TEXT: EN World EN5IDER | The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster
  The Mystery of
  Mordecai’s
  MONSTER
  a fifth edition- 
  compatible adventure
  for 3–5 pcs of 3rd level
   
  writing Dan Head
   
  art Nick Cramp
   
   Rick Hershey
   
  map Justin Andrew Mason
   
  editing James Haeck
   
  layout Eric Life-Putnam
  EN World EN5IDER | The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster
  
  The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster | EN World EN5IDER
  shops, and a rundown keep, along with the many 
  fishermen and scrub farmers who make up the 
  bulk of the town’s inhabitants. 
   
  Despite everything, Baron Pavel is not a 
  wealthy man. He keeps less than two dozen men 
  under arms, and of these he has already dis-
  patched a squad to search for his son. The search 
  party never returned, and Pavel cannot now 
  afford to send more. For this reason, he has hired 
  the characters to continue the search. The baron 
  can hardly afford to pay mercenaries, but with his 
  only son missing, he has little choice.
  Caer Lucan
  A typical upland fishing village, Caer Lucan has 
  a small but well-maintained wharf set in front of 
  a row of neat houses and local businesses. The 
  wharf is home to the town’s fishing fleet while 
  the rest of the settlement consists of a smithy, a 
  temple, and a general store. Baron Pavel’s keep 
  stands atop a low rise at the north end of town. 
  The town has one tavern, the Tipsy Mermaid.
   
  Caer Lucan’s best asset is its harbor, which is 
  protected by a man-made jetty and a long, skinny 
  island that runs parallel to the shore. Together the 
  jetty and the island make Caer Lucan a safe port 
  in even the roughest storms.
  Caer Lucan NPCs
  Baron Polonius Pavel
   
  Race: Human
   
  Profession: Ruler of Caer Lucan
   
  Description: A spindly man of some fifty years, 
  habitually wearing an old silk robe over thread-
  bare leggings. Once his clothes were the height of 
  fashion; now they are another example of Pavel’s 
  fading fortunes.
   
  Notable Facts: The baron owns many once-fine 
  things that are now well-used and badly worn. 
  This includes his rugs, the tapestries on his walls, 
  and his furniture. His keep is in a state of general 
  disrepair.
   
  Sounds Like: An aging, desperate professor—
  and a father.
  GM Introduction
  Baron Polonius Pavel’s son is missing. 
   
  Everyone in the village of Caer Lucan knows 
  young Evan Pavel as a worthless wastrel of the 
  most egregious sort, but despite years of disap-
  pointment, the baron has steadfastly stood by his 
  only son. In desperation, Pavel finally sent Evan to 
  live with the eccentric but well-respected wizard 
  Maximillian Mordecai to serve as the wizard’s ap-
  prentice. Mordecai’s tower sits a few miles outside 
  of town. Evan went there to live with the wizard 
  some time ago but has since disappeared. Now 
  no one has seen either man in months. The baron 
  had hoped Evan’s forced apprenticeship would 
  teach his son some manners and maybe provide 
  him with at least the semblance of an education. 
  Instead, it’s thrown the future of the barony’s 
  succession into question. With Evan missing and 
  the growing threat of orc raiders throughout the 
  countryside, Baron Pavel has been forced to hire a 
  group of outland adventurers to help him find his 
  missing son and heir.
   
  Upon investigation, the party will discover that 
  Mordecai was a madman who spliced together 
  body parts from the corpses of sentient creatures 
  in an ill-advised attempt to “improve” on their 
  natural designs. Unfortunately, he made the mis-
  take of experimenting on young dragons—with 
  disastrous consequences. Now Mordecai’s greatest 
  creation seeks to build an army of its own by im-
  proving upon its creator’s techniques. The party 
  must discover the truth, find Mordecai’s monster, 
  and destroy it before the creature’s own creations 
  break free and wreak havoc in the area.
  Background
  Though Baron Pavel holds a huge tract of land 
  by grant from the king, his holdings are mostly 
  trackless wilderness. In reality, the baron’s rule 
  extends exactly as far as he can deploy his house-
  hold guard. The baronial seat sits in Caer Lucan, 
  a remote fishing village of some two thousand 
  souls set along a rocky shoreline far from the 
  royal court. The town boasts a tavern, a few small 
  The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster | EN World EN5IDER
  
  EN World EN5IDER | The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster
  People of Caer Lucan
  Evan Pavel
   
  Race: Human
   
  Profession: Noble Wastrel
   
  Description: A young man in his late teens. 
  Athletic and handsome, and if his clothes are 
  sometimes a little worn, at least he wears them 
  well.
   
