I've been working on an introductory adventure for the system, tentatively titled "The Curse of Skzentic". I'd love feedback on what I've got so far.
Premise: The mouse-merchant Jargan has just received a ransom note demanding an enormous amount of money for the release of his son and daughter. Rather than pay the ruinous sum, he's decided to hire a band of adventurers to try and rescue his children. The PCs get the job.
Background: The kids are young adults and were travelling from Haven to visit relatives in Dunwattle but never arrived there. They had a couple of bodyguards with them, but apparently that wasn't enough. About two weeks after they disappeared, a box was delivered to Jargan with some of their personal effects and a demand for a thousand gold coins, a ransom that would bankrupt him completely.
The Quest: The PCs are supposed to follow the same route that the kids did and see if they can figure out who kidnapped them. Jargan will pay them 50 gold each for rescuing both kids (half if they can only rescue one). If they're dead, he'll still offer half for the return of their bodies so that they can be buried properly.
Part 1: The PCs travel cross-country and have a few encounters.
- a family with a broken wagon that needs aid. The PCs could ignore them, rob them, help them, etc., based on what their motivations are.
- a river crossing where the PCs will be attacked by a small snake that's wandered into the area and has no experience with mice that can use weapons. Poor snake. It probably won't live to regret its mistake.
- they'll pass a farm where they can ask the farmer about the kids (he remembers seeing them and their guards going along the road).
- a spot of bad weather, probably to emphasize how nasty heavy rain is for tiny mice.
Part 2: The PCs stop in the village of Eltowen.
- the PCs can make multiple social skill checks to get a room for the night and ask folks about the missing kids.
- a few townsfolk seem nervous
- the PCs find a rat kid with a missing leg who's willing to talk for a few coins.
- the kid tells them that the missing mice went off with the town woodsman (who later returned alone), whom he believes is a member of the cult of Skzentic.
Skzentic: the demon-god of pests and vermin. A few rites are intended to ward him away, but outright worship is banned and his cult has a bad reputation for offering intelligent sacrifices to their deity.
Part 3: The Temple
- the kid tells the PCs where to find the Temple of Skzentic. It's in an old Tzarchul ruin nearby.
- when they get there, it's a bit like a monestary... the cultists have actually set up little gardens and such nearby and there are some working here. These are forsaken mice and rats... burly, violent and fairly fanatical.
- this will probably involve a fair bit of fighting with the unarmored and poorly equipped but violent cultists.
- the cult has regularly been capturing travellers and holding them prisoner until the next sacrifice. They're kept in a cell in the depths of the Temple.
- the sacrifice room is a ghoulish chamber of horrors where the High Priest leaves the corpses exposed so that his pet flies can lay their eggs in them.
- due to their being gestated in the flesh of talking mice, his flies are big, black bugs about the size of horseflies with a nasty bite. They buzz about him like loyal pets and the priest often calls them by name and strokes the little maggots while they're gnawing on the flesh of his victims. A few of the flies can actually buzz understandable words in reply to his questions, although it's a strain for them to do so. This sort of stuff really helps establish his dominance over the other Skzentic worshippers, but it's going to be really unsettling to normal mice.
- the battle with the magic-using cult leader and his pet flies will basically be the climax of the adventure; if they can slay him, any other cultists will scatter in terror.
Possible Endings:
There are several possibilities for the ending. The basic "heroic" ending is for the PCs to rescue the boy mouse from the temple prison, then have him direct them to the sacrifice chamber, where the cult leader is already preparing to sacrifice the girl. With luck, they'll be able to stage a last minute rescue.
The "horror" ending is when they're too late to save the girl... her corpse is already bloating up with maggots, surrounded by the cult's previous victims in a horrific display that would merit Sanity checks in Call of Cthulhu.
The "twist" ending is that the kids were never kidnapped at all. One or both of them have joined the cult either willingly or after some magical brainwashing. They told the cult leader about their wealthy father and he hatched a scheme to steal the family's money for the cult. In this case, the PCs may have to subdue the kids and bring them back as prisoners if they want to collect the full reward.
CommentsPost a comment