Imhotepthewise
Explorer
Faded Memory
Unasked Question
The End
Dangerous Knowledge
Rats
Brown Mold
Might As Well Be Walking On The Sun
[The sun is changing due to the machinations of the illithids]
The lands where the PCs live are getting hotter by the day. The days are unbearable, nearly impossible to be outside for any length of time. It almost slips the collective people’s minds that it is fall, and temperatures should be going down. Seeing the leaves change color was impossible, as the trees and most other plants have been burnt dead by the merciless heat of the sun.
One of the PCs henchmen’s grandfather calls his grandchild to his closed up home and shows him a diagram he has made on a parchment on the wall. A beam of sunlight shines in from a tiny hole in the wall, landing on the parchment. An inked circle lies well within the beam’s circle on the parchment. The grandfather learned of this method long ago, how to observe the sun when the eclipse happens, though, like many things these days, he cannot remember where.
The grandfather is not sure what is happening. He can only see the projected disk getting bigger and the heat getting hotter.
The grandfather says that the people cannot stay here much longer. Traveling in any direction will not allow hiding from the sun. The grandfather seems to remember there is an entrance to the underdark through the caves nearby. Long ago, he says there was a trading station deep in the underdark that he visited as a very young man, but it was later overrun by subterranean creatures and abandoned. He says the way is fraught with danger, but it may be the only place to be safe from the heat.
The grandchild is not comfortable relying on the grandfather’s memory. The grandchild knows of the caves, and many of the caves have collapsed over the years.
One cave has become popular recently because it is bathed in cool air flowing up from deep in the earth. People have stayed near its entrance, fearing to venture down into its depths. A constant stream of rodents has been flowing down into the darkness, fleeing the heat outside.
The PCs must get out of the heat or it will eventually kill them. They must flee the surface and settle in the underdark.
The henchman loves the grandfather, but knows to bring him along will probably kill him. The henchman tells the PC that he is hesitant to ask the grandfather to come. The PCs can support this silence, or encourage the henchman to bring him along. The grandfather, though stubborn, will relent and try, if successfully convinced by the henchman supported by the PCs. If they get the grandfather to the trading station alive, they should be well rewarded.
The PCs enter the cave and pass the people who sought shelter there. Some may be convinced to come along, but will turn back if things seem too difficult. The party is constantly brushed by the bodies of rats and other vermin taking the same path down into the darkness. The cave air gets colder and colder.
The PCs travel down and come upon a cave with a great sinkhole that nearly encompasses the entire floor. Cold air pumps up from the depth of this hole. The cave narrows and continues on the other side. The left path around is wide, but marked with dark stains. The path to the right is narrow and broken in many places. The rats moving down the left path die screeching when touching the dark stains, which causes the stains to grow as a result. The rats moving down the right path negotiate the narrow path, leaping from shattered piece to piece, some making it, some falling screeching into the darkness below.
If the PCs travel across the dark stains, they will suffer the cold attack of the stain, but may possibly make it around. If the PCs negotiate to narrow broken path, there are enough handholds to make it all the way around with difficulty.
On the other side of the sinkhole, the path winds deep into the underdark. The PCs come upon the trading station, heavily damaged by the attacks of long ago. The conquerors obviously took what they wanted and sank back down into the darkness. There is water flowing nearby, the air is nice and cool, and there are plenty of rats to kill and eat for a while.
Unasked Question
The End
Dangerous Knowledge
Rats
Brown Mold
Might As Well Be Walking On The Sun
[The sun is changing due to the machinations of the illithids]
The lands where the PCs live are getting hotter by the day. The days are unbearable, nearly impossible to be outside for any length of time. It almost slips the collective people’s minds that it is fall, and temperatures should be going down. Seeing the leaves change color was impossible, as the trees and most other plants have been burnt dead by the merciless heat of the sun.
One of the PCs henchmen’s grandfather calls his grandchild to his closed up home and shows him a diagram he has made on a parchment on the wall. A beam of sunlight shines in from a tiny hole in the wall, landing on the parchment. An inked circle lies well within the beam’s circle on the parchment. The grandfather learned of this method long ago, how to observe the sun when the eclipse happens, though, like many things these days, he cannot remember where.
The grandfather is not sure what is happening. He can only see the projected disk getting bigger and the heat getting hotter.
The grandfather says that the people cannot stay here much longer. Traveling in any direction will not allow hiding from the sun. The grandfather seems to remember there is an entrance to the underdark through the caves nearby. Long ago, he says there was a trading station deep in the underdark that he visited as a very young man, but it was later overrun by subterranean creatures and abandoned. He says the way is fraught with danger, but it may be the only place to be safe from the heat.
The grandchild is not comfortable relying on the grandfather’s memory. The grandchild knows of the caves, and many of the caves have collapsed over the years.
One cave has become popular recently because it is bathed in cool air flowing up from deep in the earth. People have stayed near its entrance, fearing to venture down into its depths. A constant stream of rodents has been flowing down into the darkness, fleeing the heat outside.
The PCs must get out of the heat or it will eventually kill them. They must flee the surface and settle in the underdark.
The henchman loves the grandfather, but knows to bring him along will probably kill him. The henchman tells the PC that he is hesitant to ask the grandfather to come. The PCs can support this silence, or encourage the henchman to bring him along. The grandfather, though stubborn, will relent and try, if successfully convinced by the henchman supported by the PCs. If they get the grandfather to the trading station alive, they should be well rewarded.
The PCs enter the cave and pass the people who sought shelter there. Some may be convinced to come along, but will turn back if things seem too difficult. The party is constantly brushed by the bodies of rats and other vermin taking the same path down into the darkness. The cave air gets colder and colder.
The PCs travel down and come upon a cave with a great sinkhole that nearly encompasses the entire floor. Cold air pumps up from the depth of this hole. The cave narrows and continues on the other side. The left path around is wide, but marked with dark stains. The path to the right is narrow and broken in many places. The rats moving down the left path die screeching when touching the dark stains, which causes the stains to grow as a result. The rats moving down the right path negotiate the narrow path, leaping from shattered piece to piece, some making it, some falling screeching into the darkness below.
If the PCs travel across the dark stains, they will suffer the cold attack of the stain, but may possibly make it around. If the PCs negotiate to narrow broken path, there are enough handholds to make it all the way around with difficulty.
On the other side of the sinkhole, the path winds deep into the underdark. The PCs come upon the trading station, heavily damaged by the attacks of long ago. The conquerors obviously took what they wanted and sank back down into the darkness. There is water flowing nearby, the air is nice and cool, and there are plenty of rats to kill and eat for a while.