TEXT: EN World EN5IDER | Friend of the Children
  A Fifth Edition-Compatible  
  Dark Fantasy Adventure
  for PCs of 4th level
   
  writing Peter Zacchaeus
   
  art Ellis Goodson
   
  maps Justin Andrew Mason
   
  editing James Haeck
   
  layout Eric Life-Putnam
  When children are playing alone on the green,
  In comes the playmate that never was seen.
  When children are happy and lonely and good,
  The Friend of the Children comes out of the wood.
  —Robert Louis Stevenson, "The Unseen Playmate"
  Introduction
  The village of Medvedka Vas sits at the edge of 
  the wilderness, where the waters that flow from 
  the Padli Mountains meet the headwaters of the 
  Bela Gozd River. Logging camps located through-
  out the area bring their timber here to float them 
  to the towns and cities downstream. It is also a 
  center for fur trade, especially the pelts of bears, 
  which are plentiful in the area. It is a small, sleepy, 
  ride-through village of no note—except for one 
  detail. The children of Medvedka Vas do not age.
  Background
  Roughly five years ago, the children of Medvedka 
  Vas stopped aging. No one can provide an exact 
  date or point to an event when it began. The 
  children were not all affected at the same time, 
  and it took parents months or years before they 
  realized their children were no longer growing. 
  Some believe the children were cursed because 
  their parents—many of them loggers—upset a 
  forest spirit. Others believe it is punishment for 
  rejecting the old gods and worshiping foreign dei-
  ties brought by traders. Many regional healers and 
  clerics have tried to cure the children, some sin-
  cere and some charlatans. None have succeeded.
   What nobody knows, and what the characters 
  must discover, is that the answer lies within Bear 
  EN World EN5IDER | Friend of the Children
  
  Friend of the Children | EN World EN5IDER
  sip tea across the table. Her strange solitude gave 
  her many long decades to think about the for-
  est’s—and Kasvin’s—slow, lingering death. Her 
  thoughts turned towards humans, the loggers 
  and the warriors and the hunters; the killers of all 
  living things. She grew to despise them, but could 
  not bring herself to hate the children that Kasvin 
  loved so deeply.
   By her own twisted logic, Eglantina decided she 
  needed to protect the children from the curse of 
  aging. Using the Sap of Life, she created a potent 
  poison that halted the physical process of aging 
  for 30 years. She envenomed her arrows, shoul-
  dered her bow, and flew to Medvedka Vas…
  Adventure Hooks
   ‣ The desperate villagers of Medvedka Vas 
  pool their remaining resources and offer 
  a hefty reward to anyone who can lift the 
  curse from their children. Word of this 
  bounty travels from town to town through 
  word of mouth.
   ‣ One of the families of the village is a distant 
  relative of a party member and sends a mes-
  sage begging for help.
   ‣ The party is hired by a wizard who is con-
  ducting experiments into ways to extend life 
  and is eager to gain samples of the children’s 
  blood as well as any information regarding 
  spells or artifacts that may be the cause of 
  this anomaly.
  Synopsis
  When the characters arrive in Medvedka Vas, they 
  learn that something is preventing the children of 
  this small village from physically aging, although 
  they seem to be developing mentally. In order to 
  effectively conduct their investigations, the party 
  must seek the approval of Lord Pavletic, who 
  may ask them to prove their sincerity and abili-
  ties by first performing another service for him. 
  Their investigations eventually lead them to Bear 
  Plateau, where they must overcome the dangers 
  of the cavern and confront Eglantina at Kasvin 
  Bearclaw’s final resting place.
  Plateau—a plateau rising above the forest, not 
  far from the village. Superstitious villagers claim 
  that the forest atop the plateau was sacred to their 
  ancestors, who followed the Old Religion, and 
  remains protected by forest spirits.
   This superstition is compelling, but false. 
  Several human generations ago, the caves under 
  Bear Plateau were the home of Kasvin Bearclaw, 
  a reclusive gnomish archdruid. He was a close 
  friend to the sprites and pixies of the forest, who 
  frequently visited him. He sincerely loved human 
  children for their imagination and their adventur-
  ous spirits, and he would protect them from harm 
  whenever any wandered into the wild forest.
   Despite his simple, druidic lifestyle, Kasvin was 
  still a gnome at heart and loved to tinker. He and 
  his fey friends frequently snuck into homes with 
  children to fix broken toys or improve upon plain 
  ones. Although he never revealed himself to the 
  people of the village, child or adult, legends soon 
  spread of the mysterious “Friend of the Children.”
   As the wars and settlements of man steadily 
  encroached on these forests, most of the sprites 
  and pixies that used to inhabit them left to find 
  new homes in other, greener lands. One pixie, 
  however, stayed. Eglantina, the last pixie of Bear 
  Plateau, remained with Kasvin.
   Decades passed, and as Kasvin felt his end 
  drawing near, he began to write down all he 
  learned. In the winter years of his life, he spent 
  most of his time locked away in his workroom, us-
  ing potions to prolong his time in this world just 
  long enough to finish his last treatise. Eglantina 
  sorely missed their adventures in the woods and 
  in the village, but she still enjoyed their evenings 
  together. They spoke of old adventures over cups 
  of herbal tea or sip their tea in silence, letting the 
  sounds of the forest and caves speak for them.
   Only after completing his magnum opus did 
  Kasvin allow himself to pass away. He died 
  peacefully, but Eglantina could not accept her 
  lifelong companion’s death. Using the Sap of Life, 
  a natural ichor Kasvin used in his life-preserving 
  potions, she worked to preserve her friend’s body 
  and continued, as usual, to chat one-sidedly and 
  Friend of the Children | EN World EN5IDER
  
