Musical Morels

Gwendolyn is a travelling choirmaster who’s fallen into quite

a predicament. While on the road to her next performance, Adventure hooks
her chorus of singing mushrooms has vanished from sight. Musical Morels is best introduced when the party is
Having wandered into all manner of dangers, it’ll take a party travelling. It can begin anytime they are likely to pass through
of hardy adventurers to rescue the choristers and return or around a forest, especially if they have some time to spare
them to safety before their big performance later that night. on their journey.
Musical Morels is a short adventure for fifth-level If you’d like to foreshadow the adventure, have the NPCs of
characters that will take one session to complete. It can be a neighbouring town talk to the party about a choirmaster
inserted between larger questlines, or used as a standalone and her group of singing mushrooms. They should speak of
prologue to a longer adventure. her with delighted interest or may have seen her perform.
Background Adventure Start
A professional choirmaster with a minor reputation, The adventure begins when the players come across
Gwendolyn travels town to town, staging marvellous a Gwendolyn on the side of the road, soon after her singers
cappella performances. Her choir is no ordinary chorus, have vanished.
however, but a company of campestris (The Wild Beyond the
Witchlight); mushroom-like creatures who just so happen to During a safe and uneventful journey, you reach the crest of a
be excellent singers. Four pairs of campestris make up her
choir, with each duo sporting a distinct vocal range and visual hill that stands next to a sprawling forest. A brightly coloured
appearance: wagon is perched by the roadside, and slumped beside it sits a
figure. Wringing their hands while faintly muttering, they
Sopranos - tall and yellow glance up to beckon you over with friendly enthusiasm.
Altos - wide and red
Tenors - small and green
Basses - stout and blue Gwendolyn introduces herself and readily explains the
situation. Desperately worried for her choristers, she reasons
While travelling to their next performance, the choir they’re harmless creatures who are usually too friendly for
stopped by the roadside for a spot of lunch. But what should their own good and will quickly wander into danger if not
have been a sunny picnic soon turned sour. Gwendolyn found.
turned her back for only a moment before finding her singers Presuming the characters to be a band of canny
missing. They had wandered off along the road and into the adventurers, she asks them to help, explaining she cannot
neighbouring forest, and now lie snatched, startled, and abandon her wagon to explore the forest herself. Gwendolyn
ensnared in heaps of trouble. Slumped anxiously against the appeals to the party's altruism and promises to give an
side of her wagon, she soon spies a group of adventurers who exclusive performance once all her choristers are returned. If
may very well provide the help she needs. they remain reluctant, she doubles down on the campestris’

helplessness, as well as her genuine affection for them.
Once the party accepts, Gwendolyn can explain the
following:
Campestris love music and will take any opportunity to
join a sing-song, regardless of their surroundings.
They can memorise a piece of music in a near instant,
making them utterly dependable and totally irreplaceable.
The creatures are fantastic imitators who enjoy
mimicking the speech of others.
They're curious but give no thought to their safety or the
anxiety their disappearance might cause others.
She suggests the characters explore the road behind her
wagon on the chance the mushrooms are hanging nearby.

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 Scene One: The Chef
Gwendolyn Characters can make their way to this scene by following one
A natural performer who meets every new
acquaintance with a smile, Gwendolyn has a sharp of two clues. First, they might investigate the road a short
wit that's proved useful for navigating the wicked distance from Gwendolyn’s wagon. Second, anytime a
guiles of crooked music promoters. Self-taught, character listens out for the sounds of campestris mimicking
she’s no savant, but performs well and will happily a voice, a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check will
talk for hours to learn and teach others. She's not reveal sounds of struggle. Pursuing the noises leads them to
naive, either, and knows what dangers might lurk in the following:
the forest.

Personality trait: "I dedicate myself to music and A large man is crouched in the middle of the road, tussling
live to play."
with a drawstring sack while muttering obscenities in
Ideal: "A flawless performance is the highest
aggravation. Something inside the bag is moving frenetically.
achievement one can hope for."

