Sequence of Events
To begin this adventure your players will need to gain possession of the gold portion of the Starfall coin. If you’re playing a longer game and are using this adventure as a fun side-quest you may:
• Seed this coin in as loot
• A reward for completing a different quest
• Mention that a coin in your player’s stash seems different from the rest.
This’ll allow you to deploy the rest of the adventure at a time that feels appropriate to you. If you’re playing this adventure as a stand-alone you’ll give this portion of the coin to your players right at the beginning of the game, and provide them with an explanation as to how they came across it that suits the party and sets them on their way to complete the quest. Examples could include:
• Being hired by an eccentric collector to search out more information about the coin
• The party being treasure hunters themselves
• Discovering a mysterious coin and wanting to know more.
Once you’re ready to begin the quest you can start to describe the characters seeing a fiery comet in the sky each night.
Once your players have the gold portion of the coin the adventure is primed to begin. They’ll no doubt be curious about their new mysterious item! The players may perform any sort of history or investigation style check that would be appropriate to the system you are using, with a medium level of difficulty (e.g. DC 10-13). Regardless of the success or failure of this check, let them know they have never seen a coin like this before, and that it is likely more valuable than the simple gold it’s made from. If they did succeed on the check you can provide them with the additional information that the coin looks very old, but it has echoes of similarities with other coins from this area meaning that it likely isn’t foreign, just ancient.
Allow your players to come up with different ways to search for information about the coin and where to get answers. Example solutions include:
• Searching for information in old books – Medium high difficulty (e.g. DC 13-17): After many hours of searching the characters discover that this coin is from a set of three. It is said that the three coins united are the key to unlocking a vault filled with treasure long lost to time. They were split up for an unknown reason and then lost as they changed hands over many years. At this stage only historians or rare coin collectors are likely to know about them.
• Going directly to a historian or collector – Medium difficulty (e.g. DC 10-13): Failure of this check simply means that the historian or collector they speak with has never seen something like this before, but will direct them to someone who might (please see section: Archivist Deylan). Success will lead them directly to a coin and metallurgy expert, Archivist Deylan.
• Your players may get creative: Encourage this! Whatever solution they come up with, you can find ways to subtly bring them back to finding an expert, and a meeting with Archivist Deylan.
Archivist Deylan
Archivist Deylan is an older woman with grey, short cropped hair, wearing the off-white robes of a scribe. She has an antiques and oddities shop in the merchants district of the city. Genial and patient, Deylan will happily chat for hours about the history and value of antiques and relics. She will exchange small pleasantries with the characters before getting down to business. The Archivist won’t recognize the coin right away, and will need to consult a very old looking book. She will discover and provide the following information:
• The coin is over 300 years old
• It was created as a set of 3, with each piece being split up and lost as they changed hands over many years
• Once the coin is reunited with its other pieces it is supposedly the key to a great treasure
• The only piece whose location is currently known is the silver crescent, in the hands of noted collector Jerimiah Kintz
• The location of the treasure has been lost to time
• It can only be found and unlocked on certain dates and times
• Jerimiah can be found in the Old District of the city, and the Archivist will provide directions
Heading to the Old District the players have no trouble finding Jerimiah’s manor. Clearly once opulent and imposing, the building is now in a crumbling state of disrepair. A very old and creaky servant will open the door, mentioning that they don’t get many visitors, before inviting them inside. The interior of the manor isn’t any better, with each hall and room filled to the roof with books, boxes, crates and glass cases. The party will be led into a sitting room dusty with disuse and the servant will go to retrieve Jerimiah.
If the party asks about the room you may have them make a perception style check at an easy to medium difficulty (e.g. DC 7-10). Describe many strange objects in glass cases, mouldering books, and a single large statue of an elderly man in the corner of the room.
• If the players succeeded on their perception style check: They notice the statue make a small movement and they are not surprised when it suddenly comes to life and attacks.
• If they fail: They are surprised, and the statue gets a round of combat against them before they are able to retaliate. Have the players determine initiative as appropriate to the system you are using, as they encounter The Librarian.
