Acute Adventures: The Horror of Kwaka

Greetings and salutations, dungeon masters and dungeoneers. This week, I'd like to introduce you all to a short project on RJD20.com: A short series of adventures. Today's adventure uses vegepygmies, the monster discussed in this week's Musing Over Monsters article. Without further ado, onto my first Acute Adventure: The Horror of Kwaka. Let's roll.

The Horror of Kwaka

A tiny village nestled in the dense jungle of Iwanagig is locked in a state of horror as an already frightening monstrosity haunts them, returned to life with blight and brawn. This is a short adventure for player characters of levels 1-3 using the fifth edition Dungeons and Dragons rule set.

If you would prefer reading in .pdf format, here's a link to the .pdf.

NPCs

1. Molizuma: A dark-skinned human female with sharp bone earrings who leads the village of Kwaka. She will drive communication with any beings passing through Kwaka.
2. Tlatonk: An ebony-skinned human male with vicious teeth marks and scars across his face and exposed chest. He is willing to help the party track the horror.
3. The Horror: A massive tyrannosaurus covered in dull, crimson moss that emanates poisonous spores. Its skeletal ribs poke through its scales and its missing multiple teeth. Use a tyrannosaurus stat block with half the hit points for this creature.

Part I: Arriving in Kwaka

The party either hears about the horror plaguing the jungle around Kwaka and travels there, are natives, or happen upon Kwaka by accident. The villagers speak broken common and their own language, but plead with any strong-looking individuals that pass through the village. In Kwaka, the PCs can learn about the surrounding area and the horror. Use the following information as a guide:

1. A local vegepygmy tribe constantly fights with the village over a source of rich, fresh water.
2. A great reptilian beast patrols the spring now. The villagers have seen its tracks and fresh kills. Both are infected with a mold that “makes skin peel like bananas.”
3. If the party can defeat the beast, the village will gift them a treasured, golden idol and their eternal thanks.

Part II: Tracking the Horror

To find the horror in Iwanagig, the party will need to complete four skill checks (examples below). If they fail a check, they face an encounter in the jungle. If all four encounters are found before a successful skill check is made, they happen upon a moldy trail leading to the horror.

Possible Checks

• Investigation DC 10: Someone finds enormous tracks covered in red mold.
• Survival DC 11: Someone discovers a freshly killed capybara covered in bloody mold.
• Nature DC 12: Someone stumbles upon a trail of red mold that leads to a stream.
• Perception DC 15: Someone sees trees rustling in the distance.

Encounters (d4)

• 2d4 vegepygmies leap from the jungle foliage, sharpened sticks drawn!
• 1d4 vegepygmies and 1 thorny set up an ambush for the party, waiting for the best moment to strike.
• 1d4-1 party members stumble in a 20’ patch of quicksand! Every round, stuck PCs sink 5’. It takes two DC 14 Athletics or Acrobatics checks to escape.
• The party discovers a lost child from Kwaka. They are starving and infected with russet mold disease.

Part III: Fighting the Horror

The PCs discover the horror near the spring, strangely resting near its bountiful banks. Tending to the creature’s wounds are 3 vegepygmies; 1 thorny stands guard. If any loud sound is made or the horror is attacked, it will awaken and assault the party.

1. When the combat begins, the spring erupts, revealing itself to be a magical geyser, angered by battle near its waters. Steam sprays everywhere, dealing 1d4 fire damage to anyone within 20’ of the spring who fails a DC 12 Dexterity Saving Throw.
2. If the horror falls, the vegepygmies attempt to retreat back to their lair.

Aftermath

If the PCs slay the horror, they can follow the vegepygmies’ trail back to their underground lair, a cavern covered in russet mold. Within, a vegepygmy chief rules, treasure taken from intrepid adventurers sits, and a cure to russet mold disease hides, held by the chief. This could be useful if the party encounters the child infected by russet mold disease. Surely the vegepygmy tribe will not be complacent with the defeat of their horror, and will seek revenge upon Kwaka if not taken out first.
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Again, here's the .pdf link to The Horror of Kwaka.

That's it! I hope you enjoyed the brief adventure. I'll be doing this every Wednesday, and who knows, perhaps next week shall continue the Horror of Kwaka...

Until next time, fare thee well!

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