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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Macbeth" data-source="post: 1363701" data-attributes="member: 11259">Round One - Second Match-Up:Mac "Is This A Dagger I See Before Me?" Beth vs. Carpe "Seize This!" DavidIngredients-----------------Missing ChildrenWinter Wolves13 Vicious GnomesWish-Granting CowCrumbling TowerComplacencyFables and Fairy TalesAn adventure for low to mid Level PCs.Summary: Things have gone odd in the roadsie village where the PCs spend the night. Creatures from children's stories roam the streets, and every child in town has disappeared, presumably taken by a band of blood-thirsty gnomes that begin terrorizing the town while the PCs visit. The fairy tale creatures have turned dangerous, and it is up to the PCs to save the village.This adventure is designed to played slightly tounge-in-cheek. Wile not purely a comic excersize, certain elements can easily be turned into jokes. It is important that the PCs feel that this is more then just a long joke. Try to keep things serious unless the PCs try to turn the story into a joke, in which case, run with it.Prologue:The town of Chedain has an interesting past, a past the no one remembers, for good reason. Chedain was once home of a great witch, a women so skilled in the magical arts that she held a region miles wide in her thrall, her name was Cercenes. Many a brave soul tried to defeat her, but none succeded. Finally, a plan was devised to stop her reign of terror. A magical book was crafted, disguised as a children's story book. The book had a powerful enchantment that could only be used once. The first time it was opened the person reading it would be sucked into the book, the entirety of their life instantly changed from fact to fiction. Cercenes was tricked into reading the book, and she was imprisoned within. Suddenly Chedain was a prosperous village with a long, boring, ordinary history, totally without Cercenes' influence. The memory of the witch quickly faded from the memries of the populace, becoming a popular fairy tale told to the young. But Cercenes lived on within the fiction of the book, gaining influence over the mythical creatures described in the children's stories within.Stage 1: Enter the PCsChedain is a rather boring town, little more then a stoping point on a long road. The town is fairly succesfull, but with little of interest. The PCs can be brought onto the scene for any number of reaons, the most obvious and simple being that they simply need a place to stay during a long journey. The town has posters asking for information on lost children everywhere, but the populace seems quite calm given the obvious missing children problem. Finding a place to stay is no problem, and the PCs are made welcome in the local Inn. If the PCs decide to investigate the posters about missing children, they find that almost all of them seem like some kind of sick practical joke. Almost every family, when asked about their missing child, says that they don't know what the PCs are talking about. They maintain that they have no missing child, and that the PCs must be looking for someone else. Only one family remembers the missing child, an older man and women, Mr. and Mrs. Grefend, living on the edge of town and looking for their lost daughter. The child just disappeared after playing out in the pastures one afternoon, when she never came back. They have no idea what happened to their daughter, Kailin, and maintain that she is the only one missing, that no other children from the town are missing. As the adventure progresses the Grefends forget about Kailin, and within 1d20+4 hours they have completely forgot their daughter, and deny that she ever existed. Stage 2: Night in ChedainDuring the night a band of Winter Wolves ridden by Gnomes rush thourgh the town, likely awaking the PCs (Listen DC 0). The gnomes are oddly dressed, looking like something out of a children's book, with exaggereated features and garish clothes (pointy hats are a good starting place). They ride into town, grab anything they can (possibly including the PCs posessions), and then leave, unless the PCs stop them. There are 13 Gnomes, with 2 riding each of 6 Winter Wolves and one acting as a rear guard, covering the way back out of town. If captured, the gnomes readilly reveal their names (Malice, Sloth, Greed, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Menace, Harm, Violence, Anger, Rage, Wrath, and Doc). If asked why they are attacking the town, they shout out a chorus of 'It's Fun!' and 'Because we can!' They will tell about where they are from with a sucessfull Intimidate or Diplomacy check (DC 17), describing a land that any PC can recognize as coming from a children's fairy tale with a Knowlegde(Local) or Bardic Knowledge check (DC 10). A DC 20 Diplomacy or Intimidate check convinces the gnomes to reveal that they have been tricking children into the fairy tale world so that they can prepare the real world for the return of Cercenes, a name that the PCs may recognize from fary tales. Depending on how your campaign relates to the real world, you can have the gnomes and wolves be taken from a real-world fairy tale, such as Little Red Riding Hood, or you can create a suitable campaign-specific fairy tale for the wolves and gnomes.Stage 3: Finding the SourceThe gnomes and Winter Wolves leave a clear track back to a crumbling tower outside of Chedain, but with a detour through a field containing a single brown cow, where the Wolves and gnomes apparently circled several times. If a PC makes any statement with the words 'I wish' in it or that expresses a strong desire around the cow, they are immediately transported to the fantasy realm of the book, and a replaced by a monster of some type that relates in some way to the wish. The exact nature of the monster is at the DMs discretion, but the more closely related the monster is to the PC's wish the better. Once the PC disappears, the other PCs start to forget he or she ever existed.Any other conversation around the cow that concerns the disappearing children illicits a response from the cow, which is in fact intelligent. the cow is extremelly passive and complacent, and will answer any questions asked of it, but will not do anything to help the PCs. The cow has been magically affected by Cercenes, and it now grants the wishes of any who come near it, specifically the young children of Chidain, who are the only ones who come into the field.The tower was once grand, but is now crumbling. It is the only remnent of Crecenes' reign, and it is the resting place of the original Story Book used to imprison her (though the story has now spread and is written in several different books). None of the townspeople have any idea why the tower even exists, but all of them have a vague feeling that they should stay away, so they do. If the PCs visit the tower, a cursory search (Search DC 10) finds the story book. the story book contains several tales, among them the account of Cercenes' rule and the stories of the children who are now impsrioned in the book, including Kailin. Stage 4: Cercenes' EndgameIf the PCs have spoken to the cow, Cercenes has taken notice, and has advanced her plans to foil the PCs. When they reach the tower, she recalls all the other fairy creatures and channels all the power of the (now fictional) children into restoring her past glory. The stones of the tower begin a kind of reverse crumble, reassembling themselves into a mighty keep. The Story Book comes to life, with the words swirling off of the pages to outline a human women's form, the best Cercenes can manage. Cercenes is a wizard at least 3 levels higher then the highest level PC. She fights to the death, at which point the worlds that outline her form dissipate and reform into the missing children, who are now remembered by their parents. Any PCs that were inadvertently transported by the complacent cow are also returned.With Cercenes' defeat, the cow loses it's wish granting power, but retains intellignece. It continues to graze in the same field unless something forces it to move. Ingredient Recap:Missing Children-The children of the village of Chedain have been turned into fiction by Cercenes' magic mixed with the magic of the story book, and replaced in fact by monster's from children's stories.Winter Wolves- Creatures from fairy tales that have replaced the children from Chidain. Wolves are used because they are common in the fairy tales of most societies, and because the gnomes needed mounts to wreck more havock around Chedain.13 Vicious Gnomes- The other creatures from the fictional world, the gnomes are used because they are, again, common in fairy tales.Wish-Granting Cow- Cercenes extended her reach to the real world by enchanting a cow as a kind of wish granting portal. Any time somebody makes a wish around the cow they are transported into the Story Book, and they quickly fade from reality and memory.Crumbling Tower- Cercenes' old tower is the only thing that remains as a reminder of her life, and it holds her prison, a magical Story Book.Complacency- The cow, though given intelligence by Cercenes, goes along with her schemes without argument. luckily it is also complaccent to other's demands, and can be a usefull tool to the PCs.</blockquote>

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