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  KEOI6-02 
   
   
   
   
  Wasteland 
  A One-Round D&D® LIVING GREYHAWKTM  
  Keoland Introductory Adventure 
  Version 1.0 
   
  by Charles Skidmore 
  Reviewer: Keoland Triad 
  Playtesters: X 
   
   
   
  The last few years have seen the Earldom of Linth has been blasted by both physical confrontation and 
  spiritual assault. After a forced evacuation, the court of the land has declared Linth to be habitable again, 
  and a stream of people has started to return to their lands. However, the returning refugees are finding 
  that not everyone left Linth, and that life in the Earldom is about to change.  
   
  Note: This adventure is playable by first level characters only. 
  
  KEOI6-2 Wasteland 
   
  Page 1 
   
  ADVENTURE BACKGROUND 
  The Earldom of Linth has undergone several 
  upheavals in the last three years. First, the 
  peasantry of the Earldom rose up against the 
  ruling class, described in KEO3-3 Will of the 
  People. The initial cause of the uprising was a 
  growing division between the peasantry and the 
  ruling classes, which was exacerbated due to food 
  shortages caused by a massive blight across the 
  land. After an attempt on the Earl’s life was 
  defeated in Will of the People, the spirit of a former 
  Linth Countess, Sera Linth, assaulted the Earl’s 
  heir Hanna in KEO4-5 A Last Dance at Midnight. 
  During this assault, the Earl and his wife were 
  slain despite the best efforts of a group of 
  adventurers to save their family. Unbeknownst to 
  her, Hanna herself was the focal point of the blight 
  spreading across the Linth lands, or more 
  precisely, the family heirloom she wore around her 
  neck was. 
  The Nethernight was a magical artifact wrought by 
  Dispater himself with the aim of bringing ruin to the 
  material plane. When its powers awoke, it drained 
  the ley lines of the Earldom, causing untold harm 
  to the natural fabric of the realm. The blight killed 
  crops, poisoned the water and mutated animal life, 
  slowly turning the entire Earldom into a wasteland. 
  Things might have still been resolved peacefully at 
  this point, had it not been for the assassination of 
  the King of Keoland, Kimbertos Skotti. Through 
  the use of a magic jar spell, an agent of the Iron 
  Cabal possessed Holphin Neheli and struck down 
  the King with the cursed sword Blackrazor. 
  In an insane fit of rage, the new Countess Hanna 
  Linth ordered Knight of the Watch Most Truthful 
  Banshee Lugh Narthistle to lead his forces on a 
  genocidal rampage against the Oerdian people of 
  her realm. A very bloody schism ran through the 
  Earldom of Linth, and with the intensification of the 
  blight, a royal edict was handed down; the 
  Earldom of Linth was to be abandoned in its 
  entirety, on pain of death. 
  With the cessation of the blight in KEO6-3 Baby’s 
  Breath, the royal edict has been lifted, and the 
  populace has started to return to the Earldom, 
  although the rulership of the realm is in question, 
  as Hannah Linth currently is a guest of Dilwych 
  and Averyn Linth has renounced his claim to the 
  Earldom.  
  Now, enterprising merchant companies have been 
  contracted by the crown in an effort to relocate 
  and resupply the Earldom. The first wave of 
  refugees is returning to Linth and they are finding 
  out that even though the blight has cessated, the 
  land is still twisted and poisoned.  
  The 
  Brokenback 
  Merchants 
  are 
  a 
  Keoish 
  merchant consortium run by a pair of brothers, 
  Hadrian (HAY-dree-an) and Artaxerxes (Ar-tuh-
  ZERKS-zeez), with close ties to the Neheli of 
  Keoland. Personal friends of Holphin Neheli and 
  others, these brothers see this as an opportunity 
  to shore up support for their allies which has been 
  steadily eroding over the past year. When they 
  were granted the rights to create a new trading 
  town, the brothers settled on a new site on the 
  northwest of Lake Athetki which is located on a 
  main trade road. The new site is named Yorora in 
  honor of the brothers’ departed mother. If it 
  succeeds, it will be a very lucrative venture. 
  The merchants have put together two caravans. 
  The first, which has already arrived at the site for 
  Yorora, is comprised of well over three hundred 
  craftsmen of all sorts. Designed to be the nucleus 
  for the new town, the total number of people that 
  went with the first caravan is around nine hundred. 
  The second caravan is comprised of another 
  hundred or so people, and a large supply of food 
  and other consumables for the new town. This is 
  the caravan in which the heroes will travel, where 
  they will discover the new Linth. 
  Unfortunately for the merchants and craftsmen 
  who went to found Yorora, there is an unexpected 
  problem: the waters of the lake and river Athetki 
  are poisoned and cause those who drink from 
  them to succumb to a raving sickness which kills 
  them painfully. The new town of Yorora is well on 
  the way of dying from dehydration when the 
  heroes arrive. 
  The reason for the poisoning comes from the 
  source of the river, in the hills of Linth, near the 
  border with the County of Nimlee. When the Royal 
  Standards came to enforce the evacuation of 
  Linth, there were those who refused, either 
  because they could not or would not abandon their 
  homes or loved ones. Tales are told that those 
  who refused to evacuate were killed by either 
  Knights of the Watch or the Keoish Royal 
  Standards. True or not, these stories caused 
  many to band together for safety. One such 
  enclave is the town of Bakersfield. 
  The town of Bakersfield was founded by a simple 
  man, Heinren Bakerson, who refused to abandon 
  
