d20 Dark Portal Games The Lands of Arekoz - Dead Fire.pdf - Dark Portal Games - R5700

DF1

The Forest

Eldolan’s Tower

Cut-Away

Exterior

Tony Bounds and Darrin Drader

Credits

Editor: Patric Rogers

Creative Directors: Tony Bounds, Darrin Drader

Art Director: Michael Picagli

Cover Illustration: Mike Jackson

Interior Illustrations: Raphael Arrais, Mike Jackson, Juli Halbur-Herrera

Cartography: Tony Bounds

Layout/ Typography: Tony Bounds

Production Manager: Tony Bounds

Project Managers: Tony Bounds, Darrin Drader

Graphic Design: Michael Picagli

Play Testers: Bryan Culver, William Culver, Aaron Hamrick, Clint Krause, Michael Lentz

Special Thanks: Dan Eveland

Table of Contents

4th Floor

The Laboratory........................................................ 20

5th Floor

The Music Room..................................................... 21

Top Floor

The Observatory......................................................22

Concluding the Adventure................................. 22

Destroying the Flame Hive Queen.......................... 22

Returning to Foresthall............................................ 23

More Adventure....................................................... 23

Appendix: Statistics............................................24

I: Major NPCs......................................................... 24

Belar Anvilspliter’s Smithy....................................... 24

Laucimos’ Cracked Mug.......................................... 24

The Golden Hoof, Horse Breeder............................24

Sir Brandenburg’s Estate.........................................25

The School of Magic................................................25

The Swaying Merchant Tavern................................26

The Temple of Maransol..........................................26

The White Wood Inn................................................27

The Elven Scouts.................................................... 27

The Forest Hag........................................................27

II: Monsters............................................................ 28

Fire Zombie............................................................. 28

Fire Zombie Bat....................................................... 28

Flame Hive Queen...................................................29

Introduction........................................................... 2

Background............................................................... 2

Adapting the Adventure............................................. 3

Scaling the Adventure............................................... 4

Motivating the Players............................................... 4

Beginning the Adenture............................................. 4

The Lay of the Land...................................................5

The Law of the Land..................................................5

The Village of Foresthall.......................................5

Village Overview........................................................5

Village Commerce..................................................... 5

The Residents of Foresthall.......................................6

Village Rumors.......................................................... 6

Major Locales in Foresthall.................................... 7

Belar Anvilspliter’s Smithy......................................... 7

Laucimos’ Cracked Mug............................................ 8

The Golden Hoof, Horse Breeder..............................8

Sir Brandenburg’s Estate...........................................8

The School of Magic..................................................9

The Swaying Merchant Tavern................................10

Guilt and Mead........................................................ 11

The Temple of Maransol..........................................11

The White Wood Inn................................................12

The Forest............................................................12

Forest Random Encounters.....................................13

Forest Encounters: Zone 1................................... 13

The Elven Scouts.................................................... 13

Signs of a Struggle.................................................. 14

The Forest Hag........................................................14

Lake of the Wood.................................................... 16

Spotting the Tower.................................................. 16

Eldolan’s Tower...................................................16

A Warm Greeting.....................................................18

Ground Floor

Reception Chamber.................................................18

1st Floor

Supply Storage........................................................ 19

2nd Floor

Zombie Storage....................................................... 20

3rd Floor

Bedroom.................................................................. 20

Dining Room............................................................20

Kitchen.....................................................................20

III: Magic................................................................. 30

Charm of the Woodland Fey....................................30

IV: Miscellaneous.................................................. 30

Leaves of Passage.................................................. 30

Players’ Handouts...............................................31

Players’ Handout 1.................................................. 31

Players’ Handout 2.................................................. 32

Players’ Handout 3.................................................. 33

Tables

1a: Village Rumors.................................................... 6

1b: Village Rumors.................................................... 7

1c: Village Rumors.................................................... 7

2: Forest Encounters.............................................. 13

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INTRODUCTION

Dead Fire is a challenging adventure for characters levels

1-3 with a total average party level of no more than 12 and

serves as an excellent introduction to the 3rd edition rules.

