Embedded Files
The campaign starts in the port town of Bellmaere, in Durham on the Hillayet coast. This is a walled city, largely centered on trade and fishing. There are many interesting things here, but as usual the PC's will end up in a tavern. PC's are currently wasting away in a seaside town in Durham, on the Hillayet coast, looking for work. They all hang out in the same tavern, and have established themselves as local badasses. There has been work in the region, because the Keller Imperial Legions have been withdrawn to the south to fight in the wars there, leaving this region unpoliced... lots of merc work. The PC's learn of a bounty offered by a lesser Jarl in the Duchy of Frostwall.
Orel Chernin, Jarl of Forsetti Valley, is plagued by a magic user calling himself Mival Dumein. The mage is a necromancer and warlock; to make matters worse, he is a disgraced Imperial noble who moved to Frostwall to indulge his bad habits. The Jarl somehow managed to offend the nobleman, who has made it a priority to curse and bedevil the beleaguered nobleman. Because the jarl is on the outs with the Duke of Frostwall, he can get no aid from his liege. Therefore, the Jarl resorted to a bounty of 5000gp offered to outlanders to kill or otherwise neutralize the mage.
The region around the tower is fairly wild, but not so much as the actual Northlands. Dire wolves are the main predators, though any rugged areas are likely as not to have an ogre claiming them. The road itself from Forsetti to Romnazeer's tower runs about a day on foot.
The tower is on top of a rocky glacial ridge, and an mostly abandoned village lies at its feet - a few families still live there, terrified by their new lord. About two dozen bandits (p343, AC-12, 11hp, +3/1d+2 damage) have also taken up residence in the village, which is partly surrounded by a collapsed palisade.
Mival Dumein, Warlock and solitary Vorokhoi cultist, very dangerous. He lives in an old hilltop fort, built by the Pershamon many years ago. The tower has four floors.
Ground - Great Hall, where his troops occasionally can be found, kitchen, and servants quarters. There are several humans here, terrified non-combatant servants, as well as a dozen "bandits", human and half-orc bandits who find it useful to associate with Dumein. There is an entrance to an extensive but mostly empty cellar. The servants avoid it, as a giant white spider has taken up in the back - it avoids humans, but eats the giant rats and other vermin who would enter through the cistern and faulty doors.
First - Dumein's two henchmen from back home named Fentus (Veteran) and Radlin (Cult Fanatic). They each have a +1 primary weapon , and each have healing potions and coins on their person. They have a couple of mean dogs and some local women as "guests". The back half is quarters, the front half is used as storage.
Second - The warlock's personal quarters, where he keeps his personal belongings and various luxury items taken from raids. A pair of "thugs" wait by the stairs. Scattered around the room and in various containers are the following items:
2,100 Gold in poison trapped chest (p123)
70 Platinum and 2 aquamarine worth 500 gp each in trapped box (p123)
fur robe worth 250gp
silver set of animal figurines worth 250gp
silk tapestry worth 250gp
carved bone circlet worth 250gp
glass large bracelet worth 250gp
velvet robe worth 250gp
Third - The magical research areas and summoning room. Dumein's Imp familiar, Snaar, lurks up here, watching and guarding. It can usually be found in true form, torturing small animals. Dumein is currently trying to summon fiends of various sorts to learn about the ruins, but has only managed to summon four extremely angry quasits, currently confined within the summoning circle. They will remain invisible, until someone breaks the perimeter - in which case they will all savagely attack that person. They arrived with the last summoning, and Dumein is hanging onto them until he can decide if they will be useful or not. Hanging on a torch sconce is a weird skull mace, the "Iron Mace of Woe".
Iron Mace of Woe - (Very rare, Weapon) - This solid iron make is formed like a human skull with spikes. In combat, it functions as a +1 mace with no other properties. If used in a ceremonial environment to slay a bound sacrificial victim, it can be used to summon a demon which will serve the wielder till the next sunrise. The wielder must defeat the demon in a contest of CHR, but the weider does have advantage. If the wielder loses, the demon will attempt to slay the wielder, but will vanish after three turns.
Confined in the cell on this floor, with a bed, chamberpot, and some simple wares is a half-elf wizard, Claire's future PC. She was taken captive on his journey here, as a half-elf and a magic user, she might prove useful. The half-elf knows that he is looking for something here in the North, probably something to do with the elves, but she doesn't know specifically what. She is currently under guard by the Imp, which lurks nearby. She has been drugged, making everything at "Disadvantage", and making spell-casting difficult.Furthermore, she wears a "Binding Amulet", preventing her from casting magic at all. She has also been told that if she makes trouble, she will simply be killed and someone else will be found. Her belongings can be found in a locked chest in the storage room downstairs.
Binding Amulet (Very Rare, Wondrous Item) - Used in the Empire and other places to imprison slaves, this amulet projects a modified "Antimagic Field" affecting only the wearer. To keep the amulet on, a "Geas" forces the wearer to leave it on, and prevents them from allowing another to remove it. the amulet can be recognized for what it is by those of the appropriate background.
In the library, various notes, maps, and journals can be found relating to the matter of the Elven ruins. Mival Dumein is in the north seeking a lost Elven city, buried by glaciers, that has a significant gate similar to the Deoron Gate. In his possession are a variety of notes, journals, and maps stolen from Imperial archives in Alikai City that hint at the existence of a major Elven ruin deep in the frozen north, beyond the mountains. They are there, surrounded by miles of glacier but magically protected from the elements. Mival spoke to an Elf in the capital, and later hooked up with a half-elf magic user who he believed could be useful to him when he finally arrived on site.
Fourth - The roofed upper level of the watchtower is home to several gargoyles. They serve as guards and executioners for Dumein, and are his primary offensive force. There are a variety of statues up there, so they blend in. Otherwise, the roof is littered and filthy with the remains of their victims. There are a number of rooms on the floor, all are used simply to hide in. Scattered among the human remains rotting up here are 210gp worth of coins, small items of jewelry, and similar items. There is also a potion of healing and a shortsword with a nice gem hilt worth 100gp, known to belong to a local lord's missing son.
XP Awards:
Ettin in the Woods: 1100XP
Veteran, Cult Fanatic, and Gargoyle on the Stairs: 1600XP
Tough Bandits (8 At A Time): 800XP
Four Angry Quasits: 800XP
Mival Dumein, and Three Enraged Gargoyles On The Roof: 2150XP
Total: 6450 (1075 each)
The Ruins: If the materials are gathered up and studied for a time, any readers may make an Intelligence (Investigation) or Intelligence (History) check to figure out what he is looking for. Based on the success rolls, they can learn the following:
DC-10: Dumein is looking for Elven ruins, located in the mountains of the North.
DC-15: He is looking for an Elven ruin, located on a mountain glacier near a volcano.
DC-20: The glacier feeds a river which leads into the Polar Sea.
If the readers can figure out the DC-20 information, then with a DC-15 Nature or Survival roll, Bjorn the Bjarbarian can identify which glacier it is. The mountain in question is Ridnitsokha, a volcano located hundreds of miles into the Northlands, and the glacier is "Ymir's Tongue", the source of the Latshennan River. The area is far from civilization, quite desolate and cold. Somewhere in that wasteland are the Elven ruins.
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