THE SUN GOES DOWN WITH A RUBY SMILE
Read this to the Players
THE SUN GOES DOWN WITH A RUBY SMILE WRITTEN BY REMLEY FARR ♦ ART BY SHAWN DALEY ♦ MAPS BY REMLEY FARR
“A small port seems the perfect place to dock when a freak storm forces the small trade cog, Sea’s Rock, to find solid ground. But the newly discovered port town raises questions: where are all the residents, and which ones of them are still alive?” “The Sun Goes Down with a Ruby Smile” is a Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition module designed for 3-5 players at level 1. This module favors investigative and inquisitive playstyles over kicking in the door with swords drawn. Without at least one medium-sized, female humanoid PC or a PC who can speak and read orc, this may be a difficult module for the players to complete in a cohesive manner This is not an official Wizards of the Coast product. This module is free to download and share. For questions or concerns, email
[email protected] Visit the publisher at insomniacsink.com for more information.
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Three weeks after signing onto Captain Tommik’s leaky trade cog, the Sea’s Rock, a raging storm refuses to let up, keeping the captain, his navigator, and the party running all over the deck, fastening ropes and tacking sails. It’s not until the halfling navigator, Bosin, spots a port through the rainy onslaught that anyone feels the slightest bit of hope. Captain Tommik aims the Sea’s Rock towards the port, tacking hard to avoid being swallowed by the sea. If it weren’t for the half-ton of iron ore in the cog’s decks, the lightweight ship would be decorating the sea floor by now. The gangplank slams into the empty marina, and you don your cloaks and hustle across the leaky, wooden boards, aiming for a small customs building nestled where the marina meets the shore. A crackle of lightning deafens your ears, drowning out the howling wind and splattery rain for a split second. Just as you shove the door to the customs building open, you are greeted by a dark, cold, but dry room. Hanging your dripping cloaks on the wall hooks, you collapse onto the floor, exhausted after hours of running around on deck. Another flash of lightning illuminates the stumpy, dwarfish form of Captain Tommick as he strides into the customs office, rivulets of rain dripping from his blonde beard. “Ah, that’s what I call a wee inconvenience!” he says, wringing his beard. “This ‘ere’s good place as any. Ah’ll grab food and belongings from the Rock, an’ we can hole up in ‘ere fer the night. Keep yer eyes out fer townsfolk. Don’t wanna ferget yer manners.” And with that, he vanishes into the raging winds. You look around the customs office, trying to take in the frantic situation. No less than ten minutes ago you were fighting to keep a ship above water. Now, you’re safe on solid ground. Every inch of your body aches, and you can’t shake the image of flailing ropes and water-soaked sails out of your heads–after all, you’ve been staring at them for hours upon end.
THE SUN GOES DOWN WITH A RUBY SMILE The storm rumbles outside, the rain showing no sign of letting up. Small bootprints of mud and water dot the floor from where you’ve tracked them, but for now, at least you’re able to breathe easy. All you need is a day’s worth of rest in here and you’ll be back in tip-top shape. That is, if this freezing cold rain doesn’t let up. What do you do?
For the Dungeon Master The players have been battling a relentless storm for almost the entire day, and they’re at the 1st level of exhaustion (PH pg. 291). Chances are that the players will decide to poke around the dingy customs office or wait for Tommik to return with Bottsin and some gear, which will take roughly thirty minutes. Captain Tommik himself isn’t an aweinspiring character, stat wise, nothing more complex than a level one dwarf merchant armed with nothing more than a basic dagger, though he has a gruff command about him that only a dwarf could muster. He scrapes by transporting goods with his navigator. As of now, he’s working for the Skymarch Company, one of many trading groups that deals with resources mined from dwarf ruins, and he hired the players as deckhands in between ports. Unknown to the players, Tommik has an addiction to sama, a plant that, when a leaf is chewed and swallowed, calms people’s nerves. Dwarfs naturally are afraid of water, and ingesting sama helps take the edge off. Seeing as how sama plants are contraband in many societies, Tommik keeps the sama addiction a secret, even from Bottsin. Eating a sama leaf gives an advantage on fear saving throws for eight hours, and Tommik ingests a leaf every eight hours (using a slight of hand check vs. any nearby PC’s perception check). If caught and called out on it, he’ll claim he was eating from his bag of nuts (using a deception check vs. PC’s insight check). He’ll plead that he
needs the sama to stay calm on the water, and any dwarf in the party would sympathize with him. Captain Tommik will stay near the Sea’s Rock while the party ventures out so that he can keep an eye on the ship while the adventurers do “what yer paid to do!” The navigator, Bottsin, is an equally unremarkable halfling and merely a lackey for Tommik. He’s spry, capable of shimmying up the sails and swinging on ropes. He tags along with Tommik and doesn’t talk much, though a quip or two is sure to pop out of his mouth when he’s feeling particularly full of himself. Fights with a dagger or crossbow when prompted, though he should rarely see a reason to do so. When Tommik returns with Bottsin, they’re carrying plenty of gear to hole up in the customs office for the night: four lanterns with oil, bedrolls for themselves and each party member, and enough rations to stave off hunger for the night. Unlike the PC’s, Tommik and Bottsin are at exhaustion level 2, and will want to go to sleep immediately. Tommik will use this time to sneak a sama leaf, and Bottsin will collapse into a snoring heap immediately after unloading the gear.
