The Gilded Trap

440SuGiTr

The party had been included as the increased security for the queens charity ball. This ball coincided with her birthday where she accepted donations of any kind to fund her charitable work for the kingdom’s people for the next year. The royal guard, knowing of an attempt on Queen Maribeth’s life was likely, had hired reputable adventurers as additional security and urged the queen to reconsider the event. But she insisted on holding the usual festivities. Despite the guard and party’s vigilance, disaster struck when a noble’s gift, a bag made from Lamia hair, triggered an explosive magical rift. The force pulled the Queen, her guards, and the chest of gifts into another swirling vortex. As chaos erupted and suspects were detained, the party faced the grim reality of their failure. Without knowing the plane, the Queen might never return, and their reputation as her protectors was irrevocably tarnished.

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Stepping through the portal, the party found themselves suspended in an otherworldly expanse, where gravity held no dominion. Wisps of silver and lavender clouds swirled around them, casting an ethereal glow throughout the visible landscape. Fragments of ancient buildings, remnants of forgotten civilisations or cities, drifted lazily through the astral sea. The silence was deep and all consuming, broken only by the distant hum of arcane energies. As the party floated amidst the ruins and clouds, their senses were overwhelmed by the nothingness and surreal qualities that the plane held for them.

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PDF adventure – The Gilded Trap

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The Dark of Parsh Forest

439SuDaPaFo

As they sat around the tavern, they heard increasingly wild tales of the Parsh forest. A merchant swore he’d seen a two-headed creature, while a woman mourned her missing daughter, whose blue ribbon was found in the woods. Seven children had vanished, and a hunter who searched for his sister never returned. Drunken hunters admitted their fear of the forest, revealing they hadn’t ventured deep in. The old hermit, with supposed elven blood and a history of the forest, was absent but known for his tales that blurred the line between truth and folklore.

‘Old Garet would have a story about what’s happening. He will know what to do.’ a young man said nervously after hearing the story of the missing young ones.
‘Garet? He’s mad. Got that madness the elves of Parsh had, I wouldn’t trust anything he says.’ an older woman said as she eyes the group. “Remember when he burnt down the corn as he said it would curse the village?” she continued. ‘Don’t you trust mad Garet.’
‘He may be mad, but he is the only one that knows the tales of old. Surely he knows what is going on and can help’ the same young man rebutted which earned him a mixture of nods and murmured disagreements.

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Garet was easy enough to find and opened the door with a near jovial expression on his face. ‘Guests! Guests! I better put the tea on’ he exclaimed as he hobbled off towards the hearth of his mudbrick hut. Using a worn wooden ladle he scooped out some water and poured it into a cup which had a sprinkling of leaves in it. Shuffling back, most of the boiling water ending up on the dirt floor, he handed the cup to the first in line for his hospitality.

‘Some tea…?’ he asked, looking at the others. The first cup looked to contain half an earth worm, a few pine needles and what appeared to be dog or cat hair; potentially even one of his scruffy beard hairs. After asking he scooped out his own serving, sprinkling his own few leaves into it and sat down, gingerly, on a pile of furs near the hearth to stay warm. His thin frame looked tiny in comparison to the cloak of furs he held around his shoulders.

After sipping from the obviously too hot tea he smiled, nodded once as if satisfied with the brew before looking to the party. ‘The woods have ears, did you know that?’ he began. ‘When the elves first left the woods and headed south past the human lands they encountered the first settlers of this village. Back then the woods were said to come alive at the beck and call of the elves to build their houses and fight their enemies.’ he paused to sip his scalding tea. ‘But when the winged ones left the trees stopped.’ he paused to pick out the other half of the worm from his tea. ‘A Pity as I always wanted to talk to a tree.’ he mused to himself.

Synthia walked into the room hastily putting down a basket that had dozens of root vegetables assorted in near piles. ‘Sorry Garet there was word that some hot shot adventurers had come to the village so I tried to find them.’ she began before turning around and noticing the party. ‘Oh, I guess I found them. Hi I’m Synthia. I am Garet’s apprentice, come household help.’ she added with more than a bit of disdain. ‘I am here to learn all I can from Garet so that he can retire while he still has some of his memories. I have started to try and write them down in books but,’ she paused looking at the man who was scooping out the other half of the worm, ‘Somehow I don’t think I’ll fill a book of actual history. All his stories he tells don’t make sense or are impossible.’ she added with frustration.

