NERDS Restoring Harmony: A Voice in the Wilderness

Story Summary

Ever jealous of the cheery dispositions and colorful deliciousness of the NERDS, Emo the beholder and his hired muscle, Mr. Greystone, have struck a blow against the NERDS' beloved city of Harmony. After years of searching, the nefarious duo have found the sacred Prismatic Well that gives Harmony its vibrant and fabulous colors. Now, with access to the Prismatic Well, Emo and Mr. Greystone have begun to leech the color from the city of Harmony. If they aren't stopped, the city will gradually turn gray, with everything eventually becoming black and white.

To the NERDS, the colors beginning to flicker and drain out of Harmony is an unsettling mystery. What brings the colors to Harmony is an enigma to them. All they can do is hope the power comes back on and restores the vibrancy of Harmony's colors once more. But one group knows what's up, and that group is the Lorekeeper Society—a secret society sworn to protect Harmony. The Lorekeepers know about the power of the Prismatic Well, but its true location is lost even to themselves. However, they have a way to find the well using an ancient artifact known as the Amulet of Harmony, but to activate it they need to find the six Gems of Power. Once activated, the amulet guides whoever controls it to the secret location of the Prismatic Well. But once activated, the amulet also has the power to turn off the well.

The Gems of Power were long ago hidden away for safekeeping in dungeons, forests, and towers. No one in the Lorekeeper Society knows the details of the magical beasts and traps guarding the gems, but our heroic NERDS are more than up to the challenge of restoring Harmony!

Solo Play

Due to the solo player nature of the adventures (with the exception of Adventure 7 Adventure Together), the power level of some monsters may be difficult with respect to the level of the character. You may want to present a roleplaying solution (such as making friends with the monster or tricking them) to players who are eager to rush into combat. With any encounter in this or subsequent adventures, feel free to present opportunities for unconventional solutions and alternatives to combat.

You can also adjust the story to be more benevolent in nature, allowing automatic successes on rolls, having monsters become instant friends, or giving your player advantage on all their rolls.

TPK: Total Party Kill

In solo play, there's always a chance the character can die. In the case of a single adventurer, this death results in the end of play; which isn't optimal for an afternoon of fun! One way to avoid death is to have healing readily available to the adventurer. If they're without healing, have the character find the odd potion of healing lying in a dusty crate or have them discover a special healing plant on their journey that, if eaten, puts them back to full hit points.

In the case of an untimely death, you can have a helpful NPC (like Mr. Honeycutt) save the day and revive them, or you can have them forego death saving throws and wake up as they're being dragged someplace unpleasant.

Adventure Outline

Here is a quick overview of the adventure:

Red the Ranger receives a mysterious message from a "Mr. Honeycutt" to meet Elowen Greenleaf at Old Oak Grove. If Red gets there in time, they avoid an ambush.
Elowen tells Red that she's part of a secret society known as the Lorekeepers. They're trying to discover who or what is causing the "color outages." Elowen has a map to find a magic gem that'll help them in their quest.
They travel to Lemondrop Ledges and find the entrance to the temple. But first they must cross a ravine and climb a cliff to get there.
They must then face the Scarlet Sentinel, a living statue that guards the Crimson Gem.

Beginning Play

Hand the character sheet (see "Red the Ranger," below) to your player and let them familiarize themselves with Red.

All creatures or NPCs that are bolded have stat blocks, which are included at the end of the adventure along with any magic items the characters can earn. Whenever you're both ready, you can start the session.

A Voice in the Wilderness

At the start of this adventure, Red the ranger is in their natural element—exploring the forest. Read the following:

If Red makes a successful DC 12 Wisdom (Animal Handling) check, the bird flies over and drops the parchment into their hand and then flies away. If Red holds out their finger as a perch or offers the bird some tasty seeds, they have advantage on the check. If Red opens the note, read:

Red knows Mr. Honeycutt to be a kindly, soft-spoken librarian at the Harmony Library.

Red also knows where Old Oak Grove is. With a successful DC 12 Intelligence (Nature) check, Red remembers how to get there in under 15 minutes and arrives before Elowen is ambushed (see "Arriving Before the Ambush," below). On a failed check, it takes Red 25 minutes to get there and they arrive while Elowen is being ambushed (see "Arriving During the Ambush," below).

Arriving Before the Ambush

Red dashes through the forest and finds the Old Oak Grove. As Red enters the grove, read the following:

If Red goes to investigate, the sapling, a young awakened shrub, introduces herself as Elowen Greenleaf. She knows all about Red the Ranger and recommended Red to Mr. Honeycutt to help unravel and solve the mystery of the color outages.

