The Warlord Octavius first discovered his door during his younger, adventurous days. It now forms the surface of the upper floor of his tower, from which he unleashes his bandit hordes.

The stone is far stronger than what it should be, and holds up the strain of the walls & roof quite well. However, it is still very heavy, and those mercenary bandits that live within the floor beneath it worry about the supports collapsing down upon them. If only they knew that not all of the creaking & soft moans late at night were from material stress alone...

For the past few years, Warlord Octavius has had vivid nightmares about riding a cresting wave of Demons, surging out from his tower. He considers this only to be inspired by his unique decorative floor of his throne room & personal chambers, and caused by too much spicy food before bed-time. However, unbeknownst to him, most of the other inhabitants have also been having these same nightmares for the past few months.

Though he is a capable and charismatic leader, not all of the new additions to Warlord Octavius's army may be the result of his leadership and fame. Lately, the numbers have swelled, with ever more vile and depraved rogues.

Just last week, Warlord Octavius noticed a scaly rash on the backs of his shoulders. This he associates to the increasingly crowded tower, and increasingly dirty new troops, bringing in new diseases and vermin. He also considers the pain in his shoulders to be either an early sign of age, or difficulty sleeping properly because of the rash.

Are these signs innocent, as the Warlord and his men are not? Do they bode ill for the surrounding countryside? What if the rash spreads, becoming true armoured scales, or even sprouts wings... as they did in Octavius's most recent dream? What happens when the other bandits also start exhibiting signs that their close proximity to a gateway to Hell is affecting them physically?

Perhaps death and destruction will be unleashed from the door afterall, but perhaps not in the way Caedmon originally envisioned. Go to Comment

Thank you to CaptainPenguin and Kinslayer for their assistance on this. Go to Comment

The Lost Temple
Set beneath a crumbling ruin of a temple to Aduivo, the quiet halls of a forgotten temple rest undisturbed. Cobwebs and dust are it's only inhabitants for the last few centuries. The temple above having long ago been built and crumbled into history in the open view to the stars, while beneath it, the preserved hallways of a diabolic temple continued on. Waiting.

The temple was originally built by Caedmon and his first few followers. Having long anticipated the creation of the Demon Gates, the prepared a special place for them to rest. Deep below, a raging storm of energy constantly battled as the worlds life blood flowed freely, warming the temple unaturally. While above, the suns and the moon shone down on the earth where the temple rested, in full view of Caedmon, ever watchful.

It was simple, the temple was. A chamber for a priest and followers with a room set aside for holding slaves for sacrifice. The temple had a singular purpose, the opening of the Demon Gate. But due to the War of the Gods, Caedmon fell and was not able to see his vision through with the opening of the gates. And that is where they sit today, devoid of life, waiting to be found, waiting to be opened. Go to Comment

The Demon Gates
A set of double doors block the hallway. A large relief sits in the middle of the doors barring passage. The doors are a silvery metal that seem to reflect any light as would a large mirror. Runes inscribed into the door confound the eye as if they move on their own.

The doors radiate warmth but are cold to the touch, and while they are not locked only someone knowing the ancient script of the Demons can decipher the runic script to open the door.

The room inside is a mental nightmare that will haunt the dreams of even the most stout of mind. A cold wind blows in the hot room, flickering torches to life. No direction can be determined from where it comes from however.

The floor is black stone polished to a near mirror shine with three two foot steps leading up to the main dias. The room is also noticably devoid of dust, dirt, or spider webs. As if the room has been taken care of through the centuries.

The steps lead to a central dias where a five foot long block of obsidian rests, the top having a slight curvature that holds the body of those to be sacrificed. behind the alter is a most terrible sight.

Two huge double doors take up the entire west wall of the room. They are carved with images of a mass of horrific beings pouring forth from a gaping maw of some unknown caricature to lay waste to defeated mortals whose sculpted expressions plead for aid and mercy. At the head of the tide there is a single being who stands above the roaring army of demons, cloaked in a deep-hooded cape, with a smiling mask. The whole is made from some sort of dark, slick stone that appears oily or wet in the lights, yet rough and dry to the touch.

The same runic script on the main doors also line these huge doors, detailing the glory of Caedmon and the mass he brings to the unworthy and supposed righteous. The single key made for each gate, enters into the gaping maw and opens wide to show a wall of fire and nightmare.

What comes through... open the gate and see. Go to Comment

Read the NPC Octavius Brkaeil for more information on the history of this Demon Gate. Go to Comment

The best version of this very thing I saw in a movie.

In the Mouth of Madness

A strange pulp horror movie that told tales of H.P. Lovecraft from the start. What made the movie all the better, you never saw any of the monsters coming from the bad place. You say glimpses of them, like form the corner of your eye but that is it. That is how you do a horror story. Tell them everything up to the point where imagination takes over. Our own imagination is far worse then what someone else could come up with. Go to Comment

In a similar vein, almost exactly the same in fact, I have read a children's novel that had something of this nature within it. 'twas a Christan novelization of a passage in Revelations about the Bottomless Pit, and the story was quite good.

