Episode 6: Showdown with the Six

The characters (now 6th level) have learned that the Orrery of the Wanderer channels magic even more powerful than intended by its creator, the lich Lottie. As such, Lottie broke the orrery into parts and scattered those parts far and wide, hoping that no one would discover their secret. But the enigmatic group known as the Six has collected at least one orrery component (perhaps more, depending on events in episode 5), and its agents now attempt to use those components to open a portal to the Far Realm.

After a suitable amount of questing and research, the characters locate the ritual site, which they learn is in the small town of Red Larch. That settlement is the childhood home of Omin Dran and the stomping grounds of the Acquisitions Incorporated franchise known as the “C” Team, whose members have recently gone missing.

The characters speed toward Red Larch, where they find foes allied with the Six guarding the Dran & Courtier inn. That otherwise quiet establishment has always possessed unusual magical qualities, but these have been warped by the slowly opening portal to the Far Realm. The characters can interact with the local townsfolk, learning that the members of the “C” Team entered the inn but have not returned. Likewise, the inn’s co-owner and proprietor, Propha Dran, has not been seen since the planar strangeness suffusing the inn started.

When the characters enter, the Dran & Courtier appears normal at first. But opening any of its interior doors causes the entire site to transform under the watchful eye of an agent of the Six known as the Keymaster. A nightmare version of the Dran & Courtier is revealed, filled with aberrant horrors. Defeating the horrors of this incarnation of the inn returns the characters to the actual inn.

A second transformation turns the characters into miniature heroes as they are greeted by Splugoth the Returned. On behalf of the Six, the wily goblin asks the characters to surrender their orrery components—and then releases Onyx, the giant (relative to the characters) inn’s cat, upon them. Successfully fleeing from Onyx transforms the inn once more.

In the final stage, the characters discover the members of the “C” Team fallen in combat and must fight the horrid Far Realm creature that slew them. Doing so brings those NPC heroes back to life. Once the Keymaster has been subsequently bested, the characters can open a final door leading to a dark series of dimensional caverns—and the lair of an ancient deep crow. That terrible creature is sure to defeat the characters, unless they can determine that it’s suffering from a deep depression and desperately seeks a mate. Successfully playing the part of deep crow relationship counselor allows the characters to continue on, finally reaching the portal site.

Splugoth is in control of the ritual and has defenses in place to prevent the meddling characters from thwarting his plans. As the characters face off against a mutated Far Realm goblin horde, Splugoth’s control of the orrery components that fuel the ritual lets him summon forth twisted, evil versions of some of Acquisitions Incorporated’s most famous members. Oh, and there’s a thing where the ritual keeps resurrecting Splugoth every time the characters kill him.

In the end, clever thinking and a measure of luck might allow the heroes to keep Splugoth dead, seize control of the orrery components, and end the ritual. If victorious, the characters will earn accolades from Head Office for a job well done!

And the world will be safe from destruction. That’s always a plus.

Seeking the Ritual Site

In the course of locating the ritual site (see “area Franchise Downtime” in episode 5), the characters might travel to any number of locations, either to confirm that those locations are not the ritual site or to gain additional information or magic useful in the search for the real site. If you want to set up a prolonged search for the site, any of the following iconic locations along the Sword Coast might make an interesting stop for the characters. Each location offers the potential to gain information regarding sites known for planar disturbances or strange magic, or to seek lore and materials to refine the operation of the characters' portalometer.

Candlekeep

The many towers of the largest and most storied library in all Faerûn are the perfect place to search for clues leading to the location or nature of the ritual site, or to find instructions for crafting a portalometer. Gaining lore or befriending the monks of the library could reveal that someone else recently came to Candlekeep to inquire into the nature of portals to other dimensions. In fact, this representative of the Six was studying the very tomes the characters are now investigating!

To dial up the action in an otherwise studious scene, remember that research in Candlekeep is never entirely safe. Opening a particular book might lead to a pocket dimension, conjure up a fiend, or create any other distraction of your design. More information on Candlekeep can be found in the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide.

Mantol-Derith

Duergar, drow, and svirfneblin trade and exchange information in the city of Mantol-Derith deep in the Underdark. A deep gnome sage named Lunicifer dwells in the city, living in a crumbling home on the shores of the Darklake. A half-mad servant of a forgotten deity named Azmekidom, Lunicifer has been researching planar disturbances for more than a century and can provide the characters with insight or research—if the party helps him with his dangerous errands. These side trek missions might include stealing a magic item from a drow noble house, gathering unique fungus from a mind flayer’s garden, and other potentially deadly tasks. More information on Mantol-Derith can be found in Out of the Abyss and the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide.

Neverwinter

Depending on how much time the characters spent in Neverwinter in episode 3, they might have heard tales of how the Spellplague (the great magical devastation that tore across Faerûn more than a century ago) tore a large chasm through the city. This chasm (helpfully known as “the Chasm”) has since been sealed, but pockets of blue spellfire and the warping effects of planar energy can often still be seen in the area.

The characters can make use of contacts from episode 3 to determine that agents of the Six appeared recently in Neverwinter and were rumored to have been researching the magic of the Chasm. Tracking down any agents who remain might allow the characters to gain hints regarding the ritual’s location. You might also decide that these Six agents have been warped by the latent energy of the Chasm, making them formidable and unpredictable foes.

More information on Neverwinter can be found in the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide.

Kryptgarden Forest

This dread forest abutting the Sword Mountains is the demesne of the ancient green dragon Claugiyliamatar. That terrible and cruel beast—known as Old Gnawbone for her habit of flying over the forest with a corpse in her jaws as a light snack—has long dominated Kryptgarden with her evil presence.

The forest is also home to a dryad named Ishaldra, who studies how evil magic can alter locations in the world. She can help the characters learn how to detect powerful magical essences, but only if they can elude Claugiyliamatar and the other dark creatures that dwell within the forest.

More information on Kryptgarden and Claugiyliamatar can be found in the adventures Princes of the Apocalypse and Storm King’s Thunder.

The Moon Glade

This section expands on one location the characters might journey to as part of their search for the Six’s ritual site.

Research and Requisitions

As the characters work to perfect their portalometer, they hear of a site deep in the High Forest not far from the Star Mounds, known as the Moon Glade. The waters of the Moon Glade rest upon an intersection of magical ley lines, tied to the weave of the world. The glade’s waters are thick like mercury and said to have powerful properties of divination. The characters might also learn that the glade is protected by a powerful natural guardian. Or you could keep that information to yourself.

Investigating the Glade

The characters can use their mobile headquarters to reach the Moon Glade easily enough. When they finally arrive at the site, read the following:

The Moon Glade is a secluded clearing, roughly eighty feet in diameter, with half that space taken up by the pool of water at its center. Huge ancient trees around the perimeter tower overhead, allowing only a narrow slice of sky to illuminate the pool’s silvery surface. The pool is surrounded by a circle of huge standing stones, all inscribed with strange writing.

Inscribed Stones

Anyone able to read Druidic can read the writing on the stones, all of which makes reference to divination and magic. The stones of the pool were brought here by visiting druids using large beasts or magical transportation, but any magic they might possess is dormant during this encounter.

Tainted Guardian

The Moon Glade is protected by Garalel, a weeping willow treant. She is cantankerous and ancient, and presently has iconic affiliate of the Six features (see “Iconic Faction Features” in appendix B). Garalel became tainted by the Six when Splugoth and other members of that organization recently used the pool to seek out their ritual site.

Garalel initiates combat by animating trees, following up with her Glimpse of the Beyond feature. Characters can see that her bark is covered in dark, foul-smelling moss. A successful DC 12 Intelligence (Arcana or Nature) check identifies the bark as magically tainted. Dealing damage to Garalel harms her but also breaks off large pieces of the tainted bark and moss. When she is reduced to 30 hit points or fewer, enough corrupted bark has been sloughed off that the treant regains her senses and stops fighting.

A character can also use an action to throw water from the pool onto Garalel. Each time she is splashed so, it helps cleanse the dark magic binding her and increases the hit point total at which she regains her senses by 10.

If Garalel regains her senses, she apologizes profusely. She allows the characters to approach the pool and tells them how the members of the Six used its waters to determine the ideal location for a dark ritual. Knowing that their actions contaminated the pool, she drew that corruption into herself instead.

Completing the Mission

What the characters get out of this side trek depends on where it fits in the longer process of perfecting a portalometer or eliminating possible ritual sites. Depending on the goal, Garalel can allow the characters to use the pool’s divination power to seek the ritual site, to take a sample of the glade’s magical waters for use in their portalometer, or what have you.

