The Dye-Maker's Daughter
Background
The daughter of a travelling dye-merchant has been abducted by a quasit owned by Sellicine the Caresser. Another quasit has also corrupted the local miller woman, and both humans are now in the caverns beneath the standing stones on a hill to the southwest of Last Hope. Silas posted a plea for help on the Last Hope Mercenary Company notice board this morning.Plot points/Scenes
Introduction
Silas Bluefinger is sitting alone in a corner of the common room of The Dancing Rabbit. Sad-eyed, he perks up when the characters make themselves known to him, pleading with them to help and offering them 20 GP each for the safe return of his daughter, Maybelle. When did Silas last see Maybelle? Maybelle often went out playing whilst Silas conducted business in town. She is well-known and liked by the Last Hope locals. Yesterday, she did not return for dinner. By supper-time, Silas was in a panic, and had searched every corner of town for his daughter to no avail. In desperation, he posted the notice on the board this morning. What does Maybelle look like? Maybelle is eight years-old, small for her age and has long wavy blonde hair. She was wearing a pale blue dress and matching shoes that Silas had made for her. Does he have any idea where she might have gone? Silas is at a loss, as normally Maybelle is well-behaved and cautious, never straying too far from The Dancing Rabbit or the Market, the two locations they spend most time at when they are in town. Silas does know she has a friend here, a young boy named Billbob, but he has been unable to find him since his daughter's disappearance.Picking up Maybelle's trail
Billbob
Billbob is to be found playing throwstones behind The Silent Hound. A scrawny human lad with unruly black hair, Billbob is initially wary of adults. A successful DC 12 Charisma (Persuasion) check is sufficient to get him to open up about what he knows about Maybelle. He is obviously fond of the girl, and feels protective towards her. He saw her yesterday, playing near the town gates with what looked to Billbob like a pet frog. She was singing to it in words that Billbob didn't understand, but which sounded like "those funny sounds the elves make". He was about to approach her to ask her to play throwstones with him when she skipped off, heading out the town gate. Billbob decided not to follow, and went back to looking for another playmate.Tracks leading south
Following Billbob's lead, the party can investigate for signs of Maybelle's passing at and around the town gate. Two members of the Lady's Keep Militia are stationed here. One remembers seeing a young girl skip past yesterday, but he thought nothing of it. He remembers she was heading southwest towards the trail that leads to Middletop Mill. On remarking that he thought the girl was perhaps the miller woman's daughter, the other guard informs him sternly that could not be possible, as the widowed miller woman's daughter died seven years ago. Any creature investigating the trail who succeeds on a DC 14 Wisdom (Survival) check is able to discern childish footprints heading southwest along the trail. If they pass the Survival check by 5 or more, they are also able to detect the very faint scent of rose perfume. If the party ask about the trail, the guards explain it leads to Middletop Mill, and then on to the Teeth of Graklaw, an ancient ring of standing stones thought to be Orcish in origin. Although they are only two miles from town, very few visit the stones, and the more superstitious town members claim they are haunted. If the characters seek out someone in town who knows more about the Teeth, they eventually come across a wizened old man in The Silent Hound, who claims he once saw 'dancing sprites, like little people with horns and wings' amongst the stones three years ago. Given that the man is in a state of drunkenness, the truth of his tale is hard to gauge, even with a successful Insight check. No-one else in town has any particular information or tales to tell about the stones, although most agree it is a place best avoided, "just in case".Towards the standing stones
Abandoned cart
Halfway along the trail, it forks to the west before continuing to the southwest. Any creature succeeding on a DC 11 Wisdom (Perception) check notices a flock of crows circling above what appears to be a wagon and horse a few hundred yards to the west. The sails of Middletop Mill can be seen several hundred yards beyond it. If the party investigate the cart, they find it abandoned. The horse, a black stallion, is still tethered to the wagon, but is grazing at the wildflowers that grow by the side of the trail. The cart is loaded with grain, but otherwise empty with no sign of a driver or any passengers. If any character is able to speak with animals, the horse reveals that his mistress jumped off the cart when she saw a "little yellow topped two-leg" on the main trail. She ran off, leaving him behind and he watched the pair of them walk towards the "hard pointy rocks" to the southwest. He knows very little else, though if asked about his mistress, he says she treats him well, though she is often "very wet-faced". However, she was "upcurve faced and making happy noises" yesterday, even before she saw the "yellow topped two-leg".Middletop Mill
