Introduction

This campaign is an adventure set on the continent of Tal'Dorei in the world of Exandria following the tale of Vox Machina as featured in the show Critical Role. This adventure uses milestone leveling and is designed to be started for four characters starting at 2nd level. The encounters can be altered if your party has more players. For more information regarding the world of Exandria, check out the Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn (TCSR) and Explorer's Guide to Wildemount (EGtW) written by Matthew Mercer.

For this campaign, you will need access to the Player's Handbook (PHB), Xanathar's Guide to Everything (XGtE), Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG), and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (TCoE).

The creatures and monsters utilized in this campaign come from the Monster Manual (MM), Volo's Guide to Monsters (VGtM), and Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (MToF), as well as from the following 3rd party sources: Monster Manual Expanded (MME), Monster Manual Expanded II (MME2), Tome of Beasts (ToB), and the Critter Compendium (CC).

Additional magic items utilized in this campaign come from the Griffon's Saddlebag (GS).

Adventure Synopsis

This adventure begins when the characters arrive outside the town of Byroden, a small settlement in the Mornset Countryside. Recently, there has been an increase in goblin attacks from the Rifenmist Peninsula. Something sinister seems to be spurring the goblins to attack and leave their ancestral home of the Beynsfal Plateau. Throughout Tal'Dorei, members of the Cult of the Cloaked Serpent are working in secret to unravel civilization and sow chaos and mistrust across the land. Characters start this adventure at 2nd level.

Chapter 1. The adventure begins when the adventurers arrive in Byroden, a small settlement in the Mornset Countryside. Arriving in the midst of a goblin incursion, the characters join the Byroden militia in defending the town and learn of a recently kidnapped child. After a search and rescue attempt for the missing child, the adventurers are asked to investigate a mysterious issue in the nearby hamlet of Hayfield. Their investigation identifies a mysterious poison affecting the denizens and With the help of a reclusive herbalist, the characters must collect the ingredients to create an antidote. Characters should reach 4th level by the end of Chapter 1.

Chapter 2. The adventurers make their way to Kymal to deliver a package. While in Kymal, the characters are approached and hired by a disguised Clasp member to save an important blacksmith that has gone missing. This may provide opportunities for the adventurers to explore the underground conflict between the Myriad and Clasp. The characters also have the opportunity to explore the city, offer their services in saving merchants from bandits, and retrieve an emerald in service of a rival mercenary group. Characters should reach 5th level by the end of Chapter 2.

Chapter 3. The adventurers are further enveloped in the underground conflict between the Myriad and Clasp. Both criminal organizations, along with the Cult of the Cloaked Serpent are searching for a legendary hidden treasure. Again, a disguised Clasp member reaches out to the characters and asks for their assistance in locating a missing informant. As the adventurers become involved in the search for the Stone of Golorr, they investigate an explosion and the noble family responsible for it. Eventually, their investigation leads them to determining the location of the treasure. Can they get there before the thieves' guilds or cultists? Characters should reach 6th level by the end of Chapter 3.

Chapter 4. Mysterious notes found in the Vault of Dragons lead the adventurers to seek out a long-lost tower. Heading south, characters will pass through the Vues'dal Water area and learn of increased goblin raids. The search for the lost tower leads adventurers to stumble upon Cloaked Serpent cultists in the process of collecting a large chunk of what they will later learn is a primordial titan seed. On the return journey to the Vues'dal Waters area, the characters notice signs of a large conflict and stumble upon a mysterious cave and a long-forgotten dwarf vault. Characters should reach 8th level by the end of Chapter 4.

Chapter 5. The war between the Iron Authority's Khad Dirukh and the Forces of Gwessar has begun. This chapter provides opportunities for the characters to seek out mercenary work. The army is in need of an elite strike force to rescue trapped soldiers and deliver barrels of explosive black powder to destroy a strategic mountain pass. Characters should reach 9th level by the end of Chapter 5.

Chapter 6. The mystery of Ruhn-Shak calls. This chapter provides the opportunities for the characters to explore the Underdark and the mysterious happenings within Ruhn-Shak. The madness that has suffused through the city stems from an aboleth that has made its home underneath the city in a long-forgotten temple. Will the characters find the source of the madness and defeat the aboleth before it accomplishes its goals? Characters should reach 10th level by the end of Chapter 6.

Chapter 7. Visions from the Stormlord point towards a long-lost temple and a legendary artifact. This chapter leads characters across the Ozmit Sea to the continent of Issylra. The group must traverse the wild countryside, relying on each other, their skills, and wits to keep themselves alive on the journey there and back again. After completing the Stormlord's quest, the characters should reach 11th level. On the return journey, the characters will head to Shorecomb to charter a ship back to Tal'Dorei. While in Shorecomb the group may be asked to investigate a lighthouse overrun with undead. In addition, spring begins with the Renewal Festival and the Shorecomb festival offers the group a day of fun, food, and relaxation before they sail back to Emon.

Chapter 8. Something is killing children in Midshale. One of the towns that makes up the Shalesteps, Midshale is roughly a day's journey northwest of Emon. The residents suspect Old Algie, but is there more to this case than meets the eye? The party will need to converse with the residents of the town and investigate this "who done it." Their investigation will lead them to explore the Whitaker's farm who have been killed by some mysterious creature. Can the group figure out what has been killing the children before another child dies? Characters should reach 12th level by the end of Chapter 8.

Chapter 9. Side quests abound for the party before they become embroiled in the final whirlwind of adventures as the Cloaked Serpent's cultists prepare for and enact their sinister plots. The party may choose to aid the Pyrah guarding the Flamereach Grove in quelling an increase in elemental activity or do research into their powerful magic items or the history of the Cloaked Serpent. Meanwhile, a powerful wizard is looking to kidnap adventuring parties to test the extra planar dungeon he has created. This chapter provides side adventures across the Dividing Plains from Emon to Westruun. Characters should reach 15th level by the end of Chapter 9.

 Chapter 10. The schemes of the Cloaked Serpent are brought to the forefront of the campaign. The party learns through their research of a long-forgotten temple to the Cloaked Serpent buried deep within the Verdant Expanse. The group must first locate the underground cave system that houses the temple and has become the home to many yuan-ti cultists. These cultists have engineered a ritual where they can infuse a creature with residuum through torture to imbue their bodies with magical abilities. This ritual has led to a small army of goblin sorcerers, reminiscent of the ones the party first met around Byroden and the Gladepools. Finally, the temple holds clues to the cultists' connections with prominent Kymal families that hint at where the major set piece of the Cloaked Serpent's plan will come to fruition. Characters should reach 16th level by the end of Chapter 10.

Chapter 11. The cultists of the Cloaked Serpent are primed to deal death and destruction across Exandria, starting with Kymal. The culmination of the cultists' work is the summoning of a massive volcano through a planar incursion of the Elemental Plane of Fire. The volcano will be slowly drawn towards Kymal by a primordial titan seed that has been placed there as a homing beacon. The volcano will rain destruction across the city, and elementals will be able to pass through the veil between planes to wreak further death and destruction through the city. The group must defend the city and locate the titan seed in the temple beneath the Cassalanter Villa, all while they work with leaders to determine where this ritual is being performed. Characters should reach 17th level by the end of Chapter 11.

Chapter 12. The characters must travel to Serpent's Head, a small, ruined mining town nestled at the base of the Cliffkeep Mountains, just north of the Torian Forest. The lair and main temple of the Cult of the Cloaked Serpents has been constructed here because of the occasional rifts that flare open to the Elemental Plane of Fire. These rifts are used to mask any errant elemental activity they may be performing. The party must locate the entrance the cultists hid within the abandoned Serpent's Head Forge. In the intervening years, fire giants have made the Forge their home, so the cultists carved out a side entrance, but relied on the giants to further obfuscate their lair. Once past the fire giants, the group must battle their way through a series of challenges and puzzles placed by the cultists to test new recruits. Once they reach the cultists' lair, the party must fight their way past, ultimately reaching a caldera within an active volcano where the ritual is being performed by a red dragon, Igbalneum. The group must destroy the titan seeds being used to power the ritual while fighting the dragon. Once all the titan seeds are destroyed, the ritual will end, sending the volcano back through its portal to the Elemental Plane of Fire. Characters should reach 20th level by the end of the campaign.

After the events of the campaign, as the group is praised and celebrated for their role in saving Kymal, it might be fun for the characters to test out their level 20 abilities in a Battle Royale. The wizard that kidnapped the party in chapter 9 will nab them again to fight each other for his amusement.

Meet the Characters

Kayne, the Storm's Wrath

Race: Human
Class: Paladin (Conquest)
Background: Acolyte
Age: 25

---

Kayne was born in the Realm of Elenen, an elven and human town located in the Dawnmist Pines. For the first few years, he lived down the street from Lia. His father, Axel, was a carpenter and moved their family to the Turst-Fields to make a better living when Kayne was 8 years old. He spent most of his time with his mother, Marisha, and his older sister, Kayla.

When Kayne was 10 years old, his family was murdered one evening by bandits. His sister, Kayla, hid Kayne inside a food barrel in the pantry which saved his life. She left the pantry to try and help their parents and was also killed during the attack. After the bandits had looted the house, Kayne, who had stayed hidden frozen in fear, finally crawled out of the barrel, and was found crying next to his sister's body by Bjorn, a monk acolyte to the Stormlord.

Bjorn brought Kayne back to the nearby Temple to the Stormlord to live and taught him how to defend himself. Kayne vowed he would never cower in fear again. One day, while Kayne was meditating, the Stormlord's voice came to him and requested that he take up the sword in His name to defend others. He also gifted Kayne the name: Storm's Wrath. Kayne only requested in return one thing: the promise to one day exact vengeance on those who killed his family.

Kayne moved back to the Realm of Elenen at the request of the Stormlord to strengthen the temple there. Kayne reconnected with Lia when he moved back, and their friendship re-strengthened. Kayne decided to journey with Lia on her adventures to protect his best friend. Kayne privately views Lia as his closest friend and would do anything to keep her safe.

It has been 8 months since Kayne last heard from the Stormlord. Kayne wonders whether he has been deemed unworthy. Not even Lia knows the Stormlord has stopped communicating with him.

Lia Arnuanna

Race: Half-elf
Class: Ranger (Gloomstalker)
Background: Noble
Age: 28

Lia's father is a human outlander, and her mother is an elf noble. When they married, they left Syngorn because her father was human and due to the politics of Syngorn, they knew any children they had would never be fully accepted. Throughout her childhood, Lia's family moved around frequently, which gave her an opportunity to meet many different creatures and is the reason why she can speak a lot of languages. This also bestowed in her an adventurous and independent spirit. Lia is also very friendly and can get along with all different kinds of people.

Eventually, her parents settled down in the Realm of Elenen. There, she met and fell in love with Engolan, heir to the throne of the Realm. They married and now live together in the castle. Because she has an elvish noble mother, she is more accepted here than she would have been in Syngorn, but she is still not fully accepted.

Lia is driven by a need to prove herself to the people of Elenen and make a name for herself in the community. Her husband, Marquess Engolan, is very busy running the land and manor, but because Lia is not fully welcomed into the kingdom, she does not have much to occupy herself with. As such, her adventurous spirit has driven her to go on an adventure with her childhood friend Kayne, and hopefully find a way to prove her worth to the Realm of Elenen. It is unclear what Lia is seeking to discover about herself on this adventure, but she hopes to find it along the way. It is particularly important to her to be accepted and she believes that this adventure is what it will take.

Maoki

Race: Tiefling (Purple)
Class: Rogue (Assassin)
Background: Criminal
Age: 28

Maoki was born in Jorenn Village to tiefling parents. Barakas, his father, was a blue tiefling and his mother, Makoria, was a red tiefling. At the age of 4, Maoki's mother was killed by the local rulers because of her tiefling heritage. He witnessed the whole thing, hiding scared to death, in the family room closet. After witnessing her murder, Maoki and his father started to train together with the monks in the local Temple of the Stormlord so they may be able to protect themselves.

One day in the temple, this tall, dark skinned, human man, Bashir, with a black goatee and scar down the left side of his face, approached them and whispered to meet him at the bar down the street, Forged through Fire, saying it was about Makoria.

Intrigued, they met him there and he told them how he had heard about the death of Makoria. He offered them a chance to join the Shadewatch. They agreed, knowing this could help them find and murder the men who murdered his mother. After months of working alongside the Shadewatch, Maoki's father was promoted and sent on a mission to Marquet. He left and never returned.

One night, months after his father's disappearance, Maoki overhead a conversation between two guards outside Lord Vidar's estate. They mentioned a man who had attempted to kill the lord's wife and the description matched his father. As the story concluded, the one guard said, “poor bastard got stabbed in the eye with a spear and died. The lord set him up using his connections to the Shadewatch." Maoki sat there stunned, the Shadewatch had betrayed his father for gold.

From that moment on, no one in the Shadewatch or Jorenn Village had seen or heard from Maoki again. He has lived in the Shadows, quietly stealing to live, never staying in one place for too long. It's been 10 years since Maoki left Jorenn Village training daily, honing his ability to hide, pickpocket, and kill.

Chapter 1: The Mornset Countryside

Every epic journey begins somewhere. A long night at sea brings fated friends together. The mystery of a bloodstained cloak causes talented minds to join forces to seek justice. A simple tavern gathering leads a number of eager dungeoneers to come together as one. Whatever the scenario, that first step that unites a would-be band of adventures is usually a challenging one.

 As the Verdant Expanse and Gladepools give way to scrublands, and the Stormcrest Mountains break into rolling hills, an open plain of grass and scattered woodlands marks the Mornset Countryside. The only bastions of civilization anywhere near these forsaken peaks lie in the Mornset Countryside pushing along the Stormpoint range, far beyond the influence of the Council of Tal'Dorei. These rugged folk are used to fending for themselves and spit at the thought of returning to so-called "civilization", preferring life among the swamps and shadowed forests of their homeland. Home to many misfits and self-proclaimed "free folk" who either shun the guidance of northern governments, or have fled persecution for their illegal deeds, the people have maintained a simple, if occasionally tumultuous lifestyle.

Bound by necessity to survive in the outskirts, this land is held by a general code of honor and respect for all outcasts. Each denizen looks out for their neighbor, while the towns and homesteads are quite self-sufficient, if modest in living. This, however, does not absolve them of the occasional uncouth upstart wanting to seize power, or an incursion of dangerous creatures raiding from the Rifenmist Jungle tearing through the outlier communities. Most of the Mornset free folk are humans, but many free cities have alliances with the local hill giants, cyclopes, and ogres -- the "Lowborn" giantkin -- that help protect them against the hobgoblins to the south.

While comparably pleasant and welcoming on the outside, this lifestyle is protected by a fierce and intense drive to defend their way of life at the first sign of threat or danger. Most citizens are armed at all times and trained to rise as a communal militia at a moment's notice.

 B10. Countryside Inn. This single-story stone building is located on the eastern side of Byroden, along the main road into town. The interior is cozy and quaint with dwarf-wrought iron tables and chairs. Accommodations consist of several small rooms with wooden cots and a small private bathhouse for guests. An old gnome woman by the name of Shamil Sympony runs the inn. She has white hair, and can be curmudgeonly, sarcastic, and pleasant all in the same interaction. The meals here are delicious and range from salted trout to roasted mutton and chestnut bread.

 B11. Round Hill Tavern. This is the largest tavern in Byroden. This large two-story timber framed building has a slate roof and is run by Pascual Mond. He is a slightly heavier human with dark skin and dark hair. He is a pleasant man with a loud belly laugh. This tavern is known for its meads, wines, and whiskeys. The food here is delicious and ranges from braised duck to roasted whitefish and steamed oxen.

B12. Small home attacked by goblins. This is the small wooden building that was attacked by goblins as the characters arrived in Byroden.

B1

B2

B3

B6

B4

B7

B5

B8

B9

B10

B11

B12

Map 1.1

Rumors Abound

If the characters spend time in town conversing with the villagers, they may learn of a few rumors.

  Bennefre, Baron Kayne, Lord Galvyn. There have been an increase in wolf attacks to the outlying farms.

Bennefre & Shamil. The goblin incursions usually come from the Rifenmist Jungle but now the militia are overwhelmed by attacks from there and the Verdant Expanse.

Basil, Pascual. One of the ponds in the Gladepools has a reputation of being haunted. People have had creepy feelings and felt as if they were being watched.

All villagers. There have been rumors of people from nearby towns flying into a mindless rage and attacking neighbors. There have been whisperings between scouts about a shadow spreading in the Verdant Expanse.

Gladepool Rescue

If the characters agree to go in search of the goblin hideout, War Ringer Mirna will provide them with a map of where she believes the approximate location of the goblin hideout is. It is slightly west of one of the ponds that makes up the Gladepools. The characters can attempt to search for and follow the remnants of the goblin's trail with a successful DC 12 Survival check.

The characters will travel north out of Byroden, traveling into the Verdant Expanse. The path curves westward around the southern edge of one of the Gladepools. The map points out the location of a large rock with a tree growing horizontally out of it over the water. Mirna believes this is near where the goblins are hiding out.

When the party arrives at the rock marked on the map, they need to begin searching for tracks to locate their hideout. As they are searching, a character who makes a successful DC 12 Perception check hears two goblins approaching. The goblins are chatting and not paying attention to their surroundings. The party have a chance to hide before the goblins arrive if they choose.

Encounter

A goblin (MM p.166) and a goblin Xvart Warlock of Raxivort (VGtM p.200) approach the clearing where the characters are. Given the opportunity, the goblins will try to retreat back to their hideout, which is approximately an hour from this location.

Treasure

If searched, the goblin is carrying 7 cp and the warlock goblin is carrying 5 sp.

Aftermath

A successful DC 10 Survival check allows the characters to follow their tracks back towards their hideout. The tracks lead uphill, away from the Gladepools into rockier terrain. A rocky bluff begins to appear between the trees and the tracks appear to lead towards a large crack at the base of the bluff.

Future Story Seed

While walking past one of the Gladepools, a paladin or fighter notices a gleaming adamantine longsword embedded in the bank of the pond, just underneath the water. No one else can see the sword until they draw it from the mud.

The dark, gleaming sword has a green leather wrapped handle with spider and web engravings with an obsidian pommel. The sword feels much lighter than it should be. There are dark elvish runes engraved into both sides of the blade.

• "Whosoever draws this blade has the power to free Ruhn-Shak from madness."

It can be translated in Syngorn; however, the translator pauses before the name Ruhn-Shak, then stammers instead "the, uh city...from madness" and refuses to help further.

Sorcerer's Cave

This cave has been home to an evil wizard for quite a while. As such, the evil has seeped into the ground and suffuses the area. Characters that choose to long rest within the cave must roll saves against possible corruption (See Appendix E for Corruption Rules). As the characters reach the cave entrance, read or paraphrase the following:

L5. Living Quarters

Anger Ever-burning in Hayfield

The hamlet of Hayfield is a small farming community set deep in the Mornset Countryside, approximately 2 days journey southeast from Byroden. Hayfield is built on both banks of the Mornset River.

There is a large main square on the north side of the river. This square is where most festivals and events are held. Small stores and houses border the square and north side of the river. Hayfield is quaint, quiet, friendly, and is home to hardworking folks that take pride in their community. It is governed by Baron Kayne but has a local council of elders entrusted to make most decisions. The council is led by Hera, an older male human.

Initial Investigation

During the days after the Highsummer Festival, the townsfolk became more and more short-tempered with each other. Arguments and fights began to break out between neighbors over small, inconsequential incidents. People who usually got along quite well began arguing and fighting with each other. Ultimately, 6 people escalated to a mindless rage and ended up brutally attacking and in a few cases, murdering neighbors.

When the party arrives in Hayfield, they are met by Lord Galvyn who introduces them to Sheriff Arcos (Appendix B). The sheriff takes some time to discuss the information he knows and provides some background on the past incidents and on the one person in custody, the halfling man Aras Stonehill. The sheriff can provide the following information:

• Solva & Gedu Stonecleave, a dwarf couple, brutally attacked their halfling neighbors Mesym and Hamis.
• Lota, a female halfling, attacked the half-elf Bari with a knife in the tavern and was accidentally killed by the other patrons in their attempt to subdue.
• Adrian murdered his half-elf neighbor Elwina before Elwina's husband killed him trying to stop him.
• Elrolar was accidentally killed while being subdued by the townsfolk as he was attempting to break into Elder Hera's home.
• Aras Stonehill, the older halfling male in custody with silver hair and green eyes, attacked his neighbor Johny because he "stole" his shovel.

Hayfield is in the midst of setting up for the Harvest Close Festival. As the party begins to explore around the village, the following information can be obtained during their investigations:

• The six people who went crazy were all seen drunk at the Highsummer Festival.
• For festivals, Hayfield gets special food and drink for the celebrations, typically from Syngorn.
• Vyncis Finell is the male elf seller in Syngorn where the food comes from.
  • Festival wine
  • Exotic foods such as venison, oranges, and pomegranates

Chapter 2: Dark Dealings Near Kymal

After the characters finish their investigation in Hayfield, they must travel to Kymal to complete Nedda Greenbottle's request to deliver a package to her brother Hildo. It is roughly a 750-mile journey from Hayfield to Kymal. First, the party travels north leaving the Mornset Countryside and enter the dense canopy of the Verdant Expanse. Once through the Verdant Expanse, the characters will travel northward along the Wildwood Byway until they arrive in Kymal.

Story Overview

As the characters journey through the Verdant Expanse there is a chance for them to stumble upon the wreckage of a Syngorn merchant caravan. This caravan was attacked by the impostors the group met earlier in the swamp.

After a nearly two-week journey, as the group approaches Kymal, they stumble upon a merchant caravan in the midst of a bandit attack. The merchants come from small villages near the Foramere basin and are traveling towards Kymal to sell their wares. This encounter represents the increased bandit activity throughout the Dividing Plains as conflict between the Clasp and the Myriad cause increased instability in the region. The bandits seemingly have tattoos that identify them as members of the Myriad.

The Journey North

Leaving the rolling hills of the Mornset Countryside behind, the road continues northward underneath the lush, dense canopy of the Verdant Expanse. As you travel, you pass the occasional merchant trader carrying supplies from Syngorn to some of the outlying cities.

As the party travel along the road, with a successful DC 15 Perception check a character will notice a wagon wheel off the path laying amongst the underbrush.

Encounter

On the fifth day of travel, as the dappled afternoon sun filters through the treetops, you glimpse a wagon wheel resting amongst the brush along the side of the road. A little way further into the trees, you can see the remains of what appears to be the rest of the wagon. It appears to have been partially destroyed.

If the characters decide to investigate the wagon remains, they find signs of a struggle. The wagon has been partially broken apart, food remnants have been scattered around and is beginning to rot. There are also dried blood stains across the wagon and the dead bodies of a horse and two elves can be seen lying amongst the brush. The elf bodies have been stripped of their clothes.

A successful DC 12 Investigation check notices that the two elf bodies have small stab wounds near the base of their necks. (This corresponds to the small slits in the cloaks of the elves the characters faced before in the swamp.) The characters will also notice a faint trail of dried blood that leads farther into the trees. If the group follows the trail of blood for approximately 300 feet, the characters stumble upon another body, also stripped of their clothes.

Treasure

As the characters investigate around the third dead body, a DC 15 Investigation Check notices a fine-looking dagger with a snake carved into the pommel and handle lying underneath a nearby bush. This dagger is identical to the one Lucan had back in the cave.

Approaching Kymal

After journeying north for two weeks, the characters have noticed an increase in merchant caravans traveling the Wildwood Byway. When the characters are a few hours outside of Kymal, two wagons a little way ahead of them are attacked by bandits.

There are two wagons traveling a few hundred feet ahead of you. As they approach a section of road lined with bushes, bandits jump out from the bushes and halt their caravan. The bandits approach the wagons and begin to pull the people off and tie them up on the side of the road.

As the characters approach, the bandit leader tells the party to piss off and mind their own business. If the characters continue to press, the leader has his followers attack.

Encounter

A Bandit Captain (MM p.344) and 5 Scouts (MM p.347) are in the middle of tying up the merchants as the characters approach. They will attack if the characters refuse to leave them alone. Use Map 2.1 for the encounter battle map.

