tsr 9237 - dl16 - world of krynn

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World of Krynn

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Post-War Ansalon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 -3

The Tale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

The Tower of Kyrie (by Douglas Niles) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

The Missing Master Lor (by Harold Johnson) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Dargaard Keep (by Michael Gray). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

The Dragon Peak of Palanthus (by Douglas Niles) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 8

COMBINED MONSTER STATISTICS CHART . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 4(Contains statistics for all monsters found in the adventures in this book.)

CREDITS

Design: Douglas Niles, Michael Gray,and Harold Johnson

Editing: Mike BreaultCover Art: Clyde CaldwellInterior Art: Thomas Yeates with Tim Truman

and Stan Wock

Cartography: David Sutherland andDennis Kauth

Typography: Betty ElmoreKeylining: Stephanie Tabat

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This adventure is protected under the copyright laws of the United

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The war is over! The dread might oft h e Q u e e n o f D a r k n e s s h a s b e e nblocked from spreading across Krynn.The forces of good, narrowly holdingthe line, have not been destroyed.

Nor have they prevailed. Much ofKrynn still lies beneath the shadow of

dragonarmy occupation. True, thefive dragonarmies are no longer unit-ed in their grand strategy, but this islittle consolation to those who havefallen under the sway of the BlueArmy slavetraders in Sanction, or who

suffer the random cruelties of the RedArmy occupation in Nordmaar.

Though the grand quest might beover, there are still countless opportu-

nities for brave characters to findadventure, challenge, and reward.The continent of Ansalon is vast andfraught with danger. The forces ofevil are deployed in many lands, andthey covet many more. With no cen-tral and powerful nation emergingfrom the war, the fate of most of theseconflicts rests in the hands of thoseg e n e r a l s a n d c a p t a i n s p o w e r f u lenough to exert their will into a sur-rounding area, or with those dragonsand other monsters great enough to

terrorize a section of the countryside.About the only impediment to theaims of these tyrannical figures is thecourage of heroes willing to stand upto the bullying tactics and treacherousviolence of these petty villains.

But, as is often the case, there arevaluable treasures that await thoseheroes. They have but to wrest themfrom the evil forces now hoardingthem. And of course, for a characterwho wishes to see the forces of goodonce again prevail over Krynn, theconquest of evil is a necessary objec-

tive.And so we take you again to Krynn.

It is no longer a world locked in atitanic war, but violence still exists inmany l i t t l e wars . Your charactersmight be anywhere on the face of thecontinent, for adventure beckons eve-rywhere.

Good Hunting! Return with yourshield, or on it!

notes for the dm

The World of Krynn presents fouradventures for medium- to high-levelcharacters. These adventures are seton the continent of Ansalon, in theworld of Krynn. These adventures canbe played in any order you desirethough the order in which they arepresented makes geographical sense,enabling the party to move from oneto the next with a minimum of globe-hopping.

In order to be true to the theme ofthe DRAGONLANCE ® saga , theseadventures are all designed along thelines of good challenging (and ideally

triumphing over) evil. Though thereare treasures to be gained, playerswho are not motivated to confrontand best the forces of darkness willnot get all of the enjoyment availableout of these adventures. However, weassume that anyone who has beenadventuring in Krynn for some or allof the DRAGONLANCE saga is thecaliber of hero we seek!

Another assumption made in thedesign of this product was that this isn o t y o u r f i r s t D R A G O N L A N C E

module. Such items as the nature ofkender, draconians, and other detailsare not described here as they havebeen covered in other DL modules.

This is a stand-alone product inthat you can play it even if you haveno prior knowledge of Krynn. A moredetailed description of the world,however, can be gained from KarenWynn Fonstads book, The Atlas of t h e D R A G O N L A N C E W o r l d . T h eA D & D ® h a r d c o v e r r u l e b o o k ,Dragonlance Adventures, contains allof the rules for running an AD&D

game campaign that is specific toK r y n n . A n d o f c o u r s e , t h e g a m emodules from DL 1 to DL 15 providea look at many areas of Krynn ingame-oriented detail.

the adventures

The four adventures within thismodule are briefly explained below:

The Tower of Kyrie is set uponMithas, the island of the minotaurs.The PCs set out to discover the secretof the strange avian race, the kyrie,and in the process uncover an ambi-tious minotaur plan that could bringruin and despair to much of EasternAnsalon.

The Missing Master Lor is anadventure that can be set practicallya n y w h e r e i n A n s a l o n , t h o u g h aregion with some mountains or roughterrain is best. The PCs are requested

to help a group of villagers find youngMaster Lor, the little boy who is thedarling of the community. He also

happens to be prescient.The Dargaard Keep adventure

takes place in that fearsome castle ofundead, Dargaard Keep. The PCs canventure into this nightmare realm tofind some of the lost secrets of theDRAGONLANCE® saga. If they aresuccessful, they will release the tor-mented Lord Soth to his final restingplace, at last. Also, the mystery of

Kitiaras ultimate fate is at last madeplain. . . .In The Dragon Peak of Palan-

thus, the characters are asked toinvade the volcanic lair of a maraud-ing dragon. Can the PCs defeat thedragons minions and vanquish theirscaly foe?

the Monsters

At the end of this book is the Com-bined Monster Statist ics Chart . I tcontains the stats for all monsters

(listed alphabetically) used in theseadventures.

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The island of Mithas, to the east ofAnsalon and the Bloodsea, is a realmseldom visited by men. Its rugged ter-rain and inhospitable climate doubt-ess have something to do with this.

The population of the island, how-ever, is the main reason that Mithasreceives few human travelers.

For Mithas is an island of mino-aurs.

These brutish, powerful creaturesown all of the land on the island, and

control all of the business. Gainingncome from mining and fishing, and

especially piracy and privateering, theminotaurs are confident of theirsupremacy upon Mithas.

There are other inhabitants of thesland, of course. Several hundred

human shepherds tend flocks of har-dy sheep throughout most of theslands interior. This work is too

mundane for minotaurs, so they tol-erate human workersthough mino-aurs own the sheep and the land theyeed upon.

Also, human and ogre traders are

common in the city of Lacynos. Theminotaurs lack natural timber fortheir ships, so they buy both com-pleted vessels and vast cargoes of lum-ber from Flotsam, Saifhum, and evenfarther ports.

the Player Characters

The Tower of Kyrie adventurecan be played by a group of charactersof middle levels of experience. Anaverage spread would be six to eightcharacters of 4th or 5th level, or four

to six characters of 6th or 7th levels.Obviously, the DM can adjust the bal-ance of many of the combat encoun-ters in order to reflect parties that aremore or less powerful than recom-mended.

The party can be drawn into theadventure from virtually anywhere onAnsalon, though it is most conven-ient if they are somewhere in the east-e r n p a r t o f t h e c o n t i n e n t . T h eencounter at the start of the adven-ture, while ostensibly set in Flotsam,

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can be easily modified to reflect avariety of starting locales.

the Situation

The chaos that reigns over all ofAnsalon in the wake of the War of theLance is nowhere more prevalent thanamong the i s lands and main landprovinces of the eastern part of thecontinent, especially those localesadjacent to the Bloodsea.

Much of the Goodlund Peninsula,to the south of the Bloodsea, l ies

under the pall of the Black Dragonar-my occupation forces . This bleakreach is barren and practically devoido f n o n m o n s t r o u s i n h a b i t a n t s except, of course, those unfortunatehuman slaves of the dragonarmy.

The port of Flotsam lies outside thearea of dragonarmy control. In fact, itlies beyond any control at all. The cityi s a chaot i c jumble of merchants ,mercenaries, harlots, and thieves. Itcurrently has no central government,though the various factions have



shown a remarkable willingness toband together in the face of BlackDragonarmy aggression.

The Kernish Peninsula, northwestof the Bloodsea, is the haven of theRed Dragonarmy. Kerns native pop-ulation of ogres has been absorbedinto the army, making this nation thestrongest, militarily, in the region.However , an a lmost tota l l ack ofseapower, and sailing skills, serves torestrain the aggressiveness of theHighlord and his ogres. Such expan-sion as is attempted gets directedtoward the unfortunate regionsinland of Kern, including Nordmaar,

Kalaman, and Estwilde.

The is land of Saifhum, directlynorth of the Bloodsea, is a region ofrelative calm among these tempestu-ous lands. Inhabited primarily byhumans who value their indepen-dence and privacy, Saifhum is avoid-ed by pirates and most travelers. Thefolk of Saifhum have developed theirisland carefully, working stone retain-ing walls into hillsides to create long,sweeping terraces. They are cold too u t s i d e r s a n d i m p l a c a b l e t oenemies-and they often assume that

any outsider is an enemy. These peo-ple have several heavy war galleys.T h e s h i p s a r e u n s u i t e d t o n a v a lactions on the high seas, but serveadmirably as coastal defense vessels.They sally forth at the approach ofpirate or draconian shipping, andh a v e n e v e r f a i l e d t o d r i v e t h eintruders away.

Northeast of Saifhum, far from themainland, lies a barren island knownsimply as Worldscap. The island isknown primarily for its ruins, includ-ing the remnants of the once-greatcity of Karthay. The city was buried ina landslide at the time of the Cata-clysm. Along the southern shore ofthe island stands the imposing pillarof Winstons Tower, a 130-foot-tallmonolith that at one time served as abeacon for travelers across Istar. It isnow abandoned, and rumors say thatthe place is cursed.

South of Worldscap, and very nearto the eastern edge of the Bloodsea,

lie the twin minotaur isles of Mithasand Kothas. Mithas is the richer of thetwo. Its city of Lacynos contains a

higher concentration of minotaursthan anywhere else on Krynn. Thelands are wild, but occasionally hometo large flocks of sheep. Kothas, onthe other hand, is much more barren.

It is covered by a profusion of tinycity-states-perhaps village-states ismore accurate-and each of these isruled by a powerful, suspicious war-

lord. The minotaurs of Kothas are toobusy worrying about their immediateneighbors to be any threat to the restof the continent.

But not so with the minotaurs of

Mithas. Therein lies our adventure.

the Plot Chot Es-Kahn cannot believe how

well things have turned out followingthe War of the Lance. Not that thewar wasnt good to Chot, who is theleader of the minotaurs of Mithas,but the peace that followed has

been even better.During the war, Chot had to swal-

low his pride and accept orders from

whichever of the Dragon Highlordsw a s i n c o m m a n d o f t h e E a s t e r nReaches. (At one time or another, hehad served the Black, Red, and BlueHighlords-and hated each one ofthem.)

Now the Highlords are gone, eachto his own petty wars and territorialdisputes. Chot has been left with afleet of fast sailing vessels, a band ofskilled sailors, and many veteranminotaur troops. The sailors and war-riors grow bored with the pace ofpeaceful life, for shipping commerce

is so limited that even piracy no long-er provides much excitement. ChotEs-Kahn has a plan to change all that.

Although his historical title wasChieftain, Chot has changed this toKing. He has already embarked uponthe subjugation of Kothas-a simpletask, as that backward land, alreadyfriendly to Mithas, was quite recep-tive to the arrival of the Mithas fleet.

In fact, the minotaurs of Kothas have

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swelled the ranks of Chot s forces,giving him easily the largest army ofany nation in Eastern Ansalon.

Now Chot has gathered his troopsin Lacynos. Th ou h he controls manyships, his fleet is far too small to carrythis army overseas. Also, he lacksskilled navigators for all but a few ofhis ships. Thus Chot has two objec-tives to achieve before unleashing hisforces against Saifhum, Flotsam, andwho knows, perhaps even the dragon-held lands of Goodlund and Nord-maar.

First, he must train enough naviga-tors to guide his ships through thetreacherous waters of the east. The

Maelstrom is the most obvious hazardto marine activity, but the storms thatsweep in from the Courrain Ocean are

also very dangerous. Until he canplace a skilled navigator aboard everyvessel, Chot risks losing many ships ifhe sends a fleet to sea. The treacher-ous waters surrounding the Mael-strom make this a higher priority thananywhere else in the world.

He also needs more ships before hecan send more than a fraction of hisarmy against any foe.

the northstone

The key to both of Chots desires islocked securely away from pryingeves, high in a tower upon Mithas. Itis a gem of fabulous value, and potentmagic. It is called the Northstone.

The Northstone is imbued with amagical sense of direction that can betransferred to an indiv idual whospends time in the vicinity of thestone. Thus the stone is the key to thedevelopment of Chots legion of navi-

gators.It was not until very recently that

the minotaur king discovered thishidden ability of the stone. Prior tothat , Chot (and his predecessors)

t h o u g h t t h e s t o n e w a s s i m p l y aunique, diamond-like gem of incal-culable value. Legends tell of its dis-c o v e r y , h i g h a b o v e t h e M i t h a nGlacier, in a time far in the past. Ith a s b e e n a t a l i s m a n o f m i n o t a u r



might since then.One minotaur chieftain, his name

long forgotten, had a tower built to

house the gem, near the place whereit was found. The Northstone hasbeen kept there for centuries.

Now Chot sends the brightest ofhis young minotaur officers to studynavigation in the Tower of the North-stone. Aided by the magical emana-tions of the stone, these navigatorsdevelop an uncanny ability to deter-mine direction and even distance toshore while they are at sea. Chot hasdiscovered that a large group of stu-dents seems to disperse the effect of

the gem, so he has these navigatorstrained in groups of eight. Each train-ing session takes about a week. Theminotaur king has decided that 30more navigators are necessary for thesafety of his fleet, so he will leave thegem in the tower for four more weeks.

After this time, he will send a fullcompany of his elite minotaurs to thetower. They will remove the North-stone and bring it to Lacynos. There,in a ceremony before all the populace

of the city, he will have skilled gem-cutters cut the stone into dozens oflarge diamonds. Using the massivewealth from this one stone, he willpurchase the remaining vessels for hiswar fleet. Equipped with navigatorsand bloodthirsty sailors, the mino-taurs will sail to war.

the Minotaurs

Brutish and violent to be sure, theminotaurs are nevertheless not with-

out their redeeming qualities. Theminotaur culture upon Mithas is the

highest development of that race, inone of the few geographic areas whereminotaurs have lived without a greatdeal of interference from the rest ofthe world.

On the less tasteful side, aspects of

minotaur b r u t a l i t y a r e v i s i b l ethroughout Mithas. The smithies andsawmills of Lacynos are, for the mostpart, manned by slaves. These usuallyhuman laborers are treated harshly,though not with the wanton cruelty

common to draconian or ogre mas-

ters.The minotaurs also handle their

own populace roughly, with floggingand bound imprisonment commonfor most infractions against the com-mon good. Such crimes include theftfrom, or abuse of, members of mino-taur society-especially those youn-ger or weaker members of that society.For more serious crimes, such as mur-der, the guilty party is sentenced todeath in the form of gladitorial com-bat. A crude arena has been carvedinto a natural swale near Lacynos, andevery month condemned prisoners

fight a series of battles there. Thewinners get the right to live until thenext months contests.

