General Description
Polip is a small town in a high mountain valley of the Cephalus Mountain Range. The valley is a flat-floored glacial valley about 20 miles long with a stream, the Slimewater, that meanders along the center. Polip is situated along the stream in about the center of the valley, surrounded by the Tentacled Woods on all sides, with a cleared area around Polip. The primary industry of Polip is the trapping and harvesting of Arboreal Octopi, endemic to the Tentacled Woods, for their ink and tentacle meat, both of which have magical properties. The ink can be made into a potent potion of invisibility and eating the meat grants the ability to squeeze through any opening that is at least one square inch in width for a short time. People in the town trade these materials with merchants for most supplies, although there are a few farmers and tradesmen to provide some services. Most of the ~1,000 residents live inside the wooden wall, called the Mantle, that surrounds the town and which has one gate called the Siphon. The town is led by the mayor, Octavia of Polip, who inherited the position from her mother and directly commands the 12 town guards who operate the gate and enforce the laws. Lately, there have been concerning reports that kobolds, once thought extinct in the valley, have been seen in the woods, as well as reports of trading caravans going missing after they leave Polip, only to be discovered days later, skewered on the tree tops.
Adventure Hook
The session begins with the player characters, along with the rest of the townsfolk, being addressed by Mayor Octavia in the town square. She explains that the town is going to experience hardships if the trade caravans continue to be destroyed because no one will want to make the trip if it is dangerous. She also explains that kobolds have been sighted and she needs someone to go to the Kobold ruins at the head of the valley to investigate. Because town guards need to stay in town to do their jobs, she asks for volunteers to come forward to try to deal with each issue. Another group will take whichever job the party doesn't.
What is Actually Going On
The Queen Octopus, ruler of all of the arboreal octopi, is enraged that her subjects are being rounded up and killed en masse by the people of Polip, so she has been ambushing merchant caravans, resulting in the missing and skewered wagons. At the same time, the queen has been feeding rumors to the local kobolds, never fully removed from the valley, that the people of Polip are making plans to drive the kobolds out of the mountains, prompting them to start planning a preemptive strike against the town.
Enemy Factions
The Slimewater Kobolds
Driven into the high mountains at the head of the valley over 200 years ago, the Slimewater kobolds have been living a hard life in a difficult environment. Despite this hardship, their population is recovering and they have sent a group of soldiers, led by a kobold named Kassius, and a priest, named Kubuldikin, to reoccupy the ruins of their ancient headwater city. Most of the city was looted and then destroyed during the initial conquest, so the soldiers have attempted to rebuild and shore up what is left, although they do not appear to have excavated many rooms yet, and what they have done appears to be relatively crude. Kassius' orders are to scout out Polip and hold the forward location for the larger army that will be coming down from the mountains in several weeks' time.
The Queen Octopus
The Queen lives in a particularly dense patch of trees which she has cultivated into several rooms and tunnels leading to a clearing where she keeps her nest. The Queen Octopus must return to this location for at least one hour out of every 12 in order to tend to her eggs. She will defend these with her life. The Queen is horrified at the way her species is being treated, although it is worth noting that only her and the octopuses that hatch from her eggs are intelligent and have the ability to get to her size. She still feels a strong kinship with the smaller arboreal octopi and although she is open to a compromise where she is given offerings in exchange for more humane and regulated octopus harvesting, killing her would also work just fine.
Locations
Polip
Tentacled Woods
Kobold Tunnels
Queen Octopus' Lair
The Kobold Tunnels
Room A: Entrance Chamber: The intended entrance to the tunnels that the kobolds use. The tunnel leading outside is blocked by a big, heavy gate that takes 4 kobolds to open and at least 2 normal sized people. The gate is made of wood and iron and is locked unless it is being used. To be able to open the gate, there are always at least 4 but usually 5 or 6 kobolds stationed in this room. In the center of the room is a big obvious trap door with no obvious way to open it. There is a lever in the tunnel behind the left barricade that will cause the trap door to fall open when flipped. Beneath the trap door is a 10 foot drop onto wooden spikes. If the players are exploring the tunnels after another group that failed, this trap is responsible for the deaths of all of the previous party's members.
Room B: Bridge Chamber: In this chamber, a small bridge crosses over the slimewater, completing the path between the entrance chamber and the mess hall. The slimewater itself has a tunnel leading outside from the headwater shrine. There is an iron grate with bars 1 inch thick preventing people from getting directly to the headwater shrine from this room.
Room C: Mess Hall: This room has several tables, a long counter for preparing and serving food, and a big oven. The oven almost always has at least a few embers in it, making this room relatively warm but also smoky and hazy, giving everything that sees with conventional vision disadvantage on checks involving sight. If the alarm has not been called, there are usually half a dozen kobolds in here plus the cook.
Room D: Sleeping Quarters: One of the most protected rooms in the area, there are probably a dozen kobolds sleeping peacefully in the various mats and piles of hay scattered in here. Kobolds are very heavy sleepers and these kobolds will only wake up if the fighting spreads to this room or if they are woken up by an alarm.
Room E: Headwater Shrine: The center of the tunnels and a place of worship for the kobolds. There is always one kobold priest in here to give guidance to the tribe, tend the three fires on columns that surround the spring, and use the spring for regular divination rituals to hopefully figure out the future.
Room F: Kassius' Office: This is where Kassius will be no matter what happens in the rest of the tunnels. He will sit at his desk working on his plans. If the alarm has not been called, there will be two lieutenants in here with him, discussing plans. Kassius has a huge desk with a table behind it, both are scattered with bits of paper, notes, and even a few tools and scraps of metal. Among the notes is a summary of all of the rumors the Octopus Queen has been spreading. Kassius is carrying a note from the main force in the mountains detailing the timeline for their attack on Polip.
The Octopus Queen’s Lair
Room A: Broken Carriage: This small clearing has a mostly destroyed merchant's wagon in it. Nothing of value is left of the wagon, although most of the planks of the wagon are still intact and it could theoretically be repaired.
Room B: Refuse Pile: This clearing has a pile of waste from the Octopus Queen, her children, and the remains of the caravans she has been attacking. There are 4 of the Octopus Queen's babies fighting over a human femur in here, although they will attempt to run to the nest if anyone walks in on them.
Room C: Treasure Clearing: The chest in this clearing contains 6 vials of octopus ink invisibility potion and 10 servings of arboreal octopus jerky.
Room D: The Nest: This is where the Queen Octopus rests and tends to her eggs, which hang in large mucus-y sacks that hang from the branches of the trees. There are usually about a half dozen of the queen's babies hanging out in these trees, they will try their best to hide from strangers.
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