Mission 1 The Journey to Agrimor’s Stronghold

Adventure Team Grimm wraps up their business in Lamborginus and are charged with transporting a mysterious but powerful magic orb to the PACT Headquarters. Agrimor’s Stronghold is in the Tellenor Mountains and they are still five days out. They will stop at the City of Vetren to rest and plan their next move. They have rented a Carriage and four horses in Lamborginus from the stables. This carriage must be delivered to the companies counterpart in Tellenor, the Equine and Shine transportation company.
Things have not gone smoothly, unfortunately, and they have been beset by thieves from the Diligent Corbomites who are after the orb. Another complication is the kobold Vom Fass, who’s wild magic abilities seem to create an unstable environment around the orb leading to unpredicable results. A large explosion has rent the containment box around the orb and it is now exposed to the elements. After the battle has ended Mew got a call from Head Office. “Lady Mew, please deliver the orb directly to Head Office. your Cartographer will have the destination, you may respond to this message” Trusilla Fane was on the other end and says “The orb is more unpredictable than we had anticipated we need to get it into containment immediately, Fane out” [Keep in mind that the orb and the box sputter with arcane energy from time to time. Without Vom Fass to give it too much power due to his wild magic spells it won’t roll on the surge table. Just his prescence though creates a bit of a light show from time to time.]

Plot points/Scenes

On the Road Encounter One

As you travel down the road for a few hours on your rented carriage in the middle of a warm summer night everything goes pretty well. Around 3 am with the horses of the carriage getting tired and hungry you start to look for a place to rest or even camp for the night. Mew even your black horse is getting winded, he look back at you and blinks and nods. You hear the sounds of rushing water and notice a small bridge up ahead going over a small river. Whoever is in front give me a perception check. DC 16. Notice movement. After a few moments as you approach the bridge a Halfling man springs out from some brush and says “Stop, please stop! They will hear you!” In a harsh whisper. Whoever is in the back of the carriage or Mew give me perception check DC 18 . [A success reveals a dark figure on horseback in the woods about 150 feet away on your side of the river.
An arrow zips towards Mew. [Roll to hit]. You are not sure what direction it came from. Whoever is in the back of the carriage an arrow is fired towards you as well coming from behind. What would you like to do?
As the orcs emerge from behind, two on foot and two on Bargests we roll initiative. [As the players come up with a plan, note that five more orcs are on the other side of the bridge. The idea is to push the party to travel across the bridge and sandwich them inbetween. Once the battle is met don’t forget to roll on the new spell surge table from the magical energies of the Orb. The enemies are led by a Red Fang Orc of Shaarga. They can see even in Magical darkness to counter Cog. There are six normal orcs there as well. Three of which will attack at range. The Red Fang will stand at the edge of the bridge with his two most trusted melee orcs.
The bridge is a constructed from old timber mostly 6” planks nailed or tied together and is about 10 feet wide and 40 feet long. The drop to the water is thirty feet. The players should try to maintain the structural integrity of the quite flammable bridge and try to protect their carriage and horses. There are also three civilians involved the Halfling man and his wife plus their small child.
[Halfling family : Bladin Toeflop, his wife Yaddle, and his 5 yr old son Anton. They were fleeing from the orcs and were able to hide for two hours before the adventure team got there.] After the battle the players can question the Halfling farmers and find out how they got into this situation. “We left Vetren, I had a small farm there that I had inherited from my father. It didn’t do well. I had to ask for loans many times from the Viscount and other business leaders. Eventually they all stopped helping, They said Elekos wouldn’t let them.”
“Eventually I decided to take my wife and son and move up to Lamborginus. I have some cobbling skills I could put to good use there.”

As the players get closer to Vetren they begin to hear rumors of the Cleric of Eigeralon that is stationed there. They consistently warn the players to not ask too many questions and to not cross him.