Treasure

If the characters choose to search the bandits, each of the scouts has 4 - 8 sp and the leader has 3 - 5 gp. The merchants will reward the characters with 15gp for saving them.

Aftermath

If the bandits are searched, the characters will notice a small sun tattoo on their forearms. A DC 15 History check will identify it as the symbol of the Myriad. If the character surpasses a DC 20, something about how blatantly obvious the tattoo is placed strikes them as odd. (These bandits were hired by the Clasp to pretend to be the Myriad to cause blame directed in their direction.)

The caravan is made up of five merchants traveling towards Kymal from near the Foramere Basin. This group makes the trek to sell their wares about once a month and is comprised of:

• Barry: a short, plump carpenter with brown hair and eyes
• Abdala: a tall farmer with auburn hair and dark eyes
• Redar: a curly red bearded blacksmith with hazel eyes
• Rik: a rugged tailor with silver hair and blue eyes
• Grace: a slender baker with blond hair and green eyes

Rumors. In talking with the merchants, the characters can gain some insight about the goings-on around Kymal. The merchants have heard the following pieces of information:

• The Myriad came in a few years ago to Kymal and there has been an increase in violence as the Clasp and Myriad engage in a turf war.
• The Kymal City Watch are overwhelmed with the in-fighting and all they can do is try and keep it from spreading.
• Goblins and Orcs have been attacking caravans and have grown bolder. It's odd seeing so many goblins this far north.
• Bandits have been attacking merchant caravans more often throughout the Dividing Plains.

Map 2.1

Dividing Plains

Tal'Dorei's vast heartland, framed by the Stormcrest and Cliffkeep Mountains, contains miles and miles of rolling hills, tall grass prairies, sky-blue rivers, and fertile farmlands. Within these plains, the hardworking people of the realm tend to their fields and businesses while the armed protectors of civilization battle back the wild beasts and wandering bandits looking to prey on these points of enduring society.

The Silvercut Roadway meanders across the endless plains, connecting the coasts, and bringing caravans with fresh trade and intrigue to the industrious pioneers of central Tal'Dorei. A caravanner's life is not without danger, though. Warbands of Ravagers, a chaotic horde of orcs and goblinoids rove the grasslands, slaughtering and pillaging indiscriminately.

Packs of nomad gnolls also steal from humanoid caravans, though diplomats have recently begun to broker a peace between humans and gnolls to unite against the greater threat of the Ravagers. Beyond the grassy plains, owlbears and other arcane monstrosities stalk the wooded regions. Tribes of wild centaurs also gallop across the open plains, delivering the Arch Heart's justice as they see fit.

Kymal

Population: approx. 8,000 (73% Human, 14% Dwarven,

13% Other
Religions: Major - Wildmother, Lawbearer

Minor - Stormlord, Everlight
Government:

Margrave - Jaktur Krishtan

Master of Information - Andes Turen

Master of Commerce - Geoffrey Weke

Master of Law - Witha Orryn

Master of Defense - Warryn Bathin

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Kymal is a small city in the heart of the Dividing Plains. Glitzy. Gilded. Grimy. The city of Kymal stands as the grumbling ghost of a gold rush mining center which has now become a haven for gamblers and criminals; a city of gold built atop a mountain of mud. Kymal is built on the rocky foothills of the Ironseat Ridge. Exploring beyond the glamorous city leads one to nothing but a desolate expanse of boulders and scrub-brush.

Over two centuries ago, the discovery of rich gold veins within the Ironseat Ridge sent a rush of eager folk to its base. Kymal began life as their base camp, and over the next century grew into a lively, booming city. Gold and minerals came out of Kymal, and creature comforts like food, liquor, and illicit goods arrived in force. Sex workers quickly followed, and those who would abuse them and enslave them were close behind.

Unfortunately, the veins began to produce less and less, and in desperation, the mountain was ravaged by hungry interests unwilling to accept the signs. Within ten years, the mining industry in Kymal had died, poverty and hunger

becoming commonplace. Since then, the populace has shifted to survival through farming, fishing within the Foramere Basin, and trying to build interest as a trade center like Westruun, without much luck. The community had remained stagnant for decades when an entrepreneur from Ank'Harel named Calis Krishtan opened a small casino called "The Maiden's Wish". This gave the economy a vibrant boost, interest in the city grew, and people returned to Kymal as it rebranded as a haven for luck and quick currency.

Now expanded over the past two generations, Kymal has recovered somewhat due to this growing presence of sanctioned games of luck, even going so far as to name Calis' son, Jaktur Krishtan, heir to the Maiden's Wish, as the Margrave of Kymal. While large scale gambling is not illegal within Tal'Dorei, it is generally considered uncouth on a social level, and the council within Emon is happy to keep the bulk of that element away from the capital city. This type of industry does draw the attention of opportunists, however, and many competitive gambling joints, loan sharks, and criminal interests have sprung up in recent years.

Jaktur Krishtan is a businessman and celebrity-turned-politician, unusual within Tal'Dorei. His extravagant lifestyle is not unusual among Tal'Dorei's leaders, but his flamboyant, showy behavior certainly is -- and the people of Kymal love him for it. Instead of leading personally, Jaktur delegates most of his duties to his advisors, leaving him free to do what he likes best: being a fabulously wealthy public icon, making nightly appearances at the Maiden's Wish, throwing magnificent galas, and organizing street fairs. Jaktur's majordomo, an austere tiefling woman named Prudence, wearily manages the day-to-day minutiae of running Kymal.

Kymal is no longer the den of crime it once was, but there is still scum beneath its glitzy surface. Small-time cutpurses lurk in the shadows, waiting to make off with the small fortunes won by the casinos' luckiest patrons. Though not as significant as their Emon headquarters, the Clasp has a substantial presence in Kymal, and often utilizes petty criminals as freelance operatives when they need a job done quickly. Covertly, the hostility between the Clasp and their rivals, the Myriad manifests as a quiet proxy war, using these common thieves as fodder. The Clasp and Myriad both own casinos in town, the Wishing Well and the Dragon's Hoard, respectively.

Kymal Locations

The following areas, 1 through 25, are specific locations in Kymal and can be found labeled on Map 2.2.

Places of Interest

  K18. Kymal City Hall. This large gray stone building is set on the northern edge of the central square. Inside there is a large open meeting space in the center with offices for the various government officials along the sides as well as throughout the second floor. There is a secretary desk where people can check in for meetings with various officials. This desk is typically helmed by a bored halfling named Redmund.

K19. Central Market. This large square sits in front of City Hall and hosts a large market on Da'leyson for local farmers and merchants in the center of the city.

K20. Gralhund Villa. The Gralhund family are Kymal nobles and own a large estate on the edge of the entertainment district. Their estate consists of a large two-story mansion with servant quarters as well as a large stable to house the family's horses. Lord and Lady Gralhund are prominent members in Kymal high-society and have often been seen socializing with Margrave Jaktur in his casino.

K21. House of Inspired Hands. The House of Inspired Hands looks like a cross between a temple and a workshop. The Allhammer is the patron of craft and creation and is worshiped by smiths, artisans, and miners alike, granting inspiration where respect and prayer are given. Valetta is a bronze female dragonborn priest who is typically found among the many workshop spaces in the temple.

K22. Temple to the Stormlord. This temple is built from a dark granite and has an austere, imposing presence. A statue of a strong warrior is embedded into the building above the iron door. The interior is dimly lit with stark decorations. Storm Marshal Golfynor, a well-built dwarven man, is the head of the temple here in Kymal.

K23. City of the Dead. The City of the Dead is Kymal's large cemetery. It is open to the public during the day but is closed at night with the City Watch posted at each entry gate.

K24. Peabody's Pilsners. The Peabody family own a small home and store front where they sell their homemade beer, Peabody's Pilsner. This halfling family's cellar is home to their brewing supplies, and unbeknownst to the family, a secret tunnel that leads to one of the Myriad's hideouts.

K25. Cassalanter Villa. Victoro and Ammalia are the nobles who own an extravagant three-story mansion with white marble walls. It sits amidst a large, picturesque estate of gardens, hedges, and water features.

Lost Hall of Everforge

The small city of Kymal is built at the base of the Ironseat Ridge and has become a haven for gamblers and criminals. Arriving in Kymal affords the characters an opportunity to become embroiled in some of the city's less-savory dealings. The Clasp and the Myriad are waging an underground proxy war to establish a stronger presence in the city.

The Everforge clan of dwarves once held a place of honor and prestige in Kymal, their weaponsmiths unrivaled in the Dividing Plains. The clan welcomed all visitors to purchase their wares. However, no one outside the craftsmen were allowed into the Great Forge, which was magically linked to the Elemental Plane of Fire. Eventually, business began to dry up and it wasn't profitable to keep the massive forge open, so they shut it down nearly a century ago. The matriarch of the family, Polla Everforge, was skilled in elemental magic and severed the magical link to the Plane of Fire.

Room 1. Hall of Armaments

Large, intricate marble sculptures depicting weapons, shields, and armor line the walls of this great hall. Six stone doors stand among the statuary. At the end of the long hall is a large set of double doors, decorated with a carving that resembles dwarves working at a forge. Thick dust covers the area, and obvious tracks are evidence of heavy traffic of human-sized boots. Smaller reptilian tracks are also visible. The tracks crisscross the hall and lead towards the six doors along the sides of the hall.

Traps

There are 4 floor traps at the end of the hall, near the entrance into the Great Forge. A DC 15 Investigation check allows a character to notice the presence of slightly raised stone tiles that have a tiny hole in the middle. The dart trap can be disabled with a successful DC 15 Thieves' Tools check or characters can choose to step around the traps. A creature that steps on the plate springs the dart trap. The darts have a +3 to hit and deal 2d4 piercing damage on a hit. In addition, if one of the traps is sprung the creatures in the Great Forge are alerted to the presence of intruders.

Room 2. Presentation Hall

Two large, throne-like seats carved into the north walls are the room's only furniture. Frescoes depict dwarves presenting radiant weapons to honored guests.

The first dwarf, or a creature with a noble background that sits on one of the thrones receives a blessing from the Everforge ancestors. One weapon wielded by that character becomes magically enchanted with a +1 bonus as a dwarven spirit blesses the weapon.

Room 3. Room of Respite

The crumbled ruins of fine stone furnishings adorn this room. Frescoes on the walls show dwarves entertaining visitors with song, food, and drink.

If one of the patrols is encountered here, the defenders retreat through the secret door into Room 4 to use the rubble as cover.

Encounter

This room is where the bandits are staying when not patrolling. When the characters enter, there are 5 human Bandits (MM p.343) and 1 human Bandit Captain (MM p.344) currently in the room.

Room 4. Storage Area

No frescoes line the walls here. Scattered around the room are several wood-and-iron chests of all sizes.

All the chests in this room have been opened and lotted, except for one made entirely of iron.

Trap

The iron chest has a poison trap in its locking mechanism that will fill the room with poison gas if it is not disabled. A successful DC 20 Investigation check notices the lock is trapped. A successful DC 20 Thieves' Tools check disables the trap; however, if unsuccessful the trap is triggered. If triggered the poison gas sprays forth quickly filling the room. Anyone in the room must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or suffer 2d6 poison damage or half on a success. The character who springs the trap makes the save with disadvantage.

A successful DC 18 Thieves' Tools check is needed to unlock the iron chest.

Treasure

Once open, the chest contains 500 sp, 5 gems worth 50 gp each, a vial filled with a brown, silver, and gray layered liquid which is a Potion of Climbing. There is also a Potion of Healing, and a Bag of Holding. A DC 12 Arcana check is required to identify the Potion of Climbing as well as the Bag of Holding.

Room 5. Guest Chambers

Around the edges of these chambers are the remnants of their furniture: broken bed frames, rotted straw mattresses, and crumbling wooden chairs and nightstands. A four-foot-high barricade of wood and stone separates the chambers.

Encounter

There are 16 Kobolds (MM p.195) in here that will attack the party when the characters enter the room. The barricade contains perches on both sides where the kobolds can stand and fire over. It can be leaped over with a successful DC 15 Athletics or Acrobatics check, otherwise it takes 20 feet of movement to move over it. Smashing through the barricade requires a successful DC 20 Athletics check.

A patrol encountered here uses the barricade as cover to snipe at intruders and retreats through the secret doors if the battle goes poorly.

Room 6. Kitchen

Stone tables and chairs, smashed into rubble, are strewn about the room. A mosaic on the wall shows dwarves cooking and serving sumptuous meals to finely dressed and bejeweled visitors. A four-foot-high barricade of wood and stone separates the two chambers of this area.

A patrol encountered here uses the barricade as cover to snipe at intruders and retreats through the secret doors if the battle goes poorly.

The barricade contains perches on both sides where kobolds can stand and fire over. It can be leaped over with a successful DC 15 Athletics or Acrobatics check, otherwise it takes 20 feet of movement to move over it into the adjacent area. Smashing through the barricade requires a successful DC 20 Athletics check.

An iron oven occupies the corner of the larger chamber. A character who succeeds with a DC 12 Investigation check notices arcane glyphs etched into the oven. With a DC 15 Arcana check a character will understand these glyphs are used to ignite the oven to cooking temperature instantly and learn the command word. Speaking the command word requires an action. If the oven is lit, any creature within 5 feet of it needs to make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or suffer 1d6 fire damage.

Room 7. Hall of Ancestors

Four pillars carved in the form of dwarven weaponsmiths support the ceiling of this large hall. Mismatched mirrors and pieces of polished metal cover the walls, creating a hodgepodge of dazzling reflections. Every movement in this chamber is reflected dozens of times in a dizzying array of images along the walls.

The many mirrors in here can be disorienting to visitors. The defenders of the place are accustomed to this room, making them immune to its effect. Each character must make a DC10 Intelligence saving throw at the start of each turn. If they fail their save, that character has disadvantage on their attack rolls.

Treasure

There is a secret compartment in the southwest pillar that can be found with a successful DC 12 Investigation check. Tucked inside it is a small vial filled with a purply liquid with silver specks. A DC 12 Arcana check identifies the vial as a Potion of Heroism.

Room 8. Empty Rooms

No torches or lanterns light this area. The frescoes on the walls are faded beyond recognition. No furnishings remain.

A patrol encountered in this area uses the area's passages and chambers to snipe and fall back, forcing the characters to track them down to continue the fight. The southern secret door serves as an escape route, if necessary, but patrols do not use the northern secret door.

Room 9. Smelting Hall

Twisted, scorched metal fills this room to the ceiling. It was obviously once an area for smelting ore, but the equipment is torn and demolished. The stench of burning is overpowering.

The jagged metal is dangerous to move through. The room is considered difficult terrain and moving through it requires 10 feet of movement for every 5 feet. The twisted metal fills the room so that creatures 5 feet away benefit from half cover and creatures 10 feet away are considered to be behind total cover.

The twisted metal is attached very loosely to the walls and ceiling. A creature can use its action to make a DC 15 Strength check to bring down the metal in any adjacent square. The falling metal deals 3d6 slashing damage to occupants of that square but there is a 30% chance of bringing the metal down in your own square.

Room 10. Weapon Room

Kymal Adventures

A plethora of side quests are available throughout Kymal for the characters to follow should they choose to. A blacksmith is interested in making specialized armor and in need of some exotic animal hides. Additionally, Hildo was expecting a shipment of supplies traveling with his neighbor when it was waylaid by bandits. The neighbor was kidnapped along with the supplies, but the son managed to escape and make it back to inform Hildo and seek help locating his father. More information regarding the conflict between the Clasp and Myriad can be learned when the characters stumble upon an alley fight. Finally, if a rival mercenary group is able to catch the characters in a compromised position, they will attempt to blackmail the characters into retrieving an emerald for them. These adventures include the following:

• Hunt for Displacer Hide (Aered)
• Silvercut Crossroad Bandits (Hildo)
• Alley Assault (Myriad)
• The Haunted Torthil Manor (Black Wolves)

Hunt for Displacer Hide

Story Overview

The proprietor of Unoch's Armory, Aered Unoch, is a red tiefling who specializes in making armor from less traditional sources. Recently, he has heard reports from hunters of an increase in the displacer population within the Ivyheart Thicket. Aered is interested in trying to make armor with displacer hide and is looking for a group of adventurers who would be willing to hunt and kill two for him. In exchange, he is willing to use one of the creatures to create two sets of armor for the characters.

Journey to the Thicket

The Ivyheart Thicket is located about 30 miles west of Kymal along the southwestern edge of the Ironseat Ridge. It takes adventurers around 8 hours of walking to reach the forest from Kymal. As the character's reach the Thicket, they are met by dense underbrush and a thick canopy that blocks out most of the light.

As you enter the Ivyheart Thicket, you must push through the thick underbrush. After but a few minutes of travel you notice the breeze has died completely, blocked by the dense foliage and brush. Very little light manages to make it through the canopy making the forest floor gloomy and dark. Travel is slow, but periodic game trails make your journey a little easier.

After a few hours hiking through the Ivyheart Thicket, a character that succeeds on a DC 15 Perception check will notice a few dark mounds roughly 20 feet off the trail. If the characters investigate, a DC 15 Nature check will identify the mauled bodies as Blink dogs, the mortal enemies of displacer beasts.

Encounter

Eventually, as the characters continue through the Ivyheart Thicket, the sound of a branch snapping behind them gets their attention. As the group turns, 2 Displacer Beasts (MM p.81) attack. The characters notice the one that snaps the branch, but a second attacks from the side, previously unnoticed by the group.

Treasure

After the displacer beasts are killed, the characters can skin them with a successful DC 12 Survival check. Once the hides are brought back to Aered, it will take him a week to create the two sets of armor. See Displacer Armor under Appendix A.

Silvercut Crossroad Bandits

Story Overview

While the party is staying in Kymal, the innkeeper where the group is staying informs them an older gnome by the name of Hildo stopped in looking for them. The party should remember Hildo from the supplies they delivered to him from Nedda Greenbottle.

Hildo is expecting a cartload of magical herbs and materials from Westruun worth roughly 2000 gp. This is his large yearly shipment, and he will not be able to keep his store open without the supplies. His neighbor and friend, Kenzo, the proprietor of Crumbs Bakery, makes the trip to Westruun once a month to get supplies. He and his son were bringing Hildo's supplies back as well.

Their wagon was attacked while Karl was off getting water for their evening camp. His father was taken along with the wagons. This occurred up at the Silvercut Crossroads and though Karl believes his father was attacked by Ravagers. In reality, it was a group of bandits aligned with the Shadewatch, a smaller thieves guild out of Jorenn Village.

Adventure Hook

Yesterday, Kenzo's son, Karl returned after having run back to Kymal from the Silvercut Crossroads. When the party arrive at Hildo's, he and Karl are having a cup of tea as Hildo attempts to keep Karl calm. Hildo stands and ushers the characters a little way off from Karl.

Ahh, I'm so glad you got my message and agreed to come. Karl's father, Kenzo, was kidnapped last night along with their wagon of supplies. They were traveling back from Westruun with their bakery supplies as well as my yearly order of magical herbs. Karl believes Ravagers are behind this who are a group of marauding orcs and goblins that tend to attack merchants along the Silvercut Roadway.

Karl said it happened when he was off fetching water. When he returned to camp, Kenzo was gone as was their wagon. He ran back here to inform the City Watch and get their help going after his father. However, the City Watch can't spare anyone to go after him. That's why I left word for you. We would be forever in your debt if you would be willing to go after Kenzo. Karl said they made camp just a little bit south of the Crossroads. Hopefully, he is still alive, and you can rescue him as well as our supplies.

Journey to the Crossroads

The Silvercut Crossroads where Karl described their camp to be located are roughly 60 miles north of Kymal. With horses, you can reach it in about 9 hours of travel. You leave Kymal and follow the Wildwood Byway north, along the eastern edge of the Ironseat Ridge. The Wildwood Byway is known as the oldest roadway in Tal'Dorei and links together the dwarven city of Kraghammer and the elven city of Syngorn, though trade rarely happens now between the two.

This path intersects with the Silvercut Roadway, named for the shimmer of endless fields of wind-swept, sun-lit grasses that accompany the road. The Silvercut Crossroads serve as the intersection between these two roads. Marked by a signpost, the Crossroad is a strange and solemn stop.

Abandoned Campsite

If characters wish to know more about the history of this area and these two roadways, a successful DC 13 History check can provide the information in the note to the right.

As the characters arrive near the crossroads, they will need to search for the abandoned campsite. According to Karl, he and his father made camp a little bit south of the Silvercut Crossroads. Characters who succeed on a DC 13 Investigation check find an unused fire with some drops of blood on the ground nearby. There also appears to be groove marks that lead southwest towards the hills of the Ironseat Ridge. These groove marks appear to be consistent with wagon wheel tracks.

Encounter

If the group decides to camp near the crossroad before following the tracks into the Ironseat Ridge, there is a possibility they will encounter some undead during the night. If the group camps relatively close to the crossroad, they will hear haunting moans and see movement in the distance near the edge of their vision.

If the characters camp extremely close to the crossroad, during the middle of the night they will be attacked by 2 Deathlock Wights (MToF p.129) and 6 Zombies (MM p.316). If a character is keeping watch during the night, a successful DC 13 Perception Check will prevent the group from being surprised. Use Map 2.4 for the encounter battle map.

History of the Area:

  Silvercut Roadway. Parts of the Roadway are older than the rule of the Sovereigns, established to connect Emon to Westruun after the discovery of immense silver veins near Westruun during the rule of Drassig. It now runs from the Bladeshimmer Shoreline to the Lucidian Coast, connecting most major hubs of civilization across the country. Travel by caravan is common, and escort by armed guard or mercenary is recommended, as the essential use of the roadway has also made it a prime target for outlaws, savages, and roaming beasts.

Wildwood Byway. After the relationship between Syngorn and Kraghammer eroded following the Scattered War, Tal'Dorei interests began to utilize the byway more than most. Syngornian elves sometimes refer to this path north of the crossroads as the "Traitor's Stair," in reference to the dwarven stronghold it leads to.

Silvercut Crossroads. During the rule of Drassig, many innocents and war heroes were executed by hanging at massive gallows that once stood at the crossroads, with bodies hung from signs as a warning to dissenters. The gallows were destroyed with the rise of Zan Tal'Dorei, while a large, unmarked grave site was left behind, set now with a stone monument in memory of those who were wrongfully killed. Most choose not to camp too closely to the site for this reason, and rumors of undead are used to spook curious travelers.

Map 2.4

Tracking the Bandits

The characters can follow the wagon tracks southwest into the hills of the Ironseat Ridge. To successfully follow the tracks, the characters will need to make 3 successful DC 12 Survival checks. If the characters fail a check, they will need to backtrack to where they last saw the trail. While easy enough to do, it does cost valuable time.

The wandering wheel tracks lead farther into the foothills of the Ironseat Ridge. As you progress farther into the hills, the endless fields of grass slowly give way to course shrubs and bushes and rockier terrain. As you continue to follow the tracks up into the Ironseat Ridge, larger boulders can be seen jutting out of the ground with more and more frequency. The wheel tracks wind this way and that, slowly weaving in and out of the rock protrusions.

About three hours into your journey, the tracks lead up through a tight ravine formed between two large rock bluffs that extend up thirty feet on both sides. It's clear that you have progressed fairly high up into the Ironseat Ridge. The path you are following leads farther into this ravine and as you continue, the walls of the bluffs are beginning to close in on either side as the path becomes narrower and narrower.

It appears that about 500 feet further up, the ravine bends to the left, and the bluffs on either side connect together closing off the end of the ravine somewhere around the bend. As you round the bend, you see the ravine ends 200 feet ahead as the rocky bluffs circle around and connect to form a circular area surrounded on all sides. There are large boulders and bushes that dot the ground here.

Encounter

This end to the ravine is approximately 80 feet in diameter with the bluffs reaching 30 feet in the air on all sides. The pathway into this area is only 10 feet across. Use Map 2.5 for the encounter battle map.

If the characters choose to approach stealthily, there is a chance they may remain unseen. There is an Archer (VGtM p.210) sitting up on the bluff above the cave entrance keeping lookout. Have the characters roll stealth checks and compare it to the archer's perception check. A character that rolls a successful DC 15 Perception check will notice the archer. There are also 2 Bandit Captains (MM p.344) sitting just inside the cave entrance.