Strong and stubborn, minotaurscan be very hard workers. They havedeveloped some skills in shipbuild-

ing, fishing, and sailing. Sturdy,albeit somewhat slow, minotaur ves-sels ply the waters of the Bloodsea andbeyond, carrying cargo to Mithas, orserving as commissioned cargo vesselsfor human customers.

Of course, piracy is still a majoractivity among the minotaurs of both

Mithas and Kothas. They use sleek,light longships of Kalamanite originfor this purpose, as minotaur-madevessels lack the speed and agilityrequired to catch and overcome theirvictims.

On the island of Mithas itself, theminotaurs have only one enemy-thekyrie. The battles between these raceshave gone on for centuries, with theminotaurs slowly gaining the upperhand. A few more victories should beenough to ensure the annihilation of

the race of bird-men, but this has tak-en a lower priority in Chot s ambi-t ions for the t ime being. He caneliminate the kyrie at his leisure, afterhe has established his empire.

And after all, a race of featheredhumans hiding high in the moun-tains cant be much of a threat. Canthey?

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the kyrie

FREQUENCY: Very Rare

# APPEARING: 2d6ARMOR CLASS: 5MOVE: 6/18

HIT DICE: 4% IN LAIR: 100%TREASURE TYPE: B# ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE: 1d6 or 1d8SPECIAL ATTACKS: Druid SpellsSPECIAL DEFENSES: NilMAGIC RESISTANCE: 25%Intelligence: AverageALIGNMENT: Neutral

SIZE: M (7)XP VALUE: 175 + 4/hp

The kyrie are a race from the dis-tant past of Krynn. Small in num-b e r s , t h e i r o n l y h o l d i n g s a c r o s sAnsalon are a few high, steep-walled

valleys along the Dragons Spinethe mountain ridge that forms thebackbone of Mithas.

Resembling a bizarre mix of hawkand human, a mature kyrie stands

upright, a little taller than a man onthe average. Kyrie are much lighter

than humans, however. With a hol-low bone structure and thin but wiry

musculature, it is rare for one of thesecreatures to reach 100 pounds inweight.

A kyrie has a human torso andhead. The arms are actually wings,though they have human hands half-way out from the body. The legs arelong and wiry, and end in bird-likeclaws. The back and wings of a kyrieare covered with brown feathers.

The kyrie are nimble fliers (Maneu-verabi l i ty Class A) with powerfulwings. They can climb as much as 6p e r r o u n d , t h o u g h t h e d i s t a n c eclimbed counts double for their totalmove for the round. (For example, aclimb of 6 uses 12 of of the kyriesmovement allowance for a turn.)

A kyrie often will carry one or twofist-sized stones into the air with it. A

favorite combat tactic is to drop thesestones upon an opponent, one perround, for 1d8 points of damage with



a successful hi t . After they haveattacked with these, they land andmelee with the lightweight stone axes

carried by all adult kyrie (1d6 pointsdamage).Kyrie are also capable of casting

druid spells as a 3d-level druid. Themost common spells used by kyrie areanimal friendship, invisibility to ani-mals, predict weather, charm persono r m a m m a l , w a r p w o o d , a n d h o l danimalthough not a l l kyr ie havethese spells. In fact, all 1st- to 3d-leveldruidical spells are available to akyrie .

The origin of the race is shrouded

in mystery, but-as with so many of

t h e m o r e b i z a r r e i n h a b i t a n t s o fKrynnthe Graystone of Gargath issuspected to have played a ro le .Because of their resemblance to bothhumans and birds, some intermin-gling of these creature types is sus-pected.

For many years the kyrie inhabitednumerous islands around the periph-ery of Ansalon. Then, as now, theypre ferred h igh , remote mounta inregions for their nesting complexes,called aeries. But in the past, the kyrie

migrated from island to island, com-pleting a circuit of the world over thecourse of several decades.

The kyrie migrate no longer. Theirlong, soaring flights over water weremade possible by the possession of amagica l dev ice that enabled the i rleaders to keep track of direction. Bydepending on this device, the kyriegradually lost the ability to navigateon their own. Now, without it, therace is ef fectively stranded uponMithas, where it is subject to the gen-ocidal practices of the minotaurs.

The minotaurs and kyrie strike ateach other with regularity. Kyrie leg-e n d s a y s t h a t t h e m i n o t a u r s a r eresponsible for stealing the talismanthat used to guide them about theworld this is in fact true). The kyrietypically raid small mining villagesand supply caravans across Mithas.They kill minotaurs ruthlessly, steal-ing food, weapons, and particularlystrong drink.

The minotaurs regard the kyrie aspes ts and are doing the i r bes t toremove the kyrie from the island.

This manifests itself in annual raidsperformed by well-armed bands ofminotaurs, occasionally aided by Siv-ak draconians. The Sivak allies arevalued because of their flying ability.

The kyrie are a fierce, proud peo-le. They do not allow themselves tobe subjugatedin all cases preferringdeath to slavery. Their war with theminotaurs has gone on for a centuryor more, until they have been drivento their final, remote valleys. Andeven these are slowly falling to the

minotaur raiders.The weakness of the race is that the

young cannot fly for the first few yearsof life. Thus, though the mature kyrie

could easily avoid the rapacious raid-ers , the young cannot. The mino-taurs, under the command of ChotEs-Kalin, exploit this weakness ruth-lessly, eliminating the young kyriewhenever they can be reached.

The source of the kyries difficultiesis the lack of the Northstone. This is

the same gem used by Chot Es-Kalinto train his navigators. When the

minotaur chieftain has concluded hiscurrent training program, the stonewill be broken into pieces and sold toraise the funds for Chots grand fleet.If that is allowed to happen, not onlywi l l the minotaurs become a t rueforce to be reckoned with, but therace of the kyrie will be doomed to acertain, albeit gradual , extinctionu p o n M i t h a s- a n d u p o n a l l o fKrynn.

Starting the adventure

The PCs can be drawn into thisadventure in several ways. If you havea relatively mercenary group of char-acters, a few rumors of vast treasureconcealed upon the island of Mithasmight entice them in. If your group isthe altruistic type, then informationabout the vast armada being assem-bled at Lacynos could serve as a callthat something must be done, andwho better to do it than these heroic

8

player characters?

Or you can use the starting encoun-ter described here. Simply arrange

the details of the setting to apply towherever the PCs happen to be at themoment, run the encounter, and takeoff with the adventure!

adventure Summary

The PCs learn of some of the prob-lems on Mithas from an escaped slave.This slave is accompanied by a tinycreature, half man and half bird. Theslave also knows stories of treasureand rewards hidden upon the isle of

the minotaurs.

Next the characters can arrangepassage to Mithas via one of a numberof ships that ply the eastern seas.Whether they choose to land surrepti-tiously along the coast, or disguised aspirates (the only disguise that enableshumans to walk around unmolested)in the capital city of Lacynos, theymust try to learn about the island.

Through rumors and exploration,they learn that their objective is heldin the top of a tower somewhere onthe island. If they acquaint them-

selves with the five guard towersalong the southern coast, they learnof a sixth tower, higher than these,situated near the glacier to the north.

It is here that the adventure reachesits climax. They must journey to thetower of the kyrie, pass the labyrinthprotecting the tower, and gain accesst o t h e N o r t h s t o n e - a n d t h e o t h e rtreasures within.

They are then free to decide if theywish to return the Northstone to thekyrie, ensuring the gratitude of allmembers of that race, or keep it for

themselves and turn the kyrie intotheir implacable enemies for all time.

The characters know very l i t t l eabout their overall objective whenthey first reach the island. They needto check around while staying out oftrouble. Allow them to identify thesources of clues (Chots palace, theslaves in Lacynos, and the watch-towers along the islands southerncoast) if they do some investigating,



so that they can face some of theseencounters. Only gradually shouldthey come to realize that there is a

sixth tower on the island and that thisis the real object of their quest.

encounter 1: Runaway Slave

This encounter can be se t any-where. An inn works well, but so doesan isolated wilderness camp, or even aprivate residence. It is designed toappeal to greed, altruism, and decen-cy all at the same time. Depending inhow well you know your players, youcan fine tune it to tug at their own

motivations.

Have this encounter occur at night.If the characters are alone somewhere(camping, or in a lonely inn) theym i g h t s u s p e c t t h a t s o m e t h i n g i ssneaking up on them. In a publicplace , they see the young womanenter , her eyes dar t ing fear ful lyaround.

She is little more than a girl. Herslender face, framed by straggles ofbrown hair, is dominated by a pairof wide brown eyes. Those eyesdart from here to there, seeking

something, anything that mightoffer a glimmer of hope. She wearsa tattered brown dress-little morethan a rag, actually. She clutches atiny bundle to herself, wrappingboth arms protectively about it.Suddenly, the bundle emits a tinywail, and a little hand pushes asidethe rough blanket.

A babys face pokes out, blink-ing quickly. Despite the girls rag-ged state, the baby looks clean andwell scrubbed. I t reaches out a

hand, as its mouth opens, ready tocry.

And you see quite clearly thatthe babys arm is attached to along, feathery wing.

The girl is Missiva, a former slave

who has escaped from the Pits ofDespair in Lacynos, where both herparents and the parents of the infantk y r i e p e r i s h e d i n C h o t s c r u e l

games.

She is frightened and tired, but isintent on protecting the infant withher life. If offered assistance, protec-

tion, or even food, she accepts cau-tiously. It takes several hours to winher trust, but if this is done, the PCsfind that she knows a great deal aboutMithas. She tells her story only tocharacters whom she trusts.

Missiva offers the following piecesof information, if the PCs treat herwell:

Mi thas i s mobi l iz ing for some-thing. Many ships have gathered inthe harbor at Lacynos, and she hasseen provisions loaded onto them.

Warehouses are bulging with sup-

plies. There is an air of tension in thecapital city that she cannot define.

The Arena of Games is the placewhere prisoners are taken. It lies ashort distance from Lacynos, in abowl-shaped valley in the hills. Hereis where she and her parents were tak-en, following their capture. Her par-ents both died in the games, forced tobattle a pair of kyrie who had beenstripped of their feathers so that they

could not fly away. The young kyrie,whom she calls Fledge, was the off-

spring of her parents opponents.One kyrie died in the fight, and theother was badly wounded and subse-quently killed by the minotaurs.

The kyrie are a much misunder-stood race, not really as savage asminotaur legend has i t . They aremotivated by some deep racial questthat she does not understand.

Treasure of fabulous varieties andhuge quantities was rumored to beheld by the minotaurs. Such taleswere common among the s laves ,many of whom claimed to have beencaptured with valuable hoards of steeland gems. The treasure was rumored,at var ious t imes , to be h idden inChots own manor, at the heart of theDeath Maze near the Arena, and in atall tower somewhere on Mithas dis-tant from the capital city.

Pirates are the only humans whoseem to move among the minotaursociety without harassment and

imprisonment . Miss iva saw many

9

pirate vessels dock in Lacynos, and thepirates would come ashore for recrea-tion, spending their plunder liberally.

After the death of her parents, shewas taken to one of the houses in thecity that the pirates visited, there toserve as enter ta inment for thesevicious visitors. For tunate ly , she

escaped immediately, stowing awayon one of the pirate vessels and some-how remaining undiscovered as it journeyed to wherever she happens tobe now.

Missiva has no weapons, armor, orother equipment. She has the skills ofa 3d-level thief, with 9 hit points. Ifshe learns that the PCs have decided

to journey to Mithas, she begs toaccompany them, claiming that sheknows the city of Lacynos well enoughto be a guide. Her real motivationsare a desire to return Fledge to hispeople, and perhaps to gain a share ofthe vast treasure that she is certain canbe found upon the island. After all,she has nowhere else to go. She hatesthe minotaurs, but does not fearthem any more than common sensedictates.

If she is taken along, she carefully

sketches out a map of the island forthe characters. If the PCs refuse totake her, she uses the offer of the mapas a bribe to change their minds. Inany event, if she prepares the map,use the PC handout on page 12 as theplayer map for this adventure. Youcan tear the map out of the moduleand hand it to the players, or make ap h o t o c o p y a n d g i v e t h e m t h a t

Missiva speaks minotaur quite flu-ently, and she uses this as anotherargument to bring her along. Indeed,

the PCs will find the services of aninterpreter to be quite useful on theisle of the minotaurs.

I t i s not essent ia l that Miss ivaaccompany the PCs for this adven-t u r e . G i v e i t y o u r b e s t s h o t - s h emight even break down and cry ifthey turn her down! But if the playersdont want to take her and Fledgealong (of course, she wont go with-out him), then so be it.



transport to Mithas

The PCs can get to the island in anumber of ways. Of course, if they

have their own boat, or access to a ves-sel, they can arrange a private cruiseto de l iver them wherever on theisland they wish to go.

Several other possible avenues ofapproach are as follows:

* Fishing Boat: The PCs can chartera small craft from anywhere on east-ern Ansalon. The cost is anywherefrom 100-400 stl per person. Cut thecost in half if they leave from Flotsam.Double it if they leave from any placefarther west than Nordmaar. This is a

risky task for some poor fisherman,and he will only perform it because hecan make more money than he couldin a year of plying his trade.

* Merchant Vessel: If the charactersdo a little checking in Flotsam, Bali-for, or Kalaman, they find a merchantship leaving for Lacynos within 1d4days. The ship is carrying a load oftimber for Chots Es-Kahns shipyards(or canvas for sails, in the case of Kala-

man). The passage costs 25 stl percharacter. The crew of the vessel doesnot go ashore on Mithas. Instead,minotaur longshoremen board thevessel and remove the cargo while theship is at the dock in Lacynos. It is upto the PCs to slip ashore. If the PCscannot afford the fare, they can worktheir way across.

* Pirates: Many a pirate ship jour-neys to Mithas, and these are alwayslooking for new crew members. The

PCs can try to join one of these bandsof cutthroats, but they will be expect-ed to prove their worth in battle-orwith spells. The wars have greatly

thinned the ranks of the pirates, soeven Missiva can demonstrate enoughability to gain passage. Of course,Fledge would have to be concealed orabandoned.

Seagoing encounters

The waters of the Bloodsea are per-ilous, and no journey there can beguaranteed to pass safely. The biggestdanger is from pirates, but these cut-

throats do not molest other pirateships or merchant ships carrying cargoto Mithas. If the PCs travel via private

boat, or charter a fishing boat, how-ever, they run a 25% chance per dayin the Bloodsea of encountering apirate vessel. Assume a 1d6+6 day Journey, un less you have a suitableworld map that enables you to playthe journey however the characterswish.

