Part Two of converting the Pathfinder: Kingmaker adventure path to Dark Sun for 5th edition D&D. As always, let me know if I've goofed, or if you there's something specific you want to see!
In my last post, I left off at the end of Part One of Stolen Land, with the PCs having just dealt with a small grou of bandits. From here, the options open up, and the PCs have a larger area of the Stolen Lands opened up to explore, this area being the Verdant Belt (I can't resist the callback to Troy Denning's The Verdant Passage, and it fits "the Greenbelt" just so perfectly). I think it's best if we assume that the Verdant Belt is an area with some scrubby vegetation, and a few trees- not the full-on rainforest of the Forest Ridge, but still a fertile place that's quite desirable to settle in. If there are settlers following the PCs by a few days or weeks, this gives them a good place to have other members of their 'character tree' - replacement or alternate characters who can substitute in if one of them is killed, or ends up not being what makes someone happy to play. I'll go location-by-location: A. Oleg's Trading Post: We briefly touched on this in the last post- it's a smallish trading post, probably a one or two-storey adobe building with some light walls and stable for a few kanks. With the immediate threat of Happs and his bandits gone, the trading post is likely to start expanding as more people come through the area. Jhod Kavken, who arrives after the PCs, is a elemental cleric of Earth who arrives after the PCs, seeking some moral calm after lynching someone who accidentally turned out to be a Defiler. He might ask the PCs to seek out and clear the Temple of the Rock Drake, later. B. Warrior's Cairn: This cairn once housed a powerful lieutenant of one of the Champions of Rajaat, dating back to the Cleansing Wars. Their body bears a ring of life-shaped wood, but nothing else about the body is usable- the armour has long sinc rotted away, and only a few flakes of rust hint that they were once honoured enough to be buried with a metal weapon. C. Trap-filled gorge: A local wildlife trapper by the name of Breeg Orlivanch has littered this gorge with sharpened spikes made from bone and wooden poles tied together, as well as others hidden under the sand. D. Bokken's Hut: Bokken is a hermitic druid, one who would like to be left alone. So long as no-one is actively damaging his chosen lands, he suffers visitors, and might ask them to go and bring him Fangberries, so that he can craft better potion-fruits. He would like the Verdant Belt to become a safer place, and is happy to become a dependable source of potion-fruit in the region. E. Dead Trapper: Since faerie dragons aren't a thing in Athas, this gives a good opportunity to reinforce the world's deadliness. A nest of speckled Hurrum beetles (able to distract their prey with psionics) nearby the dead trapper might give PCs a hint of what caused Orlivanch to fall afoul of his own traps. F. Meenlock Nest: A pair of Meenlocks have a small nest high in a cactus grove here, replacing the faerie dragon Perlivash and the grig Tyg Titter-Tut. These are vicious predators that will steal from or harm the PCs a little at a time, and will attack or abduct a helpless PC if they ever have a chance, trying to drag them away to area O to transform them into more of their twisted kind. G. Cactus Grove: This grove of health cacti can be eaten for sustenance and absorbed water. A swarm of 3 Baazrags, stuffed to bursting with the moist flesh of the cacti, can be found here the first time the PCs arrive. While still dangerous, they're stuffed and have disadvantage on their attack rolls and saving throws. H. Centipede's Nest: This area, strewn with chewed and shattered bones, hiddes the lair of a gigantic centipede, about 20 feet long and able to lash out with incredible swiftness, carrying prey back into its deep hole. At the bottom is one of the Sun Lord's bandits, well-chewed but carrying a carved-bone emblem depicting his mask and with a scrawled map to the treasure buried in area M. I. Hot Springs: This area of sulfurous hot springs hosts a pair of warty-skinned giant frogs, with a psionic power to cause their victims to become incredibly thirsty. They prey on any creatures approaching the springs, hoping to drag them under the water and drown them. J. Temple of the Rock Drake: Surrounded by thorny growth for hundred of yards, the area is dominated by a boulder laboriously carved into the blunt likeness of a rock drake. Inside is a cleric of the elemental earth who desecrated the temple in times long ago, sacrificing the last of the elemental drakes and becoming a mutated elemental creature guarding this temple. If defeated, the pool of pure elemental dust can be used to treat wounds until the next sundown. Jhod Kavken might ask the PCs to clear the temple so that he can cleanse it and take up residence here. K. Bandit Camp: Detailed later. L. Gold Mine: This area can be used to set up a gold mine, which can be sent back to Tyr (or another city) to buy resources. Although