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Death Follows Dust

Structure

Exposition

The town of Khasut has recently fallen under hard times. Water from the local well, the lifeblood of their settlement, has recently begun to make people sick when ingested. To make matters worse, dust storms have been occurring more frequently.

Relations

Allies

  • Takarut: a blue dragonborn from the Saluunknir family. He was sent on a mission to retrieve the lamp holding Saluunknir.

Neutrals/Bystanders

  • Ara: a tabaxi. One of the gatherers of natrbylr. She is superstitious, and believes the town is cursed. Still, she is hopeful that the natrbylr and tribute to the elements will cure the townsfolk. She does not believe in the Draconic Pantheon. Instead, she worships the elements and the seasons. This is something she keeps secret as she knows she could be imprisoned or exiled if it were to be revealed.
  • Peshai: a lizardfolk. The hatta of Khasut. He is worried about the bad luck causing problems. He sent a messenger requesting aid to Tharu, but none has arrived yet. He is afraid the townspeople will be dead before help arrives. He, and the town, don't have much money to offer any adventurers. Most of the money they make is given in tithes to the government, as well as most of the plants they gather from the desert. He thinks someone, possibly working for someone in Hawara/Iritu, is behind it.
  • Othoes: a green dragonborn. A local wiseman in town. He isn't very proficient in medicine, but he's the best the town has. He thinks that the town was cursed by Null because of a body they didn't properly cremate. It was a merchant who got lost during a dust storm two tendays ago. Instead of finding his body and burning it, the townspeople and fellow caravaners left it. Othoes once trained to become a priest of Icasar, but when his mother fell ill, he left Arrapha and returned to Khasut where he's remained ever since.
  • Brilk: a kobold. The servant of Takarut. He worships Saluunknir like a god, and he will willingly do whatever is necessary to release him once again.
  • Ficcithis: a red dragonborn. The operator of The Blue Cactus. He is friendly, but he's always trying to sell something. If called out, he'll smile and mention the tough times.
  • Narath: a black dragonborn. The owner of the general store in town. He is nice and can be haggled with, but he is also very lazy. He has two children, named Lou (short for Lourar, a boy) and Il (short for Inkil, a girl).

Adversaries

  • Ritho: an elder black dragonborn from the Casariel family. She is the local priest for Null. She can feel the necromatic energy that is surrounding the village, but she cannot source it. She remembers a legend that there was a protection spell placed on the village to guard a treasure. As a loyal servant of Null and family member of Casariel, she will try and defend the treasure if she finds out it is real and being stolen.

Backdrops

Locations

Khasut is a small town on the road in between Tharu and Abydos. There is a inn, a small temple, a general store selling mostly supplies for travelers, and a well.   The Blue Cactus: a one story inn with a small bar in the front and two large common resting areas and two private bedrooms. The operator of the inn is Ficcithis. The bar is dark, and smells of sweat. The bar is sticky and the single table in the room is rickety.   The Temple of Null: a one story temple with a curved archway as the door. The prayer room is a circular room with a old, stone statue of Null in the center. There are a collection of animal and monster skulls around the room, most have some sort of candles coming out of them. The candles are made of black wax and suffuse the room with the scent of juniper trees. In the back of the temple is the priest's room as well as cremation chamber.   The Store: a one story building with a small store in the front. In the back is storage rooms and the rooms of the owner, Narath and his family. The front room contains curtained windows and doors though the curtains are made of white linen and let a lot of natural light into the building. There and no shelves or anything like that. Instead there's a counter behind which Narath sits and an inventory list. There are also a few odds and ends on the counter, to encourage people to buy.

Threats

  • Skeletons - MM 272
  • Zombies - MM 316
  • Rot Grubs - VM 208
  • Snakes - MM 334
  • Scorpions - MM 337
  • Rats - 335 (Normal) & 327 (Giant)
  • Poison Traps - DC 15 Investigation Check to spot the pressure plate and holes. DC 10 Intelligence Check will help determine how to defeat it (wedging the pressure plate, stuffing the holes). DMG 123 for trigger effects
  • Darkness - the entire ruin is enveloped in darkness. -5 to Perception Checks
  • Magical Darkness - the area is covered in magical darkness that cannot be pierced. Everyone is blinded.
  • Crumbling Ruins - DC 10 Dexterity Saving Throw; Fail results in 1d4 Bludgeoning Damage

Encounters

Hidden Key Puzzle

There is a stone door blocking your way. In the middle of the door is a lock, but there is no handle in sight. You can see strange engravings on the door. On the lower half of the door there is an engraving of a dragonborn hiding something inside a coffin. The top half has faded lettering stating "To continue through this door, you must brave the gore, and search the tombs of yore." OR "The passage through this door can be found by searching the most useless item in the room." To get through the door, the party must find a stone key with a skull on it. The key is hidden in the brain of a zombie.,    

In the Darkness There is....More Darkness

As you enter the room, you hear the door shut behind you. But you cannot see it. In fact you can't see anything. They can also hear faint whispers coming from somewhere. If someone succeeds on a DC 10 Perception Check, they'll hear people whispering secrets like "I killed Mordra." or "I stole the hatta's body." or "Garos isn't my husband's child." Players need to make a DC 15 Wisdom Saving Throw or they start to hear whispers in their head, louder than the other ones.   Greg: "He won't forgive you for your failures." "You can't stay in this body forever." "You're a fake." Leon: "You left Rae'n behind." "You should be stopping the Eshaedra, not running away." Roisin: "You abandoned everyone." "You could have taken someone with you." Zyl: "You killed your own parents." "You left behind your tribe." "You're alone."   Someone needs to say a secret to pass through the gates. They can also hear, with a DC 15 Perception, something slamming against stone. After 5/10 minutes, the wall will break and a skeleton/zombie will attack. If someone does tell a secret, the darkness won't disappear, but instead of being chilling and deadly it seems inviting. The party will hear the sound of a gate creaking open (rusted, wrought iron gate) and feel a sort of guidance leading them to the gate.
Plot type
Local Adventure
Parent Plot

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