Storm in the Shadows
5th-level Air Elemental Encounter
In this encounter, I wanted to make the environment itself another adversary to deal with. Not only does the party have to fight an air elemental and its minions, they have to also resist being sucked down into a bottomless pit.
I thought about creating a naïf monster to work with the air elemental, but I wanted a creature that was a little more robust than a minion. So I instead created the Air Elemental Guard to provide something else for the party to deal with.
The cavern itself is meant to resemble a whirlwind that spirals to the center. The walls are smooth though polished from ages of constant wind.
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Storm in the Shadows…
Hard encounter for five 5th-level characters (3,900XP)
The nearby town has been experiencing a plague that has infected most of the population. The local alchemist created an elixir that cured the disease in those she treated. But he does not have enough for everyone. To make more of the elixir, she needs the breezeleaf herb that grows within the caves to the south. The vine is valued by the air elementals that reside there and they have been unable to collect any. They turn to the adventurer’s for help.
Place the characters in the passageway to the northwest.
Environment
Lighting There are motes that provide some light, but the cavern is filled with shadows.
Air The air in this cavern is constantly sucked down into the pit at the center. As creatures get closer to the main chamber, the wind becomes stronger and stronger, almost pulling them forward.
Shrub The shrub in the side passage matches the description of the vine provided by the alchemist. It also has an aura of light surrounding it.
A DC 15 Nature check will reveal that this is a sister plant to the herb that is needed. Any creature that touches the blooms on this plant must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for one hour.
Vines The vines hang over the edge of the pit. There are blooms all around, but also many thorns. Cutting a bloom is trivial, but a creature interacting with the vines must make a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw or take 3 (1d6) piercing damage.
Pit The wind in the main area is very strong.
Movement toward the pit pulls the creature an extra 5 feet for every 5 feet of movement.
Movement away from the pit is reduced to half speed.
Tactics
Air Elemental The air elemental is territorial and protects the vines simply because they are in its lair. it cannot be reasoned with.
It will hang back for a round to let the guards attack first. Then it flies through the chamber and attacks the enemy that is closest to the vines.
The elemental will save its Whirlwind attack for when a creature gets within 10 feet of the vines. Otherwise uses its slam attacks on each turn.
Air Elemental Guards These smaller elementals protect their leader.
Elemental guard #1 will put up a weak defense of the shrub, but once it takes any damage, it will flee to the main chamber and let the shrub deal with the invaders.
In the main chamber, the elemental guards take up positions between their leader and any enemies. If they spot an opportunity to use their Gust ability, they will take it.
All the creatures fight to the death.
Treasure
If the party collects blooms for 20 minutes, they will obtain enough for the alchemist to cure the town, plus 2d4 pounds extra. These blooms are used to make a strong wine that is popular in coastal towns. They can fetch a good price if sold within the next week.
At the end of 20 minutes, any party member that picked blooms will have received 3d4 piercing damage from the thorns.
Once the town is cured, the mayor will reward the party with 3d6 50gp gems.
🎲Roll initiative!! 🎲
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