Root of All Evil v1.pdf

AFAREZIRS:

ROOT OF ALL EVIL Dark Rethem Adventure 2

Alun Rees

AFAREZIRS:

ROOT OF ALL EVIL Credits WRITER Alun Rees based on an original concept by Garry Hamlin CONTRIBUTORS Anders Bersten and his players, Andy Gibson and Neil Thompson, the HarnWriters Team, and the players at IviniaCon 2009 MAPS Alun Rees THANKS to N. Robin Crossby and Columbia Games for HÂRN, to Anders Bersten for sponsorship of the NPC art & the Player Handout, and to John Southgate for his fanon Atlas Maps of the Afarezirs

NOTICE This is a self published HârnFanon work, created by Alun Rees. It is a derivative work of material published by Columbia Games Inc. and is released for free distribution and personal use by Alun Rees without the permission or endorsement of N. Robin Crossby, his estate, or Columbia Games Inc. This document is available for download free from www.lythia.com. If you have been asked to pay for this document, either as a download or as a hard copy, you have been robbed.

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 1 INTRODUCTION

Afarezirs: The Root of All Evil is the second adventure in the Dark Rethem series. It follows Peran: Heart of Darkness and will be followed by Golotha: The Deeper Dark and Mejetus: Ancient Shades.

Adventure Outline Peran: Heart of Darkness was timed to take place in the Summer of 720TR and to be completed by early Autumn at the latest. It is assumed that the player characters (PCs) have spent the rest of the Autumn and Winter in Tormau being kept busy by Jamys of Abrant who always has work for reliable freelancers. The Root of All Evil begins after the Spring thaw of 721TR and sees a group of PCs travel to Golotha where they are offered a significant reward by the Guildmistress of Courtesans in Shiran if they can find and harvest a rare plant found only in the distant Afarezir archipelago. The journey is not easy and once they make landfall on the first of those wind scoured islands they realise they are searching for a needle in a haystack. In seeking word of „Crimson Sethimyael‟ from the indigenous Nolgind Kubora they begin to pick up pieces of a story from long ago in the tribe‟s history. Gradually their search for the plant and the tales told by the clans become interwoven and lead them to the fate of a lost Nolgind Clan. Even when they finally discover the location of the plant they seek it refuses to yield that which it guards easily.

Essential Resources  Peran:Heart of Darkness; The White Stoat Inn; The Trident Inn; The Tirsa Pirates; Movel Gamle Hem; Clan Sholen; Cynswyr Ariensyn; Gwaed Island; and fanon Atlas Maps: B3, C 1, C2, C3, D1, D2, D3 and E1, by John Southgate (all available at Lythia.com).  Afarezirs, and Herblore (available from Columbia Games) and a version of the HarnMaster Rules (available from Columbia Games or Kelestia Productions).

Helpful Resources  Golotha; HarnMaster:Barbarians; Tribes of the Kubora; Peran; Aquatics; and Seals.  This adventure will be easier to play if the GM also has access to HarnMaster: Magic and HarnMaster: Religion as well as Mamaka, Master of Steel and Warriors of Mameka.  If the GM wishes to play out the sea voyages in detail they will also need access to The Pilot‟s Almanac. All these resources are available from Columbia Games.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

Sequence of Events ACT I: TO GOLOTHA Scene 1: Run out of Town Scene 2: The Trident Inn Scene 3: The Breyta? Scene 4: The Scholar? Scene 5: Information? Scene 6: Specialist Help? ACT II: ABOARD THE BREYTA Scene 1: To the Tirsas Scene 2: To Cape Vikod Scene 3: Landfall! ACT III: AMONG THE ISLANDS Scene 1: Akova Scene 2: Merem Scene 3: Ardir Scene 4: Kand Scene 5: Movel Scene 6: Kib Scene 7: Sholo Scenes 8 & 9: Aldrie & Qulf (optional) Scene 10: Hafeg ACT IV: THE LOST CLAN Scene 1: Return to Sholo Scene 2: Gwaed Island Scene 3: Pella EPILOGUE APPENDIX I: MEREDATH’S DIARY APPENDIX II: THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL APPENDIX III: FRIENDS IN THE SOUTH?

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 2 ACT I: TO GOLOTHA Overview

Jamys of Abrant of the White Stoat Inn needs to get the PCs out of the way for a while at the behest of the Earl of Tormau. Coincidentally he has received a letter from the Golothan Lia-Kavair seeking recommendations for a group of talented individuals with successful wilderness experience to undertake a job based in Golotha. They could expect to be busy for several months. Accepting the need to take a trip away from Tormau for a while the PCs travel to Golotha on Captain Sharo‟s coastal trader carrying Jamys‟ letter of recommendation. Once they arrive they have the opportunity to take up the well remunerated offer made by a Golothan litigant. They then have only a short time to make any preparations, ask any questions, and identify any potential help they may need.

SCENE 1: RUN OUT OF TOWN Overview

The PCs are asked to a meeting with Jamys of Abrant, freemaster innkeeper of the White Stoat at Tormau (see Peran: Heart of Darkness and The White Stoat Inn) at the end of a day in the Spring of 721TR.

GM Aims  To reinforce the sense the PCs have always had of Jamys as an „honest rogue‟ who has nothing to gain by lying to them, but is none-the-less a bad enemy to make.  To get the PCs to accept a free trip to Golotha with the possibility of a job at the end of it.  If necessary to help the PCs understand that Jamys is doing them a favour by helping them leave Tormau for a while.

PC Outcomes They accept that for the time being their presence in Tormau is a problem for Jamys and take the free boat trip to Golotha. Their trust in Jamys should be increased as he takes them into his confidence about the risks of staying in Tormau.

Description of Events Jamys explains that Vavryse Lynnaeus, the Earl‟s brother and constable of Caer Tormau, has become concerned that the PCs as the only people who know anything about what happened to Coln of Kutz. He has told Jamys to get rid of them. The innkeeper has no idea what has prompted the Constable‟s decision. His guess is that Vavryse has only recently realised that the PCs are still around. While Jamys is not by nature soft-hearted he likes the PCs and would prefer to give them a chance to get a long

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

way from Tormau for a while, rather than have their throats cut; or have to cut them himself. There is always the chance they can return when things have quietened down again, but for now either they leave or it is likely they will disappear. He will provide a recommendation for them which should allow them to get a job in Golotha. He can even arrange for free travel to the city and the name of a contact who he‟s heard has a job for which the PCs would be well suited. Folklore: will remind the PCs that Golotha has a terrible reputation for crime, fraud, evil and death. Such a visit to the „City of Screaming Spires‟ is not to be undertaken lightly. If they choose not to accept … then either they should leave of their own accord or they can expect an accident to befall them over the next week which would probably involve the castle garrison and some very damp cells. If this happens then this adventure is likely to come to an end for them unless Jamys intercedes and has them sent to Golotha, in irons if necessary. If the PCs take up Jamys’ offer … then they can leave tomorrow at mid-day when Captain Halyn of Sharo‟s coastal Nivik, the Serenela‟s Fancy will be going south. If asked about the nature of the job … all Jamys can tell them is what he knows: A letter arrived from a contact in Golotha seeking a group of discrete n‟er-do-wells with wilderness experience and a taste for risk. The job the PCs did for him last year proved they could handle themselves in the wilderness and they have, so far, proved discrete in all their dealings with him. If they accept this offer then he will send a letter with them as recommendation.

The Serenela’s Fancy Halyn of Sharo‟s 29 foot nivik will carry anything, and anyone, worth the price of carriage up or down the coast from Alesen in Emesa Hundred to Golotha in the south, and back again. Mostly his trade relies on carrying anything that‟s in surplus along the north coast of Rethem to Golotha where it might make a good price. On the return trip he carries the sorts of urbane luxury that the northern hundreds cannot source locally. The round trip takes anything up to 20 days depending on the weather, wind and tides, calling briefly at Ithius and then Shostim. His return route re-visits those ports before calling at Tormau again and then continuing north to the small dock operated for the Warriors of Mameka at Alesen. Travel aboard the Fancy is never luxurious but Halyn knows his trade and understands his route like the back of his hand. Food is basic hard bread, dried meat and cheese, leavened with whatever a passenger can pick up during the brief calls at towns on the route.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 3 The GM can use The Pilot‟s Almanac to plan the journey in detail or can assume a quiet voyage that delivers the PCs at Golotha‟s South Haven between 5 and 7 days after leaving Tormau.

Link to the next scene Assuming they take the offer then Jamys tells them that when they arrive in Golotha they should present themselves at the Trident Inn in Sewertown, the easternmost district within the walls of Golotha. There they should ask to speak to Nobar of Rushez. When they meet Master Nobar they should hand over the letter of recommendation from Jamys. Their voyage south and their expenses for the journey are covered by Jamys so they should arrive at Golotha no poorer, nor richer, than when they left Tormau.

SCENE 2: THE TRIDENT INN Overview

The PCs arrive safely at Northhaven wharf and will have no difficulty locating the Trident Inn. They are introduced to their would-be employer‟s „man of business‟ and have the details of their mission described to them; an attractive offer that they accept. The Trident Inn provides maps and details of the Inn, its employees and its business.

GM Aims  To provide a convincing hook for the adventure and to make it sufficiently well remunerated to engage the players. No precise reward is described to allow the GM to come up with something that fits the needs of the players without destroying campaign balance.  To play Nobar accurately as a man who is being well paid to do what he does and who believes what he is telling the PCs is true.  To provide some threads for the PCs to follow before they depart for the far north.  To completely hide the true facts of the mission described in Appendix II.

PC Outcomes They accept the offer of the job and begin what preparations they have time to make.

Description of Events If this is the first time the PCs have visited Golotha then the GM should give these country bumpkins a sense of a city many times larger than anywhere they‟ve been before. Here, entire rows of houses rise three, or even four, floors above the street to the point where those living in the attic rooms can practically shake hands with their neighbours across the street just by leaning out of their windows. The windows themselves are a wonder; The White Stoat is the only building in Tormau with glass in some of its windows (though they say there is some glass in the Earl‟s rooms). Here three or four houses in a row will boast the same. The PCs should be careful as they gaze up at the windows lest on open suddenly and a torrent of night soil is emptied into the street from above! Then there are the streets themselves! They are as busy as Tormau market at festival time; crowded and with endless comings and goings through the city gates. Everywhere the PCs are jostled in the narrow crowded thoroughfares by the never ending tide of humanity swilling about this fearsome and intimidating place. This may be a good time to relieve the PCs of some of their money so as to make the subsequent job offer more attractive. Additionally or alternatively there are plenty of

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 4 chances to get lost in the warren of streets that is Sewertown. Investing in a beggar to guide them might be something they should consider. Certainly half a dozen children in various stages of degradation will flock around them when they come ashore offering almost any service the least reputable PCs might desire.

On reaching the Trident Inn When the PCs arrive at the Trident and enquire about Nobar of Rushez they are approached by Freemaster Kardis of Ernaldin, the innkeeper (see The Trident Inn). Name: Kardis of Ernaldin

Race/Sex: Human/Male

Occupation: Innkeeper

Born: 14 Azura 669, Hirin

Appearance: Aged 51, height 6”1‟, light frame, weight 158 lbs/size 6, average appearance, medium complexion, blonde hair, green eyes Str 12 Agl 13 Sta 13 Eye 11 Dex 13 Hrg 11 Medical/Psyche: none

Sml Voi Int

10 10 12

Aur Wil Mor

13 14 10

Cml 11 End 13 Mov 13

Skills: AWARENESS 52, Brewing 44, CLIMBING 45, Cookery (Baking) 34, Folklore (Golotha) 65, INTRIGUE 52, JUMPING 55, Law (Golothan) 36, ORATORY 22, Physician 12, RHETORIC 48, SINGING 30, STEALTH 50, Swimming 26, THROWING 56 Languages: Harnic 72 Scripts: Lakise 82 Money/Valuables: He has a stash of valuables hidden at the Trident as well as a well filled purse. Armour/Weapons: cloth shirt and trousers, leather apron and shoes; dagger at his belt. Other Equipment: the Trident has everything an Inn needs to continue in business, including a bake oven! Load: 16.5 lbs

Encumbrance Penalty: 0 Wt WQ AML DML 52 52  

Thorax Abdomen Hip Groin Thigh Knee Calf Foot

B 2

E

P





1

  4

67

 -05

57 29

57 29

-05 -05

2 1

  2

Armour Layers

AQ

B

E

P

F

   C C C C  C (L front only) C (L front only) CCL CCL CL C C L

  

   1 1 1 1  2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1

   1 1 1 1  4 4 4 4 4 1 1 3

   1 1 1 1  3 3 3 3 3 1 1 2

  • 1 1 1 1  4 4 4 4 4 1 1 3

Foot/Knee Dagger Location Skull Face Neck Shoulder Upper Arm Elbow Forearm Hand

HM

52

  1

Name: Nobar of Rushez

Race/Sex: Human/Male

Occupation: Litigant

Born: 12 Savor 679, Tai

Appearance: Aged 41, height 5‟8”, medium frame, weight 153 lbs/size 6, plain appearance, dark complexion, brown hair, hazel eyes Str 11 Agl 08 Sta 14 Eye 07 Dex 15 Hrg 15 Medical/Psyche: Greedy

Sml Voi Int

14 12 16

Aur Wil Mor

11 12 07

Cml 08 End 12 Mov 15

Skills: AWARENESS 48, CLIMBING 44, Folklore (Golotha) 51, INTRIGUE 70, JUMPING 36, Law 76, ORATORY 82, Physician 14, RHETORIC 84, SINGING 39, STEALTH 42, Swimming 12, THROWING 44 Languages: Harnic 76, Jarin 76 Scripts: Lakise 84 Combat Skills: INITIATIVE 44, DODGE 40, UNARMED 44, Dagger 36

Combat Skills: INITIATIVE 56, DODGE 65, UNARMED 52, Dagger 24

Hand/Arm

If they explain that they have heard he is recruiting for a job that requires wilderness experience and discretion … then he will ask that they accompany him to his nearby place of business. On the way he exchanges civil words with any number of people in the crowded street, suggesting that he is well know and reasonably respected.

Religion: Ritual (Halea) 14, Piety 15

Religion: Ritual (Agrik) 11, Piety 14

Melee Wpns Head butt

Kardis knows Nobar very well so a farthing will quickly lead to the dispatch of a pot-boy in search of the litigant. Within 10 minutes Nobar arrives at the Inn; all smiling affability, enquiring what it is he can do for the PCs.

  11

            

Invocations: none

Spells: none

Convocations: none

Psionics: none

Notes: see Golgotha, G1

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

Money/Valuables: well set up guildsman whose tastes exceed his income Armour/Weapons: cloth shirt, breeches, robe, surcoat , skull cap and leggings, leather shoes; dagger at his belt. Other Equipment: the tools of the litigant‟s trade: scrolls, pen and ink, tomes of Golothan law etc. all at his home/place of business Load: 17.3 lbs Melee Wpns

Encumbrance Penalty: 0 Wt WQ AML DML

HM

B

E

P

44 49

 -05

1 0







44 44





 11

49 41

49 41

-05 -05

1 1

 2

 4

AQ            

B 1   1 1 1 1  1 1 1 1

E 1   2 2 2 2  2 2 2 2

P 1   1 1 1 1  1 1 1 1

F 1  •

   

1 1 1 1

2 2 1 3

1 1 1 2

2 2 1 3

Head butt Hand/Arm







Foot/Knee Dagger

 1

Location Skull Face Neck

Thorax Abdomen Hip Groin

Armour Layers C   CCC CC CC CC  CCC CCC CCCC CCCC

Thigh Knee Calf Foot

CCC CCC C L

Shoulder Upper Arm Elbow Forearm Hand

Invocations: none

Spells: none

Convocations: none

Psionics: none

2 2 2 2  2 2 2 2

Notes: see Golgotha, G2

He offers the PCs a cup of watered wine when they are comfortably seated on stools in the office that constitutes

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 5 the front room of the ground floor of his solidly built town house. He then explains that he has been asked to inspect any recommendations of potential employees.

up to a total of half the full fee agreed when the PCs depart on their voyage. The remaining half will be paid on their successful return.

If the PCs show him the letter from Jamys … then he will confirm their names are those mentioned in the letter and declare himself happy with what the letter contains. He produces a note which he has been instructed to give to any potential employees. He explains that his instructions require him to stay while they read the letter and then take it back. If they are unable to read he has been instructed to read the contents to them.

If the PCs accept … then Nobar will break the seal on a second letter from the Guildmistress and hand it to them (or read it to them).

It is from the Guildmistress of Courtesans in Shiran. In it she explains that she is in search of a handful of brave souls, including a scholar of herblore, who will travel to one of the most uncivilised parts of the Harnic Isles on a mission for her and her guild sisters and brothers. The note says little more except that they will be paid well and all their expenses on the journey will be provided for. It ends by instructing them to discuss their price with her agent in Golotha, Nobar of Rushez, and to give him their decision. Nobar has had no more information than is contained in what they have just read (or had read to them). He will explain that he has been instructed to determine if the potential applicants are serious in their interest in the job before going any further. He adds that he has already met a number of potential employees but their experience was not as strong as that of the PCs. Nor were their letters of recommendation so fulsome. So, if the PCs are interested in the job, he is prepared to offer it to them. If the PCs accept the job in principle … then Nobar has been instructed to give them a second letter that not even he has read which details the mission. If they cannot read then he is happy to read it to them. If the PCs ask about the ‘scholar of herblore’ … then Nobar explains he has already been approached by a suitably qualified individual so the PCs need not worry that they are without the necessary training. If one of the PCs do have training in herblore … then Nobar explains that be that as it may he has already accepted the application of a young journeyman seeking his fortune. He did not expect to find a herbalist among those prepared with „rough wilderness skills‟. If the he PCs ask about remuneration … Nobar will use all his skills as a litigant to ensure his employer pays as little as possible but he will not risk the PCs walking away from the deal. In truth he has had less interest in the job than he has implied. The Afarezirs are a very long way away! The GM is left to determine the financial arrangements so as to attract the PCs without ruining the campaign‟s balance. Nobar is empowered to cover any reasonable expenses incurred in Golotha up to about a quarter of the fee agreed. He has been told to hand over the remaining sum

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

The Letter from the Guildmistress The Shiran Guild intends to corner the market on an extract of a previously unknown plant with exceptional qualities as an aphrodisiac. While a variety of the plant is common in many parts of Harn, and has some medicinal properties, those of the new variety are most remarkable. The guild has learned that a rare form of the plant Sethimyael grows among the bleak Afarezir Islands. The PCs are to travel there and harvest as much of the rare form of the plant as they can. It says that a scholar, capable of conducting a test that can distinguish the new variety from the common form, will accompany them to ensure they collect the right plant. The letter goes on to explain that the Guild‟s agent in Golotha, Nobar of Rushez, has been instructed to hire a suitable ship and crew. The ship‟s charter is to carry them to the Afarezirs and back to Golotha. The letter ends by making it clear that this quest relies on discretion if other Guilds are to be denied access to the potent aphrodisiac. Finally the letter instructs Nobar to tell the ship captain that his passengers are ready to depart. After they have read the letter Nobar will offer to answer any questions he can but points out that this is the first time he has heard the details of the mission. If they ask about their ship or captain … Nobar was instructed to seek a reputable vessel with experience of northern waters. His enquiries led him to and Ivinian, Grim Olmoding, captain of the Breyta. He has a sound reputation for sailing the north coast and had enough business contacts in Golotha to convince Nobar that he is as honest as most northmen. Nobar also confirms that Captain Olmoding has agreed to accept the PC‟s instructions so long as they do not imperil his ship or crew. If they ask about the scholar … Nobar can tell them that a journeyman herbalist, Aslin of Err, has left the name of a nearby brothel as the place he can be contacted. It is probable that he has already introduced himself to the captain of the Breyta. When their business is complete Nobar sees them to his door saying that he will contact Captain Olmoding on the morrow and tell him where to find them. His advice is that they stay at the Trident so he can find them quickly. Alternatively they might wish to seek the Breyta themselves at Northaven.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 6 If the PCs don‟t look for Captain Olmoding then Nobar will return the following morning to say that the Captain believes that if the weather continues fine, and the winds answer, then the ship will leave within three days. They should be ready to leave at 2 hours‟ notice.

SCENE 3: THE BREYTA?

Link to the next scenes

GM Aims

The simplest approach for the GM to take is to ask how the PCs will use the next few days?. There is no prescribed route through the rest of the Act. If the PCs keep an eye on Nobar they will see him walk to the docks and board a knaar. With care they may be able to confirm that he is in discussion with a burly bearded northman. This provides a direct route to Scene 3. Alternatively the they may want to seek out the scholar, taking them to Scene 4. If they first want to find out more about the Afarezirs or look for expertise they do not possess, then they can proceed to Scene 5 or Scene 6 respectively. There are sufficient links between the scenes to ensure the PCs have the opportunity to cover all these possibilities, and if they split up they can cover more ground more quickly. Some PCs will, of course, opt to ignore the practicalities and seek „big city entertainment‟ instead. The Trident‟s innkeeper, Kardis, can recommend all manner of entertainment including a brothel and gambling house only 5 minutes away. It is run by „Madame Derine‟ (Golotha, G4). He may not know, and certainly won‟t mention, that Derine and Nobar have a lucrative arrangement in which one of her girls makes a complaint against a visitor and then the litigant takes money to defend them before advising a quiet settlement 'before it gets to court'. If the PCs visit Madame Derine‟s house of ill repute then they may come across the scholar who is to accompany them, or his favourite among the girls, Red Gwena. Of course they may not recognise him until they meet him later. It is important that they visit the Breyta before they depart, if only to find out what additional equipment they might need but that is easily achieved by having Nobar or Captain Olmoding summon them. The GM could also make use of the Urban Encounter tables from HM3 to spice things up, but should beware of crippling the PCs before their quest begins.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

Overview

The PCs have the chance to meet the man who will take them north.  To introduce captain Olmoding as a bluff and capable northman.

PC Outcomes They should feel they can trust Olmoding with their lives during the voyage.

Description of Events It is not difficult to find Northhaven wharf or to identify the Breyta. Captain Olmoding seems an amiable enough fellow with an excellent, if accented, grasp of Harnic. If asked about the voyage … Olmoding confirms that he was approached by the litigant, Nobar, and is being paid well to carry passengers among the Afarezir Islands. He has not been told the nature of the expedition but is being honest with the PCs when he asks them what they will be doing among the islands; he wants to be as well prepared as possible when they get there. The less he knows the more likely he is to be surprised and surprises are to be avoided in dangerous northern waters. If the PCs decline to give him details … he will shrug and hope they don‟t come to regret their decision. If they take him into their confidence … he will offer sound advice about the equipment they will need, including tents and rations for any journeys across the islands. Perhaps the best advice he offers is about how to win the consent of the Kubora to any investigations. He knows what trade goods would be most effective in building a good relationship with the natives. If asked about the length of the voyage … he will estimate that at this time of year it should take between 12 and 18 days to reach the nearest of the Afarezir Islands. If asked about preparations … he can advise on how the PCs could spend some of their advance payment on sealskin boots and capes to stay dry and on other equipment they might need among the islands. The PCs may simply pay him to provide the necessary wilderness equipment based on his knowledge of the islands. While more expensive than seeking out equipment themselves it will save them a watch of enquiries and ensures their equipment will be as good as that Olmoding would buy for himself and his crew. If the PCs allow him to provision for them … then they will have everything the GM would judge they would routinely need for travel in the wilderness: tents for shelter, lanterns/torches, ropes and sacks, tools to harvest the plant they seek etc. Even a pole measuring almost twice the height of a man can be obtained.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 7 If the PCs don’t trust Captain Olmoding with obtaining what they may need … then they can spend a watch finding and comparing suppliers and a second watch bargaining for the necessary goods and equipment. With a population officially counted as in excess of 6,000, Golotha offers a wide range of items for sale. However, enchanted items are rare across Harn and are no more common in the city. Items requiring individual fitting and crafting, such as armour, will not be ready prior to departure.

