Noble Savages

Noble Savages was the eighth adventure released for the Covenant of Light Faction Adventure to be run as part of the Xen'drik Expeditions campaign.

Synopsis

The PCs are gathered at Radiant Hold for a long overdue award ceremony held in front of hundreds of their fellow Scions . For services above and beyond the call of duty in the past, they are being honored with one of the Covenant 's highest awards—The Brilliant Star , a crystal medal in the shape of a seven pointed star on a band of color-shifting glamerweave .

Just as the medals are being placed around the PCs' necks, a disturbance at the front gate of the fortress interrupts the ceremony. Guards and spectators are rallying to the portcullis where a man in ragged clothing has just collapsed into unconsciousness. The moment Lord Corvalis sees him, he immediately orders the gate opened and the man brought inside. He then has the man taken to a private room in the infirmary and goes with him personally, cloistering alone with the mysterious gatecrasher.

The PCs are left to their own devices for a short time before they are called for by Lord Corvalis, asking them to come to the infirmary for a private meeting. Once they arrive, he apologizes to the PCs for his brusque exit and explains his actions to them quickly.

After telling the PCs that the unconscious man is Karro , his estranged brother in law, he explains that his Eldeen family has returned and wishes to reconcile. As wonderful as this news is for him, it is tempered by the sorrow that aside from Karro, the rest may already be lost again. He asks the PCs as a personal favor if they will go attempt to rescue Oraan and the others from whatever fate has befallen them in Kalak'karan .

Assuming they agree, he sends them to the basement of the fortress to meet with Glitch , the gnome artificer many of them already know. (Glitch appeared in CVN-4 Brave Soldiers ) With no time to lose and a clear idea of where they must go because of a druid 's map possessed by Corvalis, the PCs will have to travel with Glitch in the Covenant's most unorthodox possession— Lady Cannonball , an elemental powered burrowing vehicle.

Glitch gets them where they need to go with only a slight detour in the form of an underground magma flow. Lady Cannonball gets stuck in a pool of lava and it is up to the PCs to figure out how to move her back onto solid land before she melts. Once this danger is overcome and the two disgruntled salamanders from the lava pool defeated, the PCs get underway once more.

Arriving at Kalak'karan, the PCs encounter the Keeper of the Grove while it is clearing away rubble from the ruined temple, opening up the huge crater at its heart. Maddened and completely beyond reason, the corrupted treant must be put down in some way before the PCs can continue with their rescue mission. Near the end of the combat, the earth shakes beneath the PCs and an unholy sight erupts from the massive well of power.

The source of the potent energy in the pit is revealed as a flying vessel in the shape of a nautilus shell with tendrils erupting from the front. Rebuilt using slave labor and parts from the wreckage of the Sureflight , the illithid nautiloid emerges from the dark earth below and rockets past the PCs, an all-too familiar creature of pure madness and terror spiraling in an elemental ring around its hull.

The PCs can do nothing to stop the ship from escaping but all hope for their mission is not lost. The fallen treant, freed from its madness by the departure of the foul entity, implores them to hurry below. "They will kill the prisoners now. Save who you can." Then, before their eyes, corruption claims the great Keeper, rotting it away into mold and brackish slime. The treant is beyond their aid but they still have a chance to rescue Oraan and the others if they move quickly.

Descending into the pit, the PCs are exposed to the horrors of Thoon , an enigmatic power from the madness of Xoriat . Brought to Eberron by the crash landing of a mind flayer vessel, the result of an impossible crossing between this world and theirs, the energies of Thoon have been contained in this ruined temple for more than a thousand years. Unsealed by the creature of chaos summoned by Garris , the crater is now home to several abominations left behind by the nautiloid's escape.

The PCs battle through the slave encampment controlled by these vile creatures, rescuing survivors on their way to the leader of the villainous Thoon devotees, an illithid slavemaster with a terrible surprise of his own—Thoon thralls created from the surviving human crew men of the Sureflight. Their grotesque self-immolations set the tone for a disturbing battle beneath the cursed earth of Kalak'karan.

With the mind flayer's slaves freed, the PCs can return to Radiant Hold with both dire news and desperate hope. If allowed to spread, the disciples of Thoon could potentially open a new portal using the power of the captive chaos-creature they now possess, ushering in a new Age of Madness .

Oraan, however, has learned a great deal about Thoon during his captivity and can aid the Covenent in tracking down the foul cult. As much as he wishes to rescue his daughter, this terrible blight upon the world must be dealt with first. Pledging himself and his people to the Covenant of Light for however long it takes to destroy these minions of corruption, the druid elder joins forces with his grateful son-in-law to that end.

In saving the noble savages from the Eldeen Wastes , the PCs may have also saved the world...

