Tag Archives: Campaign Cartographer

The Mine at Mt. Morris

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The hills making up the Archian border with Caledos are pocked with dozens of abandoned mines. These leave a lasting reminder of the rush for silver in the years prior to the rise of the Graun Empire.

Without drawing much attention from local officials, a nebulous consortium of investors has been purchasing old dig sights along the coastal region. The mine at Mt. Morris was one such purchase. About 12 months ago, a group of ten men re-opened the dig, in what locals were sure was folly.

After spending a couple weeks repairing the base camp, the team resumed the dig. None but the foreman had any previous mining experience. Most of the “miners” consisted of farm hands or former members of the stevedores’ guild. None were strangers to hard work, but they were a motley group to be certain. However, the strangers who came and offered them the job assured that they would be paid handsomely.

The past year had been difficult. The team had failed to find any substantial amount of ore and they often assumed that their work would soon come to an end. Despite this, the paymaster and his retinue of guards would appear every month and the dig continued.

Recent Events

Seven days ago, a strange thing happened, breaking the monotony for the miners. While digging in the eastern tunnel that morning, the team struck what appeared to be a rock wall. Further investigation confirmed that they had indeed stumbled upon a bit of masonry crafted by human (or demi-human) hands.

Foreman Fugue seemed particularly interested in this development and ordered that there always be three men digging until such a time as the wall was breached. Unfortunately, Fugue himself explained that he was feeling ill and retired to his office in the storehouse.

Later that evening, just before dusk, the wall gave way and opened into a chamber beyond. The crew initially thought to go fetch the foreman. However, they knew he was not feeling well. There was no telling what might lie beyond the wall, and they reasoned that they might find something of value. Gathering up torches, the trio decided to enter the chamber alone. None of the miners were heard from ever again.

Foreman Fugue

Bartholomew Fugue is a wiry little weasel of a fellow. Just shy of 50 years old he appears to be more of a bookworm than a miner. That said, in his younger days he did indeed work during the great silver rush.  

Two years ago, Fugue was approached by a group who held certain interests in the region. They were seeking the diary of Elthane Vanator, a necromancer and occultist of some renown. Apparently something about this diary made it incredibly valuable and they wanted it found.

The belief was that the book was hidden away in Vanator’s old lair, which lay buried under the Archian hills, somewhere nearby.

Thus is was that Fugue was assigned a crew of nine and set about digging in the old silver mine. He had been sworn to secrecy and warned that his life would be forfeit if his true purpose were ever discovered.

Fugue was no fool. Prior to being stationed at the mine, he did his research. He took with him a number of books on the occult, as well as what bits of information he could gather regarding Elthane Vanator. From these readings he gathered that the necromancer, having been hanged some 100 years earlier, was known to employ the living dead as guardians over his dwellings.

What Happened?

Foreman Fugue had almost forgotten his original job of finding the diary. His employers had been paying him well and he had been skimming off the meager bits of silver that his miners had been finding.

Ghouls made for the perfect undead guardian. Art by Bartek Blaszczec.

When word came out of the mine that the diggers had found a wall, his blood ran cold. Knowing that Vanator’s lair may hold undead guardians, the foreman feigned illness and excused himself from the proceedings. He briefly considered warning the others but thought better of it. He had been warned not to disclose the true purpose of the mine, and this was not the time to start taking chances. Stopping briefly at the stables, he left extra water for his horse and placed a padlock on the stall. Then he proceeded to his office and locked himself away.  

Sure enough, later that evening the sound of blood curdling screams could be heard throughout the camp. From he vantage point in the office, he spied a pack of cadaverous looking creatures burst forth from the mine entrance. With bestial swiftness the animated corpses fanned out and swarmed the camp. A terrible stench of carrion filled the air, as Fugue steadied the barricade in front of his door.

More screams were heard in the hours to follow. The foreman sat watching in terror, too scared to make so much as a sound. At one point there had been pawing and scratching at his door, but his defenses held. Not long after that he viewed the shapes of the undead retreating back into the cave.

Too craven to risk leaving his sanctuary, he has been holed up in the storehouse for the past week. The days have been quiet, though at night he has heard sniffing and panting outside his walls. The paymaster is due today, along with his armed guards. Once they arrive he plans to let the guards deal with the guardians and then hopes to take some credit for finding the diary that surely must be within the discovered vault.

The Mine at Mt. Morris

How you get your party to the camp is entirely up to you. One easy method would be to have a relative or friend from a nearby town hire them to deliver something to one of the miners. I happened to know that my group was filled with inquisitive types, so I allowed them to stumble onto the camp randomly, as they were traveling across the countryside.

1 Bunkhouse

This L-shaped building is the bunkhouse that served as the living quarters for the miners. Characters will recognize the stench of rotting flesh as they get near. The back doors are slightly ajar, and the front doors are unlocked.

The remains of two of the miners may be found here. It is a grisly sight and will be clear that something has been eating the corpses and that they have been dead for the better part of a week.

There is nothing of great value in the room, though the party might turn up a decent bag of copper and silver coins if the absolutely turn the place upside down and go through all of the miners’ belongings.

The most curious thing in the whole room is to be found in a footlocker under the northernmost bed (Foreman Fugue’s). Tucked away under some handkerchiefs and small clothes will be found a book and some hastily scribbled notes. The book is titled A Treatise on Reanimated Beings and seems to be a bit of a bestiary imparting knowledge on minor undead creatures. Reading through the notes will indicate that someone was expecting to encounter undead guardians.

2 Mess Hall

This is where the miners prepared their meals and relaxed when they were not working. As with the other structures, this was built back when the mine was first created and it’s clear that it has been serving considerably fewer people.

As with the bunkhouse there are two sets of remains here as well. Both seem to have met the same fate as their fellows.

There is not much of value to be found here, though the party could stock up on the equivalent of iron rations, wine, and ale as they wish.

3 Stables

The stables area makes for another unsettling scene. The remains of one miner can be found in the stable yard. Two horses appear to have met a similar fate in their stalls.

Oddly, one living horse remains. Scratches and claw marks mar the door to the stall. A locked padlock seems to have saved the poor creature, but it is quite dehydrated and appears to be starving. Close inspection will show that someone left extra water in the stall for the beast, but the containers are bone dry.

To the west of this building is a great deal of debris, earth, and rocks that have been removed from the mine.

4 Storehouse

The front and rear doors to this building are closed and locked. There are windows on each facing of the building, though all appear to be barricaded with an assortment of boxes and crates.

On a roll of a 1 or 2 on a d6, characters will hear movement from within the building as they approach.

Entering via any of the doors may be obtained through a regular open doors check. Entering via any of the windows will simply be a matter of breaking the glass and pushing the haphazard barricade aside.

