Within Falath Dur are carved a number of halls and other spaces. At three points around the perimeter of the mote passages open to the outside. Each of these locations sports a landing platform. These platforms are each approximately 50'x50' in size, partly carved out of the rock face of the mote and partially cantilevered beyond its edge.
Ages ago the fortress was garrisoned by a significant force of eldarin fey knights equipped with powerful magic and able to summon help from afar by means of the circle. Originally the mote was raised by Civarian mages and the fortress constructed. After the fall of Civari it was long abandoned and became the home of bands of wild griffins.
Later, during the height of Cardol's power the Empire and the northern (% class="twikiNewLink" %)SarduniElves/ARTICLEREFurl:http://www.giantelectronicbrain.com/twiki/bin/edit/DungeonMaster/SarduniElves?topicparent=DungeonMaster.SuriNatha
In 648 the fortress was overrun by the advancing forces of the orc king Globzok the Magnificent and its occupants were either slain or driven off. When the orc invasion was finally defeated elvish griffin riders once again took occupancy of the fort. Soon after Draelek again reasserted his family's claim to Suri Natha. However his fortunes were such that he could do little for its defense and in any case cared little about the place itself. Without the interest or funds to repair the teleportation circle he simply assigned the duty of the fort's defense to its current occupants, gave them a few items useful for its defense, and went back to Fey.
During the time of the KingdomOfKinergh TheShieldofKinnis was held as the sign of kingship. The last king of Kinergh, Alaric Kell-Turan was killed in battle with the orcs in 652 at the Battle of the Seareach Hills. At this time the shield was taken by the eldarin lord Narthoff Turoth to Suri Natha for safe keeping. Narthoff himself was killed soon thereafter and the location of the shield was lost to history. For over 300 year since it has rested in plain sight in the great hall of Suri Natha unrecognized.
DraelekTuroth has an ancient hereditary responsibility for the security and maintenance of Suri Natha. However he is not a particularly attentive warden. The defenses have not been well maintained and the fortress has been garrisoned only by some sarduni griffin riders for the past 250 years. These riders traditionally patrol the border areas of Sildune, the upper vale itself, and some of the surrounding mountain areas. Since no major threat has materialized in this area since the days of the fathers of the current guardians the watch had lately grown intermittent and the garrison small.
Less than a week ago during the middle of the night a dark shape was seen to descend from the sky alight at the old circle. Before the occupants could sally forth to investigate the old teleportation circle became active and a swarm of monsters flooded through. The garrison, mostly caught unawares, was swiftly overrun in a brutal assault. A few managed to make it to their griffins and escape. They joined up with a few more who were on patrol when the attack took place but all they could do was flee.
One of the survivors was Suri Natha's (% class="twikiNewLink" %)Stable Master, Meltheniar/ARTICLEREFurl:http://www.giantelectronicbrain.com/twiki/bin/edit/DungeonMaster/StableMasterMeltheniar?topicparent=DungeonMaster.SuriNatha
Draelek however has a problem. The defense of Suri Natha is his responsibility. Its loss would mean the ruin of his prestige at the very least and possibly serious recriminations. If he simply reports the taking of Suri Natha to his superiors at court then he will suffer. On the other hand if he can rectify the situation swiftly then it need not become a crisis. His problem then is twofold. First he needs to quickly raise a force which can retake the fortress but is unconnected to the eldarin court at (% class="twikiNewLink" %)HighHold/ARTICLEREFurl:http://www.giantelectronicbrain.com/twiki/bin/edit/DungeonMaster/HighHold?topicparent=DungeonMaster.SuriNatha
Draelek will offer the party a substantial sum of gold or something else of equivalent value in return for their assistance. This can be run as a skill challenge. Draelek will try to get the PCs for the lowest price possible but he is in a fix and needs help. If the party is able to figure this out they can take him to the cleaners or insure that he promises to be of assistance to them in the future, etc. Additionally the party will need to convince Draelek that they are worth their pay. While he is badly in need of help and can't afford to be too choosy about who he hires it would still be pointless for him to pay for more than he's getting or hire a group which is not capable of doing the job. Copyright © 2022 Tod G. Harter. All rights reserved. No unauthorized distribution without the express written permission of the copyright holder. This document was prepared using Hairball version 0.5.1 on 2022-02-26 License