Strixhaven Mysteries #1:
The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces
With its stand-alone module design, the Candlekeep Mysteries anthology of short adventures is potentially a source of material that DMs can use to extend a Strixhaven campaign and give it more of an air of mystery. Alternatively, Candlekeep's adventures can be used as alternate episodes in lieu of some of the scenarios in presented in Strixhaven.
Besides porting "The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces" over to Strixhaven, this conversion modifies the plot hooks presented in the original adventure to tease a TTRPG adaptation one of the ongoing character arcs from the Magic: The Gathering metaplot: the disappearance and redemption of infamous planeswalker Liliana Vess.
Sources of Inspiration
- "Candlekeep". Chris Lindsay
- Eldritch Moon. Wizards of the Coast
- Liliana Vess Biography. Wizards of the Coast
- Plane Shift: Amonkhet. James Wyatt
- "The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces". Michael Polkinghorn
Prelude
The basic backstory behind how the book The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces makes its way to the Biblioplex is not heavily changed. Fistandia (who is presumed dead) was a human librarian who graduated from Whitherbloom College almost two centuries ago. Drazhomir Yarnask (see Strixhaven's "Fellow Student" section) is a Biblioplex book clerk who assumes Matreous's role in this converted adventure.
Finding the Book
The characters are accosted by a coworker of Drazhomir's (pick an option from the Avowed Adjutants table found in Candlekeep Mysteries). They explain that Drazhomir wants the characters to check out something odd he's discovered in the Biblioplex. If the characters agree to this request, the coworker escorts the group to one of the Biblioplex's advanced student offices, where Drazhomir was last seen.
Fistandia's Mansion
Most of this adventure runs the same, but emphasize the sinister atmosphere of the mansion to foreshadow the new revelations learned in the Study. Override or revise any written descriptions which detract from the creepiness.
M5. Study
What characters learn from investigating the books here differs greatly from the the original text:
- Most of the books here were authored by someone named Liliana Vess. A character who succeeds on a DC 10 Intelligence check using calligrapher's tools confirms that her handwriting matches perfectly with the notes left in The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces.
- A disciple of the necromantic arts, Liliana secretly came to Strixhaven from another world to learn everything the multiverse's greatest magic academy had to offer, posing as a promising novice named Fistandia.
- Her covert delvings into forbidden knowledge led Liliana to enter into a pact with a daemogoth, granting the necromancer a permanent extradimensional mansion for her to reside in while studying at Strixhaven.
- Liliana hid the command word to reopen the portal as a contingency in the unlikely event she forgot it, deliberately making it a puzzle to prevent "uninvited guests" from easily discovering the way out.
M6. Kitchen
Cumin is the only homunculus present; Liliana never brought a partner to live with her in the extradimensional mansion. This homunculus is hunchbacked with a single cyclopic eye, and cannot fly due to a lack of wings.
M18. Summoning Room
The quasit does not attack non-hostile creatures that approach, but follows the characters around in its toad form. Its goal is to use the characters to escape the mansion; perhaps even tricking someone into adopting the toad.
Ages ago, this quasit served as Liliana Vess's demon familiar. It has waited a long time for its master's return, growing restless over the decades from her absence.
Assembling the Books
To make the puzzle's solution less guessable for characters and to add a more personalized Liliana touch, change the command word (actually a phrase) to "Lady Ana". Don't forget to also change the lettered clues scattered throughout the mansion so that they spell out Lady Ana.
Conclusion
Rather than wait in ambush, the imp is long gone from the private office by the time the characters emerge. Instead, they find Professor Serafina Onyx (see her stat block in the Appendix section) and various Biblioplex staff huddled around Drazhomir's body. In this conversion, Professor Onyx replaces Verelda Lang as the characters' Magical Physiologies professor.
Fortunately for Drazhomir, the wounds inflicted by the imp were not fatal. As the characters arrive, Drazhomir comes to and apologies for nearly getting the group trapped in the extradimensional manor.
If the characters ask about Liliana Vess, none of the Biblioplex staff present in the room is familiar with that name. However, should the characters bring up that Liliana originated from a different world, one of them speculates that the necromancer might be a Planeswalker; someone with the innate ability to travel between worlds.
Once the immediate loose ends cleared up, Serafina Onyx ushers Drazhomir to the campus infirmary, but not before bidding the characters to rest and recover.
Further Adventures
Although the characters are allowed to keep anything they found in the extradimensional mansion, the private office with the portal is closed to students for the rest of the year. Barring intervention from the characters, the private office is reopened at the start of the following school year. By then, the extradimensional mansion will have been dispelled, with everything found by faculty secured in restricted sections of the Biblioplex.
There are further plot threads from this adventure as well that can be unraveled in the course of a Strixhaven campaign.
Relationship Encounter
Characters may wish to bond with Drazhomir after glimpsing his near-fatal encounter with the imp. If Drazhomir is a student the characters wish to earn Relationship Points with, treat this as a Relationship encounter. Have players note the results of this encounter on their copies of the tracking sheet.
The Faerie Dragons
Inspired by the characters' visit to the extradimensional mansion and more bored than ever, the faerie dragons in the arboretum covertly slip back into the Material Plane the first chance they get. For the rest of the campaign, the duo might treat Strixhaven as their new playground for pulling pranks.
Based on how the characters interacted with the faerie dragons, the dragons may be motivated to help or hinder the party on later adventures. Due to the faerie dragons' feylike sensibilities, there is little functional difference between either option.
The Quasit
Should a character bring the "toad" back to Strixhaven, it will insist on accompanying its new owner at all times. The quasit waits for an opportune moment (such as the stressful night before any Exam) before privately revealing its true self to the character, offering its services as a secret familiar.
