The Desert Caravan
The caravan of the Desert Crows arrives in the village of Schwarzstein on its way through the Anderfels. Its destination: the region's capital Vol Dorma. Its goal: guiding civilians safely through the darkspawn-ridden desert - for a price.
Along the way many secrets can be discovered in the villages of Schwarzstein and Hemstetten. A variety of characters travelling with the caravan and residing in these remote towns can be encountered - and maybe some of their dark secrets can be revealed and dangerous situations resolved.
Plot points/Scenes
The detailed summaries of the events of this adventure:
01: Beginnings
02: Strange Sightings
03: Conspiracy Theories
04: A Missing Puzzle Piece
05: There is only one thing worse than a ghoul
06: Chaos and Decisions
07: Past Regrets
To Be Continued
Structure
Exposition
The protagonists meet in the desert town of Schwarzstein - after a first short quest and scenes to introduce them all. They get to know some of the town's inhabitants and quickly become friendly with one of the town's families, who wants to leave their home behind and travel to Vol Dorma with the Desert Crows as well.
The group is introduced to the way of life in the Anderfels region of Tevinter, and the hardships remote towns like Schwarzstein have to face. Eventually they also come across a first lead of strange events currently taking place in the town.
Conflict
After an investigation of the town's mines it becomes clear that the family the group became friends with seems to be hiding a potentially dangerous secret - which might be the reason for why they want to leave. It takes some effort though to piece all the information together, and only once the group has left the village (a little better then how they found it... maybe), everything falls into place.
Rising Action
The journey through the desert is dangerous, and the caravan gets caught in a darkspawn ambush - also, the family's secret is revealed. They get some answers - but their findings also lead to a variety of new questions, as the events in Schwarzstein and the things that happened to the family seem to be part of a bigger conspiracy.
For now though the journey to the next destination, Hemstetten, continues. The former strangers that are now travelling together start to grow closer after these shared experiences. And they also get to know the members of the Desert Crows a little better, and it seems like their past is going to play a part in the final stretches of the journey.
Climax
The caravan arrives in Hemstetten - and finds it occupied by a rival mercenary group, the Nightbrand Legion. The private army of Vol Dorma's Magister Adrialla Vortas is also at the scene, urging the caravan to turn around, as they can't be sure that the town is safe. Due to the Nighbrand Legions dangerous reputation and past experiences, the Desert Crows turn around - but the party wants to investigate what is truly going on behind the walls, and posing as normal travellers without ulterior motives they are allowed into the town.
Components
Goals
The caravan travels through the desert for about two weeks, resting in Schwarzstein and Hemstetten for a day respectively.
On the road there's several threats and obstacles to overcome, from general awkwardness of travelling (and bunking) with strangers in tiny tents, the heat of the desert, and the very real darkspawn threat.
Some of the other travellers in the caravan have some secrets that could negatively affect the journey as well. The two villages encountered also offer a lot to discover, people, places, secrets, corruption, and dangers await!
The main goal: survive this trip and don't get into too much trouble along the way - and uncover some secrets.
Relations
Allies
- The Desert Crows; temporary employers of Mira and Maxfield and taking the group to Vol Dorma with their caravan
- Vania and her family; the group helped her to leave Schwarzstein and keeps her secrets save
Neutrals/Bystanders
- Calvis; the Proconsul of Schwarzstein wasn't too fond of the group prying into the town's business and didn't want to take responsibilities, should something happen to them; in the end though he paid them a small reward for their efforts and bringing the fate of the adventurers that had disappeared as well as the weird events in the mines to his attention.
- Detlef, Hager, and Julia; the owner of the "Golden Sun", the town's blacksmith, and the owner of the "Everything and Nothing" respectively gave some insight on the occurences in the town - more or less; Julia put the group on the trail of the disappeared adventurers, and Hager unwillingly helped seal the mines again (after the party had broken the lock) as they stole a new lock from his shop
- Jonas; the caretaker of Schwarzstein's temple shed some light on the Desert Crows' shifty reputation as well as the people's attitude towards the gods in these times; the party tried to convince him to leave the town with them, as in the long run he probably has no future here; in the end though he decided to stay, continuing his duties for the time being
- Guard Captain Aeris; the skilled soldier could also give the party some hints about the strange sightings and occurences in the mines, but he advised against them investigating on their own; when they returned with new information though he promised to inform the Proconsul, so that they would be rewarded for their efforts
- Korinne & Thea; the two old ladies had joined the caravan in one of the villages before Schwarzstein, and Claudia had been assigned to the same tent as them; it turned out that they knew Hulda and hadn't seen her in ages; the party thinks that they are definitely spies of some description
Adversaries
- The adventurers; the two adventuers that had gone missing turned out to have turned into animated corpses; they attacked the party during their investigation of the mines, as Junius disturbed their shallow grave; it later was revealed that there was more to them than what the group originally thought
- darkspawn; already in Schwarzstein the group could find hints in the mines related to darkspawn activity, and during their journey through the desert after leaving Schwarzstein they had to face an ambush of the creatures at night
- Brigid; another old lady that Claudia shares a tent with; she accused her of stealing her expensive medallion shortly before the caravan had arrived in Schwarzstein, and in general is a terrible travel companion
Plot type
Adventure
Parent Plot
Related Characters
Related Organizations
Related Locations
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