Chapter 1: Introduction

Greetings Chapters of the Document

Hello and welcome to The King's War, an adventure written After this introduction, there will be several chapters.
for Dungeons & Dragons 5e. In this adventure a group of Chapter two will discuss the previous adventure and how to
adventurers will lead an army to win a war against their connect that one to this one, or if you did not use the previous
King's enemy. The only way to fully break apart the reigning adventure how you can set this one up. Chapter three will
structure of the elves, is to kill their Council. This job is for discuss the main adventure, including encounters, traps and
the party. a conclusion. Appendix A contains creature stats used
through out the adventure. Appendix B contains a little bit of
The adventure itself was written to be a challenging information in case you want to run this adventure with the
adventure for an 8th level party of 4 players. Increasing or Strongholds and Followers rules. Appendix C contains an
decreasing these values will change the difficulty as one example map for the elven keep, in case you want some
might suspect. In addition is should be possible to play this inspiration. Finally, Appendix D contains some references
adventure in a 4-6 hour session, depending on your players that were very useful in writing this adventure.
and experience with the game.
This adventure uses the Dungeons and Dragons 5e rules,
which means it assumes you have a copy of The Dungeons
and Dragons 5th Edition Players Handbook. Some of the
creatures mentioned are specifically found in the Dungeons
And Dragons 5th Edition Monster manual. Finally, the
Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Dungeon Masters Guide
is a helpful supplement, and also includes some magic items
mentioned in this book.
A book you can also use with this adventure is Strongholds
and Followers from MCDM Productions. There is an
appendix that allows you to use that book alongside this
adventure. No rules from the book are mentioned here
though, so you will have to buy the book if you want to run an
actual war (it's really good, don't worry).
This adventure is set up so it can be run in any setting you
want, however it is also meant as a sequel to "The King's
Feast" and "The King's War". Because of this, this adventure
will contain several ways to tie the adventures together.
However, if you are not interested in the first adventures, and
just want to run this one, that is also completely possible.
Finally, this is a 7thRoll adventure that was also played on
our youtube channel, with some setting specific changes.
However, most of what you see there is the same as what is
written here. If you are a DM that wishes to play through this
adventure and you need a bit of inspiration, it might be a good
place to check it out. Just make sure your players have not
seen the adventure itself yet.
Milestone leveling
This adventure was not written with experience points in
mind, so using an experience point system for this one shot
will very likely not get you the results you want. It is therefore
probably better to run this adventure with Milestone leveling,
allowing the party to level up (to level 9 if you are indeed
playing this with a level 8 party) once the elven Council has
been defeated and the war won.
Chapter 2: What happened before
This chapter will discuss the previous adventures and how
they tie in to this one. Specific assumptions about the
previous adventures will be made in the rest of the adventure
(as if the youtube versions of "The King's Feast" and "The
King's Spy" happened), so because of that, this chapter will
mention possible changes to the adventure in case your party
did things differently.
The story until now
All members of the party belong to the Royal Guard. Several
months ago, they had to defend the king of the human
kingdom at his own birthday party. An attack was engineered
by a man named Eon, the Traveler and Prince Jason (the
king's youngest son). This attack cost the lives of several
members of the Royal Guard, but most of all, that of King
Saris. Ever since that day, the humans and elves have been at
war. Prince Faris (the king's oldest son), took up the mantle of
"The Goat King", and has had to fight back without the
experience of his father.
Once the war had been going on for several months, Faris
saw no other option but to look for friends in odd places. This
way, Faris made a deal with an Underground Organization,
led by a man only known as "The Underground Chieftain".
Together, they sent people to the elven island in order to
figure out what their enemies were up to. However, none
came back alive.
That all changed when Dart (a member of the Underground
Organization) and his team went to the elven island. They
found the location of the elven council, but were not able to
deliver that information back to their superiors. Dart was the
only one who survived and was able to send out a cry for
help, which led to a rescue mission to save him. Together
with the Royal Guard, Dart was able to escape and deliver the
information, leading to the current situation.
It has now been several months since the rescue mission and
King Faris has put in motion his plan to attack the elves.
Leading his forces to "The Tree Island", setting up the attack
itself. However, a king is nothing without his most trusted
advisors, that's where the party comes in.
What if Saris never died
Similar to "the King's Spy", if Saris never died during the
original attack, you can either replace Faris with Saris in this
adventure and still run it as is. Another option is to have Saris
step down as king and have Faris take over. That way you do
not have to change anything about the adventure. Remember
that Faris and Saris give the party different abilities. Saris
lets every one of his subjects speak Serpentian, Faris gives
every one of his subjects the ability to attack with goat horns
once per long rest.
What if Faris also died
In the original story there was a chance that Faris died. In
this case, either Queen Arianna took the throne if she
survived, or if she did not, Jason might have taken the throne.
If Arianna (or someone else that is not Jason) takes the
throne, replace Faris by the new monarch in the rest of this