  Notable Facts: Drinks a lot and flirts outra-
  geously with every female who will listen.
   
  Sounds Like: A fraternity brother at any major 
  university.
  Torbella Ironhide
   
  Race: Dwarf
   
  Profession: Barkeep at the Tipsy Mermaid
   
  Description: A stout female dwarf, notably 
  younger than her husband, Adrick. Habitually 
  wears an apron over a wool sweater and swishing 
  skirts.
   
  Notable Facts: Resents humans, especially the 
  baron. They’ve betrayed her trust too many times, 
  unlike the dwarves she once knew back home. 
  What the Baron Knows
   
  ✦ Evan was a nice boy who drank a little too 
  much and loved to flirt with women.
   
  ✦ The baron arranged an apprenticeship for 
  Evan with the wizard Maximillian Mordecai via 
  written correspondence.
   
  ✦ Evan left for Mordecai’s Tower several months 
  ago. 
   
  ✦ Evan did not send a letter to his father letting 
  him know that he’d arrived safely, but consid-
  ering Evan’s habits, the baron did not consider 
  this at all unusual.
   
  ✦ Neither Evan nor Mordecai have been seen 
  since Evan departed. Both were notably 
  absent from Caer Lucan’s recent High Summer 
  festival.
   
  ✦ The baron sent a squad of men to check on his 
  son following the festival. That squad never 
  returned.
  Resents the fact that she’s stuck tending bar in a 
  human town instead of going on great quests.
   
  Sounds Like: A young southern belle who’s 
  tired of putting up with you. 
  Adrick Ironhide
   
  Race: Dwarf
   
  Profession: Proprietor of the Tipsy Mermaid
   
  Description: A tall, serious dwarf in the late 
  prime of his life. Adrick has greying hair but a 
  stout physique and a voice to match. 
   
  Notable Facts: Baron Pavel owes Adrick money 
  for Evan’s old bar tab. It’s a considerable sum, and 
  it’s made Adrick’s wife resentful.
   
  Sounds Like: A successful businessman with 
  a thick southern accent. When he says, “I’m just 
  a poor country dwarf from a podunk fishing vil-
  lage,” he means, “I’m the most successful man in 
  this town, and you’d best not forget it.”
  Rumors
  If the party asks around town for information, 
  they hear one or more of the following rumors 
  (roll 1d8 or choose):
  1d8
  Rumor
  1–3
  The mountain orcs have been growing 
  bolder. Now they’ve been spotted recently 
  near the farms outside of town. (True.)
  4
  There’s a wyvern living on top of Titan’s 
  Tor. (False; the “wyvern” is Takaziel the 
  dragon in her true form.)
  5–6 The baron is broke. He owes back taxes 
  to the king and will be lucky if he’s able to 
  pay his guards this month. (True.)
  7
  The baron owes money to Adrick Ironhide. 
  Evan used to run up quite a tab at the 
  Mermaid before he went missing. (True.)
  8
  Evan never made it to Mordecai’s Tower. 
  He was captured by pirates. (False; Evan 
  studied at Mordecai’s Tower for over six 
  months before being kidnapped by the 
  Monster.)
  EN World EN5IDER | The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster
  
  The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster | EN World EN5IDER
  Adventure Start
  This adventure takes place primarily in the hinter-
  lands surrounding Caer Lucan, but it can begin 
  in town at the GM’s discretion. If it begins after 
  the party agrees to find Evan Pavel, go straight to 
  Scene 1. 
   
  If the adventure begins in town, read the 
  following:
  The tiny village of Caer Lucan offers little in the 
  way of creature comforts. Viewed from the wharf, 
  the town is little more than a collection of timber 
  and stone buildings, ending in a rise atop which 
  stands an old rundown stone keep. A few rude 
  huts lie closer to the waterline. These are home 
  to the town’s many fishermen and scrub farmers. 
  The largest building in town is a tavern with 
  saloon-style doors and a sign reading “The Tipsy 
  Mermaid.” 
  If the PCs explore town, they will hear some of 
  the rumors noted above, but eventually they will 
  need to make their way to the baron’s keep to 
  negotiate the terms for finding his son. The baron 
  will initially offer the party 300 gp, but will go as 
  high as 500 gp on a successful DC 13 Charisma 
  (Persuasion) check.
  Scene 1. Unusual Orcs
  The road from Caer Lucan starts as a gravel wagon 
  path but soon degenerates into a rutted dirt track. 
  Stands of pine and birch trees line the road, broken 
  occasionally by rocky open spaces dominated by 
  rough granite tors. A line of smoke rises nearly a 
  mile to the north, but a sudden rustling in the trees 
  Takaziel
   
  Race: Young Bronze Dragon
   
  Profession: Self-appointed guardian of Caer 
  Lucan
   
  Description: A little larger than an adult stal-
  lion. When she disguises herself, she appears as 
  a young elf maiden wearing a beautiful bronze-
  colored dress.
   
