Introduction
Our adventure begins at Silver Lake, known for its cleanliness and reflective qualities. It is at the bottom of Wolf Valley, surrounded by mountains on three sides. At the north end of the lake, the mountains rise into the sky, and at their base, a series of caves where dwarves dwell, mining for precious metals and gems. Snow elves occupy the woods to the south. Tinker gnomes have set up a ski lift, used to get further up the mountain. For its use, they charge a fee.
Around the lake is a community of three dozen or so families of mixed ancestry. There are at most fifty buildings, including things like a dwarf-run smithy, a small store with some necessities, and a granary. Despite its small size, it has everything it needs. They raise sheep and goats, which graze in the nearby foothills, providing the town with both warmth and sustenance. The dwarves use motorized boats to cross the lake and trade metal for meat. Grains grow in the surrounding fields in summer. The elves weave cloth, which they trade for meat, metal, and gems. They also help with farming, as needed.
But everything is not as peaceful and idyllic as it seems. Despite the townsfolk’s best efforts, wolves have been stealing sheep. Tasked with finding and stopping the loss of their livestock, the PCs set out from town
Leaving Town
It is a warm late spring day; lambing season has since come and gone. As the PCs go into the hills, they note all the wildflowers dotting them. Soon they come across the area where the shepherds are tending their flocks. All seems quiet for now. As they approach, the sheep seem unconcerned about their presence, content to graze. If they talk to the shepherdess, a young half-elf named Nymia, she tells them that she keeps moving the sheep, carefully avoiding areas where past attacks have taken place. Nymia informs the PCs that it’s strange how the attacks took place as if something with intelligence were guiding them. She directs them to another part of the mountain where the attacks took place, leaving so as not to give the wolves a chance to figure out where they are currently.
Choices
There are two paths to get to the area where the attacks occurred
Choice 1
The first path is still quite soggy and muddy from recent rains. Slogging through the mud will take them more time if they don’t want to fall or risk their horses getting injured (if they have), but they’ll have a perfect view from above.
Choice 2
The second path is more stable, but a tree has fallen on it, forcing the PCs to go around, but needing to abandon their mounts in the process, as the surrounding area is too steep to get around on horseback. The downside of this route is the angle won’t allow them to see if others are sneaking up on them.
Attacks Locations
There are 3 locations where the attacks have occurred. These can be visited in any order, depending on the route the PCs tak
Location 1
The first location is on a series of stony hills before they turn into the sweet grasses and flowers the sheep like to graze on. Careful examination reveals a tuft of fur from a wolf or doglike creature.
Location 2
The second location is in the first series of hills where the sheep would start to graze. The recent rains have left giant paw prints of a canid creature.
Location 3
At the third location, while there are many signs of sheep, if the PCs are particularly observant, they’d be able to find part of a claw print of a small creature beneath a nearby shrub, but only an extremely high roll will determine it’s a kobold print.
Tracking the Enemy
The PCs can track the dog creatures and their companions to a nearby cave, hidden among some rocks, behind some bushes, using the clues they found. To ensure their success and not lose the trail, the PCs need to get three successes before they get three failures. In the case of a failure, they’ll need to backtrack. Two successive failed attempts mean the PCs will have to wait until the culprits strike again, risking more sheep.
Options with Failure
If the PCs fail, they’re welcome to hang out with the shepherdess until the wolflike creatures strike again, or they can go back to town. If they go back to town, the animals strike again that night. Should they stay with the shepherdess, they may even be able to catch them in the act but will flee if confronted. They might even check out the other trail to see if they can spot something they missed from a different angle.
The Cave
Once the PCs can spot the cave, they can go in. Too violently moving the bushes blocking the entrance will cause noise, which may alert the guards, a small group of kobolds. The group seems to have teamed up with dire wolves to get food. As they creep deeper into the caves, they come across the main chamber containing several kobolds and an area to the side with a dire wolf den.
Defeat of the Enemies
After the defeat or fleeing of the enemies, the PCs can gather whatever treasure they find and return to town. Among the treasure they find is an eggshell of something that doesn’t belong. What it is from is a mystery.
