The Mundane World

We could have set this adventure in an entirely generic world, and I’m sure some readers would have preferred that, but enough folks seem to like my setting that I decided to use it. It should be generic enough for most purposes.

This adventure is set in a region of Vasloria (my analog to medieval Europe) called Aendrim. Its map would show you a series of far-flung baronies connected by disused roads, surrounded by hazardous wilderness. This is my version of the ur-fantasy campaign where low-level characters need to worry about just getting around. Bandits and goblins abound!

Obviously there’s oodles of nonsense we call “lore” I could inflict upon you, but really all you need to know is that the local towns and villages look to the local baron to provide security. The barons are the only civilized power in the land now, and some of them are…not primarily concerned with the welfare of their citizens.

Part 1: The Village of Gravesford

This adventure begins as the heroes arrive in Gravesford or in medias res as they awake in the Reluctant Pig, Gravesford’s tavern. They will meet both friends and foes in town, such as the eager hedge mage Pinna and the callous Star Knight, Sir Pelliton of the Knights of the Three Roses.

The action begins when orcs of the White Tusk clan from the nearby forest attack Pinna’s shop under cover of night and spirit her away for unknown reasons (Unless the players manage to stop them!). The characters must pursue the kidnappers and rescue the village’s beloved mage.

Part 2: The Forest Rend

The orcs’ tracks are easy to follow, but the Forest Rend is dark and dangerous. The PCs may conquer the forest using stealth or steel as they track the orcs back to their hideaway. This part concludes when the characters reach the ruins of Castle Rend, an ancient stronghold that the White Tusk orcs turned into a temporary headquarters.

Part 3: The Ruins of Castle Rend

Having tracked down the White Tusk orcs, the PCs must now infiltrate their stronghold and save Pinna. While exploring the stronghold, they encounter warlike orcs and the restless spirits of the knights that once held the keep, and they learn that Pinna is not the only captive of the White Tusks. A young nobleman named Edmund, son of the dead baron and lost heir to the throne of Bedegar, is being held in relative comfort as a political prisoner.

If they play their cards right, the PCs can negotiate with Bonebreaker Dorokor, the orcs’ leader, and rescue Pinna and Edmund without a fight. They may even claim ownership of Castle Rend, gaining a stronghold of their own in the process. If negotiations break down, however, they must fight for their lives and take the castle by force.

Part 4: The Siege of Castle Rend

Hunting the White Tusk orcs, and warned that the PCs are hunting the orcs as well, Sir Pelliton brings Lord Saxton’s army to Castle Rend prepared for a siege, unaware the PCs already claimed it. If the characters wish to keep their newly won stronghold, they must defend it and defeat Sir Pelliton and his army.

Conclusion

Having defeated (or parleyed with) the White Tusk orcs and humiliated (or killed!) Sir Pelliton, the PCs return to Gravesford as heroes. The extent to which the people of Gravesford celebrate the PCs’ victory depends on how successful they were in their battles, negotiations, and rescue attempts throughout this adventure. Will the characters be remembered as great heroes? Or will they go down in infamy as rogues and scoundrels?

Lord Saxton

The characters never meet Lord Saxton, the power-hungry lord marshall and regent of Bedegar, in this adventure. However, many NPCs in this adventure obey him, despise him, or are otherwise bound to him.

Shortly before the events of this adventure, Lord Saxton conspired with Bonebreaker Dorokor, leader of the White Tusk orc clan, to kill the Baron of Bedegar and his family. In return, Dorokor would receive an ancient orc talisman, kept by the Bedegar family as a trophy in their crypts.

Now the Bedegars are dead and Saxton sits on the throne of Bedegar Keep, where he is free to impose his tyrannical (and human-supremacist) will upon the people. The common folk of Bedegar are ambivalent to

Saxton, but they revile his elite servants, the sadistic Knights of the Three Roses.

One of Saxton’s first acts as regent was to double-cross his orcish pawns. When Bonebreaker Dorokor sent a scout to claim the promised artifact, Saxton killed the orc emissary and sent his knights across the countryside, nailing death warrants for Bonebreaker Dorokor and her White Tusk orcs in every tavern in every village they came across.

Motivation: Lord Saxton envied his friend, the old baron, and felt he was better suited to rule. His lust for power turned him into a traitor long ago. He enjoys pitting the people of Bedegar against their humanoid neighbors, reveling in atrocity as long as the victims aren’t humans. Thus does he tighten his iron grip on the people of Bedegar.

Sir Pelliton

The despotic will of Lord Saxton is made manifest by the Knights of the Three Roses. There are five of them, but Sir Pelliton, the Star Knight, is the only one who features in this adventure.

Pelliton is despised by the people of Bedegar, and for good reason. The Star Knight (in any order of knights, the knights take their own unique titles to pass on. Sir Pelliton took his from the constellation of the Tower, long a symbol of tyrannical strength.) is an authoritarian strongman who hides his true cowardice behind a smoke screen of noble status and the power of his superior, Lord Saxton. He also possesses unholy powers thanks to a supernatural bargain he forged with a dark spirit. He is well known in Gravesford as a petty tyrant who’s used to taking what he wants, daring anyone to defy him.

Pelliton takes great pleasure in making other people fear and hate him, and whenever someone lashes out in anger, he strikes them down with sadistic glee. He rarely kills his victims, instead preferring to leave them covered with scars and just alive enough to grow his legendary infamy.

Pelliton is tall and thin, but muscular, with an imposing suit of armor emblazoned with the three-flowered symbol of the Knights of the Three Roses. His shield bears the five-starred constellation he took his title from. His skin is distressingly pale, and his shining shaved head and pitch-black goatee can be spotted from a mile off on a clear day.

Motivation: Sir Pelliton makes himself feel powerful by making others suffer. (The original antipaladin was described as a knight of capricious cruelty and sneering brutality, and I quite like that image.) He also wants to curry Lord Saxton’s favor to ensure himself higher station and greater rewards in Saxton’s regime.

Bonebreaker Dorokor

Bonebreaker Dorokor commands the unquestioning loyalty of the White Tusk orc clan. She stands nearly seven feet tall and lifts her wicked greataxe, Wound, with ease. Her clan respects her leadership as well as her might. Dorokor is a crafty and strategic warrior. Her plots and schemes are sophisticated—her bargain with Lord Saxton is the first one to backfire, causing her people to question her leadership a little. But her people believe that taking young Edmund, the baron’s son, hostage is a feat that shows she thinks much farther ahead than a normal orc.

Her fanatical devotion to Grole (The god of the orcs in my world.) is both her greatest strength and her greatest weakness. Her zeal for Grole has driven her to become strong and self-sufficient, but it has also made her exploitable. Lord Saxton manipulated her into slaughtering the Baron of Bedegar and his family by promising her the Sanguineous Oriflamme, (This is an orcish battle standard that, when drenched in the blood of a particular enemy, grants all orcs within 60 feet bonuses against that enemy. Its stats are not detailed herein, but it burns red like a flare while slaked with blood.) an artifact of Grole that the old baron’s forebears took from the orcs decades ago.

