Afon Ddu (The Black River)

(aa-von thee)
[The Heart of Dorkness] Author: Eric Swanson; 2020
One of a series of short side-treks that were run as part of the Ancient Blood campaign 2018-2020 designed and written by Eric Swanson
Story
(Timeline reminder from previous adventures: After returning from the Feywild the party was back in Zerburre; they spent the first day recovering, with headaches, mild hallucinations, and general negative effects from travelling to the fey. That night was the blue flickering light that circled the city, out at the horizon. The following week+ was the Crystal Noose story of breaking the cold spell that had entrapped Zerburre. It’s now approximately the first week of November, having returned to Zerburre once again to rest and provision.)

Note to self for 1/11/19 adventure: Check on SR map and get image; mention stingy DMing goodness.

“You’re spending a day in Zerburre provisioning and organizing when a slightly/intentionally cryptic message from your ‘benefactors’ arrives. It’s letter-locked and wax sealed. ” Hand the note to the party. (It reads “Careful study and decryption of some of the ‘relevant materials’ has yielded the location of something very important to our shared tasks. Please proceed to the village of Athlapoole and meet with a halfling named Harper Greenwain; he is a trusted contact and guide, and further information will be delivered to him prior to your arrival. Please use your usual excellent methods, and discretion, to recover this item as it is of the highest urgency.”)
[Pause for players]

Athlapoole lies a couple days’ journey downriver from your current location in Zerburre. (This can be managed without incident – except Beedel’s transformation during this iteration of the adventure – and could be done by riverboat if the party wants to look for one.) The land here is generally flat, the wide low country of the lower Vale of Dunstrand. The Nanford River winds slowly through this region, mostly devoid of rapids or impediments, between muddy banks. On the south side of the Nanford a region of low hills – the Athla Hill country or ‘Grimdowns’ – rises; but the north side of the river is flat farming country, mostly deforested but for the occasional small wood or copse.

Introduction of Devosa to the party for this iteration: The party has been on the road for a couple hours since leaving Zerburre when they come across a holy man sitting beside the road. He wears the symbol of [Aerna] and is arrayed with weapons as a holy warrior. He hails the party: “Friends – a word if you please.” [Have the player RP this part:] You immediately begin describing how you have been crisscrossing the Vale of Dunstrand, seeking the source of some evil that needs to be rectified. Lately you’ve been powerfully drawn down the river road, toward a small hamlet by a lake or pool – the ‘vision’ of that isn’t entirely clear; but last night as you were walking this road you were suddenly cast to your knees by the presence of your patron and heard their voice telling you to wait on this very spot for an ‘unusual’ group of travellers that would bear the standards of the king and the duke. You immediately stopped and bivouacked right beside the road to wait. Moreover, when you awoke you found in the ashes of your campfire a single unburned branch, knotted into a symmetrical pattern. You feel that this token will mean something to the party – perhaps a vouchesafe of some sort. Beedel and Tazia both see that this is an oak branch, and know this knotwork as one of the symbols of Nandha/Nerislan.

[This section is for play with Harper as a player character] “In the early afternoon you encounter a halfling riding toward you on a donkey. He’s more ‘martially’ equipped than your usual halfling farmer and hails you, asking if you were referred to a ‘Harper Greenwain’ via letter? He is Harper, and shows you a ring with a familiar symbol on it. He came out from Athlapoole to meet you “On this fine steed loaned to me by the Surefoot Merchant Coster” as he gives the donkey a friendly slap. He’ll accompany you on the rest of the trip to Athlapoole.” Thus does Harper join the party.

The party needs to camp one night on the trip to Athlapoole and finds a good spot (‘prospect and refuge’) near a copse of mixed trees – oak, holly, beech, etc. Beedel is unable to relax or settle down for the evening, and shortly “You feel that something in the nearby copse is amiss, and is calling to you. It’s like a burr in your boot that keeps digging into your skin.” [Pause] Upon entering the copse he finds a small oak tree (about eight feet tall) that’s being strangled by vines. Oak being a sacred tree, and particularly sacred to the Vale and Nandhe, he knows this must be healed. “Beedel, you feel something different about this moment – you feel energy in the earth beneath your feet and know instinctively that you can harness the magic of the land itself to draw off the choking vines and heal the oak. Looking around you spot mistletoe growing – in fact in your vision it’s glowing in the dusk.” (If Tazia is here she can see the draw of the land, and the tree, working on Beedel.) Taking a sprig of the mistletoe, you kneel before the stricken oak, close your eyes, and let your mind sink into the earth – letting go of control. You begin quietly chanting in a tongue no one understands; and as you do, the vines unwind themselves from the oak and crawl across the ground to climb old deadwood.” Beedel has used a spell (cantrip) for the first time – Druidcraft.

