Fleshing out Mystery In Aegos
by Gilles LeblancThis is an add-on for the quest Mystery In Aegos featured in the WotI boxed set.
For any adventure in which the player will face prehistoric animals or dinosaur I recommend renting The Macmillan Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Dinosaurs and prehistoric animals or similar book at a library. This will allow you to show your player what they are facing, give you ideas for more prehistoric creatures, etc.
Encounters During Trip Through Pittstown
Originally only an encounter with 3 trolls was supposed to happen. I have expended this to make the trip a little more interesting.
Day 5 : The party encounter 2 trolls who are lead by 1 two-headed troll. Normal Trolls : HP : 36, 34 Two-Headed Troll : HP : 54
During the fight Scupper will fire darts and daggers and fight with a knife if attacked. I assume he is a 3rd level fighter with HP : 18
Stryl and Torkia will have to fight a normal troll which they will defeat. I assume they are level 5 characters like the party members.
Combat Notes :
Stryl 5th level fighter, AC 4 ( chain mail, dexterity bonus ), hp 20, Dmg 1d8/1d12 + 1 ( longsword + 1 of strength bonus ), AL CG, has torch + flint and steel
Torkia Nuar 5th level mage, AC 9 ( dexterity bonus ), hp 10, Dmg 1d4/1d3 ( dagger ), AL CG, spells including flame arrow
Kelter Zerben and the PC's should be able to take out the two others with support from scupper. If one of the 2 normal troll falls and the PC's are in very bad shape, you can make the two-headed troll order the other to flee the scene.
Stryl will light dead trolls with his torch and Torkia will start the fight with a flame arrow spell.
Day 7 : The front wagon which is manned by scupper is attacked by a land decapus. The decapus will launch 2 attacks on Scupper, 2 on each of the two-horse drawing his wagon and another one on the wagon itself. It will try and surprise the party.
Decapus : HP : 22
Day 9 : The player's caravan encounters a party a 4 dwarves who were working on the site at Pittstown, they will not reveal anything about their work unless coerced. They are just saying they are heading back to town to help a blacksmith forge very specific parts for their project.
Events in the Hollow World
I assume the PC's have come in with the army of Aegos. Here is what their schedule will be like. Their group will consist of Stolander, the PC's and as much standard Aegos natives to fill the group to ten members. The PCs will have spare time and during it and also their work time they are free to do whatever they like. Preferably try to learn as much as possible about what is happening here.
Neathar Lessons : Because Neathar is a very simple language and the ancestor of Thyatian, you can cut some slack to players wanting to learn Neathar. If characters have a free slot, they will learn Neathar in 2 weeks time. Alternatively you can allow players who will gain a proficiency slot next level can gain the language now and not have their proficiency next level. If not you can say the player learns small bits of the language while not being proficient.
Day 1 : Familiarise with the town, the environs, short briefing about the Hollow World ( sun never sets, Azcan Empire, Neathars, giant lizards, magic works differently, etc. nothing big ). Army briefing ( boring stuff, like order of watches, terminology, rules, etc. ). Small Neathar lesson.
Day 2 : Morning : exercises, Noon : dinner, Afternoon : Meeting Stolander, followed by guard duty inside town. After-Supper : Patrol area outside Haldemar town. Small Neathar lesson.
Day 3 : That day is spent patrolling jungle trails. Here are some encounters the PCs will have to deal with during the day.
1st encounter : The party will be see a Neathar warrior of the Hiakrai tribe riding a Hiak ( a giant eagle ). It is doubtful that they will be able to catch him. Stolander will be very interested and will say to keep a look out. He will report this when they get back home.
Later the players will encounter a Dimetrodon hunting for food. You can find stats for dimetrodon in Creature Catalogue ( OD&D ) and in Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume 2 ( AD&D 2E ).
Later the player will see some Leptictidium, which are rodents. They resemble an overgrown gerbil with a long snout, a very long tail ( half of their body length ) and which runs on it's back legs. It's front legs are very small. These measure about 2 feet 6 inches and will flee from the player. They will encounter 5 of them. If the player hunt them, treat as giant rats.
Near the end of their watch the players will see again the same Hiakrai Neathar warrior flying overhead.
