Basic information

Balanced as best I can for a 4-person party, beginning at level 3 and leveling up when indicated in the module. I dont
like bothering with experience, preferring leveling up to be a narrative decision. As with all things, that is up to DM
decision. The module may end up being more challenging than it should be for player levels; please adjust levels as
needed and contact me (reddit.com/u/Wilhelm_III for feedback and constructive criticism) There is a 7th-level NPC
accompanying the party for this module, but they are is assessing the party, and will only step in if they desperately
need him in order to survive.
This setting is a moderate-magic fantasy land. Mages are far from unheard of, but artifacts are rare. Both will be met
with awe from the smallfolk, though they probably know one or two spellcasters from their local village already.
27-point point-buy system.
Most daily pricing works are done in silver, rather than gold. Gold is reserved for merchants and the wealthy. Paying in
gold for mundane things like a meal is a great way to draw unwanted attention.
The Venators are a powerful organization of monster hunters and good-aligned mercenaries who fight for private
citizens only, no governments. Their Hunters Lodge base dominates the small state of Wyrmstooth, and indeed the
entire Half-Breed Confederacy in which it is based.
The HBC is a largely-independent group of adventurers of all types and walks of life with a powerful military force
thanks to a high concentration of artifacts and powerful warriors within the region. Heavy trade despite rough terrain
and ragtag governance.
They are in a constant back-and-forth of military aggression with the Holy Empire of Ultos, which seeks to
expand their territory however possible.

Session 1: Introduction to the Module

The party assembles in the vast Entrance hall of the Hunters Lodge.
Trophies of every kind of monster are mounted here and some that the party wont recognize no matter how
high they roll. Deep brown wood, massive logs in walls and columns, smell of meat and sweat faint in the air
and antler/horn candle chandeliers hanging from thick iron chain on the ceiling.
Make sure your players know ahead of time what their motivations are for joining the Venators, and how they
came to be here. They dont have to tell the other party members this, unless it comes up in conversation.
The party is able to mingle with several other odd characters, including:
 Optional mingling:
Flair will challenge a player to a dice game for an agreed-upon amount of gold. Roll behind screen, or
otherwise in secret. Flair will always win unless the PCs passive perception is greater than his 1d20+5 sleight
of hand check. Otherwise, they catch him cheating and can choose to call him out. If so, Flair will cop to the
cheat and return the gold, along with half of what he bet as a gesture of goodwill for catching me in my
little game.
Yuntus will be writing in a small notebook, glancing all around while he scribbles. Will engage in friendly
enough conversation, but will not make eye contact. Evasive if PCs ask what hes writing (he claims that its a
private journal), and they will take a (normal-damaging) whack on the head with a club if they try to look at
what hes writing.
Flair flirts with Melith, to which she responds with a stammer, awkward blush, and protests that no, she is not
cute enough to eat, and affirm that no, she isnt used to these types of compliments.
Fremont will be kneeling in the corner, head bowed in prayer. Any attempt to disturb him will be met with a
polite, but non-negotiable, rebuttal. I thank you for your manners, sir/madam, but I am praying. I beg your
pardon, and we shall speak after the trial. Repeated attempts to speak will build anger, until he stands and
readies his weapon. Jonathan Kord will interrupt before he can strike.
After mingling and talking, Jonathon Kord (described below) calls them into an arena, and explains the rules before
turning them to one another.

Do not let your players engage Kord, unless they absolutely insist. Make sure the warnings come both in- and
out-of-character if they are dead-set on challenging him. Kord does nonlethal damage unless pressed or struck w/
lethal weapons, in which case he will activate cold-blooded rage on them and eliminate the offending player
character.
Arena: huge pit of tan sand in the center of concentric rings of stands. Will be empty, with voices echoing
whenever someone talks above normal volume. Massive brass braziers light the arena at the bottom row of
stands above the arena wall, illuminating the wide circle with golden light.
Rules of melee, explained by Jonathon Kord in a quiet, but intense, monotone.
The last four remaining awake and upright will be allowed to continue to the next stage of initiation.
All weapons and magic are allowed, but striking a downed foe means automatic disqualification.
Death will not be allowed to occurthere are clerics available to heal any wounds should it come to
that.
The sand is purposely designed as loose and difficult to walk in, as a test of dexterity and skill in
unfamiliar terrain.
Counts as difficult terrain for any creatures not a halfling or gnome, or any PCs not a ranger.
Movement speed is halved for all those individuals.
Players should win melee, with Melith immediately burning all her spells in a panic as soon as Yuntus wild shapes and
getting knocked out as they go at each other. Fremont should target the party (who should not be formally
cooperating at this point), while Flair goes for whoevers down, the prick. Once this happens, Fremont will immediately
switch targets to Flair and not stop until he is downed.
During the brawl, Brandagamba will come out to watch in the bottom row of arena stands. When there are four fighters
remaining, he will call the battle to a halt, and order the remaining fighters to come with him after they are healed.
Guildmaster Brandagamba: a halfling who grew up in the city of Wyrmtalon, which the Lodge now
occupies/overtakes/unofficially controls. He joined the guild at a young age, and earned his initial post on
 his fiftieth birthday. He moved quickly through the ranks, serving as both a shrewd businessman and a
competent field commander.
Almost a century later and hes an old man, with wiry white mutton chops ringing his jaw.
Wizened and wrinkled as he may be, his mind and tongue are both as sharp as ever. With a bald
head, piercing blue eyes, thick, well-groomed white beard combed into an upside-down teardrop,
and bushy eyebrows, he would look like a regular old hobbit were it not for his gem-studded
canewhich doubles as a warlocks focus from an unknown patron.
The wealth and reach of the Venators makes him the de facto leader of the Halfbreed
confederacy. He is zealously loyal to his home nations, and is brutal in his willingness to defend
them.
Clerics wearing featureless white masks (like fencing masks) will come out and heal the downed and standing
fighters.
Brandagamba congratulates the party, and call to follow him into his office. Flair is escorted out by the arms by two
muscular clerics the size of goliaths, who warn him to never return (despite his spattered protests). Several hallways of
dark wood and exotic taxidermied later, the party will arrive in his office. Its a large room with a humongous
cow-leather chair, halfling-height desk, beautiful dark wood paneling, and a gigantic black dragon scale the size of a
shield mounted on the wall). Once there, he explains that they have passed their initial initiation. To confirm their
status as members of the Venators, they must fulfill this contract in the presence of one of Brandagambas lieutenants.
Yells for Stogan. Introduce Stogan (stove-gone, but w/ no v sound).

