As the party enters a town, a redheaded half-elf introduces herself as Habanero Jarrs (or Hab for short) and asks the party to follow her. Her husband and a renowned business owner in the realm is in need of their assistance and asked to speak with them immediately.
If they follow Hab through the town they notice the presence of some sort of mechanical exo-skeletons in use by the townsfolk, helping them lift boxes, reach higher on walls they are fixing, and zipping around on strange mechanical-wheeled boards. Hab continues to hurry them along, passing through a clearing of buildings to see a gigantic factory with high smokestacks, the hum of cogs and gears, and the slamming of hammers.
Heading inside, the party can see a manufacturing line of suits of armor. There are suits of varying sizes and bulkiness, but each appears to open from the center, allowing the wearer to slide their arms and legs in instead of putting the suits on one piece at a time.
Hab continues to push the party toward an office area, but if they wander or jump into a suit themselves, they will find that they are unable to move in the armor. Once inside, the suit closes and the wearer only sees darkness.
Once at an office, they see a name on the door, Antonio Snark, Chief Resident And Proprietor of Snark Industries. Sitting in front of a large stained glass window is a mustachio’d man in a red suit of armor (sans helmet), sipping a drink.
“Ah yes, the adventurers.” Antonio kisses Hab on the cheek as she takes a seat on the other side of the room. “I see you’ve met my wife already, what did you think of my factory?” He will wait for the party to respond and cajole them to respond if they do not do so. Anything not complimentary will be met with condescension and snarkiness.
“This factory is state of the art! I’m building the future of combat here.” He beats his closed fist down on his chest. “My heart is in my work, and I wish only for a safer future.”
Antonio continues on, explaining that the suits of armor he is building are for the people of town to improve their businesses and increase their quality of life. Recently he was contracted by the town guard to create suits that could be worn by guards to make them more durable in battle. “Fully mechanized with my premium Artificer abilities, these suits are perfect for keeping our town AND THE REALM safe.”
He stands by a window in his office facing the factory. “With my own two hands I’ve created all of this.” He gestures wildly. “BUT,” he hesitates with dramatic emphasis. “My idiot assistant did not anticipate one fatal flaw. With a powerful jolt of electricity, the suits shut down completely and the wearer is unable to move. That is precisely why I need your assistance.”
Antonio mentions that he and his assistant Blarvis (but mostly Antonio, by his account) devised a plan that would reverse any electrical pulse, creating an anti-EMP field around the wearer to prevent the malfunction from occurring. The plan was for Blarvis to take ten of the town guard, armored up in the suits to a nearby den of Behir in order to extract some scales. Blarvis and the guards should have been back by now, but no one has heard anything from them.
“I beg of you, please go get my suits back, along with the scales of those Behir.” He waves the party away dismissively. If they ask about Blarvis or the men inside the suits, he will say he is not concerned, he just needs his intellectual property back.
Doth mother know you weareth her drapes
Heading out toward the cave of the Behir, the party is open to additional encounters. Consider a run-in with any of the following:
- The Mandarin – An angry male halfling that has turned orange from the massive amount of oranges he’s eaten recently. Stat block of a Bandit Captain with a ranged weapon of moldy oranges that do 1d4 bludgeoning damage.
- Ope-adiah Strain – A rival businessman to Antonio who is trying to prevent him from succeeding. Opeadiah believes Antonio’s business practices are hurting the town and thinks his own suits of armor, produced the old-fashioned way with blacksmithing gear is enough protection for the guards. Knight stat block. Ope-adiah has a special power of Class Action that does 2d8 psychic damage as he lashes out with his words to try to take down his opponents.
- Vinny Fangdoom – This is literally just a Young Black Dragon that is mad about everything. Especially at Antonio because the suits are impervious to his Acid Breath.
Once the party arrives at the cave, they see that things are not in good shape. Three behir are crawling about the cave, their twelve legs gripping to the cave walls as they maneuver around. In the middle of the cave are four armored individuals, each glowing blue from what appears to be the lightning breath that Antonio mentioned.
There are yells coming from inside each of the suits, but no sign of Blarvis. If the group inspects the Behir they will be able to see outline of several suits pressing against their bellies.
If the party searches for signs of Blarvis, they can see tracks leading to a tiny hole in the side of the cave. Blarvis is hiding inside and panicky about what he has just witnessed.
There are three Behir in total and the party will need to be strategic about how they approach to not get swallowed themselves.
If the party wants to get the individuals out of the suit, they can do so with a DC15+ Strength check and one action on their turn.
Plenty of outcomes available for this one, so rewards will vary.
4 adventurers at Level 15, aim for 2 Behir
4 adventurers at Level 20+, load up with 3 at least
Depending on the result and the return to Antonio, he will reward the party in a few different ways.
- Return Blarvis, Behir scales, and all 10 suits, Antonio will reward the party with one suit of their own and 10,000gp.
- Return Blarvis and any of the suits, Antonio will reward the party with 5,000gp
- Return Blarvis, Antonio will scoff and tell the party to leave
- Return just the scales, Antonio will be displeased, but will give the party a faulty helmet from one of the suits (he won’t say it’s faulty, but it 100% is and gives no buffs).
