TEXT: shadow of the demon lord
  ~Credits~
  WRITING AND DESIGN: Steve Kenson
  dEVELOPMENT and art directon: rOBERT j. sCHWALB
  EDITING: KIM MOHAN
  Proofreading: Adam Doochin
  GRAPHIC DESIGN: hal mangold and kara hamilton
  LAYOUT: kara hamilton
  ILLUSTRATIONS: Andrey vasilchenko and britt martin
  The Apple of Her Eye is ©2015 Schwalb Entertainment, LLC.  
  All rights reserved.
  Shadow of the Demon Lord, The Apple of Her Eye, Schwalb Entertainment,  
  and their associated logos are trademarks of Schwalb Entertainment, LLC.
  Schwalb EntErtainmEnt, llc
  PO Box #12548
  Murfreesboro, TN 37129
  info@schwalbentertainment.com       www.schwalbentertainment.com
  Survival in the world under the shadow of the Demon 
  Lord is difficult, not just for risk-taking adventurers 
  and would-be heroes, but for ordinary folk faced 
  daily with threats of starvation, illness, and madness. 
  When small sacrifices can ensure the survival, 
  even prosperity, of an entire community, aren’t they 
  worth making? Some might think so, or at least tell 
  themselves as much in the small hours of the night, 
  when the distant cries of those sacrifices echo in their 
  memories.
   The Apple of Her Eye is an adventure for novice 
  characters in which they come across a prosperous 
  village with a thriving apple orchard and a terrible 
  secret. The group completes the adventure when they 
  confront the wicked faerie responsible for the village’s 
  plight.
  
  shadow of the demon lord
  Adventure 
  Background
  The village of Avelton is known for its apple orchards, a 
  vast expanse of trees thick with white blossoms touched 
  with red in springtime, and heavy with deep red fruit in the 
  autumn. For generations, the harvest has been incredibly 
  bountiful. The folk of Avelton sell much of the fresh fruit, 
  and the cider pressed (and often fermented) from it, and 
  they dry and store the rest of the crop to help them through 
  the winter. 
   The reason for this wonderful yield is rooted in a pact 
  the village made long ago with the dryad Nymian, the self-
  styled “Lady of Apples,” who dwells within the largest trees 
  of the orchard: Every seven years, the community offers 
  the dryad a child on “Tithing Night,” the spring equinox. 
  The child is left alone out in the orchard, and never seen 
  in this world again. In return, the Lady of Apples provides 
  Avelton with another seven years of plentiful harvests. This 
  relationship has persisted for decades . . . but it might be 
  about to come to an end.
   You can arrange for Avelton to be located along the 
  way whenever the characters are on a journey that would 
  take them past or through a rural village and its orchards 
  in early spring. If need be, you can adjust the timing of 
  “Tithing Night” to suit the current events of the campaign, 
  although the solstices and equinoxes are the best choices. 
  This adventure serves as a good “en route” activity to 
  break up a long journey; or, possibly, the characters might 
  purposely set out for Avelton for some reason, perhaps to 
  deliver a message, to resupply themselves, or simply rest 
  after finishing their latest adventure. Little do they know 
  that another challenge awaits them there.
  A Cry for Help 
  The adventure begins as the characters pass through a rural 
  area with large apple orchards spread across gently rolling 
  hills. It’s a damp and chill late spring, and a mist or light 
  rain persists, the sky overcast and gray. The road is muddy, 
  and the characters long for a warm, dry room and some hot 
  food and drink to chase the chill from their bones. The sun 
  hangs low in the sky, just a few hours before nightfall, so 
  they are likely looking for a place to stop for the night.
   Suddenly, the characters hear the sound of muffled, 
  pitiful sobbing from just within earshot. If they choose to 
  ignore it, a young, frightened voice calls out to them: “Is 
  someone there? Please . . . please help me.” 
