Kendarian Diplomats

[back to The Cloven Lands]

Read Aloud: The rolling fields are brittle and brown with late summer heat. The forests and thickets, golden-green, seem to be faring better, though the famine gripping Kendaria has certainly not spared them, and the usually lush woodlands seem instead to be dry as kindling. The drought has clearly been difficult on Kendaria’s fauna as well as the flora: squirrels, deer, and foxes that you have seen are all thin and weary. You have spotted gaunt wolves tailing you from time to time, though they all seem to have given up after deciding you’re a large enough group not to bother with.

You, along with four other travelers, are making your way to Bridgemoor. Among the group, some of you are diplomats or wealthy merchants intent on improving trade relations with international partners. Some of you are hired security, and some may have other aspirations entirely, such as studying at the famed Bridgemoor University.

Having been on the road for two days now, a fine layer of dust has settled into your pores. Hot, dusty days give way to dry, brittle nights that give way in turn to more hot, dusty days.

Travelers

Allow some time for role-playing as the party travels for an uneventful day. Have each of the players introduce their heroes and why they wish to travel to Bridgemoor. Do they hope to make business connections with other merchants and traders? Do they seek out a formal education at Bridgemoor’s university? Are they hoping to become citizens of the city-state, perhaps eventually rising to become a Meritocrat themselves and help run the state’s affairs? Encourage the heroes to share at least some motivation for traveling, whether deeply personal to their character or a simple professional reason. Likewise, urge them to form connections with the other characters, especially the other heroes played by their fellow players.

Kendarian Naming Conventions In Kendaria, a person’s surname is typically their place of residence. A Kendarian that moves from one settlement to another might change their surname after living in their new home for a few years, or might keep their old surname as a way of remembering their roots. Kendarian nobles, on the other hand, keep their family names, as these are symbols of status and pride.

In addition to each of the heroes, there are two hired guards with the stats of Guards (CC p. 222) and two Kendarian diplomats. One has the stats of a Merchant (CC p. 229), and the other the stats of a Noble (CC p. 231). Feel free to add more NPCs to this entourage, or to change the personalities and motivations of some of the characters. Lord Elarion should remain generally unchanged as his family will be a notable political force later in the campaign.

Gregor of Greenvalley (Guard). An honorable, traditional human in his early thirties, Gregor is a city watchman for the town of Greenvalley. He doesn’t have any interest in Bridgemoor, but escorting Elarion and Lander to and from the city-state paid well enough that he thought it worth taking the time away from his wife and twin daughters.

Jade of Redleaf Dale (Guard). A young dwarven woman not quite twenty, Jade is risk-taking and generally prefers to make decisions in the spur of the moment. She is adequately skilled with a blade, and has decided to travel to Bridgemoor in order to apprentice under skilled blacksmiths.

Lander of Silverbranch (Merchant). A merry, extraverted satyr, Lander places great value in logical, cautious decisions. He is slow to commit to anything, but fast to make friends and a smooth small talker. Lander is headed to Bridgemoor to reconnect with an old friend (a textiles merchant named Lauby) and to establish a working relationship with other prominent merchants in the city-state.

Lord Elarion of House Sutian (Noble). Lord Elarion is a human, the younger brother of Baron Desmond Sutian. Elarion is very loyal, but also relentlessly pursues personal gain. Posed with the question of betraying his brother for wealth or status, Elarion would not be incorruptible, but it would require a steep price to make him forego his family obligation. The Sutian family is responsible for the governance and protection of Greenvalley. Given Greenvalley’s suffering as a result of the famine, Lord Elarion hopes to secure shipments of grain and dried meat from Bridgemoor’s markets to his home for the coming months.

Rough Road Ahead

Read Aloud: Between you and Bridgemoor lies a couple days’ travel through rough land. The past two days on the road have been easy enough, if tiring, but this stretch of land is notoriously taxing. The roads are in disrepair, the land craggy with rising and falling hills, and the gnarled copses of trees hold a variety of threats, according to hearsay.

The company traveling with the heroes has an uncovered wagon drawn by a team of four horses. This wagon can contain all of the heroes’ personal supplies. It also contains the NPCs’ personal supplies, including two days’ worth of rations per NPC (8 total, unless you added more NPCs to the company): just enough to traverse this track of wilderness and emerge in the Kendarian villages near Bridgemoor.

