Short Adventure Module

A Woman Murdered

(For 1-4 players of levels 1-3)

The storm has become a nightmare. The pounding rain pushes your head down and limits your vision to a few paces. You can barely see your own feet as you trudge through the rising water. Even worse than the rain is the wind. It seems to come from every direction. Twice, it almost knocked you over but you managed to keep your footing. You’ve kept your sense of direction but only by tracing the wall of the building to your right with your hand. Suddenly, the rough brick gives way to smooth wood and you feel the outline of a door. You manage to clutch the firm brass of the door handle and with great effort you wrench the door open and step inside.

The wind slams the door shut behind you silencing the roar of the storm and you can just barely make out the last few notes of a door chime. The air is warm and dry and a pleasant change from the deluge outside. You are dripping wet and you stamp your feet on a warm rug in the entryway. Once your eyes focus to the dim light, you see that you are in a shop that looks like an antique store. There’s an odd assortment of merchandise scattering the walls and shelves. You can smell the musty odor of tobacco and hear a gentle brushing sound. You have never been here before. Odd. You could have sworn you were on Market Street and you knew all of the shops along that road. This one is unfamiliar.

As you stand in the entryway debating whether you want to go back to the typhoon outside or if you should wait it, a curtain leading to a back room sweeps open and an old man steps into view.

“So what has the nasty weather brought to our humble shop today?” he says aloud.

“A customer,” mutters a bored voice and your eye turns to a young Teifling. He’s slowly sweeping the floor and you can see he’s the source of the sound you heard. The old man frowns at the Tiefling.

“I can see that,” he growls. “The question was rhetorical.” Immediately, a smile returns to the old man’s face and he darts toward you with outstretched arms.

“Welcome, my friend. Sora nos Costra. Yamsa il menai. Welcome to Odrick’s Oddities. I am your humble servant, Obadiah Odrick. I see you have been ill treated by this most dreadful storm. Please, relax and rest yourself. Can I get you anything to drink? Would you like some tea? No. Very well.” As he talks, you can see the old man eyeing you up and down. You’ve seen that look in merchants before. He is probably trying to determine how much you are worth and what he could sell you. What he says next surprises you.

“I can see you are an adventurer, yes? If you’d like to earn a little extra coin, I have a small job for you. A simple thing really. A young woman has been murdered. Don’t worry you don’t need to track down her killer. That will take care of itself. All I need you to do is pick something up for me. That’s it. The killer is a young nobleman named Karleth. He recently murdered a young woman. Don’t ask me why. I don’t really know or care. What I do know is that her ghost is going to appear tonight. She will take her vengeance on her killer and stab him with a dagger. When she does, she will vanish. I just need you to follow Karleth and retrieve the dagger for me. You’ll recognize when you see it. The dagger has a black blade and handle with no gemstones or ornamentation. What do you say?”

Odrick will offer to pay the players 10 gp each for retrieving the dagger. He can be negotiated to 15 gp but no higher. The players could also offer to do the job for something else in the shop. It’s full of cursed items so have fun with that one. When the player agrees to do the job, Odrick will say excellent and open the door. The storm is gone. The street is gone. The city is gone. Instead, the whole shop has teleported to the small fishing village of Parkers Ferry. It is currently late afternoon. Odrick has no idea where Karlesh is but he recommends asking around. Someone will know him. A successful Investigation check DC 12 will direct the player to the Smoking Lizard Tavern, which is run by an old one-eyed human and retired sailor named Pelor. Failure will result in the players spending a few hours searching around the docks and arriving at the tavern just as Karlesh leaves it. Success means they will arrive earlier in the night and have an opportunity to talk to Karlesh.

Karlesh

Human Male, Neutral Evil

Armor class 10

Hit Points 6 (2d6)

Speed 30 ft.

Languages: common, elvish (poor)

Challenge: 1/8

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA

12 10 10 10 10 12

Actions:

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

Karlesh is an arrogant and rich noble. He spends the early part of the night at the Smoking Lizard drinking with two of his friends named Figgs and Guthbert. The prior week he murdered Felicite, a servant girl at his manor house with whom he’d been having an affair. When she threatened to tell his wife, Karlesh decided Felicite had to go permanently. He bought the murder weapon, a dagger, from a shop called Yurick’s Oddities. He disposed of the weapon and the body deep in the woods near his family manor. He will not volunteer this information willingly. If he is not stopped, he will get drunk and eventually leave the Smoking Lizard with his friends.

Several things can happen here:

1. The players somehow force or trick Karlesh into confessing. He will be arrested and the Vengeful Spirit will go to the jail to kill him.

2. The players stop the Vengeful Spirit. Karlesh will accuse the players of trying to murder him and the guards will believe him unless he has already confessed of his crime. The players will need to convince the guards they are innocent, kill the guards, or escape from the town jail.

3. The players let Karlesh die. If he dies, the town guard arrives moments after the Vengeful Spirit vanishes and will either arrest Figgs and Guthbert or the players depending on who is closest to the body. They will confiscate the dagger which is now sticking out Karlesh’s neck. The players will need to either sneak in and steal the dagger or defeat the guards and take it.

There will be four town Guards (see Monster Manual) on patrol and at the jail. Included here is a map of the jail. The dagger will be placed in the cupboard next to the desk, which is locked. A Sleight of Hand Check DC 12 can pick the lock.

Once the player’s retrieve the dagger they can either keep it, seek out a way to destroy it, or return it to Odrick. If the players return it to Odrick, he will pay them his promised amount and place the dagger back in its display case for the next customer.