Entering the Cave

The bandit hideout is cut into the end of the ravine. The tunnel entrance is roughly 7 feet tall by about 8 feet wide. The tunnel is just wide enough for a cart to fit through.

See Map 2.6 for the complete layout of the bandit hideout.

Trap

Just around the first bend in the tunnel there is a hidden pit trap with spikes at the bottom. With a successful DC 15 Investigation check, a character will notice a lack of foot traffic in a specific section of the floor which identifies it as a trap.

If the trap is not discovered and a character steps on the section of floor, the floor swings down and the character falls 15 feet down onto wooden spikes embedded at the bottom. The character must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity Saving throw or takes 2d10 piercing damage or half on a success.

Map 2.5

C1. Storage Chamber

C3. Torture Room

The tunnel leads into a smaller chamber, dimly lit by a torch on either side of the tunnel entrance. The back wall is lined with boxes and crates and piles of other miscellaneous stuff. A terrible stench reaches your nose as you walk into this room. Looking around you see a few bodies propped against the wall. One of the bodies seems much fresher than the others and matches the description of Kenzo the baker. His face is bloodied, and eye sockets swollen. Cuts are visible up and down his arms and legs.

Treasure

There are a few valuable things intermixed within the boxes and crates piled in the back of the chamber. A character who sifts through the mess of things, they can find various items based on their Investigation check.

A successful DC 10 Investigation check will find a small pile of weapons: shortswords, longswords, shortbows, longbows, and one greatsword.

A DC 15 Investigation check will also locate an Alchemy Jug, and a Driftglobe.

A DC 18 Investigation check will also find a Potion of Greater Healing, a bag filled with a handful of small gems worth 300 gp, and a Spell Scroll. A successful DC 12 Arcana check will identify the spell written on the scroll as conjure barrage.

C4. The Secret Stash

The stream flows into the pool in the main campsite at a steady rate. The stream flows down through a small fissure in the rock, about 5 feet wide. The height of the fissure extends only about 3 feet above the water.

The water flowing out of the fissure is dark. A character who makes a successful DC 15 Perception check will notice the fissure twists left about 40 feet in. If the group decides to fjord upstream, a successful DC 12 Athletics check is required to move against the current. Moving against the current is considered difficult terrain and movement is very slow.

Once beyond the bend in the fissure, a successful DC 17 Perception check will notice a small eddy current in the water that means the water is hitting something just under the water. Feeling under the water with a successful DC 12 Investigation check will find there's a hole in the fissure wall just below the waterline. A small character can squeeze through it, otherwise a medium character will need to make a successful DC 16 Athletics check to pull their way through. The hole is the start of a short 5-foot tunnel that opens up into a pool in the center of small chamber.

Breaking the surface of the pool, you look around and see that you are in a very small chamber, maybe 15 feet across at the most. There is no light in here. The pool you are in takes up about half the room and the other half is rocky floor. It appears that there is a pile of something against the back wall of the chamber.

Treasure

This chamber is the Shadewatch's secret stash. There is a small wooden chest filled with 8000 sp, 2300 gp, and 110 pp. There is a small rectangular chest which contains a Javelin of Lightning.

There is a small wooden box with an intricate lock. A successful DC 18 Thieves' Tools check can unlock the box. Inside is a necklace with an amber eye shaped gem with subtle runes, an Amulet of Proof Against Detection and Location. Additionally, at the bottom is a folded up dark cloak with bat embroidery: a Cloak of the Bat.

Finally, there is a large thin rectangular metal box. It is locked and trapped. If a character searches for traps, a DC 18 Investigation check is required to notice the trap. A successful DC 15 Thieves' Tools check neutralizes the trap and a subsequent DC 15 Thieves' Tools check is necessary to unlock it. If the chest is opened without disabling the trap or the attempt to disable fails, poison gas sprays out of the lock. Any character within 10 feet of the lock must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw taking 2d6 poison damage on a failure, or half as much on a success. Once open, inside is a beautiful longbow made from dark wood with arcane runes carved into it. This longbow is a Weapon of Warning.

Conclusion

After rescuing Kenzo, when the characters return to Kymal, they will notice there is an increased level of unrest within the city. Guards are posted at the gates of the town and are questioning everyone coming in asking all to state their business in town. As the characters move through the city, they can see signs of recent riots. There is an increase in City Watch patrols throughout the city.

If the heroes ask around, the Margrave recently upped the taxes on pretty much everything. Merchants have to pay more in market fees and the casinos have to pay more in taxes. At the same time, it seems like Jaktur is having weekly parties at his casino. The Myriad are capitalizing on this unrest. They killed Mendel, the owner of "The Luck's Hand" and spread rumors that it was Jaktur that had him killed. This rumor, coupled with the parties he has been throwing has increased the anger the citizens of Kymal have felt regarding the increase in taxes.

Hildo and Karl are both overjoyed to see Kenzo brought home alive. Hildo thanks the party and gifts them three potions he has made in his shop and offers the group a friends and family discount on any purchases moving forward.

From the adventures of Bramble Tickletoes III & Company:

After locating the bandit's hideout, Bramble walked purposefully into the campsite to talk with them and was promptly captured. Then, he tries to talk the bandits into releasing him and their captive. Bramble's tactics didn't seem to be working so Kayne, Lia, and Maoki decide to run in and fight the bandits, ultimately rescuing Bramble and Kenzo.

During the fight, Thrynan notices the sword Kayne is wielding. As the fight begins to turn in favor of the party, he offers to translate the runes on the sword if they let him leave unharmed. After recognizing Vhell as a member of the Shadewatch, Maoki mercilessly kills him and Braffin, the other cutthroat leader.

Thrynan keeps his word and translates the runes on the sword. This introduces the group to the name Ruhn-Shak as Thrynan tells them all he knows of the hidden drow city. The party let him leave unharmed. After finding the secret stash and doing what they can to heal Kenzo, they use the bandits' hideout to rest for the evening. In the morning, Kayne realizes Thrynan stole his horse, Waterwings, when he left last night. Furiously, Kayne and Maoki attempt to track him, but the tracks continue northwest toward the Torian Forest and after a few hours they abandon the chase.

Cart Storage

Cages

C1

C2

C3

C4

Map 2.6

Alley Assault

Story Overview

The Clasp and Myriad are fighting a shadow war as they vie for more power and influence in Kymal. One evening as the characters are walking through Kymal, they will see a dwarf get attacked by two hooded individuals and dragged into an alley. If the characters intervene, they may be able to question the dwarf or interrogate the hooded individuals and learn more information about the conflict between the two thieves' guilds.

Adventure Hook

As you are walking along the street, a dwarf ahead of you is walking and glancing furtively around him in a nervous manner. As you are starting to pay attention to this fact, two black cloaked individuals step out from the alley ahead of you, grab the dwarf, and drag him forcibly back into the alley on the right.

Encounter

The dwarf's name is Dak, and he uses the Spy (MM p.349) stat block. The 2 hooded individuals are Myriad Cutthroats (TCSR p.232). If the characters engage and the battle begins to turn in their favor, the two cutthroats signal to each other in Thieves Cant to cut and run. Use Map 2.7 for the encounter battle map.

Development

  Interrogating the Myriad Cutthroats. The two cutthroats are Arkur and Thava. Arkur is a male human with brown hair and a scar down the left side of his neck. Thava is a lithe female black dragonborn with tattoo sleeves down her arms.

With a successful Intimidation check, the group can learn these two were hired to kill this dwarf here. He is bringing drugs to one of the government officials and "we can't have our government leaders doing drugs now can we." They say if they were to turn him into the City Watch, he would "escape" in a manner of hours as the Watch takes coin from the Clasp.

Neither of the cutthroats will admit to working for the Myriad or will give any information about who tipped them off. They continue to insist they are simply concerned citizens.

Interrogating the dwarf, Dak. Dak is a middle-aged male dwarf with course black hair and goatee, dark skin, and brown eyes. He was in the Wishing Well and tried to pickpocket various patrons but got caught. He was brought in front of a halfling woman that offered him a choice: be turned over to the City Watch and rot in jail or deliver a small package to a manner and leave it with the butler.

Dak is not officially affiliated with the Clasp. He was bringing the package to the house of Geoffrey Weke, Kymal's Master of Commerce.

Treasure

Each of the Myriad Cutthroats carry 20 gp as well as a dagger and shortsword. The small package Dak carries contains dried green flakes that have a sickly-sweet smell. A DC 15 Arcana check identifies this substance as the drug Oloore Root which is worth about 100 gp per dose. The package Dak carries is enough for 2 doses.

From the Adventures of Bramble Tickletoes III & Company:

While staying in Kymal, the party spend some time exploring the city and partaking in some of the gambling opportunities the city offers. While gambling in the Dragon's Hoard Casino, Maoki's cheating is noticed by a couple of members of the Black Wolves mercenary group. They attempt to confront Maoki as he leaves to blackmail him, but Maoki escapes.

The same evening, Lia notices an individual that appears to take notice of the snake daggers they carry. Lia follows the cultist as they leave the inn and chases after him as he runs off towards the Ironseat Ridge. The cultist escapes Lia's tracking with the assistance of magic. Bramble, Kayne, and Maoki join Lia to continue the search and head into the Ironseat Ridge.

Deciding to split the party, Bramble and Maoki head in one direction searching for cultists. During their search, they stumble upon giant spiders in a cave. After killing them, they head back to rendezvous with Lia and Kayne.

Meanwhile, Lia and Kayne stumble upon an owlbear den; it attacks and both of them get knocked out. They awake a few hours later in pain, quickly leaving its den and travel back to meet up with Maoki and Bramble. This experience leads Lia and Kayne to develop a phobia towards owlbears.

Map 2.7

The Haunted Torthil Manor

While the characters have explored Kymal, participating in various side quests, they have had the opportunity to become enveloped in the goings-on of various factions. If during their time in Kymal, a rival mercenary group, the Black Wolves, is able to catch the characters in a compromised position, they will attempt to blackmail the characters into retrieving an emerald for them. This adventure should fall after the characters have completed a few of the other side quests.

Before beginning this adventure, the characters should be 5th level.

Story Overview

While in Kymal, the characters may explore the various casinos and do some gambling. The Black Wolves witness one of the characters cheating. The Black Wolves are opportunistic and see this as a chance to blackmail the group and collect money to keep their silence on the matter. The character who cheated while gambling is kidnapped in the middle of the night. A note is left detailing where to meet and the gold they want for their silence and friend back.

If the characters can't pay the price, the Black Wolves instead ask they retrieve a gem for them and take their newest member with for training. The job is to retrieve an emerald from an old manor house located in the Ruins of Torthil, a day's travel south of Kymal along the Wildwood Byway.

The character who was kidnapped is held by the Black Wolves to ensure the group follows through. That player will get the opportunity to play the Black Wolves newest member for this adventure. Make sure to check with your player first to make sure this will be alright.

The group will have to fight their way through the haunted manor in search of the emerald. Once they retrieve it and return to Kymal, the Black Wolves will honor the arrangement and release the group member they kidnapped and will keep their silence on the cheating they saw. The Black Wolves will treat the case as closed and will harbor no ill will towards the characters. The characters may not be quite as forgiving.

Adventure Hook

In the middle of the night, while the characters are sleeping at an inn, two of the Black Wolves kidnap the character they saw cheating in the casino. Everett and Remma are the rogues who do the kidnapping, and they take the character to a warehouse.

One morning, the characters awake to find one of their number missing. A note has been left on their bed. The note details that the group needs to bring 1500 gp to exchange for their friend. The note provides an address and time to meet.

Confronting the Black Wolves

The Black Wolves are a mercenary group that consist of five members. They are not connected with any thieves' guild. The Black Wolves do not want to fight the characters, they just happened to be in the right place in the casino at the right time to see the character cheating and want something for their silence. Otherwise, they would be happy to sell the information to either the Clasp or Myriad. The Black Wolves consist of the following members and their Tier 2 stat blocks can be found in Appendix B.

• Everett: a half-elf rogue (thief). He is the leader of the group and dresses in dark leathers.
• Remma: a female human rogue (assassin). She typically dresses in all black leather.
• Brendal: a male half-elf monk wearing dark blue clothes.
• Barry: a male dwarven bard that dresses in green leathers and plays a bagpipe.
• Fraxen: a female dwarf fighter that wears brown leather.

Encounter

The warehouse where the characters are told to meet the Black Wolves is small and comprised of three rooms, an empty upstairs floor, and a small cellar. If a fight breaks out, the stat blocks for the five Black Wolves are located in Appendix B. Use Map 2.8 for the encounter battle map.

When the characters arrive, Everett, Barry, and Fraxen are sitting at the large circular table in the main room. The edges and corners are filled with barrels and crates. Remma and Brendal are in the small north room guarding the character they've kidnapped, they aren't tied up, just unarmed, and guarded by the two Black Wolves.

Development

The Black Wolves offer a secondary choice for their silence and for the return of the kidnapped character. There is an emerald the Black Wolves need to retrieve from an old rundown manor house in the Ruins of Torthil. If the party will retrieve it for them and trial run their new recruit: Brendal, the Black Wolves will release the kidnapped character and no payment will be necessary.

Map 2.8

Ruins of Torthil

While traveling south of Kymal along the Wildwood Byway, just outside of the Ivyheart Ticket, travelers can spot a mile-wide cluster of broken stone, salted earth, and a single obsidian monument to the death of Warren Drassig, one of the most infamous and terrible figures in Tal'Dorei history. This scarred patch of landmarks the ruins of the village of Torthil, which played a vital role in the Scattered War, and harbored the ambush that led to the death of King Warren Drassig. Destroyed out of vengeance by Warren's son Neminar, the now long-weathered wreckage and broken foundations of the town harbor only ghosts and unsavory creatures drawn to places of such dark history. The manor house is located on the western edge of the ruins, just inside the edge of the Ivyheart Thicket.

History of Montarthas Manor

In ages past, there once stood a small city in these parts. The city, being subject to constant orc attacks, maintained a sufficiently defensive militia to ward away such attacks as they occurred. This militia stood for centuries, and many commanding officers came and went throughout the years. General Oscar Montarthas, known for being fair, firm, and stern towards his men, was the last to command this post.

Not long from retirement, General Montarthas employed an advisor, Gertrude, who assisted the General in decision making with the forthcoming yearly orc invasions. This advisor was in fact an evil night hag, who planned to ruin the city and use its population to feed, drawing her power from their life force. She achieved this by seducing the General and corrupting his heart with a powerful green emerald. As the night hag's power grew, Gertrude also corrupted his army and the city to turn against King Warren Drassig. The city was then destroyed by Neminar, the late King Warren's son.

What was left of the city was abandoned, with only the manor standing the test of time. To this day, the manor is the only still standing building to be seen for miles around. Since that time, Gertrude has fed from the unfortunate passers-by who happen to accidentally wander into Montarthas Manor!

This mansion was once the home to the appointed General who commanded a militia based in this area long ago. At the time of the General's death, the manor was cursed by a powerfully evil Night Hag, known simply as, Gertrude. It is said that a brilliant green emerald, imbued with a great and ancient power, lies at the heart of Montarthas Manor; this is rumored to be the source of the manor's evil.

See Map 2.9 and Map 2.10 for the complete layout of the haunted manor's first and second floors, respectively.

1. Manor Entryway

As you approach the mansion you notice that the blackness of the stone is unnatural and almost tainted. The air grows thick, and what little light the night gives somehow becomes duller and duller the closer that you get to this obviously evil dwelling.

You stand in near darkness. Before you are a set of steps that lead to the high archways that govern the entryway into the mansion proper. A large set of dark oak double doors sit patiently closed awaiting your advance. You notice small crystal blue eyes peering at you from behind a dark window beside the doorway.

These doors will not open, no matter how well a character rolls for strength or thieves' tools checks. They are supernaturally held tight. The doors will only open of their own accord, once the heroes give up, turn away, or have been attempting to open them for more than a few minutes. On a successful DC 13 Arcana check, a character will notice there is an eerie essence that surrounds the doors, as if they themselves do not wish to be opened.

Once the heroes decide to give up on the door and turn away from it read or paraphrase the following:

As you turn from the door you hear a loud 'creeeeaaak' from behind you. You look back only to see that the doors have opened, of their own accord; those onlooking crystal blue eyes now gone. The looming black space behind the entryway stares menacingly at you, inviting you into its abode.

2. The Foyer

The heroes will not find anything of note in this room other than the entrance to the alfresco area.

14. The Courtyard

This courtyard garden area is lined with shrubs and hedge bushes. The hidden hatch allows those using the passage a ready escape to the woods beyond.

If the characters are attempting to enter the house through this area before they have discovered the hidden hatch, a successful DC 15 Investigation check will notice the entrance into the mansion.

The Evil Doll Appearances

22. The General's Clerk

This is the clerk's office, where a writing desk sits in the south-western corner and a single door on the eastern wall. Behind the desk, a skeleton is busy at work writing down something in a translucent ethereal ledger book. Read or paraphrase the following:

As you enter the room you notice something that seems very unnatural, though not unexpected in a place such as this. It is a skeleton busy at work behind a writing desk, frantically writing notes in a translucent ethereal ledger book. It looks up at you with empty eye sockets, its jaw starts to move as a hauntingly high-pitched voice says "ahh, you are here! He has been waiting for you!... You may proceed Advisor Gertrude!"

From behind, you feel something evil and dark trespass through your bodies, as the aspect of a dangerously beautiful woman with dark and deadly eyes walks straight through you, a smirk on her ghostly smile. She walks straight through the closed door and disappears, whilst the skeleton clerk goes back to his duties.

---

If the heroes attempt to physically interact with the skeleton, it will fall limp and crumble to ash. Otherwise, it will ignore the characters.

23. The General's Waiting Room

A long bench stretches the northern wall of this extended waiting room. On the southern wall, two large oak doors stand closed. The door has a large tree carved into with leaves at the end of each branch. The leaves contain the names of the different generals that have served and lived within the manor as well as their years of service. The Generals' names appear from the earliest at the top to those later further down. The last name on the tree says, "General Oscar Montarthas." Read or paraphrase the following:

As you look around the room, it appears empty at first, but within the blink of an eye, a small pretty girl, no more than 5 or 6, is suddenly sitting on the long bench that stretches the northern wall. She seems to be waiting patiently. The dark and deadly looking woman appears in the room, smiles at the child, and offers her a children's doll. The girl smiles with joy as the woman evaporates. The child's smile turns to pain and anguish as blood-soaked stab wounds begin to appear on her silky white dress. She falls limp and tumbles to the floor before disappearing. You notice that the doll is left lying on the bench, a knife in its hand and a grin on its face.

Encounter

If the heroes have not yet defeated the Evil Doll (Appendix B) in a final confrontation during exploration of the manor thus far, have the doll attack the heroes here. It will fight until it has only 5 hit points remaining, and then will attempt to use its Shadow Blend feature to escape once more.

If the doll has been defeated earlier in the adventure, the doll that has been left in this room is just an apparition and will disappear if the heroes physically interact with it.

24. A General's Broken Heart

The door, although unlocked, appears to be stuck from the other side. A successful DC 13 Athletics check will open the door. Upon opening, the heroes will notice a large, heavy, chest has been strategically placed to prevent the door from opening.

Trap

As the heroes open the door, have them each roll a DC 17 Strength Saving throw to resist being pulled involuntary into the dark room beyond as the doors slam shut behind them.

Note. If, by some miracle, they all pass the saving throw, then only the lowest roll will be pulled into the room. As the fight erupts within the room, those who resisted the 'pull' will have to contend with bashing down the door (AC 13, 40 HP) to save their comrade. Once the doors slam, read or paraphrase the following:

As soon as you hear the doors slam shut from behind, a great gust of wind blasts the room around you, sending dust, paper and curtains flying around the room. Piles of rotting corpses litter the creaky wooden floor.

---

Then you see him, on the ceiling, a shell of a man, shriveled, tortured, and used. His body and arms semi-molded into the blackened muck that replicates a ceiling. Slimy black vines creep through his flesh pinning him to the ceiling, as the ends of the vines expand into drooling suckers that feed from his life force.

---

A glow of green hue emanates from his chest where a green emerald spews out evil energies into the mansion distributing the feed to all areas of the living building. The most potent looking of these green energies flows directly into a lifeless body slumped with its head flung back over a wooden chair.

Encounter

Once the heroes move to investigate further, or attempt to leave the room, read or paraphrase the following:

Conclusion

With the emerald in their hands, the characters can return to Kymal. Returning to the warehouse to meet with the Black Wolves with both the emerald and Brendal in tow, the mercenaries are happy to release the kidnapped character back to the group and consider the matter closed. While the characters may hold ill will towards the Black Wolves, the Black Wolves simply view it as a business exchange and hold no negative feelings of their own.

The character they kidnapped will have heard a few snippets of conversation over the course of their time with the Black Wolves. The snippets of conversation they overheard are as follows:

• "Ammalia wants it as soon as possible…"
• "….is looking for this thing called the Stone of Golorr…"
• "…are getting tired of protecting caravans…"
• "…talking about buying off Prudence…"
• "…did you hear about Mendel at The Lucks Hand?"

Map 2.9

Chapter 3: Kymal - Dragon Heist

After the success demonstrated by the characters in finding Polla, the Clasp reaches out via Silvera Brighthelm again asking for the group's help locating a missing associate, Floon Blagmaar. Floon was last seen leaving the Skewered Dragon. This envelops the characters further into the underground conflict between the Myriad and the Clasp. Both criminal organizations are searching for a legendary hidden treasure trove. According to legend, an artifact known as the Stone of Golorr is required to find the treasure's location. The race is on to find the Stone of Golorr and learn the location of the hidden treasure vault before anyone else.

Story Overview

The search for Floon leads to the revelation that he was caught up in a case of mistaken identity, and the characters are actually looking for two victims. The intended target was the nephew of the Margrave, Renaer Krishtan. The Cloaked Serpent cultists that kidnapped them are looking for information about the Stone of Golorr and the location of the vault of dragons. Unfortunately, the cultists warehouse was subsequently attacked by Myriad members who took Floon to their sewer hideout. Renaer doesn't know where Floon was taken by the Myriad but is willing to help the party save his friend.

A few days later, as the characters spend a quite morning eating breakfast in their local inn, a fireball detonates nearby. The group is swept up in the aftermath of this horrific event and must try to get to the bottom of it. Who cast the fireball spell and why? Who was the intended target? Dalakhar, a rock gnome spy working for the Myriad was the intended target of the fireball and was carrying the Stone of Golorr. Cloaked Serpent cultists were attempting to steal the stone when the blast went off. One of the cultists, Urstul Floxin, survives the blast and flees with the stone.

The characters' investigation into the fireball will lead them to learn of a mechanical construct known as a nimblewright cast the fireball. This information will point towards the temple of the Allhammer known as the House of Inspired Hands. The group will learn of a second nimblewright and given a detector that can locate it. The detector will lead the group to the Gralhund's estate.

Arriving at the Gralhund Villa, the group can investigate themselves or let the City Watch handle it. If the characters choose to investigate, they will find a miniature war happening inside between Myriad agents and Cloaked Serpent cultists working for the family. During the conflict, the nimblewright escapes with the Stone of Golorr.

After locating the nimblewright, the group will find a map showing where it stowed the stone. This will spark a chase through Kymal as the Cloaked Serpent cultists attempt to keep it out of the characters' hands and bring it to their leaders, Lord and Lady Cassalanter.

Obtaining the Stone of Golorr will provide the attuned character with the legendary knowledge of the Vault of Dragons' location. This information will lead the group to the southwestern foothills of the Ironseat ridge where ancient ruins are located. The entrance to the vault is located underneath the altar. An undead creature guards the treasure horde and will attack if any attempt is made to take treasure from the vault.