Mission to Red Larch

At whatever point in the search process you deem appropriate, the characters narrow down the search for the ritual site to a final location: the settlement of Red Larch on the western side of the Dessarin Valley. This small town services passing caravans and has a large quarry from which local folk mine marble favored by the wealthy of Waterdeep. A wagon can reach Waterdeep from Red Larch in seven days, and the town of Phandalin is six days away on foot.

Red Larch is also the hometown of Omin Dran and the location of the Dran family business—the Dran & Courtier inn and restaurant. As the characters soon discover, this is not a coincidence. The Princes of the Apocalypse adventure contains more information on Red Larch and the surrounding region. As with Phandalin, this version of Red Larch is set about five years later than that earlier adventure.

How the characters arrive in Red Larch is likely determined by what they suspect or have learned regarding the defenses the Six have set up around the ritual. They might choose a stealthy incursion in the dead of night, to roar straight in aboard a mobile franchise headquarters at midday, or any approach in between. But however they first enter the town, the characters quickly confirm that the Six’s ritual is already underway.

Something is seriously wrong in Red Larch. The Dran & Courtier inn can be seen at the crossroads near the center of town easily enough. But the beams of purple energy emanating from the establishment are decidedly unusual, as is the presence of frightened townsfolk corralled in a pen nearby. Then, of course, there’s the small force of bugbears guarding the pen and the gnolls surrounding the inn. That doesn’t look right at all.

The amount of time the characters spend skulking around town is up to them. Each time they investigate a feature noted below, roll a d10. On a roll of 1, a patrol of two Nothic working for the Six attempts to ambush the party from the cover of nearby buildings, attacking with surprise if not seen.

Corralled Townsfolk

Twenty locals have been gathered by Six operatives in a fenced-in yard behind Ironhead Arms, a shop selling new and used weapons and armor. Three townsfolk are currently plotting an escape, but they fear that the other captured folk are not prepared for battle. The three are the shop’s owner Ironhead (NG male half-orc veteran), the town’s constable Harburk (LG male human veteran), and an explorer from out of town named Silvana (CG female human scout). The three work with any characters who help defend the townsfolk.

Guarding the yard are ten Bugbear that have been instructed to safeguard the prisoners—but only because it isn’t clear to Splugoth whether the ritual might eventually require humanoid sacrifices. The bugbears are focused on watching their captives, and have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks to notice anyone approaching them. If the characters free the captives, Ironhead, Harburk, and Silvana offer to lead the other townsfolk to safety.

North Side of Town

Though these shops and houses look deserted at first, the characters catch periodic glimpses of frightened townsfolk peering through shuttered windows, or hear them trying to barricade doors with furniture. A successful DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check or good roleplaying can convince the locals to share what they know.

One of the NPCs the characters could meet is Imdarr Relvaunder (LN male human priest). Imdarr is hiding with four other townsfolk (male and female Commoner). He won’t leave the others, but he casts any of his useful spells on the adventurers if he believes they are earnest about helping Red Larch.

South Side of Town

As described above, characters can spot frightened townsfolk within the houses and other buildings, and can question them with appropriate Charisma checks or roleplaying. Scouting around the area also reveals the odd sight of an unconscious bugbear wrapped up in a floral print dress.

Approaching the bugbear draws the attention of Haeleeya Hanadroum (NG female human commoner), who is holed up in her bathhouse and dress shop. Haeleeya knocked the bugbear unconscious after winning an unlikely battle against it by dropping flowerpots on its head from the second-story landing. She tied it up in several of her dresses, and is now wondering what to do with it.

Haeleeya is glad to hand the characters her captive bugbear, which is happy to tell the characters everything it knows in exchange for staying alive. It tells how the bugbears were employed by the Six and ordered to round up twenty captives in case the Six needed them for some ritual, though it knows nothing more than that.

The Dran & Courtier

As you draw closer, you see the sign marking the Dran & Courtier swinging slowly despite the absence of any breeze. Purple light continues to seep out through roof tiles, shuttered windows, and the closed front door.

Even in daylight, the building is shrouded by shadows, as if every part of the inn is somehow in the shade. Ringing the building are twenty Gnoll, arranged in four packs of five. Even the fearless gnolls are weirded out by the strange lights emanating from the inn. The characters can engage the gnolls head-on or attempt to take them out stealthily. Because the mercenaries are on edge, they can be easily distracted by a fire, recruiting NPCs to draw them off, illusions, or other clever strategies.

Once the gnolls have been dealt with, the characters are free to enter the Dran & Courtier. The incursion of the inn and restaurant plays out as four distinct stages, each channeling a unique version of the establishment—and forcing the characters to face off against the effects of the dark magic churning within.

Stage 1: The Dran & Courtier?

The Dran & Courtier is normally a fine inn run by Prophetess “Propha” Dran, who happens to be Omin Dran’s mother, and her wife, Audra Courtier. The inn is a favorite of locals and travelers alike, but it also serves another purpose. When someone carrying an acorn whose cap is dipped in gold (usually given to them by Acquisitions Incorporated Head Office) passes through the door, they end up in an extradimensional version of the inn known as the Test Market.

The Test Market is meant to test new recruits to Acquisitions Incorporated, and it has several known versions. The multifaceted extradimensional nature of the Dran & Courtier makes it an ideal location for the Orrery of the Wanderer to channel the extraplanar magic of the Six’s ritual. A convenient number of days before the characters discovered the portal site, Splugoth accessed the extradimensional space and began the process of opening the portal. Energy from the Far Realm has infused several versions of the Test Market, making them even more dangerous than usual—including one version that has already defeated the “C” Team.

Map 6.1 shows the layout of this episode’s Test Market versions of the Dran & Courtier.

The Keymaster’s Plans

One of the seemingly ordinary inhabitants of the inn is an agent of the Six. Known as the Keymaster, the agent is a doppelganger presently posing as Prophetess “Propha” Dran (see area area 3). The doppelganger holds a portal key that allows it to select which version of the Test Market the characters access when they open one of the inn’s interior doors. It does so in the hope of destroying anyone attempting to interfere with Splugoth’s ritual.

The Keymaster runs the characters through new versions of the warped Test Market until its identity is discovered. Once caught, the Keymaster can be forced to open the inn’s basement door—revealing the dimensional caverns leading to the ritual site.

Advancing to Stage 2 and Beyond

Until the characters confront the Keymaster, they advance to the next stage of the Test Market every time they open a door within the default version of the inn. Opened doors remain open, so the characters can explore the rooms beyond when they return from whatever stage is triggered by opening the door. Any treasure or other objects claimed in a stage stay with the characters.

The Test Market is not advanced when NPCs open the doors, since the Keymaster has control of the inn’s magic. As such, the NPCs stuck in the main stage (see below) wander around the inn as they please. If calculating characters think to have an NPC open a door for them, it advances the Test Market to the next stage for them only, plus any NPCs that appear in the next stage.

Stop by the Dran & Courtier if you’re ever in Red Larch. In late summer, preferably. Come hungry.

• Omin Dran

1. Main Door

The inn’s windows, chimneys, and other access points are all magically sealed. They cannot be opened from inside or out, and are impervious to spells and damage. The main door opens easily, but a wall of purple light blocks the view inside. Characters must step through the door to take stock of what lies beyond.

The door of the Dran & Courtier is neither locked nor trapped—though the building emanates strange sounds, shakes as though it’s falling apart, and continues to radiate a strange purple energy. As soon as you step through the door, though, all the strangeness stops.

You see a perfectly ordinary inn, its common room featuring five round tables. Two of those tables are occupied by typical patrons, while two other people stand at the bar. A sleek house cat sizes you up as it paces across the floor, stalking some unseen prey. Oddly, the interior space of the inn seems slightly out of sync with the exterior—almost as if you’ve stepped into somewhere else. But even as you ponder this, the front door closes behind you, and you notice everyone in the inn glance your way expectantly.

The door closes behind the characters as soon as they are all inside. Powerful magic imbued into the door makes it impossible to hold it open, as it pushes anything blocking it out of the way. Characters attempting to hold the door become suddenly distracted, unable to remember why they were doing so. Characters who refuse to enter the inn feel oddly compelled to move forward. Just get everyone inside. You’ll make it work.

Once closed, the door cannot be opened or damaged. Teleportation and other modes of extradimensional travel fail in the Dran & Courtier, and magic cannot be used to view or communicate with the outside world.

