The Last Days of the Raven

Fifty missing men! All that stands between Tysan and the security for his family that he has worked a lifetime to achieve. Now, as illness brings Tysan's days to a close, and Lord Nasher threatens to direct his inheritance to the temple of Lathander, the future and fortune of Tysan's family hangs in the balance. Just one document stands between Lord Tysan and the redemption he needs; a muster confirmation. Sealed with the arms of Lord Nasher himself.

With the documents long gone the quest to help Lord Tysan seems futile. Not all have lost hope however, Cleric Ormin still holds the belief that his patron can be cleared and the shadow hanging over his family lifted. The proof is there to be found but he cannot find it alone.

Not twenty four hours after your fight with Taneth you are swept up by the events going on around you again. Instead of the hard earned rest you deserve you find yourself travelling to Thunder Bay in search of answers from the cleric Ormin.

Once there, instead of answers you find only more questions, and the list of people wanting to kill you seems to grow longer with each passing day ...

Campaign

This module is the third in a series on the Vault. The others are:

1. Sheep and Stone
2. The Caravan Club
3. The Last Days of the Raven
4. These Dark Days of Waiting
5. From This Comes Strength

The series will be six modules in length, the fifth of which is work in progress. All will appear under the campaign title of Tales from the Lake of Sorrows, late in 2012.

Please enjoy the modules and don't forget to vote :)

Module

Location – Forgotten realms – in the area of Neverwinter.
Setting – The module is set at the same time as SoZ against a backdrop of hard times in Neverwinter brought on by the war with the King of Shadows.
Play time – 4 – 5 hours
Level – 6 – 9
Class – Any
Companions – 3

This is module three in the series Tales from the lake of sorrows. The story follows directly from Caravan Club and completes all of the story threads that have been created in the first two modules. While providing an ending for this part of the story it also starts to develop some of the themes and NPC's that will prevail in the fourth and final part of the series The night of one hundred moons which I hope will be out later this year.

This is a linear story led mod, there are some side quests and conversations which boost your exp but this is not a sandbox mod by any means.

Ember joining problem

Some people are getting a problem with the opening cutscene. It does not affect everyone but some are finding the scene is cutting out halfway through. If this is happening to you then use the link below to download a conversation file. This goes direct into your campaign folder and will allow you to ask Ember to join you. You may then proceed to Thunder Bay using the transition in the room.

Ember Convo

Ember must be with you for the module to proceed.

Note on combat – Unless you are an experienced tactical player keep all the companions with you, the combat is balanced to be challenging at times but with preparation and tactics none of the encounters will be too difficult to manage.

Loading instructions.

Loading instructions are included in the zipped file. It is important to follow these carefully as several folders have similar names.

The module will run from your campaigns start up screen.

Things you should know:

There are no race restrictions and elves and dwarfs are well catered for, but humans are the order of the day.

You can start at any level, there is a little intro section that will take your character to around level 6 unless you are higher than this. All characters get some money to spend in town to ensure they are adequately equipped. Combat difficulty varies and is tough in places but if you have the NPC's provided with you then you should always prevail, particularly if you use the terrain to your advantage.

Your facilitator is Ormin, if you find yourself not sure what to do and the journal does not help then you probably need to be talking to Ormin. Other npc's are carried along with the story and it is worth visiting principle protagonists as the story develops.

Transitions are made without a world map. In each outdoor area you will find either a stone, a sign or an area transition that will get you out. For indoor areas use the door like everybody else.

Your npc's are Ember(rogue), Honour(Mage) and Harald(fighter).

Harald is optional after the first main quest is complete however, if you don't have a fighter type class I suggest you keep him with you.

Honour may be dropped initially but once she joins she is there to stay. If you do drop her you can pick her up in the Market Tavern but again, once she joins she is with you till the end.

You will know how well you are treating the npc's by the way they talk to you. The less well you treat then the less you will get out of them.

The npc's have back stories which you can access as the module progresses if you have a good enough relationship with them.

Romance

There are three romances in the module. Ember for Humans, Belethiel for Elves and Faralla for dwarfs. For the latter two you need to keep talking to them as the module progresses and keep and eye out for special presents :)

Time

This mod is very time based. Shops shut at night and certain npc's are not available at certain times. Resting is restricted in places but generally you can rest where you need to. All of the innkeepers and the sundial in the market square, will allow you to pass up to 4 hours without resting so you should never be stuck waiting. Note however, at night most, if not all, npc's go to one of the inns. If they are not there then they are not plot movers.

While in town you will hear a bell from time to time. This rings on the sixes, giving you a general idea of the time of day.

What the mod has:

This is a linear story driven module. There are side quests but limited possibilities for sandbox style play. That said there are places to explore with rewards for doing so. Talking to every one will reveal opportunities to gain exp and the barkstrings of no core npc's will change as the story develops.

The module has a good degree of npc interaction and the npc's have back stories which will be revealed as the mod plays out.

What this mod does not have:

SoZ style conversations.
Flexible npc hiring and firing.

Big thanks bit:

Thanks go to the following for their parts in the making and testing of the mod.

• M.Reider for all his support in the development, testing and scripting for this module. Without M.R. it would not be the same module.
• Quixal for his support in play testing.
• Alupinu for his play testing support and walk mesh hints.
• AllThatJazz for her dialogue support.
• Nicethugbert for his fantastic work on his eroded hills and valleys series. Two of which I use here.
• Uncle FB for the Uncle FB's NPC control.
• Lilac soul for the script generator – all scripts, not written by Matt, were written using this.
• RWS for the stirges model.

Finally thanks to the forum users especially Chaos Weilder who helped me with all the techie bits which I can't do, which frankly is all the techie bits.

Music

There is a lot of custom music in this module much of it drawn from my developing interest in medieval music, particularly where played on original instruments. Credit is due to the following persons.

For the playing of La Manfredina which may be heard in Thunder Bay, Grien Sluis which is played in the afternoon in the market Tavern and the Trotto which in played in the Market Tavern late at night thanks to Susan Sandman and Derwent crocker. This music in played on authentic instruments and, to me, sounds great. If it sounds good to you then you can find these and other tracks on The Medieval Lady, available on Leonarda productions. I payed royalties for these tracks please do not rip them.

For the playing of The nite watch (Anthony Holborne 1545 – 1629) as played at certain times in the Red Griffin and In this trembling shadow (John Dowland 1563 – 1626) as played in the afternoon in the Market Tavern thanks to Jon Sayles. Check out his website for an enormous free resource and also develop a love for his art.

All other tracks can be found on freesound, I should credit but I can't remember the original name of the pieces.

I hope you enjoy The Last Days of the Raven and hope also than you can find time to vote and comment.

Thanks and enjoy,

PJ