  EN World EN5IDER | Friend of the Children
  Running the Adventure
  The adventure poses a mystery, and the players 
  must both determine the cause of the children 
  not aging and cure the children. Discovering 
  the cause is independent from discovering and 
  effectuating the cure. The party might defeat 
  Eglantina at Bear Claw Cavern and still not know 
  how to cure the children. Alternatively, they could 
  deduce the cure, but if they have not defeated Eg-
  lantina, she’ll re-enchant the children soon after 
  the party cures them.
   It is nearly impossible to encounter Eglantina 
  outside Bear Claw Cavern. She avoids putting her-
  self in danger and is patient enough to win a war 
  of attrition. If she has to, she’ll wait until the party 
  leaves town and then start re-enchanting the chil-
  dren. If the party successfully cures the children, 
  collects the reward, and leaves the village with-
  out defeating her, Eglantina will re-enchant the 
  children and Lord Pavletic will put a bounty on 
  the “charlatans” who conned the children’s poor, 
  desperate families.
  Medvedka Vas Geography
  The village of Medvedka Vas lies on the southern 
  banks of the mighty Bela Gozd River. Quaint 
  shops and family-operated lumber mills dot the 
  banks of the river, and a dirt road leads further 
  inland to Lord Ivan Pavletic’s manor. Many hunt-
  ers and loggers travel north of the river to work 
  their trade in the mighty forest surrounding Bear 
  Plateau. The other small hills around the village 
  are bald, cut clean over decades of logging.
  Conducting Investigations
  Interviewing Villagers
  When interviewing unnamed villagers (shopkeep-
  ers, dock workers, etc.) use the following rumor 
  table. Sasha Kalin’s tavern patrons, as well as 
  named villagers such as Lord Pavletic and the 
  children’s parents, know specific information 
  beyond what is provided here.
  Village Rumors
  1d8 Rumor
  1
  Forest spirits, upset at the logging, are behind 
  the children not aging. (Close to the truth, but 
  unfounded.)
  2
  A while back, a traveling warlock stopped 
  at Kalin’s Tavern. A group of drunk loggers 
  mistook her for a prostitute and accosted 
  her. In revenge, she cursed the town. (False. 
  No such event has occurred in Sasha Kalin's 
  establishment, nor would she allow it.)
  3
  Many of the children refer to the “Friend of the 
  Children” looking out for them. Supposedly this 
  was an old folk tale, remembered only by the 
  oldest townsfolk. (Partially true.)
  4
  It is said that Lord Pavletic made a deal with 
  some forest spirits at Bear Plateau and that is 
  the real reason he forbids logging and hunting 
  there. (False. Pavletic doesn’t want to provoke 
  the Giant Owl there. Learning of it might lead 
  the village’s headstrong hunters to seek it.)
  5
  Giant owls are known to inhabit the woods 
  nearby. (True.)
  6
  Surely some political rival of Lord Pavletic 
  has hired powerful wizards to cast dark magic 
  on the town in hopes of taking control of his 
  manor. (False. Speaking with Pavletic about this 
  prompts him to reveal the old superstition of 
  magic surrounding Bear Plateau.)
  7
  Lord Pavletic is furious about a poacher who has 
  been hunting in his woods. This poacher is the 
  source of the curse, as he murdered the Great 
  Bear Spirit that protects these woods and sold 
  its head for gold in a foreign city. (Partially true, 
  see “Lord Pavletic’s Manor,” below. There is a 
  poacher, but there is no Great Bear Spirit.)
  8
  Before the children stopped aging, Lord Pavletic 
  led the village to abandon the village’s old gods 
  (see “Uller’s Wayshrine,” below) in favor of a 
  more “civilized” pantheon. Now the old gods 
  have cursed the children to punish the village. 
  (Partially true. Pavletic wants to modernize his 
  small village, and leading his people to abandon 
  their old gods was one of his first ideas. The 
  rest is entirely false.)
  EN World EN5IDER | Friend of the Children
  
  Friend of the Children | EN World EN5IDER
   There is no nonmagical cure, other than waiting 
  thirty years for the poison to wear off. If there is 
  nobody in the party who can cast the spells neces-
  sary, they must arrange for an appropriate spell 
  caster to visit the village.
  Minor NPC Stats
  Unless stated otherwise, the villagers have com-
  moner statistics.
  Location 1: Medvedka Vas
  Medvedka Vas is a small village of around 150 
  people. Many of the young men spend most of 
  their time living in logging camps away from 
  the village. A smaller number of villagers earn a 
  livelihood as hunters and fur traders, spending 
  much of their time away from the village. The re-
  mainder are farmers. Six buildings near the docks 
  serve as the center of commerce for the village.
  Village Docs
  Most travelers arrive at and depart from the vil-
  lage from here.
  The docks are busy with travelers arriving and 
  departing, and you can hear the sounds of a saw 
  cutting wood from a lumber mill a bit up the 
  river. At the head of the bridge that spans the 
  river hangs the bloodied, dog-mauled corpse of 
  a man below a sign displaying the single word 
  “POACHER.” The nearest building to you is a large 
  hall with the sign “Kalin Tavern” painted on the side 
  facing the docks, which is where most of the recent 
  arrivals are heading.
  NPCs here are busy loading or unloading their 
  boats and are in no mood to talk. If the party 
  forces a conversation, use the encounter table for 
  “Kalin Tavern,” but the NPC suggests meeting at 
  the tavern after they complete their business on 
  the docks.
  Examining the Children
  Characters who inspect one of the afflicted chil-
  dren may attempt a DC 15 Wisdom (Medicine) 
  check. On a success, he or she discovers a very 
  small scar, seemingly from a bug bite. Every child 
  has such a mark in a location that is typically 
  not covered by clothes, like forearms or the neck. 
  Given how common scars and bug bites are on 
  village children, and the overall lack of medical 
  knowledge among the villagers, this has gone 
  unnoticed.
  Using Magic in the Investigations
  Casting detect magic reveals an aura of transmuta-
  tion magic around the affected. The detect poison 
  or disease or protection from poison spells have 
  no effect. While the effects are undesirable, the 
  substance is a magical potion—not a poison or 
  disease.
  Curing the Children
  The children’s condition is due to Eglantina shoot-
  ing small slivers soaked in a powerful potion into 
  the children, causing them to not age for thirty 
  years. Killing Eglantina does not end the enchant-
  ment, but it will prevent her from re-enchanting 
  any cured children.
   Casting dispel magic on an affected child auto-
  matically ends the effects on a successful DC 17 
  spellcasting ability check, or if cast using a spell 
  slot of 7th level or higher. If the spell is successful, 
  the target child begins aging again normally, but 
  he or she will not instantly grow to what his or 
  her age should be.
   Casting remove curse has no effect. The children 
  are under the effects of a magical potion and are 
  not affected by a curse.
   Casting lesser restoration on affected children 
  causes them to begin aging normally from their 
  current physical age, just like a successful dispel 
  magic spell. Casting greater restoration has the same 
  effects and also causes the target child to gain a 
  physical year of age each time it is cast, up to the 
  age he or she should be.
  Friend of the Children | EN World EN5IDER
  
