A Riddle for Treasure and Gold
Pinned to The tavern cork board
A neat and well-written parchment has been stained in the top left corner with drops of blood. The poster reads:
“Amidst the forgotten grove, beneath the temple to their memory, the last knight rests below our star, a sign of peace before wealth and before war to ensure our roots still run deep.
If you can solve at least the first part of that, then you’re hired to take part in a lucrative hunt for the ancient treasure of The Nadurians. Dungeon delving and danger is expected, as is treasure and gold of which you will receive a fair share of, as we find it.
Simply meet me at the riddle’s location before month’s end.
[Signed] - Ankari Buvrein
Ways to approach
How about a riddle for your ‘Indiana Jones’ or ‘National Treasure’ inspired adventurers? The riddle is broken into 3 sections, which can be solved without the need for skill or ability checks, but aided by them if need be:
“Amidst the forgotten grove, beneath the temple to their memory” - This part is immediately followed by ‘the last knight’ to be intentionally misleading. The memory instead refers to the forgotten grove, the forest that once stood here before the city expanded. The temple in this instance is a library.
“The last knight rests below our star” - There are many ways you can have this play out in your own adventures, however, the goal is for the players to look in the library for the last knight below a sun or star. I’d envisioned in the middle of this library a large circular space, with Roman pillars reaching up to the roof, in the center is a stained-glass dome with a giant sun design to let light in. By each of the pillars are stone slabs representing the graves of important knights in local history. Right in the middle of this is a large, ornate, circular desk where the librarian sits. The players could go by the dates on the graves to find the last of the knights, but that’s too easy. That can be a trap for treasure seekers. Instead, the last knight of a library is the librarian.
“A sign of peace before wealth and before war ensure our roots still run deep” - Wherever you decide to have the librarian beneath the star, on the floor is a Celtic-style tree carved into the stone floor, the symbol of The Nadurians. Surrounding the tree is a circle of stones, each carved with the symbol of a different deity. The players simply need to press the stones for the gods of peace, wealth, and war, in that order, and the floor gives way to reveal the passage down. Adventure awaits!
Possible Repercussions
The beauty of a poster/job like this is the idea that if the player characters don’t join, then the mystery may never get solved! Other people may join in, but they lack what makes your characters special. Instead nobody will ever acquire hordes of treasure and unlock the ancient secrets of the Nadurians - What a shame.
Perhaps if your next adventurers are in search of this lost civilization in a future campaign, they’ll reference Ankari’s work, and maybe even stumble upon what’s left of them.
