This is a simple hack and slash adventure for a low-level party.
The party knows each other from their apprenticeship time. All are currently from the same mid-sized town, Hania. Individuals may decide to be originally from other towns or kingdoms, especially if they want to be minor nobles or such. Hania is large enough to support a couple of wizards, a small thieves and assassin’s guild, numerous temples, and a small garrison.
Clerics have completed their basic training at one of the numerous temples and now must either settle down into a particular temple or spend some time wandering and helping the larger organization by adventuring.
Wizards have completed their apprenticeships and must now travel and gain experience. There is not enough demand for wizards in Hania to support any 1st through 3rd level wizards.
Thieves and assassins have finished their school training and apprenticeships and are now free to work on their own. Thieves and assassins must still pay dues to the Hania thieves or assassin’s guild, but are no longer restricted to the town of Hania. Thieves and assassins are also no longer restricted to only going on Guild appointed jobs, they may now choose their own jobs within the rules for each guild.
The party will know about Hania, and will have passed through a number of small towns and villages in the Small Kingdoms on the way to the adventure site, Dead Mule.
The party will learn about Dead Mule from some the wine they have drunk. It is a pretty good wine, and relatively cheap. When the party tries to get more of the wine, they will find that it is not available. A little bit of searching has revealed that the village has not been heard from in about five years. This is fairly common in the Small Kingdoms. Villages and baronies vanish due to abandonment or destruction regularly. Also, trade routes on Spire are very fluid and subject to radical change easily. The costs of transportation can make or break a route very quickly.
The party will start the adventure on the outskirts of Dead Mule. They will have outfitted themselves before the adventure starts by using the rulebooks. Traveling from Hania to Dead Mule is done outside the adventure the first time.
The party did not have sufficient funds to travel much further unless they did so entirely on their own. This precluded the party from going adventuring in some other area.
Hania is a small trading center in the southern part of Spire. It is in the northern part of Esthar, on the edge of the Small Kingdoms. Hania is located in a small valley that controls one of the dozen or so passes leading north from Esthar to the Small Kingdoms. There is significant commercial traffic passing through the town, but not a lot staying in the town. Merchants run caravans north and south carrying goods from the Esthar city-states to the Small Kingdoms.
The adventure takes place in the town of Dead Mule. The town was named after the mule that died on the spot where the town was founded. Dead Mule is a destroyed village about a 20-day walking journey from Hania into the Small Kingdoms. Dead Mule is quite a bit off the normal trade routes even by Small Kingdom standards. The nearest village is Lancre, about a 3-day walk or ride from Dead Mule. The only reasonable route in Dead Mule from Hania passes through Lancre. It is not very many miles from Dead Mule to Lancre, but the pass is very high and steep. There is an overgrown road though that winds up and down both sides of the pass. The party will also pass through other towns and fiefs on the way to Dead Mule.
Dead Mule was founded a couple of generations ago by a high level fighter and some members of his adventuring party. The town consisted of a small keep, a temple, and a number of peasant huts and associated farming buildings. The peasant huts are long since collapsed, but were made of stone. The keep and temple are partially destroyed. There is a dungeon under the keep and under the temple. Neither one is very big.
Dead Mule was a simple agricultural village. It was, and is suitable for raising grains, grapes and such. The town did produce some wines that were bottled or put in casks and sold outside the village.
The town was heading towards abandonment when a party of Orc raiders over ran the village a number of years ago. The founding fighter had died a couple of generations ago. His descendents did not spend enough money to maintain a strong guard force. The peasants were starting to move away for better places to live even though the land was reasonably fertile. This abandonment was hastened by the grandson’s penchant for turning dead peasants into skeletons, zombies and such.
The Orc raiders never found either dungeon. The Orcs did not find the large winery and associated cellars that are in a cave complex to the south of the castle. The Orcs were more interested in the treasure and valuables they found inside the castle and the temple. In particular they stole the small wine cellar’s contents from the castle. The Orcs caught the lord, a low-level fighter and his trusted retainers, out in the open and ambushed them. The retainers included a rogue and a mage.
