Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 10 Jul 2002 to 11 Jul 2002 (#2002-178) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 12/07/2002, 17:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 2 messages totalling 260 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. The Daemon adventure II 2. The Daemon adventure III ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.dnd.starflung.com/ To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2002 15:01:54 +0300 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Ville_V_L=E4hde?= Subject: The Daemon adventure II Here's the second part of the latest adventure I've translated. The first part can be found in the MML archives, June 2002 week 2. http://oracle.wizards.com/scripts/wa.exe?A1=ind0206b&L=mystara-l ------------------------------------- The Area of the Adventure: The Borderlands and the Northern Wildlands The Northern Wildlands are relatively unknown. Despite some lone hunters, trappers, prospectors and travelling merchants very few people of the Known World have ever gone there. According to these travellers, those of them who returned, the prairies spread out beyond the horizon, for countless miles, towards the Far North. According to rumours the fertile Borean plains are beyond the prairies. To the north the wildlands follow the western arm of the Mengul mountains, beyond which lies the enigmatic land of Denagoth. To the west the Wildlands spread northward from the foothills of the Andri-Varma plateau. [Note: Looking at some fan-made maps it seems that at its northern parts the Andri Varma plateau slopes down to the level of the Northern Wildlands and connects with them. In this case when I'm referring to the Northern Wildlands, I mean mostly the lands north and northwest of the Western Wendarian Borderlands. It should also be mentioned that I'm using the X11 module map, which is very different from other maps, like the one on Thibault's page, which I assume has been revised to suit the design of many other maps (?).] In the southern parts of the Wildlands, the area closest to Wendar, live some kobolds, wilder elves and a hunter-gatherer people who call themselves Boreans. Little else is known. What follows is some redrawing of the Wendarian borderlands, but not very radical. In the area between the north-eastern tip of Andri Varma and the Megul Range, are some fecund forests. A river called Fengela (a Borean name, "Grabber") runs from north-east to south-west. It is fed by two smaller rivers which start in the foothills of the Megul Range, and meet about halfway towards Andri-Varma. The southern of these rivers is called Fertilius ("Fecund") by the residents of Luminius. The village lies on the shores of Fertilius, perhaps 10 miles north of the meeting point of the rivers. The springs of Fertilius are in a large area of hills. The Northern river is called Isenlaf, a Borean name meaning something like "Iron Soup". It originates in a swamp further to the north. Along its course it passes a large elven forest. The waters of the river are bitter and smell bad for a long time, a they have gathered taste from the swamp. It is said that some lizardmen inhabit the northern swamp. [Note: IMC I placed the Kingdom of Ghyr from the module "Quest for the Heartstone" around the swamp just mentioned.] THE HILLS are a home of two kobold tribes that are constantly fighting each other: Grump-Plak (Yellow Tooth) and Wuf-Rak (Tough Dogs). The river Fertilius, called Krah-Kruh (Strifewater) by the kobolds, is their traditional borderline, as it runs through the hills. THE ELVEN FOREST hides a small tribe of wilder elves, unkown even to the elves of Wendar and Sage Bensarian. They are reclusive, xenophobic, and their customs and language are a lot different from their Wendarian and Denagothian cousins. It is very possible that they descend from a group of refugees that fled the Glantrian cataclysm in 1700 BC. THE RAINBOW CAVERN as mentioned before, a renegade Glantrian wizard lives in these caves on the northern foothills of the Andri-Varma plateau, where Fengela plummets to underground caverns. On the mouth of the cavern a rainbow is always visible. As was mentioned, some Boreans live in this area. They are descendants of the Oltec tribes that came from the far north. Their ancestors left the cooling north after the axis-shift to look for fertile lands beyond the barren prairies of Northern Brun. Their culture resembles that of celts. They live by hunting, fishing from the rivers, goatherding, and raiding the elves and other peoples. They know how to use iron, but use it very little, since the only place one can get it from are the dangerous slopes of Megul. Many miners fall prey to lizardmen, elves, orcs or kobolds. The Boreans have had very little contact with the settlers. THE VILLAGE of Luminius