Bond: "My choir means everything to me."

Just before it looks to slip out of the man’s control, he
Flaw: "Appraise my conducting, but do not dare tightens its drawstrings, grips it firmly by the neck, and lifts
insult my singers." himself upwards, holding the bag in his outstretched hand
while something writhes within.

The man is Bendal and the creatures inside the sack are
Gwendolyn’s Sopranos. He stumbled upon them along the
Adventure Main roadside. A chef by trade, he intends to take them back to his
restaurant, preserve them, and serve them to an
Gwendolyn’s wagon is parked next to the treeline of a large appropriately special patron to make a name for his food and
forest. Dense and dark, the woodland is uninhabited, save for restaurant. He knows they are campestris but is unfamiliar
the friendly fauna, menacing monsters, and brutish brigands with Gwendolyn’s choir.
that call it home. The middle portion of this adventure sees Negotiation. Bendal is reluctant to tell the characters
characters explore the forest. It is split into four scenes, one what’s inside his bag. After being pressured or charmed to do
for each pair of campestris that must be rescued. so, he’s even more reluctant to part with them. While he
Transitions. Characters can move to a specific scene by might take a bruising, he’s not willing to risk his life to keep
investigating various clues. If the party finds none or don’t the mushrooms (Bendal uses the commoner stat block in
attempt to search for any, they might blindly explore the combat).
surrounding area. In this case, the whole party makes a DC Characters who try to convince Bendal that he shouldn't
15 Wisdom (Survival) check. If half succeed, they arrive at a cook the campestris can, with a successful DC 15
random scene, determined by the DM rolling a d4 and Intelligence (Nature) check, recall the creatures taste
travelling to the scene of the same number. If more than half extremely salty, ruining any dish they're served in. This jogs
fail, they face any encounter from the table below, before Bendal’s memory, who agrees not to cook them in exchange
arriving at a random scene. Encounters and scenes cannot be for something else that will boost the reputation of his
replayed. restaurant.
Rescued campestris will remain with the characters until If the party acquires the Sopranos without rubbing Bendal
they are returned to Gwendolyn (Adventure End). The the wrong way, he can tell them the following:
creatures can hop at the same walking pace of the party. They
can also fit inside a backpack. He saw a handful of campestris wander into the forest

through a break in the treeline a short distance away.
Rumour has it a dangerous creature of the forest snatches
Encounters unsuspecting travellers from the road.
d4 Encounters If asked, he will lend the characters a salt cellar. This may
1 A squirrel pesters the characters before several be used when dealing with the giant snail in Scene Two.
more forest critters join in A character that investigates the break in the treeline
2 A swarm of eight stirges surround the party pointed out by Bendal can succeed on a DC 10 Wisdom
and attack (Perception) check to identify a path of mucus leading deeper
3 A hunter guides the party to the next scene into the forest.
and demands a large fee for their service
4 A pair of giant boars charge towards the party
                   from the brush of the forest