  his elderly parents to the ravages of Linth. Unable 
  to afford passage out of the Earldom, he and his 
  parents traveled as far as they could from their 
  homes in Laketowne. When they could go no 
  farther, they were in the low foothills, thoroughly 
  lost. It must have taken the intervention of a 
  benificient deity, because the three survived and 
  soon more refugees found their way into the 
  foothills, drawn by something they could not name. 
  Banding 
  together, 
  these 
  people 
  created 
  Bakersfield, where all were welcome regardless of 
  race or background. 
  The residents of Bakersfield weathered the Blight 
  as best they could, forming an extremely tight-knit 
  community. However, in the darkest days of the 
  Blight, a change came upon them all. A gnawing 
  hunger overtook all of them, and they found that 
  they could no longer consume regular food. 
  Instead, that which they craved was in the ground 
  near their feet; ores and stones of all varieties.  
  Bakersfield quickly became a town of miners. 
  Within days, they had reopened an old mine 
  located in the hills, and started excavations. 
  During their labors, they discovered a new kind of 
  greenish-brown rock that seemed to satisfy their 
  hunger more than any other. This rock was easily 
  identifiable because after exposed to sunlight it 
  heats up, and when taken from the sun it emits an 
  eerie red glow, as well as a sizeable amount of 
  heat. The residents quickly took to calling it 
  “Heatrock”. 
  Things went as well as could be imagined for 
  Bakersfield for the duration of the rest of the 
  Blight. The only major problem that occurred is 
  that while delving into a particularly lucrative shaft 
  of heatrock, the miners came across a solid stone 
  door, etched in various runes. Foolishly, they 
  decided to break the seal, believing there would 
  be treasures beyond. What they found was a pair 
  of active natural portals to the elemental planes of 
  fire and earth. The creatures that resided near the 
  portal killed several miners and drove the rest out 
  of the mine. 
  Bakersfield has since been forced to start new 
  mines in much less desirable places. The 
  byproducts of this mining are much more 
  dangerous, flooding the river with poisonous 
  waste and contaminating both the river and the 
  lake. 
  Cut 
  off 
  from 
  outside 
  communications, 
  the 
  residents of Bakersfield have no idea that the 
  Blight has ended and the ban lifted. As well, they 
  have no idea that the actions they are taking to 
  survive are slowly killing others downstream. This 
  is where the heroes come in.   
  ADVENTURE SUMMARY 
  In the Introduction, the heroes meet Hadrian and 
  Artaxerxes, leaders of the Brokenback merchants, 
  during a “cattle call” in Niole Dra for guardsmen 
  and adventurers to travel to Yorora with their 
  second caravan. 
  In Encounter One, the heroes meet a few notable 
  NPCs of their caravan and are assigned to be 
  forward scouts.  
  In Encounter Two, the heroes travel through the 
  countryside near the capitol and into the blighted 
  wasteland of Linth. Along the way, they encounter 
  some of Linth’s more dangerous byproducts and 
  are forced to defend themselves. 
  In Encounter Three, the heroes are sent to scout 
  Laketowne ahead of the caravan. Here they will 
  meet a single important NPC and discover the 
  truth of the fate of many who refused to evacuate 
  Linth. 
  In Encounter Four, the heroes complete their 
  travel to Yorora, meet with important NPCs there, 
  and discover that the town is slowly dying. The 
  town leaders ask the heroes to travel upriver to 
  determine the cause of the poisoning. 
  In Encounter Five, the heroes are attacked by 
  wildlife tainted by Linth’s Blight while moving along 
  the river. 
  In Encounter Six, the heroes discover Bakersfield, 
  meet the important NPCs there, and are assured 
  that the town can stop poisoning the water if they 
  have access to the cleaner ore in the mineshafts. 
  In Encounter Seven, the heroes fight past 
  creatures that are guarding the portal, and attempt 
  to seal it.  
  In Encounter Eight, the heroes must return to 
  Yorora as quickly as possible to tell the town that 
  the water of the river is clean again.  
  PREPARATION FOR PLAY 
  As an introductory adventure, it is designed to be 
  one thing above all else: fun. If at any time the 
  players are bogged down or not having fun in an 
  encounter, feel free to move the encounter along 
  in any way possible. 
  As a secondary goal, an introductory module is 
  designed to teach players about a facet of the 
  KEOI6-2 Wasteland 
   
  Page 2 
  
  game with which they might not have much 
  experience. In this case, it is the rules on 
  dehydration as printed in the DMG. For your 
  reference, they are listed again below. 
  Characters might find themselves without food or 
  water and with no means to obtain them. In normal 
  climates, Medium characters need at least a 
  gallon of fluids and about a pound of decent food 
  per day to avoid starvation. (Small characters 
  need half as much.) In very hot climates, 
  characters need two or three times as much water 
  to avoid dehydration. For purposes of this 
  adventure, Linth is still considered temperate 
  climate, despite the boxed text about heat. 
  A character can go without water for 1 day plus a 
  number of hours equal to his Constitution score. 
  After this time, the character must make a 
  Constitution check each hour (DC 10, +1 for each 
  previous check) or take 1d6 points of nonlethal 
  damage.  
  A character can go without food for 3 days, in 
  growing discomfort. After this time, the character 
  must make a Constitution check each day (DC 10, 
  +1 for each previous check) or take 1d6 points of 
  nonlethal damage. 
  Characters who have taken nonlethal damage 
  from lack of food or water are fatigued. Nonlethal 
  damage from thirst or starvation cannot be 
  recovered until the character gets food or water, 
  as needed—not even magic that restores hit 
  points heals this damage. 
  Since this is an introductory adventure, it is 
  understood that the heroes are considerably more 
  fragile than they will be later in their career. To 
  prevent the heroes from dying too many ignoble 
  deaths, allow them to halve the DCs of all saves 
  and damage taken from thirst if they manage to 
  get some water intake, at least half a gallon of 
  water per day. 
  Industrious heroes may attempt to locate other 
  sources of water. Water created through the 
  means of create water is perfectly acceptable to 
  drink, as is water cleansed through purify food and 
  water. Heroes who attempt to undertake lengthy 
  tangents, such as creating their own wells, should 
  be discouraged. As will be come evident, time is of 
  the essence.  
  INTRODUCTION 
  Winter lies upon Niole Dra, but that simply 
  means a heavier set of garments is necessary 
  rather than the heavy furs and clothes of less 
  civilized realms. Pelor’s blessing shines down 
  on the capitol of Keoland as the denizens of 
  the grand city go about their business. Even in 
  the heart of winter, Keoland sprouts with life. 
  For any of a variety of reasons, you find 
  yourself standing in a popular square off of 
  Farrier’s 
  row. 
  The 
  square 
  itself 
  is 
  unremarkable but for the large fountain that 
  dominates the center of it, topped with an 
  alabaster stone statue of Keoland’s leader, 
  King Skotti. The fountain became a popular 
  place to mourn the lost king and place 
  offerings for his soul because of a peculiar 
  discoloration on the statue at the waistline that 
  was only seen after the king’s death. 
  Returned to life and the Lion Throne, the 
  fountain remains a popular location to pray for 
  the health of the king and Kingdom, and it has 
  been said that those who offer true offerings 
  and drink from the waters at the king’s feet 
  find themselves cured of whatever malady aids 
  them. 
  What draws so many to Farrier’s Fountain 
  today is the formation and recruitment of a 
  troop of guards to travel with an important 
  caravan bound for Linth. You hear several 
  rough-looking men remark that the pay will be 
  easy and high, as Linth’s blight has ended and 
  the lands are safe again. 
  This is a suitable opportunity to have the players 
  introduce themselves and their characters. If they 
  are interested in joining the caravan guards, then 
  they are in luck. If they are uninterested, they are 
  soon to find themselves with good incentive to join 
  anyway. 
  After the players have introduced themselves, the 
  crowd grows a bit uneasy from waiting and 
  Hadrian (HAY-dree-an) and Artaxerxes (Ar-tuh-
  ZERKS-zeez) will enter the crowd and begin 
  recruitment for the day. 
  The restlessness of the crowd ceases as two 
  men enter the square from the north. One is 
  tall and muscular, the other short and 
  roundish. They are both obviously of pure Suel 
  ancestry, and they bear an almost identical 
  resemblance to each other…from the neck up, 
  at least. The taller of the pair wears a golden 
  holy symbol of Saint Cuthbert around his neck.  
  Behind 
  the 
  two 
  walk 
  a 
  pair 
  of 
  the 
  most…interesting…creatures you have likely 
  ever laid eyes upon. Quadruped, they look 
  KEOI6-2 Wasteland 
   
