This chapter presents secondary adventures loosely tied to the Elemental Evil storyline. First are adventures for 1st- through 3rd-level characters in and near Red Larch. Then come side treks for characters of higher levels.
Trouble in Red Larch
Red Larch is an excellent place for novice adventurers to begin their careers. Scenarios in this section provide 1st- through 3rd-level characters with the opportunity to learn about Red Larch while dealing with local troubles.
To unearth interesting rumors and find directions to potential adventure sites, the characters must explore Red Larch and interact with the citizens. Red Larch is described in chapter 2. See the “Trouble in Red Larch” entries for what the locals know.
Arrival in Red Larch
Red Larch is a town on the Long Road, a few days travel north of Waterdeep and a few days travel south of Triboar. Its a way stop for caravans coming to or from the cities of the North, with an inn named the Swinging Sword, a tavern called the Helm at Highsun, and many craftspeople who cater to travelers.
For descriptions of buildings and NPCs in Red Larch, see chapter 2. The characters might be locals or travelers. They and players learn about the area as the party explores the town and meets its citizens.
The Swinging Sword (area 2) is the only inn, and the Helm at Highsun (area 3) is a large tavern across the street from the inn. Locals gather at Gaelkurs store (area 17) or the tavern to gossip. Ironhead Arms (area 13) is the best place to buy weapons and armor, and Helvar Tarnlar (area 7) sells well-made clothing for travelers. Red Larch doesn’t have a mayor, but Constable Harburk (area 11) keeps the peace. Characters affiliated with factions might know the names of faction agents and supporters in town.
Into the Wilderness
Hills partitioned into fields and pastures by fieldstone fences or hedges surround Red Larch. A mile or so outside the town, cultivated areas give way to unspoiled wilderness. Miles of hills, woods, and grassland stretch on as far as the eye can see, filled with plentiful wildlife.
The “Red Larch Surroundings” map shows the locations of several interesting sites and encounters in the vicinity. Citizens or rumors in town direct characters to these sites. The adventurers can also discover the following points of interest by exploring.
Bears and Bows
Constable Harburk (Red Larch, area 11) has heard rumors of a bandit lair south of town. If the characters investigate this lead, read the following:
In a brush-choked dell a short distance from the Cairn Road is a makeshift camp in front of a cave entrance. Four surly humans sharpen their blades around the fire. Nearby is a wagon with a wooden cage atop it. Inside the cage, a black bear paws at the bars.
The four bandit attack strangers, preferring ranged attacks. Their hideout is a cave full of stolen food, wine, weapons, and coins. They stole a wagon loaded with a giant boar in a stout iron cage, bound for a noble in Waterdeep. They ate the beast, but then captured a black bear.
The bandits broke the cages lock, so they have it spiked shut with an iron piton. Starved, the bear uses an action to heave itself into the cage door when any violence starts. If it makes a successful DC 15 Strength check, it bursts free. The bear then attacks the closest creature or the creature that hurt it most recently. It runs off when reduced to fewer than half its hit points.
Treasure
Coins in the cave total 99 cp, 74 sp, and 13 gp, divided among several coin purses. The bandits also accumulated other plunder worth 100 gp, including numerous weapons.
Haunted Tomb
Minthra Mhandyvvers granddaughter Pell (Red Larch, area 14) knows where this tomb is, as does Mangobarl Lorren (Red Larch, area 8).
A dark, rectangular hole gapes amid the grass and vines of a nearby hillside. A stone door can be seen, ajar, in the tunnels dim depths. The door bears chiseled marks that might once have been a name.
Over time, many rich folks built in the valley. Some are buried in old tombs near town. One such tomb is the final resting place of a forgotten noble who was a warrior in his day.
If the characters scout the area before entering the tomb passage, they discover a brigand camp hidden in a boulder jumble 150 feet away. A goblin named Mougra and a half-ogre (ogrillon) named Geeraugh have been watching the tomb. They attack anyone who invades their camp. Otherwise, they might ambush the characters-see the next section.
Tomb Passage
Within the tomb passage, the stone door is open enough to allow a Small character to shimmy through. It opens inward.
Geeraugh and Mougra built an improvised alarm made metal wagon wheel fittings against the inside of the door. If the door is pushed open without removing this “alarm,” the metal pieces fall with a loud crash. If Geeraugh and Mougra hear the alarm, they sneak up to watch the tomb and ambush anyone who emerges. They prefer robbery to a fight.
When the characters enter, read the following:
Inside the door is a passage, ten feet high by ten wide, running straight into the hill. Thirty feet later, it opens out into a square room, thirty feet by thirty feet, containing a stone block table. Stains and marks atop this slab suggest rusted objects were once arrayed on it. In the middle of the wall to the right of the entry passage, is a closed and severely rusted iron door.
If the rusted iron door is touched, a ghostly armored male human wielding a spectral longsword emerges from it. This minor ghost was a guard who died having failed to protect the noble interred here. (Use specter statistics, except this ghost is lawful neutral.) He warns intruders to leave his masters tomb. Although the ghost might talk to peaceful characters, he attacks those who refuse to leave. The ghost doesn’t pursue those who flee.
Inner Tomb
The iron door is rusted shut. A characters can force it open with a successful DC 15 Strength check. Inside, the following is revealed:
Beyond the rusted door is another square room, twenty feet by twenty feet, containing a stone coffin. The ceiling is cracked, allowing roots and water into the chamber from multiple points, although little collects here. At the coffins feet is a rusty iron chest.
Inside the coffin is a skeleton dressed in a rusted breastplate and clasping a longsword to its chest. This flying sword attacks intruders when the coffin is opened. It returns to its place in the coffin if no one remains in this room.
Treasure
The chest contains ruined cloth and the sodden remains of a book, but it also has a false wooden bottom. Someone who succeeds on a DC 10 Intelligence (Investigation) check notices the bottom is several inches higher than the chest should be deep. Within is a gold chain and locket with a portrait of a lovely half-elf female etched in profile on the inside (100 gp) and two rings of braided silver and electrum (25 gp each).
Bloody Treasure
In the hills south of the Larch Path is a cave known to Red Larchers as Tricklerock Cave. Albaeri Mellikho (Red Larch, area 18) and Elak Dornan (Red Larch, area 12) point the characters to this location.
In a ravine, an exposed rock face is split by a vertical crevice about three feet wide and fifteen feet high. Water trickles from the opening and spills into a nearby bog. In the mud around the crevice are many overlapping bootprints. Some head into the crevice, and some come out.
If the characters enter the crevice, read the following:
The crevice leads twenty feet into the hillside before opening up into a cavern. Many trickles of water combine into a pleasant sound, and the walls glisten with moisture. Stalagmites dot the floor, and stalactites hang from the ceiling.
The cave is home to four stirge, which attack as soon as a character enters the cave. Contrary to local rumors, there is no treasure to be found in Tricklerock Cave.
The Last Laugh
Endrith Vallivoe (Red Larch, area 22) heard a report that might lead the characters here.
A weathered human skull, jaw sagging, is pinned to the trunk of a tree ahead by a big black arrow protruding from one of the skulls eye sockets.
Black parchment (actually dyed human skin) is wrapped around the arrow just in front of the fletching. It is a message that reads, in Common:
The Last Laugh
You’ll be next!
Valklondar
The arrows point is of black-painted metal, and it punched a hole through the back of the skull and sank deep into the tree. Anyone who handles the arrow has nightmares of the skull rushing at them, laughing coldly. Such persons have been marked. For a tenday, undead attack them reluctantly and as a last possible target.
Lance Rock
Characters who confront troublesome situations in the wilderness attract the attention of Kaylessa Irkell, proprietor of the Swinging Sword (Red Larch, area 2). Kaylessa believes an evil influence emanating from Lance Rock is the source of Red Larchs troubles. She asks the characters, who should still be 1st level, to find out whats going on. The characters discover that a necromancer who styles himself a “lord” is lurking in a cave near the landmark.
Southwest of Red Larch, Lance Rock is visible for miles. When the characters can see it, read the following text:
Lance Rock is a narrow, twenty-five-foot menhir of bare, gray rock that juts eastward at a sixty-degree angle.
The menhir is gray granite, unlike the surrounding limestone. (A dragon dropped it here long ago.) A few hundred feet south of the stone is a ravine choked with brush. A trail leads into the brush near a neatly-painted sign that reads, in Common:
Come no closer
lest you catch
the disfiguring plague
that afflicts me!
The Lord of Lance Rock
The trail continues down to a cave mouth. Another warning sign with the same message is posted by the opening. If the characters explore the cave, proceed with the “Necromancers Cave” encounters below.
Necromancer’s Cave
An insane and reclusive necromancer named Oreioth-the self-styled “Lord of Lance Rock”- has taken residence in the caves near Lance Rock. He poses no immediate threat to Red Larch but doesn’t take kindly to trespassers.
L1. Entry Cave
The cave mouth opens into darkness from which a breezes blows, carrying the faint odor of death. Inside is a natural cave, its floor and ceiling uneven. The passage leads to the west, narrowing as it proceeds.
A body is sprawled on the floor 60 feet into the passage. When the characters get close enough to take a good look at the body, read the following:
The corpse of a human male is sprawled here on its back. It wears only leather breeches.
The body is a zombie, but it animates only if touched. Then, it attacks.
L2. Guard Cave
A round, high-ceilinged cave opens here. It has two narrow exits, one leading north and the other south. A flat boulder sits in the center of the cave. Its about six feet across, eight feet long, and three feet high. Dark stains color its top.
The boulder is stained with dry blood.
Above the eastern entrance, two zombie stand on a ledge 10 feet up. They hold a wooden box full of rocks between them. When they spot an intruder, they let the box go so it crashes down on the interloper. The target must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or take 7 (
L3. Corpse Cave
Motionless humanoid figures dressed in dirty clothes or scraps of armor are propped against the walls of this cave. Some are little more than skeletons with wisps of hair and skin stretched tightly over their bones. Others are fresher. A few old shortswords lie on the dusty floor.
Twelve corpses are stored in this chamber. Seven are skeletal, and five are fresher. Three skeleton remain still among the other remains. They attack anyone who touches them or the corpses here.
L4. Dancing Dead
The passage that leads to this room from the north can be described as follows:
This narrow passage is about ten feet high in most places, with rough, irregular walls. Protruding spurs on the walls are coated in dried blood.
Eventually this natural passage widens out:
The star-shaped cavern ahead has many clefts in its walls. Only two, across the cavern, seem large enough to traverse. Three zombies lurch about the area. One is costumed like a bear, another is dressed as a lady in a frilly dress and thick makeup, and the last is costumed as a jester with jingling bells on its collar and sleeves.
These three zombie are dressed to entertain the Lord of Lance Rock by acting out grotesque comedies. They have orders to playact for a few moments when they spot intruders, using the distraction to approach and attack.
Sounds of combat in this room alert the necromancer Oreioth (in area L5) that intruders are nearby. Oreioth climbs the stairs in area L5 to peer into the end of the western passage (see that section), hoping to get a chance to trigger the trap there.
Southwestern Passage
This tunnel leads to a small cavern with two closed iron chests resting on the floor. A peephole in the south wall allows someone standing at the top of the stairs in area L5 to observe the chests. By the peephole is a lever that opens a trapdoor in the ceiling above the chests, releasing a rockfall.
If Oreioth is in position, he waits until at least two intruders have entered the cave, then he moves away from the peephole and pulls the lever. When he does, he cries, easily audible through the peephole, “You dare to pit yourselves against the Lord of Lance Rock? Death is your reward!” Then he continues to cackle as he retreats.
Those in the room can make DC 10 Dexterity saving throws, taking 7 (
The iron chests are empty.
L5. Workshop
The passage opens into an enormous cavern illuminated by several guttering torches set in sconces on the walls. The floor is uneven, and the ceiling is forty feet up. Three flat boulders near the passage serve as tables for human corpses. Severed body parts sit in baskets by the corpses, covered in dry gore. A figure in a dark hood stands by the third table, its back to you. Matted hair juts from the hood, and the figure holds a bone needle threaded with dark cord in its hand.
Farther to the west, a stone stair climbs the north wall, ending near the ceiling. A stone slab like a counter juts from the wall across the room from the base of the stairs. It holds saws, knives, and other tools. Four skeletons stand beyond this tool bench, guarding a wide passage that exits the to the west.
The hooded figure is a zombie, and five crawling claw hide among the other body parts in the baskets. If intruders do anything other than turn back, the monsters attack.
The “Lord of Lance Rock” is Oreioth (see chapter 7), a wild-eyed Tethyrian human with a bristly beard and a shaved head. If the characters moved through area L4 alerting him, they find Oreioth arranging and cleaning his tools on the tool bench. Otherwise, he watches warily from behind the four skeleton. In any case, if confronted, he shrinks from conflict and orders his skeletons to attack while he retreats into area L6.
The necromancer refers to himself in the third person and by his self-appointed title. He’s afraid of physical confrontation, but he pretends bravery when his pets shield him, saying, “Bow before the Lord of Lance Rock! Me! Behold my dark terrors!” He’s willing to magnanimously consider a surrender or offers of truce, as long as intruders leave the cave.
Stairs
The steps along the north wall lead up to a ledge overlooking this room. A peephole by this ledge looks into the western passage of area L4, and there is a lever here that controls the rockfall trap in that room.
Tools
The stone counter serves as a tool bench. The tools here include saws, knives, awls, embalming tools, and metal bowls. Among them is a jug of grain alcohol and a cask of fresh water. Everything is very clean.
L6. Study
The workshop narrows into another passage that splits and links up twice. It gently descends to this area described as follows:
An oval cavern opens here, forty feet wide and sixty feet long. Dark purple tapestries hang on the walls. At the center stands a pedestal fashioned of severed arms arranged to clutch one another in a cone. Cradled in the uppermost hands is a glowing crystal sphere. A dark sigil with an eyelike slit floats above the sphere.
For the sigil, show the players the Elder Elemental Eye symbol (see chapter 1) without additional context. The sigil is an illusion that disappears if it or the pedestal is disturbed.
If he is here, Oreioth (see chapter 7) is hiding behind the draperies at the north end of the room, holding a wand of magic missiles. He reacts only if attacked or someone approaches the floating sigil. In this latter case, he yells, “Cant you see it? Its the Eye! It sees your every move! Don’t you fear it?”
If he dies, Oreioth turns into a black flame. The flame dwindles to nothing with a plaintive wail and vanishes.
Treasure
The glowing sphere is a driftglobe. Behind the draperies are niches where Oreioth keeps his food, drink, supplies, clothes, and bedding, as well as 165 sp, 78 gp and four polished jet gems (50 gp each). If Oreioth failed to retrieve it, the wand of magic missiles is stored in a niche.
Tomb of Moving Stones
Shortly after the characters return to Red Larch from Lance Rock, this scenario intended for 2nd-level characters begins. Beneath the town are tunnels and chambers carved by ancient dwarves. The place includes a vault in which great stones mysteriously change position.
Several generations ago, stonecutters working in the quarries discovered the old tunnels, buried miners, and the weird phenomenon of the moving stones. At first those who found the place kept it secret because they hoped to find treasure within. No such treasure was ever found, but the conspiracy survived.
The Red Larchers who knew about the place came to include the leading citizens of the town. They regarded the phenomenon as supernatural and portentous. They called themselves the Believers and referred to the miners entombed in the chamber as the Delvers. The Believers carefully observed the stones for messages in their movements, and they saw the Delvers as stern guardians watching over an ancient mystery.
Over the years, the Believers began to arrange events and opportunities in Red Larch to ensure that fellow Believers prospered. They became a secret town council and met to make hard decisions “for the good of all.” People causing trouble in Red Larch were driven out of business, intimidated, or even murdered.
Several months ago, agents of the Cult of the Black Earth stumbled across the Tomb of Moving Stones, and an ambitious cult priest named Larrakh came to Red Larch to bring the Believers under the cults control. Unhindered by superstition, as the Believers are, he learned the secret of how to manipulate the moving stones. Larrakh now uses the stones to deliver “messages” that he interprets for the Believers, manipulating them to do the earth cults bidding.
Characters who focus on the right set of rumors in Red Larch might discover the Tomb of Moving Stones. The Believers have a hidden entrance in Waelvurs Wagonworks (Red Larch, area 16). The long, winding tunnel from this establishment leads to area T1 in the tomb. A second hidden entrance in the Mellikho Stoneworks (Red Larch, area 18) leads to area T9.
Sinkhole
If the characters don’t find any leads to this scenario, a sinkhole opens in the middle of Red Larch, exposing the hidden chambers. In that eventuality, read the following text when youre ready to start:
An ordinary afternoon in Red Larch is broken by a tremor. A second later, four small children and the old cart they are playing on slide down into a sinkhole that suddenly opens. They disappear from sight, shrieking for help.
A distraught woman runs out of a nearby house and sprints to the edge of the hole, which crumbles away, spilling her in as well. More people run from other homes. Calls of “A rope, a rope!” and “Get a ladder!” fill the air.
