Thursday, January 14, 2016

Fantasy Ireland Adventure: Keeper Hill-Adventure Setup

KEEPER HILL
A Fantasy Core and D&D 5th Edition Fantasy Ireland Adventure
© Jerry Harris 2016
(This link will take you to the Fantasy Core Playtest Rules.)


Adventure Setup
“Okay kid, this is where it gets complicated.”

First, you might want to read this background on Mara (her stats will updated here in this adventure) and Lady Nim to get some context.  Mara, ever looking for leverage against the Fey woman who stole her husband’s heart (literally, it’s in a glass case, still beating), had made the acquaintance of Apollos, a Fey Centaur spurned in his amorous pursuit of Nim.  The young witch promised the man-horse a powerful love potion in return for the theft of the glamorous fairy woman’s prized Black Mirror, a magic device which can see into the immediate future and past (and more importantly also fixes any wrinkles or defects on the face of any woman reflected in it).  Mara was hoping to use it to make a trade for her husband Jack’s heart (and get a little makeover).       

Apollos was clever (and desperately lovesick enough) to successfully steal the prized mirror.  He was not well acquainted enough with the mortal world to avoid trouble while trying to deliver it.  Straying too close to Keeper Hill at night, he was captured by a Goblin raid.  Hobgoblin captain, Sarn, correctly figured he would be worth more as a hostage than a meal.  Sarn’s lord, Billy the Barghest, was far more interested in the mirror, as he was able to coax glimpses of the future and past in it (though it did nothing for his complexion).  While he has no real control over the visions, as Formorians don’t mix well with Elvish magic, it’s still potentially a powerful tool. 

This was Billy’s chance at the big time.  He called a convocation of several minor Formorian lords to Keeper Hill, attempting to persuade them into forming a coalition to gain more influence in the Formorian Parliament*.  Yawn. . . Politics. . . Yes, but this is Humanoid politics, so of course, there’s plenty of bloodshed and intrigue.  For example, Lord Sogore, a major lord, heard of the meeting and, disliking Billy, decided to sabotage it.  Sogore inserted one of his agents, the infamous Doppelganger, into the entourage of the one of the delegates.

[* Just as a sidebar, I should mention that the Parliament of the Formorians is usually held in the Valley of Deafness, where the Irish hero, Cuchulain, hid while being hunted by the Children of Cailidin.  It is a supernatural place on the fringe of the Fey Otherworld, so there’s no exact location.  The Valley can be accessed from different places.  There’s a small fort staffed by King’s Men outside of the one of the most well known entrances to keep the gathering of Humanoids from becoming a raid on human settlements (but otherwise, they don’t interfere with them as long as they’re peaceful). 

What does this Parliament look like?  You’re thinking what I’m thinking: Caves of Chaos!  Yes, an actual reason for a variety of Humanoids to be living together in a group of small caves, and a reason for a keep to be on the borderlands nearby.] 

While Billy held a welcoming feast for his guests, the Doppelganger, disguised as delegate Lady Grey Moon, got to up to the Noble Level and disrupted the magical seal keeping the powerful undead pinned in there.  (Sogore knew what was held there, as he’d been there with the original raiding party, and obviously doesn’t mess around when it comes to mischief.)  The only thing that kept everyone from being slaughtered by a hoard of undead was Billy using the mirror several minutes before to impress the delegates and getting a vision of the deed.  Confusingly, Grey Moon had been at the feast the whole time and obviously protested the accusation.  The undead would be attacking before anything could be sorted out. 

Billy ordered troops to the security station guarding the Noble Level, but knowing it would likely be of no use, he also started evacuating his subjects to the Mines.  Samuel quickly followed suit with his Grimlocks.  The troops sent to stop the undead, became undead themselves, but at least bought some time for the rest.  While several of the residents have been killed in the rush, more managed to make it into the Mines and shut themselves in.  They’re safe from those undead, but are now trapped, and the Wraiths in the mine are not happy with the intrusion.  

The Goblin and Grimlock clan survivors are more or less trapped inside Keeper Hill.  Formorians cannot exist on the surface in daylight for more than a day, and even then only in a weakened state.  A Humanoid entering another clan’s territory without permission is a virtual death sentence.  The clans of Keeper Hill have no allies outside the county to retreat to.  (One reason why Billy was so eager to impress others with the Black Mirror.)

