The Dire Den

The Wizard Strictivarius has gone missing! they have not been seen or heard from for several days!

Now residents of the nearby settlement have begun to disappear as well…

No one knows what fate befell the wizard and there is only one way to find out…

Recommended players:

3 - 4 PCs
Lvl 1 - 3

Creatures featured:

Cockatrice, Living Statue

Themes featured:

Monster of the Week, Stoning, Small Dungeon,

Adventure Length:

One-shot

DM Warning:

Potential for Player Character stoning.

The Dire Den is intended to be a one-shot adventure that can be dropped into any campaign setting.

Adventure Background

The Dire Den features an ancient underground structure whose original purpose has been lost. It was discovered by a wizard named Strictivarius who made it their laboratory and used it for experiments on breeding animals with monsters.

Through experimentation, Strictivarius hatched two monsters that he called Dire Cockatrice, a much larger and more dangerous breed of cockatrice. Eventually, the monsters escaped their enclosure and turned the wizard to stone. They then explored and claimed the laboratory as their nest and the area around it as their hunting ground.

As their territory spread the monsters began to hunt labourers from a nearby settlement, leaving only the stoned limbs of their victims as evidence of their presence.

Strictivarius had frequently visited that settlement, Diggory, a small and isolated community. The wizard bartered with the trader there for food and other essentials and had asked the trader to obtain expensive spell components and tomes for the wizard too.

When the labourers began to be attacked, the trader’s husband went to Strictivatrius for help, but upon entering the wizard’s lair quickly realised that something was wrong. Before they could escape they were stoned by the Dire Cockatrice guarding the nest.

When the trader’s husband failed to return, the people of Diggory became convinced that anyone who left the settlement would be hunted by the monster stalking Diggory and now refuse to leave.

All they can do now is wait and hope that someone who can help comes to Diggory soon.

But within the monster’s den, the brooding beasts guard a clutch of eggs that could spell disaster for the future of Diggory and the land for miles around.

Adventure Overview

The Dire Den is designed to be completed in one 3 - 5 hour session and is split into 3 sections.

Trouble in Diggory. The player characters find the settlement of Diggory scared and refusing to take action. Here they learn that creatures in the wilderness are harassing the settlement and that anyone who leaves Diggory is hunted.

The Beast of Diggory. After exploring and investigating the Settlement, the Player Characters must deal with the monster hunting the people of Diggory. Here they learn the monster’s likely origin and the danger it may pose for the region.

The Dire Den. The player characters enter into the Dire Den... Here they must prevent the monsters from spreading and if they're clever they may also rescue the wizard and other stoned victims.

Adventure Hooks

One of these adventure hooks may help draw your players into the adventure.

  • Nobody has heard from the settlement of Diggory in over a week… Expected deliveries of lumber have not arrived and travellers from that road have stopped.

  • One of the Player Characters may have received a letter from someone they know in Diggory, monsters have been rumoured in the region and now mail carriers and traders are refusing to go near the settlement.

  • The wizard Strictivarius was last seen in the settlement of Diggory, the Player Characters may be seeking them for personal reasons. Maybe for an enchanted item, as a powerful ally, or to learn a spell or piece of lore.

Trouble in Diggory

This part of the adventure deals with the settlement of Diggory, the NPCs that can be found there and also relevant details that can help hook your Player Characters into the Adventure.

By the end of this section, and when they leave Diggory, your players should know:

  • A monster is hunting the labourers and travellers in the area around Diggory, any pieces of the victims left behind have been turned to stone.

  • The labourers and travellers trapped in Diggory have contributed to a reward that they are offering to any who can slay the monster.

  • The trader’s husband went to get help from the nearby wizard but hasn't returned, the trader is offering a substantial reward for their husband's safe return, or news of their demise.

  • The wizard has a hidden subterranean laboratory nearby where they experiment on monsters, only the trader’s husband and the hunter know where it can be found.

  • The wizard often visits Diggory and has asked the trader to source unusual items for them in the past, they also buy a lot of eggs.

