The Fire at Corran Mill
4 level-5 characters · a burning watermill
Read aloudSmoke rolls off the millrace and the great wheel groans as it turns through burning water. Inside, the grain loft roars orange, and a figure in a scorched gray robe stands on the upper gallery, chanting over a miller who is tied to the grindstone.
Creatures
| Creature | CR | AC | HP | XP | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2× | Azer | 2 | 15 | 39 | 900 | Bruisers who hold the ground floor near the grindstone. Their fire immunity means they can stand in the burning flour and fight in the worst of the blaze. |
| 2× | Cult Fanatic | 2 | 13 | 22 | 900 | Controllers on the upper gallery. They cast from height, use Spiritual Weapon-style damage at range, and keep the loft fire burning to pin the party. |
| 1× | Magma Mephit | 1/2 | 11 | 22 | 100 | Skirmisher that flies through the smoke, harasses whoever tries to reach the miller, and uses Fire Breath to punish clustered party members. |
1,900 XP × 2 (5 creatures) = 3,800 adjusted XP → hard
Terrain
- Burning flour dust on the ground floor: flour dust clouds the air and makes the whole floor flammable. Any creature that starts its turn there without fire immunity takes 1d6 fire damage.
- Millrace sluice gate on the north wall: a lever in the wall lowers the gate and floods the lower floor with rushing water. Pulling it takes an action and dampens the fire, but it also knocks prone anyone standing in the race.
- Grain loft with a rope hoist: the upper gallery is reached by a wooden ladder or the hoist rope. Cult Fanatics can cut the ladder with one action, which strands anyone who has not reached the gallery yet.
- Collapsing beams: two roof joists over the grindstone are already smoldering. A creature hit by a fire spell or a critical hit can knock a beam loose onto the floor below.
Tactics
Azers step between the party and the miller and fight in melee, using their hammers and Heated Body against anyone who grapples or grabs them. Cult Fanatics stay on the gallery and cast at whoever is nearest the ladder, saving their strongest spells for a character who has climbed up. The Magma Mephit flies low through the smoke, looking for a party member who is alone and breathing fire on any cluster of two or more. An Azer retreats to the millrace only when it drops below one-third of its hit points, to get into the water and recover.
Stakes
Miller Ilse Varga has refused to sign the cult's tithe contract, and the cult is burning every mill in the valley that refuses. The Corran mill is the last one still grinding for the market at Wexley. If the cult takes it, the valley loses its only flour supply before the autumn.
When it turns
The Azers drop back into the millrace and sink beneath the water to escape, leaving the mill to burn. Cult Fanatics flee through the back door and head toward the chapel at Fennick Hollow, shouting the names of the valley's other mills as they go. The Magma Mephit shrieks once and flies up through the smoke hole in the roof.