GreenRoost (5e Quest)

GreenRoost

Designed for a party of 2-5 adventurers, level 3-5. Anticipated playtime 2-4 sessions.

(parentheses are usually references)

Background for DM: This adventure takes place in Faerun, along the Long Road that goes between Waterdeep and Mirabar. The town of Westbridge and Kryptgarden Forest are the main settings. The noble family of Belabranta (from Waterdeep) are the focus of the story. These settings can be researched online and much of the background is consistent with those sources.

The following is a prologue. It took place before the beginning of today’s adventure, so although it might seem playable, you won’t be able to interact until given the go-ahead.

The coach's bumpy ride wasn’t as bad as you had thought it would be, and faster, too. In each of the major towns along the Long Road that stretched from Waterdeep to Mirabar the coachmen would swap out the tired teams of horses for fresher, faster steeds. Thus even though the journey was 200 miles, it was completed within a single day. Not a bad way to get around, if you can afford it, and if the roads lead to where you need to go. After leaving the large port city of Waterdeep the Savage Frontier began living up to its name more and more. Soon the smaller farming and mining communities were left behind and the road had longer and longer stretches of wilderness, broken up first by the beginning of the Sword Mountains, then later by the Westwood forest. You wondered why the great Waterdharvian family of Belabranta didn’t simply build their new Griffon Ranch in THAT forest. But you weren’t being paid to decide on a new location for them. You were being paid to secure the new location and ensure that nothing in the vicinity posed a threat to the operation. Not long after passing the town of Red Larch you saw the Lance Rock. A massive boulder sunk deep into the earth. Protruding from underneath its seemingly immovable bulk was the pulverized spine and intact skull of a dragon, dead for a century if it was dead for a day. You shuddered to think of what force might have slain such a powerful beast. The next town along the road, 50 miles hence, was Westbridge, your destination. With Triboar to the North, the Dessarin hills to the East, and Kryptgarden to the West, this was where the comfortable part of the journey ended for you. You unloaded your gear in the center of town while casting your eyes about in search of an affordable-looking tavern where you might wait for your next ride. The selection was surprisingly good for such a backwoods village. There was an inn called “the Happy Halfling”, a restaurant styled “The Wemic Goes to Westbridge”, and-most promisingly-”Westbridge Brewers”, which advertised wines and strong ale. But before you had a chance to avail yourself of the amenities, you found yourselves being waved over by a man in commoner’s garb to his wagon, pulled by a pair of donkeys. “If I’m a-not mistaken muchly, you folks must be them adventuring types hired by the Belabranta family to clear out yonder woods. Am I a-thinking rightly?” You said that you were and he confirmed that he’d been hired to take you there and you all piled into his wagon, glancing forlornly back towards the dining and drinking establishments. The man chuckled to himself, “You’ll a-be having some opportunities fur fine dining, if I’m a-not much mistaken. The Belabranta’s are many things, but skinflints isn’t one of them. They’ve a-hired a good cook for themselves and the workers a-toiling away on that new ranch o’ theirs.” He guided the wagon out of the small town center and across the Long Road onto a newly worn dirt road leading directly west into the forest. The trees were tall and ancient, the undergrowth scarce once you had left the borders of the forest behind. The wagon driver spoke more quietly once in the forest. “My name’s Hugo, by-the-by. Truth be told, some folks in town are a-concerned about this ‘ole project, ‘fraid that those Waterdharvians might a-be stirring up somefing’ what ought-a best left alone. But it’s not my place to question, specially not since the Belabranta’s are employing half the town to build their ranch, not to mention that they a-seemed to line the pockets of everyone from the Mayor down to the Postman. I myself have been a-hauling folks ‘n supplies to ‘n fro from the work site, and getting well-compensated for my work. That said, we’ve spent generations avoiding going into these woods excepting those hard winters when hunting’s the only way to a-put on the table. Perhaps we’re all a bunch of superstitious ol’ fools. But I dunno.” Hugo shivered, even though it was plenty warm outside and he well-covered. He looked about nervously then fixed his eyes on the trail ahead. The trail wound about the larger trees and you could see where some of the smaller had been cut down to keep it straight. “It’s only a few miles into the forest but that might be more’n what we folks from Westbridge have seen in a good many decades. You folks see that mighty big dragon skeleton along the Long Road, between here and Red Larch? That’s the handiwork of the gert Green Dragon what lives in these woods. Story goes that one-of-them red drakes came outta the north back in me great-grandfather’s time. He flapped about, gobbling up a few maidens and half a herd of sheep. Then, feeling as cocksure as can be he lay down to take a nap by the side of the Long Road to digest his victims, knowing his thick scales were a castle’s walls, as far as any passing adventurers were concerned. Along comes the Green Lady, as she likes to be called, carrying a boulder like a mountain. She flies so high above that the other drake doesn’t even ‘ear her, slumbering away like a babe. Well, the Green Lady drops that ‘uge boulder on his back, killing him instantly, then she retires to these here woods. You can understand, perhaps, why we don’t love prancing about in her backyard then.” With this Hugo lapsed into silence as you passed the outer wall, a wrought iron affair with a gate that Hugo opens and then shuts after passing through.

