Nightstone



The setting for Chapter 1

A fortified settlement located a few miles south of the Ardeep Forest, in the untamed hills between Waterdeep and Daggerford A lonely wooden signpost, standing where the trail to Nightstone meets the High Road, points the way to the settlement.

Nightstone's closest neighbors are the elves of the Ardeep Forest. Hunters from Nightstone have incurred the elves' wrath on multiple occasions. However, elves are the least of the settlement's problems, as fledgling heroes who come to Nightstone in search of adventure quickly discover.

Nightstone got its name from a massive chunk of obsidian that once stood in the middle of the village square. The obsidian megalith had strange glyphs carved into it and radiated magic under the scrutiny of Detect Magic spells, but its properties and purpose couldn't be ascertained. The villagers assumed it was a relic of some bygone age or kingdom and left it alone. It was stolen by cloud giants three days before the opening of this campaign.

At time of writing, the villagers are huddled in the Dripping Caves, captured by goblins and being eaten one-by-one by orcs.

1. Drawbridge

 * Lowered
 * 20'x10'
 * Sturdy oak planks
 * Iron chains
 * Connect to twin winches

DC10 WIS(survival) - Dozens of differently-sized humanoid tracks, heading away from the city and then North

DC15 WIS(survival) - Smaller humanoid footprints heading in and out, along with unusually large canine pawprints. You would guess those are from a wolf, or similar creature.

2. Watchtowers

 * 20' tall
 * Good old-fashioned castle walls, with the up-and-down crenellated pattern to the stone
 * Access to roof through trapdoor, reached by wooden ladder

2a. West Towers

 * Flank village entrance
 * Each houses a winch, used to raise/lower the drawbridge.
 * Winches are not networked - must be operated simultaneously to raise gate
 * 1 round of winching == 30° drawbridge lift
 * Fully raised/lowered in 3 rounds

2b-c. Northwest/Northeast Towers

 * Nothing of interest. One of them has some pigs milling about, eating grass.

2d. East Tower

 * Door is ajar. DC15 WIS(perception) && they approach quietly, they can hear a soft cooing coming from inside.
 * Goblin! Found admiring the shine of a silver locket if caught unaware
 * NAME: Gwerk
 * LOOT: Silver locket. Shaped like a fish, contains a painted portrait of a rosy-cheeked male halfling named Larlow Summerhawk. The locket belongs to Larlow's widow, Taela Summerhawk, and is worth 25 GP. Taela is in the Dripping Caves.

2e. Southeast Tower

 * 2 goblins chill here, unless they hear combat in 4g.
 * NAMES: Larv, Snokk
 * LOOT
 * Larv - sack filled with stolen utensils (On a bad investigation, they might be silver or some other precious metal) - 3 vials of perfume (5 gp ea)
 * Snokk - sack containing a stuffed blood hawk