Makeovers

Inspired by "SCP-013" by Dexanote, from the SCP Wiki. Source: https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-013. Licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Introduction

The players are having a pretty slow, dull day in their investigation business offices when Proud Jewel calls them all into their one, cramped conference room. This room is usually used only when the group has to entertain a a wealthy potential client, and they're always scheduled ahead of time so the party can take out the boxes that are normally stored in there. So, when the players enter the conference room:

Cardboard boxes and rolls of parchment fill most of this room. There are boxes of office supplies stacked on the central table and some of the chairs have rolls of paper towels and cleaning supplies on them. On one of the clear chairs is a small, stocky figure wearing a dark cloak with the hood pulled up and the edges clipped together so that the body is entirely wrapped. Under the hood is also a series of plaid scarves wrapped around the person's head so that only a pair of brown eyes are visible. Proud Jewel is standing between two stacks of boxes along the wall behind the figure. She meets your eyes, shrugs, and rolls her eyes with a conspiratorial expression that says "This fucking guy." When she speaks, however, she says, "Well darlings, allow me to introduce you to our new client, Harmar Longbeard. He won't tell me anything else, but he clearly needs some sort of help."

Harmar had come in to the offices and immediately asked to be brought to a private area where no one could see him. Jewel thought he looked unstable and decided it was better to bring him to the conference room than any of the players' private offices in case he freaked out. However, once there, Harmar wouldn't tell her anything about what he needed help with. He would only say that it would be clear once they saw his face and he only wanted to do it once. So, Jewel called the players in to see whatever this is. Harmar will start by saying that this morning he woke up not remembering the past day and looking like this. He wants to have a dramatic reveal, but he's wrapped himself too effectively, so instead spends about a minute fumbling with scarves and clasps and cursing under his breath. Eventually he reveals a handsome dwarven man. He's wearing chocolate-colored slacks with shined, black steel-toed boots. He's wearing a gray button up shirt with the sleeves rolled to just above the elbows and a brown leather vest over top. His red hair and beard are trimmed and styled and his skin looks well-moisturized. His appearance would be perfect if not for the despairing look on his face.

Interview: Harmar Longbeard

Harmar is not at all happy with his appearance right now. He's especially devastated about his beard. He is longbeard, from a long line of longbeards and now his beard is medium length at best. And his hair doesn't stick up any more and it feels SOFT and his clothes are all clean and unwrinkled. He's sure that if any of his friends saw him like this they'd think he'd gone soft and he certainly can't show up to work at The Smithy looking like this. He needs help to figure out what happened yesterday and what did this to him. He's worried it'll happen again once he puts all the dirt back in his beard.

What he remembers:

His memory ends at coming home and crashing after a retirement party for one of his colleagues, Brilmera Moltenbane, who also worked at the Burning Hammer Forge. They make raw blacksmith items such as armor and weapons and then send them to the Smelt Belt arcane blacksmith to give them magical properties and sell them.
Things got pretty rowdy, but he usually can handle this liquor much better than that.
- Brilmera had been working at the forge for over 100 years and finally decided to retire.
- The whole forge gang was having a big party and there was a good amount of liquor and pipe weed being passed around. Harmar did partake of all of that, but didn't go over what he knows his limit is.
  - If the players can pass a DC 18 persuasion or deception check to convince Harmar that they're "cool," he'll reveal that there were some questionably legal substances being passed around.
    - He's not exactly sure what all of them were, but he trusts his colleagues and he can't imagine that any drugs could cause this.
    - The drugs passed around just aren't on the "list" of what is allowed here and certainly did not come from the Apothecary.
    - He doesn't remember who brought the drugs or what exactly they were. If anyone brought them, it was probably Brilmera herself.
    - The only things he did was drink and smoke.
- They held the party at the Wealthy Badger Tavern in one of the private event rooms
After the party, Harmar went straight home. It was late - about 2am - but he didn't live far from the tavern, so he just walked the whole way. Nothing unusual happened and he went to bed.
This morning, woke up and first realized he was sitting in his armchair rather than lying in his bed where he'd fallen asleep.
- He felt strange, but not particularly bad, until he looked in the mirror and saw what he looked like.
- His old clothes weren't in his closet; they were all replaced with stuff like what he's wearing now.
- He believes that whatever took over his body must have bought them because all his cash was missing, too.
- Once he realized that he had been possessed, he came straight here to ask for help.

What Harmar wants:

He wants to figure out what happened to him and make sure it doesn't happen again.
He also wants to piece together exactly what he did to make sure that he didn't embarrass himself too bad and apologize if that's the case. He think the players' investigation abilities would help with that.
- Also, maybe there would be some clues as to what happened to him along the way.

The Solution

GM's Eyes Only

The Culprit

The Clean Living League is planning to use drug users' bodies to attack The Apothecary, which is the place in town that is basically a dispensary for legal drugs. The CLL opposes both legal and illegal drugs as well as alcohol and believe The Apothecary is a corrupting influence in town.

The Plan

The leader of the CLL is Ethell Hillmoss, a retired gnomish wizard who specialized in the study of elemental beings. Nothing traumatic happened to make her despise drugs, she just thought that young people these days didn't know self-control and indulged far too often. They couldn't be trusted with drugs nowadays. So, she was outraged when the Apothecary was established and, in response, she founded the CLL. She also started working on a scheme to give drug users their "comeuppance" and turn their vice against them. Her knowledge of elementals and magic allowed her to develop a spell that attracted smoke spirits to a plant-based drug called Blue and restricted their movement. After a few trial and error attempts, she also managed to place a geas spell on the spirit and force it to "stick" to the thing it's put inside. Meanwhile, she's been growing membership in a secret, militant arm of the CLL. It's small - only four people outside of Ethell - but Ethell plans to supplement that with geas'd smoke spirits possessing drug users' bodies. Ethell identified a gullible drug dealer who would buy the tainted drugs cheap, confident that nothing would show up on any tests.

The Problem

Frankly, Ethell pulled the trigger on her plan a little too early. She had perfected the method of getting the spirits into a person's body and thought she had mastered the geas spell. However, she accidentally pulled a smoke spirit who was ancient and wise, meaning she was capable of resisting the geas spell. So, when that spirit found herself trapped in a person's body, she basically tried to make up for it by making the person's life less obviously miserable until she could leave. So, the Smoke Spirit was wandering around in a dwarf's body for an entire day while all the other possessed spirits walked their bodies over to a designated "staging" area to prepare for an attack on the Apothecary. The attack was supposed to happen that evening, but the fact that one of the spirits didn't show up sent everyone into a panic. They didn't want to get caught and if one of the spirits was "loose," they were incredibly exposed. The five members of the militant CLL went around trying to find the person the spirit possessed. They had a way to track the spirits right up until it went into a body. Ethell thought that should be fine because she expected the spirit to come to her at that point. But that meant that the CLL members didn't know who was possessed, only where the "signal" was lost (The Wealthy Badger Tavern). They were looking for a needle in a haystack and they're all preppy WASPs with no skills. It was hopeless from the beginning. When the next morning came, the CLL members decided that they should do one more sweep for the spirit and then go forward with their plan regardless. At this point, the spirit had exited the person's body and they could track it again, having it ping to Harmar's house. But they weren't able to get in or draw the spirit out, so they decided to wait a couple hours to see if it left. When they see that the players have been hired to investigate, they will start following them around and try to recover the spirit if possible. If the players get too close, they will pull the trigger on their attack on the Apothecary immediately. Otherwise, they will try to steal back the missing spirit, whether that means breaking into Harmar's house or attempting to take the Glass Ghost Jar.

Harmar's House

The first stop would be to Harmar's house to investigate the clothes and try to retrace Harmar's steps. If the party does not come to the house first, then Harmar will go without them while they go wherever they choose. Later, Proud Jewel will find them and tell them that Harmar knocked out after going home and when he woke up, he found that his place had been ransacked but nothing was missing. The CLL members broke in to try to find the Smoke Spirit and failed because she was hiding in a crack in the wall in the basement. The same thing happens if the players come to the house but don't pass the perception check to find the Smoke Spirit. When they approach the outside, have them roll an investigation check.

Read on a DC 25 Success

Harmar's street is quiet and quaint, but definitely not one of the wealthy areas of town. So you are somewhat surprised to see a thin, blonde human woman in a pair of white shorts and a polo with a pink sweater tied around her shoulders standing about 100 feet away from you. You meet her eyes briefly before she turns and walks away.

Harmar's house is one of the most uncomfortable looking places you've ever seen. All of the furniture is wrought iron with maybe a single thin pillow on the seats of couches and chairs. There are no rounded edges anywhere in this house and a few pieces of furniture have spikes on them for no apparent reason. All the colors are either black or gray.