The oak leaves ‘unwither’ and the tree straightens itself; from somewhere you hear a sound of relief from pain (‘ahhhhhh’) and words spoken in sylvan, for those who understand it, “Thank you”. Beedel falls to the ground moaning, then screaming and writhing in pain. “You feel a prickling and burning all over your torso and legs, pain around the crown of your head and ears, and a terrible pain in your groin (like being kicked repeatedly). You writhe, claw and grasp at your body.” A green light is visible coming out of the ground and moving over his body. The grass and plants within the light wiggle about and grow before your eyes. [P4P]

After about half a minute Beedel begins to calm, then by the end of another very long minute the pain is over. Passive perception (15): His body is somewhat transformed, though not obviously; he has much more hair on his torso and legs (not like animal fur, but like an extremely hirsute man); along the sides of his head, under his hair at the crown, small ridges of horn – reminiscent of a rams’ horns – have come out; he ears have developed a minor pointedness; and other ‘satyr-like reproductive traits’. None of this is obvious to anyone, though particularly aware observers will only notice that his beard or stubble (or however he wears it) is quite a bit thicker and darker than it was.

Beedel is exhausted by this, and feels the lingering effects of physical shock and trauma, including aches in all the places transformations took place. (He’s at ½ of full hit points. DC15 wisdom check to immediately recover 5 HP.) He can feel that some of his prowess as a warrior has left him, but he’s also imbued with new abilities, able to draw on the magic of the land itself. (Fighter level reduced by one, druid level one replaces it.)

When you arrive in the neighborhood of Athlapoole, any specific actions? As you approach the Athlapoole from the northeast (upriver WRT the Nanford) you see that the river road enters through an open gate in a basic wooden palisade. There is just enough danger from the Athla Hills across the river that it’s been worthwhile for the townsfolk to erect a defense, though the gate stands open and unguarded. (The hamlet is too small for any sort of standing militia.) Beside the gate is a sign reading “Gates closed from twilight to dawn.” If coming by boat one enters ‘The Poole’ where a couple other boats are tied to the small docks. The nominal ‘harbormaster’ is also a local oysterman who runs both his business and the so-called harbor from a small building on the dock. His sons do all the actual manual labor now, and he has an alarm bell on his building in case of trouble.

On the west end of town a second gate stands open where the river road continues westward. You can check in to the inn called The Merry Elven Lass (a strangely chipper name in a somewhat dreary river town) and meet up with Harper at your convenience. (2SP/person/night for dinner and a shared room, or 1SP for dinner and the common room.)
[P4P]

Harper [gets a note that was left with the innkeeper and/or otherwise] passes you another letter-locked message with a seal that denotes your contacts. Hand note 2 and locale descriptions to party. (It reads “Our sage has pored over numerous of the previously found documents, as well as old records from the Lower Vale. This allowed him to unravel a coded message in a single sheet letter that belonged to a branch of “a family of interest”; the message indicates a magically preserved vial of blood from a family ancestor was left at the old temple in Kindredale. This town is now known to be abandoned and the temple in ruins, but the preserved blood would prove invaluable in our investigations. Please proceed to Kindredale and make every attempt to retrieve this item; included here is a writ for 100 SP redeemable with Grud Longbeard for your travelling expenses. Harper is an able river guide and has already been contracted to assist you.”)
[P4P]

You can stay in Athlapoole, prepare, provision, and take care of whatever other tasks you need to. Harper lets you know that he’s contracted to take you [MUSIC NOW!] to Kindredale by boat, as the town lies in the Grimdowns, which are “simply too dangerous overland”. (Right?) He tells your about how in the last 50 years, the last of the peaceful settlements were driven out by an influx of dangerous creatures including numerous trolls, goblins and their relatives, and a few hill giants. The ruins of a few settlements are still evident in the hills, including a couple (mostly torn down) stone hill-fort walls. He also gives a brief description of his boat.
[P4P]