Dorokor could not resist Saxton’s offer. She accepted the deal and mustered her tribe. Saxton’s men opened the gates of Bedegar Keep and the White Tusk orcs stormed in, mercilessly slaughtering all within—except one young boy. Dorokor was no fool and could sense that Saxton was a snake. She spared the life of young Edmund Bedegar and spirited him away to Castle Rend, the derelict fortress that the White Tusk orcs call home. She is keeping the young lordling as insurance against Lord Saxton’s treachery. She believes—and she is correct—that if she produces the boy at the right place and time, the humans will rebel against the usurper Saxton. She doesn’t particularly care who rules, she just wants the Oriflamme.

Despite her cunning, Dorokor knows little of the ways of human diplomacy. She assumes that humans are weak and, should you capture one, they will give up much to recover them. During the adventure, she initiates negotiations in the same way that Saxton dealt with her: she kidnaps a young woman from the nearby town of Gravesford and will only release her if they agree to parley. She reacts with confusion and hostility if the heroes arrive at her keep and attack. Dorokor’s Common is simple but fluent. When speaking in Orc, however, she uses grandiose and often poetic turns of phrase.

Motivation: Bonebreaker Dorokor wants to see her clan triumph over all others, including Men and elves. She has ambition beyond any normal bloodchief. She also seeks to honor Grole with glorious victories in combat and is often torn between her desire to protect her clan and her hunger for war.

Pinna

Pinna is a young woman of seventeen who lives in the village of Gravesford, at the edge of the Forest Rend. She is easily recognizable by her tall, pointed straw hat, curly red hair, and crystal necklace—her arcane focus. Pinna is a country hedge mage, well respected by the people of Gravesford. She often entertains children at festivals and market days by conjuring motes of flame or bouquets of flowers, and she helps the adults in town by supplying them with sleeping tonics and preventatives.

Pinna is a clever woman—one of the few literate people in town—but she feels inadequate compared to her absent master, a wizard named Tace who travels from town to town, tutoring many apprentices just like her across the land. He only comes by once every month or so to judge her progress and give her another tome of theory to read.

Despite Pinna’s self-doubt, she is beloved by the townsfolk, who are simply happy to have a real wizard in their midst! Perhaps that is why the White Tusk orcs plan to kidnap her and force a parley with the village…

Motivation: Pinna wants to be respected by someone with high standards. She loves the village folk, but they are overawed by any little display of magic.

Edmund Bedegar

Edmund Bedegar is thirteen years old and the last of the Bedegar line. He is small and his voice is still cracking and peaking, but a perceptive person can see in his eyes the steely resolve of a confident ruler.

Edmund’s older brother was to be the next baron, but as is traditional Edmund trained next to his brother in all things. He learned falconry, jousting, how to host a dinner, the proper ways to address a duke, a king, a count, or another baron. He idolized his older brother and expected to serve as his squire this next year, and then become chancellor of his court once his brother ascended to the barony. That was before the White Tusk came.

Now, Edmund is the rightful Baron of Bedegar by birthright, and he knows it. This is a tragedy, something he never wanted. And though he cries at night for his dead family, he staves off despair by focusing on his commitment to upholding the family name, and becoming the leader he knows his family would want. He intends to honor his father and brother, his mother and sisters, by ruling where they cannot. This is the steel inside young Edmund.

He knows his station and expects to be treated with the respect his title deserves, but he is not a petulant child. He is a young lord with a kind heart and an ingrained sense of justice. He rightfully fears the orcs that kidnapped him, every night remembering his family dying under their axes.

He continually reminds himself, I am Baron now, what would my father do? The health of the barony must come first. And Dorokor would make as powerful an ally as she has been an enemy. He wants revenge, but not as much as he wants to be the kind of savvy ruler his father was. When he discovers that his father’s friend, Lord Saxton, is the architect of the night his family died, he may set his hatred of the orcs aside and turn his ire upon the true mastermind.

Motivation: Edmund wants to avenge the death of his family by executing their murderer. At the start of this adventure, he believes this to be Bonebreaker Dorokor, but his ire could be turned to Lord Saxton if the truth were revealed to him. He also wants to return to Bedegar Keep so that he may give his family a proper funeral.

MAYOR OSRIC.

Cheesewright and baker, owner of the stables and the general store. Osric is in his early fifties, rotund, and fancies himself a captain of industry. He’d like to see Gravesford grow and to become famous for something noteworthy, and sometimes lets these ambitions carry him away. But he is a good man who, when times are hard, cares more for his neighbors than his reputation.

OSTLER HAMM.

A tall thin man who runs the stables for Osric. Is reluctant to sell or lend his horses to anyone he doesn’t know. Usually relies on Osric to make the call when strangers need a horse.

“Ostler” isn’t his name, it’s a title. A job. It means…the dude who runs the stables. 😃 Now archaic, but part of the fun of the game is learning these things.

MILLICENT AND BELLE.

Two sisters in their early thirties who run the store for Osric. Millicent is married to a farmer in the country and is generally a fusspot who wants to make sure customers are well supplied with anything they might need and perhaps one or two things they don’t. Belle is happily unmarried and enjoys negotiating with the local carters to make sure the store is well stocked.

JAGO THE SMITH.

His smithy is a popular hangout for the men of the town who’d like a spot of ale without having to listen to the farmers relaxing in the inn. Jago has long black hair and enjoys talking—he’s always telling a story about the most recent weirdos who passed through looking for someone to straighten a sword or pound out the dents in their armor.

MORGOUSE THE CARPENTER.

She was once Morgouse the Weaver until her husband died and she decided to take over the family business. Soft-spoken and industrious, she sees the wooden shops and houses as basically just another kind of fabric, and she can often be found on a roof, or step ladder, repairing water damage or rot without anyone having asked her or her asking payment.

GISELLE AND GOWAN.

Owners of the Reluctant Pig. Gowan cooks, Giselle runs the bar, and their thirteen-year-old daughter Brecca takes orders and serves drinks and food. Brecca spends her limited free time learning weaving from Morgouse and hopes to set up her own shop before she’s fifteen.

Town Council, etc.

The town council is technically Osric, Jago, Morgouse, Giselle, and a farmer named Carroc (see later). Carroc is an ass and lives on his farm, so the others conspire to meet and decide things when they know he’ll be busy. Millicent, Belle, and Hamm are villeins (like a serf but has more rights) of the Baron and have no legal rights to their shops or land, but folks in town tend to forget this, so they’re always part of any decision. Gowan can’t be arsed to worry about local politics—he’s got fowl to braise.

The town has no local law enforcement, but folk do well enough without it; they have a volunteer militia that assembles when ordered by the town council. They pay their taxes to the Baron of Bedegar (or, more recently, to the realm’s regent, Lord Saxton) and gain the benefits of trade and roadways that all citizens of Bedegar enjoy. Otherwise, they are a community small enough to take care of themselves.

Gravesford is at the edge of the Forest Rend, a lawless wood where inhuman creatures roam. None dare go deeper into the forest than is necessary to hunt game or chop wood. Legends say that orcs and goblins and other nasty bogeymen lurk in the forest, and that is enough to keep people away.

A1. Farmhouses

About two dozen farmhouses surround Gravesford, each holding a family of five to ten people. Farmers, wives, husbands, children, grandparents, and parents-in-law all fill these houses, working the land as best they are able.

