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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ajanders" data-source="post: 5232164" data-attributes="member: 3271">PrologueSystemThis adventure is written for D&D 4th Edition. It could be adapted to any medieval, Renaissance, or even steampunk setting with rules for magic and amoral fey. PC's should be in the top half of the heroic tier.BackgroundGolden Island is not named for its mineral wealth -- there are no mines on the island at all. The gold on Golden Island is the wheat that shines in the constant warm sunshine. All this is due to the master of Golden Island, Richard Greston. Greston is a wizard and sage: he has some combat powers, but most of his study has gone into rituals for agricultural purposes: improving the weather, repelling pests, boosting yields, and improving storage. His steady use of these rituals makes Golden Island a prosperous farm plantation where nature moves in serene, productive order and where everyone lives well. Greston has taken the money from his farming and invested it wisely in more rituals and more information about farming: his steady improvement of farming practices has made him an wheat magnate. The humans around Golden Island view it as a golden point of light and a valuable breadbasket; Richard Greston shares his rituals and techniques with anyone who will ask, and is a public benefactor.The Fey disagree. To the Fey neat, orderly fencerows are chains and shackles constraining nature. Irrigation canals are vampire wounds, spilling the lifeblood of the earth. And Greston's carefully bred wheat is an aberrant monstrosity; sterile, deformed, retarded, aberrational. Richard Greston is a corrupt slavemaster, profiting from the cruel toil of the wheat he rules with an iron fist. And when he encourages others to follow his dark path, he is not to be borne.Unfortunately for the fey, ancient edicts of the gods prevent them for manifesting an army from the Feywild and laying waste to Golden Island. The Fay may return wrongs done to them, but no more. Since Greston only harvests the wheat once it is dead, the punishments the Fay mete out cannot result in death. But they are allowed to cause Greston and the inhabitants of Golden Isle to waste their lives unproductively, to not have children, and to use any dead inhabitants of Golden Island as they see fit.An eladrin named Xicene was chosen to recruit fay to administer this punishment.Xicene began with myconids: she felt it was appropriate that since humans consume wheat to sustain themselves, it was appropriate to use the fay of fungus, which consumes animal tissue, to punish them. She recruited a myconid king named Ergot.Ergot proposed a punishment that fit the crime precisely: his tribe of alchemists could create poisons that, when administered, weakened perceptions and wills. Xicene and her cohorts could then use illusions and charms to change the behavior of the islanders to something more appropriate without killing them. Xicene agreed to this plan.Ergot, however, has been corrupted by the Shadowfell. Although he intends to keep to the letter of his agreement with Xicene, his spirit is perfectly comfortable with "accidentally" killing the population of the island. After all, a fungus has to eat somehow.Ergot and his alchemists mixed up a potion that, when burned, emits a cloud of gas that weakens the will. Xicene recruited a few gnomes to help her add the potion to Greston's next shipment of lamp oil. That shipment was delivered a week ago, right before harvest. Xicene and Ergot have moved in to administer then punishment. Then the PC's arrived...Dramatis PersonaeErgot, an advanced Myconid king...possibly with a class template. Certainly without ethics.Ergot's tribe, advanced myconidsXicene: eladrin warlock of vengeanceXicene's cabal: eladrin/gnome/wilden warlocks and illusionist wizards.SynopsisThe PC's come to the docks of Golden Isle, which are deserted and filled with traps. The PC's must navigate through the docks to Greston's wheat plantation, defended by Ergot and his tribe of plant-fey. Once Ergot and his fey are driven off, the party must enter the farmhouse, find Greston, free his mind, and placate or drive away Xicene and her cabal of enchanters. Hooks1. Greston has standing offers for rituals related to farming and books about Nature and Dungeoneering (he uses the Dungeoneering to help him with engineering projects). PC's may regard him as a depository for otherwise unprofitable materials.2. PC's may be asked to guard grain barges picking up the grain from Golden Isle.3. Fay PC's or primal PC's may have gotten word of Xicene's mission. They may be attempting to forestall it -- or support it. But even fay PC's inclined to support Xicene will recognize Ergot has encroached on the ancient edicts and needs to be reined in.Act 1: The DocksAs the PC's approach the docks, they see nobody about...including the harbor pilot. The harbor is oddly choked with floating logs and with no pilot, the PC's have a terrible time tying up.Once the PC's get onto the docks, things only get stranger. There should be teamsters and haulers and riggers and all manner of people about: this is a good-sized shipping facility.It's also a well-trapped shipping facility. Ergot isn't allowed to attack visitors, but he's not responsible if someone steps on a nail or has a pile of badly balanced boxes fall on their heads. Ergot has also made sure all the lamps are full of his doctored lamp oil and constantly lit. The PC's must make a skill challenge to pass through the trapped docks.This challenge uses:Thievery (to detect and disarm rough traps) ModeratePerception (to detect a trap so it can be avoided) ModerateAthletics (to catch falling crates and such) ModerateAcrobatics (to leap over sudden hazards) ModeratePC's may assist one another in these checks. Failure in the checks means the PC and all characters assisting them lose a healing surge. The PC's must succeed in five checks to get off the docks.Every time a PC makes a check, all PC's in the party must make an Endurance check. Failure means they are affected by the fumes from the lamps and take a penalty of -2 to Perception and Insight checks, plus a -1 penalty to Will saves. These penalties persist until the party takes an extended rest.If a PC rolls a hard perception check in the skill challenge, not only do they score a success, but they also realize something is wrong with the lamps. A moderate Heal check will reveal the lamps are producing some sort of intoxicating fumes. After that, a hard Arcana or Nature check will reveal this is an alchemical brew using fungus from the Feywild. An exceptional