I am buying my first pellet smoker this month and this sub has been so helpful. I am okay spending up to around $2k. I want a hopper big enough so I don't have to remember to add to it and good steel walls which helps. Definitely want wifi and will be a "set it and forget it" smoker at first anyway. I will not be smoking for an army but I can see smoking for 4 plus enough to frig. Want real phone support. I originally started thinking I had to go vertical as I already had a grill. The Pit Boss elite was it! Then I started learning, and asking questions! A vertical still makes sense to me but it sure seems there are less good quality options with what I want. Anyway, here is the list of what I am deciding between. Interested in opinions but most importantly the differences based on what I'm looking for. I have already read the standard comments on these brands so hopefully my questions have a little bit of knowledge in them.
-Camp Chef Woodwind Pro 36. Of course have read about the smoke box (which I like) but do you really have to add chips every hour? Bigger chips lasts longer? Of course I don't even know how many smokes are overnight and how many are a few hours. Clueless. But seems high quality and well-liked. Like the smoke setting numbers even without using wood box. Are there still rust issues? The pro has stainless steel internals but what about outside? Are the walls thicker than their vertical? Will be smoking in snow sometimes😃 Availability and best source to buy from and do any assemble? Sidekick- useful? Propane right next to the hot smoker gives me pause if there is "an issue".
-Camp Chef XXL Pro vertical- Quality wise how does this compare to Woodwind? Same smoke box? If all I did was smoke, no grilling, what difference would I notice from the Woodwind? Less square inches for sure (3.3 cubic ft?). Price is so much less there must be more going on than size. Any other verticals in this range to look at or should I just get over it and go horizontal? How much less cooking space than woodwind?
-Recteq flagship XL 1400 Does not have smoke box but looks quality, US etc. Solid wifi app. If I don't use the smokebox on the Woodwind as I won't or can't add every hour that may not matter. What are other differences from the Woodwind? Seems comparable and the owners love them.
-Grilla Grill Mammoth vertical - A bit worried about the noise. Out of stock. 40lb hopper and 1,660sq in of cook space good. Double walled and seems bigger than the Camp chef XXL. Seems like best vertical if I could buy? But no smoke box of course and the noise is a concern unless reviews overstate that and the others are loud too.
-Pellet Pro 2300 vertical- has double wall.says 10 cubic feet of cabinet? But does not have wifi?...I know...don't need it. But I do based on where it will be. . I know I can add a third party probe but want control. US company, but made overseas.
-Yoder YS640S- Seems like the best but wow... 350 pounds! No smoke box like Woodwind but a beast.. Do they bring a crain to deliver?😃 Great wifi app and probes. How does it compare to recteq and woodwind? May be too heavy and willl I really appreciate the differences from the ones above.i will want to roll the smoker a few feet during winter.
It has been hard for me to figure out actual cooking area among the above smokers but other than the XXL vertical, am I right the rest are in the ballpark size-wise? Hopefully mak sense for my 4 person plus extra to store smokes.
Given lead times for some of these want to get going! Did I miss any?😃 Thanks!!

Hey everyone, My mom and I need advice. I have a sister who is 30 years old. She has been a stripper since her early 20’s. She was making decent money up until about 3 years ago. Didn’t save a dime, wasted it on luxury goods and perfumes. She has slowly stopped getting bookings cause of her age. She was living in a very expensive city and couldn’t support herself anymore so we offered for her to move back home to get on her feet. She doesn’t have a degree and has no real world experience such as a normal job. She now spends her days from 8am - 12pm chatting on discord with randoms. She suffers from BPD2 so her anxiety and mood problems make it harder for maintain real life relationships. Anyways my mom is getting older and she is very stressed cause she spends her days smoking weed, and yapping on discord, and blows all her money on DoorDash. Anytime we try to bring up figuring out her life, she gets very defensive and gives us the “I can’t mentality” she’s to prideful to go on disability but also shows no motivation to get her life together and become independent. My mom is worried that if she passes away that I’m going to have to deal with the burden of her life decisions and that she’s going to burn through her part of the inheritance. I keep saying to my mom she needs an ultimatum or some sort of pressure to motivate her to get her life together. We just don’t know how to approach the situation because she gets very defensive, angry, and shuts down any suggestions we give her. I know she uses discord as an escape from the actual issues in her life. We want the best for her but she doesn’t want the best for herself. What the hell do we do?
TLDR: my sister is a 30 year child that has no motivation to better herself and it is putting stress on my mom and I.

PRICES REDUCED 5/26/24

Need to pay off some big bills in the coming weeks. All games come from a Smoke-Free and Pet Free Home. Buyer Pays Shipping. I use pirateship for the cheapest shipping prices (usually $12 for a large $10 for a medium and $8 for a small game.) I’m willing to negotiate prices. I want to get rid of everything and really need the money before rent so make me an offer!

Large Games:

Black Angel [4] - $35
First Martians [4] - $15
Fog of Love [4] - $20
Labyrinth: The War on Terror, 2001-? [4] - $45 (With deluxe dice)
Mariposas [4] - $25
Montana [4] - $25
New York Zoo[4] - $20
Noria [4] – $20
Puerto Rico [4] - $35
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: Jack the Ripper & West End Adventures [4] -$25
The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Game [3] - $10
Theurgy [4] - $115
Wingspan [4] - $35
Medium Games:

10’ to Kill [4] - $10
Bloc by Bloc: Uprising [4] - $60
Fast & Furious Highway Heist[4] - $10
Feudal[2] - $15
Fuse [4] - $15
Humans!!! [5] - $20
Humans!!! 2: Sea Food [5] - $10
Kabuto Sumo [4] - $30
Loot of Lima[4] - $20
Ninja Burger[2] -$5 (Or Free with Large Game)
Pandemic [5] - $20
Pandemic on the Brink [4] - $10
Parks + Nightfall Expansion[4] - $50
Red Scare [4] - $5
Set a Watch [4] - $35
Sonar Family[5] - $15
Sunken Sailor[3] -$10
Sushi Go Party! [4] - $10
Wikipedia The Game About Everything [4] - $5
Zombies!!! + Zombies!!! 2: Zombie Corps(e) + Zombies!!! 3: Mall Walkers + Zombies!!! 4: The End... + Zombies!!! 5: School’s Out Forever + Zombies!!! 6: Six Feet Under + ~50 glow in the dark zombies, ~50 zombie dogs, ~ 150 more zombies [3] - $50
Zombies!!! 7: Send in the Clowns [4] - $15
Zombies!!! 8: Jailbreak [5] - $10
Zombies!!! 9: Ashes to Ashes [5] - $15
Small Games:
Epic Card Game [3] - $5 (Or Free with Large/Medium Game)
Fidelitas[4] - $15
Fox in the Forest [2] - $5 (Or Free with Large/Medium Game)
Hanabi[4] - $5 (Or Free with Large/Medium Game)
Hoax[4] -$5 (Or Free with Large/Medium Game)
James Ernest's Totally Renamed Spy Game [4] -$5 (Or Free with Large/Medium Game)
Lunch Money NO RULES [2] -$5 (Or Free with Large/Medium Game)
Mine All Mine [4] -$5 (Or Free with Large/Medium Game)
Nanobot Battle Arena [4] - $15
Poetry for Neanderthals [4] - $10
Rick and Morty Total Rickall [4] - $5 (Or Free with Large/Medium Game)
The Agents All in Kickstarter pledge with ~6 expansion [4] - $20

Sense is heart (i.e., mind), has three significances: clear discernment is named as sense; mean and measurement are named as intention; Aggregate Arousal is named as heart. Aggregate Arousal has three significances again: first, heart can aggregate and storage juristic seeds; second, heart is those juristic seeds being aggregated; thirdly, juristic seeds grow by fumigation, and heart can arouse ripened seeds into performances, has them become bodily orally and intentionally behaviors currently. See section 14.1 for more explanation of Aggregate Arousal.
Among Buddhist 100 laws, there are eight positions of sense laws totally, namely, (1) eye-sense, (2) ear-sense, (3) nose-sense, (4) tongue-sense, (5) body-sense, (6) intent-sense, (7) preconscious-ness, and (8) unconsciousness. The seventh pre-consciousness is the mobile working platform of the former six senses. The eighth unconsciousness is the total root of the former seven senses, also known as the fundamental sense.

11.4.5-1 Differentiations of the Eight Senses

(1) eye-sense, which is the seeing of seeing colors. (2) ear-sense, which is the hearing of hearing sounds. (3) nose-sense, which is the smelling of smelling fragrances. (4) tongue-sense, which is the tasting of tasting tastes. (5) body-sense, that is, the feeling of feeling touches. (6) intent-sense, which is the know of knowing laws. The six senses are exactly seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, feeling, and knowing; and they also have the name of six feelings.
(7) preconscious-ness, is called Mana-sense in Buddhism, and Eve-sense in Godly religions. Ancients said that it is subtle and difficult to distinguish, so they use its major companion "Intent" to represent it. Therefore, we call Preconscious-ness as Intent in Buddhism. Preconscious-ness is root for six former senses, is ever updating work platform of heart (i.e., mind), which is constantly updating itself with the change of intention.
https://preview.redd.it/o2m5ay0xb64d1.jpg?width=1213&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=46154375848bf459ede2c57be05d54b650e80643
Ancient people often used "measuring worm" (see fig. 11.4.5.1-1) to describe the behavioral characteristics of preconscious-ness. When the measuring worm moves, the back feet are always grasping something; the front feet are looking for a place to land, as if pondering. After the front feet have grasped something, the back feet follow. The behavior of preconscious-ness is very similar to that, preconscious-ness is also always grasping something, and looking around, pondering. When it discovers and moves to a new target, it renews its attachment, and then searches for a new target to move on to. The preconscious attachment, which has the function of internal along-thoughts ego, was called Abel by the ancient Egyptians, and Quetzalcoatl by ancient Mexicans. The attachment that Eve-sense's hold is the precedingly faded thoughts, and that belongs to Adam-sense (i.e., the contaminated part of the unconscious).
Because of the above characteristics of Eve-sense, the ancient Egyptians used the breastfeeding of Abel to indicate that the woman is Eve (see Figure 11.4.5.1-2). Eve's neatly arranged pattern (motif) hair in the figure represents “500 majesties 108,000 charms” (cf. section 16.2), which is the woman's skin that God coated on Eve. Figure 3 shows the ancient Mexican Eve, Chalchiuhtlicue, who also signaled her status as Eve by breastfeeding Quetzalcoatl. The tree she is facing is her Enlightenment Tree that grows from her Ollin Heart (i.e., bodhicitta, the oath she took when she was child).
In addition, preconsciousness has a promoting effect on the formation of language, so the ancients also call it as Escalatory Language Feeler, meaning that preconsciousness has escalatory function on language.
(8) The greatest characteristic of the unconscious is mutably mature. Mutable matureness means that the seeds in the unconscious are ripened by fumigation and mutation. Mutation is ripening because mutation is capable of holding karma. Here is a brief description of the unconscious in the words of a poem by Tang Tripitaka, “Receiving the fumigation, holding the seeds, it is the root, the body, and the vessel world (i.e., the material world); leaving later, coming first, being the non-lord executive.”
https://preview.redd.it/jjt6okjyb64d1.jpg?width=2020&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aff3835c0eb03c8149cfaed571dd5e8913b671c5

11.4.5-2 Correspondences between Eight Senses and Nine Heartlands

Nose-sense and tongue-sense exist only in Desire Boundary (Fig 11.4.5-2-23). Eye-sense, ear-sense, and body-sense exist in the Five Interests Mixed Dwell Land (Fig. 23) and the Leave Producing Laugh Land (Figure 24). The former five senses are absent in the third land (Fig. 25) and above. The sixth and seventh sense are prevalent in all the three boundaries nine lands, except for the Thoughtless Retribution and the Longevity Sky. The eighth sense, unconsciousness, prevails in all the three boundaries nine heartlands.

11.4.5-3 Correspondences between Eight Senses and Environments

The 8 senses have 3 kinds of objective environments, namely, nature environment, solitary head environment, and qualitative environment.
I) Nature Environment, which environment has its own nature, has factual function, is what the aggregative heart manifests after gain of the objective nature, has the following five significances. A) It is obtained from the present quantity. B) It has media qualities, such as a sound must have hearable media qualities. C) It is born from its own seed, cannot be produced directly by the aggregative heart. D) It has factual function and usage. E) Its nature and boundary category do not change along heart’s change.
II) Solitary Head Environment, which is projected by the aggregative heart itself alone, its presentation is projected and held on by the internal thoughts, has no other nature. There are four states of mind studied in Buddhism, namely: A) the wakeful state of mind; B) the still state, i.e., hallucinational state, such as the phenomena talked in Chapter 12 Meditation; C) the state of dream; and D) the state of loose mind, such as the occasionally popping up thought by the mind on its own. The last three of these four states are all Solitary Head Environments.
III) Qualitative Environment, that the objective environment has its own based on quality, the subjective viewer cannot get its real natural phenomenon. The kind of environment has following two types. A) Truly Qualitative Environment, means that heart aggregates heart, i.e., the sixth sense is to aggregate all other hearts and heartland laws, and the seventh sense alone aggregates view-quadrant of the eighth sense. B) Similar Qualitative Environment means that heart aggregates color (color means matter in Buddhism), the saying is that the projected objectives have similar quality to its own, such as according to sutra’s teaching to make view, which view is not the present environment aggregated by the former five senses.
The former five senses and the eighth sense only aggregate Nature Environments. The sixth sense can aggregate all the three types of environments. The seventh sense only aggregates Qualitative Environments.

11.4.5-4 Correspondences between Eight Senses and Three Quantities

The quantities processed by eight senses have three types, namely Present Quantity, Metaphysical Quantity, and Non-Quantity.
I) Present Quantity is the environment being aggregated by the capable measuring heart, when the heart aggregates the objective phenomena, not having distinguishments and cognitions. Present Quantity has the three significances. A) It is the present time, not past or future. B) The object of cognition must be manifesting, i.e., it must be a law in the present position; seeds cannot be Present Quantity. C) Presently have, the able heart and the being measured environment, both must be clearly presenting at front, mutually combined.
II) Metaphysical Quantity is measurement fruit obtained through speculative comparison and conjecture. For example, if you see smoke on a mountain, you know that there must be a fire there; if you see two horns outside your courtyard wall, you know that there is a cow outside the wall.
III) Non-Quantity is a collective term for “similar present quantity” and “similar metaphysical quantity”. Similar present-quantity is that there is distinguishing intelligence that takes measurements on environmental differentiations, such as a wise man who knows that vases and clothes, etc., which are born from treatment and discrimination, because of those significances not based on their self-phenomena. Similar metaphysical quantity, which arises in accordance with the similar causing intelligence at first, such as in the case of mistaking fog for smoke in a mountain and deducing that there is fire there. Another example is to see a vivid stone lion and be afraid, not thinking it is just a stone. The inability to understand correctly that it is a stream of the true but not the true is called the similar metaphysical quantity.
The former five senses and the eighth sense only aggregate present quantities. The sixth sense can aggregate all the three kinds of quantities. The seventh sense only aggregates non-quantities.

11.4.5-5 Correspondences between Eight Senses and Morality

Morality can be simplified to the three kinds: benevolence, memoryless-ness, and ferocity.
I) Benevolence means the behavior that can benefit this and other generations. Eye-sense, ear-sense, etc., the former six senses have benevolent nature.
II) Ferocity means the behaviors can cause damages in this and other generations. The eye-sense, ear-sense, etc., former six senses have ferocious nature.
III) Memoryless nature, morally neutral, neither good nor evil behavior leaves behind unrecorded karma, i.e., karma without memory or immaculate karma. There are two kinds of memoryless nature, namely, Convertible Memoryless-ness and Nonconvertible Memoryless-ness.
A) Convertible Memoryless-ness is saying of the seventh sense, preconscious-ness, its behaviors are contaminations, but it does not produce good or evil karma, which is called Convertible Memoryless-ness. Preconscious memory is like the memory of a computer, updating all the time, which means that preconscious-ness is Convertible.
B) Nonconvertible Memoryless-ness is talking about the eighth sense, unconsciousness. Many unconscious natures remain unchanged throughout life, and it does not distinguish good and evil, its nature can’t be contaminated, nor good and evil, hence name of Memoryless-ness. The Nonconvertible Memoryless-ness means that everything is remembered unconsciously from the time a person is born to the time of death, and the memory of its past experiences comes into play whether the person's consciousness remembers it or not.
Among the eight senses, eighth sense, unconsciousness, aka God-sense, is only nonconvertible memoryless nature; seventh sense, preconscious-ness, aka Eve-sense, is convertible memoryless nature. Eye-sense, ear-sense etc. former six senses have all the three ethical natures, which is saying that they appear as good nature when they are among good laws; when they are among evil laws, they show as evil nature.

11.4.5-6 Correspondences between Eight Senses and Heartland Laws

The former five senses correspond to the 34 heartland laws (cf. section 11.4.4.1), which are the 5 Omnipresent Heartland Laws, namely, attention, touch, acceptance, think, and mean; the 5 Particular Environment Heartland Laws, namely, desire, resolution, spell, stillness, and gnosis; the 11 Benevolent Heartland Laws, namely, belief, shame, sin, greedless-ness, non-irritability, non-ignorance, diligently advance, light ease, non-indulgence, acting renunciation, harmlessness; the Fundamental Annoyances, namely, greed, irritability, ignorance; the 2 Medium Following Annoyances, namely, shamelessness and sinlessness; and the eight Large Following Annoyances, namely, drowsiness, depression, unbelief, slackness, indulgence, lost spell, agitation, incorrect know.
The sixth sense, intent-sense, corresponds to all the 51 heartland laws (cf. section 11.4.4.1).
The seventh sense, preconsciousness, corresponds to the eighteen heartland laws, which are the 5 Omnipresent Heartland Laws, namely, attention, touch, acceptance, think, and mean; the 1 Particular Environment Heartland Law, gnosis; the 4 Fundamental Annoyances, greed, ignorance, arrogance, and Seth view; and the 8 Large Following Annoyances, drowsiness, depression, unbelief, slackness, indulgence, lost spell, agitation, incorrect know.
The eighth sense, unconsciousness, corresponds only to the 5 Omnipresent Heartland Laws: attention, touch, acceptation, think, and mean.
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Hi everyone. This is my first-ever post on reddit.
Age: 29
Sex: Male
Height: 5 feet 10 inches
Weight: 90 kgs
Race: South-East Asian (Indian)
History of Drinking/Smoking/Recreational Drugs: No
Any current or past illness: No
So back in Jan 2022 I got Covid-19 for the first time. It gave me the worst headaches and fever that I had experienced. I consulted a pulmonologist who prescribed me Molnupiravir. Since this doctor had treated my father earlier when he was diagnosed with Covid-19, I had trust and went ahead with the medication course. He never discussed any risks/benefit of the medicine with me.
However, when I researched about the drug online I saw many articles stating that this drug has a lot of associated risks such as the potential to mutate the human DNA, which could cause cancer in the long term.
It's been 2.5 years since that incident. I have been living in constant anxiety and fear and can't recall the last time I felt happy or normal.
Since then there have been numerous research papers online about this medicine. While it was negative in the carcinogenicity studies on transgenic rats, other studies claim that it indeed causes damage to DNA in lab studies.
After gathering much courage, I consulted an oncologist a few months back. He told me not to overthink and worry so much and instead focus on my health and building a good life ahead. While this did help to some extent but I'm still very much in anxiety all the time.
Today, I was again feeling quite anxious and hence thought of using this community to take help from people who have more knowledge about this subject or have gone through something similar.

What is with these braindead vehicle drivers? Every single corner you turn, some chump will crash into you. Then after that horrendous driving section, I'm walking with Bill up to the cop, Bill (The guy paying me) gets shot, so naturally I return fire, only to find out that that cop is some godly super terminator-robocop hybrid and even shooting him in the head at point blank with a shotgun does barely anything, and with his dainty little pistol he 2 shots me, even though I have something like 350 health. And the cherry on top? You cant save at any point, so I hope you enjoyed that driving section because you have to do it again.
Were they smoking crack when they made this?
So apparently, what you're supposed to do, is not return fire (What?) and talk to the guy you were hired to kill (Yeah that makes sense). So he gets out the car, and I throw grenades at his feet and run from death incarnate. Then once I had escaped the grim reaper and his infinite amount of backup, I could call Wakako and get paid.
This should be taught in all video game design courses on what not to do when designing a quest. Holy shit, this quest is damn memorable alright. Whenever I think of the worst quests in gaming, I will think of this.
I'm not talking about the quests after this one, I'm never ever doing them no matter how good or thought provoking they might be, I did this once, I did what I was told to do (Kill the fucker), and If I ever do a second playthrough I am ignoring this quest completely.
Aside from this one quest, I've been enjoying this game, for all it's bugs, crashes and huge oversights, most of it is pretty fun.

