The gates of Ironhold, generated with Google Imagen3

The campaign begins with the players have been accused of various “crimes against King Murtagh and the Kingdom of  New Mountainheart” and sentenced to multiple years of forced labor in Ironhold, a gulag built inside an iron mine in Underberg, the gigantic underground ward beneath the city’s titular mountain. It has been an indeterminate amount of time since they were thrown into Ironhold, and they spent most of this time digging for iron or doing various chores around the camp. Escape from Ironhold seems impossible, but an influential figure in the city has taken an interest in the players, and she has arranged things in just the right way so that if the players are willing and able, they will be able to escape the gulag.

Into the Pit

Today has been a bad day for the players. Each player has committed some form of infraction in the camp and has been sentenced to spend three days in the pit, a pitch-black oubliette-like pit carved into the mountain’s granite. Read the following when the adventure starts.

You awake in the darkness. The air around you is cold and damp. When you breathe in, the stench of sweat and filth fills your nose. Some distance away, you can hear the sound of pickaxes striking stone and the clang of the mine’s lifts. In the gloom, you can just barely see the outlines of other prisoners in the pit with you.

The players are the only ones in the pit; there is nothing else to do but talk to each other to pass the time. Encourage the players to strike up conversations in character with each other. Have them share their backstories in character: How did they end up in Ironhold? What did they do to get sent to the pit? Encourage the players to ask each other questions about their backstories to flesh out their characters even more.

Once the introductions and conversations naturally start to subside, read the following.

Three days and two nights drag on in mind-numbing boredom as you sit in the pit. There is nothing to do except share stories with your fellow prisoners. On the 3rd night, however, something strange happened. You are awakened by a tiny hand smacking you in the face and a little girl’s voice telling you to wake up. Having successfully roused you, the voice from nowhere says, “Go to the abandoned tunnel on the northern side of the mine, the one with the danger signs; you will find something to get you out of Ironhold.

The voice belongs to Líadan, a Fairy, and member of the Silver Moon Coven. In the gloom of the pit, it isn’t easy to see her as she speaks. A DC 20 perception check allows the players to make out an 18-inch tall human-shaped blob hovering in the air. Líadan does not stick around after delivering her message, turning invisible and flying to a hiding place in the cavern ceiling.

Back To Work

The following day, read the following.

The iron gate squeals open, and the prison guards’ forms appear at the entrance. With barked orders and blows from their spears, they corral you towards the line of dirty and hopeless looking prisoners shuffling towards one of the lifts leading deeper into the mines.

The prison guards force the players into the line of prisoners heading to the lift leading into the camp’s primary mine. They are each given a pickax, an oil lantern, and a sack and then forced into the packed lift car as a group. The gate is closed, pressing the players into the mass of unwashed bodies, and with a rumble and a creak, the massive box descends into the mine.

The Mine Face

When the lift reaches the bottom, a group of prison guards awaits. They open the liftgate and, with the butts of their spears, drive the players towards a tunnel to the north. Read the following

With sharp blows of the spears, the guards drive you and the other prisoners through the dark and gloomy tunnel while the notorious goblin corporal Cael O’Leary leads the way. The guards lead you past a fork in the tunnel with signs with words like “Danger,” “Stay out,” and “Cave in” written in all red all caps letters. A minute later, you arrive at a large cavern with a roof held up by wooden beams. “Alright, worms, get to work,” shouts Corporal Cael, “Don’t think about slacking off, or you’ll get beaten.” Cael grins at the thought of delivering a beating, and the prisoners disperse to start hacking at the rocks.

The players have some pretty bad luck. Corporal Cael and his men are known sadists who watch the prisoners like a group of hawks looking for any excuse to deliver a beating. If they cannot find one, they simply invent a reason to beat a prisoner. If they want to escape, they must find a way to distract Cael and his men using what little gear they have. The players should be encouraged to devise novel strategies to divert Cael’s and his men’s attention. Some examples include.