story. Arianna would take the ability of her husband and
become "the Serpent Queen", any other leader you can do
with as you wish. If Jason takes the throne, both "the King's
Spy" and this mission will be traitorous missions. The best
way to solve this here, is to have someone like "The
Underground Chieftain", or a trusted general of King Saris
take control of the main army and give orders to the party.
After this adventure, they can possibly still take lead as the
council of the human lands, because of their service.
What if the mission failed
If the party did not get Dart's information to their superiors,
King Faris can not make up a plan to attack the elves,
because he does not know where to strike. At this point,
either you have to invent another way for Faris to know
where the elves are hiding out (maybe a friend of Dart found
a way off the island, maybe an elven traitor told them,...) or
you have to set up another adventure to solve this problem.
Further details can not really be given in this adventure.
What if no previous
missions
This entire story can be played without using the previous
adventures, which does not change anything about the
adventure itself. However, you will have to give the party a
reason for being a part of this. They are probably a part of the
Royal Guard and should possibly also be the King's most
trusted advisors, which is why they get such an important
role in this attack. But how did you party become so trusted,
have they been working on the war,...? These are all questions
you should ask your players when you start up this adventure.
Chapter 3: The adventure
This chapter will discuss the actual adventure, starting from
the night before the assault, through the assault itself and
ending with the possible victory of your party.
The night before
The party traveled for a couple of days on ships borrowed
from the Dwarven King, trying to stay close to King Faris'
ship. The armies of the king and several forces that they
currently lead have been mentally preparing for tomorrow,
while sharpening their swords and facing the power of the
sea. However, right now, the party finds themselves on Faris'
ship alongside several other captains that were called upon
for this grand battle against the elves. Before starting this
adventure, read this to your players:
After several days of travel, you and your friends find yourself
on the king's vessel. You all find yourself in a large square
room, with several bookcases lining the walls and beautiful
wooden desk with the symbol of "The Goat King" carved into
it. The king has called you all here to talk about the impending
attack. Looking around, you see several human generals from
the kingdom, but also some Dwarven and Dragonborn allies.
Every general in the army is accounted for, which gives you an
ominous feeling, as you know that you might not see all of
them after tomorrow.
The King speaks: "Welcome all of you. I would like to spend
more time on pleasantries but tension is high and time is low,
so I'll get right to the point. Tomorrow, we attack the elves.
Most of us will use our ships and attack their main force.
However, we are only a distraction. As most of you know, my
personal guard and their forces will oversee a direct attack on
the Council's keep, trying to eliminate them. We have it on
good authority that most orders come from there, so if we can
take out the council, it might be just the break we need." The
king takes a sip from his glass of wine before continuing, as if
to give himself courage. "I know that you're all scared. We're
running into a war with some of the most ancient and smart
beings alive, but we will prevail! We must prevail, or our
families and friends might not have a future. So if not for me,
do it for them and do it for our Kingdom." At which point
several of the generals nod in agreement, seemingly prepared
for battle. Some look uncertain and scared, but hey, what did
you expect? Most are unsure what to do with the King's
speech.
Faris then finishes: "Well then, you all know your specific
positions during the attack. Go be with your crew, celebrate
tonight as if it is your last! Because for most of us, it will be.
My guard, stay for a bit!" At which point every person in the
room leaves, except for the king.
The party is supposed to stay and should listen to their king's
orders. Make sure you describe how their king is ruffling
through pages, seems to be sweating a little bit,... He is very
nervous about this attack, but maybe even more about the
next conversation. A couple of minutes after the room is
emptied, the king will start speaking to his guard:
The king speaks: "I'm sorry about holding you here a little
longer. I'm quite sure it must have been quite boring". The
king smiles for the first time in a while before speaking again:
"I made you stay because we need to talk about the upcoming
battle. You already know your job, you will attack the keep at
the back of the island while our main force distracts most of
them. Your forces will be instrumental in winning this battle. If
you can find the council, take them out as quickly as possible.
This should break their communications, morale and possibly
win us the war. Easy enough." The king then sighs before
continuing: "However, we need to discuss what happens if
I...". The king does not finish his sentence, but you all know
what he speaks of. If the king was not in the front lines of the
war, the enemy would surely expect something to be wrong.
This meant however that the party could be serving under
another dead king.
"Because of this, I want to ask one thing of you! If I were to die
in this battle, I need you to choose the new king. I do not have
an heir, which means no one can officially inherit the throne.
This allows you to pick someone and put him before the gods.
If they accept him, you will have your new king. We have spent
enough time together for me to trust, that you will select the
correct person, even if it is not one of you."
After saying all this, the king picks up his full glass of wine and
chugs it in one go.
This is not a problem for the party to discuss now, but more
of a detail to think about. Seeing as the king is afraid of his
