Sidrea06 - Tales of Averdale
At last, after harrowing adventures beneath the mountain, the party arrives at the city of Averdale. As the party stood in line to pay the gate toll, Haeythir’s suddenly realized that the party is being scryed. Specifically, the scry spell was initially targeted at Berek. Haeythir passed the information on, and the party realized that the worm dart that had embedded itself within the warrior is still being used by the enemy to spy on them. The party resolves to see a local temple about removing this threat as soon as possible.
Upon entering the city, the party was greeted by the town crier who cried out the news that the elven city Mondrolt in the north has been sacked by Count Ben-Edara (also known as the Wolf of the North, or just “The Wolf”), who has the garrison crucified. Also that Ben-Edara has started recruiting goblins in his army.
Some of the party members realize that much of the town-crier’s words are propaganda to vilify the count in the north. On the other hand, there is a kernel of truth among his words in that the elves in the north are under terrible oppression.
The party asked around and managed to find a decent inn (named “The Herald’s Throne”) where they rented the ducal suite for their stay at the city. The party also found out that it was holy week for the worshippers of Pelor and that the temple of Pelor will be closed for another three days.
Over dinner at a nearby restaurant, Dalrick and So’yoko noticed that someone looks to be spying on the party, Dalrick rushed out only to be confronted by a crowd of street urchins (two of whom he caught trying to pick his pockets).
After dinner, the party went to Southoak lodging house to deliver a package to Banfor. (Banfor is the fiancé of Kaydi the Herbalist in Kemend, the party promised to deliver a package to him for her). Banfor was very happy to hear from his fiancé and invited the party in. He provided the party with various bits of useful information about the city.
On the way out of the neighborhood, the party heard a loud racket coming from a hovel. Investigating the noise, the party found a disheveled old elf who was trying to recreate some sort of music. The elf was clearly insane, and it was only with some effort that Haeythir realized that the elf is Lord Larkel - a noble from the Isle of the Rose (in fact, a cousin of the queen).
From his incoherent words, it seems that Larkel has gone into the woods north of the city in search of the cure for dreadful malady that afflicts the grey elves. He mentioned that there were thousands of dead elves there singing a horrid song. Apparently, something there has driven him insane.
Still pondering over what they saw, the party then stumbled into an ambush. Following a rain of poisonous darts, two assassins on top of the roof shot members of the party. Haeythir’s web failed to ensnare them and the two assassins disappear into the building. When the party gave chase, they found a third assassin who ambushed them in the building. Then, the assassins retreated under the cover of an obscuring mist spell.
Badly hurt, the party retreated to their inn, cast their healing spells and rested. Then, near dawn, the assassins struck again. Using a ghost sound cantrip, the assassins misdirected the party’s attention toward the door, while they burst in from the window.
The first assassin tumbled toward Zerkestor and then his fists smashed into the cleric. The other two assassins caught Berek between them. The mighty warrior fell between their deadly blades.
The sound of fighting, however, woke up the other party members. Although still suffering from the poison of their wounds, the ray of fire and magic missile spells of So’yoko and Haeythir weakens the assassins. As one assassin was attempting to tumble pass Dalrick, Dalrick swung a might blow that cleft her in two. Dalrick’s next blow then took down a second assassin.
Frightened by the dreadful carnage, the last assassin tumbled out the broken window. Before the party could stop him, he ran into the darkness of the night.
After the battle, the party was able to discover that the assassins were hired by worshippers of Merrshaulk (the God of Serpents) – possibly the organization known as the Coil?
So the first night in the city of Averdale saw the party meeting and defeating attempted assassination. The next day, the party went into the city and found out that their appointment is with the High Priest of Pelor and that it will be in three days (after the holy week is over).
Meanwhile, the party went about the city on business – selling much of the loot that they acquired over the past adventures. Between the negotiation skills of Zerkestor and the appraisal skills of Haeythir, the party did quite well on most of the transactions. In the process of their transactions, the party also helped an elven woman. Along with a man named Noggin, the party bought the elven woman and her children from the slaver and then set them free.
It turned out that Noggin was carrying a message from Dalrick’s brother, Lolbric, who is now serving as a soldier in the army of the Sun King (King of Aytheon).
