TEXT: a dozen disconcerting  rumors • page 1
  A Dozen Disconcerting Rumors © 2019, 2020 Philip Reed, all rights reserved. 
  Some art by camilkuo, used under license from Shutterstock.com.
  If there is one thing that we can be certain of, it is that 
  the player characters are as likely to wander off in a ran-
  dom direction as they are to follow the trail of bread-
  crumbs that the GM leaves between them and the ad-
  venture. Some players are simply stubborn, refusing to 
  be “railroaded” into adventure, while others overlook 
  clues and go completely off the rails. It isn’t that the 
  players don’t want to participate in an adventure. No, it 
  is simply that some players want to push limits and test 
  the GM’s ability to think fast.
  Fortunately, GMs have access to more tools than ever 
  before to assist them in preparing for the unexpected 
  direction that the party takes early on in the game ses-
  sion. The internet is overloaded with inspiration for fan-
  tasy RPG gamemasters, but that isn’t going to prevent 
  me from adding even more rumors to the GM’s toolbox.
  As with the other titles in this series, each rumor is pre-
  sented as a single page to make printing/using the se-
  lected rumor as easy as possible. Print and go!
  a dozen  
  disconcerting rumors
  by philip reed
  
  a dozen disconcerting  rumors • page 2
  anatomy 
  of a 
  rumor
  using the rumors
  1. A title, to help set the mood.
  2. Each rumor includes an illustration to 
  help spark your imagination as you think 
  through how to best use the rumor in your 
  campaign.
  3. Flavor text appears in italics. You may use 
  this text as read aloud text, or you may pre-
  fer to use it as inspiration and reword the 
  flavor text in your own language.
  4. Each rumor includes an overview of the 
  general idea to get your creative muscles 
  humming. Adapt as you see fit!
  5. There are true and false options for each of 
  the rumors, providing you with some ideas 
  on how the rumors might play out. Wheth-
  er or not a rumor is true or false is your call.
  The dozen rumors detailed on the following pages are 
  first and foremost meant to get your imagination run-
  ning. As the gamemaster, you’re constantly under pres-
  sure to devise scenes and stories and to keep the action 
  flowing, always entertaining the players and as much a 
  playwright as you are a movie director. 
  Atmosphere. The rumor isn’t intended to do anything 
  more than add some depth to the campaign setting. 
  You never intend for the players to act on the rumor; 
  it is merely being used to make the campaign feel like 
  there’s more going on outside of the player characters’ 
  sphere of influence.
  Breadcrumbs. Perhaps you’re building to something, 
  an encounter against a rival or a larger in-world event 
  that will shake the player characters and the NPCs. 
  When used in this way, the rumors are leading to an ad-
  venture of your own design that, in some way or other, 
  incorporates the rumors in such a way that the players 
  get the feeling you’ve mapped things out in advance.
  Adventure Seed. If you’re feeling especially inspired 
  and creative, you can select any rumor and expand it 
  out into a full adventure. In the sample rumor, above, 
  the party is promised an epic battle if they set out to 
  engage the ogres, trolls, and orcs that are approaching 
  the city. Expanding this rumor into an adventure will 
  require you to map the surrounding area, provide sta-
  tistics for the monsters, and perhaps toss in a few allies 
  – other adventurers, city guards, thrillseekers – who join 
  the party in seeking out and attacking the army.
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  
  a dozen disconcerting  rumors • page 3
  the witch  
  and the tree
  “She is so horrible that even the people of Woodfall were 
  unwilling to have her. Skrags says that she were cast out 
  of the village less than a week after she arrived and before 
  she had done much more than made her intentions to 
  open a shop of magic known to the people of the village. 
  Any witch so terrible as to be turned away from a village of 
  witches is one to avoid.”
  Most likely overheard in a tavern or at the intersection 
  of some major roads in the city, the story of the witch 
  who was too evil for Woodfall* captures the attention of 
  the adventurers. They’ve heard whispers of the village 
  before – known as a home for criminals, witches, and 
  the unwanted – but this is the first time that they’ve 
  heard of someone being banished from the village.
  “It was her plans to undercut the others that did it.”
  As they eavesdrop, the party learns that the witch in 
  question – Philomene Moonfall – has set up her shop of 
  magic in the forest a few days from the city. The chatter 
  suggests that the woman is living inside one of the larg-
  er, hollowed out trees, and that she welcomes all who 
  bring enough gold to buy her wares.