Text of contract:
The Undersigned party or parties shall travel to the town of Green Oystershoal in southeastern Lund
by way of the River Impbane. Travel expenses shall be covered by the accompanying representative
of the Venators, which includes but is not limited to: food, drink, lodgings, and boat fees along the
river. The representative shall reserve the right to refuse to pay requests they consider unreasonable.
 If a conflict arises, the undersigned shall pay out of pocket and may be reimbursed by the Venators
after completion of the contract.
Once the undersigned has reached Green Oystershoal , they shall recover any surviving documents,
manifests, cargo, crew, and personal effects of the crew and return them to the Venators within 4
weeks. If the gathered salvage is declared sufficient by Guildmaster Brandagamba, the undersigned
shall be considered full members of the Venators, with all rights, privileges, and responsibilities
incurred.
Failure by the undersigned to complete this contract within the time allotted will result in billing
issuance for all Venator expenses incurred during the trip, surrender of any Venator property already
acquired, and barring of the undersigned from applying for later Venator membership for six (6)
years.
So signed: Guildmaster Alton Q. Brandagamba. Ser Stogan de la Warr, Venator representative.
________ (party signatures)
Stogan escorts the party out of the tavern while clapping each on the back with great enthusiasm, explaining very
loudly that he will be able to pay for their lodgings while they travel, to let them focus their limited funds on preparing
for their mission. Close out evening with a quiet night in a tavern, with Stogan-prompted getting to know one another
if necessary.

Session 2: On the Road

Stogan wakes the party by bursting into their rooms at the crack of dawn, with little regard for their conscious state or
clothedness. He is as boisterous and energetic as the night before, and entices the party into a massive breakfast,
including an eating contest.
Party members challenging Stogan to an eating contest must make constitution saving throws against his
(1d20+2), with the DC of failure beginning at 5 and rising every round that neither fails. Failure results in heavy
stomachache, small vomiting, and -2 to any strength rolls for the first combat encounter that day. If victorious,
Stogan gives the party member 3 gp and a silver teardrop earring that he picked up somewhere.
After a large breakfast and paying for their rooms, the party leaves the tavern and travels by small boat down River
Impbane. The next few days are uneventful, save for a roll on the weather tables for temperature, wind, and weather.
The lowest tiers incur no penalty, but a CON DC increases for every abnormal weather condition incurred that day. For
example, a day 20 degrees hotter than normal will have a DC 2 con save, while a day 10 degrees colder (1), heavy rain
(10), and light wind (5) will require a DC 16 con save to not lose benefits from a day of leisure.
After 1 week of barge river travel, the party departs and sets out on foot for Green Oystershoal . The journey takes a
day:
Roll on the weather table and note the results to the players throughout the day, but inflict no penalties.
As they journey progresses, describe the woods thinning out, the dark soil growing lighter and granier, and
have the heat increase slightly. Its already summer, but the PCs are coming up on a warmer area.
Roll a 1d4 to determine how many encounters they will deal with, Xd6 to pick the encounter. Any repeats
count should be rerolled.
1. Fey Justice Encounter. Page 5.
 Begun by the party hearing shouting off the road in a tortured mixture of dwarven and
common, along with protests like All I did was cut down a damn tree!
If Kel succeeds a DC 15 strength saving throw to break free, he immediately leaps out,
crushes the nearest sprite, and enters the initiative order against the party, enraged that
they didnt free him immediately.
If combat continues for more than two rounds, one sylph will flee. If not slain, it shall return a
round later with a shambling mound, which will continue fighting regardless of the number of
sprites or Kels killed.
Reward:
If sylphs are slain: make 1 CR 1-4 individual treasure table roll and award it to the
party.
If kel is slain: a purse containing 3 gold, 8 silver, and 7 copper, along with a light
hammer and a dwarven-styled that confers no benefit, but looks nice.
If kel is saved: a dwarven-styled that confers no benefit, but looks nice. Claims he
made it some time ago, but doesn't really need it, and that the work of his own two
hands is the best reward that he can fathom.
If Shambling mound is slain: cr 5-10 individual treasure table, amount divided by two.
Add 1d6 purple fruits that serve as common healing potions (2d4+2), which take a
 DC 13 medicine check to properly identify as fleshmenders, a magical fruit shaped
like a small violet pumpkin that help heal wounds and cure infection.
2. Troubles with Teleportation, page 10

