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Credits

Words by Yochai Gal, Editing by Derek B., Cover & Map art by Ari-Matti Toivonen, Layout & Rusal Art by Adam Hensley. Text is CC-BY-SA 4.0

About this Adventure

CAS-2: Rise of the Blood Olms is a starting adventure designed for new and experienced Wardens alike. The module is deadly, but characters can survive through critical thinking and careful exploration. If a party member dies, prioritizing expediency in having a new character join the party is more important than maintaining verisimilitude.

Principles

• When describing a room, always reiterate what is about to happen. Does that flaming barrel look stable, or like it might explode?  
• Constantly re-state a character’s surroundings, where they are in physical space, and what their senses are detecting. How close are they to a potential danger?  What side of an object are they standing on? 
• Provide hints about what lies beyond the next corridor. Is there a change in elevation? Is the air a different temperature? Is the light, smell, or sound distinct?
• Don’t tell the characters how they are feeling. A “long, jagged knife” is better than “an evil-looking knife.”

Setup

• Three weeks ago, the Order of Nine dispatched a team of scholars led by High Lector Geteli to investigate a newly-discovered cave system along the Silversilk River. They have not been heard from since. 
• The Order has offered to pay a sum of 1000gp (total) for the safe return of the Mud Sieve, an item of great value taken by the survey team. The Order will pay an additional 100gp for the safe recovery of any of the expedition’s four party members.
• The party travels along the river, arriving just West of the campsite. When the session starts, ask the party what time they hope to arrive and what weather they would prefer, then roll a Die of Fate. Adjust their environs as appropriate.

What’s Really Going On?

A few days after arriving, the original expedition team discovered the Red Hermit Tree and the miraculous healing properties of its fruit. To more easily harvest the tree they dammed the river in C9. Once the fruit was harvested the bats fled their tree home to C6, and the Olms became very hungry. Some took to eating Tube Worm flesh, triggering a latent carnivorous impulses deep within. Meanwhile, High Lector Geteli has gone mad after eating Tube Worm flesh, and the local cave explorer Jhel-Fries is holed up in C10b.

Warden Information

The Order of Nine

A consortium of merchants, scholars, and the very powerful that rely on their substantial wealth and a vast network of spies to accomplish their aims. Their primary focus is on the discovery, identification, and regulation of Gates. They believe that Relics are deeply tied to the Roots, and will pay handsomely for information relating to either. 

The Expedition Team

• High Lector Geteli: A Scrivener. Haughty on the best of days. ALIVE.
• Jhel-Fries: A local, hired for her caving experience. ALIVE.
• Faraj: A Scrivener and expert in Relics. A member of the Order. DEAD. 
• Oren: A Prowler and bodyguard. DEAD.

The Roots

Remnants of the Old World, its labyrinthine hollows stretching for immeasurable distances deep underground, connecting the sewers of the cities to the far-flung ruins. Entrances to the Roots (called Gates) can be found throughout the realm, but are protected, or shrewdly hidden.

The Silversilk River

A primary water source for the Cities, flowing through a tight canyon called the Fingers. In recent months the ancient river has lost much of its water, revealing a large, blue-ringed cave. As a result of this drawdown the water levels in the cave have also dropped significantly.

Red Hermit Tree

Grows upside down, hanging from the ceiling in half-submerged caves. Needs water and methane to survive. Its gourd-like fruit is initially sweet to eat, but after a day turns brown and smells of carrion. The fruit is a delicacy, and if eaten fresh can close wounds and revitalize the blood (recovers 1 STR and removes deprivation, once per day). The tree that grows in the Blue Mouth Caves is dying due to lack of water, a result of the temporary dam built by the expeditionary team in the C9. Blood Olm Lair.

Olms

Peaceful, blind cave dwellers. They breathe air, but can swim and hold their breath for long periods. They have excellent hearing and can detect even the faintest vibrations or changes in temperature. They live off of Red Hermit Tree fruit and river plants. 

After the expedition closed off the water in the C7. Atrium, the Red Hermit Tree stopped bearing fruit. Without it, the Olms are dying. Some have even turned to eating tube worms and gone mad, becoming Blood Olms.

Tube Worms

Dog-sized herbivores, with short, stubby legs. They are blind, and have antler-like tubes on their heads. All of the adults in the cave are already dead.

