Fiendish Dragon Lair

This lair is located a day's travel north of Mansle. The dragonling has just begun to make an impact on Baron Manfred's holdings. The Baron is away in Greenvale paying his feudal servide to Prince Starbow. Thus it falls on the visiting PCs to deal with this rumored "dragon as big as a horse".

Why he has a fiendish nature is left unaddressed. At this time, it is merely a historical anomaly as he is a leftover from ancient times. However, it could lead to a whole series of adventures if the PCs decide to investigate the issue.

Habyss

Fiendish Red Wyrmling (I): CR 4; Medium-Size Dragon (fire);

HD 7dI2+28; hp 67;

Init +4 (Improved Initiative);

Spd 40’. fly 150 ft. (poor);

AC 17 (+7 natural);

Atk +10 melee (1d8+3. bite) OR

+5/+5 melee (1d6+1 X2, claws) OR

+5/+5 melee 1d4+1 X2 wing slams

SA breath weapon, smite good

SQ blind sight 30’; fire, sleep, and paralysis immunity; damage reduction 5/+1; darkvision 100 ft.; keen senses; low-light vision

AL CE;

SV Fort +9. Ref +5. Will +6;

Str 16. Dex 10 Con 19 Int 11. Wis 13. Cha 10.

Skills: Bluff +4. Jump +10. listen +11 Search +10. Sense Motive +5. Spot +11.

Feats: Improved Initiative. flyby Attack.

Special Abilities:

Breath Weapon (Su): 30-ft. Cone of fire; 2d10 points of damage; DC 17. Use once every 1d4 rounds.

Smite Good: Usable once per day. +7 damage to one good aligned creature with one attack.

SQ-Keen Senses (Ex): See twice as well as a human in daylight and four times as well in low light.

This Red Wyrmling was bred by an evil wizard somewhere far away. The egg was stolen and ended up here by chance. It rested in suspended animation (see room 6) for perhaps hundreds of years before the kobolds here found it and brought it out to hatch.

Ordinary Kobolds:

There are 12 of these creatures here, who all serve the dragon faithfully. They are terrified of it, and realize it could kill them in a single moment’s rage.

Kobold, 1st-Level Warrior Small Humanoid (Reptilian)

Hit Dice: 1d8 (4 hp)

Initiative: +1

Speed:30 ft. (6 squares)

Armor Class: 15 (+1 size, +1 Dex, +1 natural, +2 leather), touch 12, flat-footed 14

Base Attack/Grapple: +1/–4

Attack: Spear +1 melee (1d6–1/x3) or sling +3 ranged (1d3)

Full Attack: Spear +1 melee (1d6–1/x3) or sling +3 ranged (1d3)

Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.

Special Attacks: —

Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft, light sensitivity

Saves: Fort +2, Ref +1, Will –1

Abilities: Str 9, Dex 13, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 8

Skills: Craft (trapmaking) +2, Hide +6, Listen +2, Move Silently +2, Profession (miner) +2, Search +2, Spot +2

Feats: Alertness

Challenge Rating: 1/4

Kobolds are short, reptilian humanoids with cowardly and sadistic tendencies.

A kobold’s scaly skin ranges from dark rusty brown to a rusty black color. It has glowing red eyes. Its tail is nonprehensile. Kobolds wear ragged clothing, favoring red and orange. A kobold is 2 to 2-1/2 feet tall and weighs 35 to 45 pounds. Kobolds speak Draconic with a voice that sounds like that of a yapping dog.

Thogol:

Kobold Adept: small humanoid (Reptilian) L3

HD: 3d6 (HP 15)

Initiative: +1

AC 13 (+1 dex, +1 size, +1 natural) touch: 12, flat footed 12

Base Attack: +1/-4(grapple)

Full Attack: quarterstaff +1(1d4 x2) or sling +3 ranged (1d3 x2)

Saves: Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +2

Abilities: Str 9, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 10

Skills (18): Concentration +4, Craft (traps) +2, Heal +4, Hide +2, Listen +0 Profession, Miner +2, Search +5, Spellcraft +3 Spot +4, Survival +3

Feats: Brew Potion

Special Ability: Signature Staff - can trade any 1st lvl prepared spell for cause fear

Spells: L0: 3, L1: 2

Prepared today: L1: protection from good, burning hands L0: ghost sound, touch of fatigue (x2)

Thogol is the leader of this group of refugee kobolds. They fled to this region after the collapse of their invading army years ago. Since then, they have found this lair and dug in. There are 13 kobolds, all male. They know that female kobolds live in the surrounding hills in several places, including close to Greenvale, and their ultimate goal is to kidnap or trade for some of them, or for some eggs. At this time, Thogol is preparing a nursery to house such eggs or females, but has yet to find a way to acquire them.