‘Synthia, dear girl. Did I tell you about the spell at the heart of the forest? The one that called the winged ones home and silenced the trees?’ he added, chewing still. ‘They say that nine are needed to bring back the trees but I don’t think we could find nine more winged ones. They all disappeared.’ he paused again before telling another story.

‘See, wild stories.’ Synthia added, looking at the party knowingly. ‘I do have some of the ones that made sense in this book if you want to take a look over it. If there’s any questions I’m from Remale, the village one over. I will be here not long as I must leave before dusk.’

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PDF adventure – The Dark of Parsh Forest

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Unusual House Pet

438SuUnHoPe

The party take a job from a nobleman, Tyson Blackmane, to find his daughter’s missing pet, a young manticore, offering a reward that would indicate it’s a small domesticated animal but they are only provided that it responds to the name of Samsone but not what it is. At the same time a large creature, a manticore Alpha, is hunting in the Tortue Farmlands (the city nearby) and some people suspect that it could be the Blackmanes who have a history of collecting unusual house pets. The Young manticore is not the thing hunting the sheep near the city nor the few beggars who have gone missing, but there is a fear that it is.

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Seeking out the owner, Anzia, to see if they could get more information from her they had a great deal of difficulty in locating her. Many of the servants and house guards misled them and when questions apologised letting them know that they assumed she would be there. Eventually a nanny took them to a hallway where a large gallery housed immaculate, rare weapons and armours from several decades and centuries. Many portraits showed a well armed and trained man standing in military uniform. 

The party was then shown to see Anzia who was sitting down and having tea. Anzia Blackmane proved to be a more commanding and charismatic version of her father who held herself like she knew how to hold a sword as well as the tea cups she held currently. “Do come in, I do hope you are making good progress in finding my Samsone, it’s hard to brush his long fur especially around his pointed ears, whiskers and long twitchy tail. I do fear for his safety as my servants have reported that a beast has been seen in Tortue and it’s a fondness of cute animals – to devour that is. I do worry about my little kitty.”

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The party investigated the pile of dead sheep and saw, from the corner of their eye, that the door to the barn closed and a large amount of noise could be heard from within. Approaching the barn carefully they quickly find a large cat-like creature trying to hide in the hay bales within. However it is quickly revealed to be a juvenile manticore wearing a sky blue collar with an “S” emblem. The party had found Samsone. As they pondered what to do, they hear large wingbeats from above and a menacing growl that shook the ceiling of the barn, suggesting a huge creature nearby. Anzia Blackmane’s pet was a young manticore and there was something outside that this creature evidently feared.

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PDF adventure – Unusual House Pet

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The Prison of Gesig

437SaPrGe

The party discovered that their saddlebag had been mixed up with the Prison of Gesig, leading to demonic chaos in the city. Despite their efforts, they lost Fylaine while battling various demons. The commotion caused panic among the city’s people, creating a moment for the party to blend in with the fleeing crowd, but also more prey for the demons. The seal on the Prison weakened with every delay, adding to the urgency of their quest.

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The bag pulsated and surged with a life of its own as they ran towards the temple where Fylaine could be seen fighting a few demons from the steps to its front door. As the paladin saw them she pushed back on the last demons that were harassing her and rushed towards the party brandishing her resplendent great sword. However, before she could reach them the bag burst forward out of the grip of the adventurer holding it and a large form pulled itself out from the bag. The demon snarled at the paladin and the party as it finished pulling its wings, tail and bulky form through the bag’s portal. The general of the Gesig demon legion was free.

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PDF adventure – The Prison of Gesig

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Plentura’s Storm Chasers

436SuPlStCh

A powerful storm swept across the plains, heralded by fierce winds that bent the crops and drove animals to seek shelter. The hailstones that followed caused widespread destruction, bludgeoning many animals and the other unlucky souls to live on the plains to death. As the storm moved towards the capital, Plentura, messengers warned the king of the approaching tempest. However in his madness he declared war on the storm and sent his knights and mages to battle the force of nature, however they were unable to defeat it. So he offered a new reward for any brave or plucky adventurers who were willing to take on the task. Despite the danger, a few brave souls claimed they could and once they heard the request and saw the madness in the eyes of the king they saw reason.