Door Magic

If the characters open any of the interior doors of the Dran & Courtier, it advances the Test Market to the next stage. When this happens the first time, see the section “area Stage 2: Little Inn of Horrors” below. See also “area Advancing to Stage 2 and Beyond” above.

2. Common Room

Two male humans are quietly eating a meal at one of the common room tables, while a young male and female human and an elderly female human sit at another. A fireplace occupies the corner closest to the door, burning brightly, and a chandelier above the common room provides additional light from its tall candles. Hanging over the fireplace is a portrait of three children, two female and one male. The male is clearly a young Omin Dran.

Next to the fireplace is an unoccupied raised stage where a bard might strike up a tune. The bar is to your left, where a half-elf in a heavy leather duster receives a drink from a tall female elf wearing a gold medallion. Stairs beyond the bar lead up to a balcony on the second floor. Eight doors along the open upstairs hallways likely lead to bedrooms.

The characters can explore the common room and speak to any patrons they wish.

Long Lunch

The table farthest from the door is occupied by Sigil MacFinn, a tall and strong wagon worker, and his squat friend, a carpenter who goes by the name of Whiskey (both N male human Guard). The two are complete opposites: Sigil composed and pleasant, Whiskey uncouth and short-tempered. They have been in the inn’s restaurant for a long time. The outside doors simply don’t work for them. However, they enjoy the free food, and as long as they aren’t speaking to each other, they get along well. When someone talks to them, their contrasting personalities erupt and arguments break out. They go back to being quiet and happy if left alone.

Anyone making it through the arguments can learn that these two came in for lunch one day and have never left (they disagree as to how many days they’ve been here). They have seen a number of strange, shady people coming and going, including some who wore cloaks to conceal their features. The doors seemed to work for those people. They suggest speaking to Propha, the barkeep and owner, who always appears to be trying to remember something.

The following official Acquisitions Incorporated beers are now available for resale (at regular wholesale discounts) and for franchise parties (at full cost; less drinking, more working, okay?):War Priest Dark Ale • Red Larch Regular • Velvet Curtain • Waelvur’s Wood Stain • Lord’s Favor • Little Dagger • Mother Tongue • Cold Comfort • Summer Gold • Widow’s Wake

Reservation on Hold

The three people at the table nearest the door include Luna and Thalen (CG female and male human Commoner), the adolescent servants of a wandering wizard named Thed. They were sent to the Dran & Courtier to reserve a room for their master, and though they keep trying to leave, the outside door doesn’t open for them. Bored, they have begun to make notes of everything around them. They have noticed that the mice appear very intelligent, ably eluding the inn’s resident cat, Onyx. The dark cat can be seen roaming the area periodically, and keeps an eye on a mouse hole near the fireplace. Luna and Thalen would make excellent wizard hirelings for the franchise if the characters were inclined to train them.

Also sitting at the table is the elderly Tanas (NG female human scout), who has been watching over the youngsters and doing her best to keep them out of trouble. All three can share that strangers come and go, with the main door always closing behind them before anyone else can get out. The strangers often head into the door to the right of the bar. Others have gone upstairs.

3. Bar

Two figures at the bar offer additional conversational possibilities—including the owner of the inn, who is not what she appears.

Diplomatic Observer

Chance (N half-elf spy) is a Waterdavian diplomat who has been trapped here for days. Chance has no particular use for gender, preferring to be known simply by their nickname. Chance has seen some strange people come and go, including one in cowled robes who seemed to be a mass of eyes and mouths. There was also a goblin who walked around as if he owned the place. If the characters ask, the goblin matches Splugoth’s smirking, pale-eyed description.

Forgetful Owner

Prophetess “Propha” Dran, the proprietor of the Dran & Courtier, manages the bar ably, pouring drinks and bringing out platters of food (no charge). She appears oblivious to the bar’s problems, as if she has never noticed them. This Propha is secretly a doppelganger and is also the Keymaster, though she/it pretends to be the addled owner who is trying to help the characters. When Propha is asked any questions, characters can attempt a Wisdom (Insight) check contested by the doppelganger’s Charisma (Deception) check, which is usually made with advantage thanks to its Read Thoughts feature.

If the character’s check fails, the character perceives that “Propha” truly wants to help the characters, but is unable to do so for some reason. The barkeep often fidgets with the medallion she wears, especially when trying to remember something. A DC 12 Intelligence (Religion) check notes that priests often wear such medallions, engraved with their holy symbol, but this one is blank.

Behind the Bar

Propha keeps a supply of magic potions in tall, thin, color-coded bottles: three Potion of Invisibility, a potion of poison, and three potions that confer the benefit of a greater restoration spell. The Keymaster is aware of the potions and uses a potion of invisibility to get away from the characters if things go badly. See “area Confronting the Keymaster” below.

Running a Yum Yum Hut is the single most important moment in a person’s life. It’s more important than marriage or the birth of an offspring. It eclipses all other things. So when picking proper employees, I can’t stress this enough—you really need to make sure they have at least six fingers.

• Donaar Blit’zen

4. Kitchen and Larder

The doors to this area, once opened and after the characters have returned to this scene, lead to a perpetually well-stocked kitchen. A food preparation table set with storage cabinets stands against one wall. Food is always ready on the table as if Propha had just prepared it, reappearing moments after it is served. Any common cooking ingredients and supplies, in addition to ale and wine, can be found in the adjoining larder.

5. Propha and Audra’s Room

Propha and Audra’s bedroom is next to the common room, so they can hear any disturbances at night.

6. Door to the Basement

A door adjacent to the bar should lead under the second-floor stairs and down into the inn’s basement. Instead, anyone opening it glimpses a bricked-over doorway before the next stage is triggered. The door remains open when the characters return, but shows only a brick wall until the Keymaster opens the door, revealing the dimensional caverns leading to the ritual site.

7. Upstairs Rooms

The upstairs landing features four doors along each wall, leading into eight bedrooms. Each bedroom has another door, leading into a shared study (area 8). The door from any bedroom into the study can be accessed without triggering a new stage of the Test Market, but any door opened into a bedroom triggers a new stage.

Each of these four guest rooms is presently empty, but a search of the rooms and a successful DC 14 Wisdom (Perception) check locates a silver ring under a carpet in one room—a ring of free action, forgotten by a guest.

8. Shared Study

These areas connect to the four rooms adjacent to them, and contain a table, chairs, and bookshelves. The shared study connected to the “C” Team’s quarters (area 9) contains books, notes, and maps related to their exploits, as well as mundane personal effects. The shared study connected to the inn’s currently empty rooms contains a selection of generic fiction works and travelogues detailing the Sword Coast.

9. “C” Team Quarters

The four rooms above the bar and kitchen are always rented by the “C” Team, with each room’s characteristics reflecting the person renting it.

Rosie Beestinger’s room has a simple floor mat used for stretching and exercises, sheaths holding maps, and a training dummy that has been beaten nearly to the breaking point.

K’thriss Drow’b has a neat room decorated in black and purple, a crystal ball that displays only a haze of smoke, and a collection of strange purple rocks.

Walnut Dankgrass’s room has recycling and reuse bins, is decorated with several plants and vines, and has a stack of steamy love letters bearing the initials B.L. and a bottle of wine by the bedside table.

Donaar Blit’zen’s room smells like a college dorm, has exercise equipment in one corner, three boxes of delicious snacks bearing the Big Daddy Donaar’s Yum Yum Hut brand, an autographed pin-up scroll of a band named Sixty Wrong Sausages, and a wall calendar where every month bears his likeness.

Stage 2: Little Inn of Horrors

The Test Market warps reality the moment any character opens a door within the Dran & Courtier. The first time this happens, all the characters find themselves back in the common room of the inn (area area 2), as if they had just walked through the main door.

You are standing just inside the front door to the Dran & Courtier. Things are a bit different, however. The fireplace burns with purple flame. Swinging from the chandelier above the center of the common room is a red-haired figure in a green shirt and red cape. He appears to be having a grand time.

Sigil the wagon worker and Whiskey the carpenter are talking and laughing in loud voices at their table, plates heaped with food before them. At their table, Luna and Thalen are taking turns prestidigitating small flames and colored lights, to the delight of Tanas. No one sits at the bar, but Propha Dran is clearing up empty glasses where the half-elf Chance was sitting before. She looks up at you and mouths the words, “Be careful.” She then goes back to absentmindedly cleaning the bar.

This is a version of the Test Market where everything has gone wrong.

Not What They Seem

The figure swinging from the chandelier appears to be Viari (met at the end of episode 2)—but he and the scout Tanas are actually two Gibbering Mouther. Illusion magic cloaks their appearance, though anyone touching them or succeeding on a DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation) check can see through the illusion. If the illusion is detected, all the characters see the gibbering mouthers in their true forms as both creatures attack.