Nolgind Kubora of the islands will add more risk to their trade. Name: Grim Olmoding

Race/Sex: Human/Male

Occupation: Ship Captain

Born: 8 Morgat 687, Lado

Appearance: Aged 22, height 5‟10”, heavy frame, weight 176 lbs/size 7, attractive appearance, fair complexion, brown hair, blue eyes Str 15 Agl 11 Sml 09 Sta 13 Eye 13 Voi 05 Dex 11 Hrg 13 Int 15 Medical/Psyche: Scar on his right cheek

Aur Wil Mor

07 13 11

Cml 15 End 13 Mov 11

Religion: Ritual (Sarajin) 13, Piety 13 Skills: AWARENESS 58, CLIMBING 58, Drawing 36, INTRIGUE 36, JUMPING 58, Mathematics 28, Metalcraft 26, ORATORY 36, Physician 26, Piloting 80, RHETORIC 33, Seamanship 45, Shipwright 34, SINGING 32, STEALTH 46, Swimming 15, THROWING 52, Timbercraft 24, Weaponcraft 13, Weatherlore 62 Languages: Ivinian 71, Trade Ivinian 56, Harnic 46, Old Jarinese 34 Scripts: Runic 96 Combat Skills: INITIATIVE 58, DODGE 55, UNARMED 56, Dagger 48, Handaxe 56, Roundshield 52 Money/Valuables: The knaar Breyta and promissory notes sufficient to outfit her anywhere in Harn, most of Ivinia or Chelemby Armour/Weapons: Cloth shirt and breeches, leather tunic, trousers and calf boots. Plate halfhelm and ring byrnie are only worn when battle is imminent or risk is very high. Other Equipment: The tools of the pilot‟s trade Load: 30.1(fully armed:66.1) lbs Melee Wpns

Captain Grim Olmoding

If the GM has access to Golotha he can play through preparation for the journey in detail, but could equally well abstract it to a series of die rolls which can be recorded and used to determine whether a particular piece of equipment is among what they have bought or if it fails at a vital moment later in the adventure. If asked about the Afarezirs … the Captain says he will be happy to share his knowledge of the islands once they are underway. He isn‟t prepared to discuss that knowledge in port. It is too valuable to spread where competitors might be listening; a pilot‟s knowledge is his greatest treasure. If asked about trade … he can advise the PCs on the sorts of trade goods the Kubora of the islands value: metalwares, wool blankets in bright colours they cannot manufacture themselves, and beads, trinkets and ornaments. They have a taboo against things that are coloured bright red but other bright colours are very welcome. He counsells against metal weapons as he and his fellow sealer captains have agreed that to arm the

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

Encumbrance Penalty: 0 (3)

Wt WQ AML DML

HM

B

E

P

51 66

 -05

2 1







51 51





 1

 11

56 48

56 48

-05 -05

2 1

 2

 4

4 7

11 14

61 52

56 67

-10

5 2

7









B 1  1

E 1  1

P 1  1

F 1  1

 

2 2 1 1  2 2

4 4 1 1  4 4

3 3 1 1  3 3

4 4 1 1  4 4



2

5

3

5



2

5

3

5

   

2 2 2 1

5 5 5 3

3 3 3 2

5 5 5 3

Head butt Hand/Arm







Foot/Knee Dagger Handaxe Roundshield Location Skull Face Neck

Armour Layers C (+P: 7 10 8 5 )  C

AQ

Shoulder Upper Arm Elbow Forearm Hand

C L (+R: 6 6 3 3 ) C L (+R: 6 6 3 3) C (+R: 6 6 3 3) C (+R: 6 6 3 3)  C L (+R: 6 6 3 3) C L (+R: 6 6 3 3) CCLL (+R: 6 6 3 3) CCLL (+R: 6 6 3 3) CLL CLL LL L

    

Thorax Abdomen Hip Groin Thigh Knee Calf Foot

  

Invocations: none

Spells: none

Convocations: none

Psionics: none

Notes: Grim Olmoding is good at what he does and has a good reputation in almost all the ports he visits regularly. He is not Grim by nature, enjoying a drink when ashore, but at sea he concentrates on keeping his crew and his beloved Breyta safe. He keeps his helm, byrnie and axe in his sea chest. He knows better than to wear them aboard ship except when the Breyta is about to be boarded.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 8 If asked about departure times … Olmoding will explain that now he knows who they are, and how many, he can provision the ship. Then it is just a matter of tide and wind. Tides will be advantageous in two days time and for a further 2 days after that. Winds, he is less certain of, but the PCs can expect a full day of leisure before there‟s a chance of a departure. After that it could be any time from 1 to 4 days more. He will expect them aboard within a watch of summoning them. If asked about ‘the scholar’ … Olmoding has been approached by a „spotty youth‟ claiming to be the scholar Nobar has recruited. He gave his name as Aslin of Err and a contact address: „the House of Mistress Derine in Sewertown‟ (Golotha G4). Olmoding is told by his crew that it‟s a brothel. The boy accepted Olmoding‟s offer to buy his equipment and the captain gave him the same instructions for joining the ship that he‟s given the PCs. The PCs should be allowed to make a connection between their sponsor, the Guildmistress of Couresans, and a scholar who frequents brothels. If they have visited the brothel already then they may even make a connection between the description Olmoding gives them, of a young man with a face marked by disease, and a man they saw there.

Link to the next scene If they want to seek out the scholar they can go direct to Scene 4. If they first want to find out more about the Afarezirs or look for expertise they do not possess, then they can proceed to Scene 5 or Scene 6. If the GM intends to introduce the NPC descibed in Scene 6 then they may wish to do so in one of the other scenes.

SCENE 4: THE SCHOLAR? Overview

The PCs have a chance to find the schoolar they have been told will accomany them.

GM Aims  To give the PCs a chance to find Aslin of Err and discover something of his background;  To allow the PCs to see connections between his actions and their supposed sponsor;  To ensure they can‟t get past the carefully designed prick wall they will encounter at the end of their enquiries.

PC Outcomes They will see sufficient links to Shiran and „courtesans‟ to reassure them about the origin of their mission.

Description of Events If the PCs seek him at the brothel … they will find the young man fitting the description they have been given there every night from dusk until dawn. He pays for the time of Red Gwena, a flame haired beauty of substantial build, whenever he can, and moons after her when she is busy with other clients. Intrigue will reveal that he is called Aslin of Err and is a regular who has always coveted Gwena. Recently, though, he has been able to pay for much more of her time. If watched for long enough the PCs will be able to follow him back to his place of employment, the House of Rabarian, in Arena Town (Golotha, H3). Intrigue in Arena Town will reveal that he:  has been employed by Rabarian for some time, arriving from „out of town‟;  patches up the slaves Rabarian trains for the arena;  will also prepare poultices, healing potions and herbal remedies for the locals in return for a few pennies;  seems to have more money just now. He is spending more time in the brothel than his apparently modest employment would suggest he can afford. If they follow Aslin for a watch during the day … they will see that he visits an expensive perfumer off Chafin Square (Golotha, F20). Intrigue reveals that the perfumer, Borana of Promel, has close links with Shiran and is said to have trained there as a courtesan before taking up a more respectable trade. If the PCs approach Borana … she will admit knowing Aslin but refuses to speak about the detail of her connection to him. The GM should help the PCs suspect she is a connection to the Shiran guild of Courtesans. She is certainly a devout worshipper of Halea and will be seen attending services if one coincides with the PCs‟ visit to Golotha.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 9  it‟s also why he is negotiating with Mistress Borana over a particular scented soap that he wants to give Gwena as a wedding gift when he proposes to her on his return; Name: Aslin of Err

Race/Sex: Human/Male

Occupation: Herbalist/Apothecary

Born: 4 Navek 700, Masara-Skorus

Appearance: Aged 20, height 5‟6”, scant frame, weight 116 lbs/size 5, plain appearance, medium complexion, brown hair, grey eyes Str 11 Agl 11 Sml 09 Aur 09 Cml 06 Sta 08 Eye 10 Voi 12 Wil 11 End 08 Dex 12 Hrg 09 Int 13 Mor 10 Mov 11 Medical/Psyche: Noticeable pox marks on head, shoulders, back and chest Religion: Ritual (Agrik) 12, Piety 15 Skills: Alchemy 16, AWARENESS 36, CLIMBING 55, Ceramics 33, Herblore 44, INTRIGUE 36, JUMPING 44, Lovecraft 11, Mathematics 26, ORATORY 20, Physician 48, RHETORIC 39, SINGING 46, STEALTH 30, Swimming 13, THROWING 44 Languages: Harnic 72 Scripts: Lakise 82 Combat Skills: INITIATIVE 44, DODGE 55, UNARMED 52, Dagger 22 Money/Valuables: very little other than the advance he has received for the mission. Armour/Weapons: cloth shirt, tunic, and breeches, leather shoes. He has been given a heavy woollen robe and a leather „boat-cloak‟ for the journey, both of which he will wear all the time as he feels the cold keenly. Other Equipment: His journal where he makes notes that will help him towards his „master‟s piece‟, parchment, quill and ink. Also a bag full of mysterious ceramic pots which contain the „alchemical means by which to test the desired plant when we find it‟. Load: lbs Melee Wpns Hand/Arm Foot/Knee Head butt Dagger

The „scholar‟ Aslin of Err

If the PCs approach Aslin … he will be nervous and ill at ease. This is his normal state when not enagaged in his daily work or in the company of Red Gwena, who makes him feel much more self assured. He has been told not to discuss his voyage with anyone. However, if he can be convinced that the PCs are to accompany him and help him find the plant they seek then he will freely admit that he:  has been told by his employer, Urdail of Rabarian, that he is to travel to the north in search of a particular plant that resembles Sethimyael but that it will have red foliage &/or fruits;  is being paid a substantial bonus for the voyage and that this is why he is able to spend more time with Gwena;

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

Encumbrance: 0 Wt WQ AML DML

HM

B 0

E

P

 v

 

1

 2

 5

B 1 1 1

E 2 2 2

P 1 1 1

F 2 2 2

2 2 2 2  2 2 2 2

4 3 3 3  4 4 4 4

3 2 2 2  3 3 3 3

4 3 3 3  4 4 4 4

2 2 1 1

4 4 2 3

3 3 1 2

4 4 2 3

 

 

 

 1

 11



1 1



Location Skull Face (ears) Neck

Armour Layers C C C

AQ

Shoulder Upper Arm Elbow Forearm Hand Thorax Abdomen Hip Groin

CCCL CCC CC CC  CCCL CCCL CCCCL CCCCL

           

Thigh Knee Calf Foot

CCCL CCCL C L

   

Invocations: none

Convocations: none

Spells: none

Psionics: none

Notes: Aslin is a freshly minted journeyman apothecary/herbalist making a living as a „physician‟. His ugly pox-marks sap his confidence and he is often nervous; something betrayed by his stammer and high nervous laugh.

 has been given a complex alchemical test to identify the right plant. The test is, in fact, meaningless, though Aslin doesn‟t know that. His Alchemy extends only as far as being able to complete the test. The test has been included by the

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 10 mission‟s sponsors to stop any enterprising character (PCs or crew) finding the plant without Aslin and keeping the location to themselves.

be cultivated locally. If what he has read of sethmyael is also true of Crimson Sethimyael then it is likely to be too early in the season to use this method.

Aslin is also unaware that Urdail of Rabarian has been paid by the Order of the Octagonal Pit to send him North. The PCs should be left to believe that the Guildmistress in Shiran has commissioned Urdail to provide a herbalist, though they may find the choice of middle-man unexpected.

Instead he suggests that healthy examples could be uprooted and planted in casks filled with soil from where they take the plant. A canvas top would protect the plant within and could be removed to water it and give it some sun.

If the PCs seek out Urdail of Rabarian … he will not discuss the nature of Aslin‟s employment. The former slave-gladiator has sufficient swords at his disposal to ensure this is a dead-end for the PC‟s enquiries. He has been paid for Aslin‟s time and paid enough extra to ensure he will not to reveal who his employers really are. He also relies on licences from the Order who control the Pamesani; to betray them is simply unthinkable.

This can seem like a dead-end but Scenes 3 and 5 can be prompted if Nobar or Grim summon the PCs to the Breyta and focus them on preparing for their voyage.

Link to the next scene

If the PCs enquire about Rabarian in the locality they can find out what the text of Golotha, H3 has to say but no more. If the PCs ask Aslin about the plant … Aslin will tell them all he knows. It is, apprently, a previously unknown variety of sethimyael. The only variety that Aslin knows anything about is called „the ochre creeper‟ and is a rare native of shady, boggy ground. The leaves are grayish green and the creeping stems have small nasty thorns that make it difficult to harvest. The small pink blooms it bears in the Summer smell of rotting meat and attract flies, wasps, and the occasional small carnivores. In late Summer the base of each flower swells to form large yellow berries weighing as much as an ounce when freshly picked. They have a waxy skin and a strong and unpleasant taste. Western Harnic hebalists have no use for the plant or its fruit. Aslin has heard that the crushed berries are used by Ilviran priests to make a potent sweet wine called Ilvir‟s Crook. He has never tasted any or seen the recipe to make it. Aslin has been told that the variety they seek is red, rather then yellow; he thinks of it as „Crimson Sethimyael‟. GM Note: tribal shaman chew the dried berries of the ochre creeper and experience a numbing sensation of the lips, gums, and mouth. Mild but colorful visions build gradually for about one hour, then fade over the next 2–3 hours. After-effects include dehydration and exhaustion. The visions are interpreted as messages from the spirits and their gods. Drinkers of Ilvir‟s Crook have claimed outof-body experiences that the priesthood claims are the first steps of the death journey that will see their soul return within an Ivashu. If the PCs ask Aslin how they can ensure that anything they harvest survives the voyage home … he will suggest that collecting fruits and seeds would be the simplest way to bring samples home. Then the plant can

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 11 SCENE 5: INFORMATION? Overview

Each of the lines of enquiries below should be allocated a minimum of a watch of 3 hours duration. If the PCs split up they can increase the number of lines of enquiry they can pursue. The total time available should not be shared with the PCs beyond the vague timings given by Captain Olmoding. The GM should feel free to curtail the time available to maintain pressure and inject pace into the start of the adventure. It is left to the GM‟s discretion to determine how much of the information described below can be discovered by the PCs. Liberal use of money and ale interspersed with Oratory or Rhetoric will influence how much they learn. Intrigue can supplement these efforts. It is more likely that time will limit the number of avenues they can pursue rather than the lack of possibilities …

GM Aims  To give the PCs a chance to answer questions they may have as asked Nobar or Captain Olmoding;  To avoid revealing the truth behind the mission and the involvement of the Octagonal Pit;  To use the sub-scenes to provide natural introductions for any of the NPCs from Scene 6 that the GM would like to accompany the PCs.

PC Outcomes They should feel they have had a chance to answer some of their questions. They should also understand that the Afarezirs are even less well travelled than Peran.

Description of Events The Temple of Save-K’nor … The local temple of the Order of the Hyn-Aelori (Golotha, D4) has a significant archive of letters, diaries and official papers from the time when the Corani Empire occupied much of Peran. They are even more jealous of the knowledge they have and even more secretive than most of their fellow priests across Harn. They are barely tolerated in Golotha and assume any approach is a trap to catch them interfering in local politics. A few years ago one of their most distinguished scholars, Adel of Mertin, had to escape Golotha in secret for prying too deeply into the history and origins of the Agrikan Order of Mamaka the Master of Steel. Her favoured acolyte is currently in the north of Rethem continuing her work so the most likely excuse for telling the PCs nothing is that „… our only authority on Peran is

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

travelling away from our temple and so we have nothing we can tell you‟. If the PCs include a devout K’noran … then pressing the order‟s gatekeeper and explaining that they are travelling into the North, will lead him to reveal that Lorn of Aele is compiling myths and legends about Peran and that she might pay them a small sum for whatever they learn on their journey. She is somewhere north of Tormau so the PCs would have to travel there and find her if they have any specific questions for her. If the PCs include an ordained priest of Save K’nor … they will be given access to the temple‟s archives dependent on their seniority within the order. Their companions will be given no such access. This should allow the PCs to obtain a poetic map of the Afarezirs, and a summary of the geography and history of the islands (see Afarezirs) but nothing on the current situation among the Nolgind Kubora clans.

The Agrikan Warriors of Mameka … Though the Mamekans are known to be old enemies of the Kubora their Order punishes loose tongues with torture and death. The only Warriors in Golotha are those that provide the personal guard of the Agrikan Primate and what passes for the Golotha City Watch. In that role they rarely patrol further afield than Rusu Island or, sometimes, the Nemiran district of the city. Intrigue will, however, allow the PCs to approach one of the apprentice masons currently reparing a wall at the Order's hostel on Rusu Island. In his cups the youth claims, falsely, to have heard a lot from the Warriors about their expeditions into the forests of Peran. He tells the PCs that the Kubora:  are an unpredictable and fierce people who are as likely to welcome travellers as guests as they are to demand liberal gifts from those passing through their territory, or to attack apparently unprovoked;  are primitive savages that speak no civilised tongue;  despise weakness, so the best way to avoid being raided is to maintain such a high state of vigilance that you earn their respect;  live for battle and practice torture and self-mutilation;  trade with some traitorous middle-men, like that halfbreed „Scarlet Daq‟. This is little more than what any Rethemi could tell them of the Kubora, but the claimed association with the Mamakans should add some sense of authenticity to what he says. Having completed Peran: Heart of Darkness the PCs should be sceptical of such a simplistic picture of the Kubora. If the PCs approach a priest of Mamaka … then the PCs discover the priests are even more closed mouthed than their Warriors! They not only torture any of their own

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 12 who speak of their secrets but routinely feed any nosey seekers after such forbidden knowledge to the Holy Flame beneath the Agrikan Temple (Golotha, B9). If the PCs include an ordained priest of Mameka or a Warrior of Mameka … then the GM can provide information about the Kubora of the river valleys of Peran but little about the Nolgind (see Tribes of the Kubora).

Scarlet Daq … Scarlet Daq (Golotha, F14) maintains very close trading relationships among his father‟s people; travelling into the Peran wilderness each Summer. The rest of the time he spends keeping his contacts in Golotha up to date or travelling more widely across Rethem, and sometimes Tharda; to ensure his trade networks stay intact. If the PCs seek him out they will find he has left the city on just such a trip and is not expected back for some time. His servant will direct the PCs to the taverns around the Golotha arena if they wish to find a Kuboran. They congregate where the wild beasts traded out of Peran are sold.

Kuborans … They are the best source of intelligence about Peran in general. However, as the Nolgind Kubora of the Afarezirs are among the most isolated of tribes, the chance of meeting a Kuboran who has met a Nolgind, let alone travelled through the island chain, should be very small. With their very fierce reputation Kubora are in demand in Golotha as gladiators. Some make a decent living as free men travelling from one games to another fighting for their bed and board, but most are slaves kept by the Order of Demon Pameshlu, or patrons of the Games. The more successful slave-gladiators are given more freedom and it is not impossible to find them enjoying a drink alongside their free brethren in the pot-houses of Arena Town. The Kubora make poor house slaves unless they have been taken as children and brought up to servitude. Even then the men are considered too great a risk unless gelded. The same fierce nature makes the women valued as pleasure slaves by some „civilised‟ folk. Almost every brothel in Golotha boasts one or two Kubora who cater to the particular tastes of some patrons. Any other Kuboran in Golotha is rare. The tribes have a number of natural resources the south demands, not least wild beasts for the arena, but most are sold to traders at the Emesa Beast Fayre. Some half-blood Kubora, like Scarlet Daq, choose to bring their wares direct to the city. More often than not these half-breeds are never fully trusted by either culture but useful to both.

The Seaman’s Guild … If the PCs spend time gossiping with local seamen and dock workers near the Seaman‟s Guild (Golotha, E1) they

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

will come upon the story of a sealing ship that suffered terribly among the islands. The Ivinian ship was called the Wav Dansen and it limped into Golotha late in the previous Autumn. It had barely managed to survive its journey from the North; battered by wind and weather and the crew barely able to bring her to port. The survivors brought with them a tale that was soon being repeated in every dockside tavern. Were the PCs to offer the dock worker they are talking to a meal and a drink he will be happy to re-tell it …

The Tale of the Wav Dansen The ship was Ivinian and sailing among the Afarezirs for the first time in search of whales and seals. The crew had barely set up camp on one of the islands when they were approached by a party of Nolgind Kubora tribesmen seeking to trade seal pelts for metalwares. The Nolgind were friendly enough and advised the sailors to leave before nightfall lest „the Lost Ones‟ found them. The warriors would not be any more specific and departed well before dusk. The Ivinians were left to calculate the profit they would make with the skins they had paid so little for. There was some drinking around the fire on the beach that night so, when the alarm was raised, they were slow to arm and defend themselves. At first they thought the Kubora had returned and in the confused fight around the fire they wondered at the tribesmens‟ strength and wild rage. It took 10 of them to subdue even one of the attackers before the raiders were driven off into the night. It seemed impossible but the wild savage they had captured still had fight in him despite having his hand severed from his arm and other wounds that would have brought any normal man to their knees. With dawn they got a better look at their assailant and he was clearly not of the group that they had traded with. Dressed in little more than a loin cloth he appeared poorly nourished and sickly. All the more surprising, therefore at the savagery with which he had fought. He died gabbling what the crew later took to be a curse. When they left the island the curse took hold. One of the crew was siezed by a berserk fury following a mild exchange of insults with others among the crew. The berserker set about his fellows with axe and sword, maiming one and wounding several others before they could subdue and bind him. A few hours later the rage had left him and he had only hazy memories of what he had done. The next morning the Wav Dansen departed for islands further down the archipelago but the curse was not finished with them. A fearsome storm blew up out of nowhere and, undermanned as they were, they had to run before it out into the Haonic Ocean. The ship suffered damage and two

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 13 more crew were lost. So it was that they limped into Golotha rather than making their way north to Ivinia. If the PCs seek more detail … the docker will embellish bits of his story with what he thinks the PCs want to hear but knows nothing more. The GM should take care not to allow these embellishments to allow the PCs to make any connection to the herb they are seeking. He will be able to say that some of the sailors were badly injured when they arrived and some died of their wounds. If they seek out other dockers or spend time in the docks … they will get more or less the same story but the embellishements will differ. This might allow the PCs to pick out the core truth of the tale that circulated during the autumn and winter and throw some doubt on the more outlandish embellishments such as „the horns the savage bore‟, or the fact he „was a giant‟, or „half-wolf‟. If they seek out someone who might have treated the injured … they will find their way to the two physicians in town. Horab of Ardiras (Golotha, B7), is commonly regarded as a reputable healer. He knows nothing of the Wav Dansen or her crew. Shorka of Larsi (Golotha, F21) is a quack and too afraid that the characters are investigating his work to say anything useful without bribes and an inordinate amount of reassurance. With enough persuasion, Shorka will admit that he amputated the right leg of one of the Wav Dansan‟s crew below the knee. The man, named Cenid, survived the surgery and Shorka was paid for the service by other members of the crew. Shorka does not know whether Cenid departed with the Wav Dansan. If the PCs try to find out if Cenid survived … then Intrigue may lead them to Boraga of Karil (Golotha, F7). The embalmer will initially resist telling the characters anything but if paid will reveal what a good memory of his clients he has. He is paid by the city to dispose of any pauper bodies who are either unclaimed or cannot be approporiately committed to their gods by friends or family. One of the crew was too ill to leave when the Wav Dansen left and subsequently died of a corrupted greenstick fracture of the thigh received during the storm. The man was called Tersi. Boraga sold the corpse to the local Guild of Arcane Lore (Golotha, I2) . He had hopes of another of the injured crew turning up dead but that one, called Cenid, survived. Boraga does not know for certain what became of him but knows the man became addicted to a cocktail of narcotics to stave off the pain of his amputated leg. If the PCs search for Cenid … then Intrigue will inform them that most of the lowliest narcotic dens are to be found among the poor souls living in the labyrinth of

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

boats and barges that comprise the floating town beneath Golotha‟s Southaven; the Southaven Underworld (Golotha provides details of the Northaven Underworld which the GM can use to flavour any encounter beneath the southern wharves). A further success with Intrigue will lead them to Cenid who now inhabits a narcotics den. In his lucid moments, Cenid turns the odd coin by retelling the tale of his „exploits among the wild Kubora‟. He has cobbled together a tale of derring-do from bits and pieces he has picked up about the Kubora to pad out his own experiences. He will describe how the crew was attacked and worn down by constant raids. The Kubora took scalps as trophies and tortured some that they took captive. Woven into this fantasy, of how he saved the crew only to be abandoned in this Ljarl-forsaken place, is the single nugget of truth: the description of the „possessed berserker warriors‟ of the islands. In his less coherent moments, Cenid will mistake some party members for Kubora or rave about the attack. „Why won‟t he die! Take off his other hand – for Sarajin‟s sake kill him again …‟

Link to the next scene Most of the NPCs in Scene 6 are best introduced as the PCs work their way through Scene 5, but any the GM wants to include (or the PCs decide they need) can be picked from Scene 6 and used as separate encounters.

SCENE 6: SPECIALIST HELP? Overview

As the PCs find out more about the Afarezirs they may feel they need some specialist help. This Scene introduces a number of potentially useful NPCs each providing some skill, experience or knowledge that the PCs may find helpful. Each can also fulfil an additional, secret, role in the adventure if the GMs wishes. Before introducing these NPCs the GM should read the Appendix, „Friends in the South?‟ and decide whether to use any the options presented there. If an NPC is recruited then the GM can invite the players to run the NPC as well as their characters. If a PC becomes injured or incapacitated, or the party splits up to further their search then a player can be kept in the game by being given one of the accompanying NPCs to play.

GM Aims  To present each NPC as a potentially helpful and trustworthy associate.  Avoid making any of the NPCs seem to be a „plant‟.

PC Outcomes They may have recruited some useful allies.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 14 Ovik of Hossil … … is a scholar of history and geography who is particularly well-informed about the North. He will seek out the PCs, perhaps after they have tried and failed to get any additional background information from the priests of Save K‟nor. Alternatively rumour will have reached him of an expedition heading north.

