Tag Archives: DND

The Lost Children of Tollengard

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Children had started disappearing from the frigid Borean city of Tollengard since the season’s first snowfall. By the turn of the new year, a total of 6 had gone missing. Each had vanished, seemingly without a trace.

In the beginning, this would simply occur overnight, with cribs being found empty in the light of the morning. However, as the winter wore on, the final pair were apparently snatched when their distraught mothers had simply turned their backs.

No direct ties could be found between the victims’ families and no apparent clues were left behind at the scenes of any of the abductions. There were no tracks nor signs of forced entry. The stricken families seemed to come from all walks of life.

The effect on the morale of the city was notable. Citizens of Tollengard were typically a stoic lot, who suffered through the long winters without complaint. However, the passions rose in even these long-suffering folk as they demanded answers as to what had happened to their children.  

The lord mayor, Pavel Ivanov, was feeling the heat. People demanded answers; demanded that he act. Even with doubling the city watch, it was feared that citizens would riot or break down into mobs seeking vigilante justice.

Many speculated that a wood witch had taken up residence on the outskirts of the town and was luring the children away. Others claimed that some ghostly wolf would come and snap the children up in its terrible maw. The theories were numerous, and some made little sense. People simply wanted their children back; they wanted justice.

Borea in the northern reaches.

This was the state of things in Tollengard on one sunny winter morning, when things changed forever. Parishioners arrived at the Abbey of Ladina as they did daily. They came to beseech the goddess, patron of the city, for help in returning their children. On this day though, something was not right.

Normally the three monks who tended the church were up an around, welcoming citizens as they came to pray. However, no torches were lit, and no incense burned in the braziers. It was not like the pious brothers to shirk their duties. Clearly something was wrong.

Concerned citizens made their way downstairs to the rectory, to see if perhaps a member of the order had fallen ill. Accessing the monks’ living quarters via the northern staircase, they were greeted by a queer sight.

The foyer at the foot of the stairs was in a state of disarray. In numbers of spots the stone floor was cracked and broken, exposing the earth underneath. It looked as if some great plow had churned through the masonry itself, yet what could have caused this?

The floor of the mess hall to the east was flooded with murky water. This was found later to also be the case with the storeroom further to the south.

There was no sign of the brothers in the sleeping quarters. In fact, all three of their beds were still made. It appeared to the crowd investigating the rectory that all of their modest belongings were also in place.

Coming at last to the sanctuary in the westernmost room of the rectory, the citizens beheld a sight that will vex Tollengard for the rest of its days. The statue there of Ladina appeared to have been desecrated. Some type of viscous green liquid had been splattered about it.

The mysterious sarcophagus. Artwork © 2015 Dean Spencer, used with permission. All rights reserved.

Resting at the foot of the stature, a large stone sarcophagus lay partially open. All assembled knew that this was out of place here. The vessel was empty and obviously ancient, though none of the stone crafters in the city were able recognize its point of origin. On its lid was carved a macabre likeness of a human skeleton, lying under a thin shift.

As bizarre as all of these sights were, they paled in comparison to the final discovery of that chilly morning. For there, snuggled together on the floor of the abandoned rectory of Tollengard, were found the six missing children. All were in good health and appeared unmolested. Being of various ages, all too young to speak, there was no hope of receiving any answers from the babes.

Grateful parents recovered their sons and daughters. In the following days, townsfolk turned both the abbey and the rectory upside down, looking for something to explain the mysterious occurrences. Nothing else of note was ever found, and the missing monks of the Abbey of Ladina were never seen or heard from again.

Final Notes

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop and read this. I hope you find some spark here that you might find useful for a future game. Please drop me a note below if you have any thoughts or suggestions. 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.

Gaming Conventions

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When I first started this blog, I delved into a few posts about my background and how I found myself immersed in the world of tabletop role-playing games. I’ve always been fascinated by origin stories, and one of my favorite things to do is learn how others were introduced to this hobby. In honor of the Gen Con game convention happening in Indianapolis, IN this week, I thought it’d be fitting to revisit an old post about gaming conventions.

