D20 SYSTEM✦ Normal

The Serpentine Caves and the Golden Platter

# Beast# Dungeon# Divine# Intrigue# Wilderness

The livestock of the frontier settlement of Dryvault are vanishing, dragged into the labyrinthine Serpentine Caves. A desperate militia seeks to eradicate the monstrous rock pythons dwelling within, but their scouts report something far worse: a Yuan-ti cult is performing bloody rituals on a massive golden platter, sacrificing the stolen beasts to fuel a dark transformation. The party must delve into the caves, but they will discover the Yuan-ti's motives are not simple evil—they are a dying bloodline performing a desperate rite to save their species from a wasting curse. The militia, meanwhile, is led by a zealot who believes the only good snake is a dead snake, and will tolerate no negotiation with the 'abominations.' The fate of the caves, and the moral compass of the players, rests on a golden platter.

Chronicle Prelude

The player characters arrive in the besieged frontier town of Dryvault. The air is thick with fear and the stench of penned livestock. The town elder, a weary human named Valerius, pleads for aid. The local militia, the Iron Scale Company, has set up a forward camp at the cave mouth, but their assaults have been repelled by the pythons and the cave's twisting passages. The town offers a hefty bounty for clearing the caves and stopping the livestock losses.

Environmental Traits

The Serpentine Caves are a sprawling, multi-level underground network dominated by two threats: the territorial, gargantuan rock pythons that have claimed the outer caves, and the enigmatic Yuan-ti purebloods and their serpentine minions who have established a temple deep within. The immediate crisis is the depletion of Dryvault's food supply, threatening the town with starvation. The deeper crisis is the Yuan-ti's ritual, which, if completed, could unleash a wave of transformative venom across the region, but if halted, might condemn an entire intelligent species to extinction.

Legendary Archetypes

Rayan

HP:45

STR:16

WIS: 12

CHA:11

Key Factions & Autonomous Nodes (8)

Elder Valerius
An elderly man with a deeply lined face and weary eyes, dressed in the practical, worn clothing of a Dryvault community leader. He leans heavily on a gnarled staff.
Sergeant Kaelen
A scarred, powerfully built man in reinforced leather armor bearing the Iron Scale Company insignia. A livid burn mark runs from his temple to his jaw, and his eyes hold a cold, burning hatred.
High Priestess Ssethara
A Yuan-ti pureblood of regal bearing, her skin showing faint, iridescent scales. Her expression is one of profound sorrow and weary determination. She moves with a serpentine grace, clutching a ritual dagger.
Vex
A young Yuan-ti pureblood scout, smaller and leaner than the warriors. His scales are duller, and his eyes hold a flicker of doubt rather than zealotry.
Kragar, the Rock Python Alpha
A monstrous rock python of ancient size, its scales like granite slabs. Its eyes hold a disturbing, calculating intelligence, and it moves with surprising, deliberate speed. It guards the passages to the deeper labyrinth, attacking any intruder indiscriminately.
Militia Scout Theron
A nervous, young man in the leather jerkin of the Iron Scale Company, trying to look brave while constantly scanning the shadows. He fidgets with the strap of his crossbow.
Yuan-ti Alchemist Ixa
A Yuan-ti pureblood whose robes are stained with a rainbow of alchemical reagents. Her eyes are bright with curiosity, not malice, and she examines visitors with a scholar's detachment.
Captured Herdsman Orrin
A middle-aged man with calloused hands, bound with crude rope and gagged. His eyes are wide with terror, but also a glimmer of relief at seeing other humans.

Chronicle Prelude

Environmental Traits

Legendary Archetypes

✦ Related Cases ✦

The Reckoning of the Blood-Soaked Bracers

The Frost Worm Tunnel Collapse of Pale Cliff