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2nd Edition D&D Adventure
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100% found this document useful (1 vote)
386 views98 pagesThe Apocolypse Stone
2nd Edition D&D Adventure
Uploaded by
darth_blaineCopyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF or read online on Scribd
/ 98
D Advanced
ungseéons& Dragons
Credits
Design: Jason Carl and Chris Pramas
Editing: Jennifer Clarke Wilkes
Cover Art: Todd Lockwood
Interior Art: Dennis Cramer
Cartography: Dennis Kauth and Rob Lazzaretti
‘Typesetting: Nancy Walker
Creative Director: Ed Stark
Art Direction: Dawn Murin
Graphic Design: Tanya Matson
Based on the original DUNGEONS & DRAGONS? rules created by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
‘Additional sources for this work include:
‘The Dunceon Master? Guide and Player’s Handbook by David “Zeb” Cook,
Faiths & Avatars by Julia Martin with Eric Boyd,
and the Monsrrous MANuat™ Tome by authors too numerous to catalog here.
US, CANADA EUROPEAN HEADQUARTERS
ASIA, PACIFIC, & LATIN AMERICA Wizards of the Coast, Belgium
Wizards of the Coast, Inc. PB. 2031
PO. Box 707 2600 Berchem
Renton WA 98057-0707 Belgium
+1-800-324-6496 +$32-70-23-32-77
Visit our website at www.wizards.com
ISBN 0-7869-1614-1 620-TH614
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‘anchored Greets Contents
Introduction
How to Use This Product .
Why Blow Up the World? | 11217
What If You Don’t Want to End the World?, 1!
Preparing for the End......-....-.
‘The Castie and the Stone...
Background Information...
The Black Sheep ........0.1
A Villainous Plot... =
Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End
DM Background...
Party Like Its the E9nd of the Worl.
Baiting the Hook2.
Setting the Hook.
Hook, Line and Sinker...
‘The “Truth” Revealed
Chapter 2: The False Test
DM Background...
The Test Begins....2.....
Reaching the island Bon
Environment and Terrain... 2.201020 20002.2120
Traveling to the Castle...
The Dragons .
The Wreckage 7
Swaths of Destruction |
The Smoking Ruins
Random Encounters.
Gaining the Castle
Castle Pescheour......0..2..
Grounds and Outbuildings |»
Keep Ground Level
Keep Lower Level. .
Keep Second Level...
Keep Third Level
Keep Fourth Level
Keep Fifth Level...
The Wounded Land
The Proof....+.. +++
Rebellious Characters.
Chapter 3: Interlude
DM Background
A Lonely World
Specific Effects |
‘The End Times |
ANew Enemy... Bon
Setup: The Fight Faeries inn DIN az
The Horror: Keeping It in the Family... 50
‘The Revelation: Bloody Vengeance. i
Chapter 4: The Wasteland
DM Background...
Blood on the Snow.
‘The First Test: Foresight »
‘The Horned Beast...
‘The Survivor
Sree : a
The Second Test: Honor ..
Everyone Has a Price
Druidic Advice
‘The Third Test: Mercy
The Shrine.
Aig
‘The Fount Test jusice,
Finding the Clues
The Village Witeh 02.1!
The Fifth Test: Generosity.
Fighting the Behir.
The Casile Achieved «2.22...
Journey's End ....0000.000.0121 on
‘The Wounded King . en
Questions and Answers...2. 0.1 “2B
One Last Fight we
Chapter 5: The Keep at the End of the World
DM Background.........2.- :
The Bleak Shore eee LG)
‘The Black Keep. .......
Ground Level
A Mighty Fortress.
Upper Level ...
‘The End le Night
Option 1: Out with a Bang.
Option 2: As Good As It Gets -
Option 3: Brave New World
Now What?
Chapter 6: Apocalyptic Advice
Going Out with Style!.. .
Killing Player Characters...
Making It Yours . :
After the Enders.)
The Great Escape
Starting Over...
Divine Retribution 220.012.0121
The Post-Apocalyptic Campaign ....-
Knights of Corbinet .........
