Party is sought out to stop a serial killer from killing more of a small town’s members
This is an adventure for level 6 or 7 players.
Enemy- Crafty Serial Killer Telvar, Corrupt Mayor Jelkins (if the players try and stop his corrupt antics), Guard Captain Briars (if the players gain his ire)
This is a murder mystery that can leave the party with chills and a potential foil to follow them in future adventures.
Who is the serial killer targeting?
The SK is targeting people based on nursery rhymes lines. There have been three people killed at this time that the Guard Captain Briars is aware of and has three pieces of paper for each murder. The killer leaves their next nursery rhyme clue at the sight of the victim.
What are the nursery rhymes that the killer has used so far?
Mary had a little lamb– a murdered child (strangulation) and a lamb (strangulation) found in the back of a school room. (Mary Church victim)
Hickory Dickory Dock– an elderly man (blunt force trauma from a clock) found in his home, the clock stopped at 1 am.
Eena, meena, mina, mo– a young scrawny teen, called mouse by his friends (multiple pierce wounds and blunt force trauma to his shoulder), found in the outskirts of the town with both of his toes cut off and shoved in his mouth.
The next two rhymes are I hear thunder, and For want of a nail.
For I hear thunder the killer is waiting for a rainstorm before they strike, if the players ask Guard Capt Briars about time frames he will mention that the last murder has been two weeks ago and then offhandedly mention its been sometime since the rain has happened. If a player wishes to explore the issue they can make a nature check to see if they can tell when it will rain. The victim is a homeless man found drowned in a large hole during the strong storms that happen two nights into the investigation. He is missing his right shoe. The note is on wax cloth that it is in possession of the guard captain.
The final nursery rhyme For Want of a Nail is found attached to a nail that is in the pocket of the drowned man. During the next few days strange events start to happen in town. The drowned man’s shoe is found in a stable but a horse was stolen during the night. The owner, one Johan Stanford has put a reward of 10 gp for its finding. If the PCs wish to uncover where the horse went it will take a survival check and half the day to uncover its location. Else the horse is found two days later its rider having been shot in the back by arrows. No note is found on the rider and no one in the town knows who this young man was. (Since the PCs may be looking for notes there will be none on this victim.)
The SK is using this to draw the PCs away while they go after their true target Mayor Jenkins. The Mayor will be killed at night as he is finishing his duties and pocketing his latest bribe.
If the PCs manage to guess the next victim in time they will arrive in time to save Mayor Jenkins else they will arrive as he is finishing up and about to leave town.
Where does this happen?
In the large town of Falgren (population of 350). A medieval forest town with a small market place. Its known for its ash wood bows and its yearly archery contest.
When does this happen? It happens two weeks before the annual archery contest. The mayor wants to catch the SK before it ruins the contest.
Why is the SK causing this reign of terror?
The SK is the outcast son of Mayor Jenkins (human male age 49). During his younger days he forced himself on SK’s half orc mother and she gave birth to Telvar. He paid the mother hush money and disavowed any knowledge of Telvar. The SK found out recently of all of this from his dying mother and has been extracting his revenge on Mayor Jenkins and the town’s inhabitants for multiple months now.
The mayor has been using his power to protect SK but with the death of Mary Church he could not quiet the growing alarm any longer. Mayor Jenkins has gone to great lengths to hide the connection between himself and SK and will do whatever he can to preserve his power in this town.
How does SK get away with their series of killings?
The SK is a capable ranger who uses spells, and prey evasion techniques to stalk relatively weak commoners. He is methodical in his methods and will go out of his way to stay true to the nursery rhyme he has chosen. The book he uses to select his verses from is the one his mother use to read to him.
Maps
Map #1
Town Map
Map #2
Murder dump site #1
Enemies & Treasure
Crafty SK/Telvar
https://ddb.ac/characters/56396694/KH959Y
Telvar will use hit and run tactics if he is caught before the deed is done else he will delay the PCs with well placed arrow and bonus action dash to advance his lead away from the party. Once he can break line of sight he will use a potion of invisibility and then cast pass without trace to cover his tracks.
Corrupt Mayor and Guard Captain
https://www.dndbeyond.com/encounters/826caffb-76ab-4225-828f-55759d66e145
Epilogue
The players have finally tracked the serial down to their latest mark and if they are quick enough they have managed to catch the killer before they have killed the victim. If not they are catching the killer as they are putting their finishing touches on the victim.