A pirate ship will give chase upond i s c o v e r i n t h e P C s , w i t h a 6 5 %c h a n c e o f c a t c h i n g t h e m b e f o r enightfall. (After dark, of course, thePCs can alter course and escape). If

caught, the partys boat is boarded by

15 pirates armed with cutlasses. Treatthese as 2d-level fighters, AC 8, with

8 hit points apiece. If the PCs areovercome, they are hauled to Lacynosas slaves.

All ships run the risk of a mon-strous encounter at sea. If the PCs aresubject to pirate attack, make thatcheck first-then check to see if theyencounter a monster. For merchant orpirate vessels, simply roll to see if

monsters are encountered. There is a10% chance per day that one of the

following attacks the ship:

D4 Roll Encounter

1 2d6 Skrags (marine trolls)2 2d6 Lacedons

(marine ghouls)

34

1 Sea Dragon1 Giant Eel

the Island of Mithas

All of the remaining encounters forthe adventure can be found on thisisland. The entire island is mappedon page 11, with specific encounters.

General terrain types

Mithas is a relatively dry and barrenisland, unsuited for most types ofagriculture or woodland. The color ofthe land, including the mountains, isa pale brown.

The land is made up primarily of

10

volcanic rock, hardened lava from amultitude of previous eruptions. Aspine of granite bedrock runs across

the island, however, providing theminerals that are vigorously sought bythe minotaurs in their many deeptunnel mines.

The coastline of Mithas is a gravellybeach in most places , though thebeach is often interrupted by-craggyboulders jutting into the sea. Eventhe relatively Smooth parts of the

shore are treacherous for ships, sincethe depth of the water increases dra-matically as one moves away from theland. This makes for short, violentbreakers that can smash a poorly han-

dled, or unlucky, boat to pieces. Thebeaches vary in width from 20 feet toas much as a quarter mile.

Except for the sheltered coves andbays, the beach is backed up immedi-ately by an eroded embankment ofloose rock. This cliff ranges from 20 to

120 feet high. Though it is relativelyeasy to climb, it nonetheless providesa dif f icult obstacle for those whowould attempt to move inland quick-

ly-Characters who venture onto or

a l o n g t h e s h o r e l i n e h a v e a 6 0 %chance per day of sighting a vessel.This is either a fishing vessel contain-i n g m i n o t a u r s ( 3 0 % ) o r h u m a n s(30 %), a trading vessel carrying cargoto or from Lacynos (30%), or a piratevessel (10%). There is also a 10 %chance per day that PCs on the coastencounter marine creatures such as1d8 skrags (30%), a giant eel (20%),1d6 sea elves (20%), 1d8 lacedons(20%), or a sea dragon (10%).

The lowlands cover most of Mithas,except for the belt of the coastline andt h e s p i n e o f m o u n t a i n s r u n n i n gacross the island. Virtually all thecommunities, including the city ofLacynos, are located in this type ofterrain.

Except as shown on the map ofMithas, the lowlands are devoid ofwaterways. They are characterized byrolling ground, barren except for afew scraggly bushes and a hardy,brown form of grass. Tall, willowy



ees grow along the waterways, buthese are never found more than a fewundred feet from open water.

Communities are described as spe-fic encounters (starting on page 22).he rest of the land is virtually unin-abited, except for flocks of hardy,ng-wooled sheep and the occasional

hepherd who tends them. Thesehepherds are mostly human (70%)hough a few minotaurs have accept-d the stigma attached to a memberf their race who performs such angnominious task.

The only encounters that charactersre likely to have in this region, asideom the sheep and shepherds, are

i th the occas ional band of 1d20minotaurs going about their

usiness-either escorting a load of

re from the mines to the ci ty orunting some fugitive reported to beoaming the countryside.

T h e m o u n t a i n o u s r e g i o n s o f

Mithas are just as barren as the low-ands. The ubiquitous brown grassrows far up the slopes of the range,

and the flocks of sheep follow it to theh i g h g r o u n d d u r i n g t h e s u m m e rmonths . The three h ighes t moun-

tains are all volcanoes that have laindormant since the time of the Cata-clysm. The tallest of these, Bullshorn(the northernmost of the three), isover 10,000 feet high, while the othertwo reach higher than 8,000 feet.

At altitudes above 5,000 feet, themountains are devoid of vegetation.The rocky soil crumbles underfoot,and its abrasive powder is hard onhands and other exposed skin. Thelower slopes of the mountains climbgradually away from the plain, butthe upper reaches soar steeply toward

the sky. Erosion, from the infrequentshowers, has carved steep-sided gul-lies and ravines into these slopes.

Travelers find these mountains cov-ered with steam vents, geysers, bub-bling pools of mud, and hot springs.The areas around these features areheavily crusted with lime, and thesmell of rotten eggs permeates the air.

Below and to the west of the main

volcanic crest lies a range of much old-er mountains. Now overshadowed bythe volcanoes, this range was once thebackbone of the land-before it wasreduced to island status during theCataclysm. This range is marked bytall escarpments of granite, and is thesource of the minera l weal th thatdraws minotaur miners into the hills.Iron, co per, gold, and coal are allpulled from deep mines along thisrange.

This lower range is crossed by manydeep canyons, marking the sites ofactive or dry rivers and streams. Inthose canyons where the water stillflows, a heavy mist settles across the

land from shortly before dawn untilapproximately noon. The mist doesnot extend above the canyon walls,but it is as dense as a heavy fog withinthe canyon itself.

The only creatures dwelling amongthe highest mountains are the kyrie,and groups of 1d8 might be encoun-tered there. In the lower range, char-acters might run into the kyrie (30%)or a band of 2d6 minotaur miners

( 7 0 % ) .

humans on MithasThe characters do not exactly blend

into the populace on Mithasunlessy o u h a v e o n e o f t h o s e r a r e a l l -minotaur groups of PCs!

In Lacynos, the presence of a fewhumans-even armed humans-doesnot create much of a stir, because ofthe many pirates that visit the city.However, humans that are obviouslynot equipped for nautical adventur-ing Stand a 10% chance per turn onthe street of being stopped and ques-

t ioned by minotaur guards . Non-nautical equipment includes platemail armor, or chain mail that is notcovered up by a cloak or tunic.

In the smaller villages, humans areless common-especially in the min-ing villages. If the characters enterone of these communities, there is a30% chance (60% in a mining vil-lage) that the local minotaur bosssends four of his strong-arm types

11



around to find out what the PCs areup to, and to let them know who is incharge. If the PCs get into a fight,t h e y f i n d 3 d 6 m i n o t a u r s q u i c k l yshowing up to help the first team. Ifthe PCs are obviously frightened andnervous, they incite minotaur suspi-cions, and encourage further bully-ing.

If the PCs stand up for their rightsconfidently, however, without beingoverly aggressive-and perhaps evenoffering a bribe in the form of drinksor money-they can pass through orstay in a village without too muchtrouble.

If the PCs get Captured

There are a number of ways thecharacters can get into trouble withthe authorities, ranging from gettinginto a fight in a tavern to being dis-covered sneaking around the kingspalace. If the party escapes before alarge detachment of guards can reachthe scene, they can disappear pretty

easilyminotaurs are terrible at dis-tinguishing o n e h u m a n f r o manother.

If they get surrounded by a superi-or force of minotaurs, however, thebull-men demand that the characterssurrender. If this happens, the PCsare disarmed and sent to the slavepits. There is a 50% chance that smallweapons, spel l components , evenpotions, rings, and scrolls that havebeen concealed on a characters bodyare missed by the searching mino-taurs. Check separately for each hid-den item.

The slave pits (see page 18) are ripefor an uprising. If the PCs do even a

little bit to help this cause, the slavesmake a break for it and the charactersshould be able to slip away in the con-fusion.

When the PCs are taken prisoner,their weapons and other equipmentare taken to Chots palace. There thestuff will be stored in the Storeroomon the ground level of the palace.One of the characters captors should

say something like: Well show yourstuff to the king-then maybe hellknow what to do with you!

the City of Lacynos

(Encounter Area 2)

This, the center of the minotaurculture upon Krynn, is a city unlikeany other. Lacynos is large, with apopulation of several thousand mino-taurs, perhaps half that many humanpirates, and a large number of slaves.The latter are primarily human, butelves, dwarves, and even ogres havebeen enslaved by the bull-men.

general appearances

Specific encounter areas in Lacynosare de ta i led la ter . Cer ta in th ingsbecome obvious to PCs as soon as theyenter the city.

The streets of Lacynos are all pavedwith dirt, or more accurately, mud.Even after periods of dry weather, therutted lanes and filth-strewn alleysbetween the buildings consist of agooey mire that slows the normalwalking movement rate to 1/2 of nor-

mal.The streets of Lacynos are hardly

ever deserted, but neither are theyvery busy. Drunken revelry amongpirates and minotaur sailors goes onall day and all night. Every turn thePCs spend on the street means a 50%chance of meeting 2d4 minotaurs or2d6 human pirates that have beenout on the town. These rabble-rousers do not automaticall pick afight, but they are rude and obnox-i o u s t o a n y o n e i n t h e i r w a y . I f

i n s u l t e d , o f c o u r s e , t h e y a t t a c ksavagelyand they regard anythingother than polite deference as aninsult.

Other passersby include the nor-mal citizens of Lacynos, and theirslaves, going about their business ofshopping, working, and socializing.At any given time, players can see1d12 minotaurs on the streets, andthere is a 50% chance of finding 1d6human slaves.

12



The buildings of Lacynos, exceptwhere specifically noted otherwise,are made of wood. The carpentry iscrude, and most of the structures havea very dilapidated look. Painting abuilding is unheard of, so all of themare of the same ruddy brown color.Many of the wooden foundations arerotting away, but this is of little con-c e r n t o t h e m i n o t a u r s t h e y j u s tbuild a new one when the old onefalls down.

Most of the buildings are smallclanholds, with 3d6 minotaurs of allages and sexes living in them. Thesestructures are one or two storeys tall,with one huge central room where the

cooking, eating, and most everythingelse is done. Mature males, and theirmates, have private sleeping quarters.Most often, these are separated fromthe rest of the building with a hang-ing curtain. The minotaurs in two-storey buildings do not use stairways.Instead, sturdy wooden ladders areused to climb from the ground floorthrough a hole in the ceiling. The sec-ond storeys, most commonly, are usedto as places for the younger minotaursto live and play.

Every block of buildings contains atleast one tavern or inn. These places

feature a large, open room wheredrinking and eating goes on at allhours of day and night. A really fancyinn has a stable out back where aguest seeking to stay the night cansleep with the horses. The minotaur-owned inns do not rent out sleepingrooms.

The PCs might be able to pick upsome in format ion in one of theseinns. Human merchants and piratesare the most likely sources for this

information. Of course, there is thechance that charismatic PCs can plysome minotaur p i ra te wi th a fewdrinks and get him to talk, but thistactic is more likely to result in a fightthan a conversation.

Rumors that float around the tav-erns include the common knowledgeof the great fleet that Chot has beenassembling. Some Mithas residentsare skeptical of the number of ships,

because they know the minotaurs donot have enough skilled sailors to nav-igate them. However, there are alsorumors of a school of magic, some-where on the island, where minotaursare quickly trained in the ways of thestars. There are also rumors of a greattreasure, hoarded by Chot Es-Kalinand stored somewhere in the interiorof the island. A common rumor saysthat this is stored in a high towersomewhere, but other tales indicatethat it is in the mountains, or hiddenunder the glacier. The only towers,o u t s i d e o f L a c y n o s , t h a t a n y o n eknows of are the towers that overlookthe stormy strait known as the Eye of

the Bull, to the south of Mithas (andnorth of Kothas).

About 20% of the inns are ownedby humans who count many piratesamong their clientele. These estab-lishments are more conventional thanthe minotaur-owned establishments,with rooms to rent. Also, the foodand drink is generally a little better ina human-owned inn.

Prices in Lacynos are inflated abovethe standard for the AD&D ® game(and even for Krynn) because of the

i n f l u x o f p l u n d e r e d m o n e y . F o rstarters, assume costs are 200% ofthose listed in the players Handbook(prior to conversion to Krynns steelstandard, of course). Prices shouldnaturally be subject to whatever typesof negotiation are standard in yourcampaign.

Lacynos encounter areasa. the Breakwater

A solid barrier of stone extends intothe water from both sides of the har-

bor at Lacynos. The breakwater is 40feet wide at the top, and 60 feet widewhere its base enters the water. Thetop is 10 feet above the water level. Itdoes its job well, but during heavystorms waves batter the top of thewall, driving any character failing aDexterity Check into the water. Thecheck is required every turn in a mod-erate storm, and every round during amajor gale.

13

B. harbor

The harbor of Lacynos is alwayscrowded, though there never seems to

be a lot of work gett ing done. Adozen or more ships, including heavyminotaur war galleys and light, fastpirate ships powered by sail, bob atrest in the dirty water. A few mer-chantmen are tied up to the wharf,but most of these show no signs ofactivity. On one, a heavy crane isbeing used to off-load huge bundlesof lumber. These are stacked on thewharf next to the shipyard.

A small f leet of f ishing boats isbased at the southern end of the har-

bor. Most of these are gone duringdays when the weather is good, but atnight, and during periods of storms

and rough seas, several dozen small,decrepit sailboats bob at anchor here.

Each of the merchants and war-ships at anchor in the harbor has a sin-g l e g u a r d o n b o a r d a t a l l t i m e s ,though there is a good chance that theg u a r d i s d r u n k ( 2 0 % ) o r a s l e e p(2 5%). The guard is of the same raceas the crew of the ship-a minotauron a galley or a human on a sailingship.

The water in the harbor is thick andbrown. Many forms of scum and gar-bage f loat in i t , including brokenpieces of lumber, barrels, an occasion-al body, and sewage. The smell is hor-rendous.

C. City Wall

The city is surrounded by a stonewall that is 30 feet high and wide.The wall is not really necessary fordefense, since any likely invader of

Lacynos would almost certainly comefrom the sea . But severa l formerminotaur chieftains, having a greatdeal of s tone on hand, and manyslaves that needed to be put to work,decided that Lacynos would have awall. The top is protected from theoutside by a three-foot-high wall run-ning along the outer rim of the citywall. There is no rim on the inside ofthe wall. Wooden ladders descendfrom the inner side of the wall to the



city streets every 100 feet or so alongthe walls length.