• A player who makes a DC 15 intelligence check can determine that some parts of the cavern roof are unstable. The players can use their pickaxes to cause a minor cave-in.
• The players can set fire to the wooden supports holding up the roof by smashing one of the lanterns against one of the beams. Doing this causes the beam to catch fire instantly.
• The players can feign discovering a precious metal like gold or silver. They must make a DC 10 deception check to convince the guards they found something.
• They can start a fight among the other prisoners. Doing so requires a DC 15 persuasion check and likely involves promising the other prisoners a chance at escape.
• They can set one of the guards on fire. They must smash one of the lanterns against the guard to do so. Doing this causes the guard to instantly catch fire and causes a commotion that draws everyone’s attention.
• When the guards are distracted, the players can attempt to slip out unnoticed. This requires a group stealth check DC 12.

Once the players leave the mine face, they have a clear path to the abandoned tunnel. However, Cael and his men are not stupid. The next time they make their rounds, they notice the players have disappeared, and three prison guards will start back down the tunnel towards the lift.

Corporal Cael intimidating a prisoner, generated using Google Imagen3.

The Abandoned Tunnel

When the players have reached the tunnel, read the following.

Beyond the warning signs is a tight tunnel barely big enough to crawl through one at a time. The walls are made of caved-in rubble and timber beams, the air smells damp, and the floor feels slightly slimy. You crawl for about 6 minutes until the tunnel ends in a dark, dank, moderate-sized cavern filled with piles of rubble.

The cavern the players find themselves in is where Líadan stashed the bag of holding with their starter gear. The players must make a DC 6 investigation check to see the bag hidden in a small pile of rubble. In the bag, they find the following.

• Their starter equipment
• Components for any memorized spells
• 20gp in silver and copper coins
• Four potions of healing
• Three bottles of oil
• A lantern
• A smoke stick
• Enough crossbow bolts, arrows, and sling bullets to fill 6 quivers
• 5 sets of leather armor, shortswords and light crossbows (enough to arm 5 resistance fighters)
• A brown paper-wrapped sandwich for each of the players. Each sandwich has one of the player’s names written on its wrapping in pencil. Each player’s sandwich has their favorite filling and instantly reminds the players of home
• A thermos filled with hot sweet tea and enough tin cups for each person. When drunk, the tea grants one inspiration die.
• A crude map of the camp and the mine.
• An Underberg and lower ward map with a red line leading from Ironhold to an address in Slibermond.
• A small black powder bomb.
• 100 feet of rope with a grappling hook

In addition to the listed contents, there is a short letter from Tansy to the players.

 This should be enough to get you out of Ironhold. Make your way to the exit and then to the safe house. Do not dawdle; guards are everywhere in the camp, and you are not strong enough to face them all yet. I will meet you in the safe house I provided soon.

Escape from Ironhold

Now that the players are equipped, they must go through the mine and camp to escape Ironhold. Only one tunnel leads from the cavern complex from Ironhold to Underberg and the rest of the city. Unfortunately, they must sneak through the heavily guarded camp to get to the tunnel. Their benefactor’s letter makes it clear that they cannot dawdle unless they want to escape under the thunderous ringing of alarm bells and a small army on their heels.

Alarms

Multiple alarm bells are located throughout the camp, including several with extra-long ropes that allow guards in the mine shafts to summon reinforcements Each location on the map has at least one bell. When an alarm bell starts to ring, a timer d4 starts. When the timer reaches zero, one of the guard groups, as described in the next section, arrives at the player’s location.

Guard encounters

Ironhold is constantly in motion, with guards patrolling the mines and the camp. Locations that do not initially have any guards present might have guards show up while the players explore them. When encounters call for random guard encounters, use the following table.

D6	Encounter
1	6 Prison Guards (See Appendix B)
2	8  Prison Guards
3	3 Prison Guards and one Prison Guard Officer (See Appendix B)
4	4 Prison Riot Guards (See Appendix B)
5	2 Prison Riot Guard (See Appendix B)and 4 Prison Guards (See Appendix B)
6	A Prison Riot Guard (See Appendix B) and one Guard Officer (See Appendix B)

The guards are smart. If a location is supposed to have guards or prisoners working and they do not encounter either, they start a cursory search of the area. If they find dead bodies, they immediately go for the nearest alarm bell. They will not fight to the death; instead, they will flee in hopes of gathering reinforcement.