Characters will be able to tell that this building is used to store all of the equipment for the mine. All manner of digging equipment and supplies may be found here.

Foreman Bartholomew Fugue. Artwork © 2015 Dean Spencer, used with permission. All rights reserved.

The smaller room in the northeastern corner of the building is where Foreman Fugue has locked himself away, cowering in fear. He will not call out to the party if he hears them enter the building. Upon entering the office area, characters will find Fugue in the fetal position and he will immediately “surrender” to the party and beg them not to hurt him.

While he is terrified, this is partly an act. The foreman does not want to reveal what is going on and has no explanation for why he has stayed locked up in the office for days. If questioned, he will lie and claim that some creatures came out of the woods two days ago and he barely managed to escape with his life. If asked about the horse in the stables or the book and notes in the footlocker, he will lie poorly and show signs of great discomfort.

If threatened with physical harm, Fugue will break down crying and attempt to save himself. Bit by bit he will start to reveal what actually happened. However, he will only reveal what he judges to be enough to save his wretched hide. If the party does press him to the point of revealing anything about his employer, he will strive to make it seem that he was an unwilling participant, at the risk of death. He will not mention that the paymaster is due to arrive today unless his life is absolutely on the line.

5 Mine Entrance

The corpse of one of the unfortunate miners lays here.

6 Cave Intersection

Here the tunnel branches off in 4 directions. The northern path only goes a short distance and yet another dead miner can be found here.

7 Western Tunnel

3 nights ago, a green slime made its way into the mine complex and has taken up residence along the roof of this tunnel. If party members are not paying attention and come to the end of this tunnel it will drop on them.

8 Altar Room

Diary of Elthane Vanator. Used with permission Tales of Collaborative Storytelling.

This is the room where the mine intersected with the previous underground complex. As the party moves in this direction the will be assailed by the smell of carrion.  Four pillars support the ceiling. A pool of 2’ deep murky water dominates the center of the room. On the northern wall is a stone altar bearing various ritualistic items as well as a book written in spidery script (close inspection will show this to be the diary of Elthane Vanator). A similar altar on the southern wall is adorned by a bronze statue of a great horned beast.

If the players enter this room, give them a description and then within 1 round, they will hear a blood curdling shriek, followed by the flapping of leathery feet as they are attacked by 3 ghouls and a ghast from the hallway to the east.

Following their initial foray killing the miners, this pack of undead returned to the tunnels out of familiarity. While they have been venturing out at night, something gets dragging them back to the tunnels by the light of day. Hearing the party, they come forward to feed.

9 Ceremonial Room

This room is empty, save for a 5-pointed star painted on the floor and an extinguished candle placed in each corner.

10 Crypt

There are 8 sarcophagi in this room. Four of these are open and empty. The remaining four are closed and hold inanimate skeletons.

There is a small stone altar along the western wall. Besides it rests an open chest filled with gold and any treasures that would be appropriate for your game.

11 Cave-In

The northern wall of the passage has collapsed here. It appears that the passageway originally continued, however, clearing the cave-in would take multiple days.

Remaining Questions

If the party have explored the mine and located the diary, there are still a number of questions that will remain.

  • What is the purpose of the shadowy consortium that has been trying to find the diary?
  • What dark knowledge does the diary contain to make it worth going to all of this effort?
  • What will happen once the paymaster arrives? He always comes with guards, and they will surely want the diary if the party is still around. They also won’t want any witnesses!
  • Finally, what lies beyond the collapse at area #11? Is there a whole complex to explore with amazing treasures to be found?

Final Notes

That is all for now. I hope you have enjoyed yourself and thank you for reading this far. If you have any thoughts as to something to add or where we might take things from here, please leave a comment below. If you’d like to browse through all of my other maps with plot hooks, you can find them all collected here. Have a great week.

The Emerald Eye of Aramjapur

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My basic D&D group has been continuing their adventures in my re-imagining of The Isle of Dread. Having spent their initial couple of sessions striking out from the village of Taranoa, the party opted to leave the relative safety of the peninsula and explore the island.

Following a successful hunt with the tribe’s Hawk Clan, party members heard legends of a great treasure hidden in one of the volcanic mountains to the west. The story claimed that an ancient race had lived on the mountain and worshipped a one-eyed god in a cavern temple. Aramjapur, as the deity was called, was said to be all-knowing. His followers prayed to a giant statue of the cyclops featuring an eye cut from an emerald that was the size of a human head.

Traveling cautiously, it took the party 4 days to make their way to the twin volcanos to the west. While they managed to avoid combat, the trip was not without incident.

Just before dusk on the first day, the party spied an allosaurus in the swampland to the north. This caused them to veer to the west and hug the coast.

In the afternoon of the 2nd day, the party stumbled across their first “pylon”. In my previous post I mentioned that I planned to borrow liberally from the old Land of the Lost television series for this adventure. Both this metallic obelisk-shaped booth and the strange tracks (Sleestak) that were found in the area were directly inspired by the show.

On the 3rd day, the party entered the broken lands surrounding the volcanos. A small river meandered between the twin mountains and the party took advantage to replenish their water supply. It took the better part of a day but the party found signs along the northern slope that matched descriptions provided to the by members of the Taranoa Hawk Clan.

Crossing the shallow waterway, the party confirmed that they were on the right track when they identified the crude handholds carved into the rock, leading up the side of the mountain. While hair-raising at times, this allowed even the party’s magic-user to ascend with relative ease.

Natural shelves in the rock were present along the way up, allowing for convenient resting areas during the climb. On the first of these the party discovered the desiccated corpse of what appeared to be a previous adventurer. This was of no great surprise, as the Taranoa had mentioned meeting other outsiders before. However, this did worry the party that perhaps the Eye of Aramjapur had already been claimed by others.

Outfitted in old chainmail, the corpse consisted of not much more than a skeleton. Nothing of value was found on the poor soul, though the party did uncover a sealed scroll case and a discarded short sword. Within the scroll case was a piece of parchment bearing instructions to “beware the children of Aramjapur.”

After encountering 3 resting shelves and covering about a 1000’ climb, the party arrived at a much larger shelf with some vegetation and a fairly obvious cave entrance (map location #1).

Map Locations

#1 Shelf

Occurring roughly three quarters of the way up the side of the mountain, this is a fairly large outcropping. A few trees seem to thrive up here and a pair of billitri bushes grow alongside a cave opening. Large cobwebs adorn the trees.

#2 Cave Entrance

Characters entering the caves here will notice that the air is quite warm from volcanic activity. One passage leads to the northwest, while another leads more due north. To the east, another passage leads back outdoors to a smaller mountain shelf, also covered with large cobwebs.

