Recommended for 3-5 adventurers at level 4

Background: Lady Daltain Nimress, a human noblewoman, wants to hire the adventurers to protect her from a terrible creature who attacked her and killed her guards. The creature is Jack Bones who has been summoned by a group of Romani gypsies to take revenge on Lady Nimress. The prior week she had a young man from the gypsy camp, Donovan, executed for stealing horses on the testimony of a local farmer. Little does she know, the Romani youth was innocent and the farmer lied. The players may defeat Jack and temporarily help Lady Nimress or they can uncover the story behind the curse and stop Jack permanently.

Setup: The players begin in a town (you can use Lingard for its name or pick any town you want). As the player’s settle into their drinks at a local tavern, a priest of Tyr will come to them to ask if they can help a guest of the temple. He will not reveal any details as he would prefer they hear it from the guest instead. As the players are escorted to the temple, they may make a Perception Check (DC 17). A successful check will get a glimpse of a tall, thin man with a skeletal face and a straw hat watching them intently. He will vanish behind a passing cart.

Locations: There are four locations for this adventure: a temple to Tyr, a gypsy camp, Surgart’s Farm, and the Old Cemetery.

Temple of Tyr – The Temple of Tyr is an impressive stone building with stained-glass windows depicting the god of Justice punishing law-breakers and praising those who follow the law. The group will be lead to a small hospital room where Lady Nimress lies. Her arm and leg are bandaged and she is clearly in great pain. She will tell the group that she was traveling to town when her carriage was attacked by a creature. She will describe Jack Bones. Jack killed most of her guards but Lady Nimress was able to escape, albeit injured, and find sanctuary in the temple. She would like the group to hunt down this creature and destroy him and will offer to pay them a 1000 gp. reward for their work. Lady Nimress thinks that the creature belongs to the Romani gypsies who have camped out near town. She will mention casually that they are all thieves and criminals and that one of them was recently caught stealing horses and that he was executed as per the laws of the land. The name of the farmer whose horses was stolen is Surgat.

The Gypsy Camp – The Romani camp is filled with colorful wagons. However, most of the people in the camp are wearing a black scarf of mourning. They will not be too friendly to outsiders. The only one who will talk with the group is the speaker, a young woman named Vesta. She will be aloof and unwelcoming. If the player’s succeed at making a good charisma check (DC 15), she will advise them to distance themselves from Lady Nimress. Vesta will say that the young man, Donovan, was innocent of stealing horses and that Lady Nimress deserves what’s coming for her. They will not talk about Jack unless threatened or the group convinces Vesta that they seek to prove Donovan’s innocence. She will not reveal the site of his bone until the group convinces Lady Nimress to apologize.

The Surgat Farm – This farm has seen better days. Most of the crops are dying from lack of care. The group will find a hagard middle-aged woman named Jenny caring for five children of various ages. Several neighbors are also there helping. One of the neighbors will tell the group that farmer Surgat was killed last night. He was out drinking in the field when some wild beast attacked and killed him. When they found his body in the morning, he looked like a a wild animal had half-eaten him. If the group investigates Jenny she will be reluctant to talk about the horse thefts. With a good Charisma check (DC 15), she will reveal that her husband lost the horses gambling but he blamed their loss on the gypsies to hide his shame. If the players ask the neighbors with a good Investigation check (DC 15), they will hear rumors that suggest the truth. Checking out the site of the death, the group will find no animal tracks.

Old Cemetery – The Old Cemetery lies on the outskirts of the town. It’s a small hill covered in various tombstones resting beneath the peaceful branches of old willow trees. If the players discover where the bones used to summon lies, Jack Bones can be found waiting there slowly chewing on the arm of Farmer Surgat, which he has saved. Apparently, it tastes like hope and pain. If anyone attempts to destroy his bone, Jack will fight them.

Fighting Jack – Jack will wait until Lady Nimress leaves the temple of Tyr before he attacks her. The group can ambush and stop him. If they destroy Jack, Lady Nimress will pay them but Jack will just come back a couple of days later and finish the job.

Defeating Jack – If the group manages to figure out what really happened with the stolen horses, they can attempt to prove Donovan’s innocence. If they can convince Lady Nimress that she made a mistake, she will write a letter to the gypsies exonerating Donovan and offering them recompense. She will seize and sell the Surgat farm and give the gypsies the value of it. That’s per the law of her land. She is a strong proponent of the law and a follower of Tyr. Jenny and her children will be thrown off the land and forced to seek charity. If the group wishes to help Jenny, Lady Nimress will suggest that they give her their reward money. She will pay the group once the players destroy Jack. Vesta will be impressed with the letter and she will take the money from the farm. However, she can’t call off the monster. She will tell the group about Jack Bones and where to find his bone. Jack will be waiting for them at the cemetery and will fight them. Once destroyed, the group can dig up Jack’s bone and break it.