# [Grim Tales-Dragonlance] 234 ADD



## Mac Callum (Jan 28, 2005)

Full Disclosure:  Game play will be erratic, as law school permits.  Posting can't exceed game play, so...

The following are my quest notes.  I'll let you know how it actually goes in a future post.  I thought it would be interesting to put my expectations "on the record", to see how badly my PC leads me astray.

"ADD" stands for Anno Deity Domini, or "After the Death of the Gods" in High Solamnic

Ok then.

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Two-hundred-thirty-four years ago the Gods gave up their immortality to defeat Chaos and save their creation: the world of Krynn and its mortal races.  Only Takhisis refused to give up her godly powers, but she was not immune to the Laws of Balance.  All of the Gods were forced to join their mortal creations of Krynn, and within a generation, were lost forever.

For the last two centuries the mortal races of Krynn have been left to truly fend for themselves, without even the aid of the lunar Gods of Magic as it was in the Age of Despair.  Even the dragons are gone, all killed in the War of Chaos or the decades of the Dragon Purge that followed.  This is the Age of Mortals.  

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Metagame Information

Unless something extraordinary happens, this will be a solo quest plus one DM-PC.
Races available: Human, half-elf (not first generation), dwarf
(Yeah, this is Dragonlance, but a kender or gnome just isn’t viable as a solo-PC)
Starting Level: 3rd 
Class: My sole PC has shown interest in being a Fast Hero, possibly with some Smart or Charismatic levels
Optional Rules Used: Magical Spells, Horror, Firearms, Fewer Dead Heroes
Starting Location: Solace, the Inn of the Last Home (seventh generation Majere presiding)


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“Gray-shaded Box” Quest Notes – this is stuff the PC will learn by normal interaction

Intro
It is the early days of Spring in the year 234 ADD (anno deity domine).  The branches of the [???] trees in Solace are budding.  The tree houses will soon be hidden by the green of leaves, and the earth-houses will soon have green lawns and gardens again (it has been generations since Solace was a tree-house only town).  The Inn of the Last Home has a few guests, but mostly they are local herders and farmers come into town for the first time since the snows fell some months ago.  A few Que-Shu too.  The only “interesting” guest is a young Knight of the Crown on his way to Haven.  Sir Hathar Et Somley has been at the Inn for three days while his horse recovers from a minor hoof infection.  He has one of those new Gnomish weapons instead of a lance.  You're pretty sure it's called a "pistol."

On the second day of Sir Hathar’s visit a post-rider comes galloping up the road from Haven, the first of the season.  He has several letters for the Mayor from various parties in Haven, a few small packages of spices for the Inn, and surprisingly, a letter for you.  After handing off your letter (his last stop), the post-rider heads on north up the road that leads to Long Ridge, and eventually Northkeep on the Schallsea Straits.

The letter is from one Master Turhn Whistlehop, apparently a solicitor in Haven.  It appears that your uncle Perrin Mastow died during the winter and has named you as one of his heirs in the will.  You’ll have to go to Haven to learn the details and collect whatever is left to you.  Inheritances unclaimed by Mid-summer Day are to be tithed to the Cathedral of Seekers.  Good thing you’re at loose ends and have no other obligations!

Chapter 1
The road to Haven is very lightly traveled (and patrolled) this time of year.  Only after the summer and fall harvests could it be called ‘busy.’  There’s a fair chance you won’t see another traveler until you reach Haven’s outlying farming villages some three days travel to the south.

[Non-Gray box:  On day two PC will encounter a largish group of goblins blocking the road at a narrow point.  The goblins are set to ambush someone coming from Haven, not Solace, so they are easily visible from the north.  Unless PC is an idiot, she should be able to avoid a fight.  If she does, she’ll be captured (yay! fewer dead heroes!), taken through a tunnel in the hills, and left in the courtyard of an elven ruin left over from the Age of Might, when Qualinesti covered all of these lands.  Hopefully this won’t happen, but always plan for PC stupidity, that’s what I say…]

The goblins are too many to fight.  If you want to warn travelers on the road, or bring some Knights up from Haven to rout them, then you must go around.  There are goat-paths through the hills to the west.

