Mud of Rygar

Part I: Into the Mud

Part II: Out of the Mud

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An adventure for 1st-2nd level characters
Christopher M. Davidson, J.D.
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The PCs are hired to escort a merchant boat to Rygar, a new settlement that has
sprung up on the banks of a tributary of the Neverwinter River deep in the
Neverwinter Woods. The mud of Rygar is much desired by potters for its physical
attributes, but it is also desired for a mating ritual by a tribe of lizardfolk. What
happens when the lizardfolk show up to roll in the mud?
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 DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, the dragon ampersand, Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master’s Guide, D&D Adventurers League, all other
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Written by Christopher M. Davidson; Edited by Brandon Josef Thompson

Images by Brandon Josef Thompson and Christopher M. Davidson
Thanks to everyone who downloaded this product.
Dedicated to DMs that spend more time creating than playing.

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Table of Contents

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Running the Adventure.............................3 Part II: Out of the Mud...........................27
Background.........................................3 Free Rygar....................................................27
Overview..............................................5 It’s a Trap.........................................28
All Tied Up.......................................28
Part I: Into the Mud...................................5 Time to Make Friends..................29

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To Rygar..........................................................5
Magic of the Woods.........................6
The Swamp Snake Bandits..........8
Rise Up...............................................28

Save the Girl...............................................32

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Gnolls.....................................................9 People of the Swamp...................32
The First Fork.................................10 Shaman.............................................33
The Second Fork............................10 It’s Midnight....................................34
Lizard in the Sky...........................11 Is it Safe? ........................................34
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Crocodile Attack............................12 Amra’s Tunnel ...............................35

Evil Taint..........................................39
The Settlement and Beyond.................13
Rygar..................................................13 Appendix.......................................................41
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Not Again.........................................16 Maps……………………….…….………….41

Lizardfolk Clues……….…................18 Wandering Encounters……………43
Dire Straits……….…........................19 History of Rygar............................43
Can’t We All Just Get Along.....20 Clay of Rygar..................................44
Let’s Go Hunting............................21 People of Rygar..............................44
The Path…….....................................25 New Monsters.................................48
Lizardfolk Attack...........................26 New Feats.........................................49
New Weapon...................................49

