Action Around Teufeldorf

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Action Around Teufeldorf
Type Dungeon
Status Explored March 908 TA
Location Teufeldorf
Hex 5211
Campaign The Ranger's Gate
Adventure # 140
Map-teufeldorf city 2.jpg

Fretful Porpentine

At the eastern terminus of The Crossing sits an ancient building, certainly repurposed over the years. The Fretful Porpentine has stood on this site since 820 TA. Located south of the Military District, the pub is a favorite of the soldiers and adventurers. Most of the locals consider it too rough or too filled with the King's Men to be of interest.

A weathered sign of a porpentine, its quills jumping from its back, hangs on a squeaky wooden signpost. The exterior is made of stone with a blue slate roof - a rarity in the city and a throwback to an earlier age.

The interior of the pub is a single large room smoke fills the high-beamed rafters and a mahogany bar runs almost 60 feet along the room's edge. A small kitchen behind the bar is in constant motion. Wooden booths, deep and dark, run along three edges of the room. The walls of the room are decorated with shields, swords and orc and goblin heads.

At The Party

Unlike most nights when the pub is a bit dark and murky, tonight the room is ablaze - torches and candle chandeliers are fully lit.

The center of the room is exceptionally crowded with tables - both long common tables and small private round tables. The tables are packed with soldiers and townsfolk. The center of the festivities is a table at which is seated a rotund man dressed in fine clothes - Noel Guildford, Thirteenth Baron of Guildford. Two stern looking plate-mail clad soldiers stand just behind the baron.

The game is run by Gylan Wiley, a stout man. He hates orcs and goblins - as he fought in the Second War of the Reaches specifically dealing with raiding parties coming from the Loftwood.

Player OR Dealer? There is a buy in is 5 gold. The final prize is 500 gold. The baron is assumed to going to make the final table - as he is the only one who allows a re-buy. Free drinks. 2 hand of poker - 5-card draw. 2 rounds to get to the final table.

  • Sense Motive to see my cards (not cheating)
  • Bluff/Intimidate to get to fold or stay (not cheating)
  • Sleight of Hand/Stealth (to get an extra card)

Monsters!

Captain Darius Baker

A sudden commotion by the door brings the game to a halt. A breathless soldier enters the room. "Monsters!"

Baron Guildford looks up, a bemused look on his face, "My wife is coming?"

Captain Darius Baker has short-cropped black hair. Considered handsome by local standards, he is currently disheveled. A cut on his cheek is bleeding.

"Begging your pardon, there have been three murders just south of the pub. The first was a local patrol - a veteran tracker, Booth, a woman who knew her way around a sword. She was torn limb-from-limb. It was terrible. The other two murders were gnomes. Vagabonds by all accounts. They were drug along the street leaving a bloody trail. The villagers are panicked. They hit me with a rock when I told them that the Crown was on the case. We might have a riot. I need several parties willing to search for the monster. I hate to interrupt the festivities. If you're not too drunk. Grab your swords."

Haggelthorn House

There is no apparent entrance to Haggelthorn House as a high stone wall surrounds the residence along the tree-lined Prospect Vale. The back wall is an old garrison wall that separates Old Town from the Royal Quarter. The three surrounding stone walls are 15' high and new - put in place by the Haggelthorns to insure privacy. The top of Haggelthorn House can just be seen by visitors coming down the street.

The House is clearly an old chapel, hundreds of years old but in good repair. The roof is a green slate, popular in the mid-eighth century TA. The stonework is solid with all signs of religious iconography removed. By its design, the building was probably an early Church of the Hearth. The stained-glass windows have been replaced by dark green plain glass.

The grounds are somewhat overgrown - making passage difficult. A number of large trees and shrubs are growing throughout the compound. Bits of stone are sticking up through the verge.

NIGHT: A single lantern burns near the front door - a massive oak door bound in iron. A large iron knocker in the shape of a lion is set into the center of the door.