Luna, Thalen, Sigil, and Whiskey are hosts for four Intellect Devourer, having been overcome by those creatures' Body Thief action. Speaking to any of them and succeeding on a DC 12 Wisdom (Insight) check confirms that they are not themselves, as they display slightly warped personalities. The four attack when they or the gibbering mouthers are discovered (use their guard or commoner stat blocks). When a host is reduced to 0 hit points, the intellect devourer emerges and attempts to use its claws and Devour Intellect action to gain a character as a new host.

A character can regain any lost intellect with one of Propha’s special potions of greater restoration, though the potions are present only in the default version of the Dran & Courtier (see “area Stage 1").

Horrid Kitchen

When the fight is done, the characters hear noise from the kitchen.

As the battle ends, you hear a muffled thumping sound, as if something is striking wood. The sound comes from the kitchen.

The characters can safely open the door to the kitchen (and any doors in the inn other than the outside door, which still does not open). They might also explore Propha and Audra’s room (finding it unremarkable) or head upstairs (see “area Upstairs Bedrooms” below). Entering area 4 reveals a most macabre version of the inn’s kitchen.

The transformed kitchen’s shelves contain all manner of ingredients suitable for a hag’s den, including bat wings, dried lizards, and far too many humanoid skulls. A trash can stands in one corner, with a small iron-bound chest next to it. On the kitchen’s preparation table sits a spectacularly long butcher’s knife surrounded by severed fingers. Other equally questionable meats are arranged nearby. A pot on the stove threatens to boil over, its lid rattling. You hear the thumping noise again, coming from the cabinets underneath the preparation table.

Both the knife and the bubbling pot are dangerous, and the cabinet holds a captured flumph. At the end of each character’s turn, roll a d6. On a roll of 1, the boiling pot boils over (see below).

Creature

The gleaming butcher’s knife is a mimic. The creature waits until it is picked up to trigger its Adhesive trait. If a creature is attacked by the mimic, the boiling pot’s lid comes off.

Boiling Pot

The boiling pot acts as a trap. A character examining the pot and succeeding on a DC 14 Wisdom (Perception) check can spot glimpses of tentacles beneath the rattling lid, and notes that the lid will fly off if the pressure continues to mount. As an action, a character can attempt a DC 15 Dexterity check using thieves' tools or cook’s utensils to disable the pot, either by relieving the pressure safely or moving the pot off the fire without the lid coming off.

The stove has no discernible fuel source or way to turn off its heat. If the lid comes off or is removed, an explosion of tentacles and scalding water fills the kitchen. Each character in the area must succeed on a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or take 9 (2d8) bludgeoning damage and 5 (1d10) fire damage. The trap acts on initiative count 10, repeating this effect each turn until a character uses an action to replace the lid. Even with the lid on, the pot boils over again in 1d4 rounds unless disabled, as noted above.

Cabinet

The cabinet is locked, requiring a successful DC 14 Dexterity check using thieves' tools to pick or a successful DC 14 Strength (Athletics) check to break open. Locked inside is a flumph named Phfffffffft. If freed, Phfffffffft shares how it sensed the aberrant horrors in this pocket dimension and came to help, but was captured. It heard the name “Splugoth” used by some of the creatures passing through the horrid inn. Phfffffffft also recalls someone discussing a terrifying guardian that protects “the dimensional caverns.” The flumph can accompany the characters back to the default Test Market if they wish, helping them as best it can in future encounters (and probably dying horribly).

Chest

The iron-bound chest has a simple lock requiring a successful DC 10 Dexterity check using thieves' tools to open, and contains packets and jars of spices. Among these is a small packet containing dust of sneezing and choking, another of dust of dryness, and a jar of Keoghtom’s ointment.

Upstairs Bedrooms

In this version of the Test Market inn, all the rooms upstairs (area areas 7 and area 8) are empty except for one room of your choice. Any character who succeeds on a DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check or who has a passive Wisdom (Perception score of 12 or higher can hear slurping and chewing sounds from that area.

Creatures

Inside the room are two Chuul. One has grappled Chance (from area 3), and both are feasting on the unconscious half-elf spy. The chuul drops Chance as combat begins, leaving the spy unconscious with two failed death saving throws. Chance makes a death saving throw at the end of each round.

If the chuuls are defeated and Chance is saved and revived, the spy can share that they were ambushed by goblins and thrown upstairs to be eaten by the chuuls. Chance heard the goblins talking about a ritual with someone named Splugoth in charge.

Treasure

In this reality, a small chest by the bed in the chuul room contains a +2 Rod of the Pact Keeper.

Advancing to Stage 3

When the creatures in the common room and upstairs have been defeated, the characters feel the reality around them unravel as they are returned to the default inn of stage 1. As before, opening another door in the default version of the inn advances the characters to stage 3.

Stage 3: Feeling Small

You are standing just inside the front door to the Dran & Courtier. The inn is seemingly deserted—or not. No one is in sight, but you see food and drink moving on several tables. A mug is lifted as if to an unseen mouth. A chair shifts like someone’s leaning back in it. But there’s no one there.

Suddenly, the ceiling begins to rise away from you. Then you notice that the closest table is growing, as are the floor boards beneath your feet. The entire inn is expanding—or maybe you’re shrinking. Assuming the rest of the inn is its usual size, by the time the effect stops, you are each no more than six inches tall.

The characters and all their equipment are reduced in size by the magic of the Test Market. This version of the inn is, in fact, empty, but the objects in it continue to move as if manipulated by creatures.

Allow the characters some time to explore their new environment. They can use ropes to climb tables or chairs, avoid chunks of discarded food the size of their heads, and see the inn from an entirely different perspective. They cannot detect any magical effect upon themselves that could be ended, and the resizing appears permanent.

Splugoth’s Bargain

When the characters have had a bit of time to adjust to their diminutive state, read:

A loud voice calls from above, dripping with disdain. “Hello there, members of Acquisitions Incorporated!” Peering through the rails of the second-floor balcony is a smirking goblin with one pale eye who towers over you in your present forms. “Listen up, bugs! And welcome to the most important bargaining session of your lives.” The goblin walks haughtily toward the stairs. “I am Splugoth the Returned. Surely you know who I am?”

Splugoth can’t conceal being pleased if the characters know that he once worked with Acquisitions Incorporated. In fact, he is enraged if they do not know his past. He fills in the details as needed, underscoring the travesty of his treatment from his own biased perspective. The goblin approaches the characters and takes a seat at a table where he can see them. Use the following possible dialogue to guide the conversation:

• “I was a young, up-and-coming goblin. Like any other goblin, filled with hopes and dreams.”
• “A sorcerer named Kalarel employed me and other goblins to harry townsfolk while they opened a portal trying to free a Shadowfell death god. Look, it was work.”
• “Acquisitions Incorporated foiled Kalarel’s plans. Sure, partly due to a bargain I forged with Acquisitions Incorporated. But I was left to die all alone when one of Omin Dran’s friends was in trouble. Death is overrated.”
• “Fortunately, there are real heroes, and they hate Acquisitions Incorporated! Jeff Magic, an awesome lich who was also betrayed by Jim and Omin, resurrected me. Now I’m Splugoth the Returned! I’ve been given real responsibilities, including coordinating goblin raids. Goblins just attacking here or there? Oh, you have no idea. We have big plans. It’s all coming together, you’ll see.”
• “And now I have my greatest responsibility: crushing Acquisitions Incorporated once and for all.”

If Splugoth was ridiculously successful in episode 5 and the Six now possess all the orrery components except the wheel of stars, he’s mostly just here to gloat. But no matter how many components the characters still possess, he offers the following sweet deal.

“See, you must know that I’m all about business—something Omin and Jim were too blind to see. This, between you and me? It’s not personal. It’s commerce. I can make you a deal. You give me your orrery components, and I let you live. We both profit. Easy, right?”

Splugoth laughs darkly if the characters are foolish enough to give him their orrery components (which resize when he takes them), or when his deal is refused. The goblin whistles loudly a moment before he teleports away, followed by the heavy footsteps of something enormous and furry approaching from behind the bar.

Onyx Ascendant

The cat stepping out from behind the bar looks gigantic from your current height. Onyx walks in nonchalantly, yawns, and drops down on the floor to lick herself. Suddenly, a shimmering portal opens up in the middle of the room. You hear Splugoth laughing again as a ball of yarn pops through the portal before it vanishes. Onyx sits up, suddenly attentive, her eyes following the ball as it unravels toward you.

