Fallen Angel.pdf

FALLEN ANGEL

Fallen Angel is a short D&D adventure for four 5th-level

player characters (PCs). Consult the Scaling the Adven-

ture sidebar for ways to modify the scenario for higher

or lower levels of play.

This scenario can be incorporated into any style of

campaign. It is set in Elton, an isolated hamlet that can

easily be placed in a remote, hilly area of any campaign

world.

A Short Adventure for Four

5th-Level Player Characters

PREPARATION

You (the DM) need the D&D core rulebooks, including

the Player ’s Handbook, the D UNGEON M ASTER ’s Guide, and

the Monster Manual. This adventure also uses creatures

from Savage Species, but all information from that book

needed to run the adventure has been provided here.

You can place this adventure in any section of your

campaign world that features a hilly area in which an

isolated village might exist. Adapt the material given

here as you see fit to make it work with your campaign.

To get started, print out this module (including the

map). Familiarize yourself with the statistics for the

insectile ogre and for the immature ogre mage and

trumpet archon.

CREDITS

Design:

Ramon Arjona

Editing:

Penny Williams

Typesetting:

Nancy Walker

Cartography:

Rob Lazzaretti

Web Production:

Julia Martin

Web Development:

Mark A. Jindra

Graphic Design:

Sean Glenn, Cynthia Fliege

Based on the original D UNGEONS & D RAGONS ® game by E.

Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and on the new edition of the

D UNGEONS & D RAGONS game designed by Jonathan Tweet,

Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, and Peter Adkison.

ADVENTURE

BACKGROUND

Several weeks ago, a strange planar anomaly occurred,

resulting in a rift that breached the very structure of

the multiverse for a short time. This tear in the fabric of

reality had numerous effects, one of which was the cre-

ation of a short-term connection between the Seven

Mounting Heavens of Celestia and the Material Plane.

On the night this anomaly occurred, a bright light

appeared in the night sky above the small hamlet of

Elton. The brilliant celestial event awakened the resi-

dents of the village, who emerged from their dwellings

to marvel at the new “star” in the sky—a star whose

light seemed to bring feelings of peace and well-being

to all who gazed upon it. Upon reaching the village

common, the villagers found a young man, barely more

than a boy, lying naked and shivering on the ground.

Though he resembled an elf, there was an almost

unearthly beauty about him. They asked him who he

was, but his reply came in a musical tongue they had

never heard before.

This stranger was in fact an immature trumpet

archon, barely an infant by the standards of his kind.

The planar anomaly had ripped him from his home in

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the Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia and trans-

ported him here. Afraid and confused, the young celes-

tial knew neither where he was nor why he had been

transported here. Who were these people dressed in

such simple garb? Was this event a sign that he had

erred in some way? Was he being denied the heavens

because of some flaw in his nature? Or might this situa-

tion be some sort of test of his purity?

The people of Elton knew nothing of the stranger’s

extraplanar nature, but they did understand that he was

weak, cold, and in need of help. So they found clothes

for him and provided him with food and shelter. Call-

ing him “the gift of the star,” they accepted him into

their community.

Over the course of several weeks, the young man

began to learn the language of his benefactors. Decid-

ing that the celestial powers had placed him here for

some reason, he accepted Elton as his new home and

did his best to fit in. He told his benefactors only that

his name was Arithel, deciding that it was best not to

reveal his true origins.

The young man’s presence proved a balm to the com-

munity, and the residents of Elton began to remark on

how happy they felt. Old quarrels with neighbors were

forgotten when Arithel interjected a few calming

words, and the villagers found peace and contentment

in one another’s company.

Meanwhile, sinister plans were afoot in the nearby

hills. Some years ago, Brath the Greater, the leader of an

ogre tribe in the nearby hills, began to perform breed-

ing experiments tainted with dark magic upon his

charges. The result was an unholy fusion of insect and

ogre. Pleased with his success, Brath continued the

experiment, hoping to build an army of these insectile

ogres with which he could conquer the surrounding

territory. The new ogres were highly industrious and

worked diligently to alter their cavern home in the

hills near Elton to their leader’s specifications.

On the night of the planar anomaly, Brath the

Greater vanished from his home, sucked through a rift

that appeared in the cavern wall. His son, Brath the

Lesser, caught a brief glimpse of the realm into which

his father had been pulled. Always a studious young-

ster, he had read much about other planes and decided

that the realm his father now occupied must be one of

these. Unable to rescue his father (and disinclined to

do so anyway, since he dearly wanted to assume leader-

ship of the tribe), he decided to investigate the anomaly

further and see whether any of its effects could be

turned to his advantage. Creeping forth from the caves,

he saw the “star” and decided to find out what had

occurred just beneath it. He followed the light to Elton

and took up a hidden position where he could see what

transpired. He witnessed the boy’s adoption by the vil-

lagers and heard his first words. Having heard the

Celestial tongue before, when his father had angered a

celestial, he recognized the language and decided that

the boy must be a celestial—albeit a puny one—that

had been torn from its home in the same manner that

his father had.

