Rob Dean (Order #10687365)

Adventure Seeds for Ravenlands 1

Text and layout: James Miller

Cartography: Rick Ricci
Editing: Robert Adams
www.ravenlands.com
www.scryingeye.com
© 2011 Scrying Eye Games.
Ravenlands copyright and trademark owned by Rick Ricci. All rights reserved.
Scrying Eye Games logo and trademark owned by James Miller. All Rights reserved.
All written copy and story elements owned by James Miller. All Rights reserved.

SPECIAL THANKS!

None of this would have ever happened without Dundjinni, the mapping program that this and most
of all our maps are made with. The Dundjinni staff, whose support to both us and the members of the
Dundjinni forums, have enriched our lives and our art without measure.

LEGALESE

This work is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America COPYRIGHT 2008

Permission granted to print for non-commercial personal use only.

This publication may use the supernatural for settings, characters and themes. All mystical and
supernatural elements are fiction and are intended for entertainment purposes only. This book may
contain mature content. Reader discretion is advised.

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Rob Dean (Order #10687365)

 Table of Contents

Cover 1
Credits 2
Table of Contents 3
Instructions 4
Adventure Seeds for Ravenlands Set 1 5

http://www.scryingeyegames.com

Rob Dean (Order #10687365)

 Instructions
In 2006, Rick Ricci’s The Ravenlands were released thru a previous company. His vision and skill have
left us all with many hours of wonder at the world he created.

We’ve constructed our own set of adventure seeds to help ease that vision into your own game. The
Ravenlands have been specifically designed to fit into any fantasy game system you may be using, and these
seeds should help start you on your way.

As with all our products, we stress that you print only what you need. We kept the text that you’ll use as
simple black text. The color parts of this freebie look nice, but they will kill your ink cartridge in a
heartbeat. And each “seed” has been printed on a separate page so you can make notes and changes as suits
your needs.

Remember that this map is only one half of a huge set done by Rick Ricci. Check out the other half of
Rick’s Ravenlands series, and his OrcTown set, both available at www.RPGNow.com and in print form at
www.scryingeye.com.

http://www.scryingeyegames.com

Rob Dean (Order #10687365)

 Out with the old, in with the new…

The ways of the Court are subtle in their ways, with one’s character and honor often being completely
different from what the machinations that lie under their courtly guise...

One of the young Lord Raven’s rivals, who wish to see the current attempts to revive the Raven estates fail,
has discovered once such machination. However, the whereabouts of the documents needed to prove Raven’s
involvement in these affairs are currently unknown. Divination has foretold of the existence of these
documents, but the use of such magics for the purpose of progression in the Royal Court is strictly taboo, and
would get the individual (or individuals) scorned from all polite society.

The party can be brought in for many reasons:

· The party is currently Raven’s retainers, and has been sent to recover the documents before his rival can
use them against him in the Royal Court.
· The party have been contracted to find the documents for the rival, to use as leverage against the young
Raven.
· Master Rutenbaugher (the father of Raven beloved bride) wants the documents found and brought to
him, to protect his daughter, and see that her interests are not tarnished.
· The parties discovers that the documents were hidden very well, but are now in a location that they
cannot reach without seriously alerting all parties as to their involvement in the caper.

Variant: The party has no way to tell that the information that they found was about 80 years old, and the names
happen to be identical for the royalty involved. Of course, the information happens to be written in such a way
that the reader could not know that the first and last names are never used together. Coincidently, that the
current Lords have the same names but they are reversed from their ancestors. How would the party know that
they would be protecting/incriminating the wrong individual…?

Rob Dean (Order #10687365)

 The Sleeping One…

The grandson of Lord Edelsbraun who attacked the elder Lord Raven never believed that his grandfather ran
away and abandoned his troops as had been reported. He has found that he is in need of the signet ring of his
grandfather, not only to gain greater respect in the Royal Court, but also because it is a magical key to some
unknown power which is a family secret. On her deathbed, the mother of the new Lord Edelsbraun told him of
the power of the signet ring and that he must recover her father’s corpse. It is the only way to claim the power
as his own, and restore their family to their rightful place in the Royal Court.

While the current Court has been far more forgiving for the past indiscretions and disgraces of the Peer’s
ancestors, many of the court still harbor ill feelings for any family that has had such a dishonorable head as the
elder Edelsbraun. The abandonment of his troops in the heat of battle is simply an unforgivable act. While the
young Edelsbraun has done well with his lands and estates, he would have done much better if his standing in
the Court. Finding the signet ring, and the exact history of what happened to his grandfather, would elevate
they young Edelsbraun status immensely.