Middletop Mill consists of a round windmill and a low building situated a few feet from the windmill's base. The mill's sails are slowly turning in a light breeze, and a wisp of smoke curls from the chimney of the building. The door to the windmill is unlocked. Inside, the structure is empty apart from the apparatus used to grind grain under a pair of large well-word millstones. The surface of the ground is covered in grain husks and flour. Any creature succeeding on a DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check notices a number of chaotic prints of a small creature that appears to have two prominent claws extending from a paw-like foot. Any creature succeeding on a DC 18 Intelligence (Nature) check is able to identify these as likely belonging to some kind of infernal imp. The mill building consists of two rooms: a large kitchen area and a bedchamber. A small outbuilding lies a few yards to the rear of the mill. The kitchen area has a pot simmering over a metal stove, in which a watery stew of vegetables and scrawny rabbit meat is slowly stewing. The fire from the stove is the source of the smoke curling from the chimney. A table and two chairs is placed in the eastern side of the kitchen area, alongside a wooden dresser containing plain utensils and crockery. The bedchamber also appears empty. The bed is made, and a table with a jug and washbasin stands beside it. A wardrobe contains a number of normal clothes and footwear, and a single window looks out over the front of the property to the well-tended flower bed. An invisible quasit is hiding beneath the bed. If any creatures stay within the bedchamber for more than a few moments, it attempts to scare them off by tapping at the washbasin, opening and closing the wardrobe doors, and rattling the shutters on the window. If these attempts fail, it manifests, using its Scare ability to attempt to terrify the nearerst creature it can see. It then attempts to attack with its claws before fleeing out the window, heading to its companion in the caverns beneath the standing stones. If the party defeat the quasit, it refuses to talk, feigning an inability to understand common and refusing to answer in Infernal. If the party kill it, its body crumbles to black ash. Any creature succeeding on a DC 14 Intelligence (investigation) check discovers a fragment of black rose petal underneath the pillow of the bed. Its scent is strong, and any creature inhaling it is overcome with a feeling of loss and regret, although this wears off after one minute has passed. The flower bed outside the bedroom window contains a variety of blooms, including several roses (although none of them are black).The Trapper's Lodge
The Trapper's Lodge is the dwelling of Rykan Illathron, a half-elven hunter who lives alone near the base of the hill. Illathron has the statistics of a bandit captain, but with a shortbow instead of a scimitar. The lodge is a small squat stone building with a thatched roof. If the party do not approach stealthily, Illathron spots them and trains an arrow upon the leading party member from behind the shutters of the lodge's main room window. If the party approach stealthily and are undetected by Illathron's passive Perception of 13, he is instead busy in his work room, skinning his latest catch. If he has detected the party, he will call out to them to turn back, claiming they are trespassing. A successful DC 12 Charisma (Intimidate) or Charisma (Persuasion) check is enough to get him to stand down and grudgingly allow the party to speak to him. If they enter his home without him having detected the party, he will turn on them with his skinning knife, demanding they leave immediately. Successful Intimidate or Persuasion checks will convince him to stand down, though the DCs for both are 14 in this case. If the party speak to Illathron about Maybelle, he tells them he saw a woman and a child climbing the hill behind his lodge yesterday evening. They seemed happy and harmless enough, and were singing as they climbed, so he thought nothing more of it and left them unchallenged. Illathron's lodge is a simple affair, filled with animal carcasses, skins and furs. The furs are worth 40 GP to a trader. Illathron also possesses a shortbow, a dagger he uses for skinning animals, six animal traps and 23 GP.The Teeth of Graklaw
The standing stones atop the hill are ancient and weathered. Any creature succeeding on a DC 15 Intelligence (History) check can tell from the worn carvings upon the stones that they are orcish in origin. A successful DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check reveals a small opening near the base of one of the largest stones, which appears to lead down into the hill. Any creature able to see in darkness or who shines a light down into the opening can see a stone floor twenty feet below. Using ropes or similar climbing equipment is sufficient to allow the party to descend safely. If such equipment is not used, a successful DC 14 Strength (Athletics) check is required to avoid taking damage from dropping into the opening, with 2d6 bludgeoning damage being suffered by any creature who fails the check.Beneath the Stones
Cave
The cave beneath the stones is a natural cavern, littered with bones and debris that has fallen from above. A stone door is set into the eastern wall and is currently locked, requiring a DC 14 Dexterity check using thieves' tools or a DC 18 Strength check to open. Daylight filters in from the hole in the ceiling, creating dim light within. A skeleton amidst a pile of debris lies in the northern edge of the chamber. The debris contains the skeletal remains of the bandit captain, a tarnished dagger, 4 GP and a silver ring worth 15 GP, all of which can be found after making a successful DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation) check. Searching the debris disturbs a pair of giant centipedes, who blindly attack the nearest creature.Lit passageway