  EN World EN5IDER | Friend of the Children
  Kalin Tavern
  Most of the space of this large building next to 
  the docks is used for the dining hall, which is 
  bustling with patrons, mostly boatmen, lumber 
  merchants, fur traders, and local farmers. There 
  is a bar off to the side and a door leading to the 
  kitchen behind it. The second floor has a large 
  common sleeping area with bunk beds that can 
  sleep up to 40 people. There are only six private 
  rooms.
   The tavern is owned by Sasha Kalin, a tough, 
  childless widow, who prefers to sit in the corner 
  with friends and acquaintances. Her staff—all 
  human commoners who can share information 
  from Rumor Table, above—includes the bartender, 
  Elvino Mauc, a brash, heavyset man in his thir-
  ties who lives in the bar and a few cooks and bar 
  maids who work in shifts.
   On a normal day, 2 to 25 patrons are inside 
  when the tavern is open (dawn to midnight). Roll 
  four times on the table below when the party 
  enters to determine who is at the tavern. Un-
  less stated otherwise, patrons can share a rumor 
  Random Tavern Patrons
  d10 Encounter
  Information
  1
  2d6 loggers 
  All forests in the area are part of Lord Pavletic’s manor. None may hunt or fell a tree 
  without a license from him. 
  2
  1d4+1 foresters
  They are employed by Lord Pavletic to deter poachers and illegal logging. If asked about 
  the ban on hunting and logging near Bear Plateau, they nervously claim it is to ensure a 
  safe place for bears to den and raise cubs to keep the population healthy. If pressed, they 
  recommend speaking to Pavletic in person—specifically about “the owl.” 
  3
  A hunter
  There is a family of a cave bears in a cave system accessible on the northwest side of 
  Bear Plateau. She’s been fruitlessly trying to convince Lord Pavletic to allow him to kill one 
  as a trophy. 
  4
  A fur trader
  Travels the river buying furs to sell in larger cities. If the party mentions the cave bears, 
  she’ll offer 10 gp per pelt, 2 gp per paw, and 20 gp per gall bladder, but warns against 
  speaking to anyone else about their deal. 
  5
  2d6 boatmen
  None are local and all are skeptical of the rumors about the village’s unaging children. 
  9
  2d4 local farm 
  hands
  Young, unmarried men out on the town. They’ll share that no farmstead’s children have 
  escaped the curse, no one older than 12 was affected, and they worry that they will not get 
  Pavletic’s permission to move to another farmstead far away from this cursed town. 
  10
  Lord Ivan 
  Pavletic
  Lord Pavletic enjoys spending time at the tavern and often meets with his serfs, the local 
  merchants, and visitors to the town to hear their requests and address their concerns. See 
  the section on “Lord Pavletic’s Manor,” below. 
  from the Village Rumors table in addition to any 
  specific information they can share.
  Happy Expeditions
  Owned and operated by Pudd, a dour and jaded 
  halfling, Happy Expeditions sells items needed 
  by hunters, loggers, and boatmen. He also carries 
  domestic items of use to local farmers. He has no 
  children and does not share an opinion on what is 
  causing the village’s children to not age. If pressed 
  to guess, he sourly remarks that children “were 
  never meant to grow any bigger.”
  Tailor
  This abandoned store front was once the place of 
  business for the village’s tailor, Octavij Cebela. 
  He was a human and a widower with a beloved 
  young daughter. Not long after the curse began, 
  Octavij claimed that the old legend of the Friend 
  of the Children was real and was about an evil 
  gnome sorcerer who sought control over the vil-
  lage’s children for unspeakable ends. As the years 
  wore on, Oktavij became increasingly unraveled 
  EN World EN5IDER | Friend of the Children
  