death, he wants an heir to be chosen by the party. You don't
have to put this in front of your players of course, especially if
you did not run the previous two adventures. The players
might not have as much of an emotional connection to the
King as the players in the youtube version did. However, it
does state that the party is special to the king at this point,
high enough in rank to make the most difficult but important
decision one could have to make. Finally, this is also a
moment to make the party realize that the king can die in this
adventure if they do their job too slowly.
Once this conversation is over, the king has one final drink
with the party, before sending them off on their way, ready for
the attack the next day.
The attack
The day after the meeting, the party has to prepare for the
attack. If you are using Strongholds and Followers, you might
want to have a look at Appendix B at this point. Regardless,
your players will have an army backing them up. The army
will be dealing with the enemy forces, while your party deals
with their leaders, trying to take them out.
The party has gotten some dwarven air ships in order to get
to the island itself, but will be dropped onto the island. This
because the island is in the shape of a giant tree. It is very
difficult to climb. The Council building is relatively close to
the edge of one side of the tree. That is where the party will
make their assault, while (most of) the elven army will be
busy with an attack from the other side.
Ask your players if they have any last preparations they would
like to make, because else they start hearing the sounds of
battle coming from the island itself. That is the signal for the
attack to commence. The dwarven ships shoot up into the air,
the crew doing everything in their power to get as swift and
speedy an ascent and assault as possible. Soon enough, the
party sees the elven keep and some forces that are still there.
The ships drop off the party before turning around and
helping out the main force, while keeping off any
reinforcements that might come to interfere with the party's
plans. If the party asks why they can not be dropped into the
castle, tell them that it might be too dangerous for their
forces to be spread out over the keep. In addition landing in
the keep would be too risky and might get them into more
trouble than it's worth. If the party has other ways to get in
though, let them, but they will not be accompanied by their
forces (whatever that means).
The elven keep consists of an outer wall, an inner wall and a
main tower in the middle. When the fight begins, the party
will be facing a Wood elven Elder, Wood elven Cleric, High
elven Artificer and a High elven General (all of which can
be found in Appendix A). Every one except for the Artificer
will be at the outer wall, trying to take out any one coming in,
the Artificer himself is on the inner wall. He summons his
turret the moment he notices the attack and starts shooting
people with it from afar. Other than that, the elves take no
prisoners, they are indeed the last line of defense between
their enemies and the council, so they must win here.
In case you are not using Strongholds and Followers, one
of the issues you might run into is how the party gets through
the walls of the keep itself. They can of course try to get onto
the wall and open the gates, however if you want to give them
a little boost, you can have dwarven artillery help out. Every
round at initiative count 20 (losing ties), roll percentile dice.
On 75 or lower, make a hole in one of the walls, that the party
can fit through. First make a hole in the Outer wall, then the
inner wall. The tower is magically protected and cannot be so
easily destroyed.
The Tower
Once the party wins the battle against the forces defending
the keep, they will have to complete their job alone. The
forces of the party will start looking into taking out stragglers
and protecting the keep from reinforcements. In the
meantime, the party can start exploring the keep. At some
point however, they should go into the tower. The tower itself
has three floors. The top floor holds a sort of conference
room, where the Council used to meet, the second floor holds
a small library, with books about both nature and arcane
magic. It is here, you can also find information about
teleportation circles on a successful DC 15 Intelligence
(Investigation) check, or by looking around for about fifteen
minutes. Finally, on the bottom floor, the party finds a slightly
damaged teleportation circle. They notice that the circle itself
was not damaged very long ago, and that a large portion of
the magic is still captured in it, if only they can fix it. The
circle seems to have a direct connection to some other
location on the island.
At some point, the party will want to fix this teleportation
circle. In order to do so, they need basic information about
how teleportation circles work (this can be gained from the
information on the second floor of the tower, someone
proficient in the arcana skill, or a character with an arcane
spellcaster class like wizard, sorcerer,...). At this point, ask for
a skill challenge with the following rules:
The party tells you how they want to help fix the
teleportation circle
Once they have told you how, make them roll an
appropriate check, with a DC of 15. However, a character
is not allowed to make the same skill check twice except
with very good reason.
Once the party reaches 6 successes, they successfully
complete the teleportation circle allowing them to go to
the next part of the adventure.
Every time the party fails a check, have them make a
Dexterity Saving throw against a DC of 18. Every
character that fails takes 3d6 points of lightning damage
from the circle overcharging and unleashing its energy.
Once the party successfully completes the skill challenge
and uses the circle, they will be transported to the final battle.
The Council chambers
As the party steps through the teleportation circle, read this
to your players:
After you felt the cold rush of magic teleporting you through
space, you step off the circle to find yourself in a dark corridor,
leading into a large round room. A dark, shadowy mist hangs
through the entire corridor and room, making it even harder to
