Vondarbaku

Vondarbaku is a small fishing village in the region of Hamia, within the nation of Aratai - The Centre of the World.
A chaotic jumble of stone jettys stick out along the riverbanks, giving anchorage for the numerous fishing boats that move up and down the river throughout the hours of sunlight. They jetty itself, or at least the rumour of the jetty, is that is the ancient remains of a huge giant bridge that spanned the entire river.
The oldest building in Vondarbaku are set back from the river, and are carved directly into the orange sandstone cliffs nearby. More recent buildings - those closer to the river - are almost entirely built out of wattle and daub, using the discarded wheat straw from the local farms as filler for the walls.
One of the original settlers of the new village, the mud house part of it, was a bold adventurer and explorer named Wulkin P. Wulkin was driven by an insatiable curiosity about the vast oceans and the promise they held. He set sail on countless voyages, venturing far and wide across tumultuous seas. With each journey, he collected treasures, rare spices, and the tales of distant lands, captivating hearts and imaginations. Eventually, after a particularly treacherous expedition, Wulkind discovered the sheltered village of Vondarbaku and its teeming natural resources and strategic location, and set up home there.

NPCs:

• Garusk: A sea Captain whose family lives in Vondarbaku, but spend much time piloting his ship in the inner sea. He is full of wonderous stories. Most are tall tales, but not all...
• Azrteka: AnIrrigation engineer whose family has lived in the sandstone caves on the outskirts of Vondarbaku for longer that anyone can remember. Azrteka knows the sandstone caves better than anyone in the village and is aware that a danger, and fabled treasure, lies within them.
• Sevket Nas: A suspicious travelling merchant that arrived in Vandarbaku a few days ago. selling illegitimate and potentially harmful products?(kind of like a snake oil salesman)

Adventure Hooks:

Fire at the Mill

There was a mill, but it recently was hit by lightning, and burst into violent flame, almost spreading to the other homes. Some people report seeing a fiery, humanoid silhouette while the building was burning, and now the villagers are avoiding the area, thinking it's haunted or cursed. The truth is... a wounded fire elemental has settled there while it recovers. That which wounded it, is still seeking it. If the PCs assist the elemental, it will help them and/or the village.

The Bottle

Deep within the winding, wind erroded sandstone cave on the outskirts of the village lies a chamber within which rests a bottle. Within the bottle is map to the hidden location of Wulkin P's famous boat and all it's treasure. The chamber is guarded by HEAPS of Stallact Scorpions.

Stallact Scorpion CR: 1

Medium beast,

Armor Class: 12

Hit Points: 39

Speed: 30 ft , burrow: 20 ft

STR

14 +2

DEX

14 +2

CON

14 +2

INT

3 -4

WIS

13 +1

CHA

6 -2

Skills: Perception +5, Stealth +4

Damage Resistances: Poison, heat

Challenge Rating: 1

Blind sight. The scorpion is able to detect small tremours caused by nearby movement, allowing it to sense its opponents with or without light.

Actions

Multiattack. The scorpion can make 1 pincer and 1 stinger attack.
Stinger - dehydration disease. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw against disease or become poisoned with a disease that causes dehydration until it is cured. Every 24 hours that elapse, the creature must repeat the saving throw, reducing its hit point maximum by 5 (1d10) on a failure. This reduction lasts until the disease is cured. The creature dies if the disease reduces its hit point maximum to 0.
Stinger - poison. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage, and the target must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw, taking 6 (1d10) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4 + 2) bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 12). The scorpion has two claws, each of which can grapple only one target.

Medium sized scorpion with two stingers.

Hamia Region

Open full size

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