Raso Resch Stevens Terror Beneath the Frozen Gate a Tier 1 Adventure for Characters from Levels 1 to 4

A Tier 1 Adventure for Levels 1 to 4 TERROR BENEATH TSampleHE FROZEN GfileATE Raso Resch Stevens Terror Beneath The Frozen Gate A Tier 1 Adventure For Characters From Levels 1 to 4 Credits Contents Designers: Joe Raso, Karl Resch, Jeff C. Stevens Introduction ...................................................................... 4 Editor: Alan Tucker Chapter 1 - The Village ................................................10 Layout: Joe Raso Chapter 2 - The Hunting Grounds .............................26 Cover Illustration: Petar Penev Chapter 3 - The Festering Abscesses .......................35 Commissioned Art: Fez Inkwright, Joe Raso, John Chapter 4 - Tunnels of Fear .........................................42 Latta, Petar Penev Chapter 5 - The Broken Tower ...................................47 Stock Art: Daniel Comerci, Daniel F. Walthall, Dean Chapter 6 - The Druid ..................................................55 Spencer, Earl Geier (Misfit Studios), Jack Badashki, Jeremy Mohler (Outland Entertainment), Louis Chapter 7 - Greenlings Unleashed ............................59 Porter Jr., Rick Hershey (Fat Goblin Games), William Appendix A - Meriele’s Crystal ....................................63 McAusland (Outland Arts) Appendix B - Creatures ................................................65 Art - Public Domain: Photoshoped wikimedia-files: 2013-10-22_ Appendix C - The Happy Wanderers ........................74 Psilocybe_cyanescens_Wakef_378614.jpg (by Caleb Appendix D - Art Listing ..............................................75 Brown) , Small Round Lidded Basket MET 36.3.60 EGDP016263.jpg (by Metropolitan Museum of Art), Arctic Fox file:Iceland-1979445.jpg (by Jonathen Pie) Background: Parchment texture by Seth Tomlinson, snowflake design by Fez Inkwright, page number box by Darrin Scott Cartography: Dyson Logos, Joe Raso Playtesters: Bob Anger, Cory Repta, Dave Caughlin, Mark Vickers, Mike VanHooydonk, Stuart Teather; Ava Vickers, Claire Raso, Julien Vickers, Mara Vickers, Sophie Raso DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Eberron, the dragon ampersand, Ravnica and all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries. This work contains material that is copyright Wizards of the Coast and/or other authors. Such material is used with permission under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon MastersSample Guild. file All other original material in this work is copyright 2020 by Joe Raso, Karl Resch and Jeff C. Stevens and published under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild. Some artwork by Caleb Brown, Daniel Comerci - danielcomerci.com, Daniel F. Walthall, Darrin Scott (Inspired by Dungeons and Dragons products), Dean Spencer, Earl Geier (Misfit Studios), Fez Inkwright, Jack Badashski, Jeremy Mohler (Outland Entertainment), Joe Raso, John Latta, Jonathen Pie, Lewis Porter, Jr. Design, Petar Penev, Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock Art by Rick Hershey / Fat Goblin Games, Seth Tomlinson, William McAusland used with permission. All rights reserved. 2 About the Designers Joe Raso oe Raso is a dad, a husband, and a long suffering DM who’s had the pleasure of gaming withJ the same group since his university days. Some of Joe’s recent publications on the Dungeon Master’s Guild include: The Great Dale Campaign Guide, The Seer’s Ruin in The Demon Wastes, the Toybound Avenger in Mist Kickers, as well as numerous articles in the Khyber Khronicle. You can follow him on twitter @_joe_raso and on his blog https://theschemingdm.wordpress.com Karl Resch arl is an artificer/cleric/bard who has adventured his entire life in the midwest. He Kenjoys playing games with his wife (losing often), teaching his daughter the sounds dragons make, and eagerly awaiting the arrival of his son this spring. He has been an alpha playtester for all released sourcebooks for 5e D&D. Karl’s published works include: Court of Stars: The Trinket Lord (Dungeon 205), Fear of the Dark, and he has contributed to three of Jeff Stevens’s collections with For Whom the Bell Tolls (Encounters in the Savage City), Blood in the Water (Encounters in the Savage Wilderness), and Alianthra, the Bloodthorn (Villains and Lairs II). He’s extremely thankful to have worked with Joe and Jeff on this project, whose encouragement and guidance were invaluable to the creative process. You can follow Karl on twitter @ArtificerAlf. Jeff C. Stevens eff is a freelance RPG writer and producer. By day, Jeff works in the financial industry and lives inJ central Missouri, US. Although not written in his job requirements, his work includes daydreaming about the next game session, the next adventure writing project, or the next Encounters