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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Noskov" data-source="post: 1365926" data-attributes="member: 15911">Wanna be a hero? - A poor title for a long story for 1-4 PC's levels 1-5.BackstoryBetween two mountains on the edge of the foothills lies a beautiful, forested valley.  Below the valley, where it pours below into the foothills, sits the town of Morton.  Morton is a very isolated town, hundreds of miles from the nearest major city and any kind of government presence.  In fact, the majority of residents are completely unaware or uncaring about who the current government, country, or passing monarch making claim to their town is.  Rarely are they taxed and even more rarely do they pay.  However, one thing the folk of Morton do know and care about is that, since its humble beginnings, Morton has always defended itself. That is, until the hobgoblins came.Years ago, about 28 years to be exact, a tribe of hobgoblins began to make raids on the town.  Now, having defended themselves against other invaders in the past, the people of Morton were far from easily defeated.  However, they had never come up against anything like these hobgoblins before.  They were organized and tactful.  They planned far ahead and used strategy never before seen by the townsfolk.  In truth, unbeknownst to the villagers, these hobgoblins were more then just a disjointed tribe.  They were militaristic nomads from the desert regions whose way of life was to travel from town to town and plunder their living from other people.  They were destructive and efficient in their professions and left very little in their wake.Through the first few raids, the townspeople were able to hold their own with only a few casualties.  However, they knew they could not withstand the siege long.  For the first time in its history, Morton had to enlist the help of another.  Truly unsure whom to turn to, they happened upon what could only have been a gift from the gods.  A powerful paladin, Lord Vendor Pox, was making his way through their lands.  They ask him for his help in defeating the hobgoblins and he gladly offered.  He went into the town and strengthened the defenses and trained some of the adept to fight.  On the sixth night, when the moon was in its fullest, they advanced on the hobgoblins.  They charged and took them by such surprise, the fiends fled into the valley before they were able to organize a counter attack.  The battle lasted long and was more gruesome then any the people had ever known.  By next morning, the townsfolk didn’t know if they were to expect the triumphant return of their heroes, or the wrath of the hobgoblins to fall upon them.  Fortunately, the latter was the case.After the battle with the hobgoblins, the ageing paladin decided that his time adventuring had been long and fruitful.  He was getting tired and it seemed that only his god’s divine intervention could have brought him to such a wonderful place.  The people of the town loved and respected him and he had found a wonderful place a couple of miles off in the forested valley, where they had slain the hobgoblins, to make his home and start a temple to his god.For the next few years, all was back to normal.  The people of the village helped Vendor build his temple and a cozy home in the valley above.  At first, he was seen often in the village and was very involved with the townsfolk.  The children sat on his lap and listened as he shared stories of his adventures through the lands and of his vast achievements.  Most of the single women did what they could to get his attention, though they never received more then polite refusals.  Through the years, he came around less and less.  The townsfolk, forever indebted to him, decided that he was living out his years and to do nothing more then leave him in peace.Nearly a year passed after Lord Vendor stopped showing around town and most thought he died happily in his wooded home.  They decided that, in his honor, they would write texts and pass oral histories of the savior of Morton.   Such stories were being told to the children one night when a shriek came from the valley above.  The noise was so inhuman and terrifying that the entire town thought only a slain god could make such a noise.  Soon after, an enormous snow storm began to onslaught the town.  However, it was soon discovered that it was not snow that was befalling them but rather ash from a forest fire that had erupted in the valley.  Soon the entire town was consumed in blinding ash.  The fire raged for days and soon everyone in Morton was wondering if the town was going to be destroyed in flame.  They began packing their things and getting ready to move the entire town when suddenly a figure in blackened armor came bursting from the woods into the town.  There was no question as to who it was, they recognized him immediately.  