I'm continuing to write Under Umber Skies, my first ever adventure which I hope to publish sometime this year. What follows is my first draft of the tavern that serves as an intro to this whole adventure area.
You'll find it chock-full of references to the other parts of the adventure; a point-crawl through the wilderness between Til's Rest and the dungeon of Stunmars, wherein lies a dragon and his horde trapped in amber, a vault containing powerful magical treasure, and several factions interested in what happens here. Hope you enjoy!!
THE APPROACH
From whatever direction, those who travel to the dungeon of Stunmars & the area around it see the umber aurora in the sky. Most approach via the Vist Adept, a journey over rocky hills and through rotted forests, though some come over the icy sea of Gyst. Both bring the party to Til’s Rest.
1 Til’s Rest
The jumping-off point to the dungeon of Stunmars. An ancient inn; old rotted wood expansions growing out of an original stone construction. It’s where the Vist Adept, an ancient road, meets the inhospitable sea of Gyst, playing host to a combination of traders, travelers, and fishers.
Everything costs double what you’d expect, due to the sheer amount of gold coming out of Stunmars.
Main Room (boisterous, smelly, crowded): Sturdy stone walls, decent collection of liquor, food and drink service by Viola and Enele, who also offer beds to stay in.
Viola Catharson (singing, strong, exacting): Wife of Alpo. Co-owner of Til’s Rest. One eye. Constantly raising a song over the din of Til’s Rest. Sometimes a bit oblivious to the effect that can have, for good or ill. Can lift as much as three men. Doesn’t tolerate bullshit; thinks Voyislav, Luka and Avram are full of it. Wants: to get Voyislav, Luka and Avram out of this place without starting a fight. Fears: Nukkitaq and their fire wisps coming after Til’s Rest; they sent a threatening note a fortnite ago asking to meet. She hasn’t told Alpo this. Jobs: Draw the three bullshitters out of Til’s Rest; pay is free drinks for the night. Meet with Nukkitaq, kill them and bring Viola their head; free drinks and board for as long as you want (this one’s not public; her husband Alpo does not approve of this).
Heino Harjula (peg-legged, spry, wheelin’ and dealin’): “During the gold rush, its a good time to be in the pick and shovel business.” Heino is that saying in a human being. She came north to delve herself, but lost her leg on the way. After selling her gear to fellow adventurers, she left this area and came back with a wagon full of all the normal adventuring gear (torches, daggers, rope, rations). In addition, she sourced two specific items from the local area listed below. Wants: To get filthy rich. To find who is stealing her stuff. Fears: Getting robbed. Jobs: Try out her radiation salt. It's free, plus 5cp for a written testimonial. Get more radiation salt. 5 cp per bag. Find out who is stealing her stuff (it's Enele, stealing it for the cult. He robs her wagon while everyone sleeps).
Red Salt: Mix with water and drink. Foul tasting, but allegedly prevents corruption.
Silver Dip: Rub on weapons to allegedly do double damage to corrupted creatures.
Jaako Horvathson (pissed off, competent, stinky): Big game hunter who sells magical components to wizards. Knows the Beast would be worth a fortune to Tryllek the Omnimancer. 4-in-6 he is here, 2-in-6 he is at his hunting cabin. Wants: to kill the Beast. Fears: the fire druid, Nukkitaq, coming after him. Jobs: Help him ambush and kill Nukkitaq; pays 50 copper per person. Help him kill the Beast; promises 10% of the proceeds, which he estimates at 25,000 copper.
Enele (quiet, deferential, muscled): 18ish yr old boy. Dashing, muscled, soot covered. Works so hard for Alpo & Viola. They adopted him when his parents were killed in Stunmars five years ago. One year ago, Veera the Red seduced him as he walked through the forest. Since then, he marks the bags of travelers ripe for robbery by the cult of the Red. Has a stick of red charcoal; markings made with it can only be seen by someone holding charcoal made from the same fire. Wants: To make the Catharson’s proud. To be with Veera. Fears: Getting found out as a cultist. That he isn’t good enough for the Catharson’s or Veera. Jobs: Take him with you on a delve to Stunmars, to prove his worth. No payment, and he won’t ask for proceeds, but will sneak off to find Veera once there.
