Dreams

An Adventure for 2-3 players of any level

This adventure was used to introduce a new player to my ongoing campaign. I designed the adventure for two, third level characters, but it could be adjusted for use by nearly any character levels simply by adjusting the difficulty of the encounters.

The First Night

You are sitting in your councilors room, waiting to begin your daily update on the events of the realm. Jasmina is the only advisor currently present. Despite the fact that you told everyone to be here at 9 am sharp, Vasili and Vicari are late--quite unusual for both of them. All of a sudden, Vicari bursts into the room. “Majesty,” he says, “we must get you to safety! The Spider's Forces are pouring across the border! At least fifteen units of elite spiderriders and goblin infantry. They have overwhelmed our forces! The castle is virtually defenseless, as most of our troops are still in Bellam. We must flee to the southern castle.”

Once the PC tries to take any action:
As you stand to speak, you are suddenly surrounded by a shroud of mists. You feel slightly disorientated, and as the mist clears, you can make out the silhouette of a tall white tower before you. It is on an island, surrounded by water. White birds--seagulls perhaps--provide a stark contrast against the ever-darkening sky yielding to the stormy night. The smell of the salty air embraces you. Although the scene appears scary and bleak, you are actually comforted by it.

When the player turns to approach the tower:
As you turn to approach the tower, a figure stands before you. He wears white robes, hiding his physical features in its folds. Although mystical and ominous, he makes no offensive gestures towards you. Instead, as if to greet you, he slowly stretches his arm towards you, exposing his ink-stained hand. He greets you in a deep, horse voice. “Greetings, brother...”

All of a sudden, you are roused from a sound sleep by the noise of the city below. But in the moment between sleep and awake, you recall your dream. As the dream slowly fades from your memory, you feel a sense of familiarity and anxiety.

The Second Night

As you drift off to sleep, you are again transported to the white brick tower. The sky has cleared, and instead of the clam of the ocean, you are greeted by the smells and sounds of a bustling city extending as far as you can see in every direction. The tower stands well above the other city buildings, which are non-descript.

Once the PC turns to approach the tower:
You make your way through the crowds towards the tower. As you reach the tower, you are greeted by the robed figure from the other night. In his raspy voice, the man says, “Greetings brother. We have waited long to...”

Suddenly, you are awoken by the changing of the guard outside your bed chamber. You feel as though a great secret was about to be revealed to you, and you were pulled away just before the man could communicate with you. Although you feel as though you just went to bed, the sun is up and it is well into the day. Hearing you rustle, Vicari walks in and says, “Good Day, my Lord. I was beginning to wonder if you would sleep the whole day through.”

The Third Night

You settle down to sleep again, and once again the white tower appears before you. It stands high on a rocky crag surrounded by the shifting sands of the desert. The sun overhead burns through your armor, and your tongue is thick from thirst. You turn to look around, and are startled to see Jasmina standing next to you. She greets you warmly and says, “Come, My Lord. We must make haste. There is much to learn.”

Suddenly you are transported to the base of the tower. As far as you can see in every direction is nothing but shapeless sand dunes. The same three figures stand before you, and the man with the horse voice speaks. “Greetings brother. You are indeed difficult...”

Just then, you are woken by a scream from above you--the councilor's chambers! It sounded like Jasmina!

When the PC arrives at Jasmina's Quarters:
You try to open the door to Jasmina's quarters, but the door is barred--quite unusual, particularly for Jasmina, who seldom if ever locked her personal chamber inside the castle. You force the door open, and a cool current of air pours out of the room, sending a chill over you. Jasmina's room appears empty. Her personal possessions are gone. The only trace she was ever here is her bedding, which has been hurriedly pulled up to cover the entire bed. As you pull the bedding down, a small pool of blood, still steaming in the unusually cool air of the chamber, is exposed.

No other traces of Jasmina are found. There are no clues as to her whereabouts--the guards heard nothing, nothing unusual can be found in the entire castle, etc.

The Third Night Continued...

The rest of the night is uneventful. The guards have scoured the castle and have been unable to locate any trance of the mage. As you awake, you find a note laying on the pillow next to you. It is sealed with a signet which you have never seen before--a single flame surrounded by a circle. There is no trace as to who put it there, and the guards outside your chamber assert they allowed no one to enter your personal chambers.

