Author: Mads Hvelplund <mailto:[email protected]>
Homepage: http://www.darknight.dk/~mandrax
System: d20 Dungeons and Dragons
Requirements: 4-6 pregenerated characters
It is the year 1153 (3rd age). Faron Rommelmark, lord of Hogland, has crushed the Vallerian Empire's army in one last grand battle. After three years in the field the tattered remnants of the imperial army are now on the run south to Iman. Emperor Ammon's marshal, count Nerakkus, and a small band of his men-at-arms are also on the run. With them, they bring a large ironbound chest. The chest belongs to the emperor of Valleria, but the road to Iman is long and these are uncertain times...
The Emperor's Gold
A scenario by Mads Hvelplund for 4-6 characters
Summary
The scenario details the journey of a small group of soldiers from a defeated army. They have in their possession a mysterious chest and it soon becomes clear that some persons are willing to kill for it's contents. The characters must choose their allies with care.
The scenario depends heavily on character interaction to drive the story and should not be played before the GM has read the entire scenario and familiarized himself with the characters and events.
Adaptation
This scenario was originally written for a Danish RPG called LEF, however the plot can easily be transplanted to any medieval fantasy world campaign. The scenario takes place some 550 years before the current timeline and ideally details historic events that the players are aware of in their world. History however mentions nothing about the events of this particular scenario and for good reason. At the end of this scenario when all is said and done the chest will be lost and all witnesses most likely dead. The DM could then use this scenario as the kickoff for a treasure hunt 550 years later, with the character looking for "the emperor's lost treasure".
Stats for NPC's have intentionally been omitted, but the GM should be able to improvise them quickly. The following are guidelines to the strength of the people detailed below in relation to each other.
The peasants are weak and all the characters could kill them without breaking into a sweat. The 5 player characters (see "The Player Characters") are all accomplished warriors of equal skill. They have fought in all the worst battles of a bloody three year campaign. The two noblemen Amadech and his son Malkuth are both trained warriors but unlikely to hold their ground in a toe to toe battle with any of the characters. The soldiers of the Black Guard are hardened killers. They fight with grim determination and should offer stiff opposition to the characters. Telach and Kanter are both very able warriors and could probably take on 3 lesser warriors at a time and defeat them.
Dramatis Personae
Count Amadech Nerakkus
Amadech is a hard man in his late 50's with long iron gray hair and a bushy white beard. His eyes are cold and merciless and those who know him, know he is not a man to be trifled with. He had three sons at the outset of the war. His favorite and the second youngest died fighting the rebels, while his least favorite and youngest son has so far shown an irritating tenacity. The eldest son waits at home guarding the family lands. For three years Amadech led the emperors army in the north, but for some time before the battle of Feltuch's Common he knew that the war was lost. Then he heard about the chest that the emperor's Black Guard where holding and managed to attach it to his personal retinue. Now he hopes to seize the chest and use it's contents to fund a campaign of sedition for his own fief.
Kanter Navarre
Kanter is the counts confidante and old brother in arms. He commands the counts guard in battle. His scarred face usually bears a kind smile that makes some of the younger soldiers think of him as a father figure, but in reality long years of endless fighting have left Kanter a bitter old man. The final straw was seeing his lord betray his own soldiers at Feltuch's Common by using the chaos of the battle to cover his retreat with the chest. Kanter has decided to steal the chest at first given opportunity and to use it's contents to buy himself a title in the neighboring kingdom of Elkarmund to the south.
Master Malkuth Nerakkus
The youngest of three sons, Malkuth was never his father's favorite. In fact he was just the opposite and he knows it. Malkuth is pale youth with thinning stringy hair and a perpetual callous scowl on his delicate features. He has guessed his father's plans and intends to murder him on the way home and steal the chest. Using it's contents he hopes to raise an army and usurp his brothers throne. All this could probably have been averted by a single kind word from his father, but alas, that never happened.
Captain Telach Perrund
Telach is young and idealistic. He is also, unbeknownst to himself, the highest ranking officer in the emperor's Black Guard. Apart from himself and the three soldiers under his command the entire Black Guard and it's support staff where slaughtered to a man in a heroic last stand at Feltuch's Common two days earlier. Before the battle Telach was ordered to guard the chest with his life and return it to the emperor in the case of disaster. Telach will try to achieve this as long as he has breath in his body.
The Soldiers
All the soldiers are armed nearly identically. The quality of the Black Guards equipment might be higher but it isn't important. Every soldier wears heavy armor appropriate to the time period. Reinforced chain mail with steel helmets, large wooden shields and long spears seem appropriate. Each carries either a short sword or a long dagger as a secondary weapon for close combat. They are all trained to fight as a unit shield to shield. If a warrior is separated from his friends the large shield might become a hindrance ...
The Black Guard
Three spearmen wearing the black tunics and shields of the emperors elite soldiers. They are Kastor, Pretens, and Coluch.
