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While staying at a desert town you find a notice board with a selection of jobs including one from a grieving woman looking to hire someone to investigate the disappearance of their husband.
Upon meeting the woman, who has two young children, she explains that her husband, a merchant traveling the desert roads, vanished a month ago. Unfortunately, she lacks substantial information but mentions he was last seen heading towards a nearby town through an unused shortcut, passing an abandoned desert toll station. She provides additional details, describing her husband’s caravan engraved with the words “The Merry” and a necklace medallion he always carried.
Heading to the Toll station you travel on a desert road which now due to the toll station being abandoned has deteriorated. The toll station is four days away by horseback and when you arrive you find it abandoned just as the wife described.
Inside the Palisade you find a broken caravan matching the description the wife gave you next to an opening in the palisade which harbors strange claw marks which make it look like the outpost was perhaps attacked at some point. Inside the outpost you find little but for rubble, wood and tattered cloth.
Eventually you find a staircase that leads into natural caverns below the outpost, it’s unnaturally silent and exploring the many caverns you begin to find what looks to be the remains of humans, stripped completely of all flesh with gnawing marks on their bones.
Near the bodies you find a leatherbound journal written by one of the guards from the outpost explaining that he has been spending more time down in the many caverns under the outpost as he believes they can be put to good use for storage but that they unsettle him. He thinks he’s seen some old symbols carved into the stone but they look quite worn and he’s not a scholar so hell if he knows what they mean. He continues that he intends to map out the entire cavern network but will bring some of the others next time as the place kinda creeps him out.
Later in the journal the guard claims to be hearing voices when in the caverns and has chosen to avoid them because of it. He says the other guards who have spent time in the caverns are also acting erratically. He doesn’t know what is going on but he intends on leaving the outpost when his contract is up as it just doesn’t feel right being here.
Most of the other pages of the journal are missing or torn but what you can make out is the words, hunger repeated, until the language shifts and appears to begin being written in the same symbols as on the walls of the caverns. If you understand the language of undead you note that the motif of hunger continues repeating in this language.
Searching the other caverns you hear sound up ahead before spotting what looks like a pale emaciated man in tattered guards clothes hunched over in the corner of the cavern, the sound of crunching can be heard as if he was eating something.
As you approach however, the creature turns to face you revealing a deformed humanoid creature with elongated limbs, pale milky eyes, a drooping jaw covered in blood and viscera and the remains of a rat in its hand. He attacks you on sight, hunger in its eyes as if it had not eaten in weeks.
Searching further you encounter more of these creatures, and begin seeing the cryptic symbols on the walls of the cavern mentioned in the journal. Once again if you understand the language of undead you may decipher their meaning which details this site as a place of unholy worship, where grand sacrifices were made to dark gods and where the cultists of this place ate the forbidden flesh.
Eventually you find a creature not like the others, more human. When you approach this one you find him resembling the description of the merchant but beginning to become deformed, with a bloody drooping jaw, one milky white eye and his right arm and leg becoming longer.
He’s confused and doesn’t know where he is or who you are but after some talking he calms down. If you ask what happened, explaining who you are, he explains he stopped at the toll station ruins for the night but was awoken by the sounds of scraping on the walls, he ignored it at first but decided to go check it out when the noise didn’t stop, he encountered creatures much like he is now within the toll station and he fled from them eventually ending up in the caverns beneath.
He found a hiding spot within a crack and can’t remember much since then but for flashes of eating meat and the sun being too bright to be in so he stayed in the caves. The man begs you to end his misery as he looks down upon his deformed body and to take his medallion necklace back to his wife, to tell her it appears there was an attack on the outpost by bandits and he was killed, don’t tell her the horror of what he has become, he begs you.
GM’s Notes: Hundred of years ago a cult used these caverns for its horrible rituals involving the consumption of human flesh which eventually caused them, as well as the caverns to become corrupted, changing them into horrible monstrosities. Eventually they were dealt with by a group of heroic adventurers but over the centuries this information was lost.
When a new road was set to be built across the dry landscape of the desert, this location was chosen due to its proximity to the rare creek which runs through the chasm below the toll station. Unbeknownst to the builders of the toll station the caverns were a corrupting influence on any who spent too much time down there. Over the years, the guards lost to madness and then began to eat the flesh of other humans who attempted to pass through the toll station. The more flesh they ate the faster they changed.
As so many people kept going missing in the region eventually the toll station was abandoned, leaving the now deformed and monstrous guards to roam the caverns.
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While staying at a forested village you’re approached by a large muscled man who is an elder of the town and claims to be a shaman, he greets you kindly and asks if he may have a word with you. The man appears concerned and tense.
If you agree, he introduces himself as Adalbern before explaining that, over the last few months, the forest has seen a change. Dangerous beasts who live deep in the forest have made their way closer to the village, attacking those who stray too far in search of wild berries or herbs.
Adalbern continues that he believes the balance of the forest has been broken by something dark, originating from a sacred site the villagers called the Grove of the Everlasting.
Adalbern beseeched the other elders of the village to allow him to travel to the grove to investigate, but he was refused due to the nature of the grove. You see, Adalbern continues, only those old, ill, or close to death seek the grove after proper funeral rites have been undergone for those individuals, because those who enter the grove do-no return. Instead, they are accepted into the afterlife, becoming one with the forest. Because of this, the other elders could not take the chance of Adalbern not returning, even if he was only to investigate the surroundings of the grove.
Adalbern sighs before explaining that, to make matters worse, it appears his son overheard the conversation between the elders and rashly decided to travel to the grove himself with a friend in tow. Those young men have not returned since last dusk, and so Adalbern begs for your assistance to travel to the grove and find them, if they have not already entered the grove, and–if possible–uncover the nature of the darkness which now shrouds the forest.
If you ask why the grove wouldn’t accept you into the afterlife if you enter it, Adalbern explains that you’re an outsider and not of the forest. He means no offense, but you do not belong here or to the forest, and so it would not accept you.
If you agree to help, Adalbern grips your hand tightly and thanks you before giving you simple directions to arrive at the grove. It appears to only be half a day’s travel away on foot through the thick forest, luckily a path will take you most of the way however.
As you approach the Grove of the Everlasting, you begin noticing ancient stone ruins surrounded by many wide, muddy trails–some more well used than others–which branch off into the forest in all directions.
If you’re perceptive, you might notice some footprints in one of the muddy trails before entering the grove, which could be from the young men. Entering the grove, you find a paradise of lush plant life, streams and waterfalls which pour down into a grotto. To your surprise, the scent of smoke is on the breeze but it’s hard to pin down where it’s coming from.
Making your way deeper into the grotto after taking a winding tunnel, you come across the two young men you were sent to rescue solemnly sitting on bed rolls around a fire. They’re surprised to see you but quickly pick up their spears and stand their ground.