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 “Mud is like the common man - very useful,
but I do not want to touch it.”
-Herschel Morgan, former adventurer,
wandering spirit, & habitual liar
Running this Adventure
Background
Into the Mud is the first of two parts of
Mud of Rygar. The adventure takes place
in and around the Neverwinter River, but
will focus on Edals Creek and the new
settlement of Rygar. Part two, Out of the
Mud, will focus on Rygar, which will be
under the control of the lizardfolk by then.
Neverwinter River: From its source at
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Mount Hotenow's underground springs to
the sea where it empties, the Neverwinter
River waterway never freezes, remaining
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warm on all but the coldest days. The river
and its tributaries maintain the woods'
balmy temperature, which has led to a
prevalence of fish, turtles, and other
aquatic life including electric eels. The
smaller tributaries often have a reduced
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flow because of enormous dams built by
giant beavers, although the recent increase
in traffic has hampered the building of
these structures.
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There are old rumors of an enormous
catfish-like creature called the verme,
reportedly large enough to swallow a troll
or a hill giant whole. Crocodiles and other
creatures such as blights and displacer
beasts lie in wait or even hunt their prey,
including unwary adventurers. There have
been recent sightings of giant snakes and
gnolls and there are always the ancient
songs of lizardfolk living deep in the
marshes.
Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. Mud of Rygar I
It is common knowledge that the woods
along the river are full of illusions. As
traffic on the river has increased, pirates
have begun to use the river like
highwaymen use roads, preying on
travelers and merchants
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Edals Creek is the southernmost tributary
of the Neverwinter River. Like the rest of
the river, its waters are warm and full of
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aquatic life. A very shallow tributary
branches off to the right. Previously
known as Little Edals Creek after the
missing explorer Lawrence Edals and now
known as Rygar Stream, this shallow
waterway ends in a marsh next to Rygar.
Neverwinter Wood: For generations,
most people of the North have shunned
this dark forest. Magic exists throughout
Neverwinter Wood, but its nature is
unknown. The forest holds many secrets
and anyone that enters feels a sense of
unease and dread. Recently, there have
been several reports of travelers allegedly
seeing beautiful girls hiding on the banks
of the river.
Humans have never logged here, and the
orcs of the North have traditionally
avoided it during their rampages. Only
druids and Uthgardt barbarians dare to
pass into the deep forest, although a pack
of gnolls has recently taken up residence
in the southern portion near Edals Creek
and is expanding its territory.
There have been reports of dark figures
and undead stirring in the trees and, most
recently, claims that blights are attacking
passing travelers from trees. Southwest of
Rygar lies the Dread Ring, which is an old
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 fortress built by the magic of Thay that
now serves as a base of operations for the
wizard Valindra Shadowmantle in her
quest to raise dracoliches. The woods are
also home to at least two green dragons,
Sovesar and Lotoc.
Rygar: Rygar is a new settlement that has
sprung up on the banks of a branch of
Edals Creek deep in the Neverwinter
Woods. A party of explorers travelled to
the end of Edals Creek to search for proof
of the existence of the fabled verme. They
spent weeks fishing the entire length of
the waterway without any luck. As they
approached the end of Little Edals Creek,
the explorers were greeted by a right bank
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full of crocodiles and a left bank with a
dock and several unfriendly humans.
The people of the swamp, as they are
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known, claim to be the descendants of
Lawrence Edals. The explorers were
warned not to disturb the crocodiles and to
not stay very long. After some negotiating,
the explorers were told they could camp in
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the clearing on the edge of the swamp.
After a week of exploring the area, the
explorers decided it was time to begin the
journey back to Neverwinter. Not wanting
to leave empty handed, one of the
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explorers, Benjamin Gardner, dug up
several dozen pounds of mud off the bank.
Although the others thought this to be a
waste, he persisted, saying that he liked
the color and found the mud to feel nice.
On the return trip, Benjamin began to act
progressively weird. Upon spending much
time with the clay, he became easily
agitated and complained of stomach pains.
After a heated argument with Charles
Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. Mud of Rygar I
about the benefits of eating clay, Benjamin
became violently ill. The trip ended up
being a disaster. Benjamin killed Charles
as he slept the night before they arrived
back in Neverwinter and then died from
internal bleeding before morning. As the
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expedition pulled into harbor, all they had
to show for their trip was sunburn, hunger,
exhaustion, two dead friends, and a pile of
clay.
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The clay was sold to a local potter and the
funds used to bury their two friends. The
remaining adventurers contemplated their
ruined future when the potter found them
and requested another shipment of the clay
at top price. It seemed that the clay was
very easy to use and the potter’s
customers loved the soothing quality and
taste the clay added to liquids. What
appeared to be a disaster led to a great
opportunity for the two remaining