  Friend of the Children | EN World EN5IDER
  until he killed his daughter and himself. Any local 
  can relate the story. If the party investigates the 
  now-empty building, they find it emptied of all 
  items, but there remains a grisly message above a 
  written in old, dried blood on the wall above the 
  mantle. It reads: The Friend of the Children is No 
  Friend At All.
  Well-Heeled
  The town cobbler, a female gnome named Pala, 
  focuses on plain, practical, and durable boots for 
  farmers and huntsmen. Her husband and daugh-
  ter died of the gasping cough. Her daughter had 
  the curse and was not aging, but that didn’t stop 
  her from getting sick and dying. If asked about 
  the tailor, she’ll relate Octavij’s story (see “Tailor,” 
  above). She’ll also discuss how he once accosted 
  her, raving that the curse was the fault of “her 
  kind” and demanding her to remove the “gnom-
  ish curse” from his daughter. She had to hire some 
  local men to keep guard for several days, until 
  Octavij’s grizzly end.
  Lumber Docs
  This is where barges prepare sawn and unsawn 
  lumber for transportation down the river. A local 
  merchant named Sreko Ravnik manages the 
  docks. His children were already grown when the 
  curse began and have not yet had any children of 
  their own. He believes that those who claim it is 
  a curse from forest spirits are superstitious idiots, 
  and he remains optimistic even in these dark 
  times. He shares any one rumor from the Rumor 
  Table, so long as it does not involve forest spirits.
  Lumber Mill
  The mill is run by Gregor Robert Broz, his sons, 
  and four hired hands. He also has a daughter who 
  is physically aged 9. She played a lot in the woods 
  and he believes this to be a prank by some forest 
  spirit. Gregor still lets his daughter play in the 
  woods in the hopes that the spirit will make her 
  normal again.
  Uller’s Wayshrine
  The shrine is a red herring. It only relates to the 
  story in that it indicates the people of this area 
  used to practice an older nature-based form of 
  worship. Some villagers blame the curse on the 
  fact that the people have turned their backs on 
  and offended the old gods. The names of the gods 
  may be replaced by those more appropriate to 
  your campaign world.
  At the crossroads out of town, there is a weathered 
  stone wayshrine. It depicts a large hairy man 
  standing with fur wrapped around his waist and 
  cape, but no shirt, pants or shoes. Stone icicles 
  hang from his beard, and his fierce eyes stare into 
  the distance. A phrase in Common is painted at the 
  base of the shrine, reading enter the modern world 
  and forget the gods of old.
  A DC 12 Intelligence (Religion) check allows a 
  character to identify this statue as a shrine to 
  Uller, a local god of hunting and winter. The 
  statue is weathered and ancient, clearly many 
  centuries old. The runes are, however, newer and 
  seem to be carved over an earlier set of runes 
  or letters. It is impossible to determine what the 
  earlier runes where.
  Location 2: Manor and 
  Farmsteads
  Unless otherwise stated, all NPCs on the farm-
  steads have commoner statistics and can share 
  rumors from the Rumor Table. They distrust the 
  party and not cooperate with the investigation 
  without a letter from Lord Pavletic. The farm-
  steads are large and, in addition to the named 
  NPCs, house 2d6 farmhands and 1d4 servants 
  who can share rumors from the Rumor Table.
  Lord Pavletic’s Manor
  Lord Pavletic’s home is the village’s only stone 
  structure. Its fortifications are simple but effective, 
  consisting of a stone wall surrounding the outside 
  Friend of the Children | EN World EN5IDER
  
  EN World EN5IDER | Friend of the Children
  and the housing structures abutting the wall 
  inside, leaving a large courtyard in the middle. 
  Lord Pavletic (a noble) lives in the manor with his 
  wife Virgilija and their three unaging children: 
  Anton (male, 15, but physically 10), Nevij (male, 
  13, but physically 8) and Federika (female, 8, but 
  physically 3). Five servants clean and prepare food 
  for the family. Lord Pavletic employs no guards, 
  but he can call on his rangers to exact justice or to 
  provide protection, if he feels he needs it.
   Lord Pavletic is generally liked by most of his 
  subjects. He is fair, the village is prosperous, and 
  the serfs have no difficulty in making their pay-
  ments or providing their required labor. However, 
  he strictly enforces his rights over all game on 
  his lands—more out of superstition and fear than 
  greed. Peasants guilty of poaching are sewn into a 
  deerskin, hunted down by Pavletic’s hounds, and 
  their mauled bodies hung near the docks.
   He is tired of charlatans taking advantage of 
  the village’s troubles and is not initially inclined 
  to help the party. He provides a letter giving 
  the party permission to search the farmsteads, 
  to travel to Bear Plateau, and to hunt only if the 
  party provides some service to him. Some possible 
  services include:
  1. Tracking down a poacher known to hunt 
  without a license in his forests and bring 
  him to Lord Pavletic, dead or alive. If the 
  party was offered money by the fur trader in 
  Kalin’s Tavern for cave bear pelts before the 
  party had a license to hunt, and if the party 
  informs Lord Pavletic of this fact, he’ll have 
  the fur trader punished as a poacher, and 
  considers his request fulfilled. Otherwise, 
  the party can attempt to track down the 
  poacher in the forest (Location 3, below).
  2. Put on an archery contest with his rangers 
  for the villagers’ entertainment.1
  If the party fulfills the requested service, in ad-
  dition to providing them a license to hunt and 
  travel to Bear Plateau, he also shares that there 
  are old stories of Bear Plateau being a sacred area 
  to followers of the Old Religion. Although no 
  druids have been seen in the area for generations, 
  he initially feared that logging or hunting activ-
  ity near the area caused some spirit to curse the 
  village. But even after years of allowing no hunt-
  ing or logging there, the curse has not been lifted. 
  Therefore, the party may travel there and conduct 
  their investigation in whatever manner they deem 
  appropriate. However, he would prefer that the 
  party does not disturb the giant owl that roosts 
  in the forest atop the plateau. He understands it is 
  both powerful and intelligent, and it has done no 
  harm to any of his subjects.
  Dobric Farmstead
  The Dobric family has farmed this land for 
  generations. Rusmir Dobric, the head of the 
  household, is bitter that he never had a son. He is 
  suspicious of his farmhands and protective of his 
  older daughter. He believes the village is cursed 
  and keeps his granddaughter locked up in a room 
  so that she does not “infect” the land.
  1. Rusmir Dobric (male, 53): head of the house-
  hold. He is cranky and distrustful and 
  chases the party off his land unless they 
  have a letter from Lord Pavletic.
  2. Radenka (female, 47): Rusmir’s dowdy, reti-
  cent wife. She believes the curse is due to the 
  desecration of Uller’s Wayshrine.
  3. Vita (female, 25): daughter of Rusmir and 
  Radenka. A young widow whose husband 
  died of the gasping cough. She is furious that 
  Rusmir keeps her daughter locked away.
  4. Samija (female, 10, but physically 5): daughter 
  of Vita. Rusmir keeps her locked in her room 
  because he fears her curse will affect the 
  world beyond. She blames a “stinging but-
  terfly from the forest” for her condition and 
  reveals her “sting mark” where Eglantina 
  shot her, but cannot describe it much beyond 
  that.
   1 Russ Morrissey, Archery Contests, EN World EN5ider, https://www.patreon.com/posts/1834862
  EN World EN5IDER | Friend of the Children
  
