A warehouse in Lintoli belonging to Glimthed Coingrabber the Halfing has recently burnt down. The warehouse was used to store spices from the Mulun desert, rare woods from the forest and several tons of tin (which was mostly unharmed in the fire). Glimthed suspects the fire was started by Yendor the Elven thief, whom he had had arrested several years ago for breaking in. Several days before Yendor claimed to be a member of Gap Toothed Grin and demanded protection fees of Glimthed.
Yendor: - Yendor lives in a small apartment on the third floor of a rooming house in a seedy part of town. He has medium length black hair, black eyes and a perpetual scowl. He is not really a member of Gap Toothed Grin, but wishes he was. The local GTG leader doesn't think Yendor is talented enough but uses him occasionally for simple courier jobs. Yendor is putting himself in danger by claiming to be a GTG member, but he is too foolish to care. Stats: AL:NE, AC:8 (leather), Mov: 12, HD:1, hp: 2, #AT: 1, Dmg: d6 (short sword) Morale: 5 (unsteady), xp: 15.
The PCs will probably want to find Yendor. They can climb into his window (unlocked), or go through his door (locked). Yendor is home 75% of the time during the day and 20% of the time at night. He will fight to defend himself but will surrender if overmatched and offer his meager fortune of 26 sp in return for his life. He has a further stash of 38 gp in a small locked chest in his bottom drawer. He will, if forced, admit he is not a GTG, and will swear he never burnt down the warehouse. For once, he will be telling the truth. If the PCs think to question the local city guard detachment, they'll admit that Yendor was in their cells at the time of the warehouse burning (arrested for pick pocketing). If the PCs kill Yendor, they'll be wanted for his murder.
The Next Fire: - Several days later in the middle of the night, the PCs are awakened by someone screaming "Fire! Fire!". A house is burning nearby and a women is standing outside shrieking "My son! My only son!". Inside, the house is only one room big. It contains two beds, a chest of drawers, a closet, a table and two chairs. The woman's son became scared and hid in the closet. For every round over one a PC spends searching, he must make a constitution check to avoid passing out from the smoke. Every round there is a 10% chance the roof will collapse, trapping the PC inside and doing 2d4 damage.
If the PCs rescue the child, the woman is grateful and wishes that the fire had left her something to give them as a reward. Soon, the local Waterman (a mage with a spell that creates rain clouds over fires) arrives and puts out the flame.
Many people had gathered to gawk, and one is overheard saying "Just before the fire started I saw a little man made of flames! He was about 3 feet tall and after climbing on the roof he jumped down and ran away down that alley! Everything it stepped on looked burnt." If the PCs go down the alley it connects with a maze of other alleys. The only way to track the little flame man is to wait for daylight (or use a torch, etc.) and track the burnt bits of leaves, garbage and other detritus that the little flame man left in its wake. It eventually leads to an abandoned brewery on the edge of town next to the woods. The char marks lead right in an open window (into room 3. The window is only large enough to admit gnomes or halflings).
The Brewery - The brewery is ramshackle and dilapidated. All the windows are long gone, rat dung lies about covered with dust. Smoke comes from the one chimney, however.
1. The large main room of the brewery is entered from the outside by double doors. Inside dust lays everywhere. There are huge winepresses as well as equipment for making beer. In one corner is a large pile of rubble under a gaping hole in the ceiling. A quick search shows a skeletal hand sticking out. It is the skeleton of a young man, the grandson of the last owner of the brewery who died bankrupt. The young man named Lormir was looking for anything salvageable when part of the roof and wall collapsed on him. If the PCs are searching the brewery after dark Lormirs ghost will be there. He will only fight if attacked first (stats as normal ghost, p. 130, hp:38). He begs the PCs to give him a proper burial. It will take 10 turns divided by number of PCs to remove his skeleton from the rubble. Lormir will indicate where in the breweries yard he wishes to be buried. Six feet down, Lormir's grandfathers forgotten wealth lies buried in a chest. It contains 50 platinum, a piece of dark pink coral worth 132 gp and an elixir of youth (p. 142). After the skeleton is buried, Lormir thanks the PCs and goes gratefully to his rest. He also warns the PCs about the huge centipede and little flame man elsewhere in the building.
2. A large storage room containing barrels of moldering barley, grapes and yeast's, along with one red coloured huge centipede (p.42).
3. A ruined office. There is a closet with a rotten cloak and a desk with two drawers. One drawer contains a flask marked "Liquid of Life", someone's attempt at humor because it contains alcohol which is several decades past its due. It has a green scum on top (faintly magical, otherwise it couldn't grow on alcohol 8-) , smells horrible, tastes worse and anyone drinking it must save vs. poison or feel sick and weak (-d4 to strength and constitution) for an hour. The other drawer contains 6 old, bent coppers.
The most interesting feature is the fireplace. It contains a roaring fire, and hidden within it is the mini flame man. It takes an intelligence check to see him. He will ignore the party unless interfered with, then attack. Stats: AL:CE, AC: 4, Mov: 8, HD: 2, hp: 8, THAC0: 19, # AT: 1, Dmg: d6, SA: Any object struck must save vs. normal fire with +4 on the roll, or it bursts into flame. SD: Immune to fire. Sz: S, Morale: 11, xp: 120.
Near the fire place are 2 eggs, 2 feet long. If cracked open, they also contain mini flame men (hp: 8,9). The final thing of interest is the large hole chewed in the wooden wall next to the fireplace. (2 feet across) From the hole the tracks of a large fire beetle lead into the woods. The tracks travel for half a mile before they enter a cave. (the tracks are well trodden, many times over, and are easy to follow in daylight)
The Cave:
1. Four large bats ( the tougher variety, p. 15, hp: 4,2,1,2). Lots of bat guano on floor, lots of small animal bones. A secret doors roll reveals a small hole in the center of the cave covered over by bones and rotting animal flesh. In the hole is 36 gp, a green chrysoberl worth 126 gp, and a small log of petrified wood worth 280 gp, but only to a sage, alchemist and possibly a mage or collector. Most PCs will be unaware of its value.
