Legacy
Part 1 – Introduction & Background
Details
Legacy
A Pathfinder 2e Remastered Adventure
History of Stonehaven and Blackcross
It has been almost one hundred years since the fall of Stonehaven Citadel and the defeat of a reclusive noble who was secretly a powerful necromancer, She had kept hidden a horrific operation amid her own subjects; capturing and transforming refugees and visitors to her domain into an army of the risen dead.
It was only due to the inquisitiveness and bravery of a group of strangers who refused to be intimidated or tempted to join the necromancer’s forces that allowed them to ally themselves with a vengeful former prisoner of the dungeons; a dwarf who had the idea to take advantage of years of underground erosion and engineer the complete destruction of the necromancer’s base of operations.
When the mountain holding the Citadel crumbled into ruin, the fortifications fell down the slopes and into the Lake. The underground rivers carved out caverns under the mountain and flowed into the Lake to increase its size to almost double. After the floods stabilized, a small marsh was left behind on the northern shore and the geography of the area changed slightly, diverting the Stonehaven River to a new location and creating a small island near the eastern shore of the Lake.
In the aftermath of the disaster, the capital city of Caliphas sent a garrison of soldiers to clean up and secure the area. Many of the displaced former residents of Stonehaven ended up either leaving the area completely or resettling near the new fortified garrison at the rapidly growing town of Blackcross on the shores of the nearby lake, named for the mysterious ruins just north of the Lake.
In the decades that followed the destruction, the new town of Blackcross grew and prospered and the ruins of Stonehaven as they are now called, were mostly left alone because of rumors and sightings of wandering undead, left over from the days of the necromancer. Adventurers sometimes set out to delve for hidden treasures, but most return with empty sacks and little to show for their effort. During the cleanup in the aftermath of the destruction, a contingent of dwarves, rallied by Brunin, the architect of the Citadel’s collapse, ventured into the more accessible eastern portion of the ruins and was both elated and distraught to discover the crushed and mangled bodies of his new friends. With careful reverence, the dwarves brought the heroes’ remains back to Blackcross where they were interred and within a year, beautiful granite statues were erected at their gravesites near the western edge of town to commemorate their heroism.
Adventure Arc:
It is the 100th anniversary of the Fall of Stonehaven Citadel and adventurers from all over have gathered at Blackcross Keep to participate in the celebrations and special events, including a competition for experienced adventuring parties.
The goal of the competition is for the adventuring groups to try to find new, hidden areas to explore and possibly uncover artifacts from that time 100 years ago. What no one knows is that the Necromancer, Osanna Cadell indeed had labs beneath the dungeons, but most of her most prized possessions were in her rooms, high atop the spires of the Citadel. When the Citadel collapsed in the disaster, the highest towers fell to the ground and slid toward the Lake. When the underground rivers were released and redirected, the Lake’s shoreline grew and covered the ruins of the Citadel which now sit under water!
Meanwhile a coven of Hags has gathered in the nearby moors at the north edge of the Lake to take advantage of the visiting adventurers that they can use to create some valuable HeartStones. They have allied with a pair of Nagas to help them waylay some of the competitors and bring them to their encampment in the Moors or they will come retrieve them from the nagas. The hags have also been infiltrating the dreams of the visitors to gain some insight to their motivations and to their pleasant surprise, found that one of the competitors is a Changeling. They are very excited and will make a special attempt to bring her into the coven with ‘the Call’. The naga are ordered to not harm the changeling no matter what.
The Changeling will either be a member of the party or another group of adventurers, steered to this area by the subtle magics of the Call.
The events of the celebration will start 3 days before the actual anniversary with experienced groups trying to find new and unexplored areas of the ruins from three access points.
Groups will go missing or barely escaping from powerful forces that appear to be waiting for them. Two groups that are found are mostly intact, but missing their souls!
Introduction for Players:
It has been a long journey, but your group has finally arrived in town a few days before the official 100th anniversary celebration. Bright pennants and banners line the streets and a small group of musicians are playing nearby, adding to a festive atmosphere. You are standing in a small park looking at 5 prominent statues that encircle a small courtyard just within the thick gates of the walled fort. The granite sculptures depict a group of five very different individuals; an armored human with a greatsword strapped to his back and the symbol of Gorum hanging from his neck, a stout dwarf with a long scythe held at the ready, a wizened elf in robes and holding a rune-inscribed tome, a goblin with a wry smile across his wide face brandishing a short sword and a strikingly pretty human woman wearing light chain with jagged, forked lightning playing over the surface of her body and her windswept hair.
A few other groups of adventures are reading a prominent plaque in the center of the courtyard.
<show plaque>
Saviors of Stonehaven
In the rainy autumn of 4723 AR, a group of strangers arrived in the quiet town of Stonehaven and unearthed a horrible tragedy inflicted upon its citizenry by the very hand of the city’s noble ruler; a secret Necromancer who had been subjecting her own subjects to vile magics.
With skill, perseverance and bravery, this group of heroes defeated the Necromancer, destroyed her armies of the dead and brought her reign to a dramatic end by destroying her Citadel and literally crushing her endeavors.
We, the free peoples of Blackcross Keep, dedicate these statues and this park to their memories so that all who visit and behold this group of heroes will learn of their noble sacrifice and the people who survived this dark time.
The 100th Anniversary Celebration
The mayor of Stonehaven, an elderly, but still hardy dwarf named Brunin Greyforge was there that day. He knew them all by name and mourns their loss each time he stops at their memorial. Today, the small encampment that the soldiers from Caliphas and his own countrymen founded is now a thriving keep on the well-travelled road from southern Caliphas to Anactoria. He adopted the name of an old town called Blackcross which now stands in ruins to the north, but heard a story from someone about the town mysteriously disappearing and reappearing throughout the countryside.
To honor the memory of his friends, Mayor Brunin planned a great celebration near the 100th anniversary of the fall of Stonehaven Citadel.
Although many adventuring groups have tried their luck in unearthing hidden treasures from the fallen Citadel, most of the easily accessed areas have been scoured for their secrets. So this special year, Brunin invited experienced adventuring groups to try their hands at discovering new secrets of the Ruins of Stonehaven Citadel.