This scene takes place entirely in the common room of the Dran & Courtier, since none of the interior doors of this version of the inn can be opened. All the characters use their normal speed for movement, but you multiply the dimensions of the common room and any furniture or objects in it by a factor of 10. For example, relative to the characters the length of the bar is 300 feet, while a stool that stands 3 feet high is effectively 30 feet high.

The characters are free to move wherever they can, or to climb objects in the room. Additionally, at the end of each character’s turn as they try to avoid Onyx, roll on the Cat Chase Complications table below to see what happens, or use the table as inspiration for your own complications.

Onyx uses the cat stat block with these changes:

• Her size (relative to the characters in their diminutive state) is Huge.
• Her speed (relative to the characters) is ten times normal. This gives her a speed of 400 feet and a climbing speed of 200 feet.
• Any damage Onyx would take is reduced to 0 (but see “Dealing with Onyx” below).
• She has advantage on ability checks and saving throws.
• Her claws attack uses the following statistics: +7 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d10) slashing damage.

Onyx’s relative speed likely allows her to move anywhere within the inn on her turn. On her turn, she uses her action to make a Claws attack against a random character if she can.

Dealing with Onyx

Onyx cannot be overcome or killed by combat. Any weapon attack against her that hits AC 12 makes contact but deals no lasting damage. However, if the attack would deal 10 or more damage, Onyx has disadvantage on attack rolls until the end of her next turn. If Onyx would take 10 or more damage from spells or other effects, it yields the same result. Spells that impose conditions function normally against Onyx, but those conditions end automatically at the end of the cat’s next turn.

Ending the Chase

Onyx continues her “playful” chase as long as she can see any living characters. Only if all the characters successfully hide from her does she eventually give up. The characters might determine another location to hide at your discretion, but the mouse hole near the fireplace makes an obvious and effective safe spot.

During the chase, any character within view of the fireplace whose passive Wisdom (Perception) score is 15 or higher spots the mouse hole. A character specifically seeking a ground-level hiding place can attempt a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check from anywhere in the common room to spot the mouse hole, with advantage on the check. At their reduced size, the characters can easily slip through the mouse hole to escape Onyx.

My mother must be getting new cats and just calling them Onyx. Otherwise, Onyx would be coming up on fifty years old. And I don’t think that’s how cats work.

• Omin Dran

Cat Chase Complications

Mouse Den

When the characters reach the mouse hole, they find a small cozy den inside, lined with matted hair and fur. Next to a block of cheese is a bound and unconscious Prophetess Dran, her clothes stained with dried blood. This is the real Propha (see area area 3 of the default inn), who is stable but requires healing to return to consciousness. If awakened, she thanks the characters for their rescue, listens to any explanation of how they got there, then shares the following information:

• Propha was attacked and captured by Splugoth and another goblin (the shapechanged Keymaster). She was tied up and left in this version of the Test Market, presumably to keep her out of the way. Thankfully, Audra Courtier was out of town when the Six’s agents attacked.
• She has no idea who the “Propha” in the default version of the inn is. It might be another creature posing as her, but it could also be an actual version of her split off by the Test Market’s magic.
• Propha overheard Splugoth talk about the ritual being undertaken in some location called the dimensional caverns. He also bragged that the caverns are guarded by a monster known as an ancient deep crow. Propha can fill the characters in on deep crow lore if they’re unfamiliar with those creatures (see appendix B), and makes it clear that even one ancient deep crow is a threat the characters cannot expect to overcome by normal means.
• Propha heard the voices of the “C” Team once while fading in and out of consciousness. Given that the characters haven’t seen them, she fears that they might be trapped in one of the other versions of the Test Market.

Advancing to Stage 4

Shortly after finding Propha, reality shimmers around the characters and they are returned to the default inn of stage 1. The characters are once again their normal size, though the only Propha in the room is the doppelganger behind the bar, wearing her blank medallion. The false Propha claims to have no idea what the characters are talking about if they recount their meeting with her.

As before, the characters stay in this default scene until they open another of the inn’s interior doors.

Stage 4: Revenge for the “C” Team

You are standing just inside the front door to the Dran & Courtier. The place is deserted, the tables empty. Everything is in shadow, except where a purple light pulses from the four open bedroom doors above the bar.

This version of the Test Market is empty except for the rooms rented by the “C” Team. When the characters make their way to the second floor, read:

All four of the bedrooms along the hall show signs of a fierce battle that took place here—and which has seemingly claimed the lives of Walnut Dankgrass, Donaar Blit’zen, Rosie Beestinger, and K’thriss Drow’b. All four members of the “C” Team lie dead on the floor of their individual bedrooms.

The purple light that radiates out from each room pulses out around the edges of the closed interior doors, all of which lead to the shared study beyond.

The Fallen

Investigation of the members of the “C” Team confirms that they are truly dead. No magic available to the characters can return them to life, and any magic carried by those adventurers is mysteriously inert. If the characters want to loot the bodies, any treasure they might be carrying is left to your determination. There is nothing of value in any of the bedrooms.

Eldritch Horror

When any door into the shared study is opened, the characters see the horror that waits beyond.

The far wall of the study is filled by a giant gaping maw. Purple eldritch light seeps out of the maw, bathing the room in a sickly glow. Four massive tentacles covered in eyes and spines flail about the room and immediately reach for you.

This creature is an eldritch horror from the Far Realm, using the stat block of an otyugh.

The “C” Team Restored

If the characters defeat the eldritch horror, a pulse of magic radiates outward as the maw collapses and vanishes. The members of the “C” Team wake up, freed from the magic that had vanquished them in this version of the Test Market. The characters have a chance to share their story with the NPCs.

The members of the “C” Team know Splugoth well, and can fill the characters in on any information the goblin didn’t get around to mentioning in stage 3 (see “area Splugoth’s Bargain"). They have faced different versions of the Test Market than those seen by the characters, which they talk about if asked (see “area Additional Stages” below for inspiration). If they don’t presently return to the same version of the Dran & Courtier as the characters (as will prove to be the case), the “C” Team members promise to continue trying to free the inn from the Six’s magic.

As thanks for the rescue, K’thriss gifts a pair of slippers of spider climbing to the party. The characters then feel themselves being pulled away, back to the default inn of stage 1.

After Stage Four

The “C” Team members do not accompany the characters as they are returned to the stage 1 version of the Dran & Courtier, but end up in other stages of the Test Market until the ritual is ended.

Additional Stages

You are free to add additional stages to the Keymaster’s version of the Test Market if the players are having fun with these off-the-wall challenges. Use the following setups, or use them as inspiration for creating your own.

Flashback

The inn changes to resemble one of the other inns or taverns the characters have been to previously during the adventure (the Stonehill Inn or the Sleeping Giant in Phandalin, the Fishbone Tavern in Luskan, and so on). The patrons are people the characters have met before, but one of those patrons tells the characters that someone in the establishment is not who they appear to be. Finding the impersonator reveals a powerful monster of your determination, whose defeat ends the stage.

Inanimate Trauma

No people are found in the Dran & Courtier, but a number of inanimate objects are sitting in chairs where people once were. Written on a chalkboard that would otherwise announce the inn’s meal of the day is the phrase: “The names of things must be arranged and spoken.” The first letter of each word in the clue is underlined.

This Test Market is a puzzle in which the first letter in the name of each object that was formerly a person must be scrambled to determine a password. You choose the password, then choose the nature of the objects so that their names provide the needed letters. For example, the password “lamp” could be created from a lock, an arrow, a mirror, and a piton. When the password is spoken, the stage ends.

Battle at the Headquarters

The tavern becomes the franchise’s headquarters, which is under attack by agents of the Six! For even more chaos, each of the characters temporarily transforms into a franchise staff member using an NPC stat block, so that the players must use those NPCs to repel the attackers. When the battle is over—one way or the other—the stage ends.

Too Many Prophas

The tavern appears normal, but it holds three people who look exactly like Propha Dran and none of them are behind the bar. Each time a Propha touches a character or another patron, the person touched turns into a Propha in body and mind, with the players roleplaying that development as they see fit. Whether as themselves or as Propha, the characters must determine which is the original Propha (still secretly the Keymaster) and get it to touch the other Prophas, which turns them back to normal. Once everyone is their former self, the stage ends.

Need to Feed

Every patron seen previously in the inn has a head resembling a fleshy ball surrounded by tentacles and a gaping maw where a face should be. These otherworldly creatures are tearing the inn apart and attempting to eat everything they can get their hands on—including the characters.

