Lo! The corpse of poor, departed Scholar Zubayr, washed up on the shores of the River of Sand, lies in the charnel house…destined to become dinner for a cult of cannibals. Though distasteful in the extreme, this isn’t your concern—except that Princess Karima Gamila, the most beautiful gnoll in Per-Bastet, has begged you to rescue her friend’s body and help discover his fate. Still unmoved to action? Know then, adventurer, that the Scholar was hot on the trail of lost treasure! If you can claim his body from the cult and decipher the clues he left behind, long-buried riches and powerful magic might be yours. But nothing is simple in this city of dark wonders: others converge on the charnel house in pursuit of wealth, vengeance, or both. Can you out-fight and outwit vile cultists, undead catfolk, a cunning werecrocodile gnoll, and the deadly secrets that lie buried beneath the River of Sand? Set in the city of Per-Bastet in the Southlands Campaign Setting, it is meant for play either as the thrilling sequel to Cat and Mouse, or as a standalone treasure hunt! Also available in Pathfinder format.
The first part of two lairs—a ratfolk warlock lair and a rattok demon lair—suitable for four or five 3rd-level characters. The lairs can be run separately or together as one longer adventure. Demon Lord of Rats is looking to corrupt the city with his influence. They have grown in number and now seek to infiltrate and influence the guilds of the city.
Once, we were friends. She used her spells to ward our grove against the darkness in the woods. It was the mirror that turned her mind to covetous thoughts; she saw its power and changed. We have kept the mirror safe for an era, but her soldiers grow strong—and now something makes for our tree we cannot repel. If her aberration reaches the grove, the mirror will be hers, and then we will all know what lies at the tip of the wickedest branches.
We saw it—don’t turn your heads. Up near Hilltop Crossroad and the temple. It walked south; the trees fell in its path. Even the moon hid. Gods help Father Dren . . .
In the thriving city of Zobeck, a breakdown of the vital Puffing Bridge is throwing a wrench into the entire city. Workers can’t reach their jobs, merchants and goods can’t reach markets. In short, if this problem isn’t fixed quickly, there’ll be chaos in the Free City. Of course, this isn’t a simple mechanical breakdown but an act of sabotage, and the saboteurs are still at work when characters arrive to investigate.
This adventure is suitable for four 6th to 7th level PC's and may be completed in a single session. Oithois the exceptional ice mephit and his foul underlings have uncovered a powerful relic at the entry to ancient ruins. The monstrous mephits seek to crack a hole between the material plane and their icy home world. Oithois plots to lead an army of elemental lackeys and conquer the civilized outposts of the north. This ice mephit has studied the machine and is confident he can open a gateway to the elemental plane of ice. PCs are approached by a frostbitten traveler, who pleads with them to assault the terrace. The adventurers must mount an attack against the mephits, contend with an unintentionally summoned young white dragon, and defeat Oithois upon the icebound terrace.
The Claret Wellspring is an adventure for four 4th-5th level PCs. "The first spell cast has not yet finished its work." Strange lights in the desert lead the PCs to a long-forgotten oasis. Travelling towards the lights, the PCs are threatened by magic so old, it defies categorization. Arriving at the withered shore of a blood-colored pool, the PCs discover an ancient dial and three tooth-like columns rising from the ground. Turning the dial results in the water being magically siphoned into the column's hollow cavities. If the pool is emptied, a small door is revealed in the crimson-stained much. They must defeat a blood-infused water elemental before proceeding. Once inside, the PCs share a room with a dark ritual running since the origin of the world. The keeper of the place, an immortal fey inside a powerful suit of armor, offers little explanation as to the nature of the ritual, and he seeks to ensure they tell no one of the Claret Wellspring.
Navigate court intrigue in the Shadow Fey realm to save the city of Zobeck. Earn status in the court through duels, quests, and negotiation to survive the machinations of factions and nobles to gain freedom for the city of Zobeck from the King and Queen of the Shadow Fey. Also available in 5e format.
A local monolith which is the nearby town's good-luck charm and tourist attraction is taken as a lair of a wandering wind harp devil. Will the heroes banish the devil, or come up with a dark bargain?
"I was taken by the evil dogs while camping near Agav's bog. They dragged me into their lair, and it wasn't until I escaped that I knew the truth of the place: a great and bony wing buried in the side of a hill. They chained me in the dark with a candle made from foul wax and forced me to dig at the marrow. Their bonds were poorly made, and I fled several days later while they slept. What purpose did they have in mining that marrow? I cannot say..." The Marrow Mines are dug in and around the fossilized wing of an unnamed leviathan. A small pack of kobolds lives and works in the mines, which are heavily trapped. The kobolds defend the area fiercely and patrol the region around the mine. At night, a handful of urds make aerial surveys of the territory. The urds live in the deep reaches of the wing's tips.