   When the characters investigate, they find a human boy 
  named Pel, eight years old, bound at elbows and knees to 
  a wooden frame, hanging like a scarecrow in the midst of 
  the apple orchard. He has a mark on his forehead in black 
  ashes, like an upward-pointing arrow, and is sobbing and 
  terrified, his voice hoarse from crying. “Please,” he sobs, 
  “please help me. I don’t want to die. Don’t let them to take 
  me away!” 
   
   
  Ignoring the Cry
  Hard-hearted characters might pass by the 
  orchard, ignoring the cry or leaving the child to its 
  fate. If this happens, when night falls, the dryad’s 
  minions pluck the child from the frame and spirit 
  him off to the dryad as they have done every 
  seven years, thus effectively ending the adventure. 
  However, there are a few ways to salvage the story 
  and steer the characters back into the plot.
  Jenny Rescues her Child:  The story has Jenny 
  locked in a room at the Apple Blossom Inn and 
  Common House. She could escape by breaking a 
  window, climbing down the outer wall, and then 
  speed to the orchard before the changelings show 
  up. The characters might encounter her en route 
  to the orchard, in which case she begs them to 
  help her, or she gets to the orchard and rescues 
  her child, causing all hell to break loose in Avelton 
  while the characters are there.
  The Traveling Tinker Returns: A male human 
  character in the group was the “traveling tinker” 
  who sired Pel, likely without knowing he did. On 
  reaching the town, tell the player that his or her 
  character has been here before and had a brief, 
  but torrid, romance with one of the local girls 
  named Jenny. This information might be enough to 
  prompt that character to seek out his old lover and, 
  upon finding her, learn that his son was offered up 
  as a sacrifice.
  Pel Escapes: You can also just have Pel escape, 
  either on his own or with help. Help might come 
  from a rival faerie, Gorvin the Smith, a passing 
  ranger, or one of the characters’ followers who 
  goes back after the group continues toward town.
  Children of the Orchard
  Just as the characters take in the scene before them, 5 
  changelings, Size 1/2 and wearing the forms of gaunt, sickly 
  human children about Pel’s age, emerge from behind the 
  nearby trees. They are clad in rags and armed with bronze 
  sickles rather than scimitars (melee +2 with 1 boon, 1d6 
  damage). 
   “He is ours,” one of them warns the characters. “Leave 
  now, while you still can.” If the characters refuse or hesitate, 
  the changelings attack. If the characters kill three or more 
  changelings, the survivors flee, vanishing into the orchard.
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  A Boy without a Father
  Characters who question the boy discover that men 
  wearing dark robes and hooded masks bound and gagged 
  Pel and took from his home in a heavy sack. They brought 
  him here, tied him to the frame, and left him. Pel says that 
  he lives in the nearby village of Avelton with his mother. If 
  asked about his father, he simply says, “I don’t have a father. 
  It’s just my mother and me.”
   Pel wants to go home, but he’s afraid that the “bad men” 
  will get him and bring him back to the orchard. Pel keeps 
  close to the character who took him down from the wooden 
  frame, reaches for his or her hand, and becomes upset if 
  separated from the character. The characters can bring Pel 
  with them to the town to return him to his mother and find 
  out who was responsible for his abduction, or they might 
  hide Pel somewhere safe until they can sort things out in 
  Avelton.  
  Hiding Pel
  The group might decide it’s too dangerous to 
  bring Pel back to town, at least until they deal 
  with his kidnappers and discover what is going on. 
  The characters can hide Pel somewhere outside 
  of town; anyone with a wilderness profession can 
  find a suitable hiding place such as an abandoned 
  house, a small cave, or somewhere else you think 
  appropriate. Pel is scared, though, and he starts 
  crying if it looks like the characters are going to 
  leave him. 
  If they leave him alone anyway, Pel returns to 
  Avelton on his own 1d3 hours later, searching for 
  his mother. Unless the characters spot Pel making 
  his way to town, one of the villagers finds the boy, 
  grabs him, and drags him screaming back to the 
  orchard. Characters in town can make Perception 
  challenge rolls, possibly with 1 or more banes 
  depending on where they are, to hear the screams.
