Iron DM Round 1, Match 3- Gradine vs UselessTriviaMan
The Ingredients
Give or Take- The bet Hades makes the party. Solve his puzzle, and take the Orc hero’s soul; or fail, and give one of their own in return
Heavy Water- The River Styx. Its murky waters weighs all who fall in down, imprisoning them to the torment of eternal drowning
Diseased Alderman- Hegio, leader of men, slowly infected with mistrust and racial animus by the Hatred of Ares.
Celebrated Orc- Tyndarus, the ancient Orc hero and only soul, living or dead, with the answer to curing the Hatred of Ares. Also potentially Homer, if the party requires his humming to save the day.
Distant Terminus- The realm of Hades, land of the dead, at the end of long journey down the River Styx.
Universal Language- Mathematics and music, both key to solving Hades’ riddle and putting an end to the Hatred of Ares.
The Hatred of Ares
A mid to high level fantasy adventure, set in the Mythic Greek-inspired realm of Elis
“So difficult a thing, to sustain a war. So strange, the nature of a beast to so quickly turn to violence, and yet so quickly learn of its cost. How fitting, it is, that to end a war is so simple. Never easy, but always simple.”
-Aeschylus, Ancient Elisian Poet
Introduction
The past few years have seen a stark decline in Human-Orc relations. Several of Humanity’s leaders, most notably Alderman Hegio of the powerful city-state Aetolia, have begun to spread fear and mistrust amongst of the Orcs amongst his people. In recent months, under the demagoguery of Hegio, the people of Aetolia have driven the last of the Orcs and Half-Orcs from their city. Hegio’s influence has now spread throughout the city-states, and humanity prepares for a long, grueling war with the Orcs.
Known to no mortal and suspected by only a few, Hegio’s creeping racism, now quickly growing overt, is the second coming of the Rage of Ares: a violence-inducing disease that sparked a brief but near-cataclysmic war between Man and Orc centuries ago. This more subtle disease, soon to be known as the Hatred of Ares, promises a longer and even more devastating war. Only our heroes can discover the truth behind the affliction, and race to find its cure before a second war can engulf the region in misery and death.
Background
Many centuries ago Man and Orc lived apart; Humanity in their cities and Orcs in their tribal forest communities. Athena taught Man mathematics, architecture and engineering, allowing their cities to grow great. Ares taught Orcs to follow their passions, most notably their rage, launching into endless tribal feuds and wars. While Man saw Orcs as monsters and shunned them, Athena took pity on the creatures, in whom she saw much potential. She offered her gifts to a tribe of Orcs, and under her guidance turned their passion into creativity, learning art, dance and music. Ares, angered by this, infected the humans of Elis with a terrible, violent rage. This disease would later be known as the Rage of Ares.
Humanity embarked on a massive, destructive campaign of war and violence, both against each other and the Orcs they so disdained. Athena rose to the defense of the Orcs, and chose as her champion the great Orc hero Tyndarus. Legend holds that Tyndarus single-handedly cured Humanity of the Rage of Ares, and ushered in a golden age of Human-Orc relations. In the end, Ares maintained his sovereignty over Humanity, while Athena claimed dominion over the Orcs. Ares taught Humanity passion, while Athena brought creativity to the Orcs. Both Humanity and Orc began to embrace their dual natures, with Half-Orcs venerated as diplomats and a reminder of what can be accomplished when two halves make a whole.
This history is known to any native of Elis, as well as most individuals from realms bordering the region.
Ares has been biding his time. Somewhat derisively called “The God of War”, Ares is the dark half of Athena. He is raw, unbridled passion where she is calm, calculating wisdom. Her nature is creation. His nature is destruction. But he has learned a thing or two from the humans he shepherds. He has gained patience, and has learned that the dimmest fires burn longest. He has replaced Rage with something more sinister, and more enduring. He has discovered Hatred.
Hooks
· A PC native to the region is sent a letter from a relative who has heard of the PC’s great deeds. He warns of the brewing war and begs the PC to intervene.
· Trade and communication has slowed to a near stop between Elis and neighboring regions. A patron of the PCs hires the party to investigate the disturbance.