explorers who quickly borrowed funds
and set out to make their fortune at their
newly claimed settlement of Rygar, which
was named by combining the two things
Charles and Benjamin loved best – Rye
bread and Gar fish respectfully.
The Lady of the Mud: Thomas
Chatterly’s new boat is captained by
Squint and manned by dwarf brothers
Norly and Durnly. All three will fight to
protect the boat and themselves. The Lady
of the Mud is twenty-five feet long and is
a type of craft known as a jolly cutter,
being a cross between a jolly-boat and a
cutter. It has a small square sail on its very
short mast that can be used in conjunction
with up to four oars. The craft can hold up
to ten or seven plus cargo. It has AC 12,
75 hit points, and no damage threshold.
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 Part I: Into the Mud
Overview
The mud of Rygar is much desired by
potters for its physical attributes, so a
merchant has hired the PCs to escort his
river boat filled with supplies to Rygar.
The adventure begins with the PCs in the
boat on the Neverwinter River several
miles into the Neverwinter Woods. There
are several encounters with creatures,
bandits, and pirates. As the boat
approaches Rygar, it is attacked by several
crocodiles. The PCs must make it to shore
where they meet the people of the swamp,
who are not happy to see them.
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The PCs have an opportunity to explore
Rygar and interact with its inhabitants.
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After meeting Abby Pinter, they explore
the surrounding woods and start to see
clues of the area’s secret past and some of
the plots going on in Rygar itself.
After witnessing an attack by a giant
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crocodile, the PCs are sent to find its lair
and kill it. Once they kill the monster, the
party follows a path and has a chance to
rescue an imprisoned explorer who tells
the PCs that the lizardfolk are heading to
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Rygar. The PCs must then make their way
back to Rygar. Unknown to the PCs,
Rygar is already under attack and will be
taken before they return. The PCs will
then have to figure out how to save a girl
from the lizardfolk’s mating ritual and try
to free any survivors in Rygar.
Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. Mud of Rygar I
To Rygar
Several days ago you were hired by
Thomas Chatterly to escort his
merchant boat to the new settlement
of Rygar deep into the Neverwinter
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Woods by way of the Neverwinter
River. You previously knew little of
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Chatterley except that he only recently
purchased the boat, The Maiden of the
Mud, and it is the only one he owns.
You have since learned from the
Captain, a gruff man named Squint,
that Chatterly is one of the business
partners in the new settlement of
Rygar, which is your current
destination. Squint does not think
much of Chatterly. He claims that
“Chatterly has city hands from
counting money his whole life.” He also
claims, “Where you all are going there
are creatures that will swallow you
whole,” so you are not sure what to
believe.
Chatterly is paying you well for your
troubles because, as he said, you are
the best for the job. You suspect it has
more to do with the fact that all the
others he interviewed refused to go. It
seems that very few humans have been
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 to the area around Rygar and
returned.
Before leaving Neverwinter, you were
able to learn very little about the area.
The night before you left, an obviously
drunk and ancient gnome recited part
of a haunting song that allegedly was
filled with history and prophecy for
the Sword Coast.
Ole Edal explored the river and wood.
At his job, he was better than good.
He went places that no other would.
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And then he became a monster.
One night per decade a party takes place.
The blue moon’s magic makes a new race.
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If you see Edal don’t look at his face.
Or you will become a monster.
The gnome would not explain nor sing
any more of the song, but added that
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he would never go anywhere near
Rygar and advised that you should
enjoy your last night in civilization.
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1) Magic of the Woods
On the morning of the second day of
travel after leaving Neverwinter, the
river begins to narrow and more of
the canopy of the woods covers it. The
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water, like all of the water of the
Neverwinter River, is abnormally
warm for the climate. Here the river is
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clear and you see fish of various sizes.
Occasionally, a tortoise breaks the
surface. You start to notice more
snakes and fewer birds.
The boat is twenty-five feet long and
powered by a very short sail and/or
oars as necessary. Two crewmen,
dwarf brothers Norly and Durnly, man
the oars and assist with other duties.
Two passengers, Bart Droby and Jhett
Tooper, are very talkative and often
complain about the heat. Droby, who
was hired to oversee the defense of
Rygar, cannot swim and is terrified of
the water. Tooper, who is going to
research the flora and fauna around
Rygar, can’t wait to get in the water.
He brought several crates of equipment
that he will not let anyone touch.
Droby is in the back of the boat
throwing up from nerves and motion
sickness when he sees a giant head
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 break the water. He slowly backs up,
trips over Norly, and falls on his back
at Squint’s feet. Squint asks, “What is
wrong Chief?”
are out of their mind and that it is too
dangerous. If pressed, Squint will land,
but will not leave the boat. If the PCs
search the area, they find the rotting body
of a gnoll. Many of its ribs have been
broken and are poking out of its skin. On

Droby nervously responds, “This boat is
not big enough.”
Squint smiles and calmly responds,
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the gnoll’s belt, there is a pouch holding
18 gold pieces. Nearby is a broken spear.
If the PCs spend more than four rounds in
the area, 4 wandering vine blights attack.

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“Oh, so you saw the verne? Don’t
worry Chief, they get much bigger
than that one. The big ones will
swallow a man whole. The really big
ones, well Chief, you don’t want to
know about those.”
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The magic of the woods is active in this
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area. Have one of the PCs think he sees
something on the bank. It is just an
illusion. If the PC focuses, he thinks he
sees a glimpse of a naked girl running
through the trees. Have a second PC think
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he hears a girl giggle and a third see a deer

walking in the woods (the deer is real).
The second PC soon thinks he hears the
girl scream for help. The deer, which can
now be seen by all, jumps into the river
and swims across in front of the boat.
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Squint does not see or hear anything

except the deer swimming because he has
travelled the area enough that he is now
immune to its magic. He does not realize
this fact or that there is indeed magic in
the woods and also does not give much
credit or notice to magic in general.

If the PCs tell Squint about the illusions or

ask to land on the bank, he tells them they

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 The blights will try to constrict the PCs if
they can and/or try to lure them further
into the woods where two other vine
blights lurk. If the PCs are in the boat
when the vine blights arrive, they will
taunt the PCs with a story of a beautiful
girl they have captured for their master in
the hope of luring the PCs ashore.
A few minutes after the journey by boat
resumes, the same PCs hear and see the
same illusions. This time there is no deer.
There is, however, a giant constrictor
snake hidden in the branches of a tree. If
the PCs leave the boat, the snake will
attack them on land and the DM should
check for surprise. If they do not leave the
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boat, it will drop into the boat from an
overhanding tree limb and attack Norly.
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2) The Swamp Snake Bandits
The river narrows here and the
canopies from the trees on either bank
almost touch above the middle of the
river. The current also picks up and
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the boat moves along quicker. “Watch
for snakes in the trees and rocks in the
water,” Squint calls out.
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There are eight Swamp Snake Bandits
hidden along the banks on either side of
the river (see appendix for more
information on this group). Skilled at
hiding in swamps and along river banks,
these bandits attack from the water. Each
character can make a DC 15 Perception
Check to spot a small boat hidden on
shore. The 8 bandits float out into the
current and board the boat.
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 Each bandit has 1d6 gold pieces. The boat
contains a chest with six days’ rations and
22 gold pieces as well as a bound and
gagged teenage human girl, Lauriel.
Lauriel was traveling with her father to
Rygar to start a new life when she was
captured. Previously, Lauriel was working
as a barmaid when her father decided that
it was too dangerous for her to be around
drunk men. Lauriel is beautiful and began
to attract much unwanted attention while
working.
When Lauriel’s father, Marshall Cortan,
heard that Rygar needed workers, he was
struck by his old dream of becoming an
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explorer and saw a way to finally get
Lauriel away from the men of the bar.
Marshall contracted with a fisherman who
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was willing to take Marshall and Lauriel
to Rygar, packed up what little he needed,
sold the rest, and started a new adventure
with Lauriel, his only family.
The bandits attacked by quickly and
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quietly boarding the boat, and there was
almost no time to respond. Marshall did
the only thing he could think to do and
pushed his daughter overboard. She
quickly made it to shore where she turned
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and watched her father’s lifeless body
being thrown into the water. Lauriel tried
to run into the woods, but they were too
overgrown and she was quickly captured
and bound by the gnolls, who are
surprisingly fast swimmers.
The bandits were discussing what to do
with Lauriel when they noticed the
approach of the Maiden of the Mud and
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prepared to board. Lauriel is grateful for
being rescued and would like to continue
on to Rygar. She has only the clothes on
her back, a dagger, a necklace and locket
from her long dead mother, and a ring her
father gave her. Marshall told Lauriel that
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he got the ring as a child from an old
explorer who said it would bring him good
luck. The ring, which contains a stone of
good luck, fueled Marshall’s dreams of
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exploration.
3) Gnolls
There is a party of four gnolls hiding in
the trees along the shore. Their tribe,
which is known as the Wet Death,
currently makes its home in a swamp a
few miles north from this spot and have
recently noticed the increase of traffic
along the river. Each day they send out a
couple parties of four scouts each to find
easy prey and bring back what they can
salvage.
The gnolls, who take evil delight in the
look of sudden fear on the faces of their
victims, will attempt to gain surprise and
attack with bows. If any of the four lose
more than half of their hit points or if the
boat reaches land the gnolls, will retreat to
safety and try to ambush the boat later.
The gnolls have no treasure. If captured,
they will not willingly give the location of
the Wet Death Tribe, but will tell the PCs
how mighty the tribe is and how gruesome
the PCs’ deaths will be when the rest of
the tribe arrives.
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4) The First Fork
The river branches here and the course to
Rygar is to the right. This marks the
beginning of Edal’s Creek. Hidden in the
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trees above are four vine blights. When
the boat passes beneath, the blights attack
from above with their reach attack,
attempting to grapple their victims and
drag them off the boat as it passes.
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5) The Second Fork
To the right of this fork is Little Edals
Creek, which is now known as Rygar
Stream. The area is the territory of two
displacer beasts. One is currently stalking
the Lady of the Mud and, if the boat
approaches close enough to shore, will use
its tentacles to attack one of the dwarves
before retreating into the thick woods only
to wait and attack the same dwarf again
later. The displacer beast generally enjoys
tormenting the boats that pass this way,
but it would really like to take a dwarf
back to its mate to eat. The beast will stalk
the boat until it is able to take a dwarf or it
10
 loses half its hit points. If the beast is
killed, his mate will begin to stalk the
inhabitants of Rygar each night.
the boat before he passed over and lazily
circles back around to have fun with the
boat. Lotoc will make one pass before
losing interest in the boat and flying away.
During that pass, he will try to scare the
party by diving, screaming, and then