Giant Spider © Jeremy Mohler 2023. Standard Stock Art: Issue by Outland Entertainment.

#3 Spider Lair

A good deal of debris is piled up in this room. It also serves as the lair for 3 giant spiders who have taken up residence along the side of the mountain. The spiders will attack as soon as the party enters the cave. Digging through the debris will yield a silver dagger and an old coin purse containing 50 gp.

#4 Temple

The large cavern is the old temple to Aramjapur. The room is dimly lit from the lava pool, as well as a bit of sunlight coming in from both of the entrances to the east. Along the northern wall a 30’ tall bust of Aramjapur is ringed by the lava pool. True to the legend, the statue of the cyclops is adorned with a giant emerald eye. In the center of the room, a crude altar sits upon a raised pedestal. The room is otherwise empty, aside from rocks of various sizes and a number of patches of fungus growing about the room.

The lava pool radiates 5’ – 10’ out from the statue, depending on the location. Unless the party has the ability to fly, it appears that they will need to devise some way to safely cross the lava, if they wish to gain the emerald as a prize.

The party could gather sufficient debris from location #3 to build a makeshift ramp across the lava. However, this option would only be sturdy enough to support a character weighting 100 lbs. or less. The only other readily available option would be to cut down a tree outside of area #1 or #5. Assuming the party has a proper axe and goes this route, it will take them approximately 10 minutes to cut down a sufficient tree.

Whichever course of action the party chooses, it will be important to keep track of time. Any party members with applicable skills (or even any who specifically mention that they are looking) will notice numbers of dusty footprints coming and going from this central cavern. Roughly 15 minutes after the party first enters the cave (or earlier if they make a great deal of noise) the “Children of Aramjapur” will start coming to investigate (see location #6).

Children of Aramjapur. Artwork © 2015 Dean Spencer, used with permission. All rights reserved.

If a party member is able to access the statue, the Eye of Aramjapur may be pried loose in one round.

#5 Shelf

This tunnel leads out to another mountain shelf similar to the one to the south that the party entered from. The only thing of note out here are 3 stikricki bushes along the side of the cliff.

#6 Exit

3 of the “Children of Aramjapur” lounge in the shade outside of these 3 cavern entrances. These protohumans descended from those who lived on the twin volcanoes for centuries. Standing at roughly 7′ tall, these brutes have a heavy brow and somewhat resemble a cross between a man and an ape. Lacking any verbal language, they will defend their home and the cave system to their death. For my game, I used a reskinned troglodyte stat block (minus the special abilities) but you do what works for you.

Once they detect the party, they will attack immediately and make a great deal of noise. Their grunts and shrieks will soon draw others, so the party will have to act quickly. The “children” will focus their attacks on any party member visibly attempting to acquire the Eye of Aramjapur or approach the statue.

Wrap-Up

How things play out from here is largely up to you. This encounter takes the place of the “Caves of the Rock Baboons” from the original adventure, which seemed rather bland. I created the Emerald Eye of Aramjapur to give things a bit more depth.

There were 15 rock baboons listed in the original adventure and they have similar stats to the troglodytes that I modeled my children of Aramjapur after. Therefore, I surmised that there could be a settlement of roughly 15 of them inhabiting this part of the mountain.

For my game I turned it into a bit of a moral conundrum for my players. The Children of Aramjapur are not evil beings but they will keep coming and defending their home. 4 rounds after the initial 3 attacked and were dispatched, I sent in another 3. The waves of attackers made it increasingly difficult for the party to cross the lava and secure the emerald. At that point one of my players started to question whether this was a noble cause, while another worried that a whole village of the brutes might appear in the next wave. Ultimately my party ended up beating a hasty retreat back down the side of the mountain, leaving the Eye of Aramjapur safely behind.

That is all for now. Thank you for stopping by. If you’d like to browse through all of my other maps with plot hooks, you can find them all collected here. Please take a minute to say hello in the comments below. Have a great week!

The Isle of Dread is owned by Wizards of the Coast. All of my work on this post is strictly non-commercial, on a voluntary basis as unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Wizards Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.

The Hall of Tentacles

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This week I am focusing on an individual encounter. Our basic D&D group was nearing the end of their second arc of adventures, and I put The Hall of Tentacles together to give them a challenging boss fight.

My villain was initially a lone spellcaster. This presented me with a challenge in terms of how to set up the fight and make it entertaining for my players. I wanted to avoid an anti-climactic fight, where the 5 party members simply rushed the antagonist and beat her into submission. On the other hand, if I built her strong enough to take a beating, my fear was that she would be too deadly.

I settled on using a bit of DM fiat and making up some special mechanics & creatures specifically for this fight. While my players are fairly new to the hobby, I wanted to keep them on their toes. Rather than pulling directly from the Rules Cyclopedia or Creature Catalog, I created some things of my own. If you are a stickler for RAW, this type of thing might not be for you. That said, my group was really engaged for the duration of the fight and at times you could cut the tension with a knife.

As always, I will keep this system agnostic and refrain from any specific stats. Instead, I’ll simply lay out what worked from me. Hopefully it will be useful to spark some ideas for your own games. From there it should be an easy matter of dialing things up or down to suit your needs.

The Setup

A Kosantian witch named D’Sara Shahari has been the driving force behind a number of the party’s early adventures. Hoping to impress her patron, she has been on a streak of dastardly deeds. D’Sara has recently taken up residence in Rohrbach Castle, on the outskirts of the small village of Brindle.

Baron August Rohrbach has always dabbled in the dark arts. Never able to obtain any real power, he leapt at the chance to offer shelter to the witch and hopefully learn her ways. Unfortunately for the nobleman, he learned too late that D’Sara had no desire to take on a pupil but rather was interested in something sinister below the castle.

Over the past few weeks, the witch has effectively taken control of Rohrbach Castle. Most of the staff have run off and the baron has been reduced to being her mindless thrall. Gaining access to the laboratory in the catacombs under the keep, she summoned a tentacled horror from the murky waters below. Having kidnapped two young children from the nearby village, she plans to sacrifice the youths in a gesture to honor her patron.

The party tracked D’Sara to Brindle, where they learned of the missing children and gathered enough intel to believe that the witch was residing within the castle walls. After surveilling the structure, the party discovered a cave entrance along the riverbank.

Wading through ankle-deep water and catching occasional glances of something slithering on the periphery, the party made their way through the caverns below the castle. Finally coming to higher ground, they saw light coming from the passageway to the north. This ultimately lead them to location #13, the entrance to the laboratory cavern.

The wicked D’Sara Shahari. Artwork © 2015 Dean Spencer, used with permission. All rights reserved.

The Laboratory Cavern

This large room is well lit with torches around its circumference. Tables with various jars, bottles, and equipment will make it immediately clear to the party that this is some type of laboratory.

