DRAGON 41

C i t a d e l b y t h e S e a Designed by Sid Fisher

An AD&D� module for 4-8 characters, 1st-3rd level eachCitadel by the Sea is an AD&D gam-

ing module for 4-8 characters, each of 1st to3rd level. The fewer the characters available,the higher their levels should be. Charactersshould be well equipped, with at least onemagical weapon apiece, but do not need anyparticular game experience. It is recom-mended that at least one ranger characterand one elf character be members of theadventuring party, and that no playercharacter be a half-orc. The DungeonMaster should read the entire modulecarefully before running this adventure; theevents are laid out in the approximate orderin which characters would normally en-counter them, and the text builds the adven-ture as one reads through it.

INTRODUCTIONOn the northern coast of the land where

the characters live is a small fishing villagecalled Awad (see the campaign map). Awadhas a population of only 500 people, and isnot particularly important in any respect;only the fact that it lies along a coastal traderoad keeps it from total obscurity.

The characters begin the adventure travel-ing east on the trade road toward Awad.They could be on a quest of their own, simp-ly out wandering, or could be serving asguards for a merchant caravan (as per theMonster Manual, Merchant). When thecharacters are about five miles outside oftown, in the early afternoon, they will en-counter a fast-moving procession of fivecarts, loaded with belongings, and severalhuman families carrying bundles of clothesand driving livestock. The families will fear-fully warn the characters and all who arewith them that �the curse of the elves hasfallen� and �the doom of all who go toAwad is sealed.� If questioned, they will saythat the curse is in the form of a plague, butwill know nothing else about it. If any elvesare among the characters, the familymembers will be variously hostile, fearful,and supplicative (begging the elves toremove the curse, or threatening the elves ifthey approach the carts). The families con-sist in total of 7 men, 5 women, and 21children (all zero-level, 1-6 HP each; adultsuse no armor but carry knives, clubs, andspears). They are led by a 2nd-level fighter(18/30 strength, 14 HP, leather armor,broadsword and 4 daggers). All of the familymembers are lawful neutral or true neutralin alignment. They will hurry westwardaway from Awad once they leave the party.

If the characters continue on to Awad theywill encounter more refugees, to a total ofabout 300 people in all. They are all carryingtheir worldly goods with them (worth verylittle in treasure terms) and all of them areobviously very afraid to go back to theirtown. Little else, other than what was gainedfrom the first group of families, will be

1st-level fighters, 3 are 2nd-level fighters,and one is a 4th-level Hero. Characters willquickly see that the villagers are armed withspears, short swords, axes, daggers, tridents,and clubs, and the mob is quite angry andagitated. The person on the rock whom theyare shouting at and threatening is a confusedold man, being held by three strongvillagers. The characters will be told if theyask that the old man is the �meddling sage�who brought the �elven curse� upon Awad.The old man is begging for mercy and tryingto deny the charges, but the situation doesn�tlook too good for him. He will call to theplayer characters for help if they letthemselves be seen by him.

If the characters intervene, the villagerswill allow them to question the sage, whosays his name is Crommard (see below). Atthis point, characters have a chance to learnsome of the history of Jawarl Avignon andthe curse lore from the text sections thatfollow. If characters fail to intervene, thevillagers will eventually get stirred upenough to beat up the old man and throwhim out of town with his possessions; he willthen subsequently be encountered in thewilderness, wounded, and will appreciateany help the party can give him.

Note that the townspeople of Awad arevery sensitive to the presence of elves. If anelf appears at the mob scene in the plaza, heor she will not be touched, but will be the ob-ject of dozens of direct threats, pleas for in-tervention to lift the curse, and terrified ex-pressions at everything unusual the elf orelves might say or do. The mob will attackone or more player characters only if avillager is injured by the actions of a memberof the adventuring party.

All the time that characters speak withCrommard, he will beg to be taken withthem away from the mob. If the charactersagree, the mob will permit it but will refuseto allow Crommard back in town. He will begiven his possessions (confiscated by thevillagers earlier in the day) as he leaves. Thevillagers are very superstitious and believethat sages can cast curses themselves, sowhile they won�t kill Crommard, they won�tbe pleasant to him, either.

Crommard the SageStr 8, Int 16, Wis 13, Dex 11, Con 7, Cha 9

Neutral alignmentAttacks and saves as an 8th-level magic-

userAC 8, HP 18 (HP 5 if beaten up by mob),

Age 68, MV 12� .Major field: Humanoids (special

categories of orcish history andarchaeology).

Minor field: Demihumans (elves only).Languages: Common, alignment, orcish,

elvish.Spells known: Comprehend languages,

42 OCTOBER 1983

If the characters investigate, they will findabout 40 townspeople clustered around the�speaker�s rock� in the plaza. Of thesevillagers, 30 are zero-level figures, 6 are

The thief will avoid everyone at all costs,fighting only if it seems necessary; she isneutral in alignment. The looters are mostlyneutral, but a few are neutral evil, and thereis a 50% chance that a gang of looters will at-tack the characters if the gang is confrontedor discovered while engaged in suspicious ac-tivity. Nowhere will any bodies of plaguevictims, or other physical evidence of thatsort, be found. Characters will hear noisescoming from the center of town, soundinglike an angry mob has gathered there.

When characters arrive in Awad, they willfind more than half of the homes desertedand empty of valuables. Investigation of anyparticular dwelling has a 5% chance of pro-ducing treasure types J and K together (hid-den in a drawer or cupboard), a 5% chanceof encountering a thief (2nd level, 8 HP,leather armor, short sword and 3 daggers), a5% chance of encountering looters (2-8zero-level humans, 3-6 HP each, no armor,each using dagger or club), and a 40%chance of finding the dwelling barred, lock-ed, and occupied by villagers. All otherhouses (45%) are abandoned.

The town of Awad consists of about 50one-story dwellings, none of them largerthan 40 by 40 feet. The buildings are madeof wood and have stone foundations;generally, the town is unremarkable, andreferees may sketch it out for players asdesired. In the center of the town is a plazawith a circular flat rock about 30 feet indiameter, usually employed in the past as aspeaking platform for public gatherings.

AWAD

If the characters are traveling with acaravan, the caravan will disintegrate andabandon them after a few refugee groupshave passed; the characters will be hastilypaid for their services and left withouthorses, They may continue on into the townin any event if they dare.

learned about the situation in Awad. It willbe said at some point that a �nosy sage�drew the curse upon the town, and thatmany have been stricken and slain by thecurse already. The curse is said by some tobe a disease, by others to be invisible light-ing from the heavens, and by a few to beclouds of death gas. However, no one has ac-tually seen a victim of the curse; everyonehas heard about the curse from someone elsein a second-hand fashion. All the refugeesare in too much of a hurry for chit-chat, andeach will only stop for a minute (at most)before moving on. The refugees have thesame mixed reaction to elves as the firstgroup of families had, and all these peopleare lightly armed and sparsely equipped.

scare, infravision, fumble (as an 8th-levelmagic-user in effect).

Crommard is not a particularly imposingsage. Though intelligent enough, he tends tobe absent-minded and is sometimes not verywise. He likes to discuss orcs and orc-relatedtopics (how they eat, what they wear, theirhistory, styles of weapons they use, etc.),and speaks of them constantly. He will dothis even in the presence of dwarves, whomay get the impression that this sage isfriendly with orcs (he has never met one,however). Crommard enjoys speaking withelves, but even then he tends to come aroundto orcish topics before long. He wears brownrobes with a hood he keeps pushed back, andhas a thick, white beard and a bald head. Hewill not tell anyone, for any reason, whatspells he possesses.

Possessions: +1 staff; +2 ring of protec-tion; several books and notebooks; shards ofpottery, wrapped and kept in two sacks.

The information in the followingparagraphs is more or less commonly knownto the inhabitants of Awad and to the sageCrommard. The DM should not give outthis entire story all at once. Bits and pieces ofit may be discovered as player characters en-counter different villagers or talk with Crom-mard; divinatory spells and psionic powers(e.g., legend lore, commune, object reading)may also be used to gather or confirm this in-formation. The sections of the backgroundinformation in brackets ([]) are false,

THE HISTORY OF JAWARL AVIGNON

nothing more than popular misconceptionsthe villagers have about Jawarl Avignon and

invulnerable in battle] . Alkarg was the

aspects of its history. Detect lie, ESP, or aspear�s name, and orcs even of other tribes

similar force will not reveal the falsehoods,and nations respected the orc ruler who bore

because the natives believe these �facts� toit, seeing him as favored in the eyes of

be true.Gruumsh, the orcs� dark god.

More than two thousand years ago,The orcish victory was short-lived,

humans built a fortress town on the northernhowever; ten years after the fall of the elven

seacoast cliffs and named it Jawarl Avignon.citadel, plague struck down the orcs. It

In time the human empire that built the for-ravaged them without mercy. [The first vic-

tress fell into decline, and the citadel wastims of the plague were Mondru IV and his

given over to the elves of the region. Underbodyguards. The plague came as a dying

the elves� direction, Jawarl Avignon becamecurse of the last elf to fall in Jawarl

the center of a thriving jewelcraft and foreignAvignon]. Only a few orcs survived theeffects of the disease.

goods trade carried on with distant humanand elven seaports, and all was well for hun-

Many conflicting stories have circulated

dreds of years.over the years concerning the fate of Alkarg.