· The PCs are travelling through the region by happenstance. They soon stumble across the Orc Homer (see Scene 1 below).
Overview
This adventure tells the story of the Hatred of Ares, and the quest the party must undertake to cure it before it leads to a devastating war. The main events of the quest are presented in a linear fashion, but they do not have to be run as such. The party may follow the breadcrumbs presented in this adventure, or they may choose to explore the region on their own first. Alexandria and Aetolia are two Human city-states that may be of interest to the party. Alexandria is far from Alderman Hegio’s influence, and remains a safe, if somewhat tense, haven for non-human characters. Its vast libraries contain much information about the region, its history and its deities. A thorough search may turn up important clues, such as Athena’s fascination with the Golden Ratio. Aetolia is barred to any non-humans but it is not impenetrable, and may give the party a first-hand glimpse of both Hegio’s racist demagoguery as well as the vicious war machines being constructed. Humanity has kept this war buildup secretive, and are planning a vicious pre-emptive strike against the Orcs.
The party will quickly learn that the humans of Elis have grown violently fearful of non-humans, and Orcs and Half-Orcs in particular. The Half-Orc Chieftess Hypathia shares with them her suspicions that Humanity prepares for war, afflicted by a curse similar to the Rage of Ares that once plagued their land. Hypathia has searched for an answer and has found only one: travel to Hades, the Realm of the Dead, to seek the aid of Tyndarus, the great Orc Hero, and find the cure to the affliction before the region descends into a brutal, bloody war.
Scene 1 – The Orc in Distress
This adventure begins with the PCs entering the region of Elis. Anyone familiar with the region will note that the road is unusually quiet. At a time you feel appropriate, the PCs stumble across the Orc Homer, fleeing for his life from small cohort of Aetolian soldiers. The PCs may attempt to hide Homer as he begs them for protection, but they while not have a great deal of time to do so, and may be at a disadvantage unless the party is quick and clever. If there is anyone of Orcish descent in the party, one of the soldiers utters a racial epitaph and attack on sight. Otherwise they demand the party turn over the Orc. If the party is successful in hiding Homer, the soldiers question them. Unless the party is made up entirely of humans, the soldiers are highly suspicious, which will make bluffing them more difficult. If at any point the soldiers strongly suspect that the party is hiding the Orc they attack, focusing their attacks on members of Orcish descent first, then demi-humans second, leaving the humans last.
Once the soldiers are taken care of, the Orc introduces himself, and answers the party’s questions to the best of his ability. He knows much of the background of the region and can fill in gaps of the party’s knowledge of both historical and recent events. His mistress, the great scholar Eugenia of Alexandria, was slain by Aetolian soldiers trying to carry rare books to the Orc Chieftess Hypathia. Homer escaped with the books and his life, if only barely. He knows little of the significant of the books, and is hesitant to show them to the party. Homer is a nervous and bumbling individual on his best days, and today is certainly not. He requests safe passage to Kyros, where Hypathia awaits.
The book The Legend of Tyndarus tells the tale of his turning the tide against the Rage of Ares. The other book, Inferno, tells of a journey into the depths of Hades, the realm of the dead. Several of the soldiers carry small pamphlets labeled Hegio Tracts, which contain crude drawings and warnings of the true savagery and brutality of the Orcish scourge.
Scene 2: Kyros
Kyros is small and fairly typical Orcish community, deep in the Aegean Woods. Like most Orcish tribes, it is primarily agricultural (another gift from Athena), which has allowed many of its members to pursue the arts. Music typically plays at all hours, as the Orcs are nocturnal and sleep in small bursts during the day, apart from a long communal sleep in the late afternoon. The tribe’s Chieftess, Hypathia, is a Half-Orc, and tends towards more scholarly pursuits. Her favorite subject is connection between mathematics (a specialty of Humanity) and music (a speciality of Orcs), and she will speak on the subject at great length if given half the opportunity. The Orcs of her tribe, and especially Homer, think it weird to think of music so rigidly, but mostly humor her out of respect to her wisdom and great leadership.
