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.]
