Dark Justice

This adventure is for a small (up to 5) group of PCs of levels 7-9. The PCs are hlred by a judge of the Free City to act as bodyguards for one night, and they have to contend with the attentions of a highly dangerous enemy-a shadow-mage and his conjurati ons and allies- who will stop at nothing to kill the judge. But why is the shadow so hell-bent on revenge? What has the judge done to merit these attentions? The PCs may find out, and then wish that they hadn't done so ....

Involving the PCs

PCs of levels 7-9 may be assumed to have some reputation as competent adventurers, and so an approach from Tristram Whackerton-ffolkes, personal secretary to Judge Porthos, requesting their assistance on his master's behalf, will not be out of place. Tristram asks the PCs to visit his master at once (at least, by late afternoon) to discuss their employment at very lucrative rates. Porthos 's home is in the Garden Quarter.

Assuming the PCs tum up for a meeting, Porthos offers them 1,000 gp each to stay with him in his house and do all in their power to protect his mental and physical safety and well-being for the period of 12 hours (or equivalent depending on the time of year) between dusk and dawn. He has contracts already prepared with only the names of the PCs needing to be filled in and for the signatures of both parties to the agreement to be written in to make them legally binding documents.

PCs may well want to know why they are bemg offered so much. To this ques tion, Porthos replies, " For this money it will not be a cakewalk, but I hope to survive it, and my money-plenty of it-says you are capable of making sure of that." He will not say more than this. If the PCs agree, Porthos will have his domestics dismissed for the night and will stay behind with the PCs.

Background

Here, you need a full background to this adventure, because the PCs may find out a quite variable proportion of it, depending on how complicated you want their Lives to become.

Three years ago, the mage Arkalyne Tostoru was executed in Greyhawk for murder, although he protested his innocence loudly and to the end. He was convicted of killing a major trade rival, Pieter Kugeleijn, for the purpose of furthering his own merchanting interests. The truth of the matter is that Sir Anton Palmirian, currently Chief Judge of Greyhawk Free City, had Kugeleijn killed and the mage framed, because Palmirian was a merchant rival to both of them.

Palmirian sat in Judgment on the case with two other judges, Porthos and Sullar. At the time these were two junior Judges; they have become significantly more senior since then. Porthos and Sullar were not actually told to convict, as such, by Palmirian. It is simply that he argued strongly for the guilt of the defendant, and they were not going to buck the clear convictions of the Chief Judge of Greyhawk.

Arkalyne Tostoni was executed, but not before an apprentice of his managed to smuggle a highly unusual potion to his master in prison. Drinking this has conferred on Tostoni the ability to return to Oerth from beyond the grave. Tostoni returns in the form of a shadow-mage, a special hybrid of qualities of an undead creature and the characteristics that Tostoni had as a mortal. A by-product of the potion's effect is that the mage can only reappear once every two years or so, at the time of a relatively rare conjunction of Celene and Oerth.

On his first visit back to the Prime Material plane, the vengeful mage killed Sullar-on his second attempt. In between the attempts, Sullar managed to get a garbled, half-crazed message to Porthos 's home (Porthos was away at the time) before lapsing back into the shocked catatonia into which Tostoni's reappearance had thrown him. Tostoni slew Sullar shortly thereafter, and cast a limited wish spell to affect Sullar 's chances of surviving a raise dead spell (which, indeed, Sullar did not).

Porthos has been making quiet and discreet investigations ever since, and he has found out about the potion from Tostoni's old apprentice. Porthos has also commissioned research from sages concerning Tostoni's possible time of reappearance. He thus knows that the time is upon him, and his emotions are a mix of desperate fearfulness (inside) and icy coolness (outside). He has not gone to the authorities because he doesn't think that even an Elite Squad of the Watch could handle what's coming, and he also doesn't want officialdom involved unsurprisingly, since he has by now real ized that this matter runs deep.

Tostoni's plan is simple: to kill Porthos, and then return for a final time two years hence and kill Palmirian. To him, this is simply a matter of justice.

How much of all this the PCs find out (if anything) is up to you. Porthos knows a lot, and if he cracked and told the PCs everything, that could put them on the trail of Palmirian as someone who has conspired against justice, not to mention hired assassins for murder. A denouncement from the Tostoni couched in slightly cryptic terms could lead to the PCs asking awkward questions of the Chief Judge. The implications of this are obvious. It is up to the DM how much he wishes to complicate the life of PCs by making this material clear to them.

