Guide to Running the Whispering Cairn, Part 1

Guide to Running the Whispering Cairn

Reference Material

•  Official Web and Handout Supplement
• I have not found a way to purchase a PDF. You can certainly find copies online, but I mostly worked from my hard copy. 
• Diamond Lake Player's Guide
• Age of Worms Guide on the Giant in the Playground forums. 
• I uses monsters from dnd 2024 when possible, and supplement with months from the Monster Manual Expanded I, II, and III

Whispering Cairn Background

• Uluvant was the last explorer of the Whispering Cairn, 60 years ago. Uluvant was a member of the seekers, unscrupulous treasure seekers.
• The Whispering Cairn was the final resting place of Zosiel, a Wind Duke who died in the Battle of Pesh against the forces of elemental evil led by Miska the Wolf Spider. The Wind Duke Nardoc architected his tomb.
• Many youths dared each other to enter the cave, but most quit after a girl disappeared in the cave 6 years ago

Adventure Flowchart

1. Characters meet up at the old mining office to plan their exploration of the Whispering Cairn.
2. Characters explore the Cairn until they meet Alastor Land's ghost.
3. Characters go to the Land homestead and find that the Land's family remains were victims of grave robbing.
4. Characters go to The Feral Dog to find the graverobbers to learn that the bodies are at the observatory.
5. Characters go to the observatory, defeat Filge the necromancer, and gather the Land's remains to inter.
6. With his family’s remains at rest, Alastor retreats, but not before opening the way to the actual tomb.
7. The party explores the real tomb.
8. Adventure epilogue.

Whispering Cairn, Part 1: Before the False Tomb

1. Coward’s Rest
   1. Summary: The ruined entrance of an ancient tomb, with horizontal bands of scrollwork.
   2. Checks:
      1. Wisdom (Survival) DC 9 to identify the trail of wolves that frequently visit the caves.
      2. Intelligence (Investigation) DC 9 to remember that the bedroll might have belonged to a girl who disappeared from the Cairn years ago. Advantage on the check if the character is less than 20 years old and from Diamond Lake.
      3. Intelligence (Investigation) DC 12 to notice small holes in the scrollwork that make the whistling sound.
2. Transport Alcolve
   1. Summary: An alcove that contains the ruins of a transportation device.
   2. Checks:
      1. Intelligence (Investigation) DC 9 to find chunks of stone around the device that might be valuable.
      2. Intelligence (Arcana) DC 10 to identify the glyphs on the device are associated with teleportation magic.
      3. Keep the DCs listed in the adventure for determining information about the glyphs.
   3. Threats: Wolves in area 4 might hear the characters if they make a lot of noise.
   4. Treasure: The chunks of stone are worth up to 20 gp to the right buyer.
3. Collapsed Passage
   1. Summary: Collapsed passage conceals a functioning teleporter that the characters can’t access right now.
   2. Threats: Wolves in area 5 might hear the characters if they make a lot of noise.
4. Hall of Honor
   1. Summary: The words on the wind in Auran are stronger here. A partially collapsed passage leads to the wolf den in area 5. The main path ahead is covered in cobwebs and leads to area 7.
   2. Threats: Wolves in area 5 will likely hear characters here unless they are stealthy.
5. Wolf Den
   1. Summary: A den for three wolves with an important item. Characters have to crawl beneath the partially collapsed tunnel to get to it.
   2. Checks:
      1. DC 9 Intelligence (Investigation) check to find an old leather backpack with an Indigo lantern that is useful for Area 7.
      2. DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation) check to find an elven armband.
      3. DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check to find a broken marble finger, formerly attached to the sarcophagus lid in area 7.
   3. Threats: 3 wolves. One is bigger than the others and has maximum hit points.
   4. Treasure: The elven armband is worth 75 gp, or 100 gp to an elf.
6. Gallery of Seven Lanterns
   1. Summary: Fresco with a clue about how to get past the door in area 8.