Missing Memories and Stolen Shadows
I originally used a version of this to start a campaign where the PCs were "back-story lite." Enjoy, and as always feedback is welcome.
Fleeing Through a Forest
You find yourself fleeing through moonlit woods, clutching injuries you don't remember getting. Unseen enemies occasionally lash out at you from the shadows.
The party starts this encounter with half HP, no more than 1 spell slot per level, and are frightened (the source of which is behind them). A critical success is the only way to get rid of the Frightened condition. The attackers in this encounter are shrouded in shadow, but spells the create bright light will reveal jagged corporeal shadows reaching out from the trees. All party members should be rendered unconscious in 3-5 rounds. As the last part member falls, read the following
As you fall to the ground shadows swarm over you and you feel a curious tearing sensation before feeling a profound sense of loss. As your vision fades the moon light seems to brighten, and a soft voice can barely be heard "And how does a group like this show up on the King's Road.
Hell's Half-Acre
Adventure Hooks
Missing Memories Several traders who have come to the Monastery of Five Winds, located to the north, have muddled or missing memories of their time there. They only know for sure that they have been there because they are loaded up with goods that had to have come from there, and the denizens of Hell's Half-acre asked how their trip went and if there is any news from the Monastery. The party can discover this either by talking with the traders or from Til, the bartender. Til is rather knowledgeable on the effects of missing memories, and should the party allow him to, he will point out that the parties memories were taken by a magical means, something he has not seen dont in a while. "The longer your memories remain gone, the harder it will be to get them back, and that is assuming that something else doesnt move in, it is not only this plane in which creatures look for holes to nest in"
Stolen Shadows Traders who are up from the south have troubling news from Celes, The Weeping City. It seems that the shadows of some of the cities famous statues are behaving oddly, not pointing where they should. One such statue no longer has a shadow at all and is rumored to consume the shadows of those who touch it. This can be learned by talking to Lux, the blacksmith and farrier at Hell's Half-acre, who has noted that he never seems to see some of the more regular caravan leaders anymore, and one of the horses was missing its shadow. "Losing your shadow may not be as immediately crippling as losing a limb, but it will start to wear on your soul. Worst case, if someone else has it they can eventually use it to get to you, all manner of old curses and forbidden magics can be cast through a shadown once it has been properly prepared. Magic Item Hook
As an optional "quest", the blacksmith has several broken magical items that the dryads dop off when they find them in the forest, A broken wizards staff missing the other half, a shield with the heraldry pried off, a cloak missing half the brooch that hold it closed are but a few examples, and this can be tailored to the players, the magic is still obviously present, but without the missing piece no repairs can be made. Each party member is drawn to one of the magic items. Sensing a connection, Lux allows them to take the item that they are drawn too, but he lets them know that he cannot repair them with the materials that he has on hand, "Just as a broken bones cannot heal on a severed hand, what is missing must be found before these can be made whole again."
The Monastery of Five Winds
Should the party choose to investigate the missing memories, they will travel north to The Monastery of Five Winds. The trip there is uneventful, but when the party gets there They find the monastery in somewhat of a state of disarray. Four of the five leaders of the monastery have completely lost their memory, and the fifth is nowhere to be found. While other monks are trying to keep up with maintaining the terrace farms and the other daily activities required to keep the monastery running, more and more people will forget what they were doing and wander away from an in progress task. Luckily only a single small fire has broken out, and was quickly dealt with.
The group of monks least effected seems to be a small order who followed the same practices as the missing leader. Talking with them will reveal that that they worship the fifth wind, also known as The Fell Wind. Everything started happening after their leader entered a trance during lunch one day and announced "The Fell Wind Blows! Chang is coming to the world..." before being rushed out by the leaders of the other four orders. The leaders of the other sects lost their memories shortly after that, and the problem has been spreading since.
A single member of the Order will offer to give the party access to the records room, located in the catacombs below the monastery's main building, but warns that party that the last several monks to go down there went missing.
While the first few rooms are well maintained, the catacombs quickly become a series of maze-like tunnels. A constant wind howls through the catacombs, masking any noise the party makes, but also extinguishing any non-magical flames that the party carries. In one of the first chambers, one of the missing monks can be found, dehydrated but alive, studying ancient map showing an expansive tunnel system leading off into the mountains to the east. There are old, faded notes scribbled over some parts of the map, and at the torn edge a more recent note warning of venturing further "...lest The Wind take its Toll on you..."
The group of monks least effected seems to be a small order who followed the same practices as the missing leader. Talking with them will reveal that that they worship the fifth wind, also known as The Fell Wind. Everything started happening after their leader entered a trance during lunch one day and announced "The Fell Wind Blows! Chang is coming to the world..." before being rushed out by the leaders of the other four orders. The leaders of the other sects lost their memories shortly after that, and the problem has been spreading since.