Meanwhile, at the Base of the Barbarian Tribe, the King, Clint Orons had talked to the Messenger. "I shall consider the proposal." said Clint. "Sire." said Deronix, "we should be watching for the so-called 'Heroes'.". "so be it." said Clint. That was where one of the Council Members came towards Clint. "King Orons." said The Council Member. "Yes." said Clint. "With all due respect, we don't really know what the heroes are all about." said the Council Member. Meanwhile, at the crash site of the Kor'Drakk Cruiser, Alan had informed Joseph about the situation that had happened so far. "Where is the Undead Keep?" asked Kar'Gorto. "I'm not certain." said Kalzortus, "Perhaps we could ask the Orcs.". "I can't believe this." said Broktar, "of all the possible situations, you suggest asking the Orcs. Even when you said that you found them to be brutish in nature.".
At that moment, a Orc Warrior had approached the ship. "Sir." said Helmsman Mecator, "There's a Orc warrior at the side of the ship.". "Patch the Transmission to the Ready Room." said Captain Zordash. That was where Helmsman Mecator had patched the transmission to the ready room. "Captain Zordash." said the Orc. "yes, Comrade." said Captain Zordash, "What is it that you want?". "Xeintox has suggested that i come and help the Heroes." said the Orc, "i can help, by leading you to the Undead Keep.". At that moment, Tirus, Rotusor, and Officer Morgan had arrived at the area. "So." said Officer Morgan, "This is the object that had been sighted.". "I wonder where Alan And Broktar are located?" said Tirus.
That was where the Orc Warrior had turned to face Tirus, Rotusor, and Officer Morgan. "I should have figured." said the Orc, as he went for his axe. Tirus had gone for her bow and arrows. "wait a minute." said Rotusor. "What do you mean?" asked Tirus. "The Orc may actually be trying to help the crew of the ship." said Rotusor. "You may be right." said Officer Morgan, "i say we let him have a chance.". "if you insist." said Tirus. That was where the Orc had approached Tirus, Rotusor, and Officer Morgan. "I'm quite surprised." said the Orc, "i thought you would have fired on me, without a second thought.". "state the reason you have approached the ship." said Rotusor. "It is because my boss, Xeintox had sent me to lead a group of warriors to the Undead Keep." said the Orc. "Is that so." said Rotusor.
At that moment, Alan and Broktar had exited the cruiser. That was where Broktar had noticed Rotusor. "By the Moons of Artiox." said Broktar. "What do you mean by that?" asked Alan. "It's a figure of speech." said Broktar. That was where the Orc warrior had approached Alan and Broktar. "Well, Comrade." said Broktar, "Let's get a move on.". "What about our mission of finding allies to help fight the Master Of Zombies and the Undead Forces?" Asked Alan. "You are Right." said Broktar. As soon as Broktar said that, he went back to the ship, and accessed the comm-link. Meanwhile, at the Undead Keep, Ghoultor, Quotor, and the Battle Knight had entered the main room of the Keep. The Master Of Zombies And Necro-Oracle were waiting in the room for them. "Master, it is good to see you." said the Battle Knight, "Even after all these years.". That was where an undead soldier had arrived in the room."Sir." said the Undead Soldier, "we have captured several outlying towns, that surround the Plains of the Kordoz.". "What about the search for the Tomb of the Knight Lord Joseph Barker?" asked The Master Of Zombies. "Well, Sir." said the Undead Soldier, "They still haven't found the tomb yet.". "What!!!" the Master Of Zombies Roars, "This is unbelievable. They still haven't found the tomb.". "On the Bright side." said the Soldier, "when we captured the towns, we had transformed a good deal of the population into zombies.".
"Is that so." said the Master Of Zombies. Just then, K'Dartok and Captain Ghoulax had entered the room. "About time the two of you have arrived." said Quotor. "Yeah, That was wise." said The Battle Knight, "sending in a couple of shambling corpses to do a warrior's job.". "we may be reanimated corpses." said Captain Ghoulax, "but we actually had managed to do some damage to the heroes.". "Bah!" Said the Battle Knight, "You have battled only two of an entire group of Heroes.". "An Entire Group?" Said Captain Ghoulax. "yes, apparently there was a clan of Orcs and a crew of Aliens in the area, when i tried to contact the Battle Knight." said Quotor. "How do you know of such things?" asked Captain Ghoulax. "yeah." Said K'Dartok, "Neither of us were at the site.". "You're not helping matters." said Captain Ghoulax. "Oh, Really Now." said K'Dartok, "And i suppose that tactic of charging at the human with the two guns was effective.". “Oh." said Captain Ghoulax, "And i suppose that letting yourself be seen was any better.". "In case you two didn't notice." said Quotor, "We're on the same side.". "Oh, Right." said Captain Ghoulax. "in case any of you haven't noticed." said Necro-Oracle, "The plans must proceed, if we are to cover this Realm in darkness.". Meanwhile, At the Kor'Drakk Cruiser, Broktar, Tirus, Rotusor, Officer Morgan, Alan, and the Orc Warrior had started on the Way to the Undead Keep.
Just then, Kalzortus had caught up with them. "Kalzortus." said Broktar, "i'm surprised that you are coming with us.". "Captain Zordash figured that i would make a great representative on this mission." said Kalzortus, "Even though he doesn't really trust humans.". "Why does Captain Zordash distrust humans?" Asked Alan. "I'm Not sure." said Kalzortus, "but he did mention something that happened several hundred years ago, between him and a human.". "Several hundred years." Alan Said Curiously. "Yes." said Kalzortus, "i guess you don't really know too much about our people.". "Indeed." said Broktar, "The Kor'Drakk can live for hundreds of years. Kalzortus here, is one thousand years old.". "One thousand years." said Tirus. "I'm surprised the Kor'Drakk live that long." said Officer Morgan.
"Guys." said Rotusor, "it looks like these hills are about to curve over to the other side.". "it's not far now." said the Orc. "just what does this Undead Keep Look Like?" asked Officer Morgan. "last time i was in the area." said the Orc, "the place had been falling apart.". "Falling apart?" said Rotusor. "but when i had seen some undead creatures around the place." said The Orc, "upgrading the place. They had also placed some pieces of weaponry outside the gates.". "pieces of weaponry." said Broktar, "it should be no problem.". As soon as Broktar said that, he shifted his weapon mount to long range cannon mode. "What kind of weaponry?" asked Kalzortus. "I have only seen the two guns placed outside the Undead Keep." said the Orc, “It looked like they're long range rifles. Both of the guns are operated by a team of two zombies each.". At that moment, Joseph had contacted Alan. "Alan." Said Joseph, "What is your status?".
"i'm headed towards the Undead Keep." said Alan, "Officer Morgan is here as well. So are some of our new allies.". "Is that so." said Joseph, "Who are they, if you don't mind me asking.". "First of all." said Alan, "We have Broktar the Cyborg Lizardman, Tirus the Ranger, Rotusor the Warrior, Kalzortus, and, Wait a minute, We didn't ask the Orc Warrior what his name is.". "Yeah, That's Right." said Officer Morgan. "My name is Optotorix." said Optortorix. "Is that so." said Kalzortus. “Yes." said Optotorix, "and the Undead Keep is straight ahead.". As soon as Optotorix said that, He aimed at the Keep. "Well, i'll be." said Officer Morgan. "Hmm." said Joseph, "Apparently, Optotorix wasn't kidding.". Joseph had checked the database for any records on the weaponry. "I say we take it on directly." said Broktar. "Hold it, Broktar." said Kalzortus. "What do you mean?" asked Broktar. "there might be a weakness in the weaponry we may be able to exploit." said Kalzortus. "You may be right." said Officer Morgan. Just then, one of the zombies had seen the heroes. "Oh great." said Tirus, "they spotted us.". At that moment, Optotorix had charged at the guns. "For the Glory of the clans." Optotorix exclaimed as he charged at the guns. "Hold position." said Kalzortus. All of a sudden, a mysterious force had taken out both of the teams of zombies. "What in the Realms was that?" said Rotusor. "I haven't the slightest." said Tirus, "but whoever, Or whatever, had caused this, it sure helped us.".
"yeah." said Broktar, "And to think, i had shifted my weapon mount to long range cannon mode. Now i don't need to use it, for the time being.". "Just what doesn't your cyber-arm come attached with?" said Officer Morgan. "The kitchen sink, for one thing." said Broktar. "I should have figured." said Officer Morgan. "you must have learned that expression while you were on Earth." said Alan. "You mean to tell us, that Broktar was on Earth." Said Officer Morgan. "Of Course." said Broktar, "it was in the late 19th century, that i have been on Earth. The Location was England.". That was where Tirus had noticed a message near the Remains of the Gun emplacements. "i wonder what's on the message." said Tirus. That was where Tirus went over and picked up the message. "Hey, Tirus." said Officer Morgan, "what's on the message you have there?". "Apparently, it's in a Elven Language." said Tirus. "Are you able to Translate it?" asked Kalzortus. "I'll see what i can do." said Tirus. As soon as Tirus said that, she started to translate the message. Meanwhile, In Xerdas, The "Fire Griffens" had just started on their way. Little did they realize that there was someone watching them from a distance. "Hmm, this looks like the gang is headed towards the Undead Keep." said the Person, "if my instincts prove correct, They're going to be in danger.".
As soon as the Person said that, he opened a Portal. Meanwhile, back at the Undead Keep, Tirus had just finished translating the message. "What does it say?" asked Broktar. "Apparently." said Tirus, "it says that, to stop the Master Of Zombies, one needs The Sword of the Knight Lord Joseph Barker.". "What else does it say?" asked Officer Morgan. "it says that the Master Of Zombies has already placed the parts in the Battleship." said Tirus, "Not only that, it seems that the person had left several pieces of equipment.". "any idea on the identity of our mystery ally." said Alan. "as a matter of Fact." said Tirus, "it says the person's name is Zektus Skystar.". "Zektus." said Kalzortus, "that sounds like a word we Kor'Drakk use.". "Oh, Really Now." said Broktar, "Could we get on with this mission.". Just then, Zektus Skystar had appeared, via a portal. "Greetings, Heroes." said Zektus. "Hold it right there." said Officer Morgan. "Wait." said Tirus, "allow him to explain himself.". "thank you." said Zektus, "as i was saying, i am the warrior known as Zektus Skystar.". "If you don't mind me asking." said Alan, "But Kalzortus had mentioned that your first name is a word in Kor'Drakk. What does it mean in english?". "Ah, an inquisitive person." said Zektus, "Zektus means Warrior in Kor'Drakk.". As soon as Zektus said that, he went over and picked up the pieces of equipment he left for the heroes.
"You may need these." said Zektus. That was where Zektus handed Officer Morgan several clips of ammo. "Good thing you arrived with these clips." said Officer Morgan, "i was about to run out of ammo.". "indeed." said Zektus, "I had a feeling that you will be needing them. After all, i had witnessed your fight with the zombies.”. After Zektus said that, he turned to face Alan. "Alan." said Zektus, "I know that you intend on completing the mission. But i must warn you, The Master Of Zombies knows that you are headed to his base.". "What do you mean?" Asked Alan. "I mean that the Master Of Zombies has laid traps in advance." Said Zektus, "Not only that, but the Battleship that the Undead Forces have constructed, is not here.". "What do you mean the Battleship isn't here." said Officer Morgan. "You mean to tell us that this search was in vain." Said Alan. "All is not lost." said Zektus, “I know where the Battleship is being held in.". At that moment, an Zombie had spotted the heroes outside the Keep. That was where the zombie signalled for reinforcements. "Oh, Great." said Officer Morgan, "We must get going.". "Understood." said Zektus, "But before we go, Alan, Here's your equipment.". As soon as Zektus said that, he handed Alan a shotgun, a chainsaw, and a piece of Metal Plate Armor.
"Interesting pieces of equipment." said Alan. "Now can we get on with the mission." said Broktar. "Hey, what about Rotusor, Broktar, and Me?" said Tirus. "Yeah, She's Right." said Optotorix, "What about us?". "I hadn't expected to be with more than two heroes." Said Zektus. "I couldn't really blame you." said Kalzortus, "I mean, That you must have learned of the legend of the heroes.". "If that is true." said Tirus, "Than you must know of the sword 'Omnolight', and its role in this battle.". "Indeed." Said Zektus, "but the legend said that there is a group of only 2 heroes.". "Could we just get on with the mission." said Broktar. "Broktar seems to have a point." said Kalzortus, "After all, We're here to stop the Master Of Zombies.".
"He's Right." said Optotorix, "let's get going, before we're swarmed by shambling corpses.". "Good idea." Said Alan. That was where the heroes had entered the Undead Keep. Meanwhile, in the Mountain Town Of Ormrus, The townspeople were preparing the defences. That was where a messenger had arrived at the main building. "Sir." said one of the warriors, "There's a messenger for you.". That was where the warrior had escorted the Messenger to the leader. The Leader of the town, is Mayor Reinhart Jackson. "So, This is the messenger you mentioned." said Reinhart, "What is it that you have to say?". "First of all." said the messenger, "King Anderson requests that you would help him and his forces in the battle against the Armies of the Undead.". "Is that so." said Reinhart, "Then prepare a reply, saying that i will provide assistance.".
Just then, a Drwarven Warrior had entered the area. "Sir." The warrior said in a gruff voice, "the defensive perimeter is set up.". "Excellent work." said Reinhart, "is the Tomb of The Knight Lord Joseph Barker secured?". "Aye, Sir." said The Warrior. Little did the warriors know that there was a undead Scout spying on them. Meanwhile, Back at the Undead Keep, The heroes have already passed by several corridors. All the while, Necro-Oracle was watching the situation. Necro-Oracle was in the Observation room. That was where Quotor had entered the Room. "Necro-Oracle." said Quotor, "I just wanted to...". That was where Quotor had seen Necro-Oracle without his hood over his head. "By the Gods." said Quotor, "It cannot be possible.". "Then you know who i truly am." said Necro-Oracle, "That i am, in fact, an Dark Elf named Arkos Darkblade.". "That couldn't be possible." said Quotor, "Arkos was killed 7000 years ago.". "indeed i was." said Necro-Oracle, "However, i was resurrected by Dark Powers, that even i don't understand completely.". "Is that so." said Quotor. "Look, Quotor." Said Necro-Oracle, "Let's settle this when we're out of the way.". "What For?" Asked Quotor, "For What Reason?". "I have a plan." said Necro-Oracle, "I have set up a explosive for levelling this base. Not Only that, i had managed to hire a giant Cyclops to help in the plan to stop the Heroes.".
"This should be interesting." said Quotor. "Yes, indeed." said Necro-Oracle, As he was putting his hood over his head."Now, then." said Necro-Oracle, "Let's Get going.". Meanwhile, in another part of the Undead Keep, The heroes had managed to come across a room with three doors. "Which Way now?" said Officer Morgan. "I haven't the slightest." said Tirus, "What do you say, Broktar?". "I find it odd that you would ask me." Said Broktar, "Even though Zektus might be better at this than i.". "I'm surprised you would say that." said Zektus. "What do you mean?" asked Rotusor. "I mean that you would be the ones to trust me completely." said Zektus, "Even though you guys don't really know much about me.". “Indeed." said Kalzortus. "Let's just choose a path and keep going." said Officer Morgan. "Alright then." said Optotorix, "let's choose the middle path.". As soon as Optotorix said that, the heroes entered through the middle door. Little did the heroes realize that the doorway leading to the right, leads to a secret passageway leading outside of the Keep. Meanwhile, in the main room of the keep, the Giant Cyclops was waiting for the heroes to arrive in the area. "I wonder when they will arrive." said the Cyclops. That was where Quotor had contacted the Cyclops. "General Quotor." said the Cyclops, "i didn't expect you to call.".
"yes, indeed." said Quotor, "There is one thing i want you to do.". "What would that be?" Asked the Cyclops. "I want you to set the explosives to explode in 60 minutes." said Quotor, "Also, make sure the heroes don't make out of the keep.". "Anything else?" Asked the Cyclops. "That is all." Said Quotor. That was where the Cyclops had heard some footsteps in the distance. "Hmm." said the Cyclops, "The heroes must be nearby.". That was where the heroes had arrived in the room. "What on Earth?!" Said Alan, As soon as he seen the Cyclops. “Ah, Humans." said the Cyclops, “What's this, Non-human creatures?". "There seems to be a Rat-Man, An Orc, Two Half-Elves, A Lizardman, and a Alien there." said Quotor, "Along With the humans.".
"I shall make sure they don't make it out." said the Cyclops. As soon as the Cyclops said that, he had set the explosives for 60 minutes. "Oh, Great." Said Broktar, "There's a bomb.". "I thought you would have experience in that." said Tirus. "You think you're wise, with your comments." Said Broktar, "You just wait and see.". "Guys." said Kalzortus, "It looks like we only have less than an hour to deal with both the bomb and the Cyclops.". "Kalzortus is right." said Optotorix, "I say i will do the bomb defusing. You guys try to hold off the Cyclops.". "That sounds risky." said Officer Morgan. "I say we let him have a chance." said Rotusor, "I'll help Optotorix.". That was where Rotusor and Optotorix went to defuse the bomb.
All the While, The Cyclops was chasing after Alan, Broktar, Tirus, Kalzortus, Officer Morgan, and Zektus. At that moment, Joseph had contacted Alan. "Alan, What's your status?" Asked Joseph. "I'm inside the Undead Keep." said Alan, "The allies are here as well. There is one setback.". "One setback?" said Joseph. "Two, in fact." said Alan, "One, a bomb that is apparently set for 60 minutes, and Two, a Giant Cyclops.". "Is that so." said Joseph. "I just thought of something." said Kalzortus. "What's That?" asked Alan."What if we were able to convince the Cyclops to help us?" said Kalzortus. "That might be crazy enough to work." said Rotusor, "Although i doubt if it will work.". "Then i shall be the person to attempt that plan." Said Zektus. That was where Zektus had started to talk to the Cyclops. "Comrade." said Zektus, "Why is it that you serve the Forces of Darkness?". "I was hired to do so." said The Cyclops, "And i shall not fail in my mission.". "Even if it means that you will go down with this Keep." said Zektus. "What do you mean?" asked the Cyclops. "I mean that you will go down." said Zektus, "when the bomb explodes.". "Yes." said Kalzortus, "In other words, you'll be sacrificing yourself to help the enemy.".
"If what you say is true." said the Cyclops, "Then i shall help you.". That was where the Cyclops had gone over to the bomb and attempted to deactivate the bomb. At that moment, the bomb started up again. "Foolish Heroes." said a voice from the comm-link next to the bomb, "You think you can stop us.". "By the Gods." said Zektus, "It can't possibly be whom i think it is.". "What do you mean, Zektus?" Asked Broktar. "It is none other than Necro-Oracle." said Zektus. "Indeed, It is i, Necro-Oracle." said Necro-Oracle. "Who's Necro-Oracle?" Asked Alan. “Necro-Oracle is a Dark Oracle." said Zektus, "He has lived for centuries. It is rumoured that he feeds on the lifeforce of others.". "Also." said Rotusor, "It is rumoured that no-one has ever seen him without his hood.". "Indeed." said Necro-Oracle, "As for you, Comrade, you are no longer needed.". As soon as Necro-Oracle said that, he activated a remote, which controlled the bomb. The countdown timer went from 35 minutes to 15 minutes. "Oh Great." said Officer Morgan, "What are we going to do now?". "I have a idea." said the Cyclops. "What's that?" asked Officer Morgan. "There's a passage that exists under this Keep." said the Cyclops, "I'm not sure where it leads to, but it may be our way out of here.". "It sounds like a good idea." said Zektus, "let's get going.".
As soon as Zektus said that, the heroes went out of the main room, and headed towards the room with the three passageways. "Which Way Now?" Asked Officer Morgan. "It's this way." said the Cyclops, as he pointed to the door on the right.". "Excellent." said Kalzortus, "Let's go.". "Right." said Broktar, "Alan and i should take up the front.". As soon as Broktar said that, he shifted his cybernetic optic sensor to infra-red sight. "This should be good." said Alan. As he was talking, Alan had put a couple of shells in the shotgun. All the while, Necro-Oracle had warped in some troops to stop the heroes. "Captain Abomtus." said Necro-Oracle, "See to it that the heroes don't make it out of here.". "Yes, Master." said Captain Abomtus. That was where Captain Abomtus had moved into towards the location of the heroes. Meanwhile, At Castle Diroctor, An Orc Warrior had arrived at the Castle. There was a Barbarian Warrior at the Castle. "Greetings, Comrade." said the Barbarian Warrior. "You must be here to form an alliance with the Humans." said The Orc Warrior. "Indeed i am." said the Barbarian Warrior, "You must be here for the same reason as well.". "Of Course." said the Orc Warrior.
At that moment, King Anderson had Arrived in the Courtyard. "Ah, Greetings Comrades." said King Anderson, “How have you been?". "We've been Great." Said the Barbarian Warrior, "Wouldn't you agree with that?". "Indeed." said the Orc Warrior. Just then, Ortonk had appeared. "Sire, i was thinking." said Ortonk, "There might be a possible plan.". "What would that be, Ortonk?" asked King Anderson. "The Citizens of Chior might be able to help." said Ortonk. "Anyways." said the Orc Warrior, "Both the Barbarian and I are here on behalf of our respective peoples to usher in an alliance.". "Aye." said the Barbarian Warrior, "Even though i suspect Telzor and his clan would be reluctant in joining.". "I would Think so." said King Anderson.
"Yeah." said the Barbarian Warrior, "Telzor's brother was killed by a Knight.". "How did you know about it?" asked the Orc Warrior. "I heard it from Tlowtox Ironhammer." said the Barbarian Warrior, "He said he heard it from a friend of his.". At that moment, Princess Anderson had arrived in the Courtyard. "Jesse." said Princess Anderson, "Is that you.". "Heather." said Jesse, "I didn't expect to see you here. I thought you were with your Uncle and Cousin.". "I was." said Princess Anderson. "Why are you here?" Asked Jesse. "Yeah." said the Orc Warrior, "He's Right.". "Uncle Arthur wanted to make sure i was safe." said Princess Anderson. Meanwhile, in the Tunnels under the Undead Keep, The Heroes had ventured into the lower levels. That was where Kalzortus had attempted to contact the crew of the Cruiser "Dragon Fire". "Comrades." said Kalortus, "This is Kalzortus reporting in. I just...". That was where Kalzortus noticed the comm-link had shorted out. "Bah!" said Kalzortus, "This Thing must be low on energy.". "Either that." said Broktar, "Or these Tunnels have an Communications Interference Device in them.". That was where Broktar turned to face Alan.
"Hey, Alan." Said Broktar, "see if your Communications device works.". That was where Alan had attempted to contact Joseph. "What The..." Said Alan, as soon as he seen the Comm-Link short out. "What Heppened?" asked Rotusor. "Apparently my Comm-Link is inoperative." said Alan, "For the Time Being.". "Well, That's just Great." said Officer Morgan, "what are we going to do now?". "Not to worry, Comrades." said Zektus, "I have a plan.". "What would that be?" asked Broktar. "You guys forget about my abilities." said Zektus, "Including Telepathy.". "Oh, Really now." said Broktar.. While the Heroes were in the Tunnels, The "Fire Griffens" gang had arrived at the Undead Keep, only to find it was about to blow up. That was where one of the Bikers had started to approach the Keep.
"Hold it, comrade." said Greg, "I have a feeling that something is about to happen.". At that moment, the Keep blew up. "All Bikers, head for cover." Said Greg. Fortunately, all 20 of the bikers had hidden behind the rocks. "Is everyone alright?" asked Greg. “All present and accounted for." said Caleb, "All are in one piece.". "then let's get going." said Greg. “Shouldn't we at least call Aizortun." David said. "Of Course." said Greg. As soon as he said that, he called Aizortun. Meanwhile, in the Tunnels under the Undead Keep, the Heroes had progressed through the tunnels. "So, Zektus." said Rotusor, "You haven't told us much about yourself.". "Indeed." said Broktar. "Then i shall tell you about my history." said Zektus.
As soon as Zektus said that, he had seen something in the distance. "What in the Realms was that?" said Rotusor. "Scans show a humanoid creature." said Broktar, "The closest i could figure, it is a Troll.". "Wait a minute." said the Cyclops, "The only Trolls in the Undead Forces i know of, are Fortox the Undead Troll, and Zoutoxas the Dark Troll.". "Fortox." said Rotusor, "that name sounds familiar.". "That's because Fortox was, at one time, a friend of Gretack the Ogre." said Tirus. At that moment, the creature showed itself. "By the Gods!" said Optotorix. "Mua-ha-ha." said the Creature, "so you have figured out who i am.". "indeed." said Tirus, "You are, in fact, Fortox.". "indeed." said Fortox, "But your quest ends here.". As soon as Fortox said that, he went right for Alan, With both Handaxes. "Alan, Duck out of the way!" said Tirus. Alan had managed to duck out of the way, also managing to fire off a couple of shots. one shot had hit Fortox in the Shoulder. "Arg!!" Fortox exclaimed in pain, as he clinched his left arm. "You shall pay for this, Human." said Fortox, As he charged at Alan. Fortox had taken a swipe at Alan with one of his axes.
"Alan, Watch out!!" said Tirus. That was where Alan had managed to move the metal plates of the armor in the path of the axe. That resulted in one of the axes being broken. "You shall pay for this, human." Said Fortox. "I wouldn't be so sure." said the Cyclops. At that moment, Fortox was surrounded by the Heroes. "You heroes shall not defeat me." said Fortox. "Care to try." said Officer Morgan. "You shall not stop the Master Of Zombies." said Fortox. "How could you fall so far from the light?" said Tirus, "You were once a noble warrior, Fighting along side your old friend, Gretack the Ogre.". "Bah!" said Fortox, “Do you really think i would willingly betray my friend.". "You mean to tell us, you're not a traitor." said Alan. "I say we deal with him immediately." said Broktar. "I wouldn't be so certain." said Zektus, "i have a plan.". "What would that be?" asked Alan. "We have a leader of the Undead Forces here." said Rotusor. "Exactly my point." said Zektus. "Where are you going with this?" asked Broktar. "We will try to interrogate Fortox to get the whereabouts of the Master Of Zombies." said Zektus. "Yeah, That's an excellent idea." said Alan, "with that data, we could find the two parts that had been stolen from the Military base From Earth.".
"I would have to agree with Alan." said Officer Morgan, "This could be advantageous.". All the while, above the Tunnels, and outside the remains of the Undead Keep, The "Fire Griffens" had gotten their new instructions. "Alright, boys." said Greg, "Let's Get going.". "Hey Greg, Where are we headed to now?" asked David. "Aizortun says the Location lies up to the North." said Greg, "It's a place called the Fort of the Dead.". "Then why did you have that confused look on your face?" asked David. "That's because Aizortun had first said the name of the location in another language." said Greg, "The Language he used, was a dialect of Troll.". “What was the place called in Troll?" asked Caleb. "That would be 'Nertos Dox Fareous'." said Greg. "Anyways." said David, "Let's get going.". As soon as David said that, the gang started on their way to the Fort of the Dead. Meanwhile, in the Tunnels, the heroes had managed to get the information they needed. At that moment, Captain Abomtos and the Troops had arrived. "Oh Great!" Said Officer Morgan. "Finally." said Fortox, "The odds are now stacked against you.". "I wouldn't be so sure." said Broktar.
As soon as Broktar said that, he grabbed ahold of Fortox. "Troops, Hold your fire." said Captain Abomtos. All of a sudden, Fortox had hit Broktar right in the mid-section. That resulted in Broktar loosening his grip, long enough for Fortox to escape. "We shall meet each other soon." said Fortox, as he was running towards the exit. "You won't be going too far." said Zektus, as he tossed a homing device on Fortox. At that moment, the Undead Troops in the Tunnel attacked the Heroes. "Heroes, Defensive Position." Said Tirus. At that moment, the Cyclops had hit the Wall. "What was that for?" asked Officer Morgan. "Just clear out of here." said the Cyclops, "i'll hold them off.". "If you insist." said Broktar. "We shall go." said Kalzortus. That was where all of the heroes, except for the Cyclops had started on their way out of the tunnels. "Your efforts shall not be in vain." said Kalzortus. "C'mon, Let's get going." said Broktar. "i shall stay here with the Cyclops." said Optotorix. "You go along with the others." said the Cyclops, "i shall catch up with you later.". "Alright then." said Rotusor. That was where the heroes went after Fortox. "How far is it now?" asked Alan.
"I haven't the slightest." said Officer Morgan, "But we'll find out soon enough.". All the while, Fortox was activating the mechanism for the exit. "I shall be out of here, finally." Fortox said to himself, "and i don't have to deal with these so called 'Heroes'.". Meanwhile, outside of the tunnels, The "Fire Griffens" had reached the outskirts of the towns surrounding the Plains of the Kordoz. "How far is it to the Fort of the Dead?" asked David. "Aizortun says it's only 3 days ride from here." said Greg, "Whatever that means.". That was where a Ogre had appeared. "Oh great!" said Duane. "Let me handle him." said Caleb. That was where Caleb stepped forward to deal with the Ogre. "we come in peace." said Celeb, "We are here on a mission to stop the Master Of Zombies.". "Tell him about the Location we are headed to, Caleb." said David. "Right." said Caleb, "we are headed to a place called the Fort of the Dead.". "is that so?" said The Ogre, "i know of someone who can help.". "Who is this person of which you speak of?" Asked Caleb. "you'll find out soon enough." said the Ogre. Meanwhile, under the tunnels, all of the heroes, except for the Cyclops, had made it in time to see Fortox enter the Mechanism to leave the tunnels. That was where Fortox turned to face the Heroes. "If you plan on getting those parts." said Fortox, "You're Too late.".
"Not if we can help it." said Officer Morgan. As soon as Officer Morgan said that, he charged at Fortox. At that moment, Fortox's comrades had arrived. "Commander Fortox." said the Captain of the Transport, "get a move on, sir.". That was where Fortox headed to the transport. "Until next time, heroes." said Fortox, as he boarded the Transport. "Officer Morgan, Hold position." said Kalzortus. But Officer Morgan didn't listen. He grabbed ahold of Fortox, just when Fortox stepped into the Transport. "By the Gods!" Said Kalzortus, "This cannot be!". At that moment, The Transport started to head to the Fort Of The Dead. "Oh, Great." said Rotusor, "They're getting away.". "Not if i can help it." said Broktar. As Soon as he said that, he targeted the Transport.
"Hold your fire." said Tirus, "Officer Morgan's in the ship.". "Oh, Right." said Broktar. At that moment, Optotorix had arrived. "Optortorix." said Broktar, "What Happened?". "I have some bad news." said Optotorix, "The Cyclops had Died.". "By the Gods!" said Kalzortus, "This is a dark day, indeed.". "What shall we do now?" asked Broktar. "I have a idea." said Rotusor. "What would that be, Rotusor?" asked Tirus. "I know of someone who can help us." said Rotusor, "He is Tlowtox Ironhammer, a Goblin.". "where does he reside?" Asked Tirus. "He resides in a area to the east of here." said Rotusor. "Let's get a move on." said Optotorix. "I just hope Officer Morgan is alright." said Tirus. "Of Course he'll be alright." said Alan, "i knew him for years.". "If you say so." said Tirus. That was where the heroes went to Tlowtox Ironhammer's base. All the while, on the Transport, Officer Morgan had been surrounded by several Ghouls. "Alright, you rotting pieces of flesh." said Officer Morgan, "You and your masters shall not conquer this realm.". All of a sudden, Officer Morgan was hit in the back of the head by a zombie. "That ought to keep him quiet." said the Zombie. Meanwhile, the Heroes made it to Tlowtox Ironhammer's Base. At that moment, Aizortun and Scaltokas had appeared. That was where the Heroes were taken off guard by their appearance. "Aizortun!" said Tirus, "I might have figured you would be around.". "However did you know, young Tirus." said Aizortun.
"I could sense your dark energy." said Tirus. "You must know of my history, and my role as it involves the Territory Wars." said Aizortun. "Yeah, i've heard the news." said Tirus, "You betrayed the Humans to the Orcs.". "Hey, do you mind." said Optotorix. "Right, Optortorix." said Tirus, "i have also heard the news that you had helped the 'Shock Rangers' clan get some new weapons.". "indeed, i have done so." said Aizortun, "And now your quest ends here.". "yeah, like he said." said Scaltokas. As soon as Scaltokas said that, he raised his battle-axe. At that moment, Tlowtox Ironhammer had appeared. "Tlowtox." said Aizortun, as he turned to face Tlowtox, "i didn't expect to see you here.".
"Nor i." said Tlowtox, "Now begone from here.". "Not likely." said Aizortun. All of a sudden, Aizortun had tossed an energy ball at Tlowtox. Fortunately, Tlowtox had managed to dodge the attack. "Now It's time to teach you a lesson." said Tlowtox. As soon as Tlowtox said that, he pressed a button on his wrist-mounted computer system. "What's happening now?" asked Alan. "Tlowtox is armoring up." said Rotusor. "Armoring up?" Alan said, curiously. "Indeed." said Rotusor. That was where Tlowtox had completed the Armoring up sequence. In his armored mode, Tlowtox stood over 8 feet in height. There are weapons systems over most of the robotic Armor.
"I shall not ask you this." said Tlowtox, "You two must leave here, and never return.". "Make us." said Scaltokas. "Stubborn Minotaur." said Aizortun. That was where Scaltokas charged at Tlowtox. All of a sudden, Tlowtox lifted Scaltokas off of the ground. Tlowtox then tossed Scaltokas out of the area. "By the Gods!" Exclaimed Aizortun, "You shall not beat Me.". As soon as Aizortun said that, he launched another energy ball. The energy ball hit Tlowtox directly in the armor. Tlowtox retaliated by using his grappling hook mechanism. Tlowtox had tossed Aizortun to the ground. "What do we do?" asked Alan.
"I suggest we try to find a mode of transportation." said Rotusor. "If you are looking for a mode of Transportation." said Tlowtox, "there's one on the launch pad.". "That does it!" said Aizortun, "i shall use my ultimate attack.". As soon as Aizortun said that, he raised his staff in preparation for his ultimate attack. The ultimate attack is "Omega Storm". "Now you shall fall." said Aizortun. "Boom!", a shot rang out, and Aizortun's staff was broken in two. Everyone looked over directly at Alan. Alan was holding the Double-Barrelled Shotgun, which was smoking.
That was where Alan Cleared the Smoke from the Barrels. "You know." said Alan, "You should listen to the Goblin.". "You Foolish weakling!" said Aizortun, as he planted his staff in the ground, "Don't you know how long it took to create this very staff with the best type of wood and a special type of crystal, which was available.". "Your Point?" said Alan. "You shall pay for this!" said Aizortun. "I don't think so." said Tlowtox. As soon as Tlowtox said that, he went for Aizortun. "You think that i could be beaten so easily." said Aizortun, "We shall meet again.". As soon as Aizortun said that, he summoned a Griffen. The Griffen swooped down to pick up Scaltokas. "This isn't the last time you'll see me." said Aizortun, As he was riding off. "Shouldn't we chase after him?" said Alan. "Not to worry, human." said Broktar, "i have a feeling he'll be facing a larger threat.". Meanwhile, in another dimension, The Gate Master was watching the events. "Most impressive." said the Gate Master. That was where the Gate Master noticed some of the events on another one of the View screens. "i have a bad feeling about this." said the Gate Master.
The situation that the Gate Master is referring to, was the "Fire Griffens" had made it within the Borders of the Undead Territory. "I have better tell the heroes about this." said The Gate Master. That was where the Gate Master went over to the communications console. Meanwhile, at Tlowtox's base, the heroes had met Tlowtox. At that moment, a call came over the communications console. "i'll be right back." said Tlowtox. That was where Tlowtox went over to the Communications Console. "I'm Surprised that you did that." said Broktar. "Yeah." said Optotorix, "i thought that Broktar would be the one to try something like that.". "Do you Mind?" said Broktar.
"The most unusual things happen in this dimension." said Kalzortus. At that moment, Joseph had contacted Alan. "Alan." said Joseph, "where on Earth have you been? the Troops were getting concerned. even the President had contacted this base.". "The President?" Asked Alan, "Well, the allies and i were in the tunnels under the Keep.". "Yeah, There was some sort of device that blocked communications." said Broktar. "Yeah." said Optotorix, "Not only that. we had a new ally join our side for a while, until his death.". "you mean that the Cyclops helped you." said Joseph. "yes, indeed." said Optotorix, "he sacrificed himself to help us.". "yes." said Kalzortus, "he died honourably.". That was where Tlowtox had come back from being inside the base. "guys." said Tlowtox, "There's someone you should meet.". "Alright." said Alan, “We're coming.". That was where the heroes had entered Tlowtox's base. "Alright, who is it you are referring to?" asked Broktar. "It is none other than the Gate Master." said Tlowtox. "Gate Master?" said Broktar, "i didn't expect to see you.". "Indeed." said The Gate Master, "So, you must be Alan Stukov.". “Indeed i am." said Alan. "So." said Kalzortus, "You are the Gate Master.".

