Find a Way to Hades

The party will be tasked by Appius to retrieve a tuning fork tuned to the plane of Hades in order to complete the next step of the plan.

## Learning of the Quest

After destroying the portal to Graz'zt's realm on Raepos near the lighthouse, Appius will contact them again and say he believes he has a plan to stop this plot for good. He'll join them the next time they're free and tell them they need to retrieve sediment from the bottom of the River Styx. This river flows through several of the Outer Planes, but the safest one is Hades. Appius will tell them he can transport them there, but he needs a tuning fork tuned to Hades in order to complete the spell. He suggests they try to Hall of Summoning in Gold Marsh.

At this point, Appius will tell them the truth of the gods and who he is. He'll also explain that the this prevents him from acting directly in too many events, as that would draw the attention of the other gods and could cause a celestial war. It also prevents him from accessing the Hall himself since it's warded against celestials and fiends.

## Reward

Nothing will be offered but with a DC 15 Persuasion check, they can convince Appius to offer another magic item.

## Details

* The party will need to sail to Gold Marsh in the region of Disolut on the northern tip of Narogand. They can choose to sail straight there or following the protected shipping lanes which travel through Saj'aant first. Either way will require paying for supplies for the trip.
	+ Sailing straight there will mean a 10 day travel time. The first day and the last 2 days will be on protected shipping lanes meaning safer travel.
	+ Sailing on the shipping lanes will mean a 12 day travel time. They'll reach Saj'aant after 2 and half days and can choose to stop there if they wish. The entire trip will be on protected shipping lanes, but certain dangers could still befall them.
* After reaching Gold Marsh, they'll need to locate the Hall of Summoning. There they will be greeted by a receptionist. If they ask after the tuning fork, they'll be directed to Headmaster Kraktor Askogar.
* The Headmaster will tell them the tuning fork is only for use by the senior staff of the school. No amount of Persuasion will convince him (although the party can try). A severe failure in Persuasion will get them kicked out.
* They'll have to find a way to obtain the tuning fork through some other means.
	+ They can break in, disguise themselves, enlist the help of a member of the school, or some combination of the three. Or if they come up with another option, that could work too.
	+ A nearby tavern, A Willow's Whisper, is frequented by students and staff from the school and can be used to gather information. The proprietor, Samuel is a great source of information on the school, given he attended but has no love for the school (and actively hates the headmaster).
		- The players can get information from Samuel with the following Persuasion checks (equivalent Intimidation checks would work but will lead to a different kind of help and he may betray them if given a chance):
			* DC 10 if they ask for innocuous information that a normal curious person would ask
			* DC 15 if they ask for more detailed information that suggests they may have ill intent (but they will likely get more useful information)
			* DC 20 if they try to get Samuel to help them break in
		- Samuel will know the layout of the school, what building and room the tuning fork would be in, and generally what defenses might be set up. He also has the stats of an Arcane Thief (with a modified spell list).
			* He can tell the players about the Arcane Lock, the Alarm spell, the Private Sanctum spell, and the fact that there will be a lot of drawers the fork may be in (he won't know exactly what drawer). He also won't know that opening three drawers triggers an alarm.
* There will be a small amount of guards around the school as well as the teachers and students which will have different amounts of battle prowess. Alerting any of them to an intruder or attempted theft will cause them to be hostile.
* The campus isn't large, about the size of a small middle school, but the buildings are larger (most at least 3 stories). The campus is open to anyone to walk around, but if they look suspicious (such as creeping around at night) and are noticed by patrolling guards, they will ask them questions and might escort them off campus or detain them depending on the answers.
* The building the fork is in is on the north side of campus in the administrative building. This is where most of the professor's offices are, as well as the research labs and the Artifact Vault (where the tuning fork will be). The administration building is open to students and faculty during the day. If someone that doesn't appear to be a student or faculty is inside during the day and is noticed, they will be questioned and escorted out (or possibly detained). The building is locked at night. The DC to unlock it is 15, but unless at least a 20 is rolled, a patrolling guard will notice them and confront them. There is also a window Samuel can point them to that is hidden in some brush and has the same DC to unlock, but they won't be noticed. They can also find this window with a DC 20 Perception or Investigation check (if they are specifically looking for a way in where they won't be noticed by patrolling guards).
	+ The building is 60 feet on each side. There's only one door (the front door), but 2 windows on each side (including the front). The stairs are located in the two back corners of the building and go all the way up to the third floor. Each floor has a hall that goes around the perimeter, with offices located on the outer perimeter and the center of the building (except the first floor, the center of the building is a large conference room). At night, 1 set of 2 guards patrol the building. They'll make one lap around each floor of the building, using the top right staircase to move between floors. It takes them 8 rounds to patrol each floor and one round to make it from one floor to the next.
