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| Photo by Rod Waddington. No changes have been made. |
[Read aloud] You have been hired by a patron to rescue a rich artist named Ulnith the Raven. He has agreed to give you a modest pay which includes rations for the trip. Rumors are that he disappeared on a 100 mile stretch of road between two cities, and you are exploring that road. The first day on the road the group crosses trails with three inbound travelers.
The travelers:
Issac (M) a bored noble. (preoccupied, round, pompadour)
Akrilabie (F) has the ability to give magical tattoos. (incisive, sarcastic, strong arms)
If the PCs gain Akrilabie’s
trust, she may
tell the characters that; (1) the road is dangerous of late because of attacks, and (2) the danger may be
associated with a gathering evil in the hills to the north.
On the second day of travel you pass a trail leading to the nearby village of herders. On the third night of travel, the party is attacked in the dead of night.
The attackers are a species of semi-intelligent bird-lizard called Vala-Curi.
They appear similar to the archaeopteryx, though they are a bit larger. The
average bird-lizard stands three feet tall on the ground, and has an eight
foot wingspan. Vala-Curi should be pretty strong, maybe about the equivalent of two or three soldiers. And of course they can fly and claw and bite.There are six of them though it is difficult to count as they attack from all directions including straight up, and flee almost immediately after meeting resistance. They may or may not have made off with a significant amount of PC loot. A large number of clawed footprints are left around the campsite.
For anyone examining the tracks carefully, most end
abruptly 50 feet to the north and that they
realize that the creatures were running fastest just as they disappeared because they had been taking flight.
A flock of six bird-lizards can be seen
in the distance to the south. Several appear to be carrying large objects and sacks. On the horizon, the bird-lizards fly into
a tower on the tallest of three
immense columns of stone.
They are returning with their loot to a tower in the north, the PCs can easily
follow them for a days journey through scrub brush into a mountain valley. The vala-curi are far ahead and they travel quickly on wing, so the PCs probably can't catch up.
Ascending the escarpment and cliff faces is
possible but treacherous. The tower is built on top of the tallest plateau,
which rises 300 feet above ground level.
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| Art by John Roberts. No changes have been | made. |
At the
feet of the cliffs and at the beginning of the trail up the escarpment is a small
village of about 30 squat humanoids. They will snarl jumping and make threatening gestures towards any
approaching PCs, though they fear an all out battle in their village with
their young and elderly present. Instead they will attempt to chase or lure the
PCs back into the forest and a group of 4 will
attack them a safe distance
away. They will attack anyone entering their village without some form of
consent or agreement. The village chief Meteor can be bribed with 10 rations,
and can command the others with unopposed authority. Colezan
has promised to revive Meteors dead son in exchange for the loyalty of the
tribe. He has told her that they need to help him collect magical items
needed to perform the miracle, although he is only manipulating her for his own
gains.
If
there is an uproar from the humanoid
village, Colezan
will attempt to flee and abandon the location, taking his flying machine for
its virgin flight.
A rickety flying machine clatters
off of the cliff overhead. Mid-flight, the machine emits a cloud of amber vapor
and loses control, careening through the sky and crashing half a mile away on
the opposite side of the valley.
The crash site is about an hour away from the plateaus, and contains Colezans body, a few arcane tomes, and one or two powerful items. The name "The Icarus" is engraved into the side of the ship.
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| Wellcome Library, London |
If
the PCs make it up the escarpment to the lower plateau, they notice the wind is
stronger outside of the forest. The lower plateau is on level with the tree
tops while a few enormous trees reach quite a bit higher. One of these trees
has bird-lizards squabbling in it. As the PCs are watching, another one flies
from the tower
to join those in the tree carrying a large piece of meat. They have been given
their reward of fresh sweetmeat, which they feast on in their treetop nests. If
Colezan
has fled, they have broken into his sweetmeats barrel instead of having
been rewarded.
The six Vala-Curi attack anyone they see attempting to reach the upper plateau.
On the first level is a construct which Colezan
has excavated and reprogrammed. It defends the tower to its death, but allows Colezan
and authorized humanoids
to pass freely. Also on the first level of the tower is the entrance to an underground structure that Colezan
has begun to excavate. He has been trying to loot some ruins inside of the plateau, though much of the winding
structures remain unexplored.
A
stairway winds up to the second and third levels of the tower. The second level is a great library with arcane objects scattered about.
On
the third and topmost level is Colezan's
chambers. This is where Ulnith has been taken. Colezan believes Ulnith to possess magical power, and wants to take that power for himself. They also may or may not be falling in love with each other. Colezan
is an arcanist and engineer who has committed a heinous crime for which he is now keeping a low profile.
The top floor also contains a closet, a bed, a sweetmeat barrel with a latching lid,
and several desks containing projects at various levels of completion containing some valuable and powerful items. In the center of the room sits a nearly completed flying machine aimed toward a hole smashed into the tower wall big
enough for the machine to fit through. Torn tapestries are draped over the
opening but it still flutters in the wind. If
the PCs fought the construct on the first floor, he will be in the cockpit of his flying machine ready to escape by taking it on its first flight (with results similar as above). In this case, he will begin to launch as soon as the PCs reach the 3rd floor.
In combat Colezan attempts to use a
psychokinetic attack, slamming PCs into walls and even trying to throw them out
of the tower. A roll can be made to avoid being thrown from the tower and a second roll can be made to grab on to a ledge a few feet down.
Colezan (M) is a criminal magic user and tinkerer. (cerebral, fickle)
Ulnith (M) is a performance artist. (challenging, tragic, lip and eye paint)
Below
the tower through the carefully made opening is a large area made of several perfectly spherical chambers
connected to each other. The chamber has three apertures which lead downwards
cutting winding paths through the earth. These tunnels area also made of a strong transparent material through which the stone beyond is visible. The stone contains large fossilized
starfish creatures with animalistic skulls on some of their appendages, as well
as colorful stone formations. Each of the three tunnels occasionally open to
wide sections which contain complex
machinery. One of these sections contains a large beam projector which can be scavenged by a clever PC. It only has charges for three shots.
1. Entrance where Colezan
has cut a hole, ceiling of area 2.
2.
Main chamber. 5 humanoids
+ 3 other more powerful creatures
who serve Colezan.
Contains some scrap organized into crates and in loose piles.
3.
Small areas with complex machinery.
4. A large, powerful, floating construct. It is outside the walls through a broken viewport. Will only attack those coming close to it and can probably be made docile somehow.
5. Evil grinder
6.
Piles of trash, item that gives permanent intelligence increase, an interesting melee weapon.
7. More trash
Evil Grinder a construct that guards area 5. It is a 3 foot orifice in the wall filled with spinning blades. It attacks by shooting one of 5 barbed darts attached to cords out of the center of the orifice, which it then retracts, drawing prey into the spinning blades.
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