  If a character stays with Pel, the Lady of Apples 
  goes to Pel directly, since she knows where he 
  is (see The Lady’s Claim, below). She orders 
  her changelings to kill the character and, if they 
  incapacitate the character, then spirit the boy away 
  to whatever fate she has in mind. This effectively 
  ends the adventure, though the characters may 
  have to deal with angry locals and a grieving 
  mother.
  When the locals learn that the characters 
  interfered with the Tithe before midnight, Grant 
  Miller leaves the village and spends the next hour 
  searching for the boy. After failing to find him, he 
  steals another child to take Pel’s place unless the 
  group stops him. The Lady claims this child, but not 
  before exacting vengeance against the characters 
  who slew her “children.” 
  The Village  
  of Avelton
  Avelton is a small collection of homes alongside a stream 
  that turns a water wheel for the mill. A smithy stands 
  nearby, downstream from the mill. In the village’s center 
  stands a temple to the New God, freshly painted and kept 
  in good repair. Not far from it is a comfortable-looking inn 
  and public house serving the villagers who live in the dozen 
  or so red-roofed, wooden homes that comprise the rest 
  of the buildings. The community would appear idyllic, if 
  not for the fact that all the shutters are closed up tight and 
  not a soul moves about, with a child left abandoned in the 
  orchard nearby. 
  A Cold Welcome
  The characters likely encounter several different people as 
  they explore Avelton and investigate the circumstances of 
  the boy’s abduction and placement in the orchard. While 
  you will find guidance below about how the important 
  NPCs behave, the information they might impart, and how 
  they might help or hinder the group, you should keep the 
  following guidelines in mind when portraying the “good” 
  people of Avelton.
   A Necessary Evil: Almost everyone in Avelton accepts 
  the horror of Tithing Night. Aside from the fact that the 
  arrangement is profitable to the community, most people 
  fear the Lady of the Apples and worry that if they do not go 
  through with the sacrifice, she will become angry and seek 
  vengeance against everyone. For this reason, most villagers 
  are surprised and concerned to see strangers on Tithing 
  Night, particularly with Pel in tow. 
   Concealing the Truth: Pel’s return to the community 
  puts the villagers in a tough spot. On one hand, they fear 
  the knowledge of their barbaric arrangement getting out; 
  no one wants inquisitors and witch hunters coming to town 
  upsetting things. On the other hand, they need to allay the 
  group’s suspicions long enough to get Pel or another child 
  back into the orchard before midnight. For these reasons, 
  villagers hotly deny any knowledge of the boy being left out 
  in the orchard and try to pass it off as a harmless prank. 
   Characters with Perception scores of 12 or higher detect 
  the deception, and if they press the villagers, the truth 
  might come out. You can handle this with roleplaying or by 
  using the social interaction rules described in Shadow of the 
  Demon Lord. Assume the villagers have Intellect 9 and Will 
  11.
   Anything to Survive: Since the villagers most want to 
  return Pel to the orchard and fulfill their obligation to the 
  Lady of Apples before the appointed time, if deception 
  doesn’t work, they go to extreme lengths to keep the Lady 
  happy, including drugging the characters’ food at the Inn, 
  for example. 
   Creating Allies: The characters, through roleplaying or 
  social interaction, might turn villagers to their side. If the 
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  characters succeed, villagers can reveal the nature of the 
  Tithe, the identities of the kidnappers (Darrel Miller, Grant 
  Miller, and Hetrik Tellier, all of whom are in the inn when 
  the group comes to the village), and help protect the boy 
  from the other locals.
   Angry Mob: Although the villagers greatly outnumber 
  the characters, they’re not immediately inclined to threaten 
  violence against hardened and armed adventurers, 
  especially ones who know magic. Still, the characters 
  should be cautious about stirring up a panicked mob of 
  dozens of villagers against them, and they hardly help their 
  case if they simply slaughter anyone who gets in their way. 