Five Contracts Of course, the party hasn’t stumbled upon a simple, abandoned marina and customs office. The adventure would be too stale if that were the case. What they’ve really come across is a covert, off the grid mining colony set up by one of Skymarch Company’s rival coorporations, the Stoutman Caravan. And unfortunately for the party, nearly everyone in the mining colony met their demise at the edge of a mining pick five years ago. A few years before the murders, representatives from the Stoutman Caravan wanted to set up a mining colony after buying a lead on a patch of land rich with raw ruby ore. After contacting Agran Dodd, a dwarf mining veteran in his late 300’s, the Stoutman Caravan signed him
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up with a contract to establish what would, on paper, be called the Pinewood Lumber Export, or the PLE. Dodd’s job was simple: set up a small, convincing lumber operation while simultaneously running an under-thetable ruby mine. Keeping the Stoutman Caravan’s access to rubies a secret was vital to the operation: if any other companies found out, they’d try to financially strongarm the small, budding business out of their property. With that, Dodd set to work hiring the “right people.” Wanting to keep the port to the PLE as inconspicuous as possible, he set up only a small marina and customs office (the very same customs office the players start off in) with a small cabin set aside for himself. As old as he was, retiring to a quiet life full of financial cushion sounded perfect, and the well-rounded dwarf immediately began scouring for his “right people.” First and foremost, he hired his grandson, Hedgar Dodd, a rambunctious dwarf lad worthy of receiving Dodd’s inheritance. To satiate Hedgar’s explorative nature, Dodd build a threestory watchtower next to the customs office (the players missed it while running in due to the rain.) Hedgar proceeded to decorate the watchtower as any dwarf child would–tiny stone statues, flecks of sparkly rocks, runic poems, and so forth. Hedgar’s job was to look out for ships and tend to Dodd’s needs in his growing age. With the first contract signed, Dodd set his beady eyes on acquiring lumber workers. Three human brothers, the Lents, fit the bill perfectly. They needed a destination in life, and they could keep mum, especially for the money that Dodd could offer them. Also, they needn’t know about the mining operation, and they would be too foolish to suspect it, anyways. If any Lent brother was the “prettiest” one, it would be Vinnie Lent. Dashing in his own way, he spoke with scowls and the occasional whistle through missing front teeth. As the oldest, Vinnie called the shots.
THE SUN GOES DOWN WITH A RUBY SMILE The middle brother, Paddy Lent, was a tall, skulking fellow, eyes always wandering towards the women. He was usually in his cups, even when working. Rumors pervaded that Paddy Lent needed hard drink like dragons needed gold. Perhaps the only Lent brother with any redeeming quality was the youngest, Monroe Lent. Monroe never wanted to join the PLE, but went anyways when his brothers forced him into the arrangement. A workaholic by nature, he always had his eyes set on the seas, ready for the day when he could amass his savings and set sail. With the mill workers taken care of, Dodd needed people to tend to the grounds: cooks, servants, farmers– anyone to keep the Lent brothers satisfied. That’s when he came across documents for the Rumricks, a destitute human family led by Kincade Rumrick, the father. Kincaid was put in charge of the brothers–best to not let the Lents’ fraternal rivalry get out of hand–and his wife, Mrs. Rumrick, as well as his young daughters, Mona and Sunny, managed the various households. With the facade in place, Dodd needed to find the true mortar for his operation: the miners. Seeing his true genius at work, Dodd did the unthinkable. He hired two half-orcs, Rogath and Maovor, to be “guards” in the eyes of the workers. They were hardy, strong, capable of seeing in the dark, drawn by greed, and just deplorable enough so that nobody would snoop around their business. Maovor especially fit the requirements, being fat, bulbous, and crude. Rogath helped balance Maovor out, being better-spoken and even slightly handsome, possibly being more human than orc. Unknown to Dodd, the Stoutman Caravan hired on a fifth party to station at the PLE: an elf priest named Regeant the Brightloam. As a priest, Regeant exchanged his work as a mediator and medicine worker in exchange for small
pay and a house to stay in–he was also, to Dodd’s disdain, given privy information regarding the ruby operation. Dodd’s plans seemed simple enough: just don’t let the humans know that their lumber mill is a front, and if they find out, bribe them a bit. Business would be fine... Until the day Maovor set his pick on fleshier quarry.
The Survivor The kindling for Maovor’s massacre began with Sunny Rumrick. Being a creative artist and wordsmith, she drew the attention of Rogath, and after eloping with him in secret, became pregnant with his child. To save herself from the hate her traditional family would wrack on her for loving a half-orc, she took a less harsh bereavement by saying the baby’s father was one of the shiphands who docked while picking up lumber. With Regeant’s help, Sunny gave birth to a baby boy: Ruby. And with Regeant’s salves and ointments, she was able to hide Ruby’s half-orc traits until Maovor noticed the toddler’s orcish mannerisms. Enraged that Rogath took one of the human women, Maovar told Kincaid Rumrick the truth about the child, and after Kincaid, in a heated rage, slew Rogath and Sunny, Maovor lost his selfcontrol, took up his pickaxe, and released years of pent up aggression in a revenge killing.
RUBY Small humanoid (half-orc) – CN
Everyone except Ruby and Maovor perished.
