Unlit World - Scenarios
Scenarios in the Unlit WorldLast Updated:
For a Handful of Divine Dollars [11th-13th]

This page is for the scenarios that I take the time to more fully prepare in the Unlit World. When I am bothered to even make notes to what I do and don't do. Usually I don't - but this time I do. See?

For a Handful of Divine Dollars

Setup: After a particularly harsh encounter with an Ancestral Avenger, three player character drow have just been resurrected with a miracle, and have been presented with a contract of resurrection by the cleric that called them back from the dead.
As a result, the player characters are quite strapped for cash, and need to earn quite a lot of cash - now. As it happens, the player characters can do a favor for the cleric - for a suitable payment, of course.
This setup can be used any time when player characters are indebted to a particular cleric, as a lead-in to this scenario. It is quite high level, as the player characters in this case were 11th - 13th level when this scenario was run.

Background: The highest ranking priest of Abbathor in Thorbarkel is the Miser of Mithril, Duranok. He has been a priest of Abbathor for about half a millennium, and doesn't seem much worse for the wear. Lately, he's been somewhat annoyed about a temple of One Eye, Gruumsh, that has grown up in the outskirts of Thorbarkel. The filthy half-orc high priest, one Ghuk Bloodspear, refuses to pay the proper taxes to the Trove Lord, and therefore requires a lession. Preferably of the fatal kind.
However, as Ghuk and his followers are fairly powerful and numerous, Duranok does not want to take a too-active hand in the destruction of the temple of He-Who-Never-Sleeps. Therefore, these drow that he has recently called back from the dead, are as sent from the gods (eyeing the roof of the cave skeptically).
Let's say, hypothetically, that he were to leave some money and other valuables on a table nearby the drow. Them, being thieving drow (said as a statement of fact, and not as an insult), might decide to take the money and the valuables. Now, if the drow were to sack the temple of Gruumsh later on, who could blame Duranok? After all, he was even robbed by the filthy dark elves... Speaking hypothetically, of course.

Battleplan: Basically, this is a raze-the-temple sort of scenario. What you need, is a suitable map for a fairly rough-and-tumble sort of temple, and perhaps a few foldups for the main antagonists in the temple. If you're ambitious, create separate foldups for the goon squad - oh, sorry, 'common worshiper' at the temple.

The Temple: The orcs that are at Thorbarkel are mainly one thing - mercenaries. They are very good at what they do, and therefore they don't come cheap either. Though their spiritual leader is Ghuk Bloodspear, their martial leader is Bhakka the Tall, a female half-orc. A mated pair, Ghuk and Bhakka are the dynamic duo that keeps this mercenary unit together. Their lieutenants are Zok the Pale, something as unusual as an orc monk. The other lieutenant is Tark Hammerblow. Their temple is somewhat tumbled down - and is, in fact, very old. Much, much older than anyone suspects, as it was originally built by Tharizdun cultists. Over the centuries, many cults, brotherhoods and other faiths have used this temple for their own purposes, but noone has ever penetrated - or, indeed, bothered to penetrate - the Sign of Tharizdun that is still concealed within the temple.

Dramatis Personae: