GRANITE MOUNTAIN PRISON
With some modifications, this adventure was based on Granite Mountain Prison
from Dungeon Magazine #??
JAIL BREAK INTRODUCTION
You have come West as far as the Camyn Yraen or Iron Road will take
you, to the lake city of Dynas Dwr, Water City in the old Flan tongue. Beyond
this city lies only the sparsely populated Heartlands, breadbasket of the entire
southern League. Further again lie the Crystal Mist Mountains, home to the
giants many years ago, but now home to the Order of the Keepers of Discipline.
The Keeper are said to have two structures within the mountains, one
their home monastery, where all Keepers are trained and barracked, and secondly
the Granite Mountain prison, a near-legendary edifice where the Keepers take
prisoners who are convicted of crimes not directly against the state. Being
taken to the Granite mountain prison is the same as a death sentence, for the
only sentence is life, and that is brutal and hard.
It was to this prison two weeks ago that your foster-parents and mentors
were taken. Somewhere up in the mountains, Farmer Faldor, Durnik the Smithy,
Aunt Linda, the High Priestess of Ehlonna, Elias the old hunter are kept in a
terrible dungeon, and you are sworn to get them back.
GRINCH - 'COLLECTOR'
Well, here's a good test for your skulking abilities, breaking into
a prison. If you didn't owe so much to the Story-Teller, Faldor and the
others, you'd be tempted just to turn around and leave. This is insane.
Still, at least Lightning's back to normal, now that you've left
that stupid green, elven dog behind. While it was there, he acted very quiet,
almost as if he was an ordinary dog... now the link is back up, and you can once
more communicate with him as you did.
CATRINA - PRIESTESS
Your life is changed irrevocably, since you left your home in Kit's
Gate evil has come there and destroyed all you know. Ehlanna's grove is
destroyed, the sacred tree's pulled up and the ground sowed with salt. The High
Priestess taken as well as Elias, Aunt Linda and Faldor the farmer who has
given you a roof for most of your life.
To make matters worse, the destruction of the grove was carried out
with the collusion of one of the other novices, a girl only a year further into
her training than you.... Ariane. She turned traitor to the goddess and sided
with the Sword-Saints of Kelanen, although she appears to have repented her sins
and has offered herself to you for penance, as there is no more senior
priestess left. Normally, you would pray to the goddess for advice, but
your actions within the AoldeHart appear to have offended her, although you
thought you were doing right by slaughtering the family of Forest Giants,
Ehlonna has refused to hear your prayers... perhaps a penance of your own is
due....
Still,at least the grove will be replanted, as soon as the other
priestess recovers from her torture by the Keepers, she will begin the
rituals of purification that will allow the sacred re-seeding to begin,
perhaps the year after next, on the first day of spring. The grove will flourish
once more.
Now all you have to do is keep Ariane away from temptation and ensure
that she does stick to the path of priestess. You do so wish the High Priestess
was here, you could turn to her for advice, but it appears, that until she is
free, the responsibility for Ariane of Ehlonna is yours.
RATH - SWORD-WIELDER
You have travelled from one of the most remote temples to your god,
high
in a spur of the Crystal Mist mountains, the Monks of Kelanen still practice
the Prince of Sword's Arts without corruption. It is a tradition amongst the
monks for novices in their last year of training to go out into the world and
practice their skills amongst those who do not follow the ancient forms, so you
will learn how those who are not Sword-Lords fight. After this year-long
sojourn, you will return to your temple, and if you can sufficiently impress
your masters with what you have learnt, you will become a true Sword-Lord, a
priest to Kelanen.
During the first two months of your travels, you passed through many
villages, and met other Sword-Lords, seeing how many wore jewelry and expensive
clothing, so against the vows of poverty the sword-lords of your home temple
took, you began to realise that the teachings of Kelanen had been corrupted
outside of the temple retreats. Many of the brotherhood appear to have become
tainted, and instead of keeping the art of the sword pure and used only for
defense, they have used their positions of power, and their skills to 'enamel
their own armour' (feather their own nests).
In some places, the Sword-Lords had allied themselves with another warrior
order; the Keepers of Discipline. After the Keepers had 'pacified' a village,
these false-swords would move in and enforce the law, taking taxes for
themselves and lording it over the villagers.