  Page 3 
  
  much like horses, save for a pair of odd humps 
  sticking out of their back.  
  As the pair passes the line, the taller one stops 
  suddenly and looks at you. The animal he 
  leads almost runs into him, but he seems not 
  to notice. Watery blue eyes meet yours and he 
  says in a deep voice  
  “You.” 
  He smiles and waves for you to follow him. 
  Artaxerxes and Hadrian will head to a smallish tent 
  flanked by two guards bearing polearms and 
  wearing surcoats that have a picture of the 
  strange beasts bearing a rider on the breast. A 
  Knowledge (Nature) check DC 10 will tell the 
  heroes that the animals are camels, and a 
  Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) check DC 10 
  will tell the heroes that this is the personal livery of 
  the Brokenback merchant consortium. 
  When the brothers enter, they will quickly sit in a 
  pair of chairs, and gesture for the heroes to have a 
  seat on chairs that the guards bring for them. 
  Without saying anything, Hadrian will openly 
  examine them while Artaxerxes will look down and 
  play with the holy symbol around his neck.  
  Hadrian will then speak: 
  “Well, friends, introductions are in order. I am 
  Hadrian, and this is my brother Artaxerxes. 
  Together we run the Brokenback merchant 
  consortium. Today we are doing the last of our 
  hiring for a second caravan to Yorora, in Linth. 
  Tell me who you are and why my brother 
  thinks you are so important.” 
  Hadrian will listen to the heroes, noting their 
  responses. Even if they simply say that they have 
  no idea why Artaxerxes chose them, he will nod 
  and listen. 
  After the heroes are done, Hadrian will speak 
  again. 
  “Well, my brother claims divine guidance in his 
  actions. I have no such saint to guide my 
  steps. However, I trust in his judgement. Will 
  you accept a commission to travel to Yorora as 
  guards for our caravan? I can offer you each 
  the sum of four hundred and fifty gold for the 
  trip.” 
  Artaxerxes suddenly looks up and speaks a 
  jumble of words. They come slowly, as if it 
  takes great effort to force them past his lips. 
  “You must go to Yorora. There is much anger 
  which will need to be quelled, an old wound 
  that must begin to be healed. An old enemy 
  forged into a new friend. A mistake unmade 
  and a trophy unstuffed.” 
  Seemingly overcome by his fit of words, 
  Artaxerxes lowers his head and rocks back 
  and forth in his chair. Hadrian quickly steps 
  behind him and starts to soothe him. 
  If the heroes immediately agree: 
  “Outstanding! You leave in two hours time. 
  Speak to my quartermaster outside and he will 
  tell you what you need to bring and where you 
  can obtain it.” 
  If the heroes decline, or seem disinterested, 
  Artaxerxes will speak: 
  “There will be no growth in Yorora without 
  your aid. I beg you to go, in the name of 
  Cuthbert.” 
  Hadrian looks at his brother askance, then 
  back to you. 
  If the heroes continue to decline, award them no 
  XP and no gold, this adventure is over for them. 
  After the heroes agree, Hadrian will thank them 
  and usher them out of the tent to go see Bella the 
  quartermaster. 
  Some basic information the heroes might ask for: 
  1. Yorora is the name of the new town being 
  founded by the Brokenback Consortium. It is 
  named for the departed mother of the brothers. 
  2. This is the second of two caravans to go to 
  Yorora. After this caravan, the town is expected to 
  become self-sufficient. 
  3. This caravan is smaller than the first, and 
  contains mostly family of the first caravan as well 
  as supplies. 
  4. Yorora is located on the northwest shore of 
  Lake Athetki, on what will become a hub of trade 
  in the new Linth.  
  ENCOUNTER 1: THE 
  QUARTERMASTER 
  Bella is a female dwarf, hired by the Brokenback 
  merchants 
  to 
  act 
  as 
  their 
  supplies 
  and 
  quartermaster. She is quite young for a dwarf, 
  under fifty, and bears what can only be described 
  as a disturbing resemblance to a male dwarf. 
  KEOI6-2 Wasteland 
   
  Page 4 
  
  Despite this, and the rudeness she invariably gets 
  from just about everyone, she performs her job 
  well. 
  When the players approach her: 
  You see a young female dwarf directing people 
  near the fountain itself. By the description, this 
  must be the Brokenback quartermaster, Bella. 
  As you approach, she snaps out: 
  “An who’re you? Dun tell me that lack-wit 
  Artaxerxes 
  is 
  sendin’ 
  YOU 
  to 
  me? 
  By 
  Moradin’s twisted toes, you have no more 
  business bein’ on the road than an unhatched 
  egg.” 
  After grousing, Bella will direct the heroes to get 
  their basic gear. This is a good opportunity to 
  introduce new players to the Goods and Services 
  section of the PHB. Normally it is assumed that 
  upkeep costs handle much of the drudge labor in 
  this area but for this adventure it is essential to 
  know how much of everything the heroes have at 
  their disposal.  
  During the walkthrough, Bella will continually 
  grouse and gripe about the size of the caravan 
  (100 or so non-combatant types), the amount of 
  wagons needed to get that many people moving 
  (another 200 or so, with supplies) and the amount 
  of animals that had to be procured (400 or more 
  horses and mules). Bella will reluctantly admit that 
  even though this undertaking is massive, it’s only 
  a third of the size of the first caravan. 
  After the heroes are settled in with their gear, Bella 
  will walk the heroes to the staging area where they 
  will meet the caravan’s mercenary captain, 
  Drekken.  
  Drekken is a short and swarthy Oerdian man who 
  dresses in typical mercenary fare: chainmail 
  hauberk and a longsword. He will quickly and 
  efficiently eye the heroes, assign them each a light 
  warhorse “to be returned in the shape it was 
  given” and tell them their duties. 
  Drekken efficiently gets you settled in with 
  your mounts from the stables. Patting his own 
  roan, he speaks to you. 
  “You’re to be our advance scouts. The 
  kingdom typically has little problem with 
  banditry but once we enter Linth all bets are 
  off. The stories I’ve heard there are all ugly. 
  You are to move a mile ahead of the caravan 
  once we get moving, deal with any troubles 
  you can, and report those you can’t.” 
  If pressed for further information, Drekken is 
  remarkably ill-informed. He will say that it’s simply 
  his job to be prepared and that he doesn’t really 
  expect anything to attack a caravan this size in 
  civilized lands. Of Linth, he will say that he’s heard 
  most of the creatures still alive are warped and 
  twisted, but that he’s also heard that much of the 
  wildlife is dead or fled. 
  Once the heroes are gathered, geared up, and 
  prepared, on to the adventure! 
  ENCOUNTER 2: 
  TRANSITIONS 
  The caravan gathers and begins to move with 
  surprising speed. By midday you are a good 
  ten miles from the capitol, with the body of the 
  caravan about a mile behind you. The roads in 
  this section of the kingdom are exceedingly 
  well maintained, leading to the high rate of 
  travel. 
  The fields of Keoland remain green through 
  even the harshes of winters. Only a freakish 
  cold snap during the winter of CY595 can be 
  remembered as a difficult time in recent 
  memory. 
  The road threads around a small hill, turning 
  south, and all the lush greenery you are 
  surrounded by suddenly…stops. 
  Ahead of you, the ground is cracked and 
  parched, the grasses and trees withered and 
  dead. The soil itself has the consistency of 
  baked clay, with cracks a handwidth wide 
  running in every direction. Eerily, the transition 
  from lush greenery to desolation is razor 
  sharp. You can clearly straddle the line where 
  the two border, and it extends as far as you 
  can see in either direction.  
  Linth suffered the Blight when the ley lines 
  surrounding it were sundered. When the ley lines 
  were restored, Linth regained the potential for 
  growth again. Obviously, this is a situation that will 
  have to be helped along with human hands and 
  will. 
  If the Heroes return to the caravan, Drekken will 
  tell them to bear south on whatever road remains 
  to Laketowne.  
  Once the heroes move into Linth, play up the 
  sense of desolation and detachment that the land 
  now suffers from. Any hero who is a Druid or 
  Ranger will feel ill at ease here. All animals the 
  KEOI6-2 Wasteland 
   
