Prisoner 13

Prisoner 13

An Adventure for 4th-Level Characters

• On the world of Terus, in the frozen reaches the southern peaks of the Oroccid Ridge separating Domunz and Oroccid (built by King Alphanis Alphanis deceased? over 60 years earlier), lies an impenetrable fortress built to house the region’s most dangerous criminals. One of this prison’s earliest inmates, a dwarf known as Prisoner 13, spends her days in seeming quiet and solitude while secretly pulling the strings of a spy network (Shady/ Illicit Goods Dealers - Pharmekeians ) that spans much of the continent. She holds the key to a treasure she stole from a dwarf clan. In this heist, the characters must infiltrate the prison, retrieve the key from Prisoner 13 (found in a tattoo on her hand), and return the key to Varrin Axebreaker, the dwarf who hired them.

Adventure Background

Prisoner 13 is a dwarf named Korda Glintstone. Prior to her incarceration years ago, Korda was an ally and agent of Clan Axebreaker, a moderately influential dwarf clan in a stronghold called Gimloth. Korda built a network of informants and agents, ostensibly all to the benefit of Clan Axebreaker. With each success, she paid tattooists to inscribe a memorial of her triumph onto her skin. Using ancient rituals, Korda infused many of these artful etchings with the magic of Gimloth’s forges, granting her wondrous gifts.   Korda grew too ambitious for her role as an agent, so she devised a plan to take power for herself. Over five years she took careful stock of Clan Axebreaker’s wealth and, in one fell swoop, used her network of lieutenants to steal away most of the clan’s gold, leaving only a pittance.   The Axebreaker dwarves discovered her almost immediately. They rounded up her agents, who either fought to the death or were executed. They captured Korda and interrogated her, but she never revealed the location of the stolen fortune, even under magical compulsion. The Axebreaker dwarves used their influence to have her sentenced to life in prison at Revel’s End. There, Clan Axebreaker was hopeful Korda would eventually break and reveal the location of the stolen wealth. This played right into Korda’s hands, since she had made copious enemies who can’t move against her while she’s incarcerated.   Korda, now known as Prisoner 13, prepared for her imprisonment by laying the groundwork for a new spy and criminal network known as the Pharmekeians (Shady/ Illicit Goods Dealers - Pharmekeians ), which cost her much of her stolen fortune. She now runs her operations from the prison. Using her magical tattoos, she telepathically coordinates agents throughout Domunz and Oroccid, none of whom know the identity of their employer. As for what remains of the stolen Axebreaker wealth, it rests in an unmarked vault in the depths of Gimloth Castle, sealed by a magical lock that only the runic sequence tattooed on Korda’s right hand can open.

Adventure Hooks

After years of financial hardship due to their stolen fortune, the mountain dwarves of Clan Axebreaker have located the lost treasure but have been unable to access it. A representative of the clan, Varrin Axebreaker, wishes to hire the characters to learn how to access the treasure. Here are some possible ways Varrin learned about the characters:

• Varrin usually does not let adventurers in for this Quest, but he has heard of the RECOMPENSATORS due to their prowess in the CLOOAD Arenas (and any other adventures/quests they've completed up to this point)

Varrin’s Proposition

  Varrin Axebreaker (lawful good, dwarf noble) contacts the characters to enlist their aid in retrieving the key. Varrin’s braided hair and beard are black with streaks of gray. He wears a loose, comfortable robe over a steel breastplate. Whether Varrin approaches the characters or invites them to a meeting, read the following text:  

“Thank you for hearing me out. My name is Varrin Axebreaker, and I have a proposition for you. My clan has located wealth stolen from us many years ago, but it’s sealed in a vault that’s magically locked. If you can recover the key—whatever it is—you’ll gain the undying gratitude of Clan Axebreaker. And I’ll cut you in for a percentage of the recovered treasure, of course.   “The catch here is the person who knows how to open the vault is rotting away in the prison of Revel’s End. She’s proved uncooperative with my people in the past, but I recently discovered the vault where she hid what she stole from us. I need you to question her and learn how to open the vault. How you do that is up to you; if you need to spring her from the prison in exchange for this information, please do so. I can provide you with a way in, as well as the layout of Revel’s End and a few useful tricks.”

  Give the players a copy of map 4.1 (see “The Breaker’s Map” below), and read the following text:  

Varrin retrieves a faceted sapphire the size of a small orange and places it on the table. He waves his hand over the gem, and a glowing blue image of a building floor plan appears in the air above it. He taps the gem, and the image vanishes. The sapphire splits into sections, and he passes one fragment to each of you. The fragment grows warm in your hand, melts, then vanishes, leaving a warm, tingling sensation behind. “Think about the map of Revel’s End, and you’ll be able to see it.”

  The gem’s magic lasts until five days after the characters reach Revel’s End.  

The Breaker’s Map

Each character can now cause a magical image of map 4.1 to appear in the air before them while they aren’t incapacitated (no action required). A breaker’s map isn’t visible to others while a character is viewing it. Varrin explains each of the features the characters can see on their maps:

• Cells. The cells, highlighted in red, are blanketed in permanent antimagic. Prisoner 13’s cell is clearly marked.

• Doors and Hatches. The doors and hatches are sealed with arcane lock spells that only prison staff can bypass. However, while the characters are within 100 feet of Revel’s End, the map allows them to use an action to touch the image of a door or hatch and suppress the lock on that portal. While a lock is suppressed, its image turns green. The lock remains suppressed for 1 minute or until another lock is suppressed.