Our adventure begins at Silver Lake, known for its cleanliness and reflective qualities. It is at the bottom of Wolf Valley, surrounded by mountains on three sides. At the north end of the lake, the mountains rise into the sky, and at their base, a series of caves where dwarves dwell, mining for precious metals and gems. Snow elves occupy the woods to the south. Tinker gnomes have set up a ski lift, used to get further up the mountain. For its use, they charge a fee.
Around the lake is a community of three dozen or so families of mixed ancestry. There are at most fifty buildings, including things like a dwarf-run smithy, a small store with some necessities, and a granary. Despite its small size, it has everything it needs. They raise sheep and goats, which graze in the nearby foothills, providing the town with both warmth and sustenance. The dwarves use motorized boats to cross the lake and trade metal for meat. Grains grow in the surrounding fields in summer. The elves weave cloth, which they trade for meat, metal, and gems. They also help with farming, as needed.
But everything is not as peaceful and idyllic as it seems. Despite the townsfolk’s best efforts, wolves have been stealing sheep. Tasked with finding and stopping the loss of their livestock, the PCs set out from town
Leaving Town
It is a warm late spring day; lambing season has since come and gone. As the PCs go into the hills, they note all the wildflowers dotting them. Soon they come across the area where the shepherds are tending their flocks. All seems quiet for now. As they approach, the sheep seem unconcerned about their presence, content to graze. If they talk to the shepherdess, a young half-elf named Nymia, she tells them that she keeps moving the sheep, carefully avoiding areas where past attacks have taken place. Nymia informs the PCs that it’s strange how the attacks took place as if something with intelligence were guiding them. She directs them to another part of the mountain where the attacks took place, leaving so as not to give the wolves a chance to figure out where they are currently.
Choices
There are two paths to get to the area where the attacks occurred
Choice 1
The first path is still quite soggy and muddy from recent rains. Slogging through the mud will take them more time if they don’t want to fall or risk their horses getting injured (if they have), but they’ll have a perfect view from above.
Choice 2
The second path is more stable, but a tree has fallen on it, forcing the PCs to go around, but needing to abandon their mounts in the process, as the surrounding area is too steep to get around on horseback. The downside of this route is the angle won’t allow them to see if others are sneaking up on them.
Attacks Locations
There are 3 locations where the attacks have occurred. These can be visited in any order, depending on the route the PCs tak
Location 1
The first location is on a series of stony hills before they turn into the sweet grasses and flowers the sheep like to graze on. Careful examination reveals a tuft of fur from a wolf or doglike creature.
Location 2
The second location is in the first series of hills where the sheep would start to graze. The recent rains have left giant paw prints of a canid creature.
Location 3
At the third location, while there are many signs of sheep, if the PCs are particularly observant, they’d be able to find part of a claw print of a small creature beneath a nearby shrub, but only an extremely high roll will determine it’s a kobold print.
Tracking the Enemy
The PCs can track the dog creatures and their companions to a nearby cave, hidden among some rocks, behind some bushes, using the clues they found. To ensure their success and not lose the trail, the PCs need to get three successes before they get three failures. In the case of a failure, they’ll need to backtrack. Two successive failed attempts mean the PCs will have to wait until the culprits strike again, risking more sheep.
Options with Failure
If the PCs fail, they’re welcome to hang out with the shepherdess until the wolflike creatures strike again, or they can go back to town. If they go back to town, the animals strike again that night. Should they stay with the shepherdess, they may even be able to catch them in the act but will flee if confronted. They might even check out the other trail to see if they can spot something they missed from a different angle.
The Cave
Once the PCs can spot the cave, they can go in. Too violently moving the bushes blocking the entrance will cause noise, which may alert the guards, a small group of kobolds. The group seems to have teamed up with dire wolves to get food. As they creep deeper into the caves, they come across the main chamber containing several kobolds and an area to the side with a dire wolf den.
Defeat of the Enemies
After the defeat or fleeing of the enemies, the PCs can gather whatever treasure they find and return to town. Among the treasure they find is an eggshell of something that doesn’t belong. What it is from is a mystery.
