#156 Bloodsuckers For 4 Characters Level 8

Bloodsuckers
an Adventureaweek.com mini-dungeon by Colin Stricklin

Introduction Ring of the Pureblood

Ring, very rare (requires attunement)
The Countess Carmilla Mora died as she lived: as subject
of rumor and scandal. Her decadent parties were legend, While you wear this ring, you do not need to eat or drink. The
her conquests numerous, and her predilection for nocturnal ring also refreshes the body and mind, so that its wearer only
rendezvous an open secret. When her loyal retainers announced needs to sleep 2 hours to gain the benefit of a long rest. You still
her passing away from a “disease of the blood,” gossip in the cannot gain the benefits of a long rest more than once per day.
vicinity of Castle Mora ran rampant. When creatures of the
night began lurking about her crypt, the market price for garlic Curse. This ring is cursed, a fact that is revealed only when
skyrocketed. And as travelers across Mora County took to an identify spell is cast on it. Attuning to the ring extends the
carrying sharpened stakes and holy water, vampire hunters curse to you until you are targeted by the remove curse spell or
began arriving in droves. similar magic; removing the ring fails to end the curse. While
cursed, you smell delicious to creatures that subsist on blood.
You have disadvantage on attack rolls against such creatures
Background and on saving throws against their spells and special abilities.
The Countess Carmilla Mora was many things. “Vampire”
wasn’t one of them. An avid enthusiast of macabre tales and 1. An Un-Familiar Stairwell
occult romance, the countess modeled her personal image on
the dark heroines of her favorite stories. That included a taste Chalked wards and talismans decorate the walls of this winding
for black clothing, ostentatious jewelry, and magic items of an stairwell. A DC 10 Wisdom (Survival) check reveals blood
appropriately gothic nature. Unfortunately, one of the countess’s stains on the ground, hinting at the fate of other would-be
favorite rings was more than costume jewelry, and the merchant vampire slayers who came to the crypts of Mora County.
who procured it for her less than human.
On the first landing, a black cat meows for attention. On the
second, a silver holy symbol lies discarded. At the bottom half,
a dozen small creatures turn large, trusting eyes to the party:

©2020 AAW Games, LLC.
Author: Colin Stricklin
Artist: Dean Spencer
Cartography: Justin Andrew Mason
Andreas Blank (Order #26873203)
Layout: Roxanne Thompson
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 #156 Bloodsuckers For 4 Characters Level 8

a fluffy white rabbit, a pair of songbirds, a bat, a rat, and a crab Vrithas has conjured another blood elemental (CC) to assist
holding a gold piece in one claw. They gather around the corpse with the digging, but it is slow work without proper tools. If the
of an exsanguinated halfling mage. In addition to the listed spells, characters agree to aid Vrithas in his tomb-robbing efforts, he
this wizard’s spellbook contains the find familiar spell. proves a capable (if somewhat macabre) ally.

Despite appearances, these creatures are not abandoned familiars. 5. Vampire Deterrents
Neither was the cat or the holy symbol. They are eight treacles
(ToB) attracted by the blood-scent of Carmilla’s corpse. This hallway is filled to bursting with vampire deterrents. Poison
darts line the walls 10 feet from the eastern door, infused with
2. Hag-in-the-Box garlic instead of poison. A DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check
notices the smell and traps. The darts only deal poison damage to
Hiding in this chamber is the source of Mora County’s woes. the undead.
The blood hag (ToB) who sold the countess her cursed ring has
come to feast on Carmilla’s well-seasoned corpse. Unfortunately In addition, a pressure plate at the center of the hallway causes a
for the hag, the deceased noblewoman’s retainers have taken the 1-foot chunk of masonry to fall from the ceiling (as a collapsing
precaution of casting a hallow spell in Area 6. They meant to keep roof, but dealing only 5 [2d4) bludgeoning damage). If it is
their mistress in, but inadvertently succeeded in keeping the hag daytime, a shaft of sunlight streams in afterwards.
out.
Finally, a hidden pit 10 feet from the western door opens onto an
This loathsome creature now bides her time, waiting within the underground stream. The running water and 5-foot drop do little
southernmost sarcophagus on the room’s eastern side. She hopes more than drench the characters.
for some other bloodsucker to retrieve Carmilla’s body, then
eliminate the competition. 6. Blood and Ooze
In the meantime, the hag has busied herself with her Face Peel This entire area is under the effects of a hallow spell with the
collection, placing her grisly trophies in five other sarcophagi. Everlasting Rest effect. This powerful magic does nothing to deter
These animated objects provide line of sight for the hag’s misty the pair of blood oozes (CC) that killed the countess.
step, allowing her to teleport between sarcophagi if any would-be
vampire hunters come too close. A DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) Attracted to the noblewoman’s blood-scent as microscopic larvae,
check is enough to hear the faint sound of the animated faces these parasites have grown fat on her magically-enhanced blood,
shuffling in their prisons. If the characters investigate, the hag uses leaving the body little more than a desiccated husk and a collection
her Call the Blood to discourage further exploration. of magic items: the cursed ring of the pureblood, as well as the
countess’s beloved eyes of charming, cloak of the bat, and signed copy
3. Refreshments of Feral Midnight.

The blood mage in Area 4 has left an unconventional peace Carmilla’s body lies in northwest sarcophagus, along with one
offering for the hag in Area 2. One of his bound blood elementals nibbling blood ooze. The second ooze emerges from the southwest
(CC) waits here (48 hit points due to the hag’s predations). This corner once combat begins. Having fed on the countess’s blood,
unhappy elemental has been instructed to offer itself to anyone both oozes have taken on the enhanced flavor of her blood,
who approaches. It proffers a goblet of its own viscous substance making them sought-after specimens for Vrithas Kane and
when the heroes arrive. Anyone who drinks must make a DC 14 gourmet meals for the blood hag.
Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute.

The elemental is not hostile, but it will defend itself.

4. Industrious Blood Mage

Vrithas Kane (CN human blood mage [CC]) is not an evil man.
When certain divinatory signs revealed that a rarified form of
blood magic lay within Countess Carmilla’s tomb, he sought
access to the body, intending to use his discoveries for the
furtherment of medical magecraft. As luck would have it, he was
not the first interested party to enter the crypt.

Vrithas managed to talk his way past the blood hag in Area 2,
but it is an uneasy truce. The mage knows he will be attacked
if he emerges from Area 6 with Carmilla’s body, and so he is
attempting to stealthily tunnel through the northwest wall of
this side-crypt. He plans to retrieve his prize, dig another tunnel
through the northeast wall of Area 6, and so escape into the
stairwell in Area 1. Sketched plans on the floor reveal his plan.

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