• Patrol Route. The yellow path marked on the map is the regular patrol route guards take. The usual patrol rotation is once every 20 minutes, but if the guards are suspicious, patrols will likely become more frequent.

MAP 4.1: PLAYERS’ MAP

The Devil in the Details

In the likely event that the characters want more information, Varrin answers their questions succinctly and honestly. He has spent the last of his personal fortune gathering information on the prison and making the arrangements for a team to confront Korda. These are the details he can provide:

• Entering the Prison. The prison staff rotate out periodically. Varrin knows the schedule of the next rotation, and his agents are standing by to capture a number of guards and cooks so the characters can take their place (see “Approaching the Prison”).

• Prisoner 13. Prisoner 13 was a trusted agent of Clan Axebreaker until she betrayed the clan and stole its fortune. If pressed, Varrin reluctantly tells the characters her name (Korda Glintstone), but he stresses that they shouldn’t reveal they know it. No one in the prison except perhaps the warden knows Prisoner 13 by her real name, so using it would only raise suspicion. Her cell is marked on the map.

• Key. Prisoner 13 must have the vault key or know where it is, but every magical method Clan Axebreaker has tried to locate the key has failed. Varrin presumes Prisoner 13 would give up the key only in exchange for freedom, but if the characters can find the key or convince her to give it up any other way, he’ll be just as pleased. Clan Axebreaker tried to arrange her release, but the Absolution Council at Revel’s End denied the request.

• Meeting Prisoner 13. Visitors can request meetings with prisoners, but those meetings are always supervised by the warden (to learn about the warden, see “R21: Warden’s Quarters”). If the characters want to talk to Prisoner 13, their best bet is to try when she’s not in her cell, hopefully out of sight of the guards. Prisoners do chores such as emptying latrine buckets and cleaning up after meals, and they exercise in the courtyard daily. When prisoners are injured or fall ill, they are taken to the prison hospital.

• Revel’s End Details. Varrin can give a general overview of Revel’s End, the security features on doors and hatches, and the prison’s high-alert procedure (see below). Varrin also knows the armory has a dangerous guardian, but he doesn’t know the details.

• Treasure. The treasure is locked in a vault deep beneath the dwarf Castle Gimloth. Varrin promises the characters 2 percent of whatever treasure they recover if they make it possible for him to open the vault. If the characters press for more, Varrin is irritated, but he agrees to 3 percent if the characters succeed on a DC 20 Charisma (Persuasion) check. Varrin notes that the warden likely has some funds hidden in her office or quarters, if the characters are inclined to seek these out.

• Escape Route. Varrin will have a small ship within sight of the prison but at a safe distance. When the characters are ready to leave the prison with their target, they can shine a light from the dock after dark, and the ship will pick them up.

When the characters are ready to depart from their meeting with Varrin, he provides them each with the choice to pose as a guard or a cook. Guards must wear splint armor, and kitchen staff must wear simple uniforms. Cooks can hide light armor under their uniforms. Small characters also have the option to stow away inside a crate of supplies. He tells them to head to Oreton and meet up with Bethra at the marketplace.

Trek to the Prison

Varrin has sent word to his agents, and Bethra (chaotic good, dwarf spy) meets the characters when they arrive in the Earth Genasi Kingdom of Oreton. She provides the uniforms for their chosen cover and directs them to report to a small airship supply ship called the Jolly Pelican the following dawn. The ship regularly delivers a fresh rotation of prison staff to Revel’s End and returns the relieved shift to Thindriline. The journey to Revel’s End by airship is 2 days under normal conditions.   Twenty-five guards and six cooks are bound for the prison, including any characters taking their places. If the characters express concern over the fate of staff they’re replacing, Bethra assures them that none of the people were killed, and they’ll be released safely when the job is over.   The players can make up whatever names they like for their cover. Those are the names of the guards or cooks they’ve replaced.  

Revel’s End

Revel’s End is a panopticon, a prison configured in such a way that the activities of the prisoners can be closely monitored from a central location. Situated on the frigid, misty mountaintains of the southern Oroccid Ridge, the prison is a single-story structure topped with battlements. Rising from the core of the panopticon is a tower that holds the prison’s administrative offices and guard barracks. Both the prison and the tower are carved from a tall, blade-shaped rock that rises high above the mountain cliffs. This rock, called the Windbreak, shields the tower against the brutal winds that sweep down from the Tranquil Mountains.   One can approach Revel’s End by land or air. A pier allows prisoners to be taken from ships (there's a nearby river, REVEL RIVER) up an elevator to the prison, and a mooring dock at the top of the tower allows prisoners to be delivered by airship.   Revel’s End is controlled by the Kingdom of Obreriault in association with the Oroccid Independent Nations Coalition (Oroccid Independent Nations Coalition ), the Nation of Magiault, and the Kingdoms of the Genasi. To be imprisoned in Revel’s End, one must have committed a serious crime against one or more of the member cities and been sentenced to a lengthy period of incarceration (typically a year or more).   Each member state assigns one representative to Revel’s End, and together the representatives form a parole committee called the Absolution Council. Rarely are all ten council members present, since Revel’s End offers little in the way of comfort and amenities. If the council needs a tiebreaking vote to determine whether to commute a prisoner’s sentence, the prison warden—a neutral arbiter with no ties to any Lords’ Alliance member—casts the deciding vote.  