Then, some three hundred years ago, aIt is variously said, by different sources, that

great army of orcs and monsters under the[an elven god destroyed it, thieves stole it,] it

leadership of their chieftain, Mondru IV,is buried in the citadel, [elves found it and

laid seige to the citadel and its lands; thoughcast it into the sea, or retreating orcs took it

many elves were able to escape by sea, manywith them.] No one knows of any of the in-

others perished in the assault. The citadelterior details of the citadel, just its general

was eventually taken by storm, at great costoutward appearance. The ruins are strictly

to the orcs, who cared not how many of theiravoided by all the natives of the area.

fellows died in the battle, as long as the elvesA week ago, Crommard and a human

cleric, Sethus Maximi, arrived at Awad withwent first. No prisoners were taken in thefight, and afterward Mondru IV, [the son of

an expedition of workers and guards. The

a godling], proclaimed himself ruler oftwo men were on their way to excavate and

Jawarl Avignon, or Alhurmus (�Elves�explore the ruins of Jawarl Avignon, looking

Blood�), as the orcs called it.for orcish pottery shards and other ar-

The victory of Mondru�s forces came inchaelogical trivia. The villagers were hor-rified that someone would dare enter and

no small part because of the great weapon disturb the ruins, and there were severalthe ruler possessed, a terrible spear made byorcish shamans ages earlier, that burned

arguments and fights before the expeditionmoved on to camp at the old fortress. The

elves when it struck them [and made its user workers set about immediately digging and

D R A G O N 4 3

clearing away the sand and debris that hadall but covered the fortress since it was aban-doned. Some of the friction between villagersand archaeological crew members eased asdays went by and no curse manifested itself.

Suddenly, this morning as Crommard wasin Awad picking up a few minor supplies,Sethus Maximi was seen staggering backfrom the direction of the fortress, shaken andextremely ill. He stopped outside of townand gasped out that as the crewmen wereclearing away rubble, they were struck downby a great shadow that arose from the ruins.The men fell, dying in agony of a virulentdisease that overcame them in minutes.Sethus himself had strange green blotches onhis face and hands; rather than enter thetown, he told everyone to keep back fromhim and he left to die alone in the wildernesssoutheast of Awad. No one has gone to lookfor his body, and no resident of the areacares to try. Panic flew through the town asword spread among the townspeople.

The citizens of Awad are truly terrifiedthat they are about to be visited by theplague that slew Sethus and the workers.About two thirds of the townspeople havefled by now; the remainder are unsure if theywant to stay or go, and spend their timewatching the horizon to the east (where theruins lie) or brewing concoctions they believewill help them resist the disease.

CURSE LOREThe villagers of Awad believe that the

plague that slew the orcs was the result of a

44 OCTOBER 1983

curse cast by the last elf to die in the defenseof Jawarl Avignon. The curse, according topopular lore, is supposed to come to life ifanyone ever enters the ruins; mothers havebeen using this tale for years to keepyoungsters from straying away from thevillage. Local residents have disappeared ona few occasions over the last several months,the victims generally being lone hunters, whoventured eastward to look for game. Manypeople now believe the hunters were slain byplague when they entered the ruins or thevicinity of the ruins, though this, of course,cannot be proven.

Crommard has ideas about the curse. Atfirst he discredited it entirely as a quaintsuperstition; now he won�t speak of it.

If anyone gains Crommard�s trust bybefriending him for a day or longer, or usesESP, charm person, or a similar spell orpsionic power on him, it will be discoveredthat Crommard thinks the expedition actual-ly freed a monster from an evil outer plane,which had been buried deep beneath the sur-face of the ruined fortress. He has read of asimilar occurrence involving a dwarvenmithral mine and a very powerful demon,and fears for the worst. If a party memberuses magical or psionic power to get infor-mation from the sage, see the following sec-tion for other facts that might be obtained.

DM’s INFORMATIONThe villagers do not want anyone else to

go near the ruined fortress, out of fear thatthe curse will be further spread, making

escape from it impossible for all. If thecharacters let it be known that they are goingthere anyway, they will be attacked by theremaining villagers, and will either be takencaptive or slain if they do not flee the villageor find another way of countering the threatof an angry mob. Even if characters succeedin escaping the village, they may be pursuedby a posse�in this case, a sort of suicidesquad, ready and willing to give their lives ifnecessary to keep the party from disturbingthe ruins.

Once Crommard meets the party, he willtry to get the characters to accompany him toJawarl Avignon so that he can find out whathappened. He also wants to locate the bodyof his partner Sethus. Crommard will relatehow he was researching orcish history in adistant university town when he met Sethus,a cleric of strict temperament who sharedCrommard�s interest in orcish pottery.Sethus Maximi was able and willing to fundthe expedition to the ruins, and Crommardnow considers himself responsible for thecleric�s demise and the loss of the workersas well.

If one or more party members is able tobefriend Crommard for more than a day, orif a power such as charm or ESP is used onthe sage (see the preceding section of text), itwill be discovered that Crommard andSethus did not come to Jawarl Avignon toseek pottery pieces. Bit by bit, if carefully ap-proached, Crommard will come out with thetrue tale.

Crommard collects orcish weapons, in

addition to pottery shards, and displaysthem in a personal museum in his distanthome city. He was going through somemanuscripts three weeks ago when he founda document that gave great weight to thetheory that Alkarg, the �elf slayer� spearbelonging to Mondru IV, was still buriedbeneath the fortress. He showed hisdiscovery to a couple of nearby fellow sages,but they were not interested in old orcishmyths. While wandering a local library hemet Sethus, who was poring over someorcish history scrolls, and in the conversationthat ensued he discussed with the cleric thedetails of his discovery.

Crommard recalls that Sethus was inor-dinately excited to hear of the find, andoffered an enormous sum of gold to fullyequip a digging expedition to recover thespear. The sage wondered at times if perhapsSethus wasn�t too eager to find Alkarg, buthe finally decided the cleric�s attitude wasone of normal archaeologist�s enthusiasm.The trip to Jawarl Avignon went well, exceptfor problems with the townspeople, until thedisaster that struck Sethus and the workers.

The sage remembers that Sethus frequent-ly went for long walks away from the diggingin order to stretch his legs (or so he said),and would sometimes be gone for hours at atime. Otherwise Sethus helped quite a bitwith the work in progress, though mostly asa supervisor.

Crommard�s cleric companion is not whathe seems. His real identity is Serga Ulmus, ahalf-orc cleric and a proud lineal descendantof Mondru IV. Serga�s relatives live aboutsix miles east of the ruins in a cavern com-plex. Orcs have not done well in the areasince the days of the plague that killed Mon-dru IV, but Serga set about to change thatwhen he reached young adulthood. He wentto a faraway city to learn the arts ofassassination, and had already receivedreligious training from his orcish father, ashaman of Gruumsh. A naturally talentedstudent, Serga learned to read (as well as tokill) and soon became involved in a personalsearch to find out what happened to themagical spear of his distant ancestor. Hisquest was generally fruitless, until the daywhen Crommard approached him in thelibrary.

SETHUS MAXIMI

Serga, disguised as a human cleric andcalling himself �Sethus Maximi,� workedhis way into the sage�s confidence and of-fered several hundred gold pieces to fund theexpedition to recover Alkarg. He couldhardly believe his luck, and became convinc-ed that Gruumsh himself had guided thesage to him.

Once the expedition reached JawarlAvignon, �Sethus� began taking long walksback to his home lair. He stirred the laggingwarrior spirit in his kinsmen with his news,and arranged for the orcs and ogrillons of hiscommunity to attack the fortress at dawn,quickly and by stealth.

When the orcish invaders accomplishedthe takeover of the ruins from the original

excavation�s work force, Serga set the war-riors and some kobold slaves to work clear-ing away the rubble around area 15 (seeexterior map), where Crommard postulatedthat a secret entrance existed that led to thedungeons below the fortress. Then Sergadabbed his skin with green paint and headedback to Awad to pull off his �curse� decep-tion on the superstitious villagers. The ruseworked far better than he had hoped; he wasunmolested as he went off �to die,� andwhen he left the sight of the villagers, heheaded back toward the fortress to supervisethe digging.

Serga Ulmus is a calculating anddangerous fanatic who believeswholeheartedly in orcish supremacy. Morethan anything, he wants Alkarg, and heknows that possession of the spear will givehim the power to unite the scattered orcishtribes of the area. Serga Ulmus wants to beking, and he will stop at nothing to realizethat goal. All of the orcs and ogrillons withhim want Serga to be king as well; they seehim as their only hope of regaining their an-cient glory as conquerors. Orcs and ogrillonsat Jawarl Avignon will not make moralechecks in battle, no matter how hard-pressedthey may be: They want to win.

Serga UlmusHalf-orc, 4th level cleric / 4th level

assassinStr 17 (+1,+1), Int 16, Wis 13, Dex 14,

Con 16, Cha 12 (16 to orcs & half-orcs)Thief abilities: Pick pocket 30%, Open

locks 34%, Find/remove traps 30%, Movesilently 21%, Hide in shadows 15%, Hearnoise 15%, Climb walls 91%.

Lawful evil alignmentAttacks and saves as either a 4th-level

cleric or 4th-level assassin, whichever isbetter.

AC 5 (7 without his +1 shield), HP 27,Age 28, MV 12�.

Spells known: command, light, protectionfrom good, sanctuary, hold person, findtraps.

Languages: common, alignment, orcish,ogre, elvish .

Possessions: +1 leather armor; +1 shield;broadsword; 2 throwing axes; 4 poisoneddarts (save at +2 or sleep for 2-8 turns); 125gp, 18 sp; 6 gems (50 gp value each); unholysymbol (Gruumsh); spell components;necklace of adaptation.

