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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Iron Sky" data-source="post: 4984865" data-attributes="member: 60965">The Dreaming Lords This adventure is designed to for a party of 12th level PCs. It takes place somewhere deep in the Feywild.  Introduction While traveling through the Feywild, the PCs sleep becomes troubled by vivid, compelling dreams that call them to aid the Artisan of Dreams, an ancient Fey spirit who was cursed by a neighboring spirit, the Wolfang, when the Artisan stole a powerful magical axe from him.  The PCs are drawn into the dispute by the Artisan's manipulation of their dreams and soon find themselves caught up in a surreal dream world to hunt down one of the Wolfang's servants who has stolen the axe back for his master.  Background The Artisan and the Wolfang have been uneasy neighbors in the Feywild for centuries, both powerful spirits, and neither powerful enough to defeat or drive the other away.  When the Wolfang found a powerful weapon, the Singing Battleaxe, in an long-abandoned Eladrin ruin, the Artisan both coveted it and feared that it might shift the balance of power and allow the Wolfang to threaten the Artisan directly. Using her powers over dreams, the Artisan manipulated one of Wolfang's servants, a wolfen-shapeling named Bebadolf, into pretending to still serve Wolfang, then gaining his trust and stealing his master's axe to bring to the Artisan.  The Wolfang caught onto the Artisan's plan at the last moment and, while not able to stop Bebadolf from escaping with the Axe, he did place a curse on it that inflicted the Artisan when Bebadolf delivered it to her.  The Artisan, whose powers to manipulate others dreams are greatest when she sleeps, is now unable to sleep except when she is in the presence of the clear, ringing tone of the Singing Battleaxe.  Not long before the PCs arrive on the scene, Bebadolf, free of the Artisan's dreaming compulsions and once again under the sway of Wolfang, repaid the favor, claiming to be bringing word of Wolfang to the Artisan, then slipping away with the Axe.  The Artisan realized the deception too late and failed to catch Bebadolf, but was able to trap him somewhere in the Dreaming Realm itself, where he remains trapped.  Unable to sleep without the Axe, she cannot enter the Dreaming Realm and so seeks others that she can send there to retrieve the Axe for her.   The Artisan of Dreams The Artisan appears as a beautiful elven-featured woman whose robes and hair trail away into pale blue strands of glowing mist.  Her skin too has a faint bluish tinge and when she moves, she seems to fade slightly into the mist swirls that about her.  Her lands are a small section of the Feywild scattered with dreamstone, a pale blue rock that pulls the Feywild around it closer to the Dreaming Realm. She lives in a small two-story wattle-and-daub house that seems out of place amidst the lush wilds of the Feywild.  The woods nearby are littered with rune-carved pinnacles of dreamstone and a faint bluish mist drifts through the area.  If not for Wolfang's aggressive territoriality, she would be content to live her days in her small house, drifting in and out of dreams, but Wolfang's creations constantly prowl about the edges of her lands, kept away only by the terrible, vivid nightmares and compulsions she sends to those who come too close.  With Wolfang's curse and the loss of the Axe, her powers are greatly weakened, allowing her only minimal contact with the Dreaming Realm.  Normally, her powers of dream manipulation – especially when her targets are near dreamstone – are immense, but in her cursed sleepless state, she can only barely touch the dreams of others and only when they touch dreamstone.  Her dreamstone-littered studio has an enchantment, however, that can send others into dreams of whatever she paints on an easel.   Bebadolf Like his master, Bebadolf is a wolfen-changeling, a changeling capable of taking the forms of man and beast, though most comfortable in the guise of a wolf or a human.  In wolf form Bebadolf is a large black-furred wolf with traces of red in his fur.  In human form, he is a large black-bearded man with a shaggy main of hair, both traced with touches of red.  Caught up in the Dreaming Realm, he is stuck repeating the same few dreams and, while trapped within them cannot remember the waking world, believing his is what he dreams.  