Hypathia also enjoys history, and is one of the first among the Orcs to suspect that Hegio’s racist rhetoric is a more subtle take on the ancient Rage of Ares. Hypathia has taken to calling it the “Hatred of Ares”, and while she has shared her theories with other Orc leaders she has yet to gain much traction. Most Orcs believe that the Humans will turn away from their isolationism once they see how poorly off they are without having the Orcs around, and don’t believe that Humans would be so foolish as to embark on another huge war.
Hypathia and Eugenia spent much time discussing their theories, and poured over countless books on the subject of Tyndarus. While there are many accounts about Tyndarus single-handedly ending the threat of the Rage of Ares, Hypathia has found no accounts of how he actually accomplished this. Hypathia grows desperate, and has begun looking to another solution: find the entrance to Hades, the Realm of the Dead, and ask Tyndarus himself. Hypathia believes that the book Inferno holds the answers she seeks, but she fears that she will not be able to convince anyone in her tribe to undertake such a dangerous journey. She begs the party to help them. Although the tribe is not wealthy, they have crafted many fine pieces of artwork that would collective sell for a great amount to right foreign collector, and Hypathia also has a few magical items of Orcish make to offer, if the party needs convincing.
First, Hypathia needs proof to convince the other Orcish tribes that Humanity prepares for war. If all else fails, Orckind at least needs a fighting chance to defend themselves. She asks the party to infiltrate Aetolia. If the party has already been to Aetolia and believes her story, Hypathia still asks for proof. If the party presents it, Hypathia needs a few days to decipher Inferno.
Scene 3: The War Machine
As mentioned in the Overview, Aetolia is currently banned to all non-humans. Presently, the only humans allowed into the city are conscripts in the city’s ever-growing army. Human party members may choose to infiltrate the army as conscripts. Non-humans will either need a strong disguise or infiltrate the city by other means. The safest means is through the city’s sewage outlets, though flight, invisibility, and other means are options as well.
The city itself is whipped into a frenzy of racism. All the people talk about are how vile and evil the Orcs are, and how Hegio had been right all these years not to trust them. The characters should be given an opportunity to catch a speech by the Alderman himself. He is charismatic and holds the crowd in sway, though it is helpful that at this point he is mostly preaching to the choir. He is an older man, and it is apparent that the people in the city hold him in the highest esteem. Any non-humans caught on the streets of the city will likely find themselves attacked at the hands of mob violence.
Gathering evidence will require infiltration into one of the city’s new military compounds. There is an abundance of evidence to be found, though none of it easy to reach. Letters to other city-states containing information on the number of troops or war engines pledged, as well as designs for new war engines. A letter written by Alderman Hegio to his most trusted general detailing his plans for the pre-emptive strike is the most damning evidence, but also the most difficult to retrieve. Any non-humans caught on a military compound will be attacked and executed on the spot.
Scene 4: The River Styx
By the time the party returns Hypathia has discerned the likely location of the entrance to Hades: the mouth of the River Styx. It lies deep underground, through the dangerous caves underneath the nearby Mount Olympus. The caves are treacherous, home to the violent Duerger, and are often avoided by all but the most foolhardy.
To the surprise of most of the tribe, Homer offers to join the party on their journey to Hades. Hypathia is not shocked, however; Homer has long discussed with her his fascination with death and afterlife.
Fouler creatures besides Duerger lie deeper still, including Hades’ servant Hell Hounds and Kenku and the restless souls of Undead creatures who failed to pay the ferryman’s toll. This should be a grueling and dangerous journey; the Realm of the Dead is not so easily entered by the living. As the party descends deeper, Homer grows less nervous and more excited, and even begins prodding the party forward when they stop for rest.
The mouth of the River Styx is swarming with many spirits, trapped forever in Limbo. Most have lost their minds and all sense of their self after an eternity of boredom. A group of intelligent spirits may attack the party, hoping to steal their gold to pay the ferryman, or simply out of sheer spite for the living.
The ferryman cannot discern the difference between the living and the dead. He requires two coins from each passenger; he does not care about their origin or their denomination, but he can tell whether he is handed true currency or not, and will accept no false or counterfeit coin. He is large and imposing, and will physically block any passenger who tries to board without paying. If attacked he immediately causes the ferry to vanish, immediately sending any who already boarded the bottom of the River Styx, from which there is no return. If defeated, a new ferryman arrives in a new ferry in 24 hours.
