An Honest Mistake
This adventure is the introduction for Mirik-Grove Is Born and takes place immediately before it.
Structure
Exposition
Introduction Specific to College Campaign
Three wanderers are climbing the same mountain in early spring. One traveler is exhilarated to climb higher than she ever has before. Another is taking his dragon companion's advice to contemplate some things in the mountains, and yet another is just trying to get a high view to get his bearings. A thin layer of snow covers the foot of the mountain and only grows thicker as one climbs; specks of white are seen on the plains below.
Let the characters introduce themselves, allow a few moments for rp if needed, etc. But after a few moments:
As you are speaking you are interrupted by a disconcerting sound *play distant Skyrim dragon roar*. You spy another man up the mountain running as fast as he can down it. A large white Wyrm is soaring down the mountain after him. He hides behind a boulder and the dragon seems to lose track of him. It lands and throws about boulders with its massive claws before roaring into the air, freezing the air above it and causing a brief pelting of hail.
The mountainside is filled with boulders, snow, and some trees which the players can hide behind. This is going to count as a chase scene if the players run. The young white dragon, Kurnthanax, starts 300ft. from Kyølig Olsen and 500ft. from everyone else. Additionally, all the wanderers start 200ft. from Kyølig Olsen. Kurnthanax wants to rid his mountain of weaklings and seeks to kill any humanoids on it. He is moving in and wants to establish dominance, however, it is unlikely that he will pursue his quarry off the mountain, the bottom of which is 300ft. down from the wanderers and 500ft. from Kyolig. The mountain is icy/snowy and difficult terrain. A character can make this terrain count as non-difficult for one round for them if they attempt and succeed a DC 13 dexterity check. If they fail the terrain still counts as difficult and at the end of their turn they fall prone.
At the bottom of the mountain are 4 kobolds lying in wait, loyal to Kurnthanax. They were sleeping but as soon as Kurnthanax began roaring they woke up. They have a trip wire that one of them will hold on each side as soon as the players get close to the bottom. The tripwire is a DC14 to spot and the kobolds are quite chatty, so it is a DC 15 to hear them if it is loud, but if it is quiet it is only a DC 9. They are talking about how if they manage to trip and kill the adventures they may be rewarded. If a player hits the trip wire they make a contested strength check against the kobolds (the kobolds have advantage) with the loser falling prone. If the player(s) trip and fall the 2 other kobolds are ready to stab them while they are down. Add 1 kobold tinkerer named Babbl who is the leader of this little group
The adventure begins in The Citadel of the Rabid Lands.
The Court of Commerce has recently lowered the "fair trade" price for various goods in The Citadel forcing even more workers to be laid off from their jobs in the Citadel. Most speculate that this was done due latest sponsored expedition into the The Rabid Lands, the 48th to be exact. Some people are joining the expedition in hopes of being able to find prosperity afar, others are moving into Silvaria proper to find work, meanwhile you are here, in the lobby of the The Society for the Preservation of Civilization's main hall at 6am waiting for someone to give you some work. Since the Court of Commerce reduced the price of adventuring goods in addition to many other things to expect this to be a boon to you rather than a bane.
You are waiting with several other adventurers, mercenaries, or whatever you may call them in a lavishly decorated hall that simultaneous has bloodstains on the rugs and mud on the wood floor. To the Societies dismay it seems that they still cannot enforce the proper manners they so value in their recruits. Just as you are thinking about this you notice the awkward silence between you and those sitting in the armchairs around you.