Wolfang has two forms.  In human form he is a level 14 solo brute, in Wolf form, he is a level 14 Solo skirmisher.  Hooks 1) The PCs have been sent by a powerful ally of theirs has been plagued by night-terrors and so sends the PCs to find the so rumored Artisan of Dreams to see if she can banish the nightmares. 2) The PCs themselves have been cursed with nightmares and have heard of the Artisan.  They seek her out in hopes that she might help remove the curse. 3) The PCs, while traveling through the Feywild, pick up a small piece of dreamstone or touch a larger dreamstone vein, rock, or boulder in passing.  This allows the Artisan to send vivid dreams calling for the PCs help, the magical compulsion causing thoughts of the dreams to constantly be at the backs of the PCs minds and they find themselves distractedly walking in the direction of her lands as they travel.  Bullet Point Adventure Summary 0. Hooks 1. Players travel to the Artisan's abode. 2. The Artisan convinces the players to assist her 3. Dream Sequencing 4. Resolution  1. PCs Gone Feywild How the PCs travel to the Artisan's house is up to the DM and in part depends on the Hook(s) that bring the PCs there.  If the PCs have been sent, a skill challenge to find it (with bonuses to checks of any PCs that have touched dreamstone) might be appropriate, with a failure taking more time/leading the PCs to hostile Feywild creatures/etc.  The DM might just rule that they find it, especially if the PCs are just passing by and have received the Artisan's compulsion via dreamstone.  In either situation, the party might catch glimpses of huge feral looking wolves or shaggy, wild looking men watching them and then slipping away before they can be confronted.  When the PCs reach her house, she opens the door as they approach, tells them she's been expecting them and lets the party in.  2. Mind if I Axe You a Few Questions Once at the Artisan's house, the Artisan tells the players a bit about her powers over dreams, the hostility of the Wolfang, the Wolfang's curse upon her that doesn't allow her to sleep without the Axe and the resultant weakening of her powers,  the Bebadolf's theft and entrapment in the Dreaming Realm, and her plea for the PCs to help her.  Note: she leaves out the choice bits about her manipulating Bebadolf and stealing the Axe in the first place.  She offers material rewards (up to 2-4 treasure parcels worth), years of pleasant dreams, her deepest gratitude, and/or an unspecified favor that they may claim at a later date.  She won't reveal how desperate she is unless she thinks it might convince the players to help. Once they agree to help, she leads them to her studio where she tells them that she only is sure of one of the dreams that the Bebadolf is trapped in and that she will send them to it in their sleep so that they might find Bebadolf and/or the Axe.  She explains that when she paints something, it becomes a dream that they can access via a door in her studio that otherwise leads to nowhere.She tells them that when she sends them into the dream, they may bring some dreamt objects to the waking world and back to the land of dreams and that those objects might take on slightly different forms from one dream to the next, but they are often important and will stand out.  She also explains that the rules of the Dreaming Realm are not the same as the waking world and that many things that seem logical in the actual world will not work.   3. To Sleep: Perchance to Dream: Ay, There's the Rub In the following series of encounters, the PCs must go from dream to dream, attempting to find the correct sequence of dreamt objects and dreams to enter in order to eventually find the Axe.  Each dream has a “success” and “failure” result listed, depending on the dream.  A quick chart of the sequence is available below.  In any dream, if the PCs try to explore beyond the “bounds” of the dream, they find themselves wandering back towards the main features of it.  At the completion of every dream, success or failure, they find the door to the Artisan's studio somewhere.  When they pass through, they awaken and 6 hours have passed and the Artisan questions them about what they have dreamt.  