As you open it to read, the signet crackles slightly with magical energy. The note reads,
“Greetings Brother,
You have ignored our summoning--a most unwise decision. Forcing us to rely on written correspondence--whatever the source or nature--endangers the secrecy of the organization. You are hereby requested and required to report to the Royal College of Sorcery in the City of Anuire with all due haste. You are to speak to no one about the true nature of your visit, and you are to come alone--NO OUTSIDERS! Please accept our invitation, lest you brand yourself an outlaw and force the guild to immediately and summarily put you to death.
     Yours in Brotherhood
     Archibald Sentous
     Brother Scribe”

The PC may chose to travel via water or land. Either way, the trip will be unusually uneventful. Commoners and regents alike will not recognize the PC should he/she attempt to visit one of them. When they reach the city, they find a tower similar to the one from their dreams, but not as magnificent. It is located in the center of town.

The City of Anuire

The Tower of Sorcery

A single, massive oak door stands as the only entrance to the tower. Next to the door is a rope, which rings a summoning bell. The door is locked, but once the bell is rung, the door opens and a man greets you--the same man from your dreams! He escorts you into a small room just outside the main entryway. Inside this room, twelve other mages sit in old comfortable chairs. Despite the brightness of the day outside, the room is poorly lit, and it takes a couple of moments for your eyes to adjust to the light.

Once you sit, the man in the white robes from your dreams begins to speak. “Brothers and sisters,” he says. “Upon reaching appropriate status, all mages in the region are summoned to the Royal Academy, seat of the Mages Guild and the Secret Order of the Flame across the region for seventy generations, to undergo the rite of membership. You have been so summoned. You must now undergo the three rites. Failure in any one of the three rites means death. Refusal to undertake the rites means death. Are there any questions?”

The mages will answer any questions they can, but in actuality are not of much assistance. They cannot answer any questions regarding the rites of passage, stating that “such information must be learned for oneself, not asked of anther,” and that “the rites are different for every member.” They will refuse to answer any questions regarding the order itself, stating that such information can only be provided to “true and initiated members.”

Once all questions have been answered, the aspirant members are escorted into a larger room full of desks. When everyone has taken a seat, the white robed one at the front of the room speaks. “This is the written portion of the exam. It consists of four questions, and you will have one hour to answer each question. This portion of the rite is only designed to filter out non-mages and impostors, and place each person into an appropriate group. You may begin.” Once the test has started, the mages will not answer any questions.

When everyone has finished the exam, the mages dismiss everyone for the day, ordering them to report back tomorrow morning for the results of the exam. “You may socialize with each other, but may not discuss the rite of passage. Further, you may not disclose any information that you may have learned today, and may not disclose the existence of the order to anyone. Is that clear?”

The Next Day

The next morning you report back to the guild, and are placed into groups of three. You are each taken into separate rooms and briefed on the second portion of your rite of initiation. You are escorted into a room with a small table and four chairs. A man, who appears to be more fighter than mage, sits before you. He does not wear a robe, so his face is plainly visible. He is a striking man, perhaps forty years old, and extremely muscular. He bids you welcome and asks you to sit in a much warmer and more friendly tone than the other mages have greeted you with. “Congratulations. The three of you scored the higher than any others on the written portion of the exam. Unfortunately, this qualifies you for the honor of the most difficult second portion. Should you pass the exam, however, you will be afforded higher ranks within the order, earning greater respect and privileges but also greater duties responsibilities. The second portion of your rite is to hunt down two mages, brothers named Bakar and Seldar, who refused to participate in the rite, and return them to the guild. We do not know their current location, but they live in the city and are believed to frequent a tavern known as the Silver Dagger, near the waterfront. We believe they are refusing to join, hoping to establish a rival guild. You must capture and return them--dead or alive--by the end of the week, or we will assume you have failed. Do you have any questions.”

The man will answer any questions, but will not give his name, any information about the guild, etc. Once all questions have been answered, the PCs are free to leave. The guild will offer them no assistance in finding or capturing the renegades--but they should not be difficult to find.

