Missing Tealeaf Son¶
As our adventurers prepare to travel to the dry side, they receive a lucrative job offer from the head of the Tealeaf family.
Last Night in Town¶
This is the party’s last night in town before going to the dry side.
A Job Offer¶
The adventurers have all joined a caravan headed from Camellia to the dry side and will depart in the morning. The party has been invited to a dinner meeting with the head of the Tealeaf family in a room at the Saddle Gap Inn. She is running late, but food is brought in and the party has an opportunity to get acquainted with one another.
Ms Tealeaf arrives after dinner and offers the party a job. She explains that her young son, Finkas Tealeaf is a guide on the dry side and he has been hired to help a group of explorers looking for the Lost City of Gold. Finkas was supposed to make it back to Wolff Point over six months ago and is overdue. Ms Tealeaf would like any interested adventurers in the party to go looking for her son. She will provide the party with tonight’s lodging in the inn, provisions, and cold weather equipment if they take the job, and she will award 500 gp for Finkas’s safe return to Wolff Point or 250 gp for word of his fate.
Attack in the Night¶
The party may run some errands before turning, but they have free lodging for the night at the Saddle Gap Inn.
As the party is resting, they are attacked by bandits in the night! 1 Bandit per party member and 1 Bandit Captain attack the players as they are sleeping. The Bandits will flee if the Bandit Captain or half of the Bandits are killed or incapacitated. The Bandit Captain will not surrender but will flee if half of the Bandits are killed.
If the Bandits incapacitate the party, they will warn them not to look for Finkas Tealeaf. If the party searches the Bandit Captain, they will find a piece of paper with rough descriptions of the party and the Saddle Gap Inn. The Bandits were hired to scare the party away from taking the Tealeaf job. The Bandit Captain was supposed to meet with a woman named Rook at a local bar called Alehouse. Any party member with criminal contacts in the city would know that this is a local bar for members of the thieves guild in Theaceae.
Done Dirt Cheep¶
If the party chooses to follow-up on the note in the Bandit Captain’s pocket, they can receive payment for their own assault, if they can bluff their way through the situation!
The Alehouse is one of a myriad of grungy bars in Camellia. Party members will be challenged at the door and will have to lie (DC 15) or show their bounty to get in.
Rook (Bandit Captain) can be found at a table in the back of the bar. The various bargoers look at least as dangerous as the group that came to attack the party, with some members looking more dangerous.
Rook will speak with a few members of the party. If the party can successfully convince her that they are the bandits that attacked the party, then Rook will pay 25 gp.
Rook has the following knowledge about the attack:
The job came through some contacts in the thieves guild on the dry side who are looking for the Lost City of Gold.
These contacts do not want anyone else getting in the way of their operations.
Rook thinks that the Lost City of Gold is a complete myth.
The Lost City of Gold was an old mining town that got rich and was taken over by the wild forest.
Killing is a last resort for thieves in Theaceae, so Rook doubts that this group had anything to do with Finkas Tealeaf going missing.
To get the payment and information from Rook, the party must succeed in a series of skill checks. The skills must reasonably be related to convincing Rook that the party members are in the thieves guild. The DC starts at 15. Each successful check lowers the DC by 1. Each unsuccessful check increases the DC by 2.
If the DC reaches 20, then Rook will demand that the party leaves. Others in the bar will come to Rook’s defense if the party attacks. Rook will let the party leave peacefully at any point.
Over the Mountains¶
The party has a strange encounter as they stop over in Sinensis as they go over the mountains.
Road Habits¶
The caravan differs in some ways, like using large trained goats instead of horses, but the caravan is otherwise unremarkable. Devin Wagner is the caravan master. The caravan consists of 5 wagons, 10 goats, 5 drivers, and 6 guards, with only the party as passengers.
The trip over the mountains will take roughly two weeks full of long, boring days. The party will fall into some sort of a rhythm as they travel together.
This is a chance for the party to learn more about each other.
Who tries to ride in the supply wagons vs walking
What does everyone do as camp is set up or torn down
Who does everyone talk to during the day or night
How does everyone keep themselves busy during the day
Stolen Goods¶
The ruins of Sinesis are a common stopping point for caravans headed over the mountains. There will be some chance limited chance to explore the ruins, but if the party strays too far from camp, the head of the caravan will ask the party to stay closer.
In the middle of the night, the adventurers are woken up by screaming in the night and the sound of the angry goats breaking free. A ghostly figure hovers over one of the guards for the caravan, who is shriveling as if he is having the life drained out of him. One Specter per party member, minus one, attack the party. Any sleeping members of the party will likely not be wearing armor.
After party fights off the Specters, they will find an ancient elven sword on the body of the guard. The head of the caravan will explain that this guard must have snuck off to steal something from the ruins and removed the wrong item. Some items in the ruins are guarded by spectral remnants of the former city watch. The head of the caravan will explain that someone needs to return this sword to wherever this guard found it.
Into the Deep¶
The party will have to navigate the buried ruins to find where the guard stole the ancient sword. Portions of these ruins have been excavated by various archaeology and treasure-hunting groups and some of the
Various skills will be helpful in navigating these ruins. As the party navigates, they will have to avoid traps and tricks.
Ultimately the party will make their way to an armory deep in the ruins. The armory is guarded by a Wraith. A successful history check will reveal that the Wraith is trying to communicate with the party in an old form of evlish. If the party leaves the sword, the Wraith will not attack. If the party learns how to communicate with the Wraith, the Wraith will direct them towards some rewards from an undisturbed building.
Pick up the Trail¶
As the party arrives at Wolff Point, they have to try to pick up the trail of Finkas Tealeaf and his party.