To hit adjustments: +4 from behind, +1due to strength. Backstabs with broad-sword, doing double damage from behind.

Serga can read common, orcish, andelvish very well, but can read no otherlanguages.

THE WILDERNESSIf a ranger character succeeds in an at-

tempt to track �Sethus,� the ranger will findthat his trail leads to the southeast away fromthe village. For a distance of several hundredyards his route zig-zags as though he is stag-gering, and his steps seem inconsistent andlabored, as though he is walking only withgreat effort in a sort of half-shuffle. Then,

when the trail takes the tracker out of sight ofthe village, Sethus� steps abruptly becomemore even and his path more direct. Thedistance between his strides lengthens asthough he has broken into a run, and hisgeneral direction shifts from southeast toeast, heading toward the ruined citadel.

Sethus� footprints lead along an oldpathway, partially paved with stone andsomewhat overgrown with grasses andweeds, that leads eastward and follows thecoastline between the northern cliffs and thesea. (This pathway used to be almost entirelyovergrown, but the men in Crommard�s ex-pedition cleared away some of the foliage ontheir journey to Jawarl Avignon; the route isnow passable, and is the only way to getfrom Awad to the citadel without traversingthe rough, hilly terrain between the twolocales.) Where the path follows the coast-line, it runs along a high cliff overlooking anarrow beach that is never more than 60feet wide and sometimes as small as halfthat size.

The following encounter tables should beused when characters travel in the coun-tryside or along the seacoast. A roll of 1 ond8 indicates an encounter, and this checkshould be made three times a day (morning,afternoon, night). If an encounter is in-dicated, roll d4 and refer to the appropriateterrain type to determine its nature. (Notethat the encounter tables do not includemundane creatures such as normal birds,small deer, rabbits, and other wildlife thatwould also be naturally encountered alongthe way.)

H I L L S1 1-4 giant worker

ants2 2-8 giant rats3 1-3 wild boars4 1-2 wolves

CLEAR TERRAIN1 3-6 wild dogs2 2-5 hunters3 1-3 wild boars4 1 giant skunk

FORESTS COASTLINE1 1-4 wild dogs 1 2-12 barracudas2 1-2 black bears 2 1-2 crabmen3 3-6 hunters 3 1-3 fishing boats4 2-8 giant rats 4 3-30 quippers

Hunters are zero-level human fighters,each wearing leather armor and carryingeither a spear or a longbow with 3-8 arrows.They are neutral and not likely to approachor speak to anyone unless spoken to. Fishingboats each contain 3-6 men (zero-levelhuman neutrals, as for hunters), wearing noarmor and each equipped with a daggerand a spear. If hunters or fishermen are en-countered during the first day after the�plague� strikes, they will be unaware of thedisaster at the ruins, since they have beenaway from their camps all day. They will beaware of Crommard�s expedition, though,and certain groups of hunters and fishermenmay have encountered the archaeologicalworkers on the way to the digging site. The�quippers� are actually a warm-waterrelative of the creature described in theFIEND FOLIO� Tome, otherwise identicalto that creature in all respects.

DRAGON 45

JAWARL AVIGNONThe ruins of the citadel lie on a 90-foot-

high cliff next to the sea. As the charactersapproach it, they can see that only the 10-foot-high walls remain, the wooden roof hav-ing long ago fallen into ruin and decay. Thecitadel is much smaller than most people en-vision it; it was the quality of its guards, notthe size of its walls, that made the fortress

many homes, as well as evidence that a forestonce grew here but was long ago destroyed.The ground is very sandy, and the area lookslike wasteland now.

great.Around the fortress are the foundations of

No sign of life will be seen at the citadeluntil the characters approach within surprisedistance (50-100 yards) of the guard at area1. However, there is a 10% chance per levelper character of noticing footprints in theimmediate vicinity of the citadel. Any dwarf,elf, or ranger (or Crommard, if he is with thegroup) can tell the footprints were made byorcs.

Crommard (if he is with the party) will beconfused about why Sethus would pretend tobe sick (as his trail would indicate), and willbe surprised as anyone else to see orc foot-prints-near the citadel. Unless restrained,Crommard will rush to the fortress entranceand call out for Sethus. If he is attacked bythe orcs in the ruins, Crommard will initiallytry to avoid combat by moving behind theparty, so as to put the characters betweenhimself and his adversaries, or he will try toward off attackers with his staff (an attemptwhich will fail). Crommard will attack theorcs only if he is wounded by one of them, orif the party is down to less than half of itsnormal hit-point total. The sage will use hisscare and fumble spells, if possible, to aid thecharacters in battle, relying on blows fromhis magical staff the rest of the time. He willuse his other spells when the DM feels thesituation calls for it.

1: Entranceway to CitadelAt this location is an ogrillon guard (AC 6,

MV 12�, HD 2, HP 12, #AT 2, D (fists) 2-7/2-7) keeping an eye out for trouble.He wears furs and resembles a barbaric,unarmed orc. If he sees anyone coming, hewill run into the citadel to warn his con-federates at areas 2 and 15.

In a large pile on the right side of the en-tranceway are some of the possessions of theworkers from Crommard�s expedition.These include a few daggers, changes ofclothing, bedrolls, eating utensils, andassorted other minor items. Some of thesethings are bloodstained. Crommard willrecognize the items at once. These itemshave been tossed here carelessly, after beingbrought out of area 7 where they had beenstored; some items were taken from slainworkers.

Anyone who looks over the low wall downthe slope will see the bodies of two workers,tossed there by Serga and his helpers. In-vestigation will reveal that the men were kill-ed by sword blows. (Other bodies were onthis slope as well, but they have already been

46 OCTOBER 1983

carried into the sea by crabmen.)

2: Guard CorridorThis area has many arrow slits in the

walls; these were formerly (and again cur-rently, as characters will discover) used indefense of the citadel. In the far eastern endof the corridor are the skeletal remains ofseveral ancient orc guards; these bones havenot been disturbed.

Two orc guards (AC 7, MV 9�, HD 1,HP 5 and 6, #AT 1, D by weapon type),each equipped with a short bow, 20 arrows,and a scimitar, are in the western end of thisroofless corridor behind the arrow slits inthat area. Anyone coming into this areafrom area 1 will be fired upon once by theorcs, who will then run through area 3 to thepedestal at area 13, to shoot again at in-truders as they enter the courtyard of thecitadel. Because of their positioning, theseorcs will initially surprise intruders on a rollof 1-4 on d6.

The ogrillon from area 1 will pass by here,if on the way to alert his comrades, and thencontinue toward area 15.

It is obvious that an orcish party droppedoff equipment here when it entered thecitadel. Scattered around the room are anumber of daggers, hand axes, furs, arrowsand quivers, tinderboxes, bundles offirewood, spare boots, and other minoritems. (Crommard can easily identify all ofthe items as orcish in origin.) Buried in thesouthwest corner of the room is a bag con-taining 80 sp that belongs to the ogrillonguard from area 1.

3: Supply Room

4: Old StablesFormerly a place where livestock was

housed, this area was used as a trashbin bythe workers and now by orcs. Anything theydon�t want (broken utensils, rocks, un-wanted or spoiled food, old clothing, etc.)ends up here. Anyone entering this area hasa 1 in 6 chance of attracting the attention ofan ear seeker (AC 9, MV 1�, HP 1, specialattack) that lairs in some old lumber in onecorner.

Some old urns may be seen in thesouthwest end of this area; these are corrod-ed containers of brass of ancient orcishmanufacture. Crommard will probably(75% chance) see them if he enters the room,and if so he will ask a player character to getthem for him (he hates to go near garbage).The ear seeker�s lair is beside the urns; ifanyone disturbs them or the stack of lumbernext to them, the ear seeker will attempt toattack immediately.

This tank is surrounded by a 1-foot-high,20-foot-diameter stone platform with a 1-foot-thick, 3-foot-high wall immediatelyaround it. A broken stone lid lies to one side.The tank is 60 feet deep from ground level,and the bottom appears to be covered with afairly thin layer of sand. The tank was filled,in days long past, by clerics using create

5: Dry Water Storage Tank

water spells; it fell into disuse when the orcstook over the citadel, and dried up in duringthe months thereafter.

A close examination of the bottom of thepit (which is faintly visible in daylight condi-tions) will reveal a slightly raised, square-shaped area on the bottom surface, lookinglike it might be a secret door or a trap door.In truth, it is an old piece of wood droppedin the tank long ago which is now coveredwith yellow mold (and a light covering ofsand on top of the mold). If any object largerthan a fist-sized rock is dropped into thetank, or if one or more characters descend tothe bottom surface inside the tank, there is a90% chance of bursting the mold, which willrelease a cloud of spores in the hole. Thiscloud will billow to fill the bottom of thecylindrical hole to a depth of 20 feet at itsgreatest dispersion, enveloping anycharacters at the bottom of the tank orsuspended (by a rope or other support) lessthan 20 feet from the bottom. Those in thearea of the spore cloud will take 1-8 points ofdamage and will die unless they make a sav-ing throw vs. poison (see the MonsterManual).

If any characters climb down inside thetank (a risky proposition) or are lowered intoit by ropes, each character so lowered has a 1in 12 chance of noticing a secret door,measuring 5 feet square, located 30 feetdown on the eastern side of the shaft. (Ex-ceptions: An elf has his normal 1-in-6 chanceof locating the secret door if he comes within10 feet of it, or his usual 1-in-3 chance ofdetecting the secret door if actively searchingfor it, and a dwarf has his usual 2-in-3chance of detecting a sliding or shifting wallat this location if such a thing is activelysought.) The secret door/panel, if opened(easily done once it is detected), leads to apassage that emerges in area 28 on the firstunderground level of the complex.

