Welcome to the next post in a series where I describe the adventures during a 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I ran a little while ago.
In the last post, the players went into the Heimial Forest to find a plant called Blue Lizardwort, which was needed to make a cure for the disease the party's paladin had picked up from some zombies.
Back in Tuadun
When the players returned to Tuadun, it was fairly straightforward delivering the Lizardwort and getting Mother White to make up the cure for Morson's disease. However when the party met with Sister Raben, the high priestess of Andraste, she told them that she had a feeling there was something very bad going on and to let her know anything they found out.
The party also went to see Captain Mardabh of the town watch, to ask him about the bloodless sheep's head he'd found nailed to his door.
Captain Mardabh is a bit of a functionary. Good at picking up the bodies at the end of a barroom brawl and directing traffic, he is a bit out of his depth as Chief of the Watch. He doesn’t understand what he did to get the head. When he thinks about it, he thinks it might be because he was sorting out a party of Watchmen to go up and down the Filrath Road to deter the brigands.
The men of the watch are really unsuited to this kind of job. They are good as a local militia, but active field operations are utterly beyond them, and their regulations actually prohibit them going beyond town limits (although nearby farms fall within their jurisdiction).
It's clear that talking to Captain Mardabh is going nowhere at this stage, so they decide their next move is to investigate the slaughtered sheep.
Image created by AI in Nightcafe Studio
The Sheep Massacre
Wardaff Dybbolson has his hut about halfway from the town to the forest. Until recently, he had one of the largest and most prized flocks in the area. He will tell how he found them all dead, shredded and drained of all their blood.
He also says that in the last couple of weeks, he has tried to get new sheep to rebuild his flock, and the same thing has happened with every animal he has bought to his farm. This time, he has heard... something.... moving outside as the killing is done.
The solution is obvious to our heroes. They go and buy a sheep, tie it up in the farmyard, and set up ambush positions. They aren't disappointed !
Just after dark, an enormous four-legged animal stalks into the farmyard intent on slaughter. It looks like a cross between a giant dog and a hyena. Actually it turns out to be a Hell Hound, a monstrous fiend. It's stats are to be found on Page 188 of the D&D Monster Manual.
However, there is one way in which this one is non-standard. Normal Hell Hounds breathe fire when they bite. This one has a terrifying blood drain ability instead. A successful bite attack requires the target to make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, this will do D6 temporary constitution damage as blood is drained. A being reduced to zero constitution dies (assuming hit point loss hasn’t done the job already). The Hell Hound can regurgitate the drained blood at will or if it dies.
The ambush was only partly successful, as the beast had phenomenal senses (and some very lucky dice rolls...), so the fight was a messy, un-coordinated affair. It was a tough one for the party, with many of them severely wounded by the end of it, although none actually died.
When they inspected the body, they found a surprise. The animal was wearing a sturdy leather collar. This wasn't a random monster, it had been someone's pet !
To be continued..... next time, we find out a bit more about what is going on !
Previous posts in this series;
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Setting Part 1
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Setting Part 2
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Setting Part 3
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Player Creation and Briefing
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Arrival At Tuadun
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Mayor Gerd's Problems
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Saving Shepherd Mirag
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Mother White and Sister Raben
The Tarak D&D Campaign - The First Venture Into the Heimial Forest