+++++++++++++++++++++++ The Oasis in the Desert +++++++++++++++++++++++ In order to cure a plague, a cleric hires the party retrieve holy water from an oasis in a cursed desert. I'm about 3/4 done writing this one. .. contents:: :local: Introduction ============ Pick between the `Shortest possible`_ introduction or the `really long narrative`_. Shortest possible ----------------- * Plague broke out in the kingdom a few months ago. * Half of those infected recover, and the other half dies about 40 days after they show the first symptoms. * Even though the plague has just arrived, and hasn't spread everywhere, law and order is falling apart: * The baron took his family and fled to his country home. * Some of the other noble houses also fled. Others remain in the city but stay inside their walled estates behind armed guards. * Soldiers are deserting their posts. * Markets are nearly empty and food is growing scarce because merchants avoid the city. * Refugees come from the countryside to wait in the temple courtyards, and beg to be cured by the clerics. This next fact is not public knowledge: A cleric at one temple found an old an old ritual that was used during the last plague 80 years ago. The ritual uses water from a desert oasis. Now you can skip to the `Hooks`_ section. Really long narrative --------------------- You can read this stuff verbatim, or paraphrase it: Every year in the spring the city has a big festival when the sea thaws enough to allow merchant ships into the city ports. But this year, about a month after the first merchant ships arrived, and everyone celebrated the end of the long winter, sailors and dock workers died of a strange illness. The illness starts with the fingernails going numb and then turning black. In another few weeks, swollen buboes form on the neck, thighs, and armpits. Then the buboes burst open and leak. Soon the victim suffers a harsh fever and starts coughing and vomiting blood. It takes about 30 days from the when the fingernails turn black until the victim dies. Some die sooner and some die later. Less than half of the victims survive the plague and recover. They stop vomiting blood, their fever breaks, and the buboes slowly recede. Terror of the plague spread faster than the plague itself. Every day that goes by, the people in the city grow more desperate. Markets are nearly empty because few farmers are willing to visit the city. Most of the upper class have fled the city. Courtyards in front of the temples are full of desperate people hoping to survive long enough to be cured by the clerics inside. This next fact is not public knowledge: Clerics at one temple has found an old an old ritual that was used during the last plague 80 years ago. The ritual uses water from a desert oasis. Hooks ===== This section has ideas for getting the party to start the quest. Use one you like and then jump to the `From the city to the monastery`_ section. Matt's favorite hook -------------------- I got this idea from `Boojamon on reddit`_: The party is out doing whatever it is they do all day when they see an old man get pushed to the ground by a few hooligans wearing bandanas around their faces. The party recognizes the old man. He drives into town every morning on his ox cart to sell produce. Some of the thugs start kicking and yelling at the old man while others search through his cart. The old man sees the party and yell at them for help. .. _`Boojamon on reddit`: http://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/o2pfw/help_me_finish_writing_this_adventure/c3e0ncp If the party approaches, the bandits will attack the party. The bandits will flee quickly though. Use the `bandits`_ section for fighting stats. After the fight, the old man will explain that the bandits are footpads from one of the guilds of thieves. They've been shaking down the street vendors for protection. The old man will say they should go right away to the temple and ask for blessings because that guild is known to paint their blades with plague blood. The players shouldn't make savings throws versus disease right now. Instead, in a few days, require some party members to make rolls, and the failers should notice the first signs of the plague -- black splotches under fingernails. When the party arrives at the temple, they'll see a huge The clerics will say they'll bless the party right away if the party will help them by travelling to the desert in order to retrieve some holy water for them, so that they can do the ritual. Some other hook ideas --------------------- * A close friend or relative of the party catches the plague. * A wealthy noble's child has caught the plague. The noble posts a reward for anyone who can retrieve the holy water in time for his child to be cured. * If there's a paladin or cleric in the party, then their church could be the one that needs the holy water, and so the church commands the player to go get it. From the city to the monastery ============================== Once the players agree to the mission: The cleric explains that there is a monastery near the edge of the desert, and the monks there know much more about the location of the desert oasis. The cleric gives the party a signed and sealed letter to take to the monastery. The letter commands