Use this moment to allow the players to introduce their characters and perhaps have some brief banter amongst themselves. After this is done young man named Darsinian White who mostly just takes care of the clerical side of the Society approaches them and says:
A young man dressed in a plain gray cloak with a white linen undershirt walks up to you with a piece of parchment in one hand and a stick of charcoal in the other. He looks up at you all and says "Ah good, we've got a few things that still need to be done today, the rest of the Society isn't willing to bother with them, but you all look like you'll take most any work, no offense. My name is Darsinian and I help assign contracts to fine folks like you" Looking down to his list he says "There a man in a little hamlet a short way to the east of here, called Donaville, whose cows have evidently gone made. He wants someone to cure them of their illness but by the sounds of it they've been corrupted by Hell's Decadence, so good luck with that. If you can cure then but otherwise simply kill them and be sure that you dispose of the bodies so that nothing is going to eat them. Next on the list" a little air escapes between his lips as he skims down the list on the parchment, "A man's 11 year old daughter allegedly had her diary stolen by, and I quote "Gray little men" in the night who then retreated into the sewers beneath the city somewhere around Copper Street. We're more concerned about whatever these creatures are living down there than the diary but..." He looks up from his paper to survey the hall and the various bloodstains scattered around, "I don't want you to come back here with 10 bloody heads or something like that so how about you fetch that diary and I'll assume you took care of them. That should be all for today, get back to me by nightfall and I'll have a handsome sum of gold for you, and do inform me if you happen to kill anything else monstrous besides these things, theres a bounty on about everything these days, although try to keep your proof of kill from further ruining this hall." The man walks away through a door that leads to the rooms of the hall that take care of the clerical side of the Society, and you and your assumed companions are left to handle the matters of the day.
Mad Cows
Getting to Donaville
Donaville is quite close to the Citadel, only about 8 miles away and taking only 2 hours to walk to or 1 hour to ride to if the players pay 6cp to hire a carriage. When they get there they see no more than 6 buildings dotted about a field, all of them homes, many of which either have a small field or a pasture. If the players get close enough to it they find that one of the buildings is a tannery in addition to a home due to its foul smell.Desperate Rancher
After only about a minute of being in the hamlet a man runs up to the party:
A man covered in dirt and bits of grass, much of it on his face, runs to you frantically yelling "Please, for all things good please help me! My cows have gone mad! They started eating each other and then they attacked me and I have no clue what to do! Please they are all that my family has, save them!
The ranchers name is Finnigan Roloth and he is incredibly panicked. He has a small pen adjacent to his own modest house that used to contain his 3 prized dairy cows. The pen is around 40ft. long running the length of the house and 20ft. wide and has only one entrance which is through a side door on the farm house that goes into the pen, although the fences are only 5ft. tall and each 5ft. section has an AC of 15 and 10 hitpoints so players and even the cows may be able to get out of the pen by other means. Within the pen are 2 cows (Look to Volo's Guide to Monsters), both viciously tearing apart and eating another cow lying dead on the ground. The cows have consumed water tainted by Hell's Decadence and so are now eating anything and everything they see, especially meat, and are far more aggressive than usual. They attack anything that enters their pen and anything that draws their attention from outside it, charging and attempting to break the fence until they can reach their target.
Dealing with the Cows
The cows have advantage on saving throws against the spell Animal Friendship and it lasts for only 1 minute on them. The cows can be cured of their demonic madness through any magic that cures disease or ends a curse. This will return them to their docile state and Finnigan will profusely thank them and tell them that although he has nothing he can give them he hopes that the Society rewards them well and that they are always welcome in his home. If the cows are killed he is instead devastated, jaw agape, hardly able to speak. He is not mad, he knew there was no other way, he simply wish there was.
Completion: The cows are no longer a threat XP: 100 (300 if the cows were cured)Goblin ThievesWhen the players are travelling through the city in the late afternoon (likely on their way to find the diary thieves) they find themselves walking through a commercial street that is quiet after the shopping from earlier in the day is all done with and there is almost no one on the streets.
As you make your way through The Citadel, shielding your eyes from the glare of the evening sun on the horizon, you pass through a commercial street with empty market stands and locked up trade stores. As you make it to a cross street in the road and take a second to think about which way to turn when your ears perk up at loud sound of metal crashing on the ground behind you to your left. You look towards the blacksmithing building you just passed and notice that one of the doors is partially open with a huge chunk taken out of the left-hand side.
Within the blacksmith are 5 goblins who are looting the place and have just knocked over a spear rack after greedily fighting over the spears. They are hostile and will attack the players if they realize they have been spotted. If the players walk into the blacksmith read:
Five short green humanoid figures are bent over a pile of now disorganized spears and weapons next to a fallen weapon rack. Their long pointed ears perk up as they hear you walking in and turn around to and snarl at you with a mouth full of crooked teeth. "They's gonna call da guards on us!" one yells as he picks up a spear and grips it in his hands. Another with a shield runs at you from the corner of your vision swinging a flail in circles above his head. "Don't worry boyz! I just founds me'self a new krumpa!"