Begun by homunculusflesh like melted butter but colored like skin, humungous blue eyes,
elflike ears, and a squat bodyappearing in front of the party in the middle of the road and
gesturing for them to come with it, as it cannot speak. Requires a DC10 arcana check to
properly identify.
Will shake its head repeatedly and wave its arms if the party is discussing the potential for it
to be evil. Will look at accusing PCs with pleading pout on its face, as though begging for
clemency.
If allowed to lead the party off the path, Ziggy the Homunculus will trek northeast through
forest floor covered in slippery leaves to a 6-ft tree with Kalgus is waiting. He will call down in
a snooty French-waiter accent, but is genuine in asking for help. If attacked, he will beg for
mercy and attempt to flee rather than fight, explaining that he has lost his arcane symbol and
cannot fight back even if he wanted to.
Reward:
If Kilgus is rescued: Restorative Ointment with 5 charges remaining, and explains
what it does both in-character and in-game. If the party saves him without him taking
damage, he offers to spend several hours teaching one member of the party one
new feat that hes discovered in his studies, as thanks. Roll a 1d4 to determine which
PC he will grant it to, make this roll publicly, and declare PC numbers beforehand.
Allow them to pick a single feat, and retain it for the rest of the game.
 If Ziggy is killed: no reward. Roll once on the wild magic surge table and apply a
different effect to all PCs that damaged Ziggy or affected him with a spell.
If Kilgus is accidentally killed: Restorative Ointment with 5 charges remaining, 10
gold pieces, Scroll of Earth Tremor
If Kilgus is attacked and purposely killed: Restorative Ointment with 5 charges
remaining, 10 gold pieces, Scroll of Earth Tremor. On death, roll twice on wild magic
surge table for each PC.
3. Robbery in a Sunken Road
While traveling through an area where the road is a deep cut in the road with 20-ft elevation
on either side, have any PC with more than 13 passive perception hear a crossbow being
winched behind them. Otherwise, 1d6 bandits and 1 bandit captain will spawn, and the bandit
captain will call out to the characters to stop and hand over their valuables, or be killed.
Stogan is amused by this encounter, raising his eyebrows, crossing his arms,
smirking, and nodding to the PCs to let them decide what to do.
Bandit captain: Thiel (human male). Bandits: S ong (fallen aasimar female), H urg (goliath
male), Alton (human male), M ariah ( human female), Thing ( changeling female, will switch to
several different forms, including a PC, during the fight), S indor (half-elf male). The races will
have no effect on stats, but add more flavor and character.
Thiel: obviously the leader, is loud, brash, and confident until he is killed.
Song laughs with a touch of madness whenever she or her target take damage
Hurg cannot speak, but cracks his knuckles menacingly
Alton: rolls his eyes and shakes his head while fighting a smile whenever one of his
companions makes a joke
Mariah: questions Thiel, asking him if they should let the party go. They look
powerful. Thiel brushes her off with little concern.
Sindor: is watching the PCs intently. When they make a sleight of hand check, roll a
perception check rather than using his passive perception.
Thing: silent and shifty, watching the PCs with an unnatural stare that never blinks or
wavers.
The bandits will then emerge from cover, with the bandit captain aiming a shortbow at the
PCs.
If the PCs surrender: they lose all non-armor wealth, the highwaymen leave,
laughing and congratulating one another.
If the PCs hand over some of their valuables, but not all: each PC must make a DC15
sleight of hand or DC10 bluff check.
If fought:
The bandits make heavy use of the high ground on either side of the road,
attacking with reach weapons (pikes) rather than scimitars and using their
hand crossbows for range. PCs must make a DC 15 athletics check to climb
up to the bandits, which consumes half their movement and provokes an
attack of opportunity if climbing in or into a threatened square.
If defeated:
When killed, Song is cut off mid-cackle, Hurg, Sindor, and Alton die
with little ceremony, Thing shudders and turns into the PC that kills
her as she dies, blood pouring out of her throat. Thiel apologizes
and said he just needed money to afford medicine for his daughter.
Have him roll bluff if any of the PCs think to insight check this (hes
lying, completely and utterly)
Each thug carries 1d4 worth of gold pieces, split among smaller
coins from several different mints and locales. Mostly thick, round
human or thin oblong elf with a few heavy hexagonal dwarven.
 4. A Spys Mistaken Identity
A waifish, pale, freckled, red-headed woman wearing a black hooded cloak appears from the
bushes and walks behind the party for a brief time. Roll her stealth against their passive
perception (1d20+4), unless they are actively looking around. Choose a party member by die
roll and have her grab their hand and put a pouch into it. She looks them in the eyes, says
the roc is in the roost, and darts away into the woods before they can react.
Pouch contains a heavy brass key and 10d10 silver.
If chased, the players must make a DC20 survival check to track her, or a DC20 perception
check to see if they can figure out where she went. If they do, she urges that the player who
received the pouch has a secret mission, that she cannot possibly share. Do not allow her to
surrender any information, no matter how hard she is pressed. If tortured or pressed for
combat, she throws a smoke bomb on the ground and vanishes.
5. Not Your Prize
The sound of a deep roar that ends in a long screech pierces the forest. Its intense and
sudden, like something reacting to sudden agony. Another roaring screech follows, but from
distress, not pain. Following the source of the screams requires a DC5 survival check from
any member of the party.
Following the sounds leads the party to a low, large hill where the trees are sparser. At the
top of the hill there is a griffon with mottled gray feathers and deep tan fur struggling with a
modified bear trap. The trap is clamped deep into the thigh meat of its back right leg.
 Another, smaller griffin is accompanying it, screeching and fluttering around the larger. It has
tawny feathers with gold fur.
The female mate will attack the party, but only when they are within 40 feet of the male.
Niyetna, an elf ranger (hunter) woman approaches shortly after, and demands that the party
back away from her prize. If they refuse or are combative, she will attack both female
griffon and party
 6. Wounded Goblin Boss
Directly in the middle of the road, the party will find a group of 3d4 goblins attempting to
tend to a larger, more muscular goblin, lying on its back in the dirt. Green blood oozes from
an arrow wound in its abdomen and stains the rings of its broken chainmail. The goblins will
jerk around when the party approaches, and ask them to please move on their way while
they tend to their leader (in goblin).
If no PCs speak goblin, tell them The group of goblins whirl around to face you and
chatter in their foul language. As one, they brandish their scimitars at you and form a
straight line in front of whatever they were looking at earlier. A DC10 perception
check will allow them to identify the moans of a goblin in pain. Combat can ensue, or
a party member can try a DC25 persuasion check to non-verbally convey to the
goblins that they want to help.
A DC15 medicine check helps pull the arrow from the wound and staunch
the bleeding. A healing spell without pulling the arrow out seals the wound
around the arrow. The goblins, which are now surrounding the party, will
attack. Once two goblins have been killed, the goblin boss will stagger to its
feet and attack.