  “Sure, I’ll tell you where she lives.”
  If asked, the commoners chatting about Moonfall offer 
  to sell the adventurers directions to the woman’s forest 
  home. The more gold that they offer the one who is 
  most talkative, the more detailed his directions become.
  True. Moonfall was banished from Woodfall, but not be-
  cause of her plans to open a shop of magic. The witch 
  was forced out because she broke one of the few laws 
  that the village enforces: no stealing from others who 
  also live in the village. Moonfall was caught stealing 
  twice in a single day and was evicted instantly.
  She is selling magic items from her tree home, but her 
  selection is limited to 2d4+2 magic potions, 1d6 magic 
  scrolls, and a handful of other minor items as selected 
  by the gamemaster.
  False. Moonfall was never a citizen of the village of 
  Woodfall, but she was tossed out by the people of the 
  village. The witch was trying to sell charm and love po-
  tions when she was traveling through the village; the 
  people of Woodfall do not put up with such evil forms 
  of magic that would twist a person’s will until they com-
  mit unthinkable and undesirable acts. She had no plans 
  to live in the village, but was only visiting while search-
  ing for new potion recipes.
  * To learn more about the village of Woodfall, please see the “Dark Fantasy Mini Setting” described in the Woodfall sourcebook by Lazy Litch.
  
  a dozen disconcerting  rumors • page 4
  a haunted place
  “It is no surprise at all to me and thee that the graves be 
  haunted by the spirits of the wicked. As I hear tell, it is only 
  on those nights when the moon is in the sky that the crea-
  tures wake from their slumber and rise up, seeking the 
  flesh of the living. On the moonless nights, they tell me, the 
  dead remain in their graves. That means it is tonight, boys, 
  that we will claim those treasures.”
  The common folk of The Twisted Soul, one of the town’s 
  taverns where the player characters just happen to 
  be, like to tell tales that many would predict are sim-
  ply ghost stories meant to entertain drinking compan-
  ions. This night, as the party discusses their next day, 
  the group overhears five men speaking of plans to – it 
  would seem – rob graves this very night.
  “I know that when they dropped Claas Wolfgrove into the 
  ground last week, they buried the man with more jewels 
  than any so terrible as he should seek to hold onto in the 
  afterlife. We’ll start with his grave and then, if there be 
  time, hit a few of his kin who they say also took far too 
  many riches with them to the grave.”
  If the adventurers confront the group and ask to join in, 
  the men look the party over and claim that there has 
  been a mistake. “No plans of robbin’ graves have we,” 
  they proclaim. If pressed, the men excuse themselves 
  from the tavern and set off for their homes. If secretly 
  followed, the group leads the party right to the ceme-
  tery where they claim there are treasures waiting to be 
  recovered from the graves. 
  True. There are treasures in 1d4+1 of the graves, but 
  there’s only a 10% chance that any exhumed coffin 
  will be one of the few that include riches. Unfortunate-
  ly, there is a 15% chance that digging a grave up will 
  awaken the occupant; some of the corpses are undead 
  ghouls who wish to eat the flesh of the living.
  False. There are no undead, luckily for everyone, but 
  there are also no treasures to be found. Worse yet, the 
  rumors of jewels, gems, and coins buried in the graves 
  were spread by the town watch. The guards, it seems, 
  are seeking treasure of their own and aren’t above kill-
  ing and stealing from would-be grave robbers.
  
  a dozen disconcerting  rumors • page 5
  the murderess  
  and the blade
  “There’s no telling how many she has killed over the years. The sword’s 
  called Soulslicer, they say, and she has wielded the blade these last seven 
  years. If what they say is true, she is somewhere in the city right now . . . and 
  it is best if we all avoid her temper and the edge of the sword.”
  Overheard at the local adventurers’ guild or tavern, a small group of 
  two women and three men are trading gossip as they wait for a friend. 
  The five of them chatter back and forth, saying little of import, but one 
  of them keeps coming back to stories of Soulslicer and the powerful 
  woman claimed to possess the sword.
  “Genie Rhohur they say she is, mistress of death and warrioress for hire. 
  Word is, they say, that she found the sword when her and a compa-
  ny of mercs infilitrated and seized Skeleton’s Tower. Ever since then, 
  she’s not been without the sword.”
