Plots Without Peer
November 9th, 2010
Hello everyone, and welcome to another exciting Grave Plots. For those of you who don’t yet know, it is Paladin Week here at Necromancers of the Northwest, and so today’s article will be focusing on adventures involving that most exalted of classes. These adventures are all loosely based on the epic deeds of Charlemagne’s twelve peers, the original paladins, derived from some of the better known chansons de geste, a collection of epic poems written in Old French from around the 11th and 12th centuries.
Fierabras the Giant
High Priest Denis Provencal, of the most resplendent and holy city of Erom, has sent word to his brother, the great King Karlamangus, that the grand church of Saint Oliver in Erom has been attacked by the evil king Balan, and that several of the churches most sacred holy relics were stolen by the king’s forces. Karlamangus is outraged to hear that the church was attacked, and even more so to learn that the relics of Saint Oliver have fallen into the hands of heathens, and so swears to his brother that he will send an army into Balan’s foul kingdom to retrieve the missing artifacts. Denis is grateful but warns his brother that Balan’s army is led by a fearsome fire giant knight by the name of Fierabras. Karlamangus, having heard of Fierabras’ incredible size and fighting prowess, has decided that his army is to be led by the greatest heroes of his own kingdom: the PCs.
Summoning the PCs to his courtly chambers, he explains to them the situation and his expectations that they recover the artifacts at any cost, explaining also Fierabras’ dangerous reputation. Karlamangus makes sure that the PCs are up to leading his armies on campaign, and coordinates with them on what kinds of forces they will need for the coming battles. The PCs will be expected to lead his knights into Balan’s eastern kingdom, discover the stolen artifacts and retrieve them safely, and, finally, lay siege to Balan’s capital, defeat his armies, and personally face Fierabras, either slaying him in combat or converting him to Karlamangus’ righteous cause. Following the short mission briefing, the PCs are given command of the forces they requested and sent on this holy quest, leading them into Balan’s evil kingdom and putting them on the path to his foul capital of Zargos.
The journey will not be an easy one, and the dark king Balan is aware of the PCs’ approaching army and is preparing to meet them at the border. This will be the PCs’ first challenge and, without making exceptional use of scouts and spies, a large-scale battle is all but unavoidable. When the PCs arrive in Balan’s kingdom his full army awaits them, with the giant Fierabras out in front, garbed in savage armor and armed with a massive curved sword. The battle is fierce and chaotic, and the PCs are forced to engage in personal combat with common soldiers, Balan’s knights, and even mighty demons called forth by the evil sorcery that backs Balan’s evil.
Seeing the tides turning against Balan’s forces, Fierabras hopes that by destroying the PCs he can still salvage a victory against Karlamangus’s forces. He will instruct his men to try to separate the PCs from each other and from their trusted lieutenants so that he can pick them off more easily. During his battle with one of the PCs (or more, depending on how successful his own men were), Fierabras finds himself unable to triumph against their superior martial skills. Taking this as a sign that he is on the wrong side of the conflict, he offers his surrender to the PCs, volunteering to become a vassal of Karlamangus and join the PCs in pursuit of their just cause.
Balan, aware of the battle’s course, orders his forces to retreat to his stronghold at Zargos, summoning up a sandstorm to cover their retreat. The PCs have won the day and earned Fierabras as an ally; unfortunately, one of the PCs trusted lieutenants (or one of the PCs themselves) have been captured by Balan’s demonic forces (in the case of a captured PC, you may have that player assume the role of Fierabras for the time being). Fierabras, or one of the PCs’ own prisoners, informs them that Balan is keeping the stolen relics in his palace in Zargos, and this is likely where any high-profile prisoners are being held, also. Indeed, the captured PC or lieutenant is being held in the castle, having been given into the care of Fierabras’ sister the lovely Floripas, who has taken a shining to her new prisoner. Floripas is beautiful beyond imaging, wise, kind, but unfortunately possessing a quick temper and a passionate personality. Her prisoner may have to tread very carefully with her or find himself in mortal peril, but beneath her fiery exterior Floripas is actually quite sweet and sincere and willing to make changes in order to pursue a romantic relationship with her prisoner.
When the PCs arrive at the capital and Balan’s armies see that the mighty Fierabras is in the PCs’ service, they desert Balan in order to join the PCs in their glorious cause and fight against their evil king. Balan, enraged by this betrayal, calls upon the dark forces he serves for the power to defeat the PCs, summoning up an army of evil spirits which engage the PCs’ army. This, however, leaves the PCs and Fierabras free to sneak into the palace in order to liberate the captive and recover the stolen relics. When the PCs break into the palace, they are confronted by Balan’s royal guards and evil spirits loyal to the foul king. After battling their way to the treasury, they find the relics, guarded by an enchantment that only those of true virtue (conveniently, the PCs fit the bill) can overcome. When the PCs reach Floripas’ room they find her and her captive getting along smoothly, and upon seeing her brother with the PCs she agrees to convert to their cause if her prisoner will agree to take her as his wife when all the trouble is over.
