Lowland Archeology (adventure)

Steel Realms

Character Creation

THIS ADVENTURE IS DESIGNED FOR NEW CHARACTERS; SINGLE 6hr SESSION
Provision: 1st level, Max HP at 1st; no sorcerers, PHB classes standard – POINT BUY
Races: A curious halfling explorer, a dwarf seeking old engineering, humans otherwise

No more than a half page background… GM will work with you for ideas… Other than that, it’s pretty open… in general, characters should be less chaotic and not overtly evil. Please make your characters ahead of time and put it online for GM to review. These are not campaign characters (though could be back up characters to be fleshed out more later if desired). Be finished with the character when you show up. If you missed anything, it can be added AFTER, if you survive. Everyone that survives will go to 2nd level at the end and adjustments can be made then.
Ideas:

  • Need someone good at perception and looking for traps
  • Someone who can detect magic
  • A hunter (like game hunter) might have some good opportunity

Introduction

Timeline: Late Summer, CY 9168 – just starting to rain some days…

With the truce declared (Dunstrand vs. Gwinn), mercenaries all over the earldom of Bar-Innis in Dunstrand have begun drifting away or seeking other work. Many have left, and a few have stayed, hoping for a resuming of hostilities by the end of their contract. You are some of those that arrived late and are running out of money. There is a low trickling of odd jobs, exploration and protection, but nothing that offers much in the way of adventure or wealth. You have all congregated in the capital of Mev, a hub of activity in war and work in peacetime. Most have left, you are hoping to catch some of the new work by staying the longest and have got to know each other by congregating at night in the tavern of the Flying Serpent looking for work and sharing stories. Wondering what your next step is going to be, you finally get some good news and catch a lucky break. In the absence of war, it seems an archeologist has put out word of an expedition. There’s lots of old ruins dating back thousands of years in Dunstrand so in addition to the job, occasionally expeditions unearth old treasure! You pay the tavern owner Davlesta for the fliers to keep this to yourselves. It says to see Gaenor Clodagh in Moss Haven. You decide to leave swiftly, before any word of this leaks out.

Note that PCS have no more than 1/4 starting funds… emphasize the desperation they are feeling.

Moss Haven is part of the Lowland League territories of Bar-Innis – a group of smaller towns and villages that are near the Dwindor Swamp in the north of the Earldom of Bar-Innis. They are mostly agrarian. Moss Haven is large for the area – a population of about 5000 (almost all human). Its a cold and rainy day at the end of summer and the roads are muddy as you trudge to the area. It takes a couple days in such weather, slow going. During the time you enjoy your dwindling supplies, take rests to stay dry and get to know each other better. You arrive in Moss Haven on the third day without incident. The Limestone Inn (named because of the moss covered green stone wall around it, not what its made from) is a welcome sight, as is the break in the weather as it warms up. In these darker months, there is not much activity or travel in the town. The smell of fresh bread lures you in. Everyone turns to the door and goes quiet as you enter. There are only a couple of guests, but a gaming table is set up near the hearth where locals are playing cards. You shake the rain off and find an empty table as conversation starts to ramp back up. The barman introduces himself as Greg, and you get some fresh food and wine or beer. You explain you are looking for Gaenor and he says that they are here at sunset every evening. You settle in and wait till sunset, anticipation rising.

Questions about the area or Gaenor?

NEW CLUES for the Adventure

[CLUE] CREW SIZE: 1+ (affects time on site to excavate)
[CLUE] LOWLAND TROUBLE THRESHOLD = 4 (the danger level of bandits and negative happenstance in the area)

First Meeting with Gaenor – Clear the Area

Gaenor enters. She is silent and purposeful. There is no facial expression to give away her mood as she moves to you. She pulls up a chair and sits at your table. “I see you have come in answer to the call i put out in Mev. I thank you for your journey. You know what I am about, and what perils you may face. Before I explain what services I need, do you have any questions about me or my operation?

PCs can ask questions of her.