If the PCs didn't have any combat in the dram, the 6 hours counts as an extended rest. If they have gotten the "key" to another dream - locations mentioned in the dreams that lead the PCs to other dreams in the sequence - she can then paint the location for the PCs, allowing them to do whichever enter the dreams in any order they chose.If they aren't figuring it out, the Artisan might have ideas (give hints) about the key objects and/or "dream keys," at the DM's discretion.  If the DM wishes to apply time pressure, when the PCs wake from their various dreams, the DM can have the Artisan mention seeing Wolfang's minions prowling closer and closer, play up her worry, mention her increasing exhaustion, etc. Key dream objects and "dream keys" are in bold.  If the PCs reach a result that has a dream object, the PCs may then carry that object to their next dream(s) or until they use it, at which point it is gone unless they return to the dream where they got it originally to get it again.  If the PCs learn of a "dream key" and the PCs mention it to the Artisan, she can then paint that dream and send them to it. In any of these dreams, the DM may require that the PCs make some sort of appropriate skill check for the “successful” results to be applied.  Note, though, that if they then fail, they may have to repeat dreams several times. Key Items:  Wool: When PCs enter a dream carrying the Wool, it appears as a small bag full of wool. Alcohol: When PCs enter a dream carrying the Alcohol, it appears as a pony keg.  It is still full of wood alcohol in whatever form. Axe: Once the PCs have the Axe, the dreams end the next time they go through the studio door.  Note: the other axes mentioned aside from the singing axe that the wool merchant brings out in the Town dream are red herrings.Read anything in italics to the players.  Dream A(Boat) – Alcohol a Party-Time Necessity The Artisan paints the image of a man at sea in a small boat.  Sitting in the center of it is a massive open-topped barrel.  A sailor stares down at the barrel, an axe in his hand and a fearful expression on his face.  In the distance is what looks to be a small port town.  You fall asleep and you awaken in the room next to your own sleeping forms.  As you pass through the studio door, you find yourselves standing in the boat beside the seaman.  The sailor will explain his predicament, shaking as he does so.  He was hired by “a man with an axe” to smuggle in a vat of alcohol.  It is larger than he thought and now, as the current is pulling him inexorably towards the port, he realizes he has nothing to hide the barrel with.  If he doesn't hide it, he will be arrested and executed.  If he hacks it apart with his axe and tosses the remains overboard, he won't be arrested, but “the man with the axe will come for me."  If the PCs haven't gotten the Wool(see below), he nay-says anything they say, chops apart the barrel and dumps it overboard(failure). As the contents of the vat spill overboard, the PCs will recognize it as wood alcohol, poisonous for most creatures to drink. In a dream-style jump, they are then standing on the dock beside him as he looks about a hazy gray town.  “I'm no smuggler.  I'll have to go become a Shepherd in the hills like my sister.  Then the man with the axe won't find me.”  If the PCs have gotten the Wool, they can pull bags of wool out of nowhere, covering over the barrel (to the sailor's delight).  When they are satisfied it is hidden, they suddenly are in port, an official looking man with an axe at his belt is standing on the dock and filling out a form.  He says “carry on” and vanishes.  The PCs then find themselves standing on the dock with the sailor and the barrel(success).  He opens the lid of the barrel, scoops out a tiny keg of it, and hands the Alcohol to the PCs, saying “thank you, the man with the axe will reward me handsomely.  Enjoy yourself here in Town.”  The town becomes slightly less hazy around you as the seaman fades away.   Dream B(Shepherd) – A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing  The Artisan paints the image of a meadow filled with grazing sheep, a young shepherd girl with an axe in her hand watching over them. You fall asleep and you awaken in the room next to your own sleeping forms.  As you pass through the studio door, you find yourselves standing in the meadow beside the shepherd. She seems unsurprised by their arrival, but is crying.  “I tend my sheep, but as soon as I sit down to shear one, suddenly there is a wolf amidst the flock that begins killing them.  I chase it off, but as soon as I sit down again, it returns.  