TERROR AT TIGHTWILLOW POND An encounter for 6th level heroes

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2 TERROR AT TIGHTWILLOW POND An encounter for 6th level heroes Design & Writing:Chris Bissette Cover Design: Chris Bissette Internal Design & Layout: Chris Bissette Proofing & Editing: Steven Thurston Cover Art: Licensed from Adobe Stock Cartography: Chris Bissette Special Thanks To: Trash Mob Minis, Marshall Short, Kev s Lounge, and all of my patrons on Patreon. Loot The Room and its associated logos are trademarks of Loot The Room. Product Identity: The following items are hereby identified as Product Identity, as defined in the Open Game License version 1.0a, Section 1(e), and are not Open Content: All trademarks, registered trademarks, proper names (characters, place names, new deities, etc.), dialogue, plots, story elements, locations, characters, artwork, sidebars, and trade dress. (Elements that have previously been designated as Open Game Content are not included in this declaration.) Open Game Content: The Open content in this book includes the mandragorgon stats. No other portion of this work may be reproduced in any form without permission Loot The Room TM

3 Terror At Tightwillow Pond A Shadepoint encounter for 6th level heroes. Tightwillow s always been dodgy. The spicers and tar-eaters moved in there years ago, camped up on the island burning tar and doing gods know what. Nobody with half a brain goes there any more. It s changing, though. Every day it gets worse, and even the spicers are avoiding it. They say there s something evil on the shores of the pond, something twisted and vindictive that hunts in that little scrap of wasteland. Sounds like the ravings of people too stoned to know what day it is to me, but I still say you d do well to stay away from that shithole. Using This Book Terror At TIghtwillow Pond is not a complete adventure, and is not intended to provide you with a full session of play. Instead it serves as a single encounter that you can drop into your games. A number of hooks are provided for getting the players to Tightwillow, and some of the items found in the area may guide the party towards future adventures. Tightwillow is designed primarily for use with the free supplement Cities: Shadepoint, and is located in the area of that city known as Ravenwall Village. If you aren t using Shadepoint, you can place the pond in a public park or green space in whichever setting you prefer to use. Background 1 Tightwillow Pond is all that remains of a public works project that aimed to build public parks within the city. The project was short-lived, shut down when the Treasurer at the time objected to spending money in the most deprived areas of the city rather than areas that he deemed to be more worthy of attention. Tightwillow is filled with brackish water, and this small green space is surrounded by collapsed buildings and grimy streets. Tightwillow has long been a congregating point for the growing homeless population in the city. The large central island on the pond used to house a sizeable tent village, and was plagued by violence and drug abuse. Recently, though, more dead bodies have begun appearing on the shores of the pond, and many of the people

4 One square = Five feet who used to live on the island have sought out new pastures within the city. Those who have fled tell of a curse that has settled on Tightwillow, turning the trees themselves against any who dare to set foot near the pond. In reality there is no curse. A mandragorgon has chosen the pond as its new hunting ground, and is making short work of the prey it finds there. Soon that prey will dry up, and the mandragorgon will seek fresh meat in the city itself. Adventure Hooks 1. The PCs camp up beside the pond for the night, unable to find accommodations elsewhere in the city. Sensing new prey, the mandragorgon puts in an appearance. 2. The deaths of drug addicts and homeless people have gone unnoticed for weeks, but the recent discovery of the body of a local business owner on the shores of Tightwillow has kicked the city guard into action. The guard aren t generally welcome in Ravenwall 2

5 Village, so the party are hired to investigate and bring the killer to justice. 3. The waters of Tightwillow Pond are rancid, but a small shrine on the northern side of the pond holds a fountain containing waters with potent healing properties. The party are recruited by the mother of a terminally ill young girl, who offers them a family heirloom (an amulent of second chances) in exchange for them braving the dangers of Tightwillow to bring her a vial of the fountain s water. Tightwillow Pond The ambient noise of the city fades away as you step beneath the trees surrounding Tightwillow Pond. The air is uncomfortably warm and still, disturbed only by the buzz of mosquitos and the occasional distant hoot of an unseen owl. You can already smell the stagnant water, sour and salty and not at all pleasant. Now that you are here it is easy to see why people might claim the place is cursed The Shrine Two broken statues of white onyx are nestled beneath the trees in this small clearing. One appears the be the head of a raven, while the other has been so badly damaged that it is impossible to tell what it might once have been. A wide, shallow onyx bowl about two feet in diameter is embedded in a low plinth between the statues, though any liquid it may have once held has long since dried up. The bowl in the ground is what locals refer to as the fountain, though it contains no water. A successful DC 16 Intelligence (Investigation) check reveals that the bowl is coated with a fine crystalline powder that can be collected into a vial or pouch of some kind, providing enough dust of restoration for one use. 2 - The Island If the area around the pond felt lifeless, this island feels drained of life. The ground here is broken and uneven, full of loose rocks and exposed roots. The foliage is limp and browning, and the leaves on the trees that loom over you are spotted with disease. All around you are signs of recent human habitation; tattered tents and blankets, cold campfires, broken glass, scraps of rotting food, and even excrement litter the area. This island was, until recently, the site of the encampment that made Tightwillow Pond such an unsavoury area. This is where the mandragorgon has been doing the majority of its hunting, and is where the creature is most likely to be encountered by the party. Two wooden bridges stretch from the north and south shores of the pond to the island. They have no handrails or ropes, and their boards are broken and rotting. Tightwillow Island Finds &