  Page 5 
  
  heroes have with them will be skittish and spook 
  easily. Whenever the heroes are with the caravan, 
  the travelers and other guards will be extremely 
  unsettled. This is land that many of them have 
  seen in years past, now totally altered. Almost 
  immediately, the cry of “everything will be fine 
  once we get to Yorora” will pass among the 
  caravan like a mantra. Make sure that the heroes 
  hear this numerous times whenever they are with 
  the caravan. 
  Everything in Linth was hurt deeply by the Blight. 
  The heroes will pass through groves of trees that 
  are little more than standing skeletons without 
  leaves, and pass over dried out streambeds and 
  gullies. They will pass many dried out skeletons of 
  farm animals, and pass homesteads and villages 
  all emptied by royal edict. 
  The sun will begin to set about an hour after 
  crossing into the Linth border, and the heroes 
  should return to the caravan and set up camp. As 
  they are returning to the caravan, a twisted 
  denizen of Linth attacks them! 
  APL 2 (EL 3) 
  Giant Praying Mantis: hp 26; Monster Manual, 
  page 285. 
  After returning to the caravan, the heroes will be 
  lauded 
  by 
  the 
  other 
  guardsmen 
  and 
  the 
  passengers for their bravery and heroism. The 
  caravan will grind to a halt on the cracked rocks of 
  the land and settle in for a long evening. 
  During the evening the heroes will discover that 
  Linth has more in common with a harsh desert 
  these days than the rest of the kingdom. The 
  temperature will drop to below freezing, prompting 
  the caravan’s passengers to huddle for warmth 
  and to start fires with what wood is available. The 
  heroes are free to set whatever watch they wish. 
  Other than the howl of a few nocturnal scavengers 
  during the evening, nothing of interest occurs. 
  In the morning Drekken will advise them to once 
  again take lead scout positions and to follow the 
  road to Laketowne. He advises them that they are 
  to enter the town, scout it for any danger or goods 
  of value, and return. 
  ENCOUNTER 3: A TOWN 
  REMEMBERED 
  Laketowne was once a thriving town, but it 
  suffered heavily during Hannah Linth’s murderous 
  pogrom against the Oerdians and the Blight 
  afterwards. By the time the Royal Standards and 
  the loyal Knights of the Watch arrived to enforce 
  the evacuation order, only a sliver of the 
  population remained. 
  Every man has a limit to what he will do before he 
  reaches a limit and says “no more.” The people 
  who remained in Laketowne banded together 
  behind the innkeeper who owned the largest and 
  most prosperous inn, The Flustered Flumph. 
  When they were ordered to evacuate Linth by the 
  largely Suloise forces of the Knights of the Watch, 
  the Knights responded by slaying the townsfolk. A 
  detachment of the Keoish Royal Standards who 
  was in Laketowne to enforce order then attacked 
  the Knights, and was butchered to the last man. 
  This series of crimes has remained hidden, until 
  now. 
  Traveling on the road towards Laketowne, you 
  remain surrounded by arid cracked rock in all 
  directions. No clouds dot the sky, no rainfall 
  will be along to quench this land today. By the 
  looks of it, no rainfall has touched the ground 
  in years here. 
  As the sun rises to midday so does the 
  temperature. Ahead of you on the road the 
  heat begins to distort your view of the 
  distance. Sweat begins to blossom on your 
  skin. 
  After traveling for two hours more, the haze 
  ahead of you seems to miraculously clear as 
  you top a small rise. The road runs down 
  towards a peaceful looking town set along the 
  shores of a lake with deep blue waters.  
  Allow the heroes to move in towards Laketowne. 
  From this point on the rise it will take them about a 
  half hour’s ride to reach the outskirts of town and 
  see the condition of the town. Many of the outlying 
  farms are burned out hulks, with skeletons of farm 
  animals everywhere. As the heroes move into the 
  town itself they can see that the destruction 
  continues and that there is obviously nothing of 
  value in many of the ruined buildings. 
  The road through town runs to a central square, 
  where the Flustered Flumph still stands as the 
  only building more than partially intact. The heroes 
  can easily see it standing over the ruins of many 
  other buildings. 
  Moving through the ruins of Laketowne, it is 
  painfully obvious that something horrible 
  occurred here, and that little of value is left. 
  The entire town would have to be razed to the 
  ground and rebuilt to be made habitable.  
  KEOI6-2 Wasteland 
   
  Page 6 
  
  When the heroes move to the Flustered Flumph: 
  Until now the skeletons you have seen have all 
  been farm animals of one type or another. 
  Closing in on the lone remaining building in 
  Laketowne this abruptly changes. The town’s 
  central square is awash in fallen skeletons and 
  even from this distance you can see that most 
  of them are wearing armor. 
  The central square is the scene of Laketowne’s 
  massacre. As the heroes move into it they can see 
  that all other exits from the square other than the 
  road they stand on have been barricaded off by 
  carts and other debris. Jumbles of skeletons lay 
  toppled by the barricades. These skeletons are 
  not wearing any armor, and are the bodies of the 
  townsfolk.  
  Away from the barricades, towards the square’s 
  well, it is obvious a pitched battle was fought. At 
  least a hundred distinct skeletons can be made 
  out, most with obvious signs of external trauma. 
  Laying at the base of the well is a broken banner 
  bearing the heraldry of the Keoish Royal 
  Standards. The majority of the square is covered 
  in dried blood. 
  The bodies are all well preserved, and the 
  weapons and armor appear to have suffered from 
  exposure although none of them show any signs 
  of rusting or corrosion. It is obvious that it has not 
  rained here in a long time. 
  In case any hero asks, the well is bone dry. 
  After the heroes have had their fill and are starting 
  to wander or make for the Inn, read or paraphrase 
  the following: 
  “War. War never changes,” Calls out a deep, 
  deliberate voice. Sitting in a chair on the porch 
  of the inn is a dark skinned man with black hair 
  pulled back into an elaborate braid. Ornate 
  plate mail covered in light blue runes protects 
  his body. His elbows rest on his knees and his 
  cheek rests on his hands which are closed 
  around the hilt of a sheathed greatsword. 
  “You’re the first people to come here in a long 
  time, travelers. Have you come to bear witness 
  to the horrors of Laketowne? Or have you 
  come at the behest of the masters, to clean 
  and hide their mistakes?” 
  Allow the heroes to make their replies as they will. 
  The person seated in front of them is Milo Astra, a 
  Knight of the Watch. In KEO3-3 Will of the People, 
  Milo perpetrated an attempt on the Earl of Linth’s 
  life in an effort to cause a civil war which would 
  topple the Linth house and prevent the an ancient 
  prophecy from coming true. He was slain by the 
  Earl’s guards, a group of hired adventurers. 
  Afterwards, his body was secretly taken away to 
  the Linth manor house, where it was stuffed and 
  mounted as a personal trophy. After the events of 
  KEO4-05 A Last Dance at Midnight, Milo’s body 
  was recovered and he was resurrected by the 
  Knights of the Watch and returned to duty.  
  Milo Astra was part of the detachment of Knights 
  in Laketowne when they committed the butchery 
  of the townsfolk. Milo chose to fight on the behalf 
  of the Keoish Royal Standards who tried to protect 
  the townsfolk, and was the only person to survive 
  the massacre from either side. He has been living 
  in Laketowne ever since with the aid of a ring of 
  sustenance that he wears on his right hand.  
  Milo is understandably upset that the order he 
  serves has slunk so low as to be butchering 
  peasants and loyal soldiers, and so he has 
  remained here to avoid being ordered to commit 
  any further atrocities.  
  If the heroes ask what happened here, Milo will tell 
  them of the final days of Laketowne. 
  “It was butchery, really and nothing more. We 
  came to Laketowne to enforce the evacuation 
  edict. There were maybe fifty people left in the 
  town, all slowly starving to death. There comes 
  a point where a man says that he has had 
  enough and he draws a line in the sand. These 
  people followed the innkeeper when he drew 
  his line and refused to leave his home.  
  The Knights barricaded the side streets and 
  ordered them to leave again. The townsfolk 
  refused, claiming their right to live here as 
  “The Will of the People”. 
  “The Knights grew angered at this flaunting of 
  their authority, and they began to slaughter the 
  townsfolk. A small squad of Royal Standards 
  tried to save them, but the Knights killed them 
  as well. Then they trapped the remaining 
  townsfolk in this Inn and set it ablaze. I fought 
  them as well as I could, betraying my oath as a 
  Knight, even, but I was knocked unconscious 
  and left for dead.” 
  Milo is telling the entire truth. He was unable to 
  prevent the slaughter of the innocents and now he 
  punishes himself by remaining here. If the heroes 
  examine the inn, they will see that the interior is 
  burned out and that piles and piles of corpses lay 
  within. It is not a sight for the weak of heart. 
  KEOI6-2 Wasteland 
   
