Quote from SpiderTrapper >>

Time to Make an Adventure! this activity was created by SirTawmis, where someone (usually him) posts a list of questions to create an adventure. someone gives an answer to the next question in order that builds off of what previous people have posted. the questions:

 

4. Who are five NPCs that can help (or hinder) the party in the adventure?

The Wailing of the Grave Maidens. 

Next up: number 2: where is the adventure set? 

 
2. The graveyard next to the former asylum that now houses the Bazar of the Bizarre in the town of Herringshire.
3. A kind old lady who often paid for goods and services with fresh baked meat pies.

4. Five NPCs include:

Barek Trivendor. He's the old graveyard keeper who has heard reports of strange happenings at the old asylum. He claims to have seen spirits roam the grounds.

Azinor Fallglade. The old human - who seemingly hasn't aged - that once ran the asylum. The asylum was closed down when it was discovered that one of the clerics there, Jarius Nightfall was murdering some female (elf) patients. The question on everyone's mind is - why hasn't Azinor aged?  He's married to Allana Fallglade, the old woman who is known for her delicious, meat pies. In truth, Allana is a hag...

The Seer, Ellisana. The Seer was once a patient at the asylum - she believed herself to be mad due to the dreams she had. Her madness drove her to pry her own eyes out of their sockets - but the visions never stopped. They only got more intense. She may have information of things she heard - but never saw - during her time in the Asylum.

Korton Truerunner. A young human child who was dared to enter the Asylum. He did so - and ended up trapped there for an entire night. He rarely speaks of what he saw and heard - but perhaps - he could be a source of information.

Jarius Nightfall. The doctor who "treated" most of the patients in the asylum. This half-elf was proven to be quite mad. In a search to find "his mother" - Jarius murdered a number of patients who bore any semblance to his mother. This, according to local townsfolk, is why there are the "screaming maidens" - they're actually Banshees that haunt the graveyard. Each of them has a possession in the asylum that needs to be recovered and properly buried with them.

And they also want justice - which means dealing with Jarius, who still roams the asylum halls ...

6: 

Beneath the graveyard, accessed by a secret set of passages that run beneath the Bazaar of the Bizarre, lies a tunnel that leads to ancient, long forgotten catacombs built into a series of warrens, where the departed of those who once lived in this land were laid to rest using arcane and eldritch magics of a sort that would chill those above, despite the children's games that speak of these ancient and unspeakable rites.

(if I skipped 5 because no one else was filling it in while I wrote this:)

Someone skipped #5.

Didn't want to conflict in case someone else was filling it out, lol.

But I did include a 5 in the spoiler!  Just in case.

Quote from SpiderTrapper >>

Time to Make an Adventure! this activity was created by SirTawmis, where someone (usually him) posts a list of questions to create an adventure. someone gives an answer to the next question in order that builds off of what previous people have posted. the questions: 

 
Side Note - Loved seeing someone else run with this! I love doing the "Make/Build an Adventure" thing I started here. And it was because there was so many creative people in this thread - as well as folks new to D&D - that if they needed a quick adventure, they could take (and/or modify) the silly build-an-adventure we were creating. So very cool to see you post one up now too!

OK! for a challenge, number 7 is gonna be answered by YOU. yes YOU, lurking in the shadows, reading our posts. I know there are lurkers in this thread cause I was one, originally. If you have not posted in the thread, I'm calling you out. try your hand at making an adventure! don't be frightened by the quality of work in this forum, in reality, most of us are jsut a bunch of goofballs who banded together over a safe space created by Sposta to get away from the drama.

7: Allana Fallglade is secretly the daughter of Olga Oglala, and seeks to resurrect her. Little do the 27 know that they are being tricked into hastening Olga’s resurrection. Only the 3 elders are aware of Allana’s secret plot. Only Ellisana can foresee the truth, but only if she gets the party’s help in deciphering her visions… visions being distorted by The Screaming/Wailing Grave Maidens of Herringshire.

8:?

8. How does the party confront the antagonist? what makes the final battle epic?

If the party is successful in helping Ellisana, they discover that the Wailing Maidens are the spirits of those who died taking down and mummifying the long dead hag.

However, while they were busy learning that through what seems like a side quest, Allana will have used the party's presence to convince the guardians under her sway that they needed to move the mummy of the Hag and her horse to a secret place that "her family built long ago in the nearby woods" -- where there is a rotunda (domed roof, triple row of columns supporting, large inner area with a bier in the center) that is actually a ritual space.