project he’s going to tackle. Jeff’s has a number of best selling publications on the DM’s Guild, including Dragon’s Breath Tavern, Happy Jack’s Funhouse, Villains & Lairs, and the Savage EncountersSample series. file You can follow Jeff on twitter @Jcorvinstevens and his website at www.jeffstevensgames.com. 3 Introduction elcome to the village of Joarl: an unassuming motte-and- bailey farming community whereW a mysterious enchantment has entrapped its inhabitants beneath a layer of ice. The story begins as the adventurers arrive at Joarl’s icy gates. Investigating the frozen community uncovers strange creatures and dangerous secrets hidden within. Terror Beneath the Frozen Gate is a Tier 1 DUNGEONS & DRAGONS adventure. It is designed for characters starting at 1st level. Those who uncover the secrets of the frozen village and save its residents will likely reach 5th level by the end of the story. Story Overview Terror Beneath the Frozen Gate is quest to free villagers of a remote settlement from their icy enchantment. The adventure’s plot can be summarized as follows: • As the adventurers explore the frozen village, they discover underground locations containing hidden and mysterious magical crystal fragments. • The adventure becomes a treasure hunt to recover the fragments and end the village’s icy enchantment. The melting ice, however, releases a terrible evil that the adventurers must contend with. MERIELE’S ANCIENT TOWER. Recent Events The following is a brief summary of events that led to • Opportunistic cult leaders learned of the events Joarl’s current frozen state: in Joarl and tried to leverage the situation to summon a terrible evil. As the cultists began their • An ancient tower materialized in caverns beneath ritual, the druid realized the terrible truth of their the village of Joarl. Dark creatures trapped within activities. threatened the village, spurring its leaders to seek help from a powerful druid. • Desperate to stop the cultist’s threat, the druid unleashed a powerful spell, trapping • The druid discovered the tower harbored the the summoned evil beneath a layer of ice. remnants of a baelnorn, a good-aligned elven lich, Unfortunately, the druid and the villagers were torn apart by the magic that caused the tower’s also victims of the same icy effect. Sampleappearance. The druid sought to recover the file baelnorn’s enchanted crystal shards in hope of • The adventurers arrive a number of days later healing the creature. and discover the frozen village. 4 The Sundering Adventure Background Two great cataclysmic events brought Meriele’s ancient tower to rest below the village of Many millennia ago, a small elven community raised Joarl. These events were the First and Second a tower to store their village’s cultural treasures. Sundering, powerful and transformative incidents Meriele Parimon was a powerful elven wizard that affected all of the Forgotten Realms. who lived there and dedicated her existence to its protection. She transformed herself into a baelnorn, The First Sundering occurred nearly twenty a benevolent, lich-like creature, allowing her to watch millennia ago when elvish high mages created over the village’s legacy for generations. Evermeet, but in the process wrought havoc by remaking the very shape of the Realms. Unfortunately, after she completed her The Second Sundering is a recent world-shaping transformation, a cataclysm befell the Realms event. From 1484 to 1489 DR, a series of wars, reshaping the fabric of reality and spreading earthquakes, droughts, and floods brought woe devastation across the land. In a desperate effort to and misery across the land. Faerûn once again save the tower, Meriele cast a mighty spell. Her magic underwent a transformation, reversing many of ripped the tower from existence, sheltering it in a tiny the effects inflicted by the Spellplague a century demi-plane of its own. before. The Tower’s Return Though saved from destruction, time stood still for Solavar the Druid Meriele. She and her tower existed in the demi-plane void for millennia until another catastrophic event The druids of the Circle of Leth have long kept triggered its return to the Realms. The extra-planar watch over the lands surrounding the village of Joarl. space collapsed abruptly, materializing the tower They know of subtle twists in the Weave that make beneath the village of Joarl. The stress of the passage planar barriers weak in the area. They understood fractured the tower as it came to rest in caverns enterprising spell-casters might use these anomalies beneath the village. to more easily summon creatures from the outer planes. It was this twist in the Weave that caused Although baelnorn do not possess phylacteries as Meriel’s tower to materialize beneath Joarl.

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