The wall is solid stone, for the mostpart. In three places it is crossed byheavy wooden gates. Each of these isguarded by a company of a dozenminotaurs. Security is very lax,however-the gates stand open fromdawn until dusk, and those passingthrough are only challenged by theminotaurs if they look suspicious or ifthe guards are bored and business isslow. The latter circumstance is likelyonly about 30% of the time.

At night the gates are closed, andcan only be opened upon personalorder of Chot Es-Kalin himself . In

addition, the number of minotaurson guard is increased to 24.

d. towers

These localized strong points areplaced at intervals along the city wall.A pair of towers guards the entranceto the breakwater. The towers standatop the wall (or breakwater), risinganother 40 feet above their founda-tions.

Each tower has a locked woodendoor granting entrance at its foot.

These doors are guarded by a pair ofminotaurs. The towers are cylindrical,and a stairway spirals up the insidewall of the tower to a platform justbelow the roof. From here, a hatchcan be opened to allow entrance tothe upper platform of the tower.

These platforms are flat, and sur-rounded by a three-foot-high wall.Four minotaurs stand guard on top ofmost of the towers. The six towersadjacent to the harbor and the bay,however, have a double complement

of guards. In addition, each of thesetowers is equipped with a large bea-c o n . C o n s i s t i n g o f a b r i g h t o i l -burning lantern and an arrangementof mirrors, the beacons are il lumi-nated at night. Each casts a cone-shaped beam of l ight for 300 feet.The cone is 60 feet wide at its 300-foot limit. The minotaurs constantlyswing the beacons around, at night,casting their eerie beams and long

shadows across the city, the harbor,and the sea.

e. Market Squares

These shopping districts are livelyduring daylight hours. They smellstrongly of fish, and indeed that is them o s t c o m m o n c o m m o d i t y t o b efound here . Smoked, canned, andfresh (and not-so-fresh) varieties areavailable.

Other common goods here arewool and woolen products, weaponsand armor, particularly leather armorand shields, and jewelry. Minotaurshave shown a preference for silver

jewelry in particular, and many piecesof surprisingly fine craftsmanship canbe discovered among the cheap junkthat is the norm.

In general, prices asked in the mar-ket squares are about four times theworth of a given item. Bargaining isexpected, however, and anyone whodoes not try to knock down the priceof an item is regarded with scorn bythe shopkeepers.

Each market square i s an openexpanse of mud, covered with a cha-otic collection of stalls, tents, and

booths. They are not crowded duringthe day, but there are always manyminotaurs and slaves about. At night,the stalls are boarded up and the mar-ket square is practically deserted,except for small contingents of 1d6guards that wander about the square,protecting the goods of the shop-keepers.

f. Shipyard

S e v e r a l l a r g e g a l l e y s a r e i nadvanced stages of construction inthis drydock. Vast stacks of lumberare piled on the wharf beside theshipyard. Work proceeds around thethe clock, with torches illuminating

the area all night long. Most of thework is done by human slaves, over-seen by a dozen whip-wielding mino-

taurs.There are about 200 slaves at work

here. If the PCs observe the yard, theynote that some humans are treated

15

with a little more respect than theres t . These humans are typica l lyworking with tools such as adzes,saws, and drills.

In fact, these are skilled workersemployed by Chot Es-Kalin at veryhigh pay) to help finish his fleet. Ifany of these individuals are ques-

tioned, they know that the minotaursare desperate to increase the size ofthe war fleet. They also have heardrumors about navigators being train-ed somewhere in the center of theisland to steer the ships to the far cor-ners of Krynn.

g. Palace of Chot es-Kalin

The most imposing building inLacynos is naturally the residence of

the citys Most Important Citizen.The self-proclaimed king of theminotaurs dwells in a palace that hasbeen gradually built by his predeces-sors. The mansion has increased insize until it resembles a collection ofsmall buildings, haphazardly throwntogether.

NPC Capsule

Chot es-Kalin

King of Mithas

Strength: 18/99Intelligence: 9Wisdom: 10Dexterity: 12Constitution: 16Charisma: 8

Hit Dice: 10hit points: 80

Armor Class: 4 (chain mail +1)THAC0: 8# of Attacks: 2 or 1Weapons: Horns (2d4) and Bite (1d4)

or Battle Axe 1d10 +4 (x2)

Chot Es-Kalin is a cruel and violentleader, ruling the minotaurs throughterror. He speaks Common only verycrudely, and employs a translator



when in terrogat ing pr i soners . Heavoids contact with humans wheneverpossible.

He looks upon other races as inferi-or to minotaurs, and considers it thejust order of things that his own peo-

ple will soon control the world (or ateast the part of it that matters). He

served the Dragon Highlords, andwas well aid for his efforts, but hebears no love for his former masters.A bully at heart, he much prefersfinding enemies that fall to his forceseasily and quickly.

He enjoys tormenting prisoners,especially spies. H e a r r a n g e s a nimmediate test in the Arena for any

suspicious intruders who are broughtbefore him. He always attends suchgames. If a prisoner can insult him oranger him sufficiently, Chot himselftakes up his axe and faces that pris-oner in the labyrinth.

The wall around the grounds ismade of large bricks. It is 20 feethigh, with a row of spikes along thetop. These serve more to look nastythan to deter someone climbing the

wall, since they are placed at 18-inchintervals.The real security system for the pal-

ace is the troop of minotaur guardsalways on duty there. At least 12 ofthese guards wander the grounds atall times. Two more are posted at theg a t e i n t h e o u t e r w a l l , a n d f o u rguards are on duty at the front doorsto the mansion itself . There are 20guards in the barracks, of f duty.These can grab their weapons andr e s p o n d t o a n a l a r m i n 1 d 4 + 1rounds, however. There are no guards

posted in the garden. Within the roy-al mansion itself, intruders encounterguards where they are specifically list-ed. There is also a 1-in-6 chance perturn of encountering a patrol of four

minotaur guards within the mansion.The Great Hall of the palace is

done in the style best described asEarly Ostentatious. The walls arelined with marble columns, and silk-en and woolen tapestries hang behind

these columns. The tapestries depict avariety of locales around Ansalonafter all, they represent the plunder

of several hundred years of far-

T h e f l o o r o f t h e h a l l i s l i k e w i s emarble. There is no furniture in theroom, save for a massive oaken thronethat is normally pushed into a corner,only hauled out to the center of theroom for ceremonial occasions.

A pair of crystal doors are concealedbehind one of the tapestries. Thesedoors lead into the garden. The doorsare obviously very valuable, thoughseveral panes of the glass-like crystal

h a v e b e e n b r o k e n a n d r e p l a c e d ,

crudely, with wooden boards.The mansions garden is probably

the most lushly vegetated area on theentire island. Chot keeps a pair ofs laves a t work constant ly in thedungeon below the mansion, pump-ing water from a deep well to a foun-tain in the garden. The fountain is inthe center of the pool, and the over-flow is used to irrigate the rest of thegarden.

The garden is surrounded by a 10-foot-high wall, without any spikes or

other barriers atop it. There are anumber of exotic plants growinghere: tropical ferns, bushy conifers,and a dazzling array of flowers. Thewater from the fountain is clear andcool, as is the pool surrounding it.That pool is deep enough for swim-ming. The stream then winds its waythrough the plants, into a small pondc o v e r e d w i t h l i l y p a d s , a n d o u tthrough a small grate in the gardenwall, and then through another gratein the wall surrounding the palacegrounds.

Dur ing the day there i s a 10%chance that Chot Es-Kalin is found inthe garden. If he is here, 75% of thet i m e h e i s a c c o m p a n i e d b y 1 d 6guards.

The Great Hall is connected to the

rest of the manor by an L-shaped hall-way. This hallway is considerablyplainer than the formal hall-its wallsand floor are worn wooden planks,and no attempt has been made to

adorn it in any way.

A air of minotaur guards stand atthe door to Chots entry hall at all

times. If these guards see anythingamiss, they ring an alarm bell (hang-ing on the wall) that summons all ofthe guards from the barracks.

The entry hal l to Chot s l iv ing

quarters is furnished in some luxury,w i t h a d i n i n g t a b l e , s e v e r a l s o f tchairs, a fireplace, plush rugs, andeven a chandelier.

Another pair of crystal glass doorsleads from the entry to the garden.These provide a lovely view of thefountain and pool from the roomitself. A lockable, and usually locked,

door leads from the entry to Chotsapartment itself.

Chots apartment is also luxuri-

ously furnished. His harem lives here.These are four ful l -grown female

minotaurs (same stats as males) whofight every bit as ferociously as theirmasculine counterparts. In addition,Chot himself is always here at night,and 50 % of the time during the day.

The apartment f loor is coveredwith rich rugs and mattresses. Oillamps burn in the corners of the

room, and the strong smell of incensefills the air. Hanging on the wall tothe left of the door is a massive battleaxe. The weapon requires a Strengthof at least 18/75 just to wield it. Int h e h a n d s o f o n e t h i s s t r o n g , o rstronger, i t functions as a halberd+4. Additionally, it bestows upon its

wielder one extra attack per round.The axe, of course, is Chots personalweapon.

Other items of value in the roominclude a crystal decanter and a dozenglasses (worth a total of 250 stl), apainting of a ship in a storm upon onewall that is worth perhaps 1,000 stl,and a chandelier, glittering with dia-monds, that hangs in the center of theceiling. The chandelier is worth noless than 2,500 stl. All of these itemsare very fragile and hard to transport.

The barracks are the filth-strewnquarters of the minotaur guards. Atleast 20 of them are in here at any onet ime , s leeping , dr inking , or gam-

16



bling. Their weapons are always closeat hand, and the guards drop every-thing (except the winnings from the

gambling table, of course) to leapinto action.

At the end of the hallway is a smallwooden door, firmly locked. It leadsto a room with a stairway going downto the dungeon level below the man-sion.

The office of the translator houses aminotaur officer on duty in the man-

sion at all times. This minotaur is oneof the few who speaks Common and isused to interrogate prisoners and toperform other command functions

that are below Chot himself . Thetranslator has a key to all of the lockedrooms in the manor.

The translator has 8 HD and 55 hp.

He is armed with a halberd +2. Hisoffice contains a desk, several chairs,a n d a l o c k e d c a b i n e t c o n t a i n i n grecords of the lumber purchases fromFlotsam and Saifhum. If PCs perusethe papers, they find that all of thelumber has been delivered, and thatall scheduled ship construction is

nearly done.The storeroom is next to the trans-

lators office. In here are the finestfoods and wines to be found on all ofMithas. Chot hoards them, even tothe point of letting some of the foodrot, rather than sharing them with hiscountrymen.

The last office here is the personalw o r k p l a c e o f C h o t E s - K a l i nh i m s e l f - n o t t h a t h e d o e s m u c hwork, of course. The room is fur-nished more as an extra apartmentwhere the minotaur king goes to getaway from his harem every now and

then.He does have a small desk in here,

with a locked drawer that is protectedby a poisoned needle trap. The trap isactivated by any failed attempt topick the lock, but not by an attemptto open the drawer itself. Within thedrawer is the master plan, crudelysketched on parchment, for the sub-jugation of Eastern Ansalon. Also inthe drawer is the copy of a written

17



order to his legions, commandingthem to annihilate the kyrie for onceand for all. Though the order is datedfrom several years before the War ofthe Lance, it indicates his feeling forhis neighbors upon Mithas.

The back room to the office is a pri-vate meeting room, with sitting rugs,a low table, and decanters of wine andbrandy.

Palace dungeon Level

The stairway from the corner roomdescends in a region of dark, dampunnels. There are no sources of light

down here, as minotaur infravision

allows them to get around. And theyike to let the human prisoners suffern the darkness, in any event.

The guardroom near the foot of thetairs is always garrisoned by two

minotaur guards . They hear anyntruders coming down the stairs,

unless the trespassers are covered byome form of silence.

The torture chamber is used toxtract information from capturedpies. Torture for its own sake is not

used by Chot for entertainment-hehas the Arena and the Games for

hat, of course. But one of the lessonse learned from his temporary alli-nce with the Dragon Highlords washat pain can be a very persuasive tooln loosening a tongue that is reluctanto talk.

The chamber contains all the latestev ices , imported f rom the Dark

Queens own painmasters from Sanc-on and Nerakabefore the end of

he war, of course. There are racks totretch the unfortunate interrogateespon, and spike boxes that close to

ause severe, but non-fatal wounds.here are braz iers and brandingons, and an assortment of hooks,ougers, squeezers, and clippers-allf which have uses not suitable forolite discussion.

Several of the braziers are keptwarm, filled with slow-burning coal.

hese shed an eerie, very faint lighthat is the only illumination normallyound down here.

The cells at the end of the corridorare used to hold spies destined forinterrogation. They are empty, unless

one or more of the PCs is incarceratedhere.The keys to the cells are kept with

the guards in the dungeon leve lguardroom.

The palace treasury is a lockedroom, protected by a crushing blocktrap. If the door is smashed, or thelock is unsuccessfully picked, a blockof stone 20 feet long, and as wide asthe corridor, falls from the ceiling,inflicting 6d8 points of damage uponanyone beneath it.

Only Chot and the translator have

keys to this room. If the PCs somehowgain access to it, they find six massiveoaken chests. Each of them standsopen, and each is empty. If you wantto be really mean to the PCs, allowthem to find a few copper pieces andone tarnished steel piece lying in acorner of the room.

The money from the treasury hasbeen spent on the lumber and ship-building costs to increase the size of

Chots f leet . He is not bankrupt,however-his cash reserves, stored in

the tower of the Northstone, are stillquite substantial.

The pump room is located directlybelow the pool in the garden. The airin this part of the dungeon is cool andmoist, because of the open pool of

water beside the pump. This pool isd e e p a n d c o o l , f e d b y a n a t u r a lspring.

One minotaur guard is kept in thisroom to make sure the slaves operatethe pump diligently. There is a 50%chance that he is asleep.

Two human laborers stand at thepump for 12-hour shifts, raising andlowering levers to keep the waterf lowing from the fountain above.Fresh slaves are brought from theslave pen every day. If helped by thePCs, these slaves have no thoughtsother than escape from the island.They do know the layout of the slavepens, however, and provide the PCswith any knowledge that they can.

18

h. Slave Pits

T h i s a r e a i s a d e e p p i t i n t h eground used as a pen for the manyslaves of Lacynos. The steep sides arenearly 100 feet high, and consist ofsoft, crumbly dirt. Climbing them isvirtually impossible without using athief s c l imb sheer surfaces abi l i ty .Even a thief must check five timesduring the course of his climb, at 20-foot intervals.

At night, there are about 700 slavesimprisoned here. During the day, thisnumber drops to about 200 as most ofthem are taken into the city to work.

