This chapter is designed to advance a party of 1st-level characters to 5th level. The characters gain levels by accomplishing various goals, which are summarized in the Character Advancement sidebar at the end of the chapter. If the characters are already 5th level, skip ahead to chapter 2, “Rumblings,” using the information in appendix A if the characters are transitioning from another published adventure to this one.
Nightstone is a fortified settlement located a few miles south of the Ardeep Forest, in the untamed hills between Waterdeep and Daggerford. A lonely wooden signpost, standing where the trail to Nightstone meets the High Road, points the way to the settlement.
Nightstone’s closest neighbors are the elves of the Ardeep Forest. Hunters from Nightstone have incurred the elves' wrath on multiple occasions. However, elves are the least of the settlement’s problems, as fledgling heroes who come to Nightstone in search of adventure quickly discover.
The characters are traveling to Nightstone for one or more of the following reasons:
- The characters have heard rumors of goblins terrorizing the settlement. The High Steward of Nightstone, Lady Velrosa Nandar, is a Waterdhavian noble. She is reportedly offering a reward to anyone willing and able to deal with the goblin threat.
- Nightstone is a popular retreat for wealthy nobles who wish to hunt in the Ardeep Forest. Adventurers can earn good money by offering their services as guards on a hunt.
- The residents of Nightstone have a longstanding and seemingly irreconcilable conflict with their northern neighbors, the elves of the Ardeep Forest. Lady Velrosa Nandar has been searching for skilled mediators to help resolve the dispute.
- The Nightstone Inn is renowned for its food and cozy guest rooms. The dwarf innkeeper, Morak Ur’gray, has a fondness for adventurers and a nose for lucrative adventuring opportunities.
You can create other adventure hooks using the information presented in this chapter about Nightstone.
When you and the players are ready to get underway, read:
You’ve been traveling along the High Road for days. As evening approaches, you spot a wooden signpost next to a trail that heads north into the hills. Nailed to the post are three arrow-shaped signs. The two marked “Waterdeep” and “Daggerford” follow the High Road but point in opposite directions. The third, marked “Nightstone,” beckons you to follow the trail. If memory serves, Nightstone is roughly ten miles up the trail.
Nightstone
Read the following boxed text as the characters approach Nightstone. You can adjust the boxed text for the time of day or night when the party arrives.
After following the trail for ten miles, you hear the ringing of a bell. The sound grows louder as Nightstone comes into view. A river flows around the settlement, forming a moat. The village itself is contained within a wooden palisade, beyond which you see a windmill, a tall steeple, and the high-pitched rooftops of several other buildings. Apart from the ringing of the bell, you detect no other activity in the village. The trail ends before a lowered draw bridge that spans the moat. Beyond the drawbridge, two stone watchtowers flank an open gap in the palisade.
South of the village and surrounded by the river moat is a cone-shaped, flat-topped hill on which stands a stone keep enclosed by a wooden wall. The keep, which overlooks the village, has partially collapsed. A wooden bridge that once connected the keep to the village has also partially collapsed.
Nightstone got its name from a massive chunk of obsidian that once stood in the middle of the village square. The obsidian megalith had strange glyphs carved into it and radiated magic under the scrutiny of
Three days ago, a cloud giant castle passed over Nightstone and dropped large rocks on the settlement and its keep. Unable to defend themselves against the bombardment, villagers who weren’t killed in the attack lowered the drawbridge and fled into the nearby hills, taking refuge in some caves. Once the village was abandoned, four cloud giants descended from the sky, uprooted the nightstone, and bore it back to their castle for further study, believing it to be an Ostorian artifact. The cloud castle then drifted away with its prize.
The villagers were surprised to find a clan of goblins and an allied pair of ogres lurking in the caves. The villagers were ambushed, captured, and brought before Hark, the goblin boss. Hark interrogated them, learned of the giant attack on Nightstone, and sent a band of goblins to plunder the abandoned village. Characters who capture and interrogate these goblins can learn where the villagers are located.
The following warning signs indicate that all is not well in Nightstone:
- The drawbridge (area 1) is lowered, and the perimeter watchtowers (area 2) are unguarded.
- The temple bell (area 5) won’t stop ringing.
- The keep (area 14) and the bridge that connects it to the village (area 11) have partially collapsed.
Goblins are scouring the village for treasure. They have unwisely spread themselves thin, providing adventurers with an opportunity to pick them off one or two at a time. A goblin that is alone and outnumbered might try to flee if it takes damage, at your discretion. If possible, the goblin retreats to the temple (area 5). See the “Nightstone: General Features” sidebar for information about the settlement. Map 1.1 shows its layout. The sections that follow describe locations on that map.
Nightstone: General Features
Nightstone is a motte-and-bailey fortification built on the Ardeep River. The settlement’s general features are summarized here.
Bailey. A 15-foot-high wooden palisade encloses the village bailey. The palisade’s logs rise to sharpened points, and the gaps between the logs are sealed with tar. The palisade and its stone watchtowers (see area 2) can’t be climbed without the aid of climbing gear or magic, such as a
All the buildings in the village except the watchtowers are made of wood and have steep, shingled rooftops. Muddy paths connect them.
Moat. Water from the river fills the moat to a depth of 15 feet. The moat is 30 feet wide, narrowing to a width of 20 feet under the drawbridge (area 1). The moat is home to schools of trout.
Motte. The keep overlooking the village stands atop a constructed, funnel-shaped hill called a motte. The rocky slopes of the motte are covered with loose shale, and scaling these slopes without climbing gear requires a successful DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check.
Encircling the motte’s keep is an 8-foot-high stone parapet with a 15-foot-high outer curtain wall made of thick wooden planks perforated with shuttered archer windows. The outer walls of the keep are made of smooth, tightly fitted stone bricks. The keep and the outer curtain wall can’t be climbed without the aid of climbing gear or magic, such as a
Rocks. As the characters explore Nightstone, they see ample evidence of the giants' attack: rocks embedded in the earth, holes punched through rooftops, shattered wreckage, and dead villagers buried under piles of debris. The cloud giants' rocks are 3 feet in diameter and weigh 500 pounds each.
1. Drawbridge
The drawbridge is lowered when the party first arrives. It is 20 feet long, 10 feet wide, and made of sturdy oak planks. Iron chains bolted to the drawbridge connect to winch mechanisms in the nearby watchtowers (area 2a).
Footprints
Characters who search the area west of the drawbridge see several humanoid tracks in the grass and dirt. A successful DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) check reveals that most of the tracks (made by several dozen fleeing villagers) lead north. A successful check also reveals smaller humanoid tracks (made by roughly a dozen goblins) heading from the north toward the drawbridge, as well as two sets of unusually large wolf tracks (made by the worgs in area 3) heading in the same direction.
2. Watchtowers
Seven stone watchtowers stand along the village perimeter. Each tower is 20 feet tall, with a roof enclosed by crenellated battlements. Inside each tower is a wooden ladder that leads to an unlocked trapdoor in the roof.
2a. West Towers
Two watchtowers flank the entrance to the village, forming a gatehouse of sorts. Each tower contains a winch, and both mechanisms must be turned to extend or retract the chains that raise and lower the drawbridge. If both winches are operated simultaneously, it takes 1 round to raise or lower the drawbridge by 30 degrees. In other words, the fully lowered drawbridge can be fully raised in 3 rounds.
2b. Northwest Tower
This watchtower stands between the village’s two graveyards (areas 6a and 6b). It contains nothing of interest.
2c. Northeast Tower
Two pigs are chewing on some grass near the base of this tower. The pigs escaped from their pen (area 4c) and are harmless. The tower is empty.
2d. East Tower
The door to this tower is ajar, and a greedy goblin named Gwerk lurks within. Gwerk stole a silver locket from a nearby residence (area 4e) and is quietly admiring it. She’s afraid the other goblins might try to take it from her.
Treasure
Gwerk’s silver locket is shaped like a fish and contains a painted portrait of a rosy-cheeked male halfling named Larlow. The locket belongs to Larlow’s widow, Taela Summerhawk, and is worth 25 gp. Taela is in the Dripping Caves (see area 4, map 1.2).
2e. Southeast Tower
The door to this tower is ajar. Unless they are drawn to area 4g by sounds of combat, two goblin named Larv and Snokk are searching the tower for treasure.
Treasure
Larv carries a sack filled with stolen utensils (worthless) and three vials of perfume (worth 5 gp each). Snokk carries a sack containing a stuffed blood hawk (worthless) and a battered copper flagon emblazoned with the grinning visage of a halfling (worth 1 gp).