If the party understands goblin, the goblins ask for help treating their wounded
leader in exchange for some of their loot.
If the party helps the goblin leader: roll twice on individual treasure challenge 0-4.
If the party kills the goblins: roll once on the treasure hoard challenge 0-4 .
Finish the session after the determined number of encounters with the party breaking through the woods to
an opening, where they will be greeted by a town expanding about a quarter mile down the path, and
meeting the ocean. The town in the distance is sprawling, full of wide buildings that make full use of the space
available, As the party watches, the faint sounds of laughter and conversation drift up from the distant
settlement. End the session here.

Session 3: Welcome to Green Oystershoal

The forest gives way to shin-high tan-green underbrush, and when it fades out to sand, the path splays out and is
replaced with pale wooden slats bleached by the sun. The sand is pale tan and filled with rocks smoothed and
rounded by ocean waves. The path of wooden slats split into two paths. The left one has a sharp curve eastward, and
leads to a rocky hill in the distance with a short, rectangular lighthouse made of steel-gray brick. The right one cuts a
meandering path through the sand for about a quarter mile before reaching the town. Beyond the town, the water
glitters in a blue-green bay before spreading out into the wide blue of the ocean.
Encourage the party to go to the town first, but if they want to go the lighthouse, they will find it locked and barred by
something heavy behind them. The three-story tower of black stone and tan mortal will be too weathered by wind and
summer storms to climb, no matter what their acrobatics check is. Same applies to the dooreven with a natural
twenty, they will shatter the door off its hinges, but not remove the bar behind it.
When the party walks into town over the slats through the wide gap in the buildings that serves as the front gate, a
skinny dwarf with wild eyes pointing in different directions, short patchy beard with hair falling out, and a heavy sway
in his step that could be from alcoholism or a limp approaches the party. If there are any races in the party other than
elves, humans, half-elves, dwarves, or halflings, the old dwarf will bend over backwards, snort long and loud, and hock
a loogie at the feet of every abnormal creature there (including, but not limited to, goliaths, half-orcs, dragonborn,
tieflings, aasimar, kenku, and tabaxi) before lurching off.
If no abnormal PC races are present, hell look the group up and down for several uncomfortable moments
while he stands right in front of them, then grumble something in dwarvish under his breath and let the party
continue on unmolested. Tessa the barmaid is taking her break on the tavern porch two buildings down. She
will laugh loudly, invite the party inside, and take their orders.
If attacked with nonlethal damage, onlookers will laugh about Old Gimelshtein being his old, shitty self as he
runs screeching about evil, terrible invaders from the nine hells. Tessa the barmaid is taking her break on a
tavern porch two doors down, and will laugh loudly, invite the party inside, and take their orders.
 If attacked with lethal damage, guards will attack the party until theyre all knocked unconscious. Start with
three guards ordering them to stoptwo from either side of the front gate, one from the well in the center of
town. Continue attacking with more guards, adding more after every turn or so. The party will wake up in the
barracks being tended to by a medicine woman. The captain of the guard is sitting in the corner of the room,
glowering at the party. Stogan is absent.