  Page 7 
  
  Milo will tell the heroes that there is nothing in 
  Laketowne of value, and ask them what they are 
  doing here. He will be pleasant and polite and ask 
  to accompany the heroes back to the caravan. He 
  will mention that he knows the lands of Linth well, 
  and that he feels it is time to leave this town now 
  that others know the truth of what occurred. 
  If the heroes decline to travel with Milo, he will 
  simply shrug and follow them anyway. Eventually 
  he will see the dust kicked up by the caravan and 
  will join up with it. 
  Should the heroes head down to Lake Athetki, 
  read or paraphrase the following: 
  The lake that had appeared so inviting from a 
  distance is muddy and befouled up close. 
  Grains of some mineral as big as grains of rice 
  float in the water, giving off a putrid stench. 
  You see no fish in the water but the shore is 
  littered with dessicated corpses of aquatic life 
  and larger animals that apparently came to 
  drink from the lake and died right here. Lake 
  Athetki is clearly unsafe to drink from. 
  If a hero is rash enough to drink from the water, 
  they are in much danger. The hero will 
  immediately feel thirstier than before they drank 
  and will have to make a Will save DC 12 to avoid 
  drinking further from the water source. Every 
  round the hero drinks they will suffer one point of 
  strength and constitution damage and the Will 
  save DC increases by 1. 
  Eventually the hero drinks themselves to death. If 
  this starts to occur, advise the other heroes that 
  they see what is happening. Grappling or 
  otherwise physically preventing the afflicted hero 
  from drinking for a full round gives the hero 
  another Will save and lowers the DC by 1. When 
  the hero makes a Will save, they no longer feel the 
  compulsion to drink. 
  Some heroes may attempt to filter out the grains of 
  sediment. This will NOT prevent the above from 
  happening.  
   
  ENCOUNTER 4: YORORA 
  When the heroes return to the caravan they are 
  again lauded for returning safely. Drekken will 
  listen to their assessment of Laketowne’s viability 
  and will opt against camping there for the night. 
  Instead, the caravan will again rest under the 
  stars. For a second night the temperature will dip 
  down below freezing and the howls of hungry 
  scavengers will be heard. 
  When the sun rises, the heroes are a good day’s 
  travel from the Yorora site. Drekken will again set 
  them out to scout, telling them to ride west along 
  the shore of Lake Athetki. Yorora is located where 
  Lake Athetki and the Athetki River meet, on the 
  western bank. It will be basically impossible for the 
  heroes to miss. 
  The journey to Yorora is more of the same: ruined 
  steadings and abandoned homes dot the horizon. 
  The ground is cracked and parched, and the heat 
  rises to unbearable levels during the day. No 
  clouds ever dot the sky. The entirety of Lake 
  Athetki seems poisoned and unsuitable to drink, 
  yet it constantly tantalizes the heroes and their 
  mounts. Continue to play up the theme of 
  desolation and emptiness as the heroes travel the 
  last twenty miles or so to Yorora. 
  Ahead of you, through the haze, you see the 
  wavering outlines of several buildings. As you 
  close, you can see that they are no heat mirage 
  but rather they are the framework of many 
  buildings in the process of being built. Yorora, 
  at last! 
  The last few minutes into Yorora should feel 
  satisfying. The heroes have traversed horrid 
  terrain, faced twisted monsters, and seen the 
  devastation of Laketowne. Yorora and some well 
  deserved rest are their reward. 
  Unfortunately, this is not to be. When the heroes 
  approach Yorora (with or without the caravan): 
  The exhilaration that you might have felt at 
  seeing Yorora quickly fades. Passing into the 
  town, you see lines of freshly dug graves. 
  There is no work being done in Yorora. 
  Everywhere you look, you see people huddled 
  in the shade, doing as little as they can. A low 
  murmur builds among the first townsfolk to 
  see you, and before you know it, a dozen or 
  more townsfolk surround you and your 
  mounts. 
  “Praise to Dalt! They’ve come!” 
  “Water, tell us you have brought water!” 
  “Please, save us from this place!” 
  “A sip, my lords? My child is so thirsty!” 
  The situation in Yorora is dire. All the water is 
  poisoned, even from the wells the townsfolk have 
  dug. People are slowly dying and the heroes 
  quickly become their only hope. 
  KEOI6-2 Wasteland 
   