2f. Southwest Tower
A falling rock punched through the roof of this tower, collapsing everything but the outermost wall. A search of the debris unearths the broken remains of a ladder and a battered wooden door with broken hinges.
3. Square
Two worg slaughtered a dog and are feasting on its remains in the northeast corner of the village square. The worgs move to attack any characters who enter the square. The worgs fight to the death. If combat erupts in the square and the temple bell has been silenced, the goblins in areas 4c and 9 hear the noise and investigate. They stay on the fringes of the battlefield and shoot arrows at the characters.
The square is a muddy open area with a 5-foot-deep hole in the middle of it. The nightstone once stood here, but the cloud giants took the megalith and left the hole behind. North of the hole is a covered well. Other features of the village square include an empty wooden cart and a couple of tethering posts planted firmly in the ground. From the square, characters can see signs identifying the Nightstone Inn (area 8) and the Lionshield Coster trading post (area 9).
4. Residences
The village contains eight cottages, each one belonging to a different local family. Half of the homes were badly damaged during the cloud giants' bombardment.
A typical cottage has a 10-foot-square front room that serves as a kitchen and dining area, and a 10-foot-by-15 foot back room where the residents sleep.
4a. Delfryndel Residence
This cottage belongs to the Delfryndels, a human family that owned and operated the windmill (area 10). The goblins have already rummaged through the residence, taking anything of value and leaving the interior in disarray.
4b. Osstra Farm
A giant rock destroyed the back room of the Osstra residence, and two more rocks are embedded in the garden where the family grew wheat. Goblins searched the home for treasure and dumped everything they didn’t want onto the floor.
4c. Southwell Farm
This residence belonged to a middle-aged human woman named Semile Southwell, who raised pigs and chickens. Semile was killed when a rock fell on her house. Characters searching through the wreckage find Semile’s crushed body.
A muddy fenced-in yard next to the Southwell residence contains wooden feeding troughs and chicken coops. Unless they are drawn to the village square by sounds of combat there, two goblin named Pojo and Tot are in the yard, chasing after a pair of chickens that escaped from one of the coops. The goblins attack characters on sight. If one is killed, the other flees.
Treasure
Pojo has a pouch containing a gold ring (worth 25 gp), which he pulled from Semile Southwell’s dead hand. Tot carries a pouch that holds 5 cp and a sack containing a live chicken.
4d. Hulvaarn Farm
The Hulvaarns are human farmers, and their cottage backs onto a fenced-in potato and turnip garden. The cottage wasn’t damaged during the cloud giants' bombardment, but a rock fell on the garden and killed Nestor Hulvaarn, the family patriarch, on impact. His crushed corpse is visible underneath the rock.
The cottage door hangs open. Goblins have already searched the interior for treasure, finding nothing of value but leaving the place in a shambles.
4e. Summerhawk Residence
The Summerhawks, a family of halflings, lived here. Taela Summerhawk and her husband, Larlow, were apothecaries. They also grew flowers, as evidenced by the small flower gardens and many flowerpots around their home. When a rock fell on the front room of their house, Larlow was killed instantly. Taela managed to escape with their four children.
Treasure
Goblins have already searched the cottage, but characters who conduct their own search and succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check find a hidey-hole under a loose floorboard containing an herbalism kit, a vial of antitoxin, and a pouch containing 15 gp.
4f. Agganor Residence
This cottage belongs to Destiny Agganor, the village’s tiefling midwife, and her adult son, Grin. The cottage has locked shutters over its windows. The door, which is also locked, has row upon row of ornate runes burned into it. Most villagers assume that the ornate runes are purely decorative, but any character who understands Infernal can translate the script as follows:
“Let all who enter this home without the consent of its owner burn for ninety-nine years in the depths of Nessus and freeze for a thousand more in the icy wastes of Cania.”
The goblins tried to enter the cottage but were thwarted by the locks. A character can use thieves' tools to pick the lock on the door or open a set of window shutters by succeeding on a DC 15 Dexterity check.
Treasure
A search of the cottage interior yields an unlocked wooden chest containing a golden holy symbol of Asmodeus (worth 75 gp), a healer’s kit, and a
4g. Nesper Farm
Two goblin are dancing in the garden behind this cottage, which belongs to the Nespers, a human family of pumpkin and squash farmers. The goblins, Blik and Flik, are wearing eyeless, hollowed-out pumpkins on their heads and playing a game of blind tag. While wearing the pumpkins, the goblins are effectively blinded.
If combat erupts here, the goblins in area 2e hear the disturbance and investigate.
The goblins have already looted the Nesper cottage, the front door to which hangs open. The cottage, though undamaged, has been thoroughly ransacked.
Treasure
Blik carries a pouch that contains 4 cp and 3 sp. Lying in the southwest corner of the garden is Flik’s sack of loot, which contains a tinderbox, a smoking pipe, a stuffed teddy bear, and boxed set of Three Dragon Ante cards (worth 1 gp).
4h. Xelbrin Residence
The Xelbrins were an elderly human couple who moved to Nightstone from Waterdeep four years ago at Lady Nandar’s request. Melantha Xelbrin served as the village’s notary and record keeper. She and her husband, Lathan, were killed when the roof of their cottage collapsed. Rillix, their pet tressym, lurks amid the wreckage. If the characters take the time to explore the cottage, Rillix flies out of the shadows, possibly startling one or more of them, before finding some place else to hide.
Treasure
The goblins haven’t yet looted the Xelbrin residence. Characters searching the cottage find the dead bodies of Lathan and Melantha. A search of Melantha’s desk also reveals evidence of her profession (wax seals, jars of ink, blank scrolls, quill pens, land ownership documents, and tax records), along with a money pouch containing 32 gp and 17 sp.
5. Temple
This wooden temple is dedicated to Lathander (god of the dawn) and Mielikki (goddess of forests). It has a slender steeple containing a large bronze bell, and stained glass windows depicting images of birth, the dawning sun, trees, and unicorns. When the characters first arrive here, the front door to the temple is wide open and the bell is ringing incessantly.
5a. Temple and Pulpit
Sunlight or moonlight pours into this high-vaulted chamber through four stained-glass windows set into the north and south walls. Beneath the windows are plain wooden benches for the elderly or infirm to sit on. The room is mostly empty otherwise. Standing against the back wall is a wooden pulpit with steps leading up to it. The floor of the temple is composed of dirt.
Set into the west wall, north of the pulpit, is a half open door, beyond which lies area 5b.
5b. Bedroom and Steeple
This back room contains a plain wooden bed where Hiral Mystrum, the village’s acolyte of Lathander, slept. The mattress has been torn open and its straw pulled out. The floor is strewn with the contents of two wooden chests: priestly vestments and worthless personal effects. The creatures responsible for the disarray are two goblin named Beedo and Vark.
The goblins are gleefully swinging on a knotted rope that hangs from the bell in the steeple. The sound of the bell delights the goblins, and they won’t stop ringing it until they perceive some threat to their well-being. If the characters enter the room, the goblins drop from the rope, brandish their scimitars, and attack.
Treasure
Each goblin has a sack lying on the steeple floor. Beedo’s sack contains three blocks of incense (worth 5 gp each), a silver holy symbol of Mielikki shaped like a unicorn’s head (worth 25 gp), and some stolen (and worthless) personal effects. Vark’s sack holds three empty vials that used to contain holy water (Vark drank them) and an unlocked wooden “poor box” containing 37 cp and 15 sp.
6. Graveyards
Most of the villagers who perished since the founding of Nightstone are interred in these two graveyards. Almost half of them died when wood elves attacked the village five years ago (see “The Nandars of Nightstone” sidebar).
6a. Nandar Crypt and Graveyard
Narrow footpaths meander among the graves, most of which are marked with granite headstones. A couple of these markers were destroyed when a giant rock fell on them.
In the northeast corner stands an aboveground crypt with the name Nandar engraved over its sealed entrance. Cracking the door seal requires a crowbar or similar tool and a successful DC 11 Strength (Athletics) check.
The Nandar crypt contains a stone bier, upon which rests a wooden coffin. The coffin can easily be pried open and holds the skeletal remains and tattered burial shroud of Lord Drezlin Nandar, the village’s founder, who died one year ago. Neither the coffin nor the crypt contains anything of value. If one or more characters remove any of Lord Nandar’s bones from the crypt, a specter forms in the crypt and attacks them. The specter can’t leave the graveyard and disappears when reduced to 0 hit points or when it has no enemies it can attack.
6b. North Graveyard
This graveyard was created when the one next to the temple ran out of space. It contains nothing of interest.
