The starting area is the manor house of Sir Alron Greybeard, Lord of this area of Farkendry, under whose tutelage the party leader is assumed to have been for the past few years. This character is marked upon module entry with a local integer named "leader", which Alron and Wedigo use to identify him.
When the main player sits in the chair, the briefing conversation will begin. It is the longest conversation in the game, since it gives all the necessary background information. If as a DM you feel that this discussion is too long, or that you have a good enough grip on the background to brief the players yourself, feel free to destroy the preset Alron Greybeard character and use the blueprint instance provided in order to assign the quest, but be sure that no players sit in the chair on the north side of the table which lies against the west wall, as the scripting for the long conversation is fired from here. You may decide to destroy this chair.
The door leading outside is impassible (locked and plot) until the briefing is complete, at which time the two main journal entries are assigned. Scripting unlocks and opens this door once the briefing conversation is complete, but if you undertake the briefing yourself as a DM, be sure to unlock this door so that players may leave this room.
Also is this area is the first of the three mini-quests available in the first two areas. During the conversation with Jeirna, she will ask the player a question about faraway Norgar. If the player is intelligent enough, he will be able to answer, and get 75 XP.
Outside, on the grounds, the main player (who has been marked with local integer "leader" upon module entry) will be hailed by Wedigo, who is to be the party's guide on their trip to the Hillward estate. As such, Wedigo is non-optional. I've done a lot of scripting experimentation with Wedigo, such as having him add himself as a henchman without prompting, and later remove himself without prompting. He is his own man, and only travels with the party for his own reasons.
A traveling merchant by the name of Kryston waits here to sell the party all their starting equipment. If you feel that his selection is inadequate, feel free to modify it.
Benny, a young boy, runs around playing outside, but has lost his ball. Players with a high enough dexterity may retrieve the ball by balancing atop a rickety ladder, and thus gain a 75 XP reward.
Hudorn, the elderly manservant, is chopping wood. Players who listen to his ramblings will be offered the chance to help him chop wood. Those characters who are strong enough will successfully chop the wood and gain 75 XP.
This is the first wilderness area, an has the first combat: some weak wolves.
Inside this cave lives a bear. When he sees it, Wedigo will flee the cave, and wait for the player outside.
The Gnarred Timbers are a dark forest. Aside from a few more small encounters, there is nothing of note here.
A generic trigger which will be crossed upon entering the area causes Wedigo to start a conversation and then leave the party.
Another generic trigger in the northwest corner will cause the PC to make a "tracking check", based on his search skill. It will automatically succeed for a Ranger, and will nearly always succeed for a Barbarian. It will give the player the option to follow tracks to 'Blackwater Sea Coast'.
The bird flying around in this area can be spoken to only by a druid. It gives information similar to what is found at the seashore.
The two real clues in this area are the dead Scay body and the account of Lord Hillward's neighbor Stanan, who is standing by the graves. Players cannot leave the area until at least one of these two clues is obtained. Searching the Scay body in the bushes will reveal a tattoo, which is copied onto a scrap of paper for later use. Speaking to the man by the graves yields a name, which can be asked about in Ellderan. This name is randomly one of four names, which is selected and stored in a custom token.
The interior of the manorhouse, aside from holding lot of those nice custom broken items placeables, just has the two servants, who have no plot-relevant information.
At the seashore, a trigger at the cliff's edge speaks 3 lines of text, updates the journal, and awards XP. It seems that whomever attacked the estate escaped via sea.
One of the two Farkendrian guards here at the border will call to the players as they approach, and if the PC speaker is an arcane spellcaster, will warn him about the Timorians' view of magic. The other will patrol the area, stopping into the Riverbank Inn every evening for a few drinks... a few too many drinks.
The two Timorian guards don't have much to say, but they will react badly to players who they see casting arcane magic.
Big Billy the Innkeep is a Timorian, so he will yell at anyone casting so much as a light spell, but will not attack. He is also important later on, in the quest assigned by Suba in Ellderan - he has a box she asks the players to fetch. The inn is a convenient place to rest, since resting at the inn will heal a player completely, whereas outdoor rest only heals 1hp/level.
A woman named Entyra will be here if the players return after visiting Ellderan, and she will give them a FedEx quest to retrieve her ring. If the players find the ring, they're probably best off keeping it, but if they return it, Entyra will reward them.
This is another random encounter area, probably more challenging than any before it, perhaps simply because the player(s) no longer have Wedigo as a henchman.