Formorians are especially distrustful of those outside their own clan and so the delegates ignored Billy’s warning to flee.  After Billy’s “vision” (as they called it), the delegates were convinced that this was some sort of trick and retreated to their guest quarters, offended.  The lords and their entourages there were powerful enough to hold off the undead, but they are now trapped.  They cannot get to an exit and have little food and water to survive on for any length of time.  The undead have encircled them and are waiting for them to either attempt to rush them or for the Humanoid position to weaken so that they can rush them.  The Doppelganger, unable to escape from Keeper Hill at this point, has been force to rejoin the delegates as a member of one of the entourages.    

Other groups have taken advantage of the chaos to get inside.  The Dwarves have always kept the hill under close observation.  Using a secret Dwarf passage into the complex, they have inserted a squad of spies to get first-hand information on the situation.  Meanwhile, Lady Nim wants her mirror back and has figured out Apollos took it.  She has discretely asked a few trusted friends to find him.  Elvish scouts tracked the centaur to Keeper Hill and discerned his entry inside, speculating from signs of struggle that he was captured rather than defecting.  With this possible insult to the Fey, they called in some firepower to break in and affect a rescue.  They have gotten in via the Dark Road entrance (which, of course, the Elves have no trouble getting into).

Meanwhile, Mara the witch, who keeps her workshop inside the hidden Dwarf vault at Keeper Hill, became well aware of what happened in the complex.  While perfectly safe where she was, this event presented an opportunity.  You see, she’d heard a rumor.  There is a tale of Billy, once drunk and jolly amongst his peers, displaying a silver locket containing a strand of magical golden hair, claiming it prize from one of his randy conquests.  Billy named no names, but a few people have made unfounded connections.  Lady Nim has kept a few “interesting” lovers and there have been some insinuations of scandalous “Dungeon Fever” with Formorian lords before.  And also, she’s blonde.  Since those allegations surfaced, Billy has denied everything and the locket has not been seen in public since.         

Mara has long had some suspicions about that locket still being in Billy’s possession, just not on his person.  She took a chance with her Invisibility Cloak to sneak past the undead to raid his quarters.  Indeed, it was there.  Unfortunately, the locket was warded against theft, alerting not just the undead in the area, but Billy himself and Nim. 

If it’s possible for an Elvish Lady to show terror, this was it.  The locket had been given, not as an expression of undying love, but rather as a surety.  Billy had insisted on some protection against someone like Prince Alex (Old stats, Endless Night stats, however he’s really only going to be a plot device in this adventure, much like Lady Nim) finding out about their affair and then coming down to decapitate him over Nim’s “soiled” honor.  Nim’s jealous sisters, Lady Nyx and Lady Di, would pay anything for proof to embarrass their snooty older sister.  It would be an almost unthinkable scandal in the Seelie Court that would ruin Nim.  (Billy would be getting some shunning too from the Formorians.)  Nim would do anything to cover it up.

After a quick mystic/telepathic conversation with Billy, Nim went into a rage, but a very purposeful one.  The other Formorian lords and even Nim’s Elvish allies cannot be allowed to find the locket.  (If she knew Mara had it, Nim might fall into complete panic.)  As Billy is in no position to mount a raid as is, some outsiders, who know nothing about the affair, need to be brought in to help him. 

Nim contacts her human agent, the Bard Sean Robbins (Old stats, his stats will be updated in the adventure) to find human help.  She has provided him with magic weapons to help the volunteers with the task.  Little does she know that Sean would like nothing better than to be in possession of that locket himself, thus giving him something that would allow him to repay the favor (his magic blade) she did for him that has put him in her debt.  Though Sean was only informed that he needs to recruit warriors to help Billy in ending the undead threat, he’s already figured out this somehow involves that locket (which, of course as the purveyor of information in the county, he already knows about).

The undead are now all over the inside of Keeper Hill.  They’ve broken down the gate to the Dark Road and gotten out.  Ghoul scouts are out searching for more victims.  Unfortunately, the quickest exit they found from the road has lead up into the human-held lands of Tipperary County.  And this is where the Characters get involved.

[Wow!  If you read all of this, you are a hard core gamer.  I usually skip over these kind of background sections myself.  I can only hope that this was engaging to read and will help in running the adventure.]

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