  If the group riles up the villagers, they might face one or 
  more angry mobs.
  MOB OF VILLAGERS 
  DIFFICULTY 10
  Size 3 human
  Perception 9 (–1)
  Defense 10; Health 40
  Strength 11 (+1), Agility 10 (+0), Intellect 9 (–1), Will 9 (–1)
  Speed 10
  Mob A mob takes half damage from attacks that target 
  individual creatures and double damage from attacks 
  that affect areas. The mob acts as a single creature, but 
  it counts as ten creatures for the purpose of choosing 
  targets. A mob makes Strength, Intellect, and Will 
  challenge rolls with 1 boon.
  Creatures can move through a mob’s space, but they 
  treat the area as difficult terrain. The mob can squeeze 
  through openings large enough to permit the passage 
  of an individual member and can move through spaces 
  occupied by other creatures by flowing around them.
  Spawn When the mob becomes incapacitated, it dissipates 
  and 1d6 commoners appear in open spaces within the 
  space the mob formerly occupied. They can take the 
  next available turn.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Torches and Pitchforks (melee) +1 with 2 boons (3d6 + 1 or 
  1d6 +1 while injured)
  END OF THE ROUND 
  Overwhelm If the mob is not injured,  each creature that 
  isn’t a swarm or a mob that is in the mob’s space or 
  within 1 yard of it must make an Agility challenge roll. On 
  a failure, the creature takes 2d6 damage.
  Key Locations and People
  The characters can explore the community and interact 
  with the locals in whatever way they like. They find, in any 
  event, the place to be unwelcoming and strange, especially 
  if the characters have Pel in tow. The notable buildings and 
  inhabitants of Avelton are described below. The villagers 
  are all commoners or professionals unless specified 
  otherwise.
  The Inn
  The small Apple Blossom Inn and Common House is one 
  of the central buildings of the village, serving as a sometime 
  meeting hall and social gathering place to enjoy a mug 
  or two of Avelton’s famed hard cider. It’s a stout two-story 
  building with a large apple tree growing next to it and a 
  couple of spare rooms upstairs for rent to the occasional 
  traveler who passes through.
   When the characters enter, the muted conversation 
  grows quiet and all eyes turn to the group. If Pel is with 
  them, the characters see shock, fear, and anger on the 
  patrons’ faces. If the characters enter without the boy, 
  normal conversation resumes a few moments later.
  The Telliers
  Hetrik and Marnie Tellier are the middle-aged couple 
  who own the Apple Blossom. Like most people, they are 
  ashamed of what they have done, but they bury deep their 
  guilt. Marnie works in the kitchen, while Hetrik sees to the 
  guests and the bar.
   Hetrik is friendly enough to the group, though he 
  appears nervous and sweating. He makes small talk,  
  avoiding any details about the town or the Tithe. 
   If Pel is with the characters, Hetrik makes small talk with 
  the characters as above, but once he has been given a food 
  or drink order, he slips back to the kitchen and reveals the 
  situation to his wife. She then drugs the food, and sends it 
  out with her husband to “take care of the strangers.”
   Any living character who eats or drinks the drugged 
  food must get a success on a Strength challenge roll with 
  2 banes or become poisoned for 1 minute. At the end of 
  each round, the character must make another Strength 
  challenge roll and, on a failure, becomes defenseless for 
  1 minute. If already defenseless, the character becomes 
  unconscious for 2d6 hours instead. Taking damage removes 
  the unconscious affliction.
   Any nonliving characters in the group and any who 
  resisted the drug must contend with the other patrons. 
  There are 8 commoners, including Hetrik and Marnie. 
  They attack to subdue the characters—incapacitated 
  characters are knocked unconscious—to keep them from 
  interfering. 
   During the combat, Pel runs outside. One of the Millers 
  gives chase, catches him, and escorts him back to the 
  orchard unless stopped by the group.
