The Mordentshire Miser

Author's Notes

1. I wrote this adventure without the benefit of Ravenloft Gazetteer III. If that book had been available at the time, things would probably have been much different. For one thing, the Lamplighters would probably be involved. But I don't think anything directly contradicts canon. The buildings in town come from a variety of sources, including assorted Van Richten's Guides and Children of the Night books and the original I10: The House on Gryphon Hill.
2. I ran the Seepage adventure from Children of the Night: The Created at the same time, so you'll notice locations from that module. Your Mordentshire might not have them. I also placed Lian's manor from the Wandering Hands adventure in the same book, here but haven't yet run that adventure.
3. At this point of my campaign it was 730BC, although some events have been moved around in the timeline. So I've got Van Richten (a.k.a. Ritter) there, and the Twins are toddlers. If you want to replace him with the Twins, go ahead.
4. In my campaign the jewel thief was Vir, and the theft happened while he was following the party, the last time they were in Mordentshire, eight days previous. This dictated the number of victims, which was probably a few too many. I think five or so would be ideal.

Adventure Background

Never married, with no children, his siblings, nieces and nephews did not weep when he finally died at a ripe old age. They were somewhat dismayed by his will, however, which gave as small a pittance as custom required to the family and demanded that the rest of his riches be buried with him in a lavish private wing of the family Mausoleum. While they grumbled, the family knew better than to disobey a dead man's wishes and complied with his instructions to the letter. Cyrus was embalmed in the fashion of the weathiest of the Mordentish and set to rest in his crypt, his riches protected by secrecy, superstition, and elaborate traps of his own devising.

And so it remained until one week ago when Vir passed through town. (Feel free to replace Vir with a thief appropriate to your campaign.) Seeking some unrelated information at the Town Clerk's office, he stumbled upon the construction permits and plans for the crypt of Cyrus Weathermay. A bit more research on the man turned up a guess as to what the elaborate crypt was guarding: gems. Having a hunger for gems almost the equal of Cyrus himself, and armed with the crypt plans stolen from the Clerk's office, Vir slipped in, stole a chest full of square-cut rubies, and slipped out. He left Mordentshire that day and hasn't been back since.

But that night, the preserved corpse of Cyrus Weathermay rose from his crypt as an Ancient Dead, in search of his beloved gems. Mordentish embalming is not as thorough as those of the Amber Wastes, and the years have not been kind to the corpse, which still has some scraps of flesh, but is mostly skeletal, except for his piercing blue eyes. He still wears his trademark monocle and bowler hat, and is dressed in the dusty and slightly tattered, but otherwise pretty well preserved, remains of his best black suit. From the Mausoleum, he stalked into the town and followed his rage to the wealthiest looking home he could find, barged in, and killed the lone occupant. He grabbed all the jewels he could find, and stalked back toward his lair, sifting through the jewels for any square-cut rubies. The others he discarded, throwing them casually over his shoulder as he walked.

Each night since then has been roughly the same, and each morning another wealthy Mordentshire resident has been found dead in a pile of gems. The town guard is stumped, since there seems to be nothing to connect the victims, and theft doesn't seem to be a motive, since the killer could have easily scooped up the fallen gems. The few missing square-cut rubies have thus far gone undetected.

Adventure Notes

Several encounters can be used to tell the PCs something funny is going on:

• The Thieves - In a crowd, the PCs overhear two enterprising thieves planning to capitalize on the murders. "I'm telling you, it's easy money. No danger. We just gotta get there before the guard does." These two ruffians plan on finding the next victim first and scooping up the gems. If pursued, they are belligerent and tight-lipped.
• The Madman - a man in rags runs up to a PC raving wildly, "Take it, take it! I don't want to be next! Here, take some gold!" He shoves some money at the PC and runs off down the street. He is Johnathan Correy, a wealthy villager who has heard the rumors about rich folk being killed. He is deathly afraid of being next, and is trying to give away his fortune and live a peasant.
• The Guards - Guardsman Nigel Kent can tell the PCs that there have been eight attacks in the past eight days. Seven of the victims died. All were wealthy, and all found surrounded by their riches. If the PCs offer their services, the guards are glad to have their help. They may need to show some credentials or otherwise prove themselves to get full access to the crime scenes. The Guards don't want troublemakers pretending to help and stealing the evidence.
• The Gossip - Somewhere in town, the PCs can hear two peasant women talking: "I'm glad I'm not rich, for once in me life." "I bet it's an angry ghost. And 'e leaves the jewels behind because 'e can't pick 'em up!"
• The Merchant - A traveling merchant named Gilbert Mahoney is passing through town. He may sit down next to the party in an inn or somewhere and start talking about the rumors. "Poppycock and superstition, that's what half these theories are. Probably one of the commoners has snapped and gone barking mad, taking revenge for his poor life on his betters. I'm not afraid of the 'ghost' while I have my trusty crossbow at my side."