The Silver Dagger Inn

The Silver Dagger is a small, one-story inn located in the wharf district. The PCs may head directly there, or may wish to prepare for the coming encounter. In either case, once they begin to make their way to the inn, they realize it is located in a rough area of town.

The small inn is located in one of the rougher areas of town. The house specialty is roasted pig with vegetables, and they also serve an excellent home brewed ale. Six rooms are available for rent--two large, two medium and two small. None of the rooms is particularly well decorated or provisioned, but they are all functional.

First Floor
1. The Main Room.
A handful of patrons are spread fairly evenly among the five large round tables in this room. A bar lines the eastern and southern walls of the room, and a portly, balding man stands behind it. A single doorway behind the bar leads into the kitchen, and an archway in the western wall leads into a more intimate room. Two servers bring food and drink to the patrons.

The tables are occupied by:

A couple sharing a glass of wine and speaking to one another in a whisper. If questioned, they know nothing. They identify themselves as Citar and Alexa, and are trying to sneak out of town. Citar’s father has forbid him to see Alexa, because she is a half-elf.
An adventuring company calling themselves Deaths Head. The company consists of two fighters, a thief and a mage. Only the thief speaks, identifying himself as Yasir, the group leader. He and his party know nothing about the mages.
Raklar, a paladin wearing the holy symbol of Haelyn eating dinner. He is readying to leave for Proudglaive. If questioned, he says that The Temple of Haelyn is relocating several units to Roesone, but he does not know why. (P6; AC 0; MV 12; hp 43; THAC0 14; #Atk 3/2; Dmg 1d8+6; AL LG)
Sirus, a drunkard, sits alone at a table. Although he knows nothing about the mages, he will tell the PCs whatever they want to hear in exchange for drinks.

The barkeep is El’Atir, a retired fighter (F7; AC 9; MV 12; hp 47; THAC0 13; #Atk 3/2; Dmg 1d8+3; AL TN). He knows of the mages area under the tavern. If the PCs ask, he will nervously deny knowing anything about the mages. If they threaten him, he will say he is hooked in the with thieves guild, and if they want anything, they should talk to the guild. Representatives of the guild sit in the Dining Room (Room #2). The servers, Tasheel and Hareed, (F0; AC 10; MV 12; hp 5; THAC0 20; #Atk 1; Dmg 1d6) and patrons know nothing about the mages, although one particularly drunk patron named Sirus, will tell the PCs whatever they want to hear in exchange for drinks.

2. The Dining Room.
Although this room is smaller than the main room, it still contains four large round tables similar to the ones in the larger room. All of the tables in this room have “reserved” signs posted on them, although only two people are in the room itself (sitting at table B).

The patrons in this room are Delvar and Maestil, both members of the local thieves guild (T4, AC 4; MV 12; hp 15; THAC0 18; #Atk 1; Dmg 1d6+1). The guild keeps this room reserved at all times for their members personal use. They know of the mages secret rooms under the tavern, and will sell the information to the PCs for not less than 1,000 gp. With the thieves guild ascent, the PCs can enter the kitchen and basement areas without being questioned.

3. Kitchen.
This is the inn's kitchen. A large hearth along the south wall provides for most of the cooking needs of the kitchen. A woman, Yasmeen, is busy cooking meals for the patrons. If the PCs enter the kitchen without the ascent of the barkeep or the thieves guild, she will ask them to kindly leave. If they refuse, she calls the servers and barkeep.

The servers fight as zero-level humans, but El’Atir is a retired 7th level fighter (see main room info.) The thieves from area 2 also arrive to help in the fight.

4. Warm Storage.
Crates and barrels line most of the walls of this room. A single set of stairs lead down into the darkness from here.

5. Private Dining Room.
The door is locked. This room contains a large rectangular oak table which fills most of the room. It is well decorated compared to the remainder of the bar. The barkeep sees you looking in the room, and asks if you are interested in renting it.

If the PCs answer no, they are kindly asked to leave the room. If they refuse, the barkeep, servants and thieves force them to. If they say yes, they are free to look around the room.

6. Miscellaneous Private Rooms.

Basement
1. Cellar.
This room is a larger version of the storage room above, containing boxes, crates and barrels of items used in day to day operations of the inn and tavern. A single door leads out the east wall and a set of stairs leads back up to the storage room on the main floor.