This house has a living room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and a basement where Harmar also has his home workshop. Harmar will say that the new clothes are in the bedroom closet but he also hasn't taken a close look at the kitchen, bathroom, or basement, so it's worth looking around. He's going to sit in the living room if anyone needs him.

Bedroom & Bathroom

This room is just as uncomfortable-looking as the living room was. There is a solid, wrought iron bed frame with only a thin blanket spread across it. There are no pillows anywhere in this room. There is a closet door across from the entrance to the room and a single metal bedside table with two drawers and a magic-powered lamp. The door to the bathroom is in the wall to the right.

On a DC 10 perception or investigation check:

Inside the closet are a number of brand new clothes, all with the tags still on them. Most of them are in neutral colors and earth tones, with only a few pieces in navy blue, dark red, or hunter green.
The tags on the clothes are all from Iron Shield Garments.
In the top drawer of the nightstand there are two books. One is a historical fiction book about an ancient Dwarven Civil War called "Guts and Glory." The other is a brand new book called "Toxic Masculinity: What it is and How to Overcome It."
The new book has a card in a pocket on the inside of the front cover that says it was checked out yesterday from the local library
In the bathroom, there are a few new bottles of shampoo and conditioner, branded with Snow Melt Salon.

On a DC 15 perception or investigation check:

It's clear that whoever picked out the clothes in the closet was trying to take Harmar's preferences into account. The clothes are all made of sturdy material that would be easy to care for and they all fit a "rugged" aesthetic.
Inside the "Toxic Masculinity" book are two flyers, one for a book club that focuses on historical books and another for community theater auditions. Both were probably taken form the community bulletin board outside Town Hall.
Inside the "Guts and Glory" book is a sketching of a dwarven man with a strong resemblance to Harmar, except he is clean shaven and smiling broadly.
Harmar, if asked, will say that this man is his father who passed away three years ago.
If the players pass a DC 15 insight check, they can see that Harmar has conflicted feelings about his father, that may be further explained if they pass the persuasion check below

On a DC 20 perception or investigation check:

You find Old Flyer: In the pocket of one of the leather jackets in the far corner of the closet, you find another, older, heavily creased flyer for community theater auditions. Handwritten on the flyer is "Follow your dreams <3" The writing is more recent than the flyer itself and the handwriting is distinctly feminine.
They can ask Harmar about it and pass the persuasion check in Second Harmar Interview to get more information.

Kitchen

The kitchen in this house is dominated by a wrought iron kitchen table. There are two iron chairs on either side of it with thin pillows on the seats. Along the walls are a small magic-powered fridge and a cauldron over a fire pit. A metal bowl in the middle of the kitchen table has four apples in it.

On a DC 10 perception or investigation check:

The apples on the table seem very fresh and look like they were recently placed there.
Opening the fridge, you see twelve bottles of mead and one jar of pickles.

On a DC 15 perception or investigation check:

All the utensils and tablewares in the cabinets appear to be forge-made, probably by Harmar. None of them have any embellishments or decorations on them.

On a DC 20 perception or investigation check:

One of the chairs at the kitchen table has been used on a regular basis, but the other hasn't moved in some time. However, it does have signs of previous wear over a long period of time.
Lifting the pillow off the seat of this chair, you see Engraved Chair.

Basement

The basement is accessed through a door in the hallway between the living room and kitchen. Inside, there is a small forge in the far corner. It vents out through a small chimney that goes up through the ground just outside the house. There are scraps of all types of discarded metal in a pile and an anvil. Tools are hanging up on the walls above a table with some flat metal panels on it. In the darker side of the basement, on the left, there are several cardboard boxes stacked on each other and a gray metal kitchen table.

On a DC 10 perception or investigation check:

Looking at the forge and workspace, you can see that Harmar is mainly working with discarded metal scraps, likely form his workplace, to make small experimental pieces. He obviously can't do much down here since it would get incredibly hot, incredibly fast.
The cardboard boxes are filled with Harmar's old clothes, neatly folded. They are all black except when they are so faded by the sun that they've turned a mottled gray. Many of them have holes or stains and all of them are probably too big for him.
You can also examine the Ornate Table.

On a DC 15 perception or investigation check:

Some of the flat metal panels on the table under the tools appear to be experiments in shaping metal into certain shapes and thicknesses. In a few cases you see that he's trying to make the metal as sharp as possible.
Harmar's old clothes appear to have been washed as much as they were able to be and, in some cases, mended.
You catch a brief movement of what looks like smoke whipping unusually fast behind the stack of boxes. There is no air movement down here. (See The Smoke Spirit section)

On a DC 20 perception or investigation check:

Looking closely at one of the metal panels on the table under the tools, you can see that there is a subtle etching on the surface. It's a little clumsy and the lines are a bit too wobbly, but you can see that it's an etching of a bird wing. (see Engraved Metal Panel)

The Smoke Spirit

As you walk around the stack of boxes, you see that the stack is almost flush against the wall, but there is a small gap. There is a tiny wisp of smoke curling out of the gap. It is flicking back and forth in a way that is very strange for smoke but would be perfectly normal for a nervous cat.

If the players pull the boxes away from the wall, they will see the smoke slip into a small crack in the wall. They cannot touch her since she's made of smoke, however, they can attempt to capture her if they have the Glass Ghost Jar. The Spirit gets a +8 to Charisma saving throws and +12 to Constitution. If they don't have that, the players can try to talk to the Spirit to convince her to come out from her hiding place. This will require passing a DC 18 persuasion check, which can be lowered to a DC 15 persuasion check if the players compliment any of the changes she has made for Harmar. At that point, she will talk to the players frankly about who she is and what she's done.

Interview: The Smoke Spirit

Smoke billows out of the gap in a thick cloud, completely engulfing the stack of cardboard boxes before slowly coalescing into the shape of a woman with trailing smoke instead of legs. Her long hair floats and move in an unseen wind as she looks at all of you with an apprehensive smile.

This is the Smoke Spirit, a spirit with no need for a name, who is the players' real client. Harmar, ultimately, hasn't been hurt at all. But the Spirit was essentially kidnapped, imprisoned, and had an attempted brainwash.

The Smoke Spirit doesn't have a name; she's never needed one. She is a smoke spirit and usually just wanders through the world wherever the wind takes her.
But a few days ago, she was playing at the top of a smokestack when she was suddenly drawn to a house's chimney.
- When she got close, she and a bunch of other smoke spirits had converged on that place.
- They were all sucked down into a dark, cramped place and she couldn't leave.
- The Spirit felt strange magic all around her while she was in there; it felt like some sort of compulsion magic, but she's an ancient spirit and managed to resist it.
She was in the dark for an unknown amount of time until she felt a burning heat (which was actually pretty comfy for her) and was released straight into a set of lungs.
- All spirits sort of automatically take over a body when they're consumed by that body, but it happens incredibly rarely for smoke spirits.
  - This is mostly because smoke spirits can travel above head height and move quickly if it seems likely they'll be inhaled.
  - But it's also because a person has to consume a great deal of an individual spirit for there to be a possession. Smoke spirits are highly mobile and can easily avoid this under most circumstances.
- in this case, though, she had been compressed so much that all of her being was inhaled directly into Harmar.

Harmar's Possession

The Spirit has never possessed someone before, but she always heard that it took a few hours to set in and then the possession lasted for another hour or two until the spirit could extrude itself out of the body.
This possession started normally with the couple hour delay, but once it started, it lasted a super long time.
- The Spirit suspects that whatever magic was used to hold her in that dark place before was still restricting her movement. Once it wore off, she could remove herself from his body.
  - Important to note that she could have stayed in there longer if she wanted to.
- It didn't wear off for an entire day and the longer it went on, the worse she felt for Harmar.
  - Looking around his house, his life is just very sad.
  - Even when she was in his body, it's not comfortable to sit on literally anything in this house.
  - And then she found the Old Flyer crumpled at the back of a drawer and she decided that she should do something to try to make up for taking his body for so long.
The only thing that isn't immediately reversible is the hair cut; even the clothes are all returnable for a full refund.
But she just wanted to give him some options and maybe a kick in the ass.

The Spirit's Plans

The Spirit has been hiding in the basement here ever since the possession wore off because she's afraid to leave and get caught again.
Her current plan is to just stay inside for a few days, maybe, until whatever trapped her before goes away (hopefully). She knows it's not a great plan, but she also doesn't know what else to do.
- She doesn't want to find out whatever that magic was going to compel her to do.
- She presumes that at least some of the other smoke spirits are still under the thrall.
The Spirit is more than willing to help the players find out who did this and what their plans are, but she is terrified of being captured again. If the players get the Glass Ghost Jar, the Spirit will voluntarily go into it so the players can carry her around.
She doesn't think she could recognize the chimney she got sucked down, but she could sense her fellow smoke spirits if the players can get her close enough.