The largest farm in Gravesford is owned by a crass man named Carroc (use noble statistics), is occupied by his wife and five boys, and is tended to during the day by a group of four servants who live in town. Carroc enjoys acting like he’s the most important person in town, and he may indeed be the most wealthy, but he doesn’t live in town so the mayor and the rest of the town council tend to ignore him. He enjoys coming to the Pig for a drink once a week, but does not notice that the most important people in town all seem to be at the smith’s when he’s visiting.

Carroc is pious, tithing more than ten percent each season to the Church of St. Gaed. While Mayor Osric hopes to see Gravesford grow from a hamlet into a proper town, maybe with a wall someday, Carroc hopes to be a landed noble, and looks down on the rest of the town. He has no love for adventurers, as they represent a threat to the natural order of the town. He looks up to the cruel Sir Pelliton and would do anything to become his aide—or to become a knight just like him.

His personal hoard of 500 gp is squirreled away in a locked wooden box hidden beneath the floorboards under his bed. The box can be unlocked with a key kept on Carroc’s person, or its lock can be picked with a DC 18 Dexterity check using thieves’ tools.

Other farmers are more sympathetic than “Duke Carroc,” as folk might grumble while drinking at the tavern. One farmer in particular, a sun-baked and calloused grandmother named Helanna, is quite fond of adventurers and their stories of danger and distant lands. She doesn’t have the money or social power that Carroc’s family wields, but she is beloved by all the common folk in Gravesford.

A2. Market Square

In the center of Gravesford is a market square. Most of the week, the square is empty except perhaps for children running about with sticks, pretending to be knights. The PCs, however, arrive in Gravesford on market day. Once a fortnight on this day, the square is transformed into a wild scene of colors and scents. All the artisans and farmers in town—including Jago and Morgouse, and the town’s tanners and leatherworkers, woodworkers, stonemasons, millers, bakers, butchers, and others—set up shop in the market square and sell their wares. Just outside of the main market square is Tradesfolks’ Way, a small alley where local farmers trade goods to one another. Any item in the core rulebooks worth less than 10 gp can be purchased from the traders at the Gravesford market.

Pinna also sets up a stall in the market square, but she is usually too busy conjuring bouquets and playing with the children to actually sell any goods. A sign sits on her (completely unstocked) stall that reads: “OUT PLAYING, FIND ME. LOOK FOR THE HAT. OTHERWISE VISIT THE SHOP AFTER MARKET.”

A3. Church of St. Gaed the Confessor

The Church of St. Gaed the Confessor is one of the oldest buildings in Gravesford—after the Reluctant Pig, of course. Its wooden beams need repair, but it is still the cultural center of the village, and Gravesford gathers here for all sorts of occasions, not just on holy days. The stained glass window depicting Saint Gaed in black armor smiting the traitor saint, Hylae the Corrupt, is the most astonishing piece of art anyone in town has ever seen. When the sun hits it, it’s like a laser light show.

The church is run by Father Belderone, a priest of St. Gaed. He is a city man from Bedegar Keep, and it’s reflected in his rapid, matter-of-fact speech, but the villagers treat him as one of their own. While several priests tend to the church, Father Belderone is its only cleric. He uses priest statistics with the following changes:

• He is old and growing frail. His Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution scores are all 8 (–1).

• He does not wear armor, reducing his AC to 9.

• By the grace of St. Gaed the Confessor, he has been granted the ability to cast death ward once per day.

If the PCs spend time at the church in prayer, Father Belderone approaches them and kindly welcomes them to Gravesford. He asks if they are planning on exploring the region, and offers to grant them a blessing of protection (his death ward) for the journey—if they are able to donate 100 gp to the church, which is in serious need of repairs.

A4. The Reluctant Pig

The oldest building in Gravesford is the Reluctant Pig, a two-story inn with a moss-covered roof constructed from the same stone as the Gravesford Bridge. The sign outside depicts a young pig straining against a leash held by someone we cannot see. The sign has no text, as most people in town and most carters and journeymen cannot read.

The Pig is owned by Giselle and Gowan and their daughter Brecca. Though the family divides the labor, Giselle is the one who runs the business and attends the meetings of the town council. She tolerates no violence in her bar, keeping a mace by the taps in case of trouble. (She uses veteran statistics.) She is, however, terrified of Sir Pelliton and the Knights of the Three Roses, and will not interfere with any quarrel between them and her patrons. She personally knew the vile Star Knight back when his cadre were simply mercenaries known as the Thorns, and still bears the scars from their last two meetings. Her husband, Gowan, is torn between his desire to protect his wife and the sure knowledge that Sir Pelliton would kill him in a moment just to make a point. It is for this reason that Giselle has been careful not to confront Pelliton if her husband is around.

Brecca is good friends with the hedge mage Pinna, and often recommends her shop to travelers. If the PCs are running out of time to visit her before the first day ends (when her shop is attacked), you can have her show up in the tavern for one of her late-night chats with Brecca.

If the PCs stop in the tavern for more than just a few minutes, run The Arrival of Sir Pelliton (page 110). If the PCs spend the night here, run Abduction in the Dead of Night (page 111) at midnight.

A5. Gravesford Bridge

The Gravesford Bridge is a small stone bridge over the river at the edge of town. It is old and moss-covered, but sturdy. Two guards stand at the far end of the bridge; they are well equipped for country folk, but they are not trained in the ways of war like adventurers or orcs are. The guards are a man named Ryon and a woman named Lenore, and they are tasked with watching over the Forest Rend in case of emergency. The end of the bridge is separated from the forest’s edge by about a thousand feet of tall grass, shrubs, and boulders.

If asked what sort of emergencies they’re prepared to guard against, Ryon shrugs and says that there’s never been any real trouble from the forest in his lifetime. Old Helanna told him and Lenore that the forest is a force of chaos threatening to destroy Bedegar, and that it’s filled with evil creatures. Neither Ryon nor Lenore buy it; the worst they’ve seen come out of the forest is a wounded bear, and all it did was run past town, yowling.

A6. Pinna’s Shop

The spicy-sweet scent of boiled licorice and anise seed billows from the smokestack of Pinna’s dome-roofed hut. Other medicinal herbs hang by the doorway, like long garlic ropes and branches of flowering barberry. Inside, she keeps a brass cauldron boiling at all times in the center of the room. Unkempt bookshelves overfilled with tomes, scrolls, and bottles line the walls, and both chairs in the house sag under the weight of unwashed clothing.

Pinna’s shop is also her one-room house. While at home, Pinna is usually doing at least three things at once—brewing ointments, clipping shoots from herbs, and practicing charms, or any other combination of wizardly activities. She only stops multitasking if another wizard enters her shop, at which point she drops everything and focuses intently on them. Any compliment from a fellow magic-user overwhelms her with joy, reducing her to embarrassed babbling for a few moments, and any mean-spirited condescension utterly devastates her, causing her to close shop for the rest of the day.

Pinna sells dozens of rustic herbal remedies for 5 cp apiece and has four potions of healing, which she sells for 50 gp each. She also has the following potions in stock: a potion of greater healing (200 gp), a potion of animal friendship (250 gp), and a potion of poison resistance (300 gp). Whenever she sells a potion, she waves her crystal necklace (her arcane focus) around the potion and mutters a meaningless incantation composed of rhyming doggerel. It’s just a habit she picked up to impress the villagers, and she gets embarrassed if another spellcaster calls her on it.

