Hyperborea 3e Campaign

This is the rough outline I'm using for my in person Hyperborea campaign. Take from it what you will.

I've got a bit of time ahead so I'll try and post the dungeons I mention below, along with the session 1 notes I was able to compile. 

Enjoy!

Campaign Arc:

1)    1)  Powerful necromancer and daemon worshiping witch (succubus?), Lady Pryor, seeks to resurrect her love, Zygoth, a death knight and follower of Thaumagorga. Requires the Eye of Zygax to unlock the Death Knight from his prison.

·       Viking raiders, heretical worshipers of the “Horned One”, have begun raiding up the river Maedbh. Struck Bogrest first, followed by Dunwich. Seek something in the mountains to the south west. The body of Zygoth, the Death Knight. The Hyperborean Wight in the Black Tomb of the Wight Knight knows the way.

o   They will come to Scardin, tracking the trio of treasure hunters who possessed the map to the Black Tomb of the Wight Knight

§  When they hear the players looked into it, they will come for them.

 ·         Lady Pryor has been recently resurrected by the Axes of the Bloody Horn. Much of her memory has been lost due to the passage of time. She no longer remembers where Zygoth’s tomb resides.

o   Her Viking ship resides in Bogrest for the moment, along with most of her men. She has sent forth a party of her most trusted men seeking the trio of treasure hunters who had discovered the whereabouts of the Tomb of the Wight Knight.

 2)      Within the Black Tomb of the Wight Knight rest the bones of Ymir’s son, Suttungr. Frost Giant’s from the West will come into the Gal Hills seeking his bones so that they may be brought to Ymir’s Mountain as tribute.

 3)      The Cult of Rot, worshipers of Yug (The Key and The Way), seek to find The Temple of the Dreaming Deep in Birch Bog wood. Through Kthulhu, the cultists believe they will be able to become closer to the most profane, primordial material.

·         Beneath Bristelback’s Inn lies the Temple of Rot.

 

What Happened In Session 1 and 2

·         Explored the Black Tomb of the Wight Knight. Did not open the Wight's Tomb

·         Investigated the Spider men attacks, made a bargain with Zuk’La, cleric of Tlakk-Nakka, Mother of Spider.

·         Ventured into The Temple of the Dreaming God and barely escaped with their lives.

·         Confronted an advanced party of Axes of the Bloody Horn. Tricked them into an ambush against Zuk’La’s giant spider horde.

 

What’s Potentially Next

·         The Temple of the Dreaming God

o   With Una, the druidess, the group is returning to the Black Tomb of the Wight Knight to ensure it remains safe from discovery

§  The Lair of the Elder Thing and the means by which Zuk'La is mutating humans into Spider-men will be dealt with after.

o   If the Cult of the Formless finds out the party discovered a temple in Birch Bog Wood they will try to gather the information on its location from the rescued miners, and the PCs, one way or another.

§  Word of the temple from the rescued miners is leaking out.

§  Conn Macc Brehan, the Justicar, will seek info from Saruuke regarding the temple.

 

Setting - Gal Hills

Scardin – frontier village

Mining (copper and silver), hunting (mega fauna like mammoth and musk ox) and logging are the primary incomes. Many of the buildings provide temporary shelter for a little over a year and will be abandoned as the cold weather returns. Hard/mud track roads.

 

Birch Bog Wood

Spider haunted wood. Wet, damp and swampy. The hamlet of Scardin burns it back from time to time. Within the wood is a sinking temple to Kthulhu. The exterior has been turned into a shrine to Tlakk-Nakka, the Spider-God, by a powerful witch. Other locations included a crashed alien space ship and a druid’s tower dedicated to Yoon’Deh.

·         One random encounter will occur to emphasize danger of the wood.

·         If they become lost in the wood the possibility of Random Encounters increases.

 

Copper Hills

Near the surface the ground is hard but as one digs deeper it warms, growing easier foot by foot. The hills contain deposits of copper and silver, along with the odd gemstone and other rarities. Old tunnels and collapsed passages exist leading to fell Underborea.

 

Factions/NPCs

The Necromancer (Huk Tung’Kuf). The motives of the ancient Hyperborean are mysterious and largely unknown. She cares little for the living but will accept requests for information or minor aid for a steep price or favours. She knows of the Cult of the Formless’ activities in Scardin and suspects something of the true nature of Enku but sees no need to interfere in their affairs so long as they don’t interrupt her own work.

 

The Cult of the Formless. A group of Yug worshipers who reveal in the strange, debouched heresies of their releigion. Cormac Bristle, the cult’s leader, craves power above all else to one day wield against the Xians who cast him out from Fazzuum.

·         Cormac Bristle (Witch 7^th), Innkeeper and Cult Leader

·         Ros Inghean Fionn, the “Baker” (Cleric 2^nd)

·         Niall, the “Butcher” (Fighter 2^nd)

·         Conn Macc Brehan, the Justicar

·         Kall Macc Bran, Scardin’s Mayor (Warlock 5^th)

 

Miner’s Guild/The Black Roses. The economic power in Scardin. They want to make as much money as possible before the mines shut down due to the weather. The time frame is short. Their pursuit of profit is ruthless.