Any creature that moves to the sinkholes edge without taking precautions, such as lying flat on the ground and crawling forward or securing themselves with a rope, must make a successful DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or fall into the hole as the ground crumbles further. The bottom of the sinkhole is 30 feet down, but a cushioning heap of loose earth has already cascaded into the underlying cavern, so those who fall take no damage.
When characters can see within, read the following:
A dark chamber is about thirty feet below the level of the ground. It looks larger than the hole and extends into darkness on all sides. A heap of loose earth is piled in the middle. The children who first fell in are sitting on the mound of earth, coughing in the dust and sobbing with fright. “My boy, my boy!” a worried parent shouts, peeping over the edge. “Somebody do something!”
More townsfolk hurry up from all sides, staying clear of the edge. Among them are a few town elders, who pull people away from the edge and order the others to stay back. “Leave it to us!” says one of the elders. “We will tend to this matter! The children wont be harmed by being down there a little while, but no one must go down there. Keep back!”
The sinkhole exposes area T1 in the Tomb of Moving Stones. Townsfolk who’ve fallen in are scared, bruised, and unable to climb out without aid, but otherwise unharmed.
The town elders trying to control the situation are Ilmeth Waelvur (male Tethyrian human bandit; see Red Larch, area 16), Albaeri Mellikho (female Tethyrian human commoner; see Red Larch, area 18), and Ulhro Luruth (male Chondathan human commoner; see Red Larch, area 19). Anxious to keep anyone from discovering that the sinkhole leads to passages, they make statements such as, “This isn’t to be discussed in front of strangers!” and “The Delvers must not be angered!” and “The stones must not be moved!” Such commands elicit little obedience from the frightened townsfolk.
If no character has a rope, a helpful resident arrives with an old coil. He or she pushes past the elders to offer the rope to the characters. Children wail down in the pit as more onlookers arrive. Its clearly time for a rescue mission.
Rescuing those whove fallen is a matter of lowering a rescuer down with a rope, tying it around a victim, and having people above haul away. The townsfolk are grateful for the characters aid.
T1. Entry Cavern
If the sinkhole opened up, this cavern has a pile of dirt in the center and a gaping, 20-foot-diameter hole in the 30-foot-high ceiling.
This wide, irregularly shaped cavern has a floor of smooth bedrock. Damp dirt and stone, with tree roots protruding here and there, make up the walls. A five-foot-wide tunnel leads off to the north, and a stone slab-a door with a rusty pull-ring-stands to the east. By the stone door, a couple well-used cloaks and a waterskin are on the floor.
The waterskin is half full of water. The cloaks are quite plain. They belong to Believers who don’t want to attract attention while coming or going from the entrance tunnel.
The stone door to the east has no lock. It slides open smoothly. Beyond it, a passage of dressed stone slopes downward, continuing east to area T2.
North Tunnel
This tunnel leads to the Mellikho Stoneworks quarry (Red Larch, area 18). If the characters investigate the tunnel, read the following:
The tunnel is muddy. It winds north a long way before rising gradually. After two hundred feet or so, it ends at a wooden door that forms a sloping roof. A small wooden coffer sits on the floor by the door, and beside the coffer is a heap of damp sand from which the ends of torches protrude.
Beyond the wooden door, the tunnel continues ten feet before opening into the quarry behind Albaeri Mellikho’s house.
The damp torches were extinguished by being thrust into the sand. They are hard to light but readily burn if lit with an existing fire. The coffer contains flint and steel, as well as six dry torches.
T2. Stone Sentinels
Sixty feet beyond the stone door, the tunnel levels out. Two stone reliefs of stern dwarves in chain mail and carrying battleaxes face each other across the tunnel. The carvings stand out from the passage walls, and they have gaps around them, so they could be doors. The passage continues past them.
The doors slide open easily if pushed. To the south, the door leads to a long stone tunnel that ends in a pit covered by a stone bench with a hole in it (a privy unused for decades). The door on the north side of the hall guards a passage leading to area T5.
T3. Cage Trap
If the party continues east along the tunnel past area T2, they walk into a trap. Read the following text only if a character examines the ceiling:
The ceiling consists of square stone panels about ten feet on a side. Rusty iron frames surround each panel. The panels are suspended about several inches from one another and the wall to either side. They form a row overhead that continues down the passage.
Ten iron cages are suspended from chains over the hallway, and the “panels” are the cage bottoms. The true ceiling is 25 feet high, and each cage hangs from 5 feet of heavy chain and is 10 feet tall. The bottom panels appear to be a 10-foot ceiling from the hallway. The panels are thin plaster painted to resemble stone.
When the characters can see the eastern end of the hall, read the following:
At the end of the passage is another stone door with an iron pull ring in it. It stands slightly ajar with darkness beyond. About five feet up, the door has a two-inch-wide, foot-long horizontal slit.
Unless Grund (male half-orc thug) has already been dealt with, he is peering through the viewing slit. With his darkvision, he spots approaching characters 60 feet away, but if the characters are carrying light sources, he notices them as soon as they pass the doors in area T2.
Grund’s orders are to trap intruders. Anyone who isn’t an intruder is supposed to pause 60 feet from the door, cross his or her fists, and call out, “A Believer approaches!” Grund drops cages on anyone who doesn’t follow this protocol.
Dropping Cages
Each cages chain runs through a pulley secured to a heavy iron bar just inside the door in area T4. From where he is, Grund can use an action to release two chains. He starts with the cage at the western end of the tunnel, sealing off retreat, followed by a cage dropped on the party. Roll initiative at that point. Grund uses his second turn to block the eastern edge of the passage with a third cage and to drop another cage on characters not already trapped.
A falling cage targets the corresponding 10-foot square section of the passage. Targets in the area can stand still, taking no damage as the plaster on the cage bottom breaks and the cage seals them in. Those who wish to avoid a falling cage must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. Those who fail are caught in the cage. Anyone who fails by 5 or more is hit by the iron frame of the cage bottom. Such a creature takes 7 (
A character who uses an action to make a successful DC 15 Strength check can lift the cage enough to allow one creature to escape. It takes a successful DC 20 Strength check to bend the rusty bars enough to allow everyone in or under the cage to escape. A character pinned under a cage lacks good leverage and has disadvantage on these Strength checks.
Development
If Grund traps the characters in the hall, he runs to tell Baragustas in area T8. Baragustas calls the Bringers of Woe (see area T7), who arrive 10 minutes later. The villains raise cages one by one to attack trapped characters, aiming to capture them. Larrakh then plans to sacrifice the characters at a special ceremony.
T4. Antechamber
This big, square chamber has been hewn out of the rock. In the center of the chambers west wall is a stone door that has a narrow viewing slit. Beside the door is a set of iron bars bolted into the wall about three feet above the floor. Ten oiled chains are secured to the bars, leading up to a hole bored in the ceiling. Another solid stone door is in the middle of the east wall.
An eight-foot-tall rectangular stone stands upright in the rooms center. The stone has an inscription on it thats hard to read from a distance. At the foot of the standing stone, a small human is pinned, face down, by rocks placed atop his arms, legs, and back. He is barefoot and wears ragged clothes.
Depending on what has happened in area T3, Grund (male half-orc thug) might be standing by the western door, keeping watch down the hallway. Grund is baffled by intruders that arrive behind him. After standing and gaping for a moment, he finally says, “You cant be here. You have to go!” He points down the western hallway. In obvious exasperation and desperation, he attacks anyone who attempts to leave by the eastern door.
Pinned under a pile of small boulders is an eleven-year-old boy named Braelen Hatherhand (male Tethyrian human commoner with 2 hit points and no effective attacks). He is drifting in and out of consciousness. If strangers enter the room, he revives enough to feebly plead for his freedom.
Rolelplaying Braelen
Braelen has been pinned here for two days. Heavy stones were carefully placed to hold him in place without crushing or breaking anything. He is cold, thirsty, hungry, tired, and scared. The boy clams up in terror if he’s intimidated or bullied. If approached in a friendly manner, he first begs for food and water. He can offer the following information as responses to the characters questions.
- The Believers put him here as punishment for being disobedient. He failed to deliver a message from his father, Rotharr Hatherhand, to Ilmeth Waelvur. It was a slip of paper the boy didnt read.
- Rotharr is one of the Believers. Other Believers Braelen knows are Baragustas Harbuckler, Marlandro Gaelkur, and Ilmeth Waelvur. The boy also knows Grund isn’t really a Believer, but the Believers take care of him, so he does what they tell him to do.
- The Believers are a secret group made up of some of the most important people in town. They guard the moving stones, and make sure no one disturbs the Delvers, who are entombed here. The Believers watch the moving stones carefully, because its a bad sign when they move, and they have to figure out what it means to avert danger. (This information isn’t true, but thats what the Believers and Braelen believe.)
- Braelen isn’t angry with his father or the Believers. He believes this sort of treatment is normal, and he’s worried his father might find out the punishment ended before it was supposed to.
- The chamber of moving stones and the buried Delvers are to the east, beyond three more stone doors.
If the characters release Braelen, he tries to go back to the surface through the tunnel in area T1.
Chains
Fastened to iron bars here are chains to the cages in area T3. Characters can raise a fallen cage back to its original position by hauling on its chain.
Inscription
The inscription on the standing stone reads, in Common: “Displease not the Delvers.”
T5. Charnel Chamber
Characters catch the scent of death as they approach this room.
The tunnel opens into a square room that reeks of decaying flesh. Three human corpses, reduced to little more than bloody bone and sinew, are sprawled in the rooms center. Two oversized rats root among the bodies, stopping to chew flesh they’ve pulled free. Scuttling noises come from narrow crevices in the walls.
Five giant rat found their way in through the narrow crevices, which are just big enough for the rodents to squeeze through. Two are in the middle of the room, and three more lurk in the crevices. Believers don’t yet know the rats are here, and the grisly meal is sufficient to keep the rats from wandering. The giant rats ignore intruders that give them a wide berth and avoid startling them. They attack if harmed or provoked.
The bodies are those of travelers who disappeared near Red Larch. Each has the symbol of the earth cult cut deeply enough in the forehead to mark the skull. To pass a test commanded by the earth cultist Larrakh (see area T9), Believers waylaid and killed the travelers in separate incidents over the last month. The Believers are rarely murderers, but Larrakh is maneuvering them into darker and darker deeds.
T6. Hovering Stone
The tunnel opens into a square room. In the center of it, a black rock about a foot across hovers three feet from the floor.
A normal rock floats here because of ancient magic that maintains an invisible floor-to-ceiling cylinder that is 10 feet wide. Visible to
T7. Dwarf Statue
This fifty-foot-square chamber is hewn out of rock. The floor is rough but flat, the walls show the chisel-marks of the original builders, and the ceiling is about ten feet high. Identical stone doors with iron pull-ring handles stand in the middle of the east, north, and west walls.
In the center of the room stands a life-sized and lifelike statue of a dwarf warrior wearing a chain shirt, helm, and big boots. He carries a shield on his left arm and a battleaxe in his right hand. The statue has clearly been broken into, roughly, the head and upper torso, lower torso, and legs. These pieces have been reassembled and held together and upright in a stout wooden frame. A dagger along with several coins and gems lie on the floor in front of the statue, surrounded by a ring of fine gravel.
The statue is a petrified and long-dead dwarf. On the frame holding it together, a small, neat inscription reads:
Petrified Ironstar (?) dwarf,
found 1459 DR in Red Larch West Quarry
in broken condition.
The ring of gravel surrounds the statue at a distance of 5 feet, intended to mark a suitably respectful distance from the statue. Believers have a tradition of leaving small valuables here for luck. Larrakh urges them to bring more each tenday so he can collect it and take it with him when he leaves Red Larch.
Treasure
Offerings left here by the Believers include 440 cp, 253 sp, and 97 gp. Six small green agates (worth 5 gp each) and two polished moonstones (worth 50 gp each) are among the coins.
To encourage the Believers, Larrakh left a
The name “Reszur” is graven on the daggers pommel. If the wielder speaks the name, the blade gives off a faint, cold glow, shedding dim light in a 10-foot radius until the wielder speaks the name again.
Development
Its only a matter of minutes before the Black Earth cultists in Red Larch-the so-called Bringers of Woe-hear about the characters exploration of the tomb. They don’t want anyone to expose their manipulation of the town elders, so they slip into the tomb via the north tunnel in area T1 and hunt down the party. These cultists can catch up to the party here, or if you prefer, in area T9.
If the party enters the dungeon before the sinkhole occurs, townsfolk or cult watchers near Mellikho Stoneworks or Waelvurs Wagonworks notice the characters activities. The cultists hurry to whichever entrance the characters didnt use and begin searching the tomb.
The Bringers of Woe are six bandit whose leather armor bears the symbol of the Black Earth cult. (This encounter is hard for a party that is only 1st level.) When the Bringers of Woe meet the adventurers, the bandits grimly and confidently say, “We are the Bringers of Woe. We have come to reward your curiosity.” The cultists then attack, fighting to the death. Three hang back and shoot at spellcasters, concentrating fire on one foe at a time. The other three advance to tie up the rest of the party in melee.
T8. Approach
A passage-ten feet wide, ten feet high, and hewn out of the rock-runs forty feet ahead. A small lantern hangs from a hook in the wall next to the door at the east end of the passage. Sitting on a wooden stool by the lantern is a balding, beardless old male human in patched and faded work trousers and a matching tunic. He is idly whittling a stick.
The human is an elder of Red Larch named Baragustas Harbuckler, a retired carpenter (male Tethyrian human commoner).
Roleplaying Baragustas
Baragustas, a Believer, is unarmed and afraid of the characters. He throws himself to the floor and begs for mercy. Baragustas is too weak to put up any sort of a fight, but he wrings his hands and begs the characters not to provoke “the wrath of the Delvers” by disturbing the stones of the tomb (area T9).
Baragustas knows everything that Braelen knows (see area T4). He freely acknowledges the existence of the Believers and explains the mystery of the moving stones, telling the characters, “From time to time, the great stones change position when no one is watching. That is how they talk to us. They show us signs of coming danger and warn us when we make bad choices.”
The old carpenter knows much about the Believers influence in Red Larch over the years. The recent involvement with “the earth priests” who help them to understand the moving stones is something he idly mentions. He is quite intimidated by Larrakh, and more scared of the earth cultists than he is of the adventurers.
Baragustas isn’t as innocent as he acts. He denies knowledge of murders or any other foul play, feigning surprise at the mention of evidence such as the corpses in area T5. The old man had no hand in such activities, but his denial is a lie. He knows of the murders.
Treasure
Baragustas has 25 cp and 19 sp on him. He also has a simple silver wedding band worth 10 gp.
T9. Chamber of Moving Stones
If the characters speak to Baragustas in area T8 or examine the door to this area, a Black Earth priest (see chapter 7) named Larrakh hears them. If he does, he quickly sets down his lantern and hides. The following descriptive text assumes this is the case:
An enormous chamber with a twenty-foot ceiling has been carved out of the rock here. A lighted lantern rests on the floor near the center of the room. An odd array of stone monoliths-some upright standing stones, and others arranged in three-stone arches-stand around the chamber. Six low stone slabs are set against the walls around the perimeter of the room. Each holds humanoid bones, dressed in scraps of tattered cloth and rusted iron.
Larrakh is hidden behind one of the larger stones. He spends almost all his time in this chamber, studying the old stones and experimenting with the magical floor. When he sees the characters, he lashes out at them with his magic.
Roleplaying Larrakh
Larrakh uses the stones in the chamber for cover, but he has no intention of fighting to the death. If this place has been discovered and he cant swiftly and easily eliminate the intruders, Larrakh tries to flee through a secret door (see below). He triggers a rock fall to cover his escape.
Larrakh is in disgrace among the Black Earth priesthood after bungling some earlier missions. He is determined to conquer Red Larch without violence by subverting and exploiting the Believers. Before the adventurers came along, he planned to ensnare the Believers with ever-darker acts of obedience and evil, then take over the town through his new servants.
Bringers of Woe
If the characters didn’t already fight the Bringers of Woe (see area T7), they fight them here instead. The Bringers show up late for the fight, arriving from area T8 or the secret door a few minutes after the party defeats Larrakh or he makes his escape.
Bones
Upon the stone slabs are the bones of human miners who discovered this chamber before Red Larch was founded. None of the skeletons are intact; each has a crushed limb, chest cavity, or head. The injuries are consistent with mining accidents. The Believers revere these skeletons, calling them “the Delvers,” and leave the bodies untouched.
Secret Door
In the southeastern corner is a secret door that requires a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check to find by noticing the unmortared stone outlining the door. It swivels on a central point, making a narrow opening to either side. The tunnel leads to a wooden shed in the yard behind Waelvur’s Wagonworks (Red Larch, area 16).