Prison Features

The prison, hewn from stone, has 20-foot-high outer walls and flat, 20-foot-high ceilings throughout. Additional information about the prison is summarized below:

• Doors and Hatches. Each door and rooftop hatch is made of reinforced iron held shut by an arcane lock spell. Prison personnel can open these doors and hatches normally. A locked door or hatch is too strong to be shouldered or kicked open, but it can be destroyed if it takes enough damage. A door or hatch has AC 19, a damage threshold of 10, 30 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage.

• Heating. Interior spaces are magically heated. The temperature in these areas is a constant 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius). The exterior of the prison, including the guard towers, is 0 degrees Fahrenheit (−18 degrees Celsius) or colder. Creatures outside the prison are exposed to extreme cold (see below).

• Lighting. Unless a location states otherwise, the courtyard, corridors, rooms, and staircases are brightly lit with continual flame spells cast on wall sconces. (The unlit cells in area R17 are exceptions.) In some locations, the magical lights can be dimmed or suppressed, as noted in the text.

• Prison Guards. The prison has a garrison of 75 guards (use the veteran stat block) who work eight-hour shifts. Two-thirds of the garrison is off duty and resting in area R19 at any given time. While on duty, each guard wears a tunic that bears the Lords’ Alliance emblem: a gold crown on a red field.

• Prisoners. All prisoners in Revel’s End are identified by a number. This simple protocol keeps prisoners on an equal footing. Prison personnel commit these numbers to memory, and the records of all prisoners—past and present—are stored in area R22. Each inmate wears a uniform that consists of a hoodless robe without pockets, leather slippers without laces, and cloth undergarments. While outside their cells, prisoners wear manacles on their wrists and ankles. While manacled, a prisoner’s walking speed can’t exceed 10 feet.

Approaching the Prison

When the characters approach the prison, read the following text:

Perched on a high cliff overlooking the Oroccid Ridge is a bleak stone fortress carved from a gigantic, blade-shaped rock. A central tower looms above the rest of the fortress, and light leaks from its arrow slits. Four smaller towers rise from the outermost corners of the fortress, and guards can be seen atop them.

Characters might approach the prison via the Jolly Pelican, or they might choose to approach on their own (see “Getting Inside” below).   Characters approaching from the north can also see the prison’s northern entrance at the top of a 160-foot-high cliff with a pier protruding from its base. A giant wooden crane stands nearby, and a wooden scaffold clings to the cliff face.   Characters approaching from the south can see the prison’s south entrance and the trail that leads up to it.  

Extreme Cold

The temperature outside is at or below 0 degrees Fahrenheit (−18 degrees Celsius) while the characters are at the prison. A creature exposed to the cold must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw at the end of each hour or gain 1 level of exhaustion. Creatures with resistance or immunity to cold damage automatically succeed on the saving throw, as do creatures wearing cold-weather gear (thick coats, gloves, and the like) and creatures naturally adapted to cold climates.  

Guards on Watch

The prison has four guard towers (see area R9), and three guards in cold-weather clothing are stationed atop each one. If you need to make Wisdom (Perception) checks for the guards to determine if they notice something, make only one roll with advantage.   If the guards on a tower see or hear something out of the ordinary—such as an approaching ship, a group of visitors, or a monster flying overhead—one guard descends into the tower to alert the rest of the prison while the others stay at their posts.  

Getting Inside

If the characters use the cover Varrin provided, their ship arrives at Revel’s End just before dawn, two days after leaving Oreton. The characters are directed off the ship, ride the elevator to the cliff top, and are admitted through the front doors. Characters posing as guards are taken to the barracks (area R19), where they meet with head guard Yula Dargeria, a no-nonsense stickler for the prison’s rules. Characters posing as cooks are delivered to the kitchen (area R8), where they report to Chef Tiny Toulaine, a hulking, jovial man who carries an enormous saucepan instead of a heavy crossbow. Small characters who stowed away in supply crates are taken to either the storeroom (area R13), the kitchen’s cold storage room (the middle room off area R8), or the pantry (the northernmost room off area R8). If more than one Small character stows away, pick one location where they’re all delivered.   Characters who bang on the prison’s north or south door are admitted into a 30-foot-long corridor, where they are greeted by the three guards from a nearby guard room (area R3). These guards insist on confiscating the characters’ weapons and storing them in a nearby lockbox. In addition, one guard searches each character for concealed weapons. A character can conceal a dagger or similarly sized weapon from a guard’s notice with a successful DC 13 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check.   If the characters have sled dogs or pack animals, a guard grants the party access to the stables (area R5), where the animals can be kept safe. Animals aren’t allowed in the prison otherwise.   After relinquishing their weapons and securing their animals, the characters are escorted by one of the guards to the meeting room (area R12), where they must wait one hour for the warden to greet them. During this time, the characters are unattended and can attempt to sneak into the prison at large. Doing so without alerting the guards requires a successful DC 13 Dexterity (Stealth) check. Recovering the characters’ weapons from the lockbox requires a successful DC 16 Dexterity check with thieves’ tools. If the characters are caught attempting either of these tasks, the guards return them to the meeting room and wait with them for the warden, who throws them out unless they provide a satisfactory reason for their visit and subterfuge.   The warden only accepts the characters’ presence if they are seeking shelter. In that case, she grants them temporary accommodations (in area R7) for up to two days and two nights, and the characters receive three meals a day during their stay. If the characters fail to provide a satisfactory reason for their visit, the warden has their weapons and animals returned to them before throwing them out.  