  Notable Facts: Recently began building a lair 
  atop Titan’s Tor, a few miles outside of town.
   
  Sounds Like: A particularly belligerent fairy 
  godmother.
  That’s Unusual…
  Everything about this encounter should strike the 
  characters as being extremely odd. GMs should 
  ensure that the players understand how strange 
  it is to see an orc wearing half-plate armor, car-
  rying a powerful but imperfectly crafted magic 
  axe, and riding a chainmail-clad dinosaur.
  The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster | EN World EN5IDER
  
  EN World EN5IDER | The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster
  sends a flock of small birds shooting across the sky. 
  A giant lizard bursts from the trees, and a pungent 
  humanoid brandishes a lance from its mount atop 
  the beast—an orc riding a dinosaur! He lowers his 
  lance and makes ready to charge as a line of his 
  fellows comes howling out of the trees.
  Following the smoke will lead the party to Morde-
  cai’s Tower, but a party of orc raiders blocks their 
  way a few miles out of town. The attacking group 
  consists of five orcs led by an orog mounted on 
  an allosaurus. The orog wears half-plate armor 
  and carries a shield (AC 18), a lance, and a +1 
  cursed battleaxe. The allosaurus is wearing chain-
  mail barding (AC 16). The orog has the following 
  attacks:
  Melee Attack—Lance: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 9 (1d10 + 4) piercing damage. If the 
  orog is mounted, and its mount moves at least 10 
  ft. in a straight line towards the target before the 
  attack, then the attack deals an additional 5 points 
  of piercing damage.
  Melee Attack—+1 Cursed Battleaxe: +7 to hit, 
  reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8 + 5) slashing 
  damage.
  Tactics
  The orog starts combat by charging with his lance, 
  allowing his allosaurus to pounce at the same 
  time. After the first pass, he will drop the lance 
  and draw his axe, using it and his mount’s natural 
  attacks to try to take down the party’s strongest 
  member first.
  Treasure
  The +1 cursed battleaxe is a powerful but imper-
  fectly-enchanted weapon. Characters who can 
  read or write Infernal or who succeed on a DC 12 
  Intelligence (Arcana) check recognize the axe’s 
  markings as Infernal runes of power and sacri-
  fice. Once attuned, the axe inflicts a painful but 
  non-injurious burn scar on its wielder every time 
  it is drawn. As a bonus action while attuned, the 
  axe’s wielder can suffer one Hit Die worth of fire 
  damage in order to deal an equal amount of fire 
  damage to its target whenever it hits with a melee 
  attack using the +1 cursed battleaxe. This is an at-
  best mediocre exchange driven by the imperfect 
  nature of the axe’s enchantment. Characters who 
  succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check 
  recognize the flaw in the axe’s enchantments. 
   
  The orcs each carry 2d4 + 2 gp and 2d10 sp. The 
  orog carries twice as much.
  Scene 2. Mordecai’s Tower
  The road opens onto a clearing, and there stands 
  Mordecai’s tower. What once was once a proud 
  two-story stone structure with a nicely thatched 
  roof is now a smoking ruin. The thatching has been 
  charred to ash and the windows are broken. A little 
  smoke still leaks from within. The stone of the 
  tower itself is still serviceable, however, and a set 
  of wooden steps leads up to its front door.
  Mordecai’s “tower” is a grandiose exaggeration 
  on the late wizard’s part. In truth, Mordecai’s 
  dwelling is a small stone structure with two main 
  levels and a basement laboratory. A short flight 
  of rickety steps leads from ground level up to the 
  first floor.
  Outdoors: The Wyrmling’s Prison
  The steps leading up to the tower’s front entrance 
  will collapse. PCs can avoid falling with a DC 12 
  Intelligence (Investigate) or Wisdom (Perception) 
  check. The fall is approximately ten feet, straight 
  into an improvised prison cell hidden beneath the 
  steps. Falling PCs take 1d6 bludgeoning damage.
   