The bear cave in this area is too small to be be entered, and a message should pop up to inform anyone who tries.
There are two areas entitled Howling Wood. The western of the two has no traits worth mentioning.
In Southern Howling Wood resides Beauford, and the Farmers, and Loggers, and Hunters, oh my! quest. After the player(s) talk to him, the Killer Bear (evil druid) creature will be generated.
Many merchants, and another Inn. Some of the merchants, such as the fruitseller and the hag, will move in and out of the area at different times of day. With the last three (leatherworker,Farmer,and Weaver) I got lazy. An invisible object spawns and de-spawns them daily, so if the PCs are in the right place at the right time, they'll see them vanish/reappear.
Kendwa and Nanton run this inn. They both live here. They will take turns tending the counter, and Kendwa will go out and shop during the day.
This is the city core. Rather than making a huge city, I've opted to allow access only to a portion of the entire town, since a town this small might otherwise be unbelievable. That's why there's a closed road. Peasants and guards walk about randomly, as do many of the merchants. Nontheless, the city is very densely populated.
This is by far the most complex area of the module, the complexity having primarily to do with the NPC ACTIVITIES script. Triggers have also been placed throughout this area and the docks area which will spawn in Scay if the player(s) have been asking too many questions.
Gaul the ship captain, one of the major NPCs in the game, resides here on the docks. When it is time for the player(s) to travel to The Homeland, Gaul will take them there.
Westian is also here, and he will approach any PC he sees with his offer.
Osandra, the high priestess, can heal the player or sell him goods, or can grant access to the temple crypt. (see below)
Eyrein is a lesser priestess who also has some useful information.
The Temple crypt is indeed a labyrinth, full of secret doors and dead ends. The secret door into the main bulk of the crypt lies immediately behind (south of) the entrance. The two doors to the north are but dead ends.
The "mysterious lever" in the northwest corner is nothing but a trap, and most of the coffin tiles have triggers nearby which will spawn undead. The northeast room is the deadliest of all. While players are fighting zombies from the encounter, the skull tile will fire small fireballs at them, and not stop until all the zombies are dead.
I must reiterate that players are not intended to work their way entirely through this crypt - only as far as they can. It's supposed to be too tough.
This is the most intricate level of this most intricate dungeon. Towards the southwest is a fireball trap, in which the stone face in the wall spits out a fireball at the trap triggerer. Just to the east of that is the room which contains the Life Seeds that Osandra is looking for.
On this bottom level of the dungeon lives Korm the Unliving. Players are unlikely to ever get this far - for them to defeat Korm without cheating would be amazing. Korm is surrounded by darklamps, a beautiful script which I found online - big props to the individual who assembled this particular combination of visual effects.
This is simply a gate so that players don't have to retrace their steps.
The blacksmith only sells goods during the day, but this is a good place for players to buy and sell.
This is where Suba, the witch-woman with the FedEx quest, lives. There's some decent looting here, and this is where Suba comes at night.
Dravin, Ellderan's armorer, has the best selection of arms in the city. He goes to Potbelly Pub every evening, but is always here during the day.
Jonan the baker is involved in two quests. he had one of the items Suba needs (anise seed), and he's being extorted by Westian.
Gimbit and Hiraman, the effeminate duo, sell archery supplies here.
The homes are many and varied. Peasants and merchants come here to sleep in the evenings.
This building is unremarkable, aside from the fact that guards congregate here.
The only notable items in this area are the two whores, Serrah and Bira. They will wander the town, but always return here. Serrah has a red herring - she will say that she saw the tattoo the player(s) are looking for on the arm of the fruit seller. If the players track down the fruit seller, he will show the players that he has no tattoo.
Another of my favorite areas, this is where the Hired as a Henchman quest takes place. If the player(s) come here before finding Hura, the encounters will still fire, but the key encounters will remain inactive until Hura is present. Once Hura is here, his heartbeat script will fire, taking him from waypoint to waypoint as he leads the player(s) through the warehouse. The player(s) can talk to Hura and stop him so that they can heal, cast spells, et cetera, but there is no resting in the warehouse. Once Hura hits the end of his route, if he's still alive, he pays the player(s) and they get experience.
This area is very densely populated, and has a lot of important NPCs.
Bedoul is the Innkeep. He can serve a few kinds of booze, and send PCs to his wife to rent a room, but has no useful information.
