Hand of Ascal

The Hand of Ascal are an ancient group who have existed for a long time. Their leader called Ascal was once a man who ran an upmarket store. He was visited by a Hag named Viriti in disguise after being treated like a less important she was insulted by his lack of respect and cursed him with an immortal body. While this sounds like a blessing his body still continued to age and wither. Ascal used his remaining wealth to employ a group of wizards to try to find a cure for his curse. They were unable to undo the curse but one of the wizards realized that if he continued to follow the source of the curse there was potential for him to gain immortality for himself. Over the years the Hand of Ascal became more and more corrupted and turned into a massive cult that spread all over Faloura. The cult's new leader, an elf by the name of Alewin, is desperately trying to gain immortality for himself. There are still a few truly loyal to Ascal and are working discreetly behind the scenes to free Ascal from his curse.

The Curse is directly linked to the fey, The hag switched out Ascals heart with trinket from the the only way to kill him is to bring Ascal into the fey and destroy his heart. The Cult are aware that Ascals heart was replaced and the curse is linked to the fey, Alewin is on the verge of cracking the solution.

The Cult have been chasing a few different leads on immortality. In Lindum Professor Belzer Cobblestop is chasing augmented body parts using a mixture of magic and Lindums technological resources in his laboratory deep in Old Lindums sewer system. Over in Osca Gifford Rosco a fabric merchant who is secretly a member of the Hand of Ascal. He has been using members of the cult to steal rare fae wood, which he is using to grow artificial fey hearts.

Leadership

Ascal: The Immortal leader of the Hand of Ascal, old age has ruined his body he can barely function, hundreds of years have left him paralzised in his body and years of dementia has wiped away any memory of who he once was. He is a withered elderly man stuck in his chair, most of his white hair has fallen out.

Alewin Morfina: A expelled Elven noble from Hirokita who now lives in Velia who now runs the Cult as the sudo leader, He’s a man with incredible wealth. The cult is firstly a way for him to extend his already long 700 year life but also gives him a dedicated workforce spread over the country. Long bright red hair with green eyes. Always seen wearing fine silks.

Sister Solfina: An elven women, little his known about her, she is often seen at the side of Alewin Morfina, in elegant red robes wearing a bronze mask that closely resembles the one of the other cultists, the mask is adorned with a massive back piece and two blades pointing out either side. Underneath she has a heavily disfigured burnt face from a house fire when she was a child. She is undyingly loyal to Alewin and her magic capabilities are terrifying. Sister Solfine doesn’t speak much and due to this the source of her loyalty to Alewin and the cult is unknown, but anyone who has ended on the wrong side of the cult is typically visited by her.

Professor Belzer Cobblestop: Once a halfling wizard, Belzer was thought of as one of the best minds in both arcane and science, his obsession with augmenting natural forms with magic and science lead him down a path where he was kicked out of any lab he set foot in all over Lindum. Now funded by Alewin, Belzer has a secret lab deep in the sewers of Old Lindum where he experiments on the kidnapped individuals the cult brings. He has augmented his body with fey magic and given himself a giant wooden body which he covers with plate armor making himself the first Warforged of Tel’estria. His end goal is to place his soul in a steel body.

Gifford Rosco: A Tiefling merchant in Osca who is stealing fae wood materials from the boat yards to grow fae hearts underneath his warehouse. He’s a red skinned tiefling with black hair tied back.

Allies

Tomlin Hornsby: Vimot based lesser Merchant, Is aware of the Cult and has been offered a role within but is currently ‘on the fence’ while he buys time to figure a way out. Been offered better tariffs for entering the Falouran ports along with two more trade vessels in return for hiring a pirate ship to jack a fey wood shipment and a pledge of allegiance. He’s learnt enough to know the cult is meant to be killing their leader, but are chasing immortally. His goal is to kill the leader which will collapse the cult. Found out the information from a dock worker who is secretly a cult member but an ally. He’s a Human male in his mid 30’s, with short brown hair, and wears fine linen clothes.