If you explain you’re there to bring them back to the village, they look visibly upset explaining that all they were told about the Grove of the Everlasting were lies and that the afterlife doesn’t exist. If you point out that if the tales were true they’d be dead, they respond back that while that may be true they would have died heroes, willing to give their lives to attempt to appease the forest.
Interrupting your conversation, the ground shakes and you can hear the sound of scraping echoing from deeper within the grotto then a big splash, as if something large is moving nearby. If you follow the sound, you’re led through several caverns and tunnels before reaching the bottom of the grotto next to a small waterfall, which pours into a small lake.
The shaking has stopped now but it appears like it was coming from a cavern on the other side of the lake. Making your way over to the cavern you’re shocked to find a wet colossal basilisk curled up, resting amongst the bones of many humans and other animals.
Flicking out its tongue the basilisk senses your presence and its eyes pop open before the monster eagerly slithers toward you, its maw ready to bite. The young men retreat, drawing their bows and firing arrows as you’re engaged by the basilisk.
When it’s defeated, the basilisk begins flailing wildly, blood pouring from its wounds before it crashes into the lake. The young men rush up to you cheering in cocky excitement, adrenaline still pumping in their veins.
Lifeless, the basilisk sinks into the depths of the lake which is clearly much deeper than it appears. If inspected, it seems that the lake is connected to flooded underground caverns which reach deep beneath the earth, and may be where the basilisk originally came from.
When you return to Adalbern he thanks you profusely for saving his son but when you explain what happened at the grove he appears shocked, but then deep in thought. He explains that two years ago the village suffered heavy droughts and food stocks were low due to the forest not providing its usual yield.
Many were set to starve before the previous elders of the village decided to make the sacrifice of going to the Grove of the Everlasting early. Over fifty elders chose this path and, due to their sacrifice, no one in the village starved. Since then no one has been sick or old enough to go to the grove.
It is a horrible thought, Adalbern continues. But what if those who entered the grove these many hundreds of years were not taken into the afterlife by the grove, but instead eaten by the basilisk? Maybe it was the sacrifice of those who chose to go to the grove that kept it well fed and docile.
Perhaps the story was told in order to keep the village safe, even if it was a lie. The world is harsh and often tradition serves a purpose even if it is long forgotten.
In this case, perhaps the lack of villagers going to the grove over the last two years forced the basilisk to leave its normally rich feeding ground, pushing out the other predators closer to the village.
With a sigh, Adalbern thanks you again. Stating that perhaps they can put this tradition to rest now that they understand its purpose, and those who are ready to die can instead die in the presence of their loved ones.
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The first level of our Black Dragon’s Swamp Stronghold Lair Free 60×20 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap & Adventure, featuring dragon slaying in a ruined castle. VTT ready!The second level of our Black Dragon’s Swamp Stronghold Lair Free 60×20 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap & Adventure, featuring dragon slaying in a ruined castle. VTT ready!The third level of our Black Dragon’s Swamp Stronghold Lair Free 60×20 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap & Adventure, featuring dragon slaying in a ruined castle. VTT ready!
Black Dragon’s Swamp Stronghold Lair Free 60×20 Multi-Level DnD Battlemap & Adventure
Ohanix the Sinister
During a visit to a tavern you notice a help wanted poster pinned to a board behind the barman’s counter. The poster is looking for mercenaries to retrieve six magical tomes from a ruined castle, located in a swamp a few days’ travel away. The reward is unspecified but negotiable and could be in gold, gems or other methods of payment. The bottom of the poster is signed by an administrator from an unknown noble family.
If you ask the barkeep about it, the man shrugs and says he doesn’t know that much regarding the job as the noble family isn’t from this region, but that he was given contact details to forward onto anyone who was interested.
If you get in touch with the administrator, the man invites you to meet him at the tavern come nightfall. When you arrive, you find the tavern completely empty with only a few candles lit, having been wholly reserved for the administrator. He is a lithe, blond haired man with green eyes framed by round glasses sitting at the back, enjoying an expensive repast of wine, cheese, select fruits and roast meats. When you talk to him, he smiles with uncannily white teeth.
The administrator welcomes you but makes no effort to share his plentiful food and drink. Should you request any he becomes offended and haughty. The man explains that the land the ruined castle lies on–from which you are to recover the spellbooks–was once prime farmland, but after a disaster, the levees burst, flooding the area and turning it into a swamp. You get the sense that this man is shady, but he tells you honestly that these days blackscale lizardfolk are common in the region and you should expect to encounter them while recovering the spellbooks.
If asked more about the tomes, the administrator explains that before its destruction, the castle held a great library within its undercroft. The grand treasures of this library were the 6 Tomes of Versig. They were believed lost to history until recently, and his master greatly wishes to add them to his collection. They add a unique perspective to battle magic said to be highly valuable in combat as it turns common tactics on their head.
Should you ask the administrator about his master, he says he serves a busy man who is a collector, which is why he sees to his master’s affairs instead.
After negotiating pay, the administrator claims you’ll be paid your full fee once you return with the spellbooks. Should you request pay now, he staunchly refuses; looking down his nose at you and disparaging the loyalty of mercenaries. He claims it’s not personal, but you will only receive your pay after he has the volumes and can see they haven’t been damaged by combat or the swamp. If pressed on payment in advance, he offers to throw in a bonus afterwards, once he has the spellbooks, as a compromise.
Heading off, you make your way to the swampland. When you begin to trek through the mire, you pass overgrown ruins from a village, and crumbling stone levees that appear to have been partially crushed in places as if attacked by a giant beast.
Reaching the ruined castle grounds, you encounter a group of blackscale lizardmen who attack aggressively. On their bodies, you might notice that burned into their shoulders is a draconic rune signifying that they serve the “Most Sinister One”. If inspected closely, you’ll note that the mark was made by acid, and the bodies carry a number of vicious scars, as if often beaten or tortured.
Making your way to the lower levels of the castle, you’re accosted by a black dragon who has made the ruin her lair, as well as more of her lizardmen followers.
The black dragon accuses you of coming to assassinate her on behalf of one of her dragon rivals, who have always hungered for her land. She hisses that it doesn’t matter, you’ll end up like all the rest. She’ll try to fly overhead, dropping a sphere of darkness and attacking with acid, before submerging herself into the surrounding ponds and trying to pull you in while her minions attack. The water pools are all connected by underground tunnels, so she can swim between them throughout the complex.
The lizardmen fight viciously to the death, seeming more terrified of what will happen to them should they fail, than of their demise. Should the black dragon die before they do, the survivors flee.
Once the battle progresses enough for the black dragon to see the possibility of losing, she begins threatening cruel tortures to try to intimidate you to give up. If that fails, she promises vengeance before trying to flee, using the water as cover.
After she is defeated, when you recover the 6 spellbooks, if you read them you find they’re not spellbooks at all but rather, books on the previous Lord’s genealogy, his taxes, and other mundane affairs.