Prisoners

The prisoners have no love for their captors but are also terrified of them. At the start of each encounter, they will not assist the players if any guards are around. If the players defeat half or more of the guards, the prisoners will start to assist the players; how they help is up to the dm digression. If no guards are around, the players can attempt a DC 12 Charisma check to ask the prisoners to help them. On success, 1d6, commoners will join the player’s party, and the rest will lie on the player’s behalf and help cover up the player’s process at the location.

Prison Uprising

There is a good chance that your players will not merely seek the prisoners’ aid in their escape but seek to cause a full-scale prison uprising or mass breakout. If your players decide to go down this route, roll with it. This chapter takes significant inspiration from The Great Escape and the Vorkuta level from Call of Duty Black Ops. However, this does make most of the encounters in the mine trivial. To keep the adventure challenging, several of the location descriptions have additional conditions that apply during a prison uprising.

Líadan

If the players get in over their heads in a fight, Líadan can swoop in to help as a form of Deus Ex Machina. At your digression, she will use her spells, some borrowed potions, and alchemist fire to help the players for one round once per encounter.

1. The hidden chamber

The chamber the players discovered the bag of holding in is safe for the time being; the guards will not enter the chamber due to warning signs around the entrance to the tunnel. If the players enter the tunnel leading to the chamber while a guard is looking at them, then the guards will follow them into the chamber.

2. The North Mining Face

Screams of pain echo down the tunnel from the mining face. Inside the chamber, Cael and his 3 flunkies are beating on one of your fellow prisoners while the others look on, terrified.

Prison Guard officer Cael and his 5 Prison Guard goons (See Appendix B) are so fixated on torturing their victim that they do not notice the players enter. The players are guaranteed a surprise round if they do nothing to get their attention.

Prisoners. There are 25  prisoners.

Treasure. In addition to their gear, Cael and his men have 45 gold pieces between them.

3 Central Lift Shaft

The tunnel opens into a large chamber that is lit with lanterns. The massive shaft of the mine lift is right in front of you. A series of ropes is off to one side of the shaft. A pair of guard and a guard captain sit at a makeshift table playing dice.

Two prison guard and prison guard officer (See Appendix B) are too engrossed in their dice game to notice the player’s approach.

Ropes. The various ropes signal the lift operator in the lift house above to lower or raise the lift. There are three ropes in total. The first two from the right are connected to small spring-operated bells in the lift operator control shed. The character pulls on these ropes twice to have the operator lower or raise the lift box. The third thicker one is connected to the alarm bell mounted in the lift house. When this bell is rung, it starts one of the following timers, depending on whether the lift is at the top or bottom of the shaft.

Treasure. There are 15 gp in various coins on the table and another 17 in the guard’s pockets.

Top of the shaft Timer d4: When the timer reaches zero, the lift box with a random guard group arrives at the bottom of the shaft and attacks the players.

Bottom of the shaft Timer d8: When the timer starts, the lift box rises up the shaft. When the timer reaches zero, the lift box returns with a random guard group. The guards immediately attack the players.

 4. The Central Mining Faces

The air is filled with the ringing of pickaxes on stone and the stench of unwashed bodies performing hard labor. The tunnel branches into multiple gloomy chambers filled with men and women hacking away at the iron ore.

There are 20 guards and 60 prisoners spread among the 5 chambers.

Treasure. A search of the guards’ pockets turns up 80 gp

Chamber A

This chamber has 4 prison guards (See Appendix C) and 8 prisoners.

Chamber B

This chamber holds 4 prison guards and 12 prisoners. Sections of the ceiling crumble every time a pickax strikes the wall.

Weak Ceiling. Parts of the ceiling are weak and could cave in if given a good whack. The players can identify these sections and cause the cave-in with a DC 10 intelligence check and a DC 14 strength check.

Chamber C

There are 5 prison guards (See Appendix B) and 20 prisoners in this chamber. A stack of barrels is in a small alcove off the main chamber.

