Short Adventure for a Level 10 party

Description: A skinwalker is forcing its victims to draw from the deck of many things. It is trying to get the Moon card so that it can get a wish to make itself a real person. If the victim pulls a good card, the skinwalker kills them and takes their body. If the victim pulls a bad card, the skinwalker kills them and leaves their body. The town guard are closing in on the killer. They will enlist the aid of the players to help them stop this foul creature. 

Setup: The players are in Baldur’s Gate. They are approached by a friend in the town guard by the name of Nancey Keene. She is hunting a serial killer they have nicknamed the Cardmaster. There have been five victims in total. Each victim was found with a card from the deck of many things in his or her hand. She thinks she might have a lead. There’s a young elven man with black hair and carrying a lute whom she suspects might be the killer. He was seen in the vicinity of the last victim. She just saw her suspect walking arm-in-arm with a young elven lady with bright blonde hair and an expensive blue dress. They’ve just gone into a nearby inn called The Helm and Cloak. She would like the players to help her catch and interrogate the suspect.

The Helm and Cloak

The Helm and Cloak is an expensive inn that caters to the wealthy and bored of Baldur’s Gate. As such, it also attracts a variety of entertainers who seek to cater to this crowd. You don’t see your suspect but it is a crowded common room and he could be hiding somewhere. You are approached by the innkeeper, a sturdy dwarf with a suspicious expression. “Can I help you?” she asks.

The dwarf is named Rosalia. She can tell the players that the man they saw was a bard named Axel Sweetnote. He hasn’t been seen in the Helm and Cloak for several months. His fiance has been in a right state of distress. Her name is Penelope Cintak. She’s also a bard, like Axel, with short brown hair and lots of tattoos. Just a few minutes ago, Penelope saw Axel with another woman and rushed out the back door in tears. Axel is upstairs in room 11 with the other woman whom Rosalia doesn’t recognize. She tells the players to knock some sense into Axel. Penelope is a fine girl and doesn’t need to be treated that way.

Room 11

You knock on the door but no one answers. You try the handle and find it unlocked. The door swings open and the stench of death assaults your nostrils. There is a chest of drawers, a cabinet, and a bed in this small room. Sprawled on the bed is the dead body of a male elf. A lute lies broken on the floor.

Inside room 11, the players will find Axel dead. He has the two of hearts clutched in his hands. The players will find a scattering of gemstones on the floor. There are five and each one is worth 1000 gp. A careful inspection of Axel shows marks around his neck. However, they look old. A successful medicine check DC 15 will reveal that Axel has been dead for months and that the cause of death was strangulation. A successful perception check will also notice a gouge in the body like a knife blade just below the sternum. A successful medicine check DC 12 will discover that this wound happened after Axel died. There is no sign of the other woman. However, from the window the players will hear the sound of angry voices. Looking down into the alley behind the inn, the players will see the woman in the blue dress arguing with Penelope. 

Alley

Just as you arrive in the alley, you see the woman in the blue dress has turned to leave but Penelope grabs her purse. The woman in blue smacks Penelope away from her and the elven bard goes flying twenty feet across the alleyway and crumples to the ground. The purse has burst open and gemstones tumble onto the ground. 

The woman in blue is dead and now being possessed by a skinwalker. The disc has been jammed into her sternum in the same wound as Axel. Penelope is unconscious but not severely injured. The skinwalker has no name but can and will talk before combat begins. It has no remorse and will admit to killing Axel, this girl, and many others. The skinwalker has a deck of many things that is missing half of its cards and 46 gemstones each worth 1000 gp. Nancey will confiscate the deck as it is evidence of the murder but she will let the players take the gemstones for their trouble. The players could search the dead woman and discover the skinwalker disc. They will need to seek an expert to find out what it is and how to destroy it.