The Adventures Of Warrior Omega
By Ryan Baker
Date: May 16, 2000
Location: South Eastern Part Of The U.S.
It was a normal day In May, when Alan Arthur Stukov, trucker for the company "Aconor Trucking Ltd." was on a delivery. Alan was on his way down to Florida. Meanwhile, at a army base, not far from Florida, Alan's brother, Joseph Stukov, had just finished a training exercise with some new recruits.
"Excellent Work, Soldiers." said Joseph. Just as Joseph said that, Sergeant Caleb Anderson had entered the scene. That was where Joseph Stood at Attention and Saluted Sergeant Anderson. "At Ease, Joseph." Said Sergeant Anderson. "Sir, I hadn't expected you to be on the field. I thought you still had work to do at the barracks?" Said Joseph. "I had Just finished that work you are referring to." said Sergeant Anderson, "Next on my list was a inspection of the Training exercises. By the way, how is your brother?".
"He's Doing Alright sir." Said Joseph, "He said he was on a delivery to a diner, not far from here. As for the training exercises, We've just completed the first part.". "Excellent, were there any problems?" Said Sergeant Anderson. While Sergeant Anderson and Joseph were going Over the inspection, Alan Stukov had just passed the Florida State Border, on the way into Florida. While Alan Was driving, he had the radio on. One particular song was "Puttin' the Dark Back into the night" By Sawyer Brown. Alan was singing along with the Song. That was where Bobby Raynor, a friend of Alan, and a fellow truck driver, came over the C.B. Radio. "Hiya Alan." Said Bobby. "Bobby, Is that You?" Asked Alan. "Of Course it's me, Alan." replied Bobby. "I didn't recognize you there for a moment.” said Alan, "How have you been all this time?".
"I'm doing great." replied Bobby. As Bobby and Alan were talking, Alan noticed someone in the distance. "I wonder whom the Person is?" Alan Said to himself, "It's Probably an illusion.". Meanwhile, in the distance, the person was going over his mission statement. "This should be interesting." The person said to himself, "The boss shall be pleased once the mission is completed.". As soon as the person said that, he started watching and waiting for when the coast is clear. Little did the person realize that there was a biker gang headed his way.
"Alright guys, the diner's not far off." said the leader of the biker gang. The Biker gang leader was a leader whom seemed to have a ruthless side to him, but on the other hand, a bit honourable. The gang he leads is a rough and tumble bunch. Meanwhile, Alan had just entered the area where the diner was located at. That was where he had seen Bobby Raynor at the parking lot of the diner "Diner of the Clouds". "Hi Alan." replied Bobby. "Hi Bobby." said Alan as he parked his truck and had gotten out of the truck. "Just let me go see the owner for a moment. I'll tell her i'm here." said Alan. "I'll come with you.” said Bobby. Meanwhile, the biker gang had just passed the Florida state border. That was where the lead biker had noticed a person in the distance. That person was the same person Alan had seen earlier. "Hey guys." said the lead biker, "It looks like we have a new target to rough up.". That was where the biker gang moved towards the person. Then one of the bikers had tossed a chain at the person. That was where one end of the chain had wrapped around the person.
"What matter of magic is this?" said the person. As soon as the person said that, he fell to the ground as the biker wielding the chain sped up. As a result, The person started to slide along the ground, getting dragged by the biker. Little did the bikers realize that the person isn't who he seems. All of a sudden, the person had managed to free himself from the chain. Just then, one of the bikers notices that the person had freed himself from the chain. "Hey Guys, it looks like our target is out of the chains." said the biker. As soon as the biker said that, he and the rest of the bikers turned right around and face the person. "You shall not stop me from completing my mission." said the person, "For The Glory Of The Master Of Zombies.". "The Master Of Zombies?" said the Gang Leader. "What do you say guys?" asked one of the Bikers. "I say we take this guy down." Said another biker, "What about you, boss?". "you're Right." said Greg Anderson, the biker gang leader.
That was where the gang had surrounded the person. "Alright, Bring it on." Said the person. That was where the person got into a defensive stance. Meanwhile, at Castle Diroctor, in the Dimension of Octiviox, King Eduardo Anderson had called for His Councillers. "Sire, State the reason why you have called for us." said John Taylors. "I have called you because of a major event." Said King Anderson. "What would that be, sire?" Asked John Taylors. "The Reawakening of the Master of Zombies." replied King Anderson. "The Reawakening, sire?" Said another Councilor. "Yes, the Reawakening." Said King Anderson, "It was 175 years ago this very month, when the Master of Zombies had attempted to plunge this realm into darkness. It was only with the help of the Knight Lord Joseph Barker and his sword, called the 'Omnolight', that stopped the Master Of Zombies and his minions of Darkness.". Meanwhile, back in Florida, The Biker Gang had managed to do some damage to the person. That was where on of the bikers had knocked the person down.
As soon as the person fell down, part of his mask was torn off, revealing his actual form underneath his mask. "What on Earth!?" Said one of the bikers, as he had noticed the torn piece of the person's mask. "I Guess you humans have figured out my secret." Said the person. "What Secret?" Asked Greg. "i am not from this realm." said the person. As Soon as the person said that, he took off his mask. "What the..." said one of the bikers as they witnessed the person transform into his actual form. As the Person Transformed, he also changed sizes. "Let's get him guys." said another biker. As soon as the biker said that, the gang attempted to rush at the person. Little did the gang realize that the person, in his actual form, is much stronger. That was where the person had finally transformed into his actual form. His Actual form is that of an undead creature. His entire body is covered in decayed flesh, and has a arch in the back. There are several sword slices in his body. He is a hulking Creature, standing over seven feet in height.
That was where one of the bikers had attempted to attack the creature. All of a sudden, the creature raised his hand. "Alright, i will see you pay for trying to mess with me." said the creature, "but first, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ghoultor.". "What do you say boys?" one of the bikers said. "Leave 'im to me" Another biker said. The biker is named Caleb Raynor. "Caleb, What do you have planned?" asked Greg. "I'm planning on taking him down with my power." said Caleb. "Alright Then, Show him that no one messes with the Fire Griffens." Said Greg.
That was where Caleb picks up several pieces of equipment from his motorcycle's side pack. The Equipment included a shotgun, a chain, and a Brass knuckle. As soon as Caleb picked up his gear, he started walking towards Ghoultor. "This Is Gonna be Fun." Caleb Said as he walked towards Ghoultor. As Caleb Walked towards Ghoultor, he equipped the brass knuckle on his right hand. Meanwhile, at the diner, "Diner Of The Clouds", Alan And Bobby were going over old times. That was where Officer Adam Morgan had entered the diner. Officer Morgan was a "Take Charge" kind of person. He had his regular equipment with him. All of a sudden, a call came over the radio in Officer Morgan's police Car. "I'll Be Right Back." Said Officer Morgan, as he headed towards the Police Car. That was where Officer Morgan had Picked up the comm-link in the police car. "Calling all available Officers." the voice from the other end said, "there's a fight going in the vicinity of the local military base.". "I'm on my way." said Officer Morgan. That was where the biker gang and Ghoultor had managed to take the fight even closer to where the diner was located at. Meanwhile, back at the diner, Alan had just started unloading his delivery.
Just then, Bobby had noticed something in the distance. It was the biker gang and Ghoultor fighting in the distance. As the Gang was fighting Ghoultor, Ghoultor had managed to toss several of the Gang Members. Just Then, Officer Morgan had arrived at the scene. "What The..." Officer Morgan said to himself. That was where Officer Morgan had called in for back-up. After Officer Morgan did that, he tried to break up the fight. "Alright, Break it up, all of you." Said Officer Morgan. That was where Ghoultor had turned to face Officer Morgan. "Good Thing i called for Back-up, before stepping out of the Car." Officer Morgan said to himself, "I just hope they can arrive in time.".
Just Then, Ghoultor had charged at Officer Morgan. Officer Morgan immediately moved out of the way. At that moment, Ghoultor came crashing into the police Car. "Alright, whoever you are, You're not going to mess with me." said Officer Morgan, "You're Going Down.". Meanwhile, in the Dimension of Octiviox, a spy had just entered Castle Diroctor. "Ah lad, you're here." said Ortonk Poreon, "How have you been?". "I've Been Better, but i have some dire news to tell the king." Replied Angus Davidson. "What do you mean?" asked Ortonk.
"It would seem that the Master Of Zombies's minions are trying to construct a giant battleship of some sort." replied Angus. "This is most Dire." said Ortonk, "the King Must Know about this.". "Fortunately, i had managed to acquire a copy of the plans, and had seen that the battleship is incomplete. They still need two more parts." said Angus. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Ghoultor has just started to head for his Objective, which was located in the military base. Both Officer Morgan and the biker gang had given chase to Ghoultor, as he was heading to the part of the base where the Objective of his mission is located at. At That moment, one of the Soldiers at the base had noticed the situation on that side of the base. "What On Earth?" The Soldier said to himself. At That moment, Corporal Mel Barker had entered the scene. "Soldier, What's Going On?" asked Corporal Barker. "I'm not sure, but it looks like some sort of decayed creature being chased by a biker gang and a police officer." Replied the Soldier.
"We've better do something about this." said the Soldier. As soon as the Soldier said that, the soldier and Corporal Barker had called for other soldiers to come and help in the chase. Meanwhile, in the Dimension Of Octiviox, at the Tomb of the Master Of Zombies, the Master Of Zombies had arisen from his Tomb. "Has it been 175 years already?" the Master of Zombies said to himself. That was where the Master Of Zombies looked around his surroundings. Just then, he went over to a mirror. His Reflection showed a creature that had suffered hundreds of years of decay. His Skin had turned grey-green in colour. His Eyes had sunken back into their Sockets. "Hmm, it seems that the objects in this tomb had sustained quite some wear." said the Master Of Zombies, "This must mean that the Knight Lord Joseph Barker is long Gone.". After he said that, the Master of Zombies went over and picked up his sword and shield, only to find that time had deteriorated the sword and shield. "Well, i have better get some new equipment." said the Master Of Zombies. As soon as the Master Of Zombies said that, he headed out to the entrance of the tomb. Little did the Master Of Zombies realize that a spy was outside the tomb, in the Graveyard of Darkness.
The Graveyard of Darkness is a dark, and almost Desolate place. Most Of the gravestones have fallen apart. The Spy is Loyal to King Anderson. The Spy was located partway between the centre of the Graveyard and the entrance. At that moment, the Spy had seen the Master Of Zombies. "By the Elder Beast God." the spy said, under his breath, "I Must tell the King about this.". All of a sudden, a Shadow Phantom had appeared behind the spy. That was where the spy turned to face the Shadow Phantom. Then the Shadow Phantom had raised his sickle. The Spy had attempted to block the sickle as it came down upon him. "Yaargh!!" Exclaimed the Spy as he fell to the ground. Then, with his last bit of Strength, he had written a message.
That message was "King Anderson, there is bad news. The Master Of Zombies has arisen from his tomb. I suspect he is going to join up with his legions of the undead. A suggested plan of action is to prepare the defenses. Unfortunately, i might not be able to help. Next Time you see me, i might be one of the undead. Please Tell my brother i still care about him.". As soon as the spy completed the message, he had attached the message to a carrying case on the homing pigeon he had carried with him. Meanwhile, at the military base, Ghoultor had made it to the mission objective. "Excellent." said Ghoultor, "The Master Of Zombies will be pleased.".
At that moment, Ghoultor had grabbed the objects he was sent to acquire. The objects were a computer system and hover tech circuits. Just then, Officer Morgan, the biker gang, and the soldiers had blocked the entrance to the building. "You won't capture me." Ghoultor sneers. At that moment, the soldiers aimed their rifles at Ghoultor. "You think your puny weapons can affect me." Sneers Ghoultor, as he was preparing to charge at the soldiers, the biker gang, and Officer Morgan. "Soldiers, prepare to fire on my mark." said Corporal Barker. At that moment, Ghoultor had charged at the group blocking his way. Meanwhile, at the diner, Bobby had noticed the incident at the base. At that moment, Bobby went to his truck and picked up a pair of binoculars. "What on Earth?" said Bobby, "Alan, you have better see this.". "What are you talking about?" Asked Alan. "Apparently, there's some sort of situation going on at the base." replied Bobby. "Wait a minute." said Alan, "My Brother is stationed at the base.". At that moment, Ghoultor had made it over to the other side of the road.
That was where Alan and Bobby had gone closer to investigate. Little did either of them realize that the situation is far more dangerous, because of the plans being put into motion, and Ghoultor's undead powers. While the situation was happening, in another dimension, a robed individual was watching the events unfold. "this is most dire." the individual said to himself. At that moment, Broktar, a Cyborg Lizardman had entered the room. "Sire, you have called for me." said Broktar. "Yes indeed, Broktar." replied the individual, "It seems that there is a major disturbance in the dimension of Octiviox.". "Is it the Master Of Zombies?" asked Broktar. "I'm Afraid so, Broktar." replied the Individual.
"Hmm, this is most dire, indeed." said Broktar, as he moved his cybernetically enhanced left arm. "Broktar." said the Individual. "Yes, Gate Master." said Broktar. "i want you to go into the dimension of Octiviox." said the Gate Master. "For what reason, Gate Master." asked Broktar. "I want you to intercept an individual whom will be entering that dimension very shortly." replied the Gate Master. "Whom is the individual that you want me to intercept?" asked Broktar. "The Individual in question is Alan Stukov." Replied the Gate Master. Meanwhile, near the base, Ghoultor had made it to the designated sector where he will enter a portal leading to the dimension of Octiviox. "i shall complete the mission." Ghoultor said to himself. At that moment, Ghoultor was surrounded by the soldiers, the gang, and Officer Morgan. "You humans shall not capture me!!!" Ghoultor said.
As soon as he said that, Ghoultor had opened a dimensional portal into Octiviox. "Soldiers, don't let him get away." Corporal Barker said to the soldiers. Just then, the back-up Officer Morgan radioed in earlier, had arrived. "What on Earth is that creature?" Officer James Sorbo said, when he arrived at the scene. "i haven't the slightest what the creature is, but we better not let him get away with the gear he's holding." Officer Diana Joelson said. At that moment, a giant came through the Portal. "Sir" said the Giant, "the Master Of Zombies is awaiting your arrival back in Octiviox.". "I'll be there right away." said Ghoultor. As soon as Ghoultor said that, he tossed a smoke bomb to cover his tracks. "soldiers, fire upon the target." Corporal Barker said the soldiers. "take him down." Officer Morgan said. But the soldiers and the cops were too late in stopping Ghoultor and the Giant from entering the portal.
"Oh, Great." said Officer Morgan, "They're Gone.". At that moment, Alan Stukov and Bobby Raynor had arrived at the scene. "What's going on?" asked Alan. "Apparently, the creature had escaped into some other dimension." replied Officer Morgan. "It looked like the creature was carrying two devices. What were the two devices?" asked Bobby. Meanwhile, in the Karnoxus sector of space, a Kor'drakk cruiser was continuing their patrol. "Computer, access database." said the Captain. The Captain is Captain Zordash, captain of the cruiser, "Dragon Fire.". Zordash is distrustful of humans. "Sir." said one of the crew members. "Yes, Helmsman Mecator." said Captain Zordash. "There seems to be a wormhole several light years in front of the Cruiser." said Helmsman Mecator.
At that moment, the ship started experiencing technical problems. little did the crew realize that they would be on a trip to the dimension of Octiviox. Meanwhile, on Earth, Alan had talked to his brother, Joseph. "Joseph, what are the capabilities of the objects that the creature had stolen?" Asked Alan. "Not much, on their own." replied Joseph, "but when they are connected to a vehicle, it could be dangerous.". "then allow me to help in retrieving the objects." said Alan. "That could be risky." said Joseph, "Do You really want to help in the situation?". "Of Course, Joseph." said Alan. "Hey Alan, i just thought of something." said Bobby. "What is that?" asked Alan. "You might be gone a long time. Shouldn't you at least call your boss, and tell him you won't be in for a while." replied Bobby. "That's right, Bobby." said Alan, "i have better do so.". As soon as Alan said that, he went back to his truck and picked up his cell phone and phoned his boss. "Mr. Jackson" said Alan. "Yes Alan, what can i do for you?" said Mr. Jackson. "i will not be in for the next while. I'm not sure how long." said Alan. "For What reason, Alan?" asked Mr. Jackson. "It is a major situation. Apparently there was a robbery at the military base here in Florida." said Alan. "Wait a minute, isn't your brother stationed at the base." said Mr. Jackson. "Yes, Joseph is stationed at the base." said Alan.
"Alright then, i'll get one of the other truckers to cover your loads." said Mr. Jackson. At that moment, Alan and Mr. Jackson had finished up the conversation. Alan went over to Joseph. "Then it's agreed." said Joseph. After Joseph said that, he and the other Soldiers prepared to retrieve the Gate Portal Generator. "Alan" Bobby said. "Yes, Bobby." Said Alan. "I just wanted to wish you luck on this mission." said Bobby, "and i would like to say that I will volunteer for this mission.". "But Bobby, what about your fiance?" asked Alan. "Oh yeah, that's right." said Bobby, "Julie and i were planning on going out tonight. thanks for reminding me.".
Meanwhile, in the dimension of Octiviox, Telzor and his clan, the Shadow Wolves were in the main building of the clan's encampment. At that moment, an Orc Warrior had just entered the building. "Sir, i have some major news." said the Orc Warrior. "What news is that?" asked Telzor. "Our Scouts had found some evidence of the awakening of the undead." said the Orc Warrior. "This is major, indeed." Telzor said, Grimly, "then this would mean the Master Of Zombies had arisen from his tomb.". Meanwhile, back on Earth, the Gate Portal Generator was put into position. Little did the soldiers, the Police, Alan, and Bobby realize that the biker gang was still around the area. All of a sudden, Greg had gone over to Officer Morgan. "Adam." Said Greg, "This isn't over between us.".
At that moment, Greg had motioned for the other bikers. "We will see each other soon." said Greg. After he said that, Greg got on his motorcycle and started to drive away. "All Bikers, let's roll." said Greg. "Alan." Said Joseph. "Yes, Joseph." Said Alan. "The Portal Generator is up and ready." Said Joseph. "what dimension is the portal generator set to?" Asked Alan. "It seems to be a dimension called Octiviox." replied Joseph. "Octiviox?" said Alan. "Apparently it's a dimension of magic and fantasy." said Joseph. After Joseph said that, Alan started moving towards the portal. "Wait a minute, Alan." said Joseph. "What is it, Joseph?" Asked Alan. "You should have some equipment." Said Joseph, "Just in case you get in trouble.".
As soon as Joseph said that, he went and retrieved some equipment for Alan. One such piece of equipment was some armor. Another piece of equipment was a comm-link communicator. "Alan, i just want to wish you good luck." Said Officer Morgan. Just then, Joseph had returned with to the site. "Alan, here is the equipment that you will be working with." said Joseph, as he presented the equipment. "First, is the visor helmet. It has several visor modes, which includes night vision mode." said Joseph. As Joseph was presenting the equipment, Greg Anderson and the other members of the "Fire Griffens" had turned around and started to head towards the portal. At that moment, a cloaked person came into the area. "Wait a minute." said one of the bikers. "What is it?" asked another biker. "There Seems to be a cloaked figure behind us." said the biker. Just then, the bikers had turned to face the person. "Alright, whoever you are, explain yourself." said Greg. "I am the Dark Mage known as Aizortun." said Aizortun, "I have come here to Earth to request your services.".
"Services, For What?" Said Caleb. “Yeah, Caleb's Right. What do you want us to do?" said David Joelson. As Soon as David said that, he and several other bikers started to surround Aizortun. "Hold it guys. let him explain his situation." Said Greg. "Thank You." said Aizortun, "i come from a dimension called Octiviox. It is a realm of magic and fantasy. At this time, a dark being called the Master Of Zombies has arisen from his tomb.". "Hold it." said David, "For all we know, Aizortun could actually be this 'Master Of Zombies'.". "Wait a minute." Said Caleb, "Didn't Ghoultor mention his name when we encountered him earlier.". "Yeah, that's right, Caleb." Said Duane Jackson.
"As i was saying." said Aizortun, "The Master Of Zombies had tried to conquer the dimensions several times. However, he has been stopped by many heroes. The Most recent hero in history was the Knight Lord Joseph Barker.". "How are we involved in this situation?" asked Greg. "I have come here to request that you bikers help in defending Octiviox from the darkness that is known as the Master Of Zombies." Said Aizortun. While Aizortun and the bikers were talking, the portal generator had been set for the coordinates of Octiviox. "the coordinates have been set. You're ready to go." said Joseph. That was when Alan headed towards the Portal. "One last thing, Alan." Said Joseph. "What's that?" asked Alan. "Good Luck." Said Joseph.
As soon as Joseph said that, Officer Morgan came over to the portal area. "Alan, I'm Coming along." said Officer Morgan. "Well, I'm Surprised." said Alan, "i didn't know you were the adventurous type.”. "Knock it off, will you." said Officer Morgan. "Why would you want to join me on this mission." asked Alan. "First of all, he had stolen those two parts." said Officer Morgan, "second, he had wrecked my Police Car.". Meanwhile, in the dimension of Octiviox, at the Orc Encampment, Telzor and the leaders of the other Orc Clans were discussing a course of action. "The best course of action is a direct assault on the Undead Keep." said Telzor. As Telzor was speaking, he rolled out a map of the Undead Keep, and started putting symbols to show the plan. "That sounds like a good plan." Said G'tekor, leader of the Crimson Tigers clan, "but from what my scouts have informed me about the situation, the Master of Zombies had acquired various pieces of technology from other dimensions.".
"What do you mean, G'tekor?" asked Raiztor, leader of the Atorton Clan. "For one thing." said G'tekor, "My scouts report that there are several gun emplacements at the front of the Keep. These guns are operated by a team of two zombies each.". "What if we were to send one of our faster troops in and have them move between the gun emplacements, so that they would hit each other instead of us." said Raiztor, "Would That Work?". "It Sounds Risky." Replied G'tekor, "But it might Work.". Meanwhile, back on Earth, Alan And Adam had entered the portal, after they had talked about the situation. "This Should Be interesting." said Alan. "What do you mean, Alan?" asked Officer Morgan. "we would be entering an unknown dimension." said Alan. Little did Alan and Officer Morgan realize that Aizortun the Dark Mage had warped the Biker gang and himself to the dimension of Octiviox. Meanwhile, in The dimension Of Octiviox, At Castle Diroctor, King Anderson had contacted his advisors. At that moment, The homing Pigeon had flown through a open window. That was where one of the soldiers went over and picked up the pigeon and retrieved the message.
"Sire." said the soldier, "i have some bad news.". "What has happened?" asked King Anderson. "The Spy whom was stationed at the Graveyard of Darkness has died." said the soldier. "What else does the message say?" asked King Anderson. "Apparently the Master Of Zombies has awakened from his tomb." said the Soldier. "That does it." said King Anderson, as he rose from his throne, "we must take action.". At that moment, outside in the main part of Castle Diroctor, Alan And Officer Morgan had arrived through the portal. "Hmm, Most impressive." said Alan. Just then, Joseph had contacted Alan via the comm-link communicator. "Ah, Alan." Said Joseph, "It seems that you have finally arrived in Octiviox.”. "Yeah, and this device actually works." said Alan, "Joseph, where exactly are we in this dimension?". "You and Officer Morgan are located in Castle Diroctor." Said Joseph. "Any idea whom the ruler of the castle is." Asked Alan. "I have a feeling that we'll soon find out." said Joseph, "but from what i know, his name is King Eduardo Anderson.". At that moment, King Anderson had arrived at the courtyard. "What is all this commotion about?" asked King Anderson. "Greetings, your Highness." said Alan, "I am Alan Stukov, and he is Officer Adam Morgan.". "We're here to....” said Officer Morgan.
But before Officer Morgan could even finish the sentence, he and Alan were surrounded by the King's Soldiers. Just then, Ortonk Poreon had arrived at the scene. "Sire, What's going on?" asked Ortonk. "it seems that two intruders were found trespassing on the grounds of this kingdom." said King Anderson. "intruders?" asked Ortonk. "Yes, intruders." said King Anderson, "And they must be dealt with immediately.". "Wait a minute." said Ortonk, "I think I have seen these two so-called 'intruders' before.". "What do you mean, Ortonk?" asked one of the soldiers. "I remember seeing two individuals pictured in a book at the Arch Mage's Tower." said Ortonk, "The text was in a form of Orcish language, but it said that the two individuals would be the heroes that will help in stopping the Master Of Zombies.". At that moment, the sound of gunfire had sounded outside the walls of the castle. All of a sudden, Officer Morgan had charged at several of the King's Soldiers. "hold it right there, intruder." said one of the soldiers. "Wait, he might be able to help." said Ortonk. That was where the soldiers had moved out of the way, so that Officer Morgan could get past them.
Once he got past the soldiers, Officer Morgan ran up the stairs to the top of the wall. As soon as Officer Morgan had reached the top of the wall, he saw where the gunfire was coming from. It was coming from the weapon mounted on Broktar's Cybernetic Left Arm. "Hold Your Fire." said Officer Morgan. "We couldn't possibly do that." said one of the Archers. "what do you mean?" asked Officer Morgan. "the Creature fired at us first." said one of the Archers. "Yeah, we were only defending ourselves." said another archer. "I am here for the human known as Alan Stukov." said Broktar. "What is your reason?" asked Officer Morgan. "i am here on a mission for the Gate Master." said Broktar. "Who is this Gate Master you are talking about?" asked Officer Morgan. "He is the Master Of the Gate Portals." replied Broktar.
"Let the person in." said one of King Anderson's Advisors. "Do you really think it's a good idea?" asked another one of the Advisors. "of course." replied the advisor, "the Gate Master is a highly regarded person, especially in my homeland.”. Meanwhile, in the Karnaxus sector, the Kor'Drakk crew of the ship "Dragon Fire" had entered the wormhole. "Computer, what is the coordinates?" Captain Zordash had asked the ship's computer. "Unable to access interstellar location circuit system file." the ship's computer replied. "This is just great." said Captain Zordash. "Sir, it seems that a opening to the wormhole is just ahead of us." said Helmsman Mecator. "Chief Engineer Jor'Dorus." said Captain Zordash, "What is the situation in engineering?". "Captain." said Jor'Dorus, "The engines are still functioning. But, Warp coils are malfunctioning.". "what's the status on the teleporter device?" asked Captain Zordash. "i'll patch you right into the teleporter room, sir." said Jor'Dorus.
At That moment, the ship had entered through the opening in the Wormhole. "Sir, there seems that land is coming into view." said Helmsman Mecator. "Land?" said Captain Zordash, "Helmsman, prepare for evasive Maneuvers.". Meanwhile, at the castle, Broktar had explained the situation to Alan, Officer Morgan, and the residents of Castle Diroctor. "So, what you're telling us." said Alan, "is that the Master of Zombies is planning to take over this realm.". "Why doesn't the Gate Master just come in and Battle the Master Of Zombies in person?" asked Officer Morgan. "For One main Reason." said Broktar, "if he were to leave the Gate Portals unwatched, creatures from other worlds and dimensions could cause havoc among the worlds.". At that moment, one of the archers stationed at the top of the castle wall had seen something in the distance. That something is, in fact, the Kor'Drakk cruiser "Dragon Fire.".
"Wait a minute." the archer said to himself, "It looks like the object is about to land in a short time.". As soon as the Archer said that, he took out a telescope and aimed it in the direction where the object is about to land in. "What on Earth?" said the Archer. "What is it, Jean?" asked one of the archers. "it seems that the object is about to land in Orc territory." said Jean, "to be more precise, territory controlled by the 'Shock Rangers' Clan.". "What is the first act of business?" asked Alan. "we should definitely prepare defenses around the castle." said John Taylors. "Aye, and we should also send a team of warriors to stop the Master Of Zombies." said Ortonk, "not only that, but we should also find some allies whom are willing to help.".
"Yes, that definitely sounds like a plan." said King Anderson, “but we should also acquire the sword called 'Omnolight'.". "Omnolight?" asked Alan. "Yes, it's the sword that the Knight Lord Joseph Barker used 175 years ago this month to defeat the Master Of Zombies." Said King Anderson. "We must get going, if we are to stand a chance." said Officer Morgan. "If it must be, so be it." said King Anderson, "but before you go, you should have this.". As soon as King Anderson said that, he handed Alan a map of the land. "Your first destination should be the Arch Mage's Tower." said King Anderson, "The Arch Mage, Alex Johnson, is a friend of mine. He would be a worthy ally in this mission.". Meanwhile, in a village located to the north-west area, not far from a entrance to the Queen of the Witches's hideout, Aizortun the Dark Mage was going over the plan with the "Fire Griffens" biker gang. At that moment, a minotaur had arrived in the area. "Ah, Scaltokas." said Aizortun, “Finally you have arrived.".
"Comrade." said Scaltokas, "i am surprised you haven't been captured by now.". "What do you mean by that?" asked Greg. "I mean that there are some bounty hunters after Aizortun." replied Scaltokas. "why are the bounty hunters after him?" asked Caleb. "It was during the final battles of the Territory Wars between the Orc clans lead by Telzor, leader of the 'Shadow Wolf' Clan, and the human forces." replied Scaltokas, "that Aizortun had betrayed the human forces.". "Yes, but i had escaped just before the orc clans were repelled from Castle Diroctor." said Aizortun. "How did you meet the Orc clans?" asked Caleb. "I haven't met the leader of the Orc Forces personally." said Aizortun, "but i had met Xeintox, leader of the 'Shock Rangers' Clan. In fact i had helped them gain some new weaponry, some of which are from Earth.".
While Scaltokas was talking to Aizortuns the Dark Mage and the biker gang, just north of the village, and a little way to the East, the Kor'Drakk cruiser had just crash landed. "Helmsman." said Captain Zordash, "What is the status?". "Most of the systems are still functioning." said Helmsman Mecator, "But they have sustained a serious amount of damage.". "Is the shield generator still operational?" asked Captain Zordash. "Shield generator is still functional, and so is the weapons systems." replied Helmsman Mecator. Just then, Sergeant Dorgarus had entered the bridge. "Sir." said Dorgarus, "Permission to scout out this sector.". "Acknowledged, Sergeant Dorgarus." said Captain Zordash. As soon as Captain Zordash said that, he had contacted Lieutenant Gotarus.
Meanwhile, near Castle Diroctor, Alan And Officer Morgan had checked the map. "Ah, so this must where the Arch Mage's tower is located." said Alan. "I find it odd that you humans would try and find allies, when it would be much easier to go straight into the main base, and take on the Master Of Zombies in direct battle." said Broktar. "That may seem easier, Broktar." said Officer Morgan, "But Remember, he has a army at his command.". "Not only that." said Alan, "But from what King Anderson had told us, he has a flying Battleship.". "what makes you so certain that your chances at victory will be better with any allies?" asked Broktar. "you just wait and see, Broktar." Said Officer Morgan, "We will win this battle.".
Little did they Realize that they were being spied upon by a Ghoul. "Hmm, humans are about." said the Ghoul, "i must tell the Master Of Zombies.". As soon as he said that, the ghoul had tapped once on a button on his comm-link. Immediately, the comm-link had contacted the forces at the Undead Keep. At that moment, Quotor the Wraith had seen that the communications console had been accessed. That was where Quotor went over and accessed the Communication console. "General Quotor." said the Ghoul, "Ghoul Agent K'Dortok reporting in.". "What is your status?" asked Quotor. "There are two humans and a cyborg lizardman headed to the Arch Mage's Tower." Said K'Dortok. "Excellent." said Quotor, "Follow those humans and the lizardman.". After Quotor said that, he went over to the main section of the Undead Keep. It was there, that he met the other leaders of the Undead Forces. "Ah, General Quotor." said the Battle Knight, "It is good to see you.".
"Battle Knight." said Quotor, "I'm quite surprised you haven't already attempted to attack Castle Diroctor.". "Arrgh!!" Exclaimed the Battle Knight as he went off in a blind rage. "Ooh, that's a wise move." said Fortox. "Why am i not surprised, Fortox." said Quotor. Just then, Zoutoxas the Dark Troll had entered the scene. "Ah, Air Commander Zoutoxas." said Quotor, “How are you?". "Excellent." replied Zoutoxas, "Fortox, what is the status of your troops' mission to find and destroy the tomb of the Knight Lord Joseph Barker?". "My forces are searching for it as we speak." said Fortox. Meanwhile, Alan, Officer Morgan, and Broktar had arrived at the Arch Mage's Tower. "Hmm, I'm Rather surprised." said Alan. "Why is that, Human?" said Broktar. "I was expecting something more magical." replied Alan. "Yeah, After All." said Officer Morgan, "This is supposed to be a realm of magic and fantasy.".
After Officer Morgan said that, he went over to the door and used the door knocker. Meanwhile, inside the Arch Mage's Tower, Alex Johnson was going over his spellbooks. "Hmm, there doesn't seem to be any information on the object that you had said, Tirus." said Alex. Just then, Alex's Apprentice had entered the main room. "Sir" said the Apprentice, "There are two people and a lizardman outside the Tower.". "What do they look like?" asked Alex. "The two people are dressed in unusual clothing, those not found in this realm." said the apprentice, "The Lizardman, however, seems to have metallic parts connected to organic flesh.". "That seems to be a similar description to that of the heroes of legend." said Alex, "Allow them in.". "Yes, sir." said the Apprentice, as he was heading towards the main door. Meanwhile, at the door of the Arch Mage's Tower, Alan, Officer Morgan, and Broktar were waiting outside the place. Just then, the Apprentice had arrived at the main door. "The Arch Mage will see you now." said the Apprentice, as he opened the door. "It's about time." said Broktar. "Who is this Arch Mage?" asked Alan.
"The Arch Mage is Alex Johnson." said the Apprentice, "He is quite Powerful.". "Just how high does this tower extend to?" Asked Broktar, "My servo joints are about to malfunction.". "it's only 10 floors." replied the Apprentice. "that doesn't seem to long, does it, eh Broktar." Alan said to Broktar. "Ha, you humans may laugh, but you don't know what it is like to have cybernetics replacing any limb that is lost." said Broktar. Meanwhile, in the main room of the Arch Mage's Tower, Alex had brought the Book of Legends over to the table. "Why did you bring the book over to the table?" asked Tirus. "It is to check up on the legend of the heroes." replied Alex. Just then, the Apprentice had arrived in the main room, ahead of Broktar, Alan, And Officer Morgan.
"Sir" said the Apprentice, "the people in question are on their way.". "Excellent." said The Arch Mage. Meanwhile, at the Crash site of the downed Kor'Drakk ship, the crew were working on the repairs. "Chief Engineer Jor'Dorus." said Captain Zordash, "What is the status of the repairs?". Just then, the ship was hit by a outside force. "Alert." the ship's computer said, "Unidentified hostiles located in area.". "Computer, where was the ship hit?" asked Captain Zordash. "Middle section of port side." said the ship's computer. Outside the ship, two Orc Warriors, riding on Griontors had moved into postion. That was after one of the warriors had fired a rocket at the ship. "Sire." said one of the Orc warriors. "Yes, Comrade" said Xeintox. "We have started phase one of the raid." said the Orc Warrior. "Excellent." said Xeintox, "Prepare to move to phase two.".