Arrival at Diggory

The tower of Diggory can be seen long before the walls, and upon approaching the characters can see that large chunks of ancient rubble from the fallen tower litter the land around. Within the settlement itself, the atmosphere is bleak and the people are worried. When the Player Characters enter the settlement make note of the hopeless faces that greet them.

Diggory is a small logging* settlement found in the courtyard of an ancient crumbled tower and is currently home to 8 labourers, 5 travellers, the general trader and many chickens.

Aside from the tower, the settlement has only a few structures; one hut and two large coops that house the many chickens seen around Diggory.

The tower, once enormous, now stands wider than it is tall and its rubble litters the area around it. Reduced to two stories, what remains has been strengthened with wood and rope to make the structure livable.

*DM Note: To help the adventure fit most settings, the type of labour done in Diggory can change depending on the environment.
For example, mining on a mountain, fishing on the coast, or salt harvesting in the desert.

The type of labour should be non-permanent as the labourers in Diggory only live and work there for a few days before they return home.

As the Player Characters begin to explore Diggory the folk there will approach them with questions and requests for aid.

The labourers wear dirty padded tunics clothes appropriate for the work that they would normally be doing, whilst the travellers wear warming travelling attire, most with hooded cowls currently slung back to show their desperate faces.

Consider the following points to direct the conversation, give the players information, and hook them into helping the people in Diggory.

  • Did the Player Characters encounter any trouble on the road? The people of Diggory are trapped by a monstrous beast attacking travellers.

  • Are the Player Characters here to help the people of Diggory? Were they sent by someone to help, and if not are they available for hire? The people have gathered a sum of gold together as a reward. (10 gold, 150 silver, 800 copper and an uncut gem worth 25 gold | 58 gold value total)

  • Daliah- the trader is offering a reward for her husband’s safe return, or news of his fate. He went to get help from a wizard nearby and never returned. The general trader is in the tower. (50 gold, 200 silver, potion of healing (greater), cut gem worth 125 gold | 195 gold value total + potion)

  • Do the Player Characters need to rest? There are (free) beds available on the tower’s upper floor for travellers and labourers.

Reward: Labourers and Travellers.

10 gold, 150 silver, 800 copper.

1 x uncut gem worth 25 gold.

Reward: Daliah, the Trader.

50 gold, 200 silver.

1 x cut gem worth 125 gold.

1 x Potion of Healing (Greater)

The Crumbled Tower

The tower has been reinforced with wood and rope to be more livable and inside it is comfortable, warm and well-lit. The ground floor has a counter for the general trader and a small carpenter’s workshop. A set of stone stairs leads to the upper floor where cots line the walls for labourers and travellers to rest at night.

Here the Player characters can speak to some of the labourers and also the trader, Daliah.

Daliah. The General Trader

Daliah is a middle-aged human woman with dark olive skin and black hair tied into a ponytail. She wears a trader’s apron over a patterned skirt, white shirt and waistcoat. Having barely slept since her husband’s disappearance, she is slightly dishevelled and her eyes are red and exhausted from crying and lack of sleep.

When the characters first meet her, note her dishevelled appearance, apparent tiredness and red eyes.
Consider the following points to direct the conversation and inform the players.

  • Her husband, Aldhelm, left Diggory the day before last. He should have only been gone a few hours.

By the time the players have left Diggory they should know:

  • Aldhelm, the trader’s husband, went to get help from the nearby wizard and never returned.

  • Gelwyn, the hunter went to fetch water for the settlement this morning and hasn’t returned.

  • A monster is hunting the wilderness around Diggory and it has killed travellers on the road.

  • The monster likely came from the wizard’s lair.

If they have investigated well, they may also know that:

  • The monster can stone its victims.

  • A mirror could be a potential solution to defeat the monster.

  • A description of the monster- a man-sized creature on two legs with bat-like wings, a long neck and a pointed snout. (Maybe even know that it is a cockatrice?)

The Dire Den

Pronunciation Guide.

There is no wrong way of pronouncing the names in this adventure, but this is the intended pronunciation.

Aldhelm.

Old-helm

Daliah.

Dah-lee-ah

Strictivarius.

Strict-ee-vah-ree-us

Diggory.

Dig-or-ree