# Greenwood Traders: Zenith Trajectory



## Citizen Mane (Nov 19, 2003)

*Somewhere Outside Archenbridge - Ten Years Ago*
Tazo stared into the pit.  Prukk's remains were a mess of blood impaled on well-fashioned spikes.  So much for the best goblin scout north of Chondath.  Things had started off well enough.  They had the prisoner, they made it back to the crypt just fine, they even had a good head start on the City Guard.  In the five hours since then, however, everything had fallen apart—the original tunnel back into the Underdark had caved in, forcing them to move into the deeper parts of the crypt.  So far the prisoner had almost escaped twice, they'd been attacked by the shadows of dead goblins, and now their scout lay at the bottom of a pit trap in five, almost separate pieces...

*Notes*
I'm currently running a heavily modified version of *Zenith Trajectory* (from Dungeon's Adventure Path) for my D&D group (formerly found in the Greenwood Traders story hour, which is so far behind that it seems almost silly to resurrect it—it's over one year behind the RL game).  The campaign is pretty typical FR D&D right now.  We have three DMs (myself included) and a total of seven PCs.  We've just converted to 3.5 recently.

*Greenwood Traders*
The party works for the Harpers, under the directions of the mysterious M and Ahlcyni, a mage in Daggerdale.  Most of the time, the party masquerades as travelling merchants, hence Greenwood Traders (named after the founder of the company, a Harper named Darvin Greenwood, now deceased).

The current party is (in order of appearance):
Drona Runedar, Gold Dwarf Ftr2/Clr4 of Marthammor Duin (co-DM)
Fagan Foxburr, Strongheart Halfling Mnk6 (co-DM)
Whitman Amblecrown, Human (Damaran) Brd2/Div3 (co-DM)
Thas Holimion, Moon Elf Rog3/Sor3
Saam, Half-orc Brb5
Fealys, Half-elf Rgr5
Zerrassa, Human (Chondathan?) Pal4 of Mielikki
Weasel, Human (Chondathan) [NPC, Head Drover]
Cookie, Human (Damaran) [NPC, Cook]

*Background*
After having freed the prisoners of Granite Mountain Prison and raised Whitman from the dead, the party spends a month in Dagger Falls, relaxing, training animal companions, and, in Saam's case, making boots from the hides of fallen, (non-human) enemies.  After a month, the party receives a message from M, exhorting them to continue on towards Archenbridge, as successful traders rarely spend a month relaxing in a fairly small, back-water dale.  At the same time, Whitman receives a message from the Church of Lathander in Archenbridge, requesting his immediate presence in Archenbridge.  The party gathers its things and sets off southwards.

*Deeper Background*
Whitman was recently raised from the dead for a second time.  The first time he died, the church of Lathander was kind enough to raise him, and Whitman still has unfinished business with them.  When he was raised from the dead the first time, his greying hair had turned golden, a reminder of Lathander's role in his life.  The last time the PCs were in Archenbridge, they got muddled up in an investigation into the assassination of one of the three Swords (Archendale's rulers).  As it turned out, the new Black Sword, Lord Aethelmed Tantal II, is a very bad man.  Possibly responsible for the assassination of his predecessor, he's plunged the dale into a nasty, drawn out conflict with Sembia.  He also has some sort of relationship with the Church of Shar.  All the members of the party, save Zerrassa and Fealys, could be wanted men in the dale, based on some of their actions during that investigation.

*Why the goblin intro?*
During the time when the party was travelling from Dagger Falls to Archenbridge, I ran a mini-session with a party of goblins transporting a prisoner through a crypt to the Underdark.  It's a prequel to this adventure and I'll be weaving it into the story at certain points.  To keep things straight, here's the goblin party:

Krug, Priest of Maglubiyet and Leader
Gar-chukk, Dekanter Goblin-at-Arms
Gar-prodd, Dekanter Goblin-at-Arms
Prukk, Scout
Apo, Sapper
Tazo, Blue Sorceror

Best,
tKL


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## Citizen Mane (Nov 20, 2003)

*Table of Contents*

*Zenith Trajectory*
Prologue—in which Fealys kills a commoner, Saam kills a guardsperson, and Whitman almost dies again.
Chapter 1—Ouryn Deveron, pseudonatural mummies, and dinner at the Cusp of Sunrise

*Note*
Links above lead to individual posts.