A Night to Remember

Porthos has a cold buffet supper ready and avoids drink (and orders the PCs to do the same). He himself wears a ring of spell turning, so he is confident that only physical melee is a major risk to him. From his connections with the city authorities, he has managed to borrow bracers of defense AC 2 and a ring of protection + 3, plus a cloak of displacement, so that he has AC -4 (with a Dexterity bonus) and he also has 6 hit points. Thus, he is not exactly a sitting duck, but he demands a cordon of PCs around him to keep him protected. This will restrict them from pursuing intruders who turn tail and flee, investigating the house, and so on.

Tostoni's tactics are fairly simple. He will send in the monsters listed below, in small groups, to weaken the PCs (he will suspect that Porthos probably has helpers and guards with him) and to draw their more useful spells, with any luck. Later on he will send in his stronger monster friends, and the last stage-just before dawn-is to enter himself with his summoned invisible stalker to get Porthos.

Attacking and killing Porthos is Tostoni's only goal; he doesn't care for a second whether the PCs live or die. Tostoni will not leave any combat while Porthos remains alive. If Porthos is killed, Tostoni will at once retreat, to cast a limited wish at a distance (to reduce Porthos's chance of surviving a raise dead spell to one-third normal).

The statistics for Tostoni given below are those which apply for him in shadowed illumination. Unlike a full-fledged undead shadow, Tostoni's true (mortal) form is visible, although usually obscured as long as he does not find himself in an area that is brightly lit. Because of his cloak of shadows (a unique magical item, detailed below), he will almost always be enveloped in semi-darkness.

A first foray will be made with gnolls and troglodytes alone, with 1-2 monsters returning to Tostoni to give a report on PC strength inside. The earth elementals will be sent in one at a time, with a delay of at least an hour in between, for protective spells (such as protection from evil 10' radius) to run out. The ghouls will be sent in with one of the elementals, and one will carry the marble elephant, which Arkalyne will activate when it is inside the house. Facing four ghouls, an earth elemental, and a rampaging mastodon will certainly tax the PCs' ingenuity! In the interim between the elementals, the hydras will be summoned to create more mayhem and damage.

Arkalyne may come onto the Prime Material plane briefly at an early stage of combat, using a spell such as magic missile or his wand to weaken, kill, or demoralize the PCs and force them to back off. Only when he is down to the invisible stalker spell will Tostoni enter himself for a full-scale showdown. Arkalyne can enter or leave the Prime Material plane in but a single segment.

The PCs have legally binding agreements with Porthos-and he will let them know that if they fail in their duty, the whole city will know and their names will be mud. The PCs can run out at any time, but they must then be made to endure the mockery and derision of Greyhawkers for months (or years!) to come.

This is a war of attrition. For years the PCs have gone down into dungeons and terrorized the hapless inhabitants. Now it's their turn to have waves of murderous invaders assaulting them. Wear them down, make them feel more and more helpless, until the final attack from Tostoni and the stalker. Monsters attack from all available directions, no portals can be held safe against Tostoni's chime of opening, and Tostoni"s haste spells will certainly be cast upon the gnolls and troglodytes and hydras to turn them into fear some attackers. The PCs should be wound up into a state of higher and higher tension until the final climax!

Concluding the Adventure

If the PCs manage to make it through, and Porthos stays alive, then Tostoni will be finally slain-never to return-and Porthos will regain his composure. He will pay the PCs in full, and (unless Porthos has broken down and given anything of the background away) the PCs will know someone in a high place who thinks highly of their competence and would commend them to others as discreet and effective operators. More commissions might well be forthcoming soon!

However, if the PCs have learned anything much of why Tostoni has been trying to slay Porthos-either from Porthos or Tostoni's utterances-then the PCs might do well to leave the Free City for a year or so. Porthos will find their continued presence embarrassing and irritating. Sir Anton Palmirian's very considerable influence could begin to act adversely on them. Of course, the PCs might start some detective work to find out why they are being leaned on, in which case an intrigue adventure is developing and you will need to develop details for the background given above.

If the PCs fail, then Tostoni will cease hostilities as soon as Porthos is slain and explain why he has killed him-but without mentioning Palmirian (who will be his next target two years from now!).

If the PCs run, whether Porthos lives or dies the contracts will exist, and the characters' desertion and/or incompetence will be common knowledge. Rumors will even exaggerate it so the PCs hear stories of wrongdoing and negligence on their part of truly epic proportions! Within Greyhawk, their reputations will be ruined; time to relocate to another part of Oerik, and perhaps pay a tourist visit to the Free City a decade or so from now ....