We have now arrived at the present. You’ve been sitting in the back of the wagon in silence for the last few minutes. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves or with Hugo.

Allow them to talk to Hugo for Five Minutes before cutting them off by saying that they have arrived at the ranch, GreenRoost.

Things of interest to Hugo: -The dragon’s reputation and history, (her name is Claugiyliamatar, she prefers to be called the Green Lady, but is called Old Gnawbones outside the forest.) -The Belabranta family’s reputation in the town (they’re throwing lots of money around and are very well-liked at the moment, since everyone knows they could spend a lot less or build elsewhere. The Nephew who they’ll see is Adrian Belabranta. His Aunt, Savra Belabranta, is running the show from Waterdeep. There’s also the cook, Michele (male, French pronunciation), from Waterdeep, and Tiberius Belabranta, a cousin of Savra. He and Adrian have final say on everything at the ranch unless Savra says otherwise) -The use of donkeys (Hugo won’t risk his horses near the griffons, who eat them)

As you hop down from the back of the wagon you see before you a scene of busy construction. Workers move to and fro, moving lumber and stone blocks, nailing wood planks together, mortaring stones into place, and preparing the stables. You’ve passed through a beautiful and imposing gatehouse onto a property ringed by an iron wrought fence more than 10 feet tall. A tall main house stands completed but you can see that work is still being done on the stables and smaller structures. As you take in the scene before you you hear the sound of powerful wings beating the air above you. You look up to see a griffon coming down for a vertical landing in the grass. On its back rides a young man in leather armor. As the griffon touches down he waves to you and jumps from the beast’s saddle.

This is Adrian Belabranta. He is cordial and friendly. He carries a shortsword, a shortbow, and a quiver of arrows. Unnoticed at first is the body of a small deer strapped to the back of the saddle. Adrian exchanges pleasantries for up to 5 minutes with the party (he asks about their trip, their comfort, if they have any questions about the accommodations) then

Adrian suddenly looks over at the griffon, which appears to be biting at something on its back. “Angelica!” He calls out, and the griffon pulls its head away, making a plaintive keening noise. “I’m sorry, you’ll have to excuse me a moment,” Adrian says to the party. He trots over to the griffon and pulls a deer carcass from the saddle, where it had been strapped. Blood is dripping from the deer’s head, where the griffon had been pulling off strips of meat. Adrian shakes his head and lays the deer down in the grass. With a swift motion he draws his shortsword and chops the head off the deer, then hefts the body over one shoulder as blood oozes from the neck. With his other hand Adrian picks up the head and makes a clicking sound to Angelica, the griffon. The griffon perks up and catches the head between her front paws before continuing her grisly snack.

Adrian apologizes and leads the party outside the gates, where he bleeds and guts the deer while continuing to answer their questions.