After spending much time in the market place, the party went to the Temple of the Moon-maiden, Selene, and paid the priestesses there to remove the worm-like parasite in Berek. The ritual was a success and Berek is finally free of the worm-like creature.
Finally, the three days in the city passed, and the party arrived at the appointed time in the Temple of Pelor. Following an acolyte, they entered a long stone corridor. Halfway through the corridor, two stone walls seal off the passage. Dalrick saw the moving walls, but was unable to get beyond the trap. Then two Symbols of Sleep is revealed even as a gas pours into the hallway from various grates – the powerful trap knock the entire party unconscious...
---- DM's POST-MORTEM ----
1. Summery
Averdale is the first urban adventure that I’ve written. As such, there were several goals that I wanted to achieve. First, I want to setup and foreshadow the coming adventures. Second, I want to give the proper image for the setting. Third, I want to give the party a chance to rest / recuperate / enhance their equipment through the market-place. Fourth, I want to avoid the “towns are safe, wilderness is dangerous” stereotype that I seem to have generated.
The first goal was generated through encountering numerous NPCs. In particular, the party’s attention was drawn to the “haunted woods” north of the city. Also that the rebellion of the elves in the north is failing and a showdown between the two claimants to the throne of Rondor seems approaching.
The second, I think I managed to do through pictures, videos, and the amount of equipment and service available. All of which I hope to give the party a sense that Averdale is a prosperous late medieval / early renaissance city, supported by an occasional utilitarian magic. In many ways, the city is comparable to Nuremburg in that it is a city that excels in metal-craft and is even part of a banking network (that uses couriers and magical helio-graphs to communicate).
On the third, I was greatly aided by the player response to what they want to do within the city. I think the player responses enable me to focus on those items that are important and to make the shopping experience more than just arithmetic yet less time consuming than role-playing the haggling over copper pieces.
To answer the fourth goal, I had to craft a dangerous encounter that would not be out of place in a city. I had just gotten a really cool-looking assassin figure at the time, so I took that as inspiration and crafted the assassin encounter.
All in all, despite the fact that some things seem rushed, I enjoy the adventure a great deal – and it seems to have achieved most of the goals that I had originally set out. Of course, no adventure is good unless both the DM and the players are having fun…
2. Some Encounter Highlights
a. The Town Crier
I encountered this concept as part of the Baldur’s Gate 2 computer rpg. It’s a great idea in that it can provide the party with a good source of news outside their immediate environment and also make the whole setting more realistic.
b. The inn / restaurant / street urchins
All of these simply happened on the fly. Originally Averdale was going to be a fully fleshed out city and quite a bit of time and effort actually gone into generating every single business / organization in the city as well as the layout of the neighborhood. However, it didn’t take long before I realize that most of it would not be used. So most of ended up as “atmospherics” – i.e. incidental items that simply help to provide the atmosphere of the session.
c. The assassination attempt
The two ambushes actually went through numerous iterations of re-write. The assassination was difficult because it needed foreshadowing within the module – yet, it has to be difficult to foil the assassins. Finally, the assassins themselves have to be stealthy, fast, scary, and surprising.
The first ambush was actually the assassins’ attempt to compensate for the fact that they do not have a full team. The goal was actually to weaken the spell-casters and possibly take them out. The party succeeded remarkably in defeating this ambush – first, one of the arcane casters immediately went invisible. Second, they immediately try to tie down the assassins (through the web spell). This actually forced the assassins to retreat, as they realize that their strength is in stealth and surprise, not in toe to toe fight.
The second ambush starts off, once again with the assassins trying to surprise the party. Since the party already knows that the assassins are after them, the best the assassins could do is to misdirect the party. A ghost sound attracted the party’s attention to the doors to the room. Follow by the assassins bursting in from the windows and then trying to flank the still-sleeping party members.
By the way, one of the assassins was an actual assassin (i.e. with levels in the assassin class), which is why he was able to cast some spells.
d. The elven slaves
Granted, later on that I realized this is a somewhat cheap emotional trick, but at the same time, it’s an attempt to see what the party would do. I like the fact that So’yoko was tempted to lightning bolt the lot of slavers and their customers and then turn invisible and run-away. It’s probably what a real So’yoko would be tempted to do. The idea here is to drive home the results of the oppression and the elven rebellion in the north.