There is a bar table on one side of the blacksmith, forge with bellows and still hot coals on the opposite end nearby an anvil with some blacksmith tools hanging on the side. There is one unflipped rack on the wall with 2 chain shirts on it next to a wooden chair. There are 5 spears on the ground, and 1 shield on the bar. The goblins are completely unequipped unless the players are detected as described above. Regardless any unequipped goblins equip themselves with weapons as quickly as they can and attack the players. The goblin with the flail also has a pouch of 12gp and a plain silver ring (10gp) that he stole from the blacksmiths lockbox.
At the back of the smithy is a door that leads into the living quarters of the blacksmith that worked here. It small with a bed and a firepit with a hole in the ceiling above it as well as various necessary things like an iron pot, a chamber pot, a table and chair, and a looted iron lockbox.
On the ground in this room is a middle aged man who appears to have been bashed in the head with a rock and has scratch marks on his arms. The chair is turned over and the lockbox is broken open. The blacksmith has a bloody firepower in his hand and a dead goblin lies across from him with a stab wound in his chest.
The players may very well just loot the scene and leave however if they tell Darsinian about the goblins they slayed with proof he will give them 25gp.
Completion: The goblins have been prevented from stealing from the blacksmith XP:250
A Cornered Wyrmling
Getting into the Sewers
If the party goes to Copper Street they will find no obvious entrance to the sewers unless they go into the narrow alleyways in between densely packed trade buildings and houses lining the street. Within each these alleyways is a large wooden trapdoor, around 10ft.x5ft. If they don't find these anyone they ask will gladly tell them where the "dump hatches" are. These hatches are used to dump any filth, waste, and garbage that accumulates in the streets or in peoples houses, and the players are likely to see a person or two dumping garbage or human refuse down the hatch. Although no one will stop them they will fairly disgusted by any knowledge that they are going down through those hatches.
Although these are the only ways into the sewers they were never meant to be used as entrances, and lack any ladder or any other way to get into the sewers other than using rope or some other tool, or simply jumping into the river of sewage that flows beneath them.
The Sewers Proper
These sewers have hardly had any work done on them, and are the result of the Citadel capitalizing on the vast underground system of natural rivers beneath the city that was discovered near the founding of the Citadel rather than any actual humanoid construction. The only real construction in the sewers is the installment of the hatches that denizens of the city use to fling waste and garbage down into the rivers below where it all eventually ends up in either the undermark or occasionally an above ground spring at a lower elevation than the city.
Most points along the rivers of the sewer are 5ft. wide and 5ft. tall, with 2ft. of that height being taken up by the waters of the river, with clumps of garbage and refuse passing by intermittently. These areas are considered difficult terrain unless the creature passing through them has a swimming speed. The sewers are clearly natural, with uneven floors ceilings and walls, stalactites hanging from the ceiling at points, and no lights sources being present except for the slivers of light that flow through the trap doors above, unless otherwise mentioned the sewers are dark. The stink of the sewers is noxious and any creature that spends 1 minute in them must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned for 1 hour. If they are still in the sewers after the poisoned condition ends they must repeat the save or become poisoned for another hour. Any creature that succeeds on this saving throw is immune to the stink for 24 hours or for as long as they stay in the sewer.