Should you pilfer the dragon’s treasure hoard, among the treasures you find a worn leather journal which stands out to you due to its boring appearance amidst all the splendor. If you read it, the journal appears to have belonged to the previous Lord of the castle, and talks about his torments by the black dragon, Ohanix. It tells of how the Lord and his men drove her out of the swamp before the castle was built and the land drained for farming, when he didn’t know how cruel black dragon’s were. He spent his life building a prosperous village here, ignorant of her wrath. Ohanix waited until the Lord grew old, before taking her vengeance. She slew all his descendants and destroyed the levees; drowning many of the villagers in a great flood, and melting those who tried to climb out of the water with acid. Ohanix returned the land to a swamp and ruined everything he built, intentionally letting him survive to see her move into the remains of his castle, over the bodies of his dead family. At the end of the journal there is a significant amount of blood, suggesting that the Lord didn’t part with it and live to tell the tale.
Returning to the town for your reward, the administrator is nowhere to be found and the barkeep says he hasn’t seen him in days. The man doesn’t know where the administrator went, as–oddly enough–no-one saw him leave. But, anyway, on more pressing matters, there have been rumors of a green dragon glimpsed flying nearby! Can you believe it?!
GM’s notes:
The black dragon was in fact correct, unknown to you the administrator was a green dragon who had been plotting the black dragon’s end for sometime. He used you as pawns to get rid of her, so he could take over her territories.
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During your travels, you spot a beautiful town in the distance silhouetted against clear blue skies. It rests on lush green fields filled with wildflowers, and you can see stone huts and buildings decorated with flower baskets and fresh wreaths. But as you draw closer, something feels wrong, and you notice it’s ominously silent.
There are no sounds one would associate with a village; no livestock calling out, or bird calls, nor the sounds of people or children laughing.
As you continue to make your way toward the village, something crunches underfoot. Lifting your boot, you see the bones of a dead bird, perfectly laid out as if the animal had been flying when it died. There is no sign of flesh, tendon, or cartilage on the bones, and they appear burned–but there’s no sign of fire anywhere else.
Looking into the fields, you suddenly see why there’s no livestock. Lying amidst the swaying green grasses are the bones of cows, goats, and various birds, positioned as if they, too, had been going about their lives when they suddenly died. Like the bird, there is no hint of flesh left on the bones, and they are blackened as if from fire.
Approaching the town, you hear the squeak of a rusty hanging shop sign being blown back and forth on the gentle breeze, overpoweringly loud in the silence. As you enter the village, scattered through the streets and the houses are the burned, skinless bones of the locals, still wearing their pristine clothing, jewellery, or other accoutrements.
Children died hugging pets, babies perished in the arms of their mothers, friends died talking in the street, others died perusing the shops or getting along in their day’s work. Like the animals, they all seem to have died suddenly, in the midst of their lives. Should you enter any of the homes, they are perfectly in order. Some appear to have perished in the midst of a family meal, food still ready on the plates, while still-warm pots of soup cool over the hearth fire. Whatever happened to this village, it was only shortly before you arrived.
While it’s clear those at the entrance to the town died going about their daily lives, as you move deeper into the heart of the village panic becomes apparent. The bodies there appear to have been running away from whatever it was that killed them, or hugging one another for comfort, or cowering.
As you look upon this macabre scene, you hear an echoing, monstrous wail coming from the town well. The sound rises and dims, changing into howls and back into eerie wails. If you approach and look into the well, you see it’s mostly dry, with a small puddle at the bottom. Sitting in the puddle and staining it red is a pale man in dirty, torn clothing, his calves bleeding and bones protruding from his kneecaps. He is raving mad from the pain.
Should you rescue him, he begs for help or mercy from his suffering. If you heal him, the man thanks you, gasping and still shaking from shock, before asking if you have a stiff drink. He looks upon the remains of the village, tears in his eyes and shaking his head, muttering to himself incoherently.
If you asked him what happened here, he introduces himself as Farvald and explains there was some kind of storm made of red embers which swept through the village. Anything an ember touched, the skin blackened and burned right off, FROM THE INSIDE, Farvald emphasises, saying the resulting ash swept up into the sky and disappeared. Nowhere was safe. Nowhere but underground. Nothing could stop the embers but the well, the well, the well, he mutters to himself, eyes glazing over.
More questions bring Farvald back to himself and reveal that the embers followed people as if alive and actively hunting them. Should you ask him where the storm was heading, he turns and points towards a mountain in the distance, before shaking his head and saying he’ll still hear the screams as they burned.
If you move to follow the storm, Farvald grabs your arm and insists on following you. The horror’s he’s seen seem to have shaken his hold on reality, and if you refuse he insists on going there on his own regardless.
The journey towards the mountain takes a few hours, but after only half an hour of traveling you begin noticing the sound of birds again. If you question Farvald as to why there are birds here if the storm came this way, he sheepishly admits he didn’t really see quite that well which way the storm was heading due to jumping in the well. He does mention however that his mother sang a children’s bedtime story regarding this mountain, a story designed to scare young children into behaving themselves. At least, that’s what he used to believe up until today. Then he sing’s the story as best as he can remember.
“In a mountain tall and steep, Whispers echoed, secrets keep. Legends speak of a history old, Where heroes fought with hearts so bold.
Over 200 years ago, they say, An invading force came to dismay. Defenders climbed the peak so high, In a final battle, they had to try.
When all seemed lost, hope nearly gone, A whisper came from an ancient one. An evil prisoner, seeking release, Offered salvation, a twisted peace.
The commander, desperate and brave, Accepted the offer, darkness to stave. In exchange for freedom, the evil’s plea, The ember storm unleashed, wild and free.
Its power engulfed the invaders fast, Reduced to bones, a haunting contrast. The ancient evil fulfilled its vow, But darkness remained, as legends allow.
Now, my child, rest your weary head, As I share this tale before you’re to bed. Know that choices bear consequences true, Beware dark deals that may ensnare you.
Dream of heroes, brave and true, Who faced the storm and the enemy crew. Their sacrifice reminds us strong, To resist temptation to do wrong.”
He explains that he’s sure this mountain peak was the one in the rhyme, and must find the source of what was responsible for the deaths of his fellow villagers, it’s all that he wants now.
When you arrive near the mountain peak, you find it silent much like the town. As you make your way towards the peak, you see a humanoid-shaped individual standing upon a stone overhang, carving something into its hard surface with a finger. However, something seems deeply off about the person. The skin seems loose, fat rolls bunching around its wrists and ankles, as well as hanging in sagging jowls from its chin.
The individual turns to face you upon your arrival, its movements eerily fluid, squishy and inhuman–as if it has no bones. The flesh on its face hangs loosely, sagging around milky white eyes ringed by raw, bleeding muscle. Despite its mimicry of humanity, everything about it is slightly off; corpulent and disfigured.
Farvald breaks down, pushing past you and kneeling before the inhuman figure; exclaiming in excitement that he has brought it more flesh, more life for him and his brethren. He raves that he saw within the eye of the ember storm from the well, beheld the magnificence and power of Those Who Hunger who danced at its heart.
