d20 Legion Publishing Critical Hits 23 - Holes of Narrowsend.pdf - Legion Publishing - R5700

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L E G 1 0 2 3

INTRODUCTION

Greetings traveler and welcome to Critical Hits - a

series of electronic publications from Legion Publishing.

Each Critical Hit is a complete encounter that can be

dropped into any fantasy campaign with very little prepa-

ration needed by the DM. The encounters are little gems

of ideas built around a single situation, person, location,

creature or object that the players stumble across in their

travels. Each Critical Hit provides all the DM needs to use

the encounter. Whether used as a disposable diversion or

the springboard for adventure, Critical Hits give the over-

worked DM a break and the players some memorable

encounters that encourage creative role-playing.

V o l u m e 6 N o 3 - E n c o u n t e r L e v e l 9

H O L E S O F N A R R O W S E N D

Published by

In Holes of Narrowsend, the party is in mid trek over

high terrain and descends a mountain into a peaceful-

looking village. But appearances can be deceptive and the

PCs have stumbled into a war between the poor villagers

and a band of rampaging bugbears, which has moved into

the sacred holes of Narrowsend on the mountain overlook-

ing the village. Can the player characters free the folk of

Narrowsend, or will the wrath of the peasants' goddess

bring death to all? As with the other Critical Hits, text

inside a border should be read aloud to the players (unless

you have modified the setting, in which case you're on

your own!).

www.legionpublishing.co.uk

First Published 2003

C R E D I T S &

A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S

Written by

Simon Lucas

Editor

Robin Elliott

Illustrations & Graphic Design

Robin Elliott

Typesetting

Kirsty Crabb

Typesetting and graphic design by Wildstar Digital Arts

Contact - info@wildstardigitalarts.co.uk

Author courtesy of Snake Eyes Studio

Contact - info@snakeeyesstudio.co.uk

THE VALE OF NARROWSEND

Pausing on the difficult trail you follow, you survey

your surroundings. The rocky black mountainside looks

down onto a wide fertile valley. The low trees on either

side of the narrow path are bent over, like an army of

beggars, indicating the savage prevailing winds which

sweep down the mountainside.

Legion Publishing, Critical Hits, the Legion Publishing logo, Legionnaire,

and all related characters and elements are trademarks of Legion

Publishing.

Wildstar Digital Arts and its logo are trademarks of Wildstar Digital Arts.

Snake Eyes Studio and its logo are trademarks of Snake Eyes Studio.

Characters paying particular attention to their sur-

roundings may attempt a Knowledge (Geography) check

(DC20) detect that the mountain path they are following

is poorly maintained and the rock underfoot is volcanic.

'd20 System' and the 'd20 System' logo are trademarks of Wizards of

the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., and are used according to

the terms of the d20 System License version 4.0. A copy of this License

can be found at www.wizards.com/d20.

Designation of Product Identity

All material, other than material already considered Open Gaming

Content is considered Product Identity as described in Section 1(e) of

the Open Gaming License v1.0a. This includes but is not limited to

Critical Hits and all significant characters, names, creatures, spells,

events, plots, logos, trade dress, product names, product lines, places,

Reserved, except where otherwise noted. The use of another company's

trademark should not be construed as a challenge to that trademark.

Reproduction of non-Open Game Content from this work by any means

without the express written consent of Legion Publishing is prohibited.

A Knowledge (Nature) check (DC20) or a Wilderness

Lore check (DC18) indicates that the trees hereabouts are

short and tough, but bear plentiful, tasty fruit and grow

well in rich, fertile soil, and particularly on the lower

slopes of dormant volcanoes.

Legion Publishing - Critical Hits

Volume 6 No 3- EL 9

Bugbears (10): CR 2;Medium Humanoid ; HD 3d8+3

(Humanoid); hp 19; Init +1; Spd 30; AC 18; Atk +4

base melee, +3 base ranged; +4 (1d8+2, Mace,

heavy); SQ: Darkvision (Ex); AL NE; SV Fort +4, Ref

+2, Will +1; STR 15, DEX 12, CON 13, INT 10, WIS 10,

CHA 9.

Possessions:

Weapons: Mace, heavy.

Armor: Studded leather.

