Cliffhangers: The Candlemaker's Fire

Sorry about the delay in posting; it's been a crazy week of work. But I'm going to post as much as I can before the end of the month when I get a chance. So much for lots of extra time to fill in the maps...

Anyway, this Cliffhanger was actually on December 4th, so I'm a couple of weeks late on posting it. Better late than never. This one is called The Candlemaker's Fire. It's another four-parter, and comes with a bonus monster at the end. It's for 4th-level characters, and at least one of them should have a +1 weapon. I would expect that most 4th-level characters would, especially in 3rd edition.

Alright, so this one begins in the village of Travensburg, which we saw in the first Cliffhanger, Unearthing the Past. There's an enchanter who has settled near the village and has been amusing himself by selling candles. Most of them are simply high-quality scented candles, the kind you'd find at the dollar store. But he also included some minor enchantments on some of them for the rich people. Three weeks ago, he brought in some special candles, candles of cheerful burning. These hypnotized large groups of people, and it took unhypnotized people to break them free. This irritated the townsfolk, who went hunting for the enchanter. However, he's not around, and giant bees are blocking the path to his cabin. And that's where the adventure starts.

There are a few hooks to get the party involved, such as rumors of magical candles (treasure!), or a party wizard wanting a spell that the enchanter (Edarad) has in his spellbook, or just someone asking them to investigate on the town's behalf. Doing so requires getting past the giant bees, but 4th-level characters shouldn't have a problem with that. If they do, then you have more important things to deal with as a DM.

When they get to the cottage, a fire mephit lights one of the hypno-candles; while the party is trying to make saving throws, the mephit (and its friend) attack them with gouts of fire and heat metal. Well, that's just mean. And then there's a nasty boiling wax trap that the mephits will try to lure the party into. Then there's a pit trap covered in fragile wax (yes, your PCs will break through). Then you get to the bee chamber where the bees the party already fought live. If any survived the initial battle, they're here. And there's also a wax golem (the new monster) to fight.

The wax golem is a Medium-sized Construct with 3 HD and a CR of 3. It's got the typical construct immunities, but it's vulnerable to fire (naturally). So, it's immune to mind-influencing effects, poison, disease, critical hits, subdual damage, energy drain, and death from massive damage. It's also only taking half damage from bludgeoning weapons, and has electricity resistance 10. They're expensive to make, although nowhere near as expensive as the Monster Manual golems.

Assuming they get past all of this, they get to meet Edarad Prinn, the guy behind the nasty candles. Assuming he heard the previous combats, he's prepped with mage armor, blur, and shield before the party even shows up. He's a 5th-level enchanter who has another wax golem bodyguard. He's got some useful magical items, but a 4th-level party should be able to handle him; his spells don't allow for area effect damage, which means he's not going to be able to affect more than one party member at a time.

This is a pretty short adventure, but it's useful for helping a party get some experience and maybe a few useful magic items. Other than Edarad's gear, there's not much treasure to be found, so don't expect a windfall. But it's a nice little diversion, although I wonder why it had to be split into four parts; it could easily have been done in two.

Anyway, that's it for this one. I've got another Map-a-Week to post tomorrow, and then some more online stuff.