Upon entering the city, the party was greeted by the town crier who cried out the news that the elven city Mondrolt in the north has been sacked by Count Ben-Edara (also known as the Wolf of the North, or just “The Wolf”), who has the garrison crucified. Also that Ben-Edara has started recruiting goblins in his army.
Some of the party members realize that much of the town-crier’s words are propaganda to vilify the count in the north. On the other hand, there is a kernel of truth among his words in that the elves in the north are under terrible oppression.
The party asked around and managed to find a decent inn (named “The Herald’s Throne”) where they rented the ducal suite for their stay at the city. The party also found out that it was holy week for the worshippers of Pelor and that the temple of Pelor will be closed for another three days.
Over dinner at a nearby restaurant, Dalrick and So’yoko noticed that someone looks to be spying on the party, Dalrick rushed out only to be confronted by a crowd of street urchins (two of whom he caught trying to pick his pockets).
After dinner, the party went to Southoak lodging house to deliver a package to Banfor. (Banfor is the fiancé of Kaydi the Herbalist in Kemend, the party promised to deliver a package to him for her). Banfor was very happy to hear from his fiancé and invited the party in. He provided the party with various bits of useful information about the city.
On the way out of the neighborhood, the party heard a loud racket coming from a hovel. Investigating the noise, the party found a disheveled old elf who was trying to recreate some sort of music. The elf was clearly insane, and it was only with some effort that Haeythir realized that the elf is Lord Larkel - a noble from the Isle of the Rose (in fact, a cousin of the queen).
From his incoherent words, it seems that Larkel has gone into the woods north of the city in search of the cure for dreadful malady that afflicts the grey elves. He mentioned that there were thousands of dead elves there singing a horrid song. Apparently, something there has driven him insane.
Still pondering over what they saw, the party then stumbled into an ambush. Following a rain of poisonous darts, two assassins on top of the roof shot members of the party. Haeythir’s web failed to ensnare them and the two assassins disappear into the building. When the party gave chase, they found a third assassin who ambushed them in the building. Then, the assassins retreated under the cover of an obscuring mist spell.
Badly hurt, the party retreated to their inn, cast their healing spells and rested. Then, near dawn, the assassins struck again. Using a ghost sound cantrip, the assassins misdirected the party’s attention toward the door, while they burst in from the window.
The first assassin tumbled toward Zerkestor and then his fists smashed into the cleric. The other two assassins caught Berek between them. The mighty warrior fell between their deadly blades.
The sound of fighting, however, woke up the other party members. Although still suffering from the poison of their wounds, the ray of fire and magic missile spells of So’yoko and Haeythir weakens the assassins. As one assassin was attempting to tumble pass Dalrick, Dalrick swung a might blow that cleft her in two. Dalrick’s next blow then took down a second assassin.
Frightened by the dreadful carnage, the last assassin tumbled out the broken window. Before the party could stop him, he ran into the darkness of the night.
After the battle, the party was able to discover that the assassins were hired by worshippers of Merrshaulk (the God of Serpents) – possibly the organization known as the Coil?
So the first night in the city of Averdale saw the party meeting and defeating attempted assassination. The next day, the party went into the city and found out that their appointment is with the High Priest of Pelor and that it will be in three days (after the holy week is over).
Meanwhile, the party went about the city on business – selling much of the loot that they acquired over the past adventures. Between the negotiation skills of Zerkestor and the appraisal skills of Haeythir, the party did quite well on most of the transactions. In the process of their transactions, the party also helped an elven woman. Along with a man named Noggin, the party bought the elven woman and her children from the slaver and then set them free.
It turned out that Noggin was carrying a message from Dalrick’s brother, Lolbric, who is now serving as a soldier in the army of the Sun King (King of Aytheon).
After spending much time in the market place, the party went to the Temple of the Moon-maiden, Selene, and paid the priestesses there to remove the worm-like parasite in Berek. The ritual was a success and Berek is finally free of the worm-like creature.