  If the party asks, the talkative one who seems to know all 
  about Rhohur tells them he only has rumors of her being 
  in the city and he can only suggest that they check 
  the taverns and perhaps ask the thieves’ guild if 
  they know of the woman.
  If they ask around, many know of her, but none 
  know for certain whether or not she is in the city. 
  Everyone who claims to have knowledge doesn’t 
  have first-hand info, and every description of the 
  woman the PCs hear varies in some way.
  True. Genie Rhohur was a warrioress who owned the magi-
  cal sword Soulslicer . . . years ago. The woman died three years 
  ago and now a band of assassins use her name as a cover 
  whenever they enter a city. Regardless of their gender, each of 
  the assassins adopts her name to throw off others. When nec-
  essary, they disguise themselves as Rhohur, though the fact that 
  the woman doesn’t exist explains why none of the descriptions 
  of her match. Why the assassins are in the city is unknown, though 
  it cannot be for honorable or good reasons, right?
  False. Rhohur doesn’t exist and never existed. Her tale is a fairy 
  tale that merchants, bards, old women, thieves, and others spin 
  and share to entertain. Stories of Rhohur have spread so far 
  that some now believe that she – and the sword – are real. 
  They are not.
  
  a dozen disconcerting  rumors • page 6
  in service of
  the goddess
  Overheard on the street or perhaps 
  in one of the city’s many shops, two 
  women are talking about how one 
  of them was paid for what she is de-
  scribing as a “simple task.” If the party 
  approaches the women and asks for 
  more information, the one doing most 
  of the talking – Nathalee Surgorsk 
  – resists as first. Threats against her 
  don’t work – she yells for help at the 
  first sign of danger – though gold can 
  persuade her to open up. Even as little 
  as two gold coins gets her talking.
  “Goddess, that’s what she insists that we 
  call her. She’s not old, but she’s no child. 
  Each time I have met her has been at the 
  Temple of Stars where she has a private 
  room. She told me to come back tomor-
  row for another assignment and I mean 
  to be there.”
  Surgorsk offers to take the adventur-
  ers to meet Goddess if they pay her a 
  few more coins.
  True. A vile woman has entrenched 
  herself in the temple, slowly turning 
  followers to her cause. She is setting 
  up false tasks for the people and using 
  gold to buy their trust and loyalty. The 
  woman plans to, within a few months, 
  twist the followers she collects into 
  thieves, manipulating them to wor-
  ship her and meet her every wish. 
  False. Surgorsk is lying about where 
  she got the gold and is terrified when 
  the adventurers overhear and ap-
  proach her. She’s spinning the tale 
  faster than she can contain the lies, 
  and she is now hoping that if she tells 
  enough lies that the party will leave 
  her alone. If pressed, there’s a chance 
  that Surgorsk will break and confess to 
  her lies . . . which will no doubt leave 
  her friend upset at the lies and likely 
  drive a wedge between that particular 
  friendship.
  “She paid as promised and I will certainly take her coin for so long 
  as she keeps dispensing it for such simple tasks. We never once drew 
  our blades and in less than an hour we were in and out, the book 
  safely secured and ready to deliver as she demanded. Easily the eas-
  iest gold I’ve ever made, though I can’t understand why she hired us 
  and didn’t simply collect the tome herself.”
  
  a dozen disconcerting  rumors • page 7
  murderous 
  archers
  One night in the city, the party learns that a war 
  is brewing in the shadows as two forces – the 
  local guild of thieves and a mercenary com-
  pany that has a training hall in the city – have 
  come to disagree on a matter of payment. The 
  mercs, so the rumors go, were paid to guard 
  the thieves’ caravan of goods and when raid-
  ers slaughtered many of the mercs and stole 
  the wealth, the thieves decided that it was an 
  inside job; the thieves claim that the mercs 
  pulled off the theft and killed their own.
  The thieves, it is said by others, have hired a 
  team of shadowy archers who are taking their 
  time and killing members of the mercenary 
  company . . . one by one, and taking as many 
  days as necessary to kill every last merc unfor-
  tunate enough to be in the city.
  True. The thieves did hire assassins, but the 
  mercs didn’t steal the goods. In fact, it was a 
  cabal of thieves within the guild who made 
  off with the treasures after killing the caravan 
  guards. Those same thieves are very much be-
  hind this effort to wipe out the mercs; dead 
  mercs mean that it is impossible for the oth-
  er thieves to learn that they were attacked by 
  members of their own guild.