6: The Sole SurvivorThis room is filled with bags full of orcish

pottery shards; the orcs that now occupy thecitadel have ignored this area so far. And it�sa good thing they have, because the onlymember of the excavation crew to survivethe orc attack is hiding behind some of thebags. He is a 17-year-old boy who was nap-ping here in the early morning when the at-tack came. He will reveal himself to anyhuman he sees, but otherwise will remainconcealed unless a thorough search of theroom is conducted.

Currently the boy is a zero-level human,unarmed and with 3 HP. If he is rescued andsurvives the adventure, he will apprenticehimself to one of the party members afterthis mission is ended. In two years he willbecome a 1st-level thief, though a friendlyone, and can at that point be considered ahenchman. He is chaotic neutral in align-ment, and will never be a friend or acquain-tance of orcs or half-orcs.

7: Crommard�s Sleeping QuartersThis place was to have served as Crom-

mard�s bedroom and study during the ex-

Jawarl Avignon Ground level Scale: 1 square = 10 feet

DRAGON 47

cavation operation. A cot has been placedagainst the west wall; beneath and beside it,contained in several boxes of varying sizes,are numerous notebooks, scrolls (non-magical), and tomes concerning orcish loreand history. The orcs haven�t bothered toexamine the contents of any of these boxesyet. Crommard will fight to save his booksand scrolls if he witnesses them being ran-sacked or disturbed. Under a straw-filledsack that Crommard used as a pillow is ashred of parchment on which the sage drew arough map of the exterior level of the ruins.At area 15 on the map is written, �entranceprobably near here.�

Crommard�s clothes lie strewn about theroom; many of his garments have been rip-ped open by knives, and any valuables thatmay have been hidden among the clothes areno longer present.

8: Workers� Quarters ISome of the workers who came here with

Crommard bunked in this area; their sleep-ing mats have been cast about the floor now,and all items of value are missing. Enoughequipment is scattered about to indicate that12 men stayed here. Only old clothing, thesleeping mats, scraps of wood and paper,and the remains of a campfire are to befound here now.

9: Workers� Quarters IIThis location is much the same as area 8,

except that only 7 men stayed here. Rum-

Once the javelins are exhausted or hand-

maging through some of the sleeping mats,looking for treasure, is an orc wearing blacksplint mail armor, a sergeant-type (AC 4,HP 8). If the orc hears an alarm being given,he will seize the 4 javelins he placed by thedoorway and attempt to hurl them at in-truders entering the courtyard through area3; the javelins will pass harmlessly over anyorcs that may be located at areas 5 and 13.

to-hand melee is inevitable, the orc will pullout his scimitar and flail away at anyone hecan reach. The sergeant orc is exceptionallystrong, and gains a +1 to hit and damagewith the javelin and seimitar attacks. He hasa sack partially filled with odds and ends thathe will leave behind (in area 9) if he is alertedto intruders. The sack contains, amongother things, 114 sp (in old orcish coin), agem worth 20 gp, and a bronze medallion setwith tiny gems with a spearhead emblem onit (value 50 gp).

10: Artifact Sorting AreaCrommard and �Sethus� had set this

area up for sorting out the various artifactsuncovered in the digging. (The word �ar-tifact� here means manufactured items ofinterest to archaeologists, not powerfulmagic items.) In the center of the room is aportable table and two small chairs; spreadout around the furniture in more or lessorganized fashion are hundreds of bits andpieces of broken pottery, rusted weapons,fragile (old) orc skulls and bones, and othermiscellaneous items unearthed in thedigging.

48 OCTOBER 1983

Though this area is empty of interestingitems, Serga�s father Thaagwa (an aged or-cish shaman) is resting in the southeast cor-ner of the room, attended to by a pair ofogrillon bodyguards (AC 6, MV 12� HD 2,HP 10 and 13, #AT 2, D (fists) 2-7/2-7). Thevenerable shaman is in full religious regalia:wearing black platemail armor, war helm,dark red cloak, and keeping two giant rats (4

12: Unused (?) Room

11: Sethus� Sleeping Quarters�Sethus� used this area as his personal

bedroom and study before the orcish attack.His cot is on the north wall. Buried in thesand under the cot are 2 throwing daggers(which Crommard or a dwarf wouldrecognize as being of orcish manufacture).Among some boxes of food rations is a smallpouch with dried animal dung in it, a vialfull of blood, and a small tenser on a chain,with an eye symbol engraved on it. (A clericwill recognize these as the essential ingre-dients for a protection from good spell. Sergahas a duplicate set of components on his per-son.) Serga is carrying with him all thevaluables he owns; a search of this area willreveal no coins, gems, or other treasures.

the expedition, as a replica of what hebelieves Alkarg looks like. (It doesn�t resem-ble Alkarg at all.) The spear radiates nomagic. The orcs have not taken it and triedto use it because they saw (upon examina-tion) that the spearhead is made of soft, flexi-ble metal. If the spear is used in combat, itwill do only 1-3 points of damage.

Leaning against the south wall, in plainview of anyone who enters the area, is a largespear that appears to be newly manufacturedand unused. The head of the spear is engrav-ed with runes that spell out �Alkarg� in themodern orcish tongue; the shaft is made oflight, relatively fragile wood. Crommardmanufactured this item before embarking on

HP each) on leashes. The strain of carryingaround all that ornamentation, and keepingthe giant rats in check, has all but exhaustedthe old orc. If an alert is sounded he willmove only as far as the entrance of area 15and will stand and fight at that point, usinghis spells if a physical attack is not necessary.

Thaagwa, his ogrillon guards, and the ratswill fight any intruders to the death.Thaagwa will do all he can to eliminate orforestall attackers, so that no one but his sonhas a chance to descend into the dungeonsand recover Alkarg.

Thaagwa Ulmus (3rd level orc shaman)Str 8, Int 11, Wis 10, Dex 9, Con 7, Cha

10 (14 to orcs or half-orcs)Lawful evil alignmentAttacks as 2 HD monster; saves as either

2nd-level fighter or 3rd-level cleric,whichever is better.

AC 3, 13 HP, MV 6�, Age 52Spells known: protection from good, cause

light wounds, chant.Possessions: Platemail and helm; iron-

shod quarterstaff; pouch with 75 gp, 20 sp;food rations in bag; unholy symbol(Gruumsh); and material components.

13: Ruined StatueThis appears to have once been a 15- to

20-foot-tall statue of a human or elf; it lies inruins now, its fragments covered with old or-cish graffiti. The 10-foot-diameter pedestalupon which the statue rested has also beenscrawled and carved upon. A few freshlygnawed animal bones lie scattered about, theremains of an orc�s lunch.

If intruders appear, the two orcs from area2 will take up positions here, reload theirlight crossbows, and fire from behind thepedestal. Their positioning will improvetheir armor class by 4 levels (to AC 3, for50% cover), for purposes of defense againstmissile fire. If the two orcs are attacked inhand-to-hand combat, they will stand theirground here, and will be joined by the orcs atarea 14 (and the ogrillon guard from area 1,if still alive). Any intruders who attempt tobreak off the melee and back away will befired upon by the orcs at areas 9 and 14, us-ing javelins and light crossbows respectively.

14: Guard HallFour orcs (AC 7, HP 3, 4, 5, 7) are on du-

ty in this room, waiting for possible in-truders. Two of them are standing with load-ed crossbows at the two northernmost arrowslits, and will fire simultaneously at any in-truders who advance down the east-west cor-ridor adjacent to area 2. After firing, theywill reload for another simultaneous attack.Because they have 90% cover behind the ar-row slits, they have a bonus of 10 to their ar-mor class (improving it to AC -3) on defenseagainst missile fire; from their place of safe- ty, they can also easily sidestep close-in at-tacks from swords, spears, and the like madeby characters from the other side of the wall.

If any intruders make it into the cour-tyard, the other two guards in this room(both AC 6) will charge in with scimitars and

shields to do battle, preferably in the vicinityof area 13, while the crossbow-wieldingguards will linger near the entrance to area14 and pick off anyone they can. Each of thefour guards has treasure types K and L onhis person.

15: Entry Room to DungeonThis area, combined with areas 14 and 16,

was once part of the ground floor of a 60-foot-square tower that has long since beenbroken and worn down to the foundationwalls. Part of a stone staircase rises up to theeast, to the top of the wall, and at thiselevated location a lone orc (3 HP, AC 7)stands guard, looking out to the north andeast. The orc has three javelins and a longsword. Inside area 15 at ground level are twoorcs (AC 6, HP 5 and 6), one keeping an eyeon some kobold slaves in area 16and the other standing at the ready near theentranceway of an opened secret door on thesouth wall that leads down into the dungeon.If these two orcs are alerted by the ogrillonfrom area 1, they will draw their scimitars,heft their shields, and stand fast along withthe ogrillon at the entrance to the secretpassageway. The guards in this room willclose the secret door if Thaagwa and hisguards (see area 12) are defeated in theirdefense of the doorway to area 15.

The secret door is a large slab of rock thatrotates on a central pin like a revolving door.It may be pushed open again if it is closed,by any character who makes a successful at-tempt to bend bars/life gates. If two or threecharacters attempt to open it (no more thanthree can try at one time), their percentagechances are added together to determine suc-cess or failure.