Things of interest to Adrian -His family’s business (The demand for griffons has recently skyrocketed since Waterdeep rebuilt its griffon cavalry and they expect to have more orders than they can fill for the next few years, at least. -The griffons themselves (His uncle has interwoven some proprietary spells into the most recent generation of griffons, of which Angelica is one. They’re faster and fiercer than any other domesticated breed) -What he’s learned since coming to Kryptgarden (the game is scarce but they’ve imported sheep, pigs, and horses for the griffons to eat. They’re contained within the outer wall, which is a large enough area that the animals can roam and breed without being in huge danger from the denizens of the forest. The forest feels fairly quiet from the air. He hasn’t seen the dragon, but he’s spotted Hobgoblin patrols and they him, but no conflict with them.)

After a reasonable amount of time, you will perform a perception check DC 14 to see the door to the main house open. A man in tattered clothes and wearing manacles about his hands and feet steps out. Behind him steps an older man with grey hair and beard. The two men exchange words and shake hands, after which the bedraggled man walks out the front gate, nods respectfully to Adrian, and quickly disappears into the forest. Insight DC 10 to realize that the manacles are really for show since the chains are short and not connected to anything.

Adrian shakes his head at any questions and holds his finger to his lips if they ask any questions, instead guiding them inside and saying “all in due time”. He leads them to the door of the main house after hanging the deer carcass on the wrought iron fence. Once inside he introduces them to his relative, Tiberius Belabranta. He says to you, “I’m sure you’ve got some important questions, so I’ll do my best to answer them. But if you’ll first permit me to say a few things, it may reduce the number of questions significantly. Is that all right?” “The reason my Illustrious cousin, Savra Belabranta, decided to seek out your services, to be very frank, is because we simply aren’t sure of how safe this forest is. There are 3 principle claimants on the land, as far as we are aware. The Green Dragon, Claugiyliamatar, has lived here for decades, centuries perhaps. The town of Westbridge is the nearest community and the source of much of our labor. And the city of Waterdeep is the nearest city-state capable of any significant power projection into this region. My cousin, Savra Belabranta, has ample connections within Waterdeep and there’s little risk of anyone in the city opposing this acquisition. If anything, they are our most ardent supporters, seeing as they are rebuilding the Griffon Cavalry and we are the best suited house to fill that need. Westbridge has been amply compensated and the mayor was happy to provide the charter for us, and the Green Dragon, or Green Lady, as she prefers to be called, has similarly granted us a charter for the land. You may have seen her, um, representative leaving not long ago. We have only respect for the Green Lady and I must insist, absolutely, that you do nothing to bother her in your investigations. We’ve made our arrangements with her and she has received her compensation for the land and the agreement to treat our griffons and representatives peaceably. Before I continue, I need to tell you something, in the spirit of complete openness. Yesterday, one of our construction workers from Westbridge failed to arrive to work. He had worked a few days straight and had walked home in the evening three days ago to have a day’s respite. Yesterday when he didn’t show up for work we sent a runner to find him, and his wife informed us he’d never made it home. The only road to and from Westbridge has seen ample traffic, and Adrian spent all day yesterday airborne searching for the man. His name is William and he has a wife and two children. If you find any sign of him, I know his family is anxious for any clue as to where he is. From what I understand he wasn’t given to drunkenness” “We stopped work on everything yesterday and had all the workers search about for him,” says Adrian. “We’ve looked on the road, in town, and about here, but found nothing.”

