To the Guilds We Go!

Welcome Moderator …

General Stuff

Here are some hints about how to read this Adventure Module and some guidance about how to run an Adventure in the Beyonderverse.

First, have fun!  We’ve created a story, here, that is set on the Tamarran Continent, which is the primary place where the world for Beyonder exists.  There are three main cities on the Tamarran Continent that have been described in each of our two books, the Beyonder rulebook (“Beyonder: the Science of the Six”) and our bestiary (“Imbelnhi’s Bestiary: Being a Traveller’s Account of Our Continent and Her Creatures”).  We include a bit of that information, in this module.

Please feel free to use this information as you will.  We’ve tried to provide enough information that you can play this module, but not so much that it gets to be work to find out all about every single thing in the world before you play.  We recommend that you jump in, get started, and see where it leads.

There are some words that we recommend you read to your players.  These are in italics. The other text is to give you a sense of the world, but feel free to read that out to your players, too, if you think that works, or to hand out some of it.

Every once in a while you will see a small section or paragraph captioned, “Flying NightBear Says”.  This is advice directly to you, the Moderator, and should help you to make your decisions.

We have provided background and stats (stats are in the back) for some of the key NPCs that are a part of the story.  That will help.

Adventure Level and Type

There is where we talk about who should run this adventure and who should play it.

Moderator Skill Level: Starting Off

Player Skill Level: Starting Off

One-shot or Campaign: Both.  This Adventure can be played as a one-time thing.  In addition, Flying NightBear Games plans more modules to follow this one to explore more of this part of the Beyonder world.

Goal(s):

    • Learn about the Beyonder game system and mechanics
  • Learn a bit about Tarnath, which is one of the primary locations in the Beyonder World

Background for the Adventure

This section has some of the information that you’ll find helpful in running the adventure.  We provide some short descriptions of the some of the places where the adventure takes place and the same kind of thing for some of the NPCs you may encounter.

What this Adventure is All About

This adventure is set in the city of Tarnath.  Your players come to the city from somewhere outside.  They are they to get some training from the Guild of their choice.  We encourage each of your players to create a background for their PC.  This is entirely optional, but it’s often a lot of fun for people to make up something about their PC, even if only a wee bit.

The PCs will be given a quest, to find a missing child, and this will lead them eventually to the ancient Underground Palace of Samron, that was built over 1,500 years ago by Emperor Samron.

They will go into the Underground Palace, encounter some things.  Some will be friendly and some not so much.

Some of the Places

Tarnath

Tarnath is a city of just over 250,000 inhabitants in the northern half of the Tamarran continent.  It does have excellent Guilds, which have trained some of the most famous adventurers of our time. There are, however, few people with the strength of will and constitution to go through the rigorous training of the Guild system.  In addition to the Guild houses, one for each class, there is Bill’s Bar, the Dancing Newt Inn, and a number of shops and houses. There are shops that sell weapons, armor, potions, alchemical items, poisons, herbalistic items, energetic items, and all sorts of adventuring gear.  There are also shops that sell more mundane things: clothing, household supplies, jewelry, and the like. In the center of Tarnath is the Town Hall where Mayor Sympriono and the other local government work. A bit outside the boundary of the town there are some larger houses where some minor nobles live with more fortified homes surrounded by small farms and whatnot.

Guild Square

Guild Square is a neighborhood of Tarnath near the center of the city.  It was originally built during the time of the Emperor Samron, about 1,500 years ago to provide a permanent home for each of the six Guilds.  The “square” is actually a hexagon. Mainly because there are six Guild Houses on the square, one for each of the Six Energies.

Guild Square has a large area in the middle that used to have a very large statue of the Emperor (or Tyrant) Samron.  Surrounding that is a wide circular street, and on the other side of that street are the six Guild Houses, each one taking up a one-sixth pie-slice of the area of Guild Square.

The Guild Houses are:

    • Charismatics Guild: aligned with Emotion Energy
    • Mentarchs Guild: aligned with Mental Energy
    • Somans Guild: aligned with Body Energy
    • Evokers Guild: aligned with Physic Energy
    • Mystics Guild: aligned with Spirit Energy
    • Umbrists Guild: aligned with Shadow Energy

Bill’s Bar

The bar itself is pretty simple.  There are about a dozen round tables with a few chairs around each one spread around the main room.  Against the wall to the left of the entrance is a long bar with a number of bar stools in front of it and Bill behind it.  Bill is always behind it, all day every day. Next to the bar there is a door leading back to the kitchen. A window behind the bar looks into the kitchen from which the cook passes Bill food.  Directly behind the bar, on the other side of the wall, is a storage room. In the kitchen is a set of stairs leading down to the cellar where they keep their kegs. Along the wall opposite the entrance to the bar are three doors.  Each door leads to a small private meeting room equipped with a table and some chairs. The bar usually has 2d10 + 5 patrons around the bar eating, talking, and laughing.

