MIS-001-EAE-001: Breakout Quandary

Aset and the party stumble upon a mangled container missing its resident. Strangely, Aset doesn’t recall creating this cage or who it contained. Concerned, Aset asks the party to determine what happened. The container features a large pasture with a night sky wallpaper and debris created during the escape. If the party explores the cage and succeeds on a DC 18 Intelligence (Investigation) or Wisdom (Survival) check, they piece together the following details:

Powerful claws shredded through the metal like paper

Something acidic corroded the broken glass

Any magic used to contain this creature was dispelled

The creature is likely Large or bigger

The party can follow a trail of destruction to a 10-foot diameter burrowed hole. A successful DC 18 Intelligence (Investigation) or Wisdom (Survival) check reveals:

The hole is perfectly circular

The hole was blasted with evocation magic

There are hoofprints in the still-warm earth

Following the trail past the hole brings the party to a small grassy clearing. The trail ends where a pony grazes. The creature appears entirely nonmagical. Aset recognizes the pony as “Little Bessie,” a normal pony mistakenly captured a few years ago.  

Developments

The shop’s NPCs change depending on how the characters resolve this Event.   A Friend Indeed? Aset offers Little Bessie to the party with a week’s worth of her provisions. Bessie either shows no magical prowess (which suits a more humorous campaign) or reveals her true nature—an eldritch horror using the chuul stat block or a more powerful Aberration (depending on the characters’ level).   Well, Back Ya Go. If the party does not want Little Bessie, she is put in Time Out until the Seeker figures out her true nature.