Scars for Sale

The old man sits before you and removes a bottle from his pack. He opens it and fills his glass; as he does you get a good look at the man’s face. He has many deep cuts raked across his weathered visage, his nose is as twisted as a mountain road, and one of his eyes is clouded over but the other is fixed with a steely gaze.

He raises his glass in a gnarled hand covered in broad scars and downs the contents in one go. None of his wounds are new, in fact all of his injuries, including his missing arm, appear to be from long ago. After finishing his drink he looks at you with a grin.

Filling his glass again, the old man downs it in one motion again, rubbing his knee, "I used to be a lot like you. There are those who call you 'hero', others who call you 'adventurer', but others who have far more colorful names for what we are. Back then, I fought not for myself, nor king- I fought because it was what my immortal wanted: an immortal of war." The man launches into a tale and suddenly the room begins to change all around you; as he describes the surroundings and circumstances you find yourself there, in the story as he weaves it!

[AFTER MOVING THE PARTY:]
"I walked through the streets, the body of some peasant before me. The screams alerted the guards soon enough. I always told them I was a soldier from another kingdom, preferably one they were already at odds with; trying to incite a war between them. Once the fighting started, I'd join whoever offered the most opportunity to fight. These guards were no match for me, but let’s see how you do."

The man’s voice trails off into the distance as you find yourself standing in the street of an unfamiliar town; a peasant lies on the ground before you, nearly cut in half. The guards have already drawn their swords and yell at you in an accusatory tone. Before you can try to explain, they attack!

[AFTER COMBAT:]
You hear a glass bang on a table and the town falls away around you, leaving you back in the Shady Corner with the old man sitting before you. He is looking into his glass. "Not the story you were expecting to hear?" the old warrior turns his gaze to you, "We all start somewhere; we don't have to be proud of who we were, but hopefully who we become. Come, let me tell you another tale."

The man shifts uncomfortably in his seat, a grimace of pain on his face. He rubs his left leg and says, "Damn wyvern sting, always bothers me when I sit on a hard seat. Have you ever fought a wyvern? Nasty creatures." The man launches into a tale and suddenly the room begins to change all around you. As the man describes the surroundings and circumstances of his plight you find yourself there, in the story as he weaves it!

[AFTER MOVING THE PARTY]
"There I was, three wyvern were guarding their clutch, circling high above me. I would not be deterred; I knew the only way to get them to leave was to destroy their eggs, I had to get to them! The eggs were on a plateau you see and all I had to do was scale it and destroy the eggs, all the time fending off the three full grown wyverns. No problem for me, but let’s see how you do."

The man’s voice trails off into the distance as you find yourself standing at the base of a sheer stone cliff, three winged, dragon shaped beasts circle overhead.

Scaling the treacherous cliffs, you come to a small plateau. Before you is a large nest of tree trunks and briars, nestled in the center is a large egg; gray with white and red splotches. Above you the wyverns circle crying out in rage at your trespass. As you approach they swoop down and attack!


[IF EGG SMASHED:]
You hear hands clapping and the plateau falls away around you, leaving you back in the Shady Corner with the old man sitting before you. He is slowly clapping his hand against his thigh. "Well done!" the old warrior shouts, "Well done indeed, those wyverns were tough, but they were by far not the worst beasts I’ve faced. Come let me tell you another tale."


[IF TPK:]
You hear hands clapping and the plateau falls away around you, leaving you back in the Shady Corner with the old man sitting before you. He is slowly clapping his hand against his thigh. "A valiant effort, those wyverns were even more fierce than I remembered. You didn’t fare so well against them but let me tell you another tale."

The old man runs his hand through his hair, then down his face, tracing the lines left by some old wound. "If you thought the wyverns were tough, you should have been there when I first faced the foul minions of the pit. I'd become something of a well known adventurer by this point, and took it upon myself to drive the fiends from the highlands." The man launches into the tale and the room begins to change all around you; as he describes the surroundings and circumstances you find yourself there, in the story as he weaves it!

[AFTER MOVING THE PARTY:]
"Of course, I didn't know it was fiends at first. First I heard was the clans causing problems, not just among themselves, but troubling the more civilized places too. It was while tracking a group back after a raid that I came across their foul ritual. The clans often treat with dark powers; lets see how you contend with the pit."

The man’s voice trails off into the distance as you find yourself in the highlands; the wind cuts through you, blowing smoke from the ritual into your faces. In the ravine below, you see a group of ferals and cambions, gathered around a large stone with another feral upon it. Chanting in an unknown tongue, they stab the feral on the stone, and as their blood trails off the stone the wind suddenly stops; a swirling portal forms out of the flames as fiends emerge.

[AFTER COMBAT:]
You hear clapping and the cavern falls away around you; you are once again standing in the Shady Corner with the old man. Smiling wide as he claps his hand against his breastplate, "Now that was impressive! Truly you are heroes if you can contend with fiends that easily! Perhaps you're ready for a real challenge then? One that almost ended me? Come, let me tell you another tale."

The old man rises to his feet with some effort and says, "After that, people began to tell tales of my deeds; spreading tales of the great warrior who would stand against the darkness. Now, if you thought the fiends were tough, you should have been there when I fought the drake Denostranomus! That was a pit of a fight, he nearly got the best of me!"