·         Halla Ivarsdottir, leader of the guild in Scardin

 

Madame Nena. Brothel and gambling house owner. She has returned to Scardin secretly looking for vengeance. As a little girl, 26 years ago, her parents were taken by the Cult of the Formless. She has identified Niall, the “Butcher” as a member of the cult due to the scar on his face. Needless to say, she does not eat the meat from his shop.

 

Enku, The Sage. An Amazonian male from Port Zangerios. Secretly one of the Great Race of Yith. A man with the mind of a Yith. “You cannot pronounce my real name, but you can call me Enku.”

·         Bushy skullet and beard, somewhat walleyed. Very thin. Grimy, suggesting a lack of care for his physical appearance.

·         Arrived in the village a couple of years ago. Set up some copper mines. Has made a lot of money. Considered odd by the miners.

·         Knows what’s coming. Has seen parts of the future. Fears what actions the Mi Go will take to contact Shub-Niggaruth or if The Cult of the Formless discover The Temple of the Dreaming Deep. Not so concerned if Ymir’s Son is recovered by Frost Giants or if Vikings of the Horned One awaken Zygoth.

 

The Axes of the Bloody Horn – a heretical sect of Thaumagorga Vikings who seek the release of Zygoth and Madame Pryor.

 

Druids of the White Stag, worshipers of Yoon’Deh, watch over and guide the people of the Gal Hills. They have received fell warning during their yearly moot that a dark force is stirring in the woods, hills and mountains and ancient barrows. Unfortunately, the moot is occurring far from where the danger is happening.

 Surrounding Area Adventure Locations

 

The Black Tomb of the Wight Knight

A band of ruin hunters travelled into the barrow mounds, seeking something. The entrance to the Black Tomb of the Wight Knight. The Wight Knight was a follower of Zygoth, and the succubus trapped in the mirror was a servant of Madame Pryor (or is that Madame Pryor).

·         The Barrow has a cursed history, the site of human sacrifice by cultists when the world goes dark. Who they are has never been discovered (Cultists of the Formless (Yug) from Scardin).

 

The Skull of Ymir’s Son

Hidden in the Black Tomb for a thousand years, the bones of Ymir’s Son would be of great worth to the Frost Giant god. If an part of the bones are removed from the tomb the bearer must overcome a curse or suffer nightmarish visions of Ymir under the mountain. Regardless, Ymir will sense the presence of the bones. A nearby Frost Giant clan will be contacted with the purpose of retrieving the skull and bringing it to Ymir’s Mountain for proper burial.

 

The Temple of the Dreaming God

Miners have gone missing. A hill hut was found. There were signs of attack. Part of a spider’s leg was found. Presumed they were taken by wolf spiders but something about the shape of the leg is wrong. PCs need to head into the Birch Bog wood to find them.

Rumours:

·         Spiders do not travel so far from the forest. Did something drive them out?

 

The Witch is kidnapping villagers, making them drink from a corrupted fountain turning them into Mongrel men, an “army” to face what is to come. Witch, “You don’t know what’s coming! I have seen the signs, in the sky, in the stars! Zygoth’s resurrection is nigh!! The Pale Lady seeks her lover!”

·         She will offer to stop kidnappings if PCs vow to stop what is coming. “Watch for the coming of the followers of the Horned God. They must be allowed to find the crypts of the Pale Lady or Zygoth.”

 

Inside the Temple (use the Circle Crypts of the Obsidian God map)

A stair leads to Underborea. It is guarded by a Shoggoth. Along the wall of the stairs are images of the creature carved into the wall, telegraphing what is coming. Strange gibbering can also be heard from below.

 

The Temple of the Dreaming Deep is a location of some significance to the Cult of the Formless, who worship Yug.

 

The Cooper Mine/Mi Go Lair (The Red Descent and DL23)

Miners broke through a wall into a tunnel. Twists and turns into a lair (picture the back of the book) of Oon and Mi Go who are monitoring for information (they will become active if the Atlantean Treasure Map is found), planning and executing their eldritch designs.

 

Adventure Intro

 

Scardin. A rough, frontier town on the edge of Gal. Hard packed roads and buildings largely made of stone with thatched roofs. Only places of importance are built of sturdy pine logs. A refuge for miners who brave the Copper Hills, seeking precious metals and gems, and sheepherders without claims to better grazing lands closer to the coast.

 

It is high summer waxing, the second month of the year of the Tiger, when the sun sets for a few brief hours and the days grow ever longer. Scardin is at its busiest, a yearlong burst of activity before the unbearable cold returns. Even now, temperatures barely rise above zero, so far inland, the red rays from Helios’ bloated ass providing little comfort.

 

You have come to the frontier for reasons of your own. The long work day is slowly coming to an end and you’re heading to The Laughing Wench.

 

Describe what your work day looked like.

 

You’re in the square approaching The Laughing Wench when a man staggers out of the door clutching something in his hands…tbc.