Suspicion

Activities outside the daily routine of the prison draw attention from the guards and what few other staff members there are. Suspicion is measured in levels from 1 to 6. When the characters arrive at the prison, the suspicion level is 1.   Suspicion can increase when prison staff members witness or find evidence of behavior outside the norm. Circumstances that increase the suspicion level include the following:

• Using a prisoner’s real name while in the guise of prison staff
• Getting caught by a patrol (see Patrol Routes)
• Casting a spell that has perceptible components or effects in sight of a guard
• Conversing with a prisoner about anything other than prison business (such as giving them instructions for tasks)

For suspicion to increase, prison staff members must witness the characters performing unusual activity, and any witnesses must report their observations. If the characters can convince the witness what they saw was justified, the suspicion level doesn’t increase.  

Distractions

A character can create a distraction, giving themself or an ally time to undertake a suspicious activity without being witnessed. If the distracting character succeeds on a Charisma (Deception) check against a DC set by the current suspicion level (see the Suspicion table), the suspicious activity goes unnoticed. Use your discretion to decide if any given activity is subtle enough to be covered by a distraction. For example, a glib conversation can’t cover up an explosion.  

Effects of Suspicion

As the suspicion level increases, patrols become more frequent, and the prison staff become increasingly vigilant. At suspicion level 6, the warden puts the prison on high alert.   Suspicion                                    

Level	Patrol Die	DC
1	d20	10
2	d12	12
3	d10	14
4	d8	16
5	d6	18
6	d4	20

• Level. The current suspicion level is reduced by 1 (to a minimum of 1) every 8 hours if the prison staff detects no suspicious activity during that time.

• Patrol Die. Roll a die based on the current suspicion level when characters enter the patrol route to see if they encounter a guard patrol (see “Patrol Routes”).

• DC. The DC of Charisma checks made against prison staff and of ability checks made to avoid patrols is set by the current suspicion level.

High Alert

When a matter of concern is brought to her attention, the warden (see area R21) decides whether to place the prison on high alert. Circumstances that warrant taking such action include a prisoner revolt, an escape, the approach of an unfamiliar ship, a dragon sighting, an attack, discovering a dead body, or suspicious activity (see “Suspicion” above).   By speaking the command word, “maristo,” the warden—and only the warden—can place the prison on high alert (or speak it again to end the high alert), with the following effects:  

• High-Alert Signals. For 1 minute, a warning horn blares throughout the prison, and all light created by continual flame spells in the prison takes on a reddish hue.

• Prison Deployment. The guards in area R19 don their armor, arm themselves, and move to area R18. The warden does the same and commands the garrison from there. Members of the Absolution Council retreat to area R20.

• See Invisibility. The warden and all prison guards gain the benefit of a see invisibility spell.

Patrol Routes

Guards regularly patrol in pairs from the guard rooms (area R3, alternating which room for each patrol) around the hexagon (area R15), with short checks into the courtyard (area R11) and the armory (area R10). The route is marked in yellow on the players’ map of Revel’s End. It normally takes 4 minutes for a patrol to make its round and return to its post.   When one or more characters enter an area marked on the patrol route, roll a die. The size of the die rolled is determined by the current suspicion level of the prison, as indicated on the Suspicion table. On a 1, the characters encounter a patrol. Ask the players how their characters react, and give them 1 round of actions. The characters can try to slip away if there is a nearby exit or corner to duck around by making a group Dexterity (Stealth) check or try to blend in by making a group Charisma (Deception) check. Each check is made against a DC set by the current suspicion level. On a failure, the patrol notices the characters, who must account for their presence.   If the characters try to talk their way past a patrol, have one of the characters make a Charisma check using Deception, Intimidation, or Persuasion, depending on their story, against a DC set by the suspicion level. If other characters support the story, the check is made with advantage. On a success, the patrol lets them go. On a failure, the patrol escorts the characters to a guard room (area R3), where the guard interrogates the characters about the characters’ presence in a prohibited area. If the characters have a cover story for being in the prison, the guards escort them to where they should be: the kitchen staff’s quarters (the largest side room off area R8) or the barracks (area R19) in the case of off-duty guards. The suspicion level then increases by 1.   Once the characters encounter a patrol, don’t check for another patrol when the characters enter the route until 20 minutes have passed.  

Revel’s End Locations

The following locations are keyed to Revel’s End, as shown on map 4.2.   MAP 4.2: DM’S MAP  

R1: Dock

Ships dock here to offload prisoners and supplies.

R2: Elevator

A sturdy wooden scaffold clings to the 160-foot-high cliff separating the prison from the dock. Looming above the scaffolding is a wooden crane that is controlled from area R3. The crane raises and lowers an elevator car that has a retractable wooden gate on the side opposite the crane. The elevator car is a hollow wooden cube measuring 10 feet on each side. It takes 1 minute for the car to travel all the way up or down the scaffold.

R3: Guard Rooms

This room contains a table with four chairs, and a cabinet holding whetstones and other simple supplies for repairing armor and weapons.

Three guards (veterans) are stationed in each of these two rooms. The guards pass the time by playing cards, sharpening their weapons, and complaining about the weather.   Embedded in the north wall of the northern guard room is an iron lever that raises and lowers the elevator in area R2. During a patrol, two of the guards leave the room to make their rounds for 4 minutes.