Allow the party to gather their thoughts and ask questions. After that:

Tiberius continued, “Well, with all that in mind, we’d like you to continue with your previously agreed upon assignment. Search the area around the property, specifically outside the outer fence, for anything that might pose a danger to GreenRoost. Deal with any threats you find, or report them to us, as the situation might dictate. In a few days time we’ll have you on your way home, significantly enriched. (Agreed price is 100gp to be distributed among the party plus hazard pay for any lost limbs or body parts, arranged through their adventuring guild, The Crimson Lancers. If the number of players is high enough, consider increasing the pay). We have heard of a fey community somewhere in the forest, but little is known about them. People from Westbridge have told us there is some fey calling himself king and leading the others, but that may simply be rumors. The Dwarfhold of Southkrypt is located some 10 miles northwest of here, at the northern edge of the forest bordering on the Sword Mountains. It was abandoned in ages past by the dwarves and rumor has it that something may have moved in, since then. But, as the dwarf realm really extends under the mountain, even if something unpleasant has made a home there, it may be best to leave it be, provided it stays put. Hobgoblins live in the forest, but I think they are unlikely to be a source of any trouble. From what we can tell their numbers are very small in Kryptgarden, perhaps because of the Green Lady’s influence. Lastly, there once was an old rumor of a second dwarfhold in Kryptgarden Forest, perhaps a satellite of Southkrypt. It has never been substantiated, though, so I wouldn’t give it too much credence, but all the same keep your wits about you. This is all the information that we’ve gathered about Kryptgarden. It isn’t much, but your job will be all the easier for it. Personally, I think the influence of the Green Lady has kept any other major players from asserting themselves here.

Players may ask questions. Eventually, Tiberius will ask if they want to go out to search the road for the missing man, start on the perimeter, or retire and start the next day. (it is about 1800 and the sun is low in the sky)

Leads:

Road to Westbridge: Roll for investigation DC 18 (with 22 they find shirt and pants). All can roll, only need one to pass. Take the rest of the evening. Along the road between the inner fence and the outer fence, you spot some signs of sheep and horses, fecal matter on and near the road. There is also some significant foot traffic but from the best you can tell, it was all made by hooved animals. If they pass: About a mile from GreenRoost, not far outside the outer fence, you spot a possible clue. There is a broken green branch on a short, rugged oak tree. The wood looks white and fresh and you can see that at the base of the tree below the branch there is a furrow in the ground, perhaps an inch deep and 12 inches long. If they go deeper in: Your find, about 100 yards from the road, a small clearing. On the very edge is a patch of what seems likely recently tilled soil. In a patch about 6 feet long and 3 feet wide the ground has been pulled up. Nothing can be found there by digging. PER DC 16 to spot tracks leading back in the direction of GreenRoost. Not to the road, though, just straight west.

Perimeter Search: INV DC 18, or if they follow the tracks from the road. Alone: You walk around the outer fence perimeter, a distance of maybe 4 miles. The fence is strong and tall. You doubt any deer could jump it, at least not without impaling itself on the spikes at the top. You see where some trees were cut to keep the fence straight or prevent it from being too easily scaled. If pass or come from other side. You spot a mound of ashes, about 20 inches across and perhaps 10 inches high, at the edge on the outer fence on the East side of the property. None of the grass or trees nearby appear to be scorched. A pair of boots, unburnt, are under the ash. A wedding band can be found (gold, inscribed “W+S”). No further clues.

After either search it should be nighttime. The players can go down to sleep in the main house, there is a room prepared for them.

Have them all roll PER DC 13 to wake up at the tapping on the window. They will see a figure swathed in shadow outside the window (the figure is wearing a black balaclava if they have darkvision). The figure waves to them to come outside. If they open the window two more figures will reach in, grab them, and pull them from the window. If none of them wakes up, they will awaken as one of the Westbridge workers is being eaten outside his tent.

There are 5 Vampire Spawn Hobgoblins, one standing outside, 2 on the walls outside the windows, 1 on the roof who shoots and ducks, and another waiting outside a tent or other building. Stats are same as Hobgoblin with STR 16 and Vamp Regen, Weaknesses, 22HP, and Spider climb.

Fight them. Adrian will get up and summon Angelica after 2 rounds with Scout stats. Tiberius will show up after 4 rounds in armor and fight with stats of Noble.

Last 2 will flee if they can. One will run towards the river to the south then veer away and run east. Both eventually run east. They will drop their shields if they need to climb. Each sword and shield is engraved or painted with red and black insignia.