As he’s serving you your dinner of Down-Valley-Bacon-Tater-Bake, Duward the Innkeeper hears Harper talking about the Grimdowns and starts bending your ear about the Athla Hill Country. He’s an older human, and his parents had a farm in the Hill Country before things started to get bad. He says they always described it as a beautiful and productive country, particularly suited to grazing and dairy. Some of the finest cheeses and butter in all of Dunstrand were produced there, and traded all over the Vale. Some of the old-timers in the area still have childhood memories of pastures sparkling with flowers, hillsides dotted with sheep, and beekeepers harvesting wildflower honey that was like nectar of the gods. There were some halfling farmers that ran off to the Loamwold when the bad things started to move in, and the mannish folk mostly moved down here to the flat country near the Nanford to start new farms. The few holdouts eventually stopped coming into town and weren’t heard from again.

Day 1
When you’re ready to depart Harper recommends leaving early in the day using his riverboat to travel up the Athla river. He can make about 10 miles per day and it’s best to get in as much daylight travel as possible. You depart Athlapoole and hit deep fog within 2 hours. Harper says this isn’t uncommon for the Grimdowns, though because of the current state of the area he’s only ever made a half-day exploration up this river. Lore among the river traders describes a calm and slow moving river all the way to Kindredale though. The water of this river looks a deep, dark brown; in smaller quantities – in a glass vial or smaller container – it has a golden color. (DM note: Further upstream it flows through a conifer forest for quite a distance, so it’s full of tannins. Someone with the right lore could determine this.) You continue through the fog; weird splashing/plopping in the water are heard.

Based on sound and what you can see of the shoreline, you can determine that you’ve entered a hillier country. At one point a heavy pounding/thumping can be heard from the southwest shore, followed by a rending and popping sound, though the distance is hard to determine. [P4P] Who is watching forward? Or watching in general? The body of some sort of humanoid comes into view, floating the river. If the party examines it they’ll find a 100 sp semi-precious gem stuffed in the mouth of a decomposing humanoid.

In the afternoon the fog clears but shortly thereafter the river enters ancient forest. Deciduous tree branches hang all the way over the river, effectively creating a tunnel. Moss hangs from the branches and aside from the dripping of water and gurgling of the river, it’s eerily quiet. You begin to see bones and the bodies of small animals hanging from the branches here and there. [P4P] After a half hour in this forest you’ve become rather tense (DC15 san check to avoid being ‘jumpy’; being jumpy means disadvantage on your next roll of any sort) and begin to see movement in the branches. It’s initially difficult to see what’s going on, but something(s) seems to be climbing and jumping up in the trees.

Small goblinoid creatures appear, jumping around in branches, screeching, and making threatening displays, and throw rocks around the boat [P4P], one or more eventually jump to unoccupied part of boat then back into trees. A rock is thrown at someone (check who, but a volatile PC is best, and TH roll.) How does party react? Remember ‘jumpy’ disadvantage.
The party can sit still and be pelted by a couple rocks. Tree goblins laugh and taunt as boat leaves their forest, believing they drove away the threat.
Or… Aggression starts the fight.
~100 2 hp creatures that throw 2 rocks each per round (dam = 1).
If an AoE attacks catches 10+ PGs they’ll flee screaming.
Otherwise if 20+ are killed they’ll flee.
If the fight lasts 10 rounds enough rocks will be in the boat to cause problems.
In the event of an all-out fight, Harper will be found to be gone at the end. (He fell out, swam downstream, then sneaked back to Athlapoole on the shore, barely surviving.)
If anyone speaks goblin they’ll understand the dialect well enough to recognize the taunts and insults.

[P4P]

No other incidents take place in the first 10 miles (one day, if nothing goes wrong). As darkness begins to fall, you’ll need to stop for the night. It’s up to the party how to make this camp; Harper (if he’s there) would prefer to anchor the boat midstream, or in a secluded eddy, and stay aboard. Watches, etc.?

Remarkably the night passes uneventfully but for the shrieks of strange birds and various howls and screams in the distance. Make another DC15 jumpy check with the same result. With the occasional gurgling sound from the water. At one point the wind shifts and carries the sounds of distant drums (THE DRUMS! THE DRUMS!) for an hour.