Rebuilding the World
Renegades 4
Converting the Campai
Appendix
Player Character Death Knights.
Death Adept (Priest).
Death Knight (Warrior)
Death Stalker (Rogue) ..
Death Warlock (Wizard).
The Stone of Corbinet.
Origin ..... :
Primary Powers «0.01.
Secondary Powers
Tertiary Powers.
Limitations
‘The Armor of Lies Introduction
Every civilization has its own myth about the end of
the world. The phrase itself conjures images of
earthquakes, rains of fire, floods, plagues, crumbling
civilizations, and a host of other terrifying catastro-
phes. These are powerful, evocative images of final-
ity and are not to be introduced lightly into an
AD&D® campaign. But if you intend to bring your
campaign to a memorable close, you can't beat the
impact of the world’s destruction.
Many reasons might motivate a Dungeon Master
(DM) to bring about the end of a game world, and
with it his or her campaign. This book helps you do
just that! The story of your campaign’s final days
can be one of the most difficult and challenging,
tasks you ever undertake as DM—but it can be
among the most rewarding as well
How te Use This Product
Warning: This adventure will end your campaign and
destroy your world!
‘The Apocalypse Stone is an adventure for four to six
characters of level 15 and above, for a total of 60 to
90 experience levels. The player characters (PCs)
undertake what they initially believe to be a divine
quest, which they later discover is a terrible lie.
Worse, their unwitting participation leads to a dire
sequence of events that culminate in the destruction
of their world, The PCs eventually learn that they
had a hand in setting these events in motion and are
partially (albeit unintentionally) responsible. They
also realize that they can do little, if anything, to
prevent the coming apocalypse.
Read this adventure carefully before running it:
‘The plot is complex, and requires you to pull the
wool over the eyes of both the player characters and
the players themselves. Yes, that's right: The players
must believe this is just a typical adventure for
Garloth’s setup to work. A reclusive wizard wants a
group of adventurers to get back a family heirloom,
and he's willing to pay handsomely for services
XS
ES
rendered. This is a classic opening that shouldn't
arouse undue suspicion.
‘The most important piece of advice is: Lie to your
players. Really! Hide it inside another module, pull
out the pages and put them in a binder, whatever it
takes to keep your group from suspecting this
adventure is different from the rest. Without the
shock value, its impact is considerably less.
Second, make recovering the Stone of Corbinet
seem like the end of the adventure. Try to ensure
that the game session ends after the PCs give Garloth
the Stone and collect their payment. This will make it
seem like they have once again emerged triumphant
from a deadly situation. They should have no idea
that their actions may spell the end of the world.
‘Though intended as an adventure to end your
current campaign with the proverbial bang, this
product is also a guide to running a compelling
story with an apocalyptic theme and contains
general information on adapting these concepts
effectively to your own campaign style. It can also
establish a dramatic transition from your current
‘campaign setting to an entirely new one, if you so
choose. Chapter 6: Apocalyptic Advice offers some
suggestions to the DM looking for a challenge.
Why Blow Up the World?
By this point you might be thinking, “Hey! Wait just a
minute! I’ve put a lot of time, effort, and energy into
creating and developing and running my campaign—
‘why on earth would I want to bring it to a screeching,
smoking halt?” That's an excellent question with
several equally excellent answers, each of which leads
to a possible conclusion (see Chapter 5: The Keep at
the End of the World). If you're uncertain about the
wisdom of destroying your campaign world, read on.
The End Times
It happens: You've been running the same campaign
for years, and your DM intuition tells you that the
time is right to bring closure to all the stories you
have told. It's time to retire the current campaign
and possibly prepare the stage for a new one. This is
especially true if events in your campaign have
altered the course of its world’s history or destiny;
cataclysmic natural disasters, divine intervention, and the ultimate battle between good and evil can
all herald the end times.