Name: Ovik of Hossil

Race/Sex: Human/Male

Occupation: Scholar

Born: 19 Ilvin 695, Skorus

Appearance: Aged 25, height 5‟9”, medium frame, weight 157 lbs/size 6, handsome appearance, dark complexion, black hair, hazel eyes Str 14 Agl 12 Sml 10 Aur 18 Cml 16 Sta 14 Eye 14 Voi 06 Wil 16 End 14 Dex 15 Hrg 12 Int 13 Mor 05 Mov 12 Medical/Psyche: Hidden scars on his back from scourging Religion: Ritual (Agrik) 33, Piety 30 Skills: AWARENESS 68, CLIMBING 66, Drawing 60, Folklore (Peran) 40; Herblore 24, INTRIGUE 63, JUMPING 62, Law 12, Mathematics 25, ORATORY 24, Physician 30, RHETORIC 52, SINGING 24, STEALTH 52, Swimming 15, THROWING 50 Languages: Harnic 94, Old Jarinese 21 Scripts: Lakise 98 Combat Skills: INITIATIVE 50, DODGE 60, UNARMED 56, Dagger 55 Money/Valuables: While not richly dressed he appears to have a significant line of credit which he explains as resulting from his bastardy. His father is rich and pays him well to stay away from him and his family. Armour/Weapons: Cloth shirt and breeches, robe and tunic. Leather calf boots. Other Equipment: A leather satchel in which he keeps his supply of parchment, pens and ink. He will buy any specific travelling and wilderness equipment that he needs. Load: 30.1 lbs Melee Wpns

Ovik of Hossil

Hossil has travelled from Tharda to carry out research for a book he intends to write on the mysteries of Peran. He heard about the PCs planned voyage into the North while collecting tales of Peran from sailors and dockworkers. He is seeking passage with them to the Afarezirs; an opportunity to visit the distant archipelago is unique. He could not afford to provision such an expedition himself so would be limited to second hand accounts. To visit the islands himself would give his book enormous authority. This is why he is willing to pay the PCs for his passage and to help them during their expedition. How much he is prepared to pay is left to the GM to fit with campaign norms.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

Encumbrance Penalty: 0 Wt WQ AML DML

HM

B

E

P

51 66

 -05

2 1







51 51





 11

56 55

56 55

-05 -05

2 1

 2

 4

Head butt Hand/Arm







Foot/Knee Dagger

 1

Location

Armour Layers

AQ

B

E

P

F

Skull Face Neck Shoulder Upper Arm Elbow Forearm Hand Thorax Abdomen Hip Groin

C   CCC CCC C C  CCC CCC CCCC CCCC

           

1   1 1 1 1  1 1 1 1

1   2 2 1 1  2 2 2 2

1   1 1 1 1  1 1 1 1

1   2 2 1 1  2 2 2 2

Thigh Knee Calf Foot

CCC CCC CL L

   

1 1 2 1

2 2 4 3

1 1 3 2

2 2 4 3

Invocations: none

Spells: none

Convocations: none

Psionics: none

Notes: He can draw maps of the islands or sketch anything that needs recording, including the plant they are seeking. While not encyclopaedic Ovik can still be very useful to the PCs and offer them sound advice based on his knowledge of Peran and its inhabitants.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 15 Talar … … is a Delerni Kuboran who was once a slave gladiator in the Golothan arena. Since winning his freedom he has served as a bodyguard-for-hire, and adopted some southron ways.

Name: Talar the Kuboran

Race/Sex: Human/Male

Occupation: Former gladiator

Born: He doesn‟t know

Appearance: Aged 30-ish, height 6‟1”, medium frame, weight 175 lbs/size 7, plain appearance, medium complexion, black hair, hazel eyes Str 13 Agl 15 Sml Sta 15 Eye 10 Voi Dex 14 Hrg 10 Int Medical/Psyche: Kuboran Arus

09 09 09

Aur Wil Mor

11 10 09

Cml 08 End 15 Mov 15

Religion: Ritual (Kuboran Gods) 10, Piety 02; Ritual (Halea) 13, Piety 18 Skills: Acting 22, Animalcraft 35, AWARENESS 66, CLIMBING 60, Fishing 23, Folklore (Mainland Kubora) 60, Folklore (Nolgind Kubora) 20, INTRIGUE 30, JUMPING 54, ORATORY 27, Physician 33, RHETORIC 27, SINGING 27, STEALTH 42, Swimming 45, THROWING 56, Tracking 40, Weaponcraft 45 Languages: Old Jarinese 59, Harnic 39 Scripts: none Combat Skills: INITIATIVE 58, DODGE 75, UNARMED 66, Dagger 49, Axe 65, Sword 60 Money/Valuables: He is tricked out in a good quality, embroidered, southron tunic and tooled leather boots which don‟t suit him. His only other valuables are four quite valuable rings; has little or no cash. Armour/Weapons: Cloth shirt, breeches and good quality tunic with good leather calf boots; scale vest with kurbul ailettes and bracers. Despite advice he refuses to remove his armour at sea, perhaps because it is the most valuable thing he owns. He says his good quality clothing are gifts from a grateful wealthy patron. Other Equipment: It seems that everything he owns is in the cloth sack he carries. Load: 34.8 lbs Melee Wpns

Encumbrance Penalty: 1 Wt WQ AML DML

HM

B

E

P

61 76

 -05

2 1







61 61





 1

 12

66 49

6 49

-05 -05

2 1

 2

 4

Handaxe*

3

12

70

65

0

4

6

Shortsword

3

12

65

60

-10

3

5

 4

Head butt Hand/Arm







Foot/Knee Dagger

*Talar is naturally left handed and trained to use his axe right-handed in the arena;; hence no „off-hand‟ penalty.

Talar the Kuboran

He is best introduced when the PCs have failed to make contact with Scarlet Daq or when they are seeking Kuborans in Arena Town. Perhaps they find him in a drunken stupor lamenting the lost forests of his childhood. He was bright enough to plan his exit from the arena before it took his life. He has grown used to the civilised ways of the south but often becomes sentimental about his home in the Peran wilderness. It is that sentimentality that drives his offer to accompany the PCs. He is obviously useful to the PCs as he is of Kuboran origin, speaks the language, and understands the culture. That may be sufficient recommendation for him to be given a berth among them, though as a mainland Kuboran even he will find the Nolgind foreign.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

Location

Armour Layers

AQ

B

E

P

F

Skull Face Neck Shoulder Upper Arm Elbow Forearm Hand Thorax Abdomen Hip Groin Thigh Knee Calf Foot

   CCSK CC C CK  CCS CCS CCC CCC CC CC L L

   +1 +1 +1  

   7 2 1 5  6 6 2 2 2 1 2 2

   11 3 2 5  10 10 3 3 3 1 4 4

   6 2 1 4  5 5 2 2 2 1 3 3

   6 3 2 4  5 5 3 3 3 1 4 4

  +1 +1 +1  +1 +1

Invocations: none

Spells: none

Convocations: none

Psionics: none

Notes: Talar has forgotten a lot of the forest lore he learned as a child and youth. After a decade in the south his recollections of his homeland are romanticised.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 16 Sir Hovan Mindar … … is a wandering „sword for hire‟; down on his luck and in need of friends. He will seek to go North with the PCs as an alternative to increasing poverty in Golotha. PCs with an approporiate background should spot his clan name and accent as from Kanday. That‟s not a reason for him not to be in Golotha but it might explain why he is unemployed. He was brought up a Laranian and tries to hold to his principles.

Name: Sir Hovan Mindar

Race/Sex: Human/Male

Occupation: Knight-at-Arms

Born: 24 Nuzyael 687, Ulandus

Appearance: Aged 33, height 5‟11”, medium frame, weight 164 lbs/size 6, plain appearance, medium complexion, brown hair, grey eyes Str 13 Agl 13 Sta 15 Eye 09 Dex 15 Hrg 09 Medical/Psyche: none

Sml Voi Int

08 07 14

Aur Wil Mor

08 12 14

Cml 08 End 15 Mov 13

Religion: Ritual (Larani) 22, Piety 16 Skills: Agriculture 30, AWARENESS 56, CLIMBING 64, Dancing 42, Foraging 56; Heraldry 24, INTRIGUE 53, JUMPING 65, Law 22, ORATORY 20, Physician 39, RHETORIC 22, Riding 98, SINGING 24, STEALTH 33, THROWING 48, Weaponcraft 26 Languages: Harnic 61 (Kandayan accent) Scripts: Lakise 33 Combat Skills: INITIATIVE 72, DODGE 60, UNARMED 80, Dagger 78, Axe 70, Sword 70, Shield 90 Money/Valuables: He has a single suit of clothes that show the signs of having been worn for too long. He sold his horse and will soon have to sell his hauberk. He is proud of his weapons which he looks after religiously, even though they are not of particularly high quality. He carries his broadsword and kite shield as evidence of his knighthood and these would be the last to be sold. Armour/Weapons: Cloth shirt, breeches and tunic, leather knee boots and a long ring mail hauberk and hood with a quilt arming cap that he will remove at sea. Other Equipment: travelling equipment: blanket, flint steel, cook pot etc. Load: 28.9 (fully armed: 54.4) lbs Melee Wpns

Sir Hovan Mindar

He is best introduced by having him help the PCs out of a situation where a little extra muscle would be helpful or where his height and bearing can defuse a potentially dangerous confrontation. A bar fight or an attack by footpads on a lone PC are helpful ways of having this poor soldier come to their aid and win their trust.

Encumbrance Penalty: 0 (2)

Wt WQ AML DML

HM

B

E

P

80 95

 -05

2 1







80 80





 1

 11

85 83

85 83

-05 -05

2 1

 2

 4

3 4 8

11 12 14

80 85 95

75 80 115

-10 -15

6 6

 4



4 4 2





Head butt Hand/Arm







Foot/Knee Dagger Handaxe Broadsword Kite shield Location

Armour Layers

AQ

B

E

P

F

Skull Face (ears) Face (jaw) Neck

 (+QR: 6 7 4 5)  (+QR: 6 7 4 5)  (+R: 3 6 3 3 )  (+R: 3 6 3 3 )

   

Shoulder Upper Arm Elbow Forearm Hand

C C(+R: 3 6 3 3 ) C C(+R: 3 6 3 3 ) C (+R: 3 6 3 3 ) C (+R: 3 6 3 3 )  C C(+R: 3 6 3 3 ) C C(+R: 3 6 3 3 ) C C(+R: 3 6 3 3 ) C C(+R: 3 6 3 3 ) C C(+R: 3 6 3 3 ) C L(+R: 3 6 3 3 ) L L

    

    1 1 1 1  1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1

    2 2 1 1  2 2 2 2 2 4 3 3

    1 1 1 1  1 1 1 1 1 3 2 2

    2 2 1 1  2 2 2 2 2 4 3 3

Thorax Abdomen Hip Groin Thigh Knee Calf Foot

       

Invocations: none

Spells: none

Convocations: none

Psionics: none

Notes: Sir Mindar is just what he appears to be: honest, trustworthy, principled and good in a tight corner.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 17 ACT II: ABOARD THE BREYTA Overview The voyage could be an adventure in itself if the GM wishes to use the full rules for maritime travel found in the Pilots Almanac. Randomly rolled maritime encounters can be used but the GM should be careful that they neither interfere with the arrival of the PCs among the Afarezirs or maroon them somewhere else in Peran.

Description of Events These are provided in the form of extracts from Captain Grim‟s log as the Breyta makes her way north. A number of entries include not only a description of events but how the GM might involve the PCs in them, as well as potential consequences.

Alternatively the voyage can be a series of vignettes of varying complexity, or a journey described in a couple of uneventful sentences and ending with landfall in the Afarezirs. This latter approach will mean that there will be fewer opportunities for any accompanying NPCs to become functioning members of the group.

GM Aims These depend on whether, or how, events during the voyage are used. They can be just colour or a gritty test of the PC‟s resilience. However the GM uses them they must be careful not to weaken the PCs too much before they reach the Afarezirs. For this reason suggestions are provided of ways in which the events can be completed without too many bones being broken. A cunning GM will find ways to increase the trust between the PCs and any NPC accompanying them. There‟s nothing like having a suspicious seeming NPC save the life of a PC who is expecting exactly the opposite. Remember that none of the infiltrator options detailed in Appendix III require the PCs to be killed. An alternative approach is to play the voyage with increased potential lethality and leave the PCs having to return to Golotha and re-group. That might be a strategy for focussing a PC group that wasted its time in Golotha onto more complete research or recruitment. Discovering the disadvantages of not following Grim Olmoding‟s advice could be a salutory lesson, this approach will require additional GM preparation.

PC Outcomes These are as variable as the approaches taken by the GM. Above all they should provide the players with some opportunities for a mental and physical work-out prior to arriving at the Afarezirs so the pace and interest in the adventure is sustained. They will have spent much of Act I on social tasks while the voyage can provide opportunities for more physical tests. The voyage also provides an opportunity for Captain Olmoding to share some of his general knowledge of the Afarezirs, though he will retain much of what he knows about each island for their arrival there.

The Breyta heads out of Boka Bay

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 18 Vigdis Grimkall … … is delegated to look after the passengers and keep them out of trouble. She is a competent sailor and effective warrior. She is also ambitious and keen to make influential friends. The PCs clearly have friends capable of hiring the ship so that makes them good people to get to know. Just because her motives are mercenary doesn‟t mean she isn‟t genuinely friendly, good company and helpful. She will do everything she can to make the PCs her friends, perhaps even making amorous approaches to one of them. She knows the value of a promise of future ecstasy, though, and will only hint at what the PCs can expect on their return to Golotha.

When they arrive among the Afarezirs she will offer to carry the injured Aslin ashore and in this way become an NPC for the party. As with Ovik, Talar or Sir Mindar, the GM can give her character sheet to a player who might otherwise not be involved in an encounter. Vigdis‟ other advantage is that she speaks enough Jarinese to become the PCs‟ interpreter if they need one. Name: Vigdiss Grimkall

Race/Sex: Human/Female

Occupation: Sailor/Shieldmaiden

Born: 18 Nuzyael 693, Ulandus

Appearance: Aged 27, height 5‟7”, medium frame, weight 149 lbs/size 6, the epitome of northern beauty: fair complexion, blonde hair, blue eyes Str 16 Agl 16 Sml Sta 16 Eye 12 Voi Dex 11 Hrg 11 Int Medical/Psyche: easily flattered

11 10 09

Aur Wil Mor

14 05 11

Cml 18 End 16 Mov 11

Religion: Ritual (Sarajin) 12, Piety 16 Skills: AWARENESS 48, CLIMBING 80, Fishing 30, Herblore 28, INTRIGUE 27, JUMPING 64, Mathematics 16, ORATORY 24, Physician 11, Piloting 22, RHETORIC 32, Seamanship 56, Shipwright 24, SINGING 30, STEALTH 33, THROWING 52, Timbercraft 34, Weatherlore 44 Languages: Ivinian 78, Jarinese 58, Harnic 48 Scripts: none Combat Skills: INITIATIVE 46, DODGE 45, UNARMED 64, Dagger 48, Sword 70, Shield 56 Money/Valuables: She has a share of the profits of the Breyta, as do all the crew. Armour/Weapons: Cloth shirt, breeches and tunic, leather shoes and a mail haubergeon inherited from her father that she will remove at sea. Other Equipment: little more than what she stands up in. Load: 26.2(fully armed: 48.8) lbs Melee Wpns Head butt

Wt WQ AML DML 64 64  

Hand/Arm Foot/Knee

Thorax Abdomen Hip Groin Thigh Knee Calf Foot

Vigdis Grimkall

She can be used to hint at the concerns some of the crew will express about the PCs during the difficult journey north. This should help secure the PCs‟ trust.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011





 1 3 7

 11 11 14

HM  -05 -05

B 2

P

 

 

 2 5

 4 4

79 69

53 80 61

53 75 76

-05 -10 

1 3 2





Armour Layers

AQ

B

E

P

F

    C C(+M: 2 8 6 1) C C(+M: 2 8 6 1)   (+K: 4 4 3 3)  C C(+M: 2 8 6 1) C C(+M: 2 8 6 1) C C(+M: 2 8 6 1) C C(+M: 2 8 6 1) CC CC  L

   

    1 1    1 1 1 1 1 1  1

    2 2    2 2 2 2 2 1  3

    1 1    1 1 1 1 1 1  2

    2 2    2 2 2 2 2 1  3

            

1 2

E

64 69

Dagger Shortsword Round shield Location Skull Face (ears) Face (jaw) Neck Shoulder Upper Arm Elbow Forearm (right) Hand

Encumbrance Penalty: 0 (2)

Invocations: none

Spells: none

Convocations: none

Psionics: none

Notes: Vigdis is not happy, but she doesn‟t quite know why. She feels there should be more to life than seeing her complexion ruined by a life at sea!

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 19 SCENE 1: TO THE TIRSAS Overview

The Breyta completes the first stage of her journey with a stop among the Tirsa Islands at the steading of some Ivinian „pirates‟ known to Captain Olmoding.

GM Aims  To get the PCs used to the rhythm of life aboard the Breyta.

PC Outcomes The PCs learn to live with the frustrations and monotony of shipboard life.

Description of Events … as described in the log of the Breyta: Day 1: A late start due to a sudden storm crossing the estuary then slow progress out among the islands where we anchored to weather a second blow. AND … The GM should have the PCs roll against AGILITYx3 to avoid stumbling during the stormy weather the Breyta encounters. This is a good time to explain the risks of moving about the cramped ship in metal armour or otherwise encumbered, and encourage them to follow the crew‟s advice about stowing armour during the voyage. Day 2: Prevailing SW winds freshening to a gale so reduced sail to weather it. Whales sighted to SW late in the day but too far off to launch the boats. Day 3: Slow progress alternately beating and hauling into the wind to get beyoned Weseda sands and out into Boka Bay. AND … A Right Whale pod is potentially very profitable if one could be taken by stealth and then towed to a beach where it could be rendered down for its valuable oil. (see Aquatic Bestiary for details of Right Whales). This vignette could be inserted into any day but if it is used it will extend the voyage. It could be used to get the PCs to an Island in the Tirsa‟s or onto the mainland if the GM wanted to stretch them in the early stages of the adventure with an encounter with the Tiraen Kubora. It might also make a link to the fanon Trading Post in Kobeon Kubora territory (available at Lythia.com).

exchange for news and an undertaking to visit Movel and leave offerings. AND … details of Bjari Hirsen‟s settlement are presented in The Tirsa Pirates. A visit here provides a reason to visit the abandoned colony on Movel Island when the Breyta reaches the Afarezirs but if the GM doesn‟t wish to make this visit, or has already fleshed out the pirates in a different form, then Captain Olmoding can explain that he is bound by an oath to an old friend to leave some offerings on Movel in memory of the lost Orbaalese colonies there. If the PCs do visit „Valhakar‟ Bjari they will experience good Ivinian hospitality. Those with appropriate local knowledge may be surprised that Bjari and his people look more like farmers than pirates. Captain Olmoding heard rumours that the legendary leader of the Brotherhood of the Black Dragon had settled among the Tirsa Islands. He carries a letter that has followed Bjari these last 5 years; handed from ship to ship on the basis of rumour as to the Brotherhood‟s location. The letter contains the news that Bjari‟s sister, Rulyn, along with a husband and two children he did not know existed, were among the colonists that disappeared in 716. Bjari will be distraught at the loss of „little Ru‟ and will sacrifice a sheep to Sarajin in the hopes the god has gathered in her spirit and those of her family. The sheep‟s head and entrails are left on the broad stone that runemaster Korri Gyerden has erected half a league from the thran. The rest of the sheep makes a fine feast for Captain Olmoding, his crew, and his passengers. Bjari is of a mind to visit Movel himself, but the Dragon is not yet fully fit for a voyage around Cape Vikod. He settles for gifting the Breyta with two lambs, so long as one is sacrificed at Movel Gamle Hem, as a further propitiation to Sarajin. Grim Olmoding is honoured to be trusted in this way and assures Bjari that he will ensure suitable rites are carried out when they touch at the old colony site.

The GM should take care that a detour to the Peran mainland is not seen as an opportunity for the PCs to set out to find Scarlet Daq. His half-brother maintains the trading post in the Kobeon range and this may reinforce player misunderstanding of a visit to the Trading Post. While the GM may be happy for the PCs to set off into the Peran forests on a wild goose chase after the half-breed Kuboran trader, it will delay the rest of the adventure, possibly permanently! Day 4: Steered North and West towards the Tirsa Islands and made landfall at Bjari Hirsen‟s thran. Offered hospitality in A warm welcome in Bjari Hirsen‟s Hearth

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 20 Scene 2: TO CAPE VIKOD Overview The Breyta struggles further north and the PCs find themselves less welcome than they were.

GM Aims  To help the PCs understand that they are entirely reliant on the crew and that the crew is becoming nervous of their presence;

 To develop the trust and friendship of the PCs with Vigdis and any other NPC, and use her to advise against any pre-emptive action against the crew.

PC Outcomes The PCs should feel sufficiently worried about their reputation with the crew to offer to help during this difficult leg of the journey but in doing so make themselves even less welcome! It is important they don‟t do anything rash.

Rounding Cape Vikod

Description of Events Day 5: Awaited dawn to take leave of Valhakar Bjari and it was hard work beating into the north west. These waters are never easy! Some Kubora spotted towards the larger Tirsa Island where Bjari told us they have a village. AND … The GM may want the Tiraen Kubora that are sighted to get closer before they are spotted or have them arrive at dusk in a raid. They will not stand and fight but simply grab anything not tied down on the deck and makeoff over the side. This can be a good time to releive the PCs of anything the GM would prefer they didn‟t have. Day 6: Beset by gales from NW and SW. Some flooding and damage to rigging. Day 7: Gales continue to hamper progress – worse than usual at this time of year. Flooding has soaked many of the crew chests so spirits are low which is not helped by having to bail through the night! Turned North towards the Vikod Strait this afternoon.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

AND … This is a poor sequence of weather and might result in the crew looking suspiciously at the PC „Jonahs‟. This, in turn, might drive the PCs and any NPC they have brought along closer together and present opportunities for them to get to know one another better. If the PCs offer to help with the bailing then ensure AGILITY tests give them the chance to make fools of themsleves or get in the way of the crew, hence reinforcing any developing resentment. Day 8: Gales continue but now out of the North bringing freezing hail. Flooding made worse when passeners „help‟ – damn their eyes. Crew still waterlogged as a result. Crew spirits raised when passengers flooded out too! Are these people bad luck or is it the reason for the voyage which is angering the seas? AND … It might provide additional tension if a PC were able to read Runic and got brief access to the Captain‟s log, but „stealing‟ a captain‟s log might be stupid! Instead, Vigdis can bring word of what she heard Grim saying to another member of the crew. She could express concern as she‟s new to the crew too and fears they may also see her as a bad omen. From this point onwards Vigdis will

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 21 regularly share a meal with the PCs rather then with the crew and might show some amorous interest in one of them.

SCENE 3: LANDFALL!

Day 9: Beating into the teeth of this Northerly gale again – but this one cost us Tordi – lost overboard before anyone could reach him. He‟s been my second for 3 years. Damned bad luck for a Summer voyage. This and failing to sight the „Southern Guardian‟, the island that marks the southern entry to the strait today when my rutter says we should have. Are these people bringing a curse on us?

The Breyta finds fairer weather as she makes her way along the north coast of Peran to Kadag Strait and from there to her first landfall among the Afarezirs.

AND … Vigdis can bring daily updates of what Grim is saying to the crew under the pretense of bringing the PCs their food. Day 10: Fog! Reduced sail and crept north for fear of running onto the rocky Minrath Islands but then the visibility increased. Land sighted to our NE. Looks like an island but will be careful – the Peran coast is treacherous here. At dusk confirmed it‟s the „Northern Guardian‟! We must have passed the southern one in the night or in the fog. Perhaps there is some good luck to be had on this voyage.

The PCs may get their first experience of an encounter with Kubora from the north.

AND … The fog can provide good atmospheric conditions for role-playing, particulalrly if the PCs have come to believe they are unwelcome guests aboard the Breyta. Either huddled under the awning at the stern or straining for any sight of land in the bows a PC might mistake a crewman‟s clumsiness for an effort to either knock them unconscious or tip them overboard.

Overview

GM Aims

 To reduce any tensions between crew and passengers.

