In the Ermine Marches, a strange fountainhead has erupted, spilling forth a glowing blue stream into the valley below. Two fortnights past, a shepherd boy allowed his sheep to drink from the eldritch waters. He returned to town babbling about sheep walking upright and using human speech.
He was initially jailed for madness and intoxication, but others have since confirmed these reports. Even more troubling, these ‘awakened’ sheep have taken to raiding other flocks, liberating their cousins, and leading them to the Waking Waters.
But the sheep were not the only creatures to drink from the Waking Waters. So did the she-wolf Loba. Now gifted with intellect and shapeshifting, she has disguised herself as a sheep, taken the name Susi, and seeks to control the herd animals.
Our heroes (four sixth-level adventurers) come to the Ermine Marches in a strange season. Who will they side with? The fate of nations may depend on their choices.
Waking Waters
The Waking Waters act as a Potion of Awaken (as the spell). The waters may be bottled, but lose their magic after a day of stagnation. Intelligent beings are unaffected, but find the water intoxicatingly addictive. All animals mentioned in this adventure are Awakened. Once the Waking Water reaches the Fat Water Lake, its magic is fully diluted.
Outcomes and Quests
Join ‘Em!
Loba (aka ‘Susi’) thinks the sheep should assimilate into human society and wants to formally petition the Duchess for protection. This will require Elocution Lessons (a successful DC 14 Intelligence (Performance) check to teach the sheep how to speak properly) as well as Formal Clothing (which can be acquired from Billy Shears).
Once the sheep are clothed and coached, they wish to be escorted to the Duchess’s Hall. They may need protection from the sleeping Somnomancer, who wakes as they pass. At the Hall, they’ll petition the assembled nobles for protection, but can’t be heard over the mocking ‘bahs’. A successful DC 15 Charisma (Intimidation or Persuasion) can win the sheep a fair hearing.
If all succeeds, Dulka pays the heroes 700gp and declares ‘Susi’ her vassal. Loba happily sells her ‘fellow sheep’ for meat and wool. Things are much as they were before, but the sheep now have a wolf for a shepherd.
Beat ‘Em!
King Rams wishes to unify the sheep by rescuing the captive flock from the Barns and exposing Loba’s treachery. The Shifter’s Glen tracks are a clue, but forcing her to publicly transform (with Bottled Moonlight) is needed to convince the Sheeple. If exposed, Loba and her sisters attack, while the sheep cower in fear.
If the sheep are freed and Loba is defeated, King Rams proclaims the heroes friends of the Sheep Nation. He awards them medals and the Golden Fleece – +1 Hide Armor that sheds Light in a 30ft radius and gives Advantage on Con Saves.
Return to Shep
Coalfog begs you to destroy the Fountainhead! If you do, the awakened scatter and revert to simple animals within a month. Loba will seek as much death and destruction as she can before her mind decays all the way. Put the mad wolf down to return peace to the valley. The Duchess offers 700gp for the return of peace.
- Entrance – Drunk and scared, a shepherd boy named Orville babbles nonsense about strange sheep, walking upright and speaking like humans. If he can be calmed, he’ll explain the local crisis, map the valley, and advise the heroes to flee.
- Crossroads – An empty gibbet swings in the wind. The second time the party passes through this area, they are accosted by a gang of unemployed sheepdogs (ten Wolves).
- South Riverbank – A Somnomancer (Mage) was sent to spy on the free sheep and estimate their forces. However, counting all those sheep tired him out, and now he slumbers by the riverbank. Like all of his trade, he hates being awoken and will lash out at those who disturb him.
- Burned Market – In these burned ruins, townsfolk babble of militarized sheep carrying firebrands, burning the town, and liberating their herds. They are destitute and afraid.
- Weavers and Tailors – Dye pools and water-wheel looms dominate this bank of the Fat River. Master Weaver Billy Shears doesn’t like the idea of talking sheep – but business is business. In exchange for wool, he’ll make clothes for the sheep, but they’ll get less clothing than they had wool – and winter is coming soon.
