D&D: Peeking At Candlekeep’s Mysteries
The pages of Candlekeep Mysteries are full of riddles, clues, and intrigue, but most importantly adventure. Come take a look at what’s in store.
Candlekeep is more than just a library filled to the brim with magical secrets, it’s also the centerpiece of the latest anthology from Dungeons & Dragons. Due out in it just a few short weeks, Candlekeep Mysteries is a collection of 17 different short mystery-themed adventures. Each one is connected to the books somehow; it might be that the mystery is a quest to retrieve a book from some forgotten location, or, as we’ve seen, to travel into the book like you were some kind of Pagemaster.
With such a wide range of mystery types written by a plethora of talented writers, some of whom employ a very broad approach to what a mystery or even what an adventure is, we’re excited to be diving through the first half of the 17 mysteries you’ll find in Candlekeep Mysteries. Join us, won’t you?
The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces
Each of the stories in Candlekeep Mysteries revolves around a riddle that needs to be solved. When it comes to The joy of Extra Dimensional Spaces, it seems that the whole mission is basically a giant escape room. Adventurers will find themselves stuck in a mansion full of strange people, while weird magical things happen all around them, and the goal of the adventure is figuring out how to get back to reality.
Mazfroth’s Mighty Digressions
This mystery highlights a security issue happening at the heart of Candlekeep. Books have been vanishing from the library, and adventures will be tasked with investigating who brought the books to Candlekeep in the first place, as well as tracking down the missing tomes. Of course, in a mystery with twists and turns, nothing is ever what it seems.
Book of the Raven
One of the more straightforward mysteries in the anthology, Book of the Raven involves adventurers finding a treasure map and nestled in the pages of one of the books in the library and following where it goes. It doesn’t get much more D&D than that.
A Deep and Creeping Darkness
In one of the more unusual adventure openings, A Deep and Creeping Darkness begins with adventurers finding a book that describes a mining disaster, before sending them on a search for a town that has gone missing.
Shemshime’s Bedtime Rhyme
Taking place in one of the more obscure sections of Candlekeep, Shemshime’s Bedtime Rhyme starts in an abandoned area called the Firefly Cellar. In this adventure, players will investigate a neglected collection of books hoping to unearth new secrets about one of the more well-mapped keeps of the forgotten realms.
The Price of Beauty
Love and beauty are the heart of this mystery, as adventures discover a book written by a priestess of Sune. It turns out to be a self-help book that will take you to a place that matches the way you are feeling. If you’re feeling good about yourself, this book has some great tips and beauty routine for you. But if you’re not feeling particularly good about yourself, you might be transported to a magical day spa where, in addition to enjoying the spas many services, you can also uncover some sinister undertones.
The Book of Cylinders
Part mystery, part archeological treasure hunt, The Book of Cylinders refers to a set of engraved cylinders that when rolled across wet clay, tell a gripping tale hearkening back to the earliest recorded history in the Forgotten Realms. As the players uncover the history, they discover that some things from the past are never truly gone.
Sarah of Yellowcrest Manor
Sarah of Yellowcrest Manor might sound like a fantasy version of the Canadian classic Anne of Green Gables with a bit of Sarah, Plain and Tall sprinkled in for good measure, but it would actually fit better with gothic horror and its tales of murder and mystery; the titular book is a haunted diary that points a ghostly finger at the perpetrators of an unsolved mass killing in the city of Waterdeep. In order to solve the mystery and lay a murdered spirit to rest, players will have to venture into the urban jungle as well as deep into a dungeon.
And that’s just the first half! Want to know more? We’ll have more clues soon.