Every story has a natural endpoint, and long-term,
campaigns are no exception. But when you have
poured heart and soul into yours, it’s unsatisfying to
simply tell your players, “Sorry, that's it.” Both they
and you deserve a conclusion that has meaning,
involves the player characters, ties up all those loose
ends, and creates great, lasting memories of equally
great roleplaying. Concluding your campaign with
a shattering apocalypse achieves all these goals,
and lets you have a lot of fun in the bargain.
Out with the Old,
In with the New
Perhaps your campaign has reached
the point where it no longer has the
same excitement and challenge as
when it was new, and you're looking
for something different. Nonetheless,
you may be reluctant to destroy all
that you have labored long to
create—quite understandable.
An apocalyptic adventure
doesn’t necessarily mean
the literal end of
your campaign.
Instead, the campaign
world, or just a
portion of it, under-
goes dramatic
changes that effec-
tively create a
new campaign
setting. The conclu-
sion of The Apocalypse
Stone changes your campaign world significantly and
permanently, but also leaves it relatively intact as the
setting for a whole new range of possibilities.
New stories can be set on the same world as the
old campaign, but the changes wrought by these
apocalyptic events give the new campaign an
entirely different atmosphere, tone, and style.
Correcting Mistakes
Sometimes what begins with the best of intentions
doesn’t quite tum out right in the end. Campaigns
that endure for years, unless managed very carefully,
often see the player characters ascending to tremen-
dous heights of power. When this happens, there's
not much you can throw at the PCs to seriously chal-
lenge them any longer, and both the players and their
characters become jaded with even cosmic-level
threats. It’s a struggle to come up with bigger and
more dangerous story elements for every game
session, and once the characters have truly climbed
the highest mountains, what else can they look
forward to? Ending the world “cleans house”
on a campaign that's gone over the top.
‘Taking a Break
Sometimes even a well-loved cam-
paign, one that has provided
‘many hours of fun and excite-
ment, reaches a point where you
just want to take a break from it.
Maybe you need time to think up
new stories, or perhaps your
regular game group is in transition
and you don’t want to continue
the campaign until it stabilizes.
Or maybe you just don’t like the
direction it's taking and want to
figure out how to put it back
on track
The Apocalypse
Stone offers a
__ solution: Destroy
Gf- the campaign
V7 world witha
oe dramatic flour-
ish, but allow the
player characters to survive. This
puts your campaign on hold until you're prepared
to continue it and at the same time offers an array
of entirely different story possibilities. Once you've
decided where you want to go with the campaign,
you can take it out of “retirement” and carry on.
What If Yen Don't Want
te End the Werld?
Perhaps, on reflection, you have decided that you
don’t want to end things once and for all. Maybe a)
Ke
you're happy with your campaign just the way itis,
and you would prefer to continue telling its stories
for a while longer. Or perhaps you find the idea of
lying to your players unfair and would prefer to
give the PCs an even chance to rescue themselves
and their home. You can opt to run The Apocalypse
Stone as an open-ended adventure that gives the
heroes the opportunity to come out on top, averting
disaster at the last moment should they think of a
reasonable means of doing so. You can even elimi-
nate any possibility of the PCs stumbling by intro-
ducing a fail-safe element, such as a fatal flaw in
the villain’s scheme or the ultimate monkey-
wrench—divine intervention.
Preparing for the End
This adventure is designed for use with any cam-
paign, which means that you must adapt some por-
tions of it to suit your own game's milieu, history,
and style.
FILE
Who's in Charge?
‘What deities are responsible for creating the Stone of
Corbinet and Castle Pescheour? (See Chapter 1: The
Beginning of the End.) Most published AD&D
campaign settings have a pantheon of gods who are
more or less involved in the affairs of mortals;
whether you are using one of these or running a
homegrown campaign, you'll need to decide which
ones participated in the compact that both created
the Stone and agreed on its guardians.
You'll also have to establish the identity of the god
whom the Pescheour family worships and who set up
the heroic tests the PCs will encounter. This adventure
is written on the assumption that this is the God of
Justice, but pantheons and campaigns vary. Ifno deity
in your pantheon corresponds to this role, choose
another that works equally well and adjust the infor-
‘mation presented in the text as necessary.