Already aware of the party’s presence, D’Sara will be waiting for them at the top of the stairs (location #14). Baron Rohrbach stands nearby (location #15) awaiting the bidding of his master.

Interspersed about the room are 12 pools, open to the water below. Each is circled with a bronze band featuring strange runes. The reflection of the torchlight on the water gives the cavern’s ceiling a queer look, as if it is undulating.

Suspended 10’ over the pool at location #3 is an iron cage holding Ulli & Greta Stoll (the children from the village). The cage is held by a rope that goes up to the ceiling and then over to the far wall (location #16) where it is tied off.

The Fight

When the party enters the room, allow them a moment to take in their surroundings. Unless immediately rushed, D’Sara will deliver a villainous soliloquy and the children will call out for help. As soon as any of the party members start to close the distance to either the children or D’Sara, roll for initiative and the encounter will begin in earnest.

The crone has no intention of going toe to toe with a party of adventurers. She will hold her position and hurl spells at the do-gooders when they come within range. If things start to go poorly for her she will not be averse to the concept of turning and attempting to flee.

Baron August Rohrbach. Art by Bartek Blaszczec.

Baron August Rohrbach has been under the witch’s spell for weeks and is barely clinging to his humanity. Gaunt from lack of food, he could easily be mistaken for some type of undead. At this point he is really no more than an automaton mindlessly following orders. Dressed in his family’s ceremonial plate armor and carrying a longsword, the baron moves at 50% of the speed of a normal human.

His ensorcelled state will leave him immune to charm or fear effects. He should have fairly high HP but only dish out moderate damage. He will ignore ranged attacks but will immediately turn and engage anyone who enters into melee with him

With a word from his mistress at the start of the fight, Baron Rohrbach will shamble to location #16 and start hacking at the rope that holds the children’s cage over the pool. Unless interrupted by the party, he will succeed in cutting the rope in 3 rounds and the cage will splash into the pool below.

If the rope is cut and the cage hits the water, it will be fully submerged within 2 rounds. The combination of cage and children weigh a total of 190 lbs. The water under the cavern is shallow enough that the cage may be reached even if fully under water. The children will perish if they are underwater for more than 3 rounds.

If the evil witch, her mesmerized lackey, and the trapped children were not enough, the party will face one final peril. D’Sara chose this location because she wanted to make a sacrifice honoring her patron. She knew of an unspeakable horror residing in the river that runs alongside the castle. This tentacled monstrosity is lurking and waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Grid/No labels

I never had any intention of having my group face some giant beastie here. However this served to build the tension while also making the encounter more interesting. At the top of every round, roll a d12. A hideous pink tentacle will then burst out or the corresponding pool. The tentacles have a reach of 5’ from their point of origin and will attack the closest party member that they can reach.

Play with the tentacle mechanics as you see fit, based on the level and capabilities of your party. For my group, I kept things easy and avoided bogging things down. I had a hit indicate that a tentacle had grabbed the party member. A grabbed party member would suffer 1d4 points of damage from being constricted each round that they were grabbed. They could not move and made attacks with a -1 penalty. Grabbed party members are freed either through destroying the tenacle (I made this relatively easy, giving each tentacle only 4 HP) or after making a successful “Open Doors” check.

The tentacled creature itself will never make a full appearance. Once D’Sara has been dealt with or fled, the tenacles will retreat into the murky depths.

Recap

This yielded a fun encounter for our group. I realize it is a bit unorthodox, but it gives you a number of variables to tune as needed in order to challenge your party. The abilities for D’Sara & Baron Rohrbach are obviously wide open for you to play with. The tentacles themselves could easily be tweaked by adding greater frequency, longer reach, or more damage.

No grid/No labels

I purposely strayed from known creatures and tried to focus on mechanics that would make for an exciting evening around the table. Thinking back to Robert E. Howard or HP Lovecraft stories, I always enjoyed how the abilities and origins of magic users or eldritch horrors were left very vague. While it may be blasphemy to some, I think it avoids a lot of meta gaming on the player side to keep them on their toes a bit and show them something that they have not seen before.

Thank you for stopping by. Please take a minute to say hello and if you’d like to read some more, here are some convenient links

All of my posts detailing the locations in Cross Tree are located here.

For a list of all of my adventure hooks with maps, click here.

My random tables are collected here.

Finally, I’ve stuck everything else here.

Good Gaming!

Revisiting the Isle of Dread

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I have been running a group using the Rules Cyclopedia (with various tweaks) for about 6 months now. While it started as an experiment, it has become a fun endeavor. Up to this point, I’ve put them through their paces in “The Tower of Zenopus”, “Caves of Chaos”, and various homegrown one-shots.

Going into our holiday hiatus, the group consensus is that they would like to continue. I’ve spent the past week deciding where to take them next. Having enjoyed our previous romps through classic adventures I’ve decided to continue retracing the steps of my youth and chart a course for The Isle of Dread.

My stab at the classic Isle of Dread map. Made using the Campaign Cartographer annual Spectrum overland style.

If you are reading this, it’s quite likely that you are well-versed with the module already. Released in 1981, I received my first copy of the David “Zeb” Cook & Tom Moldvay adventure inside the Dungeons & Dragons Expert Set.

D&D Expert Set rulebook from 1981.

As the adventure is largely a wilderness exploration, this will be a perfect opportunity to shift my game a bit. Some of our other friends have been eager to join, while a couple of my current players are going through a hectic period at work. Exploring The Isle of Dread will allow me to take more of an episodic approach to my game, with somewhat of a West Marches style.

After making contact with a group of islanders on the southeastern peninsula, the party will establish a base camp. My sessions will then start as one-shots, with different groups of PCs striking out each week to explore the mysteries of the island. This will hopefully keep us nimble and allow us to get through the winter without any cancelled sessions due to the lack of players. As we progress a bit, it’s likely that the group will find another location suitable for a forward base deeper within the island.

Hex version of my map. Click for full image.

These days I derive as much fun from making maps as I do from running the games themselves. This practice seems to fill the void created when I stopped painting minis years ago. While the original hex style map for The Isle of Dread will always be dear to my heart, I wanted to make my own version. I settled on the Annual Spectrum style for Campaign Cartographer and took a stab at it.

While I have a lot of fond memories of The Isle of Dread, the adventure as written does not really lend itself to the story I am looking to tell. I will still introduce the island as a location by allowing the party to discover a secret page from a ship’s log and partial map (I created a new version of this as well). However, aside from these details I’ll be changing quite a bit.

Ideally, I would like to hit my players with a number of stand-alone adventures, while also sprinkling some bread crumbs of an overarching story. To do this, I plan to steal liberally from a couple old guilty pleasures of mine.

