Dark Seed Awakening: Dark Seed Awakening Dark Seed Awakening Dark Seed Awakening Dark Seed Awakening

5/29/2019 Himbolt's Cairn | GM Binder
Dark Seed Awakening
https://www.gmbinder.com/documents/print/-LAueuQwRm9CfazQIjeQ 1/6
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, A word to DMs

Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Eberron, the dragon ampersand, There are a number of points in this adventure that call for a
Ravnica and all other Wizards of the Coast product names, perception check. You may compare the PC's passive
and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the perception scores to the DCs listed in the adventure or call for
Coast in the USA and other countries. perception checks as you prefer. For more information on
passive perception see page 175 of the Player's Handbook.
This work contains material that is copyright Wizards of the The higher the players roll the more information about the
Coast and/or other authors. Such material is used with scene they receive. Specifically, each DC that the players
permission under the Community Content Agreement for match or exceed gives them access to the associated line of
Dungeon Masters Guild. information as well as the information on each previous line.
For example, when the PCs approach the entrance to the
manor have the party make a perception check. If the highest
All other original material in this work is copyright 2019 by J. result was between 15 and 19 relay to them the first two lines
Jeffrey Werner and published under the Community Content of information.
Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild.
Adventure Structure
Author: Jeff Werner Below you will find a node map showing the relationships
between the 6 major locations described in this adventure.
The red lines show the routes that players can use to navigate
Map of the Crypt and the Town's Square created with between the different locations. The party begins the
Dungeon Painter http://pyromancers.com/dungeon-painter- adventure in the town's square location and proceeds from
online/ there. Transitions between different locations can be handled
with a sentence or two of description. I like to image the party
Synopsis scrambling through vegetation chocked corridors, panting in
the oppressive, stagnant air. I also don't think that is necessary
Hundreds of years ago a notorious massacre occurred at the to map out in detail locations in which combat is unlikely,
town of Himbolt's Cairn. During a long forgotten war every such as the kitchen or lord's chamber. However, I have
inhabitant of the town was slaughtered by a human warlord provided tactical maps for the town's square and the crypt -
named Kerihm. Shortly after the battle, Kerihm died of a areas which are almost to involve combat. You can find these
sudden illness and was interred in crypt below the fortified maps at the end of the document.
manor house alongside a number of his soldiers. The town
was subsequently abandoned. The information above would
be known to the players so make sure to fill them in as they
approach the ruined town.
Sometime later, seeds from Gulthias tree found their way
into the crypt and sprouted. The roots of the newly founded
tree infiltrated Kerihm's sarcophagus and those of his
retainers allowing their consciousnesses to be transferred
into it. Evil plant beings, called blights, soon spawned from
the seedling each bearing fragments of the fractured minds
contained within. Most of the blights are near mindless
automata; however, the "Kerihm" blight retains a significant
portion of his personality and memories. Kerihm remains
confused about some aspects of his own situation. Most
importantly, he is not aware that he died or that his
consciousness now inhabits a crude plant body. He is also
unaware of any timing having passed and is still fighting the
war that ended centuries before. Only one "Kerihm" is
manifest in a blight at a time. If his vessel is destroyed,
another is spawned from the Gulthias sapling within a few
minutes.
Adventure Hooks
Treasure: The sarcophagus of Kerihm is reputed to
contain a wealth of grave goods.
Reward: A wealthy patron wants to make the area safe for
occupation again.
Altruism: Reportedly a party of scholars went missing in
the area.
2
This is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used
are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.
Key Locations Kitchen