Where's the Castle?
‘The adventure leads the party to a remote island on
which is located Castle Pescheour. The information presented in Chapter 2: The False Test places the
island in the tropics and suggests appropriate loca-
tions in various published AD&D campaign settings.
But if you're running this adventure in a world of
your own creation, you'll have to set up this locale.
See Chapter 2 for some more suggestions about cus-
tomizing this island to your campaign.
The Castle and the Stone
Long ago, before the very beginning of things,
the gods assembled in their place of meeting.
They agreed to build a world and set in its navel
the Stone of Corbinet [kor-bee-NET], the center of
its existence and the source of its life. To protect
this precious seed, they raised around and above
ita fabulous castle, built of gleaming marble and
darkest obsidian. But the gods could not agree
on who should guard the castle—each desired
his or her own champion to have the honor, and
none would permit the chosen agent of another
to take up the task. Finally the God of Justice
addressed the assembled deities and proposed a
test to determine the best guardian for the castle
and the Stone.
“Let each of us choose a champion to seek the
castle,” said Justice. “The one who first finds it will
become its ruler and will sire a family of guardians
to defend the Stone ever after.”
The gods saw the wisdom of this plan and
agreed. They selected champions who embodied
those virtues their respective divine patrons
thought most important and sent them forth.
These questers traveled the length and breadth of
the world, seeking the elusive stronghold. But
though the castle was part of the world, as the axis
mundi, the umbilicus of the cosmos, it possessed a
unique feature that made it difficult indeed to
locate: It moved about the world, seemingly at
random, appearing one day in one location, only
to disappear the next. The champions searched far
and wide but could not find their goal. The quest
seemed impossible.
(One day the champions met to discuss their
progress, each admitting failure and declaring the
goal to be unreachable. It was at this time that a
man, who rode a horse without a saddle and who
bore no symbol, device, or weapon, appeared
among their number. The champions asked the
newcomer which god he served, and he replied:
“1 am called Pescheour. Each of you embodies
those qualities your gods deem best. I am what is
best in mortals.”
So saying, Pescheour [pesh-UR] turned his
horse away without another word and rode
straight to the castle. Its gate opened before him,
and he passed inside without difficulty and beheld
its secret, the Stone of Corbinet. The God of Justice
crowned him ruler of the castle that very day, and
King Pescheour made a pact with the gods:
Neither he nor his descendants would ever
remove the Stone from the castle or reveal the
secret of its power to any other living creature or
being, lest a terrible curse befall their line forever.
The newly crowned King Pescheour gathered to
his seat others of purity and honor, and after
swearing them to the same pact with the gods,
made them his household. With such folk at his
command, he was well satisfied that the Stone
would be safe. He took a wife from among their
number, and together they began a dynasty of
guardians who remain the defenders of the castle
and its secret to this very day.
King Pescheour ruled in peace and wisdom for
more than three centuries and then stepped down
from the throne, crowning his eldest son in his,
place. Still vigorous despite his unusually
advanced age, Pescheour departed the castle on
horseback and rode away from its gates, never to
return. Some of his line speculate that he ascended
to the realm of the gods, to sit among their number
and serve them; others believe that he simply wan-
dered the world and died in some foreign land.
His true fate remains unknown, even to his family,
and if the gods know they have not said.
Since that time, King Pescheour’s descendants
have ruled the castle and honored their pact with
the gods. Once or twice in each generation, a lone
hero locates the castle and its mysteries; any such
worthies are admitted into the household and swom.
to the pact, swelling the number of the Stone's
defenders. None who gained the castle are permit-
ted ever to set down their burden, and thus its exis-
tence remains the most closely guarded secret. What's the Story?
Between the time the PCs “liberate” the Stone of Cor-
binet and the time they realize their error and attempt
to fix it, you'll need to run some interlude adven-
tures, Chapter 3: Interlude establishes a framing
story—the revenge of an aggrieved archdevil—but
also requires the PCs to see how the coming apoca-
lypse is affecting their world. The nature and details
of these “filler” adventures are up to you.
