Campaign Overview

The Wailing Express

Welcome to a world where steel rails traverse living nightmares and the laments of the dead echo across moonlit moors. In The Wailing Express, your party will chase a phantom locomotive across haunted landscapes, putting an end to its endless journey of sorrow—or risk becoming permanent passengers on its spectral carriages.

Setting & Tone

The campaign unfolds in the isolated settlement of Mistvein Crossing, where rusted tracks disappear into swamp and woods that whisper with ghostly voices. Through Echoing Caverns, you must navigate underground mazes that respond to your every word, then brave Ruins of Dead Rail, a collapsed railway haunted by the tortured spirits of miners. Across Spiritbridge, a banshee’s wail can shatter wills, and beyond the final bend rests the fabled Elysian Station, suspended between planes, where the conductor’s rage fuels the train’s eternal run.

Objectives

Your overarching quest is to discover the Wailing Express’s origin, free the souls bound to its railcars, and stop Conductor Roland Specter before the next blue moon. Along the way, you will:
- Decode musical echoes that power the phantom engine
- Reconcile miner spirits by consecrating their lost memorials
- Navigate planar anomalies in subterranean caverns
- Perform ancient restitution rites to appease the banshee guardian
- Confront the conductor in the Heart of the Station and shatter the Hourglass of Souls

Challenges & Encounters

Expect creeping mists that hinder vision, shifting echo puzzles, and deadly environmental hazards—unstable tunnels, swamp quickmud, and collapsing bridges. You will face spectral hounds, ghost miners, poltergeists, banshees, and ultimately a Wraith Conductor defending his domain. Your success hinges on combining combat prowess, clever problem-solving, skillful Performance to manipulate echoes, and moral choices that shape each faction’s trust.

Magic & Mystery

Discover unique magic items—Locomotive Lantern to reveal invisible spirits, Soul Key to break soul bonds, Silvervine Wreath to resist fear—and join forces (or clash) with three major factions: the pragmatic Railwright Guild, the zealous Ghostbreakers, and the idealistic Elysian Circle. Their conflicting aims will test your loyalties and strategy as you glean critical lore and artifacts.

Your call to adventure lies at the dead tracks of Mistvein Crossing. Gather allies, steel your nerves, and prepare to chase the echoes of the damned. Only you can silence the whistle of lost souls and decide their final destination. Step aboard—but beware: once the whistle blows, there’s no turning back. Good luck, adventurers, and may your courage outrun the wail of the Wailing Express!**

Starting Location

Mistvein Crossing

Mistvein Crossing is an isolated mining village hollowed into the foot of the Gloomspire Hills, where an abandoned railway line once brought prosperity. Now, rusted iron rails sink beneath dank moss and swampwater. The settlement clusters around a crumbling stone station, its battered platform half-swallowed by creeping fog. Tattered banners bearing the old Railwright Guild crest flap in sickly breezes, and every lantern seems to burn too bright, casting twisted, wavering shadows. Villagers keep their doors bolted after dusk, whispering of lamenting wails that rise with the moon. Children claim to see figures in old conductor uniforms drifting along the tracks, trailing spectral smoke. At the village edge, charred pylons mark where lightning felled the line decades ago—ever since, no train has arrived, until now.

Secrets

  • A hidden tunnel beneath the station leads to an abandoned siding where ghost trains stall.
  • An orphaned spirit child haunts the station at night, carrying a brass key that unlocks the caboose.
  • Villagers whisper of a buried bell whose toll can summon the Wailing Express.

Key Locations

Stationmaster’s Office

In the heart of Mistvein Crossing, the Stationmaster’s Office stands like a silent sentinel at the platform’s edge. Its warped oak door hangs crooked on cracked hinges, revealing an interior heavy with dust and static. Rows of filing cabinets line the walls; each drawer bears weathered brass labels—Passenger Manifests, Incident Reports, Lost & Found. The giant window behind the faded mahogany desk looks out onto the tracks but reveals only a shifting haze. An antique telegraph machine sits on the desk, its keys silent, though at night some hear faint taps echoing unanswered pleas. Charts of railway timetables, long since obsolete, hang tattered across the walls, alongside pinned scraps of parchment covered in frantic scribbles. A single oil lamp glows pale green on the desk, its flame ever-burning though no oil remains. In the corner, a shattered gramophone spills broken records, their warped melodies drifting through the stale air when no one is near.

Additional Notes

DM: Hidden beneath a loose floorboard is Conductor Roland’s secret ledger (Secret 1), whose cryptic entries reveal passenger fates. A concealed safe behind the desk holds the Ghost Whistle (Secret 2). Maintain eerie quiet until players discover the telegraph can broadcast ethereal messages (Secret 3).

