Valley of Death (Clash of Steel)

From Scenario Seeds, Clash of Steel p. 172.

Valley of Death

The adventurers witness a group of five men being scourged in the city square. An old man approaches, distraught. He says they are his sons, and they came from a hill tribe to tell the king that they cannot pay their taxes this season, as a monster has been killing their sheep and some of their shepherds. The king ordered the whipping of his sons as a punishment for lying. The old man wants the adventurers to come to his village and help them kill the beast. He shows them a strange octagonal gold coin, and tells them that one of the village shepherds found this coin in a hoard of coins - the creature’s lair. Perhaps the attacks are retribution for the theft, unfortunately, the first man to die was that shepherd, before he could tell anyone where this lair was.

The Way There

Setting The Scene

Drakor lost a lot of land to neighboring Nethorheim, who may conquer more yet. Drakor city is a gloomy place, with soldiers on every corner and a hint of panic in the air.

The King of Drakor, Artavaro III, is desperate for tax revenue to hire mercenaries to defend his shrinking kingdom. The village of Shepherd’s Hill owes about 5000 s (or its equivalent) in taxes, but Artavaro was hoping for more. News that he might expect much less outraged him.

The old man, Anarion, was trying to do his duty as a minor vassal, but it backfired. He fears the king, but he’ll try anything to get his boys back home, end the monster attacks, and maybe pay for taxes some other way …

Shepherd’s Hill

Anarion is also the village headman, so the villagers give the PCs a polite but not warm welcome. They’re still worried about the taxes … and the monster.

Young men: Milo, Timo, Theo, Oren, Zeph.

The village will give the PCs free rations for one day as they set off to find the monster’s lair.

Finding The Lair

If nobody has Read Tracks, the party will spend half a day wandering about until they happen upon a well-worn trail made by big feet.

Into The Lair

A faint trail of very large feet leads up a mountain pass and into a cave.

Cave Mouth

A Cyclops sleeps here when he’s tired, and goes hunting for sheep when he’s hungry. 1-2 on a D6 to see if he’s in. There’s a pile of bones, a few human, at one end of the cave.

It’s possible to edge around him and get to the Entrance to the tomb if you’re very, very quiet. (SKILL 12+)

Entrance to The Tomb

A crack in the back wall exposes a narrow passage. There are narrow stairs. People can only enter single file. It’s dark, so you’ll need torches.

The Tomb

Entrance to A

Narrow stairs lead down into a room.

Room A: Cremation Urn Room

Eight cremation urns; one is busted open, revealing 25 octagonal gold coins.

Other urns contain only dust and ash.

Encounter: 1-3 zombies.

Room B

Decorated memorial room: murals about the life and death of some great king line the walls.

Trap: Deadfall - 1 PC makes SKILL 8+ roll or suffer 1D3+1 HITS

Treasure: Magic longword +1 at the bottom of the Deadfall

Room C

Crypt with three empty sarcophagi with the lids pried off.

Encounter: 1-3 zombies.

Room D

Decorated memorial room. More about the great king, and the god he worshiped.

Encounter: 2-4 giant rats.

Hallway Between D/E and A/B

Encounter: Vampire

Treasure: Ruby necklace worth 200 silver.

Room E

Shrine to an unknown god.

Encounter: 1-3 skeletons

Room F

Statue room: Statue of the great king, or possibly his god.

Encounter: Mummy

Entrance to G from A

Opened door.

Encounter: Shadow

Treasure: 160 silver coins.

Entrance to G from F

Door: MIGHT 12+ to break through.

Room G

Crypt with 2 sarcophagi. Also empty, but you’ll need to check.

Encounter: Wraith

Room H

Unfinished room. Nothing but an empty, unfinished sarcophagus and a small urn filled with 200 unfamiliar-looking silver coins.

Monsters

Mummy:

The desiccated body of a servant, warrior or priest, buried in a tomb to serve as a guardian for some greater noble. Some may carry weapons. All are vulnerable to fire if they fail a FATE 10+ roll. Suffering 1 HIT every third round as they burn. Anyone continuing to fight a burning mummy may themselves catch fire! Roll FATE 10+ each round to avoid such an accident.

Shadow:

A demon once slain or banished, is gone, but its malignant shadow remains behind, searching blindly for its demon master. Shadows seek the safety of darkness and prey on the living for sustenance. They can pass through solid objects, but can be attacked in the combat round they themselves attack a victim. Normal weapons inflict only 1 point of damage, although magic weapons can harm them as normal.

Skeleton:

The animated skeleton uses a weapon to fight with. It can only be damaged properly by crushing weapons – bladed weapons do only 1 HIT to them.

Wraith:

… an encounter with a wraith … first manifests as a feeling of dread and icy apprehension. Characters must make a Terror 10+ roll. This is a warning. If the PCs persist, or if the wraith is malign and wishes to attack, then a second Terror roll at 12+ is made. Finally, a final attempt to crush the spirit of the character is made with a third sanity roll of 14+.

Vampire:

A blood sucking undead human. A vampire loses 1 HIT every week, but replenishes it by drawing 1 HIT (permanently) out of a victim that it has seduced, knocking them out and wiping their memory of the event. It fights with its sharp talons, but a special attack means it has bitten its victim (draining 1 point of MIGHT, which the victim will have restored after a week). When not in combat, a vampire can leap up to 3 metres, and can cling onto any surface.

The Hoard

• 26 gold coins, including the old man’s. (2600 s)

• 360 silver coins at the end.

• Ruby necklace of the Vampire (200 s)

• Magic longsword +1

The Way Back

If nobody has Find Direction, getting back will be an ordeal in and of itself. All those coins are heavy.

The villagers will invite the PCs to stay and rest up, especially if they’ve killed the cyclops.

Hill Road Robbery

On the way home, (Number of PCs + 1) bandits will ambush the party and demand their valuables. If they get trounced, the Bandid Leader will show up.

Weapons: Scimitars

Armor: Leather Cuirass (Bandit); Scale cuirass + helm (Bandit Leader)

Returning To The City

The road is rather uneventful, but Drakar City has tighter regulations. Soldiers are searching carts and belongings, although they seem to be looking for weapons, not gold.

The Trouble With Gold

If the PCs ask around, they’ll find that gold in Drakor isn’t always worth 100 s … more like (3d6+85)% the ideal price, changing from day to day.

Offering the gold to the king to relieve the village’s taxes will just make him want more. He’ll put the screws to the villagers.

Even selling the gold might get back to the King … but by that point maybe he won’t be king anymore.

Sending him the head of the cyclops … would be interesting …