Likewise, the final outcome has to suit your
goals and tastes. Are you committed to destroying
the world, and if so, which conclusion best meets
your needs and your players’ expectations? See
Chapter 5: The Keep at the End of the World for
some suggestions.
Background Information
Each chapter in this adventure starts with a
summary of its important events and some back-
ground information to help you run it most effec-
tively. The whole premise of this apocalyptic story,
though, rests on a creation myth that might not
work with your campaign. This myth is described
below; read the story carefully and decide if you
need to revise any of its elements.
The seeds of the world’s destruction were sown at
the moment of its birth, when the gods created an
object that embodied the physical intersection of the
Prime, Ethereal, and Astral Planes: the Stone of Corbi-
net. The Stone is a divine artifact that maintains the
world’s connection to the planes, and thereby to the
gods themselves.
The Black Sheep
So it continued for millennia. The gods and the
descendants of Pescheour kept their pact, and the
Stone and castle remained safe. There were threats to
the family’s charge: irresponsible kin who did not
take their duties seriously; assaults from fiends who
meant the world harm; and a few weak kings who
allowed rumors to leak out, obliging successors to
deal with the mess.
‘The current king, Alain [ah-LAYN], was crowned
ten years ago. He was the younger son of the
previous king, Etain, and was chosen to ascend the
throne instead of his elder brother, Garloth. Though
he did not voice his concerns publicly, the old king,
perceived in his eldest child a selfishness that did not
befit the future guardian of the Stone of Corbinet. He
also took a dim view of Garloth’s fascination with the
dark arts: While knowledge is an admirable goal, and
indeed can benefit the Stone’s defender, Garloth’s
interests lay in less savory and less ethical directions.
‘The old king made his decision known to the assem-
bled family and court... and his sons.
Prince Garloth received the news that he would
not inherit the throne with remarkable aplomb:
He neither objected nor cursed but accepted the
pronouncement calmly, to the surprise of the
Pescheour family and retainers. Etain congratu-
lated both his sons—Eric on becoming the new
crown prince, and Garloth for displaying such
wisdom and self-restraint.
Underneath his calm exterior, however, Garloth
seethed with rage and jealousy, and his heart was
afire with thoughts of vengeance. How could his
father betray him so? He was the eldest, the right
belonged to him, and he would have it—whether
his father was willing or not. If his family would
not grant him his due, he swore, he would take it
for himself.
Turning to his magical studies for solace, he
began with fearful purpose to dedicate his every
waking hour to mastering the most ancient and
blackest of arcane rites. The Pescheour line was
touched by the gods, and Garloth found himself
capable of magic beyond mortal ken. He converted
his chambers into a sanctum and library, then went
into the world, gathering more lore to help him
recover what he had wrongly lost.
King Alain naturally disapproved of his brother's
behavior and warned him to cease his researches
into the black arts. Prince Garloth paid him no heed
but continued to seek the forbidden mysteries.
Finally Alain, fearing that his brother had become
unhealthily obsessed, ordered him to leave off his
researches lest they endanger the castle and the
family. This commandment, heaped atop the other
perceived indignities, enraged Garloth to the point
of speechlessness. Gathering his belongings, the
prince departed Castle Pescheour for good. Wielding his newfound arcane might for the first
time, Prince Garloth raised for himself a stronghold
in mockery of his family’s castle. With his god-
touched blood, combined with his mastery of long-
forgotten spells, he imbued his keep with abilities
similar to those of Castle Pescheour. But despite this
accomplishment, Garloth knew it would be hollow if
his fortress lacked the one object that made his family
and its home so extraordinary: the Stone of Corbinet.
A Villsinens Plet
‘The Pescheour family’s pact with the gods prevent
Prince Garloth from removing the Stone of Corbinet
himself. However, he was able to find a loophole in
the wording of his oath: Absolutely nothing pre-
vents him from manipulating other individuals into
retrieving the Stone for him. He has schemed to
deceive a group of powerful heroes into assailing
Castle Pescheour, seizing the Stone, and delivering
it into his waiting hands. He chose the PCs pre-
cisely because they are among the most powerful
and skilled individuals in their chosen fields—and
if they are also famous adventurers, accustomed to
great risks and legendary deeds, so much the better,
Magic and Madness
To prepare the way for his chosen instruments,
Garloth committed treachery against his own family, a
betrayal that ranks among the foulest of all time.