  Page 8 
  
  Eventually 
  a 
  tall 
  and 
  thin 
  man 
  wearing 
  ecclesiastical vestments and the holy symbol of 
  Pelor will rush to the heroes. He will introduce 
  himself as Brother Artus. With the water troubles 
  in Yorora, he has become the de facto leader 
  because he and his acolyte have the ability to 
  summon drinking water. Unfortunately there are 
  far too many people in Yorora for the two priests 
  alone to be able to support. All water has been 
  strictly rationed and rotated.  Even with these 
  precautions, Yorora is still on the verge of 
  suffering a massive die-off. 
  When the caravan rolls into Yorora it will be met 
  with great glee. Before the situation can get under 
  control, many of the townsfolk will gorge 
  themselves on the water supplies of the caravan. 
  Eventually Artus and Drekken will be able to get a 
  handle on the situation but not before it becomes 
  clear how dear the water is to Yorora. 
  There are many homecomings and many tears as 
  families are reunited and as some find out that 
  loved ones are dead. The late afternoon quickly 
  passes into night and the townsfolk settle in for 
  another chilly evening. A meal is cooked and as 
  the heroes are settling down at their campsite, 
  they are called in to speak with Artus and 
  Drekken. 
  Summoned from your dinner by a young 
  Pelorite acolyte, you are led to the only 
  structure that was fully completed in Yorora: 
  the church of Pelor. Brother Artus and Drekken 
  are already seated inside as you enter, and the 
  acolyte bows and leaves. 
  Artus speaks without preamble. 
  “We are on the crux of a dire situation here, 
  friends. As you can see, Yorora is dying. We 
  are rapidly losing options. Drekken tells me 
  that if we turned around right now, gathered 
  everyone we could and set off, that we would 
  lose every beast of burden in two days, and 
  then begin marching ourselves to death in the 
  waste. 
  Therefore, we must find a way to cleanse the 
  water of Athetki. I have spoken with Pelor and 
  he is displeased that his brow causes so much 
  pain and death here. He tells me that the 
  waters are being constantly poisoned and that 
  if we cleanse them, that the land shall respond.  
  The Athetki River flows from the north, in the 
  hills. We will gather what water we can spare 
  and send it with you. You must find the source 
  of the pollution and stop it within three days 
  time, or hundreds more will die.” 
  The heroes may have some questions, Artus will 
  answer them as best he can but he isn’t terribly 
  well informed. He knows that the five clerics in 
  town (himself, his acolyte, and three more that 
  came with the PC’s caravan) cannot conjure 
  enough water for the entire town to survive, and 
  that the additional caravan population is going to 
  force a very ugly decision shortly.  
  Artus will elaborate that the thirst craze has driven 
  many people and all of the beasts of burden to 
  drink from the waters. When this happens, the 
  drinker dies within two days.  
  Artus has no inkling of what lies upriver. 
  When the heroes are about to leave, Milo will 
  enter. 
  The front door opens and Milo sweeps in, 
  brushing past the acolyte who tries feebly to 
  stop him. With a grunt, Milo pushes him out 
  and closes the door. Turning back to you, he 
  smiles grimly. 
  “So, you’re going to send them upriver? Don’t 
  look so surprised, I wasn’t eavesdropping. It’s 
  what I would do in this situation. You need the 
  river cleansed, and these folk have proven 
  their mettle already.” 
  Milo salutes you all grimly, drawing his 
  greatsword to do so.  
  “One word of advice. I know those foothills 
  from which the Athetki flows. There was a 
  dwarven mining operation there many years 
  ago, which was taken over by the Watchers 
  when something went wrong within the mines. 
  I don’t know what it was, but I suggest we keep 
  an eye out for it. 
  No, I don’t have a mouse in my pocket. I’m 
  coming with you.” 
  Milo will absolutely refuse to hear any reason as to 
  why he should stay. He will insist that it is a matter 
  of personal honor for him to attempt to help the 
  people of Yorora, and that by sitting here he is 
  merely leeching off of them. 
  ENCOUNTER 5: LEAVING 
  YORORA 
  In the morning the heroes will gather up and the 
  townsfolk will cheer them as they ready to leave. 
  Artus will approach them. 
  KEOI6-2 Wasteland 
   
  Page 9 
  
  “Here,” says Artus “This is all the water we 
  can spare. It should be enough for you for two 
  days apiece. Unfortunately, the mounts you 
  brought with you will not be able to go further, 
  and they require more water. You will have to 
  go on foot.” 
  Artus smiles grimly. 
  “Pelor guide your steps, and thank you.” 
  Once the heroes leave Yorora, they are on their 
  own in the wilds of Linth. It is a two day trip to 
  Bakersfield, though the heroes don’t know that yet. 
  The first day passes quickly and uneventfully. The 
  river continues to be filled with poisonous 
  sediment, although it is even larger and more 
  obvious as the heroes move upstream. Even the 
  untrained eye can see that they are nearing the 
  source of the corruption 
  On the dawn of the second day, as the heroes are 
  preparing to move north, they will come under 
  attack by a Salt Mephit released from the 
  Bakersfield Mine. 
  APL 2 (EL 3) 
  Thirstythirsty, Male Salt Mephit: hp 19; see 
  Monster Manual, page 184 
  When the mephit attacks, Milo will be nowhere to 
  be found. As the battle winds down (or if the 
  heroes are in danger of losing), Milo will sweep 
  back into camp and help the heroes. As Milo is 
  significantly higher level than the heroes, it would 
  be a matter of ease for him to dispose of the 
  mephit, but to have him do so will undermine the 
  heroes’ accomplishments. 
  If questioned, Milo will sheepishly admit that he 
  was out doing some early morning scouting and 
  attempting to forage for additional food sources. 
  DM Note: As this combat takes place in 
  essentially an open plain, no map is included. 
  Have the mephit start 80’ away and roll for 
  initiative normally. 
  Tactics: 
  Thirstythirsty 
  will 
  leadoff 
  with 
  his 
  Glitterdust ability while flying towards the PCs. He 
  will then attempt to fly into the middle of the largest 
  group of PCs and use his ability to draw moisture 
  from the area, and then his breath weapon before 
  resorting to his claws. When the Mephit uses his 
  draw moisture ability, do not roll 2d8 as stated in 
  the Monster Manual; instead apply the average 
  damage of the attack, 9.  
  Development: Any hero damaged by the Mephit’s 
  draw moisture ability must make a Will save DC 
  15 be overcome with thirst and will immediately 
  need to drink their water ration for the day or suffer 
  the penalties listed in the Preparation for Play 
  section. This will lead to the heroes needing to 
  decide who goes thirsty and how much water they 
  need to share. 
  ENCOUNTER 6: 
  BAKERSFIELD 
  After the heroes have dealt with the denizens of 
  Linth, they should continue moving northward. 
  After about an hour’s walking: 
  With the poisonous Athetki River on your left 
  side, you continue traveling north, seeing the 
  source of the river’s poisoning. Within an hour, 
  you see smoke drifting lazily up from over 
  some small foothills. It is not the smoke of an 
  out-of-control blaze, but more the type you 
  might see rising from a baker’s shop in the 
  morning. 
  When the heroes move closer, they will see the 
  town of Bakersfield.  
  The bustling town you see alongside the River 
  Athetki is entirely out of place with the rest of 
  the Earldom that you have seen. Green and 
  lush fields spread out around the town while 
  fifty or more houses line the riverbank, and a 
  small market can be seen. Beyond the town, 
  just to the north, you can see a massive 
  mining operation that abuts the river itself. 
  From here you can see a small sign near the 
  side of the path ahead of you, though you 
  cannot make out what it says from here. 
  The sign reads “Bakersfield. Population 213. 
  Founded CY 595” in red paint. 
  Bakersfield and its inhabitants: 
  Bakersfield is, as mentioned, a town made up of 
  people who refused to leave during the worst days 
  of the Blight. Because of this, all of the town’s 
  inhabitants are changed by the experience. Many 
  of them have obvious deformities such as missing 
  digits or limbs, extra limbs, additional eyes, 
  missing ears, et cetera. The populace is not 
  necessarily all misshapen freaks as some of the 
  deformities are more subtle than others. The 
  primary change that the people have undergone is 
  that they no longer eat ‘normal’ food to survive. 
  They gain nourishment from the minerals they 
  mine. 
  KEOI6-2 Wasteland 
   