A file of 80 minotaur guards arrives at

the pit at dawn every day. Aided bythe 40 guards on permanent dutythere, they march down a ramp toenter the pit and organize the slavesinto a column 12 abreast. Thus bun-ched, the slaves are marched up theramp, into the city, and to the ship-yards. Small groups of slaves assignedto other tasks (cleanup, building con-struction, etc.) are broken off fromthe main column.

At dusk, the process is repeated inreverse, with the column originating

at the shipyard, and gathering otherslaves as it marches through the city

toward the pit.The guards at the it maintain a

post at the bottom of the ramp (10minotaurs), but the bulk of the 40p e r m a n e n t g u a r d s a r e d e p l o y e daround the rim of the pit. There isanother post of 10 at the top of theramp. In the event of an uprising,there are several retaining walls thatcan be collapsed within two rounds.These will drop tons of earth onto theramp, burying any mob trying to

charge upward.The slaves are fed by a detail of their

own that marches up the ramp at theend of the day, after the workers havereturned. This detail (50 slaves) lugshuge vats of slop down the ramp, whereit is distributed to the other slaves. Thisis the only regular meal, though slavesinvolved in heavy construction activitiesare fed during the day, once, in order tokeep up their strength.



The slaves are a downtrodden lot,but they have not given up all hope.There are several in particular who

will lend support and encouragementt o a n u p r i s i n g a t t e m p t . S u c h a nuprising only occurs with some out-side (i .e. , PC) agitation during thecourse of the adventure. If Missiva iswith the PCs, she constantly encour-ages them to aid in such an escape

attempt.Some significant slave NPCs:* Erick the Severed: This former

Knight of Solamnia (10th level, 72hp) has lost his left hand. He is rarelycalled upon to work because of this,but he is the spiritual leader of the

s l a v e s . H e c o u n s e l s t h o s e n e a rdespair, and aids any small-scaleescape attempt he discovers. He isrespected by the other slaves, and is acapable fighter despite his handicap.

* Sondra Mishasa: This stalwartwoman is a cleric of Mishakal (9thlevel, hp 45). Her faith and healingpowers have contributed greatly tothe survival of the slaves. She gener-

ates food and water to enhance thepoor rations of their captors, despitethe threat of deathfor sellcasting

by any slave is a capital offense. Sherasps at any hope to lead the slaves tofreedom.

* Dalton James: This courageousthief (7th level, hp 31) plays the roleof a deaf-mute around his minotaurmasters. He understands the mino-taur tongue and is a willing and eagerworker . Thus he of ten overhearsthings from the minotaur overseerswho take no notice of him. He knows,for example, of three large galleyslashed to the wharf in Lacynosfullyprovisioned for sea. The ships arelarge enough to carry all the slaves, ifthey can but reach them. He has alsoheard that , wi th in a month , hun-dreds of slaves will be assigned to thegalleys as the fleet prepares to put tosea.

I. arena of games

This imposing coliseum is a testa-ment to the labor of thousands of

slaves-and has seen the deaths ofmany more for the entertainment ofits barbaric throngs. It is constructedof the brownish stone common tomuch of Mithas. The brown color andcrude architecture give it an undeni-ably hideous appearance.

A wide entryway from the city givesaccess the the huge viewing galleries.Chot and other VIMs, of course, havea private box near the floor of the are-na, directly opposite the entrance.Every two weeks or so the minotaurking declares a day of games. The citybecomes virtually empty (even guarddetails are cut in half) as everyonetroops to the arena.

The games are almost always fightsto the death. In any one day, perhaps20 slaves lose their lives, as well as ahost of other creatures from the cagesbelow the arena.

The populace enters the arenathrough the main entry, to the south,and climbs into the stands via hugestone stairways that go up to the rightand left. Also at the entrance is a pas-sageway going down to the catacombsbelow the arena. These hold the cagesand rooms for the enter ta iners

(displayed on a separate map).

Arena FloorThe actual combat area of the arena

is a hard surface of packed dirt. It issurrounded on all sides by a sheer, 20-foot-high wall of smooth stone. Theonly entrance into the interior of thecoliseum is the gate that connects to

area 112.At the southern end of the arena,

where the public gains access to thestands, a pair of tall iron gates standsclosed. These are flush with the stone

wall, and can only be opened fromthe outside. When opened, they cre-ate a 20-foot-wide aperture in thewall that connects the floor of the are-na to the outside at ground level.

Lower LevelT h e r a m p f r o m t h e e n t r a n c e

descends smoothly into this under-ground region. The catacombs havebeen carved from solid rock. The air is

19

cool but dry. Torches in wall sconcesilluminate the area in flickering light.

The various bars used to separateparts of the catacombs from otherparts are made of solid iron, and arethicker than normal human construc-tion. Thus, all attempts to bend themsuffer a -10% modifier. The doorsare all made of solid iron and cannotbe broken down by brute strength.The locks are crude, however, and alluse the same key. Once a thief has suc-cessfully picked one, he receives a+ 2 0 % m o d i f i e r t o a l l f u t u r eattempts.

I1. Guardroom

The portcullis leading to this areacan only be opened from inside theroom, though no key is required to do

so. The room always contains a singleminotaur guard, except when slavesare in the catacombs or the games arein session. In those cases , 1d6+1g u a r d s a r e h e r e . T h e g u a r d ( o rguards) has a key to open the doorswithin the catacombs.

I2. Office of the Pit BossThis large, dark office smells of

beer, sweat, and more unpleasantsubstances. It contains a chair and atable, as well as a large, locked cabi-net. The cabinet is trapped with a vialo f h i g h l y p o i s o n o u s g a s . I f i t i ssmashed open, the gas fills the roomimmediately. Characters in the roommust roll successful saving throws vs.poison or die. Even those who save areable only to stagger to the door, where

they gasp helplessly for 1d6 rounds.There is a 75% chance that the gas

is released following an unsuccessfulattempt to pick the lock, and a 40%

chance if the cabinet lock is pickedwithout the proper key. The key is car-ried only by Bruud Saggar, the pitboss (see following).

The cabinet contains a small chestwith 550 stl pieces in it, as well asrecords for past contests and sched-ules of future events. In addition,Bruud has a shield +3 in here, andtwo bottles of liquid. Both are magi-cal potions, in four-dose bottles: a



po ti on of ga se ou s fo rm and a po ti onof speed.

Bruud Saggar works and lives here.

It would be difficult to find a moresadistic, vile, and unlikable characterin all of Eastern Ansalon. Bruud is incharge of the Arena and all its activi-ties. He appoints, with considerablerelish, the slaves destined for theGames, oversees the contests, takescare of the animals and slaves so thatthey are capable of defending them-selves when their numbers are up,and generally bullies everyone ins i g h t - e x c e p t C h o t E s - K a l i n , o fcourse. Bruud is unfailingly polite

and deferential to his king.Bruud is big, even for a minotaur.

(49 hp). His pride is fragile, and if hisstrength or prowess is insulted in anyway, he battles the insulter himself.Of course, before the fight (whichwill be in the center of the cage room)h e d r i n k s a d o s e o f h i s p o t i on o f s p e e d .

I3. Guard QuartersThe minotaur guards posted per-

manently to the arena live here. Theroom is empty during feeding times

(see Cage descriptions on this page)and during events at the Arena. Atother times, 2d6 minotaurs are here.

The room ismat for each of the 12 guards, and a

lain, with a sleeping

crude stone table. Each of the guardsalso has a small footlocker containingweapons and 3d12 stl pieces.

I4. Weapons and Food LockerThis is the storage room for the

weapons that are given to the slavesbefore releasing them in the arena.

Weapons that can be found hereinclude swords, axes, and spears. Allof them are dull and in terrible condi-tion. There is a 10 % chance each timeone of these weapons scores a hit that

the weapon breaks. Whether or notthe weapon breaks, the dullness ofthe blades causes a -1 penalty to alldamage rolls inflicted with that weap-on.

The room is also used to store bar-rels of salted meat and hanging car-

casses of fish, sheep, and slaves thathave recently died. These are fed,spar ingly , to the monsters in the

cages . The monsters are fed jus tenough to keep them alive, since theminotaurs want them hungry for thearena.

Finally, there are 15 long pikeshanging on the wall in here. These areused by the minotaur keepers to han-dle the monsters when they move thecreatures to and from the arena.

I5. Cage RoomThis cavernous chamber provides

access to the five animal cages belowthe arena. Torches flicker in the walls,and the smell is a mixture of smokeand animal filth. The barred doors toeach cage can only be opened fromthe outside, but they are latchednot locked.

This is where Bruud brings insolentprisoners for his private duels. Afavorite tactic is to drive the prisoner

against the bars to one or another ofthe cages, where the imprisoned andhalf-starved animals strike throughthe bars to the best of their abilities.

The monsters are fed every day at

sunset. The minotaurs drag in what-ever old meat seems most likely to rot,and toss it through the bars into thevarious cages. Each cage also has atrough of water, half in and half outof the cage, which is filled once perday.

I6. Manticore CageThree adult manticores are kept in

h e r e . W h e n t h e i r c a g e d o o r i sopened, they attack whatever target isnearest . I f given an equal choice

between minotaurs and others, how-ever, the manticores strike at theminotaursthey have been here for along time, and the bull-men have notbeen gentle captors.

The tail-spikes of the manticoreshave been plucked in order to keept h e m f r o m s h o o t i n g t h e m a t t h ewrong victims. All of their otherfighting tools have been left intact.

I7. Hydra Pen

The five-headed hydra kept in thiscage is a favorite of the minotaur

crowd. Stories are still told, with littleexaggeration, of the time when thehydra simultaneously devoured fiveslaves during the Games! Like themanticores, the hydra attacks any-thing and everything in its path.

I8. Draconian PenThis cage holds five Kapak, three

Baaz, and one Aurak draconian. Theywere captured by minotaurs at theend of the War of the Lance, and arekept here secretly. Chot still does notwant his former allies and masters toknow that he is holding some of theirminions in his cages, so the dracon-ians have not yet been used in the are-na .

The wings of the draconians havebeen clipped so that they can no long-er glide, nor do they receive their nor-mally enhanced movement rate whencharging.

While these are a brutish and angrylot of monsters, they are more intelli-gent than the previous two lots. Thedraconians hate the minotaurs with a

burning passion. They are disciplinedenough to respond to the commandsof the Aurak draconian, and will notautomatically attack when given achance. The Aurak is determined tolead this band to safety, reportingC h o t s t r e a c h e r y t o o n e o f t h eHighlords. It will not harm, nor allowthe others to harm, anyone who res-cues them. It will even create a diver-sion by its own escape should the PCsask it.

The Aurak is trained in navigation

by starlight. It can lead the other dra-conians to the waterfront, where theytry to steal a boat and head for themainland.

Of course, these draconians are bynature ev i l creatures , enemies ofman. Should the PCs attack them oreven antagonize them, the normalstate of affairs (combat) will erupt

between the two parties.

20



I9. Ogre PenThe hapless monsters imprisoned

here were also once allies of the mino-

taurs . Now they, too, are used toentertain the brutal masses of thebull-folk in the Arena of Games.

There are 12 ogre males in the cage.Like the draconians, they are sensible

enough to be motivated by a desire toescape, not just to kill anything theycan. If liberated, they do not actuallyhelp whoever set them free, but nei-ther do they attack them. They makefor the waterfront to try to steal aship. Since none of them know howto sail, chances are very good that thelot of them will end up in the Mael-strom.

If the draconians and the ogres arereleased at the same time, the twogroups of monsters try to make theirescape together. The Aurak draconiantakes charge of the group, and theogres grudgingly follow.

I10. Kyrie Pen

There are 10 adult male and three

adult female kyrie in this cage. Allhave had their wings plucked clean offeathers, so they cannot fly. They are

humiliated by this state of affairs, andwant more than anything to die with

If Missiva is with the PCs, she canprobably convince the kyrie to escape

honor-preferably in batt le with a

and go on living and fighting. Thesekyrie know about the tower and theNorthstone, and share this informa-

minotaur.

tion with the PCs if the charactershelp them to escape.

I11. Slave PensT h i s r o o m i s u s e d t o h o l d t h e

human slaves destined for combat int h e a r e n a . I t i s e m p t y a f t e r t h eG a m e s , b u t s l a v e s a r e g r a d u a l l ybrought here in the weeks before thenext event.

There are 1d12 slaves in here whenthe PCs reach this area. Half of theseare fighters, levels 1d6 (roll random-l y ) . T h e o t h e r h a l f a r e O - l e v e lhumans.

The slaves that are kept here arethose that have proven troublesometo the guards, usually through defi-

The slaves are fed through the bars

ance or resistance. They are a spirited

at the southern end of their enclo-sure. The minotaur guards simply

lot, and prefer anything to facing

approach, throw a few stale loaves of

death for the entertainment of their

b r e a d , a n d p e r h a p s s o m e r o t t e dmeat , through the bars and then

captors.

leave.

I12. Exit to Arena

The portcullis barring access to thisarea can be opened only from theinside. It leads into a long, curvingpassage that slopes upward through afull circle. The passage ends at thearena f loor, directly opposite thee n t r a n c e t o t h e c o l i s e u m . T h e r eanother portcullisalso opened fromwithin-allows passage into the stadi-um itself.

I13. Exit to Pits of Doom

Prisoners led down this tunnel cansense the warmth in the air almost as

soon as they are led past the portcullis(which, of course, opens only fromthe inside). The tunnel floor descendsat a shallow angle for about 400 feetuntil it reaches the entrance into thePits (area J).

J. the Pits of doom

Sometimes, for the execution ofvery special prisoners, or when Chot

decides to treat his subjects to a par-ticularly cruel spectacle, the duels inthe arena are moved to the Pits ofDoom.

A great, semicircular gallery sits tothe east of the pits. Thou h it cannothold quite as large an audience as thearena itself, its capacity is large.

The stage for this activity is unique,and deadly. The Pits of Doom areactually one large bowl, superheatedby a deep geothermal source. Thebase of the bowl is made of lava with athin crust. In places, the crust has bro-

21



ken apart to reveal fiery, liquified rockbubbling and seething below. Anyindividual coming into contact with

this blistering surface suffers 4d6points of damage per round.

Scattered around this hellish holeare islands of black rock, rising some40 feet from the lava itself . These

slands are connected by a pattern ofb r i d g e s a s s h o w n o n t h e m a p o fLacynos (page 14). One of thesebridges leads under the viewing gal-ery, connecting to the tunnel that ris-

es to area 113, under the arena.The bridges are 20 feet wide, but

have no railings along the sides. Theyarch high over the lava pits, so a fallfrom one of them usually means cer-tain death. A character who slips orgets pushed from a bridge can begiven a single Dexterity Check to seef he arrests his fall. If successful, he

manages to wriggle back onto theb r i d g e - b u t o f c o u r s e , h e i s c o m -pletely vulnerable to all attackers dur-ng the round he does so ( +4 penalty

to AC).Characters falling from the bridges

or islands onto the lava suffer 1d12points of damage from the fall , as

well as the heat damage (per round)ndicated earlier.