Some of the People

Bill

Bill is the local barkeep in the town.  He is an older gentleman, always friendly and willing to help where he can.  He talks with an odd twang which is 80% southern and 20% just plain weird. He is a huge source of knowledge and local lore, and has his finger on the pulse of Tarnath.  He has a tendency to lose his train of thought and ramble on and on about his cousin’s friend’s sister Maran, or was Maran his sister’s friend’s cousin… anyway he will be able to… No, Maran was his friend’s stepsister’s cousin!  Bill is genuinely innocent and has nothing to do with the crime that the party is investigating. He just shares information that he hears in the bar and is generally trusted around town so he knows a lot.

Eveningstar

Eveningstar is a local adventurer.  Over the years he and his companions have saved Tarnath and the surrounding area from many dangers.  A level 9 Wood Elf Warrior, he is friendly but quite powerful. Eveningstar is presently on a mission in the Nossring Empire.  

Sympriono

Sympriono is the mayor of Tarnath.  He is well liked by the people of Tarnath and has helped improve the quality of life in the town.  He spent many years adventuring with the same groups as Eveningstar and likewise has had a hand in fighting the evil denizen threatening the area.  He is a powerful Human Charismatic and is well respected by the Guilds for his skills of diplomacy. Anyone who sees him thinks to himself or herself, “My, he’s amazing, isn’t he?”  He is very charming and likeable. He is usually accompanied by his Minion named Uknah. Uknah doesn’t say much but is always on the lookout for dangers.

The Adventure

Arrival at Tarnath

Your character is just starting out as an adventurer.  You have just completed your initial training in your home village, and you’ve been sent to Tarnath for more advanced training.  The city of Tarnath is renowned for starting epic heroes on their road to greatness. Tomorrow is the first day of spring, and soon the famous Guilds of Tarnath will begin taking new students.  You have sent a letter to the Guilds and have been assigned a small group with whom you will be doing extra field training in the years to come. You are to meet up with them at the Dancing Newt Inn.  You set out from your home, leaving all you know behind, and a few days later arrive at Tarnath soon after nightfall. You find your way to the inn and get yourself a room. Being tired from your long trip, you get some food and quickly go to your room for some rest.

You get a good night’s rest and wake up with the light of the early morning shining through the window in your room.  You get up and are about to leave your room when you notice something strange: there is a dagger firmly imbedded in your door, on the inside, holding up a piece of paper.  The note reads:

“I offer you a chance to prove yourself, young adventurer.  There is a boy in the underground Palace of Samron who may need your help.  You must find a way into the dungeon and save him. Return him to Tarnath and you will be rewarded.  The barkeep at Bill’s Bar may be able to help you.”

The note is not signed.  

Visiting Bill’s Bar

Bill’s Bar seems to be nothing out of the ordinary.  It is a clean, well kept tavern, with a good number of patrons eating, drinking, and making merry. As you walk in you are welcomed by a strong voice saying, “Why hello there, stranger!”

Flying NightBear Says: If the players ask anyone in town where Bill’s Bar is, they direct them to it.  It seems to be a pretty popular place, and the barkeep, Bill, seems to be a pretty likable character.

Bill is a tall man in his middle years, and looks as if he might have been a powerful man in his younger years.  Bill tells them since it is their first time at Bill’s Bar, their first drink is free, and they are welcome to find a table or sit at the bar.  If the players ask Bill about the underground palace or the boy he tells them that he would like to talk to them privately in the back.

After making sure everyone has what they need and calling for his assistant to watch the bar, Bill leads them all to a back room of the bar.  Bill tells them that the rumor is that the missing boy is the son of a rich family in the town. He tells the players that up on top of the hill, where the Ancient Palace of Samron once stood, they can still find the ruins that mask the still intact underground palace.  At the very top of the hill, Bill has heard, there is a secret entrance to the underground palace. It could be hidden, but there should be a switch somewhere which will open up to a set of stairs leading downward. Only the bravest adventurers venture down there since it has been taken over by evil in the years it has sat undisturbed below the hill.

