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D&D Ramblings
4 years ago
I haven't had a lot to write for a story on this site, so someone asked me what other stuff I was writing. So here's a bit from a Pathfinder module that I'm working on. Some won't make sense, as it's for a group that's in the middle of a campaign. They just tried to fight a lich and got their butts kicked. So read it or don't. And if you don't know anything about D&D or Pathfinder, just ignore the parts with numbers and things that don't make sense to you. Will you see these characters in a story here one day? Probably not, I usually just make those things up quickly, but maybe!
Some of the people in the town:
Defacto Mayor (not really an elected position, but when he speaks, most of the town listens and supports him): Earl Segarus. Earl is a level 2 human fighter/bard about 30 years old. He is of average size, but just a little taller than most. He had some quite basic training on fighting and being an adventurer, but he never kept up with it. He found that he liked telling stories a lot more, and people liked listening to his stories. He has a charisma of 16 and a bluff skill of +4 which is one reason why he is so popular in town. He will really want the Agents to stay, at least for a short time.
Antenor and Portia Evans. This is the couple that runs the inn in town. They are an older couple and both are a bit overweight. Antenor has started to grey and has quite the bald spot that Portia pretends not to see. They will offer the Agents free room and board for as long as they want as a reward for saving the town. Of course, they hope “as long as you want” doesn’t turn into a very long time because they wouldn’t be able to feed a group of adventurers for an extended period of time.
Michael Glendower. This is a slightly undersized human male that is just 15 years old. He wants to be an adventurer, but he’s really not fit for it. When he learns that Michael of the Agents shares his name, he might become a bit of a pest to Michael, following him around and trying to get him to take him with the Agents when they leave town. He is also a bit of a klutz, so it should be clear he has no future as an adventurer. He is quite skinny as well.
Marina Talbot. This is a stout female human farmer who has a cow and goat farm just outside the edge of the town. She has short, cropped hair that she cuts herself. Her face is tanned and worn, but she is very fit. She is in her early 40s, but looks a bit younger. She works hard and provides much of the milk for most of the town. She also drinks hard and spends her evenings at the inn. She is a bit of a gruff character and doesn’t really like strangers. She is reluctantly thankful that the Agents saved the town, but she will also lead the demands that they stay until the lich is dealt with. If the Agents suggest leaving (before meeting up with Isumbras), she will insult them, call them cowards, and say that any deaths in the town will be blood on their hands for stirring up the lich and leaving.
Lennox Gobbo. Lennox is about 80 years old and has lived his entire life in the town. He is a handyman and can fix little things, helping out where he can. He obviously can’t do as much physical work as he used to, but he knows how things work and knows what needs to be done to fix them. He has long, thick white hair and spends every night at the inn. He knows little about the lich or the castle, just that they’ve always been there and no one ever crosses the white bridge. When there are discussions and disagreements in the inn he will agree with whatever the last person has said.
Ognian Hanak. Ognian is the town brewer (Whitebridge Brewing Co). He is a barrel of a man, six feet tall and nearly six feet wide. Rumor is that he may be half-orc, but no one has the guts to ask him. He doesn’t have a hair on his head, but he doesn’t care because he keeps the town in beer. He also has some small wheat fields just south of town to help supply his brewery. He can often be found rolling a keg of beer from his brewery across the street to the small inn.
Golarn Ragesteel. Golarn is the town blacksmith. He is a very tall, very thin man, not the typical appearance for a blacksmith. He is usually covered with soot because he hasn’t really come up with a reason to clean himself off yet. He is a friendly fellow, but he lacks experience and skill as a blacksmith. He’s made few weapons, but he can make hinges that are mostly straight and can sharpen scythes for farming, but little else.
Colin Alfan. Colin in the town gossip and messenger. He is a skinny boy about 14 years old. He doesn’t really have a lot of skills, but he can run fast. He takes messages from one person to another in town (he’s never been out of town) and therefore really knows a lot about a lot of different people in town. He doesn’t mean to talk out of turn, but he is a bit of a simpleton and often forgets when he’s told not to talk about things.