At midnight on the first night after the PCs arrive in Gravesford, a force of White Tusk orcs emerges from the Forest Rend and attacks Pinna’s shop under cover of night. Run the Abduction in the Dead of Night (page 111) event at midnight that night.

Abduction in the Dead of Night

A scream and a chorus of bestial roars shatter the stillness of the night. The sounds came from the edge of town - from the edge closest to the forest. As the screams fade into silence, an explosion jolts the entire town into wakefulness, and a towering flame erupts at the southernmost tip of the village.

Just before midnight, a raiding party of twenty White Tusk orcs emerged from the boughs of the Forest Rend. They moved quickly through the scrubland and forded the river on the south end of town. The bridge guard Lenore heard something moving in the tall grass, and bravely traveled half a mile south from her post to investigate. She was shot dead and her corpse was left where it fell. The orcs invaded Pinna’s house and knocked her unconscious, but the rear guard accidentally knocked her lamp into a rack of volatile alchemical substances while looting her house (against Bonebreaker Dorokor’s orders), igniting the entire house in a violet fireball.

If a creature is inside the house at the time of the explosion (such as if the PCs spend the night with Pinna, just in case), it must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, it takes 21 (6d6) fire damage. A successful save halves this damage.

The orcs abducting Pinna had already crossed the river when her house exploded. The rear guard that survived the fireball also fled. If the PCs are in the Reluctant Pig, it takes 2 minutes on foot to reach Pinna’s house—by the time they arrive, the rear guard is about to ford the river, and the band of orcs carrying Pinna has already disappeared into the forest, but not without crushing undergrowth beneath their boots, creating a trail that a ranger could track with ease.

Unless the players made explicit plans to be awake through the night, it should take too long for them to suit up and run outside to catch the White Tusk. But it should be possible if they’ve decided, for instance, to stay up all night after dealing with Sir Pelliton.

Tracking Pinna

At some point, maybe immediately, maybe the next morning, the players are probably going to try and hunt down the orcs that kidnapped the cool wizard they met. The most direct route is to literally track the orcs using Survival checks (see Exploring the Forest on page 114). But the party may not have a ranger or, even if armed with a tracker, they may roll poorly! So we need another valve to release this pressure.

Enter Alyssa Tealeaf. She’s a halfling girl, a little older than Pinna in literal years but the same emotional age. Her family are brewers in nearby Tarreton, and Alyssa often comes to Gravesford with her parents and stays with her best friend Pinna, and the two explore and generally get into mischief as though they were much younger girls.

Alyssa is a competent scout and can sort of handle herself in a fight, but like Pinna it’s not her specialty. Anyone who travels the roads in these dark days needs to be good with a knife or a sword, or very good at hiding and being unseen.

Treat Alyssa as a scout with the halfling Lucky trait. If the players fail to penetrate the forest, Alyssa arrives with a donkey laden with brew, and upon hearing that her best friend—who she was really looking forward to seeing—has been kidnapped, she vows to help. She will risk her life to find Pinna, because she believes that’s what friendship is about.

She’s been through the forest before and knows about the castle, though she has no idea it’s currently occupied by orcs. As soon as the heroes enter the castle’s clearing, she’ll exclaim that everything’s changed. Expecting it to be overrun with rushes and the castle walls covered in vines, she finds the clearing…cleared, and the vines all pulled down. The orcs have been busy!

Gravesford Rallies

If the PCs spend the night in town without tracking the orcs into the Forest Rend, they awake to the sound of all of Gravesford gathered in the Church of St. Gaed the Confessor to discuss last night’s commotion. Mayor Osric, Giselle, Morgouse, Jago, and Father Belderone are here, but so is Carroc, and the richest man in Gravesford has browbeaten the other councilmembers into silence. He believes that if he and the local militia can rout the orcs, he will get the bounty, so he wants to stop anyone else from interfering.

Carroc treats the adventurers with disdain and refuses to let them speak unless he’s overpowered by a DC 15 Charisma (Intimidation) check, though he relents if one of the PCs can convince him that they are a noble from Bedegar Keep, requiring a successful DC 15 Charisma (Deception) check.

At the start of the meeting, the few militiamen who investigated the night before reveal that Pinna was kidnapped by unknown assailants. Carroc is organizing a posse of villagers. The villagers are hesitant, but they feel powerless to resist unless the PCs intercede. A successful DC 10 Wisdom (Insight) check is enough to assess the combat-readiness of these villagers. They are poorly equipped, with little more than padded armor and pitchforks, and even the fighters in the militia are no match for a bloodthirsty horde of orcs.

Once the PCs have the floor, a successful DC 10 Charisma (Persuasion) check is enough to turn the crowd and the other members of the council against Carroc, defeating him in a majority vote, and winning the PCs the chance to defeat the orcs and perhaps win a knighthood from Lord Saxton. (This would be weird, but I don’t know your players—they might like working for Shakespeare’s Richard III.)If the PCs don’t intervene in this meeting, a posse of 20 commoners, 10 guards, and 5 scouts are assembled from the brave men and women of Gravesford. They find Castle Rend after a day’s travel, but none return.

If the PCs convince the council to keep the posse from forming, Father Belderone approaches them after the meeting adjourns and offers to grant one of them a powerful blessing that will protect them on the journey, if they are able to donate 100 gp to the church (see Church of St. Gaed the Confessor on page 106).

If the Players Do Nothing

This is deeply unlikely, but I always think if you know what would have happened if the PCs never acted, you’re much better armed for when things inevitably go off the rails.

Morning

The orcs slaughter the game they hunted the previous evening. Dorokor wakes Edmund and they train in the sparring chamber. Orcs who participated in the hunt the previous night go to sleep.

Afternoon

Other orcs use the sparring chamber for ritual combat, resolving grudges, or simple sport. Food is prepared for the evening feast.

Evening

The orcs eat a huge meal at dusk in the great hall, and then sleep for a few hours, waking around midnight to hunt.

Night

The orcs hunt game in the forest. Dorokor occasionally leads the hunt. Metalworkers pound old, scavenged shields, armor, and weapons into something usable.

B1. Forest’s Edge

Tall torches are staked into the ground at forty-foot intervals surrounding the perimeter of the castle. The grass is nearly three feet tall here, and creatures like halflings, gnomes, and wood elves can hide from the sentries in this natural cover by making a successful DC 11 Dexterity (Stealth) check. Taller creatures can crawl on their bellies, but have disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide in this way. Characters that do not attempt to hide as they exit the tree line are trivially easy to spot by the orc sentries atop the guard tower (area C13).

The northern wall of the keep has completely col- lapsed, making it the easiest way to enter the bailey.

B2. Bailey

Castle Rend’s bailey has largely been cleared of over- growth by the orcs and their goblin slaves. The orcs have deposited the goblins’ corpses unceremoniously into an unmarked grave on the west side of the court- yard. They’ve rotted there for nearly two weeks. Other refuse now fills the pit as well.

The orcs atop the guard tower (area C13) do not watch the bailey unless alerted by noise from the courtyard. To cover this blind spot, the bailey is filled with pit traps, covered with thin planks of wood, with the wood covered in mud and grass. The pits do not have spikes, but the boards have affixed chimes made of bone and metal.