Now she has to wait for the new Moon/celestial convergence in 3 days time. On returning from the sidequest about the Maidens, they have the chance to confront the whole scheme and face off against the hag Allana as she prepares to resurrect her mother and the Horse she rode in on.

The Horse, of course, is a Nightmare.

So, two hags, a nightmare, and 20 or so potential allies in the form of the tricked guardians all in a massive face off where the secret weapons will be some of the gifts from the Grave Maidens.

During the fight, NPCs will  make jokes about beating on a dead horse.

In the post-climax, one of the survivors will thank the players for helping to end the scourge of the Hags and the horse they rode in on.

The Wailing of the Grave Maidens.

 Location: The graveyard next to the former asylum that now houses the Bazar of the Bizarre in the town of Herringshire.

 Some notable NPCs:

Barek Trivendor. He's the old graveyard keeper who has heard reports of strange happenings at the old asylum. He claims to have seen spirits roam the grounds.

 Azinor Fallglade. The old human that once ran the asylum. He's married to Allana Fallglade, the old woman who is known for her delicious, meat pies.

 Allana Fallglade is secretly the daughter of Olga Oglala (an ancient hag, more on her in a moment), and seeks to resurrect her. Little do the 27 know (more on the 27 below) that they are being tricked into hastening Olga’s resurrection. A coven of hags has infiltrated the Elders, and three of them are members of the Hag Coven - manipulating the Elders. Three of the 27 Elders are members of the Coven who are using their magic to hide their true selves. Only Ellisana can foresee the truth, but only if she gets the party’s help in deciphering her visions… visions being distorted by The Screaming/Wailing Grave Maidens of Herringshire.

 The Seer, Ellisana. The Seer was once a patient at the asylum - she believed herself to be mad due to the dreams she had. Her madness drove her to pry her own eyes out of their sockets - but the visions never stopped. They only got more intense. She may have information of things she heard - but never saw - during her time in the Asylum.

 Korton Truerunner. A young human child who was dared to enter the Asylum. He did so - and ended up trapped there for an entire night. He rarely speaks of what he saw and heard - but perhaps - he could be a source of information.

 Jarius Nightfall. The doctor who "treated" most of the patients in the asylum.  Though the asylum has been long closed and abandoned, Jarius still roams its abandoned halls. If the party seeks him out - he is clearly quite mad. But he will go on about how "the mask she wears hides the truth" (this is a reference to the hag's illusion hiding her true self) and go on "only the blind can see the truth!" (this is a reference to Ellisana and her visions)

 A secret society of protectors of the dead, numbering 27 and led by three Elders,  seeks to prevent the opening of the catacombs at all costs, swearing that there will be a horrible price should someone disturb the rest of Olga Oglala, rumored to have been a mummified hag once upon an era in the annals of history. She's very much dead, as is her horse, buried with her, but superstition is a funny thing this close to the feywilde.

 And beneath the graveyard, accessed by a secret set of passages that run beneath the Bazaar of the Bizarre, lies a tunnel that leads to ancient, long forgotten catacombs built into a series of warrens, where the departed of those who once lived in this land were laid to rest using arcane and eldritch magics of a sort that would chill those above, despite the children's games that speak of these ancient and unspeakable rites.

 If the party is successful in helping Ellisana, they discover that the Wailing Maidens are the spirits of those who died taking down and mummifying the long dead hag.

 However, while they were busy learning that through what seems like a side quest, Allana will have used the party's presence to convince the guardians under her sway that they needed to move the mummy of the Hag and her horse to a secret place that "her family built long ago in the nearby woods" -- where there is a rotunda (domed roof, triple row of columns supporting, large inner area with a bier in the center) that is actually a ritual space.

 Now she has to wait for the new Moon/celestial convergence in 3 days time. On returning from the sidequest about the Maidens, they have the chance to confront the whole scheme and face off against the hag Allana as she prepares to resurrect her mother and the Horse she rode in on.

 The Horse, of course, is a Nightmare.

 So, two hags, a nightmare, and 20 or so potential allies in the form of the tricked guardians all in a massive face off where the secret weapons will be some of the gifts from the Grave Maidens.

 During the fight, NPCs will make jokes about beating on a dead horse.

 In the post-climax, one of the survivors will thank the players for helping to end the scourge of the Hags and the horse they rode in on.

*cracks fingers*

Herringshire is a small, walled village upon the banks of a river navigable by smaller craft, and used as a major trade route with the mines further upstream and the city further downstream. The Village also provides refuge for a couple of hamlets under the aegis of the town's mostly absent Viscount, who leaves oversight of his fields to his loca representative, a Fodge Trusty.

