 |
| Click here to listen to the song. |
THE
HOOK
If you want to skip all the backstory (little though it is) below you easily can. The important thing is this: An ancient evil has been
accidentally released in a mountain pass. Are you a bad enough dude
to head up through the rapidly deteriorating highlands and return the
stolen golden seal before it's too late?
EXCESSIVE
BACKSTORY
Seven
centuries ago, Mereshehad, high priest and worldly avatar of the
Seven Serpents, was defeated and sealed in a tomb in the largest pass
over the Barrier Peaks of the east. Seven seals were placed upon its
door, and the door itself was guarded by seven stone balbals,
golems imbued with the spirits of warriors who fell in the battle
against him.
Seven
days ago, a wizard's apprentice from Brimistead, bored while his
master Grybia was in a weeks-long trance to commune with elder gods,
used a spell of invisibility to steal the largest seal, one made of
molten gold. Six hours later the others had all failed, releasing the
malevolent ghost of Mereshehad – driven mad by centuries of
isolation – upon the unsuspecting inhabitants of the pass. Its foul
magic is as horrible is it is powerful.
Seven
minutes ago, Grybia awoke, slew his apprentice immediately, and
hurried to the tavern in which the PCs are currently staying. The
elder gods with which he spoke recommended the party's services, and
so he has charged them with heading up into the slowly unraveling
pass. He promises a freshly made golden seal (worth 1,000 coins) to
each PC if they merely put this one back where it belongs. But a week
is a long time. The pass is already in open war, one which it is
losing; getting there will be anything but easy.
 |
| You'll want to click this one to embiggen it. |
HOW
TO PLAY
As the party heads up the
pass, roll a D6 and count that many entries down this list below,
skipping any entries already seen. How long it takes them is up to
you, but Grybia stresses to the party that it's only a matter of time
before the avatar can fully free itself from the mound. They should
have two or three days in systems where healing happens overnight
before Mereshehad is free, and should be easily able to climb the
pass within that time.
1 The
lords of the passes are arming their vassals.
A crowd of peasant men are gathered near a crossroads, being armed
and armoured with spears and shields by their aging lord and his two
knights. There are about 20 in total. They may try to strongarm the
PCs into joining them, or offer to aid their passage north – the
peasants will break quickly when fighting anything supernatural and
one of the knights will flee at the first sign of trouble, but the
lord and other knight will fight to the bitter end.
2 You'll
find no shelter that way.
Several peasant families walk slowly down the road, heading the way
the PCs came. Some of them are visibly sobbing, a few injured, and
they carry all that they own with them or on their few mules. They
will try to convince the party to turn back, claiming that serpentine
monsters attacked their village, but that it was the soldiers who
defended them who turned suddenly and madly back to burn the
settlement to the ground.
3 The
conscripts they've taken have never returned.
A handful of armed soldiers, five or ten in total, hold a few women
at the centre of a village. They are trying to force the village,
which has hidden most of its men, to give up its conscripts. It
already gave up half of its male population a week ago, none of whom
have returned. The soldiers are unwilling to search door to door with
their numbers and want the PCs to either search for them or convince
the men out of hiding. If the soldiers aren't stopped or aided, they
will kill one, then two of the women in a few minutes before the men
give themselves up.
4 And
our hopes fade with each passing day.
At the centre of a village, several tables covered in food and what
few fineries the peasants possess have been set up. The whole
settlement is revelling over the feast, which contains most of their
food. They cheerfully invite the PCs to join, explaining that, with
no hope for the future, they are trying to make the best of the
present. Convincing them to hope, even with the evidence of the
golden seal, will be very difficult – but if they don't stop the
feast they won't have enough food come winter.
5 The
gates of the keeps are all closing.
A small but clearly formidable keep is surrounded by a camp of tents,
filled with deserted soldiers and displaced peasants. The lord inside
is letting in visibly competent soldiers, beautiful women, and
wealthy survivors, claiming the keep was sanctified against evil
magic like Mereshehad's. A few soldiers will attempt to rob or extort
the PCs to buy access. The keep's wards won't hold out even the
weakest demon, and it will be the site of a massacre if the seal is not
replaced.
6 And
broken men wander the road.
Stumbling down the road towards the PCs are a few soldiers led by a
knight. They are armoured and hold their weapons drawn, but seem
dazed, confused, and completely oblivious to the world around them.
