Fireshear

Давным давно метеорит упал и образовал кратер в ледяной тундре около побережья Бесследного Моря, срывая покров тонн камня и открывая богатые жилы медной и серебряной руды. В последующие годы рядом поселились шахтеры, основав город Огненный Срез. Шахтеры работают на консорциум из трех союзных торговых компаний: Дом Хаммавер (базирующийся в Мирабаре), Серебряный Треугольник (из Невервинтера) и Копатели Щебня (из Глубоководья). Поселение состоит из приземистых каменных строений, напоминающих иглу, их форма хорошо держит вес снега и уберегает от холодных ветров. Большинство домов вырублены из камня и в большинстве есть подвал с припасами. Шахтеры Огненного Среза живут здесь весь год. Спуски вырубленные в скалах ведут к берегу, там где каменные доки выступают в мелководную бухту, которая замерзает поздней осенью и не тает до раннего лета. Огненный Срез импортирует большинство своей еды, одежды и других предметов обихода. Рыбалка на льду это популярный досуг среди детей, но все работоспособные взрослые должны трудиться в шахтах. В городе есть три лидера, которые составляют правящий триумвират, который устанавливает правила торговли с представителями других поселений и распределяет припасы среди населения. Каждый член триумвирата - это представитель одной из компаний основательниц города. Члены триумвирата занимают свою должность свю жизнь или до отставки, известно, что они берут взятки и семьи, которые платят им монетами или рудой, получают припасы хорошего качества или в большем количестве. Сейчас в триумвирате Таркус Громм (НЗ мужчина щитовой дварф головорез) от Дома Хаммавер; Дарва (НД женщина драконорожденная маг) от Сребряного Треугольника; и Заларон Даска (Н мужчина Тетирианец ветеран) от Копателей Щебня. В Огненном Срезе так же живет отставной цивилар (капитан) Кавалерии Грифона из Глубоководья и член Изумрудного Анклава по имени Дашарра Келдабар (ЗД женщина щитовой дварф ветеран [veteran]). Она живет к северу от города в по большей части подземной лачуге, в уступе, который смотрит на море. Местные знают, что Дашарра воспитывает грифонов, тренирует их как ездовых животных и обучает людей тому, как ими управлять. Грифоны живут в низеньком грубом деревянном укрытии рядом с ее домом. В любое время в попечении Дашарры находятся 1к4+6 взрослых грифонов и 1к4 яиц грифоов. Дашарра наняла шестерых наемников Жентарима (Н мужчины и женщины Тетирианцы ветераны) в охранники трое из которых охраняют ферму снаружи, а остальные отдыхают в тесном чердаке над стойлами грифонов. Если один или несколько персонажей состоят в Изумрудном Анклаве, то искатели приключений могут легко убедить Дашарру помочь им долететь до Сварборга, Лин Армаала или в любое другое место в паре сотен миль от Огненного Среза. В другом случае они должны оплатить ее услуги. Она берет по 250 зм с человека за тренировку и еще по 25 зм с человека за день путешествия. Персонажи, которые хотят обучиться, проходят три дня усердных тренировок, после которых они могут управляться с грифоном. Каждый грифон может унести одного Среднего всадника или двух Маленьких (вместе с доспехами и снаряжением), и у Дашарры есть седла и поводья для всадников любого размера. "Альфа грифон" Дашарры, Крикун, не позволяет никому кромее нее управлять собой. Другие грифоны Дашарры обучены следовать за Крикуном куда бы он не полетел, и их нельзя сбить с пути ничем, кроме магических чар. Предлагаемое столкновение Через три дня после того, как персонажи прибывают в Огненный Срез, огромная ладья морозных гигантов с крыльями белого дракона в качестве парусов и бивнями мамонта приделанными к носу, появляется из плотного тумана, окружающего побережье. Огромная ладья (смотри врезку "Свардборг; Общие Свойства" в главе 7, "Айсберг Морозных Гигантов") прорезает путь сквозь ледяной наст на мелководной бухте, медленно приближается и вгрызается в берег пока не останавливается. На борту ладьи двадцать морозных гигантов. Двендцать перепрыгивают через борты и идут по льду или по пояс в холодной воде, готовые к разбою и грабежу. Оставшиеся восемь гигантов не покидают ладью. Пока жители города отступают в шахты или бегут в тундру, разбойники гиганты рассредотачиваются, позволяя персонажам разбираться лишь с двумя или тремя за раз. Дашарра обеспечивает поддержку с воздуха, атакуя гигантов с расстояния своим тяжелым арбалетом сидя на грифоне. Если шестеро или больше гигантов падут в бою, то остальные отступают на корабль. Если их не беспокоить, то выжившие морозные гиганты (включая тех, кто не участвовал в первом нападении) перегруппировываются и начинают вторую атаку 1к4+1 час спустя, и в этот раз нападают все. Рэйд морозных гигантов произойдет независимо от того, останутся персонажи в городе или нет. Если они не присутствуют в городе, то защитить людей некому и морозные гиганты