Fighting the patrons is difficult (use the dire wolf stat block for each to underline their fierce bite). But if two of them are forced together (by a character shoving one of them, a thunderwave spell, and so forth), they immediately attack and wholly consume each other. When only one patron remains, it transforms into Propha (the Keymaster) and the stage ends.

Food Fight

The characters appear behind the bar, with every patron in the inn shouting furiously at them regarding poor service. The patrons begin to hurl food at the characters: +4 to hit, 4 (1d8) bludgeoning damage. The patrons are immune to damage from any of the characters' normal attacks and spells. However, each patron is vulnerable to one type of food currently being hurled around the inn. If that type of food hits a patron, they immediately vanish. When all the patrons have been vanquished in this way, the stage ends.

Confronting the Keymaster

Whether as a result of information gathered during stages of the Test Market, magic brought to bear while talking to “Propha,” or simply adventurers' instinct, the characters eventually become aware of the Keymaster’s identity. If this happens before the characters have triggered all the presented stages of the Test Market, that’s fine. You can have the Keymaster flee through an interior door to generate a new stage (see below). Or you can ignore the later stages and let the characters capture the doppelganger (especially if the players are anxious to get to the ritual site as quickly as possible).

When the Keymaster’s true nature is discovered, it shifts to its natural form and engages the characters in combat. The Keymaster uses the doppelganger stat block with the iconic affiliate of the Six features (see “Iconic Faction Features” in appendix B).

The doppelganger leads with Multiattack if it has surprise, to make the most of its Surprise Attack trait. It otherwise uses its Glimpse of the Beyond feature to blind as many foes as possible. It then attempts to drink a potion of invisibility and flee.

If you want it to, the Keymaster opening one of the inn’s interior doors triggers the next stage of the Test Market. The doppelganger can vanish in that next stage to leave the characters to their own devices, or it can remain in the next stage, engaging the party in combat and attempting to help the threats of that stage finish them off.

The Keymaster bargains for its life if reduced to 35 hit points or fewer, revealing the following if the characters agree to spare it:

• All the versions of the Dran & Courtier—even the “normal” version—are part of the Test Market. Jim Darkmagic foolishly created the Test Market as a way to test (or, you know, torture) applicants to Acquisitions Incorporated. This established the Dran & Courtier as a crossroads between demiplanes, and its planar instability makes it perfect for opening portals to additional dimensions.
• Splugoth the Returned does not lead the Six, but he oversees this operation. He hates Acquisitions Incorporated, as does everyone in the Six.
• The components of the Orrery of the Wanderer are being used to anchor a complex ritual that will open a portal to the Far Realm. When the portal opens completely, an otherworldly army will emerge to destroy Red Larch, sweep across the Sword Coast, and wipe out Acquisitions Incorporated in the process. Of course, all members of the Six have been promised safe harbor and cushy desk jobs under this new regime.
• The Keymaster’s job is to oversee the different Test Market dimensions. It has been allowing servants of the Six into the various Test Markets and the ritual site, while trapping and eliminating anyone coming in to cause trouble—especially meddlesome and pesky adventurers.
• The people within the default version of the inn are ordinary mortals trapped by magic, and must remain in the inn until the ritual is shut down. The real Propha likewise remains trapped in area stage 3 of the Test Market until the ritual ends.
• The amulet the doppelganger wears controls which Test Market appears when a door is opened. The amulet can also open the door to the basement, which leads to the dimensional caverns (see below), which in turn lead to the ritual site.
• The Keymaster can use the amulet without needing to make an ability check, and will do so at the characters' request if its life is spared. Anyone else who uses an action to activate the amulet and succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check can open the basement door.

If the characters control the amulet, they can access any versions of the Test Market, but planar energy continues to course through the Dran & Courtier as a result of Splugoth’s ritual. Opening the inn’s main doors or contacting NPCs moving through other versions of the Test Market (including the “C” Team) is impossible until the ritual is ended. But once the basement door is opened from within any stage of the Test Market, the characters are ready to enter the dimensional caverns—and to save Faerûn.

Dimensional Caverns

When the basement door is opened, read:

Instead of a basement stairway, a rough stone tunnel stretches away from the Dran & Courtier, quickly widening to a cavernous space studded with purple crystals. The tunnel echoes with strange voices and far-off sounds, as if originating from distant places… or perhaps even distant worlds.

The tunnel is unlit. A successful DC 12 Intelligence (Arcana) check made while investigating the tunnel confirms that it is wholly contained within a pocket dimension. Because the characters have been in possession of the orrery housing and some of its components, they feel the presence of whichever components Splugoth now possesses at some great distance straight ahead.

To provide context for the background noise, tell the players that the characters are hearing snippets from the adventures of the “C” Team and Acquisitions Incorporated. You might even use dialogue from an Acquisitions Incorporated live play session as background sound while the characters traverse the tunnel.

The tunnel continues for what feels like forever before the ceiling suddenly begins to rise. The walls frame an impossibly tall canyon that slowly widens, the air becoming hot and heavy with the scent of sulfur. Glowing vents of magma fill a huge cavern with a dull red glow. From somewhere ahead, you hear a deep, echoing caw, sounding like the call of some great bird. It repeats periodically, always far off in the distance.

Set into a large cleft in the canyon wall is an enormous nest of sticks, bones, paper, and other debris. An immense black form resembling a crow shelters in the nest. It has a beak that comes together like mandibles, large enough to grasp a horse. Even more unsettling are the multitude of eyes clustered on its forehead, though those are thankfully all closed in sleep.

The ancient deep crow in the nest (see appendix B) is only pretending to sleep. Any character studying the creature and succeeding on a DC 18 Intelligence (Nature) or Wisdom (Perception) check notices one of its eyes opening momentarily to a glowing red slit. The deep crow’s name is Raah, and it (thankfully) has things on its mind other than eating adventurers, as the characters soon discover.

Approaching the Nest

As the characters draw closer, they see a broad expanse of detritus and guano spread out below the nest. With a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check, a character notes that a great amount of that detritus appears to be shredded parchments and bound books—all works destroyed by Raah in various fits of pique.

Either before or after the ancient deep crow awakes, any character can draw close enough to the pile to investigate the destroyed works. These bear such titles as Twenty Ways to Gain Your Lover; Crazy Little Thing Called Love; What is Romance?; Men are from Abeir, Women are from Toril; and so forth. Passages on nearly every ruined page are crudely underlined and circled with guano-based pigment.

Waking Raah

At whatever point is convenient as the characters inspect the ruined books or try to skirt past the ancient deep crow’s nest, Raah angrily “wakes up.”

A sense of doom pervades the cavern around you as the ancient deep crow suddenly rises up. Its great wings unfurl, its multiple eyes blazing red as it lets loose a caw that shakes the cavern walls.

Any character who succeeds on a DC 14 Wisdom (Insight) check intuits that despite its aggressive display, at least some of the ancient deep crow’s outrage is feigned, and that it appears to be in a deep state of melancholy. Other characters can note that as Raah shifts around its nest, books and scrolls are knocked out to drift to the ground, all focused on the same subject matter as the destroyed works.

I dislike deep crows immensely. But their eggs when cooked up with cheese are delicious.

• Jim Darkmagic

The Hard Way

The characters are free to engage Raah in battle. It has a lot of pent-up rage these days, and is happy to have someone to direct that rage against other than itself. An ancient deep crow is a formidable foe, and Raah does not hold back in combat, opening with its Shadow Caw and carving up characters who dare attack it. Even as the battle unfolds, however, the characters should have the chance to realize that there are other options.

During the fight, Raah shrieks angry epithets in the Deep Crow tongue, such as: “I’ll kill you all! Because what else am I good for? No one cares!” If none of the characters understands Deep Crow, a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check detects a note of self-recrimination in the creature’s savage caw. At the same time, as the ancient deep crow swoops around or a character’s fireball spell catches the edge of the nest, more parchments might dislodge, revealing underlined passages filled with humanoid dating advice.

At any point at which the characters offer to cease hostilities, or if they are clever enough to negotiate with Raah from the outset, proceed as follows.

Dating Advice

Having a character able to speak Deep Crow with the use of a tongues spell or similar magic makes dealing with Raah a lot easier. But if not, don’t be afraid to explore the comedic value of negotiating with a deadly lovesick monster by way of pantomime and crude art scratched on cavern walls. (The books in the nest are evidence that Raah can understand at least a bit of Common, which might also give the characters a leg up.)