  Page 10 
  
  The animals of Bakersfield are another matter 
  altogether. Many of the survivors were farmers 
  and they brought their livestock here. Those of the 
  livestock that survived quickly became deformed 
  and 
  adapted 
  to 
  their 
  unusual 
  appetites. 
  Bakersfield maintains an entire herd of cows, all of 
  which have two heads and which seem to eat 
  minerals as well. These animals are well treated 
  and seen as a blessing from the gods, since the 
  population no longer needs them as food. 
  When the heroes move into Bakersfield, they will 
  cause quite a disturbance. 
  Your arrival on the path has not gone 
  unnoticed. Below you, you can see people 
  running from the mine towards the town, and 
  the rapid beating of an alarm gong reaches 
  your ears. 
  At this point the heroes can either decide to 
  approach the town or leave. Bakersfield is very 
  protective of its people, and if the heroes start a 
  fight and cause lethal damage, that hero will be 
  killed. There are simply too many townsfolk to 
  overcome.  
  If the heroes leave, it will be an unwise decision, 
  leading to the death of many people in Yorora, and 
  likely themselves as they die of thirst in the 
  wasteland.  
  If the heroes approach the town, they will be 
  challenged as they reach the outer ring of houses. 
  Bakersfield has no wall, so ten townsfolk will 
  approach, armed with makeshift weapons and 
  armor. Leading these guards will be Heinren 
  Bakerson, mayor of Bakersfield. 
  The heroes will be challenged and asked to 
  identify themselves and their business. If they 
  remain cordial and polite, Heinren will gesture for 
  the guards to lower their weapons and for the 
  heroes to move closer. 
  You get a better view of the big man leading 
  the guards as he approaches you. In the light 
  of Pelor you can see that his face is misshapen 
  and scarred, with one eye partially closed over 
  with excess skin. He gestures towards you 
  with a hand that has only three large fingers, 
  and when he speaks you can see that his teeth 
  are sharpened stones that sparkle in the light. 
  “Please, come no farther if you mean trouble. 
  We have had enough of that to last us the rest 
  of our lives. I am Heinren Bakerson, and this is 
  our town. What brings you to Bakersfield?” 
  Allow the heroes to continue their story. If they 
  don’t threaten Heinren, he will invite them into 
  Bakersfield for an emergency town council. Many 
  of the people of Bakersfield will peer out at the 
  heroes from behind half-closed shutters. Every 
  person and animal the heroes see is twisted and 
  stunted. 
  Heinren will give an impromptu tour of Bakersfield, 
  with more than a little pride in his voice. He will 
  outline Bakersfield’s history as written in the 
  Adventure Background, and will advise the heroes 
  that the only reason he had armed guards meet 
  them is that they are wary of outsiders these days. 
  Heinren will look pointedly at Milo and say that the 
  townsfolk will fear any Knight of the Watch until 
  they have had a chance to evaluate him for 
  themselves. 
  Early 
  after 
  the 
  formation 
  of 
  Bakersfield, Heinren sent a scouting team to 
  Laketowne to recover anything of value that they 
  could, and they discovered the massacre but 
  never saw Milo. 
  The emergency council meeting will be quick and 
  to the point. The majority of the town will attend, 
  and the heroes will be asked a small parcel of 
  questions. Allow the heroes to answer as they 
  may, with Milo privately suggesting to them that 
  the truth is the best answer they have. 
  Who are you, and why are you in Bakersfield? 
  If the heroes relay their story, and that of Yorora, 
  the people of Bakersfield will be aghast. Although 
  they are twisted externally, they are basically good 
  folk who have no desire to see others suffer.  
  Why do you travel with a Knight of the Watch? 
  Milo will allow the heroes to answer this. If the 
  heroes relay the story of the Laketowne massacre, 
  Milo will confirm it and Heinren will tell of his 
  scouting party to Laketowne. 
  Eventually the heroes should make the logical 
  conclusion that it is Bakerfields’ mining operation 
  that is poisoning the Athetki. If they do not, then 
  Milo will quickly and quietly point out to them that 
  mining operations are known to put out a 
  tremendous amount of waste, and with the 
  amateur miners here, that waste could only be 
  more horrid. 
  When the heroes bring up the mine, in any 
  capacity, Heinren will speak. 
  “I knew it would come to this. I can see in your 
  eyes that you recognize some of what 
  happened to us, but you do not understand it 
  all. In the darkest days of Blight, we 
  KEOI6-2 Wasteland 
   
  Page 11 
  
  all…changed. More than what you see with 
  your eyes, we changed inside. We were 
  overcome with a hideous hunger, one and all. 
  Meats, cheeses, breads…these things no 
  longer satisfied us any more than sand and 
  sawdust might satisfy you.  
  What we craved was the rock, the metal itself. 
  One might think we’d become dwarves with 
  the way we hungered for these metals, but we 
  hunger for them not to wear or fashion, but to 
  consume as you might a cow. 
  We re-opened the mine to the northwest of 
  here. For six months we excavated the area, 
  feasting off lesser metals. 
  And then we discovered heatrock.” 
  Heinren produces a greenish-brown rock from 
  a small bag. All eyes in the place are drawn to 
  it, and you could swear you see some openly 
  salivating over it, despite the fact that they 
  look well fed. 
  Heinren will go on to explain the rest of 
  Bakersfield’s mining history and what they know of 
  heatrock. 
  This 
  rock 
  was 
  easily 
  identifiable 
  because after exposed to sunlight it heats up, and 
  when taken from the sun it emits an eerie red 
  glow, as well as a sizeable amount of heat. 
  Bakersfield uses it as food and a source of warmth 
  during the cold evenings. 
  Heinren will then tell the heroes about the tragedy 
  in the old mine, where the miners came across a 
  sealed door and foolishly opened it. The creatures 
  that were trapped within burst forth and forced the 
  miners out. Afterwards, Bakersfield started their 
  current mining operation, which Heinren will admit 
  is amateur at best, and probably poisoning the 
  Athetki River. 
  Heinren will quell the hubbub of the meeting at this 
  point and make the heroes an offer. 
  “Well travelers, I can see we have a problem. 
  We don’t wish to kill our kin in the south, but 
  we must have this ore to survive. The mine in 
  the hills had an underground river for disposal 
  of the wastes there, which apparently never 
  harmed the aboveground river or lake before. If 
  you can find a way to seal the gates and kill 
  the creatures in the mine, we’ll gladly return 
  there and stop our operation on the Athetki.”  
  If the heroes agree, the people of Bakersfield have 
  one more demand.  
  A young boy stands in the back of the hall and 
  points at Milo. You can see that in the middle 
  of the boy’s forehead is a third eye. 
  “They can go, but he has to stay here, and 
  agree to remain peaceable. I’ve seen what the 
  Watchers did in Lakwetowne, and it won’t 
  happen here. He guarantees their good 
  conduct.” 
  The townsfolk will loudly agree, worried about 
  letting any Knights of the Watch out of their sight. 
  Milo will shrug and nod sadly, agreeing. Any hero 
  who argues against this can do so, but Milo will 
  pat them on the arm and tell them that he 
  understands. With a smile he will tell them that 
  they had better not fail. 
  By the time the meeting is done, the noonday 
  meal has passed and it is approaching evening. 
  All throughout Bakersfield the town will become 
  illuminated 
  and 
  warmed 
  by 
  heatrock. 
  The 
  townsfolk have taken larger chunks of heatrock 
  and mounted them on small platforms ten feet off 
  the ground. They cast the town in an eerie red 
  glow by night but provide plenty of light to see by. 
  The heroes are free to stay the evening and travel 
  to the mine in the morning, or to go immediately. If 
  the go immediately they risk being low on spells 
  and supplies in the mine. If they go in the morning 
  they risk more people in Yorora dying because of 
  their delay as well as being out of water 
  themselves unless they have a cleric or druid with 
  them. Adventuring is full of tough decisions. 
  If the heroes stay they are invited to the evening 
  “meal” in the great hall where the residents eat a 
  truly immense amount of heatrock. They are 
  invited to tell tales and are in turn entertained by 
  one of the local girls who plays both the violin and 
  the flute, with the aid of her second pair of arms.  
  Whenever the heroes decide to leave, Milo will pull 
  them aside. 
  “I don’t have any idea what’s in the mine now, 
  but I know that dwarves used to live there and 
  that the Knights of the Watch had to go in and 
  seal something up when the dwarves let it out. 
  Apparently every door has a key. Watchers 
  don’t have a lot of use for sorcery in general, 
  so I’d guess that the door is more mechanical 
  in nature. Good luck closing it.” 
  KEOI6-2 Wasteland 
   
