TEXT: 1
  The MIller’s Tale
  
  Dragon Warriors
  2
  Written by
  Kieran Turley
  Editing 
  Ian Sturrock and Gareth Hanrahan
  Layout
  Jerry D. Grayson
  Dragon Warriors logo
  Mark Quire
  Publishing
  Jon Hodgson
  Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan
  Ian Sturrock
  Art
  Jon Hodgson
  DRAGON WARRIORS: The Miller’s Tale
  Stock Code SKG 005
  All text is copyright © 2013 Kieran Turley, based on the 
  Dragon Warriors role-playing game and world created by Dave 
  Morris and Oliver Johnson. All other elements of design are 
  copyright © 2013 Serpent King Games. All rights reserved. 
  Dragon Warriors is a trademark of Dave Morris and Oliver 
  Johnson, used under licence by Serpent King Games. All rights 
  reserved. Dragon Warriors is a trademark of Dave Morris and 
  Oliver Johnson, used under licence by Serpent King Games. 
  Serpent King Games Ltd.
  2 Cherry Tree Cottages,  
  Westminster Rd. Brynteg 
  Wrexham, Wales. LL11 6DL
  info@serpentking.com
  For more information on the Dragon Warriors game and 
  game-world, its creators, forthcoming products for it, and 
  other exciting games and game-related books, visit the Serpent 
  King website at http://www.serpentking.com
  The
  Miller’sTale
  
  3
  The MIller’s Tale
  Introduction
  AbouT This 
  book
  The Miller’s Tale
  This adventure can be run at any time when the 
  PCs are travelling by land. The scenario opens late 
  one evening just outside the large village of Jib’s 
  Hollow (Population 1021). The location of the vil-
  lage is left deliberately vague so that the GM can 
  slot the game into any region. The game runs in 
  “freeform” format, with the PCs investigating the 
  Miller’s death over the course of a few days if nec-
  essary. This scenario is roleplay-heavy, and the PCs’ 
  actions could result in the death of more villagers, 
  depending on how they handle the nervous sorcerer, 
  the despairing miller’s wife, and Mary Thorpe. As 
  GM, play up the NPCs’ willingness to misdirect the 
  PCs and the petty village feuds. The main challenge 
  in the adventure comes from the investigation, and 
  the GM should adjust Vodenus’ power level to suit 
  his group. As written, the adventure should chal-
  lenge a group of Dragon Warriors characters of 2nd 
  to 5th rank.
  Plot summary
  A month ago, a miller with “the Sight” was slain 
  by a dark sorcerer in order to protect his secrets. The 
  PCs are asked by the miller’s ghost to track down 
  his murderer. The PCs have to navigate a web of 
  lies and misdirection to find the true murderer, and 
  hopefully stop a plot that extends beyond this small 
  village. 
  
  Dragon Warriors
  4
  The beginning
  The PCs approach the village of Jib’s Hollow, 
  perhaps hoping for shelter from the night’s chill 
  or a few spoonfuls of warm broth. The settlement 
  is large for a village and on the cusp of becoming 
  a full-blown town. It’s placement on the banks of 
  well-travelled river ensures a brisk trade. On the 
  mud track leading to the village, the PCs behold a 
  terrible apparition: the ghost of Martin the Miller.
  The miller begs the PCs to find his killer and 
  thereby allow his soul to rest. Martin doesn’t know 
  who killed him, nor does he recall most of his life 
  such as his “bad feeling” about Godfrey Thorpe. He 
  is sure of only two things; firstly that he was mur-
  dered, and secondly that his wife is in danger. These 
  things are unconnected…Anne is in danger because 
  of her suicidal feelings rather than because Martin’s 
  killer is out to get her. If the PCs agree to help Mar-
  tin he thanks them and vanishes, only reappearing 
  if they fail to uncover his murderer. If the PCs don’t 
  agree to help him he grows angry and vengeful, 
  threatening to haunt them forever.
  Chapter 1
  The AdvenTure 
  begins
  scenario Pacing
  As with any investigation scenario the PCs 
  may run into brick walls and become discour-
  aged. If this happens, have Vodenus kill another 
  NPC, preferably one the PCs had a strong posi-
  tive or negative reaction to. 
  The motive for the killing could be simple 
  paranoia or the victim might have discovered 
  genuine evidence,  such as one of Vodenus’ rings 
  mashed into the mud beside the mill path.  In the 
  latter case, another NPC mentions that the vic-
  tim was looking for the PCs just before his death 
  and the evidence can be uncovered by searching 
  the victim’s house.  If the motive was paranoia 
  the murder is sloppy and Vodenus leaves behind 
  something that points to his involvement, such 
  as the aforementioned ring.
  If your PCs zero in on Vodenus as the mur-
  derer early on, he stages the murder to point the 
  finger at another NPC. In this case the framed 
  NPC should have a strong alibi which may point 
  to some other sordid secret unrelated to the mur-
  ders. A secret or forbidden relationship might 
  make a good alibi.
  
