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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pentius" data-source="post: 5624890" data-attributes="member: 6676736">'Til Death Do We PartIngredients:Righteous WizardHive QueenCrystal AxebladeHidden WatchtowerUnending PursuitLover's LeapSynopsis:Til Death Do We Part is an adventure written for a party of characters of roughly 14th-16th level using 4th edition D&D rules, though it should be convertible to other systems easily enough.  The adventure consists of two main parts, recvering the lost axe from Tanner, and stealing Lydia back from the clutches of an Aboleth.Hook:Either the party should come across the village of Timbervale in their travels, or Timbervale should be a few days' travel from a larger town that the party is in/goes through.  The party is contacted by a man named Abner.  In late 20's, his loose, rune-inscribed robes, crystal-tipped staff and ink-stained fingers mark him as a wizard.  Bags under his eyes, unkempt hair and the wilted appearance of one who has suddenly lost weight mark him as a man  fallen on hard times.  Initially, Abner tries to tell his entire tale in a rush, but takes a deep breath and explains his situation.  His wife, Lydia, has been abducted by an Aboleth in a rare surface sighting near their home village of Timbervale.  Divinations reveal her to be alive, but tell little else.  Abner has been straining himself, and his credit, trying to devise a way to rescue her, but despite being a skilled wizard, he is a poor fighter.  His main hope had been an axe with a crystal blade, a traditional wedding gift in Timbervale.  Abner admits that he always thought it a silly tradition, but after his wife's abduction, the ornamental axe took on meaning, and he has used his magic along with what he could learn of Aboleths to forge it into a tool that could cut through whatever foul enchanments and, here he shudders, modifications the Aboleth may have made to Lydia.  As a symbol of their wedding, he can also use the axe to trace his wife, important since the Aboleth's lair is well concealed.However, the reagents he used for the axe he requisitioned on credit from Breg Tanner, a local mercenary and occasional black market dealer.  Abner has not been able to make his payments, being consumed in his work with the axe, and when Tanner's men came to collect, they took the axe as payment.  He promises the party finder's rights on any treasure in the Aboleth's lair, noting that they often have valuable spell reagents.  If the party contains a ritual caster, he offers to let them copy his entire ritual book, containing a variety of rituals often pertaining to water and purification from levels 1-15.  If the party agrees to help, Abner urges them to start immediately on retrieving the crystal axe.  Tanner's gang is located outside Timbervale, near a current logging camp, but in a recently abandoned one.  They make camp in one of several old watchtowers, which even with Tanner's man there, looks abandoned until the party comes into the camp, and someone succeeds on a medium DC Perception check.      Even Abner is unsure of their precise location, since they move often, and can only lead the party to the right logging camp.  If the party tries to get info from the logging camp or the village, they can gain a reasonable idea of which tower it is with an easy DC(for the camp) or hard DC(for the village) streetwise check, as Tanner's men are often hired by the loggers to handle threats from the forest.  Once the party finds the tower, they must decide how to approach Tanner and his men.  If the party found Tanner's tower right away, they can catch the mercenaries relatively by surprise and their disorganized nature will make any fighting or stealing easier.  It will also give them a +2 circumstance bonus on any attempts at negotiating with Tanner for the return of the axe, since he will respect them for finding his tower easily.  If the Pcs do not find the tower quickly, the mercenaries are well organized in case of a conflict, and fighting or thef become harder.  Negotiation is still a valid tactic.  The entrance is guarded by Sten, a human with a cocky attitude, and Clammy, a big, yet level-headed orc.  The two are persuaded easily enough to allow an audience with Tanner, if they are approached evenly.  Any attempt at violence or underhandedness leads even Clammy to be closed to the idea of negotitation.  Tanner himself is an especially cunning half-orc who is never seen without his trusty bulldog, Stubbs.  Stubbs is the main impediment to theft, evading him effectively requires a Hard DC Stealth check.  Should battle be joined, Tanner leads his men from the front, and the whole gang works well together.  Should the party try to negotiate for the return of the axe, Tanner will first try to get them to pay Abner's debt, a matter of 25,000 gold(or gold equivalent to a magic item of the party's level).  He will also accept the party leaving something as collateral, but is a shrewd haggler, and will not accept any collateral he can't recoup his money on.  Once the party has acquired the axe, Abner can use his Magic Map ritual to locate the entrance to the Aboleth's lair, which appears to be a small, yet empty patch of swamp.  The entrance is a watchtower, hidden by illusion.  It can be detected by means of Arcana if the party tries to Detect Magic, or by a medium DC perception check.  If neither of these is sufficient, Abner can cast Banish Illusions, but the ritual takes an hour to complete, so he will not use it from the onset. Once the tower is revealed, the party can enter easily.  The entry is guarded by a few Skum, but they are weak and Lydia is not among them.  Their main function is warn the rest by way of piercing screams.  Once inside, the party must race to find Lydia in the slimy chambers beneath the tower before the Aboleth can foil them.  It is a powerful adversary in its own right, and if it finds the party a hard fight(level+3-4) will ensue.  The chambers are laid out in a simple 3x3 pattern, with Lydia in the left chamber of the third row and the party entering in the middle of the first row.   There are also  regular patrols of Skum in the hallways, that though easy(minions only) will hold up the party.  The Aboleth(use Aboleth Slime Mage, from MM) will use Skum minions to keep a line between itself and the party, firing from the back row and using its Dominate ability to keep melee combatants away from itself, or to pull ranged ones forward.  It begins in the right side of the third row, but will move slowly toward any sounds of battle.  In Lydia's chamber, she is connected to a large pool of slime by four tentacles that are imbedded in her shoulders.  The chamber contains a number of Skum and the pool gives rise to a fresh one to three each round.  Lydia fights weakly as well, though she is rooted to the spot.  A character with the crystal axe can use it as a standard action to sever one of the tentacles.  When all four are severed, Lydia will regain herself and stop trying to attack the party.  She will also be mobile, though she will lack the strength to fight any more.  If the Aboleth comes upon the party after they have rescued lydia, it will attempt to grab her, but will not kill her.  When bloodied, the Aboleth will try to flee, taking Lydia with it if it can.  In the Aboleth's chamber are a number of valuable(if slimy) reagents for spells as well as an underwater tunnel leading down into the depths of the Underdark.  If the Aboleth escapes, it will surely plot the party's downfall.  If it escpaes with Lydia in tow, Abner will allow the copying of his rituals, but will try to persuade the party to press the pursuit.  The underwater nature of the tunnel likely makes this a separate adventue, though.Ingredients:Righteous Wizard: Abner, the plot hook and npc patronHive Queen: Lydia, the object of the quest, a young woman turned Queen of SkumCrystal Axeblade: enchantment breaker, homing beacon, wedding gift.Unending Pursuit: Abner's search for his wife, possibly unended by the adventure's end, and possibly continued by an angry Aberration.Hidden Watchtower: Tanner's outpost and the Aboleth's lair, one has a concealed watchtower, the other is hidden in a watchtower.Lover's Leap: Abner leaps into danger to save his love, and the party must leap into slime to do the same.  This one was a toughie for me, I'll admit.</blockquote>

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