If the characters ask Raah about the books, the ancient deep crow threatens again to kill them all, but holds back from attacking. Give the characters free rein as they attempt to communicate with an otherworldly creature stricken with all-too-worldly relationship woes, using the following points and ability checks as guidelines.

If the characters are supportive and sincere in their attempts to engage the deep crow, you can decide that successful roleplaying and a reasonable number of successful ability checks let them gain Raah’s trust. On a badly failed check or in response to a snide comment, Raah might attack again for a round before calming down.

Understanding Raah

A successful DC 14 Wisdom (Insight) check reveals that Raah is feeling emotionally wounded and unsure of itself. The threats it can manifest in battle are deadly, but the ancient deep crow gets no satisfaction from its combat prowess.

A successful DC 16 Intelligence (Nature) check allows a character to recall obscure lore about deep crows and their reproductive practices. A deep crow mates only once in its lifetime, and Raah has so far been spectacularly unsuccessful in its attempts to find a mate.

A successful DC 16 Charisma (Persuasion) check encourages Raah to share that its deep crow parent and nest mates taught it only to embrace rage and physical power. It never learned about its emotions or how to listen to others. As a result, the deep crow doesn’t know what to say to a potential mate. It just tries to break stuff to impress them.

Giving Raah Advice

A successful DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation) or Wisdom (Perception) check to quickly assess Raah’s reading material determines that the ancient deep crow is highlighting everything, no matter how good or bad the advice might be—and with no thought given to the fact that relationship advice for humanoids has no bearing on its own needs. Raah needs better guidance.

Allow the characters to give Raah any relationship advice that feels apropos. This might involve roleplaying in more ways than one, as a character takes on the part of a prospective deep crow partner and Raah tries to put the advice into practice. If you need mechanics for this scenario, call for DC 14 Charisma (Persuasion) checks from each character offering advice to determine how well Raah takes it.

Moving On

When the characters have either defeated or befriended Raah, they can continue beyond the ancient deep crow’s cavern toward the ritual site.

The ancient deep crow’s cavernous lair begins to taper down again, revealing another canyon passage ahead. The light of volcanic vents fades behind you as you continue into darkness.

The End of the World

This is it! The showdown with Splugoth! The moment of truth as the characters battle for control of the orrery and try to stop the world’s end!

The read-aloud text below assumes that the Six successfully gained the housing of the Orrery of the Wanderer in episode 5. If they don’t have the housing, any components the Six have obtained spin in place on their own. (Even if the characters thwarted the Six at every turn, Splugoth holds at least the far gear.)

All franchisees must note: Expenses incurred during extraplanar excursions are NOT eligible for reimbursement.

• Omin Dran

Map 6.2 shows the setup of the ritual site and the final battle.

The inky black space above is now dotted by pulses of purple and green fire. The canyon narrows, then opens again into a cavern, where a broad sandstone rise is lit by sheets of green flame that scour the ceiling. Thin shelves of eroded rock emerge from the center of the rise to create a large central mesa. Ten other goblins stand guard around this promontory, which has twisting steps leading up to where Splugoth stands.

A sandstone pillar rises from the mesa before the goblin. Floating above it is the orrery, its clockwork components spinning rapidly, glowing with power. Behind Splugoth is a rift in reality—a purple wound in the world, beyond which you can see goblins with purple eyes, extra limbs, and other strange mutations. The Far Realm goblins push forward, trying to press through the portal and into your world.

Splugoth laughs. “You are too late! The ritual is under my control, and now you must hear my most villainous speech! Oh, who am I kidding? Goblins, kill these meddlesome fools! And just to sway the odds, how about some ironic assistance for my minions?” With a flourish, Splugoth manipulates one of the orrery’s clockwork components. Four purple-black outlines begin to form before the rift—slowly taking the shape of characters you recognize.

Friends from the Far Realm

As the ritual approaches its end, the magic imbued into the orrery components senses the presence of the characters and works to thwart them. Drawing from the franchise’s collective subconscious, the ritual manifests the most terrifying figures the characters can think of—their bosses.

At the start of combat, wraithlike Far Realm versions of Omin Dran, Jim Darkmagic, Môrgæn, and Viari appear in front of the planar rift. On initiative count 10 each round, roll on the Far Realm Friends table to determine which of those manifestations vanishes from before the rift, appears suddenly in the thick of combat at a location of your choosing, and lays into the characters.

Far Realm Friends

Whichever Far Realm friend appears in combat lingers on the battlefield until initiative count 0, when it vanishes and reappears before the rift again.

Each Far Realm version of an Acquisitions Incorporated character is shaded purple-black, its eyes glowing yellow-gold. A Far Realm friend has all the information about the characters that Head Office knows, and uses that knowledge to be as effective as possible in combat. It uses the appropriate stat block found in appendix A, but is neutral evil.

The Far Realm friends cannot be attacked while they wait before the rift—only when they manifest in combat. A Far Realm friend that is killed does not reappear in front of the rift. If that character is subsequently rolled on initiative count 10, no Far Realm friend enters the fight that round.

Reaching the Mesa

As the characters fight, their primary goal will be to reach the top of the sandstone mesa, from which the orrery components and the ritual can be controlled. Characters can use the steps to reach the top, but those steps are warded against intruders (see below). Moreover, the Far Realm friends and the goblins fighting for Splugoth attempt to stop the characters from reaching the top at any cost.

Characters can climb to the top of the promontory, but the weathered sandstone crumbles easily. It takes a successful DC 14 Strength (Athletics) check to reach the top, with climbing gear or a rope providing advantage on the check.

Twisting Steps and Rune Traps

The steps leading up the mesa shift underfoot as a result of Far Realm energy flooding through them, making them difficult terrain. Additionally, each flight of steps is trapped at its midpoint with a magical rune that can be detected only with a successful DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation) or Wisdom (Perception) check.

Once detected, a rune can be disabled with a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check or Dexterity check using thieves' tools. A character aware of the rune can also attempt a DC 14 Strength (Athletics) check to jump safely over it. Moving past the rune otherwise deals 5 (1d10) necrotic damage to a creature and teleports it back to the cavern entrance. The runes remain active until disabled.

Planar Rift

The rift tearing reality apart hovers a few feet above the mesa and pulses with eldritch power. A character who reaches the top can see more details behind the Far Realm friends and the army of goblins visible within the rift, including enormous nightmare creatures with far too many eyes, tentacles, and teeth.

Splugoth’s Forces

Splugoth the Returned spends most of the fight mocking the characters, as long as he and his forces have the upper hand. While he controls the orrery components (area see below), he uses a bonus action to mutate his goblins or send an eldritch bolt toward a particularly troublesome character. This leaves him free to attack a character who reaches the mesa top. If he does not currently control the orrery, he attempts to regain control.

Mutating Goblins

During the fight, Splugoth’s goblin minions start out as a force of ten Goblin, with their numbers and combat features augmented by the ritual and by Splugoth’s control of the orrery components during the fight. See “area Ritual Actions” and “area Using the Components” below for more information. The goblins spread out, with some hanging back to use their shortbows and others pushing forward into melee.

Keeping the Battle Exciting

This final fight is a complex battle with a lot going on. Whether you want to simplify the encounter or dial up the chaos, you can tweak the elements of the fight as needed to create an exciting challenge.

When the ritual summons new goblins, you can have the minimum or maximum number appear, depending on how the characters are doing in the fight. If the characters are so focused on the fight that they don’t make the connection between Splugoth’s control of the orrery components and the goblins' appearance, have any character trained in Arcana or Religion intuit that controlling the components can shut down the summoning.

Likewise, if Splugoth is brought back to life by the ritual, you can make it clear to the characters that seizing control of the orrery components can prevent this from happening. At your discretion, you might also limit how many times Splugoth can be returned to life in this manner.

During the fight, feel free to reward player ingenuity. Maybe a character attempts to baffle or seduce a Far Realm friend to remove that manifestation from the fight for the round. If it’s roleplayed well enough and you think it might be fun, let it work.

Ritual Actions

The ritual takes its own turn on initiative count 1. If the characters do not control the orrery components, the rift pulses and 2d4 additional Goblin appear on the battlefield wherever they are most effective.

If Splugoth the Returned is dead and the characters do not control the orrery components, no goblins are summoned. Instead, the ritual resurrects Splugoth from the dead no matter what condition his body is in, returning him to combat with half his normal hit points.

