4-6
Characters
Level
3
Grasslands,
Arctic
Buried Evil
Bill Buchalter
Introduction
The sparse frozen grasslands are barely habitable at best. An
outbreak of chilling undead proved too much for the small,
remote town of Deorcsten, near the edge of the tundra.
The hardy locals finally fled, abandoning the town. Now,
many months later, trappers tell of “freakish” creatures
and a foreboding presence in their hunting grounds. Surely
someone can help them? This adventure occurs in the region
south of Volosk if you are playing in Aventyr.
Overview
A humble farmer, Gazda, unearthed an obsidian stone while
Mini-Dungeon #295: Buried Evil
plowing. He polished it and placed it on his mantel, unaware
of the evil held within. The stone was, in fact, a prison binding
the spirit of a powerful fiend. The mere presence of the stone
in Gazda’s home infected his waking hours with evil thoughts,
and his sleep with terrible dreams. These steadily drove Gazda
mad, until one day he was found dead in his untended fields,
still gripping the stone. No matter what, the local undertaker
could not pry the stone from Gazda’s dead grasp, so he was
buried with it still clutched in his twisted hands.
Once buried in the cemetery, the power of the stone caused
bodies to rise from their graves and attack the town. The
simple folk were overrun by an undead horde; those who
survived fled, never to return. Now the tangled graveyard
sits untended, awaiting someone to claim the obsidian stone
once again.
1. Discovering the Graveyard
The party may find the graveyard as part of an ongoing campaign,
or after talking with hunters as they travel along the grassland/
tundra boundary to elsewhere. However the characters discover
it, upon approaching the fence, those with a Passive Perception
of 13 or higher notice dark shapes behind the tombstones. A
twisted winter wolf and her two misshapen wolf cubs emerge to
attack the party. Anyone making a successful DC 16 Intelligence
(Nature) check notices what is wrong with the wolves.
Scaling the Encounter: For four characters, remove a cub. For
six characters, add an additional cub.
2. Inspecting the Graves
Thick snow, covering most of the graveyard, crunches underfoot.
The characters easily spot a packed-down path to one specific
grave across the cemetery. Anyone making a successful DC 13
Intelligence (Investigation) check realizes the earth over this
grave appears disturbed. It takes three hours for a lone character
to exhume the grave if they have the proper tools (e.g., a shovel
or pick) or six hours if they do not have tools. Subtract one hour
for each additional character who assists with the digging, up to
two. It is too cramped for more than three characters to clear the
grave together. After each hour spent digging, a character must
succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or gain a level of
exhaustion. Failing by more than 5 gains two levels of exhaustion.
A character must rest one hour for each level of exhaustion they
gain before continuing to dig.
3. Disturbed Slumber Severed Hand. Tiny undead, neutral evil A severed hand has: AC 13;
5 (1d8+1) hit points; and a crawl and climb speed of 30 feet. It has:
Once fully unearthed, the grave is six feet deep. The party Damage Immunity necrotic and poison; tremorsense out to 60 feet;
discovers a moldy pine box, rotted from years of interment. Turn Immunity, making it immune to effects that turn undead. Its
Only one character can fit in the grave to open the coffin, and action is a single Claw attack:
they must succeed on a DC 13 Strength (Athletics) check. The
character rolls with advantage if they use a tool (e.g., a crowbar Claw: Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5
or shovel) to pry the coffin lid open. Inside the coffin is Gazda’s (1d6+2) slashing damage. If the target is a creature other than an
decayed corpse, now a ghast who wakes from his slumber and undead, it must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or be
immediately attacks the character in the grave. Two additional paralyzed for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the
undead, ghouls, burst from nearby graves and attack the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
remaining characters.
A severed hand is challenge 1/2 (100 XP).
Missing Hands: The character in the grave notices the ghast’s
arms end in mangled stumps; its hands have been hacked off. Both severed hands gain +3 when rolling for initiative.
Instead of its Claws attack, the ghast now attacks with its frozen,
Scaling the Encounter: For six characters the devil has 80 hit points.
bloody stumps.
Treasure: The party can recover the obsidian stone, which is now
Bloody Stumps. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one
harmless but worth 250 gp. They also find Pogon’s weapon, a
target. Hit: 7 (2d6) cold damage. If the target is a creature other
vicious glaive.
than an undead, it must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving
throw or be paralyzed for 1 minute. The target can repeat the
saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect
on itself on a success.

Paralyzed Cover. If the character in the grave becomes paralyzed,

they fall onto the ghast, granting it three-quarters cover.

4. Strange Tracks
After defeating the undead, a successful DC 13 Wisdom
(Survival) check notices strange tracks in the snow leading
from Gazda’s grave to a decrepit mausoleum at the back corner
of the cemetery. If the check succeeds with a 15 or higher, the
character realizes the tracks were made by hands, not feet.

5. Corrupted Tree
As the party follows the handprints to the mausoleum, it passes
a twisted and knotted old tree. This too is corrupted by the
obsidian stone’s evil and is infested with three shadow blights .
Any character with a Passive Perception of 14 or higher notices
the blights, otherwise the blights attack with surprise as the
party passes the tree.

Summoning Minions: For six characters, allow one of the shadow

blights to use its Animate Plants action. This is not recommended
for parties of fewer than six characters.

6. The Mausoleum
Inside the mausoleum is Pogon, a bearded devil. It holds the
obsidian stone in one hand. Gazda’s death was the sacrifice
the fiend needed to free it from its prison. Pogon deals an
extra 7 points of damage on a critical hit (see Treasure below).
Characters with a Passive Perception of 13 or higher notice two
severed hands lurking in the shadows of the crypt. They attack
the party alongside Pogon.

© 2024 AAW Games, LLC.

Author: Bill Buchalter, Artist: Julio, Cartography: Dynamic Dungeons
Publisher: Jonathan G. Nelson, Editor: Hans Cummings, Stephen Yeardley, Layout: Roo Thompson, Rafael Tschope Creature Codex, Kobold Press

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