Regarding Ruby The half-orc/human lovechild, Ruby, still roams the area. He isn’t afraid of bad weather, which he exemplifies by climbing the watchtower during the storm so he could see the clouds and lightning better. For the duration of the storm, Ruby sits in the watchtower, watching the PC’s as they dash inside. He hasn’t seen anyone other than Maovor since the massacre, and he doesn’t quite know what to do with these strange new people except watch them. If the party ventures out during the rain and enters the watchtower, Ruby can easily hop from the watchtower to the customs office roof and disappear. After the storm clears out the following day, he’s gone. Ruby’s psyche is stressed by two factors: the unconditional love from his mom, Sunny, and aunt, Mona, as well as the unbridled fear from the night that Maovor attacked everyone. He sees humanoid men as threats, especially orcs and other half-orcs, and will intimidate or lob spears at them from a distance if provoked, but women are different. If there’s a female humanoid within the party, Ruby will try and “rescue” her from the party when their guard is down, such as hiding in a room or sneaking up
AC – 12 HP – 4 (1d6) Speed 30ft. INT WIS CHA 4 (-3) 12 (+1) 8 (-1) Senses passive Perception 11 Challenge 0 (0 XP)
STR DEX CON 8 (-1) 14 (+2) 10 (+0) Skills Intimidate +5 Languages Orc (written only) ACTIONS Crude Spear Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack +5 to hit, reach 5ft. or range 20/40 ft., one target. Hit 2 (1d4-1) piercing damage. GEAR Fur clothes, 3 crude spears, letters from parents
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THE SUN GOES DOWN WITH A RUBY SMILE
First Explorings After the party enters the customs office, they will realize one major detail after Tommik leaves to gather supplies: it is freezing cold inside the office. Feel free to tell the party what the office looks like once Tommik leaves.
The Port (1-9) This is the area that handled the shipping of lumber (and rubies!) out of the camp. When the party first arrives in the rain, they’ll barely be able to see ten feet in front of them. The next day, the skies are clear and the party can get a good view of the area.
1. Customs Office: Lobby
on them when they’re sleeping. If there is more than one female, he will try and rescue the one that looks the most attractive (DM’s discretion, charisma might be the deciding factor). Ruby never quite learned how to talk or recognize speech, but he can read simple orc messages thanks to his mother’s and father’s letters and pictures that he keeps collected in his grotto (Area 25). Ruby will communicate by scribbling orc words in the dirt, most of them nothing more complex than noun and adjective compounds. He will assign his own names to the PC’s, such as calling a fat dwarf “Pig,” a lithe elf “Tree,” or a musical bard “Bird.” He will always refer to the female he clings to as “Sun.” Occasionally, Ruby will produce letters from his pouch. They’re mostly old
writings from Rogath teaching Sunny how to write in orc and his mother practicing the script. Sunny’s handwriting is curly and neat. Rogath’s is crude and clumsy. He has a paper with a picture of a ruby scribbled on it that he will try to use to convince the party what his name is. If Ruby is with the party in certain areas, he’ll react in certain ways. Showing a general distrust or eagerness in certain areas that may prove useful for the PC’s. There’s always the chance that the party might kill Ruby, especially if they see him as a wild threat. A failed perception check or a twitchy ranger with a crossbow might shoot him instinctively. Ruby isn’t extremely crucial to the adventure, but the party will most likely enjoy the journey if he partners up with them and follows them around.
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The dank and dark room bristles with a chill that could make a lich shiver. On one side of the room lies a scribe’s desk cluttered with mildewed parchment and old quills, inkwells, ledger books, and a dirty brass nameplate reading “AGRAN DODD.” On the other side is a cast iron, potbelly stove with a rusty smokestack trailing across the ceiling. A rigid safe is nestled in the corner, and there are two doors on either side of the stove, one with a puddle of water pooling out from beneath it. There won’t be any rest tonight if the room doesn’t warm up. The lobby is Dodd’s workplace, where he spent most of his time at the desk, pouring over ledger work and invoices. Investigating the scattered stationery reveals that most of them are molded, with runny ink, but a DC 15 investigate check reveals that many of them have “Stoutman Caravan, Pinewood Logging Exports” in the heading. If Tommik is informed about the papers, he’ll tell the party that the Stoutman Caravan went bankrupt almost five years ago. The safe in the corner is locked, and Tommik will tell the party, “Yer more likely to break a hundred axe heads before you break a safe like that.” The
THE SUN GOES DOWN WITH A RUBY SMILE only way to open the safe (aside from magic or other extreme means) is to find Dodd’s key at his house (Area 8). Inside the safe is a small, cut ruby worth 200gp and the original contracts detailing the work detail for the five different groups on the island. Without finding a suitable source of warmth (the boat is too cold, and the lanterns don’t give off heat), the party won’t shake their exhaustion status effect. There are several ways the party might try and stay warm. Using a winter blanket or other cold weather gear; chopping up the desk and lighting it in the fireplace; or obtaining firewood from a stack in Dodd’s house. They can burn the papers, but the papers burn fast. Someone will have to stay up all night feeding handfuls of paper into the fire. Let the party be creative, but remember that wet wood is hard to light.
2. Customs Office: Dry Room Entering the room, you see two beds with moldy straw mattresses. This is an overnight room for docking ships. It looks like nobody has been in here in a while. Any party member investigating the room further finds that it’s really nothing more than just a normal room. It’s still freezing cold in there, and lying on the mattresses will cause them to tear and crumble, causing the player who tried doing so to land on the floor in a nasty, dirty splat.
3. Customs Office: Wet Room Upon opening the door, strong mist blasts you in the face as you see a ragged hole in the roof. Rain spills down through the hole and runs between the floorboards. There are two beds on either side of the room. Lightning flashes once, revealing a dead body, all bone and tattered clothes, lying in the middle of the floor. This is the corpse of Agran Dodd, who died after falling from the watchtower next to the customs office and crashing through the roof of this room. Heal or
Investigate DC 14 reveals that the corpse is a dwarf’s that died from falling through the ceiling. Approaching the body, however, causes a Giant Rat (MM, p 327) to dash out from beneath the bed and attack the party member who approached the corpse. There isn’t anything on Dodd except for a rusty battleaxe with “DODD” scribbled on it in dwarf runes. Tommik will react to the dwarf corpse with stoic observance, urging the party to leave the corpse be. He’ll bury it in the morning and ask any dwarf in the party to help. Looking through the hole in the ceiling when it’s not raining will reveal the watchtower and the busted railing to whoever looks.
