Mendax the Mad
RoomDCC 72 · p.8
Open source p.8Area 2-2 – Mendax the Mad
You hear the raspy calls of ravens further up the road. As you draw nearer, you see dozens of the black-feathered carrion eaters clustered over a bloody corpse in the road. They turn their dark eyes on you, beaks bloodied and grisly.
If the PCs approach the corpse, the ravens take to wing to lurk among nearby trees. The corpse belongs to an enormous black bear, its missing head brutally severed from the shoulders. Steam rises off the freshly killed corpse, even as droplets of blood freeze in the snow.
The massive bear was felled by terrible wounds, and a broken spear is still wedged in its chest. The broad-headed spearhead and shaft are giant-sized, nearly twice as large as a normal spear.
A small, dark-haired dwarf watches the PCs from a nearby tree, emerging from hiding only as the PCs begin to examine the corpse. Mendax the Mad once served as jester in the court of the Horned King but fled before the onslaught of giants. He seeks to win back his place at court but cares not whether he serves the ice giants or the Horned King.
After months hiding out in the woods, Mendax presents a strange sight: his once-colorful clothes are now stained black with soot, his beard is tangled and knotted with twigs, and his hands are blackened with charcoal and frostbite. His desperate, haunted eyes haven’t changed: the craven, nasty thing will eagerly backstab any friend if it might earn him the esteem of his master.
Mendax hails the PCs from safety. If not met with violence, he cautiously climbs down from the tree, moving like a beaten whelp waiting for the next blow.
The cagey dwarf baits his hook carefully, at first only begging the PCs to share a bit of bear meat. Mendax confirms that giants killed the bear, taking its head as a trophy. Then the dwarf volunteers his story, claiming to wish nothing but a slow death to the ice giants. He knows of a “secret” entrance to the Horned King’s citadel but warns the PCs of the mighty ice giant clan. If pressed, Mendax grudgingly agrees to take the PCs to the citadel and show them the hidden ice tunnels (area 2-3) but only if they will protect him from the fearsome ice giants.
Mendax’s true aim is subtler. He intends to play the PCs as his pawns, betraying them the moment they encounter giants. If the giants win, Mendax will have proved his worth and earned a place in their court. If the PCs carry the day, the Horned King will rise again and Mendax will return to his place at the right hand of the king.
If attacked, Mendax flees to the best of his ability, circling towards the citadel in the hopes of alerting the giants and winning their gratitude.
Treasure: If the PCs kill Mendax, they find little of worth on his corpse. The dwarf’s prize possession is a jeweled short sword and seven black-gold rings presented to him by the Horned King and worn in his beard. The sword is worth 130 gp for the large ruby set in its pommel; each ring bears the rune of the Horned King and is worth 10 gp.
Mendax the Mad: Init ; Atk short sword melee (); AC 13; HD ; hp 22; MV 20’; Act ; SV Fort , Ref , Will ; AL N.