There is one particular commentary about the conduct of the war in the current Russo-Ukraine war since 2022 that surprised and mystified me for a while and it is how both sides struggle to scale their brigade’s attacks beyond the level of a company or so. This is particularly surprising since in 2014, the 95^th Airmobile Brigade conducted a large, 3-week-long mechanised raid – Zabrodskyi’s Great Raid of 2014, which was described as “the longest armored raid in military history”. A bit of a tangent but Zabrodskyi became a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, in 2019 and on March 2023, “The Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) terminated the powers of the MP from "European Solidarity" Mykhailo Zabrodskyi.”. Apparently, he “is planned to be appointed the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhny”. In another tangent, the Marine Corps Gazette article about his raid spelt his name the “Russian” way (Mikhail Zubrowski) while currently, English-language articles that mentioned him used the “Ukrainian” spelling: Mykhailo Zabrodskyi.
Anyway, in the daily thread, I had a comment about an old (2003) US Army Engineering article on conducting Combined Arms Breach (CAB). The article described the common mistakes in CAB made by US Brigades at the National Training Center (NTC). Among it, the first and simplest mistake that most units made were that they failed to mass at the breach point:

Success or failure can often be predicted at the line of departure (LD) based on this fact alone. In fact, most brigade combat team attacks will effectively mass no more than one company team at the point of penetration.

At the time, I thought that this was a common mistake made by “new” brigade commanders and staff (“new” with the assumption of the great churn and turn over of personnel in and out of positions) and the problems of Ukrainian brigades were typical. There is an alternative explanation for the current practice and that is the drones, apparent persistent ISR and increased weapons lethality and proliferation of said weapons led to the fact that only a company at a time can be massed for an attack. Upon reading the piece more carefully and looking for detailed report of Ukrainian brigade-level attacks, I realised that:
1) The nature of the error (not massing more than a company) was different
2) It was not the case (at least in the case examined) that increased ISR and weapons lethality prevented the massing of more than a company.
First, the nature of the error made by American brigades at NTC. Note that this conclusion is my conclusion, based on my understanding of how a brigade would conduct an attack and the article (which is an excellent article and you really should read it for a better understanding of effect CAB). I don’t have access to NTC’s database on past engagements nor experience participating in such event. For the latter, the people who did participated prior to the article publication (2003) must be at least 50 years old. Why and how is mass important, the article stated:

The standard for mass is articulated clearly in FM 3-34.2:
Breaching is conducted by rapidly applying concentrated efforts at a point to reduce the obstacle and penetrate the defense.

• Massed combat power is directed against the enemy’s weakness.
  
• The location selected for breaching depends largely on weakness in the enemy’s defense, where its covering fires are minimized.
  
• If friendly forces cannot find a natural weakness, they create one by fixing the majority of the enemy force and isolating a small portion of it for attack.
  

So, related to error in massing, here are the relevant mistakes:

Wherever we penetrate the enemy, we must ensure that the remainder of the OPFOR remains fixed. We do this with fires, close air support, maneuver, and scatterable mines. We must do this, however, without violating the principle of mass. The OPFOR has great success in the offense, fixing its Blue Force (BLUEFOR) enemy with motorized rifle companies and scatterable mines. The OPFOR does so without significantly reducing its ability to mass at the point of penetration. All too often, BLUEFOR units commit battalion task forces to this task—often one-third to two-thirds of their total BCT combat power.

Note: the OPFOR unit at NTC is the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, which roleplay a Soviet Motor Rifle Regiment. Typically, one BCT rotates through the NTC at a time so apparently, “right” means a brigade should not expend more than a couple companies fixing the majority of another brigade outside of the breach. Typical BLUFOR mistake was to use one to two battalions for this task. This error, however, tells us that US brigades did put more than a company to the overall fight; just at the wrong places. So what happened and why? First, how many breach lanes can or should a brigade attempt?
Breaching doctrine basically requires one engineer platoon (with attachments) to execute one lane. There is also a requirement for redundancy— typically 50 percent. In a maneuver task force supported by an engineer company, most of that company is required at the breach. Develop
A brigade typically has 3 or so each of MICLICs, dozers, and rollers. The US Marines’ CAB during Operation Desert Storm experienced 30% failures of the MICLIC to detonate the line charge. Rollers and dozers had to press on clearing mines by themselves and engineers proceeded on foot to attach detonators to the line charges. Some others probed for mines manually, located and removed the mines by hands. With 30% failure and 50% redundancy requirement, a brigade could pretty much only attempt a single breach.
In a stereotypical attack-defend scenario of two brigades, the defending brigade puts the recon/cavalry screen out to screen the front. This screen allows the line and engineer units behind them to put in the defences, obstacles, fighting positions, and mines. Conversely, the attacker put out a recon screen of its own to locate the enemy screen, possibly collapse said screen, then press on to locate the obstacles, whether there are bypasses, and if there is no bypass available, the intel on the obstacles to enable the brigade commands to decide and plan for the breach. I suspect what happened with the American brigades at NTC was that the brigade puts the screen forward, located OPFOR screen, collapse said screen (which should be relatively easy since a US armored cavalry battalion of a heavy brigade are very heavily armed with M1 tanks, M2 and M3 Bradleys, and organic SPGs while a Motor Rifle Regiment recon units are much worse armed: typically BMPs and BRDMs). Then the recon battalion plus the two line battalions behind it makes contact with OPFOR main defensive obstacles. Here are other mistakes noted at NTC:

- Observers fail to provide detailed obstacle intelligence.
- Units fail to interdict enemy engineer defensive preparations.
- Maneuver forces “stumble” into obstacles.

This is what “right” looks like:

TTP: Kill the enemy engineers. Enemy engineers will die. Kill them. Position observers early to detect and disrupt the enemy’s defensive preparations. Target bulldozers, caches of construction material and ammunition, engineer soldiers and equipment, and all obstacle emplacement activity. The enemy’s ability to disrupt our attacking formations and reduce our momentum is directly related to his ability to successfully emplace his obstacles. He knows he cannot defeat the BLUEFOR in a direct-fire battle without his battlefield shapers. Deny him this advantage. Mine emplacement now is a low- risk, high-payoff mission. We must reverse this, making it a high-risk mission for enemy soldiers to employ mines. When an enemy soldier gets the mission to emplace mines, he must tremble with the thought of his impending destruction. TTP: Find the obstacles. This cannot be just an engineer reconnaissance task. This is something on which we must focus combat observation lasing teams (COLTs), Stryker vehicles, brigade and task force scouts, unmanned aerial vehicles, the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS), and any other available “lookers.” Find the obstacles to confirm or deny the enemy COA. Confirm the proposed point of breach or penetration. Consider layering reconnaissance assets by sending in initial forces to identify obstacles, with subsequent forces to obtain (before committing breaching forces) precise information such as— - Obstacle location and type. - Gaps and bypasses. - Specific minefield composition, which may dictate what breach assets to use and in what sequence. - Soil conditions, which may indicate suitability for plowing.
We do not have the technology to detect buried mines and many other low-cost, low-technology explosive devices. Therefore we must compensate for this with TTP, task organization, and focused reconnaissance. To be successful, we must focus all available lookers to let us detect mining activity and enemy obstacles before they are emplaced.

My conclusion is that the attacking brigade likely got their recon and first echelon battalions “fixed” on the defenders’ obstacles. Once the location of the breach has been decided, the brigade commander may opt for a hasty or a more deliberate breach. A hasty breach/attack assumes a hasty defence and prioritise speed (who doesn’t want speed in maneuver warfare?). A more deliberate breach that masses more forces will require a lot of redirection of units laterally to reach the Line of Departure (LD). This is quite hard on the battlefield. For the most fundamental reasons: soldiers are twitchy and great efforts are required so that units don’t shoot their colleagues accidentally.

TTP: Plan for traffic control. Get the military police into the fight. Traffic control is a traditional task for military police but one they rarely execute at NTC.

The brigades may have found shifting units too difficult or they were under time pressure to accomplish the breach and decided on a hasty breach with the units already at the chosen point. That translates to one to two companies. Predictably, it failed and the brigade was out of mechanised breaching options.
Another error:

TTP: Avoid the frontal attack. While our doctrine indicates that the frontal attack is the least desirable form of maneuver, it is the one most frequently seen at NTC. Find a flank and mass on it. Exploit a weakness or create one. Isolate the point of penetration. BLUEFOR units rarely if ever surprise the enemy but rather “telegraph” their intentions long before the LD. Find a way to tell a deceptive story without losing the ability to mass effects at the BFT. It’s no easy task but one the OPFOR routinely executes. Use obscuration during preparations and movement to, through, and beyond the LD to make it difficult for the enemy to determine friendly intentions.

The stereotypically Soviet and much derided frontal attacks is also everyone’s default behaviour.
Reading some more of Kofman’s writings and followed the citations on the specific claim that Ukrainian brigades often only send out one company led me to this report by Walting, which I read previously but I skipped over the important part that should have told me precisely the conduct of the Ukrainian brigades. I recently read it again and found the answer between page 7 and 14 on the battles for Novodarivka and Rivnopil.

The series of tactical actions is chosen because it is representative of wider trends, and informative as to how Russian forces manage different tactical challenges, and the various approaches employed by Ukrainian troops. The overview is based on accounts of the operations by participants, captured documents from Russian command posts, open-source material including satellite imagery of the engagements, and a review of non-public videos of the relevant tactical actions.

One should very well read carefully the description of the battle. It’s just 7 pages. The Russian defensive positions consisted of one company each in Novodarivka, Rivnopil and the gap in-between for a total of 3 companies or one battalion. A Territorial Defence Force brigade has been in contact and for the offensive, a mechanised and line brigade were sent in for reinforcement. The breakthrough were to be spearheaded by the mechanised brigade.

After identifying the points for the breach, the offensive started early in the morning of 4 June. Two UR-77 Meteorit charges were fired across the narrowest part of the minefield, blowing two 6-metre-wide channels from the treeline to the north to the edge of Novodarivka. A company column of MRAPs led by a pair of tanks committed to the first breach. “A pair of Russian tanks unmasked and fired on the columns. The Ukrainian tanks fired back at a range of around 800 metres. Nevertheless, the vehicles in the column were knocked out in succession” Basically, this pair of tanks shot up the entire column and was only after being knocked out by SPG-9 recoilless guns.
A second company was then committed to the other breach lane and two more Russian tanks emerged, moved towards the column and firing. “Via UAV feeds, the command post watched the emergence of the enemy, and fires were brought down to try and disrupt the action. Exposed, the breaching company attempted to accelerate through the breach, but deviated from course. All vehicles in the company were then immobilised by mine strike in succession. Russian fires then began to range on the column.”
To the credits of the MRAPs, about many of the dismounts survived and while some retreated, about a platoon’s worth from each company reached the edge of Novodarivka. A third company was committed, with dismounts moving along the breach using the destroyed vehicles for cover or dead grounds to advance. The close combat required to clear Novodarivka took a week. All in all, the brigade attack committed three companies of a battalion and managed to get a company-plus worth of dismounts into close combat in the settlement against a company’s worth of Russian forces
The TDF brigade led the attack on the Russian company in front of Rivnopil. They were reinforced by two tanks and an artillery battery from a neighbouring brigade. The brigade conducted a masterful three-pronged attack by two tanks (a Russian platoon-minus equivalent or half a Western tank platoon) and two infantry platoons.

The tanks, moving in and out of cover, engaged the Russian firing positions to draw the attention of and suppress the defenders. Shortly thereafter, artillery strikes on the fighting positions were combined with the delivery of smoke in front of the tanks. The tanks worked forwards, giving the impression that smoke was being used to cover the advance of infantry.

While the tanks fixed the attention of the defence, a platoon multiple of Ukrainian assault troops moved along the treeline to the east of the Russian fighting positions. From there, it began to lay down suppressing fire and advance in pairs. The action drew the attention of the defence, which now recognised a clear tactical play, with a fixing action to its front, and a major assault about to be launched against its flank. The Russian unit began to reposition to prepare for this attack and attempted to win the firefight to the east. Reinforcing the perception that it was about to be assaulted, the Ukrainian artillery then delivered a heavy salvo against the positions, signposting an imminent assault. The assault when it came did not materialise as the Russian defenders had envisaged. Instead, a platoon of assault troops, having infiltrated forwards along the western flank of the position then advanced rapidly, reaching the defensive positions that had been thinned out in anticipation of the assault to the east. Disorientated and fearing encirclement, the Russian troops began to withdraw towards Rivnopil, abandoning their communications equipment, and leaving five troops behind who were taken prisoner.
This attack was successful but only managed to get a platoon into the close against a company out of nearly a company’s worth of troops. About one-third of each attack managed to get in the close and at Novodarivka the COF was even while at the front edge of Rivnopil, the COF was unfavourable but the shock of being approached from unexpected direction made the Russians retreat. Still, the capture of both settlements took 2 weeks with the rate of advance approximately 700-1200 metres every three days, so you end up with about 400 m/day If you pull out ATP 5-0.2-1, Staff Reference Guide Volume I Unclassified Resources and look at Brigades and below rates of opposed advance ,the rate of advance against prepared defences and intense resistance (1:1 COF), in severely restricted terrains by dismounted troops, is about 0.1 km/hr. It works out to be pretty consistent with the observed rates of advance, assuming 4 hours of fighting/day and indeed about one Ukrainian company versus one Russian company in the close.
Let’s back up and remind ourselves that in this sector, there were three Ukrainian brigades versus 3 Russian companies in the first line. The two reinforcing Ukrainian brigades should be at relatively full strength and those two alone potentially had a 6:1 COF, assuming all can be committed to the fight. Adding the TDF brigade and the overall COF may perhaps be 6-9:1. Leaving 30-50% as reserves as still the overall COF for the first strikes should be at least 3:1 or 4:1, for “heavy” to “medium resistance” with a rate of advance of 0.3 – 0.5 km/h. These two settlements were part of a small salient which there were three parallel axes of advance, with two other ones. Approximately one Russian division was at this salient overall, and in the three brigade's sector there were possibly two more battalions behind Novodarivka and Rivnopil.
The actions at Novodarivka and Rivnopil as described by Walting weakened some of the arguments and reasons given for the Ukrainian Offensive achieving much less than it was hoped:
- “Russian minefields of greater depths, density, and triple stacked mines”. “Ukraine did not have sufficient MICLICs or other engineering vehicles”. The two UR-77 worked perfectly, none was taken out, and they created two lanes. Effectively, one BN had the breaching asset of an entire brigade.
- “Russian persistent ISR, drones, air superiority and helicopters”. "Ukraine cannot suppress Russian drones, helicopters, fighters, and bombers. Breaching is impossible when these Russian air assets are still breathing down the necks of Ukrainians.” During the attack on Novodarivka, one company column was shot up by a pair of tanks. Another column reacted to the appearance of another pair of tanks by speeding up, veering off the cleared lanes and into the minefield. It’s true that Ukraine could not suppress Russian forces, but it was the two tank platoon-minus that blew them up.
- “drones and how dangerous they are”. Note that despite all the talks about how dangerous drones are and how good they are at spotting tanks, four Russian tanks had been able to be effectively hidden and caused havoc among the attackers.
- “Attackers could not mass because of drones and ISR”. Russian fires did rain down on the attackers, but it was along the cleared lanes in the views of ground observers. The argument that drones and ISR are preventing brigades from sending more than a company at a time is somewhat weakened by the fact that the area allowed for the mech brigade to mass three companies, but the TDF brigade only send a company-minus group. The latter used their units well, though.
- “Western tactics doesn’t work”. Well, Ukrainian brigade allegedly trained in the West didn’t make it work. American brigades with officers trained through American system didn’t make it work at NTC. American regiment roleplaying a Russian motor rifle regiment employing Soviet tactics made it work (at NTC). Russian Army not using Soviet-era tactics (they were on the hybrid warfare thing and BTG, etc … back in 2022) couldn’t make it work in 2022. Americans made it work during Operation Desert Storm.
So most of what mystified me about the way Ukrainian brigade employed the forces have been answered. This issue is probably different from the American brigade’s issues of massing more than a company at the breach point. The brigade at Novodarivka was apparently stacking three battalions in a column, and three companies in a battalion in a column and feed one at a time towards a company-sized defence. What remains unclear for me in the first clash at Novodarivka was “who shot the SPG-9 that knocked out the pair of Russian tanks from the flank?”. Apparently, the two leading tanks in the column was ineffective at suppressing the Russian tanks. Were the SPG-9s part of the troops in MRAPs moving along the breach or were they part of an anti-tank unit overwatching the Russian positions from a support position to either side of the lane?
Finally, on the use of obscuration smoke:

Only 3% of Ukrainian artillery-fire missions are smoke missions. As demonstrated during the assault on the company position north of Rivnopil, smoke can be extremely useful in confusing the enemy ground force and obscuring assault actions. But smoke also has the effect of obscuring the view from UAVs which higher Ukrainian echelons and command posts use to coordinate activity and conduct combat management. Commanders persistently prioritise maintaining their own understanding of the battlefield over laying down smoke and concealing their personnel’s movements. Given the criticality of rapid application of artillery to support movement, this prioritisation is understandable, but it also reflects limitations in the ability of the brigade to trust tactical commanders to execute actions when not directed by high headquarters with greater situational awareness.

From the Seven habits:

Of the breach fundamentals—SOSRA—the most challenging may be obscuration. Mechanical smokers (wheeled or tracked smoke generators) rarely create the conditions necessary to allow maneuver formations to get into position to breach. Units rarely identify triggers to transition from artillery-delivered smoke to mechanical smoke and even to hand-emplaced smoke (smoke pots). This is one of the most critical components of the breaching operation that needs synchronization and rehearsal.