The earth cultists use this passage to enter and exit the tomb, and the Believers have disguised it to keep away the curious. Farther in, the tunnel is partially blocked with dusty canvas, broken beams, and loose rock to make it look like it has collapsed. A Medium or smaller creature can carefully pick a way through the debris. If someone uses an action to yank out a shoring timber, the jumble does collapse. Then, a 10-foot section of the tunnel is buried in the heap, blocking passage. Removing the debris takes a few hours of work.
Moving Stones
This area was a large storage cellar and workshop carved out by the dwarves of Besilmer thousands of years ago. The dwarves left behind an odd array of pillars, threshold stones, lintels, and carved stone doors. Human miners from the ancient kingdom of Phalorm discovered the dwarven delving. The miners chose to bury their dead here. Until the Believers of Red Larch discovered it, the chamber was forgotten again.
The dwarves enchanted the chamber floor to levitate stone in contact with it, so the floors magic can be detected with detect magic (transmutation school). A moderate impact on the floor, such as a dropped object weighing at least 1 pound or a firm stamp of the foot, activates the levitation effect, which lasts for 1 minute. When the floor is active, the stones hover less than an inch off the floor, and they move with a light touch. Thus, minor earth tremors can cause the stones to move. Intruders, even beasts, can move stones about accidentally.
The Believers have never figured out the magic, and none have seen the stones levitating. Larrakh and the Black Earth cultists discovered how the floor works. They have been amusing themselves by shifting the stones around and telling the Believers that the mysterious movements are fearsome signs of impending doom.
Treasure
Larrakh was part of the attack on the Mirabar delegation described in chapter 3. (News of the delegations disappearance doesn’t reach Red Larch until you are ready to carry on with the next part of the adventure.) He carries four Mirabar trade bars, each a foot-long spindle of iron, like two long, four-sided pyramids joined at the base. These bars are genuine, so they make a distinctive tone when struck. They are worth 5 gp each. Any character native to the North recognizes the citys distinctive currency.
Conclusion
The aftermath of the discovery of the Tomb of Moving Stones depends on how the last few encounters played out, in particular the discovery of bodies in area T5. The corpses are those of murder victims.
If the characters didnt pay much attention to the bodies, then the remaining Believers are able to abscond with them and bury them elsewhere before Harburk finds them. Red Larch is scandalized, but its a matter of secrets and lies, not murder and justice.
If the characters expressed curiosity about the bodies, or if you deem it likely that Constable Harburk reached area T5 before Believers did, then matters grow more serious. Harburk quickly draws the correct conclusion that the Believers are the murderers. The constable launches a full-fledged investigation.
If he can, Harburk questions Grund and Baragustas. Grund didnt kill anyone or witness the murders, but admits to helping stash the corpses. He says Albaeri Mellikho and Ilmeth Waelvur oversaw the process. Baragustas is also innocent of any overt wrongdoing, so he’s quick to confirm Grunds story and exonerate himself.
Marlandro Gaelkur, Albaeri Mellikho, and Ilmeth Waelvur are the actual culprits. Mellikho maintains her innocence in the face of all evidence, blustering loudly. Waelvur breaks down and confesses his involvement, and he implicates Mellikho. Gaelkur plays it cool as long as he can, and tries flees town a few tendays later when it becomes clear Waelvur is about to implicate him as well. The murderers also tell of Larrakhs part in the scandal, and of their use of his magic dagger.
This drama plays out over the course of the next month, with some Believers fleeing the town and others disavowing any knowledge of the murders. It might be tempting for the characters to get involved, but they have the four elemental cults to contend with. Justice for the Believers can play out in the background during the characters next few visits to Red Larch.
Side Treks
Dangerous, seemingly unrelated situations are arising in widely scattered places, from Yartar to Womford and the Westwood to the High Forest. None of these troubles can be set right for good until the elemental prophets and their cults are defeated, but that doesn’t mean these secondary events can be allowed to fester. Characters might conclude that some of these problems are so dire that they must be dealt with immediately, even if that means diverting attention away from their campaign against Elemental Evil.
Using the Treks
Side treks presented in this chapter are summarized in this section, along with their level. Options for involving the characters are presented in the next section and in the side treks themselves. Some are directly related to the elemental cults, and others are situations unconnected to the cults that demand immediate attention. These short adventures can provide a good change of pace.
New Management
When the innkeeper of the Bargewright Inn is called away, the characters are asked to step in and manage things for a few days. Zhentarim infighting makes what should be a routine task far more challenging. This adventure is designed for 3rd-level characters, although it is equally playable at lower and higher levels.
Iceshield Orcs
An orc tribe displaced by the natural disasters caused by the elemental cults launches a series of raids against homesteaders in the eastern part of the valley. This adventure is designed for 4th-level characters.
The Long Road
Trade in the Dessarin Valley is grinding to a halt. It is now vital to make sure that a caravan gets from Bargewright Inn to Triboar. This adventure is designed for a 5th-level party.
Curse of the Fire Witch
The Cult of the Black Earth sets a trap for the characters by spreading rumors of a fire witch terrorizing the Nettlebee halfling clan. This adventure is designed for 6th-level characters.
Vale of Dancing Waters
A sacred dwarven shrine falls silent, leading the characters to investigate. They learn that a murderous villain has captured the holy site. This adventure is designed for an 8th-level party.
Dark Dealings in Yartar
Criminals are auctioning off a devastation orb to the highest bidder, and the characters must recover it first. This adventure is designed for a 9th-level party.
Rundreth Manor
A sinister entity known only as the Dark Lady lurks in Rundreth Manor, overlooking the Long Road. For years, caravans have hurried by in safety, but now dead bodies are appearing on the road. Something has changed, and not for the better. This adventure is designed for 10th-level characters.
Halls of the Hunting Axe
The legendary burial place of King Torhild Flametongue, founder of the ancient dwarf kingdom of Besilmer, is the Halls of the Hunting Axe. When a young dwarven noble sets out to find the dwarf-kings tomb, the characters discover he’s not the only one after the prize. This adventure is designed for 11th-level characters.
Faction Influence
The side treks provide excellent opportunities to highlight each characters allegiance to a major faction. Different factions are concerned about different situations. Side treks that are especially suitable for each faction include the following:
- The Emerald Enclave is concerned about the Iceshield orc raids and stories of a despoiled Uthgardt barrow near Nettlebee Ranch.
- The Harpers are worried about the threat posed by the Dark Lady of Rundreth Manor. They are also intent on protecting the treasures hidden in the Halls of the Hunting Axe.
- The Lords' Alliance sees the need to show ordinary merchants that the Long Road is still safe. Later on, the alliance decides that its time for the legendary weapon of King Torhild Flametongue, long buried in the Halls of the Hunting Axe, to be brought back into the light of day.
- The Order of the Gauntlet is worried about the Iceshield orc raids. They also want to make sure the hidden shrine in the Vale of Dancing Waters remains safe.
- The Zhentarim are anxious to restore the normal flow of commerce in the region, getting caravans moving on the Long Road. They also have concerns at the Bargewright Inn.
New Management
The Bargewritght Inn depends on regular supply runs downriver by barge from Yartar, but its regular supply boat is overdue. The innkeeper, Nalaskur Thaelond, a Zhentarim operative, is mounting a supply run to Waterdeep to talk matters over with his superiors there. He needs someone to mind the inn in his absence.
Nalaskur works with but doesn’t trust Chalaska Muruin, a terse, cold-eyed human veteran. Chalaska is the Senior Sword, master of the inns forty guards (known as Swords). Chalaska runs the community, but she knows Nalaskur is her counterbalance, and he has orders to spy on her, as she does him. Chalaska doesn’t like Nalaskur and would enjoy seeing him permanently removed. The Zhentarim could promptly replace Nalaskur, but such a replacement wouldnt know the inns functions were rearranged to Chalaskas benefit.
This situation leaves Thaelond unwilling to appoint Muruin as his temporary replacement while he travels to Waterdeep. Instead, he prefers to frustrate her and have an easy scapegoat for anything that goes wrong.
Unknown to Chalaska and Nalaskur, an ambitious Zhentarim agent named Inglor Brathren (male dwarf spy) has established a cover identity as a handyman, allowing him to see and overhear secrets. Inglor thinks Nalaskur is lining his pockets at the expense of the Zhentarim. He suspects that Chalaska is turning a blind eye to Nalaskurs skimming, but he fears Chalaska and cant accuse her without proof. Inglor decides both need framing and replacing.
Setup
This adventure occurs when the characters encounter Nalaskur Thaelond (male half-elf spy). He asks the characters to run the inn for a tenday or so, promising handsome pay and a good recommendation to his superiors. If the characters accept, Nalaskur designates one character (preferably someone associated with the Zhentarim) as the innkeeper and tells him or her where the keys are, and of the importance of those keys (see the “Key Duty” section below). He is in a hurry to leave, so he doesn’t hand them over personally.
If the characters refuse, Thaelond leaves them a note about the keys and travels to Waterdeep. Before doing so, he tells the inn staff the characters accepted the job. Others in the Bargewright Inn rush to the characters when things start to go wrong.
If the characters have no connection to the Zhentarim, someone they’ve befriended or owe a favor to agrees to run the inn. That person then begs the characters for aid. Alternatively, the characters are merely present as events unfold.
Since the Zhentarim controls the Bargewright Inn, any number of scouts, spies, and thugs might be present in the inn complex. These agents could be at rest or on special missions. In any case, all of them look out for Zhentarim interests.
Key Duty
The innkeepers foremost duty is ensuring keys to the gates and crucial inner doors remain safe from foes of the Zhentarim. The organizations negotiations, trade, and logistical preparations must remain secure. All the keys are hung in a cabinet in the innkeepers office near the tavern taproom. The cabinet and office are locked when no one is using the office.
The black, thick-barreled keys are as long as a big humans hand, with distinctive red teardrops painted on their handle ends. The number of red drops identifies which lock each key belongs to.
Six keys go missing immediately after Nalaskur leaves for Waterdeep. Inglor, keen to impugn Nalaskurs judgment, steals them and stashes them in a chest in the attic of the southern tower. At the latest, characters notice the keys are gone from their usual location when Chalaska asks for some so she can lock up for the night.
The six missing keys unlock the outer walls main gate, the outer walls postern, two similar inner wall gates, the meeting rooms in the southern inn tower, and the strong room at the base of the northern tower. This last room is where the Zhentarim store pay chests, stolen items, valuables, and important objects.
Search for the Keys
When it becomes clear that the keys are missing, Chalaska sounds an alarm and doubles the guards on the gates. She then calls for the other Swords to search the fortified community and its visitors.
The character who has the highest Wisdom and was in the taproom just before the keys came up missing remembers a well-dressed human male who left the tavern quickly just before Chalaska asked for the keys. If the character succeeds on a DC 10 Wisdom (Insight) check, he or she remembers the man looked worried and held a small note in his hand.
Suspicion Spreads. As a search effort gets underway, Chalaska says to the new innkeeper, “What are you going to do about the missing keys? Maybe they aren’t missing at all!” She then orders four Swords to frisk the innkeeper, searching for the keys. Chalaska is distrustful but willing to accept that the innkeeper doesn’t currently have the keys.
In the case of violence, the Swords try to disarm and subdue rather than kill. Chalaska is hard-nosed but not murderous. She and her fellows also back down from a superior force.
Unlucky Kendrin
When the commotion starts over the keys, the second phase of Inglors plan unfolds.
Grendos Note
Inglor planted a note on Grendo, a young tavern server (male Tethyrian human commoner). Grendo finds the note when everyone is turning out their pockets for the Swords. The crumpled parchment reads, “Tell Kendrin Feldarr its Chalaska.” Grendo doesn’t know how he got the note and has never met someone named Kendrin. He’s afraid of (and a little smitten with) Chalaska, so he’s completely honest.
Finding Kendrin
The guest book shows a merchant named Kendrin Feldarr is staying at the inn.
Kendrin usually sells exotic animals and their parts around the northern Sword Coast. Trade troubles along the Long Road have him on edge.
Inglor learned all this information from Kendrin in an earlier taproom interaction. Inglor also slipped a note to Kendrin. That note reads, “They’re watching. You aren’t safe here.”
When confronted in his room, Kendrin (male Chondathan human noble) is packing. He drops a wooden box and takes off running, out of his head and screaming in fear. When the box falls, it breaks and releases four exotic spider. He has dropped the note on his bed.
Kendrin shoves or punches anyone who gets in his way. He raws a weapon only if one is used against him. When he eventually scuffles with one of the Swords, all the Swords converge to capture him.
Kendrin isn’t a member of the Zhentarim. When finally brought to heel, with regard to Grendos note, he has no idea of any intrigues or who Chalaska is. As for the second note, he admits his troubles.
Strong Room Burglary
While everyone is dealing with Kendrin, Inglor takes the opportunity to find out whats hidden in Nalaskurs strong room. To discredit Chalaska, for allowing the burglary, and Nalaskur, for leaving the Bargewright in incompetent hands, Inglor takes 500 gp. He then ransacks the room.
Before leaving the strong room, Inglor carefully places two distinctive silver fox-head buttons that he stole from a dress shirt of Chalaskas. Most of Bargewrights locals and all the Swords recognize the buttons. Inglor then leaves with the door ajar.
Inglor stashes 200 gp in the chest where he previously hid the keys. He then sneaks the keys and 300 gp into Chalaskas bedroom.
Its possible the characters spot Inglor about his skulduggery. When moving around the inn, though, he doesn’t usually act in a suspicious way. He’s a handyman, and he has a reason to be just about anywhere in the inn.
General Alarm
After the burglary, Inglor goes into the other areas of Bargewright Inn. Among the locals, he starts a whispering campaign about something odd going on inside the inn. He reminds those who listen that Chalaska is responsible for security.
If no one raises the alarm about the strong room within a few hours, Inglor “discovers” its door ajar in the morning. Due to Inglors gossip the night before, more people than usual are in the inns taproom for breakfast. He announces the problem publicly and urges someone to investigate. The dwarf even volunteers to be the first searched if that might “get things going.”
As the investigation proceeds, he says, “I heard there was some sort of kerfuffle over Chalaska last night. Someone had a note about her?” He later adds, “Nothing like this happened while Nalaskur was in charge. Maybe he should have been here.”
Conclusion
At this point, the clues all point at Chalaska. The strong room has her buttons. Her room contains the keys and some stolen gold, as well as her damaged shirt. She grows more agitated as the evidence mounts. As the Senior Sword, she takes a gamble, influencing some loyal Swords to help her. The renegades bar themselves in the strong room.
A thorough search might turn up the chest in the southern towers attic and the gold there. In this case, Inglors greed might be his undoing. His bootprints are in the dust on the attics floor. Chalaskas aren’t.
Nalaskur returns to find the Bargewright Inn in the state the characters decisions lead to. With his ledger, he confirms that 500 gp is missing from the store room, not just 300. This final discovery might lead to another search that eventually points to Inglor, who is the only dwarf on staff inside the inn.
If not, Inglor succeeds. Chalaska is discredited and removed from service. Nalaskur loses face with the Zhentarim, as do the characters.
Iceshield Orcs
Orc raids are common occurrences throughout the frontier, as small bands of orcs steal livestock or waylay the occasional supply wagon. In recent days, a tribe hiding in the rough lands east of the Sumber Hills has become markedly bolder. The Iceshield orcs are attacking farms and cattle ranches throughout the region, and orc scouts have been sighted by patrols less than a days ride from Yartar.
Although the folk who live in the area are hardy and independent, capable of handling the occasional raid, the reports of organized orc war bands have them worried. The farmers and ranchers take steps to protect themselves, but they also look for adventurers willing to stop the orcs from running amok on their lands.
Background
The Iceshield orcs reside in a handful of lodges spaced about a day apart along the western edge of the High Forest. They have long been a thorn in the side of the denizens of that wood and the settlers who farm and ranch in the plains to the west. Now the Iceshields have become a prominent threat. Disruptions to the weather and landscape due to the powerful magic being used by the elemental cults has been taken as a sign from Gruumsh that blood and gold must flow from the lands of lesser races.
The orcs seek supply sources in the valley. Scouts found that the farmers and ranchers in the area are prime options. Now, roving war bands attack the frontier families directly, raiding the homesteads with impunity. In addition to stealing livestock, the Iceshields take any carts and wagons they find, loading them with loot. They take the families as slaves and force them to tow the conveyances back to the Iceshield lodges.
Some independent-minded squads of orcs decided that the fertile land of the homesteads was more appealing than serving as underlings in their own lodges, and they killed the original owners to occupy the land. They have no intention of farming the crops or tending the livestock, but they intend to stay until the food runs out, then move on to the next settlement.
The homesteaders, in conjunction with members of the Emerald Enclave and the Order of the Gauntlet, asked the elves of the High Forest for aid. The elves organized hunting parties to put an end to the disturbance. Now the farmers and ranchers are trying to hang on long enough for the elves to quell the uproar.