The Rusted Caboose

Tethered to the derelict platform by corroded couplings, the Rusted Caboose groans in the wind. Its crimson paint has peeled, revealing skeletal metal that sags under rust. Windows gaping like empty eye sockets, it offers a claustrophobic interior: wooden benches splintered and stained, overhead luggage racks sagging under nothing. A single lantern, long since died, rests on a side shelf, its glass cracked and rimmed with black mold. Shadows between benches dance, as if alive. On the floor, overturned trunks leak scraps of old lottery tickets, tarnished pocket watches, and tarnished jewelry rumored to belong to vanished travelers. At the far end, a lacquered wooden door—fitted with an ornate brass lock—bars the way deeper into the train’s interior. When opened by an unwary hand, possible to trigger hidden runes that awaken dormant spirits clinging to memories of final journeys.

Additional Notes

DM: The locked door hides a secret corridor to the dining car (Secret 1). The lantern actually bears a spirit-ward lens (Secret 2). Beneath the benches, players can find a faded railway map hinting at phantom sidings (Secret 3).

The Drowned Rails

Just south of the station, the railway abruptly plunges into a half-flooded marsh. Trestles lie submerged beneath inky water thick with algae and floating wreckage: broken ties, rusted track spikes, and patches of oil slick that glimmer under moonlight. The mist here clings low and cold, muffling footsteps and voice. At certain spots, ghostly lights bob beneath the water’s surface, recalling drowned lanterns of long-sunken railcars. When the moon is full, mournful keening drifts up from below, as if the drowned mourn the living’s trespass. Sinuous reeds sway though no breeze stirs them, and spectral shapes flit among the shadows. Crossing demands narrow wooden planks—liable to break—or stepping stones slippery with moss. Many footprints end abruptly here, with only ripples and bubbles as evidence.

Additional Notes

DM: Beneath the murk lie the sunken remains of a ghost train (Secret 1) containing Spectral Coal that fuels ectoplasmic engines. A hidden set of iron steps leads down to a submerged station platform (Secret 2). An uncanny pattern in the reeds marks the entrance to an under-rail tunnel (Secret 3).

The Whispering Woods

A short trek north from the station plunges travelers into the Whispering Woods, where ancient oaks crowd together so tightly that daylight turns to dusk beneath their canopy. The air is thick and carries low, indecipherable murmurs—half-remembered lullabies, fragmented warnings, the rustle of unseen garments. Moss carpets the forest floor, obscuring twisted roots that reach like grasping limbs. Here and there stand crumbling stone mileposts, etched with numbers long worn away. In clearings, phosphorescent mushrooms glow with a pale blue light, offering eerie comfort. Sections of the woods seem impossibly older: trees with trunks hollowed and sealed by spectral force, hollows faintly echoing with sobs. No birdsong or wildlife stirs, save occasional rustling that suggests something following just beyond vision. Travelers who pause often feel uncanny dread, as though watched by unseen eyes moving between trunks.

Additional Notes

DM: One tree’s knot serves as a secret spirit door (Secret 1). Echo patterns among mushrooms can open a hidden grove (Secret 2). An abandoned ranger’s journal contains runes that ward off forest phantoms (Secret 3).

The Phantom Tavern

At the far edge of the village stands the Phantom Tavern, its sign—a gilded train wheel crowned by a wisp—hanging askew. Inside, heavy beams drip with moisture, and the hearth’s embers glow with unnatural blue flame. Rough-hewn tables scarred by years of mugs thrown in anger now host strange carvings—rake marks shaped like weeping faces. The long bar is marred by spiraling burn marks where ghostly cinders once landed. Behind it rests a dusty array of bottles filled with cloudy liquids, labeled in a hand that trembles. At night, phantom patrons materialize: gaunt forms in conductor uniforms, sipping forever-empty mugs and muttering about missed stops. Their hollow eyes follow newcomers, mouths twitching in silent laments. When music drifts from the corner stage, it comes from a phantom fiddler whose tunes tug at memories of loss and longing.

Additional Notes

DM: A loose floorboard beneath a table hides a Phantom Tankard that collects spectral essence (Secret 1). A secret hatch behind the bar leads to a hidden cellar (Secret 2). The fiddler’s bow is a conduit to summon minor spirits (Secret 3).