  Friend of the Children | EN World EN5IDER
  Zaleznik Farmstead
  When Zeno Zaleznik realized what was happen-
  ing to the village’s children, he thought he could 
  get around it by having children outside of mar-
  riage—thinking that whomever was behind the 
  curse would have no interest in bastard children. 
  He coerced his milkmaid to bear a child to him 
  and his wife to go along with it. When that didn’t 
  work, he hired a young girl from another village 
  as a nanny and did the same with her. This led to 
  a dispute with the other family, and Lord Pavletic 
  had to intervene and agree to help marry the 
  young woman and pay a handsome dowry to the 
  family.
  1. Zeno Zaleznik (male, 49): head of the house-
  hold. He is uncommonly charismatic, and 
  is the undisputed master of the household, 
  despite his selfish nature. He welcomes the 
  party, but urges them to speak with Lord 
  Pavletic if they have not already done so.
  2. Rasta Zaleznik (female, 32): wife of Zeno; 
  stout but timid. Her husband forbids her 
  from speaking to strangers, and she fears 
  him too much to disobey. She avoids publicly 
  speaking with the party.
  3. Damjanca Bugarinovic (female, 22): nanny 
  and mother to Zemir. Pleads with the party 
  to find a cure. She’s been breastfeeding for 
  years, and is desperate to escape the family, 
  but fearful of losing her son. She is overjoyed 
  that armed warriors have arrived to enact a 
  daring rescue—especially if Zeno is tragi-
  cally killed in the process.
  4. Rozinka Ljubenko (female, 27): milkmaid 
  and mother to Sintja. She loves Zeno and 
  Rasta, but is jealous of Damjanca.
  5. Radmil (male, 12, but physically 7): son of 
  Zeno and Rasta, twin of Ago. Claims to 
  have heard whispering in the forest, past the 
  lumber mill, on the Bear Plateau side.
  6. Ago (male, 12, but physically 7): son of Zeno 
  and Rasta, twin of Radmil. Claims to have 
  seen someone small “like a butterfly” watch-
  ing him when he was playing with the bears. 
  If asked about bears, he says that they never 
  harm children.
  7. Rama (male, 9, but physically 4): son of Zeno 
  and Rasta. Angry that he never got to see the 
  bears.
  8. Emilijana (female, 6, but physically 1): 
  daughter of Zeno and Rasta. Vocabulary of 
  a six-year-old but has great difficulty pro-
  nouncing words. Remembers nothing that 
  might account for her condition.
  9. Sintja (female, almost 3 years, but physically 
  9 months): daughter of Zeno and Rozinka. 
  She is incapable of normal speech. Still must 
  eat baby food.
  10. Zemir (male, 2 years, but physically 4 
  months): son of Zeno and Damjanca. Still 
  nurses from his mother.
  Podrepsek Farmstead
  Adnen grew up here and bought the rights to this 
  farm after the prior tenant got permission to move 
  away.
  1. Adnen Podrepsek (male, 46): head of house-
  hold. He is suspicious, but cooperates with 
  the investigation if the party presents a letter 
  from Lord Pavletic.
  2. Robin (female, 36): wife of Adnen. A gracious 
  host and eager to speak with people from 
  outside the village.
  3. “Old Grammy” Neda Podrepsek (female, 82): 
  mother to Adnen. She lost most of her sight 
  and much of her hearing, but is still able to 
  get around on her own and still has her wits 
  about her. She is judgmental and uncomfort-
  ably bigoted, but happy to talk about herself 
  and enjoys an audience. She recalls and can 
  retell the old legend of the Friend of the 
  Children with the help of little Helena.
  4. Helena (female, 12, but physically 7): daugh-
  ter of Adnen and Robin. She knows the 
  Friend of the Children story and loves to sing 
  about it. She has never seen the Friend, but 
  wants to meet him and is happy that she will 
  live forever and never have to grow up and 
  marry a boy.
  Friend of the Children | EN World EN5IDER
  