PC Outcomes Description of Events Day 11: What a day! Perhaps Tordi has reached Sarajin‟s table and begged his help for us. Wind came around behind us as we rounded the cape and then it followed us down the coast towards the Nej. The breeze from the South is hot and heavy with the smell of that damn forest. The Kubora came out at dusk so we pressed NE rather than risk them coming aboard in the night. AND … Finding a pretext for a landfall on the Peran mainland would give the PCs a chance to confront the Neji Kubora. This may demonstrate that the crew hold no lasting ill-feeling towards the PCS when one of them intercedes to stop a Neji attacking a PC from behind. Alternatively, or additionally, a skirmish while the Breyta takes on fresh water allows a PC to save one of the crew. If any PC ostentatiously prayed for Tordi then some of the thanks for Sarajin‟s intervention will rub off on the PCs. Day 12: Made up for yesterday with a hard won day‟s passage north into headwinds but then sea fret led us astray and we grounded on a shoal. It‟s the southernmost Afarezir and the damage was minor. More embarassed than harmed. Tordi took revenge on the passengers by having one of them take a fall! He never liked them. Waited out the fogs while we did some repairs. Concerned we‟ve emptied the lockers of new rigging and some hull bracers. The islands had best be kind to us and the return trip easier than coming North. AND … it must be Aslin who takes the fall which badly strains his left knee. This will make him even more of a liability and will mean the PCs have to make more use of Vigdis‟ offer to carry him when ashore. Day 13: Almost no wind and what there is blowing into our teeth out of the North. Day 14: Perhaps Sarajin didn‟t want us to beach on the 13th day of the voyage! Akova hove out of the dawn exactly where she was supposed to be and we beached in a cove I know on the SE tip of the island. We‟re far enough away from their usual camping ground, a league or two up the East coast, but they‟ll know we‟re here within a few hours. AND … the PCs can prepare for their first encounter with the Nolgind Kubora.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 22

Landfall among the Afarezirs

ACT III: AMONG THE ISLANDS Overview

The captain has been paid well to deliver the PCs safely to the Afarezirs. His instructions are that when they arrive his actions are to be guided by them and he will comply so long as it does not put his ship or crew in danger. Grim will suggest a route through the islands which will make best use of wind and currents at this time of year. The PCs can ignore this advice but he will stress that it is his preferred route. It will also enable him to undertake some sealing when the PCs are ashore, and trade with some of the Nolgind clans as well. While he has been paid enough to break even on the expedition he is keen to increase that profit through some free enterprise. While Scenes 1 to 6 could be played in any order there is a logic in playing them as written. Scenes 7 and 8 (set on Aldrie and Qulf islands) may not be played at all as the PCs are likely to find out enough in the first 6 Scenes, plus their visit to Sholo, to see Hafeg island as their target. Scenes 9 and 10 (Sholo and Hafeg) must be played in sequence to ensure there is a smooth transition to the final Act. Whatever the order in which Scenes 1 – 6 are played the PCs will get a chance to hear parts of the folktale told among the Nolgind Kubora about the „Beast of Blood‟. This should be communicated to the PCs in bite sized pieces with increasing amounts of detail as they visit more of the Nolgind clans. The PCs must have heard all the instalments by the time they get to Sholo (Scene 7). Even if they visit the islands in a different order the GM must deliver the tale in the sequence described. Equally, if their actions mean they don‟t hear a particular instalment then it can be added to the front of the next instalment. If all else fails then Wenowina can tell it all when they meet her. The other mystery the PCs will get hints of, but probably cannot make sense of until they have completed the adventure, is that of Pella (see Act IV). They will get hints about her fate at various points from visions and seers.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

Time and Travel The GM can use the Pilot‟s Almanac to plot travel between islands or assume that it takes a watch to navigate into any two open sea or coastal hexes among the islands. This may be a little slow but can be explained as due to treacherous currents, tides, and finding the best anchorage. Equally the GM can track and record the time for each encounter with the Nolgind or assume that, generally, a watch is sufficient to enable contact to be made and a further watch for reactions to be judged and any trade of goods or information completed. Where scenes involve travel across an island a reasonable assumption is that it takes 2 watches to cover a hex of the rough, broken, terrain that makes up most of the islands. If the PCs work their way through the Islands in the order written and are not unduly delayed then they will be back at the tip of Akova, ready to sail home to Golotha between 15 and 20 days after they arrived. The return voyage can be played in detail if the players and GM wish, or they can assume that 14 days later they will dock at Northaven wharf in Golotha. They will have been away for about 45 – 50 days, much less than two months.

Scene Structure Some encounters with the Kubora of the islands will be neutral/friendly, others will be more hostile. However, even in a hostile encounter tribesmen, other than the Hafen, will withdraw after a single warrior is wounded. They cannot afford a full-blown battle unless the stakes are very high. They do not have a large enough population to risk the death of even a few warriors. Attacks will, therefore, tend to be hit and run, from ambush.

What Captain Olmoding Knows … Grim Olmoding has spent 5 seasons among the Afarezirs and has built up some understanding of the islands and their inhabitants. It is best if the PCs are not simply given sight of Afarezirs. The GM should use that ar-

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 23 ticle to interpret the geography and the knowledge Captain Olmoding has built up. Specific information from the captain is included in each Scene as a guide as well as the map he has drawn of each island. Those maps show places he has encountered the Nolgind as well as safe anchorages he has found.

The Nolgind Kubora are fine sailors using hide covered boats to fish from, and even to take whales. However they rarely hunt outside the Sea of Tirpal, south of the archipelago. For this reason Grim will always prefer to anchor off the North or East coast of an island so the chance of an encounter with the tribes at sea is lessened.

The Breyta will usually be spotted by the Nolgind long before any ship‟s boat lands. However they will only observe from the forest edge as people and goods disembark. From this point forward, while tribal organization is insufficient to manage continuous surveillance, anyone ashore should expect to be observed most of the time. Word will spread quickly across an island, and often between islands, of the Breyta and the activities of her crew and passengers. Grim‟s advice is to act with care towards the clans lest later encounters are coloured by early errors. The attitude of the Nolgind is never consistent but, generally speaking, the further north the island, the less contact they have with outsiders and the less predictable they are. Anyone going ashore should bear that in mind. It usually takes a clan no more than a watch (3 hours) to assemble its warband – sometimes much less.

Finally Grim Olmoding has certain rules to ensure his ship and crew stay safe:  He will never beach the Breyta. Anyone going ashore will go in one of the ship‟s small whale boats while he keeps the knaar anchored in shallow water close to shore;  He is prepared for the PCs to spend the night ashore but none of his crew will be allowed to. The only exception is Vigdis as she has volunteered to help the injured Aslin.  Whenever the PCs are away from the ship he will take the opportunity to find a seal colony, kill as many of the creatures as possible quickly and then get back to the boat within an hour or so to reduce the risk of the Nolgind attacking them. This is why, whenever the PCs ask to go ashore, Grim deposits them within easy distance of a promising seal colony.

The Afarezirs at Dawn

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 24 SCENE 1: AKOVA GM Aims

 Help the PCs see that the Nolgind Kubora can be approached if there is mutual benefit. In this case trade is a means of opening relations with clan Akoven.

PC Outcomes Get some feel for how to trade for information with the clans of the Nolgind Kubora.

Attitude of clan Akoven to visitors The Akoven have more metalware than their neighbours and Druhn Dirnet castes covetous eyes on the metal weapons his visitors carry. He wants to be the first Druhn to wield a sword but knows that trying to take weapons by force would put further visits at risk. Clan Akoven benefits from the trade and they will never be the first to move from trade to violence. The clan‟s strength is shown below: Clan Akoven H/h: 14

Description of Events What Captain Olmoding knows … Whenever he passes through the islands he makes sure he stops off at Akova as the tribesmen are always keen to trade for metal goods or trinkets. He can also get a feel for the temper of nearby clans from the Akoven. There was a clanhouse not far from a deep inlet where the Breyta can sit safely while he takes the PCs ashore.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

Prime 17

Warband Youths 6

Old 6

Specific Encounter Olmoding explains the common practice of the Nolgind in trade. If a visitor wishes to trade then he will set up a small camp on the beach just after dawn and lay out some trade goods 50 paces away. If the local clan accepts the offer to trade then they will arrive to inspect the offered goods, leaving what they believe would be a fair exchange, usually some seal skins. Then they sit and wait 20-30 paces away while the traders approach and examine the offered exchanges. It is considered bad manners to have more people on the beach than the Nolgind have brought. There is a risk in this as the tribe can more easily secrete additional warriors nearby than can the traders but the advantages of metal weapons and armour are not lost on either side. The Nolgind will rarely try to influence the trade by threatening the traders with the arrival of more warriors. If the Nolgind attack it will be without warning from ambush. Finally captain Olmoding explains that the PCs should avoid going ashore in a group of 11, a number the Nolgind consider unlucky, the way Lythians view 13. If the visitor believes the Nolgind offer isn‟t enough he removes some of the trade goods before backing away 2030 paces and sitting while the clan examines the new deal. This might lead the Nolgind to pick up all their offered skins and leave in disgust; or add more in the expectation the trader would return some goods to the offer. The object is to narrow the gap between what both sides want and are prepared to offer. The Nolgind signal increasing satisfaction with the deal by waiting closer to the goods; closing the distance each time until, at the point of final agreement the two parties are sitting opposite one another across the goods being exchanged. Hunting, available from Columbia Games, includes game mechanics for valuing various native and civilised goods in such an exchange. When both parties are satisfied the Nolgind will share some local gossip with Olmoding and the PCs. This includes advice on the recent weather and tides and what Captain Olmoding will later confide is an almost traditional warning to visitors to avoid Movel island lest they meet the same fate as those Orbaalese settlers who have disap-

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 25 peared over the years. He isn‟t certain but thinks the Akoven issue this warning simply to discourage trade with their larger neighbours, the Moven Nolgind.

SCENE 2: MEREM

Every Nolgind Grim has ever met craved new stories to embellish through their long bleak winter and will trade those just as willingly as seal skins. They only tell small parts of any story in the hope the visitor will return some other time for more. Information available … Olmoding is happy to help the PCs ask questions: If the PCs ask about a plant like Sethimyael, but red coloured … they will discover that Olmoding‟s facility with the Old Jarineses dialect of the Nolgind combined with their understanding of „Trade Ivinian‟ is enough to allow reasonable, but not sophisticated, communication. If the PCs have a native Kuboran travelling with them then the communication can go more smoothly but the Nolgind dialect is difficult even for other Kubora so polysyllabic words and complex concepts should be avoided. Without Olmoding, or someone with similar skill, in Jarinese the GM can limit the PCs to the use of single syllable common words without the benefit of connecting grammar. Hence „we are looking for a red plant with hallucinogenic properties‟ would become „us – look – red - plant – head – sway‟. Usually PCs will get the hang of this limitation without having to play out every sentence unless that is to the group‟s taste.

The gentle western shores of Merem

GM Aims  Making sure that if the PCs misbehaved among the Akoven the Meren know about it and are more suspicious that they might otherwise be.

PC Outcomes Learn a little more of the Beast of Blood.

The Nolgind taboo around the colour red will become apparent if the plant in described. The Nolgind do not have a word for that colour, using the same word as for „blood‟ – gwaed. If the PCs gesture to something of theirs that is red then the Nolgind will say that it is insulting to discuss blood with friends. They will explain the Nolgind distaste for „gwaed‟ by referring to the Beast of Blood, the Usgrubel Gwaed. This will provide the PCs with their first example of storytrading. As long as they have the seed of a story to tell the Nolgind will offer snippets of their folk epic. The GM can use Oratory and the value enhancement rules to value the story

THE BEAST OF BLOOD PART 1: Long ago, a great sea beast visited the islands of the Afarezirs. Bigger than any creature the clans had seen on land or sea and coloured like blood it swept through the island bringing death and destruction in its wake. Since those times the clans of the Nolgind foreswore the „colour of blood‟ as the „Beast of Blood‟ had stained too much of the islands that colour. Since that time even the trees have taken on the colour of the Beast as a warning that winter is coming. Nature itself remembers the Usgrubel Gwaed Note: This last reference is to the change in leaf colour to the ruddy hues of Autumn each year and reflects how portentous the colour red has become to the Nolgind.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

Description of Events What Captain Olmoding knows … Clan Meren appear subservient to the Akoven so if things have gone well on Akova then they usually go well on Merem. The Meren are keen to trade with anyone. Attitude of clan Meren to visitors Their attitude will reflect events on Akova. If the trading went well there then the visitors will be welcomed on Merem. If the Akoven felt badly done by in trade then the

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 26 Meren will refuse outright to meet with the visitors lest they offend the Akoven. The clan‟s strength is shown below: Clan Meren H/h: 5

Warband Prime Youths Old 5 1 1 The PCs won‟t know that some of the the trade goods that clan Meren gain from any encounter will find their way to Akova as tribute to the senior clan. That is less of a loss than the food and fuel for the winter that would otherwise be demanded by the Akoven. Specific Encounter

SCENE 3: ARDIR GM Aims  Contrast the welcome received in the previous Scenes with the refusal to engage in any trade here;  Use what Captain Olmoding can tell them as a hook to explore the island and encounter the mysterious Whale Cult.

PC Outcomes Take the hook and explore the island where they are presented with a mystery.

A typical trade encounter should be played through so long as the Meren are friendly/neutral. Information available … The clan do know of the plant described – they call it Ymdeithir (which translates as „Traveller‟) and it is used by boys on the day they become men and in other Shaman and Crone rites. It helps them see their path through life. But „Ymdeithir is a deep, wholesome, green, not „bloody‟. In return for additional gifts a warrior of clan Meren will escort the visitors to where they can see Ymdeithir growing. There the PCs will find the normal variety of sethimyael growing densely across a sheltered, boggy, valley. Taking Aslin to the plant (or the plant to Aslin) will confirm that it is no different from the sethimyael found across Harn, though it appears to be much more common among the Afarezirs. During their encounter the Nolgind will take the opportunity to exchange stories, though they tell aspects of their tribal epic, „The Beast of Blood‟, with much greater reticence, so frightful is the tale.

THE BEAST OF BLOOD PART 2: The Beast of Blood was made of more than skin and flesh so that when it crawled out of the sea onto land it took on a new and fearsome form. It had many legs and a scaly shell from which sharp barbs protruded. Many a brave Nolgind hero died on those barbs as he tried to break through the creature‟s shell and strike at it vitals. The Beast moved from island to island: always Seaward and Dawnward. Note: The Nolgind have no use for the usual compass points. Instead North is „Seaward‟ (mor, toward the open sea); South is „Treeward‟ (coyd, towards the mainland); West is „Duskward‟ (gwith, toward the setting sun), and East is „Dawnward‟ (wawr, toward the rising sun).

Description of Events What Captain Olmoding knows … Clan Ardiren would not be high on Grim Olmoding‟s list of trading partners. There are some wild holy men on the smaller island to the south and the clan is very protective of them. The Ardiren assume that any visitor is a threat to them so they have never accepted his offers of trade. Attitude of clan Ardiren to visitors Clan Ardiren has a traditional distrust of strangers which, as Olmoding suggests, is based on their role as protectors of the Whale Cult. He will have no luck enticing the clan to trade. The clan‟s strength is shown below: Clan Ardiren H/h: 11

Prime 16

Warband Youths 3

Old 5+7*

* the 7 experienced whalers of the cult are only found at the cult‟ settlement on the Isle of Whales.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 27 The clan will make every effort to discourage the PCs from travelling south, stalking and trying to herd them back north in an effort to keep them away from the Whale Cult. They will shout insults and declare themselves „protectors of the Cult of Whales‟ – the Lanau Morfil. This should only serve to convince the PCs that the Whale Cult is even more worthy of investigation! However, they may decide to approach by sea rather than confronting the warband. Specific Encounter Approaching the island of the Whale Cult by sea the Breyta encounters a pod of 2-5 Killer Whales (described in Aquatics, available from Columbia Games) which will harasses her and any boats that try to land on Whale Isle. Olmoding has never seen such odd behaviour and this should further whet the PCs‟ appetite. The Cult itself offers no threats to visitors. Its members merely withdraw to the hidden complex of sea caves below their settlement until the visitors depart. Information available … If they get to Whale Isle then they will find the caves occupied by the Whale Cult to be deserted though the peat fires are warm suggesting they have not long departed. As the PCs leave the caves to return to the Breyta they see a single figure standing on a narrow headland staring out across the rocks to the sea beyond; studying the water

spouts caused by the waves crashing onto the rocks below. He ignores them is they approach him and even if they call to him. They must approach almost within touching distance before he turns and, in the Urdu dialect of Old Jarinese, says „The waters speak of you and your search for blood. Beware that which drowned in blood and coloured the land. She was a child when the land took her but now she is old and she is angry‟. If the PCs can‟t speak Old Jarinese then they will understand less of this and the old man is unable to speak any other language. He is Urnos Oarsman leader of the Cult and has never had any contact with outsiders. If it is clear the PCs do not understand him he will lead them to a patch of wet sand among the rocks and draw a picture of what could be a young child drowning in waves that look a lot like spiny vegetation of some kind. The PCs can also get a further instalment of the Tale of the Beast of Blood from Urnos if they are polite, ask the right questions and understand him. Urnos can do no more for the PCs and will return to the caves above the rocky shore. If they seek to do Urnos harm then he will accept his fate as the will of Grandfather Whale. As they depart they will see the rest of the Cult emerge to observe their departure.

Do the water spouts of Whale Isle tell the future?

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 28 THE BEAST OF BLOOD PART 3: Only Qulf, Aldrie and some of the other „Seamost and Dawnmost‟ islands were spared before the Beast went „Treewards‟ to attack the People Left Behind (the Urdu) of the mainland. Giving thanks that they were spared further slaughter the clans of the Nolgind barely survived the winter – so reduced were they. Then to their horror the Beast returned! This time a Nolgind Hero, „Whale Caller‟, went far out into the Sea and begged Grandfather Whale for his aid. At the Place of Winds, on Kand Island, an ancient Crone heard the voice of Kadag telling her to heed the warnings from the „Waters of Ardir‟. Within days word was spreading that the Elders of the Whale Cult had left their caves in search of higher ground. The clans of the Nolgind did likewise for only in the face of the direst of warnings would the Whale Cult abandon their home. When the Nolgind who had listened had found safety on the hills and crags of their islands Grandfather Whale rose out of his watery home and threw himself back into the depths. The wall of water he created swept towards the Beast of Blood and drove the creature on to a rocky shore and smashed it to pieces.

SCENE 4: KAND

Most approaches to Kand are guarded by merciless cliffs

GM Aims  To ensure the PCs go hunting for Mountain Ram guided by a Kuboran youth;  To present another clue involving the fate of a young child;  To offer a further hunting expedition to the shore in search of Mammoth Seal.

PC Outcomes Leave Kand with another intriguing reference of someone drowning in blood!

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 29 Description of Events What Captain Olmoding knows … The Kanden can be unpredictable. During the 719 season the captain took an arrow in the bicep before getting his men back to the boats! The year after things looked difficult until a Nolgind youth intervened and convinced the hunters to trade. The young man spoke decent Orbaalese and Grim even wondered if he could have been one of the lost colonists from Movel Island, though he had the look and scarring of a typical Kuboran.

Name: Coric Far-seer

Race/Sex: Human/Male

Occupation: Hunter

Born: 24 Nuzyael 703, Ulandus

Appearance: Aged 18, height 6‟1”, medium frame, weight 175 lbs/size 7, handsome appearance, medium complexion, brown hair, green eyes Str 15 Agl 17 Sml 08 Aur 17 Cml 16 Sta 15 Eye 15 Voi 12 Wil 12 End 15 Dex 15 Hrg 13 Int 14 Mor 12 Mov 17 Medical/Psyche: none Religion: Ritual (Kuboran Pantheon) 30, Piety 20 Skills: Animalcraft 26, AWARENESS 60, CLIMBING 68, Fletching 26, Folklore (Nolgind) 75, Foraging 60; Hidework 24, INTRIGUE 39, JUMPING 80, ORATORY 30, RHETORIC 48, SINGING 42, STEALTH 42, Survival 48, THROWING 56, Tracking 60 Languages: Old Jarinese (Nolgind) 74, Trade Ivinian 24 Scripts: none Combat Skills: INITIATIVE 66, DODGE 60, UNARMED 68, Bow 56, Dagger 52, Spear 60, Axe 28 Money/Valuables:.Nolgind clans hold most wealth in common so, apart from what he stands up in Coric has nothing that is not clan Kanden‟s. Armour/Weapons: Like most Nolgind his clothing is a patchwork of sealskin supplemented by furs or mountain ram fleece for warmth: sealskin shirt, breeches and shoes with a fur cape over his shoulders. Other Equipment: little more than what he stands up in. Load: 16.7 lbs Melee Wpns

Encumbrance Penalty: 0 B

E

P

Hand/Arm





68

68



2





Foot/Knee





68

83

-05

1





Foot/Knee





73

73

-05

2





Knife

1

11

57

52

-05

0

1

4

Hatchet

4

9

33

33

-10

3

4



Spear

4

11

80

70

-20

4



6

Short Bow

1

10

56

56



2





Missile Wpns

Wt WQ AML DML HM

AML

Short (0)

Med (-40)

Long (-60)

Ext (-80)

56

10/4

20/3

40/2

80/2

Shortbow

Coric Far-seer

The reason Olmoding perseveres with Kand is that it is home to several Mammoth Seal colonies. The pelts are valuable because of their size and they have blubber almost as good as some whales. He wants to render a carcass or two and will take the PCs to a deep inlet on the NE coast near the colonies. Mammoth seals are described in Seals, (available from Columbia Games). Grim will also say that the mutton he traded for here was exceptional but expensive. The clan said that the Mountain Rams of Kand are not only the most dangerous but the tastiest to be found among the islands. Fresh meat would be a welcome change from fish and seal!

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

Location

Armour Layers

AQ

B

E

P

F

Skull













Face













Neck













Shoulder

LF



6

4

3

5

Upper Arm

LF



6

4

3

5

Elbow

L



1

3

2

3

Forearm

L



1

3

2

3

Hand













Thorax

LF



6

4

3

5

Abdomen

L



1

3

2

3

Hip

LL



2

5

3

5

Groin

LL



2

5

3

5

Thigh

L



1

3

2

3

Knee

L



1

3

2

3

Calf













Foot

L



1

3

2

3

Invocations: none

Spells: none

Convocations: none

Psionics: Prescience 75

Notes:. Coric is the open and friendly young man who intervened to help Captain Olmoding when he last visited the island. There is pressure to make him the Kanden Hanuhn and beneath his affable exterior he thirsts for that opportunity. His Prescience is currently uncontrolled and subject to triggering.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 30 Attitude of clan Kanden to visitors A random d% will give a sense of Clan Kanden‟s initial view of any visitors. Higher scores indicating greater friendliness. Coric Far-seer will be recognised by Grim as the youth he has spoken about. Whatever the d% Coric will convince the other hunters to trade and illustrate his influence over them. The clan‟s strength is shown below: Clan Kanden H/h: 7

Prime 10

Warband Youths 3

Old 3

Specific Encounter The hunters will be unwilling to trade for the carcass of ram, but when the PCs ask about sethimyael Coric will offer to guide them to the peat bogs where it grows profusely. He has never seen one coloured as they describe, but he‟s happy to help them look. Coric will make the offer even more appealing by saying that the route he has in mind will take them across the high ground where the best rams graze; there they can kill one for themselves. All he asks is the head; the horns make for a fine trophy. Coric leads them up towards the spine of hills running up and down the island. In doing so he crosses a number of sheltered valleys where sethimyael is common, but none of it is red. When they have looked everywhere on their route where sethimyael could be found he turns his attention to finding them a ram for the pot. As they make for the higher ground Coric points out a ram on a low ridge ahead, well out of bow shot. The GM can use the Hunting rules available from Columbia Games to moderate efforts to approach close enough to fire at it.

The huge beast stands almost as tall as a man and gives every appearance of seeing the PC approach but distaining to recognise them as a threat. Then, when the first PC gets almost close enough to try a shot with bow, sling or javelin, the animal turns neatly on its heel and trots out of sight. Coric hurries them up to the ridge line to see the ram halted out of range, again. This continues over the next hour, each time the ram moves away towards the higher ground whenever a PC gets close to having a shot at it. However Coric reassures them that the final rise leads up onto the highest point of the island so they should have a clear shot with little cover for the ram. They might even give up all pretence of stealth and rush the beast! AFAREZIR MOUNTAIN RAM Str 17 Agl 17 Sml 19 Aur 03 End 17 Sta 15 Eye 16 Voi Wil 15 Mov 09 Dex Hrg 15 Int 01 Mor Combat Skills: INITIATIVE 80, DODGE 85, Headbutt 80, Horn/Gore 60, Trample 40 Melee Wpns Head butt Horns/Gore Trample

Wt WQ AML DML 85    60    



40

HM

B 6*

E

P





 3

 

 4*



 

AQ

B

E

P

F

      

6 5 5 5 5 5 5

5 4 4 4 4 4 4

2 1 1 1 1 1 1

3 3 3 3 3 3 3



*+1 per 6‟ up to 24‟that it charges

Strike

Location

01 – 22 23 – 27 28 – 47 48 – 62 63 – 72 73 – 87 88 – 00

Head Neck Fore Leg Chest Abdomen Hind Quarter Hind Leg

Notes: Male rams are highly territorial and particularly pugnacious during the mating season. The females, found in harems of up to 10 around the males, are almost as aggressive in defence of their young.

They emerge onto the bleak moorland, broken up by scattered boulders, they pause at the sight of dozens of grazing mountain rams. Their prize stands proudly at the centre of the flock perhaps 50 paces away. Whatever plan the PCs adopt to kill him, the rest of the flock will scatter. He, though, holds his ground and will fight if he must or, more likely, be brought down my missiles. Coric will be first to the carcass and immediately bleed the beast with a swift cut to its throat. At the moment the warm blood flows out over his hand and knife and pours onto the boulder beside it a gust of wind almost sweeps the PCs off their feet (STR x 3 to succeed in staying on their feet). Coric gets no such chance, he drops the knife clutches his head in his hands, and falls prone. His Prescience has been triggered.