Approximately two weeks before the events of this
story begin, he returned to the family home from his
stronghold. Presenting himself to his brother, he asked
forgiveness and apologized for the rift he had caused
in their family. King Alain, moved by his apparent
contrition and humility, granted Garloth pardon
That very night, and for six nights thereafter,
Prince Garioth returned his family’s hospitality by
weaving a diabolical spell to trouble Alain’s
dreams, Through his dark arts, he bestowed on his
brother nightmares of such vividness and horror
that soon Alain could not sleep at all for fear of
these unnatural terrors; in short order the strain,
lack of sleep, and the power of the spell itself forced
the king’s mind over the edge. He succumbed to a
howling and paranoid insanity from which he
could not be freed.
At that moment Garloth unleashed the second
surprise he had prepared for his family. The traitor-
ous prince's coup de grace was another terrible spell
that transformed every inhabitant of the castle into
an evil monster, robbing them of not only their true
forms but their identities as well. When Garloth
departed the castle, he left behind a gibbering
madman and a menagerie of loathsome creatures.
Deceit and Disaster
Garloth’s plan is to guide his dupes subtly but inex-
orably along the path that will lead them to the Stone
and the final act of his revenge. First, he engineers a
series of deceptions, all designed to impart tantaliz-
ing bits of information to the PCs. He wants them to
know about the castle and, to a limited degree, the
Stone of Corbinet but controls the information so that
it conveys a distorted version of the truth.
He persuades the PCs that they are undertaking a
divine trial so secret and ancient that the gods them-
selves no longer reveal it to their followers. He draws
them in with three planned encounters, each of which
seems to uncover a little more of the legend. When he
judges the PCs convinced of the lore's authenticity,
Prince Garloth “reveals” himself as a divine avatar. He
bids them journey to Castle Pescheour and retrieve the
Stone of Corbinet as proof of their virtue, giving them a
signet ring that leads them unerringly to the castle.
Prince Garloth’s revenge is complete once the PCs
retrieve the Stone and turn it over to him. He
bestows treasure on the party and promises “divine
rewards,” but has no intention of fulfilling the latter;
it’s simply a diversion so that he can make good his
departure. but after their mission is complete, the
PCs experience puzzling and distressing experiences.
In discovering what has befallen their world, they
begin to realize their unwitting role in its fate. They
are visited by a genuine avatar of Justice, who sub-
jects them to a real divine trial. If they are successful,
they eventually return to Castle Pescheour and have
an opportunity to rescue their world. When the PCs
are once again in Prince Garloth’s presence, they are
armed with the knowledge of his lies and the nature
of his betrayal. As the world comes apart at its very
seams, they must try to redeem their earlier mistakes
by wresting the Stone of Corbinet from their enemy's
grasp and returning it to its proper place. Chapter Le
The Beginning of the End
DM Background
Garloth’s first order of business is to convince
his chosen dupes (our heroes) of the legitimacy
and importance of undertaking a mission to
Castle Pescheour. He believes the best way is to
persuade them that in so doing they are actually
undertaking the long-hidden test.
Garloth leads the PCs to conclude that they,
too, may pass this divine trial and reap equally
divine rewards, He needs his heroic pawns to
know about Castle Pescheour and, to a limited
degree, the Stone of Corbinet, but he has to conceal
the truth, He has designed a series of deceptions
to impart certain enticing details to the PCs and
has recruited various individuals for that
yurpose,
First, Garloth duped a well-known minstrel to
bait the hook with an irresistible tale of fabulous
treasure and great adventure. The PCs encounter
this entertainer at a festival that begins the story.