R4: Hospital

This chamber contains a dozen simple beds. Cabinets along the north wall hold medical supplies.

The cabinets hold enough supplies to assemble twenty healer’s kits, five vials of antitoxin, and various other medicines and tinctures.   Some of these substances are poisonous if ingested in the wrong proportion. A character proficient with alchemist’s supplies, a poisoner’s kit, an herbalist’s kit, or the Medicine skill can identify the tinctures and combine them into an ingested poison. A creature that ingests the poison must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw. On a failed saving throw, it takes 10 (3d6) poison damage and becomes poisoned for 1 hour. On a successful saving throw, it takes half as much damage and isn’t poisoned. In either case, the creature has painful stomach cramps until it finishes a short rest, drinks a vial of antitoxin, or is targeted by an effect that ends the poisoned condition. If a prisoner suffers these cramps, the guards bring the prisoner to the hospital to be examined and treated. Characters disguised as guards can volunteer for or be assigned that duty.

R5: Stables

  Visitors who bring mounts, sled dogs, pack animals, or pets to Revel’s End can keep their animals here. The prison doesn’t supply food for animals, however.

R6: Mess Hall

Prison personnel dine here. Tables and benches fill the room, and dishes and dulled cutlery are stored in cabinets along the south wall. The mess hall serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The characters can meet here without arousing any suspicion.

R7: Councilors’ Quarters

These ten rooms are furnished identically. Each contains a bed, a desk with matching chair, a claw-footed chest, and wall hooks for hanging clothes. The continual flame spell that illuminates each room can be suppressed or returned to its normal light level by uttering the command word, “lights.”   These rooms are set aside for the ten members of the Absolution Council, though only three rooms are currently in use. The other seven members of the council are absent, so the warden lets visitors use the spare rooms.   Council Members. These three members of the Absolution Council are at Revel’s End:

• Councilor Voss Anderton. Voss represents the city of Obreriault. He is a lawful neutral, human noncombatant who has a precise, lawyerly way of speaking. He never misses a council meeting or parole hearing. He votes with his head, not his heart, and he always weighs the ramifications of commuting a prisoner’s sentence.

• Councilor Jil Torbo. Jil represents the city of Winda. She is a neutral, halfling noncombatant who loathes her job. She has no sense of humor and sighs deeply when her patience is tested. She likes giving others the benefit of the doubt, however—perhaps as an act of dissent—and votes yes on commutations more often than not.

• Councilor Kriv Norixius. Kriv represents the town of Twin Falls. He is a lawful good, dragonborn noncombatant of silver dragon ancestry. He hopes to impress the people of Twin Falls by doing a good job. He has no tolerance for unrepentant criminals and often votes no on commutations.

R8: Kitchen and Side Rooms

Six cooks (neutral, human commoners) take shifts here, working in pairs to produce meals for the prisoners and staff. The kitchen contains everything one would expect to see, as well as an iron stove and a pump that draws water from a magically heated cistern on the roof.   Off-duty cooks sleep in the largest of the three rooms west of the kitchen. This side room is lit by continual flame spells that can be suppressed or activated by uttering the command word, “lights.”   The middle side room—not heated, unlike the rest of the prison—is used for cold storage.   The smallest side room is a well-stocked pantry.

R9: Guard Towers

Each of these four triangular towers is two stories tall. A tower’s interior chamber is empty except for a wooden ladder that climbs to an iron hatch held shut by an arcane lock spell (see the “Prison Features” section for more details). This hatch leads to the tower’s flat rooftop, which is lined with battlements. Three Lords’ Alliance guards (veterans) in cold-weather clothing are stationed on the roof of each tower.

R10: Armory

This room contains wooden racks and chests filled with weaponry. Floating in the middle of the room is a spherical creature with a large central eye and four writhing eyestalks.

The inventory is nonmagical and includes twenty halberds, fifteen longswords, fifteen shortswords, ten pikes, ten heavy crossbows, five light crossbows, and hundreds of crossbow bolts.   The armory is guarded by a spectator that treats the weapons as treasure. It knows every member of the prison staff on sight. It won’t leave the room and attacks anyone it doesn’t recognize.  

• Hatch. A wooden ladder leads to an iron hatch in the ceiling. An arcane lock spell seals the hatch (see the “Prison Features” section for more details), which opens onto the roof.

R11: Courtyard

This courtyard is paved with flagstones, which are covered with drifting snow.   When the weather allows, prisoners are brought here—individually or in small groups—for fresh air and exercise. They are watched closely by guards on the ground as well as the guards on the corner tower. Characters can speak quietly with a prisoner without being noticed from the tower.

R12: Meeting Room

This room holds a large, rectangular table with a single chair on one long side and three similar chairs on the opposite side. The room is used for meetings with prisoners or the warden.  

• Hatch. A wooden ladder leads to an iron hatch in the ceiling that opens onto the roof. An arcane lock spell seals the hatch (see the “Prison Features” section for more details).

R13: Storeroom

Supplies are stored here in crates and other containers. At present, the prison has stockpiled enough necessities to continue operations for six months.

R14: Privy

This room contains a dozen wooden waste buckets. Once per day, usually in the morning, manacled prisoners carry the buckets outside the prison and dispose of the waste while watched by guards.