Controlling the Orrery Components

Depending on which components the Six managed to steal in episode 5, and whether the characters gave up other components to Splugoth in the Test Market, the ritual might be fueled by anything from a single component to all six components set into the orrery housing. While the ritual is in progress, the normal magic of the orrery components and housing does not function in the ritual cavern, even if a component is not being used in the ritual. The ritual works regardless of how many components are involved, but adding or removing pieces has an impact on the ritual’s magic (see “Adding Components” and “Removing Components” below).

To seize control of the components fueling the ritual, a creature on the top of the mesa can use a bonus action to attempt a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) or Charisma (Persuasion) check. Splugoth has advantage on this check from his familiarity with the ritual. A successful check wrests control of the components from any creature already controlling them.

A creature that fails in its attempt to control the components triggers a mishap (see “area Component Mishaps” below). A creature gaining control is able to use the components as a bonus action (see “Using the Components” below). Once the components are under a creature’s control, they remain under that creature’s control unless another creature successfully gains control.

Adding Components

The characters hopefully have at least one more component (the wheel of stars given to them by Lottie), and might still possess additional components and the orrery housing. Any character on the top of the mesa who studies the existing components understands that adding a new component to the mix makes it easier to control the ritual. With an action and a successful DC 12 Intelligence (Arcana) check or Dexterity check using jeweler’s tools or thieves' tools, a character adds a component, granting advantage on any character’s next check made to control the ritual.

Removing Components

Any of the components fueling the ritual can be removed as an action with a successful DC 12 Intelligence (Arcana) check or Dexterity check using jeweler’s tools or thieves' tools. A failed check results in a mishap (see below). Removing a component weakens the ritual, preventing it from summoning any goblins or raising Splugoth on its next turn. This can be done multiple times, until only one component or the orrery housing remains. The final piece can be removed only once the ritual has ended.

Using the Components

A creature controlling the orrery components at the heart of the ritual can channel their magic as a bonus action with a successful DC 12 Intelligence (Arcana) check. Splugoth has advantage on this check. With a success, the controlling creature can choose one of the following options:

• Stop or resume letting the ritual create new goblins (see “area Ritual Actions” above).
• Prevent a Far Realm friend from appearing in combat on the following round.
• Give all goblins a mutation of an extra arm. All goblins, including any goblins summoned in the future, can make one additional attack each round. There is no limit to how many extra arms and attacks the goblins can have.
• Decrease the number of arms on all goblins. If the goblins are reduced to zero arms, they cannot attack.
• Mutate the current and future goblins to cause hard plating to appear on their skin, increasing their AC by 1. This increase can be applied multiple times.
• Reverse the above mutation to decrease the goblins' AC by 1 (to a minimum of 1).
• Mutate the goblins to make them lumpy and awkward. Each goblin has disadvantage on attack rolls until the end of its next turn.
• Fire a bolt of eldritch energy at a target the controlling creature can see: +8 to hit; 16 (3d10) necrotic damage.

Splugoth the Returned is not affected by any goblin mutations created by the ritual.

Component Mishaps

On any failed check to control the orrery components or to remove a component, the ritual magic flowing through the components is compromised. Roll on the Orrery Mishap table to determine the particulars.

Orrery Mishap

Victory Conditions

As long as Splugoth survives, his connection to the ritual prevents the characters from shutting down its magic, even if they are in control of the orrery components fueling the ritual. If Splugoth is dead and one of the characters controls the orrery components, any character on the top of the mesa can use an action to attempt a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check. A successful check ends the ritual and saves the world.

If the battle goes poorly for the characters, they can end it at any point by… well, dying. Alternatively, they can retreat and allow Faerûn to be taken over by Far Realm horrors, with either event leaving the fate of the world—and more important, the franchise’s future—to be determined by you.

Conclusion

With the present threat of the Six and the Orrery of the Wanderer ended, the characters attain 7th level! Or maybe they’re dead! When the fate of the world hangs in the balance, there’s always a chance that the heroes will be defeated. In which case, congratulations! You get to start a new campaign—perhaps one in which another Acquisitions Incorporated franchise plays a part in undoing all the mistakes made by those losers from the last franchise.

If the characters were victorious, you can all celebrate a job well done! When the ritual ends, any remaining goblins surrender and beg for mercy (and jobs). Where the rift once opened, a temporary portal now leads back to the Dran & Courtier, which has returned to normal. The freed (and real) Propha Dran thanks the characters for saving the establishment and promises that they will always drink for free while in Red Larch. The members of the “C” Team are likewise indebted to the characters, promising them “just heaps of money” at some time in the future.

Orrery of the Wanderer

The final state of the orrery depends on what happened during the ritual. If a significant number of mishaps occurred while the characters and Splugoth fought for control of the components, the orrery might develop even more random properties, or it might lose some of its more potent powers. Either way, it remains a powerful artifact, as detailed in appendix D.

In keeping with their promise to Lottie, the characters are obliged to break the orrery up again and scatter its components far and wide. But hey, sometimes adventurers are forgetful. In the end, Omin Dran might have to announce that Head Office is taking charge of the orrery’s final fate—though the franchise might certainly be entitled to keep a favorite timepiece. (Or two. Really, who can keep track of these things?) And wherever its pieces end up, the Orrery of the Wanderer still has a will of its own, and might spawn additional adventures in the future.

The Fate of the Franchise

At an appropriate time, Omin Dran summons the characters to Acquisitions Incorporated Head Office in Waterdeep for a special dinner to thank them for a job well done. The cost of admission is even reduced for the characters and their guests! Whatever reward you think is appropriate can be bestowed upon the characters—including magic or contracts that provide convenient hooks for upcoming adventures.

Franchise Downtime

Even though “The Orrery of the Wanderer” is at an end, the characters should run downtime activities, both as a celebration of their victory (or to lessen the sting of a partial defeat) and to set the course for the campaign to come. The characters might enjoy changing cosmetic elements of their franchise headquarters to reflect their recent victories, spread their reputation as heroes, cement recent alliances, wrap up open plot hooks, or deal with debts or obligations incurred while saving the world.

Friends and Enemies

The characters' heroics might have changed the dynamic between Acquisitions Incorporated and Dran Enterprises, for good or ill. Likewise, a failed ritual deals the Six a severe setback, though Jeff Magic (Splugoth’s lich boss) is still out there somewhere. But whether the Six seek immediate revenge or decide to bide their time, things don’t stay quiet for long for an Acquisitions Incorporated franchise. New rivals, new allies, and new opportunities are sure to make their presence known.

The Campaign to Come

So what’s next? Only you and the players know for sure. You can extend this campaign by allowing the characters to resolve plot hooks left open from previous episodes, or you can build on this adventure with new hooks like the following:

• If the characters were successful in giving relationship advice to Raah the ancient deep crow, it might ask for (or, you know, demand) their assistance to locate and assess potential mates, involving combat or matchmaking as you determine.
• Acquisitions Incorporated has been working to open a franchise in Luskan, and the characters' experience in that city makes them the perfect people to lead the operation. Because they’re totally on the best of terms with Dran Enterprises!
• Lottie the lich calls in her favor of not killing the party to hire the characters as troubleshooters. She might need someone to help her out with difficulties in her expansive business operations, or to take care of rivals trying to shoehorn their way into the Greypeaks casino trade. Sure, she’s evil. But is she really “evil”? It’s a fine line.
• When the characters left the bodies of the dwarf wedding party at the end of episode 5, the dwarves immediately understood that they’d been possessed. Through divination magic or incriminating evidence accidentally left in the caravan on the way out of Horn Enclave, Clans Thunderwind and Dhargun know that the characters were the ones responsible. Clan Dhargun might want to hire the characters as operatives for their business operations or engage in commercial agreements with the franchise on the basis of the characters' extraordinarily clever ruse. Clan Thunderwind might want them all dead.
• If the characters didn’t defeat him, evil archmage-for-hire Hoobur Gran’Shoop is still out there somewhere. The crazed gnome might be spoiling for revenge. Or he might have forgotten all about the characters, only to accidentally cross their paths again on completely unrelated business. Seriously, he’s a little out of it.
• As word of their triumph over the Six spreads, characters returning to Waterdeep for business will be sought out by Otis Adalgrim, who wants them to meet the Blackstaff, Vajra Safahr. The characters could be asked to join the Gray Hands, and might have an opportunity to work with Force Grey—an elite group of specialist adventurers drawn from the Gray Hands.
• Rumors begin to spread of purple-and-black versions of famous Acquisitions Incorporated members robbing treasure vaults up and down the Sword Coast. That can’t be real, right?

Whatever direction you and the players decide to take your Acquisitions Incorporated campaign in, keep one eye on the balance sheet, the other eye on the competition—and have fun.