Legendary Lives The Song of Harmonia.pdf

The Song of

Harmonia

A Legendary Lives Adventure

By Joe Williams & Kathleen Williams

Email me at: freeRPGs@comcast.net

The Song of

The Song of Harmonia

My dear student,

How glad I was to hear that you are in town!

Have you come to enter the competition? Alas! I am

too old and frail to compete any longer, but I still

tutor. This year I am training three competitors -

what an honor! But, I am troubled. One of my

students seems too good to be true, and I’m afraid

that magic might be involved. It would be a terrible

disgrace if any pupil of mine was exposed as a cheat.

Will you and your friends help me uncover the truth?

I look forward to seeing you soon.

Your old teacher,

Taddingsford Goldenleaves

Who killed the old music teacher and why?

This mystery adventure is a challenge to both

players and referees. We have intentionally left this

adventure open ended. The mystery is completely

described, but how it turns out in your campaign is

up to you and your players. One of the advantages

of the Legendary Lives system is that it easily

allows you to flesh out an adventure during play,

making it uniquely yours.

Author’s Note: This adventure was written for

the first edition rules. Some conversions will be

required.

The party member will remember ‘Uncle Tad’

with loving fondness, though she has not seen him

in years. If questioned, the boy will state that Uncle

Tad paid him a bronze to deliver the message, but

he doesn’t know who informed him of the party’s

arrival. He can point the way to Tad’s cottage, or

the musician character can remember the way with

a MEMORY(Pas) roll.

The Competition

The adventure starts in the town of

Riverwake, not far from the famed Alzarian library.

This huge structure contains the largest collection

of musical instruments and ancient scores in the

world. The Keepers of Alzarian train talented

musicians, and once every year, award the title of

Master to the most skilled. Minstrels and bards

flock to Alzarian seeking such status. After a

grueling 24 hour competition, a single contestant

will be awarded this honor.

Riverwake is currently a hotbed of activity, for

the competition is only two days away and the

population has more than doubled within the last

week. All inns, taverns, hostels and even stables are

filled to capacity. Tickets to the Alzarian

competition have been sold out, and cost nearly

$300 on the black market.

Uncle TadÔs cottage

This one-room dwelling is on the outskirts of

town. The door is open and the party can see the

body of an old elf lying on the floor. He has been

savagely beaten around the head with a blunt

instrument, and is quite dead. The musician

character will recognize him as her old tutor, Uncle

Tad. A MEDICAL(Gud) roll indicates that he was

killed only a short while ago.

The room contains a small bed, a chest of old

clothing, a variety of musical instruments, a small

table cluttered with dishes, and three cupboards

holding pieces of leather and awls. Most of the

leather is punched full of holes. A small fireplace is

clean and contains no ashes. The room is in some

disarray, with crockery and clothing strewn about,

and has the appearance of being frantically

searched. Lying open on the floor next to the

Uncle Tad

This scenario requires one of the characters to

be a bard or minstrel. While walking along, a young

boy delivers a spoken message to her. Carefully he

recites the following words from memory:

The Song of Harmonia

workbench is a small, empty strongbox. Neither

money nor the murder weapon can be found.

Uncle Tad holds a broken cane is his right

hand and a piece of leather in his left. This leather

is also full of holes. A character who suspects the

holes may be a form of braille can try to decode the

lettering. On a Passable or better Literacy roll, the

character is convinced that the holes form a code,

but he doesn’t know what it says. On an Awesome

roll, the character learns that it is a line of music. A

LEGENDS(Sup) roll is needed to identify the tune

as part of the Song of Harmonia (musicians have a

+1 column shift on making this roll).

See Questioning Kessia for more information

on the Song of Harmonia.

Tad’s killer. Constable Turnipfield carries a small

club and a whip. He has the following skills:

STR: Pas

AGI: Por

INT: Pas

RUN: Por

HOS: Pas

COM: Gud

DAM: Gud

BP: 4

Hannah

Hannah lives in the cottage next door. Ever

since Uncle Tad went blind a few years ago, she’s

done all his marketing and cooking for him. Uncle

Tad had been very excited about the upcoming

competition for many months, but his interest

seemed to drop off in the last few days. She heard

him grumbling about ‘finding out for himself’ and

‘the disgrace if it’s true!’ but she’d didn’t know

what he meant and didn’t ask. She assumed he had

pre-competition jitters, for he had been training

three pupils this year, and she knew it was quite a

strain.