Echoing Caverns

Beneath the Gloomspire Hills lies a labyrinth of caverns carved by subterranean rivers. Known as the Echoing Caverns, these tunnels twist and descend through black limestone, glimmering with veins of obsidian and streaked with phosphorescent minerals that glow in pale greens and blues. The air grows cold and damp; every footstep echoes for half a minute, sometimes answered by distant voices that mimic or mock adventurers’ words. Stalactites drip mineral-rich water into silent pools, their rings marking centuries of patient decay. Around some bends, the walls open into vast chambers where the echoes become disorienting crescendos, stirring illusions of moving lights and phantom trains rumbling far above. A constant, low vibration hums through the stone, as if a great engine rumbles just out of sight. Strange glyphs scorched on cavern walls depict a ghostly locomotive and chained souls, hinting that the network connects into the Wailing Express’s ancient source. Deeper still, the tunnels branch into claustrophobic fissures and fungal groves, home to blind, skittering creatures. At certain junctions, cracks in the ceiling allow faint moonlight to slash through, illuminating submerged tracks that disappear into underwater passages. Each corner threatens becoming lost, punctuated by the odd lantern hung on iron hooks, long abandoned and strangely unbroken—signs that someone or something guides wanderers toward some unknowable purpose.

Secrets

  • A drowned miners’ journal outlines a secret service tunnel to the station’s boiler room.
  • Glowing glyphs reveal an alternate cavern route bypassing dangerous skittering creatures.
  • One branch ends at a collapsed shaft leading to the Foundry of Lost Engines.

Key Locations

The Hollow Echo Chamber

This vast vaulted cavern reverbates every sound thrice before fading, filling the air with haunting repetitions. Jagged rock pillars rise from the floor like tombstones. In the center stands a ruined railcar—half-submerged in silt—its interior empty except for a solitary lantern that glows without fuel. When visitors speak the conductor’s password, faint hisses whisper from within the car, as if unseen passengers respond. Climbing the car’s side reveals a narrow hatch into a dark compartment where old route maps cling to the walls, coated in fungus. The air smells faintly of coal and rust, suggesting that spectral engines once passed through here. Near the car’s wheel, strange runes etched into the rock pulse when someone hums a melody. Those who heed the pulsing traces discover hidden chambers behind loose stone slabs, though the way narrows quickly.

Additional Notes

DM: Humming the Wailing Express’s theme (DC 14 Performance) opens a secret alcove (Secret 1). Under the railcar seat lies a phantom coal shard (Secret 2). A loose wall slab hides a narrow bypass tunnel (Secret 3).

The Phantom Waterfall

A subterranean river cascades over obsidian rock, its waters glowing faintly green as they plunge into a mist-laden basin. Microbial colonies on the walls emit soft, musical clicks as water droplets fall, creating an otherworldly harmony. At the lip of the falls, spectral conduits—thin veins of glowing crystal—imbue the mist with eerie luminescence. The cavern roof above is perforated by roots dripping sap, forming natural stalactites that glisten like tears. Behind the curtain of water lies a narrow tunnel carved through centuries of erosion; only those brave enough to wade through chest-high misted water can pass. On the far side, inscriptions carved in dwarvish script speak of a forgotten railway line running through the mountain’s heart. Occasionally, faces of trapped spirits flicker in the mist, beckoning but vanishing if approached.

Additional Notes

DM: Wading through requires DC 12 Athletics—failure risks dropping gear. Behind waterfall is a hidden switch (Secret 1). Crystalline veins can be harvested as Focus Crystals (Secret 2). Fallen miner’s pick bears runes (Secret 3).

The Crystal Ossuary

An enormous cavern glitters with crystalline growths—stalagmites and stalactites formed of quartz and rare spiritstone. Underfoot, shards of broken crystal crunch like bone. The air here is resonant; if anyone strikes a shard, the note rings clear and sustained, stirring visions of spectral trains hurtling through tunnels. At the chamber’s far end stands an ossuary of mineral-encrusted bones, piled in a semicircle around a shattered engineer’s lantern. Each bone bears an etched number matching rail car designations. At times, drifting motes of light swirl around the bones, coalescing into pale figures that reenact a final journey, only to disperse when approached. Beneath the pile, a hidden altar holds a polished crystalline rod inscribed with rail runes—an artifact that can activate underground track segments if placed on a sleeper stone.

Additional Notes

DM: Breaking a shard (DC 13) triggers a spirit replay (Secret 1). Bones rearrange to point toward a submerged hatch (Secret 2). The lantern’s reflector hides a conductor’s signet (Secret 3).