Inspiration

The Lost World promo shot.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World was a syndicated television series, very loosely based on the 1912 novel. The book itself was likely an inspiration for The Isle of Dread in the first place. It premiered in 1999 and ran for three seasons. The show follows a diverse group of early 20th century adventurers after their hot air balloon crashes on an uncharted plateau where prehistoric creatures still exist.

It was a cheesy production; I suspect owing much to the previous successes of shows like Hercules: The Legendary Journeys & Xena: Warrior Princess. Like these predecessors, each episode loosely followed a “problem of the week” format, while also occasionally touching on the larger story of who the characters were and how they might get off the plateau.

I am not here to claim that this was great television. However, it crossed my path at a time in my life when I was about as far removed from the hobby as I had ever been. I suspect this is why it stuck with me. Something about turning on the TV and seeing these silly stories play out really stoked my imagination. It brought back memories of my youth and playing D&D with my friends. I started to daydream about a time in my life when I might have the time to start gaming again.

The entire 66-episode run is currently available for Amazon Prime subscribers. I have been binging it while I doodle on my maps and making notes. Despite the fluff and gratuitous cleavage shots, I am mining a number of good ideas for one-shot adventures.

The other source that I will be looting for ideas is The Land of the Lost. To be clear, I am not referring to the Will Ferrell movie but rather the 1974 children’s adventure television series by Sid and Marty Krofft.

Land of the Lost title card.

The show’s 3 seasons tell the tale of the Marshall family, who while on a river rafting trip, end up in an alternate universe. Rick Marshall and his children Will and Holly become trapped in a land that time forgot, a place inhabited by dinosaurs and other strange creatures.

The Land of the Lost was every bit as cheesy as the Lost World and was clearly aimed at young children. However, despite all of this there are some elements that I think would make compelling additions to my revised Isle of Dread.

The Sleestak were a race of reptilian bipedal humanoids native to the Land of the Lost. Covered mostly in green scales, they have claws on their feet and hands which can function as pincers. Typically armed with crossbows and nets these unique creatures captured my imagination as a child and will make for great reoccurring villains.

Scheming Sleestak

The remnants of a dying race, the Sleestak reside in a Lost City with subterranean tunnels built by their ancestors. All of this sounds like a great fit for the caldera location in the center of the Isle of Dread.

Finally, scattered about throughout the Land of the Lost are numerous pylons. These futuristic constructs contain matrix tables filled with crystals, each serving as the power source to control different aspects such as the weather or passage of time. The World of Warcraft paid homage to the pylons & crystals in the Un’Goro crater zone, and I think they will be a fun addition to my game as well.

Final Thoughts

That is my plan. Do you ever go in and add your own touches to classic adventures? If so, please share in the comments. I would love to hear what has inspired you and what sources you use for inspiration. I would also like to hear from anyone else who may have been inspired by either of these properties in the past.

Thank you for stopping by. Please take a minute to say hello and if you’d like to read some more, here are some convenient links

All of my posts detailing the locations in Cross Tree are located here.

For a list of all of my adventure hooks with maps, click here.

My random tables are collected here.

Finally, I’ve stuck everything else here.

Good Gaming!

My version of the incomplete map found by the characters.

The Isle of Dread is owned by Wizards of the Coast. All of my work on this post is strictly non-commercial, on a voluntary basis as unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Wizards Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.

The Final Rest of Grondo-Ri

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Our group has been running using the Rules Cyclopedia with a few tweaks for the past year. The party has been doing quite a bit of river travel lately. I’m not big on completely random encounters but sometimes I need an interesting little drop-in to keep everyone entertained. This was the case with The Final Rest of Grondo-Ri.

The name of the titular character comes from my dear friend Mike’s Fantasy Hero campaign from the early 1990s. As was often the case with that game, certain elements have stuck with me over the years.

At the end of last session, the PCs completed an objective. I’m not entirely sure where they will head off to. However, I’m fairly certain that they’ll be traveling by riverboat. I also know that wherever they head will be a journey of at least a couple of days. Rather than just handwave the travel, I decided to have something interesting for them to encounter.

Hard to say whether they take the bait or not. It’s possibly that they will pass right on by. That said, I’ve found that if I keep a few encounters like this on hand, I tend to be more prepared for things coming at me out of the blue.

As I have mentioned previously, my intention for this blog is to provide GMs bite-sized source material. Hopefully some of you will find something that you can plug into your game and run with. These will likely never be full scenarios, just enough to get the juices flowing and set you on the path to adventure.

Grondo-Ri

Grondo-Ri was an orc shaman who lived roughly 100 years ago. He was cruel, even by orc standards, and lead his tribe with an iron fist. The brute was infamous for leading raids against the dwarves of Khared Draz and even successfully moved his people into some former dwarven territories.

Grondo-Ri. Art by Bartek Blaszczec

It’s unlikely that the PCs will have ever heard of this fellow prior to this encounter. However, he was fairly notorious in the region. It should be relatively easy to dig up lore about him after the fact.  

While historical accounts of Grondo-Ri exist. There is no mention of whatever became of him or his tribe. Lost to the sands of time is the fact that the orc was killed by his own people.

The tribe had taken up residence in an abandoned dwarven outpost near Dhag Ladur. Intoxicated by frequent victories, most of the tribe followed the shaman blindly. However, there were some among them who felt that a change was needed. Tribal elders disagreed with the acts of cruelty they had witnessed and felt that the spirits of their ancestors demanded a change.

Following a skirmish with a band of mercenaries from the human settlement of Sarburg, Grondo-Ri received minor wounds. Seeing this as their opportunity, the elders poisoned the poultices used to treat the shaman and allowed him to die.

The mummified body of the tyrant was entombed in the southwestern corner of the complex. They then completed their coup by convincing the rest of the tribe that they could communicate with the shaman from beyond the grave. Holding elaborate rituals around a large brazier, the elders would claim to receive direction from the fallen leader. They had succeeded in wresting control of the tribe.

However, something unforeseen happened. One day, whether by pure coincidence or spurred on by the restless soul of the shaman, the earth shook. Despite having been expertly crafted by dwarves, the subterranean complex started to collapse. Pillars crumbled and ceilings failed, until the entirety of the orcish tribe lay dead and buried. There, in the dust and rubble, the mummified body of Grondo-Ri awoke.

Map Locations

1.      The Shore

The shore is indeed muddy here. PCs will have difficulty walking anywhere on the beach proper and until they make their way into one of the cavern passages.

