Sample Encounter: “To Grandmother’s House”

• Ichor constantly drips from one eye. • Fingernails are lacking entirely gnaws fi ngertips to bloody stumps while talking to PCs. • Fasts two days out of every three so skeletally thin that he could be mistaken for a corpse. • Hands tremble one eye has nervous tic drags one leg when he walks. • One leg has been replaced by a cylindrical metal cage containing a homunculus. • Slurs her words when she talks, as though her tongue were numb. • Abruptly begins speaking in a way that sounds exactly like someone the PCs know. • Coughs constantly while talking to the PCs subject to fi ts of racking coughs coughs up blood from time to time into an already blood-soaked handkerchief. • Both eyes are horribly bloodshot, as though he hadn’t slept in weeks. • Speaks through a terrible wheeze, as though gasping desperately for air • Nose trickles blood constantly she eagerly licks up. • Sweats profusely and appears fl ushed, even when sitting still. • Gets visibly enraged at the mention of an otherwise mundane word or phrase. • Seized by sudden fi ts of extreme terror for no apparent cause. • One eye is missing and there’s a button sewn in the back of the gaping socket. • Carries a ragged, battered doll that she lavishes with attention and talks to in baby-talk. • Whenever he walks into the room, the hairs rise on the back of the PCs’ necks. • Picks absently at a large, infected scab. • Pulls determinedly at her hair, which is beginning to come away in clumps. • Kneels whenever he speaks to the PCs, and prostrates himself when they walk away. • Speaks through clenched teeth, as though her jaw were wired shut. • Has ritual wounds that refuse to heal (stigmata). • Bears a perfect likeness to someone the PCs know.

“To Grandmother’s House” occurs in a light wood on a lake, within a day’s travel of a small village. In this scenario, the PCs are faced with the combined horrors of innocence destroyed, cannibalism, and the threat of eternal servitude. The two primary villains are a green hag (Monster Manual, page 143) known as Grandmother and a gray jester (new creature: see page 151) called Uncle Chortle. Both were named by the children they have victimized. The precise relationship between Grandmother and Uncle Chortle is unclear. At times, they act like mother and son; at others, like brother and sister; at still others, like lovers (a horrid image in its own right). Despite being creatures of great evil, they seem to care for each other. It is obvious that Grandmother is the dominant member of the pair. Despite their affection, neither is willing to die for the other.

BACKGROUND

Grandmother and Uncle Chortle are using the children of Dunford, a small farming community on the edge of civilization, as a combination work force and livestock herd. Uncle Chortle feeds off the laughter and joy of the children, who then either end up as meals for Grandmother or are sent back into town to lure more children to Grandmother’s house. They make the trip by way of a partially overgrown game trail that few of the residents of Dunford remember. The PCs might be passing through town on the way to somewhere else, with Dunford is the last settled spot in this region, when they hear that several children have gone missing recently. They might decide to look into it out of the goodness of their hearts, or the villagers might offer what riches they can scrounge (probably no more than a few dozen gold pieces) to hire the PCs. Alternatively, the heroes might stumble upon the lake, the house, or the game trail while exploring the wild and find traces of the children there.

THE ENCOUNTER

The areas described below are keyed to the map entitled “Grandmother’s House” on page 15.

The Game Trail

This is an old trail, partly overgrown and nearly forgotten by everyone except the children. Following it south approximately 8 miles leads the PCs back to Dunford. The trail is obvious here, but nearer town it’s masked by thick overgrowth. Finding the trail without the aid of a local requires a DC 10 Search or Survival check. As the PCs draw within a mile of Grandmother’s house, the sounds of the wood subtly change. The calls of animals seem to transform into the whimpers and cries of terrifi ed children, then return to normal. The change is so subtle that it initially requires a DC 15 Listen check to notice. Within half a mile of the house, however, the terrifi ed cries become clear. The sounds appear to be coming from the northeast, but they fade away if the PCs attempt to follow them. If the PCs make a second attempt to follow the sounds, the whimpers abruptly escalate into a shriek of agony and then go silent.

The animal calls slowly resume and remain normal from that point onward.

ENCOUNTER LEVEL

“To Grandmother’s House” is an EL 7 encounter. The green hag has a CR of 5, the gray jester a CR of 4. The presence of half a dozen bleak ones (see page 151), local children enslaved to Uncle Chortle, raises the total EL to 7. While the children are not dangerous individually, their tactics include striking from a distance and from multiple directions, and they will readily and mindlessly sacrifi ce themselves for either Grandmother or the jester. DMs seeking an easier encounter might remove the gray jester entirely. In this case, Grandmother instead controls the children through use of various herbal drugs and eyes of charming. If the DM wishes to make the encounter more diffi cult, he can advance the hag and/or the gray jester, or include adults with class levels among the bleak ones.

The Wood

In these areas, the forest thickens. If the PCs wish to make their way deeper into the woods, they need to blaze their

Illus. by M. Phillippi

own trail, although the terrain is not terribly diffi cult. They might, if the DM wishes, encounter various random monsters if they delve too deeply into the woods. These monsters, normally foreign to these parts, are drawn by the growing evil in the region. The path continues north, cutting a swath through the otherwise thickening forest. It slowly peters out approximately a mile beyond the house.

Lake Serene

A small inland lake, this is the source of the Summerfl ow, which passes through Dunford. The sound of gentle waves lapping against the shore, if listened to for more than a moment, transforms into the screech of fi ngernails on stone.

PCs who look into the deep waters see refl ections of screaming children staring back at them. The lake smells of brine, despite being fresh water and completely safe to drink. In all cases, these effects exist only in the vicinity of the house; elsewhere along the shore, the water is entirely normal.

Grandmother’s House

This rickety, two-story wooden house appears normal from a distance. A chimney gives off a thin tendril of smoke that appears somehow greasy. The uneaten remains of Grandmother’s victims are buried in a garden out back, their fl esh feeding the vegetables. The entire property, house and garden alike, is tainted due to the events that have taken place here.

PCs feel slightly ill the instant they step within 100 feet of the house and must make all relevant saving throws to avoid gaining taint (see page 62 for the rules relating to acquiring taint). Characters who eat any of the vegetables grown here gain 1 point of taint with no save permitted. Inside the house, a large common room containing a long table, chairs, a fi replace, and a wood-burning stove takes up the whole fi rst fl oor. Shaky wooden stairs lead up to a second fl oor holding half a dozen small bedrooms. What the PCs see when they enter the house or peek in the windows depends on their actions. The DM should determine, using relevant skill checks, whether the PCs have been detected. If the party members have made no effort to hide their approach, Grandmother and Uncle Chortle automatically detect them.

If Grandmother and Uncle Chortle Detect the PCs: Uncle Chortle hides in the shadows beneath the stairs (the DM can assume he takes 10, for a total of 22). Using disguise self to appear as a kindly old woman, Grandmother gathers the bleak ones to her and huddles in the corner. Assuming the PCs do not immediately appear hostile, she attempts to convince them that she and the children are prisoners of a horrible beast that keeps them here and has been slaughtering townsfolk. She claims it dwells near the lake and offers to lead the PCs to it. If they agree, she leads them out amid the children. As soon as the PCs reach the door, Uncle Chortle attacks from behind (possibly with surprise), and Grandmother and the bleak ones join the battle the instant the PCs turn to face the gray jester.

If the PCs Arrive Unexpectedly: Looking into the house, the PCs witness a truly horrifi c sight. An old woman (Grandmother spends most of her time in this guise) sits

Grandmother loves having the children over for dinner