  EN World EN5IDER | Friend of the Children
  Cizek Farmstead
  The Cizeks are unable to bear children, but have 
  adopted many. The Bajzek family fled in the night 
  two years ago, abandoning their “burdensome” 
  children, but the kindhearted Cizeks swore to 
  look after them. Lord Pavletic has given them 
  legal custody of the children.
  If questioned, most of the girls admit to having 
  played in the woods. Sana reports that the Friend 
  of the Children is not so friendly, explaining that 
  the Friend shot her with an arrow. The other chil-
  dren laugh at her and say it was just a thorn. “It 
  was not!” Sana retorts. If asked, the other children 
  say that there are lots of brambles and thorny 
  plants and that it is hard to walk through the 
  woods without tearing your dresses, cutting your 
  leg and getting poked all over.
  1. Radoljub Cizek (male, 48): head of household.
  2. Myrvete Cizek (female, 40): wife of Radoljiub
  3. Adopted daughters: Marija (13, but physically 
  8); Melina (12, but physically 7); Azemina (14, 
  but physically 9); Sana (11, but physically 7).
  Sirol Farmstead
  The Sirols came from a nearby town and bought 
  rights to this land after the prior family fled the 
  village. The Sirol’s children were already teen-
  agers when they moved here and so they have 
  no children affected by the curse. They are not 
  worried about the curse and are grateful that it 
  gave them the opportunity obtain rights to this 
  farmstead. They intend for their sons to leave the 
  village after they marry and raise their children 
  outside of the village, only to return when the 
  children are grown. Because they grew up in a 
  larger town, they feel that they are more sophisti-
  cated than the locals.
  1. Uzeir Sirol (male, 49): head of household, a 
  gregarious braggart who welcomes the party, 
  eager to hear about their travels and share 
  his own (embellished) stories.
  2. Zita Sirol (female, 44): wife of Uzeir. She 
  is vain and a gossip. She can share many 
  details of the other farming families.
  3. Uzeir and Zita have three sons—Dzelal (24), 
  Mart (21), and Mirt (19), all of whom are 
  bored of the farm life and eager for any 
  excuse to leave the village.
  Location 3: Wookds and 
  Logging Roads
  Should the party follow up on leads discovered 
  in town and head toward Bear Plateau (or attempt 
  to track down the poacher for Lord Pavletic) there 
  is a 25% chance of an encounter every 2 hours 
  during the day and a 25% chance of an encounter 
  during the night. If you roll an encounter, roll on 
  the following table:
  Woods Encounters
  1d12 Encounter
  1–5
  A woodland animal runs across your path (1d4: 
  1 black bear, 2 deer, 3 elk, 4 boar)
  6
  A territorial black bear with her cub. She 
  defends her child, but does not attack human 
  children. 
  7
  A territorial boar with her piglets. She defends 
  her children, but does not attack human 
  children.
  8
  A poacher (scout) pretending to be a ranger 
  working for Lord Pavletic. If found out and 
  threatened, he’ll lead them to Bear Claw 
  Cavern in exchange for the party not turning 
  him in.
  9
  Six of Pavletic’s rangers (scouts). If the 
  characters are found with game animals but 
  no license, they arrest the party and take them 
  to Lord Pavletic.
  10
  A giant owl pellet containing the fur and bones 
  of a wild boar.
  11
  A poacher’s stash containing bear traps and a 
  rough map of the plateau with an “X” marking 
  the location of Bear Claw Cavern). Re-roll if 
  already found.
  12
  A pack of 2d4 wolves. They follow the party 
  from a distance, looking for an opportunity 
  to attack a straggler, a weaker-looking party 
  member, or a horse if the party ties it up and 
  leaves it. 
  EN World EN5IDER | Friend of the Children
  
  Friend of the Children | EN World EN5IDER
  If the party is trying to track down the poacher 
  (encounter 8) in response to a request by Lord Pav-
  letic, a DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) check is needed 
  to pick up the trail.
  Location 4: Bear Plateau
  A high plateau rises from the forest. The rocky 
  cliff edge has little vegetation but the top is for-
  ested. The sheer cliff face surrounding the plateau 
  is 200 feet high. Scaling the plateau requires each 
  character to succeed on three DC 10 Strength 
  (Athletics) checks. Three failed checks before 
  three successes results in the character falling 
  2d100 feet straight down. An ally may make a DC 
  10 Dexterity saving throw to catch their falling 
  companion.
  The Wise Watcher
  If the party successfully scales the cliffs and 
  reaches the top of the plateau, read the following:
  The top of Bear Plateau is covered in trees so tall 
  and thick they block the sun. The scent of pine and 
  cedar is almost overwhelming, and there are no 
  footprints or other signs of humanoid presence. 
  Characters with a passive Wisdom (Perception) of 
  10 or higher find large, dark-brown, pellets of or-
  ganic matter littering the forest floor. If they break 
  the pellet apart, they discover it is made up of fur, 
  hair, bones, and other indigestible bits of local 
  fauna (mountain goat, bear, wolf, small mammals, 
  deer, etc.). One of the pellets contains the remains 
  of an adult human, 5 sp, 13 cp, climbing tools, and 
  a metal tube with a poacher’s map showing the 
  area, including an icon of a huge white tree in the 
  center of the plateau and a red X beside it.
   These pellets are made by a giant owl who 
  nests in an exceptionally large white pine at the 
  center of the plateau. Characters near the white 
  pine with a passive Wisdom (Perception) of 15 or 
  higher notice something large and grayish-brown 
  high up in the tree. A DC 8 Intelligence (Nature) 
  check confirms that it is a giant owl. If a party 
  member touches the tree, the owl attacks unless 
  the characters can convince it that they mean it 
  and the forest no harm. Should the party kill the 
  owl, six giant owls flock to the village the follow-
  ing evening and begin destroying houses and 
  indiscriminately attacking any villagers they find 
  outside.
   At the base of the tree is a dark hole that leads 
  inside the plateau itself. The tunnel is nearly 10 
  feet in diameter and slopes gently downwards, 
  twisting as it goes. It spirals for 200 feet before 
  reaching Area 1 of Bear Claw Cavern (Location 5, 
  below). If the party attempts to escape the owl, it 
  pursues them until they reach Area 1, after which 
  it retreats to the top of its tree.
  Location 5: Bear Claw 
  Cavern
  1. Bear Cave
  Three brown bears—a mother and her two 
  almost-grown cubs—den here. They attack any-
  one over 10 years old. Unless the party passes a 
  group DC 20 Dexterity (Stealth) check, the mother 
  detects the party’s approach and charge up the 
  tunnel towards the entrance at them (potentially 
  trapping them between a furious owl and a hun-
  gry bear). After the first round of combat, the cubs 
  join the fight.
  2. Druidic Altar
  This branch of the tunnel ends in a small, moist 
  alcove. On the opposite side of the room, a thick 
  tree root wraps around a hanging stalactite, with 
  one knot forming into what looks like the shape of 
  a sleeping face. Before this is an altar, upon which 
  are affixed a number of idols. 
  Many of the idols depict Uller—or another ap-
  propriately ancient god—but there are dozens 
  of unrecognizable icons of spirits and demigods 
  from across the region. The room looks as if it 
  were an altar for a single druid or small group. It 
  Friend of the Children | EN World EN5IDER
  