The paladin whispered only one word before collapsing to the ground in front of them.  There has never been a consensus as to what he said that day, but most say to look in his eyes from that day on was to look into the empty eyes of the dead.Soon after the arrival of the paladin, the ash subsided and, although covered in mud and slightly flooded from the snow runoff from the mountains that doused the flames of the fire in the first place, the town was intact and eventually went back to the way is was before.  Lord Vendor Pox, though occasionally speaking to some residents, never spoke of what happened in his home.  He took residence in a house near the edge of town and lived off the food and resources the people provided him.SetupThe adventure takes place nearly a quarter century later.  The town has been mostly returned to normal since then.  The paladin is still alive and the town can be treated as any small town with a population of about 500 or so with the following exceptions:1.Everyone knows the legend of the hobgoblins and the paladin.2.The story of the fire is known, but rarely talked about.  The part about scream is not so well know.3.The word whispered by the paladin has no real relevance unless you want it to.  You may make it what you want to enhance the story if you so choose.4.No one, under any circumstance, travels into the valley above.  Since the fire, it has been a foggy swamp that is considered very haunted.5.No one has actually spoken to Vendor in years.  He is considered by most to be fairly unstable.  Although indebted to him, most feel uncomfortable with him.Hooks    There are two possible scenarios that can be used to hook the PCs into the adventure:1.The PCs are residents of the village and grew up with all the legends and folklore that come with it.  (This works best if one PC is in love or engaged to some local lady.)2.They are traveling through the area somewhere near the village, the scenario below happens, and they go to the village for help.Either way, one of the PCs has been having strange dreams of a ghostly woman lately.  She is graceful and beautiful in every way.  She never speaks, but the dreams are always accompanied with numerous, soft, female whispers that cannot be made out.  The dreams are puzzling and draining on the PC and get to the point of not allowing sleep.  Eventually, while walking through town with the other PCs, a ghostly figure appears in front of the PC.  He instantly recognizes her as the woman in his dreams and all are shocked to the point of immobility.  She whispers to him “You are blind to all others.  Come to me and cleanse your eyes in the black pond.”, then opens up her hand in front of his face and reveals a handful of soft, powdery snow.  She blows the snow into his eyes and disappears before them.  From that point on the PC is slightly blinded (apply -2 to whatever things you may think apply), also, if the PC looks at any female, they instantly begin to look as though they are being burned alive without flames.  The skin first shows redness and boils, then begins to split and burst showing the flesh below.  All the while blackening and charring.  In his mind, the PC hears her screams and tortured cries.  He may look as long as he wishes, eventually he will see nothing but a burned corpse before his eyes, gurgling and convulsing in pain.  If he looks away and then back to the same female, the process starts all over again.At this point, the legend of the fire may come to mind for some of the PCs if they grew up in the village.  It may be best to correlate the screams the PC hears to the scream in the legend before the fire broke out.  Either they can find this out (and about the legend if they are out-of-towners) by talking to someone who mentions the scream for them, or they figure it out for themselves if they happened to know that part of the story.Eventually (hours at most), it should begin to make its way around town about what’s happened.  Not much is know or can be done about the situation on that particular day, so the PCs retire to the town infirmary to take care of their poor friend.The MeatLater that night, while sleeping (or not if you want) the door burst open.  In walks the now venerable paladin (Although, whether from the village or not, they may not recognize him).  There is a light in his eye that pierces like daggers and he seems more animated then any that may have known him since the fire have seen.  He quickly grabs up and begins inquisitioning the unfortunate PC.  What the PC says is mostly irrelevant as long as he tells him what she said.  Upon hearing this, the paladin collapses into a chair and begins to sit quietly.  At this point, the PCs may notice how disheveled and poorly kept the man is.  He looks as though he hasn’t slept in days or even weeks and he has sores and bruises allover his body.After some thought, the man jumps up and tries to straighten himself out in what can only be described as a pathetic attempt to seem cordial before the group and introduces himself as Lord Vendor Pox, paladin of (enter chosen god here).  