  False. There are no secret archers operating in 
  the city, though there’s a chance that the story 
  of the thieves and mercs at war may be true.
  If there are no assassins, who has been spotted 
  at night stalking the city and attacking mem-
  bers of the mercenary company? No one. The 
  thieves are spreading tales of assassins in the 
  city to keep as many citizens in their homes at 
  night as possible. The tales have the city watch 
  operating increased nightly patrols, but the 
  thieves can bribe them easily enough. Fewer 
  people on the streets means fewer chances of 
  being caught moving stolen goods at night.
  “Hired assassins, here to kill our best defenders and weaken us be-
  fore invasion they are. The wickedest of killers you can imagine they 
  are, every one of them demonspawn monsters who have sworn al-
  legiance to the darkest of masters. Whatever you do, don’t come 
  between one of these monsters and their prey.”
  “Their magical garb shields their thoughts and feelings from even 
  the most powerful of scrying spells and objects, keeping their true 
  mission safely hidden away. I know wizards who are afraid to cross 
  their path, instead choosing to step aside if they learn that even 
  one of these beasts gets involved in a conflict.”
  
  a dozen disconcerting  rumors • page 8
  the snake charmer
  “I didn’t see her, but Gerrar says he was there when it happened and de-
  scribed her as a beautiful, terrifying woman surrounded by snakes. Doz-
  ens of them he said, describing it as if she were summoning the snakes 
  from the empty air around her. Slithering, striking, lashing, Gerrar says the 
  snakes were an extension of her body, with each moving as if it were a 
  weapon under her control.”
  The party is seated with Kaley Flowcreck, a talented scribe 
  known to keep strict, detailed records of actions within the city. 
  For six years, Flowcreck has been the unofficial chronicler of 
  the mayor, recording the important events so that fu-
  ture generations will have a detailed history of the 
  city. Through friends of a friend, the adventurers 
  have been asked by Flowcreck to meet with her 
  to discuss a strange event.
  “It is rare for a snakecaster to be anywhere near the city, 
  and after I detailed the event I knew I needed to find 
  someone to investigate and determine whether or 
  not the woman is really what Gerrar says she is. If a 
  snakecaster is really this close to the city, we must 
  notify the watch immediately.”
  Snakecasters are a rare and evil type of ar-
  cane spellcaster, rarely encountered 
  so far from the jungles of the south. All 
  of their spells involve summoning mag-
  ical constructs in the shape of snakes from the air 
  and earth around them; the snakes are not real, 
  though they look very real. Snakecasters worship the 
  demonic snakes of old and one this close to the city 
  can only mean that the snakefolk must be planning 
  to extend their reach into new territory.
  True. The female snakecaster was within a few days 
  of the city, probing for defenses and acting as a scout 
  for a larger force. If the PCs investigate, they find evi-
  dence of the woman’s movements, though they do 
  not encounter her. Will the snakefolk attempt to 
  send spies into the heart of the city?
  False. Not a snakecaster, but an illusionist with 
  knowledge of the ancient and evil arcane art was the 
  source of the tale. The woman is trying to use the fear 
  of the snakecasters’ power to make her appear more 
  dangerous than she truly is.
  
  a dozen disconcerting  rumors • page 9
  the starblind assassin
  “At night and only if the stars are shining, that’s when he strikes. The guard 
  have offered 1,000 gold for his capture – I hear they’ll pay even more if he 
  is delivered dead – and so far not a one of the bounty hunters in the city 
  have been able to secure the reward.”
  None know his name, but many in the city are talking about the post-
  ed bounty for one known as “Starblind.” Throughout the city, regard-
  less of where they go, the party keeps hearing rumors of this killer 
  who goes out only at night and only when the stars can be seen in 
  the sky overhead. Some say he has killed a dozen men, other say 
  that he has killed scores of men; none of the rumors align per-
  fectly and everyone who speaks of the assassin seems to have a 
  different tale to tell.
  “A member of a cult is what he is.”
  Some who speak of the man tell the PCs that he is a 
  member of Stardeath, a cult that is said to worship 
  only the most ancient and foul of gods. If they inves-
  tigate the cult, every person with info on secretive 
  groups operating in the city say that the Stardeath 
  cult vanished a decade ago and is thought to be 
  long disbanded and no longer in operation.