Adventure Hook

A note is waiting for the characters on the nightstand inside the room they are staying in. The note is set against a small bag of coin containing 300 gp. The note reads:

"Dear Friends, I saw the symbol you left outside the window for me. My apologies for the way my last correspondence occurred, I meant for more of a silent affair, but alas. As you may have noticed, the recent increase in taxes has caused unrest in the city and a friend of ours has gone missing. His name is Floon Blagmaar, and we worry he took a bad way home a couple of nights ago and has been kidnapped, or worse. If you help us out, I can provide you with another 1000 gp as a thank you. Floon is a human male in his mid-thirties with wavy red-blond hair. From what we've heard, he was last seen leaving the Skewered Dragon. We are a bit preoccupied with the unrest in the city at the moment and can't spare anyone to search for him, otherwise we would. We suggest starting with the tavern." Sincerely, Silvera

The Search for Floon

Floon was last seen outside the Skewered Dragon, a dubious (and Myriad owned) tavern in the heart of the main trade district of Kymal. The following encounters kick off the characters' investigation. En route to the tavern, a bloody street fight provides a chance for characters to see the City Watch in action. If the characters decide to look around, they can gain a feel for their surroundings and may discover an eclectic curio shop. Upon arrival at the Skewered Dragon, the group has an opportunity to get information from the patrons, which will lead them to Candle Lane and the Cloaked Serpent Hideout.

Blood in the Streets

As the characters travel towards the Skewered Dragon, they come upon the aftermath of a bloody clash.

As you turn a corner, you find yourselves on a street that has been cordoned off by the City Watch. Lying on the cobblestones are a half-dozen corpses, seemingly the victims of some terrible skirmish. City Watch officers have disarmed and arrested three blood-drenched individuals and are in the midst of questioning witnesses. One of the officers is pushing bystanders back. "Get on," she says. "Nothing to see here."

The skirmish that occurred here has nothing to do with Floon's disappearance but represents an escalation in the conflict between the Myriad and the Clasp and its effect on the town. A dozen guards and a veteran captain have arrested three thugs and are questioning witnesses while waiting for wagons to take away the criminals and corpses.

The survivors of the skirmish have been stripped of their weapons and forced to kneel with their hands on their heads. All three are loyal Myriad agents employed by Periad, the second in command of the Myriad's Kymal syndicate. These three are likely to be accused of murder and coldly catch the eye of anyone who passes by. The City Watch won't let the characters anywhere near the prisoners.

Searching the Neighborhood

Tall, densely packed tenements leave most of the neighborhood in shadow at ground level. One nearby shop stands out from the others. It has a deep purple façade, and in its window hangs a stuffed beholder. Above the door hangs a sign whose elaborate letters spell out "Old Xoblob Shop."

The shop is named after the stuffed beholder in the window. The shopkeeper is a wizened deep gnome who spies for the Clasp. A few years ago, he survived the detonation of a gas spore in the underdark and inherited some stray beholder memories. Driven by a compulsion to carve out his own

domain, the gnome settled in Kymal, bought the Old Xoblob Shop from its previous owner. He tried remaining the store after himself, but everyone continued to call it the Old Xoblob Shop. He therefore restored the old name and changed his name to Xoblob. "No relation to the eye tyrant hanging in the window!" he says. If the characters decide to check out the shop:

A cloud of lavender-scented purple smoke trails out of the shop's door as you open it. Every wall is painted purple, and every dusty knickknack on the shelves is dyed a deep violet. The hairless old gnome sitting cross-legged on the counter wears plum-colored robes. His cheeks are decorated with nine purple face-painted eyes. The gnome lowers a pipe and exhales a cloud of lavender smoke before raising a hand. "Hail and well met! Come browse the shelves of the most curious curiosity shop in the world!"

Merchandise

The gnome sells an assortment of trinkets. As the characters search the shelves, roll on the Trinkets table in Chapter 5 of the PHB to determine what catches their eye. Xoblob sells any trinket for 1d6 gp.

Floon's Fate

The gnome doesn't know Floon by name, but he recognizes his description. He is reluctant to share information, but offering him a new purple item, some gold, or succeeding on a DC 13 Intimidation or Persuasion check loosens his tongue. He will tell the group that Floon and a well-dressed fellow of similar appearance and bearing were jumped outside the shop by rough looking men in black leather armor. He doesn't know anything about the second person but thinks there were five attackers, but none of them looked familiar either.

The Skewered Dragon

The Skewered Dragon faces an alley that runs between two streets in the heart of the trade district, not far from the Old Xoblob Shop. When the characters approach, read:

The Skewered Dragon appears to be a very dingy tavern. The interior is low lit, dirty, with a ragged crew of regulars.

Floon's Fate

Floon has not been seen at the Skewered Dragon since the night of his disappearance, and the dive's patrons are loath to talk to strangers. A successful DC 13 Intimidation or Persuasion check can get some to open up; a bribe can grant advantage to a persuasion check.

• Several of the regulars remember seeing Floon drinking a couple of nights ago. After a while, Floon was joined by a friend.
  • "Just another spoiled, rich noble who likes to rub our noses in it!" sneers one patron.
• The two drank and played cards before leaving around midnight. Five men followed them out, but no one in the tavern knows what happened after that. The men who followed Floon and Renaer have been seen frequenting a warehouse on Candle Lane.
  • "Look for the snake symbol on the door" says one of the tavern regulars.

Candle Lane

The buildings on either side of Candle Lane are so tall and tightly packed together that sunlight reaches the street only at high noon.

Gloom envelops a narrow alley as dark as a dungeon. The only light that pierces the darkness is a faint flickering from down the lane, like a distant candle.

The flickering comes from a single streetlamp set along Candle Lane. The building directly across from the lamp is a warehouse. As a character approaches the front door of the building, with a successful DC 13 Investigation check they will notice a small carving of a snake in the wooden door just above the door handle.

Cloaked Serpent Warehouse

The hideout on Candle Lane is a ramshackle warehouse. The entrance to the warehouse is along the alley. The alley slopes downward along the side of the building. The first floor is accessible from the back but is below ground level along the street. The side yard of the warehouse is fenced off from the alley creating a yard along the side. The second story of the warehouse is even with the street level of Candle Lane. The Cloaked Serpents have a couple of hideouts in run-down buildings like this throughout Kymal.

The fence runs along the alley with an unlocked gate built into the middle. The building has three points of entry along the side - a side door in the yard, a large warehouse loading door, and a painted over window. Each are locked but can be opened with a successful DC 12 Thieves' Tools check or can be forced open with a successful DC 14 Athletics check. Knocking at the doors or the window alerts the individuals inside. Any character with a Passive Perception of 15 or higher will hear a noise from inside as they scramble to hide.

The two individuals inside are Myriad operatives and are all that remain of the group that ambushed the five Cloaked Serpent cultists that arrived with the kidnapped Floon and Renaer. Floon was taken away, but Renaer succeeded in staying alive by hiding. Now, the young noble is trying to figure out how to slip past the two, who are lazily searching the warehouse for loot.

See Map 3.1 for the complete layout of the Cloaked Serpent Hideout.

Z1. Main Room

This group of the Cloaked Serpent cultists focus on recruiting, training, and information gathering. Crates packed with weapons, rations, boots, black uniforms, and other gear fill the warehouse.

Characters who enter quietly can try to catch the Myriad Operatives by surprise. If the characters knock before entering or announce their arrival in some other way, the two are hidden within the warehouse. As the characters enter, determine if the two individuals are aware of their presence before reading the following text.

Z4. Balcony

The open second level is stacked with crates where it overlooks the main warehouse. Characters who search through the crates find sorts of junk, including moth eaten bolts of cloth, bottles of spoiled wine and beer, and hundreds of pairs of wooden-soled sandals that were all the rage last summer but are now out of fashion. None of this junk is valuable.

Z5. Warehouse Offices

The upper floor contains a suite of offices that get little use. The rooms have desks, chairs, a few mice skittering about, and bare shelves covered with dust and draped in cobwebs. Mounted above each office door is a steel alarm bell. The bells are connected by wires to the secret door in area Z3, and they ring when the door is opened.

Treasure

With a successful DC 20 Investigation check, a character searching the offices will find 3 magical pieces of paper. A DC 10 Arcana check will identify these pieces of paper as Paper Birds (Appendix A).

  Cloaked Serpent  

Warehouse

Map 3.1

Tracking Floon

At this point the characters likely know that Floon was kidnapped by the Myriad who mistook him for Renaer, and that he was taken to one of their hideouts in the sewers. If the characters did not learn from the thieves where Floon was taken, asking questions of the locals can reveal that many people saw him being dragged off.

A successful DC 15 Investigation check, or 5 gp in bribes will allow the characters to trace the kidnappers' path through the back alleys to a sewer grate. The cover is easily lifted, revealing a ladder down into the sewers.

Navigating the Sewers

The Myriad's hideout is set within the labyrinth of Kymal's sewers. At every location where characters must make a decision of which direction to go, a symbol is scrawled near the ceiling in yellow chalk. The symbol is a stylized representation of the Myriad's sun symbol. These symbols are erased and changed every few days.

After about an hour of following signs through the tunnels, you come to a three-way intersection where a ladder leads up into a stone shaft capped by a circular metal cover. One of the familiar chalk symbols is marked near the ceiling of the left tunnel. In the middle of the intersection sits a giant flowering plant. Yellow flowers with an orange tip sprout out of a large leafy, vine covered green mass.

DC 13 Perception check: there is evidence of moss-covered bones and a few skulls intermixed in the green mass.

Encounter

The flowering mass of vegetation is a Corpse Flower (MToF p.127). It currently contains 7 dead humanoids inside it. Use Map 3.2 for the encounter battle map.

Development

After the characters defeat the corpse flower, they can press on following the corridor with the chalk symbol. It takes approximately 10 more minutes of walking through the sewer to reach the Myriad's hideout.

Ladder. If the characters who climb the ladder and push open the metal cover find themselves in the cellar of the Spouting Fish, a tavern near the cities western edge.

Myriad Guild Hideout

The Myriad Guild has hideouts throughout the Kymal sewers. The boss of this hideout is a half-orc named Grum-shar. When the characters arrive, Grum-shar is interrogating Floon Blagmaar in area M7. His display of torture techniques is a ploy to impress his other guest: a mind flayer named Nihiloor. All the doors in the hideout are unlocked. Grum-shar assumes that only those who have guild business will be able to find their way here.

See Map 3.3 for the complete layout of the Myriad Hideout.

M1. Central Hub

The characters approach this area from the east, slogging through 1-foot-deep water and sewage.

The main sewer tunnel expands into a circular hub. Two passages continue to the north and south. A stone door is set into the back wall of a stone ledge to the west.

With a successful DC 12 Perception check the characters will notice a pair of arrow slits are carved into its outer walls, directly across from each other.

Secret Door. A secret door in the southern sewer tunnel wall leads into M11. Characters can find the secret door with a DC 20 Investigation check.

Encounter

If the characters talk loudly or otherwise make a lot of noise here, the 2 Hobgoblins (MM p.186) posted as sentries in areas M2a and M2b awaken and shoot arrows at them through the arrow slits. The slits provide the sentries with three-quarters cover.

M2a & M2b. Watch Posts

There is a Hobgoblin (MM p.186) station in each area: M2a and M2b. Allies of the Myriad, they came here from Stilben after defecting from the Iron Authority. The hobgoblins rely on darkvision to see and are supposed to be watching area M1, but both have dozed off. Characters who succeed on a DC 14 Stealth check can sneak past the sleeping hobgoblins without waking them.

Map 3.2

M3. Messy Room

M11. Back Door

This hideout contains a secret route out of the hideout. This room has a large wooden table that is placed in the center of the chamber. A small flight of stairs leads up to a hallway that leads to the secret entrance back into the sewer.

M12. Hostel Cellar

A narrow passage in the sewer wall leads to the cellar of a halfling-owned hostel on Spices Street. Medium characters must squeeze to reach this area from the tunnel. The hostel is used as a base by the Shard Shunners, a gang of halfling wererats. They are aware of the Myriad hideout, and the two gangs are tenuous allies.

Roscoe Underbough, a Shard Shunner in hybrid form, guards the cellar with two other members. The 3 wererats (MM p.209) hide in the northwest storeroom, ready to jump out and scare away anyone who heads for the stairs. Not eager to commit murder, Roscoe allows retreating characters to flee back to the sewers.

 If the characters defeat Roscoe or slip past him, they can make their way up into the hostel, which caters to a mostly halfling clientele. With none of the other Shard Shunners currently present, the characters are greeted warmly by staff and patrons, who point them in the direction of the nearest bathhouse.

Completing the Quest

Floon and Renaer both express their gratitude for saving them. If the characters need to call upon their new friends for an occasional favor, either of them is happy to oblige. Floon has little to offer the characters but friendship. Occasionally, he may have some gossip about the ruling class. Although Renaer is estranged from his uncle, Margrave Jaktur, he still has some friends in high places if the characters need information about the government.

Treasure

A day after rescuing Floon, a bag filled with 1000 gp is left for the group at their inn.

M1

M2a

M2b

M3

M4

M5

M6

M7

M8

M9

M10

M10

M10

M10

M11

M12

Map 3.3

The Nimblewright

Characters who question Jezrynne learn the description of the creature that set off the fireball. A simple investigation provides the group with information that this creature bears a striking similarity to some constructs people have seen around the House of Inspired Hands. Characters might want to visit the temple and investigate a possible connection.

What Renaer Knows

At some point during their investigation, the characters might want to speak to Renaer about the fireball, given his own recent brush with The Cloaked Serpents. Conversely, he could decide to pay them a visit. If he is told about the gnome that was killed, he will divulge the following information:

When the Council of Tal'Dorei made my uncle the Margrave, the power went to his head. He grew up running the Maiden's Wish with his father and was a decent person, someone who should never have been given the run of a city. But everyone liked him, and the Council thought that would make him a great leader. They were wrong. My parents had a falling out with him when I was young. I remember one of his friends, Dalakhar, who was a gnome that worked with him. He was always very kind to me and about my size at the time. From what information I've been able to gather, he was the gnome that was killed in the blast. I don't know anything else, but you were kind of enough to help me and Floon out of a tough spot recently, I wanted to let you know what I knew. It feels like too much of a coincidence, but maybe Dalakhar had information about this fabled Stone of Golorr and was hunted for it.

---

If the characters tell Renaer about the man seen fleeing the scene, Renaer says he will reach out to some friends in the City Watch and see what he can find out. He will return in a day or so with the following information:

• The man seen fleeing matches the description of Urstul Floxin, a suspected murderer that the City Watch has been on the hunt for.
• A nobleman claims to have seen Urstul enter Gralhund Villa, on the edge of the entertainment district shortly after the fireball incident. The resident reported him to the City Watch because Urstul looked suspicious.
• Two City Watch constables spoke to Lord Gralhund. He assured them that no one had broken into the estate and that everything was fine. The constables had no grounds to get a search warrant, so they did not pursue the matter.

Gralhund Villa

After fleeing with the Stone of Golorr in his clutches, the hired assassin Urstul Floxin returned to Gralhund Villa to confront Yalah Gralhund about sending the nimblewright to meddle in his mission. Lady Gralhund decides she no longer likes Urstul and taking advantage of his injuries, wrests the Stone of Golorr from him at sword point. She orders her guards to lock him up until she decides what to do with him.

Lady Gralhund's motivation is a secret held by her and Hrabbaz, her loyal half-orc bodyguard. Yalah is a fawning member of their Cloaked Serpent worshiping cult and intends to deliver the Stone of Golorr to the Cassalanters as a demonstration of her fealty and friendship.

Having gravely misjudged and underestimated Lady Gralhund once, Urstul isn't about to do so again. Rallying despite his injuries, he manages to kill the two inattentive Gralhund guards who were watching over him and alert the other Cloaked Serpents in the estate who begin dispatching the other guards and servants. Urstul's goal is to capture Lord or Lady Gralhund, force the surrender of the Stone of Golorr, and deliver it to the Cassalanters himself.

Urstul's plans, unbeknownst to him, are dashed when Lady Gralhund orders her nimblewright to take the Stone of Golorr elsewhere. Amid the chaos, the nimblewright flees the estate.

Should They, or Shouldn't They?

The characters must proceed carefully, since they have no evidence that directly implicates the Gralhunds in the fireball attack. Their two basic choices are to share what they know with the City Watch or visit Gralhund Villa themselves.

Let the Watch Handle It

The characters can go to any City Watch station in Kymal and report what they have learned to the constables there. Shortly thereafter, the characters receive a visit from Barnibus Blastwind and Saeth Cromley, who have no reason to suspect the characters are lying. Their own investigation corroborates much of what the characters said. Barnibus concludes the meeting by saying, rather brusquely: "Thank you for the information." Cromley adds: "Rest Assured, we'll have this case resolved in no time."

A magistrate provides the City Watch with a warrant to search Gralhund Villa. The next day, Cromley visits the characters by himself and, as a courtesy, tells them what happened:

• Officers arrived to find Lord Gralhund unconscious, Lady Gralhund in shock, and their half-orc bodyguard bloodied but unbowed.
• Apparently, the Gralhunds had been held hostage for more than a week by agents of a dark assassins' guild. Most of the assassins were killed during a bloody revolt led by Lord Gralhund himself.
• Their leader, Urstul Floxin, was among those who got away. He's still at large. The Watch plans to step up its search for him.
• There was no sign of the nimblewright. According to the Gralhunds, the construct was delivered to Gralhund Villa weeks earlier and they didn't realize it was a spy.
• Lady Gralhund reported that it stole her necklace of fireballs.

Cromley's summary of events is based on information given to the City Watch by the Gralhunds and is riddled with falsehoods. Among the lies are the following:

• The hostage situation.
• Lord Gralhund's heroism.
• The theft of Lady Gralhund's necklace of fireballs.
• The nimblewright's affiliation with the assassins is a lie.
• The Gralhund's account further does not explain why the nimblewright would use the necklace of fireballs to inflict harm on the assassins if it was working with them.
  • If characters raise that question, Cromley thinks for a moment and then ventures an explanation that the nimblewright underestimated the necklace's explosive power.

G2. Yard

The estate is well tended. In spring and summer, large trees provide shade. The trees begin shedding leaves in the fall. By winter, their branches are stripped bare. Through the trees, the characters can see a large balcony (area G17) enclosed by an iron railing above the mansion's main entrance. The balcony is 20 feet above ground level and scaling the mansion's brick walls to reach it without the aid of climbing gear or magic requires a successful DC 15 Athletics or Acrobatics check.

G9. Parlor

Urstul Floxin was confined here when he returned to the villa, but shortly thereafter he killed his guards and escaped. The room is furnished for comfort and contains dainty chairs, a chaise lounge, a wine cabinet, and framed paintings of various long-dead members of the Gralhund family.

Corpses. The bodies of two guards lie atop blood-soaked rugs. The guards wear chain shirts and the livery of House Gralhund.

G15. Guest Suite

Until recently, this suite was set aside for the use of Urstul Floxin. Lord Gralhund has barricaded himself in area G15b using heavy furniture to block the door. Forcing it open requires a successful DC 18 Athletics check.

Area G15a. This is a bathroom with a curtain to the east that has been drawn back to reveal a claw-footed bathtub.

Area G15b. This is a wood-paneled bedchamber with a birdcage on a table and a permanent teleportation circle inscribed on the floor. The birdcage contains 3 flying snakes (MM p.322) that the Gralhunds use to deliver messages to spies throughout the city. The teleportation circle is linked with one in the Gralhunds manor in Jorenn Village.

G18. Children's Room

The door to this room is locked. The lock can be picked with a successful DC 15 Thieves' Tools check. Three beds line the south wall. Other furnishings include squat wardrobes, play rugs, and children's desks.

Children. Confined here for their safety are the Gralhunds' two youngest children: a 13-year-old boy named Zartan, and a 10-year-old boy named Greth. Their 18-year-old sister, Tomassin, is visiting a tiefling cousin in Jorenn Village.

G19. Servants' Wing

Three rooms in the southeast area of the upper floor are where the servants sleep at night. The head butler and head maid have rooms to themselves, but those places are currently unoccupied. The largest of the three chambers is a common room containing six bunk beds for the junior staff. A total of nine maids, cooks, and valets (commoners) are holed up in here, waiting for someone to rescue them. They are armed with improvised weapons: rolling pins, mops, brooms, and the like that are treated as clubs.

Conclusion

After fleeing Gralhund Villa with the Stone of Golorr, Lady Gralhund's nimblewright hides the artifact in a secret location in Kymal setting the stage for the characters to chase after the stone. Even if the bloody conflict at Gralhund Villa goes unnoticed outside the walls of the estate, the carnage cannot be hidden from the City Watch for long. There are too many murdered servants and guards for anyone to conceal what has transpired.

The arrival of the City Watch foreshadows the return of Barnibus Blastwind and Saeth Cromley, who arrive in due course with 20 constables (veterans). Barnibus thoroughly investigates the Gralhund Villa crime scene and questions neighbors and bystanders.

Characters who are seen leaving the scene become suspects. If the characters killed any members of the Gralhund family and left witnesses or evidence of the act, Barnibus instructs Sergeant Cromley to arrest them for the crime of murdering a noble, which carries a death sentence if they're found guilty.

From the adventures of Bramble Tickletoes III & Company:

After the fireball outside the Hunter's Hall, the group talks with eyewitnesses and learns of the involvement of some sort of mechanical being. Eventually, their investigation leads the party to the House of Inspired Hands.

The group meets Valetta and is led up to meet Nim. In a sign language conversation between Valetta and Nim, the group learns of a second nimblewright constructed by Nim. Nim provides the group with a detector it built to locate the errant nimblewright.

As they already learned of the Stone of Golorr from Renaer, Lia spends some time in the Kymal library doing some research on the Stone and various local legends. At the same time, Maoki checks out The Luck's Hand and investigates the mysterious death of its owner Wendel. Meanwhile, Bramble and Kayne use the nimblewright detector to search Kymal for the missing construct.

Eventually, the detector leads the party to the Gralhund Villa. Bramble approaches the manor and disguises himself as Samuel Smallfoot, a Kymal city official. Using this disguise, he persuades the guard to allow him entry to speak with Yalah Gralhund. After the conversation, "Samuel" is led back out but bribes the guard to allow him to pee first. While peeing behind a tree on the property, Bramble goes invisible and climbs the tree. Chaos ensued when Bramble threw his screaming stone into the bushes to distract the guards and dogs that were searching the property for him. Bramble then carefully makes his way through the tree to climb onto the manor's balcony and up onto the roof. Bramble spends time looking through the windows to get an idea of what may be happening inside.

When Bramble did not return from peeing, a guardsman was sent running to fetch the City Watch to help in locating the intruder. Maoki sees the guard running down the road and follows behind and assassinates him. Unfortunately, people saw Maoki murder the guard. The City Watch are called and posters pop around Kymal looking for information on a tiefling that bares a slight resemblance to Maoki, and a halfling by the name of Samuel Smallfoot for impersonating a city official.

The party returns to the Hunter's Hall for the evening but decides to infiltrate Gralhund Villa in the wee hours of the morning. As they approach the manor, they hear the faint sounds of fighting inside. They use message to let Lord Gralhund they are entering to help. The party assists the house guards to fight and kill the Cloaked Serpent cultists. The City Watch arrive and take the characters' statements. Lord Gralhund provides the group with a note granting them a single future meeting.

Chasing the Stone

The Gralhund's are working for the Cassalanters and have therefore sent the nimblewright to deliver the Stone of Golorr to their family crypt in Kymal's cemetery, the City of the Dead. A halfling necromancer gets to it before the Cassalanters or the characters do.

The Cassalanters send cult members to seize the Stone of Golorr while deftly avoiding entanglements with local authorities. The characters arrive at the Cassalanter mausoleum to find several dead cultists inside. A left-for-dead survivor reveals that these cultists were betrayed by two of their own. The characters are pointed towards an old windmill near the southern edge of Kymal where a few of the cult fanatics practice their faith.

During the fight, spined devils swoop in, snatch the stone, and flee, setting up a chase across the nearby rooftops. If the characters are unable to catch up to the spined devils along the rooftops, the chase leads into an alley and through the streets of Kymal.

For additional encounters, see the Summer Encounter Chain in Chapter 4 of Waterdeep - Dragon Heist. Suggestions for additional encounters include the Alley, Street Chase, and Cellar Complex.