The shape etched in the stone behind the figure begins to glow an ominous orange and a heavy wind stirs up. Above you, the sky darkens and embers flicker and ignite in the distance; surrounding you as you find yourself within the eye of a new ember storm.
You can hear voices whispering to your mind, voices that hunger, that seek life and existence from beyond the void.
The inhuman figure standing before Farvald opens its wet, toothless maw in a smile that splits across its face, stretching and sagging lopsidedly. It reaches out a finger covered in tiny rolls of skin and touches Farvald on the forehead, and the madman’s body begins to change; filling from within, as if bloating with water, before Farvald’s skin splits and morphs into a giant, caterpillar-shaped mass of flesh covered with inhuman faces and writhing limbs. The monstrosity lumbers towards you, its many mouths moaning in hunger.
After the horror that was Farvald is defeated, the figure behind him steps back; turning to embers and dissipating with the storm around you. In the corners of your eye, you think you might have glimpsed other figures in the storm doing the same. Once the figures are gone, the whispering in your mind stops.
The air of the mountain now still, you’re surrounded by pure, unnatural silence. The only remnants of what happened is the faded sigil on the ground, and the mutated corpse at your feet.
Behind the ridge the inhuman being was standing on is a valley full of bones, as well as 200-year-old armor and rusty weapons. Deep amidst the ancient battlefield you notice some kind of giant, hollow, obsidian boulder that had been long ago split in two. If you inspect it, you find very faded ruins of sealing engraved in the surface, along with a dire warning against releasing the evil inside…
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While visiting a desert town by a great river, you stop by a tavern named the Sable Oryx. Stepping inside, you see the giant head of an oryx mounted on the far wall, high above a fire pit with spit-roasting meat turned by a young, shy boy. After sitting down at one of the sumptuous rug and pillow covered eating areas, a young man in his late teens approaches, asking if you’re mercenaries open to hire.
The man has caramel coloured skin with black hair and dark eyes, he introduces himself as Riyad. Though he wears the colorful tasseled garb of the locals, he explains he isn’t from here originally, but from a no-longer existent desert settlement further upstream. He explains his adopted mother and father found him floating in a moses basket in the river, washed up against some reeds, and took him in as one of their own. He’s had a good childhood, with 7 other brothers and sisters, but he longs to know what happened to his people.
You see, when his parents found him, there was blood on his blankets. So the first thing his adopted father did was rally the local fighters and ride out to the upstream village he must have drifted down from, but the fighting party was too late. Everyone in his birth village was already dead. Massacred. It appeared that a giant sand worm had come through and slaughtered everyone, which is a terrible sign of displeasing the gods. The fighters didn’t hang around long enough to find out what his birth village did to cause the beast’s ire, fearing the great worm would return and wreak vengeance upon them too.
Though he loves his family, he needs to know what exactly happened to his birth parents. If they were evil and displeased the gods, like he’s feared, or if it was something else. He’s never gone back to the remains of the village, as the area is considered cursed and dangerous. Everyone avoids it. His mother won’t permit him to go alone, so he needs to hire you for protection before going to the site of the massacre and seeing what he can find. If you help him, he can pay you in the carved amethyst animals and idols that his village specializes in making.
Should you agree, the next day you head out on horses to the location of the decimated village, following the muddy river upstream into harsher desert lands for the better part of a day, before you reach the opening of a canyon. Riyad explains that from what he’s learned his people were nomadic, only settling in one place for a few weeks or a month before moving on. They would live in tents, shepherding sheep and selling thick cloths woven from animal hair, white messenger doves, or trained hunting falcons. Apparently, many of the nomads were distant cousins to the people of his adopted village, which is why they rode out to protect them–they still felt some kinship, especially against unknown enemies.
As you enter the mouth of the cavern, Riyad quietens and notes that this is where the village was meant to have been. If you’re not careful where you walk, you hear the crack of dried bones breaking beneath your footsteps, and looking down you see they’re human.
There doesn’t seem to be any danger, so Riyad begins inspecting the remains of the village. The whole canyon floor is strewn with human bones. Amongst them, partially buried by the sands, are the tattered rags left over from the tents they used to live in, rugs, or pillows. Riyad checks the walls of the canyon for engravings, searches the floor for books or scrolls, but finds nothing illuminating. Any scrolls that he finds are so brittle they turn to dust when he touches them.
Just as Riyad sighs in defeat and is ready to leave, you feel a rumbling in the sands beneath your feet. A giant sandworm emerges from the desert floor–but its mummified flesh hangs loosely around an undead, skeletal frame and cruciform jaws.
The undead worm attacks with ferocious bites as well as its undulating tail. After you get a few hits in, it backs off and regurgitates undead skeletons which rise to attack you, before the worm leaping into the fray again.
Once defeated, the worm almost breathes a giant sigh of relief as it dies. Then the purple ethereal form of a very old man glimmers to light over its dead body. He wears robes and a headscarf, and looks to Riyad. “Thank you for freeing me, grandson,” the ghost says. He explains, a hitch in his voice, that he was once the chief of this tribe, but he feared death. Seeking immortality, he cast his soul into the body of this great worm, but in so doing was driven mad. To his horror, he killed those who had once been his family; the entire tribe.
He has learned his lesson from such a terrible fate, the man continues, and can only hope to try to make amends. He says that he will bring the dead tribe back to life and undo the evils that he, in his ignorance, wrought. With a wave of his hand and a few guttural words, the dead in the canyon begin to rise. For a moment the ghost seems proud of himself, before he notices the unholy purple light shining from their eyes.
The ghost gulps and stutters, saying oh my, well then, as I said thank you grandson for freeing me from my torment! It’s high time I move onto the afterlife. Blessings upon you! With that, the ghost glimmers out, leaving you alone with the undead tribe as they stagger towards you.
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Dark Shrine Barrows Free Multi-Level 40×30 DnD Battlemap & Adventure
Atoning for Crimes Past
While traveling through the wilderness as the sun is about to set, you spot someone camping not far from the highway. If you go in for a closer look, you see a rough-looking man, unkempt and poking at the fire with a stick, until he senses your approach and leaps to his feet.
“What do you want?” he asks with a tremor in his voice, appearing ready to flee at the slightest provocation. Should you greet him calmly and assure him you mean no harm, he calms down.
“I thought you were something else,” he mutters sitting down once more. He extends an offer to join his humble camp, and should you accept, he will tell you why his nerves are frayed.
“I’m a thief and a scoundrel,” he explains without shame. I used to operate with a bunch of like-minded lads, and we’d go around the land looking for stuff to steal. We made a pretty good living, until a few weeks ago.
“We heard of a legend about an old shrine that had been built under a barrow, forgotten out in the wilds. There were some strange earthen monsters protecting it, but we fought through them and found what we were looking for.
“A small gold figurine sat on the outstretched hands of a statue, probably worth more than all the loot we’d stolen for the past year combined. We celebrated, getting blind drunk that very night. When I woke, I had the horrible feeling I’d had dreadful nightmares all night, but I couldn’t remember anything specific.
