Beginnings

Our heroes start in a tavern - why not? Everyone has to say why they are in the town. The hot topic of conversation in the tavern that night is the recent disappearance of some local kids. Six or seven kids were kidnapped last night, and the townsfolk are looking for a group of people to go rescue them. Hopefully, the PCs step up. Otherwise, more kids are taken the next night, and the situation deteriorates.



The PCs track a crowd of small footprints to a local forest known to have fey connections. After a couple of possible encounters, they arrive a small cave opening in a hillside. (Possible forest encounters could be a fey creature, or perhaps they get lost and find an escaped kid who can show them the way). The cave is a warren of "night goblins", which are goblins with additional powers from the Feywild Denizen template in the DM2. The PCs fight through a couple of areas, 3-4 encounters maybe, until they find the back room where the kids are located. Perhaps clues are found that indicate the goblins are slavers, and indicate a place and time for "delivery" (sunrise tomorrow at a nearby menhir in the forest).



Then things get tricky. When they open the door, the room is full of kids, playing and having a good time. Some appear to be the missing children, but there are more kids here than the village lost. The truth is, the other "kids" are goblins with the Change Shape power, and they are polymorphed into children. They stole the children as slaves for "higher ups", under the guise of being friends. They are mischievous and cruel though, and are keeping the kids happy and distracted in order to make the betrayal worse.



The goblin-kids don't immediately attack. They let the PCs explain why they are there, and let them try and collect the missing kids. Then the mind-games begin. Depending on how the PCs handle it, things could go a couple of ways. If the PCs ask if Billy is here, they answer "no", and try to confuse any kid who says yes. If the PCs "call roll" and ask Billy to come forward, one of them changes to look like Billy and steps forward along with the real one, prompting a "You're not Billy, I'm Billy" episode. A good perception check on a second or third kid lets a PC notice the change take place, and gives them a clue what's going on.



Eventually a fight will break out, probably. Perhaps a quiet, shy boy walks up to one of the PCs and says "I have a secret for you," then ganks him. This could be tricky though, as you don't want to kill the kids. Do the goblins keep up the pretense, or drop it for the fight? Do the kids participate or not? This scene might be easier to manage if a shape-changer goblin was previously encountered, leaving the PCs wary.



Theoretically, the PCs might also take all the "kids" back to town, and will have to figure out what to do with the extras. If they are left alone for the night anywhere, they escape into the woods in the early morning and make for the meeting place.



The "Night Goblins" could be a recurring force through the levels 1-3 or so, though anything past that would need bigger baddies. Perhaps their patron gets upset with the PCs interference, which leads to later challenges. If the PCs decide to meet at the portal for the delivery they can aim to be there before sunrise and hide to see what happens. Any remaining goblins show up right before sunrise, and the PCs can decide what to do with them. At some point during the fight (+ or - depending on the PCs) the portal in the menhir opens. A beautiful and richly attired eladrin woman stands on the other side, with another man and woman standing behind and to the side of her. She briefly takes in the scene, and responds as appropriate. If there's a fight, she says to the PCs something like "Oh, now you've gone and ruined it. I think you owe me for this, and don't worry - I always collect my debts" and closes the portal on her next turn. Any surviving goblins can make a break for it, if possible. If the PCs are alone when it opens, the eladrin might talk for a few rounds before leaving. She'll at least ask what became of the goblins, and will likely conclude with a statement similar to above if she learns the truth. She does not reveal her name, and does not cross the portal. If any PCs move toward or attack her, she closes the portal immediately.


The PCs can return to town, likely having earned an enemy. However, the townspeople celebrate their success, at least until the next day when the local forest elves start to go nuts, leading to the "Elves in the Forest" adventure. Between these two the PCs should reach level 2, at which point the town is so impressed with them that they send them on the Icy Spire adventure.

Story Ideas

Epic arcs have to begin somewhere, right?

Level 1-2: The PCs are local folk in a town (Loudwater?), and the adventure starts with local kids being kidnapped one night. Tracks lead to a nearby forest known ot have fey connections (Dire Wood). Kids are rescued from night goblins/gnomes/other mischeivious fey. Tone is a cross between light-hearted and malicious. Can draw inspiration from "Rescue at Rivenroar", Dun 155, if needed.
Level 1: "Elves of the Valley", Dun 178 (delve). Local elves are corrupted by a dark creature and turn to banditry. Destroying the creature and restoring the elves earns their friendship.
Level 2-3: The heroes are sent to investigate, "Menace of the Icy Spire", Dun 159. Breaking the ice ward on the tower earns a visit from the winter fey, who claim a debt from the PCs to be repaid later.
Level 4: "Stormcrow Tor", Dun 169 (delve, perhaps to obtain the Wrathstone artifact).