  EN World EN5IDER | Friend of the Children
  has not been used in a long time.
   The “face” in the root is that of an ancient, 
  partially-petrified treant named White Pine. The 
  treant is old and can no longer sense the world 
  through its trunk or boughs, only its roots. The 
  forest guardian was once Kasvin’s friend, and has 
  helplessly observed Eglantina’s decent into mad-
  ness. If the party treats the idols with respect, it 
  speaks, offering to tell Kasvin’s story and reveal 
  the truth about the Friend of the Children.
  3. Fungal Garden
  You enter a large cavern lit by the soft blue 
  bioluminescence of the fungi that cover the floor 
  and walls. Some fungi are as fine as blades of 
  grass, while others grow taller than humans and 
  wider than a bear.
  A DC 5 Intelligence (Nature) check indicates that 
  it is highly unlikely that these fungi would have 
  all grown together here naturally. For every ten 
  feet that the characters move in this cave, roll 1d6 
  and consult the following table:
  1. Harmless fungi, edible
  2. Harmless fungi, medicinal
  3. Gas spore
  4. Shrieker, attracts remaining cave bears and 
  ochre jelly and alerts Eglantina
  5. Violet fungus
  6. Demonic plague fungi (releases bursts of 
  spores)2
  Characters may inspect a 5-foot square by making 
  a DC 10 Intelligence (Nature) check. On a success, 
  roll 1d6 and consult the table. The character be-
  comes aware of the fungus inhabiting the square, 
  but does not disturb it.
  4. Cave Pookl
  This cave bends to the right and slopes into a pool 
  of water. Bones litter the floor, including the car-
  casses of bears, wolves, and two adult humans. A 
  DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine) check reveals their skin 
  and flesh has been seared away by acid. The pool 
  of water is fed by an underground spring.
   An ochre jelly inhabits this cave, preying on 
  unwitting creatures that come here to get water. It 
  avoids attacking the party en masse, but attempts 
  to follow them and attack any party member that 
  breaks off from the rest of the group or straggles 
  behind. Anyone who drinks or becomes im-
  mersed in the water in this room must succeed 
  on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or contract 
  Ooze Decay.3
   The following can be found in the debris: a 
  citrine gemstone worth 50 gp, a rusted dagger, 
  a rusted sword, a rusted shield, moldy leather 
  armor, and 38 sp scattered about.
  5. Kasvin’s Final Resting Place
  In the northwest of this small chamber, you see 
  what looks like a stone bed below a number of 
  root-entwined stalactites, dripping a milky liquid 
  onto a small figure lying on the bed. There is a 
  tattered tapestry in the northwest corner of the 
  room, and a set of stone table and chairs are 
  located in the center of the room.
  If the party investigates the figure on the stone 
  bed, they find that it is a very old gnome. He is 
  dead, but remarkably well preserved. The liquid 
  dripping from the stalactites coats him like a thin 
  film. As for the furniture, one chair and half the 
  table are covered in a layer of dust. The other 
  chair and the edge of the table near it are clean 
  and dust free.
   Secret Door. The tapestry is old and faded, but 
  it depicts Kasvin sitting atop a tree stump cheer-
  fully reading a storybook to several gathered 
  human children. Many small animals, including 
  bear cubs, piglets, and wolf cubs sit peacefully at 
  his feet. Hidden behind the tapestry is a gnome-
  sized tunnel to Area 6.
   2 James Introcaso, Get Sick, EN World En5ider, https://www.patreon.com/posts/2519740
   3 James Introcaso, Get Sick, EN World En5ider, https://www.patreon.com/posts/2519740
  EN World EN5IDER | Friend of the Children
  
  Friend of the Children | EN World EN5IDER
  Friend of the Children | EN World EN5IDER
  
  EN World EN5IDER | Friend of the Children
   If Eglantina was alerted by the fungi, she lurks 
  sourly among the sap-covered vines (DC 15 
  Wisdom [Perception] to spot). If not, she is in Area 
  6, and does not notice the characters unless they 
  make noise.
   If she is not spotted, Eglantina begins shooting 
  arrows at the party members and casting spells 
  to put them to sleep and confuse them. After 
  expending all her spells, she hides in the shadows 
  and addresses the remaining characters. Eglantina 
  has typical pixie stats and abilities, but also has 
  a sprite’s shortbow action. She is an old, power-
  ful, and experienced pixie, and uses the vines to 
  provide total cover, making her difficult to locate 
  and hit.
  A voice calls out from the dark, coming from 
  different directions and heights and bounces 
  around the cave walls making it impossible to 
  determine exactly where is coming from. It is a 
  high-pitched feminine voice ranting about the 
  evils committed by adults: war, destruction of the 
  forests, and the loss of childhood innocence. She 
  ends her tirade by madly screeching: “It is your 
  fault! I have to be big … you must all be destroyed. I 
  have to be big!”
  Eglantina draws upon the power of Kasvin’s last 
  gift to her, and transforms into a werebear (hy-
  brid form), lacking its damage immunities. If she 
  is brought to 0 hit points in her transformed state, 
  she changes back to her true, now dead form, with 
  Kasvin’s great bear trinket laying near her corpse. If 
  made unconscious, she also reverts to pixie form, 
  but if she took more damage while in werebear 
  form than her maximum hit points as a pixie, she 
  dies as soon as she reverts.
  Kasvin’s Great Bear
  Wondrous item, rare
  An exceptionally detailed miniature of a human-
  oid bear, about the size of a human thumbnail, 
  carved into brown and yellow petrified wood. On 
  the bottom is a maker’s mark of a bear claw. An 
  extraordinary example of gnomish workmanship, 
  the pendant was created by Kasvin Bearclaw to 
  lend to those who protected the forest in times of 
  great need. Anyone who holds the trinket tightly 
  and states, “I have to be big,” takes the form of a 
  werebear with all its statistics and abilities, except 
  for damage immunities. The transformation lasts 
  for 1 hour unless it is voluntarily ended as a bonus 
  action, dispelled (equivalent of a 4th-level spell) 
  or the trinket is destroyed (AC 15, hp 25). While 
  the trinket can be used at any time, it requires an 
  hour’s exposure to a full moon before it can be 
  used again.
  Sap of Life
  The milky substance dripping from the root-
  covered stalactites onto Kasvin’s corpse is a rare 
  substance known as the Sap of Life. Through 
  some mixture of tree sap, underground water, and 
  the magic that seems to permeate Bear Plateau, 
  it acquires powerful healing and regenerative 
  properties. In its natural state, the Sap of Life can 
  be applied topically or ingested. When the liquid 
  is rubbed on skin, it slows aging and helps re-
  move wrinkles. When ingested, the person must 
  make a DC 10 Constitution save. A failure causes 
  vomiting for one minute. On a success, the sap 
  functions as a potion of vitality. The Sap of Life can 
  be used as an ingredient in cosmetics and medi-
  cines, and fetches a good price from alchemists 
  and apothecaries.
  6. Kasvin’s Workshop
  The door to the hidden workshop is gnome-sized, 
  but the room inside is spacious. It contains an 
  alchemist’s workbench, a writing desk, and a rack 
  to stretch skins for making parchment. The walls 
  are covered with floor-to-roof shelves of jars with 
  various ingredients; glass flasks, tubes, and other 
  alchemist tools; various wood-working tools; and 
  book-making tools.
   Most of the herbs are no longer fresh, but there 
  is sufficient equipment to put together a healer’s 
  kit, an herbalist’s kit, alchemist’s supplies, callig-
  rapher’s supplies, leatherworker’s tools, painter’s 
  EN World EN5IDER | Friend of the Children
  