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 Scene Two: Gigantic Gastropod The campestris are Gwendolyn’s Tenors and at the top of the
outcrop lies a wyvern’s nest. The wyvern snatched the Tenors
The party can reach this scene by looking for animal tracks in from the roadside, brought them back to its nest, and has
the forest. On a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) flown away by the time the characters arrive. The
check, they find splotches of mucus covering the ground, mushrooms are singing a shrill, wordless melody in the hope
leading deeper into the forest. Alternatively, they might of attracting help. Stricken with fear, they won’t willingly
investigate the break in the treeline that Bendal directs them move.
towards in Scene One. They reach this scene by following the Rock Climb. The rocks stand 20 feet tall. If characters
mucus. attempt to climb up, pace out their ascent with a DC 10
Strength (Athletics) check every time they encounter an
Following the trail of mucus, you’re led to the mouth of a large obstacle, such as slippery footholds, crumbling crevices, or
cave etched into a cliffside. The rough entrance secretes a sharp rocks. If they fail, they’ll fall off the rockface. The climb
rancid smell and casts a dark shadow across an
should not be overly challenging, but hammer home the
inaccessibility of the peak. At the top lies animal carcasses
indistinguishable shape that sits motionless within.
and a human corpse. A successful DC 15 Wisdom (Medicine)
check will reveal the man died of poison and has a single
The shape is in fact a giant snail, napping to escape the puncture to his abdomen.
afternoon sun. Characters who approach the snail will Wyvern Attack. The wyvern appears with a nasally roar
quickly see its large shell on top of its squidgy flesh, while just after the characters reach the campestris, circling the
those who attempt to determine what it is can identify it as a outcrop before flying in to attack. It will focus on those
mollusc shell on a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Nature) check. characters holding the campestris, swooping down to attack
Giant Snail. The snail takes up the entire width of the before retreating back to the safety of the air. The peak,
cave, preventing the characters from walking around it or which is roughly circular with a diameter of 10 feet, leaves
seeing Gwendolyn’s Altos huddled at its rear. Having little room for movement.
wandered into the cave, the pair of mushrooms became

ensnared in a layer of thick mucus and trapped when the

snail returned to sleep. As soon as the giant snail moves

outside of the cave, the interior is illuminated, revealing the
struggling campestris.
The snail will remain sleeping, and the campestris hidden
from view, until it is awoken, which may occur from a
sufficiently loud noise, thud, or anything else that might
disrupt a snail’s sleep cycle. Once awake, it emerges from its
shell. Although intrigued by the characters, it will not attack,
and may be led outside of the cave unharmed. If the
characters throw a dash of salt on the snail, it loses half its hit
points and attacks the player who wounded it.
The Altos can be easily lifted out of the mucus but will
leave a layer of snail goo on any surface they touch until
cleaned.
Scene Three: Wyvern Nest
The party can make their way to this encounter by listening
out for campestris’ singing. A player who succeeds on a DC
10 Wisdom (Perception) check detects singing coming from
deep within the forest. If they follow the noise to its source,
they reach the following:
You emerge in a clearing littered with thistles, flowers and
overgrown thickets. At its centre lies a large rocky outcrop.
Huge boulders slant across one another, forming a rough
mound with a wide plateau at its peak. Peeping over its edge is
the source of the singing: a pair of green campestris, huddled
together, cooing into the wind.

