Adventure Site Contest 3: Yorker Hills

​Written by Squeen
For AD&D, levels unspecified (Gnoll Level)
Pack Lair in Savana
Rising out of a savanna of scrub-brush and isolated stands of mesquite trees, is a cluster of grassy hills—home to a viscous tribe of marauding Gnolls known as the Yorkers. In the center of three mounds, is a ring of low stones and an old fire pit. Large entrance-holes, dug into the side of each hillside, faces the central ring.
Unbeknownst to the locals, the last Yorker died over a decade ago in the Gnoll Wars. Their former abode is now patrolled by descendants of their hybrid hyenas.      
   Ah Squeen, once more with a site both small yet pretty. In this case it’s got a full-up black-and-white sketch of one of the encounters. Seriously, give this man your art commissions:

   The site’s story is a little more commonplace, with a trio of little hills apparently formerly owned by gnolls now being used as a hyena pack’s den. There is a 5% chance of gnoll wanderers, who add on to the stalking hyenas designed to make everyone’s day real real miserable. Poke around, fight hyenas, loot a ton of mundane arms and armor plus some of the pack’s old magic loot, carry on to the next hex. That’s all we really need.
   Map here is simple but functional, three little humps with caves. Not a lot to explore, but there’s a potential fun set-piece here at least to make a single pitched battle interesting, at least. Scale once again is not “full session” but more like “place to poke around for an hour”. I don’t hate it but it’s not adding much.
   As spoiled above, the real gnarly fight here is a giant adder in the big hill; it’s slightly nerfed by the hyena it just swallowed, but still a fun rumble. The downside of animal lairs is that unless you have a druid there’s not a lot of conversation to be had. I’d be a little curious about why these hyenas are led my a male, for example, that’s a weird structure for hyenas…but nope, nothing. Our only other hazard is yellow mold, which is always unpleasant and this time doesn’t even safeguard any treasure.
   And treasure in this case is low. The secret cache of mundane weapons in the lesser hill is an interesting loot, always feels a little mudcore but its less encumbering than a copper hoard, at least. The magic bone scroll-case that silences the openers for a week if forced is a nice loot-with-a-bane bit, while there’s a great cursed ring in the form of the “ring of chivalrous combat”, which makes the wearer automatically lose initiative as he’s compelled to honorably announce his battle plans.
   Again, scope is small here, this is no full session unless you’re playing it in 5E with a full set of theater kids on Maximum Milking Mode. It’s a fine hyena lair though.