The Orc raiders came from quite far away. The Orcs are not local to the area and will not show up as a random monster. There is a Kobold tribe though that lives three valleys away. It is about 400 strong. The first pass is 1,000 feet up and down over 2 miles. The first valley is about 3 miles long. The second pass is 1,500 feet over a mile, and the valley is 5 miles long. The third pass is also 1,000 feet up and down over 2 miles. The Kobolds have some farms and hunt the area of the three valleys. The Kobolds will not try to raid Lancre, or trade with the town.
The town itself, the castle and the dungeon are in the middle of the valley. The temple is inside the town. There is a small river that runs down the center of the valley. The river is feed from a variety of streams that originate from the sides of the valley. The sides of the valley, at least at the lower half, are covered in deep grass covered dirt. This dirt holds the water from the winter rains and snows and releases it slowly over the year. The river ends at the south edge of the valley in a small lake. It is obvious that the lake varies in size during the year. The lake will also drain out the southern edge through underground routes in the limestone. It eventually reappears near Lancre and feeds the river at the foot of Lancre Cliff.
The party could find significant amounts of upper to mid grade wine in the winery that will sell quickly in Hania. Most of the wine will be in casks or amphorae, but some will be in bottles. The bottles themselves are worth a good amount even empty. Glass is relatively expensive due in part to the energy needed to make. The party will have to look for the winery cellar, but will know that one must exist since the town was a wine exporter. Moving the wine will take planning and the casks and amphorae are very bulky.
The party will also be able to find a small treasure trove in the castle dungeon and one in the temple dungeon. They will find an inventory that shows delivery of wine to both castle and temple dungeons in the winery. Neither will mention where the entrance is though.
The temple dungeon will yield wine casks that will be easy to find. The castle dungeon will yield treasure, but more importantly, it will yield a lot of maps and notes for further adventures.
Dead Mule was an agricultural village run by a lord who changed the dead peasants into zombies and skeletons. There will be significant numbers of both zombies and skeletons for the party to fight. The undead will be almost exclusively in the dungeons and the large wine making cellar. The zombies and skeletons are compelled to defend the dungeons against everybody who is not carrying a special pass.
Other monsters the party is likely to encounter are giant rats, badgers and such. There will be a band of Kobolds on the first trip to Dead Mule. A second trip to Dead Mule from Hania will be similar. If there is a third trip to Dead Mule from Hania, there is a chance that other adventurers will be present. A fourth trip will have a chance of Kobolds being present in larger numbers if one or more of the Kobold bands was encountered.
The winery is on the south slope of the valley that Dead Mule is in. There is an overgrown dirt road from the village, castle and temple to the winery.
The office is to the left as you enter the winery cavern. A search of office files will turn up a series of delivery notices. There are notices to deliver wine to the castle wine cellar, to the castle dungeon, and to the temple dungeon. Two skeletons protect the office.
A fifteen-foot high wall surrounds the temple grounds with a single entrance on the eastern side. The temple is in disrepair. The roof has partially collapsed and the structure has apparently suffered a fire in the past few years. The grounds themselves are overgrown with brush and shrubbery. In each of the four inside corners of the temple grounds are stands for what were probably statues.
The inside of the temple is in similar state of disrepair. The statue of the god or goddess is missing from the inside. The inside of the temple has been burnt at some point in the past, probably by the Orc raiders.
The temple has a dungeon underneath it. Access to the dungeon is via a small hut behind the actual temple. There is an overgrown path from the back of the temple grounds that leads to the hut. The Orcs never managed to find the dungeon therefore never plundered it. There is a 1 in 20 chance of encountering 5 to 20 giant rats inside the dungeon each 5 turns unless there is a specific monster mentioned for that room. All rooms will have receptacles for continual light stick except in the crypt area. The temple dungeon is dug out of soft rock, some sort of limestone. The walls are seamless, albeit roughly cut in places.