Various bits of junk have washed up along this stretch and you should tell the players that they can make out the shape of items just under the mud. For any characters wishing to dig through the mud to investigate, roll a d10 and consult the following table to tell them what they’ve found:

1.       A Bottle of Rum

2.       Purse with d10 gold coins

3.       Broken Necklace

4.       A Lone Sock

5.       Table Leg

6.       Candle

7.       Piece of Chalk

8.       Broken Lute

9.       10’ Pole

10.     Oar

Stock Art by Jacob E. Blackmon. commissionprodigyduck@gmail.com

A giant freshwater crab has been using the stretch of beach to hunt and is lurking in the water nearby. If the party spends more than 5 minutes on the beach, the creature will attack. Adjust the crab’s difficulty (or possibly add other crabs) as you see fit, depending on your party and their capabilities. Due to the mud, the beach area should be considered difficult terrain for the PCs to move around in. The crab will experience no such hindrance.

Should the party defeat the crab, close inspection of its carcass with reveal a silver dagger with a pearled handle that had been buried in its shell during some previous encounter.

2.      Pool Cavern

This pool is fed by a freshwater stream and is considerably more clear than the water back in the river. It is roughly 20’ deep.

The item in the pool is actually a jewel encrusted goblet that once belonged to a dwarven clan leader. It was looted by the orcs under the leadership of Grondo-Ri and came to rest at the bottom of the pool after the collapse of the complex.

The goblet is worth a substantial amount of money but would require someone to strip down and fetch it unless the PCs can come up with another means of retrieval.

3.      Mushroom Cavern

There is nothing of note in the cavern aside from the mushrooms. Despite the odor, they are edible and tasty. If harvested, the large mushrooms will effectively produce the same amount of light as a single torch.

Once removed from the cavern, the mushrooms will lose their glow and edible properties within 1 day.

4.      Meeting Room

Before the collapse, the orcish tribal elders would use this room as a secret meeting place. After concluding their ceremonies in the shrine, they would access this room via the hallway and secret door (location #5). The bones in the room are actually the remains of two of the elders who happened to be here at the time of the collapse.

Yuri Perkowski Domingos
yuri.perkowski@gmail.com
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@yuri.perkowski

Since the water level dropped, two carrion crawlers have been exploring the caverns. Hearing the approach of the party, they have retreated to area #5. However, they are hungry and will immediately attack any party member who comes within 5’ of the fallen door.

If thoroughly searched, the room will yield the following items.

  • 2d20 gold coins
  • 1d10 silver coins
  • An antique bullseye lantern
  • 4 assorted gemstone

5.      Hallway

The entrance to this hallway was nearly blocked off by the collapse. However, if party members can squeeze through the first 5 feet, the remainder of the hall is in relatively good shape.

It should be clear to PCs that unlike the caverns, this passageway has been dug intentionally. Characters who would have such knowledge will recognize this as dwarven construction.

A set of stairs leads downward for 10’, before coming to an apparent dead end. The secret door leading into area #6 should be quite easy to find, as it was intended only to be a secret to those who were inside area #6.

6.      The Shrine of Grondo-Ri

This is the room were Grondo-Ri was buried. The elders would perform their pseudo rituals here in order to convince the rest of the tribe that they were receiving guidance from their departed leader.

The jars and pots in the room contains all manner of herbs and concoctions. All of these are long past their usefulness. The bits of the shaman that were removed during the mummification process were also stored in these containers. However, they have long since turned to putrefied liquid and evaporated.

The sarcophagus is indeed lacking its inhabitant. However, an ornately designed staff is held within. The Staff of Grondo-Riis a roughly 6” tall iron-shod oak staff. It is topped off with the head of a horned beast. The staff will radiate magic if any party members happen to attempt to detect such things.

The exact properties of the staff are up to you and what would work for your game. However, I will give you some further lore about the item to help you make your decision.

  • The shaman was quite charismatic and was never without his staff. One might speculate that they was something about the staff that made him seem larger than life to his followers.
  • He was said to have wielded elemental magics; this was thought to be an ability imparted to him by the spirits of his ancestors but it’s certainly possible that some of this came from the staff.
  • It is also possible that the staff itself was cursed. This could account for his turn to cruelty and brutality.
Artwork © 2015 Dean Spencer, used with permission. All rights reserved. dean-spencer@live.co.uk

Grondo-Ri’s undead corpse has aimlessly wandered rooms #6 & #7 for decades. It is currently in room #7 and will attack in 1d4 rounds after the PCs enter room #6.

I’ve mentioned that Grondo-Ri was mummified after his death and I have also mentioned that he awakened in undeath after the collapse. All of that aside, it’s entirely up to you to decide what exactly he has become.

Since I’ve put this together without knowledge of what system you are playing or what power level your players possess, it’s impossible for me to fully define this encounter. In my game, I’m running this as a fairly low-level one-shot, though I think you could scale things up easily enough.

My suggestion would be to make him be a unique creature, so as to best keep your PCs on their toes. He cannot speak but he will approach the party with unbridled rage and make horrible guttural sounds as he attacks.

If you need to flesh things out a bit, I suppose you could mention the lifeless skeletons of some of the departed elders lying about the room. Then, at a certain point in the combat, Grondo-Ri could cause them to rise and fight. Whatever you like. Just have fun with it.

7.      Antechamber

The contents of the coffers, sack, and books I will also leave up to you. My suggestion would be to make these rewards commiserate with the level of difficulty of the Grondo-Ri fight. One thought would be to have one of the books contain a couple spells that would be useful for one of the party members. The other could be a history book pertaining to something in your campaign setting, thereby setting you up for more adventures down the road.

Beyond the double doors to the north, the hallway is completely caved in. No amount of digging by the PCs will allow them to continue further.

Plot Hooks

How you use this is entirely up to you. I am merely trying to plant some interesting seeds for you to run with.

  • Straight: You could run this as a straight random one-shot with no ties to any other part of your story. In this case, the party stumbles onto the cave complex, explores it and ultimately deals with the undead version of Grondo-Ri. Making their way out with whatever treasure they find; the party never looks back.
  •  Research: Perhaps the party was quested by some interested party to uncover whatever became of Grondo-Ri.
  • Find the MacGuffin: Someone wants something located within the complex. It could be the Staff of Grondo-Ri, the jewel encrusted goblet in the pool, or some other item that you have decided to place there.
  • Knowledge is Power: If word gets out of the party’s discovery after the fact, it could open doors to other adventure threads. A mysterious sage may wish to investigate the complex and uncover the embalming methods used on the orc shaman. Dwarves may travel to reclaim the lost settlement. A superstitious young orc leader may seek to reclaim the remains of Grondo-Ri, as a manner of ascending to power within his tribe.
  • Cursed!: Rather than a straight fight, perhaps the undead orc places a terrible curse on the party, requiring them to go on yet another adventure in order to cleanse it.

