thedmtoolchest

The Offering | 3rd-level 5th Edition Adventure

Added 2022-12-16 17:56:33 +0000 UTC

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Hey, everyone! Got a another adventure made for my good friend Ollie over at Moonlight Maps! If you're not a patron already, you should definitely go and join to get access to some top-tier quality maps! Their kickstarter pre-orders are still active so go check out their new map book, too!

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~ TJ Phoenix

THE OFFERING

The Offering is a Fifth Edition adventure for three to five characters of 3rd to 4th level and optimized for four characters with an average party level (APL) of 3. An angry young man has summoned an ancient forest spirit to obtain vengeance against a village he believes wronged him. The superstitious villagers blame newly arrived priests and an overly ambitious merchant for the spirit’s wrath. It’s only a matter of time before a human blood sacrifice is needed to appease the spirit and save the village from the darkness.

This adventure fits any existing campaign with a remote and superstitious village in a dark forest using only a few modifications and name changes.

Background

Tanglemist is a small community deep in the Black Hills and locally famous for its blackberry wine, white truffle oil, and a culture steeped in folklore. The old blood runs deep in the villagers and wards against the evil eye, protection fetishes and idols, and other occult symbols are often worn by the elders. Calling upon the forest spirit's good graces is a polite greeting and farewell among the locals. However, the younger generation has been pulling away from the old ways and wishes to see the community grow into something more than a backwater village.

Priests of the Goddess of Light established a small temple many younger villagers have started attending. Mayor Leslie Flemmons has been talking with a wealthy merchant who has shown interest in building a new winery and bringing a trading post to the village. Some elders, namely the herbalist Gertie Garland, were quite vocal about the changes, warning the old ways should not be forgotten. Her warnings fell on deaf ears, however, and the plans for progress continued.

That was until bandits started attacking merchants along the new trade route, and Casrakas began to pull back their funding. Mayor Flemmons sent her son Griff to lead a hastily gathered militia of villagers to drive the bandits away. Griff’s inexperience led the volunteers into a hasty assault that ended in victory, but not before some of the militia sustained injuries.

Kerrigan Garland, the son of Old Gertie, was a blacksmith apprentice before he lost his left arm to a bandit’s blade. Blaming Griff’s incompetence, he turned to drink in his despair over losing his ability to work the forge. He searched for solace at the bottom of a bottle until he was penniless. Kerrigan’s anger simmered constantly and boiled over at the slightest chance. The villagers shunned him, and he was banned from the tavern after too many drunken altercations. Eventually, he decided to leave the village and try his luck elsewhere.

After searching his mother’s belongings for spare coins, he found Gertie’s manuscripts on the Dark Lady. Kerrigan discovered his herbalist mother was once a priestess of the old ways, and the writings were more than just ramblings. They led him deep into the forest to an ancient altar stained red with old blood. With the help of the manuscripts, the angry young man called upon the forest spirits to give him vengeance, and they answered his plea.

Guided to the Dark Lady by a malicious forest spirit, Kerrigan crafted an amulet giving him the power to raise undead minions and attack the villagers during the night, leaving no sign behind. The villagers became terrified to leave their homes at night, and Gertie’s ramblings of the Dark Lady’s anger started gaining traction. The mayor’s son Griff was taken and held captive by Kerrigan, and he is now using dark magic to drain Griff of his life force in a dark ritual. The villagers have started blaming the priests of light, and the merchant Casraka has quietly pulled back from investing in the area. Fear of the Dark Lady has gripped the region, and there seems to be no end to the torment Kerrigan wishes to inflict upon the village.

Adventure Summary

The characters find themselves in the rustic village of Tanglemist and learn of the supernatural occurrences that have plagued the villagers. After speaking with prominent community members, the party discovers that an ancient forest spirit called the Dark Lady once protected the village and is now being blamed for the missing people. They head into the forest at the directions of "Old Gertie," using a ritual to summon a forest spirit and learn of the sacred cave holding the Dark Lady captive.

After returning to the village, the party must stop an angry mob from making a blood sacrifice during the Festival of the Crow. The characters are given directions to the catacombs after the situation in the village is diffused, and they must make their way back through the forest. Inside the catacombs, they find Griff, the mayor’s son, on the verge of dying from a ritual draining his life force. Kerrigan steps from the shadows and calls upon the Dark Lady once more to defeat the party. The characters must defeat the corrupted dryad before Kerrigan is empowered with dark magic.

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