	+ The Artifact Vault is on the second floor in the bottom left corner. It has no windows and the entire room has an Alarm spell on it. If the Alarm is triggered, one of the faculty (it's a rotating list) will quickly use Message to alert the guards and faculty with nearby offices. The faculty will arrive at the vault after 4 rounds and the guards after 8. The door is locked with the Arcane Lock spell. The room is also under the affect of a Private Sanctum spell, preventing teleportation, planar travel, and divination inside of it.
	+ Inside the vault is a series of drawers. If the player's received the help of a senior official in the school, they know exactly what drawer the tuning fork is in. Otherwise, they will need to go hunting for it. The drawers all have ID numbers on them and there is a book near the entrance with an index. Finding the correct entry can be done with an Investigation check. Less than 10: the character is unable to find it, 10-12: they find it in 1 minute, 13-15: they find it in 5 rounds, 16-20: they find it in 3 rounds, 20+: they find it in 1 round. The drawers are enchanted so that if 3 are opened within 1 minute, an alarm is triggered that will wake all nearby faculty (triggering the same reaction as if the Alarm spell is triggered). Each drawer will contain a magic item of some sort. Many of them will be fairly plain and just meant to assist in teaching, but there are a handful of magic items that may be of use.
	+ Plenty of faculty will be milling about the building during the day. If they leave the door open, a pair of faculty members will discover them within 1d4 rounds and raise the alarm unless convinced the party is meant to be there. Sneaking through the building during the day is impossible unless invisible. If they are disguised, every disguised party member must make a Deception check with a DC of 15. This check needs to be repeated for each floor. A failure will lead to the guards being alerted within 2d4+2 rounds. Also, to enter the vault disguised, they must use the password, they cannot pick the lock while disguised without being discovered. Guards patrol the building at night and will notice the open door within 3d4+2 rounds (unless the party specifically times the guards patrol). If they are sneaking through the building (including during the day while invisible), they must make a Stealth check with a DC of 20. This needs to be repeated for each floor. A failure by any present party member leads to them being heard, and the guards will hurry to their position. Also, if they don't time the patrols, roll a d6 to determine what floor the guards are on when they enter and a d4 to determine what side of the building they're on. If the guards move to the same side of the building as the players and they aren't invisible or hiding in a side room, they'll be discovered. If they are discovered by guards, they'll attack and call out, likely waking nearby faculty. If any faculty are alerted to intruders, they'll use Message to spread the word and bring in reinforcements.
	+ The door has a total DC of 25 to be picked. A senior faculty member can also tell them the password or Samuel can tell them of a professor with a terrible memory that probably has it written down in his office. The office is on the third floor. Once they're in the office, they can find the written down password with a DC 20 Investigation check (made as an action). Guards will notice them in the room after 2d4+2 rounds if it's at night. The professor will return to his office in 2d4+2 rounds if it's during the day. If they shut the vault door, the check or password has to be repeated.
* If they attempt to enlist the help of a senior member of faculty, they'll need to find one that might be persuaded. Most of the faculty will deny them outright, but there are a few that could be convinced with the right persuasion. They can find the names of any of these professors from Samuel or by asking around the school or tavern (but pushing too far could cause people to be suspicious).
	+ Professor Loctum (male Dwarf): Professor Loctum has a gambling problem and currently has a fairly large tab at a local casino that he's not sure how he'll pay off. He'll help the players if they settle this problem for him (either by getting rid of the debt or giving him 5000 gold to pay if off). He can't be persuaded to lower the price since it's not worth his trouble unless it completely pays his debt.
	+ Professor Nydeer (female Elf): Professor Nydeer is known in certain circles to be a bit... horny. She's not especially attractive and hasn't had a significant other in a long time. A DC 20 Charisma check can cause her to be infatuated with a specific character (she has no gender preference). The character she's infatuated with can use this to get her to give them access to the key, but they'll need to offer sexual favors. The character can either be lying (Deception check) or telling the truth (Persuasion check), but the DC is 15 for either. If they back out after the fact, she'll attempt to stop them and alert the rest of the school.
	+ Headmaster Askogar (male gold Dragonborn): Headmaster Askogar is embezzling money from the school. If the players get him in a conversation away from other people and confront him with this, they can try to Intimidate him into helping. If they have some proof, the DC is 10, if not, it's 20.
* Once they've obtained the fork, they'll need to make it out of Gold Marsh unnoticed (or while being chased). Once the fork is noticed to be missing, the headmaster will realize it was likely them and they'll be wanted in the city. If there isn't any evidence of the break in, the fork won't be noticed missing for 3 days. If there's evidence, they'll likely do an inventory and notice the fork is missing the next morning. If they're noticed escaping on their ship after this point, ships will be sent after them and bounty hunters will hunt for them on the shipping lanes. This will continue for a couple months or until the tuning fork is returned.
* Once they're in a safe place, Appius will contact them and ask if they're ready to travel to Hades. They can choose to do it now, which will cause Appius to appear and lead immediately into Panning for Stygian Sediment or they can say they need time to prepare, in which case Appius will tell them to let him know when they're ready.