  Two white dragon wyrmlings have been 
  trapped in this cell for quite some time, the vic-
  tims of hideous wizardly experimentation. They 
  are chained in place by their necks, their wings 
  have been surgically—if haphazardly—removed, 
  and the resulting wounds have been roughly 
  cauterized. These wyrmlings are now half-starved 
  and mad with grief and pain. They attack 
  immediately.
  EN World EN5IDER | The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster
  
  The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster | EN World EN5IDER
  Foyer: The Spider’s Lair 
  Once the party gets inside the tower’s superstruc-
  ture, read:
  The inside of the structure is in shambles. Most 
  of the furniture is wrecked and at least partially 
  burned, but the door leading into the tower itself 
  appears to be intact. Thick strands of webbing 
  cover the walls and ceiling, and the floor is littered 
  with wooden debris. The stench of old smoke is 
  thick in the air.
  This entry room is thirty feet long and twenty 
  feet wide, with a wooden door leading to the 
  tower itself. As the party enters the tower, two 
  phase spiders attack from hiding. These spiders 
  have been the subjects of magical experimenta-
  tion, giving them the ability to blend in with their 
  surroundings. This gives them advantage on 
  Dexterity (Stealth) checks. At least half party must 
  succeed on a Wisdom (Perception) check opposed 
  by the spiders’ stealth checks to detect the spiders. 
  If undetected, the spiders gain a surprise round 
  when they attack.
  Floor 1: Living Quarters
  Beyond the foyer, most of the tower’s lower level is 
  an open living area. There is a kitchen area, a set 
  of book shelves, and a small sitting space with the 
  remnants of an old rocking chair next to a large 
  stone hearth. The book shelves and the rocking 
  chair were both smashed and burned some time 
  ago and then liberally covered with webbing. 
  None of the books are salvageable. The wreckage 
  of an old wooden cot lies next to the rocking chair. 
  A DC 5 Wisdom (Insight) check reveals that Mor-
  decai was a confirmed bachelor who cared little 
  for creature comforts. The cot was for Evan, who 
  would have tended house for the wizard as part of 
  his apprenticeship.
   
  Stone steps leading up to the tower’s upper 
  level begin a little more than ten feet past the 
  tower’s front door. These are charred but essen-
  tially undamaged. A vague scent of decay wafts 
  down from above. 
   
  There is a stout wooden door on the backside 
  of the stairway. The door has been smashed 
  outward, however, and its metal hinges are now 
  broken and useless. Beyond the doorway there 
  are steps that lead down to the basement. It’s dark 
  down there, but characters with darkvision or a 
  light source can see that some kind of liquid has 
  puddled on the foundation stones.
   
  The desiccated bodies of three of Baron Pavel’s 
  guards hang, mummified and wrapped in webs, 
  in the tower’s kitchen area. A thorough search 
  reveals that each man still has 1d4 gp and 3d6 sp 
  stashed in his pockets.
  Floor 2: Mordecai’s Chambers 
  When the party ascends the stairs, read:
  The air in the tower’s upper level is foul. The iron 
  scent of blood mixes with the unmistakable reek 
  of death and decay. There is only one room in 
  the tower’s upper level—a bedroom. A body is 
  chained to the bed, but it is decapitated. Blood lies 
  everywhere, but it has long since dried. Beside the 
  bed, there is a single nightstand. A small book sits 
  next to a broken oil lamp.
  The body is that of Maximillian Mordecai, though 
  this is not immediately obvious. A cursory 
  examination reveals that the body is male. A 
  DC 12 Wisdom (Medicine) check shows him to 
  be middle-aged, and a DC 15 check shows that he 
  was near starvation when he died. A DC 10 Intel-
  ligence (Arcana) check identifies his clothes as 
  wizard’s robes. A DC 10 Intelligence (Investigate) 
  shows that the body was tortured before it died, 
  and a DC 13 check shows that the body’s fingers 
  lack the calluses of hard labor.
   
  The book on the nightstand is Evan Pavel’s 
  journal. It details Evan’s knowledge of Mordecai’s 
  experiments, starting a little more than half a year 
  ago. At the beginning, Evan shows the arrogance 
  typical of a man who is both young and proud. 
  He did not like being Mordecai’s apprentice. 
  However, his frustration soon gives way to inter-
  est and then horror as Evan finally realizes what 
  The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster | EN World EN5IDER
  
  EN World EN5IDER | The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster
  the wizard is doing. Mordecai was a transmuter 
  whose life’s work was the creation of “new” and 
  “better” forms of life using components from 
  spliced-together, reanimated cadavers. Mordecai 
  began his work with spiders, but then he began 
  working with other, more powerful creatures.
   