Once the party boards they depart down the River Styx. The journey is long, though uneventful. There is little to do on the ferry, and the River is dangerous. Any person whose skin contacts the River must make a difficult save or else be overcome by waves of depression. They must continue to make such a save for every turn they remain in contact with the water. They then feel compelled to enter the River, and will attempt to do so until they succeed or are pulled completely from the water. The River Styx is never all that deep (no more than 15 feet at any point, give or take), but once fully submerged it is impossible to leave. The water is thick and heavy, and swimming is impossible even if one is able to resist the depression and compulsion long enough to attempt it. Falling in the River Styx leads to an eternity of endless drowning, of suffering with no release. A helpful spirit advises the party not to touch the water.
The greatest challenge to the party is maintaining their sanity through the four-day long trip down the river. The bottom of the river is filled with the drowning damned, and their endless moaning somehow manages to pierce the surface. At times stars appear in the sky, despite it still seeming like the river is flowing deeper and deeper underground. The stars hum a strange melody, and anyone taking time to study them determine they are actually glowbugs, and much closer than they initially appeared. Anyone with proficiency in singing or musical instruments will be able to pick up a few common patterns, although unless they are also well versed in mathematics, engineering, or studied the Golden Ratio at Alexandria (unlikely at this point), they’re not entirely sure what the pattern means, other than they are discordant, but also strangely calming. The pattern they are humming is actually the musical expression of the mathematical expression of the Golden Ratio.
Homer, at this point, is completely calm. This will be first time anyone sees him smiling, which he does often. He spends most of the trip laying on deck of the ferry, humming along to the melody of the glow bugs. Occasionally he mimics the groans of the drowning dead, then chuckles quietly to himself.
Everything about the trip is unsettling.
It is important to emphasize the maddening dullness of the journey, but it is not advised to dwell too long. Emphasize the glowbugs, Homer’s weirdness, maybe roll a few sanity checks (without enough failures causing a PC to gain a quirk or flaw) and move along.
Scene 5: Hades, Realm of the Dead
Hades is a vast realm filled much that could catch an interested adventurer’s attention. It is difficult to navigate, and you could easily fill several session’s worth of material in the party finding their way upon reaching the realm’s shores. If you’d prefer to expedite the situation (and the adventurers are on a time crunch, after all), have the party met at the harbor by a Kenku emissary of Hades himself. Hades knows the purpose of their visit, and has instructed the Kenku to lead the characters to where they can find the soul of Tyndarus. Homer at this point wanders off, oblivious to the party and their quest.
The journey is brief, as Hades has the ability to make the travel as short or as long as he pleases. Glowbugs appear, though in lesser abundance. They continue to hum the same discordant, but weirdly calming tune.
Hades is many things to many people, but his favorite guise when dealing with the living is that of a short, balding, slightly overweight middle-aged man wearing small spectacles and a worn, wrinkled suit. If angered, he shows flashes of a much more disturbing and demonic visage, but this is mostly for sure as well. He has so few amusements these days, and he’s willing to the help the party if they’re willing to amuse him. Besides, he grows weary of Athena and Ares’s constant bickering.
Hades wants the party to answer a riddle. He says that it should be easy for heroes of such great renown to answer, and poses a bet. Guess correctly, and he’ll give the adventurers Tyndarus’s soul. Guess incorrectly, and he will take one of their souls as forfeit.
Hades poses the riddle as follows: “Tell me the fundamental truth of the universe, in the universe’s own language.”
If the party is stumped, he gives them 24 hours in Hades to find the answer.
The party has free reign of Hades during this time, and once they are ready to answer, or at the end of the 24 hours, the party finds themselves back in the presence of Hades.
The answer is the song that the glowbugs sing. It is trivial to find a group of glowbugs and only slightly more difficult to catch and release them. Anyone versed in music can learn the song from the glowbugs and sing or play the song for Hades. If the party has difficult solving the riddle, have them bump into Homer towards the end of their time limit. He’ll be humming the same song when they find him, though he wont think of the answer and wont hum it in front of Hades (in the presence of whom he suddenly regains his nervousness).