Lamar George: A human male, he’s a rich wine merchant in his 60’s from Velia he’s been a member of the Hand of Acsal for 40 years, early on he found out the truth, while he holds a lot power within the cult he has had to dirty his hands to prove loyalty to the leaders. He’s been working behind the scenes secretly behind the leaders backs to save Ascal from his curse, he’s built up a small network of trusted individuals who are helping him.

Verell Even: A Human male in his 20’s based in Lindum he’s a cult member who works in the sewers as a front serving Belzer, he’s part of the small faction that serves Lamar feeding information back.

Roxane Prely: A female half orc, 32, she has light green skin and dark black hair. She can be found roaming the road between Vimot and Restal. She serves Lamar by running encrypted messages.

Barren Rod: A Human male, middle aged, dark skin. Works on the docks in Osca, his role is to keep an eye on Gifford for Lamar.

Events & Dungeons

Meeting Tomlin Hornsby

On the way to Vimot they will run into a cart being attacked and the armed guards are all dead. Tomlin is the only man left, blooded on the floor (hopefully) the party save the day, in which he will employ the party to deal with the cult. During the fight it is implied that the cult are aware of the party and have bounty on their heads.

Professor Belzer Cobblestop’s Laboratory

In the far reaches of Old Lindum a disused warehouse owned by The Kurdias has a massive pipe spewing out waste into a canal through the center of the ruined building, up in the pipe is a labyrinth that has been turned into Professor Belzer Cobblestop’s Laboratory, here he is hard at work augmenting bodies and imbuing them with artificial elements that would extend life.

1. The entrance to the sewers, that lead into a winding set of pathways of sewage, as you wade through roll 1d20 on a 12 or lower you encounter 1d4 Clockwork Zombies.
2. A locked door sleight of hand 14 or STR 16 to breakdown. Behind is a small room with a crying human curled into the corner of the room. They are extremely skinny with long limbs, when a play gets close they will reveal their long clawed/bladed fingers and will attack. “As the hooded individual brings down their claws into you the hood drops off revealing a skeletal face. The party will be attacked by a Clawed Clockwork Zombie.
3. A room filled with 12 tanks, each one housing a clockwork zombie, when the party is in the room the water will drain and the zombies will be released.
4. A dead end, with a pressure plate the moment you turn the corner, if stepped on DEX save 14 or take 2d8 piercing damage from a rigged bolt thrower.
5. A dead with a pressure plate the moment you turn the corner, if stepped on a gas is released to all in a 20ft cone. CON save 15 or be poisoned.
6. Otyugh Encounter.
7. A dead end, with a pressure plate the moment you turn the corner, if stepped on DEX save 14 or take 2d8 piercing damage from a rigged bolt thrower. The missing 8. cog is at the end of the room.
8. A large iron circular locked door that has a series of cogs that can be turned to open the door. However the cog is missing.
9. A collapsed part of the tunnel.
10. A large room filled with clockwork zombies in tanks around the room, in the center failed experiments are being cleaned up by a massive golem. In here they fight Professor Cobblestops ‘Carrion Golem’.
“The sound of drilling followed by the horrific screams of a man fill the corridor as you approach, the screams don’t last long. As you walk into the room a massive suit of armor is pulling apart a now dead human male. Underneath the armor the body seems to be made of wood.”
This is Professor Cobblestops lab, a massive open room with tables with dead bodys on, some cages with mostly dead creatures and people, a few however are just about alive.

Gnolls of Cularo

The multiple gnoll camps that spread over all of Faloura are all united all under one god Cularo. Cularo is a lesser serpent deity from the Abyss, they were slain by Thyzer Viscere a former head of the Viscere family 120 years ago. Due to this the Gnolls despise the Viscere family, they are working towards reviving their god, they’ve made a deal with The Hand of Ascal in return for bringing captives to the cult for whatever needs they have of the people brought to their leaders for experimentation, the gnolls receive small vials of Ascals blood used to bring back their god. So far the Gnolls have managed to bring back an Avatar of Cularo but are closing on a full resurrection at an alarming rate. Ogrod of the black tooth clan is the current ‘leader’ of the gnolls, he’s based in the old temple of Cularo now known as Cularos fall.

