The Fishing Trip: An adventure for 1-4 characters of levels 2-4



Background

Recently there appeared at the royal court an old man telling an exceedingly odd tale of a great fish. According to his account, a local hero, being parched by the heat of the day had gone down to the river Runne to drink. The fish, an immense pike, appeared before the warrior and was heard to speak by a score of eyewitnesses, asking him in watery tones what was best in life. The warrior, afrighted by the sudden and unexpected appearance of the pike was heard to mumble a reply, at which point, the fish, with singular force and swiftness, struck the hapless man, towing him into the depths of the river whereupon he drowned.

The recitation of the strange tale was met with enthusiastic acclaim and on its completion the king stood and being desirous of a trophy to mount in his hall, decreed that anyone who would present him with the carcass of the giant fish should receive their weight in silver. In the excitement following this proclamation, the nobles of the court have sallied forth, joined by fortune seekers from all walks of life in a gold rush to scour the banks of the great river for the creature.


Start

The module begins with the arrival of the characters at the village of Abbotsford, a small settlement of the upper reaches of the great river (also known as the river Runne). The town is located on a wide gravelly ford of nearly half a miles width. The water is clear and swift flowing, but not overly deep.


When the party arrives at Abbotsford they will find the streets of the normally sleepy little town a hive of activity. The chaotic, bustling crowds swarm aimlessly everywhere, and the party will quickly find that all accommodation has been booked, and that most of the towns fishermen and their boats have been hired or purchased.


The nobles and knights of the royal court are clearly in evidence, pushing arrogantly through the milling throngs, and demanding preferential treatment of the inn keeps and bar tenders. The river surface will be dotted with dozens of small craft ranging from dugouts and coracles to small barge, punts and other river craft. Along the shore, the unlucky and those less-well-to-do try their luck, wading through the shallows or casting out with pitifully inadequate lines.


Random Town Encounters

1– 20% accosted by garrulous fishwife. If a purchase is made from her, she will confidentially inform the party (and any bystander in a radius of 10 yards) of one of the rumours from the rumour table. Roll randomly to determine rumour.

21 – 30% challenged to a duel by a fop. A swaggering young knight accuses the party of insulting him, and slaps the face of the biggest character with his gauntlet. Fop 2nd level fighter hp 10 AC 2 (plate mail + shield) Alignment stupid, Weapons long sword & dagger

31 - 40 % The party is accosted by a phalanx of knights who block the parties way making derogatory remarks about their parentage. 6 bullies (1st level fighters) hp 3x 5, 3x 6 AC 3 (plate mail) armed with long swords and daggers. If the party wins, all the surrounding townsfolk burst into cheers and drag them into a local pub for an impromptu celebration.

41 – 50% An enterprising fortune hunter decides to go fishing in the characters pockets instead of the river. The would be pickpocket is a 1st thief (AC 10 hp 4 armed with a dagger). The picket pocket attempt will be at +5% due to the bustling chaos of the towns streets and public houses. Roll randomly for the item stolen.

51 – 60% A fisherman attempts to sell his punt to the players for quadruple its worth. The only problem is that the punt is at the bottom of the river with a hole in its hull. The hole can be repaired in half a day.

61 – 70% A passing wagon runs over the foot of a random character. Lose 2 hp.

71 – 75% A drunk 4th level magic user drapes himself over the shoulders of 2 or more characters and loudly insists they watch him shoot the king standard from atop the magistrates house with a magic missile.

76 – 80% A drunk dwarf insistently asks for directions to the Iron Hills, and then sits on a doorstep crying maudlinly to himself regardless of the answer.

81 – 85 % A stinking and mangy cur (hp 3, the stench oddly reminiscent of what a character may have regurgitated some hours previously) trails the characters where ever they go, eyeing them balefully and barking at them continuously.

86 – 90% Local youths jeer at the party as they pass by, throwing horse droppings at them. If seriously challenged, the youths will scatter and cravenly flee to the derisive laughter of onlookers.

91 – 95% A passing noble invites the party into a public house and proceeds to drown them with drinks while telling incredibly boring and unlikely stories.

96 – 98% A fisherman approaches the party and offers to built them a coracle in the space of a day for a surprisingly reasonable price (only double the going rate).

99 – 100% A chamberpot is emptied from the second story onto a random characters head. The perpetrator is a cranky ex-fisherman (hp 3). The victim temporarily loses 1-6 charisma points as the townsfolk stand around pointing and laughing their heads off.