Finding the Nimblewright

If the characters cannot pick up the trail after the nimblewright escapes the Gralhund Villa with the Stone of Golorr, they might turn to the City Watch or another friendly faction for help. Otherwise, if the characters still have the nimblewright detector they can utilize it to search for it.

Encounter

When it is finally found, the nimblewright (Appendix B) is wearing a stolen cloak and hiding under a pile of uncollected garbage in an alley. Exactly where and when the characters stumble upon it is up to the DM. With nowhere to go and no other purpose, it fights until destroyed.

Background on the Cassalanters

Victoro and Ammalia Cassalanter struck a deal with the Lord of the Nine Hells. Three years ago, they traded away the souls of their children to escape financial ruin. The soul of their eldest son, Osvaldo, was taken immediately. What was left behind was transformed into a chain devil, which the Cassalanters confined to their attic.

Their two youngest children, Terenzio and Elzerina, are doomed to lose their souls when they turn nine years old, a mere two weeks after the Night of Ascension, the Matron of Raven's Holy Day during the month of Cuersaar.

After the deal was struck, the Cassalanters enjoyed a miraculous comeback. Their banking and money-lending business thrived while their competition suffered. The disappearance of their eldest son (and heir apparent) earned them sympathy. Their philanthropic endeavors brought them legitimacy and new friends. They became the envy of Kymal nobility in short order. Seemingly blessed, the Cassalanters attracted new followers to their cult of devil worship.

Reneging on a contract with the Lord of the Nine Hells is a luxury no mortal can afford, but there is a way for Lord and Lady Cassalanter to save the souls of Terenzio and Elzerina. A clause in the contract allows them to preserve their remaining (and future) children's lives by instead paying "one shy of a hundred thousand gold coins, and the sacrifice of one shy of one hundred unfortunate souls." The Cassalanters have most of the coin they need, but they require the gold from the Vault of Dragons to buy their children's salvation without bankrupting themselves.

Victoro is in charge of locating the Vault of Dragons and securing the gold within it. Ammalia, for her part, plans to sacrifice ninety-nine souls in one fell swoop by throwing a feast for the Night of Ascension featuring poisoned food. Both the souls and the gold must be paid to the Lord of the Nine Hells at the same time. Foiling either one of these schemes spells doom for the Cassalanters' plot and their youngest children.

Caught at Last!

Regardless of where and when this event takes place, six members of the City Watch, veterans (MM p.350), arrive as the fight ends. Drawn by the commotion, the watch couldn't care less about the nimblewright and believes any plausible story the characters tell them. As a construct, it has no rights to speak of and the officers are near the end of their shift and eager to move on; they urge the characters to go home.

Treasure

The characters can bring proof that the nimblewright has been destroyed to Valetta at the House of Inspired Hands to collect the 500 gp reward she promised.

In addition, Lady Gralhund gave her nimblewright a map showing where to take the Stone of Golorr. Characters who search the nimblewright's remains find the folded-up map, which depicts the City of the Dead. Written on the map is an X with the name "Cassalanter" written alongside. The X marks the location of the Cassalanter mausoleum.

Cassalanter Mausoleum

The City of the Dead is a public park dotted with mausoleums. The place is closed at night, with two City Watch guards posted at each gate. A character can slip over a wall undetected with a successful DC 15 Stealth check.

From sunset to sunrise, an aging servant to the Matron of Ravens patrols the cemetery. His name is Sir Ambrose Everdawn, a male human knight (MM p.347) with gray hair. Characters who creep around the cemetery in the dark have a 30% chance of running into him. If that happens, he escorts them out or alerts the guard if they refuse.

The Cassalanter mausoleum is built of gray quartz with the name "Cassalanter" engraved into the stone above its entrance. The outer door is locked when the characters arrive. A successful DC 20 Investigation check reveals that it has been opened recently as evidenced by dirt smears on the door. A character can try to pick the lock with a successful DC 15 Thieves' Tools check or the door can be forced open with a successful DC 22 Athletics check. A knock spell can also be used to open the door.

See Map 3.5 for the complete layout of the mausoleum.

M1. Ground Level

Inside, a family emblem is emblazoned on the floor between four ostentatious marble coffins. Footprints can be seen in the dust crisscrossing the floor.

Treasure

The coffins, engraved with the names of those interred within, contain a few gold rings and necklaces worth approximately 200 gp total.

M2. Underground Crypts

Empty sconces adorn the walls. Cobwebs and dust indicate that no one has tended to this place in a long time. Stone coffins in alcoves contain dust and bones.

 A search of the underground crypt reveals the bodies of three humans: two males and a female, all dressed in hooded robes. A character that makes a successful DC 13 Medicine check will realize that the woman is still breathing, but unconscious with 0 hit points.

Development

The three cultists were low-ranking members of Victoro Cassalanter's faction of the Cloaked Serpents. They were betrayed by two cult fanatics acting on orders from Lord Cassalanter. He not only wants the Stone of Golorr, but also intends to eliminate cult members who know too much as a security precaution.

These three cultists were felled by daggers and inflict wounds spells. The survivor is Vaelle Lurval, a 30-year-old florist. She was brought into the cult by her boyfriend, Holiver Tornrudder. He is one of the bodies that lies nearby. The other dead cultist is named Arn Xalrondar.

If she is healed, Vaelle regains consciousness. She reveals that the cult fanatics, Kaeth Warloon and Seffia Naelryke, would have likely taken the stone to an old windmill near the southern edge of Kymal. They have held ceremonies worshipping the Cloaked Serpent there. Vaelle can provide directions, or she can lead characters there if she is healed fully in order to avenger her lover. Vaelle mistakenly believes that the cult fanatics acted of their own accord, not under Lord Cassalanter's orders. She will not reveal the Cassalanters as the leaders of the cult unless magically compelled to do so.

Map 3.5

Converted Windmill

This crumbling, two-story stone building was a windmill long before the city rose up around it. The walls are covered with graffiti with stone floors strewn with garbage and detritus. There are no light sources inside the building. The windows along the outside have all been broken leaving empty frames. The doors inside are wooden, and though closed, remain unlocked. There is an apartment suite on the second floor that houses the cultists who use this location for their rituals.

See Maps 3.6 and 3.7 for the complete layout of the windmill.

Rooftop Chase Complications

At the start of each character's turn, have them roll on the Rooftop Chase Complications table to see what may complicate their turn.

Rooftop Chase Complications

d20	Complication
1	You come to a 10-foot-wide gap between rooftops. You can jump over the gap is your Strength is 10 or higher (each foot you clear costs 1 foot of movement), and you must succeed on a DC 10 Acrobatics check or fall prone on the far rooftop. Or you can cross the gap using a 10-foot-long rope line that stretches between the two rooftops; each foot of rope line costs 2 feet of movement.
2	You come to a rooftop that's 10 feet higher than the one you're on. Make a DC 10 Athletics check. On a failed check, the height change counts as 10 feet of difficult terrain.
3	You come to a rooftop that's 10 feet lower than the one you're on. Make a DC 10 Athletics check to jump down safely. On a failed check, you take 1d6 fall damage from the fall and land prone.
4	A roof is slippery. Make a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone.
5	You step on a rotten section of roof, and it collapses underneath you. Make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, you fall partway into the hole in the roof and become stuck. While stuck, you are prone and restrained. You can use an action on your turn to make a DC 10 Athletics or Acrobatics check, ending the effect on a success.
6	Roof shingles give way as you step on them. Make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, you fall prone and slide back 10 feet.
7	A rooftop protuberance such as a chimney or weathervane gets in your way. Make a DC 10 Acrobatics check. On a failed check, the obstacle counts as 5 feet of difficult terrain.
8	You startle a flock of birds nesting on the rooftop, and they fly all around you. Make a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the birds act as 10 feet of difficult terrain.
9	You trigger a glyph of warding spell placed on the roof to discourage burglars. Make a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, you are targeted by a Tasha's hideous laughter spell, the effect of which lasts 1 minute.
10	Someone on the ground throws a rock, a snowball, or a similar projectile at you. Make a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the attack deals no damage but distracts you and counts as 5 feet of difficult terrain.
11 - 20	No complication.

Map 3.8

Obtaining the Stone of Golorr

After the group has obtained the Stone of Golorr, a character that attunes to the stone can learn the location of the Vault of Dragons and what three keys are needed to open its doors.

The Stone of Golorr is a glossy, greenish-gray stone that fits in the palm of your hand. The stone possesses an intelligent, alien intellect and is actually an aboleth named Golorr, transformed by magic into an object. The power of the Stone of Golorr could be called upon to access the aboleth's memory in a similar way as the legend lore spell. This power could be used up to three times, until the stone recharges at dawn.

As the trapped creature inside, the Stone of Golorr hungers for knowledge and does not like to stay attuned to the same individual for too long. It has an alien personality and sees itself as a god. If its user ignores the stone's demands, it could attempt to seize control of the user.

However, knowledge given by the aboleth is fleeting. Once a creature breaks the attunement with the Stone of Golorr, there is a chance that any knowledge acquired via the stone, and even possession of the stone itself, is forgotten by the user. This magically induced amnesia could potentially be removed by a remove curse spell, but more powerful spells such as greater restoration will have a larger chance of success.

A character's attunement to the Stone brings with it a minor beneficial effect and a minor detrimental effect:

• While attuned to the artifact, the character gains proficiency in one skill of the DM's choice.
• While attuned to the artifact, the character has disadvantage on saving throws against spells.

Vault Location

Using the Stone's Legend Lore ability, a character attuned to the Stone will learn the location of the Vault of Dragons. The vault was built underneath an ancient temple to the Arch Heart that used to be located within the Ironseat Ridge. In addition to the location of the vault, the Stone of Golorr will also inform the characters that three special keys are needed to unlock the vault. It will also hint, cryptically, of a guardian that protects the contents inside the vault.

Vault Keys

An additional use of Legend Lore will allow a character to learn the specifics of the three keys that are required to unlock the Vault of Dragons:

• An invisible creature
• A silvered warhammer (costs 100 gp to silver)
• A bar of adamantine (costs 500 gp)

Conclusion

At the end of this story arc, after the chase to retrieve the Stone of Golorr, the characters should reach 6th level.

The Vault of Dragons

In the southwestern foothills of the Ironseat Ridge lies a small rise with ruins atop it. The vault entrance is hidden inside the ancient altar. A puzzle chamber is the first obstacle that must be overcome before reaching the locked vault doors. With the three keys, the characters can unlock the main vault entrance. Inside the vault, various chambers are protected by magically infused doors. The largest chamber, home to the main collection of gold and treasure is guarded by an undead creature forced to protect the horde forever.

Throne of the Arch Heart

Small bushes and trees have overgrown what remains of the ruins. Steep ridges prevent access to the ruins from most sides. A gentle slope rises up to the top along the southern edge. Atop the rise, a set of steps leads up to a circular ruin, an altar rests at the edge of the hilltop facing north.

Encounter

Cultists abound! As the characters approach the ruins of the temple, they can see a number of humanoid individuals moving about the ruins. There are Cloaked Serpent cultists searching the ruins for signs of the vault's entrance. There are 3 cult fanatics (MM p.345) and 6 cultists (MM p.345). Use Map 3.9 for the encounter battle map.

Development

After defeating the cultists, a search of the ruins will lead the characters towards the altar. A successful DC 17 Investigation check will allow a character to notice that the altar top is not sitting squarely on top of its base. A character can try to move the altar top aside with a DC 12 Athletics check.

Opening up the altar reveals a set of carved steps that lead down into a small stone chamber, less than 10 feet across. A small wooden trap door in the floor opens up into a sun lit chamber below.

Map 3.9

Clock Puzzle Room

You enter a room with 12 stone pedestals arranged in a circle around a central circular stone platform. The room is illuminated from a single, inch wide hole in the ceiling directly above the 1 ft high stone platform. It somehow creates a spotlight that just barely reaches past each pedestal. Upon each pedestal is a stone tablet nestled neatly in a square slot.

A stone door in the southern wall is closed and locked. There is no visible keyhole. The door has Dwarvish runes carved into it: "Flip the tablets that show Three. Afterwards, stand upon the stone platform and make the time 3:33." Use Map 3.10 for the chamber puzzle map.

Easily Obtained Information

Four of the pedestals have numbers engraved upon them. The northern most pedestal has a 12, the easternmost has a 3, the westernmost a 9, and the southernmost a 6.

Lifting a tablet reveals there to be a word carved into the underside, but each word is merely a number from one to twelve written on it. Each are in the position you would expect to find on a standard analog clock. The tablets can be moved to a different pedestal; however, each tablet will be too large to fit into any slot other than its own. Even if you swap two tablets, they both are too large to fit in the others slot.

Puzzle Solution

The puzzle asks the characters to flip the tablets that show Three. The intended solution is to show flip those that have three letters. Therefore, the characters must flip tablets "One", "Two", "Six", and "Ten". Flipping the tablet that says "Three" is optional and an additional challenge for groups that are particularly good at puzzles, as it technically does show "Three" as well.

After that, one of the characters must use their arms to cast the shadows of clock hands to show the time of 3:33. There can be other possible solutions to the puzzle.

Punishment for Incorrect Guessing

The magic light that just barely reaches past the pedestals is the source of damage for incorrect solutions to the puzzle. An incorrect solution will trigger everyone within the light to take 2d6 radiant damage. When the characters want to make a guess, they must have at least one person standing on the central stone platform in the light.

If characters are creative and attempt to shade themselves from most of the light with only their hands sticking out. The hands must be out to create the shadow of clock hands. With such creativity, the DM may choose to reward with reduced damage.

Hints

If the characters are smarter than the players, it is possible for successful ability checks to provide information such as how the light appears to be the source of the damage. In addition, the clock-like nature of the puzzle is not relevant to the first task asked by the riddle. There could be other pieces of simple information the DM can provide to the players if they are confused to help bring them back towards the correct path to the solution.

Development

Once the puzzle is solved, the locked double door will open into a stone hallway that leads down a set of stairs. The stairs descend roughly 100 feet before ending in a second hallway that ends in a massive 20-foot-hight, 20-foot-wide adamantine door.

Map 3.10

Vault Overview

The vault has been carved out of stone with mortared walls and doors constructed from solid stone slabs with stone handles and hinges. The vault is protected so that any spell that tries to contact a creature in the vault fails, as does any spell that attempts to scry within the vault. Teleporting into the vault from outside is impossible.

See Map 3.11 for the complete layout of the vault.

V4. Hall of Moradin

This 20-foot-high hall has three pillars running the length of the hall carved to resemble warhammers, with their square heads pressed against the floor. The west wall bears a cracked mosaic that depicts a dwarf smith at a forge. The dwarves are crafted out of black metal and diamonds. Three archways in the east wall lead to crumbling bridges that span the entrance foyer (area V2) and end in front of adamantine doors (leading to areas V6, V7, and V8).

V8. Ol' Fire Eyes

This 20-foot-square room has a 10-foot-tall painted statue of an armored man wearing golden plate armor with a white cloak draped behind. The statue stands at the back of this room and where a head would be, instead there is a burning star. In front of the statue, set into the floor, is an adamantine trapdoor with a pull ring along one side.

Chapter 4: Wrettis

Rumors have spread that the Vault of Dragons has been found and subsequently emptied by a few adventurers that managed to get their hands on the Stone of Golorr. Either to avoid the multiple factions in Kymal searching for them, or to explore the journal entry found in the vault with Wrettis written on it, the characters may choose to leave the city. With a bit of research, the group can learn Wrettis was a wizard's tower that has long since been lost to time. Additionally, the characters can learn that scholars believe it to be nestled somewhere in the eastern foothills of the Stormpoint Mountains, a little south of Vues'dal Waters.

Story Overview

If the characters decide to go in search of the forgotten tower, there path will lead them south along the Wildwood Byway past Syngorn and on to the small towns that dot the shores of the Vues'dal Waters. As the characters travel south, they may begin to see signs and hear stories of increased goblinoid raids throughout the Mornset Countryside all along the southern reaches of the Verdant Expanse.

War is brewing as raiding parties from the Iron Authority attack towns and trade routes. The Iron Authority is the hobgoblin empire located at the southern tip of the Rifenmist Peninsula. While war hasn't officially broken out, Syngorn and the Council of Tal'Dorei are amassing their armies and marching south to protect their domains' southern border.

Arriving in Saewic, the northernmost town along the Vues'dal Waters, the town is built along both banks of the Feshun River where it empties into the massive lake. The towns along the Vues'dal Waters have been struggling with the increase in goblinoid raids and there are plenty of mercenary jobs available to the group if they wish to help out.

From there, to reach Wrettis the group must traverse the Stormpoint Mountains and travel south through the eastern foothills in search of the lost tower. Eventually, the characters will stumble upon the now buried tower and can investigate it for information and treasure. Unbeknownst to the group, the object the Myriad, Clasp, and Cloaked Serpents were hoping would be in the Vault of Dragons is located inside the Wrettis library.

The search of the tower will lead the characters to discover a massive underground cave system that leads south. If they choose to follow it, they may stumble upon a small group of Cloaked Serpent cultists in the process of obtaining a large chunk of verdant green rock. With later research, the characters can learn this stone is a primordial titan seed.

Vues'dal Waters

The Vues'dal volcano erupted for the last time in the early days of the Age of Arcanum. Its explosion shook the earth so terribly that the mountain itself was swallowed by the earth, creating the Vues'dal Basin which later filled in with water.

 Today, the basin has been filled by the Feshun River and the land around the Vues'dal Waters is among the most fertile farmland in southern Tal'Dorei. The small farming communities of Saewic, Mannhal, and Falcon's Hollow have come to exist along the shores of Vues'dal. Half-elfs that were tired of being considered second-rate citizens in Syngorn make up the vast majority of the farmers in this community.

Saewic

Population: approx. 1,000 (60% Half-elf, 20% Human,

20% Elf)
Religions: Major - Wildmother, Arch Heart

Minor - Stormlord, Moonweaver

---

Saewic is the largest of the farming communities built along the shores of Vues'dal Waters. It is a small town built on both banks of the Feshun River. Parts of the forest were evidently cleared away to make room for its construction. Simple stone and wood buildings dot the town with a plethora of trees left throughout shading roads and homes.

Farmland spreads out east and west along the shores of the dark blue waters of the lake. Small farmhouses dot the landscape amongst the fields. A number of Verdant Guard can be seen patrolling the roads that boarder the farms. Along the shoreline, wooden piers extend out on either side of the river's mouth. A number of small fishing boats are anchored along with a small galley.

Mannhal

Population: approx. 200 (90% Half-elf, 10% Human)
Religions: Major - Wildmother, Arch Heart

Minor - Stormlord, Moonweaver

This village sits atop a small rise in the landscape. It is approximately thirty miles east along the Vues'dal Waters from Saewic. Three dozen or so buildings make up this small community. The houses are well built, made of stone and wood. Standing water can be seen surrounding the hill in places as a small strip of marshland encircles the hill as a natural barrier. The path narrows slightly as it approaches the marshland and is banked up with extra dirt and stone to keep it above the water. On the opposite side of the town, peeking above the tops of other buildings, stands a large guard tower.

Mannhal Locations

The following areas, 1 through 6, are specific locations in Mannhal and can be found on Map 4.2.

---

 1. Longhouse. This large building is a single-story wooden structure with a single large room. This building is a multipurpose gathering place for the community.

2. The Docks. At the base of the hill along the water's edge, two wooden piers jut out into the water. During the day the docks tend to be empty with all boats out fishing.

3. Watchtower. This stone tower sits at the southern edge of town and stands roughly forty feet tall. Captain Hamath is the elven commander of this post. He is known for wearing a feathered hat and commands a force of 40 Verdant Guard.

4. Guard Barracks. This wooden structure is a bunk house for the Verdant Guard that are stationed in Mannhal.

5. The Fish-tale Inn. This stone building is owned by Finny Bysshey, a male half-elf with blond hair and amber eyes. He is a jovial individual and is known for his lake trout.

6. Loth's General. This warehouse style brick building is the go-to spot for fishing equipment and anything else. Lothienye is the female half-elf proprietor who has thick white hair and sharp gray eyes.

4

5

6

Map 4.2

Saewic Adventures

At some point while the characters are in Saewic, the town will be attacked by goblin forces. The Verdant Guard in Saewic are overwhelmed with the number of these attacks. If characters are interested in any mercenary work, the Verdant Guard are happy to pay for mercenary work. The options for mercenary work are as follows:

• Taken! The Mannhal Version
• Falcon's Hollow Hydra Attack

Taken! The Mannhal Version

In talking with the Verdant Guard in Saewic, they inform the characters that there were a group of fishermen traveling from Mannhal to bring their wares to Saewic. A group of travelers from Falcon's Hollow stumbled upon the bodies of the guards escorting them about halfway between Saewic and Mannhal and warned the Guard. This occurred two days ago and unfortunately, with the increase in frequency of hobgoblin and goblin attacks, the Verdant Guard can't afford to send anyone out looking for them.

The Guard are willing to pay 400 gp if the characters are able to bring their bodies back for their families. If they happen to still be alive, they will pay 800 gp.

Finding the Trail

As the characters travel the road between Saewic and Mannhal, a successful DC 12 Survival check will find a pile of broken and burned wagons a little way off the trail. The trail leads northeast towards the Stormcrest Mountains. The characters will need to make a second successful DC 12 Survival check to continue following the trail through the woods.

 After roughly an hour of travel the group begins to approach the kidnappers' campsite. With a successful DC 12 Perception check read the following:

As you continue hiking through the woods, roughly 400 feet up a head you can just make out the light of a bonfire glinting through the trees. You can hear the occasional guttural word reach you on the wind in a foreign language.

With a successful DC 15 Perception check, the characters will also hear a muffled scream followed by laughter.

Encounter

As the party approaches the campsite, the characters can make out 4 goblins (MM p.166) sitting around one side of the fire. There are another 4 goblins (MM p.166) posted as guards outside two large canvas tents. Sitting around the other side of the fire sits 2 large bugbears (MM p.33). Lastly, a hobgoblin devastator (VGtM p.161) and a hobgoblin captain (MM p.186) are taking turns throwing javelins at a half-elf (Gryl) that is gagged and bound to a tree.

Looking around the campsite, the characters can see a second half-elf male (Reder) tied to another tree. Unfortunately, he appears to be dead with three javelins sticking out of his chest.

Inside each of the tents are two bound and gagged half-elfs: Glendlyn and Fala in one, Lyn and Fado in the other. Use Map 4.4 for the encounter battle map.

Treasure

By searching the bodies of the kidnappers, the characters can find about 60 gp. There is also a pile of fishing gear set to the side along with a bag of 60 gp. If the characters decide to search the pockets of the hobgoblin captain, they can find a note tucked into his pocket. The note is written in goblin and are orders to attack and kill merchant caravans (Handout 5).

Map 4.4

Attack on Saewic

One evening while the characters are staying in Saewic, the town is attacked by multiple groups of goblin and hobgoblin forces. Read the following:

You are awoken in the middle of the night by the sound of bells tolling frantically. Taking a second to sit up, rub your eyes, and allow your senses to start working properly. You can hear shouts and screams in the distance.

As the characters emerge from the inn, if they stop to ask any soldier or person running around outside, they can get the gist of what's going on. A few sentries were patrolling the road to the east of town and spotted creatures moving through the woods. They rushed back to sound the alarm as the creatures broke the tree line and began running towards the town.

There are multiple groups of enemies attacking the town. The characters can choose to engage the closest battle or search out one of the other groups of attacking goblins. Use Map 4.6 for the encounter battle map.

Encounter - Eastern Tree Line

Running out of the tree line towards the town are 3 Venom Trolls (MToF p.245) led by 8 hobgoblin Iron Shadows (VGtM p.162). Following behind the trolls are dozens of goblins (MM p.166). This is where a sizable portion of Saewic's Verdant Guard is currently engaged with the enemy.

Encounter - Northern Path

After circling around the town to the north, dozens of goblins (MM p.166), 5 hobgoblins (MM p.186), and 3 bugbear chiefs (MM p.33) are attacking a smaller contingent of Verdant Guard posted there to defend.