Beyond the door, a passageway has been carved into the earth, reinforced with wooden struts and with lit lanterns placed at regular intervals. The lanterns have been lit by the miller woman, who is now communing with Sellicine in the bed chamber. The scent of rose perfume is strong in the passageway. Any creature succeeding at a DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check is able to hear childish singing coming from the north, and the sound of a woman sobbing coming from the south.Cell
The reinforced stone door to this circular chamber is locked, requiring a DC 14 Dexterity check using thieves' tools or a DC 19 Strength check to open. Maybelle sits cross-legged on the floor of the cell, oblivious to everything other than the toad she cradles in her palms. She appears unharmed and in good health, but is singing to the toad in Infernal. Any creature who understands the language is able to tell the words of the song appear to be some kind of devotional hymn to an entity referred to as 'The Caresser', and how the world will be a better place when her 'arms encircle it like silken chains'. Any creature disturbing Maybelle causes the toad to transform into its true quasit form and attack. Once the quasit is defeated, Maybelle emerges from her trance as if awakening from a dream. She is frightened and starts to cry for her father, but can be calmed by any creature who succeeds on a DC 12 Charisma (Persuasion) check.Bedchamber
The stone door to this chamber is unlocked. The sounds of a woman crying can be heard from outside, loud enough not to require a check to hear. Inside, the rough stone walls are sparsely decorated with faded tapestries depicting scenes from the Border Wars (recognisable as such by any creature succeeding on a DC 12 Intelligence (History) check. A wooden-framed bed and a chest lie against the southern edge of the chamber, a candle burning in a holder placed on top of the chest. The miller woman lies on the bed, sobbing. She is currently under the influence of the black rose petal beneath the pillow, through which Sellicine is whipsering to her from the Underworld, telling her that she must kill Maybelle and then herself. The woman is struggling with her own conscience and willpower, but is losing that battle. If she is disturbed, the miller woman rises from the bed and snatches a dagger hidden under the mattress and attacks with the statistics of a cult fanatic. The woman can be subdued by use of non-lethal damage. If she is knocked unconscious, she is free of the influence of the black rose petal when she awakens, and has no memory of the events of the past few days. The last thing she does remember is trying to chase a bat from the bedchamber of the mill over a week ago (which, in actual fact, was the quasit depositing the black rose petal beneath her pillow). The chest is trapped with a poison needle trap, which can be detected by a creature succeeding on a DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check and disarmed with a successful DC 14 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check using thieves tools. If the trap is triggered, the creature opening the chest is stabbed by a tiny poison needle that infliicts 1d4+2 poison damage. The bandit captain's belongings are inside the chest, lying undisturbed since his suicide sixty years ago. A total of 74 GP lie within, as well as a diamond worth 50 GP, a map of the surrounding area and a handwritten note. The note describes how the bandit captain was overcome with feelings of regret for his actions, and started to hear a whispering female voice in his head at night telling him to abandon his hopes and desires. The black rose petal lies underneath the single pillow of the bed. One of the petals is missing a fragment, which matches the piece under the woman's pillow in the mill.Attack of the rutterkin
As soon as any creature touches the petal, they must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed for 1 minute, during which time they hear the faint voice of a young woman encouraging them to abandon all their earthly hopes and desires. If the creature succeeds on the saving throw, or after the minute passes, Sellicine realises the party are too courageous to be affected by the petal's magic and sends a rutterkin to destroy every living creature in the cave. She causes a crack in the southern wall of the bedchamber to open, through which the rutterkin emerges, attacking the nearest creature it can see.Reward
If the party are successful in saving Maybelle, a grateful Silas gives them each 20 GP as promised. If the miller woman survived, she leaves Middletop Mill and the area as a whole, saying she is going to stay with relatives in Gyral's Hold. She offers the party the Mill as a base of operations should they wish it. As the party leave the delighted Silas and Maybelle in The Dancing Rabbit, they notice the faint trace of rose perfume in the air. Maybelle turns to them and smiles, then gives a cheery wave to what appears to be an empty corner of the room. Investigating the corner reveals nothing; nor does asking Maybelle what she saw. Silas politely informs them that he and his daughter must get ready for their trip back to Gyral's Hold and bids them farewell.
NPCS
- Silas Bluefinger
- Maybelle Bluefinger
- Rykan Illathron
Monsters
- two quasits (MM p.63)
- bandit captain (MM p.344)
- two giant centipedes (MM p.323)
- cult fanatic (MM p.345)
- rutterkin (MToF p.136)
Items
- Black rose petal
- potion of minor healing
Plot type
Job board quest
Parent Plot
Comments