If the party fails to provide an answer, or provides a wrong answer, Hades will claim a soul and give the party another 24 hours, at which point he provides the clue that they are closer to the answer than they think. The party can convince Homer to sacrifice his own soul in the event that this happens. He’s a little hesitant, but he warms to the idea eventually.
In truth, Hades wants the party to figure out the answer and truly believes it to be a fairly easy riddle. He’s mostly in it to see the look on the party’s face when they finally meet the great Tyndarus.
Scene 6: The Great Tyndarus
Tyndarus is an Orcish child of about 5 years of age.
He cannot speak, and barely acts like he understands or notices anything around him. This is not a condition he gained from centuries of neglect or torment in Hades. Tyndarus was never anything more than what the party sees before them; a small child, blind and deaf from birth.
“And yet the legends are true!” Hades shouts with uproarious laughter before vanishing.
Tyndarus was blessed with something not even Athena truly understand; he did not hear the sounds around him, but instead he heard the music of the universe. He would have been murdered at an early age if not for the intervention of old Orcish shaman, one of the first of Athena’s blessed. Under the shaman’s guidance Tyndarus began to sing the only song he could ever know.
The Golden Ratio, expressed as mathematical formula, itself expressed through song.
The day the shaman lost sight of Tyndarus is the day the young Orc wandered onto the battlefield, singing his song. And it was that day that the Rage of Ares was cured. Mortally wounded, the young Orc gave his life, unknowingly, to save the realm.
Tyndarus sings for the party, but does little else, and does not leave from the spot he is sitting. He is incorporeal and cannot be moved.
Once it becomes apparent that the party knows what they need to do, Hades appears before them again, no longer able to amuse himself at the party’s frustration. He offers to teleport them to the field of battle. There’s a war on, and Hades wants to get a good seat. He does tell them that they can’t take anyone they’ve found with them, and that includes the glowbugs, except for Tyndarus, who won’t budge. If the party does not have anyone versed enough in music to have learned the song, they will need to find Homer and convince him to leave (he’d really rather stick around a while, if they don’t mind).
Scene 7: The Field of War
Hades teleports the party into the middle of a vast plain in Elis. On both sides of them line up the gathered armies of Man and Orc, ready to wage an endless war fueled by hatred and mistrust. The armies are currently charging. Hades floats above, citing the better view.
The song takes a short amount of time to really take effect, during which time they are caught in a deadly melee between Human and Orcish forces. If Homer is required to sing the song, he clams up, his former nervousness returning. He is frightened both of the battle and at the thought of public performance, and will need to be both protected and convinced to sing the song. Alderman Hegio himself leads the charge, and is both a formidable spellcaster and keenly aware that the song will cure the disease. He orders his personal guard to kill anyone singing.
Orcish troops are mainly concerned with fighting for their lives, though a few close to Hypathia figure it out, throw down their arms and begin to sing along. This song spreads through the Orcish ranks quickly, and while it causes many defenseless Orcs to get cut down, given enough time and enough Orcs the Humans cease their attack as the Hatred of Ares fades.
Aftermath
If the party is successful during this battle they will have saved countless lives, as well as the homes of Orc and Man alike. Many lives were still lost in the battle, though it does not compare to the death and destruction a long war would have caused, or even the amount of death letting the battle come to its conclusion would cause.
If Alderman Hegio survives the encounter he is aware that his affliction is cured and grateful for it. He still has trouble shaking some lingering feelings of fear and mistrust, and warns that while he is committed to peace, it will take some time to repair the damage that has been done. Many of the soldiers in the Human army were not afflicted with the disease, and the pervasive spread of racial animus caused by the Hatred of Ares will take time to eradicate.
The party may have to flee the battle to regroup and attempt the song again. Orcish musicians can be trained the song and play it on battlefields. It may be possible for the party to capture Alderman Hegio and sing the song for him to cure his affliction. This will allow him to try to reverse the tide of war internally, but if the initial battle is allowed to end it will be a struggle as the vast armies of Man will split to hunt down stragglers and attack isolated villages.