7. Stable House
The Nandar family (see “The Nandars of Nightstone” sidebar later in the chapter) procured horses for the village and kept them in this stable house. The panicked villagers left the horses behind after a rock punched through the stable house roof. Fortunately, none of the horses were harmed.
7a. Barn
The barn has a dirt floor. Five draft horses and five riding horses are confined to the wooden stalls that line the north and south walls. Hanging on the walls are bits, bridles, and leather saddles. Two wooden ladders allow easy access to the hayloft (area 7b).
Characters who enter the barn are attacked by the goblin hiding in the loft.
7b. Hayloft
The loft is filled with haystacks and sacks of oats. A goblin named Derp is searching the loft for treasure. If he detects enemies in the barn, Derp takes cover behind a haystack and shoots arrows at enemies below, drawing his scimitar only when forced into melee combat.
Treasure
Derp carries a coin pouch that holds 1 cp and a sack containing a wooden box engraved with the symbol of the Lionshield Coster (see area 9). Derp stole the box from the store, and packed inside it are ten silvered darts.
8. Nightstone Inn
A shield dwarf named Morak Ur’gray owns this establishment. An ornate wrought-iron sign bearing the inn’s name hangs above the entrance, facing the town square.
Morak is a natural leader. Realizing that the village couldn’t defend itself against the cloud giants' bombardment, he led his fellow villagers to the Dripping Caves. In the confusion and panic, Morak left behind his only guest at the time: Kella Darkhope, a Zhentarim spy posing as a traveling monk. Kella has nefarious plans for Nightstone and has no intention of abandoning the settlement (see area 8f for details).
8a. Dining Room
This room is strewn with wreckage. A giants' rock punched through the roof and landed here, destroying a dining table and a pair of long benches. The remains of a bed and a wardrobe (from the chamber above) lie among the shattered dining room furnishings. Two smaller round tables and several chairs remain intact, and resting atop each table is an unlit oil lamp. Characters exploring this room can hear someone rummaging through the kitchen (area 8b).
Lying on the floor in the middle of the room is a dead goblin with a crossbow bolt sticking out of its chest. The goblin fell prey to Kella Darkhope, who is spying on the room through the gaping hole in her bedroom floor (see area 8f). A character who inspects the corpse and succeeds on a DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine) check can determine that the wound is fresh, indicating that the goblin has been dead only a few minutes. If the characters linger here, Kella tries to eavesdrop on their conversation and learn more about them without revealing her location. Any character who peers up through the hole in the ceiling can spot Kella lurking in the shadows with a successful Wisdom (Perception) check contested by Kella’s Dexterity (Stealth) check.
8b. Kitchen and Pantry
A goblin named Gum-Gum is searching through the rubble of the inn’s pantry and stuffing edibles into a large sack that’s almost too heavy for her to drag, let alone carry. The northwest corner of the inn (pantry included) was destroyed by a falling rock. Most of the kitchen, however, was undamaged. Set into the north wall is a stone fireplace, and the floor is covered with broken dishware and scattered utensils.
If one or more characters confront Gum-Gum, she tries to flee with her hard-won loot. While dragging the heavily laden sack behind her, Gum-Gum suffers a 10 foot reduction to her speed.
Treasure
Gum-Gum’s sack contains several muffins, a block of cheese, a cooked chicken, a frying pan, an iron pot, a bullseye lantern, two flasks of oil, a set of cook’s utensils, a jar of cloves (worth 1 sp), a jar of saffron (worth 1 gp), a dented silver jug (worth 20 gp), and a cracked hourglass (worth 25 gp if repaired).
8c. Morak’s Bedroom
Most of the furnishings in Morak’s room were destroyed when a rock flattened the northwest corner of the inn. Hanging on the east wall is a tapestry depicting a mountain landscape, and tucked under the window in the southeast corner is a locked wooden chest. What remains of the floor is safe to walk on.
Treasure
A character can attempt to unlock the iron chest using thieves' tools, but the built-in lock is tricky and requires a successful DC 20 Dexterity check to open. The chest contains a suit of chain mail sized for a dwarf, a dwarven helm, a leather bag that holds 45 gp and two 100 gp gemstones, and a
8d. Guest Bedroom
This vacant bedroom contains two beds, an empty wardrobe, a desk, and a matching chair. An oil lamp sits on one corner of the desk, and another rests on a small table tucked between the two beds. A bearskin rug lies on the floor.
8e. Guest Bedroom
This room is similar in all respects to area 8d.
8f. Kella’s Bedroom
Kella Darkhope, a Zhentarim spy (NE female Chondathan human), lurks in the shadows of this room-or what’s left of it. A falling rock punched a hole in the roof and tore away most of the floor before coming to rest in the dining room (area 8a). It destroyed two beds and a wardrobe as it passed through the chamber, leaving a desk and chair tucked under the window in the northeast corner of the room unscathed.
Kella infiltrated Nightstone in the guise of a traveling monk and is waiting for Zhentarim reinforcements to arrive (see the “Seven Snakes” section). She had nothing to do with the cloud giant attack, but she intends to take over the village and turn it into a Black Network base. Her original plan was to drive away the Lionshield Coster and bully Lady Velrosa Nandar into subservience, but the cloud giant attack has left the abandoned village ripe for conquest while leaving its defenses more or less intact.
Kella isn’t alone. The morning after the cloud giants attacked, a flying snake carrying a message from her Zhent associates arrived. The snake belongs to Xolkin Alassandar (see the “Seven Snakes” section), and it now coils around Kella’s left arm. Its message is scrawled in Common on a strip of parchment in Kella’s possession. The message reads, “On our way.”
Treasure
In addition to her weapons and armor, Kella has a pouch containing 8 gp and 5 sp.
Development
Kella tries to remain hidden until the Seven Snakes arrive. If discovered, she pretends to be a guest who was knocked unconscious by falling debris and left behind after the giant attack. She claims that her escape was thwarted by the sudden arrival of the goblins, whom she believes have nothing to do with the giants. Characters can see through her ruse with a successful Wisdom (Insight) check contested by Kella’s Charisma (Deception) check. Any character who belongs to the Zhentarim recognizes the flying snake as a symbol of that faction. Kella claims it is merely her pet.
9. Trading Post
Mounted above this building’s entrance is a circular blue shield emblazoned with a stylized golden lion: the symbol of the Lionshield Coster, a trading company. The door to the trading post hangs open, and characters can hear a ruckus within.
The trading post consists of a 20-foot-square store and a 10-foot-by-20-foot side room containing storage shelves and a cot. The store’s proprietor was a Tethyrian human named Darthag Ulgar. He escaped the giant attack but didn’t survive long as a prisoner of the goblins (see the “Dripping Caves” section for details).
A goblin named Jilk is rummaging through the store’s contents and stuffing choice items into a backpack. He fights to the death if cornered here.
Treasure
During their initial search, the goblins pulled almost everything off the shelves and broke many of the store’s for-sale items, including bottles, lamps, ink jars, spice jars, and crockery. Nevertheless, many items remain intact. Characters who search the trading post can find anything on the Adventuring Gear table in chapter 5 of the Player’s Handbook that is worth 10 gp or less. Roll a
10. Windmill
Nightstone’s windmill stands atop a 10-foot-high grassy hill. Two sets of goblin tracks are clearly visible in the muddy path that leads up the hill to an open doorway in the northwest side of the windmill.
The windmill’s interior is dark, gloomy, and filled with wooden gears and cogs that help turn the millstone. Two goblin named Longo and Yek are climbing among the rafters near the roof, roughly 25 feet above the floor. They heckle intruders and shoot arrows at them while enjoying half cover against ranged attacks made from below.
Treasure
Longo and Yek are more interested in having fun than searching for treasure. They each carry a pouch that holds
11. Bridge
A 70-foot-long, 10-foot-wide sloped bridge used to connect the village bailey to the motte. However, a falling rock struck the bridge and destroyed a 15-foot-long section of it, cutting off Nandar Keep from the village.
A creature with a Strength score of 15 or higher can leap across the broken section of the bridge if it moves at least 10 feet before the jump. The jump is made more difficult by the fact that the bridge is sloped:
- A creature jumping from the lower part of the bridge to the higher part must succeed on a DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check to land on its feet. On a failed check, the creature falls prone at the broken edge of the bridge and takes 2 (
1d4 ) bludgeoning damage from the fall. - A creature jumping from the higher part of the bridge to the lower part must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to land on its feet. On a failed check, the creature tumbles to the bottom of the bridge, landing prone and taking 5 (
2d4 ) bludgeoning damage from the fall.