Next, they meet up with what appears to be a
wizened sage, actually an actor hired by Garloth,
who has a piece of hitherto unknown lore about a
divine trial and an ancient treasure. Then they run
afoul of an old rival, tricked or impersonated by
Garloth. Through careful manipulation of existing
antagonism, the evil prince makes his false story
seem much more believable.
Finally, when he judges them convinced by the
tale, Garloth reveals himself to his chosen instru-
‘ments— after a fashion. He appears in the form
of a spectral knight, congratulates the PCs on
learning of the divine test, and offers them the
means to undertake the trial.
Party Like 1's the
End of the Werld!
Despite its ominous background, The Apocalypse
Stone begins on a relatively upbeat note, with a
festive occasion in the lives of the player charac-
ters, such as a party, feast, ball, or carnival. You
know your campaign best, so devise an opening
scene of celebration that you can weave convine-
ingly into the fabric of the story. Take care to keep
the characters (and their players!) unaware they
are being made unwitting tools of a master plan.
They should not foresee the momentous deci-
sions—and their consequences—that will soon be
thrust upon them
‘The merrier the scene, the better it will contrast
with the grim developments that unfold as the
adventure progresses. The event might be thrown in
honor of the PCs (perhaps to celebrate their latest
successful adventure), or it might be a suitable occa-
sion, such as the wedding of the local noble, to
ensure their attendance. Best of all would be to tie it,
into previous events in your campaign. The only
stipulation is that the PCs must be present and able
to hear the minstrel’s story about the Stone of Corbi-
net, described below. If a festival or similar celebra-
tion is not appropriate for your campaign, set up
alternative and plausible circumstances for the char-
acters to encounter Garloth’s agent. This could be as
simple as a variation on the traditional “You're all
sitting in the tavern.”
Baiting the Hook
While the event is completely legitimate, Prince
Garloth tums it to his advantage to give the PCs
their first hint about the Stone. Garloth’s unwitting
accomplice in this first deception, a famed minstrel,
appears during the event and recites a story that
should pique the PCs’ curiosity and interest, It will
‘be much more convincing if some features of this,
tale tie into your world’s existing cosmology and are
linked to legends that the PCs have likely heard
during their long careers.
‘The minstrel, like the adventurers, has been
duped by Garloth in a recent meeting, The prince
masqueraded as a fellow bard and mentor, who
claimed to have heard this bizarre and enticing tale
of hidden lore from the gods themselves. No bard
can resist a new bit of lore, and Garloth took care to
fill his vessel with this song not long before he or
she entered the festival town. Ses
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When you judge that the time is right for the PCs
to hear this story, read aloud or paraphrase the
following:
At the height of the festivities, a minstrel clad in
bright motley steps before the crowd. Gently
strumming a lute, the entertainer calls loudly for
attention.
“Lords and ladies, I beg thee attend my tale!
For it begins with a question dear to all our
hearts: Where do heroes come from? Some
answer that they are chosen by fate, others that
they are born like all of us but tested in the fires
of adversity. But whatever their origin, how shall
we know them when they walk among us? by
design of the gods themselves. Many boast of
great deeds; many claim to be worthy of honor
and praise; yet among these, sadly, are those
who are but deceivers, not true heroes at all.
Hear now a tale, which though brief gives
answer to these questions. It is a story
seemingly new, but in fact long forgotten—
perhaps by design of the gods themselves.
“Long ago, when all the lands we know were
but the merest inklings in the thoughts of the
very air, the gods assembled in their place of
meeting. Here they asked the very questions I
have posed to you: How ate heroes to be made,
and how shall we know those worthy of such dis-
tinction? A long time they debated, and argued,
and discussed—all the gods great and small took
part, for the subject was of much interest to each
and every one. After a time had passed that we
cannot, with our mortal minds, truly compre-
hend, they agreed on how to separate heroic
wheat from mundane chaff. “The gods devised
a trial that only the bravest, truest, and most
worthy heroes could hope to pass. Together they
raised a fabulous castle of marble and obsidian,
bestowing upon it the curious power to move
through the world. The castle appeared here one “eh
Ae
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TOS
Wis