Blue Mouth Caves

Dungeon Overview

• Entrances: The party arrives at the C1. Campsite, sheltered beneath a rock ledge. The C2. Cave Entrance is downhill from the camp and not immediately visible from C1.
• Light: No natural or artificial light exists in the caves.
• Methane: Area C3. Tube Worm Hive has an exposed methane vent. The air is highly flammable, and extended exposure can cause headaches and nausea (victims become deprived). The gas is odorless, but exposed flames flicker and turn blue in proximity to the vent.
• Dungeon Events: On an encounter result, the party should encounter one of the three Blood Olms from C9. Blood Olm Lair. Roll on the Reaction table. 

C1. Campsite

The air smells strongly of rotting flesh. Two wooden crates sit next to a burnt-out campfire, and a small tunnel is dug into the earth close by. Four blankets are laid out at the East end of camp. 

• Air: The box of Red Hermit Fruit is the source of the smell.
• Crates: The lids are in a neat pile nearby, leaving the box’s contents open to the elements. 
  • One box has 1d6 small digging tools that are just beginning to rust. A single pickaxe (d6) at the bottom is still in good condition.
  • Another box is packed with Red Hermit Fruit, but all but one has rotted away.
• Tunnel: A rope ladder is attached to pitons nearby. 
  • The ladder and tunnel to C5. Ladder Room are 12ft long. The walls are muddy and appear new.
• Blankets: Extremely wet and moldy. One is slightly smaller than the others, as it belongs to Jhel-Fries (C10b. Refuge).
  • The ground beneath the blankets is littered with shoe prints heading East to C2. Cave Entrance.

C2. Cave Entrance

Blue moss grows on the lip of a large vertical cave mouth. Dead river vegetation and stones are strewn about. The ground in front of the cave entrance is ringed with mud.

• Moss: Just regular ol’ blue moss. A handful is worth about 10gp in the Cities.
• Cave: The hiss of exposed methane from C3. Tube Worm Hive is faintly audible, but only in perfect silence.
• Vegetation: Dead plants, shells, flat stones, and water lines are good indications that this area was once under water.
• Ground: Muddy shoe prints to the West lead uphill to C1. Campsite.
• Entrance: Exposed fire will begin to flicker blue in proximity to C3. Tube Worm Hive.

C3. Tube Worm Hive

The air in the room is suffocating. Three fat worm carcasses litter the ground. Egg-like sacks are piled in the Northeast corner. A large vent in the floor on the South wall hisses noisily.

• Air: The combination of gas from the decaying worms and the methane vents has made this room a tinderbox. Entering with an exposed flame causes an explosion, causing d6 STR damage to anyone nearby, and destroying the source of the flame. 
• Carcasses: Show obvious bite damage. 
• Sacks: A clutch of d6 eggs. If placed in water, they will hatch within a few days.
• Vent: Extremely hot. Covering it up makes the air breathable after 1d4 hours.
• Floor: Level, but slopes upward past the West and North exits. The gas rises towards C4. Ambush Room.  

C4. Ambush Room

A tight corridor with high ceilings and sandy ground. At the East end a narrow passageway is formed between two large rocks. In the ceiling are multiple stalactites and ledges. The air is heavy and uncomfortable here. The East exit slopes downward towards C3. Tube Worm Hive.

• Ground: Parallel lines show that the rocks were dragged into their current position. 
• Rocks:  Shoved into place, narrowing the walking space. 
  • The first person to step between the rocks is struck by a stalactite dropped by High Lector Geteli from the ledge above (d8 STR damage). 
• Stalactite: Half broken, as if smashed. Hangs close to the wide ledge.
• Ledges: There are two ledges on the North wall, and one on the South wall. 
  • The South ledge is near the ceiling and requires time and effort to climb, or the proper tools. 
  • The North ledges are easier to clamber on to. The topmost ledge provides clear visibility on the higher South ledge opposite. 
  • Shining a light on the lowest shelf reveals a set of human footprints.
• Air: The gas from C3. Tube Worm Hive floats into this room, causing flames to flicker blue when lit.

C5. Ladder Room

A rope ladder dangles from a hole in the ceiling. In the Southwest corner is an iron box. Dead fish stick out from the muddy ground, which slopes to higher ground from the East exit.

• Rope: Tunnel to the outside (C1. Campsite). The ladder and tunnel are both 12ft long. Like the rest of the room, the tunnel is very muddy and appears newly made.
• Iron box: Two pitons and dried rations (2 uses left).
• Ground: White, guano-flecked shoe prints traverse the room. 

C6. Bat Room

The room smells awful, and the floor is a mess. High-pitched noises chirp from above, where long stalactites protrude from the ceiling. A large white fungus grows on the West wall. 