The heat rising from the lava isextremely debilitating to anyone onthe rock islands or bridges, such thathe must roll a successful saving throwvs. breath weapon every other roundthat he spends exposed to the heat.Each failure reduces a charactersConstitution score by 1, temporarily.W h e n a c h a r a c t e r s C o n s t i t u t i o nreaches 1, he can no longer move orfight-in effect, he loses conscious-

ness.A creature without a Constitutionscore saves as a fighter of the sameevel as its hit dice. Each failed saving

throw vs. breath weapon results in aoss of 1d4 hit points.

Chots idea of sport is to release acaptive-usually a human slave, butsometimes a kyrie or other unfortu-nate creature, at the beginning of thebridge to the first island. The victim isgiven a minute or so to flee from the

horror that is about to be releasedbehind it. (The horror is usually oneof the other monsters from the cages

below the arena, but sometimes itmight be a band of minotaur warriorswho have volunteered to prove theirbravery before their king.) The vic-tims are often provided with the low-

quality weapons from room 14.Then there is a merry chase from

bridge to island to bridge, until afight is forced. If the loser is notpushed into the pits during the courseof the fight, the corpse is unceremo-niously dumped there following theconclusion of the combat.

Other encounter areas

3. Villages of Mithas

The small villages in the interior ofthe island have many things in com-m o n . T h e f o l l o w i n g d e s c r i p t i o napplies to most. (One village, Thora-dor, is described in more detail inmodule DL15, Mists of Krynn.)

The village is a rude collection of

shabby huts, centered around a cou-ple of stone bui ldings. One stonebuilding is the residence of the localchieftain, sometimes referred to asLord. The other stone building is atemple tended by a minotaur sha-man. The rest of the structures are thehovels in which the bulk of the popu-lation live and work.

The lord s manor conta ins 2d6minotaursthe ch ie f ta in and h isbodyguards. This group swaggersthrough the town, bullying anythingand everything in their path. If wordreaches the lord of strangers in the vil-

lage (which takes about 1d6 turns),he and his entourage seek out theintruders and put them in their place.This does not necessarily mean beat-ing them into the mud; the chieftainasserts that he is in charge in this vil-lage, and if the visitors dont like it,they can fight him or leave. If the lorddoesnt like the attitude of visitors, hemight attack (with his henchmen, ofcourse) for the purpose of drivingthem out of town.

22

The actual manor house of the lordis as filthy as any hut, but he has bet-ter food and drink. He might (60%

chance) also have a randomly deter-m i n e d m a g i c a l i t e m , a n d h e h a s1d100x2 stl pieces worth of treasurelocked in some secure hiding place.His house might consist of as many asfour or five rooms.

The village temple does not looklike a church from the outside, but iti s a large , one- room temple . I t i sstaffed by a minotaur cleric of 3d to6th level. This cleric, a devotee ofS a r g a s , h a s l i t t l e t i m e f o r n o n -minotaurs. However, a suitable pay-ment may ent i ce h im to he lp anytravelers requesting his aid. Suit-able means as much money as the

cleric thinks he can pry from the visi-tors purses.

Most of the villages (80%) haveone or two inns, of the minotaur typedescribed in Lacynos. They generallyh a v e f e w c r a f t s m e n o f a n y s o r t ,although a weaver and leather-workercan be found in most towns. There isa 25% chance of f inding a black-

smith, carpenter, or miller.The villages have a few humans liv-

i n g a m o n g t h e m i n o t a u r s , s i n c ehumans take many of the shepherd-ing tasks shunned by the minotaurs.There are many sheep in and aroundeach village.

Some of the vi l lages-those thatare located in the mounta ins -arecentered around mining operations.These v i l lages d i f fe r s ign i f i cant lyfrom the lowland villages.

The mining villages generally havemore robust economies. Each con-tains several inns or taverns, and these

are lively places around the clock,f i l l ed wi th dr inking and drunkenminotaur miners.

Mining towns always have a smelterand several smithies. The smoke fromthese places gives the air a heavy, dirtya p p e a r a n c e - m u c h l i k e t h e t o w n sthemselves. In addition, there are oneor two corrals with heavy wagons forhauling the metal to Lacynos. Thesew a g o n s a r e h a u l e d b y o x e n , n o thorses.



The mining camps, and their wag-on caravans of metal, are occasionaltargets of kyrie raids. About once per

week the birdmen stage an attack onsome aspect of the mining operationon Mithas. If the PCs visit one ofthese communities, feel free to stagean attack then, so that they can seef i rs thand the enmity be tween theminotaurs and kyrie.

4. the Watchtowers

A l o n g t h e s o u t h e r n s h o r e o fMithas, overlooking the strait calledthe Eye of the Bull, stand five sturdytowers. Each is located upon a high

rocky promontory and offers a viewacross the strait as far as Kothas. Thebases of the towers stand at the tops ofcoastal cliffs, 200 to 300 feet above

the sea. The towers themselves riseanother 60 feet into the air.

Atop each tower is a powerfulbeacon-a bright lamp with a hugereflectin mirror behind it. These are

lighted from dusk until dawn everynight, and serve to enable safe pas-sage for minotaur vessels through the.straits.

Each tower uses the same architec-ture. The encounters. residents. andtraps of the towers vary however. Thefollowing description covers the phys-ical layout of the structures andapplies to all five watchtowers. Fol-lowing this, the specific features of

each tower are described.The outside of each tower is not

except ional ly smooth- th ieves canclimb the walls at their normal ratesand chances of falling. However, thetop of the tower is protected by anoverhanging parapet. It is impossibleto move from the wall to the top with-o u t s o m e k i n d o f m a g i c a l a i d t oclimbingor perhaps through theuse of tools and climbing proficiencya s e x p l a i n e d i n t h e D u n g e o n e e r sSurvival Guide.

Ground Level

The single access door into the tow-

er is a sturdy wooden slab. It is barred

on the inside.The large room at the base of the

tower has several tables and chairs in

it. During the day, light enters fromthe narrow windows set halfway upthe sides of the tower (shown on theMiddle Level map).

A wide staircase spirals up theinside wall of the tower, as shown onthe map. It spirals in three revolu-tions around the inside of the towerbefore reaching the top level.

To the right of the entrance, a doorleads into a large room, designed as abarracks for the towers guardians.This room is furnished with six rough-hewn beds , another tab le , and a

footlocker beside each bed.To the left of the entrance, a door

leads into a hallway with the stairsleading down to the undergroundlevel. Another door, locked with aniron latch and requiring a key usuallykept by the captain of the guard,leads into an office and storeroom.This room was designed to hold theimportant records of the towers sen-tries, as well as spare oil for the lamp,weapons for the guards, and otherodds and ends.

Underground Level

This cellar has been hewn from therock and dirt of the ground beneaththe foundation of the tower. I t isdamp and dark, with no source ofillumination down here at all.

The one room with a door on it is acell for the occasional prisoners thatmight be apprehended by the towerguards-pirates or spies trying to slipashore along the southern coast, orfugitives trying to escape Chot Es-Kahns swift forms of justice.

The large chamber at the far end ofthe cellar is used to store food anddrink for the guards. It contains bar-rels of saltpork and bacon, dried fish,and a variety of really cheap wines.

Middle Level

There is no platform or floor at themiddle level of the tower, but a row of

24

windows have been placed in the wallhere. Each window is three feet wideand six feet tall. They have no bars or

panes of any kind on them.

Top Level

The spiral staircase ends in a shortladder that leads to a trapdoor in theroof of the tower. The trapdoor is nev-er locked, but it opens upward so aheavy weight upon it will force aStrength Check from someone tryingto push it open from below.

The beacon consists of a large vat ofhighly f lammable oi l topped by awick that burns within a glass ball.

The top of the glass ball is open, toallow the heat and air to escape, whileseveral draft adjustments on the bot-t o m o f t h e b a l l d e t e r m i n e h o w

brightly the fire burns.Sitting upright, on the landward

side of the flame, is a huge, curvedsilver mirror. It reflects and amplifiesthe light from the wick into a beaconthat can be seen for 20 or 30 miles. Allof the watchlights can easily be seenfrom the northern shore of Kothas ona reasonably clear night.

Specific Watchtowers

The towers are inhabited by differ-ent creatures and challenges, Severalof them offer clues to the location oft h e N o r t h s t o n e . T h e t o w e r s a r edescribed from left to right (as theyare shown on the map of Mithas).Thus, tower #1 is the westernmosttower and tower #5 is the easternmosttower.

Tower #1

The beacon on this tower is operat-ed by a human slave who lives on thetop of the tower. He is fed every twoor three days by the minotaur guardsfrom tower #2, who leave him rationsand water for several days at a time.

The slave is kept up here by his j ai le rs - three carr ion crawlers thatroam freely about the inside of thetower. The minotaur guards throw



raw meat to the hideous insects upontheir arrival. This gives them justenough time to get up to the slave,

drop off the food, and leave. At allother times, anyone entering the tow-er is attacked almost immediately.

The slave is an old man from Nord-

maar. He wants to steal a boat andreturn home if he is rescued. He canalso share this bit of information withthe PCs: There is great treasure to behad in the sixth tower!

He has overheard that statement,but does not know where the sixthtower is. He does know that there arefive beacon towers on this stretch of

coast.

Tower #2

This tower is manned by a detach-ment of minotaur guards. Twelve ofthe bull-men live here, making surethat the lamp is lit and sending outpatrols to the other towers. There is a50% chance that all of the minotaursare here. If not, 1d4+2 of them areout on patrol.

At night, two minotaurs are on topof the tower, tending the beacon.

Half of the others are sleeping in thebarracks room, while the rest are gam-bling in the main room of the tower.It takes the sleeping minotaurs 1d4+2 rounds to arm themse lves andrespond to an emergency. The mino-taurs on top of the tower stay there.

During the day, all of the mino-taurs are armed and alert. Half occu-py the main room and the others arein the cellar, the weapons room, orother parts of the tower. The otherminotaurs require 1d4 rounds to

reach the main room.Locked in a strongbox in the supply

room of the tower is a small vial con-taining one dose of potion of invisi -bi l i ty

If a minotaur from this tower iscaptured, it can give no clues aboutthe location of the Northstone. How-ever, if persuaded to talk by charm orother means, it willingly details theinhabitants of the other four watch-towers.

Tower #3

This beacon is tended by a creature

tamed by Chot Es-Kalin himself-alamia. This monstrous thing staysh e r e a n d t e n d s t h e b e a c o n i nexchange for the occasional slave thatChot has brought to her.

The lamia stays in the main groundfloor room of the tower at all times,except for 15 minutes each at dawnand dusk when she climbs to the topto extinguish or light the beacon.

She is essentially very cowardly,which is why she has chosen this safelifestyle for herself. She enjoys devour-

in helpless prey. The lamia can put upa front of great ferocity when confront-ed by an attack. However, each timeshe is struck by a weapon or spell, thereis a 50% chance that she runs to a farcorner of the room and cringes there,pleading with the characters to hurt herno more.

In exchange for her life, she prom-ises to reveal the secret to a great trea-sure. If the PCs take her up on theoffer, she tells them The path toriches lies over ice and snow. Shedoesnt know what i t means, but

believes it to be true, for this is whatChot has told her.

Tower #4

Tower #4 is garrisoned by a mino-taur detachment that functions iden-

tically to that of Tower #2.The only difference is that in this

tower, instead of a potion locked in astrongbox, the characters find a small

j a r , c r u d e l y l a b e l e d i n C o m m o n U n p e t t r e f u k a s h u n O i n t m u n t .

Inside the jar is a pasty substance. Ifsmeared all over a creature that hasbeen turned to stone, it returns thatcreature to flesh. The PCs might notethat the jar holds enough to coat twohuman-sized bodies- i t once heldmore, but quite a lot has been used.

Tower #5

This tower has perhaps the mostfearsome guardian of them all, con-

cealed at the back of the main groundfloor room. For this is the lair of themedusa.

She lurks in the shadows at theback of the room. Her torso is visibleto any PCs standing at the door, buther head is not. As with all medusae,her body is exceptionallyvoluptuous-and clothed to revealthis to full advantage. She will softlyinvite the characters into the room.

When one or more members of theparty come within 30 feet, she sud-denly turns up the lamp that she hasconcealed beside her and gazes at theintruders with her horrifying eyes.

The medusa defends the tower assavagely as possible, but she will notleave it to pursue the PCs. If she issomehow subdued and questioned,she knows that Chots treasure issomewhere on the northern end ofthe island.

5. Bullshorn Peak and the

great glacier

The PCs should eventually figureout that their destination is near thehighest mountain on Mithas, or near

the only icefield on the island. Bothof these clues should lead them toBullshorn Peak.

There are no trails into the region,of course. The party must make itsway overland across terrain covered by

steam vents , sharp c l i f f s , j agged ,abrasive rock, and enemies.

The exact occurrences along theroute are determined by the PCsdirection of approach. If they climbthe glacier on the north side of thetower, they will generally have an eas-

ier time of it than if they try to crossthe mountains to the east, south, orwest.

Glacier Route

The tower is visible from the foot ofthe glacier, but only to charactersdirectly below it. Ridgelines block theview to anyone west or east of thatspot.

Snow covers the glacier to a depth

26



of about a foot. The surface climbssteeply from the north to south, butnot so steeply that climbing checks

are required. Characters who climb itearly in the day f ind the footingsecure, though they have to kick stepsinto the crusty surface. It takes fivehours to climb the glacier.

Characters climbing later in theday encounter softer snow and a riskof avalanche. For each hour af ternoon , unt i l 6 PM, there i s a 5 %chance (cumulative) of a snowslidestarting. For example, by 4 : 00 there isa 2 0 % c h a n c e . C h e c k o n c e e v e r yhour.

An avalanche affects all characters.Each gets a chance to make a Dexteri-ty Check to avoid any effects, throw-ing himself prone and staying put. A

character who is swept away suffers3d6 points of damage and can makeanother Dexter i ty Check hal fwaydown the slope (he is swept to thebottom if he is less than halfway upthe slope). Failure in the second Dex-ter i ty Check means the characterslides all the way to the bottom, andsuffers an additional 2d6 points ofdamage.

The Yeti: The lair of a yeti l iessquarely in the path from glaciers

base to the tower. The lair is invisiblefrom the outside, but it lies between apair of rocky outcrops that are easilyseen . In order to bypass the la i r ,climbers must go to the right or left ofthe rocks, and this adds an extra hourto the climb.