Alia is Bedoul's wife. Her main function, other than cooking food, is to rent rooms. Players can get roomkeys from her.
Eavla is the tavern's singer. She sings her song whether or not she's in a conversation, and will be especially interesting to bards, who can earn money from singing.
Garrol is the most important character in Ellderan, at least for the player(s). He is the one who knows who The Scay are, and where to start looking for them. He can recognise the tattoo or the name of the Scay who died on the Hillward estate. However, he wants 1000 gold pieces first, which the player(s) must earn through sidequests. Garroll will also sell the player(s) traps, and buy stolen goods.
Salik is a heavy drinker, and a potential henchman for the player(s).
Hector and Marlow are some colorful characters at the pub, and will engage the player(s) in an insult contest, using the Taunt skill. Hector will begin, and if the player(s) out-insult him, Marlow will step in. Should the speaker out-insult Marlow, Goomba the Bouncer will come over and loose his foul tongue.
Goomba is the bouncer. His only interesting trait is his involvement in the insult contest.
Here are the rooms in which players may sleep, and also some rooms used by NPCs.
The dockhouse is the destination of the two dockhands in the Grain Smugglers quest. They will walk back and forth from here to the docks during the day, and go to the pub to drink, and then sleep at night.
The rear dockhouse is where the Grain Smugglers quest reaches its climax. If player(s) have chosen not to turn Rodgor and his men in to the guards, they can confront them here.
This is just a small area in which player(s) can buy and sell illicit goods.
This is the core of the Special Delivery quest. Westian, an extortionist who lives here, will ask the player(s) to bring an extortion notice to the bakery. If the player(s) return to confront Westian, a combat will occur, and Westian's henchmen will appear. A trigger around Westian will cause him to warn player(s) who move into his house. A warning is all they'll get though. The place is thoroughly trapped, and some nice items lie about.
This is just another battle for player(s) who break into this house.
A few things of note here. Scruffy the dog is nothing special - he's just been added in for atmosphere, and for rangers to grab as an animal companion. Bunleather and Hidetaut are engaged in a Homelandic tradition: naming a child. More Scay encounters lie about here, and will only fire if player(s) have been asking a lot of questions. The placeable house will burn down after the right conditions are met - see Torchrunner's Home below for more details.
The Alchemist has many good things to sell to players, including potions and grenade items.
Hedgehopper, the barkeep, is the one who will tell players where the Scay are. The info is easy to get.
Hopperpop is an even-tempered Hortel will well-tempered steel for sale.
This mansion is for thieves to break into in an attempt to rob themselves some extra money.
This tent is nothing but a point of residence for the commoner NPCs.
Before the fire, this is a nice little home. Torchrunner likes to keep to himself, and will tell any players who wander into his home to GET OUT! Skipfeather likes to play with fire...
After a player has visited Torchrunner's home in its non-burning state, a flag is set. After that, when a player exits and re-enters the main outdoor Homeland area, the fire will begin. Flames engulf the outside of Torchrunner's home, and Dancesky the Hortel will run up to a player, begging that he go in and save Torchrunner and Skipfeather.
Inside, the flames have engulfed a good portion of the room, and Torchrunner lies dead. Skipfeather doesn't understand, and is trying to awaken his dead father. It will take some quick convincing on the player's part to get Skipfeather out before the flames get to him too. A quick conversation will take place afterwards with Hedgehopper, who will be more inclined to help players if they save Skipfeather. After the fire, Skipfeather will unfortunately hate the player(s) no matter what.
Gaul warns the player(s) that he won't help them, although he does have a small amount of supplies for them should they need medicine or bandages. After fighting past the Scay, player(s) will find two routes into the Scay compound. The direct route through the gate, or the less direct route through the maintenance tunnels.
Infested with stirges, spiders, and other creepy-crawlies, these tunnels aren't a normal route into the Scay settlement, and thu aren't well guarded. If the players take this route, they will avoid Boss Keane and perhaps a few of the other sentries up above. They may even be able to work their way into the interior of the compund undetected. A rope in the far northeast room leads up to a sewer grate at the surface.
This is potentially a very dangerous area, and may be one which the players choose to flee or sneak through rather than fight through. Players coming in through the grate will avoid most of the encounters, but sentires will still be there.
Most of this area is very straightforward, but the westernmost passage, accessible only through the lower level dungeon corridor, requires some explanation.
