The Horror Under The Hill

This is the adventure I was working on, at least it's all that I was able to get finished so far. I'll finish it up in the next week or so adding stats for the NPCs and rough map of Benson Under the Hill.

HOOK: The players will either be assigned to this mission by Cardania or may be contacted directly by a representative of Benson Under the Hill, an underground mole kingdom located 50 miles west of Cardania at the foot of the Blue Hills.

LINE: A month ago in Benson Under the Hill, strange events began to occur. It began with the mysterious collapse of several main underground highways, and then escalating to the disappearance of a dozen tunnel workers. Now King Benson the First fallen mysteriously ill, and his closest advisor, Philip Augustus, a self-proclaimed seer and earth priest, has taken his place until the king is fit enough to return to the throne.

SINKER: As most people will suspect right away, Philip Augustus is the culprit behind the recent string of unfortunate events. Augustus is looking to take over the underground kingdom and is using his power to control a monstrous earthworm to help him by creating havoc and confusion. Augustus used a poison excreted from the worm to sicken the king, and if the characters can get close enough to King Benson to perform a thorough examination they might be able to discern the nature of the poison and concoct an antidote from the source of the poison—i.e. the worm.

Getting close to the king is one of the major hurdles. Benson Under the Hill is a very xenophobic culture, and it was only out of desperation that a representative ventured outside to look for aid. The king is constantly guarded by two dozen well-armed and armored royal guards in the deepest part of the kingdom.

Augustus keeps six elite warriors as his personal guards and can be found either in the royal palace or in his secret cavern near an underground river where he originally found his monstrous worm companion.

If Augustus is directly threatened or the players are able to formulate a cure for King Benson, he will summon his worm to attack the PCs, the king and anyone else who stands against him.


NOTES: This adventure takes place in the kingdom of Benson Under the Hill, located in a relatively ignored part of the Free Cattle Planes. The tunnels in this area are normally built for Size Level 8 character and average 4 to 4.5 feet in height, which could make things rather difficult for taller characters. There are, however, several taller highways (6 feet tall and wide), and large caverns scattered through out the domain.

Local mole homes are respectably furnished with well-crafted wood and stone furniture. Light is provided by electricity generated from an underground river nearby.

To make this mission all the more difficult, Benson Under the Hill does not like it when "outsiders", especially non-mole "outsiders", enter their domain. So if any non-mole PCs encounters a local mole, there is a 70% chance that they will attempt to raise the alarm and bring a patrol of 2D6 armed mole militiamen. For non-local mole PCs, the chance is only 20%.