Shadow on the Borderlands I, II, & III KotB & CoC (My party is back on track thanks to current events prompting use of Roll20.) PART I The party began their adventure as local residents, normal humans spending their last dime on drink at the local tavern. Some common villagers. The Keep itself, like the realm around it is in disarray due to wide-scale war in the land with the corrupt Overlord of the city-state of Lankmar being the only think standing in the way of an unholy alliance between The Worshipers of Set to the south, and the murderous Wildmen of the North. To add insult to injury, worshipers of the snake-god bring with them plague & pestilence from the south. Further aggravating the situation and crippling the famed castle on the edge of nowhere; the local populace has become addicted to the powerful narcotic, the Black Lotus. Wandering through the Keep they meet the locals who exhibit the signs of Lotus opiate addiction, and lament about raiding Kobolds kidnapping the children of a drug dazed populace under the constant threat of war. This ragtag bunch attempted a foray into the Kobold Cave, recently dug-out right below the walls of the Keep, directly under the noses of the local inhabitants. Alas, they were ambushed by the adventurer-wary reptile like dog-men hiding atop of scrub-trees killing a brave, yet inexperienced young man who thought himself a warrior. Two other brave souls scouted ahead into the cave, now wise to the tricks of Kobolds, yet not wise enough and fell nearly to their deaths into a covered pit trap. If only they had died for they were never rescued and instead suffered a lingering death. Kobold Skirmisher, front line fighters for the clan. Those that avoided the trap (due to prudent judgement) found themselves in a fire-fight with kobolds armed with bows and arrows. It is here where the valiant Rockthorn fell after killing one of the child napping beasts... only for he himself to be brought down by a distant kobold firing from the darkness. The brave party members that remained rushed the monster, dodging arrows in the dark as they ran. It was a flame-brand torch that killed the beast, a blow to the head setting his soft bits a flame. Rummaging through the pockets of the kobolds they found mere pennies and a KEY! Would this key reveal treasure chests and gold of their wildest dreams? Hardly, for the key merely unlocked a storeroom, a storeroom of moldy, old kobold goods. The other survivors limped back to the Keep, arrow points still imbedded in flesh, dragging the body of a comrade behind them and contacting the priest of the local chapel who aided them for... a fee. PART II "You must go back. Kill their leader. Rescue any children that remain there." the priest stated point-blankly. “I offer you the only assistance I have: A magic spellbook containing the spell Continuous Missile and this bag of tinkerer tools.” A middle-aged man took the tools feeling they could come into good use. A younger woman took the spellbook and read it where she was immediately surrounded by a violet light and bequeathed with the knowledge of this offensive arcane attack. They agreed, and desperate for assistance they approached the local leader, a no non-sense aged military man, known for full coffers yet tight purse-strings. Reluctantly, he offered torches, and a local man-at-arms of the Rockthorn clan. Rest in peace. May those kobolds rot. "Aaaaghhhh!" a scream is heard from the chapel. The doors are jammed shut. One of the villagers, a strong woman of healthy rearing shouldered the door with all her might, the doors bursting open revealed, crumpled on the floor, their recent friend- The priest, dead, stabbed through the gullet. But wait what is this? The priest wears a necklace with a medallion fashioned into the symbol of Set! Chapel on the Borderlands The party could not understand how this man had died nor why is the local clergyman donning the fashions of a serpent cult. An astute and perceptive member of the party spotted some scrape marks on the floor tiles near the altar. With minimal strength needed, another party member pivoted the altar revealing a staircase down into the darkness. At first apprehensive, the members gingerly and quietly, crept down the stairs ready for a fight. Instead, to their surprise they found themselves in the moldy old storeroom of the wee beasties themselves! Quietly, they opened the door or so they thought for they were immediately greeted by a hail of arrows by an awaiting squad of aggressive dog-men. But the gentleman leading the foray had some hate of his own to spit back, the man had lifted a bow & arrow that had been regulated to the position of a wall decor at the local tavern! Firing back he shot a direct hit into the darkness, the shot pierced the kobold’s eye and sunk into the tiny brain of the creature killing it. The young woman, and newest member of an ancient school of magic ran forward until a thrown torch revealed the archer, a wily black lizard-dog, gleefully shooting in the hopes of slaying a hughmahn. And wily he was, dodging arrows and shrugging off magic like a wet dog would water. But every dog has its day-its day to die. With a flash of violet light from the fingers of the user of magic and an accompanying yelp and he was dead. Weakened again by another battle, the party was weary of opening the last door which they knew MUST contain the leader of the cave and the lost children. They had no choice but to return to the surface.... and plan. PART III The surviving members, the son of an adventuring couple; a middle-aged man with a bag of tools and a stolen bow, a stout woman with a newly acquired two-handed sword (and she knew how to use it) sought allies in the disparaging, poverty stricken Keep. Yet the Keep’s manpower had been greatly depleted by the war with some men packing their thickest furs and heading north to face the Wildmen head on, while others still traveled south to the jungle lands of the serpent cult doomed to die from the effects of some yet to be discovered disease. Due to this depletion of manpower their only recruits was the daughter of a local blacksmith “borrowing” her father’s hammer and a baker woman armed with but a rolling pin. The party took what they could get and returned to the chapel, moved the altar and descended the staircase into the dark realm of kobolds. Here they found the once heavily guarded hall deserted. Rumor had it that kobolds were picking up their whelplings and hightailing out of the cave, demoralized by the continuous incursions of hughmahns into their home. The party quietly approached the door. It was the blacksmith’s daughter who brought down the hammer on the handle and accompanying locking mechanism. With one smash of the hammer it was enough to splinter the door revealing a sight not meant for the eyes of the common man. Goblin Cultist There in the middle of the room, engaged in some unholy ritual, stood no kobold but a great oversized goblin armed with a ceremonial dagger and there at his feet were the children of the Keep, submitting to the monster as though captivated merely by his presence. A fight ensued. But instead of rescuing the children the party found themselves on the receiving end of an assault from the very children they came to rescue! Gahbolds, monster babies created by a Goblin Cultist of Set But these were no longer the offspring of local farmers and merchants, no these children appeared as tiny demons with bulging eyes and flesh-rending teeth. It was the hammer blows of the blacksmith’s daughter that ruled the day, smashing a monster-child’s skull, the stout woman used her flame-brand torch yet again with great success killing another, and yet another with a well placed kick. Truly a warrior she was that day. It was the skilled man who prudently used his heirloom rope from his adventuring parents that subdued the goblin that allowed the final blow of a worker’s hammer to end his days. The goblin’s body was looted revealing to the horror of the party finding ANOTHER symbol of Set! One child survived and was brought to the surface with promises of cakes and cookies. What dark connection ties the dead? The priest? The goblin? The party has questions, and plan on asking the local goblins what they know, and the goblins will answer; with promises of pie... or sword-points.
