TALISMAN OF THE

DARK SORROW
A FORGOTTEN REALMS ADVENTURE IN EASTING

Introduction: A nice relaxing stop in the small town of Easting to restock your equipment, eat one of
the famous lunches at the Dragon Horse Inn and rest a little bit before going further into the
Western Heartlands for adventure. It all sounded good until the bloody and battered
Dwarves stumbled into town.

A starter adventure for four to five level 2 characters

by: T.A. THOMPSON

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Talisman of the dark sorrow
Some live in the darkness of their minds until one day all they The evening business starts out slowly and crescendos into
know is sorrow. Others search for the light, finding the best joy a lively crowd before closing time. Matthias Armanie, the
is a talisman of hope. local bard can be seen here some nights playing until the
—Aquefyre Igenaxx, Wizard from Suzail last customer leaves.

Lunch specials are served as follows: roll 1d6

area information 1. A plate of stewed mutton and beer bread
Easting is a small town on the Trader's Road east of Iriaebor.
With the High Road intersecting here, a lot of traveling 2. Onion & Oxen Stew with owlbear biscuits
merchants pass through this town. There are a lot of 3. A plate of Roast Beef with honey carrots and beer bread
Dwarves that come here to meet and trade goods and
4. Pork & Blue Goblin soup with owlbear biscuits
services or travel on to Iriaebor for a bigger clientele. Some
of the finest horses around the Western Heartlands are bred 5. A plate of Baked Hare & Water veggies and onion bread
here and one can find a decent bargain if one looks hard 6. Grilled Owlbear steaks, blackened taters, and beer
enough. bread
And of course the most recent rumors can be heard
party arrival throughout the crowd here. Roll 1d6 or choose.
The party of adventurers are enthralled by the opportunities
here in the Western Heartlands for exploring and hopefully RUMORS
filling their backpacks with some coin.
1. Jerrold Tearlas, a local horse breeder is funding money
The party has elected to stay the night at the Dragon Horse to the Zhentarim for them to raid caravans along the
Inn to recuperate from their journey before they head on to Trader's Road. (False)..actually some Zhentarim agents
Iriaebor where they hope to find gainful adventure awaiting visited him and he refused to sell his good stock to them. A
them. local gossiper saw the Zhentarim leave his farm and
construed this story.

Dragon horse inn 2. The new Dwarf smith, Gromli Frostmail is using magic
to incorporate into his suits of armor. (True) Gromli has an
The Dragon Horse Inn is nothing spectacular compared to
old gem that gives his armor a +1 bonus. Therefore, his prices
the multitude of inns one finds in the realms. The
are steep.
appearance outside reflects the boarding could use a good
cleaning and painting again. A large oak post bears a sign 3. The Zhentarim have become more active on the
reading its name “dragon Horse Inn” with a faded Trader's Road and fear is they will attack more caravans
depiction of a large black horse rearing up. soon. (Partial Truth).The Zhentarim are more active here
GM NOTE:(the “d” on the sign was mistakenly painted in lately but they are working on another project besides
lower case many years ago and was never corrected.) standard caravan raids.
4. A local farm reports seeing a hooded figure at night
Once one steps inside the appearance changes to a prowling around their livestock attempting to steal one.
well-kept interior and signs of cheer brighten the inn from (Partially False).it is actually the farmer's daughter meeting
the various customers inside either enjoying a drink or her boyfriend for late night star gazing.
food.
5. Word from Suzail tells of a war coming for the
Depending on the time, the inn maintains a fairly healthy Dwarven mines in foothills of the Sunset Mountains.
crowd of patrons. If one finds themselves here at lunch, And the Zhentarim are behind this trouble. (False). The
every seat is apparently taken. The owner has several Dwarven mines are active and well-guarded currently.
outdoor tables at the back he escorts potential customers 6. An old man's body was found west of town a few days
to if needed and the weather is pleasant enough. ago and his eyes were missing. The body has yet to be
identified. (True).this ties into the adventure.

