Cuddle time is go! The night passes uneventfully beyond the rain letting up from time to time. By morning the rain has died down to a light drizzle.
"Little rain won't bother me," Mittens says,
"Should clear up in a couple hours anyway by the looks of it."
She transforms into a pony for the little ones to ride and takes the rear, letting Angel and Matt sort out who'll lead.
F3. The Frontier
Having accepted Emesha’s mission and equipped
themselves for a long journey, the PCs set out.
With a last word of thanks, Emesha and her compatriots
take their leave of you as they escort a group of refugees to
larger settlements south and east. Your destination is west,
and the frontier road is all but empty as you head out.
Skill Challenge
Level 5, Difficulty 5 (1,000 XP)
[DM handwave: we succeed.]
In this initial stage of the adventure, the PCs follow
Jaryn’s trail across the borderlands. Endurance and
Nature checks in this skill challenge occur once per
day. Other checks occur only when the PCs arrive in
an inhabited village, as determined by the results of
their Nature checks.
Setup: The PCs seek out frontier villages, searching
for information on Jaryn, the cult, and the
location of the Black March.
Primary Skills: Endurance, Nature, Streetwise,
Perception.
Endurance (DC 18): The frontier is an inhospitable
expanse of scrub and grassland that offers little
in the way of food or shelter. Each day that the party
spends traveling, its members must make a group
Endurance check. Low DC Penalty: The group takes a
–2 penalty to its next Endurance check (each character
takes that penalty).
N ature (DC 22): In the absence of trade roads,
the PCs must use Nature to seek out the intermittent
foot and cart paths crisscrossing the wilderness.
Streetwise (DC 26): While in a village, the PCs
talk with the locals. However, the folk of the frontier
are reluctant to speak of the Hand of Naarash to
strangers, and only one Streetwise check can be made
per PC. High DC Bonus: The party gains one piece of
information (see below).
Perception (DC 22): While in a village, one
of the PCs eschews conversation in favor of poking
around town or eavesdropping. In addition to victory,
the party gains one piece of information (see below).
O ther Skills: Diplomacy
Diplomacy (DC 22): The folk of the frontier
are unused to strangers, and it takes time to earn
their trust. Each day they remain in a town, the PCs
can make a single Diplomacy check. This skill does
not yield victories or defeats. On a failed check, the
townsfolk reject the party’s attempts at sociability; the
PCs take a –2 penalty to subsequent Streetwise and
Perception checks and cannot make further Diplomacy
checks in that town. On a successful check,
the PCs gain the trust of the townsfolk, granting a +2
bonus to their next Streetwise or Perception check.
Each of the villages the PCs pass through can be
similarly described:
The intermittent trails you follow eventually join a faint
track. Ahead, scrubland gives way to fields dotted with
farmhouses. However, even before you reach the village,
you feel the eyes on you. Through shuttered windows, the
villagers watch your approach with dark suspicion.
Settlements of this size have no inns or taverns, and
the PCs must seek shelter in private homes and
farms. The folk of the frontier are uniformly suspicious
of strangers but downright fearful of the Hand
of Naarash. However, a DC 18 Diplomacy check and
1 sp each procures a night’s shelter for the PCs (and
their mounts, if applicable).
Success: From the final village, the PCs are given
directions to the Black March. See “Village Showdown”
below.
Failure: The PCs’ inability to gain the complete
trust of the folk of the frontier sees them stymied in
their efforts to find the Black March.
Rumors on the Road
The reward for success in this skill challenge is the
location of the Black March. However, each Streetwise
or Perception check can shed light on Jaryn’s
quest. Information can be given out in the order presented,
or you can decide what to reveal based on the
specific information the PCs tell you they are seeking.
umors
1 “I saw this paladin of yours. He and his group were
headed west. I told him all he’d find west was cult
trouble. He was smiling as they rode off.”
2 “Used to be you’d only ever see the Hand of Naarash
out west and north. These past months, their banners
have been flying in every corner of the frontier.”