Vojislav, Luka, Avram (fur-clad, smiling, conniving): Disowned by a merchant family of Rend, these brothers headed north to make it big and buy out the family business. Got stuck working for Gryst on his longship; kind of hate him and are now looking for an easy out. Wants: Jerry’s money. Or anyone’s money, really. Fears: not getting caught precisely, but more being publicly shamed for stealing (or being shamed for anything else for that matter). Jobs: Keep everyone’s eyes off Jerry. If successful with that, help them rob other travelers. Pay with a portion of the proceeds.
Jerry (drunk as a skunk, wealthy, helpless): Recently returned from a delve of Stunmars with 2,500 copper, but lost his brother on the inside. Has spent half of it already, and currently Vojislav, Luka and Avram are attempting to get him drunk enough that they can steal the rest. Wants: To not feel pain. To retrieve his brother’s locket, which was lost when his brother was torn apart by the maintainers. Fears: Sobering up. Losing the coin he lost his brother for. Jobs: retrieve his brother’s locket from Stunmars. Will pay way more than he should for that (like 1000cp).
Back Room (gambling, more smelly, sparse): Simple tables, breezy wooden walls, open service window into the kitchen.
Gryst Gammon (sea-tested, uncouth, gaming): runs a gaming table in the back room. Regularly spits dip juice on the floor and farts whenever he pleases. His fishing longship, L’Orignal, is the only thing bigger than a rowboat moored at Til’s Rest. Has been making a living fishing and also ferrying adventurers from here to 6 the Beach (5 cp per person) or into 16 The Cove (25 cp per person). Wants: One big win at the table to fund his retirement. Fears: his crew mutiny, his gambling debts catching up to him (the Catharson’s just told him he maxed out his tab at Til’s Rest).
Three Dragon Ante: Each player wagers 1 copper to enter the round. Everyone rolls a d6, with another round of wagering (as in poker). Roll a d8, followed by a round of wagering. Finally, roll a d10, followed by a final round of wagering. Highest total between all three dice wins the entire pot.
Tamam (neckless, armored, squeaky voice) & the Lamplighter (quick, full-face helmet, sulfur): Partners who have been on four delves, with little but their lives to show for it. He has a huge sword, she can do fire magic and keeps a lit candle atop her helmet at all times. Between them, valuable full plate armor, the aforementioned sword, a sack full of vials of lamp oil, a scroll of fireball and fire wall. Cleaned Gryst out the last time they played cards with him. Wants: to be hired as bodyguards. To meet the fire druid Nukkitaq. Fears: dying, like they've heard a lot of people do. Jobs: hire them as bodyguards. 25cp retainer for both plus 10% of the party’s earnings.
Florent L’Abilie (Posh, disgusted, painting): A famed painter in the capital of Rhivian province; a recent scandal forced him from the city. In the meantime, he has traveled north to paint his masterpiece of the umber aurora above Stunmars. He cannot stand the amount of grease in this place. Wants: Really, to go home. To impress all those dorks who accused him of murder. Fears: That he’ll go to jail That he’ll never again see his love, David Cazal, a fellow painter. Jobs: Help proofread his love letter to David. He’ll write you a poem in return. Won’t be very good. Escort him to 10 The Giant’s Nose and guard him there overnight for a better view of the aurora; pay is 150 cp up front plus 5% of the proceeds of the sale of the painting.
Alpo Catharson (hard-working, crack, arm): Owner of Til’s Rest. Husband of Viola. Third arm. Great recipe for pulled pork. Prodigious plumber’s crack. Wants: to keep the peace, and to get fresh, unmutated pig. Fears: that things get out of control with the new faces around Til’s Rest. That the good pig is all gone. Jobs: Retrieve unmutated pigs. Pay in copper.
Docks (smelly, rickety). Three ships; Gryst’s longship, a serviceable rowboat owned by Jaako as a quicker way to his hunting cabin (2-in-6 this rowboat is not present, as Jaako is at his cabin), and a partially rotted rowboat with a hole in the bottom (could be patched up with an hour or so of work, but would still sink on a 1 on a d6 if taken off the docks)
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