It was Uncle Tad’s habit to wake early, eat a

simple breakfast of bread and cheese, and tend to

his garden. Then he’d play the instrument of his

fancy for about an hour before his first student

showed up. Today, she remembers, he’d been

playing a flute. She saw the first pupil arrive by

boat, but did not see him leave. The second student

always came by the Town road, so she never saw

him arrive; however, she did hear him playing the

lute for a short while. Then Uncle Tad began

shouting at the poor boy, but she couldn’t quite

make out the words. She did not see the third

student arrive for she’d been off to the market, but

she saw her leave the cottage just before she

herself returned home. Since each lesson lasted

about an hour, she assumed that the third student

had her singing lesson, and then left. It was about

half an hour later that she brought Uncle Tad his

noon meal and found him dead.

Outside the Cottage

There is a river just a few steps from the front

door, where a boat is moored. A close examination

of the boat and a SEARCH(Gud) roll will reveal an

empty coin purse with the initial ‘C’ embroidered

on it. This is the personal property of Baron

Cheswick Mousetone (see below), and if

confronted with it, he will claim that a pickpocket

must have swiped it from him some hours earlier.

Constable Turnipfield

After the party has searched the room, they’ll

be interrupted by a fat, little woman and a tall, bluff

fellow who is clearly a law man. Hannah

discovered Uncle Tad’s body only moments before

the party arrived, and scuttled off to find Constable

Turnipfield. Now they both view the party with

suspicion, and only a SINCERITY(Gud) roll will

convince them that the characters are not the

murderers. Constable Turnipfield will attempt to

arrest the party if he is not convinced of their

innocence, but otherwise, he will accept them as

friends.

Turnipfield is definitely out of his depth when

it comes to murder, and he will ask the party to

assist him with his inquiries, especially if one of the

characters is a Firbolg, interrogator, soldier, or if a

character makes a AUTHORITY(Grt) roll. He will

offer them free room and board at the jail house if

they accept. Of course, the musician character will

have personal reasons for wanting to find Uncle

The Three Students

Hannah can identify the students by sight and

by the instrument they play, but she does not know

The Song of Harmonia

their names. For your convenience, names and

other pertinent information are listed here:

Revald Frothingham: Revald comes from a

wealthy hill folk family. He has black hair, green

eyes and a sulky manner. Pompous and arrogant,

he is secretly unsure of himself and his musical

ability. He reacts poorly to criticism, and fears

rejection. He plays a recorder. Revald is staying

with his friend, the Baron Cheswick Mousetone, at

the Woodwind Inn.

Darris Slane: A Ratling, Darris is quite

ashamed of his heritage, and tries to pass himself

off as human. He is very convincing (though a

fellow Ratling will recognize him immediately),

and Hannah will describe him has a young boy

with long brown hair and brown eyes. An

ALE(Gud) roll is needed to spot him for what he is.

A nervous fellow, Darris’ weakness is gambling. He

has a room at the Whistle & Tamborine Pub. He is

an accomplished lute player.

Kessia Chandri: She belongs to the powerful

Chandri family, a vast serpentine clan with political

and religious connections in nearly every city in

the world. Most of their money is made in the slave

trade, and some day Kessia will inherit a great

fortune. When she travels, Kessia wears a long

robe and veil to hide her features. Hannah will

describe her as a tall, regal lady, not realizing that

she’s a serpentine. Most of the time she is

cloistered in her room at the Woodwind Inn. She is

a singer.

Players may wish to search the suspects’

rooms for clues.

Questioning Kessia

Kessia is staying at the Woodwind Inn, the

most expensive lodgings in town. She has a suite on

the upper floor which she shares with four

serpentine guards, and a human companion named

Lionel. She is treated like royalty by these guards,

and they will immediately attack if they feel she is

in any danger. Kessia is in close, constant contact

with her powerful father with the use of messenger

pigeons. She will be on the roof sending him a

message when the party arrives. It will take her

some time to come down and greet them. She will

express sorrow over Uncle Tad’s death. Kessia

carries a large whip and under her cloak wears

plate mail on her chest and arms, as well as a chain

helmet. She has the following skills:

STR: Grt

AGI: Pas

INT: Gud

RUN: Gud

HOS: Pas

COM: Gud

DAM: Gud

BP: 4

The serpentine guards each carry flails and

shields. They have these skills:

In Town

The natives of Riverwake are a gossipy lot, and

it should be quite easy for the party to get the

names of the students and their addresses just by

describing them to an old codger or bartender. You

may wish to include a variety of wild rumors to

spice up your story. For example, it could be said

that Revald is a master swordsman, Darris is really

the son of an elven princess or Kessia is hideously

ugly and must cover her face so she won’t cause

delicate people to faint. Some of this information

may have a tinge of truth to it, but the players will

have to ascertain how much.