The trapdoor leads up through a secret door in the dungeons on the lower level. It leads into a small room with a lever. The north door is sealed and cannot be bashed or picked. The lever will shock any player who pulls it unless both doors are closed, in which case it will unlock and open the sealed north door.
Beyond that door is a highly trapped corridor. Aside from the floor traps, traveling forward will trigger a chain lightning trap which travels slightly faster than players can run. The only way past it is to press up against the walls in just the right place as it passes, an then run a bit further forward. In this way, players can reach the door at the north end of the corridor, which holds all the Scay's treasure.
The stairs down from the first level lead into a small room with three other doors. Westward are the dungeons, and the secret door up to the treasure room. North are the sleeping chambers. East is King Boss Hell himself.
The dungeons are fairly nondescript, containing only lost drunken souls who don't know where they are, and no longer care.
The sleeping chambers contain some fights, and some treasures. Bosses Balmorrow, Sandwin, and Krangdeba are also here - three tough cookies.
King Boss Hell and his retinue are tougher still. If players knock King Boss Hell down to a low enough hit point total, he will surrender, and any remaining Scay will disappear. He will tell players all about who hired them and what they planned, and then will let them know what happened to Lomar and Meira. This completes the Slaughter at the Hillward Estate quest, and advances the The Political Marriage quest, leading players to the final stage of their adventure.
This is a very boring area. Say goodbye to Gaul and move along. Nothing to see here.
This is the largest area in the game, and should be fun and challenging. The crux of this area is the Timor versus Keymore quest, which has player(s) running around, battling respawning Keymorian soldiers (with the aid of respawning Timorian soldiers) while trying to destroy Ballistae which are firing all over the place, causing a great deal of havoc. The six Keymorian soldiers will continue respawning until the tent that each is associated with is destroyed. Six Keymorians, three tents - two to each. If player(s) try to leave the area and continue on to the next without destroying all three ballistae, ballista fire will keep them from the exit. An explosion will harm and throw back the would-be exiter.
Near the area's entrance is the Timorian camp. Captain Furgeson is in charge, and will ask the players to destroy the ballistae, and assign that quest. The Quartermaster has nothing to sell, but is eager to buy weapons for his men. The armorer does have a few higher-end weapons and armors which he's willing to part with, if the player(s) have been saving up their gold. Another man is willing to sell his club, "The Beater", and a magical belt.
This area holds a few encounters, and some interesting scripting. When one of the Keymore soldiers sees the players, he'll run for reinforcements. If he gets there, he'll bring back some soldiers. In a single player game, a total of two of the soldiers will be destroyed in the onEnter script in order to make the game difficult manageable.
Another trigger near the area's exit will spawn in a griffin if the party has a total of six or more character levels, and two griffins if they have eleven or more character levels.
This area is small, and relatively insignificant.
Kleyn is a very overanxious salesman, but has some decent goods.
This is a typical house, with a resident who is not to keen on having players with weapons in his home.
Players should realize fairly soon that something is not quite right in this temple. The "priests" do not act much like priests. When they players ask about Lomar and Meira, the "priests" will grow angry, and attack. It seems that these are the folk holding Lomar and Meira captive!
A shaft of light descends from the entrance above into this dank and lifeless crypt. (ooh!) The main object of interest will be the sealed door. It can be opened by two methods: it can be turned by a cleric, or players can sprinkle holy water on it. If the players have no holy water, they can get some from the fountain in this level's northeast corner by bringing an empty jar to fill. This level is littered with empty jars. Note: The holy water cannot be used on the door directly, but must be chosen via the door conversation.
The gate leading into the chamber with the fountain is locked, and can only be unlocked by pulling the lever on the southwestern pillar
The four coffins in the north room are trapped. When they are opened, a beam will shoot from the pillar into the coffin, draining a random ability from the opener. This trap can be disarmed on the coffin, but is more easily disarmed by disarming the pillar.
This area has many very complex scripted events. The entry chamber has eight doors, two on each wall.
The Northern door on the west wall of the entry chamber leads down a hallway wih two scripted lightning bolt traps, and then into a library. This library, amongst other things, contains a silver key which opens the eastern door on the north wall of the entry chamber.
The Southern door on the west wall of the entry chamber leads into a small trappd chamber. When the door on the other side of this chamber is tried, the door behind will swing shut and lock, and Evard's Tentacles will fill the room. The only way out is to pick or bash a door. On the other side of that door is a small sacrifice room, where cultists make their human sacrifices. The chest here contains Eik'loups's key, which will open the northern door on the eastern wall of the entry chamber.