and its surroudings Luminius lies, as mentioned before, on the shores of the river Fertilius. A few miles south of the village is a forest of long pines, where village lumberjacks work. To the north the villegers have traveled as far as the river Isenlaf. They have adopted the name from a few Borean trappers and hunters they have met and traded with. No major contact with elves or kobolds has taken place. The villagers live on hunting, timbercraft, fishing on the river, farming and herding sheep and horses. Population: 250 30% settlers of Thyatian origin (T), 55% wendarian humans (W), the rest mixed. There are no elves or halflings, and only three dwarves. Most of the residences are centered in the village itself, except the Lendril (W) farm, where 15 people live. The daemon hasn't bothered the farmers. General features of the village: The river Fertilius cuts through the village, which is connected by a wooden bridge. The northern banks of the river are lined with fishermen's huts, the southern banks are predominated by lumberjacks' huts. The main "road" runs from nortwest-north to southeast-south, crossing the bridge (Fertilius runs from northeast-east to wouthwest-west), and it is called "Wendarway" south of the river and "Shepherdwalk" north of the river. There are various streets/alleys that turn from the main road or cross it. On the northern side of the village, the first cross-street is "Fist street", since it passes the fishermens' huts. To northeast it runs to the Lenril farm. Otherwise on both sides of the "Shepherdwalk" there are farmers' houses. As is easy to deduce from this and the name of the road, farmlands and sheepherds are mainly to the north. When one walks south along the Wendarway from the bridge, the first turn to the right is "Logger alley", on both sides of which are the lumberjacks', loggers' and lumbercrafters' houses. Next comes the crossing of two streets at the central clearing. To the right is "Crafter street", along which one can find the houses of Chief Logger, Carpenter, Blacksmith, Cartmaker, Shoemaker, Tailor, Ropecrafter and Barrelmaker. Around the central clearing (the Stone of Asterius lies in the middle) there are the Mage's Tower, Governor's House, Temple and Village Hall. To the left is "Trade street", along which one can find the Inn, Grocer, Stables, Pub, General Store and Weaponmaster. After that the next alley is to the right, an it is called "Well alley", since it ends at a public well (there is another well on the north side). Along the alley are three houses: Netweaver, Candlemaker and Moneylender. Then on the right side of "Wendarway" is the Guardsmens' house. The next alley is to the left, and it is "Apprentice alley". Around is an area of scattered hut and houses belonging to servants, apprentices, hired hands and labourers. Buildings: The temple of Asterius The temple is led by a Thyatian cleric Porius (cleric 3, Wis 14, Cha 13) He is 45 years old, dislikes combat and uses a lot of anoecdotes and metaphors in his speech. He has two helpers, 1st level novices Benar (W) and Julius (T). Treasures: 10 Potions of healing, a SCROLL of Cure Disease, Cure Blindness and Cure Serious Wounds, Statue of Asterius (100 gp), 10 vials of holy water. Governor's House The leader of the settlers is Grafoula Penhaligon (T). (Fighter 4, Str 15, Con 13, Cha 16, chain mail, 2-handed sword +1) he is 30 years old, has long hair and moustache, talks a lot and loud, and is extremely stubborn. His wife is called helena, and his two boys are Julian (Fighter 1) and Brutus (Normal Man). Treasures: 3 rings (a´ 30 gp), 2 war horses, a painting of Thyatis City, silverware (50 gp) and 1500 Wendarian gp (the village treasury). Mage's Tower This is not actually a tower, but a two-storied round house. The mage Damon (W) isn't a skilled one, but in the frontier he is a respected and valued man. (Mage level 2, Int 14, Dx 8) He is 22 years old, shy and thin. In his book he has Read Magic, Read Languages, Ventriloquism and Floating Disc. He knows the Wendarian legends and the local herbal lore expertly. Tresure: 30 gp, silver dagger, dagger +1 Village Hall The festivities, meetings and other events of the village are held here. The house is tended by a deaf old man Naru (W). The Stone of Asterius In the middle of the central clearing is the stone that fell from heavens. It is made of pitch black metal that feels slick and oily to touch. The pit that the starfall created has been filled, so any stranger could think that this is just an odd piece of stone. If one seaches the stone very very carefully, it can be noticed that a small piece has been chipped off. The Guardsmen's house The village has 10 armed guards (Fighter 3, STR 13, CON 13, chain mail, shield, sword, short bow). Three of them are Thyatians, six are Wendariand, and one is a Darokinian