Dawn Breaks
Tentamun
Amon and the others are up at an early but reasonable hour the next day hitching up the cart to the horses. Just as the group begins heading out of town, read or paraphrase aloud:
One of the caravans must pull off the road onto the rocks before either of them can move on. It is just a minor inconvenience (more so for the cart on account of its wheels), but Tentamun will insist the party let him pass first for no reason other than his pride and his apparent disdain for Amon.
The party will have to help Amon negotiate with Tentamun if they want to pass first instead. Tentamun(NE male teifling) uses different statistics depending on the APL:
APL 1: spy (MM pg. 349) without his sneak attack ability
APL 2: spy (MM pg. 349)
APL 3: veteran (MM pg. 350) without a short sword
Regardless of what statistics he uses, Tentamun can cast hellish rebuke as a 1st level spell once per day. He currently has the following goals and temperaments:
He is tired from traveling all night and does not want to engage in a violent confrontation and risk attracting the attention of the Gosenji mercenaries.
· His demands are not rational, so attempts to reason with him will be difficult.
· He perceives the characters as strong bodyguards, and would like their services for himself as soon as possible (though he has no money to pay them, much like Amon at present).
· He is somewhat cowardly and can be easily intimidated.
· He is conceited and will take great offence to any insult.
· He is in Skitla with the secret goal of assassinating Amon, but he had not expected Amon to be leaving just as he arrived. The setback has him quite frustrated.
· He has a cruel sense of humor, and seeing others mocked and abused tends to improve his mood.
Amon will sooner comply with Tentamun than allow the situation to escalate to violence, so it is unlikely combat will break out during this encounter. Regardless of who ends up yielding, the party will feel a sense of unease as the raiders pass by, staring at them intently. If any characters pass a DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check, they notice the raiders appear to be wearing skull-like masks under their shrouds, and the hounds don’t make any noise, not even a growl. Alternatively, if a character attempts and succeeds a DC 13 Intelligence (Nature) check, they can identify the faint smell of rotting flesh in the air. The raiders are secretly disguised skeletons (MM pg. 272). The dogs are skeletal as well, their undead nature concealed by the hides draped over them. Once the impasse is resolved, Amon and the party may leave Skitla without incident.
Vidarion
Halfway through the trip, the party will meet Vidarion, a gifted but self-absorbed young man from a family of fourteen. Vidarion and his brothers are the sons of an accomplished and learned wizard named Jabek. Getting on in years, Jabek and his wife yearned for a child who could master his father’s craft and carry on the family’s magical heritage. Of all the children they raised together, Vidarion was the only one with any propensity for the arcane. As the cleverest, youngest, and not to mention most handsome of all his brothers, Vidarion enjoys an unfair share of affection and attention from his parents. He is clearly the product of preferential treatment and constantly threatens to tattle on his brothers if they step out of line, knowing Mother and Father will always take his side.
Vidarion is particularly gifted in the field of divination, especially when it comes to prophetic visions. In one of his dreams, he saw himself as an exalted ruler and all his family paid him their respects. Vidarion’s family was not as impressed with this vision as he expected, not even his doting parents, so he keeps this experience to himself unless someone earns his trust. His brothers, however, have already reached the end of their patience. They are starved for their father’s approval and will do anything to be rid of Vidarion and his narcissistic delusions once and for all.
Vidarion is a scout (MM pg. 349) with a Dexterity score of 11, an Intelligence score of 14, no Multiattack feature, and the following additional features:
Vidarion is a 2nd-level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). Vidarion has the following wizard spells prepared (but does not have any necessary spell components when sold to the party, nor is he in possession of a spellbook):
Cantrips (at will): mage hand, message, true strike
Strangers Ahead
Read or paraphrase aloud:
The grizzliest man introduces himself to the group as Nadeem and identifies the others as his brothers. The brothers (LN male human scouts, MM pg. 349), have the following goals and temperaments:
· The elder brothers are on the whole calm, polite, good-natured men of the land who farm and hunt to feed their family.
· The youngest’s name is Vidarion. He is distinctly less polite than his brothers.
· Vidarion obviously does not wish to be taken away from his family.
· Vidarion’s scratches are from an altercation with his brothers who have finally had enough of his boasting. He is not subtle about his intentions to tell Father exactly who did this to him.