“I don’t know to what god that shrine was built, but every few nights for the last three weeks, one of our gang didn’t wake up. Their faces were twisted in fear, as if something had scared them to death.”
Your host takes a long swig of some strong liquor, before composing himself to speak further. “I’m one of the last from our gang who’s still alive and sane. The others are either dead, or ran away screaming. I have no intention of going out like they did. I haven’t slept in three days, and I won’t until I get this cursed figurine back to the shrine and hope that fixes things.
“Honestly, I’m exhausted and I don’t know if I can do this on my own. Those earth-creatures were kind of nasty and if they’ve returned, I doubt I’ll be able to fight my way through them. You look like an experienced traveler; could I ask you to get me into that shrine? I’m trying to undo the trouble I started. Yeah, I’m a thief, but I don’t think I deserve to go out like that.”
If you agree to help this man atone for his crime, he offers you his thanks. “The name’s Morgan. The shrine isn’t far from here. Let’s get this over with.” He douses the fire and if you follow, he leads you away from his camp in the twilight, over some terrain covered in sparse vegetation.
You travel for nearly half an hour, and in the dim half-light of the early evening you come across a narrow gully with rocky walls. Morgan draws a dagger and tells you to be wary, for this is the place near where he acquired the cursed figurine.
“There are stairs down along the east and west walls of this place,” he whispers. “We just have to go to one of them, which go down to a series of tunnels that lead to the shrine.” Just as he finishes speaking, you hear someone jump out at you from behind a pillar of rock in the center of the gully. A few more follow him, rushing straight for you with swords and daggers drawn!
“Give it to me!” screams the one in front, coming right for Morgan! “We have to stop the voices talking in our minds!”
“Lann, you’ve gone mad!” Morgan shouts, even as he backs away. There’s no time for further talk as you are forced to defend yourselves from these mad ruffians!
Should you survive, Morgan tells you that they were part of the crew he was with. “The poor bastards were driven mad. I guess the figurine spoke to them, telling them where to find me? This cursed thing has to go back right away!” He goes to the walls of the gully and looks around until he finds the stairs down.
If you follow, you soon find yourself in a small network of caves that appear to have been carved by people long ago. As you wander around, you see signs of former habitation, and sense a feeling of disquiet around you. Soon, you notice some of the walls are moving! Earth elementals emerge from the stone and dirt, layered with clumps of roots and soil as they flail at you!
“Hold them off while I return this thing to the shrine!” Morgan yells. If you survive the fight, you quickly find Morgan has entered a chamber with a statue that seems to be surrounded by a pond filled with blood-red water. Morgan places the figurine back on the statue’s extended hands, and immediately there is a sense of relief in the tunnels.
The remains of the elementals seep back into the ground, and Morgan staggers towards the stairs.
“Thanks for the assist,” he mumbles as he staggers towards the stairs. “I wish I could repay you… wait, I have an old stash not far from here. You can take it, I owe you that much at least. Let’s head back to my camp and rest up.”
The next day, Morgan gives you directions to his stash before he packs up, then waves farewell, telling you he’s going to find a quiet place to sleep for a few days. If you follow his directions, you soon find a small chest buried behind a dead tree. Inside is a pile of gold coins and a few gems, a fine reward for your assistance!
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Dragonrider’s Hold Free Multi-Level DnD Battlemap & Adventure
The House of Cockatrice
When stopping by the mead hall in the town of Eagle’s Rest, you see an old herbalist with a hooked nose and a raven familiar sitting on his shoulder talking to the barkeep, who has a swallow sitting on the rafters above him. The herbalist is wearing many strange charms around his neck and ears, and leaning heavily on a worn walking cane. You overhear him complaining to his friend that his knee is out again, so he can’t make his usual trip to the burial mounds in search of the highly potent death blossoms which many of his potions, poultices, and salves rely on. And, unfortunately, due to superstitions that the place is evil, none of the young ones are willing to go pick them for him–not even the supposedly brave warriors from the House of the Eagle!
Should you step in and offer to collect the death blossoms on the old herbalist’s behalf, he is incredibly thankful and says that as a reward he’ll let you choose from his collection of remedies. He introduces himself as Malak, and he tells you where to find the burial mounds outside of the village, as well as gives you a description of the red bellflowers which grow on them. If you ask about them, Malak explains that they only grow on the mounds and he hasn’t seen them anywhere else, so he named them death blossoms.
If you ask after the superstitions keeping the young ones away from the mounds, Malak waves a hand and tells you it’s just an old rumor that a cockatrice roams the area, turning any who go there without the village elders to stone. He’s been there plenty of times without the elders however, and never encountered any such monster, so he’s not sure where the rumor began but believes it to be sheer nonsense.
When you arrive at the burial mound, you see lots of odd boulders worn down and weathered by the ages. The shapes are suggestive of people, and it sends a shiver down your spine. Just when you think there is no cockatrice, however, you hear a strange noise. Like the loud flapping of a large bird’s wings, coming from one of the burial mounds, along with a small cascade of rocks. Then a raven flies from the mound’s entrance with a caw, and a young, thin man steps out behind it–startled to see you.
The young man is nervous initially, but when he realizes you’re not a local of Eagle’s Rest he breathes a sigh of relief and introduces himself as Alex. He explains that he’s been coming out here ever since his beloved mother died, visiting her helped him through the darkest hours of his mourning.
If you ask about why he’s not afraid of the cockatrice, Alex laughs and says it’s funny you should mention that. There’s not one here, but he thinks it’s a metaphor. You see, one day he stumbled upon ancient writings carved into the walls of the burial mounds! They discuss a secret extra house, called the House of the Cockatrice. He’d never heard of it prior, but always felt like he didn’t quite fit into the House of the Raven, which is where the village elders assigned him when he came of age. He thinks it’s sign from his mother, something he was meant to discover, and believes he was meant to be in the House of the Cockatrice and not the House of the Raven. Your being here is just more proof and he could really use your help bonding with a cockatrice to make his familiar.
Should you ask what he means by the House of the Raven and the House of the Cockatrice, he apologises for assuming you knew, saying he’s not used to outsiders. Alex explains that all villagers are put in a house by the elders when one comes of age. The major ones are the House of the Eagle, House of the Swallow, House of the Raven, and House of the Owl. They also are bonded to a familiar bird from the house they represent. Once put into a House, they must live there, and it determines what their roles are within the village. For example, as a member of the House of the Raven, he’s expected to put his mind to good use, be it through alchemy, herbalism, or magic, those kinds of things.
Alex then explains that he wants to rekindle the House of the Cockatrice when he returns to the village with his new familiar, so others like him won’t be denied their true house. He’s sure the village elders will listen to him when they see it’s possible, and he’s not mad! Plus, he knows where he can possibly find a real cockatrice. That is, if you’ll help him. As a reward, he’ll give you some of the inheritance from his mother, as he believes she’d want you to have it for helping guide him.
