Crop Failure

Place: a village (ideally the village the characters come from and are fond of)

Difficulty: low

Year after year, the fields yield less and less grain. In the last three years the situation has gone so far that the villagers cannot afford to pay taxes or even feed themselves. Last year they began eating their cows and other livestock, this year it is happening again, and unless something happens, famine will strike next year.

The whole region has similar problems, and the first rumors are already spreading about a curse that has befallen the land. Some have even gone so far as to speak of Baron Matavan's depravity and his devotion to dark powers.

Background

The whole situation is rather prosaic: the fields yield less and less because the villagers do not know how to farm well and have exhausted the soil, which can no longer produce enough food (moreover, the population has grown).

Dead Ends

The characters may take an interest in the situation and try to solve it. Each path can be an adventure of its own, but it will not lead to the desired goal.

The villagers

They believe it is a curse.

Other farmers

They will gossip that the local villagers are lazy, just making things up, and do not know how to work.

The local priests

They doubt it is a curse, but do not rule it out. They will suspect neighboring lands (and cults) of having salted the soil or used alchemical powders. They may also blame wizards for practicing magic here.

Some priests

There are also a few priests who will confirm the curse. Such talk angers the baron, who starts arresting priests and makes the situation even worse.

Hatokan the hermit from the forest

He will advise the characters that the curse will be lifted if they plant oaks around the fields (this path is rather costly and laborious, and the characters would have to raise plenty of money, convince the villagers or talk the baron into it).

Zatokan the priest (priest of Zaag)

A wandering priest, very intelligent and persuasive. He claims that sacrifices to the gods will break the curse: the soil must be sprinkled with the blood of animals. Later he will demand human blood.

Samanator, fortune-teller and dream reader

He claims he has seen the solution in his dreams: the soil must be cleansed with salt, which will destroy the weeds and the pests that gnaw at the plants' roots. He is persuasive and truly can see into the future. But he gives his advice wrong on purpose, because the baron once had him flogged and he wants revenge.

Dakoman, a merchant

He profits from the situation, because he imports the missing food and sells it dearly to the villages and the baron. He offers to find a solution for a fee, but takes the money and does nothing to help (if the characters expose him and press him, he can help them find contacts).

Subsequent Events

— Baron Matavan will demand strict control of spellcasting.

— Suspicious persons will be interrogated and arrested.

— Anyone who speaks of the baron and dark powers will be arrested.

— Someone will try to blacken the characters' names and claim that they slander the baron. The characters will have a hard time convincing the baron of the opposite.

— Some people will heed Zatokan and begin making sacrifices. Later they will start abducting travelers and sprinkling the fields with their blood.

If nobody comes up with anything, famine will strike the next year, the villagers will rebel and kill the baron. Retribution from the king follows: a large part of the population will be executed, sentenced to forced labor and so on, and the whole region will fall into ruin.

Solution

Help can come from a clever, experienced farmer who examines the soil and the plants and suggests what to grow and how (the characters would not be able to find such a solution). A character knowledgeable in farming may suspect this and look for help in the right direction.

A priest of Finvael (nature) and the like can help. But the characters must find such a person and convince him that it is necessary. This may be difficult, because it will only postpone the situation, not solve it.

The farmers could also move somewhere farther away, but that is expensive and demanding.

They could start raising more livestock and growing less grain, but they lack the means for that (and so does the baron, whose treasury is empty). If the characters managed to help with the finances, they would become true heroes of the region.