Setup
While traveling through the area, the characters discover the burning homestead of the Anderil Farm. Orcs attacked, taking a few farmers prisoner and setting the place ablaze. From there, the characters travel to the Dellmon Ranch, where they can aid in its defense until help from High Forest elves arrives.
Alternatively, use one of the following options to draw the characters into this side trek:
- The next time the characters head into town for recuperation, supplies, or any other errand, they hear about the orc raids from displaced locals, who ask for help.
- Members of the Order of the Gauntlet, perhaps in Summit Hall, look for other faction members to find Erned Stoutblade, because he hasnt been heard from in several days (see the “Dellmon Ranch” section).
- Members of the Emerald Enclave are worried about missing members of the delegation sent to meet with the elves of the High Forest and need someone to search for them (see the “Dellmon Ranch” section). Using the animal messenger spell, the delegation sent a message, saying, “Were trapped at Dellmon Ranch and besieged by an orc war band. Safe for now, but we dare not leave. Send aid. Make sure they’re tough.”
Smoke on the Horizon
This encounter occurs early in the day. As the party travels, they spot smoke. Read the following text:
The trail emerges from a dry gulch. A column of thick, black smoke rises at a slight angle over the trees. It looks like something is burning just over the next ridge.
The burning farm is within five minutes travel. Once the characters approach within sight, read the following:
A fiercely burning homestead is nestled in a small valley slightly below your position at the top of the ridge. The barn is a smoking ruin and the house is half consumed by fire. Panicked livestock scrambles about a fenced corral on the far side of the barn.
Selwyn Anderil, a male half-elf, and his human wife, Maygan, have lived on this farm for eight years. Maygan is expecting the couples first child. They employ two laborers, a pair of young human brothers named Ob and Fip Lavelle who came to the region from Waterdeep to escape city life and enjoy the country.
Iceshield orcs attacked the homestead about an hour ago, taking Maygan and the brothers captive. They gravely wounded Selwyn, who was beaten into unconsciousness while trying to protect his wife. The orcs forced the brothers to load the familys wagon with everything the orcs thought they could use. After setting fire to the barn and house, the orcs departed, forcing the brothers to pull the wagon. Maygan was stuffed in the wagon among the cargo.
Saving Selwyn
Selwyn is just returning to consciousness in the houses front room when the characters arrive. The fire was set at the back side of the building and is moving toward the front. Selwyn is woozy and cant save himself.
If any characters approach within 60 feet of the house, they hear Selwyn coughing from the smoke and feebly crying for help. Once someone enters through the front door, read the following:
The front room is filled with heat and smoke, and flames lick the ceiling. A slender half-elf with a bloody gash on his forehead is sprawled on the floor, feebly trying to rise. He struggles to sit up when he sees you. “Maygan!” he cries. “My wife! Please find her!” Then he collapses again in another fit of coughing.
Selwyn (a commoner with 1 hit point remaining) can be easily carried or led outside. Once outside, it takes him a few minutes to clear his lungs. Selwyn is frantic about the fate of his wife. A quick search of the burning house reveals that no one else, dead or alive, is inside. No remains can be found in the barn.
Selwyn relates as much he can remember about what happened before he was beaten to unconsciousness. If the characters include him in any discussion of following the wagon tracks, he insists on going with them. Otherwise, he frantically looks around for any clue that reveals what happened to her and the Lavelle brothers and sets out on foot by himself.
Rescue Mission
The wagon and boot tracks of the departing orcs and their prisoners are obvious in the loose soil. Once found, they are easy to follow.
The procession of orcs, prisoners, and wagon doesn’t move very fast, so its not difficult for the characters to catch up. Pursuing characters reach the orcs within thirty minutes of following their trail. If the characters move cautiously despite the rush to catch up, then they can gain surprise. Otherwise, the orcs spot them as they approach. In any case, read the following aloud:
Four brutish orcs surround a wagon sitting in the shade of some stunted trees along a dry riverbed. Two human males in plain farming clothes have collapsed near the front of the vehicle. The wagons wheels are sunk several inches into the loose, sandy soil. A female human is in the wagon, among supplies and other loot.
The four orc are emboldened by their recent success raiding several homesteads. They immediately attack, throwing their javelins first, and then moving toward the characters to engage them in melee. If Selwyn is with the group, he doesn’t fight the orcs but instead rushes toward the wagon to free Maygan. The Lavelle brothers are too weary to assist in any fight.
Even if the characters win the fight and successfully rescue the homesteaders, the Anderils place is ruined and they must find shelter for the night. They had heard about other homesteaders gathering at the Dellmon Ranch to defend against the raiding parties and would like to go there. They ask the characters to escort them. If the adventurers agree, the group can reach Dellmon Ranch in a couple hours.
Dellmon Ranch
The Dellmon family has lived in this area for several generations and is well known by the other homesteaders in the region. They are a wealthy family, having worked hard to cultivate their land, and they aren’t willing to let a bunch of orcs drive them off. Theyve heard the stories of the rampaging orc war bands and seen the scouts nearby. When the attacks began on the smaller homesteads in the vicinity, Kerbin Dellmon sent out word that anyone could stay at their compound for safety. A number of farmers and ranchers took the Dellmons up on their offer.
Every able-bodied person on the premises pitched in to help bolster the defenses. They built a series of low earth ridges and ditches as defensive works running between the various buildings (see the map) and put together makeshift crenellations on the roof lines for missile combatants. They also stockpiled weapons and caches of ammunition.
The Dellmon Family
Kerbin Dellmon (male Tethyrian human noble), patriarch of the Dellmon family, refused to leave his home despite the fact that his family is in danger and might have been safer retreating to Yartar. He’s determined to stay and fight, and nothing anyone has said has changed his mind. Kerbins daughter Dreena sent a message to the elves of the High Forest, but no one knows if or when they might respond. As far as they know, the ranchs defenders are on their own.
- Other Dellmon family members present at the ranch include the following people:
- Kerbins oldest child, Perd (male Tethyrian human noble), agrees with his fathers never-give-in mentality. Perd is concerned for the safety of the children and privately wonders if staying was a mistake.
- Perds wife, Marka (female Tethyrian human scout) worries about whether they are safe.
- Kerbins middle child, Dreena (female Tethyrian human druid) is a budding member of the Emerald Enclave. She was part of the delegation sent to meet the elves, and she sent the distress message to the enclave. The Emerald Enclave doesn’t know, but Dreena also sent a distress message to the elves of the High Forest with an animal messenger spell.
- Kerbins younger son, Fyndrick (male Tethyrian human guard), is a hothead and has been agitating to confront the orcs before they lay siege to the ranch.
- Perd and Markas children, Livi (female) and Thrade (male), aren’t old enough to fight, though Thrade has hidden a dagger beneath his bed.
Ranch Workers and Guests
The Dellmons have many laborers and guests, including the following people:
- Flameran Verminbane, a lightfoot halfling scout, is a member of the Emerald Enclave and the delegation to the elves.
- Erned Stoutblade, a Tethyrian human knight and member of the Order of the Gauntlet, came from Yartar with the intention of defending the weak and meting out justice to the Iceshield tribe. He has been trying to bring retribution to the orcs for their depredations, and he just arrived with news that a large orc war band is nearby and heading in the ranchs direction. Theres not enough time to flee, and everyone is hunkering down to defend the compound as best as they can.
- Stowal and Branikan are brothers (male shield dwarf guard) who serve as the areas blacksmiths, tinkerers, and general laborers-for-hire.
- The remaining defenders consist of eighteen farm and ranch folk, as well as a few Emerald Enclave allies. Twelve able-bodied commoner wield handaxes, sickles, or spears. Half have shortbows. Four warriors (guard) and two hunters (scout) round out the other defenders.
- Sixteen people make up a group of noncombatant adults and children. Half can carry ammunition, tend the injured, or watch over the elderly and very young.
The Characters Role
Let the characters take the lead on how to set up the defense of the ranch. The rest of the defenders listen to them and do their best to carry out the characters plans. Give the players a few minutes to situate themselves, then begin the attacks.
Running the Siege
You have a few options on how to run the battle. Consider the following:
- You can treat each defender and orc as an individual, and run the combat as a long, complex encounter. If you do so, the players should control some of the NPCs.
- You can streamline parts of the fight. The map of the ranch has been divided into specific zones, and you can run regular battles only in the zone(s) player characters occupy, summarizing results from the other zones based on how youd like the narrative to work. This method increases speed of play and lowers complexity.
- You can concentrate solely on the characters and their foes, glossing over all of the other fighting and just making an educated guess as to the outcome. This method is the quickest for resolving the battle.
The orcs could easily defeat twice their number of commoners, but with the defenses available to the ranchers, the odds improve considerably. The ranchers don’t have to defeat the orcs outright. They just have to survive. You want to create tension and make it seem like the outcome teeters on the brink of disaster. Near the end of the battle, the elves show up as described in the “Relief Arrives” section.
Initial Surge
The first sign that the orcs have arrived occurs when their scouts appear on the low ridges all around the compound. Soon after, small bands of orcs spread out, surrounding the buildings. With the blast of a horn, they all rush the structures simultaneously. The battle is on.
The war band includes forty orc led by a lone orog and his second-in-command, an orc Eye of Gruumsh. When the orcs are within range, they throw javelins at any visible targets. The next round, they charge to close the distance and attack with melee weapons. After two or three rounds, the orcs retreat.
The orcs repeat this pattern several times, perhaps breaching a spot here or there before the defenders push them back. Then they start trying different tactics.
Smoke Screen
Late in the day, the orcs start a grass fire upwind from the compound to create cover for themselves. Thick white smoke drifts through the compound and makes the area lightly obscured. Anything more than 30 feet from a viewer is heavily obscured by the smoke. The orcs use the smoke to move closer before launching their attacks.
Starting a Fire
During the night, the orcs sneak close enough to the buildings to set them on fire. They hope the defenders are unable to put the fires out and protect the perimeter from breaches.
Relief Arrives
At dawn, the orcs make a final push. It should seem like they might overwhelm the defenders in several spots, and get inside the compound. Suddenly, the melodious tone of an elven war horn sounds, and a company of twenty-five elven soldiers (a mix of guards, acolytes, scouts, and a few veterans) arrives to help.
Conclusion
The orcs are slain, scattered, or sent running back to their lodges. Farmers and ranchers hail the characters as heroes and pool meager resources to offer a reward of 25 gp per character. Members of the Emerald Enclave or Order of the Gauntlet receive appropriate kudos. Those could include renown, if youre using the optional rule described in chapter 1, “A World of Your Own,” of the Dungeon Masters Guide. Increase the reward from the faction, and the locals opinion of the adventurers, if the characters refuse to take money from the farm and ranch folk. Those people immediately set about rebuilding their lives.
The Long Road
This side trek begins when the characters learn from worried Zhentarim shopkeepers of Bargewright Inn that they’ve been having supply problems recently. This side trek happens only if the characters sign on to the Zhentarim caravan.
Customarily, a barge from Yartar arrives on a regular schedule to deliver the wares that the Bargewrighters order to sell, including buckles, swivel-rings, nails, sheaths, finished leatherwork, and food and drinkables. However, last month the barges came late, orders were short changed, and the prices for what little did arrive went up steeply.
The Zhentarim believes intrigue in Yartar is to blame: someone wants to harm the Black Network’s profits. Zhentarim agents first suspected the Harpers, but trusted spies recently reported back that an unknown organization seems to be at work in Yartar.
None of the reports that reach the Bargewright Inn contain any hint of the truth, but the troublemakers are members of the Kraken Society, trying to destabilize Yartar so they can replace the current waterbaron with their own stooge. Then the new waterbaron can swiftly fix the troubles and thereby win local support. The Black Network is an incidental casualty in this scheme.
Regardless of why the “troubles” are occurring, the Zhentarim wants the situation fixed fast. The Black Network intends to mount two expeditions to Triboar, one by river on a barge and one by overland caravan. Both missions take coin to purchase new supplies, recruit new suppliers, and fund their spies in Triboar to identify whos behind the supply problems in Yartar.
The characters become involved in the overland caravan, because the Zhentarim think they’re perfect for the job. Any fast caravan guarded by a sizable contingent of armed Zhentarim mercenaries indicates a rich target to anyone in this part of the North. For the same reason, the Zhents dare not hire the retired bodyguards, adventurers, and mercenaries who live in and around Beliard, for fear rumors might spread all over the Dessarin Valley about a pay caravan.
Setup
The Zhentarim wants to start a small caravan from Womford and use its usual contingent of guards and drovers. They hire the characters as armed escorts for Ascaleld Marurryn, a negotiator for a new Sembian-sponsored merchant coster called the Rolling Wheel.
Shopkeepers affiliated with the Black Network approach the characters. They are prepared to do so several times, with each potential employer making a separate offer of around 20 gp per character. The characters could arrange to be paid several times over for the same work. Their terms are the standard “quarter up front, second quarter when we get to Triboar, and the last half when the wagons return to Bargewright.” If pressed, the patrons add up-front bonuses, lump sums paid at the first rest stop on the outbound journey.
The caravan travels from Womford to Red Larch along the Cairn Road, then heads north along the Long Road through Westbridge to its final destination of Triboar.
The Caravan
The caravan consists of six wagons, each pulled by two oxen and equipped with an axe, a shovel, two buckets, and a three-pointed-iron-rod fire spit that can readily be used as three improvised spears. Each wagon carries two Black Network thug as armed guards, a drover (female Tethyrian human commoner), and a drovers lad (male Tethyrian human commoner) who tends the beasts and can handle the wagon if anything happens to the drover.
Five of the six wagons carry hidden treasure. Each treasure wagon has 100 gp in thin wooden coffers concealed under a false floor. All the vehicles are filled with mundane wares to sell in Triboar. The Zhents aren’t happy about traveling overland with large amounts of gold.
During attacks on the caravan, the thugs defend themselves first, and then their wagon and drover. They don’t leave the wagons to hunt down attackers, and they assist the characters in battle only if doing so offers minimal risk to what the thugs consider to be their primary duties. If characters decry this behavior, the thugs curtly remind them that they all have their orders.
Commanded by Haeler Thommadur (male Tethyrian human veteran), the caravan sets out in good weather. It takes a minimum of three days for a fast caravan in the best weather and without delays.
The caravan makes good time, and although the sky turns overcast, it doesn’t rain. Well-established campsites are plentiful beside the Long Road wherever reasonably level ground and a water source can be found together. Haeler doesn’t post sentinels outside the camp. Instead, he rings the wagons and has the thugs watch from within them.
Bandit Attack
Bandits watch for an opportunity to waylay caravans. When the characters stop for their first night, a large gang of outlaws closes in to try its luck. The band is made up of sixteen bandit led by one bandit captain.
The bandits try to take out sentinels outside the camp perimeter first. Otherwise, the attack starts with a volley of sixteen bolts, lit on fire and all directed at one wagon. The wagon starts to burn, and the attackers flee back toward their camp. Anyone pursuing them is led up over a ridge, straight into an ambush of the massed bandits waiting below the crest.
Haeler and his guards are preoccupied by the burning wagon, because they need to focus on removing the coin coffers.
If no one from the encampment rushes to find who fired on them, the bandits return. They use the light of the burning wagon to target individuals. The bandits prefer to harry the caravan from cover and mount an attack once the defenders are weakened.
None of the bandits is willing to die. They retreat so they can attack the caravan again later.
Second Bandit Attack
Before the second bandit attack, Haeler comes to the characters and asks for advice on defending the caravan. He’s sure surviving bandits will attack again.
The bandits attack again on the second night, repeating the same tactics but refining their targets to reflect what they’ve learned of the caravans strengths and weaknesses.
Oxen are of little use to the bandits except as food, so they target the beasts this time around, hoping to strand the wagons along the road so they can harry the caravan defenders at will. Use the rhinoceros statistics for the oxen, but remove the Charge feature.
Again, the bandits aren’t willing to die to win. The wounded retreat as soon as they can.
Howling Hatred Attack
Just before dawn on the third morning, four howling hatred initiate (see chapter 7) try to prove their usefulness to the air cult by attacking the caravan. They’ve been watching the group for awhile, so they bide their time, especially if the characters acquit themselves well in the second bandit attack. They swoop in, riding giant vulture, and hurl javelins at the characters (not the Zhentarim NPCs or drovers). They try for at least one kill, making a second pass before flying away.
Conclusion
The return journey is much quieter, except for random encounters. The bandits are still licking their wounds, and cultists have been reined in by their superiors.
Curse of the Fire Witch
Wiggan Nettlebee, miserly patriarch of the Nettlebee halfling family, amassed a fortune through shrewd trade and inheritance. When earth cultists first started to explore the region, Wiggan took their money for information and occasional aid. As he got to know the cultists, the earth powers they had intrigued him. Control over the earth could be valuable for a farmer. Wiggans cult contacts helped remove a couple of his rivals, and assured him his wealth and influence could only increase as the cult ascended to power.
