Alstad used to be a prosperous town, bustling with life. Now it's deserted, animals are skittish, and a few gaunt faces peer out the windows. Then a ten-year-old boy asks the party for help - his parents have vanished! Can you help the lad, and maybe sort out the town's problem as well?
The DM's Background lays it all out, explaining the root cause of all the recent disappearances and how it came to be loose in town. Details are left purposefully vague, so that you can drop Alstad into a suitable location in your campaign world, although it is suggested that the adventure is best run in mid-autumn, with days shortening, the air getting chilly, and mists abounding. That said, the town itself is well-described, with a smallish map and notes on locations and notable inhabitants (or at least, who's left!). Conveniently there is someone in town who has the knowledge to realise what is going on - if only someone updates them on the situation and asks the right questions. You can use this person if the party are struggling to figure things out.
Perhaps the party has heard rumours that something odd is going on in Alstad, or they may have just arrived on other business (probably passing through) and find the place strangely deserted. Whichever way, the adventure begins as they are accosted by a scared small boy. Then they can explore the town and speak to the few still there.
Nearby there is a hill, Watchman's Hill, where the town's founder (a former adventuring wizard called Alstad) is buried in what used to be the town's cemetery. That is full now, and a new one has been started on the edge of town. Nowadays few folk go up Watchman's Hill, it has a reputation as a bit of a spooky place. This spooky feeling is now in town. Perhaps there's a connection?
It's a well-constructed story and serves to introduce both a nasty undead and a powerful yet flawed artefact, which you might wish to use outside of this adventure. Menace builds slowly but steadily, with the end being either the elimination of the threat or the elimination of the entire town (and possibly the party as well). Nice creepy tale, best played after dark...
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