Cularos Fall
North of Relda Village hidden in a small woodland is a small pyramid structure, long since been reclaimed by nature, covered in vines with a large tree growing out of the side of the structure. A few gnolls are currently set up on top of the pyramid as sentinels. Inside the structure has collapsed a once grand open entrance has become a series of winding pathways. The tempest lower levels have remained intact.

1. The entrance to the temple.
2. Crossbow trap, mechanical trap with a pressure plate, DEX 14 or take 2d8 from a volley of arrows.
3. A small room with a patrol of 1d8 gnolls.
4. Once the party steps into the center of the room a heavy stone door slides down from the ceiling locking them in the room. with empty cages except for one rotting corpse of a human who has 45 gold coins on him. The stone door has 9 slots built into it. The door has a riddle carved into the stone.

Fifteen per column, fifteen per row;
Diagonally, the same is so.
A plea of warning to carefully count;
No two places may hold the same amount.
What coins in the center be fed through the door;
Exact change for the passage, or trouble galore.

Solution
Diagram below shows how to divide the 45 gold coins, so that every square has a different amount and each row and column adds up to 15.

5. A large room that has a set of winding stairs that lead deeper into the temple. Inside there are 4 gnolls and 1 gnoll shaman.
6. In this smaller room there are a few large cauldrons over an open fire, the smell of a meaty stew filling the air. If the players inspect them they will find human body parts boiling in the cauldrons.

7. A massive open room at the bottom of the stairs mosaics of snakes cover the walls and ceiling, there are multiple pillars with stone carved snakes wrap around them, their mouths are open as they hold torches up lighting up the room.
8. A long corridor that is lined with snake torch holders lighting up the corridor.
9. A large stone locked door, STR 26 to move. Otherwise requires a key.
10. The stairs to Cularos Camber.
11. A room filled with crude weapons thrown about the place, a few gnolls making arrowheads. There is also a small iron box. Sleight of hand 17 to open, there is a velvet cushion holding 3 vials of blood.
12. A mechanical trap, a massive ceiling mounted axe swings towards the party, DEX 14 or suffers 2d12 slashing damage.
13. A room with goods taken from the traders, most of the boxes and sacks thrown about the room have been picked clean, but on an investigation 19 the party will find 500g and a sword of life stealing.
14. The sleeping quarters of Ogrod.
The final room has the avatar of Cularo and 3 gnolls. There is 200g in the room.

Merchant Lord Gifford Rosco

Gifford Rosco is a very successful merchant from Osca, his father was part of the cult and he inherited his high place within the hand, Gifford is a large source of money for the hand but also likes to play around and experiment on captured subjects in an attempt to be the first to find immortality. He has 3 major locations within Osca the first is Rosco & Co his shop that sells materials for crafters and artisans to work on, the shop is a major hit as it’s very hard to buy material not in bulk so this shop suits the city's many smaller artisans. Second, the warehouse where he brings his goods into the city using his small fleet of merchant ships. Thirdly his city home, this is Gifford main estate and is heavily guarded


Rosco & CO Warehouse
In the warehouse district of Osca there is a warehouse which is used exclusively by Gifford Roscos merchant shops. The medium size warehouse is filled with crates some of which are new in an unsorted. There are shelves filled with crates each itemized into whatever material need they suit. The unsorted has a load of silks and linens in this batch but on an investigation 21 the players will find a crate with a unconscious gnome tied and a bound in it.

Gifford Rosco’s City Home

A small city home owned by the successful merchant Gifford Rosco, a 10ft iron fence wraps around his estate, a small garden surrounds the building, there's a small guard house on the grounds near the entrance, atop the roof there are guards armed with crossbows. Gifford has 16 guards, and a guard drake.

The Manor inside is unsuspecting, nothing beyond what a normal person would expect of a rich man's home. However inside the office on the 2nd floor a chute leads into a chamber beneath the home where Gifford does his experiments.