The first room at the bottom of the entrance ramp contains a large spider.
There is an office to the left of the entrance. The office connects to the regalia and robing room by a normal door. The door will be locked. There is a secret door from the office to a privy room. A search of the office and files will turn up a delivery notice
The privy room is connected to the office and to vault #2, both via secret doors. .
The trophy room has a door and a portcullis that blocks access. The door is closed, but not locked. Inside the trophy room are 6 skeletons. There are racks, hooks and stands where objects had been displayed, but are now empty. The junior clergy person was able to take away all the valuables inside the trophy room.
The regalia room contains racks for vestments. There are a number of robes on the floor, but all are rat chewed and of no significant value. The robes will not indicate which god or goddess was worshipped here. There is a family of 20 rats living in the room under the regalia. Between 5 and 20 rats will be in the room at any one time.
The storeroom contains various tools and equipment for maintaining the temple and grounds. Of interest are the 12 dozen flasks of oil, gross of candles, and 3 lanterns. The oil and candles are in wooden boxes and the lamps are hanging up. It will take a pretty long search to find them. There are piles of wood, charcoal and such also in the room. Six zombies are in the storeroom. They will prevent people from taking anything from the storeroom or trying to open the door to the wine cellar, but other wise will not attack unless attacked or turned.
The wine cellar is behind a locked door from the storeroom. The wine cellar contains casks of wine. At least a dozen of them are still drinkable and saleable.
The chapel contains nothing of note. There are signs of incense having been burnt on a frequent basis. There looks like there was a statue or something that used to sit near the altar. The junior clergyman was able to take the cult statue with him.
The library contains shelves, a large table and a couple of chairs. There is a metal chandelier mounted on the ceiling. The chandelier holds a dozen candles. There are various books and scrolls in the library. This will show that the god worshipped here was Osiris. If the characters carefully look at all the scrolls and books, they will find a number of journals and maps. This journals and maps will indicate areas that the founder of the fiefdom and their party of adventurers had explored or had information about. There is a 5- percent chance that any one scroll or book will be a journal or map, but the scroll or book must be skimmed from beginning to end. It will take at least an hour to do that with each journal. A total of 30 journals contain information about dungeons, and there are a total of 300 journal volumes. A total of 15 maps that lead to dungeons exist in the scrolls. A quick glance will determine if a book or scroll contains a map, but not all maps lead to dungeons. It will take an hour of careful study to determine what a map covers. There are 150 maps total. Most of the maps are for travel between various towns in the Small Kingdoms. The other books and scrolls are of little interest. A Sage might buy the lot for 200 gold pieces. It will take a cart to move the entire lot.
The kitchen contains a small cooking stove and various wooden cooking implements. There are no metal implements. There are various clay jars, and evidence of other jars lay broken on the ground.
The pantry contains rotting bags of grain and such. There are some clay canning jars with foodstuffs inside.
The slaves quarters contains pallets with straw on them as beds for the slaves. A family of 20 rats lives here. Only 5 to 20 of them will show up at any one time.
The sitting room has a couple of wooden chairs and a stuffed sofa.
The bedroom has a regular bed frame, but the mattress sack is rat eaten. There is a chest with rotting clothing in it, a couple of tables and a lantern.
The fan room contains the fan that supplies fresh air to the dungeon.
The crypts contain bodies of the dead. There is a 1 in 20 chance of encountering 5 – 20 giant rats every other turn. There are about 200 bodies in various states of decay, ranging from skeletons, mummies, to zombie looking corpses.
Vault number one contains 1,000 copper pieces, 1,000 silver pieces, and 350 electrum. There are 5 potions of cure light wounds, and a scroll with 4 cure light wounds, and a scroll with a single lessor restoration. There are also two suits of chainmail, three long swords and a small tapestry. There are also two medium sized statues of marble. The chainmail will fit a person of between 5-6" and 5’-10" tall and 160 to 180 pounds. There are 10 skeletons guarding the vault.