Location on map	Date of death	Name	Cause of death	Description
62	Monday, March 6th	Martin Heatherby	Blunt Trauma	Descendent of Mayor Malvin Heatherby
63	Wednesday, March 8th	William Fielder	Fright	Owns estates in Borca and Dementlieu
66	Thursday, March 9th	Kyra Finhallen	Fright	Widow
14	Tuesday, March 7th	Dirk Thatcher	Blunt Trauma	Wanderer, staying at the Beached Mermaid
65	Friday, March 10th	Silas Dunharrow	Blunt Trauma	Halfling "eccentric," had an underground home built into the cliff
61	Saturday, March 11th	Catherine Nottingham	Blunt Trauma	Spinster
64	Sunday, March 12th	Evan Milburry	Blunt Trauma	The only survivor, a former swordsman who survived by jumping from a third story window, and is now committed at the Saulbridge Sanitarium.
60	Monday, March 13th	Algernon Bently	Blunt Trauma	Wealthiest man in town, after the Weathermays. The most recent victim. If his house is searched, the party may find an important clue in the fireplace. There is a single gem clutched in a charred, skeletal hand. The hand is not severed by a blade, but seems to be burnt off.
67	Tuesday, March 14th	Gilbert Mahoney	Fright	The Merchant the PCs talked to earlier. If they don't stop the Miser within a day, he will be the next victim.
68	Wednesday, March 15th	Carmen Dey	?	If they don't stop the Miser within two days, she will be the next victim.

Investigating the murder scenes should be the bulk of the adventure. The major clues to find are:

• The piles of gems actually trail off from where the bodies were found. The guards are stretched thin, patrolling the streets at night and searching crime scenes by day. They haven't noticed a few gems wedged between cobblestones or stuck in the mud or grass. The trails all point toward the Mausoleum. The Miser discards the gems he doesn't want while walking back home. None of the trails go on for more than 100 feet or so, but if the PCs get a map from the Town Clerk, they could plot the trails and triangulate to see where they would cross: The Mausoleum. Since I was running the Lumley adventure at the time, I placed it in such a way that the trails could lead there too. But Mahoney's death disproved that, since it occured between Lumley House and the Mausoleum. Feel free to place the Red Herring of your choice in place of Lumley House.
• Collecting the gems together and sorting them should reveal that there are many different cuts and gem types. (Mostly pearls, considering Mordentshire's location by the sea.) But one type is missing: Square-cut rubies. Some digging at the Town Clerk's archives may reveal the connection to Cyrus Weathermay. Interviewing the living Weathermay's will reveal the location of the Mausoleum, and perhaps some information about Cyrus's personality.
• The burnt hand of the miser, which should hint at its undead nature and it's vulnerability to fire. (Bently threw a gem into the fire and the Miser reached for it, thinking himself invulnerable, and lost the hand. Then killed Bently.)
• A visit to the Sanitarium to check up on Milburry will give little of substance, but should be a clue that the murderer is something supernatural. Milburry is mad, and keeps screaming about "The face! The eyes!"
• Mahoney's scream should be timed such that heard by the PCs, and they can arrive in time to glimpse the Miser. A man in a suit and bowler is walking away from the scene in the darkness, throwing gems over his shoulder. If they approach, he turns, and they see that he is skeletal, except for his eyes, and the arm holding the pile of gems is missing a hand. He uses his fear gaze to try to paralyze them and drops over the cliff.

The Miser's Stats

Places of note:
Inns:
14 - Beached Mermaid - Captain Garret Nancy (Nautical theme, formerly the Salty Dog)
13 - Old Salt House - Caraway
8 - The Traveller's Inn - Geddar Ironheart the Dwarf
7 - The 7th Sea - Terrington
2 - Blackard Inn - Blackard
57 - Silver Dolphin Inn

Manors:
19 - Mayor's Home - Daniel Foxgrove
56 - Manor - Lian de Loranche Punchinel
38 - Heather House
42 - House on Gryphon Hill
50 - Lumley House

Other:
26 - Saulbridge Sanitarium - Dr. Sean McClintock
54 - Sisters of Mercy hospice - Sisters Bronwyn, Evangeline, Jolinda, Patrice
53 - Monastery of the Guardians - Brother Griggory, Sister Eleyna
52 - The Chapel of Pure Hearts - Bastion Sarlotta Otrava
55 - Dr. Hansel Ritter's Herbalist Shoppe - (secretly Rudolph Van Richten)
5 - Town Guardhouse/Jail - Inspector Lafeuve
51 - Hall of Records/Town Clerk - Nicolas Huxley
18 - Open air marketplace

Mausoleum Map - For descriptions of the non-Cyrus areas, see I10.