the monks to help the party. The cleric gives the party a different letter to take a friend of the church that lives further out in the hill country. The letter requests that the friend shelter the party and help them in any way possible during their journey. The lowlands near the city -------------------------- The first part of the journey crosses the land just outside the city walls: Right outside the city walls, every bit of land is used up with cottages, craftsmen's shops, farm plots, or other productive uses. Stone-paved roads go through the district. Tiny canals criscross throughout this area and bridges are everywhere. The streets should be full of activity. Merchants usually swarm around travellers from the city, looking to sell them something or entice them to eat a meal in a tavern. Black flags fly everywhere, telling outsiders to stay away. People The lowland river house ----------------------- Near the end of the first day of riding, the party reaches the tavern: A big wooden house sits near a wooden bridge that crosses a river. A big wooden sign says | LOWLAND RIVER HOUSE | FOOD AND LODGING There are several horses tied up out front, and windows are open. It looks like a friendly place. Inside the tavern inside, the party can see soldiers, farmers, and travelling merchants all swapping stories. Spending time in the tavern will lead to hearing rumors. Every time they buy somebody a drink, pick a rumor from the list below (they're not all true): Rumors ~~~~~~ ======= ====================================================================== roll ======= ====================================================================== 1 Rival warlords live in the barrens 2 Ghouls are eating the corpses in the mass graves 3 No travellers in the cursed desert will reach their goal without spilling blood -- that is the desert's curse 4 This plague never kills those of low character: thieves, swindlers, burglars, and crooked merchants are all spared 5 The baron is letting the plague wipe out the underclass 6 Nearby barons may raid if the plague weakens the army too much 7 The baron has no heir and it is not clear what will happen when he dies or steps down 8 The eastern kingdom has spies everywhere 9 Some of the noble houses are allied with the warlord in the barrens 10 Deep within the sewers and catacombs under the capital city, there are tribes of subhumans, like rat-people and mole-people. ======= ====================================================================== Tavern details ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * lots of shadows in the room. Light comes from many small sources. * Kegs of beer and wine and glass bottles of spirits sit on shelves built into one wall. Also, there are plates and mugs on those shelves. * a basket of loaves of bread sits on a wooden bar in front of the wall with all the booze. * walls decorated with tapestries and paintings * Two big fireplaces hold big fires. One fireplace holds a big pot of fish stew. * The fireplaces are built into stone chimneys. Smoked fish hang off hooks high up on the walls. * glass windows let you see the river outside. * Oil lamps sit on most of the wooden tables around the room. * Kitchen doors lead to the kitchen with a large hearth * Lowland River House was once an estate owned by a wealthy family of aristocrats. Now a large family of peasants runs the lowland house, after their ancestors won it in a card game. * The peasants live in what was once the guest quarters and rent out rooms in the main house. * One wall has a dartboard. This is always popular with the guests. The hill country ---------------- This is the further-out area: The road is now made of crushed gravel and sand instead of smooth paving stones. The land is hilly and the road winds through a valley between hills. A shally stream flows along the side of the road. Instead of lots of densely crowded tiny farm plots, there are now much larger fields, where sheep graze on the hills. Less land is plowed and more of it is forest or pastures. There are small cottages and huge country estates set into the side of the hills. The dowager's estate -------------------- This estate is near the edge of the kingdom. The cleric gave the party a signed and sealed letter to take to the estate. The estate is surrounded by high stone walls. This family owns all the nearby lands and promises to protect their peasant tenants. One problem though -- the family line is dying out. The elderly widowed matriarch is the last link. The matriarch will take the party in, feed them, and feed and command her servants to take care of their horses. She may mention that her peasants have spotted bandits organizing in the barren lands, and she has organized militias to patrol at night. The interior of the house shows signs that this family has been maintaining order out here for many generations. Estate details ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm using `Mount Vernon`_ for a little inspiration. .. _`Mount Vernon`: http://www.mountvernon.org/visit-his-estate/map * Main house with dining room, library, sitting room, and bedrooms. * Servants' quarters * Kitchen * Stables * garden sheds * vegetable gardens * flower gardens * grain fields * well * grain houses * sheds for