12. Gate to the Keep
Set into the motte’s curtain wall are two windowless stone gatehouses with wood-shingled, high-pitched rooftops. Between them stands a set of oak doors with iron hinges. The doors can be barred shut from within, but they aren’t barred when the characters first arrive. Characters can push open the doors to gain access to Nandar Keep and its bailey.
Gatehouses
The gatehouses are set aside as guard barracks. The east building contains six bunk beds (twelve beds in all) and a dozen footlockers containing worthless personal effects. The west building was similarly furnished, but a falling rock destroyed half the building’s contents. Characters searching the damaged gatehouse find the bodies of three human guards who died when the roof fell on them.
13. Inner Bailey
The cloud giants heavily bombarded the keep, and the inner bailey is strewn with rocks. Ramps lead up to the 8-foot-high stone parapet that encircles the yard. No guards are currently standing watch on the walls.
A search of the bailey yields the corpses of two dead human guards, both of whom were struck and killed by falling rocks.
Characters can enter the keep through the front door, or they can climb over rubble and enter the keep through one of its shattered walls. Treat rubble-filled areas as difficult terrain.
The Nandars of Nightstone
The beauty of Ardeep Forest and the mystique of its elven ruins have long attracted nobles from Waterdeep. The nobles of House Nandar had a hunting lodge in the forest two centuries ago, but elves forced them to abandon it. Ten years ago, members of House Nandar-Lord Drezlin Nandar and Lady Velrosa Nandar-decided it was time to return. They built a new motte-and-bailey settlement south of the Ardeep Forest and began making forays into the woods with friends to hunt and explore. Unknown to the Nandars, wood elves from Evermeet then settled in the forest, determined to protect the remnants of old elf empires from plunder and desecration. As in the past, the interests of the elves and Nandars were at cross purposes. A year ago, the conflict came to a head, and the elves attacked Nightstone. Drezlin was among the many slain-shot and killed by elf arrows while standing on the roof of his keep. His widow, Lady Velrosa Nandar, made peace with the elves and promised to make no further incursions into the Ardeep Forest-a promise she kept for the rest of her life. Velrosa was mortally wounded when the cloud giants bombarded Nightstone, leaving the village without a lord or lady to govern it.
14. Nandar Keep
The cloud giant attack left Nandar Keep in a sorry state and also claimed the life of Lady Velrosa Nandar, the High Steward of Nightstone. She was buried under rubble and died from her wounds before the castle guards could reach her. The few guards who remain are demoralized, in shock, and at each other’s throats.
14a. Great Hall
Half of the great hall lies buried under rubble. Four guard (NG male and female Illuskan humans) have placed the body of Lady Velrosa Nandar atop the shattered remains of an oak dining table and are arguing about next steps.
The guards' names are Sydiri Haunlar, Torem Breck, Alara Winterspell, and Kaelen Zam. No strong leader stands among them, so they turn to the characters for guidance and leadership. If the characters question the guards about what happened, they share the following information:
- Nightstone was bombarded by rocks dropped from a giant castle in the sky. The keep was cut off from the village when a rock tore away part of the bridge.
- With nowhere to hide, the people in the village lowered the drawbridge and fled north. In the event of an attack, the villagers are supposed to retreat to the keep; with the bridge out, that was no longer an option.
- North of Nightstone, about a mile away, are some bat caves. The villagers probably hid there.
- Several guards stationed in the village fled north with the villagers.
- Once the villagers had fled, four pale-skinned giants descended from the sky, uprooted the nightstone in the village square, and took it back to their castle. The cloud castle left soon thereafter, drifting eastward.
- Lady Nandar was in the great hall when the roof collapsed. She was buried under the rubble and died before anyone could reach her.
The great hall once served as a throne room and a dining room. Doors in the west wall lead to the kitchen (area 14b) and den (area 14c). Between these doors is a wooden staircase leading up to the second floor (area 14d).
Treasure
Lady Nandar wears a gold wedding ring set with tourmalines on the third finger of her left hand. The ring is nonmagical and worth 750 gp. The keep guards strongly object to anyone attempting to take the ring.
14b. Kitchen
This room is buried under rubble.
14c. Den and Library
This corner room consists of two levels. The lower level is the den. It is decorated with overstuffed chairs and bearskin rugs, and the walls are adorned with weapons, shields, and the mounted heads of wild animals. A decorative wooden ladder leads to a 20-foot-high circular balcony with a sculpted wooden railing. The upper level is a library, and its walls are lined with bookshelves. Lord Drezlin Nandar and his hunting companions used the den as a place to relax and tell stories, while Lady Velrosa Nandar used the library to store her collection of books on philosophy, nature, and poetry.
While the contents of this room held great sentimental value to the Nandars, there’s nothing particularly valuable to be found here.
14d. Upstairs Hall
This L-shaped hall is decorated with rich carpets, gilded sconces, and framed paintings of places in Waterdeep. A door at the north end of the hall leads to a stone balcony overlooking the entrance to the keep. Other doors lead to bedchambers, two of which have been destroyed. A wooden staircase in the west wall descends to the main floor. A similar staircase in the south wall climbs to the roof.
14e. Master Bedroom
This room is the only one of three bedchambers to survive the cloud giants' attack. Tapestries and oil lamps are mounted on the walls, and wolfskin rugs cover the wooden floor. The room’s centerpiece is a large bed, its ornate headboard sculpted with images of roses and foxes. Four wardrobes stand against the walls; each contains a season’s worth of women’s clothing, all in the latest fashions of Waterdeep. At the foot of the bed is an unlocked wooden chest.
Mounted above the door is a longsword. This weapon is actually a flying sword that attacks anyone who opens the chest. (Only Lady Nandar was able to open the chest without causing the sword to attack.) The guards in area 14a try to prevent anyone from looting the contents of the chest.
Treasure
The interior of the wooden chest is divided into small compartments. A thorough search yields a velvet sack containing 180 sp (money used to pay the guards), a silk pouch containing four 100 gp gemstones, and a silver jewelry box (worth 25 gp) containing three beautiful gold necklaces (worth 250 gp each).
14f. Roof
Falling rocks caused sections of the roof to collapse, but what remains of the roof is safe to walk on. A flag waves in the breeze atop a 30-foot-high wooden flagpole that rises from the northeast corner. The flag depicts the stylized head of a golden fox with a rose clenched in its teeth, on a purple background.
Special Events in Nightstone
The following special events can occur while the characters are in Nightstone. Ideally, the characters are 2nd level before either event occurs.
Seven Snakes
This event takes place after the characters rid Nightstone of its goblin infestation but before they have time to finish a long rest.
Seven Zhentarim mercenaries arrive at the village on horseback. If the drawbridge is lowered, they ride to the square and call out for Kella Darkhope. If the characters raised the drawbridge, the Zhents call out for someone to lower it. If she’s still alive, Kella tries to let them in.
The leader of the new arrivals is Xolkin Alassandar (LE male half-elf bandit captain), a charming, ruthless man in his mid-thirties. He and his six subordinates (LE male and female human bandit of various ethnicities) are mounted on seven riding horse. Known as the Seven Snakes, Xolkin’s band does “dirty work” for the Snail, a Zhent leader based in Daggerford (see the “Daggerford” section in chapter 3). Their current mission is to help Kella Darkhope turn Nightstone into a base for the Black Network. The settlement’s defensibility and its proximity to Waterdeep make it ideal for Zhentarim operations. The Seven Snakes had planned to infiltrate the village posing as bounty hunters in search of a wanted criminal (Kella), but they drop the ruse once it becomes apparent that the village is mostly abandoned.
Xolkin is in love with Kella and would do just about anything for her, even though he knows that she doesn’t feel the same way about him. If Kella is a prisoner, Xolkin tries to buy her freedom (see “Treasure”). Failing that, he tries to liberate her by force. If Kella wormed her way into the characters' good graces, she reveals her allegiance to the Zhentarim once the Seven Snakes are close enough to protect her. If the party includes one or more characters with strong ties to the Black Network, Kella tries to convince them to help secure the village as a Zhentarim base.
If the characters do nothing to oppose the Zhent mercenaries, Xolkin orders his men to raise the drawbridge while he uses his flying snake to send a message to the Snail, letting him know that the village is under the Black Network’s control. If the characters killed Xolkin’s flying snake, Xolkin orders one of his mercs to ride to Daggerford and report the news while the others “hold down the fort.” If combat erupts, Xolkin drinks his
The Zhents have no easy way to reach the keep and ignore it for the time being. That said, if the Zhents learn that some of Lady Nandar’s guards are holed up in the keep, they urge friendly characters to dispose of the guards. Similarly, if the characters are on friendly terms with the guards in the keep, the guards ask the characters to save the village from Zhentarim occupation.