16: Slave RoomSix kobold slaves (AC 8, HP 1, 1, 2, 3, 3,

4) are kept here by the orcs. They were putto work digging away sand and rock from thesecret door entrance in area 15, and are ex-hausted. If anyone attacks them, they willcower and try to escape but will not attackback. They want only to flee this place, andwill prove uncooperative in all other respectsbut this.

17: Drain PipeThis entrance into the dungeon levels

under Jawarl Avignon cannot be seen fromabove, because it opens out underneath arocky overhang. Any character who ap-proaches the fortress along the beach to thenorth and comes within 40 feet of the drainpipe opening has a 1 in 4 chance of noticingit. The pipe is an open-ended clay pipe about2 feet in diameter; only a gnome or halflingwearing leather or no armor can enter it andcrawl through. It leads up at a steep angle forthe first 60 feet of the route, requiring anycharacter entering the pipe withoutassistance (rope, etc.) to make a successful�climb walls� roll; failure indicates that thecharacter has taken 1-4 points of damagefrom stumbling inside the pipe, and another2-12 points of damage from a tumbling fallout of the pipe and down the steep slope to

the beach. One character may intentionallyor accidentally (if he is standing at the pipeentrance) break the fall of another adven-turer falling out of the pipe; in such a case,each of the two characters involved will take1-6 points of damage. After the initial steepincline, the slope of the pipe evens out, and ittraverses another 80 feet before opening outinto the first dungeon level at area 25.

If anyone is down on the beach walkingaround, there is a 1 in 6 chance each turnthat a crabman (HP 19) will emerge 20-80feet away from the nearest character and willmove in immediately to attack. Crabmenhave quickly learned to frequent this areabecause of the large number of bodies thatwere dumped down the cliffside by the at-tacking orcs.

The cliffs that jut up from the narrowbeach are rocky and very steep; climbing upor down the cliffside is only possible forcharacters with �climb walls� ability.

18: Dungeon StaircaseAt the top of the stairs is an armored orc

(AC 6, HP 7) with a scimitar and shield. Hewill defend the stairs, shouting a warning tohis confederates below if he is attacked.

This staircase descends 30 feet to the firstlevel of the underground complex beneathJawarl Avignon. The dungeon has an 8-foot-high ceiling everywhere unless other-wise noted. Dirt and dust show everywhere,orc bones and relics are common, and thefootprints of rats may be found virtuallyanywhere on this first dungeon level.

The air is stale and bad, and every halfhour (3 turns) characters must subtract onepoint from their strength and constitutionscores, if they are not magically protectedagainst the effects of the environment. Thisloss is temporary, and is restorable at therate of one point (for each ability) per turn,up to original totals, for every turn that af-fected characters are exposed to fresh air. Ifeither a character�s strength or constitutiondrops to 2, the victim will pass out and re-main unconscious until brought back to thesurface (but will not continue to lose ability-score points).

A slow poison spell negates the effect ofthe bad air for the duration of the spell, butwithout loss of hit points. A water breathingspell allows the same immunity to the effectsof the air, as does the psionic discipline ofbody control. Certain magic items (such asSerga�s necklace of adaptation) are alsouseful in this regard. A neutralize poisonspell will immediately negate all previouseffects of the bad air suffered on the reci-pient�s current excursion into the dungeon,but will not prevent the process from beginn-ing anew. The rats and spiders on thisdungeon level have adapted to the air overthe decades, and are not affected by it.

Note: The bacteria that produced theplague of Mondru�s time have entirely diedout � but the characters won�t know this.By �playing up� the effects of the bad air,the DM can make it appear as though thecharacters� weakness is the result of disease.

Baktar (see area 19) and the sergeant orcs

are affected by the air just as characters are,but they are too consumed by their purposeto care. These three orcs have only recentlytaken up their posts; Baktar can go for 7hours below the surface before passing out,and the sergeants can last for 5 hours.

Dwarves and gnomes, and anyone withthe secondary skill of miner, will be able totell that the first level of the dungeon wasoriginally worked by humans, then overlaidlater with orcish stonework.

19: Pillared HallIn the entryway to this room lurks the

half-brother of Serga Ulmus, Baktar Ulmus(AC 4, HD 2, HP 11, broadsword andshield, Str 17 (+1 to hit & damage), align-ment lawful evil) with his two orcishbodyguards (AC 6, HP 8 each). They will beprepared to charge out and attack any non-orc reaching the bottom of the stairs, thesergeants attacking first. They intend toallow Serga a chance to get to Alkarg, andwill not retreat from this location. (Serga hasalready gone on deeper into the complex,using a light spell cast upon a bone).

If characters examine this room, they willsee it to have been a sleeping area for orcishwarriors. Ruined weapons and armor linethe walls, and skeletons of plague-strickenorcs are piled in the southern alcove of theroom. Orcish graffiti covers the stone wallsand pillars, nearly all of the writings andetchings being pleas to Gruumsh to end theplague, and curses on elves in general.

Footprints are noticeable on the floor in,the area of the doorway into area 20, in-dicating that three orcs and a human (Sergais wearing human-made boots) went intoarea 20, then turned around and came outthe same way.

20: Side RoomThis area contains only some dust and

bones � plus a strange-looking section of thewest wall where some ancient writing madewith candle black has been smeared andrendered illegible. Anyone who reads orcishwill recognize, from what little is readable,that the writing was in the orcish languageand gives directions to a tomb or restingplace. If they are captured, Baktar and theorc guards will tell the party nothing of whatthe writing says. (They can�t read, Sergadidn�t translate for them, and they�d nevertell if they did know.) Even a charm or ESPspell would be useless here.

21: Hall of HeroesThe northern corridor leading to this area

has many orcish sayings scrawled upon it,such as �Might make right!� and �Death toElves!�

In the chamber, lined up evenly along thenorth and south walls, are 10 crudelysculpted statues of orcish battle leaders andchieftains. The stone helm of each statuecontains runic letters of unfamiliar designcarved into it, but none of the runes (nor thestatues) are magical. Orcish writing on thewalls informs the reader that these are orcishchampions who survived the assault on

DRAGON 49

Jawarl Avignon, and that each slew aminimum of 50 elves (an outrageous boastby any standards).

Behind the statue in the southwest cornerof the room is a +2 dagger of elvish manu-facture, tossed there long ago by a carelessorc who didn�t know the item�s true worth.

22: Hall of TrophiesAt the doorway to this room is a low trip-

wire; each character who is unaware of thewire has a 75% chance of snapping the wireas he enters the room, releasing the triggeron the small ballista in the western alcove.The ballista�s bolt will fire directly east;characters standing in the long corridor thatruns through areas 21 and 22 are in the lineof fire. Roll for the bolt�s chance to hit eachtarget in order, treating the attack as if madeby a 4 HD monster. The bolt affects onlythe first character it strikes, doing 4-14points of damage.

The ballista is hidden behind a fadedtapestry showing Gruumsh in battle, spearraised over his head while he tramples elvesunderfoot. Hung by chains on the north andsouth walls of this chamber are 10 elfskeletons, none of them containing anyunusual or identifying marks.

23: Minor HallThis relatively small pillared hall is sealed

off from the corridor by a severely jammedwooden door. However, virtually all of thebottom half of the door has been torn orchewed away (the work of giant rats).Characters can pass through the hole insingle file on their hands and knees if they sodesire. As soon as the first character enteringthe room gets halfway through the hole, alarge spider (HP 6) will drop from the backof the door, where it was perched, onto thecharacter�s back. The spider will attack im-mediately (bite at +2 for 1 point damage,save vs. poison at +2 or die) and will cling tothe back of its victim, making repeated at-tacks until the spider itself is hit by an attackfrom a second character and knocked free ofits victim. If characters choose to breakdown or push open the upper part of thedoor instead of crawling through the hole,the door will yield if it takes 6 points ofdamage or if a character or pair of charactersmakes a successful roll to bend bars/liftgates.. If the door is �opened� in thisfashion, the slab of wood will fall inward,crushing and killing the spider that lurked onthe other side.

Inside the room are three stone pillars en-cased in spider webs, and webs also fill thesouthern section of the room. The bodies ofsome giant rats hang in the webs, and fivelarge spiders (HP 3, 4, 6, 7, 8) are lying inwait, clustered in the area between the threepillars. They will attack if anyone sets fire totheir webs, or if any character tries to enterthe room beyond the northernmost pillar.The webs are very flammable, and will go upquickly if set afire, but each spider has a 1 in6 chance of escaping the fire, and survivingspiders will attack the characters any waythey can.

reluctant to leave his two-room domainbecause of the air, and he has also heard tales

Muryar arrived at the ruins two months ago,discovered the drain pipe at area 17, andcrawled into the dungeon while in his giantrat form. He quickly made friends with thetrue giant rats in the dungeon and now livesa reasonably comfortable and solitary ex-istence in areas 25 and 26 (when he isn�tscouting around outside for food; severalhunters in recent weeks have been slain byhim). Because of his access to the open drainpipe, Muryar does not suffer any adverseeffects from the air in the dungeon. He is

Any sounds of fighting coming from area24 or area 19 will alert a recent visitor to thedungeons of Jawarl Avignon � a wererat/human illusionist named Muryar Kimuk.

25: Lair of the Wererat

Any character with tracking ability willnotice footprints in the dusty floor, leadingaround and under the webs. The lonetraveler was obviously using a light of somekind. Rangers will discern that the travelerwas man-sized and very sure of foot, andpassed by this spot within the hour.