As you approach the lanterns and buildings of the city of Vetren around dawn you see that it is a city in name only. Maybe a century ago it was a lot bigger but today it is just a large town. You can see an inn in the center of town and a larger mansion but most of the houses are fairly modest and one floor. The first building you come across is the stable and inn. [E4 - Velonos Stable and Inn - Run by Caber Cabelos stable master. Inn is run by Rally Thung a half elven woman. Hired help is Yanus Grobel, A young dwarven teen and Zane a Halfling boy.]. The stable master ambles out and introduces himself. "Ho travelers, my name is Caber Cabelos welcome to town. What can I do for you?" You can get rooms here for the day or night or you can head into town further and check out the Puntlemen's Inn. As you head into town the main businesses are up and running. The smithy hammers away and several farmers are leading wagons into town for supplies or to sell some excess grain. You see some other travelers as well. A monk of the Fifth Element catches your eye in her red and black vestments. Is there anything you want to do?

City of Vetren encounter

Blizzard Hops -
Elekos Sineater walks into the bar you are drinking at. The first thing you notice is the bartender standing a little straighter and he grabs a rag and begins to clean glasses. The man and woman to your right put their ales down and fidget with their cloth napkins. The other man at the bar lets out a long breath and looks directly into his mug. A man in shiny plate mail armor and the tabard of a Cleric of Eigeralon walks into the room and looks around. First you hear him say “Jonas, I believe I told you to watch your drinking.” The man at the bar, apparently Jonas looks ashamedly at his ale and says “Yessir, I should probably take a break.” The Cleric walks past him and with a low voice says “please see yourself to the stocks for the rest of the night.” Jonas gets up hurriedly and walks out of the bar and says quickly “ On my way Elekos.” As he gets closer to you Blizzard Hops, he stops a few feet behind your back and you feel his glare. “You sir, what deity do you belong to?” As you turn and stand up he arches an eyebrow. “Ho, a fellow member of the protectorate, what area are you assigned to?” “Tellenor.” “And yet you sit at a dirty tavern in Vetren and attempt to fulfill your duty?” And a half breed at that. I’m afraid I‘m going to have to challenge you to a Righteous Trial, follow me.”
If Hops refuses Elekos will attempt to punch him in the mouth. The idea is to have a hammer one on one throw down without using spells. See if Hops wins or loses. A righteous Trial is a long standing tradition in the Eigeralon Municipal Protectorate to keep fellow clerics in line. Once clerics are assigned areas the Elders at EMP assume you are going to do your job as you see fit. There are no real rules outside of helping others and keeping the peace. If you renounce your duties another cleric will be assigned to your location. The rules are simple. No armor, No Spells. Fight until one of you goes down. The victor wins the argument.
Karnak -
An older man, a tanner, walks up to Karnak at some point and asks him “Are ye a Druid? Can I ask your advice on something?” “Me daughter ran off a couple years back out west. She came back to visit two weeks ago. In the middle of the night I awoke and she had walked off. I followed and after a few moments what I saw was terrifying. She changed. She changed into bear like creature and roared into the moon light. I ran back home and barricaded myself in my room. In the morning she was up and had breakfast as if nothing had happened. “Ye turn into animals from time to time, don’t cha? Is she like you?”