Optional

Harmar's Psyche

After looking through Harmar's house, the players should start getting the idea that Harmar is repressed and lives a probably pretty miserable life that he tries to convince himself is the way it's "supposed" to be. Harmar's big hang ups are more about his identity as a "blacksmith" and a "forgemaster" than anything else. He has very distinct ideas about how that person should look, sound, and act and refuses to deviate from that for fear of rejection and failure.

Asking about the Engraved Chair, the Ornate Table, or the Sketch of Father and passing a DC 18 persuasion check:

Harmar will reluctantly talk about his father, Gramar Longbeard, who raised him alone after Harmar's mother, Hildar, left them when Harmar was 10 years old.
- One of Harmar's earliest memories is of Gramar and Hildar arguing about Gramar not being manly enough.
- Gramar (and, by extension, Harmar) was often mocked for shaving his beard, taking care of his appearance, and especially for adding "feminine" decorative touches to his work at the smithy.
- Harmar will say that Gramar's insistence on treating smithing as "art" is what prevented him from rising in the rank at the forge.
Gramar died after a sudden illness a little over 10 years ago. Harmar kept some of his father's work to remember him by even though he doesn't agree with that "artistic" rubbish.
- Passing a contested insight check against a +5 deception check from Harmar OR presenting him with the Engraved Metal Panel
- - The players can recognize that Harmar doesn't fully believe what he's saying about his father's work.
  - In fact, at least a part of him admires it and longs for the open affection that Gramar gave him while he was alive. Harmar occasionally etches in secret in his private workshop to deal with the times that he especially misses his father.

Asking about the Old Flyer and passing a contested insight check against a +5 deception check from Harmar:

Harmar will initially try to grab the flyer away and crumple it. He'll say that whoever got all those clothes must have brought it in here. The players can see that Harmar is lying if they pass the insight check.
When challenged, Harmar will admit that he took the flyer a while ago on a whim, but then decided against it. He's gone back and forth on the decision a bit and hasn't been able to throw out the flyer.
- He'll try to claim that it was just a whim and not really something he wanted to do, he thought it would be funny if he was in a play as a joke.

Research Phase

If players get stuck or want to get tools or information at any point in their investigation, you can direct them to the following resources. All of these are people that the players know and have a preexisting relationship with. Numo, in particular, will be a good lead since the "Toxic Masculinity" book was checked out from the library that Numo runs.

Numo

You enter the local library to see dusty stacks of books and parchments piled on shelves, tables, and some on the floor. You look around for Numo, the tortle librarian, but he hasn't come out to meet you as he usually does. After a few seconds, you see why: Numo has pulled himself into his shell in the back of the library and is taking a nap.

The players can wake Numo up in whatever way they want, but Numo is a druid with +4 to hit with his spell attack and can do 2d6+2 damage, choosing whether it is cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage. If they wake him up in an aggressive way, he will likely lash out instinctually.

Information

Interview: Numo

While Harmar was possessed, he came to the library and took out a book called "Toxic Masculinity:What it is and How to Overcome It." He briefly spoke to Numo to ask for help in finding the book, so Numo can give some information about his demeanor. Also, he has a bit of information about what could possibly have caused this.

Numo will take a bit of time to remember Harmar, but if the players mention the book title, he'll have an easier time of it.
- It stood out because when he came in, he was very friendly and curious about everything. It kind of seemed like he hadn't been in the library before. He was especially fascinated by Numo's organizational system (which is incredibly complicated and involves categorizing documents by topic, then type of document, then number of authors, then first letter of the title).
- Numo thought it was really nice to see someone who was really invested in improving themselves and learning.
  - Now that he thinks about it, though, there were some moments when Harmar moved weirdly, almost like he wasn't used to walking. Or, looking back, perhaps it was because he was struggling to move in a particular way.
If Numo meets the Smoke Spirit, he'll be interested to talk to her and ask if she's looking for a position as an assistant librarian.

What could have caused Harmar's lost time:

Ghosts are the obvious possibility here, but usually ghosts are bound to a particular place, person, or item. Numo has also never heard of a ghost who would give up a possession after 24 hours.
There are some very specific nature spirits that can take temporary control of a person under certain circumstances.
- For instance, if you happen to eat a fruit that houses a fruit spirit, it may be able to possess you for a small amount of time. Usually that only lasts an hour or two at most, though, even for more powerful spirits like dryads.
Finally, there is the possibility of a living person doing some sort of magic. Astral projection is one possibility, but typically doesn't last longer than a person can stay asleep. Spells like Geas or Command only allow very specific, limited orders which doesn't seem like the thing here.
Numo's personally theory is that it might be some combination of these. Like a person enhancing a ghost or borrowing a spirit's power.

What happened to the Smoke Spirit:

In a time of novel magic and arcane technology, the magic could have been something that's never been seen before.
However, there is some research suggesting that you could capture certain elemental spirits by putting them in the base material that creates the element they are based on. For instance, you can capture a water elemental in ice or capture a fruit elemental in a flower or seed.
- In the case of a smoke spirit, you could put it in a block of wood or coal or really anything that creates smoke when burned.
Also, nature spirits are just like any other sentient being; they can be affected by mind-altering magic just like anyone else. And if a magic user has enough time, they could take over a being's brains for more than just a minute or even a day.

Dr. Basil Wallace

To get to Dr. Wallace's laboratory, you go to the farthest building on the edge of the "Arcane Park." The door has a sign with Dr. Wallace's name and the words "Don't bother knocking." When you walk in, you see Dr. Wallace in a lab coat running chasing a blob of purple ooze named Jelly around the center lab bench. The ooze is carrying an empty beaker and giggling wildly as it flies away from Dr. Wallace. The chase stops as soon as you enter as they both turn to look at you. Jelly squeals happily and flies over to hold out the beaker for you to take.

If the players try to take the beaker, Jelly will laugh and pull it away. The player can roll a contested dexterity check against Jelly's dexterity (+10). On a success, the player successfully grabs the beaker and Jelly looks disappointed and floats sadly back to Dr. Wallace. On a failure, Jelly will fly away with the beaker and stop a few feet away, looking over her shoulder and chirping. She wants them to chase her, which Dr. Wallace will translate for the players if they're confused. Dr. Wallace will say that they can tell him what they want while they play with Jelly; he does his best thinking while chasing Jelly around the lab. When Dr. Wallace hears that they're dealing with a possible possession case, Dr. Wallace will give them a large glass mason jar. This Glass Ghost Jar can be used to capture intangible creatures such as ghosts (though not limited to ghosts). A creature with full hit points has to make a DC 15 Charisma saving throw to resist being captured. A creature at half hit points or less has to make a DC 20 Charisma saving throw. Once a creature is captured, the Ghost Jar also has a zone of truth spell that allows you talk to it and receive truthful answers if it chooses to talk to you. You can release the creature as a free action, at which point it is released with full hit points. As an action, you can attempt to destroy the creature. Regardless of hit points, the creature must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the creature drops to 0 hit points immediately. On a success, the creature can make a DC 15 Charisma throw to escape from the jar.

Proud Jewel

When you return to your offices, Proud Jewel is sitting at the front desk and flipping through a romance novel (The Duke's Delightful Debutante). She puts it down when you walk in, she looks up and slips a ribbon bookmark into the book. She says "Hey dolls. Have you solved our client's existential crisis already?"

Proud Jewel can attempt to answer questions about the town's social scene. She knows her way around recreational drugs for sure and can give some leads for the players to follow if they haven't been successful pursuing other leads.

Information

Interview: Proud Jewel

Harmar Longbeard
He pretty much hangs out exclusively with the people from The Smithy so Jewel doesn't know too much about him personally. All of the Smithy people stick very close together, to the point that they'll go into one of the private rooms at the Wealthy Badger whenever they gather after work. The short time that she interacted with him today, she thought he had a lot of hang ups.

Brilmera Moltenbane
Brilmera is the coolest person from The Smithy, and that is in part because she always has the really good drugs. She's a nice person in general, though does have a lot of the reserve that most of The Smithy folks have. Jewel has both bought some herself and heard others' experiences with Brilmera and there are no reports of her cutting the drugs with anything weird. Ferra at Wealthy Badger Tavern might know where she is now that she's retired from the Smithy.

TESTING

Det. Naragath Woundwalker

The city guard offices are especially busy today. The seats in the lobby are all filled with people looking panicked. You're allowed through to find Det. Naragath's desk, though. You see Naragath scribbling furiously next to a stack of papers and surrounded by many empty coffee cups. She runs her hand over her head and you know that if she had any hair, she'd be pulling it out by now.