Captain Balgus: human, chainmail, spear, heavy helmet. Black mutton chops, hair hidden under his
helmet, scar across his cheek. Speaks with a deep voice and mild southern accent. Once hes sure
the party are all awake and listening to him, he begins to talk.
Look, I dont like Gimelshtein any more than you do, but I cant have you people killing
people in my town. Its my job to keep people alive in this town, no matter how shitty they
are. You get a pass because he started it, because he started it, hes a piece of shit, and
youre new. But dont try and kill anyone else, or youll all dead. Understand? Good, now get
out of my barracks before I change my mind.
Heltieth, town medicine woman: half-elf. Wears brown dress, well-kept but plain. Very old, even for a
half-elf, with brittle gray hair tied up in a bun behind her head and thin, spotted skin. Despite that, her
hands are perfectly steady. Speaks in a very high, quavery old-woman voice, and comments on the
various injuries the party sustained over the course of combat before patting one PC on the cheek
and leaving them behind with the captain.
When the party leaves, Tessa and Stogan will be waiting outside. About 6 foot, shell tower over most
party members even without meaning to. She speaks with a musical accent common to elfs from the
south (Matt Mercers ankarhel accent), though it has faded to indicate that she has spent a long time
in Green Oystershoal.
Good to see you lot havent ended up dead. Your strapping friend here explained to me
that you are representatives of the Venators, yes? Good. Its about time someone from the
guild came by. People are beginning to get antsy with the shipwreck out on the sandbar.
Theyre afraid of attracting unwanted attention. Bandits, and the like.
Shell convey the same information if the party elects to go straight to the tavern.
Tessa is a bronze-skinned high elf with piercing blue eyes, asymmetrically-braided strawberry blonde hair
snaking down her left shoulder. She wears a clover-colored dress with white apron and gloves, and always
makes a sharp twirl to turn around when pacing between bar and tables. Whenever she enters or exits a
building, she makes a traditional gestureextending a hand from the middle of her chest with the middle
finger and thumbs touching. If asked, she looks down at her outstretched hand with some surprise, chuckles,
and explains with a tinge of embarrassment that its an old gesture her grandmother used to do.
Once at the tavern (either through the guard route or direct route, or after wandering around town), Tessa takes their
orders, then heads through the door with a terracotta jug as large as her torso, presumably towards the well in the
center of town. The party can interact with several figures in the tavern, if they so choose, including
Kendall Breck, the hill dwarf baker. Glittery green eyes, a beard that crawls midway up his cheeks and is
bunned at the bottom, and black hair tied back in a ponytail. Modest and friendly enough. He is married, his
 wife is about three months along with their first kid. When he tells a PC this, Tessa will chuckle and inform
them that Hes been telling everyone. If complimented, he will politely downplay it while thanking the PC for
being polite.
Tierney, a young high elf man. Lean and lanky, wears old leather armor and has a quiver strapped to his
shoulder. Hes sitting low over the bar, nursing a drink, and if the party approaches him theyll see that hes
missing one eye and has a nasty scar that runs from the forehead all the way down to his neck. His voice is
terse, raspy, and quiet, like an angry smoker.
Several tanned, muscular men with stubbly cheeks and old, torn clothing. Day laborers, a mixture of
farmhands and fishers, who assemble about a dozen strong in their table in the back of the room. Provide
most of the background noise and chatter.
A cloaked figure, sitting in the dark corner, leaning back against the booth and watching the door. Their black
hood covers their face, and their one visible hand (the one holding their stein) is covered by a thick white
glove. No magic, sense motive, or any other checks reveal anything at all about this individual. Grabbing it,
however, reveals that its a cloak and robe on a stick, with a glove set into it for good measure. The laborers in
the back laugh loudly, and Tessa chuckles and leaves a new chalk mark on an unnoticed board.
When the time comes to move things along, Tessa will head outside, hefting a large terracotta jug with great
effortcheeks puffing out, face reddening. Will refuse any offer of help unless the party persists. Regardless, a few
seconds later, theres the sound of clay shattering and a loud scream, accompanied by a gurgling roar. Any party
members outside (as well as any who rush out quick enough) will see a water elemental filled with twigs, leaves, and
brown with dirty water clambering out of the well and menacing Tessa.
 After defeating the elemental, Tessa returns to the town square with a new jug, thanks them for saving her and the
town in general, and offers them free lodging. The party is free to continue exploring the town and go shopping, or
just go in and eat dinnerthe sun is going down and many stores are closing up. The party has time to go to one shop
before places close down.
After this particularly difficult fight, have the party level up. They should be level 4 now.
The next morning, Tessa serves the party breakfast. The weather is unusually stormy that day; when the party heads
outside, the weather is gray and stormy, and the ocean water is high and choppy. The rain and wind are moderate and
the ground is slick/sticky with mud. Stogan will state flat-out with uncharacteristic seriousness that theres no way for
the party to go out to the Pelorus today. Instead, they have the option to do odd jobs for the town on the bounty board
next to the well. Alternatively, they can work on making or crafting something in their room, or they can go shopping.
Missing dog. Reward. Please help. B rendan.
A square of parchment with scorched edges and stained with dark dots that made the charcoal lead smear in
places. If asked, a local will answer that Brendan is the local smith, who lost his dog about a week ago. His
forge and shop are on the east end of the town craftsman block,
Upon entering approaching the smithy, the forge is quiet and cold. The coals in the large, basin-like
forge are pure black, and the smell of metal barely hangs in the air. The place is quiet. Upon
knocking, a thick, bleary voice calls who is it?
Brendan the smith is a human with bronze hair hanging loose around his shoulders, and has a face
with three-day-old stubble. Hes late middle-aged, with hair turning gray at the temples. He has tribal
markings all over his face and body, but the maroon marks on his skin are faded from age. His eyes
are puffy, red, and wet the second he opens the doorits obvious that hes been crying a lot.
Brendans wife Eladia is an elf, with golden skin, hair, and eyes. Much taller than him, with a skinny
figure and smile lines around her lips. As soon as the party explains why theyre there, Brendan
breaks down completely and Eldia welcomes the party inside while guiding Brendan to their kitchen
table. She puts tea on, and after a few seconds of quiet, she breaks the silence So youre here about
the notice. Her voice is high-pitched, without a trace of an accent.
Between the two of themEladias calm, high tones and Brendans blubberingthat his dog
Seymour was a gift from his mother shortly before she passed. The dog is less than a year old, and
almost helpless due to his small size and nature. Seymour is basically a Boston terrier, and was
 bought from a passing merchant. Seymour is small, friendly, black-and-white, and almost always
comes when called. Hes been gone for more than a week now, and nobody is sure where hes gone.
Ive looked everywhere! He has. He alternates between searching the fields and woods and
coming here and crying. Im just glad that we have savings. At this point she leans down and kisses
Brendan on the cheek.
Be willing to improvise with the party here, dont give them any hints unless theyre struggling to
figure out where to look, in which case Eladia will bring the group one of Seymours chew toys if
anyone can track by scent.
Otherwise, the party can all make attempt DC20 survival checks to try and find Seymour, or use a
spell to try and find him. Seymour can be found in the shrubbery directly to the north, munching some
raspberries on a bush. A DC5 handle animal check is required to make him come to a party member,
which goes up by 5 for every party member designed to be particularly intimidating. This includes
tieflings, half-orcs, and anyone with an intimate of over 15. Offering him food lowers the DC by 5.