  The Patrons
  Six locals quietly linger over drinks in the common room. 
  They avoid talking about what they have done (or have 
  allowed to happen). Darrel Miller and his brother Grant are 
  among them, and they are the ones most concerned with 
  keeping up the tradition, since their wealth is all tied to the 
  apples. The locals behave as described above. For more 
  information about Darrel and Grant, see The Mill.
  Yosef
  Up the stairs and down the hall sits a stout local named 
  Yosef (as a hired killer) on a chair in front of a door. Yosef 
  guards Jenny, Pel’s mother, who is locked in the room to 
  prevent her from interfering with the Tithe.
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  Jenny
  The only “guest” at the inn is Jenny, Pel’s mother, a young 
  woman who is raising the boy on her own after becoming 
  pregnant from a tryst with a traveling tinker who hasn’t 
  returned to Avelton since. Yosef restrained her when the 
  Millers and Hetrik came for Pel and dragged her to the inn, 
  where she’s been trapped since early in the afternoon. 
   Jenny knows all about the Tithe and tells her rescuers 
  what the town is up to if she is freed. She admits that she 
  went along with the Tithe even though she knew it was 
  wrong. She’s terrified for her boy and weeps with relief 
  when reunited with him.
  The Mill
  Alongside the stream is Avelton’s mill and cider press. It has 
  a heavy millstone powered by a water wheel that turns in 
  the stream. It draws business from nearby farms that need 
  grain milled into flour. Following the apple harvest, the mill 
  also presses many of the apples into cider, which is either 
  drunk fresh or fermented in wooden casks.
  Darrel and Grant Miller
  Darrel Miller owns the mill and runs it with the aid of 
  his younger brother Grant. The Miller brothers are the 
  wealthiest men, and most eligible bachelors, in Avelton, 
  and also the most invested in the continued prosperity 
  of the apple harvest. They were involved with Pel’s 
  kidnapping, since it directly affects their fortune. If they 
  discover that Pel escaped the orchard and made it back to 
  town, they do everything they can to get the boy back to 
  where he belongs before midnight, though their efforts 
  won’t matter if the group killed any of the changelings 
  in the orchard. The Lady of Apples is enraged by the 
  affont and plans to visit Avelton at midnight to exact her 
  vengeance.
  The Sheriff’s Office
  The village sheriff has a small office not far from the river. It 
  consists of a small front room, an iron cage large enough to 
  hold two prisoners, and a small room in the back where the 
  sheriff sleeps.
  Terrence Holder
  It falls to Terrence Holder (a patroller) to keep the peace in 
  Avelton. A thin man with black hair and a pointed beard, 
  he is arrogant, disdainful of the “serfs,” and firmly in the 
  Millers’ pocket. The brothers supplement his meager 
  stipend with a steady supply of silver to look after their 
  interests. Holder came to Avelton ten years ago and knows 
  all about the Tithe. Although he finds the practice primitive 
  and disturbing, the Millers pay him enough to look the 
  other way.
   The sheriff does his best to stay out of the conflict 
  concerning the Tithe, though he comes to the Millers’ aid 
  if they are attacked, threatened, or otherwise obstructed in 
  their efforts.
   If the characters bring the boy to the sheriff, he thanks 
  them, puts his arm around the boy, and takes him directly 
  to the Millers.
  The Smithy
  Avelton’s small smithy has a forge and an anvil for making 
  metal goods, primarily farming implements, horseshoes, 
  and nails, and the smith also serves as the local farrier for 
  shoeing horses and donkeys.
  Gorvin the Smith
  Gorvin the Smith is a human professional with Strength 
  13, who wields his forge hammer as a weapon (as a 
  warhammer) when need be. Gorvin does not like the 
  tradition of the Tithe one bit, having lost a sister to it in his 
  early childhood. His parents told him afterward that she 
  perished of a fever, and he didn’t learn the truth until his 
  mother was on her deathbed. He nearly went out to rescue 
  Pel himself, and the boy’s reappearance in Avelton both 
  shames and emboldens the smith. He aids the characters 
  however he can. He has a good number of iron bars 
  and scraps and a 10-foot length of iron chain, which the 
  characters might find useful once they learn the nature of 
  the villain behind the Tithe.
