Tumbledown and the secret treasure of the Gauldamons

[Voorhees Carnivean]

Trying to come up with ideas for a couple scenarios in Mordent. Was rereading sections of Gaz3 and curious whether anyone out there has further explored the idea of what the secret treasure of the Gauldamon family might be that the secret council of Tumblrdown’s businessmen are interested in, or if anyone has used anything relating to the Lightless Wood, Tunbledown, the Gauldamons, or Lou’gal the Smiling One in their campaigns. Years ago I had the players in a campaign in Tumbledown for a number of sessions and fleshed it out a little. They butted heads with the secret council and even ended up having to kill a tanner when he was attempting to murder them in an ambush, but I never really got into what it was they were really protecting or looking for and was wondering if anyone else has as I’m thinking of revisiting that area in a future campaign

[FiranDarcalus]

So I ran an adventure involving Tumbledown, the Gauldamon family (sorta) & Lou'Gal about 12 yrs ago or so. Here is the background to the adventure that I wrote (maybe it will help you with some idea development).

"Legacy of Sin

Introduction

Cyrus Gauldamon is the last surviving member of the Gauldamon family of Mordent. Cyrus wished to stem the tide of destruction that befell all of the other Mordentish families. As a mage of decent means as a mortal (level 11), Cyrus contacted a demonic entity named Lou’gal. His goal was to learn how to save his families’ fortunes. The demon, angered at being brought to the demi-planar prison of Ravenloft, decided to play with Cyrus & his family. Not realizing the demon’s depth of deception, the family allowed the creature to quickly take control of them & manipulate them for its own amusement.

In 621 BC, heroic adventurers struck down the evil remnants of the family, including Cyrus. In fact, Cyrus died by the blade of a roguish assassin. As he died, he screamed for everlasting life, so that he might continue the work of saving his families’ fortunes.

The Dark Powers, as always, obliged, though not quite in the way he had hoped. After Cyrus’ “death”, he awoke four nights later, by the light of the full moon; however, he awoke as a wretched creature, a Wight, one of the Restless Dead. He also realized, to his horror, that he had lost most of his previous power as a mage (losing half his levels in fact). He also was quickly made aware of the “craving”, as all Restless Dead soon do. His craving was an obsession to not only recover his lost power, but to find a way to transform himself into a more powerful species of the undead, a Lich to be exact.

Cyrus spent the next five decades working towards that goal. In 673 BC, he found a tome that he believed would allow him to become a Lich. However, Cyrus lacked the power as a mage to utilize the contents of the book. A group of heroic adventurers attacked Cyrus in his lair just outside the hamlet of Tumbledown, destroying him & so the locals believed the last remnant of the cursed Gauldamon family.

What nobody realized, however, was that Cyrus was not so easily disposed of. After a few weeks of inertia, Cyrus re-animated as if no harm had ever come to him. Cyrus realized that the only way he could ever truly be killed was if a rogue dealt a death blow to him with a sneak attack, just as he had died as a mortal. Any other killing blow would only keep him inert for a few weeks, wherein he would re-animate again.

Elated, Cyrus moved into the abandoned Gauldamon manor. He quickly set about using his powers over the undead to amass an army of loyal minions that would do his bidding. While searching the old manor, Cyrus came upon a second, even more intriguing discovery; he found the demon Lou’gal. Apparently, Lou’gal had not been destroyed all those years ago, but merely captured and bound by the mage of the adventurers who originally defeated Cyrus. The undead wizard quickly set about releasing the demon from its fifty year prison.

Once released, the demon decided to use Cyrus once more, but this time to help it escape its demi-planar prison. After Cyrus explained his plight, the demon promised him aid. Lou’gal told Cyrus that though he could not give Cyrus the power needed to regain his lost arcane powers, he knew of more powerful demons in the Abyss that could. Lou’gal convinced Cyrus that if they were able to complete a powerful ritual of sacrifice, one involving 83 innocent firstborn daughters over the next 83 years, a portal would be opened to the Abyss, at which time Lou’gal could return home & have one of his greater masters use its terrible powers to restore Lou’gal’s powers, allowing the undead wizard the opportunity to achieve lichdom. Lou’gal, of course, had no intention of following through, planning to simply escape his bonds & return home, gaining final defeat against Cyrus & the whole Gauldamon family.