The Western door on the south wall of the entry chamber opens into the cult's torture chamber. What a lovely place. At least the players can stock up on acid and healing supplies.
The Eastern door on the south wall of the entry chamber is a short passage into a dead end. When the cultist who was practicing there sees players, he will panic and summon a demon, which will most likely kill him and then attack players.
The Southern door on the east wall of the entry chamber leads in a smll spiral to a fountain of random effects, a personal first-edition Dungeons and Dragons favorite of mine. When players drink from this fountain, they may be blinded, healed 25hp, confused, turned invisible for 2 minutes, dazed, hasted, deafened, silenced, slowed, have an ability raised or lowered, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, granted regeneration, put to sleep, or given the permanent ability to see invisible creatures.
The Northern door on the east wall of the entry chamber is initially locked. It can be unlocked with the Eikloups key, which can be found in a chest in the southwesternmost room on this level. The hallway leading to this room is trapped with two demon-summoning runes. Players who don't stay in the exact center of the corridor will cause one of two demons to be called into existance. Once in the room, four more demons will attack. When these demons are killed, a beam will fire from one of the two magical gargoyles in this room, and cause the demon to come back into existance. The demons can only be permanently killed by destroying the gargoyles, as astute players will hopefully realize before it is too late. The chest in this room contains the Malefet key, which will unlock the large gate behind the western door on the north wall of the entry chamber. I am very proud of the scripted trap on this chest. When opened, the chest will spray a cone of poisoned darts, which will hit any players in the area. Feel free to examine the scripting, and send me messages of admiration. ;-)
The Eastern door on the north wall of the entry chamber leads to a room in which the party can rest on two convenient cots. This is very valuable, but guarded by a symbol of summoning. Should a player step on it, a powerful demon is summoned.
The Western door on the north wall of the entry chamber leads into the main portion of the dungeon, but is blocked by a large locked gate, only openable by the Malefet key, which can be found in the room behind the northern door on the east wall of the entry chamber. In this chamber are three doors, leading to the summoning chamber, the bridge level, and the sacrifice room.
The summoning chamber is the room in which cultists called demons. Some demon spawn will be in here when the players come in. The altar holds the Flibbertigibbet key, which will unlock the door to the final room on this level.
The sacrifice room is self-explanatory. The drained corpse will have treasure determined by the searcher's class.
The corridor after that has many cells to its left and right. These cells hold demons. When players hit the appropriate trigger, the cell doors will open, releasing the demons.
The Lightning Room is another scripting marvel. The immense lightning pillar will zap any players who step on a pressure plate. Meanwhile, they will be attacked by demon spawn, who fly and will thus not trip the trap triggers.
The last room on this level is locked, and can be opened with the Flibbertigibbet key, available in the altar in the northwesternmost room on this level. When players come in, Norin and Yalmog will begin casting their spells - one will summon a particularly nasty demon, and the other will erect a wall of blades in front of the door to their side of the fence. This should be a challenging battle for players.
This bridge is a scripting phenomenon. Ballistae from either side of the bridge will fire continuously at anyone running across it. Other than that, the level is fairly small and straightforward.
Upon entering this level, players will have three doors to choose from. The west door is inconsequential - it merely holds a few encounters. The east door (locked) leads to Lomar and the dungeons, and the north door leads to Meira. If the player(s) reach Meira first, in the northwestern room, they will hit a cutscene in which they interrupt the cursing ceremony, and save Meira. If they go and save Lomar first, down in the dungeons, Meira will have already been cursed when they arrive here, and her curse will kill her within minutes unless they escape the dungeon quickly.
Once players have found both Lomar and Meira, (whether or not they are dead or alive) and they approach the exit, Toshkra will emerge and confront them. Toshkra is the demon Soferoc's agent, and he intends to kill the players who have nearly ruined his plans.
The dungeons are where Lomar is being held by the cult of Soferoc. Their plan is to kill him, an allow him to be found by Farkendrians, who will blame Timor. If players get here before having found Meira, they will find Lomar still alive, and be able to take him on as a henchman. If they get here and Meira is with them, they will be too late, and Lomar will be dead. The only way to save him is by using the raise dead scroll that the cultist holding Meira had. If there is no cleric in the party, players will have to accept Lomar's death.
Back home, Alron will congratulte the player(s) and end the game.