Kobold Hall
Ten miles from the city is a ruined manor on a hilltop. Once
it was a minor lord’s proud holding, a walled keep overlooking the Main Road.
That was years ago, however, and the lord’s names and acts are long forgotten.
Today the locals call the place Kobold Hall after the malicious humanoids that
infest the place. Ivy and trees have overtaken the property, including the
small graveyard and crypt that make up part of the grounds.
Several kobold tribes live within the ruins, hiding both in
the dusty, abandoned rooms and in the multitude of tunnels and cellars that run
underneath the mansion. The tribes squabble with each other, raid small farms
and houses and attack caravans on the Main Road. They are rarely seen within
the limits of South Porton, and they are not welcomed even by the Porton
Pirates. Lately, though, the kobolds have become more aggressive. The Skull Kicker
tribe have taken over or driven off rival tribes. The characters find
themselves in the city of South Porton, fresh off the boat, and having formed
an alliance are looking for paying work.
Hook 1: If the
adventurers decide to go to The World’s End for any reason, a waiter approaches
them as they sit at the table saying that Teldorthan Goldcap, a dwarf, would
like to speak to them. He comes downstairs as they are not allowed upstairs. He
explains that he works for the SIC and that one of their wagon trains has been
raided while carrying a vital part for a prototype, an energy wand. Although
they would normally be prepared to blame The Growth Movement, one of the guards
escaped with word that kobolds had ambushed them and killed everyone else. The
dwarf is necessarily annoyed by the loss and wishes to hire the adventurers to
recover the goods. He promises 200gp for the safe retrieval of the object,
which he describes as a silver rod about two feet long with a large ball on the
end. Quest rewards 500xp on turning in.
Hook 2: If the
adventurers chance to go to the Council House, a Bounty board announces that
the Governor has had enough of the Kobold threat and directs the adventurers to
talk to Chief Willis, the head of the Constabulary. An older moustachioed man,
he tells them that the city Council has finally decided to act in the face of
several kobold attacks on outlying farmsteads. The Chief offers them 10gp for
each kobold they despatch provided they can prove the kill, with an additional
100gp if they can show that the entire complex has been cleared out. It is said
that the leader of the kobolds wears a bone mask; this would be sufficient
proof.
Quest rewards 750xp on turning in if the adventurers are
able to provide the bone mask or other sufficient proof.
Hook 3: If the
adventurers choose to go the illegal route, they are shown into the back room
of Jakes’ and introduced to Black Jake , an intermediary of the Porton Pirates.
He explains that the Pirates have become increasingly annoyed with the kobolds;
they have moved in on Pirates territory, have performed several acts which the
Pirates have been blamed for, attacked businesses under Pirates protection and
are generally causing a nuisance. They seem too organised and aggressive
compared to other kobolds, and something mysterious is driving them on. Black
John wants the adventurers to uncover the secret behind the recent movements by
the kobolds and bring it back to the Porton Pirates so that they can once again
claim supremacy. He also offers them further work, a fee of 300gp dependent on
what information they bring in, and the use of the Pirates’ pet wizard’s
teleportation circle for one journey.
Quest rewards 500xp on bringing back information about the
white dragon.
When the players
decide to move to Kobold Hall:
You travel ten miles from South Porton, slowly watching the
ruin come into view, a darker shadow hulking in the growing twilight. The
garden appears deserted, the occasional crow croaking as you disturb its
nesting, and what tombstones there were in the small graveyard have long ago
worn smooth. The mansion itself is large but overgrown; the main doors, made of
stout oak, are smashed and carry burn marks, none of the windows are intact.
Some are boarded over, lending the inside rooms an eerie dust-filled dimness.
Everywhere are signs of kobold habitation, from ill-made beds of torn curtains
and sheets to piles of waste casually dumped in corners.
If the PCs search the bedding they find a few silver coins
some kobold has hoarded. The mansion is, otherwise, seemingly empty.
The mansion doesn’t seem to have been recently used, but a
churned-up mud path has been worn towards the old guard tower that sits to one
side of the mansion. Inside, the internal structure has rotted away and the
tower is open to the sky; bird nests and droppings litter the floor, but in the
centre is a trapdoor which shows signs of recent use. It has been kept clean
and, when opened, has been oiled. Inside, a ladder leads down into the
darkness.
DM’s Handbook 1, P211 onwards for the encounters.
