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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kobold Stew" data-source="post: 8152767" data-attributes="member: 23484">SWARMING IN THE SUNTOWERIngredients: Divine Pestilence, Fool's Errand, Triple Cross, Civilized Magic, Rampaging Gnomes, Flowering TowerA small fantasy adventure for lower-level characters (levels 3-5) who would be heroes.The PCs are approached by a pair of gnomes, Gertrude and Gareth Gimbleberry, who describe how they’ve been forced from their home, the Suntower in Shina, by swarms ("mischiefs") of rats. They weep, Gareth unable to speak for sorrow, and ask for help to recover it. They have tinkered together a device, which if placed in the top room of the tower will deal with the problem. The Gimbleberries offer what they can, a case of six magical potions that will cause the drinker to shrink to half their size for several hours, and sets of earplugs for everyone.The device. The mechanical device itself is a sphere with handles, the size of a small shield, requiring a free hand to carry. The gnomes will warn the PCs how sensitive it is, and claim it is a humane (“gnomane”) way of clearing the rats (it’s CIVILIZED MAGIC; like Clarke’s third law, where technology becomes indistinguishable from magic), issuing a sound that will drive them away.The sitch. The gnomes are lying, and the quest is a FOOL’S ERRAND. The Gimbleberries—not their real names—don’t think themselves evil, but they want the rats killed and the tower for themselves. The device is a bomb, and will release a cloud of toxic gas cloud that will kill everything as it settles to the ground. The gnomes are not concerned about saving the PCs. If the job is accepted, the PCs may spot anomalies, both in the bomb (if examined closely) and by the behaviour of the rats.Approaching the tower. Over a river, through the woods, on an apparently unused trail that seems overgrown with new foliage towards a hidden but verdant grove named Shina. The gnomes will lead the players, if desired, but remain on the edge of the clearing. The PCs may encounter a swarm of rats en route, but the rats only attack on the gnomes, if present. If sent away or their help is not accepted, the gnomes follow at a distance.The Suntower. In Shina’s centre is a giant sunflower (a FLOWERING TOWER), 12’across, with rooms and a spiral staircase carved inside. A medium-sized creature must squeeze to climb above the ground floor (though they have their potions if needed). Each of six floors has a single room, and if there were furniture or decorations, they’ve been removed (nothing was seen outside).The rats. Each swarm has gained a kind of sentience, especially attuned to nature. Each Suntower swarm is a Druid (a DIVINE PESTILENCE), with each operating instinctively and capable of casting spells: healing each other, sprouting entangling or spiky plants, or speaking to other animals. Swarm druid level (d12): 1-6 level 1, 7-9 level 2, 10-11 level 3, 12 level 4. There are 1-3 swarms per floor. The top floor, nearest the flower itself, is a nursery, with thousands of ratlings feeding on the sweet water from exposed phloem in the stalk. The rats will fight to defend their home, but will try to flee up or down the stalk before being killed.Double crossed. If the players realize the rats’ nature before setting the device, some rudimentary communication can be established. The highest-level surviving druid they’ve encountered will join with them to seek justice from the gnomes. Otherwise, if triggered, the device’s 10-by-10 toxic cloud will slowly descend floor by floor, killing rats and potentially PCs as well (earplugs do not help). If communications are established, the players can discern the gnomes’ motivations: they want the grove and the tower for themselves, and hoped that the PCs would get it for them.Big trouble in little Shina. When the PCs emerge from the tower (some still shrunk by potions) – either having murdered the innocent circle of rat druids or having made a pact with them – the Gimbleberries are waiting to clean up any survivors (TRIPLE CROSS!). They have been (chemically) enlarged to twice their previous size, and hold embiggened weapons. They attack as furiously as grown gnomes might (RAMPAGING GNOMES). If either one falls, the other will attempt to flee.If the PCs survive, remaining rats will be grateful and heal any wounds. PCs can keep remaining reduction potions, and there’s an extra growth potion to be found on Gertrude Gimbleberry (again, not her real name).</blockquote>

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