The Quality of Gold

The Quality of Gold

Outline

• Party awakens together in a recovery tent
• They feel weak and disoriented
• Will remember travelling by ship along the southern coast of Lake Encarthan, heading toward the city of Kerse in Druma
• Remember running into a huge freak water spout and ship being tossed about in the air
• Party meets leader of a refugee camp on the shores of Ustalav
• Leader gives brief update on situation in the area – not yet welcome in Caliphas, treating holdout refugees from Lastwall
• Party will find out that there is much more going on here than a simple refugee camp
• Inferred that some refugees being taken to slavers, others to a necromancer
• Escape from Camp
• Find freedom fighter faction who takes them to a safe location called Stonehaven
• Group is allowed to recover and help around town to build money (motives being observed)
• Begin to discover strange occurrences and hints of sinister dealings (wandering undead, etc.)

Things start to get weird

• The group will discover the cursed town of Blackcross and solve the mystery (Level to 3)
• The party will discover the nature of the refugees’ plight – they find an escapee from one of the 3 undead-maker camps
• The party should investigate one of the camps to free the prisoners and learn more
• The party may opt to find more camps, but they would have to either interrogate a guard who may know or someone in Stonehaven.
• Eventually, discover an operation run by a necromancer who is doing experiments on refugees who are being led to multiple ‘safe places’ throughout countryside
• If party can put a stop to the necromancer, they can gain passage back to Druma via Caliphas

The plot changed from this initial outline, as described in the notes to come.

Background

The party members are on a ship heading toward Kerse, the merchant-friendly capital of Druma when they run into a strange squall from the mysterious Isle of Terror. The ship they travel on is lifted into the air by a waterspout and thrown clear across the Lake to crash near the shore of Ustalav. The party and some of the other passengers are rescued by local fishermen and brought to a camp used by refugees from the former country Lastwall.

Unknown to the refugees and castaways, the camp is a front for a human trafficking operation preying upon the weak and helpless, ultimately hired by an evil necromancer who needs fresh bodies for her bizarre experiments. The camp leaders have contracts and agreements with the necromancer, the hired slavers and other people of ill-repute to prepare and bring certain types of people to these brokers.

Chapter 1: Shipwrecked!

It is starting to come back to you now. You were all on a large merchant galleon together, the voyage was pleasant enough and your ship was staying close to land to avoid the dangers of Lake. The bad weather came out of nowhere, it seemed, and within minutes, your ship was being battered back and forth by the winds. You could hear the increasingly desperate shouts from the crew above on the deck when you were violently thrown again the outer hull of your cabin. Out of the small porthole you could see that the ship was trying to veer away from a huge waterspout but then suddenly the Lake began spinning outside, faster and faster and higher and higher. There was a groaning sound, then a sharp crack as the hull began to rip apart. You remember feeling the world around you rising and falling at the same time…then nothing.

The characters wake up in a tent in a refugee camp on the shores of Ustalav. The sounds of other people come from outside and it is evening when they awaken. They are only wearing simple pants and shirts, but a pair of boots and socks are neatly laid out at the foot of their cots. None of their gear is anywhere in sight. They recognize each other from the ship if they have not already met. They are weak and feel like they are recovering from something traumatic but have no obvious injuries. Unbeknownst to the party they are suffering from Lethargy Poison, administered by the caregivers, but just recently missed their last dosing due to a distraction. So each character is Slowed 1 for the next minute and can try to make a DC18 Fort check to recover. If someone makes a successful DC18 Medicine check, they recognize the effects of being poisoned.

Starting HP = full

Starting Hero Pts = 1

Starting Gear = basic clothes only (if asked about gear, the caregivers will tell them that they were found with “none but the clothes on yer backs”. They don’t keep extra gear, but will try to find some for them.

The party will have about 2 minutes to orient themselves before one of the caregivers comes in to administer their missed injection. If they ask, she tells them that it is merely a mild sedative to allow them sleep while they recover. (DC14 Per to detect Deception)

“Oh, you’re awake! You should take it slowly since you were nearly drownded.”

They may notice that the caregiver has a syringe in her hand.

If the group protests, she will appear pleased that they are awake and will offer them a hot meal, gesturing to one of the tables outside. “I’ll let the Captain know you are awake and probably have some questions.”