What nobody realizes is that the elder Edelsbraun is still around. He is just not the man he used to be…

Oh, the many ways that the GM can cast the party into this fine mess:

· The party, as retainers for the new Lord Raven, have caught wind of a group that intend to dig up the
mass graves at the old battle field, Such activities are considered grave robbing by polite society, or
Necromancy if any magics are involved! The culprits for this must be stopped at once, for the sake of the
community and the proper rest of all the souls buried in the graves.
· The walls have ears, and all ears have a price. The new Lord Raven has been informed that his soon-to-
be father-in-law has uncovered the existence of the signet ring and the plans to recover it himself. The party has
been ordered to find the ring at all cost, even if it means digging up the entire site.
· A group of grave robbers have uncovered clues to a “nice little’ sparkly” just as the party is making their
rounds while doing a routine patrol.
· While doing the general renovations and cleanup of the estate, the party gets called in to examine a set
of remains that had never been properly buried.
· A premonition of a dark “Sleeping One” is haunting a member of the party, or a Divination spell shows
his existence. The party must now investigate before the darkness spreads out of control.

The actual history behind the elder Edelsbraun is a sad one. During the heat of the battle, he constructed a
plan to send a one of his lieutenants and a simple page, disguised as the elder Edelsbraun, to flank and attack
Castle Raven’s northern defenses. Edelsbraun would stay in the shadow of the siege tower on the western
battlefield until Raven’s forces had been lured to the northern defenses, and then lead the attack full strength
against the eastern wall. What nobody expected was the extent of the magics that the elder Lord Raven
commanded, or the skill at his archers. A series of well-placed fireballs blasted the siege tower, which fell upon
the disguised Edelsbraun, burying him in scorching debris. Distracted by the sudden “death” of their master, the
lieutenant was struck down by volley of longbows from the main tower. Witnessing the death of both his Lord
and commanding officer, the poor page suddenly realized that all eyes were upon him, believing him to be the
“real” Lord Edelsbraun! In a moment of sheer panic, the poor page turned his horse and ran for the hills. The
army fell into disarray, and was slaughtered like sheep. Only a few stragglers were left to tell of their
commanding Lord’s “dishonor”.

The possibilities for Edelsbraun are up to GM:

· Edelsbraun died in the blaze, his body never discovered in the wreckage of the siege tower. The signet
ring awaits the one who discovers it.

Rob Dean (Order #10687365)

 · Edelsbraun was never given a proper burial, or his soul was never able to rest with the knowledge of his
failure, or maybe the lies of his “dishonor” pulled his soul back from the grave. In any case, the “Sleeping One”
has been waiting for the correct time, to be pulled from the wreckage of his wooden tomb, to wreak havoc on
the unsuspecting ancestors of his ancient foe.
· Edelsbraun never really died. While the mass graves were placed outside of its influence, something
from inside the castle kept Edelsbraun alive. That ”something” has kept him in a state of horrid half-life,
starved and totally insane from the rage and the loneliness of his entombment under the wreckage. He no
longer recognizes reality, but seeks out the any of the Raven bloodline as the source of his torment and
dishonor. Just in time for the wedding party to arrive…
· The caverns stretch far under the Raven lands, and there are many ways to reach them. The body of
Edelsbraun, and the others buried in the mass graves, are now in the cave’s dark embrace, simply waiting for
unwary explorers to find them. They might not want the party to leave, either, and join them in the darkness
forever…

Rob Dean (Order #10687365)

 It's a Wedding!!!

The young Lord Raven has chosen a bride, and is looking forward to finishing up his wedding plans. He has
decided to hold the ceremony in the grounds of his ancestral castle. This is for both family and political
reasons. Some feel that the fall of Castle Raven was the cause of his family's current political misfortunes, so he
wishes to "regain his family's respectability" by initiating a small series of moves, starting with his wedding at
the castle ruins.

The players could be hired by the young Lord to do several things. One possibility is a sweep and clear
mission to remove the current “squatters” from the castle, which could include anything thing from a band of
marauding Orcs, a family of Trolls, or other creatures that would be appropriate to the adventuring party. After
they have been either routed or killed off, then there will be the matter of getting the Wedding Caravan to the
castle, keeping the ruins secured for the wedding itself, and keeping the family’s enemies at bay from political
sabotage.

Variant: The Sleeping One will not be amused at the young Lord’s plans to revitalize the castle after the
previous Lord had destroyed his good name with slander. He might rise up during the wedding, or be
discovered during the cleanup operation.

Rob Dean (Order #10687365)

 We Shall Rebuild…

The young Lord Raven has decided to restore his family honor and holdings. He will head up a group to regain
control of the ruins and the surrounding lands, and rebuild Castle Raven. It will take most all of his financial
assets to do this, and he is willing to risk it all for himself and his future prodigy.