• Floor:  Guano and rotten Hermit Tree fruit litters the floor.
  • Webbed footprints are visible in the white gunk. They are impossible to follow.
• Noises: Hundreds of bats nest in the ceiling above after fleeing here from C7. Atrium. 
• Fungus: Grows in thick ropes that can be pushed aside. Toxic only if ingested.
  • Obscures a tunnel into C11. Well. It is just large enough to crawl through, single file.

C7. Atrium

An enormous tree hangs from the ceiling, leaving its roots exposed. A small volume of water is pooled below. Near the South wall, two corpses lie face-down.

• Tree: A Red Hermit Tree. It is dying from lack of water.
  • If water is restored to this room and the roots are fully immersed, the tree will survive and bear fruit again and the Olms from C8. Olm Den will survive.
  • The uppermost branches of the tree are spackled in guano. The tree is typically covered in bats, but they have all fled to C6. Bat Room when the tree stopped bearing fruit.
• Water: A small pool is carved into the ground at a slope. There is enough water to replenish the party’s supplies, but no more. Rotten fruit floats on top.
  • The water can be restored by destroying the dam in C9. Blood Olm Lair. 
• Corpses: The remains of Faraj and Oren. Dismembered by a Blood Olm.
  • Appear dead for only at least three days.
  • The larger of the two (Oren) carries a small knife (d6), a torch (1 use left), and 47gp. The smaller (Faraj) carries a compass (55gp) and a blunt shovel (d6).

C8. Olm Den

Warm, cramped. 10-14 Olms sleeping, eating, whispering. The walls are packed mud painted with bursts of color. A small divider on the Northeast side is filled with water. The room is very humid and warm. Rotting fruit and excrement litters the floor.

• Olms: Sickly. A wide variety of sizes. Some appear unmoving.
  • Ignore the PCs, unless they have fresh fruit on them (they can smell it).
  • Cannot speak, but show signs of high intelligence.
• Walls:  Swirls of color made from packed guano and fruit. They tell the following story:
  • The Olms (painted here with eyes) came down the river from the mountains, making a home in the caves.
  • The Olms found the fruit tree, and there was much rejoicing. 
  • An Olm eats the flesh of a tube worm, then is chased away by its former clan.
• Divider: Clear water bubbles up from a spring, surrounded by a waist-high mud wall.
  • The spring is still very healthy: fish swim, vegetation grows, and methane vents release periodic warm gas in the bottom. The water is safe to drink.
  • If the mud wall is destroyed, the spring will flood C8. Olm Den, C3. Tube Worm Hive, and C2. Cave Entrance, partially restoring life to the caverns. However without restoring water to the Red Hermit Tree in C7. Atrium these Olms will still perish.

C9. Blood Olm Lair

Freshly-carved mud walls, wet with condensation. Corpses and carnage are strewn about. There are three Blood Olms here.

• Walls: Look recently formed. Water drips through a dam on the North side.
  • The Mud Sieve was used here by the expedition to block off an underground river, killing the tree’s water supply.  If damaged, the dam will burst in 1d4 minutes, filling the cavern (DEX save to swim to safety). 
• Carnage: Remains of a half-dozen Olms, Tube Worms, and bats.
• Blood Olms: At most three, depending on how the party navigated the caves.
  • If the PCs entered through C1. Campsite or created a lot of noise, the Blood Olms are awake and on guard. Roll on the reaction table. 
  • If the PCs entered through C2. Cave Entrance and traversed the cave complex with care, the creatures are asleep.
  • The Blood Olms will not allow the PCs to flood their lair, and will attack anyone who tries to destroy the dam.

C10a. Blockade

The corridor to this room is blocked by a wall of mud from floor to ceiling. White shoe prints lead into the corridor. 

• Mud: Perfectly smooth packed and dried mud. Can be cut through by hand in an hour or in just a few minutes with digging tools. 
• Shoe Prints: White from guano. Lead directly into the wall of mud, as if it weren’t there. 
  • Speaking loudly here will attract the occupant of C10b. Refuge, who will call out. Due to the mud however her voice will be heavily muffled. 

C10b. Refuge

Circular, with perfectly smooth walls. A young, mud-spackled woman crouches on the floor, pointing a spade towards the entry.

