Scenario #1 - The Captured Cleric

This is intended as an introductionary adventure for 1st level characters to get the Karameikos campaign started.

The PCs join a caravan from Kelvin to Threshold, along with a lawful cleric, Brother Pholtor, who is investigating a possible cult of Chaos gathering in the hinterlands of Karameikos. On the way the caravan is attacked by orcs, but robed humans target and abduct Brother Pholtor from the caravan during the attack. If the PCs do not follow the kidnappers immediately, they are asked by lawful clerics in Threshold to retrieve Brother Pholtor. He has been taken back to their lair, an abandoned hunting lodge, now guarded by orcs and other chaotic creatures.

Brother Pholtor: 2nd level cleric, align Lawful, male
Str 10, Dex 13, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 13
AC 4, Move 90', hp 8, THAC0 19, Att 1 mace for 1d6
Equipment: Chain mail, mace, holy symbol, 23gp, 2 weeks iron rations
Spells: Detect Chaos

The caravan has 2 merchants - Chuldor the Clothier (Normal man, 2hp, neutral), who is bringing a cartload of linen and wool clothes up from Specularum and Barashi the Trader (1st level fighter, 6hp, Lawful, scale armour & normal sword), who is bringing a cart of Ierendian brandy and hopes to purchase dwarf-forged weapons at a reasonable price. Both are aware of the risks of encountering bandits (both humans and humanoids) and they hire the PCs as additional protection - 5gp each per day. Brother Pholtor joins because he has been summoned by his superiors to join them in investigating this new cult of Chaos.

There may be random encounters along the road - as this is for low-level characters, I suggest the table below - 1 in  6 chance 2 times per day (one check in daytime, one check at night), 1d10 for creature type:

1. 1 wolf
2. 1d4+1 goblins
3. 1d4 orcs
4. 1 giant bat
5. 1 giant boar
6. 1d4 human bandits
7. 1d4 human travellers (normal men, lawful or neutral)
8. 1d4+1 human soldiers (1st level fighters, scale mail, shields, spears) patrolling from Threshold
9. 1d4 deer (2hd herd animals)
10. 1d4 hill goats (1hd herd animals)

    




The journey is 6 hexes of 8 miles each and the mule-drawn carts travel at 16 miles/2 hexes per day. The first day from Kelvin to Highforge is peaceful enough but on the second day the orcs attack as the caravan passes through a rocky valley studded with bushes and small trees. 7 orcs attack the merchants on the path, all armed with spears and shields. During this attack, the merchants try to drive their carts forward through the ambush, while Brother Pholtor is not sure what is happening and falls behind. At this point 3 figures in black robes emerge - 2 chaotic acolytes and a chaotic adept. One of them reads something from a scroll (a Hold Person spell, which Pholtor fails to save against) and together they carry off Pholtor's rigid, motionless body. The chaotic adept and acolytes will focus on capturing Pholtor and will not attack the PCs unless the PCs try to intervene in Pholtor's abduction.

Chaotic Acolyte: 1st level cleric, align Chaotic, male,
AC 6, Move 90', hp 4, 3, THAC0 20, Att 1 mace for 1d6, Ml 12, XP 15 each
Equipment: Scale mail, mace, black robes, unholy symbol, 10sp each

Chaotic Adept: 2nd level cleric, align Chaotic, female
AC 5, Move 90', hp 6, THAC0 19, Att 1 mace for 1d6+1, Ml 12, XP 35
Equipment: Chain mail, mace, black robes, unholy symbol, 25sp, Scroll of Hold Person (used at start of encounter)
Spells: Darkness (reverse of Light)

Orc: AC 6, Move 90', HD 1, hp 5, 3, 7, 4, 3, 2, 2, THAC0 19, Att 1 spear for 1d6, Ml 8, Align C, XP 10 each
Equipment: Leather armour, shield, spear, 10sp each

This is actually a fluid situation and there are a number of possible outcomes

• The PCs and merchants survive and all continue on to Threshold without Brother Pholtor who is abducted - If this happens then when they arrive at Threshold, Brother Pholtor's superior, Senior Brother Barnheim (4th level cleric, lawful, male) asks that the PCs retrace their steps and try to retrieve Brother Pholtor, suggesting that the ambushers may have a hideout near the ambush site. They are offered 1000gp on Pholtor's rescue, or 500gp on evidence of his killers' demise and retrieval of his body.
  
  
• The PCs manage to prevent Brother Pholtor's abduction and he and the merchants all reach Threshold - In this case Senior Brother Barnheim and Pholtor are both sure that the robed attackers are followers of Chaos - normal bandits don't use Hold Person scrolls. After being rewarded for the safe delivery of Brother Pholtor (500gp total), the PCs are offered another substantial reward (another 500gp + any loot they find) to find the attackers' lair and bring back evidence.
  
  
• The merchants are killed and PCs suffer losses, and Brother Pholtor is abducted/- If the ambush goes badly for the PCs and merchants, survivors will try to get to the nearest town - either forwards to Threshold or, if the way is blocked, back to Highforge. News reaches lawful clerics and secular authorities. The clerics offer 500gp for the rescue of Pholtor, and the local authorities offer another 500gp to get rid of the "bandits" threatening trade on this road.The surviving PCs may need to recruit more adventurers (either new PCs or NPC hirelings). 
  
  
• The merchants are killed but the PCs save Brother Pholtor - Senior brother Barnheim in Threshold is glad but both Pholtor and Barnheim are suspicious about the nature of the ambush. After being rewarded for the safe delivery of Brother Pholtor (500gp total), the PCs are offered another substantial reward (another 500gp + any loot they find) to find the attackers' lair and bring back evidence. The local authorities are also worried about the loss of the merchants and suggest that the PCs make sure these particular bandits don't attack anyone again.
  
  
• The PCs chase after Brother Pholtor's abductors. Although annoyed at the PCs abandoning them, the merchants make it back to Threshold. The PCs can follow the cultists who are carrying Pholtor (they bind and gag him before the spell wears off) back to their lair.

Regardless of the exact sequence of events, near the ambush site is a track heading off from the road to the north-east, with fresh footprints, which carries on for about 6 miles, after which it arrives at a hunting lodge (to be concluded in the next post).