  Towards the end of the journal, Evan mentions 
  a “monster” that lives in the basement but which 
  he has never seen. His last entry is scrawled in 
  haste: “The monster is loose!”
  Treasure
  The handcuffs chaining Mordecai to the bed 
  are anti-magic handcuffs of the late wizard’s own 
  design.
  Basement: The Laboratory
   When the party descends into the basement, read:
  The basement is dark, but you can see that there 
  is more webbing down here, even in the meager 
  light from the stairway. The fire did not reach this 
  area, thankfully, but still the place is a wreck. All of 
  the furniture is smashed, and there are overturned 
  potion decanters lying everywhere. Puddles of old 
  potions and other arcane concoctions have sloshed 
  across the floor, making the room damp and giving 
  it a pungent stench overlying a deeper scent of 
  decay. In the shadows, you see something moving.
  The basement is home to a half-spider monstros-
  ity. A madman has sewn an elf corpse’s torso 
  and upper body onto a giant spider’s thorax. The 
  whole was then reanimated, creating a new, hor-
  rifying creation. The elf’s eyes have been replaced 
  with a giant spider’s eyes, giving it a distinctly 
  alien appearance. Its teeth have grown into fangs. 
  The creature is mechanically similar to a drider, 
  but it has two legendary actions which it can use 
  to spit poison. It can use only one legendary action 
  at a time, and only at the end of another creature’s 
  turn. The half-spider monstrosity regains spent 
  legendary actions at the start of its turn.
  Ranged Attack—Spit Poison. Range 10 ft. The tar-
  get must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw 
  or take 2d12 poison damage.
  If the party chooses not to investigate the base-
  ment, the half-spider monstrosity attacks as they 
  try to exit the tower. It also attacks if they try to 
  rest inside the tower.
  Treasure
  The half-spider monstrosity is wearing gauntlets 
  of spider-climb. Deeper in the room, the party finds 
  an amulet of animal friendship, two potions of poison, 
  and a periapt of proof against poison in a trunk in 
  one undamaged corner of the workshop. A large 
  silver urn and a pair of bone dice worth 25 gold 
  gp each are hidden there as well.
  Scene 3. More Monstrous 
  Raiders
  As the party exits the tower, they are again beset 
  by monstrous raiders. These are arcane monstrosi-
  ties created by the monster that escaped the tower, 
  though the party has no easy way to discover this 
  fact. This group has been watching the tower with 
  orders to ambush anyone who leaves. The mon-
  strous party consists of one fire-breathing ogre, 
  two goblin ogre-handlers, six zombie-orc archers, 
  and a spined devil in command. 
   
  Both the ogre and the zombie-orc archers are 
  the results of crude arcane experimentation. Thick 
  Anti-Magic Handcuffs
  Wondrous item, rare
  These handcuffs were made from cold-forged 
  iron and inscribed with sigils of power. When 
  placed on an individual’s wrists and locked, they 
  prevent the bound creature from using any 
  magic, including the magic from magic items 
  and consumables. They cannot be used to banish 
  a summoned creature or to disable a golem or 
  similarly complicated construct, but they will end 
  any specific spells affecting such creatures when 
  applied. As an action, a creature may attempt a 
  DC 25 Strength check to break the handcuffs and 
  end the anti-magic effect. 
  EN World EN5IDER | The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster
  
  The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster | EN World EN5IDER
  bands of black iron have been crudely grafted 
  onto the ogre’s flesh, leaving seeping red wounds 
  that run all over its body. These glow red right 
  before it breathes fire. A DC 10 Wisdom (Insight) 
  check reveals that the bands cause intense pain, 
  driving the ogre to rage and madness. Mechani-
  cally, the creature is a normal ogre, save that it can 
  breathe fire at-will. This effect is identical to the 
  spell burning hands when cast as a 2nd-level spell. 
  The zombie-orc archers are mechanically identical 
  to skeletons, and a DC 13 Intelligence (Arcana) 
  check made after the battle reveals that the crea-
  tures were recently killed and that only their 
  skeletons were then reanimated. This accounts 
  for the fact that they look like zombies but do not 
  behave like normal zombies.
   