Gamma Herry. Gamma is an older woman who still manages to work on her small plot of land, primarily sewing and working with cloth. She has a small group of a dozen sheep that she maintains and all the equipment to turn sheep’s wool into primitive garments. She’s no expert, but she can make clothes and blankets that are functional and work just fine. She watches over Colin, and Colin lives with her, but no one really knows who Colin’s parents are.
The Tavern: The tavern itself is a rather small place, really more of a gathering place for townspeople. Whitebridge is far off the regular trading path, so they’re not often a place that people travel through or even to. The full name of the tavern is the Full Mug Tavern. Most people in town will call it “The Mug.” Antenor will be quick to correct anyone who calls it that in his presence, but that’s clearly a losing battle.
There is a common room on the first floor that has a long bar with a dozen seats at it. This is where most of the town gathers in the evening to drink and talk. In the room there are also two rectangular tables that can seat six. These are seldom used by the regulars. There are two additional floors in the tavern. On the second floor is an open room with a few scattered beds. This is the common space for those who really don’t need much for the night. There are bits of straw around that have been used for padding in the past. If the Agents want to stay here Portia will bring in a few loads of straw for the beds and the open space. The top floor of the tavern has four rooms that are just large enough for individual beds (human-sized, not minotaur-sized). For the people of the town, these are luxury rooms and they are very seldom used. They will be offered to the Agents, though there are only four beds.
In-Town Happenings:
Arrival in Town: After the arrival in town, Earl will demand that the Agents stay in town and attend a town meeting to talk about what to do about the castle. This town meeting will not be for 2 days because it takes time to get everyone into town for the meeting (Not really, but Earl is trying to retain some kind of control over the town). If asked, he can make it happen in 1 day as a favor to the Agents.
Staying the Night: If the Agents ask in the inn about a place to stay, Portia will look them up and down, especially Sigvar, the minotaur. She will count the members of the group, then count on her fingers. Finally she will say, “Ah, but I have only the four rooms and none more.” She will gesture towards Sigvar and continue, “But alas, this one will not be fitting through the doors or in the bed. Perhaps Marina will have some space?”
Marina does indeed have some space...in her barn. With the cows. And the goats. Certainly the Agents can elect to stay outside town in the wilderness, or in their extradimensional space, but that will be an insult to the people of the town (and they can learn this with a sense motive check, DC 15). If Sigvar (or anyone else) elects to stay with Marina, they will find she is quite gruff, but willing to allow space in her barn. During the night, whoever sleeps there will be woken up by a goat chewing on their clothes. With a perception check, DC 24, they will wake up when the goat starts chewing. If they fail the check, the goat will manage to eat a hole through a sleeve and do some damage to the clothes. If the person complains to Marina, she will just shrug and say, “That’s what goats do.”
During the Day: The Agents will have an entire day to wait for the town meeting in the evening. Marina will be taking care of cows: milking them, letting them out to pasture, preparing straw for feed, etc. Agents can offer help, but she will not request it. They could explore, but there is very little to do in town: this is a working town of people who work. There is a blacksmith and his hammer will be heard from a distance. He normally is at work making tools, hinges, and other things rather than weapons. This is Golarn, and he would gladly stop work to chew the fat with visitors. He will ask a lot about news from other places. If they walk near the brewery, Ognian will likely pop up in a window and ask if they’d like a tour. The brewery isn’t much, but he keeps it very clean inside. It is powered by a small water wheel that runs off the stream that runs under the white bridge.
The Town Meeting: Early in the evening, people will start gathering in The Mug. All the NPCs above will be there, as will about 20 other people. The Mug will very quickly fill up to maximum capacity. There will be murmurings of conversations as the group gathers, but Earl will quickly bring the group to order. He will introduce the Agents and then just stand there, expecting them to tell the town what’s going on. If they do not address the crowd, he will encourage them with a, “Well?” Townspeople will ask about the castle and the lich and want to know details. If they mention that the lich was not killed, Golarn will call out, “You should be the sheriff of town until that thing is dead.” He will point at a random member of the party. Lennox will quickly agree, as will much of the town. Presumably, the group will refuse and arrangements will be made for the security of the town. They know of the citadel and would gladly accept assurances that a group would come guard their town from the evil lich. Colin might overenthusiastically volunteer to take the message, but then he will admit that he’s never been out of town before and would need directions.
