A Far Cry from the Swamp
* People have been disappearing from the docks at night. While this is a fairly common occurrence in the Free City, the disappearances are becoming more and more frequent and the authorities want them stopped. A reward of 100 gp has been posted for the apprehension of the culprits.
* The Dockers' and Wharfmen's Union is threatening to strike unless the safety of their membership can be guaranteed while they work at night. The PCs are asked by representatives of the Merchants' and Traders' Union to provide security for the night-workers.
* Patrols of the Nightwatchmen's Union have been attacked by fearsome beasts in the docks. The Night watchmen are looking for adventurers to bolster up their patrols in the area and put an end to these attacks.
A group of scrags is responsible for the recent attacks in the docks. Driven out of their home in the marshes farther down the Selintan River, the scrags found a new lair in the basement of an abandoned warehouse. The scrags are none too bright and are not aware that their continued depredations will draw attention to themselves. As far as they are concerned, their new lair is ideal as it has a source of readily available food, for both themselves and their offspring, within easy reach.
The Scrags and the Warehouse
The old warehouse has been abandoned for some time- ever since its owner, a wealthy merchant, mrsteriously disappeared. The DM should choose a location on the city map for the warehouse. Its actual location is not particularly important, but it should be on the waterfront away from too much night time activity. The warehouse itself was constructed with smuggling in mind and was used for this purpose right up to the unfortunate demise of its last owner. The sewer outlet that opens beneath the wharves has a removable grill that allows small skiffs to be poled down the sewer into the secret pool beneath the warehouse. It is down here that the scrags have set up their lair.
If the PCs are providing security for the Dockers' and Wharfmen's Union, their first encounter with the scrags is late at night, when two of the scrags venture out of their lair in search of food. They lurk under the wharf waiting for someone to venture close enough to the edge for them to grab him.
The first indication of the attack is a startled scream from the unfortunate victim followed by a loud splash as the scrags and their prey crash into the water below the wharf. The scrags do not like venturing too far from the water as they are incredibly slow on land and realize that they are at a tremendous tactical disadvantage (also they can only regenerate while in contact with water). They have thus learned that they must ambush their prey. If they have no luck lurking under the wharves, they will try to slip to some other suitable place of concealment on the wharves (behind bales. stacks of crates, barrels. etc.) and try to grab passers-by.
If the PCs are patrolling the wharf on their own, then the scrags attack them if they venture too close to the hiding place. The scrags always try to grapple and incapacitate their prey long enough for them to get to the water where the advantage is distinctly theirs. Once in the water they attack their victim, either killing him or rendering him unconscious before hauling the body back to their lair to be devoured.
Male Scrags (2): AC 3;MV 3, Sw 15: HD 5+5: hp 40. 38: THAC0 15: #AT 3: Dmg 1d4 + 1/ld4 + 1/3d4; SA multiple targets in combat: SD regeneration; Int Semi-; AL C (CE SZ M; XP 650 each
The PCs can be lured back to the scrags' lair following the attack or they can begin investigations of their own that eventuallv lead them to the abandoned warehouse. The warehouse itself is singularly unspectacular. Like most warehouses in this area it is fairly dilapidated, except that this one has been boarded up and hung with signs reading "Danger'. Keep Out! Unsafe Structure."
The warehouse should really have been pulled down long ago, but the authorities in the Free City are notoriously slow in taking action, and there has been some complicated legal wrangling on the part of the absent merchant's relatives and potential beneficiaries from his will (even though no proof of his death has yet come to light).
The warehouse is built on two levels above the wharves and no one, except a few smugglers in the Thieves' Guild and some of the more dubious merchants in the Merchants' and Traders' Union, knows of the secret basement. There are no windows on the ground floor. There is a back door (boarded up) down the alley at the side of the warehouse. This leads to a corridor that runs the length of the building and also grants access to the small office at the rear of the warehouse.
Beneath the old desk in the office there is a trap door that opens into the secret storeroom in the basement below. (see Area 5). A ladder was once used to climb back and forth between levels but this is now long gone. The drop from the trap door to the floor of the room is only some 15 feet and shouldn't be too much of an obstacle for the PCs.