If the character asks the creature direct questions, it claims the following in response:
- Its name is Yix, and creatures of its kind are called quasits.
- Quasits aren't really evil; just misunderstood makers of mischief.
- Its former owner was a power-obsessed mage named Liliana Vess. The quasit doesn't know why Liliana has been absent for more than a century.
- If Yix fails to find a new master in time, it'll be whisked back to its home plane; a realm too terrible to even name.
- Strixhaven's mages banish any quasits they find without pity or remorse.
- Quasits always serve their masters faithfully.
While the quasit indeed provides some nuggets of truth, a character who succeeds on a DC 11 Wisdom (Insight) check senses that some of the creature's outbursts of fear feel overly manufactured to solicit sympathy. Despite denying it has an evil heart, the quasit has every intention of goading its master into cheating on Exams and pranking rivals, thereby shifting the character towards chaos.
The Imp
Even though Drazhomir's would-be murderer would love nothing more than exacting vengeance on the woman who transformed it into a figurine, the fiend settles for keeping an intrigued eye on the characters. At the DM's discretion, the imp ends up offering its services to a Rival of one of the characters, acting as their familiar and as a thorn in the party's side for the remainder of the campaign.
The Fate of Liliana Vess
By using downtime to conduct library research on nefarious necromancers or Planeswalkers, the characters may potentially learn one or more of these additional fragments of information about Liliana Vess:
- "Liliana Vess" is an anagram of "A Villainess"; a phrase which aptly describes the mage's true nature.
- Liliana forged pacts with no less than four archfiends in exchange for ultimate power and immortality. This accursed contract is etched into Liliana's skin, glowing brightly whenever she casts powerful magics.
- The necromancer took twisted delight in corrupting the living and commanding hordes of undead.
- After a long lifetime of wickedness and treachery, Liliana finally met her end only a couple years ago at the hands of assassins.
Unbeknownst to the characters, not only is Liliana Vess secretly alive and well, but she has taken on a new identity as a professor right under the group's very noses. . . .
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Image Credits
- Curious Homunculus. Filip Burburan (artstation.com/filipburburan)
- Art Deco Frame. 100ker (shutterstock.com/g/100ker)
- Professor Onyx. Kieran Yanner (kieranyanner.com)
- D&D Watercolor Stains. Jared Ondricek (watercolors.giantsoup.com)
Appendix Stat Block:
Serafina Onyx, Necro-Biologist
Serafina Onyx is one of Strixhaven's newest faculty members. A brilliant necromantic researcher, she achieved the rank of professor after only less than a year of teaching, which certainly raised many eyebrows. Onyx currently teaches introductory courses in magical physiologies, and her work documententing the corruptive effects of shadow creatures has also earned her opportunities to teach courses at Silverquill College.
Barring character-driven plot developments, Professor Onyx assumes the role taken by Verelda Lang in chapters 3 and 6 of the Strixhaven module.
Serafina Onyx
Medium Humanoid (Human, Warlock), Neutral
- Armor Class 13 (16 with mage armor)
- Hit Points 156 (24d8 + 48)
- Speed 30 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 10 (+0) 16 (+3) 15 (+2) 19 (+4) 13 (+1) 23 (+6)
- Saving Throws Int +8, Wis +5, Cha +10
- Skills Arcana +8, Deception +10, Medicine +9, Persuasion +10, Religion +12
- Condition Immunities charmed, frightened
- Senses truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 11
- Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Deep Speech, Draconic, Infernal, Primordial
- Challenge 11 (7,200 XP) _______ Proficiency Bonus +4
Boon of Immortality. Onyx is immune to any effect that would age her, and she can't die from old age.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If Onyx fails a saving throw, she can choose to succeed instead.
Magic Resistance. Onyx has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Planar Escape. If damage reduces Onyx to 0 hit points, she must make a Charisma saving throw with a DC equal to the damage taken. On a success, Onyx instead takes no damage and planeswalks to a random world.
Actions
Multiattack. Onyx makes two Ulcerate attacks. She can replace one of the attacks with a use of Spellcasting.
Ulcerate. Melee or Ranged Spell Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 24 (4d8 + 6) necrotic damage, and the target can't regain hit points until the start of Onyx's next turn. If she hits a living target, it also has disadvantage on attack rolls until the end of Onyx's next turn.
Spellcasting. Onyx casts one of the following spells at 5th level, requiring no material components and using Charisma as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 18):
At will: false life, mage armor (self only), mage hand, spare the dying, speak with dead, thaumaturgy
3/day each: blindness/deafness, charm person
1/day each: bestow curse, contagion, fear, feign deathKilling Wave (Recharge 5–6). Onyx unleashes necrotic energy in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw, taking 54 (12d8) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
If a creature that is neither a construct nor undead dies from a Killing Wave, Onyx regains 27 hit points.
Planeswalk (1/Day). Onyx and up to eight willing creatures are transported to another world on the Material Plane. Each creature must use its action on ten consecutive turns to link hands in a circle, and must maintain concentration while doing so (as if concentrating on a spell).
Legendary Actions
Onyx can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. Onyx regains spent legendary actions at the start of her turn.
Scornful Step. Onyx moves up to her speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Spellcasting (Costs 2 Actions). Onyx uses Spellcasting.
Endless Obedience (Costs 3 Actions). Onyx targets one creature she can see within 60 feet of her. The target must succeed on a DC 18 Charisma saving throw or be possessed by a shadow spirit. While possessed, the target must obey Onyx's commands. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, banishing the shadow spirit and ending the effect on itself on a success.