6 Trinkets 1. A small leather satchel containing a broken piece of mirror, a razorblade, and a small paper wrap with a pinch of coarse red powder inside. 2. A long-cold campfire with a rusted metal tin thrust into the ashes. The thick brown sludge in the bottom of the tin was food, once. 3. A ragged stuffed bear with one eye. A tear on its leg has stuffing spilling out of it, and investigating closer reveals a single electrum piece shoved into the lining. 4. The body of a halfling boy who appears to have died fairly recently. His upper body is coated with a thick yellow powder that is clogging his eyes and nose. The powder appears natural in origin, possibly coming from a plant of some kind. 5. A small bundle of twigs and reeds that has been formed into a roughly humanoid shape. A slip of parchment is pinned to the front of its head with large thorns. It has a smiling face drawn on it in charcoal. 6. A small wooden bucket filled to the brim with chestnuts. Those at the bottom are crushed and beginning to rot, but those nearer the top still seem fine. 3 - The Boathouse This long shed is only walled on three sides. The fourth side is open to the pond, and two wooden jetties extend out onto the water. A small rowboat is moored inside the boathouse, 4 though it is partially sunk and has a number of holes in the hull. 4 - The Gazebo The gazebo that stands on this large flat rock has seen better days. The white paint has flaked away in large strips, revealing the dark swollen wood beneath. Two benches sit beneath the canopy. A man in a long, moth-eaten coat is be slumped over one of them, though he is not moving. The man is very dead. His head has been torn from his body, and close inspection reveals that it appears to have been twisted off. His upper torso is covered in a fine purple powder. This powder came from the mandragorgon s paralysis ability, though it has no effect on characters who simply touch it. Characters who search the man s body find a pouch containing 8 copper pieces, a small piece of soapstone shaped like a raven s head, and a note written in common from a person named Efril asking someone to meet them at the gazebo at sunrise. Any characters who touch the man s body must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw against disease or become poisoned until the disease is cured. Every 24 hours that elapse, the creature must repeat the saving throw, reducing its hit point maximum by 5 (1d10) on a failure. The disease is cured on a success. The creature dies if the disease reduces its hit point maximum to 0. This reduction to the target s hit

7 point maximum lasts until the disease is cured. New Magic Items Amulet of Second Chances Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement) While attuned to this item you may choose to reroll a saving throw, keeping the higher result. You may choose to use this ability after you roll, but before the result is known. Once used, this item cannot be used again until you complete a long rest. Dust of Restoration Wondrous item, rare This fine powder shimmers like oil on water. You can use an action to sprinkle the dust on a creature. The affected creature then gains the effect of the greater restoration spell. 5

8 Mandragorgon Large plant, neutral evil Armor Class 15 (natural armor) Hit Points 152 (16d ) Speed 30 ft. STR 18 (+4) DEX 10 (+0) CON 19 (+4) INT 5 (-3) WIS 8 (-1) CHA 10 (+0) Skills Perception +2 Condition Immunities blinded, frightened, poisoned, stunned Senses blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 12 Damage Vulnerabilities fire Challenge 6 (2,300 XP) Roots Bloody Roots. The mandragorgon s root system spreads through the ground around it, disrupting the earth and creating an area of difficult terrain with a radius of 10 centered on the mandragorgon. This area moves with the mandragorgon. Freedom of Movement. The mandragorgon ignores difficult terrain, and magical effects can t reduce its speed or cause it to be restrained. It can spend 5 feet of movement to escape from nonmagical restraints or being grappled. Actions Multiattack. The mandragorgon makes two branch attacks. Branch. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage. Floral Assault. The mandragorgon releases a cloud of pollen from one of its flowers at random (reroll duplicates) in a 20 radius centered on the mandragorgon. All creatures in the area must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or suffer the flower s effect. Creatures that don t need to breath or are immune to poison automatically succeed on this saving throw. 1. Poison. Affected creatures take 33 (6d10) poison damage, or half as much on a successful saving throw. 2. Paralysis. Affected creatures are paralyzed for one minute. An affected creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. 3. Blindness. Affected creatures are blinded for 1 minute. An affected creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. 4. Sleep. Affected creatures fall asleep and remain unconscious for 1 minute. An affected creature awakens if it takes damage or another creature takes an action to wake it. The purple flower has no effect on constructs or undead. 5. Sickness. An affected creature spends its action that turn retching and reeling. 6. Death. An affected creature takes 22 (4d10) necrotic damage. A creature dies if this effect reduces it to 0 hit points. 6

9 Thank You! Thank you for downloading this Loot The Room product! If you have enjoyed Terror At Tightwillow Pond then please consider leaving a rating and review on DriveThruRPG! For more from Loot The Room, check out my other releases on the DMs Guild: They say the lifts in Shadepoint never stop moving, because the mines never sleep. There is always stone to be had, always money to be dug - and, always, the spectre of a dark, lonely death, down there in the depths of the onyx mines. Shadepoint is a system-neutral city for use with your favourite tabletop fantasy roleplaying games. This 22-page supplement details each major district of the city, key NPCs, and enough adventure hooks to fuel years of adventure. Get it here for free! 7

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