The Librarian
After three rounds of combat Jerimiah, an elderly man who looks exactly like the statue they are fighting, will burst into the room sputtering and shouting. He will cry out “Prohibere Lapis” and the statue will freeze in place. He apologizes and explains that the statue is called The Librarian, and helps to keep his precious and rare objects safe, or it’s supposed to. Jerimiah is reluctant to answer questions unless he is shown the coin the players are carrying, at which point he becomes very energetic and excited. He will let the characters know:
• This is one piece of the legendary Starfall Coin, minted back during the reign of the Tyrant Boshal Verden, represented on the coin itself as a dragon.
• Boshal commanded that all the gold of the land be brought to him and hoarded in his vault.
• After years of servitude, a group rebelled against him sealing him away, and the land was freed.
• The rebellion happened supposedly under a fiery red star
• Jerimiah has the silver piece of the coin. He views it as the most valuable item in his collection
After some cajoling he is willing to provide it to the characters, if they promise to share a reasonable share of the treasure with him, as he has fallen on hard times and needs the gold.
• He doesn’t know where the vault is, but stories suggest it resides somewhere in a valley to the south.
• He knows that the time when the vault can be opened is linked to celestial phenomena.
Jerimiah has no other information of use to the characters, but will wish them luck and give them the silver coin. Provide your players the silver coin now.
The Stargazers
The characters can leave the city when ready, heading south. Describe a few days of travel heading along a little dirt path, crossing very few other travelers, and mountain ranges growing larger on their left. After three days of travel, just as the sun is beginning to go down for the evening, the players will hear music in the air. They will come across a colorful caravan pulled off to the side of the little-used path, a small fire beside it with the smell of roasting vegetables emanating from a pot slung over the flames. A troupe of performers are practicing their arts, tumbling, juggling, and tuning instruments as they wait for dinner. When they notice the characters they will invite the party to join at the fireside. This troupe of bards is called The Stargazers; their complement of performers include: Billy Knave, a card sharp and close up magician, Jennika Bellwin, juggler and tumbler, Zebin Yos, puppeteer and ventriloquist, Medoro Hofter, knife thrower, and their leader Lucent Mondar, musician.
They will provide companionship, and offer a share of the food, demonstrating their various acts to the players before asking the players to perform any special talents they may have. Allow the players to each take a turn coming up with and explaining something their character would do, and apply any skill style check that would be appropriate to the talent to determine an outcome. No matter what happens with these checks, the troupe will applaud politely and congratulate the party. Finally, as the darkness closes in and the stars begin to shine, Lucent will take out a beautiful and expensive looking lute, and will sing the following song:
Fellstar’s Glow -
In ages turned, a tale is spun,
A warlord bold, whose reign begun.
He gathered gold with greed untold,
In shadows deep, his treasures hold.
Cycles every score and ten,
A hoard once closed may open again.
Secrets locked in metal cold,
Words writ in copper, silver, gold.
When stars alight, in skies they roam,
The blade shall turn, to call them home.
Across the shooting starling’s glow,
Lies the secrets of long ago.
Seekers brave, with hearts afire,
In quest of dreams and ancient desire.
They follow stars, through night they tread,
To break the chains that bind the dead.
Beyond the fiery arrow’s gleam,
Lies the realm of an ageless dream.
So heed the call, oh travelers bold,
Flee forests dark and mountains cold.
The vault awaits, beneath the sky,
Where echoes of time forever lie.
Cross the blazing comet's path,
Find your rest and reward at last.
The players may make a history or perception style check of a medium difficulty (e.g. DC 10-13) to glean the following information from the song –
• Every 30 years a comet streaks across the sky in this geographic area
• When it does so, it signifies a time where the sealed vault of the old tyrant king may be opened.
• Those looking to travel the path and discover the fault must follow a clue in the stars
• There may be a secret hidden in the coins which will help point the way.
Once this song is sung, Lucent will bring out the final piece of the coin, show it to the party, and ask if they have seen anything like it. He explains that not many come along this path, and that he wonders if they might be pursuing the treasure. He says he has spent many years searching for answers and digging for clues; in addition to the copper piece Lucent also has some of the language on the coin decoded, and he offers to share it with the party if they give him access to the other pieces of the coin. If the party makes any sort of an insight style check of medium difficulty (e.g. DC 11) they will detect that he is lying, and intends to betray them. Either way he offers to let them stay the night at the Stargazers camp.
If the players attack the Stargazers for any reason, see Stargazers Encounter below.
Stargazers Encounter
If the players accept the offer to stay the night, the Stargazers will wait until the party falls asleep before attacking them to steal the coin pieces. See Stargazers Encounter below, but allow the Stargazers one round of combat before determining initiative.