It started off with a door being found, and then a rumor was heard of a family that since time forgotten were guardians of a key that could open The Door. No-one knew where the Door was, so the family was dismissed as nutcases. The main characters, however, made the connection. As did the MBG (Main Bad Guy), who promptly stole the key, then took it to the Door and was driven insane by unlocking it. The climax of the story was where the main characters had to push the Door closed and lock it, while demons on the other side pushed against it to try and break loose.

Very action filled, very scary. That is how these Gates should be used and portrayed. The thought of what might get out should scare the living crap out of the PCs, and make them try to keep it closed at all costs. *cue heroic actions of a player sacrificing himself to lock the door from the inside or something* Go to Comment

I think this is quite good! Go to Comment

I like the basics of the plot.

I would probably foreshadow this event with them meeting the young thief before hand, perhaps the last time they were in the city. Circumstances can be based on the group, but what ever it is I would hope that the players might owe the thief something... thus getting involved.

If they don't get involved, they can perhaps later see the young thief (bound appropriately) in the company of The Invaders. The appropriate 1+1 will be added together and the missed encounter will become foreshadowing of events to come.

I personally would have my adventurers staying in a tall building and having one late night event occur (like someone's bed breaks a leg... possibly under the weight of two people in it)... casually looking out the window will see the invading force heading here or marching toward the keep(torches or what ever). If that seems contrived, maybe it is... but history (and action fiction)is filled with quirky events like this.

My only comment would of been to take the NPCs for the adventure and either posting them on the first page OR putting them in the minor NPC thread in the forum, then link them back. That way you might still use these NPCs in other situations before this one... creating versimilitude through the "small world effect". Go to Comment

Edited for content... Go to Comment

Point taken... fixed and altered to add more of a moral issue.

I had assumed to throw in a seemingly pointless encounter in a city market that the players could react to or not. Obviously if they do not they may be forced into the situation if they do not leave the city. However, they will not know that unless they get involved. If they do get involved they could potentially stop the murder of the Baron and help in stopping the assault, or simply leave and let the city to it's own devices. Obviously there is a moral issue at stake.

This is one of those encounters that seems small and unimportant but can boil into a few nights of adventure or a whole campaign twist. Go to Comment

I actually had thought about making the players have had previous contact with Nalov the thief to make it a more personal component issue.

I like the addition of the furthing the plot when the invaders arrive Moonhunter. I will endeavor to add some spice into the entire event.

I will edit the NPC's and put them into the other thread as you requested and try to add a more flavorful background to add a more personal note to each.

Thanks again. Go to Comment

Updated with info suggested by Moonhunter and others. Thanks again. Go to Comment

I have actually begun this in my game this past Saturday, the beginning of the plot where the introductions have been made and friendships are being established. They fell for it fairly easily and with all the rumors floating around at the taverns it should be rather easy to throw down a fight in the street with at least half the PC's getting involved. Sort of a requirement on one players part and a backup buddy system on the others. Go to Comment

Updated: Updated information regarding player knowledge and interaction. Go to Comment

So - there's this street brawl - PCs can get involved or not as they see fit - if they do they get embroiled in a plot to assassinate the local baron - if not it goes ahead anyway

Just one problem - I really don't see why the PCs should get involved, after all the elf is a thief (as evidenced by the cries of "thief" from his assailants and he's clearly losing which is all to the good (if he really is a thief that is) - in the final analysis it really isn't any of their business

Ask yourself this - if I was one of the players, would I get involved? - for me, the answer is clearly "no"

Now, if the elf were loudly proclaiming his innocence, calling for aid, etc it would be a different story - I might well give him a hand - after all, an innocent man getting beaten up by a bunch of bully-boys just isn't playing fair

So - give me a reason to get involved

Other than that - a bit average but not too bad - 3/5 Go to Comment

Yes that makes more sense - if the PCs already know Nalov they may have a reason to intervene

Which side they take is, of course dependent on how they know him Go to Comment

At first the plot seemed a little railroadish to me, until I got deeper into it and noticed there was a lot more freedom of choice (and consequences from those choices) then first apparent. 

The plot as written can work great to introduce a thief NPC to the parties group, or even replace the thief NPC with a player character rogue if the GM is feeling  especially creative.

The extra system less stats for the NPC's involved were a nice touch and makes it easy for a GM to quickly give them more system specific attributes without needing to come up with them from stats and the initial description.

For those running a higher tech campaign a similar basic plot concept and adventure based off of this can be used with minimal effort. (I can imagine a similar plot unfolding on one of the rim worlds of Firefly or back water markets in Star Wars.)

Nicely done, and a plot I will be using in my Warhammer Fantasy campaign rather soon.

Go to Comment

I like it, it's interesting... Though for some reason it strikes me as being a bit munchkin, or, maybe, if that's too strong a term, perhaps Mary-Sue-ish.
Still...

4/5 Go to Comment

Updated with Plot Hooks and information on his tattoos. Go to Comment