Among the Nettlebees, Wiggans secret is known only to his son, Bertram, now an initiate in the earth cult. The cult has begun its slow indoctrination of the whole Nettlebee clan, starting with Bertrams son Watson. Watson is receptive to his fathers and grandfathers new religion, but he remains unaware of its true nature. In fact, Wiggan and Bertram don’t know the cults ultimate aims, only that it reveres a mighty earth power.
After the adventurers infiltrate the Sacred Stone Monastery, the cult gives Wiggan a mission. He and his family must play the parts of meek halflings, lure the party to their isolated ranch, and kill the characters. For his part, Wiggan wants the characters to pay dearly for any harm they inflicted on his mentor, Hellenrae, the Abbess of Stone (see chapter 7).
Setup
As part of their assassination plot, Wiggan and Bertram Nettlebee have constructed an elaborate ruse. They unearthed a nearby Uthgardt barrow mound and set it aflame. This plan was risky, since even Wiggan knows the Uthgardt barbarians have no tolerance for those who desecrate their burial mounds.
Bertram branded the Nettlebee livestock with the fire symbol. Wiggan claims the mark to be that of a “fire witch,” frightening his family with the wild tale. By keeping their relatives ignorant and scared, Wiggan and Bertram feel they can maintain the ruse and more easily lure the characters into their trap.
As the characters adventure in the Sumber Hills, rumor reaches them of a fire witch dwelling in an Uthgardt barrow and terrorizing the Nettlebees. Locals who visited the ranch confirm the scorched barrow mound and describe the symbol. Fearful talk of an evil fire cult operating in the nearby hills fills every taproom in the vicinity. The gossip includes much pity for the Nettlebees, who are known for prize livestock. A helpful citizen might ask the characters to lend a hand.
Nettlebee Ranch
Nettlebee Ranch sprawls over a series of low, rolling hills where the forest has been cleared away for crops of oats and barley. The Nettlebees prize livestock-sheep, ponies, and cattle-grazes in multitudes upon the hillside pastures. The ranch consists of a large two-story house and several low stalls and granaries. In the distance, an unnatural mound of earth rises over the ranch, its balding crown sparsely stubbled with the charred remnants of trees.
Characters might investigate the ranch, the pasture, or the fields. They can also go to the barrow mound, which is described later in its own section.
Ranch
The ranch consists of a barn, granaries, and a half-story house that rambles up and down a small hill. The house, barn, and granaries are ordinary and contain equipment standard for a farm.
Pasture
The Nettlebees own one hundred sheep, twelve cows, twelve oxen, and fifteen ponies. A quarter of the them have been branded upon the rump with the fire symbol.
Fields
Oats and barley sprawl over two fields in the hilly country near the ranch. Bertram has hidden the cult brand, made at the ranchs forge, under a scarecrow in the barley field.
The Nettlebees
The Nettlebee family includes the following people:
- The Nettlebee patriarch, Wiggan Nettlebee (see chapter 7) is a miserly, cantankerous misanthrope and bitter widower.
- Wiggans only son, Bertram (a cult fanatic), is set in his ways and full of bluster.
- Bertrams wife, Jayne (a commoner), is a no-nonsense lady who knows how to handle Wiggan, Bertram, and other loudmouths. She is afraid, though, and is most concerned for her children.
- Bertrams heir and oldest child, at twenty-three, Watson (a scout) is brave, honest, and forthright. He takes more after his mother than his father or grandfather, and he’s angry about the mistreatment of the cattle. Watson knows about Wiggan and Bertrams new religion, but thinks its not important, so he’s unlikely to mention it. He knows nothing about Wiggans plans.
- Just a year younger than Watson, Darrow (a commoner) is Bertrams next son. He is good natured, but his grandfathers bluster over inheritance has him thinking about his future. He might take to the adventurers a little too readily for Jaynes liking.
- Bertrams and Jaynes only daughter, Elisa (a commoner), is nineteen. She’s like her mother and very open about disliking her “old goat” of a grandfather.
- The youngest Nettlebee, at twelve, Ignatius is really just a little boy. Everyone (even Wiggan) favors him, so he’s a happy kid, but the fire witch has him so scared that he has night terrors.
Interviewing the Nettlebees
Bertram and Wiggan avoid the characters. Wiggan plays the role of a cantankerous old halfling, locked in his study dealing with matters of trade. If the characters talk to him, he rails on about how much this crisis is costing him. He pushes the characters to do something about it rather than bothering an old halfling. Bertram inspects his crops, staying out of the way unless he is called upon to speak. Then, he makes a blustering speech about how confident he is the characters can make the fire witch pay for what she has done.
Jayne, Darrow, Elisa, and Ignatius remain at the ranch, doing their chores. Watson patrols the pasture, watching the livestock. When the characters question these innocent Nettlebees about the events, their terror and anger are genuine. They beg the characters to investigate the barrow and do away with the fire witch that haunts them.
They know the following information:
- Two weeks ago, the barrow mound went up in a blaze.
- A few days later, Watson noticed the brand on the cattle.
- Nettlebees took turns guarding the livestock by night. Slowly but surely, the brands continued to appear.
- Watson investigated the barrow and found it open. The massive fieldstone that once stood in the archway had been sundered, and the halls were limned in flame. Watson heard terrifying whispers from the darkness. When he conveyed what he had seen to the family, Wiggan spoke of legends of fire witches that once were said to roam these hills. They fear a fire witch has returned.
- The Nettlebees feel powerless against the fire witch and fear she might soon burn down their ranch. Watson and Jayne are desperate about avoiding that outcome.
Barrow Mound
Long ago, Uthgardt barbarians built the barrow mound to hold the body of a chieftain, now forgotten. When Wiggan Nettlebee joined the Cult of the Black Earth, he looted the barrow mounds altars, upsetting the spirit of the chieftain.
A few days before the characters arrived, Wiggan and Bertram set the barrow ablaze to lend credence to their fire witch ruse. When the characters go to the barrow mound, Wiggan and Bertram follow them. They keep their distance unless the characters invite them to come along.
When the characters approach the barrow, they see the following:
The barrow mound caps a high hill overlooking the surrounding countryside. The area around the barrow is still and charred. Burned trees reach like dark fingerbones from the bald earthen mound. Its noticeably chilly here.
If they accompany the characters openly, Wiggan and Bertram cower at the edge of the hill. The halflings refuse to set foot upon the “cursed” ground.
Barrow Mound Entrance
When the characters move to the barrow entrance, read the following:
Tall monoliths line the earthen corridor that connects the barrows entrance to the burial chamber far within. Motes of flame light the corridor and the chamber beyond. The air is cold and heavy with the scent of ash.
In the barrow, the structure is made of monoliths set into the earth and capped with other fieldstones. The ceilings are corbeled fieldstone 10 feet high and supported by carved stone pillars.
Motes of
From the barrow entrance, the characters can see little within the burial chamber at the end of the hall, except vague details of the stone bier and the Elk beast altar at the biers head.
Burial Chamber
When the characters can see the burial chamber better, read the following:
A crude fieldstone arch forms the entrance to the burial chamber. In three branching alcoves are three scorched altars-one of a tiger, another of an elk, and another of a bear. In the center of the chamber is a stone bier upon which rests a broken and blackened skeleton, its skull and limbs scattered about the chamber. The air of the sepulcher is deathly cold and scented with ash.
The three alcoves contain altars to beast spirits with early depictions of the Red Tiger totem (west alcove), the Elk totem (north alcove), and the Blue Bear totem (east alcove). Red Tiger and Elk still survive as totem beasts of contemporary Uthgardt tribes.
The stone bier was the resting place of the Uthgardt chiefs bones, which now lay scattered across the pedestal and upon the ground beside it.
Cold
The burial hall is cold due to the presence of the chieftains restless spirit. This cold is extreme, as described in chapter 5, “Adventure Environments,” of the Dungeon Masters Guide.
The Chieftains Return
After the characters have a minute to look around, read the following:
The temperature drops further, and with a crackling sound, frost coats the entire chamber. Flames on the walls and in the hall go out, and a point of blue light appears over the bier and expands into a faintly humanoid form. The bones in the tomb, as well as antlers on the elk altar, stir then fly together into the light. In a flash, a massively built but very pale human male stands before you, his face darkly bearded, and his head crowned with the antlers. His milky eyes burn with blue flame briefly as he casts his gaze on you.
His voice is deep, resonant, and oddly accented. He says, “I return from a warriors rest among the spirits to find my tomb burned and my bones desecrated. I know the desecraters are not among you, but who are you and why are you here?”
The chieftain, Javor, was allowed to come here from the afterlife due to the overt and callous desecration of his tomb-a terrible insult among the Uthgardt. In this form, he is a revenant.
Javor doesn’t attack, and he is willing to briefly listen to the characters, whom he knows to be innocent of crimes against him. He doesn’t know the name of the desecraters, but his Vengeful Tracker trait means he knows where to find Wiggan and Bertram. If asked the right question, he can tell the characters the desecraters are just outside the tomb.
Meanwhile, Wiggan uses a
The elemental easily collapses the centuries-old entry tunnel. When it does, read the following text:
Sunlight coming through the barrows entry hall dims, as if a shadow has been cast on the entrance. Right afterward, a grinding of stone is followed by cascade of dirt and stone in the hall. A collapse!
As the elemental collapses the entry tunnel, Wiggan and Bertram run for the ranch. Javor senses his quarry on the move and rushes to the barrows exit. The elemental emerges from the earth in the main chamber. It attacks those it can see, rather than pursuing Javor.
While the party fights the elemental, Javor works with supernatural fervor to clear the rubble choking the exit to the barrow. He finishes making an opening near the top about 2 minutes later, and he leaps into the sunlight. The opening is big enough for the massive chieftain, so its big enough for the characters.
Uthgardt Vengeance
When the characters emerge from the barrow, read the following text:
A dozen barbarians surround Javor, forming a semicircle in front of the barrow. Two are mounted on horses. All but ignoring your arrival, they look on the returned chieftain with awe. One of the riders, her forehead marked with a tattoo of elk horns, dismounts.
She says, “My daughters vision was true. This one is the ancient. He is one of us!”
She kneels before Javor, and her fellows follow her lead. “We come to see you avenged, ancient one,” she says.
Javor nods with grim approval. He says, “You are in time for blood. The desecrater dwells there.”
He points to the Nettlebee ranch in the valley below the barrow. Then, he begins to run in that direction.
Uthgardt of the fierce Elk tribe, as can be discerned from their garb and markings, this barbarian raiding band is led by a female berserker named Fennor. Other members include ten tribal warrior and a male berserker named Padraich. Fennor wears a chain shirt (AC 14), wields a greatsword that deals 10 (
Anyone native to the area knows Uthgardt of the Elk tribe are dangerous raiders. Most locals consider them to be savage bandits. Those who are from other regions know the Elk tribe reputation with a successful DC 10 Intelligence (History) check.
Roleplaying the Uthgardt
The barbarians follow Javor. Fennor assumes (only somewhat rightly) that the party emerged from the barrow unscathed only because Javor allowed them to, showing tacit approval. The Uthgardt and the returned chief are willing to talk while on the move.
Javor plans to find and slay the desecraters. He knows two of the Nettlebees are culpable, but he is able to identify them only when he sees them. The returned chief shows no concern for the other Nettlebees.
Fennor plans to “aid” the chiefs justice, destroying and looting the ranch in the process. The strong implication is that the Uthgardt intend to allow no Nettlebee to survive. This intention can be confirmed if the characters ask the right questions.
If the adventurers bargain for the safety of innocent Nettlebees, Javor can be swayed. He is willing to stay Fennors bloodlust. However, if he agrees, he demands recompense. The characters must aid in the capture of the desecraters, as well as find Javors treasure and return it to his barrow, sealing the barrows entry tunnel thereafter. For their part, the Nettlebees must willingly give the raiders supplies for the road and some livestock. (The halflings do so if it means their survival.)
Fennor adds, “All the ones with this liars mark!” She makes the fire symbol with her hands. Her uncanny knowledge also comes from her daughters vision. The berserker isn’t willing to share more about her child.
Final Confrontations
The characters have many choices. They can do nothing, which allows the barbarians to loot and destroy the ranch and kill every Nettlebee. (The Uthgardt show no mercy.) If the party chooses to attack the Uthgardt before they arrive at the ranch, the adventurers must also battle the revenant. At the ranch, Javor focuses on finding and killing Wiggan and Bertram, giving the characters a better chance against the raiders. For their part, the Uthgardt, despite portentous visions, are unwilling to perish to serve Javor. If they suffer significant losses, including either berserker, they make a fighting retreat through the pastures to steal sheep and ponies.
Nettlebees in Hiding
Once the barbarians make it to the ranch, Javor bursts into the houses cellar. The Nettlebees, having seen the raiders on their way over the hills, hide there. The undead chief points to Wiggan and Bertram as the guilty ones. How the scene then plays out is up to you and the players, but halfling pluck and dark devotion make the wicked Nettlebees unlikely to back down easily. In fact, Wiggan tries to bribe the characters into defending Bertram and him “against these savages.” He also uses his secrets to try to influence the characters, promising to tell them everything if saved. Javor might be influenced to stay his hand to allow Wiggan to tell his tale, but the revenants reprieve is only temporary.
Wiggans Gambit
If the party defends the Nettlebees and Wiggan survives, the characters are still in danger. Wounded foes make tempting targets, especially if the party knows of Wiggans guilt. Wiggan is even braver if Bertram is there to help him. Watson might try to stop an open battle, but he is unwilling to fight his relatives.
If defeated but left alive, Wiggan can be coerced into telling the truth. The party has to promise to let him live to get him to talk.
Conclusion
If Wiggan or Bertram somehow survive, they later flee to the Temple of Black Earth to report. The characters might encounter them again there. Its up to you whether the cult leaders spare them or punish them for the failure.
The Barbarians
Javor makes sure the other Uthgardt abide by any agreement. Fennor willingly follows “the ancients” wishes. If Wiggan and Bertram are slain, Javor reminds the characters of promises they made (see the “Treasure” section). In exchange, the Uthgardt don’t bother the surviving Nettlebees.
If Javor is slain before Wiggan or Bertram are, he returns to life after 24 hours to resume his pursuit of the desecraters. He, too, might appear in the Temple of the Black Earth. Further, Uthgardt of the Elk tribe could continue to harass the Nettlebees, probably driving them from their ranch to live, much diminished, in a nearby settlement.
Final Clues
Wiggan and Bertram know the location of the Temple of Black Earth, as well as the pass phrase for entering the temple (“I serve the Black Earth”). Although they know of the prophet, neither halfling has met Marlos Urnrayle. The corrupted Nettlebees main contacts are Hellenrae in the Sacred Stone Monastery and, to a lesser extent, Miraj Vizann, the “mud sorcerer” in the Temple of the Black Earth.
Journals, letters, and transaction records in Wiggans study link him to the earth cult, revealing connections to the aforementioned leaders. Wiggan also writes of his conversion of Bertram, his slow influence of Watson, and the fire witch plan. If the characters fail to uncover this damning evidence, Watson later does.
Family Repercussions
The Nettlebee family is horrified and shocked by the brutal and supernatural barbarian attack, and later by the truth the characters or Watson uncover. Jayne and Watson see the signs of corruption in retrospect. Jayne takes over as matriarch of the clan. The Nettlebees expand by inviting relatives, as well as hiring a few tough ranch hands.
Treasure
The Nettlebees wealth is hidden in an iron chest. Walled in with large, unmortared fieldstones that match the walls, the chest is hidden in a niche in the basement. Finding the niche requires a successful DC 10 Intelligence (Investigation) check. If the characters promised to return Javors treasure, the revenant pulls the chest out and remains to identify his property. Once the characters return his treasure to the barrow, Javor disappears, leaving only his bones behind.
The chest is locked, but Wiggan has the key.
Prominently on top of the chests contents is Javors ornate helmet made of leather, rope, and bone. It combines a bear skull, deer antlers, and a saber-toothed tigers lower jaw. The object is in good condition, but it is worth only 10 gp.
An oiled hide under the helmet wraps Javors ornate greatsword of ancient Besilmer make. The swords grip is bound in worn leather that doesn’t look original, and is marked with sequential notches. Bear claws are tied to the pommel. The sword is worth 100 gp.
In addition, Javor has four animal figurines the size of a human fist-a bear carved of lapis lazuli, a tiger carved of red obsidian, and an elk carved of banded agate (each worth 150 gp), and a figurine of wondrous power (silver raven).
The Nettlebee family hoard includes 775 cp, 2,512 sp, 1,553 gp, and 196 pp, as well as nine rose quartz crystals (50 gp each) and an old, worn bag of holding of halfling make that is an heirloom.
Restoring the Barrow
To keep their word about restoring the barrow, the characters need only take Javors items there and leave them in the burial hall. Those who do receive a supernatural charm (see “Other Rewards” in chapter 7, “Treasure,” of the Dungeon Masters Guide), which is a spiritual blessing that mimics a potion or spell of your choice, as appropriate for each character and the source (an Uthgardt chief). If the characters place the sword, raven, and helmet on the bier with the bones and place each figurine on its matching altar, each charm can be used twice before vanishing. In either case, a character of your choice later finds the raven figurine among his or her belongings, sensing Javors favorable opinion.
