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.