Bonus Exploring¶
If the party choses to go back into the ruins, then they may make their way back to the map room. Also, there may be some minor consumable magic items.
Wolff Point¶
There are a variety of people who may provide information to the party when they reach Wolff Point. Some of these people will be truthful and provide information that will help the party follow Finkas, while others will try to lead the party on a false trail.
The following NPCs have information:
Tirza Wolff at Wolff Trading Post
She is the local business contact for the Tealeaf family
Tirza sold supplies to Finkas and his party before they left
They bought basic supplies and gold panning materiel, which was quite strange
The party stayed at the Majestic Badger and got pack goats at Bauer Ranch
One of the party also visited the Shrine before they left
Balris Grirlei at the Majestic Badger
He is one of the Friends in Wolff Point and the dry side
Balris will give false information mixed in with true information
He will confirm that they got gold panning equipment
He will also claim they bought a lot of mountaineering equipment from him
He will say that various members of the party secretly met with the cleric at the Shrine
Sister Amelia at the Shrine
She is the eyes and ears of the Sisters in Wolff Point
Sister Amelia will try to convince the party to avoid the dangerous forest
She will encourage the party to visit Kalkum and defer to the judgment of the council
One of the party members was an adherent of Forge and wanted a blessing before leaving
Lukas Bauer at Bauer Ranch
He is a nice guy that sells goats
Lukas sold the party some pack goats
On the Trail¶
The party strikes out and tries to retrace the path of Finkas and his group.
Searching¶
If the party is still unsure of which direction to go after their investigations last session, they can receive some clarification as to which road Finkas’s party left town by.
The road will be easy to follow for several days, but the road will eventually fork, heading to the north and the south. Adventurers will need to employ various skills to determine which direction Finkas went, such as
Nature
Survival
Party Time¶
As the party is keeping watch overnight, a group of Satars come and invite the party to join them at a party.
The Satars
do not know what happened to Finkas
know lots of creatures and people will be at the party
are confident that someone at the party will know something useful
will not make promises but will assure the party
“I’m sure x will be there/available/etc”
If the party does not join, they will be able to hear loud music from nearby. The Satars are not confrontational or dangerous.
The party has a variety of activities, from dancing to gambling. Party members that wish to participate in challenges will have skill challenges.
Come With Us¶
A group of fey touched elves will be at the party. Once they realize that the party is here to look for Finkas and his group, they will attempt to charm and lure away the party.
One by one, party members will make charisma saving throws. Once party members have been charmed, they will try to convince other party members to talk the elves one by one and go with them.
Fight for Your Right¶
The party has to convince the local fey lord to let them leave his realm.
Captured¶
The party will have a chance to interact as captives. Some members of the party may not take to captivity well.
Negotiations¶
The Lord of the Hunt has captured the party. He is willing to let the party go under reasonable conditions.
When the party is brought into the main chamber of the Lord, they see a big party, with the smell of cooking game. The Lord of the Hunt is dressed in furs and wearing a the skull of a large elk. The clothing looks very well made and extremely nice.
The Lord of the Hunt
Wants to embarrass his rival, Master of Whispers, who is holding Finkas and his group
Enjoys revelry and entertainment
Values displays or evidence of hunting prowess
Everything provided, to include information and safe passage out, must be in exchange for something else.
Most Dangeous Game¶
As part of the negotiations, the Lord of the Hunt will want to see an active demonstration of the abilities of the party. He will pit the party against some of his hunters to see if they are strong enough to successfully recover Finkas.
Weather Station¶
Having secured the right to hunt for Finkas and won his location, the party sets off to free him and embarrass the Master of Whispers.
Follow the River¶
The party needs to navigate to the secret location described by the Lord of the Hunt. The party will make a survival check to follow the path and forage. The party will make an investigation check to see how well they can find the secret weather station.
Survival check:
1 - 5 : trip takes 20 days
6 - 10 : trip takes 15 days
11 - 15 : trip takes 11 days
16 - 20 : trip takes 9 days
21 + : trip takes 7 days
Investigation check:
1 - 10 : location takes 2 extra days to find
15 - 20 : location found quickly
20 + : location found, and minor ruins with small magic item
And Now the Weather¶
The party navigates the Weather Station.
Escape¶
The party has defeated the trapped elementals, but the agent of the Master of Secrets has made his move.
Cloaker¶
The interrogator for the Master of Secrets has sent his Cloaker up to finish off the party. This is a specially modified Cloaker:
The Cloaker maintains the Damage Transfer, False Appearance, and Light Sensitivity
The Cloaker has only one attack
The Cloaker does not Moan
The Cloaker does not have Phantasms
The Cloaker has telepathy
The Cloaker can cast sleep on the target it has grappled
Interrogator¶
Once the party has resolved the conflict with the Cloaker, the Interrogator will come forth and try to finish off the party and escape. Barring this, the Interrogator will try to manipulate the party into allegiance to the Master of Secrets.
The Interrogator knows:
The warlock patron is a piece of Knowledge
The ancient druids catalogued spells to help them terraform the region
The connection between party members and the party
The Interrogator will try to leverage Finkas’s life to help him escape and gain the allegiance of the party.
Secret Place¶
During the negotiation or fight with the Interrogator, the party will discover that they are in a secret place, so inside of the dominion of the Master of Secrets. The party will need to discover or invent a way to escape the domain of secrets to be able to escape.
Afterwards¶
The party has had a rough plot arc. This session will be straightforward and will give them a chance to adjust to the last 7 sessions. The primary goal of the session is to provide for cross party role-playing opportunities.
The goals for the session are:
Reach Wolff Point and collect the reward
Leave for Kalkum and the Sisters
Early next session will start with the Sisters and their mission for the party.