Yet the bank is not infallible, despite its many precautions. There are times, always sparse and fleeting, that the bank’s defenses have been breached and its contents threatened. Today is one such time. An infestation has made its way into the vaults and put the bank at risk. Its staff, led by Coinkeeper Lucallius Vaurefelt, have rushed to contain both the issue and any word of it, as their patrons learning of the situation may erode trust in the bank’s capability. But they are unable to root the creatures out on their own and the nobility has direct connections to the city guard, complicating their involvement. They instead look for assistance from a third party; a capable group with no formal affiliation with any of the bank’s clients.

The task is ostensibly simple. They must wipe the vaults clean of errant monstrosities, ensuring that none remain to repopulate. Complications arise from the nature of these monstrosities. They are thingsects, insects that resemble inanimate objects and are almost indistinguishable from the treasures that they are currently hiding amidst. This exposed the thingsects’ presence, as the additional ‘riches’ created discrepancies in the vaults’ inventory, but it now prevents the coinkeepers from accurately assessing what is and is not an insect. Even if they could, the creatures are too dangerous for the workers to deal with on their own. Their only option is to have capable exterminators meticulously sweep the vaults, eradicate the creatures, and return the bank to working condition.

Protective protocols. The agreement to aid the bank comes with stipulations that maintain its security. The first is that the head coinkeeper, Lucallius Vaurefelt, is to accompany the group at all times. As part of this, they must also remain together in one group. No bags or packs are permitted beyond the entry room of the bank, and the characters and any tools they wish to keep must be inspected by Lucallius, who does so with the detect magic spell. The coinkeeper keeps a close eye on the group as they work and has the authority to terminate the deal should he have reason to suspect theft or other foul play.

The Royal Bank

The bank’s interior hearkens to fortresses built to resist siege, with thick stone construction and minimal openings to the outside world. Fortunately, the normally stifling space has been decorated with a red and gold carpet that winds through a stanchioned queuing line, potted plants livening the area between benches, and a long, grand painting of the surrounding city affixed to the opposite wall. A teller waits at the desk behind protective metal bars, while a door to their side stands as the only way further into the building.

The city’s royal bank does not service the vast majority of the citizenry. It is a collection of vaults exclusive to the uppermost nobility, protecting their belongings with the utmost dedication. As such, the bank is not especially large, with just shy of a dozen vaults arranged behind the entry room. These vary in scale and content. Each vault is owned by a different family and contains a number of their valuables and riches, kept safe behind defenses both mundane and magical. These treasures often include heirlooms, magical items, expensive art and furniture, simple gold, and other items beyond the monetary reach of ordinary people. Yet these are often not even the clientele’s most valuable possessions, as they and the bank share an unspoken understanding that many nobles opt for more secretive, magical means when storing their most precious items, or those that the bank might frown upon.

The bank’s vaults have been sealed since the infestation was discovered, with new deposits being taken into temporary storage until the threat is dealt with. This was done as soon as the creatures were discovered during the bank’s most recent inventory inspection. The lockdown has succeeded in keeping them inside but means that the staff are unsure of the exact nature and number of monsters in the vaults.

Enchanted enclosures. In addition to its locks and other physical defenses, the bank is also enchanted with protective wards. Each vault’s walls are marked with a border of glyphs that correspond to a wand. These wands are accessible only to the coinkeepers and serve to mark each item deposited into the respective vault with a sliver of magic, or to remove an item’s mark when it is withdrawn. A marked item is unable to leave the area enclosed by its corresponding glyphs, stopping in place as if the glyphs’ border is a solid barrier.

The exterior walls of the bank are marked with a similar border of glyphs. These act as ‘master glyphs’ that apply to all marked items, preventing any deposited items from leaving the building. They also correspond to the wands themselves, to prevent them from being stolen.

Investigating the infestation. The bank’s staff are unsure of the infestation’s origin and have been unable to narrow down how or when the creatures entered the vaults. Lucallius is particularly suspicious, as he does not believe the situation is an accident or coincidence. Though he keeps his suspicions to himself, the head coinkeeper is looking for any clues that might answer these questions and is appreciative of any help in doing so.