TTP: Expend all ammunition. Most units identify appropriate targets and triggers for artillery-delivered smoke. Fewer use mechanical smokers during the approach to the obstacle or at the breach. Very rarely do units employ smoke pots and smoke grenades at the breach—perhaps because it adds to what already is a complicated menu of tasks. Units fail to do so at their own peril. Assume someone is watching and use every available asset to create the necessary conditions for committing soldiers to and through the breach.
Finally, the Engineer article opines that a CAB operation is one that should be planned in details and well-rehearsed prior to execution. CAB is an “Orchestrated Ballet of Farm Implements”

Black Death: Cops are coming.
Cenghis Carnage: Leave it to Mother Russia. She makes ten times what we do.
Mother Russia: Fifty thousand a week, plus expenses. ​

Mother Russia

Mother Russia, or with her real name Katarina Dombrovski, is the secondary antagonist of made in 2013 black comedy superhero (not really) movie, Kick Ass 2. She was a former KGB agent who get sent to jail for an unknown reason and ate her cellmate alive. Javier, the bodyguard of Chris D'Amigo (also known as Red Mist for his superhero persona, and known as The Motherfucker for his supervillain persona) hires her for Chris' made up army of costumed criminals the Toxic-Mega Cunts. now serving The Motherfucker for protection against Kick-Ass and the answer for Hit-Girl. Also, rank as second-in-commander over the Toxic-Mega Cunts.
Allies: KGB (The agency she was member of; formerly), Chris D'Amico/Red Mist/The Motherfucker (Employer), Toxic-Mega Cunts Enemies: Hit-Girl, NYPD, Justice Forever)
Source Key:
All feats are from the movie Kick Ass 2. ​

Physicals

Strength
Striking Strength:

• Bumps to a cop with a police car door strong enough to lift the guy off his feet, than knocks out the same cop with a punch
• Puts Colonel Stars and Stripes into submission by kicking back of his leg
• Lifts Hit-Girl off ground with a shallow backhand to her face, Hurts Hit-Girl with her strikes, breaks the handle of Hit-Girl's double-bladed staff in two with her knee, sends Hit-Girl fly away several yards with a kick
  • Hit Girl Respect Thread
• Uses a man to hit Hit-Girl strong enough to stun her
• Blocks blows from Hit-Girl
  • Hit Girl Respect Thread

​
Striking Strength (Machete):

• Stabs through a cop
• Slashes back of Colonel's right leg, than stabs through his body
• Off-screen cuts Colonel's head off after snapping his neck
• Pins her machete to a glass table

Physical Strength:

• Can do pull-ups
• Stops a shaking car with her foot
• Throws a gas clynder several meters away, through a police car window
• Rips a police car door off it's hinges clean, runs meanwhile holding the car door in front of her so it could protect it from bullets, than throws it to a cop's face with enough force to kill him
• Flips a cop with one hand, than snaps an another cop's neck between her legs
• Snaps Colonel's neck between her legs
• Stops Hit Girl's arm from attacking her
  • Hit Girl Respect Thread
• Takes a man captive, spins Hit-Girl in air
• Lifts Hit-Girl into the air, than throws her through a glass table
• Chokeholds Hit-Girl between her right leg

​
Durability
Blunt Force:

• Headbutts againist Colonel's punch; this causes Colonel to damage his fist meanwhile her head doesn't even move from the punch
• Tanks getting kicked in the stomach by Hit-Girl, tanks getting punched in the wrist multiple times by Hit-Girl (i already posted Hit-Girl's RT like 3 times, i won't gonna post it again)
• Takes hits from adrenaline-injected Hit-Girl, but this hurts her

Piercing Damage:

• Dies several seconds after getting stabbed and slashed with several different glass shards by adrenaline-injected Hit-Girl

​
Speed
Reactions/Combat:

• Kicks a cop's shotgun before he reacts than redirects an another cop's handgun and make him shot the leg of cop with the shotgun
• Dodges attacks from Hit-Girl and hits her before she reacts
• Blocks thrown knives by Hit-Girl, blocks Hit-Girl's blows ​ ***

Equipments

​
Weapons: * Has a machete
​
Armor: * Has armor on her wrists, which are durable enough to block knives thrown from Hit-Girl ​

Other

Intelligence:

• Puts a cigarette to a gas clynder, than throws it to a police car, causing an explosion in it
• Activates a lawnmover, puts it on the back of a police car, enters inside of the police car, than drives the said car to the back, bumps on the front upcoming police car, which causes lawnmover on the back of the car Mother Russia drives to launched on the cops, killing them
• Is aware that Colonel is just bluffig and won't really gonna shoot her
• Takes one of the guys from Hit-Girl's team as a captive so she won't gonna try to shoot her

​
Skill: * Shoots down two cops multiple times through their car from several meters with a glock using it one handed * Climbs up to the top of a police car without making a sound when the cops weren't looking at the car
​
Other: * Was a former KGB agent * Literally did all of this shit meanwhile being on heels and one of her eyes were covered

Duke stepped into the market and was immediately surrounded by armed guards. They looked like what he’d expect from palace guards in some epic fantasy movie. They had on what seemed to be some variation of medieval era English armor and carried very European looking longswords. They were very out of place in the market where everything as far as he had observed had a very African theme but he didn’t have time to notice or worry about all that. His most pressing issue at the moment was that he couldn’t tell what race they were or what level of power they were at – it seemed his latest power had some limits.
As he could not determine anything about them, he came to the logical conclusion that they must have been mind-bogglingly powerful. Why else would his power not work? And this was his conclusion despite not even fully knowing what his power was or how it worked. Hell, he wasn’t sure he knew how anything worked right now but he’d figure it out after surviving this encounter. The prospects of that were looking slimmer as one of his assailants raised a sword above his head and brought it down.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I flinch instinctively cowering behind my hand as if it would offer any protection from a sword – come to think of it, it just might given some of the latest revelations. I braced myself for the blow that never came. After what had to have been a full minute crouched behind my arm, I became aware of the sound of feet rushing hurriedly away from my position almost as soon as I became aware of another’s presence right in front of me.
I looked up to see a beautiful woman with a slight resemblance to Dellia wielding a sword and standing protectively in front of me. The armored fighters from before were nowhere to be seen as the woman turned to face me fully and gasped while staring at my shoulder.
“My goodness, you’re hurt!” She exclaimed, kneeling to tend to the wound I had just now noticed. It was a rather long but shallow cut stretching from my collarbone to my left shoulder. The wound was shocking to me not only because I had never sustained one before – a fact which I attributed to dumb luck until very recently – but also because I hadn’t felt it being inflicted, you’d think my first wound would feel a bit more … more I guess? As it was all it did was sting a slight bit like some bruises I’d gotten in the past.
Feel pain once, felt it all I guess. It didn’t feel particularly like anything to be worried about.
My beautiful savior seemed to think otherwise though. She fussed over my shoulder, patting it with a cloth to mop up the blood which surprisingly didn’t sting one bit. So far, this was nothing like movies suggested wounds would be.
“There.” She said, throwing the cloth onto the floor. “It’s clean. Now take this.” She offered to me what looked for all the world like a paracetamol tablet. I looked at it skeptically, still unsure what to make of this angelic looking being and the unknown drug in her hand.
Perhaps sensing my uneasiness, she quickly gave me a reassuring smile. “Medicine for the wound.” She brought the white orb closer to my mouth. “It’ll help you heal.”
I probably shouldn’t have trusted her, but she’d just saved my life and even more than that, something just made me feel like I could trust her. Like there was this aura that she had that told me she wouldn’t hurt me. She was a nice person, it was a fact I knew somewhere in the back of my mind.
So I took the pill from her hand and swallowed. It had a sweet, honey-like taste as it went down. I didn’t feel any magic working through me or anything like that but I watched as my wound faded from existence, just blowing off like smoke in wind, the slight pain there was going with it.
“Good, good. It worked just like I thought it would.” The woman nodded and I could see relief flooding into her features. I almost felt embarrassed at seeing this ethereally beautiful woman worried over his wellbeing despite meeting me just moments ago. But only almost.
Shameless flirt that I was, I had prepared to very unsubtly pepper the beauty with advances when she shot up straight startling me.
“You’re not safe here, come with me.” She said with an arm outstretched to help me to my feet.
Though I was very much inclined to go with her, I still wanted answers to the questions I had and I was unsure she could provide those.
“Uuuum… I would love to. Really, I would. It’s just that I’m here looking for something and I can’t afford any detours.” Turning away from her to face the busy market, I noted all the people going about their business without even sparing a glance in our direction – odd that – I realized I didn’t know where to start searching.
I scratched my head dumbly, my face in a look of confusion and uncertainty before saying with a great deal less confidence than before. “I actually don’t even really know what – or who – I’m looking for. To say nothing of where to actually look.”
I briefly considered asking for her help, but to do that, I’d need to tell her who I was when I wasn’t even fully sure myself and I had completely no idea how she would react to me being a ‘chosen one’.
I eventually thought better of the idea and prepared to venture forward on my own however risky that might have been. “Thank you for your help.” I said to the woman without looking back at her “but I have to get going. Goodbye.” I idly waved my hand over my back.
Her next words however, stopped me in my tracks.
“You seek the truth of who you are, right chosen one?” I wheeled about immediately, a shocked look on my face.
“Yes, I know what you are.” She said with a small nod. “Did you believe I came to your aid merely out of a good heart?” an unreadable smile played on her lips at that. It was gone as quickly as it appeared.
“If it is answers you seek, I can provide those aplenty but not here. Follow me.” With that she picked her sword off the ground and began walking off. This time, I followed behind her without a second thought.
“H-hey wait up!!” I called after the surprisingly fast paced woman while jogging lightly to meet up with her. “Where are we going?”
“A safe place where all will be revealed.” The woman said with the same reassuring tone as most of her previous speech. She even turned back to flash me a kind smile.
It was right then as she smiled at me that it happened for the first time. She…. for lack of a better word, glitched. It wasn’t a physical thing per se. She looked entirely the same, but for some reason she was completely different to the lady who had saved me. It was like her aura had shifted and I could literally see that aura as a physical – yet still very not physical – thing. At the very least, my brain seemed to be telling me something.
Not that I could figure out what when the glitch was blink-of-an-eye fast. It had made my smile fade for a bit though and my guide frowned at that. “Is everything alright? What’s wrong?”
“Oh, it’s nothing, nothing at all.” I masked my confusion with a chuckle and quickly changed the topic. “So, what’s your name, or should I just call you beautiful?” I sent a pickup line so cheesy it was probably a good pizza topping her way, just a light attempt at a joke.
“If you want.” That was not the answer I expected. “I don’t exactly have a name.”
“No name? How come?” I wasn’t just trying to make conversation either, I was genuinely curious.
“Oh well.” my guide seemed used to sharing about her past and dived into what seemed like a well-practiced speech. “Well, I think I used to be a warrior of some sort….”
I honestly don’t remember the rest of her speech as I was too busy noticing little details like how she kept fiddling with the belt around her waist that held her sword like she wasn’t used to the weight or how all the gear she wore seemed way too new to have belonged to an experienced warrior. Then there was that glitching aura feeling. It was all so weird.
“… and this was around the time when your parents found me.” I was pulled back to reality by that last statement.
“When my what?” I asked probably far louder than I needed to. I looked around to make sure I hadn’t grabbed any attention only to notice we were alone and just about going into a dead-end. When had that happened?
“Your parents.” She answered my question with the same words as though she couldn’t understand why I was surprised. “They found me when I was wandering lost and gave me a home in their kingdom.”
“Their kingdom?” I didn’t remember much of his parents but I definitely didn’t think they were any kind of royalty.
“Yes, of course. Their hidden kingdom, an act of rebellion from their own oppressive parents. The same kingdom we’re headed right now to meet them.” She looked at me right now with real concern.
Headed to their kingdom to meet them? How was I to believe that? I’d been told they died when I was only a child… but then again, what reason did I have not to believe they were still alive? Wouldn’t be the most surprising revelation of recent.
I was about to ask her how quickly we can get to them so I can finally meet my parents again when I was hit with the most intense pain in my head. The sensation made me double over while clutching my temples and screaming. I was suddenly filled with the knowledge that my parents were most certainly without a doubt dead and whoever the woman now shaking my shoulders was, she was lying through her teeth.
I don’t know how I knew, but I knew for certain. This feeling was too overwhelming to ignore. It felt almost like an instinct even, an age-old instinct.
I pulled myself out of the grip of the lying witch – not quite full witch I corrected myself. How I knew that was nowhere near as important as how to survive this encounter.
Seeing what Dellia and Ameh could do, I doubted I could face off against a warrior version of them and come out untop.
“Prince Duke please.” The woman begged, her hand on the hilt of her sword. “You need to come with me now. I won’t hesitate to use force.” While her voiced sounded firm, her body language seemed to imply she actually was unwilling to get into a fight with me, which gave me some boldness.
“I’m not going anywhere with you sweetheart.” I said almost condescendingly and tightened my hand into fists. “I guess you have to use force now.” I smiled, calling her bluff, which was an even bigger bluff on my part.
At that, she removed her sword from its sheath and swung at me with very little of what would be expected of a trained warrior. Her swing was very slow and she handled the sword like it was too heavy for her. Not only was I able to dodge her swing despite being so close, but she actually let her entire body follow her sword as the swing came down.
I had watched enough movies to know she wasn’t a fighter. I took my chance while she had her side turned to me and pushed her to knock her off balance before making a run for it.
I ran without looking back and drew the symbol for the gate as soon as I reached a wall. I fell through and into Dr. Berie’s compound collapsing to catch my breath. I had no idea what had just happened and I wasn’t about to tell the doctor so I suppose I would never get any real answers on that front.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back in the market, the girl without a name sighed as she picked up the sword she had been burdened with. It was heavy.
She wasn’t one for weapons especially not any so ungainly. She’d known it was useless in her hands all along as did her betters, but she had needed it to play the valiant defender.
The plan had still failed of course, just had she had told her betters it would. Oh, sure it had been much easier than it should have been all things considered. For a chosen one, Duke was rather susceptible to illusionry. From the fake warriors to the wound and even her calming aura, it had worked wondrously.
She had been worried when he didn’t so much as wince at what was supposedly a rather large injury to his self but now she realized that was nothing more than his nature. Never truly hurt, the spell had few memories of any real pain to pull from.
No matter, he’d taken the pill all the same and that was most important. Of course she wouldn’t have needed it if she’d never mentioned his parents. She had suspected what would happen when she did but she was ordered to do so and so she did.
Her betters had thought it would help bring him in more smoothly. When she voiced her disagreement, she was shot down, she dared not broach the topic a second time. Not now, she was so close to earning back her right to a name. Shhe only needed a few more successes.
She hoped this counted as a success. After all, she had implanted her failsafe right from the start and while his physical body was ideal for appearances, it was his spirit that was really needed.
Yes, she expected this to work out well in their favor. She smiled and walked into the portal back home.
​
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Is there any law prohibiting smoking outside at a residence within a certain distance of an entryway to the house/apt in Massachusetts? For example a tenant smoking outside and near a door or vent to a another unit that creates smoke inside another unit? Or as a homeowner renting the units on the property allow tenants to smoke anywhere on the property wherever they please as it’s private property and the homeowner makes the rules for their property?

Me and my family used to live in a two-floored house. The second floor was made of wood while the first floor had been cemented down. However, I didn't quite understand at first why it was built this way (this was abroad) as a 7-year-old I didn't pay much mind to it. At the time it had only been me, my older sister, and a maid since my parents were both working at the time and would often come home late at night. We had spent most of the day in the downstairs area playing with toys when my older sister asked me to go with her to the second floor. We had never been up there because my parents had given specific instructions not to venture up there without them but knowing my stubborn sister and her curiosity she would go up there with or without me. I was reluctant at first since I was the scaredy cat out of the both of us but she eventually persuaded me. Our made was busy washing dishes at the time she didn't notice that we had left the living room to head up to the second floor. On our way up there the floors were already creaking and you could smell that it was "old". When we saw the second floor it had looked like time had stopped and we were in a different period.
The second floor seemed untouched. There was a rocking chair to the side of the room next to a window and crib a few feet away as well as a small cabinet. From the looks of it, it had obviously been a nursery. We started to look around as my sister walked over to try the rocking chair then checked the crib. A few minutes had passed and I had noticed my sister hadn't moved from where she stood. I walked up to her to see what was going on. She had been staring at was seemed like a large brown stain in the middle of a crib. As she went in to touch it I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck begin to stand up. I felt this surge of panic and grabbed my sister by the collar and dragged her right out of there. I didnt know what it was that made me make a run for it while O dragged my sister with me but something about the crib made me feel incredibly off and only heightened when my sister went to touch it.
That night as we ate dinner I confessed to my parents that we had explored the second floor despite being told not to and was scolded as we ate. After everything had calmed down I asked my mom why we were prohibited for being up there since we were only going to live in the house for a couple months before we would eventually move out to our permanent home. We asked the owner the following day over the phone. Turns out the owner of the house had lost her daugher and grandchild in this same house on the second floor. She had come home to her psychotic husband who had smothered their baby with a blanket because she wouldn't stop crying. As her daughter went to get her husband out of the way to grab her baby he had been caught off guard and had elbowed her in the face causing her to hit her head hard onto the floor. Her daughter and grandchild didn't survive the incident and the husband was put in jail. The owner hadn't moved anything in on the second floor since the incident saying she felt something was up there that felt angry since her daughter and grandchild's death. She had wanted to get the house renovated and have the second floor destroyed to turn it into a one floor home to hopefully be able to rent it out which is why she had hired my parents allowed us to temporarily live here but had strict instructions not to go to the second floor but wouldn't disclose what happened as it drove people away.
Needless to say we left that house earlier than the agreed stay and haven't been back there since.

[PWYW] Red Mask Inn: a scalable horror one-shot (levels 1-10)
This is my favorite thing I've written so far. My players who play-tested the adventure had a blast so I hope you all will enjoy it as well.
Upon entering a seemingly innocuous tavern, players quickly realize it’s not the refuge they expected. The innkeeper and his ‘daughter,’ the serving girl, are not what they seem. Beneath their facades lie malevolent beings with a taste for their guests. Facing both mental and physical trials, the players must outwit these monsters before they become the evening’s special.
The players will start their ordeal facing terrifying nightmares. Upon awakening, they must navigate a series of horror-themed rooms intended to weaken them before the ultimate showdown with the “hosts.” Victory over them will not be the end, as they must then escape the crumbling pocket dimension in which they’re trapped.
This module can serve as a standalone one-shot adventure or seamlessly integrate into an ongoing campaign. It’s adaptable to any location or setting and offers scalability for various levels. While the default tone leans toward the darker side, feel free to adjust it to suit your campaign’s ambiance.
This adventure may last between 3 to 6 hours, varying based on the extent to which you utilize the module’s content and your players’ decisions.
Includes:

• 10 nightmares for your PCs
• 10 horrifying rooms
• An epic showdown with an action-oriented final boss "Red Mask" as well as his companion "The Hunger".
• Instructions for scaling the adventure.
• Helpful DM tips that will make prep and running a breeze
• 3 battle maps created in Inkarnate
• Custom Monster stat blocks and tokens

Art attribution:

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mask_(Tragedy_comedy)_(2768529820).jpg
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dunwich_Horror_-_Wilbur_Whateley%27s_twin_by_Reuben_C._Dodd.jpg
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Potions_Classroom_(47307949392).jpg
• https://www.deviantart.com/abandonedfalcon/art/Meet-me-at-the-bar-888760727
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cincinnati_-_Spring_Grove_Cemetery_%26_Arboretum_-_Weeping_Angel_statue.jpg
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fortezza_Verrucole_Archeopark_interno.jpg
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eastern_state_peniteniary,_13_(14107969638).jpg
• https://www.flickr.com/photos/shando_/9875265043/
• https://www.flickr.com/photos/diegopianarosa/16339757676/
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ghost_reveries_-_Flickr_-_kr428.jpg
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WeirdTalesv42n04pg006_Tell_Your_Fortune.png
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WeirdTalesv42n4pg075_At_the_End_of_the_Corridor.png

Created in homebrewery

Previous Work:

• The Library - Level 3 one-shot (Easy for New DMs and New Players to learn)
• Project: Fragmentation (Rogue-like, PWYW)

What other DM's have said:

• Tossed this lil adventure in our D&D world and the players had a blast with all the twists and turns. As a DM I enjoyed the fact that it was well written and easy to run, I didn't have to flip through a lot of mess to run it like I've had to do on some other adventures. Highly recommended. -Jason T via DMsGuild
  
• Incorporated this last night into our campaign and had a blast. Biggest hits were the dream sequences, the library lore, bar potions, and the dynamic of having a family of commoners to protect. Players were also impressed with the lair and villain actions. I would recommend this to other DMs as it was easy to prep for, fairly simple to run, and the party had fun! -Ty R via DMsGuild
  
• I gave my party trauma and trust issues with this one! It was great time! Chibi_Disaster
  

Preview

Adding what I could fit into this post - had to cut some info to fit into the limit:

NPCs

• Redd Traskin - At first glance: The welcoming face behind the bar, always ready with a drink and a story about his culinary adventures. Lurking beneath is a creature known as Red Mask: a malevolent being who ensnares victims with harrowing dreams, rendering them helpless before he claims and cooks them.
• Nara Traskin - On the surface a seemingly aloof barmaid, introduced as Redd's "daughter", with a penchant for keeping to herself and often notably reserved. But beneath that exterior she is The Hunger, a fearsome entity with a singular, overpowering mission: to satiate her eternal appetite.
• (Optional) Other guests - a young couple with a child
  
  • Brent Haskill (26) - Husband of the young couple, blacksmith, friendly, introverted
  • Raida Haskill (25) - Wife of the young couple, leatherworker, gregarious, warm
  • Breeni Haskill (7) - Daughter

Scaling the Adventure

Effect & Trap Damage

Level	Light Damage	Medium Damage	Serious Damage
1	1d4+1 (3)	1d6+2 (5)	1d10+2 (7)
2	1d6+2 (5)	1d8+3 (7)	2d6+3 (10)
3	1d8+2 (6)	2d6+3 (10)	2d8+4 (13)
4	1d10+2 (7)	2d8+3 (12)	3d6+5 (16)
5	1d10+3 (8)	2d10+3 (14)	3d8+5 (19)
6	2d6+3 (10)	3d6+4 (17)	4d6+6 (20)
7	2d6+4 (11)	3d8+4 (18)	4d8+6 (24)
8	2d8+4 (13)	3d10+4 (20)	5d6+7 (27)
9	2d10+4 (15)	4d6+5 (19)	5d8+7 (31)
10	3d6+5 (16)	4d8+5 (23)	6d8+8 (35)

DCs

Level	Easy	Medium	Hard
1-3	10	14	18
4-6	12	16	20
7-10	14	18	22

The Inn at the Cross Roads

At the crossroads, a quaint inn catches your eye. Its simple two-story structure, with walls of weathered wood and a stone base, exudes a rustic charm. A single horse is tethered to a wagon nearby, hinting at the presence of other travelers.
A wooden sign, hand-carved and swinging in the evening breeze, reads "Red Mask Inn" in neatly scrolled letters. Below the name are two theatrical masks, the smiling Comedy and crying Tragedy.

DM Notes

For a one-shot adventure, consider giving the one-shot a different name than "Red Mask Inn" to serve as a red herring. Whether you're running a campaign or a one-shot, you can utilize the classic trope of the characters either meeting at the inn or using it as a place to rest and gather information.
Describe the inn as an unassuming, typical roadside establishment, creating an atmosphere of a routine stop for travelers. In a campaign, it's ideal to introduce this inn after the group has already faced some encounters in the days before. This timing helps to set the stage for what follows, making the inn seem like a normal, much-needed, resting point in their journey.

Inside the inn

As you push open the creaky door of the Red Mask Inn, you're greeted by the comforting warmth of a crackling fireplace and the rich aroma of hearty stew. The inn's interior is cozy, with wooden beams and a few round tables scattered across the room.
Behind the bar stands Redd Traskin, the owner and bartender of the inn. He's a robust man with a warm smile, busy polishing glasses but always ready to strike up a conversation. As you approach, he greets you with a jovial voice, "Welcome, travelers! You must be famished. Our stew today is particularly good, made with fresh herbs from the garden!"
Moving between the tables with a tray in hand is Nara, Redd’s daughter. She seems to be in her own world, efficiently serving patrons but with a distant look in her eyes. If players attempt to interact with her, she responds politely but briefly, maintaining a professional distance.
Seated at a corner table is a young couple with their child. The man, Brent Haskill, has the sturdy build of a blacksmith, while his wife, Raida, radiates warmth and friendliness. Their daughter, Breeni, is a bundle of energy, her eyes wide with curiosity as she looks around the inn. Breeni seems particularly interested in the adventurers, especially if there's a female-presenting member or someone who looks like a seasoned adventurer in the group. This presents a great opportunity for roleplaying and helps to engage the players with these NPCs.

Going to bed

Each room costs 3 sp per night. If your players are cautious, they may decide to set a watch. Ask for the watch order. For the first person on watch: if they ate or drank at the inn, they must make a CON saving throw against the HARD DC ___. Failure results in them falling asleep during their watch.
After some time if a player is not asleep because they (1) did not eat or drink at the inn, (2) succeeded on their Constitution saving throw, or (3) are immune to magical sleep (e.g. due to a feature like Fey Ancestry), they notice something peculiar. The lights in the tavern, if any were lit, suddenly dim, and the normal nighttime sounds from outside the tavern abruptly stop.
This player may try to help wake up the other players as they have their nightmares (see next section). This gives the players advantage on their saving throws.

Dreadful Reveries

Party members who fall asleep will experience nightmares. You can create unique nightmares (plumb your player's back stories or campaign events for ideas) or use the provided list for inspiration. Each dream culminates in a save attempt, allowing players to choose between a WIS, INT, or CHA saving throw, depending on their character's mental strengths. End each nightmare description with "Roll a mental save using your preferred stat." If they fail to wake up, they suffer LIGHT, or MEDIUM if they fail the check by more than 5, non-lethal psychic damage. If they roll a Natural 1 on their save, they gain one level of exhaustion. Either way on a failed save they slip into another dream. The initial save DC is set at HARD and should decrease by one level for each subsequent attempt. It is recommended to do not more than 3 nightmares. If another character is attempting to wake them or if they have abilities that aid in resisting mental effects, they may make the save with advantage.

Nightmares

1. It's night. You are running through the woods. Brambles and thorns rip at your skin. Something is chasing you, and it's gaining. You hear it coming closer and closer. You stumble, fall, and it's on your back, ready to strike…
2. You are on a ledge of a narrow cliff. The wind howls, and the rain buffets you. Lightning briefly illuminates the world, revealing jagged rocks hundreds of feet below. Your foot slips, your fingers lose their grip. You begin to fall…
3. [Not for characters with water breathing] You are underwater. Seaweed tangles around your legs and feet as you try to orient yourself. There is no up, no down. Your lungs burn, and when you can no longer hold your breath, brackish, dirty water rushes down your throat…
4. You are in a coffin. You don't know how long you've been here. You push up on the lid but the weight of the dirt above renders your effort futile. Your fingers bleed as you scratch through the wood, trying to reach the freshly dug earth. The air grows heavier, and you feel yourself slipping away…
5. The stars above are beautiful. You try to keep fear at bay, hoping your ship will return. But deep down, you know they won't find you in the vast, uncaring ocean. As you hear a splash to your right, you turn to glimpse a notched fin that was heading in your direction submerge under the water...
6. The reflection in the mirror isn't you. You chant this mantra, yet the creature in the glass tilts its head mockingly and whispers, “No, not you. Not yet!” Its gnarled hands creep forward, attempting to breach the barrier of the silvered glass...
7. The cave-in is a minor setback. You've found an exit after an hour. A set of hand-holds lead up towards the surface. In your haste, you squeeze through a narrow ledge. Suddenly, you're stuck, the pressure on your chest blurring your vision and clouding your mind, fresh air just out of reach…
8. You walk through city streets, unnoticed by the teeming crowd. A growing sense of wrongness intensifies as the figures turn toward you. You only have a moment to dread as you see their faceless heads, when they all then converge on you as one…
9. After leaving the warm tent, the cold seemed bearable. But a stinging wind and swirling snow soon disorient you. It feels warmer; you shed layers, mistaking deadly cold for heat. You stumble into the soft snow, deciding to rest, just for a minute…
10. It's twilight in the woods. A dead tree in a clearing, covered in birds, crows or ravens, hard to tell. More cawing, flapping wings, and suddenly, the birds take flight, sharp beaks and claws going for your eyes…

Players Awaken

Once all the players awaken, they will likely attempt to figure out their situation. Should they look out the window, they will see the outside world; however, this view is merely an illusion. Efforts to break through walls, floors, and ceilings will prove futile. Furthermore, utilizing teleportation magic, such as dimension door and plane shift, appears ineffective, except for local effects like misty step or dimension door to a visible location.
Upon opening the door, the players will discover themselves in a long corridor, extending hundreds of feet. The only doors in this corridor are those leading to the PCs' rooms, the room of a young couple, and a black door at the far end of the hallway. Horrified moans and screams emanate from the young couple’s room. If the players choose to intervene and break in, they will find the couple and their daughter inside, all of whom are also experiencing nightmares and can be awakened by the players.
As the PCs make their way down the hallway, they come across a collection of strikingly realistic portraits. Each one captures a different being - humans, dragonborn, gnomes, and more - from a wide spectrum of ages, genders, and races. The subjects are dressed in everything from opulent clothes to plain rags, and some are even armored, weapons in hand. But there's one unsettling similarity across all these portraits: every face is frozen in an expression of sheer terror.
At the end of the hallway, they find the black door, which is unlocked.