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## Citizen Mane (Nov 21, 2003)

*Prologue*
Archenbridge, 7 Marpenoth 1372

*Ext.—Marketplace, around the Butcherbar—Mid Afternoon*
Alzhedan prickly pears were a delicacy in Archenbridge.  Of course, Beppo had no idea if they were actually from Calimshan or Amn, but it didn't matter.  He could slap an exotic place name on horse manure and the aristocracy would buy it in bulk.  So far, he'd moved five bushels in three hours and he still had seven hours left in the working day.  More than likely that he would run out of the pears well before he closed up for the day.

Just as he was about to sell another bushel of pears (plus a bunch of Aglarondan water grapes, or at least something he called Aglarondan water grapes), he heard a crash come from the stalls north of him.  A huge two-legged insectoid creature with chitinous plates burst from the ground and started hammering away at the support columns of the Maavu warehouse.  Also, a minor riot seemed to break out in the crowd to his right.  By the time he turned back to his customer, he had lost his sale and the rioting crowd started moving towards him.  Grunting, Beppo started to push his cart down the Butcherbar.

*Ext.—Marketplace*
Whitman groaned.  It was bad enough that the party had to come back to Archenbridge.  The last thing they needed was to be caught up in a brawl in the middle of the city.  Before he could voice his opinions to anyone else, he saw Drona and Saam charge down the street, barreling through the crowds, weapons drawn.  He sighed.  Past experience had shown that this style of problem solving would only lead to more trouble later.  Following after them, he yelled at the crowds to get clear of the marketplace while he looked around for the rest of the party.

Fealys was well ahead of him, some thirty feet in front of Thas.  She had an arrow sticking out of her shoulder.  Meanwhile, Thas was pulling another arrow out of his quiver.  Whitman blinked.  That wasn't right.  He could see Zerrassa underneath a nearby window, a baby perched on the ledge, its mother nowhere in sight.  He couldn't find Fagan anywhere.  Judging by the sounds he heard ahead of him, Drona and Saam were having a fairly easy time of it.  Only Fealys seemed hurt so far.  And, now, she was running as fast as she could back away from the melee.  Thas, eyes wide, couldn't seem to pick a target—the elf kept on moving his bow from person to person, muttering to himself in Elf.

Shaking his head, Whitman again tried to get the crowds to move away from the monster.  Hopefully that would make Thas less of a menace.  Ahead of him, he could see a fruit merchant struggling to push his cart away from the crowds.  Random townsfolk were grabbing melons and apples off the cart and throwing them at each other.  Scuffles were breaking out all over the place.  Whitman was sure that this was what the people of old Chondath would have called a donnybrook.

*Ext.—Somewhere Else in Archenbridge*
Meanwhile, Fealys had run as far away from the fight as she could.  She didn't feel quite right.  A bit out of her head as if she weren't controlling her actions.  When she stopped running, she turned to her right, drew her sword, and decapitated a commoner.  Her head suddenly clear, she started running back towards the fight.

*Ext.—Marketplace, around the Butcherbar—Beppo's Fruit Cart* 
By the time Whitman reached the fruit cart and started helping the merchant push it away from the crowds, he noticed a well-armored dwarf standing next to him.  "Come to help, Drona?"  That was when he felt the dwarf's axe cut into his shoulder.

*Ext.—Marketplace—outside Maavu's Warehouse*
Saam grunted as he felt a blade glance off his breastplate.  Raging, he sliced the insectoid creature in half, turned, and ran his sword straight through the half-orc.  Only when the body hit the ground did he notice that he had killed a member of the city watch.

*Ext.—Marketplace, around the Butcherbar—Beppo's Fruit Cart*
"What in the Nine Hells was that for, Dro—bloody Hells, quit hitting me with the damn axe."

*Ext.—Marketplace, around the Butcherbar*
Zerrassa frowned, watching the baby teeter over the ledge.  She ducked into the building, but there were too many people inside for her to reach the stairs up.

*Meta*
Zerrassa's player had been looking to join the fight.  Then I sprang this on her.  This led another player to comment, "Will Zerrassa give into her maternal guilt?  Or is she a career paladin?"​
*Ext.—Marketplace, around the Butcherbar—Beppo's Fruit Cart*
Whitman began to feel light headed as Drona's axe bit into him a third time.

*Ext.—Marketplace, around the Butcherbar*
...then the baby fell.  Zerrassa, coming back out of the building, saw the baby fall.  Twenty feet.  Fifteen feet.  Ten feet.  And safe, into her arms.


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