Characters that inspect the infested vaults do not find any breaches in the bank’s walls. A character that looks closely at the mundane contents of the bank does find clusters of eggs attached to various items, hidden out of immediate view. These eggs can be easily destroyed. Together, these clues suggest that the thingsects did not burrow through the walls as a means of entering the bank or spreading through its vaults, but must have instead been carried in, either as eggs or by being mistaken for objects. If a character doesn’t naturally make this connection, a successful DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation) check allows them to come to the same conclusion.

With this information, Lucallius surmises that the creatures must have been spread between the vaults during a combined inventory inspection. As they were discovered in the most recent inspection and were not found in the previous, it is most likely that they were introduced shortly after the previous inspection. Few people outside of the bank’s staff are aware of the inspection schedule. Lucallius uses this information to narrow a list of clients down to those who could know of the schedule and who made deposits in the days following the second-most recent. He is unable to do anything with this information alone, though he keeps it on hand in case it becomes useful later.

Map & Asset Downloads

While this encounter uses the thingsects in our recent Royal Bank battle map, they can also fit into myriad other settings and contexts. They might be infesting a dungeon or wizard tower, or perhaps they have swarmed into the darkened, abandoned house at the end of the street. Locals might tell stories of the house being haunted, of paintings changing and locks shifting, with the party only discovering the truth once they are deep within its walls…

Coinkeeper Lucallius Vaurefelt

Lucallius Vaurefelt is the bank’s current head coinkeeper, putting him in charge of the vaults’ inventory and records. It is his duty to keep track of all comings and goings to ensure its contents’ security and accountability. Nothing enters or leaves the vaults without Lucallius’s knowing. As such, it falls to him to solve the bank’s current dilemma before it can impact its clientele.

Lucallius is an ardently uptight man wholly dedicated to his job. He shows no sense of humor and does not entertain distractions from the task at hand, acting swiftly and directly once the party shows interest in helping. The only crack in his demeanor comes if he is forced to personally interact with the thingsects, which he responds to with barely contained fear and disgust, indicating a phobia of the insectoid monstrosities.

This continues while the party is clearing the vaults of monsters. Lucallius accompanies and guides them through the different rooms and ensures that they uphold their end of the agreement. He keeps a small distance and observes them with constant scrutiny to prevent any attempts of theft, while also keeping an eye out for any clues as to how the infestation began. He does so until the thingsects are verifiably exterminated, after which Lucallius gives the characters similarly curt thanks along with their payment, and keeps a close eye on them until they have left the bank. If Lucallius suspects foul play at any point, he does not hesitate to respond and potentially terminate the agreement.

Tricks of the trade. Lucallius received magical training as part of his appointment as head coinkeeper, learning a number of spells that pertain to his duties. These include the identify, detect magic, unseen servant, and locate object spells. The monocle he wears is also an Eyes of Minute Seeing, which he uses for inspecting and appraising items. 

Thingsects

The creatures infesting the bank’s vaults are thingsects; insectoid monstrosities that specialize in disguising themselves as treasure and other inanimate objects. They do so with shocking accuracy, able to evolve the details of their appearances to match items in their immediate surroundings. Some even believe that all thingsects are born as the same base creature, growing and differentiating through the drastic adaptations they undergo depending on their environment.

The thingsects, sometimes nicknamed ‘treasure bugs’ or ‘thingamabugs’, are known for infesting dungeons by adapting to hide amongst real treasures. As one might guess, they owe their discovery and naming to adventurers who were tempted by the insects’ disguises. This is how the bugs hunt and spread, much to the misfortune of their discoverers. They wait for their looters to lower their guard, carrying ‘gold’ away and wearing their new ‘trinkets’ and ‘jewelry’, before sneakily biting and poisoning the unsuspecting explorers. And while one insect may not have enough venom to kill a humanoid, its many nearby friends should get the job done, ensuring the colony is fed and helping it spread to wherever the bugs were carried.

Curio Creeper

CR 1/4

Scores of tiny legs unfurl from the jewelry’s connections, exposing what was previously mundane jewelry as a centipede-like insect. Its limbs flex, gripping whatever they can before the creature scuttles away with frightening swiftness.