4. The Watchtower: Bottom A three storied, creaky tower juts out of the ground. It shadows the customs office. This tower is was apparently used to spot incoming ships and to keep an eye on the surrounding area. A staircase goes from the ground all the way up to the upper balcony in a side winding fashion. This is Hedgar’s watchtower. The PC’s take notice of a creaking sound when they walk up it. Examining the handrails and posts show several crudely-carved pictures of dwarf heroes and legends, as well as HEDGAR and GRANDFATHER AGRAN carved all over it. These are from Hedgar chiseling away in childish wanton fancy.
5. The Watchtower: Top There’s a section in the open platform top side where the railing has been broken away. A short, stout skeleton with a large hole plunged through its skull lies on the creaky, wooden floor. Remnants of a treehouse style living area are scattered about: a bulging blanket, a strawless mattress, and a busted telescope. The skeleton is Hedgar, and any PC who
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makes a successful Wisdom (heal) check DC 10 or who is familiar with dwarfs recognizes it as a dwarf juvenile. A Wisdom (heal) check DC 14 notices that the hole in its head was caused by a heavy, piercing weapon. Checking under the bulging blanket reveals a severed arm, identified as belonging to a half-orc on a successful Wisdom (heal) check DC 10. This is where Maovor committed his final murders, impaling Hedgar in the head with his pickaxe. Hearing his grandson’s screams, Agran Dodd grabbed his greataxe and stormed up the watchtower, where he dueled with Maovar. In a stroke of luck and skill, the dwarf veteran severed Maovor’s arm, but the vicious half-orc gritted through the searing pain and slammed Agran into the railing, breaking it and toppling the dwarf over the edge where he shattered through customs office roof, dying instantly. Anyone standing near the shattered railing causes a section of the watchtower balcony to collapse. Making a successful Strength (athletics) DC 16 or Dexterity (acrobatics) DC 12 check causes the PC to dodge back to the safe side of the watchtower or cling to the edge. A failure causes the PC to fall and land on part of the roof, taking 1d6 falling damage. A very bad failure causes the PC to fall through the hole in the roof and take 2d6 falling damage. Looking around, a party member can see what looks like two clearings, one with houses and one that’s much bigger, with a herd of animals in it. A successful Wisdom (perception) check DC 20 notices the animals as oxen. There are also two paths leading from the docks to these clearings.
6. Dodd’s House: Living Room The cabin is empty of life except for a few roaches skittering between the floorboards. A mildewed painting of an older dwarf and a younger dwarf bedecks a wall. The fireplace against the wall sports a well-stocked woodpile next to it,
THE SUN GOES DOWN WITH A RUBY SMILE and above the mantle is an empty weapon’s display hook. There are two doors, one on each side of the mantle. By the looks of the chairs and tables, this was definitely someone’s home. The painting is of Dodd and Hedgar, and it was painted by Sunny, whose signature can be found in the bottom corner if the players look hard enough. Ruby will recognize his mother’s name instantly and react to it. Searching the room reveals a tin of tobacco and an ivory pipe (20 gp). Any food or drink that would be stored in the cupboards has long since been eaten by roaches. Ruby will recognize his mother’s painting style and point out her signature.
7. Dodd’s House: Library You see a small library with a bookshelf on opposite walls. A reading chair sits against a desk. Most of the books look like they’ve been eaten by rats and worms. On one wall, where a window should be, is a large map in a glass display case. Examining the bookshelf reveals nothing but books that have been chewed away, the binding coming unglued and falling apart. Examining the map shows a detailed scribbling of the logging camp as well as the names of the people who worked there, including their positions. Extracting the map from its display case is easy if the party wishes to take it with them. Examining the map gives the players the following details. A flourish of calligraphy reads “Pinewood Lumber Export,” and a forested area is drawn out. Near the coast is the customs office, a watchtower, and a cabin, as well as the marina. Two trails lead off, one to a small clearing with two houses and a shack, the other to an enormous clearing with a fenced area and a great tent, suggesting a logging clearing. These places are
connected by a trail as well. You can then tell them about four lists, each with names under them. The players can write these names down if they want to represent them taking the map with them, or you can write them down for them beforehand and hand them the list. The categories and names are as follows, in this order, LOGGING: Kincade Rumrick, Vinnie Lent, Paddy Lent, Monroe Lent. STEWARDS: Mrs. Rumrick, Sunny Rumrick, Mona Rumrick, Regeant Brightloam, Ruby Rumrick. SECURITY: Maovor, Rogath. ADMIN: Agran Dodd, Hedgar Dodd. Looking at the map for an extended period of time or examining it closely reveals that the name, Ruby Rumrick, is written in handwriting not as crisp and artistic as the rest of the names, possibly added in later. Also, Sunny Rumrick’s signature is on the map since she painted it as well. Ruby will see this and recognize it as well.
8. Dodd’s House: Bedroom A clothes rack of tunics, breeches, and bandanas give the idea that this room belonged to a male dwarf. The bed is low to the ground, and the room is mostly intact. There is a wooden dresser opposite the bed and a nightstand near the bed. Pilfering through the clothes rack and dresser will yield 2 sets of work clothes, 2 sets of artisan’s clothes, and a big, wooly cape. Inside the nightstand is 27gp and 4sp, as well as an intact, hardbound book: Morbin’s Almanac of Precious Stones, which includes prints and descriptions of several gems, including rubies. Tommik will price the book at 40gp and will offer to buy it. Inside the almanac is the key to the safe in area 1. Also, anyone using the almanac to appraise a ruby or ruby ore will know its full value.