  5
  The MIller’s Tale
  Jib’s hollow nPCs
  The Ghost – Martin the Miller
  Martin was an upright and honest man, a rare 
  thing since millers are traditionally the villains of 
  village life. Martin had a touch of “the Sight” and 
  felt something wrong with Godfrey. He gave Vode-
  nus more too many strange looks, and Vodenus 
  murdered him for it by drowning him in his own 
  millpond. As far as anyone is concerned, Martin 
  died by accidental drowning, falling into the mill-
  pond while returned home drunk. Martin is angry 
  at his death and wants the players to find out how 
  he died. The miller appears as a slightly bloated and 
  transparent corpse.
  The Widow – Anne Miller
  Anne is devastated; she loved her husband 
  dearly and her entire life centred on him. Anne is 
  also overwhelmed by the mill; Martin took care of 
  everything about their business while she dealt with 
  their home. She has already received a number of 
  offers of marriage from locals wanting to take over 
  the mill (the fact that Anne is quite a beauty is an 
  added bonus). The local tanner, Mathus Horl, has 
  been particularly aggressive in his advances. She is 
  in the depths of despair, and may act on her despair 
  unless the players intervene. 
  Anne tells the PCs her troubles willingly, though 
  mentioning Martin’s ghost makes her wildly upset. 
  The PCs may meet Mathus or Horace coming 
  down the path from the mill, immediately draw-
  ing the men’s ire as they worry that the PCs are 
  attempting to capture Anne for themselves. Anne 
  knows that her husband had a touch of the Sight, 
  but doesn’t mention it unless asked directly if Mar-
  tin was unusual in any way. If asked about the night 
  Martin died, Anne can tell the PCs that he went 
  into the village to have a drink with his friend Balin 
  at the tavern, and never returned.
  The Sorcerer - Godfrey Thorpe (Wine and Ale 
  Merchant)
  Godfrey Thorpe was the bastard son of one of 
  the king’s courtiers. Godfrey grew up a mean-spir-
  ited wastrel, unlikely to get far on his own merit. He 
  was able to charm a local girl into marrying him, 
  and took over her father’s business after murdering 
  the poor man. 
  
  Dragon Warriors
  6
  Godfrey’s drinking increased as time passed, 
  and he took to wandering far and wide through the 
  nearby woods while inebriated. The locals claim he 
  met the devil in the woods one night a few months 
  ago and he scared the wayward lad straight. This 
  isn’t true of course, Godfrey Thorpe doesn’t exist 
  anymore; he had the misfortune to find an ancient 
  amulet while face-down in a stream after an evening 
  of heavy drinking. The amulet contained a spirit 
  trapped within – a malevolent Sorcerer called Vode-
  nus – who took over the wastrel’s body with ease.
  Vodenus lived two hundred years ago in a place 
  not far from the village. He was a cruel and brutal 
  man who enjoyed nothing more than to inflict pain 
  and suffering on others. Vodenus was finally slain 
  by a young chieftain and his body cast into a river. 
  The long years brought the amulet containing Vode-
  nus’ black soul to the foolish Godfrey Thorpe, and 
  now, Vodenus lives again. The long years trapped in 
  that amulet were torture for the sorcerer and he only 
  held onto a shred of sanity by plotting vengeance 
  on his slayer. The chieftain’s family became nobility 
  and as fate would have it control this very barony. 
  Vondenus intends to slay every living descendant of 
  the chieftain, and has already killed off one or two 
  minor scions using poisoned wine.
  Vodenus won’t like the PCs poking their noses 
  into the miller’s death, and tries to draw suspicion 
  onto Lugh, since he saw the shoemaker in the 
  woods that night and suspects that the brawny for-
  eigner saw him too. Vodenus’ defining feature is his 
  abject physical cowardice; he runs at the first hint 
  of trouble, only attacking from ambush or if there 
  is no other option. Vodenus’ last resort is to poison 
  Mary Thorpe with an elixir that makes her hallu-
  cinate, and then claim she is a witch while she is 
  too debilitated to defend herself. He does this if his 
  laboratory is exposed, or if he feels the PCs are get-
  ting too close.
  The Wine Merchant’s Wife - Mary Thorpe
  Vodenus tries to avoid outsiders, and so, PCs 
  visiting his shop are likely to encounter his wife 
  Mary. Mary Thorpe is shy by nature, and terrified 
  of her husband yet still in love with him. She tends 
  the business and is the only reason it is still mak-
  ing money. Her father’s contacts have allowed her 
  to keep the business running despite Godfrey’s 
  disinterest. She’s noticed her husband has become 
  more violent and secretive over the past few months 
  but is too scared of him to say anything. At least 
  he seems to have quit drinking to excess, and taken 
  more of an interest in the family business… he has 
  even built a new storage shed and started going to 
  fairs in towns around the country. The shed contains 
  Vodenus’ (locked) laboratory, though he claims it is 
  Mary’s if it is exposed, saying she is a witch. When 
  the PCs first visit, Mary sports fresh bruises; she 
  says a hanging wine pitcher fell on her head, but the 
  truth is that she asked Vodenus one question too 
  many about the storage shed.
  The Tanner – Mathus Horl
  Mathus is a fat greedy man who looks at the 
  widow miller with envy for his wealth. Nobody in 
  the village has a good thing to say about Mathus 
  who is both wealthy and notoriously stingy. Mathus 
  has an intense dislike of Horace the weaver, and 
  makes up a story about seeing him leave the mill the 
  night Martin was killed. He actually did see some-
  one walking down the mill path arm in arm with 
  Martin but he’s not sure who it was since he was 
  pretty drunk but is certain it wasn’t Horace. As a 
  tanner, Mathus smells terrible, and can be detected 
  by scent alone from thirty paces. Despite to his 
  stench, Mathus is always dressed in the finest cloth-
  ing. Horl dislikes adventurers and is hopelessly rude 
  to these “homeless bandits”. Intimidation works well 
  on the tanner, getting him to tell the truth. If threat-
  ened he does contact the local lords and reports the 
  PCs as dangerous vagabonds.
  The Weaver – Horace Tunbridge
  Horace is another of Mary’s suitors. He is a thin 
  weasel of a man with a serious aversion to cleanli-
  ness, which he mentions frequently when talked to. 
  “Washing is ungodly,” he is fond of saying. Horace 
  saw Lugh the Shoemaker sneak out of the village 
  heading to the woods the night Martin died, but 
  unless the PCs charm, bribe, or intimidate him he 
  is unlikely to tell them. Horace may throw in some 
  reference to Balin, saying that the “blow in” is always 
  
  7
  The MIller’s Tale
  looking over his shoulder as if afraid that someone is 
  coming after him. If asked about his argument with 
  Martin, he says it was over the sum of 5 florins that 
  he owed to the miller. Horace was the one who dis-
  covered the body of the miller when he went to the 
  mill to pay back the money the following morning.
  The Shoemaker – Lugh of Glissom
  Lugh is from Glissom (or any country in your 
  campaign with a strong Druidic tradition), but 
  refuses to speak of his time there. He is a powerfully 
  built man who looks incongruous hunched over his 
  wooden last. Lugh was out in the woods practising 
  his pagan religion the night Martin died. A male 
  figure stinking of wine (Vodenus) passed him in the 
  woods but he was too busy hiding his small altar 
  to the old gods to notice who it was. A smart PC 
  may realise that this means that the figure could not 
  be Mathus since he can easily be detected by scent. 
  Getting Lugh to talk may take some diplomacy… 
  admitting to pagan rites is not wise.
  The Innkeeper – Balin of Saxton
  Balin was born in the next barony, and bought 
  the tavern a decade ago with money he received as a 
  reward for turning in a criminal. Despite marrying a 
  local woman (she died in childbirth three years ago) 
  and living in the village for over ten years, he is still 
  referred to by the locals as “that blow-in”. The tavern 
  has a single room with six sleeping pallets upstairs 
  that Balin rents out to travellers at a silver piece a 
  night per person. For a few silvers extra Balin will 
  give up his own bed. Balin is a little paranoid that 
  the man he turned in will come after him, and has a 
  habit of staring at people’s faces trying to figure out 
  if he recognises them. Balin and Martin were good 
  friends, and Balin is sympathetic to the PCs in their 
  attempts to solve the murder.
  If questioned about the night Martin died, Balin 
  can tell the PCs that Horace, Mathus, and Godfrey 
  were all present in the tavern that night. He notes 
  that Lugh was not present early in the night, though 
  he came in after Martin left for a nightcap.  Horace 
  and Martin exchanged some harsh words that night 
  - Horace owed Martin a small sum of money and 
  was slow in paying it back. Anne can confirm the 
  debt but the sum is trifling and not worth murder-
  ing someone over. Balin knows that Martin went 
  home early but cannot say when the others left. 
  Balin also knows that Martin didn’t trust Godfrey 
  because the young miller had warned the innkeeper 
  not to get Godfrey angry. 
  Locations
  Jib’s Hollow
  Jib’s Hollow is very large for a settlement lack-
  ing the title of town.  The village also lacks law 
  enforcement outside of the elders and Sir Browson, 
  the knight whose land it rests on. Sir Browson is an 
  elderly man, infirm, and likely to die in the next year 
  or so. The village is blessed with a rich river trade 
  and expected to expand to become a town in the 
  next few years. Already some of the more outspo-
  ken citizens are calling for a proper wall to be built 
  to replace the decaying ditch and palisade that now 
  only surrounds half the village.
  The Mill
  A typical example of a mill, complete with mill-
  pond and water wheel. Anne Miller spends much 
  of her time here, lying on bags of flour and griev-
  ing for her lost love. The mill stands just outside of 
  town and has a short path leading to it. The PCs 
  may come here looking for tracks but the logs that 
  serve as a path around it show no details.
  The Tavern
  The center of village life, the tavern is a small, 
  smoke-filled place that sells ale and cider. Wine is 
  not available; Balin and Godfrey Thorpe never got 
  along since Godfrey was a nasty drunk and was 
  barred until recently when he cleaned up his act. A 
  damp loft upstairs offers six sleeping pallets.
  The Wine Merchant’s Shop
  This shop has a small shop front, a stable for a 
  cart and horses, an extensive cellar for the wines, and 
  a living area above. Most of the merchant’s business 
  is done at fairs with orders coming in and being sent 
  out using the cart. The business does reasonably well 
  with almost every noble and churchman within 100 
  miles ordering from the shop. A newly constructed 
  shed at the back of the premises contains Vodenus’ 
  alchemy laboratory and his extensive notes on the 
  family tree of the man who killed him a century ago. 
  Those that he has already killed have been crossed 
  out. 
  
  Dragon Warriors
  8
  Appendix: nPC and item statistics
  vodenus
  7th Rank Sorcerer
  Attack 13, Defence 8
  Magical Attack 23, Magical Defence 13
  Armour Factor 0
  Movement 10m (20m)
  Evasion 5, Stealth 15, Perception 9
  Health Points 11, Magic Points 23
  Strength 9
  Reflexes 14
  Intelligence 10
  Psychic Talent 13
  Looks 14
  Equipment
  Pouch containing 50 florins
  Dagger (d4, 3)
  Amulet of Soul Storing
  Strong Poison (Stored in a small brandy flask)
  Black Sally Root Poison (See below, also stored in a 
  small brandy flask)
  new Potion:
  black sally root Poison
  This incapacitating Poison functions as Aver-
  age Poison, except as follows. If the Strength roll 
  is failed, the victim does not die but instead is 
  incapacitated, unable to speak or act in a coher-
  ent manner. The victim staggers about in a night-
  mare-filled haze, unable to focus on anything 
  and randomly spouting gibberish. A PC affected 
  by this poison becomes an NPC under the con-
  trol of the GM until the poison wears off 1 hour 
  later. Black Sally Root poison must be imbibed to 
  be effective. A seventh rank sorcerer can make 
  this poison at a cost of 120 crowns.
  The Shoe Shop
  The shoe shop is the only stone building in the 
  village. Lugh the Shoemaker lives and works here 
  with his apprentice Fredrick. The only evidence of 
  Lugh’s religion is a small charm dedicated to his 
  goddess hung over the inside of his door. Lugh has 
  quite the reputation as a shoemaker and requests 
  for his work come from towns and castles for miles 
  around. 
   
  The Tannery
  The tannery is large rectangular building filled 
  with stinking vats filled with leather in various 
  stages of production. Mathus Horl can be found 
  here - when he isn’t pestering Anne Miller - berat-
  ing his apprentices for wasting materials or for some 
  perceived laziness.
  The Weaver’s House
  Horace Tunbridge’s house is part workshop and 
  part home and it is hard to tell where one ends and 
  the other begins. The weaver is fond of pigs (“Godly 
  creatures they is”) and a dozen of the creatures wan-
  der around the house and garden. 
  The Graveyard
  Located just outside the village, this small cem-
  etery is surrounded by a loose stone wall and boasts 
  a newly thatched lichgate. Villagers working the 
  nearby fields often use the lichgate as a shelter from 
  the elements. Though the PCs are unlikely to be 
  allowed to dig up Martin’s corpse, they may take it 
  upon themselves to do so anyway. A character with 
  knowledge of poisons might be able to tell that 
  Martin was given a toxin. Vodenus cast a Command 
  spell on Martin, and while his mind was befuddled, 
  gave him some Black Sally Root poison to drink. 
  Once Martin was out of his mind it was a simple 
  matter to drown him in the mill pond.
  Aftermath
  Once the PCs have figured out the true mur-
  derer, they will presumably bring him to justice by 
  whatever method they choose.
  
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