If the characters fail to keep their word to Javor, the consequences are up to you. A curse in the reverse of the supernatural charms is appropriate. Word of the characters duplicity might spread among the Uthgardt. At worst, Javor returns to “remind” the characters of their promise.
Watsons Visit. If the Nettlebees feel they owe the characters, after a month or so, Watson meets them in a nearby town. He gives them an iron brand of the fire symbol, which he found in the fields. Watson also tells the adventurers any information about Wiggan, Bertram, and their relationship to the earth cult that the party doesn’t already know. In addition, as a memento of the bond between them, he gives the party the bag of holding. Each Nettlebee has helped restore and decorate the bag, and it contains some homemade supplies and a letter of thanks from Jayne. Watson then jokes about how it will be harder to get bales of wool to market in the future.
Vale of Dancing Waters
The dwarves of the North have long held the hidden Vale of Dancing Waters to be a sacred place. Rumored to once hold the summer palace of Besilmers dwarven king, it is now a place of contemplation and worship for dwarves who wish to pay homage to their goddess of fertility and love, Sharindlar. They allow few outsiders access, but those who are fortunate enough to be invited find a wondrous sight in the secret gorge and its splashing creeks.
Shrine of the Tender Oath
Revered sites within the Vale of Dancing Waters include temples and shrines positioned throughout the gorge, rather than a single consolidated structure. Most of these spots a require a hike to reach from the main trail that follows the gorge. One such location is known as the Shrine of the Tender Oath, a small retreat where devotees can dwell for a time and contemplate the nature of love.
Recently, two unscrupulous treasure hunters, an oni named Obratu and a duergar named Reulek, discovered evidence of the lost cellars of King Torhild Flametongues summer palace. The fragmentary map sketches and journal entries they recovered suggested two possible entrances. One is in close proximity to the Shrine of the Tender Oath, and another is beneath the Sumber Hills.
Reulek opted to seek the subterranean route, and he subsequently died in the Black Geode (see chapter 5, area G8). Obratu cut a deal with a dwarf named Grumink and his crew of renegade miners. The oni and its allies sneaked into the shrine, used deceit and magic to overcome the few worshipers, and began digging. They have gone unnoticed by other dwarves in the region.
Setup
A dwarf acquaintance asks the characters to go to the Vale of Dancing Waters. Which NPC asks the characters is up to you. He or she might need help due to infirmity, which might be eased by holy water from the vale, or might instead be honoring the characters with a visit to this sacred place. In any case, it should be made clear that the vale is usually off limits to non-dwarves.
Once the characters agree, they receive instructions on how to find the vale. The group must ride on the Dessarin River to a certain bend, climb next to a waterfall toward a prominent bluff, and a hike along a narrow trail through heavy underbrush. The dwarf asking for aid also gives the characters a signed and sealed document proclaiming them friends of the dwarves who have permission to visit the vale. Lastly, he or she explains that the side path to the Shrine of the Tender Oath is subtly marked with a pair of Dethek runes, the first letter of the dwarven words for “Tender” and “Oath.”
The trip to the vale can be as eventful as you like, but once the characters reach the right spot, start with area D1.
D1. Switchbacks
The approach to the Shrine of the Tender Oath begins as a short but steep flight of steps cut into the side of the gorge. Two of the creeks in the Vale of Dancing Waters meet near the steps before tumbling on toward the Dessarin River. The trail continues upriver to other parts of the vale, so unless the characters know about the runes, its easy to miss the beginning of the steps; it takes a successful DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check to notice them.
After twenty steps, the stairs turn into a narrow path that follows switchbacks up the wall of the gorge. The characters must walk single-file. The journey takes half an hour.
Two-thirds of the way up, at a switchback turnaround, Gruminks miners constructed a trap. Its purpose is to make noise and warn the lookouts in area D2 above, but its also dangerous. A character who has a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 15 or higher notices a steel tripwire fastened between boulders about two inches from the ground. A character who is looking for traps instead finds the tripwire with a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check.
If the tripwire is sprung, it tumbles one boulder along with a rush of smaller stones and gravel down the path. The first two creatures ascending the trail must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, the creature is knocked prone and takes 2 (
Cutting the tripwire triggers the trap. To disarm it, the wire must be disconnected, kept tight, and traced back to the wood panel it holds, shoring up the loose boulder and rocks. Then the boulder must be further supported until it cant fall due to lack of tension on the tripwire. Reworking the trap this way can be done in a few ways, but checks to do so are no worse than DC 10.
D2. Shrine Entrance
As the characters reach the top of the switchbacks, read the following text:
The path levels off and widens before an arch cut from the dark stone of the mountain. Flanking the arch are two statues of dwarves offering a greeting. Beyond the archway is an open courtyard with a statue on a raised platform in the center. All these features have been chiseled out of the side of the mountain rather than built from fitted stonework.
Two dwarf guard stand watch atop this stony shelf. Instead of spears and shields, they carry warhammers that they wield with two hands (
- If the characters trigger the trap in area D1 or make no attempt to approach quietly, the dwarf guards detect them and aren’t here. They have retreated to the courtyard (area D3).
- If the characters don’t trigger the trap in area D1 and make an effort to be stealthy, the guards are here, talking quietly in Dwarvish.
In the latter case, the faint sound of hammering can be heard from somewhere beyond the courtyard (see area D7).
D3. Courtyard
This courtyard is open to the sky, and its walls have been carved with scenes of dwarves engaged in rituals, often in pairs, of a friendly or amorous nature. A twenty-foot-tall statue of a female dwarf in a gown stands atop a stone dais in the middle of the courtyard, her arms outstretched in a welcoming gesture, her face carved with a warm smile. Unlit stone braziers stand in each corner, while archways leading into dark interior spaces pierce the center of walls to the east, north, and west. Carved into the rock above the northern arch is a row of windows.
If the characters took out the guards in area D2, the courtyard is unguarded, and they can hear hammering from somewhere north of the courtyard (area D7).
Windows
The windows that run along the north wall, overlooking the courtyard, are 20 feet up. They run the length of the south wall of area D7. Each window is an open rectangle 7 feet tall and 2 feet wide.
Ruse
If the characters triggered the trap in area D1 or otherwise forecast their arrival to the guards in area D2, the renegade dwarves have time to prepare a ruse. Grumink sends six dwarf guard from area D7 to the courtyard, bolstered by the two dwarf guards from area D2. These eight dwarves don disguises to look like robed dwarves attending a private wedding ceremony. The oni, Obratu, is also present and uses Change Shape to appear as a female dwarf officiating the ceremony:
East of the statue are several robed dwarves engaged in a ceremony. As they turn toward you, smiles light up their faces.
“Ah! More guests!” says the female dwarven priest officiating the ceremony. “Welcome to the wedding.” The rest of the wedding party beckons for you to join in.
If the characters seem suspicious or threaten them in any way, the dwarves end their ruse and attack.
If the characters think the ceremony is real and join the festivities, the dwarves wait for them to get close before drawing hidden weapons and taking the characters. Characters with a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 13 or higher notice that the dwarves are wearing chain shirts under their robes; these characters aren’t surprised when the dwarves attack. Instead of spears and shields, the dwarves carry warhammers that they wield with two hands (
Once combat erupts, the oni casts invisibility on itself, gathers its glaive from behind the dais, and uses the statue of Sharindlar for cover while casting spells, doing its best not to affect its allies. The oni reveals its true form only if doing so might terrify the party. When reduced to half its hit points, the oni casts gaseous form on itself and flies through a window into area D7.
D4. Dormitory
The passage west from the courtyard becomes a long hallway with a series of stone doors on either side. Read the following aloud the first time a character enters one of the rooms:
A short hallway widens into a square room with a plain set of furniture. Each piece has been carved directly from the rock that makes up this place. A pair of beds line opposite walls, while a table with benches rests in the middle. Shelves and open cupboards are chiseled out of the walls, all of it smooth and perfectly formed. Cushions cover the benches, and mattresses rest on the beds. A variety of knickknacks sit here and there-everyday items common to someones tidy and simple home.
If the characters make a point of poking around, they spot a trace of blood or other signs of violence on a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check.
Southwest Room
The renegade dwarves dumped the bodies of everyone they slew in the southwestern cell. Even before the door is open, read the following aloud to the players:
A faint but foul stench makes it obvious something rots beyond this door.
Once the characters enter, read the following text:
The bodies of a dozen dwarves are stacked along the far wall. Judging from the smell and the decay, they died close to a tenday ago.
Checking the bodies reveals that they are all robed dwarves, likely the inhabitants of the shrine. Most were killed by the renegade dwarves warhammers, although some are rent by long wounds from the onis claws.
D5. Chapel
The short, arched passage leads into a chamber with a raised stone dais and altar at the far end. Above the altar is a carving of the same smiling, beckoning dwarven woman depicted in the courtyard statue. Two small braziers rest upon a white cloth draped over the altar, though neither is currently lit. An empty stone bowl sits in the altars center. Cloth cushions are strewn haphazardly on the floor.
This chapel is dedicated to Sharindlar. The renegade dwarves left this place alone.
Treasure
If characters poke around the altar, a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check reveals a silver chain worth 25 gp tangled on one of the braziers. Near the chain is a small bloodstain.
D6. Hall of Vows
Two unlit braziers flank the entrance just inside this wide hall. Detailed carvings of dwarves decorate both side walls. These images depict ceremonies, rituals of romance, love, and even passion. Two sets of stairs, side by side but spiraling away from each other, rise at the north end.
If the characters have come this far without alerting the creatures in area D7, they can hear hammering from upstairs. The carvings continue along the walls of the stairs as they rise toward the temple. Each flight of stairs ends at a wide brown curtain.
Treasure
Leaning against the corner behind the western brazier is a +1 greataxe. Its owner left it there while attending a ceremony in the greater temple, but the oni slew the dwarf and overlooked the axe in the aftermath. The axe has Dethek runes on it, reading, “A beacon in the dark depths.” The axes wielder always knows the way to the nearest passage leading from underground toward the surface, as well as the approximate depth the axe is underground.
D7. Temple
Passing through the curtain, you find yourself in a large ceremonial chamber. Steps rise toward a wide alcove in the north wall, where a dais and altar face forward. Along the opposite wall, light streams through a row of tall, narrow windows.
This chamber serves as the main ceremonial hall for dwarven worship of Sharindlar. The windows that line the south wall are open rectangles 7 feet high by 2 feet wide.
Grumink and his team have been hard at work, trying to dig through the stone behind the altar. If Grumink is unaware of the characters, refer to the “Dwarves at Work” section. If Grumink knows the characters are coming, refer to the “Dwarves Alerted” section instead. Grumink is hostile toward the characters in either scenario, mistaking them for competitors.
Dwarves at Work
Read the following text aloud:
A team of dwarves is hard at work, pounding on the stone behind the altar with stout tools. Watching them intently is another dwarf wearing black leather armor. Next to him, tapping its foot impatiently, is a blue-skinned ogre.
The leather-clad dwarf is Grumink the Renegade (see “Other Villains” in chapter 7), and the “blue-skinned ogre” is the oni, Obratu. Eight dwarf guard are hammering at the stone wall behind the altar. Instead of spears and shields, the guards carry warhammers that they wield with two hands (
Dwarves Alerted
If the characters are coming from a big fight in the courtyard (area D3), Grumink the Renegade (see chapter 7) is here with two dwarf guards, ready to make his final stand. If the oni survived the courtyard battle, it is here as well, in the guise of a female dwarf.
Development
Grumink carries fragmentary maps and partial journal entries that, when studied together, suggest that King Torhild Flametongues summer palace could be hidden behind the temple (area D7). The maps and journal entries appear genuine but are, in fact, false. (“They’re digging in the wrong place!")
Obratu carries a folded scrap of paper with the following message written on it, in Common:
Obratu,
Theres too much sunlight up here. Ill try the route from the Underdark. Maybe well meet in the palace.
Reulek
Conclusion
Characters who defeat Grumink, Obratu, and their minions can explore the rest of the shrine. If the find the bodies of the slain priests and acolytes in the dormitory (area D4), they can search the Vale of Dancing Waters for other dwarven enclaves. During their search, they stumble upon a group of dwarves traveling through in the vale. The dwarves are horrified to learn what has transpired in the Shrine of the Tender Oath. They hold burial ceremonies for their slain kin and provide safe sanctuary for the characters. The shrine is then closed to visitors for the foreseeable future.
Dark Dealings in Yartar
The city of Yartar is renowned as a place to make deals. Merchants, smugglers, mercenaries, and spies from all over the North meet in Yartars taverns and alleyways to do business. Trade is the lifeblood of the city, and wherever trade flourishes, thieves are never far behind. The guild known as the Hand of Yartar is the largest and most fractious collection of scoundrels between Waterdeep and Luskan. When the Hand finds itself in possession of a devastation orb, the guild does what any self-respecting thieves guild might do: They auction it off to the highest bidder.
Background
Two tendays ago, the Cult of the Eternal Flame dispatched a group of cultists armed with a devastation orb to strike at the large town of Triboar. A patrol of the Twelve, the militia of Triboar, met and defeated the cultists in the nearby hills. Not knowing what the cultists were carrying, they brought the devastation orb in its containment case back to Triboar. Shortly thereafter, it disappeared.
Nareen Dhest, a member of the Hand of Yartar operating in Triboar, pilfered the lord protectors vaults and smuggled the orb in its case back to Yartar.
The Hand of Yartar had no particular use for a fiery orb, so the thieves decided to sell it. Nareen put out the word that interested parties could submit their offers at the Wink and Kiss, a tavern in Yartars market square. However, another Hand by the name of Haliyra Ravenfast found a different buyer: the Kraken Society, a sinister secret network with spies throughout the North. Haliyra cut a deal with society operatives to sell them the orb. They just need to eliminate Nareen and leave the Harpers, Zhentarim, and anyone else interested in the orb blaming one another for dealing in bad faith.
Setup
You have several good options to involve the characters in this side trek. Consider one or more of the following:
- If a character is allied with the Harpers, a known contact sends a message through a sending spell. The message says, “Dangerous orb of fire stolen from Triboar. Hands of Yartar auctioning orb to highest bidder. Please recover orb and return it to Triboar.”
- The Zhentarim sends word to an allied character through a local contact or a messenger. The Black Network needs to secure a magic orb the Hand of Yartar is trying to sell. The character is to obtain the orb at any cost.
- Characters who keep up with underworld news hear that the Hand of Yartar found an elemental weapon. The thieves are auctioning it off.
- Characters passing through Yartar hear rumors that the Hand of Yartar stole something dangerous. Now the thieves want to get rid of it.
Arrival in Yartar
Yartar is a small, walled city that stands on the east bank of the Surbrin River. Extensive docks line the citys riverfront. The city bustles with trade, and wagon trains constantly come and go along the Evermoor Way. West of the city, a wide bridge spans the river, leading to a walled citadel.
Characters looking for a place to stay find two decent choices in the Pearl-Handled Pipe (good), and the White-Winged Griffon (poor). In addition, characters affiliated with the Lords' Alliance are welcome at the Waterbarons Hall, where they are provided with guest quarters at no charge.
If the party was sent to Yartar by the Harpers or the Zhentarim, local contacts for those factions quickly confirm that the Hand of Yartar has let it be known that anyone interested in bidding on a strange magical orb should inquire at the Wink and Kiss and ask for Nareen. The Wink and Kiss is a tavern of low repute near the citys central market square.
Characters who lack any local connections can find out the same information by spending a few hours asking questions in local taverns and spending 10 gp in bribes and drinks.
The Wink and Kiss
The Wink and Kiss is a large tavern staffed by a dozen dancers, servers, and cooks (all commoners) protected by two human thugs who serve as bouncers. Nareen Dhest and her group are in a private room in the back. Everybody working in the Wink and Kiss is friendly toward the Hand of Yartar, and they know their regular clientele. Any suspicious-looking strangers are likely to be spotted at once. The staff pretends nothing is out of the ordinary and waits on newcomers, but they quietly warn Nareen and her group. Nareen might send a server to ask such folk whether they’re here to talk business and invite them to join her.
When the characters meet Nareen, read:
A server leads you to a private room in the back of the Wink and Kiss. Inside is a dark-haired human female with icy blue eyes, dressed in travelers garb. She is seated behind a large wooden table with empty chairs across from her. Two big human mercenaries in armor lean against the walls close by. She studies you for a moment, and smiles.
“The bidding starts at a fifteen hundred gold pieces,” she says. “Whats your offer?”
The woman is Nareen Dhest (female Tethyrian human spy), the thief who stole the devastation orb in Triboar. She is protected by two mercenary veteran. In addition, the two thug guarding the tavern are ready to come when called. The room has two small leaded-glass windows and a barred door facing the alley behind the tavern. Nareen made sure to set up in a room with two ways out, just in case.
