Reaching Woods Hideout

The party gets a quest in Hardbuckler. Stumbleduck's Inn innkeeper Banmila Carwyse Trina Lilfyx asks adventurers if when they were travelling they had seen an elderly gnome woman. She explains that her mother (Tana) got lost in the woods yesterday. She went berry picking and never came back. If adventurers ask around more (locals/shopkeepers) they get told that there have been more disappearances lately (another local's brother's been missing for a week now etc.). If they ask more about the mother, Banmila says that she usually doesn't go far and knows the woods really well.

• When looking for the hideout they need a survival check of 15 to notice footprints (gnoll claws and smaller footprints/dragging of gnomes/halflings/humans). Then they can follow the footprints to the hideout map.
• If they fail the check they can investigate longer in the woods and can make another survival check after half an hour or so.

You go a bit deeper in the woods. It gets a bit darker and quieter as if wildlife avoids this place.

Net Trap

• At the narrowest part of the wood path. Wisdom (Perception) DC 15 reveals the trip wire and the net. (Helga has passive perception of 15)
• With Thieves tools successful DC 15 Dexterity check disables the wire without causing the net to drop or the bell ring. Can try disable the trap with a blade/knife with a disadvantage. Failing the check causes the trap to activate.
• They can try to walk over the wire. Humans/elfs should have no issues, but halflings/gnomes will need acrobatics checks not to trigger the wire.
• If the trip wire is broken, the net falls on intruders (10x10). An iron bell is also rigged to the trip wire. It rings when the trap activates, alerting nearby gnolls. If activated, gnolls will go to investigate the sound (~1 min until they come).
• Any creature fully in the area must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be restrained. A creature can use its action to make a DC 10 Strength check to try free itself or another creature in the net. Dealing 5 slashing damage to the net (AC 10, 20 hp) also frees a creature without harming the creature.

Encounters

• 2 Gnolls at the first campfire. They either go investigate the trap sound and initiate compat, or the party will encounter them on their path. 100x2x1.5 = 300xp/300 medium 3x2lvl; /400 medium 4x2lvl.
• 4 Gnolls at the main campfire. Once they start approaching the campfire they hear shouting and screeching of gnolls. They can try approach stealthily. Closer they notice 2 gnolls duelling/fighting while other 2 gnolls are rooting for them. 1 gnoll avoids another gnoll's blow and then pierces it with a spear. Then the dying gnoll all angry slashes the other gnoll leaving it barely alive (6-8 hp) (if 4 players then maybe fully alive 600/600 hard encounter). Once the fight is over gnolls either notice them or they can attack them first. 100x2x1.5 + 50 (6hp) = 350xp/300 medium.
• On the right at the campfire with tents there is their leader Gnoll Pack Lord going through newest victims' clothes looking for valuables. Leader doesn't pay attention to the commotion since it thinks it's just gnolls fighting. 450 xp/450 hard 3x2lvl; /400 medium 4x2lvl.

On the left there will be cages with victims. Most are dead just bones, a couple of recent corpses.

• In one of the cages party will find almost dead 2 humans (man Lance and woman Sarah). They will be thankful for their saviours, and they are from nearby town Scornubel. They will ask them to escort them to the nearest town (Hardbuckler).

Loot
At the Gnoll Pack Lord's tent:

• small gold bracelet (25 gp)
• gold locket with a painted protrait inside (25 gp)
• 10 gp
• 150 sp
• goggles of nights (if Hugh doesn't have it yet) or pair of engraved bone dice (25 gp)

At the corpses and bones there are rotten common clothes and vestments. With DC 10 Perception they can notice a silver locket that belongs to Banmila's mother. The locket inside has a portrait of young/child Banmila.