The Boneyard
Why do you want to go to the Boneyard? There's nothing good to be had out in a place like that. Creatures are drawn there to die, and most of the people that go there never come back.
DM Notes
To keep this encounter as flexible as possible, no ability check DCs have been included. If you need to set a difficulty, choose something appropriate for your party or for the task they wish to attempt.
The Geography
The Boneyard is at least a few hours travel away from the nearest settlement, and is nestled in a small valley area between the rolling hills of the region. Without any tall foliage to obscure the area, the area should be noticeable from the tops of any hills within 4-5 miles. The actual area is around 2 miles across and filled with bones from creatures of all shapes and sizes.
Magic & History
The Boneyard's current state is a consequence of a magical sink. This sink could be caused by a creature beneath the ground, such as a Terrasque. It could be above an ancient magical device that absorbs magic in the area. Alternatively it could be part of a ley line network. But whatever specific mechanics go on behind the scenes, the themes of death and emptiness should be prevalent. Creatures in the general region that are near death will often come here to die, and the magic of life will be drained from them when they perish.
The Boneyard
The actual content for using the Boneyard, including encounters and descriptions are detailed below.
The Approach
At a distance, the first indication of a unique location is a smooth, but distinct discoloration in the ground around the Boneyard. The grass withers, but doesn't turn brown; rather it's as though the color from the grasses and dirt have been muted or drained until the color becomes completely gray at the edge of the Boneyard.
Guards & Security
If you are using the Boneyard in an area close to a settlement, there might be a guard station to prevent passers by from entering, but if this is being used in a remote area, there's unlikely to be any kind of security around.
A low wall made of gray stones forms a perimeter around the area, and there's clear signs that large creatures have crossed this wall to enter the area. From claw marks in the stone to well-worn footprints in the earth, parties that investigate the edges should find some indication of some creature's passage within at least the last month or so.
Landmarks
Two landmarks stand out among the field of bones and dust. The most apparent one is a massive set of ribs that point up to the sky. The other noteworthy location is an old, dilapidated stone structure. In addition to these two obvious locations, the center of the Boneyard also looks like it's the lowest point, and is roughly in the center of the area.
The Ribcage
The ribs that make up The Ribcage reach at least 20 feet into the air and rise above most of the piles of bones that surround them. It is located about halfway between the center of the Boneyard and the eastern edge.
The Ruined Chapel
From a distance, there's no visible marker for the religion associated with this chapel, but it's clear that the roof has partially collapsed. The building wasn't a large and expansive temple in its prime, but looks large enough that it probably had a permanent priest.
The Sink
While there's no physical sinkhole here, it is definitely the lowest point between the surrounding hills. If the party approaches The Boneyard at night, there's a soft white glow emanating from the area. This glow is too dim to be seen during the daylight though.
Encounter: The Dying Direwolf
During a search or investigation of the exterior, the party might encounter the latest creature that has come to this location to die: an old direwolf. He is large and covered in shaggy, dark gray fur. Huge, chipped plates of bony armor poke out of his scarred hide, and he walks with aweary gait toward the Boneyard.
Even if the party is not stealthy, the wolf poses no threat and doesn't seem to notice them. The party can follow him in, where he finds a clear patch of colorless gray dirt just inside the perimeter to lay down on before dying. If the party gets in his way, he doesn't fight back, and simply lays down wherever they intercept him and dies there instead. When he dies, small glowing orbs of energy rise out of the body, and float towards the center of The Boneyard before they fade.
The direwolf has no hitpoint damage to be cured through magic, and is not cursed or sick. If any magic is cast in an attempt to preserve the creature's life, any spell slots are expended as normal but the magic fails and is turned into similar glowing orbs that float toward the Sink in the center of the Boneyard.
The Wickers
Floating around throughout The Boneyard are small motes of concentrated magical energy that feed on other sources of magic. These motes always travel in a straight line towards the Sink, moving through creatures and objects to do so. They appear much the same as will-o'-wisps, but Wickers are not intelligent and do not react to living creatures. As they travel toward the Sink, wickers begin to fade. If two wickers get close enough, they will join together and combine their energy until is is drained or joins with yet another.
A character with spell slots will begin to feel slightly drained the longer they remain here. Over time, wickers will form around PCs and drip off of them before floating towards the Sink, draining that PC's lowest level spell slot available. Tier 1 PCs lose one spell slot every 4 hours, Tier 2 PCs lose a slot every 2 hours, and Tier 3 PCs lose a slot every hour.
If a PC has no spell slots left when this occurs, they instead roll a Constitution saving throw or gain a level of exhaustion until they can complete a long rest outside of the Boneyard.
Wickers are a benign and passive phenomena of this area in every way except for one: they consume magic. Any time a PC casts a spell from an item or using a spell slot, wickers nearby will swarm like piranhas and devour the magical effect. In this instance, the spell slots or charges are still consumed from casting, and the PC that cast the spell loses an additional spell slot or charge from the item.
The Chapel
The chapel here is dedicated to the Raven Queen or another deity of death or desolation. The old walls crumble in places, but still stand sturdily enough to be climbed and hold the partially collapsed roof. The window glass has long been broken out of the frames, and the door is simply an archway - the wood having rotted away many years ago.
The interior is filled with miscellaneous debris from the collapsed sections of roof and the bones of creatures that have died inside over the years. Half of the interior is still covered by the roof, although it has partially collapsed and fallen across the walls instead of standing as it was constructed. The area still covered by the roof has dusty stone benches, and features an altar covered in dark and threadbare altar cloth.