see through the darkness. In the room itself, you notice a
group of five figures, standing in a half circle, arms to their
sides. You don't recognize any of these people, but even those
without magic sense the vast magical power coming from that
direction. Even without seeing their faces clearly, you know
that this is the Council.
The man in the center of the half circle speaks: "Ah! You have
come, warriors of King Faris! Sadly enough I'm afraid that the
line ends here. I will give you one chance to return from where
you came, so you don't die at our hands. Take it, or fall to the
true power of the elves!"
The party gets two choices here. Either they go back, or start
fighting the elven council (there is no negotiating out of this).
If the party goes back, have any characters that have some
sort of proficiency with arcane magic roll an Intelligence
(Arcana) check with a DC of 15. If someone succeeds, they
realize (just before the party steps on the circle), that the
damage dealt to the circle previously has severely weakened
it. Because of this, if the party goes back through the portal,
there won't be any strength left for the direct connection to
remain. Once the party takes the circle away from here, they
won't be able to come back and fight the elven Council (which
will probably lose them the war). The party should already
know that the council has been sending their messages from
here, so unless they defeat them here, the elves will still have
their highest command structure and probably overpower the
humans.
If the party decides to fight, the council will merge their five
bodies into The Contracted Hydra (see Appendix A). It
seems that the council was lead by a dark elf warlock, that
made a pact to obtain more strength. He fooled and took over
the council to start the war against the humans. And now, his
patron has allowed him to summon a creature with five
heads, that strengthens his powers even more: a hydra with
the powers of a warlock.
Conclusion
If the party is able to defeat the council, they should still be
able to transport back to the battlefield. Once they do, they
will notice that the battle is still going on, but the tide of it
seems to have changed. Because the council is down, the
main communication infrastructure of the elven army is now
gone. Because of this, the armies start losing their footing,
which is the only thing Faris' armies needed to break
through. This however does not remove the large amount of
bodies currently littering the island. One of which might be
that of King Faris.
In order to determine if the king lives through the war,
imagine how long it took the party to finish this battle. If they
took the keep and then immediately went into the tower to
attack the council, King Faris probably survived. If the party
decided to take a short rest of sorts, Faris probably fell in
battle. The target time I was looking at was one hour. That
way, if the party does not find the info on the teleportation
circle immediately or spends a little time giving orders, they
don't lose the king. Longer actions will make the battle more
unsure, make Faris more tired and will end up being the
king's downfall.
If the king dies during the war, the party will have to decide
for itself who they want to be the next king, maybe even
choosing one of their own. Of course, if you only run this
adventure, it might be hard for the party to choose any one
for the job, but then again, that is not in the scope of this
adventure.
If the king survives the war, he will be very grateful to the
party, thanking them for their service. He will be covered in
blood, tending to the wounded and giving prayers to the dead.
He asks the party what happened, being very interested in the
story and very happy about the outcome. However, before this
story is over, he has one more thing to do.
When the time is appropriate and you want to close out the
adventure, tell the players that they stand before their king in
a private meeting. King Faris has cleaned himself up a bit and
wanted to see them. As the king stands before them, he starts
talking about the last year. About how he respected his father
who died, how he always lead his people as a true king
should, how Faris wished that he was even a little bit more
like his father. However Faris also starts talking about the
problem with his station as King. If he died, the kingdom
would very likely be in disarray, a new king would have to be
chosen, hopefully that king would be accepted by the gods.
Sure, the party would have done a great job, but Faris has
started to feel like one position of power is not enough. So he
asks the party if they would like to become part of his own
council. That way, he would not be the only one making
decisions for his people and they might be able to make the
kingdom a safer place! Of course, the party can accept or
reject this proposal, but they are the first people the king
asked.
For their service, the king pays the party 47000 gp and gives
them a hammer of thunderbolts from his personal armory.
Appendix A: Stat Blocks
This appendix contains the stat blocks of all the NPC's and
creatures you'll need in this adventure, in addition to the ones
in the Monster Manual. Whenever the adventure references
stats from Appendix A, it references these stat blocks.
Elven Generals
These are the stat blocks for the generals defending the keep.
Wood elven Elder
An elder of the elves, tasked with defending the Keep. He
leads several forces to try to take down any one that invades.
He is one of few with quite decent druidic powers and will
use them to take out any one.
Bonus Actions
Change Shape (2/Day). The Elder magically
polymorphs into a beast with a challenge rating of 2
or less, and can remain in this form for up to 4
hours. The elven Elder can choose whether its
equipment falls to the ground, melds with its new
form, or is worn by the new form. The elder druid
reverts to its true form if it dies or falls unconscious.
The elder druid can revert to its true form using a
bonus action on its turn.
Combat Wild Shape. While the Elder is transformed
by Wild Shape, he can use a bonus action to expend
one spell slot to regain 1d8 hit points per level of
the spell slot expended.

