d20 Vanishing Goblin Betrayal at Shadewood Keep.pdf

An adventure taking chara ers from 8th to 10th level.

By Andrew J. Luther

Requires the use of the Dungeons & Dragons® Player’s Handbook,

ird Edition, published by Wizards of the Coa ®

Additional Credits

Editing, Layout and Production: Pamela Ellis

Proofreading: Daniel Temple, Mark Wojtowicz

Cover and Interior Illustrations and Page Design: A ila Adorjany

Cartography: Andrew J. Luther

Playte ers: Pamela Ellis, Je Laughlin, Daniel Temple, Mark Wojtowicz

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is edition of Betrayal at Shadewood Keep is produced under version 1.0, 1.0a, and/or dra version of the Open Game License, the d20 System

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Designation of Open Game Content: Subject to the Product Identity designation above, the following portions of Betrayal at Shadewood Keep are

designated as Open Game Content: all names and statistics of NPCs; all names, statistics, and descriptions of gods that appear in the Gods Appendix; the

name, statistics, and description of the ritual that appears in Section 5: e Swamp and Section 6: A ermath; all statistics and descriptions for magic items

that appear in sidebars throughout the book; and anything else contained herein which is already Open Game Content by virtue of appearing in the System

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unauthorized use of the artwork or non-Open Game Content herein is prohibited without express wri en permission from Andrew Luther, except for

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Preparation

Part Five: The Swamp

Summary

Encounter Levels

Introduction

Adventure Background

Key to the Swamp

Adventure Summary

Sidebar: Elywyn

Sidebar: Major NPCs

Sidebar: Amulet of Greater Invisibility

Chara er Hooks

Area Map: Swamp Area

Divination Spells

Sidebar: Sywyn (Annis Hag)

Regional Map

Sidebar: Isymir (Green Hag)

Sidebar: Anandir (Sea Hag)

Part One: Kewin Town

Introduction

Defeating the

reat

Part Six: Aftermath

Sidebar: Calith Giwyr

Sidebar: Kewin Town

e Ritual

Key to Kewin Town

e Reward

Area Map: Kewin Town

Sidebar: Reversing the Ritual

e Future

Part Two: Meeting

the Mayor

Summary 11

Ge ing Hired 11

Troubleshooti ng 1 2

Part Three: The Shadewood

Summary 13

Sidebar: e Shadewood 13

Introduction 13

Area Map: e Shadewood 14

Key to the Shadewood 15

Sidebar: Kudish 20

Sidebar: Gunak 25

Sidebar: Hamak 29

Conclusion 30

Part Four: Shadewood Keep

Summary

Appendix A: Deities

Appe ndix B: Monst e rs

Upcoming Products

Open Game License Version 1.0a

Introduction

Sidebar: Shadewood Keep

Key to Shadewood Keep

Sidebar: Galier

Sidebar: Beluril Lotholdan the Just

Sidebar: Galefax

Sidebar:

rolith

Sidebar: Elder Elemental Gem

Sidebar: Beluril Lotholdan the Dark

Leaving the Keep

Conclusion

Introduction

Welcome to Vanishing Goblin’s rst Drop-In™, an adven-

ture that can t into almost any existing campaign.

Drop-In™ books give busy DMs the ability to run a fully

eshed out adventure without a large amount of prepara-

tory work.

Betrayal at Shadewood Keep

plan to destroy the good people of Kewin Town and the

surrounding villages.

First, the hags sent Elywyn Taranduil, their ranger min-

ion, into the mountains to gather a force of evil humanoids

to do their bidding. Elywyn made contact with bands of

ogres, e ins, and hill giants, and convinced them that they

would pro t greatly from an alliance with her mistresses.

e giant humanoids made their way into the Shadewood,

and Elywyn helped them set up their camps.

One month ago, when the hags’ preparations were com-

plete, the force of giants emerged from the Shadewood and

a acked Kewin Town. ey killed a few town guards, and

then stole live ock and valuables before retreating back

into the dense forest. Elywyn used her skills to cover their

tracks and the raid was considered a success.

Beluril was noti ed of the raid immediately, and he

began patrolling the edge of the wood, searching for signs

of the giants. He didn’t know that Elywyn was watching

his movements from within the forest, waiting for him to

move on before sending out the giants for another raid.

e second raid, executed six days later on the village

auloth, was another resounding success. By the time

Beluril arrived, the giants had again retreated into the

cover of the Shadewood. Taking a couple of days to ponder

the situation, Beluril decided to enter the Shadewood to

hunt down the raiding monsters. He didn’t realize that he

was walking into a trap.

