 |
 |
|
|
|
|
The material on the page is the property of Jared Rascher and is used here at Candlekeep with permission. This article is to enable DMs to use the "Seige of the Spider Eaters" adventure from Dungeon Magazine #137 in the Forgotten Realms.
"Seige of the Spider Eaters "
(Conversions from Dungeon #137)
By Jared Rascher
Introductory Information
"Seige of the Spider Eaters" is a 1st level adventure that appears in Dungeon 137. It involves finding a lost town founded by pirates, as well as discovering the secret that is hidden by about half of the inhabitants of the town.
Adventure Setting
This conversion will assume that the town of Haven-Fara is located in the forest, about halfway between the town of Valen and the tip of the peninsula that juts out from the Wealdath forest in Tethyr. As noted in the adventure, Haven-Fara is not known to anyone outside of the town itself, and was founded by pirates that were blown off course on their way back to the Nelanther.
Adventure Hooks
The adventure hooks mention hearing legends about the town in a town, or being blown off course during a storm. To expand upon these ideas, the following hooks are presented.
The most logical town to hear rumors about the hidden town in the forest would be Valen. Alternatively, if the PCs start out on good terms with the elves in the Wealdath, its possible that elven scouts have found this particular hidden town and that they are anxious to have someone check it out to find out what is going on.
To further play on this particular hook, it might work well for an elven party or a party employed by elves to be thrown off track by including hints about spider monsters in this adventure, potentially making the PCs thing that somehow this adventure might have to do with drow or the minions of Lolth.
If the PCs are hired by a scholar to investigate potential pirate ruins, it is possible that that employer may actually be hiring them from the richer cities in Amn.
If the PCs are more "ethically challenged" they might even hail from the Nelanther themselves, and might have heard about the loss of Captain Haven's ship in pirate legends and have been recruited to search for lost treasure.
If the ship is blown off track and is shipwrecked, the ship can be a ship from the Nelanther (it could be an interesting spin if the PCs are actually prisoners of the pirates) or the ship could be a merchant vessal from the southern Moonshaes, one traveling south from Amn to Calimshan, or one travelling north from Lantan to the more northern trade cities.
A. The Good Fortune
On top of the standard description of the grounded ship, it should be noted that there is actually a small shrine to Umberlee and one to Tymora on the ship, in commemoration of the survival of the original crew. While the inhabitants are not particularly reverent, once in a while they pass by these shrines and say a few prayers.
Concluding the Adventure
Obviously, if the PCs join with the pirates in the town, or if they were hired to pick up pirates to attack a rival pirate, its a fairly easy thing to wrap into the campaign, as the pirates in the town will simply be reintegrating into the culture of the Nelanther Isles.