Over the past 83 years, therefore, the demon & mage have slowly worked towards their goal. In the last few years, things have become more difficult, especially when Dr. Van Richten moved to Mordent. Even after the doctor disappeared, his nieces continued on his tradition, again limiting their abilities to perform the sacrifice properly.

Though the people of Tumbledown realize that there is evil still dwelling in the manor, none have ventured forth to destroy it. In fact, the taint from the manor still bleeds out, leading to the unusual amount of Calibans born here; in fact, all Calibans here are born with horrid wilting grins on their faces, due to the taint from Lou’gal.

Roughly 15 years ago, both beings gained an “ally” of sorts. A rogue from the area, Simon Abbott, adopted the faith of Ezra, but not the Lawful Good version that most Mordentish follow. Being influenced by a trip to Darkon, Simon joined the Lawful Evil sect of Ezra espoused by Bastion Raines. Simon settled in Tumbledown, away from the prying eyes of the Chapel of Pure Hearts, and planned how to undermine the Church from there. He was well respected by all, since he was a local, and provided aid to the constabulary in order to ingratiate himself.

Simon’s contact with the two fiends only truly began about five years ago. While searching for some herbs to create a poison he wished to brew, he came across a group of Cyrus’ mindless undead, looking for their next victim. As Simon happened to have a firstborn daughter of his own, Cyrus captured the cleric and told him to hand over his daughter or he would be killed. Afraid for his life & his daughter’s, Simon begged for some kind of agreement. Being amused, Cyrus agreed to a compromise; the priest could keep his life, and his daughter’s, on one condition, he had tp aide the mage in recovering first-born daughter’s for his ritual. Cyrus’ actions were beginning to draw too much attention, and so he decided Simon would be the best dupe. After charming him, he sent him to do his work.
Simon has been faithfully abducting first-born daughters for five years now. He assumes when Cyrus’ plan is done, he will be free, though he doesn’t realize that Lou’gal’s plan will cause the Wight’s ultimate defeat, in which case he will most likely take it out on Simon’s daughter. For now, Simon uses his rogue talents to kidnap victims & hand them over to Cyrus’ undead minions. In fact, he has never been to Gauldamon Manor or seen Lou’gal. Dealing with an undead spellcaster is one thing; but if Simon knew a terrible demon was involved, he would probably go public with his knowledge, despite the consequences.

Sadly for Tumbledown, the evil permeating it & its regions have now turned the hamlet completely into a Rank 1 Sinkhole of Evil, with the levels going up until one reaches Gauldamon Manor, which is now a Rank Four sinkhole."

[Voorhees Carnivean]

So I ran an adventure involving Tumbledown, the Gauldamon family (sorta) & Lou'Gal about 12 yrs ago or so. Here is the background to the adventure that I wrote (maybe it will help you with some idea development).

Lots of good stuff in there - thanks! What kind of demon did you end up making Lou’gal?

[FiranDarcalus]

Made it an Amnizu I believe

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

In the Vault of the FoS site, there is a campaign idea centered around a developing postal service created by Drigor, Inajira, and the Black Duke. It makes peripheral mention of Lou-gal, and the author chose to identify it as a Paeliryon (a devil from the Fiend Folio).

[Mephisto of the FoS]

In the Vault of the FoS site, there is a campaign idea centered around a developing postal service created by Drigor, Inajira, and the Black Duke. It makes peripheral mention of Lou-gal, and the author chose to identify it as a Paeliryon (a devil from the Fiend Folio).

I have read that, it was interesting but I think the Black Duke would not make an alliance with a Chaotic fiend like Drigor.