Should you agree, Alex leads you through the forest to a location he explains was mentioned by the carvings on the wall as being prime habitat for cockatrice. When you arrive, you see more of those strange, humanoid stones dotting the forest–some of which clearly look like petrified people, while others are worn to the point of only being vaguely suggestive of people. After exploring the area, you find tracks from a cockatrice, and when you follow them to its source you find the creature eating the carcass of a dead animal. It has shimmering blue-black plumage, and when it sees you, the cockatrice squawks and runs away.
If you chase it, eventually the cockatrice is trapped between some rocks, and should you approach it, the creature lets out an inhuman scream. Suddenly you are surrounded by about 20 middle aged people with bows and arrows trained on you, and several more cockatrice. They seemingly came out of nowhere, but when the cockatrice jumps and disappears into a hole in the ground, you realize they must have emerged from the cavern system below your feet.
The group tells you to come with them, before guiding you down into some kind of secret underground building that’s clearly been here for a long time. They guide you over a stone bridge, below which you can see several more cockatrice of different colors lounging about in beds of straw, before stopping in front of a cell and insisting you get inside. Once locked in, they say they need to talk to their leader, before leaving you alone with a guard and his cockatrice.
A few minutes after the group leaves, the face of a 17-year-old, red-haired girl pops around a corner, staring at you with curious green eyes. Following her is a magnificent cockatrice with shimmering green plumage. She approaches the cell, and the guard ignores her when she asks where you came from and what the outside world is like. She is particularly curious about Alex, who is close to her age.
If you talk to her, she introduces herself as Mayvara and explains that she was born here. The House of the Cockatrice has lived in these tunnels, ever since the slaughter several hundred years ago. Should you ask what she means, she gives you an odd look and explains that The House of the Cockatrice was massacred by The House of the Owl. The owls thought they would do terrible things, you see, because their house values power, money, and pleasure above all. The owls were scared because they’re so different from them, and their bond with the cockatrice makes each member stronger, faster, and their familiars can turn foes into stone.
So, they had the warriors of the Eagle house slaughter the House of the Cockatrice when they hadn’t broken any laws, or done anything wrong! They burned their house to the ground, and erased all mention of it from the histories. Her great, great, great, great, great… great grandfather managed to escape the massacre however. He came out here, and made sure the house continued, even if it meant they had to live in secret just to survive.
At this point, an old man with a stern face emerges, followed by a red cockatrice–evidently the House’s leader. He crossly tells Mayvara to leave, and the girl gives you an apologetic look before scurrying away, while the man sighs and runs a wrinkled hand through his thin, gray hair. He says briskly ‘I wish you never came here. Now that you are, I can’t let you leave… You’re to be executed at dawn. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.’ Then he turns and leaves, ignoring anything you say to him.
That night, there’s a rattle down the hallway and your only guard goes to investigate. When he does, he suddenly turns to stone, before Mayvara and her cockatrice run up to your cell. She assures you not to worry about the guard, saying it’s just temporary, but insisting that you have to hurry because the path is clear to the surface–though it won’t stay that way for long. Using a set of keys she unlocks the cell, ushering you out.
As soon as you step out of the tunnels however, you find yourself surrounded by the leader and a handful of his most loyal men, as well as their cockatrices. They are all armed. The old man shakes his head at Mayvara, saying ‘I had the feeling you might do this, but I can’t believe you actually did. You’ve betrayed us, girl! Don’t you understand that if the outsider leaves, Eagle’s Rest will discover us and everyone will die?! I lost your mother, I can’t lose you too!’
Mayvara argues to her dad that this isn’t living, and their people need to go into the outside world, to become a public house again! No-one else here is anything close to her age, and she needs friends, she says, glancing at Alex and blushing. Her father disagrees, and refuses to budge.
If you fight to escape, the leader will battle until he is captured or killed to keep his people safe. During the fight, Mayvara is almost hit by a stray sword, but Alex steps in the way and takes a nasty cut to save her. If you defeat the leader but don’t kill him, he is very bitter. He tells his daughter ‘Fine, go, but you’ll bring doom upon yourself and I won’t let you bring it upon the rest of us! If you return, we will not be here anymore.’
Mayvara dresses Alex’s wounds and returns to the village with you, crying quietly to herself at the start of the walk. When you arrive at Eagle’s Rest it’s dawn, and the locals who are up and about are terrified of her cockatrice, hiding inside or cowering behind objects when they see the creature. Mayvara insists that she must see the council of elders, and knocks on each of the four major houses until they come out, demanding an assembly. The last elder to emerge is an old, portly woman from the House of the Owl, a white barn owl on her shoulder. She turns white as a sheet when she sees Mayvara’s cockatrice
The assembly is held on the back of the statue of the great eagle, where Mayvara begins by trying to explain the history of her house–how it was once one of the five major houses–but the head of the House of the Eagle, a large, bald man with tattoos on his head and his eagle hunched over his shoulder, holds up a hand to stop her. He explains that all the village elders are told the secret history when they assume their position, and so they are aware of what happened, before bidding her to continue.
Mayvara then stumbles a little, before loudly preaching that the House of the Cockatrice should be rebuilt and those destined to join it allowed to do so. What was done to them was wrong, as they never broke any laws to deserve it, and she will prove that the Cockatrice don’t have to be evil in their search for power, as the Owls believed.
When Mayvara is done explaining, the elder from the House of the Eagle nods thoughtfully and agrees. He says that what his house did was a stain upon their souls, and he will not be responsible for repeating that mistake again. The head of the House of the Swallow, a thin, older woman with a tangle of curly hair that her swallow nests in, agrees also; saying lightly that she cannot see the harm in it. The head of the Raven House, an man wearing crude black robes of raven feathers and a leather plague mask, his raven sitting on his forearm, says in a muffled voice that the House of Cockatrice did nothing wrong last time to warrant their erasure, it was only suspicion–if anything, the House of the Owl was in the wrong due to commanding the massacre before any laws had been broken.
The Owl elder disagrees, but is outvoted and so only watches the young woman with suspicious eyes. When the meeting is concluded, Mayvara thanks you with tears in her eyes. She is hopeful now that more of those destined to join the House of the Cockatrice can do so, now that they may come out of the shadows. She then tells you dreamily how the town is more beautiful than the descriptions she grew up hearing all her life.
As if remembering something, Mayvara suddenly begins delving into her satchel, and pulls out a carved stone cockatrice to give to you. She explains it’s magical, and can be used to summon a real one. Then she delves back into her bag and pulls out a large spotted egg, holding it out to Alex. She explains with a blush that it’s due to hatch soon, and he can bond with it as his familiar, if he likes. That way, he can be the first new member of the official House of Cockatrice. Alex takes it reverently, before giving Mayvara a kiss on the cheek in thanks; causing her blush to spread to the tips of her ears.