2. Cold Cellar.
This room is well insulated--much cooler than the larger cellar. It stores barrels of ale and bottles of wine served in the tavern.

3. Pit.
The character who opens the secret door into this room must make a dex check or fall 30 feet (taking 3d6 damage) to the floor below. Rappelling down is an easy process, as the ropes can be secured to various heavy items in area 2.

The pit itself smells of mold. The still, damp air hangs around you. The shattered skeleton of a former adventurer lies near the center of the room. It appears he died from the fall. He wears the clothes of a thief. Fungus and mold grows all around he room.

4. Cavern Room.
A slight breeze runs through this area, stirring a putrid, moldy odor. Dripping water can be heard nearby, but you cannot find its source. Mold grows all around the room.

5. Cavern Room.
The air in this room is still and moist. Mold grows all over the area, and cobwebs cover the upper reaches of the cavern.

6. The Great Cavern.
This room is much more massive than the others that surround it. More than fifty feet wide and 150 feet long. As you reach the middle of the room, a figure appears before you. He says, "Foolish adventurers. The mages guild sent you after me? Didn't they realize I'd surely destroy you? Oh well, I have other matters to attend to, so let's try and make this quick." It appears he is beginning to cast a spell.

When the PCs respond, his brother comes out from behind them and tries to cast a spell without them seeing him. Ten fighters (F10; AC 0; MV 12; hp 85; THAC0 10; #Atk 2; Dmg 1d8+4; AL N) also appear, five to protect each brother. The PCs do not stand a chance in this battle--and the mages guild knows this. The battle is merely a test to see if the PCs will fight to the death for the guild. If they do, they pass the exam. If they run away, they fail. (But they should not be able to run away, as the fighters and second mage block their way.) Once all of the PCs fall, they are transported back to the guild where they are healed of the illusionary damage they suffered in the battle.

The mages (W12, AC 2; MV 12; hp 30; THAC0 16; #Atk 1; Dmg 1d4+3 or by spell; AL N) will cast as many offensive spells as possible, attempting to destroy the party. They do not care if they hit their own fighters as well, as they are not really suffering any damage. They will be protected by stoneskin, anti-magic shell, etc. before battle.

7. Cavern Room.
If the PCs survive the battle in the previous room, they find the mages and fighters they just fought were clones, and the real badguys are waiting for them here. Otherwise, this room is empty.

Back at the Guild

Once the PCs have died, they awake back at the guild, apparently having suffered no damage! The man in white robes approaches them, and apologizes for the deception. He explains that the Order must be sure than no one is trying to infiltrate the guild, and that only those who are willing to sacrifice themselves for the needs of the guild are worthy of membership. When they are ready, they may begin the final portion of the rite of initiation.

The Final Rite

The final portion of the rite is fairly straightforward, but impressive nevertheless. The aspirants are escorted into a great hall. At the end of the hall, an elven woman dressed in royal blue robes and holding a golden scepter sits on an elegant throne. She stands gracefully and begins to speak, “Congratulations. You have all proven yourselves worthy. You now join the ranks of the Order of the Flame, with all the rights and privileges associated with membership. But with every new privilege comes new duties and responsibilities. The final portion of the rite of initiation is a blood oath. By agreeing to this oath, you are invoking the name of Ruornil, the Moon Goddess and Protector of Mages. Should you ever violate your oath, may Ruornil hunt you down. The Seven Blood Oaths are:

Never to disclose the existence or secrets of the Order to any nonmembers;
To obey the commands of the lawful ruler of the State;
To preserve and protect all knowledge;
To destroy any wielder of True Magic who does not abide by these Oaths;
To assist other members in distress;
Never to use magic to raise or communicate with the Dead;
Never to raise a hand against another mage sworn to the Oaths except as directed or commanded by the Order or by the liege in lawful war.

Once you agree to the oaths, she touches you gently with the scepter and you feel a warm energy flow over you. Welcome, newest brothers and sisters.”

A reception and party goes well into the night, and as the newest members you are expected to be present. You meet many other mages, and share stories. The next day, you are free to return to your normal business, knowing that the guild may contact you at any time and for any reason.

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zerbe@yorku.ca Last updated 30 July, 1997