Several orcish skeletons and miscellaneousitems litter the dusty hall. One of the skele-tons holds a non-magical spear with a red-painted head; if anyone grasps the shaft ofthe spear, the rotten wood will disintegrate.A number of torn spider webs appear in thehall, some with giant rat bodies in them, butnone of them are inhabited by spiders.

The main corridor on the first dungeonlevel is 10 feet wide and L-shaped. There is a1 in 6 chance per turn of encountering 1-4giant rats in this area; otherwise there are nowanderers. These rats will be in addition toany others encountered throughout thedungeon, and are assumed to have comefrom areas 25, 26, and 27. If these threeareas are cleared of rats, there will be noother wandering rats encountered on thislevel.

24: Main Corridor

character�s weight (counting equipment)minus 40; thus, a character weighing 110lbs. has a 70% chance of triggering the trap.Use armor, shield, and equipment weightsas given in the DMG. See area 34 on thesecond dungeon level if a character falls intothis pit and down the shaft.

that this is a shabby entrance, even by orcishstandards. In actuality, it is a hastily madeset of false doors with a concealed pit trapdug in front of them. Anyone stepping onthe trap has a percentage chance equal to the

however. In the southern alcove of the room(only barely discernible to an observer unlessthe webs are burned or cut away) is a set ofiron double doors in an opening 7 feet talland 8 feet wide. Inscribed upon them in acrude and almost illegible hand is the orcishinscription �The Tomb of Mondru the Con-queror.� Dwarven characters will notice

chamber of an orcish sub-chief or chief longago; various decayed trappings and relics lit-ter the room . There are no skeletons here,

The minor hall appears to have been the from the giant rats about strange and terribletraps within the ruins. Muryar keeps onesmall candle burning in his room for il-lumination; the light cannot be seen unlessthe room is entered.

Room 25 has been cleaned of all dust andbones, and the floor is padded with driedstraw and grass. A large stone tub, once usedfor food preparation when the orcs livedhere, sits in the northwest end of the room;the drain pipe from area 17 leads up into thebottom of this fixture. A pile of 15 daggers,souvenirs of Muryar�s successful kills, is inthe northeast corner of the room; three of thedaggers are jeweled and worth 75, 120, and190 gp. Littering the floor under the straware 22 gp and 53 sp.

Muryar Kimuk(wererat/4th-level illusionist)

Str 13, Int 17, Wis 12, Dex 18, Con 14,Cha 8

Lawful evil alignmentAttacks and saves as a 3 HD monster (in

giant rat and ratman form) or a 4th-levelillusionist (in human form).

AC 6 (in either form), HP 14, hit only bysilver or magical weapons (in either form),Age 35, MV 12�

Languages: Common, alignment,wererat, orcish.

Spells known (usable only in humanform) : color spray (x2), wall of fog, blur,in visibility.

Possessions: 4 daggers; gold ring (75 gp);3 gems (100 gp each); 162 sp (old orcishmint); brooch of shielding (always worn).

Attacks as a lycanthrope: in giant ratform, bite 1-3; in ratman form, bite 1-4 oruse daggers (throw 2/round and stab).

If necessary, Muryar will summon 2-12giant rats from area 26 to do his bidding; therats will arrive one round later, and otherrats will emerge from the room at the rate of1-4 per round thereafter (until all 20 of themare out) and will join in a battle on their owninitiative.

Muryar heard the orcs enter the dungeonearlier, and a while ago he heard the soundof Serga Ulmus going past his lair, butMuryar has no idea of what is going on, andhe wants to stay out of the way of thisunknown activity. If discovered, Muryarwill stay in his human form, casting his spellsuntil they are exhausted or the fight turnsagainst him. He will cast blur upon himselfbefore engaging in combat, then will castcolor spray while the rats are attacking. If hemust flee, he will use wall of fog to fill areas25 and 26 (as well as most of the main cor-ridor outside these rooms) with mist. He willthen cast invisibility on himself and assumegiant rat form one round later. (He cannotattack during the round in which he changesforms,) Then he will crawl down the drainpipe, leaving all his possessions behind ex-cept for his brooch of shielding (which hecarries in his teeth). The giant rats will coverhis exit.

Muryar may summon and control the ratswhile performing any other action during a

50 OCTOBER 1983

First level underground Scale: 1 square = 5 feet

DRAGON 51

round; he could, for instance, summon ratsand then cast a spell at the party while therats attack the intruders. Because he wantsto be left alone, Muryar will not initiate anyattack upon the party until his room isentered.

26: Side RoomThis room contains a great deal of debris

and litter, and orc bones are scatteredeverywhere. In the southeast corner of theroom is a locked iron chest with Muryar�sillusionist spell book inside, plus 140 cp anda carved silver ring worth 25 gp. The spellbook contains 1-4 other spells (besides thoseMuryar already carries) of 1st and 2nd levelpower.

There are giant rats in this room, anoriginal total of 20, all of whom are veryfavorably inclined toward Muryar. If any ofthese rats are still in the room (because theyhaven�t run to join the fray in room 25), theywill attack as soon as anyone besides Muryarenters this room, and as many as eight ofthem may bite a single person at one time.Assume that each of these rats has 2 HP, toavoid making separate hit-point rolls foreach one, or roll hit points individually ifdesired.

52 OCTOBER 1983

27: Curtained AlcovesThere are four alcoves here, each with a 5

high ceiling and hidden behind a faded, dus-ty wall hanging. The alcove in the northeastis the lair of 4 giant rats (3 HP each), and thesoutheastern alcove is filled with old spiderwebs (but no spiders). The web-filled alcovehas an orcish skeleton in it clutching a well-made broadsword worth 150 gp.

The footprints mentioned in area 24 (themain corridor) continue through to area 30.

This 5-foot-high alcove is also (like thealcove in the southeast corner of area 27)filled with spider webs and debris, but afterthe webs have been removed characters willsee a short corridor leading west and endingat a blank wall. An elf, half-elf, or dwarf hasa chance of detecting the secret door (a�shifting wall�), and if detected, the doorcan be opened by pushing on one side of itand succeeding in an attempt to bandbars/lift gates. Two characters may combinetheir percentage chances in one attempt if sodesired. If opened, the door pivots on a cen-tral pole (like a revolving door) and opensonto the dry water storage tank (see area 5).

28: Well Entrance

The bottom of the tank is 30 feet below

the floor of the alcove. Anything droppedfrom this height to the bottom of the tank hasa 90% chance of disturbing the yellow moldthat lies there; if this happens, anyonestanding within 5 feet of the opened secretdoorway has a 50% chance per round ineach of the next 6 rounds of being affected bythe spores (1-8 damage, save vs. poison).

29: Collapsed Halls and Small RoomThis end of the ruined corridor suffered

some damage in a rockfall a century ago.Two 5-foot-wide corridors are not buriedunder rubble, and only one room in this areasurvives intact. A dwarf or gnome who suc-cessfully detects for unsafe stonework willfind that the ceiling in the 10-foot-squareroom is in danger of collapsing. The floor inthis room is littered with more than 40 orcskeletons, tossed about in a chaotic fashion(this room served as an emergency intermentchamber during the height of the plague thatkilled the orcs). If anyone searches the room,the DM should roll d4 every turn; if a 1turns up, the ceiling in the room makes agentle popping sound, and some dust falls tothe floor, but nothing else happens. It willtake 6-9 turns to completely search throughthe room and all the skeletons in it; the ceil-ing is not detined to collapse for anotheryear.

30: Temple to GruumshThe footprints in the main hall (through

areas 24 and 27) lead up to the entrance tothe temple; on the floor at this location are

have been smashed apart by weapon blows.bits and pieces of the rotted wood doors that

Inside the temple are eight stone pillars,each depicting an armored orcish warriorholding a spear erect. The raised portion ofthe temple is two steps above the floor in thesouthern end of the room; between two otherpillars is an old altar behind which sits a

throne made of rock. An elaborately ar-mored orcish skeleton in black plate mail issprawled upon the throne, and 32 orcishskeletons stand or lie in various positionsaround the room. Many of the dead appearto have assumed stoic positions, leaningagainst pillars to keep their bodies fromfalling.

A search of the room will reveal notreasure except on the leader-type occupyingthe stone throne. He has one magical ring oneach hand, and each of them is worth 2000gp. The rings have an engraving of a lidlesseye, inlaid with an iris fashioned from aruby. Any orc of half-orc who wears both ofthese rings at once will gain +2 on all savingthrows, and will never be affected by causefear, scare, or fear spells as long as both ringsare worn. Any other character or creaturewho puts on both rings at once will be sub-ject to a curse of opposite effect: -2 on all sav-ing throws, and automatic vulnerability tothe three types of magic mentioned above.The ill effects will continue to function evenif the rings are removed. (They can be easilyput on and taken off, and the curse can affectany number of victims.) Wearing just one ofthe two rings has no effect. Only a remove

Second level underground

Scale: 1 square = 5 feet

DRAGON 53

curse spell from a good cleric can negate thiscurse.

A staircase leads down further into thedungeon from the north wall. Anyone withmining skill who speaks orcish, or any dwarfor gnome, will notice that this staircase (andthe entire second dungeon level) was carvedout by orcish workers, and was apparentlyadded some time after the first level of thedungeon complex was built.

The air in the dungeon is just as bad onthe lower level of the complex as it is on thefirst level; the DM should continue to keeptrack of time elapsed in the dungeon and thecorresponding strength and constitutionlosses suffered by those within.