Rooms

Upon entering, the PCs have a series of rooms you will guide them through. You can either craft your own rooms or use those included in this adventure. Players might attempt to take a Short Rest in some rooms, and it's up to you whether to allow it or not. You want the PCs battered, but not spent for the final confrontation. If you choose to deny them the rest, narrate psychic pressure to move out of the room - leading to psychic damage on refusal.

The Library

As the party steps into a dimly lit room, they're surrounded by towering bookshelves. The books around them seem to be whispering secrets of forbidden knowledge. Each player needs to make a MEDIUM WIS saving throw to avoid taking MEDIUM non-lethal psychic damage from the eldritch knowledge trying to worm into their brain, with the damage halved if they succeed. Those players naturally drawn to knowledge, like Wizards and Bards, will find this more challenging and must make the throw at a disadvantage. Meanwhile, those less inclined towards books, like Barbarians or Fighters, will have advantage. It's up to you as the DM to decide these advantages and disadvantages based on your characters' proclivities.

DM Notes

• Use this section as a chance to weave in some of your world's lore. It's a perfect opportunity for players to uncover hidden aspects of your campaign's universe.
• While the books in this room can be physically taken, to avoid players hoarding countless volumes, consider describing how some books disintegrate into ash as soon as they're opened.

The Memory Gallery

In this sparsely furnished room, the walls are adorned with striking paintings of landscapes, ranging from mountain vistas to sunsets over the ocean, and serene forest clearings. As the PCs explore these paintings, focus on one PC and bring a distressing memory from their backstory to life, using the painting they are viewing as the backdrop. This scene then animates before the players. The PC at the center of this memory is faced with a HARD WIS saving throw, with the risk of taking SERIOUS non-lethal psychic damage upon failure, or half the damage if they succeed. Meanwhile, other PCs witnessing this scene must make an EASY WIS save to avoid LIGHT non-lethal psychic damage, suffering no damage on a successful save. Breeni’s past interactions with the affected PC could play a role here. Breeni may hug the PC, granting them advantage on their saving throw.

The Mirror Chamber

In the mirror chamber, walls lined with ornate, grimy mirrors reflect distorted and grotesque images of the adventurers. The air is thick, filled with the unsettling scent of iron and decay. Suddenly, their reflections lunge out of the glass, materializing into tangible, malevolent doppelgängers that attack, forcing the party to confront twisted versions of themselves.
Choose a character's favorite or iconic attack or spell and use it against each player. A single hit on the mirror version or the mirror itself is enough to destroy it.

The Dining Hall

The long wooden table is laden with rotting food: fruit covered in mold, meat moving with maggots, and bread so stale it looks fossilized, all set among goblets filled with a murky, clotting liquid that might have once been wine. Nearby, a platter holds what appears to be a human hand, its skin cooked to a crisp and its fingernails garnished with sprigs of wilted herbs. The foul stench of decay and spoiled meat permeates the room, mingling with the unsettling, almost palpable aura of dread. Players must make a MEDIUM CON saving throw. On a failure, gain the poisoned condition, lasting for 1d4 rooms.

The Hospital Room

Several linen-covered beds on the far side of the room are splattered with dried blood. Bone saws with jagged teeth and other cruel implements are neatly arranged on a side table, gleaming ominously in the torchlight. Drawers with various medical supplies are left half-closed. Several vials labeled as "Healing Potions" sit on a nearby shelf. A MEDIUM Arcana or Medicine check will determine these are actually poison (1d4+1 poison damage). The party may choose to remain here and use some of the supplies to heal up - can be used as a Short Rest opportunity.

The Bathroom

A decrepit wooden bathtub sits in the corner, filled with a stagnant, dark liquid that occasionally bubbles as if something lurks beneath the surface. Next to the bathtub, a stone toilet fixture stands as if hewn directly from the chamber's walls, its bowl filled with an unidentifiable, viscous substance that seems to churn of its own accord. Faint, grotesque sketches are etched into the stone around the toilet, depicting unsettling scenes that make you question the sanity of previous occupants. Blood spatters mar the cracked tiles, leading to a cracked tarnished mirror that reflects a distorted image of anyone who dares to look.
If anyone gets within 5 ft of the bathtub, tentacles will try to grapple them (MEDIUM Escape DC). The tentacles will also deal MEDIUM amount of bludgeoning damage on a successful grapple. Any damage to the tentacles (AC 12) will release the PC.

The Greenhouse

The greenhouse is a labyrinth of overgrown, twisted plants, their leaves unnaturally dark and thorns menacingly sharp. A misty, almost phosphorescent fog hangs low, casting a sickly green glow over everything, and making it hard to see what lurks in the corners. Amongst the flora, the party can spot several cages containing withered remains of animals and, disturbingly, a few humanoid shapes — all twisted in expressions of agony, as if the plants themselves had consumed them.
Monster encounter, balance for your party:

Level Range	Monster
1-3	Twig Blight (MM 32)
	Needle Blight (MM 32)
	Vine Blight (MM 32)
4-6	Shambling Mound (MM 270)
	Wood Woad (VGtM 198)
	Yellow Musk Creeper (TftYP 248)
	Animated Tree (VGtM 207)
	Assassin Vine (MM 22)
7-10	Corpse Flower (MToF 127)
	Tree Blight (CoS 230)

To make things more difficult for the players, you can also add an additional MEDIUM CON saving throw against the fog's effects, with the players taking LIGHT poison damage on failure. Altering the number of monsters is another effective method for adjusting the challenge level. Additionally, if you're looking to incorporate different types of monsters, don't hesitate to use homebrew or reflavored monsters.

The Bar

The barroom is dimly lit by tarnished chandeliers that cast ghostly flickers across worn wooden floorboards. A long, decaying bar counter dominates one side of the room. Its surface is stained and pockmarked, lined with bottles containing strange, discolored liquids. The stools around the bar are unsteady, emitting ominous creaks under the slightest pressure. Notably, one stool bears an unsettling stain, reminiscent of dried blood.
If players choose to consume any of the bottles, roll on the table below to determine the effects. Generally, it's not recommended to allow more than one potion per player (drinking more than one results in vomiting). If an effect doesn't apply to a character, or another player already drank the potion rolled, roll again. The effects last until the end of the adventure. A MEDIUM DC Alchemist Tools, Herbalist Kit or Arcana Check will reveal the properties of the potions. An EASY DC check may reveal partial properties.

#	Name	Liquid Description		Effect Description
1	Reckless Fury	A swirling red potion with fiery sparks.		[Primary Melee Classes] Every melee attack is treated as reckless (attack is rolled with Advantage, but any attack against the player is rolled with Advantage as well until their turn).
2	Luck be a lady tonight	A two-layered liquid, gold over silver.		Grants inspiration to the player, and GM gets to force disadvantage at a time of their choosing.
3	Unstable Teleport	A misty, shifting blue and gray potion.		Gain the ability to cast the Misty Step spell at will. Roll 1d20 for uncertain destination, appearing in a location of DM's choice on 1-10.
4	Size Shift	A violet fluid with bubbles.		Changes creature size from Medium to Small. No effect on Small creatures.
5	Spell Rejuvenation	A glowing, pulsating emerald drink.		[Primary Spellcaster Classes] Restores one highest level spent spell slot but causes causes one level of exhaustion.
6	Speed Surge	A quicksilver potion with streaks of lightning.		Doubles speed but causes jitteriness, disadvantage on Dexterity checks and saves.
7	Painful Retaliation	A dark crimson liquid with a thorny vine motif.		As a bonus action you can choose to harm a creature at will, causing MEDIUM psychic damage, but take half the damage yourself.
8	Statue Defense	A solid gray potion with flecks of stone.		As a reaction to taking damage, you can choose to become an invulnerable statue to negate the triggering damage. You are invulnerable and petrified until the end of your next turn.
9	Charge of the Bull	A red potion with a swirling vortex.		Gain a powerful charge attack: If you can move at least 10ft in a straight line, you can make an attack. If the attack hits, it is treated as a critical hit, and the target is knocked prone. If the attack misses, the player takes MEDIUM bludgeoning damage, is knocked prone, and lands 10 feet past the target.
10	Clumsy Might	A creamy potion with bubbles.		Advantage on Strength checks and saves but disadvantage on Dexterity-based tasks.

The Stalking Statues

The room is a vast, dimly-lit chamber with four stone statues positioned in various states of distress; their faces contorted in silent screams or buried in their hands as if weeping. The flickering light from a dying chandelier dances across their features, casting ominous shadows that seem to move. Describe the chandelier as flickering in and out. In the darkness, the statues seem to move closer and closer.
You can treat this room narratively to unsettle the players, or turn it into an encounter. For an encounter, roll initiative (the statues always act at the end of the initiative order, and only on rounds when the lights are out). Every other round, either cover the map if playing in person, switch to a blank map on a VTT, or, if using theater of the mind, simply narrate the lights going out. The statues can only move in darkness, which is magical. Some players may have the ability to see through magical darkness. In such cases, the movement of the statues is visible to those players. Players who cannot see in the darkness can move but must declare their directions and distances. The door at the end of the room is unlocked when all statues are destroyed or by using the Knock spell.

Stalking Statues

Medium Construct, neutral evil
Armor Class :: 18 (natural armor) Hit Points :: 3 MEDIUM hits Speed :: 20 ft (can move only in darkness)

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
14 (+2)	11 (+0)	13 (+1)	1 (-5)	3 (-4)	1 (-5)

Damage Immunities :: poison, psychic Condition Immunities :: blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned Senses :: Blindsight 60 ft. Languages :: None
Antimagic Susceptibility. The statue is incapacitated while in the area of an antimagic field. If targeted by dispel magic, the statue must succeed on a CON saving throw against the caster's spell save DC or fall unconscious for 1 minute. : False Appearance. While the statue remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from a normal statue. : Dark Step. The statue can only move in darkness. It moves silently. It may not take the dash action. All attacks automatically hit.

Actions

Multiattack. The statue makes two melee attacks if the APL is 4+, and three melee attacks if the APL is 7+. : Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: automatically hits, reach 5ft., one target. Hit MEDIUM bludgeoning damage. : Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: automatically hits, reach 5ft., one target. Hit MEDIUM piercing damage. : Grapple. Roll Contested Athletics vs Atheltics or Acrobatics. The statue rolls with Advantage. Reach 5ft., one target. MEDIUM escape DC to break free.

Final Confrontation

Suggested flavor text - read in your own voice / tone: : You walk through the door to find yourself in a vast, open kitchen. The air is heavy with the scent of pots boiling over low flames, their contents a mystery. Shadows flicker and stretch across the walls, animated by the dim firelight.
Above, cured meats hang from hooks, swaying slightly in the draft. The countertops are littered with a variety of sinister-looking knives and butchery tools, their edges catching the light with an ominous glint.
At the center of this daunting scene stand Redd and Nara. Redd greets you with a malicious smile. “Now that you’ve been properly tenderized, it’s time for the main course!” he says. In a chilling display, he reaches for his face and peels it away as if it were a mask, revealing the ghastly sight of raw muscles, pulsing veins, and exposed nerves.
Next to him, Nara stands with an unsettling calm. Her hands begin to unnaturally stretch and contort, transforming into deadly claws. As she grins, her mouth widens unnervingly, unveiling a row of sharp, predatory teeth.

Monstrous Hosts

Redd Traskin, also known as Red Mask, and Nara Traskin, known as The Hunger, have hidden their monstrous nature for years by disguising themselves as the friendly innkeepers of the Red Mask Inn. They lure travelers with warmth and hospitality, only to ensnare them in a nightmarish trap. Through their powers of perception and emotion manipulation, they torment their victims in an alternate dimension, relishing the fear and suffering they create. All the while, they maintain their facade as ordinary innkeepers, continuing their sinister feast on unsuspecting guests.

Lair Actions

Initiative :: At initiative order 20, use one of the lair action options
Scalding Water: Boiling water erupts from pots in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw, taking MEDIUM fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. : Slippery Floors: The floor becomes slick with oil and grease. For the next round, any creature moving across the floor must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw or fall prone. You can avoid this by moving at half speed, but you must declare this before moving. : Whirling Blades: Blades whirl in a line 50 feet long and 5 feet wide. Each creature in the line must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw, taking MEDIUM piercing damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. : Flour Explosion: A cloud of flour ignites in a 30-foot radius centered on a point within the lair. Each creature in that area must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw, taking MEDIUM fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

DM Notes

HP: The HP listed in the stat blocks are simply a guideline. Balance to your party, making sure that the combat lasts some time, but doesn't drag on too long. : Villain Actions: Red Mask utilizes villain actions. This is an action he can take at any point after a PCs action, but limited to one per round.

Red Mask

Medium monstrosity, chaotic evil

APL	AC	HP
1-3	14	30±10
4-6	16	60±10
7-10	18	90±10

Speed :: 30 ft

APL	STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
1-3	12 (+1)	14 (+2)	13 (+1)	10 (+0)	12 (+1)	10 (+0)
4-6	14 (+2)	16 (+3)	15 (+2)	12 (+1)	14 (+2)	10 (+0)
7-10	16 (+3)	18 (+4)	17 (+3)	14 (+2)	16 (+3)	10 (+0)

Condition Immunities :: frightened, charmed Damage Resistances :: fire, acid, poison, necrotic Senses :: darkvision 60 ft. Languages :: Common, Deep Speech
Terrifying Unmasking. When the mask comes off, each creature within sight must make a WIS or CHA saving throw against an EASY DC. On a failed save, the creature becomes frightened for 1 minute. A frightened creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. : Magic Resistance. Red Mask has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. :

Reactions

I think not! (3/day) As a reaction, Red Mask can choose to succeed on a failed check. However, this requires mental fortitude, so he takes MEDIUM non-lethal psychic damage to do so.

Actions

Multiattack. The Red Mask makes two melee attacks if the APL is 4+, and three melee attacks if the APL is 7+. : Misty Step. Red Mask can cast Misty Step at will as a bonus action. : Butcher’s Knife. Melee Weapon Attack: reach 5ft., one target.

APL	to hit bonus	damage
1-3	+4	LIGHT
4-6	+6	MEDIUM
7-10	+8	MEDIUM

Villain Actions

How's My Cooking? Any creature that ate food in the tavern must make a MEDIUM CON saving throw or be incapacitated with retching as rotten, maggoty food comes back up. The effect lasts until the end of the affected creature's turn. : Time to Eat! Nara can move up to her speed towards a target and make a bite attack as part of the same action. : See What Awaits You! Red Mask unleashes a wave of mental horror, showing the victims horrific images of previous guests being butchered and eaten. Each creature within sight must succeed on an EASY WIS saving throw or take MEDIUM non-lethal psychic damage.

Tactics

The Hunger prefers hit-and-run tactics, targeting the least armored or most injured characters. If the characters try to focus fire on Red Mask, narrate The Hunger turning it's attention to the Haskill family.
She will try to Bite as at least one of her attacks to keep regenerating hit points.

Nara, The Hunger

Medium monstrosity, chaotic evil

APL	AC	HP
1-3	14	30±10
4-6	16	60±10
7-10	18	90±10

Speed :: 50 ft

APL	STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
1-3	12 (+1)	14 (+2)	13 (+1)	10 (+0)	12 (+1)	10 (+0)
4-6	14 (+2)	16 (+3)	15 (+2)	12 (+1)	14 (+2)	10 (+0)
7-10	16 (+3)	18 (+4)	17 (+3)	14 (+2)	16 (+3)	10 (+0)

Condition Immunities :: frightened, charmed Damage Resistances :: necrotic, piercing, bludgeoning, slashing Senses :: darkvision 60 ft. Languages :: Common, Deep Speech
Voracious Perception. Once The Hunger has tasted the flesh of a creature, it can track the creature by smell, effectively gaining blindsight with a range 30 feet for that creature. : Wall Crawler. With spider-like agility, The Hunger adheres to terrain, crawling along walls and ceilings to approach its victims. : Fleet-footed The Hunger's rapid movements give it a speed of 50 feet, and enemies trying to make opportunity attacks do so with a disadvantage.

Reactions

Bloodthirsty Pursuit. If a creature within 30 feet of The Hunger uses a teleportation ability or spell to escape, The Hunger can use its reaction to immediately teleport to a space adjacent to the escaping creature.

Actions

Multiattack. The The Hunger makes two melee attacks if the APL is 4+, and three melee attacks if the APL is 7+. : Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: reach 10ft., one target. If target not armored, or on a critical hit, add bleed damage for 1d3 rounds. This damage does not stack on multiple hits, instead use the highest rolled value for damage and rounds rolled. This effect can only be removed by magical healing. : Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: reach 5ft., one target. On a successful hit, deal damage as normal, and The Hunger regenerates half of the damage dealt as hit points.

APL	to hit bonus	damage	bleed from claws
1-3	+4	LIGHT	1d2
4-6	+6	MEDIUM	1d4
7-10	+8	MEDIUM	1d6

The Collapse

With the death of its hosts, the reality of this pocket dimension begins to unravel. This is a perfect time to deploy a Skill Challenge. Choose any of the following room descriptions, and let the players decide which skills they want to employ to navigate through the room. The focus here is on the Rule of Cool.
Ideally, these should be rooms the party have already encountered, but you can also introduce new rooms they haven't seen yet. The players can to select any Skill for their roll, as long as it fits the narrative context. Set the DC based on what they're attempting to achieve and its level of feasibility. Spells and other actions taken by the players should also have an impact, provided they logically align with the situation at hand.
Achieving one or two successful outcomes should be sufficient to pass through a room. In case of failure, introduce a complication, such as a character sustaining an injury, acquiring a level of exhaustion, or suffering a temporary condition like being frightened, poisoned, or even blinded. In such scenarios, other party members may need to assist the affected player.

DM Notes

Here you should aim to instill a sense of urgency and desperation. Monitor your players closely. As they approach their limits, consider making that room the final challenge. Remember, they don't need to complete every room you've planned.

Time to Run

Suggested flavor text - read in your own voice / tone:
As you land the final blow, a momentary stillness ensues, briefly allowing you to reflect on your victory. But there's no time for celebration. A low hum begins to resonate through the space, growing louder with each passing second. Around you, the walls and ceiling start to crack and splinter. Suddenly, a wall in front of you collapses, revealing one of the rooms you passed through earlier. Behind you, the ceiling is collapsing. The way forward is through...
[Note, I had to cut the descriptions of rooms on the way back to fit into char limit - see PDF]

Conclusion

As you burst through the door, you're back in the long corridor you first encountered as you woke up. At the far end, you glimpse the outside world. You sprint towards freedom as the corridor crumbles behind you, the destruction nipping at your heels. In a desperate leap at the last possible moment, you escape... and the sudden tranquility of the night envelops you. The quiet, so starkly contrasted with the preceding chaos, strikes you with its intensity. Surrounded by the serene sounds of the forest, the peace feels almost otherworldly, a surreal end to your harrowing journey.
You stand at a crossroads, where an old structure looms, clearly long abandoned. It leans precariously, a silhouette against the night sky. Moonlight filters through its collapsed roof, casting ghostly shadows across the crumbling walls. The scene, bathed in a silver glow, is both haunting and strangely serene.

Loot

Tucked away behind the inn, the adventurers might notice something peculiar about the compost heap — it seems to occasionally sparkle with the glint of metal and the shimmer of gemstones. Upon closer inspection and a bit of rummaging, they'll discover that this isn't just any old pile of refuse; it's a resting place for treasures that once belonged to the inn's unfortunate previous visitors.
You can use the rules for Treasure Hoard Tables from DMG p133 to see what the players can find.

[PWYW] Red Mask Inn: a scalable horror one-shot (levels 1-10)
This is my favorite thing I've written so far. My players who play-tested the adventure had a blast so I hope you all will enjoy it as well.
Upon entering a seemingly innocuous tavern, players quickly realize it’s not the refuge they expected. The innkeeper and his ‘daughter,’ the serving girl, are not what they seem. Beneath their facades lie malevolent beings with a taste for their guests. Facing both mental and physical trials, the players must outwit these monsters before they become the evening’s special.
The players will start their ordeal facing terrifying nightmares. Upon awakening, they must navigate a series of horror-themed rooms intended to weaken them before the ultimate showdown with the “hosts.” Victory over them will not be the end, as they must then escape the crumbling pocket dimension in which they’re trapped.
This module can serve as a standalone one-shot adventure or seamlessly integrate into an ongoing campaign. It’s adaptable to any location or setting and offers scalability for various levels. While the default tone leans toward the darker side, feel free to adjust it to suit your campaign’s ambiance.
This adventure may last between 3 to 6 hours, varying based on the extent to which you utilize the module’s content and your players’ decisions.
Includes:

• 10 nightmares for your PCs
• 10 horrifying rooms
• An epic showdown with an action-oriented final boss "Red Mask" as well as his companion "The Hunger".
• Instructions for scaling the adventure.
• Helpful DM tips that will make prep and running a breeze
• 3 battle maps created in Inkarnate
• Custom Monster stat blocks and tokens

Art attribution:

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mask_(Tragedy_comedy)_(2768529820).jpg
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dunwich_Horror_-_Wilbur_Whateley%27s_twin_by_Reuben_C._Dodd.jpg
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Potions_Classroom_(47307949392).jpg
• https://www.deviantart.com/abandonedfalcon/art/Meet-me-at-the-bar-888760727
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cincinnati_-_Spring_Grove_Cemetery_%26_Arboretum_-_Weeping_Angel_statue.jpg
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fortezza_Verrucole_Archeopark_interno.jpg
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eastern_state_peniteniary,_13_(14107969638).jpg
• https://www.flickr.com/photos/shando_/9875265043/
• https://www.flickr.com/photos/diegopianarosa/16339757676/
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ghost_reveries_-_Flickr_-_kr428.jpg
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WeirdTalesv42n04pg006_Tell_Your_Fortune.png
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WeirdTalesv42n4pg075_At_the_End_of_the_Corridor.png

Created in homebrewery

Previous Work:

• The Library - Level 3 one-shot (Easy for New DMs and New Players to learn)
• Project: Fragmentation (Rogue-like, PWYW)

What other DM's have said:

• Tossed this lil adventure in our D&D world and the players had a blast with all the twists and turns. As a DM I enjoyed the fact that it was well written and easy to run, I didn't have to flip through a lot of mess to run it like I've had to do on some other adventures. Highly recommended. -Jason T via DMsGuild
  
• Incorporated this last night into our campaign and had a blast. Biggest hits were the dream sequences, the library lore, bar potions, and the dynamic of having a family of commoners to protect. Players were also impressed with the lair and villain actions. I would recommend this to other DMs as it was easy to prep for, fairly simple to run, and the party had fun! -Ty R via DMsGuild
  
• I gave my party trauma and trust issues with this one! It was great time! Chibi_Disaster
  

Preview

Adding what I could fit into this post - had to cut some info to fit into the limit:

NPCs

• Redd Traskin - At first glance: The welcoming face behind the bar, always ready with a drink and a story about his culinary adventures. Lurking beneath is a creature known as Red Mask: a malevolent being who ensnares victims with harrowing dreams, rendering them helpless before he claims and cooks them.
• Nara Traskin - On the surface a seemingly aloof barmaid, introduced as Redd's "daughter", with a penchant for keeping to herself and often notably reserved. But beneath that exterior she is The Hunger, a fearsome entity with a singular, overpowering mission: to satiate her eternal appetite.
• (Optional) Other guests - a young couple with a child
  
  • Brent Haskill (26) - Husband of the young couple, blacksmith, friendly, introverted
  • Raida Haskill (25) - Wife of the young couple, leatherworker, gregarious, warm
  • Breeni Haskill (7) - Daughter

Scaling the Adventure

Effect & Trap Damage

Level	Light Damage	Medium Damage	Serious Damage
1	1d4+1 (3)	1d6+2 (5)	1d10+2 (7)
2	1d6+2 (5)	1d8+3 (7)	2d6+3 (10)
3	1d8+2 (6)	2d6+3 (10)	2d8+4 (13)
4	1d10+2 (7)	2d8+3 (12)	3d6+5 (16)
5	1d10+3 (8)	2d10+3 (14)	3d8+5 (19)
6	2d6+3 (10)	3d6+4 (17)	4d6+6 (20)
7	2d6+4 (11)	3d8+4 (18)	4d8+6 (24)
8	2d8+4 (13)	3d10+4 (20)	5d6+7 (27)
9	2d10+4 (15)	4d6+5 (19)	5d8+7 (31)
10	3d6+5 (16)	4d8+5 (23)	6d8+8 (35)

DCs

Level	Easy	Medium	Hard
1-3	10	14	18
4-6	12	16	20
7-10	14	18	22

The Inn at the Cross Roads

At the crossroads, a quaint inn catches your eye. Its simple two-story structure, with walls of weathered wood and a stone base, exudes a rustic charm. A single horse is tethered to a wagon nearby, hinting at the presence of other travelers.
A wooden sign, hand-carved and swinging in the evening breeze, reads "Red Mask Inn" in neatly scrolled letters. Below the name are two theatrical masks, the smiling Comedy and crying Tragedy.

DM Notes

For a one-shot adventure, consider giving the one-shot a different name than "Red Mask Inn" to serve as a red herring. Whether you're running a campaign or a one-shot, you can utilize the classic trope of the characters either meeting at the inn or using it as a place to rest and gather information.
Describe the inn as an unassuming, typical roadside establishment, creating an atmosphere of a routine stop for travelers. In a campaign, it's ideal to introduce this inn after the group has already faced some encounters in the days before. This timing helps to set the stage for what follows, making the inn seem like a normal, much-needed, resting point in their journey.

Inside the inn

As you push open the creaky door of the Red Mask Inn, you're greeted by the comforting warmth of a crackling fireplace and the rich aroma of hearty stew. The inn's interior is cozy, with wooden beams and a few round tables scattered across the room.
Behind the bar stands Redd Traskin, the owner and bartender of the inn. He's a robust man with a warm smile, busy polishing glasses but always ready to strike up a conversation. As you approach, he greets you with a jovial voice, "Welcome, travelers! You must be famished. Our stew today is particularly good, made with fresh herbs from the garden!"
Moving between the tables with a tray in hand is Nara, Redd’s daughter. She seems to be in her own world, efficiently serving patrons but with a distant look in her eyes. If players attempt to interact with her, she responds politely but briefly, maintaining a professional distance.
Seated at a corner table is a young couple with their child. The man, Brent Haskill, has the sturdy build of a blacksmith, while his wife, Raida, radiates warmth and friendliness. Their daughter, Breeni, is a bundle of energy, her eyes wide with curiosity as she looks around the inn. Breeni seems particularly interested in the adventurers, especially if there's a female-presenting member or someone who looks like a seasoned adventurer in the group. This presents a great opportunity for roleplaying and helps to engage the players with these NPCs.