Bodies will have red eyes as their only unusual trait. INS DC 12 to realize that they seemed abnormally strong.

Once daylight comes, if the bodies are exposed, they will turn to ash.

Options from here:

Hobgoblin Camp: Easy to find (just go north), Adrian knows where the camp is. Their leader is Shiku, a captain, and he will wish to send his brother, Takayasu, to look for the other hobgoblins.Takayasu will have Hobgoblin Captain stats but no Leadership and less HP. They are wary and xenophobic but fair. The hobgoblins will have their sentries stop anyone on foot about a quarter mile from the Warcamp. The Hobgoblins know that some of their people have gone missing over the past month. The first was a scouting party of 3 who disappeared 3 tenday ago, and another 4 disappeared one by one while alone out in the forest. Many of the women and children have fled to another settlement but a number of warriors remain. The hobgoblin camp is noticeably empty-feeling with the depleted numbers. Takayasu may offer to send 2 hobgoblins to assist in recovering bodies or investigating leads. He will insist on this if the players want to search near the warcamp. The hobgoblins will direct you towards the cliffside ruins to the west as the last known location of the scouts. The Hobgoblin camp is clean and military in appearance. The thick canvas tents are washed and pennants fly from their tops. You can’t help but notice that there are not very many hobgoblins in sight, though, no signs of women or children, and some of the tents have a distinctly forlorn look about them.

Dragon: Tiberius tells you to not go seek out the Dragon or her Slave under any circumstances. Unless evidence incontrovertibly links them to the attack, they are not to be bothered. INS DC 10 to realize that the dragon would probably find a way to charge them more for the land concession. If the dragon lair is approached (it is almost due south of GreenRoost) despite warnings, the party will find a well-maintained path leading directly south. If they approach from another angle they will find 4 equally well-maintained paths, in straight lines going North, South, East and West, all converging on a small wooden booth (like a tollbooth or vendor’s stall). At the booth are writing supplies and a lockbox with a protected slot into which inquiries can be placed. You see a booth with a lockbox with a slot in the side, labeled “In”, another unlocked container labeled “Out”, and a small chest labeled “Writing Materials”, inside which are paper and quills and stoppered ink bottles. A sign reads: “Halt, traveler. You are in the domain of The Green Lady, the great Claugiyliamatar. If you have become wildly lost and do NOT intend to importune Her Greatness, please head East immediately to The Long Road. If you have an inquiry for The Green Lady, please describe the nature of your concern in Common with these materials provided and you will receive a reply within a tenday in the Outgoing Container.” Players can inquire here (and will receive a response from The Green Lady’s slave) or can ignore the booth and continue south, at which point they must each pass a DC 17 Stealth check or risk being assailed by Claugiyliamatar, who is harsh and cruel and will certainly punish them with at minimum a fine (she can smell gold) and may kill them if the encounter goes poorly.

Westbridge: Adrian knows there is a wizard who lives in town and thinks he might be able to use magic to track down the Hobgoblins. The wizard is a young guy with a smoker voice named Norman, he agrees for 30gp to lead them to the location but can only guarantee results if they have an item from one of the one who got away. He can also sell them a Spell Scroll for a 1 minute duration Daylight spell for 20 gp if they ask. You walk to Westbridge and after asking around a couple of places, are directed to the Wizard’s shoppe. You open the door and walk in to find a younger adult male human with black hair bent over the counter, a jeweler’s loop held to one eye and his other hand painting a tiny figurine. He stops and looks up at you, his one eye hugely magnified. As soon as he stops painting the figurine, it runs into a tiny painted cottage on the counter and slams the tiny door shut. “You little rat, you know I can just lift the roof off and grab you. Don’t go smearing the paint, okay? What can I do for you folks today?”