I’ve previously shared how I received the Holmes edition of Dungeons & Dragons as a birthday gift in the late 1970s, as well as my eye-opening experience when I first stumbled upon a game store and realized that there was actually much more to the hobby than I had ever dreamed.

In the following years, I developed a keen interest in the game convention listings found in Dragon magazine. Though I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from a gaming convention, the concept intrigued me. Encouraged by my supportive parents, in the spring of 1983, we made the journey from Rochester, NY to St. Catherine’s, Ontario, for the Niagara Gamefest & Computer Show.

To my young eyes, the convention was a wonderland. Having played D&D (and possibly AD&D by then) with my neighborhood friends for a few years, we were somewhat isolated in our gaming adventures. But this small, weekend gathering revealed to me just how popular this hobby was becoming.

Everywhere I looked, I discovered new RPGs that I had never even heard of before. And then there were the wargames. While I had some exposure to miniatures from Campaign HQ, a tiny gaming store in downtown Rochester, NY, I had never witnessed the grandeur of the massive miniature armies on display at the wargame section of the convention.

Yet, the most significant impact on me was the warm reception I received from other gamers, most of them older than me. As a 12-year-old, I was treated as an equal by everyone I encountered. It was an incredibly welcoming environment, and it didn’t matter whether I was joining college kids in a Car Wars event or testing my skills with seasoned veterans in a Napoleonics game – I felt at home. I was completely hooked.

Old article about the Niagara Gamefest & Computer Show.

Later that same year, I attended the granddaddy of them all – Gen Con, held at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside that summer. If my first convention amazed me, this one simply blew my mind. It was everything I had experienced before but multiplied tenfold.

The campus, nestled in a rural setting near Racine, felt comfortable enough for my parents to drop me off in the morning and pick me up in the evening. While I had been late in registering for specific events, it didn’t matter, as the concourse of the campus was brimming with open gaming sessions anyone could join.

Not a single minute was wasted during my time there. Groups of gamers gathered on the floor, spontaneously embarking on game sessions. People were playing Ogre just a few feet from a Champions group, while across the hall, an engaging Ace of Aces match was in full swing. Yet again, my age was irrelevant – I only had to stand there for a moment, and someone would invite me to join their game.

The epic miniature battles in the wargaming area left me in awe. The largest among them was a multi-day reenactment of one of the crusades. I spent hours marveling at the intricacy of the models and the meticulously crafted terrain.

The dealer’s room at Gen Con was nothing short of massive. Games, dice, miniatures, apparel, and every other gaming-related item you could imagine were on display. I’d wander from booth to booth, eagerly listening to the enthusiastic pitches from vendors.

Many of the vendors set up “mini-games” for attendees to try out their systems, which filled even more of my time. During one such demo for Gangbusters, I was fortunate to meet Mark Acres and Tracy Hickman. Mark, one of the game’s designers, and Tracy, who would later co-author the successful Dragonlance series, left a lasting impression on me.

Those early gaming conventions left me with cherished memories. I returned to Gen Con the following year and attended Origins the year after that. Although gaming has often faced social stigmas, which have lessened over time, the shared experience of a large gaming convention has always been refreshing to me.

These days, I try to seek out conventions that take place further away, and in 2018, I was fortunate enough to attend the UK Games Expo in Birmingham. Exploring gaming events in different parts of the world has added a new layer of excitement to my hobby. It’s fascinating to see how gaming brings people together in a shared passion for adventure and imagination.

Nowadays, I find myself living in Indiana, and I frequently roam the halls at Gen Con in Indianapolis. While things may not feel exactly the same as they once did, the allure of the convention draws me back year after year. Having returned to the hobby after so many years, I’m happy to witness the incredible diversity it has now embraced.

And what about you? If you’ve made it this far, something must have piqued your interest. Have you had the pleasure of experiencing game conventions? If so, which ones have you attended, and what aspects did you enjoy the most? I’d love to hear your thoughts, so please share in the comments.