A creature that weighs more than 50 pounds (includ- ing its gear) falls into the pit if it steps on top of it, and must make a successful DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or fall in, breaking the boards, ringing the chimes, and attracting the attention of the sentries. The pits are 20 feet deep, and a creature that falls into one takes 7 (2d6) bludgeoning damage from the fall.

If the chimes ring or another loud noise is made in the bailey, the orc sentries turn to look. Any character in the bailey can use their reaction to fall to the ground and make a Dexterity (Stealth) check with disadvantage. If the result of their check is greater than the result of the orcs’ Wisdom (Perception) check, the character escapes the orcs’ notice, and the orcs look back toward the forest.

B3. Main Gate

Castle Rend’s main entrance is a thick gate of oak rein- forced with bands of iron. An iron portcullis hangs over the gate, but its mechanism is rusted solid, and it can no longer be lowered by anything short of a successful DC 30 Strength check. The doors, however, have only weakened with age. They are barred from the inside, but can be broken down with a successful DC 20 Strength check. Whether this check succeeds or fails, the noise draws the attention of the orcs in the entrance hall (area C3).

B4. Secret Entrance

This trapdoor is overgrown with creeper vines and is unknown to the orcs. It conceals a long, winding stair- case that leads into area C25 within the castle basement.

C1. Entryway

The scent of dung and burnt flesh fills the entryway, wafting down the hall from the entrance hall (area C3). The main doors to Castle Rend are barred from this side. By lifting the bar as an action, the doors can be opened at will. If these doors are forced open from the outside, the sound is clearly audible to creatures in areas C2a, C2b, and C3.

C2. Guard Posts

Both of the guard posts (areas C2a and C2b) are unmanned. The orcs lack trained archers to make use of the arrow slits of the keep.

Area C2b also has a lever that controls the portcul- lis hanging above the castle’s main doors. This lever cannot move right now, because the portcullis has rusted shut. Trying to force the rotted wooden lever just snaps it in half.

C3. Entrance Hall

The largest chamber in Castle Rend is now breezy and moss-covered. Its carpets have been shredded by animal claws and rotted by water. A large bonfire burns in the center of this chamber, its smoke pouring out of a hole in the ceiling. Two White Tusk jugger- nauts (see page 138) and their two dire wolf pets sit around the fire, gnawing on large hunks of venison. The two juggernauts each carry a potion of hill giant strength brewed by the orc shamans in the cauldron room (area C18), and each orc drinks their potion on their first turn in combat.

A treasure chest has been slid against the south wall of this chamber. It is surrounded by animal bones that have been gnawed clean by sharp fangs. This treasure chest is actually a mimic that the orcs found and now keep as a pet. It contains 500 gp worth of sapphires inside its gullet.

Developments. This room is connected to many others, so creating a disturbance here causes the orcs in adjacent rooms to investigate. If it is sundown, Bonebreaker Dorokor, Oregg Steeltwister, Pinna, and Edmund Bedegar are likely dining in the Great Hall (area C8). Bonebreaker Dorokor and Oregg Steelt- wister (page 137) attack on sight, suspecting that the characters are Lord Saxton’s thugs. Pinna and Edmund hold back and come to investigate on the second round of combat, but if Pinna recognizes the characters from Gravesford, she screams for both sides to stop fighting. See the Negotiating with Orcs event (page 127).

Treasure. Each of the juggernauts carries a coin pouch filled with 10 gp. If they were killed before they could drink their potion, each also carries a potion of hill giant strength.

C4. Chapel

This chapel was consecrated to St. Gaed the Confessor in the days of the Blue Dragon Phalanx, also known as the Blue Dragonflight. In the middle of the chamber, a shrine to the saint stands with arms outstretched. However, the statue has been desecrated by the orcs. St. Gaed’s noble visage is defaced and warped into that of a snarling orc—the image of Grole, the orc god of slaughter and domination.

This affront angered the spirits of the Blue Dragon Phalanx that once protected this fortress, and they rose in anger against the orcs. Their spirits now occupy parts of the dungeon and the collapsed tower—and this chamber! If a creature touches the statue, an electric shock runs through its hand, like static. The room then grows colder and darker. The eyes of the statue begin to bleed, and a ghastly voice rasps, “No living creature shall defile our castle further. Die.”

A wraith emerges from the floor and attacks the creature who touched the statue. It retreats into the floor once all creatures that were present when it appeared leave the room.

Breaking the Curse. The curse of undeath placed upon this keep can be broken if the chapel is reconse- crated to St. Gaed. Father Belderone from Gravesford can perform a ritual of reconsecration if given 24 hours and 500 gp with which to purchase incense, sacred unguents, and holy water. Casting hallow within this chamber will also set the undead to rest, though that spell is likely beyond the PCs’ ability to cast.

Secret. A character that succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check notices that the statue is standing on a wooden floor tile. If the statue is moved, a trapdoor is revealed. This trapdoor leads to the knights’ crypt (area C21).

C5. Sparring Chamber

Knights once sparred in this chamber, but all the archery targets have rotted away. The White Tusk orcs still use it as a training chamber, and sometimes Bonebreaker Dorokor and Edmund Bedegar spar here. Dorokor has some sense of mercy, but only enough to keep her blows from outright killing “the boy with no hide,” as the orcs call him. Edmund has never won a match but has dozens of cuts and bruises to show for his efforts.

Four orcs spar here.

Treasure. About two dozen sets of orcish armor and crude weapons are haphazardly stored along the perimeter of this room. A character that makes a successful DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check or takes 5 minutes to search the armor finds a well-kept suit of studded leather armor and a shining +1 rapier with the Bedegar coat of arms inscribed on the pommel.

BACKSTORY: EDMUND AND DOROKOR

“You killed my parents. My whole family! I will see you hung upon the gibbet. I will see justice done upon you and all your foul kind!”

Bonebreaker Dorokor, using her tusks to extract some last marrow from a bone, stops at this. She tosses aside the bone and looks at Edmund as though seeing him for the first time.

“There is steel in Men,” she observes quietly to herself. Then leans forward. As her face looms closer, Edmund’s courage wavers and he pulls back as much as the shackles will allow.

“You blame me? Blame the knife. I did what I had to for my tribe, just as you would. You think the White Tusk is the matter before you?” She turns and spits on the ground next to Edmund. “Had we not agreed, Saxton would have found others. Your clan would be just as dead. No matter who stormed your stone walls that night.”

“Lord Saxton is my…was…my father’s best friend.”

“Well now you know the difference between Men and orcs.” Bonebreaker Dorokor leans back into the once opulent chair at the head of the table. Picks up another bone—human?—from the pile next to the chair, snaps it in half, and begins sucking out the marrow. “Your father had ‘friends.’ Now your father is dead. I have no use for friends and am still alive. In spite of Men’s treachery. Think on that, little one. If you survive this, it will be an important lesson for you, when you are bloodchief.”

C6. Armory

The Blue Dragonflight stored their weapons and armor here. None of the armor fits the orcs, and most of it is rusty and corroded by time and water. The crest of the dragon knights is still visible on the chest pieces of the plate armor, though.