Mew -
Do a perception check DC 18 - On a success you notice a man in leather armor look at Cog and Vom Fass and whisper into his sleeve. He then moves behind a building. [DM note: This man is a low level operative who is working with Helleficks Kristalinn. As far as he knows the charming elf is creating a company that will send adventuring parties out to collect artifacts. He was given a bracelet by the elf to send small bits of information back to Helleficks. ]. The man is a sandy haired human who looks like a seasoned traveler.
Mew gets another crack at the Abyssal Knife.
Mew as you stealthily walk about town you begin to notice a figure lingering behind the crowds of people. It's hard to tell but he may be watching you out of the corner of his eye. Perception check DC16. on a success you see him make a small mark on a beam of wood by the Bakery. As he walks away you see a tiny glint of his eye as he looks your way. You make your way over to the mark and through thieves marks you get the gist of the message.
[The operative is Olmed Hashan a Fire Genasi who is heading to Vellen Falls.] Meet him in the alley. As you make your way into the alley A man in black leather armor leans up against the wall . He has a large scarf covering his face and you wonder how does a man who looks so shady walk about town so easily? Do another Perception check. As you quickly study his face you see the skin underneath is a strange red hue that can only be Fire Genasi. "Lady Mew, we missed you at Galedus Manor." We waited as long as we could but the guard presence was too large and our orders were to stay out of sight. "There is still room in our organization for a talent like you. Still interested?" "Here is the play. We have intel that a small statue is located in Agrimor's stronghold. you know, that guy you work for? It's about 8 inches tall made of Fochulite and Quartz. It's a man bare chested holding a scimitar. Supposed to be a legendary hero. Do your job right, lift it, and no ones the wiser. Get it to one of the Knives and step one is completed. Anyway it's up to you no harm no foul." [See Volo’s guide in Books, has good stuff on Gnoll Bands and Goblinoid Hordes. Plus good Orc stuff.]

Themes

On The Road Encounter 2

As you begin your journey south yet again leaving the town of Vetren, you carriage and horses get back on the hard dirt Feron Road. You pass some farmers who mumble hello's and some soldiers from Lamborginus heading back north. Yet again your vision fuzzes and the area around you shifts. The hot desert sun blazes before you and the hazy sand dunes can be seen all around. The figure on the speeder bike can be seen off in the distance streaking toward you at high speed. This time the vision linger a few seconds longer and you can see the blue sky overhead and some whisps of clouds. You feel the heat pound down on you and you can almost hear the hum of the speeder up ahead when everything goes back to normal. you look around at the grass and trees of Penthaheim and the cool summer breeze makes that sweat on your forehead feel very real.
after a few hours into your journey whoever is in front make a perception check DC 15. A success reveals a feeling of something flying over head. A rustle in the branches that sounds like more than wind. From the sky an enormous shape swoops low. The shadow of the wings stretches 60 feet across. As it wheels back around you get a better look at it. You’ve seen Manticores before but never this size. It looks almost 20 feet long with enormous wings and a spiked tail that adds another 20 feet to it’s length. It dives towards the party. Roll initiative. During the battle, a few feet away from Cog an elven man dressed in blue and brown clothes steps forward. He is wearing a bright blue doublet with some brown stripes going down the center and some light blue puffy shoulders. Brown pants and high end boots. He waves cheerfully and greets you “Hallo, don’t mind me I’m just here to observe!” If anyone comes near him to touch him or attack him the objects sail harmlessly through his illusory body. “Well met! I’m not really here though. Just taking in the sights.”
”Ah excellent form! Really felt the wind on that one!” “You sir really wield that weapon expertly, nice thrust!” [He is the Demigod Isringus in his human disguise.]. DC 18 history check by anyone . You may have noticed him at the costume party though it may not have been due to the masks.
During the battle have Karnak or Cog make a perception check DC 19. On a success they can see a figure in what looks to be ragged robes observing the battle from a mile off. He is on a high vantage point on a large rock outcropping. It would take several rounds to get to that area. After the battle the Manticore shrinks back down to normal Manticore size. An investigation check reveals a small metal arcane device with strange runes on it. Also the normal manticore loot of tail spikes , wings, and teeth. The elven illusion of Helleficks Kristallin / Isringus begins to fade out. “Good show everyone! I may see you again soon you are wonderful at what you do, experts! Goodbye!” An investigation of the area where the figure was reveals Gnoll information if the DC 17 roll is met.

Structure

Exposition

On the Road encounter Three -
After spending a long rest at Morden’s Bridge you approach the Tellenor Mountains. Or the party may stop in Copenhaus. Need to find out where they want to go to get to Agrimor’s.
After another day of travel you approach the foothills that