Going to bed

Each room costs 3 sp per night. If your players are cautious, they may decide to set a watch. Ask for the watch order. For the first person on watch: if they ate or drank at the inn, they must make a CON saving throw against the HARD DC ___. Failure results in them falling asleep during their watch.
After some time if a player is not asleep because they (1) did not eat or drink at the inn, (2) succeeded on their Constitution saving throw, or (3) are immune to magical sleep (e.g. due to a feature like Fey Ancestry), they notice something peculiar. The lights in the tavern, if any were lit, suddenly dim, and the normal nighttime sounds from outside the tavern abruptly stop.
This player may try to help wake up the other players as they have their nightmares (see next section). This gives the players advantage on their saving throws.

Dreadful Reveries

Party members who fall asleep will experience nightmares. You can create unique nightmares (plumb your player's back stories or campaign events for ideas) or use the provided list for inspiration. Each dream culminates in a save attempt, allowing players to choose between a WIS, INT, or CHA saving throw, depending on their character's mental strengths. End each nightmare description with "Roll a mental save using your preferred stat." If they fail to wake up, they suffer LIGHT, or MEDIUM if they fail the check by more than 5, non-lethal psychic damage. If they roll a Natural 1 on their save, they gain one level of exhaustion. Either way on a failed save they slip into another dream. The initial save DC is set at HARD and should decrease by one level for each subsequent attempt. It is recommended to do not more than 3 nightmares. If another character is attempting to wake them or if they have abilities that aid in resisting mental effects, they may make the save with advantage.

Nightmares

1. It's night. You are running through the woods. Brambles and thorns rip at your skin. Something is chasing you, and it's gaining. You hear it coming closer and closer. You stumble, fall, and it's on your back, ready to strike…
2. You are on a ledge of a narrow cliff. The wind howls, and the rain buffets you. Lightning briefly illuminates the world, revealing jagged rocks hundreds of feet below. Your foot slips, your fingers lose their grip. You begin to fall…
3. [Not for characters with water breathing] You are underwater. Seaweed tangles around your legs and feet as you try to orient yourself. There is no up, no down. Your lungs burn, and when you can no longer hold your breath, brackish, dirty water rushes down your throat…
4. You are in a coffin. You don't know how long you've been here. You push up on the lid but the weight of the dirt above renders your effort futile. Your fingers bleed as you scratch through the wood, trying to reach the freshly dug earth. The air grows heavier, and you feel yourself slipping away…
5. The stars above are beautiful. You try to keep fear at bay, hoping your ship will return. But deep down, you know they won't find you in the vast, uncaring ocean. As you hear a splash to your right, you turn to glimpse a notched fin that was heading in your direction submerge under the water...
6. The reflection in the mirror isn't you. You chant this mantra, yet the creature in the glass tilts its head mockingly and whispers, “No, not you. Not yet!” Its gnarled hands creep forward, attempting to breach the barrier of the silvered glass...
7. The cave-in is a minor setback. You've found an exit after an hour. A set of hand-holds lead up towards the surface. In your haste, you squeeze through a narrow ledge. Suddenly, you're stuck, the pressure on your chest blurring your vision and clouding your mind, fresh air just out of reach…
8. You walk through city streets, unnoticed by the teeming crowd. A growing sense of wrongness intensifies as the figures turn toward you. You only have a moment to dread as you see their faceless heads, when they all then converge on you as one…
9. After leaving the warm tent, the cold seemed bearable. But a stinging wind and swirling snow soon disorient you. It feels warmer; you shed layers, mistaking deadly cold for heat. You stumble into the soft snow, deciding to rest, just for a minute…
10. It's twilight in the woods. A dead tree in a clearing, covered in birds, crows or ravens, hard to tell. More cawing, flapping wings, and suddenly, the birds take flight, sharp beaks and claws going for your eyes…

Players Awaken

Once all the players awaken, they will likely attempt to figure out their situation. Should they look out the window, they will see the outside world; however, this view is merely an illusion. Efforts to break through walls, floors, and ceilings will prove futile. Furthermore, utilizing teleportation magic, such as dimension door and plane shift, appears ineffective, except for local effects like misty step or dimension door to a visible location.
Upon opening the door, the players will discover themselves in a long corridor, extending hundreds of feet. The only doors in this corridor are those leading to the PCs' rooms, the room of a young couple, and a black door at the far end of the hallway. Horrified moans and screams emanate from the young couple’s room. If the players choose to intervene and break in, they will find the couple and their daughter inside, all of whom are also experiencing nightmares and can be awakened by the players.
As the PCs make their way down the hallway, they come across a collection of strikingly realistic portraits. Each one captures a different being - humans, dragonborn, gnomes, and more - from a wide spectrum of ages, genders, and races. The subjects are dressed in everything from opulent clothes to plain rags, and some are even armored, weapons in hand. But there's one unsettling similarity across all these portraits: every face is frozen in an expression of sheer terror.
At the end of the hallway, they find the black door, which is unlocked.

Rooms

Upon entering, the PCs have a series of rooms you will guide them through. You can either craft your own rooms or use those included in this adventure. Players might attempt to take a Short Rest in some rooms, and it's up to you whether to allow it or not. You want the PCs battered, but not spent for the final confrontation. If you choose to deny them the rest, narrate psychic pressure to move out of the room - leading to psychic damage on refusal.

The Library

As the party steps into a dimly lit room, they're surrounded by towering bookshelves. The books around them seem to be whispering secrets of forbidden knowledge. Each player needs to make a MEDIUM WIS saving throw to avoid taking MEDIUM non-lethal psychic damage from the eldritch knowledge trying to worm into their brain, with the damage halved if they succeed. Those players naturally drawn to knowledge, like Wizards and Bards, will find this more challenging and must make the throw at a disadvantage. Meanwhile, those less inclined towards books, like Barbarians or Fighters, will have advantage. It's up to you as the DM to decide these advantages and disadvantages based on your characters' proclivities.

DM Notes

• Use this section as a chance to weave in some of your world's lore. It's a perfect opportunity for players to uncover hidden aspects of your campaign's universe.
• While the books in this room can be physically taken, to avoid players hoarding countless volumes, consider describing how some books disintegrate into ash as soon as they're opened.

The Memory Gallery

In this sparsely furnished room, the walls are adorned with striking paintings of landscapes, ranging from mountain vistas to sunsets over the ocean, and serene forest clearings. As the PCs explore these paintings, focus on one PC and bring a distressing memory from their backstory to life, using the painting they are viewing as the backdrop. This scene then animates before the players. The PC at the center of this memory is faced with a HARD WIS saving throw, with the risk of taking SERIOUS non-lethal psychic damage upon failure, or half the damage if they succeed. Meanwhile, other PCs witnessing this scene must make an EASY WIS save to avoid LIGHT non-lethal psychic damage, suffering no damage on a successful save. Breeni’s past interactions with the affected PC could play a role here. Breeni may hug the PC, granting them advantage on their saving throw.

The Mirror Chamber

In the mirror chamber, walls lined with ornate, grimy mirrors reflect distorted and grotesque images of the adventurers. The air is thick, filled with the unsettling scent of iron and decay. Suddenly, their reflections lunge out of the glass, materializing into tangible, malevolent doppelgängers that attack, forcing the party to confront twisted versions of themselves.
Choose a character's favorite or iconic attack or spell and use it against each player. A single hit on the mirror version or the mirror itself is enough to destroy it.

The Dining Hall

The long wooden table is laden with rotting food: fruit covered in mold, meat moving with maggots, and bread so stale it looks fossilized, all set among goblets filled with a murky, clotting liquid that might have once been wine. Nearby, a platter holds what appears to be a human hand, its skin cooked to a crisp and its fingernails garnished with sprigs of wilted herbs. The foul stench of decay and spoiled meat permeates the room, mingling with the unsettling, almost palpable aura of dread. Players must make a MEDIUM CON saving throw. On a failure, gain the poisoned condition, lasting for 1d4 rooms.

The Hospital Room

Several linen-covered beds on the far side of the room are splattered with dried blood. Bone saws with jagged teeth and other cruel implements are neatly arranged on a side table, gleaming ominously in the torchlight. Drawers with various medical supplies are left half-closed. Several vials labeled as "Healing Potions" sit on a nearby shelf. A MEDIUM Arcana or Medicine check will determine these are actually poison (1d4+1 poison damage). The party may choose to remain here and use some of the supplies to heal up - can be used as a Short Rest opportunity.

The Bathroom

A decrepit wooden bathtub sits in the corner, filled with a stagnant, dark liquid that occasionally bubbles as if something lurks beneath the surface. Next to the bathtub, a stone toilet fixture stands as if hewn directly from the chamber's walls, its bowl filled with an unidentifiable, viscous substance that seems to churn of its own accord. Faint, grotesque sketches are etched into the stone around the toilet, depicting unsettling scenes that make you question the sanity of previous occupants. Blood spatters mar the cracked tiles, leading to a cracked tarnished mirror that reflects a distorted image of anyone who dares to look.
If anyone gets within 5 ft of the bathtub, tentacles will try to grapple them (MEDIUM Escape DC). The tentacles will also deal MEDIUM amount of bludgeoning damage on a successful grapple. Any damage to the tentacles (AC 12) will release the PC.

The Greenhouse

The greenhouse is a labyrinth of overgrown, twisted plants, their leaves unnaturally dark and thorns menacingly sharp. A misty, almost phosphorescent fog hangs low, casting a sickly green glow over everything, and making it hard to see what lurks in the corners. Amongst the flora, the party can spot several cages containing withered remains of animals and, disturbingly, a few humanoid shapes — all twisted in expressions of agony, as if the plants themselves had consumed them.
Monster encounter, balance for your party:

Level Range	Monster
1-3	Twig Blight (MM 32)
	Needle Blight (MM 32)
	Vine Blight (MM 32)
4-6	Shambling Mound (MM 270)
	Wood Woad (VGtM 198)
	Yellow Musk Creeper (TftYP 248)
	Animated Tree (VGtM 207)
	Assassin Vine (MM 22)
7-10	Corpse Flower (MToF 127)
	Tree Blight (CoS 230)

To make things more difficult for the players, you can also add an additional MEDIUM CON saving throw against the fog's effects, with the players taking LIGHT poison damage on failure. Altering the number of monsters is another effective method for adjusting the challenge level. Additionally, if you're looking to incorporate different types of monsters, don't hesitate to use homebrew or reflavored monsters.

The Bar

The barroom is dimly lit by tarnished chandeliers that cast ghostly flickers across worn wooden floorboards. A long, decaying bar counter dominates one side of the room. Its surface is stained and pockmarked, lined with bottles containing strange, discolored liquids. The stools around the bar are unsteady, emitting ominous creaks under the slightest pressure. Notably, one stool bears an unsettling stain, reminiscent of dried blood.
If players choose to consume any of the bottles, roll on the table below to determine the effects. Generally, it's not recommended to allow more than one potion per player (drinking more than one results in vomiting). If an effect doesn't apply to a character, or another player already drank the potion rolled, roll again. The effects last until the end of the adventure. A MEDIUM DC Alchemist Tools, Herbalist Kit or Arcana Check will reveal the properties of the potions. An EASY DC check may reveal partial properties.

#	Name	Liquid Description		Effect Description
1	Reckless Fury	A swirling red potion with fiery sparks.		[Primary Melee Classes] Every melee attack is treated as reckless (attack is rolled with Advantage, but any attack against the player is rolled with Advantage as well until their turn).
2	Luck be a lady tonight	A two-layered liquid, gold over silver.		Grants inspiration to the player, and GM gets to force disadvantage at a time of their choosing.
3	Unstable Teleport	A misty, shifting blue and gray potion.		Gain the ability to cast the Misty Step spell at will. Roll 1d20 for uncertain destination, appearing in a location of DM's choice on 1-10.
4	Size Shift	A violet fluid with bubbles.		Changes creature size from Medium to Small. No effect on Small creatures.
5	Spell Rejuvenation	A glowing, pulsating emerald drink.		[Primary Spellcaster Classes] Restores one highest level spent spell slot but causes causes one level of exhaustion.
6	Speed Surge	A quicksilver potion with streaks of lightning.		Doubles speed but causes jitteriness, disadvantage on Dexterity checks and saves.
7	Painful Retaliation	A dark crimson liquid with a thorny vine motif.		As a bonus action you can choose to harm a creature at will, causing MEDIUM psychic damage, but take half the damage yourself.
8	Statue Defense	A solid gray potion with flecks of stone.		As a reaction to taking damage, you can choose to become an invulnerable statue to negate the triggering damage. You are invulnerable and petrified until the end of your next turn.
9	Charge of the Bull	A red potion with a swirling vortex.		Gain a powerful charge attack: If you can move at least 10ft in a straight line, you can make an attack. If the attack hits, it is treated as a critical hit, and the target is knocked prone. If the attack misses, the player takes MEDIUM bludgeoning damage, is knocked prone, and lands 10 feet past the target.
10	Clumsy Might	A creamy potion with bubbles.		Advantage on Strength checks and saves but disadvantage on Dexterity-based tasks.

The Stalking Statues

The room is a vast, dimly-lit chamber with four stone statues positioned in various states of distress; their faces contorted in silent screams or buried in their hands as if weeping. The flickering light from a dying chandelier dances across their features, casting ominous shadows that seem to move. Describe the chandelier as flickering in and out. In the darkness, the statues seem to move closer and closer.
You can treat this room narratively to unsettle the players, or turn it into an encounter. For an encounter, roll initiative (the statues always act at the end of the initiative order, and only on rounds when the lights are out). Every other round, either cover the map if playing in person, switch to a blank map on a VTT, or, if using theater of the mind, simply narrate the lights going out. The statues can only move in darkness, which is magical. Some players may have the ability to see through magical darkness. In such cases, the movement of the statues is visible to those players. Players who cannot see in the darkness can move but must declare their directions and distances. The door at the end of the room is unlocked when all statues are destroyed or by using the Knock spell.

Stalking Statues

Medium Construct, neutral evil
Armor Class :: 18 (natural armor) Hit Points :: 3 MEDIUM hits Speed :: 20 ft (can move only in darkness)

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
14 (+2)	11 (+0)	13 (+1)	1 (-5)	3 (-4)	1 (-5)

Damage Immunities :: poison, psychic Condition Immunities :: blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned Senses :: Blindsight 60 ft. Languages :: None
Antimagic Susceptibility. The statue is incapacitated while in the area of an antimagic field. If targeted by dispel magic, the statue must succeed on a CON saving throw against the caster's spell save DC or fall unconscious for 1 minute. : False Appearance. While the statue remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from a normal statue. : Dark Step. The statue can only move in darkness. It moves silently. It may not take the dash action. All attacks automatically hit.

Actions

Multiattack. The statue makes two melee attacks if the APL is 4+, and three melee attacks if the APL is 7+. : Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: automatically hits, reach 5ft., one target. Hit MEDIUM bludgeoning damage. : Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: automatically hits, reach 5ft., one target. Hit MEDIUM piercing damage. : Grapple. Roll Contested Athletics vs Atheltics or Acrobatics. The statue rolls with Advantage. Reach 5ft., one target. MEDIUM escape DC to break free.

Final Confrontation

Suggested flavor text - read in your own voice / tone: : You walk through the door to find yourself in a vast, open kitchen. The air is heavy with the scent of pots boiling over low flames, their contents a mystery. Shadows flicker and stretch across the walls, animated by the dim firelight.
Above, cured meats hang from hooks, swaying slightly in the draft. The countertops are littered with a variety of sinister-looking knives and butchery tools, their edges catching the light with an ominous glint.
At the center of this daunting scene stand Redd and Nara. Redd greets you with a malicious smile. “Now that you’ve been properly tenderized, it’s time for the main course!” he says. In a chilling display, he reaches for his face and peels it away as if it were a mask, revealing the ghastly sight of raw muscles, pulsing veins, and exposed nerves.
Next to him, Nara stands with an unsettling calm. Her hands begin to unnaturally stretch and contort, transforming into deadly claws. As she grins, her mouth widens unnervingly, unveiling a row of sharp, predatory teeth.

Monstrous Hosts

Redd Traskin, also known as Red Mask, and Nara Traskin, known as The Hunger, have hidden their monstrous nature for years by disguising themselves as the friendly innkeepers of the Red Mask Inn. They lure travelers with warmth and hospitality, only to ensnare them in a nightmarish trap. Through their powers of perception and emotion manipulation, they torment their victims in an alternate dimension, relishing the fear and suffering they create. All the while, they maintain their facade as ordinary innkeepers, continuing their sinister feast on unsuspecting guests.

Lair Actions

Initiative :: At initiative order 20, use one of the lair action options
Scalding Water: Boiling water erupts from pots in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw, taking MEDIUM fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. : Slippery Floors: The floor becomes slick with oil and grease. For the next round, any creature moving across the floor must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw or fall prone. You can avoid this by moving at half speed, but you must declare this before moving. : Whirling Blades: Blades whirl in a line 50 feet long and 5 feet wide. Each creature in the line must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw, taking MEDIUM piercing damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. : Flour Explosion: A cloud of flour ignites in a 30-foot radius centered on a point within the lair. Each creature in that area must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw, taking MEDIUM fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

DM Notes

HP: The HP listed in the stat blocks are simply a guideline. Balance to your party, making sure that the combat lasts some time, but doesn't drag on too long. : Villain Actions: Red Mask utilizes villain actions. This is an action he can take at any point after a PCs action, but limited to one per round.

Red Mask

Medium monstrosity, chaotic evil

APL	AC	HP
1-3	14	30±10
4-6	16	60±10
7-10	18	90±10

Speed :: 30 ft

APL	STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
1-3	12 (+1)	14 (+2)	13 (+1)	10 (+0)	12 (+1)	10 (+0)
4-6	14 (+2)	16 (+3)	15 (+2)	12 (+1)	14 (+2)	10 (+0)
7-10	16 (+3)	18 (+4)	17 (+3)	14 (+2)	16 (+3)	10 (+0)

Condition Immunities :: frightened, charmed Damage Resistances :: fire, acid, poison, necrotic Senses :: darkvision 60 ft. Languages :: Common, Deep Speech
Terrifying Unmasking. When the mask comes off, each creature within sight must make a WIS or CHA saving throw against an EASY DC. On a failed save, the creature becomes frightened for 1 minute. A frightened creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. : Magic Resistance. Red Mask has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. :

Reactions

I think not! (3/day) As a reaction, Red Mask can choose to succeed on a failed check. However, this requires mental fortitude, so he takes MEDIUM non-lethal psychic damage to do so.

Actions

Multiattack. The Red Mask makes two melee attacks if the APL is 4+, and three melee attacks if the APL is 7+. : Misty Step. Red Mask can cast Misty Step at will as a bonus action. : Butcher’s Knife. Melee Weapon Attack: reach 5ft., one target.

APL	to hit bonus	damage
1-3	+4	LIGHT
4-6	+6	MEDIUM
7-10	+8	MEDIUM

Villain Actions

How's My Cooking? Any creature that ate food in the tavern must make a MEDIUM CON saving throw or be incapacitated with retching as rotten, maggoty food comes back up. The effect lasts until the end of the affected creature's turn. : Time to Eat! Nara can move up to her speed towards a target and make a bite attack as part of the same action. : See What Awaits You! Red Mask unleashes a wave of mental horror, showing the victims horrific images of previous guests being butchered and eaten. Each creature within sight must succeed on an EASY WIS saving throw or take MEDIUM non-lethal psychic damage.

Tactics

The Hunger prefers hit-and-run tactics, targeting the least armored or most injured characters. If the characters try to focus fire on Red Mask, narrate The Hunger turning it's attention to the Haskill family.
She will try to Bite as at least one of her attacks to keep regenerating hit points.

Nara, The Hunger

Medium monstrosity, chaotic evil

APL	AC	HP
1-3	14	30±10
4-6	16	60±10
7-10	18	90±10

Speed :: 50 ft

APL	STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
1-3	12 (+1)	14 (+2)	13 (+1)	10 (+0)	12 (+1)	10 (+0)
4-6	14 (+2)	16 (+3)	15 (+2)	12 (+1)	14 (+2)	10 (+0)
7-10	16 (+3)	18 (+4)	17 (+3)	14 (+2)	16 (+3)	10 (+0)

Condition Immunities :: frightened, charmed Damage Resistances :: necrotic, piercing, bludgeoning, slashing Senses :: darkvision 60 ft. Languages :: Common, Deep Speech
Voracious Perception. Once The Hunger has tasted the flesh of a creature, it can track the creature by smell, effectively gaining blindsight with a range 30 feet for that creature. : Wall Crawler. With spider-like agility, The Hunger adheres to terrain, crawling along walls and ceilings to approach its victims. : Fleet-footed The Hunger's rapid movements give it a speed of 50 feet, and enemies trying to make opportunity attacks do so with a disadvantage.

Reactions

Bloodthirsty Pursuit. If a creature within 30 feet of The Hunger uses a teleportation ability or spell to escape, The Hunger can use its reaction to immediately teleport to a space adjacent to the escaping creature.

Actions

Multiattack. The The Hunger makes two melee attacks if the APL is 4+, and three melee attacks if the APL is 7+. : Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: reach 10ft., one target. If target not armored, or on a critical hit, add bleed damage for 1d3 rounds. This damage does not stack on multiple hits, instead use the highest rolled value for damage and rounds rolled. This effect can only be removed by magical healing. : Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: reach 5ft., one target. On a successful hit, deal damage as normal, and The Hunger regenerates half of the damage dealt as hit points.

APL	to hit bonus	damage	bleed from claws
1-3	+4	LIGHT	1d2
4-6	+6	MEDIUM	1d4
7-10	+8	MEDIUM	1d6

The Collapse

With the death of its hosts, the reality of this pocket dimension begins to unravel. This is a perfect time to deploy a Skill Challenge. Choose any of the following room descriptions, and let the players decide which skills they want to employ to navigate through the room. The focus here is on the Rule of Cool.
Ideally, these should be rooms the party have already encountered, but you can also introduce new rooms they haven't seen yet. The players can to select any Skill for their roll, as long as it fits the narrative context. Set the DC based on what they're attempting to achieve and its level of feasibility. Spells and other actions taken by the players should also have an impact, provided they logically align with the situation at hand.
Achieving one or two successful outcomes should be sufficient to pass through a room. In case of failure, introduce a complication, such as a character sustaining an injury, acquiring a level of exhaustion, or suffering a temporary condition like being frightened, poisoned, or even blinded. In such scenarios, other party members may need to assist the affected player.

DM Notes

Here you should aim to instill a sense of urgency and desperation. Monitor your players closely. As they approach their limits, consider making that room the final challenge. Remember, they don't need to complete every room you've planned.

Time to Run

Suggested flavor text - read in your own voice / tone:
As you land the final blow, a momentary stillness ensues, briefly allowing you to reflect on your victory. But there's no time for celebration. A low hum begins to resonate through the space, growing louder with each passing second. Around you, the walls and ceiling start to crack and splinter. Suddenly, a wall in front of you collapses, revealing one of the rooms you passed through earlier. Behind you, the ceiling is collapsing. The way forward is through...
[Note, I had to cut the descriptions of rooms on the way back to fit into char limit - see PDF]

Conclusion

As you burst through the door, you're back in the long corridor you first encountered as you woke up. At the far end, you glimpse the outside world. You sprint towards freedom as the corridor crumbles behind you, the destruction nipping at your heels. In a desperate leap at the last possible moment, you escape... and the sudden tranquility of the night envelops you. The quiet, so starkly contrasted with the preceding chaos, strikes you with its intensity. Surrounded by the serene sounds of the forest, the peace feels almost otherworldly, a surreal end to your harrowing journey.
You stand at a crossroads, where an old structure looms, clearly long abandoned. It leans precariously, a silhouette against the night sky. Moonlight filters through its collapsed roof, casting ghostly shadows across the crumbling walls. The scene, bathed in a silver glow, is both haunting and strangely serene.

Loot

Tucked away behind the inn, the adventurers might notice something peculiar about the compost heap — it seems to occasionally sparkle with the glint of metal and the shimmer of gemstones. Upon closer inspection and a bit of rummaging, they'll discover that this isn't just any old pile of refuse; it's a resting place for treasures that once belonged to the inn's unfortunate previous visitors.
You can use the rules for Treasure Hoard Tables from DMG p133 to see what the players can find.

[PWYW] Red Mask Inn: a scalable horror one-shot (levels 1-10)
This is my favorite thing I've written so far. My players who play-tested the adventure had a blast so I hope you all will enjoy it as well.
Upon entering a seemingly innocuous tavern, players quickly realize it’s not the refuge they expected. The innkeeper and his ‘daughter,’ the serving girl, are not what they seem. Beneath their facades lie malevolent beings with a taste for their guests. Facing both mental and physical trials, the players must outwit these monsters before they become the evening’s special.
The players will start their ordeal facing terrifying nightmares. Upon awakening, they must navigate a series of horror-themed rooms intended to weaken them before the ultimate showdown with the “hosts.” Victory over them will not be the end, as they must then escape the crumbling pocket dimension in which they’re trapped.
This module can serve as a standalone one-shot adventure or seamlessly integrate into an ongoing campaign. It’s adaptable to any location or setting and offers scalability for various levels. While the default tone leans toward the darker side, feel free to adjust it to suit your campaign’s ambiance.
This adventure may last between 3 to 6 hours, varying based on the extent to which you utilize the module’s content and your players’ decisions.
Includes:

• 10 nightmares for your PCs
• 10 horrifying rooms
• An epic showdown with an action-oriented final boss "Red Mask" as well as his companion "The Hunger".
• Instructions for scaling the adventure.
• Helpful DM tips that will make prep and running a breeze
• 3 battle maps created in Inkarnate
• Custom Monster stat blocks and tokens

Art attribution:

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mask_(Tragedy_comedy)_(2768529820).jpg
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dunwich_Horror_-_Wilbur_Whateley%27s_twin_by_Reuben_C._Dodd.jpg
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Potions_Classroom_(47307949392).jpg
• https://www.deviantart.com/abandonedfalcon/art/Meet-me-at-the-bar-888760727
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cincinnati_-_Spring_Grove_Cemetery_%26_Arboretum_-_Weeping_Angel_statue.jpg
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fortezza_Verrucole_Archeopark_interno.jpg
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eastern_state_peniteniary,_13_(14107969638).jpg
• https://www.flickr.com/photos/shando_/9875265043/
• https://www.flickr.com/photos/diegopianarosa/16339757676/
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ghost_reveries_-_Flickr_-_kr428.jpg
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WeirdTalesv42n04pg006_Tell_Your_Fortune.png
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WeirdTalesv42n4pg075_At_the_End_of_the_Corridor.png

Created in homebrewery

Previous Work:

• The Library - Level 3 one-shot (Easy for New DMs and New Players to learn)
• Project: Fragmentation (Rogue-like, PWYW)

What other DM's have said:

• Tossed this lil adventure in our D&D world and the players had a blast with all the twists and turns. As a DM I enjoyed the fact that it was well written and easy to run, I didn't have to flip through a lot of mess to run it like I've had to do on some other adventures. Highly recommended. -Jason T via DMsGuild
  
• Incorporated this last night into our campaign and had a blast. Biggest hits were the dream sequences, the library lore, bar potions, and the dynamic of having a family of commoners to protect. Players were also impressed with the lair and villain actions. I would recommend this to other DMs as it was easy to prep for, fairly simple to run, and the party had fun! -Ty R via DMsGuild
  
• I gave my party trauma and trust issues with this one! It was great time! Chibi_Disaster
  

Preview

Adding what I could fit into this post - had to cut some info to fit into the limit:

NPCs

• Redd Traskin - At first glance: The welcoming face behind the bar, always ready with a drink and a story about his culinary adventures. Lurking beneath is a creature known as Red Mask: a malevolent being who ensnares victims with harrowing dreams, rendering them helpless before he claims and cooks them.
• Nara Traskin - On the surface a seemingly aloof barmaid, introduced as Redd's "daughter", with a penchant for keeping to herself and often notably reserved. But beneath that exterior she is The Hunger, a fearsome entity with a singular, overpowering mission: to satiate her eternal appetite.
• (Optional) Other guests - a young couple with a child
  
  • Brent Haskill (26) - Husband of the young couple, blacksmith, friendly, introverted
  • Raida Haskill (25) - Wife of the young couple, leatherworker, gregarious, warm
  • Breeni Haskill (7) - Daughter

Scaling the Adventure

Effect & Trap Damage

Level	Light Damage	Medium Damage	Serious Damage
1	1d4+1 (3)	1d6+2 (5)	1d10+2 (7)
2	1d6+2 (5)	1d8+3 (7)	2d6+3 (10)
3	1d8+2 (6)	2d6+3 (10)	2d8+4 (13)
4	1d10+2 (7)	2d8+3 (12)	3d6+5 (16)
5	1d10+3 (8)	2d10+3 (14)	3d8+5 (19)
6	2d6+3 (10)	3d6+4 (17)	4d6+6 (20)
7	2d6+4 (11)	3d8+4 (18)	4d8+6 (24)
8	2d8+4 (13)	3d10+4 (20)	5d6+7 (27)
9	2d10+4 (15)	4d6+5 (19)	5d8+7 (31)
10	3d6+5 (16)	4d8+5 (23)	6d8+8 (35)

DCs

Level	Easy	Medium	Hard
1-3	10	14	18
4-6	12	16	20
7-10	14	18	22

The Inn at the Cross Roads

At the crossroads, a quaint inn catches your eye. Its simple two-story structure, with walls of weathered wood and a stone base, exudes a rustic charm. A single horse is tethered to a wagon nearby, hinting at the presence of other travelers.
A wooden sign, hand-carved and swinging in the evening breeze, reads "Red Mask Inn" in neatly scrolled letters. Below the name are two theatrical masks, the smiling Comedy and crying Tragedy.