Deep Dragon and Derro
The creatures that stole the girls diary are derro (see Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes). The three derro down here were driven from the underdark and separated by their tribemates and savant in an attack by an umber hulk, although they cannot remember any of the details due to the umber hulks confusing glare. Their small group consists of Malf (male, 43), who breathes incredibly loudly, Kirk (male, 15) who grits his teeth after every sentence (unless otherwise mentioned Kirk is assumed to out in the sewers rummaging through filth somewhere the party is not) Girit (male, 73) who hops from place to place rather than walking, and Yik (female, 242) who constantly drools and is considered their pseudo-leader, although due to her age although she still answers to the deep dragon wyrmling (see Fizban's Treasury of Dragons) they are currently living with named Melfluviate who was similarly separated from her mother after she was killed by a large drow hunting party. Currently the derro and deep dragon are living together. The derro afraid to have nothing more powerful than themselves to protect them and the deep dragon is too afraid to have nothing between her and the threats that she believes surround her. Melfluviate is only 2 years old and thus does not know of the caveat of The Silver Pact that forbids the killing of dragons within their lairs.Deceptive Directions
Any character who investigates the walls of the sewers under Copper Street and succeeds on a DC 14 perception check will notice small, barely noticeable arrows scratched in the walls of sewer. The derro carved these arrows every 100ft. within about half a mile of their camp in the sewer walls to help them find their way back to camp when they return from stealing from the surface dwellers. However, the Derro are extremely paranoid and carved the arrows to point downstream, in the opposite direction of their camp.600ft. down the river in the direction the arrows point (downstream) the cave widens to 10ft. wide rather than 5ft. for 20ft. to form a 10ft.x20ft. pool of sewage. The derro have set a trap her consisting of a tripwire made of braided horses hair hangs 3ft. above the floor, a foot above the water, 10ft. into the widened hollow attached to a mechanism that releases a net from the ceiling which unleashes rocks and debris upon whomever triggers the tripwire. It takes a successful DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check to notice the tripwire or the net of debris (success is automatic to notice the net of debris if they simply look at the ceiling and have a light source or darkvision). When the tripwire is triggered each creature in a 10ft. square in the middle of the 10ft.x20ft. area must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw (with disadvantage if they affected by the difficult terrain of the sewers) or take 11 (2d10) bludgeoning damage and must succeed a DC 13 strength saving throw or become restrained beneath the water underneath rubble and debris. A creature may free itself or another restrained creature with a successful DC 13 strength check. On a successful save the creature takes half as much damage and suffers no additional affects. After this point there are no more arrows further down the sewer walls, instead at the end of the widened section there are rough etchings on the wall in dwarvish that reads "Wrong way Kirk!". This text requires a successful DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check to spot unless the characters have already spotted the arrows on the walls in which case its an automatic success. After this first piece of dwarvish text the river pathway simply drops off into a 1000ft. plummet into the underdark. If the group overcomes the trap without taking any damage they gain
300ft. down the tunnel in the direction opposite of the one the arrows are pointing (upstream) a derro (Malf) is trying to catch valuables and edible "food" in the sewage flowing by him. If the party is not sneaking he notices them when they get within range of his darkvision (120ft.) and will flee back to his camp to warn his allies of "Baddies" approaching. If the players are within 150ft. of Malf a successful DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check allows them to hear his extremely loud breathing.
The Derro Hovel
The 2 derro (Girit and Yik), and the deep dragon wyrmling (Melfluviate) are in an alcove a further 300 feet from where he currently is. If Malf successfully warns them before the party reaches their alcove the derro (including Malf) retreat about 100ft. into the sewers, lying in wait to ambush the players, although the players can still hear Malf's breathing if they succeed on the perception check. Melfluviate refuses to abandon her "lair" and so the derro decide they will run in and attack once the players attack their master . When the players reach this alcove read the text below aloud, the text assumes the derro have had time to leave and that the characters have a light source, adjust the text as needed:
For the first time in what feels like the entire day you find a spot of dry cave. A small alcove to your right offers some relief from the constant flow of the sewer. The circular alcove has a few large and chipped stalagmites on the ground while it appears that all other rock formations have been broken completely. The ground is covered in filth, organized into neat piles depending on the type, one heap of scrap and wood, one of arguably edible rot, and one of miscellaneous other things including soaking wet books and chipped sword hilts. Besides the tunnel near the back of the alcove there is nothing else of note
The derro spend most of their time sorting through the garbage that comes down into the sewers for anything useful and have organized it into three piles "make stuff with, food stuffs, and gift stuffs for master". The opening near the back of the cave is 3 feet tall and 5 feet wide, with a medium creature needing to squeeze in order to fit through. Melfluviate carved out this natural tunnel to be wide enough to fit her body through, and a DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check reveals that this tunnel was indeed crudely widened with claws. The tunnel continues for 15ft. with one curve in it, it empties out into a wide 30ft.x30ft. circular cave with water dripping from the ceiling and small fungi growing all along the walls and the floor. The first time a creature enters this room besides Melfluviate and her derro servants they must make a DC 10 constitution saving throw or become blinded for one minute, repeating the saving throw at the end of each of their turns ending the affect on a success, as spores shower from the fungi above the entrance onto the intruders and In here Melfuviate is either sleeping if she has had no warning to the adventurers arrival or has prepared an action to unleash her breath weapon on them as soon as they enter her cave if she has received warning. The only object in this cave besides the stone formations is small leather-bound book, the girls missing diary. It is Melfluviates only piece of "treasure". Although she cannot read it yet she is using it to learn common and is thoroughly enjoying the small pieces of secrets she can put together, even if they have little significance. In addition this book is the only piece of comfort she has as she is struggling with the death of her mother and being relegated from her magnificent home to a smelly and dismal sewer alcove. As such she will fight to the death over the book and even if stalled she will chase the characters as far as she possibly can, except out of the sewers and into the daylight above.