заставляют сотни жителей укрыться в шахтах. Гиганты сваливают булыжники у входов в шахты, чтобы жители не смогли выбраться, а потом грабят город. Жители, которые сбежали в тундру, возвращаются через 2к6 часов и видят, что их дома разрушены а припасы пропали. Гиганты не обращают внимания на пещеру Дашарры на севере города. Сокровища У каждого гиганта с собой мешок с 1к4 обычными вещами (сделайте бросок по таблице Содержимое Сумки Гиганта во вступлении). На огромной ладье есть незакрытый деревянный сундук, крышка которого примерзла намертво. Чтобы ее открыть надо нанести 5 или больше урона. Сундук содержит 1500 см, 450 зм и 1к3 магических вещей, определяемых броском по Таблице Магических Предметов С в главе 7 Руководства Мастера Подземелий. Джерело: <http://notabenoid.org/book/65559/332585?Orig_page=11> Long ago, a meteor strike blasted a crater in the frozen tundra near the coast of the Trackless Sea, shearing away tons of rock and exposing rich veins of copper and silver ore. In the years that followed, miners set¬tled nearby, giving rise to the town of Fireshear. The miners work for a consortium of three allied merchant companies: Hammaver House (based in Mirabar), the Silver Triangle (based in Neverwinter), and the Delvers of Brokenstone (based in Waterdeep). The settlement is made up of squat stone structures that resemble igloos, their domes good at supporting the weight of snow and deflecting the cold wind. Most homes are dug out of the rock and include deep cellars laden with preserves. The miners of Fireshear dwell here all year. Ramps carved into the cliffs lead down to the shore, where stone docks protrude into a shallow bay that freezes by late fall and doesn’t thaw until early summer. Fireshear imports most of its food, clothing, and other necessities. Ice fishing is a popular pastime among children, but all able-bodied adults are expected to toil in the mines. The town has three leaders, who form a ruling trium-virate that handles trade negotiations with representa-tives of other settlements and disperses supplies among the townsfolk. Each member is a representative of one of the town's founding companies. Triumvirate members serve for life or until they resign, and they are known to take bribes, rewarding families who pay them in coin or precious ore with supplies of higher quality or in greater quantity. The current members are Tharkus Gromm (NE male shield dwarf thug) of Hammaver House; Darva (NG female dragonborn mage) of the Silver Tri-angle; and Zalaron Daska (N male Tethyrian human veteran) of the Delvers of Brokenstone. Fireshear is also home to a retired civilar (captain) of Waterdeep's Griffon Cavalry and a member of the Emerald Enclave named Dasharra Keldabar (LG fe¬male shield dwarf veteran). She lives north of town, in a mostly underground hovel on a ridge that overlooks the sea. Locals know that Dasharra raises griffons, trains them as mounts, and teaches people how to ride them. The griffons are kept in a low, sturdy wooden shelter next to her home. At any time, Dasharra has ld4 + 6 adult griffons and ld4 griffon eggs in her care. Dasharra employs six Zhentarim mercenaries (N male and female Tethyrian human veterans) as guards, three MAP 3.4: FLINT ROCK of whom stand watch outside the griffon pens while the others rest in a cramped loft above the griffons’ stalls. If one or more characters are members of the Em¬erald Enclave, the adventurers can easily convince Dasharra to help them fly to Svardborg, Lyn Armaal, or some other destination within a few hundred miles of Fireshear. Otherwise, they must pay for her services. She charges 250 gp per person for training and another 25 gp per person per day of travel. Characters who want to be trained must undergo three days of intense lessons, after which they know enough about griffon riding to control their mounts. Each griffon is able to carry one Medium rider or two Small riders (along with their armor and portable gear), and Dasharra has sad¬dles and reins sized for both Small and Medium riders. Dasharra’s “alpha griffon,” Screecher, allows no one but her to ride it. Dasharra’s other griffons are trained to fol¬low Screecher wherever it goes and can’t be coaxed into veering off course unless they are magically charmed. SUGGESTED ENCOUNTER Three days after the characters arrive in Fireshear, a frost giant greatship with white dragon wings for sails and mammoth tusks lashed to its bow emerges from the thick fog shrouding the coastline. The greatship (see the “Svardborg: General Features” sidebar in chapter 7, “Berg of the Frost Giants”) cuts a swath through the icy crust over the shallow bay as it approaches and slowly grinds to a dead stop. The ship carries twenty frost gi¬ants. Twelve of them leap over the sides, walking