At some point, the party will be introduced to Captain Jovan, the leader of the camp who will give the following info:

• The party was found about ¼ mile south of here washed up on shore
• A few more people were also found and are still unconscious and recovering
• They are in a refugee camp about a day’s walk from the capital, Caliphas
• After the destruction of Lastwall and the dangers in the new Gravelands, refugees had been flooding across the border into Ustalav, but now there are only a few of the holdouts coming over and they have been turned away by the city guards of Caliphas due to the sheer volume of people and their condition
• There is an ‘underground railroad’ that is helping people get into the city and some of their representatives come to the camp frequently when they have the opportunity to smuggle people in, usually through the port or a local merchant or farmer.

There are guards posted around the perimeter of the camp to prevent anyone from leaving, but will allow people to have some privacy to ‘do their business’. There are also guards in camp who are posing as other refugees and caregivers.

There are reps from the two factions awaiting their human charges.

Notable people in camp:

• Captain Jovan – leader of the camp and broker for the camp’s ‘human capital’
• Mr. Grimbald – camp healer and chemist – also a trafficker for a local necromancer
• 6 Caregivers – tend to the refugees, keep them drugged and unconscious, prepare food, clean, etc. They are loyal and paid well, but one of them has been having a problem with his conscience (see below)
• Lucius Forstam – Camp contact for the ‘Farming Collective’, operating as a group of local farmers, but really an underground railroad to get refugees into Caliphas – actually is the main rep for the trafficking of slaves in southern Ustalav and not a rep for the legit Farming Collective
• 8 Guards – posted at perimeter to prevent ‘escape’ and quell any unruly guests

The clues – the party should start to get some clues that all is not what it seems as they explore the camp, but there are a few possible tip-offs:

• If someone makes a successful DC18 Medicine check, they will discover that they are recovering from a poison effect
• Same check for other people rescued in nearby tent.
• The caregivers will attempt to poison the food with Lethargy poison if the party accepts some.
• The two old ruins to the south are boarded up and sealed, but contain several dead bodies and two chests with personal effects.

C1 – Recovery tent. The party will wake up in this white canvas tent structure. There are 6 beds and a pot belly stove with low coals burning. They will see that a pair of boots and socks sit on the floor nearby but other than their clothes, that is all they possess. Sounds of multiple people talking outside mask their conversations. If the party does not leave the tent after a couple minutes one of the caregivers having a little distraction in C6 comes in to tend to them and is a little surprised to see them awake.

C2 – Dining Area. Four large tables are where the majority of the refugees/visitors eat. The food is either prepared by campfire or more often on the stove in the main building. There are sleeping rolls laid out around d the exterior and next to the fires for anyone who wants to sack out outside, especially when the recovery tents are full as they are now.

C3 – Main building. The old ruin has been partially restored and covered to provide shelter for the camp. The caretakers sleep here at night, the food is prepared here and the old altar has been repurposed as a treatment table for anyone needing immediate medical care.

C4 – Recovery tent. This is a second recovery tent where refugees are kept comfortable with sedatives (poison) and all beds are currently full with survivors of the shipwreck. DC18 Medicine roll to discover their real condition.

C5 – Refugee tent. Double hammocks are st up here for refugees that have been in camp longer. Although not fully sedated, these people are weak and content to stay here for now. All of these people fled from the Gravelands across the border and will tell stories of how Caliphas treated them. They are waiting for the UR to get them into the city.

C6 – Leader’s tent. The head honcho for this camp’s operation sleeps in this tent and often has one of the female caregivers over for the night. He does not emerge unless the camp sounds like it is under attack.

C7 – Farming Collective camp. A few of the representatives of the Farming Collective sleep in their temporary tents here and get fairly drunk at night, so they are easy to sneak by. Stealth vs. DC9 Per.

C8 – Necro Camp. A couple of the hired body haulers pitched their camp here and have been told they are not welcome in the main camp, so they sulk here. If anyone speaks to them, it’s apparent why – they are leering, lecherous goth jerks.

C9 – Cold storage. The camp keeps the dead in this boarded up old ruin. They are usually hauled away every few days by the dudes at C8 to their necro-leader. Anyone who inspects the exterior wall will find scratches from the bears who are attracted to the scent of dead meat. To remove the boarded section requires a DC15 Athletics check.