The End

Thank you for stopping by. Please take a minute to say hello and if you’d like to read some more, here are some convenient links

All of my posts detailing the locations in my starting town of Cross Tree are located here.

For a list of all of my adventure hooks with maps, click here.

My random tables are collected here.

Finally, I’ve stuck everything else here.

Good Gaming!

The Chapel of St. Sigmund & the Grotto of Mareen

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For hundreds of years, the residents of the northern shores of the Sea of Harne have been followers of the cult of Mareen. These simple seafaring people regularly sacrificed a portion of their catch to the brooding queen of the seas, in hopes of fair weather and bountiful waters.

As the Graun Empire’s influence spread over the land, the church of Aunul grew in power. Sailors spread word to the seaside communities that the emperor and his ever-present religious advisors did not view worship of the elder gods as acceptable.

Statue of Mareen under the chapel of St. Sigmund. Artwork © 2015 Dean Spencer, used with permission. All rights reserved.

Fearful that inquisitors would arrive one day and brand them as heretics, the residents of Hammondsport acted. A new chapel for the church of Aunul was constructed over the underground grotto that housed their shrine to Mareen. In a comical twist, the chapel was named after a St. Sigmund, a devout follower of Aunul who drowned while trying to spread the faith.

The community goes through the motions of having shifted to the faith of Aunul. However, it is largely a show for outsiders. On all of the old holy days, townsfolk don their robes and meet, well after dark. Slipping through the secret door located in the office, they make their way down into the grotto. There they gather at the altar and make their sacrifices to Mareen as they have for generations.

If you’d like to browse through all of my other maps with plot hooks, you can find them all collected here.

Cross Tree Isometric

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This weekend I jumped in on the early release of Symbol Set 6: Isometric Cities for Campaign Cartographer, with artwork by Mike Schley. I didn’t have much time to play around but managed at whip up first draft of an isometric version of my starting town of Cross Tree.

By design, Cross Tree is just a tiny outpost. I think this symbol set would really shine with producing larger city maps (I’ve already seen some from the community and they look fantastic). That said, it was fun to play around a bit and perhaps I’ll have more time to explore more over the holiday weekend.

Thank you for stopping by. Please take a minute to say hello and if you’d like to read some more, here are some convenient links:

All of my posts detailing the locations in Cross Tree are located here.

For a list of all of my adventure hooks with maps, click here.

My random tables are collected here.

Finally, I’ve stuck everything else here.

Please feel free to use everything I post for your home games, blog, & social media. You have a non-exclusive, non-commercial license to use my maps & posts for non-commercial purposes. If you do so, please credit talaraska.com but more than anything, please just leave a comment. I started this project as a labor of love. More than anything, I enjoy interacting with other gamers. Good Gaming!

Dwarven Outpost at Dhag Ladur

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The dwarves of Khared Draz hold the Iron Mountains from Nur Badur in the south, all the way to the frosty Borean border in the north. This simple outpost found at the pass of Dhag Ladur is typical of watch posts found throughout the region.

  1. Entrance: Built into the side of the mountain, double doors reinforced with iron bands mark the entrance to the outpost. 2 sentries are always stationed at the entrance, while 2 others roam further afield.
Dwarven sentry at Dhag Ladur. Artwork © 2015 Dean Spencer, used with permission. All rights reserved.

  • Dormitory: 10 soldiers are stationed at the outpost during any given time. During each 2-week stint, this room is where they store their belongings and get their sleep. The furnishings are modest but sufficient.
  • Armory: Weapons are stored and cared for in this small room. A small forge is located on the southern wall and is vented to the outside.
  • Mess Hall: This spacious room is where you can find most of the dwarves when they are not on duty or asleep. Long benches run the length of the room and a fire is kept burning around the clock.
  • Kitchen: This isthe command center for the cook. Meals are prepared and ale is provided throughout the day for soldiers who are not on duty.
Smith making repairs. Artwork © 2015 Dean Spencer, used with permission. All rights reserved.

  • Tunnels: The tunnels can be accessed through a secret door located in the kitchen. The small cavern to the east house spare supplies and a well. In the event of an attack, the dwarves have the option of barring the entrance and retreating into the tunnels. The tunnel to the north twists around and leads to an alternate exit from the mountain.

Thanks for stopping by. This week’s map was made with Campaign Cartographer, using the “Annual Inked Dungeons” style. Hope you have a great week and manage to fit in some time to roll some dice. Good Gaming!

If you’d like to browse through all of my other maps with plot hooks, you can find them all collected here.

A Classical Xanti Tomb Complex

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In ancient Xanti, there is a common belief in reincarnation. Among the worshippers of the cult of Kaa, tradition dictates that wealthy nobles be buried along with their belongings, in elaborate tombs.

The tenets of their faith claims they will be reunited with their possessions in their next life. Whether this be truth or folly, only the gods know. However, woe to the dessert thief who tries to claim these riches for herself.

-Bhagiro Hatti, Gowandian Scholar

1.    Entrance

The entrances to Xanti tombs are often built into the side of canyon walls. Purposely left open, as a welcome to the gods, they are occasionally sealed off with sand from blowing desert winds. It is believed that when a tomb is sealed off in such a manner that the inhabitants will be forsaken by their deities and lose their opportunity for everlasting life.

A Kosantian adventurer faces off with reanimated tomb guardians. Artwork © 2015 Dean Spencer, used with permission. All rights reserved.

While not sealed, Xanti tombs are not without their protections. Necromancers place tomb guardians in the form of skeletal warriors at the entrance of the complex. This particular tomb holds 6 such guardians in niches to the left and right of the entrance.

Each armed with a khopesh, these skeletal figures will remain lifeless unless someone intrudes on the tomb. Once disturbed they will animate and seek to eliminate the threat.

2.    Dead End / Pit

This corridor halts at a dead end, with a 10’ deep pit. To the inexperienced, this may at first seem to be a very obvious trap. However, this is actually a very purposeful key to the tomb, placed by the architect.

Any who have studied ancient Xanti burial rights will know what this portends. This signals to any future caretakers that the safe pace through the tomb is to take the leftmost choice at any intersection.

3.    Offering Room

This room contains 4 ceremonial offering niches, where well-wishers could visit, prior to the tomb being sanctified. They would fill these niches with all manner of offerings for the departed, in a belief that this would curry favor for them in the next life.

In the center of the room a pool of water gives off an eldritch blue glow. The pool with radiate as magical if any with the ability to check for such things happens to do so. Exactly what its properties are is a secret lost to time. However, legends tell that supplicants leaving offerings would drink from the well to receive a boon from the gods.