  Page 12 
  
  ENCOUNTER 7: WHAT LIES 
  BENEATH 
  The mine is about a two hour walk from 
  Bakersfield. It is easily found, as the path to it is lit 
  with many piles of heatrock. The opening of the 
  mine is littered with mining equipment discarded 
  when the townsfolk fled.  
  The mine itself is a simple affair, at least in the 
  upper area before the seal. A simple shaft leads 
  down, with a wide path spiraling down. The shaft 
  descends forty feet at a slight angle and then 
  becomes a tunnel going due south at a ten degree 
  decline. Dwarven characters may learn this 
  information with the appropriate Stonecunning 
  check.  
  After fifty feet of tunnel, the heroes will see a giant 
  double door, wide open.  
  The tunnel is broken by a massive granite 
  double door covered in runes and etchings. 
  Rather, it would be broken, if the door weren’t 
  wide open. In the center of each side of the 
  double door you can see a half circle. If the 
  door were closed, the halves would form a 
  complete circle. 
  In the chamber beyond is a truly miraculous 
  sight. A slow moving trickle of lava drops 
  down from a hole in the ceiling, runs over hard 
  bedrock, then disappears down another hole. 
  In the middle of the stream of lava is a small 
  glowing hole in the fabric of space. You can 
  clearly see through it, to a realm of solid fire. 
  On the floor before the lava is a large golden 
  disk, perfectly circular in shape. Two inhuman 
  shapes lounge near it. 
  The disk is indeed the keystone for the door. If the 
  door is closed (requiring a strength check DC 13) 
  and the disk is slid into place, the entire 
  mechanism will shudder and click, locking itself 
  into place. 
  The difficulty in this is that the fire creatures in the 
  room don’t particularly want to be sealed in here 
  any longer.  
  APL 2 (EL 3) 
  (2) Small Fire Elementals: hp 9; see Monster 
  Manual, page 99. 
  The room is a 50’ square with the lava river 
  running north-south on the easternmost squares. 
  The golden disk is lying twenty feet from the lava. 
  Tactics: The Elementals fight mindlessly to 
  defend their portal, but without much in the way of 
  tactics. They attack the closest creature that looks 
  like it could stand to be set on fire. 
  Development: Defeating the elementals through 
  force of arms, while laudable, is not the goal here. 
  Closing the door is. One round after a small fire 
  elemental is slain, another will leap from the portal 
  and into the fight. If the heroes slay four small 
  elementals (the original two, and a pair of 
  replacements), a full round will pass and a 
  Medium Fire Elemental will leap from the portal 
  and move to attack. The heroes should get the 
  hint long before then, but if they manage to slay 
  the Medium elemental, another full round will pass 
  and then another Medium Fire Elemental will leap 
  out. Should the heroes manage to slay that, 
  another full round will pass and a Large Fire 
  Elemental will leap from the portal.  
  DM Note: This combat is designed to be an 
  exercise in running combat. Allow heroes to be 
  heroic and drag unconscious heroes out just 
  before closing the door and slamming it shut.  
  ENCOUNTER 8: BRINGING 
  THE WORD 
  Now that the heavy lifting is done, the heroes 
  simply have to rush back to Yorora via Bakersfield 
  as quickly as possible to pass the word.  
  The people of Bakersfield will be delighted at the 
  heroes’ success and will gladly release Milo to 
  them. They will agree to use the old mine and not 
  to open the sealed door again. The current mine is 
  shut down immediately and the poison begins to 
  wash its way down the Athetki. 
  Returning to Yorora takes two days on foot, but 
  the danger for the heroes is over. The River is fast 
  moving and the poisonous granules flow away 
  quickly, leaving nothing but pure water, safe to 
  drink. 
  When the heroes return to Yorora, the town greets 
  them as heroes and the celebrations commence. 
  Unfortunately, for every day of the heroes’ trip, 
  fifteen people in Yorora succumb to thirst and die. 
  This means a minimum of sixty people die while 
  the heroes travel, but that if they delay many more 
  could die.  
  Milo suggests that the heroes not spread word of 
  Bakersfield’s existence too far, as the people who 
  live there would be viewed with suspicion at best, 
  KEOI6-2 Wasteland 
   
  Page 13 
  
  and would likely be hunted and burned at the 
  stake by insular Keoish peasants once Linth is 
  restored. Milo promises to speak to an old friend in 
  the army about having the area defended by Royal 
  Standards until a more permanent measure can 
  be found. 
  CONCLUSION 
  With your success in bringing clean water to 
  Yorora, you have ensured the safety and 
  stability of the new town. Within weeks, regular 
  caravans are traversing the wastes of Linth as 
  people return to a land vastly different than 
  what they knew. With time and guidance, it 
  may 
  be 
  possible 
  to 
  reclaim 
  even 
  this 
  wasteland. 
  The town of Bakersfield becomes something of 
  a legend. The town is declared off-limits to 
  travelers and a permanent outpost of Royal 
  Standards is created to protect it. Within a few 
  months, carvings and statuary made of a 
  strange new metal begin to filter into Keoish 
  society. The statues glow red by night and put 
  off an incredible amount of heat. They quickly 
  become prized symbols of social status and it 
  isn’t long before many important families have 
  several on display in their homes… 
  The Brokenback merchants continue their 
  support of the Neheli families, shoring up 
  support for them through tough political 
  climes. Hadrian begins discussions with the 
  peoples of Ulek about expanding imports. The 
  wealth of the consortium grows, angering 
  powerful rivals in the Rhola clans. 
  The Laketowne massacre becomes the talk of 
  the Kingdom, and the Knights of the Watch 
  undergo another painful schism. However, all 
  is not lost. A star rises in Most Contrite 
  Ironclad Mauler Milo Astra. Returned to the 
  ranks of the Knights of the Watch, many see 
  him as a link between the largely Suloise order 
  and the largely Keogh people it protects. 
   
  The End 
   
   
  KEOI6-2 Wasteland 
   
  Page 14 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/3rd Edition (3.x)/RPGA/Living Greyhawk/Sheldomar Valley/Keoland/KEO6-A02 - Wasteland.pdf