Twelve suits of plate armor stand around the walls of this room. Eleven are rusted and pitted, but one still seems to gleam silver, as if it had been polished mere moments ago. This suit of +1 plate belonged to Raizorojan, Captain of the Blue Dragon Phalanx, and fits a human with a broad, athletic build. Other crea- tures will need to have it refitted. Touching the suit of magical plate causes eight of the rusty suits of armor to creak to life as animated armor and attack the pillag- ers until they all leave the room. These enchanted suits of armor have 18 Strength; their slam attacks have a +6

bonus to hit and deal 11 (2d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage on a hit. These changes increase their challenge rating to 2 (450 XP).

C7. Coatroom

This room once held the ceremonial attire of the knights and had room for guests to hang their coats. All within has been reduced to muck and tattered cloth.

Treasure. Digging through the mold and muck for 5 minutes will yield gold buttons, lapis lazuli cufflinks, and sapphire earrings worth a total of 300 gp.

C8. Great Hall

A stately marble dining table stands before a cold hearth in the center of the great hall. Twelve stone chairs are assembled around it, though all have been chipped, covered with plants, or knocked over. Every

night at sunset, Bonebreaker Dorokor sups here with her lieutenant, Oregg Steeltwister, as well as Edmund Bedegar and Pinna. Lately, they have been planning how best to conduct negotiations with the people of Gravesford.

If the PCs interrupt this meal, Bonebreaker Dorokor and Oregg Steeltwister (page 137) both leap over the table and attack instantly, suspecting that the PCs are assassins sent by Lord Saxton. If Pinna recognizes them from Gravesford, she instantly calls for everyone to stop fighting. See the Negotiating with Orcs event (page 127).

At other times of day, this chamber is usually empty. Orcs can pass through it to get from the barracks to the watchtower when changing guard shifts (see area C13).

C9. Barracks

The orcs have repurposed the Blue Dragonflight’s bar- racks as their own. Areas 9a, 9b, and 9c each contain four bunks. Area 9d has been converted into a hold- ing chamber for Edmund Bedegar and, more recently, Pinna. Young Lord Bedegar has helped soothe the hedge mage’s nerves after being kidnapped.

Area 9e belongs to Bonebreaker Dorokor, and its door is decorated with an ornate crest of snapped bones, with an eagle’s skull in the center. Her large chamber contains items unusual for an orc, such as a washbasin, parchment, and charcoal. Dorokor has no use for human fineries, and everything within her chamber is worthless by human standards, save for her magical greataxe, Wound (see Bonebreaker Dorokor, page 143). She keeps this mighty weapon on her person at all times, and rests it at the foot of her cot while she sleeps.

Area 9f belongs to Oregg Steeltwister, second-in-com- mand of the White Tusk clan. He possesses none of Dorokor’s cunning or subtlety, but he is madly in love with her. He follows her every order and pretends to understand her schemes in order to win her favor.

C10. Kitchen

This kitchen once produced fabulous meals for the Blue Dragon knights. Now, it is manned solely by whichever orc is on mess duty for the day. Game is plentiful in the Forest Rend, and the kitchen is covered in dried animal blood, with the carcasses of deer and wild boars hang- ing from the ceiling on improvised meat hooks. The orcs have no desire to eat anything but raw meat, so their cook is little more than a butcher.

The orc manning the kitchen today is a coward named Greevil. He does not attack on sight like other orcs, but instead tries to hide when the PCs enter this room. A successful DC 10 Charisma (Intimidation) check can convince him to do the PCs’ dirty work, so

long as it doesn’t involve directly acting against Bone- breaker Dorokor or Oregg Steeltwister. He will tell the heroes about Edmund, or about Dorokor’s plan and her desire to parley with the humans, or about the layout of the keep, but he won’t disobey Dorokor or attack her or any other orc.

C11. Larder

The orcs do not store or preserve their food, and what provisions remained here have spoiled and rotted away.

C12. Tower Stairs

A stone spiral staircase winds up into the watchtower and down into the stronghold’s basement. Characters trying to climb the stairs quietly must make a successful DC 10 Dexterity (Stealth) check. If the passive Dexterity (Stealth) of every character is higher than 10, they automatically succeed on this check. If they fail this check or do not attempt to ascend the staircase quietly, all four orcs in area C13 hear their approach and ready an action to attack the next non-orc creature they see.

C13. Watchtower

Four orcs stand guard at this fifty-foot-tall watchtower at all times, looking down upon the forest surrounding Castle Rend. A stone brazier holds faintly burning embers for staving off the cold during the night. They pass the time by telling rude jokes.

If attacked in melee, they try to grapple their attackers and hurl them from the tower.

C14. Collapsed Tower

The collapsed south tower is a place of great suffering. Those who once inhabited this castle—the tormented souls of King Omund’s knights and priests of St. Gaed the Confessor—keep constant vigil in this tower, and no orc dares enter it. On moonless nights, a spectral flame burns atop its ruined crenellations.

This tower holds a staircase that climbs to its ruined top and descends into area C25 of the keep’s dungeons. Climbing the staircase leads to a dead end where the tower has caved in, and any creature who sifts through the rubble must make a DC 13 Charisma saving throw as the ghost of one of the knights emerges through the wall and uses its Possession ability on them. The ghost fights until it is destroyed.

Sifting through the rubble for 5 minutes reveals a rusted iron lockbox, which is trivial to force open. Inside is an airtight pewter scroll case embellished with silver images of dragons. Inside the case is a small key and a piece of parchment: the deed to this keep, signed by Omund himself. The deed is a historical curi- osity, but since both King Omund and the Blue Dragon- flight are now little more than a memory, the deed is practically useless in this day and age. That is, unless someone convincing and charismatic decided to keep it and declare it valid under the principle that Omund’s proclamation was never lawfully rescinded. The scroll case could be sold to a jeweler for 300 gp.

The key within this scroll case is small, made of silver, and embellished with an image of a dragon. It opens the treasure chests in area C19 within the dungeon.

C15. Prison-Barracks

This room was once a prison, but the White Tusk orcs have converted it into barracks for their lowliest grunts. Whichever orc is on watch duty for the night rests here with 2 dire wolves at his side. Any combat here instantly draws the attention of any orcs in areas C16a–d and awakens any that are asleep. A poisoned dagger rests on the orc’s bedside table. The orc throws this dagger at an enemy on his first turn in combat. On a hit, the target takes the dagger’s normal damage and must also make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw, taking 31 (9d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Treasure. A small treasure chest is stowed beneath the sentry’s bed. It is unlocked and contains a vial of deadly poison. There is enough left to coat one weapon. The next time the poisoned weapon deals damage to a creature, it must also make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw, taking 31 (9d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

C16. Barracks-Cells

Each of these four rooms contains a bunk that fits two orcs (in fairly cramped conditions). During the day, these orcs are off hunting or patrolling the forest. At night, their inhabitants sleep here. The barred doors of these cells have been ripped off their hinges and lie strewn around the hallway.

Each cell’s occupants are:

• C16a. Two White Tusk orcs.

• C16b. Two White Tusk bloodragers.

• C16c. Two White Tusk orcs.

• C16d. One White Tusk juggernaut.