  • There is a passage running from the eastern corner of the wall to the House. It is at the corner that a secret entrance disguised.
  • The stones are actually old gravestones. And, the surrounding wall is made of them!
  • In the eastern corner, there is a slight indentation in the stone. Which will fit Finn's ring perfectly. When pressed into the stone, the turret on the corner will turn 90 degrees revealing a passage through the stone. When passed through, the turret will turn back.

Mortimer Haggelthorn - tall and fair - son of Elias and Henrietta. Dressed in a silk Tang robe - deep red with a gold thread embroidered dragon on its back.

"Come in, come in, Finn." I have been expecting you.

What would have been the nave of the church has been turned into a Common Room of sorts - clearly an area where social gatherings take place. The room is 30' x 40' The ceilings are lofted. The bottom 10' of the room is now richly paneled in mahogany while the top 10' feet is still stone with gothic windows of dark green glass. The room is lit by several large wheel-like candelabra filled with brightly flickering white candles. The stone floor is covered in rich Tang rugs.

A number of leather chairs and sofas have been arranged in four small circular pods each seating about eight people. Low tables provide a comfortable place to sit and talk. A small wooden bar is under the northern window with a collection of wine and spirit bottles along with 40 crystal glasses and goblets.

  • The back wall of the room which is clearly of newer, wooden construction - separates the nave and the transept.
  • A single door in the back wall appears, at first glance, to be fuzzy - with waves of darkness around the edges. NOTE: MALIKA will realize this is a shadow passage.

Library of Sarth

Library of Sarth (Teufeldorf)

The small finger of land on which the ancient Blackfriar College and Library of Sarth are built is called the Friar's Nose. The geologic feature is caused by a series of underground blowholes which force water up into the caverns under the spit of land where it subsequently comes pouring out into a culvert that rushes around the south end of the Friar's Nose and drops back into the sea near Teufeldorf Castle. The drop, derisively known as, Snot Falls, is accompanied by the low rumbling of water filling the blowholes - known by the locals as the Snort.

The streets leading up to the library and college are lined with stately stone buildings. Unlike most of the town, these structures survived the raids of Teufeldorf with modest impunity. It seems that a college of wizards is a formidable defense for even an army. The dozen or so buildings house professors, wizards, students, and librarians of all manner. Mixed throughout the buildings are several private laboratories and libraries. The ancient Blackfriar College and Library of Sarth are both well-maintained and tranquil places of study and contemplation. Even to the most uninitiated, these building radiate auras of enchantment and power.

The main path to the Library entrance is a well-maintained yard and flower garden. Compared to the cold, windy conditions you were expecting, this area feels warm and inviting. A gentle breeze moves the air with a pleasant rustle. The building is made of grey stone with large, narrow windows framed in black metal. The lintel above the front doors is carved with the sword and book crest of the Librarians of Sarth. The doors themselves are massive bronze doors - thick and imposing. Into the right door, a smaller, entrance has been built - cleverly designed to look like the cover of book opening to allow passage into the hall beyond.

Stepping through the door, you are greeted by a grand hallway - some 80 feet in length and almost 40 feet high. At the far end, light is streaming through a stained glass window depicting a map of the Realm. On it, slowly-moving figures of librarians dressed in ceremonial garment move about. Periodically, one picks up a book which he holds to the heavens. The book disappears, and the figure begins moving again.

In addition to the dazzling window, the room is unnaturally quiet (all normal speech is muted to whispers). Ten desks sit facing a large desk behind which are several sets of bookshelves, loaded with ancient tomes.

Two tall librarians stand behind the desk watching you. One is a tall, thin man. The other is a tall, thin woman. Both are middle-aged and slightly stooped. Neither smiles. These are Mr. Hamilton and Mrs. Hunt.

They will take the inquiry, making notes in a ledger of sorts.