9. Dodd’s Well This stone well is hidden behind a bunch
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of overgrown bushes. It’s been covered by a metal-wrought grate. Players actively searching the area can stumble across this well. Dropping rocks or anything small through the cracks shows that there’s still water beneath it. If the party is able to remove the grate and climb down, they’ll come across a small, 10 x 10 underground water area with 8d6 cp scattered around the bottom.
The Residencies (10-18) The Lents, Rumricks, and Regeant lived here before they died. There are two cabin style houses in a clearing, a small patch of overgrown grass where Regeant’s house burned down, and an old well. Two paths lead off to the Port and the Clearing.
10. Rumrick’s House: Living Room The front door to this house is wide open, and there’s a wooden dining table with five chairs around it, one with a pillow in the seat. A fireplace thick with ash and with a hanging kettle sits against the wall, and there are several torn paintings on the wall. There are two doors leading to other rooms, both bashed in. The dining table is where the Rumrick family sat for dinner. The chair with the pillow was for Ruby. The torn paintings are all of animals, trees, and flowers. They were destroyed in Kincaid Rumrick’s rage after finding out Sunny’s bastard lovechild was from Rogarth and not one of the port sailors. Approaching the fireplace shows that there is a message carved into the wooden mantle, “Let not the diseased hog sire” And a dagger is shoved into the wood at the last letter, as if punctuating the point. The kettle is empty, and searching the room finds nothing but silverware, plates, and other household basics worth 5gp at most. Digging through the ash
THE SUN GOES DOWN WITH A RUBY SMILE finds the burned remnants of Sunny’s love letters to Rogath, which are written in orcish. Kincaid threw them into the fire after finding them. Ruby recognizes the paintings and letters, reacting to them with longing. He’s been in this house before, but he hasn’t taken anything because he’s skittish and superstitious.
window behind her and strangled her in her sleep. On the desk is a forgotten inkwell and quill, as well as two crossbow bolts. A damp, moldy book, Divine Bosnir, lies open, slivers of paper marking several passages. The ink is too runny to read, but any successful religion check recognizes it as a collection of religious texts for the Church of Bosnir, a lawful
the back wall, the right one is smashed down. The middle and left ones are intact.
11. Rumrick’s House: Bedroom A
neutral deity with a small following among rural people. Bosnir’s followers are very utilitarian: hard work and perseverance above all else, which when followed justly, can create paragons of determined people. When followed unjustly, it can create superiority complexes that border the line between zealot and psychopath. One telltale sign of a Bosnir worshipper is that his followers carve or write appropriate scripture from Divine Bosnir on their tools, carts, boats, and sometimes tattoo them onto their bodies. The crossbow bolts are regular crossbow bolts. Kincaid had been scribing scripture from Divine Bosnir onto his crossbow bolts, preparing to kill Sunny and Rogath. The two bolts on the desk don’t have any scripture on them. Ruby doesn’t recognize the bolts as anything special since they’re not inscribed. Searching the wardrobe produces three sets of work clothes for a man and woman each. Under the bed is a trunk with 240sp in it, as well as 11gp.
after they ran out of their rooms, hearing Vinnie’s laments. Searching the bodies finds a short sword on each one, as well as dingy nightclothes. It looks like they were killed after just waking up.
The door to this room is kicked in, and the place is entirely disheveled: broken paintings, scattered dresses, splintered bedposts, even a broken window. Last night’s rain has soaked the outer half of the room. Sunny and Mona shared the same room, and the room is in shambles from a combination of Kincaid turning it inside out while searching for evidence of Sunny’s affair, as well as from Maovor’s rampage. Searching the room finds busted paint bottles, dried paint, dirty work clothes, and a broken wooden chest that’s the perfect size for storing letters. Looking around the window shows that this room is within perfect eyesight of the bedroom windows from the Lent brothers’ house.
12. Rumrick’s House: Bedroom B This is the master bedroom. A large bed sits in the center with a dead woman dressed in nightclothes on one side of it. The window behind the bed is shattered. A writing desk and wardrobe sit around the room. The parents’ bedroom is largely untouched, except for the soaked mattress. The corpse is Mrs. Rumrick, who died when Maovor broke the
13. Lent House: Living Room This room is full of hunting trophies, antlers, and skins. Several steins and drinking paraphernalia are scattered about. On the wall is a painting of a coat of arms: two axes crossed behind a stout oak trunk. Two lifeless bodies lie in the left corner. There are three doors along
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The coat of arms has Sunny’s signature on it. A search of this room finds several rotted away hunting trophies and silverware that’s grown tarnished. The two bodies are Monroe and Paddy Lent, who were gouged by Maovor’s pickaxe
14. Lent House: Bedroom A The room is damp from rain, as seen by the broken window on the side. A dead body under blood-matted sheets lies on the bed, and the furniture has succumbed to rot years ago. The body is Vinnie Lent’s. After Maovor entered the Lent house, he busted down Vinnie’s bedroom door and killed him in his bed. Examining him shows multiple gouges. Also, pulling the sheets off of him excites a swarm of wasps that have built a next in his ribs (MM pg.338). Players that makes a successful perception check can hear small buzzing sounds from under the sheets.