Wood elven Elder

Medium humanoid

Armor Class 16 (wooden breastplate) (18 with

wooden shield)
Hit Points 56
Speed 35 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA

12 (+1) 16 (+3) 14 (+2) 12 (+1) 20 (+5) 8 (-1)

Saving Throws Int +4, Wis +8

Skills Medicine +8, Perception +8, Athletics +4,
Survival +8, Acrobatics +6
Senses passive Perception 18
Languages Common, Elvish
Challenge 4

Spellcasting. The Elder is an 8th-level spellcaster. His

spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 16, +8
to hit with spell attacks). The Elder has the following
druid spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): shillelagh, thorn whip, poison
spray
1st level (4 slots): cure wounds, thunderwave,
healing word, goodberry, absorb elements
2nd level (3 slots): heat metal, pass without a trace,
hold person, moonbeam
3rd level (3 slots): conjure animals, call lightning
4th level (2 slots): blight, ice storm
Fey Ancestry. The elven Elder has advantage on
saving throws against being charmed, and magic
can’t put him to sleep.
Wood elven Cleric
A cleric for the elves, fighting the enemy with holy powers.
Wood elven Cleric
Medium humanoid
Armor Class 18 (plate armor) (20 with shield)
Hit Points 56
Speed 35 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
14 (+2) 10 (+0) 14 (+2) 12 (+1) 20 (+5) 8 (-1)
Saving Throws Cha +2, Wis +8
Skills Medicine +8, Perception +8, Survival +8,
Religion +4, Insight +8
Senses passive Perception 18
Languages Common, Elvish
Challenge 4
Spellcasting. The Cleric is an 8th-level spellcaster.
Her spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC
16, +8 to hit with spell attacks). The Cleric has the
following Cleric spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): toll the dead, word of radiance,
guidance, sacred flame, shillellagh
1st level (4 slots): cure wounds, guiding bolt,
command, healing word, inflict wounds, shield of
faith, animal friendship, speak with animals
2nd level (3 slots): spiritual weapon, hold person,
branding smite, barkskin, spike growth
3rd level (3 slots): spirit guardians, dispel magic,
plant growth, wind wall
4th level (2 slots): death ward, banishment,
dominate beast, grasping vine
Fey Ancestry. The Cleric has advantage on saving
throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put
her to sleep.
Divine Strike. Once on each of her turns when she
hits a creature with a weapon attack, the Cleric can
cause the attack to deal an extra 1d8 cold, fire, or
lightning damage (your choice) to the target.
Reactions
Dampen Elements. When the Cleric or a creature
within 30 feet of her takes acid, cold, fire, lightning,
or thunder damage, she can use her reaction to
grant resistance to the creature against that instance
of the damage.
Actions
Mace. Melee Attack: +5 to hit, Hit: 1d8 + 2
bludgeoning damage.
High elven Artificer
High elven Artificer
Medium humanoid
Armor Class 17 (Infused Breastplate) (20 with
infused shield)
Hit Points 56
Speed 30 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
8 (-1) 16 (+3) 14 (+2) 20 (+5) 10 (+0) 10 (+0)
Saving Throws Con +5, Int +8
Skills Acrobatics +6, Arcana +8, Investigation +8,
Perception +3
Senses passive Perception 13
Languages Common, Elvish
Challenge 4
Spellcasting. The Artificer is an 8th-level spellcaster.
His spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC
16, +8 to hit with spell attacks). The Artificer has