If the derro are hiding as soon as they hear combat from Melfluviate's lair they try to sneak up on the players to attack them (with disadvantage due to Malf's loud breathing). The derro flee if Melfuviate or two other derro are slain, screaming madly into the sewers.
Completion: The Girls Diary Has been Recovered XP:450
A Mistake Realized
This portion, and thereby the rest of the adventure, assumes that the players killed the deep dragon wyrmling. After the players are finished and return to the hall of the Society for the Preservation of Civilization with the diary Darsinian happily greets them:"Well I assume that hose hunts went well! Oh but do wipe your boots on the mat."
After the players have recounted their success, or after they mention killing a dragon read the following outloud, although only read the first paragraph if the players mention killing the dragon but everything afterwards unfolds regardless:
His eyes widen with dismay. "You... you killed a dragon? In the sewers? In it's lair?... Oh no no no no I should have told you, they should have told you! Why is this not something they tell everyone that goes on these quests!" He quiets down and takes a few deep breathes as he notices various looks coming at him from around the hall. "Listen, just don't mention anything, if anyone finds out, it's the death penalty. Ever since the Treaty of Dragons the killing of them in their lairs is strictly forbidden, but its in the sewers so just don't mention it and no one should find out."
After only a few brief moments of tense silence a small and filthy gray figure similar to those you recently slew, although far younger, slams open the doors of the entrance hall, or at least as much as someone of his size can. You notice it dragging something scaled in it's hands through the door, as you realize what he is dragging he screams in a cracking voice, pointing at you, grinding his teeth after each sentence, "Them! They killed the dragon master! Master of spores and kind scaley! They kill! They break into 10|home and killllll!" As he drags the corpse of the dragon you slew, its greenish-purple blood soaking the societies newly waxed wood floors, an older man with a goatee in a flowing yellow robe followed by 10 city guards enters through the door. The grey gremlin collapses in grief and stress, pounding the dragons corpse with his fists. The yellow robed figure walks forward with the guards behind him, and says "I am one of gracious Queen Yuria's court diviners, and this little wretch has been screaming about the murder of his master from the citiy's sewers for the better half of an hour. He described you fellows and after some help on my part he has now managed to find you, and is accusing you of a highly egregious charge. You have no need to plead your case, simply breath this in that you might make my job a little easier." You look over to see Darsinian nearly pulling his hair out, as you look back the diviner has blown a gray powder into your faces, you breath in bits of it and cough it back out, but your cough manifests as verbal confessions, betrayals of your foremost thoughts, testimonies of your slaying of the dragon. The diviner frowns, and then sighs. "Don't think me a lover of dragons, I have none for them. But these are the laws, and if they are not maintained our cities shall surely burn in dragon fire, I'm sorry but the penalty for your crime is death." He closes his eyes, and as the guards approach you, weapons raised, Darsinian runs between you and the guards and waves his hands in front of him, hair awry. "Wait wait wait! Listen it's my fault, I should have told them about the treaty! I didn't think that there would a dragon down there, the Society sent them on this quest you can't possibly hold them accountable to the fullest punishment!", the guards shove him aside but before they raise their weapons to strike the diviner says, eyes closed and rubbing his chin, "No, he is right, that would not be fair, although offering no recompense to the dragons is also not fair for our people, given this mongrel's inchoate ramblings have likely informed near every soul within this city of this crime and soon some outside will begin to hear rumors. The dragons will hear of this and become enraged, but perhaps..." He pushes aside the guards and and addresses you all. "Although the Society will surely be paying as well, your penalty must be settled. Upon all of you I place a fine of 10,000 gold pieces as tribute to the dragons, affective immediately"