- Duchess’s Hall – Duchess Dulka, vassal to Queen Aisling, rules this range of the Ermine Marches from her great hall. She fights as a Knight and is attended by her two husbands – a Knight and a Priest – as well as ten Guards. She wants peace by any means necessary and offers 700gp to get it. See: Return to Shep, Join ‘Em.
- Barns – When the sheep started to awaken, the frightened farmers hid what was left of their herds in the cluster of barns here. The captive animals here drink imported water under armed guard – a Knight and ten Thugs. It’s getting costly, and the farmers are in a sour mood.
- Border – Eight muscular sheep (Giant Goats) and two Awakened Trees guard the river bridge here. They can be persuaded (DC 12) to admit a small group of friendly humans, but those wearing wool have Disadvantage on the check.
- Field of Dreams – Two hundred sheep (Goats) build their nation here. King Rams seeks to unite the awakened, liberate the sleepers, and gain freedom from the world of men. See: Beat ‘Em! The sheep here warn travels not to go east – nothing lies that way but the ruined Wolf Temple and old Coalfog.
- The Other Side – ’Susi’ proselytizes here, telling her followers that they have changed and are now entitled to their place in human society. See: Join ‘Em! If fought, Loba fights as a Werewolf, with a hybrid form between sheep and wolf. She has 160 sheep followers, but relies on her seven sisters in crisis; they are Dire Wolves, currently disguised as the shadows of her sheep followers. The Sheep flee as the wolves emerge from their shadows.
- Hills – The lone sheep who lives here is called Coalfog by the herd, though he rejects that ‘human’ name. His mood is as black as his wool. He believes the sheep were happier in ignorance. See: Return to Shep.
- Wolf Temple – These terrible ruins emerge from the hills like a broken tooth. The temple is long since abandoned, but awful murals still detail rites of hunger, transformation, and pack madness. Five Outlaws (Bandit Captains) are camped in the ruins. Their heads are worth 60gp each to the Duchess.
DC 13 Intelligence (Investigate) to find Bottled Moonlight, which sheds 30ft of dim Light and triggers transformation in shape changers.
DC 13 Intelligence (History) recalls the legends of this land: that once wolfs walked upright, spoke in tongues, and stole whatever skins they wished to wear. For their evil, their minds were stolen from them by the first mages, and they were reduced to animals. So the legends go.
- Western Riverbank – The riverbank is low here and tracks show that many animals come here to drink. A successful DC 13 Wisdom (Survival) check reveals that a wolf drank from the Waking Waters here. Following the tracks reveals the secret path to Shifter’s Glade.
- Shifter’s Glade – Following the wolf tracks leads to a secluded glen covered in a confusing tangle of different tracks. A successful DC 13 Intelligence (Investigate) or Wisdom (Survival) notices that the wolf tracks change, becoming the tracks of a human, a deer, and a bear, before settling into a sheep’s hooves. This evidence interests King Rams, who suspects ‘Susi’ is evil.
- Mountain Pass – This treacherous passage is guarded by the greatest warriors of the Sheep (Ten Giant Goats). They protect the Fountainhead from evil and answer to King Rams. Each has sworn to admit no biped to the mountain top. The incline provides Difficult Terrain, but only to those moving north.
- Fountainhead – The sheer face of the northern mountains towers over this plateau. Crashed into the cliff face is a great crystal shard; this is the source of the Waking Waters. The shard is a Celestial Library, dropped from Heaven during a brief civil war.
The falling water forms a small pool where it hits the rock, awakening a lichen colony. A few rounds after warm-blooded creatures enter the area, the fungal algae pulls itself into two humanoid shapes (Trolls) and attacks.
Climbing the 30ft to the Celestial Library requires a DC 13 Strength (Athletics) check. Failures fall, taking 3d6 damage. Smashing the Library dries the Waking Waters. Removing it intact also dries the stream, but requires a DC 14 Dexterity (Athletics) check. On a failure, the shard smashes on the rocks at the cliff’s base. If intact, attuned Celestial speakers may use it, as if it was any 3rd level Cleric Spell Scroll, once per Long Rest.