I see, so you need an expert in Cagophily (the collection of keys) and an Historian of the City-State of the Second Age. Hmm, might need a metallurgist. And what do you have trade for this information? We want books, of course. Not the naughty romances that you probably read. Real books that we haven't seen before.

This, of course, will lead to the job at 14 Tinwhistle Alley.

Dame Beatrice Redworth

Dame Beatrice Redworth brought in three books for our consideration, and one was chosen for copying. A wonderful history of the Welkwood from a Second Age explorer.

NOTE: The other two were ordinary, sadly, the Green Knights - a children's tale about a Princess Charlotte made to look like a scholarly study. And a History of Tang Sailing ships - a nice copy, but one we already have.

According to Dame Redworth, her home at 14 Tinwhistle Close is recently haunted. She broke out the front window to stop the spirits, but it didn't work. She is seeking help to have the home cleansed of the evil spirits. The Library has agreed to help in exchange for copying the Welkwood manuscript.

So, I will find out about your key. And, you need only tackle the spiritual home invaders. Of course, I should warn you that Dame Redworth is a Scrounger. One who "house sits" when someone has died and before the next of kin claim the house. If it goes a year, the Scrounger gets to keep the place and all its stuff. This isn't the first time Dame Redworth has visited us with rare books.

NOTE: The party will be watched by a cloaked figure once they start talking to Angel. This is actually Dame Redworth keeping tabs on her house.

Angela "Angel" Treadway

Ah, no books, right. Let me get an Apprentice Librarian for you. Angel is a young woman with mousy brown hair and is covered in dust - presumably from carrying piles of old books around. She is exceedingly deferential to the Librarians. And talks in a whisper while always looking at the floor.

This is Angela Treadway, a distant cousin of Nils Treadway.

I have been assigned to help you get the information you need from the Library. Since you don't have any books, you will have to earn library credit by doing a task for one of our important patrons. Can you describe your skills and expertise to me, and maybe I can find a job that will get you what you want?

Research into the key shown to me by Mr. Ganymede and of the circumstances concerning the lost Ranger's Gate in Teufeldorf City as asked in return for clearing the home Dame Beatrice Redworth at 14 Tinwhistle Close.

by Angela Treadway

The date on the key gave me a starting place for my research. I started with Bishop Asher's Early History of the Rangers in Reaches and worked through several volumes to extract the highlights:

In the decades leading up to mid-seventh century SA, the Rangers established an alliance with the City-State while keeping distant from any Old Kingdom entanglements. As such, the Rangers were allowed free access to the city and avoided many of the problems they faced to the west.

In the year 672 SA, the Rangers completed construction of a training facility in the forest outside of Teufeldorf. Several years before, the Crown granted them land, an exemption from all taxes in perpetuity, and complete anonymity as to the location of the structure - most of which was noted to be built underground.

During construction and afterwards, access to the forest near the Ranger's Gate was forbidden guarded by the Rangers themselves, although there are references to terrible creatures set to guard the entrance. Even King's Men were turned away from the area. There was also an oblique reference to a discovered First Age structure of unknown purpose and a tunnel that was built running into the city for the transport of dangerous artifacts and prisoners.

In 672 SA, it is written in a less-reliable gazetteer that was popular at the time that seven Ranger lords were given keys to the structure. The account of this was apparently overheard at a pub by a serving boy named Hugh Campbell. The Rangers were not named, but Hugh reported that seven keys they were named: Walking Key, Wooden Key, Windward Key, Wailing Key, Whistling Key, Wicked Key, Wayward Key. According to the account, each led to a separate area of the complex. The only know recipient was a man named Woodward, a Ranger lord of some import.

The Wayward Key

Woodward is a man
of hardened steel
of forests dark and deep.
The Wayward Key
is his sacred charge
hidden on his island keep.

Pitchfork Stables (Shadows)

Pitchfork Stables Map

To your left, you hear the voices of several men and women - talking soft and conspiratorially. Periodically, you hear the whinny of a horse and the unmistakable clink of coins being counted and stacked.

