Down Came a Blackbird - Part 2: A Night in Moon Lantern

The characters visit a tavern for food and lodgings. Pinned on a noticeboard are several leads which the characters can pursue to aid them in their investigation. During the night, Maude and Kraggen strike within the town; the characters investigate the crime scene and question the town’s guards for clues.

A. FINDING THE INN

The characters tread the streets of Moon Lantern, looking for The Snapping Line Inn. The locals are clearly anxious, for they fear the coming night will bring more bird attacks. Read or paraphrase the following aloud:

"You walk the cobbled streets of Moon Lantern as the dark oranges and reds of the sunset paint your surroundings. Passing other folks it is not hard to notice a growing sense of unease on most of their faces. Everyone seems keen to finish their day’s business. With hoods up or hats pulled firmly down, they hasten across streets, down alleyways, into houses, and out of sight. The sound of shutters slamming over windows and bolts fasten over doors can be heard all around you as smoke begins to plume from chimney stacks, coiling into a darkening sky and the oranges and reds around you begin fade to dark purples as the sun crests beyond the sea."

While in Moon Lantern, the characters may want to talk to the locals about the nervous behaviors on display. Consult the Moon Lantern Residents and Rumors tables to guide these interactions.

Characters may notice that victims of the recent attacks are children or adolescents - this is due to Maude now knowing that one or more Moon Lantern youths are harboring her egg.

Depending on how they go about their search it may change how quickly they do so, but the characters should arrive at The Snapping Line Inn.

B. THE RELICS ROADSHOW

The Relic’s Roadshow Poster leads the characters to Wildak Mythkin, a travelling sage. He can assist the characters by identifying any items they’ve collected in Moon Lantern. Wildak also knows of the ancient ritual which Maude intends to cast upon Kraggen – he can rake up this knowledge if he’s shown the correct clues.

If the characters may want to show Wildak other items they own. Use the sage however you wish here; he can convey information which could add flavor to a character’s story or lead to further adventure!

Wildak Mythkin has a marvelous memory for lore, a skill which he puts to use by leading his caravan, the Relic’s Roadshow, up and down the coast. He tours from town to town with a few assistants and a wagon-load of tomes. Patrons queue up to show him their curios and heirlooms. Signed papers from Wildak Mythkin detailing an item’s origins and worth increases the likelihood of a sale at any auction house tenfold. Wildak takes a small percentage of such sales and thus he makes a modest living and can continue his learned travels.

Moon Lantern’s Mayor Brighthol invited the Relic’s Roadshow to the city, and Wildak spends his time split between his tent and the library.

A Run in with the Riverpunches

No matter the time of day or night, when the characters seek out Wildak, they find him in a heated debate with three locals. Read or paraphrase the following aloud:

"You hear raised voices as you enter a room piled high with books. A brawny middle-aged woman has a bespectacled elderly man in her clutches and is shaking him by the collar of his robes. Two more tough looking men are also present; one brandishes a hefty tome like a weapon, whilst the other looks on menacingly. Papers have been scattered from the desk to the floor and an inkwell has spilled, staining the wood."

Breaga Riverpunch, a female human bandit captain, and her two grown sons Elhorn and Jergar, both male human bandits, have brought a jeweled necklace to the loremaster for appraisal, and he’s identified the gems as fake. Breaga is insisting that Wildak pens her a document to the contrary so that she can sell the necklace for a decent price.

Characters can diffuse the situation if they succeed on a DC 12 group Charisma (Persuasion or Intimidation) check. Anyone who succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check can discern from the shifty demeanor of Breaga’s sons that the item in question is stolen – information which could be used as leverage against them.

When the thugs are dealt with, the characters gain the stolen necklace.

Wildak's Help

- Identifying Items

With the thugs gone from his office, Wildak thanks the characters and offers to aid them in any way he can. Wildak can provide information about the following items:

• Blue feathers. These are the breast feathers of a male peryton. Wildak tells all he knows of perytons – their appearance, habits and the mythology surrounding them (see “The Peryton and his Ritual” in “Overview”). The characters can receive blue feathers during the “Midnight Murder of Crows” or by talking to the town’s guards about the recent murders – both detailed later in this section.
• Peryton’s egg. If the egg is still whole when the characters show it to Wildak, he identifies it as a peryton’s egg. If Wildak learns of the hunt for the egg and the deaths surrounding it, he recalls an old ritual in which a peryton may take on the guise of its shadow and become humanoid. One would need to be a powerful magic user to attempt such a thing. The characters receive the egg in “Town Meeting”.

- Asking About the Birds

If questioned about the strange behavior of the town’s birds, Wildak reveals that his books contain rare lore about bird magic, but he’s been unable to locate the passages. If a character offers to help, Wildak allows them to search through his books. Poring over the sage’s extensive collection of dusty tomes takes time and studious effort. Characters can attempt three DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) checks. Each check takes 1d3 hours to complete; failed checks take the maximum time of three hours. Each successful check uncovers a piece of information:

• An ancient line of migratory sea hags are said to hold power over birds.
• These powers are rumored to include scrying, teleportation, and possession.
• The occupancy of a migratory hag in any one place is transient: their lairs are designed to be mobile.