After only a few brief moments of tense silence a small and filthy gray figure similar to those you recently slew, although far younger, slams open the doors of the entrance hall, or at least as much as someone of his size can. You notice it dragging something scaled in it's hands through the door, as you realize what he is dragging he screams in a cracking voice, pointing at you, grinding his teeth after each sentence, "Them! They killed the dragon master! Master of spores and kind scaley! They kill! They break into 10|home and killllll!" As he drags the corpse of the dragon you slew, its greenish-purple blood soaking the societies newly waxed wood floors, an older man with a goatee in a flowing yellow robe followed by 10 city guards enters through the door. The grey gremlin collapses in grief and stress, pounding the dragons corpse with his fists. The yellow robed figure walks forward with the guards behind him, and says "I am one of gracious Queen Yuria's court diviners, and this little wretch has been screaming about the murder of his master from the citiy's sewers for the better half of an hour. He described you fellows and after some help on my part he has now managed to find you, and is accusing you of a highly egregious charge. You have no need to plead your case, simply breath this in that you might make my job a little easier." You look over to see Darsinian nearly pulling his hair out, as you look back the diviner has blown a gray powder into your faces, you breath in bits of it and cough it back out, but your cough manifests as verbal confessions, betrayals of your foremost thoughts, testimonies of your slaying of the dragon. The diviner frowns, and then sighs. "Don't think me a lover of dragons, I have none for them. But these are the laws, and if they are not maintained our cities shall surely burn in dragon fire, I'm sorry but the penalty for your crime is death." He closes his eyes, and as the guards approach you, weapons raised, Darsinian runs between you and the guards and waves his hands in front of him, hair awry. "Wait wait wait! Listen it's my fault, I should have told them about the treaty! I didn't think that there would a dragon down there, the Society sent them on this quest you can't possibly hold them accountable to the fullest punishment!", the guards shove him aside but before they raise their weapons to strike the diviner says, eyes closed and rubbing his chin, "No, he is right, that would not be fair, although offering no recompense to the dragons is also not fair for our people, given this mongrel's inchoate ramblings have likely informed near every soul within this city of this crime and soon some outside will begin to hear rumors. The dragons will hear of this and become enraged, but perhaps..." He pushes aside the guards and and addresses you all. "Although the Society will surely be paying as well, your penalty must be settled. Upon all of you I place a fine of 10,000 gold pieces as tribute to the dragons, affective immediately"
If the players give him all their gold, he demands their supplies, until there is nothing they have left on them of value (they may keep valueless things such as trinkets as well as one set of clothes). Darsinian also approaches with a couple bags of gold and says "This is what they were to be paid upon returning from their quest" and nervously laughs. After sizing up the gold and the goods the diviner frowns and sighs:
"As I suspected, this is nowhere near the amount of gold you owe, and no dragon will be pleased to hear this petty sum is the recompense for a murder of their kin. There is no other way for it. *He gives them their belongings back, but no the quest gold* The only other penance aside from your lives is to offer yourselves in service, you will be required to join the 48th expedition and accompany them to their destination, or to their deaths. Perhaps the dragons will be pleased if they know you have been sent off to what they will surely assume to be your deaths. If you cannot do this then your lives shall be taken within these city walls. Your last opportunity to join the caravan and at least have a chance at survival is tomorrow. I would not dally" He and the guards turn to leave but before they do he turns around and pulls out a knife, "I nearly forgot, I will need a locket of hair or similar from each of you as you ensure you do not run off."
After he collects their hair he leaves with the guards the players are left to join the 48th expedition. For if they do not mercenaries will claim their heads. Continue to Mirik-Grove Is Born.
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