Using detect magic reveals the entire area covered by the remaining roof is protected with some kind of powerful abjuration effect that shields the interior from the draining effect of the Boneyard and the Wickers.
Encounter: The Ancient Priestess
Ardena Hadala is an old elven cleric, well into her 600s and likely nearing the end of her lifespan within the next few decades. Wrinkles cover her face, and her thin hair is kept in a loose braid, but she stands tall despite her age. She wears loose robes under a heavy cloak that covers most of her body.
Ardena is aloof and esoteric, and should be mildly frustrating to talk to. If the party asks her if she knows about a particular part of The Boneyard, she only answers with, "Yes" or a similar true-but-unhelpful response. She doesn't do this out of spite or to conceal the truth; she has just been alone for so long that the outside culture has changed and left her behind.
If the party endears themselves to her, she will volunteer more information, and can warn them about the Wickers and The Marrowmakers. Additionally, she is happy to let players shelter here if they wish to take a short or long rest in a place that is shielded from the Wickers. If the party threatens her, she remains unfazed, trusting in her own abilities and her deity to take care of her.
Tactics
If the party attacks her, Ardena begins combat by disrupting the abjuration magic that protects the chapel, causing it to collapse. She then makes her way towards the Sink, hoping to feed PCs to the Wickers, trusting in a protective amulet to shield her from them. If the party has no significant magical abilities, or hasn't demonstrated them, she will try to vanish among the piles of bones until the party leaves. She may travel to a nearby guard post if there are any nearby.
Either way, Ardena does not fear death and cannot be effectively threatened with violence. And while she will work to avoid direct harm to herself, if her life is in jeopardy she attempts to take as many PCs to the grave with her.
The Ribcage
A closer inspection of The Ribcage confirms that some gargantuan creature came here to die long ago. A successful Wisdom (Medicine) or Intelligence (Nature) check would reveal that the wear and tear on these bones makes them at least a century old. They're definitely the bones of an ancient dragon, and could be used to make powerful magical items if harvested. Either way, at a first glance, only the rib cage is visible; the rest of the skeleton is likely under the pile of bones around it.
A successful Intelligence (Investigation) or Wisdom (Perception) check will notice that around, on the other side of a particularly precarious pile of dusty bones, the top of the dragon's skull looms over a dark tunnel. A cloth hangs across the path, blocking line of sight, and darkness fills the interior beyond aside from the occasional wicker that floats through.
Encounter: The Marrowmakers
The interior of this massive bone pile is a fairly spacious oval-shaped room, about 25 ft long and 15 ft across. A surprisingly fine rug lays across the center of the area, and off to one side is a small table and two chairs. Beyond this, a first glance of the room reveals nothing in particular.
The rug covers a 5x5 ft trapdoor that leads to a spacious bunker in the ground. The underside of the drapdoor and surrounding hatchframe is lined with lead to shield the magic within from spells like detect magic and from the Wickers. The seal is not airtight though, allowing the vampires to traverse into or out of the lair in their misty form, and this fact can be taken advantage of by players to gain entry. Alternatively, it could provide access to the internal locking mechanism for players that prefer to pick the lock instead.
The time of day that the party finds the Ribcage will drastically influence how to approach this encounter due to the vampire that lives here. Her name is Katya, and she often works as a liaison for creatures that wish to travel through the Sink and into the Shadowfell. Depending on your party's level and capabilities, her abode here may also serve as a larger place of shelter for wandering creatures that seek safe passage through the Crossing.
Daytime
If the party investigates this location in the daytime, Katya and any other vampires present sleep atop blankets and plush beds in the underground bunker. In this case, their bodies are by all means dead, and they do not wake if touched or prodded. A successful medicine check will find that there are no signs of injury and no indications of what might have killed them. Successful Investigation or Perception checks made to examine the bodies should result in discovering fangs or other evidence of the vampires' true nature. Savvy players that specifically search the mouths of the vampires should automatically succeed on this.
The rest of the area can be explored at the leisure of the players, so long as the sun is in the sky. If the party is here to retrieve an item or written information, they can likely find it within this space, but if they need to speak with Katya, they will have to wait for dusk.
Nighttime
If the party chooses to investigate under the cover of night, the biggest change is that Katya (and any other vampires present) are awake. If the party comes in hostile, the vampire(s) inside should be well defended, and can likely put up a tough fight, but she's also reasonable and is happy to guide people to the shadow crossing for a reasonable sum.
Plot Hooks
Below are some possible ideas to plug this encounter into an existing adventure:
- The party needs to travel to the Shadowfell. The nearby cities actively seek to stamp out shadow crossings to prevent invasions, but an NPC suggests they check out the Boneyard. After all, the shadowfell is a dead plane, so why not search in a dead place?
- A researcher gives the party a quest to find and recover a magical item. It was last seen in the possession of a ranger that went off in that direction. The only thing out that way for miles is the Boneyard.
- Vampires! We know those nasty beasts need somewhere safe to hide from the light of the sun! Find them and wipe them from the face of this earth!
- An apothecary needs a very special ingredient for a potion: dragon bone. Unless the party wants to go hunt down and slay a dragon, the Boneyard is their best bet.
- A dean from the local magical university has heard rumors of the Wickers and thinks they might be linked to a magical ley line! They'll pay top coin for any brave adventurers that would escort their research team to the site and protect them from the dangers of the wilds.