Day 2
The second day dawns rather dreary with overcast and a mist falling. It’s very quiet and the river runs between fairly steep and barren hills here, with just short grass. You do see a couple herds of deer grazing, then moving away from the boat. Around mid-morning [DM: check disposition, scouting, etc.] you round a bend to see an aged (hill) giant sitting in the mud at the river’s edge, gnawing a bone and desultorily splashing various items (food, clothing, other?) in the water, possibly making a hill giant’s attempt at laundry. If no one is specifically assigned to watching forward from the bow, the giant will see you at the same time; otherwise, you have a chance to stop and drift back out of sight.
[P4P]

Hill Giant: AC 13 (nat); 55 HP; 1 attack with club, +6 TH, 14 dam. Will first try to yell up the hill but is too old and hoarse (it’s a little sad actually). Speaks a little common – very broken. If not convinced or bought off it will attack. If reduced to 20 HP it will attempt to flee. In the middle of the river it’s only waist deep to the giant. Treasure is a 15 SP arm ring of decent knot work copper, and in a pouch is its special ‘shiny rock’ which is actually another of the semi-precious stones worth 50 SP. (Is there a source around here?) “You can’t have my speshul shiny rock!” amid fighting. Among a few flasks on its belt is one with a poorly scribbled label in the common alphabet: ‘gobln soss’; this is a musk/attractant to goblins that can be used at the next encounter to lure away the goblin guards at the bridge. (Lore check maybe for someone.) If speaking or negotiating with the giant there’s a good chance some party member will see this. Consider that if defeated in the river the giant will be floating/drifting.

Earlier or later in the afternoon, depending on giant encounter, you begin to encounter signs on the river bank with various runes, scrawls, and rude drawings. The general gist of it all is something like “Go bak fleebag ellf luvrs”, “Dy goblinz scum”, and “Grolln R uglee bum sniffrz leev r brige alone!”. After a couple hundred yards of the signs the river rounds a bend and breaks out of some trees to arrive at the Elmtown Bridge: The bridge is a rather well-constructed stone arch that passes about 20’ above the river. The whole span carries a road that comes down one hillside to about 10’ above the river, passes over 70’ of bridge, and carries the road similarly up the other side.
[P4P]

At the left end is a big ugly she-hobgoblin (or sim.) with a chain shirt, spear, and scimitar; a horn sits next to her on the stone rail of the bridge and she has what’s basically a really lame umbrella tied to the bridge rail for shade. At the right end are two goblins attired as normal, with a ramshackle guard hut with a horn hanging outside it. The hobgoblin and goblins trade insults and insulting gestures almost continuously. (They each have territory on their side of the bridge, and are in a constant standoff.) The party needs to get past this bridge. If the horn is blown a large number of both sides will come running to the bridge, ready to fight. If the party has the ‘gobln soss’ from the hill giant they can use it to lure the goblins away from their post for 30+/-5 minutes, so they would only need to deal with the hobgoblin.

Day 2 evening or day 3 morning – the destination at Kindredale. The river runs fairly straight for about a half mile before Kindredale. Prior to that the river makes a bend around a hill (see map) so it’s possible to approach unseen within a half mile. There is small increase in the number of visible farmstead ruins indicating you’re probably approaching a town. The ruins of the town and temple are one a small rise beside the river; an old road runs down to a rotting dock/landing 30’ below the town, and beyond that the temple also has a set of stone steps that run the 30’ down to the river, and into it, in large steps. (Used for ceremonial purposes.) Across the river is a second dock with a small flat-bottom ferry tied to it and partially sunk and rotted. The road from this ferry dock leads through a small copse-type forest then on into the hills. Overcast and mist has reduced the visibility to about a half mile, but you can see the smoke from a couple small fires rising from the area of the ruined town. (Or the glow of campfires at night.)

DM: The ruins are occupied by a clan of 15 goblins of various age and health. Some live in the cellars of wrecked houses, some in the remains of the buildings. The goblins worship the skeleton king and bring offerings of shiny objects and live animals they’ve captured. In imitation of the clacking bones and teeth of the skeletons, the goblins have taken to communicating by clacking their teeth together in a code only they understand. It’s singularly disturbing to watch and hear. (They’ll still also shout when needing to communicate over longer distances.) They will attack groups that are significantly smaller than themselves, but will flee in the face of losses or displays of power. After fleeing they’ll continue to harass a party by using ranged attacks from the surrounding brush and woods, as well as tunnels they’ve built that connect basements and warrens.