The Next Morning: When the agents are awake and in town (wherever they might stay the night). Colin will approach the group and ask if they have seen Lennox. He reports that he was supposed to take a message to him this morning that Gamma Herry needed a gate fixed. But when he went to The Mug where Lennox always is in the morning, he wasn’t there. If they investigate, indeed Antenor will report that Lennox sleeps on the floor of the tavern most nights and if he’s not there, he sometimes wanders up to the common room. But no one has seen him this morning at all.
It turns out that Lennox had just a few too many to drink last night. After the tavern closed after the meeting, he wandered over to the brewery to try and get some more to drink. Once there, he passed out, inside, behind the brewing barrels. However, it will likely take a little time to find him there. Perhaps a search party will be started, but at some point, someone will suggest that the lich took him. The Agents will have to try and assure them that the lich didn’t have anything to do with this, but that’s if the Agents agree. If they do think about it, it would seem very unlikely that a lich of the power they saw would bother a simple old man. But if the Agents think it was the lich, that angle can continue, at least until Lennox is found.
Meeting Isumbras: On the day before they are going to leave, someone will spot a small figure moving at the castle. This figure might be near the castle or on top of the castle (if it still stands). It is wearing robes of some kind and moving about with purpose.
When the Agents go to investigate, they will find a small halfling there, Isumbras Featherbottom.
As you move across the massive white bridge, you can see the figure more clearly now. You can relax a little as you see the figure is little more than two feet tall: clearly not the old man lich that you fought so hard in the castle. The figure has brown robes and a hood pulled up over its head. It holds in its hand some sort of flat device that appears to have a number of flashing crystals on it. The figure moves about, taking steps in seemingly random directions and the crystals continue to flash, perhaps in some sort of pattern.
When you reach the edge of the bridge, the figure apparently hears you, stops, and turns. You can see the slightly wrinkled face of what looks like an older man, but in the body of a child. It takes you a moment to realize that it is likely a halfling male with bits of white hair peeking out from the edges of the hood. He ponders a moment, looking at the group with a tilt of his head. He takes the strange device and places it into a large pouch hanging from his belt, then walks towards the group saying, “Greetings. I am Isumbras Featherbottom. Who do I have the pleasure of meeting on this fine day?”
Isumbras can explain that he is an expert on evil undead. He has a device that can detect the amount of evil in a place. He was drawn to this location because of a very strong evil presence that was spreading. He can explain to the Agents that his device tells him that the evil presence is getting weaker. When he is told about the lich he can nod a lot and claim that that indeed makes sense to him. He is quite sure that the evil is starting to dissipate and that the lich is clearly gone from this place. The evil taint on the land has already begun to leave the area, but it will take a long time as it clearly took over a hundred years to infest the place.
The group can head back into the town and Isumbras will agree to stay there to continue to monitor the level of evil in the area. Some of the townspeople will still want the Agents to stay and protect them, but there will be a little less resistance when they decide that they have to leave.
D&D Ramblings
4 years ago
And since you asked, here is the main location for the next adventure (so far):
Wedding City
Wedding City, as the name implies, is a place celebrated for weddings. People come from all around the nearby lands to join in wedded bliss in this city. Of course, mainly those that can afford it. Wedding city sits at the edge of the continent near the edge of a cliff with beautiful views out over the Oeax Sea.
(insert map here)
The city itself sits on the shore in a dip in the cliffs to give access to the sea. While most of the trade and communications with the rest of the lands is overland via the road system, they do have a small port system that is available and is sometimes used, especially for more exotic trade items. The city itself is primarily self-sustaining from the farmlands to the south. Inside the city proper there are four main districts: the harbour, the castle ward, the old district and east town. To the north the hills rise very quickly to give way to beautiful green forests, the primary location of many of the weddings in town.
The main road into town is the road that leads straight east through the largest portion of East Town. That is the large road that leads nearly straight east across Fargunia and to God Town. The northern road leads out east and picks up a number of different small villages and eventually winds its way to Ham City. The southern road out of East Town follows a similar meandering path across the southern edges of the lands ending up in Echo Dwelling. The south road out of the Castle Ward leads just to the local farmlands and sort of ends after the farmlands end.
