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Vaynor
2006-02-13, 04:16 AM
The Viridescent Exuberance of Vaynor (VEY)

As you come near to Gorport, a bright green fire seems to light it up. Upon coming closer, you realize that the “fire” you saw, was just lights, coming from the enormous fair in the center of town. Explosions of bright light ensue from this monstrous fair, giving you a feeling of excitement. As you reach the gates, the noise gets louder and you start to wonder how the people here get any sleep. They don’t. Once you’re inside, vendors cry out to you, displaying many products composed solely of wonder and amusement. You see performers dance to music, people trying out many assorted games, and many, many food stalls. The most ominous of these thing is the huge green maze, with the even bigger tree in the middle, with a small booth outside of it, with the board stating, “Sign-ups”. You feel very intrigued...

Background
The fair itself was founded in the name of Vaynor Vandek, a mighty Druid who once saved Gorport from imminent destruction, but in return, lost his life. Through his valiant efforts to save them from the Devastation Centipede that attacked, Gorport started up a fair. Though the town was deep into poverty, the fair was created nonetheless. It seems Vaynor had saved Gorport twice now. Soon after the fair was started, the town started to grow and become a city, until this huge celebration ended up taking up most of the city. And as Gorport grew, the fair grew too, and is now open almost throughout the whole year. There are games, contests, shops and more, all modeled after Vaynor himself. People from all over the world come to the fair, whether to buy exotic goods, view strange mysteries, see amazing sites, or just to have fun, The Viridescent Exuberance of Vaynor (commonly refered to as VEY) is the place to go.
One of the main reasons people come to the fair, is in fact the lure of the Great Green Axe of Vaynor, the weapon welded by Vaynor himself during his time, and is given away to contestants each year as a prize for the Unforgiving Vortex of Discovery, the hardest, most dangerous event in the fair. The contestant who wins is allowed to keep the Axe until the year is up, then he/she has to give it back for the new contest. Though, he may try to win the Axe back, for as many years as they can win. Though the prize of the Axe itself is inviting, the winner will also receive a 1,000,000gp prize. This is sometimes the greatest lure for contestants, for you do not have to be wealthy to win, just smart.

The Great Green Axe of Vaynor
The Axe itself seems to be made out of a branch of a tree, the blades shaped from giant leaves. The wielder of this weapon is allowed to branchiate freely, and is not hindered by obstructing terrain. They can also (as a move-equivalent action, provoking an AoO) sprout great green wings, seemingly made of twisted plants and roots, giving them a Fly Speed of 75 Ft. (15 squares, perfect). The Axe is counted as a +5 Keen Speeding Greataxe of the Wild (as the armor ability). The Axe also grants a +10 bonus on saves against Nature effects. Against enemies of the Forest (like lumberjacks, or evil people who burn down forests) it deals an extra 2d6 damage.

The Unforgiving Vortex of Discovery
The vortex, aptly named, is a strange kind of maze. In the shape of spiral, there are no trick paths, or false ways to go. There is only one, hard path to follow. Throughout the Vortex, are many cunning, and nasty traps, tricks, and riddles. The walls, made of intertwined tree branches, reach twenty-five feet high, spanning way up into the sky. At the center of the Vortex is a tree. This is now the hardest part of the contest. Each branch, with a total of 999, looks exactly the same as The Great Green Axe of Vaynor, just attached to a tree. There is only one that is the correct one, all others have a Glyph of Warding: Teleportation spell cast on them and will send the contestant who picks the wrong one back to the starting area. The only way you can tell which Axe is Vaynor’s, is by looking at the handle for a faint blood mark, from his battle with the Centipede (DC 25 Knowledge: Local check).

Rules
The contestants in this contest must face mind-boggling challenges to reach their goal, and are therefore sent in with only a simple robe (provided by the fair). A total of 50 contestants are allowed in each year, each allowed into the maze from several different points, and to prevent fighting, there is a permanent Sanctuary spell on the whole area up to the tree. The person to get through first, and retrieve the Axe, will be declared the winner. Once the contestants reach the tree, the struggle begins, the contestants, kick, punch, and fight their way to the tree, all trying to get the correct Axe first. If all of the contestants fail, no one gets the Axe and it is kept until next year. There is no stalemate allowed. To enter costs 1,000 gp, and to watch costs 10. The stadium the Vortex sits in, can hold up to 10,000 people, and is soundproofed so contestants cannot hear the onlookers. The Vortex is the fair's main event, and has the most people flock to it out of all other events.

To be continued...

Vaynor
2006-02-13, 04:16 AM
-Filler Post-

(Will include (hopefully) many example NPC's, plot hooks, and example puzzles for the UVoD)

Vaynor
2006-02-13, 04:17 AM
-Another Filler Post-

((Will include data on games, other contests, and any other misc. stuff)


Please post comments/criticisms, they are greatly appreaciated! :)

Quincunx
2006-03-10, 05:57 PM
The challenging event is unique among the contest entries so far, and I think that many of us are hungry for a non hack'n'slash adventure. At the time of this posting, there's a thread over in d20 gaming about Most Sadistic Traps which could give you inspiration for the puzzles and traps in the Vortex. Can the contestants break off branches from the walls and use them to solve the puzzles? MUST they use branches from the walls to solve a certain puzzle?

Some plot hooks won't even need NPCs: playtesting the maze before the competition, patrolling the spectators and ensuring that a suspected helper does not meddle with the Vortex, tracking down a champion that refuses to return the axe (although I'd have placed a binding on the champion that ensured the axe would return, whether he wanted to relinquish it or not).

There's only one point which bothers me: with 25' high walls, how can people in the stands look down into that tall, narrow hallway? Either the stands are built high into the air, and the fair's trademark circle of greenery gets overshadowed by them, or observers are allowed to perch in the topmost branches of the maze's walls and look down upon the participants.