  True. The assassin is the last surviving member of the 
  cult and was recently awakened from a magical slumber. 
  When he came to, he found that the world had changed 
  and that his group was forever gone. Armed with his weap-
  ons, his ability to absorb arcane power from starlight, and a 
  small journal listing enemies of the cult, the assassin has been 
  putting his time to use by settling old scores. He is a skilled mur-
  derer who, when illuminated by the stars, also possesses the spell-
  casting ability of a low-level mage or wizard. When in sunlight or 
  complete darkness, he loses his spellcasting abilities.
  False. There is an angry thief in the city who is taking revenge on 
  those who he feels wronged him over the years. The thief is cursed, 
  poisoned by a magical elixer that is eating away at his soul and leaving 
  him with only days to live. To throw others off, he has been spreading 
  the rumors of a “Starblind Assassin” and is down to only three more 
  people on his list of those to kill before he dies.
  Perhaps a friend of one of the adventurers is on the man’s list? Maybe 
  their friend knows exactly what is happening and asks the party to 
  protect him from the dying thief.
  
  a dozen disconcerting  rumors • page 10
  the hired killers
  “I counted three of them I did. Each as grim as a dragon 
  with eyes as cold as a lich. I was close to the watch officer 
  when they passed through the south gate, and I overheard 
  the fighter say his name be Iven Pagudro. I made note of 
  the name, that I did, for I knew that someone would pay 
  for that particular detail. After all, what man who trades in 
  death and adventure wouldn’t want to know the name of 
  a killer who is here for no good?”
  Standing outside the main entrance to the adventur-
  ers’ guild, the chattering old man is telling his group of 
  friends why he asked them to join him in a visit to the 
  guildhall. His hope, the PCs can quickly determine, is 
  that the information of the fighter’s name will be worth 
  a gold or two to someone.
  If the player characters choose to take the bait and ask 
  the old man for the dirt, he introduces himself as Hobb 
  the Baker and tells them he will only share what he 
  knows for five gold coins. If they barter, the man goes as 
  low as a single gold figuring he can always sell the name 
  to someone else.
  “I didn’t catch the names o’ the others, but that man Iven 
  Pagudro is sure to be some murderer here for no good, and 
  his friends looked just as mean and dangerous as he.”
  True. Yes, Iven Pagudro and two others entered the city 
  through the south gate earlier today, and all three are 
  experienced and battle-hardened adventurers. They’re 
  not hired killers, though, but are simply dungeoneers 
  who are on their way to raid one of the dungeons that 
  sits not a day from the city. If the PCs track down Pa-
  gudro and his friends, they soon learn the truth and get 
  an opportunity to trade info about possible treasures, 
  adventuring sites, and other bits of import that all ex-
  plorers and adventurers may find valuable.
  False. His name is Iven Pagudro and he is in the city, 
  along with two friends, but he didn’t come through the 
  south gate. Hobb the Baker was paid by Pagudro to 
  spread lies and, hopefully, throw the assassins who are 
  chasing Pagudro and his friends off the scent. If pressed, 
  Hobb eventually cracks and tells the PCs the truth, in-
  cluding the last known location of Pagudro.
  
  a dozen disconcerting  rumors • page 11
  gold for memories
  “Twenty gold he paid me!”
  The young man at the next table, little more than a child, raises 
  a jingling sack as he boasts to his friends about his wealth. The 
  group lean in, one reaching for the sack, but the youth slaps at 
  the grasping hand and quickly returns the sack to a pocket in his 
  worn, ill-fitting jacket.
  “Hands off, Scalby. If you can keep your seat and close your mouth, I’ll 
  let you in on the secret and maybe you’ll earn your own gold.”
  If the PCs watch the group of six youngsters, they see that every-
  one is paying very close attention as the boy looks around – no 
  doubt checking to see whether or not they are being watched – 
  and then proceeds to tell everyone his tale.
  Either by eavesdropping or offering to pay one of the youth for 
  the information, the party soon learns that a well-dressed 
  and well-equipped man of forty years is paying gold to all 
  who will allow him to take possession of their memories. If 
  they listen closely (or interrogate one of the youth later), 
  the party learns that this man, named Izon Muvka, is using 
  magic to separate memories from their owners. It is said 
  that the memories are a thick liquid that the man extracts 
  with a magic wand and that he then stores the memories in 
  small bottles.