   If the characters have Pel with them, Gorvin offers to 
  help the boy and protect him from the other villagers. For 
  as long as Gorvin lives, he will never let another child die at 
  the hands of the so-called Lady of Apples.
  The Temple
  A humble temple dedicated to the New God stands not far 
  from the Apple Blossom Inn and keeps quiet watch over 
  the heart of the village and its people. It is a tall, one-story 
  building with high-beamed rafters, the circular serpent 
  emblem of the New God cast in bronze displayed above its 
  door, and again above the altar within.
  Father Rone
  The rather stern Father Rone is a human novice priest 
  of the New God in Avelton. He spends Tithing Night in 
  prayer in the chapel, both to be safe from what lies outside 
  and to convince himself of the necessity of the tithe and 
  his own inability to do anything about it. The notion that 
  the needs of the community outweigh those of the few and 
  the knowledge that the village’s sacrifices are not trapped 
  in unlife are partly how he rationalizes his position in the 
  matter—that, and chasing down his prayers with a fair 
  amount of drink.
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   The priest opens the temple door to anyone who knocks. 
  He appears surprised by the appearance of strangers, all the 
  more if Pel is with them. 
   If Pel is not present, Rone welcomes the characters to 
  the community, asking why they have come to town. He 
  can give basic information about the town, noting that it is 
  famous for its fine cider thanks to the orchards’ abundance. 
  If asked about the quiet that pervades the village, he reveals 
  that this is a special night called Tithing Night, telling the 
  characters, “We spend this night, once every seven years, 
  reflecting on our good fortune.” 
   Mentioning the boy in the orchard or the changelings 
  encountered there causes the priest to visibly quail. He 
  then collects himself and explains the nature of the Tithe 
  and why it is crucial for the continued prosperity of Avelton 
  and its people. 
   If Pel is present, the priest becomes visibly concerned. 
  He covers his fear quickly and tries to comfort the boy as 
  well as he can. He tells the characters, “You can leave him 
  with me. He will be safe here.” Rone is lying, of course. A 
  few minutes after the characters leave, Rone ties up the boy 
  and slips out to find the Millers, so they can return him to 
  the orchard. If the characters sense something wrong, and 
  press him, they might be able to convince him to genuinely 
  protect the boy, in which case Pel is safe enough. However, 
  the Millers will come for the boy if they learn he is with the 
  priest, using violence if necessary to reclaim him.
  Other Folk
  The characters are bound to come across other villagers 
  during their time in Avelton. You can use the Avelton 
  Villagers table to quickly generate interesting characters 
  and use the guidelines set out under A Cold Welcome for 
  how to portray them.
  Avelton Villagers
  d20
  Result
  1
  Brother Kael The middle-aged groundskeeper of 
  the chapel and a faithful worshiper of the New 
  God.
  2
  Goodwife Margaret Grateful mother of a brood 
  of five children (all under the age of 12), none of 
  whom were selected for the Tithe.
  3
  Vella A hunter and woods-woman who doesn’t 
  care for the Tithe, but claims to know better than 
  to interfere with old agreements with the Fae.
  4
  Mad Wenton A drunk, broken-down old man who 
  went out on Tithing Night many years ago and 
  saw that year’s offering taken. He hasn’t been 
  right in the head since.
  5
  Konrad Cooper Local barrel-maker and carpenter, 
  father of a newborn son, who is having second 
  thoughts about the Tithe.
  6
  Isabella Cooper Konrad’s wife, who is suffering 
  from terrible depression and secretly wishes 
  the Fae would take her baby away from her (or 
  perhaps they already have...).