Realizing that a young celestial lay practically within

his grasp, Brath hurried back to the caverns to make

plans. His father’s magical tomes revealed that the tears

and blood of an angel could be used to create powerful

weapons of evil (see Book of Vile Darkness, page 117).

With such weapons at their disposal, he and his tribe of

insectile ogres might be a match for the humanoids of

the area. He could reap the fruit of his father’s lifetime

of labor and rule all the lands nearby himself! Thus, he

became determined to kidnap the young celestial,

extract as much useful material from him as possible,

and then sacrifice him to a dark power. Such a sacrifice,

he hoped, would grant him power and prestige far

beyond that normally attainable by an ogre mage of his

tender years.

ADVENTURE SYNOPSIS

Yesterday, Brath the Lesser led his insectile ogres in an

attack on the village of Elton. The town was plundered,

but only one resident was carried off—Arithel. The sur-

viving townsfolk are desperate, and they appeal to the

PCs for aid. Surprisingly, however, they are more con-

cerned about ensuring Arithel’s safe return than they

are about getting their own possessions back.

The PCs must find and penetrate the lair of the insec-

tile ogres, fight their way past the guards in the caverns,

and finally defeat Brath the Lesser himself before they

can rescue the young celestial.

ADVENTURE HOOKS

As DM, you know best how to involve your players and

their characters in an adventure. You can use the fol-

lowing adventure hooks to spur your imagination,

modifying them as necessary to make them appropriate

for the characters’ interests.

• A paladin or good cleric in the party begins to have

dreams or visions of a falling infant. The details of

these dreams vary, but the central theme is always the

same: If the PC does not intervene, the infant will fall

into the clutches of some terrible, unnamed evil. The

dreams always leave the character with a strong

desire to head in whichever direction the village of

Elton lies.

• A wizard who specialize in planar research asks the

PCs to investigate the strange light that recently

appeared in the sky. She and her colleagues believe

the light to be extraplanar in origin. According to

their calculations, it appeared directly over the

hamlet known as Elton.

• Rumors of a strange orphan who speaks an unknown

language reach the characters’ ears. Supposedly, the

boy fell from the sky (or emerged from the earth—the

tales are inconsistent) in the hamlet of Elton. Some

believe the boy’s appearance portends a coming catas-

trophe, while others say he is gifted with marvelous

supernatural powers and has come for purposes of his

own. The description of the boy matches that of a dead

friend or relative of one of the characters.

The village before you has obviously been raided,

and not very long ago. Some buildings are missing

their thatched roofs, and others show signs of the

torch as well. Human and half-elven villagers rush

to and fro with water and bandages, obviously

tending to the injured in the huts that remain

intact. In the center of town, several villagers

carry what appears to be dried vegetables to a

large pot over a cookfire, evidently preparing stew

from the town’s emergency rations.

The villagers greet the characters in a friendly manner

and offer them a place at the community table, though

most are preoccupied with their tasks. The injured are

the most willing to talk, having been relieved of their

normal responsibilities. Read or paraphrase the follow-

ing when the PCs begin to make inquiries.

BEGINNING THE

ADVENTURE

Fallen Angel is a site-based adventure consisting of one

or more free-form encounters in Elton, several keyed

encounters in the ogre stronghold where Arithel is

being held, and one encounter to be placed at the DM’s

discretion.

The adventure begins when the characters reach the

hamlet of Elton, which occurs on the morning after his

kidnapping. The village bears the marks of a recent

raid. Read or paraphrase the following aloud when the

characters arrive.

A middle-aged man with a bandaged leg sits on

the ground beneath a tree. “Welcome to Elton!” he

calls out in a friendly manner. “I’m afraid you’ve

not caught us at our best, strangers. But you’re

welcome to share with us what still remains. By

the look of you, I’d guess you’re adventurers. You

could find plenty of wrongs to right around here,

if you’re of such a mind.

“A long time ago, the ogres from those hills over

there used to raid Elton pretty regular. But it’s

been years since that happened. What came last

night was . . . different. They looked like some

kinda weird cross between ogres and giant bugs.

pqqqqrs

SCALING THE ADVENTURE

Fallen Angel is designed for a party of four 5th-level

characters, but it can easily be modified to present an

appropriate challenge for parties of different sizes or

levels. Consider adapting the adventure as follows.

Four 3rd- to 4th-Level PCs: Run the adventure as

written, but with the following changes.

• Reduce the number of insectile ogres in areas 1

and 3 to one.

• Reduce the number of Large monstrous scorpi-

ons in area 2 to two.