Elysian Station

At the campaign’s end, heroes must confront the spectral heart of the haunt: Elysian Station. Hidden between reality’s fringes, it manifests as a grand, abandoned terminal floating in an endless twilight. Polished marble floors are veined with glowing spiritstone. Colossal stained-glass windows depict rail journeys that never were—passengers smiling as phantom carriages glide past eternally. The vaulted ceiling is supported by towering iron arches entwined with ghostly vines that pulse with soul-light. Platforms stretch into infinity, each labeled with stops none have ever heard. A massive central clock ticks backward, its hands chasing time lost. Phantom porter automatons shuffle endlessly, offering tickets to nowhere. Above all, the Wailing Express stands ready—a colossal locomotive wreathed in pale steam, its headlamp a single, weeping eye. Beyond the engine, the Station Master’s dais bears the spectral conductor’s podium—where the final confrontation will decide whether the train’s passengers, trapped souls bound to its rails, are freed or condemned to ride forever.

Secrets

  • A hidden rail splice will divert the Express onto a astral terminus where souls can disembark.
  • The clock tower’s mechanism can be slowed to freeze spectral defenders.
  • One lantern in Chamber of Souls holds the conductor’s cryptic final confession.

Key Locations

Grand Spirit Hall

A cavernous hall with polished spiritstone floors that echo each footstep twice. Marble columns topped with iron lanterns line the chamber, their flame eternal and frost-blue. Stained-glass windows loom overhead, depicting spectral trains in motion. The walls bear relief carvings of departed souls clutching tiny lanterns as though seeking a final stop. At hall’s center lies a circle of 12 ghostly pillars, each inscribed with a name of a lost passenger. In the center, a pool of swirling mist conceals a hidden mechanism: if activated with the correct ritual, it will open a pathway to the station’s core.

Additional Notes

DM: Activating the mist pool (Secret 1) requires reciting passenger names (DC 15 History). One stained-glass shard is a ward key (Secret 2). A hidden side corridor behind a broken pillar leads to the engine room (Secret 3).

Conductor’s Platform

Raised several feet above the main floor, the platform is where the spectral conductor issues boarding calls. Its floor is paved in black-and-white checker tile, cracked and partially lifted. At its edge stands a wrought-iron podium carved with swirling motifs of entwined tracks. On the podium rests the Conductor’s Whistle, a pale silver horn that brought the dead to rise. Ghostly ticket punches lie scattered around, each bearing an unreadable symbol. Faint echoes of stamping boots and clipped greetings permeate the air. Beneath the platform’s front lip is a narrow crawlspace—a dusty crawl that leads into the locomotive’s undercarriage.

Additional Notes

DM: Retrieving the Whistle (Secret 1) requires DC 14 Sleight of Hand amid spectral guards. The crawlspace entrance is hidden by moss (Secret 2). Under the stage is an engineer’s logbook (Secret 3).

Chamber of Souls

Accessible only after activating the Grand Spirit Hall, this chamber is small and circular, lined with niches holding lanterns instead of skulls. Each lantern contains a miniature apparition of a passenger. The center houses a massive, cracked hourglass suspended from the ceiling, its sand running upward. Whispered voices swirl in a relentless chorus, urging the living to fill the hourglass, to trade time for release. On one niche rests a spectral key—the Soul Key—which can shatter the hourglass and free the trapped spirits, but doing so risks consuming the liberator’s life force.

Additional Notes

DM: Soul Key is hidden in a lantern (Secret 1). Removing it triggers a spectral surge (Secret 2). Shattering the hourglass demands a DC 16 Dexterity check under duress (Secret 3).

NPCs in Mistvein Crossing

Harlan Morn

A gaunt, nervous man in a threadbare conductor’s uniform, Harlan Morn devotes his days to investigating strange disappearances.

Role: Stationmaster and quest giver Other Details: Secretly ferries supplies to ghostbreakers, hoping to end the hauntings.

Iris Vale

The village mayor, stern and pragmatic, with a silver locket she never removes.

Role: Village authority Other Details: Her locket belonged to her brother, lost on the last train—she fears the Wailing Express.

Elora Windwhisper

A pale child spirit who drifts along the platform, pointing at unseeable doors.

Role: Informant Other Details: Knows ancient rail rites; speaks only in riddles after midnight.

Grum Ironhand

A hulking, bearded railroad engineer out of work since the line’s closure.

Role: Retired engineer Other Details: Claims he once glimpsed the ghostly boiler of the spectral train and lived.

NPCs in Echoing Caverns

Alora Songstep

A half-elf bard whose voice lingers as an echo in the caverns long after she departs.

Role: Guide through musical cues Other Details: Knows lullabies to soothe restless cave spirits.

Krixus Stonehand

Ghost of a dwarven miner, clutching a pickaxe fused to his skeletal remains.

Role: Informant on collapsed passages Other Details: Speaks only of unfinished tasks and broken promises.