Seymour^
Carrying the puppy is the best bet, as suggested by Stogan when he starts to wander off again.
When the PCs get close to the smiths house, he starts squirming and whoevers carrying him has to
make a DC15 dexterity check or drop him. On dropping him, Seymour books it for the smithy, begins
scratching on the door, and barks quietly but excitedly. Brendan flings the door open and scoops
Seymour into his arms, absolutely overjoyed. And completely incoherent from sheer joy. Eladia gets
in on the action, scratching the little puppy over the head and commenting that, though he looks thin,
hes no worse for wear.
New tears are streaming down Brendans face now, but theyre joyful tears now. He thanks the party
profusely, and though he has little to offer in terms of reward, he does give his party the pick of his
metalworking (both weapons and non-weapons, though he doesnt make armor), and promises a
discount for any future business they might have with him.
The Dead War at the Lighthouse
Two guards stagger back into town from the eastern gate, causing quite a commotion from the people who
see them stagger in. As the PCs approach, they can see that one of the guards is holding his intestines inside
with his arm against an enormous, bloody gash in his chain. Heltieth (the medicine woman) shoves the
murmuring crowd out of the way and orders two strapping bystanders to help her get the wounded guard to
her house. While shes escorted away, the guard fixates on the party. You! Adventureres! Please, you have
to help me!
The guard, who is still hunched over and struggling for breath, is unhurt but deathly pale from fright.
He explains that nobody has seen Mariana the lighthouse keeper for over a weeknot unusual,
since she was reclusivebut her apprentice, Jedda the butchers boy, has been gone for a few days
now too. The two were sent to investigate, and found the door barred. Silas, the wounded guard,
managed to pry open the door with the crowbar he carries. Something behind the door screamed at
him, aging him by five years and slashing open his guts before slamming the door shut again.
 When the party reaches the lighthouse, they find the previously shut door opened wide. Itd be
almost inviting, if they hadnt known that two men were permanently traumatized by whatever
awaited within.
Upon entering, they find what can only be described as the scene of a murder. The table is broken in
half along a jagged seam, both halves lying on their side on opposite sides of the room. Chairs are
shattered and overthrown, covering the floor with sawdust and splinters. The many brass
candlesticks are scattered across the room, most bent or damaged in some manner. Disease in the
shelf are shattered across the floor, basin, and shelf. Theres a bit of unidentifiable dried gore on the
on the windowsill. Theres a wooden stair work that leads to the second floor, that, oddly, is mostly
untouched.
Before any of the players travel up to the second floor, the framework shudders. Bits of dust,
sawdust, and splinters and an ethereal, horrific, rasping wail comes from upstairs, followed by a low,
rattly moan.
The scene that meets the party is gruesomethree zombies on one side, each wearing the remains
of a sleeveless vest, loose canvas pants, shredded black boots with the toes and boots missing,
along with threadbare pirate bandannas in faded green, white, or red cloth. They each have tattoos
of the Venators symbols on their chest. On the other side of the room, the ghost of the high elf
lighthouse keeper (Rhea) and a much smaller zombie, about the size of a small child, but with
elongated limbs and nails that form rudimentary claws.
 The fighting will only end when all the zombies are destroyed. If the ghost is defeated, she rises
again and continues attacking the zombies and the party in equal measure.
When she finally goes down, she hisses vengeance. with a soft, relieved sigh that fades
away quietly into nothingness.
The ghost is the keeper of the lighthouse, the smaller zombie is her apprentice, and the three larger
zombies are members of the Venators that were wrecked on the P elorus. They attacked the
lighthouse as revenge for crashing, and were killed by the necromancer running the place and
reanimated by a mixture of angry elven magic and necromancy.
Returning to the guardhouse with the information nets a roll on the 0-5 individual challenge table
applied to each PC, plus the following lighthouse loot if they choose to take it.

