From: simon.lee@digitec.co.za (Simon Lee)
Subject: Prince of Ruins, Part One
System: Elric!

PRINCE OF RUINS

An introductory Elric! adventure

One of the "unwritten" rules of Elric! roleplaying is never to directly involve the character of Elric in game scenarios. Prince of Ruins breaks this rule from the outset. Elric is one of the more memorable characters of fantasy (and now role-playing) literature. To create a first-time Elric! module that does not include Elric seems a contradiction in terms, particularly as those who enjoyed reading about Elric are undoubtedly looking forward to gaming with him too. Of course, introducing the most powerful mortal in the Young Kingdoms to a group of neophyte characters needs to be handled carefully. The game master will have to ensure that Elric neither overwhelms the game session nor becomes the "quick fix" solution to problems the characters may encounter.

To overcome some of these difficulties, Prince of Ruins is structured in such a way that Elric remains central to the adventure without becoming the centre of it. The plot of the scenario revolves around Elric, but the characters will have to do all the role-playing and problem-solving themselves. For those players who are intimately familiar with the Elric saga, and hence have knowledge regarding Elric and Stormbringer that no character could be assumed to have, an added complication is introduced: Elric begins the scenario disguised as an "ordinary" Melnibonian noble. His hair is dyed black, his skin is coloured by artificial pigments and he is without Stormbringer and the Ring of Kings. Elric is unlikely to reveal his identity without good reason, as he is hunted by both Chaos and the various priests of Law. Once the characters see the runesword, however, they are likely to suspect something. Even then, the game master should encourage confusion. An excellent way to do this is to have the players mistake Elric for Yrkoon (his insane, power-hungry cousin) and Stormbringer for Mournblade (Yrkoon's sword). No Elric aficionado is going to release mad prince Yrkoon, much less place his runesword back in his hand!

The Elric novels are classic "high fantasy" replete with skilled swordsmen, evil wizards and repulsive nether-creatures. Moorcock, however, colours his fantasy with moral ambiguities. The last Emperor of Melniboni is undoubtedly chaotic, but is he any more "evil" than, say, the unforgiving priests of Law? Melnibonians are certainly decadent, but are they any crueler than the tightfisted merchants of the Purple Towns? Moorcock leaves such questions unanswered. He also suggests that while the gods of both Law and Chaos offer great advantage to those who follow them, ultimately they betray humanity to satisfy their own supernatural purposes. Mortals are likely to find peace only in dedication to the Balance, the middle way between Law and Chaos. Tragically, Balance is also the most difficult state to achieve or maintain. Only the lucky few ever reach Tanelorn (the physical, city-like manifestation of Balance).

In keeping with Moorcock's novels, Prince of Ruins intermingles elements of both swords & sorcery and intellectual observation. The game master's task is to integrate these concerns to produce an adventure that satisfies both minds and conflict skills. As the scenario progresses, Elric himself becomes a pawn in a desperate "tug-o-war" between Chaos and Law. Agents of the Chaos god Pyaray seek to obtain Stormbringer for their own uses, while followers of the unforgiving Law god Donblas have recognised Elric and want to execute him before he has a chance to devise a plan of escape. As Elric is inactive for most of the adventure, the player characters have a large say in what his eventual fate will be. They can deliver him to Law for judgement, hand his sword over to the minions of Chaos, or try to strike a "balance" where both Chaos and Law are thwarted (or satisfied) and Elric is freed to continue his wanderings. While the latter is perhaps most desirable, the game master should expect the players to arrive at various innovative solutions to this problem.

PART 1: GAME MASTER'S INTRODUCTION

The scenario begins in Menii, commercial centre of the Isle of the Purple Towns. The characters are approached by representatives of the Church of Goldar to undertake the delicate mission of transporting a Melnibonian prisoner to the Fortress of Evening. The Church representatives provide whatever incentives are necessary to get the characters to accept the mission, including monetary payment, favoured treatment by Menii bureaucracy, or whatever else the characters suggest. Only a small percentage of the reward is provided up front, however. The remainder is to be collected at the Fortress upon completion of the mission. Such generosity on the part of the Church of Goldar is likely to make some characters suspicious. The representatives are at pains to reassure characters that the mission is of a routine nature, as the prisoner's chaos powers are nullified by the bonds of Law that he now wears. They are also keen to point out that the mission is actually the responsibility of a group of the
Church's military men, led by sergeant Firian Kais of the Menii militia. The characters are on the mission in case of mishap, nothing more. The high rewards involved merely reflect Goldar's gratitude for the accomplishment of a urgent and somewhat delicate matter.