• Woman: Jhel-Fries, hiding from both the Blood Olms and High Lector Geteli.
  • If amenable, she will tell the party that her comrades were beset by a terrible creature that first quenched their torches, then attacked. She and High Lector Geteli hid amongst the Olms in C8. Olm Den, but when Geteli turned on her, she took the Mud Sieve and used it to hide behind the blockade in C10a. Blockade. If asked about the Tube Worms in C3. Tube Worm Hive, she will admit that Geteli did partake of their flesh.

C11. Well

A small, circular room with walls of stone and a great hole instead of a ceiling. A pile of refuse (bones, glass, and metal) is pushed into the West side. On the East side a large bolt of canvas is draped over a stone slab. Unless the bats have left C6. Bat Room, Rusal is here.

• Walls: This room is the very bottom of a dry well. The hole above continues for 80ft before it reaches a muddy ceiling, a result of the well’s collapse decades before.
• Refuse: An ancient metal pail, a series of small porcelain cups, and a human skeleton.
  • The cups are in excellent condition but still very fragile. They are worth 150gp as a set.
  • Rusal will say that he found the skeleton many years ago, and decided to keep it around because he was lonely. He will attack anyone that tries to touch it.
• Slab: Rusal sleeps on the canvas. The slab was once part of the old village (long destroyed) that utilized this well.

Rusal

A green-skinned, elderly humanoid with a long white beard that touches his toes. His frog-like eyes are clouded but quick. His hands and feet are webbed, and he is always nude.

• A spirit of the river and cave, Rusal has always lived in these caves. He only moved into the old well after the bats took over his old domicile in C6. Bat Room. He is deeply concerned with imbalance in nature, but will not take any action against the Blood Olms. “They’re part of the new balance, now.” 
• He is very unhappy with recent events. First the river lost most of its water, then the interlopers arrived and moved the mud around as if it were water, then the tree started to die, and finally the Olms turned cannibalistic. With his old home covered in bat guano he was forced to move into “the old well” (C11. Well). If the bats are allowed to return to the Atrium (C7. Atrium) he will be most grateful and bestow a boon to one PC.
• Otherwise, he will gladly offer to trade with the PCs, offering great power, for a price. However, he only accepts payment in the form of obscure, abstract concepts: a person’s speech, their memories of home, their ambitions, their laughter, etc. He absolutely loves making deals of any kind, and especially deals within deals.
• He cannot be harmed by any normal means, but he will flee from burning tobacco or incense (he just doesn’t like the smell). He really likes music and dancing, however.

d6	Boons (Reroll on a duplicate result or if not applicable.)
1	Water-breathing. The longer you spend in the water, the more you will need to return.
2	Cure a disease or ailment. Reroll STR or DEX and keep the result.
3	Receive a great talent, worthy of a great artist. It will give you no pleasure, however.
4	Permanently sear a spellbook into your mind (lose 1d4 WIL). This destroys the spellbook.
5	A key to any door that works only once. It looks like a fishbone (petty).
6	The truth behind one powerful secret. Only you will hear the results.

NPC Stats

High Lector Geteli

6 HP, 11 STR, 15 DEX, 17 WIL, sharpened piton (d6). A lanky, haughty Scrivener turned insane.

• Ate from the flesh of a Tube Worm a few days after damming the river in C9. Blood Olm Lair. It slowly drove him mad, and his eyes a deep crimson. Tried to murder Jhel-Fries, but failed.
• Carries a small scroll (petty) explaining how the Mud Sieve works. There are 3 black marks on the bottom of the page, indicating how many charges the Relic has when recharged.
• Can only be cured after specialized healing in the Cities. He will resist any attempts to leave the caves, and will try to kill any living creature he encounters.

Blood Olm

8 HP, 14 STR, 11 DEX, 4 WIL, claws (d8+d8)

• Blind, carnivorous humanoids that hunt by heat signature. Openly cannibalistic.
• Avoid areas with methane gas, and will attempt to quench any open flames.
• Critical Damage: A large chunk of flesh is bitten off (d6 STR damage)

Olm

2 HP, 8 STR, 6 DEX, 12 WIL, claws (d8+d8)

• Vegetarian. Will only fight in self-defense.

Jhel-Fries

2 HP, 8 STR, 14 DEX, 11 WIL, spade (d6) 

• A local with experience in cave diving. She is 15 years old. 
• Currently holds the Mud Sieve.

Relics

Mud Sieve

A crescent-shaped stone that fits in the palm of the hand. Allows the bearer to shape and separate mud as if it were water. 3 charges. 

• Recharge: Leave in a raging river for a night and a day, then recover.