Premade Campaign 09: The Engine of Destruction (3/3)
The Engine of Destruction is intended for Epic level characters and is Part Three in a Three Part series.
Two very divergent paths occur depending on how the party handles the Egg artifact. This Premade Campaign is if they do decide to smash it, as I assume many will. Tomorrow will follow the alternative route, as well as give a way to have the party do either plot, regardless of the choice they make.
Once finding the egg a party member is sure to smash it. Nothing happens at first, but just as they prepare to feel at ease a rush of cool air flows from the shattered remains, visibly blowing off their runes. A feeling they didn’t even know they were feeling leaves their bodies and they can tell they no longer have Perfection cast on them.
For the rest of the campaign the rules detailed in Part One don’t apply. They are now free to fail, and very well may, as they have awoken the Tarrasque from its slumber.
The smashing of the Egg was supposed to be a ceremonious occasion, and the cultists were saving it for the Oni Mage to do. Not unlike a ribbon cutting ceremony, it doesn’t really matter who wields the giant scissors, just that the ribbon is cut. Stumbling into the cultist’s shrine is a confused Morghrog, who stands in the doorway, triumphant. He laughs at the party, belittling their efforts, and congratulates them on awakening the end of the world. Before they can attack him, he uses Invisibility to escape the party’s blades.
Outside the sky is dark and roars can be heard in the distance. Due to the size of the beast, odds are they can either see or hear its presence from great distances. The nearest town has just been eviscerated by the Tarrasque in less than a minute, and it is slowly moving to the next haven of life. Farria appears in her physical form, saddened and afraid. She tells the party that they must run, for they have no way of harming the creature. She explains that they have two choices – to either face the Tarrasque in battle, hoping to, at best, send it back into the ground for another thousand years of slumber, or to find a way to get the creature off of this world, for that would permanently destroy it. Both options are possible, and the following divergent paths occur depending on which they choose.
Defeat the Tarrasque in Battle: If they want to fight it, they must first become more powerful. Farria explains that while they weapons may now be enough to fall the Oni, they are not nearly powerful enough to destroy the Tarrasque. The tomb of the last adventurers to destroy the creature is a few days travel away, and they were buried with their weapons. She suggests trying to “borrow” the tools of the fallen adventurers in order to fight him while she attempts to lead the creature away from cities for some time. Each tomb is its own session, and filled with traps and extremely dangerous magical constructs in order to prevent grave robbers. They should also be themed for the adventurer, so the Ranger’s tomb would likely have more dart traps and archers than the Wizard’s tomb. After equipping themselves with the weapons (and leveling up in the process) they can finally fight the beast. During the battle (when the Tarrasque becomes bloodied) they are teleported onto its back for a battle with Morghrog. He isn’t nearly as hard as they picture him to be, and most of his powers rely on trickery. After defeating him and the Tarrasque, it crawls back into the earth for another slumber.
Get it Off This World: The battle with Morghrog is secondary at this point, and he should attack them only to realize he is severely outmatched. Farria notes that several powerful mages once built a device to destroy the Tarrasque, but never completed it. They each brought a piece of the machine to their graves, in hopes that eventually someone else would find a way. Their tombs are each heavily trapped and filled with magical beasts and constructs to ward off intruders, but should be good experience and adventuring for the party as they collect the four pieces of the machine. Once completed it looks like a quarterstaff, but there is something strangely off about it. The missing component should be a random item one of the party members picked up throughout the campaign, from a coin to a necklace they decided to use for plot reasons. Farria explains that this is the characters destiny, and it would help them understand why they, of all people, were picked to do this. After putting the item on the staff it glows with light, and the party must stab it into the beast to destroy it forever.
Check back tomorrow for an alternative Epic ending to this series!