If the PCs have been warned by thekyrie, they can either avoid the yetiencounter, or sneak up on the crea-tures lair and attack it there. Other-wise, the characters stumble upon thecreature in its lair. The lead character(or two or three characters if they areclimbing abreast of each other) mustmake an Intelligence Check to avoidsuffering the paralysis of the yeti sur-prise ability.

If the PCs get into the lair, theyfind it to be a snowcave tucked intoan icy crevasse. Amid the bones andbelt buckles of the yetis previous vic-tims, the PCs can find a pair of gaunt-

lets of ogre power.

Mountain Route

Characters deciding to climb overBullshorn Peak have to do more work,and more fighting, than those optingfor the glacier route. In addition, thetower cannot be seen from anywhereelse in the area except from the verysummit of Bullshorn.

Chot takes great pains to see thatthis area remains isolated and secret.To that end, he has numerous patrolsroaming the region of the peak andthe mountains to the south and eastof it. The valley leading to the west isbarren of any cover, so any daylightapproach is spotted.

Once an intrusion is spotted, theminotaurs quickly gather their forces(40 minotaurs) and move toward theintruders. This band includes GarthKalin and a dozen dire wolves as wellas the minotaur troops. The PCs, ifthey are at all observant, see this gath-ering and have the option to flee.However, the wolves stay on their trailand race ahead of the minotaurs.Unless the PCs lose the pack by cross-

ing streams repeatedly (50 % chanceeach crossing) or using some magicalmeans, they have to fight the wolveseventually.

I f c h a r a c t e r s t r y a d i f f e r e n ta p p r o a c h t o t h e h i g h m o u n t a i nregion, they avoid having to face allthe monsters at once. However, thereis a 10% chance every turn that agroup of sentries finds and attacksthem. These groups are as follows:

D6 Roll Sentry Group1-4

1d4+2 MinotaurGuards

5 1d6 Dire Wolves6 Garth Kalin

garth Kalin

Garth is a cousin of the minotaurking. Poor Garth never quite got it alltogether, being far less intelligentthan even the average minotaur .However, he is the largest and strong-

est minotaur in known history. Chotavoids family embarrassment , andgives Garth something meaningful to

do, by assigning him guard duty ontop of Bullshorn.

Garth has 12 + 6 HD, for 86 hitpoints. In other respects, he is treatedas a minotaur. The only language

Garth speaks is minotaur (and thatonly barely!). If the PCs try to com-municate with him in that language,he can probably be confused into not

attacking them. Otherwise, however,h i s f u l l b u l k i s t h r o w n i n t o t h edefense of his post.

If the PCs have not encountered

Garth on their journey up the moun-tain, they find him when they reachthe top. Also there, incidentally, they

see the Tower of the Northstonebelow them.

6. aerie of the kyrie

I f the PCs move into the moreremote and mountainous regions ofMithas, they spot the graceful soaringshapes of the kyrie occasionally divingamong the peaks. If they spend a lit-tle time observing the birdmen, they

will be able to identify the location ofsome kyrie lairs.The lairs of the bird-men are few,

and those are scattered among thehighest, most inaccessible peaks ofthe island. These aeries are locatedhalfway up sheer cliffs, or atop craggypinnacles that are difficult or impos-sible for land-bound creatures toscale.

The location of one aerie is shownon the Bullshorn Peak map. There areperhaps half a dozen on the island, sothe PCs can have this encounter else-

where, as long as they spend sometime making their way through thehigh mountains.

If they have the baby kyrie withthem, they will have a straightfor-w a r d w a y o f e s t a b l i s h i n g t h e i rfriendliness-if they return the fledg-l ing to i t s own race , they becomeknown as allies worthy of aid. If theydo not have the fledgling, the kyrieare suspicious of them. They do not

28



attack the PCs, however. In fact, if thePCs fight a group of minotaurs withinsight of the kyrie, there is an 80 %

chance that the bird-men help thecharacters out.

Aerie Description

Each aerie is a located in a cave.The caves are shallow and wide, giv-ing them lots of light and air. A layerof straw lines the floor of the entirechamber.

The aeries are clean and pleasantplaces, offering spectacular views ofsurrounding mountainscapes. Theyare difficult to reach, but any thiefcan ascend to an aerie by successfullyclimbing the sheer surface below it.These cliff faces offer enough wideledges that a thief can usually trail arope of 100 feet or more in length toenable the other members of the par-ty to climb behind him.

Of course, if the kyrie do not wantthe humans in the aerie, the climb isconsiderably more dif f icult , s inceadult kyrie attack the climbers alongthe entirely exposed climb.

Each aer ie conta ins 3d6 mature

kyrie, equally split between malesand females, and 4d6 kyrie young.They have little in the way of treasureor possessions, save for their stoneaxes and a supply of rocks to use asmissiles or bombs.

Information

The kyrie speak Common, in a veryclipped and precise fashion. If they

sense that the PCs are allies, theyspeak of their missing talisman-the

Northstone. They suspect that it is inhe tower above the glacier. If the PCsexpress an interest in retrieving it, thekyrie tell them that the glacier routeseems the safest of the land approach-es. They will also warn the charactersabout the yeti lair.

7. the tower of the Northside

The PCs quest brings them to theoot of this stone building, high on

the slopes of Bullshorn. Here they canfind the Northstone and the remainsof Chot s treasury. In addition, of

course, they must face some horridmonsters and treacherous traps.

Exterior

The tower is an 80-foot monolithrising from a blockhouse. It has nowindows, and only the door shown onthe map connects the interior of thetower to the outside.

The top of the tower branches outi n t o f o u r w i n g s p l a t f o r m sextending onto overhangs beyond theactual tower walls. However, unlikethe watchtowers, there is no continu-ous overhang that prevents a climberfrom getting on top of the tower.

Instead, the sticky trap on the top ofthe tower (see encounter L) serves todiscourage this means of illicit entry.

A. Main Guardpost

These double doors lead into awide room. Six of Chots elite body-guard are stationed on permanentduty here. These are minotaurs with

the maximum number of hit points(5 1). Each is armed with a halberd,and they receive a + 1 modifier to alld a m a g e r o l l s b e c a u s e o f t h e i rstrength.

These minotaurs l ive , ea t , andsleep in this room, so they are alwaysencountered here. The room containsseveral chairs, a desk (for taking therecords of newly arrived students),and sleeping mats.

B. Dining Hall

This is the room where the studentsare fed. It contains three long tables,each flanked by a pair of benches, anda small kitchen and cooking area. Alarge pot of unidentifiable gruel iskept boiling over the hearth. Twicedaily-just after dawn and just beforedusk-the students of the navigatorsschool come here to eat.

C. Hallway

This room connects most of the

areas on the ground floor of the tow-er. The doors leading into and out ofit are unlocked, except for the door toroom D.

D. Treasury of Chot Es-Kalin

The meta l door protect ing th isroom is fitted with two locks. Bothmust be picked before the door can beopened. Because of the solid natureof the portal, all attempts to smash itdown suffer a -10% modifier to thecharacters chance of opening it.

Within the room, the party findsfour heavy wooden chests. The one

closest to the door is not locked, butthe other three are.

If the unlocked chest is openedeven fractionally (like to see if it islocked or not) a 16-HD fire elementalbursts out. It is the guardian here,and its task is to drive away or slay allintruders. Once there are no charac-ters in the treasury room, the fire ele-mental returns to the chest and closesit .

The other chests contain the trea-sure hoard of Chot Es-Kal in. Onecontains 5,600 stl. Another contains50,000 stl worth of gems. The thirdcontains 1,000 pp and 6,200 sp.

E. Teachers Quarters

The instructor for the School ofNavigation sleeps here. He can alwaysbe found here during the hours ofdarkness . Otherwise , he i s in theclassroom (J).

His name is Master Tauro, and he isa brutal taskmaster. His surly natureextends doubly to intruders into theschool. Though Tauro is not a greatfighter himself , he is smart. If hebecomes aware of an attack in thetower, he gathers his students andprepares an ambush for the characterswhen they reach the third level.

Tauros room contains a huge, com-fortable bed, a desk, and severalchairs. He keeps a cool jug of wine on

29



the floor next to the bed.

F. Look OutIts a Trap!

The door to this room opens easily.The chamber looks like a short hall-way, with another door at the far end.The second door, in reality, is a fake.If it is opened, the floor in here dropsaway to lunge the characters into a40-foot-deep pit trap (4d6 points ofdamage).

Characters can attempt a DexterityCheck, with a -6 penalty to Dexteri-ty, when the trap is triggered. Successmeans that the character has caught

one of the edges of the trap and nowhangs there precariously, instead offalling.

If this trap is triggered, it makesenough noise to alert all of the mino-taurs in the tower. They gather justoutside this area and kill or capturethe characters as they emerge.

G. Dormitory

This room houses the navigationstudents at the school. There are tenhard bunks in the room, as well as

several tables and chairs. The room isoccupied by the eight students duringhours of darkness. Otherwise, theclass is in the dining hall or the class-room.

H. Illusory Chamber

T h i s l o o k s l i k e a l a r g e , e m p t yroom-which, in fact, it is. However,the door leading to the ladder toclimb farther up the tower is in a cor-ner alcove of this room. That alcove is

concealed by a permanent il lusion ofa typical stone wall, which completelyblocks sight of the alcove.

The wall has no substance , and anyattempt to pass through it is success-ful. The illusion remains, however.

An unlocked door in the alcoveleads to a small, cylindrical passagecontaining a sturdy ladder. The lad-der climbs 20 feet to a small platform,where a door leads into room I.

TOWER OF THE NORTHSTONE

30



I. Guardian of the Tower

This room is patrolled restlessly by

a gorgon. The creature attacks anynon-minotaurs that enter the cham-ber. It always attacks with its breathweapon first.

A stairway against the outer wall ofthe room curves gently upward, lead-ing directly into the level above.

. Classroom

The stairway from the second levelpasses through the floor into thislarge room. Six curved stone benchesare grouped on the floor, facing a

slightly raised platform at the front ofthe class.

From one hour after dawn untilone hour before sunset, the studentsand their teacher, Master Tauro, studynavigat ion in th i s room. At othertimes, the room is empty, unlessTauro has set up an ambush for thePCs here (as explained in E).

If the PCs encounter the gorgonbelow this room while this room isoccupied, the minotaurs are certain tohear the commotion.

The small closet off to the side ofthe room actually contains anotheradder, similar to the one connecting

the ground level to the gorgons lair,which leads to the fourth level.

K. Naga and Northstone

This room is dark. except for a softglow emanating from the top of apedestal in the center of the room.This is the Northstone.

Wrapped around the base of thepedestal, nearly invisible in the dark-

ness, is the true guardian of the stone.Only her crimson eyes, shining withevil, give the presence of the spiritnaga away.

The naga dwells here always, guard-ng the stone in exchange for the occa-

sional human or kyrie prisoner theminotaurs throw her way. She will try tocharm the first character into the roomwith her gaze, and then use her spellsunless driven to melee.

The nagas magic-user spells are asfollows:

Level 1: detect magic, darkness, mag-ic missile, sleepLevel 2: mirror image, webLevel 3: slow

Her clerical spells are as follows:

Level 1: detect good, cause fear Level 2: silence, 15 radius

The Northstone itself rests securelyon the pedestal. However, any dili-gent effort to pry it free succeeds. Thestone, undamaged, is worth 20,000

stl . If cut into smaller gems, it isw o r t h t w i c e t h a t m u c h - t h o u g h agemcutter would require 5,000 stl forthe task.

Of course, if returned to the kyrie itis priceless. The kyrie will be able,once again,world.

to migrate around the

If the PCs return the gem to thekyrie , the party receives 40,000 XP forthis magnanimous deed. If they keepit for themselves, they get the money,but no XP.

L. Tower Top

The top of the tower provides no

access into the interior. It is coveredwith a sticky, glue-like substance thatgrasps anit. The adhesive does not grasp metal-

creature or object touching

lic objects, however.The adhesive is so strong that it is

almost impossible to break free. Ofcourse, if gloves or boots are stuck,removal of those items free a charac-ters limbs. Otherwise, to pull a bodyp a r t f r e e o f t h e g l u e r e q u i r e s aStrength Check with a -10 modifierto the characters Strength score. He isal lowed only one check per stuck

body part.T h e g l u e i s h i g h l y f l a m m a b l e .

When an intruder has been trappedby it, the minotaurs carry torches intothe chamber with the Northstone.There are small slits in the ceiling ofthat room that lead to the top of thetower , and the torches are thrustthrough these to ignite the glue.

The stuff burns for 1d4+1 rounds.Anyone or anything stuck up there

when the fire is lit suffers 2d6 pointsof heat damage per round. After the

fire is out, the glue loses its adhesionand survivors can break free.

31



This short adventure is designed tochallenge a small group of characters(4-6) of levels 5-7. As with any adven-

ture, the game balance can be adjust-ed to take into account stronger orweaker groups of PCs.

It can be set anywhere on the worldof Krynn. The initial encounter, toget the story rolling, involves thecharacters listening to an old man tella tale. This story is best set in an inn,because of the social interactionamong many NPCs.

Read the following story to start offthe adventure. As you progress throughthe encounters, you can read the boxed

text descriptions to your players, orparaphrase them as you wish.Several random events are listed at

the end of the adventure. Add thesewherever you would like, in order toenhance to mood or heighten the sus-pense of the game.

This adventure can be played in asingle gaming session, if the charac-ters keep moving. Thus you may wishto consider playing it to fill a gapbetween larger adventures, or duringa gaming session where your entiregroup cannot be present.

On the other hand, by fleshing outthe setting, and expanding on the cam-paign background, you can add a greatdeal of detail to the adventure and cre-ate something that will occupy your par-ty for several gaming sessions. Inaddition, if the PCs successfully con-clude the adventure, they may find thatwhatever town you base it in becomes sograteful that the community becomes a

useful base of operations for the PCs forsome time to come.

the tale

As breakfast is being finished, theInn begins to fil l with noondaycustomers, and it becomes difficultto screen out the drone of voices ato t h e r t a b l e s . T h a t i s u n t i l t h ewords, I remember when... areheard from the crusty old gent Far-ley. Things quickly quiet as peoplestrain to hear the creaky voice of

the best storyteller the plains ofAbanasinia can boast.

