Posted on August 20, 2019September 15, 2019 by Jonathan G. Nelson — Leave a comment

K’Tarik, Sanctuary of Scattered Souls

K’Tarik, Sanctuary of Scattered Souls

K’Tarik is an adventure location, based in Aventyr but usable in any game system or setting.

Savior of the People

Decisions made, the great battle

When Lieutenant Waychon of the Chonians disobeyed his captain during the most recent and major battle with Baevonia, he had already signed and served his own exile orders. Waychon’s reasoning in doing so, was to save those under his command and their families, for he knew the battle was over before it began. After fleeing the battle on horseback, protecting survivors, Waychon looked back to see his captain and commanders cut down by the enemy forces; bowing his head, he rode off through a cloud of dust, cast as sapphire motes against the rays of the setting sun.

K’Tarik, a new home

After weeks moving from location to location, in search of water and food, Waychon settled here, at K’Tarik, the site of a strange temple and giant-sized gateway built into the side of the Baevonian Mountains. The Chonains have thrived here over the past month or so, building some rudimentary structures, planting gardens, tending crops, and beginning to settle into at least some semblance of their former lives. Of course, things are never easy in the Disputed Territories of Aventyr and an ancient evil stirring in the temple, rumors of orc hordes gathering in the mountains above, and the constant threat of a Baevonian attack all weigh heavily on Waychon and his settler’s hearts.

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Location: K’Tarik, Sanctuary of Scattered Souls

K’Tarik was once the site of a celestial gateway, ages before humans evolved on this planet. Adjacent to the gateway is the Pillar of the Planes, a strange temple and planar powerhouse added by the Grekians during their reign.

1. The Approach

After sneaking past the ogres in Ogre Valley and traversing a series of caves filled with booby-traps and stealthy Chonian soldiers, one emerges at the base a gentle hillside and a mountainous scene split asunder by a stunning slender waterfall. Grapes and berries grow wild on the hillside. Chonians tending to the vines will flee from any strangers, immediately summoning soldiers to converse with the outsiders.

2. Makeshift Village

The Chonian’s have a few structures which appear to be hastily constructed and only used for daily chores and activities. One building is a stable and is home to horses owned by the former Chonian militiamen. There are almost 200 Chonians here, living both in the Gateway of Antiquity and the Pillars of the Planes locations. In the daytime there are typically 3d10+20 Chonians in area 2 while the rest are in areas 3, 4, and 5.

3. Reincarnation Falls

Nicknamed by the Chonians settled here, this magnificent waterfall brings the most valuable commodity of all, clean water. The base of the beautiful waterfall is deceiving, appearing as a shallow pond but it is deeper than any here realize. Most of the water travels straight down a rocky tunnel at the bottom of a pond, while the rest trickles over the edge of the pond and down the hillside. The underwater tunnel leads about 1/8 mile into the Underworld where a tribe of eighty aquatic ahooling use the water to bathe, swim, and hunt. Anyone, other than an ahooling, attempting to engage this settlement will be attacked en mass.

4. Gateway of Antiquity

These gates stand as a testament to time and harken back even before the Grekians settled in this region. No one knows exactly who or what built the gates or what they were used for. Inside is a hall roughly 50 feet wide and 500 feet long, when the hall stops it breaks into a T, with doorways leading into large chambers 20 feet wide and 100 feet long. When the Chonians arrived, there were no ruins, rubble, debris, or any sign that anyone ever lived and dwelt here. Now, the Chonians have set up shop and live here, they even camp and sleep here. Stone gates, 10 feet thick, provide protection for the Chonian settlers throughout the night. The gates are opened in the morning and closed at night by pressing a single button set with an arcane rune.
Those who are perceptive and inquisitive may find a small rune at the T where the great hall dead-ends. Could the rune open a gateway to another plane? Summon whomever lived in these halls? Or perhaps it is trap? Only foolhardy adventurers would dare attempt to find out!

5. Pillars of the Planes

This location is fully detailed in Mini-Dungeon Monthly #6. This is where the majority of Chonian soliders and priests are holed up. Waychon, Wo’Lan, Requn’Ma, and Iu’Opp are the most prominent figures and detailed in the sections ahead.