1. A small guard house that always has at least 2 guards on it, the little hut has a table and a pair of chairs, normally there is a set of cards and a weapon rack with crossbows and swords.
2. Behind a large redwood door is the main entrance to the house, a polished marble floor with large well made rugs and a massive glass chandler. The room is decorated with posh vases, paintings cover the walls, and everything has a slight tacky gold trim. on the right hand side is a large set of stairs, there's three doorways in this room that lead in.
3. A more cozy room, a piano sits neatly tucked into the corner, a set of chairs and sofas circle a walnut coffee table facing towards a fireplace, in the far corner a larger table is set up with chips and cards for friendly poker games. Large red drapes hang from the tall ceiling and cover the windows.
4. Thick humid air with a circular bath sits in the center of the room, in the center of the bath hanging from the ceiling is a dragon's head with steaming hot water pouring out.
5. A massive oak table with lines of velvet covered chairs, this room appears to be a dining room of sorts. The wall is covered in portraits of different people all slightly resembling Gifford.
6. A fairly large kitchen with a center work station. Inside a cook is preparing food.
7. The upstairs landing is carpeted, large potted plants are in the far corners of the room.
8. A spare bedroom, fairly simple in design with a double bed, a dresser and a vanity table.
9. Giffords office, against the back wall there is a small table with a chair, a few books sit on a shelf, on the right hand side a fireplace sits untouched. The walls have a few paintings, one of an elderly man looking majestic while sitting on a throne. In the desk the drawer can be pulled out and a few letters are attached with a pin. The fireplace has a loose stone which can be found on a perception 17 revealing the chute into the underground chamber.
10. Gifford's bedroom, a walk in wardrobe filled with incredibly made clothes, there is a single set of robes and a mask inside.

Letters

“My dear Gifford, Your fathers contributions to the cause have allowed us to take leaps and bounds forwards and I am ever grateful that you took up your fathers standing within the hand after his untimely passing. My deepest regret was he didn’t survive long enough to join us in our ascension. However he will always be remembered and a noble name we will toast to for all of eternity. Alewin''

“Rosco, a shipment will be arriving soon, we are trying a new transportation method, to move the subjects around the country, however you’ll need to use your ships to get them into the city if you wish to continue your personal experiments. I have said before that you don’t need to follow this path, we have the professor, I’d rather you don’t draw attention to yourself, the financial support you offer is enough, I don’t want to lose you like I did your father. AM”

“I understand what you were saying in your previous letter but Alewin only lets you carry on because he had great admiration for your father… If you continue to play a dangerous game I will personally shut down your facility. S”

“My friend, we've not heard from the professor after I summoned him, I fear the worst may have come to pass. That explosion worries me… I’d heard down the grapevine that it’s a big name involved in the whole mess. The tides are turning and I don’t wish for us to get washed away not now we are so close. Even if the professor is gone, his advancements in plane portals have been useful even if they are limited in range. It should give us enough time to achieve what we want. My friend, the time has come. I need you to come to Elbra before you are caught up in whatever is happening. I have one more thing to tell you and this must stay secret, Ascal’s weakness has been discovered by me and if the traitors find out they will be able to kill the old man. His true heart is guarded by the hag that cursed him. If that is destroyed the fake heart that keeps him alive will no longer function in the same way and he will perish. Once we take the hag out we can steal her power to extend life and be done with the old guard. Gifford we will be gods. Alewin.”

Underground Lair

1. 60ft down the chute is the landing, on the floor is a rope ladder which appears to have been cut. The entire cave is pitchblack, with unlit lanterns lining the walls.
2. An opening in the cave with 2d4 needle blights.
3. Inside there are 1d6 needle blights.
4. A perception 24 will spot the 3 piercers and a roper hanging from the ceiling disguised as Stalactites.
5. Inside is a shambling mound.
6. A dead end.
7. 2d6 needle blights.
8. Dead end.
9. Crossbow trap, DEX 16 or suffer 2d8 piercing damage.
10. 1d4 needle blights.
11. The grows cold upon approach inside a ruined room not until that of the professor's lab, tables with overground vines and mold taking over the bodys of a human male and female. Gliding through the walls a banshee and ghost attack the party.
12. A secret room that leads out behind the guard barracks around the back of the house.