ploughs and other farming equipment * barn for sheep * fenced pastures * chicken coops and runs * smokehouse * library * contains regional history books * armory * contains master-crafted weaponry * family heirloom armor The border marker ----------------- Further out, there are fewer cottages, fewer sheep and shepherds on the hills, and the river becomes a dried-out riverbed. The hills are dryer and rockier. A square stone column the height of a man on a horse blocks the way. There is a small rock wall about waist high going out from the column for a few paces on two sides. An iron plate printed with symbols is embedded halfway up the stone column. Even if you can't read, every citizen of the kingdom understands that this marker declares the border of the kingdom. Those inside the border must perform homage to the king, and the king promises to enforce law and order for all his subjects. The barrens ----------- Outside the kingdom: Rather than a wide road paved with crushed sand and gravel, the road now is a winding dirt path that snakes up and down the hills ahead. Outside the border, the hills are steeper and taller. the land becomes very dry and rocky. There is less plant life. There are thorny plants, and short trees that look dead. Buzzards circle the sky. It is much hotter here. A few goatherders on a far-away hill watch the party ride by while their goats chew on some thorny plants. This is truly no-man's land. Outlaws flee out here, where they know the king's guard will not pursue them. The party sees the monastery's stone tower of another hill. At the monastery ================ The party should reach the monastery at the end of the third day of riding. All the monks will be inside the walls of the monastery when the players arrive, and the monks will be watching from the tower. The monks are charitable and friendly, but they've been raided by bandits enough that they're wary of strangers. The monks all watch and wait silently inside the stone walls of the monastery. Once the party gives the signed and sealed letter, they are welcomed inside the monastery: The monks will water and feed the horses. The monks feed the party as well with food from their gardens. It doesn't taste delicious, but it fills the party's stomachs. The monks live on legumes and grains that they grow in their nearby gardens. After the meal, The monks take the party up to the top of their tower to a large round room. There are windows all around, and monks sit at many of the telescopes, writing notes in their books. The room is full of shelves of notebooks written by the monks written for years and years. The abbot uses one of the window telescope to show the oasis and a few of the desert's canyons. He shows a path that winds from the monastery down into the desert valley below, through canyons, and then to the oasis. Then the abbot walks to a nearby table and opens a large leather atlas. The atlas is full of parchment maps of the desert. Each map has a picture of a sundial with the shadow pointing in a different place. Or it has a picture of star constellations. The abbot explains that as the sun moves across the sky, or the stars move around at night, the desert changes too. Each map in the book will be accurate for a short time each day. The abbot explains how to use the sundial pictures and the constellation pictures to figure out when to use each map. The abbot says: Tribes of savages wander that desert. They worship demons and kill for the love of killing. You must be careful. Then the abbot takes the party back to the telescope and shows how the position of the oasis moved. Then he shows again how to use the star charts in the book to navigate, and says: We will have your horses ready so you can leave at dawn tomorrow. Ride to the oasis, fill the flasks with water, and then return to us. Monastery details ----------------- * High stone walls all around. * Front gate * A very tall stone tower sits in the middle of the courtyard. There are many telescopes on the top of the tower * dormitory * chapel * kitchen and dining hall * library * greenhouses * A stone fountain sits on top of a tiny stream that flows through the courtyard and then out through a tiny grate in the walls. * pottery hut with kiln * furnace for making glass * smithy Traversing the desert ===================== I'm going for some simple ideas: * There's a chance of some `random discovery`_ every turn. .. _`random discovery`: `Random encounters in the desert`_ * Every turn, the party does some kind of navigation skill roll, modified by the time of day and max INT score in the party. * On success, the party gets closer. * On failure, the party does another skill roll. * A success here means the party just wanders in a circle. * A failure here means the party moves further away. Random encounters in the desert ------------------------------- For every four hours of travel in the desert, pick or randomly select one of the encounters below. * The party notices a buzzard intently watching them from the branches of a nearby tree. * The party finds the `ruins of a caravan`_. * `Cannibals`_ ambush the party. * The party stumbles on the `abandoned camp`_. * (only at night) `giant scorpions`_ attack. * (only after a few turns of wandering) The party