Flying variant

Scores of tiny legs unfurl from the jewelry’s connections, and filigree forms the lines of insectoid wings as they peel free, exposing what was previously mundane jewelry as a living creature. Its limbs flex, wings humming to life as it flies with frightening swiftness.

Curio creepers are not a single creature but rather a classification for thingsects that share abilities, named for their proclivity for disguising as jewelry. They hide in the form of necklaces and bracelets and wait to be taken, their victims unknowingly placing the creepers against the exposed skin of their necks and wrists. The resulting warmth awakens the creepers. They use their placement to easily strike with their envenomed bites and weaken their targets against subsequent attacks. And if the thought of venomous, living jewelry was not enough to frighten adventurers, some creepers can also fly.

Be sure to keep the rules of the surprised condition in mind when using curio creepers in encounters where the party might loot and even wear them. This likely won’t factor into the bank vaults, as the characters are aware of the thingsects’ presence, but is an important part of the bugs’ usual hunting tactics on their home turf of dungeons and other ruins.

Swarm of Carrion Coins

CR 1/2

The coins jostle with metallic clinks. They writhe and squirm over each other as if shaken, and only close inspection reveals why. One side of each coin has opened with six spindly legs, while a section of its edge chitters as sharp, golden mandibles.

The most numerous of the thingsects are the carrion coins. The scarab-like beetles travel in swarms and hide themselves within containers or piles of loose coins, adapting their appearance to match the relevant currency. They are usually content to wait inside a coin purse until the carrier is dead or injured to then feed on the corpse, though larger swarms of coins have been known to combine their individually ineffectual bites into attacks that can quickly rend unprotected flesh.

Swarm of Parchment Pests

CR 1/2

The paper appears to tear itself into small shreds, pieces peeling and falling away. Yet they hang in the air as pairs, gently fluttering to life. Their movement quickly exposes these slivers as wings that join to furred bodies of insects resembling moths, though with pronounced stingers on the abdomens.

Perhaps the most impressive of the thingsects are the parchment pests, so named for the parchment-like appearance of their wings. These appendages, along with their fur, act as dynamic camouflage capable of expertly adapting their coloration. Swarms of pests sit in waiting, using this camouflage in coordination to mimic entire paintings, tapestries, and even written pages, sometimes covering the original object to hide more efficiently. These replications may not hold up to close inspection, with odd details such as illegible text or nonsensical passages, but anyone close enough to notice is already close enough for the pests to attack.

Lock Louse

CR 1

The lock chatters and cracks. Its metal separates into several sections, six legs extending from its sides and its shackle splitting into a pair of long, pointed mandibles. It quickly unlatches itself, shifting its attention to new prey.

If there is one thing that unites adventures, explorers, and researchers, it is the temptation felt when seeing a locked door in the bowels of an ancient dungeon. What secrets might be found behind? What valuables did its long-dead inhabitants deem worthy of such sequestering? It is these questions that drive such delvers to recklessness and into the waiting mandibles of the lock louse.

The louse is a thingsect that disguises itself as a padlock affixed to a door, chest, or other container, waiting for any larger creature that tries to open or pick it. It uses its powerful mandibles to then latch onto its victim and inject paralytic venom. Once its host is suitably sedated, the louse then subsists on its blood and implants its eggs, where they have ample food once they hatch.

Ingot Insect

CR 1

The ingot, despite seeming to be solid metal, releases a distinct clink sound. You turn to see its clear sheen segment and several pairs of legs lift it into motion. A section of what you assume to be its front curls out into a powerful horn as the creature moves with heavy, clunking steps.

Dungeoneers who have experience with thingsects have often taken to attacking any suspicious objects they come across. Chests, coins, and even priceless artifacts are brought to the surface with deep sword gashes, much to the chagrin of historians. But a particular branch of thingsect has evolved to combat this, developing powerful defenses that match the metals they impersonate. These ingot insects pose as bars of gold and other expensive metals, with their weight and hardness also enhancing them in combat by deflecting attacks and adding considerable force to their horn.

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