Naragath is incredibly busy, but she'll take some time to talk to the players if they mention the possession and the drugs. She'll identify that this may intersect with the issue that has been causing the city guard so much trouble lately and take the players into a private room to talk.

Information

Interview: Naragath Woundwalker

The fact that Harmar's possession occurred after he took a mysterious drug is very interesting given the fact that the town is currently experiencing a rash of disappearances.
- There have been 11 reports so far of people who were last seen the day before yesterday and haven't been seen since.
  - If the players have talked to Myrria Forgefire at The Smithy, they can ask Naragath about Bandal Everstrike (male) and Melgram Stormbreaker (male).
    - Both of these people have been reported missing. The players can talk to Melgram's husband and Bandal's wife who are currently waiting for news at the city guard's office.
    - Whoever they speak to, either of the missing peoples' partners will say that they also attended Brilmera Moltenbane retirement party and they disappeared sometime very early in the morning yesterday.
- The only thing they have in common so far is that they all have a history of drug use. Most people will say that they only used drugs from the apothecary, but they are talking to cops after all.
- Naragath suspected that they were doing illicit drugs as well. It seems like a good place to start.
Naragath would recommend going to the Wealthy Badger Tavern and talking to Ferra, the owner, about whether she saw anything strange that night or could identify who was handing out the drugs.

Timed Events

In this adventure, the players can go to any place that they want and the CLL members will be following them. So they don't necessarily need to go to the right places for clues; the question is only whether they notice the clue that is always a step behind them.

Harmar's House

The first event could start at Harmar's house as the CLL are keeping tabs on it now that they know where the spirit is. If the players pass a DC 25 investigation check, they will notice Sharon Baxter. She will attempt to move around a corner as soon as they spot her and by the time they catch up, she'll be gone. But seeing her will give them something to connect to if they talk to Ferra and hear about the person she talked to.

Second Location

As the players are leaving the second location they choose to investigate, they must pass a DC 18 investigation check to see Jorster watching them.

Third Location

If the players have the Smoke Spirit in the Glass Ghost Jar while they're at the third location they choose to investigate, have the players roll a DC 18 perception check. On a success, they will notice Ethell Hillmoss standing strangely close to them. Noticing her will cause her to walk away. If they fail the perception check, Ethell will manage to steal the Smoke Spirit and the players won't notice until they try to talk to the Spirit again. If the players don't have the Smoke Spirit with them, a DC 15 perception check will cause them to see Sharon Baxter following them and remember that they thought they saw her at Harmar's house, too, but just didn't think anything of it at the time.

Enemy Information

Ethell is the only one who will be really difficult to convince to talk. She will require a DC 25 intimidation or persuasion check to reveal information. The other two only need a DC 18 intimidation or persuasion check. On a success, these people can give the players' the address for Ethell's house, where the other smoke spirits are being gathered to attack the apothecary. In that case, the players may be able to get a surprise round on them if they can pass aDC 15 stealth check. They can also tell them the entire plan. If the players don't notice these people or don't manage to capture them, then after they finish investigating the fourth location, they will hear an explosion coming from the direction of the Apothecary and see a plume of smoke. The CLL has begun its attack.

Investigation

There are several people and places that the player can investigate:

Wealthy Badger Tavern
- Ferra
Pleasant Rose Cafe
- Brilmera Moltenbane

The Smithy
- Myrria Forgefire
Iron Shield Garments
- Gurr

The players can either investigate these places in any order, but if they're attempting to trace Harmar's steps from the day and a half before, the order was: the Smithy, the tavern, Harmar's home, Snow Melt Salon, Iron Shield Garments, Town Hall, and the Library.

The Smithy

To get to The Smithy, you have to travel past the edge of the town and into the mountains. As the foothills start to turn rocky, you see a small stone building that blends almost perfectly into its surroundings. There are five stones chimneys rising out of the ground around the building and smoke is rising out of all of them, bringing with it the smell of superheated metal. Inside the building, there is only a single raised counter with a small rotating wire display and a sign on it. The display is cluttered with bits of raw crystals and small metal shapes hanging from keychains. The sign says: "Call out for assistance. Thieves will be melted in the fires of our forge."

None of the forgemasters actually man the above-ground shop, but there is a light that turns on underground when someone enters the shop and every sound that is made in the shop is heard in the forge. The only thing to steal in here are the keychains and they cost 1 copper each.

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The dwarves are not joking about melting people who steal from them and have a number of measures in place to facilitate that. All of the keychains have a spell on them that, when removed from the shop without being disarmed, will cast faerie fire on the thief and activate the forge's defenses. A player must pass a DC 18 arcana check or a detect magic spell to identify this spell. The spell is 7th level, so they have to make a DC 17 check to use dispel magic unless they use a 7th level spell slot. Also, the forge's defenses can be manually activated by the workers in the forge, so any attempt to cast magic with a verbal component in the building or any discussion of the players' plans to steal will put the workers on alert. They're used to people joking about stealing once they see the sign, but if they think the players are serious about the plan or taking any steps towards it, they will immediately activate the defenses. As such, even if the spell is removed from the keychain, the player must pass a DC 18 stealth check to prevent the dwarves from hearing the rattle as it's taken off the display. Successfully dispelling the magic and avoiding detection will allow a player to get away with a keychain unharmed. However, if these are not successful, the Smithy's defenses will immediately activate.

The Smithy's Defenses

Defenses can be activated either manually by the forgemasters underground or when a keychain crosses the threshold of the front door with the spell still active. If this happens, read the following:

A drumbeat begins deep underground. It is barely audible at first, but grows louder and louder, accompanied by the rumble of the ground itself. The sound and the vibration increases rapidly in intensity and speed until the building itself is shaking, raining dust from the rafters. A flock of birds outside flies away in a panic as the pebbles on the ground jump and roll chaotically. In this split second before the forgemasters make good on their threat, you feel as if the earth itself as turned against you. Roll initiative.

The mechanical elements of the defenses will act on initiative count 20 like lair actions, but you should roll initiative for the forgemasters as a group. Each player can try to succeed on a DC 20 investigation check to be able to take their full turn. On a failure, the player will spend their first turn in the "surprised" condition. If a player is touching a keychain or has it on their person when the defenses activate, faerie fire will be cast on them at the beginning of their turn with no chance of a saving throw. This gives all attacks on that creature advantage to hit.

Mechanical Defenses

There are four elements to the mechanical defenses of The Smithy: the iron dome, the trapdoor, the flamethrowers, and the floor spikes. These act as lair actions, which can only be activated once per round and usually you can't use the same action two rounds in a row. The only exception to this is for the iron dome. The first two rounds of combat will be taken up by the iron dome closing, but then it can't be used again.

The trapdoor opens a hole in the ground in a 10 ft square at any point within 30 ft of outside of the building. Anyone in that space must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or fall 20 ft, taking 2d6 bludgeoning damage. On their turn, the player can make a DC 10 perception check to determine that they have landed on a bed of rapidly-heating coals. They must succeed on a DC 15 acrobatics or athletics check to climb out of the hole and open the trapdoor that has closed behind them. On a failure, they take 5d6 fire damage at the end of each turn that they remain in the hole.

There are two flamethrowers, both situated along the inside edge of the iron dome, 30 ft. away from the building. One is place facing the building's front door. The other is pointing at the building's only window, on the east face. Upon activation, both flamethrowers shoot a 30 ft cone of fire directly ahead. Anyone in that area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, they take 4d6 fire damage or half damage on a success.

The floor spikes can activate anywhere inside the building in a 5 ft cube. Anyone in that area must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 2d6 piercing damage. On a success, the player also moves to an empty adjacent space of their choice.

The Forgemasters

On the Forgemasters' initiative roll, one defender will come up from the forge into the shop. They cannot take an action until their next turn, but then can act normally. Every other round, one more defender will enter the shop, if possible. There are a total of 15 forgemasters who work here. All of the defense mechanisms and fighting will end immediately if the person who took the keychain either pays for the keychain or returns it. At which point, the defenses disarm and the forgemasters will do business with the players. However, the forgemasters will absolutely charge them 50% more than normal and require all payment upfront.

Forgemaster Defender

Medium Any Humanoid Race Forgemaster at The Smithy, Lawful Neutral

Armor Class 17 (splint armor)

Hit Points 58 (9d8+18) 9d8+18

Speed 30ft Swim: 10ft Climb: 15ft

STR

18 +4

DEX

11 +0

CON

16 +3

INT

12 +1

WIS

15 +2

CHA

10 +0

Saving Throws Str +9 1d20+9 , Con +8 1d20+8

Skills Athletics +5 1d20+5 , Perception +2 1d20+2

Damage Resistances fire, cold, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks

Languages Usually Common (depends on Race chosen)

Challenge Rating 4

Proficiency Bonus +2

Actions

Multiattack

The defender makes two longsword attacks. They can replace either of these attacks with one of their Rage of the Forge attacks.