Elywyn gave Beluril a “trail” to follow, which led him

directly to the swamp lair of the hags. Between the evil

ranger, the hags, and their troll servants, Beluril didn’t

stand a chance. A er a erce ba le, the hags’ minions cap-

tured Beluril and he became the hags’ newest plaything.

Beluril was tortured for fun for a few days before the

hags moved forward with their plan (see the NPC sidebars

is designed for playing groups

who enjoy a mixture of dungeon and wilderness se ings.

We sincerely hope that your gaming group gets all the

enjoyment out of playing this adventure that we experi-

enced while creating it.

Preparation

In order to run this adventure, you (as the DM) need a copy

of the three core D&D™ rulebooks: the

Player’s Handbook,

the

MM.

is adventure was designed to require a minimum of

preparation on your part. e DM should read through

the entire adventure once. Otherwise, you need to be only

somewhat familiar with each particular section as you play

it. Once you are familiar with the layout of the book, you

will require no more than a second quick glance through a

particular section before running it.

Information that you may read or paraphrase to your

players appears in shaded boxes. Sidebars contain other

pertinent information for you. All major NPCs are

described fully the rst time they appear in the adven-

ture. If they appear in any other locations as well, they

are described in an abbreviated format within the text.

Monsters are described brie y within the text, and full

stat blocks appear in Appendix B.

DMG,

and the

Encounter Levels

Betrayal at Shadewood Keep

is designed for a party of four

8th-level chara ers. Parties may also begin the adventure

at either 7th- or 9th-level. Each encounter has its Encounter

Level (EL) listed to help the DM be er gauge its suitability

to the party. You can, of course, alter the encounters in any

manner you choose. However, the treasure should also be

adjusted in order to keep it consistent with the challenges

the party has faced.

for full descriptions of the hags’ moti-

vations). Every being has both good and evil in it, even the

holiest paladin. Using an ancient ritual they had discovered

many years ago, the hags physically extra ed the evil side

of Beluril from his good side. An anti-paladin emerged; he

took the name Beluril Lotholdan the Dark.

Note: is adventure uses the term “anti-paladin”

instead of the prestige class “blackguard” to describe

Beluril Lotholdan the Dark. is is a non-standard class

that is used simply to “mirror” the abilities of a paladin

with an evil focus. Beluril Lotholdan the Dark is not a

fallen paladin (i.e., blackguard), but rather a twisted copy

of Beluril Lotholdan the Just.

e hags continued to use their dark magics to siphon

the life force from the good Beluril into his evil self, a

process that took many days. Shortly before the process

was complete, the paladin’s followers discovered the hags’

lair and launched a rescue a empt. Almost every one of

Beluril’s men was killed. e few who survived managed

rescue him from the swamp and returned to Shadewood

Keep, hotly pursued by the hags’ minions.

During the rescue, it was discovered that if the paladin

and the anti-paladin were separated by more than one

Part 5:

e Swamp

Adve nture Backg round

For twenty years, Beluril Lotholdan the Just has been a

paladin of Isil-Garion (God of Justice and Protection—see

Appendix A). ree years ago, as reward for his outstand-

ing service, he assumed command of Shadewood Keep. He

has protected the people of Kewin Town and the surround-

ing villages against bandits and monsters since that time.

About six months ago, a covey of hags moved into the

swamp area within the Shadewood. ey were a ra ed to

the almost sentient evil aura within the area, the lingering

result of a great evil presence that lived in the Shadewood

thousands of years ago.

e hags immediately set about a

Introduction

mile, both would be wracked with incapacitating pain. e

anti-paladin was carried to Shadewood Keep by a band of

mercenaries hired by Elywyn.

No longer disabled by pain, the anti-paladin took com-

mand of the mercenaries and launched an a ack on the

paladin’s forces. e paladin, barely hanging on to his

remaining life force, barricaded himself and his remain-

ing followers within the keep’s barracks.

Shadewood Keep. If the chara ers return to Kewin Town,

the mayor sends them to confront the paladin and nd out

why he has allied himself with the evil giant races.

When the chara ers approach Shadewood Keep, they

nd it held by two separate forces. e chara ers discover

the plot by the hags to replace the good paladin with the

evil anti-paladin. e paladin’s followers ask the chara ers

to either capture or kill the anti-paladin. e chara ers

then proceed into the other half of the keep to defeat the

anti-paladin and his forces.