Rumour Table

1-10% The pike was seen heading upstream (actually true, but from a false source)

11-20% The pike was seen heading down (false)

21-30% The pike has already been caught and is now being transported in secret to the King's Court (false)

31-35% The pike is actually a magician in disguise who is seeking to lure adventurers to their doom (false)

36-40% The knights are plotting to arrest and imprison their competitors (false)

41-50% A magician was arrested yesterday for blowing off the kings standard that flutters atop the courts of the magistrates (true/false depending on the events of the random encounter table)

51-60% Pickpockets are operating in the town, guard well your wallets (true)

61-70% The pike doesn't exist (false)

71-80% The pike isn't a giant pike at all, but a dolphin. The knights of the court have sown a false tale so that they can capture the dolphin themselves (false)

81-90% There are nixies up the river (true) who demand a tribute from all passers by (false)

91-95% Further up the river is a giant beaver dam (true)

96-100% Beware the enchanted woods they say, few that enter survive to return (partially true)


If the characters try their hand at fishing, they will have the following results (per person/averaged over half hour blocks)


01-30 nothing

31-40 eel

41-50 grayling

51-60 chubb

61-70 Trout

71-80 Salmon

81-90 Pike (small)

91-95 Pike (medium)

96-99 Pike (large)

100 Special *


The Enchanted Woods

A few miles upstream from Abbotsford are the Enchanted woods. It is an area seldom visited by the inhabitants of the town for it is home to ...


The Wee Folk

The wee folk keep to themselves and do not welcome any intrusion into their lives. Naturally the influx of big folk pestering them, disturbing the birds and animals of the river and woods has severely tried their patience. The fisherfolk who work this stretch of river respect the privacy of the wee folk and will warn the adventurers not to intrude into their domain. Should a large enough inducement be offered then perhaps a fisherman might reluctantly take the characters to them - fearfully hanging back however.


The following groups or individuals exist:


Nixies

About 50 nixies live on the main river channel, along with 2 charmed men and 1 female, each of more than average comeliness. The nixies have no lair, preferring to spend the night in a deep green pool shaded by lofty boughs. Near to the entrance of the pool, a plated arm reaches up despairingly from the murky depths of the river. If the body is rescued from the depths, a second will be found nearby, the remains of two arrogant and thoughtless knights who learnt to respect Nixies a mite too late. If approached peaceably and if the characters are willing to part with various pieces of jewellery or raiment, the nixies might be convinced to tell the adventurers what they know. If so, they will tell the adventurers that a strange pike, bigger than any they have ever seen, was spotted swimming strongly upstream a week ago.


Besides their soggy plate mail, two elegantly damasked long swords (of worth 100 gp each can be recovered) as well as a thick leather belt studded with amethysts (worth 50 gp).


The Leprechauns

Widely known for their whimsical sense of humour, the leprechauns are avoided by the fishermen due to their mischievous nature. They will happily make the acquaintance of the big folk, promising all sorts of outrageous things to the naive and stupid. Naturally they rarely honour these promises, unless something hilariously funny results. However should the party encounter the leprechauns it is possible that for information that they might trade a funny limerick or a rude joke, or equally, they might demand a jewel of great price.


Should they find the parties humour to be lousy, they will use their polymorph non living objects ability to transform any and all armour worn by the party to a hideous hue of iridescent pink.


12 Leprechauns AC 8 Hp 2-5 apiece


The First Move - The Pike Heads Upstream

If the party fails to make any headway in their efforts to find the pike, then after the third day a rumour that the great fish has been sighted upriver will sweep through the town and throughout the day, an endless flotilla of small vessels will be seen heading upriver and by nightfall the town will be deserted save for a few drunks and some hopeless blackguard drifters – and of course the townsfolk, who will quickly fall back into their old routines, shaking their heads at the foolishness of outsiders.


The river wends its way across a broad flood plain, the farm lands falling behind, and the adventurers will enter a forested area of open soggy meadows and tall aspens.


The Beaver Lodge

Here a clan of giant beavers has dammed the river with an immense weir. The beavers, long tolerated by the locals, and free of would be predators have prospered, creating a vast and intricate lodge complex. When the party arrives they will find the beavers embroiled in a shoving match with a large group of angry, shouting knights. As the party joins the fleet of gawping retainers bobbing beneath the lodge, the beavers will shove a group of 5 knights over the edge, and send them splashing and spluttering into the shallows.


The party can join the pushing match, or proceed on an alternative path such as negotiation. If the party is sensible enough to speak to the beavers they will probably be able to find out that the giant pike passed through a slip way in the dam, exactly six days previously. The beavers won't oppose passage over their weir, they just want the humans to keep away from the area where they are raising their kits.