15. Lent House: Bedroom B The room is filthy, but by the looks of it, this place was a wreck before the murders. There’s a bed lying in the center, and a tripod-mounted spyglass sitting against the window. A spittoon sits in the corner near a dresser overflowing with clothes. This is Paddy Lent’s bedroom. He was a
THE SUN GOES DOWN WITH A RUBY SMILE slob and a pervert, and anyone who examines the busted spyglass can see that the spyglass is aimed at the window to the girls’ bedroom at the Rumrick’s house. The spyglass itself is tarnished and old, the lenses foggy, but can be sold for 50gp for scrap. Looking under the bed finds women’s undergarments, stolen by Paddy. The clothes in the dresser are all gigantic since Paddy was a large man. The whole room smells of mildew and rot. Ruby doesn’t like this room, and will write EVIL EYES repeatedly in orcish on the walls with a charcoal piece.
16. Lent House: Bedroom C This is a man’s bedroom containing a bed, dresser, and several scattered maps and charts. It’s tidier in appearance than the other two bedrooms. There’s a rotten violin lying on the bed. This is Monroe Lent’s bedroom. Examining the maps shows that they’re from several shipping companies, possibly special ordered. Comparing the maps to some of the charts shows that this individual had plans to travel. Sorting around the furniture yields a few books not worth any more than 5gp, but digging under the pillow finds an opened envelope containing a letter of acceptance from Tristan Musician Academy, as well as a list of costs and supplies needed. Along with the envelope is a hidden stash of 68gp. Monroe Lent was planning on leaving the lumber mill and sneaking away to school, but Maovor ended his life before he could do so.
17. Regeant’s House An array of blackened posts and ash give away that there used to be a house here until it burned down. Regeant’s house burned down when he attacked the rampaging Maovor with a burning hands spell, torching half of Maovor’s body before being cut down by the pickaxe.
Digging around the overgrowth and remaining ash disturbs a smoke mephit (MM, pg.217) that attacks the party. Ruby knows that the smoke mephit is there and will avoid the area, scribbling random combinations of EVIL SMOKE DEATH in the ground. A successful Arcana (Int) check DC 13 reveals that some smoke mephits haunt places where people burned to death, feeding on the anguished memories of the burnt victims’ demise. Slaying the smoke mephit makes a “memory” appear in its remains, emanating like a floating picture: The smoke incarnation dissipates into a billowing residue, the ashes of its body reforming into three ghostly shades. One of the shades is hunched over and tall, elfish in appearance. The second shade runs to it, shaped like a human female, arms flailing in a panic. They run around, making as if to hide in the ash, when the third shade rumbles in. The third shade is tall and broad, monstrous in form, and pantomimes breaking through a door. The elfish shade raises its arms as though casting a spell, and ash spews forth from its hands, covering the third shade. As if shaking off a headache, the monstrous shade plows through the silent spell cast by the first shade and raises its hand. A pickaxe-shaped tool forms out of the ash in the monster shade’s fist and crashes into the elf shade, bursting it into smoldering flecks. The second, female shade makes to run, but the monster shade raises the pickaxe and charges her. As it approaches the shivering, female shade, the ashes formed by the dead mephit coalesce inward as though pulled by an unseen force, then explode outward. A smoky haze fills the area where this house used to stand, slowly drifting to the ground. The reenactment is complete, and the wretched elemental mephit won’t haunt these grounds anymore. There is no other loot in the area. The players have just witnessed Mona
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running to Regeant for help and Maovor bursting through the door, slaying both of them.
18. Residents’ Well This stone well still has a chain attached to it. The other end of the chain disappears down into the well. This is the well that Sunny Rumrick would use to drop letters down to Rogath. Anyone venturing down into the well ends up in Area 25.
The Clearing (19-20) The large array of rotted stumps near the tree line gives away that this was a logging camp. There’s an old livestock pen with oxen meandering around it, as well as old carts, some with rotten tree trunks in them. A dilapidated tent sits to one side. There are two paths leading away. This is the logging area where the Lents and Kincaid Rumrick would cut down trees and tote them to the port using the oxen and the carts. The dilapidated tent is where Maovor and Rogath lived. The two paths lead to the Port and the Residencies.
19. Livestock Pen A rundown livestock pen encircles almost half of the clearing. Most of the fencing has fallen over, but the oxen seem to be staying in the area. Even though the fence isn’t holding the oxen at bay, they still consider the pen a home. There are roughly twenty oxen grazing in the area. About half of them are young, the others old. The oxen are familiar with people since they were used to haul carts of lumber, but disturbing them will cause the bull oxen to attack (use the Giant Goat stats from MM p. 326).
20. Half-Orc Tents This old, worn out tent is orcish in appearance. It looks as if it collapsed
THE SUN GOES DOWN WITH A RUBY SMILE many years ago. Rogath and Maovor lived here. Looking through the tent fabric reveals a ladder leading down into a hole. Going down this ladder leads to area 21. The half-orcs built their tent over the entrance to the mine so that they could dig for rubies without anyone catching onto what they were doing.
The Mine (21-28) There are two ways of entering the mine. The primary entrance is through the halforc tents (area 20), and the second entrance through the residents’ well (area 18). The mine is long and twisted, having been carved out for several years by Rogath and Maovor. There are certain areas where larger dig sites are carved out, but there is an underground river that is revealed in the lower levels. There are no sconces for torches or light since the half-orcs could see in the dark At the very end of the mine is Maovor, who can’t escape the area he’s trapped in. He might roar occasionally, especially if the party makes a lot of noise or gets closer to him. Feel free to have perception checks made to hear an echoing bellow from deep down the cave. The closer the party gets to him, the worse the place smells. Ruby will help lead them if they feel lost.
21. Primary Entrance A ladder leads twenty feet down from the half-orc tents. This entrance to the cave has two pickaxes nestled near the front, and jagged walls and floors from years of carving. The tunnel leads forward. If the half-orc tents have been moved from the entrance above, dim sunlight can spill in through this room.