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The key to the rumors heard is to implicate that the
Zhentarim is somehow involved in this adventure and are
Trader's Road
the main culprits. But, they are actually innocent this time. The party arrives at the attack location and discovers some
blood and a lot of horse and human footprints. Thulnak
Arles “Tiny” Hyley is the current owner of Dragon Horse says he wounded one of the bandits with his crossbow as
Inn. He is anything but tiny. He is an upper-middle aged they fled. The trail is fairly easy to follow leading into the
human male who stands about 6'3 and weighs over 300. A Lightning Steppes going north from the road.
jovial person who takes pride in his staff and serving one
of the best lunches east of the big city of Iriaebor. He greets The party needs to start their tracking in late evening or
all customers and swiftly welcomes them before returning early night so they arrive at the bandit camp during the
to the many duties maintaining a productive flow for his night.
business.
The bandits have a rather large campfire going and no
He isn't much for the rumors passed around here and guards are posted. They are confident in their actions and
doesn't comment on them. He only replies: believe there's no way someone would come looking for
“Rumors are like owlbear cubs; cute but potentially deadly”. them.

If the party is stealthy enough, they can get a surprise

Adventure begins round on the bandits.
Depending on the time of when the party arrives, the
adventure begins one of two ways. 1. Lunch time: A local boy There are 5 bandits in the camp, with one of them severely
runs into the inn saying something about injured Dwarves wounded from Thulnak's bolt. He is moaning and in a lot
arriving and bandits. 2. Evening time: A bloody and bruised of pain and is unable to participate in the combat.
Dwarf comes through the door and collapses to the floor. He
is conscious but weak. His companion follows, stammering The party should hopefully elect to capture one of the
something about Zhentarim bandits. bandits (injured bandit) who tells the party all he knows.

Either scenario, the party learns that the Dwarf, They were hired to attack the two Dwarves and take a
Magnus Bendergran was coming from Elversult and had pouch of gems from them. They would then travel to the
traveled through Priapurl. He and his one companion, warlock's camp to meet their leader who had went on with
Thulnak Deepaxe were on the lonely stretch of the Trader's the gems first to receive payment.
Road east of town and were attacked by bandits.
This is crucial for the party to go on to the final part of the
Magnus tells only partial of his story. He is a gem dealer and adventure. If the party kills all of the bandits, you can have
was traveling to Iriaebor to meet a potential buyer of some a note and map on one of the them showing where they
rare malachite gems that Magnus had acquired through his were headed. The injured bandit will willingly ride with
business. them to the location though.

Thulnak is a very old Dwarf fighter and his best years are Searching the bandits or talking to the captured one, its
behind him. He grumbles about the bandits and states over revealed they were to wear insignia on themselves to
and over they were Zhentarim due to him recognizing their indicate they were Zhentarim agents, however they are not
symbol on some of the riders clothing. officially aligned with that faction. With the recent activity
of the Zhentarim in this area, they were hoping to lay
Have the party either approach Magnus or have him notice blame on them.
them and inquire into enlisting their aid in locating the
bandits and retrieving the gems. ENCOUNTER: Bandits (5)

Thulnak after resting up and taking a hot meal and cold

drink will lead the party to the attack site. If the party needs
an extra player, the DM can use Thulnak as a NPC. If not, he
returns to Easting.

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 Treasure:
Into the hills 210 gold (bandit's payment)
The captured bandit or map leads the party into the small Wand of Poison (see appendix A)
hills northeast of the camp. Gems recovered to return to Magnus

They arrive at a large tent constructed and observe two

Back to Easting
horses tied outside. There are no signs of activity.
The party returns to Easting with the gems and returns
As soon as the first character reaches the tent opening, they them to the rightful owner, Magnus.
set off an undetectable trap and are engulfed by a 5 foot ra-
dius gaseous cloud of poison, and anyone in that radius He happily pays them 40 gold each (party of four or more)
needs to make a DC 12 CON saving throw or takes 3 (1d6) and tells them if they are ever in Elversult to come by his
poison damage. On a successful save, damage is negated. shop and he will make them a great deal on a gem.

As soon as this occurs, two humans appear from the back of Everyone then sat down to a wonderful meal before going
the party. They were invisible up to this point. One is wearing on to the next adventure.
armor with a great sword and the other is wearing a robe
over padded armor and holding a wand.
appendix a: items
Wand of Poison
The warlock had a ward around the camp and knew Wand, common, (requires attunement by a spellcaster)
someone was coming, so he made himself and the bandit
leader invisible until they knew who it was that arrived. The wand has 7 charges. While holding it, you can use an
action to expend 1 or more of its charges to cast a form of
The warlock tells the party they have one chance to leave poison spray on one creature within 10 feet. The creature
here alive. If they refuse, he attacks with his wand first. If must make a CON saving throw (caster's spell DC) or take 3
successful, his second attack is also with the wand. He then (1d6) poison damage. A successful save negates the effects.
proceeds to use a spell. The armored bandit leader on his The wand regains 1d6+1 expended charges daily at dawn. If
first action in combat kills the captured bandit calling him you expend the wand's last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the
“Traitor filth”. He then will attack the “fighter type” of the wand crumbles into ashes and is destroyed.
party.
APPENDIX B: CREATURES
Both the bandit leader and warlock fight to the death.
Bandit
ENCOUNTER: 1 Bandit Leader & 1 Warlock Medium humanoid (human), neutral evil