A powerful evil plots to corrupt the fey audience attending a theatrical performance. Her priests pose as convincing performers who set the stage for their master’s arrival in the final act. While staying in the fey community and perhaps as partial reward for some previous accomplishment, the party is invited to the performance. In this dramatic and deadly adventure, the party witnesses a strange performance and the corruption of the fey audience before defeating a herald of darkness and her priests.
The interrogation of the rogue wizard, Askalan, by the magocracy of Bemmea exposed his creation of unstable magical artifacts built in a ruined ley-line conduit. This Leystone, built by the mages of Vael Turog, had been dormant for centuries until Askalan discovered a way to power it. Now, after his untimely death, the Leystone's unstable power continues to grow at the edge of the Western Wastes. The magocracy hires the characters to find the awakened Leystone, uncover the mystery of this growing power, and return the source of the power to Bemmea for study.
Sky Stairs of Beldestan is a vampire warlock lair suitable for four characters of 14th level. It can be a lead-in to Citadel of the Void Dragon, or it can be played independently. For as long as any dragon can remember, the stairs of Beldestan have been a site of pilgrimage, a direct route from dusty earth up to the heavens, where enormous creatures soar and carry sacrifices up to the gods. Its base is well known for the efficacy of the invocations offered there, but very few other than the most faithful dare venture up the stairs themselves: enormous eagles, howling winds, and various inimical undead make the stairs a place that few find congenial for long.
The earth churns in a city graveyard, revealing not the undead but an ancient war machine. A great iron transport bores its way up from depths below, disrupting funeral rites and sending the citizens into a panic. With an opportunity to investigate and reap the rewards of bravery, the party closes on the graveyard. There they discover that the pilots of the strange vehicle are soulless automatons who have spent an eternity burrowing toward the battlefront of a long-forgotten war. In this action-packed and gritty adventure, the party must battle automatons, breach the iron transport, and put down its mad and malfunctioning commander.
The loss of Skyreach Castle in Hoard of the Dragon Queen was a major setback to the Cult of the Dragon, but still only a setback. The cult is determined to retake the castle and claim Tiamat’s lost treasure buried in its frozen walls and cloudstuff vaults, but they aren’t the only ones. Blagothkus the cloud giant is still the master of Skyreach, and he has gone to the hall of his cousin Brunvild, ice lord of Uldoveld, for the resources to repair and reoccupy the castle. At the same time, the party is dispatched by the Council of Waterdeep to reclaim some of the stolen treasures lost when the castle fell.
We’ve been running these fights since before my granddaddy helped drive them gnolls out. We have a proud history of taking care of the animals, too—we get ’em as pups from the dwarves up in Granitehold. Sure it’s bloody, but you’re not in the sot lands of kings and queens anymore, are you. Say, did you hear that?
Suitable for four PCs. Adventure can be finished in one session. Several months back, Dip Halfling-Chewer and his cronies were ejected from a nearby goblin clan for indiscriminate wrestling. Their antics, although hilariously entertaining to themselves, were destructive and dangerous to the rest of the clan. The goblins spent several nights in the wilderness before discovering an abandoned wagon by the side of a trade road. There, the homeless cadre transformed the wagon into distinctly goblinoid fortress. They have had some success in assaulting and looting travelers on the road.
Kidnapping and politics as usual? Not so much. Something is different about this job, and you just hope that difference doesn’t get you killed. Contains sexual content.
"Ruins of the Umbral Tower" is a shadow fey hunter lair suitable for four or five 8th-level characters. This adventure can be completed in a single session. The ruined Umbral Tower rests deep in the forest, in a marshy region avoided by all but songbirds. Long abandoned by its original occupant, the tower features a malfunctioning gate that connects this place and the Plane of Shadow. The site serves as a base for a group of shadow fey hunters and their entourage of hounds and guardians. The hunters used the gate to travel from their home plane, and they now attempt to bag as many trophies and as much loot as possible before returning home when the gate reactivates.
"House of Reeds and Whispers" is the lair of a pair of red hags, suitable for four characters of 8th level. This adventure can be completed in one session. Two red hag sisters recently exsanguinated an eccentric collector named Nahl Fry and took up residence in his swamp-side home. Liori and Ijith were seeking an artifact from the ancient city of Talitheos, the sunken stronghold of the red hags. They found the artifact, a pair of knitting needles made from blood-infused coral. in Nahl Fry's collection. The sisters yearn to understand how the artifact works, and so they are testing its dark powers against a nearby hamlet. They have knitted rapidly growing crimson reeds that funnel the blood of fauna and farm animals back to the house. The hamlet's leader, Galnas, hires the PC's to investigate. The party must press through the reeds, defeat the sisters' guardians, face the hags, and end the reedy infestation.