In The Fog At The Isis House of Stone

The House of Stone lies on a hill in between a bend of the river Hooto. It's malignant power has already destroyed the two towns near it which now lie in ruins. These ruins are peopled by undead that still survive by killing and eating any who approaches the ruins unaware.

There are creatures in the HOS who need to eat. There aren't many of them, but there are some, so there has to be some way of getting food. Trading with other towns is out of the question as anyone from the HOS is shunned as all in the area are aware of the destruction of the two towns nearby that were destroyed by the maurading zombie army 15 years ago. Thus, there are cultivated areas at the bottom of the hill and there are some animals kept in the courtyard of the HOS.

The land around the HOS is hilly but fertile. There used to be a number of farms nearby, but they have been abandoned. Most of the old farms are fallow, but the land at the bottom of the hill where the HOS stands has been planted in hay, oats and corn. In addition, there are a number of trees that still bear fruit.

No one would mistake the cultivated areas around the HOS as a normal farm. The furrorws are crooked and meandering. The ground around the planting is covered with weeds that have been stamped into the ground instead of being pulled up. There are many skeletons of wild animals lying all around the planting. If the party wanders through the cultivated area they will find the body of a deer that is torn apart into small pieces. The reason for the strangeness of the farm is that it is kept by a team of undead. Each day, a team of 20 zombies who are all the farmer who used to live in the area are sent out to perform a single task that day. They can't pull up the weeds so they stamp them into the ground. In the spring the zombies till the land, but they are not good at it and the furrows turn out twisted and irregular.

Deadly plants are mixed in with the normal crops to catch animals and people who might try to steal the crops. In addition,  there are roaming patrols of Skeletons that tear apart anyone who gets near, but don't eat what they kill.

The NE corner of the HOS has been made into a horrible goat cultivation area. Large trees have been split and set into the ground so the flat of the logs is up. When a goat is born, they are allowed to run around this area and take their mothers milk. When they are weaned, they are caught by some of the more intellegent servents of the HOS residents. Their hoofs are nailed to the logs so they can lay down, but not move out of place. Their front hoofs are on one log and their back hoofs on another so there is a dirt area inbetween their legs. The heads all point the same way. They stay in this condition until they are killed for food. The food is placed in the dirt in front of two rows of goats that face each other. The food is set out by a team of zombies. A second team takes away the excrement. Once a month, water is used to wash some of the muck out of the area and down the hill into the crops. Of course, the terrible conditions the goats live in has resulted in some very sickly looking animals and a smell that only a zombie could stand for any length of time. They are always in pain, so their bleets can often be heard. As the courtyard is as fog covered as the house, the source of the bleeting can't be seen.

If the party decides to look around the area, they will be subject to the encounters below. This chart is to be used when the party is within the cultivated areas around the HOS. The farm is on all sides of the hill and extend about 200 yards out.

Roll for an encounter once per hour within the cultivated area. A 1 on a d6 indicates an encounter. Roll off the chart below.
  1. Zombie Party
  2. Skeleton Party
  3. Assassin Vine
  4. Shambling Mound
  5. Undead Animal (Wolf, rabbit, deer, bull)
  6. Denizen of the HOS (Roll at random from denizen list)
Beyond the cultivated area, use normal wilderness encounter rolls.