R15: Hexagon

This corridor allows guards and visitors to access the outermost rooms of the prison while avoiding the panopticon (area R16) and its prison cells (area R17). The guards refer to this corridor as “the hexagon” because of its shape.

R16: Panopticon

This hexagonal chamber is a large open space at the center of the prison. Cells line the chamber walls, and a smaller hexagonal room occupies the center of the space.

The continual flame spells that light this area can be dimmed from the surveillance hub (area R18). The hall is dimly lit at night.

R17: Cells

Each cell is enclosed by formidable steel bars. Bolted to the back wall are iron bunk beds, each with a thin mattress. A waste bucket sits near the beds.

The prisoners are kept in these unlit cells (effectively illuminated by the lights in R16) behind barred gates that can be opened only from area R18. The gates are too secure to be forced open using brute strength or weapons, and magical attempts to open or bypass them are thwarted by permanent antimagic fields. Each field encompasses one cell and its gate. Spells and other magical effects, except those created by an artifact or a deity, are suppressed in an antimagic field and can’t protrude into it. While an effect is suppressed, it doesn’t function, but the time it spends suppressed counts against its duration.   Bolted to the back wall of each cell is an iron bunk bed with thin mattresses and a waste bucket nearby. Prisoners take their meals in their cells.  

• Prisoners. Each of the twenty-four cells can hold one or two prisoners. Roll 4d10 (ROLLED A 28) to determine the number of prisoners currently incarcerated at Revel’s End, give each one an identification number, and distribute them in the cells as you see fit. Numbers are assigned in the order in which the prisoners arrive and are never reused. The longest-serving prisoner currently incarcerated at Revel’s End is Prisoner 6, and the newest one is Prisoner 299. Prisoner 13 (see the “Roleplaying Prisoner 13” section later in this adventure for more details) has no cellmate. Her cell is marked on map 4.1.

  To add detail to other inmates, roll on the Prisoners table or choose entries you like. If a prisoner’s game statistics become necessary, choose an appropriate stat block from the Monster Manual, and remove armor, weapons, and other gear.   Prisoners
d6 Prisoner

• 1 Gallia Strand (neutral evil human), convicted of smuggling contraband luxuries, has served 1d6 years of a 10-year sentence.
• 2 Barlo Rageblade (chaotic good human), a famous adventurer convicted of reckless endangerment, has served 1d4 years of a 5-year sentence.
• 3 Quillion Sardo (lawful neutral halfling), convicted of using magic to influence others, has served 1d4 years of a 5-year sentence.
• 4 Pirouette (chaotic evil tiefling), a thieves’ guild leader convicted of multiple crimes, has served 1d20 years of a life sentence.
• 5 Ishar (chaotic evil elf), convicted of conspiracy to murder members of a noble family, has served 1d20 years of a life sentence.
• 6 Grix (neutral goblin), convicted of espionage, has served 1d6 years of a 10-year sentence.

AN ADVENTURER MAKES CONTACT WITH THE ENIGMATIC PRISONER 13

R18: Surveillance Hub

This hexagonal room is the base of the prison’s central tower. A spiral staircase rises to the tower’s upper levels. Several guards watch through the arrow slits, observing the cells, while one sits at a metal desk and console with a myriad of switches and dials and a brass tube with a funnel-like flare.

The stairs lead to areas R19 through area R23. Seven guards (veterans) are stationed in this surveillance hub. One sits at a console south of the staircase. The other guards watch the prisoners through 4-foot-tall, 1-foot-wide arrow slits in the walls. Hanging on the walls between the arrow slits are fifty sets of iron manacles guards use to bind prisoners’ wrists and ankles.

• Console. The console is a magical device that resembles a desk with a slanted top and is bolted to the floor. It is a Large object with AC 15, 18 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. The console has the following magical properties, which are disabled if it is reduced to 0 hit points:

• Gate Control. Twenty-four switches on the console open and close the gates to the prison cells. A master switch opens or closes all the gates at once. Flipping one or more switches on the console requires an action.

• Light Control. A brass dial on the console controls the light level in area R16. Turning the dial requires an action or a bonus action.

• Loudspeaker. As an action, a creature can use this device, which resembles the bell of a trumpet, to broadcast its voice throughout the prison.

R19: Barracks

A door in the spiral staircase leads into a large room filled with wooden bunk beds. There are arrow slits in the north, west, and south walls. Footlockers and armor racks accompany each bed. The spiral stairs continue up past the door.

Characters who climb the spiral staircase come to a door 100 feet above the prison roof. The staircase continues beyond this door to the tower’s higher levels.   The door opens into a room filled with wooden bunk beds. Areas to the north, west, and south can be viewed through 4-foot-tall, 1-foot-wide arrow slits. The continual flame spells that light the room can be dimmed or brightened by uttering the command word, “lights.”   When the prison isn’t on high alert, fifty guards (veterans without armor or weapons) sleep in the bunks. The guards keep their armor and weapons within easy reach. They keep other belongings in unlocked footlockers tucked under their bunk beds.   The guards need 10 minutes to don their armor. If the prison is put on high alert, the guards take the time to put on their armor before making their way down to area R18.

R20: Hall of Absolution

The floor of this room is 120 feet above the prison roof. A spiral staircase connects the room to the other levels of the tower (area R18 is 140 feet down, area R19 is 20 feet down, and area R23 is 20 feet up). Narrow windows line the outer walls.   A long, slightly curved table with eleven chairs takes up much of the room. The middle chair has no special adornments, while the others have banners hanging over their high backs, each one emblazoned with the crest of a Lords’ Alliance member. Banners hanging on the walls display the alliance’s emblem: a golden crown on a red field.

