Roth’s Bolt Festival

An adventure for characters level 1 to 3.

Background

Once every thousand years the comet Roth’s Bolt is visible in the night’s sky. It is said that Roth, the god of civility and order, saw the encroachment of the darkness behind the stars so he pulled out his bow and shot a bolt of fire and ice to keep the horrors at bay. Now, every thousand years people get together to celebrate civilization, the protection government provides, and tell ghost stories of the monsters held at bay. 

The comet is only a week away and hundreds of people have come to the village of Prism Bay to observe the astrological event. It is in a unique place where the comet is observable for the longest period of time. The streets are filled with games, music, and merchants from all around. One of the biggest attractions is Grillgappa’s Beasts of Fancy. Grillgappa the kobold has collected odd creatures to dress up and use them to tell fanciful stories for a bit of coin. A few of the creatures he’s collected have been more of a bother than others to keep. The most notable of these is the jar of Tumblers.

Quest

During the night, a brigade of tumblers conducted a siege on Grillgappa’s zoo. They not only freed the captured tumbler tribe, but also released several of the other creatures to wreak havoc on their captor and the fools entertained by their imprisonment.  The community needs help restoring order.

Grillgappa is willing to pay 20 gp for the capture of his prized allosaurus, and 5 gp for every other creature.  Mayor Ruloth will pay 20 gp to the group if no citizens are harmed during the collection. 

Notes

  • Grillgappa’s Beasts of Fancy has numerous creatures on display including a caged **peryton**, a caged cockatrice (actually a disguised **hawk**), a **crawling hand** from a zombie in a glass box, an **allosaurus** he keeps docile by keeping it poisoned, a shackled **kuo-toa**, a glass jug containing **Tumblers**(see below), Flying frogs, a tressym, and a **blink dog** with clipped ears.
  • The **tumbler brigade** is conducting their raid on the backs of a flock of macaws. Use the **swarm of ravens** stat block for the birds.
  • If the tumblers are recaptured by the heroes, their leader General Click-Clack will surrender to the heroes with a tiny white leaf. He will use his ability to speak broken common to try to negotiate the release of his soldiers. He is barely audible within a distance of 5 feet, and it is clear that he is shouting in order to be heard that well.