Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Rechan 06-11-07, 12:59 PM	When I first bought the ECS and I was browsing through it, I read up on the Wastes and loved them. Always wanted to run a campaign there, but alas it has yet to be. One spot that has caught my eye is Desolation (ECS 163). The adventure seed and the little blurb about it. The city reminds me of Roanoke (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roanoke_Colony). I was wondering if anyone has thusfar used Desolation (in particular, discovering what caust the disappearance of its inhabitants). What did you do? If you didn't, toss out a hypothesis as to how people have up and disappeared thrice from Desolation.
Golbez57 06-11-07, 01:42 PM	They didn't disappear. They're still there. You just can't see them. In fact, they're looking at you fearfully right now....
garner_adam 06-11-07, 02:59 PM	Rechan, In my game Desolate was used as a preadventure to my campaign. It turns out that there is profitable gold mine there but any one who stays there too long always ends up disappearing. The reasons is because of Cleric of the Keeper named Patrick Marinus and a demon named Neroli. Prior to the last war Patrick and his friends traveled to the lair of the Keeper and returned with a shard they had taken from there. Shortly afterwards Partrick's friends one by one died in freak accidents until Neroli came to him and told him that if he did not want his soul to be claimed by the Keeper... he would have to keep people from going back to the Lair. To this end Patrick and Neroli would attack and kidnap any one who tried to take up residence. In my game Desolace usually has a terrible fog at night. Patrick would attack with a horde of undead during the night usually in one fell swoop. The next day there'd be no one and nothing left. My players really needed the gold mine. They made an agreement with Queen Aurala to settle a town provided that they could use the money for the mine to fund a mercenary outfit (they have this revenge thing against a Valenar warlord named Arkubar). Aurala agrees even though she doesn't expect much. The party is dropped off in Desolace and told by the captain they'll be back in thirty days but only if the light house is lit. Then my game played a lot like a thriller/puzzle game while in a deserted ghost town. But eventually Patrick & Neroli show up and start attacking every night with a wave of zombies. My players conduct as much research as they can and eventually determined that Patrick has been tricked. They destroy Neroli and defeat Patrick and return the shard to the lair of the Keeper. Now it's a small gold mining town called "Neroli's Fall" with most of the land belonging to Aurala's vassals who lost land during the war with the Eldeen Reaches.