The Confrontation
Info
table-of-contents
Introduction
Link to original
Starting the Adventure
The Investigation
The Confrontation
The Conclusion
Maps
Windlewood Manor
- First Floor
- Second Floor
- Roof
Store & Warehouse
Spillwyrt’s Stupendous Sundries
Store & Warehouse
Herbert is holed up in a warehouse in a seedy part of town. He has set up living quarters and a magical lab in the main part building, and he has remodeled a smaller section in the front as a magic item shop: Spillwyrt’s Stupendous Sundries. He’s not doing well financially and isn’t a very good businessman, hence his aggressive haggling and pricing. Players will likely have to search through the building in order to find him.
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This large warehouse has obviously seen better days. It sits at the end of a long row of equally decrepit structures. A piece of discarded siding has been turned into a sign and now hangs over the door. It bears the inscription “Spillwyrt’s Stupendous Sundries.” A hastily-scrawled parchment proclaiming “Closed Today” is tacked to the door.
1. Spillwyrt’s Stupendous Sundries
This store is where Herbert tries to make a living selling his various magical items. It is currently closed because Herbert is busy trying to adapt his spell to work properly on Beatrice. There is no illumination inside except for the light that comes in through the windows. The locked door can be opened by a creature proficient with Thieves’ Tools with a DC 15 Dexterity check. Once the PCs gain entry, read or paraphrase the following:
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A musty scent fills this cramped store. Light filtering through the windows illuminates the dust floating in the air. Several glass-doored shelves housing scrolls, vials, and other items line the walls, and a counter at the far end of the room supports some loose papers and a cash box. There are two doors towards the back of the store that must lead further into the warehouse.
- The doors hiding the shelves are locked magically, and difficult to break.
- All the potions and scrolls have labels identifying them and price tags which observant players will note are fairly exorbitant for such standard magical items.
- Both doors are locked.
- The counter has a couple of blank receipt booklets, a brass seal bearing a trio of S’s within a wreath, and a neat stack of sealing wax candles.
- The cash box bolted to the countertop is currently empty.
2.Storeroom
The West door is locked but can be opened by a creature proficient with Thieves’ Tools with a DC 15 Dexterity check. It leads into a storage closet full of cleaning supplies, overflow stock, and some broken chairs and shelves. A DC 18 Perception Check turns up a dusty vial in the bottom of a broken crate – a potion-of-healing.
3.Storage
The North door is locked but can be opened by a creature proficient with Thieves’ Tools with a DC 15 Dexterity check. It leads into a large, dark, and spacious section of the warehouse. On the back wall hangs a set of shelves supporting a few potions.
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The door opens with a loud creak that echoes in the dark space before you. This part of the building is much more spacious and dark, with no light sources except for the illumination through the doorway you stand in. The floorboards creak beneath your feet as dust motes hang lazily in the air.
Magic Mouth Spell
There is a magic mouth spell cast on the floor inside this door that triggers when someone steps on it. (Herbert’s been having problems with an irritating client of his own, funnily enough). It will appear and yell the following in Herbert’s voice:
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Arnold! I’ve already told you all sales are final! Get off my property before I summon the guards!
Rodents Invisible
There are three giant rats here. They are permanently invisible thanks to a mishap during one of Herbert’s experiments; he’s attempted to exterminate the colony repeatedly, but they’ve moved into the sinkhole beneath the warehouse, and he can’t be bothered to eradicate them. They will attack the PCs once they’ve gotten about halfway from the door to the shelves.
Explosive bottles
The bottles on the shelves are full of a shimmering blue magical liquid. Each bottle has a label stuck to the underside that reads, “Danger – Do Not Invert!” If inverted, the liquid begins bubbling madly, turns red, and the bottle shakes and grows warm before exploding.
If a PC inverts the bottle to read the label (or for any other reason), a DC 18 Reflex save allows them to throw the bottle and take no damage. On a failed save, the PC takes 9 (1d10 + 4) fire damage.