The area of floor surrounding the office in the main part of the warehouse looks distinctly unsafe-and indeed it is! Any weight in excess of 500 gp will cause part of it to collapse, precipitating a fall down into the secret dock below, which the scrags now use as their lair (see Area 4). PCs unfortunate enough to take the plunge here are immediately leapt upon and attacked b) the scrags.
Terrain: City of Greyhawk
Total Party Levels: 36 (Average 6th)
Total gp: Variable
Monster XP: 4.210
The Lair
Area 1: This is one of the main sewer outlets that opens under the wharves. The grill here is hinged to allow access by smugglers. Scrags being pursued by the PCs do not think to close the grill, but normally the scrags make sure that the grill is kept closed, not necessarily to avoid unwarranted attention but to catch items that may slip by their catch-nets in area 2, and also to prevent any of the Selintan River' s numerous predators from finding their lair.
Area 2: This circular junction chamber is constantly guarded by one of the scrags. The scrags have rigged up an old fisherman's net over the main sewer entering this chamber to catch any interest ing debris that may be washed down from the city. This chamber is filled with water up to three feet deep (no Dexterity bonus to AC, and -1 penalty to attack rolls). Although the leeches in Area 3 have found troll blood to be distinctly unappetizing, they are attracted by any disturbance or commotion in the water (such as combat) and swim down to attack.
Male Scrag (1): AC 3; MV 3. Sw 15; HD 5 + 5; hp 32: THAC0 15: #AT3; Dmg 1d4 + 1/1d4 + 1/3d4; SA multiple targets in combat; SD regeneration; Int Semi-; AL C(E SZ M; XP 650
If the PCs have already fought the scrag who altacked on the wharves, any survivmg scrags Join the scrag here to repel intruders.
The entrance to the secret pool beneath the warehouse is behind a concealed door that has been disguised to look like the surrounding brickwork. This door is hinged so that pressure on the outside causes it to swivel, revealing the short corridor to the pool.
Area 3: This sewer junction is the lair of a pack of giant leeches. As mentioned above, they are attracted by fighting in the water in Area 2, but otherwise are encountered here. The leeches have no treasure.
Giant Leeches (6): AC 9; MV 3; HD 2; hp 9 each; THAC0 19; # AT 1; Dmg 1d4; SA blood drain; Int Non-: AL N: SZ S: XP 120 each
Area 4: The secret pool beneath the abandoned warehouse is now the home of two female scrags and their offspring (however, if the PCs have entered this area during daylight through the warehouse, the two male scrags who hunt on the docks are also here-unless, of course, they were killed in a previous encounter). The chamber is filled with water three feet deep. A partially collapsed wooden landing stage runs along one wall linking with the door from the secret chamber below the warehouse office. The female scrags are fanatical in defense of their offspring (who also Join in, ripping attackers). If the mother scrag are killed. the scraglings try to escape; if captured alive. they fetch a good price in the city!
Mother Scrags (2): AC 3; MV 3, Sw 15; HD 5+ 5; hp 30, 25; THAC0 15; #AT 3; Dmg 1d4 + 1/1d4 + 1/3d4; SA multiple targets in combat: SD regeneration; Int Semi-; AL C(E SZ :-.1; XP 650 each
Scraglings (2 AC 5; MV Sw 15; HD 2; hp 12, 10; TIIAC0 19; #AT 3; Dmg 1d2 / 1d2 2d4: SD regeneration: Int Semi-; AL C(E): SZ S: XP 120 each
The scrags have no particular interest in treasure, but by searching among the bones and general debris on the surface of the pool, the PCs can amass what treasure has found its way into the chamber, either from the scrags' victims, from debris caught in the net in Area 2, or simply dropped in the days when the pool was used for smuggling: 20 pp, 150 gp, 750 sp, 600 cp, two gems (worth 250 gp and 50 gp). a ring of mind shielding, a gem of seeing, a scarab of protection, a shield + 1, a spear + 3, and a dagger + 2, longtooth.
Area 5: The secret storeroom still contains some of the merchandise stored here when the warehouse was in operation. There are six bales of fine (though slightly musty) Celenian silk (worth 1,000 gp a bale), two crates of fine broad swords (10 to a crate. worth 30 gp apiece), and eight casks of fine brandy from the Duchy of Urnst (250 gp each).
Comments