If the players decide to leave immediately the Stargazers will try to convince them to stay, but will let them go.The next time the party attempts to perform a rest of any king the Stargazers will attack. If the party has set a watch they may perform a medium-difficult perception style check (e.g. DC 13-17). On a failure they are surprised and the Stargazers get a round of combat before initiative is determined. On a success see Stargazers Encounter below.
This battle should be challenging, but your party should ultimately come out victorious. Feel free to scale the encounter as required. If appropriate, the Stargazers may also surrender when it is clear that the battle is going against them. Once the Stargazers have been defeated the party will find the final piece of the coin and the partially decrypted cipher.
Provide them with the copper coin piece and the cipher parchment now.
If you are running this adventure from level one it is recommended that you level your party up to level 2 here.
With all the pieces of the coin and the partially decrypted cipher in their possession, the party will need to break the code on the coin and determine the path they should take. Once they have had a chance to solve the coin and talk, you may describe the clear night sky with a comet seemingly holding position above. From where the party is the path forks, the road curving in three possible directions. The party will need to use the clues provided so far to decide which path to take.
The Full Cipher
To aid them, you may show them the Starscape artwork now.
If the party chooses incorrectly they will travel for days along a path that gets more and more inhospitable. Food supplies dwindle, and freshwater is difficult to come by. Finally, with exhaustion setting in and no end in sight, they will reach a wooded area willed with twisted trees and dark shadows.
Misty Woods
As the players traverse the woods, they are assailed by eerie whispers that seem to emanate from the very trees around them. Shadows dance between the branches, forming unsettling shapes that flicker in and out of existence. The party will begin to see phantoms in the corner of their eye and feel the temperature drop sharply.
- Whispering Shadows: The trees and foliage of the forest come to life, manifesting as spectral forms that whisper haunting words and create illusions to disorient the party.
- Chilling Presence: The air within the Whispering Woods is icy cold and saps morale, causing all creatures within it to suffer disadvantage on all saving throws.
- Spectral Whispers: The Whispering Woods can use its spectral whispers to inflict psychic damage on the party. All creatures within the woods must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or take 1d8 psychic damage.
- Illusory Maze: The Whispering Woods can create illusory obstacles, such as impassable thickets or misleading paths, that confuse and disorient the party.
- Illusory Attacks: The farther into the woods the party travels, the more the shadowy darkness will attempt to repel them. Imagine frightening entities that the characters may face, roll dice behind the screen, and decide the appropriate amount of escalating damage to deter them.
- An easy (e.g. DC 5-10) intelligence, survival, history, or any other appropriate style check should allow the players to infer that they are heading the wrong way.
If the players choose the correct direction they will be moving perpendicular to the path of the comet, moving along the path of the sword constellation towards the hilt, away from the blade.
As the players continue along the path they will begin to notice changes in the environment. Small animals skittering along the sides of the rarely trod road seem to have a glint of scales along with fur. Lizards sunning themselves on rocks open up frills as the party passes, some opening thin and leathery wings flit away at any attempt to approach. The plant life becomes more withered and dry, and the ground cracked. Black, spindly trees begin to appear little by little around them until they find themselves in a forest of blue and purple leaves. To their left a mountainside begins to grow, grey stone dotted with scrubby trees. Ask the players to perform a perception style check of an easy difficulty (e.g. DC 7-10); upon a success they will hear the sound of a scream around the next bend. Approaching, they will discover a pack of four scaled and frilled creatures, wolflike in size and general shape but with beady reptilian eyes, circling and surrounding a young man who is spinning in place trying to keep them all in view.
Lupacerta Encounter
Guardians of The Village
Once this combat is over the person the party has rescued will introduce himself as Heimrech Esto, and will let them know that he lives in a small village just a little further down the path. He will offer them rest and food as thank you for his rescue.
Going with him, the party will be taken to a little group of finely made wooden houses built naturally into the surrounding environment. Little shelters have also been carved into the cliffside to the left, and as the characters enter the village many people stop to watch.
