Over the Edge (2001)

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Over the Edge is a short adventure for four 9th-level characters. The adventure is set in the Lortmil Mountains on a newly established trade route between Ulek and Verbebonc, but could be on any route that takes the characters through a mountain pass.

Adventure Background

Several years ago, the merchants of Tringlee, the capital city in the Duchy of Ulek, opened a new trade route through the Lortmil Mountains to the town of Verbebonc. However, in the last few months, reports of manticore raids along the route have filtered back to Tringlee. A month ago, the merchants hired a group of adventurers and sent them into the mountains to end the manticore raids. The party never returned.

The manticore raids are actually orchestrated by a juvenile red dragon that recently came to the region to increase its wealth and power. The red dragon, named Kardrako, has made its home in the back of the manticores' cave, which is set into a cliff several hundred feet below a bridge on the trade route.

Kardrako uses the manticores and, more recently, two hill giants named Geet and Gern, to waylay travelers and force them to pay a toll to cross the bridge. All of the money, of course, goes to Kardrako. The adventurers whom the merchants sent into the mountains did indeed locate the trouble they were sent to find. However, only one -- a rogue named Finglos – survived. Where his loyalties now lie is a matter for some debate.

The adventure consists of meeting Geet and Gern, finding Finglos, climbing down the cliff to the caves, exploring the caves, and ultimately facing Kardrako. All of the treasure that the manticores and the hill giants have collected rests in Kardrako's treasure trove.