the following Artificer spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): mending, poison spray, firebolt
1st level (4 slots): shield, thunderwave, absorb
elements, cure wounds, catapult, faerie fire, shield
of faith
2nd level (3 slots): scorching ray, shatter, aid, heat
metal, enlarge/reduce, see invisibility
Arcane Firearm. Whenever the artificer casts an
artificer spell, add 1d8 additional damage to one of
the damage rolls of the spell. This only affects one
creature, if the spell hits multiple creature.
Fey Ancestry. The elven Artificer has advantage on
saving throws against being charmed, and magic
can’t put him to sleep.
Reactions
Flash of Genius. When the artificer or an ally within
30 feet of him makes an ability check or saving
throw, add +5 to that roll as a reaction. You can use
this feature 5 times before having to take a long
rest.
Actions
Mace. Melee Attack: +5 to hit, Hit: 1d8 + 2
bludgeoning damage.
Create Cannon. Create a small or tiny eldritch
cannon. It has 18 AC, 40 hit points, is immune to
poison damage, psychic damage and all conditions,
has 10 in all ability scores and if you use a bonus
action it can make a ranged spell attack (range 120
ft, +8 to hit, 2d8 force damage). After using this
action you must take a long rest or spend a spell
slot to use it again. Using the mending spell on this
cannon heals it for 2d6 hit points.
High elven General
The actual leader of the unit captains. He has the most battle
experience and is the one that seems to know what he is
doing in this large scale battle.

High elven General

Medium humanoid

Armor Class 18 (studded leather + defense fighting

style) (20 with shield)
Hit Points 64
Speed 30 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA

12 (+1) 20 (+5) 14 (+2) 16 (+3) 12 (+1) 8 (-1)

Saving Throws Str +4, Con +5

Skills
Senses passive Perception 18
Languages Common, Elvish
Challenge 4

Spellcasting. The General is an 8th-level spellcaster.

Its spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC
14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). The General has the
following spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): toll the dead, booming blade
1st level (4 slots): mage armor, shield, magic
missile, absorb elements, catapult
2nd level (2 slots): shatter
Action Surge. On his turn, The General can take one
additional action on top of his regular action and a
possible bonus action. After using this ability, the
general can not use this ability again until finishing a
short rest.
Fey Ancestry. The elven General has advantage on
saving throws against being charmed, and magic
can’t put him to sleep.
Actions
Rapier. Melee Attack: +5 to hit, Hit: 1d8 + 2
bludgeoning damage.
Bonus Actions
War Magic. When the general uses an action to cast
a cantrip, he can make one weapon attack as a
bonus action.
Second Wind. On their turn, the general can use a
bonus action to regain 1d10 + 8 hit points. After
using this ability, the general can not use this ability
again until finishing a short rest.
The Contracted Hydra
In addition, the contracted hydra can cast the
The merged form of the elven council. A combination of a following spells once per day: conjure elemental,
hydra and a warlock. bane, polymorph

Actions
The Contracted Hydra Multiattack. The hydra makes as many bite attacks as
it has heads. It can replace any of its bite attack by
Huge monstrosity Eldritch bolts.

