Copyright © 2014 Michael Prescott - - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ - Find more adventure locations at http://patreon.com/adventures v0.9 p.1/2

THE RAID MIRRORAn adventure front by Michael Prescott

THE SITUATIONHalad al Bim didn't take all of his relics to

Tannoch with him when he died, and now apack of blight orcs has found his cache.

At the cost of many lives, they havecracked the secret of al Bim's mirror, adevice which not only allows viewing ofdistant places, but travel as well.

Now, blight orc raiding parties areappearing a hundred leagues from the blight,raiding the unfortified villages beyond theborderlands.

They slaughter everyone, take everything,and leave no tracks. They've eaten their waythrough three valleys' worth of cattle withouta defeat. That sort of thing can make a baronlose sleep.

AN UNFOLDING THREATUnlike previous adventures, the Raid

Mirror doesn't center on a location.Stryggal's raiding and rise to power maydevelop over the course of a campaign,probably while the PCs are focused on otherobjectives. If left unchecked, he becomes amajor power in the region, and dealing withhim will be much more difficult.

THE ORCNEST TIRRU-STRYGGALStryggal's orcnest, like all of its kind, stands a

hundred feet above the horizon on four massivestilts of pine. By day, it can be seen a dozen milesaway and the eyes of its lookouts spy almost asfar.

Its upper surface flaps with the hides ofhundred kills, and its great wooden belly housesa hundred orcs.

The interior is divided into three levels.Stryggal and his lieutenants dwell in thesmallest, upper level.

The middle level, the largest, is a dark, humidwarren seething with orcs and their pups.

The small lowest level houses the winches, thebutchers and the sand pit that holds the greatcookfire. Greasy black smoke pours up thecentral column and out the top.

Below the nest, effluent pools in a basin ofpacked earth, giving off an intense smelldetectable from many miles downwind. (Anywho fall in risk a drowning beyond description,and even those rescued will certainly fall ill.)

blight into his service, demanding warriorsas tributes. They are fed well but kept inpens beneath the nest.

Raids now occur weekly, but henceforthvictims are taken captive by the dozen to besacrificed to Lugh; Stryggal remains in hisnest with his advisor, scrying constantly.

F. RULER OF MENLugh directs Stryggal to extort human

rulers. Nearby barons and even dukes areforced to pay heavy tributes in gold andhostages. Some refuse and are dealt withbrutally; this garners serious attention fromthe capital.

The gold buys a force of ogre mercenaries,sufficient to allow Stryggal to treat with aclan of giants in the blighted north as anequal.

G. THE SCRYER BESCRIEDA coven of sorcerers scries Stryggal's

location, but Lugh notices. Stryggaldispatches them with a raid, but loses manyof his best warriors to fire and sorcery.

A DIRE SEQUENCE OF EVENTSUnless the PCs (or ripples of their actions)

interfere, Stryggal's rise to power will playout according to the following sequence.

Once the PCs are involved, modify andadapt as necessary, using the list asinspiration.

A. THE RAIDS BEGINStryggal uncovers the secret of the mirror,

and claims the nest for his own by murderingand eating the nestlord. After a few weeks ofscrying, Stryggal begins launching raids intohuman areas far beyond the borderlands.

Rumors spread like wildfire.

B. THE RAZING OF TIRRU-AGGALAttracted by meat-smoke, orcs under

nestlord Aggal raid Stryggal's territory.Incensed, Stryggal counterattacks throughthe mirror, killing Aggal and burning hisnest.

Stryggal scries, hunting the survivors, whoare driven into the borderlands as refugees,where they are forced to steal to survive.Rumors spread of an outright orc invasion.

C. THE RAZING OF LASTFORTFearing a migration, Baron Esselet of Lastfort

sends patrols into the narrows to locate theraiders, but only succeeds in provoking Stryggal.

Stryggal sends orcs into Lastfort keep,murdering and burning it from the inside.

The chaplain, a survivor, pronounces it anattack by devils and flees to the capital.

D. LUGH-NICURAN LIT-FROM-BELOWA demon arrives to bargain with Stryggal,

offering his services as advisor and patron inexchange for blood sacrifices.

E. WHIM OF THE MIRRORStryggal is briefly very ill, stranding a raiding

party deep in human lands. Forced to make a longoverland journey unprepared, their trailhomewards is easily followed, and severalstragglers are caught. Stryggal collects the restnear Salverton, but their exit through ashimmering portal is observed.

E. STRYGGAL MOVES THE NESTOn Lugh's advice, Stryggal relocates his orcs to

a new nest, deep in the far blightlands assafeguard against attack by human armies.

Stryggal threatens the other nestlords of the

Copyright © 2014 Michael Prescott - - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ - Find more adventure locations at http://patreon.com/adventures v0.9 p.2/2

Stryggal secures the coven's magicaltrove, which Lugh deciphers. He beginssearching out wizards of any stripe, intent onturning their magics to his own benefit.

In doing so, Stryggal learns the limit ofthe mirror's range is three hundred leagues.

H. THE IRON CASKLugh masters Al Bim's iron cask, an

artifact of great power. Stryggal reinforceshis nest with crude chains and severs itsmoorings; it rises into the sky to a height ofhalf a mile. So long as the cask is filled withthe blood of fresh sacrifices, there it remains.

Stryggal directs it to drift southwards,over the borderlands, increasing the reach ofhis attacks.

I. STRYGGAL BINDS LUCH-NICARANThe nestlord grows ever more paranoid.

He turns on his advisor, binding him andthen devouring his ichor. Demonic powerflows into him and his insanity deepens.