The closest Hamlet is Esdeth Vale, where they mostly grow wheat and alfalfa, bringing both into town during the harvest season for sale to the Mill in herringshire. Esdeth is about a seven hour ride away, with a population of under 300. The next is Calumny, where there is a large quarry and a salt mine, both famous in the city. Calumny has a population of only about 100, and supplied by weekly trips to Herringshire led personally by Sir Haversford, who is the baronet for both hamlets, his liege being Viscount Bargleargle.

The headman of the village is Alkan Gladifell, still strong and hale in his late 60's, ut he is said to often defer to the wife of the old Aslyum owner, who was once Alkan's close friend.

That friend is an older man, Azinor Fallglade, who was once married but whose wife died wihtint he asylum that he had built to try and help her, and whose loss broek him deeply. Many were glad when a traveling merchant came through and the pair fell in love, the younger woman soon his wife being the one that most people think of as "running the town".

She is Alanna Fallglade, a pleasant, plumpish, motherly woman who is widely liked because of her friendly (some would say saccharine, but never in her presence) outlook and personality. She is a sharp dresser, and is never without her large parasol, which she sometimes uses as a walking stick as well as a parasol.

Herringshire itself is generally thought to consist of four sections: The Northern Hill, where the Viscount's Manor house and terraced fields are, as well as the granaries; The Southern hill, atop which the former asylum, now the Bazaar of the Bizarre sits, the Uppers, on the higher land between the two hills, and the Riverside, which spreads out along the shore of the river and includes such critical establishments as the tannery, the Butcher's shop, the Mill, and the Wharf from which the distant Mine's goods are shipped downstream to the city.

The Old Trader's Road enters the city from the northwest, following the river, then turns sharp and heads east, passing through the Eastern Gate of the town in the Uppers, and out into the wilds beyond. The Hamlet track, a rough and simple route, joins with the western side of the Road about a mile outside the town.

The River is fairly placid, said to be about five fathoms deep in the center and about a full fathom at the firm, lined banks as it winds past the town, allowing many poled and rowed small vessels to use the long wharf. It is about a third of a mile wide (1760 feet).

The Graveyard sits at the foot of the Northern Hill, with the wealthier Tombs upon the hill, stretching down and spreading out. The town has been occupied for many generations, and is known for a strong work ethic, a hearty appetite, and devotion to their sprawling fields of barley and oats that are supplemented by many private gardens and even more distant grazing lands for mostly sheep and goats. Chickens are often seen roaming about the small town, and ther eis much consternation when a market stall from someone poorer suddenly features chicken skewers.

THe market of the town includes a blacksmith who moved to town about a dozen years ago, claiming retirement from the making of the armor and weapons that had once been his trade when he worked as the Duke's Armorer. Aliam specialized in making silvered weapons. He moved to town because it was where he was born, and always said he had business to attend to there. Aliam Hyldrake is his name. He can often be found in the local Tavern at night, slaking his thirst with a rotating group of something like two dozen men, all of whom (including him) wear an armband with a blue circle on a red stroke. Aliam's wares run about 20% higher than normal for wares unless you are a native of the town, and he only has a few items for sale, having turned his trade to the needs of the farmers and such there. He will show any traveler's horses for free -- he likes to get strangers out of town quickly.

Market days happen on the tens -- every tenth day, so the 10th, 20th, and 30th -- when the major merchant peddlers arrive in town with new wares from the city.

The town does not have an inn. It has only one tavern, but it does have three cafes that serve food (but no alcohol). For those who come to town, they allow people to stay in the town's Refuge, a large, barn like building that has 60 bunks filled with straw, a private wellhouse, and a warm hearth.

 There is a small Guild Outpost, run by the cranky and often irascible Mig Teeman, a distracted dwarf Sorcerer who resents having been assigned to a backward nowhere, and only has two current tasks available should anyone check in with him.

The first is to solve the problem of the wailing ghosts up near the bazaar, which are making the efforts to move the marketplace there very difficult, even though it is a "nice place". The town wants to move the marketplace to make room for more housing.

The second is to do something about the group of some kind of bandits or raiders who are harassing travelers along the Trader's Road in the Western Woods, where there is also a rumor of an old wizard's tower or something.

In both cases, Mig will decide that the party is too under powered and besides, the reward for them is only a scant 30 gold pieces fo the ghosts and a mere 5 for the bandits -- because the Viscount's man hasn't been authorized to pay out of the Viscount's treasury and he isn't due back for a while yet.