31: Surprise LandingThe first flight of stairs descends 20 feet to

a landing, and another flight of stairs goesdown and to the east. On the landing, justbefore the start of the second staircase, is atrip-wire across the path. Anyone passingthrough this location unaware of the wire hasan 80% chance of triggering the ballista trapbuilt into the wall to the west. The bolt fromthe ballista strikes as a 4 HD monster, doing4-16 points of damage to anyone immediate-ly in front of it at the top of the stairs; in ad-dition, the impact of the bolt will knock thetarget character forward and down the stairsto the bottom, doing another 2-12 points ofdamage to the victim.

Characters less than 3½ feet tall will notbe in the horizontal path of the bolt, butanyone who trips on the wire must roll hisdexterity or less on d20 or fall down the stairsfor 2-12 points of damage. If a characterpasses the trip wire without setting off thetrap and is on his way down the stairs when asecond character trips on the wire or is struckby the bolt, the first character must also rollhis dexterity or less on d20 or be knockeddown the stairs for 1-8 points of damage.

The ballista can only fire once, and isuseless thereafter. The footprints of a lonetraveler are barely visible on both sets ofstairs (Serga detected and avoided the trapwhen he passed this way a short timeearlier).

32: Iron DoorwayAt the bottom of the second is anstaircase

iron door, now ajar (its lock was picked bySerga, and he left the door open in hishaste). Carved on the door in orcish is thislegend:

Here is the hall of He-Who-Watches,The War-God of Alhurmus, his torch and

spear,The servants and slaves he has judged.Great is the EyeThat Sees All, forIt Sees You.

33: The Black HallAs the Dungeon Master examines the

map of the second dungeon level, it will beseen that the entire level is carved out in avaguely humanoid form. The orcs who tookover Jawarl Avignon (or Alhurmus, as it

Serga will not be hiding, and will be sub-ject to surprise, only if the adventurers havebeen completely silent while descending thestairs and passing through the doorway atthe end of area 32. If he is not surprised,Serga was trying to locate the secret doorleading to area 37 when he heard the adven-turers arriving at the doorway at area 32. Hethen hid, and will wait in hiding (unlessdiscovered) until the characters either leavethe area the way they came or until theydetect and open the secret door leading toarea 37. If the adventurers get through thisdoor, Serga will follow at a prudent distanceas silently as possible, being sure not to bediscovered, letting the group get ahead ofhim until characters manage to find area 40and open the door to area 41. He will thenrush up from behind to backstab orassassinate stragglers, after preparing forthis onslaught by casting protection fromgood on himself. He will use his commandspell (�Sleep!�) and hold person spell(against up to 3 opponents) before closing tohand-to-hand melee. Serga has already usedhis light spell (the bone he cast it upon iswrapped carefully in his clothing and cannot

orcs alike, Serga is hiding in this room,behind a pelt and an orcish �guardian� onthe northern wall (the fourth skeleton in line,counting eastward from the west door). Hecannot be detected unless someone uses adetect evil or detect invisibility spell (inwhich case the area Serga occupies will bethe source of strong emanations) or beginstearing items from the walls and bashing allthe skeletons. If discovered, Serga willcharge into battle at once and will fight to thedeath.

Unknown to everyone, adventurers and

Areas 33 and 37 are completely pavedwith slabs of polished black marble. Liningthe walls in area 33 are the standing skele-tons of 15 orcish guards in black plate mail,each equipped with an iron spear. Theskeletons may be easily knocked over and arenot animated. The stone walls are decoratedwith the skulls of many elves and humans,set upon shelves so that they look out uponthe room, and many suits of armor, worth-less furs and pelts, and other grisly trophiesof orcish warfare. No footprints are notice-able in this hall beyond 10 feet from thewestern doorway, so characters cannot tellwhere whoever made the tracks went fromhere. There is a secret door in the southeastcorner of this room, behind an orc skeleton.

came to be known) worked over a 5-yearperiod to tunnel out a great temple/mausoleum complex in the form of their dei-ty Gruumsh. Area 33 is his chest, paved withblack marble to represent the deity�s platemail; area 34 is his head; areas 35-36 repre-sent his right arm holding a torch aloft; areas37-41 are in the shape of Gruumsh�s left armas it bears his iron spear. As characters ex-plore the complex, the DM should not tellplayers what each area represents; let theadventurers figure it out for themselves.(Crommard, if he is with the party at thispoint, will not recognize the outline of thedungeon level for what it is.)

be seen) and his find traps spell (nowexpired). See area 41 for special details.

34: Room of JudgmentThe entrance to area 34 is obvious and

intriguing; past a 5-foot-wide opening(Gruumsh�s neck) can be seen an oddlyshaped room. A dwarf has a chance to detectthe stonework trap at the entrance, as does athief, but only if the character has declaredhis intention to conduct such a search.

A short flight of stairs descends 5 feet intothe room. The floor of the room is stone, andthe 10-foot-square section of floor at the baseof the descending stairs is covered to a depthof about 2 feet with the bones of humans,elves, and orcs. A 3-foot-high oval altar-likestructure with the top painted to look like aneye rests near the center of the chamber, andbeyond it to the east is a 5-foot-high raisedplatform with a huge throne upon it. Seatedon the throne is an enormous armored orcishskeleton clutching a 10-foot-long spear thatis laid across its knees. The figure is sohideous that anyone gazing upon it witheven moderate illumination must save vs.spells at +2 or be affected as if by a scarespell (and note that elves, half-elves, andclerics are subject to this effect). Thearmored skeleton does radiate magic if suchis detected for. It is AC 3 and will take 10hit points of damage before it falls apart.There is nothing on or around it to identifythe skeleton as that of Mondru IV or anyother �famous� orc.

If any character steps onto the pile ofbones between the stairs and the �eye,�there is a 70% chance that the stoneworktrap beneath the bones will be triggered. Asthe floor settles slightly and makes a �clunk�sound, the 5-foot-square ceiling over the�neck of Gruumsh� will start sliding down,revealing itself to be a great stone slab thatthreatens to trap intruders inside thechamber. Characters in the chamber mustroll their dexterity or less on d20 to get out ofthe room and back to area 33 before the slabfalls so far that an easy escape is impossible.Anyone who fails this roll must save vs.paralysis to successfully dodge back intoroom 34, or else they will be crushed beneaththe slab. When the slab grinds to a stop, thehuge orc skeleton (or its skull, if the bodywas broken apart) will appear to laugh deep-ly and will say in orcish: �So sets the judg-ment of He-Who-Watches. You shall jointhe ranks of those who sleep at my feet for alltime to come.� The magic mouth will thencease to function. The spear, of course, isnon-magical.

Characters may also unwittingly enter thisroom by falling through the floor in area 23on the first dungeon level. After a 30-footdrop through a section of the shaft liberallycovered with old spider webs (which willslow the character�s fall), the victim will hit aslide and tumble into the room. There is a30% chance that the victim will slide farenough to set off the stonework trap (bydisturbing the pile of bones); otherwise, thecharacter will come to a stop in the 5-foot-square area at the base of the slide. The

.

54 OCTOBER 1983

victim will suffer 2-8 points of damage fromthe fall and the slide and will be completelycovered with webs, as per the magic-userweb spell in all respects, except that the webhas an unlimited duration (until broken,pulled off, or burned away), and the entrap-ped victim has no chance of being suffocatedby the web.

Only characters who can climb walls havea chance of being able to escape from thisroom after the trap is triggered; this can beaccomplished by climbing up the slide andascending the shaft to the first dungeon level.(In such a case the webs lining the shaft can

be avoided; they do not cover all the sur-faces, only most of them.) If this escape routeis used, characters who succeed in climbingthe shaft may have to deal with the spiders inarea 23 if these were not slain beforehand.Characters unable to climb walls can onlycall out, in the hope that they will be heard�upstairs� in room 23 or the main corridorimmediately outside of that room; no soundwill pass through the stone slab.

35: �Right Fist� RoomThe iron doorway to this room has an in-

scription reading (in orcish):

Flames devour thieves whoSeek the riches of the tomb.So is the judgment ofHe-Who-Watches.

The door has no lock and may be openednormally. The room behind it has hugemurals painted on the walls, depicting orcsin triumph over all foes of every race knownto the orcs.

To the east (room 36) can be seen twoalcoves and another octagonal room, inwhich lie three stone biers.

If anyone successfully gets past the trap toarea 36 (by leaping across the 5-foot-widepath covered by the glyph), that character(or characters) will see three orcish bodies onstone biers. The bodies are not identified inany way, but appear to have been powerfulorcish leaders. One clutches a +1 scimitar,another has a pouch with 12 rubies (eachworth 100 gp) in it, and the third has acursed dagger that will not leave the hand of

The alcoves to the north and south justbefore the entrance to room 36 each containan armored orc skeleton with its body cavityfilled with bladders of oil and bags of woodshavings. There is a 20% cumulative chancein the 5 rounds following the explosion of theglyph that the burning wood inside theskeletons will cause the oil bladders to ex-plode, setting the entire entranceway afirefor 10-40 rounds thereafter and doing 1-6points of damage per round to anyonecaught within the fire before the victim canescape to (relative) safety on one side or theother. Thick, black smoke will fill areas 35,36, and 33 (if the door leading to that areawas not closed) within four rounds after theentranceway catches on fire. Anyone caughtwithin the smoke must save vs. poison orchoke, unable to do anything other thanmove at 6� speed. Normal visibility will fallto 2 feet for the duration of the fire andsmoke.