A majestic ram awaits the PCs

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

In the few more moments that it takes for the pulsing blood of the ram to die away to a dribble Coric rises and says, awed: „I have heard the voice of Kadag‟. The PCs may already have heard of Kadag, and Coric will add that this is „The Place of Winds‟, a place sacred to Kadag.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 31 Information available … Coric explains that the Place of Winds is where the voice of Kadag, first Hanuhn of the Nolgind tribe, can still sometimes be heard. Though he passed to the hunting grounds of Kemlar many, many, generations ago he chooses this place to speak to his people. Coric has heard his voice, and it told him that the PCs „have come for one reason but have another task they should complete: they can free a child from torment, and free a people from enslavement.‟ The words came with a vision: „… of a young girl child, killed by love, but buried when she was not truly dead. Her rage brought a blood red curse to the land around her and that is the curse the visitors can put right. It is that curse that enslaves a people‟.

That is all he has seen and all he can tell them but the PCs could make a connection to what they may already have learned from the Whale Cult of Ardir. Coric can also relate another part of the Beast of Blood before leading them back to the coast.

THE BEAST OF BLOOD PART 4: When Grandfather Whale drove the Beast onto the rocks it low he apart into foul scurrying creatures. These „Children of the Beast‟ crawled away and hid among the rocks but were hunted down by the Nolgind until they were all killed. Their flesh, though, was so polluted the very rocks and sands of the island that its people were forever tainted by the foulness. Babies were stillborn and men ran mad. They began killing their own and anyone that strayed near the island. They seemed to be invincible.

The Place of Winds

SCENE 5: MOVEL GM Aims

 To give the PCs a flavour of an iconic canon location.  To frighten them with what may be present here or nearby.  To give them a clue that will mean something later. The Log of the Wind Pony article in Tomes and Scrolls and Afarezirs present some background information about this enigmatic site, while Movel Gamle Hem describes the colony site in detail.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

This encounter is not intended to close off GM creativity with respect to the lost colonies of Movel Island so GMs with clear ideas about what happened here should feel free to integrate their concepts into this encounter if it helps build tension, uncertainty or mystery. What is essential is that the PCs have the chance to find the ancient stone circle nearby.

PC Outcomes They will leave convinced of the enigma which is Movel Island and probably less than keen to return. They will, though, have another piece of the jigsaw they will need to make sense of the climax of the adventure. For the first

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 32 time references to a child drowning in blood are linked to the number 11, or its erasure.

Description of Events What Captain Olmoding knows … Most Orbaalese, and many Ivinians, know the stories of Movel Island. It is a place of ill omen and anyone who lost relatives among the colonies will feel little but enmity for the local Nolgind clan who are typically blamed for the disappearances. There is an unofficial boycott of trade with clan Moven among some captains; Grim is not so choosy. Attitude of clan Moven to visitors The clan is broadly Neutral. As the „senior‟ clan among the Nolgind Kubora the clan elders understand how im-

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

portant trade with outsiders is becoming and will not risk the dissent of other clans by seeking retribution for the attacks by Ivinians and Orbaalese since the colonies were lost. The clan bears surprisingly little ill will to visitors; they have their own explanations for what happened to the colonists and seem resigned to the occasional revenge attack by relatives of colonists who were lost. Any member of clan Moven encountered will simply warn visitors to leave before they meet the fate of all those strangers who visit Movel. They never trade themselves. Clan Moven H/h: 23

Prime 29

Warband Youths 7

Old 7

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 33 Specific Encounter The captain will insist that they visit the deserted colony site so that he can fulfil his promise to Bjari Hirsen. This is a chance for him to recount the history of the colonisation of the Afarezirs if that would add hooks for later, or atmosphere for now. The PCs and crew will find the deserted thran eerie; a flat silence seems to envelope it. Their discomfort is reinforced when a sudden squall forces the Breyta and her crew to stand off from the island until it blows itself out.

whether there is a ring of standing stones NW of the abandoned colony. When they explore then they will find a group of 11 standing stones in a valley running west to the sea (see Movel Gamle Hem). They are all carved with abstract patterns and symbols; the style is primitive and naïve. One of the stones has had the symbols and markings that were carved into it all but erased by crude chips being struck from its face.

Grim insists on sacrificing Bjari Hirsen‟s lamb, which is becoming panicked by the sheets of rain sweeping in off the ocean. It‟s a clumsy offering and the captain finishes it covered in blood spray and with gore up to his elbows. The only shelter from the increasingly violent storm is in one of the abandoned longhouses; Grim decrees the largest longhouse is the most appropriate place for „the celebration of the sacrifice‟. He supervises the building of a fire in the long unused pit at the heart of the hall and begins butchering, and roasting, the lamb. An offering to Sarajin should be accompanied by good cheer and Grim has brought several skins of ale and mead to ensure the atmosphere is conducive. However, by the time he‟s finished telling the tale of the lost colonies, and of „mad Stersi Gyersen‟, the hall seems more threatening than cheery. Information available … When the characters have eaten their fill of what turns out to be stringy under-cooked joints, and drunk what there is to drink, they will drift off into an uneasy sleep. The final evacuation of the colony stripped it of anything resembling bedding, and what was left has long since rotted, so they curl up around the dying fire wrapped in their cloaks. Roll against Mental Conflict for each PC to determine if any is receptive to a dream-sending from Crador the Blind, the mad god of the Kubora. If no PC dreams, then Grim Olmoding can receive the sending. MF/CF will present a vision of a group of rough hewn stones. There are 11 standing stones in a valley outlined against a backdrop of a stormy sea. As the PC watches one of the stones seems to crumble away into the sea leaving 10. Behind the PC is the colony's watchtower. They are propelled towards the stones and find themselves surrounded by a barren windswept peat bog coloured blood red. Above the wailing wind they hear a child crying plaintively either in fear or pain. When they wake at dawn and look outside, the stockade‟s watchtower is very reminiscent of the vision. Looking at the watchtower and its relationship to the sea allows them to work out approximately where, inland, the stone circle from their dreams might be; if it exists. Any dreamers have a deep urge to confirm, one way or another,

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

The Stones of Movel

Walking among the stones triggers a check against Mental Conflict; failure means the PC hears a child‟s crying carried on the wind from the North East. When the character leaves the stones, the crying stops. Setting out into the NE is a waste of time; they quickly find themselves overlooking the sea again, and spot the Breyta making its way back towards the colony. If they persevere and find any Moven the Nolgind will only advise them to leave warning them that outsiders have make the mistake before of following sounds sent to entice them. Note: The dream is intended to let them see 11 becoming 10, something that will be important later. It is also meant to guide them to the stone circle described in The Log of the Wind Pony and Movel Gamle Hem. They should be encouraged to connect the defaced 11th stone with the metaphor in the dream, when one stone crumbled away. Finally, the crying child which seems to be to the NE will later become a clear reference to Pella and her fate. Then a crewman arrives to say the Breyta is back and the tide is turning so they must hurry! The PCs will learn nothing more on Movel.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 34 Specific Encounter

SCENE 6: KIB

Hanuhn Memeran appears after a single round of combat – bellowing commands at the warriors who will quickly break from the fight and run, as much from him as from the PCs. If Druhn Tharthin is able he too will run but then turn and hurl insults at the PCs while Memeran calms the situation. Information available … Memeran will ask what he can do to make amends for the actions of his Druhn. If asked about Crimson Sethimyael he can tell them no more than any other Nolgind they have so far encountered. He does, though, know all the parts of the tale of the Beast of Blood and can be a helpful means to remind the PCs what they have heard elsewhere.

THE BEAST OF BLOOD PART 5: The final part of the tale makes suggestions about the fate of children among the Lost Clan: Some say: The Lost Ones raid the Nolgind clans and frequently take young children, whether to feast upon or to replace their numbers as their women are barren is debated. What is certain is that no child taken by them is ever seen again. Others tell that: The women of the Lost bear monstrous children, part Beast and part man, who live in caves beneath the sea where they seek to rebuild their Beastly ancestor and raise it again so it can continue its ravaging of the Nolgind.

Kib is difficult to approach

GM Aims  This is an opportunity for the PCs to face a physical challenge and hear the last part of The Beast of Blood. A PC Handout on Page 61 presents the entire story.

Still others tell that: the children of the Lost are eaten at birth and their numbers replaced by children stolen from other islands. All that is certain is that The Lost are friends of no sane man but a curse upon the garden of delights that the Afarezirs would otherwise be.

PC Outcomes See off a poorly planned attack and place the clan‟s Hanuhn in their debt.

Description of Events What Captain Olmoding knows … This is not the sort of place for a sealer to sit at anchor. The cliffs are high and precipitous and the bays narrow and clogged with reefs. The only place to land is where Grim has seen seal colonies near the North Sound. Attitude of clan Kiben to visitors The hot-headed Druhn, Tharthin, ambushes the PCs with 7 other warriors in their prime – to „prove his bravery‟. The attack should be so naïve that the PCs might even take pity on the poor fellow! Alternatively they may not! Clan Kiben H/h: 7

Prime 8

Warband Youths 1

Old 1

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 35 SCENE 7: SHOLO GM Aims

 To present an encounter with the Hafen Kubora that shows them in all their bestial savagery.  To offer a chance to win friends among clan Sholen.  To gain confirmation that the Hafen are users of Crimson Sethimyael.  To make a solid link between the Lost Clan, the Beast of Blood, and Hafen Island.  To prompt a visit to Hafeg Island in search of Crimson Sethimyael.

PC Outcomes Understand how the Tale of the Beast of Blood links to the Hafen, and set out to visit Hafeg Island despite the Hafen‟s depraved reputation and actions.

Description of Events What Captain Olmoding knows … The Sholen welcome trade as much as the Akoven but have more interesting things to sell including songs, stories and carved ivory. They carve the ivory tusks of mammoth seals with great skill and there is a market for the carvings

in Rethem and Kanday where mammoth seal tusks are rare and other forms of ivory unknown. He‟s heard that Rethemi traders have started to export prime examples to the eastern kingdoms. The thought of trading for songs and stories should encourage the PCs to want to visit. If they don‟t then Olmoding will want to trade for carvings. Attitude of clan Sholen to visitors There is a settlement NE of Kib that the natives call Sholengor and they are normally as open to trade as the captain suggests. Clan Sholen H/h: 14

Warband Prime Youths 19 4 However when the PCs visit …

Old 4

Specific Encounter When the Breyta‟s boat comes ashore at dawn near Sholengor there is no sign of any Nolgind. A detailed description of the settlement can be found in Clan Sholen. When they investigate the PCs will need Grim‟s help to spot the turfed longhouse of the clan. He‟s surprised there‟s no sign of anyone and that nobody approaches when he lands. They are usually very keen to trade.

The beach near Sholengor

When they approach a little closer they will see the body of an old warrior in front of the entrance to the longhouse. His skull has been crushed, his belly opened, and him left arm hacked off at the elbow. There is no sign of the severed limb. Physician shows there are signs that chunks of his liver have been torn away as if by teeth and the forearm has

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

been detached by a crude blade and an enormous twist to separate it at the elbow. Whatever did this is strong. Looking inside they find the clan‟s meagre possessions thrown around as if there has been a cursory search. Tracking reveals that the fire is still hot and that there are footprints leading to the far end of the communal living space and through a low arch into a smaller space. From

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 36 there tracks run out though an escape tunnel and towards the tree line. The tracks run inland towards a large stand of scrubby trees. About 200 paces from the village the PCs hear loud guttural calls and whistles coming from among the trees and the crying of children. When they approach a bestial scene is revealed; a squat nearly naked „creature‟ is casually chewing meat from a human forearm. Pausing to lick the blood from his fingers he makes guttural calls to another savage standing between him and a small group the Nolgind women and children. The second figure turns to respond to it. Equally naked he is capering, whistling and gesturing. Held tightly in the crook of his left arm is a Nolgind baby! This may explain why one of the clan‟s young women in kneeling at the front of the group weeping inconsolably. The other women seem strangely resigned and are standing back from the keening woman. The two savages are Hafen warriors who have come to the village in search of a child to take back to Hafeg Island. Having watched the village for a day and a night they saw the warriors depart to hunt and fell on the longhouse when it was most vulnerable. The dead man was the single old warrior left as a hearth guard, and killed as he tried to buy time for the women and children to escape. He lived long enough to scream a warning which sent the women and children running from the longhouse into the trees. The Hafen pursued until the villagers turned at bay here. To avoid further death the baby has been handed over. Anyone who has heard tales of the ferocity of Kuboran women in defence of their hearth will be surprised that the women and young girls don‟t just overwhelm the intruders and subdue them by sheer weight of numbers. It is their fear of the savage Hafen that keeps them rooted to the ground.

Information available… If the PCs intervene they will gain credit for their efforts. If they save the baby then that credit will be much higher. Either way the PCs will be told that the savage creatures were Hafen who live on a desolate island to the Northeast of Sholo. The PCs will also get the final piece of the jigsaw allowing them to make a link between the Beast of Blood and the Lost Clan: Over generations the Nolgind clans banished the „Lost Ones‟ from their islands lest their curse spread. Today the poor wicked creatures are a scourge upon the other clans, particularly those to the Sea and Dawnward end of the island chain. Clans Qulfen, Aldrien and Sholen have long suffered most from the depredations of the „Lost Clan of Hafeg Island‟. They believe that the blood of the beast made the clan warriors mad with lust, but lust for blood and violence, not lust for their women. As their capacity in war grew so did their depravity. Now, any other Nolgind is just meat to them. The Hafen are dangerous neighbours, intolerant of visitors and aggressive to all. They do not take part in the exchanges of wives common among the islands preferring to raid for women. Their greatest sin, though, is to steal children, something very rare among the Kubora. While all the clans see raiding as a necessary part of Kuboran culture the Hafen use it as the only means of interaction with their neighbours. It is considered bad luck to talk about the Hafen as saying their names too often brings them to your island. Note: This should solidify the link between the Lost Clan, the Beast of Blood and Hafen Island. It is to be hoped that the PCs will feel they now have enough evidence to set off for Hafen Island, perhaps on a rescue mission but certainly to find Crimson Sethimyael! If they do so, Scenes 8 & 9 can be ignored. If the PCs insist on completing their grand tour of the Afarezirs then Scenes 8 & 9 can be played as written.

Left to themselves the two Hafen will take the child, return to the village and joint the dead warrior for meat. Then they will head back across the open water to Hafeg. If the PCs disturb or attack them the Hafen priorities will be, in order, to:  escape to their curach hidden 400 paces up the coast.  carry the baby away.  complete jointing the warrior and carry the man-meat away. They will not hesitate to put the babe in harm‟s way of they think it will distract any pursuit. While the Hafen are fierce and largely impervious to pain and fatigue they are not stupid and will recognise a group of armed and armoured warriors as more than a match for the pair of them. Carved seal tusk showing a curach at sea

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 37 OPTIONAL SCENES 8 & 9: ALDRIE & QULF GM Aims

Specific Encounter A group of Umbathri (see the HarnMaster ruleset of choice) are harassing an old woman. Information available…

 If the scenes are played in the order written then these two scenes may not be needed. If necessary the GM can use them to fill in gaps that remain in the PCs knowledge by making the clans more friendly and communicative than they are likely to be in reality.

PC Outcomes There are no specific PC outcomes other than to have a last opportunity to put some pieces of the jigsaw together.

If the PCs drive off the Ivashi then the woman will be grateful and tell them the tale of the lost clan (see Scene 7, above). She will add the information that her father was once among a band of warriors that subdued and killed a Hafen and he said they found leaves „stained with blood‟ worn as a charm. This last hint is intended to give the PCs one last chance to be convinced that they will find crimson sethimyael on Hafeg Island. By the time they complete these scenes they should have heard all of the Tale of the Beast of Blood; have received some visions of a girl child „drowning‟ in a „red sea‟ (of sethimyael), and be pretty convinced that Hafeg Island is where they can collect the plant!

Description of Events What Captain Olmoding knows … Clans Aldrien and Qulf are bitter rivals and Grim Olmoding would prefer not to venture to either. If they trade with one the other is likely to attack them and if they trespass without trading both may attack them. Attitude of clan Aldrien & Qulfen to visitors If the PCs visit either then things will run as Grim predicted but not before the Specific Encounter on the first of the two visited. Clan Aldrien H/h: 9 Clan Qulfen H/h: 7

Prime 13 Prime 10

Warband Youths 2 Warband Youths 1

Old 4 Old 3

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 38 SCENE 10: HAFEG Overview

By the time this Scene is ready to be played the PCs should have sufficient circumstantial evidence to connect crimson sethimyael to the Hafen of Hafeg Island. However, it is possible that the PCs will decline to take the bait either because they conclude that crimson sethimyael in not anything a courtesan would be interested in, or they fear the Hafen. In the former case Grim Olmoding will remind them that they, and he, stand to be well paid for every crimson sethimyael plant they take back to Golotha. He couldn‟t care less if the plant does what a bunch of whore‟s claim. If they get it he gets paid his bonus! He‟s equally clear, though, that the Hafen are dangerous. However it will be possible to get ashore, find the plant, and get it back to the ship before the natives catch them. He will even be prepared to bolster the party with some of his own men if that stiffens PC resolve. If the PC resolutely refuse to take the bait then the next act can begin with the return of Wenowina, the Sholen Crone, to the „village‟ of Sholengor, and Act IV begins without a trip to Hafeg.

GM Aims

Attitude of clan Hafen to visitors Hafen warriors who are in their prime take regular doses of the crimson sethimyael extract and gain the advantages of a standard dose. Youths are not permitted

to take the extract prior to their manhood ceremony, and older men take it only at times of ceremony such as during shuntul. Appendix II includes details.

 Present an opportunity to search for crimson sethimyael on Hafeg Island.  Give every impression that the players are reaching the adventure‟s climax;  Help the PCs locate the perfect place to find the plant, find plenty of sethimyael but find that none of it is crimson!  Discover they have come to an obvious, but incorrect, conclusion, and risked their lives in the process.

PC Outcomes Find several places that crimson sethimyael should grow but find only the ordinary variety before having to flee for their lives.

Description of Events What Captain Olmoding knows … Grim has only landed on Hafeg once, when he first sailed among the islands. Above the beach where he landed was an animal skull mounted on a pole. A brief exploration showed that elsewhere it was human heads that were displayed. That was enough to send him on his way to Sholo! He has a map of the coastline and has marked where he believes the clan lives based only on smoke he has seen rising from the centre of the island.

The Hafen do not welcome visitors

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 39 By the time a youth begins taking the extract he is already brutalised by the life the Hafen lead. The extract simply gives him the physical capacity to express that brutality. By the time an old man stops taking the extract the frail shreds of his sanity will have been blown away on a tide of depravity leaving him a drooling savage. Women in their prime, and maidens after their first menstruation, take the extract regularly and gain its advantages – they also quickly stop menstruating. Older women also take it regularly. While the younger girls who are yet to menstruate are not subject to the effect of the extract they are routinely beaten and abused in a way that renders them devoid of the normal feelings of a child long before their bleeding starts. The tribe has a single response to any visitor: ATTACK! Clan Hafen H/h: 5 Men Women

Prime 19 15

Warband Youths 4 7

Old 4 8

Description of Events The attitude of the Hafen to the PC’s search Given that the PC‟s previous experience of the Hafen they are unlikely to consider trading for the plant. Instead they will have to strike out for the high heathland and fend off the Hafen if they encounter them. Searching for Crimson Sethimyael Wherever the PCs land they will find the coast marked with warding symbols – either human or animal skulls mounted on poles. The PCs will have learned enough about the habitat for sethimyael from their visits to the other islands to be confident they can find that terrain on Hafeg. The high boggy heathland valleys near the centre of the island are the ideal place to find sethimyael. Grim‟s map of the island lacks detail but it does show where the high ground is. This will enable the PCs to outline a route for their search. The PCs should be allowed to follow the high ground from one end of the island or the other. The GM should allow them plenty of time to find several large patches of green sethimyael, exactly where they would expect to find it, before they get close to the supposed site of the Hafen village. At some point the PCs are likely to pause and review the evidence that has brought them this far. As they contemplate their next move the Hafen will make it for them. The Hafen Hunt While the PCs have been searching the Hafen will have been gathering their strength while having scouts observe the intruders. The first sign of the Hafen that the PCs should see is a single warrior half a mile away, outlined against the skyline.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

If they fail to notice the risk, then the fact that he is howling like a dog should draw their attention and hint that they are in danger! When he disappears behind the ridge they will probably need no encouragement to make haste back the way they have come. The sound of howls and whistles will reach them on the wind and they will see what looks like the entire Hafen warband crest a ridge about 1 mile away. They are coming on at a steady jog so the PCs will have little time before they are upon them! THE HAFEN

Race/Sex: Human/Male or Female

Appearance: All the Hafen appear to be barely human savages. Though they are lightly built they as surprisingly strong and have exceptional stamina. Their hair is matted and their eyes wild. Str 12 Agl 11 Sta 12 Eye 10 Dex 11 Hrg 11 Medical/Psyche: insane

Sml Voi Int

13 10 06

Aur Wil Mor

06 13 01

Cml 08 End 12 Mov 11

Religion: Ritual (Larani) 22, Piety 16 Skills: AWARENESS 55, CLIMBING 60, Folklore (Hafen) 33, Foraging 55, JUMPING 60, Physician 24, Seamanship (Curach) 75, STEALTH 72, Survival 72, Swimming 42, THROWING 62, Tracking 60, Weatherlore 60 Languages: Old Jarinese (Nolgind) 40 Scripts: none Combat Skills: INITIATIVE 65, DODGE 60, UNARMED 80, Hatchet or Club 70, Buckler 90 Money/Valuables: nothing but the strength to fight the others for the next meal. Armour/Weapons: Sealskin vest, breech-clout and shoes; stone hatchet or club and skin buckler. Other Equipment: what they stand up in. Load: 22.2 lbs Melee Wpns Head butt

Encumbrance Penalty: 0 Wt WQ AML DML 80 80   



Hatchet

 3

 8

Club Buckler

4 3

8 13

Hand/Arm Foot/Knee

Location Skull Face (ears) Face (jaw) Neck Shoulder Upper Arm Elbow Forearm Hand Thorax Abdomen Hip Groin Thigh Knee Calf Foot

B 2

E

P

 

 

 5



80 85

95 85

 -05 -05

75

75

-10

4

85 95

75 105

-10



 4



4 1





AQ    

B    

E    

P    

F    

    

     0 0 0 0 0 0  0

     2 2 2 2 2 2  2

     1 1 1 1 1 1  1

     2 2 2 2 2 2  2

Armour Layers          L L L L L L  L

HM

       

1 2

Invocations: none

Spells: none

Convocations: none

Psionics: none

Notes: The Hafen are barely human savages bolstered by the effects of the elixir they brew from Gwaedeithir, crimson sethimyael.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 40 The GM can keep up the pressure by having the Hafen keep on jogging towards the PCs who will certainly be more encumbered and much more prone to fatigue.

ACT IV: THE LOST CLAN

If Aslin has been carried with them then they will certainly have some difficult choices to make. Even if they an all able-bodied then having the clan slowly gain on the tiring PCs should build a lot of tension. Ideally they should arrive at the beach gasping for breath to find the Breyta has disappeared. As they make what desperate defensive preparations they can she heaves into sight around a nearby headland.

The PCs return to Sholo to be told the true story of the Lost Clan. This leads them to a different island where they find not only Crimson Sethimyael but the reason it has such unusual properties.

Her boats are quickly in the water and heading into the beach in an effort to get the PCs off. There can be a desperate fight in the shallows between the PC rearguard and the quickest Hafen. If necessary Grim can come to their aid, forming a shield wall to protect the boats as they edge out through the surf, but more surprisingly, the PCs will be joined by some Nolgind warriors. With their help the PCs can scramble into either the Breyta‟s whale boats or the Sholen curachs. Wenowina, the Crone of clan Sholen, has brought her warriors to the PC‟s aid!

Link to the next scenes Back onboard the Breyta, perched on on of the crew‟s sea chests is Wenowina. She was away from the village on one of her periodic sojourns along the cliffs of Sholen and so knew nothing of the PCs until after they had left. She told the villagers only that she must save the people who had saved her people and demanded a boat and escort to follow them to Hafeg. When she meets the PCs, after they have been rescued from the Hafen, she will explain why she undertook this unprecedented action … when they are safely back on Sholo. If the PCs insist that they must return to Hafeg to find the plant they seek … Wenowina will threaten them with useless death at the hands of the Hafen. If that doesn’t get them back to Sholo … she will seek to convince them that if, after they have heard what she has to say on Sholo, they still wish to continue theiir serch of Hafeg, then she will lend them the aid of her Warriors to do so.

Overview

SCENE 1: RETURN TO SHOLO GM Aims

 To paint Wenowina as mysterious but not sinister;  To get the PCs to accompany her to Cynswyr Ariensyn;  To enable them to put together the jigsaw of information they have gained to make the correct conclusion;  To ensure they receive, and keep, the „Heart of the Beast‟, Meredath‟s Diary (Appendix I), but that they only have time to examine the easily readable pages.