Gaenor says that the first step in all her jobs is to ensure the safety of her work. To that end, she would like you to scout the areas of the Lowlands, specifically around Tanegulch Woods, where bandits are known to frequent. In the meantime, she will go to look for maps at the Companion Library in Braddon Bog. Spend a few days going from town to farm of the lowlands spreading the word to stay away, then the edges of the woods north and south of Moss Haven to roust any bandits. She says she’s not giving anything else away right now, there might be too many people watching looking to swoop in and grab things. She prefers it if it can be done without killing, but understands that if it happens, so be it.

REWARD: Payment of 20sc a day each. She can be haggled with to cover food and lodging (common enough in her work), and possibly injury costs. At the end, the character will receive a bonus depending on the value of the goods and information found – this is valued as Measures of Reward.
[+1 Character Weave @ end]

BOUNTY: Banditry is a crime; if a group of highway men are encountered, each is worth a 10sc bounty. In Moss Haven, the senior constable (of the town watch of 15) is Gary Reeval. If any are brought in alive, the LOWLAND TROUBLE THRESHOLD drops by 1 as the trial/hanging spreads awareness. He will be willing to lend out manacles and supplies for a 10% share of the reward.

NEW CLUES for the Adventure

[CLUE] MEASURES OF REWARD; (1 measure = 1sc of bonus reward)
[CLUE] MEASURES OF DISTURBANCE (subtracted from Measures of Reward to determine final bonus)

Random Goblins in the Area

This is a random encounter. It will only take place near the cover of woods or hills – a place for the goblins to retreat to. There is no sign of them, unless an Extraordinary tracking check is made. It would be several days in the past, but recent enough to be worrisome. Orrish have not been in this area in a decade, except for the ones that live in the swamp. But those do not venture this far inland. Goblins strike at night after the encampment gets set up; They follow other bandit groups looking for ambush. Same for PC parties.

Tactics: #PC x2 attempt to swarm over the camp of the party. Come in yelling and screaming after 1 round of surprise (Stealth vs. Perception), giving away their position.
> DC 7 Sanity or lose a round from terrifying screams not heard in these land sin ages
> AC = 13 [dex+scraps] + cover of dark (grease paint/black or scrub) +2 = 15 optimal
> HP = 2 (emaciated and weak; not Dwindor Goblin tribes)
> Weapons: Armed with 2 flint daggers (d4/2+1; 3/5/9 – breaks off on a major/extraordinary for extra 1) + DC 5 Con (disease; brain fever Disadvantage on Initiative)

LEADER: Dedicated Follower of Everdark; hp 17; Conviction 1, Dark Touch cantrip (Chill Touch w/Necro damage + vs. living, not undead)

1 Spider of Gozen (young) AC 13, HP 14, Bite (d4/2/4/8 + DC 8 Poison save or poisoned)

Travel and Scout

Travel to each place, spend a day listening for rumors of anything odd, go to local farms. Inform them there is a clearing effort going on, get the word out that trouble will be dealt with harshly.

Bandit Camp Remains

A campsite has been covered from casual eyes. There is a fire pit and a few fallen logs with brush draped over it for concealment.

DC 10 Investigation > used recently (2-4 days ago?), approx. a dozen booted feet, human sized, organized, tracks covered

Ward Off: DC 10 Intimidate each place to keep the bandits and trespassers away; Success = reduces LOWLAND TROUBLE THRESHOLD by 1.

Travel and Recruit

Travel to each place, spend a day putting a flier up and spreading the word with an intent to excavate nearby. Re-emphasize that trouble will be dealt with, with a heavy hand.

    Recruitment: DC 10 Charisma/Persuade to recruit excavators and distribute fliers; Success = +1 CREW SIZE
    > Its a flier saying to meet in seven days in Moss Haven at the stables of the Limestone Inn for anyone seeking employment – bring shovels and picks, 1sc/day + expenses covered.

    Expedition Start

    This is a full season of excavation and study. In between each will be a long enough rest to pack and transport goods to safety and heal and re-equip.

    About Simple Excavation and its Perils:

    Things must initially be uncovered painstakingly in situ. There will be drawings, maps, object tagging, and no one is to disturb anything. Grave robbers and thieves will try and gain objects to sell. They may break things and move things, destroying items and anything that can be learned from them and their position.

    Fighting while trying not to disturb things: Characters must fight with Disadvantage. If not, then each attack requires a DC 8 Dexterity check to avoid knocking things, kicking things, jostling things, etc. Each failure = D8 Measures of Disturbance in the locale; Each locale will have a threshold before the items and information lose value. At the end, the Measures of Disturbance will be subtracted from the Measures of Reward to determine the PCs bonus.

    Umbakian Battlefield

    Battlefield near Bergen. Old battle between Umbak and Sea-Kings it looks like – this was the initial maps she was looking for in Braddon Bog.

    Set up Initial Archeology Camp

    > Check the LOWLAND TROUBLE THRESHOLD (>4 = Encounter)

    The PCs are expected to provide security, scout, and troubleshoot.

    +1 Day travel/setup >

    Scout Out the Area

    > +1 Day

    The plain hardly looks like the site of an ancient battle. The archeologists consult maps and lay out survey equipment and begins to mark out the area 5×5 with each one being 35m square. Your job is to do a quick survey of each area, 1 person each, to ensure there are no surprises by doing short exploratory digs. A few artifacts are discovered around the edges – scraps of metal, a couple bones, telling you what you may find.

    5 x 5 Grid:

    X = A – E; ROLL d6, X on d6 = chance to encounter in each square an Umbakian Flickering Ward (DC 11 Wisdom/Perception or Disadvantage on DC 13 Sanity check – light flare and buzzing – failure = PC cannot enter that square.

    Y = 1 – 5

    Significant Finds: Determine randomly what square the blade “Vomartha” is in. It will be found in the normal expedition, but if it is found by the party, add it to the [CLUE] CLAIMED TREASURES list.

    [Any Extraordinary search result > 20 = unearth] “Vomartha”, the silvered longsword of the knight Sir Steph of Ridale of the Iron Seeker order of Balthazaar. Steph was a knight of the Shield Isles of Umbak, a southern sojourner and nationalist. He believed in the manifest destiny of Umbak, and that the lands of western Dunstrand should belong to Umbak. The blade was made in the Silver Brand smithy of Portia – a place known for supplying the Silver Talents with silvered weapons. It was named after Sir Steph’s mother. It’s light and strong, with a blade that makes a faint humming when swung (his mother’s humming voice). Counts as magic; +2 Initiative; silvered; Attunement = +1 Resilience (200sc to fix) and it can cast Chill Touch as an Action on the blade [before an attack, lasts 3 rounds] by the user expending 2 Synergy (the hand is silvery-blue), or as a ranged spell. If the wielder is a paladin, casting on the blade can be done as a Bonus Action.

    As you push aside some earth, what first appeared as an interesting rounded rock turns out to be the rounded pommel of a sword sticking int o the earth. As you scoop away earth around it, you uncover a handle with silvery wire wrapped around it – seemingly in perfect condition!

    4 Days of Excavations

    The next few days there’s a lot more finds. The excavators unearth several pieces of deteriorated equipment, but only tiny fragments of bones. The millennia of time has degraded almost everything. Most of the effort seems to be going to uncovering how the battle went down – which units were where and how it progressed.

    WORK > Each day make an Intelligence/Archeology check. Add the CREW SIZE to the modifier. Adds d3 MEASURES OF REWARD.

    Encounters: Maggoty White Deer [d4 day of encounter] – smells death, feasted on fallen soldiers after the battle and was cursed; RANGER can cause it to sleep permanently with Primeval Awareness connection (Reward = +1 Character Weave). It appears in the morning or evening out of the fog, 20m away. When it gets within 10m, the viewer must make a DC 13 Sanity check or they are Frightened.
    > AC = 12 (resistance to normal weapons)
    > HP = 36
    > Weapons: Charge with antlers

    A massive white deer is stalking you. Maggots drip out of every hole and orifice, including its eyes. It makes a wet braying sound and maggots spew out of its mouth!