  True. The man is paying for memories, but is it not mem-
  ories that he is siphoning from those who take his gold. 
  The magic wand that the man owns translates a per-
  son’s life essence into pure mana, stealing years from 
  the victim’s lifespan and depositing that lifeforce 
  into the bottles that the man then sells to evil sorcer-
  ers and spellcasters who know how to use the life es-
  sence to enhance the power of their brewed potions, 
  crafted magic items and, in some instances, extend their own life.
  False. The man is paying those who visit him, but he is casting 
  hallucinogenic spells that convince his victims that he is taking 
  their memories. What the man is actually doing is injecting each 
  with a small bit of magical energy that he can later harvest from 
  the unknowing carriers. Whenever this man Muvka is near one 
  of his victims, he may boost the strength and duration of his cast 
  spells by 1d4-1%. If there are multiple victims near him – within a 
  few miles – each contributes to the strength of his spells. Why is 
  Muvka seeding the city with these mana batteries?
  
  a dozen disconcerting  rumors • page 12
  “The ghost stood taller than any man, eight feet 
  at the least says I . . . and I dare any of ye fools to 
  argue that point. I was there, not you, and it was 
  to me that he pointed and I’d be dead if I’d stood 
  there another moment.”
  Raff Smartkeeper, one of many who work as a 
  moneylender in the city, is not one to overly 
  drink and certainly not a man to tell tall tales, 
  so when he stumbles into the nearest tavern 
  telling of an encounter late at night there are 
  few who would doubt the man’s tale.
  “Faceless, he was, maybe even headless, though 
  I stared not long enough to know for sure. That 
  armor is what I most remember, shining as 
  bright as polished silver under the noonday 
  sun, and I’d have thought more about what the 
  suit must be worth if not for the flashing of light 
  on the pointed sword.”
  Smartkeeper refuses to step foot outside that 
  night, begging the tavern’s owner to allow 
  him to sleep there in the glow of the fire-
  place. Even if offered 100 gold coins, Smart-
  keeper wants nothing to do with stepping 
  out of doors until the sun has climbed high 
  into the sky.
  Within an hour of the man’s entrance and of 
  telling everyone his tale – one that is as dis-
  jointed as any ghost sighting may be – a few 
  of those who drank a little much start to dis-
  cuss the idea of setting out to find the ghost. 
  Smartkeeper urges them to stay inside where 
  it is safe, but he will do nothing to stop any 
  who set off in search of the spirit.
  True. Smartkeeper saw a ghost and one that 
  is intent on murder. The apparition was once 
  a human warrior, but death on the battlefield 
  brought an end to his service in the king’s 
  army and soon led to the spirit searching 
  for a way from this plane of existence to its 
  final resting place. The armor and sword are 
  inhabited by the spirit and move as animat-
  ed objects. If someone can destroy the ghost 
  and send it to the afterlife, they’ll find only 
  the sword and armor remain behind.
  the  
  armored 
  ghost
  False. Smartkeeper is telling the truth when he says he saw an 
  armored man in the street, but it wasn’t a ghost that he encoun-
  tered. The “ghost” is Welsh Marwood, an adventurer who was en-
  sorcelled by an evil wizard and is being forced to stalk the streets 
  in search of citizens to kill. The sorcery binding Marwood’s actions 
  and thoughts to the wizard is powerful and will be tough to break, 
  but an experienced practitioner of magic who makes a success-
  ful Knowledge Arcana check when seeing the “ghost” may recog-
  nize him for a man possessed. It is the walk and limp, puppet-like 
  movements of Marwood that tell an experienced wizard that this 
  armored spirit is under the influence of evil magic. Can the PCs 
  free the man . . . and can they find who is pulling his strings?
  
  a dozen disconcerting  rumors • page 13
  the memorable ruins
  “Like the gears of some clockwork contraption they were, 
  though I’ve never seen gears the size of a shanty before. 
  It may have been a tower of sorts, before it collapsed, but 
  whatever it was, it’s no longer a functioning machine and 
  is now little more than wreckage that is being consumed 
  by the drifting, blowing sands of the wasteland. At this 
  rate, it will be swallowed by the desert before the year has 
  come to a close.”