2d10 brass candlesticks 1d8*100 matches

Various coins hidden under the bed worth 1 gold ring with a topaz stone
3d6 gold pieces

Caught in a web
While meandering through the streets, the PCs hear a reedy scream from an alleyway.
Following the sound into the alley leads to them finding Gimelshtein screaming and thrashing
in terror while trapped in a giant spiders web, as 1d4 giant spiders close in on him.
 Leaving him to die earns the PCs a point/bit of evil.
Killing the spiders without any xeno PCs (half-orc, tiefling, kenku, etc): Thank ye, strangers. Ah noo
there was good reason for having adventurers around. I aint got a copper to me name, but I did see
some glittering back in that alley, if yeh want to take a look.
Grant 3d8 silver to the party.
Killing the spiders w ith xeno PCs int the party: Aye. Aye, thank ye. I owe ye me life, and after I spat
on ye and called ye every terrible name ah new. But ye still saved me life. I owe ye a sincere apology,
and ye got it. I was wrong. Thank ye. I got some serious life-re-evaluatin ta do, so ah should go.
And...I aint got a copper to me name, but I did see some glittering back in that alley, if yeh want to
take a look.
Grant 3d8 silver to the party.
Bulletin board: kill the damn wolves!
A pack of wolves has been menacing the livestock for some time now, but after last winter, the pack has
grown significantly. The shepherds have lost eight sheep in the past week, and there is no sign of them
slowing down. Kill them, and you shall receive 30 silver pieces for every hide or pelt brought to Captain
BalgusEarl Serwell III
After making a DC15 survival check to track the wolves, the party can find a pack of 10 wolves led by
a direwolf. Alternatively, the party can purchase a sheep for 65 silver, slaughter it (or have it
slaughtered for 20 extra silver) and use it as bait. Either way, the wolves will do their best to form a
tight ring around the party to surround them, prevent escape, and activate their pack-tactics
advantage rolls. Once the ring is small enough, they will go for the weakest-looking links: smaller,
unarmored characters, casters, etc.
The wolves are pretty generic, with coats of gray dappled with occasional brown. The direwolf,
however, comes up to chest height on most medium PCs. Its fur is still gray, but a straight steel
shadeno brown whatsoever. Its teeth are longer and more numerous than the regular wolves; it
has trouble keeping its mouth closed. It also has a mane of thick black fur running from the nape of
its neck down its back and splaying out at the upper shoulder regions, giving it an almost spiky
appearance. Its yellow eyes are full of intelligence and frightful malice, and its growls and barks to the
other wolves almost sound like...orders. Requires a DC10 nature check to ID as a direwolf. Regular
fails describe it as just a really big wolf; humongous fails assume that its a shadow mastiff or
something supernatural.
 Returning the hides to Captain Balgus nets them full pay. Additionally, if shown the direwolf hide, his
eyes go wide and he takes a step back, gripping his desk for support. We had a d irewolf in our
forests.Bredal save us, I had no idea. Hell look at the party with new respect at this point, nodding
at each one in turn with a soft smile creeping onto his face. Thank you, travelers. Youve saved our
asses today. Tell you what. Soon as Brendans feeling up to it, Ill put in an order for him to make hide
armor out of this. Free of charge. Call it your reward.
Direwolf hide armor: standard hide armor (12+dex modifier, max 2), but adds a special
feature:
Pack tactics. If standing next to an ally, adds advantage on attack rolls.
Appearance: The direwolf hide armor is deep gray instead of the mahogany brown
typically associated with leather armor, with the buckles made of shiny steel. A thin
coat of fur still covers most of the surface, keeping it warm, and fur lines the edge of
each plate. Large leather pelt sections are mounted over the shoulders to keep the
collarbone, neck, and upper arms protected, and those areas have dire wolf teeth
embedded in the surface in all their yellowed, cracked, and serrated inch-long glory.
The same fur-and-short-haircut-leather combination applies to the elbow-length
 bracers, as well. Comes with a pair of matching warm, comfortable boots with the
entire insides lined with fur. Theyre basically supernatural uggs. It doesnt come
with pants or shin guards, but goes well with black, gray, or brown pants. The back
is the coolest featurethe entire mane of black direwolf fur travels up the spine of
the wearer, giving them the same spiked look that actual direwolves backs do.
Smells faintly of smoked mutton.
The Soggy Bottom Bitches
Small note attached to the sign, scrawled in charcoal with poor penmanship: Whoevers banging around in
the bottoms at night had better knock it off before I get down there and crack you over the skull with a
hammer. That is, if the moon tides dont get to you first.
If asked, a passerby (or Tessa, or anyway else) the bottoms are a large pipe made from hollowed
stone that passes underneath much of the town on the eastern side, with the entrance near the
fishermans wharf and warehouse. Its used to divert some of the ocean water away from the town
and make it just a little bit easier for Green Oystershoal to survive the worst of high tides. Its
deserted for the most part, and full of soggy stone and a thin layer of wet silt.
The party cant head down into the bottoms until the evening, when the tide is lowest. Stogan, being
afraid of tight spaces, will refuse to join the party, instead electing to wish them luck and stay in the
tavern to hang with the laborers and flirt with Tessa.
Come up with some measure of time to track while the party is beneath the surface, because when
the tide comes in the lower part of the pipes will be entirely flooded. The terrain is difficult---pure,
compacted mud on filling the bottom of a pipe about 20 feet in diameter and 15 feet across after
being filled with silt and mud.
The only sources of light are the sewer grates every few yards in the street above that leave thin slats
of light beaming down on the piles of damp silt thats fallen through it.
As the party moves north, they begin to hear terribile mutters in giant and aquan mixed with deep,
inhuman growls. There is also regular banging and knocking on stone walls of the pipe---a rhythm
that echoes and reverberates around the cramped pipe. As the party approaches they come into a
