving only a bare stone room and the crystal altar in its center. Adahn explains his history as described in the adventure background. The corpse the heroes occupy is same god Adahn once worshipped, and the same one he stole the gift of prophecy from. He has come to return it.Adahn takes out a dagger and cuts a slit across his forehead. Instead of blood pouring from the wound, a misty silver liquid flows from the cut. As if the liquid had thoughts of its own, it winds its way through the air and pours into the crystal sepulcher. Just when it is full the flow stops. The lid to the case slams shut, and in the same instant the earth reverberates. Then another quake comes, and another, each more powerful. A large crack opens in the wall and dim light pours through.The god-island is breaking apart. The heroes must rush out of the god’s head and back to the ship, while ghouls and monster panic around them. Adahn refuses to leave, saying he from the moment he stole the gift, he knew how this would end.The heroes reach the Quicksilver Dragon just as it is the god’s arm crumbles beneath them and the entire god-island scatter into the Astral Sea.ConclusionBack aboard the Quicksilver Dragon Hermes grants the heroes a lavish reward and offers to take them anywhere in the planes they desire. They are likely to take him up on the offer too, because the characters realize that somehow either Adahn or the dead god touched their mind. It left them the answers they were promised in note that brought them to Quicksilver Dragon. And the answers to their questions are just the beginning of your next adventure.IngredientsMercury dragon: Hermes is a verbose and extravagant dragon who has named his astral vessel for himself.Crystal sepulcher: The crystal sepulcher housed the gift of prophecy before Adahn stole it, and again after he returned it.Corrupt prophet: Adahn is a prophet twice corrupted. First when he stole the gift of true sight from his god, and then when he traded his reputation as a prophet for profit on the Quicksilver DragonAbstinence: Despite craving “the b-word” above all else, the Hungriest Ghouls refrain from eating flesh to protect knowledge. Also, the passenger Lili abstains from the joys of the Quicksilver Dragon.Loaded dice: Because Adahn cannot use prophecy to win, he cheats by gambling with a set of loaded dice. It could also be a metaphor for how Adhan cannot change the future he sees. Ebon fly: Massive black flies that were nursed on the flesh of the dead god attack the party and their allies. Also, the passenger Tarzz is a drow barfly.</blockquote>

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