Vault of Curiosity

The Great Zhars, who is actually a treasure golem has left one of the Great Vaults of Miryr. Eager to have the golem return to the vault, the curiosity shop owner, who is a servant of the vault, requests the players to help return Zhars. The store owner is unable to do this himself, as he is incapable to convince or force Zhars to return, something that is made even harder by him being confined to the vault and his store. The party will have to somehow capture or convince Zhars to head to the curiosity store and return to the vault. In order to make this easier, the curiosity shop owner will give the players 2 magical scrolls. These scrolls contain a spell that can shut down golems and other artificial forms of life. Using this on Zhars will return him to his stationary, golden form. Additionally, the shopkeep will give the players a Construct of Miryr, to transport Zhars back to the vault.
Asking around in Hazegate, the players will learn that Zhars has set out for The Ancient Tower. This can be learned from various NPCs such as Regus Strongarrow, Dina Silvale, and Master Remus.
When traveling to the tower, the players will find Zhars standing around at its base looking at the section that is decorated with a gate-like arch. He seems distracted by the structure, but upon noticing the players, he will return to his normal extravagant self. If asked about the tower, Zhars will note that he has fuzzy memories about the place and feels attracted to it, but that the feeling is vague. At this point the players may convince Zhars to return to the vault, however, this will require a very high persuasion check with a DC of 30. Alternatively, the players can start casting the spell on Zhars. Unfortunately, Zhars is too powerful to be constrained by a single casting of the spell. When casting the spell, the caster must make a spell attack roll. This roll will be subtracted from a special health pool that starts at 64. Casting the spell will cause combat to start. The players casting the spell must do so vocally and for Zhars not to notice they must each succeed on a Dexterity(stealth) DC 13 check. If a player fails, Zhars may make an attack against them, either a glave strike or a shield throw. If a player gets hit, they will fail in casting the spell. The goal of the combat will be to successfully cast the spell often enough until Zhars shuts down. The rest of the party must attempt to stall Zhars until the casters are able to defeat him. During the fight, Zhars will receive penalties as he returns to his golden state. Every time 16 points have been removed from his special hp, he reaches a new stage of being turned golden.

• 48 shp: movement speed reduced by 10, disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws, AC reduced by 2.
• 32 shp: movement further reduced by 10, -5 on hit, opposing saving throws are made with advantage.
• 16 shp: sight reduced to 30 feet, disadvantage on attack rolls (penalty to hit removed), -8 to damage, unable to perform any cooldown attacks.

After shutting down Zhars, the players can use Miryr's Construct to return the treasure golem back to the vault. They can now report back to the curiosity shop owner and claim their reward. This includes a good amount of gold. In addition to that, the vault servant will change to construct to work as a key to the vault, allowing the players to gain access to the treasure hall of the golden mimics. This concludes the quest.

Grander Scope

This quest will establish the connection between Zhars and the Hippodean civilization, and may allow the players to gain more intel on what this civilization was about. Additionally, it enables the players to collect their unique items after having missed them.

Description

"The man who calls himself the Great Zhars seems to be no man at all, but instead a treasure golem. It belongs to one of the vaults of Miryr, where it managed to escape from. The vault wants it to be delivered back to its servant at the curiosity shop."

Progression

1. Enter the Great Vault of Miryr through the curiosity shop and speak with the curiosity shop owner.
2. Obtain the 2 ceiling scrolls and the construct of Miryr from the shopkeeper.
3. Ask around town for the location of Zhars.
4. Travel to the Ancient Tower and meet Zhars.
5. Defeat Zhars and return him to the vault using the construct of Miryr.
6. Report back to the curiosity shop owner.

Vault of Curiosity
Quest Giver	Curiosity shop owner
Contact Person	Curiosity shop owner
Recommended Level	??
Duration	x session
Reward	600 gold + access to the treasure hall