  The monsters are hidden in the woods approxi-
  mately sixty feet from the tower’s exit. They attack 
  first with archery from the tree line, targeting the 
  party’s least-armored members. The ogre then 
  lumbers forward, attacking the armored PCs to 
  fix them in place while the zombie-orc archers 
  continue to whittle away at the spell casters 
  with ranged fire. Similarly, the spined devil flies 
  forward and engages the party’s casters at range 
  with its tail spines. If one of the casters becomes 
  wounded, however, the spined devil closes the 
  distance and finishes the kill hand-to-hand. The 
  goblin ogre-handlers are terrified of this entire 
  situation and do their best to avoid combat how-
  ever they can.
  A Deadly Encounter?
  If the party does not rest between fighting the 
  half-spider monstrosity and returning to town, 
  this encounter may be too much for them. Should 
  they flee, only the spined devil will pursue. The 
  zombie-orc archers will stand dumbly at attention 
  and the goblins will either try to corral the ogre or 
  flee in the confusion. If the party is defeated, they 
  will be taken to the Monster’s camp (Scene 5) and 
  tied up with Evan (Area 2). The Monster will “deal 
  with them” at next dawn.
  Scene 4. Takaziel
  Takaziel is a young bronze dragon. She has 
  become aware of Mordecai’s Monster and is 
  concerned but also frightened. She feels honor-
  bound to intervene, but does not want to confront 
  the monster directly. She therefore approaches 
  the PCs. If possible, Takaziel waits until the party 
  is asleep and attempts to sneak up on them as a 
  way of scaring them into submission. If the party 
  goes back to Caer Lucan to rest, Takaziel takes 
  the form of a young elf maiden and sneaks into 
  their room(s). If she must, Takaziel will approach 
  the PCs on the road during daylight hours. If the 
  party was captured while returning from the 
  tower, she will sneak into the camp at night and 
  try to help them escape. She will try to rally them 
  against the Monster when they have escaped. 
   
  If the party fought the white dragon wyrm-
  lings, Takaziel can smell the wyrmlings’ blood 
  on the PCs’ clothes. This gives her an excuse to 
  threaten the party, asking why she should not 
  destroy them immediately. This is merely an in-
  timidation tactic; Takaziel doesn’t actually want to 
  destroy the PCs, she merely wants to get the upper 
  hand in negotiations. A DC 12 Wisdom (Insight) 
  check reveals that she is scared of something, and 
  What Takaziel Knows
   
  ✦ Maximillian Mordecai was a mean old wizard. 
  Horrid things used to occur inside his tower.
   
  ✦ He liked to experiment on living creatures, but 
  one of his creations got loose and killed him.
   
  ✦ Mordecai’s Monster took a young man with 
  him, but she doesn’t know the man’s name. 
  She thinks he may still be alive.
   
  ✦ The Monster is trying to build an army in the 
  literal sense. It wants to improve on its mas-
  ter’s methods and create new, better creatures 
  to serve as its foot soldiers.
   
  ✦ The Monster started by recruiting and experi-
  menting on orcs. More recently, it has begun 
  summoning devils. But this can only lead to 
  disaster. If something isn’t done, the entire 
  region is doomed.
  The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster | EN World EN5IDER
  
  EN World EN5IDER | The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster
  a DC 15 check reveals that she is bluffing about 
  her willingness to attack.
   
  Takaziel has been patrolling the countryside 
  around Caer Lucan in an effort to keep the town 
  safe, but she knows that she hasn’t gotten all of 
  the monstrosities that have come down from the 
  mountains. She proposes to continue her patrols 
  while the party goes into the mountains to con-
  front Mordecai’s Monster. She first notes that even 
  a single band of monsters could wreak havoc on 
  the Caer Lucan, and if pressed admits that she is 
  afraid of the corrupting influence of the Monster’s 
  summoned devils. A DC 12 Wisdom (Insight) 
  check reveals that she is deeply intimidated by the 
  very existence of Mordecai’s Monster and is loath 
  to face it. Takaziel therefore offers treasure in 
  exchange for the party’s help. If all else fails, this 
  by itself should convince the party that whatever 
  is up there, the dragon does not want to confront 
  it directly.
  Scene 5. Mordecai’s Monster
  The Monster’s camp is not hard to find. The party 
  knows from Takaziel that the camp is up in the 
  mountains. They further know that the monster 
  has been sending out various monstrous patrols 
  in its bid to gain regional hegemony. With a DC 10 
  Wisdom (Survival) check or Intelligence (Search) 
  check, they find orc and goblin tracks leading 
  into the mountains, and once they’ve started 
  their journey, they quickly find small groups of 
  monstrous bodies scattered along the trail, most 
  showing signs of diabolic experimentation. The 
  bodies have two sources—Takaziel’s patrols and 
  the uncertain nature of the Monster’s experiments. 
  A DC 10 Intelligence (Arcana) check or Wisdom 
  (Medicine) check reveals that at least half of the 
  reanimated bodies failed from natural causes; the 
  reanimation process itself is faulty, often leaving 
  the creatures it creates little more than badly sewn 
  together collections of once-living parts.
   