PC Outcomes Having accompanied Wenowina to Cynswyr Ariensyn – „The Ancient Pledge‟ they will understand why 11 is a sign of bad luck among the Nolgind and why the tribe have sought to erase any significant representation of that number. They will also discover the truth of the Hafen and the Lost Tribe.

Description of Events Once back at the Sholen village Wenowina will insist that the PCs, and the Breyta‟s crew, join her and her people for a meal so that proper thanks can be given to Heneryne for the PC‟s intervention and then their rescue. Captain Olmoding will attend with Vigdis, the rest of the crew will be sent food but remain onboard the Breyta. There is drumming and poetry and story-telling into the night. Finally, when the PCs are ready either to threaten her for the explanation she promised, she insists they get a good night‟s sleep for they have a difficult journey to make in the morning. Before dawn Wenowina rouses the PCs and leads them along the „Crones Path‟ (see Cynswyr Ariensyn) towards the cliffs to the east of Sholengor. By dawn they have made the gradual climb up to the cliff tops and find themselves at a circle of standing stones. The stones are very weathered but the carvings on their surface are clearly of warriors. A detailed description of the site can be found in the Cynswyr Ariensyn article. Wenowina makes a fire among the stones and insists the PCs take their ease and share a meal which she prepares in front of them. Her broth is delicious despite having been made from nothing more than a handful of roots and leaves she carried with her or collected along the clifftops.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 41 If they are suspicious of the broth… no evidence that it is anything but wholesome will be found.

the 11 Warriors at Cynswr Ariensyn has been crudely defaced in an effort to obliterate it.

Name: Wenowina

Race/Sex: Human/Female

Occupation: Crone of Henryne

Born: long ago in Azura, Hirin

Sensitivity will give a PC the feeling that this is an old place and a powerful place.

Appearance: Very aged, height 5‟2”, light frame, weight 117 lbs/size 5, plain appearance, medium complexion, grey whispy hair, cloudy blue eyes Str 09 Agl 13 Sta 11 Eye 14 Dex 16 Hrg 13 Medical/Psyche: none

Sml Voi Int

05 06 15

Aur Wil Mor

17 15 11

Cml 06 End 11 Mov 13

Religion: Ritual (Kuboran Pantheon) 56, Piety 16 Skills: Animalcraft (Sea Mammals) 42, AWARENESS 52, CLIMBING 32, Cookery 67, Dancing (Tribal) 82, Folklore (Nolgind Kubora) 94, Folklore (Clan Sholen) 112, Foraging 66; INTRIGUE (Tribal) 73, JUMPING 35, Mental Conflict 74, ORATORY 67, Physician 60, RHETORIC 78, SINGING 44, STEALTH 38, Survival 43, Swimming 36, THROWING 40, Weatherlore 56 Languages: Old Jarinese (Nolgind dialect) 62, Harnic 32. Scripts: none Combat Skills: INITIATIVE 46, DODGE 50, UNARMED 42, Club 33 Money/Valuables: The Nolgind hold most of their wealth in common so she has very few personal possessions. Those she does have are charms against evil, tokens of Heneryne‟s favour, or small propos for her evocative story-telling. Armour/Weapons: She wears only a thick sealskin kilt during the Summer months, supplemented during Spring and Autumn seasons with a sealskin cape stitched so finely as to be absolutely waterproof. In Winter she wraps herself in a huge white bearskin passed on to her by her long dead father. Despite its age it was expertly cured and holds warmth like nothing any Nolgind has ever seen. Other Equipment: nothing but the stick she uses to aid her walking. Load: 7.4 lbs Melee Wpns Head butt

Encumbrance Penalty: 0 Wt WQ AML DML 42 42  

Hand/Arm Foot/Knee Stick Location Skull Face Neck





 1

 11

B 1

E

P

 

 

42 47

57 47

 -05 -05





48

38

-10

3





AQ            

B          2 2 2

E          1 1 1

P          2 2 2

F          1 1 1

   

2 2  

1 1  

2 2  

1 1  

Thorax Abdomen Hip Groin

Armour Layers          L L L

Thigh Knee Calf Foot

L L  

Shoulder Upper Arm Elbow Forearm Hand

HM

0 1

Invocations: all Heneryne‟s

Spells: none

Convocations: none

Psionics: none

Notes:.Wenowina is driven by a single motive – the protection of clan Sholen; for which she would happily give her life.

To anyone who received the dream-sending from Crador at Movel Gamle Hem the scene is reminiscent of the stone circle they dreamed of and of the Stones of Movel. There are the same 11 stones over-looking the sea that they dreamt of. Also like the stones on Movel, one of

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

Wenowina, the Crone of clan Sholen

If questioned about the standing stones… Wenowina will only say they are 11 heroes. She is quite precise: „they are‟, not „they represent‟, 11 heroes. If the PCs express surprise that there are an unlucky number of heroes … rememebring that 11 is an unlucky number for the Nolgind, she will smile enigmatically and say: You begin to see what you have seen. These were unlucky heroes indeed … at which point she tells The Tale of Falor the Tall (see Cynswyr Ariensyn). The same fate, to be turned to stone, awaits any Nolgind that visits the place Falar visited and returns into the Sun.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 42

The Warriors of Sholo at dawn

Only once since Falor and his warband descended into the underworld has a hero travelled to that sacred place. He went to undertake a great task and knew he could not return and live. He did not expect to return; and he did not return. The clans avoid spending time at this place. Sholen children are brought here to pay their respects to the heroes, but only from a distance. Once a year, at the winter solstice, Wenowina leaves offerings of food at the feet of the Warriors, asking that spring return quickly. Only at times of great importance does she spend time among the stones. This is such a time. If asked why one figure has been defaced… she will simply gesture to the cliff-edge and say that the answer to that question lies below … in the sacred underworld. When they have finished their broth (and she will insist they do finish it as it is important that folk go well fed to meet the ancients), Wenowina leads them to the cliff edge and gestures to weathered steps cut into the cliff face. It is clear she expects them to descend. Her final words are quite precise. She says: „The answer of the question you seek lies below, in the underworld. Go, look, but disturb nothing; everything must remain as it was left. You will only be able to return at all because you are not Nolgind but the longer you remain below the greater the chance that the ancients will believe you are Nolgind, and treat you as they would treat any Nolgind – to remain an eternal guardian to this place. Go – but be quick‟. Details of what they find are found in Cynswyr Ariensyn.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

Once they reach the lower terrace above the sea and find the passageway into the cliff face they will be able to pass in single file along it to the hemispherical chamber within. The chamber walls shows signs of the same skill in stone working that is hinted at in the complex of structures outside. The 11 niches cut into the walls of the chamber are, though, much cruder, appearing to be natural fissures in the chamber wall which have been crudely excavated to make them larger. In each of 10 of the niches stands a wooden figure in a very primitive style but surprisingly unaffected by the elements or the passage of time time. Their sheltered location has even preserved some of the colour with which they were once stained. The PCs should be encouraged to see the link with the figures mentioned in the Tale of Falor the Tall. The chamber is otherwise empty except for the ancient bones of a man; the remains of a stone Nolgind axe; and some fragments of wood lying near the bones. Each wooden figure, the largest of which is about 3 feet high, cunningly exploits the original shape of the driftwood from which they were carved:  One is from a short, thick piece of wood with a knot stained to resemble what might be a small shield (a hunter/warrior);  A pear shaped piece of wood gives the impression of an exaggeratedly pregnant woman (a fertile woman);  A branching shape gives the impression of two figures holding hands, placed in adjoining niches (a wife and husband);

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 43  A much smaller piece of wood resting on four short branches (a child crawling on all fours);  Another piece of wood, this time placed so that a small branch sprouts up and out, like an erection (a youth), directed towards …  An inverted Y shaped piece of wood with two knot holes where breast might be (a maiden);  The largest figure is an upright piece of wood the bark of which creates the impression of a figure wrapped in a large animal skin (a chieftain);  A similar figure, but slightly smaller, and with knots denoting breasts (his wife or other high status female);  A very twisted branch, bent almost double (perhaps resembling an old man or woman). EYE x 3/Awareness/Woodcraft: It seems certain that the pieces of wood around the skeleton were splintered with the stone axe. It is possible that before he hacked it apart the wood constituted an 11th figure as some of the fragments are stained just like the surviving figures. Physician: There are no signs of any violence on the bones of the skeleton though there is evidence that some of the smaller bones have been carried away but small mammals, and the larger bones have been gnawed by them. If the PCs are tempted to spend more time in the chamber … The GM should ensure that the PCs remember that Wenowina warned them that time was important. In fact how long they spend here will have no effect on them when they return to the cliff-top – but they can‟t be sure of that. If the PCs are tempted to remove any of the figures, or the skeleton … The GM should remind them that Wenowina warned them to leave everything as they found it. If, despite that warning, they remove anything then as long as Wenowina doesn‟t know they have taken anything she will treat them if they have followed her instructions. Woodcraft or appropriate mercantyler experience: The figures have no intrinsic value. They show none of the subtlety with which clan Sholen carve mammoth seal tusks. If they flaunt anything they have taken… Wenowina will look sadly at them but otherwise do as described below … for now. If the PCs followed her instructions and returned to the top of the cliff empty handed … she will wait until the last PC returns before leading them back to the standing stones. Once seated among the Warriors she will ask them what they have learned. If they describe what they found in the chamber below the cliffs accurately … she will tell them they already have the answer to a question they have been asking. She will go on to probe their understanding of what they have seen:

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

 11 niches but only 10 figures;  11 standing stones but only 10 left un-defaced both here and on Movel;  The unlucky nature of 11 among the Nolgind. Then she leads them to the cliff-edge and gestures out over the sea and demands they tell her where they have visited. She will count off each island they mention on her fingers, adding those they have not visited, until she has reached 10. Then she returns to the circle and points to each hero in turn naming each in turn: Akoven, Meren, Ardiren, Kanden, Moven, Kiben, Aldrien, Qulfen, Sholen, and even Hafen, for in their day the Hafen were among the greatest of the Nolgind clans. Then she points at the 11th hero and looks questioningly at the PCs. If they don‟t make the connection she will say – there is an 11th island as there was once an 11th clan among the Nolgind: The island was called Peroc and it was the home of clan Peren, and this in their tale...

The Tale of Clan Peren (see Gwaed Island) Peroc was a land of milk and honey: small but sheltered; with good fishing and excellent sealing. Then the Beast of Blood crashed onto its shore, carried by the wave of Grandfather Whale‟s making. Since then, if it is spoken of at all, Peroc is called Gwaed (Blood) Island. Its history is lost to all but the Crones of each clan but the PCs need to hear its story. If they tell this tale to any living soul, though, Heneryne will send her harpies to pluck out their eyes, tear out their tongues, and sever their genitals from their loins. (It is left to the GM to moderate Heneryene‟s „Vengeful Harpy‟ aspect, using Kubora 14 for inspiration, if it becomes necessary). The tale told of the Beast of Blood is true as far as it goes. Its journey through the islands, its return, and its destruction; all are true. As is the pollution of one of the clans; it is simply that the PCs, like most Nolgind, assume that the clan polluted by the Beast‟s blood were the Hafen. In fact the Beast was driven not onto Hafeg but onto Peroc. It was clan Peren which hunted down the „Spawn of the Beast‟. When the killing was done they found a single prisoner; a Nolgind girl child who must have been swallowed whole by the creature. She had survived within the belly of the Beast only to be murdered by one of the Spawn that had carried her off into the hills. Her body was still warm when they found her so they knew the murderer must be near at hand. Setting off to find the creature that had sucked the life out of her they found it trapped in one of the treacherous bogs nearby. They taunted it for his evil but it unnerved them for it continued to mutter beneath its breathe and to gesticulate wildly even though it seemed in a trance. The air itself seemed to

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 44 crackle with the creature‟s evil. Fearing it would die too easily in the mire they dragged it from the bog and tortured it until dawn when its death denied them further sport.

the underworld by Falor the Tall. That brave Hafen warrior descended into the dark of earth knowing he could never return.

During the torture they had split the creature‟s carapace and found a strange object where its heart should have been. They left the creature‟s remains for the beasts of the island but took the „Heart of the Beast‟ as a trophy. They buried the child in the peat among the Ymdeithir that would open the way for her journey to the spirit world where Heneryne, the fruitful mother, would welcome her as she welcomes all lost children. The place was called Rhosgenethig, or „Little Girl‟s Heath‟. Songs were sung of the Peren in those distant days. Songs of their bravery in destroying the Spawn of the Beast and the kindness they showed to the single innocent victim they had discovered. But over the years the Peren changed. It was an if the Blood of the Breast began to run in their veins. They became poor neighbours, killing in raids not just stealing women. They took, instead of trading. When opposed they killed out of pleasure, not necessity. They brought shame to the Nolgind Kubora. Even greater shame, though, attached to the other clans, for they refused to join together and attack the Peren. They feared that they would be tainted by whatever had afflicted the clan. Only one clan chose to confront the Peren. They were the noblest of the Nolgind. They had travelled furthest in search of their island home. They had endured greater tribulations in that journey but that had only made them stronger just as Kemlar had predicted. They were clan Hafen and they were the embodiment of all that was best among the Nolgind. It was the Hafen who brought axe and arrow to the Peren. They it was that hunted down every man, woman and child of that cursed clan and, when they would not change their ways, killed them. Killed them all. It was the Hafen who found the Heart of the Beast among the possessions of a Peren shaman. It was one of the Hafen heroes who brought the Heart of the Beast to the Crone of the Sholen and asked her to place it where it could never do harm again – protected by the Warriors of Sholo at Cynswyr Ariensyn. In return for this honour the Hafen demanded the right to deface the Warrior that represented the Peren and to send warriors to any islands in search of anything that might represent the 11th clan. He also claimed the right to descend into the „dark of earth‟ to find and destroy all sign of clan Peren placed in

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

The pursuit of the Peren by the heroes of clan Hafen

The 11 clans became 10 and symbols of 11 were changed to become 10. Over the years 11 became a number not spoken of and blamed for bad luck if it was. It was the symbol of the good Peren that had turned to evil. Would that the story ended there with a noble conquest by the mighty Hafen over an evil foe. Sadly it did not end there. The Hafen claimed Peroc island for themselves by right of conquest. It was a long way from Hafeg, though, so they never settled there. They did, though, exercise their hunting rights on and around the island and it was that which was their downfall. It was the same doom that overtook the Peren. It was Gwaedeithir – the plant the Crones call the „Path of Blood‟. The Crones believe that in hunting on Gwaed Island, and collecting Gwaedeithir to fuel their ceremonies, the Hafen became as polluted as the Peren before them. The Blood of the Beast runs through the plant and when the Hafen used it as the Nolgind have always used Ymdeithir they were seduced by the Beast.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 45 It began as it had begun with the Peren: bad tempered trading; then killing raids; but it became much worse. The women began to fight like warriors and gave up Heneryne; they ate their children or sent them to the Beast below the sea. Instead of bearing and raising children they began stealing them. So it has gone on for generation upon generation. The Hafen have become the Spawn of the Beast and the Nolgind live in fear of them. No clan dares to confront them lest the curse pass to them as it passed from the Peren to their conquerors. That is why the clans do not speak of Peroc Island or clan Peren – they are a shameful secret and they brought down the wrath of the Beast onto the Heroes of the Nolgind – the Hafen. That is why the Peren are a lost memory to all but the Crones who are charged with recollecting the lessons of the past. Now though, strangers have come asking of a blood red plant; asking of the Beast‟s Blood. Wenowina has decided that with the Heart of the Beast in their hands the strangers may finally purge the Beast from the islands. They were brave enough to seek it even on Hafeg Island. They are … the PCs! Wenowina has determined that they are Heneryne‟s servants and they have come to put an end to the Beast‟s curse once and for all. What no Nolgind can do for fear of being polluted by the Blood of the Beast these outsiders can do. That is why she has told them of clan Peren. She expects them to travel to Gwaed Island and rid it of its curse. Whether the PCs decide that it is their mission to lift the curse or not is irrelevant. What matters is that they have a firm lead to a plant that is blood red in colour, and it‟s not even guarded by the Hafen! That should get them to Gwaed Island. If they ask Weonowina where they can find the Heart … Wenowina will carefully pace out some distances from two of the standing stones then gesture to the spot at her feet and say, „Dig‟. Using their weapons and hands the PCs must excavate a pit almost four feet deep before they strike stone. Moving the soil aside they find a rough slab about a foot across. Once the slab is levered up a small cavity constructed from five similar stores is revealed and within it a bundle approximately 4” wide by 6” long and 2” deep, tightly wrapped in what looks like ancient oiled cloth. There is a look of awe on Wenowina‟s face an she declares: „Behold the Heart of the Beast, take it and use it to bring an end to the shame of the Nolgind‟. She will not touch it and will retire beyond the edge of the circle before the PCs handle it. She demands that it is kept away from any Nolgind lest they are infected by it.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

If the PCs returned any of the wooden figures to the top of the cliff … then while the PCs examine the „Heart of the Beast‟ Wenowina will quietly gather up the figures and carry them back to the chamber below. If pursued she will be found sitting beside the bones in the chamber with the figures around her. She will refuse to leave believing that she will be turned to stone if she climbs back to the cliff-top. She is equally convinced that the PCs will be turned to stone if they climb back up. Even if they claim to have returned to and from the cliff top without turning to stone, she will not believe them. She will sit there until she dies. If the PCs forcibly carry her to the top of the cliff … she will wander away, back to the village, take to her bed, sicken and die within weeks. She will never speak another word to anyone, her world view having been crushed beyond recovery. The PCs, though, can do what they will with the Heart, whether Wenowina survives or not.

The Heart of the Beast If a PC examines the ‘Heart’ without unwrapping it … they will learn nothing, though a PC with experience as a scholar, or perhaps a thief or suitably specialised mercantyler, will (INT x 3) be able to judge that the bundle is very old because of the discolouration and staining of the cloth. If a PC handles the ‘Heart’ … then DEX x 3 will allow them to judge that the bundle probably contains parchment or paper of some kind. If a PC unwraps the ‘Heart’ … then DEX x 4 or the sheets of parchment within will spill out. If they take particular care the DEX test is unnecessary. The sheets of parchment were once sandwiched between two boards covered in embroidered fabric. What that embroidery showed is long lost as the fabric is well rotted, as is the binding that once held the pages together. Despite the wrapping most of the pages appear to have been rendered unreadable over the centuries by damp seeping into the pages. If a PC tries to read any of the document … sections of it were almost certainly written using an archaic form of Lakise. The language is an early form of Harnic; reading is at a 10% penalty. Making sense of any fragments will require hours to be invested but an initial impression to anyone who has a background in scholarship, or contact with tomes or scrolls, will suggest it might be a dated set of written notes similar to those kept by journeymen in some guilds. If a PC, who can speak Harnic and read Lakise, spends a watch working on the bundle of pages … a page near the front of the document makes it clear that it is the diary of a Satia-Mavari called Meredath. In it he kept

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 46 records of his arcane study with a master of the Shek P‟var he does not name. Much of the rest of the diary is undecipherable or lapses into using scripts, languages or codes the PCs cannot understand. Many pages are stuck together and much, much more time, and perhaps the services of a specialist in the restoration of books, will be required to make them readable. However the last page of the diary is much more easily deciphered If a PC carefully examines that page… it becomes clear that Meredath, his master, their party and someone called Pella, who appears to be a young child, travelled downstream to the mouth of the Pemetta river from where they took ship „… with one of the priests who had accompanied us, for our voyage back to Coranan. Meredath speculates „… there my master will surely take the Grey, for his feats these last months have been remarkable. Perchance he will recommend me for preferment when his place in Chantry becomes available. He has suggested I might take on the child Pella as my first apprentice, convinced that if her teaching begins in childhood then she has enormous potential. I am sceptical, she seems nothing but a child to me, and a bad tempered one at that.‟ At this point the hand in which the diary is written changes: „Poor Meredath I could not save both he and Pella when the ship foundered. I will keep his diary as it is one of the few things that the storm has left me – though I am shocked at what my foolish satia-mavari has been recording in plain lan-

guage! The child cries for food and shelter. We will move inland and find somewhere to hide from the savages until they give up their hunt. I have salvaged a cloak and cuirass from one of the dead marines for warmth and protection.‟ These final diary entries show all the signs of being very hastily written and tell of the events following a shipwreck. One reads: „They are truly barbaric, these scarred savages. I watched as they tortured one of the surviving marines in some ritual. So far my Art keeps us hidden, but I tire.‟ Another confides: „Even I must sleep and last night the child woke screaming. Not even my Art could silence her or keep the noise away from our pursuers.‟ The final entry is even more hurried: „They have found us – she woke again. I cannot leave her to her fate among these primitives and yet cannot escape with her. I will use my powers to save her spirit and return to recover it when I have evaded them. Restored to a body she can still learn the art and be a great master. I have little enough with which to accomplish this but with luck and skill the vessel will hold her safe until I return‟. The last words written are „Look after the soul of the child if you find this and I fail in my effort to save her.‟

Link to the next scene The GM should help the PCs link visions and dreams they have experienced among the islands with the fate of Pella. This, plus the trust the Crone displayed should get them to Gwaed Island.

The cliffs north of Cynswr Ariensyn

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 47 SCENE 2: GWAED ISLAND

The pink tinged vegetation on the dunes of „Blood‟ Island

GM Aims

 To get the PCs safely to Peroc (Gwaed) Island;  To ensure they notice that even at the beach some of the dune plants have a pinkish tinge;  To ensure they notice the unusual behaviour of the animals on the island;  To lead them to the sheltered heath where great swathes of crimson sethimyael carpet the ground.

PC Outcomes They will find what they have been searching for but discover that harvesting it is a challenge.

Description of Events What captain Olmoding knows… He will circle the island and map it. He has never landed there. The sealing is poor and whales are rarely found close to shore. Crews that have camped here to render blubber to oil have reported vicious animal attacks. Wenowina told them that the Beast of Blood was killed on the rocky southern shore. That, combined with the account in the diary, will lead them to the south end of the island. There are several sheltered bays along the southeast coast were the Breyta could anchor and put a boat ashore. Foraging or Herblore: The beach where the Breyta‟s boat lands is fringed by dunes on which clumps of grass grow. The grasses have a very slight pink tinge to their foliage but otherwise seem to be common grasses. Looking inland shows all the vegetation to have a pink tinge, perhaps getting darker in the distance. It is as if the island is bathed in the red light of a setting sun, or in blood.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 48 The Animals of Gwaed The GM should roll on the standard Encounter Table (see Afarezirs) to generate animal encounters. Treat any human encounter as an encounter with a snake and replace any inland seal or similar encounter with a mountain ram. Any encounter demonstrates that the animals of Gwaed Island are significantly more belligerent than their equivalents elsewhere. It should be possible to demonstrate this aggressive behaviour without actual combat but that is left to the GM. The objective is to help the PCs connect the peculiar behaviour of the local fauna with the behaviour of the Hafen. This need not lead to actual combat unless the GM believes it will sharpen the PCs perception of the risk they are taking being here. No prize that is easily won has value, after all. Animals may just try to close with the PCs even if that would be an unnatural, or even suicidal, strategy. Even if no encounter is rolled the GM should ensure the PCs see a group of mountain rams aggressively butting and goring one another. Though Survival reveals this sort of behaviour is common between male herd animals during the mating season this behaviour is much more extreme.

Even more disturbing is that one ram continues to attack even when its opponent in driven to its knees. The attack continues until the downed animal in dead. Then the victor begins to tear at the dead animal‟s flesh! Such behaviour is entirely unnatural but caused by grazing on the pink stained vegetation. Searching for Crimson Sethimyael The high boggy heathland near the centre of Gwaed Island is ideal terrain for sethimyael to grow. If that doesn‟t lead the PCs in the right direction then the slight increase in the intensity of the pink stained leaves of other plants will help.

Link to the next scene Crimson Sethimyael cannot be mistaken for the ochre creeper found in marshy heaths across Harn. Therefore, when the PCs crest a low ridge near the centre of the island and are confronted with a sea of crimson there can be no mistake. They have found what they have been searching for. As they approach they discover the heath is surrounded on all sides by dangerous peat bogs. It was in these that Meredath‟s master died.

Crimson Sethimyael growing among the blood tinged bogs of Rhosgenethig with ruddy hills in the distance

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 49 SCENE 3: PELLA GM Aims

 To help the PCs connect the scene before them with the visions and dreams they have had described or experienced themselves.  To play Pella‟s spirit like an angry 5 year old.

PC Outcomes They may free Pella from her imprisonment, perhaps only by having to destroy the artefact which in stopping her completing her death journey.

Description of Events At the core of the mystery surrounding the existence of Crimson Sethimyael is the disembodied spirit of a five-year old child with sufficient arcane potential to attract the interest of a powerful mage. He confined her spirit in a vessel in the hope of preserving her life. The mage‟s dying spell caused the child‟s spirit to form an association with the local vegetation and her anger is the reason for the occurrence of the red tinged variety of sethimyael and its unique properties.