- Development

If the characters uncover all the clues from Wildak, he summarizes their findings, as follows:

• Moon Lantern has incurred the wrath of two enemies: a peryton and an unknown wielder of arcane magic.
• The egg could be part of a ritual to transform the peryton into a man.
• Wildak warns that confronting a peryton and a powerful mage together would be incredibly dangerous.

C. CHAOS AT THE VET

The Town Vet Advertisement leads the characters to Holly Dardusk, the town veterinarian. She can assist the characters by revealing what she’s learned from the birds under her care. These clues, gathered using the speak with animals spell, can point the characters to the hag’s lair.

Hollylove’s surgery is a rambling three-story building in central Moon Lantern. The first floor comprises a waiting area, office, and treatment room; smaller animals in her care occupy the second floor, and Hollylove’s living quarters are on the third floor. There’s also a courtyard at the rear for outdoor animal pens.

No matter the time of day or night, when the characters seek out Holleylove at her surgery, they’re met with a chaotic scene unfolding in the waiting area. Read or paraphrase the following aloud:

"Several tiny birds flit wildly around the waiting room. Like green and yellow darts, they dive at the room’s occupants, stabbing at them with their beaks. Two bird cages lie empty on the floor. An elderly woman is in hysterics by the reception desk and four other customers are shielding their faces or trying to hide under chairs. A young woman in an apron is attempting to capture the birds whilst firmly requesting everyone remain calm."

Two canaries and a budgerigar have escaped from their cages and are randomly attacking those present. All three birds have the statistics of a raven (although the birds cannot perform Mimicry). They are specifically targeting people’s eyes.

The woman in the apron trying to restore order is Hollylove Dardusk. The hysterical woman is Old Nissy Grundel who owns the canaries. Four more townsfolk make up the rest of the clients. A parrot in a cage sits on the reception desk, scrabbling at the bars and squawking “Stupid woman!” at Nissy.

When Hollylove sees the characters enter she implores them to help her round up the birds, insisting that the creatures must not be killed. She knows the birds are acting unnaturally but vows that their mania will pass.

A character can capture an escaped bird if they succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity (Acrobatics) or a DC 15 Wisdom (Animal Handling) check. Old Nissy Grundel is screaming that her birds are possessed, and her panic is rippling through the waiting room, causing even more alarm. If left unattended, the parrot can escape into the room any time you like. It uses the statistics of a raven and screeches “Eye for an egg!” as it attacks.

- What Hollylove Knows

If the characters get the birds back into their cages alive, Hollylove is relieved and grateful. However, if the characters kill any of the birds, she’s indignant and asks that they leave her surgery. In this situation, Hollylove can be won over with a successful DC 18 Charisma (Persuasion) check.

When the characters have Hollylove on side, she tells them that her practice has been overrun with problem birds for the past two days. The pets are exhibiting the same aggressive behavior as the birds in the wild. She can reveal the following information:

• She’s communicated with several birds using the speak with animals spell and has noted her findings in her ledger. Hollylove’s Observations:

  "North of rocky whale bone isles

  Seaweed lair of salt defiles

  West of Moon Lantern home of boats

  Dead but nor dead blubber floats

  Seabirds flock to widow's den

  Slaves to magic, hawk through wren

  Cursed by lady of the sea

  Close the eye and set us free"

• The bird’s aggressive episodes do pass. Afterwards they have no recollection of any unnatural behavior, but all reveal the same, strange riddle detailed in her notes. Hollylove believes this is a cry for help.
• There’s a pattern to the bird’s hysteria: it only affects them at certain times of the day. On a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Nature) check, characters can link these times of day to the ebb and flow of the tide.

D. MIDNIGHT MURDER OF CROWS

During their first night in Moon Lantern, the characters are abruptly woken in the small hours by a commotion outside. Maude and Kraggen arrive at the scene, read or paraphrase the following aloud:

A ghastly sight greets you as you approach the tumbledown house. A man in torn clothing is sprawled on the front steps. His torso bears an open wound and both his eyes have been plucked from their sockets. As his blood pools around the cobblestones, a murder of crows take flight from the surrounding rooftops and disappear into the night sky.

- INVESTIGATING THE MURDER SITE

The characters can search the murder site for clues. Horrified townsfolk are beginning to gather at the scene, their lanterns illuminating the gruesome sight of the murdered man. The characters can learn the following when examining the corpse:

• A successful DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine) check reveals that the man’s heart has been torn from his chest.
• There are bite marks on his torso. Anyone who succeeds on a DC 12 Intelligence (Nature) check can identify that these were made by large fangs, like those of a wolf.
• Characters who succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check spot a cloak pin that identifies the man as a Red Plume Legionnaire.
• Characters who succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check spot that the man clutches a handful of blue feathers. A successful DC 18 Intelligence (Nature) check reveals these to be the distinctive breast feathers of a male peryton.