The party leave for the capital of Plentura where they, like many other adventurers, are drawn to the obscene reward that anyone who can complete the king’s request will receive. However the request is insane, defeating the storm that is on the kingdom’s doorstep.

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The party leaves the palace and sees the thunderhead moving towards the city gradually on the horizon. A series of lightning bolts strike the ground at the centre of the thunderhead which is surprising to a few of them. As they are escorted from the palace the young guard who is walking with them is pointing out different parts of the wall, the buildings and so forth. He takes them to the wall to look at the storm that’s coming standing there looking at it. “Weirdest storm I have seen. The king’s sending the army out again tomorrow to go and fight the storm” an older guard says without hiding his disagreement as the party stops to stand nearby. 

“I hope it doesn’t hit the telescope. My grandfather used to use that to look out across the plains when we had the greater orcish warlords a century ago. He said he could see the colour of the warlord’s eyes using that thing.” the young guard said as he watched the lightning strike several times again. 

“I swear it keeps striking something or being controlled to strike in the way it does. Lightning doesn’t strike the same place without a good reason” A palace mage said as he looked over across the plains. He, like the older guard, was obviously nervous about going on the warpath against a force of nature.

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PDF adventure – Plentura’s Storm Chasers

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A Guild Masters Guilt

435SuGuMaGu

As well known adventurers the party had been given rooms at guilds whenever they asked and it happened that the Silver Sparrows had organised for them to rest. The Guild master, Bastion Sparrow had a reputation for clean, organised business endeavours that had benefited many up and coming adventurers with work. The adventurers sat amongst the employees of the messenger guild as they sat and feasted in the large hall that was made available to the message runners, their guards and distinguished guests, like the party.
A bell rang which caused the room to look up at the ledge where the guild master normally addressed his people and this time they were not disappointed. Bastion stood, smiled faintly before clearing his voice that caused the last chatters to die out.

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With the change in guild masters from Bastion to Kilt the offer that was extended to the party was quickly removed. Advised that they were unable to stay in the Silver Sparrows guild hall for the night they were advised that a comfortable room had been organised for them at The Crispy Basilisk, an Inn thats reputation for strong drink was almost as well known as its reputation for pickpockets, thugs and thieves. As they sat down and considered their options a disturbance near the door interrupted them.

“Bastion, well well fancy that. We’re just on the way to the Sparrows Hall to be welcomed back by Kilt. So much for you kicking us out you stupid bastard. Looks like the new guild leader recognises the need for muscle and not just manners.” a large bald man sneered as he pushed past the old guildmaster. Bastion caught himself on a bench and after apologising to the patrons sitting there he walked to the bar spotting the party on the way. After retrieving a tankard of strong ale he sat next to the party and apologised.

“I would’ve hoped that the new guild master would continue with common sense but it seems that they do not want to keep adventurers on friendly terms. I am terribly sorry that you were kicked out of the room you had occupied. I am not sure if Kilt was the right decision here, perhaps I should have fought harder…” he began.

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PDF adventure – A Guild Masters Guilt

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Sins of the Subconscious

434SuSiSu

The party had been travelling to a large city and were a few hours past the last village that they had seen for hours when the storm hit. Violent winds, rain and even hail struck at them and they were forced to seek shelter, an abandoned cottage nearby with a dried up well. Taking turns to watch as there had been signs of a large creature about they waited out the storm. However when the person on watch turned to wake up the next person to take watch a creature darted at them from outside, slamming open its door in its haste and dug a mouthful of fangs into the adventurer. 

The party roused and attacked the beast hoping to kill it but they only managed to scare it off. However the damage was already done and the party member fell unconscious. 

The nearest place they could take their ally was the village a few hours back and since no magic or potions seemed to be healing the wound they would need powerful magic, the magic of the gods.

The party made it to the village and into the church where they were disappointed to be rejected for healing, the doctrine of this clergy to Kelemvor forbade the prevention of a natural death. However room and protection from the storm was available and they were fed, the wounds were cleaned and they sat into a long night. 

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PDF adventure – Sins of the Subconscious

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Thanks for joining me today for another Zine this year. This is a condensed version of the Zine, but I hope the format works and is good to look at! Please feel free to leave comments if this format is appealing – so make sure to grab a copy of the PDF.