Land of Vampires: Adventure Four
The Land of Vampires series continues with “A Thief in the Night,” a four-part level 5 adventure for one GM and one player! In what follows, we’ll cover part two of this duet adventure where the party explores the Green Vale and meets many of the fae who call the area home. Some will become allies, and some…will not.
In part two, the party attempts to recover the missing Heart of the Field, beginning their search in Berryville.
We’ll be releasing this campaign in serial this summer and fall in part thanks to the incredible support of our patrons—thank you all! If you’re enjoying this campaign and would like to support us, we’d love for you to join us on Patreon!
You can find the first part of this adventure here!
Or, click here if you’re looking for the first adventure in the campaign!
Part Two: The Game is Afoot
Waking to find their hard-won prize missing, the party must track down the thief and reclaim the Heart of the Field. This section could play out in a number of ways depending on how the party engages in the investigation. Therefore, the investigation is broken apart by location and what clues the party runs across.
Our adventure PDF makes it simpler to investigate various aspects of the Green Vale, but the serial adventure release doesn’t allow for that in the same way. We’ve presented the locations in the most likely order that a party would follow, and we’ll have the other pieces up in the coming weeks!
[GM’s note: We still want you to be able to use this part of the adventure if the PC catches Flibble and regains the Heart of the Field. So, you might have them engage in a chase that leads them through one or several of the following places, you could have another item of importance vanish, or you might dial up the RP and have Mariella or Trista encourage them to rally allies against Inamoira.]
Berryville Investigation
The scene of the crime offers many clues to characters cunning enough to engage with them.
Interviewing Witnesses
Be sure to check Part One if you need a refresher on the NPCs!
Mariella: If the party questions Mariella, she is genuinely upset that something like this would happen to her guests. She apologizes profusely, adding, “Though, I guess it isn’t entirely unheard of for fae to play a prank on new arrivals. It comes with the territory. Have you looked behind your ears?” If the party checks behind their ears, they each find a gold coin with the initials DS on it.
The Smallfolk: Persuading the smallfolk with a successful DC 15 Charisma (Intimidation or Persuasion) check reveals one piece of information below for each success.
- Greybelle got up for a thimble of juice late in the night and saw a bearded goblin skulking in the bushes. Goblins don’t typically hang out anywhere in the Vale besides around the Black Oak.
- Hazelmist and Cloudnoodle were canoodling in the bushes and heard someone come by muttering to themselves in Gnomish. He seemed frustrated.
- Maplefoot confesses to hiding the coins behind the party’s ears, but he only did it because he thought they would like shiny stuff, and he is very sorry.
Investigating the Area
Carefully investigating the area around where the party slept reveals that there are no unaccounted-for footsteps leading up to where the Heart was kept.
- A successful DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check allows the PC to discover a small disturbance at the edge of the forest. Some chewed berry seeds have been spat out here.
- A DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) check allows the PC to detect small boot prints heading into and out the hiding spot. The footprints swing north before disappearing.
- An additional successful DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check reveals a thick, gray-green smear on a berry branch nearby. A character with the Performer background or with a disguise kit correctly determines that this is makeup of some kind
Help and Next Steps
Mariella stands by as the party investigates Berryville and points them in the right direction if they get stuck. Once they have enough information to suspect a gnome (or goblin) near the Black Oak, she provides them with directions there and points out that they can find gnomes throughout the Vale. Before they depart, Mariella warns that Bitterbranch, the treant who lives near the Black Oak is a complicated treant, to say the least.
Neither Here Nor There
Traveling in the Green Vale might not feel as oppressively dark and dreary as traveling through the Witchwood, but it is still a dangerous place. Use the following random encounter table to include combat in the session and add flavor as the party goes from one location to the next:
Green Vale Encounter Table
| d6 | Encounter |
| 1 | Strange horns sound just before a hunting party of 1d6 centaurs break across the party’s path. They are out for sport and taunt and provoke the party, potentially engaging them in combat at the GM’s discretion. |
| 2 | The forest floor is suddenly blanketed in alluring purple flowers surrounded by a heavy haze. Unless the party immediately takes preventative measures, they begin to hallucinate and see a horrifying, pulsing purple nightmare among the flowers. It has the stats of a gibbering mouther. Additionally, very real 1d6 giant wasps that feed on the flowers’ nectar assail the party after they attack their food source. |
| 3 | A piercing cry echoes overhead. The party member in the lead must succeed on DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 3d6 bludgeoning damage from a wounded griffon crashing through the canopy. The beast is wounded and confused. It makes one round of attacks before attempting to flee at half speed. If the party offers healing, the griffon signals its willingness to fly them over the Vale, affording them a working knowledge of landmarks, etc. The PC rolls subsequent Wisdom (Survival) checks for navigation in the Vale with advantage. |
| 4 | The party members find themselves in a spooky neck of the Vale, made more so by the thick ropes of unnaturally huge spider webs. They have stumbled into a den of 2x phase spiders that stalk them and strike at an opportune time. The den becomes difficult terrain in a 20-foot square and one party member per round must succeed on a DC 14 Strength check or begin their turn grappled by the webbing. |
| 5 | A kindly old woman approaches the party with a bushel of delectable red apples. She is a green hag named Levana Dred in disguise. She attempts to barter with the party, offering to trade a red apple with the properties of a potion of healing in return for a lock of the character’s hair. |
| 6 | An owl perched on a tree stares down at the PC. In its mouth is a mouse. Looking closer, the PC sees that the mouse has a little vest and gloves . . . a musmus! If the party figures out a way to save Theodore, the innocent mousefolk victim, he tells them of a nearby spring. Consuming water from this spring grants 2d10 temporary hit points. |
This adventure continues next week with part three of A Thief in the Night.
Land of Vampires is a serial adventure created under the OGL with 5e SRD resources. The support of our patrons makes this campaign possible. If you’d like to receive a new adventure PDF each month and support our creation of a full duet campaign, join us on Patreon! Alternatively, you can now purchase the first five adventures in this campaign in the DnD Duet shop! (Patrons receive the compiled adventures as part of their patron rewards.)
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