3 “The Hand’s enforcers were always after silver and
gold, but that’s changed. More of their death squads
are on the hunt for arms and magic now.”
4 “Used to be, the cult’s hobgoblins were thugs that a
strong threat and a pitchfork could drive off. Now,
they fight like soldiers.”
5 “I remember the paladin and his group. Hobgoblins hit
us two days before, black-haired butchers. Your folk
healed up our wounded, helped us give rites to the
rest, then headed west.”
6 “We were hit by the Hand twice in the past year.
Your Jaryn and his group came through, told us not to
worry about the Hand no more. Cult came back just
the same.”
7 “I never saw him, but I heard about him from three
different villages northwest. Jaryn and his band of
Pelor faithful were going after a Hand chieftain named
Larkazh—foulest hobgoblin Hell ever spawned.”
8 “Heard about a fight between the paladin and a force
of Hand members come down from the north to hunt
him. Didn’t see it, but the crows were thick over the
hills.”
9 “That fight was eight months back. Naught there but
hobgoblin bones now and three cairns on the field,
each capstone painted with Pelor’s sun.”
10 “I talked to a trapper just come down from the
Harsmad Hills. Said he saw nothing but burned villages
there. Said, too, that he met a lone knight and a
tiefling on foot seven months back, heading into the
hills as he was heading out.”
11 “I heard a story from a refugee family out of the
Harsmad that met a holy knight of Pelor. Said he
looked like a wild man—mud and brambles in his hair,
a string of hobgoblin teeth around his neck.”
12 “Caravan of refugees came through four months past
on its way south Refugees said they met a knight
heading the other direction. Shared a campsite with
him. Said he preached the faith of Pelor. When they
woke up, he was gone. But there by the fire was
his gear—armor, shield, and all. He took his sword
and waterskin and naught else, heading straight for
the heart of the hills and the Moonsfall Mountains
beyond.”
F4. Village Showdown
In one of the villages the PCs stop in as they make
their way across the frontier, they become targets
of a Hand of Naarash death squad. Incorporate this
encounter into the preceding skill challenge when the
PCs are one check away from either victory or defeat.
The last three settlements you passed have been burned
out, human and hobgoblin bodies scattered in the ash. Just
before dusk, you find a settlement still standing. The track
meets up with a wide stream ahead, green fields to both
sides. As you approach, a figure on horseback rides out
from the nearest farmhouse. An older human man hails
you, one hand resting on the longsword at his hip.
Perren Auldwyl is a widower and elder of the town
of Erstlin. Guessing that the PCs are seeking a place
to stay the night, he offers the use of his well-kept
farmhouse. While the PCs rest, he prepares a meal,
steadfastly keeping any conversation steered toward
mundane topics. If the party chooses to seek lodging
elsewhere, Auldwyl shows up later unannounced,
forcing any other townsfolk to keep quiet. Either way,
the following exchange occurs as soon as the PCs
attempt to ask about the Black March or the cult:
“Not the first time I’ve heard such questions from
outsiders,” Auldwyl says. “And I’ll tell you straight what I
told them—Erstlin don’t need no would-be heroes making
trouble. Best you take your questions and head back to your
precious cities at first light.”
Whether the PCs argue or prepare to leave, read:
From outside comes the sound of hoofbeats through the
dark night. Auldwyl sprints to a window, carefully peering
through the shutters. “Fools!” he hisses as he turns back.
“You don’t know what you’ve done.”
Tactical Encounter: “Village Showdown”
(page 36).
Having seen that the house is surrounded, Auldwyl
ignores the PCs as he runs to secure the front door.
If the PCs choose to look out, only the bugbear
warriors are seen.
Even as Auldwyl attempts to lock the front doors, they
slam inward with a crash, knocking him to the ground.
The hulking figures of two bugbears surge past him,
snarling a challenge as they heft morningstars and attack.
https://app.roll20.net/join/48848/eGkyJw