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Scene Four: Baked bandits Adventure End
The party can reach this scene by searching for footprints. A Having collected the four pairs of campestris, players can
character who succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence return to Gwendolyn by stumbling back through the forest. If
(Investigation) check finds a track of boot marks in the mud. the campestris are left to wander beside the party, they yelp
Those who have found the bandit's corpse in Scene Three with glee upon seeing their fellow choristers and hop back to
need only succeed on a DC 5 Intelligence (Investigation) Gwendolyn’s wagon as if they know the route by heart.
check. Following the footprints, they find the following: Gwendolyn is overjoyed to see her choir return, profusely
thanking the party for their help. If any of her singers didn’t
Reaching a dark corner of the forest, you spy a small make it, she is saddened but appreciates the characters’
encampment between a ring of overgrown shrubs and twisted efforts.
trees. Several figures move between the camp’s ragged tents, Bodak Attack. Making good on her promise, Gwendolyn
muttering to one another between bursts of gruff laughter that offers to perform a song. The piece is an ethereal number
penetrate the forest’s silence. replete with polyphonic textures and sung in the language of
the Shadar-kai. During the performance, a green mist swirls
behind the choir, quickly coalescing into a billowing mass of
The camp belongs to a group of bandits who snatched opaque light. The choir's singing has, in fact, summoned a
Gwendolyn’s wandering Basses in the forest. Wrongly portal to the Shadowfell, through which a bodak emerges.
believing the mushrooms to possess psychoactive attributes, Stepping through the portal, the bodak immediately attacks
they’ve begun dehydrating the creatures to eat later. The the party, while the campestris flee to Gwendolyn’s wagon
campestris are locked in a small cage suspended several feet and the portal collapses behind them. Although she keeps out
above a low fire in the middle of the camp and have fallen of the fray, Gwendolyn may provide useful hints about how to
unconscious from the heat. defeat the monster, such as avoiding its deathly gaze.
Not spoiling for a fight, the bandits will happily talk to the
party about their plan. They'll invite the characters to join Concluding the adventure
them, with the intention of robbing the party once they’re
suitably intoxicated. The corpse in Scene Three was a If Gwendolyn survives the fight, she insists she had no
member of the camp but was earlier snatched by the wyvern. intention of opening the portal but was merely performing a
The bandits have little interest in his whereabouts. new song recently purchased from a manuscript merchant in
Time limit. At some point in the conversation, the bandits a nearby city. With some effort, and guarantees of safety, she
explain the campestris will finish dehydrating within five can be persuaded to open the portal again should the party
minutes. From this point, the characters have five in-game wish to travel to the Shadowfell.
minutes to remove the mushrooms from the cage before they As a final gesture of thanks, she invites them to attend her
dry out. If the mushrooms are rescued in time, they are found choir’s next performance free of charge and offers a courtesy
unconscious and shrivelled, but otherwise fine. They will lift to their intended destination. The characters also earn
rehydrate to their cheery selves after being doused with a Gwendolyn's everlasting thanks.
bottle of water. If the mushrooms are not rescued within five If she dies during the fight, her choristers surround her
minutes they will die. body and sing a short, solemn requiem. Frightened by the
Bandit Attack. If the characters try to steal the forest, they will follow the characters for protection, oblivious
mushrooms, resort to violence, or push their luck in a to the fact their dependence may be perceived as pestering.
negotiation, the bandits will attack. Their forces consist of a
bandit captain who leads the negotiations, two thugs that
target a single character, an acolyte who casts from afar, and
a berserker who is front of the attack. The campestris' cage
is unlocked but hot, causing 1d4 damage to any character
that touches it. It's hanging by rope from a tripod.

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 Gwendolyn Actions
Medium humanoid (Half-elf), Neutral Good
Multiattack. Gwendolyn makes two Dagger attacks.
Armor Class 11 Dagger. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5ft., one
Hit Points 33(6d8 + 6) target. Hit 5 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage.
Speed 30ft.
Spellcasting Gwendolyn casts one of the following
spells, using Charisma as the spellcasting ability (spell
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA save DC 13):
10 (0) 12 (+1) 10 (+0) 11 (+0) 13 (+1) 14 (+2) Cantrips (at will): vicious mockery, true strike, mending
1st level (3 slots): heroism, healing word
Saving Throws Wis +3 Taunt Gwendolyn can use a bonus action on her turn to
Skills Performance + 5, Animal Handling + 3 target one creature within 30 feet. If the target can
Senses darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 11 hear her, the target must succeed on a DC 12 Charisma
Languages Common, Elvish saving throw or have disadvantage on ability checks,
Challenge 2 (450 XP)                      Proficiency Bonus +2 attack rolls, and saving throws until the start of
Gwendolyn's next turn.
Fey Ancestry Gwendolyn has advantage on saving
throws against being charmed, and magic can't put her
to sleep.

Acknowledgements
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Eberron, the dragon ampersand, Ravnica
and all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA
and other countries.
This work contains material that is copyright Wizards of the Coast and/or other authors. Such material is used with permission
under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild.
All other original material in this work is copyright 2021 by Callum Bains and published under the Community Content
Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild.

Illustrations: KSIVA, Gin Colorist, Wizards of the Coast, Gabi Wolf

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