B10. Study

B10. Study

Two creatures are having a conversation over tea in the middle of this room. The first figure is seated in a timeworn armchair. She is a tall, lean woman of gray complexion, dressed in black with a wide-brimmed hat obscuring her eyes. The other figure is a toad-like creature with bulging eyes and cracked skin. It is clad in a shapeless garment and sits on one end of a love seat with its legs pulled up beneath it. Flies flit into and out of its mouth, which hangs agape when it isn’t speaking. Two tiny versions of the creature cling to it like pets.

The room is filthy. Dirty dishes and bits of discarded food lie everywhere. The furniture was perhaps once of fine quality, but now stains of mysterious origin mottle every surface, and the upholstery has been patched numerous times. Set with its back to the wall in one corner is a hulking wooden cabinet. Sturdy legs support the bottom of the cabinet six inches above the floor. A decrepit wooden staircase climbs up the wall in another corner.

The toad-like creature is @Bavlorna Blightstraw, and she is joined by two of her lornlings. Bavlorna has not submerged herself in her preservation pool in some time, and her skin is brittle and cracked. If she has been warned about intruders, Bavlorna fixes her bulging eyes on the characters as they come into view:

The toad-like creature speaks to you in a low croaking voice. “What act of desperation compels you to enter my home, little darlings?”

See “Dealing with Bavlorna” below for advice on how to run an encounter with the hag, keeping in mind the rules of hospitality, ownership, and reciprocity to which she adheres (see “Rules of Conduct” earlier in the chapter).

Bavlorna has an iron key tucked in one of the pockets of her garment; this key unlocks the door to area B19.

The tall, slender figure in black is Charm, a darkling elder who works for Endelyn Moongrave as a thief but poses as a traveling merchant. When the characters arrive, Charm is gossiping with Bavlorna about the hag’s sisters, Endelyn and Skabatha. The conversation is a distraction, buying time for Charm’s shadow to perpetrate a heist in area B19. Characters who have a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 13 or higher notice that the black-clad figure doesn’t cast a shadow. This is not a trait that darklings possess, but rather the result of Endelyn’s using her scissors of shadow snipping to cut loose Charm’s shadow and transform it into a separate creature. See chapter 4 for more information on Endelyn and her magic scissors.

Dealing with Bavlorna. Before she’ll agree to help the characters in any way, Bavlorna demands that they complete the following three chores:

Fix the Preservation Pool. Bavlorna’s preservation pool (see area B1) won’t fill with water. It seems the well that supplies it is plugged. Bavlorna wants the characters to fix the problem. (If the characters have already defeated the creature that was plugging the well, she considers this chore complete.)

Find the Missing Book. Bavlorna’s Big Book of Bad Blood has gone missing. It contains copious notes on everyone who has wronged her. She assumes the book hasn’t been taken far and wants the characters to search Downfall for it. (The book is currently in the hands of Gullop XIX, the bullywug king in area D6. If the characters have already dealt with Gullop and are returning the book to Bavlorna, she considers this chore complete.)

Pick Up a Package. Bavlorna fancies herself an expert in taxidermy, and a bullywug hunter has filled a crate with animal carcasses for Bavlorna to stuff. The crate can be found in one of the bullywug dwellings (area D16), and Bavlorna wants it brought to her.

When all three chores are complete, Bavlorna insists on taking a short rest in her preservation pool to moisten her skin. Only then will she consider bargaining with the characters.

While the characters are busy performing one or more of Bavlorna’s unfinished chores, the darkling elder and her elusive shadow find what they were after and return to their balloon (area D10). The darklings then unmoor their balloon and drift away toward Yon. If the darklings escape, the characters might encounter them again in chapter 4.

If you used the “Lost Things” adventure hook and the Story Tracker indicates that Bavlorna has one or more things in her possession that the characters desire, she agrees to give up these items on one condition: she wants the characters to steal a portrait of her older sister, Skabatha, and deliver it to Bavlorna’s cottage within eight days. Bavlorna provides three pieces of information before spitting into her hand and requiring the characters to shake it, thus sealing the bargain:

Loomlurch is a giant, hollowed-out tree located deep in the forest of Thither. Skabatha uses it as a lair.

Skabatha’s portrait is displayed in a circular room in the heart of Loomlurch, alongside portraits of her three sisters: Bavlorna, Endelyn, and Tasha. (Bavlorna won’t add anything about Tasha if the characters press for more information about her.)

To reach Thither, the characters need a guide. There’s a scarecrow in Downfall who knows the way (she can’t remember the scarecrow’s name).

If Skabatha’s portrait is brought to Bavlorna on time, the hag fulfills her end of the bargain. If the characters fail to deliver Skabatha’s portrait within the agreed-upon time, each character who agreed to the bargain must succeed on a DC 19 Charisma saving throw or be cursed. While cursed in this way, the character loses one cherished possession (chosen by you). This possession disappears and is not regained until the curse ends. Bavlorna can end the curse on a character (no action required), as can any spell that ends a curse.

If the characters were drawn to Prismeer by the “Warlock’s Quest” adventure hook, they can strike a different bargain with Bavlorna, but she won’t deal with anyone who claims to be searching for a way to help Zybilna and thereby weaken the Hourglass Coven. First and foremost, Bavlorna wants Skabatha’s portrait (with the same time restrictions as the “Lost Things” bargain above) and is willing to trade for it. Once she has the portrait, her greed might focus on something else in Skabatha’s possession, at your discretion.

If Bavlorna feels threatened, or if a fight turns against her, she flees to Thither on her bobbing lily pad (in area B1) and reluctantly takes refuge with her older sister, Skabatha (see chapter 3 for details).

If she has no option but to fight, Bavlorna doesn’t hesitate to swallow one of the characters. If she is later forced to regurgitate the character, she also expels a small iron key. The key unlocks the potion cabinet in this room.

Potion Cabinet. The cabinet in the corner is made of wood that is still covered with bark and patches of moss. There’s a lock in the middle of the right panel, but it’s obscured beneath hanging moss. (Bavlorna swallowed the key for safekeeping but can regurgitate it as needed.) A character can use an action and thieves’ tools to try to pick the lock, doing so with a successful DC 15 Dexterity check.

The cabinet contains two shelves:

The bottom shelf holds three magic potions with labels in Elvish: a potion of diminution labeled “Shrink,” a potion of growth labeled “Grow,” and a potion of invisibility labeled “Vanish.”

The top shelf holds a stuffed cat that shambles to life when the cabinet is opened. The cat formerly belonged to Bavlorna’s sister, Endelyn. (She suspects Bavlorna stole the cat, but she has no proof.) The cat, Gloam, is hostile toward all creatures except Bavlorna. It uses the cat stat block, except it is an Undead, has immunity to poison damage, and is immune to exhaustion and the poisoned condition. On its first turn in combat or when it is reduced to 0 hit points, the cat expels a cloud of dust that acts as dust of sneezing and choking.

Tiny Door. Characters who look underneath the potion cabinet see a tiny door built into a 2-inch-wide, 4-inch-tall mouse hole at the base of the wall. The door is barred on the other side, but a character can use an action to try to force open the door, doing so with a successful DC 10 Strength check. The door opens into a secret passage (area B9).