6. Goat path into the Baevoninan Mountains

Any characters attempting to take this route will be stopped by villagers, if they continue, they will be immediately fired upon by all Chonian soldiers. The goat path is treacherous and only five successful DC 18 Acrobatics (Dexterity) or Strength (Athletics) checks will prevent one from falling, possibly to their death. On up and over the rise, a clear path into the mountains can be found, this way leads directly into orc territory is peppered with bands of orc raiders that are mostly active at night. Those attempting to take this route will eventually gather the attention of the orcs which blow their warhorns, carrying the sound up and into the peaks where hordes of orcs gather and then spill down the mountainside, an unstoppable, riotous mob, of outraged, territorial killers.

Important Characters

Waychon

NG human fighter 4

Waychon is the leader of this settlement, thrust into the role as soon as he abandoned the Chonian army on the battlefield. The lieutenant-commander of the Chonian army, who is now holed up in Keep Doom, watched that day, as Waychon withdrew and their commander and captain were slain, he has cursed Waychon ever since. Waychon is very much living in the past and knows his actions may have saved many men but also put to death his superiors and their forces. Although he regrets this mistake and thinks of it often, he’s been so busy getting the Chonian settlers safely to a source of food and water that he tends to escape into his work.
Waychon will not let anyone into this village unless they can prove they have something valuable to offer and are not affiliated with the Baevonians in any way, shape, or form. If he receives word of anyone approaching the village, he will summon his six best warriors, and ride on horseback with full armor and weaponry, bows out and at the ready resting at their side to begin conversing. If conversation is impossible due to differing languages, he summons Wo’Lan to translate.

Wo’Lan

LG human fighter 6, venerable (slow spell on self, indefinitely)

Wo’Lan harkens back to older and greater days gone by when the Chonian civilization was much more prominent in the region and had towns and villages peppering the landscape. In those days, he fought against the orc hordes of the Baevonian mountains, roaming bands of raiding kobolds, and sometimes, the Baevonians themselves though those battles typically resulted in the enemy being driven back up the mountainside and into their strongholds. Back then, there was an alliance with the Klavek Kingdom, which the Chonians kept like a card in their back pocket, calling upon the Klavekian’s might whenever the Baevonians got too bold or brazen. Over the years working side-by-side with the Klavek Kingdom, Wo’Lan learned the Klavekian tongue and thus, serves as Waychon’s translator.
Once a great warrior, Wo’Lan no longer practices his battle exercises and instead tends to the sick or injured as an aid to the clerics or helps children learn basic chores and farming out in the fields. He has gotten slow in his old age and needs to rest frequently. Even though Wo’Lan has hung up his blade, seemingly for good, he still has some spark left and is quite skilled with his magic Chonian longsword. Magic Chonian blades, once uncommon, now rare, are rumored to function only for those born and raised in the boundaries of former Chonia.

Requn’Ma

NE human fighter 3

An archer, Requn’Ma’s skills are unmatched by any living Chonian. Secretly part of a raiding band, her group attacks travelers on their weekly supply run to/from Lake Chonia.

Iu’Opp

LG human cleric

A cleric of Flaesuros, Iu’Opp is often found helping others in her community and breathing life back into those who have been injured, either physically or emotionally.

Threats to K’Tarik

Devil, Pillar of the Planes – Slowly confusing and manipulating Chonians from afar. Seeks to manifest a visit to the prime material plane and take dominance over K’Tarik.
Orc tribes, Baevonian Mountains – Working with a powerful ally to dam up the stream, thereby stopping the waterfall and crushing the ability for the Chonians to survive and provide for themselves.
Ahooling settlement, 1/8 mile below – If the flow of water stops (see Orc tribes), the ahool will emerge and attack in 1d4 days, assuming whomever they encounter is responsible.
Ogres, Ogre Canyon – Ogres typically provide a deterrent to unwanted visitors, but in 1d4 days, an ogre will wander into the caves below K’Tarik and attack the Chonian guards.
Baevonians, Baevonian Mountains – While the Chonians think their location is secret, the Baevonians are watching and waiting for the right moment to strike, after the Chonians have been driven down out of K’Tarik.

Welcome to Aventyr Adventures! A system agnostic series (with some D&D 5e) designed for GMs and players to enjoy the exploration of new lands together. These blog entries are 100% free for you to use along with existing Aventyr Campaign Setting content.

Explore and discover Aventyr, an exciting world where nature struggles to survive under the onslaught of so-called civilization, primal warriors summon powerful totems, and ancient secrets in the sky, sea, and depths of the earth wait to be discovered!

Explore Aventyr!