Oil Stockpile. One of the alcoves in this large chamber is being used to store three barrels of lantern oil. Players can use an action to dump the contents of one of these barrels onto the floor. Each barrel can cover an area roughly 15 feet in diameter. The oil puddle can be lit using an action, and any character who starts their turn in the burning oil receives 1d6 fire damage.

Chamber D

There are 3 prison guards (See Appendix B) and 10 prisoners in the chamber.

Chamber E

There are 4 prison guards (See Appendix B) and 10 prisoners in the chamber.

Reinforcements

When combat starts in any of the chambers, start the following timer d4: When the timer reaches zero, the guards stationed in one of the adjacent chambers arrive to reinforce their fellows. New timers will be created until all the guards in the five chambers are dead or flee.

5 South Mining Face

This tall, gloomy chamber is filled with the noise of pickaxes and shovels striking stone. Dozens of little points of light are along the various balconies and ledges overlooking the deep central pit. To your right is half a dozen sacks of freshly mined ore.

The chamber extends 20 feet above and 15 feet below the entrance. The walls are lined with stone shelves and various bits of scaffolding. Five prison guards (See Appendix B) are on the multiple levels of the scaffolding.

Prisoners. 20 prisoners are chipping ore and stone from the wall.

Full bags. By the entrance to the chamber are piles of bags containing freshly mined ore. As an action, a player can take a DC 13 strength check to throw one of the bags into an enemy. Enemies hit by the bags take 1d4 bludgeoning damage and are knocked back 5 feet.

Treasure. The guards have 75gp in coinage on their person.

Climbing the ventilation shaft, Generated with imagen3

6 Ventilation Shaft

The tunnel ends in a shaft that leads straight upwards with no intercepting tunnels. You can see the light above and hear the faint sound of the prison camps echoing off the shaft’s wall.

The shaft is about 6 feet in diameter and 40 feet high. The players can make a DC 14 dexterity check to throw the grappling hook up the shaft. It takes a dc 7 athletics check to climb up the rope to the top of the shaft.

 7 Lift House

These small shack-like structures host the mechanisms for the lifts that lead down to the mines.

There are three lift houses, scattered throughout the prison camp. The players are currently at lift house C. Each has a little room where the goblin prison guard (See Appendix B) who operates the lift works, a wheel treadmill roughly 12 feet in diameter and 12 feet wide with 5 prisoners inside serving as a power source for the lift, 2 riot prison guards minding the prisoners, and an alarm bell attached to the lift head that operated by the lift operator.

Alarm bell. As an action, a character can pull the rope connected to the bell to cause it to ring for two rounds. Start a time d4: when the timer reaches zero, a random group of guards arrives.

Lift car: The lift can only safely accommodate 30 creatures at a time and takes a minimum of 2 rounds to go up or down. 4 round trips are required to ferry all the prisoners in the mining tunnels to the main camp.

Prison Uprising:  The moment it becomes clear to the 3 guards at the lift that a prison riot is in progress, they immediately flee to raise the alarm. Start a timer d4. When the timer reaches zero, they return with a group from the random guard patrol table and attack the players and their allies. New groups of enemies from the random guard patrol will arrive every 1d4 rounds until the last group of prisoners has exited the lift.

8 Storehouse and Lumber Yard

This large blocky building has a couple of guards patrolling around it. Prisoners can be seen working through the various doors of the building and lumber yards outside.

Seven prison guards(See Appendix B) stand outside the warehouse while a dozen prisoners do menial tasks.

Supplies. The warehouse is filled with crates of lanterns, sacks and barrels of dried foodstuff, racks of tools, clay bottles of lantern oil, and other consumables required for operating a prison camp and mine.

Large Crates. There are a dozen large empty crates in the storehouse. As an action, the players can hide the bodies of slain guards or themselves inside the crates.

Patrol. When the players arrive, start a timer d4: When the timer reaches zero, a random group of guards arrives.

Treasure. The guards have 55 gp worth of silver and copper coins on them. One of the guards has a silver inlayed flask worth another 15gp. Inside the warehouse is a strong box containing 3 potions of healing.

