The Ride to Halfmoon Canyon

 A call goes out through the land.  Not only proclaimed by the royals, but also announced by the clergy.  "Heed Our Call! We offer: Fortunes to be made! Honor to won! Carve your name in the pillars of time!  Join our ranks and be sent on an expedition to map the unknown lands.  All gear provided, half payment up front, you will receive writs and letters providing you passage through any land.  Come heed our call, meet at the royal court at RockCliff castle, noon, on the eighteenth day of Thaw. Your life will change for the better."
 It is a call to assemble at the court of the King of Rockcliff castle.  There, adventurers will be outfitted and supplied for a long, arduous journey of mapping out the frontier lands.  A cartographer is requested, but not required.  Some training will be required.   Each adventurer will be supplied with a cloak, a walking stick, an Explorer's Pack (10gp), weapons of their choice, 150gp per character, and hygene and comfort equipment.  Each party will be supplied with 2 horses and a wagon, a barrel of ammunition, a barrel of water, a barrel of rations, wood and medal tools to repair the wagon or its wheels, and cartographer's tools for at least one of the party members, including pen, pencil, and paper.
  It is made clear that multiple parties will be competing to complete the task of mapping out the unknown frontier.  On return, if a drawn map or other type of rendition is submitted, then, upon review and acceptance, each member of the party will receive another 150 gp each.  However, it is also made, extremely clear, that this is a competition, and the party that excels at their job and brings back the most detailed and accurate map will win an additional 200gp per party member.
 The road begins north from RockCliff castle, but only for a few weeks.  After a thousand miles, or 5 1/2 weeks of travel, whichever comes first, the last known path turns east, and the unknown lands begin.  Tenacious adventurers, after another thousand mile journey east, will come across a lonely dwelling in an otherwise empty glade, and they will have to thwart the machinations of a lingering evil or see their adventures end in a terrible way.  Beyond the glade, determined explorers must examine whether an alliance with mercenaries, who meet beneath a great oak tree next to a large granite rock, would benifit or harm their cause.  Finally, if an agreement can be reached, relentless wanderers will be able to reach the bridge at Balak's stream, locate the hidden doors, revealing a treasure beyond priceless.  Concluding their tasks, the party will have to decide whether they will provide their goods and services to the kind but needy people at Yellow Meadow Village, continue on to complete their journey to Halfmoon Canyon, or pack it up and haul it back on the long return journey to RockCliff castle.

  The Ride to Halfmoon Canyon was designed for beginning players.  Trained and supplied in the large city of RockCliff, PCs are encoured to venture north and then east into the endless forest.  Easy encounters with spiders, weasels, and scorpians provide courage and experience, while encounters with awakened trees and shrubs introduce the PCs to the world of magic and sorcery.  Weeks of travel are easily filled with encounters with jackals, hyenas, and blights, and with these encounters come experience points and treasure.  Until, finally, the PCs enter the Forest Glade.  There they encounter MOS Devils that are, at least, as powerful as the PCs.  A riddle on how to rid the world of the MOS Devils could supply more experience points, but it's not required.  Moving on through the forest brings the PCs to their first RP encounter where they can either make eight allies or eight enemies, if they make allies than the benefits acrue immediately with an encounter with a kobold and a goblin, who carry real important treasure.  If the PCs made allies, then they are led to the dungeon under the bridge, and if not, they may well walk right past it, but still encounter the Melsahog.  Even worse, if they do not make allies, they will be captured in or around Yellow Meadow Village by the Thug and his bandits.  However, if they do make allies, they stand a good chance at locating the weapons horde in the dungeon under the bridge, and they will have months to train and prepare the villagers for a battle with the Thug and his bandits.  Only then, after all these trials and tribulations, will the PCs be able to continue on towards descovering Kyper's Canyon, the famed halfmoon shaped canyon that is said to hold untold riches and dangers beyond imagining.

A Cast of Characters