    Long Rest

    > Check the LOWLAND TROUBLE THRESHOLD (>4 = Encounter) + SPY check (watchers at dig sites)

    Move the Archeology Camp

    > Check the LOWLAND TROUBLE THRESHOLD (>3 = Encounter)

    +1 Day travel/setup >

    ‘Haunted’ Cave of Deeling Farmstead

    At the bottom of a escarpment north of Moss Haven is a hole to a legendary cave. There was once a tower on the top that slid down, crumbling and creating a sinkhole. No one goes near it, not even animals. It was filled in, but after recent earthquakes, its entrance MAY be easy to get in now – the maps in Braddon Bog should show where its at.

    Long Rest

    > Check the LOWLAND TROUBLE THRESHOLD (>4 = Encounter) + SPY check (watchers at dig sites)

    Move the Archeology Camp

    > Check the LOWLAND TROUBLE THRESHOLD (>2 = Encounter)

    +1 Day travel/setup >

    Flooded Sea-King Ruins

    Although its been known about for a long time, the ancient ruins near Tall Mark were flooded and the entrance collapsed. The scorched ruins of the keep are barely visible in the thousands of years of overgrowth. However, after the recent earthquakes, apparently the flood level has gone down.

    Long Rest

    > Check the LOWLAND TROUBLE THRESHOLD (>4 = Encounter) + SPY check (watchers at dig sites)

    Move the Archeology Camp

    > Check the LOWLAND TROUBLE THRESHOLD (>1 = Encounter)

    +1 Day travel/setup >

    Sunken Wreck Site

    This is an “extra credit” assignment; IF the PCs have demonstrated capability, Gaenor will ask them if they wish to earn a 150sc bonus each. She will only do this if the group has not fled any encounters.

    The Sea-King wreck was discovered several years ago buried in a bog. I’ve been working on this each summer trying to find a way to access it. We built a bunch of barricades and pumps and last summer we tried it and learned from our mistakes. This summer we pumped a lot of it out. It’s a charred wreck most of it, but the front end of it looks to be intact. It probably burned from the back end forward and sunk with the front sticking out of the water. Unburned. Who knows what treasures may be in there. But my normal teamsters won’t suffice, this is a dangerous job and that’s what you’re here for. We’ll only be able to pump for a limited amount of time while it’s drained. I need you to go in and see if you can bring back some artifacts. As soon as you get out the crew will probably be exhausted and it will feel back up quickly. You’ll have just a few hours at most.

    Short Rest

    You travel off roads and paths to a non-descript place in the boggy land. You are given lots of rope, a few grappling hooks and several lamps and torches. You set out from a boggy field camp its own crew that appears to have been here a while. It is a raised dry patch of land about 30m from the wreck with green and brown tents. There is a palette stack to throw down as you walk as a means to and from the wreck. The camp has mules and a capstan with rope to haul things from the wreck area. There are a dozen teamsters, a cook, a medic and a couple washer women to keep things clean. The berms are reinforced with Wood logs and canvas walls, three pumps are operated by the teamsters to drain the area.

    Long Rest

    > Check the LOWLAND TROUBLE THRESHOLD (>2 = Encounter) + SPY check (watchers at dig sites) x2

    Move the Archeology Camp

    > Check the LOWLAND TROUBLE THRESHOLD (>1 = Encounter)

    +1 Day travel/setup >

    The olde Tarly Hunting Lodge

    The ruins of castle Tarly have terrified locals for ages – and with good reason. However, in recent times they have been put to rest (?). The most ancient structure is the building that is a barracks and was once the hunting lodge of Wendel Tarly. Recent earthquakes have finally drained the water around it and it could finally be explored.

    Ultimately I want to explore ruins that I began a year ago – Tarly Castle. You realize that this site has no owner? The Tarlwise branch has no clear ownership and there is no Tarly blood to lay claim. I am doing this in the name of House Malor and The Duke… but there are people who don’t want me to. To them I say set aside your petty differences and let history speak. The site is rich in myth.