finds the witch's cliff house. See the `Witch's hut`_ section. * The party recognize some thorny plants that match descriptions from the monks. They can be cut down and a little bit of moisture can be crushed out of them. These plants can substitute for drinking water for this turn. There's no way to fill up a canteen with the moisture or keep the plants though. * A nice cave suitable for camping for the night. * A tiny stream. Ruins of a caravan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are dozens of skeletons of pack animals and humans and pack bags ripped open and scattered everywhere. If the party searches through the ruins, they'll find: * Nasty-looking barbed arrows embedded in some of the skeletons. * A tattered book inside one of the pack bags. The pages are covered in maps and writing in a foreign dialect of thieve's cant. Thieves can try to translate it (INT skill test). On success, the players get an additional +2 on their navigation skill tests. Oasis ~~~~~ The oasis sits in the center of a horseshoe-shaped canyon. There is a large pool in the center, fed by water trickling from a seam between the rocks in the side of the sandstone canyon. Some underground lake or river probably feeds this oasis. The water in the pool is deep clear blue and there are small fish swimming in the pool. There are palm trees on the tops of the canyon walls. There are grasses around around the pool in the canyon floor. Crude statues and symbols have been carved into one of the stone canyon walls. The carvings show a scene of people filling up tall pots of water from the waterfall and then giving others a drink, while lots of angels watch from the sky. Abandoned camp ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is a camp of one tribe of savages that was raided by another rival tribe. Everyone has been killed or was carried off to be eaten. After entering the new area you can use this to describe the camp: After climbing up one hill and then coming around some boulders, you see in front of you what looks the the very old remains of a bonfire. There are rocks arranged in a circle, and inside there are charred branches and ashes. A few broken clay pots are scattered around the campfire, mostly covered in the sand. There are two round tents nearby, looking like they are about to fall down. Several heaps of cloth on the ground that look big enough to be collapsed tents. There are no signs of anyone. All signs suggest that this camp has been abandoned for at least days, maybe longer. The party should do perception checks if nobody explicitly states they want to examine the area. Upon success, they will find human skeleton bones in the bonfire ashes. If the party searches the area, they will find: * fragments of short nasty barbed arrows * Unmistakeably human bones in the campfire ashes. * Inside the tents, there are dried bloodstains, ripped fabric, smashed pottery and furniture, and lots of other obvious signs of violence. * Mostly buried in the sand, there is a fancy leather wrist bracelet decorated with beads made from bones and pebbles. It ain't magic, but it looks really badass. Witch's hut ~~~~~~~~~~~ If the party randomly discovers the witch's hut, or because they get super-lost, use this: You enter a valley with a line of hills. Near the top of one of the hills, you see an oddly-shaped mud hut. The hut has a half-dome shape and connects right to the side of the hill. A little trail of smoke comes out of the top of the dome through a chimney. If the party goes near the hill, or examines the hut from a distance: You also see some wide dark tunnels obviously carved into the side of the hill. Also you see a path with a wooden railing that starts in front of the hut and sidewinds all the way down the hill. There are stairs carved in at steep parts. The wooden rails are made from the twisted branches of the desert trees that grow out here. The wood has been painted and carved with random artistic patterns and symbols. If the party makes lots of noise outside, or calls out to the mud hut, the witch will come outside. Back at the monastery ===================== When the party returns from the desert, the monks will be thrilled. They will again feed and water their horses and wish the party well on the journey home. Ride back to the dowager's estate ================================= There are burned cottages and slaughtered sheep on one hill. Bandits have raided the estate several times. Much of the peasantry have fled into the estate's walls. The peasants say that the plague has given the bandits confidence that they can gain a foothold in the kingdom. They say bandits have looted many small villages and often kidnap family members and hold them for ransom. Ride back to the lowland river house ==================================== The highwaymen at the crossroads -------------------------------- On the way back toward the lowland river house, the party sees a covered wagon pulled by two mules coming toward them and they see a man with a bloody bandage around his head. He looks badly wounded. The woman sitting next to him is driving the mules. A few children huddle in the back of the wagon. The wagon is empty. As the wagon gets closer, it is clear that the father is badly wounded. If the