Bill then calls in another man.  Suddenly there appears in the room a tall, thin kamari.  He doesn’t appear in a puff of smoke, everyone is just suddenly aware that he is now there though no one saw him before.  He walks with a sense of confidence and grace that makes you feel like you would love to follow him into a battle but never be on the receiving end of the longbow that sits over his shoulder.  He introduces himself as Eveningstar and explains that he is a friend and mentor of the boy whose parents have offered a reward if someone can bring him home. This is not actually Eveningstar in body.  This is a mental projection of him. He is actually far away in the Nossring Empire. Any attempt to interact with him physically passes directly through him.

Flying NightBear Says: Any mentarchs in the PCs’ party will sense that this is a mental projection.

Eveningstar explains that he regularly travels into the underground palace to battle the evil forces that threaten to burst forth from below the hill.  The boy, an ishiri whose name is Rodollo, always loved to hear Eveningstar’s stories of adventure and aspired to be like him. He has a particular fascination with the story of the fire stone which no one can seem to get near enough to touch.  If he has gone down to the palace, Eveningstar guesses that is where he will be found. Eveningstar suspects that he is hiding from something or someone. Eveningstar says the following to the party:

“If you go down the stairs to the palace, there will be a corridor going straight in front of you.  Walk down that corridor and when you come to the fork, go to the right and continue until it ends at a door.  Through the door there will be a corridor going to either side of you. Head to the right until it dead ends with an opening on either side.  Turn left and you will find yourselves in a small cavern under Samron’s Hill. Follow the wall on your right. You will cross a bridge over a dangerous lake.  Be very quiet!”

He tells you not to fall in and if someone does fall in to help them out immediately.  At the far end of the lake turn left and follow the shore of the lake until you get to where the lake turns into a stream that is shallow enough to cross.  On the other side of the stream is a small temple and in front of that temple is a four foot high platform of dark black stone, with dark gray sinews running through it.  The temple has an opening in front and a number of pillars that run from the ground to the roof of the temple that comes out from the main structure by about ten feet. On the top of that platform is the Stone of Fire.  He says not to even try to touch it. Rodollo is likely in the room on the far side of the pedestal with the Stone of Fire. Bill has drawn up a rough map of the route.

Eveningstar says that he knows the lost child and would save the boy himself but he is not in Tarnath at the moment.  He is in the Nossring Empire, to the west, and he is trusting the players to save his friend.

If the players have not yet figured it out Eveningstar explains that this is a mental projection of himself they are talking to.  He says that they can equip themselves in town if they need then they should proceed to Samron’s Hill and the Underground Palace.

You walk up the hill of the ancient Underground Palace of Samron, past the tumbled down columns and broken apart walls, past the bushes and scrub brush and you come to the top of the hill.  On the hill top are the remains of the bottom floor of the once-great Palace of Samron. Among the remains you find a partial room with a solid slab of rock for a floor. Only one wall remains in full and one is completely gone.  The other two are in various states of destruction. In the middle of the one full wall is a doorway with no door.

If they examine the doorway they will find a hole about halfway up just large enough to fit someone’s arm in.  Inside the hole are two things. First, is a newt with a party hat, and the second is a handle. If the handle is pulled the floor slides back revealing a stairway leading down into darkness.  After a long staircase they reach the bottom. The halls at the bottom of the stairs are plain but well carved stone.

The Underground Palace

If they follow the direction to the right fork to the door jump to The Bridge.  If they go left instead jump to WRONG WAY 1.  If after the fork they go through the door and turn right and follow the corridor to the dead end keep reading.  The go left instead jump to WRONG WAY 2.  If they turn left at the dead end keep reading. If the turn right jump to WRONG WAY 3.  The floor changes from stone to hard packed dirt as the room opens up and the ceiling gets higher.  If they go to the bridge keep going. If they don’t follow the wall to the bride jump to WRONG WAY 4.

WRONG WAY 1:

The Passage ends in a dead end with a door on the left wall.  Through the door there is a 10 foot wide corridor leading back to the left.  10 feet down the corridor is a pressure plate on the floor which lowers metal bars in front of them.  It also sets off an alarm and Scarecrow party 1 comes running from the direction that the players came from.

WRONG WAY 2:

The 10 foot wide corridor goes for about 200 feet ending in a dead end.  On the right side, on the last 10 feet of the wall, is a series of bars, through which you can see a body of water about 50 feet away.

WRONG WAY 3:

The passage turns immediately right again taking them back in the direction that the players just came.  After 40 feet there is a door to the left. The door is locked and cannot be opened by normal or Energetic means at this level.  An Evoker magician can sense that there is a locking spell on the door which is more powerful than they can combat.