Blackwater Marshes

Of traditionally evil repute, few are brave or foolhardy enough to venture into these foreboding swamps of dark, thickly wooded quicksands. A morass of decaying vegetation fills the turgid waters and swarms of buzzing midges and mosquitoes will attach themselves to any exposed flesh. Three passages of clear water wend 1 (large and 2 small) their way through the swamp.


If the character(s) have not led the charge upriver, then the main channel will have been cleared by the time they arrive. If not, vast intertwined spider webs will cover a stretch of at least 200 yards, and lurking in dappled shade of the overhanging boughs are 4 giant spider (hp 25, 2x 24, 22) which will agilely scuttle through the webbing the first moment they feel a boat (or a wading person flailing to free themselves) bump into their sticky nets.


If the characters try one of the side channels, they will find a boat trapped mid channel and the desiccated bodies of two adventurers hanging from the webs. Two of the giant spiders from the main channel will arrive in a matter of less than a minute.


Clearing the marshes, the pursuit will enter wilder lands on the borders marches of the kingdom. With each passing day the party will pass an ever diminishing trickle of drop-outs from the great chase who will despondently watch the parties passage upstream.


As the countryside suddenly takes a turn for the rougher, the party will find themselves entering a swift flowing gorge where the water flows strong and clear. About a half a mile in they will encounter two knights stranded on a tiny rocky islet in the middle of the stream. From the shore, an unshaven man in rough leathers watches them in considerable disgust as they flail their arms and beg piteously for the parties assistance. Should the party take pity on them and rescue them from the islet they will quickly prove demanding. If allowed, they will begin to command that the party attend to their every whim. However should the party suggest heaving them overboard, they will immediate shut up and behave themselves.


Sir Roscoe and Sir Belvedear

Knights of the court

Level 2 & 3, hp 9, 12 AC 3 (plate armour), weapons long sword & dagger Align neutral


The man in homespuns is Quintish a 2nd level ranger, AC 8 (leather/fur armour) hp 18 armed with a hatchet and knife Align Chaotic good


The Green Lake

Although this long and green lake lies outside the domain of the kingdom, it is known for the strange tribe of lizard folk who live on a narrow island in its middle. These scaly creatures are fiercely territorial and will recklessly defend the lake from any invasion, no matter how peaceful.

As soon as the flotilla appears on the lake, the males will seize their stone headed weapons, launch their dugout canoes and paddle briskly towards the approaching armada of vessels.


Four to five canoes swarming with lizard men will target the characters craft. If the party is victorious then the tide of battle turns against the defenders, and the human armada will brush aside the remnants of the lizard man forces.


16-20 lizard men AC 5 hp 10-11 average, armed with stone headed maces and javelins


On the island is the lizard mens rude village, a cluster of squat huts constructed from reeds. The huts form a rough semi circle crowding around a crude stone idol of a gigantic crouching lizard man. Behind the idol is an enclosure of wooden stakes. Inside is a fanged horror, which the lizard men believe to be the chosen one of their deity. The fanged one is ritualistically fed the bodies of the slain, and hearing the sounds of combat it will be waiting with a fearsome hunger.


When the party approaches, it will dart forth out of the enclosure (the gate having been released by a retreating lizard man) and will descend upon the hapless Quintish, who if he agreed to accompany the part and surviving the battle on the lake, will be somewhat in advance of the party. Before the party can come to his aid, the luckless ranger will be torn limb from limb. Should the party not enter the village, the ranger will disappear into the village never to return.


The Fanged Horror

AC 4 HD 8 (hp 36) Att 3 1-8 1-8 1-10 Special attacks Drowning Int semi Al Neutral


The product of some malign sorcerers mad research, the fanged horror encompasses the head of a shark atop the torso of a lizard man with the claws of a giant lobster or crab. Its tough shark skin hide, insatiable appetite and ferocious temperament all combine to make it a dangerous adversary. Fanged horrors typically lurk in the rivers, bays and along the coasts of tropical through to temperate lands, usually either as single predators or in small family clans. In combat, if both claw attacks succeed the Fanged Horror will have latched onto its prey, which it will then drag into the depths in an attempt to drown it.


The village will otherwise be found to be empty, the non combatants having left during the battle on the lake to hide in the reed beds along its shores. A number of small, poorly formed pearls can be found in the huts. These will have a total value of between 50 – 200 gold sovereigns.