The characters are under no obligation to rid Nightstone of Kella Darkhope and the Seven Snakes. If they defeat the Zhents or come to terms with them, allow the characters to take a long rest, if they wish, before continuing with the “Ear Seekers” event.
Treasure
Xolkin wears a gold ring (worth 25 gp) emblazoned with the symbol of the Zhentarim: a black winged serpent. He also carries a pouch that holds 4 pp, 13 gp, five 100 gp gemstones that he willingly trades for Kella’s life, and a
Each of the other mercenaries carries a pouch that holds
Ear Seekers
The wood elves of the Ardeep Forest are at war with a neighboring tribe of orcs called the Ear Seekers (so named because they wear necklaces made of elf ears). Gurrash, the orc war chief, recently led an attack on the forest. Unfortunately for the orcs, the elves were ready for them. More than half of the orc horde perished, and the surviving orcs were forced to flee. Gurrash and several orcs escape out of the forest, make their way south, and stumble upon Nightstone. Knowing that the elves aren’t far behind, Gurrash and his orcs try to fight their way into the village and make a stand there.
Gurrash, the orc war chief, is bleeding from wounds inflicted by elven arrows and has 60 hit points remaining. He leads a force consisting of twenty uninjured orc and an uninjured orc Eye of Gruumsh named Norgra One-Eye. Norgra is Gurrash’s lieutenant and assumes command if the war chief dies.
The orcs have no gear other than their weapons and armor. If the drawbridge is lowered, they rush toward it and try to storm the village, killing other creatures in their path. If the drawbridge is raised, the orcs swim across the moat and try to climb the palisade, with no success. After being thwarted by the palisade, Gurrash sends scouts downriver to find another point of entry. It takes these orcs 10 minutes to realize that they can enter the village through the gap in the palisade where the bridge (area 11) leads up to the keep. Once the orcs enter the village, they fight to the death and don’t take prisoners. Because the orcs don’t know what they’re up against, characters can try to hide in the village and pick off a few orcs at a time. They can also retreat to the keep, which the orcs ignore.
If the orcs lose more than half their number without gaining a foothold in the village, the survivors flee into the surrounding hills. Once the orcs are defeated, the characters can advance to 3rd level and head to the Dripping Caves to locate and retrieve the missing villagers. If they’re not sure where the villagers went, Kella Darkhope or the guards in the keep can point them in the right direction.
Strange Bedfellows. If the characters came to terms with the Black Network in the previous event and the Seven Snakes are still around when the orcs arrive, the Zhents help the party defend Nightstone. Xolkin and Kella aren’t heroes and don’t place themselves in unnecessary danger, but they are quick to raise the drawbridge or position defenders on the watchtowers as needed. Knowing that orcs are devastating melee combatants, the Zhents favor ranged attacks and try to keep the orcs at a distance.
Elves to the Rescue! If the characters are in danger of being overwhelmed by War Chief Gurrash and his bloodthirsty orcs, eight elves of the Ardeep Forest (CG male and female wood elf scout) arrive from the north to assist them. The leader of this band is a daring wood elf named Rond Arrowhome. He and his fellow elves have no love or respect for the residents of Nightstone, but they hate orcs more. Once the orcs are defeated, Rond yells out, “You’re welcome!” before leading the elves back to the Ardeep Forest. The elves aren’t looking to pick a fight or mend fences with Nightstone’s inhabitants, and they aren’t interested in any kind of reward.
Dripping Caves
The hills around Nightstone are riddled with caves. The villagers hid in the Dripping Caves, located a mile north of Nightstone, after the cloud giant attack. Characters who follow the villagers' tracks or are given directions discover a gaping cave mouth on the south face of a rocky hill topped with pine trees. Characters who use this entrance arrive in area 1 of the Dripping Caves.
If the characters take an hour to circle the hill, they find two other entrances. At the base of the hill, on the west side, is a narrow tunnel into which a stream flows. This tunnel is 40 feet long and leads to area 6. On the east side of the hill is a dry, 100-foot-long tunnel that gently slopes down to area 3a.
If the characters climb to the top of the hill and look around for other possible entrances, they find a natural chimney (a 5-foot-diameter shaft) that descends 50 feet to area 7. The chimney has abundant handholds and can be climbed with a successful DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check. No ability check is required if the characters use a rope or climbing gear.
A goblin clan driven from the Ardeep Forest by wood elves took refuge in the Dripping Caves a little over a month ago. A week later, while scouring the hills for food, they befriended a mated pair of ogres and lured them to the caves for protection. The goblins and ogres captured the Nightstone refugees and have started eating the villagers. Prisoners that the goblins haven’t eaten are doomed to meet a similar fate unless the adventurers intervene.
Hark, the goblin boss, isn’t an unreasonable creature. His instincts for self-preservation outweigh any natural animosity he feels toward his enemies or his prey. Characters can negotiate with Hark and avoid unnecessary bloodshed (see area 9), or they can kill Hark and his followers to win the villagers' freedom-the choice is theirs.
The characters should be 3rd level by the time they set foot in the Dripping Caves. Map 1.2 shows the caves' layout. The sections that follow describe locations on that map.
Dripping Caves: General Features
The Dripping Caves are naturally formed and have the following features in common.
Darkness. The Dripping Caves contain no light sources. The goblins and ogres rely on their darkvision to see.
Dripping Water. The caves get their name from the water that constantly drips from the stalactites in the main cavern (area 1). The sound of dripping water echoes throughout the complex but isn’t loud enough to drown out other distinctive noises.
Narrow Tunnels. The tunnels leading away from the main cavern (area 1) are 7 to 8 feet high and range in width from 2 to 5 feet. Ogres and other Large creatures can squeeze through these passages, but they suffer the normal penalties for doing so (see the “Squeezing into a Smaller Space” section in chapter 9 of the Player’s Handbook).
Walls. The walls are damp and slick, but thanks to an abundance of handholds and footholds, they can be climbed with a successful DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check.
1. Main Cavern
Characters who follow the villagers' tracks arrive at a yawning cave mouth, 12 feet wide and 20 feet high. Beyond the cave mouth is a vast cavern with a forest of stalagmites in its center and 10-foot-high ledges along its walls. Water drips from the stalactite-covered ceiling, which rises to a height of 30 feet in the middle of the cavern. Six naturally formed tunnels lead from this central cavern to other parts of the cave complex. The floor is littered with broken spears, broken shields, and drops of bat guano.
Characters who peer into the cave can see a male ogre bathing in a pool of mud (see area 1b). Those with darkvision can also see one or more goblin sentries on ledges (see area 1a). If the characters are carrying light sources or making a lot of noise, the creatures in areas 1a, 1b, and 1c detect them and attack.
1a. Ledges
Ten-foot-high ledges of rock have formed along the walls of the cavern. Climbing up to a ledge or safely descending from one requires a successful DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check.
Five goblin stand guard on the ledges-one on each ledge marked with a “1a” tag on the map. Their names are Gleek, Lop, Nitch, Pox, and Slibberdabber. When they detect intruders, the goblins cry out “Bree-yark!” and begin shooting arrows. Their cries of alarm put the rest of the cave complex on alert, but no reinforcements arrive.
1b. Hot Mud Bath
A male ogre named Nob bathes in a 5-foot-deep pool of hot mud near the cave entrance. The pool is heated by a natural vent that keeps the temperature of the mud around 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Nob doesn’t carry any javelins but keeps his greatclub in the pool with him. The mud pool is considered difficult terrain.
Nob and his mate (see area 1c) work for Boss Hark, who browbeats them into service with his superior intellect and nasty disposition. Nob tries to crush enemies with his greatclub. If his enemies try to flee, Nob and his mate chase after them.
1c. Stalagmite Forest
A cluster of stalagmites has formed in the middle of the cavern. The stalagmites range in height from 3 to 15 feet. In the middle of the stalagmite “forest” is a clear space. The ogres have turned this space into a den, and a female ogre named Thog is sleeping here when the characters first arrive. She awakens to sounds of combat or cries of alarm, and either hurls javelins or wades into battle with her greatclub. A search of the ogres' den yields nothing of value.
1d. Polluted Pool
A shallow pool has formed against the northeast wall of the cavern, the floor of which is lower here. Runoff from the pool trickles eastward into area 4. The water is polluted with toxic minerals and is unfit for drinking.