The Southern Farmlands: To the south of the city are sprawling farmlands. The climate here, tempered by the water and the cliff to the west, allow many types of crops to be grown. There are wheat fields for making flour and hay fields for feeding the animals. There are corn fields, bean fields, and a few smaller farms that make do with various other items like tomatoes, potatoes, and lettuce. The crop fields almost alternate with pastures for cows, chicken, and even some horses. The two southern roads out of the city are often busy with traffic from the farms as farmers bring their goods to market.
The Harbour: This is really the smallest of the districts, as there is not a huge amount of trade from the water. The port here is large enough and deep enough that they can support nearly any manner of ship. There are a number of people here who make their living heading out into the water for fish to bring back and take to the market. There are just two medium-sized warehouses here and behind them are a couple fish processing plants. As might be expected, in the northeastern section of the harbor there are a couple sailor bars and a couple cheap inns where rooms can be obtained.
The Castle Ward: This is the area that has grown up around the small castle in the city. Most of the buildings in this area are primarily there to support the small castle. There is a stable, a blacksmith, a trinkets store, and so on. There is even a small inn with just bunkrooms for visiting groups of servants and the like. The castle itself is actually more of a remnant of an earlier time. The castle stood as a far western outpost long ago. It still remains there as the seat of power for the government of Wedding City. There are still walls around the keep, but it has been ages since the gates were even closed. The towers still stand guard, but they are crumbling a little and have not been kept up. Inside the castle is a small keep where the mayor of Wedding City lives and entertains nobles and other high ranking guests.
The Old District: This is, quite obviously, the older section of the city. This is the area that was first built up when the city started expanding out from the castle outpost. This section of town really has a little of everything that you might find in a small town, as before some of the expansions, it supported itself. There are small inns, blacksmiths, general stores, and so on here. Most of the buildings are just older and a little more run down. There are a few older temples here -- most have newer buildings out in East Town, but these are often run by older people who simply didn’t want to move into the newer and fancier places. Many people who live here don’t really like the East Town in general just because they believe the old district people are the originals, while the East Town people are all newcomers. There’s no open hostility here, just a feeling of distrust.
East Town: This is the newest and largest section of the city. This is really the section that’s developed in response to the idea of the city being a destination for weddings. There are all of the normal shops and places in this section, including plenty of residences, but the vast majority of them really support the wedding industry. The main street into town is lined with stores and hawkers to try and entice people in to join them. Every major religion is represented here and plenty of minor and completely random religions that may or may not have been invented just to fleece the unwary. There are small and medium temples and places of worship in this section for every religion known in the Wold. Most of the buildings here are newer. Those that are on the main road into town all look very new and are often kept painted and cleaned up to attract the tourists. The road is very clean and open and feels very welcoming to any who travel the road -- though they are likely to be approached by many roadside hawkers mainly selling weddings, but also various charms and trinkets to go with the wedding. The further from the main street one goes, the more the places look like a normal town and less of a fantasy/tourist version of a town.
North of Town: North of town is where many of the more expensive weddings are held. While the moderate priced weddings are often in the luxurious temples in East Town, those who truly have means will have their wedding up on the hill. The hill is very steep and there is a long and winding pathway that leads up the hill. On the top is a clear, bright forest with a few different clearings ready for wedding ceremonies. The largest clearing is near the edge of the cliff with a view out across the sea. Beyond this area, the forest gets thicker, but it is not known for dangerous creatures. If a wolf or bear is spotted, the town quickly dispatches people to keep the forest safe for everyone. There are a number of small paths and game trails that lead off into the woods, but nothing that really goes anywhere.
For this module, a cult has taken to worshipping the green dragon, Slartanus. While Slartanus is clearly evil, the cult is gathering in the name of Maab, claiming that they are doing her bidding while serving Slartanus. A few of the zealots may even claim that Slartanus is actually Maab in disguise! Slartanus didn’t start this rumor, but he has done nothing to stop it, either. The cult has taken over one of the churches in Wedding City and is using it to attempt to recruit more to the cult. They hope one day that Slartanus will rule over the city and eventually all of the surrounding lands. There is at least one other temple to Maab in Wedding City that actually worships Maab. As usual with competing temples in one city, neither of the two temples trust one another, though the second temple has no idea that there is a green dragon involved with the first temple to Maab!
