Shrieken Mire

Connected to: Zolta
This c:tt~ive marshland (pronounced "shry-kunn") derives ib name from Lord Artran Shrieken. once of Milbome, a cruel and heartlC"~ villain who attempted to foro: ~me of the young Parlfray women to marry him. She ned into the mire with her par.lmour. and Shrieken pursuoo her, on Iv to meet a watery end in one 01 thL' marsh's more dangerous area~. The Mea has had a sinister, and well-deser ... ed, reputation ever since. Treacherous, uncertain footing and hidden pools of water can suck a person or horse down in an instant Poisonous snakes are plentifuJ here, and in summer the mosquitoes and other insects of the marsh are irritating and potentially dangerous. There are many local yams about Shrieken's curse. claiming that his restless spirit wanders the mire, bemoaning its fate and seeking to strangle the life out of any who come here. Certainly livestock does disappear now and then, though this is mostly blaml..>d on the lizard men who dweJl deep in the mire (OM's note: there are 1i.7.ard men here, but they are shy and avoid human contact; some of the missing animals are sucked down in the bogs, while most are carried off by lnzeldrin. the green dragon). No one comes here who can avoid it or goes deeper into the mlre than they must. This is a good area for PCs to avoid for as long as they can. Encounters Four Thurmaster folk are found bludgeoned to death on the margins of the Shrieken Mire, where they had been fishing and gathering marshland plants. Huge footprints---ob\"iously th~ o( giants-were found nearby. The gianb can be tracked some distance into the mire, but nol to their lair. Whal's more, an excitable young shepherd boy claims 10 have seen a green dragon flying over the mire to the south some days before. This event alanns the locals. No giants have been reported in I-Iaranshire (or as long as anyone can recall. For Pes of low level. slugging it out with giant!> should be effecti\,ely impossible, as one hit from a giant means instant death for all but the hardif..> st low-level character. It should tnke the PCs some hme to achieve a solution to this problem. The raiding giants are two fomorians (HO l3 +3 each. AC 3. Omg 2d6+8) and their two young offspring (8 HO each, AC 3, Dmg 2d6+3). Every few days, the gianb will be back. to take livestock and kill a few more people for sport, and sur· vivors will be able to gi\·e a good description of the marauders. Killing them is beyond the ability of the PCs or the local militia. One possible solution is to dig pits large enough to trap a giant, cover them, and then try to lure the giants into falling into them. This may ..... ork. but the labor involved in digging the pits, the vast area open to the giants for raiding, and the difficulty invol"ed in trapping all the giants at the same time makes this plan difficult at best to put into effect. A St!'Cond solution involves the dragon. Inzeldrin, an Old green dragon, considers herself the Queen of the Mire. She sleeps most of the time (but will be awake if the res find her mound). While evil, she can't be bothered to go raiding and pillaging (it's so much easier to go illllis/hle on those rare occasions when she's in the mood to nab some livestock for supper). Satisfied with the obeisance and offerings she receives from the lizard men, lnzeldrin ignores the people and livestock outside her little "kingdorn"- they're hardly worth the effort; there's no challenge to it, in her opinion. She reaUy just wants to get on with dozing, daydreaming, pondering the Meaning of Liie, and all the other things highly intelligent reptiles with a few cenhlries to kill get up to. She won't be hostile when the res approach; she knows she can eal them all lor a snack without working up a sweat, and expects them to know it too. She expects flattery, of course, and a few token offerings would sweeten her mood. Attacking this dragon is foolish; while complacent, she's still careful not to allow them to get too close or to Jet any PC sneak around behind her (with her excellent senses of hearing and smell, she can detect even invisible or hidden characters). If they decide to attac.k her, be kindly-the dragon may be satisfied with killing half of them and letting the others run away through. the mire (saving throws to avoid the killing bogs applicable). Wise PCS should play on the dragon's sense of possession over the Mire to persuade her to kiU or drive off the fomorians (which she can easily do, using breath attacks hom the air), lnzeldrin will actually be quite interested in having a fight with something worth the effort. If the pes need some prodding, have the dragon boast about being Queen of the Mire and explain that She prefers to be left alone and can't be bothered to attack the feeble, puny little humans of the land. This should cue the PCS to make the right suggestion. Even so, Inzeldrin is a dragon, with all a dragon's sense of a bargain, and will want to know what's in it for her. The fomorian~ have little treasure and the dragon is no great treasure collector anyway. She will be interested to hear of PC exploits in the mines or keep but will remark that t.,U tales butter no parsnips. E'\'entuaJJy the Pes and dragon should be able to agree on terms: if lnzeldrin wipes Ollt the giants, the PCS will arrange with the townsfolk to leave tethered livestock for the dragon at regular intervals (say, once every other week or so). In return, the dragon will use her plant growtl! ability in the summer peak-growing time to help the farmers grow better crops and increase their yield of ani- maJ feed. The dragon is Lawful and wiU abide by the agreement. If the pes are successful in this, they should earn 750 XP each (or a story goal (the OM may also lea\!e some lTeasure for them in the giants' lair, relics of earlier victims). One of the young giants may still be in the lair if the OM wishes to stage a fight there; one giant is still very dangerous, but the pes should be able to handle such opposition unless they arc still only 1st leveL The PCs may not be swift to come up with the idea of enlisting the dragon's help. The key things to impress on players are (1) your characters cnn't possibly tackle a full-grown dragon, (2) the giants would murder them Wholesale, and (3) what is there in the area that could possibly deal with giants? Don't let the PCs rely too heavily on the rangers here; let them work out a solution to this problem by themselves. The OM may decide that Im:eldrin has some passing knowledge of what lies behind the kidnappings. She may know that there is a nest of orcs beneath the Garlstone Mine, for example, or even that there are foutes to the underdark below the mines. She may know of FandruUich the shadow dragon (see Book U). She may be aware that there are priests of Myrkul-Cyric/Nerull/Thanatos in the a.n~a, though not exactly where (though InzeJdrin is certain none are close by-that is, not in the Mire itself). She certainly remembers the old keep in the Thornwood and knows its location. Since dragons know a lot of things, and can plausibly refuse to be interrogated as to how they know them, this is a useful way for the OM to alert the pes to the wider scope of what may be awaiting them below the mines or keep. Inzeldrin, Old Green Dragon: AC -4; MY 9, fly 30 (C), swim 9; HD 17; hp 77; THACO 3; #AT 3 or 1; Omg ld8+8/1d8+8/2dlO+8 (clitw Ielaw /bite) or 16d6+8 (breath weapon SA breathe cloud of poi~ scnous chlorine gas (SO' long by 40' wide and 30' high), speUs.jear aura (90' radius SO immune to aU gases, detect invisible and hidden creatures (BO'), cJairaudic/lCf within 160' of lair, spells; MR 30%; S2 G (BO' long plus 72' tail ML champion (16 In! ve')' (12 AL LE; XP 16,000. Special abilities wafer breatllillg (at will), slIggestio1/ (once per day), warp wood (thrice per day), plallt growth (once per day). SpellS (cast as if 14th level): illv;:;ibilily, pmterfjoll from normal missiles, mngic mjssiles, sllield; speak willi twimnls.