Adventure Summary: A one-session horror mystery for four to five 5th-level characters. When pale lanterns drift over flooded Hollowmere and whisper living names, the party must investigate vanished villagers, break a naming ritual, and confront the Lantern Widow before the reservoir claims another household.
Hollowmere Lantern Saga: Part 1 of 4. This adventure stands alone. The saga continues with The Drowned Road to Saint Orra.
Overview
Hollowmere was built below an old reservoir dam. Three nights ago, bone-white lanterns began rising from the water. Each turns toward one resident and whispers that person’s full name. By dawn, the named resident is gone, their bed soaked and their footprints ending at the quay.
Keeper Mara Vell believes the haunt is tied to a sealed sluice tower, but frightened villagers accuse ferryman Edrin Pike. The truth is older: the Lantern Widow, a drowned warden sacrificed when the dam was raised, is rebuilding the list of names that officials erased from the disaster record.
Background
Forty years ago, engineers closed Hollowmere’s first dam during a storm while laborers and pilgrims were still in the lower valley. Warden Elowen Rusk refused to turn the wheel, so officials chained her inside the tower and completed the flooding. They then scraped the victims’ names from the memorial ledger. Elowen became the Lantern Widow, compelled to recover every name.
Standalone hook: Mara offers 600 gp and salvage rights to stop the vanishings. Saga hook: When the ritual ends, the restored ledger reveals Saint Orra’s drowned road and warns that the next low tide will expose a procession route beneath the reservoir.
Characters
- Mara Vell: The practical lantern keeper, ashamed that her family inherited the censored ledger.
- Edrin Pike: A taciturn ferryman who has secretly rescued two named villagers and hidden them at the Pilgrim Inn.
- Jory Fen: A curious child whose lantern has just spoken his name. He remembers a woman singing under the water.
- The Lantern Widow: Elowen’s grief-bound spirit. She wants the dead acknowledged, not indiscriminate slaughter, but the ritual cannot distinguish descendants from the guilty.
Setting
Rain has flooded Hollowmere to knee depth. The Sagging Quay, Lantern House, Pilgrim Inn, Flooded Chapel, Reed Maze, Sluice Tower, and Bone Orchard are connected by planks and skiffs. Sound carries strangely across the water.
Track four Whisper marks. Add one when the party loudly breaks a lantern, fails a major challenge, or allows a named person to stand alone. At four marks, the Widow begins the climax with two extra Name Lanterns. Players always receive a clue on a failed investigation check, but the failure adds danger.
Plot Outline
The party protects Jory, questions contradictory witnesses, examines the Lantern House ledger, follows a stolen name through the Reed Maze, enters the Flooded Chapel, and climbs the Sluice Tower. The finale can end by force, by restoring the memorial names, or by opening the old spillway while Mara reads the truth aloud.
1. A Lantern Speaks
A lantern turns toward Jory at the quay. The party has three rounds to secure him, calm the crowd, and capture the light. Each round, one character can attempt DC 13 Arcana, Athletics, Persuasion, or Sleight of Hand. Two successes contain the lantern and reveal river-silt letters inside it. Two failures add a Whisper mark, and one Mireling crawls from beneath the quay.
2. The Empty Beds
At the Pilgrim Inn, Edrin has hidden two earlier victims in a dry cellar. They remember walking willingly toward someone who knew childhood nicknames. A DC 14 Insight or Investigation check shows each victim descends from a dam official. Failure still reveals the link, but a Name Lantern slips through the chimney and tries to lure Jory away.
3. The Censored Ledger
The Lantern House contains a water-swollen civic ledger with whole lines scraped blank. Reconstructing it requires three successes before two failures using DC 14 History, Investigation, calligrapher’s supplies, or magic that reveals the past. Mara confesses that her grandfather ordered the erasures. Success provides four victims’ names and removes one Whisper mark.