The Graveyard

The graveyard has several hundred graves, all marked by tombstones of varying sizes (most carved by some member of the Shavath or Trivendor families), spread apart with ten feet of distance between rows and usually five feet apart except for close family plots.

Trees are planted throughout the space, and a low, shin high grass grows throughout the area. Tall stone urns sit next to each major gravesite for families to lace flowers and other offerings. During the day, a thing, faint mist or fog seems to rest over the graveyard that doesn't bother old Barek at all, and that he will only notice if it is called out to him -- to which he will respond "huh, I keep forgetting about that." and then drop it.

He will take the party to the gated area that leads up the hill towards the dozen mausoleums of the wealthy, and note that he has heard strange sounds coming from them and up towards the old asylum, which he seems to forget is called a bazaar. He will also note that he doesn't like that uppity mage that wants to turn the old building into a marketplace because he thinks the current marketplace is just fine and a lot easier for his old bones to get to.

At night, around the Mausoleums and going up the hill towards the Asylum one can see the faint glowing outlines of spectral beings, seemingly dressed in flowing, loose robes and ragged clothing that fullter in an unseen and unfelt wind, floating about and wailing.

If the players attempt to make contact, the only words that will be able to be made out within the wailing are "ellisana", "oglala", and "curse", all of which will come out like a wail. A DC13 Perception roll must be made for each of the words. On a roll of 10 or more on a d20, the word "korden" will be heard by a party member instead.

IF the payers attack, the Wailing Maidens are immune to tangible weapon attacks, and resistant to other attacks. THey have an AC of 10, and only 3 HP -- but will reform on the following night. THe do not attack themselves, but will seem as if they are should they be attack.

"killing" a maiden results in 1d4 psychic damage.

`

The Ruins

Two centuries ago, a tower stood in the forest, raised as a bastion of Light to oppose the hag Olga Oglala and manned by the Sisterhood of Coventry, a group of Paladins who were sworn to ensure that Olga's evil never spread.

Their spirits are the ones that became the Wailing Maidens, and all of them are buried within the second to lest on the left Mausoleum upon the hill in the graveyard.

The tower was a small fortification and nunnery. It has an old wellhouse, a barracks, a stable, a kitchen with an immense hearth that also feeds the main Hall, an old chicken coop, a dilapidated garden, and an old milkshed and storage area. All are in ruins and crumbled, barely recognizable. 

In the stable, under moldering hay used as a rat's nest, there is also an Amulet of the Sisterhood, which is an a magical item requiring attunement that gives advantage on rolls when fighting Hags.

In the Kitchen, on the floor in a corner there is a Soup Stone. THis magical item requires attunement and the cooking skill to use, but can be placed into a cooking pot filled with water and once a day will produce a nutritious soup that will ease on point of fatigue or heal 1d4 hit points depending on what the cook decides.

In the wellhouse, among another rat's nest will be a second Amulet of the Sisterhood, and a scroll describing the horrible deeds of the Hag Olga Oglala:

Severius,

Today we had what I fear was the worst of the battles against this foul creature we have faced thus far. She is growing desperate and vengeful, and I worry for this land as I have never done before.

We cornered her upon the banks of the river, and learned that she had an entrance to her lair hidden among boulders there. She was placing something into the river, chanting in the foul language of those beasts. her words, should they be of use to you, were "Giagaraka nomenia che finsena kal agaraika alanna shimkasirika fergusian mek kril neg." once you have gotten that to the scribes, it is my hope it was not a curse for the newly established town down the river from this outpost.

The item was a small reed basket, so whatever mischief it is that she plans we will leave to you to handle.

Tomorrow we will enter the treacherous warren of her lair, sealing the river entrance behind us. Stacia Hyldrake shall remain behind. Should we fall, here is the plan we have to combat her. We shall all enter with the Amulets bespoken to us by the Prelate and face both her and her servant.  I expect she will be in the

Beneath the main hall, reached through a secret door in front of the hearth, is a set of stairs that lead down into a stone lined underground chamber that contains the armory of the old place. Among the weapons and other items in here are 2 +1 weapons (DM choice of type), an All Purpose Tool, and a driftglobe.

Should the party enter the Armory, a group of 12 Twig Blights will enter the ruins and attempt to trap the Party and take the amulets from them. The blights will only go for those who have amulets. They are all minions of Alanna.

The Rotunda

This is an 80 foot in diameter circular building surrounded on all sides by dense trees, with a single path leading to it.

The base of the rotunda has six steps up to the marble surface. Three rows of columns that are staggered support the domed roof above. The columns only cover the outer 12 feet.

