The Ruins of Soguer - Introduction

Welcome back to Tailslap!, Unicorn Rampant's 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons publication.

Today I'm releasing the first on many dungeon-a-day style posts for our latest adventure: The Ruins of Soguer. I'm super excited to be sharing this adventure with y'all in this great format! Every few days you'll see a new section of the adventure, be it a location in town, a interlude, and overview of an area or an encounter.

So without further fanfare, I present the introduction to The Ruins of Soguer!
Look for the details of Aguies town to follow shortly, followed by the start of the meat of the adventure: a trip by riverboat down the river Daren to the Ruins of Soguer!

Introductory Text: Called upon to retrieve the old king's sword and crown from the ruins of the god-destroyed capitol, the heroes must brave the crumbling remains of the once-great city to find the royal insignia. Destroyed, overgrown and daemon-haunted, the ruins of the city of Soguer are said to be cursed, and do not relinquish their secrets easily. It will take heroes of true mettle to return alive with their prize and crown their lord the new King of Soguer!

Background: A year ago, in the war-torn country once known as Soguer, a young man named Ludwig appeared claiming to be the heir to the throne of the shattered kingdom. Pursuing a daring campaign this young warrior captured Castle Devyn from the orcs of the Yellow Snake Clan. As peace spread around Devyn town Ludwig was pressed to become a vassal by the neighboring Count of Aguies. Ludwig, claiming himself the true heir to the kingdom, and that Aguies was thereby rightful vassal to him, refused and forged an alliance with other lords in the County. Ludwig and his allies fought a brief, victorious war against Count Aguies.

Now Count of Aguies, one of the five Counties that composed the kingdom of Soguer, Ludwig has asked the priests of the Church of the Three Brothers to coronate him as King of Soguer. Hesitant, the priests of Kord, Pelor and Herionious cloistered themselves to pray upon the matter.

Several days later Father Dirk, the priest of Kord in the Aguies Cathedral announced that he had received a vision from The Brawler. In Ludwig's hall he tells how a strong man appeared to him and told him that "only if the boy speaks with the tongue of the law can he be the heir of Soguer". All agree that this must refer to Ludwig's grandfather's sword, the Judge's Tongue, and that this is a sign from the gods that if this task can be mastered Ludwig should be coronated.

Thus does a call go out for heroes to retrieve the old king's sword and crown from the ruins of the god-destroyed capitol at the mouth of the river Daren. The heroes are asked to brave the crumbling remains of the once-great city to find the royal insignia. Promised great reward and Ludwig's eternal gratitude they are asked to return alive with their prize and crown Ludwig the new King of Soguer!

Adventure Hooks: This adventure was written as part of a larger campaign, called The Heir of Soguer, where the players are knight-vassals to Ludwig, and are assisting him to establish peace in the war-torn and fractured land that was his grandfather's prosperous kingdom. In this context Ludwig simply asks them as friends to try to find the Judge's Tongue.

If you are playing this adventure as a stand-alone adventure or as part of your own campaign, you may simply announce that a call has gone out for heroes to retrieve the royal sword and start play in that way.

Alternatively, you may wish to replace the sword with some other item or person that the players seek. It could be treasure they want or an important item in your story. Simply run the adventure as written and replace all references to the Judge's Tongue with the item they are questing after.

Adventure on sale to celebrate one year of 4th Edition on Tailslap! Only $2.50!

That's right, here at Unicorn Rampant we've been putting together 4th edition material for over a year now! It's been a long, fun year for me: we started playing a 4th edition game as soon as the material came out, starting with Keep on the Shadowfell, and then switching to my homebrew The Heir of Soguer game. Those characters are now 11th level, and the players are loving it. You can see a bit of the action on the Unicorn Rampant boards here.

It's also been a year since we released our first 4th edition adventure: Anointing the Seer. This dark fairy tale adventure for 5th level characters has been a great seller, and I had a lot of fun writing it and playtestng it at Millenium Con here in Austin. Now, as a special thank you to our readers I'm releasing Anointing the Seer for half price - only $2.50!

Follow this link to get your half-price copy from RPGnow.com!

In this adventure, a malevolent warlock appears at the coronation of the new priestess at a flourishing temple, renowned for it's high priest's abilities as an augury, and lays a curse on all there. A call goes out for some brave souls who must enter the now dangerous temple, discover the nature of the woe laid upon the priestess and set all to right. Before all is done, they will face a witch and her minions, a warlock in his aerie and a dragon in its lair.

Featuring beautiful art, full color maps, and new monsters, spells and magic items!

This dark, fairy-tale style adventure is designed for 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons characters of 5th level. It is set in the western end of the Verdant Woods at the edge of the Middle Kingdoms in the Soralic lands, a campaign setting by Unicorn Rampant. As such is is suitable for any wooded area with some mountainous terrain that is near the edge of civilized lands or in a very rural area between kingdoms. The adventure is location-based and character driven, with fairy-tale elements and plenty of crunchy dungeon crawling goodness.

