Free Module: Eternal Revenge

Urgent: A dangerous monster has taken up residence inside nearby ruins to the northeast. It has been providing its protection to other monsters in the area, causing local monster populations to grow rapidly. Many travelers and merchants in the area have seen increased attacks, and the hamlet of Elklodge has requested assistance. Caution: cold.
Reward: 500 gold

Premium Version

From the job they'll learn that there's some people with information that could be helpful if they want to interview them. There's an adventurer who did a quest in the area, two merchants that were attacked, and a woman who claimed to escape capture.

The other adventurer was doing an unrelated quest in the area and noticed much heavier monster presence. One of his friends and fellow adventurers was killed as a result, and he's been drowning his sorrows since and thinking about giving up the trade. He'll mention that it was quite cold, and caution the party to bring cold weather gear.

• Adventurer 1: Geoffrey Drover, Male Human
• Description: This man wears very tight pants and wife beaters, though occasionally he sports a black coat. He is muscular with a powerful set of arms. He keeps his blonde hair in a pixie cut. Judging by the bloodshot nature of his eyes and the massive bags underneath them one would imagine he has not slept for days.
• Personality: He misses his glory days as a soldier. He does not mind his job, but he's not as good at it. He does suffer from mild PTSD, and the sight of goblins may trigger it at times.
• History: He is the product a well kept family trust fund and as such has never really known need. He has chosen to use the inheritance that was left to him frivolously. He ran away from his former home and has been making his living as an adventurer for the past few years.
• Motivation: To prove his worth to the world; and his spouse's relatives view him with great suspicion

The two merchants were part of a caravan that was attacked. They managed to barely escape sustaining serious injuries, one has been blinded and the other has half his face paralyzed and deformed. They'll recall being ambushed at night while asleep. Everyone else in the caravan was killed or captured.

• Merchant 1: Koeth Othronus, Male Elf
• Description: His right side is far more bruised and cut up than his other. He is wearing colorful clothing, dressed as a Miner. He wears a deerstalker hat to hide his balding. His blue unseeing eyes seem to look past you.
• Personality: Stoic and calm, he prefers to meditate than take action. To his fellows he is seen as friendly and intelligent, but is angry and unforgiving to the so called fatcats and any who do and have associated with them.
• History: He was blinded in a monster attack while passing through the area, making his work much more difficult. He was taken from his home at a very young age. When he grew older, he became a bit more civilized, usually hanging around bars and taverns. He began work as a traveling merchant. He would travel anywhere as long as the price was right.
• Motivation: Wants to raise his children well; and obtaining odd cultural half-orc artifacts is his passion.

• Merchant 2: Laucian Nailo, Male Elf
• Description: This northern man's face is deformed and paralyzed on one side. As such, he slurs his words together. He is dressed in an above average manner. His brown hair, when down, is lengthy. His face is scarred and worn.
• Personality: He has a very dry and sarcastic sense of humor. He is not one for noise or eating so much, which is in direct contrast with his big mouthed big gutted partner. His partner is his best friend in the world. The two are very close despite being more or less each other's opposites. He does not mind isolation but does not hate company and attempts to receive them as best as possible.
• History: Born the oldest of a large religious northern family, he was no stranger to responsibility. He was an adventurer many years ago and he formed a blood bond with his Elven companion (his 'brother'). He remains aloof and afraid to be himself due to all the ideals others have placed upon him.
• Motivation: To be a Fisherman again; and he has passion for adventuring and risk.

The party can also interview a crazed woman who claimed to have escaped capture. The experience has left her completely mad. She'll speak of terrible revenge and how the adventurer's guild can't protect them.

• Rando 1: Shanairla Liadon, Female Elf
• Description: A stocky darker skinned woman, she is dressed in earthy colors with a grey and green handkerchief worn on her right side. She has black hair. Her otherwise smooth face is marked with small tiny scars.
• Personality: She is erratic and paranoid. She believes monsters are coming to abduct people. She lacks restraint and is impulsive. She jumps in and acts without thinking all too often.
• History: Born in the west to a Cartwright, Shanairla learned a great deal about her father's area of expertise. She made a point of taking high paying jobs and getting most of it up front. She has set out to sabotage the competition.
• Motivation: Regain custody of her daughter; and revenge.

The Destroyed Hamlet

Travel to Elklodge takes about a day, and the temperature gets noticeably colder as they get closer to the hamlet. Navigating correctly is a DC 15 survival check through the forest, or else they get lost and it takes longer. Foraging for food is a DC 10 and finds coral mushrooms, wood sorrel, black trumpets, juneberries, and burdock root. It's raining lightly with a heavy wind, imposing disadvantage on sight/hearing checks, and ranged weapon attack rolls. Open flames are extinguished, fog is quickly dispersed, and flight is impossible. If the party is attacked during travel, it's by a pack of Gnolls. They don't know anything about the dangerous monster, but have been reaping the benefits of its presence by attacking travelers.

The hamlet of Elklodge is in ruins. Many of the houses have been burnt down, while the rest have been destroyed and raided. There are plenty of signs of battle, but it looks like the villagers were completely unprepared and stood little chance. One thing that stands out is how few bodies there are despite many signs of a battle. It looks like most everyone was taken, but there are a couple of humanoid skeletons that have been completely picked clean. The only reason you can tell they're not just old decomposing bones is because of how pristine and clean they are. There is nothing left to find or scavenge here.

It's another day of travel from the hamlet to the ruins. The entire area is freezing cold as you get closer, and requires cold weather gear. Anyone without cold weather protection must make a DC 10 Constitution save every hour or else suffer exhaustion. A few miles around the castle is heavy snowfall: everything is lightly obscured, disadvantage on sight/hearing checks, and open flames are extinguished.

The Ice Stronghold

A once massive and impressive stronghold, now covered in snow and ice. Many of the windows and entrances have been iced over, while crumbling sections of wall and parapets are held together by the unnatural ice.

Noises: Scratching or scrabbling
Air: Clear and drafty
Odors: Metallic

Room Contents

The Revenant (Monster Manual pg 259) is here, along with as many ice mephits and zombies as necessary to properly challenge your group. If the battle is going too poorly for the Revenant it can summon more as additional waves. As members of the guild, the party are susceptible to the Revenant's Vengeful Glare and extra damage. Remember its Turn Immunity and Regeneration make it more than just a regular undead.

If the revenant is destroyed, the zombies will stop attacking the party and the ice mephits will flee. More zombies will shuffle in but be non-hostile, many of them will be wearing simple peasant clothing and wander around dazed and confused. After a few minutes, the revenant's Rejuvenation will trigger, bringing it back to life. As the revenant chuckles and the party gets ready for initiative, the zombies will turn and attack their former master. The revenant will be pinned down and ripped apart by the zombies before they return to mindlessly wandering and looking at each other.

On the revenant's corpse is an adventurer's guild dog tag, belonging to Fiske Tostain.

Return To Town

The return to town takes about two days, with standard wilderness travel and encounters. The weather is still cold for the first day, so cold weather gear is still necessary. The party will receive their reward, and if they inquire further about the revenant they can learn that Fiske Tostain was a former adventurer and member of the guild. He was killed while at a black market deal for monster parts, and dishonorably discharged from the guild post-mortem.

If the party keeps the tokens and decides to sell them or shows them to a merchant, they'll be considerably valuable curios. This can lead to a further adventure as they learn more about the tokens and their connection to the stronghold and guild, or as an additional reward at the end of the quest.

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