ECC TATOO EVIL b -INTRODUCTION SYNOPSIS A centuries old race of specters has risen to reclaim their ancestral homeland, hoping to once more inhabit their physical forms and drive out the Undercity's current ‘occupants. You are tasked with stopping them from causing any more harm, and if possible, destroying them for good ADVENTURE Hook You have been tasked by an agent of a small Varstadian lundercity community's leadership with investigating recent disturbances on a local livestock farmer's land. Rothe, a staple of the Varstadian undercity’s livestock market, have been turning up dead, torn open in an almost ritual fashion, ADVENTURE BACKGROUND ‘The Blackveil were a mystical and secretive subrace of elves who chose to make their homes beneath the streets of some of the world's most populous cities. A wouldbe monarch of Varstad's fledging Undercity, a medusa named Aspasia, grew paranoid of the Blackveil’s elusive nature and ordered them driven to the surface and executed, cementing her seat on the ‘undercity’s throne The Blackveil died in agony and the souls of hundreds were kept from moving on to the next lie by Selva the Betrayer, a necromancer of the Blackveil. Because of this, the Blackveil were cursed to remain in Undercity, lurking forever on its fringes as specters oftheir former selves, never again able to walk the caverns of their beloved homeland. Undercity expanded in the ensuing decades, reaching a level cof wealth and prosperity that would otherwise have taken centuries. As time passed, Aspasia became more and more withdrawn from the common affairs of state, delegating her responsibilities to her loyal cult of necromancers and death clerics. Decades ago, Aspasia finaly attained the immortal state of Jichdom, fully intending to rule Undercity forever. The current state of Undercity is one of quiet prosperity. DRAMATIS PERSONAE ASPASIA THE LICH-QUEEN ‘A medusa who underwent the transformation to lichdom Queen of Undercity APIS THE STEWARD ‘A Blackveil specter who acts as the spokesperson for his people Opric CALston A halfelf Undercity farmer. Raises rothe for their meat and nutritious milk, and cultivates @ variety fungus strains to ‘supplement his income. SYLVA THE BETRAYER {A Blackveil necromancer, long since dead. Currently interred in the Blackveil graveyard and undergoing torture RUNNING THE ADVENTURE The Blackveil Reclamation is meant to be a setting agnostic adventure for Dungeon Masters to insert into their game any time the party has abit of extra downtime or needs a diversion from their current objective. Names of NPCs and locations can easily be swapped out to match your setting if needed. The goal of this adventure is to encourage players to seek alternative solutions to problems. While this adventure functions adequately as a simple quest with a straightfoward combat conclusion, Dungeon Masters are encouraged to emphasise the possibility of social solutions and reward them cordingly. {A group taking its time can expect to finish this adventure in 3.4 hours, while groups who enjoy getting o the end of things can expect to reach the end in 2-3 hours.Part ONE A RouTinE JOB It is quiet and foreboding in Undercity, hours since the party ‘was contacted by an agent of a small community's leadership. Valuable livestock have been going missing from a local farmer's land, and Aspasia's agent has promised the party 250 gold each if they can find the cause of the disturbance and climinate it. Feel free to skip over the introductory portion if ‘you'd rather place the party more directly into the action. Alternatively, you may have the party meet with Conn, human male who uses the noble stat block, at a location convenient to you. Conn describes the recent events to the party and offers them the described reward. A successful DC. 15 Persuasion check will convince Conn to increase the amount to 325 gold but he will not offer more than this. From here you should give your players a chance to describe the sorts of preparations they make before they undertake the expedition. If you find that your players are having difficulty coming up with things to take along, refer them to the ‘Adventuring Gear' table in the Player's Handbook (p. 150) ‘The characters pick their way through worn trail heading east out of the city. The environment here is deceivingly bright, it by an abundance of bioluminescent fungus and fauna, The air is generally damp, smelling either of rotten plant matter, fangus, or freshly turned soil Read the following {ext aloud as the adventure starts to get your players into the proper mindset The path before you begins a @ rough patchwork of crudely worked rock, blocks of which come together to form a rudimentary kind of cobblestone pathway. The path is overgrown with moss and a strange sort of fungus that retreats at your approach, orly to emerge once more as you pass. ‘The luminous plants, fungus, and insects fill the Undercity caverns with a dir and flickering ight. As the cobblestone path ‘varsitions into dirt and crushed gravel, the sounds ofthe city [grow ever more faint behind you untl all you can hear is the sound of your party's breaths and the beat of your heart in your chest Once you finish reading to your players, ask them to describe cach of their characters’ reactions to the environment and the \ask ahead Encourage them to be as descriptive as they can, and be sure to liberally award Inspiration to anyone who you think meets the erteria, THE CALSTON FARM After the players have had a chance to take in the local environment, describe their preparations, and get into character, ead or paraphrase the following text aloud: [As you traverse a seemingly endless cavern of impressive, echoing dimensions, your eyes Finally fall upon what you would assume to be the Calston farm. Fields of cave moss are patiently tended to by a few small herds of rothe: stocky, furry, hhorned creatures with dark green horns, yellow eyes, and shaggy brown coats. 