  7
  Mother Ritton An old crone who has been 
  Avelton’s most skilled herbalist for generations. 
  Some think she’s secretly a witch, although that’s 
  only the case if you want it to be.
  8
  Delorra Mother Ritton’s apprentice, a girl with no 
  interest in hunting for a husband, but wanting to 
  make a place for herself.
  9
  West A strapping young man who is a sometime 
  guardsman and day laborer, although more 
  interested in chasing after the ladies.
  10
  Farmer Bryn Stoic farm-owner who dislikes the 
  Tithe, but believes bad things happen regardless, 
  so what’s to be done?
  11
  Mistress Fern The best baker in Avelton—known 
  for her apple tarts—who pretends the Tithe 
  doesn’t exist for the sake of her own sanity.
  12
  Mistress Rochelle A wife and mother who turned 
  to her talent for spinning and weaving to make 
  a living after her husband, Rogier, was crippled 
  when a tree fell on him. He resents her, but 
  she carries on for her two daughters, Ailea and 
  Bethany.
  13
  Sara A maid in the Miller household, Sara is 
  ambitious and looking to marry one of the Miller 
  brothers. She doesn’t particularly care which one.
  14
  Pieter A furrier and leather-tanner who is a 
  bachelor and prefers to mind his own business.
  15
  Carver Mason The village’s most skilled stone-
  worker and a father of three.
  16
  Elissa Shy and rather solitary beekeeper who also 
  makes small batches of apple blossom mead sold 
  at the inn.
  17
  Devin Chandler Local candle-maker who runs his 
  workshop with his longtime friend and companion 
  Bernard.
  18
  Farmer Cole A younger farmer, newly married to 
  his wife, Evetta, who is pregnant with their first 
  child.
  19
  Simon the Cobbler A bitter old shoemaker who 
  hates children and wishes more of the little brats 
  were offered up to the Fae.
  20
  Elizabet “Lizzie” is a seamstress, handy with a 
  needle or pin, although her true calling is as the 
  local gossip who is aware of everyone’s business.
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  shadow of the demon lord
  The Lady’s Heralds
  If the group rescued Pel and killed any of the changelings in 
  the process, the Lady sends 5 redcaps to kill the characters. 
  The Lady instructed the murderous faerie not to harm 
  the villagers—she will deal with them herself—and to 
  deal only with the troublemakers. The redcaps slip into 
  town 1 hour after the characters arrive, moving from house 
  to house, searching for the characters. Each time the 
  characters leave one location, roll a d6. On an even number, 
  the redcaps find them and attack.
  The Lady’s Claim
  At midnight, Nymian, the Lady of Apples, comes looking 
  for her promised offering—and for those who have 
  interfered with the Tithing, if the sacrifice is not in its 
  appointed place. An ancient dryad, twisted by hatred, 
  Nymian has become a terrible, otherworldly creature, one 
  whose appetites have turned her into a monster.
   The dryad is accompanied by 8 changelings of Size ½. 
  They are armed with bronze sickles (melee +2 with 1 boon, 
  1d6 damage), and they all look like dirty, feral children in 
  ragged clothing. Nymian might additionally arm them with 
  small apples enchanted by her magic acorns spell.
  Confrontation
  Initially, the dryad stalks regally into the village, 
  surrounded by her “children,” sending any villagers who 
  are awake scattering to shut themselves behind closed 
  doors. When she reaches the temple, she says, “Where is 
  the offering? For seven generations, your ancestors have 
  never failed to give me my due. Bring forth the child and 
  the thieves who stole it, and I will spare you my wrath.”
   The villagers are inclined to comply, unless the 
  characters can convince them to do otherwise.
   If Nymian’s demands are not met, she orders her 
  changelings to bring the boy to her (she knows where he is), 
  and to kill anyone who stands in the way. The changelings 
  retreat if they lose at least half their number (rounded 
  down), and that event brings their mistress into the fray. 