2. Goblin Warrens
A tunnel that the ogres find uncomfortably narrow leads to a cramped network of caves where the weakest members of the goblin tribe live. These goblins cower in their dens and avoid getting into fights with armed adventurers. If threatened, they cry and beg for mercy. Each has AC 10, 1 hit point, and no effective attacks.
2a. Sleeping Caves
Six of these caves are marked on the Dripping Caves map, and each one contains
2b. Cave of Bones
The goblins discard the bones of the creatures they devour here. The floor of the cave is littered with the bones of small animals (mostly bats) and a few unlucky humanoids, including some recently eaten villagers. A search of the area yields no treasure.
3. East Caves
After a few unfortunate run-ins with the monster in area 3a, the goblins avoid this tunnel. The goblins refer to the monster as the Blob.
3a. The Blob
Stalactites and stalagmites crowd this 20-foot-high, 15-foot-wide cave. Rising up from the middle of the floor is a particularly large (10-foot-tall) stalagmite riddled with 4-inch-wide, 12-inch-deep naturally formed holes that bore down into a hollow central cavity. Lying near the base of the stalagmite are the badly corroded remains of two goblin scimitars.
A black pudding has taken residence inside the stalagmite’s hollow core, and the holes in the stalagmite’s “shell” are wide enough that a character can stick an arm, a staff, or a weapon into any one of them. The pudding makes a free pseudopod attack against anything that is inserted into one of the stalagmite’s holes.
The pudding has total cover while inside the stalagmite’s core. If left undisturbed, the pudding remains inside the stalagmite until the characters make their way toward area 3b, whereupon it quietly emerges and follows them. Once the characters are trapped in area 3b, the pudding attacks.
East Tunnel. This 5-foot-wide, 7-foot-high tunnel slopes gently upward as it travels east. After 100 feet, it breaks through the east side of the hill.
3b. Water Supply
A small waterfall pouring from the 8-foot-high ceiling forms a 5-foot-deep pool at the southwest end of the cave. The goblins used to come here to drink fresh water, but they stopped visiting the cave when the black pudding in area 3a started picking them off.
Growing near the southeast wall is a patch of twenty green mushrooms. A character who inspects the mushrooms and succeeds on a DC 10 Intelligence (Nature) check can ascertain that they are poisonous. Any creature that ingests a mushroom must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or take 1 poison damage and be poisoned for 1 hour. The effects of eating multiple mushrooms are cumulative.
4. Bats and Prisoners
A short tunnel leads to a sunken cavern that echoes with the sound of flapping wings. The sound emanates from a naturally formed pit in the cavern’s floor, which is covered with bat guano. Ten-foot-high ledges surround the pit and form raised alcoves to the north, east, and south. Huddled in these alcoves are thirty Nightstone villagers. The villagers are prisoners of the goblins and ogres, and they are trying to remain as quiet as possible for reasons that might not be readily apparent to the characters.
Directly below this cavern is another similarly sized cavern filled with thousands of bats. Any loud noise in either cavern agitates the bats. When the bats become agitated, have the characters roll initiative. On initiative count 10, the bats fly up the pit and flutter about the upper cave, shrieking loudly. The fluttering bats reduce visibility in the upper cavern to 5 feet. A creature takes 1 piercing damage whenever it enters a 5-foot-square area filled with fluttering bats. At the start of each of the bats' turns, roll a
The pit descends through 20 feet of solid rock before opening into the lower cavern, which is 30 feet deep.
Nightstone Villagers
Boss Hark stripped the villagers of their weapons before herding them into this cavern. The villagers fear for their lives but can’t escape the Dripping Caves until the monsters in area 1 are defeated. Every few hours, one of the ogres enters the cave, grabs a prisoner, and takes the unfortunate villager away to be eaten (if not by the ogres, then by the goblins in area 2 or the giant rats in area 9).
In the absence of a true leader, Morak Ur’gray (LG male shield dwarf commoner), the owner and proprietor of the Nightstone Inn, speaks on behalf of the villagers. Morak is an optimist, and he’s counting on Lady Velrosa Nandar coming to the rescue. When he lays eyes on the adventurers, he breathes a sigh of relief and assumes they were hired by Lady Nandar. (He would be dismayed to learn that she didn’t survive the attack on Nightstone.)
Other noteworthy prisoners trapped in the cavern include Hiral Mystrum (LG male Tethyrian human commoner), the village’s cowardly priest of Lathander, and six unarmed guards (LN male and female guard of various ethnicities). The guards were wounded by the goblins and ogres in the process of being captured; each has only
The other prisoners found here are surviving members of local families. All the adults are unarmed commoner, and all the children are noncombatants. They let Morak speak on their behalf. The families are as follows:
Agganor Family. Destiny Agganor (age 42) is Nightstone’s tiefling midwife. Her son, Grin Agganor (age 27), worked in the village’s stable house, feeding the horses and cleaning the stalls for Lady Nandar. Destiny worships Asmodeus but doesn’t impose her beliefs on anyone else, including her son.
Delfryndel Family. The Delfryndels are Tethyrian humans. They own and operate Nightstone’s windmill. The surviving family members are Renarra Delfryndel (age 64), her youngest son Zalf (age 40), his wife Elize (age 37), and their two adolescent children, Darson (age 17) and Hildy (age 14). No family members died in the giant attack, but Renarra’s eldest son, Olaf, was killed and eaten by the goblins.
Hulvaarn Family. The Hulvaarns are Damaran human potato and turnip farmers. The surviving family members are Godrick Hulvaarn (age 32), his wife Prennis (age 30), and their three children: daughter Jehanna (age 12) and twin sons Ellis and Ghalt (age 9). The children lost their grandfather (Godrick’s father, Nestor) in the giant attack on Nightstone.
Nesper Family. The Nespers are Tethyrian human pumpkin and squash farmers. None of them were killed in the giant attack, but three of them died at the hands of the goblins and ogres in the Dripping Caves. The remaining family members are Yondra (age 15) and her brother Sarvin (age 11). They lost both of their parents and an older sister named Sylda.
Osstra Family. The Osstras are Tethyrian human wheat farmers. The surviving family members include Thelbin Osstra (age 52) and his husband, Brynn (age 52), and their good-hearted nephew, Broland (age 23). Brynn lost his elderly mother and younger sister (Broland’s mother) to the goblins.
Summerhawk Family. The Summerhawks are strongheart halflings. Taela Summerhawk (age 28), an apothecary, comforts her four young children, Barley (age 10), Midge (age 8), Nincy (age 6), and Dollop (age 3). Taela’s husband, Larlow, was killed in Nightstone when a rock fell on their house.
5. Fissure
An 8-foot-wide, 20-foot-deep fissure splits a tunnel leading north. The goblins won’t cross the fissure and haven’t explored the tunnel. Where the tunnel leads is up to you. It might break the surface at some point, or it might lead to a monster’s lair or the Ardeep Forest. If you don’t want the characters wandering too far afield, inform the players that the tunnel collapsed after a few hundred feet, forcing the characters to turn back.
6. Underground Stream
An ankle-deep stream of water pours through a narrow tunnel in the west wall and forms a small pool in this otherwise empty cave. The water doesn’t taste good because of its high mineral content, but the goblins have been forced to drink it because their supply of fresh water has been cut off (see area 3).
If the characters enter the caves undetected and take refuge here, there’s a 50 percent chance each hour that a goblin noncombatant enters the cave, looking for a drink of water. The goblin flees at the sight of intruders, heading north to area 9. The goblin has AC 10, 1 hit point, and no effective attacks.
7. Natural Chimney
A chimney has formed in the 7-foot-high ceiling of this small side cave. The chimney is 5 feet wide and has abundant handholds and footholds. A creature can climb up or down the shaft with a successful DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check. No ability check is required if a rope or climbing gear is used.
An unscrupulous and ambitious goblin named Snigbat stands guard at the bottom of the shaft. Snigbat’s job is to watch for intruders and report what she sees to Boss Hark. Snigbat considers this duty a form of punishment. If she sees one or more well-armed adventurers, Snigbat offers to lead them to Boss Hark if they promise to kill Hark and help Snigbat become the new boss. Snigbat knows where Hark keeps his treasure (area 8) but doesn’t share this information with the characters in the hopes that she might get it.
Development
If the characters form an alliance with Snigbat and dispose of Hark, Snigbat asks them to slay the ogres in the main cavern (area 1), since she has no influence over them. With Hark and the ogres dead, Snigbat can seize the title of boss without being challenged. Once she becomes the new boss, she allows the characters and the villagers of Nightstone to leave the Dripping Caves unharmed.