J. NESTFALLDuring a fit of madness, Stryggal allows

the cask to run dry. The flying nest crashesto the ground somewhere in the borderlands.All aboard are slain instantly, save forStryggal, who is saved by his regeneration.

Stryggal lashes mirror and cask to a cruderaft, and flies into the deep north, leaving histreasures behind. Taking giant form himself,he installs himself among them by force andmagical domination.

K. DEMON LORD OF GIANTSAfter biding his time, Stryggal seizes

control of the giant clan.There he will remain until ready to

venture forth once more, as demon warlordof the giants. His demonic nature hasallowed him to scry beyond the mortal lands,and he has set his sights on an assault intohell. But for that, he'll need gold. And blood.

He commands the giants to hew him animpenetrable barque of stone and ice.Raising it with the cask, he once againplunges southwards, but this time with theintent of filling the barque's sacrificial pits tothe very brim.

STRYGGAL THREESTAKESFrom the beginning, the master of the

mirror is no ordinary orc head-taker, but asummoner of considerable potential.

What he lacks in technical skill, he makesup with improvisation and a reputation: darkpowers know his willingness to providegenerous sacrifices.

From his old master (whom he ate),Stryggal learned the secret of binding darkspirits to himself with silver stakes driveninto the skull.

As the adventure dawns, StryggalThreestakes has three such stakes (hence hisname). The bound spirits grant him free useof telekinesis (one object up to half a man'sweight), ventriloquism, and speaking intongues. He carries an enchantedgnomeskull staff that grants the bearer silentmovement.

Once he becomes Stryggal Sixstakes, heaquires the powers of pyrokinesis, ogrestrength, and (when he drinks blood) trollishregeneration. Setting aside his staff, he nowfavors a mattock (wielded one-handed).

Stryggal Ninestakes acquires telekineticmastery (control of up to four 100lbs objectssimultaneously when he concentrates, andtwo under any circumstances), which he willuse to devastating effect if attacked.

He acquires truesight: he sees clearly inevery direction, and clearly sees invisible andethereal beings. In addition, he can produce astinking aura that produces debilitatingnausea in the unprotected.

Once Stryggal devours Lugh-Nicuran, hegains the ability to detect magic at will,polymorph and telepathic domination twicedaily. He ceases aging.

When Stryggal emerges as warlord of thegiants, he adopts the form of a fire titan oforc legend: 20' tall, brass skin, smolderingcoal for eyes.

PLAYING STRYGGALStryggal is an ambitious leader, unafraid

of painful sacrifices (of his troops, or hisperson) to further his aims.

In the early days, Stryggal will be focusedon the prosperity of his nest and indulgingpetty grievances with neighbouring orcnests.In person he will be violent and unpredictablewith those he perceives as weaker, but insidehim is a born negotiator. He believes anyonehe cannot immediately overcome is worthy ofdealing with, and he will explore possibilitiesenthusiastically.

Once the demon arrives, Stryggal's mind isopened to the possibility of establishinghimself as a genuine regional power. His deal-making now takes on a merciless angle.Behaving like a generous lord, Stryggal willask endless questions, professing aninsatiable curiosity: he paints visions of grandalliances, all while heaping on generoushospitality (if somewhat crude) and even giftsof captured valuables, if he feels it necessary.

All of this is a ruse, however. WhatStryggal now seeks is information - hisbargains are struck only to increase hisknowledge of targets. He strives tounderstand the power structures of thehuman realm, all the better to strike at them.

At the crest of his power, Stryggal becomescompulsively homicidal. Now completely freeof any accountability to his lieutenants byvirtue of his magical abilities he drops allpretense of providing for others, believingthat destiny has chosen him to be as great amaster as he dare.

Nevertheless, a great loneliness gnaws athim. Culturally alienated among the giants,many of whom loathe him, a part of himyearns for the days of running in the huntwith his bretheren. What he craves most ispeers to join him in his conquests. Bravery

THE RAID MIRROR and defiance will arouse his curiosity, which he willindulge until he is – inevitably – disappointed.

STRYGGAL'S TREASURESIf Stryggal is slain and his stakes removed, each

is effectively a magic wand, usable by any that canattune to such things.

After each use, however, there is a 1 in 4 chancethat the bound spirit escapes, exacting vengeance onthe bearer if he or she seems vulnerable.

The spirits are intangible, but can coalesce brieflyto taunt or to attack with spectral claws. Each canuse the power it granted Stryggal freely.

AL BIM'S MIRRORThe troublesome mirror has grown clouded and

dark from constant use. It is sturdy, but it can bedamaged. If it is cracked, it may still be used forscrying, but attempting to traverse it will causelethal harm.

Once the extorting begins, Tirru-Stryggal willalso contain a steadily growing quantity of coin,jewellery. By the time of the crash, it is a sizeablehoard and includes 2d6 minor magical items.

THE BLIGHTOnce fertile, the blight has been ruined by the

depredations of tree-cutting formians - giant ants.Over the millennia, the blight orcs have becomesymbiotic, following the formians as they expandinto lush territory. The orcs live off the game flushedout as the formians gradually replace forest withbare earth, building new nests every years as theymove.

Far from such frontiers, the blight doesrejuvenate, especially near good water. Youngforests exist all over the deep blight, growinghurriedly before the arrival of a newly hatchedformian queen.

AL BIM'S TOWERBetween Stryggal and Al Bim's favored

apprentice, Stanus, Al Bim's tower is a ruin of onlyhistorical significance, though ruins in the blight areseldom unoccupied for long.

SPITTLE AND SALVERTONThese two fortified villages stand at the edge of

the blight. They are dismal places, whoseinhabitants are wary of strangers. Nevertheless,they know the value of a debt of gratitude.