As characters approach this area, they willencounter a glyph of warding laid down longago by a half-orc cleric (using a scroll spell).Only a detect magic or detect invisibilityspell will permit detection of this trap.Anyone crossing this area on foot withoutpassing the glyph safely will trigger the glyphfor 12 points of fire damage (half damage issave vs. spells is made).

36: Tomb Room

anyone who picks it up, and is -3 �to hit.�Only a remove curse spell from a good clericwill allow an afflicted character to be free ofthe dagger.

37: Short HallwayThis short hall leads to an unmarked iron

door. The floor is paved with black marble.

38: �Left Fist and Spear Shaft�This room and the hallway that bisects it

are tastelessly decorated with crude picturesand murals showing orcs slaying elves dur-ing the battle for Jawarl Avignon. Gruumshis shown in various places killing elves withhis spear, and a huge, scarred orcish chief-tain of ogre-like proportions is shown de-stroying elves by the dozens with a flamingspear. The doors at either end of the corridorare made of iron and have no markings.

39: Small TempleThis narrow rectangular room is a small

temple area devoted to Gruumsh. A 10-foot-tall iron statue of the deity stands in thewest end of the room, towering over a smallaltar before it. The statue has a single ruby(2,000 gp value) for an eye, but its naturalbrilliance is somewhat dulled by elements inthe air that have covered it with a layer ofdeposits. The ruby will not be noticed unlesssomething in the room is providing illumina-tion (light from the corridor will not do) andthe statue is examined for 5 rounds. Gettingto the ruby (without magical means) requiresa �climb walls� roll (at -20%) to ascend thestatue, a �remove traps� roll to get the rubyout of its setting without damaging it, andanother climbing roll (again at a penalty) toget back down safely. The ruby can be rathereasily pried out with the tip of a dagger, butunless a certain amount of care is taken (asindicated by a successful �remove traps�roll), the gem will be scratched and flawed inthe attempt, reducing its value by 50%. Theruby, if it falls with the thief, must save vs.fall at -1 or shatter.

40: Room of GuardiansShaped to resemble the spiked portion of

Alkarg�s head (see picture), this room hasfour skeletal orcs in armor, one standing ineach of the four �spike� alcoves and beingpartially supported by metal frameworks.They appear to be particularly large orcs,but are not animated. Each is armed with aniron spear.

The iron doorway to area 41 has thefollowing words engraved on it in orcish:

You have been chosen by He-Who-WatchesTo meet destiny behind this door.For Orcs, there is Power.For humans and dwarves, Destruction.For elves, there is Fire.

41: �Spearhead� MausoleumWhen the door to this room is opened, an

irregularly shaped area will be visiblebeyond. About 80 orcish bodies are packedalong the walls in this area, all kneelingdown facing a large throne on a 2-foot-high

DRAGON 55

platform. The ceiling in this room is 12 feet will appear to happen following the openinghigh at the center, arched upward from the message. If arrows or hurled weapons arenorth and south walls. launched at Mondru IV, or if a non-orc ap-

On the throne sits an armored skeletalorcish chieftain, clutching across his lap agreat grey spear with a wickedly barbedhead. If any elves or half-elves are within 60feet of the spearhead, it will be glowingorange-red with heat when the door to theroom is opened, as if it had just been broughtout of a forge furnace.

Kneeling just before the throne is a red-robed skeletal orc holding in its lap anamulet shaped like a skull. The amulet isusable only by neutral or evil clerics, and willcast animate dead once per day (as per thecleric spell, at 6th level of ability). A goodcleric or paladin who touches the amulet willtake 2-5 points of damage at once from elec-trical shock; no other character will takedamage from it or be able to use it. Thekneeling skeleton is dressed in the red robesof an orcish witchdoctor of Gruumsh (whichCrommard will recognize at once); it was hewho set this room in order, using the amuletand some invisibility spells. He arranged theorcish bodies, and then himself died of theplague.

If detect magic is cast in this room, thefigure on the throne and the spear will befound to be magical, as will (if checked for)four other places where nothing of note ap-parently exists (spots A, B, C, D on map). Adetect invisibility spell will reveal one in-visible orcish skeleton, decked out in platemail and spear, at each of the four locations.These skeletons are AC 3 and have 2 HDeach (HP 7, 9, 10, 13); they do 1-6 points ofdamage per strike, and are otherwise likenormal (animated) skeletons. They are turn-ed as ghouls, not as normal skeletons (aspecial favor bestowed upon them byGruumsh or one of his minions). They willbecome visible and attack the moment theyare given the order to do so by the skeletalform on the throne, or when any one (ormore) of them are attacked directly.

The skeleton on the throne is indeed Mon-dru IV, and the spear is Alkarg. Mondru IVbecomes animated the moment anyonepasses all the way through the doorway intoarea 41; the skeleton is AC 3, HD 4, HP 25,damage by weapon type.

The skeleton�s first action, regardless ofwho or what passes through the portal first,will be to say in orcish (by means of a magicmouth spell) the following words, in a deepand rasping voice: �Come forward and hearthe judgment of the one-eyed god, He-Who-Watches.�

If an orc or half-orc is the nearestcharacter and continues to approach theskeleton, Mondru will hold the spear out infront of its body and say, �He-Who-Watches has guided you here. This isAlkarg, the elf-destroyer. Take it, go forth,and conquer!� If an orc or half-orc takes thespear from the skeleton�s grasp, all theanimated skeletons in the chamber will de-animate and collapse into pieces.

But, if a non-orc enters the chamber firstand remains nearest to Mondru IV, nothing

If an orc or half-orc uses Alkarg, otherorcs will regard the bearer as if he or shepossessed an 18 charisma, because of themany tales and legends about the weapon

Unknown to anyone, Alkarg is also in-telligent (score of 12) and has an ego (12),and will attempt to possess any non-elf whograsps it. If it succeeds, Alkarg will urge thewielder to attack and slay all elves that areencountered, regardless of the consequences.The spear saves as hard metal with a +1bonus, is immune to all fire-related attacks,and bestows to its (non-elf) wielder a +2bonus to saving throws vs. fire-relatedattacks (but not immunity in any case).

part of the spear was touched. No othercharacters or creatures are so affected. Theweapon radiates an aura of lawful evil.

If Alkarg strikes an elf, however, it is a +4weapon �to hit� and damage (or +3 againsthalf-elves). An elf who grasps Alkarg willtake 4 points of damage immediately fromheat (3 points for half-elves), no matter what

Alkarg is a spear made ages ago by orcishshamans to use in their wars against theelven folk. This weapon�s shaft is madeentirely of an unknown gray metal; therune-covered spearhead is fashioned of iron.Normally Alkarg is a +1 weapon �to hit�and damage. When an elf approacheswithin 60 feet of the spearhead, it glowsred-hot, and attacks made with the heatedspear against any creature are at +2 �to hit�and damage.

ALKARG (�Elf-Destroyer�)

Note on Serga and Alkarg: If Serga entersroom 41 during a battle involving the adven-turers, none of the skeletal guardians will at-tack him. If he can get to Mondru�s skeleton,the orcish chieftain will hand the spear tohim at once and then disintegrate at once(along with the other skeletons), leavingSerga on his own. If possible, Serga will usehis sanctuary spell to escape, not botheringto attack anyone. Since he is not yet skilledwith the spear, Serga will suffer a -2 �to hit�with Alkarg (or any other spear), in additionto all other penalties or bonuses.

Serga will not be possessed by Alkarg (seebelow) when he grasps the spear unless hehas been badly wounded beforehand; his�resistance� to the spear�s influence is basedupon his intelligence (16), orcish charisma(16), and assassin�s level (4).

skeletons will pursue as far as the door toarea 32 before going back to their normalpositions, closing all doorways behind them.The warrior-skeletons will no longer be in-visible, of course, but Mondru�s magicmouth spells will repeat the same phrases forthree more times before the spell isexhausted.

proaches within 10 feet of the skeleton, it willrise and appear to shout, �Death to thosewho defile the tomb of Mondru IV!!!� Thefour orcish warrior-skeletons will attack atthis time, as will Mondru�s skeleton itself.

If characters flee from room 41, the

56 OCTOBER 1983

that have made it holy in the minds of theorcish folk. Alkarg is not an artifact, andmay be safely destroyed in any one of anumber of logical ways.

On DeitiesAt no time in this adventure, regardless of

what occurs, will any deity appear. Anygood-aligned characters should avoid sayingGruumsh�s name (if they do say it, they mayget twinges in their consciences, put there bythe DM). No orc or half-orc will ever dare tospeak Gruumsh�s name aloud, and will in-stead say �He-Who-Watches� if they referto him. Only shamans and clerics may useGruumsh�s name.

AFTERWORDThis adventure can continue from here

in several ways. If the party doesn�t stopSerga Ulmus from obtaining Alkarg, he willprobably cause lots of trouble in the area andwill have to be attacked by a stronger (ormore refreshed) party later. Good-alignedcharacters, especially elves, should desire todestroy Alkarg as well as Serga (although theDM cannot require them or force them to doso). A low-level group, acting in concert, canaccomplish a lot if all of the group membersare careful and thoughtful.

Because of Alkarg�s power and nature, itis advised that half-orc characters of 1st to3rd level not be included in this adventure.This adventure may be set up as part of a�special quest � for such characters to under-take � alone � once they attain 4th or 5thlevel; if it is used in this fashion, eliminatethe Ulmus family and the orcs who are try-ing to get into the dungeon and let only thesolitary half-orc character enter the ruinswithout help. (�Only the strong survive,� asthe orcs are fond of pointing out. . . .)