Acquiring the Orb
The orb is hidden in a nearby mausoleum. Nareen can describe the orb in great detail if questioned, reporting that its a thick glass orb, dull red in color and warm to the touch. It is packed in a small wooden cask filled with water and sealed with wax. A mage hired by the Hand of Yartar identified it as a powerful weapon of elemental fire magic, but worries it might be unstable. She knows that soldiers of Triboar took it from strange orange-robed cultists near that town. If asked how she got the orb, Nareen just smiles.
Nareen expects 1,500 gp, but characters who negotiate well and bring up good points can talk her down to 1,100 gp with a successful DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check. Her guards are vigilant for use of magic to charm or coerce her, and attack at once if they see it used. If the party attacks and defeats Nareen and her guards, she grudgingly buys her life by surrendering the orbs location.
When Nareen agrees on a price, she requires the characters to leave half the sum with the barkeep at the Wink and Kiss. She tells the characters that she can take them to where the orb is, or send someone to fetch it.
Rival Seller
When the characters conclude dealing with Nareen, matters take a new turn. Haliyra Ravenfast (female Illuskan human assassin), another Hand of Yartar, has already sold the orb to the Kraken Society. She has a good hiding spot in the alley behind the tavern that gives her a view through the small, dirty panes of the window in the back room where the characters meet Nareen.
When a deal appears imminent, or the characters defeat Nareen and her guards, Haliyra fires a crossbow bolt through the window from the alley outside. She targets Nareen. Nareens guards assume the characters are responsible and attack, unless the characters immediately aid Nareen or take other actions showing their innocence.
Haliyra attempts to escape by fleeing through the nearby market. The market is crowded with people. Spotting her requires a successful DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check. If none of the characters spot her, Haliyra makes her way to Thorn Alley, one of the streets leading into the market square, and disappears into Yartars crowds.
Background
Haliyra has been skulking about the Wink and Kiss for days, watching carefully to see who is involved in the bidding. She has already arranged for her chosen buyers to pick up the orb from its hiding place. To cover her tracks, she hopes to incite a fight between Nareen and the characters.
Treasure
Haliyra is carrying the Kraken Societys payment for the orb-six emeralds worth 250 gp each. She also has a simple sketch map of a nearby graveyard, with an X marked on one of the mausoleums.
Dealing with Nareen. After the encounter with Haliyra, Nareen wants out. She agrees to tell the characters where the orb is if they pay her up front.
Meeting at the Tomb
When the characters successfully deal with Nareen and Haliyra, they learn where the devastation orb is hidden. The next step is to take possession of the orb, but Haliyras buyers are already on the scene.
The overgrown cemetery sprawls beneath the eastern wall of the city. Gnarled trees and crumbling mausoleums break line of sight all around. Three humans are gathered around the door of the crypt youre looking for, along with someone-or something-that stands almost eight feet tall and hides itself under a huge, sodden cloak.
The Kraken Society agents here at the tomb include a large sahuagin named Ghald (see “Other Villains” in chapter 7), Unferth (male Tethyrian human priest), and two bodyguards (male Tethyrian human veteran). The bodyguards are working with crowbars to open the crypt door, while Ghald keeps watch. Unferth is the groups spokesman, although Ghald is in command.
If the Kraken Society agents see the party coming, Unferth calls out a warning, saying, “No closer, friends! This is a private matter, and we don’t wish to be disturbed.” Unferth presents himself with a false joviality, making light of the fact that two groups of upstanding citizens should find themselves engaged in an ugly bit of skulduggery involving opening a tomb. Underneath the self-deprecating manner is a stern resolve. The Kraken Society paid good money for the orb, and they intend to keep it.
Ghald waits and watches to see if the adventurers can be scared away. When he decides conflict is likely, he attacks without warning. This act forces the others to join the battle. Unferth hangs back and uses his spells to support his allies.
If the characters accepted Nareens offer to guide them here, and she is uninjured from Haliyras attack, she and one of her veterans are here. They fight as the partys allies.
The Orb
The crypt is a small stone building with a locked iron door. Nareen has the key; the Kraken Society agents don’t have a key, so they must break in. The crypt holds the remains of a minor lord and lady, buried here centuries ago. The orb sits in a wooden containment cask in plain sight on the floor. See chapter 7 for more information on devastation orbs.
Conclusion
When the characters recover the devastation orb, they must decide what to do with it. The Harpers want to see the orb returned to Triboar. Zhentarim agents want to smuggle the orb out in a Zhentarim-sponsored caravan, intending to study the device. Otherwise, the characters can turn it over to the authorities or detonate it in the countryside away from any populated area.
Rundreth Manor
One of the most powerful creatures in the Dessarin Valley is a shadow dragon named Nurvureem, who dwells in caverns under Rundreth Manor. Nurvureem has no interest in allying with the cults. After emissaries failed to return from Rundreth Manor, the elemental cults have learned to give Nurvureem a wide berth. The Harpers, the Zhentarim, and the Lords' Alliance believe the elemental cults are courting the Dark Lady, so they send the characters to investigate.
Background
The Dark Lady-a nickname for Nurvureem often whispered in shuddering fear-received a delegation of elemental cultists months ago. They came seeking the Dark Ladys aid. Nurvureem not only declined their offer but also feasted on the delegation. She allowed a few cultists to escape and report on the terrible outcome of their “negotiations.”
The surviving cultists hasty departure didnt go unnoticed. A spy from the Harpers, the Zhentarim, or the Lords' Alliance (your choice) saw them leave and jumped to the wrong conclusion by assuming the elemental cults were in league with the Dark Lady.
Although based on a faulty premise, this side trek is hardly a waste of time for the characters. If they play their cards right, they can obtain a historical perspective on Elemental Evil that only Nurvureem can provide.
Setup
This adventure is best used late in the campaign for two reasons. First, the characters know more about the elemental cults and have a better perspective to understand the Dark Ladys information. Second, it strains credulity for any of the factions to send inexperienced agents into the Dark Ladys lair.
The characters receive a sending spell, telling them to meet a faction agent at a local inn. When they do, read the following text:
Just as the spell said, your contact-a hard-looking woman-is waiting at a back table in the inn. After pleasantries are exchanged, she unfurls a map of the Dessarin Valley.
“A powerful shadow dragon called the Dark Lady lairs underneath Rundreth Manor, right here.” She points to a spot on the map. “One of our agents saw robed cultists leaving the manor. Weve never seen anyone leave Rundreth Manor alive, so that could mean our enemies have a shadow dragon on their side.” Her eyes narrow. “Your goal is to shatter this alliance any way you can. I recommend negotiation.”
If the characters ask, their contact says the other agent saw half a dozen figures leaving Rundreth Manor in haste. That agent tried to follow the cultists but lost them in the dark.
If the characters request payment, the contact is authorized to negotiate on her factions behalf. Tailor the reward to the characters needs. While the characters are traveling to and from the manor, faction agents can send word to their superiors and get whatever coin or magic the characters negotiate for.
The Ruins
Whats left of Rundreth Manor stands on a small, steep-sided wooded hill just east of the Long Road, with a carriage drive opening off the caravan road just south of the hill and climbing its southern side to curve around and approach the back of the manor house from the east.
On the surface where the manor once stood are heaps of fallen stone blocks and the tumbled lines of walls, which form a T-shaped outline with two rectangular wings thrusting north and south out of an enormous east-west rectangular room. This room has three-floor-high remnants of walls in two places, clinging to soaring stone chimneys. It looks like it was once a truly impressive hall.
The two wings of the manor are fallen stones and forest now. Bits of flagstone floor can be seen amid the bushes and trees growing in the feast hall. With a little exploring, the characters find a hole that leads to a stairway down into the earth.
The flagstones within 10 feet of the top of the stair are laid loosely atop flimsy boards concealed with dirt. They collapse under 100 or more pounds. A character searching for traps can spot these loose stones with a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check. A successful check also reveals the lip at the end of the loose flagstones that forms the top step of the stair is solid. If the trap triggers, those in its area can attempt a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw to catch the edge. On a failed save, the character falls 40 feet to the dirt floor of the pit, landing prone in the undercroft.
Undercroft
Gloom pervades a chamber seventy feet wide and a hundred feet long. The room is littered with the rotting remnants of long trestle tables fitted with sinks and littered with rusted-out metal platters, carry-bowls, and tureens. Its ceiling is a magnificent series of vaulted arches that crisscross to hold up a stone block ceiling, pierced in many places by the hanging roots of trees growing above.
The air shimmers, and a female drow appears in the center of the chamber.
The drow is an illusory projection, like a major image spell, that Nurvureem uses to speak with interlopers without exposing herself to danger. The Dark Lady’s image opens conversation by saying, “Welcome to Rundreth Manor.”
The image ignores any attacks the characters make against it, although such interaction reveals it to be an illusion.
Conversing With the Dark Lady
The Dark Lady plays the menacing femme fatale to the hilt, verbally fencing with the adventurers. Use her to feed the adventurers any lore you wish. She knows only the basics of what the elemental cults are planning, but shed like to know more. She’s willing to trade information to get it.
The exchange of information can take two forms. If your players enjoy verbal repartee with an evil shadow dragon, then roleplay the conversation as it naturally develops. The Dark Lady subtly pumps the characters for information. She reveals what she knows to keep the flow of information coming. If your players prefer a straightforward negotiation, then the Dark Lady offers an overt information trade. For every interesting fact the characters reveal about the cults, the Dark Lady reveals one, too.
Skipping anything the players already know, the Dark Lady might begin by revealing some of the following points:
- Four elemental cults have moved into the Sumber Hills: an air cult called the Cult of the Howling Hatred; an earth cult, the Cult of the Black Earth; a fire cult called the Cult of the Eternal Flame; and a water cult, the Cult of the Crushing Wave.
- Nurvureem has’nt seen elemental cultists in several tendays. She says, “I taught them in blood to leave this place alone.”
- Her recent visitors sought an alliance with her. She says, “Those I allowed to went away disappointed. Well, disappointed once the terror wore off, I imagine.”
- The cults are led by self-styled prophets and are using the Haunted Keeps as their bases. The air cultists use Feathergale Spire, the earth cultists are in the Sacred Stone Monastery, the fire cult holds Scarlet Moon Hall, and the water cultists are in Rivergard Keep.
- The four Haunted Keeps were built by adventurers who explored the ruins of Besilmer, an ancient dwarven kingdom. Each one sits on or near an entrance to underground dwarven ruins.
- The cults are here because of an ancient drow shrine to the Elder Elemental Eye, which lies underneath Tyar-Besil, one of the last dwarven strongholds of fallen Besilmer.
- All the cults fear the Elder Elemental Eye. Its symbol looks like a vertical eye set within an inverted step pyramid. The Dark Lady can use illusion magic to show the characters what the Elder Elemental Eye symbol looks like (see chapter 1).
- Centuries ago, a drow named Vizeran DeVir used the power of the shrine to make four elemental weapons, one each of air, water, earth, and fire. Each weapon is connected to an extraplanar Prince of Elemental Evil. These weapons can open or close a portal to the Inner Plane of that element.
- The Dark Lady can supply names and descriptions of each of the four elemental princes (described in chapter 7).
Nurvureem is curious about the prophets. She also wants to know about signs of division or rivalry among the four cults. Her curiosity is also piqued about how the cults are spreading their influence across the Dessarin Valley. She doesn’t really care about the communities themselves, but she’s keenly interested in the techniques the cults are using to sow fear and exert control. If the characters mention the devastation orbs, the Dark Lady expresses a keen interest in them.
The Dark Lady wants the characters to attack the elemental cults and leave her alone. Nurvureem tries her utmost to manipulate the characters into attacking the four elemental cults. She doesn’t lie out of malice, though Nurvureem has plenty of that, but because she’s trying to motivate the adventurers. She invents details to entice the characters onward.
The Dark Lady converses with the characters as long as she’s interested in the information they’re providing. When she concludes that the characters have nothing further to offer, the illusion of the drow disappears.
A new but familiar voice, an octave lower and far more menacing than the drows, echoes through the chamber, saying, “Now depart, and never return! You are no longer useful to me. No longer useful alive, at any rate.”
Nurvureem doesn’t respond to further entreaties, ignoring characters who tarry in the undercroft.
If the characters refuse to leave or go out of their way to provoke a violent confrontation, Nurvureem emerges from the shadows in her draconic form and attacks, holding nothing back. To create Nurvureems statistics, apply the shadow dragon template to the adult black dragon statistics in the Monster Manual.
Conclusion
Nurvureems hoard is beyond the characters reach. When the party returns from Rundreth Manor, whatever faction they were dealing with honors the bargain the characters struck. Their contact expresses surprise that the characters survived the trip to Rundreth Manor.
Halls of the Hunting Axe
The Halls of the Hunting Axe stand as a reminder of the long-forgotten dwarven kingdom of Besilmer. A gateway between the underground and surface worlds, the halls were once a magnificent complex with soaring, arched walls, beautiful stained-glass windows, and impeccable craftsmanship. The only things left standing now are a few crumbling ruins upon a prominent outcropping that survey the plains for leagues around. Rumors claim the ruins of the halls hide an entrance to the tomb of the king of Besilmer himself, Torhild Flametongue, along with his magical axe, Orcsplitter. Others insist the place serves only as a hideout for bandits and beasts.
Background
Gargosh Blusterhelm, a young shield dwarf from Mithral Hall, has made it his lifes quest to find the legendary axe Orcsplitter and present it to the elders of Clan Blusterhelm in the hopes of restoring his familys lackluster reputation. Most of the elders believe Gargoshs plan is a fools quest.
Gargosh has developed and maintained an extensive diary of his quest, filling it with notes, drawings, rubbings of ancient stone tablets, and so on, all holding clues pointing toward the secret location of the tomb of Torhild Flametongue. Convinced at last that he has enough to go on, Gargosh has set out to find the axe. Now he just needs a few trustworthy souls to assist him in his quest.
Gargoshs greedy cousin, Drannin Splitshield, is also interested in finding the axe for his own glory. Drannin has put a separate plan into motion, one that involves stealing Gargoshs diary and tricking Gargoshs allies into doing all the dirty work before Drannin claims the axe himself.
Gargoshs other problem is the Harpers. That faction feels that the legendary axe should remain exactly where it is, hidden away and undisturbed, so that its power will not fall into the wrong hands. They have taken steps to prevent treasure hunters from getting too close, keeping vigilant agents in the vicinity of the Halls in order to head off any serious digging.
Setup
This adventure is designed for a party of 11th-level characters. Yartar is an ideal starting point because its a gathering point for allies of the Lords' Alliance.
Gargosh approaches the characters and pleads with them for their help. If one of the player characters is a member of the Lords' Alliance, someone from the faction introduces Gargosh to them. The Lords' Alliance has connections to Mithral Hall and would like to do the dwarves a favor by helping Gargosh find the axe.
“It is very kind of you to hear my tale,” Gargosh says. “I am looking for a great weapon, a legendary axe wielded by my ancestors, and I want you to help me find it. I would try and find it myself, as is proper to bring honor to my family and clan, but I simply cannot hope to succeed alone. The risks are more than I could overcome with my wits and talents. There, I said it. Im just not good enough to try it by myself.
“Everyone else thinks this is a fools errand,” he continues. “The kings tomb, where the axe lies, was hidden even from his own people, but I believe we can find it together!”
Gargosh continues in detail, giving the adventurers a crash course on Besilmer history (see the “Ancient Bones” section of chapter 1 for an overview) and explaining what he is trying to accomplish. During the conversation, he reveals that he has “an extensive collection of notes and evidence” pointing to the location of the tomb, but he has not brought it with him out of caution for the diarys safety. He promises that they can see it next time. Gargosh agrees to meet them the next day at the same spot, equipped and ready to go.
The Gargosh Deception
Between the time the characters first meet with Gargosh and when they are to reconvene, Drannin and his misfit team take Gargosh prisoner and get the diary. Liking the idea of letting the characters set off the traps and fight all the deadly monsters, Drannin and his crew hatch a plan to dupe the characters. One of Drannins companions, a doppelganger, assumes the guise of Gargosh and goes along with the characters, urging them to hurry with a story of theft and betrayal. The rest plan to stay out of sight, and when the axe is found, they hope to step in and take it from the characters. The doppelganger doesn’t know everything that Gargosh knows. However, it can read surface thoughts and, if questioned, might be able to glean the expected answer from characters who interrogate it. If all else fails, the doppelganger resorts to blackmail, telling the characters to press on “lest great harm befall the real Gargosh.”
Starting Out
A doppelganger in the guise of Gargosh meets the characters at the appointed hour:
When you spot the young dwarf at the agreed-upon time and place, he seems beside himself with consternation. “Unbelievable!” He fumes. “Someone stole my diary! Right out from where I had hidden it last night! I swear, you cant trust anyone these days!” He peers at you as if considering whether you might have had something to do with it, then dismisses the thought. “Doesnt matter,” he says. “I have all my notes memorized!”
