Working on a new adventure. My players should please keep out of this thread.
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Okay, so here we go. I'm designing this for Iron Falcon, though I will convert it on the fly for Basic Fantasy for use with my group. It will be for characters of around level 5 (probably 4 to 6 as a target range).
How does that sound?Long ago a temple was built, about an hour's walk from town. It was consecrated to Lashmeki, the god of fear, and his twin Phorulan, the god of madness. They were not gods which men chose to worship, so much as gods they chose to propitiate. A common man made sacrifice to cause them to look away; a bold man, or a foolish one, made sacrifice in hopes they would turn a baleful eye upon his foeman.
But some men did choose to worship them, and those men became their priesthood. The temple was built, sacrifices were accepted, and prayers were raised up to the twin gods by the priests and acolytes. Thus it was for many years.
In time, though, the priesthood began to become corrupt. The priests skimmed from the sacrifices, making themselves wealthy and comfortable at the expense of the worshipers who hoped to curry favor with the gods. Times moved on and the corruption became worse, until the gods received only those sacrifices which were beneath the interest of the priests, and at last the twins brought down retribution on the priesthood.
They were driven gibbering from the temple, in terror of dark and nameless things which pursued them. The highest of the priests were driven mad and spent the rest of their days writhing in the dark cells where the townsfolk put them, chanting words that seemed devoid of meaning yet caused dread in all who heard.
The last of the mad priests died decades ago; only a few elders remember the time they were driven from the temple. But it is well known that they kept most of their ill-gotten gains in the catacombs beneath the temple, and from time to time brave men seek to loot the place. Those who returned from such missions came back empty-handed, driven forth by monsters out of the deepest realms of nightmare. Many never returned at all.
Here's the above-ground map which I am working on:
