Contents
In Scarlet Flames
Two Red Wizards of Thay have undertaken a secret mission into the High Moors east of the Sword Coast. They are searching for something or someone. Whatever their goal out there in the cold and windswept hills, if the Red Wizards want to keep it secret then it is probably best uncovered swiftly for the good of everyone else. Even the mercenaries who escorted them into the wilderness earlier agree: someone should stop them.
Pursuing the Red Wizards leads the adventurers to a barrow mound in the wild grasses of the High Moors. At the barrow, they discover the remnants of a wizards' sanctum still being plundered. The fate of its lore and treasures is up to the characters. Without caution, things may get out of hand.
This Dungeons & Dragons® adventure is written to suit four to six characters of 8th level. With this text and the core D&D manuals, you have everything you need to play. You may also benefit from the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide to learn more about the High Moors of Faerûn.
Start of a Series
This adventure is written as the first in a multi-part series. Whether you're playing this as part of our adventure series or weaving this adventure into another campaign, read "Part 3: What's Next?" to get an idea of where some of these threads lead—and how you can change those threads to accommodate a different campaign.
This adventure foreshadows the role of a recurring villain but does not fully explain his motives, history, or plans. These are matters for the following adventures. If you prefer not to wait, or if you want to substitute another villain in for ours, this adventure can easily foreshadow a villainous NPC of your own.
By combining the immediacy of the players' choices with the mysterious histories and ambitions of key NPCs, you can explore questions of loyalty, ambition, and knowledge in dramatic ways. Future adventures in this series expand on this to explore the past of the Sword Coast and the consequences of the players' choices in each adventure along the way.
Background
A lone mage roams the land. He is a visitor from another world. He has come to the Sword Coast in pursuit of legends and lore, in the footsteps of others who came here long ago. He is called Tyreus, though few here know him by name.
His explorations caught the attention of the Red Wizards of Thay, who dispatched a pair of their own wizards to find the roving mage. These searchers—Morwena and her apprentice, Malivar—tracked the wizard to the High Moors east of the Sword Coast. They surmised (correctly) that their quarry was looking for a site of arcane power.
To find their way through the High Moors and stay on Tyreus's trail, the Red Wizards hired local mercenaries to guide them, led by a former bandit called Lothar.
When the Red Wizards drew close to their target at a site colloquially called the Wizard's Barrow, Lothar and his mercenaries abandoned the whole enterprise out of fear. They fled back to the village of Secomber, on the edge of the High Moors, where they tell anyone who will listen that bad things are afoot out at the Wizard's Barrow now. "Wizards hunting wizards can lead to no good," Lothar says.
The Story at the Barrow
The Wizard's Barrow started as a proper barrow and stood quietly in the High Moors for centuries before a sect of wizards moved in, plundered it for treasure, discarded the dead inside the barrow, and used their magic to reshape the place into a remote lair. For years, the wizards used this place as a sanctum, laboratory, library, and eventually a tomb for members of their small order. Whatever became of the final members of the order, they never returned to this place.
For decades, it stood quietly.
Then, a few days ago, Tyreus arrived with elementals in his service. The elementals dug into the ground near the barrow to get access to its lowest reaches. That created the sinkhole just east of the barrow, into area 15. From there, Tyreus and his minions stormed the library in area 14.
For two days, Tyreus searched the library for items of value. When Morwena and Malivar arrived, they confronted him in a brief skirmish of spells before choosing to parley.
Morwena, intrigued by the roving wizard and hungry for the power he offered, chose to abandon her mission and join Tyreus. Malivar thought it was a trick. It wasn't.
Malivar, afraid and heartbroken, threatened them both but was no match for either. Struck by Tyreus's spells, he fled the library, deeper into the barrow, and collapsed on the verge of death. (He is likely still in area 13 when the adventurers arrive.)
Morwena suggested they let Malivar go, as she wasn't worried about reprisal from the Red Wizards anymore. She and her new ally teleported away with their treasures, leaving the elemental minions to close up the barrow again and burn the library to cover their master's tracks.
The lead minion, a fire spirit called Exul, toils under a geas from the roving wizard. He has gathered and piled scrolls and books from the library to burn them but has stopped to read all he can before he destroys them.
Adventure Hook
Adventurers passing through the village of Secomber might hear about the Red Wizards and their mission by chance. For some adventurers, interfering with Red Wizards or uncovering lost treasure may be enough motivation to continue.
If coincidence isn't enough, consider the following adventure hooks and how they can get adventurers to Secomber.
Pursuit of the Red Wizards
An ally or patron of the adventurers hears word that two Red Wizards have ventured toward the High Moors in search of something. Perhaps that ally has a fraught history with the Red Wizards; perhaps the adventurers already do too.
Lost Lore
A historian, sage, or other learned figure asks the adventurers to investigate the legends of the Wizard's Barrow in the High Moor. "Start in the village of Secomber," they say. "Someone there might remember rumors of wizards roaming the moors."