Venlor the Whisper

A will-o’-wisp spirit that flits along walls, leading—or misleading—explorers.

Role: Puzzle hint-giver Other Details: Demands offerings of glowing mushrooms to cooperate.

NPCs in Elysian Station

Conductor Roland Specter

An imposing banshee in a tattered conductor’s coat, voice echoing like wind through rails.

Role: Final antagonist Other Details: His sorrow fuels the train; defeating him frees the souls.

Madame Veille

A ghostly medium bound to the Station’s core, forced to channel departed voices.

Role: Hostage spirit Other Details: She holds one half of the ritual seal needed to stop the engine.

Brakeman Ulric Hart

A pained spirit with a broken lantern, silently warning travelers of imminent doom.

Role: Ally informant Other Details: Can reveal hidden passages if treated kindly.

Factions

Railwright Guild

A once-proud consortium of engineers and trackers dedicated to building and maintaining the realm’s railway network. Historically revered for conquering impossible terrain, the Guild now lies fractured after several disasters claimed lives and triggered widespread hauntings.

Goals

Reopen lost lines, reclaim prestige, and atone for engineering hubris that unleashed the Wailing Express.

Relationships

With Other Factions
Tense with the Elysian Circle, who blame them for disturbing spirit paths; wary allies of the Ghostbreakers for exorcism knowledge.
With Players
Offers equipment and engineering expertise—but demands proof of success in silencing hauntings in return.

Ghostbreakers

A secretive order of spirit-hunters and exorcists led by clerics and warlocks trained in phantom lore. They travel by night, tracking restless spirits and performing rites to return them to the afterlife.

Goals

Neutralize the Wailing Express’s power source, rescue trapped souls, and preserve balance between life and death.

Relationships

With Other Factions
Cooperates with the Railwright Guild when interests align; secretly competes with the Elysian Circle for spiritual supremacy.
With Players
Provides mystical insights, wards, and guidance—but sometimes withholds critical knowledge until trust is earned.

Elysian Circle

A mystic cabal of devotees who revere the boundary between planes. They view the Wailing Express as a cosmic anomaly threatening planar harmony, advocating not its destruction but its controlled redirection.

Goals

Bind the train’s energies to a dedicated astral station, allowing safe passage of souls and limiting planar bleed-through.

Relationships

With Other Factions
Opposed to the Railwright Guild’s reckless expansion; rivals of the Ghostbreakers over proper exorcism vs. containment.
With Players
Offers powerful planar artifacts in exchange for aiding containment efforts; approaches players with moral dilemmas.

Main Questline

All Aboard the Wailing Express

Given by: Harlan Morn

Reports of vanished villagers and ghostly whistle at midnight have driven Stationmaster Harlan to desperation. He implores the party to investigate the spectral train’s emergence at Mistvein Crossing. Armed with Harlan’s hastily scribbled sketch of the caboose’s interior, the heroes must board the phantom locomotive, retrieve any survivors or clues, and find a way back before dawn.

Goals

Board the Wailing Express, explore the caboose, and return with survivors or evidence.

Reward

  • 200 gp
  • Conductor’s Whistle (temporary use)
  • Leads into Quest 2

Secrets

  • The train only appears under a blue moon.
  • Boarding without the password triggers hostile spirits.
  • A cabin door bears runes matching Madame Veille’s seal.

DM Notes

Maintain tension—train fades at dawn; players must exit or risk being drawn into permanent limbo.

Echoes in the Depths

Given by: Alora Songstep

Using Alora’s harmonies, the party decodes train echoes to pinpoint its subterranean route. Guided through the Echoing Caverns, they must deactivate phantom track segments to halt the train’s advance and rescue trapped souls echoing within cavern walls. This involves synchronizing three echo chambers to resonate with the train’s frequency, disrupting its spiritual engine.

Goals

Align echoes in three caverns to stop the spectral train.

Reward

  • Phantasmal Lantern (glows when spirits are near)
  • Access to Network Map for Quest 3

Secrets

  • Deactivated rails open a backdoor to Ruins of Dead Rail.
  • One chamber houses the Engineer’s Log revealing the train’s origin.

DM Notes

Allocate skill checks: Performance, Arcana, and Insight to solve echo puzzles.

Sins on the Tracks

Given by: Krixus Stonehand

The party learns the Wailing Express feeds on guilt bound to miners who perished under Gloomspire Hills. Entering the Ruins of Dead Rail, they must find the miners’ memorial book, cleanse it at three collapsed sites, and release the tormented spirits. But to do so, they face spectral miners wielding phantom pickaxes and animated equipment animated by sorrow.

Goals

Collect and consecrate all pages of the memorial book in the Ruins of Dead Rail.