'A modest cabin lies at the end of a path that takes you over a few gently sloping hills. The cabin is made of stone, and a few flickering lights can be seen through the windows at this distance. Beyond the cabin, a broad, low roofed structure appears to serve as both barn and tool shed Unless the party is making a specific attempt at stealth, Odric Calston greets them halfway down the path to his cabin. Odrie is « halfelf commoner, and is relieved to see the party finally artive. He is a thin, tredlooking man with dirty hair, dark ‘skin, and black eyes, He bids the party come into his cabin and offers to stable and feed their mounts if they brought aay. Once inside, Ouric seats the party at the dining table, offers them what refreshments he can, and tells them of his recent difficulties. A month ago, some of his rothe began to turn up dead While a few appeared to have been at Ieast partially eaten, others were eviscerated in what seemed to be an almost ritual fashion, Odric mentions seeing strange glyphs written in blood that he couldn't quite recognize, and now can't quite remember, " éDISTURBING SIGNS Odric directs the party to the southernmost field on his property, which borders the Umbrawood, a wilderness of giant ‘mushrooms, dark grasses, and pale trees. Finding the field is straightforward enough, and Odric gives thorough directions. When asked to guide the party, his sociable demeanor will change to one offear as he refuses. {As the party approaches the southern field, read the following text [As you leave the cabin, the southern path twists around a few small copses of large mushrooms before reaching a gate Proceeding into the field itself, you see a few scattered rothe chewing moss and watching you with fat, almost baleful expressions The herd seems to be avoiding a particular hilltop, and itis there where you find your fist indication of foul play: a rothe carcass lies on ts back, limbs outstretched, Its guts are removed and strewn about it in a circle, the circumference of which is lined in bizare glyphs from an alphabet you do not recognize, The hilltop is capped with a low wall of crumbling stone and set with a number of worn abeliss of various sizes, none more than four fet high Give your players ample time to investigate the ares, prompting them if necessary. Perception, Investigation, and Nature are all applicable to this situation, so no character should be left out. A successful Perception check (DC 12) will reveal that the ‘moss surrounding the hilltop has been trampled flat by a large creature, A successful Nature check (DC 12) will reveal that the creature was quadrupedal Ifthe Nature check exceeds the DC by 7 or more, the character will earn that there were two creatures present: one large quadruped and one medium biped ‘The whole scene ig what remains of the blood ritual undertaken by the Blackveil to bring another sou! of their slaughtered people back to the Material Plane. The other ‘missing rothe can be explained by the need of the Blackveil to feed the ghaunts. The ghaunts are large, fearsome quadrupeds with leathery skin stretched tight over bone and muscle. They serve as mounts for the Blackveil When the players are nearly finished investigating the area, hhave one of them discover a trail of blood leading from the field to the Umbrawood, AMBUSH! ‘The characters have been stalked by a pair of ghaunts since they left Odric's cabin. The two ghaunts are waiting for the characters to leave before attacking one of the rothe and dragging it back into the Umbrawood Only now have they approached close enough to potentially be noticed by the party, Any character with a passive Perception of 16 or higher notices them, When the ghaunts realize that they have been noticed by any of the party, they will attack. Ln need GHAUNT Size, Alignment ‘Armor Class 16 (natural armo: HitPoints 136 (16410+48) Speed 30 ft, fly 60 ft, STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 20 (+5) 16 (+3) 17 (+3) 2¢4) 11 (10) 6 (2) Saving Throws Str +8, Dex +6 Skils Perception +3, Stealth +6 Damage Resistances necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks ‘Damage Immunities poison Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, poisoned Senses darkvision 120 ft, passive Perception 13 ages understands Common Grlerge 2 (0500%) Death Link If its bonded rider is destroyed, the sghaunt is destroyed. Flyby. The ghaunt doesn't provoke an opportunity attack when it fies out of an enemy's reach. Actions Multiattack. The ghaunt makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its claws. Bite, Melee weapon attack::+8 to hit, reach 5 ft, one target. Hit 18 (34845) piercing damage. Ifthe target isa Medium or smaller creature, itis grappled (escape DC 15). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the ghaunt can't bite another target. law. Melee weapon attack::+8 to hit reach 5 ft, fone target. Hit 15 (34645) slashing damage.Pee cr eer Care ee Cee nara a Cn eeu cary Se ee eet cee Tea letras If you like what you saw, consider following the ere More Crepits M: be you have so many people to give credit to that you need a bit more space. Well yo lumn to do exactly that! thi