Southkrypt: The Vampire Hill Giant Morg lives here. If the party approaches, they will find the doors crudely repaired and a pile of large bones heaped up outside. The stench is terrific but they can knock if they’d like. An aggressive hill giant will open up if they do and summon the others to attack them. If the first hill giant is defeated, others will come, but with enough ruckus to allow the party to escape. No clues are to be found here.

Follow Tracks: They will first roll a SUR DC 18 check. Only one of them needs to pass. It leads them east where they will eventually come to the base of a cliff, about one mile beyond the edge of the outer fence, where the tracks stop. No doors in the cliff. Lots of spiders scuttling in and out of holes. At the base of the cliff, the tracks which you had attentively been following completely disappear. The face of the rock looks scalable, but dangerous. The top of the cliff isn’t visible, as a thick bank of fog obscures everything above about 100 feet. The fog swirls around you as well, and as it grows, you see a surprising number of plump black spiders scuttling about, in and out of crevices in the cliff face. They can simply walk around or can climb the cliff. DC STR 16 to climb, 10 to fail without getting hurt, 5 to fall 20 feet or less. A ten minute walk will also get them up top. Once there, they find a small stone staircase about 20 feet from the edge of the cliff leading down into the ground. On the first step are Dwarvish runes, but in a dialect none can understand.

The Vampiric Talisman: The remaining hobgoblins are in the ruins of the small, caved-in dwarfhold, along with the vampiric talisman (a large crystalline head of a dwarf with fangs). There are however many remain of the 5 vampires seen before with Vampire Spawn (MM) stats, with additions from Hobgoblins as needed. Depending on the size of the player party the number may be adjusted up or down. The talisman requires passing a WIS-saving throw of DC 12 (a friend may notice if you fail and can break your attention to cause you to pass) to not feel compelled to place your hand in the talisman, which would bite you, infecting you with vampirism. There is no vampire lord. The entrance to the dwarfhold has a tripwire attached to a bell. DC 15 PER to notice, DC 10 SOH to safely disarm it without waking the vampires. Each vampire is sleeping during the day in a sarcophagus, can be staked with wood to kill them, but each time you enter a chamber with a vampire you must pass a DC 12 STEALTH to not awaken them. Once one is awake they’ll awaken the others. A backdoor trapdoor can be found in the ruins.

Once the players have successfully dealt with the vampiric threat and hopefully the talisman, they will be paid and released from their duties by the grateful Belabranta clan. If their interactions with Adrian and Tiberius have been largely positive they may be invited to continue in the service of the Belabranta’s or invited to return to GreenRoost at a later time. As the DM you may narrate them successfully returning to Waterdeep or ending the adventure with a round of drinks and good food at one of the inns of Westbridge with some of their new friends.

MiniMap of Kryptgarden:

Note the vampiric hobgoblins dwell in the ruins to the west of GreenRoost. The graveyard, watchtower (northeast of GreenRoost), and other ruins can all be populated as desired by monsters or loot but do not have significant story elements. GreenRoost is made up of an outer fence about 2 miles long on each side and an inner compound with its own secondary fence.

Map of GreenRoost (inner compound).

Note that Greenroost can be configured several ways but should have at least a main building, a stable, and a gatehouse, preferably a few extra buildings to serve as servant’s quarters, storehouses, and an inner fence around the compound. The buildings that the author used were printed from designs by Pasquale aka Code2 aka P/C2, website https://www.wonderworlds.it/. I found these designs to be excellent.

Map of Ruins, above ground.

Note that the rubble in the upper left conceals a secondary trapdoor entrance. The main entrance will have an alarm (bell attached to wire) on the first landing that can be detected PER DC 17 and disarmed to prevent alerting the vampires to the players as they enter.

Map of Ruins, below ground.

Note that the arrows point to the stairs at the main entrance and the ladder at the back entrance. The rooms are populated with a total of 5 coffins scattered in which the vampires rest. The smallest room in the bottom right quadrant has a chest in it which can be filled with loot, nothing, or a trap as the DM sees fit. The Altar and Crystal Talisman are in the topmost room.

Summarized Campaign Flowchart: