Travelers Rest  
Overview 
A one-shot adventure for a party of 4 level 6 characters.

A party of traveling adventurers come across a foreboding cliffside inn as the sun is setting on all hallows
eve. Little do they know, but this inn is actually a traveling building, appearing at sundown along a
deserted stretch of road as a thunderstorm rolls in, somewhere in the world each night, only to fade away
as the sun rises. A building which exists perpetually within a dark and stormy night, the house has
attracted countless evil residents, the most recent an enterprising witch. The promise of shelter from the
storm lures travelers inside so Madame L ​ eT
​ ourneau​, ​a witch seamstress, can kill them and use their
corpses as material to sew into her “dolls”.

Image from reddit, source unknown… not mine! 

 
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Outline 
1.  Arrival: T
​ he party finds itself caught in the beginnings of a thunderstorm as they travel a cliffside 
road through dark mountains. Rounding a bend, they discover the inn and its offer of shelter. If they 
accept, go to scene 2. If they refuse, use scene 1b or a variant to guide them inside. 

1b.  The bridge is out:​ Continuing along the road, the travelers find the only rope bridge across a deep 
chasm broken. Here they meet the inns caretaker, Nil. They do not know he has just finished cutting the 
bridge to force them to stay the night in the inn (2).  

2.  Settling in/the storm arrives:​ The party tries to make themselves comfortable in the inn, but it is a 
damp and unsettling place to spend any night, let alone a rainy all-hallows eve… on the first watch, the 
dummies attack as the storm picks up. The party must quickly rouse and defend themselves... after 
fighting off the dummies, and discovering they are trapped, they must decide how they are going to 
proceed downward, the patio stairs (3a) or the conservatory (3b).  

3a.  The patio:​ The party must cross a web filled patio and descend a spiral staircase onto the lower 
patio, where giant spiders lurk in wait. Beyond the spiders nets, they find a door into the lower level.  

3b.  The conservatory:​ The conservatory is a large two story glassed in room with two twisted trees 
growing within. The group must descend a staircase between the two trees, then circle their bases to 
reach an arched doorway into the lower level.  

4.  The lower level:​ Depending on how you reach the lower level, you either enter the skinning room 
or the sewing room. These rooms are the lair of the witch who controls this magical inn, where she skins 
her catches and sews their skin over mannequins to create her “dolls”. The Witch has her private 
chambers in a store room under the main lobby, which also contains the gearworks for lowering the 
drawbridge.  

5.  Escape!:​ Depending on how effectively the party dealt with the witch, they may have to rush to 
escape the house before the sun rises. 

   

 
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1. Arrival 
As the sun is setting, the party is looking for somewhere to spend the night as they travel along a cliffside 
road. Coming around a bend, they see a stone building perched on the cliff side of the road, connected to 
the road by a wooden footbridge. On the road side of the bridge are a pair of stone piers supporting a set 
of wrought iron gates and an arching sign “Traveler's Inn”. On one of the piers is a burnished bronze 
plaque above a wooden donation box. The plaque reads:   

“Welcome traveler… come rest within. Take what you need, leave a coin if you can.”  

Dropping a coin into the box rings an unseen bell. Moments later, a tall thin man opens the door a the far 
end of the drawbridge, stepping to the side to allow the party to enter. As they do he greets them. ​“ 
Welcome travelers. I am Nil, the keeper of this inn… I apologize for not being able to offer more than a dry 
room and a bed, there is no meal prepared and I have no wood for a fire… “ 

Nil carries a single candle as he moves through the house, showing the party 3 rooms on the first floor. 
The front door let the party into the lobby(20x20) which is open to a second floor balcony above, 
accessible by a curving staircase. Under this staircase is a door which leads down to the lower level, 
where Nil says he keeps his quarters next to the kitchen. The lobby is plain except for an old silent 
grandfather clock [anyone examining it would notice the strange dial, which is only a half circle from 
midnight to 6am.]. Off the lobby are a library and a ballroom. The Library (20 x 20) has shelves with a 
scattering of old books from all over the world, none in the native language of the current location. At GM 
discretion, a particularly studious adventurer could find something interesting within these tomes. The 
ballroom (20x40) is a high ceilinged space with large windows looking over the cliffside road and the 
valley below to the front and rear. Its third wall also has windows, except these overlook a large 
conservatory. A pair of locked french doors open onto a stone stairway which descends between gnarled 
oaks to the lower level. Connected to both the ballroom and library is a dining room (40x20) which 
occupies the back of the house behind the lobby and library. The dining room table and chairs are covered 
with white sheets, obviously unused for some time. The dining room overlooks a back terrace (60x20) 
with a staircase down to another, lower terrace… The doors to the terrace and conservatory are locked; if 
asked, Nil will explain that in a storm like tonight's, the doors would blow open otherwise. After the brief 
tour of the downstairs, Nil will lead the party upstairs and show them 4 rooms (one per party member). 

   

 
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Each room has a soft bed but little else in the way of furnishings, bookshelves and drawers are empty. 
After showing the party their rooms, Nil will retreat to his quarters on the lower level, telling the party 
to knock on the door at the top of the stairs if they need him.  

If the party explores before going to bed, the find a closet off the second floor hallway filled with wooden 
mannequins and a small staircase which leads up into a cupola where someone could survey the 
surrounding area or look down into the lobby below.  

   

   

 
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2. Settling in/the storm arrives 

After Nil goes downstairs, the party might want to make a fire… the fireplaces have no wood, and even if 
they did, the rain coming down the chimneys would make lighting a fire very difficult. The party settles in 
for a long cold night… at least they are out of the rain and the beds are comfortable.  

Whoever is on midnight watch makes a perception test to hear the main door closing with a creak. 
Looking out a window, they would see the caretaker hobbling across the bridge to the road. A moment 
later, he reaches the road and turns, locking eyes with whoever is watching… his eyes are sad as he steps 
backward off the bridge. With a groan the bridge begins to rise, the clatter of heavy chains filling the 
house before it slams closed, and as it closes a huge bolt of lightning strikes nearby. [Perception against 
Stealth] to detect 5 ​Unskinned Dummies​ moving through the house, about to attack! Success causes a 
dummy to cast a shadow across the wall next to an observant adventurer as the lightning strikes] As the 
dummy's attack, the grandfather clock in lobby begins to strike midnight.  

Unskinned Dummy. Challenge 2 (450 XP) Medium construct, chaotic evil 

STR 11 (+0) DEX 13 (+1) CON 11 (+0) INT 10 (+0) WIS 10 (+0) CHA 16 (+3) 
Armor Class 11 - Hit Points 30 - Speed 10ft/50ft - bright light/dim light 
Skils: Stealth +4/+6 in dim light or darkness 

Damage Vulnerabilities fire, radiant - Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from non magical weapons 

Damage Immunities poison Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion , frightened, paralyzed, poisoned, unconscious 

Senses darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 10  

At home in Darkness​: While in dim light or darkness, the dummy moves fluidly and unnaturally fast. When illuminated, it moves in 
jerks, from pose to pose. S
​ hadow Stealth:​ While in dim light or darkness, the dummy can take the Hide action as a bonus action. 

Multiattack. The dummy makes two attacks. 

Claw​. metal claws on the dummies hands glint in the flashes of lightning. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 
6 (2d4 + 1) slashing damage.  

Strength Drain​. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) necrotic damage, If the target is a creature, 
it must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or Strength score is reduced by 1d4. The target dies if this reduces its 
Strength to 0. Otherwise, the reduction lasts until the target finishes a short or long rest. As the dummy drains a creature's strength, 
its head changes shape to more closely match the face of its target.  

   

 
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3. To escape you must explore 

Silence consumes the house as the last dummy dies. In this silence, The whirring of the grandfather clock 
becomes apparent. Upon inspection of the front door, it becomes apparent that the mechanism for 
lowering the drawbridge is somewhere on a lower floor, as the wrist thick chains lead down into the floor.  

There are two ways to descend: The patio stairs or the conservatory stairs. The party will probably try the 
door below the stairs, but it banded with metal and solidly barred from the other side. without special 
cutting tools, the party cannot open this door, so they must choose between the exterior and interior 
stairs. 

3a. The patio 

The patio is an open space overlooking the valley below, its view obscured by mist and rain. The upper 
terrace is lit only by sporadic distant lightning, but looking over the edge, a careful observer can see 
spiderwebs blowing in the wind from the lower terrace. At the bottom of a set of stairs is a small patio 
bordering a row of pillars and arches holding up the upper terrace. Between these pillars are stretched 
large spiderwebs. The lower terrace is home to four large ghost spiders who feed on the corpse flesh 
thrown out by the witch and her minions. The spiders are currently lurking on the ceiling of the lower 
terrace, out of sight. There is also a swarm of Ghost Spider Hatchlings in the webs.  

Ghost Spider. Challenge 2 (450 XP) Medium monstrosity, neutral evil 

Armor Class 13 (natural armor) - Hit Points 44 (8d8 + 8) - Speed 30ft., climb 30 ft. 

STR 14 (+2) DEX 15 (+2) CON 13 (+1) INT 7 (-2) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 8 (- 1) 

Skills Perception +3, Stealth +4 Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13 

Spider Climb. The Ghost Spider can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability 
check. Web Walker. The Ghost Spider ignores movement restrictions caused by webbing. 

Multiattack. The Ghost Spider makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its claws. 

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 6 (ld8 + 2) piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) poison damage. 

   

 
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The target must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute. The creature can repeat the saving 
throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. 

Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (2d4 + 2) slashing damage. 

Web (Recharge 5-6). Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 30/60 ft. , one Large or smaller creature. Hit: The creature is restrained 
by webbing. As an action, the restrained creature can make a DC 11 Strength check, escaping from the webbing on a success. The 
effect ends if the webbing is destroyed. The webbing has AC 10, 5 hit points, resistance to all but cutting damage. 

Ghost Spider Hatchlings. Challenge 1/ 2 (100 XP) Medium swarm of Tiny beasts, 
neutral evil 
 
Armor Class 12 (natural armor) - Hit Points 22 (5d8) - Speed 20ft., climb 20ft.  
STR 3 (-4) DEX 13 (+1) CON 10 (+0) INT 1 (-5) WIS 7 (-2) CHA 1 (-5) 
 
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, slashing - Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, paralyzed,petrified, prone, 
restrained, stunned Senses blindsight 10ft., passive Perception 8 
 
Swarm. The swarm can occupy another creature's space and vice versa, and the swarm can move through any opening large enough 
for a Tiny insect. The swarm can't regain hit points or gain temporary hit points. 
 
Spider Climb. The swarm can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.  
 
Web Sense. While in contact with a web, the swarm knows the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web. 
 
Web Walker. The swarm ignores movement restrictions caused by webbing. 
 
Bites. ​Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 0 ft., one target in the swarm's space. Hit: 10 (4d4) piercing damage, or 5 (2d4) piercing 
damage if the swarm has half of its hit points or fewer. 

   

   

 
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3b. The conservatory 

The conservatory is a large glassed in, two story room. From the first floor lounges off the lobby, doors 
open onto a balcony along the conservatory's upper floor. The conservatory is dominated by two large, 
twisted trees. One of these is a treant, Blacktrunk, turned mad and twisted to evil by ages chained here in 
a pot by this witch… 

If anyone in the party has interacted with a treant before, they can may recognize this tree as such (DC20 
perception). If not discovered beforehand, Blacktrunk will wait until the party is on the ground floor of the 
conservatory before engaging them in conversation, stalling while it animates the other tree. Finally 
Blacktrunk will end the conversation, saying “​ It has been so nice having someone to talk to… I will say 
thanks to your spirits as I water my roots with your blood…”  

Withered Treant CR 7 (4 ,000 XP) 1 Huge plant, chaotic evil  

Armor Class 15 (natural armor) Hit Points 130 Speed 30ft. STR 20 (+4) DEX 8 (- 1) CON 21 (+5) INT 12 (+1) WIS 16 (+3) CHA 12 (+1) 

Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing - Damage Vulnerabilities fire Senses passive Perception 13 

Languages Common, Druidic, Elvish , Sylvan 

False Appearance. While the treant remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from a normal tree. 

Siege Monster. The treant deals double damage to objects and structures. 

Multiattack. The treant makes two slam attacks.  

Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (3d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage. 

Brick. Ranged Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, range 60/180 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d10 + 4) bludgeoning damage. 

Animate Trees (1/Day). The treant magically animates one or two trees it can see within 60 feet of it. These trees have the same 
statistics as a treant, except they have Intelligence and Charisma scores of 1, they cannot talk.  

   

 
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4. The Lower Level 

The lower level of the house contains the lair of the witch, M
​ adame ​Le Tourneau. It consists of two main 
rooms, separated by an arched curtain.  

The first of these rooms is the “peeling room” (25x40) where Nil, directed by his master, hangs and skins 
victims of the house. This room is dominated by a corpse hanging mostly skinned from a hook in the 
ceiling, limbs stretched with cords to the floor and ceiling. Nearby the corpse is a set of tables with 
implements, knives, and other tools. Against the far wall is a hearth and table set up as a kitchen. In the 
corner is a wheelbarrow with some spider webs on it, filled with the dismembered remains of another 
skinned corpse.  

Dominating one of the 40ft walls is a large 20’ wide, 10’ high arch, hung with a red curtain.  

On the other side of this curtain is what Madame Le Tourneau calls her “sewing room”. In this room are 3 
tables, two at one end, each with a wooden mannequin laid out it. The third is in the center of the room, 
where Madame Le Tourneau works, carefully sewing human skin over a third mannequin. She wears long 
leather gloves and a heavy 
apron over a red and black 
witches robe. The Apron has 
several long metal needles 
(wands) and various 
spellcasting paraphernalia in 
its pockets. Even when 
working in her lair, Le 
Tourneau keeps her 
bodyguard close, a stitched 
mannequin wearing full plate 
and carrying a longsword 
and shield, who she refers to 
as her “stitched knight”. Nil 

   

 
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is also present, apologizing to the witch for not killing the party in their sleep like he was commanded 
to.   

Unless the party creates a large disturbance after killing either the Treant or the spiders, Madame Le 
Tourneau, her bodyguard, and Nil are all in the sewing room when the party opens either door into the 
peeling room. With successful stealth tests adventurers can move around the peeling rooms. Anyone 
near the curtain can hear Madame Le Tourneau berating Nil for alerting the party and allowing them to 
fight off the dummies and Nil stoically taking her abuse. A DC15 perception test will also let an 
eavesdropper hear quiet clanks of armor from the stitched knight. If the party makes a mundane 
noise(knock utensil off bench, clank chains of hanging corpse, etc) Madame Le Tourneau will send Nil to 
investigate. If the party can kill or silence Nil in a single round, before he can call out, she will become 
enraged at Nil ignoring her commands to return and send the knight to drag him back. The knight will 
open the curtain, so any chance of hiding will be done at that point, and the fight will commence.  

Madame Le Tourneau. Challenge 4 (1100 XP) Medium human, neutral evil 

STR 11 (+0) DEX 11 (+0) CON 15 (+2) INT 19 (+4) WIS 13 (+1) CHA 17 (+3) 
Armor Class: 13 (with mage armor) - Hit Points: 52 (8d8 +16) - Speed: 30ft (9m / 6 sqr) Saving Throws: Intelligence +7 Charisma +6 
Proficiency: +3 Skills: Arcana +7 History +7 Investigation +7 Persuasion +6 
Languages: speaks Common and Demonic. 
 
Quarterstaff. Melee Weapon Attack +3 to hit, reach 5 ft, one target. Hit: 3 (1d6 +0 ) bludgeoning damage. 
Properties: Versatile (1d8) 

Spellcasting. Le Tourneau is an 8th-level wizard. Her spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 15, to hit with spell attacks +7) 
Cantrips (at will): True Strike, Light, Message, Minor Illusion, 
1st level (4 slots): Ensnaring strike, Burning Hands, Detect Magic, Witch Bolt, Mage Armor, 
2nd level (3 slots): Darkness, Blur, 
3rd level (3 slots): Animate dead, Haste, Lightning Bolt, 
4th level (2 slots): Ice Storm, Evards black tentacles 
 
 
Madame Le Tourneau’s first reaction to discovering Nil or her knight are dead will be to reanimate them using raise undead. If 
one/neither are still alive, she will instead raise the mostly finished sewn dummy on her bench(use stats for unskinned dummy, with 
no At Home in Darkness limitation), and if possible, the corpse hanging in the peeling room. If the corpse is animated, its first action 
will be to break the chains it hangs from, then it will use its chains as weapons to attack (Use stats for a Zombie 
https://open5e.com/monsters/monsters_a-z/Z/zombies/zombie.html​)  
 
Her next action will be to begin casting protective spells, unless there is a wizard in the party. She hates good wizards and would 
rather smite them with a lightning bolt before protecting herself. Her protection includes mage armor and haste.  
 
Once her protection is sorted, she will start really trying to kill the party. This includes lightning bolt, Ice Storm, Witch bolt, and other 
spells.  
 

   

 
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Stitched Knight - Challenge 2 (450 XP) Medium Undead Human, neutral evil 
STR 15 (+2) DEX 11 (+0) CON 16 (+3) INT 14 (+2) WIS 9 (-1) CHA 13 (+1) 
Armor Class: 20 Hit Points: 30 (4d8 +12) Speed: 30ft (9m / 6 sqr) - Proficiency: +2 
Skills: History +1 Athletics +4 - Languages: speaks Common and demonic.  
 
(Full Plate Armor, Shield, Longsword) Duelist, eldritch knight 
 
Multiattack. The Knight makes two weapon melee attacks or one ranged attack. 
 
Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack +4 to hit, reach 5 ft, one target. Hit: 9 (1d8 +4 ) slashing damage. 
 
Spellcasting: Stitched Knight is a 4th-level eldritch knight, His spellcasting ability is int (Spell save DC10, Spell attack modifier +4) 
Cantrips (at will): Fire bolt, Thorn Whip, Thaumaturgy 
1st level (2 slots): Searing Smite, Burning hands, Inflict Wounds  
 
The Stitched Knight was the companion, lover, and bodyguard for Madame Le Tourneau for several years before he was killed, and 
the twisted love Madame Le Tourneau felt for him drove her to turn him into her first doll. The stitched knight remembers his love for 
his master, even if he does not remember his own name. His Eldritch abilities also survived the procedure, although they seem to 
have taken on a more necrotic air… what were once bright flames that could illuminate the darkest cavern are now oily, producing a 
dark red light that barely cuts through their own smoke.  
 
The Stitched Knight will immediately move to interpose himself between the adventurers and the witch. He will happily fight to the 
death to give the witch a few more moments to prepare her own spells, confident in her ability to raise him again if he falls.  
 
Nil the innkeeper - Challenge 1/4 (50XP) Medium Undead Human, neutral 
 
ST 8 (-1) DEX 11 (+0) CON 14 (+2) INT 12 (+1) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 17 (+3) 
Armor Class: 11 (Padded) - Hit Points: 39 (6d8 +12) - Speed: 30ft (9m / 6 sqr) - Proficiency: +2 
Skills: Insight +4 Persuasion +5 Deception +5 History +3 Intimidation +5 
advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep. 
Darkvision: 60ft (18m / 12 sqr) 
Languages: speaks all languages, including draconic and abyssal. . 
 
Multiattack. The Innkeeper-Barmaid makes two weapon melee attacks or two ranged attacks. 
Dagger. Melee Weapon Attack +2 to hit, range 20/60, one target. Hit: 2 (1d4 +0 ) piercing damage. 
Properties: Thrown: range 20/60, Finesse, Light, It's actually a skinning knife. 
 
Nil is a part of the house… Literally. When the house manifests each evening, he manifests with it. His purpose is to serve the guests 
of the house and obey their commands, although he has served Le Tourneau for so long that his desire to serve guests other than 
her is mostly suppressed, coming out only as small rebellions such as making too much noise when locking the party within the 
house. If ordered to skin a corpse or attack a party of armed adventurers, he will do so, but he will not go out of his way to avoid 
being killed.  
 
 
   

   

 
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5. The Aftermath/Ending 
After killing the witch and her servants, The party must explore the basement to find how to lower the 
drawbridge. They will find the drawbridge winch in Le Tourneau’s private quarters. Next to the winch is a 
desk with a tome sitting open. If this book is removed and examined later(no time now before sunrise) it 
contains notes from Le Tourneau’s accidental discovery of this house and how her obsession to find it 
again led to her development of a ritual which can force the house to appear at sunset at the caster's 
location, if that location is more than 1 day's walk from any town…. 

If they search the rest of the basement, they will also find(feel free to roll your own random treasure 
horde!) 

● 5 small gold statues, each worth ~50gp (Upon examination, these statues are of adventurers, 
with poseable limbs and faces showing the horror of death… a party wishing to sell these may 
need to find the right kind of buyer…)  
● Amulet of proof against detection and location 
● Boots of elvenkind 

Eventually the party will hear the grandfather clock strike 6am, and they will have to rush out of the house 
as the sun rises and the house begins to disappear with the last shadows of night. If anyone turns around 
to watch the house fade, they might see Nil waving slowly from an upstairs window...