Encounter - Wildmother's Temple

There is a small force of goblins and hobgoblins attempting to set fire to the temple of the Wildmother along the western side of town. There are 6 goblins (MM p.166), 6 hobgoblins (MM p.186), and 2 hobgoblin captains (MM p.186).

Conclusion

With the help of the adventurers, the Verdant Guard are successful at keeping Saewic safe, for now. Captain Masym is growing increasingly concerned with the frequency of these attacks and immediately sends two Guardsmen to plead with Syngorn for more support.

As thanks for the characters' help, Captain Masym gives them each a Verdant Guard medallion. This can be used to identify themselves throughout the area as friends of the Verdant Guard.

Map 4.6

Wrettis

A relic of the Age of Arcanum, Wrettis is the ruined tower of a powerful mage driven mad by the seductive whispers of beings from the beyond. What few legends survive of Wrettis' master say he was known as Clemain Astural, the Sight Shepherd, and that he was a powerful arcanist who peered into a realm beyond the planes in search of power.

Clemain Astural covered thousands of pages of parchment with his writings, ranging from alchemical formulas to powerful spells to esoteric star charts...but his later notes descend into paranoid, half-crazed ramblings. Astural's sanity crumbled as his power grew. A wizard by the name Atz Yuminor realized it was only a matter of time before Astural dabbled in magic too powerful to control. In an attempt to preserve some of Astural's most important work, Atz took as many scrolls of Astural's work as he could find and brought them back to his house in the Dividing Plains.

Yuminor's bloodline continues in Estella Ladimar, headmistress of the Westhall Academy in Westruun, and many of the Astural Scrolls are kept secretly by the Scions of Yuminor in the academy's observatory.

Ultimately, in a massive explosion of powerful magical energy, the earth beneath Astural's tower gave way and the tower sunk beneath the ground. Clemain Astural was never seen again. Over time his name passed into legend and myth.

A small town had sprung up nearby. Occasionally, Clemain would offer his knowledge and power to help those that asked. When the tower was swallowed by the earth, landslides and avalanches began to occur in the valley. A legend arose that the mage's power was what kept this valley protected from these natural phenomena. As more and more continued to threaten the valley, the denizens began to abandon the town. Over time, what was left of the town was slowly buried. Today, the only part of the town that is still visible is the chimney of the village hall, which stood 40 feet above the ground.

Journey to Wrettis

Where the southern cliffs of the Stormcrest Mountains mostly come to an end, a single bridge of raised rocky peaks continue to push southward, piercing into the Rifenmist Jungle itself. This extended range of mountains is known as the Stormpoints. These steep peaks are shrouded in low-sitting clouds and fog for most of the year, the rocky surface hidden from view from lush overgrowth fed by the near-perpetual rain. This region would be considered beautiful by most, were it not home to many vicious denizens. Treasure hunters are becoming more and more of a familiar site wandering through the Mornset, as rumors now spread of the long-dead green dragon Raishan's lair being hidden, and abandoned, somewhere within these jagged peaks.

 The journey to Wrettis takes 6 days from the Vues'dal Waters. The trek over the Stormpoint Mountains is cold, snowy, and treacherous. The characters will need to be cautious when hiking across the mountain range as many dangerous creatures stalk these peaks.

Locating the Tower

As the characters hike south through the eastern foothills of the Stormpoint Mountains, a successful DC 18 Perception or Survival check will notice a faint dirt path that has become overgrown and does not appear to have been used in an extremely long time.

Following the path as it winds up through the foothills and into the mountains, it leads up over a hill and overlooks a small valley beyond, nestled between two peaks. This valley shows evidence of numerous landslides and avalanches. A few areas of the valley look like they have been freshly covered in dirt and stone.

While they are overlooking the valley, a character that makes a successful DC 18 Perception check will notice one thing that stands out. There seems to be what looks like a square pile of stones that rise two or three feet out of the grass along the far side of the valley.

Nearby, a small creek runs down the side of the mountain and flows under a large boulder and disappears beneath it. This is where the mage's tower was buried. A detect magic spell will pick up a faint aura of evocation magic. The use of a Wand of Secrets will point towards the ground just downhill from the boulder. The trapdoor in the roof of the tower is buried about a foot below the ground.

Wrettis Tower

The boulder has crushed a top corner of the tower. The creek flowing under the boulder and into the tower. This stream flows down the many staircases inside and ultimately falls into a large underground lake that has formed beneath it. The water has created a slick, damp environment on the inside. The stairs are all covered with algae and will require a DC 12 Acrobatics check. A failed check will result in the character slipping down the stairs suffering 1d6 bludgeoning damage. In a natural underground cavern that formed off the third floor has become the home of a group of massive spiders.

See Map 4.8 for the complete layout of the buried tower.

Floor 8: Roof

The roof of the tower is buried about a foot underground. A detect magic spell will pick up a faint evocation magical aura emanating just downhill from the large boulder. This is detecting a magical trap on the small trap door inset in the roof of the tower.

Trap

Once unburied, if the trap door is opened without disabling the trap, the character attempting to open the door must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw taking 3d8 lightning damage on a failed save or half as much on a success as stored electrical charges discharge through the character's body. The trap can be disarmed with a successful DC 20 Thieves' Tools check.

Floor 7: Workshop

The trap door opens, and you see a chamber about 20 feet below. An old rope ladder can be seen piled up on the floor, though it seems rotted with age. Glancing in, you can see a portion of the ceiling has been broken by a large boulder, the same one the creek above disappears under. In fact, you can now see the water running down the inside wall of the cavern.

The floor is covered in mud, rock, and water fills in pools as it makes its way through the room and appears to flow down the stairs that curve downwards along the wall. The room is well stocked with tools and materials for crafting. The floor in this room is riddled with holes. You can also see a bolt of azure silk sits partially in the water and is heavily deteriorated.

---

The floor of this chamber is unstable. As characters walk across it, they can hear it creaking. A character who succeeds on a DC 14 Investigation or Perception check recognizes the instability and inherent dangers of the deteriorated floor here.

Crumbling Floor

If two or more creatures are within 5 feet of each other while traveling across the floor of this room, the floor collapses, dropping any character within 10 feet of it to the floor 20 feet below. In addition to the 2d6 falling damage, characters also take 2d10 bludgeoning damage as debris from the crumbling floor falls down on top of them. A character standing on the floor below must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or also take the bludgeoning damage from the falling debris.

Treasure

A cabinet along the wall seems to be mostly intact, inside are a few spools of thread. Most have disintegrated over time, but two spools seem to be made of gold and silver thread. There is also a small bottle nestled behind some boxes and other rotted things. Inside is a white semi-translucent powder which is actually diamond dust worth roughly 1,000 gp.

Floor 6: Lounge and Balcony

This hallway is covered in a mosaic of colorful tiles that form intricate, arcane patterns. Bronze sconces set into the walls hold dancing flames, no torches, or fuel to be seen. To the east and west are single doors of carved wood with another pair of bronze doors at the end of the hall.

---

Despite their appearance, the floor mosaics are simply decorative. The door to the west has buckled in and dirt can be seen slowly making its way in from the edges of the door. Opening the door will result in a deluge of dirt and stone pouring into the room. The character trying to open the door must make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw taking 2d10 bludgeoning damage on a failure, or half as much on a success.

Floor 5: Library

Encounter

The locked bookcase is actually a mimic (MM p. 220). It has a fake intricate golden bar affixed on the front of it. It will attack the characters if they interact with it in any way. Use Map 4.7 for the encounter battle map.

Treasure

As the characters explore the extra-dimensional library, there are many various books that can be found. Each locked book in the library can be unlocked with a DC 17 Thieves' Tools check. Some of the various books that can be found in the library are Elementals, Celestials, and Fiends: An Advanced Guide to Identification, Displacer Beasts and Blink Dogs: A Historic Rivalry, Ioun's Infinite Knowledge, or On Alchemy: A Memoir of the Craft.

 In addition to the various books, there are a number of magic items hidden throughout the library. They are organized below by different Investigation checks of increasing difficulty. Magic items will need to be identified by characters with successful Arcana checks. The difficulty of the Arcana checks should be assigned at the DM's discretion and reasonably reflect the rarity of the item.

DC 18 Investigation check. Among the volumes on one shelf is one that seems slightly off. It's a wooden book that is wired to a secret compartment in the base of the shelf. It requires a successful DC 15 Thieves' Tools check to unlock. Tugging on the book causes the compartment to open, revealing a Wand of Binding hidden inside.

 DC 22 Investigation check. One of the stones beneath the hanging portrait is inset into the wall slightly. The inset is difficult to see and is noticeable due to the slight shadow that plays along its edge as the candlelight flutters. After sliding the stone aside, there is a lead safe inside with a lead front panel that is etched with a riddle and locked by an arcane lock which requires a successful DC 25 Thieves' Tools check.

---

Ever nearing, never veering
Overarching, domineering
Chaotic, yet it's on its way
Despotic, beset, come what may
What is this unyielding lot
That can't be fought, that can't be bought?
It binds us tightly in its thrall...
The one thing that awaits us all.

---

Inside the safe is a pair of golden dice attached together with an intricately carved golden chain. It sits on a purple velvet pillow on top of a fine leather-bound tome with gold lettering. The gold chain is the Artifact of Chance (Appendix A) and the tome is Fate's Fickle Friend (Appendix A).

Map 4.7

Floor 4: Bed Chambers

Floor 2: Meeting Rooms

Wrettis Spider Den

The tunnel seems to lead in and curve. Its pitch black in here and there are spider webs everywhere. Walking through the tunnel, you need to cut through strands of spider webs as you go.

---

See Map 4.9 for the complete layout of the spider den.

D1. First Chambers

As the characters reach the end of the tunnel, the cavern opens up both left and right. Spider webs cover most of the walls in here. A large crack in the wall across leads further in.

Encounter

There are 3 phase spiders (MM p.334) in here that will attack any characters that walk in.

D2. Matriarch Chamber

This large chamber has a massive nest of spider webs along one side that is home to the spider matriarch. A tunnel leads deeper into a couple more underground chambers. Sacks of eggs are covered in spider webs in the cavern recesses.

Encounter

The large queen spider is a phase spider matriarch (Appendix B). There are also 3 phase spiders (MM p.334) perched on spider web on the other side of the chamber.

D3. Spider Stash

Within a small side cavern, there is a thick coating of spider webs covering several clusters of eggs.

Treasure

A character that makes a successful DC 15 Investigation check will notice a metal chest buried beneath the webs. It is locked and requires a successful DC 17 Thieves' Tools check to unlock. Inside, the chest contains a vial of oil of slipperiness, an immovable rod, a jar of oil of etherealness, and a jar of Keoghtom's Ointment.

Map 4.9

D1

D1

D2

D3

Caverns Beneath Wrettis

The stream flowing through the tower of Wrettis falls 250 feet into an underground cavern. Subsequently, the river has carved through the rock and created an extensive cavern system beneath the Stormpoint Mountains. Characters that decide to explore these caverns can follow the underground river as it cuts its way through the rock. Eventually, after days of travel, the characters will stumble upon lake that is home to a massive, mysterious, slightly glowing green rock. With research, characters can learn this is an ancient primordial titan seed.

This system of caverns ends a day of travel or so beyond the lake. A crack in the ground extends upwards and creates a hole in the ground that opens into the Rifenmist Jungle. Above ground, there is an ancient temple built at the edge of this hole. Characters will emerge into the Rifenmist Jungle on the eastern side of the Stormpoint Mountains, roughly 150 miles south of Wrettis.

Lake Below Wrettis

The water flows over the edge of a hole that Wrettis' cellar ends at. The stream creates a waterfall that descends nearly 250 feet before pooling at the bottom. Over time, the water has built up and formed a small lake. The sides of the hole are about 15 feet across at the top of the waterfall and as the water falls down, the sides of the hole gently slope outward to form a cavern approximately 150 feet across.

 A thin edge of rock forms a shoreline around the lake. Dirt and mud make up the edge of the lake and there are a few feet along the edge of the pool before the cavern walls slope up. The lake is clear, but the ground is muddy and dark and it's hard to tell how deep the water is. The lake that has formed has an outlet as water flows out of the chamber and has created an underground stream.

Encounter

This lake is home to 2 water leapers (ToB p.406). If the characters swim in the water or make a lot of noise in the chamber, the creatures will notice their presence and attack. Use Map 4.10 for the encounter battle map.

Treasure

There is a small chest at the bottom of the lake, directly underneath the waterfall where the lake is the deepest. The chest is almost completely buried in the silt at the bottom. Characters that explore under the water can find the chest with a successful DC 19 Perception or Investigation check. Inside the chest is a pile of gold worth 500 gp. Amongst the gold is a Potion of Stone Giant Strength and a single pea-sized black bead of force.

Map 4.10

Kobold Camp

If the characters choose to follow the stream further underground, most of the travel day goes by without incident until near the end. Read the following:

The underground tunnel the stream flows through wanders this way and that. You walk on for miles, with the smell of hard water and wet earth. Stalagmites and stalactites protrude from the floor and ceiling, occasionally forcing you into the stream to move around them. The stream winds through the occasional natural cavern and you see clusters of crystal and other beautiful minerals occasionally lining the walls and ceiling of these chambers.

After a number of hours, you can hear something ahead of you getting louder above the quiet babble of the stream and your footfalls. It sounds like a large amount of moving water, maybe 1000 feet in front of you.

Characters that make a successful DC 13 Perception check will notice a faint flickering of light dancing across the tunnel wall near where it intersects with a much larger tunnel. Flowing perpendicular across the mouth of the tunnel is a large river. The stream the characters have been following from Wrettis flows into the river ahead. As the characters approach the entrance into this larger cavern, they will see the source of the flickering light is a bonfire burning across the river on the opposite bank of the river. The bonfire sits along a wide rock bank roughly 100 feet south.

There are about two dozen small creatures moving around, sitting next to the fire, and chattering in a language that sounds like a mix of barking and growling. If the kobolds notice the group, they bark and grow but grow slightly fearful if the group approaches. Characters who speak Draconic can understand their demands: "Loud food! Loud meal!", "You! Give us stuffs! Give us foods! Drop things you have, or we stab stab!"

Encounter

There are 22 kobolds (MM p.195), a kobold chieftain (ToB p.263), and a kobold scale sorcerer (VGtM p.167). The characters can attempt to parlay with them. Avoiding battle would require a significant trade or intimidation. Use Map 4.11 for the encounter battle map.

Map 4.11

Titan Seed Wild Magic

Primordial titan seeds are immensely powerful magic artifacts. Their magical energy can powerfully impact the natural world that surrounds them. This magical energy suffuses the environment around like a static charge that can cause unintended magical discharges. The range of this magical static depends on the size of the titan seed.

• The 25-foot square titan seed located under the Stormpoint Mountains creates magical static in a 50-mile radius.
• A 5-foot square chunk creates magical static for a 1-mile radius.
• A palm-sized chunk creates magical static for a 15-foot radius.

---

Mechanically, whenever a spell of 1st level or higher is cast within the magical static, players must roll a d20. On a roll of 10 or lower, a wild magic surge occurs, and the DM must roll on the wild magic table found in the appendices.

Ancient Cloaked Serpent Temple

If the characters follow the cultists' tracks south from the underground lake, a day of travel will have them reach the end of this cavern system. The characters find themselves in a large chamber littered with thousands of bones. There is a glimmer of light coming from somewhere high above. The cavern goes up nearly 500 feet.

If the characters climb upwards, the cavern narrows to a hole roughly 50 feet across that opens up into the middle of the Rifenmist Jungle. Climbing the walls upwards will require three successful DC 17 Athletics or Acrobatics checks.

Once above ground, fading iconography identifies this as an abandoned Cloaked Serpent temple. This hole was used for sacrifices which is why there were thousands of bones below. As soon as the characters climb out of the hole and begin to collect themselves, read the following:

All of a sudden dozens of arrows whistle by and thud into the ground nearby as you hear a loud shout from the tree line:

"Don't move orfindes! What is your purpose here?"

Looking around, 30 individuals are slowly emerging from the tree line. It appears most are wood elves with a few half-elfs mixed throughout. One older wood elf strides a little farther forward and appears to be the one that shouted out. The group are wearing functional clothing of green and brown colors and are all well-armed.

Encounter

This is not intended as a battle encounter. There are way too many individuals for the characters to fight. This is meant to be a chance for the party to interact with a new group of individuals and potentially learn some information of the hobgoblin forces moving throughout the Rifenmist Jungle.

The tribal leader is a War Priest (VGtM p.218) and the lead ranger is a Warlock of the Archfey (VGtM p.219). The rest of the tribal forces are a mix of archers (VGtM p.210), druids (MM p.346), and veterans (MM p.350).

If the characters fight and are knocked unconscious, they will awake as prisoners of the tribe. Use Map 4.14 for the encounter battle map.

Development

If the characters engage in conversation, the leader will introduce himself as Dura Traki of the Haleya Clan, one of the Orroyen Tribes. His lead ranger is Thiala and she is the one who saw the Cloaked Serpent cultists.

"I am Dura Traki. Thiala here, brought word of orfindes climbing down into the ground here two days ago. We came to investigate and saw you emerge."

---

Dura Traki can provide the characters with information about a number of hobgoblin war parties trekking north along the eastern side of the Stormpoint Mountains.

Orroyen Tribes

Born from a wandering colony of shelterless elves fleeing the Calamity, these wood elves have not just survived within the deadly jungles of the Rifenmist for generations - they have flourished. Learning the dangers of the surrounding lands, refining their hunting techniques, and maintaining a healthy mistrust of the civilized world, the Orroyen call the jungle their domain and protect it furiously.

The Orroyen tribes have no central government, and their membership shifts as different clans move through the region and encounter other tribes, sometimes trading members as they go. Elders are given the most oversight and respect among a traveling tribe, the eldest given the title of dura (tribal master) and tribes commonly maintain between 100 and 1,000 members to a single unit. Temporary lodging is constructed at each resting point, or tomenda, and a tribe will generally remain based at that tomenda for a year or two before moving on due to depletion of resources, migration of game, or the jungle itself aggressively reclaiming the tomenda.

To come into prominence within the tribe, or request admittance into the tribes as an ally or member, a series of ceremonial trials are placed upon the individual. These trials change from dura to dura but are designed to test strength of body and mind. It is not uncommon for those who attempt these trials to return maimed, or not return at all, and many elders bear the marks and scares of their trials long past. Few orfindes - outlanders from the north - have been allowed into any of the dozens of Orroyen tribes, and the elders have little intention of changing this.

Map 4.14

Journey Back to

Vues'dal Waters

If the characters choose to travel back towards the villages along the Vues'dal Waters, the last bastion of civilization they were in prior to this trek into the wilderness, it will take roughly ten days of travel to reach Falcon's Hollow. The characters must travel north, leaving the Rifenmist Jungle and entering the Kirmont Valley along the eastern side of the Stormpoint Mountains. Eventually, the group will need to traverse west across the Stormpoint Mountains.

During their journey back towards Vues'dal Waters, the characters will face various encounters with the creatures that live in this wilderness. Other encounters than the ones outlined in the following sections are possible. Possible creatures encountered could include basilisks (MM p.24), a dune mimic (ToB p.162), or stone giants (MM p.156).

Additionally, there is a chance the party may stumble upon signs of hobgoblin forces heading over the mountains. If the group decides to follow them, they will traverse the mountains and end up along the southern edge of Vues'dal Waters. This may lead the characters to become involved in the war effort.

Trekking North through the Rifenmist Jungle

Where the Verdant Expanse is a massive landscape of fey-touched forest, the shadowed groves and glittering paths belying the threatening nature of the wood, the Rifenmist Jungle stands as an endless, tangled mass of unchecked natural chaos.

The vine-strangled floors of the jungle are clustered with swollen trunks, spine-laden ferns, and carnivorous plant life. The sweltering, humid jungle air is uninviting, with clusters of venomous insects buzzing through the mists and large lizards climbing along the many vines.

Characters that make a successful DC 12 Perception check will notice an old rope bridge that spans the forest canyon a few hundred feet upriver from them. An ancient path has been carved along the edge of the canyon to the bridge.

A ramshackle rope bridge sways in the wind; it is the only clear passage between the two ends of a perilously deep chasm. A coursing river rushes between the rocks hundreds of feet below, completely obscured by fog. A fall from this height would surely mean death

Encounter

As the characters attempt to cross the rope bridge, 2 harpies (MM p.181) and 2 owl harpies (ToB p.246) attack hoping for an easy meal. Use Map 4.15 for the encounter battle map.

Kirmont Valley

The Kirmont Valley is a dry rolling hills grassland between the Stormpoint Mountains and the Lucidian Ocean. On the second day of travel northward, the characters will begin to notice the occasional statue. For the next few dozen miles, a number of statues dot the landscape. If the characters decide to investigate, they are various races, and all appear to be carved in adventuring gear. A few of them have broken in half over time. There is a nest of basilisks in the area, and these are actually petrified adventurers.

As the day continues, there are a number of large gopher-like mounds of dirt that crisscross the landscape.

Encounter

As the characters travel, a successful DC 15 Perception check will allow characters to hear a rumbling that slowly gets louder. All of a sudden 2 bulettes (MM p.34) burst out of the ground and attack. Use Map 4.16 for the encounter battle map.

Map 4.15

Map 4.16

Tracking the Goblinoid Forces

As the Kirmont Valley narrows and the characters near the base of the mountains, characters that make a successful DC 13 Survival check will notice a significant number of goblin and hobgoblin footprints which seem to be about three days old. The tracks turn west and lead into the Stormpoint Mountains, south of where the characters first found Wrettis.

If the characters follow the tracks through the mountain range, it will take approximately three days to travel across. It can be dangerous crossing the mountain range, many beasts roam the peaks.

Encounter

As the characters travel across the frozen peaks, one morning the group will run into 4 owlbears (MM p.249) prowling around searching for food.

Development

After reaching the western side of the Stormpoints, as the characters begin hiking down out of the mountains, there are a number of things that they may be able to notice.

DC 15 Perception check. There is a significant amount of black smoke curling up into the sky far to the southwest. The fact that the smoke can be seen at this distance speaks to the volume of smoke there is.

DC 20 Perception check. Additionally, looking out towards Vues'dal Waters, the characters can see a ring of firelight along the southern edge of the lake.

DC 25 Perception check. The ring of firelight actually appears to be dozens of individual campfires set up in a wide semicircle from the shoreline.

Syngorn Planeshifts

In the middle of the night, Syngorn planeshifts to the Feywild in an abundance of caution as the war begins between the Forces of Gwessar and the forces of the Iron Authority. As the city planeshifts, there is a brief, bright flash of blue light that illuminates the sky far to the northwest.

The flash of light is similar to the haze of light pollution, but blue in color and extremely brief.

This occurs as the characters are crossing the Stormpoint Mountains. Any characters keeping watch at night will notice this with a DC 20 Perception check.

Forest of Gloom

Along the southern side of Vues'dal Waters is an eerie section of dense forest. This dark grove is a shadowy part of the forest where most of the light is blocked out by the interwoven branches of tall, ancient trees. Located at the edge of the western foothills of the Stormpoint Mountains, the forest canopy above grows so thick that all but the faintest slivers of the sky are blocked from view.

This section of forest is home to a cave system that leads to an ancient dwarven stronghold that has been abandoned for centuries. Characters will stumble upon a few skeletons resting against trees near a rocky ridge. Investigating a nearby cave system will lead to an eerie hollow and the entrance to an underground maze that ultimately leads to a long-hidden dwarven vault.

Mist and Shadow

As you walk through the woods, an eerie quiet takes hold. Mist begins to roll in and while you still hear occasional signs of life, a foreboding sense of tension hangs in the air that leaves you ill-at-ease. As you venture deeper into the woods, the shadows grow darker as almost all light is blocked out by the thick interwoven branches of tall, ancient trees.

---

As the characters walk through the trees, a stone ridge forms and meanders through the trees. Characters who succeed on a DC 15 Perception check will notice a small opening in the rock face that seems to be an entrance into a cave.

Additionally, the characters will see a couple of skeletons set up against nearby trees. Scattered around the remains are a number of small gems partially embedded in the soft loam. Taking some time to investigate the area around the cave entrance, the characters will find a total of four bodies. Three of the bodies are heavily decayed and mostly skeletal, one of which has a missing limb that appears to have been bitten off by some creature.