4. Through the Reed Maze
Pale lights drift through twelve-foot reeds. The party chooses to follow Edrin, the lights, or old survey stakes. Run three DC 14 Survival, Perception, or Nature successes before two failures. A failure costs 1d6 cold damage to each character and awakens two Mirelings, but the route still reaches the chapel.
5. The Flooded Chapel
Names are carved beneath the altar at chest depth. A Name Lantern projects the night of the disaster, showing Elowen chained at the tower. Characters can copy the remaining names with a DC 13 Religion or Investigation check. Disturbing the bones without a prayer animates three Mirelings. Respectful burial grants advantage on the first check against the Widow.
6. The Widow at the Sluice
Elowen and two Name Lanterns circle the tower wheel. At initiative count 20, a surge forces creatures on exposed masonry to make a DC 14 Dexterity save or fall prone and slide 10 feet. Three actions with the ledger, spoken names, or DC 15 Religion or Persuasion checks complete the memorial. Alternatively, three DC 15 Athletics or thieves’ tools successes open the spillway. Elowen yields at 18 hit points if shown the restored ledger; destroying her without naming the dead leaves the road haunted.
7. Resolution
If the names are restored, the lanterns settle over the Bone Orchard as harmless grave lights and every missing resident returns. Mara posts the complete record in the Lantern House. If the Widow is merely defeated, the vanishings stop for one year, but the reservoir continues whispering. Either outcome reveals the route to Saint Orra’s Shrine, providing a sequel lead without withholding this adventure’s resolution.
NPCs and Monsters
| NPC or Monster | Statistics | Key Abilities and Table Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mara Vell | Medium humanoid; AC 12, HP 27, speed 30 ft. | Lanterncraft +6. Once per round, Mara can grant an ally advantage on a check to control a light, read the ledger, or protect a villager. She never abandons Jory. |
| Edrin Pike | Medium humanoid; AC 13, HP 32, speed 30 ft., swim 20 ft. | Athletics +5, Survival +5. His ferry pole can shove a target 10 feet. He helps anyone in the water and admits his secret when a victim is threatened. |
| Lantern Widow | Medium undead; AC 15, HP 78, fly 30 ft. (hover). | Cold Grasp +7 deals 2d8 + 4 cold. Naming Gaze, DC 15 Wisdom save, charms until end of next turn. She yields at 18 HP when shown a truthful memorial. |
| Name Lantern | Small construct; AC 14, HP 22, fly 40 ft. (hover). | Whispering Flame, DC 13 Wisdom save, lures a target 15 feet. Smothering it with a cloak and DC 13 Sleight of Hand disables it for one round. |
| Mireling | Small undead; AC 13, HP 18, speed 25 ft., swim 30 ft. | Claw +4 deals 1d6 + 2 slashing. On a hit in water, the target must pass DC 12 Strength or fall prone. Mirelings flee bright consecrated light. |
Rewards
- 600 gp from Mara and the village council, plus salvage rights worth 150 gp if every missing resident returns.
- Warden’s Wick: This wondrous wick burns underwater. Once per dawn, its bearer can light it to create a 15-foot-radius ward for 10 minutes. Undead cannot charm creatures inside the light unless they succeed on a DC 14 Charisma check.
- Elowen’s Truth: Characters who restore the names gain advantage on one check involving Hollowmere’s spirits in a later adventure.
Scaling the Adventure
For a 4th-level party, reduce the Widow to 62 hit points and remove one Name Lantern from the finale. For a 6th-level party, increase her Naming Gaze DC to 16 and add two Mirelings at the tower. For a three-hour session, Edrin already possesses the copied ledger page and leads the party directly from the inn to the chapel.
Flooded-Horror-Themed Table Gear
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- Miniature brass storm lantern. Place it beside the Whisper tracker and turn it toward the next threatened villager.
- Waterproof blue LED lights. Scatter cold lights across the map to mark roaming Name Lanterns and safe memorial flames.
- Wet-erase flooded village map. Track changing water depth, skiff routes, and exposed planks during the investigation.