The Falls

Here a powerful waterfall descends a series of drops amounting to a vertical height of about 30'. Due to their power, the falls are known as the Highforce Falls. Downstream of the boiling plunge pool, the swift waters are unusually clear, and unusually barren of fish life. Local Legend tells of a watery serpent that by reputation haunts the plunge pool. When the party arrives (unless they are first on the scene) they will find the plunge pool the occupied by mystified adventurers looking for the pike.


A basic examination of the falls will reveal that they would be impossible for any giant pike to climb, let alone one as massive as claimed.


The answer to this mystery lies in a inlet about half a mile downstream where a salmon ladder climbs through the surrounding woodland to the long lake at the head of the falls. The salmon ladder is a stone lined culvert about 6' wide and 3' deep at the centre, semi-circular in profile. Blockages of fallen tree limbs have been recently forced aside by the passage of something of obviously great size.


The Ancient Shrine

About half way between where the lake feeds into the ladder, and where it empties back into a river is a small shrine of ancient lichen encrusted stone. From amongst the dangling willow fronds a Pan headed statue regards the characters serenely. Slightly unnervingly, its blank eyed gaze seems to track their every move.


At the statues foot, a spring bubbles into a stone lined votive pool which drains into the fish ladder. Scattered in the mud at the bottom of the pool are hundreds of silver and gold coins, which if even so much as a single coin is taken will bestow a curse on the offending characters. This curse will invoke the immediate summoning of 2-3 satyrs (AC 5 hp 22,23, 23) who will demand that the characters restore the money to the pool. If the coins are returned, the curse is immediately lifted. The Satyrs will try to persuade the party of the foolishness of their actions, and will only attack in response to an attack upon themselves or unless the party attempts to leave the pool area. If the satyrs are slain the curse will remain, and manifest itself in that the offending characters will mysteriously lose 10% of their wealth per week, regardless of any precautions they might take (treasure will even “evaporate” from securely locked vaults) until such time as the characters restore what they stole from pool.


Note: if the statue or pool are desecrated or vandalised in any way, the curse will be invoked and persist until such time as the damage has been restored. The curse can only be lifted by a cleric of 17th level or more.


A detect magic spell if available will reveal two separate magical aura's surrounding the shrine. One emanates weakly from the statue and pool area generally, a second more intensive field is located within the pond. An investigation of the second aura will reveal an ancient broadsword nestled beside the ribcage of a partially disarticulated skeleton. The sword will in the fullness of time prove itself to a +2 broadsword (if used sufficiently).


Should anyone make the mistake of lingering in the pool for more than a few minutes, the reason for the barren stretch of water in the main river will become apparent as the water swirls and forms into a sinuously twisting serpent of water which attempt to drag any character down into the murky centre of the pool and drown them.


The Guardian of the Pool - Water weird AC 4 hp 18


By the time the party leaves the Highforce Falls behind they will find themselves travelling alone as the last few of their dispirited competitors drop out of the race.


Journeys End - The Lake of the Clouds

After many days of travelling through country that progressively becomes more wild and hilly, the party will arrive at their ultimate destination, the fog blanketed Lake of Clouds, nestled in the arms of the mountains. Overlooking the reedy, fog bound shores of the lake is an ancient stone broch, so covered with moss and lichens that seems to grow naturally from the hillside. On investigation is will appear to be a solid core of masonry without any doorway (a detect magic spell will reveal the existence of one such a portal).


However its unlikely that their attention will remain on the broch for long, for a loud splash will sound from the lake, and near to the shore they will see an enormously long stream lined shape cruising through the murky shallows. The biggest giant pike that any of them will have ever seen.


If the party approaches the pike it will raise its mouth from the water and ask in hollow tones: “What is best in life?” before slipping back beneath the water to await their answer. Should the party answer “to eat” or “to eat before one is eaten” the pike will be satisfied and with a flick of its massive fins, it will gouge a cut in the silty bottom of the a lake, within which the party will see the bright gleam of gold. The pike will then swim away and can be hunted down later, if the party so desires. The treasure consists of a number of bejeweled goblets of heavy yellow gold that spill from a rotten sack. The goblets can be assayed as being collectively worth between 3000 and 5000 gold sovereigns.


If the party gives the wrong answer or delays too long (more than 5 minutes of actual time) the pike (hp 28) will drive itself powerfully forward and attack the party, attacking the smallest first and attempting to swallow them whole. Bigger characters will be dragged out into the centre of the lake in an attempt to drown them.


As this story draws to a close, an old man descends the path from the broch, and he has a job for them …. (and a story about a golden ring dropped in a river and swallowed by a greedy pike)


The End