One falls, stabs his blade deep in his arm, then stands up and pulls
it out before continuing as if nothing happened. Only if directly
approached and jostled will they awake from the stupor, their last
memories being of an attack in the night by a man with three snakes
instead of a head.
7 The
farmers have fled to the forest.
A farming village lies completely abandoned save for a young girl
wandering through it in tears. The populace fled for the nearby
forest almost on a whim, leaving her behind in the confusion. She is
too afraid to head there on her own and the villagers are too afraid
to return to the village to retrieve her. If the PCs bring her to the
villagers they will be ambushed by D4+1 wolves with the heads of
snakes (still count as normal wolves though), but will be rewarded
with trinkets worth 100 coins.
8 Burning
their fields as they go.
Several men and women march through fields of wheat, holding torches
and setting the plants on fire. One man catches on fire as the party
watches or approaches, neither stopping nor screaming until he is
fully engulfed and falls down dead. If the PCs near them or watch for
more than half a minute or so, they will see them and attack,
attempting to set them on fire instead (their torches only deal D4
damage but set the target on fire on a roll of 4).
 |
| From the Hindustan Times |
9 The
dukes of the marches have ordered their archers.
A large group of soldiers, about 30 to 40 in total, mostly archers,
are camped on the shores of a small creek. Only about a third of them
have been possessed, but crucially so has their leading lord. He is
feigning caution and cowardice in order to wait for the possessed to
outnumber the unpossessed, before turning on them. If somehow
convinced to travel with the PCs, the corrupted soldiers will wait
until a fight before turning on their former comrades.
10 To
shoot all outlanders on sight.
A village lies in mostly smoking ruins, but as the PCs approach they
can hear cries for help. Four hunters, the only survivors of the
chaos that destroyed their home, are trying to lure them near before
shooting bows from the windows of the town's meeting hall. They are
not possessed, but believe it to be the end of days, and it will be
hard for the PCs to convince them they aren't demons in disguise.
11 Turn
back your horses before it's too late.
Five well-armed men, skilled wandering mercenaries from northern
lands, ride horses down the path towards the PCs. They fought against
the serpents and possessed soldiers of Mereshehad valiantly but lost.
Now they're living to fight another day. They are talkative and
friendly, particularly eager to talk of the man they fought who had
three serpents instead of a head, but if they learn or suspect the
party is wealthy (IE they see or are told of the golden seal) they
will risk an attempt at robbing or extorting all but the most
obviously dangerous parties.
12 There'll
be no safe crossing this night.
A wide river crossing has several beached rowboats on the PCs side,
and a visible horde of refugees on the other. No boat will cross the
water for fear of a giant amphibious serpent within the river, which
must be slain or otherwise distracted in order to make passage safe.
One brave man will attempt to swim as the PCs arrive, cheered on by
the watching crowds on both sides before being devoured halfway
across. The serpent is strong but not that strong, but it must be
lured onto land to be fought in any plausible manner.
13 Hear
the horns, pounding hooves. The
PCs have just enough time to a see a host of 100 to 200 soldiers and
a dozen or so knights in front of them before a horn sounds and an
equally large army charges down a ridge towards them. The battle will
turn in favour of the side opposite the PCs unless they intervene.
However, the nearer army is in fact the possessed one, a fact only
revealed by their silence, occasional hastily-made serpentine
heraldry, and violence towards the party if their unpossessed nature
is revealed. The battle is close enough that whichever side wins will
only have about 50 survivors.
14 Visions
of cities aflame. The smoke can
be seen before the glow, and the glow before the city itself –
really a town, a thousand people at the most – engulfed in a raging
fire. Some people are fleeing through the southern gate, but many
more are trying to put out the fire. They would be able were it not
for the to mobs of possessed townsfolk, fifty strong each, march from
place to place lighting everything on fire. A trained force or larger
mob of locals could easily defeat them. A wealthy merchant fleeing
the city promises the five golden rings he wears (worth 200c each) if
the PCs organizes a defeat of the mobs. Of course, they could always just chop his hand off and leave.
 |
| From The Banner Saga |
15 Wailing
cries, dawn of doom. A village
lies in ruins, many houses smashed or collapsed, bodies of soldiers
and peasants alike strewn about its limits. A huge serpent's corpse
lies at the heart. A wailing woman kneels over the body of her fallen
husband, a peasant conscript who died in the process of striking the
deathblow against the serpent. The crowd gathered around them is
being ranted at by an old man who claims the only rational response
is submission to the "serpent gods". He will try to involve
the PCs in the discussion and attempt to stir up violence against
them if they reveal their quest.