· The elder brothers cannot endure more neglect or belittlement from their father, and would rather Vidarion never returned home again. They plan to sell him to a passing caravan as a slave.
· While the brothers may show some suppressed guilt over selling their brother as a slave, the peer-pressure between them is strong and nothing can dissuade them from going through with it. This concerns Amon greatly, because he knows Tentamun will pass by next…
· Neither Amon nor the brothers want to fight, and both will strongly discourage any aggression. If any characters attack the brothers, they will all retaliate swiftly and efficiently until all hostile creatures either yield or fall unconscious. An outright attack will drastically sour moods all around.
· Amon does not have many extra funds with which to pay for Vidarion. Fortunately, the brothers just want to get rid of him and are willing to accept whatever Amon offers.
As the situation unfolds, the party will have to make a decision: they can take it upon themselves to purchase an unwilling Vidarion for his own protection, or they can refuse and risk him being sold to Tentamun. Amon will be torn between both options, so it is ultimately the party’s choice.
If they decide to take Vidarion now, Amon will dig through his pouch for some coins and pull out 20 sp (if any characters offer to pitch in, Amon will accept their donations and contribute enough of his own money to bring the total to 20 sp). Once the other brothers receive payment, they bid the party farewell before walking back into the wilderness.
If the players refuse the brothers’ offer and press on, then Tentamun will end up buying Vidarion instead, and the party won’t see him again until they get to Thinis.
Danse in the Dark
On the final evening of the journey the caravan will stop and make camp just like every other day thus far. Amon will build a fire for light before leaving the characters to tend it throughout the night. The night will go peacefully up until the 4th hour of the rest (typically the second watch). This is when Tentamun springs a midnight ambush. The composition of the assault depends on the APL:
APL 1: (2) skeletons (MM pg. 272) (2) wolves (MM pg. 341)
APL 2: (2) skeletons, (3) wolves (MM pg. 341)
APL 3: (1) ghoul (MM pg. 148), (3) skeletons, (2) wolves
The wolves in this encounter have the following changes to their statistics: vulnerability to bludgeoning damage, immunity to poison dmg, immunity to the poisoned and exhausted condition, undead nature, darkvision out to 60 ft.
If any characters are keeping watch at this time, have them make a Wisdom (Perception) check. This check will have multiple degrees of success. If the result is:
· less than 8- the character notices nothing, and the ambush catches the entire party by surprise.
· 8 to 13- the character suddenly notices one of Tentamun’s raiders standing by the fire just as they dump a bucket of sand out and extinguish it. The
party is surprised except for the character who noticed the raider.
· 14 to 18- the character sees the raider approaching the fire carrying a heavy bucket. The character can choose to wake the party, or surprise them by starting combat by themselves. If they wake the party then there is no surprise round, but the raider succeeds in dousing the fire before combat starts.
· 19 or more- the character glimpses movement just beyond the light of the smoldering fire and detects a faint odor of rot. The character has time to wake the party before the raider with the bucket reaches the fire.
The ambushers will have the camp surrounded before they are noticed. The skeleton with the bucket of sand will try to douse the fire and force the party to fight in the dark. It should be able to achieve this on its first turn if no one stops it. It will not engage in combat until the bucket is empty, at which point it will attack Amon unless it needs to defend itself from an attacker. Another skeleton/ghoul will go straight for Amon, and anyone that gets in its way. The rest of the assailants will each go after the character nearest to them when combat starts.
Tentamun will take advantage of the commotion to pass by in the dark unnoticed. A character can only notice him if they deliberately use their action during combat to search and succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. He is still riding his horse, so even if he is noticed he will easily escape into the night while his minions keep the party busy. Otherwise, the only sign of his presence are the hoofprints of his horse, and streaks of something being dragged in the dust. The slaves he had in Skitla are nowhere to be seen.
The ambushers have little of value on them, but if the players want to search their bodies they can gather up to 20 usable arrows. The rest of their armor and weapons are worthless except for one short sword that is in surprisingly excellent condition. It is ordinary in all respects except for the unique skull-and-bone-shaped emblem on the hilt. The emblem is not fine enough to add any value to the sword.
After the undead are defeated, the party is able to finish their rest. They will arrive in Thinis before midday.
