ADVENTURES
CHAPTER 6:
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Dras can be convinced to offer a reward of a 1stlevel potion of each character’s choice for the return of the lantern. If one of the PCs can make a Diplomacy check (DC 20), Dras’s mood softens and he throws in an extra potion for the group (not for each individual). Under no circumstances does Dras begin to tell these obviously novice adventurers what sorts of traps and protections he has, what his item inventory is, or what the glasslike substance is that encases some of the items (it’s permanently invisible steel). The Golden: If any of the thieves from Encounter 2 or 3 survived, the PCs might track them down to find out whatever they can. This would normally be virtually impossible (they would be in hiding, probably in the Undercity), except that if Enbri and Tarl are alive, they’re also looking for the PCs. The lantern has been calling ectoplasmic vermin to send after them as well. If the PCs attempt to ask around or find them, they succeed fairly quickly. Enbri and/or Tarl are willing to agree to a truce if they can mutually put a stop to the creatures hunting them down. Best of all, the thieves know Othere’s name. It is much easier to find him with that information. A Gather Information check (DC 18) allows the PCs and thieves to find Othere’s home, but only because they have his name. Divination Magic: It’s most likely out of the hands of the PCs and probably too expensive to hire someone or buy a scroll, but some divination magic would certainly make the investigation easier. A locate object spell cast to find the lantern might work, but only if the PCs were lucky enough or smart enough to be in the Forestview Ward already. If something as powerful as a divination spell is used, the PCs learn Othere’s name and where to start looking for him. A Gather Information check (DC 18) allows the PCs to find Othere’s home, but only because they have his name. The Information Broker: If the PCs don’t know his name, Gather Information won’t actually allow the PCs to learn Othere’s or the lantern’s location. However, they can find out that there is a gnome woman named Saraen Whistlefar (female gnome Exp6) who specializes in information and secrets. She is located in the Merchant Ward, operating out of the back of a crystal shop. For the price of 50 gp, Saraen tells the PCs that she has indeed heard of the break-in at Dras’s shop and that she has heard that a ghost named Othere has recently come into possession of a strange lantern. Othere, apparently, is looking for a wizard who will identify the lantern’s powers for him discreetly. A Gather Information check (DC 18) allows the PCs to find Othere’s home, but only because they have his name.
Encounter 7: Justice (EL 3)
Othere lives in a flat over a bakery in Forestview. Once the PCs (possibly with the thieves) find Othere’s home, they can either try to reason with him, or they can bust in and attempt to destroy the lantern (the thieves favor the latter course, if they are present). Othere is hostile to the PCs (see Handling NPCs in Chapter 5 of the DUNGEON MASTER’s Guide), so he is difficult to reason with. He might be willing to sell the lantern to them, but not for less than 1,000 gp (probably far out of their reach). Most likely, they have to fight Othere and take the lantern by force. If seriously threatened, Othere would rather flee than defend his home to the “death.” Thus, he uses his Incorporeal Form feat to escape. See Encounter 3 for Othere’s statistics.
ENDING THE ADVENTURE Once the PCs have the lantern, they have some options. Returning it to Dras is the best and easiest thing to do. However, destroying it also solves the problem of the conjured vermin. Lantern: hardness 10; hp 10; AC 7; break DC 24. Once the adventure is successfully concluded, it’s likely that the PCs have made some allies (Dras and maybe the Golden), as well as at least one enemy (Othere, if he escaped). Of course, they may feel obligated to turn over the thieves to the authorities, but that might be easier said than done.
FOR ABSENT FRIENDS
A Ghostwalk adventure for 4th-level characters.
SYNOPSIS The PCs go looking for some lost adventurers. Their investigation takes them to various places about town, and they eventually run afoul of a powerful blackguard. As they discover that the lost adventurers were up against an evil necromancer and a drug smuggler, the adventure takes them out into the wilds of the Spirit Wood, where the lost adventurers disappeared at the hands of their enemy. Guided by a new ally—a member of the Arboreal Guardians—to a mysterious location known as the Lost Spring, they find the dead bodies of the adventurers. But the story doesn’t end there. Eventually, the PCs return to Manifest for a startling conclusion—the adventurers they are looking for are still alive, held captive by a necromancer and a force of undead in a horrible place called the Theater of Bone.
BACKGROUND Three adventurers—Ferrel Hass, a fighter; Chenni the Younger, a Piran Sedestadel sorcerer; and Ennic Kardathalost, a priest of Aluvan—went into the Spirit