9. Guard Barracks

The building is an imposing mass of black brick. Inside are a dozen Spartan dormitories with 8 bunk beds and 16 lockers each. You can hear voices up ahead and smell the sweet scent of soap lofting through the air.

Twelve prisoners are moping the barracks floor as a Prison Guard Officer (See Appendix B), and a pair of prison guards berate them.

Patrol. When the players arrive, start a timer d4:

when the timer reaches zero, a random group of guards arrives. Aftethe timer reaches zero, restart the timer.

Treasure. Looting each dormitory comprises a turn. Each of the dormitories contains the following

• 4d20 gp worth of copper, silver, and gold coins
• 1d20 spare sets of guard uniforms and clothing
• 10d12 gp worth of personal items, including toiletry items and small pieces of cheap jewelry.

10 Prisoner Barracks

The grim building in front of you is an unwelcome site. You have many bad memories of this place and its sisters; the stench of filth and human waste is overpowering. There seems to be no one in sight.

With all the prisoners at work, the 3 prisoner barracks are deserted. The players can use these as hiding places or means to move unseen through the camp.

 11 Mess Hall

The smell of cooking gruel, meat, and baking bread lofts from the mess hall’s windows. You can see multiple shadows moving around inside and the sound of laughter.

Two prison guard officers eat and drink, and a dozen prisoners work in the kitchen.

Patrol. When the players arrive, start the following timer d4: when the timer reaches zero, a random group of guards arrives.

Treasure. The officers have 10gp on them.

12 Infirmary

The infirmary smells of antiseptic and death. A single man in a priest’s habit is cleaning up a makeshift operating table.

Doctor. The man is a priest doctor from the Sanctuary of the Resplendent Hand forced to serve as the camp’s resident medic. Of all the prisoners in the camp, he is the only one who was never accused of a crime; he was simply grabbed off the street and forced to work for the prison guards. While at work, he is chained to his examination table to prevent him from having any ideas about escape. The players can break his chain with an AC 10 strength check.

Patrol. When the players arrive, start a timer d4: when the timer reaches zero, a random group of guards arrives.

Treasure. The priest has a collection of potions and medicines he is more than willing to let the players take. There are two potions of healing, two vials of antitoxin, and other assorted medicines worth 200gp.

Development. Freeing the priest will increase the starting opinion of the  Sanctuary Of the Resplendent Hand by 1.

Prison Infirmary, generated with Google Imagen3

 13 Armory

This squat stone castle-like building has a dozen guards around it. Inside, there are racks of weapons, a safe, and a thick door.

14 prison guards(See Appendix C) are standing watch around the Armory.

Armory. The armory contains 2d20 spears, 1d20 axes, 1d12 heavy shields, 1d20 light crossbows, 400 bolts, and 3d20 sets of leather armor.

Powder room. The thick door leads to a powder store room containing 5 kegs of black powder and 6 premade powder charges.

Patrol. When the players arrive, start a timer d4: when the timer reaches zero, a random group of guards arrives.

Prison Uprising: During the uprisingthe prison guards’ top priority is protecting the armory. In addition to the 12 guards protecting the armory, there is an additional 1 guard for every 5 escaped prisoners in the players’ group and a single guard officer. The armory has enough equipment to arm 40 prisoners with the same gear as prison guards and 20 more with crossbows.

Treasure. The safe is locked and requires a DC 15 sleight of hand check with thieves’ tools to open. Inside is 300gp,100sp, a spell scroll of thunderwave, a spell scroll of burning hands, and a spell scroll of color spray. Among the racks of weapons is a bundle of 20 +1 arrows.

14 Wardens Residence

The warden’s stout stone cabin sits some distance from the rest of the camp. Light spills out through the building’s windows. Inside, you can see the camp warden alone in his office.

The camp warden is a prison guard officer. There is no one else in the building.

Treasure. The cottage contains 100gp worth of random coins and small art objects.

 15 Gate

Before you stands the last obstacle to your escape: the gates of Ironhold. A couple of bored-looking guards man-mill about the door.

