Starting the Adventure - X Marks the Spot

Starting the Adventure. Once the players have chosen characters, you are ready to begin. Read the following text to set up the scenario and the bargain the characters have made for their freedom. Your time in the prison cells of Conqueror's Foothold is drawing to an end-as are your lives. Like all those deemed enemies of the Legion of Dusk, you are set to be executed to feed the vampires who command the fortress. On the night before the full moon, you have been moved to the executioner's chamber, next in line to be sacrificed. But what your captors don't know is that each of you has made a bargain with the cleric, Alante. In exchange for your lives and retrieval of the legendary relic known as the Hierophant's Chalice, you have been promised various favors from the Order of the Five Sacraments-a vampiric sect that opposes the Legion of Dusk's thirst for conquest. During your brief time in Conqueror's Foothold, Alante has been able to communicate a plan of escape by sending message spells at various interludes. Tonight marks the night that plan comes to fruition. The Great Escape Read the following to set up the characters' escape from the forces of the Legion of Dusk: You stand in a large holding cell awaiting the executioner's summons. Outside the cell window, a nearly full moon hangs high in the cloudless sky. In the center of the executioner's chamber, a greataxe lies across a stone block. Chains lined with butcher hooks hang above metal vats stacked and waiting to collect the blood of the executed, and reminding you of your imminent appointment with death. The guards open the metal grate that seals your cell. Stepping into the chamber beyond, you see the cleric who will oversee your sacrifice. That's your cue. It's time to issue last rites... to the guards. The characters have no gear, except for Alante. They are unarmored and can make only unarmed strikes, dealing bludgeoning damage equal to 1 + Strength modifier. The Legion of Dusk troops stationed at Conqu...