A single member of the Order will offer to give the party access to the records room, located in the catacombs below the monastery's main building, but warns that party that the last several monks to go down there went missing.
While the first few rooms are well maintained, the catacombs quickly become a series of maze-like tunnels. A constant wind howls through the catacombs, masking any noise the party makes, but also extinguishing any non-magical flames that the party carries. In one of the first chambers, one of the missing monks can be found, dehydrated but alive, studying ancient map showing an expansive tunnel system leading off into the mountains to the east. There are old, faded notes scribbled over some parts of the map, and at the torn edge a more recent note warning of venturing further "...lest The Wind take its Toll on you..."
Celes the Weeping City
As the party travels south, the terrain flattens out and the forest eventually gives way to a large mangrove, above which the road sits on a long wooden bridge. Located a few days into the mangrove is the city of Celes. A curious town, the buildings and streets of Celes are build on raised platforms, allowing the city to remain unaffected by the seasonal changes in water level brought about by both the rapid snow-melt in the mountains, and the season storms that can blow in large storm surges from miles away.
Its most curious feature now is the large statues that make a series of rings throughout the town. ranging in size from 10 to 50 feet (measured from water level) these ancient monuments are worn with age but well cared for by the city. During the day it is obvious that while the shadows of the tallest statues grow shorter and longer as the day passes, they always point to the north-west.
The locals have started avoiding these shadows, walking around them, even going to the next street over to avoid crossing the shadow, although everyone is hesitant to talk about why. Most locals will simply respond with some variation of "I don't go messing with the strange things, that is how curses happen" or something similar. However, members of the local fishing guild seem more than willing to enter the shadows to harvest clams and other crustaceans from the base of the statues, though they always park their boats in the sunlight and wade into the shadow on foot.
A talk with members of the fishing guild will point the party toward an old fisherman, one of the oldest members of the community. This old fisherman tells the party the following
Its most curious feature now is the large statues that make a series of rings throughout the town. ranging in size from 10 to 50 feet (measured from water level) these ancient monuments are worn with age but well cared for by the city. During the day it is obvious that while the shadows of the tallest statues grow shorter and longer as the day passes, they always point to the north-west.
The locals have started avoiding these shadows, walking around them, even going to the next street over to avoid crossing the shadow, although everyone is hesitant to talk about why. Most locals will simply respond with some variation of "I don't go messing with the strange things, that is how curses happen" or something similar. However, members of the local fishing guild seem more than willing to enter the shadows to harvest clams and other crustaceans from the base of the statues, though they always park their boats in the sunlight and wade into the shadow on foot.
A talk with members of the fishing guild will point the party toward an old fisherman, one of the oldest members of the community. This old fisherman tells the party the following
The ocean ain't about to let the Shadow Hunter take things from it. She's a right jealous bitch, but she protects what's hers.
He will point the party towards one of the smaller statues, which appears to depict a sea creature of some sort (though the ocean proper is over 50 miles away.) This statue appears to have no shadow at all, although passing an investigation check will reveal that the top half of the statue hinges open to reveal a staircase that leads to an ancient aqueduct that runs underneath the mangroves.
The Monastery Catacombs
As the catacombs wind deeper into the foothills, there are several long forgotten chambers to explore. Several chambers on the map contain reliefs depicting the history of the monastery, though some of them are defaced, there may be some low level magical scrolls or common magic items depending on your campaigns magic level. As the party approaches the edge of the region detailed by the map, more and more of the reliefs are defaced. There are a few enemies associated with the Plane of Air (Smoke elementals, dust devils, etc) though they are insane and cannot be communicated with.
In the room at the edge of the map, there are broken runed on the floor and walls. Past this point is a maze. Runes in certain chambers require the party to make a constitution save or be affected by the magic of the above Vertigo Mountains and become disoriented. This condition gives them disadvantage on DEX saves, failing such a save causes them to fall prone, and they have a -2 penalty to AC. This area is filled with more insane air elemental enemies. In addition, the hallways here have a constant, whispering wind. Whenever the party stop for a shot or long rest they must make a WIS save as the sentient winds whisper of past transgressions and failures that the party may or may not remember. Failing this save has no immediate effect, but should be noted for the boss battle.
On defeating the djinni the party can explore his chamber, in his tarnished lamp are all the memories that he has stolen, and any missing monks that the party didn't find wandering the catacombs. If playing with the broken magical items, the party discovers some of the pieces needed to repair their magic items. Other loot is at the GMs discretion.
In the room at the edge of the map, there are broken runed on the floor and walls. Past this point is a maze. Runes in certain chambers require the party to make a constitution save or be affected by the magic of the above Vertigo Mountains and become disoriented. This condition gives them disadvantage on DEX saves, failing such a save causes them to fall prone, and they have a -2 penalty to AC. This area is filled with more insane air elemental enemies. In addition, the hallways here have a constant, whispering wind. Whenever the party stop for a shot or long rest they must make a WIS save as the sentient winds whisper of past transgressions and failures that the party may or may not remember. Failing this save has no immediate effect, but should be noted for the boss battle.