   Nymian uses persuasive methods first: relying on her 
  Charming Guise to ensorcel pretty much everyone in the 
  community who sees her and her charm, presence, and mind 
  bondage spells to ensnare the ones that resist her beauty. 
  She resorts to violence, striking with her Rooting Touch, or 
  transforming through her form of the oak guardian spell to 
  engage in direct combat.
   If the characters slay the dryad, any surviving 
  changelings flee, and the fae pact with the village ends. The 
  characters might also be able to end or modify the pact by 
  incapacitating Nymian and binding her with iron, which 
  they can get from the smith. The dryad will honor the 
  exact wording of any agreement forced upon her by such 
  a circumstance, but also bears an undying grudge toward 
  those who dared bind her. If the pact is ended, the people 
  of Avelton have to ensure the prosperity of their orchards 
  all on their own, and live with the consequences of all they 
  have done prior to this night.
  NYMIAN 
  DIFFICULTY 50
  Size 1 faerie (dryad)
  Perception 15 (+5); shadowsight, sense the enslaved
  Defense 18; Health 40
  Strength 10 (+0), Agility 14 (+4), Intellect 12 (+1), Will 16 
  (+6)
  Speed 10; Tree to Tree
  Immune damage from disease; charmed, diseased
  Spell Defense Nymian takes half damage from spells and 
  makes any challenge roll to resist a spell with 1 boon. A 
  creature attacking her with a spell makes the attack roll 
  with 1 bane.
  Charming Guise Whenever a living creature sees Nymian, 
  it must make an Intellect challenge roll with 1 bane, or 
  2 banes if the creature ate apples from the orchard or 
  drank cider made from them at any time within the last 
  24 hours. On a failure, the creature becomes charmed 
  until Nymian becomes incapacitated or uses a triggered 
  action on her turn to remove the affliction from the 
  target. On a success, the creature becomes subject to 
  Raiment of Faces (see below) and is immune to Nymian’s 
  Charming Guise until after it completes a rest.
  Lure When Nymian ends her move on her turn, each 
  creature she has charmed and is within medium range of 
  her moves up to half its Speed toward her.
  Sense the Enslaved Creatures charmed by Nymian cannot 
  become hidden from her, and she always knows the 
  creature’s exact location provided the creature is within 
  medium range of her.
  Raiment of Faces A creature immune to Nymian’s 
  Charming Guise must make a Will challenge roll with 1 
  bane. On a failure, the creature gains 1d3 Insanity from 
  seeing Nymian’s gown, which is made from the sobbing 
  souls of all the children given to her over the centuries. 
  On a success, the creature becomes immune to Raiment 
  of Faces until it completes a rest. When Nymian 
  becomes incapacitated, the souls making up her raiment 
  fade as they descend into the Underworld.
  Tree to Tree While moving, Nymian can enter one tree’s 
  space and instantly exit from that tree or from a different 
  tree within long range of the tree she entered.
  Iron Vulnerability Nymian is impaired while in contact with 
  iron.
  Treebound Nymian is bound to an old apple tree in the 
  center of the orchard just outside town. She is impaired 
  while she is more than extreme range from the tree.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Rooting Touch (melee) +4 with 1 boon (2d6 + 1 and the 
  target becomes immobilized for 1 round)
  MAGIC 
  Power 5
  Enchantment presence (6), charm (3), mind bondage (2)
  Nature magic acorns (6; affects apples), overgrowth 
  (3), ensnaring vines (2), brambles (2), form of the oak 
  guardian (1)
   END OF THE ROUND 
  Epic Recovery Nymian removes one affliction from herself.
  Epic Adversary Roll 1d3 + 1 to determine how many actions 
  Nymian can use during the next round. Nymian can use 
  these actions during any turn and can do so before her 
  enemies act. Each time Nymian uses an action, she can 
  move up to her Speed before or after the action.
  7
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Shadow of the Demon Lord/Adventures/Novice/SotDL - The Apple of Her Eye (Novice).pdf