Finding Food In the event that the party makes camp and any number of heroes or NPCs do not have a day’s worth of rations to eat, they might go hungry. One or more heroes can forage for food or game. They may do this even if they are not out of rations, but prompt them to do this if there are not enough rations to go around. Ask each hero who does so to make an AWR check, adding a relevant skill if they have one. Take the average of all rolls, then divide by 5 (rounding down). That is the number of rations that the party finds by foraging and/or hunting. Any character who Takes a Rest without consuming their rations gains Fatigue when they complete their rest.

Hungry Wolves

Trouble begins almost immediately upon entering this stretch of rough wilds. The travelers are first accosted by a pack of hungry wolves. The wolves will leave the party alone if they receive a number of rations as shown on the table below.

The total number of wolves - and the number of rations needed - depends on the number of heroes. Wolves, Dire Wolves, and Alpha Wolves can all be found in CC p. 213.

Players	Wolves	Rations
1	4 Wolves	8
2	3 Wolves, 1 Dire Wolf	9
3	5 Wolves	10
4	4 Wolves, 1 Dire Wolf	11
5	5 Wolves, 1 Dire Wolf	13
6	4 Wolves, 1 Alpha Wolf	20

If the party cannot or will not feed the wolves, then they must fight. The party’s NPC allies engage three of the wolves in combat, leaving the remaining wolves to fight the heroes.

In the event of combat, after ½ of the wolves that fight the heroes have died, the remainder will run away to look for food elsewhere.

Rocky Road

Read Aloud: The day’s journey is stony, dry, and exhausting. You push through brambles and briars, climb countless rocky hills only to slowly guide your team of horses down the other side, and keep a sharp eye out for more wolves all the while.

Ask each player to make two attribute checks: STR, DEX, END, INT, or AWR. Each player must use two different attributes unless they use two different skills from the same attribute (such as using AWR to make a Perceiving check and a Foraging check). Allow players to use any skill that might contribute to navigating the wilderness.

For each player, add up the sum of their two checks to find out how successfully they endure the trials of the journey. Implement effects that they suffer on the following day as they break camp, when road weariness sets in.

Sum Rolls	Effect
2	You are Fatigued. You are also Shaken and Chilled until you Take a Rest.
3-13	The grueling trek causes you to become Shaken and Chilled until you Take a Rest.
14-25	The difficult journey causes you to be Shaken until you Take a Rest.
26-35	No effect.
36+	You find enough edible vegetation to count for 1 day’s rations.

An Unwelcome Guest

On the first night in the wilderness, if the party has any rations left over after they have each eaten their fill, a hungry bear will track down their camp.

The bear (or bears) will fight until Bloodied, whereupon they will flee. Determine the number and type of bears based on the number of players.

Black Bears and Brown Bears can both be found in CC p. 198.

Players	Bears
1	1 Black Bear
2	1 Black Bear
3	1 Brown Bear
4	2 Black Bears
5	1 Black Bear and 1 Brown Bear
6	2 Brown Bears

If the party is all sleeping, then the bears have Total Surprise when combat begins. If someone is keeping watch, ask them to roll an AWR/Perceiving check against the bear’s DEX check. If the hero equals or exceeds the bear’s roll, then they spot the bear. The character keeping watch is not surprised, but everyone else is Partially Surprised.

Level Up

After traveling for one day and resolving conflict with the wolves and bears, the heroes level up to level 2.

The Last Day

Read Aloud: Having pressed through the most difficult stretch of tangled wilds, it is around noon when you crest a hill and see the Great Chasm sprawling across the horizon.

The Great Chasm yawns in the midday sun like a great red slash in the dry golden-brown plains. Its jagged cliffs and rocky slopes hold promise of treasure for brave miners and adventurers, but are also home to numerous threats and unknown dangers.

Sprawling proud across the Chasm is the sparkling stone wonder of Bridgemoor itself. The city-state is built entirely on a massive, miles-wide bridge that spans a narrow point in the Chasm. From one side to the other, Bridgemoor would take a little over a day to ride across. You are as yet too far away to make out any details, but you have heard tale of great green gardens, towering university libraries, and of course the Palace of Meritocrats at the bridge’s apex. A marvel in both functional engineering and architectural beauty, Bridgemoor is a melting pot of cultural and religious ideas, trade goods, and international agreements.