Longsword

Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. 1d20+5 Hit: 7 1d8+3 slashing damage, or 8 1d10+3 slashing damage if used with two hands.

Rage of the Forge (Recharge 5-6)

The forgemaster defender rolls a 1d4 and uses one of the following attacks: 1. Acid: Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 10/30 ft., one target. Hit: 2d6 acid damage. The defender hurls a flask of acid.

2. Alchemist’s Fire: Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 10/30 ft., one target. Hit: 1d6 fire damage. The defender throws a flask of alchemist’s fire.
If it hits, the damage repeats at the start of each of the target’s turns. A creature can end this damage by using its action to make a DC 15 Dexterity check to extinguish the flames.

3. Black Pitch Pot: Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 10/30 ft., one target.
Hit: The defender throws a clay pot full of pitch at the target, and it breaks open on impact. The target is covered in pitch and has disadvantage on any saving throws against fire and takes double damage from fire unless it uses an action to wipe it off.
Miss: A patch of pitch covers a randomly determined 5-foot-square section of wall or floor within 5 feet of the target. If fire is applied to the space, it remains on fire, dealing 1d6 fire damage to any creature who starts its turn in that space. Moving through the space requires a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw to avoid the damage.

4. Noxious Smoke: The defender tosses a glass ball containing poisonous smoke at a point within 60 ft. Upon impact, it releases a cloud in a 20 ft. radius. All creatures in that space must make DC 15 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the target takes 2d6 poison damage and is stunned for 1 minute. It may repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns. On a success, the target takes half damage and is not stunned.

Reactions

Raise Shield

When the defender is hit with an attack, it can raise its shield, adding +2 to its AC and potentially causing the attack to miss.

Interview: Myrria Forgefire

If the players call for assistance, they will hear the hurried clomping of heavy boots coming up from underground. A sealed door - imperceptible from the inside of the store - opens and Myrria Forgefire enters. Before she addresses the players, she will turn off the mechanism that allows the sound in the shop to broadcast down to the forge. Then, since she's not one for pleasantries, she'll start by immediately asking what the players want. If the players immediately start asking for information, Myrria will say that she's extremely busy and can't talk to them unless they're customers. A keychain costs 1 copper piece and if they buy one of those or put in a custom order for something, she'll talk with them as long as they need.

The Longbeards

Harmar is a second generation forgemaster at The Smithy. Myrria knew his father, Gramar, and was closer to him than Harmar. Gramar was easier to get close to, even for people like her who have trouble expressing themselves.
Myrria is not one for gossip, so she won't say anything but the most basic information about Gramar and Harmar unless the players pass a DC 20 persuasion check.

<u><strong>On a Success</strong></u>

The previous manager of The Smithy (Dardram Goldenhand) was very strict about what he thought the forgemasters should produce here and prevented Gramar from advancing in the ranks because Gramar didn't fit that image and refused to pretend he did.
- Gramar was an insanely talented smith, though, so he was pretty much guaranteed to remain employed.
Gramar's wife left him before Myrria knew him, so she never met her, but from the little Myrria heard about her, she was an idiot.
Towards the end of his life, Gramar expressed worry for his son. Gramar felt like Harmar was becoming more and more repressed and Gramar didn't know how to turn him from that path.
- When Harmar started working at The Smithy, Myrria began to see what Gramar meant.
  - Myrria is naturally very stoic and reserved, so she has never felt like she "had" to do or not do certain things in order to keep up that personality. It's just who she is.
  - In contrast, Harmar seemed like he was working very hard to project a particular image to the world. Since it's not natural, he went way too far with it in her opinion.

The Retirement Party

Yesterday was a day off for everyone, as they always do after a big work party. But there are two people who didn't show up this morning either.
- Harmar sent a note this morning say he was sick, but Myrria hasn't heard from the other two.
- Their names are Bandal Everstrike and Melgram Stormbreaker. Myrria won't give them these peoples' addresses unless the players get a critical success persuasion roll.
  - If they do get the addresses, they'll only find that no one is home. Rather, their families have reported them missing and are waiting at the city guard offices for news. (See Naragath Woundwalker)
Myrria prefers alcohol to drugs, but she knows that Brilmera Moltenbane is the one who always brings the unique drugs to parties. Myrria and Brilmera are old friends.
- Now that she's retired, she isn't coming into The Smithy, but Myrria knows she loves to brunch at Pleasant Rose Cafe.
- Myrria remembers Brilmera complaining frequently about the Clean Living League and how they show up to pass out their weird flyers at all her favorite party spots.
  - Myrria doesn't know anything else about the CLL, except that they apparently don't like drugs.
- Otherwise, Myrria doesn't know much about Brilmera's supplier or her drug dealing.
The party itself was held in a private room at the Wealthy Badger Tavern. Myrria doesn't think any stranger could have gotten in and tampered with the drugs without them noticing.
- No one from The Smithy would have done that.

The Wealthy Badger Tavern

The tavern is closed when you get there in the early afternoon. However, through the front window, you can see an earth genasi woman with steel-colored skin standing behind the bar and cleaning glasses efficiently. You recognize her as Ferra, owner of the Wealthy Badger.

If the players get Ferra's attention in some way, she'll initially gesture at them that the tavern is closed and they should leave. They have to make her understand that they are there investigating and need to talk to her before she will come open the door and let them in.

Interview: Ferra

Ferra recognizes the party as investigators (Ferra knows most people in town), so won't hesitate to speak frankly with them. Ferra was here and serving during the retirement party, but didn't notice anything particularly strange going on. She was aware that there were some illicit drugs being passed around, but she doesn't worry about that unless she sees someone getting too fucked up or pressuring people to take them.

Brilmera Moltenbane is definitely the one who was handing drugs out that night. She's well-known for having access to drugs you can't find at The Apothecary.
- Brilmera is usually very responsible with her stuff. Ferra has never had a problem with her.
- Ferra didn't notice anyone at the retirement party behaving strangely while they were at the tavern.
- If they're looking for Brilmera, she can usually be found at Pleasant Rose Cafe around this time.

A Suspicious Person

The one thing that stood out in the past two days was actually something that happened yesterday about mid-morning.
- A person came by asking if Ferra knew whether everyone at the bar last night had made it home safely.
  - It was a blonde human woman and she stood out to Ferra because they don't often get people in here that wear polo shirts with a sweater tied around their shoulders. She also had one of those bob cuts where the ends flip outwards just above her shoulders.
  - She said that she was just a concerned citizen doing a survey.
  - Unfortunately, Ferra didn't ask for the woman's name.
- Ferra knew the person couldn't have been a family member or friend of any of those people; if they were, they would have just gone to the person's home to see if they made it home.
- The person also would have known at least one of their names.
- Why She Asked
  
  The CLL sold drugs to Brad that were laced with the magicked smoke spirits. The CLL could track the spirits while they were were within the leaves, but once they possessed a body, the tracking got fuzzy. So, when 11 possessed peoples showed up and they knew they had sent out 12 smoke spirits, they could figure out where the Spirit was last picked up (the Wealthy Badger), and then basically saw that the spirit was somewhere in town and moving around. By asking if everyone got home safe, she was hoping to hear that someone hadn't made it home, meaning that CLL member (Sharon) would likely be the one possessed by #12 who is still wandering around.
  - So, she basically told the person that she doesn't keep track of all her patrons and sent her on her way.
  - This is only partially true: Ferra did make sure that everyone in the party was cogent enough to get home before they left, but she didn't follow them there, obviously.

Clean Living League

Now that Ferra thinks about it, that person seems a bit like one of the people from the Clean Living League.
- The CLL is a group that's been around since about the time when The Apothecary opened and started selling drugs legally for non-medical use.
- They started out just opposing The Apothecary as a "corrupting influence," but in the past couple months they've expanded to protesting places that sell alcohol, too.
- The Wealthy Badger has been protested once or twice.
  - Ferra's been luckier than other taverns because the Badger is such an establishment in the neighborhood that protests have been met with a lot of resistance from the locals.
Ferra doesn't know much about the CLL's membership.
- She has heard rumors about them vandalizing some places in the past. Ferra also knows that they've been going around trying to "save" drug users at popular party spots.
- They may be the type of organization that would mess with drugs to "punish" users.

Pleasant Rose Cafe

Pleasant Rose Cafe is an adorable little building with a pink tiled roof and a row of flower boxes outside the floor to ceiling front windows. The sign above the door has the cafe's name in such curly calligraphy that it's almost illegible. There are four white, round, metal tables outside of the building. Each has two matching chairs and a pink and white umbrella. Sitting at one of the tables is a stout dwarven woman wearing a bright yellow knit poncho and chunky bedazzled sunglasses while sipping what looks like a mojito. As you watch, she takes a flask out of a bag that must be under her poncho somewhere and she pours a healthy swig of the contents into the mojito before taking another sip.