Chapter 2
The goat paths are steep, but not impassible.  You travel for the remainder of the day, but as dusk approaches, you actually see the lights of a small village ahead.  The buildings have a human architecture, with influences of both native Abanasinia and Solamnia.  There is no Inn like in Solace, but there appears to be a tavern with stable where you can probably stay the night.  About a mile distant from the village you can see a fortified Keep up on a hill.  It too has a visible light in one of the tower windows.  Definitely of Solamnic design.

A good number of the villagers are at the tavern, and you get quite a stare when you walk in.  They probably don’t get many visitors, this far off the main road.  After ordering a meal though, they seem friendly enough.

If the PC’s are willing to share news from Solace they can learn any number of the following:
“_Oh no, can’t be bothered fightin’ off gobbies.  They don’t bother us back here in the hills.  They haven’t raided this valley in almost ten years.  Let the Knights from Haven deal with it.  They like fightin’ and such._”

_“Oh, the Barovik family owns the Keep.  Lived up there for generations, they have.  Lord Crassus is up there right now.  He’s getting’ a little older, but he’s never married, so it’s just a fort for him and his men-at-arms.  Not a home, really.”

“No, no other Baroviks live in the area.  Crassus had a younger brother, Laurel, but Laurel didn’t stick around.  He went out, adventurin’, came back with a pretty wife, and then left agin’ some ten years ago or so.  He went to Haven, I think, but no one’s really sure.  We miss him though, he sure was fun.  Crassus is ok, but he’s dour, ya know?”

“Oh, Lord Crassus is a reverent man.  He hasn’t been down to the church for services in some few years, but as a young man he gave moving sermons about duty, and loyalty, and such things.  He inherited quite a library of holy texts and such along with the Keep, and has read most of them, I think.  We can still here bells and such from the Keep on holy days, both the Seeker Church holidays, and some of the old gods.”

“Sure, you can visit the Keep.  Travelers are always welcome up there.  Lord Crassus is just as eager to hear news from outside as anyone.  Ol’ Crassus always has a good table set, and sees you off in the morning to Haven, or wherever you’re going.”_

The Witch
Ursula, an old woman, lives in the village.  She makes herbal remedies, brews healing draughts, and makes fetishes of good luck and other types.  When Ursula walks into the tavern for a nip of tea, she sees the PCs and suddenly goes rigid and her eyes roll up in her head. “_Night falls! You pass into the shadow, and the only way out is through the depths of darkness and cold!  Beware the lake!_”  She collapses, and is only revived a minute or so later with the assistance of the other villagers.  “_Why am I on the floor?  Did I fall asleep in the tavern?_”  She has no memory of the words.  The tavern keeper Gus takes you aside “_Think nothing of it.  She does that occasionally, and it always sounds bad.  Nothin’ ever comes of it though._”  Despite the tavern keeper’s opinion, the mood is less welcoming in the tavern.  A good third of the villagers won’t look you in the eye.  You hear a mutter “_I don’t want no cursed folks stayin’ in the village._”, but when you turn around, no one seems to want to admit being the speaker.

[If the PCs don’t get the idea to leave on their own, the tavern keeper will ask them to seek lodging at the Keep – just to avoid any trouble.]

The woods are dark, and quite chill.  Although the spring sun warms the day, it feels like winter again when it goes down.  The bits of snow on the ground look bloody in Lunitari’s light.  Solinari is nowhere to be seen, and wolves howl in the distance.  The watch beacon on the Keep’s highest tower beckons.

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Some DM Only Information 

The brothers Barovik both had powerful personalities, but they were as night and day.  Laurel could bring a smile to even the most dour face, and always made you feel better.  Crassus never laughed, and his mien brought sober and brooding thoughts to even the most lively of occasions.  Only Talia, Laurel’s bride, could bring a smile to Crassus’ lined face.

10 years ago, the Goblin Pact was made:  “Do not raid my village, and I will grant you sanctuary in the catacombs beneath my family Keep.  Bring me onyx stones from the mines in your hills, and I will tell you how to avoid the Solamnic’s patrols.  To seal our bargain, you shall bring me one prisoner, taken from the road, each spring, and tonight I shall give you …my brother.”

Lord Crassus Et Barovik, human Strong-2, Charismatic (Wild Adept)-3
Spells: among others, _Create Undead_

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No, my PC has never read or played the original Ravenloft module.  Why do you ask?


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