The Mad Djinni
The boss of the area is a mad Djinni. (reduced threat if required). This djinni was trapped in the maze like catacombs with the Fell Wind. It has been using some of the lesser elementals to steal memories and secrets of people in the area. Its only spells the Djinni can cast are Dissonant Whispers, Phantasmal Force and/or Phantasmal Killer. (For non-5E games, these spells all deal psychic damage and flavor-wise prey on insecurities and fears of the target. You can describe the djinni using the winds to whisper past shames awhile the djinni creates illusions that the wind can give form to.) For each failed save a party member made while exploring the catacombs, the Djinni can use the knowledge the winds stole from the characters to force that character to fail a saving throw.On defeating the djinni the party can explore his chamber, in his tarnished lamp are all the memories that he has stolen, and any missing monks that the party didn't find wandering the catacombs. If playing with the broken magical items, the party discovers some of the pieces needed to repair their magic items. Other loot is at the GMs discretion.
Aqueducts Under the Mangrove
These aqueducts are in surprisingly good condition despite no longer carrying water. In the area around the entrance are several chambers, one under each of the statues above. There is not much in these chambers, besides a few errant pixies. These are not immediately hostile, but if ignored will pull pranks on the party. They are trying to detach the shadows from the statues above (something they will never succeed at) because they have seen the power doing so has brought to the hags further in the aqueducts.
As the party moved deeper into the aqueduct the party start to be attacked by shadows as they start to enter the lair of the Hags. The shadows are not strong individually, but are more nuisance monsters, being drawn to the party in greater and greater numbers the longer they remain still (this prevents the party from taking anything but a short rest. As the party moves further from Celes the tunnels get larger and larger as more ancient aqueducts converge on the main channel. Some of these rooms have accumulated various odds and ends over the centuries, but quickly lead ot dead ends where sinkholes or cave-ins block the path. Eventually an apparent dead end is reached, with 2 branching paths going back towards the direction the party came from.
These paths go only a short way until the dead-end at the lairs of 2 covens of lesser hags once both are defeated a hidden stairway is revealed, leading to the lair of a coven of Shadow Hags.
Upon defeating the Hags and opening all the cages, the parties shadows are returned. If playing with broken magical Items, half the the items needed to repair half of the magic items are found in the hags lair (or in the lairs of the lesser hags.) Other treasure is at the GMs discretion.
As the party moved deeper into the aqueduct the party start to be attacked by shadows as they start to enter the lair of the Hags. The shadows are not strong individually, but are more nuisance monsters, being drawn to the party in greater and greater numbers the longer they remain still (this prevents the party from taking anything but a short rest. As the party moves further from Celes the tunnels get larger and larger as more ancient aqueducts converge on the main channel. Some of these rooms have accumulated various odds and ends over the centuries, but quickly lead ot dead ends where sinkholes or cave-ins block the path. Eventually an apparent dead end is reached, with 2 branching paths going back towards the direction the party came from.
These paths go only a short way until the dead-end at the lairs of 2 covens of lesser hags once both are defeated a hidden stairway is revealed, leading to the lair of a coven of Shadow Hags.
The Shadow Hags
The Shadow Hag coven is responsible for the missing shadows. With you in their lair, the proximity to the parties stolen shadows allows the hags to cast magic through the shadow. Each hag has a cage or similar container of shadows, Until the shadows are set free the Lair is considered Difficult terrain and Bright Light from spells is reduced to Dim Light automatically, and areas of cast shadow act as walls with respect to magical effects. Breaking a cage before defeating the associated Hag will cause damage to the Hag as the shadows pass through them before returning to their rightful owner. If playing on a physical table or on certain VTTs feel free to adjust the lighting source at the top of the round to change the layout of the battlefield, with players taking damage if a shadow passes over them.Upon defeating the Hags and opening all the cages, the parties shadows are returned. If playing with broken magical Items, half the the items needed to repair half of the magic items are found in the hags lair (or in the lairs of the lesser hags.) Other treasure is at the GMs discretion.
Resolution
The party, should they choose, returns to Hell's Half-acre (should they wish to do the other half of this adventure the the easiest path, along the trade road, leads though the outpost anyway. Depending on what they retrieved, and what they have not retrieved, they receive the following debuff (noticed as they travel after the Boss Battle)If the party has retrieved the items needed to repair one of the items Lux allowed them to take, Lux will repair the item at no charge, restoring its magical properties.
Congrats on getting it done!
Learn about the World of Wizard's Peak. I'm participating in World Anvil's Summer Camp 2026, are you? Check out my progress at my Summer Camp 2026 Hub!
Thanks, it was a but if a rush, but had some downtime on the cruise. We need to get you back! (Next year is out of LA according to rumors)