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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Greybar" data-source="post: 955245" data-attributes="member: 4938">Iron DM Summer - Round 1, Match 3 - Cool Hand Luke vs. GreybarThe Winds of Al-Hayhiman adventure for four characters of 5th or 6th levelBungling adeptSecret coveUnsavory stewIoun stoneCarpet shopOozeThe market square of the seaside town of Gheni is abuzz with rumors that swirl like the winds from the dusty plains.  The nobleman Karim ibn Rashad has returned from his arcane business in the capital and found one of his possessions missing.  His apprentice Umar is said to have been whipped and sent forth to recover the missing item and now he too has been lost.  Now Umar's mother weeps for her lost son while the noble wizard fumes.  The word spoken between the stalls of the market is that the wizard seeks for a group to recover his lost magical carpet and the bumbling adept that went after it.Karim ibn Rashad is a busy man.  A very busy man. This is quite clear in his demeanor and in his very words.  He has much business that keeps him away from his country home, business of both a political and arcane nature that he will not speak of.  He brought the local boy, Umar, on as an apprentice because he felt he had potential - much better than his last apprentice Jalil who he dismissed a few years ago for insolence.  He still thinks that Jalil stole his tome on Jubilex.  As a subtext, it is clear that he feels any wizard of his rank is supposed to have an apprentice or two.  He is terribly disappointed in the boy's lack of discipline, making comments like "You just can't get good apprentices anymore" and "Young men these days have no respect for their betters."  The more that the players pry here, the more they find out about Jalil and Karim's general opinion of apprentices.  Karim is not secretive about these matters, though he will stonewall any questions about his out-of-town business.While Karim was out of town, Umar was instructed to liquidate certain assets of his master's in order to help raise funds for Karim's work.  A number of pieces of fine furniture and other household items were sold.  However, a man managed to convince Umar to part with a carpet that was not on the list.  A carpet that had been hanging on the wall of Karim's study for some time.  A carpet of flying from Karim's younger days, known as The Winds of Al-Hayhim.  It is an item of substantial sentimental value, Karim says, and he wants it recovered before the thief uncovers its command word.The carpet buyer is named Aziz, works for a local carpet shop.  He admits to being the buyer, but merely says that he saw a carpet that appeared to be of finer make than its dusty appearance belied.  He found a buyer for the carpet the same day, a fellow with an ioun stone circling his head.  He disclaims any knowledge of the man's whereabouts.  If the PCs are good interrogators they can find out a few things: that Aziz is a paltry sorcerer who uses charm person to facilitate his dealings, that Aziz was approached by the ioun-stone man ahead of time specifically to acquire the carpet, and that the man with the ioun-stone had a old woman with him who kept herself wrapped in a hooded cloak.The PCs can find out the general direction that the ioun-stone man went: towards the shore.  As a backup to this line of questioning, asking around the marketplace can gather some people who remember a man with a circling stone around his head and the way he headed.  Townspeople can confirm that Umar also followed these same clues before he went missing.  With a bit more asking, they can learn that Umar mentioned strange watery burn marks around Karim's estate that he also found at the carpet shop.  These marks have been largely cleaned up by the time that the heroes arrive on the scene however.Searching along the shoreline, the heroes come across a secret cove.  Keen trackers can even find Umar's trail.  There they find a cave with what appears to be an old woman in a cloak cooking up something rather delicious smelling in a stone kettle.  If surprised, the sea hag will kick over the kettle in their direction and throw back her hood to catch them with her appearance and gaze attack.  If she hears them coming, she will probably retreat back into the cave and let the contents of the kettle surprise them.  The stone kettle may smell good, but that is deceiving.  It actually contains the still recognizable body parts of Umar, slowly being digested by a grey ooze that the hag and her wizard consort are trying to train and manipulate.  It is a rather unsavory stew in retrospect.  The GM should play up the combination of the unsettling contents of the kettle, the smell of the sea, and the horrific appearance of the hag to the limits of his player's taste.After the heroes bested the hag and ooze and start to explore the cave the ioun-stone'd oozemaster Jalil returns.  This is indeed the Jalil that had served as an apprentice to Karim and been dismissed.  The Winds of Al-Hayhim is in a back room of the cave in a stone chest along with other treasure of Jalil and the hag's, guarded by a second grey ooze.Mechanics:Jalil - Wiz5/OozeMaster2 (CR7) - notable items: Scarlet and Blue Ioun Stone.  I have a hard time seeing the OozeMaster (Masters of Wild) as a tough PrC, so I expect this won't be as tough as the CR7 might otherwise indicate.Karyijl - Sea Hag (CR4)Grey Ooze (CR4)Hooks:* More money-driven parties can be drawn to the reward that Karim offers for the return of his property and information about the fate of his apprentice.* Good-hearted parties can meet Umar's weeping mother, who just wants her son back.Where to go from here:Jalil has been working with fiendish allies of the hag to increase his own powers until he was ready to work his revenge upon Karim.  This is only the first step.  The ambitious GM should feel free to take the idea of Karim's mysterious business, Jalil and the hag's fiendish patron, and work together a bigger plot for the heroes to follow.</blockquote>

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