## Random Encounters

* For days on shipping lanes (roll d20 for each day)
	+ 1: The man in the crow's nest calls out there's a dragon turtle on the horizon. Roll a d8 to determine direction (1 is North, 2 is NW, etc.). If they're heading towards it, they can choose to change course, potentially putting them off of the shipping lanes and lengthening their trip. They can also choose to attack the dragon turtle. If they choose this option, Captain Sweyne will tell Caeldrim to fire a flare into the air to alert nearby privateer ships. Then a ship will arrive to help in the battle. If the dragon turtle is off to either side or behind them, they can likely escape if they continue on their path, but they can still choose to shoot the flare and fight it anyway.
	+ 2-5: The party passes a privateer ship protecting the shipping lanes.
	+ 6-9: The party passes a merchant ship on the shipping lane.
	+ 10-12: A ship appears on the horizon and the crow's nest calls out that it's a pirate ship. Roll a d8 to determine direction. They have the same options as with the dragon turtle. If they fire the flare, roll a d20. On Evens, a privateer ship appears to help. On Odds, no help comes.
	+ 13-15: Nothing happens.
	+ 16-18: A remnant of the Enchanting Storm rolls passed. Any magic cast inside the storm causes a wild magic surge roll on this table. Roll a d8
		- 1-2: A pirate ship is lurking in the storm and is upon you before you can see them coming.
		- 3-4: Magical lightning strikes the ship, causing fire elementals to appear on deck.
		- 5: A dense fog covers the ship to the point that no one can see more than an inch in front of their face. After 1 minute, the fog clears and the ship appears to be in a different spot than before. A DC 15 Survival check will reveal they've moved a full day in the direction they were traveling.
		- 6-8: Nothing happens.
	+ 19-20: The weather changes. Reroll. Nothing happens if 19-20 are rolled on the reroll.
* For days not on the shipping lanes (roll a d20)
	+ 1-2: Dragon turtle option above except no privateer will come to help.
	+ 3-10: Pirate ship option above except no privateer will come to help.
	+ 11-15: Nothing happens.
	+ 16-18: Enchanting storm option above.
	+ 19-20: The weather changes. Reroll. Nothing happens if 19-20 are rolled on the reroll.