I Dream of Pelor

Players will unravel the story of Azor Amblecrown and Penelope Lightstone, two friends that have left their artifacts scattered around the material plane. Azor was a human Wizard and Penelope was a halfling Rogue; they were members of a band of adventurers that also included Ilio Carver and Bombadon Balderk.

While exploring a dungeon deep in the mountains, the party came across a demon torturing wayward travelers. He had made his way to the material plane via a mistake by a novice wizard, who opened a portal that let him slip through. Azor prepared a portal to the Nine Hells though which the party could expel the demon. But as he went through the portal, the demon grabbed Penelope.

Azor tried to save her/bring her back but nothing he tried worked. He created spells just to bring her back. He became obsessed and it drove him insane. In his final attempt, he gathered a small collection of items from the group’s adventures. Tapping into the bond of friendship forged through the adventurers’ long travels and tense battles, he imbued the artifacts with a spell that could guide him to Penelope. The spell acted as a kind of homing beacon to her, causing the artifacts to glow yellow as they get closer to her.

Alas, Azor never managed to reconnect with Penelope. The tragedy under the mountain caused the party to split, the adventurers going their separate ways. Years later, a pair of demons in the Nine Hells got into a petty argument and Penelope became a bargaining chip. One of the demons trapped her inside a crystal orb so that he could hide her away from the other demon. To keep the orb secret, he decided to hide it in Shadowfell. Unfortunately for the demon, an enterprising adventurer found the orb and brought it back to the material plane with her, placing it inside Pelor’s temple in Pelor Bay. Penelope’s return has activated the artifacts and caught the attention of Pelor himself.

Who is trying to use the artifacts for evil? How do they know about them? Well of course there were other members of the party, including the very greedy dwarf, Bombadon. His family has passed down the story of how Penelope disappeared with all his gold, and they want it back. They assume that the artifacts will let them travel to wherever Penelope is and get back what they feel is due. They are driven by their greed and will use the artifacts in whatever way is necessary to get their hands on more gold.

A rival of Azor, Gilish, also has designs to capture the items. He is jealous of Azor’s ability to create the brightness spell and wants the objects so that he can reverse-engineer it. He is still around because he is an elf, but he is getting old.

And what does Pelor have to do with all of this? It’s not really clear. He is a benevolent god, and Penelope is trapped at his temple. But why does he concern himself with this earthly matter? Is there a related conflict of a grander scale? Perhaps Pelor takes issue with the being that trapped Penelope? Or perhaps he just wants her soul to be at peace?

A Vision of Pelor

You fall into a deep sleep and start dreaming. You find yourself walking across the salt flats and you feel the heat of the sun beating down, almost like lashes across your shoulders. Dayman is there, with his hands raised to the sky.

The heat seems to engulf you, the mirage swallows you, and the sun swells to take up the entire sky. As you look up, you can see the dark features of a face appearing in the sun.

Adventurers, you have been chosen. There are six artifacts in your world that convey great power to their keepers. These artifacts have long slumbered, but are now awake. You will collect all six and deliver them to my temple. There are others seeking the artifacts that would use them for evil–you must not allow this. For guidance, look to the sun.

When you awake, you see a small golden compass lying on the ground. The needle of the compass is a sun, with one ray that stretches farther than the others.

The First Artifact

Following the compass, you end up at An-Tir, a highly-fortified city in the mountains. The city is known for being home to the Great Library. The compass seems to be leading you there.

At the library, you see that magic use is prohibited inside the building. This is enforced with a magical barrier that is maintained by a powerful wizard, Zsolt. Unfortunately, that also means that the compass doesn’t work inside the library.

So how will they find it? Luckily/unluckily the bad guys are also there, looking for the book. They’ll have to narrow down the collection to the right area (old books) and then they’ll see someone else there, looking for the book.