When the PCs enter Room 1: Dominating the room ahead is a
long and deep trench filled with a glowing green substance. It is this that
provides most of the light in the room, the rest being cast by flickering
torches at the corners. The substance in the pic smells of rotten eggs, not
quite overpowering the smell of kobold. Beyond the trench a small reptilian
humanoid stands in a shadowy chamber; it is obviously on guard duty and notices
you as soon as you enter the chamber. It carries a sling and is lightly
armoured. As soon as it notices you it hisses and shouts ‘Intruderssss!
INTRUDERSSSSS!’ before preparing to fire.
When the PCs enter Room 2: This room is evidently related to
the crypt that you saw upstairs; a rusted iron ladder affixed to one wall
suggests that, once upon a time, there was direct access to this room from the
surface. There are four stone coffins, all of which show signs of vandalism and
abuse. Chunks of stone torn from them litter the ground and ugly symbols have been
daubed on them. To the left is a series of six niches, set apart into two
groups of three. Two more niches along the walls each hold a suit of armour,
both of which are rusted and decaying. On the opposite end of the room is a
raised section of floor with a makeshift altar to Tiamat sat upon it, a dragon
sculpture. Three kobolds carrying spears stand in front of the altar.
When the PCs enter Room 3: This chamber may also have been
part of the tomb complex, but the kobolds have transformed it into what could
almost be called a playground. Four stone coffins are in here surrounding
another pit of the glowing green ooze. On the opposite side of the room is a
pair of wooden double doors. Flanking the doors are two raised platforms, both
ten feet above the floor. Two kobolds stand on each platform. On the coffins
are several animal skulls, arranged in small piles; A further kobold is holding
a sludge-drenched stone tied to a long rope that is secured to the ceiling.
When the PCs enter Room 4: You are in a chamber with a tall
ceiling. In front of you is a ten foot tall wall that leaves passages open to
both the right and left. You can hear someone giggling.
As the PCs move forwards: Suddenly, the sound of cracking
timbers echoes through the hall. The floor shakes, dust cascades down from the
ceiling and something big and heavy hurtles towards you!
As the PCs enter Room 5: You follow a long and winding
passage from the kobold chieftain’s throne room which leads down into the
earth. Eventually the finely-worked stone of the cellars gives way to
naturally-formed passages. Eventually you come upon a large cavern. The air is
unnaturally cold in here. In the centre of the room is a large pool of frozen
dark water. The cavern is quiet.
As the adventurers progress into the chamber:
A thud echoes through the chamber, then another. Footsteps!
From behind the large pillar in the centre of the room comes a sight that few
have survived to report on: a white dragon, still young but perfectly capable.
He stares down at you.
“Puny humanoids,” his voice rumbles, “Why have you come
here?”
The dragon laughs. “I am Szatharrax! I used those tiny
creatures while it suited me, and it worries me not that they are gone. They
fed me lots of their own kind; their chieftains were tastiest, but most of all
I wanted their gold. It tastes good. They feared me! Ha! Who wouldn’t! I told
them I’d eat them if they didn’t bring me more gold, but instead they brought
me you! I wonder, little humanoids, how will you taste?” The dragon rears up
and spreads his wings; his roar brings small fragments of dust and stone from
the ceiling.
On the dragon’s death:
“How can this be? I am Szatharrax the Immortal! I cannot
be... defeated…” The dragon slumps to the ground, his wings curling around him.
Something viscous and foul-smelling dribbles from between his bloodstained
teeth and drops, hissing, onto the ground. “Is this what it has become?” he
murmurs. “You will never… defeat… The Dragonflight Union…” and with a thud his
head settles onto the ground, never to move again. There is silence for a
moment.
Then, crackles of lightning begin arcing off the various
spikes and protrusions on Szatharrax’s body; white light suffuses his skin and,
with a blinding flash, the body of the dragon disappears. Hovering in the air
where he stood is a blue ball of light which bounces up and down slightly, then
dives through the ice in the centre of the chamber. The pool must be deep
because you can see the light going down for a long way before it goes out of
sight.
Among the rubble in the chamber the adventurers find a
chest; within the chest is a small amount of gold, silver, two low-quality gems
and a magical item (see DM Handbook) and a silver rod with a globe at the end
of it.
Whoever the adventurers return to will tell them that they
have more work should the adventurers need it. See Adventure 2.
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