players stop and offer to help, the family explains they are turning back because up ahead at a crossroads, some highwaymen blocked the road and demanded a toll. They were on the way to a nearby village to sell their harvest of cabbages, but the bandits wanted gold in order to pass. Of course this guy didn't have any gold (he's just a cabbage farmer), so they beat him up. This is what the party sees as they get closer: As the party comes around a turn in the forest, they see up ahead a wagon (no horses though) pulled into the middle of the road in order to block it. Two unsavory-looking men are standing on top of the wagon, each holding crossbows. Several more men are standing in front of the wagon. There are a heap of cabbages piled on the side of the road. These are almost certainly the contents of that poor farmer's cart. Have the party do an easy perception check to notice the several more thugs hiding in the forest on one side. The bandits are all infected with the plague. During combat, one of these bandits will purposefully spit bloody sputum on to some unlucky party member. `MelancholyOcelot on reddit`_ supplied this gem. .. _`MelancholyOcelot on reddit`: http://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/o2pfw/help_me_finish_writing_this_adventure/c3e8hfy See `bandits`_ in the `NPCs and monsters`_ section for fighting statistics on these guys. NPCs and monsters ================= Bandits ------- This URL has stats for bandits in the pathfinder system: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/npc-s/npc-0/bandit-human-warrior-2 Page 191 of the OSRIC book has stats for bandits for the OSRIC system. They carry weapons like clubs, hunting knives, short bows, and improvised spears made from farm tools. The bandits in town stab their bladed weapons in the corpses piled up in the mass graves, so that they can infect their enemies. The bandits in town carry darts rather than short bows. The witch --------- The witch has a buzzard for a familar. Based on the random encounters, the party may see a buzzard in advance. then maybe they'll see a buzzard in her hut and maybe they'll put it together. The witch is a wildcard. Depending on how the adventure is going, the witch can do any of these: * Help the party out. She can heal their wounds, feed them, give them better directions to find their way out. * Freak out because the party reminds her of the people that raided out her village and put some curse on them. * If the party shows their maps to her, and she's feeling charitable, maybe she'll write out some notes to take back to the monks that will explain a few details. * If the players interact really politely, the witch may invite them to sit in on a seance. The seance ~~~~~~~~~~ If the party agrees, the witch will ask that somebody sticks out their palm. If somebody agrees: She takes their hand and then cuts across it with a weird dagger covered in runes. Then she'll sprinkle a few drops of their blood into a metal tripod set up over a fire in the center of her hut. Powerful fumes will blur everyone's vision and make them feel dizzy. Then they'll see stuff like lightning bugs flying around the room and they hear whispered gibberish. None of it will make any sense. The witch will seem to age and then grow younger and then age over and over again, and then eventually return to her original self. The smoke slowly clears and the whispers and lights stop. The witch opens her eyes. Then she gets up and walks to a table. She looks agitated. She glances at the party and says Forgive me, I need to handle something right away. while she uses a quill to scribble on a piece of paper. Then she calls her buzzard, and it flies over to her. She rolls the paper up and slides into a little bone tube, and ties that tube around the bird's leg. Then she whispers into the bird's ear. The bird looks at her, makes a loud CAW! sound, and then opens its wings and flies out through the chimney hole in the ceiling of the hut. After the bird flies out of the hut, the witch says she saw some disturbing images and she wants the party to help her understand them. During her trance, the witch saw scenes from the past and the future, and she doesn't know what is what. * a lamp with a glowing crystalline gem inside * tunnel walls carved with pictures and runes * A burning temple, surrounded by an angry mob * a flag with a black scythe on an orange background * an army of the undead The goal here is to give the players some mental pictures that will show up in future adventures, sort of like how at the beginning of Battlestar Galactica (the new one, not the Dirk Benedict one) they have all those highlight clips. The witch's back-story ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The witch once was a druid that lived with her tribe of druids in a far-off enchanted forest. They knew a powerful magic ritual that let them live forever. Otherwise, they were a very humble and quiet tribe of druids. Nearby farmers made offerings every year, and the druids would come out and bless their fields and livestock. She had a son. Her son's pedigree meant he would be brilliant and one day he would lead the tribe. The king of the land found some ancient evil magic scrolls that described how he could become a god if