8. Hark’s Hoard
A large round rock fills the low, 4-foot-diameter tunnel leading to this cave. The boulder fits snugly in the tunnel and must be pushed into the cave to clear the passage. Moving the boulder out of the way requires a successful DC 11 Strength (Athletics) check. The sound of the rolling boulder is loud enough to be heard by the creatures in area 9.
The cave has an 8-foot-high ceiling and contains a grass pallet (Hark’s bed), next to which rests a battered wooden chest with a rusty lock. The lock is purely for show and falls apart if handled roughly.
Treasure
The chest contains the treasure that Boss Hark has amassed in his short lifetime:
- 12 gp, 55 sp, and 87 cp (loose)
- A matching pair of silver salt and pepper shakers (worth 10 gp apiece or 25 gp for the pair)
- A bloodstained leather case containing a complete set of thieves' tools (worth 25 gp)
- A holy symbol of Silvanus carved from wood and inlaid with gold (worth 25 gp)
- One magic item, determined randomly by rolling on Magic Item Table A in chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide.
9. Boss Hark’s Cave
This 10-foot-high cave contains Hark, the goblin boss, two female goblin (bodyguards) named Ratcha and Zukluk, and seven giant rat (Hark’s beloved pets). When the characters enter the cave for the first time, Hark and his bodyguards are gleefully watching the rats feed on the corpse of a slain villager (Darthag Ulgar, the proprietor of the Lionshield Coster trading post).
Hark has collected all the weapons and shields belonging to the captured villagers and stashed the equipment in a western alcove behind rocks. Characters who search the cache find nine spears, five clubs, two daggers, and six wooden shields.
Hark’s Larder
At the north end of the cave is a smaller cave where Boss Hark keeps prisoners before feeding them to his giant rats. Cowering in the back of this 6-foot-high larder is Lady Velrosa Nandar’s terrified lady-in-waiting, Daphne Featherstone (LG female Tethyrian human commoner). Daphne was in the village when the cloud giants attacked. Unable to make it back to Nandar Keep, Daphne fled to the Dripping Caves with the other villagers-a decision she has come to regret. If she learns that Lady Nandar is dead, Daphne becomes inconsolable.
Dealing With Hark
Characters can try to negotiate with Hark instead of attacking him. He agrees to release the remaining villagers if the characters do one of the following things (and leave the goblin lair in peace):
- Pay a ransom of 1 gold piece per villager. (The total amount is 31 gp, minus 1 gp for each villager who has died since the characters arrived at the caves.)
- Give Hark a working lock. Hark needs the new lock for his treasure chest in area 8.
- Kill the Blob (see area 3). If the characters provide Hark with proof of the black pudding’s demise, he releases all the villagers into their custody.
Morak’s Quest
Characters who survive the perils of the Dripping Caves and return to Nightstone should advance to 4th level.
Once he is safely back in the village, Morak Ur’gray takes stock of the damage, makes arrangements to deliver news of the giants' attack to Waterdeep, and urges the characters to undertake one of the following three quests. If Morak died in the Dripping Caves, another NPC can give the quest in his place. Choose whichever quest you like. Your choice will determine whether the characters visit Bryn Shander, Goldenfields, or Triboar in the next leg of the adventure (see chapter 2).
Whether or not the characters accept Morak’s quest, continue with the “Tower of Zephyros” section.
Bryn Shander Quest
Morak’s friend and neighbor, Semile Southwell, was killed in the giant attack. Although she had no family in Nightstone, Semile spoke often about her brother, Markham. Morak knows that Markham is the sheriff of Bryn Shander and asks the characters to travel to Icewind Dale and deliver the sad news of Semile’s passing.
Goldenfields Quest
The Xelbrins were killed in their home when the giants bombarded the village (see “Nightstone,” area 4h). Morak recalls that the elderly couple had a son, Miros, who lives in Goldenfields. Morak asks the characters to visit Goldenfields and let Miros know what has happened. If the Xelbrins' tressym is still alive, Morak asks the characters to deliver it safely to Miros.
Triboar Quest
Morak’s friend and neighbor, Darthag Ulgar, was eaten by giant rats. Darthag ran the Lionshield Coster trading post in Nightstone, and his ex-wife runs a similar trading post in Triboar. Morak asks the characters to travel to Triboar and deliver the sad news of Darthag’s passing to Alaestra Ulgar.
Tower of Zephyros
The day after the characters accept Morak’s quest, they have their first encounter with a giant. Read or paraphrase the following boxed text to the players:
You see an enormous tower floating on a billowy cloud a thousand feet overhead. The tower must be hundreds of feet tall, and its spire looks strangely like a pointy wizard’s hat. As the tower drifts closer, stairs made of clouds begin to form underneath it and descend toward you.
Map 1.3 shows the tower. The stairs are made of firm cloud stuff and spiral downward, stopping just short of the ground. They are sized for humans and safe to climb. After climbing the stairs for 1,000 feet, the characters stand in front of the tower’s entrance, on a cloud that feels as firm and safe as solid ground. If the characters enter the first floor of the tower, a cloud giant wizard named Zephyros descends from the second floor (using a
Zephyros is an eccentric cloud giant with windswept white hair, a wispy white beard, and a billowy purple robe adorned with gold stars. He poses no threat to Nightstone or the characters.
Ever since the ordning shattered, Zephyros has been using contact other plane spells to find a way to set things right. Failed castings of the spell have driven him insane on multiple occasions. He has recovered from the madness, yet it has accentuated his eccentricity. His magical investigations led him to Nightstone. He had nothing to do with the cloud giant attack on the settlement and is horrified to learn of the damage his fellow giants caused.
Zephyros holds “small folk” in higher regard than most giants. If the characters introduce themselves to him, a wide smile settles on the cloud giant’s face as he realizes they are the ones mentioned by the mysterious planar entities with which he has spoken. Convinced that the characters can restore the ordning, Zephyros offers to transport them to one destination of their choice in the North. That is the extent of his involvement. The planar entities with whom Zephyros has spoken via the
If the characters ask Zephyros to take them somewhere other than Bryn Shander, Goldenfields, or Triboar, Zephyros (eccentric wizard that he is) gets a little befuddled and ends up taking them to one of these places by accident.
Zephyros is a cloud giant, with the following changes:
- Zephyros is neutral good.
- He has an Intelligence score of 18 (+4) and the spellcasting feature described below.
- He carries a giant-sized staff of the magi instead of a morningstar. As an action, he can make two melee attacks with the staff. Each attack has a +15 bonus to hit and deals 20 (
3d6+10 ) bludgeoning damage on a hit, or 23 (3d8+10 ) bludgeoning damage if used with two hands. This damage is considered magical. - He has a challenge rating of 13 (10,000 XP).
Spellcasting. Zephyros is a 12th-level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 17, +11 to hit with spell attacks). He has the following wizard spells prepared:
- Cantrips (at will):
mending ,message ,prestidigitation ,ray of frost ,shocking grasp - 1st level (4 slots):
charm person ,comprehend languages ,magic missile ,shield - 2nd level (3 slots):
crown of madness ,gust of wind ,levitate - 3rd level (3 slots):
nondetection ,protection from energy ,tongues - 4th level (3 slots):
conjure minor elementals ,greater invisibility ,Otiluke’s resilient sphere - 5th level (2 slots):
cone of cold ,contact other plane - 6th level (1 slot):
mass suggestion
Zephyros’s tower has no fitting accommodations for small folk, but the cloud giant wizard allows the party to camp on the first floor. He requests that the characters confine their activities to the first floor and stay away from the second floor and the aerie. Zephyros controls the tower’s movements using a navigation orb on the second floor.
The Tower of Zephyros Travel Times table summarizes how long it takes the tower to travel from Nightstone to Bryn Shander, Goldenfields, or Triboar. Regardless of their ultimate destination, the characters have at least one encounter en route (see the “Unfriendly Skies” section for details).
Tower of Zephyros Travel Times
| Destination | Travel | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Bryn Shander | 624 hours | (26 days) |
| Goldenfields | 72 hours | (3 days) |
| Triboar | 275 hours | (11½ days) |
First Floor
The tower rests atop a cloud that feels solid underfoot. An open archway leads to an empty vestibule, at the back of which hangs a thin, translucent blue curtain that flaps in the breeze. Beyond the curtain lies a 100-foot high hexagonal chamber containing a giant-sized wooden table and stone chair. Dangling from the ceiling by iron chains are six crystal spheres with
The tower’s second floor can be seen through a 20-foot-wide hole in the soaring ceiling.