Reward

  • Miners’ Forgiveness Shield (+1 AC vs. undead)
  • Knowledge of final ritual components

Secrets

  • Memorial book pages scattered under collapsed tunnels.
  • One collapsed site conceals a hidden miner’s chapel.

DM Notes

Be ready for environmental hazards—collapsing ceilings, unstable ground.

Banshee on the Bridge

Given by: Iris Vale

The next segment of track crosses Spiritbridge, haunted by a banshee once a bridgekeeper betrayed by the Railwright Guild. To cross safely, the party must calm her by enacting a restitution rite, requiring rare silvervine and purified spring water from Whispering Woods. Failing that, they face her wail—enough to shatter minds—and her skeletal wardens.

Goals

Perform restitution rite on Spiritbridge or defeat the banshee in combat.

Reward

  • Silvervine Wreath (+2 saving throws vs. fear)
  • Bridgekeeper’s Blessing (pass without triggering spectral traps)
  • Leads to Elysian Station

Secrets

  • Banshee’s locket holds a paternal vow that ends her rage.
  • Bridge’s keystone loosens if her wail meets a caged echo crystal.

DM Notes

High-level banshee encounter; ensure players have ways to counter fear.

Final Journey to the Spirit Station

Given by: Madame Veille

Armed with artifacts and allies’ blessings, the heroes must board the Wailing Express one last time and race it to Elysian Station. There they confront Conductor Roland Specter, shatter the Hourglass of Souls, and free pregnant spirits within the train. Choices abound: destroy the locomotive and strand souls, or complete the ritual and risk entrapment.

Goals

Confront the conductor, use the Soul Key in the Chamber of Souls, and escape before the terminal collapses.

Reward

  • Soul Key (keeps spirits free of haunting power)
  • Legendary XP and custom boons (player-chosen)
  • Resolution of the Wailing Express saga

Secrets

  • Roland’s mask conceals a mortal visage, vulnerable to compassion.
  • A hidden brake lever can halt the train, but only from the undercarriage.

DM Notes

Manage chase sequence; provide clear stakes on success vs. failure.

Side Quests in Mistvein Crossing

Ghost Coal Hunt

Given by: Grum Ironhand

Legend says that deep in the Drowned Rails lies Ghost Coal—embers that burn with phantom flame and can power spiritual wards. Grum wants a small sample to keep the station’s lights flickering at night. Delve into the water-logged trestles, fend off swamp spirits, and gather the coal without letting it extinguish.

Goals

Secure three pieces of spectral coal and return them dry.

Reward

  • Vial of Everburn Ember (uncommon component)
  • Proficiency with Arcana if not already

Secrets

  • Coal veins are marked by glowing runes on submerged pillars.
  • Handling Ghost Coal without gloves risks necrotic damage.

DM Notes

Use waxed pouches to prevent extinguishing; watch for jellyfish-like spirits.

Echoes in the Tavern

Given by: Elora Windwhisper

The phantom fiddler’s nightly tune shifts each moon, encoded with fragments of rail signals. Elora requests that you decipher these echoes, believing they point to a way onto the ghost train. Attend the Phantom Tavern after midnight, transcribe the melody, and consult the old telegraph codes in the Stationmaster’s Office for clues.

Goals

Record the fiddler’s tune, decode it, and bring the password to Elora.

Reward

  • Musical Locket (uncommon, reveals audible illusions)
  • Insight into spectral communications

Secrets

  • The tune encodes a boarding password for the Wailing Express.
  • Decrypting it requires a DC 15 Performance or Arcana check.

DM Notes

Ambient noise and spirits impose disadvantage; silence can help.

Lost Freight Manifest

Given by: Harlan Morn

Harlan has found a partial freight manifest listing crates destined for the “Elysian Station”—a stop that shouldn’t exist. He wants you to locate the missing pages from the Drowned Rails and piece together the manifest’s secrets. The full list may reveal contraband carried by the last living train and hint at why the Wailing Express seeks new cargo.

Goals

Retrieve manifest pages from the submerged tracks and return them to Harlan.

Reward

  • 150 gp and a Phantom Coupling Hook
  • Clue on where the Wailing Express will reappear

Secrets

  • The manifest hints at a forbidden relic bound by ghostly chains.
  • One crate was labeled “Souls of the Damned,” possibly containing wraith essences.

DM Notes

Scale drowning risk; consider water-breathing or boat. Pages may be waterlogged but readable.

Mourners’ Rites

Given by: Iris Vale

Villagers near the Whispering Woods have taken to leaving offerings—bread, candles, trinkets—for a spirit they call the Mourner. Iris wants you to conduct a proper ritual to placate the spirit and end nightly wails. Gather ingredients from the woods—phosphorescent mushrooms, silvervine tendrils, and purified spring water—and perform the Rites of Quietus at the old stone milepost.

Goals

Collect all ritual components and perform the ceremony before dawn.

Reward

  • Insignia of the Ebon Shroud (grants +1 Stealth)
  • The spirit’s grateful blessing (advantage on next Spirit interaction)

Secrets

  • The Mourner is actually a slain railway priest seeking penance.
  • Completing the rite reveals a hidden runic circle in the woods.

DM Notes

Ensure no interruptions; the ritual attracts restless spirits.

The Missing Lumber

Given by: Grum Ironhand

Timbers from the collapsed viaduct have been scavenged, and Grum fears the bridge may fully fall, trapping villagers. He asks you to venture to the old switchyard—overrun by vine and swamp—to salvage sturdy beams. Beware of swamp creatures and unstable ground. If you secure enough timber, he’ll craft a temporary crossing until the Guild can repair the viaduct.

Goals

Recover ten lengths of sound timber and return them safely.

Reward

  • Handmade Railspike (uncommon weapon)
  • Grum’s gratitude and access to his workshop

Secrets

  • A hidden alcove in the switchyard houses a cache of enchanted spikes.
  • Salvaging beams awakens fungal oozes beneath debris.

DM Notes

Include Strength checks for lifting; watch for poison spores.

Side Quests in Echoing Caverns

Echoes of the Past

Given by: Alora Songstep

Alora believes the cavern echoes carry fragments of an ancient conductor’s lament. She asks you to record these echoes in three chambers—the Hollow Echo Chamber, Phantom Waterfall alcove, and Crystal Ossuary—and perform her harmonizing tune to unravel hidden paths. Each echo will awaken a memory of the Wailing Express’s origins, granting insight into how to board it safely.

Goals

Capture and harmonize echoes in all three chambers.

Reward

  • Chord of Passage (uncommon musical focus)
  • Clue to main quest boarding password

Secrets

  • One echo reveals the location of a lost switch key.
  • Performing the tune triggers a hidden hatch to open.

DM Notes

Silence gear; performance DC 14 required in each chamber.

Shattered Crystal

Given by: Krixus Stonehand

The dwarven ghost craves a specific spiritstone shard from the Crystal Ossuary to complete his pickaxe. He offers to reveal a safe route through dangerous fissures if you can retrieve a flawless shard without shattering it. Handle crystals carefully and avoid resonant tones that cause them to crack.

Goals

Harvest a single flawless spiritstone shard and return to Krixus.

Reward

  • Krixus’s Blessing (resistance to psychic damage for 1 hour)
  • Safe path map sketch

Secrets

  • The intact shard doubles as an arcane focus.
  • Krixus knows a shortcut to the next region.

DM Notes

Fragile: use cloth padding (DC 12 Investigation to pack securely).

Side Quests in Elysian Station

Ticket to Oblivion

Given by: Ulric Hart

Ulric wants you to retrieve his lost lantern, stolen by spectral hounds prowling between platforms. Only with it can he unlock a side door to the Chamber of Souls. Track the creatures through mist-laced corridors, avoid their chilling howls, and negotiate with them—or drive them off. Their lair lies at the end of a pitch-black siding, lit only by bioluminescent fungi.

Goals

Recover Ulric’s lantern and escort him to the side door.

Reward

  • Lantern of Guiding Flame (rare, casts bright spectral light)
  • Ulric’s map of hidden service tunnels

Secrets

  • The fungi spores coax hounds into a trance (Secret 1).
  • A hidden valve in the lair controls platform mists (Secret 2).

DM Notes

Hound pack uses pack tactics; environment can provide cover.

Madame’s Message

Given by: Madame Veille

Madame Veille laments that her spirit is wrenched between planes by the station’s engine. She asks you to gather three Echoing Crystals from around the station to reinforce her mind and free her to speak truths about Roland’s weakness. Each crystal lies hidden within a phantom relic stand, guarded by animate constructs.

Goals

Collect three Echoing Crystals and return them to Madame Veille.

Reward

  • Madame’s Seal Fragment (essential for final ritual)
  • Psychic Shield (resistance to psychic damage for 24 hours)

Secrets

  • One crystal doubles as a key for the conductor’s podium (Secret 1).
  • Veille’s regained memory reveals an alternate password (Secret 2).

DM Notes

Constructs are silvered; crystals best retrieved with nonmagical tools.