Tactics: If the dragon Habyss is at home when the PCs enter the lair, this may be a TPK. The dragon typically lairs in rm 7 and the kobolds in rm 8 with Thogol in 9. When a fight begins, Thogol and his two chosen bodyguard kobolds will circle around and join the fight on rd 3 from the secret door at 13. The dragon will emerge from 7 in the first rd. and the other kobolds from 8 in the 2nd rd.

If Habyss is not present, the fight will be much easier and the PCs will be able to ambush the dragon on his return. He’s young enough and proud enough not to realize this danger. The kobolds will follow the same tactics, but will break and flee if more than half are killed. Note that they have no back exit, but will try to lure the PCs into following them into the lair, then circle around and escape.

Dungeon notes: the kobolds and dragon have darkvision. There are no light sources in the whole region, so PCs are reliant on the small amount of filtered daylight from 1 in rm 2, and on carried sources elsewhere. Note; the map I'm using for this adventure is a modified version of a map drawn by an ENWorld acquaintance named Phineas Crow. His maps were/are downloadable there. I suggest finding them as they're excellent, but I will not post this one online.

The kobolds have not found the secret doors into 4-5, so they are unlooted from ages back.

1. Stairs from above. This set of long, steep stairs plunges almost 30’ below ground in the 40’ length. The door at the foot of the stairs is a large, high one - about 8’ wide and 12’ tall, of wood. Its latch is broken and the door swings freely on the hinges in either direction. It makes a groaning noise when opened. (DC 15 disable device to mute)

2. This room is barrel-vaulted. The ceilings are 20’ high at center. Pillars are 2’ dia. Floors are hard stone and footsteps echo alarmingly. It is almost absolutely black. Daylight barely reaches the center of the chamber even with low-light vision. The kobolds keep a pair of guards at pillar A when the dragon is not present. They will attempt to retreat as intruders enter, alerting Thogol and the others of the PCs presence. The walls of this room are all stone, and were once finely polished. Now they are dirty, scratched and gouged. In some places there are large scorch marks.

3. As the kobolds believe this room is a dead end, and have no need of the space at this time, they have trapped the door. As the door swings open (towards the PCs), a javelin springs out at the door opener or whoever stands within 10’ of the door. Search DC 20, Disable Device DC 18. Attk: +16 (1d6 +4). Cr 2 (150 xp).

This room is bare and empty except for the javelin launching rig, which is made of saplings and sinew. The walls and floor were once finely polished, but time and the dragon’s occasional “play” in this room have left gouges and soot-scorches everywhere. The north and south walls were once finely carved to look like wood paneling, and there are still traces of color on them. The secret door on the north wall is a carved stone panel, flush with the wall, and operates on a hidden pressure plate (DC 20 to find the door, DC 20 again to find the pressure plate on the wall above it).

4. This chamber has 2 doors entering it from 3 and 6. Both are locked (DC 20 disable device).

The chamber was a preparation/service room for area 3 when it was a working temple. There are benches along the 3 walls, with pegs above them that once held robes or other items. Between the two doors is a bookshelf unit. It is now empty. Searching it (DC 20) will reveal it is a false unit, which will pull away from the wall opening the secret entrance to area 5. However, this door is trapped (DC 25 to find trap when shelf is searched). When the door swings open, a small compartment drops open as well (DC 20 to disable device) and six nonmagical animated daggers emerge.

Trap: Cr 1/2 (50 xp) Tiny Constructs; HD 1/2 HP 1 each; Init +2; Spd fly 60’ AC 14 (+2 size, +2 dex) touch 12; Attack: +1 (1d4-1) Special Qualities: Hardness 5, Construct.

5. The floor of this room is coated with dust, and there are cobwebs hanging all down the hall. In the room itself dust covers two large tables, a dozen chairs, a side cabinet and other shelves. The cabinet is empty, but one shelf holds a trio of scroll cases, apparently left behind by whoever used this temple in ancient times. Each case holds a single spell scroll; the first is Unseen Servant, the second Ice storm, and the third holds a scroll of Speak with Dead.

Also to be found in this chamber, in a dusty corner, is a diary or journal of sorts. It is missing many pages, and appears to have been soaked in water at some point, then dried and placed here for preservation and forgotten. It recounts some sort of feud between the temple (which apparently worshipped some variant of the goddess Elanora, or perhaps one of her saints - called Evalla. The folk here were nature-worshippers and apparently had tree-spirit guardians. The journal talks of a foe known as the Tree-Slayer, and also called the Poisoner. He dwelled somewhere else in this valley. One rambling entry refers to his "crystal-windowed hall of tortures". Unfortunately, very little else remains, except an impression of great hatred between the two groups.