POKE HEAD: You are in a barn, looking down from a loft into the main room. Stalls run off to the south. In the north, hidden behind crates, several men are huddled over a table. A sack of gold has been dumped into the center and is being divided into eight piles.

This is the lair of eight thieves - freelance types. They have just robbed a nearby store of its gold. The group is run by Scarlet Porter. Four women dressed as nuns (costumes can be found piled in a corner). The four men were drovers - pulling two carts of hay. They are all armed with short swords, light crossbows and studded leather.

They call themselves the Porters of Renown. Isabel, Daria, Erica, Teddy, Albert, Dillan, Chase

The treasure include 1600 gold. The goons each have a potion of Bull's Rush. Scarlet has a Wand of the Unseen and Studded Leather +1.

Stout Crock (Shadows)

Stout Crock Map

To your right, you smell the wet dampness of a basement. The faint sounds of a bar - men and women laughing and the clink of glasses. You also hear a splashing of water in a pool as something large is bathing.

POKE HEAD: You sense a hallway made of stone. A flight of stairs intersects the hallway. At the far end, light trickles down from a grate in the ceiling. A pool of water below smells fetid and something large splashes within its confines. Lined on the walls near you are racks and racks of wine bottles.

The "bather" is a crocodile that is kept here as a pet and guard. It is fed fish scraps through the grate in the floor.

The cook and bartender is an old human sailor named Captain Booth. His wife is Kaitlyn and she cooks. Booth likes to tell stories of the sea and how he harpooned a white whale up north near Timberway.

His daughter was the tracker that was killed by Monsters!

Temple of Shadows

As you approach the Temple of Shadows, you are somewhat disappointed. The area is not filled with dark swirling mists. The temple does not rise into the darkness of an unnatural night. The temple appears to be a wooden building - built of a beautiful red wood. The trim is a dark red, almost black. Next to the looming stone edifice that is the Crusader's Temple, the Temple of Shadows appears to be small and insignificant - almost forgettable.

The front door is made of the same dark red wood, bound in copper, studded with hundreds of worn copper nails, heavy and formidable. A figure is sitting near the front door, in an old fashioned rocking chair. While its face is hidden, a long pipe periodically puffs some smoke. The hands holding the pipe appear to be young.

Rose

The figure pulls back her cloak to reveal a young woman with green eyes, reddish blond hair and a smirk. Hi, I'm Rose what's your business at the Temple of Shadows? Oh, the cloak, it's just to frighten the children. They come by all the time asking for candy. I'm not sure why.

Rose will push one of the copper nail heads, and the two will disappear.

You feel a rustle of air about you, a feeling that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. It's an odd, cloying feeling like being wrapped too tight in a blanket.

You find yourself in an indistinct room. The room is very small, and Rose is next to you. She is holding your hand. "Well you didn't barf, that's a good sign." Slowly, three figures materialize from the gloom around you - indistinct shapes that sharpen and fade. You cannot hear what they are saying, but their intent is clear - they are studying you. Your mind flashes images, unbidden, from your childhood. You catch snatches of voices - but maybe they are in your head. "great potential", "but which path will she choose", "a candidate. agreed. agreed.", "she will be mine.", "let her choose".

The entire episode lasts but an instant. You feel the air rustle again. And you are back with Rose who smiles sweetly at you. "I'm impressed." "Welcome to the order." Here, take this shadow bead. When the masters are ready to send you on your first mission, the bead will glow and grow hot. Come quickly to the door, and the way will be made known to you.

NOTE: You get the same feeling of the rustle of air when you enter 9 Nightingale Way.

Twilight House

Greta

Greata boarded the Wanton Wench when they stopped by Timberway to pick up supplies. Coming down from Korgsland. Something about finding her family.

Greata kept to herself in her cabin but was an odd sort - middle-aged but not pretty. She has a broad face and a perpetual scowl. She is a large woman, not fat, just solid.

Coming to summon the Ice Walkers.