C17. Warspeakers’ Cloister

Two White Tusk warspeakers of Grole have made this spacious chamber their home. While they tend to the shrine (area C23) during the day, they return here to sleep after nightfall. One has cast an alarm spell on this room in case one of the common orcs is foolish enough to try to steal from them, and both warspeakers come running from the shrine if the spell is triggered.

Treasure. Each warspeaker keeps a small chest containing 100 gp underneath their cot. Additionally, one has a stack of three stone tablets that function like spell scrolls. Only creatures that can read Orc can use these stone scrolls of bestow curse, shield of faith, and spiritual weapon.

C18. Cauldron Room

Here, two White Tusk shamans brew a foul-smelling concoction in a cauldron suspended over a bed of smol- dering embers. On the first turn of combat, one of the shamans uses its Spirit-Bonded Body trait to transform into a wolf and howl loudly as an action. This howling alerts all orcs in the dungeon level to the presence of intruders, so they can’t be surprised for the next hour. Additionally, all orcs in areas C15, C16, C17, and C20 come to investigate the disturbance, ready for battle.

Treasure. The cauldron contains a potion that the shamans are brewing to aid their bloodchief in the trials to come. This pungent broth is the base for a potion of enhance ability (page 146). It is currently inert, but its magical effects can be activated by adding a single hair or feather of a certain animal to a vial of this potion. There is enough broth in this cauldron to fill six glass vials. A crate containing twelve vials sits in a corner of this room.

C19. Secret Treasury

The White Tusk orcs have not discovered the secret vault in which the Blue Dragonflight stored their spoils. A secret door disguised to look like the masonry of the hallway protects this vault. However, a creature within 30 feet of the secret door that makes a successful DC 17 Wisdom (Perception) check will notice that the caul- dron-smoke filling the dungeon is filtering through a tiny crack at the top and bottom of a five-foot section of wall. The secret door can be demolished by making a successful DC 17 Strength check. Otherwise, its hidden lock can be found by making a successful DC 15 Intelli- gence (Investigation) check and then picked by making a successful DC 17 Dexterity check with thieves’ tools.

Within the chamber is a small, uncorrupted shrine to St. Gaed the Confessor. A silver chalice worth 100 gp rests on it, filled with divine mead that has stayed fresh through the ages. A cleric, druid, or paladin that drinks of this holy mead restores 1 expended spell slot.

The larger room to the west of this shrine contains four treasure chests, each locked and trapped with a poison needle trap. Opening a chest without the proper key (found in the scroll case in area C14) causes a needle to spring out from the lock three inches, delivering a dose of poison. A pricked creature takes 1 piercing damage and 11 (2d10) poison damage and must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 hour. A character who makes a successful DC 20 Intelligence (Investigation) check will deduce the trap’s presence from alterations made to the lock to accommodate the needle. The needle can be removed from the lock, disarming the trap, by making a successful DC 15 Dexterity check using thieves’ tools. Failing to pick the lock triggers the trap.

Each chest contains 500 + 10d6 gp and 50 + 1d10 pp.

C20. Refuse Pit

The orcs have dug a small pit to throw their waste into. Its stench is rank.

C21. Crypt of the Blue Dragon Knights

This solemn chamber contains the remains of the knights that once protected this land. Ten rows of stone sarcophagi form a sepulchral procession down this hall. The leader of the knights lingers here within his sarcophagus on the far west wall of the room as a wraith, who vengefully attacks any creature that enters his domain. He speaks Common and is willing to discuss cleansing the shrine of St. Gaed and being set to rest—he demands that the orcs be permanently driven out of the keep before the shrine is reconsecrated—but will only negotiate if the PCs initiate. Otherwise, he attacks indiscriminately.

At the start of each round of combat while in the crypt, two specters rise from graves until all 18 specters have risen, threatening to overwhelm the PCs through sheer numbers. All of the undead disperse instantly if the wraith is killed or if the PCs flee this chamber.

Treasure. Within the wraith’s sarcophagus is his holy sword, Grace (page 146). Another sarcophagus holds the dust of another knight and the Armor of St. Gaed the Confessor (page 146).

C22. Tower Stairs

A stone spiral staircase winds up to the main floor of the keep (area C12), and then farther up still to the watchtower (area C13).

C23. Shrine to Grole

The warspeakers of the White Tusk clan created a new shrine to Grole after they realized their error in defiling the statue of St. Gaed in the upper levels. The shrine to Grole in the dungeons is little more than a stone slab covered in carved bone trinkets, but it is enough to satisfy Bonebreaker Dorokor.

Two White Tusk warspeakers tend to this shrine. They allow their fellow orcs to pray at this shrine, but attack invaders on sight.

Treasure. A fist-sized sapphire rests on the shrine, a shining stone that one of the warspeakers found while exploring the dungeons. A character that makes a successful DC 22 Intelligence (Arcana or Nature) check discerns that this stone is actually the crystallized heart of a sapphire dragon, and it is probably about a hundred years old. As a stone, it would sell for about 400 gp, but as a magical relic, a wizard would easily buy it for 1,000 gp. It also functions as a medium psionic crystal (page 262).

C24. Secret Escape Route

The hidden passage from area B4 in the castle courtyard leads to a long, earthen tunnel that winds downward into this hidden room—a secret back exit for a castle under siege. Long ago, it contained a fully stocked emergency larder and armory, but everything inside has long since rotted or corroded. The orcs know nothing of this secret room, making it a perfect place to rest.

The secret door is clearly marked from this side, but blends into the wall when viewed from the hallway. A creature within 30 feet of the secret door that makes a successful DC 17 Wisdom (Perception) check will notice the cauldron-smoke that fills the dungeon is filtering through a tiny crack at the top and bottom of a five- foot section of wall. The secret door can be demolished by a successful DC 17 Strength check, or by finding its hidden lock by making a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check and then picking the lock with a successful DC 17 Dexterity check with thieves’ tools.

C25. Collapsed Tower Stairs

These stairs lead upward to the collapsed tower (area C14).

White Tusk Orc

Medium humanoid (orc), chaotic evil

ARMOR CLASS 14 (studded leather)

HIT POINTS 30 (4d8 + 12)

SPEED 30 ft.

SAVING THROWS Dex +2

SKILLS Intimidation +2

SENSES darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10

LANGUAGES Orc

CHALLENGE 1 (200 XP)

Aggressive. As a bonus action, the orc can move up to its speed toward a hostile creature it can see.

Minion: Savage Horde. After moving at least 20 feet in a straight line toward a creature, the next attack the orc makes against that creature scores a critical hit on a roll of 18–20.

Actions

Battleaxe. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d8 + 3) slashing

damage, or 14 (2d10 + 3) slashing damage if used with two hands.

Javelin. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) piercing damage.

White Tusk Juggernaut

Large humanoid (orc), chaotic evil

ARMOR CLASS 20 (plate, shield)

HIT POINTS 95 (10d10 + 40)

SPEED 25 ft.

SAVING THROWS Str +6, Wis +3

SKILLS Athletics +7, Intimidation +3

SENSES darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11

LANGUAGES Orc

CHALLENGE 4 (1,100 XP)

Aggressive. As a bonus action, the orc can move up to its speed toward a hostile creature it can see.

Minion: Savage Horde. After moving at least 20 feet in a straight line toward a creature, the next attack the orc makes against that creature scores a critical hit on a roll of 18–20.