across ice or wading through frigid waist-deep water toward the docks, eager to raid and pillage. The remaining eight frost giants remain aboard the ship. As townsfolk retreat to the mines or flee across the open tundra, the raiding giants fan out, allowing charac¬ters to take on two or three of them at a time. Dasharra provides aerial support, attacking giants at range with her heavy crossbow while mounted atop her griffon. If six or more frost giants fall in battle, the rest retreat to their ship. Left alone, the surviving frost giants (includ¬ing those that didn’t participate in the initial assault) regroup and launch a second attack ld4 + 1 hours later, this time leaving no giant behind. The frost giant raid occurs whether the characters remain in town or not. If the characters aren’t present to defend the town, the frost giant raiders force hundreds of townsfolk to take refuge in the mines. The giants pile boulders in front of the mine entrances to trap the townsfolk inside, then loot the town. Townsfolk who fled into the tundra rather than hide in the mines return 2d6 hours later to find their homes reduced to rubble and their supplies gone. The giants pay no mind to Dasharra’s hovel north of town. TREASURE Each giant carries a sack containing ld4 mundane items (roll on the Items in a Giant’s Bag table in the introduction). Aboard the greatship is an unlocked wooden chest, its lid frozen shut. Dealing 5 damage or more to the lid forces it open. The chest contains 1,500 sp, 450 gp, and ld3 magic items, determined by rolling on Magic Item Table C in chapter 7 of the Dungeon Mas¬ter's Guide. Fireshear The city of Fireshear is the northernmost port along the Sword Coast, known as the point of departure for caravans that take Ten Trail north to Icewind Dale. Travelers that approach Fireshear by sea can take in the city in a glance: a small central district of large stone buildings ascends from the docks, surrounded by a vast sprawl of crude tenements. At the city’s far edge is the entrance to Fireshear Vale-a rift in the land that terminates at a great crater, its walls black¬ened by fire. Sages have argued over what created the crater-whether it was formed in a volcanic erup¬tion or by a star that fell from the heavens-but the violent episode sheared away the ground, revealing the rich copper and silver veins beneath and giving the valley (and later, the neighboring city) its name. Not all visitors to Fireshear arrive on a ship. Many travel here from Ten-Towns or the smaller surround¬ing communities such as Auckney and Hundelstone, looking for steady work. Merchants and laborers came here frequently from Luskan before that city descended into chaos. Now, the coastal road from Luskan to Fireshear is plagued by monsters and ban¬dits, and the ferry across the Iceflow River no longer runs, forcing overland travelers to ford the treacher¬ous waters. Regardless of the point of origin, almost everyone who comes to Fireshear arrives for the same reason-to work in its mines. The city is ruled by a merchant triumvirate, who represent the interests of Mirabar, Neverwinter, and Waterdeep. The triumvirate sends agents to cities and towns along the Sword Coast North, recruit¬ing laborers to work in the mines by luring them with the promise of steady wages plus room and board. For farmsteaders accustomed to scratching an existence out of the soil, the offer brings with it the chance to make more coin in a season than they might otherwise see in a lifetime, so the city main¬tains the steady influx of fresh labor necessary to drive the relentless pace of its mining operations. The work in the mines is back-breaking, and turn-over is high; many miners work only a handful of seasons before being replaced. Since hired laborers make up over two-thirds of Fireshear’s population of about fifteen thousand, most of the city’s inhabit¬ants have lived there only a few years and don’t really think of it as their home. This attitude contributes not only to the temporary nature of much of the city’s housing but to illicit activity that would meet with censure in a more established community. The ruling merchants do their best to maintain a modi¬cum of law and order, but they are more interested in their profit margins than in the city’s welfare, so to a large degree lawless behavior is tolerated. Visitors spend much of their time in the central district, referred to by locals as “the Vaults” for the two stronghouses there, where miners draw their salaries and deposit their hard-earned coin. The district is home to the Hall of the Triumvirate, a great stone edi¬fice where the merchant lords keep their offices and conduct city business. Nearby are some of Fireshear’s best establishments, including the Green Garden res¬taurant