gold is not a terribly useful metal on Athas, it is still valued for jewelery and decoration purposes, as well as forging magical items. M. Forgotten Cache: Here, one of the Sun Lord's bandits buried some treasure stolen from a Defiler they killed, before falling victim to the giant Centipede in area H. The treasure consists of a fine obsidian dagger, a bone ring (nice, but not magical), a wand of Burning Hands, and a spellbook with the rotted remains of several spells (which might allow a PC to learn the arts of arcane magic if they want to multiclass). N. Clear Pool: A small pool of pristine water seeps up from beneath the earth here, surrounded by lush vegetation. If the dangerous stranglevines are cleared away, the water can be drunk, and it is absolutely pure- those who drink it are fully refreshed, and gain inspiration, if they do not have it. However, the waters are muddied and consumed quickly, and so only about ten creatures can gain this benefit over the course of a month. After this, the water level has dropped down to below the ground, and the vegetation begins to wilt. Anyone Defiling this area will gain great benefit, but the spring will never flow again. It must be kept safe from desecration. O. Meenlock Lair: This area contains an old ruin in an area undermined by silt-flows and now fallen away. Here, a trio of Meenlocks have made their lair, and they transform any who fall into their grasp. P. Tuskgutter's Lair: Here, a vast Boneclaw Baazrag by the nickname of Old Tuskgutter makes its lair, isolated from others of its kind. The irritable beast attacks any creature that comes nearby, when it is not roaming the lands looking for a fight. Q. Rickety Bridge: The rickety bridge crosses a canyon thirty or more feet deep here, with near-sheer walls. Travelling out of the canyon requires travel of several miles in either direction, so the bridge is a valuable chokepoint. R. Gith Lair: This underground lair under a an ancient dead tress is infested by a tribe of Gith. This area is detailed in Section 4. S. Nettles' Crossing: Davik Nettles, once a ferryman who could convey travellers and bandits across the silt flats on his ferry, was murdered by the Sun Lord here and his hatred transformed him into a unique psionic undead creature. He can use his Levitate psionic power to float above the silt, and can be called by blowing one of the Inix horns at either end of the ferry-line. While maddened by hatred, he hungers for vengeance on the Sun Lord, and might be persuaded to spare and even assist the PCs in their journey. T. Dead Nightmare Beast: As a dead unicorn really doesn't fit Athas, I decided to go with something that can hint at the incredible power of Nyrissa, our 'campaign BBEG'. So a dead Nightmare Beast works well- it's spawned from new magic, something that didn't exist in the ancient times when Pyreen ruled the planet, and it's more evocative of how dangerous something must have been to overcome this creature the size of a Mekillot and clearly incredibly dangerous. However, that it's not rotting (in fact, having some grass growing from underneath its carcass might be weird enough to warrant investigation!), although one of its enormous tusks has been almost surgically sheared off should also draw some curiosity. This feels like enough of a clue to leave for later. U. Silt Crossing: This area has a known area of 'shallows' in the silt basins that criss-cross the Stolen Lands. However, these particular shallows are haunted by a pair of juvenile Silt Horrors- tentacled beasts that will attempt to drag down and suffocate any unwary adventurers. These are only small spawn, enough to bring down a human at their best. One of their previous prey was an adventurer and wanderer, whose pack contains a variety of gems and carved objects, as well as a valuable half-scale armour set and a map, tucked away in an old hollow bone tube, that can reveal some of the Stolen Land's secrets. V. Trapped Crodlu: A Crodlu has become trapped in a sinkhole here, and is exhausted and close to death from thirst. It will attack most creatures approaching, although the distance may allow a ranger or druid to befriend and free the poor animal. W. Fangberry Thicket: The thicket of Fangberries here are painful and difficult to harvest, but are also infested by several swarms of spiders, adding yet another hazard. The spiders are not harmed by the spines of the Fangberries due to their size, making them quite dangerous in this context. X. Silt Crossing: The silt basins come to a shallow area here, this one thankfully free of any Silt Horrors. Y. Halfling Village: This area is detailed in Part Five, but holds a small village of halflings who are at war with the Gith in Area R. They might be turned into allies (hopefully not slaves, unless you have some really nasty PCs). Z. Sun Lord's Fort: This area is detailed in Part Six. Tune back in next week for Part 3: The Bandit Camp! Also posted on Game Masters Stash on 11 September 2020. Comments are closed.
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