• Absolution Council Meetings. Members of the Absolution Council gather here to weigh the merits of releasing prisoners whom one or more council members have recommended for parole. No prisoner can receive such consideration more than once a year. Prisoners up for parole are brought to this room in manacles and given a chance to sway the council members before votes are cast. The warden (see area R21), who always attends such meetings, sits in the middle chair and casts the tiebreaking vote, if necessary.

R21: Warden’s Quarters

The arcane lock on this door can be opened only by the warden. Beyond the door is a comfortable bedchamber lit by a continual flame spell that can be dimmed or brightened by uttering the command word, “vaudra.”  

• Prison Warden. The calm and unflappable warden of Revel’s End is Marta Marthannis, a lawful good, human mage who speaks Common, Draconic, Dwarvish, and Orc. She wears a red robe with gold trim and keeps a ring with seven tiny keys hanging from it in one pocket. One key unlocks the warden’s chest (see “Treasure” below the others unlock the desk drawer and the cabinets in the warden’s office (area R22).

Warden Marthannis is secretly a member of SPEER, a faction that works behind the scenes to keep power out of the hands of evildoers. In her current position, she works to keep some of Terus’s worst malefactors behind bars. So far, the warden has managed to conceal her SPEER affiliation from everyone else in the prison.
• Marthannis’s Possession. Unlike her membership in SPEER, Marthannis hasn’t concealed the fact that she is periodically possessed. Lodged inside her is the spirit of a deceased adventuring companion: a lawful good, shield dwarf fighter named Vlax Brawnanvil. The spirit of Vlax takes control of Warden Marthannis once or twice a day, each time for an hour or two—though never while she’s performing important duties, such as supervising prisoner meetings with visitors.

While under Vlax’s control, the warden can’t cast her prepared spells or use the command word for high alert (see the “High Alert“ section), speaks only Dwarvish, and occasionally indulges Vlax’s vice for ale and spirits.

Warden Marthannis knows that to rid herself of Vlax’s spirit, she must visit the Brawnanvil crypts in Thindriline, a dwarven fortress under The Only Mountain, where the spirits of Vlax’s kin can persuade Vlax to join them in the afterlife. The warden refuses to make the journey, however, because she can’t bear to lose all contact with Vlax. The warden has made her state known to the prison guards and Absolution Council members, and they have grown accustomed to her personality changes and bouts of revelry. The possession hasn’t affected the warden’s ability to carry out her duties, and so far, no one has questioned her fitness for her job.

• Treasure. Among the chamber’s furnishings is a locked wooden chest, for which the warden carries the only key. A character using thieves’ tools can use an action to try to pick the lock, doing so with a successful DC 20 Dexterity check.
The chest holds a set of calligrapher’s supplies, a sack containing 1250 gp (money that’s used mainly to pay ship captains who drop off prisoners and cargo), and a silver cloak pin (25 gp) bearing the symbol of SPEER: a tiny spear who's pointed tip resembled a gaunt fish, and a medium SPEER which seems to have some magic imbued in it (can work like a beacon to summon help from SPEER members)

Any character who searches the chest for secret compartments finds one in the lid. It holds a wand of binding that the warden keeps for emergencies.

R22: Office

A heavy desk stands in the middle of the room with parchment, quills, and ink at the ready. Five heavy wood cabinets line the east wall.

Prison records are stored here in the locked cabinets. The cabinets also contain ship cargo manifests and records of past deliveries, as well as prisoner transfer orders and a ledger documenting the names, crimes, sentences, and commutations of every prisoner who has been incarcerated at Revel’s End. The records include death certificates for prisoners who died while incarcerated. The cause of death is always given as “natural,” “accidental,” or “unnatural,” with no details.   A desk in the middle of the room has ten financial ledgers packed into a locked side drawer. The keys for the desk and the cabinets are in the warden’s possession. A character with thieves’ tools can use an action to try to pick the lock on the desk drawer or one of the cabinets, doing so with a successful DC 12 Dexterity check.   INFO FOUND:

• Was once supposed to imprison a gnome named Glibglub for undisclosed crimes, sentence was pardoned as a personal favor to King Alphanis

R23: Tower Roof

This flat rooftop is 140 feet above the prison roof and 300 feet above sea level. Three 6-foot-high walls to the north, southwest, and southeast provide limited cover, but much of the rooftop is exposed to the elements.   A wooden drawbridge can be lowered on one side to create an airship dock. An action is required to raise or lower the drawbridge.   No guards are stationed here. If the guards in the prison watchtowers (area R9) see an airship or an airborne threat approaching Revel’s End, they alert the rest of the prison. The warden then dons cold-weather clothing and heads to the roof to greet the airship crew or deal with the airborne threat herself.

Roleplaying Prisoner 13

The first time the characters encounter Prisoner 13, read the following:

This tightly muscled dwarven woman keeps her red hair cut short. Her bronze skin is covered in tattoos that stretch from her collarbone to her ankles. She surveys you with unimpressed eyes.