Healing, Arcana, or Nature check will reveal what the fumes do: otherwise, the PC's don't know how or if they've been affected.Every time a PC makes a check, all PC's in the party must make an Endurance check. Failure means they are affected by the fumes from the lamps and take a penalty of -2 to Perception and Insight checks, plus a -1 penalty to Will saves. These penalties persist until the party takes an extended rest.Act II: The plantation.After getting off the docks, the party can move up the road towards the plantation. As they come up to the fields, they see everyone, from farmers to dockworkers to clerks, harvesting grain. The workers are dazed and non-responsive: they've been smelling Ergot's fumes for most of the week and are now stoned out of their minds: they'll believe anything anyone tells them with a DC 5 Bluff check.After a few rounds of interaction, Ergot will appear. He is badly disguised in a hooded cloak: he'll get a +2 on his Bluff check to pass as human, but anyone with a substantial penalty to their Perception from his fumes may still fail to recognize him as anything else.Ergot recognizes the PC's as a threat and whips up his work crew to deal with them, shouting loudly "Those newcomers are wheat! Walking, talking Wheat! Reap them!". The work crew will start off after the (bemused) PC's. Treat the drugged work crew as a zombie throng from page 198 of Open Grave, but without any immunities, resistances, or vulnerabilities, a perception of 0, and no darkvision. And they're not undead, they're just alive and stoned out of their mind.The PC's may fight the work crew using weapons, but a DC 10 Insight check suggests they're so suggestible they'll believe anything. PC's may use a standard action to make a Bluff check against the mob and subtract 10. The result is the number of hit points damage the work crew takes, but it isn't actually damage -- the mob just believes the PC's when they explain they aren't wheat, so they stop fighting.The mob will be supported by Ergot and his tribe of myconids. These cannot be bluffed. They will attack the PC's until the PC's are bloodied, then withdraw and let the work crew finish them off.Ergot will shift as much damage as he can to his guards and run for the house if he gets bloodied.The guards will retreat to the house if they find they cannot attack the party. The work crew will fight to the death...or confusion.If anyone in the party takes a moment to examine the grain, they will find it has been infected with a fungus. A difficult nature check reveals this fungus causes hallucinations if it's eaten.Act III: the farmhouseThis is a large comfortable farmhouse with a magical library and workroom attached. Greston is here, almost as out of it as the work crew outside. Xicene and her cabal of helpers have throughly befuddled him with charms and illusions. He believes Xicene and her cabal are visiting scholars come to discuss and review his work in agricultural magic. As he shows them his work, Xicene is having her cabal make alterations to it, providing incorrect or dangerous information. She's also corrupting his ritual book: so that instead of containing rituals that enhance agriculture, his rituals will change the plants into plant monsters.Graston is more in touch with reality than his work crew: he will talk to the PC's cheerfully, if vaguely.He will be shocked about the condition of his docks, apologize, and send a work crew down to rectify the situation.He will be even more shocked if he hears his work crew has attacked the PC's: if he confronts the crew and tells them to stop, they will do so immediately.He will also notice if the PC's have blood on their weapons from his work crew -- and not be happy.If the PC's show him myconid corpses he will be shocked.If the PC's reveal Ergot to him in his true form (by ripping off his cloak) he will be shocked -- but Xycene and her cabal will try to Bluff him into believing that Ergot isn't a mushroom, he's just fat and pale and ugly and looks like a mushroom.If the PC's attack Graston or his guests, he will defend himself and them. The cabal will use any charm or illusion powers they have to get the party to attack Graston. Fay will attack the party themselves until the party is bloody, then back off and let Graston finish them. The fey will flee if they are bloodied.If the party can grant Graston a saving throw and he makes it, he will throw off the effects of the charms and change sides. At this point, all the fay will break off: their mission is compromised.The myconids are angry and desperate now: they will not stop attacking the party if the party is bloodied. As soon as a myconid attacks another party member, however, Xicene and her cabal will be horrified and flee.The party can also attempt to bring Graston to a realization of his situation.This can be done using Diplomacy checks, Arcana checks to point out the alterations of his ritual book, Healing checks made to call Graston's attention to the lamps and the fumes they emit, Nature checks to help him identify the monsters in the room.These checks are at a penalty if the PC's have hurt Graston's employees.PC's making insight checks during this discussion can realize Xicene is very much alarmed at what Ergot has done. Successful Bluff checks might startle her into revealing damaging information about her plans, giving the PC's a bonus on these checks.If the PC's succeed in their skill challenge, Grasston will admit he might be under a spell and allow the PC's to cast Dispel Magic, grant him a saving throw, or even go walk outside a little to get the fumes out of his lungs. Once he comes back to himself, Xycene will depart again: the jig is up.IngredientsGaslamp: When fuelled with Ergot's special oil, the oil lamps on Golden Island emit mind-altering Gas.Gaslighting: Gaslighting is a form of torture whereby the onlookers tell  their victims that real changes in their environment are, in fact, imaginary. Grasston will do this unconsciously to the PC's as they try to convince him his guests are hostile fay. PC's badly affected by the gas from the lamps may be Gaslighted by the fay.Deserted Docks: the opening scene of the adventureCompromised Magnate: Grasston the wheat magnate is compromised mentally by the fay. Ergot the myconid king is morally compromised by his desire to see people die. Xycene is compromised by Ergot's actions.Encroaching Fungus: Ergot encroaches on the terms of the fay vengeance pack and also encroaches -- grows into -- Golden IslePicture of Zappy Chick: That's Xycene, teleporting away after the party thwarts her mission.</blockquote>

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