A search of the tent reveals a book of scribbled and

Armor Class: 12 (leather armor)
Hit Points: 11 (2d8+2)
half-finished notes of the warlock. The party can determine
Speed: 30 ft.
he was trying to conjure some type of spell of
transformation to make him immortal. A set of human STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
eyeballs are in a jar of greenish liquid on the table inside the 11 (+0) 12 (+1) 12 (+1) 10 (+0) 10 (+0) 10 (+0)
tent. (these are from the body mentioned in rumor 6.) There is
no evidence to indicate, but the wizard was the “buyer” from
Senses: passive Perception 10
Iriaebor. He obtained enough details from Magnus and how Languages: Common
and when he would be traveling, that he then hired the Challenge: 1/8 (25 XP)
bandits to steal the gems and meet him in the hills where
they would be rewarded. The wizard tried using the eyeballs
for his spell but since they didn't work, he discovered notes ACTIONS:
that indicated the green gem malachite was known as being Scimitar: Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5ft.,
a “stone of transformation” and was sure these would grant one target. Hit: 4(1d6+1) slashing damage.
him immortality once the spell ritual was completed.
Dagger: Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach
5ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d4+1) piercing
damage.

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Bandit Leader Warlock
Medium humanoid (human) lawful evil Medium humanoid (human) chaotic evil

Armor Class: 14 (studded leather armor) Armor Class: 12 (padded armor)

Hit Points: 22 (4d8+4) Hit Points: 19 (3d8+6)
Speed: 30 ft. Speed: 30 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
15 (+2) 14 (+2) 13 (+1) 12 (+1) 10 (+0) 11 (+0) 10 (+0) 12 (+1) 14 (+2) 12 (+1) 11 (+0) 16 (+3)

Saving Throws: STR +4, CON +3 Saving Throws: WIS +2, CHA +5
Skills: Athletics +4, Intimidation + 2, Skills: Deception +5, Arcana + 3, Religion +3
Senses: passive Perception 10 Senses: passive Perception 10
Languages: Common, Dwarvish Languages: Common, Dwarvish
Challenge: 1 (200XP) Challenge: 1 (200XP)
Multiattack: The bandit leader makes two melee Eldritch Invocations: The warlock has the following
attacks each turn. invocations:
Eye of the Rune Keeper
ACTIONS: Mask of Many Faces
Great Sword: Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5ft.,
one target. Hit: 8 (2d6+2) slashing damage. Spellcasting: The warlock is a 2nd level spellcaster. His
spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 13, +5 to
Handaxe: Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, hit with spell attacks). The warlock has the following
reach 5ft., or range 20/60 one target. Hit: 5 (1d6+2) spells prepared:
slashing damage. Cantrips: Minor Illusion, Poison Spray
1st Level (2 slots): Charm Person, Hex, Witch Bolt

Thulnak Deepaxe ACTIONS:

Medium humanoid (dwarf) lawful good Wand of Poison: Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach
10ft.,one target. Hit: 3 (1d6) poison damage.
Armor Class: 16 (chain mail armor) (see appendix A)
Hit Points: 27 (5d8+5)
Speed: 25 ft. Handaxe: Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit,
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA reach 5ft., or range 20/60 one target. Hit: 4 (1d6+1)
slashing damage.
15 (+2) 10 (+0) 13 (+1) 12 (+1) 12 (+1) 10 (+0)

Saving Throws: STR +4, CON +3

Skills: Athletics +4, Intimidation + 2, Survival +3
Senses: passive Perception 10 APPENDIX C: MISC.
Languages: Common, Dwarvish
Challenge: 1 (200XP) GM NOTES: The general information of the area and
adventure encounters are described. Feel free to add,
delete, and edit as you desire. I believe each DM should
ACTIONS: add their own flavor in their own way to challenge their
Battleaxe: Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5ft., players in how they determine is best.
one target. Hit: 6 (1d8+2) slashing damage or
versatile 8 (1d10+2) slashing damage.

Handaxe: Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit,

reach 5ft., or range 20/60 one target. Hit: 5 (1d6+2)
slashing damage.

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