One Prison Guard officer and four prison guards are milling around the gate in absolute boredom. The guards hate gate duty and are not paying attention to their work. If the players succeed on a DC 16 stealth check, they can gain a surprise round.

Prison Riot. The guards are taking no chances at the gate; for every 8 prisoners accompanying the players, a Prison Riot Guard is waiting for them. There is no chance for a surprise round.

Treasure The guards have 20gp in coinage between them. The officer has a has a pair of engraved bone dice worth 25gp

Home Free?

With Ironhold’s gates behind them, the players might think they are home free, but they are mistaken. Once the players are through the gate, read the following.

Your feet pound the tunnel’s stone as the Ironhold gate recedes into the distance. You are almost at the tunnel’s end when a party of soldiers steps into it. There is a moment of confusion, which ends when a hobgoblin officer in fancy clothes shouts, “What are you waiting for? They are obviously escaped prisoners.” The soldiers form up to block you.

The party opposing the players consists of an army captain (See Appendix B) and 4 skirmishers(adjust the number of guards based on the number of escaped prisoners or if the players have one or more powder charges). They will fight to the death, assuming that Ironhold’s guards will arrive any minute to help apprehend the jailbreakers.

Prison Riot. Instead of heading to Ironhold for an inspection, the officer leads a force of soldiers to suppress the uprising. For every 5 allies the players have, add a skirmisher to Eamon’s force.

Treasure. The guards have 8gp of loose change each,  the captain has 10gp in a coin purse and a golden cape clasp worth 20gp

Development. The players have unwittingly killed Prince Eamon Ó Ceallaigh, King Murtagh Ó Ceallaigh’s favorite son.

Prince Eamon Ó Ceallaigh and his men generated using Google Imagen3

Into the City

Now that they are out of Ironhold, they are, for the moment, one of the faceless masses who call this city home and, thus, relatively safe. The players are not out of the woods yet. Sliberberg is a notoriously hard city to navigate, even for lifetime residents.

Underberg

Underberg is the most confusing part of the city to navigate. The ward is a 3d maze of dim tunnels and caves. The players will have to make a DC 17 investigation or survival check to orient themselves and 2 more successful checks with the same skills to navigate out of the ward. If the players escaped with allies, there is a 1 in 6 chance that one of them can use the map to lead them to the safehouse.

Residents of Underberg make these checks with advantage. Failing these checks results in the players stumbling into a group of 1d8 drow from the Black Widow’s Web.

As the players wander, describe to them the toil that the regime has been taking on the Underberg; describe whimsical ornamental carvings and reliefs on the facades of homes and businesses that have irreparably marred by efforts to widen the tunnels to make way for larger wagons and the eerie way the bioluminescent moss and fungi now flicker like dying light bulbs, describe how the kobolds, goblins, and dwarves that call the ward home hustle about under the disapproving stares of drow mercenaries and everybody they see look pensive as if they expect something is going leap out of the shadows and stab them.

The suppessed protest

Just as they are about to leave the Underberg, they encounter a group of dwarves and goblins protesting working conditions in the Underberg. Read the following

A large crowd of angry dwarves, kobolds, and goblins in workmen’s clothes has gathered in one of the larger chambers. They are shouting slogans like “No more exploitation” and “Far wages now” and have signs demanding safe working conditions, shorter days, and better pay. As you watch, a large group of drow, goblin, and hobgoblin soldiers, maybe 90 in total, descend on mass upon the group and start to lay in with drow poison-coated crossbow bolts and shortswords. When bolt and blade strike, protesters fall silent and eventually collapse before they are carried off by the mercenaries. Before you can even think of interfering in the mounting brawl, a voice echoes in your mind, “Do not dawdle; if you interfere, you will be captured again; you must get to the safe house,” it says.

It is up to the players to intervene if they want; however, you should make it clear that they cannot win if they choose to fight; the best they can do is try to save a few of the protesters from the gulags.

