Christmas One-shot #1

Beginning

The characters are walking through the mountains. It is cold, and the snow here is deep. Suddenly, the characters hear a high-pitched scream.

The winter sun hangs low in the sky, casting long shadows between the snow-laden pines of the mountain forest. The air is crisp and cold, with each breath forming a fleeting mist before you. Snow crunches underfoot as you and your companions make your way through the white-blanketed woods, the peace of the winter wilderness only broken by the distant call of a raven. The familiar path you are on takes you through a narrow valley, where the trees stand closer together, their branches forming a frosty canopy overhead. As you come out into a clearing, you hear a distant scuffle followed by a shriek. An elven child runs out of the trees, followed by three goblins. What do you do?

They come upon 3 goblins (CR 1/4). One goblin is carrying an elf child away (300 foot head start). Another is trying to grab a child that escaped. Fight!

A party of seven distressed elven warriors comes upon our heroes. There is a misunderstanding about who the bad guys are. Convince the elves that the heroes are the good guys! (DC 13, can be changed by circumstance bonuses)

The elves are dressed alike in green scale mail armour, and they are armed with bows and leaf-bladed spears. One of them steps forward; the elf introduces himself, in heavily accented Common, as Marwen Lothian. He signals to his cohorts to lower their weapons, which they do immediately, and he then addresses the party.

He explains that their village of Ered Eglamar, which the party has stumbled upon, has lain hidden in this valley for millennia, long before the rise of the human kingdom below. They have kept to themselves and avoided contact with the short lived and fractious humans until now. However, recent events, he says, have resulted in the elves seeking outside intervention, which is why they have blocked your path: desperate times called for desperate measures!

Marwen says that although the elven Yuletide festivities are at hand, sadness grips their kingdom. Someone broke through their formidable mystic defenses, entered the valley and absconded with seven elven children; their parents reported them missing this morning. The thief also stole the elves’ sacred gem, the Eglan Inglor (literally “Elven golden heart” in Common, which translates to Alfspark in the Alderburgh dialect). Marwen describes it as a large seed, the size of a man’s head, which is infused with the mystical power of the elven gods. The elven seers use the Alfspark’s power to keep the valley hidden and in an eternal spring-like state. Without it the portal to their valley is stuck open, the elves are unprotected, and unless it is recovered their valley will return, dramatically, to freezing conditions. It will mean the destruction of their community. Marwen appears visibly shaken as he tells his story.

He says he has been authorized to promise a very special reward should the party be able to successfully return both the children and the Alfspark to them.

The elves can't leave it undefended with all the evil creatures running about. Can the heroes help the village? Return the children and the magical power source. Where are the children!? Search! (DC 10)

They find a cave where the goblins took the children.

Entrance

After an arduous trek through the deepening snow and biting cold, you arrive at a rugged, snow-covered slope. The mountain looms ominously above, its peaks shrouded in swirling clouds. As you ascend, the wind howls around you, and the cold seeps through your cloaks, nipping at your skin. You round a particularly steep bend and see a large, shadowy opening in the mountain's face - the entrance to a cave, partially obscured by overhanging icicles and frost-coated boulders. The tracks you've been following lead directly to it.

The winding trail eventually leads the party to this 10’ wide entrance in the mountainside. There are no signs of habitation, and the entrance is dark.

The entrance opens onto this triangular shaped natural chamber. The chamber is roughly 10’ wide at the entrance, expanding to 35’ wide as it runs east. There is a narrow, 5’ wide secret door in the southeast corner of the chamber. There is a pit trap which lies roughly in the center of the chamber (10’ around the number 2 on the map). A short tunnel exits this chamber heading upward to the east, past Area 3 to Area 4.

In the entrance area, there is a trap over a pit of icy water (DC 12 Perception to see it). 3 goblin guards lurk in a nearby area.

The pool of icy water is 4 feet deep in parts, going down to 6 feet elsewhere. Anyone who falls in should make a DC 11 Constitution check to avoid taking cold damage (fail: 1d4 + 1d4 for each minute in the water). To escape from the pool requires a DC 11 Athletics check. Assistance gives advantage.

Guard room: This roughly oblong 25’ x 30’ natural chamber sits on a rock shelf 20’ above Area 2. A group of 3 goblin guards are watching the entrance from here. The guards will attempt to engage players in Area 2 with missile attacks from behind a rock barricade (25% cover), and then confront them in melee combat once the players enter Area 3.

Summoning chamber

Passing through the narrow, winding tunnels of the cave, you enter a large cavern. The chamber, dimly lit by flickering torches, is adorned with crude decorations that seem to parody the festive trappings of the winter solstice. Twisted garlands hang from stalactites, and grotesque drawings cover the walls, depicting scenes of chaos and despair. In the center of the cavern stands a roughly hewn stone altar, surrounded by bones, dark crystals, and tattered scraps of clothing. A circle of intricate symbols and runes has been drawn around the altar, glowing faintly with an eerie, otherworldly light. In the center of the circle hovers a glowing seed about the size of a fist. Four goblin guards stand watch over a group of frightened elven children huddled at the far end of the chamber. Nearby, a larger goblin, more menacing than the others, watches a goblin cleric, chanting in a guttural, rhythmic cadence. The cleric's hands move through the air with practiced precision, weaving a spell that causes the air to shimmer with a palpable dark energy.

In the summoning room is a goblin commander who has four guards watching over the elven children. There is a cleric in the room who is just finishing up a ritual when they arrive. The ritual is to summon Krampus. When the players enter the room, the cleric declares that Krampus comes and then collapses in exhaustion.

The magic power item that the elves want pulses once they defeat the bad guys. If they examine it or touch it, they will feel energized. It will grant them the equivalent of a short rest. (The elven children encourage this.)

A knowledge religion (DC 12) or arcana check (DC 14) is required to know how to disrupt the ritual. The characters would need to destroy the magic seed. To partially disrupt the ritual, they would need to damage the runes on the altar.

The eerie runes around the altar flare with a sinister, blood-red light, casting grotesque shadows on the walls. Suddenly, with a deafening crack, a rift in reality seems to tear open above the altar. From this dark maw emerges Krampus, a towering, horned figure cloaked in tattered furs and chains that clank ominously with each step. Its eyes burn with a malevolent fire as it surveys the chamber, a twisted smirk revealing sharp, jagged teeth. Flanking him are two hobgoblins, their skin, a striking shade of dark orange, stands out in comparison to the muted colors of the chamber.

Krampus and 2 hobgoblins arrive. Fight!