wider area underneath the fields which is nevertheless part of the makeshift sewer system. There
amid the silt and gunk they find a doughy old woman in a stained white bonnet, torn blue dress, and
apron so threadbare they can see the strings in some places.
This is a sea hags illusory appearance, and requires a DC16 intelligence check in order to
see through. An odd shadow as she steps under a grate is a good example to notice, as
illusory appearance is a mental effect rather than a physical one.
Once the party members are within 10 feet of her (she has beckoned them closer up to this point),
Lead Hag drops her illusory appearance and attacks, triggering horrific appearance at the same time,
with a horrible shriek the entire time. As that happens, giant crabs burst from two mounds of refuse,
scattering copper coins everywhere. A surprise round is up to the DMs discretion.
Description of Lead hag: shes much taller than a human woman, but her hunched stature
makes her appear roughly the height of a human man. Her limbs are long and thin, but
unnatural muscle ripples through them. Her fingers are long as well, and end in sharp points.
Her stomach is sunken, her ribs are showing in her chest. Her hair hangs long, lank, and
black around her sternum, dropping a heavy flow of water all around her at all times. Her
flesh is milky grey and flakes in places, and dull gray scales form a patchwork armor in some
sections of skin. She wears a rudimentary skirt made of tangled seaweed that sticks to her
thighs when she moves, and no other clothing. Her face is a rip-off of Samara from T he
Ringterrible, twisted expression, flaking skin with bulges of rot beneath it, one eye glaring
with unfathomable malice behind locks of lank black hair.
 After the lead sea hag drops to 0 HP, two more hags come sprinting through the mud down the
pipes. The smaller of the two is the spitting image of the hag that was just slain, except the size of a
halfling rather than the size of an elf. If any of the party speak aquan, they will hear the child sea hag
shout Mother! No! in her own flowing tongue; those who dont comprehend what was said will just
hear burbling mixed with guttural shrieks.
The other hag is enormously, disgustingly fat. Folds of her clammy flesh clap while she puffs along,
creating a disturbing parody of applause in the acoustic noise of the cave/pipe. The stench coming
off her is incrediblemuch worse than the fish-rot of the other two, this one smells like feces and
decay along with it. Fishy smell is clean for a sea hag, this is a creature that relishes wallowing in
refuse and offal. Together, they will attack the party, enraged that they will lose power over their
spells once the life force of the Lead Sea Hag fades away. H er hair is chopped shortly in an ugly,
fringy bowl that sticks out in odd angles, almost perpendicular in places to the side of her head.
There isnt an inch of skin that isnt blotched, bruised, or veiny in varying shades of puke green and
sickly blue-white. She has a pug nose, scrunched cheeks, a double chin, a forehead that almost
hangs over her eyes, and a lazy eye that points a hard right no matter where she looks.
 Loot after the battle, scattered around in and sullied by piles of mud and gunk.
This is just stuff that I rolled, and I rolled high. You dont have to use it if you dont want to.
0-4 CR treasure horde table:
12 10-gold gems: 1 azurite, 1 blue banded agate, 2 blue quartz, 1 blue eye agate, 2
lapis lazuli, 2 malachite, 1 obsidian, 2 rhodochrosite
1300 copper pieces, 900 silver pieces, 60 gold=163 gold pieces
6 magic item as:
Potion of greater healing
Potion of healing
 Potion of climbing
Potion of healing
1st-level spell scroll: identify
1st-level spell scroll; Tensers Floating disk.
Heartstone: hag loot. Once a week, cures any diseases instantly on contact. Power
is limited to 1/week because the users are not hags.
Soul bag: lump of human flesh and skin-leather that contains the soul of a bone devil
Every time the party kills a fiend, demon, or other evil-aligned creature, the
bone devil gains a fraction of strength equal to their CR. When the bone
devil reaches 8 strength (equal to its CR) it bursts from the bag and
introduces itself as Yellitinub, bone-dancer of the nine hells. In exchange for
freeing her, she offers the party a boon, as she owes them a debt, and a
devil owing you a debt is a great gift. She will grant one of the following
options:
4 CR5-10 horde items (A bit from my private collection)
3rd-level spell scroll
Potion of animal friendship
Philter of love, fiendish-themed: the philter is an opaque
black goat horn with Infernal writings all across the outside.
Potion of animal friendship
One each: amber, chrysoberyl, jade, yellow pearl, red-brown spinel,
toumelin (Some baubles that I know for a fact are quite valuable,
and far easier to conceal than gold)
150 platinum (If you insist on coinage, I can spare this from
myhoard
Warlock patronage. If you like, I can grant you a bit of my powers,
so long as you ask nicely when you use it. Nearly all the power you
could take from me is insignificant, when Im at home, anyway.
All of the above, in exchange for a favor from each of them. Great
exchanges require a great price later down the path. I shall
collect...later. Farewell, my allies.
After 2 days of adventuring or downtime (or more, at DM discretion), the windstorm thats passing over the town will
finish, leaving the party free to head to the wreck of the Pelorus in the morning. Stogan shall encourage the party, in
the tavern, to head to bed early. Have the party level up at the end of the session, as a reward for all their adventuring.
At this point, they should be level 5.

Session 4: And the Dead Shall Walk the Beaches

Its the early hours of the mornin. Sunrise is still about three hours away. And from the ripples of foam on the
fishermans wharf and the beach east of town, bony feet feet tramp onto the shores. The skeletons are 44 strong, but
dont tell the party that. All they know is that theyll wake to loud screams, running feet, and the sounds of temple bells
clanging to wake the townsfolk.
The Pelorus was an older vessel and skeleton-crewed, but it was still a full galley, 80 crewen strong with an
extra 10 passengers. One such
Use Tessa and Stogan to assemble the party downstairs. Before they can figure out a plan of attack, have them roll
initiative as
This is as far as Ive gotten right now.