Actions

Multiattack. The White Tusk juggernaut makes one tusk attack and one longsword attack.

Tusk. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) slash- ing damage.

Reactions

Horde Protector. When a creature within 5 feet of the orc is attacked by a creature the orc can see and the orc is wielding a shield, the orc can impose disadvantage on that attack roll.

White Tusk Shaman

Medium humanoid (orc, shapechanger), chaotic neutral

ARMOR CLASS 14 (hide armor)

HIT POINTS 52 (8d8 + 16)

SPEED 30 ft.

SAVING THROWS Dex +4, Wis +5

SKILLS Perception +5, Survival +5

SENSES darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 18

LANGUAGES Orc, Primordial

CHALLENGE 3 (700 XP)

Aggressive. As a bonus action, the orc can move up to its speed toward a hostile creature it can see.

Minion: Savage Horde. After moving at least 20 feet in a straight line toward a creature, the next attack the orc makes against that creature scores a critical hit on a roll of 18–20.

Spirit-Bonded Body (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). As a bonus action, the orc can transform into a dire wolf for up to 4 hours. The orc can choose whether its equipment falls to the ground, melds with its new form, or is worn by the new form. The orc reverts to its true form

when its dire wolf form is reduced to 0 hit points. If this damage would cause its dire wolf form to drop below 0 hit points, the excess damage is done to its true form.

The orc also reverts to its true form if it dies or falls unconscious. The orc can revert to its true form as a bonus action on its turn. When it reverts in this way, it returns to the number of hit points it had before it transformed.

Spirit-Bonded Mind. The orc can cast speak with animals at will, but can only communicate with wolves.

Actions

Multiattack. The White Tusk Shaman makes two blood-searing spear attacks.

Blood-Searing Spear. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 30/60 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) poison damage. This magical poison only functions when the spear is wielded by an orc shaman.

Bonebreaker Dorokor

Medium humanoid (orc), neutral evil

Wound. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11(1d12 + 5) slashing damage

plus 7 (2d6) necrotic damage. The target’s

ARMOR CLASS 19 (half plate of fire resistance, shield)

HIT POINTS 102 (12d8 + 48)

SPEED 30 ft.

SAVING THROWS Str +7, Dex +5, Wis +6

SKILLS Athletics +7, Intimidation +6,

Persuasion +6

DAMAGE RESISTANCES fire

SENSES darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13

LANGUAGES Common, Orc

CHALLENGE 6 (2,300 XP)

Aggressive. As a bonus action, Bonebreaker Dorokor can move up to her speed toward a hostile creature she can see.

Wielder of Wound. Bonebreaker Dorokor wields the magical greataxe Wound (page 146).

Actions

Multiattack. Bonebreaker Dorokor makes three weapon attacks, or she makes two attacks and issues a War Cry if it is available.

maximum hit points are decreased in equal amount to the necrotic damage dealt. The target’s hit point maximum does not return to normal until it finishes a long rest or its grievous wounds are soothed by a greater restoration spell.

Longbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) pierc-

ing damage.

War Cry (Recharge 4–6). Dorokor screams an orcish war phrase, spurring her warriors on toward victory. Choose one of the following effects:

Rally: All of Dorokor’s minions within 30 feet that can hear her gain 22 (4d10) temporary hit points.

Focus: All of Dorokor’s minions within 30 feet that can hear her will have advantage on the next attack roll they make before the end of their next turn.

Charge: All of Dorokor’s minions within 30 feet that can hear her can move up to their speed as a reaction.

Reaction

Villain Ability: Warlord. As a reaction, when a minion dies, issue a command to your other

minions. Those who can hear you gain a reaction they can use to immediately take another move- ment.

Sir Pelliton

Medium humanoid (human), chaotic evil

ARMOR CLASS 20 (plate, shield)

HIT POINTS 76 (9d10 + 27)

SPEED 30 ft.

SAVING THROWS Dex +3, Int +5

SKILLS Animal Handling +6, Arcana +5,

Intimidation +8

DAMAGE RESISTANCES cold, fire,

lightning, psychic

CONDITION IMMUNITIES blinded, deafened SENSES passive Perception 12 LANGUAGES Common

CHALLENGE 5 (1,800 XP)

Mounted Combatant. While mounted, Sir Pelliton has advantage on melee attack rolls against unmounted creatures that are smaller than

his mount.

The Star Knight. Sir Pelliton has resistance to cold, fire, lightning, and psychic damage as a sign of his pact, and cannot be blinded or deafened. His hellish rebuke does 20 damage (no roll) to enemies who fail their save.

Innate Spellcasting. Sir Pelliton has gained the power to cast dark magic. All spells he casts with this feature are cast as if using a 5th-level spell slot, and he casts cantrips as if he were an 11th-level warlock. His spellcasting ability is Charisma (DC 16, +8 to hit with spell attacks).

At will: acid splash, eldritch blast (3 beams), minor illusion, hellish rebuke

5/day: branding smite, black tentacles, counterspell, dimension door, hold person

1/day each: cone of cold, eyebite, mass suggestion

Actions

Multiattack. Sir Pelliton makes three melee attacks or makes two melee attacks and casts eldritch blast.

Frost Brand Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack:

+8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) slashing damage plus 3 (1d6) cold damage.

Lance. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d12 + 4) piercing damage.

Reactions

Villain Ability: Warlord. As a reaction, when a minion dies, issue a command to your other

minions. Those who can hear you gain a reaction they can use to immediately take another movement.

Sir Pelliton

Sir Pelliton, the Star Knight, is one of the frightful Knights of the Three Roses. Before being knighted by Lord Saxton, Pelliton and his Three Roses were a cruel, selfish band of mercenaries known as the Thorns. Knighthood has only magnified his sadism and self-importance.

His pact with an entity of the stars has granted his body strange resistances and imparted upon him the power to wield uncanny magic. In battle, Pelliton often rides a jet-black warhorse named Penumbra.

Pelliton is described in more detail in Major NPCs

(page 101).

Faldric the Archer

Medium humanoid (human), neutral evil

ARMOR CLASS 15 (studded leather)

HIT POINTS 44 (8d8 + 8)

SPEED 30 ft.

SAVING THROWS Dex +4 Wis +2

SKILLS Acrobatics +5, Perception +3 SENSES passive Perception 13 LANGUAGES Common

CHALLENGE 3 (700 XP)

Acute Sight. Faldric has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.

Actions

Multiattack. Faldric makes two attacks.

Longbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage.

Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage.

Reactions

Pelliton’s Archer. When a creature Faldric can see enters a space adjacent to Sir Pelliton, Faldric may use his reaction to make a longbow attack against that creature. If this attack is successful, the target is also knocked prone.

145

Faldric is a cruel opportunist who rose through the town guard in Bedegar until he attracted Saxton’s attention. The former Baron of Bedegar would never have promoted a man like Faldric, but the old baron is dead, and the new regent has use of a man willing to say “yes” to any order.

Pinna

Pinna is a young woman of seventeen who lives in the village of Gravesford, at the edge of the Forest Rend. She is easily recognizable by her tall, pointed straw hat, curly red hair, and crystal necklace—her arcane focus. Pinna is a country hedge mage, well respected by the people of Gravesford.

Pinna is described in more detail in Major NPCs

(page 101).