Armor Class 15 Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft.,
Hit Points 172 one target. Hit: (1d10 + 5) piercing damage.
Speed 30 ft., swim 30 ft. Eldritch bolt. Ranged Spell Attack: +10 to hit,
range(120/120), one target. Hit: (1d10 + 5) force
damage.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
20 (+5) 12 (+1) 20 (+5) 10 (+0) 12 (+1) 20 (+5)
Legendary Actions
The Contracted Hydra can take anumber of
Saving Throws Wis +6, Cha +10 legendary actions equal to its amount of remaining
Skills Deception +10, Persuasion +10, History +5, heads, choosing from the options below. Only one
Religion +5, Athletics +10 legendary action can be used at a time and only at
Senses passive Perception 11, Darkvision (in normal the end of another creature's turn. The Contracted
and magical darkness) 120 ft. Hydra regains spent legendary actions at the start of
Languages Common, Elvish, Undercommon its turn.
Bite. The Hydra uses a bite action against a target
Hold Breath. The hydra can hold its breath for 1 in reach.
hour. Eldritch bolt. The Hydra uses a Eldritch bolt
against a target in range.
Multiple Heads. The hydra has five heads. While it Higher magic (Costs 3 Actions). The Hydra can use
has more than one head, the hydra has advantage on one of the spells it can cast (both the ones using
saving throws against being blinded, charmed, a spell slot, or the ones it can cast daily)
deafened, frightened, stunned, and knocked
unconscious.
Whenever the hydra takes 25 or more damage in a Lair Actions
single turn, one of its heads dies. If all its heads die, On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), The Contracted
the hydra dies. At the end of its turn, it grows two
heads for each of its heads that died since its last
Hydra can take a lair action to cause one of the following
turn, unless it has taken fire damage since its last
effects; it can't use the same effect two rounds in a row:
turn. The hydra regains 10 hit points for each head The contracted hydra regains one used spell slot, or the
regrown in this way. use of one of its once per day spells as it absorbs the dark
Reactive Heads. For each head the hydra has beyond magic in its lair.
one, it gets an extra reaction that can be used only A dark pulse of energy goes through the room. Every
for opportunity attacks. enemy of the contracted hydra must make a Constitution
Wakeful. While the hydra sleeps, at least one of its Saving Throw vs DC 18 or take 2d6 points of necrotic
heads is awake. damage.
Fey Ancestry. The Hydra has advantage on saving
throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put
him to sleep.
Spellcasting. The Contracted Hydra is a 9th level
spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Charisma (+10
to hit with spell attacks, spell save DC 18). It regains
its expended spell slots when it finishes a short or
long rest. It knows the following warlock spells:
Cantrips: Minor illusion, Mage hand
1st: Hex, Armor of Agathys
2nd: Invisibility, Suggestion
3rd: Counterspell, Thunder step
4th: Wall of Fire, Blight
5th: Flame Strike, Hold Monster
The contracted hydra has 2 5th level spell slots.
Appendix B: Running a war
The battle at elven keep was made using the Strongholds and
Followers supplement. Because of this, you can run that
battle two ways. Either you do not use it at all and just
assume that a large scale battle is going on while the party
fights the leaders of the enemy forces. This only requires you
to destroy the walls of the keep at some point, if the party
would not have a way to get into the keep otherwise.
The other way is to actually use the Strongholds and
Followers rules. In order to do so, treat the elven keep as a
level 4 keep. The enemy forces consist of a d8 unit of elite
infantry, a d6 unit of veteran flying creatures, a d6 unit of
veteran archers and a d6 veteran siege unit. All of them are
elves and carry heavy equipment.
The commanders of these units are the wood elven cleric, the
wood elven elder, the high elven artificer and high elven
general respectively.
If you use this system, do not forget that your players also
have to buy units. The treasure from "The King's Spy" is a
great way to do this. If you did not run "The King's Spy", you
can give your players 3000 gold pieces to spend on their
army.
Appendix C: Example Keep Map
This appendix just shows an example map of the keep, in
case you need it.
Appendix D: References
This chapter mentions some references used to create this
adventure. The wood elven cleric, the wood elven elder, the
high elven artificer and the high elven general are based off of
classes found in the Dungeons And Dragons 5E Player's
handbook. Specifically the cleric, druid, artificer and fighter
class. In addition, the contracted hydra got powers from the
warlock class.
The map for the keep was made in Dungeonographer.
The file itself was made in GMBinder.
The template for the cover image was made by Matthew
Gravelyn and can be found here. The image used in the
template is a photo by Stefan Keller on Pixabay (be it
changed, but still wanted to give credit).