Meeting Elowen

Elowen Greenleaf is dressed in a Sapling Scout uniform that includes a green sash with stitched-on badges. She's precocious and eager to earn merit badges by being a helpful member of the forest community—but she's also secretly a member of the Lorekeeper Society.

She tells Red she's involved in a matter of great importance: Mr. Honeycutt has entrusted her with a mission to find the Crimson Gem, one of the six Gems of Power. But there's a problem, and it's why they need the help of a ranger. The gem is guarded by the legendary Scarlet Sentinel, and no one knows how to get past it. All Elowen has to go on is a tattered map.

Equipment

Elowen has a pair of binoculars, a compass, a box of Sapling Scout wafers, and a sewing kit.

What Elowen Knows

If pressed for more information, Elowen can tell Red the following:

Mr. Honeycutt is a kindly man who's the head of the Lorekeeper Society.
The Lorekeeper Society is an ancient and secret group dedicated to the defense of Harmony.
The Crimson Gem has something to do with helping stop the color outages in Harmony.
The Scarlet Sentinel is an ancient statue that the Lorekeeper Society magically enchanted long ago to guard the Crimson Gem. But how to deactivate it has long since been lost.
Some bad guys are also looking for the Crimson Gem and Mr. Honeycutt believes they're the ones responsible for the recent color outages. She doesn't know who they are though.
She has a tattered map (see "Elowen's Map," below) from the Lorekeeper Society library, but she doesn't recognize the location the map refers to.

Elowen entreats Red to help her find the Crimson Gem and sweetly offers to embroider a Sapling Scout merit badge for them as a reward.

Elowen's Map

If Red agrees to help the Lorekeeper Society, Elowen shows Red the tattered parchment map. The map illustrates the rough location of what could be a cave mouth or doorway.

Red also recognizes the unique shape of the trees depicted on the map as belonging to the lemondrop tree. Red thinks the most likely location is Lemondrop Ledges—a place deep in the wilderness that Red has heard about, but never explored. Some say that, long ago, temples were carved into the cliffs, and Red has often wondered if the rumors were true.

Also, some cryptic glyphs are drawn next to the doorway on the map:

🦊🧤

🕷️🌿

🐱🐾

The Secret of the Glyphs

The glyphs represent the three plants that must be touched in the correct order to open the magic door at the entrance to the temple (see area R1, below). The plants are foxglove, spider plant, and catspaw, respectively.

Arriving After the Ambush

Red dashes through the forest taking a wrong turn here and there. Finally, as Red nears the grove, read the following:

A successful DC 10 Intelligence (Nature) check reveals that the thorn bushes are two twig blights, while the frightened sapling wearing a green sash with stitched-on badges is an awakened shrub, Elowen Greenleaf.

Red can deal with the twig blights in a number of ways. Trying to intimidate or persuade them is difficult and Red must make a successful DC 15 Charisma (Intimidation or Persuasion) check to change their minds.

The twig blights have orders from the shadowy Mr. Greystone to find the Scarlet Sentinel and retrieve the Crimson Gem. For what purpose, they don't know, but what they do know is that bringing Elowen Greenleaf back to their master is a good first step to finding the gem.

Should all go successfully, after the conflict, have Red and Elowen meet (see "Meeting Elowen," above).

Journey to Lemondrop Ledges

If Red chooses to help Elowen, they set off for Lemondrop Ledges, which is a two-hour hike from the Old Oak Grove. As they travel, Red notices the color outages extend into the wilderness. Even the animals are noticeably duller, and some are now just tones of gray. Red also notices a chimeric fox that seems to be following them. The fox is inquisitive and maybe even a bit nosey, but it's skittish and isn't fond of loud noises. If Red is kind to the fox, it tags along for the rest of the adventure and helps the party as best it can—by barking if there's danger or by distracting a dangerous foe.

This is also a good place to have Red discover some healing plants that Red (or Elowen) can brew into a potion of healing. Finding the healing plants requires a successful DC 14 Intelligence (Nature) check, or you can have Red automatically find the plants and brew the potion.

Finding the Ledges

To find Lemondrop Ledges, Red must succeed on three consecutive DC 12 Wisdom (Survival) checks. If Red uses Elowen's map, they have advantage on the checks. If a check fails, Elowen can assist by rolling herself, but as she hasn't completed her Sapling Scout orienteering course yet, she doesn't have advantage on her roll.

Arriving at the Ledges

Eventually, they begin to smell the scent of fresh lemons as they reach the top of a bluff covered by lemondrop trees. Sheer cliffs fall 100 feet from the bluff into the ravine below.

Finding the Entrance

The entrance to the Temple of the Scarlet Sentinel is in the cliff face across the ravine from Lemondrop Ledges and requires a successful DC 14 Wisdom (Perception) check to spot. If Elowen or Red remember to use the binoculars Elowen has in her Sapling Scout pack, they have advantage on the check. If the check fails, they still find the entrance, but two twig blights sneak up on them and attack while they're busy looking for it.