Appendix

Connections

Eberron Adventures
3 rd edition The Forgotten Forge Shadows of the Last War Whispers of the Vampire's Blade Grasp of the Emerald Claw Voyage of the Golden Dragon Jungle Secrets Queen with Burning Eyes Steel Shadows Fallen Angel Crypt of Crimson Stars Temple of the Scorpion God Pit of the Fire Lord Murder in Oakbridge Chimes at Midnight Tensions Rising Riding the Rail The Aundairian Job Quoth the Raven Hell's Heart City of Blood
Adapted Adventures : Red Hand of Doom Expedition to Castle Ravenloft Expedition to the Demonweb Pits‎ The Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde The Kopru Ruins‎ Legend of the Silver Skeleton‎ The Whispering Cairn The Three Faces of Evil Encounter at Blackwall Keep The Hall of Harsh Reflections The Champion's Belt A Gathering of Winds The Spire of Long Shadows The Prince of Redhand The Library of Last Resort Kings of the Rift Into the Wormcrawl Fissure Dawn of a New Age There is No Honor The Bullywug Gambit The Sea Wyvern's Wake Here There Be Monsters
Mark of Heroes Reflections of the Multiverse Pirate's Bounty and the Isle of Fire No Ticket Finding the Way Gambit at Dreadhold Blind Man's Hunt The Delirium Stone Freely Given Mote in the Eye of Chaos Desolate Endeavor The Graywall Incident Escape from Grea Tower Deep Woods, Dark Heart House of Madness Price of Protection Death in Darguun Fallen of Sharn The Unexpected Gate To Spurn the Churning Discord
Xen'drik Expeditions The Journey Begins: Well of Woe Breaching Thelanis Wall: Well of Woe The Flame Beneath the Well: Well of Woe Mere of Shattered Souls Cairn of Stone Hearts Sands of Fate and Fortune Shargon's Rage Taming the Hydra Nightfall on Sorrowdusk The Dead of Night Endgame
Blackwheel Company Faction Adventure Principal of the Matter Price of Progress Marked Man The Trouble with Pirates Tarnished Reputation None Left Behind Test of Mettle A Few Good Gnolls A Plague Upon Your Houses Pariah When in Doubt, Charge The Twentieth Lash
Cabal of Shadows Faction Adventure The Sahuagin Stone Shadows Over Stormreach Khyber's Children Fire in the Heart of Madness Night of Shadows What Rough Beast Whispers Behind the Door Racing Midnight The Darkest Heart Thirst For Blood and Stone With His Dying Breath Dark Portents
Covenant of Light Faction Adventure Divine Inspiration Crisis of Faith The Good Die Young Brave Soldiers Things Fall Apart Price of Virtue Dark Fugitive Noble Savages Choir of Angels Fate, Interrupted Greater the Fall To Live Among You
Crimson Codex Faction Adventure Prophecy's Unwitting Servant Forbidden Knowledge Native Intelligence Tomb of Tomes The Korranberg Affair Turn of the Page A Costly Truth If At First Stormrider Slept Here Chamber Made A Shattered Mind's Maze The End of the Viper's Tail
D&D Open Championship Shards of Eberron Crown of Winter Flame Tomb of Eternity
4 th edition The Mark of Prophecy Khyber's Harvest Seekers of the Ashen Crown Keep on the Shadowfell Heart of the Forbidden Forge Haruuc's Tomb: A Novel Adventure The Maze of Shattered Souls Dead for a Spell Dark Lantern
5 th edition Around Khorvaire in Fifty Days Forgotten Relics Fallen Colossus Murder on the Halcyon Race Through Q'barra Skybridge Skirmish Vecna: Eve of Ruin
Adapted Adventures : Against the Giants Between Tangled Roots‎ Danger at Dunwater‎ Dead in Thay Gold for Fools and Princes‎ In the Mists of Manivarsha Isle of the Abbey‎‎ Princes of the Apocalypse Salted Legacy Tammeraut's Fate The Fiend of Hollow Mine‎‎ The Forge of Fury‎ The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan‎ The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh‎‎ The Styes The Sunless Citadel‎ Tomb of Annihilation Tomb of Horrors White Plume Mountain
Embers of the Last War What's Past is Prologue Murder in Skyway Boromar Ball The Cannith Code Jack of Daggers Against the Lightning A Holy Visit Blades of Terror The Kundarak Job Searching for Secrets The Killing Blade Secrets Below
Oracle of War The Night Land Voice in the Machine Where the Dead Wait The Third Protocol A Century of Ashes The Last Word Song of the Sky Parliament of Gears Lord Bucket Judgment of Iron My Undying Heart The Waiting Game Stonefire From Dust Dream Eater The Dragon Below The Final Tribute Scales of War Back to the Mud Old Scores The Iron Titan Rolling Thunder The Rising City The Last War Hundred-Shard Stash Off the Rails Spirit Train Servants of the Past Cold Spell in the Frostfell Journey to Salvation
Keith Baker Adventures Curtain Call: A Sharn Adventure Trust No One Magic Sword: An Eberron Story Seed