The Grand Fey Marketplace

Once out of the tunnels, the players still have to navigate the twisting streets of the lower ward. They must make two history or investigation checks with a DC of 15 to do so. Residents of the Lower Ward make the checks with advantage. Failure results in the players encountering 1d8 watchmen. As the players travel through the lower ward, describe the oppressive cloud that hangs over the city. Describe to your players whimsical buildings that once housed businesses, which are now boarded up with signs saying, “By order of the watch, this establishment is closed.” There are destroyed window boxes and corner flower gardens everywhere, and the water fountains on the street corners are filled with brackish water. Describe to them how people duck into houses and back alleys when the watch comes patrolling and how they stare dull eyes out into the distance as they walk.

 The alley of Misbegotten toys

After making their first investigation or history check, read the following

The dreary alley between the Gleamspark Toy Emporium and the Fey Hobby Stop is a scene of carnage. Dolls and stuffed animals toddle around, collecting torn limbs and ripped dresses. Wooden toy soldiers limp about on broken legs. Tables and awnings have been smashed, and the window of Wilburt’s Secondhand Toy Store is smashed; a sign hangs from the door, “Closed by order of the Watch.” The misbegotten toys scatter to whatever hiding spots they can find as you walk down the alley. You can feel glass, buttons, and painted eyes watching you from the shadows in pure terror. As you are about to exit the alley, a single torn-up teddy bear who could not make it to a hiding spot pleads, “Please help us.”

Despite the pleas from the toys, there is very little that the players can do for them at this point. As if to emphasize that fact, a watch patrol comes marching the connecting side street and promptly gives the players a stern warning about loitering in alleyways.

Slibermond

After passing through the Alley of Misbegotten Toys the players arrive in a twilight soaked Slibermond just in time to hear a town crier anounce bizzare new tax laws. Read the following.

As you walk down a street, a town crier starts to ring his bell. Hear ye, hear ye!” he calls out, ”By decree of King Murtagh, there will be a tax of 5 silver pieces for all people taller than 4 feet, 1 silver piece on every person less than 4 feet tall, and 2 silver pieces for every person 4 feet tall. People with blond hair will pay an additional 10cp tax, and people who are right-handed will pay an additional 1sp every month. Furthermore, there is a new tax of 5cp on every tankard of ale sold.” The crier continues to read insane-sounding tax laws while struggling to remain impassive. Despite the absurdity of the laws being read, the crowd looks on in quiet acceptance of each crazy new tithe they owe to the regime.

As they move through the neighborhood, describe how all the wizards and witches are on edge. The air feels thick, as if it is straining against the regime’s atmosphere. There are more closed stores and shops with broken windows. As night falls on the city, describe how random magic street lamps sputter and flicker in the darkness, casting strange shadows upon the walls. Shortly after passing by the town crier, they arrive at the safehouse and read the following.

The safe house turns out to be a two-story-tall half-timber house in Slibermond. When you knock on the door, a Fairy woman opens it and tells you in a familiar-sounding voice, “I’ve been waiting for you. Hurry down into the basement.” She leads you to a secret door in the basement wall and ushers you inside. Inside is a Spartan room with a few cots, a table with plates of hot food and cups of drink, and a few chairs.

The players will be safe here until Matron Tansy arrives in the morning.

Bad News

The players spend the night alone in the safehouse. Have them describe how they spent their long rest. Did they sleep peacefully, or was the night fitful? At any rate, their slumber is disturbed by the sound of the door to their hiding place opening. Read the following

The door swings open, and a short figure is outlined in the lantern light beyond. “Alright, you a band of layabouts, rise and shine,” she says in a cockney accent. She steps forth, revealing a middle-aged gnome woman. Her face is brownish with angular features and the attitude of a schoolmistress. She wears a well-made and almost stereotypical good witches’ outfit of red cloth with gold accents. She holds in her hands a basket of steaming hot muffins.

She introduces herself as Tansy Fleetfoot, Matron of the Silver Moon Coven, owner of the Siver Moon Cafe and Bakery, and architect of your escape. She holds out the basket of muffins and tells them to help themselves, saying that she baked them herself. The muffins are easily the most delicious things the players have ever eaten.

