4. Level 7: Returning the Hammer
This is one of the major plots for the story. It involves Kinder as the main NPC, along with other supporting NPCs. This plot point uses the intro point “Slavers on the Long Road” as its starting point. After completing the intro point, this point can start if the party helps Kinder return his master’s war hammer.
A major component of this plot point is that is can be carried out while other points are active. It works with other plot points and will pause when other points become more active in the story. However, this point is not the end of the story when completed and is only one of the three major storylines twisted together to form the overall story. Everything is connected, whether the players are aware of it.
Mission Start: Helping Kinder
After the completion of Slavers on the Long Road, the party has to choose whether they will help Kinder with his quest. If they choose to help, they have a long and dangerous journey a head of them.
The Ironclad Tree & The Hammer's Connection
The war hammer is made from a unique and extremely rare material known as ironclad. It is an energetic material that cannot be harvested but is given to those the ironclad tree deems worthy. During her life, Lady Genevieve had earned the honor of being granted the war hammer to help her on her holy journey to help those in need.
When Kinder and the party arrive at the Minotaur tribe, they are invited in because they see Kinder as a friend with his master's war hammer. They know that if the party was not friendly/worthy, they would have never returned the war hammer and tried to keep it for themselves.
The war hammer, like all ironclad items, has a special connection with the tree it was created from. If its original user dies or losses the item, the tree knows and psychically communicates with the Minotaur tribe to retrieve the item. This is when the clan sends out a member to hunt the item down. They are given their own ironclad axe the ability to sense the missing item, which allows them to track it easily. The only time a Minotaur would be sent out is if the party goes against Kinder and tries to take it for themselves. Or, if Kinder’s journey to return, it takes over two months. However, the Minotaur that is sent out will not harm Kinder as the tree knows who Kinder is to Lady Genevieve and the special bond the war hammer had with them.
The tree acknowledges Kinder’s love for his former master and the bond he has made with her war hammer. Lady Genevieve's consciousness is implanted into the war hammer, giving it a semi-sentient conscious. Kinder is then tasked with carrying the war hammer as long as he wants. Kinder accepts the request, vowing to no longer live his life in fear and to help those in need just as Lady Genevieve did.
Once Kinder has finished communing with the tree, he asks the party if he can join them to start his journey in helping those in need.
Ironclad Tree & the Minotaur Tribes
Throughout the world, there is a unique and extremely rare type of tree known as the Ironclad. Not only is it rare to discover, but gaining access to it requires communing with the Ironclad Minotaur tribe that protects and worships them.
The Ironclad tree’s bark has a metallic sheen while still keeping its wood grain appearance. Depending on the age of the tree, they can stand up to forty-feet tall with the trunk’s diameter of fifteen-feet. Whenever the Ironclad tree is harvested, the equipment used always breaks and takes damage equal to the damage it would have caused. The leaves of the tree have five razor sharp points extending from the stem that can deal 1d8 slashing damage per leaf. However, the tree never sheds its leave unless it chooses.
The only way to harvest an ironclad is if the tree deems you worthy. It will then produce a piece of equipment that it feels would be best for your needs. The pact that has to be made with the tree, upon receiving the Ironclad item, is that you can never give it up for any reason; this includes losing it or having it stolen. To do so will cause the Minotaur tribe hunting you. They will not stop until your corpse and the item are returned to the tree. However, if you are to parish with the item, the Minotaur tribe will seek your corpse and the item to return to the tree for a proper ironclad burial.
Ironclad Burial
Upon being returned honorably to the Ironclad tree, the tree creates a coffin from its roots. Your corpse and the item are placed inside while the Minotaur perform their ancient stomp dance in your honor. The coffin recedes into the earth at the base of the tree. The nutrients of your body and the item merge with the tree, giving it strength as it grows.
Returning the Hammer
The clan that Kinder needs to return the hammer to is called the Rasla clan. Normally, the Rasla clan is peaceful and has pacts with the neighboring villages to protect the area for some of their harvest each year. However, a rogue clan has lost their connection to their ironclad tree and is seeking to commune with the Rasla Ironclad Tree. This is against the pact between the Rasla clan and their tree, so war between the clans has broken out.
The Rasla are sadly losing the war and request aid from the party when they arrive. The reward for this quest is a unique item for each character, provided by the Rasla Ironclad Tree. Each player will need to be talked to by the game master about what they would want to receive from the tree. It can be any equipment even if it has mechanical parts.
Once the rogue clan has been taken care of and peace has been made, the ironclad tree psychically connects with Kinder. The tree informs him that there is a great evil coming and his master’s hammer will be needed. Kinder is told to keep the hammer and learn to wield it as it will become important in the future.
This is the crossover between part one and two of the story. There are still components of part one that will play out, such as the last conflict with Gerard, while part two begins.
Mission Start: Not Helping Kinder
If the party decides to not help Kinder, he will leave to start his journey. However, that is not the last the party will see of him. At some point when the party is dealing with Gerard’s bandits, one instance should include Kinder running past the party with the bandits hot on his trail.