Great care has been taken to make this adventure easy for you to run, with notes for the gamemaster preceding each section of the adventure. All stats are presented in an easy to read format, and the adventure features great art from three professional artists.

Follow this link to get your half-price copy from RPGnow.com!

Water Wyrd

A powerful serpent made of water rises up from the surface of the pool. Spray wets your face as it sways for a moment, then it lunges at you with blinding speed!

Used as guardians, or among some cults as sacred animals, these ceratures from the elemental chaos are unperdictable and violent. Striking unexpectedly from the water, they drag creatures under and drown them.

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Water Wyrd ✦ Level 13 Lurker ✦ XP 800
Medium elemental magical beast

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Initiative +12 Senses Perception +6
HP 98; Bloodied 49
AC 27; Fortitude 24, Reflex 26, Will 24
Speed Swim 8

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Powers

Snatching Strike ✦ At-Will, Standard Action, Melee reach 2
A snake made of water lunges out of the pool and pulls you in.
+16 vs. Reflex, 2d8 + 6 damage, and the target is grabbed and slid 2 squares.

Squeeze! ✦ At-Will, Standard Action, Melee
The creature, invisible in the water, crushes the life - and the air - from your body.
Usable against grabbed targets only.
+16 vs. Fortitude, 4d8 + 6 damage, and if the target is underwater, they must succeed on a DC 20 Endurance check or lose a healing surge or, if out of healing surges, lose hit points equal to their healing surge value.

Dissappear ✦ At-Will, Minor Action
The water-snake dives beneath the water and from sight.
The Water Wyrd takes cover in water and becomes invisible.

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Alignment neutral Languages none
Skills Athletics +15, Stealth +17
Str 19 (+10) Dex 22 (+12) Wis 11 (+6)
Con 14 (+8) Int 5 (+3) Cha 19 (+10)

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Sylvanthread Armor

This extremely light, non-magical cloth armor is made of finely-woven sylvanthread, a durable elven fabric base.

Sylvanthread Armor:

Armor Bonus: +4
Price: 3,250 Gold
Check: 0
Weight: 5 lbs.

Steadfast Helm

This greathelm protects it's wearer from blows that might otherwise send them reeling.

Level 3 - 680 gold
Item Slot: Head
Property: +2 bonus to saves against dazed or stunned conditions.
Power (Daily - immedeate reaction): when dazed or stunned, make a save against the condition.

Ring Mail

An armor made by taking a hardend leather jerkin or coat and sewing rings to the outer surface, this armor provides slightly better protection against blades, but is also more encumbering than regular leather.

Ring mail (leather armor - light):

Armor Bonus: +3
Price: 35 Gold
Check: -1
Weight: 25 lbs.

Saurian Assassin

This hunter, along with the priest of Tiamat, is in charge of the expidition to deliver the Auroch Princess to Baldric Ostov. He has been lurking at the ruined house where they plan to sacrifice her, observing the ritual from hiding in case anything goes wrong. If the players rescue the princess, he will attempt to kill her himself so that she cannot report the Saurian's treachery to the royal family.

Saurian Assassin✦ Level 12 Elite Lurker
Medium natural dragonborn ✦ XP 1400

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Initiative +12 Senses Perception +15
HP 194; Bloodied 92
AC 28; Fortitude 24, Reflex 24, Will 22
+2 to Saving Throws
Action Points: 1
Speed 6

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Powers

Bite ✦ At-Will, Standard, Melee
+17 vs. AC, 2d6 + 3 damage.

Blowgun ✦ At-Will, Standard, Ranged 6
+17 vs AC, 1d4 + 6 damage and ongoing poison 10 (save ends).

Executioner's Noose ✦ At-Will, Standard, Ranged 5
Force, Implement, Shadow
+17 vs. AC, 1d6 + 6 force damage, the target is pulled 2 squares and slowed for 1 turn.

Quickened Breath ✦ At-Will, Minor Action (only usable once per turn), Close burst 5
+15 vs. Reflex, 1d6 + 4 poison damage.

Flury of Talons ✦ Encounter (Recharge 5-6), Standard, Melee
Implement, Shadow
Fly 6 to a square adjacent to an enemy and then make three attacks at:
+15 vs. Reflex dealing 1d8+3 damage per hit.

Bloodied Talons ✦ Encounter, Immedeate Reaction
Flury of Talons recharges and the Assassin uses it immedeately.

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Alignment evil Languages Draconic
Skills nature +11, perception + 15, stealth + 17
Str 16 (+9) Dex 22 (+12) Wis 10 (+6)
Con 19 (+10) Int 12 (+7) Cha 19 (+10)

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Equipment: blowgun, poisoned darts, torc with dragon heads