The Church representatives are unaware that the Melnibonian they have captured is Elric, last Emperor of the Dragon Isle. For his own enigmatic reasons Elric chose to disguise himself while travelling on the Isle, and now appears as a raven-haired Melnibonean noble with deep amber eyes. The exact reasons for Elric's presence in Menii, and the conditions of his capture, are for the game master to decide. Although he succeeded in concealing his own identity Elric could not hide the inherent chaos of his runesword, Stormbringer. The Church of Goldar priests are uncertain what to make of this artifact and have encased it in a wooden box for transport to the Fortress of Evening. They fervently hope that the priestesses of Vallyn will know what to do with it. They also "neglect" to mention the sword's presence to the characters, as they fear that the presence of a chaos artifact may dissuade them from accepting the mission. Once details of payment and other preliminaries have been sorted out, the characters are introduced to Firian Kais and the 4 additional warriors who are under his command. Firian suggests that the characters retire to bed early, as the journey to the Fortress begins before daybreak the following morning.

PART 2 : PLAYERS' INTRODUCTION

(the following can be read to players or paraphrased)

"The Seaport of Menii is the hub of commerce on the Isle of the Purple
Towns. From its harbour, trading vessels travel as far as Ilmioria in
the East and Tarkesh in the West to enrich the merchants and sealords
of this small isle. Despite their mercantile power, the denizens of
the Purple Towns still hate and fear sleeping Melnibone, their master
of old. Whether such hate is justified is questionable, as travellers
from the Dragon Isle have not been seen in Menii for decades. It seems
almost unreal, therefore, that the Church of Goldar should contact you
to oversee the transport of a Melnibonian noble to a place of
righteous imprisonment. You have accepted this task, both out of
deference to the Church and pure curiosity concerning your exotic
charge. Could he truly be Melnibonian? If he is, what does he seek in
Menii?

The Church of Goldar must fear this man greatly. Why else would they
hire priests and mercenaries to supplement what is already a
formidable complement of guards? The Melnibonian in question is
somewhat of disappointment. His long raven hair is dirty, his once
fine robes torn and begrimed. His head hangs limply and his feet
shuffle as he walks. He is hardly strong enough to raise his lips to
the water flask. Only his eyes seem alive - red-rimmed orbs that
follow every movement with a feline attentiveness. The man is bound
and hand and foot with bonds provided by the church of Goldar, bonds
that are said to resist Chaos and demon magic. So far they have proved
effective; or perhaps he has not bothered to test their strength. His
possessions have been slung across the saddle of your pack mule. You
notice nothing unusual among them, save for a long wooden case with
metal bindings. The warriors of Goldar seem little inclined to discuss
either the man or the extent of his belongings.

The journey has been slow and uneventful. From Menii you have
travelled to Kariss to re-stock supplies. You are now skirting the
northern coast of the Isle and hope to reach the Fortress of Evening
by sunset, where you will be glad to collect your reward and forget
you have ever seen a man of Melnibone."

PART 3: IN THE PALM OF CHAOS

The party is presently moving at a brisk pace along the roadway that hugs the northern coastline of the Isle of the Purple Towns. It is late afternoon and the weather is overcast. Waves can be heard crashing against rocks some 30 metres below the level of the road. Firian Kais turns to the party and announces that it will take some 4 hours of travel to reach the gates of the Fortress of Evening. He urges everyone to step up the pace, as he does not wish to travel in bad weather. Perceptive characters will notice a brief flash of light along the coastline, some 3 kilometres distant. If asked about the light, Firian will indicate that it is probably the beacon of the old lighthouse that serves the northern shipping routes around the Island.