When you finally return to the herbalist, Malak, the old man is grumpy that it took you so long to bring him the death blossoms, joking about having thought a cockatrice got you after all. He grudgingly shows you his potions, poultices, and salves to choose from as thanks. However, if he sees Mayvara’s cockatrice he pales and gives you extra potions, stammering that he had no idea.
GM’s Notes:
The leader of the House of the Cockatrice is the descendant of the murdered captain of the Winged Blade, who was the last captain to hold the blade before it was sundered into three pieces.
During the massacre, the captain’s son wasn’t in the village when the House of the Cockatrice was burned down, so he survived and went into hiding; keeping the house alive in secret. Mayvara is the last of that noble bloodline.
This adventure was written for our Eagle’s Rest Adventurer’s Guide. If you’d like more information about the location, NPCs, and loot that can be found here, please go check it out!
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Just Trolling
When you enter a small, country town situated in lush forest you come across an old sign for a missing child. It’s clearly been there for a while, but if you go speak to the mother who put the sign up she will tearily tell you that her young boy Mica has been missing and no-one’s had time to help her find her little angel. He was such a good boy, she’ll cry—if you would find him, or at least bring her news of… well… bring her closure, then she can finally rest.
She’ll invite you into her house and sit you down on a toy chest. The walls are covered in different, colorful children’s scrawls from her son. She explains with a smile that he loves to draw, before describing Mica to you.
He is a small, brown-haired boy who looks a little bit like a mouse. She says he always carried his favorite toy with him, which is a little black, wooden stallion his father had carved for him when he was just a baby.
She says she doesn’t have much, but can pay you with her gold wedding and engagement rings if you find her boy—or what happened to him. She will always remember her dead husband in her heart, and knows he wouldn’t mind her using the rings to get their son back.
If you agree, she’ll cry tears of joy, thanking you profusely. Then she’ll sniffle and wipe her eyes, before suggesting that you start by talking to his friends. She knows he was friends with a little blonde girl named Hani. Her and her parents only moved here a few years ago from one of the big cities. They live on the far side of the village, near the woods.
If you go talk to Hani, you will find the small house covered with little magical charms. It is quite isolated and a good walk from the village, but if you knock on the door a woman with long, dark hair will open it. If you explain that you would like to speak to Hani about Mica, she will immediately become cold and haughty, before calling over her husband to talk to you.
The man is large, but very friendly and welcoming. He’ll happily call over Hani to speak to you while his wife waits at his shoulder. When Hani learns what you want to know, she will scowl and stick her tongue out. She says she wasn’t friends with Mica, saying that he was always horrible to her and would pull her hair or break her toys with the other boys. She’s happy he’s gone—she hopes the troll ate him!
At this, Hani’s father will pale and admonish the girl, saying come now you don’t really mean that, it would be a horrible thing to happen to anyone. Then his wife will quip that her husband has always been too passive, and if the boy did get eaten he deserves it.
If you ask about the troll, the black haired woman will roll her eyes and walk away into the house, taking Hani with her. The man will sigh apologetically and explain that a troll has been terrorizing the village, since about the time little Mica went missing now that he comes to think about it. The monster has been coming into the edges of the village and stealing livestock. Sometimes it even comes up to the houses while the owners are away, and steals things from inside!
It’s deeply disconcerting. They’ve tried driving it away, but even though the troll flees easily it always comes back. They have an idea of where it lives in the forest, if that would help?
If your players take this news back to Mica’s mother, she won’t believe that her little boy was so nasty to Hani, as he’s always been so sweet around her! But she will cry about the troll, and agree that yes it has been terrorizing the village for a while now but… well, she hoped you’d find some better news. She asks you to find the troll, and see if there’s any sign that it took her little boy—and if there is, please kill it! If you did that surely the rest of the village would pitch in with a reward, no-one likes the horrible thing.
Should you go to the part of the forest where locals suspect the troll lives, you’ll eventually find an old cave set in the ground, with some ancient stairs leading down. There are very old, stone walkways inside it, too.
The whole place smells like rotting meat, and there are cracked bones scattered along the ground. There are also children’s toys scattered along the earth—and amidst them is a small, painted black stallion.
There are also drawings on the walls which look like children’s scrawls, similar to the one’s in Mica’s mum’s house. They depict, in a crude way, an angry black-haired woman yelling at a small boy, who has a flash scribbled around him.
The next image depicts a scared troll being chased away by armed villagers. There are various other scribbles along the walls, but by far the most detailed—and large—is an almost life-sized drawing of what could be Mica’s playroom, with a woman there holding a tray of steaming cookies. Curled up beneath it is a sleeping troll.
If you approach the troll and it wakes up, it will roar aggressively and posture at you. But if you get too close, it will attack viciously.
If you cast dispel magic on the troll, it will turn into Mica, who will continue roaring at you and behaving like a troll for a few minutes, before blinking and looking down at his body in confusion. Then his eyes will widen and he will break down crying.
If you ask him what happened, he will explain tearfully that Hani’s mum turned him into a troll and he got so hungry he had to take food from the town because no-one recognised him. Not even his own mother!
But as time went on, he began to stop recognizing himself too, like the others. He would forget who he was, like he was dreaming, and wake up to himself less and less. But everything he remembers from the dreams is bad, he’ll say, in tears.
Should you return Mica to his mother and explain what happened, she will be so aghast at what that witch did to her boy that she will take off her rings and hand them to you purposefully, before saying that she is going to do her best to give that awful woman what she deserves, along with the help of the other villagers.
Should you confront Hani’s mother, she will spit that the boy got what he deserved and she hopes it taught him a lesson. Overhearing this, her husband will come to the front of the house, angrily saying what did he just hear, before yelling at his wife that she swore to him she had nothing to do with the troll incident. He’ll then say she promised not to do this again and it’s her blasted fault they have to keep moving to new towns! Then he’ll put his head in his hands and say he wished he’d chosen a better wife, not such a spiteful woman.
Then he’ll look at you and apologize profusely, before heading to the back of the house and returning with a bag of gold. He’ll then ask you give that to Mica’s mother as an apology for what happened. His wife will splutter that the gold is all their savings, but he’ll angrily ask what did she expect would happen, saying what she did is unforgivable and they’re lucky if the town doesn’t run them through with pitchforks tonight! Then he’ll tell his wife and daughter to pack their things and get ready to leave in an hour.
GM’s Notes:
If your players kill the troll, it will polymorph back into Mica’s dead body.
Because Mica was a troll for so long, he began to forget himself and take on more and more of the troll’s qualities. If it had gone on for long enough, he would have truly become a troll.
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Unwilling, Accursed Queen of the Sea
When you enter a seaside town, many of the locals are cold and unwelcoming; generally advising you to continue on your way and not stay here. If you’re charming enough while asking why, they might explain that teenage girls and boys have gone missing from the village. They don’t know what’s responsible, but they don’t need more trouble brought about by outsiders.