Can you help keep watch over my sheep while I shear them?  If you do, I will give you some of the wool!”  Presumably, the PCs will watch over the flock.  When they do, they make Perception or Insight checks opposed to Bebadolf's Stealth or Bluff checks.  If they succeed, they notice that one sheep(Bebadolf) is acting strangely and is sneaking through the flock.  Roll initiative at this point.  If a PC hits Bebadolf before he hits a sheep, he turns on them, fighting until he is bloodied then fleeing(success).     If the PCs have already killed him in human form(see the Town dream below), he fights differently.  For one, he uses a power to make himself appear exactly like the sheep around him then teleports into the flock.  The PCs must make Insight checks to know which one he is until he attacks again.  He also fights to the death.  When he dies, his body transforms to his human form and has the Axe.  If they kill him or drive him off, the shepherd gives them a small bag of Wool. Otherwise, he kills a sheep(failure). The PCs must leave, wake up, and try again. Note that in any of these situations, the sheep simply mill about grazing, unconcerned by the wolf in their midst or even their fellow sheep being killed. Dream C(Town) – I'll Drink to That  The Artisan paints the image of a cozy port town.  It looks practically idyllic, except near the docks is the smoldering ruins of a warehouse.  A large man with a shaggy black beard and hair stands at edge of the smoky remains staring at it blankly. You fall asleep and you awaken in the room next to your own sleeping forms.  As you pass through the studio door, you find yourself standing beside the man in the painting.  “All of my merchandise, lost in the fire?  What will I do now?” the man says.  “What is a merchant without a thing to trade?”    If they ask, they learn that he is a wool merchant and that some sailor accidentally burned down the warehouse and fled in terror.  He is also Bebadolf, but does not remember his name.   If they do not have Wool, he shrugs off any attempts to help or console him(failure). “I'm not fit to be a merchant, I'll go back to being a hunter, go back to my family's grove in the Forest.  But I'll hunt down that sailor first!”  He then disappears, leaving you alone in the suddenly hazy town.   If they have Wool and give bags of it (again appearing from nowhere) to him, he shakes their hands and runs around in excitement, then invites them to his house to celebrate(success).  Suddenly, they are in his house, that looks exactly like the Artisan's, except there is a detailed painting of a sheltered Forest grove on the ceiling of the main room.    He grabs a keg and sets it down on the table, then says, “just a moment, need something to open it with.”  He then leaves the room for a minute.   If the PCs have the Alcohol, they may switch it with the keg on the table.   When Bebadolf returns, he has the Singing Battleaxe, a large emerald-bladed axe that hums continuously with power, the tone shifting subtly and harmoniously as you listen.  He uses it to chop open the keg and pours them all wooden tankards full.  He drinks first, taking a huge drought.  If it is his keg, then the alcohol has no notable effects. If it is the Alcohol keg however, he gasps “what type of drink is this?  Poison!”. He then starts swinging wildly with his Axe and is blind for the duration of the encounter that ensues.   If the PCs defeat him and have not killed him in wolf form, he clutches the Axe to his chest, snarls, “you are sheep to the slaughter!”, and falls to the ground, his body transforming into that of a massive wolf, identical to the one in the Shepherd dream.  If they have killed him in wolf form, he remains in human form and drops the Axe, which will return with them to the real world.If the PCs do not fight him, eventually he and his house fade away leaving only the studio door. Dream D(Forest) – Wood'ent You Know It  The Artisan paints the image of a sheltered forest grove.  Standing in the middle of it are two trees that seem to have sorrowful faces, as though they are weeping. You fall asleep and you awaken in the room next to your own sleeping forms.  As you pass through the studio door, you find yourself in the grove with them.   The trees are a pair of treants, the smaller one is the “husband”, the larger the “wife”.  Both are mourning the loss of their sapling, cut down by a brutish man with a singing axe.  “Oh If only we trees could drown our sorrows with drink the way you fleshlings do!” she wails.   She will tell them nothing except her hatred for the man with the axe.  If the “husband” tries to say anything she shouts him down, telling him its all his fault and cowing him into submission.  If the PCs have the Alcohol and offer it to her however, she drinks it down(success).  “Alcohol that a treant can drink!  If you can find this, maybe you can do more for me!  Hunt down and kill this man – no, he is more than a man.  He can take the shape of man or beast and must be killed in both forms to truly die.  But be warned, if you kill him in one, he will fight to the death in the other!The PCs gain a +1 bonus on their attack rolls against Bebadolf after this point.   If they don't have or don't offer her the Alcohol, she becomes more and more upset and inconsolable until, over her “husbands” attempts to restrain her, she attacks the party, which may either stay and fight or flee through the convenient studio door(failure).    To complete the Dream Sequence, the PCs must kill Bebadolf in both his forms.  Which ever they kill second drops the Axe.   Dream Sequence Quick-chart Dream A(Boat) → Fail(no Wool) = “Unlock” Dream B(Shepherd) Dream A(Boat) → Success(used Wool) = “Unlock” Dream C(Town), get Alcohol Dream B(Shepherd) → Fail(don't stop Bebadolf) = nil Dream B(Shepherd) → Success(stop Bebadolf) = fight Bebadolf in Wolf form, get Wool Dream C(Town) → Fail(no Wool) = “Unlock” Dream D(Forest) Dream C(Town) → Success(used Wool) = “Unlock” Dream D(Forest), may use Alcohol and/or fight Bebadolf in Human form Dream D(Forest) → Fail(no Alcohol) = nil Dream D(Forest) → Success(used Alcohol) = learn how to kill Bebadolf, gain attack bonus  Final Success: Kill Bebadolf in Wolf form in Dream B(Shepherd) and in Human form in Dream C(Town) to get the Axe.   4. Resolution - Wake Me When It's Over  When the PCs exit the dream with the Singing Battleaxe, the Artisan thanks them profusely and sets about honoring her side of whatever their arrangement was earlier.  If they came on Hooks 1 and/or 2, they can then set about resolving that business as well.  Further adventures might involve helping the Artisan remove the curse, attempting to make peace with Wolfang and/or combating him, and/or stepping into the nightmares of the PCs and/or whoever hired them to “combat” dream creatures(if they PCs came on hooks 1 or 2).IngredientsArtist's Studio - The studio is the Artisan's house.  Also, the studio door is the means by which the PCs enter and leave the Dream Sequence and bring back items such as the Alcohol(Vat of Poison) and the Singing Battleaxe itself.Vat of Poison - The vat is a literal vat of wood alcohol in the boat dream, that is used in the forest dream to learn how to defeat the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, Babadolf, and can also be used to poison Babadolf in one of his forms.Frightened Seaman - The sailor in the Boat dream that's attempting to smuggle the Vat of Poison.  Also the sailor who burned down the wool merchant's warehouse in the Town dream.Dream Sequence - The series of dreams the PCs go on, each entered by the door to the Artist's Studio.  In the dreams, the PCs use get the Vat of Poison from the Frightened Seaman, and use it to get information on and potentially to poison the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, all to get the Singing Battleaxe for the owner of the Artist's Studio.  Also, they must do the dreams in the correct order, i.e. the correct Dream Sequence.Wolf in Sheep's Clothing - Bebadolf, the Wolfen-shapling, a shapeshifter capable of taking on many forms, including that of a sheep, a wolf, and wool merchant.  He is a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing figuratively, literally and/or a bit of both at different points.  He has the Singing Battleaxe.  He is the main target of the PCs during the Dream Sequence because of this.Singing Battleaxe - The main objective of the PCs in the Dream Sequence.  The PCs seek it on behest of the owner of the Artist's Studio since it has been cursed so she may only sleep while it is around.  Also, the overbearing treant wife("battleaxe") can be made to talk("sing") about the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing if given the Vat of Poison to drink.</blockquote>

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