Level 7ish: "Treed", Dun 171. Very short encounter to help desparate elves, and meet a gnome arcanist who might be useful later. Maybe elves from Level 1.
Level 7ish: "Danger at the White Lotus Academy", Dun 165 (filler delve). Perhaps tied to an errand leading to the "House of Pain" adventure later on.
Level 8-9: "Last Breath of Ashenport", Dun 157? (Filler)
Level 9ish: "House of Pain", Dun163. Two encounters, short conclusion. A Shadar-kai witch is turning fey to shadow against their will. Recovering the ritual from the temple in the module could be a favor called in by some fey liege. Would need to get the story to the point where the PCs end up at an Underdark portal to the Shadowfell. Could introduce a shadow nemesis for later.
Level 10-11: "Dark Heart of Mithrendain", Dun 157 (Intro to Feywild)
Level 12: "Worse Than Death", Dun 164. Possible side-trek, or a trick from the Gloaming fey to see test the PCs character. A rich lord has been kidnapped, and the PCs are hired by his mistress to rescue him. Only the lord turns out to be a succubus, who has faked the kidnapping and lures the PCs to an insane eladrin's lair.
Level 13: "Clash of Steel", Dun 172 - A triple-cross gang war between disguised dragons (filler).

Level 15: "Caves of Menace", DD pg 96 - short delve to rescue kidnapped eladrin nobles and prevent a fomorian/eladrin war.
Level 15-17: "Throne of the Stone-Skinned King", Dun 166. Story would have to be adjusted, but the heart of it is bargaining with a Fomorian king, using a winter relic, to establish an alliance/truce.
Level 18: "Summer's End", DD pg 114. Can be expanded to provide an intro to the Wild Hunt.

Level 22-almost 24: "Winter of the Witch", Dun 162, pits the PCs against a powerful winter fey. Can be tied to the Level 2 module. The PCs are definitely against the Winter Court now, which will lead to a direct confrontation with the Prince of Frost.

Other random story arcs:
- Once in the feywild, the PCs are recruited to negotiate a cease-fire between two archfey, the Cat Lord and the Wolf King. They have both claimed a section of forest near an eladrin city as their demesne, and are fighting over it, well, like cats and dogs. The eladrin need it to stop.
- Rip off "the Phantom Tollbooth": The PCs visit a town that is shabby and dismal, and random things just happen - there's no rhyme or reason to it. After speaking with the local lord, the PCs find out it is literally true - the princesses Rhyme and Reason have been imprisoned by their two brothers, who didn't agree over a decision they had made. The first king wants them back, but the brother (who is king somewhere else) must agree. When the PCs visit him, they must work around the fact that the brothers won't ever agree; proving the point that they have agreed to disagree earns the brother's blessing and entrance to the dungeon holding the princesses.
- Purge a tower claimed by a mad goblin lord. It is covered with twitching vines of unnatural hue, and the crazy alchemist is making a nuisance of himself. It's a classic dungeon-tower crawl, with as many odd and absurd thing as possible. The whole place should illicite a three letter response - "wtf?"
- Remember some fey are kind and compassionate, others are ruthless. Some are fascinated by mortals, and want to keep them as pets.
- The PCs are engaged to fight in an arena under false pretenses - they are told it is team vs team, but then they are the only ones who show up and the rules are changed that they must fight each other because only one person can leave the arena. If they refuse to fight, the response is "well, someone has to leave alone, so here's someone who will kill all of you" and a solo beasty is introduced.
- The PCs are caught by firbolgs, who live only for the hunt. They are told "we can either kill you now, or you can let us hunt you. Make it entertaining, and you might even live." They are given a headstart defined by a timer - an hourglass who's speed changes relative to something (distance, efforts to escape, etc). This would be an event early in the PCs feywild career, when they can't hope to win their freedom, and the threat of being hunted should hang over their heads for a few levels so they are always looking over their shoulders waiting for it.
- Save the Maiden of the Moon (archfey) from a plot by the alliance of the Harrowhame fomorians and the Brokenstone Vale lycanthropes.