Reinvigorated by the distant sight of your destination, you descend the hill back into the wooded valleys en route to the bridge. When you reach a trickling stream that is obviously several inches below its typical flow, a cluster of halfling-sized yellow-green plant sprouts shuffle into the road and look up at you, revealing vaguely humanoid faces. “Please help us,” the largest one wheezes. “Our grove’s been corrupted! We need brave, strong adventurers to stop the evil.”

Fighting the Florens

If the heroes attack the creatures, it is a deadly fight. The floren forces are as follows depending on the size of the party. Stats for Leafling Florens and Elder Florens are in CC p. 92, and stats for Wilderguards are in CC p. 189.

Players	Fae Entourage
1	1 Elder Floren and 3 Leafling Florens
2	1 Elder Floren, 3 Leafling Florens, and 1 Wilderguard
3	1 Elder Floren, 4 Leafling Florens, and 1 Wilderguard
4	1 Elder Floren, 6 Leafling Florens, and 1 Wilderguard
5	1 Elder Floren, 6 Leafling Florens, and 2 Wilderguards
6	1 Elder Floren, 7 Leafling Florens, and 3 Wilderguards

In the event of combat, the NPCs will engage three Leafling Florens, leaving the remaining enemies for the heroes to fight.

Note that it is likely that this could result in one or more heroes getting killed. If the heroes decide to retreat, the florens will not pursue them.

The Florens’ Plight

Assuming that the heroes do not fight, and instead engage in conversation with these creatures, they will learn that they are florens. Their corrupted grove is about a half-day’s travel north, which would add a full day to the heroes’ travel time before they reach Bridgemoor, likely causing their NPC companions to run out of rations.

If the heroes decline to help the florens, then the florens will leave, dejected, and the heroes may continue to Bridgemoor. They arrive at the city safely that evening and may proceed to the adventure detailed in Chapter 3: The Underbridge Cult.

If the heroes do decide to help the florens, then proceed to the Corrupted Floren Grove section. The NPCs might complain about the detour, but if the heroes recommend escorting the NPCs to Bridgemoor and then immediately returning to help the florens, then all parties will be satisfied. If the heroes insist on helping the florens straightaway, the NPCs may protest but will go along with the plan.

Corrupted Floren Grove

If the heroes agree to help the florens, then they will be led to the corrupted grove.

Read Aloud: The elder floren points a tuberous arm down into a craggy valley overgrown with leafy kudzu. It is impossible to see past the pale green canopy. You can tell that the kudzu is suffering as much as any other vegetation in this drought, as its leaves are tinged in a lace of brown and yellow.

The heroes might attempt various ways to see into the valley before they descend. Other than creeping down the hills and poking their heads through the canopy, there is no way for them to see past the kudzu. Once they do enter the valley, provide the following details to them.

Read Aloud: The florens’ secluded valley has an ominous, hushed air about it. What might have once been a wide creekbed is now just a track of soggy mud. Beneath the shade of the wilting kudzu that has grown along the trunks and branches of trees, you feel as though you’re in some kind of mausoleum. While crows cawed and crickets chirped outside the grove, the unnatural silence causes your skin to prickle.

Heroes might want to make AWR or INT checks to see if they can determine anything specifically wrong with the vegetation or the area in general. Any such check might reveal the following information. A high roll reveals information for lower rolls, as well.

Less than 5: There is a drought.

5-10: This area is usually some kind of small marsh, and the water has almost completely dried up.

11-15: Furthermore, the vegetation in this particular grove seems corrupted by some additional malicious entity, like a tree disease or an evil spell.

16+: Specifically, this grove has been tainted by the presence of occult magic. If the heroes want to look for threats specifically related to the vegetation, either before or after learning any information from the above attribute checks, allow them to make an AWR check. On a roll of 8 or higher, they spot the corrupted plant life that is directly responsible for the problems in the grove.

If they see this information, then the enemy plants are Partially Surprised when combat begins. The exact type and number of hostile creatures are based on the party’s size, as shown on the table below. Stats for each monster can be found in the CC: Blightweed on p. 34, Bloodoak Brambles on p. 36, and Bloodoak Scarecrows on p. 37.

Players	Corrupted Plants
1	1 Bloodoak Scarecrow
2	1 Bloodoak Brambles
3	1 Bloodoak Brambles and 1 Bloodoak Scarecrow
4	1 Blightweed
5	1 Blightweed and 1 Bloodoak Scarecrow
6	1 Blightweed and 1 Bloodoak Brambles

Read Aloud: Having defeated the corrupt plant life, the grove regains a little bit of a healthy hue. It still suffers from the withering effects of drought, but it no longer has the corrupt, unholy feel that it once did. Crows and crickets chirp again, and a squirrel scurries along the bough of a tree. The florens gleefully celebrate and thank you for your troubles.

