Agar's Payment
[comments:(13), views:(13844), rating:(7.6)]

Author: aubricker@aol.com
Homepage:
System: AD&D 2nd Edition
Type: Hook
Category: Fantasy
Requirements: lower level adventures traveling in a rich mining region

Background:

Some days earlier, Lord Agar, a minor noble of the region, led a group of adventurers into these rich hills with the intention of raiding some of the ancient barrows there. In one such tomb, the adventurers awakened a powerful guardian. The creature proved far too mighty for the party, and only Agar escaped with his life - or so he thought.

Actually, Agar's doom was the most horrible of all. Only hours after his escape, Agar's body erupted into painful, puss-filled boils. By the time he reached the hamlet of Logan, Agar knew he was not long for this world, and would never reach home alive. The dying man thus sealed a bargain with the folk of Logan: in return for all his remaining wealth (six alexandrite stones worth 100 gold pieces each), the citizens would bury him near the chapel on ground concentrated to Beory, whose worship Agar had left in his younger days.

Following Agar's death, however, the citizens reneged on the deal. Fearing the strange, magical illness which slew the luckless fellow, they buried the body instead in the hills near the dorf. That night at midnight, however, Agar's corpse climbed from its shallow grave and shambled into Logan, seeking to claim its rightful resting place. The revenant was halted by the wall surrounding the chapel, so it stood clawing at the gate for two hours before returning to its grave. The creature has been repeating these actions every night.

On that first night, the old priest tending the local chapel to Ulaa died on its steps, suffering a heart attack as he rushed out to investigate the sound at the gates. In the following week, three of the dorf's 12 families have abandoned their homes and moved elsewhere. The remaining citizens are reluctant to leave the mines which have provided them with comfortable livings and seeking an uncertain fate elsewhere, but this resistance is rapidly vanishing. These people are not Evil, simply greedy, and most feel rather guilty about denying Lord Agar his promised burial. They feel especially guilty about the death of Father Solenko on the chapel steps, as he was unaware of their duplicity and would never have condoned it. They will not speak to outsiders of these things, however; their shame is too great.

Party's Description:

Your party has come upon a small dorf just as sunlight is fading. In the center of the settlement, you see a small chapel surrounded by an eight foot high wall. Facing the chapel is a two story hostel, and placed here and there about the chapel are a dozen or so homes with a single outhouse behind each. Behind the hostel are two outhouses and stables. A sign identifies the small community as Logan, and given its location and the scars on the nearby hillsides, the people who dwell here clearly earn their living mining these rich hills.

Encounter:

When the party draws close, they will be able to identify the sign of Beory upon the chapel. A closer look will also reveal the claw marks covering the locked gate. Peering over the eight feet high wall reveals a small, peaceful cemetery. When the party enters the hostel, however, they will be greeted by screams and dropped dishes. Every one of Logan's 60 or so remaining inhabitants are crowded into the hostel's large common room. Several of the men are carrying mining tools, obviously for use as weapons. Everyone is wide-eyed and clearly frightened. The following morning, after some debate, about half the men will head for their mines, and the remainder will stay with their families. No children will be allowed outside.

The party will be offered the use of one of the large unoccupied rooms upstairs. No payment is requested, Just leave 'em as you found 'em. Should the party attempt to talk with the folk of the dorf, however, they will find the adults unresponsive, and any friendly children will quickly be hushed by their parents.

Unless they take to the streets in the middle of the night for some reason and stumble across the haunt, the adventurers will not learn Agar's story without detailed investigative work. Even encountering and 'destroying' the haunt will prove ineffectual, as the PCs will be asked to remain behind for one more night 'just to be sure.' Of course, the next night the cycle will start all over again. The haunt will not possess characters, as it demands that the burial site be dug by the townspeople, as agreed. Outsiders who attack the creature will only enrage it further, however, and they will be attacked with intent to kill.