This woman is Brilmera Moltenbane, newly retired and living her best life. Brilmera is very friendly and has all the time in the world, so she will chat with the players about anything at all. If they want to buy drugs from her, consult the .

Interview: Brilmera Moltenbane

To get Brilmera to talk frankly with the players, they will need to convince her that they're not going to rat her out. This will only require a DC 15 persuasion check because she's an old Spirit who isn't all that worried about arrest at the end of the day. They can reduce this to a DC 10 persuasion check if they reference Ferra or Myrria Forgefire.

The Retirement Party

Of course she remembers her own retirement party. It was a real blow out, just like all their work parties at The Smithy.
She definitely brought a decent stash of drugs for people who wanted them.
- She only brought various types of pipe weed because none of her coworkers are interested in any other means of ingestion.
- Harmar smoked some stuff Brilmera from the Apothecary and some Blue pipeweed.

Drug Supplier

Brilmera has a supplier she prefers to go to for pipe weed. He's a human man named Brad, but she doesn't know anything else about him.
- Brilmera has never had a problem with any of his stuff before.
- He also didn't give her anything new that she hasn't had before.
- Still, Brilmera isn't an idiot, and she always tests her supply for any dangerous impurities or additives. She even has a detect magic item she uses.
  - All the stuff that she brought to the retirement party tested clean.
  - Why it was Clean
    
    It is perfectly natural for a smoke spirit to be within something that, when burned, produces smoke. Smoke spirits do it all the time when they get injured and need to heal. That's also where smoke spirits are born. So a smoke spirit in a leaf is not magic. The magic is all cast on the spirit itself, which is otherwise indistinguishable from the natural world. The spell's focus on the leaf rather than the (unknown) spirit probably allowed the magic on the spirit to go undetected. The Spirit can probably tell the players this.
Brilmera doesn't know where Brad lives, but she was supposed to meet him yesterday here at the Cafe and he never showed up.
- That wasn't particularly alarming. Brad is an airhead.
Yes, Brad does smoke his own supply.

How Brilmera Can Help

Brilmera takes it seriously that someone managed to get some shenanigans past her testing apparatus and obviously she is invested in figuring out if her other former co-workers are in trouble.
She will offer to talk to other dealers she knows, especially those who buy from Brad, and figure out if anyone else is having these problems.
- If the players check back in with her later, she will say that she's talked to a few different people and it seems like it's only two or three people who did the drugs from their stash vanished yesterday.
- One of the dealers thought she saw one of the missing people walking into a house in a residential neighborhood near The Apothecary. Brilmera can provide them with a rough location.

Iron Shield Garments

The inside of this shop is wrapped in dark mahogany wood on the floor and walls. There seem to be more mannequins displaying complete outfits than other clothing stores and the mannequins are carefully placed so that it is near the place you can find the clothes in the outfit. There are paintings on the walls that depict rugged mountainsides and dark forests and from the ceiling hangs an iron shield, pockmarked with dents and sword marks. As you enter, you see a tall bugbear man in pressed slacks and a brown leather jacket talking to a customer near the changing rooms.

The bugbear man and proprietor of Iron Shield Garments is Gurr. He's just wrapping up a bout of coddling for an orcish customer trying on a shirt for the first time. He'll take the orc's payment before talking to the party.

Interview: Gurr

Gurr remembers Harmar very well mostly because he doesn't usually meet a person who talks in third person quite so much.

But really, he was impressed with Harmar's ease changing his style so drastically. Gurr usually has to work super hard just to talk a guy into baby steps.
Harmar also took advice really well and seemed incredibly self-aware. It was really nice to see and a pleasure to help someone so eager for change.

As he always does, Gurr made sure Harmar knew that all the clothes were returnable for a full refund within 30 days. Harmar checked on that several different times in the conversation.
Gurr did remember one strange thing he heard from a variety of shopkeepers around this area yesterday.

A bunch of storekeepers noticed an eladrin man (Jorster) who was just walking around, stopping random people.

He was asking a lot of strange questions, mostly about where they had come from and what they did the night before.
He was also apparently getting into people's personal space way too much.
It escalated to the point that a woman hauled off and punched him in the face when the man wouldn't leave her girlfriend alone.
The man left the area after that and they didn't see him the rest of the day.

Defending the Apothecary

Whenever the final timed event in the sequence occurs, the players will find themselves facing off with the CLL and its makeshift army of possessed and geas'd drug users. If the players managed to figure out what was going on and where before the actual attack happened, they'll have a surprise round and the Apothecary will be unscathed when they get there. Otherwise, they will have to individually roll if they want a surprise round and the Apothecary will start at 180 hit points. Throughout the Apothecary, possessed people are single-mindedly attempting to wreck the Apothecary with weapons, fire, and, in some cases, bare hands. These people don't know what they're doing, nor do the smoke spirits inside of them. They are all controlled by Ethell Hillmoss, who will attempt to stay away from any fighting. The goal is to release the people and spirits from the geas spell (which can be done by any spell that gets rid of charm or dispel magic) and also get them out of the Apothecary. The building takes 1 point of damage for each person who is still actively dismantling it every round. Ethell may also use her turn to destroy it. As the building's hit points decrease, additional hazards arise to make the job of saving these people more difficult.

Enemy Statblocks

By far the most dangerous of the possessed people are the two Forgemaster Defenders who are Harmar's colleagues from The Smithy.

Forgemaster Defender

Medium Any Humanoid Race Forgemaster at The Smithy, Lawful Neutral

Armor Class 17 (splint armor)

Hit Points 58 (9d8+18) 9d8+18

Speed 30ft Swim: 10ft Climb: 15ft

STR

18 +4

DEX

11 +0

CON

16 +3

INT

12 +1

WIS

15 +2

CHA

10 +0

Saving Throws Str +9 1d20+9 , Con +8 1d20+8

Skills Athletics +5 1d20+5 , Perception +2 1d20+2

Damage Resistances fire, cold, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks

Languages Usually Common (depends on Race chosen)

Challenge Rating 4

Proficiency Bonus +2

Actions

Multiattack

The defender makes two longsword attacks. They can replace either of these attacks with one of their Rage of the Forge attacks.

Longsword

Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. 1d20+5 Hit: 7 1d8+3 slashing damage, or 8 1d10+3 slashing damage if used with two hands.

Rage of the Forge (Recharge 5-6)

Reactions

Raise Shield

When the defender is hit with an attack, it can raise its shield, adding +2 to its AC and potentially causing the attack to miss.

There are also one guard, three nobles, and two commoners. Because of their possessions, they have a bit more resiliency than normal and so if they fall to 0 hp, they only fall unconscious and both the spirit and the person start rolling death saves.

Commoner

Medium Any Humanoid Race Any Profession, Any

Armor Class 10

Hit Points 4 (1d8) 1d8

Speed 30ft Swim: 10ft Climb: 15ft

STR

10 +0

DEX

10 +0

CON

10 +0

INT

10 +0

WIS

10 +0

CHA

10 +0

Languages Usually Common (depends on Race chosen)

Actions

Club

Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. 1d20+2 Hit: 2 (1d4) bludgeoning damage. 1d4

Guard

Medium Any Humanoid Race Usually guard (may be formerly military/mercenary), Any

Armor Class 16 (chain shirt)

Hit Points 11 (2d8+2) 2d8+2

Speed 30ft Swim: 10ft Climb: 15ft

STR

13 +1

DEX

12 +1

CON

12 +1

INT

10 +0

WIS

11 +0

CHA

10 +0

Skills Perception +2 1d20+2

Languages Usually Common (depends on Race chosen)

Challenge Rating 1/8

Actions

Spear

Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. 1d20+3 Hit: 4 (1d6+1) piercing damage 1d6+1 , or 5 (1d8+1) piercing damage if used with two hands to make a melee attack. 1d8+1

Noble

Medium Any Humanoid Race Any Profession, Any

Armor Class 15 (breastplate)

Hit Points 9 (2d8) 2d8

Speed 30ft Swim: 10ft Climb: 15ft

STR

11 +0

DEX

12 +1

CON

11 +0

INT

12 +1

WIS

14 +2

CHA

16 +3

Skills Deception +5 1d20+5 , Insight +4 1d20+4 , Persuasion +5 1d20+5

Languages Any two, usually know Common (depends on Race chosen)

Challenge Rating 1/8

Actions

Rapier

Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. 1d20+3 Hit: 5 (1d8+1) piercing damage. 1d8+1

Reactions

Parry

The noble adds 2 to its AC against one melee attack that would hit it. To do so, the noble must see the attacker and be wielding a melee weapon.

