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Death in Denial: Terror on the Trail Part 1 | 3rd-Level Fifth Edition Adventure

Added 2021-07-02 17:54:48 +0000 UTC

Help a pair of spirits move on from this realm and discover the gruesome truth of their murder.

DEATH IN DENIAL: Terror on the Trail Part 1

Death in Denial is part 1 of 2 of a ghostly Fifth Edition mystery adventure called “Terror on the Trail” for three to six characters of 3rd- to 4th-level, optimized for a party of four 3rd-level characters. A pair of men are murdered on the outskirts of town while on a hunting trip, and their bodies are buried in a shallow grave. Their spirits remain bound to the Material Plane and continue to haunt the woods, refusing to believe that they are dead. Their presence has disturbed the townsfolk, who are begging for someone to help put these spirits to rest. Can the adventurers find the evidence needed to convince the ghosts that they must pass on, or will they be the new targets of the spirits' anger? This adventure takes place in the town of Sevilla in the Freelands campaign setting, but can easily be placed in any small to medium-sized town surrounded by thick forests.

Background

Horus and Blunko were two hunters from the town of Sevilla. On a routine hunting trip in the surrounding Srafdosa Wood, they were both violently murdered by a local farmer named Jeriah and his loyal family members. Jeriah had been studying the occult and believed that a ritual to Odomus, a dark forgotten deity, would bring a bountiful harvest to his struggling orchard. Jeriah needed two human hearts for his ritual. Any human hearts would do—Horus and Blunko just proved to be easy targets, as Jeriah and his family were familiar with the pair and knew about their usual hunting trails. Jeriah and his family, including his wife and two teenage daughters, camped out in the Srafdosa Wood and prepared a trap for Horus and Blunko. When the two wandered into it, the family attacked them, killing them swiftly. Jeriah removed their hearts for his ritual before the family buried the bodies in a shallow grave not far from where the murders took place. They then returned to their farm on the outskirts of town.

After the pair did not return, the townsfolk eventually established a search party to determine what became of them. However, they quickly discovered that Horus and Blunko were dead, and their ghosts haunted the wood. Their spirits appeared as mutilated corpses that carried about regular hunting activities as if nothing was the matter. The search party was terrified and immediately returned to town, not wanting to draw the ire of the ghosts.