Crops are being blighted in southern Verbobonc and adventurers are needed to investigate the lair of a cult long thought dead. But, is an even darker power at work here?
Below are the summaries of the first four chapters of the Night's Dark Terror campaign I'm currently working on. It is intended as a twelve chapter campaign that runs from levels 1 to 20 in the same way as the Dungeon Adventure Paths. Since all the adventures used are low-level OD&D modules, some significant changes are needed to the enemies used in most of the adventures. The early chapters make use of the zern from Monster Manual IV, but for those without access to this book, doppelgangers would work just as well.
Chapter 1, Caves of
Shadow (Levels 1-2): Crops are being blighted in southern Verbobonc
and Faer, an agent of Prince Jimm, has discovered the cause. Shadowy figures
come forth from the Shadow
Caves close to Fortress
Hagthar by night and spread a poisonous powder over surrounding farms. Lord
Farkaesh the Grim is uninterested and so Faer tries to bring word to her master
in Verbobonc. When she returns to Verbobonc with this information, someone
tries to kill her. But, the PCs are on hand to save her life. As they find out
more about the mysterious gnome whose life they saved, they are drawn
eventually to meet with Prince Jimm. He decides that they are ideal candidates
to investigate the Shadow Caves where an ancient cult of Nerull was said to once
dwell. They set out for Fortress Hagthar and the Shadow Caves.
Evil humanoids lair within, dark cultists and the creature who is behind the
crop blights as well as rival adventurers who seek glory for themselves with
the least effort. This section is adapted from the Caves of
Chaos as presented in B1-9 In Search of
Adventure.
Chapter 2, Soldiers and
Outlaws (Levels 3-4): Pursuing a strange reptilian humanoid from the Shadow Caves
and armed with letters written by Elwyn the Ardent, the mastermind behind the
crop blights, the PCs head back to Verbobonc. Unknown to them, the creature
they pursue has allies, and all are shapeshifters. When they come to the
peaceful village
of Loren’s Ford, they are
met with dark looks and soon hear that a gnome merchant has been killed. Unless
they flee quickly, they are arrested by the roguish mercenaries that Viscount
Wilfrick now employs to patrol the edge of the Kron Hills. Their rivals, the
Company of the Boar, arrive in time to take the letters and the powders
recovered from the Shadow
Caves back to Verbobonc
to turn them over to the proper authorities. Imprisoned in Camp Kron on a hill above above Loren’s Ford, the PCs must find a way to escape the camp and race back to
Verbobonc to ensure Prince Jimm hears quickly what they have learned. The sections is adapted from The Great Escape as presented in B1-9 In Search of Adventure.
Chapter 3, Elwyn’s
Sanctuary (Levels 5-6): Returning to Verbobonc in secret as they are now
outlaws, the PCs learn from Faer and Prince Jimm that the Company of the Boar
disappeared the evening of their arrival. Others have disappeared too and as
the PCs make ask questions around Verbobonc they learn that most were around the
area of the Silver Consortium near the wharves when they vanished. There, they
find a loose sewer grate at the back of the Silver Consortium and evidence that
people have been going back and forth from it. Within, a sewer passage leads to
Elwyn’s Sanctuary, a fortress of traps and monsters, including the reptilian
shapechangers who are allied with Elwyn. The PCs have a chance to befriend
Elyta, Elwyn’s naïve and apologetic daughter and can finally confront Elwyn the
Ardent who has now turned to the worship of Kostchtchie the Prince of Wrath. Alas, the
missing of Verbobonc are nowhere to be seen. There is only another tunnel that
leads northward, apparently under the river itself. This section is adapted from The Elwyn’s Sanctuary as presented in B1-9 In Search of Adventure.
Chapter 4, Palace of the
Silver Princess (Levels 7-8): Having exposed the evil shapechangers
beneath Verbobonc and defeated Elwyn the Ardent, the PCs are able to clear
their names as outlaws. They are also able to learn more about their enemies
and identify them at last as zern (see Monster
Manual IV). They then find that the passage from Elwyn’s Sanctuary leads to
an island near the north bank of the river that has always been obscured from
Verbobonc by a bend in the river. The island is called Haven and it is known to
be the summer retreat of Princess Argenta, brother of the missing Prince
Thrommel. Consumed by grief at the loss of her brother, King Belvor’s only
other child retreated to her palace on Haven Island
three years ago. The community became a place of peace but also of sadness.
Now, the reptilian zern have taken over the palace and cursed it using a
powerful artefact called the Eye of Arik. All in the palace, including the
missing of Verbobonc have been turned to stone except Princess Argenta and
her suitor Elrick the Strong who have been imprisoned in the gemstone called
the Eye of Arik. Elwyn’s daughter Elyta insists on accompanying the PCs to the
island and so they explore the cursed palace together. At the heart of the
palace, they encounter a zern cleric of Tharizdun called Catharandamus and must defeat him. Beyond him lies
the Eye of Arik and a chance to free Haven
Island from its curse. At
the last, Elyta betrays the PCs, having duped them all along, and tries to take
the Eye of Arik for herself. When all is done, the only clue to who else might
be involved in the plot against Verbobonc is a signet ring carried by Elyta
with a strange pattern on it and the initials “AR”. This section adapted from Palace of the Silver Princess as presented in B1-9 In Search of Adventure.