The fourth body seems to be much fresher than the others. It appears to be a dwarven woman dressed in leather armor. With a successful DC 12 Medicine Check, a character will determine the body to be only a few weeks old. Additionally, the character will notice there are several tiny burn marks and small scratches covering her body.

Treasure

Searching around, characters that make a successful DC 15 Investigation check will find the following things. The older bodies do not have anything but some simple weapons on them. One of the skeletons also has a small leather-bound journal (Handout 6) tucked inside the rags of its coat.

The fresher body has a number of small gems strewn around with a few in its arms as if it were carrying them. The gems scattered around are worth a total of 350 gp. The dwarf also carries a coin purse containing 194 gp, a Potion of Healing, and a map through the bioluminescence cave.

Bioluminescence Cave

Walking into the cave, the narrow tunnel opens into a larger cavern system after about 30 feet. The rocky ceiling is pretty low in here, only about 10 feet high. There is soft bluish light that softly illuminates the cave interior. Looking around, the glow appears to be emanating from some blue mushrooms glowing sporadically throughout the cave.

---

Characters making their way through the cave with a successful DC 12 Perception check will notice various spots with the remains of campsites. There are rotting sleeping packs, rusted cookware, and ratty clothes. As the characters travel deeper into the cave, they will begin to hear a clicking sound.

Deeper in the cave, there are three distinct piles of broken branches littering the floor. The branches appear to be stuck together with spider webs.

Encounter

As the characters explore the cave system, 3 J'Ba Fofi Spiders (ToB p.362) burst out of their hidden ground tunnels to attack the party. Scribe mites float throughout the area. Use Map 4.17 for the encounter battle map.

Development

Near the back of the cave, there is a small hole in the wall that seems to continue further underground. The tunnel is only about 2 feet tall so characters will need to crawl through it. The tunnel extends about two hundred feet before it deposits into a small hollow.

Scribe Mites

Soft little motes of dancing light, faintly orange like little fireflies that slowly float through the air. They're referred to as Scribe Mites. They just freely float, but around the presence of magical spellcraft, incantations, or any sort of strong magical presence, they gravitate towards it to eat.

With a successful DC 15 Arcana check characters will recognize them as scribe mites and know they are attracted to magic.

The scribe mites will attach to a spellcaster whenever magic above a Cantrip is cast. The caster must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw taking 1d6 lightning damage on a failed save or half on a success. The lightning damage increases by 1d6 for each spell level above first.

Once the scribe mites attach to a creature and spark, they detach and gently float away, seemingly sated.

Spooky Hollow

The tunnel leads from the bioluminescence cave into this hollow. The rock walls bordering this clearing reach up 40 feet. Mist suffuses the area, and the tops of trees can be just barely seen below. There are also a number of large pumpkins set around the hollow.

Encounter

A chill fills the air and deep shadows fill the corners of this clearing. Your eyes are drawn to the blackness, but nothing can be seen within. 6 glooms (Appendix B), 4 pumpkin puppets (Appendix B), and 5 pumpkin abominations (Appendix B). Additionally, scribe mites float throughout the hollow. Use Map 4.18 for the encounter battle map.

Map 4.17

Map 4.18

Development

There is a hidden stone door that is recessed into the wall along the far side of the hollow. A character that makes a successful DC 20 Investigation check will be able to find the door. This check can be made with advantage if the character uses the map they found earlier.

There are four small indents that each have a tiny amount of different colored dust. This door is sealed and requires a ruby, sapphire, emerald, and diamond to be placed individually in an indent. The gems disintegrate and the door cracks open.

6. Secret Passages

This small room connects three corridors. From the inside of the room, it is easy to see and open the doors, but from the outside it is more difficult. The north door opens only when and if all the tiles are correctly stepped on in area 2. The east and west doors can be found with a successful DC 20 Investigation check.

7. The Prisons

This particular area was built to allow 16 creatures to be chained up. There are currently 12 bodies chained up in the cages in an advanced state of decomposition.

Encounter

The 12 bodies in the cages are actually zombies (MM p.316) waiting to attack anyone that comes within reach.

8. The Beholder Statue

In this final room there is a monstrous statue of a Beholder that magically floats 3 feet off the ground. It is obviously a statue and shows no aggression.

Under the statue there is a large silver plate filled with coins and gems. On the floor in front of the silver plate is an inscription that reads "Leave half of your riches if you want to live and move on."

Trap

To be able to pass unharmed, it is necessary for the players to leave half of their coins and gems. Otherwise, anyone who tries to advance towards the exit will be attacked by the eyes of the statue exactly as if it were a real beholder (MM p.28) with the following change: it uses its Enervation Ray instead of its typical Rays 9 and 10.

From the Adventures of Bramble Tickletoes III & Company

After a struggle with the glooms, Bramble set up his tiny hut in the hollow next to the large boulder. An early start had the group entering the maze before dawn. Their curiosity got the better of them as they were attacked by the water elemental guarding the glowing green glass and then fell into the pit traps trying to determine the source of the bright light.

The Beholder statue offered a unique challenge for the group. They decided to place all of their belongings in the bag of holding, including their armor and most of their clothes. Bramble, Lia, and Maoki left a few coppers as they passed the statue. Kayne, carrying the bag of holding left a few hundred gold as payment which, unfortunately, was not enough and was targeted by an eye ray.

Map 4.19

Map 4.20

Overgrown Courtyard

The doors open into a large underground chamber, almost like a courtyard, but filled with vines and leaves that have grown and filled this chamber. There are nearly a hundred pumpkins growing throughout the chamber. One massive pumpkin sits in the middle of the courtyard. Behind it, there are a large set of double doors on the far side of the chamber.

---

This underground courtyard is filled with scribe mites, the tiny motes of faintly glowing orange light.

Encounter

Intermixed within the multitude or normal pumpkins are roughly a dozen evil, alive versions. As the characters attempt to cross the courtyard, they are attacked by 5 pumpkin abominations (Appendix B), 7 haunted pumpkins (Appendix B), and 1 Pumpkin King (Appendix B). Use Map 4.21 for the encounter battle map.

Aftermath

The large adamantine set of double doors on the opposite side of the courtyard is locked. A successful DC 22 Thieves' Tools check is required to unlock the doors.

Dwarven Vault

As you walk through the large double doors, a hallway extends deeper in. There is a door on the right and left about 20 feet down the hall. There is an intersection ahead with a perpendicular hallway. It appears that the passage leads past this intersection and then it curves off in two directions. In the middle of the passage, directly in the middle of the intersection is a massive statue of a dwarf carved into stone. The dwarf is standing on a plinth looking toward the double doors you just walked through. There is a thick layer of dust covering all surfaces in here.

---

With a successful DC 12 Perception check, characters will notice the dust is not uniform, as if it were disturbed at some point in the past.

See Map 4.22 for the complete layout of the vault.

Encounter

The dwarven statue in the hallway intersection is a stone golem (MM p.170). It will animate and seek out intruders if a lock is picked unsuccessfully.

Left Door

The room looks like it used to be a small kitchen and eating area. There's a dust covered table in here with a few chairs around it, one of which is knocked over. There is nothing of value in this room.

Right Door

There is a desk along the back wall and an old bookcase along the side. Spiderwebs cover the mostly empty shelves. There are a few pages on the desk that have yellowed with age. If they take a look at the pages, there isn't much there other than a short ledger of food and supplies. There is also a small stand-alone iron safe in the corner. Its closed and locked.

Map 4.21

Treasure

The safe requires a successful DC 20 Thieves' Tools check to unlock. Inside is 150 gp and a gold key.

Chapter 5: The Verdant War

Over the past year, the towns throughout the Mornset Countryside have experienced more frequent raids by goblin and hobgoblin forces of the Iron Authority. Byroden has sent messengers to Emon in the hopes of receiving military aid from the Republic of Tal'Dorei. Additionally, Byroden has begun to build a stone palisade around the town. As these towns throughout the Mornset Countryside fight off more and more raids, people are fleeing north to escape the violence. Syngorn is fairly xenophobic and tends to send refugees north to the nearest city, Kymal where a shanty town has sprung up along the north side of Kymal.

In recent months, the goblin and hobgoblin raids have extended northward beyond the Mornset Countryside into the Verdant Expanse. The half-elven towns along the shore of Vues'dal Waters have seen an increase in attacks. The Verdant Guard are struggling to repel these raids and these towns are beginning to suffer from the violence and fear. With rumors of large numbers of hobgoblins marching north through the Rifenmist Jungle, Syngorn has beseeched the Council of Tal'Dorei for military aid and preparations have begun between the two with regard to mounting a full-scale military defense.

Warmaster Mikael Daxio and the four regiments of the Tal'Dorei army set out from Fort Daxio marching south. The four regiments are Dusk, Gale, Aegis, and Tide; they are commanded respectively by Generals Fei Yujian, Jillian Sylph, Elle Gorgofon, and Kay Clearsight. Mikael Daxio directs the regiment south to meet Verdant Lord Celindar and the Verdant Guard to establish their front line through the Mornset Countryside.

The Iron Authority's army is the Khad Dirukh and is primarily composed of goblins and hobgoblins. The leader of the Khad Dirukh is a spirit naga named Maledicta who is a follower of the Cloaked Serpent and has an incredibly strategic mind for warfare. She was an advisor to Iron Emperor Tz'Jarr before convincing him to let her lead the war effort. Maledicta secretly wishes to sew chaos and destruction throughout the southern reaches of Tal'Dorei to distract from other Cloaked Serpent cultists working out of Serpent's Head to create a planar incursion with the Elemental Plane of Fire near Kymal.

War Timeline

The Verdant War, as it will come to be known, lasts roughly six months. The dates below are used as an example to outline the general timeline of the war. The dates can be adjusted by the DM to fit the time frame for your campaign.

 25th of Quen'pillar. The four regiments of the Tal'Dorei army march forth from Fort Daxio heading towards the Mornset Countryside. The Council of Tal'Dorei allocated a few battalions to head east to the cities of Drynna and Stilben to fortify the cities and protect against an increase in coastal goblin attacks. The Khad Dirukh have been sending strike forces to attack these cities in an attempt to spread thin the forces of Tal'Dorei.

29th of Cuersaar. Warmaster Mikael Daxio and the Tal'Dorei army arrive at the northern edge of the Mornset Countryside and combine with the Verdant Guard and Verdant Lord Celindar to form the Forces of Gwessar. The Khad Dirukh army is continuing its march north through the Rifenmist Jungle.

1st of Duscar. The Forces of Gwessar mobilize and begin forming their front line across the middle of the Mornset Countryside, a few miles south of Hayfield and Baygrove. As they finalize their positions and dig in, Gwessar leadership reach an agreement with the Orroyen Tribes to receive some aid in protecting their far-right flank within the confines of the Rifenmist Jungle.

4th of Duscar. The Khad Dirukh army attacks the Forces of Gwessar at dawn. A smaller group of hobgoblin warriors were sent out a week ago to travel along the eastern side of the Stormpoint Mountains and flank in behind the Forces of Gwessar to pincer their army. Warmaster Daxio and Verdant Lord Celindar underestimate the strategic approach the Khad Dirukh army would take during the invasion and prepared for a frontal assault. They did not anticipate being outflanked by a hobgoblin battalion.

The Forces of Gwessar decide to fall back into the Verdant Expanse. When word of the retreat reaches Syngorn, the city decides the best way to protect itself from a possible invasion is to plane shift the entire city to the Feywild.

Soldiers on either side create nicknames for their enemies. The Khad Dirukh become known as the Iron Savages while the Forces of Gwessar become known as the Scum Swarm.

The initial war front can be seen below. The Forces of Gwessar are represented in blue, the Khad Dirukh are green, and the Orroyen Tribes are yellow.

 4th - 12th of Duscar. Verdant Lord Celindar recommends the Forces of Gwessar retreat back to the north side of the Feshun River which cuts through the Verdant Expanse from Saewic to the Feshun Narrows. As the army retreats, the Orroyen Tribes vanish back into the Rifenmist Jungle. As the army retreats, the denizens of the towns throughout the Mornset Countryside are forced to flee or stay and be killed or enslaved.

 Verdant Lord Celindar and Warmaster Mikael Daxio set up their war room in a large cave built into Orencleft Mountain. This aids their strategic approach because Lord Celindar has a seeing crystal that he can use to view all of the Verdant Expanse. From this vantage point, they can command their forces like chess masters, always one step ahead of the Iron Savages.

During the retreat, a small battalion gets cut off from the rest are pinned against the southern shore of Vues'dal Waters. They have barricaded themselves inside the small Green Scar Outpost and trying to survive until reinforcements can come to rescue them. The retreat takes a number of days for the entire army to dig in along the north side of the Feshun River.

 1st of Horisal. As the new year begins, the Forces of Gwessar have pushed the Iron Savages back in places. Where the Feshun River bubbles northward, the Khad Dirukh have been pushed back to form a straighter front line. There are reports of a strong evil entity that is commanding the Iron Savages. This would explain why their forces have been far more strategic than anticipated.

5th of Dualahei. The war ends. It officially ends when high ranking leaders of the Khad Dirukh are captured. The rest of the hobgoblin army retreats and flees back into the Rifenmist Jungle. The towns within the Mornset Countryside have been wrecked. In the months after the war ends, these towns are looking to hire workers and tradesman to help rebuild. Additionally, the Council of Tal'Dorei decides to build strategic outposts throughout the Mornset Countryside to keep a distant eye on the Iron Authority. It will take months, years even, before these towns are built back better than their former glory.

The Siege of Green Scar Outpost

As the characters wind their way down the western side of the Stormpoint Mountains, large trails of black smoke can still be seen far off to the southwest - in the direction of the Mornset Countryside.

Looking out in the distance, the characters can see light glinting off the waves of the Vues'dal Waters from a dozen or so large bonfires. The small furls of smoke from the fires are out along the far southern edge of the lake, roughly 120 miles from the base of the mountains. Reaching the base of the mountains puts the group about 30 miles from the eastern edge of the lake.

The small village of Falcon's Hollow is about 40 miles north of the characters when they reach the base of the mountain range, along the eastern edge of the lake. The foothills of the Stormpoints extend out slowly giving way to the southern edge of the Verdant Expanse to the southwest and marshy scrub land towards the lake.

Exploring the Siege Fires

While traveling towards the location of the fires, you leave the foothills and head west along the southern edge of the Vues'dal Waters. The temperature warms drastically as you come out of the foothills compared to the bitter cold of the mountain crossing. The Verdant Expanse extends along the southern edge of the lake, and you enter into the trees as you head west towards where the fires are. The daylight fades and the forest floor grows dark as night arrives.

During the second day of travel through the forest, clouds roll in and the day grows dreary. As the day goes by, the temperature slowly drops, and fog begins to roll in through the trees. As night approaches, the light fades quickly underneath the trees.

As the characters hike through the trees, a successful DC 15 Perception check will notice an orange glow ahead. Additionally, the characters will hear the occasional yell in goblin. There are dozens of fires that encircle the small Green Scar Outpost. Each fire has a troop of goblinoid forces around it enforcing the siege.

Encounter

The group of goblinoid forces around each fire contain a hobgoblin captain (MM p.186), 5 hobgoblins (MM p.186), and 10 goblins (MM p.166). Use Map 5.1 for the encounter battle map.

Development

There are far too many goblins and hobgoblins creating this siege line. This encounter was only around one of the many dozens of fires. This encounter is designed to demonstrate to the characters that there are far too many enemies to take on alone. The quickest way to bring this information back to the Verdant Guard is to head towards Falcon's Hollow.

Map 5.1

Return to Falcon's Hollow

Falcon's Hollow is the closest bastion of civilization from Green Scar Outpost. It is located east from the outpost, roughly 110 miles around the shore of Vues'dal Waters. As the characters travel, read the following:

As you travel towards Falcon's Hollow, the rocky sloping forest floor gives way to marshland and bog. The marshland slows your travel slightly, but it's possible to find slightly firmer ground by skirting the edges of the marsh. Drawing closer to Falcon's Hollow, the ground begins to rise up from the marsh. As you recall, tall rocky bluffs create the lakeshore along this side of the lake.

---

As the characters travel, a successful DC 16 Perception check will allow them to notice a number of tracks through the mud and grass of the marshland. It appears that a few dozen individuals have traveled through this area. With a successful DC 13 Survival check, the characters will be able to follow the tracks for a few miles until they see a fire in the distance.

Ahead, is a small collection of tents setup in a clearing. As the characters approach, they will notice a number of goblins and hobgoblins keeping watch.

Encounter

This camp is keeping watch on Falcon's Hollow. There is one hobgoblin captain (MM p.186), a hobgoblin Iron Shadow (VGtM p.162), 10 hobgoblins (MM p.186), and 20 goblins (MM p.166). Use Map 5.2 for the encounter battle map.

Arrival in Falcon's Hollow

There is a fortified outpost set about 3 miles south of Falcon's Hollow. A stone wall serves as a fortified barrier at the top of a cliff. A small path winds its way down the side of the cliff. The goblin encampment was set about 1000 yards from the foot of the cliff.

The number of soldiers stationed in Falcon's Hollow has increased, over 150 soldiers are now garrisoned here. Captain Sanea is the elven captain in charge.

As you walk along the path, it zig zags up the cliff. A wooden bridge crosses over a small river that falls over the cliff side and flows past where the goblins were camped in the direction of the lake.

An elven woman walks forward as you are escorted around the wooden barricades that block the top of the path. She has tangled brown hair and light hazel eyes. She wears modest garments and carries a long knife. There is a black cat that seems to follow in her footsteps.

Information Available

Captain Sanea and the elven forces here are tasked with protecting the eastern edge of the Vues'dal Waters and guarding the army's eastern flank. She doesn't have any jobs for the party but recommends that they head to Saewic if they are looking for mercenary work.

The characters can talk with various soldiers or the captain to learn what has happened with the war so far. All captains would have a general idea of what has happened, though higher officers would have the most accurate information.

From the Adventures of Bramble Tickletoes III & Company

After the party investigated the circle of fires, Maoki used his Cloak of the Bat to fly past the siege line to see what was happening beyond. Meanwhile, Bramble, Lia, and Kayne had to retreat as more goblins arrived to search for the intruders. It takes quite a while for Maoki to find them again and required the group sending him a paper bird with their location.

On their return trip to Falcon's Hollow they notice the goblins' trail, snuck closer, and hid in the bushes to ambush them. When Lia is overwhelmed and nearly dies during the battle, Maoki decides to use the cursed Artifact of Chance. Unfortunately, the curse causes Maoki to drop dead an hour after the battle. In their rush to find a cleric, the group tries to beat a stable hand and steal a horse unsuccessfully. Instead, they have to travel on foot to the war camp north of Saewic and meet with Rineata, a half-elf war cleric.

In exchange for the raise dead spell Rineata performed on Maoki, General Jillian Sylph requires the party to assist the war effort on two missions.

Map 5.2

Green Scar Rescue

Five days ago, a company of nearly 200 soldiers was cut off from the rest of the Gwessar army by a force of hobgoblins and goblins. There are three ships ready to sail from the Saewic harbor immediately. General Jillian Sylph, commander of the Gale Regiment stationed just north of Saewic is looking for a powerful strike team to hold off any attacking goblins giving time for the trapped soldiers to board the ships. The rescue group will be leaving at dawn tomorrow. The characters must report to the Saewic docks before dawn.

Water Elementals Attack

The ships sail across the water at 2 mph, and it will take roughly 18 hours to sail across the lake. The Vues'dal Waters is home to a number of creatures including various water elementals. Occasionally, elementals will attack ships sailing across the lake.

Encounter

The three ships sail across the water side by side with the party on the middle ship. Halfway through the journey, 3 elder water elementals (CC p.248) attack the ships. Use Map 5.3 for the encounter battle map.

Ballista. The ballistae on the ship are manned by soldiers. They have a +7 to hit and deal 3d8 piercing damage on a hit. It is an action to aim and fire the ballista and a bonus action to reload.

Defending the Green Scar Retreat

Around midnight, the ships quietly slip into the Green Scar harbor. The characters are tasked with staking out the center of the outpost and protecting the wounded soldiers from possible attacking goblinoid forces as they are loading onto the boats. Some soldiers will be standing guard with the characters while others will be guarding both sides of the harbor along the shoreline.

Encounter

While guarding the center of the outpost, a force of goblins and hobgoblins come rushing over the makeshift barriers on the outskirts of the outpost towards the characters. In the initial raiding party there are 12 goblins (MM p.166), 6 hobgoblin scouts (MME p.154), and 3 hobgoblin dreadmaster (MME p.154).

When the time comes for the characters to begin retreating back to the ships, more goblins, hobgoblin scouts, and hobgoblin dreadmasters appear, racing towards the shoreline. Use Map 5.4 for the encounter battle map.

Development

It will take 15 minutes to fully load all the soldiers onto the ships. During the last five minutes, the characters will begin falling back towards the docks while holding off attacking goblins until everyone has boarded. The other groups of soldiers are fending off additional raids of goblins and hobgoblins coming in from the shoreline.

Map 5.3

Map 5.4

Defending the Boats

As the characters get back onto the boats, the ships set sail. The boats move 20 feet at the start of each round. The characters and unwounded soldiers must fend off the incoming goblins and hobgoblins as they shoot at the ships. Many of the wounded soldiers are still in the process of making their way down into the holds of the ships and are in danger of being hit by stray arrows. There are about 20 soldiers on each of the other boats that are manning the ballista and firing arrows at the incoming goblinoid horde.

Encounter

As the ships begin to leave the docks, dozens of goblins and hobgoblin scouts sprint towards the docks to try to prevent their escape. Use Map 5.5 for the encounter battle map.

Explosive Barrels

There are four soldiers on each ship that are igniting fire arrows and attempting to target small barrels placed at the base of each dock. The barrels have an AC of 18. Upon impact, the barrels will explode and any creature within 10 feet of the barrel will need to make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw taking 4d10 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success.

In retaliation, the goblins will begin shooting flaming arrows back at the boats. Each arrow impacting the deck will have a 20% chance of starting a fire. If the ship catches fire, it will take an action to put out the flames. If the fire persists, each round will require an additional action to put out.

Aftermath

After escaping out into the lake, as the ships move throughout the night, snow begins to fall from the sky as the blackness of the lake utterly envelops the boats. After the snow begins, large lanterns are lit at the front of each boat as a signal to the others of their location.

The trip back will take approximately 18 hours and the boats will arrive at Saewic's port in the late afternoon.

Return to Saewic

As you approach the dock in Saewic, there are a number of individuals standing along the docks awaiting your arrival. Healers, soldiers, and others are standing by waiting to help everyone off and see to wounds and anything else anyone needs. A food station is set up at the end of the dock with large steaming pots sitting at the ready. You catch the faint scent of stew on the air as well as the unmistakable hints of smoke and iron. Glancing up at the parts of town within view, there are a few wisps of dark smoke slowly drifting into the air. There are also a number of individuals on the western edge of town digging a large pit.

---

Captain Masym is standing at the front of the welcoming party. As the boats begin to unload, Masym greets the soldiers and as the party disembarks, he pulls the party aside to thank them. He directs the group to return to the main war camp two miles north of town to touch base with General Sylph for additional missions.

Map 5.5

The Black Wolves Return

As the characters are walking back towards the army's main camp, after clearing one of the many check points along the path, read the following:

Visiting the Quartermaster

The quartermaster for the Gale Regiment is Lieutenant Audryn, a half-elf woman with short red hair. She is kind, but all business. When the characters arrive, she greets them:

"Hello there, how may I be of service to you?"

---

The characters will need to present the note given to them by General Jillian Sylph. The note details the mission and provides the authorization for Lieutenant Audryn to supply the group with the four barrels of black powder.

"Ah, okay. You'll be the ones transporting the barrels of black powder to Captain Giles. I will be right back." She returns a few moments later with four 3-foot-tall barrels. "I would highly recommend you keep these sealed, and I would avoid jostling them too much or have them anywhere near fire."

Travel to Mountain Pass

The Stormpoint Mountain pass guarded by Gwessar forces is about 90 miles southeast from Saewic. It will take the characters just over three days to travel there. The characters speed is slowed as snow begins to collect thicker and thicker on the mountainside as winter arrives.