Getting to the entrance means climbing down the 100-foot cliff into the ravine, crossing the ravine, then climbing halfway up the other side. However, to the north, a precarious-looking rope bridge crosses the ravine, should the adventurers choose that path.

Scaling the Cliffs

Whether Red is climbing up the cliff or rappelling down it, they must make a DC 12 Strength (Athletics) check for every 15 feet of movement (rounded up). Using climbing gear or anchoring themselves to a tree with a rope gives them advantage on the check. If the check fails, and the character isn't anchored to a tree by a rope, any falling character takes 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage for every 10 feet fall.

Crossing the base of the ravine poses no difficulty to Red.

Rope Bridge

The 250-foot-long rope bridge has wood planks to walk on. Some of the planks are missing or look worse for wear. Some frayed suspension ropes dangle from the main lines where the wood planks have given way. Overall, the bridge looks worn and weather-beaten, but feels as if it'll still take some weight.

Temple of the Scarlet Sentinel

The Temple of the Scarlet Sentinel was carved into the cliff long ago as a secret place to house and guard the Crimson Gem.

The following locations are keyed to the Temple of the Scarlet Sentinel map:

R1. Cliff Ledge Entrance

Whichever way Red gets to the entrance, they finally arrive at a thin ledge on the cliff face 50 feet off the ground. The doorway to the temple is a bas-relief archway carved into the cliff. The bas-relief comprises leaves, flowers, and plants of all different varieties.

Opening the Door

If Red makes a successful DC 12 Intelligence (Nature) check, they find carved into the door the same three species of plant depicted on the map: foxglove, spider plant, and catspaw.

Pressing them in that order triggers the door's magic. Glowing lines emerge around the archway as a seam forms in the solid stone, then stone grinds on stone as the door swings open.

If the player struggles to solve the puzzle, have Elowen give Red a vital clue that puts them on the right track.

R2. Passageway

When Red enters the passageway, read the following:

Coming from a room at the far end of the tunnel, Red can see a faint, reddish glow.

R3. Chamber of the Sentinel

As Red approaches the entrance to this circular, 75-foot-diameter room with a 20-foot-high domed ceiling, read the following:

On a raised dais in the center of the room stands the Scarlet Sentinel. It's made from blood onyx and depicts a strange, humanlike creature with elongated arms and fangs that jut from its wide mouth. Any creature that moves into the red circle painted on the floor, even if they cross the boundary without touching the floor, activates the sentinel, which instantly attacks the nearest living thing. As soon as there's nothing alive within the circle, the sentinel returns to the dais and goes dormant—except for its ominously glowing eyes.

Getting the Gem

The gem is magically levitating 17 feet off the ground (5 feet above the sentinel's head). There are many ways Red can go about getting the gem. Here are two methods:

Red can shoot the hovering gem with an arrow to knock it beyond the red circle. The gem has AC 18, 3 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. Red must put a pad over the arrow tip, otherwise Red risks shattering the gem. If Red hits the gem with a regular arrow, have the player roll damage. If Red deals the gem 4 or more damage, then the gem breaks and Elowen howls in despair. The gem can ultimately be fixed if the pieces are taken back to Mr. Honeycutt, but he panics when he first sees the gem, before remembering he knows a wizard who can help him restore it. Hitting the gem with a padded arrow knocks the gem toward the edge. Have the player roll a d6. On a 1–4 the gem flies outside the red circle, on a 5 or 6, the gem falls inside the circle where Red can hit it again.
Red and Elowen can work together with one of them luring the sentinel away while the other grabs the gem with a net or a long pole. This requires quick and flawless execution as one hit from the sentinel can spell certain death.

Completing the Mission

If all goes well, Elowen and Red get the gem and head back toward Harmony, where Elowen excitedly wants to introduce her new hero Red to Mr. Honeycutt. You can have them meet in the Old Oak Grove or in a tavern or library within Harmony.

Mr. Honeycutt is overjoyed at the return of the Crimson Gem (unless it's in pieces) and wants to know everything about the adventure while he scribbles copious notes in his black notebook.

For their troubles, he awards Elowen with a shiny badge of merit for outstanding service and promotes her to Sapling Scout First Class. To Red, he gives a pouch containing 20 gp and invites Red to join the Lorekeeper Society. If Red accepts, Mr. Honeycutt gives Red a magic cloak pin with the emblem of the Lorekeeper Society on it. The Lorekeeper pin acts as a necklace of adaptation.

Elowen also gives Red a newly stitched merit badge for acts of heroism and bravery.

Magic Items

The following magic items appear in this adventure.

Necklace of Adaptation