  Friend of the Children | EN World EN5IDER
  supplies, woodcarver’s tools, and a poisoner’s kit. 
  A party member must have the appropriate profi-
  ciency in order to know what items are needed to 
  put together the proper kit or set of tools.
   On the writing desk is Kasvin’s Treatise and a 
  note to Eglantina, thanking her for her many de-
  cades of friendship, bequeathing Kasvin’s great bear 
  to her, and requesting that she seek out a worthy 
  person to lead to his book, so that all he learned in 
  life is passed on. He also urges her to travel and 
  find others of her kind to keep her company.
  Kasvin’s Treatise
  The inside jacket reads: You hold the final work 
  of Kasvin Bearclaw—a simple gnome who found 
  harmony in nature. I bestow my last treatise to all 
  those who seek that life of tranquility. The book 
  is an extremely high-quality, vellum tome with 
  wood covers wrapped in leather with metal bands 
  and clasps. There is no title, just a detailed moon-
  phase mandala impressed into the leather on 
  both front and back covers and a separate moon-
  phase pattern on the spine. The book’s dedication 
  reads: To the children. May we see the world 
  through their eyes. It is an exhaustive treatise 
  on the philosophy and practices of Moon Circle 
  druids, written in a mix of memoir, poetic verse, 
  exposition, and didacticism. There are also highly 
  detailed and skilled illustrations of animals, 
  plants, fey beings, astronomical charts, and other 
  topics of druidic interest.
   Sage Knowledge. A non-druid char-
  acter who reads this book is instantly 
  imbued with all the magical power 
  Kasvin poured into his magnum opus. 
  This character gains the ability to cast 
  two 1st-level druid spells of their choice. 
  Each spell may only be cast once per 
  long rest. the book's magic fades after 
  the ability is imparted for the first time, 
  but it remains a valuable tome, and is 
  worth 1,000 gp to collectors or other 
  druids.
  Potion of Stunted Growth
  A small, nearly empty vial of cloudy 
  white liquid is set on the alchemist’s 
  workbench. If held to the light, it spar-
  kles with internal light. A tiny quiver 
  of Tiny-size arrows is set on the bench 
  near the vial. There is enough potion to 
  provide an efficacious coating to 4 darts 
  or sprite-sized arrows. If an arrow or 
  dart that has had the potion applied to it 
  pierces the skin of a creature, it has the 
  following effects, based on the size of 
  the creature the arrow or dart hits:
  Friend of the Children | EN World EN5IDER
  
  EN World EN5IDER | Friend of the Children
  Potion of Stunted Growth Effects
  Creature Size
  Effect
  Tiny
  The affected creature, if not killed 
  by damage from the dart/arrow, will 
  not physically age for 45 years. 
  Small
  The affected creature will not 
  physically age for 30 years. 
  Medium
  The affected creature will not 
  physically age for 15 years. 
  Large
  The affected creature will not 
  physically age for 5 years. 
  Huge or 
  Gargantuan
  No effect
  Any character who possesses a vial of potion of 
  stunted growth may make a DC 15 Intelligence 
  (Arcana) check once every 24 hours. On a suc-
  cess, they learn how to create an antidote for the 
  poison using the Sap of Life as a reagent. Creating 
  enough potion to cure all the children of Med-
  vedka Vas takes three days of work.
  Conclusion
  Each farmstead is able to reward the party with 
  2 gp per child cured, and most parents apologize 
  that they cannot give their children’s saviors 
  more. Zeno Zaleznik feigns poverty, but asks an 
  attractive character if they would accept his son 
  or daughter’s hand in marriage as a reward, “once 
  the kid grows up a bit.”
   After curing the children and collecting their 
  reward, the party has the option of telling Lord 
  Pavletic about the Sap of Life in Bear Claw cavern. 
  If they don’t tell him, the party has less than 48 
  hours to gather as much sap as they can before 
  he sends his rangers to survey the cavern. If the 
  party instead informs him and explains the sub-
  stance’s value, he rewards the party by granting 
  them one request, if it is within his power. (He is 
  unable to fulfil a request with a cost greater than 
  1,000 gp.)
   With gold, the Sap of Life, and a few other 
  trinkets in hand, the adventurers are free to de-
  part Medvedka Vas for new horizons. Adventure 
  awaits!
  EN World EN5IDER | Friend of the Children
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/5th Edition (5e)/3rd Party/EN World EN5ider/EN5ider 032 - Friend of the Children.pdf