Sinkhole
Directly left of the shelves is a 10-foot wide gap where a sinkhole has formed underneath the warehouse. It’s about 15 feet deep. Assuming the PCs have a light source or darkvision, anyone with a passive Perception of 10 or higher notices a long, sturdy plank lying on the ground on the opposite side of the chasm; this is how Herbert usually crosses the gap.
After crossing the chasm, the PCs will find a door on the south wall.
4. Alarm room
This room is small but serves as an intruder alarm for Herbert. When the door opens it triggers the alarm spell, producing the sound of a loud handbell. This alerts Herbert to any intruders, and he can take the opportunity to prepare for combat, cast spells, etc.
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As this door swings open in front of you, the relative silence of the building is shattered by a strident ringing that echoes off the walls all around you for ten seconds before stopping as abruptly as it began.
5.Workshop
This large room is where Herbert completes all his inventions and magical experiments. He’s in here currently, as is Beatrice (disguised, of course, as a blue budgie). The center of the room is clear of furniture, featuring instead a magic circle, scorch marks, and abrasions from Herbert’s various experiments. A door on the north wall connects to his bedroom. When the players enter, read or paraphrase the following:
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This large room is well lit by lanterns hanging from the ceiling and torches in sconces on the walls. Workbenches, bookshelves, cabinets and tables line the walls, housing a vast array of equipment, papers, and books. A dour-faced young man glowers at you from his position near a table at the southern end of the room. The table itself is covered in various books, craps of paper and parchment, dirty dishes, and a large, ornate birdcage housing a single blue budgie.
When the PCs enter the room, Herbert attempts to convince them to leave and places himself between them and Beatrice. He’s a very powerful wizard, but also incredibly egotistical; if combat breaks out, he will tend to gloat, using humiliating rather than effective spells and spending rounds ridiculing the players rather than attacking.
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When he does attack, he begins by casting Animate Objects, attacking the players with a cabinet and bookshelf (large items) and a fork and knife (tiny items) while taunting the PCs.
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If his concentration is broken and he loses the spell, he will use it again; otherwise he will polymorph the most irritating PC into something humiliating (a toad, a salamander, a cockroach, etc).
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If he begins losing the fight, or if the players are struggling to break his concentration, he will unlatch Beatrice’s cage and shout, “Phoenix! To me! Incinerate these fools!”
At this point, Beatrice will spread her wings and fly out, bursting into gouts of flame as she does so. Rather than attacking the players, however, she screeches and latches onto Herbert’s face, attacking him mercilessly until his concentration is broken and he retreats. Depending on his spell usage so far, there are several ways he could retreat. Here are a few options:
- True polymorph himself into a Young Green Dragon and burst through the wall, flying away
- Misty step to the doorway, then flee with expeditious retreat
- Cast invisibility and flee to parts unknown
These have different levels of showiness and effectiveness depending on how the fight has progressed; choose a method that works best for your story.
Once Herbert has fled, Beatrice stops flaming and returns to her cage to wait for the PCs. She can’t speak without the use of magic, but she understands human speech and will try to communicate nonverbally if interacted with. Beatrice is quite eager to return home to Lady Windlewood, as she enjoyed being coddled and spoiled.
Next to Beatrice’s cage there is a scroll of Recolor, a custom spell by Herbert, which can be used to restore her natural plumage. Investigating the notes in the workshop reveals that much of Herbert’s income is made by using recolor on various pets and items for rich eccentrics. It also reveals that he seems to focus nigh-exclusively on Transmutation magic, doing numerous experiments to create new spells for fun and profit.
6.Bedroom
This is Herbert’s bedroom. It contains a bureau, his cologne, books on transmutation magic, a small pouch of 50 gold, and a pair of icelock spectacles. Read or paraphrase the following:
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This small room appears to be a simply outfitted bedchamber. A bed replete with rumpled covers occupies most of the floor space. A bureau stands against the far wall by the window, and a bottle of cologne sits on the bedside table next to a neat stack of books. A pair of spectacles with colorful lenses sits atop the pile.