World Map: Locations Nearby

Wayward Inn

Lake Chonia & Grekian Ruins

Ruins of Wo’Mataja

Beldam of Stygian Glade

Ogre Canyon

Y’Quenar, Pillars of the Planes

Vasi’s Grotto

Baevonian Pass

~Credits~

Author Jonathan G. Nelson

Cartographer Jared Blando

Music Kevin MacLeod

Music from https://filmmusic.io
by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Posted on August 15, 2019September 15, 2019 by Jonathan G. Nelson — Leave a comment

Ogre Canyon

A short scenario for four to six characters of levels 2-3, 4-5, or 6-7

A Starving Family of Four

The Gukvig tribe, a family of four ogres, are always struggling to keep themselves fed. The once plentiful appropriately-named Ogre Canyon has become more of a death trap as of late.

“Bad Chonian come to live on hill. Eat all good food! Now, we catch Chonian, eat meat off bones!”

Some of the Chonians, fleeing the Baevonian army, came to live above the canyon at the ancient site of K’Tarik. With the expertise of the Chonian archers, most of the game in the area is being tracked and killed, leaving little for the ogres.

Maps of Ogre Canyon

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Entrance to Ogre Canyon
Natural hidden passage leading to K’Tarik (Chonian village)
Ogre camp

What’s the Plan?

Ogres are not well known for their intelligence, but Wort (Int 9), the father of his tribe of four, has come up with a plan. Using treasure garnered from dead raiders, the ogres have bribed a group of kobolds who are now hiding near the entrance to the canyon (area 1). The kobolds watch for groups of Chonians or wandering humanoids and have set numerous traps. There is a cumulative 10% chance that every 5’ traveled into the canyon, a trap of one type or another will be encountered. The traps stop after traveling roughly 100′ toward the ogres.

Engage the Enemy!

Once a trap has been triggered, 1d4+2 kobolds will begin to fire bows at the party from strategic locations. The kobold trapsmith (Dex 18) just drank a potion of speed and will run up to a character, attempt to steal something easy, and flee into the canyon with the character’s possession. The other kobolds cover the trapsmith then each other as they flee one-by-one.

The ogres lie in wait, hiding behind massive boulders, waiting for their prey to be drawn in by the kobolds. As soon as the prey is within 30’ the first ogre is too hungry to wait and bursts up screaming in hunger, charging the characters.

For characters level 2-3: 1 ogre, 1 kobold trapsmith.
For characters level 4-5: 1 ogre, 1 kobold trapsmith, 2d4+2 kobolds.
For characters level 6-7: 4 ogres, 1 kobold trapsmith, 2d4+2 kobolds.

Important Characters

Wort

Ogre (Int 9)
Leader of the Gukvig tribe and the father of Weet and Dubda, mate of Yolk.

Yolk

Ogre (Con 17)
True leader of the Gukvik tribe and mother of Weet and Dubda, mate of Wort.

Weet

Ogre (Str 20)
A wild ogre who enjoys throwing small boulders around the canyon, her strength sometimes gets her into trouble.

Dubda

Ogre (Cha 9)
A confused young ogre, Dubda knows how to get what he wants by charming his mother.

Yebbit the Trapsmith

Kobold Trapsmith (Dex 18)
A daring trapsmith and thief, Yebbit is well known—notorious in fact—to the innkeeper and some patrons of the Wayward Inn.

Reltis, Veimama, Pellini, Gebbel, Swetmali, Checim

Kobolds
Hailing from the hills to the north of Lake Chonia, these kobolds have ventured far from home to make a little coin.

Treasure

The ogres gave most of their treasure to the kobolds who stashed it in a hole under a rock only they can find. If they can be convinced to reveal the location of their stash the characters will find 1d4X10 gp, 1d6x10 sp, and 2d20x10 cp and a potion of healing — healing, greater healing, or superior healing depending upon the difficulty of the encounter.

Conclusion

If the adventurers killed all the ogres, they make the area less dangerous overall but more inviting to Baevonian troops or orcs from the mountains, thereby further compromising the Chonians position at K’Tarik.

If some of the ogres are still alive, they continue to threaten travelers, including those who may be bound for the Chonian’s makeshift village at K’Tarik. The Chonians know how to avoid the ogres and actually appreciate their unintentional protection.

There is a 50% chance the conflict in Ogre Valley causes one of these ogres (or their friends) to invade the caves leading to K’Tarik, where they kill and eat many Chonian soldiers.