Shields: Shield, small, steel.

Skills:

Hide+5, Move Silently+5.

Feats:

Toughness.

WAYLAID!

Suddenly, crashing through the undergrowth before

you comes a small group of desperate-looking peasants.

The poor wretches are sprinting through the harsh

scrubland without heeding the coarse brush which tears

at their clothes and flesh; they are breathing hard and

covered in blood and scratches. The first of the terri-

fied peasants charge past you without giving you a

second glance, looks of sheer terror on their faces.

Almost immediately, a second group emerge from the

woodland also running for their lives.

The ragged group is being pursued by an bugbear

hunting party, and the bugbears' blood is high from

having slaughtered the peasants as they tried to attack

the bugbear lair. If the party attempt to converse with

the peasants at all or try to halt their panicked rout,

they may get some sense of what has happened from the

last of the farmers to pass them.

If the party chooses to pursue the routed bugbears,

they can follow the creatures back toward their lair. To

begin with, the remnants of the war band are easy to

follow, as they run for their lives through the under-

growth, a simple Listen check (DC15) is sufficient to

detect the direction of their travel. Further clues can be

gained by following the trail of peasant bodies. A success-

ful Spot check (DC12) notices a survivor the bugbears

missed.

The slower peasants, still clutching their farm imple-

ments hurtle into sight, looking desperately over their

shoulders. The first to reach you hurls his scythe into the

undergrowth and, fixing his wild eyes on you as he stum-

bles on, manages to gasp, "Flee, flee; the enemy is upon

us!"

You have come across nearly a dozen corpses of the

unfortunate peasants in your pursuit, all bearing hor-

rible wounds and many cut apart in a frenzy of blood-

letting. You notice a slight movement from one of the

bodies as you pass. It seems the creatures did not

finish one of their victims completely.

FIGHT OR FLIGHT?

A bloodcurdling scream is heard from the area the

peasants have just fled and the sound of many more

feet crashing through the scrub is heard. You have only

a split second to decide what to do. Whatever the locals

were running from is coming this way!

This injured individual is Grenoc, the miller; a vital

member of Narrowsend village. His injuries are appalling,

but not life-threatening, and he crawls to the PCs croak-

ing for assistance.

Most heroic PCs refuse to be rattled by a group of

fleeing peasants and probably ready themselves for

battle. After only a round or two, the bugbears burst

through arrive, hot on the heels of the poor farmers of

Narrowsend.

Grenoc: Male Human Com2; Medium Humanoid ; HD 2d4-2

(Commoner); hp 2; Init -2; Spd 30; AC 8; Atk +0 base

melee, -1 base ranged; AL N; SV Fort -1, Ref -2, Will

+0; STR 9, DEX 7, CON 9, INT 11, WIS 11, CHA 12.

Skills:

Knowledge (Nature)+3, Profession (Miller)+5, Sense

Motive+2.

If the PCs turn and run from the creatures, they can

quickly catch and overtake the slowest peasants, but they

hear the poor farmers' horrific screams of agony as the

bugbears also catch them and hack them to pieces.

He begs the PCs to save him.

"Please, help me. I have been very badly wounded by

those beasts. Take me home, please before they

return. My daughter needs me. Please help." At that,

he passes out, blood flowing freely from his many

wounds, his gory arm outstretched toward you plead-

ingly.

If the party stands to fight the hunting party, the

bugbears exhilaration is short-lived. They are expecting

to encounter fleeing peasants and an easy victory, not a

stand-up fight with a well-armed party of tough adven-

turers. When the bugbears lose half their number to the

party, they turn and run back to the holes.

Legion Publishing - Critical Hits

Volume 6 No 3- EL 9

TROUBLE ON THE HORIZON

NARROWSEND VILLAGE

While the PCs are in the village there is an earth

tremor that is strong enough to force a successful Balance

check (DC10) or the characters lose their footing. The vil-

lagers (with the possible exception of the miller's daugh-

ter if a romantic moment is required) are well-used to

the seismic activity in the area and do not stumble,

though they bow their heads and mutter words of prayer.