There will be several good options here for continued playing in Castle Raven:

1) The party has been asked to protect an envoy of architects that will be doing the preliminary survey of
the castle and the surrounding lands to find out if such a project is feasible in the first place. If the party has
anyone with engineering skills or possibly a Dwarf, they might be hired directly for that part. Money is tight, so
the main plan at this stage is to do the survey and get out without too much hassle. The current residents of the
area won’t be happy with the intrusion…
2) After the initial survey has been completed, the party has been hired to clean out the castle and the
surrounding lands. Combat intensive, this will be a tactical assault on the castle, the village, and its squatters.
Then, there is always the possibility of more lying under the castle than anyone knew about. (See the freebie
Dungeon map for Castle Raven)
3) Keeping the young Lord Raven safe at the castle will still be a challenge. Other royalty will not be so
pleased that the family is regaining its honor. The party might be retained to help Lord Raven hold the lands
from infiltration, sabotage, and even direct assault. The party might be approached by the members of others for
information or to do their dirty work directly for them. There is always the possibility that any of the previous
tenants (or their friends) might come back to take the area.

Rob Dean (Order #10687365)

 The Tree of the Heavens

Not all of the parties that will be against the new Lord Raven will have ill will intended. A great Oak tree has
grown up in the center of the castle, and is considered a holy artifact by the local Druids. The Tree seems like a
“normal” enough Oak, but its healing powers are unlike any that the locals have ever seen. It has also affected
the animals in the area, which have become considerably more intelligent and long-lived. However, the area has
been massively infested with those who wish to use those powers for other ends….

The party could be approached by Lord Raven to do any of the above-mentioned adventures, as he does not yet
know about the Tree. Upon the discovery of the Tree’s powers, they will be faced with several choices:

1) They could tell the young Lord, who will then throw all caution to the wind in order to regain control of
the surrounding area, at all cost.
2) They might be approached by one of the other families, or might already be in service to one of those
families, who will immediately throw greater efforts into the total destruction of the Raven interests. This
might be thru any series of political subterfuge, assassination attempts, destruction of resources, or outright
assault of the castle.
3) The party could be approached by the Druids to help either fight off the evil that surrounds the tree.
This would be much more than the simple Sweep and Clear mission, because the Tree’s powers will not let
anything die within a 200-foot radius!
4) The Druids have actually regained control of Castle Raven, but darker denizens are drawing closer each
day. Moreover, now that the young Lord has regained an innocent interest in regaining his family’s honor and
lands, this complicates things massively for them. If any party members are aligned with any of the Nature
gods, either the Druids or the Protectors of the Tree (the name that the animals affected by the tree have dubbed
themselves) may directly contact them for assistance.
5) The Sleeping One (as previously mentioned) is actually a by-product of the Tree. He has been trapped
under the wreckage, but if recovered, will begin a major assault on the young Lord and any other relatives of the
Elder Raven that he can find. As the mass graves are outside of the Tree’s reach, he will have to dig them up
and get them closer to the Tree’s radius in an attempt to raise an army, or may simply attack Lord Raven
himself.

Rob Dean (Order #10687365)

 The Black has arisen…

The young Lord was sent out on a mission, but has fallen to the family curse. The Black is a curse that has
been handed down through the ages to all of the Ravens, and the young Lord has gotten close enough to the
ruins to become totally engulfed in it.

The party is part of a force that has been sent to either rescue the young Lord from his family curse, or to
destroy him and ensure that the curse is destroyed at this generation forever.

The Oak in the center of the courtyard is the physical manifestation of the Black. For eons, it was confined to
the catacombs, and could only reach the vermin that scuttled around in its dank tomb of stone. Now, The Black
has reached up from the catacombs below the ruins through the roots of the Oak, and is attempting to reach
farther out. It whispers out to other creatures of evil, drawing them closer through dreams and visions, with
promises of greatness and power. It feeds off of their hate and the death they cause. (See the freebie Dungeon
map for Castle Raven)

A local band of Orcs has set up residence in the ruins of the Castle. The party must not only eliminate them,
but also must face the young Lord Raven, and discover the real cause for all the evil that has been infecting the
Raven bloodline for centuries.

Rob Dean (Order #10687365)

 Sir, we have a leak…

There are a great number of caverns running throughout the area surrounding Castle Raven. However, others
have found the caverns useful for other purposes…

One of the openings was reconstructed as a well-concealed secret door that was intended as an emergency
entrance and exit to the Castle proper. This secret door is built into the rocks just south of the old guard tower.

