The Heldannic Order - Vaults of Pandius

ADVENTURES
port of Althaven. Rumors of the haunted
graveyard (beneath which lies a secret
warbird docking station) come to life as
skeletons, zombies, and other lesser
undead suddenly appear. The party,
alone on guard duty, must face this threat
and discover the person controlling them.
The Wizard’s Tower: Helmuth
Grunberger suspects that the root of the
recent troubles can be found in the
swamps across the river. The party must
navigate the swampland to find the
Wizard’s Tower and eliminate what lies
within. Whether it is native godar
(clerics), Thanatic agents, or Alphatian
wizards that they face, successful PCs
should earn the respect of the Order and
likely the Pin and Gorgerin. They should
also have a greater appreciation for the
thematic problems in the campaign as
their training ends.
All Quiet on the
Western Front (4-9)
Now trained and blooded, the
characters are sent to Grauenberg for
their first official assignments. The
Wendarians are concerned about the
security of the caravans passing through
the hills, but suspicions are being raised
by the Fist of Hattias over the
trustworthiness of the people of that
realm – even now entertaining an Alphan
emissary. Their general rancor, however,
might blind the Order to the real threats
until it is too late.
Half-Elf Scum: As Wendarian and
Darokinian representatives discuss recent
caravan attacks, the Fist of Hattias tests
the characters in more ways than one.
They entice party members to join or
bully them as appropriate. They intend to
ambush the Wendarian and Darokinian
agents before they return to Hawknar.
The Return of Helsing: If they
saved the diplomats headed for Hawknar,
the party is graciously received by the
Wendarians and given gifts and evidence
of the trolls (both of which must be given
to their superiors). Occasional troll
sightings and attacks pepper the return
trip, but Grauenberg has no time for
trolls. The vampire hunter Erik Helsing
has returned to Grauenberg, as have the
creatures of the night. The party must
join with Helsing and the Order’s
Experten to deal with the menace.
Isolation at Eisenturm: Lm. Totenfuss
is positive that the vampires originated
from Boldavia, and he sends the party’s
Chapter to Eisenturm to inform the
garrison to be on the lookout. The Fist of
Hattias has gotten to the keep first,
however, and convinced the leadership
that the party are heretical agents of
foreign powers – vengeance for its earlier
rejection. Honor and survival are at stake
when the party faces execution or an inflight
beat-down aboard a warbird
(referee’s choice).
The Woman of the Mountains:
Escaping from their previous
predicament, the party receives a vision
of Vanya pointing to the distant Menguls.
There within the many mountain caves,
the party must find an ancient lion’s skin
draped upon the shoulders of a frost
giantess. This shall be their token of
innocence when the PCs return to
Grauenberg. Beasts and monsters of all
kinds lie in wait, and the troll menace
continues to gather. The party might even
discover the existence of the wyrm
Thelucidr. [The true goal of the quest –
Ed.]
Beneath the Surface: Returning from
the mountains, the party encounters
Pflenzen. The small village and its
undersized garrison have twin problems:
trolls from beyond the hills and
“disappearances” beneath the Lorelei.
The characters are called upon to stop
both. The troll issue seems straight
forward, but are the disappearances the
result of nixies, drowned maidens, or the
Skrimsl?
Troll Nation: The characters finally
return to Grauenberg with the lion skin,
but they are hauled before the local
Synod. At the gathering, they present the
skin, which transforms into a real lioness
and savagely kills any Fist members
present. She then chastises those who
remain while proclaiming the innocence
of the party. Their place restored, the
party must muster Grauenberg division
and go to war with the trolls.
Nithian Legacy (10-14)
Success has raised the stature of the
party, and various leadership posts are
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available. Now Ethengar horsemen have
been spotted in the vicinity of Hayavik,
but as the characters investigate matters,
they are slowly drawn into the affairs of
the Priests of the Rock and Nithia’s
legacy to the region.
Hayavik: Fearful that the Ethengar will
take advantage of the Knights’ current
state, the characters are sent to investigate
the cursed ruins. A tribal horde is indeed
organizing nearby, but more sinister
activities await the PCs as bizarre and
disturbing magic and undead forms are
revealed.
The Race to Thurgau: The horde has
made a bee-line for the isolated village of
Thurgau. The characters must pull out all
the stops to defeat 1,000 of Ethengar’s
finest warriors.
Troll-born: The battle with the
horsemen, whatever the outcome, has
cost the Order and the characters’
commands. Replacements are
desperately needed, and eyes fall upon
the oft-ignored southern barbarians. The
characters must gather 120 men (3
Chapter’s worth) for service. Obtaining
the men presents a moral dilemma for the
characters: do they behave as the Order
has done in the past, taking what they
need? Or is there another way? And
while the party deliberates, dark forces
plague the dispersed barbarians amid
prophetic shouts that the Dead One has
risen.
The Cult of Gylgarid: The barbarians
cautiously point to the Priests of the Rock
as the true source of their troubles. This
cult is an abomination to both the Order
and the native faith, and it must be cast
down. [This a variant approach to the
second part of X13 Crown of Ancient
Glory -Ed.]
The Ghost of Lion Castle: Amid the
records at Gyl Erid are many mentions to
a great fortress that rested upon the
Ethengar Grasslands as a lion in repose.
The castle is said to move across the
grassland, attested to in Ethengar
legends. It holds great and terrible
secrets which cannot be allowed to fall
into the wrong hands, but beware. Those
who enter the Lion Castle, once home to
the Nithian mage Sargon, do not return.
If any clerics survived the attack on Gyl
Erid, they too will be here. [This a