Also at Kindredale is the ruin of the temple. “The temple complex is in ruins but for a few walls and pillars that still stand. The main building where the skeleton king sits on his tattered ‘throne’ – and his skeletal guards tirelessly pace – has three walls and no roof; on the long wall is a battered old mural of a party of heroes battling the skeleton king. It’s faded and indistinct but seems to show a battle with the skeletons taking place in a city elsewhere.” The party will likely (need to) discover that the skeletons can’t leave the ‘courtyard’ area. Roll checks before each turn of combat (or other observation) to see if someone notices that the vial of blood is wired to the king’s sternum. (DC15 perception check until in close quarters, then DC10. DM rolls.)
Physical attacks without regard for the vial are as normal, incur a 4% chance per successful hit that the vial is destroyed.
To avoid the vial, physical attacks must be made at disadvantage.
Magical attacks that can impart damage to the king can also damage the vial, per physical attacks. This can also be avoided with disadvantaged attacks.
(Belim, or other [N]PC in future iterations, is hit and poisoned by the skeleton king’s claw. Or a ranged attack of some sort improvised by the DM to make the tie-in plot work. Magical necromantic ray would be good.) On the long wall of the temple courtyard, framed by two bas relief pillars on the sides, a lintel above and the floor below, is a smudged or hazy mural about twenty feet wide and eight feet tall. As you watch it the scene comes to life and becomes perfectly clear, like a window. A party of adventurers seems to be fighting (or have just defeated, as necessary for timing) a similar group of skeletons, in a city of towers and castles. It’s hard to tell the size of the city, but its towers are taller and more graceful than those of Oerdney – more like something from a fairy tale or ancient myth. It’s all unfamiliar to you, and the time of day appears to be just at dawn – or perhaps sunset? You can’t tell because you don’t recognize the place and can’t tell if the sun is in the east or west. Based on the numbers, enemies, and situation this scene seems like some sort of reflection of yourselves. You cry out “Help! Help us! One of our companions is poisoned by these abominations and we are near our end!’ On looking closely there is a sort of shimmer at the boundary between their location and yours. The fighters in the reflection (window?) run forward and cast a torch with an unnatural glow, and a crystal vial of pale blue liquid, across the barrier.

(The Torch of Life is +1 TH vs undead and does d8(4) bludgeoning +3 fire damage versus undead; once/session it can ‘flare’ against a single undead and cause disadvantage on the affected undead’s next attack. It can emit light in a 30’ radius and attack as described 1 hour/day; it is a normal club against any other creature, with advantage on all saves against damage. The potion cures necromantic poisons [i.e Belim or whoever].)

As the fight ends the party can see the group on the other side of the ‘window’ watching them; the window begins to fade back to its previous state of dulled paint, showing the group fighting skeletons in the unknown city. After defeating the skeletons the party can search the temple area to find 100 SP worth of the semi-precious stones they keep finding, the king’s iron crown, as well as 40 SP worth of various precious metal objects the goblins have looted and offered. (Cutlery, jewelry, etc.) There is also an etched brass plaque pinned to the wall (easily removed). [Give plaque note to party.] Upon the defeat of the skeleton king, any nearby malicious creatures (goblins) will prostrate themselves. In fact the king’s skull or crown – or better both together – has the same effect on a couple hobgoblins that stumble into the town to investigate the noises.

[Tie-in for the disappearance of the parents of Elayne Callyberg-Forthright (the Count and Countess of Lievre) 16 years ago. ]

DM’s discretion to leave off with the party here for further adventure in the Grimdowns, or: The return back down the Athla takes half as long (about a day) due to the current. If the party displays the king’s skull, crown, or both, any inimical humanoids along the river will bow or prostrate themselves, or simply flee, and let the party pass. It seems the king held some greater sway over this area.