Tansy then sits herself down and sighs. She tells them that there is terrible news. She takes out a bundle of papers and lays them all on the table. The pieces of paper are wanted posters, each depicting

Tansy bursting in on the players generated with OpenAI DALL-E.

one of the player’s faces. The posters say that the players are wanted alive for the murder of Prince

Eamon, treason, and rebellion against the throne, and there is a massive reward of 2500gp for their capture. Read the following

Tansy sighs again, “I bleedin, screwed up big time, ‘Prince’ Eamon was supposed to do an inspection tour of Ironhold yesterday. The Royal Army found him deader than a doornail just after you lot scarpered. He was one of the few things stopin Murtagh from turnin’ into a full fledged tyrant. Now his favorite son is pushin up daisies an’ he’s on the warpath. He ain’t gonna stop until you’re kneelin before him in enough chains to pin a giant. If he can’t get to you, he will surely take out his rage on your families and loved ones, not that you have much chance of slippin out of his reach. Soon enough, there won’t be a single safe place left for you with the kingdom growin every time they send an army into the wilds.

She sighs once more and says what’s done is done. She took a big gamble getting them out of Ironhold, and she can only pray that it will pay off. She tells the players that the city and the kingdom have been going to hell in a handbasket ever since Murtagh usurped the throne. The coven has been walking a tightrope trying to mitigate the damage he and his flunkies have been causing to the citizens of the Feengrenze, but they have reached a breaking point; Murtagh’s armies are causing too much death and destruction for them to be able to help all the victims. Also, with Eamon gone, things will only get worse and do so quickly. That is why, since the coup, she has been using her magic to look for a crew of potential heroes who can take on Murtagh’s regime and win. She has looked into the players’ futures and has identified the players as the ones destined to form and lead the Sliberberg Resistance to victory against Murtagh. Given recent events, players have little choice, with Eamon dead and Murtagh on the warpath; either they kill Murtagh, or Murtagh will eventually kill them.

If asked how they could take down the King and his army, she explains that Murtagh’s army is a collection of mercenaries and conscripts from all over, led by a handful of talented leaders. If one of the leaders were to be killed, their forces would fall into disarray with factional infighting between officers and mass desertions effectively neutralizing them. If they were to kill all 5 commanders, Murtagh’s forces would become so chaotic that the players would have a chance to slip into Castle Sliberberg and deal with the man himself. Better yet, all five of the commanders live and work in the city. However, this does not mean it will be easy, as the commanders are stronger than they are and are surrounded by nominally loyal soldiers. The players must form a resistance to stand any hope of defeating all five. She asks the players if they are willing to step up and be the heroes Sliberberg desperatly needs. If they agree, she gives them a pair of Conspirators’ Notebooks, saying they will need them to keep in touch and telling them that the safehouse is theirs to keep. She tells the players that she cannot stay; she is the very public headmistress of  a society of magic practitioners, and she tells them they should get on with fighting the power or whatever it is called these days.

However, Tansy is much more than she seems. She is not merely a potent witch and master baker; she is a minor archfey and a fairy godmother. For some time, Tansy has been using her magic to search for a group of heroes destined to lead the kingdom to a brighter future, and that search has led her to the players. She knows much more about the players’ destinies and the city’s current situation than she has revealed to them.

• She knows where Murtagh has  Fredrick imprisoned
• She has foreseen that the players are going to be the ones to end Fredrick’s cycle of depression
• She knows the Silver Lady of Sliberberg’s true identity
• She knows about Murtagh’s contract with Fionnuala the Fair
• She knows everything about the Commanders, including weaknesses and schedules
• She knows how the players can resolve their personal stories.

She cannot do anything despite knowing all this and the overwhelming magical powers at her disposal. She and the 7 other fairy godmothers who serve as the coven’s leadership have placed restrictions on themselves, enshrined in binding Eightfold oaths that prevent them from directly changing fate; they can only show people the path to their happy endings and no more. Hence, they need to find destined heroes whom they can guide and aid in changing the world. Therefore, she sought out the player characters to lead the Sliberberg Resistance.