If the chara ers slay the anti-paladin, the paladin

becomes a pure force of goodness. In order to maintain the

balance between good and evil, he must leave the Prime

Material plane.

If the chara ers capture the anti-paladin, they must

proceed into the swamp to slay the hags, retrieve the ritual,

and return to the keep to join the two halves of the paladin

back together again.

e chara ers delve into the swamp to nd the lair of

the hags. A er ba ling the evil ranger who serves the hags,

the chara ers must ght o undead and troll servants

before eliminating the hags in a nal confrontation with

evil.

e anti-paladin’s

forces took over the rest of the keep.

A stalemate ensued. e anti-paladin’s mercenaries

could not break into the barracks without taking unac-

ceptable losses, and the paladin’s followers could not get a

message to Kewin Town for help. is is the situation when

the chara ers arrive in Kewin Town.

Just two days ago, Elywyn’s giants conducted a raid on

the village of Dreri. is raid was far more violent than the

previous a acks, and most of the village was destroyed.

e giants know there will be one nal raid on Kewin

Town, during which they will be free to destroy the town

and take however many prisoners they wish.

ey simply

wait for the command from the hags.

e hags intend to destroy Shadewood Keep as well. A

week ago, they sent one of their mercenaries, Shadry, to

acquire an

from a wizard in a nearby

city. Shadry delivers the gem to the anti-paladin just a er

the PCs enter the Shadewood. When the hags give the

order, the anti-paladin and the rest of the mercenaries

will leave the keep. e anti-paladin will crush the gem

to release the elder elemental, order-

ing it to bring down the keep and slay

everyone inside.

elder elemental gem

Charact e r Hooks

is adventure assumes that chara ers are basically good.

Evil chara ers can still be motivated by treasure and expe-

rience, of course, but will

get li le satisfa ion out of

helping the local towns and

villages.

ere are many ways

to get chara ers to pass

through this area, or to visit

Kewin Town eci cally.

Here are just a few:

• Perhaps they need to

go to Kewin Town to meet a

traveling merchant who has

an item the chara ers need/

want. e town is the closest

part of the merchant’s route

to the chara ers’ current

location, so they must travel

there if they want to catch

up with him.

• e town’s wizard

Febrinder Galowyn collects

history books. Perhaps the

chara ers need historical

information about a particu-

lar place or item and they

hear that Febrinder has the

only copy of a book on the

subject.

Major NPCs

ere are a number of NPCs in this

adventure, each with his or her own his-

tory and motivations. When preparing

to run a particular section of

Adve nture

Summary

e chara ers are hired by the mayor

of a small town to discreetly investi-

gate recent raids by ogres, e ins, and

hill giants. e local paladin protector

hasn’t been able to do anything about

the raids, so the chara ers are hired to

enter the Shadewood in order to remove

the threat to the town and villages in

the area.

While in the Shadewood, the charac-

ters discover an encampment of ogres.

Investigation of the camp provides a

link to a nearby band of e ins, current-

ly dwelling within a cave. A powerful

e in leader holds the normally solitary

e ins together. Venturing from the

e in caves, the chara ers discover the

location of a hill giant campground.

Finally, a er vanquishing the hill

giant forces, the chara ers discover

a link that indicates the giant forces

have been working with the paladin of

Betrayal at

Shadewood Keep,

you can check the NPC

description to nd out how to accurately

portray these chara ers to your players.

NPC/Page Number

Calith Giwyr (mayor of Kewin Town) 7

Kudish (leader of ogre tribe)

Gunak (leader of e in tribe)

Hamak (leader of hill giant tribe)

Galier (cohort of Beluril

Lotholdan—paladin)

Beluril Lotholdan the Just (paladin

of Shadewood Keep)

Galefax (cohort of Beluril

Lotholdan—anti-paladin)

rolith (leader of mercenary band)

Beluril Lotholdan the Dark (anti-

paladin of Shadewood Keep)

Elywyn (ranger serving the hags)

Sywyn (annis hag)

Isymir (green hag)

Anandir (sea hag)

Introduction

Divination Spells

Parts of this adventure are designed to be a mystery. e

chara ers do not know who is behind the raids by the

• Perhaps the chara ers are merely traveling through

the area to another location. Kewin Town is a great

place to stop and rest, and stock up on rations or

other supplies.

Shadewood Keep

Kewin Town

Thauloth

Lariader

Feragord

Borenn

Dreri

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