Locales
Athlapoole – small town at the confluence of the Dunstrand and Athla rivers. There was a modest sized pool formed by the currents, which was expanded somewhat by the residents to create a small harbor with a couple docks for river trade traffic. In addition to the human population there is a small halfling contingent in Athlapoole as well as a dwarf family with a trading post shop. (Also includes the usual blacksmithy, cartwright, etc.)
The Merry Elven Lass – the single inn & pub in Athlapoole. Of decent quality with a dining room, common room, it is a single storey structure with 6 double rooms. The house specialty drink is an oyster stout made with local freshwater oysters. Delicious, if a bit minerally.
Longbeard’s Trading Post – trade shop and general store of Grud ‘Longbeard’ Xentu the dwarf.
The Athla River – a lowland river, tributary of the Dunstrand, that flows about thirty miles from its headwaters to its mouth. It meanders through the Athla Hill Country at a slow pace, and with no real rapids it is flat water.
Athla Hill Country, aka ‘The Grimdowns’ – a region of low hills in the southern part of the lower Vale of Dunstrand, ranging from about fifty to two hundred fifty feet tall. This formerly fertile and populated region has been abandoned due to an influx of dangerous creatures including numerous trolls, gobins and their relatives, and a few hill giants. There are the ruins of a few settlements still evident in the hills, including a couple (mostly torn down) stone hill-fort walls. Those that live nearby took to calling the area the ‘Grimdowns’ a couple generations ago.
Old Elmtown Bridge – an old bridge over the Athla river; in disrepair but used and guarded by local goblin tribes. The boat needs to pass under this to get upriver, so has to get past guards.
Ruins of Kindredale – ultimate destination for the party, Kindredale was formerly a small country town with a market square and several shops, and a small temple to the gods of light. It now lies in ruins, home to a small band of goblins and the giant skeleton they worship as a sort of deity. The town of Kidredale is just a few foundations of old buildings and piles of rotting wood. The local goblin tribe has made their burrows in the cellars of old buildings and other of their own excavations. The temple complex is in ruins but for a few walls and pillars that still stand. The main building where the skeleton king is bound has three walls and no roof; on the long wall is a battered old mural of a party of heroes battling the skeleton king. It’s faded and indistinct but seems to show a battle with the skeletons taking place in a city that’s not in ruins.
Persons of Interest
Harper Greenwain – halfling boat pilot. He’s a bit coarse for a halfling.
Grud ‘Longbeard’ Xentu – the dwarf proprietor of Longbeard’s.
Goblins of Kindredale – this tribe of goblins lives in the ruins of the town and worship a giant undead skeleton that inhabits the ruined temple. Because the only sound the ‘skeleton king’ can make is clacking its teeth, the goblins have evolved a similar mode of ‘speech’. Very creepy.
Skeleton king – an undead, the skeleton of a hill giant chieftain that was cursed by a mage. The king is bound to the location of the temple, and accepts offerings from the local goblin tribe. Most importantly, a vial of preserved blood (of ???) is bound to his sternum with a silver wire. He wears a roughly forged iron crown that isn’t of great value in its materials, but could be highly prized by the right collector, sage, or mage. 44 HP, 2 attacks – club (d10/5) and claw (d8/4, 10% poison chance), AC 14. There are four normal skeletons as well.
Zturahk the Old – an itinerant necromancer, Zturahk is descended from an ancient Gwinnish mage house. He wanders, researching and using necromancy to extend his life far beyond its natural span. He is also bitter – extremely bitter – toward the world of youth and beauty, and hates the advancement of time and age. As such he, from time to time, plants ‘seeds of death’: small magical effects or changes to a place that sometimes take root and slowly rot the place from the inside. Such was his creation of the skeleton king and its poisoning of the Athla Hill Country.
Items
Halfling riverboat – this is a small self-powered boat that can carry 8 normal (medium) humanoids. It’s mostly open deck with a small cabin ⅔ aft that provides some shelter and can sleep 4 on bench/bunks. It is powered by a water elemental – a halfling druid of the Loamwold figured out how to attract and bargain with water elementals, such that they’re willing to propel a smallish boat. The halflings generally have about 10 of these available for movement and trade on the Nanford and its tributaries. The boat is controlled with a tiller in the cabin that both steers and starts/stops it. You can make about 10 miles per day up a slow river like the Athla.