16 Die
by the sword or in chains. A
group of captured peasants and defeated conscript soldiers is led up
the path the same way the PCs are headed, guarded by a half dozen
possessed soldiers and a priest in green robes, bearing a staff with
a poorly carved snake's head at the tip. The possessed men will
threaten to kill the captives if they notice the PCs before they
attack, as will the priest threaten to turn the blood of the PCs to
poison. These are both bluffs (the priest is quite harmless). If
freed, the soldiers, three or four in number, will gladly (if poorly)
aid the PCs in their quest.
17 Men
kneel in temples of madness. A
church has had the statues flanking either side of its door defaced,
and serpentine heraldry hung above its door. A man at the entrance
invites the PCs in to "seek salvation", where a priest in
poorly-dyed green robes preaches about submission to a crowd of
dozens. If the PCs enter, five possessed soldiers will follow after
them, selecting a young woman from the audience to be dragged out and
"converted" by Mereshehad. Half the audience will cheer, the other weep,
while the woman struggles against the soldiers, who quickly overpower
her. Intervening will draw the ire of the half that cheered, and the
support of the half that wept.
18 False
prophets spread discord and fear.
An old woman in dark, ragged robes leads a procession of dozens of
peasants and deserters, praying for salvation from the gods. Every
few hours a pack of wolf-sized serpents kills one and spares the
others, a fact the woman uses to both claim that their deaths are
inevitable and that prayer is all that is saving them for the time
being. In fact, the procession is left alive only because their
despair pleases Mereshehad, and killing the serpents (who will come
in just a few minutes by their reckoning) will cause a group of about seven soldiers guiding the snakes to attack.
19 Darkness
descends once again. The sky
reddens and darkens as if it were sunset or dawn, though the sun
still hangs in the sky, now as black as night. There is a rustling
from nearby bushes and trees, until a tide of snakes swarms forward
like a tidal wave. They will not bite or harm anyone, but may cause
horses, followers, and anxious PCs to panic, and will sweep away
anyone who cannot find something to hold onto or otherwise be held
down with, dashing them against boulders and trees or drowning them
beneath the wave.
20 They
say the lords of the last days rule here.
Four possessed knights march in front of a man with three serpents
instead of a head: the earthly avatar of Mereshehad. He can control
one character per round (no save, or he can attempt to control someone else if a save is passed; though he cannot make anyone kill
themselves), and his knights are fanatically loyal. He will taunt the
PCs, and if made aware of the golden seal will use his mind control
to have it thrown to a knight before attempting to flee with it. If
killed, his spirit will rise from his body, cursing the PCs and
insisting that he cannot be killed before dissipating with a mocking
laugh.
 |
| Zohak by Norot |
21+ Here
it is, the tomb itself. Were it not for the stone entrance, slightly
ajar and decorated with six seals, and the seven stone balbals in
front, it would be nearly impossible to tell the mound apart from any
other hill. The balbals fight as strong warriors or knights with
incredibly tough armour, but cannot see past invisibility and cannot
stop more than a dozen people at most if charged en masse. Fixing the
seal is as simple as pushing the door shut (which even a weak person
could do) and placing the golden seal over the crack. It will glow
with a golden light, cause the runes written in each of the other
seals to glow as well, and then destroy all traces of Mereshehad's
presence outside the tomb. His serpents and avatar will fall dead and
melt into black goo, his possessed followers will awaken from their
trance, and if the sky has reddened and darkened it will return to
its normal appearance. Replacing the seal may also cause the balbals to recognize the PCs as allies and halt their attack; it's up to the GM to decide.
AFTER
THE ADVENTURE
Upon a successful return,
Grybia will reward the party with the golden seals as promised
(wizards work quickly and mysteriously), and even offer to teach any
wizards in the party a spell or two in return for a month of aiding
him as an apprentice, until he can find another permanent
replacement. He could be a great source of future adventures if the
party is willing to continue working with him.
If the party fails by
fleeing, Grybia will send eldritch beings (such as Hounds of
Tindalos, like blink dogs that can only teleport by appearing out of
sharp angles) after the PCs as retribution or even pursue them
himself. Whether they flee or are all killed, Mereshehad's foulness
will spread unchecked for days until his kingdom's expansion slows to
a halt, creating a decidedly evil nation ruled by a powerful sorceror
right in the path of many important trade routes. Not the end of the
world, but certainly a meaningful change.