6. The door into this room is broken, swinging loose on its hinges. This room stinks of rotten meat and dung. As far as the Kobolds are concerned, this chamber is a dead end, which they have little use for at this time. The dragon sometimes comes in here, and the walls are thus sooty and the floor scarred. Several piles of bones (from several years old to fairly recent) and some dragon dung indicate that Habyss is neither too clean nor to finicky.

One pile of bones is human or humanoid (hard to tell anymore) but still has bits of metal armor and a few other items mixed in. One of the items is a wand of magic missiles, with 39 charges remaining.

In the center of the room a large stone sphere, now open with the top half lying broken on the floor, is just the size to hold an object about 12" in diameter. Runes of preservation magic are carved on the exterior of the sphere. This once held the egg from which Habyss hatched.

7. Habyss’ lair

The doors are propped open, revealing this enormous chamber, which was once a cathedral of sorts. The ceiling is 30’ high at the center. Shattered stone litters the floor (once formed benches and half-high pillars and other now unrecognizeable features. the rear of the chamber boasts an elevated floor - about 2’ high, with a waist-high carved stone railing at the front edge. This is where Habyss chooses to sleep.

Habyss keeps his treasure lined up against the rear of his bedchamber, where he can admire it. He has a small hoard of mixed gold and silver coins worth a total of 1,000 sp. He also has 3 vials of antitoxin (4 doses each), a potion of resist energy (acid) and a set of scrolls in bone cases containing the following spells: spider climb, Melf’s Acid Arrow, Magic Circle against Good, Shocking Grasp and Feather Fall.

8. Main living area

It is clean and well-organized, neatly divided into living areas for the 12 kobolds who live here. Each area boasts a rude cot made of deerskin and wood frame, with a grass-stuffed mattress, and a crude wooden crate to hold belongings, which are typically carved wood and bone trinkets. Many are crude representations of the dragon. These kobolds have no treasures nor valuables beyond their weapons and armor.

There is a communal kitchen/eating area consisting of a fire-pit and some cauldrons, a spit, some barrels of nuts and other gathered plant materials, some dried herbs, a few pounds of salt and sugar that must have come from a nearby farm, and a stack of bowls, plates and mugs. There are also buckets, some barrels of water and a rough plank table and benches capable of seating about 10 kobolds at a time.

9. Thogol’s chamber;

This room is clean, neat and well-organized, much as room 8. It is also a bit better quality. A human-sized bed and mattress are placed on the east wall, and a sturdy table and chair, cut down from human to kobold size, are nearby. A crude map of the surrounding area has been drawn on a rough-tanned deerhide, showing Mansle as a fierce looking fortress, and some of the surrounding villages/farms as cows and heads of grain. In several places small female kobold figures have been sketched in, and then crossed out.

A small locked iron box rests on the floor under the bed. Within are 3 potions. All are marked with a symbol of healing; one is green and the other two are yellowish. The two yellow potions are CLW, while the third is actually a poison potion (onset 3 rds - DC 15 Fort, causes 1d4 Con dmg which heals 1 pt per day).

10. This room essentially belongs to Habyss, though the door into his lair is closed and he has never entered it. The room is crowded with chunks of rough-carved stone, bits of broken furniture, some rusty farm equipment, etc... Thogol uses the room to store junk that he has found in the ruins above or his “army” has raided from locals. One such item is a peculiar statue. It can be found lying face-down in a corner, with several other chunks of other stone and metal.

This statue is carved to look like a beautiful human male in elaborate robes with a leaf-and-vine motif. A holy symbol somewhat reminiscent of Elanora but not exactly like is clutched in his hands.

When PCs pick up the figure, it immediately seems to animate. The hands swing up and down in a motion similar to a blessing, and the figure talks. First it mutters in ancient common, then gradually it modernizes its speech. It seems to be asking who the PCs are, and what do they want. But it argues with itself, seemingly telling itself to be quiet and to let it talk. It hangs on every word the PCs tell it, begging for more information about the world.

11. Small empty passage chamber

12. Dusty and junky but essentially empty

13. This chamber is where Thogol would like to set up a nursery. He’d like to block off the southeast corner of the room for that purpose. He’s already begun laying out walls with chunks of stone, and has had two of his team in here helping him. Stoneworking tools such as chisels and hammers, a couple of buckets of sand and lime to make mortar, and other supplies can be found here. Otherwise there’s nothing of value here.