Missing Caravans: A Get Ready, Get Set, Go! Labyrinth Lord adventure set in the Ashford Valley
Get Ready:
While in town, the heroes hear about some bandit troubles on the High Bridge Road. A few small merchant caravans have completely disappeared and bandits are to blame.
Get Set:
A local merchant Richard Rich contacts the PCs to get them to investigate. He offers a small reward (he's a Rich but not actually very rich) for them to find his friend. The PCs wander up and down the High Bridge Road without encountering any bandits and see some smoke coming from the forest (which, if they delve into the forest to find the source, encounter Edith the Witch, see below). Eventually they find a campsite with evidence the caravan was camped there recently.
At night, the Morlocks come.
Go!:
A cave near the campsite leads into a new Morlock community. Three to five Morlocks track the PCs and attack when they are in camp for the night. The PCs can easily follow the trail to the cave and encounter the rest of the Morlocks. What is actually inside the cave? Are there any prisoners? That's up to you, the GM.
Notable NPCs:
Edith the Witch; No. Encountered: 1; Alignment: Neutral; Armor Class: 7; Hit Dice: 3d8; Hit Points: 16; Attacks: two claws (1d4) and dagger (1d4); Save: F3; morale: 7; Special abilities: Magical song (treat as Charm Person spell), magical resistance (+2 saving throw on all saving rolls), magical moving cabin.
Edith the Witch is a Harpy. She's retired from the usual Harpy business (charming people, torturing them, raping them and finally eating them) for several decades now. Bloodthirstiness and lust don't have any power over her anymore. Amazingly, she makes a better living as a witch.
She's ugly, old and grumpy, can't see very well and hops around her hut wrapped in a dirty cloak that drags on the floor. It'll take a sharp PC to determine she's actually a Harpy.
She spends most of her days brewing potions, talking to her cats (she has a dozen or so live ones as well as at least 18 cat heads stuffed and mounted on the walls), and playing with her collection of Dwarven metal toy figures.
The potions she brews are:
Summon Fish (imbibe, 1 hour duration, summons up to 10 fish, range: half mile stretch of water, must be used near water where fish live, works 30% of the time)
Scare Away Crows (imbibe or spread on the ground, 12 hour duration, range: 1 mile radius, treat as Fear spell against crows, works 70% of the time)
Glue (spread on object, permanently sticks things together, works 100% of the time)
Love (imbibe, 1 hour duration, treat as Charm Person spell against object of affection, save per object of affection, works 30% of the time)
Curse (imbibe or skin contact, 1 hour duration, treat as Curse spell on affected person, save per affected person, works 50% of the time)
And any other potion that seems appropriate (GMs choice)
Trade with Edith is very simple. Food and gold are good but Dwarven metal toy figurines are best (the chance a PC has one during his first visit with Edith is a 1 on 1d6).
Finding Edith the first time is easy. The PCs will spot a thin stream of smoke about 100 yards in from the side of the High Bridge Road and they'll soon find her cabin after about 15 minutes of walking. Thereafter, it'll be hard - the PCs will only find her at a dramatically appropriate time (GMs choice) as her cabin moves about on it's own and with no thought to customer convenience.
Morlocks; No. Encountered: 2d6+3; Alignment: Chaotic; Armor Class: 8; Hit Dice: 1d8; Hit Points: 8, 8, 7, 6, 6, 5, 5, 4, 3, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1; Attacks: short sword (1d6) ; Save: F1; morale: 9; Special abilities: 90' infravision.
The Morlocks are a new factor in the Ashford Valley. Whether they will become allies of the Necromancer depends on a number of things, the least of which is whether they come into direct conflict. Currently, groups of them are moving into caverns beneath Ashford proper and some have even found digs in Clifton. What is making the Morlocks migrate to the Ashford Valley is an unknown but they seem to like being here.