In the final confrontation with Balan, his dark powers, true to form, abandon him in his hour of need, and he is forced to face the PCs with mortal steel alone. Though he is an accomplished swordsman, he cannot triumph against the PCs and is slain.
Following the adventure king Karlamangus, now ruler of Balan’s lands, grants governance of the northern half to Fierabras for his support, and the southern half to the PCs for a job well done.
The Pilgrimage of the King
This adventure, well-suited to a one shot, begins when Karlamangus is having a discussion with his wife, during which he asks her if her husband is not the most handsome man she has ever met. To his great shame and fury, she answers him nay, explaining that Hugo, ruler of the vast empire of Stambol to the southeast, is ever so slightly more handsome than he. Angry with his wife and determined to set the matter straight for himself, Karlamangus has resolved to make the long journey to Stambol and meet this Hugo in person, and with that he begins to plan his trip.
The PCs, as his most trusted allies and the greatest and most valorous of all the men in his kingdom, are to accompany Karlamangus as his advisors and lifeguards on the journey. On the way to Stambol, the king and his companions are confronted with many dangerous foes: the brigands, roaming dragons and heathen knights that run rampant in the barbarous kingdoms between Karlamangus’ shining empire and the great empire of Hugo.
Along the way they encounter three holy men, each of which tests Karlamangus and his companions with a task. The first holy man asks them to lend him use of their horses so that he might take some wounded travelers to a church for healing. At this church, a second holy man asks that they give his town hope by defeating a marauding dragon. During this battle, Karlamangus is horribly poisoned, and while resting at the church a third holy man instructs the PCs to pray for the well being of their king, claiming that the divine will intervene on his behalf and save his life. Around the same time, and once the PCs are out of sight of the holy men, a cloaked figure offers the PCs a potion that will surely save their king’s life should they only trust in his magic. If the king and his companions complete all three tasks, first by giving up their horses, second by slaying the dragon, and third by refusing the man’s potion and trusting in heavenly forces, the three holy men reveal themselves to be agents of divinity and proclaim Karlamangus to be the greatest of kings and the PCs to be the most worthy of men, rewarding them each with relics of divine providence.
Soon after that they arrive in Stambol, a city truly of wondrous nature, without theft or treachery. They approach the Emperor’s Palace, an extraordinary building made from pure gold and held aloft in the air atop a platform of purest light which revolves gently with the wind. The king and his companions are received by Hugo with full ceremony, and, much to Karlamangus’ personal shame, he clearly sees that Hugo is, in fact, ever so slightly more handsome than he. That night there is a feast, during which all imbibe enchanted wine and boast to be capable of all kinds of impossible tasks; for some ideas: juggling apples while standing astride two galloping horses; walking across water; devouring 50 pots of stew in a single evening; or whatever you can come up with.
In the morning Hugo jokes with Karlamangus about the preceding night’s activity, making light of all the things the PCs boasted, and perhaps throwing in a few jibes about his men drinking too much. Karlamangus, who doesn’t clearly remember the night’s events too well, but feels insulted and certain of the veracity of his knights, proclaims that HIS knights can in fact do all the things they claim. He makes a wager with Hugo, who, of course, doesn’t believe him, that if his men can’t perform all the tasks they claimed after the feast that Sunday, he will become Hugo’s vassal, but if they can perform the tasks in question then Hugo will become his vassal. Hugo agrees and provides Karlamangus with a list of incredible deeds his men are to attempt at the end of the week.
The PCs now have only six days to figure out a way to perform their given impossible tasks, forced to rely on their own skills, wits, and perhaps a bit of divine providence for help. With their king’s honor on the line, the PCs are forced to publicly perform the impossible tasks they were assigned. They have heaven on their side and a great deal of their own personal ingenuity to draw on, and with a little luck and a stalwart drive to succeed they almost cannot fail in even the most impossible of tasks. Emperor Hugo is so impressed by the quality of Karlamangus’ men and the knights’ deep commitment to honesty that, in addition to swearing an oath of allegiance to the great king, he presents each of the PCs with a fantastically magical gift.
Once the affair has concluded the PCs and their king head back to Karlamangus’ own territory, where the king further congratulates the PCs on a job well done before making apologies to his wife and swearing a vow to abstain from the consumption of alcohol.