The first artifact is a magical book, Azor’s Book of Spells. It is written in common and anyone may use it to cast any of the contained spells. However, non-magic users that attempt to use the book must succeed on a DC 10+spell level arcana check or roll on the scroll mishap table (DMG pg 140). The spells contained in the book are:

• Comprehend Languages (level 1)
• Shield (level 1)
• Hold Person (level 2)
• Knock (level 2)
• Water Breathing (level 3)

Theme: https://soundcloud.com/harry-and-the-potters/this-book-is-so-awesome

The Second Artifact

The compass points you northwest of An-Tir, towards the Maak mountain range. This is perilous country braved by only a handful of adventurers and requires cautious preparation if you want to avoid being counted among numerous souls that are lost to this wilderness each year.

You must make your way along the dangerous ridge line trail in order to reach the destination towards which the compass seems to be pointing. After many harrowing encounters and brutal snowstorms, your heart is warmed to finally see the outline of a temple ahead. It is the temple of the Order of Heironeous, a group of devout holy warriors.

Its silhouette shows up against against the blustery snow, foreboding; yet you’ve known enough desperation out here among the hills that you’re happy to see any kind of potential protection from the elements.

Once you’ve warmed yourselves sufficiently and expressed your sincere thanks for your hosts’ hospitality, you again pull out the compass. It leads you through the temple and eventually points you to an unassuming closet. The monks tell you that there’s nothing here but some old, tattered work clothes. They use them during the warmer months when they are tending the gardens around the temple. In amongst the clothes, you find a pair of smooth, black leather gloves. They look too small for you, but as you attempt to put them on, they actually seem to fit perfectly. Stitched into the wrist of each glove are the letters “PL”.

Wearers of the gloves are granted advantage on all sleight of hand checks.

Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fa4HUiFJ6c

The Third Artifact

The compass now points east, toward Smittyville. Descending the mountains brings much friendlier weather, but you are still worn from the long, difficult trek along the ridge line trail. Eventually, the weariness falls away, and you feel like you can relax as you hike almost blissfully through the thick green forests of the foothills.

Life is bustling in Smittyville in the summertime, with many people taking to the streets after work to cavort with their friends. The compass leads you to an unassuming location: the Smittyville Inn. The inn has a large dining area with a fireplace around which travelers can locals alike can warm themselves and tell stories. Along the hearth, there is a sundry collection of nick-knacks from travelers that have stayed at the inn. Inspecting closer, you see that the compass seems to be pointing you to a large elk head that is mounted above the hearth.

Once you manage to subtly remove the elk head, you reach inside the mouth and find a large sliver coin. On one side, there is a picture of a jasmine flower; on the other is a picture of an oleander flower. Flipping the coin grants advantage or disadvantage on a single die roll. It can be used twice per day.

Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYpUld04UF0

The Fourth Artifact

As you turn a corner in the path and start to descend, the Great Arboretum opens up in front of you. Towering trees and stunning flowers overwhelm your senses.

Eventually, you end up at a cozy cabin surrounded by beautiful, flowering gardens. You stand and take in the impressive greenery, then you notice a small gardener bent over, tending to the plants. As you approach and call out, the gardener stands up. You see that it is a male half-elf. He takes his time standing up, not because he’s tired, but because he is very intentional about his movements. He looks old and his skin is leathery from the sun; you might even say he has a “weathered” appearance.

After explaining yourselves, he introduces himself as Ilio Carver. When you pull out the coin and show it to him, a look of amazement comes over him. “Where… where did you get that?” he asks. As you explain the story, he can hardly believe what he’s hearing. He invites you inside and says that you have a lot to talk about.

After pouring some green tea, he begins to tell you about how his grandfather (also Ilio) was a member of an adventuring party with Azor, Penelope, and Bombadon. He recounts the story of how they fought the demon in the dungeon and Penelope was lost. He describes Azor’s attempts at bringing her back and how they were fruitless. Eventually, he gets to the coin:

Bombadon minted that coin for my grandfather as a birthday present when he turned 100. My grandfather always treasured it as a symbol of their friendship. After the tragedy with Penelope, none of them knew what to do with themselves; my grandfather took to his gardening as a way to find peace. Eventually, they drifted apart and he didn’t see the rest of the party for years, until one day Azor showed up at his doorstep. He told my grandfather that he was looking for artifacts for a new spell that he had created, one that might be able to reconnect them with Penelope. My grandfather reluctantly gave Azor that coin, thinking that it might help.

But the next day, Azor was gone, and no one in my family has seen the coin since then. I–honestly–can hardly believe that you found it. I thought it was lost forever in the ruins of wherever Azor spent his last days.

Now that you have gained some insight into your quest, you remember the compass. Taking it out, it seems to be telling you that the next artifact is indeed somewhere in Ilio’s house. As you all search around, watching the compass, you end up at a chest in the attic. Rummaging through the contents, it seems to be some old trinkets that belonged to the elder Ilio (including “MacGuffin’s Guide to Treasure Hunting”). You narrow down the search to a gold ring on a chain. The ring is inscribed with a runic letter B. If you hold it in a fire, elvish text on the outside of the ring will appear that indicates its use: Secrecy is an Illusion. The ring’s wearer can see through walls. Object separated by thin walls appear clearly, while objects separated by thicker walls appear hazy.

Ilio is rather surprised to see the ring. No one in his family ever told him about it, and he had never gone through this box of his grandfather’s old stuff. You’ll have to convince him to take the two artifacts with you.

Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtolv9kM1qk

The Fifth Artifact

With four artifacts in your pack, the compass now directs you to the cold north. It takes you to the Boulder, a rugged prison built into the mountains near the Northern Pass. Some of the most feared criminals in the Empire are kept within the Boulder’s impenetrable rock walls.

After making your way past the guards, you search around the prison. Despite its cold and unforgiving nature, the prison is a sprawling, well-equipped complex with all the facilities needed to support the inmates and staff.

You wind through the prison’s many passages and eventually make your way down to the catacombs. Not many people are allowed to go down here, and you don’t know why anyone would particularly want to (unless perhaps they had a fascination with death). The only sound to pierce the deafening silence is the occasional drip of water from the ceiling of the tunnel.

The compass leads you to an unmarked tomb. Exhuming the body from within, you find the skeleton of a human (if you’re crafty, you could figure out that it’s Azor). Around his neck is a rusty chain and a bronze key in the shape of a raven.

The key will open the door to the gang’s secret hideout in Vylstrond.

Theme:

The Sixth Artifact

Perhaps the compass doesn’t work in Vylstrond? You have to find the hideout, get inside and then you realize that the artifact isn’t there because it was hidden by Boris. Or Boris has been watching the hideout, unable to get inside because he didn’t have the key (the door is scarred with the marks of his various attempts to break in.) The hideout should also be hidden behind a puzzle (that Boris has solved).

The sixth artifact is at Dagný Peak, hidden away by Boris Balderk to keep it out of the hands of pesky adventurers.

To acquire it, you will have to face off with Boris. Perhaps we could bring back an old character to help.

Artifact: The thing that they were seeking when they went on the adventure where Penelope was lost. It needs to be something that unites the party and gives you a weird but really cool ability.

Finale

As you pick up the final artifact, you notice it starting to glow. At the same time, a gentle glow emanates from your backpack where you are keeping the other artifacts. Flipping open the pack, you see that all of the artifacts have started glowing with a soft yellow light.

The compass now points to Pelor Bay. Should the group break/lose the compass at some point?

Other artifact ideas

• Bombadon’s Helm. Wearing the helm makes you appear friendly toward undead.
• Bombadon’s master key. It can be used to open any lock with a standard size keyhole.
• A pomegranate. Easting a seed will grant you a random feat. The effect lasts for a day and can only be used once per day. Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KgtGs1ny0k
• A treasure map that leads you to the portal where Penelope was lost.