22. First Dig Site The tunnel opens into a circular room
with a pit dug out in the center. At the bottom of the pit is a patch of water from where the diggers dug too deep. The tunnel continues on the other side of the pit. This area is picked clean of any rubies or treasure. There are footprints all over the place from where the orcs walked back and forth. Examining the water reveals that the rocks at the bottom are full of cracks that the water is seeping up from. Trying to break the cracks doesn’t reveal any secret passages, just more cracked rock.
23. First Bend Around the first bend is a dead body pinned to the wall by a pickaxe. The tunnel continues on into another dig site. After killing Rogath and Sunny, Kincaid Rumrick was slain by Maovor–he was the first victim in Maovor’s revenge. Maovor slammed a pick into him, pinning him to the wall and leaving him in the cave walls. Examining the body shows that there’s a note pinned to his shirt with a crossbow bolt. The note is bloody with fingerprints, and there’s dried blood on Kincaid’s hands. The charcoal-written note reads “MY LITTLE SUNSHINE CRIED OVER THE MONSTER AND I SHOT HER TOO. I’M SORRY. MAOVOR DESERVES HIS VENGEANCE FOR-” and ends in ragged writing. Kincaid wrote the note and pinned it to himself before dying. His crossbow is lying next to him, and the bolt pinned to his shirt has a piece of scripture written on it, “Good men rot; dead men rot.” The crossbow itself has writing on it, “Food for the hunter, life for the family.” Ruby reacts to the bolts with unease because he associates them with his parents’ death.
24. Second Dig Site This site is very similar to the previous dig site, obviously a spot where the miners found some ore deposits and decided to clear out the area. There’s a patch of running water in the center of the dig
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area. Not much in this room is different than the previous dig site, though if anyone looks into the water, they find that is part of an underground estuary that travels under the dig site and exits into area 25. A successful investigation check reveals a trail of blood starting halfway through the blood and leading into the water. This is where Kincaid Rumrick saw Rogath and shot him with a bolt, then chased him into the water. Ruby will show the party that it’s possible to swim through the water, demonstrating it by hopping in and out and ushering them to follow him. If the party starts to leave the second site and continue on, Ruby shows concern. He knows that Maovor lives back there and doesn’t want to disturb him, but Ruby also is keen on the idea that the adventurers might be able to kill the bestial half-orc.
25. Rogath’s Grotto A giant, underground grotto encircles the room. A large pool of water sits in the center, and a chain with a bucket dangles from a hole in the ceiling. Up against the wall, out of the water, are two corpses embracing each other, a crossbow bolt sticking out of each one. A stack of folded parchment papers sits next to them. A makeshift bed made of grass and scrap fabric is there as well. Bits of ruby ores are wedged in the wall behind the corpses, as well as some ore set over their bodies for decoration. Sunny and Rogath would meet in this grotto when they were eloping in secret. They would also communicate with each other with letters by lowering them and raising them to the well above using the chain and bucket. Rogath died in Sunny’s arms after Kincaid chased him through the underground estuary and into the grotto. He then shot his daughter with his crossbow. The Bosnir scripture written on Rogath’s bolt is “And thus Bosnir smote
THE SUN GOES DOWN WITH A RUBY SMILE his Bile and Bilge, casting them from their thrones with his stout bolts,” and the scripture on Sunny’s bolt is “She goes down with a ruby smile, the blood of innocence quaffed upon her lips.” The stack of parchment papers are Sunny’s writings, most of them love notes to Rogath. All of these include pictures as well, the words describing the pictures written in orcish with Sunny’s delicate handwriting. The makeshift sleeping area is Ruby’s: this is where he lives. He scavenged what little bits of shiny ore he could find and placed it on his parents like gravestone flowers (worth 50gp). Ruby will act or write out whatever
he can to let the party know that these are his parents and that this is his safe haven. Any party member trying to remove the ruby ores from the wall or bodies will be met with snarling and aggressive behavior from Ruby, who equates the act with defamation. The water is very crisp and quenching, and the area will make a good resting place if the party chooses to camp for a little bit.
26. Second Bend The tunnel from the second dig site continues around a curve. There’s not much to see here other than
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the carved out areas of places where the miners sought out more ore.
27. Third Dig Site The tunnel leads to a huge drop off, at least twenty feet down. The room is enormous with a large pool of rushing water in the center. Piles of fish bones litter the floor near the water, and the stench of rot fills the air. Maovor has been trapped down in the area past the third dig site for years. Having only one arm, he can’t climb the drop off point, and investigating the steep drop off area shows several pickaxe holes from where he tried to pull himself
THE SUN GOES DOWN WITH A RUBY SMILE up. If the party hasn’t been sneaking silently, Maovor knows of their intrusion and is hiding, waiting for them to climb past the drop off point before attacking. The bone-scattered area around the water is sloped and slick with rotten fish and dung. Anyone other than Rogath who steps near it must make an Acrobatic (Dex) save DC 10 or slip into the rushing water and be swept down to area 24..
28. Maovor’s Lair The stench of rot and feces rakes the air in this final, hollowed out area. It looks as if a rabid monster lived here. Maovor will attack the first PC to enter this room, charging at them to shove them towards the water in area 27. This area is where Maovor sleeps. There are bits of ruby ore scattered around it (50gp) and one large chunk that is lodged where his missing eye would be.
