The Ecstasy of Gold Adventure Part 05

Background

War! The Belt of Tirva is at war. The Coalition (Bazagon, Sarzalom, and The Patriots of Salamar) battle the gnoll-led Barcain Empire for full control of the region. The Barcain Empire has seized sizeable portions of the eastern side of The Belt. Princess Sanya of Akhrazem narrowly escaped capture when Shuria fell.

Trade routes disrupted! Yousif Tirva the 5th's neighbor and ally Akhrazem depends on gold from its mine in Plutiodûn passing through The Belt; however, the Barcain Empire now controls key portions of the gold route. Greedy merchant guilds in Ghazdahar closely watch the border with Plutiodûn for the mule train, hoping to seize the 10,000 gold for themselves.

How will the gold get through?

Adventure Goal and Rewards

Goal: Lead, escort, and protect Akhrazem’s gold shipment, traveling from Plutiodûn through the Belt of Tirva, and its war, to Akhrazem.

XP Rewards: Classic XP, plus bonus XP for each character (The bonus XP will be 10 percent of the gold that arrives in Akhrazem, prorated by the number of sessions the character participated in. If the character participated in 1/3 of the sessions, the character only receives 1/3 of the bonus XP.)

Monetary Rewards: The group will receive a reward of 15 percent of the gold that arrives in Akhrazem to divide up as they see fit, plus whatever they find along the way.

Adventure Guidelines

• This full, reserved-seat adventure series will be 4 to 5 sessions long for 5 characters. This is a commitment. Message me if you have questions. (We will do our best to work out scheduling in Discord ahead of time. The tentative plan is for the sessions to be on Friday or Saturday nights U.S. Central time.)
• It is open to Coalition or Coalition-friendly characters. Create a new Level 1 character or bring one of your existing Level 1 or 2 characters. Both 5e and 5.5e characters are welcome. I mostly follow 5.5e rules. Establish a strong reason to ensure the gold reaches its destination. (See character hooks below.)
• Follow the Belt of Tirva/Sarzalom/Myriad Legends guidelines for your character.
• This adventure will be a heroic pulp multi-session adventure grounded in elements of gritty realism. Weather, terrain, food, water, etc. will be part of the challenge. Exploration will be significant. Combat and roleplay will vary based on choices made (and luck).
• While your character is involved in this adventure, they are locked out of playing other sessions (to avoid continuity issues). This adventure will take place over the course of a week or so in game but playing the 3-4 sessions could take 4-6 weeks of real-time.

Adventure Logistics

Session Duration: 3.5 hours (This is session 05 of a 4-to-5-session full adventure.)

VTT: Discord Whiteboard and theater of the mind (other sessions may use Roll20)

Call: At session time, see Voice Channels on the Discord server.

Safety Tools: This adventure will not include self-harm, harm to children, sexual themes, or torture scenes. Reach out to Agile Bronc with any other lines and veils topics. During the session, please use the phrase “pause a moment” to pause an uncomfortable scene for a brief above-table discussion.

Character Hooks

Choose one of these character hooks or use them as inspiration to create your own. Add the character hook to your character’s Myriad Legends page. If you want to keep it to yourself, you may put it in the Notes to GM section.

• You believe in Arzevi Arezo and The Brotherhood. You volunteered to ensure the gold reaches Akhrazem, even though you will return to slavery in the mines.
• Your family/guild/organization in (Akhrazem or Ghazdahar) depends on the gold the Satrap of Akhrazem spends. If this gold does not reach the Satrap’s treasury, they will suffer.
• You owe an insurmountable debt to a Dwarf Clan in Ghazdahar. You don’t know why, but you were told getting this gold to Akhrazem will cancel that debt.
• The Golden Coalition sent your friend to get this gold to Akhrazem. You followed to protect your friend’s life and reputation.
• You hate the Barcain Empire or loyally support Yousef Tirva the 5th and his family. You signed on to get this gold through to Akhrazem, but the important thing is to make sure it stays out of the Empire’s hands.