A “private party” was commissioned by one of the young Lord Raven’s rivals to seek out as much information
as he could about the area surrounding the castle and the castle proper. The spy has found much more than that,
however, and has a fairly good map of not only the castle grounds, but also of the village and some of the cave
complex below.

The GM has many options to involve the party here:

· The party is working for the young Lord Raven, and has discovered the plot to uncover the Castle’s
secrets. They are now hunting the spy and the information that he carries, before it falls into the wrong hands.
· The party is working for the rival Lord, and is attempting to save the spy from the marauding bandits
that have been haunting travelers on a nearby road, not knowing that they are actually working for a much
greater cause than anyone could ever imagine.
· The party has been approached by the spy, who is now on the run from the fledgling Thieves’ Guild.
The guild wants the maps for the caverns before they reach the hands of any official. The Guild is using or is
planning on using the caverns for not only it’s headquarters, but also as it’s means to transport “goods and
services”.
· The party has come across the spy as the Orcs (see below) are arriving to finish up their ritual to
summon their god demon to this plane. The spy (alive, dead, or at some state in between) will be an involuntary
participates in their ceremony. If they succeed in rescuing him, he will be greatly in the party’s debt if they
assist in him not being as much involved with the Orc’s plans as they had in mind…

Rob Dean (Order #10687365)

 Complex patterns…

A group of marauding Orcs have been attacking settlements and homes in the outer regions of the frontier,
laying waste to everything they in their path. While orcs are not known for their subtly, the pattern they seem to
be following is far more brutal than normal. Their path is completely random, weaving back and forth across the
countryside. At certain points, they will stop for a day, and then take off in another direction.

Sometimes they will take a single prisoner, who they will actually treat with reasonable care, then abandon
them without notice. Some have reported that the orcs have painted odd runes in blood at random locations.
They never seem to take more than what they absolutely need on their raids: food, water, or anything that seems
like an obviously better weapon. Other than this, they seem to burn everything their path, killing all who stand
in the way. Otherwise, there have been absolutely no signs of the normal looting that Orcs are known for.

What has really happened is that the Leader is following the directions of the Orc Mystic, who has stumbled
across the dark secret ritual of Demon Summoning. In her experimentations, the Orc Mystic has found that the
bigger the “tracing” of the summoning circle, the greater the power of the demons summoned. After
communing with her deity, she has informed the Leader that she has been gifted with the instructions on how to
create the greatest Summoning Circle of all times, one that will create 13 demons sent by their God to wreak
havoc among the humans and elves of this world.

There is absolutely nothing random to their path of destruction; it is actually the “lines” of the Circle. The
raiders are not bothering to take anything now, as it will only slow down their movement, and there will be
greater things later for them to plunder.

There are thirteen points on the “circle”, which is where the orcs suddenly turn. Sometimes the path between
these circles are straight, sometimes they are curved. These points are also where the orcs have painted the
mystic runes in blood, and abandoned their single prisoner that they have picked up somewhere along the way.
The prisoner has always been a young girl of “breeding age”, who will give birth to a single demon at the
conclusion of the ritual.

The Orc Mystic has chosen the graves at Castle Raven as the point for the final “sacrifice” for the summoning,
as this was the point of much great pain and suffering during the Great Battle. This is where the final part of the
ritual can be held, and, in case of attack, there are available skeletons to be raised from the mass graves.

The party can be brought in for a multitude of reasons:

· The young Lord Raven’s beautiful bride was taken during their trip to their wedding. All the others
were left for dead, while she was kidnapped. He wishes her returned, but has spent almost all his resources on
both his wedding and the restoration of his family estates. He hires the party to return her before his wedding
day, which also happens to be the last day of the Orc Mystic’s ritual. Unlike the other victims, his bride-to-be is
actually going to be ritually slaughtered in the name of the Orc’s god, so the party had better act fast.
· The party just happens to be available when the Orcs attack a village or farmstead, or get there just after
the Orcs leave. There are traces of blood that seem to be a mix of human and Orc, painted in runes all over the
farmhouse. There is a girl there, dirty, scared, but otherwise unharmed, sitting in the middle of the farmhouse.
The party will, after a long search, met up with the Orcs here for the final show down!
· A church has summoned the heroes to face this challenge. The time is short, and only part of the secrets
above are know, but it will be an apocalypse of the greatest magnitude if the heroes do not stop the ritual in
time.
· The Orc Mystic is just completely insane. There really is no rhyme or reason for the pattern. Orc Mystic
has convinced the Orc Leader that she communes with gods and the dead, and has enough real magic power to
make it believable. If the Orc Leader were ever to find out that he has been exposing his tribe to this much
danger without any profit for nothing, he would not be amused…

Rob Dean (Order #10687365)