C10 – Make-shift Vault. When the camp takes possession of the refugees, they take their belongings (if they have any) for ‘safe keeping’. So this old ruin has been extra-boarded up and even locked to protect a pair of large chests that contain smaller goods as well as some armor and weapons. There is a large 4’x4’ section of the wall that has been boarded up, but can swing up from a hidden hasp at the bottom. The hasp is locked with a Poor Lock (2xDC15). Each of the chests is also locked with a Simple Lock.

Chest A: 4 Adventurer’s Packs, 3 daggers, light mace

Chest B: 2 Adventurer’s Packs, wooden religious symbol of Desna, 2 sickles, shortsword

Laying on ground is a Wooden shield, spear, 2 suits of padded armor, 1 suit of hide armor

** The party’s items have been disseminated to other people over the past few days and are no longer in camp **

Chapter 2: Escape

Once the party learns about the factions vying for human assets their best tactic will be to escape the camp before they become a commodity. If they are careful and sneaky, this can be accomplished, especially by moving past the drunk camp north or sneaking past the guards with an excuse. The guards are not particularly smart or vigilant, so getting by them should be easy. But the party may want to try to obtain some replacement equipment before they leave to make survival easier.

If the party has not got the hint about needing to get away from the camp, they will be visited by one of the caretakers, a slim woman named Bertra who will fill them in on the situation. She is genuinely worried about their fate and encourages them to get out while they can. Although she cannot get them gear, she will tell them about the stash of gear in one of the old boarded up ruined buildings to the south.

Bertra will also provide cover/distraction/assistance if they need it. She recommends that they look for a group of ex-knight freedom fighters to the northwest, just south of a settlement called Grayce.

Passive Per DCs –

Guard	17
Caretaker	16
Smuggler	17
Refugee	13

Making it a Challenge

On the off chance that the party decides to take on one of the main dudes (Lucius, Jovan or Grimbold), they may have a hard time of it when the guards help as well. There are often fist fights among the refugees, so the guards are not at high alert, but 1 or two will help the main dudes if they are nearby or are called to help.

Escape Routes

The party has a few escape options. They can head deeper into the forest, they can follow the coast or they can try to steal a rowboat and head out into the lake.

If they follow Bertra’s advice and head northwest toward Grayce, they can travel through the night and camp or push on as the sun rises. Either way, at mid-morning the party will run into a band of 6 Goblin Scouts who surround the party in ambush. DC10 Per to detect ambush. They are noisily arguing and warning each other to be quiet. The refugee camp will not send anyone after the group, trusting that their fates will lead them to the same end result.

6 Goblins             6×30= 180XP

Chapter 3: Unexpected Allies

A couple hours into the second day after their escape, the person in the lead/scouting position of the party will see an arrow stick into a tree/bush very close to their head. A voice will call from a hiding place:

“Hold there friends – where do you travel so recklessly through these lands?”

As long as the party does not do anything dangerous or provocative, a group of people will step out from behind stands of trees and large boulders. They are dressed in light and medium armor with a tabard depicting a broken shield (show picture).

The leader is a stout older human named Sir Posrick. He has a small group of 5 more in his party and on a signal from their leader will come out into the open.

You see one by one, a number of armored people begin to emerge from behind trees and rocks. They look well armed and with a confidence about them.

Sir Posrick (F) will introduce his companions: Alina (F), Jax (S), Deets (C Abadar/Asmodeus), Maloran (F dwarf), Talin (R)

The leader of the group introduces himself as Sir Posrick and he and his companions are part of the Knights of Lastwall, or what’s left of the order after the fall of Lastwall. He will introduce his companions one by one and then ask about the party and their story.

Posrick will elaborate more once he feels that the party is on the up and up.

“You see, when Lastwall fell, it was a very chaotic and confusing time. Those who survived the initial blast were hesitant at first to leave their ancestral homes, but when the hordes of undead followed, released by the Whispering Tyrant, the people knew they had to go. Most of the survivors made it out of their former homes and scattered to nearby countries or booked passage on ships in Caliphas. But many could not afford the passage aboard a ship so they stayed in the city. Of course, there is not much need for farmers and hunters in a big city and the ones with farms nearby did not want the competition, so Caliphas made a hard choice – they closed their gates to refugees from Lastwall.

Although you are not technically refugees, you are also displaced in similar circumstances. The Knights of Lastwall are dedicated to helping anyone we find in this country who need assistance or a place to stay while they figure things out. You all are welcome to come with us to Stonehaven, a little village a few days’ journey from here where you can resupply or make some money and keep an ear out for opportunities to get back to where you were originally headed.”