DM Notes

For a one-shot adventure, consider giving the one-shot a different name than "Red Mask Inn" to serve as a red herring. Whether you're running a campaign or a one-shot, you can utilize the classic trope of the characters either meeting at the inn or using it as a place to rest and gather information.
Describe the inn as an unassuming, typical roadside establishment, creating an atmosphere of a routine stop for travelers. In a campaign, it's ideal to introduce this inn after the group has already faced some encounters in the days before. This timing helps to set the stage for what follows, making the inn seem like a normal, much-needed, resting point in their journey.

Inside the inn

As you push open the creaky door of the Red Mask Inn, you're greeted by the comforting warmth of a crackling fireplace and the rich aroma of hearty stew. The inn's interior is cozy, with wooden beams and a few round tables scattered across the room.
Behind the bar stands Redd Traskin, the owner and bartender of the inn. He's a robust man with a warm smile, busy polishing glasses but always ready to strike up a conversation. As you approach, he greets you with a jovial voice, "Welcome, travelers! You must be famished. Our stew today is particularly good, made with fresh herbs from the garden!"
Moving between the tables with a tray in hand is Nara, Redd’s daughter. She seems to be in her own world, efficiently serving patrons but with a distant look in her eyes. If players attempt to interact with her, she responds politely but briefly, maintaining a professional distance.
Seated at a corner table is a young couple with their child. The man, Brent Haskill, has the sturdy build of a blacksmith, while his wife, Raida, radiates warmth and friendliness. Their daughter, Breeni, is a bundle of energy, her eyes wide with curiosity as she looks around the inn. Breeni seems particularly interested in the adventurers, especially if there's a female-presenting member or someone who looks like a seasoned adventurer in the group. This presents a great opportunity for roleplaying and helps to engage the players with these NPCs.

Going to bed

Each room costs 3 sp per night. If your players are cautious, they may decide to set a watch. Ask for the watch order. For the first person on watch: if they ate or drank at the inn, they must make a CON saving throw against the HARD DC ___. Failure results in them falling asleep during their watch.
After some time if a player is not asleep because they (1) did not eat or drink at the inn, (2) succeeded on their Constitution saving throw, or (3) are immune to magical sleep (e.g. due to a feature like Fey Ancestry), they notice something peculiar. The lights in the tavern, if any were lit, suddenly dim, and the normal nighttime sounds from outside the tavern abruptly stop.
This player may try to help wake up the other players as they have their nightmares (see next section). This gives the players advantage on their saving throws.

Dreadful Reveries

Party members who fall asleep will experience nightmares. You can create unique nightmares (plumb your player's back stories or campaign events for ideas) or use the provided list for inspiration. Each dream culminates in a save attempt, allowing players to choose between a WIS, INT, or CHA saving throw, depending on their character's mental strengths. End each nightmare description with "Roll a mental save using your preferred stat." If they fail to wake up, they suffer LIGHT, or MEDIUM if they fail the check by more than 5, non-lethal psychic damage. If they roll a Natural 1 on their save, they gain one level of exhaustion. Either way on a failed save they slip into another dream. The initial save DC is set at HARD and should decrease by one level for each subsequent attempt. It is recommended to do not more than 3 nightmares. If another character is attempting to wake them or if they have abilities that aid in resisting mental effects, they may make the save with advantage.

Nightmares

1. It's night. You are running through the woods. Brambles and thorns rip at your skin. Something is chasing you, and it's gaining. You hear it coming closer and closer. You stumble, fall, and it's on your back, ready to strike…
2. You are on a ledge of a narrow cliff. The wind howls, and the rain buffets you. Lightning briefly illuminates the world, revealing jagged rocks hundreds of feet below. Your foot slips, your fingers lose their grip. You begin to fall…
3. [Not for characters with water breathing] You are underwater. Seaweed tangles around your legs and feet as you try to orient yourself. There is no up, no down. Your lungs burn, and when you can no longer hold your breath, brackish, dirty water rushes down your throat…
4. You are in a coffin. You don't know how long you've been here. You push up on the lid but the weight of the dirt above renders your effort futile. Your fingers bleed as you scratch through the wood, trying to reach the freshly dug earth. The air grows heavier, and you feel yourself slipping away…
5. The stars above are beautiful. You try to keep fear at bay, hoping your ship will return. But deep down, you know they won't find you in the vast, uncaring ocean. As you hear a splash to your right, you turn to glimpse a notched fin that was heading in your direction submerge under the water...
6. The reflection in the mirror isn't you. You chant this mantra, yet the creature in the glass tilts its head mockingly and whispers, “No, not you. Not yet!” Its gnarled hands creep forward, attempting to breach the barrier of the silvered glass...
7. The cave-in is a minor setback. You've found an exit after an hour. A set of hand-holds lead up towards the surface. In your haste, you squeeze through a narrow ledge. Suddenly, you're stuck, the pressure on your chest blurring your vision and clouding your mind, fresh air just out of reach…
8. You walk through city streets, unnoticed by the teeming crowd. A growing sense of wrongness intensifies as the figures turn toward you. You only have a moment to dread as you see their faceless heads, when they all then converge on you as one…
9. After leaving the warm tent, the cold seemed bearable. But a stinging wind and swirling snow soon disorient you. It feels warmer; you shed layers, mistaking deadly cold for heat. You stumble into the soft snow, deciding to rest, just for a minute…
10. It's twilight in the woods. A dead tree in a clearing, covered in birds, crows or ravens, hard to tell. More cawing, flapping wings, and suddenly, the birds take flight, sharp beaks and claws going for your eyes…

Players Awaken

Once all the players awaken, they will likely attempt to figure out their situation. Should they look out the window, they will see the outside world; however, this view is merely an illusion. Efforts to break through walls, floors, and ceilings will prove futile. Furthermore, utilizing teleportation magic, such as dimension door and plane shift, appears ineffective, except for local effects like misty step or dimension door to a visible location.
Upon opening the door, the players will discover themselves in a long corridor, extending hundreds of feet. The only doors in this corridor are those leading to the PCs' rooms, the room of a young couple, and a black door at the far end of the hallway. Horrified moans and screams emanate from the young couple’s room. If the players choose to intervene and break in, they will find the couple and their daughter inside, all of whom are also experiencing nightmares and can be awakened by the players.
As the PCs make their way down the hallway, they come across a collection of strikingly realistic portraits. Each one captures a different being - humans, dragonborn, gnomes, and more - from a wide spectrum of ages, genders, and races. The subjects are dressed in everything from opulent clothes to plain rags, and some are even armored, weapons in hand. But there's one unsettling similarity across all these portraits: every face is frozen in an expression of sheer terror.
At the end of the hallway, they find the black door, which is unlocked.

Rooms

Upon entering, the PCs have a series of rooms you will guide them through. You can either craft your own rooms or use those included in this adventure. Players might attempt to take a Short Rest in some rooms, and it's up to you whether to allow it or not. You want the PCs battered, but not spent for the final confrontation. If you choose to deny them the rest, narrate psychic pressure to move out of the room - leading to psychic damage on refusal.

The Library

As the party steps into a dimly lit room, they're surrounded by towering bookshelves. The books around them seem to be whispering secrets of forbidden knowledge. Each player needs to make a MEDIUM WIS saving throw to avoid taking MEDIUM non-lethal psychic damage from the eldritch knowledge trying to worm into their brain, with the damage halved if they succeed. Those players naturally drawn to knowledge, like Wizards and Bards, will find this more challenging and must make the throw at a disadvantage. Meanwhile, those less inclined towards books, like Barbarians or Fighters, will have advantage. It's up to you as the DM to decide these advantages and disadvantages based on your characters' proclivities.

DM Notes

• Use this section as a chance to weave in some of your world's lore. It's a perfect opportunity for players to uncover hidden aspects of your campaign's universe.
• While the books in this room can be physically taken, to avoid players hoarding countless volumes, consider describing how some books disintegrate into ash as soon as they're opened.

The Memory Gallery

In this sparsely furnished room, the walls are adorned with striking paintings of landscapes, ranging from mountain vistas to sunsets over the ocean, and serene forest clearings. As the PCs explore these paintings, focus on one PC and bring a distressing memory from their backstory to life, using the painting they are viewing as the backdrop. This scene then animates before the players. The PC at the center of this memory is faced with a HARD WIS saving throw, with the risk of taking SERIOUS non-lethal psychic damage upon failure, or half the damage if they succeed. Meanwhile, other PCs witnessing this scene must make an EASY WIS save to avoid LIGHT non-lethal psychic damage, suffering no damage on a successful save. Breeni’s past interactions with the affected PC could play a role here. Breeni may hug the PC, granting them advantage on their saving throw.

The Mirror Chamber

In the mirror chamber, walls lined with ornate, grimy mirrors reflect distorted and grotesque images of the adventurers. The air is thick, filled with the unsettling scent of iron and decay. Suddenly, their reflections lunge out of the glass, materializing into tangible, malevolent doppelgängers that attack, forcing the party to confront twisted versions of themselves.
Choose a character's favorite or iconic attack or spell and use it against each player. A single hit on the mirror version or the mirror itself is enough to destroy it.

The Dining Hall

The long wooden table is laden with rotting food: fruit covered in mold, meat moving with maggots, and bread so stale it looks fossilized, all set among goblets filled with a murky, clotting liquid that might have once been wine. Nearby, a platter holds what appears to be a human hand, its skin cooked to a crisp and its fingernails garnished with sprigs of wilted herbs. The foul stench of decay and spoiled meat permeates the room, mingling with the unsettling, almost palpable aura of dread. Players must make a MEDIUM CON saving throw. On a failure, gain the poisoned condition, lasting for 1d4 rooms.

The Hospital Room

Several linen-covered beds on the far side of the room are splattered with dried blood. Bone saws with jagged teeth and other cruel implements are neatly arranged on a side table, gleaming ominously in the torchlight. Drawers with various medical supplies are left half-closed. Several vials labeled as "Healing Potions" sit on a nearby shelf. A MEDIUM Arcana or Medicine check will determine these are actually poison (1d4+1 poison damage). The party may choose to remain here and use some of the supplies to heal up - can be used as a Short Rest opportunity.

The Bathroom

A decrepit wooden bathtub sits in the corner, filled with a stagnant, dark liquid that occasionally bubbles as if something lurks beneath the surface. Next to the bathtub, a stone toilet fixture stands as if hewn directly from the chamber's walls, its bowl filled with an unidentifiable, viscous substance that seems to churn of its own accord. Faint, grotesque sketches are etched into the stone around the toilet, depicting unsettling scenes that make you question the sanity of previous occupants. Blood spatters mar the cracked tiles, leading to a cracked tarnished mirror that reflects a distorted image of anyone who dares to look.
If anyone gets within 5 ft of the bathtub, tentacles will try to grapple them (MEDIUM Escape DC). The tentacles will also deal MEDIUM amount of bludgeoning damage on a successful grapple. Any damage to the tentacles (AC 12) will release the PC.

The Greenhouse

The greenhouse is a labyrinth of overgrown, twisted plants, their leaves unnaturally dark and thorns menacingly sharp. A misty, almost phosphorescent fog hangs low, casting a sickly green glow over everything, and making it hard to see what lurks in the corners. Amongst the flora, the party can spot several cages containing withered remains of animals and, disturbingly, a few humanoid shapes — all twisted in expressions of agony, as if the plants themselves had consumed them.
Monster encounter, balance for your party:

Level Range	Monster
1-3	Twig Blight (MM 32)
	Needle Blight (MM 32)
	Vine Blight (MM 32)
4-6	Shambling Mound (MM 270)
	Wood Woad (VGtM 198)
	Yellow Musk Creeper (TftYP 248)
	Animated Tree (VGtM 207)
	Assassin Vine (MM 22)
7-10	Corpse Flower (MToF 127)
	Tree Blight (CoS 230)

To make things more difficult for the players, you can also add an additional MEDIUM CON saving throw against the fog's effects, with the players taking LIGHT poison damage on failure. Altering the number of monsters is another effective method for adjusting the challenge level. Additionally, if you're looking to incorporate different types of monsters, don't hesitate to use homebrew or reflavored monsters.

The Bar

The barroom is dimly lit by tarnished chandeliers that cast ghostly flickers across worn wooden floorboards. A long, decaying bar counter dominates one side of the room. Its surface is stained and pockmarked, lined with bottles containing strange, discolored liquids. The stools around the bar are unsteady, emitting ominous creaks under the slightest pressure. Notably, one stool bears an unsettling stain, reminiscent of dried blood.
If players choose to consume any of the bottles, roll on the table below to determine the effects. Generally, it's not recommended to allow more than one potion per player (drinking more than one results in vomiting). If an effect doesn't apply to a character, or another player already drank the potion rolled, roll again. The effects last until the end of the adventure. A MEDIUM DC Alchemist Tools, Herbalist Kit or Arcana Check will reveal the properties of the potions. An EASY DC check may reveal partial properties.

#	Name	Liquid Description		Effect Description
1	Reckless Fury	A swirling red potion with fiery sparks.		[Primary Melee Classes] Every melee attack is treated as reckless (attack is rolled with Advantage, but any attack against the player is rolled with Advantage as well until their turn).
2	Luck be a lady tonight	A two-layered liquid, gold over silver.		Grants inspiration to the player, and GM gets to force disadvantage at a time of their choosing.
3	Unstable Teleport	A misty, shifting blue and gray potion.		Gain the ability to cast the Misty Step spell at will. Roll 1d20 for uncertain destination, appearing in a location of DM's choice on 1-10.
4	Size Shift	A violet fluid with bubbles.		Changes creature size from Medium to Small. No effect on Small creatures.
5	Spell Rejuvenation	A glowing, pulsating emerald drink.		[Primary Spellcaster Classes] Restores one highest level spent spell slot but causes causes one level of exhaustion.
6	Speed Surge	A quicksilver potion with streaks of lightning.		Doubles speed but causes jitteriness, disadvantage on Dexterity checks and saves.
7	Painful Retaliation	A dark crimson liquid with a thorny vine motif.		As a bonus action you can choose to harm a creature at will, causing MEDIUM psychic damage, but take half the damage yourself.
8	Statue Defense	A solid gray potion with flecks of stone.		As a reaction to taking damage, you can choose to become an invulnerable statue to negate the triggering damage. You are invulnerable and petrified until the end of your next turn.
9	Charge of the Bull	A red potion with a swirling vortex.		Gain a powerful charge attack: If you can move at least 10ft in a straight line, you can make an attack. If the attack hits, it is treated as a critical hit, and the target is knocked prone. If the attack misses, the player takes MEDIUM bludgeoning damage, is knocked prone, and lands 10 feet past the target.
10	Clumsy Might	A creamy potion with bubbles.		Advantage on Strength checks and saves but disadvantage on Dexterity-based tasks.

The Stalking Statues

The room is a vast, dimly-lit chamber with four stone statues positioned in various states of distress; their faces contorted in silent screams or buried in their hands as if weeping. The flickering light from a dying chandelier dances across their features, casting ominous shadows that seem to move. Describe the chandelier as flickering in and out. In the darkness, the statues seem to move closer and closer.
You can treat this room narratively to unsettle the players, or turn it into an encounter. For an encounter, roll initiative (the statues always act at the end of the initiative order, and only on rounds when the lights are out). Every other round, either cover the map if playing in person, switch to a blank map on a VTT, or, if using theater of the mind, simply narrate the lights going out. The statues can only move in darkness, which is magical. Some players may have the ability to see through magical darkness. In such cases, the movement of the statues is visible to those players. Players who cannot see in the darkness can move but must declare their directions and distances. The door at the end of the room is unlocked when all statues are destroyed or by using the Knock spell.

Stalking Statues

Medium Construct, neutral evil
Armor Class :: 18 (natural armor) Hit Points :: 3 MEDIUM hits Speed :: 20 ft (can move only in darkness)

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
14 (+2)	11 (+0)	13 (+1)	1 (-5)	3 (-4)	1 (-5)

Damage Immunities :: poison, psychic Condition Immunities :: blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned Senses :: Blindsight 60 ft. Languages :: None
Antimagic Susceptibility. The statue is incapacitated while in the area of an antimagic field. If targeted by dispel magic, the statue must succeed on a CON saving throw against the caster's spell save DC or fall unconscious for 1 minute. : False Appearance. While the statue remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from a normal statue. : Dark Step. The statue can only move in darkness. It moves silently. It may not take the dash action. All attacks automatically hit.

Actions

Multiattack. The statue makes two melee attacks if the APL is 4+, and three melee attacks if the APL is 7+. : Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: automatically hits, reach 5ft., one target. Hit MEDIUM bludgeoning damage. : Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: automatically hits, reach 5ft., one target. Hit MEDIUM piercing damage. : Grapple. Roll Contested Athletics vs Atheltics or Acrobatics. The statue rolls with Advantage. Reach 5ft., one target. MEDIUM escape DC to break free.

Final Confrontation

Suggested flavor text - read in your own voice / tone: : You walk through the door to find yourself in a vast, open kitchen. The air is heavy with the scent of pots boiling over low flames, their contents a mystery. Shadows flicker and stretch across the walls, animated by the dim firelight.
Above, cured meats hang from hooks, swaying slightly in the draft. The countertops are littered with a variety of sinister-looking knives and butchery tools, their edges catching the light with an ominous glint.
At the center of this daunting scene stand Redd and Nara. Redd greets you with a malicious smile. “Now that you’ve been properly tenderized, it’s time for the main course!” he says. In a chilling display, he reaches for his face and peels it away as if it were a mask, revealing the ghastly sight of raw muscles, pulsing veins, and exposed nerves.
Next to him, Nara stands with an unsettling calm. Her hands begin to unnaturally stretch and contort, transforming into deadly claws. As she grins, her mouth widens unnervingly, unveiling a row of sharp, predatory teeth.

Monstrous Hosts

Redd Traskin, also known as Red Mask, and Nara Traskin, known as The Hunger, have hidden their monstrous nature for years by disguising themselves as the friendly innkeepers of the Red Mask Inn. They lure travelers with warmth and hospitality, only to ensnare them in a nightmarish trap. Through their powers of perception and emotion manipulation, they torment their victims in an alternate dimension, relishing the fear and suffering they create. All the while, they maintain their facade as ordinary innkeepers, continuing their sinister feast on unsuspecting guests.

Lair Actions

Initiative :: At initiative order 20, use one of the lair action options
Scalding Water: Boiling water erupts from pots in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw, taking MEDIUM fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. : Slippery Floors: The floor becomes slick with oil and grease. For the next round, any creature moving across the floor must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw or fall prone. You can avoid this by moving at half speed, but you must declare this before moving. : Whirling Blades: Blades whirl in a line 50 feet long and 5 feet wide. Each creature in the line must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw, taking MEDIUM piercing damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. : Flour Explosion: A cloud of flour ignites in a 30-foot radius centered on a point within the lair. Each creature in that area must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw, taking MEDIUM fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

DM Notes

HP: The HP listed in the stat blocks are simply a guideline. Balance to your party, making sure that the combat lasts some time, but doesn't drag on too long. : Villain Actions: Red Mask utilizes villain actions. This is an action he can take at any point after a PCs action, but limited to one per round.

Red Mask

Medium monstrosity, chaotic evil

APL	AC	HP
1-3	14	30±10
4-6	16	60±10
7-10	18	90±10

Speed :: 30 ft

APL	STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
1-3	12 (+1)	14 (+2)	13 (+1)	10 (+0)	12 (+1)	10 (+0)
4-6	14 (+2)	16 (+3)	15 (+2)	12 (+1)	14 (+2)	10 (+0)
7-10	16 (+3)	18 (+4)	17 (+3)	14 (+2)	16 (+3)	10 (+0)

Condition Immunities :: frightened, charmed Damage Resistances :: fire, acid, poison, necrotic Senses :: darkvision 60 ft. Languages :: Common, Deep Speech
Terrifying Unmasking. When the mask comes off, each creature within sight must make a WIS or CHA saving throw against an EASY DC. On a failed save, the creature becomes frightened for 1 minute. A frightened creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. : Magic Resistance. Red Mask has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. :

Reactions

I think not! (3/day) As a reaction, Red Mask can choose to succeed on a failed check. However, this requires mental fortitude, so he takes MEDIUM non-lethal psychic damage to do so.

Actions

Multiattack. The Red Mask makes two melee attacks if the APL is 4+, and three melee attacks if the APL is 7+. : Misty Step. Red Mask can cast Misty Step at will as a bonus action. : Butcher’s Knife. Melee Weapon Attack: reach 5ft., one target.

APL	to hit bonus	damage
1-3	+4	LIGHT
4-6	+6	MEDIUM
7-10	+8	MEDIUM

Villain Actions

How's My Cooking? Any creature that ate food in the tavern must make a MEDIUM CON saving throw or be incapacitated with retching as rotten, maggoty food comes back up. The effect lasts until the end of the affected creature's turn. : Time to Eat! Nara can move up to her speed towards a target and make a bite attack as part of the same action. : See What Awaits You! Red Mask unleashes a wave of mental horror, showing the victims horrific images of previous guests being butchered and eaten. Each creature within sight must succeed on an EASY WIS saving throw or take MEDIUM non-lethal psychic damage.

Tactics

The Hunger prefers hit-and-run tactics, targeting the least armored or most injured characters. If the characters try to focus fire on Red Mask, narrate The Hunger turning it's attention to the Haskill family.
She will try to Bite as at least one of her attacks to keep regenerating hit points.

Nara, The Hunger

Medium monstrosity, chaotic evil

APL	AC	HP
1-3	14	30±10
4-6	16	60±10
7-10	18	90±10

Speed :: 50 ft

APL	STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
1-3	12 (+1)	14 (+2)	13 (+1)	10 (+0)	12 (+1)	10 (+0)
4-6	14 (+2)	16 (+3)	15 (+2)	12 (+1)	14 (+2)	10 (+0)
7-10	16 (+3)	18 (+4)	17 (+3)	14 (+2)	16 (+3)	10 (+0)

Condition Immunities :: frightened, charmed Damage Resistances :: necrotic, piercing, bludgeoning, slashing Senses :: darkvision 60 ft. Languages :: Common, Deep Speech
Voracious Perception. Once The Hunger has tasted the flesh of a creature, it can track the creature by smell, effectively gaining blindsight with a range 30 feet for that creature. : Wall Crawler. With spider-like agility, The Hunger adheres to terrain, crawling along walls and ceilings to approach its victims. : Fleet-footed The Hunger's rapid movements give it a speed of 50 feet, and enemies trying to make opportunity attacks do so with a disadvantage.

Reactions

Bloodthirsty Pursuit. If a creature within 30 feet of The Hunger uses a teleportation ability or spell to escape, The Hunger can use its reaction to immediately teleport to a space adjacent to the escaping creature.

Actions

Multiattack. The The Hunger makes two melee attacks if the APL is 4+, and three melee attacks if the APL is 7+. : Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: reach 10ft., one target. If target not armored, or on a critical hit, add bleed damage for 1d3 rounds. This damage does not stack on multiple hits, instead use the highest rolled value for damage and rounds rolled. This effect can only be removed by magical healing. : Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: reach 5ft., one target. On a successful hit, deal damage as normal, and The Hunger regenerates half of the damage dealt as hit points.

APL	to hit bonus	damage	bleed from claws
1-3	+4	LIGHT	1d2
4-6	+6	MEDIUM	1d4
7-10	+8	MEDIUM	1d6

The Collapse

With the death of its hosts, the reality of this pocket dimension begins to unravel. This is a perfect time to deploy a Skill Challenge. Choose any of the following room descriptions, and let the players decide which skills they want to employ to navigate through the room. The focus here is on the Rule of Cool.
Ideally, these should be rooms the party have already encountered, but you can also introduce new rooms they haven't seen yet. The players can to select any Skill for their roll, as long as it fits the narrative context. Set the DC based on what they're attempting to achieve and its level of feasibility. Spells and other actions taken by the players should also have an impact, provided they logically align with the situation at hand.
Achieving one or two successful outcomes should be sufficient to pass through a room. In case of failure, introduce a complication, such as a character sustaining an injury, acquiring a level of exhaustion, or suffering a temporary condition like being frightened, poisoned, or even blinded. In such scenarios, other party members may need to assist the affected player.

DM Notes

Here you should aim to instill a sense of urgency and desperation. Monitor your players closely. As they approach their limits, consider making that room the final challenge. Remember, they don't need to complete every room you've planned.

Time to Run

Suggested flavor text - read in your own voice / tone:
As you land the final blow, a momentary stillness ensues, briefly allowing you to reflect on your victory. But there's no time for celebration. A low hum begins to resonate through the space, growing louder with each passing second. Around you, the walls and ceiling start to crack and splinter. Suddenly, a wall in front of you collapses, revealing one of the rooms you passed through earlier. Behind you, the ceiling is collapsing. The way forward is through...
[Note, I had to cut the descriptions of rooms on the way back to fit into char limit - see PDF]

Conclusion

As you burst through the door, you're back in the long corridor you first encountered as you woke up. At the far end, you glimpse the outside world. You sprint towards freedom as the corridor crumbles behind you, the destruction nipping at your heels. In a desperate leap at the last possible moment, you escape... and the sudden tranquility of the night envelops you. The quiet, so starkly contrasted with the preceding chaos, strikes you with its intensity. Surrounded by the serene sounds of the forest, the peace feels almost otherworldly, a surreal end to your harrowing journey.
You stand at a crossroads, where an old structure looms, clearly long abandoned. It leans precariously, a silhouette against the night sky. Moonlight filters through its collapsed roof, casting ghostly shadows across the crumbling walls. The scene, bathed in a silver glow, is both haunting and strangely serene.

Loot

Tucked away behind the inn, the adventurers might notice something peculiar about the compost heap — it seems to occasionally sparkle with the glint of metal and the shimmer of gemstones. Upon closer inspection and a bit of rummaging, they'll discover that this isn't just any old pile of refuse; it's a resting place for treasures that once belonged to the inn's unfortunate previous visitors.
You can use the rules for Treasure Hoard Tables from DMG p133 to see what the players can find.