Telmay’s home has one large room on the first floor and two bedrooms on the second. The simple furnishings have been destroyed: drawers tipped out, dressers overturned, and beds trampled upon and broken. Flags, bunting and banners lie scattered and torn around the flagmakers’ home. The characters can learn the following from searching inside:

• There are rends in the doors and walls. A successful DC 15 Intelligence (Nature) check identifies these as being made by antlers.
• Two sets of bloody tracks lead away from the corpse into the house - humanoid boot prints and bird claw prints. The bird claws are about two-feet-long.
• Maude has set a trap which the characters encounter in the main room.

Forewarning the Guards

If the characters approached the town guard after the bird attack on Ham Barleywain and expressed their concerns about the safety of Ham and his friends, patrols are posted outside each child’s home that evening. The attack on Telmay’s house is avoided. Instead, the guards can relay the above as evidence found at the murder sites of George Commonwood and Marshman Gebbo (see “The Snapping Line Inn”).

TRAP: THE CAWING CANVAS

An old painting of two galleons locked in combat on a stormy sea hangs above the fireplace in the main room. One of the ships is on fire and the sky is smoky red. Salty Maude has magically painted a tiny girl on one of the ships – the girl animates and calls for help as soon as the characters enter the room, beckoning them closer.

Detection and Disabling. Characters who succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check detects illusory magic from the painting. Anyone who draws near the canvas hears the faint cawing of gulls emanating from it, as well as the girl pleading for help. The trap can be disabled by covering or destroying the painting. If covered, the girl still calls out to the characters for help.

Trigger. Anyone who looks at the girl in the painting and engages in conversation with her triggers the trap.

Effect. A burning sea gull bursts from the canvas and attacks any creatures in the room. This undead seagull is alight with green flames, its eyes burn like embers, and its squawk is like a terrible laughter. The gull uses the statistics of a flameskull with the following modifications: it can’t speak and it doesn’t have Rejuvenation. When the gull dies it evaporates with a scream and drops a gull skull encasing a bloodstone worth 50 gp.

TALKING TO THE GUARDS

Several guards soon arrive at the scene, clearly shaken and distraught at the sight of their colleague’s mutilated body. A middle-aged guard with a large black beard approaches the characters. His face and hands are covered in scratches. This is Gordol Thorne, a veteran Red Plume captain, and he can inform the characters of the following:

• Gordol and a small company of legionnaires were out on patrol when they were assailed by scores of crows.
• The birds took off as if by some unheard signal. Whilst the legionnaires were dealing with their injuries a passer-by informed him that they’d seen “a great circling of starlings” above a house across town, and so he came to investigate.
• The dead legionnaires is Glif Flintman, “one of the good ones…”
• The ruined property belongs to Arnuld Pelt, his wife Herma and their daughter Telmay. Gordol knows that Arnuld and Herma are out of town, but there’s no sign of their daughter…

The legionnaires advise the characters to attend the town council meeting in the morning so they can report the incident to the community.

NEXT: PART 3 - TOWN MEETING

If the players try to speak to residents on the streets about what is going on, roll on the tables below.

MOON LANTERN RESIDENTS

1 Mooldaun Keenrock - Male dwarf blacksmith. Constantly frowning. Bolting the shutters of his business to keep out birds and looters.

2 Birgit Greendew - Female human commoner. Always stops mid-sentence to yell at her children. Embedding broken crockery into her window boxes to deter birds from landing there.

3 Tuth Casktaker - Male human commoner. Nautical tattoos. Heaving chopped logs from his woodshed to keep the hearth burning and stop birds coming down the chimney.

4 Chloris Twocloves - Female human shop-owner. Pet rat on her shoulder. Hurriedly packing up her herbs & spices market stall in a rush to get home before nightfall.

5 Zem Steelcut - Male human commoner. Elderly, with bandaged fingers. Up a ladder, trying to patch a hole in his roof so that the birds won’t get into his attic.

6 Wathra Oatwind - Female halfling commoner. Elderly, wearing a monocle. Hauling a wheelbarrow of produce through her front door to stock up her larder in case the emergency continues.

MOON LANTERN RUMORS

1 Bloodhawks have found their way to the skies over Moon Lantern and seem to be gathering. What’s drawn them here?

2 Nocturnal birds have been sighted out hunting during the day. What’re they looking for?

3 There’ve been a few gruesome murders outside of town. The victim’s bodies were robbed of their hearts! This butchery started with the bird trouble… Surely that’s no coincidence...?

4 Caged birds are turning on their owners. Old Nissy Grundel’s canaries escaped and chased her grandchildren around the front room!

5 The starling murmurations have become quite strange… They muster in a cloud over the sea before converging over the town in great, billowing numbers. Whoever heard of starlings at sea?

6 Young Dirk Gum’s milk wagon was set upon by a throng of blackbirds. The birds weren’t after the milk though, they were trying to peck out poor Dirk’s eyes!

7 Seabirds have been harassing the fishermen and dockworkers. Apparently, some unfortunate lad was tormented by a gang of gulls today!

8 The school was besieged by a swarm of little birds which crashed in through a window and attacked the children in their classroom! Whoever heard of sparrows, wagtails, robins, and finches flocking together like that? The school was kept closed today.

Parent Plot

Down Came a Blackbird - Part 1: Arrival in Moon Lantern