The inner chamber had a series of three concentric circles graven into the floor and filled in with matching lines in the dome above them, creating a series of three sections that are 12 feet wide each, and then an inner circle that is 32 feet in diameter.

In the center of the inner circle rests a seven foot long, four foot wide, three foot high block of black stone shot through with red glowing veins of some other mineral that gives off an unnerving feeling. When one comes within 30' of the altar, they are affected by a revivify spell, .

Upon the altar is the dessicated corpse of a horse and the mummified remains of Olga. Around the altar will be Alanna and the other members of the coven, who will be preparing to raise Olga.

Two of the hags will flee should the party make it first the first trap. The third Hag will sacrifice herself to bring back Olga's revenant and the nightmare.

The outer rings are each a Trap. They consist of a magical barrier. The Outer barrier is one of Fear. The Middle barrier is one of Paralyzing. The Inner barrier is one of Sleep.  Each barrier is also counted as difficult terrain for any creature moving through them, being thick with the sorceries of the Hags, giving disadvantage to anything requiring a physical action.

A PC can pass through only one barrier in a given turn. Entering a ring requires a saving throw against a DC 14 (Cha) -- with disadvantage.

DM Note: remember that advantage and disadvantage cancel each other out. An identify spell will reveal what each of the barriers does.

Both Olga and Alanna are Night Hags. The Nightmare is a Nightmare. (CR 5 and 3, respectively). Alanna will not enter her hag form, but Olga will.

Within the final area, there are no limits, but note the space is a 32 foot wide circle with a huge stone block in the middle.

ok, someone else gets to do the meetup with Ellisana, the thing with Korton, the Asylum and all its joys, and any other place, lol.

Feel free to mess with my contributions as you feel a need to .

Created another retro cover for the previous one we did about the goblins...

https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=3139

And tracked down - I think the first one I started.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=2120

Made a retro cover for it:

The retro covers are awesome, but looking at them gave me an idea. All the levels stated on the covers connect (Goblins are 1-3, Maidens are 3-5, the mountain is 5-8) so why don’t we give it some connecting themes, make the whole thing into a campaign where somehow a floating mountain filled with sahuagin, a magic well infested with goblins, and an asylum filled with dead, screaming people are connected. Maybe something to do with a cult dedicated to raising the old gods of the world, the original pantheon (the goblin deity and maybe like the sahuagij rebelling against the Tentacle worship an old god). The old gods existed before their worshippers were wiped out in a cataclysm(gods could work the same way the do in FR, where a god is sustained by the belief in them and the number of their worshippers) and since they didn’t have any worshippers they faded, but now someone is orchestrating a cult to the old gods to bring them back, which isn’t really a bad thing because the old gods lived in a time of peace and prosperity where there was no war or famine or discord, kinda like a garden of eve situation just without a snake and worldwide.

Quote from AllMightyLordOfDND >>

The retro covers are awesome, but looking at them gave me an idea. All the levels stated on the covers connect (Goblins are 1-3, Maidens are 3-5, the mountain is 5-8) so why don’t we give it some connecting themes, make the whole thing into a campaign where somehow a floating mountain filled with sahuagin, a magic well infested with goblins, and an asylum filled with dead, screaming people are connected. Maybe something to do with a cult dedicated to raising the old gods of the world, the original pantheon (the goblin deity and maybe like the sahuagij rebelling against the Tentacle worship an old god). The old gods existed before their worshippers were wiped out in a cataclysm(gods could work the same way the do in FR, where a god is sustained by the belief in them and the number of their worshippers) and since they didn’t have any worshippers they faded, but now someone is orchestrating a cult to the old gods to bring them back, which isn’t really a bad thing because the old gods lived in a time of peace and prosperity where there was no war or famine or discord, kinda like a garden of eve situation just without a snake and worldwide.

 
Well, get crackin!

Always remember that whenever you say Somebody, you are talking about yerself!

Me, I am feeling as if my general set up for the final big bad is seen as a bit too much, lol. I like it (the idea is that while the PCs are struggling with the barriers, the Hags bring back the dead one, with two fleeing and one dying to keep the CR spread even and give a link to a future fight in the form of the fleeing hags), but systems like that can annoy some people.

For the Inkarnate: https://inkarnate.com/m/rgl6Do-herringshire/

So, it is just a rough, no buildings, and I'll be blunt, I suck at anything tighter than this, lol. I get lost in all kinds of stuff and I don't like the way inkarnate does walls.

As ever, clicky through for a 4k image.

that last Iyah continent will show up tomorrow (used today's time for the lark of Herringshire).