Pella’s Spirit … … is still five years old (INT 05) and will not increase in cognitive ability unless given the opportunity to grow up in a physical body. She is easily distracted (WIL 06), but responds to threats with her strongest emotion: rage. Her low morality score reflects her limited understanding of right and wrong. She has no physical skills or attacks but cannot be harmed by anything but psionic/magical attacks that might injure an ethereal. Pella‟s spirit has lost any clear sense of self-identity. During the centuries she has been buried here, Pella has forged a mental link with the only living things she has been able to reach: the sethimyael plants that dominate the peat around where Meredath‟s master buried the vessel holding her spirit. His last arcane effort rendered them susceptible to contact from Pella‟s soul. Through this link she is able to feel physical sensations (sunlight, breeze, rain, etc.) but Pella also feels a sensation akin to pain whenever a sethimyael plant is damaged, whether by foraging insects, wildlife or the effects of the year‟s first frost. Should the characters be able to see Pella in her ethereal form, she will appear to them as a small, screaming child with flaming red hair and piercing green eyes, ringed with red as if from endless crying. Other than her name, Pella has by now forgotten almost all the language she once knew, so that even if the characters establish contact, they will need to communicate in mental pictures or emotions. Pella will not want to be separated from the plants that provide her only stimulation and physical sensation. They are her only body.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

PELLA’S SPIRIT

Race/Sex: Human/Female Born: 30 Nolus, 459, Ahnu

Appearance: Aged 261with no physical characteristics but she was an attractive 5 year old child with a scant frame, fair complexion, red hair and green eyes. Str Agl Sml Aur 19 Cml Sta Eye Voi Wil 06 End Dex Hrg Int 05 Mor 05 Mov Medical/Psyche: while not truly insane, Pella displays many of the characteristics of the insane. She is irascible and has lost what little understanding of right or wrong she had when she was entombed. Religion: none Skills: Mental Conflict 60, Sensitivity 80, Telepathy 80, Telekinesis 80. Languages: Old Jarinese 15 (the language of a 5 year-old), Harnic 05 (she was taught some rudimentary Harnic of an ancient Corani dialect) Scripts: none Combat 1: Pella will first use Telepathy to frighten each character harvesting Sethimyael. She can only attack 1 character per round and can only attack each character once. She attacks randomly them with the following effects: Character WIL x 5 Pella’s Telepathy CF MF MS CS

CF

MF

MS

CS

Fear 1 Fear 2 Fear 3 Fear 4

Fatigue +1 Fear 1 Fear 2 Fear 3

Fatigue +2 Fatigue +1 Fear 1 Fear 2

Fatigue +3 Fatigue +2 Fatigue +1 Fear 1

Fatigue effects apply to Pella. Fear effects apply to the character cumulatively as described below: Fear 1: A clear sense of unease which makes the PC cautious and slows the rate at which they are collecting sethimyael. A PC will not initiate combat and cannot couterstrike if attacked; Fear 2: The PC experiences a sudden loss of all their senses for a single round (Pella is projecting her own sense of isolation). The victim is likely to look for something to blame (and hit) or retreat from what they were doing (collecting sethimyael). The PC will not initiate combat but will aggressively attack if attacked (only counterstrike as a defence). Fear 3: Pella sends a convincing sensation of being tortured with hot irons or being eaten alive. This is Pella‟s feeling of having sethimyael plants torn up. The PC will stop digging up plants and refuse to return to the work. Fear 4: The PC gets a convincing sensation of being torn limb from limb that will feel like a limb being amputated. Shock Roll (6d6 vs. END or unconscious for at least 1 minute). Then Shock Roll every minute (3d6 vs. END) to recover senses. Combat 2: If there are still any characters collecting sethimyael after she has tried to frighten them, then Pella will animate the „Sethimyael Golem‟, below.

If a PC harvests a single crimson sethimyael plant … Pella will perceive this as a threat. In response she sends out a continuous non-verbal telepathic scream. Characters with Sensitivity are very susceptible to this „attack‟. The Hafen shaman who travels to Gwaed every season to harvest Gwaedeithir, interprets these „screams‟ to mean the extract will be more potent. Non-sensitives will experience nothing. If this doesn’t frighten the PCs off … and they continue to collect the plants then Pella will begin to actively attack them using Telepathy vs. WILx5 (Combat 1, above). If that doesn’t work … she will resort to Combat 2 (above); Pella‟s rage will explode. Every frustration she has experienced during her imprisonment is vented in a physical attack against the PCs. Her rage and Telekinesis will

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 50 animate the Crimson Sethimyael plants with which she has developed a unique relationship. She makes her „body‟ move for the first time, creating the „Sethimyael Golem‟.

The Sethimyael Golem The players will first become aware as the plants become increasingly difficult to uproot and then the earth beneath them will quake and Pella‟s body, preserved in the peat will erupt in front of them, wrapped in a writhing mass of sethimyael and peat that begins to lash out at any character within range. Awareness will allow the PCs to notice a leather bag about the size of a large fist knotted into the animated vegetation. THE SETHIMYAEL GOLEM Appearance: a shambling mound of soil and vegetation from which barbed strands of sethimyael radiate to lacerate anyone within reach. The golem has no strike locations, it must be hacked apart to destroy it. Str 25 Agl 08 Sml Aur 19 End 19 Sta 19 Eye Voi Wil 06 Mov 08 Dex 05 Hrg Int 05 Mor 05 Combat Skills: INITIATIVE 55, DODGE 20, Grapple 70 (one target per round), Lacerate 50 (up to 3 targets per round within 5 feet). NB: the golem has no senses of its own – it is animated and acts on what Pella can sense in the environment around her. Melee Wpns Grapple Lacerate Strike 01 – 00

Wt WQ AML DML 







70 50

Location „Body‟

HM

B

E

P





10









 4

AQ

B 7

E 5

P 8

F 7*





* the peat is very damp! NB: The sap of the plant will splatter anyone making a successful Edge attack. It causes an itchy rash on exposed skin, and will temporarily blind a character if it gets into their eyes. The itch causes a -5% physical penalty.

Notes: Each point of impact damage reduces Grapple by 1% until it reaches zero when it will be impossible for Pella to maintain its coherence and the Golem will subside into a mound of peat, roots and leaves.

Character Mental Conflict Pella’s Mental Conflict CF MF MS CS

CF

MF

MS

CS

D +1 D +2 D +3 D +4

B +1 D +1 D +2 D +3

A +1 B +1 D +1 D +2

A +2 A +1 B +1 D +1

A1/2: Fatigue apples to Pella. B1: Fatigue apples to both Pella and the character. D1/2/3/4: Fatigue applies to the character. Pella has no idea what effect her attack might have, it is an instinctive response to danger. If the PC loses the conflict … Pella will possess their body for 2d6 hours before the character can attempt to dislodge her back into the vessel. Attempts to dislodge her will be at +10%. Meanwhile the PC will inhabit the pot, but with none of the links/sensation that have sustained Pella. It is left to the GM to determine if any phobias to dark enclosed spaces result. While in control of the PC body Pella will probably be in shock. She was 5 when she last had a body and has spent centuries disembodied! She will go where she is led. She will cry and scream constantly occasionally mumbling the only words she can remember in Nolgind Kuboran or a heavily accented classical Corani dialect of Harnic: „Help!‟. If Pella loses the conflict … She will sit quiescent inside the artefact for 2d6 hours but then attack anyone touching it again. If Pella remains in possession of the character’s body … Even if she does not retain possession of the character‟s body the PCs may provide a new body for her spirit to inhabit. The morality of the PCs may determine the source of such a body! However, Pella will never settle into her new existence and any host body will sicken and die within a matter of weeks as she simply loses the will to sustain it. When the body dies her spirit will suffer the same fate as any other soul at the point of death and begin her Death Journey.

Description of the Ceramic Vessel A pint-sized, unglazed clay vessel with some signs and symbols crudely scratched into its surface.

If the characters try to run away … they will find that the sethinmyael they are trying to run through twines its spiny runners around their legs. This halves their rate of progress. It also increases the effort, and fatigue, required to move at all. They will also remember the dangerous peat bogs that surrounded the Crimson Sethimyael. All the time the Golem is advancing towards them so their best hope may be to scatter and hope it pursues only one of them! If they destroy the golem … they will find that the mummified remains are those of a girl of 5 or so years. Her shock of red hair retains some of its colour.

Pella’s last resort The destruction of her golem will drive Pella into quiescence within the vessel that contains her soul. Anyone touching the pot, which is in the leather bag the PCs will find near the mummified remains, will be attacked by her Mental Conflict (see Combat 3, below), though by now she may be very fatigued.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

Pella‟s pot

The vessel is sealed with a sheet of leather secured by what looks like natural, but remarkably well preserved, twine. Thanks to the enchantments improvised at the time both pot and leather are stronger than they should be; they are both able to resist up to 20 points of damage.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 51 Shaking the pot suggests there is something soft inside it and that, whatever it is, it is not very dense. If it is smashed it will be found to contain a lock of honey-blond hair; some child-sized finger- and toe-nail clippings; and a small, soiled shift that would probably fit a child of 4 or 5 years. The Peren warriors happened to bury Pella near where the mage buried the pot. The mage hoped that Pella‟s spirit would remain asleep during the time it was bound within the vessel but sadly his assumption was wrong. The rushed nature of his spells an perhaps his fatigue meant that Pella‟s spirit woke shortly after he died and has remained self-aware and awake for 250 years, locked in a prison she can neither understand nor escape. The details of how the vessel was enchanted are left to the GM. The ad hoc nature of the effort to save Pella‟s soul, and the failure of the spells to operate entirely as planned should indicate that the spells used were improvised. If necessary the GM can define variations on some of the typical spells necessary to capture a soul into an object and then strengthen the object against the vicissitudes of time.

GM Information Using the few possessions he had left Meredath‟s master improvised a series of spells to create an artefact into which to seal Pella‟s sleeping soul until such time as he could return and save her. Having completed the spells he held the small girl as she died. Her sleeping spirit migrated into the vessel prepared for it and he buried it in a dense patch of Sethimyael. Then he fled for his life with Meredath‟s diary safely inside the hardened leather cuirass (the „carapace‟ described by Wenowina), he had salvaged from the wreck. He might have survived and returned to save Pella had he not stumbled into one of the mires that surround the heath. There he was found by the searching Peren hunters much as described in Wenowina‟s description. As a last effort to protect the girl‟s spirit he pushed what remained of his power out into the heathland begging that the heath protect the child. When the Peren pursuers came upon Pella‟s still warm body they were moved to pity and buried her where they found her. They commended her soul to Heneryne – not knowing there was no soul for the hearth mother to gather in; it was bound to the vessel only a foot away from her grave. Over the years they began to venerate the place they had found the tiny girl‟s body calling it Rhosgenethig (the Little Girl‟s Heath). That veneration led them to especially value the sethimyael found there for their ceremonies. As Pella began to influence the plants, so clan Peren began its descent into savagery. That descent has been carried into the present day by clan Hafen.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

EPILOGUE

If the PCs return to Wenowina … and describe what has happened then she will be convinced that they have laid the Curse of the Beast to rest. She will insist on a celebration and send news to the other clans. Given her reputation she will believed. Whether the perverted plants and animals of Gwaed Island return to normal depends on whether Pella has been removed; Appendix II includes some of the possibilities. Wenowina will not accept the return of the „Heart of the Beast‟, preferring that the PCs take it far from the islands. Captain Olmoding will wish to make good time back to Golotha. He will refit there for a trip into southern Harnic waters before Autumn strays into Winter so that he can go sealing as he makes his way around the south of Harn. Then he plans heading to mainland Lythia to sell skins and oil. The voyage South can be played in detail or abstracted. An uneventful voyage can allow the PCs can examine Meredath‟s diary (see Appendix I). There are a number of things that the PCs may want to do on their return to Golotha. If the PCs have the spirit of Pella with them … they may have to find somewhere to keep her (if she is still entombed within the vessel) or for her to live safely (if they have found a body for her). What happens then is beyond the scope of these adventures. Any plans they may have will be interrupted by the next adventure in the sequence, Golotha: The Deeper Dark. If they want advice on what to do with Pella … they should discover on their first day back in Golotha that the best advice is to be had in Coranan, as no one in Golotha has the necessary expertise. This is to ensure that they are not present in the city for a month before Golotha: The Deeper Dark is timed to start but return to the city on the 8th of the next month. If they have returned without much Crimson Sethimyael … they can still claim the remains of their fee for the journey from Nobar of Rushez. If they do have some Crimson Sethimyael … then delivering it to Nobar will get them the agreed bonus. If they need somewhere to stay in Golotha … the PCs know the Trident Inn, and the next adventure assumes that is where they will stay. If any of the various agents from Appendix II return with the PCs … they will maintain their cover and appear to return to their normal business – disappearing from the PC‟s lives, for now. They will, of course, report what they have learned to their patrons. That may provide the GM with hooks for later adventures and will influence events in the final adventure in this series, Mejetus: Ancient Shades.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 52 PC Benefits and Potential Plot Hooks  PCs should improve Old Jarinese & Folklore (Kubora) in addition to any other skill development. 

APPENDIX I: MEREDATH’S DIARY

Sufficiently talented PCs could spend some time recording their memories of the journey onto a Poetic Map of the Afarezirs. The GM should secretly roll the Drawing skill check and note the level of success which can be used as a reflection of the map‟s accuracy and the effect on the journey of a buyer who uses it to avoid getting lost:

It is important that this interpretation of the diary is not made available to the players before the end of the adventure. If it is it is only likely to distract them. Ideally they should have the opportunity to decipher these sections of the manuscript on the voyage back to Golotha, so that the knowledge it contains is available before they start the next adventure.

CS: MS: MF: CF:

The sections of the diary that can be understood given sufficient time to describe how Meredath accompanied his master, who had been recruited by the Morgathian church, to ward a location deep in a forest wilderness. It is unclear why; the only explanation infers that the Morgathians seek to imprison some evil harbouring there. In return his master was promised not simply material gains but also access to the resources and protection of the church wherever he chose to travel on completion of his task.

30% chance of getting lost while following it; 60% chance of getting lost; 90% chance of getting lost; certain to get lost!

 The PCs might seek out scholars interested in rumours and information about the Kubora. They might pay for what the PCs know.  The reputation of the PCs among the Nolgind Kubora may mean they can sell their services as guides.

There is a brief consideration of whether his master‟s actions in any way contravene the code of the Shek P‟var. Meredath‟s view is that it does not as the commission is to contain some evil and the benefit to his, and his master‟s, future study can only be for the betterment of their Art. With care the reader can put together the following outline of events taking place 250 years ago …

Through the Afarezirs In 462TR Meredath was one of a small group of satiamavari who travelled with their master around the coast of Peran to the mouth of the River Pemetta. From some of Meredath‟s comments it becomes clear his master was very close to „taking the Grey‟. He was certainly practiced in several convocations. They travelled in a well-protected convoy of ships to the Afarezirs. There Meredath describes making landfall on several of the islands and how the Corani marines were attacked by the primitive natives. The scarlet cloaked marines with their organised shield wall and tactics were more than a match for the natives and easily saw off any attacks; taking some slaves as they went. Meredath‟s diary, then, tells the tale of the Beast of Blood from the Corani perspective. Among the captives was a 5 year-old girl child that Meredath‟s master took a particular interest in. He explained to Meredath, who comes across as something of a favourite to his master, that the girl had remarkable arcane potential and called herself Pella.

Up River to Mejetus On reaching the Pemetta Estuary the Shek P‟var were given permission to examine sites of spiritual importance to the tribes living east and west of the river; an island in the estuary where a number of burial mounds were ob-

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 53 served. There are notes in the diary of a conversation with one of the accompanying Morgathians proposing a future expedition to excavate these mounds and others that had been found on the mainland, at a place called Kustan. Meredath and his party were transferred to a series of securely escorted river barges for the journey up river to a legionary camp. It had been built to demonstrate the reach of the Empire, but rumour on board suggested it was being prepared for a visit by Emperor Mejenes himself. The place had been christened Mejetus in his honour.

At Mejetus Meredath describes Mejetus as „… built on a roundtopped hill in the foothills of the Rayesha mountains overlooking the River Suthen into which one face of the hill has crumbled. It comprises a substantial wooden stockade with barracks for a full Corani legion, as well as engineers and all that is needful for the legions on their march‟. He does not describe any stone buildings but adds that „…an architect accompanies us who is to build the imperial headquarters. He has confirmed that Emperor Mejenes will lead the legions into the lands called „Equeth‟ in a year or so and will require a suitable field palace‟. Meredath then describes the site for the palace: „When initially surveyed the engineers believed they had found a surprisingly flat slab of naturally occurring granite. However closer examination revealed the granite was not natural but the roof of a subterranean structure that my master believes is of Khuzan build. The craftsmanship is exquisite and there are extensive vaults beneath the granite which will support the emperor‟s lodging‟. He also points out the dramatic location of the fort: „… on the highest hill top for a league in any direction and above the valley of the River Suthen. There the engineers are already planning a bridge to carry their emperor across to new conquests. Some giant must have caste some of the stones fallen from the slopes above into the river where they form a convenient string of boulders running from bank to bank. They will form the bridge supports. Perhaps most dramatic is the view of the mountains. In the sinking sun the peaks take on the likeness of a man‟s face lying in profile staring up into the stars‟. Meredath notes his master‟s regret at the necessity of leaving „young Pella‟ safe in the household of the commander at Mejetus, „where she is to be taught the rudiments of a civilised tongue‟. He then goes on to describe travelling, with the other mages and a group of priests under heavy escort, into the Peran wilderness.

Into the Forest Meredath is clearly quite comfortable in the company of the Morgathians and describes one in particular as „remarkably well informed on matters historical‟, commenting that he „expounded on the early years of the Agrikan Church, of all

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

things! It is almost as if he were there, such is the vigour of his description‟. The journey is described in significant detail and a number of landmarks are detailed which might allow someone who had the account an increased chance of following the route taken – so long as they could find Mejetus and begin from there. The journey takes about a week during which time the Shek P‟var deployed a range of protective spells to reduce the chance of the local tribes coming upon them. The party travelled on foot though the priests and mages, and all the equipment and supplies, were carried by mules. The need to avoid contact with the local hunters seems to have slowed the journey. The journal includes a quite detailed description of their arrival at the place where the wards were to be set. „After the forest came two days of travel through limestone gullies awash with drainage water from the surrounding highlands. The priests regularly stopped to consult a map they were reluctant to share with us. We finally reached a remarkable location. It has an unfamiliar arcane aura of uncertain potency but somewhat discomforting. Its scale is undoubtedly impressive; a cluster of limestone pinnacles rising hundreds of feet in the middle of a natural amphitheatre.‟

The Task Meredath then describes his work, and that of the other satia-mavari, in aiding his master to caste a number of previously created spells in, under, and around the limestone pillars. „We are not allowed to wander freely through the passages and chambers within what the priests call „the Claws‟. Instead our legionary escort has been set to work excavating a new passage into the very heart of one of the larger pinnacles‟. Once the excavation is complete Meredath describes his master as creating „… a portal into a dimension of water whence we summoned forth a continual stream to be channelled into the chamber the legionaries had excavated. From there the water runs through a hole drilled through the floor into a space below. I can only speculate on why the priests wished this done, but such a continuous drip of water will certainly cause deposits of limestone to form in whatever chamber is beneath this one‟. He makes particular note of the fact that „… though the legionaries did the hard work of excavating the chamber it was the priests who then set to work drilling the hole through the floor into the space below. Once the water had begun to flow then only the priests were allowed into the excavated chamber. One legionary who strayed there while on guard duty was impaled the following morning as an example to the others. How the priests knew he had entered the chamber no one could say. Thereafter the legionaries only entered any of the passages when ordered to do so‟.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 54 The next task was to call an earth spirit into existence deep in the foundations of the „Claws‟ after which there were regular vibrations in the ground and tremors among the pillars. „The spirit was bound to „the Claws‟ as if to the body of a golem. The spell was most elegant but also more difficult than I believe my master expected. The strange Aura in this place caused a perturbation in our manipulation of the energies necessary and the creature we have created is less than we had hoped. It is certainly strong and persistent but it lacks any but the most meagre of hunting instincts. Those instincts are, though, enough to deny us further easy access to the lower passages; it does not recognise us as its masters‟. Then, all manner of lizards and snakes were summoned from the gullies and passages around the amphitheatre. They were „… bound to the Claws as corporeal guardians lest. Were a return to the Claws allowed it would be fascinating to know if the geas weakens with the passing of generations or if it has some other effect upon them‟. The final task was to summon a spirit of the air and bind it high among the pinnacles to stop any creature descending among the pillars from above. Meredath notes: „I consider this one of my master‟s greatest feats for while the elemental is potent he has also captured some intelligence into it; enough that I could converse with it. We had the legionaries construct a rope way up to its high eerie and there told it of its purpose and that of its fellow spirits. It struggled with some of the details but I am encouraged to believe it would be able to keep the others spirits in order were they to stray from their tasks‟. There is only one hint of friction between the satiamavari and his master: „there was one aspect of each casting which my master has refused to explain. Small blocks of bronze, copper and silver were included in each spell but not consumed by them. Instead they were handed over to the priests when the casting was completed‟. On the final day before they left the Claws there is a passage of particular note: „We were not allowed among the Claws today. The priests braved the risk from the earth elemental and made a final visit to whatever lies beneath the chamber of the water spirit. It was no great task to create a tiny point of clairaudience to follow them. Though they were certainly engaged in some ritual the details were impossible to determine as there was a great flux in the fabric of the Aura which distorted my spell. They were repeating some question over and over, but what they asked and whether there was an answer, I do not know. However, when the flux settled I could hear their words and, though their meaning is obscure, I record them here as precisely as I can: “Tormentor of the Unlamented Dead, Master of the Principle of Evil, Lord of the Gulmorvin of the Black Pit, Wielder of

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

the Shadow of Incarnate Evil, Wreaker of Chaos … Hear our Supplication.” “We have had wards caste around this place so that the Lord of Fires is denied this portal as the Gurim has ordained. We have warded it with elements that are anathema to the Fiery One and his evil servants and intend that over time the portal that was opened here will be sealed by the flow of his greatest enemy, water. We have taken care not to risk the Concordat working the Gurim‟s will only through the Shek P‟var.” “Only the Unlamented Dead that we sense beyond the portal can open the door and they are caged there. As they cannot journey to this side of the portal then none of them can ever become the Gatekeeper.” “We will consecrate a shrine at Mejetus so that the Emperor and all his legions will guard The Key we will make. With no Key and no Gatekeeper then the Lock we have created will keep the Lord of V‟Hir contained” “Hear our Supplication. We have no hope of an answer but in our faith we know you listen”. Meredath ends this section of the diary noting that one of the priests who entered the Claws was carried out, as if injured or sick. He lay lifeless on a mule for much of the journey back to Mejetus and remained weak and withdrawn. “I know not what happened to him but it set my mind on the tales told of the Morgathians …”. There are then some pages describing the uneventful return journey to Mejetus. If the PCs ask Captain Olmoding to take them to any of the places mentioned in Meredath’s diary … he will firmly decline. He has no taste for some wild adventure into the Peran wilderness. He also has no intention of landing the PCs in Peran. He‟s been paid to carry them home and will not risk his reputation by returning with his passengers mysteriously absent. The Breyta therefore coasts into Golotha under the power of her oars at dawn on the 8th of the next month – the date is important for the next adventure in this series Golotha: The Deeper Dark. If events during the voyage south make this return date impossible, then the GM should find a way to delay arrival until the 8th of the next month. A storm might drive them to take shelter at Tormau or Ithius and delay them.

Further Research on the Diary GM may choose to treat the diary as a record of Meredath‟s development of his Art. If so then further research can yield some spells appropriate to the PCs. The diary doesn‟t say which convocations Meredath had studied so any spell that might be known by an experienced Satia-Mavari could be included as well as any unique spells Meredath had created. The choice is left to the GM to reduce the risk of the found spell(s) altering campaign balance.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 55 APPENDIX II: THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL The plants among which Pella‟s vessel was buried are sethimyael which is fully described in Herblore (available from Columbia Games). The vine-like „Ochre Creeper‟ is native to shady, boggy soils. The leaves are greyish green with waxy yellow fruit and pink blooms that smell of rotting meat. Small thorns make the plant difficult to harvest, and the noxious summertime blooms attract flies, wasps, and the occasional small carnivore. Large yellow berries appear in late summer from which Nolgind shamans prepare a euphoric to promote or enhance religious visions. This is why they call it Ymdeithir; „the Traveller‟. Sethimyael dominates the heathlands of Gwaed Island but it is now greatly changed. It has become Gwaedeithir – „the Path of Blood‟. Superficially the same as sethimyael its leaves and berries are bright crimson. The properties of Gwaedeithir have also been changed by association with Pella‟s angry, frightened, spirit and whatever magics Meredath‟s master unleashed at the time of his death. Over the decades of her imprisonment – she doesn‟t know it was a means of protection – Pella has changed the properties of the plant and its appearance. Whether it was the improvised nature of the spells cast or the mage‟s wish, channelled as it was on the wave of power released at his death; the plants in the vicinity were somehow attuned to Pella and her situation. A mental link developed with the only living things near her: the sethimyael. The tinge of madness that Pella has imparted to the plants extends beyond the heath where she is buried. Even plants near the shore have a faint pinkish tinge.

