This adventure concerns the small town of Billingston, their nearby burial grounds, and the dangers of archaeology. An attempt to enrich the poor locals by digging up the treasures of long-dead kings has fulfilled the requirements of an old curse: that the once-and-future king has risen again to defend his kingdom. Players will be required to use their puzzle-solving abilities to discover the cause and source of the undead invasion of Billingston, and find a way of putting the restless dead back to their endless sleep.

This adventure is written for a party of fifth-level players, but the stat blocks added to the back of this module are a guide only – and should your party be lower or higher, those stats can be altered to suit.

Adventure Synopsis

The Wraith’s Barrow mainly concerns the town of Billingston and the nearby burial grounds dubbed Billingston Mine, or Eldoliere’s Grave. The locals have begun an excavation of the site in search of riches – not necessarily gold or jewels, but they know that in these modern days, scholars from museums and rich collectors are always on the lookout for interesting artifacts. Their people are poor, and the winter was long.

However, the lands around Billingston have a legend: that the king Eldoliere, killed in battle some seven hundred years before, will rise one day to defend his kingdom in its darkest hour. Eldoliere’s kingdom is no more, having been swallowed by treaty and time into the much larger Kingdom of Endon, and the last remnant of it is the undisturbed barrow. The digging there, then, activates the terms of a spell laid upon Eldoliere and his knights: he does not realise that his kingdom has disappeared, and sees the locals as vicious invaders.

The players can begin this quest by encountering a survivor bleeding on the high road nearby. He is near death, having escaped the undead, and pleads with any who will listen to save the town of Billingston. He will die shortly afterwards from an arrow in his lung. The players, proceeding the Billingston, will need to fight their way through the undead to the Barrow Hall, whence the villagers have barricaded themselves.

The locals will be unwilling to confess to their greed and invasion of the old graves, but the undead will continue to come, and the players will eventually deduce where they are coming from. Heading to Billingston Mine, they will need to confront the King Eldoliere and his knights, and settle the dead back to the dust once and for all. The adventure consists of three basic parts:

• Billingston. Upon arriving in the small town, the players will need to immediately deal with the undead that are plaguing it. Patrols will continue to approach the town, and rise from the crypts within it, until the players find the source: the king.

• Eldoliere's Barrow. At the old barrow, the players will need to confront the old king, discover why he continues to rise from the dead, and lay him to rest once more.

Both parts require a combination of combat, role-play, and deductive reasoning.