Malkuth's Guard
Three spearmen wearing the read and black coat of arms of Malkuth. They are Ravn, Korum, and Estus.
Amadech's Guard
Two spearmen wearing the read and black coat of arms with gold distinctions of Amadech. They are Medoc and Amuhin.
The Levy
Twelve scared and dirty peasants armed with bows and daggers.
Loyalties
The loyalties of the individual characters in this story are very important and the GM should always keep them in mind.
Kastor and Pretens are loyal to Telach. They will follow him anywhere.
Coluch has been bought by Malkuth but seems just as blindly loyal to Telach as the other two guards.
Both Kanter and Malkuth pretend to be loyal to Amadech. Malkuth however, is conspiring against his father Amadech, and will attempt to buy support from the soldiers. Kanter doesn't show his hand until the very end, and his betrayal should be a surprise to most.
Ravn is a proud warrior. He will honor his oath of fealty to Malkuth to the bitter end and betray Amadech if ordered directly.
Korum and Estus are both hardened warriors and their loyalties lie with the gold Malkuth pays them. Their oath has second priority. They do not trust each other but Korum is friends with Ravn.
Medoc is the bastard son of a captain in the Black Guard. He has always aspired to their ranks but has not been chosen because of his soiled lineage. Given a choice between loyalty to his lord and loyalty to the emperor he will choose the emperor.
Amuhin is an able and proud warrior, whose loyalty lies primarily with Kanter whom he has served for many years. He offers only lip service to his lord, Amadech.
The peasants in the levy are cattle and their loyalties changeable as the wind. They are below contempt for the true warriors in the count's retinue.
The Player Characters
Before play, each of the players choose or are assigned one of the five spearmen Medoc, Amuhin, Ravn, Korum and Estus. The GM should then take each player aside and outline their characters loyalties to them. If there are more tha 5 players simply ad more men to Malkuth and Amadech's guard. Try to keep the numbers in each equal. Allow the player to make his own personality within the guidelines listed under Loyalties. The players then roll their stats or use the prepared characters from the GM. As stated earlier this scenario takes place in the past, and none of the characters are meant to survive so make sure the characters don't make any choices that would conflict with established history of your game world.
The Contents of the Chest
No-one knows what's in the chest and the GM should make certain that no-one ever finds out and lives to tell the tale. A rumor among the soldiers says that it is the emperor's share of the loot from the sacking of three cities (one of which is Val Tirain). Another rumor would have it that the chest is the Black Guard's pay chest. Whatever is in the chest is a mystery, and the DM is encouraged to build up this feeling of curiosity. All that is known is that the chest is very heavy and bound with iron chains. It is transported on a small wagon drawn by two sturdy draft horses. Add rumors as the game progresses (odd changes in the balancing of the chest, strange noises, glimmers of light, unnatural cold, etc.), but never let the players experience these things themselves.
Events
This is the main part of the adventure detailing the day to day events. The last half requires a great deal of improvisation on the GM's part and depends heavily upon the players own paranoia to drive the action. The first four days are meant to build the right mood of fear and gloom. The characters are the beaten remnants of a disgraced army fleeing back through the scorched lands that they themselves helped pillage in the early days of the war. Furthermore the first few days gives the characters time to probe each other and find out who's with who. The middle of the scenario provides a series of events that are meant to slowly whittle away the characters and the NPC's until only Kanter, Malkuth and any surviving players are left. The events might have to be changed to reflect the actions of the characters. Kanter must survive for the last scene, and so should Malkuth if possible.
Day 1, midday
The group reaches a shallow river with a strong undercurrent. The characters are ordered to work with the peasants in order to bring the wagon with the chest safely across the river. There is no outside danger here, but the GM should have the players jump in fear of ambushes while they are exposed in the middle of the river without their armor.
Day 1, evening
Two days after their disastrous battle on Feltuch's Common, the group reaches the ruins of the once grand city of Val Tirain. The city lies in no-man's land between the rebellious province of Hogland and the heartlands of the empire, the province of Arkad. The group will have to spend the night among the ruins. Several of the characters probably have vivid memories of their last visit as their army put the city to the torch after a short siege. Val Tirain had tried to remain neutral in the conflict and paid for it's treachery with death and fire. It is autumn now and the carrion eaters have eaten the corpses while thieves and deserters have picked the ruins clean of valuables. There is an ominous feeling hovering over the dead city. The characters take turns standing guard in pairs through the night.
Day 3, midday
Two days after Val Tirain the groups comes upon a deserted village. Signs of struggle are everywhere inside the palisades. This was done by the emperors own soldiers on their retreat. The surviving villagers are hiding in the woods and won't come out to great their heavily armed visitors.