He asks the group to forgive his appearance because he has been lacking sleep for the same reason as the PC.  He tells them that he knows the meaning of what the woman said and offers to guide the PCs to where they need to go to heal their friend.  He mentions, of course, that the afflicted PC must come too because he needs to be bathed in the pond to heal his malady.  (If any PC asks why the paladin doesn’t heal him, have him reply that it’s simply out of his realm of expertise.) Any PCs that grew up in the town are very likely to look well upon this man.  Even though he has been an enigma as of late, he is a hero to the people and a legend in his own time.  If the PCs are not of the town, I guess they can choose not to go with him, but, even if they find what they are looking for, nothing will happen without him there.The PCs are rushed to get moving immediately by Vendor.  He says that they only have a small amount of time to catch her before the condition in his eyes is permanent.  (PC’s may start asking questions about why he knows so much.  He’ll ignore them and brush them away for the most part.  What information he does give is usually ambiguous.)Vendor begins to take them towards the valley into the haunted moor.  Any PC that notices (they must be locals) are encouraged by Vendor.  He’ll tell them that it is the only way to heal their friend and that the woman is the haunt of the swamp and she has shown through her actions that she is weak and it’s his duty to smite her now, etc.  Just keep them moving toward the swamp.Once they reach the swamp, they immediately begin to hear drumming.   The drumming is very loud and rhythmic and seems to have no source except in their heads.  They also begin to hear female whispers coming from what seems like the mist around them.  They are particularly intense for the PC who was “blinded”.  Some of the PCs start to think they are seeing things from the corner of their eyes, but never a solid look….except for the blinded PC, who catches whispy glimpses of the women throughout the mist.  She seems to be leading him.I suppose it may be possible for any or all of the PCs to be having second thoughts.  The place is quite obviously haunted and not putting off good vibes.  If, at any time, one of the PCs stops moving for too long or attempts to turn back, the drumming increases in volume and tempo and the mist before his eyes takes the shape of an angry, slightly decayed, ghostly hobgoblin, with only his waste up discernable from the mist.  The hobgoblin will quickly appear about 5ft in front of the PC and make the face of an angry roar and charge through the PC in a blinding white streak of frost, dissipating as it hits.  The PC hit suffers the damage and affects of a chill touch spell as well as temporarily blinded (1d6 rounds).  The hobgoblin spirits refuse to allow the PCs to leave the swamp and are moving them in the same direction the woman is leading them.  There is no way to fight the hobgoblins and to escape, they must suffer and live through one attack per round as they flee.  Keeping in mind that Chill Touch reduces strength, this could easily kill them if they are not close enough to the border.  If the PC’s flee, the paladin, who is ignored by the hobgoblins (he explains it’s because of his holy status) comes back and continues to beg them to help him destroy this evil.  The PC has no chance of fixing his affliction unless they fulfill the quest.If the PCs continue forward without ever looking back, they will eventually notice that they are being ushered by disembodied hobgoblins all around them.  If they ever stop to look, they are affected as above.  If they are continuing along their way, but look at one too long, it will appear threateningly near them and attack if they stop or turn around.Eventually they reach a clearing in the swamp where a burned out, but still standing temple beside an enormous, charred tree near a pond.  At the base of the tree they can see the burned remains of a humanoid with a silver sword through its body, as well as another charred corpse still hanging from a noose in the tree.  Once in the clearing, the hobgoblins can only be seen in the mist surrounding the clearing.  They will attack anyone who tries to leave at any time.The blinded PC, however, collapses to the ground in a comatose-like state.  He begins to see visions of the clearing before the forest fire.  The tree and everything around is in full bloom.  There’s soft grass in the clearing and the women is more beautiful then he could ever imagine.  She’s there with a man.  After looking harder, he realizes, it’s Vendor.  They are embracing each other and smiling blissfully.  Then, another man enters the scene and Vendor’s look immediately gets grim, while the woman’s face brightens.  