Finally, arcane technician Ethell Hillmoss is going to be monitoring the progress of her smoke spirits, essentially teleporting around the building to stay away from the players and going invisible when possible.

Ethell Hillmoss

Ethell Hillmoss CR: 14

Medium humanoid, lawful neutral

Armor Class: 15

Hit Points: 110

Speed: 30 ft. , fly: 40 ft.

STR

10 +0

DEX

18 +4

CON

18 +4

INT

18 +4

WIS

20 +5

CHA

14 +2

Saving Throws: Dex +9, Con +9, Int +9, Wis +10

Skills: Arcana +9, Insight +10, Perception +10

Senses: passive Perception 20

Languages: Common, elven, dwarvish, halfling, gith

Challenge Rating: 14

Innate Spellcasting

The anarch’s innate spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 18, +10 to hit with spell attacks). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:

At will: mage hand (the hand is invisible), fire bolt

1/day: Globe of Invulnerability

Casting Time:1 action
Range:Self (10-foot radius)
Target:Self (10-foot radius)
Components: V S M
Duration: ConcentrationUp to 1 minute
Description: An immobile, faintly shimmering barrier springs into existence in a 10-foot radius around you and remains for the duration. Any spell of 5th level or lower cast from outside the barrier can’t affect creatures or objects within it, even if the spell is cast using a higher level spell slot. Such a spell can target creatures and objects within the barrier, but the spell has no effect on them. Similarly, the area within the barrier is excluded from the areas affected by such spells.

Teleportation Circle

Casting Time:1 minute
Range:10 feet
Target:A 10-foot-diameter circle on the ground
Components: V M
Duration: 1 round
Description: As you cast the spell, you draw a 10-foot-diameter circle on the ground inscribed with sigils that link your location to a permanent teleportation circle of your choice whose sigil sequence you know and that is on the same plane of existence as you. A shimmering portal opens within the circle you drew and remains open until the end of your next turn. Any creature that enters the portal instantly appears within 5 feet of the destination circle or in the nearest unoccupied space if that space is occupied. Many major temples, guilds, and other important places have permanent teleportation circles inscribed somewhere within their confines. Each such circle includes a unique sigil sequence—a string of magical runes arranged in a particular pattern. When you first gain the ability to cast this spell, you learn the sigil sequences for two destinations on the Material Plane, determined by the DM. You can learn additional sigil sequences during your adventures. You can commit a new sigil sequence to memory after studying it for 1 minute. You can create a permanent teleportation circle by casting this spell in the same location every day for one year. You need not use the circle to teleport when you cast the spell in this way.

3/day: Feather Fall

Casting Time:1 reaction, which you take when you or a creature within 60 feet of you falls
Range:60 feet
Target:Up to five falling creatures within range
Components: V M
Duration: 1 minute
Description: Choose up to five falling creatures within range. A falling creature’s rate of descent slows to 60 feet per round until the spell ends. If the creature lands before the spell ends, it takes no falling damage and can land on its feet, and the spell ends for that creature.

Jump

Casting Time:1 action
Range:Touch
Target:A creature
Components: V S M
Duration: 1 minute
Description: You touch a creature. The creature’s jump distance is tripled until the spell ends.

See Invisibility

Casting Time:1 action
Range:Self
Target:Self
Components: V S M
Duration: 1 hour
Description: For the duration, you see invisible creatures and objects as if they were visible, and you can see into the Ethereal Plane. Ethereal creatures and objects appear ghostly and translucent.

Shield

Casting Time:1 reaction, which you take when you are hit by an attack or targeted by the magic missile spell
Range:Self
Target:Self
Components: V S
Duration: 1 round
Description: An invisible barrier of magical force appears and protects you. Until the start of your next turn, you have a +5 bonus to AC, including against the triggering attack, and you take no damage from magic missile.

Telekinesis

Casting Time:1 action
Range:60 feet
Target:See text
Components: V S
Duration: ConcentrationUp to 10 minutes
Description: You gain the ability to move or manipulate creatures or objects by thought. When you cast the spell, and as your action each round for the duration, you can exert your will on one creature or object that you can see within range, causing the appropriate effect below. You can affect the same target round after round, or choose a new one at any time. If you switch targets, the prior target is no longer affected by the spell. Creature. You can try to move a Huge or smaller creature. Make an ability check with your spellcasting ability contested by the creature’s Strength check. If you win the contest, you move the creature up to 30 feet in any direction, including upward but not beyond the range of this spell. Until the end of your next turn, the creature is restrained in your telekinetic grip. A creature lifted upward is suspended in mid-air. On subsequent rounds, you can use your action to attempt to maintain your telekinetic grip on the creature by repeating the contest. Object. You can try to move an object that weighs up to 1,000 pounds. If the object isn’t being worn or carried, you automatically move it up to 30 feet in any direction, but not beyond the range of this spell. If the object is worn or carried by a creature, you must make an ability check with your spellcasting ability contested by that creature’s Strength check. If you succeed, you pull the object away from that creature and can move it up to 30 feet in any direction but not beyond the range of this spell. You can exert fine control on objects with your telekinetic grip, such as manipulating a simple tool, opening a door or a container, stowing or retrieving an item from an open container, or pouring the contents from a vial.

Psychic Defense

While the githzerai is wearing no armor and wielding no shield, its AC includes its Wisdom modifier.

Actions

Fire Bolt (17th Level)

You hurl a mote of fire at a creature or object within range. Make a ranged spell attack 1d20+10 against a target within 120 ft. On a hit, the target takes 4d10 fire damage. A flammable object hit by this spell ignites if it isn’t being worn or carried.

Legendary Actions

Teleport

Ethell magically teleports, along with any equipment she is wearing and carrying, to an unoccupied space she can see within 30 feet of her.

Change Gravity (costs 3 actions)

Ethell casts the reverse gravity spell. Reverse Gravity Spell

This spell reverses gravity in a 50-foot-radius, 100-foot high cylinder centered on a point within range. All creatures and objects that aren’t somehow anchored to the ground in the area fall upward and reach the top of the area when you cast this spell. A creature can make a Dexterity saving throw to grab onto a fixed object it can reach, thus avoiding the fall. If some solid object (such as a ceiling) is encountered in this fall, falling objects and creatures strike it just as they would during a normal downward fall. If an object or creature reaches the top of the area without striking anything, it remains there, oscillating slightly, for the duration. At the end of the duration, affected objects and creatures fall back down.

. The spell has the normal effect, except that Ethell can orient the area in any direction and creatures and objects fall toward the end of the area.

Summon Smoke Spirit (costs 2 actions)

Ethell summons one of her captured and compelled smoke spirits. It appears in a space within 60 ft of Ethell that she can see. When it appears, roll a d20. On a 1 or 2, the geas spell on the spirit fails and the smoke spirit can act on its own will. Otherwise, the smoke spirit acts on Ethell's initiative. This ability can only be used 5 times.

Once any of the possessed people drop to 0 hit points, the smoke spirit inside is released, and, if it hasn't been already, the geas can be dispelled. In addition, the smoke spirit gets another Wisdom saving throw (DC 17) to resist the geas, this time with advantage. Any smoke spirit that is released from the geas will turn on Ethell. Otherwise, they will fight the players.

Smoke Spirit

Smoke Spirit CR: 4

Small to Medium elemental, chaotic neutral

Armor Class: 15

Hit Points: 90

Speed: , fly: 90 ft.

STR

12 +1

DEX

20 +5

CON

16 +3

INT

8 -1

WIS

10 +0

CHA

6 -2

Saving Throws: Dex +10, Con +8

Damage Resistances: lightning, thunder; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks

Damage Immunities: poison

Condition Immunities: exhaustion, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained, unconscious

Senses: darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10

Languages: Common, primordial, sylvan

Challenge Rating: 4

Air Form

The smoke spirit can enter a hostile creature's space and stop there. It can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing

Actions

Multiattack

The smoke spirit makes two slam attacks or one whirlwind or one cinder breath.

Slam

Melee Weapon Attack:+8, Reach 5 ft., one target Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) bludgeoning damage

Whirlwind (Recharge 4-6)

Each creature in the smoke spirit's space must make a DC 13 Strength saving throw. On a failure, a target takes 15 (3d8 + 2) bludgeoning damage and is flung up 20 feet away from the elemental in a random direction and knocked prone. If a thrown target strikes an object, such as a wall or floor, the target takes 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage for every 10 feet it was thrown. If the target is thrown at another creature, that creature must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or take the same damage and be knocked prone. If the saving throw is successful, the target takes half the bludgeoning damage and isn't flung away or knocked prone.