  A traveling merchant, on his way to the next city to sell 
  a wagon of rugs to a dealer friend, stops in for a drink 
  at the inn on the road and is soon telling everyone of 
  a strange wreck he saw several days earlier. If the party 
  isn’t near a desert, perhaps the wreckage is being bur-
  ied in drifting snow, or maybe the crashing waves of 
  the ocean threaten to drag it to sea, but regardless of 
  location, something will soon remove this wreck from 
  existence and prevent them from recovering whatever 
  items of value may be resting amongst the ruins.
  The merchant has no time to take the party back to 
  where he saw the wreckage, but he is willing to draw 
  them a map if they’ll buy him a few drinks. If asked to 
  describe what he saw, he can only say that it was clear-
  ly once a complete object – a tower is his guess – and 
  something tore it apart and scattered the bits of metal 
  and wood across the landscape.
  True. The merchant did spot the remains of something 
  and his map is true, guiding the adventurers to the spot 
  where he promised it would be. Scattered in the wreck-
  age of the tower the PCs find clothing, some personal 
  belongings, and assorted trash that shows the building 
  was clearly inhabited by men.
  The tower was once a planar conveyance, a machine 
  that could travel between planes of existence by the 
  spinning of the gears and under the control of a wizard. 
  The tower crashed here months ago and the occupants 
  were all killed in the accident. It is possible that a scholar 
  or mage in one of the larger cities in the realm would 
  pay for whatever info can be collected from the wreck.
  False. The merchant spotted a bit of wreckage, but 
  nothing more than a wagon that had broken down and 
  been abandoned. He was bored when he met the PCs 
  at the inn and decided to have a little fun, spinning a 
  yarn that caught the attention of the adventurers a little 
  more than he was expecting.
  Rather than admit to the lie, the man decided to get 
  a few free drinks and keep the story going. And since 
  that night, he has continued to tell the tale, directing 
  more and more adventurers and treasure seekers to the 
  “wreck” where he insists they will find valuables.
  
  a dozen disconcerting  rumors • page 14
  selling access to a trap
  “I was there. For seven hours, we did all that we could to get 
  deeper into the complex and seek out the treasures that we 
  were told were scattered across the dungeon’s winding and 
  twisting rooms. Our efforts were hindered by a handful of 
  traps, a lone goblin with an axe, and the very scoundrels who 
  told us of the dungeon. It turns out the dirty backstabbers had 
  made a business out of selling maps and information to those 
  adventurers such as we . . . and then following the unsuspect-
  ing dungeoneers into the complex and murdering them.”
  Brandon Jimmum and his friend, Kerek the Brave, are the 
  survivors of an encounter with a group of murderous thieves 
  who have found an odd racket: selling access to a dungeon 
  and then killing the mark within that very same dungeon.
  “Skulls, so many skulls. Mounds of them. It is impossible that all 
  of the skulls are from those who ventured in before us, but I 
  know not where one could have collected so many skulls 
  as we saw in the dungeon.”
  Jimmum describes mounds of human, elven, dwar-
  ven, and half-orcish skulls in the dungeon, reporting 
  that many of the piles were knocked over and made 
  the floor difficult to traverse. 
  If asked, Jimmum gives the adventurers the name of the 
  one who sold his friends and him the map. “All I ask,” he says 
  as he names the man, “is that you see he and his companions 
  pay for the deaths they have caused over the years.”
  True. Jimmum and his friends were not the first to fall victim 
  to this twisted scheme. The man, a half-orc named Kirag, has 
  been running this operation for a year now and so far has 
  killed a few dozen adventurers who fell into the trap. Will 
  the party confront Kirag in one of the city’s taverns and fight 
  him there, or will they buy the info and then set their own 
  trap in the dungeon for the half-orc and his accomplices?
  False. Jimmum is a liar. He is the one selling the dungeon 
  map and he’s found a new way to spin the operation in the 
  hopes of luring more prey into the dungeon. Jimmum and 
  Kerek are only two of the group behind the scam; there are 
  four others waiting to join the pair if the party falls for the 
  story. There is no half-orc; instead, when the party gets to 
  the tavern where the half-orc is reportedly waiting, Jim-
  mum’s friends are waiting to attack.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/A Dozen/A Dozen Disconcerting Rumors.pdf