Maovor’s Fight Maovor is a one-armed, half-burned, one-eyed half-orc whose past five years have been spent trapped beneath the ground, surviving off of fish. His stomach and jowls bulge and sag, and a chunk of ruby ore in his burned out eye socket glistens. His mind has deteriorated into madness, and he’s now more monster than sentient. After charging the first player to enter his lair, Maovor will try and bash a hero with his rock, stunning the hero so that he can steal one of their one-handed melee weapons. If any of the party members is carrying a mining pick or war pick, he will choose one of them. Maovor will prefer to fight around the water, bellowing and puking until he can obtain a melee weapon from the party. Even though Maovor isn’t afraid of the water, if he falls in, he’s too fat to fit through the narrow waterways beneath the cave and will get stuck in the tight space, drowning. Any party member who
MAOVOR Medium humanoid (half-orc) – CE
AC – 9 HP – 35 (4d6 +16) Speed 30ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 16 (+3) 8 (-1) 18 (+4) 7 (-2) 12 (+1) 8 (-1) Skills Athletics +6 (-2 on checks Senses passive Perception 11, involving swimming), survival +5 darkvision 60ft. Languages Common, orc Challenge 1 (200 XP) Born to Filth. Maovir automatically passes Dexterity (acrobatics) checks when moving across terrain covered in his bile or rotten fish heads. Murderer’s Choice. When attacking with a mining pick or war pick, Maovor deals an additional 1d6 piercing damage. Relentless Endurance. When reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, Maovor drops to 1 hit point instead. Savage Attacks. When Maovor scores a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, he can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit. ACTIONS Rock. Melee Weapon Attack +5 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit 5 (1d4+3) piercing damage. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution save or else be stunned for one round. LEGENDARY ACTIONS Maovor can take 2 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. Maovor regains spent legenary actions at the start of his turn. Bellow. Maovir screams at a creature. The creature must succeed on a DC 13 Charisma save or be frightened for one round. Bile Puddle. Maovor regurgitates all over an adjacent 5-foot square. Creatures who are in it or who enter it must make a DC 13 Dexterity (acrobatics) check or fall prone. GEAR 1 large chunk of ruby ore in his eye socket (worth 250gp). has been down into the water can make a DC 18 Wisdom (perception) check to realize that Maovor’s girth is substantially large compared to the waterway. Feel free to be as nasty with Maovor as possible. After all, he’s been stuck in this area for over five years covered in nothing but rotten food and filth. He hasn’t taken any baths because he is afraid of the rushing water. Maovor doesn’t “make an attack,” he “swings a greasy fist, shouting in malignant fury as slaver drips down his meaty jowls.”
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Unless heavily influenced by the party, Ruby won’t fight Maovor. He’s brave enough sitting at the top of the drop off point. Maovor will never beg for mercy, choosing to fight until his death. His existence is miserable, and only by bringing misery onto others will his cankered soul find some kind of rest.
Aftermath Chances are that the party has obtained a
THE SUN GOES DOWN WITH A RUBY SMILE solid haul of loot and gear, as well as determine the mystery behind the Pinewood Lumber Export’s massacre and the Stoutman Caravan’s fall to ruin. Let the party divvy up their loot as they see fit amongst themselves. With the mystery solved and the area cleared out, the party can choose to do what they want in regards to Captain Tommik. Chances are that Tommik won’t know what happened, and they can be honest with him by telling him what happened, or lie and say that there’s nothing of interest on the island. By letting Tommik know what happened, he will know that there’s a ruby mine on the island. For adventures after this one, they could broker this information with Tommik’s company and make some money off of it, or by keeping the information privy to themselves, sell it to the highest bidder and ignore Captain Tommik’s input. Either way, the captain and Bottsin will be ready to sail out since the storm’s cleared. If Ruby has made it all the way to the end with the PC’s, they might try to get Ruby to travel with them. Ruby will be hesitant since he’s wild and used to his home on the port. Though there are other ways that Ruby might decide to go with the party: he can become an NPC companion, clinging to the female who he deems his new mother, or another person can roll up a character sheet for him and use him as a PC (build him like a half-orc barbarian, chaotic neutral, with an outlander background.) Though unlikely, it’s possible that the party can subdue Maovor instead of killing him. After all, Maovor knows common, and even though his mind is mostly gone, can still communicate to a degree. The party can use the evidence they’ve found to take Maovor to a nearby city and have him arrested and tried for his crimes, possibly obtaining a reward if they can find the former members of the Stoutman Caravan or people who were acquainted with the slain victims. There’s also the chance that the party decides to tell nobody about the
port, using it as their own personal base. After all, there are plenty of houses that only need minor repairs, as well as a watchtower and some oxen that can be tamed for food and labor. Captain Tommik could even offer to be their personal courier, ferrying food and supplies to them from other locales for a small share of their loot. If the party chooses to work the mines, one individual mining at least 8 hours a day can find 3d6+6 gp worth of ruby ore in areas 27 and 28, though there’s a chance they’ll mine the areas clean and have to dig tunnels for more. The opportunities are endless, and Ruby can help them out as well. He might even like the added company, especially if it means having another mother figure in his life or some friends to play with.
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THE SUN GOES DOWN WITH A RUBY SMILE
APPENDIX A 1 SQUARE= 5 ft.
Custom’s Office (1-3)
The Watchtower: Top (4)
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THE SUN GOES DOWN WITH A RUBY SMILE
APPENDIX A (cont) 1 SQUARE = 5 ft.
Dodd’s House (6-8)
Rumrick’s House (10-12)
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THE SUN GOES DOWN WITH A RUBY SMILE
APPENDIX A (cont) 1 SQUARE = 5 ft.
Lent House (13-16)
APPENDIX B World Map (Width ~ 3 miles)
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THE SUN GOES DOWN WITH A RUBY SMILE
APPENDIX C 1 SQUARE = 5 ft.
The Mine (21-28)
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