Encounters

Spectral Hounds at the Drowned Rails

Medium

Suggested Level: 3–5

A pack of translucent, glowing hounds emerges from the swamp to harry the party.

Creatures

  • 2 Spectral Hounds
  • 4 Ghostly Mastiffs

Terrain Features

  • Murky water up to knee height along the path
  • Slippery moss-covered bobcat planks
  • Patches of quickmud (DC 12 Dex save or be restrained)

Treasure

Spectral Hound Fang (arcane focus) and 50 gp in submerged satchels

DM Notes

Hounds use pack tactics; encourage clever use of terrain—knocking planks or using fire to disperse mists.

Banshee’s Wail in Whispering Woods

Hard

Suggested Level: 4–6

A banshee’s keening echo follows players through fog-laden oaks.

Creatures

  • 1 Banshee
  • 3 Wailing Spirits

Terrain Features

  • Dense trees block line of sight
  • Illusory paths that lead in circles
  • Occasional glowing mushrooms hindering movement (DC 10 Con save or frightened)

Treasure

Banshee Tear Phial (component for silvervine wreath)

DM Notes

Use fear aura frequently; encourage use of Silence or counterspells.

Ghost Miners in the Collapsed Tunnel

Medium

Suggested Level: 3–5

Phantom dwarves wielding spectral pickaxes guard their broken memorial.

Creatures

  • 4 Ghost Miners
  • 1 Shade Foreman

Terrain Features

  • Low ceilings (difficult terrain)
  • Loose rubble that may trigger collapse (DC 13 Dex save to avoid falling rocks)
  • Rail tracks partially visible

Treasure

Shade Foreman’s Lantern (casts ghostly light) and 75 gp scattered in ossified pouches

DM Notes

Foreman commands miners; if he falls, miners waver before vanishing.

Poltergeist at the Phantom Tavern

Easy

Suggested Level: 2–4

Animated mugs and chairs attack intruders trying to decode the fiddler’s tune.

Creatures

  • 1 Poltergeist
  • Animated Furnishings (Count as Swarm)

Terrain Features

  • Wooden tables and chairs that can be overturned
  • Lanterns overhead that may burn out if knocked down

Treasure

Piece of Phantom Music Sheet (clue to password)

DM Notes

Poltergeist uses Telekinesis; furniture can be improvised as cover or weapon.

Confrontation with the Wraith Conductor

Deadly

Suggested Level: 6–8

Roland’s banshee form defends the podium with ironclad devotion.

Creatures

  • 1 Wraith Conductor
  • 2 Phantom Porters
  • 4 Spectral Soldiers

Terrain Features

  • Checkerboard tiles that drain life on failed Con saves
  • Smoke vents that obscure vision (DC 12 Wis save to see through)

Treasure

Conductor’s Locket (legendary, key to Soul Key ritual)

DM Notes

Allow players to exploit environment (brake levers, engine core exposure).

Magic Items

Locomotive Lantern

Rare
A lantern fueled by spectral coal, it reveals invisible spirits and ghosts.

Location

Hidden beneath Stationmaster’s desk

Attunement

True—to one who has boarded the Wailing Express

Conductor’s Whistle

Very Rare
A pale silver horn summoning restless spirits and opening ghost locks.

Location

Behind the Conductor’s Platform podium

Attunement

True—requires understanding of train lore

Wailer’s Locket

Uncommon
Contains a banshee’s tear; grants resistance to psychic damage.

Location

Torn from Iris Vale’s necklace

Attunement

False

Phantom Coupling Hook

Uncommon
A cold iron hook that links spectral objects to the wielder.

Location

Looted from Drowned Rails wreckage

Attunement

False

Soul Key

Legendary
A jagged key of black glass that can shatter soul-bindings.

Location

Chamber of Souls lamp

Attunement

True—must free a trapped soul

Echoing Crystal

Rare
A pale blue crystal that stores a single cave echo.

Location

Crystal Ossuary

Attunement

False

Railspike of the Lost Engineer

Rare
A +1 spike hammer usable as a +1 weapon vs. undead.

Location

Ruins of Dead Rail switchyard

Attunement

False

Madame’s Seal Fragment

Very Rare
Grants advantage on Insight and Persuasion checks with spirits.

Location

Madame Veille’s hidden satchel

Attunement

True—upon gaining Madame Veille’s favor

Silvervine Wreath

Rare
Grants +2 saving throws versus fear and charm for 1 hour.

Location

Crafted from Whispering Woods vines

Attunement

False

Engineer’s Logbook

Uncommon
Contains spectral rail diagrams; advantage on Investigation to find hidden tracks.

Location

Under the Phantom Waterfall ledge

Attunement

False

Player Characters

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