Day 4 : During their fourth day the player's will encounter hyenodons ( Creature Catalogue p.9 ) Hyenodons are large measure about 4 feets, are bulkier than hyenas and have long snouts with long mouths with bigger threats then common day hyenas. 5 Hit dice, 1 attack Bite ( 3d4 ). AC 7. Put 1 hyneodon for each party member and major NPCs ( including Stolander ). And 1 for the other people in the player's patrol.
Later during the day they will see some big colourful prehistoric birds fly about ( Archaeopteryx ) . This is just to convey to nature of the setting. These are about the size of pigeons and not capable of long period of sustainable flight.
During the end of the day the player will encounter 1 Nogai teenager ( normal human ) armed with a wooden spear and bone dagger, dressed in animals skins. His name is Tola-hih. He seems to have been bitten on the leg and is dragging. If questioned he will say that he was hunting far from his village and got hurt and his trying to get back. Stolander will believe he his a spy ( false, he's telling the truth ). Anyway he wants him brought by force to the camp for re-education.
Day 5: Run the event described as Conquest of Nogai-Ta on page 46 of WotI. If the player's head back home with the captives, try to portray them as miserable at being capture. And while Alphatian are not cruel they look down upon these "primitive savages". Some may even insult them and be a little rough with them.
Day 6: This day will be spent exercising, teaching Nogai-Ta how to fight and the player will be thought Neathar.
Day 7: Neathar Lesson in morning, then the PCs are assigned guard duty patrolling Haldemar ( nothing here happens ). Except when the player are near to ending their shift they hear about the Theft and Disappearance later the players will be questioned.
Day 8-9 : These 2 days the PCs will be on leave. And while they are not allowed to venture more than a few hundred feet from Haldemar, they are free to do what they want.
Day 10 : Exercise, Neathar Lessons, then the player will be assigned to patrol along the walls of Haldemar.
Day 11 : The players will venture into the jungle where they will meet an Azcan patrol. The patrol consist of 12 Azcan warriors ( originally 14, 2 were killed during a fight with some Hyenodons ). You can use the typical Azcan warrior statistics given in page 33 of the Atlas of the Hollow World. Assume the warriors are all equipped with dark leather armour, medium-sized wooden shields adorned with stretch leather or stretch tiger pelts and wooden spears. 4 also carry a bola. 2 also carry a blowgun and 4d4 needles. 2 also have a backup wooden club to complement his weapons. The Azcans will first address the group in Neathar stating that they are more numerous and are skilled warriors. They will then demand that the players surrender where they will be taken as prisoners. They say they will not be harmed ( false, the Azcans wish to get the player's sacrificed at the nearest Azcan temple/city. If this does not work they will fight. If things are going badly for them they will flee in the direction opposite to Haldemar.
When the player head back to town they will learn it has been attacked by about 100 Azcans warriors, but the Alphatian army, combined with all the wizards present, drove the Azcans away.
Day 12 : The players are sent where they encountered the Azcans yesterday. 2 other patrols are sent to locate the surviving Azcans. 100 men from the Alphatian army ( Nogai warriors with 10 Alphatian officers mages ) are sent towards Azca to conduct a punitive raid.
The players will not find anything. Back in town they will hear stories that many soldiers saw a huge reptile in the forest, what the Neathar call dinosaurs which was as bigger than anything they ever saw.
Day 13 : On this day the player serve as guard in Haldemar. There in the centre of the town Alphatian officials are "re-educating" newly arrived Togai Neathar ( 26 ). The Alphatian are rude, disrespectful and treat the Neathar like inferior. They push them really hard during the training. The PCs job ( along with 3 Alphatian soldiers ) is to be there as an intimidation to assert the power of the Alphatian officers ( 3 of them ) and also in case the Togai are hostile. The Neathars are thought how to use Alphatian weapons, and basic rules of conduct. They must all do some physical training. After a weaker man collapse out of fatigue and an officer shout at him, 2 other Togai intervene, the officer calls upon the PCs to discipline them. The rest of the day is spent patrolling the town.
Day 14 : Attack of the Heldanners event is played out. Later that day The Disaster is also played out.
Day 15 : This day the players are sent has one of the 2 teams to reach the surface.