The party should consist of 4-6 characters and it would be

a good idea, but not absolutely necessary to include a

wizard and a ranger in the group. Most of the adventure

takes place in the wilderness surrounding the small village

of Foresthall, where an unnatural forest fire grows larger

by the minute. The blaze threatens the survival of both

Foresthall and Valmirindi, a nearby elven community.

Keep in mind that this adventure is written mainly for

first or second level characters, but it is designed to be a

challenge. It is very likely that a party of four or five 1st

level adventurers will advance in level over the course of

the adventure.

looked to be excellent candidates for acquisition of the

materials he sought, several very old yet exceedingly

healthy oak trees. Casting lightning bolt spells at the great

oaks he sundered them and extracted his prizes. Sensing

the wanton destruction, the dryads swiftly returned to their

grove to confront whoever or whatever was attacking their

trees. The battle was short and brutal: to defend himself,

Eldolan cast flesh to stone (a spell he was entirely too fond

of) and turned each of the dryads into a lifeless statue.

Struck by the frozen beauty of the dryads, Eldolan

summoned one of his golem servants to carry them back to

his tower as trophies. He arranged them neatly in the

gardens, integrating them into the landscaping surrounding

his tower. Over the years, Darkbough became so deeply

involved in his studies that he ceased tending to the

upkeep of the area around his tower and focused his

attentions completely on his magical research.

Many years later, Ardruar Desmid, an apprentice

from Foresthall’s small school of wizardry, having heard

rumors of a mysterious ‘abandoned’ tower in the forbidden

woods, entered the forest and sought out and found the

structure.

A bit apprehensive about entering, he first explored

the area around the tower. Buried beneath a thick

overgrowth of moss and foliage, Ardruar stumbled upon

one of the ‘dryad statues’ and immediately became

enraptured by its phenomenal beauty. Fascinated with and

greatly desiring the exquisite sculpture, with youthful

abandon Ardruar impulsively conceived to make it his

own. Putting forth only a half-hearted effort, not

surprisingly he failed to attract the attention of any

occupant that might be in the tower. Happily, this allowed

him to conclude the tower was empty, satisfying his

conscience for the moment. Expending great effort he

managed to load and transport the statue upon his mule,

journeyed back to the village and dragged it to his

quarters. It took quite a bit of convincing to get the

schoolmasters to accept his dubiously contrived story of

discovering the statue buried in a farmer’s field, but

eventually he prevailed and was allowed to place it an out

of the way corner of his room.

Whether due to intuition or deduction it will never be

known, but Ardruar suspected the statue was somehow

special and that there might be more to it than first met the

eye. Over the course of several years, Ardruar’s

knowledge in the arcane arts grew, as did the trust his

mentors placed in him. As many young men at his age are

wont Ardruar grew to ardently desire female company.

Filled with romantic notions and an unabated obsession

with the statue, his desires led him to conceive of a mad

plan to acquire a mate in a most unconventional way; a

companion he hoped to make flesh from the statue itself.

Knowing of certain forbidden manuscripts of magical

power kept under lock and key in the school library,

through some sleight of hand and trickery he managed to

abscond with a stone to flesh scroll.

Later that night, in the privacy of his room, half-

doubtful the scheme would work, his voice quavering in

anticipation, Ardruar cast the spell written in the scroll

upon the statue.

The following events

caught the young wizard

completely off guard.

Upon completion of the

incantation, the ‘statue’

transformed into a

breathtakingly beautiful

living, breathing young

INTRODUCTION

Dark Portal Games strives to bring you high quality,

entertaining and useful products. Dead Fire is our first free

offering and the copy you have now is the second edit. We

have added some more artwork, tightened up the plot and

writing and added a little more content to this version. We

certainly hope you find it useful for your gaming.