Allow the group to travel for a few more minutes, but indicate that the weather is becoming progressively more overcast: the wind picks up, light rain begins to fall and white spray can be seen on the rocky beaches below the road. Suddenly a powerful lightning flash will strike the largest object near the party (probably a tree), splitting it asunder. The resultant thunder is deafening, and all characters fall to the ground involuntarily and cover their ears. The pack horse panics and flees back down the road, dropping the large wooden case as it goes. The characters will not be able to react in time to prevent this, and the horse cannot be recovered. As soon as the party collects itself, another lightning bolt arcs downward, striking one of the warriors of Goldar directly. The poor unfortunate screams once and then dies, charred to a black pile of steaming bone. Characters should realise that normal lightning, however powerful, does not cause this kind of effect. Before anyone can prevent him, Elric kneels be the body and examines it briefly. He then rises and says one word: "sorcery". Firian calls to the party to begin moving and the entire group breaks into a wild dash down the road. If none of the characters think to retrieve the wooden case, one of the remaining warriors of Goldar does so.

The party runs doggedly for a few hundred metres as lightning bolts crash into the ground around them. If they weave from side to side, or take other appropriate precautions, nobody else is hurt. If not, one of the characters (select randomly) is caught on the edge of a lightning strike and suffers 1d8 points of damage. The game master should continue to assault the group with lightning as long as is necessary for them to realise that they cannot remain outdoors if they wish to remain alive. As they are beginning to get really desperate, have them see the tall stone lighthouse on a narrow promontory of rock some 300 metres distant. Firian points wildly at the lighthouse and leads his men towards it. The characters would be wise to follow. Make these last few metres as suspenseful as possible by adding strange noises (growls, howling) and smells of sulphur and burning foliage to the continued barrage of lightning. As the characters cross the promontory towards the lighthouse they can see huge waves crashing against the cliffs below them, illuminated by strange phosphorescence and the occasional lightning flash. The door to the lighthouse is open and Firian bursts into the building without slowing down appreciably. The characters are swept along and find themselves in the ground floor entrance hall. The supernatural storm continues unabated outside, with occasional bursts of light and thunder indicating that lightning is
still striking the area regularly.

As it is obviously unsafe to venture outside again, characters will probably opt to explore the various levels of the lighthouse. Allow them to investigate each level thoroughly. Stress that the lighthouse was recently inhabited (this much is obvious from the items strewn around), but there is no sign of anyone has been here at recently, except for the dead body in the upper level. This unfortunate was left here while his companions went for supplies and was subsequently killed by falling wood and masonry dislodged by a direct lightning strike to the tower roof. (see the statistics section for a more detailed description of the lighthouse)

Allow the characters approximately 10 minutes of real time to conclude explorations, move objects and discuss theories regarding the lighthouse before moving to the next section. Remember to stress that the chaos storm still rages outside - nobody should be allowed to escape at this time. If questioned, Elric will repeat that the storm is of sorcerous origin and that the party has been targeted for attack by a powerful chaos force. He will also ask characters to release him so that he can oppose the chaos force more effectively. He will not answer any questions regarding himself or his thoughts on the reason for this chaos attack. It is unlikely that anyone will oblige Elric and free him at this point, but his request does serve to sow uncertainty in the character's minds.

After the 10 minutes have elapsed, characters will hear a voice calling from outside the lighthouse. Those on the balconies of the upper story will see several figures standing on the promontory, some 50 metres from the entrance to the lighthouse. These are the followers of Pyaray, led by the priest Ha'kesar. Setting his weapons aside and striding to within 20 metres of the lighthouse, Ha'kesar address es any characters he can see on the balconies. He requests them to hand over the relic of Chaos that they have in their possession. If asked to be more specific, he will say that the relic takes the form of a rune-carved greatsword. If questioned about his motives, he will laughingly tell characters that they have been misled by the church of Goldar regarding the nature of the man and the artifact they are guarding. He will argue (quite persuasively, if characters give him
some leeway) that Goldar has far more interest in the sword than the Melnibonian. The priests, according to Ha'kesar, wished to transport the sword to a place of safekeeping without attracting undue attention to their prize. They therefore recruited mercenaries who would be none
the wiser regarding the true value of what they were transporting. If any of them were to fall under the power of the sword, well ... they were expendable.