Gargoshs Route
“Gargosh” tells the characters that their destination is the Halls of the Hunting Axe, and that he plans on taking the following route:
- Travel west along the Evermoor Way from Yartar to Triboar (60 miles)
- Travel south along the Long Road from Triboar to Westbridge (80 miles)
- Travel southeast along the Stone Trail from Westbridge to the Stone Bridge, then continue east to Beliard (80 miles)
- Follow the Dessarin Road south from Beliard for about forty miles, then cut east through the hills to the Halls of the Hunting Axe (50 miles)
Characters can suggest alternative routes, but Gargosh assures them his route is the safest. If the characters recommend a shorter route, Gargosh agrees to follow their lead. Check for random encounters (see chapter 2) regardless of the route the characters decide to take.
Drannins Route
Drannin and his crew take a much more dangerous and direct route through rugged, hilly terrain:
- They travel south from Yartar, through the Dessarin Hills, to the Stone Trail, staying west of the Dessarin River (110 miles)
- They cross the Stone Bridge, then continue east to Beliard (20 miles)
- They cut through the hills southeast of Beliard to the Halls of the Hunting Axe (30 miles)
Drannin and his crew arrive in Beliard one day ahead of Gargosh and the characters if the characters opt to take Gargoshs route. In addition, Drannin leaves a small force at the Stone Bridge to harry the characters (see “The Stone Bridge” below).
The Stone Bridge
See chapter 2 for more information on the Stone Bridge. When the characters reach the middle of the bridge, read the following text:
You see half a dozen figures on the bridge ahead-five dwarves in leather armor and a human in wizards robes. They appear to be sitting on the edge of the bridge, facing north and enjoying the view. When they see you, they stand, move away from the edge of the bridge, and draw their weapons. The robed fellow pulls out a wand.
The figures on the bridge include five thug (male shield dwarves) and a mercenary mage named Cavil Zaltobar (male Tethyrian human). Cavil is armed with a
“Well met!” says the wizard. “Finally caught up with us, eh? Your adventure ends here, Im afraid.”
Drannin left these forces here knowing that they were unlikely to defeat the characters, but he wanted to play up the idea that someone is trying to stop Gargosh from completing his quest. Cavil chose this spot because its where Torhild Flametongue, the dwarf king of Besilmer, reportedly fell to his death long ago. “Not a bad place to die,” the mage says with mild amusement.
The doppelganger posing as Gargosh doesn’t take part in the fight, remaining on the fringes of the battle and rooting for the characters to triumph. Once three of the thugs are defeated, the remaining two surrender and the mage casts fly on himself to escape.
Interrogations
If the characters take prisoners, they can interrogate their captives and learn that they were hired by a dwarf named Drannin. “Gargosh” feigns amazement:
“My cousin Drannin? That cad! He stole my diary because he wants the axe and all the glory for himself! We need to make haste and catch up with him!”
Characters who have reason to suspect Gargosh might be lying or holding back information can make a DC 16 Wisdom (Insight) check. A character who succeeds on the check realizes that Gargoshs amazement seems a little rehearsed, suggesting that Gargosh knew Drannin was involved all along. If one or more characters accuse Gargosh of withholding information from them, he admits that he has long suspected Drannin capable of such treachery, but denies knowing of Drannins plot.
If Gargosh gets the sense that the characters might turn against him, he suggests they all press on to Beliard and get a good nights rest. The doppelganger then tries to slip away in the night.
The Ruins
When the characters finally reach the ruined Halls of the Hunting Axe, “Gargosh” explains that the next step in the treasure hunt is to find four symbols displayed somewhere within the ruins. These symbols, he says, are the key to opening Torhild Flametongues tomb. The doppelganger has no more information than that.
X1. Owlbear Greetings
You find a road of broken stone that meanders through hills, stands of trees, and ancient ruins. The road passes under the occasional stone arch as it weaves northward.
One such arch stands ahead of you, and perched on a rocky escarpment to the left of the arch is an owlbear. It shrieks at you but doesn’t leave its perch.
The owlbear has been hunting in the area and has fed recently, so its not hungry enough to attack a group of well-armed travelers. If the characters leave it alone, the owlbear lets them pass. If they attack it, it leaps down and fights back, fleeing when reduced to half its hit points.
This ancient road merges with a ravine that has a small stream flowing at the bottom of it. Characters who follow the road come to a plaza surrounded by crumbled ruins.
X2. Crumbling Arch
The road passes through a free-standing arch-an example of how some of the Besilmer stonework has withstood the ravages of time.
This grand arch is half-demolished, but what remains suggests that it was once a great, blocky edifice carved with runes, most of which are too weatherworn to be deciphered. Beyond the arch stands the crumbling shell of a once impressive hall and, to its right, the lower half of a monolithic statue.
The Dethek runes on the arch once told visitors that they were standing amid the mighty works of the Besilmer dwarves. The statue is described in area X3, the ruined hall in area X4.
X3. Watchtower
This massive structure was once a building topped by a great statue-a dwarf standing proudly with one arm outstretched, brandishing his greataxe. The head, shoulder, and arm of the statue have crumbled down and lie in a pile of rubble around the base of the building now; only the legs, waist, outstretched arm, and weapon remain.
A stairway inside the building rises through the statue, and though it was originally designed to ascend all the way to the statues head, it stops suddenly at the shattered torso
.
X4. Ancient Hall
Though mostly tumbled down now, this hall must once have been a shining example of Besilmers architectural mastery. The jagged remnants of thick, soaring walls with high, narrow stained-glass windows can still be seen, and some of the collapsed great dome still sits on top.
The four entrance arches (in the center of each wall) are more or less intact, though the doors themselves are smashed or fallen. Set into each arch is a narrow doorway leading to an equally narrow spiral staircase that descends into the earth. Each staircase leads to a small underground chamber containing dwarven machinery. When the characters first discover one of these four rooms, read the following aloud:
This dark room contains a large stone flywheel connected to a series of gears. More of the machinery must be hidden behind walls or beneath the floor. Carved into the ceiling is a symbol.
The symbol carved into the ceiling is one of the four elemental symbols (see chapter 1):
| Room | Symbol |
|---|---|
| Northwest | Air |
| Northeast | Earth |
| Southeast | Fire |
| Southwest | Water |
If the players want to know what the symbol in each room looks like, sketch out the symbols as they appear on the corners of the Halls of the Hunting Axe map.
No matter how hard the characters push, the flywheel doesn’t move. Close inspection accompanied by a successful DC 10 Intelligence (Investigation) check reveals a disengaged sprocket that can be slid along an axle to engage a different part of the machinery. If the sprocket is set in place, the flywheel does move when a character pushes it, and the characters can hear the sound of grinding stone echoing off in the distance. If the characters move the flywheel and then let go, it reverses and spins back to its original position when it is released. There is no apparen’t way to stop this motion with raw strength; characters who push against the reversal don’t even slow it down.
While brute force wont work, mechanical ingenuity will. A successful DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check reveals a small hole on the rim of the flywheel into which a typical weapon hilt or bundle of arrows will fit. If something at least six inches long extends from the flywheel at that point, the flywheel cant reverse.
Along the edge, the flywheel has faint etchings of the elemental symbols of air, earth, fire, and water. If the characters turn the flywheel so that its symbol lines up with a matching symbol on the ceiling, then lock the flywheel into place using the hole on the flywheels rim, one of the four locks on the secret door in area X9 opens. Once all four flywheels are properly aligned, the secret door in area X9 becomes unlocked.
The doppelganger impersonating Gargosh cant figure any of this out on his own, and is both surprised and impressed when the characters figure it out.
X5. Cistern
Water, green with algae, partially fills a fifty-foot-wide cistern dug into the earth. The waters surface sits thirty feet below ground level. The remains of an aqueduct that come from a point higher up the bluff are still visible, but most of that has fallen into ruin.
The Besilmer dwarves once had extensive waterworks, though little of it remains.
South of the cistern are some old ruins perched on the edge of the bluff. Hidden in these ruins are three good-aligned agents of the Harpers-a mage named Ariana Riverlost (female moon elf) and two half-moon elf scouts named Elifar (male) and Lorendil (female). Theyve heard rumblings of a dwarven plot to loot the tomb of King Torhild Flametongue. They emerge from their hiding spot and confront characters who emerge from the crypts with Orcsplitter (see “Aftermath”).
X6. Amphitheater
A large, semicircular amphitheater built into the side of the bluff takes advantage of the natural rise and the acoustics. It is still structurally sound, though a few weeds, shrubs, and small trees grow up in cracks between the stones.
Drannin Splithelm (see “Other Villains” in chapter 7), his shield guardian, and three dwarf veteran armed with battleaxes instead of longswords hide here. They keep a watchful eye on the entrance to the crypts (area X7). Unless they are confronted and defeated here, Drannin and his retinue follow the characters into the crypts (see area X10).
X7. Entrance to the Crypts
This structure isn’t so much a building as it is a facade built into a bluff. Two alcoves flank an opening, and life-sized statues carved from the stone stand within each alcove: a pair of dwarves in full regalia, perhaps as an honor guard. The statues are badly weathered and have suffered damage from vandals and treasure hunters.
The opening leads into a hallway that extends back about 60 feet before coming to a long staircase that descends into the darkness for 200 feet, with landings positioned every 20 feet. On either side of each landing, a small alcove holds a stone brazier. Though none have been lit in many years, touching a torch to one causes all of them to magically burst into flame, as well as the braziers in area X8, which lies at the bottom of the staircase.
X8. Hall of the Fallen
The stairs open at last into a great hall filled with massive square columns twenty feet thick that rise to a ceiling thirty feet overhead. Stone braziers stand at the intersection of each pathway between the columns. Each column serves as a mausoleum, with an alcove carved into each side, offset so that the alcove takes up only the right-hand half of the facing. The alcoves once held stone effigies of the interred dead. Many of the tombs have been smashed open, revealing the bones of the dead inside. The crumbled and ruined stonework of the broken effigies lies smashed on the floor.
“Methinks were in the right place,” Gargosh says plainly, strolling among the crypts. “Somewhere in here is the secret entrance to King Flametongues tomb. We just have to find it!”
The floor here is made of smooth, cut stone.
Each column holds four crypts, and each crypt is hidden behind an alcove that either contains or once contained a stone slab carved with a bas-relief of the dwarf entombed within. Crypts that have already been searched stand open, their doors and effigies smashed. Only eight crypts remain sealed, and they contain nothing but the bones of the ancient dead.
X9. False Crypt
This particular crypt looks unremarkable among the others, but it reveals a secret.
The effigy on this tomb depicts a dwarven king in full regalia clutching a stone scepter with one hand and pointing toward the floor with the other.
Close inspection of the effigy reveals that there are no seams to indicate that a crypt lies behind it. In fact, there is none. A successful DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check also reveals that the scepter is a separate piece of stonework that can be easily removed from the dwarf kings grip. The scepter is 2 feet long with a handle 2 inches thick; it weighs 25 pounds.
Inspection of the floor reveals that the 20-foot-square section in front of the crypt is different from the smooth stone found elsewhere in the hall. It consists of ten 20-foot-long, 1-foot-wide stone slabs neatly fitted together. Drilled next to the southernmost slab is a 2-inch wide, 6-inch deep hole, which can be found with a DC 10 Intelligence (Investigation) check.
The stone slabs are actually the topmost steps of a secret staircase that descends to area X10. Four locks hidden under the floor prevent the slabs from lowering. However, if the flywheels in area X4 are properly lined up, these locks are now open. Once the locks are open, inserting the stone scepter or a similarly sized “key” into the hole causes the stone slabs to sink, forming the steps of the hidden staircase. The staircase remains open as long as the key (the scepter or some other object) remains in place.
“Gargosh” might be helpful at noticing the hidden staircase and the hole cut into the floor, but he’s not much help when it comes to figuring out how to lower the stairs. If the characters have not yet turned the flywheels in area X4, Gargosh suggests that they look elsewhere for the symbols needed to open the way. Characters can also “cheat” by casting four knock spells on the secret staircase.
If Gargosh is present when the characters open the secret staircase, read the following:
Gargosh stares in amazement. “We found it,” he whispers. “The axe will soon be mine at last! See, I did’nt need the stupid diary! Lets go!”
X10. False Tomb
The characters reach this area by descending the stairs from area X9.
The wide stairs open into an odd-shaped room. Set into the wall next to the stairs is a stone lever in the “down” position. Braziers similar to the ones above burn with mysterious blue flames that give off no heat. In alcoves to either side, large dwarven statues stand at attention, saluting the beautifully engraved marble sarcophagus that sits alone against the far wall, which is carved with runes.
Any character who reads Dwarvish can translate the Dethek runes on the wall:
Here lies His Noble Majesty
King Torhild Flametongue.
He raised a kingdom in the sun,
Defending it with his dying breath.
The dwarf statues are two stone golem. The moment anyone attempts to open the sarcophagus, the golems animate and attack, returning to their alcoves once all intruders retreat up the stairs. If he is still with the characters, “Gargosh” flees up the stairs to escape the golems wrath, and to reunite with Drannin (see “Development” below).
Torhilds Dying Breath
Opening the sarcophagus releases a cloud of poisonous gas that fills the room. Any creature in the chamber must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 22 (
The sarcophagus is empty.
Lever
The stone lever protruding from the wall can be used to raise or lower the staircase leading up to area X9. Moving the lever up raises the stairs and seals the tomb; pulling the lever down opens the tomb again.
Secret Door
A secret door in the southwest corner swings open to reveal a dusty, 10-foot-high, 10-foot-wide stone tunnel leading to area X11. Characters searching the walls for secret doors find the well-hidden door with a successful DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check.
Development
Once the characters defeat the golems, Drannin Splithelm (see “Other Villains” in chapter 7) arrives with his shield guardian and his retinue-three dwarf veteran armed with battleaxes instead of longswords. If the doppelganger posing as Gargosh yet lives, it tries to reunite with its true companions. Drannins crew isn’t stealthy, so the characters can hear the dwarves and shield guardian approaching.
Once Drannin and his retinue come into view, read the following aloud:
A wall of dwarves wearing splint armor and brandishing axes marches into view. Behind them, a handsome dwarf encased in plate armor claps while standing in the shadow of a 9-foot-tall construct. “Well done, my friends,” says the clapping dwarf. “Well done. You found ol Flametongues tomb. I had my doubts. I cant wait to see the expression on poor Gargoshs face when he discovers that I, Drannin Splithelm, retrieved Orcsplitter, not him!” The dwarf is beaming, but his smile fades quickly. “So, I guess this is farewell.”
Drannin imbibes a
Drannin and his cohorts don’t fight to the death. If a battle erupts and things aren’t going well, they retreat and leave the shield guardian to cover their escape. If he is cornered with no one left to protect him, Drannin surrenders.
Treasure
Drannin wears the control amulet keyed to the shield guardian, as well as a ring of cold resistance. He also carries Gargoshs diary which, among other things, contains a note about a false tomb with a secret door.
X11. The True Tomb of King Torhild Flametongue
This simple chamber has a slightly raised, circular marble dais in its center. Carved on the stone circle is an effigy of a dwarf lying in state, clutching a greataxe to his breast. An inscription is carved in runes around the perimeter of the dais.
Any character who reads Dwarvish can translate the Dethek runes:
Here lies His Noble Majesty
King Torhild Flametongue.
He raised a kingdom in the sun.
May his reign never be forgotten.
The dias is a heavy stone lid covering the kings tomb. Lifting and moving the dais requires three characters acting in concert and each succeeding on a DC 20 Strength check. For each additional creature that helps, reduce the DC by 2. Beneath the dias is a circular stone crypt, 8 feet wide and 3 feet deep, containing a simple stone coffin.
Treasure
Within the stone coffin lie the remains of the dwarf king, his skeletal hands clutching his axe, Orcsplitter, to his breast. Orcsplitter is described in chapter 7. The kings bones lie atop a bed of 500 gold ingots stamped with the kings face on one side and the rising sun on the other. Tiny runes on each ingot testify to the greatness and longevity of the ancient kingdom of Besilmer. The gold ingots are worth 10 gp each.
Aftermath
Captured members of Drannins crew can divulge the location of the real Gargosh. He is imprisoned in a small cave on the riverbank near Yartar, locked in a large trunk with air holes and water. Gargosh can survive for four more days inside the trunk.
If the characters emerge from the dwarven crypts with Orcsplitter in their custody, the Harpers hiding in area X5 confront them under the open sky. They point out that Orcsplitter belongs in the hands of dwarven scholars. Theyll first appeal to the characters sense of altruism, but if that doesn’t work, the Harpers try to arrange an exchange of magic items. This is an opportunity for your players to ask for something-a specific weapon or two, perhaps-that suits their particular characters. If an agreement is reached, Ariana Riverlost promises to meet the characters again in two weeks, at a location chosen by them, with the agreed-upon payment.