Cinder Breath (Recharge 6)

The smoke spirit exhales a 15-foot cone of smoldering ash. Each creature in that area must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or be blinded until the end of the smoke spirit’s next turn.

Environmental Hazards

The Apothecary is a two story building with a basement made of a combination of stone and wood. The first floor is the shop proper that offers a number of both medicinal and recreational drugs that are kept in displays. The players can choose to use some of these drugs if they are not destroyed to gain an advantage in the fight. (see Drug Table). The second floor contains four private rooms where people can take drugs in a safe environment with an on-call physician and periodic monitoring. This is the most vulnerable floor to damage as it is mostly wood. The basement is where the Apothecary's alchemists process the drugs they sell. It has an area where plants are grown under magical sunlamps, a few cauldrons, and a baker's oven to make edibles.

Available Drugs

There are only drugs on the first floor and in the basement. The Apothecary doesn't keep any of their drugs on the second floor. The available drugs on the first floor are: Bitterleaf Tincture, Blaze, Bloodpurge, Heartbreak Berries (Juice), and Winter's Breath. The available drugs in the basement are: Muze, Heartbreak Berries (Berries), Dindle's Shield, Fairy Grass, and Bloodpurge. If the players get there before they see the explosion, then the Apothecary itself has 200 HP. Otherwise, it has 190 HP. The possessed people will be mostly focused on destroying the Apothecary except if the players attempt to stop them. On initiative count 20, add up the number of possessed people that are still conscious and take that number of hit points away from the Apothecary's HP. On her turn, Ethell can choose to do additional damage to the structure with her firebolt attack, but is more likely to focus on stopping the players and leave the possessed people to destroy the building. Certain things will change about the battlefield depending on how many hit points the building has at the end of initiative count 20.

190HP: A part of the ceiling collapses on 2F, scattering debris in a 10 ft square. Any creature in that space must make a DC 15 Dexterity save or take 2d6 of bludgeoning damage. The area is difficult terrain. 180HP: A part of the ceiling collapses on 2F, scattering debris in a 10 ft square. Any creature in that space must make a DC 15 Dexterity save or take 2d6 of bludgeoning damage. Half of 2F is difficult terrain. 170HP: A part of the ceiling collapses on the 2F, scattering debris in a 10 ft square. Any creature in that space must make a DC 15 Dexterity save or take 2d6 of bludgeoning damage. Every area of 2F except the area closest to the stairs is difficult terrain. 160HP: A part of the ceiling collapses on the 2F, scattering debris in a 10 ft square. Any creature in that space must make a DC 15 Dexterity save or take 2d6 of bludgeoning damage. The stairs up to 2F are blocked by falling debris. The entirety of 2F is difficult terrain and it requires a DC 17 Athletics check to move the debris away from the stairs.

150HP: The floor of 2F collapses, scattering debris in a 10 ft square on 1F. Any creature in that space must make a DC 15 Dexterity save or take 4d6 of bludgeoning damage. This area is difficult terrain. 120HP: The floor of 2F collapses, scattering debris in a 10 ft square on 1F. Any creature in that space must make a DC 15 Dexterity save or take 4d6 of bludgeoning damage. Half of 1F is difficult terrain. 90HP: The floor of 2F collapses, scattering debris in a 10 ft square on 1F. Any creature in that space must make a DC 15 Dexterity save or take 4d6 of bludgeoning damage. All of 1F is difficult terrain except the area by the stairs. 60HP: The floor of 2F collapses, scattering debris in a 10 ft square on 1F. Any creature in that space must make a DC 15 Dexterity save or take 4d6 of bludgeoning damage. The stairs down to the basement are blocked by falling debris. 2F no longer exists and 1F is entirely difficult terrain. It requires a DC 17 Atheletics check to move the debris away from the stairs.

50HP: The floor of 1F collapses, scattering debris in a 10 ft square into the basement. Any creature in that space must make a DC 15 Dexterity save or take 6d6 of bludgeoning damage. This area is difficult terrain. In addition, roll 1d10. On a 9 or 10, the area is set on fire and any creature in the area must make another DC 15 Dexterity save or take 2d6 fire damage. 40HP: The floor of 1F collapses, scattering debris in a 10 ft square into the basement. Any creature in that space must make a DC 15 Dexterity save or take 6d6 of bludgeoning damage. Half of the basement is difficult terrain. In addition, roll 1d10. On a 7-10, the area is set on fire and any creature in the area must make another DC 15 Dexterity save or take 2d6 fire damage. 30HP: The floor of 1F collapses, scattering debris in a 10 ft square into the basement. Any creature in that space must make a DC 15 Dexterity save or take 6d6 of bludgeoning damage. The basement is entirely difficult terrain except the area around the stairs up to 1F. In addition, roll 1d10. On a 5-10, the area is set on fire and any creature in the area must make another DC 15 Dexterity save or take 2d6 fire damage.

20HP: The floor of 1F collapses, scattering debris in a 10 ft square into the basement. Any creature in that space must make a DC 15 Dexterity save or take 6d6 of bludgeoning damage. The entirety of the basement is difficult terrain and it requires a DC 17 athletics check to remove debris from the stairway and get out. In addition, roll 1d10. On a 3-10, the area is set on fire and any creature in the area must make another DC 15 Dexterity save or take 2d6 fire damage.

10HP: From this point to 0HP, anyone still caught in the collapsed building takes 4d6 fire damage at the beginning of each of their turn as the rubble catches on fire. It requires a DC 17 Athletics check to get out of the rubble.

Epilogue

If Ethell is not dead, she will be arrested along with any of her accomplices that the players can identify. The community comes together to repair the Apothecary and, if the players kept it from falling below 100HP, the Apothecary will allow each of the players to select three drugs to keep for free. They can get one drug each for free if they kept the Apothecary above 0HP. The smoke spirits, now freed, are immensely grateful and their friendly smoke spirit will allow the players to call on her for assistance. They receive the Smoke Spirit's Token from her that allows a player to cast summon elemental once per long rest.

Introduction
------Interview: Harmar
----The Solution
--Harmar's House
----Bedroom & Bathroom
----Kitchen
----Basement
--The Smoke Lady
------Optional: Harmar's Psyche
Research Phase
----Numo
----Dr. Basil Wallace
----Proud Jewel
----Det. Naragath Woundwalker
Plot Events
----Enemy Information
Investigation
--The Smithy
------Interview: Myrria Forgefire
--The Wealthy Badger Tavern
------Interview: Ferra
--Pleasant Rose Cafe
------Interview: Brilmera Moltenbane
--Iron Shield Garments
------Interview: Gurr
Defending the Apthecary
----Enemy Statblocks
-------Forgemaster Defender
-------Commoner
-------Guard
-------Noble
-------Ethell Hillmoss
-------Smoke Spirit
----Environmental Hazards
----Available Drugs
Epilogue

Items

Engraved Chair
CLL Flyer
Old Flyer
Ornate Table
Engraved Metal Panel
Sketch of Father

Places

Wealthy Badger Tavern
The Smithy
Pleasant Rose Cafe
Iron Shield Garments

People

Harmar Longbeard
Brad
Ethell Hillmoss
Jorster
Sharon Baxter
Brilmera Moltenbane
Ferra
Myrria Forgefire
Gurr

Player Handbook

Makeovers

Introduction

Interview: Harmar Longbeard

The Solution

GM's Eyes Only

Harmar's House

Read on a DC 25 Success

Bedroom & Bathroom

Kitchen

Basement

The Smoke Spirit

Interview: The Smoke Spirit

Harmar's Possession

The Spirit's Plans

Optional

Harmar's Psyche

Research Phase

Numo

Information

Interview: Numo

What could have caused Harmar's lost time:

What happened to the Smoke Spirit:

Dr. Basil Wallace

Proud Jewel

Information

Interview: Proud Jewel

Det. Naragath Woundwalker

Information

Interview: Naragath Woundwalker

Timed Events

Harmar's House

Second Location

Third Location

Enemy Information

Investigation

The Smithy

The Smithy's Defenses

Mechanical Defenses

The Forgemasters

Forgemaster Defender

STR

18 +4

DEX

11 +0

CON

16 +3

INT

12 +1

WIS

15 +2

CHA

10 +0

Actions

Multiattack

Longsword

Rage of the Forge (Recharge 5-6)

Reactions

Raise Shield

Interview: Myrria Forgefire

The Longbeards

The Retirement Party

The Wealthy Badger Tavern

Interview: Ferra

A Suspicious Person

Clean Living League

Pleasant Rose Cafe

Interview: Brilmera Moltenbane

The Retirement Party

Drug Supplier

How Brilmera Can Help

Iron Shield Garments

Interview: Gurr

Defending the Apothecary

Enemy Statblocks

Forgemaster Defender

Forgemaster Defender

STR

18 +4

DEX