Vault number two contains 3 potions of healing and a potion of zombie control. There is a wand of magic missile (1st level) that has 15 charges left. There is also 500 silver, 250 electrum, and 200 gold present. There are also three two-handed swords, two long swords and a suit of scale mail. The scale mail will fit a person of 6’-6" to 6’-10". The armor can be modified to fit a smaller person. There are 10 skeletons guarding the vault.
The castle is in significant disrepair, and was burnt out at some point in the past. It is built on a small hill, about 50 feet above the rest of the town.
The Orcs burned down the castle when they raided the place. The small staff of the castle was killed before they could retreat into the dungeon. Only the servants and family members survived the raid. They took what they could from the castle and fled to relatives in other parts of the Small Kingdoms. The Lord of the castle had not wanted to keep a large number of soldiers since they cost money. The lord of the castle, and his most trusted retainers were the only ones who could enter the dungeon. When they all died fighting the Orcs, the material in the dungeons was not reachable.
The castle dungeon is dug out of hard dirt except for the very lowest level. The walls are finished stone with visible joints. The true water table lies 200 feet down from the outside level of the castle, except for the stream that runs down the center of the valley. There is a 1 in 20 chance of encountering a band of Kobolds in the dungeon on any turn. There are a total of 9 in the dungeon, and will not split up into more than 3 groups of 3. The leader (8 hp) has a +1 short sword. All the others have 20 gp.
Entrance – The entrance from the surface is partially hidden. The Orcs never found the dungeon.
Guard rooms – there is a guardroom on each side of the entrance. The guardrooms have speaking tubes that connect to the rooms that house the portcullis controls.
Office – there is an office just off the entranceway. It looks to have been empty a very long time.
Armory – The armory is mostly empty. There are racks for various weapons, and there are a number of halberds, pikes, arrows, and sling bullets.
Portcullis control room – This room houses the machinery needed to raise and lower the portcullis. There is a remote operator in each guardroom that will close the portcullis, but will not open it. Both portcullises are closed.
Barracks – The barracks contain bunks with moldering straw on them. There a number of opened chests, and two closed ones. The two closed ones contain old clothing.
Kitchen – The kitchen contains a number of large cooking utensils and various small ones. The place looked like it was ransacked.
Soldier’s Mess Hall – This contains two tables and overturned benches.
Pantry – There a number of moldy bags of grain and such stored here.
Lord’s Dining room – This room is similar to the soldier’s mess hall, except the table looks nicer as do the chairs.
Well room – The doors to this room are locked. The well has water in it.
Soldiers’ Bath and toilet room – The room is dry, but it is obvious that a stream of water could be run to flush the waste down a small hole in the floor. There is actually a flask of endless water connected to the piping.
Storerooms #1 – There are some casks of wine here. The rest of the material is destroyed stuff like blankets and such.
Torture Chamber – The equipment looks old and unused.
Prison Cells – All the cells are empty.
The Maze – One section of the maze is inhabited by a gelatinous cube. The gelatinous cube cleans up the waste from the privy’s and kitchen. The other section is inhabited by 5 zombies that will prevent passage unless destroyed or turned. The gelatinous cube has 30 gold pieces.
Lord’s bath – This is similar to the soldiers’ privy, except it got nicer walls.
Exercise room for fighter – various practice weapons are evident.
Thief practice room – This room is furnished with various locks and dummies.
Bed rooms for the lord and family – These rooms are furnished, but rats have chewed the furnishings.
Retainers and hirelings bedrooms – These rooms have been ransacked.
Game room – an empty room except for a very large wooden table.
Vaults – This vault contains 500 gold, 4500 silver, a +1 long sword, a +1 shield, and a ring of feather falling and 6 skeletons.
Magic and alchemy labs – Both labs are well stocked.
Library – The library is well stocked and will fetch a good price, but will be tough to move.