Creature Levels

A spread of Fey creatures from the Monster Manuals, with levels shown:

Elves - Level 2-5
Gnomes - Level 2-15
Drow - Level 3-18
Myconid - Level 3-5
Faerie Dragon - Level 4
Fey Panther - Level 4
Harpy - Level 4-6
Eladrin - Level 5+
Spriggan - Level 6-9
Satyr - Level 7-9
Owlbear - Level 8
Displacer Beast - Level 9
Dryad - Level 9-13
Unicorn - Level 9
Quickling - Level 9-11
Bog Hag - Level 10
Will-o-Wisp - Level 10
Banshrae - Level 11-13
Blightborn - Level 11
Lamia - Level 12
Centaur - Level 12-14
Firbolg - Level 12+
Fomorian - Level 14+
Cyclops - Level 14+
Baelnorn Lich - Level 15
Drider - Level 15
Treant - Level 16
Lingerer - Level 16-19
Eldritch Giant - Level 18
Death Hag - Level 18
Exarch of Lolth - Level 19
Fomorian King - Level 20
Wild Hunt - Level 21-22
Mournwind/SoulSorrow - Level 24
Koliada, Winter Witch - Level 26
Prince of Frost - Level 31

Starting Hooks

Copied directly from a post at "Necromancers of the Northwest" website, some ways to kick off adventures (The first is great for an early start, with The Deal maybe mid to late heroic tier to get things pointed towards the Feywild):

The Deal
In popular literature fey are often depicted as liking to strike deals and bargains with mortal beings in exchange for aid in some form or another. Fey often demand future favors from those desperate or foolish enough to bargain with them. To set this one up, you have two options depending on the time available and your preference. Your first option is to have a fey creature approach the PCs early in their career, particularly if they seem in over their heads, and offer to solve their problems for them in exchange for a later favor. There are three major advantages to doing things this way: first, negotiating deals with otherworldly entities can be a great roleplay experience; second, when you call in the favor later your players will appreciate the consistency of your campaign and will they will probably feel more committed to the adventure that follows; third, you can abuse this set up several times, each time adding more and more debt, giving you an interesting campaign feature and a whole ton of readymade plot hooks. The other way to go about the set-up is to say that one or more of the PCs have inherited a debt owed to the fey in question. This approach really only has one advantage: speed. It’s quick and lets you use the plot hook without a lot of planning or set-up.

However you choose to do the set-up, the hooks goes like this: out of thin air appears a tall, lithe and hauntingly beautiful woman with skin the color of moonlight and eyes like polished jade. She has an almost musical tone to her voice as she addresses your group (the PCs), “Greeting mortals, my name is Suri’aria. I have purchased your debt from a dear friend of mine and I’m afraid that I have need of your services.” The woman pauses briefly to close her eyes and draw in a deep breath before continuing. “The diadem of Vernus Siltre has been stolen and I would ask that you recover it before it’s too late.”

Okay, from here it’s up to you what you want to do with this one. You should first decide who stole the diadem. Personally, I like rival fey since the creatures are well known for being treacherous little buggers, but if you have a better candidate in mind use them instead. Next on your to-do list should be figuring out if Suri’aria knows who took the diadem. If you’re just looking for a little dungeon crawl, have her tell the PCs what’s up and where they need to go; but if you want to add a more investigatory element to the adventure make sure you have plenty of clues scattered around so that the PCs can figure out what’s going on. Finally, you need to pick an end-game. Consider Suri’aria’s motives – perhaps she wants the diadem for reasons the PCs don’t want anything to do with, or maybe “stolen” may be a loose interpretation of what happened. Perhaps the person who stole the diadem is planning a ritual to destroy the world or some such and the PCs are now on a ticking clock. PCs who try to ignore this adventure should be punished for breaking their deals with the fey; geas/quest is a good place to start, but feel free to get creative.

The Child

Another common portrayal for the fey is as dangerous and feral thieves who are liable to up and snatch village children out playing past their bedtime. This is exactly what happened in this hook. Jon and Ellie have just had their child snatched in the night by a gang of pixies, and are at a loss as to what to do. So of course they hire the PCs to confront the monsters, smash them, and bring little Jon, Jr. back home. In case the PCs aren’t moved by the plight of this family in trouble, they’re offering up one of their family heirlooms as a reward: a magic amulet of natural armor (whatever bonus strikes your fancy). As it turns out the pixies aren’t hard to find and the PCs meet up with them and the child. The pixies claim that the child is theirs, because the parents made a deal with the family a long time ago that in exchange for some fey power they would take their firstborn son; the fey have only made good on their deal. While the devolvement from here is more in the hands of your players, the details are all down to you. Are the pixies in the right? Does it matter? Or are they lying to the PCs? Where is the child happier? And what happens if the PCs do decide to smash the pixies - do they just stand there and take it or do they use their prodigious abilities to evade detection and flee? For added fun remember that pixies have memory loss arrows and that those things can have a real fun effect on your game.