The blights have captured a woman named Ethelred believing
Town Square her to be an enemy spy. She is a naturalist who was traveling
A number of what look like hastily erected wooden effigies with a band of students and hirelings when they were
stand in the overgrown square. One of them stands directly attacked. In the time that she has been captive she has
over a body. A closer inspection of the corpse reveals that developed a hypothesis about what is going on. She
rootlets extending from the effigy have penetrated the remains recognizes that the blights have somehow been contaminated
and are slowly drawing out congealed blood. These effigies by the minds of the dead, particularly Kerihm. She also
are in truth blights (Monster Manual: p. 32). They wait for an suspects that the source of the blights must be nearby,
opportune moment to attack. Any attempts to communicate perhaps in the manor itself. If they players are stuck about
with them result only in the blights producing an unintelligible what to do she is capable of filling them in on the details and
clacking sound. urges them to find the Gulthias seedling and destroy it. She
also asks that the PCs recover her beloved cat, which
2 needle blights managed to escape capture. It can be found in the lord's
3 twig blights chamber. Finally, the PCs can access the secret chamber from
the kitchen.
Manor Entrance
Secret Chamber
The only structure still standing in Himbolt's Cairn is a manor Beneath the floor of the kitchen is a secret chamber
house surrounded by a 10 ft tall brick wall. In the gateway to containing a potion of vitality, a cloak of protection and 80
the manor is a vine blight with its arms held out in a sign of GP. The entrance to the chamber is easily found by the
parlay. A perception check may reveal the following players beneath a pile of debris. Ethelred's spectacles were
information about the scene. broken during her abduction and she was unable to find it as a
DC 13: The presence of a strong chemical odor. result. The chamber lies at the bottom of a 30 ft vertical shaft
DC 15: The corroded ends of pipes or drains feed into the with metal rungs hammered into the side. The shaft is
gate-house area from above trapped, and anyone who puts their weight on a specific rung
DC 17: There are vines wrapped around a catch located on about a third of the way down will cause acid to be disgorged
the wall above the gate-house from carefully concealed pipes near the top of the shaft. A
perception check may reveal t he following:
The blight speaks in a breathy unnatural voice believing that
it is Kerihm. It confuses the PCs for a returning band of DC 13: The presence of a strong chemical odor.
mercenary scouts and demands a report. If the PCs play along DC 15: The stone is etched and covered in a white
it can be fooled into assigning them the task of questioning an chemical patina
enemy scout who is currently being held in the kitchen DC 17: One of the rungs is much less worn than the others
(Deception: DC 15). After escorting the PCs to the kitchen it If a player climbs down the shaft without stating that they
retires to the crypt. See the Kitchen section for more detail. are avoiding the unworn (trapped) rung, the trap is trigger and
If the PCs attack the blight or fail to deceive it, the blight acid pours down on them. Any player that fails a DC 15
engages the mechanism in the gatehouse, flooding the dexterity saving throw takes 2d10 acid damage or half as
gateway with acid. Any player that fails a DC 15 dexterity much if they succeed.
saving throw takes 2d10 acid damage or half as much if they
succeed. From the manor entrance is possible to access the
kitchen, the lord's chambers and the main hall.
3
Lord's Chambers The blights fight to the death, and act to protect the tree. If a
PC deals at least 10 damage to the tree in a single turn all of
The former lord's chambers are overgrown with vines which the blights in the room suffer disadvantage on attack rolls and
drape down from the ceiling. At the foot of the rotting bed saving throws until the end of the active players' next turn.
frame in the center of the room is an iron-bound chest. The Otherwise, the tree is too robust to be fully destroyed unless
chest contains a potion of greater healing, potion of hill the party has impunity and time (there is no need to track its
giant strength, robe of useful things and 40 GP. The vines HP). Once all of the blights in the room are destroyed the tree
are predatory and will attempt to strangle anything larger than can be felled without issue, resulting in the deaths of any
an insect entering the room. A perception check may reveal remaining blights in the manor. Kerihm's sarcophagus
the following about the room: contains mithral armor, a drift globe, and 240 GP.
DC 13: Visible through the decaying slats of the chest is 2 needle blights
the glint of gold 4 twig blights
DC 15: Small animal bones litter the floor, seemingly 1 vine blight
crushed
DC 17: The vines sway gently as though moved by an
unseen draft
If a player enters the room the vines animate and attempt to
strangle them. If the player fails a dexterity saving throw (DC:
15) they are restrained and choking. See the rules for
suffocation and the restrained condition on page 183 and 292
of the Player's Handbook. The vines have 30 collective HP
and resistance to bludgeoning and piercing damage.
Main Hall
The main hall is overgrown with diseased and rotting plants.
It is 60 ft long and 20 ft wide. The thick foliage conceals a gas
spore (Monster Manual: p. 138) located at the far end of the
room that begins to float towards the party as they enter.
Visible at the far end of the main hall is the entrance to the
crypt. The air is thick with harmful spores that pose a risk to
eyes, throat and lungs. At the end of each round that a player
remains in the room they must make a constitution saving
throw to resist the effects of the spores (DC: 12). On a failed
save they suffer a level of exhaustion. The spores are heavier
than air and have settled into a 10 ft deep cloud that covers
the floor of the room. There are pillars in the room that
support a second story balcony that encircles the room. If
players can get above the cloud, they can avoid its effects. The
effects of the spores can also be avoided by covering the
mouth and nose and closing one's eyes.
Crypt
In the center of the crypt lies a stone sarcophagus which rests
next to a gnarled and visibly diseased tree. The roots of the
tree have grown into the sarcophagus and are tightly
comingled with the remains of Kerihm inside. This tree is the
Gulthias sapling hinted at earlier. Around the room its roots
have also ensnared the remains of soldiers laid to rest in a
series of niches along the walls. Upon entering the room, a
vine blight, speaking as Kerihm declares that the PCs are
trespassing on his personal quarters and orders his minions
to carry out their immediate execution if they refuse to leave.
4
The Crypt - The darkly shaded tiles represent a 10 ft ditch

excavated around the central sarcophagus and the Gulthias
sapling. Map of the Crypt created with Dungeon Painter
http://pyromancers.com/dungeon-painter-online/
5
The Town's Square - The first blight the party encounters is

found in the center of the map. The other blights conceal
themselves in the ruins surrounding the first. Map of the
Town's Square created with Dungeon Painter
http://pyromancers.com/dungeon-painter-online/

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5/29/2019 Himbolt's Cairn | GM Binder

Dark Seed Awakening

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, A word to DMs

Key Locations Kitchen

The Crypt - The darkly shaded tiles represent a 10 ft ditch

The Town's Square - The first blight the party encounters is

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