Second Floor
This level of the tower has an 80-foot-high ceiling and tall, slender windows set with panes of stained glass. Furnishings include a giant-sized bed and an enormous wooden chest sealed by an
Floating 10 feet above the floor is a
Zephyros uses magic to move between levels. A 20-foot-diameter hole in the floor allows access to the first level, the floor of which is 100 feet below. A similarly sized hole in the ceiling leads to the aerie.
Treasure
The wooden chest is 9 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 5 feet tall. It contains an assortment of giant-sized robes, a giant pair of sandals, a large electrum comb encrusted with moonstones (worth 750 gp and weighing 25 pounds), and Zephyros’s spellbook. The spellbook weighs 250 pounds has gilded silver covers. It contains all the spells that Zephyros has prepared plus the following additional spells:
Zephyros’s library contains more than five hundred research journals that he wrote himself. For the past fifty years, Zephyros has been drifting around the Moonshae Isles and cataloging its many wonders, both magical and mundane. Each book weighs 100 pounds, consolidates a month’s worth of research, and is worth as much as 250 gp.
Aerie
The highest level of the tower has open archways set into its walls. Four griffon have made nests in the aerie, and Zephyros treats them like cats. At any given time,
Unfriendly Skies
One or both of the following encounters occur while the characters are traveling with Zephyros. If the characters are making the journey on their own, without the cloud giant’s assistance, skip this section and use the Random Wilderness Encounters table in chapter 3 to generate overland encounters.
Day 3: The Howling Hatred
On the third day of the party’s journey, representatives of an evil elemental cult called the Howling Hatred arrive at Zephyros’s tower, hoping to find a powerful cloud giant ally whose goals coincide with those of Yan-C-Bin, the Prince of Evil Air.
The cultists use giant vultures as flying mounts. When they spot the cloud giant’s tower, they investigate. The cultists land outside the tower’s entrance on the first floor. Zephyros is sleeping on the second floor when they arrive and only becomes aware of visitors if the characters wake him or if combat erupts.
On the third day of your journey, you spot nine very thin and lightly armored humans riding giant vultures. They land atop the cloud, whereupon the humans dismount. All the riders wear steel helms that cover their eyes and resemble stylized bird heads. One of them is equipped with a shoulder bag adorned with a smiling face.
The visitors include two cult fanatic (NE male Illuskan humans) and seven cultist (NE male and female humans of various ethnicities). The cultists try to enter the tower while their nine giant vulture remain outside. The vultures allow only members of the cult to ride them, and they attack anyone else who approaches within 5 feet of them. A character who dons a cultist’s costume can, with a successful DC 12 Charisma (Animal Handling) check, fool a giant vulture into allowing him or her to ride it. The giant vulture attacks the character if the check fails.
The cult fanatics are named Amarath and N’von. They speak for the rest of the group and claim to speak on behalf of Yan-C-Bin as well. Amarath and N’von wish to make contact with a cloud giant and have no interest in dealing with anyone else. If the characters get in the way, the cultists ignore them and call out for master of the tower. If the characters get pushy or turn violent, the cultists attack them.
Amarath carries a magic bag (see “Treasure”) with an invisible stalker inside it. On his first turn in combat, Amarath releases the invisible stalker and commands it to attack the cult’s enemies.
Treasure:
Amarath’s “smiling bag” is actually a
One pinch of the pixie dust can substitute for the material components of any enchantment spell of 3rd level or lower. The pixie dust has other magical effects as well. If a pinch of pixie dust is sprinkled on a creature, roll percentile dice and consult the Pixie Dust table to determine the effect.
Pixie Dust
| d100 | Magical Effect |
|---|---|
| 01-70 | The creature sprinkled with dust gains a flying speed of 60 feet for 10 minutes. |
| 71-80 | The creature sprinkled with dust must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or fall unconscious for 1 minute. The creature awakens if it takes damage or if it is shaken or slapped as an action. |
| 81-90 | The creature sprinkled with dust must succeed on a DC 11 Wisdom saving throw or be affected by a |
| 91-00 | The creature sprinkled with dust becomes |
Development
If a battle erupts between the characters and the cultists, Zephyros (eccentric wizard that he is) watches the chaos unfold from a safe distance. Only if the characters are near defeat does the cloud giant cast a
If the characters allow the cultists to speak to Zephyros, they offer him the pouch of pixie dust as a gift and urge him to help Yan-C-Bin “return the world to its primordial state, as it was at the dawn of history.” The cultists are hazy on how this can be achieved and more interested in a yes or no from the giant.
Zephyros accepts whatever counsel the characters wish to offer. Unless the characters advise him to send away the cultists, Zephyros accepts the cultists' gift and allows them to remain in his tower while he considers their offer. He then retreats to the second floor and casts
After his business with the cultists is concluded, Zephyros feels bad about keeping their gift and gives the pouch of pixie dust to the characters, believing they might get more use out of it than he will.
Day 10: Operation Orb Strike
This encounter occurs on day 10 of the party’s journey and takes place only if the characters are traveling to Bryn Shander or Triboar. The preponderance of giant activity in the North has members of the Lords' Alliance on edge, and their operatives are gathering information while taking steps to curtail the giants' advances.
Any character standing guard outside Zephyros’s tower or watching the sky from the tower’s aerie spots danger approaching if his or her passive Wisdom (Perception) score is 15 or higher.
A huge silver dragon glides through the clouds, approaching quickly. As it flies closer, you see a number of armored dwarves clutched in its talons.
A male adult silver dragon named Clarion owes a favor to Queen Dagnabbet of Mithral Hall and is transporting a Lords' Alliance strike team to Zephyros’s tower at her behest. The dragon clutches three shield dwarves in each foreclaw. The dwarves have orders to disable cloud giant strongholds, and they plan to locate and destroy the tower’s navigation orb. Neither they nor the dragon know that Zephyros poses no threat to the settlements of the North, nor do they care. They have orders from their queen and a mission to complete, and by Moradin’s beard, they intend to succeed!
Characters who spot the silver dragon have 1 minute to prepare for its arrival. Otherwise, all of the tower’s inhabitants are startled by the sound of the dragon’s flapping wings as he lands on the cloud outside the tower. After dropping off the dwarves, Clarion takes to the air, frightens away the griffons in the tower’s aerie, and waits there while the dwarves complete their work.
The shield dwarves are named Daina Ungart, Ildehar Ironfist, Hewen Horn, Voldrik Firehammer, Griswelda Torunn, and Naalt Splintershield. They have the statistics of veterans, with the following changes:
- The dwarves are lawful good.
- Their speed is 25 feet.
- They have darkvision out to a range of 60 feet.
- They speak Common and Dwarvish.
- They have advantage on saving throws against poison, and they have resistance to poison damage.
- They wield battleaxes instead of longswords, and handaxes instead of shortswords (the handaxes deal slashing damage instead of piercing damage).
- Each is equipped with a
potion of gaseous form .
The dwarves quaff their
The dragon and the dwarves avoid armed conflict with the characters. If the characters kill one or more of the dwarves or deal damage to the dragon, they are accused of conspiring with giants to bring about the downfall of dwarven civilization in the North. The strike team turns on the party, attempting to knock the characters unconscious instead of killing them.
Development
A character can try to persuade the dragon and the dwarves to end their assault by convincing them that Zephyros means no harm. If the player roleplays well and makes a convincing argument, allow the character to use an action to make a DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check, with advantage if the character is a member of the Lords' Alliance, and with disadvantage if one or more members of the strike team are dead. If the check fails, the dwarves say they “can’t take any chances” and press forward with their plan, though the character can try again. If the check succeeds, the dragon and the dwarves call off the attack.
If the dwarves destroy the
If the strike team is thwarted or calls off the mission, the dwarves ask Clarion to fly them back to Mithral Hall. If the dwarves are killed, the dragon returns to Mithral Hall alone. Once the Lords' Alliance strike team is gone, Zephyros thanks characters who helped defend the tower, mutters something about dragons under his breath, and carries on as though nothing happened.
Character Advancement
Characters gain levels in this chapter by completing the goals summarized below:
- Characters who explore Nightstone and defeat the goblins in the village advance to 2nd level.
- Characters who deal with the Zhentarim operatives and survive the orc siege (with or without the assistance of the elves of the Ardeep Forest) advance to 3rd level.
- Characters who survive the perils of the Dripping Caves advance to 4th level, regardless of how many villagers they rescue.
- Characters advance to 5th level after their encounters with the air cultists and the Lords' Alliance strike team.
The characters should be 5th level by the time they reach Bryn Shander, Goldenfields, or Triboar, as described in chapter 2.