Ha'kesar takes great pains to stress that the characters are in danger from uncontrolled magical forces and that he merely seeks to save them from lingering death by removing an artifact that rightfully belongs to Chaos. He may even suggest that the bearer of the artifact stole it and has already fallen under its destructive influence. If Ha'kesar is questioned about the chaos storm he will indicate that summoning it was a "regrettable necessity". He will also stress that the effects of the storm are nothing compared to the destructive capability of an uncontrolled Chaos artifact. The game master may add anything else that is likely to make Ha'kesar's story believable - the aim is to confuse what seemed to be a straightforward situation and to have characters question the motives and allegiances of everyone, other characters included.

If Firian is present and hears this monologue he orders his men to launch a missile attack against Ha'kesar. Arrows are unlikely to harm Ha'kesar through his demon armour and he retires slowly to his previous position 50 metres from the lighthouse. He then calls out that he will give the party 5 minutes to hand over the artifact before he, regretfully, has to take it by force. Firian flatly refuses to relinquish the artifact and readies his warriors to resist an attack on the lighthouse. If questioned about Ha' kesar's accusations Firian will repeat that he has been entrusted with safe delivery of both the Melnibonian and the artifact to the Fortress of Evening. He will argue that the characters were not told about the runesword in order to reduce the chances of the escort party being intercepted by Chaos forces eager to acquire such a powerful weapon. Regardless of
counter-argument, he will not allow Stormbringer to leave the lighthouse, nor will he apologise for what he believes to be justifiable action by the Church of Goldar, given the circumstances of the mission. The characters may then use whatever remains of the 5 minutes to make preparations they feel are appropriate - conflict seems inevitable at this point.

If the characters are unwise enough to hand the sword over to Ha'kesar, a few interesting events could unfold. Firian will obviously do anything in his power to prevent the sword from leaving the lighthouse. He will even lead an attack on the characters, if the situation gets that desperate. While Ha'kesar will use all means available to secure the sword, it is important to the conclusion of this scenario that he never actually succeeds. Even if the characters relinquish the sword or it is taken from them, the game master should make use of Stormbringer's innate powers to prevent Ha'kesar from completing his mission. A quick strike by Stormbringer itself, say to shear off the hand that is carrying it outside or to slay a poor
follower of Pyaray who might be picking it up, will both prevent Ha'kesar acquiring the blade and instill a satisfying fear of Stormbringer among all individuals present.

INTERLUDE: FREEING ELRIC

Immediately before the conflict, or perhaps even during the action, characters are likely to question Elric regarding his identity and the nature and powers of the runesword. Elric will again suggest that the characters free him, this time adding that sword could easily win the battle for them if he wields it against the attacking Chaos force. He will vehemently oppose any other character using the sword, arguing that it is attuned only to one person and would be useless, and perhaps even dangerous, to another. He will remain tight-lipped about his own identity, saying only that he has extensive power over Melnibonian artifacts such as the runesword. It is likely that a disagreement will break out at this point as to whether the prisoner should be freed or not. Firian will immediately voice his support for those who want to keep Elric captive. He will remind characters that Melnibonians care nothing for Young Kingdoms mortals and that the prisoner would most likely use the sword to save his own life, while
dooming the rest of the group to an unpleasant demise.

The game master should always play for maximum uncertainly regarding Elric's actual allegiance. If the characters recognise his benevolence too early, the desired emotional conflict between duty and circumstance will be lost. Remember also that while players may know Elric by sight and name, none of their characters do. The characters will, however, have heard rumours and superstitious tales regarding the kinslayer and his hellsword and are unlikely to release such an individual without a good deal of prior deliberation. Of course they may have no alternative, especially if they are being hard pressed by Ha'kesar and the followers of Pyaray.