Encounter

On the second day of travel, as the characters are pushing through a snowy valley in between mountain peaks, they are attacked by wild giants and must succeed on a DC 15 Perception check to avoid being surprised by the assault. Attacking the group are 2 wild giants (CC p.105), and a wild giant bearskin (CC p.105). Use Map 5.6 for the encounter battle map.

Destroying the Mountain Pass

As the light begins to fade on the third day of travel, hiking around a bend in the narrowing mountain valley brings some firelight into view ahead. The mountain pass has gradually narrowed throughout the day as the mountains on either side choke in as the sides get steeper and steeper nearing an almost vertical cliff face.

Frostbite Platoon

Two dozen soldiers guard this mountain pass. Led by Captain Feldspar Giles, these soldiers have been stationed here for the past two weeks and have semi-affectionately named themselves the Frostbite Platoon. They have built fortifications from snow, ice, and rock.

Lieutenant Adrienne Orgash will meet the characters as they arrive and introduce them to her assistant, Kilyn. Once the characters arrive with the barrels of black powder, four soldiers will begin digging spots in the cliffside to place the explosives. The explosives will be placed roughly 100 feet beyond the fortifications. The remaining 16 soldiers are positioned to guard the pass.

Map 5.6

Encounter

As the soldiers are getting the barrels of explosives into place, the first wave of enemy soldiers attack. The first wave of Khad Dirukh soldiers is comprised of 4 Bugbear chiefs (MM p.33), 16 Bugbears (MM p.33), and 8 hobgoblin archers (VGtM p.210).

4th Round of Combat. At the start of the fourth round of combat, three dozen goblins (MM p.166) can be seen marching through the pass towards the soldiers.

6th Round of Combat. At the start of the sixth round of combat, the explosive barrels have been placed and are ready to be detonated using fire arrows. The barrels have an AC of 22. Their explosions create an avalanche of rock and snow that rain down burying the pass, making it completely impassable. Use Map 5.7 for the encounter battle map.

Conclusion

If interested, the characters can choose to return to the military and continue taking mercenary assignments. Otherwise, the characters are in the vicinity of Ruhn-Shak should they choose to explore the mysterious blade found earlier in the campaign.

At the end of this story arc, after assisting the military to blow up the Stormpoint Mountain pass, the characters should reach 9th level.

Map 5.7

Chapter 6: Ruhn-Shak

When or if the characters decide to move on from Verdant War mercenary work, they are in the vicinity of the Stormcrest Mountains and the mysterious hidden drow city of Ruhn-Shak. Earlier in the campaign, the characters stumbled upon a gleaming adamantine longsword with dark elvish runes engraved into both sides of the blade. When translated, the runes read "Whosoever draws this blade has the power to free Ruhn-Shak from madness."

Ruhn-Shak has devolved into madness. Neighbors slaughter one another in the streets as they succumb to paranoia. Legend says that a curse was put over the city and only someone of great strength and fortitude would be able to free it from the madness that consumes it

Story Overview

The search for Ruhn-Shak takes characters up into the storm-wracked peaks of the Stormcrest Mountains. These massive peaks buttressed against the Verdant Expanse are home to ferocious monstrosities and godless hordes of goblinoid butchers.

There are many tunnels dotted throughout the Stormcrest Mountains that lead down into the Underdark. After locating a metal arch built into a rocky cliffside, characters will have to travel underground and attempt to find the hidden city of Ruhn-Shak.

The tunnels carve deeper into the mountain and branch off in multiple directions. The characters trekking through the tunnels will need to rely on their survival skills to avoid getting lost. In addition, the tunnels are filled with dangerous beasts and treacherous traps that must be dealt with or avoided by the group as they find their way to Ruhn-Shak.

A ramshackle assortment of buildings has been built in a large cavern a few miles from Ruhn-Shak. The denizens of this tent city are drow that have chosen to leave the madness of Ruhn-Shak. This provides the party with opportunities to gather information about the madness before entering the city. A few years ago, a long-forgotten temple was uncovered underneath the city's great cathedral, Arach-Tinilith.

Entering Ruhn-Shak is quite the experience. Madness and crazy cults have taken over what is left of the city and there are a plethora of creepy experiences the characters will encounter as they traverse the city streets towards the Arach-Tinilith cathedral.

The catacombs beneath the cathedral hide the entrance to the uncovered ancient temple which has become the home of an abhorrent aberration. An aboleth arrived a few years ago and slowly began to infiltrate the minds of the drow that called Ruhn-Shak home, causing the madness. Currently, the aboleth is working with a few Shader-kai priestesses to open a portal to the Shadowfell. The Shader-kai are hoping to provide an escape for more of their people to break their bonds to the Raven Queen, unbeknownst to them the aboleth just wants more humanoids to enslave to its will.

 The characters must investigate the catacombs and locate the entrance of the ancient temple. Will the characters be able to locate the aboleth's lair and stop the madness? Do they have the fortitude to avoid succumbing to its will and becoming enslaved?

Adventure Hook

The dark, gleaming sword found earlier in the campaign has dark elvish runes engraved into the blade. This sword can provide characters with a reason to seek out Ruhn-Shak in the hope of saving the city from madness.

Alternatively, as the characters travel near the Stormcrest Mountains a drow patrol attacks the group. During the attack, they hiss that the characters are strong and will make great slaves, at least until they succumb to the madness.

Path to Ruhn-Shak

The path to Ruhn-Shak from Vues'dal Waters takes characters up into the Stormcrest Mountains. It will take the party roughly five days to trek into the mountains and locate an entrance into the underground labyrinth of tunnels that lead down into the Underdark, to the city of Ruhn-Shak.

The following descriptions can be used to describe the various days of travel:

 Day 1. After helping the Frostbite Platoon blow the mountain pass, you head out early the next morning following the valley west. As the day progresses, the valley widens as you crunch westward through the snow. The sun is shining and the snow throughout the valley sparkles in the crisp cold air. To fully leave the mountains, it will take almost two days. As the sun begins to sink lower and lower, as reds and oranges paint the sky, you find a somewhat secluded outcrop of rock to make camp.

Day 2. The day dawns cloudier. After having some breakfast, you begin another day crunching through the snow down out of the mountains. As the light begins to fade that afternoon, you make it out of the mountains and turn to start trudging north through the foothills. As it begins to grow dark, you find an area between a cluster of trees to set up camp.

Day 3. The third day of travel passes fairly uneventfully. You continue your trek northward through the western foothills of the Stormpoint Mountains. It's somewhat slow going trudging through the snow and weaving through trees. As the light begins to fade, you again locate a small clearing sheltered by overhanging pine boughs to make camp.

Day 4. The evenings rest passes uneventfully. As you are beginning to wake up, you hear the sounds of sniffing and scuffling. As you open your eyes, you see two extremely large owlbears prowling around the edges of your camp.

Encounter

Stalking around the characters' camp in the early morning are two large dire owlbears (MME p.221). They attack as soon as the group begins to wake. Use Map 6.1 for the encounter battle map.

Aftermath

After the encounter with the owlbears, the party begins their travel for the day. As the day progresses, snow begins to gently fall as the ground slowly rises more and more as the characters reach the Stormcrest Mountains. As evening falls, the characters must find a spot to make camp for the night.

Map 6.1

Drow Attack

The fifth morning of travel since leaving the Vues'dal Waters dawns snowy. The campsite is blanketed in a thin layer of snow when you awake. Looking at your maps, you decide to turn eastward and hike up into the Stormcrest Mountains where they merge with the Stormpoints. The day passes uneventfully as you slowly make your way up above the tree line. As night falls, you find a clump of rocks to camp by.

Encounter

If the characters are keeping watch, their Perception check is compared against the drow Stealth checks. If the character fails to notice the drow sneaking towards the party, the drow will have a surprise round. This attack will break the group's long rest.

The drow hunting party is comprised of a Drow Arcane Guard (MME p.92), a Drow Dread Fang of Lolth (MME p.93), and 4 Drow Skirmishers (MME p.94). Use Map 6.2 for the encounter battle map.

Aftermath

If the group keeps one of the Drow alive to question, the hunter laughs at their questions and looks at them with disdain. He willing tells them how to find Ruhn-Shak because he says they will never make it. He proclaims the group looks strong and they'll make great slaves.

The entrance to the tunnel system that leads to Ruhn-Shak is roughly 30 miles north from here. The characters need to keep an eye out for old ruins in a small valley between mountain peaks. There is a small entrance carved into the nearby rock, it is a carved steel arch. Once inside the tunnel, tiny amethyst spiders are embedded into the walls at various intersections to mark the correct path to the city.

Treasure

Two of the drow hunters carry a Potion of Healing. Four of them carry finely made shortswords with carved spider handles and one used a spiked chain. The spiked chain has a reach of 10 feet and deals 2d4 piercing damage. Lastly, the drow carry a total of 250 gp amongst them.

From the Adventures of Bramble Tickletoes III & Company

One night, as the group is searching for Ruhn-Shak, Kayne is gifted with a dream by the Stormlord. The dream offers insight into the history of the conflict between the elves and drow. The vision ends with the appearance of a massive, pale green monstrosity emerging from an underground lake.

---

Visions of the Past

"Kayne, while you're sleeping, you dream you're walking through a dense fog. A sense of foreboding grips you as you slowly walk forward. Seconds stretch into minutes; you are not sure how long you've been walking when you begin to hear the sounds of a battle. The fog slowly dissipates in front of you, and you see movement ahead. As the fog clears, you find yourself in an underground chamber, partially submerged underwater. The color of everything around you seems to have faded to shades of gray and you see a number of elves, dressed in black and green armor fighting drow warriors."

With a successful DC 17 Religion check you recognize the black and green armor as the vestments of the Arch Heart.

"As the elven warriors fall, the scene dissolves. The surroundings reappear, but now you're in a different chamber. Some slight color has returned to your surroundings where a number of humans are fighting drow, but this time the drow are accompanied by other pale skinned elf-like creatures. The scene dissolves again."

With a successful DC 17 Perception check you can tell the warriors in this scene represent a variety of deities: the Arch Heart, Wildmother, Dawnfather, and Allhammer.

Surpassing a DC 24 Perception check will notice the eyes of the drow and shader-kai warriors are strangely blank.

"Over and over again the scene reforms, a dozen times. The color gets slightly more saturated each time, dissolving and reappearing in slightly different locations. The scene reappears back to the partially submerged chamber, the color now fully restored. A stronger sense of anxiety grips you as two men, dressed in silver and brown armor you recognize as followers of the Stormlord, appear fighting a number of drow and pale-skinned elves. The Stormlord's soldiers are doing well until you notice pale green tentacles emerging from the water. A large, pale green mass partially breaks the water, and you see three eyes emerge, in a line, before the tentacles grab the two warriors and you awake with a start."

"When you wake up, you get the feeling that while the Stormlord wasn't particularly invested before, things have now changed."

Map 6.2

Venturing Underground - Day 1

Success

Throughout the day, you come across a number of branches in the tunnel. Carefully checking the branches, you are able to find small amethyst spiders embedded in certain directions and choose to follow those paths. As the day progresses, clusters of moss and fungi dot the ceiling and walls. The air gets progressively more humid and little droplets of water can be seen glinting off stalactites.

---

Fail

The path winds downward in slow circles. You notice the rock of the tunnel wall beginning to glisten with moisture as you progress. Ahead, the tunnel appears to straighten out as it opens up into a grand cavern. As you near the cavern entrance, sprawling out in front of you is a large lake. Its crystalline waters extend into the inky blackness and large stalactites hang down from the ceiling. The occasional drop can be heard as water drips from them. To the right, along the stone shoreline of this underground lake is a large hemisphere, partially submerged at the water's edge. (See encounter below.)

Encounter

This large object is a young dragon turtle (MME p.81). The Dragon Turtle's tail is submerged underwater, and its head is currently inside its shell. If the group approaches without being stealthy, the creature will shift and awaken when they are 15 feet away.

Fungus Farm - Day 2

Success

Halfway through the day, passing tunnels here and there, doing your best to keep track of the amethyst spider markers, you come upon a large cavern. Large rows of fungi and moss run the length of the cavern. Some even give off a faint glow. Built out of the rock along the far side of the cavern is a small ramshackle cabin. If the party investigates the cabin, they can meet Elgos. (See Elgos' Farm to the right.)

Fail

Halfway through the day, passing tunnels branching off here and there, you begin to notice small patches of tangled, lacy moss clinging to the ceiling and walls. The vegetation slowly pulses with a faint yellow glow. Phosphorescent spores float gently from the vines hanging from the ceiling and gather on the tunnel floor. (See encounter to the right.)

Elgos' Farm

If the characters approach the cabin, a yell echoes out from inside the cabin:

"Oy, who goes there?! This is my farmland, what'chu want?"

---

Elgos is a middle-aged, male deep gnome with dark skin and green hair. He is a fungus and moss farmer who prefers his solitude and often travels to Ruhn-Shak to sell his produce. He can provide the group with the following information:

• About a year and a half ago, the city of Ruhn-Shak began to see extremely eccentric and odd behavior from its citizens.
• Over time it got worse and worse, and a significant amount of the population has abandoned the city for the time being. They've created semi-permanent tent cities in nearby caverns.
• Those that are left within the city are mostly the nobles, barricaded within their estates, or the destitute and insane.

---

Continuing along the path, the characters will stumble upon one of these tent cities in a day or two. There is a ramshackle inn that's been built, The Barking Spider, where they might be able to get more information. The owner is a friend of Elgos, a drow named Ferzo. If they mention Elgos' name, he will be more inclined to offer information.

Encounter

To avoid the hanging vines, characters must succeed on a DC 19 Acrobatics check. When agitated, the soft yellow glow of the moss flashes a brilliant, icy blue. 3 Cavelight Moss (ToB p.53) encompass this section of the tunnel and will attack if any character brushes up against one of its vines.

Underground Travel - Day 3

Ferzo's Info

Ruhn-Shak is on the cusp of a "purge". Over a year ago strange things began to happen, there was a dramatic increase in murders, attacks, and people losing their minds.

After a few months of this, people began leaving the city and setting up temporary shelter in large caverns like this a few miles outside of the city. Last I heard, close to 80% of the city has emptied and there are four or five large caverns where most of us who left have made new homes.

The city is practically abandoned. Most of the denizens left are those that have either gone insane or are protecting their families and homes. In the case of the wealthy nobles, they have barricaded themselves inside their estates.

Most drow are not friendly towards humans and half-elfs. Right now, it shouldn't be too much of an issue, most have bigger problems than their dislike of humans and half-elfs. They may come across some though, so Ferzo still suggests they be careful.

Nullice's Info

"Sometime 500 years ago or so there was an attempt to merge the Shadowfell and the Material Plane. What we've been able to piece together from old records tells us this attempt was a collaboration between disenchanted Shadar-kai priests of the Raven Queen and frustrated dark elf priests of the Spider Queen. How much do you know of the Shadar-kai?"

---

Characters who succeed on a DC 22 History check will know that the shadar-kai are bound to the Raven Queen, cursed to forever serve her in the Shadowfell. They dwell in communities outside the Fortress of Memories in a pale imitation of the days when they dwelt in the life and light of their now-lost kingdom. (If the party doesn't succeed on the history check, Nullice will tell them the same information.)

"What we've learned is the shadar-kai feel enslaved by the Raven Queen; some dark elves feel the same about the Spider Queen. Some believe if they were to be able to merge the Shadowfell into the Material Plane the Raven Queen wouldn't be able to insert her influence on the shadar-kai any longer. Then they would be free to aid their dark elf cousins in earning their freedom. Now to be clear, this was hundreds of years ago. I don't believe any of our order feel that way now."

"About two years ago, an entrance to a long-buried temple was uncovered under the Arach-Tinilith, our great cathedral to the Spider Queen. Our head priestess, Alaundra, went down with some acolytes to investigate. Only Alaundra returned. But something had changed about her. She was different, changed somehow. She began excavating below the temple and became very secretive. That was when things began to devolve throughout the city, but its effects seem to only extend a few miles beyond the city and taper off as you travel further away. But for all of us, Ruhn-Shak is our home."

Ruhn-Shak

Population: approx. 16,670 (92% Dark Elf, 5% Deep Gnome,

3% Other)
Religions: Major - Spider Queen

Minor - Chained Oblivion
Government: Matriarchal theocracy worshiping the Queen of

Spiders
Commerce: Well-trained slaves, various fungi, exotic

creatures for food, poisons, potions, jewelry, etc.

If you find carved arches and steel gates in the mountain slopes, do not rest there, no matter the cold. There are no dwarf-halls among these forsaken peaks. Deep below the surface world, countless caverns and tunnels wind into regions where light finds no purchase.

It is here, beneath the Stormcrest Mountains, that the largest subterranean society of dark elves maintains its tyranny. Hidden entrances riddle not just the mountain range, but the Dreamseep, and darker regions of the Verdant Expanse, allowing hunting and raiding parties quick and easy access to the surface under cover of night, slaughtering many, enslaving the rest, and taking the spoils as gifts to the Spider Queen.

This twisted network of tunnels is easily collapsed and reopened through the use of "Pit Witches," dark elf druids who master the art of rock and dirt manipulation, making it near impossible to give chase. Syngorn is ever alert and seeking a way to find and destroy this center of dark elf society on Tal'Dorei, but the sly and cunning ways of Ruhn-Shak have yet to meet a match.

Ruhn-Shak is carved out and built within a great cavern the drow call Araurilcaurak, its vault soaring a thousand feet above the stone floor. Drow dwellings and strongholds are carved from massive stalagmites and stalactites, connected with delicate looking bridges of hardened spider silk, and lit with coldly glowing eldritch fires.

Ruhn-Shak City Encounters

As the characters enter the area surrounding Ruhn-Shak, they begin to be affected by the madness that has taken hold within the city. When the characters get within a mile of the city, and after each long rest, characters must draw a card from the deck of despair See Appendix E for the full Despair Rules on how characters gain and remove despair.

As the group reaches the edge of the city, read or paraphrase the following:

It takes a little more than an hour to walk from the tent city to the outskirts of Ruhn-Shak. The tunnel you've been walking through suddenly opens up into a massive cavern. The path winds down the side of the cavern. In front of you sprawls a large city. Blue, green, and violet lights dot the cavern floor as you take in the immensity of this cavern. There are stalagmites carved into buildings, a sprawling metropolis , mansions, and fields dotting the floor of the cavern. This is Ruhn-Shak.

Flayed Drow

Walking through the city, it is eerily quiet and very few people are out in the streets. Houses are boarded up. As you walk past a few buildings, a quiet sound catches your attention: giggling. Glancing into the next alley you notice a drow giggling, standing with a knife looking at something you can't quite see.

If the characters investigate, the drow is looking at a hanging form, another drow, that has been pinned to the side of the building. The giggling drow appears to be talking to itself in a language you don't understand. He is using the knife to peel the skin off the flesh of the hanging drow.

Encounter

If the characters interact with this drow, they will attack the group while laughing hysterically. The drow is a Drow Shadowblade (MToF p.187).

The One-Eyed Truth Seers

As you walk through the city, you notice someone with only a left eye. A little later, you see another person with just a left eye as well.

Three of the noble houses that remained in the city have begun a new cult, the One-Eyed Truth Seers. They have cut out their right eyes because "If you have 2 eyes, then one must be lying."

If the characters follow one of these drow with one eye back to a manor house, these nobles' homes are typically guarded by mind-wiped undead or zombie guards.

Encounter

These noble homes are guarded by an assortment of drow and undead. Some possible combinations are listed below:

• Drow Mage (MM p.129) and 6 zombie Drow Skirmishers (MME p.94)
• 12 undead Drow skirmishers (MME p.94)
• Drow Elite Warrior (MM p.128) and 8 Drow Skirmishers (MME p.94)
• Drow House Captain (MToF p.184) and 4 Drow Skirmishers (MME p.94)

Drow Temple Entrance

The stone steps are some three hundred feet wide and rise nearly the same distance. A pair of giant jade spiders flank the stairway at the top, ready to animate and attack non-drow that climb the steps.

Encounter

These two jade spiders (Appendix B) will attack any non-drow creature to reach the top of the cathedral steps.

Ruhn-Shak Cathedral

Ruhn-Shak's main cathedral, the Arach-Tinilith, stands as a massive temple with black marble walls and intricate purple stained-glass windows. The cathedral's entrance consists of two large jade doors with large carved amethyst spiders embedded into the walls on either side of the double doors. Typically, only drow citizens are allowed inside the cathedral. The interior is illuminated with faintly glowing purple torches.

Main Cathedral

The temple's main doors are locked and require a successful DC 20 Thieves' Tools check to unlock.

The doors open into a small antechamber. Purple torches illuminate this chamber with a few stairs leading up into the massive cathedral-like space beyond. As you walk up the stairs, a deep maroon carpet extends most of the way through the chamber up to a plinth on which stands a large carved amethyst spider. Onyx columns line the carpet's path. A few small side alcoves are visible on either side of the chamber.

The small side chambers on the left and right sides of the cathedral host small tables designed as places of study. A few dusty tomes are laying around, most are religious texts concerning the Spider Queen.

At the far end of the temple, there are two small prayer rooms that are accessible via hallways to the left and right of the wide staircase located beyond the altar. Each has a small shrine to the Spider Queen along with a small table with a bowl for incense.

Additionally, the wide staircase past the altar leads up to a large set of black marble double doors. These doors are locked. A successful DC 18 Thieves' Tools check is required to unlock these doors. Alternatively, a successful DC 22 Athletics check can break the lock on the doors allowing them to swing open.

Encounter

As the characters move through the large cathedral space, 3 Shadow Elementals (Appendix B) will attack them as they explore. These creatures are invisible in the dim light. They can be seen with a daylight spell or divine sense. Use Map 6.4 for the encounter battle map.

Map 6.4

Last Rites Chamber

Once through the black marble doors, the chamber opens up into a small room with a pool of water with two drains. There is a stone bridge over the pool leading into a larger chamber. Ten pillars ring the center of the chamber with a large pit in the center. There is a black marble table near the back, just in front of a statue of a strong, religiously clothed female drow.

Encounter

The large pit in the center of this chamber has been used as a depository for bodily fluids as bodies are prepared for burial. At the bottom of is a Necrotic Slime (Appendix B) lying in wait for any creatures to approach close enough to attack. There are also 4 large humanoid skeletons (CC p.237) that climb up out of the pool of water when the slime attacks. Use Map 6.5 for the encounter battle map.

Treasure

Buried at the bottom of the pit, underneath the necrotic slime, is a Potion of Water Breathing. To find the potion, a character investigating the pit needs to succeed on a DC 18 Investigation check. Reaching into the slime causes the character to take 2d6 necrotic damage per round.

Puzzle Door

The door at the back of the chamber, to the right of the drow priestess statue, leads into the depths of the catacombs. This door is locked and has a puzzle to unlock.

Embedded in the door is a set of six thin disk-like hexagonal stones inset sideways into the door with the edges facing out. These stones are free to rotate, and each face of the hexagonal stone has a letter carved into it. See the table below for the order of the letters on each stone:

Stone 1	Stone 2	Stone 3	Stone 4	Stone 5	Stone 6
B	E	O	V	A	N
S	R	I	N	L	R
P	P	S	Y	D	D
G	L	A	P	U	S
C	H	E	D	O	L
D	U	R	R	E	E

---

The door unlocks when the correct combination of letters fulfilling the riddle requirement, (GRAVES), is facing out.

Trap

If the party selects the wrong combination of letters, a blast of elemental energy emanates from the door impacting any characters standing in front.

The type of damage is randomized, roll on the table below to determine the type of damage. Characters must make a DC 15 Dexterity Saving throw taking 1d10 damage of the type rolled on a failed save or half as much on a success.

d10	Damage Type
1	Fire
2	Cold
3	Lightning
4	Acid
5	Force
6	Radiant
7	Necrotic
8	Psychic
9	Thunder
10	Poison

---

Once the door has been unlocked, it swings open of its own volition. Inside is a small landing before a stone staircase descends out of sight.

Map 6.5

Drow Catacombs