Prisoner 13 is a cunning schemer, ruthless and patient. She listens and watches, absorbing every detail she can, and shares as little as she can get away with.   Prisoner 13 is comfortable with her lot in life, enjoying the anonymity and ironic protection of Revel’s End like a warm blanket on a winter night. While confined to her antimagic cell, she is cautious since she can’t rely on her magic tattoos to defend herself. Outside her cell, she grows overly confident and even banters if she’s able to do so without being caught by guards. In battle she poses a potent threat, creating blasts of flame and striking with magical force in both melee and ranged combat.   She spends her time contemplating the web of schemes she learns through the eyes, ears, and hands of her agents outside the prison. While outside her cell during daily exercise in the courtyard or during chores, she contacts her agents for updates and makes arrangements that keep her network running.

Prisoner 13’s Tattoos

Most of Prisoner 13’s inkwork is covered by her uniform. Her tattoos include the following:

• Dwarven Poetry. An excerpt from a poem in Dwarvish script on her neck and across her shoulder blades reads, “Endless dreams entombed in stone.”

• Flames. A roiling storm of brilliant flames covers her back and ribs.

• Shroud. Black and gray smoke and shadows coil down her left arm, ending in runes on the fingers of her left hand.

• Knotwork. Purple and blue knotwork and runes run down her right arm, across the back of her right hand, and down the length of each finger. The runes on her fingers, known as the keystone tattoo, form the key to the vault in Castle Gimloth. The characters must acquire this key to complete their mission (see “Acquiring the Key” below).

• Mountain. Silver and brown mountain peaks cover her chest, the tips following the angles of her collarbones.

• River. Swirling green and blue waters form a cascading river across her stomach, with scaly creatures leering from the water.

• Power and Plunder. Dwarvish script on her hips reads “Power” and “Plunder.”

  Traced among Prisoner 13’s tattoos are tiny magical sigils, each one matching a twin tattooed on one of her agents. A character who examines any visible tattoos and succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check notices some of the hidden marks. A character who succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check determines that the sigils have something to do with minds or telepathy.

Acquiring the Key

If she’s approached with the possibility of freedom, Prisoner 13 looks genuinely surprised but quickly assumes her usual neutral mask. Here’s how she responds to some likely questions:

• What do you know about the vault and key? She plays coy: “I don’t know what you mean.” If pressed further, she shrugs. “I’ve been asked about this vault and key before. Assuming I did know where the key might be, what would be in it for me to tell you?”

• Do you want to be set free? “As flattered as I am that you care, I’m afraid I must decline. I’m fine where I am, thanks.”

• What do you want for the key? She ponders for a moment before answering: “The warden has a ledger, probably in her office. It contains all the names, crimes, and prisoner numbers of everyone ever incarcerated at Revel’s End. Bring me that list, and I’ll see to it that you get your key.”

In response to a verbal threat, Prisoner 13 shakes her head and says, “I could make quite a scene and bring the guards down on you. Maybe even the warden herself. You really don’t have anything to threaten me with.”

• Finding the Key. When Prisoner 13 talks about the key, each character present can make a DC 19 Wisdom (Insight) check. If the check is successful, the character notices Prisoner 13 flexing her right hand and tracing a fingertip across the tattoo there when she mentions the key. The character deduces that the tattoo is the key.

• Forcible Jailbreak. Taking Prisoner 13 alive and delivering her to Varrin is difficult but possible. She won’t go willingly and fights back if the characters try to force her. In that case, they’ll be hard-pressed to knock her unconscious and make their escape without alarming the guards and placing the prison on high alert. If a fight breaks out with closed doors between the battle and the nearest guards, on initiative count 0, make a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check for the guards to see if they notice the commotion. If they succeed, roll initiative for the guards. They investigate on the following round.

• Trade for the Key. If the characters acquire the prisoner files from the warden’s office (area R22), Prisoner 13 demands to read them somewhere outside her cell. She takes 20 minutes to read through the documents and telepathically relay the information to her agents for later use. Following that, she reveals that the tattoo on her right hand is the key to the vault. She allows the characters to study it so they can replicate its image using magic such as disguise self or minor illusion, or even copy it with pen and ink. In any case, a character must succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check to correctly re-create the tattoo, which requires 10 minutes of study or drawing. The characters can retry if they fail, at the cost of more time and more risk of discovery.

• Last Resort. A gruesome but effective option is killing Prisoner 13 and taking her body back, or just her right hand. If the characters are working for the Golden Vault, they know the organization would not approve of this method. The characters receive no reward from the organization if they kill or mutilate Prisoner 13.

Conclusion

When the characters successfully deliver the key (Prisoner 13’s keystone tattoo), Varrin’s joy and relief crack his usually reserved exterior, and he sends his agents to open the vault and reveal the lost Axebreaker treasure (he won’t allow the characters to be present for the vault opening). While much of the clan’s stolen wealth has been spent, there’s still a great fortune remaining. As a result of their success, the characters have advantage whenever one of them attempts a Charisma check that would influence Axebreaker dwarves. Varrin makes good on his bargain and gives a fair share to the characters as promised. The reward includes the following coins and gems (use the amounts in brackets if the characters negotiated a 3 percent fee):  

• 2,100 cp (3,150 cp)
• 1,100 sp (1,650 sp)
• 10,000 gp (15000 gp)
• 12 (18) bloodstones worth 50 gp each

The characters can also choose three magic items from the following list, or four items if they successfully negotiated for a bigger reward from Varrin:

• Cap of Water Breathing
• Dust of Disappearance
• Gem of brightness
• Mithral armor
• Potion of resistance (lightning)
• Slippers of spider climbing