Day 4, night
The next night Amadech's retinue is attacked by master less men and deserters from the army. In the chaotic battle that follows someone succeeds in escaping with the wagon that carries the chest. The survivors must now catch up with the wagon.
Day 5, midday
Around noon the next day the survivors of the battle catch up with the treasure. If it was Amadech, Kanter or Malkuth that took the wagon the leaders will now distrust each other but none of them will resort to open hostility. If it was any of the player characters or some of the peasants, they are summarily executed.
Once united, Amadech declares that the roads to Iman are too dangerous since that is the way most of the deserters will be heading. He decides to take the chest into "custody" and safeguard it in his own fief until things quiet down. This will lead to a loud altercation between the count and Telach who still wants to press on to the capital. At the end of the discussion, Telach storms off. Shortly thereafter he is found dead in some nearby bushes. His throat has been cut. This is Coluch's handiwork by order of Malkuth. If Coluch feels that someone is getting too close to him he will seek out Malkuth and will shortly thereafter be found dead, having committed "suicide".
Now that their leader is dead the two loyal soldiers of the Black Guard will be on the lookout for more treachery. Although there is no clear indication of who killed their leader the guards will agree to steal the treasure and make a run for Iman as soon as possible.
Day 5, night
Kanter asks Amuhin to keep an open eye for traitors and to alert Kanter immediately if he sees or hears anything suspicious. Later that night one of the peasants tries to slit the throat of Amadech in his tent. Amadech wakes up before he can do it and calls for help. The assassin is quickly dispatched by Kanter who arrives first. Amadech now fears for his life and asks his men-at-arms Medoc and Amuhin to find out who paid the peasant, because when Kanter searched the corpse he found an imperial gold ducat in the peasants pouch (a very large sum of money).
At the same time Malkuth calls Ravn to his side and tells him that his father has grown weak and that there is a special place for Ravn under Malkuth's new rule if he will kill Malkuth's father...
Day 7, evening
As nightfall approaches the party stops so close to the city of Mechiina that they can see the smoke from the houses rising peacefully upon the evening sky. The remaining Black Guards decide that this is their chance to get the chest behind the walls of a loyal town. During the night Kastor and Pretens sneak up to the wagon and dispatch the three drowsy peasants that guard it. Culoch has already warned Malkuth, who has in turn warned those of the characters that he feels are loyal to him. Together with his loyal troops he will follow the fleeing Black Guards and kill them. If Amadech was still alive at this point he will be found dead by the remaining soldiers, killed by Malkuth and with a dagger clenched in his stomach. The dagger bears the insignia of the Black Guards and Coluch's name. If all goes well Coluch will have been killed with the other Black Guards, thus preventing him from proving his innocence.
Whoever is left in the camp are now under Kanter's command. As soon as he wakes up he will order everyone to follow the escaping wagon, and will catch up with it approximately 5 hours later. If possible, Malkuth will claim to be following his fathers murderer, but things might come to a violent conclusion for the young nobleman at this point.
Whomever survives this continue towards the empire's southern border where Amadech had his fief.
If Malkuth is alive he will try to get his men to kill Kanter, but Kanter is expecting this, and clumsy assassins will die swiftly. During the next couple of nights Kanter will methodically attempt to kill everyone except Amuhin. Furthermore he will try to pressure or bribe Korum or Estus to switch to his side, only to kill them later with a dagger in the back. Evidence will always seem to indicate Malkuth or one of his men as the murderer ...
Day ?, evening
Whenever the scenario reaches a point where only player characters, Kanter, and perhaps Malkuth remain, they finally reach their destination - the shores of Oaklake. In the middle of the lake lies an island where Amadech's ancestors built their castle. To get there one has to be ferried across the lake on a shallow bottomed skiff. As they stand upon the shore a soft mist will cover the lake in the gathering darkness, obscuring it from any curious eyes on the castle walls. A very alert character might spot Kanter tying his water skin to a length of rope fastened to the chest. However this is unlikely and Malkuth certainly fails to notice this. There is an uncomfortable silence as the survivors board the skiff with the heavy chest. The skiff lies low in the water and everyone gets wet feet. Unbeknownst to anyone, Kanter has loosened the straps of his armor so he can quickly remove it in the water. His plan is simple. He intends to wait until the skiff is halfway across in the cover of mist and darkness and then hack a hole in the bottom of the skiff. Weighed down by many armored men and a heavy chest the skiff will sink immediately. Kanter, who is an able swimmer, will then swim ashore and tell a sad story of the accident and the death of Amadech in the battle of Feltuch's Common. Later he will return looking for his wineskin floating just below the surface marking the location of the chest on the bottom of the lake. Something will go wrong however ...
What happens that last fateful night depends upon the actions of the characters. Only one thing is certain: 550 years later the chest still lies at the bottom of the bog that Oaklake will eventually become in an area that after Amadech's death and the collapse of the empire now belongs to the Kingdom of Alenval...
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