Images seem to flash and progress for some time until we come to a scene where Vendor is confronting the women near the tree.  He is accusing her of having eyes for the other man and walking toward her menacingly.  The other man steps up and gets in the three begin to argue.  Vendor saying they are together against him and they pleading they are not.  Eventually the argument turns sour as Vendor moves to strike the woman.  The man steps in the way and Vendor pulls his sword and pins him to the tree.  The woman lunges for him, but Vendor easily subdues her.  Flash to nighttime scene of woman standing on log below the tree with the rope around her neck.  She’s pleading for her life and cursing Vendor.  She tells him he cannot kill a creature of the forest (dryad) and that she will haunt him forever.  Vendor removes the log and she hangs from the tree.  Moments later, she is still trying to yell to Vendor (with much more difficulty this time).  Finally, the (now ex) paladin staggers from the temple cursing the women for making his god disavow him.  He hurls a lantern at the tree and it explodes into flame.  The women lets out the most horrid scream the PC has ever heard as her flesh begins to burn from her body, even though she is not being touched by flame.  The forest around the area begins to burn and the paladin flees in panic.  After a couple seconds of darkness, he finds himself standing face to face with the dryad and she says to him.  “Take me into the black pool and wash the death from your eyes, my love.”As the PC is having this vision, the other PCs may do as they wish, aside of leaving the area.  The paladin is moving toward the tree and asking for help removing the body from the rope.  The PCs may or may not help.  If the PCs try and stop him, he will attack them.  (Make him a decent challenge for the PCs, however keeping in mind he is old).  If they do not attack him, they can attend to their companion.  At the same time, the PC having visions will wake up.  What he takes from the visions is up to him.  It is up to him/them as to what happens at this point.They can:1.Let the paladin go and just watch.Vendor will eventually get the body down.  When he does, he will take her into the temple and place her upon the alter.  After some dramatics, the body will be reanimated and will look like her former self.  She will attack Vendor and try and drag him into the black pool with her.  While by the tree, the other body will reanimate as well and help.  If the PCs choose to attack her and/or the other body, run the battle accordingly.  The woman is a dryad and the man can be any type of undead you wish to use, based on the level of the group.  Once they are slain, the afflicted PC can douse his eyes in the water and will be cured.  The curse on the swamp is lifted and all is back to normal.  Vendor can go insane, kill himself, or attack the party, it’s up to you.  If they choose to help the dryad, go to the next option.2.Stop Vendor and do what they will with the bodies.At this point, hopefully it’s clear that the PC who was blinded needs to take the dryad’s body into the water and douse his head to have his curse lifted.  In order to do this, they must kill Vendor.  If they do the PC can then take the dryad into the pool.  Once in there, she will turn into her former self and try and charm the PC to stay in the pool with her (“forever, my love”).  If the charm fails, she will just try and keep him there and drown him.  Either way, the other PCs will eventually notice.  They can do whatever they like at that point.  Either the PC will drown and the curst of the swamp is lifted and no longer haunted, or they kill the dryad and the same effect happens.  If the PC survives, he can douse his eyes in the water to heal them.Wrap upThe townspeople should be awful mad at them for killing the paladin, unless they can really convince them of the truth.  If they do convince the town of the truth, which should be no easy task, they can be heroes or whatever.All battles can be easily upgraded or downgraded accordingly to fit the level of the PCs.Foggy Moors - Foggy, haunted swamp and very obscure use as the hobgoblins being from a desert region and being nomads.  (Moor is the name for nomadic Arabs)Venerable Paladin - Lord Vendor PoxHobgoblin War Party - War party attacking city before being killed by Vendor and their ghostly apparations that the swamp haunted by the dryad used to force the PCs toward the hangman's tree.Blinding Snow - Blinding ash coming from forest fire.  Snow blown into PC's face to "blind him to other women" and the effect of the hobgoblin spirits when they attack.Hangman Tree - Next to the dark pond and the paladin's temple.  Dryad's life tree and place where she was hung and her accused lover killed.Burned Corpse - what all women who PC looks at turn into and the two bodies the paladin killed.</blockquote>

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