While it is unnecessary to access T HE L ANDS OF

A REKOZ web site prior to running this adventure, you may

find doing so very helpful in establishing the world as a

living, breathing place. Because this information is

provided by Dark Portal Games online free, every effort

is made throughout the adventure to include only the most

relevant details of the campaign setting throughout the

adventure. You may find it useful to read through the

information provided to add side adventures and further

tie-ins with the rest of the world. Any information that is

web-enhanced is underlined to indicate it is a link to our

web site. While viewing this PDF on your computer and if

connected to the internet you may click the links to launch

your browser and access the associated web

enhancement(s). For obvious reasons this feature is only

available in the screen version of the adventure.

ADVENTURE

BACKGROUND

Twenty years ago the young but powerful wizard Eldolan

Darkbough, interested in immersing himself in magical

research, sought to establish a residence and laboratory

near the village of Foresthall. In search of a secluded place

from which to work, he settled into an abandoned tower in

the woods outside the village, not far from another

settlement, a community of elves.

Eldolan’s research, indeed even his presence, went

largely unnoticed for several years, until one fateful spring

afternoon. A small group of dryads also called the woods

near the wizard’s tower their home. Following a

particularly violent spring thunderstorm, the dryads had

left their grove to tend animals that had been injured. As

fate would have it that same morning Eldolan ventured

into the forest seeking

wood from the heart of an

ancient oak, a necessary

ingredient he needed for

his spell casting.

Unknowingly entering the

dryad’s grove, Eldolan

immediately spotted what

For New Game Masters

This adventure uses the d20 system and the open gaming license

that is graciously made available by Wizards of the Coast . It

requires the use of the 3rd edition Core Rulebooks I, II and III

published by Wizards of the Coast . You should take the time to

read through the adventure in its entirety at least once before

attempting to run it. If you are a new GM, take the time not only to

read the adventure, but also to familiarize yourself with the rules

that refer to running an adventure in Core Rulebook II .

INTRODUCTION

woman, the dryad Niederial. Ardruar was dumbstruck by

the dramatic results of the spell. This was more than he

had hoped for. Unbelievably, he had done it, he had

brought to life a being achingly lovely beyond description;

a companion he imagined would be his very own.

Ardruars adolescent ecstasy was to be short lived however.

With a horrid chilling screech his prospective consort

bowled the young wizard over and fled the school leaving

Ardruar frightened and stunned in her wake.

The entire college was awakened by the commotion

and rushed to the young wizards aid. After Ardruar

regained his composure he contrived the story that he had

suffered a nightmare and had called out in his sleep. As his

grumpy schoolmates sleepily returned to their quarters the

foolish young apprentice, guild ridden and fearful of his

masters’ punishments, made a personal vow to never

reveal what he had done. It is this unfortunate vow which

adds to his tortures to this day.

Once free, Niederial used the nearest tree to

dimension door back to her grove. What she discovered

upon her arrival profoundly wounded the dryad’s

overwrought sensibilities. The grove’s ancient oaks had

become badly diseased and rotted. Worse still, there was

little evidence that her grove-sisters still lived, yet there

was much evidence to the contrary. So far, unbeknown to

her the oak’s scars became her scars, her beauty replaced

in a sympathetic replication of its wretched state.

Niederial became enraged, filled with vengeance and

hatred towards the wizard who had caused the horrible

tragedy. The decay of her personal oak had not affected

Niederial when she had been stone, but now the fires of

hatred and desire for revenge overcame her pure nature

allowing the seeds of insanity to be sown. Overcome with

grief the dryad wandered the woodland, eventually

pursuing solace in a familiar glade she and her sisters had

made the occasion to frequent in the past. Peering into a

pool of water she was mortified to see the loathsome

creature she had become reflected within. Her appearance

had rapidly transformed into a twisted and distorted

corruption of her former beauty, mirroring the horribly

marred state of her oak tree. In her weakened and mentally

unstable condition this final unbearable shock sent her

over sanity’s edge plunging her into utter dementia.