The pictured tomb is that of a mid-level noblewoman. Of the present offerings, most are fairly mundane sundry items. There are sacks of old grain, olive oil, bottles of wine that have long since turned to vinegar, and bolts of linen. A close search will turn up a gold scarab pendant and a garnet ring that are both finely crafted.

4.    Shrine

This room is the shrine where priests of Kaa would give their final prayers for the departed. During these ceremonies, 4 earthen-ware vessels bearing cobras would be placed within the room as part of the invocation ritual. The reptiles are long since dead and likely nothing remains of them.

5.    Beetle Pit

Tomb beetle. Art by: gary@gdupuis.com
http://www.gdupuis.com/

This floor of this room is littered with a number of old bones. The opposite end of the room is dominated by a well that is 10’ in diameter. After crossing the threshold to this room, PCs will hear a skittering noise coming from the well. Within 2 rounds of this, 4 giant beetles will emerge from the hole and attack until slain.

If explored, the pit will be found to descend 30’, though there are numerous tunnels branching off in other directions. These other tunnels have been created by the beetles. They are not large enough to stand up in, susceptible to collapse, and parties unwise enough to venture into them should meet more beetles promptly.

6.    The Burial Chamber

This ornately decorated room is the burial chamber itself. The noblewoman’s sarcophagus dominates the center of this pillared room, while those of her 8 attendants line the northern, western, and southern walls.

These three walls are adorned with detailed paintings depicting scenes from the life of the departed. The eastern wall is reserved for images of what she hopes for in her new life.

7.    Fire Trap

Those foolish enough to cross the threshold from the burial chamber into this L-shaped hall will immediately hear an audible click. However, nothing else will happen at this time.

If anyone walks forward to the right-angle and then follows until the dead end, they will be in for a surprise. As soon more than 5 lbs. of weight is placed on the 5’ section of tile at the dead end, 7 gouts of flame with shoot out from holes on the right side of the wall.

The flames will persist until there is less than 5 lbs. of weight being applied to any of the 3 east-west floor tiles marked with flames on the map. However, after 4 rounds the mechanism will run out of fuel.

If specifically searching, perceptive characters may notice the small holes in the wall.

8.    Treasure Room

This room would contain the worldly treasures of the departed. While there would certainly be some coins and gemstones, other items dear to the individual would be here as well. Bolts of fine silk, oils, and incense would be common among such items. In addition, books of arcane knowledge might be stored here for safekeeping until the afterlife.

Final Notes

That wraps up another week. Again, this isn’t intended to be a full-on adventure but I thought perhaps that this might get the creative juices flowing for some of you. Please let me know if any of this sets your mind to wandering. Hopefully, instead of dreading the new work week that is quickly approaching, you’ll be able to let your thoughts drift a bit to future sessions around the gaming table. Good gaming and have a great week!

If you’d like to browse through all of my other maps with plot hooks, you can find them all collected here.

5. The Stables

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Continuing my series about the town of Cross Tree, this week I am covering location #5, the Stables. As previously mentioned, I will keep this as system neutral as possible. There won’t be any in-game stats provided. Instead, I will focus on what you would need to know, should your players opt to visit the stables.

The Stables

Enough travelers pass through to keep the operation worthwhile for its owner. However, she is new to the town and inherited the property after it had been allowed to go downhill for a number of years.

Taryn Keen

Taryn Keen is a young human woman who appears to be in her mid-twenties. She has green eyes and auburn hair that falls below her shoulders. Taryn bears a tattoo of a black dragon, just below her collar bone, on her left side. Under normal circumstances, she dresses quite plainly in wool breeches with a linen shirt.

Taryn Keen. Art by: Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock Art @ Rick Hershey / Fat Goblin Games. http://www.fatgoblingames.com

Having inherited the stables from her uncle Benjamin, Taryn has only been in town for a little over a year. She grew up in a large city to the west, where she spent her youth working in her father’s stables.

An adventurer in his younger days, Benjamin Keen had owned the stables in Cross Tree for over 25 years, until he went missing 2 years ago. Townsfolk claim that he had an unhealthy fixation on legends of a lost city somewhere in the vicinity of Cross Tree.

Rather than operate and take care of his business, Benjamin was known to wander off into the woods for days at time. It is believed that he was obsessed with finding the lost city. On one such expedition, Benjamin failed to return.

When it was clear that the stablemaster was not likely to come back, word was sent to the family and Taryn arrived within the year. Having had a good deal of previous experience, she set about to putting things back in shape. The house itself still needs work but she is getting there.

Besides boarding, Taryn grooms the animals left in her charge and provides medical attention as necessary. She supplements her income by caring for the other beasts of burden and livestock around the town. Her rates would be considered modest compared to whatever is standard in your game. While her operation is too small to carry equestrian equipment, Astolpho & Gina at the mercantile, carry all of the basics.

1st Floor

The eastern portion of the ground floor is comprised of Taryn’s living quarters, while the room to the west is what she uses as an office.

2nd Floor

In addition to Taryn’s bedchamber, the 2nd floor consists of a meeting room. While not generally accessible to the public, she may invite the PCs up here for counsel, or to discuss future plans.

Plot Hooks & Encounters

As previously mentioned, Taryn’s uncle Benjamin went missing 2 years ago. What the other residents of Cross Tree are not aware of is that fact that Taryn’s father Adam also vanished around the same time.

  • Knowing that both her father and uncle had been adventurers in their youth. Taryn suspects that the legend of a lost city was what lured Benjamin here. It is reasonable to think that she might attempt to hire the party to find out what became of them.
  • While out on a ride two weeks ago, Taryn discovered some stone tablets with odd runes on them. She might hire the party to travel to the nearest city and try to decipher them.
  • Adam Keen owned a cabin located 3 days west of Cross Tree. Taryn has not been there since she was a young girl. However, she faintly remembers that he kept journals there, detailing his exploits. If she trusts the party, she may give them directions to the cabin and ask them to go retrieve the journals. Obviously, with this and any of the other previous tasks, she would be willing to share any resulting bounty.
  • Finally, if the party is simply in needs of funds and willing to put in some hard word, there is plenty to be done. Taryn would certainly be willing to hire party members to clean the stables or assist with the process of fixing up her living quarters.

Closing Notes

Thank you for stopping by. Please take a minute to say hello and if you’d like to read some more, here are some convenient links:

All of my posts detailing the locations in Cross Tree are located here.

For a list of all of my adventure hooks with maps, click here.

My random tables are collected here.

Finally, I’ve stuck everything else here.

Please feel free to use everything I post for your home games, blog, & social media. You have a non-exclusive, non-commercial license to use my maps & posts for non-commercial purposes. If you do so, please credit talaraska.com but more than anything, please just leave a comment. I started this project as a labor of love. More than anything, I enjoy interacting with other gamers. Good Gaming!