In the town known as the Griffon's Nest, you heard rumour of a
recently
re-discovered village, one which had been thought lost for more than fourty
years, a village from which no taxes had been received from... Keepers would
surely be sent to ensure it's re-subjugation, and after that corrupt Sword-
Sellers would be sent to oversee taxation, etc.
With the aid of this renegade band of mercenaries, you found a group of
corrupt Sword-Masters and took their Sword-Hands (killed them). It seems likely
that these people will draw other heretics to them, so for the moment you
travel with them, if nothing else, they are headed straight to the Keeper Of
Discipline's most notorious prison, Granite Mountain! There you will surely
find a worthy opponent for your blade...
SHARLA - JUSTIFIER
Well Sharla, now you have it, the ultimate test of your abilities as a
Justifer, to take a four person unit into the strongest-hold of the Keepers and
rescue half a dozen prisoners, and then get them out again. Without the alarm
being raised, and without any of them being killed.
And it is up to you, Grinch, though an adept sneak, is not up to leading a
military mission, Catrina is undergoing penance for slaughtering an entire
family of peace-loving, forest-dwelling giants, not to mention trying to
rebuild the sacred grove of Ehlonna within Kit's Gate, and then there's Rath,
the enigmatic Sword-Saint who helped kill five of his brothers on the village
green back home. He has offered you his help (or rather, his sword) for the
upcoming fight, but will not engage in the decision making process. Look's like
it's up to you kid...
And of course, there's the last free foster-parent; Walker Boh, who has
become extremely sullen and uncommunicative as you followed the Keepers trail
this far. Since he beat the last Sword-Saint in battle, and slaughtered him
like a farmer would kill a pig, he's fallen into a deep depression. Ever since
you've been with him, you've never seen him even raise a fist to another human
being, whenever an argument was provoked, or an insult offered, he turned and
left, no matter how sharp the barb. Once or twice he even punished you for
fighting with the other kids, after they'd repeated their parents insults, but
never did he hit you.
The incident with the corrupt Sword-lord appears to have reminded him of
something, something he'd rather forget, perhaps about himself, perhaps in his
past. he's scratching his stump more these days.
RAAN THE EUNOCH AND KRAD THE AXEMAN
You have been members of the Amber company, led by the Lady Amberle Du
Barbentain and her faithful retainer, Maelwys of Barbentain for the past two
years, gaining a great deal of experience and money in the process. You were
away from the company on a private hire when she came upon Beren o' the Hammer,
and his companions, and Maelwys was traitorously slain by her hire, the famed
renegade assassin Martel, The Black Hart.
Now she has disbanded the Company, and you travel with her out of a sense
of duty and remorse, after all, you weren't there when Maelwys needed you, but
you will be when Amber does....
Amber has spent the last few days putting together information from her
agents, and discovered that the Black Hart is due to assassinate someone within
the High Prince's Seat Loftwyck in the next two weeks. It seems likely that
this will be one of the seven princes, for all are gathered together for the
years-end council, which will being on the first day of the new year.
It is unlikely that even Amberle can beat Martel in a fight, so it will be
up to you to protect her back and ensure that idiot Shield-Bearer doesn't get
her killed, like he did Maelwys.
GHOST - KEEPER OF LORE
In days gone by, the druids were the keepers of lore within the Yeomanry
as was, then the forces of Iuz came and turned the country into an armed camp,
and soon after them the Keepers of Discipline threw out the priests of good and
espoused a doctrine of fear and distrust.
The druids were advisors to the Princes and thence to the High-Prince
himself, then the Keepers came and the druids were despised as heretics and
traitors. The druids were protectors of all the land, but then they were
cast forth, and the Keepers took on the mantle of protecting the land and it's
people.
The young Shield-Bearer, Beren has told you of a threat to the High-Prince
in the form of the assassin Martel, possibly the last survivor of the Knights
of the Hart. The High-Prince, no matter how ill-advised is inextricably tied to
the land, and without him, the land will surely fall.
If it means your death at the hands of the Keepers, you must still go to
the capital and stop this assassin from killing the High-Prince.