Ingesting Gwaedeithir Foliage Tasting the leaves of Gwaedeithir causes numbness to the lips and tongue. Extended skin contact with the foliage causes an itchy rash. Ingestion of an ounce or so of the plant (two or three plump berries, for instance) will result in nausea and diarrhoea with any more risking shock and death. It is these characteristics which have discouraged animals from grazing on the Gwaedeithir plants and led to the increasing dominance of the crimson variety across Rhosgenethig (the Little Girl‟s Heath).

Properties of Gwaedeithir Berries Contrary to the letter received in Golotha the true value of Gwaedeithir is as a combination of painkiller and stimulant. Prepared as sethimyael has been prepared by the Nolgind for more than a millennium the blood red berries cancels the effects of fatigue (no fatigue penalty) and halves the effects of injury (half physical penalty) until the effects wear off in 40+3d10 minutes later, at which point a shock

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

roll is made at double the number of d6 which would otherwise have been required; HR5 to recover. Changing the dose has the following effects: Dose

Duration

Shock Recovery

2 drops of the standard preparation taken on the tongue

40+3d10 min

HR5

3 drops

2x(40+3d10) min

HR4

4 drops

4x(40+3d10) min

HR2

Administering more than a double dose typically results in convulsions and sometimes death, generally from cardiovascular collapse (4d6 Kill roll). Regular consumption of the extract causes first increased irritability and then paranoia and the threat of pathological violence at the least provocation. Women who take the preparation regularly stop ovulating and become sterile. Animals feeding on the pink tinged vegetation over the rest of the island develop some of the same aggressive tendencies, but there is much less effect on their fertility.

Gwaedeithir without Pella Should Pella be removed from Rhosgenethig, either through her destruction or rescue, then the plants will revert to their natural state over the decades ahead and no longer produce the effects described. Plants bred from those harvested at Rhosgenethig will show a much more rapid decline in potency with each successive generation of plant. Berries gathered from Rhosgenethig retain their potency after harvesting until they rot. The Nolgind preserve the berries of ochre creeper in honey. Other parts of the plant can also produce the same effects but at lesser potency. If Pella‟s spirit is kept in its pot and placed near plants brought from Rhosgenethig, then the plants will retain their potency for as long as they survive. A talented plantsman who has Rhosgenethig accurately described to him will be able to cultivate the plant. However the same risks to humans ingesting the plant and effects on even domesticated animals will exist. Were Pella „transplanted‟ and placed among ordinary sethimyael she would have no effect on them. The plants of Rhosgenethig were rendered susceptible to Pella by the mage; an effect that cannot be reproduced, though huge resources could be wasted trying!

The Fate of the Hafen Those harvesting Gwaedeithir after Pella‟s departure will sense a lack of power but it will take decades before ochre creeper dominates Rhosgenethig. In the meantime Nolgind myth will have new heroes and the Crones will keep the faith; one day the Lost Ones will return to the Nolgind fold.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 56 APPENDIX III FRIENDS IN THE SOUTH? The adventure can be complicated, or enriched, by having a number of NPCs travel North with the party each of whom has a particular motive for making the journey. It is possible to use them all with a little ingenuity on the part of the GM but managing their individual agendas may be a challenge; so be warned. None of the NPC agents have a way of communicating with their master or mistress in the south once the Breyta sets-out so the only way they can reveal anything they discover is by surviving and returning south with the PCs. Therefore they should play their hand very subtlety, in most cases aiding the players as a means of ensuring their own survival and safe return. On the other hand they will have no compunction about removing one another if they discover another NPC‟s true, or believed, mission. This could breed a sense of foreboding if NPCs begin turning up dead or start disappearing during the adventure. There are, though, risks in distracting the PCs who may come to believe they are on and adventure in which their task is to uncover a serial killer! Some NPCs would be perfectly happy to do away with PCs if they felt that would result in any fruits of the expedition ending up in their hands, and thence those of their patron. In playing them the GM should remember that they start with no concrete information about the purpose of the expedition other than what the PCs may have shared during their recruitment and the rumours that have led their patrons to take an interest in the voyage. They should act on that basis, or on what PCs tell them during the voyage. The GM should take care not to make them omniscient.

Agents of The Octagonal Pit Most of the information presented to the PCs in Golotha is false. The true sponsoring organization for the expedition is the Agrikan Order of the Octagonal Pit, and their interest has nothing to do with the erotic. Late in the previous Autumn an Ivinian ship, the Wav Dansan, limped into Golotha having barely managed to survive its journey from the North. However, as well as the tale told in the dockside taverns (and described Act I) there were some details known only to the Dansan‟s captain, Saarli Veron. After the attack on the crew‟s camp and the capture of one of the attackers Saarli stayed up late into the night watching his unusual prisoner. He was trying to puzzle out how this man, crippled as he was, had taken so many of them to subdue. How, even after he had lost his hand, could he have paused only to tie off the blood flow with a rag before killing poor Uldi and knocking Gnarson unconscious? While it was miraculous that the man had survived at all he still seemed to have some fight left in him. The savage continued to strain to reach something tied to his crude hide belt until he finally died. The captain took the small wooden tube, firmly stoppered with a leather bung, from the man‟s belt and kept it for later examination. By then it was dawn and the Nolgind warriors returned to the camp where they made signs of warding towards the corpse. This, they said, was „one of the lost‟ and the crew were lucky to have survived the attack with so few casualties.

The subtlest approach is probably to play the NPC as described in the body of the adventure, giving them to the PCs to play. Only when the PC uses the character in a way that runs counter to their agenda should the GM intervene, and then only with care. In this way their agenda can be ignored until the GM choses to reveal some sign of it, if they so choose.

When Saarli made a pretense of seeing them away from the camp he showed them the vial he had taken. Their reaction was to cower away from it, make more signs of warding. Their leader gestured that the captain should throw it into the sea before it did him harm. He spoke enough Orbaalese to claim that the contents of the vial were made from a plant which „fed on blood‟ and which „possessed anyone drinking it with a spirit of blood and death‟; „The Spirit of the Beast‟. He said the vial contained an extract from a plant similar to one that was important to the Nolgind. However the extract came from a variety of the plant he described as „stained by the Beast‟, which was harvested by the „lost ones‟ and was polluted and taboo to all the other clans. The old Nolgind told Saarli that once a warrior was possessed by the plant extract he became invulnerable to harm from even the sharpest of weapons. It took all the Nolgind‟s efforts to protect themselves from even a small number of such warriors when they raided - clear evidence of its potency.

PC Outcomes

Again he bade Saarli to throw the foul thing into the sea „lest it possess you as it possessed the lost one‟.

GM Aims To decide whether Vigdis Grimkal, Ovik of Hossil, Talar the Kuboran, &/or Sir Hovan are agents of forces interested in the voyage. Having made that decision, to play the selected NPCs as described in Act I, while knowing their secret agenda and any other skills they might be able to deploy. They must be convincing in their chosen „disguises‟ without making it impossible for them to turn their coats if necessary.

Ideally the PCs will only understand the significance of their actions when the adventure is over, or even later.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 57 Curious about the vial, and interested in whether it might have trade value, the captain made it look as if he had thrown the vial away while concealing it in his purse. When they were underway to the next island he added a drop of the pinkish liquid to the crew‟s pottage. He was horrified when one of the crew was seized by a berserk fury that cost the lives of more of his men. Believing it might have some value he kept the extract until he sold it to the Octagonal Pit in Golotha. The priests of the Octagonal Pit identified the sickly smelling extract as similar to a preparation made from sethimyael and used as an hallucinogen. Experimentation with the few remaining doses of the extract confirmed that it had properties very different from sethimyael including increases in aggression, endurance and resistance to wounds. The slave they gave it to did not notice wounds but kept fighting with his bare hands even when hamstrung by the knights of the Demon Pameshlu who were set to kill him.

An agent of Klyrdes Bisidril It is the possibility of an invincible fighting force that has attracted the interest of the Agrikan Primate, Klyrdes Bisidril. His Order, of Mamaka the Master of Steel, has an effective intelligence network that extends through every stratum of Golothan society. That network has revealed the nature of the Octagonal Pit‟s recent experimentation and their plans for an expedition. The Mamakans have kept themselves at the top of the Agrikan hierarchy in Rethem for a generation through their discipline and the strength of their Warriors. Klyrdes is concerned that, in the wrong hands, this potent drug could disturb that precarious balance of power. If anyone is to have the advantage this new variety of sethimyael he is determined it will be him. The Master of Steel has a reputation for the creation of fearsome alchemical weapons of war and this extract promises them new avenues to explore.

Other interested parties …

Ovik of Hossil is one of the 8 Akhularai of Klyrdes‟ order (see Mamaka, Master of Steel). Also called „The Silent Ones‟, they are responsible for rooting out heresy within the order and are used more widely as agents for its leadership in their effort to stay at the top of the Agrikan Church in Harn. The Silent Ones are selected from among acolytes of the order early in their time with the Master of Steel and, as well as their clerical training, receive additional tuition in subtefuge, torture, the use of drugs and poisons and the arts of assassination. They have many of the skills the order learned from the Navehan‟s during the dark times of the Theocracy.

There are a number of Golothan powerbrokers, and another from beyond Rethem, with an interest in the expedition.

Hossil‟s claim, that he is from Tharda, is very difficult to prove wrong; it would take an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Republic to catch him out.

The GM can adopt any one of the following variations to the NPCs that might accompany the PCs acceptable by simply handing over the „player‟ version of the character sheet (found in Act I) and inviting a PCs to run them as well as their own character.

His skills in deception are exceptional and he is trained to deliberately hide his capacities. The character sheet in the adventure shows reduced MLs for some skills while omitting others entirely. His true characteristics as an agent of the Apalankh are shown below.

If a PC becomes injured or incapacitated, or the party splits up to further their search then a player can be kept in the game by being given one of the NPCs to play.

Ovik’s strategy on the expedition … he will seek to be very helpful to the PCs and become close to them by offering well chosen advice based on the knowledge his order has of Peran and its inhabitants. The GM must be careful not to make him unrealistically encyclopaedic but he can still be very useful to the party.

The Order‟s interest is in obtaining enough of the plant to allow for the staging of spectacular combats in the Golothan arena. They have also speculated on the near invincibility on the battlefield of Agrikan warriors dosed with the extract. The PCs are the unwitting agents of the Octagonal Pit in this adventure. They are being sent to harvest enough Crimson Sethimyael so the priests can make more of the extract and further their investigations.

Clues to his true purpose … Any PC who has a chance to see him naked will see that Ovik‟s back is scarred from regular scourging. There is also scarring high on his left thigh. Though the Silent Ones are excused the Mamekan „sacrifice of blood and pain‟ while under-cover they carry the signs of its application through their training and ordination. Folklore (Mamekan) would allow this evidence to raise a PC‟s suspicions. If questioned Ovik will attribute this to

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 58 the cruelty of the father who now pays him to stay well away from home. If confronted with concrete evidence that these are signs of Mamekan worship he will appear to crack and confess he was sent to live among the Mamekans as a boy, only escaping a year or two ago. In this tale he will beg the PCs not to reveal his secret as the Mamekans are known to hunt down any runaways.

Name: Ovik of Hossil Agent of Klyrdes Bisidril

Race/Sex: Human/Male

Occupation: Priest

Born: 19 Ilvin 695, Skorus

Ovik carries a small octagonal metal charm around his neck inscribed with the symbol of Agrik. He will admit to being a casual worshipper and claim it is a good luck charm; all he has with which to remember his dead mother.

Religion: Ritual (Agrik) 54, Piety 30

However, the charm is cunningly crafted by Mamekan smiths to hinge open to reveal an inscription: „the bearer is protected by the power of the Agrikan Church‟. If a PC discovers this Ovik will feign convincing amazement, claiming he never new the charm opened. Only if the PCs have already encountered another Silent One, all of whom carry such a charm, will it be difficult for him to sustain the lie. Even then he will look confused and hold to his story that the charm was given to him by his mother. He will reveal the inscription only if he is in dire need and believes that the person he shows it to will both understand it and have the power and will to act on what it demands. Anyone living in Rethem or expecting to make any part of their living there will certainly take it very seriously. Only if … Ovik‟s cover appears about to be broken will he act to silence the character that is putting him at risk. He will always seek to make any death look like an accident or the responsibility of someone else. He is entirely indocrinated in the Mamakan faith and will die (in silence) for his master. However if he dies then the Apalankh learns nothing so he will kill to survive, perhaps revealing that he has many more skills than the PCs believe. If death is inevitable he will look for some way to further his master‟s cause, perhaps by sabotaging the expedition so that no one else benefits from anything the PCs find. On his return … Ovik will leave the Breyta at Golotha and expect never to see the PCs again. He will be dispatched north to Emesa Hundred after he has passed on everything he has found out. There he is to search for what the Mamakan hierarchy believes may be evidence of heresy among the Warriors of Mameka …

Appearance: Aged 25, height 5‟9”, medium frame, weight 157 lbs/size 6, handsome appearance, dark complexion, black hair, hazel eyes Str 14 Agl 12 Sml 10 Aur 18 Cml 16 Sta 14 Eye 14 Voi 06 Wil 16 End 14 Dex 15 Hrg 12 Int 13 Mor 05 Mov 12 Medical/Psyche: Hidden scars on his back from scourging Skills: Animalcraft 22, AWARENESS 78, CLIMBING 76, Cookery 18, Drawing 60, Folklore (Peran) 40; Heraldry 48, Herblore 24, INTRIGUE 73, JUMPING 72, Law (Agrikan) 36, Mathematics 25, Mental Conflict 70, Metalcraft 46, ORATORY 44, Physician 30, RHETORIC 62, SINGING 24, STEALTH 82, Swimming 15, THROWING 80, Weaponcraft 55 Languages: Harnic 94, Old Jarinese 21, Surikal 38, Ashekal 48 Scripts: Lakise 98 Combat Skills: INITIATIVE 90, DODGE 60, UNARMED 76, Dagger 75, Sword 60, Shield 60, Axe (sickle) 76, Money/Valuables: While not richly dressed he appears to have a significant line of credit which he explains as resulting from his bastardy. His father is rich and pays him well to stay away from him and his family. Armour/Weapons: Cloth shirt and breeches, robe and tunic. Leather calf boots; dagger Other Equipment: A leather satchel in which he keeps his supply of parchment, pens and ink. He will buy any specific travelling and wilderness equipment that he needs. Load: 29.5 lbs Melee Wpns Head butt

Encumbrance Penalty: 0 Wt WQ AML DML 76 76   



Dagger Sword Handaxe

 1 4 4

 11 13 11

Roundshield

7

14

Hand/Arm Foot/Knee

HM

B 2

E

P

 

   4 4

76 81

91 81

 -05 -05

80 75 86

80 70 81

-05 -15 -10

1 4 5

 2 6 7

65

80



2



 

AQ

B

E

P

F

  

1   1 1 1 1  1 1 1 1

1   2 2 1 1  2 2 2 2

1   1 1 1 1  1 1 1 1

1   2 2 1 1  2 2 2 2

1 1 2 1

2 2 4 3

1 1 3 2

2 2 4 3

Location

Armour Layers

Skull Face Neck Shoulder Upper Arm Elbow Forearm Hand Thorax Abdomen Hip Groin

C   CCC CCC C C  CCC CCC CCCC CCCC

Thigh Knee Calf Foot

CCC CCC CL L

            

1 2

Invocations: Common, Agrikan and Mamekan invocations of Circles I - III Spells: none

Psionics: none

Notes: One of the Mamekan Silent Ones. As an ordained priest he has a consecrated Mamekan Blade in the form of a sickle but the Akhularai are never allowed to carry these with them when under cover.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 59 An agent of the Gurim

An agent of the Queen

The Morgathian Primate in Golotha has equally good reasons to take an interest in the expedition. He wishes to contain the secular power of the Agrikans and see his church re-established as the most powerful in the West. He too has extensive intelligence gathering assets which have brought word of the Octagonal Pit‟s experiments to his ear. He sees a parallel between the apparent powers of the extract and the abilities of his undead servants to resist the effects of wounds.

King Chafin of Rethem spends little time in Golotha, but his wife, Queen Erela, prefers Caer Chaftar to the royal seat at Shostim. She is well connected to many of the intrigues that infest the city and it has come to her attention that the Octagonal Pit is staging a „secret‟ expedition.

Perhaps it is the Shadow of Bukrai that gives the extract its power. If that is the case then it would be the harshest sacrilege to allow it to fall into the wrong hands. Vigdis Grimkall sold her belief in the Ljarl for the selfish benefits of apparent immortality. The Morgathian‟s offered her something that appealed to her vanity and appeared to fill the void of dissatisfaction at her core. She is now a free-willed Amorvus of Morgath having accepted the Shadow of Bukrai as a replacement for her soul. The shadow remains weak in her so it has no outward effects. Vigdis’ strategy on the expedition … she will behave exactly as described in Act I, it is only her motive that is changed. Her character sheet also remains the same though the GM will have to use the rules for damage as they apply to Amorvin. As Aslin‟s nurse, and crutch once he is injured, she remains close to the PCs when they are away from the knaar. Clues to her true purpose … Events during the voyage may lead to hints of her true nature: a wound that she binds up tight and refuses to let anyone else examine, lest they notice how little blood flows from it and how poorly it heals; or the surprising recovery from drowning. She never takes shock rolls caused by physical trauma or accrues Fatigue but 14 injury levels will „kill‟ her. Then she will crumble into dust, reforming back in Golotha (unless slain by a non-Morgathian consecrated weapon). Only if … She has found out precisely where the plant they seek is located will she act differently. She has been told what will happen if she „dies‟ and wonders of she can arrange for a way to get herself killed in some way, to ensure she dies. In her plan it will be best if the accident that kills her took place in a way that would ensure that the absence of any body (but not equipment) could be explained! The priest that recruited her and explained this miraculous power did not explain that she has a limited number of „lives‟ to use in this way, or that the wounds she suffers in this life will remain on her body when it reforms back in Golotha. Getting herself crushed to death and knocked into the sea will result in an ironic surprise when she „recovers‟ and considers herself in a mirror back in Golotha!

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011.

She knows only that it is to travel north into Kuboran territory. While the Order has always taken an interest in the wilderness as a source of wild beasts for the arena they are being very secretive about this particular expedition. She wants to know why and intends to find out. Talar was indeed once a gladiator in the Golothan arena but since winning his freedom he has served the Queen as a discrete enforcer. He is never visible at any state occasion or seen in her company but when she is displeased with someone it is he that makes that displeasure clear, though never declaring his mistress‟ name. He gained his current place by recognising that the Queen, a well-known fan of the Pamesani, would be the most powerful patron he could aspire to. He went out of his way to dedicate his victories to her so she accepted his offer of service when he went freelance. However, he has grown used to the civilised ways of the south and is less than happy at being commanded to infiltrate the expedition as a „guide‟. His liking for, and knowledge of, civilisation might get him caught out. Talar’s strategy on the expedition … Talar has no wish to remain marooned in the North and so will do everything he can to ensure the PCs find what they are looking for and get home safely. Like Vigdis he has no skills that need to be kept secret. Clues to his true purpose … Talar may get sentimental over his life in Golotha and boast of his „powerful friends‟ in the city. He is not very clever and may not realise that if he lets slip some knowledge of noble life he may appear suspicious. If picked up on such an error he will play the „..ahh! but I‟m a gladiator and we hear a lot …‟, card. Only if … Talar is faced with a direct choice of his own death versus that of a PC will he act to harm a PC either directly or indirectly. They are his ticket home. If he believed he was at serious risk of not making it back to civilisation, then he might choose to share what he knows with the PCs in order to buy his return trip, though he may choose to travel on in secret rather than remaining in Golotha. He knows all too well that the Queen‟s temper can kill a man.

HârnWorld

AFAREZIRS: ROOT OF ALL EVIL 60 An agent of the Laranian church

A Variation on a Theme

When the Wav Dansan left Golotha captain Saarli judged that his understrength crew would chart a safer course home by heading south around Harn. Calling at the Kandayan port of Sarkum he told his tale again in return for drink and it reached the ears of the Laranian Church. They had his ship impounded on a pretext and imprisoned him and his crew interrogating them to discover more about the extract he had described. Saarli was quick to tell them everything he told the Octagonal Pit when threatened with being put to the question and having the „Holy Instruments of Faith‟ applied to him. The Laranian Church have every reason to fear apparently invincible Agrikan hordes on the northern border of Kanday. They have sent a knight of the Laranian Order of the Chequered Shield to Golotha to determine what truth there is in the story they have been told.

A GM that needed to fit Root of All Evil into an existing campaign that saw the PCs linked to one of the factions described above might replace that faction‟s agent with the PC group. A group with Laranian or Agrikan loyalties or obligations might find themselves at the centre of the adventure. This approach has not been play-tested but the adventure could still play out largely as described.

Sir Hovan Mindar has, over his years of service to his order, mastered the art of appearing to be a wandering „sword for hire‟. While his mission does not require him to do more than find out if there is any truth to the tale Saarli recounted he will take advantage of any offer to travel with the PCs having heard they are travelling north. He doesn‟t know they are the unwitting dupes of the Octagonal Pit, but he is interested in the coincidence that they too are to search for an unusual red plant. He is a true believer in his faith and will seek to hold to his principles even while spying on the PCs. That doesn‟t mean he is a fool but it does mean he should be used in ways appropriate to Laranian creed. Only if he came to believe that the PCs were willing supporters of Agrik or Morgath and demonstrating the worst aspects of those faiths, would he act directly against them. Sir Hovan’s strategy on the expedition … Hovan has a simple agenda of information gathering. The GM should intervene if it appears a player is about to throw away the knight‟s life before he can return to the south with what he has learned. Additionally if a player is about to involve the knight in actions which would challenge the principles of his faith the GM should intervene. However that can be with a relatively light touch, simply reminding the player that Sir Hovan is from Kanday and all Kandayan‟s are known to be squeamish about their honour. In this way his oaths to Larani need not be revealed, particularly if the PCs include Agrikans or Morganthians. Clues to his true purpose … Sir Hovan has the simplest cover story and so is least likely to act out of character. Only if … Hovan is faced with a clear moral choice will he take up arms against the PCs. Were they to begin to threaten helpless women or children then he could not stand by without intervening.

A Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc., © 2011

HârnWorld

The Beast of Blood Afarezirs. Bigger than any creature the clans had seen Long ago, a great sea beast visited the islands of theA on land or sea and coloured by blood it swept through the island bringing death and destruction in its wake. Since those times the clans of the Nolgind foreswore the ’colour of blood’ as the ’Beast of Blood’ had stained too much of the islands that colour. Since that time even the trees have taken on the colour of the Beast as a warning that winter is coming. The Beast of Blood was made of more than skin and flesh so that when it crawled out of the sea onto land it took on a new and fearsome form. It had many legs and a scaly shell from which sharp barbs protruded. Many a brave Nolgind hero died on those barbs as he tried to break through the creature’s shell and strike at it vitals. The Beast moved from island to island: always Seaward and Dawnward. Only Qulf, Aldrie and some of the other ’Seamost and Dawnmost’ islands were spared before the Beast went ’Treewards to attack the People Left Behind (the Urdu) of the mainland. Giving thanks that they were spared further slaughter the clans of the Nolgind barely survived the winter - so reduced were they. Then to their horror the Beast returned! This time a Nolgind Hero, ’Whale Caller’, went far out into the Sea and begged Grandfather Whale for his aid. Then, at the Place of Winds, on Kand Island, an ancient Crone heard the voice of Kadag telling her to heed the warnings from the ’Waters of Ardir’. Within days words was spreading that the Elders of the Whale cult had left their small island home in search of higher ground on Ardir. The clans of the Nolgind did likewise for only in the face of the direst of warnings would the Whale Cult abandon their island home. When the Nolgind who had listened had found safety on the hills and crags of their island homes Grandfather Whale rose out of his watery home and threw himself back into the depths. The wall of water he created swept towards the Beast of Blood and smashed the creature on to a rocky shore and broke it to pieces. The dying Beast was not yet finished. Its foul ichor was caste up on the beaches beyond the rocks that took its life. Wherever that foul fluid ran the children of the beast were spawned; scurrying and crawling over the island. These foul creatures the Nolgind hunted down until they were all killed. But their flesh so polluted the very rocks and sands of the island that its people were forever tainted by its foulness. babies were stillborn and men ran mad. They began killing their own and anyone that strayed near the island and seemed to be invincible. Some say: The Lost Ones raid the Nolgind clans and frequently take young children, whether to feast upon or to replace their numbers as their women are barren is debated. What is certain is that no child taken by them is ever seen again. Others tell that: The women of the Lost bear monstrous children part Beast and part man who live in caves beneath the sea where they seek to rebuilt their Beastly ancestor and raise it again so it can continue its ravaging of the Nolgind. Still others tell that: The children of the Lost are eaten at birth and their numbers replaced by children stolen from other islands. All that is certain is that The Lost are friends of no sane man but a curse upon the garden of delights that the Afarezirs would otherwise be.