The little village of Narrowsend is collection of small,

well-constructed houses built around a small green in

which a pretty well has been sunk. There are barely

more than fifty villagers in the hamlet, with maybe

the same number again in remote homesteads scat-

tered across the broad plain on the valley floor.

These latter are the farmers whose crops feed the

inhabitants of the village. The villagers tend to be

tradesmen and skilled workers capable of turning the

farmers' raw materials into finished goods. And so

members of the little community, like so many others

you have seen, live in harmony with the land and in

peace with their neighbors.

If asked about the tremors, the villagers explain that

the activity is proof that Mother Nature is displeased by

them allowing the despoiling bugbears to rampage across

the land and inhabit the sacred holes. The tremors have

been getting more severe recently and, in the few short

weeks since the beasts arrived, have been coming more

frequently.

The holes are holy places for the locals of this and

nearby villages. They mark the spot where Mother Nature

placed her fingers deep in the earth to stop the

Desolation. When she removed her loving hand she left

the holes in the ground, an enduring symbol of her love

for the people of the soil.

The villagers are typically backward and any sugges-

tion that they should leave their homes and farms is met

with ridicule. They refuse to accept that the mountain in

whose shadow they live is a dormant volcano in the

process of waking up. In spite of the references in their

own mythology to "the desolation", there are none alive

who remember that the mountain was at one time an

active volcano.

When the bugbears arrived and took possession of

their sacred place, the villagers sent to nearby villages

for help, but none arrived (in fact, unbeknownst to the

villagers, all the messengers have been caught and killed

by the bugbear hunting parties). Soon after their arrival

they took to raiding the outlying farmsteads for livestock

and the few pieces of gold the farmers have.

INTO THE HOLES

There are four entrances to the holes (one for each of

the goddess' fingers if the myths of the peasants are to

be believed). The easternmost entrance is a fairly

straight tunnel right to the back of the tunnel complex.

Unfortunately, this easy route into the system is particu-

larly perilous. The bugbears have made some feeble

attempts to shore up the ceiling with tree trunks, but

every tremor brings showers of rocks from the tunnel

roof. Whenever the PCs venture into the eastern tunnel

there is 50% chance of a minor cave-in every ten feet

traveled and a 10% chance of a major rock fall. If there

is a major cave-in all the characters in the tunnel must

make a successful Reflex saving throw or suffer 1d8 points

of damage. The other tunnels are far more stable and the

PCs can explore the rest of the system without fear of

tunnel collapse.

They have rapidly become bolder and have taken to

mounting the occasional raid against warehouses near the

village itself, stealing food and killing or carrying off any

in the neighborhood. The villagers know it is only a

matter of time before the band attacks the village itself

and decided to try to take things into their own hands.

They spent the majority of their gold hiring the few

parties of adventurers that passed through their quiet

valley. The adventurers never returned and the villagers,

correctly assuming them to be dead and desperate to

protect their sacred place from the despoilers, decided to

mount the ill-fated attack.

At the north entrance to the holes stand a pair of

watchful bugbear guards, the best in the band. They

stand at the northern entrance as it is the highest of the

entrances and affords the best view of the surrounding

terrain. The sentries are each armed with five javelins

which they use at range to buy time while the other

raises the alarm by beating a bronze gong with his mace.

If the party came down into the village with the

injured villager from the attack, Grenoc's daughter

rushes to meet them. The villagers are very grateful for

the party's assistance and the miller's pretty daughter is

particularly happy. The peasants arrange a feast in honor

of the characters, with all the regional delicacies special-

ly prepared.

Legion Publishing - Critical Hits

Volume 6 No 3- EL 9

If attackers come too close, the maces take on a more

deadly role!

(Ex); AL NE; SV Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +1; STR 15, DEX

12, CON 13, INT 10, WIS 10, CHA 9.

Possessions:

Weapons: Javelin; Mace, heavy.

Armor: Chain shirt.

Skills:

Listen+4, Move Silently+3, Spot+4.

Bugbear guards (2): CR 2;Medium Humanoid ; HD

3d8+3 (Humanoid); hp 16; Init +1; Spd 30; AC 18; Atk

+4 base melee, +3 base ranged; +3 (1d6+2,

Javelin); +4 (1d8+2, Mace, heavy); SQ: Darkvision

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