  After a half-day of traveling, the party sees 
  smoke rising in the mountains, and PCs with an 
  affinity for arcane, divine, or natural magic begin 
  to sense magical corruption in the air. It feels as if 
  the very laws of nature are being violated. Dru-
  ids will sense this most keenly and may become 
  nauseated. Druids who become nauseated must 
  succeed on a DC 12 Constitution check or suffer 
  one level of exhaustion.
  As the party travels, the PCs will need to take 
  positive actions to avoid wandering patrols. A 
  single PC may make a DC 13 Wisdom (Survival) 
  check to guide the party safely through the area 
  without issue, or the party itself can make a group 
  Dexterity (Stealth) check (DC 11). If half the party 
  or more succeed on the group check, they suc-
  cessfully sneak by any monsters they might have 
  encountered. Failure results in being discovered 
  by a patrol of 1d6 orc zombies.
  The Monster’s Camp
  1. The Monster’s Camp
  The camp itself is little more than a burned-out 
  clearing carved into the forest on the side of a 
  mountain. Orc bodies and orc body parts litter the 
  camp alongside the carcasses of other creatures. 
  Some of these bodies and parts markings indicat-
  ing arcane experimentation. Four orc zombies 
  stand guard at the camp’s perimeter, along with 
  one ogre zombie. Two bearded devils sit around 
  a campfire deeper in the camp itself.
   
  The devils watch as the party approaches, but 
  they do not engage until the party attacks them or 
  until a few of the zombie guardians fall.
  2. Evan’s Prison
  A cave entrance stands on the far side of the camp, 
  near where the devils were sitting. A young man 
  lies chained to a tree nearby. This is what’s left of 
  Evan Pavel.
   
  Evan is still alive, but the devils have been 
  tormenting him relentlessly. He is missing an arm, 
  one ear, and both feet, and like the white dragon 
  wyrmlings, his wounds have been crudely cauter-
  ized by someone who obviously cares nothing for 
  his pain. Evan is unconscious and feverish, but he 
  EN World EN5IDER | The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster
  
  The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster | EN World EN5IDER
  The Monster’s Camp
  The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster | EN World EN5IDER
  
  EN World EN5IDER | The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster
  can be revived with simple healing magic, though 
  nothing short of a regenerate spell can regrow his 
  limbs. When questioned, Evan reveals that Mor-
  decai’s Monster is in the cave. He then says the 
  following with more than a little bitterness:
  “Mordecai was a fool to think he could experiment 
  on dragons. He created a monster, but he couldn’t 
  control it! Now that…thing wants to outdo its 
  creator, to prove that it’s more than just the sum of 
  its parts. It wants to destroy all of humanity!”
   
  After this, Evan starts crying. The monster has 
  been using him as a source of “spare parts”, but 
  lately it has also begun summoning devils. In the 
  long run, though, Mordecai’s Monster won’t be 
  able to control the devils any better than Mordecai 
  himself was able to control his Monster.
  3. The Monster’s Lair
  Mordecai’s Monster is a white draconic flesh 
  golem. It has two sets of white wyrmlings’ wings 
  sewn into its back, along with a full-sized young 
  white dragon’s tail. Strips of draconic flesh run 
  along its head, neck, and torso, and there are signs 
  that the monster has continued experimenting 
  on itself since its escape. It now sports the arms 
  of an ogre, tipped with massive draconic claws, 
  along with a white dragon’s head. If the PCs look, 
  they will see Maximilian Mordecai’s head atop a 
  nearby workbench, though the top of Mordecai’s 
  skull and brain have been removed. A DC 10 
  Wisdom (Insight) check reveals that the monster 
  expanded its cranium so that it could stuff its 
  creator’s brains into its own living skull. Crude 
  sewing closes makeshift cranial incisions.
   