Charmed townspeople might talk, though any fellow townspeopleseeing this would immediately attack the 'evil enchanter' responsible. Persistent questions about the fate of the chapel priest and the reasons behind the mysterious visits might also work by raising the townspeople's guilt level until someone breaks. This latter tactic is especially effective if used on someone who is attempting to drown their sorrows in alcohol, and the combination of heightened bathos and lowered inhibitions will almost certainly cause the unfortunate to break down if pressed. Award players a role-playing bonus if they carry this off successfully, and play up the emotionalism and pathos of the resulting scene.

If all else fails and no solution is in sight, the GM still has some options. A logical consequence of this impasse is that people will begin to talk seriously about leaving. One of the first to actually follow through will be a young man who had always wished to see the big city, and in exchange for some gold (he'll ask for 150, but settle for 10 if bargained hard) and the promise of an escort, he will agree to tell the PCs what he knows. This method is to be avoided if possible, however, as it is unsatisfying and smacks of DM interference. You may even wish to 'award' an experiencepoint penalty to the party for having to use it.

Regardless of how the story is revealed, however, the citizens will offer three of Agar's stones as a reward for ridding them of the haunt once the secret is known. Unbeknownst to them, however, the revenant cannot be quieted without placing it in it rightful grave. Otherwise, it will reform the next night as noted above and again return to chapel gates. If it is allowed within the gates, it will simply go the cemetery and stand atop its promised grave, glaring balefully at all and sundry. Characters who check this area may find this unusual, as the earth in the area is obviously undisturbed and it has obviously not been used as a burial site for quite some time, if ever.

Aftermath:

If the proper preparations are made and Agar's body interred, the haunt will appear but once more - this time, to thank the party and give them directions to the cairn in which his fellows met their end.

Completing their task this way earns the party a story award of 5,000 experience points. An extra 500 experience points each is tacked on if the party is thorough enough to remain at the graveside for one more night to ensure that all is well, and thus encounters Lord Agar's shade one final time. 'Slaying' the haunt, regardless of how often it is done, earns NO experience. This is primarily a role-playing adventure, and experience bonuses should be calculated on this basis.

With respect to individual experience awards, this storyline is also an excellent opportunity for the party priest to shine, and special bonuses should be awarded to priest characters who take advantage of it. Thinking of an imaginative atonement and penance for the citizens as a condition of their rescue is particularly praiseworthy, though the resulting award can be as low as 100 XP (if such actions are not within the priest's sphere of focus or the penance is trivial) to 1,000 XP or more for something really imaginative (like requiring them to always help strangers in need thereafter - see Dragon #162: 'A Prayer for the Dead').

If Lord Agar is not permanently laid to rest within a week of the party's departure, however, Logan will become a ghost town as the citizens leave to find new, less haunted homes. Naturally, the adventurers who failed them will not be kindly thought of, and the party may later find themselves with a poor reputation in some parts of the land as a result of this failure.

Further Adventures:

The final farewell from Lord Agar is explicitly left vague in order to enable lead to future adventures: for those of you who possess the From the Ashes boxed set, either 'Beckoner in the Dark' or even 'Brainstorm' could apply; the undiscovered cairn from the Free City of Greyhawk boxed set may also come in handy. Other possibilities include fiends, either in the cairn still or on the loose; the recent Dungeon Magazine #49 adventure 'The Dark Place' is an example of what can be done with this idea. Regardless of the format used, however, the GM is encouraged to make this a difficult and dangerous encounter.

The introduction to 'Agar's Payment' indicates its suitability for characters of all levels, including very low-level parties. This is true. Given that the creature decimated Agar's party with ease, however, the cairn adventure may not be a suitable follow-up for such groups. Players should be wise enough to realize this, and PCs who listen and judge this adventure beyond them should (if correct) receive experience points for swiftly notifying local authorities, preferably at Castle Goldencrest. This will be greatly appreciated by the knights, who will think well of the characters in the future and may decide to offer the party a more appropriate mission elsewhere.