Finally, the three days in the city passed, and the party arrived at the appointed time in the Temple of Pelor. Following an acolyte, they entered a long stone corridor. Halfway through the corridor, two stone walls seal off the passage. Dalrick saw the moving walls, but was unable to get beyond the trap. Then two Symbols of Sleep is revealed even as a gas pours into the hallway from various grates – the powerful trap knock the entire party unconscious...
---- DM's POST-MORTEM ----
1. Summery
Averdale is the first urban adventure that I’ve written. As such, there were several goals that I wanted to achieve. First, I want to setup and foreshadow the coming adventures. Second, I want to give the proper image for the setting. Third, I want to give the party a chance to rest / recuperate / enhance their equipment through the market-place. Fourth, I want to avoid the “towns are safe, wilderness is dangerous” stereotype that I seem to have generated.
The first goal was generated through encountering numerous NPCs. In particular, the party’s attention was drawn to the “haunted woods” north of the city. Also that the rebellion of the elves in the north is failing and a showdown between the two claimants to the throne of Rondor seems approaching.
The second, I think I managed to do through pictures, videos, and the amount of equipment and service available. All of which I hope to give the party a sense that Averdale is a prosperous late medieval / early renaissance city, supported by an occasional utilitarian magic. In many ways, the city is comparable to Nuremburg in that it is a city that excels in metal-craft and is even part of a banking network (that uses couriers and magical helio-graphs to communicate).
On the third, I was greatly aided by the player response to what they want to do within the city. I think the player responses enable me to focus on those items that are important and to make the shopping experience more than just arithmetic yet less time consuming than role-playing the haggling over copper pieces.
To answer the fourth goal, I had to craft a dangerous encounter that would not be out of place in a city. I had just gotten a really cool-looking assassin figure at the time, so I took that as inspiration and crafted the assassin encounter.
All in all, despite the fact that some things seem rushed, I enjoy the adventure a great deal – and it seems to have achieved most of the goals that I had originally set out. Of course, no adventure is good unless both the DM and the players are having fun…
2. Some Encounter Highlights
a. The Town Crier
I encountered this concept as part of the Baldur’s Gate 2 computer rpg. It’s a great idea in that it can provide the party with a good source of news outside their immediate environment and also make the whole setting more realistic.
b. The inn / restaurant / street urchins
All of these simply happened on the fly. Originally Averdale was going to be a fully fleshed out city and quite a bit of time and effort actually gone into generating every single business / organization in the city as well as the layout of the neighborhood. However, it didn’t take long before I realize that most of it would not be used. So most of ended up as “atmospherics” – i.e. incidental items that simply help to provide the atmosphere of the session.
c. The assassination attempt
The two ambushes actually went through numerous iterations of re-write. The assassination was difficult because it needed foreshadowing within the module – yet, it has to be difficult to foil the assassins. Finally, the assassins themselves have to be stealthy, fast, scary, and surprising.
The first ambush was actually the assassins’ attempt to compensate for the fact that they do not have a full team. The goal was actually to weaken the spell-casters and possibly take them out. The party succeeded remarkably in defeating this ambush – first, one of the arcane casters immediately went invisible. Second, they immediately try to tie down the assassins (through the web spell). This actually forced the assassins to retreat, as they realize that their strength is in stealth and surprise, not in toe to toe fight.
The second ambush starts off, once again with the assassins trying to surprise the party. Since the party already knows that the assassins are after them, the best the assassins could do is to misdirect the party. A ghost sound attracted the party’s attention to the doors to the room. Follow by the assassins bursting in from the windows and then trying to flank the still-sleeping party members.
By the way, one of the assassins was an actual assassin (i.e. with levels in the assassin class), which is why he was able to cast some spells.
d. The elven slaves
Granted, later on that I realized this is a somewhat cheap emotional trick, but at the same time, it’s an attempt to see what the party would do. I like the fact that So’yoko was tempted to lightning bolt the lot of slavers and their customers and then turn invisible and run-away. It’s probably what a real So’yoko would be tempted to do. The idea here is to drive home the results of the oppression and the elven rebellion in the north.
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