The potion cures necromantic poisons.
Plaque to be found at the temple ruins: “I remember my youth and the feeling that will never come back any more — the feeling that I could last forever, outlast the sea, the earth, and all men; the deceitful feeling that lures us on to joys, to perils, to love, to vain effort — to death; the triumphant conviction of strength, the heat of life in the handful of dust, the glow in the heart that with every year grows dim, grows cold, grows small, and expires — and expires, too soon — too soon before life itself.” Left by Zturahk the necromancer who’s behind all this.

Skeleton King
Large (10’) undead, lawful evil
Armor Class 12 (Natural Armor + scraps)
Hit Points 48 (9d10+18)
Speed 40 ft.
STR 18 (+4)
DEX 11 (+0)
CON 15 (+2)
INT 6 (-2)
WIS 8 (-1)
CHA 5 (-3)
Vulnerabilities Bludgeoning
Damage Immunities Poison
Condition Immunities Exhaustion, Poisoned
Senses Darkvision 60 Ft., passive Perception 9
Languages Understands Abyssal But Can’t Speak
Challenge 2 (450 XP)

Actions
Greatsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: (2d12 + 4) slashing damage.
Poison ray: 2x daily can cast a necrotic poison ray at +3 to hit, range 30’. On a successful DC12 (CON) check the target takes 6 points of necrotic damage and is condition: poisoned. On a fail the target takes 12 points of necrotic damage and is condition: poisoned and incapacitated for 20 rounds or until any poison cure is successfully applied.

Note #1 to the party

Careful study and decryption of some of the ‘relevant materials’ has yielded the location of something very important to our shared tasks. Please proceed to the village of Athlapoole and meet with a halfling named Harper Greenwain; he is a trusted guide, and further information will be delivered to him prior to your arrival. Please use your usual excellent methods, and discretion, to recover this item as it is of the highest urgency.

Local Geography for the Party, pt. 1:

Athlapoole – small town at the confluence of the Dunstrand and Athla rivers. There was a modest sized pool formed by the currents, which was expanded somewhat by the residents to create a small harbor with a couple docks for river trade traffic. In addition to the human population there is a small halfling contingent in Athlapoole as well as a dwarf family with a trading post shop. (Also includes the usual blacksmithy, cartwright, etc.)
The Merry Elven Lass – the single inn & pub in Athlapoole. Of decent quality with a dining room, common room, it is a single storey structure with 6 double rooms. The house specialty drink is an oyster stout made with local freshwater oysters. Delicious, if a bit minerally.
Longbeard’s Trading Post – trade shop and general store of Grud ‘Longbeard’ Xentu the dwarf.
The Athla River – a lowland river, tributary of the Dunstrand, that flows about thirty miles from its headwaters to its mouth. It meanders through the Athla Hill Country at a slow pace, and with no real rapids it is flat water.
Athla Hill Country, aka ‘The Grimdowns’ – a region of low hills in the southern part of the lower Vale of Dunstrand, ranging from about fifty to two hundred fifty feet tall. This formerly fertile and populated region has been abandoned due to an influx of dangerous creatures including numerous trolls, gobins and their relatives, and a few hill giants. There are the ruins of a few settlements still evident in the hills, including a couple (mostly torn down) stone hill-fort walls. Those that live nearby took to calling the area the ‘Grimdowns’ a couple generations ago.

Note #2 to the party

Our sage has pored over numerous of the previously found documents, as well as old records from the Lower Vale. This allowed him to unravel a coded message in a single sheet letter that belonged to a branch of the family in question, a message that indicates a magically preserved vial of blood from a family ancestor was left at the temple in Kindredale. This town is now known to be abandoned and the temple in ruins, but the preserved blood would prove invaluable in our investigations. Please proceed to Kindredale and make every attempt to retrieve this item; included here is a writ for 100 SP redeemable with Grud Longbeard for your travelling expenses. Harper is an able river guide and has already been contracted to assist you.

Plaque:

I remember my youth and the feeling that will never come back any more — the feeling that I could last forever, outlast the sea, the earth, and all men; the deceitful feeling that lures us on to joys, to perils, to love, to vain effort — to death; the triumphant conviction of strength, the heat of life in the handful of dust, the glow in the heart that with every year grows dim, grows cold, grows small, and expires — and expires, too soon — too soon before life itself.
– Zturahk the Old