mercenary called Jean Rocheford. There is a small armory in here, sufficent to arm 40-50 villagers if needed. The blacksmith is a dwarf, with two dwarven apprentices. The Grocer is an Ylari called Ish-Jaillah. There are no other "foreigners". Once a month a caraven arrives from Wendar with finer metals, cloths, spices and finer tools. Prices are very high, of course, since the villagers aren't able to manufacture these things themselves, and they are still largely unaware of the iron of the Mengul range. Other people: - "The Bag-Heldann" is a wandering trinket merchant who travels around Wendar and the Wildlands. He sells pretty but pretty useless jewels, scarfs etc. For a few pints he will also sell news. He wears a fur vest and a leather cap, giggles and chews tobacco. It is hard to guess his age. - "Halfara" (Steadfast Ranger) is the only Borean who has more dealings with the villagers. He knows the area very well, but won't reveal any information on his own people or the elves. He is not interested in money, but good cloth, jewelry, traps and metal spear-tips interest him. He usually works as a guide or hunter. (Thief 4, DEX 16, leather armour, long bow, sprear) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2002 15:05:25 +0300 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Ville_V_L=E4hde?= Subject: The Daemon adventure III "THE DAEMON" In its home dimension the daemon was your ordinary recident, miding his/her own business. It's family was actually left beyond the dimensional borders, so it is very unhappy and cries all the time. It resembles a partly translucent humanoid, whose features and proportions are wholly distorted. Its voice, which to humans sounds like a howl, can be heard from various pitch at once, from various directions.At times it is muffled, at times even too sharp. The immediate surroundings of the daemon, air and soil, is distorted to the distance of one meter, as if the laws of geometry had changed all of a sudden. This is a way of protection that the being has to shield itself from the horrors of this dimension. In the diameter of 5 meters it causes inexplicable horror in all living beings (remember, it too feels this dread). One needs a saving throw -4 against paralysation to resist the urge to run away. The daemon's saving throw for these purposes is 16. Physical damage can be inflicted on the being with only higher magic, that is 6th level or higher, and then only with certain spells (DM's call). The clerical spell DISPEL EVIL is an exception to this. It can also be harmed via the Ethereal Plane. Also, if one shoots an arrow and succeeds in hitting AC0, the being is scared of the strange vibes of the object and must make a saving throw. Melee attacks are useless, unless a +3 or higher weapon is used - they just cause the assailant and the being to make saving throws against fear. Some lower level spells are useful, however. KNOW ALIGNMENT tells the cleric that the being doesn't belong to any "class" whatsoever. REMOVE FEAR can drive the being away (saving throw -1), but CAUSE FEAR can shield it from the horrors of this world momentarily. SPEAK WITH DEAD makes communication possible, but distorted meanings are likely. DETECT INVISIBILITY shows the "daemon" a little clearer, and then the saddened countenance and the endless tears can be seen. An INVISIBILITY spell cast on the being doesn't make it invisible, but helps it to perceive this world clearer. Inside the 3rd level spell INVISIBILITY 10 feet the being and someone of this world can encounter each other a little easier (+2 to save). ESP spell reveals crying and moaning at first, but like SPEAK WITH DEAD, can be used as a tool in communication later. Elves have a 1/6 chance of detecting the cry in midst of the distorted moaning (thieves also), and may catch a glimpse of the tears (1/6). In a deep sleep or trance a contact with the being is most likely, but the difference in sentience, lifeworld and central concepts makes communication hard. In its own world the being is called "Gumhenel". It believes that the dreadful beings of this world are tormenting it and trying to stop it from reaching home. It's real body is human-like, although "stretched" and couloured black-white (like the ying&yang-circle). Note: This adventure is not meant to centre on battle, and it has been written for low-level characters. So killing Gumhenel isn't the goal anyway, but revealing it's true character and the urge to get home. The above mentioned spell aids are just suggestions, the DM can very well develop new ones. And remember, drawing pictograms can also be a form of communication, although those drawn by the being will be distorted. ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 10 Jul 2002 to 11 Jul 2002 (#2002-178) ****************************************************************