If you offer to help, the local will grumble, lighting a pipe and puffing from it slowly while eying you. They’ll then say that you should speak to their leader, old Esk. He tends to hang out by the docks, you’ll know him by his thick beard and two missing fingers he lost while netting King Crabs. The local advises you to tell him that Adrian sent you.
Should you go down to the docks, you’ll be met with the same unfriendly looks from the hardened seaside locals. If you approach Esk and tell him who sent you, he’ll relax visibly, stroking his beard thoughtfully. Then he’ll invite you to sit down on some barrels of salted cod with him and have a drink of hard liquor from his flask. He’ll explain that their problems started about a month ago, when there was a blood moon. Something foul happened that night, and ever since local teens have gone missing—sometimes as many as three a week!
There’re tracks leading from homes up to the shoreline, but there they always disappear, Esk explains. The locals have tales of hideous creatures from beneath the waves, and he suspects those foul monsters are what’s taking their young ones.
He advises you go to a local haunted ruin in an old sea cave. His people have avoided it for generations, and he suspects you might find the monsters there after nightfall. He warns you however that the creatures are crafty, and oft known to drive even good men insane.
If you ask what the reward would be, Esk will stroke his beard some more, and stare off into the ocean in silence for a few moments. Then he will say he can give you a barrel of some prized fermented crab meat to take with you, as well as his ship and skills should you ever need it. He’ll also say that you’ll always be welcome in their town if you succeed, and should ever need safe harbor.
Should you agree, he will nod and give you directions to the ruins, advising you be careful and keep your wits about you. He also says you can only go to the ruins at low tide, for at high tide it is filled with water—but tonight, just before midnight, should be the lowest point.
The sea-cave ruins are about half a day’s walk from the village. If you arrive there around midnight, it will be empty and the tide low. However, as it draws closer to 2 AM, the tides will begin to rise—and a boat will dock by the wooden pier. There is a grey haired, middle-aged man in the boat, who is unloading a bound and gagged teen boy. He will carry the boy towards the sacrificial altar.
If you try to intercept the man, he will grab a rusty fishing knife and hold it to the boy’s throat; threatening in a shaky voice that he will kill him if you don’t let him pass. He will try stall for time by distracting you, asking why you’re here and what you want.
Should you tell him, he will say that he hasn’t been killing the teens, and that he’s only here to get his daughter back. He says the fish people only need one more, and that after that they said they’d bring his daughter back.
If you ask what he means, he’ll explain that he came from a poor family, and—after his wife passed away, leaving him deep in her alcoholic debts—he was desperate to provide for his only daughter, who he would save up and buy books for so she could educate herself and leave their life of poverty. He couldn’t outcompete the other fishermen, though— so one night he came out here and put nets out.
The catch was bountiful, so he began regularly coming to the ruins and harvesting fish from his nets. Eventually, he explains, he became convinced that the rumors about the place were wrong, so he began taking his daughter with him to help with the nightly catch.
Only, one early morning she read from the stone tablet chained up in the ruins. She was trying to practice her reading, the man explains desperately, but he says she must have woken something because the moon turned red, the sea boiled, and horrible fish people came out of their slumber and took her. He says they left him alive, but he came back every night afterwards and waited.
Eventually one of them came out of the water, and spoke with a gargling voice; saying that if he wanted his daughter back he needed to bring them more young humans. The man is sweating profusely while he talks, and claims that he doesn’t know what they do to them, but he’s desperate—after this last teen, they said they’d bring him his daughter back!
At this point, however, monstrous fish men will begin emerging from the water, their voices gurgling and catching in their throats. At the heart of the group is their queen—a significantly taller fish monster, with a olourful crest and sharp, golden spine. Her eyes are cold and black.
When they see you and notice you’re armed, they will become aggressive—sneering with needle-sharp teeth that the human has betrayed them. The man will insist that no, he hasn’t, he brought the last teen, see?!
If you ask after his daughter, the fish people will appraise you coldly, before gesturing to their Queen. They will grin sinisterly again, before saying that they have fulfilled their promise and brought his daughter back—why, doesn’t he recognise her?
GM’s Notes:
The monstrous fish folk have been taking the teens and turning them into more of their own, erasing their memories. His daughter was the first, for they needed a Queen after their last one was killed in The Great War, before they were cursed to slumber for all these centuries.
Should you try capture the daughter / Queen, she will attempt to kill you and you’ll need to kill all but a handful of the fish folk before they flee. If you take her (unwillingly) to a magical specialist, they might be able to revert the curse and turn her back into a human. If they succeed, she will have gaps in her memory, and not remember much of her time as a monster—but she will have nightmares each night which will wake her up. In them, she remembers doing terrible things, and enjoying it.
The daughter will attempt to kill all the humans except for the teen, with her razor-sharp teeth and claws. If you down her, while she is dying the father will collapse on his hands and knees, weeping at the body. He will then try to kill himself with the rusty blade.
If he succeeds, and the blood hits her body, it will break the dark curse; transforming her back into a human girl, just in time for you to potentially save her life. She will be very confused and distressed at seeing her father, but he will die happy and if you explain what happened later she will thank you tearfully. Like this, she will still wake from nightmares—but it will take years of them before she finally starts remembering what they were, and they won’t hold as much sway over her by then.
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Click image to download this free TTRPG battlemap of an Giant’s Underdark Lair, then keep scrolling for the detailed adventure prompt written for it.
A gnome woman has offered you a reward if you kill an evil, ugly giantess called Lady Daarina. The gnome says she has bewitched many men into serving as her slaves, and she hasn’t had any contact with any of them for weeks.
At the entrance to the lair is a two-headed lizard the size of a human. It is covered with pustules, and has too many eyes on its heads. If it sees you it will start “barking” and approach. If you kill it, closer inspection may reveal a collar around its neck reading “Scamander”.
When you reach the lair itself you find male gnomes washing pots and pans down by the stream, while others are catching fish or collecting fungi. Overlooking them is a gorgeous giantess in a white dress, with long greying hair. A choker of purple gemstones glows around her neck.
If you’ve killed the lizard she will see that you’re covered in blood and notice her pet’s not barking. She will furiously demand you leave immediately due to killing Scamander. The adoring gnomes will accuse you of being a monster. If you try to rebut them with how hideous the lizard was, they’ll exclaim that he had a skin condition. If confronted about bewitching the gnomes she’ll emphatically deny it.
WHAT’S HAPPENING? While it might look like the gnomes are spellbound, the giantess really is a beautiful, wholesome old woman who appreciates the company and help. In return she cooks the gnomes tasty food, provides emotional support, and massages their sore muscles.
If you kill her and bring her necklace to a jeweller to see if it’s magical, you will learn that it’s just a normal necklace—the glowing is innate in the stones. The gnome men, still adoring, will loathe you for killing their sweet Lady and demand you never return.
The woman who sent you to kill the giantess was disbelieving that all the young men in her village prefer to spend time with Lady Daariana rather than her or the other women. She convinced herself that the giantess must be an evil monster deceiving them.