    >

    Long Rest

    > Check the LOWLAND TROUBLE THRESHOLD (>3 = Encounter) + SPY check (watchers at dig sites)

    Return to Moss Haven/Break Camp

    > Check the LOWLAND TROUBLE THRESHOLD (>1 = Encounter)

    +1 Day travel/setup >

    Rewards and Follow-Ups

    PCs Make no Claims on Artifacts

    If the PCs stick to their agreement to make no claims on the artifacts they discovered, Gaenor will grants additional rewards.

    A selection of books on Lore [Choose 1 set; grants +2]: Umbak, Sea-Kings, or Dunstrand

    [CLUE] CLAIMED TREASURES list: The PCs may select 1 item from the list

    Characters, Entities and NPCs

    Gaenor Clodagh

    A famed Ducateon archeologist Gaenor Clodagh has been uncovering ancient artifacts from the early days of Dunstrand in the Riverdans, Bar-Innis, and out in Scar Flow from the days before it sank. She has been working for decades now with some success. She sells antiques in Mev (capital of Bar-Innis), in addition to collecting and cataloging information. She is well known in western Dunstrand. What is commonly known:

    • She usually goes in after the worst obvious perils have been taken care of.
    • She is known to make deals with excavators, adventurers, and fences – not maintaining a crew of her own.
    • She has gotten wealthy from her work

    I even suggest you hire a bard to record your own chapter to this tale. It would help me and I know a couple of highly competent bards and their proteges which can tell entire mythic cycles without missing a breath.

    BARD = 4sc a day and at end composition for 25sc = +1 Reputation

    History of Gaenor

    None really know her origins – what holt she is from, if she is outkast or left voluntarily, how old she is or what caste she was in her own society. Her real name is Ga’Nor Claddach, though she never goes by that or uses it. It is unknown why she pursues this life, or what joy she gets out of it – she is all business and rarely breaks her stoic demeanor. Her first known job was in CY 9136, in the T’Yendi Hills in the east of Dunstrand. She has excavated extensively in the south of Dunstrand, in Crestwold lands that had a heavy Umbakian presence as well as Bar-Innis. In the Riverdans she has excavated ancient places fell into ruin when the Nanford River changed course. She has excavated Sea-King sites that were dangerous for the Duke and House Malor. She has extensive knowledge of all the cultures of Dunstrand, and some of the North Merchant Cities. The only place she has not excavated is in The Saelish and free territory of Cabella. She is well versed in all associated languages and travels with an extensive library of reference volumes of which she keeps a copy under lock at her home in the Caereth Hills outside of the city of Nettlemist, in the Barony of Nettlemist of county Faer in Dunstrand. She openly venerates Malek as “The Hidden” in her role as an archeologist, always making a sacrifice in any new endeavor. She is not as rich as she is rumored to be – so much of her money goes to maintaining her business. She has had several famous “finds”…

    • She mapped out the Taurean Fields where a massive mattle between the Bronzefolk and Sea-Kings took place, with the giant bulls of Bronzefolk trampling the armies of the Sea-Kings.
    • She has uncovered the Three Indars (Indarsh, Indaria, Indarni) – three sister-cities of old Riverdans up river that once held a network of the last followers of the Way of Osten-Paullus from the fallen east.

    Baggage Train of Gaenor

    She typically travels with a cook, 2 groomsmen, several teamsters, a half dozen ‘professional’ archeologists (capable of surveying, writing, drawing, and researching), a scribe as a note taker for herself, 2-3 wagons (one is her alone, holding waterproofed reference books of histories, laws and drawings) and carts. She uses mules for beasts of burden, rarely using horses for some reason. She employs security, scouting, and extra help for excavation from locals on dig sites with her crew overseeing.

    Bargaining with Gaenor Clodagh

    She often has sponsors and has her own means of paying for costs up front. She can be persuaded to cover more expenses by haggling with her.

    Lowlands of Bar-Innis