and a tavern called the Singing Manticore. Visitors looking for a livelier scene can go to the Drunken Dwarf, a tavern near the tenements, where many of the mining foremen drink and one can get a sense for the pulse of the city. (In fact, a few of the regulars are informants employed by the Triumvirate to ferret out corrupt foremen and pass along word of any strikes or uprisings planned by the miners.) Many visitors are surprised to learn that, despite the size of the city, Fireshear has no inns, just a single guest house, wryly called “the Cells” by locals. It is a building of sparse accommodations where visitors are watched and handled by agents of the triumvirate, who carefully guard against any rival organizations such as the Zhentarim or the Shadow Thieves of Amn gaining a foothold in the city. Fireshear The city of Fireshear is the northernmost port along the Sword Coast, known as the point of departure for caravans that take Ten Trail north to Icewind Dale. Travelers that approach Fireshear by sea can take in the city in a glance: a small central district of large stone buildings ascends from the docks, surrounded by a vast sprawl of crude tenements. At the city's far edge is the entrance to Fireshear Vale - a rift in the land that terminates at a great crater, its walls blackened by fire. Sages have argued over what created the crater - whether it was formed in a volcanic eruption or by a star that fell from the heavens - but the violent episode sheared away the ground, revealing the rich copper and silver veins beneath and giving the valley (and later, the neighboring city) its name. Not all visitors to Fireshear arrive on a ship. Many travel here from Ten-Towns or the smaller surrounding communities such as Auckney and Hundelstone, looking for steady work. Merchants and laborers came here frequently from Luskan before that city descended into chaos. Now, the coastal road from Luskan to Fireshear is plagued by monsters and bandits, and the ferry across the Iceflow River no longer runs, forcing overland travelers to ford the treacherous waters. Regardless of the point of origin, almost everyone who comes to Fireshear arrives for the same reason - to work in its mines. The city is ruled by a merchant triumvirate, who represent the interests of Mirabar, Neverwinter, and Waterdeep. The triumvirate sends agents to cities and towns along the Sword Coast North, recruiting laborers to work in the mines by luring them with the promise of steady wages plus room and board. For farmsteaders accustomed to scratching an existence out of the soil, the offer brings with it the chance to make more coin in a season than they might otherwise see in a lifetime, so the city maintains the steady influx of fresh labor necessary to drive the relentless pace of its mining operations. The work in the mines is back-breaking, and turnover is high; many miners work only a handful of seasons before being replaced. Since hired laborers make up over two-thirds of Fireshear's population of about fifteen thousand, most of the city's inhabitants have lived there only a few years and don't really think of it as their home. This attitude contributes not only to the temporary nature of much of the city's housing but to illicit activity that would meet with censure in a more established community. The ruling merchants do their best to maintain a modicum of law and order, but they are more interested in their profit margins than in the city's welfare, so to a large degree lawless behavior is tolerated. Visitors spend much of their time in the central district, referred to by locals as "the Vaults" for the two stronghouses there, where miners draw their salaries and deposit their hard-earned coin. The district is home to the Hall of the Triumvirate, a great stone edifice where the merchant lords keep their offices and conduct city business. Nearby are some of Fireshear's best establishments, including the Green Garden restaurant and a tavern called the Singing Manticore. Visitors looking for a livelier scene can go to the Drunken Dwarf, a tavern near the tenements, where many of the mining foremen drink and one can get a sense for the pulse of the city. (In fact, a few of the regulars are informants employed by the Triumvirate to ferret out corrupt foremen and pass along word of any strikes or uprisings planned by the miners.) Many visitors are surprised to learn that, despite the size of the city, Fireshear has no inns, just a single guest house, wryly called "the Cells" by locals. It is a building of sparse accommodations where visitors are watched and handled by agents of the triumvirate, who carefully guard against any rival organizations such as the Zhentarim or the Shadow Thieves of Amn gaining a foothold in the city.