• Decrease the attack bonus of the falling block

trap in area 4 to +12 and its damage to 4d6.

• Reduce Brath the Lesser’s ogre mage level to

7th.

Four 6th- to 7th-Level PCs: Run the adventure as

written, but with the following changes.

• Make Brath the Lesser a standard ogre mage

(CR 8).

• Add 2 levels of barbarian to each insectile ogre,

or substitute a 9th-level ogre mage for one or

more of them. Alternatively, replace the insectile

template with the gelatinous template (see

Savage Species,page 116).

• Raise the Search DC of the falling block trap in

area 4 to 25.

• Replace the Large monstrous scorpions in

encounter 2 with a single Huge monstrous

scorpion.

pqqqqrs

They took supplies and valuables, like normal

raiders, but they only carried off one person—

Arithel. Our gift of the star. The boy’s been the

light of the village ever since he came. Don’t know

what we’ll do now that he’s gone. He’s a good boy.”

Authority Figures: Greel (NG male human Com 3),

Mayor of Elton.

Important Characters: Burton (LG male human Com

2), blacksmith; Sherla (CG female half-elf Com 1),

healer.

By talking with this fellow (Burton, the smith) and the

rest of the villagers, the characters can acquire the fol-

lowing pieces of information (no check needed).

THE OGRES’ LAIR

The ogre stronghold is in the hills north of town. The

insectile ogres took no pains to hide their tracks, so a

PC with the Track feat can trail them back there with a

successful Wilderness Lore check (DC 10). If the char-

acters are not confident that they can find the strong-

hold on their own, Burton agrees to guide them. He

accompanies the PCs only until the entrance to the

stronghold is in sight, then returns to the village.

All the encounters in this portion of the adventure

except one are keyed to the map. Encounter A, in which

the characters are confronted by Brath the Lesser, is a

timed encounter that should occur after the PCs have

fought one or more groups of insectile ogres but before

they reach area 6 and free Arithel. The DM should select

its placement accordingly. It is presented as a sidebar to

keep it separate from the keyed encounters.

The lair contains twenty insectile ogres, though only

four of them are involved in the keyed encounters. The

DM may allow the PCs to meet others in groups of two

as random encounters if desired.

Read or paraphrase the following aloud when the

characters come within sight of the ogre lair.

• Several weeks ago, Arithel fell through a brilliant white

hole in the sky on a night that seemed filled with

magic. He was young and very weak, and he could not

speak Common. The people of Elton took him in.

• Over time, Arithel learned to communicate in

Common, though his mastery of it was imperfect.

• A tribe of ogres lives in the hills to the north, but its

members haven’t troubled the hamlet for many years.

The following information can be obtained, one piece

at a time, with the right questions coupled with suc-

cessful Gather Information checks at the DCs noted.

• DC 10: The raiders were accompanied by a blue-

skinned ogre wearing strange robes.

• DC 15: The creatures kidnapped Arithel were

armed with weapons similar to those used by the

local ogre tribe. They left in the direction of the

ogres’ old hill stronghold to the north.

• DC 15: Several of the townsfolk can make an effort

to replicate the sound of the language Arithel first

used. Any PC who speaks Celestial recognizes it as

such.

• DC 20: Arithel would sometimes sit and wistfully

look at the night sky. Whenever a villager would

approach him at such a time, he pointed skyward and

said in his strange accent, “Home.”

The hillside before you looks like many others in

this region. A shadowed cleft between two hills,

masked by greenery, matches the townsfolks’

description of the entrance to the ogre lair.

AREA 1: INSECTILE OGRE GUARDS (EL 5)

This chamber serves as the entryway to the lair. It is

guarded at all times by a pair of insectile ogres, though

they take pains to remain hidden so as to surprise

intruders. Read or paraphrase the following aloud

when the characters enter.

When the people of Elton realize that the PCs are inter-

ested in the fate of Elton, they eagerly beg them to

rescue Arithel. The can offer nothing but their grati-

tude for his safe return—they had little enough before,

and now they have even less. But his kidnappers were

well equipped and probably have plenty of ill-gotten

gains hoarded in their lair.

If the PCs agree to try to find Arithel, the villagers

enthusiastically provide anything they need that is

within the means of this small community, including

food, water, shelter, and simple tools and weapons.

c Elton (hamlet): Conventional (Human); AL

LG; 100-gp limit; Assets 260 gp; Population 100; Iso-

lated (human 80%, half-elf 11%, halfling 5%, gnome 4%).

This rectangular chamber has obviously been

hewn from the rock of the hill deliberately,

though the hands that did it were less than

skilled. The floor is damp and sandy, and the walls

are made of rough limestone. The ceiling is high,

at least 20 feet above the floor, and mostly hidden

in shadows. A distant dripping sound is audible, as

if water were filtering through the limestone roof

and making its way down the walls.

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