Mad thoughts of vengeance and murder consumed

Niederial and her twisted diseased mind quickly conceived

of a plan to exact her revenge upon Eldolan. Returning to

the ruined remains of her tree, she feverishly dug beneath

its roots recovering one of the most powerful magic-items

she had secreted there, a magical amulet which the dryads

occasionally used to charm those who were normally

resistant to their natural abilities. Next, desiring aid from

someone she thought to be her ally, Niederial sought out

one of the dryad’s elf friends, Ancarohir Hyaryandil, a

powerful elven wizard.

Ancarohir caught off guard and alarmed by the

bizarre creature that now stood before him screeching of

blood and vengeance, was taken aback by the grotesque

creature’s incomprehensible demands. Becoming

impatient and sensing the wizard would not help her,

Niederial turned the amulets magic upon Ancarohir and

successfully bent him to her will. Questioning him she

discovered Ancarohir had

no information

concerning the fate of her

grove-sisters. She grew

more enraged, believing

the gold elves had done

nothing to protect the

grove and her sisters from Eldolan. With the charmed elf

at her side, the crazed dryad then moved to destroy the

hated wizard Eldolan and the gold elves of the Nowyn

forest.

Through her dimension door ability, Niederial

transported Ancarohir to a point near Eldolan’s tower.

Once there she directed the wizard to summon the

mightiest creature it was within his power to command

and send it to destroy Eldolan. Sensing something was

amiss, from his tower Eldolan watched in horror as an elf

he did not recognize summoned a fantastic creature of fire,

a flame hive queen and sent it to assault his keep.

Believing the elf had attacked without reason, the

wizard summoned all manner of creatures to battle the

monster which now railed with flame and fury against the

stone walls of the tower. After a long desperate battle his

summoned minions were defeated, the flame hive queen

eventually overcame Eldolan’s remaining defenses and

attempted to raze all within the tower. Eldolan weakened

by the poisonous smoke and the flames that licked at his

robes was killed when the burning roof of his tower

collapsed on him. Some of the wizard’s experimental

retinue of zombies and other creations, horribly burned,

survived and absorbed some of the magical blaze, taking

on new and unusual characteristics.

Her insane vengeful passion unquenched by

Eldolan’s defeat, Niederial next turned against the elves

vowing to destroy by fire their beloved forest home and

inflict upon them the agony which tore at her mind and

soul. To this purpose, the wrathful dryad commanded

Ancarohir to loose the beast of flame he had summoned

and allow it to wantonly wreck destruction throughout the

forest. Thereafter Niederial imprisoned Ancarohir and

keeps him alive still to make sure the flame hive queen

remains until the elven woods are utterly destroyed.

Recovering eventually from his charmed state and

powerless to escape, Ancarohir watches in horror as a path

of fiery death and destruction races towards his home.

ADAPTING

THE ADVENTURE

This adventure is designed to introduce the players to a

small corner of Arekoz, as well as to familiarize them with

the 3rd edition rules. As with all products by Dark Portal

Games , you may modify this adventure to fit within any

campaign setting. While it is not required that you use T HE

L ANDS OF A REKOZ as the backdrop for this adventure,

using it aids in tying this adventure into forthcoming

products. Also, certain elements presented are unique to

Arekoz and may require some modification to adapt them

to another campaign setting.

The adventure begins in the village of Foresthall in

the city-state of Gateway which lies in a neutral territory

between the kingdom of Calrendia and the Empire of

Mhul. The Mhulnish Empire recently won a long-fought

bloody war against Calrendia and the citizens have been

subjugated. Almost as soon as the war ended, fighting

resumed as the people of Calrendia organized to overthrow

the invaders. There is a rumor that a previously unknown

warlord, whose tactics

have been taking their toll

on the Mhulnish

occupation forces, heads

this new effort. It is

possible for the PCs to

become involved in the

Prelude to More Adventure

Dead Fire is the prelude to a series of adventures titled White

Robes, Black Hearts , each of which can be played independently,

or in order from beginning to end. The adventures deal more

directly with the conflict between the Kingdom of Calrendia and

the Empire of Mhul and the struggle for freedom Calrendia is

engaged in.

d20 Dark Portal Games The Lands of Arekoz - Dead Fire.pdf

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