enough people worshipped him and enough blood sacrifices were made. He forced all his subjects to worship him and he tore down all the temples to other religions. The king sent bands of mercenaries and assassins out to slaughter all those of other faiths. One of those bands of assassins and mercenaries found the tiny altars that the nearby farmers built to them, and then they forced the farmers to explain about the tribe in the woods. The mercenaries and assassins told the king, and he sent a great horde of soldiers to defeat the tribe in the forest. Of course the druids of the forest defended themselves, but they were surprised and vastly outnumbered and eventually they fell. She was struck unconscious during the fight and left for dead. When she woke up, her village was burned, her tribe and family was slaughtered, but she couldn't find her son. She searched on foot in the world outside the forest for days. Everyone was terrified to talk to her and villages would turn her away because they feared the king's soldiers would kill them as nonbelievers. Growing desperate, she performed a forbidden ritual and sought help from ancient evil spirits. She agreed to be their servant if they would protect her son and help her find him. This transformed her into a witch. They promised that if her son was still alive, they would do what they could to keep him safe. Then they told her about the cursed desert and they explained she could use the desert's magic to help her in her search for her child. That was several years ago (10? 100?). She travelled to the desert and learned to harness the desert's magic. She is slowly losing hope that she will find her son. She ages very slowly, but she believes that her son will age normally. Maybe this is true, maybe not! He may die of old age before she can find him. And he may have died as a child. If she discovers her son is dead or finds her son alive, her contract to the evil spirits will be complete. What she does all day now ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now she spends most of her time meditating in her hut in a trancelike state, talking to witches in other times and places, as part of her witch contract. She trained the giant scorpions of the desert to see her as their mother. They are fiercely protective and loyal to her. She commands them with words, hand-gestures, and whistles and even psychically (using magic). The savages fear her, but they also bring their ill children to her and she heals them. There are several children that live with the witch. These are castaways from the tribe. She is teaching a few of them magic. Slave-trader caravans --------------------- They criss-cross the desert with their prisoners in chains. They won't seek out conflict but they won't stop to help either. The caravans are huge (hundreds of pack animals). All the guards will be mounted on camels or horses. There will be long lines of human slaves with chains linking metal collars around their necks. If the party gets close, the guards will draw their curved scimitar swords and others will point crossbows at them. The guards will yell in a foreign dialect of thieves cant to stay away. If the parties get closer, the guards will battle. There's lots and lots of them. If the party runs, then the guards won't pursue unless the party killed lots of guards first. Giant scorpions --------------- They're mean. They have claws and poison stingers. But they're really stupid too. They move silently. Mostly they want to eat the party's horses. The party will meet one of these: * A lone scorpion is picking at the corpse of a desert antelope animal. The scorpion wants to guard his meal, so he won't leave his kill. * A mother with lots of babies on her back is out to teach her young how to hunt. She's protective enough to flee with the rest after a few get killed. * A pack of scorpions have all been following the party's scent. They're hungry and they're ready to fight. Cannibals --------- The savages don't like outsiders in their desert. And they like to eat people. They like fighting with poison-tipped thrown weapons, like darts, spears, and arrows. They make poison from the venom sacs of the giant scorpions in the desert. As soon as the party fights back with any success at all, they will flee. But then they'll get more friends, and come back. Adventure outline ================= This section describes how playing this adventure is likely to go. 1. Background 2. Fight bandits beating up the old man 3. Go to cleric, hear about desert oasis, agree to the quest 4. Ride to lowland river house 5. Ride to dowager's estate 6. Ride to monastery 7. Ride into desert (each day allows four skill rolls, and six net successes are required to reach the oasis). Each skill roll also involves a possible random encounter. 8. Find oasis 9. Travel back to monastery (requires six more successful skill rolls, and four are allowed per day of travel). Each skill roll also involves a possible random encounter. 10. Ride back to dowager's estate 11. Ride back to lowland river house * Fight highwaymen 12. Ride back to city Battles ------- 1. Fight the bandits beating up the old man 2. Lots of random encounters in the desert 3. Fight the highwaymen in the lowlands .. vim: set filetype=rst :