2. Two fire beetles (p.18, hp: 4,7). A boulder, 1.5 feet across, rests in one corner. If rolled aside it reveals the stash of a long dead thief. There are 45 platinum, a clear pale aqua zircon worth 61 gp, and a gem of brightness (p. 169).
3. Nest Area: Here sits the flaming fire beetle. It is surrounded by a dozen eggs containing mini flame men. However, 10 are too small to hatch. If the 2 remaining are cracked, the mini flame men inside have 13 and 12 hp.
The way things were happening was that the flaming fire beetle snuck into town and laid mini flame men eggs. When they hatched, they caused the fires.
Stats for Flaming Fire Beetle: AL:CE, AC: 3, Mov: 11, HD: 3, hp: 17, THAC0 17, #AT: 1, Dmg: 2d6, SA: Explodes on death, all within 3 feet save vs. poison (+4 on the roll) or take d4 hp. Morale: 14, Sz: 4' (bigger than normal), xp: 175.
The flaming fire beetle is a larger version of the normal fire beetle, and its light organs burn with a magical fire.
4. The final chamber in the cave is smaller than the others. In the center of the room is a chalk outline of a flaming fire beetle, in the middle of which are the remains of a fire. There are magical writings about it which can be read by casting read magic. They are an invocation of deities from the plane of fire, to bring the flaming fire beetle to life.
The beetle was created by Shandrom Sneakflash, a human mage. After the beetle explodes on dying, a few minutes later Shandrom pokes his head through the illusory wall at the end of the chamber and sees what has happened, swears, then retreats. Shandrom Sneakflash: AL:CE, AC: 4, Mov: 24, HD: 5, hp: 19, THAC0: 18, #AT: 1, Dmg: +1 dagger, Morale: 12, xp: 420. Spells memorized: (level 1) magic missile, shocking grasp, shield, affect normal fires, (level 2) invisibility, stinking cloud, (level 3) Monster Summoning I. Items: Boots of Speed (p. 161), dagger +1. Iron amulet with the symbol of Acid Blood on it. Detects good in 120 feet.
After the PCs pass through the illusory wall, they enter Shandroms hideout.
Shandroms Hideout: The walls are still made of cave stone but have been smoothed. Light organs from fire beetles provide illumination. Each has been ensorcelled to last a month.
1. Entrance chamber. A barrel in the corner is full of spring water. A crate is full of foodstuffs which have been half eaten by the beetles. There are 3 fire beetles (p. 18, hp: 7, 2, 7).
2. Fly, Bluebottle (p. 204, hp: 17). A long slaughtered pig lays in the corner surrounded by many normal sized bluebottles.
3. Two 2 HD aspis larva (p. 204, hp: 11, 14). A shelf on 1 wall holds a pottery bowl full of salt and a new looking, shiny dagger with a very small ruby in the hilt. (309 gp) Anyone touching it takes 1 hp per round, and it summons a minor tanar'ri. Stats: AL: CE, AC: 4. Mov: 14, HD: 2, hp: 10, THACO: 19, #AT: 1, dmg: d6, Sz: S, Morale: 17, xp: 35. Appears as a gray, wrinkled little man with horns. Attacks with its jaws. It attacks the last person to touch the dagger until it or they die, then disappears. A new one is summoned every time someone touches the dagger (same stats, different hp). The last thing on the shelf is a 1 foot high statue of an orc made of pottery. If a PC lifts it he can hear something rattling inside, it is the key needed to open the locked door in room 4.
4. The locked door at the far end that leads to room 5 can only be opened by the key from the statue in room 3. An osquip waits here: p. 300, hp: 14. Two inanimate skeletons lay here, both with leather armor. One set of armor is severely chewed and useless, while the other is only a little beaten. It is leather armor +2. That skeleton is also wearing a shiny new helm, anyone wearing it must save vs. rod or get a headache and -1 to to-hit rolls. Lasts an hour. Must reroll the save every time it is put on.
5. A lensman, p. 25, hp: 15. Has the dispel magic ability. A large, locked chest contains 312 gp. A large tapestry (400 coins encumbrance) depicts a mage summoning a 12 headed hydra. Worth 500 gp. If someone touches the tapestry without saying "venom" one of the hydra heads bites him, and the victim must save vs. poison or be knocked out for d4 hours.
6. This room is empty except for the doors the PCs entered in, a large door at the other end, locked, which leads to room 7, and a tile in the center of the room full of vibrant, moving, swirling magical colours.
When someone steps on the tile, the following happens: He is made invisible and silent (like the spells) and is teleported to a corner of the room. Both magical conditions last for 2 turns and the invisibility can not be removed by attacking. Finally, a stone statue of the victim is created on the tile. This will make the rest of the party think the victim was turned to stone, and since he was made invisible and silent, he can't tell them he's all right. When the invisibility and silence wear off in 2 turns, the final door to room 7 opens.
7. Here waits Shandrom, spoiling for a fight. The room is a magical laboratory, there are shelves filled with material components, stuffed lizards, birds, etc. There is a chest of drawers with 3 drawers and room for a fourth on the bottom, but its space is just blank wood with no drawer. If a PC removes the bottom most drawer, beneath it is Shandroms spell book. It contains, in addition to the spells he has memorized, featherfall, mending, magic mouth, identify and darkness, 15' radius.