"I had been asked by a drake by the name of Thrinik to intercede in a conflict that had stretched out across hundreds of years. The drake Denostranomus resided in the wilds of Rastemier and Thrinik needed me to weaken him to destabilize the dragon’s position and hold on the region. I rode the sky on the back of the mighty drake...”

The man’s voice trails off into the distance as you find yourself clutching the back of a massive, white scaled drake flying through the air at a great speed; the trees below look like so many matchsticks as you soar overhead. The drake circles a large mountain slowly and then without warning dives down and breathes a gout of flames so hot it sears your skin, even though you are sitting far back on the enormous animal. You hear the screams of what must have been hundreds of creatures being burned alive below.

The colossal drake lands near the still glowing and smoldering mountain pass and motions with its wing the direction to proceed. Once off its back it beats its massive wings and launches itself into the sky once again; the forceful wind from its wings knocks you down.

As you proceed you see what the great drake's breath had wrought: hundreds of dead, charred goblins litter their ruined defenses and destroyed murder holes. Those that did survive have fled or are walled in under melted earth. The heat from the slaughter still radiates from the ground and the smell of charred goblin corpses is so strong it nearly turns you away.

In your mind you hear the old man’s words, "The beast was deep in his cave stronghold. I fought my way to him easily enough but that was just what the cunning drake wanted. As I entered his presence the heat of his breath forced me to strip off what armor I had for fear it would melt to my flesh." With that a blast of heat from the glowing depths of the cave sears your skin and begins destroying anything you might have been wearing!


[IF DENOSTRANOMUS DRIVEN OFF:]
Denostranomus reels from your assault, the massive drake forced to abandon it's lair, rushing past you and taking to the air. You hear clapping and the cavern falls away around you; you are once again standing in the Shady Corner with the old man. He is slowly clapping his hand to his chest. "Well done!" the old warrior shouts, "Well done indeed, Denostranomus was a challenge, but even he was not the worst beast I’ve faced. Come let me tell you of my last quest..."


[IF TPK:]
Denostranomus rears back, inhaling deeply. With nowhere to hide, you take the full force of the ancient drake's breath. As you feel your charred flesh sloughing off and your world is engulfed in flame, you hear clapping. The cavern falls away around you; you are once again standing in the Shady Corner with the old man. He is slowly clapping his hand to his chest. "A valiant effort, Denostranomus was even more fierce than I remembered, but even he was not the worst beast I’ve faced. You didn’t fare so well against him, but let me tell you of my last quest..."

The old man stretches, rolling his shoulders. "My last quest, and my greatest fight, nearly destroyed me. You have made it this far so I will allow you to know me. I am not just a mere sell-sword turned hero; relegated to old age and telling tales of past glories. I was once a great warrior for justice and honor. I wielded a blade of great renown, the blade called Fiendfrayer. It was a weapon to stand against evil and was specifically created by the immortals to destroy the end of the world, the seventh death... I left the lands of Upper Metsar and sought out the prince of fiends, Dhurosht, in the forests of Tarkalsys." As the man describes the surroundings and circumstances of his quest you find yourself there, in the story as he weaves it!

You are on the outskirts of a city, near a lake; thick, old forest all around you- except to the West... To the West a massive fiend stands amid burning and destroyed trees; a burnt wasteland of desolation surrounds it. Each step it takes corrupts the soil, killing and burning away any vegetation. A two-handed sword hovers before you, almost demanding to be taken up, to smite this vile foe.

As you take the blade, Fiendfrayer, in hand, the colossal fiend turns it's attention towards you. It's eyeless gaze falls upon you, filling you with a neary overwhelming sense of dread and impending doom...


[IF DHUROSCHT SLAIN]
Fighting on, for seven days and nights, the forests reduced to a wasteland around you; you finally strike down the immortal fiend. As his vile blood pours out, the decimated ground is reduced to a stagnant swamp of death and corruption. You hear hands clapping and the marsh falls away around you, you are standing in the Shady Corner once again. "Well done!" the old warrior shouts, "Well done indeed, I am impressed. That battle ruined the very ground we fought upon. The fiend’s vile blood still stains the land and his body was the mountainside for a time. I hear the beast is whole again and has designs to return to this world. With fine champions like yourselves, I feel we will overcome him again, and again if need be."

"Remember what I have told you this day, for it may be the last known chronicle of my tales. You have come to know them, and me; but it is a secret that must be earned, not shared." With that the old man turns and walks out of the Shady Corner, "Good day, heroes!"


[IF TPK:]
Fighting on, for seven days and nights, the forests reduced to a wasteland around you; it's too much for you to handle, one by one the Prince of Fiends lays you low on the desolated plain. You hear hands clapping as life wells up in you again, you are standing in the Shady Corner once again. "Well fought, the Herald of Twilight was a fearsome foe!" the old warrior shouts, "That battle ruined the very ground we fought upon. The fiend’s vile blood still stains the land and his body was the mountainside for a time. I hear the beast is whole again and has designs to return to this world. You didn't fare so well against him this time, but to not despair; we have more time to prepare, and when the call goes out to defend this world from that wretched fiend we will answer it!"

"Remember what I have told you this day, for it may be the last known chronicle of my tales. You have come to know them, and me; but it is a secret that must be earned, not shared." With that the old man turns and walks out of the Shady Corner, "Good day, heroes!"