The party should have the opportunity to

question two of the students before nightfall. The

third should not be made available until the next

day.

STR: Gud

AGI: Grt

INT: Pas

RUN: Pas

HOS: Grt

COM: Pas

DAM: Gud

BP: 4

Lionel wears complete chain mail, and carries

a long sword & crossbow. He has these skills:

STR: Grt

AGI: Grt

INT: Pas

RUN: Pas

HOS: Pas

COM: Gud

The Song of Harmonia

DAM: Gud

BP: 3

parchment that reads: ‘R.F. 500 to 1, K. C. 200 to 1,

D.S. 4 to 1.’ The top of the parchment is marked

with a smiling cat. Tucked in the pocket of an old

tunic is a note reading: ‘I know about the Song.

Your reputation will be ruined if you do not come

to the Lyre pavilion tonight at 8:00 p.m.’ Darris

doesn’t know it, but this note is from Kessia.

Although he knows nothing about a Song, he plans

to attend the meeting because he is fearful that

someone intends to reveal his Ratling heritage

before the contest.

The bartender will direct anyone searching for

Darris to the Little Lewis Lute Shop on Market

Street. Here, a panicking Darris is directing Lewis

to make him a new lute - on credit. If questioned,

he will stammer that his old lute was broken and

he needed a new one quickly, before the contest.

Darris’ manner is furtive and suspicious, and when

he is told of Uncle Tad’s death, he is clearly afraid

that he will be accused. He will tell lie after feeble

lie until the truth sounds suspicious. He will also

try to run away and hide at the first opportunity.

(Uncle Tad had a soft spot for Darris, and often

helped him pay off his gambling debts. He warned

Darris to stay away from Happy Jack the gambler

before the competition, but Darris placed a bet he

couldn’t pay, then lost. When Happy Jack

threatened to break his fingers, Darris went to

Uncle Tad for help. The old man gave him a stern

lecture, then gave him all his money to pay off his

debt. Darris did so, then placed another bet, which

he also lost. As Darris fled Happy Jack’s gambling

house, he tripped and smashed his lute. Happy

Jack’s goons are currently trying to find Darris, and

it won’t be his lute they break this time).

Darris carries a small sword and two daggers.

He wears leather armor. Darris has the following

skills:

When questioned, Kessia will say that she had

gone to her lesson, and found the door to the

cottage closed. Thinking that Uncle Tad had

forgotten about her, she simply returned to her

room at the inn.

(In actuality, Kessia found the door open, and

Uncle Tad dying on the floor. As she cradled him in

her arms, he gasped out: ‘He has the Song of

Harmonia...don’t let him compete...stop him...’

before he succumbed. As a musician Kessia

immediately realized the importance of his words.

About 50 years ago, the bard Harmonia created a

sensation by playing a magical song at the Alzarian

competition. Whenever the song was played or

sung, those that heard it became completely

entranced. For nearly three days, all those in

Riverwake were like souls without wills of their

own. They obeyed Harmonia’s every request.

Mostly, she wanted them to return to normal.

When the townsfolk finally recovered, Harmonia

was offered Master status on the condition that she

destroy the words and music of her song. It was

believed that she had done so.

If even a few notes of the song were played,

the power would probably be enough to sway the

judges to vote for the performer. While Kessia has

no intention of cheating at the competition, she

knows what the song could mean to her father, the

slaver. She intends to recover the Song of

Harmonia for her family. She has sent an

anonymous note to both Darris and Revald in an

effort to determine which of her fellow students

has the Song. See Questioning Darris and

Questioning Revald, below.)

A laundry basket in Kessia’s room contains a

hastily discarded robe with a blood-soaked sleeve.

If the messenger pigeons on the roof are examined,

a note will be found tied to one of their legs. It

reads: ‘Proceed with caution. Song is immeasurable

treasure but so is my lovely daughter.’

STR: Por

AGI: Grt

INT: Pas

RUN: Grt

HOS: Por

COM: Pas

DAM: Pas

BP: 3

Questioning Darris

Though Darris is staying at the Whistle &

Tamborine Pub, he is not at home now. His room

contains a cot, a dresser with drawers that stick,

and a washbasin. In the dresser is a list of IOUs to

Uncle Tad equalling $402, along with a piece of

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