WRONG WAY 4:

As you continue on, the sounds of water change from gentle flow to a rushing, almost slurping sound.  The closer you get, the louder the sounds get. You begin to see the water is moving more rapidly until you find the source of the sounds.  There is a whirlpool and if the players succeed a Perceptionv15 check they notice that as they get closer the spinning speeds up.  The land ends 40 feet from the whirlpool. Across the water to your right you see a faint red glow.  If the players go in the water they get sucked into the vortex and are carried by the water to a labyrinth of watery tunnels below the level they are on.  They have a 50% chance of dying and a 50% chance of ending up in a small cave that are found at various points in this watery labyrinth. If they end up living and in one of these caves, they will need to find their way out.

The Cavern and the Bridge

The party finds itself in a cavern.  It is dimly lit by some kind of phosphorescent lichen or growth on the walls and ceiling.  As best they can tell the cavern appears to be about 20-30 feet high at the height of the dome and about 300 feet across (from the party to the side opposite where they entered, and a goes for a little over 200 feet to their left.

The bridge is not so much a bridge as a stone ledge along the wall about 4 feet wide.  It is smooth and slick and requires an Athleticsv10 check to keep from slipping.  If someone falls in they will be attacked by the Lake Monster after 12 seconds.  Stats for the Lake Monster are provided below. Players can pull themselves back onto the bridge with an Athleticsv15 check.  It is a 60 foot swim to the far bank of the lake.  If they get across the bridge they get to a large open area with a hard packed dirt floor.

Scarecrow Patrol and Fire Stone

As they come off the bridge they hear from off to their right what is clearly the voices of a small group of scarecrows.

One of the party members is able to understand what they are saying.  It goes like this:

Scarecrow #1 (the leader): I told you to shut-up, Grrigglech!

Scarecrow #2: But, I tell you, no one can approach that statue.  Not since the old days.

Scarecrow #1 (the leader): We won’t go back down there.

Scarecrow #3: It’s just below us.  Go back down these stairs and to the moving room.  That takes us there.

Scarecrow #2: Yargh, yes!  Much gold and treasure.

Scarecrow #1: And the death of us all!  Idiots! MORONS!

Scarecrow #4: Uh, yes, who called me?

Scarecrow #3: So close.  You are a coward, Krrgllach!

Flying NightBear Says: Choose one member of the party who is able to speak the scarecrow language.  If none of the PCs had that language at the beginning of the Adventure, then just give it to them.

At this point the six scarecrows emerge from a set of stairs that goes down from this cavern to something below and they immediately see the party.  The party is also able now to see clearly see the scarecrows. The scarecrows attack. Stats for Scarecrow Party 2 are also provided below.

If they survive the scarecrow attack and cross the cavern to the small stream and then cross that, they find the temple and the pedestal, in front of it.  The pedestal has a bright red gem at the top. It seems to be glowing with a fiery red and seems to be emanating heat.

Any evokers in the party feel a VERY strong Physic Energy coming from the gem itself, and a second one from the pedestal.  If anyone tries to touch the stone they are blown back by an invisible force when they get 1 foot from it. The gem makes a 2d10 + 10 roll against their OD and does 2/5/11/23 fire damage.  This item is of a level of power much greater than these starting adventurers but will stick in the back of their mind. Later when they are more powerful they may come back and try to deal with it.  

Rescue Time

The players will then hear a child cry out followed by a rough semi-human, and threatening, voice.  They see a gamol that has an ishiri child in it’s strong, spindly grasp. The gamol and the ishiri child are just inside the opening of the temple.

The party must free the child from the gamol.  They can do this in one of the following ways:

    1. By fighting the gamol (stats provided below)
    1. By scaring it away (gamol are not terribly brave fighters)
  1. By convincing the gamol that it would be in its own best interest if it were to release the child

When they save the child he is reluctant to go back with them.  The boy speaks only the ishiri language, Rakugo. If there is anyone in the party who is ishiri, or who understands Rakugo, they will hear the boy say that he is very afraid because his family is planning to take over the town of Tarnath by helping the many monstrous creatures who currently live in the Underground Palace to escape that place and take over the world (or at least Tarnath).  He was hoping that Eveningstar would come save him and that with Eveningstar he would be able to stop his family. He will agree to go with the players if they help take him to Eveningstar or Sympriono.

Unfortunately when they get out of the palace back to the top of the hill there are about two dozen armed guards and a well dressed ishiri man and woman.  They say that they have come for their son and have brought a reward of 200 Sams for each party member and that if they ever need work they always have jobs for talented young Channels.  They have no choice but to hand over the boy, but then what? That’s up to you!