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flying away while giggling. If attacked,
Lotoc will circle back and attempt to bite
and claw the boat and then leave the area.

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6) Lizard in the Sky

The canopy of trees does not grow over
the river here, so the open sky can be seen
above and the sun shines through. A
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sudden shadow passes over the boat and

anyone who looks up sees a young green
dragon flying over. Squint quickly orders
the dwarves to paddle for their lives in an
attempt to get the boat to where the
canopy resumes over the river so that the
cover of the trees will hide them from the
dragon.
The dragon, known to other dragons as
Lotoc (“happy” in draconic), actually saw

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 7) Crocodile Attack standing just above where the hit occurred,
fails the check automatically, falls
overboard, and does not resurface.
Unknown to all, the dire crocodile grabbed
Norly as soon as he hit the water and
dragged him into the marsh where he is

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eaten.

The commotion draws the attention of the

crocodiles on the bank and two enter the

Once again, the canopy above recedes
and you can fully see the sky and sun.
Ahead on the right, the clay bank
slowly slopes to the river from a slight
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water. The two crocodiles swim towards
the boat and attack the nearest creature in
the water. The water here is two to five
feet deep and there is almost no current.
The bottom is slippery and anytime a
creature stands on the bottom and fights,
he must make a DC 10 Strength Check to

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hill and the ground is devoid of trees.
On the clay bank are six crocodiles
absorbing the warmth of the sun. At
avoid slipping and becoming prone.
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the sight of all of this, Squint breaks
into song.

Deep in the woods the lizardfolk play.

Find them there at night and even by day.
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Survive a visit, yes you may,

But never roll in their clay.
Ahead on the left bank, there is a
clearing with a dock and two
structures. As Squint changes to a
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different ditty, there is a sudden jar to

the boat and it lifts up out of the
water. Squint curses, “What fool did
not tell me about the rocks?”
There is enough room on the bank to walk
along it to the clearing. There are two
The boat did not hit a rock, but was hit by
houses that look like they could fall down
a dire crocodile. Everyone on board except
at any moment. Gathered around the yard
Squint must make a DC 12 strength save
between the two structures are humans of
or fall into the water. Norly, who was
various ages. They are all so covered in
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 clay and dirt that it is difficult to
determine where clothing ends and skin
begins. The smell from them is almost
overwhelming. There are daggers, spears,
bows, and arrows laying around, but none
are currently being wielded.

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The clearing is the home of two families
of people of the swamp (see appendix).
The families do not like visitors, but will

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explain that Rygar is farther down river.

The people of the swamp do not

appreciate anyone harming the crocodiles
and if the party does so, the families will
express their anger and will charge a fee
of 10 gold pieces worth of items for the

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death of each crocodile. The fee may be
halved if the body of the crocodile is
recovered. The families will allow the
The Settlement and Beyond
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party to walk through the field to Rygar
for a small fee, but are easily provoked
and it should be apparent that a fight with 8) Rygar
the families will not go well for the PCs. The people of Rygar are friendly enough,
but will not be happy if any of the
If no crocodiles were harmed and if the crocodiles are killed as it will make it
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PCs are respectful, the oldest male of the
families will tell the PCs that they should
come back during the full moon to
participate in an ancient fertility ritual.
There will be plenty of food and the PCs
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more difficult to deal with their neighbors.
The DM should encourage the party to
report to the dock master and then explore
the town. Droby will be directed to see
Larry Van and will ask the PCs to come

might have the opportunity to learn to see him later.

appreciate crocodiles.
Currently, there are 125 people in Rygar.
Most of the permanent inhabitants are
dock workers or merchants. There are also
several tourists and adventurers at the
resort. To the west of the settlement lies
the creek.

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