The Aerie of Broken Wings 5th-Level Adventure

THE AERIE OF BROKEN WINGS

This adventure module comes with the following digital items:

• 11-Page Adventure PDF
• VTT-Ready Full-Color Maps, both Gridded and Ungridded versions
• VTT Creature Tokens of a zombie miner and a zombie gryphon

The Aerie of Broken Wings is a Fifth Edition adventure for three to five characters of 5th to 6th level and optimized for four characters with an average party level (APL) of 5. A mining shaft has collapsed into a hidden cavern and an ancient temple to a forgotten avatar of death. After being attacked by undead creatures, the miners hired a band of mercenaries to clear them out—who proceeded to seize a hidden artifact’s power for themselves. Their work threatens to revive an avatar of death imprisoned within the cavern's walls.

Background

The Doralli Mining Company is one of the most influential organizations in the Freelands, with ties linking them to the highest government officials and nobles down to the most cutthroat criminal syndicates. Their wealth stems from their stranglehold on precious metal and stone mining operations. The Doralli family mines are being built and excavated regularly, providing jobs to the local community. While some see their efforts as exploitative, their employees benefit significantly from their loyalty, and local communities reap the rewards of the economic windfall—until the mines dry up and close down, leaving many jobless afterward.

This situation was the case in the town of Westwick, a small mining town in the Black Hills sitting at the base of the Motionless Mountains. Once supported by the Doralli silver mine just out of town, the economy collapsed when the company drained the mine and pulled up shop. Many former miners struggled to survive and turned to banditry or found employment with one of the criminal families in Brackensworth. In this place, assassins and thugs rule.

Some miners did not give up and returned to the mine of their own accord, hoping to find a new silver vein. Instead, they discovered a massive cavern deep beneath the mountain that had been sealed away for millennia. Ancient dragon bones were embedded in the stone, and an ancient temple's ruins stood ominously in the center, pulsing with an ethereal light. A flash of spectral energy washed over the miners killing half their number in the blink of an eye and transforming them into undead creatures.

The survivors reached out to those former miners who were now part of the mercenary band known as the Golden Gryphons. A former adventuring guild famous for its gryphon riders, the Golden Gryphons were forced to take on mercenary work after powerful enemies killed their eponymous mounts. Since then, the band's reputation has been tarnished from its fall from grace. The former Westwick miners convinced the leader of the Golden Gryphons, Captain Targon Morvalis, to take on the job for little more than the promise of gold later.

The mercenaries quickly dispatched the undead guardians and delved into the temple, unfazed by the magic within. They found a crystal pulsing with necromantic power, and Captain Targon seized it for himself. The captain tapped into the power and discovered it could bring the dead back to life. In an instant, he commanded the remains of their beloved gryphons to be brought to the temple. The process is not quick, but it’s only time before they revive their pride of gryphons as undead monsters and take revenge.

Adventure Summary

The characters are tasked with entering the Westwick silver mine and find themselves confronted by undead miners and mercenaries. After fighting through the tunnels and into a deep underground cavern, they find a temple pulsing with power. They must face the mercenaries and a newly raised undead gryphon and stop the leader from accidentally reviving an imprisoned avatar of death—an ancient dragon-lich.

If you like this adventure and other content from The DM Tool Chest, consider becoming a patron to support our work and get weekly content!