The party is invited to dine with the villagers, and share the story of how they came to be out in such a remote place. The villagers are reluctant to answer questions unless the players are fully honest about what they’re here for and show the coin. Once that happens, the villagers will divulge that they are the descendants of the rebellion who locked away the tyrant Boshal Verden, tasked with ensuring that his evil can never again descend upon the land. The villagers will explain that he was locked away inside the very vault which contains his treasure, and releasing him would bring great destruction. They will then ask what the party’s true intentions are regarding the vault. If the party agrees to help cleanse the vault of any remaining threat, the villagers will show them where the vault lies. If the party says it’s all about the treasure, the villagers say they won’t harm the party, but they won’t help either.
If the party has no help, they must make a successful medium to high difficulty (e.g. DC 15-17) survival style check to navigate the forest and discover an odd patch of cliffside where the vault is likely hidden. A further investigation style check of medium difficulty (e.g. DC 13-15) is required to find the seams of a door, and the impression of the full coin they carry. If they do not succeed on these checks they may try again on the next day, or they may go back to the village to ask for help.
If the party has the help of the villagers, when they are ready they’ll be led to the area of the cliffside that contains the vault door. The villagers aren’t quite sure where the door is exactly, but they provide assistance to the party in looking for it. The party must make an investigation style check of medium difficulty (e.g. DC 11) which they may make at advantage, to discover the seams of the vault door, and the impression of the coin sunk into the stone.
Either way, once the party has placed the coin into the impression, dust and small stones will fall and a rumbling will shake the cliffside as the vault door slides into the ground, leaving a dark gaping maw of an entrance, and cut stone steps into the cavern below. The villagers will not come with the party, promising to stay topside and to block up the door again if the battle goes against the party, to protect the world from the evil of Boshal Verden.
As the party descends, the air gets strangely warmer. The steps begin to feel slippery, and footing is harder to keep. If the players examine the steps they will discover that they seem to be very smooth and golden, as though metal had been poured over them and hardened. They descend for long minutes before hitting the bottom of the vault. Around and before them are large piles of what appear to be melted and hardened precious metals. Gemstones stick out of them at odd angles, and weapons which appear to have partially melted sit here and there amongst the melted display of wealth. Every now and then as the players advance through the vault they will discover what appears to be skeletal remains in various positions and wearing ancient looking armor, all plated in gold as though dipped in it and left to harden. If the players are going quietly, have them make a stealth style skill check of a medium to hard difficulty (e.g. DC 13-17). If they succeed they will be able to sneak up on an enormous black and gold dragon that is sleeping on a huge pile of coins. If they don’t succeed you can narrate one of them knocking loose a spray of coins, and the sound of loud breathing suddenly echoing around the vast vault. The party will then face the following encounter, either with the benefit of being unseen at first, or simply being thrust into combat.
The Dragon
The Ending
Much like the Stargazer’s encounter, this fight should be difficult, but ultimately your party should come out on top. If they seem to be struggling feel free to adapt the encounter to better match their power level, and if they seem to be walking all over their enemies definitely remember Boshal’s ability to heal and control the battlefield with lair and legendary actions.
Once this combat is over the villagers will slowly filter into the vault, looking around in wonder at the vastness of the room, the treasure it contains, and the draconic body of Boshal Verden. The party will be able to loot the vault for anything they can carry with them. Assume that they’ll be able to carry approximately 500 gold worth of treasure in coins, gems, and various antiques per party member. They can always come back for more later, assuming nobody else gets to it in the meantime! The full value of the vault depends on the level band your adventure was using.
- 1-3: Approximately 20,000 additional gold in value
- 4-7: Approximately 60,000 additional gold in value
- 8-10: Approximately 100,000 additional gold in value
Your players have solved the mystery of the Starfall coin, and removed the possibility of a great evil from returning to the world! As you close out the adventure, you may read the following to your players:
Even now the molten gold in the vault is steaming and bubbling as you make your way up the stone steps, the body of the fallen Tyrant Boshal Verdan giving testament to your skills. As you exit the vault into the fresh air you look up to see the stars and the bright arc of the fiery comet above you. The red and orange blaze is beginning to fade from the sky, and the sounds of celebration start to drift towards you from the little village, bereft now of its original purpose, but suddenly free to pursue any future they please. Congratulations adventurers, you’ve solved the mystery of the Starfall, discovered a grand treasure, and removed the threat of a great evil from the world.
Credits
Writing and Story – Michael Paylor
Art, Graphics and Layout – Austin Hartell
Song Lyrics – Michael Paylor
Music and Vocals – Elliott Peschke
With additional help from Mace
Copyright – FoxWing Games 2024