  The monster is pleased when the PCs enter its 
  cave. They offer him better flesh for his experi-
  ments than the orcs and ogres he’s been forced to 
  use up to now, and poor Evan is almost exhausted 
  as a source of raw materials. After some taunting, 
  the monster attacks.
  Mordecai’s Monster
  Neutral evil 
  Challenge 6
  Large construct 
  XP 2,300
  Defenses
  AC: 12 
  HP: 105 (11d10 + 44)
  Saving Throws: Con +6
  Offense
  Speed: 30 ft., fly 40 ft. 
  Melee Attack—Multiattack: The monster makes 
  two trident of terror +1 attacks and one claw attack.
  Melee Attack—+1 Trident of Terror: +8 to hit, 
  reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8 + 5) piercing 
  damage.
  Melee Attack—Claw: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage.
  Ranged Attack (Blast)—Cold Breath (Recharge 
  5–6): The monster exhales a 30 ft. cone of frost. 
  Each creature in the area must make a DC 15 Con-
  sitution saving throw or take 22 (5d8) cold damage, 
  or half damage on a successful save.
  Statistics
  Str 18 (+4) 
  Dex 9 (–1) 
  Con 18 (+4)
  Int 15 (+3) 
  Wis 6 (–2) 
  Cha 13 (+1)
  Languages: Common, Draconic, Infernal
  Skills: Arcana +5
  Senses: Darkvision 60 ft.; passive Perception 8
  Damage Resistance: poison, cold; bludgeoning, 
  piercing, and slashing from non-magical, non-
  silvered weapons.
  Traits
  Fear of Fire: If the monster takes fire damage, it has 
  disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks to 
  the end of its next turn.
  Immutable Form: The monster is immune to spells 
  and spell-like effects that would alter its form.
  Magic Resistance: The monster has advantage on 
  saves against spells and other magical effects.
  Magic Claws: The monster’s claws are magical.
  +1 Trident of Terror: Once per day, the monster can 
  use its +1 trident of terror to cast fear as a bonus 
  action.
  EN World EN5IDER | The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster
  
  The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster | EN World EN5IDER
  Legendary Actions
  The monster can take up to two legendary actions, 
  choosing from the options below. Legendary actions 
  must be used one at a time at the end of another 
  creature’s turn. Spent legendary actions recharge at 
  the start of the monster’s turn.
  Melee Attack—Tail: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one tar-
  get. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage, and the 
  target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving 
  throw or be knocked prone.
  Ranged Attack (Blast)—Wing Attack (Costs 2 
  Actions): The monster beats its wings. Creatures 
  within 20 ft. must make a DC 14 Dexterity saving 
  throw or take 6 (2d4 + 4) bludgeoning damage and 
  be knocked prone. The monster may then take the 
  Disengage action.
  Note
  If the PCs are still 3rd level when they reach the 
  monster, it may be too much for them. In this case, 
  GMs should remove the Legendary Actions and 
  replace them with the following Reaction:
  Reactions
  When the monster is hit by a melee attack, it may 
  make a tail attack.
  Melee Attack—Tail: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one tar-
  get. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage, and the 
  target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving 
  throw or be knocked prone.
  4. The Workshop
  A large arcane workspace sits further back in the 
  cave. There are workbenches, potions, beakers, 
  and a summoning circle, along with bodies and 
  parts of bodies stacked haphazardly for future 
  experimentation. There is also a forge for the 
  creation of magic items, though this is empty.
  Treasure
  Mordecai’s Monster has no use for gold, but his 
  +1 trident of terror is a finely crafted magic item. At 
  the GM’s discretion, various potions and consum-
  ables can be added to its workspace as well.
  Scene 6. Aftermath
  The party returns to Caer Lucan with what’s 
  left of Evan. The young noble will need a series 
  of expensive healing spells to recover, spells for 
  which his father can ill afford to pay. Nothing can 
  cure the trauma to his mind. Seeing Evan’s condi-
  tion devastates Baron Pavel, but he pays the PCs 
  as agreed despite his limited resources and seems 
  grateful to have what’s left of his son.
   
  Takaziel is pleased. She offers the PCs the 
  location of hidden treasure that Mordecai stashed 
  in the hills in case he ever needed to escape an 
  angry mob. She boasts—with more than a little 
  humor—that her “keen draconic senses” detected 
  this treasure the instant he buried it. The contents 
  of this chest are equal to two rolls on Magic Item 
  Table A and two rolls on Magic Item Table B. 
  The search for Mordecai’s hidden treasure is on. 
  Adventure awaits! 
  The Mystery of Mordecai’s Monster | EN World EN5IDER
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/5th Edition (5e)/3rd Party/EN World EN5ider/EN5ider 028 - The Mystery of Mordercai's Monster.pdf