The priestess of Donblas's demand for Elric to be delivered up for execution (see below) raises an additional set of uncertainties, particularly if Elric has been instrumental in saving the characters from Ha'kesar. Some characters may favour leniency, while others will want such a potentially dangerous individual (and his sword) to remain within their ambit of control. Elric can never actually be handed over to the priest of Donblas: if this ever looks immanent, Ha'kesar summons the avatar of Pyaray and triggers the final events of the scenario.

While Elric wears the bonds of Goldar he is unable to cast spells or summon elementals. He is still capable of physical action, albeit with greatly reduced strength and vitality. If Elric is released from the bonds, he defends himself as best he can. The game master should not allow Elric to be slain during the conflict. It is essential that he be present at the conclusion of the scenario. If Elric does not have Stormbringer, he will avoid combat as far as possible. If Stormbringer is returned to him, he uses the sword's abilities to slay followers of Pyaray as they attack him. He does not lead the characters, nor does he pursue the Chaos agents if they retreat. If the game master is feeling particularly malicious, or if the characters accept Elric too readily, Stormbringer could "accidentally" strike one of the characters of its own accord. If this happens Elric will deny his
involvement, saying that the sword often acts with a will of its own to slay those important to him. Will the characters believe this? Probably not, which complicates matters even further.

PART 4: WHITE WOLF, BLACK SWORD

After the 5 minutes have elapsed, Ha'kesar again asks those in the lighthouse to hand over the Chaos artifact. If he does not receive it, or if characters try to stall him with further negotiation, he initiates his attack. Ha'kesar is an experienced tactician and the game master should ensure that the initial assault on the lighthouse is well-executed. Ha'kesar is likely to begin his assault by casting Breath of Death spells at individuals still exposed on the upper balcony. If he is attacked in return, or if someone seems to be resisting his spells, he will throw his trident at a likely target and then command his followers to enter the lighthouse. Three of the followers will attempt to break down the main door (if the characters
neglected to barricade the door, Firian will do so just before the attack begins), while the others move around the lighthouse and start scaling the walls at different points. Ha'kesar remains within 80 metres of the walls and uses his trident to attack anyone who appears on the balcony.

The followers of Pyaray assaulting the door will first spend a round to cast Hell's Armour on themselves (for a full 4 points). Once they begin the attack it will take 3 of them roughly 4 rounds to break open the main lighthouse door. Add 2 rounds for every follower that is killed or driven off during this period. If they succeed in breaching the door they will immediately cast Fury on themselves and engage anyone they see in hand-to-hand combat. Their objective is to occupy defenders for as long as possible so that Ha'kesar and the other followers can locate the runesword and escape. These followers are fanatical in their support for (and fear of) Ha'kesar and will not retreat from battle until he commands them to do so.

The followers scaling the walls take 2 rounds to reach the balcony level. During this time they can be attacked from above without being able to parry or dodge to defend themselves. The game master should decide exactly where on the balcony each follower arrives. As soon as a follower reaches the balcony (and assuming he is not immediately engaged in combat), he casts Hell's Armour on himself. Half of the followers also cast Fury. The "furied" followers then enter the lighthouse through the balcony doors and attempt to engage defenders in direct combat, while the remainder try to slip past melee and search the building for the runesword. Note that these rank-and file followers are not aware of the nature of Stormbringer. They have been instructed merely to recover the sword and return it to Ha'kesar. The priest will involve himself in direct combat only if he decides that the runesword is best obtained in this manner. If the combat is going against his followers he will release the demon Sharaseerch (see below) and command it to attack the defenders of the lighthouse.

In order to prevent the action from becoming slow or static, the game master should move the followers of Pyaray as quickly as possible, and
encourage players to be similarly adroit in determining their characters' actions. This is, after all, a battle: something that hardly ever happens in slow, carefully considered turn sequences. It is also important that the game master keeps a balance between action and roleplaying at this point in the scenario. The actual lighthouse attack is entertaining and should satisfy those who yearn for swords and sorcery, but it should not overshadow the intrigue surrounding Elric, Stormbringer and the agents of Law and Chaos.

[continued in V10.9]