The Sword of Ryland: A Quick-Play Adventure

The Kingdom of Korath has been in trouble before, but now things seem as black as ever. Armies of undead, sent by the Necromancer Eiathor, now ascended to lichdom, have already taken most of it, and the barons are surrendering. With victory on land seemingly impossible and the sea locked in contests of weather mages, King Porlan has sent three of his best men to acomplish by stealth what force of arms could not: to slay Mal Eiathor himself. The men have evaded capture and detection up until they reached Ryland, a forested barony whose lord surrendered to the necromancers. Taking refuge in a shepherd's hovel, Master Cedrus discovered the sword on the wall was the lost sword of Ryland, and Rythu, their youthful host, its rightful wielder. Cedrus awakened the bond between the two. Within the hour, Hydor Blackhand reported undead soldiers coming towards the hovel...

Player Characters:

Master Cedrus

• Fire Mage
• Son of Lord Senex- can't believe that his father is this far off course
• Alchemist and healer
• Lore Master 

Lord Garret of Drenvel

• Experienced with the realm
• Lost his barony in previous fighting
• Knows Eiathor and Senex well, and ridden by guilt he did not act sooner
• Traditional Combatant
• Skilled Leader
• Knows small amount of necromancy

Hydor Blackhand

• Illusionist
• Assasin
• King's Illegitimate Son (and loyal to king)
• Alchemist and poisoner

Rythu, son of Norbet

• Anti-magic Ability
• Rightful king of dead kingdom
• Peasant Background
• Ancient Prophesy
• Power comes from sword

Notable NPC's

King Porlan of Korath has ruled as a typical indolent king. He's let other's rule, and only gone to war a few times in his life. He understands that misrule will ruin his name, and he doesn't want that, but he doesn't think its worth the work to become a truly legendary king. In fact, he regards it as hard work to stay on the throne.

Mal Eiathor of Garmaz is a powerful necromancer, the second son of a local baron. Eiathor has been completely corrupted by his power: he wishes to rule, to inflict pain, and to slay the living. He's a complete megalomaniac, and has decreed that he wishes to drain the life out of King Porlan with his own two hands. Eiathor is a very talented mage, and has figured out a method to locate magic use over long distance -- including that given off by Rythu's sword.

Lord Senex of Feoton is not a necromancer, but he is working with them. He's been convincing individual barons to submit to the necromancers so that their lands won't be ravished and their people will survive -- and so that they will stay in power. Lord Senex has a reputation as a practical man and a capable manager. He essentially runs the kingdom for Eiathor, making sure that the necromancers get what they want. Cedrus thinks that his father has the good of the kingdom at heart and is saving lives. Most others think he's just looking out for himself. And there's a good possibility he plans to usurp Eiathor's position once king Porlan is dead.

Locations

Garmaz:
The captical of Mal Eiathor, Garmaz castle is also the training center of the necromancers. Mal Eiathor is certainly in this castle, ensuring the mages sent to him are properly corrupted and loyal to him ... or at least as loyal as a necromancer can be. Garmaz is in the far south of Korath, and its not known why the neighboring Gibarans are allowing a necromancer free reign...

Conquered Baronies:
Eiathor has conquered many baronies by the force of his undead soldiers and his necromancers. Each of these baronies is ruled by a necromancer and his corpse-derived soldiers. The Lords, knights, and mages of these areas are mostly dead or fled, though a few have turned traitor and are helping the necromancers. The necromancers are given free reign to sate their appetites. The peasants here live in fear of their lives, and many are trying to escape. But getting caught leaving is a sure way to join the deathly army.

Surrendered Baronies:
These Baronies have surrendered to Eiathor, (Mostly through the skilled negotiations of Lord Senex) and have kept their position in exchange for cooperation in the war. The surrendered baronies have cut off communication with those loyal to King Porlan, and their soldiers even serve in the war against him. Their mages are sent to Garmaz, where they are trained as necromancers. Given necromancy's corrupting tendencies, many of them have fled north to avoid that fate.

Korath:
The long kingdom located between the Dargwen mountains to the east and the west coast of the Aulguff sea. It borders Gibara to the south, Carthat to the north, insanely high and icy mountains in the west and Rasotar lies across the sea. Korath is also the name of the territory ruled directly by King Porlan.

Feoton:
The effective capital of the colluding Barons and the home domain of Lord Senex.

Drenvel: 
Lord Garret's barony. It has been sacked in the course of the war, and was the site of some of the greatest battles so far. Its has been laid to ruin and its peasants have fled. The resident necromancer is having to bring in servants from other baronies. Lord Garret escaped the slaughter and has been fighting ever since.

Ryland: 
Rythu's home barony. Ryland was an ancient kingdom with a strong mystic tradition. Now its the name of a barony that surrendered to Mal Eiathor and an obscure piece of its history has suddenly given the people of its former dominion hope. 

Using this adventure: 

This will be a quick play adventure, complete with character sheets, maps, and further notes on the secrets of the world. But this portion is actually fairly complete. You have characters with odd interactions, a situation, and a number of goals for your heroes to achieve. Do the heroes go strait for Mal Eiathor? Or will they confront Lord Senex? Were do Lord Senex's loyalties really lie? If the sword is powerful enough they may be able to mount an effective resistance -- particularly if they can get the Barons who gave up without a fight to join them. And cooperation between the players isn't guaranteed. Will Cedrus let his affection for his father lead them into a trap? Or is their relationship the edge the team needs? Does Rythu believe is the heir of the King of Ryland? Will the promising leader save the kingdom of Korath, or cut it down to nothing to rebuild Ryland?

I designed this game to be run with "as a power" and simple alchemy. That isn't the only way it can be run though: the standard GURPS magic system will work for this game, and you could probably play in with DnD. RPM will work as well. Lady Blackbird, which did a lot to inspire the idea of a 'quick-play' adventure for me, has a system that'd be fairly easy to work with.

I've mentioned Lady Blackbird. It was pointed out to me by the blog Game Geekery.  He deserves credit for pointing out the concept to me and giving me examples beyond Lady Blackbird.

I hope you enjoy this adventure. More is coming: character sheets, maps, encounters, and sheets of secrets (in case you enjoy internal drama and conflicting character goals). I will also be building this game in multiple magic systems and multiple game systems and really comparing how everything works. I hope this inspires you!