As a reward for their efforts, the heroes are granted a boon by the elder floren. Once in the next year, the heroes may call on the florens for aid when they are in a natural environment. 2d4 Wilderguards (CC p. 189) will come to their aid for the next 1 hour or until they are killed in combat. If the heroes call on these fae when confronted with a battle against beasts, the wilderguards can translate and defuse the situation, allowing the heroes to completely skip the combat.

Dustdale

This optional conclusion to the adventure offers some explanation of how the florens’ grove became corrupted in the first place and ties this prologue directly into the Underbridge Cult. Feel free to use this conclusion even if the heroes decide not to help the florens, but they may not notice that anything is amiss if they haven’t first been to the florens’ corrupted grove.

Read Aloud: A half-hour’s journey from Bridgemoor, the Kendarian village of Dustdale clings to an appropriately named dusty fold between a couple stony, shrubby hills. It has only one major road, with a handful of public buildings forming a town square and a smattering of townhomes arranged in a jumble around these buildings. Shockingly, the village is so small that there isn’t even an overnight inn, although a small taproom still serves as a stage for social mixing. There is no town fence or wall to speak of, but on either side of the village, the main road has a clump of dark, thorny brambles that look like a poor effort at growing a hedge wall.

If the heroes have been to the florens’ grove, they can immediately recognize these brambles as the same kind of corrupted vegetation that they encountered there. Each entrance to the village is guarded by one Bloodoak Brambles.

If they ask around town, they can interact with the following NPCs. Without too much difficulty, they can determine that the apothecary is up to shady business and is responsible for creating the brambles outside town.

Remb, the Village Constable. The only guard in the village is an elderly trollkin named Remb. He is quite friendly, but not particularly cunning. If he feels that he or his friends have been insulted by strangers, he demands that the strangers leave the town. He has the stats of a Guard (CC p. 222).

Widget, Baron of Dustdale. A ridiculously self-important halfling who is at most eighteen years old, Widget demands to be called “Baron Widget of Dustdale” every time he is spoken to. Failure to comply will result in him calling for Remb to throw the offender out of town. In private, Widget knows nothing of running a town, even one this small, and takes directions from his mother, the barkeep. He has the stats of a Merchant (CC p. 229).

Leda, the Apothecary. Leda is an older human skilled in herbalism and horticulture. She dodges questions about her personal life, and if confronted over growing the corrupted plants, she will try to flee. She has the stats of an Underbridge Cultist (TCL p. ##).

If the party searches Leda’s herbal shop, they can roll an INT or AWR check and add any relevant skill. On a roll of 13 or higher, they find a strange coin that is not any recognizable currency. It is a medallion that seems to be made of solid gold. It has a skull and scythe on one side and an indecipherable glyph on the other. On a roll of 19 or higher, they also find the remains of a letter in her fireplace. It is burned beyond legibility, and the broken wax seal has melted, but the seal’s wax is a striking pitch black.

Underbridge Medallion If any of your players find the medallion, make note of this. The medallion symbolizes affiliation with the Underbridge Cult and may be relevant later on.

Dan, the General Store Owner. A middle-aged human who doesn’t like to talk about his past, Dan runs the general store in Dustdale. Any mundane items can be found here, though he has no weapons or armor in stock. If pressed about his past, Dan will reveal that he is a failed adventurer: he and his twin brother set out to become heroes, but his brother died to a dire chicken, and Dan has since resigned himself to this quiet life. He has the stats of a Merchant (CC p. 229).

Dorta, the Barkeep. A matronly halfling woman who runs a small and pleasant taproom, Dorta has no aspirations in life other than getting her son to become a competent leader. She knows all the most current gossip out of Dustdale’s population of almost one hundred inhabitants. She has the stats of a Noble (CC p. 231).

Conclusion

Regardless of whether the heroes help the florens or not, and regardless of whether they spend any amount of time in Dustdale, they are level 2 when they reach Bridgemoor. They also receive 1 point of Goodwill with both the Aristocratic and Mercantile facets of Kendaria. Lord Elarion pays them each 20 sc for their aid. If you are tracking individual noble houses, grant them 2 points of Goodwill with the Sutian household as well. Proceed to Chapter 3: The Underbridge Cult.