Once t , when the land wasyoung, and we were just rebuildinfrom those terrible times beforethe blight of dragons descendedfrom the void to rend our world, Iwas wandrin in the Tirhan Moun-tains south of here, as young menare wont to do, upon the ridgecalled the Comb by folks here-about, I had me an encounter soamazin if you heard it youd thinkme daft. But bein an old man nowhas privileges, and since I dontcare a hoot what others think Ill be

tellin it just the same.Theres tales you see, about

spirits of nature, from a time whenthe world was created, and justsuch a spirit haunts the Comb to

this day, a friend to man and elf,though no lover of those destroyersof nature , the ogre and gobl inraces. Well sir, I was out after dark,where a man ought not to be byhimself unless hes a fool or a damnsight crazy, when I stumbled upona band of half-drunk ogres. Now

right way I knew I was in trouble,oh not from the way they snaggedme by one leg and hoisted me intothe a i r , nor by the d i rk a t mygulletthough that did have me amight botheredbut because theyoffered to give me a chance todrink with them.

Seein as how I had no choice, Igraciously accepted, an soon theywas slappin me on the back-liketo knock the wind out of me-ands w a p p i n l i e s w i t h t h e b e s t o fthem. One ogre seemed a mightconcerned that what I was after wasthe secret of the ages, the Find ofGherkhinyouve al l heard ofi tJarl s Vein, a mountain thickwith enough silver to bring goodfortune to all and ringed with theprotection of the white nature spir-it. It seems this bunch was justdrunk enough to think they couldtake on the spirits themselves-itsa good thing they couldnt hold

their l iquor and passed out, butluckily I could hold my drink-as

everyone knows. Unfor tunate lythey had bound my feet and onearm together, so Itwerent goinnowhere.

So there I sat, havin real troublewith the knots, which jus didntwant to come loose, when suddenlyI thought I heard somethin in thewind-somethin that sounded likeHelllp commmesss... and then atmy feet was this squirrel. Now therewas nothing special about the critter, jus our everyday variety of tufted-ear fox squirrel, but that rodent

and Im not makin it upjust setto gnawin on those ropes without aby-your-leave or thank-you, and inno time I was staggering to my feet.

Now, perhaps I had a bit muchto drink, and I know it wasnt thebest decision, but it just seemedunfa i r to go and leave wi thoutrelieving those villains of theirillgot gains. Sos I stumbled over toone big galoot and began gointhrough his pouch when suddenlya hand closed around my ankle and

the ogre lifted me up and threw meacross the clearingmusta been 10feet if a yard. Then he stumbles upg r o g g i l y , m u t t e r i n s o m e t h i n g

about lacka trust, and seizes a clubthe size of a sapling to bash mybrains out. I never prayed so fast inmy life, and sometimes prayers are

answered.Outa the dark sprung some

demon of nature and lit right onthe back of my would-be execu-tioner and then he was too busy todo anything, and I was hightailin

it outa there as from behind camethe most fearsome yowl in andcaterwaul in youd ever heard .They say that the spirit of the windcan change form, and believe you

me. . .A loud crash interrupts the sto-

rytelling, drawing all eyes to theembarrassed figure of a gully dwarfstanding over a shattered pitcher ofcider.

33



the Bullies

The gully dwarf tries helplessly topiece the pitcher together and scoopthe cider back in, until Melody thebarmaid comes forward and gentlypushes her away. Most people returnto their private conversations, and oldFar ley pushes back h is chai r andambles out-he never could tolerategully dwarves.

The odd-looking dwarf shifts ner-vously from side to side looking kindof perplexed and puzzled, as if trying

to remember something. This is Mag-pie, also called Maggoty by those whodetest the Aghar race or dont knowany better. The sad creature respondscheerfully to either name, being too

stupid to even know shes beinginsulted. Magpie can be either sex,d e p e n d i n g o n t h e D M s c h o i c e ,though the dwarf is presented as awoman in the adventure.

She is well known in town, workingfor Mistress Egil, who has a kind heartand patient way. Though considered

comical , she is of ten the brunt of jokes from local bullies .

Magpie speaks as if she has a con-stant cold in the nose, and some ofher words may be distorted in a formo f b a b y t a l k , f o r i n s t a n c e f r e e instead of three.

The rest of this encounter is pre-sented in general outline. It is left fort h e D M t o c r e a t e t h e e x a c t N P Cspeeches and actions.

Trying to act inv is ib le , Magpiescans the room with lowered eyes, andeventually spots the adventurers. On

seeing them a light goes on in her eyesas if she remembers what she camefor. Be sure the players note this.

Four local bullies and known neer-do-wells, coming from respected localf a m i l i e s b u t h a v i n g p r o v e n t h a tmoney does not breed respect or com-mon sense, are sitting at a table nearM a g p i e a n d b e g i n t o m a k e r u d eremarks regarding the poor creatures

brains, lack of dexterity, and sundryuses for the Aghar race.

The ringleader is named Carlotti.

34

His father is the wealthiest man inSolace, a philanthropic soul who isembarrassed by his sons antics .Carlotti speaks boldly, often notingthat any who do him harm will haveto face imprisonment for assault, ashis father has pressed this charge onseveral occasions to protect his worth-less son.

Carlotti s second-in-command isEmil Frendren, just called Frendren.The son of the local miller, Frendrenis a weasel who aspires to be rich. Tocurry favor with Carlotti, he acts the

part of a snob to anyone not in theupper c lass f inancia l ly . Frendrenspeaks with a sly, whiny voice andmoves in small, jerky motions.

The other two characters, Blodgerand Leek, are typical bullies with lowmentalities and boastful natures, butbasically have no spine when threat-ened with actual duress.

These bullies have decided to havesome fun with Magpie, and begin totease her for bothering decent folk.Magpie has a one-track mind and



doesnt pay any attention, at last try-ng to walk past the bullies to reachhe heroes. As she passes, Carlotti

ntentionally trips her with his footand she sprawls on the floor. All fouraugh in derision.

Upset now, Magpie forgets hermission and turns to berate the bul-ies for tripping her. Carlotti assures

her she must be mistaken for whyhould he waste his time on a slug,he must have tripped over her own

big feet. As she persists, he spills hisdrink on her, and then insists that shebumped him and now owes him adrink.

If this does not motivate the char-acters to act, Melody steps up to thePCs and begs that they help break uphe trouble before someone gets hurt!

When the PCs confront the bullies,Carlotti does most of the talking withFrendren chiming in with some sup-porting retorts.

Car lot t i does h is bes t to avoidi g h t s , u s i n g i n t i m i d a t i o n a n deminding characters of the conse-

quences of harming him. Further heasserts that it is the maggot who isausing the trouble, tripping all over

he place with her clumsy nature. Hemight even threaten to have Magpiearrested for negligence.

I f the PCs accuse the bul l ies oft a r t i n g t h e t r o u b l e , t h e y b a n dogether and note Whos the council

going to bel ieve, four respectablegentlemen or a ragtag party?

When things begin to get close tohe boiling point, Carlotti offers to

prove his point, that gully dwarfs arelumsy oafs, even offering to wager

on the matter.

If the PCs dont bite, the bulliesmake a triumphant exit having madeheir point, Frendren shoving Ma pie

as they leave. Melody intercedes if anyof the heroes look like they are goingo offer violenceHsst, not here!

Carlotti declares that he will choosea simple task for the maggot. If shesucceeds, he will make an officialapology and pay restitution of 10 sil-ver. If she fails, as he knows she will,he heroes owe him an apology and

must buy them a round of drinks ofthe inns best ale. Magpie will happilyagree, swearing that she will show

them!Give the heroes a chance to reply

and negotiate. The task is that Mag-pie must drink an entire mug of ale,without spilling a drop, and while

standing on her head. Carlotti setsthe wager before he appends the task,noting that the deal was that he couldassign the terms of the task.

Carlotti then leans back in his chairto watch the show. For Magpie to suc-ceed, she must make three successfulDexterity Checks: One to get up onher hands and head (she gets as manytries as she wants, since she wont begiven the ale until after she is up),another check to maintain her bal-

ance while she picks up and drinks themug, and the final check when Fren-dren further modifies the conditionsof the bet.

Magpie clears a table to stand onfor her performance. If she fails whentrying to stand on her head, the fol-lowing things may happen: she mayfall into Carlotti s lap-much to hisanger-but PCs can note she hasnt

failed the bet yet; she can nearly misshis second mug of brew, causing himto leap back, and she can knock thechair out from under him.

Magpies broad lips capture everydrop if she succeeds with the secondand third checks. If she fails the sec-ond check, she dumps the muCarlottis pants, causing Frendren to

down

unthinkingly roar with laughter. Ifshe succeeds with the second check,Frendren snatches up a p la t te r ofsteaming potatoes and balances them

on her feet, adding, While balanc-ing this platter of food! much to thedelight of his comrades. If Magpiefails the third roll , she dumps herdrink and the platter of potatoes on

Carlotti.If Carlotti is the victim of a dous-

ing, he leaps up mad at Frendren andembarrassed to have all the otherpatrons of the Inn laughing at him.He storms off threatening dire conse-quences to his lieutenant.

35

I f Magpie succeeds, the crowdapplauds wildly. Carlotti turns beet

red , makes an apology under h is

breath, pays his debt, and then turnshis anger on Frendren as they beat ahasty retreat.

the Message

O n c e t h e b u l l y s i t u a t i o n i sresolved, Magpie looks gratefully upat her champions, and then gets apuzzled look on her face. She knowsshe was supposed to come see theheroes, and that it was important, butshe cant remember what she was totell them.

The characters must question Mag-pie to help her remember the mes-

sage. Her memory can triggered bykey words that cause her to rememberother key words, but not all of themessage. For instance, the characterscould remind her she sa id i t wasimportant, which would trigger theword desperate or that help isneeded. Here are the key phrasesand possible relations.

Important Your help is needed

Help? Someone is lost/missingSomeone? Someone specialWho? Doesnt trigger any answerW h a t H a p p e n e d ? H e w a n d e r e d

o f fWho Sent? Her mistress, Lady EgilWho did Egif lose? Her child, Mas-

ter Lor, hes only three years old!W h a t d i d s h e w a n t ? T h e y m u s t

come with Magpie, quicklyThe entire message is as follows:Master Lor has wandered off into

the woods south of town and is lost.Come quickly to Mistress Egils, theymust help her find her child!

If the characters cannot decipherthe message, then a young lad stickshis head in the door and berates Mag-pie for not bringing the heroes atonce, their aid is desperately needed.



the Mission

T h e w a l k t h r o u g h t h e a u t u m n

streets of Solace is quick, the PCs feetkicking up clouds of dust from the drypaths. Mistress Egil is the wife of oneof the councilmen in town-a veteranfrom the War of the Lance who paidthe price of one of his legs in the serv-ice of his nation.

Their child, Master Lor, is the dar-ling of the town. He is a towheadedlittle boy with the face of an angel,whose intelligence and inquisitivenature have endeared him to many ascholar. The clerics of Paladine sensethe mark of the gods on the child and

believe that one day he is destined forgreat things. T h e y o f t e n a s k t h echilds advice on major problems.

It is generally said around townthat the child is prescient and mayhave the ability to interpret the pathsof the future at times.

Once the PCs reach the house, theyare told by Mistress Egil that MasterLor wandered off this morning after adeer he was trying to feed a crust of

bread. When the deer ran away heturned in tears to his mother and

asked her to bring it back. ThoughMistress Egil tried to explain that thedeer was a wild creature, the childcould not be consoled and now he hasvanished and his rucksack and somefood from the kitchen table is miss-ing, including a loaf of bread.

Inquiries around town discoveredthat the child was last seen playingalong the wooded side of the road tothe south, and it is feared that he hasbecome lost in the woods.

Mistress Egilto find her child, and to leave at once,

leads with the heroes

for every passing minute may lead herchild closer to danger.

Master Lor has sun- bleached, sandyblonde hair, and was wearing a brightblue tunic, leather breeches, and san-dals .

Magpie is anxious to accompanythe heroes, clucking her tongue sym-pathetically about the poor lost childand certain that she can find the boyif she just tries. Even if the heroes

agree to let her come, Mistress Egilinsists that Magpie stays behind withher.

the adventure Begins

1. the trail

The last sighting of Master Lorplaces him wandering south throughthe Glimmerglade toward the foot ofthe Comb, a northeastern arm of theTirhan Mountains. Luckily, cool mistsmantle the morning woods at thistime of year, dampening the earthwi th the r i s ing sun . Master Lor s

tracks are clear to the trained eye, but

they are already several hours old.There is no telling what harm maybefall a child in these rugged lands.

Master Lor can be tracked by aranger or by a character with Trackingproficiency. A Tracking check needs tobe made only if the trail takes anunexpected turn or enters a new typeof terrain. A Tracking check may alsobe made on an identified trail in anattempt to discern more informationregarding the state of the hunted,how long since he passed, and per-

haps what he was doing.Even should the Tracking checkfail, the tracker may backtrack and tryagain. Whatever the players choice,the partys path should continue tolead them from one encounter toanother even if the DM must providethem with a lucky find, such as amissing sandal, a blue thread, a bro-ken branch, a picked flower or gar-land of leaves, a footprint in the mud,some scratchings on a tree or rock witha chalky stone, and so forth. The pur-pose is to give them hope when it

starts to flag and to reward theirefforts after they have overcome anencounter.

The trail leads south through leafyforests, alive with the songs of birdsand the smell of elms and dogwood.Then it meanders through the foot-hills through the purple heather andr ippl ing wais t -h igh grasses , pas tstands of pine. The trail then climbstoward the mountain ridge whereoutcroppings of rock erupt through

the carpet of needles and stately firstower before granite cl i f fs . Heremountain outcroppings divide the

valley into narrow canyons and blindvales that c l imb to the r idge l inebehind. Above the valley floors, occa-sional mountain meadows drape the

ridges and stands of fir trees musteralong the treeline, l ike soldiers onparade.

The trail leads up a cliff face that istreacherous for anyone who is not amountain goat or a three-year-oldc h i l d . T h e n i t d a n c e s a l o n g t h et r e e l i n e a n d r o m p s i n a h i d d e nmountain meadow. A daring rock-

hopping crossing over a sparklingstream leads into more barren, wind-scoured rock where snow, ice, andrain have loosened the rock face andcause occasional rockfalls. The paththen leads out toward the top of a cliffbluff, crosses a log bridge above aroaring river chasm, and climbs downa treacherous bluff to the treeline atits base. Then the path wends home-ward.

As the heroes follow the childs

path, they may also discover othertracks crossing or paralleling those of

the child, giving them cause for alarmor at least incentive to press on. Thesetracks may be the hobnailed boots ofhobgoblins, the spoor of a wolf pack,the clawed territorial markings of thegreat grizzly bear, or the spoor of agreat mountain cat.

2. Briar Patch

The path appears to lead into atangle of brambles and thornyplum trees. The air is abuzz with

insects and crackling branches as asmall animal scuttles for shelter inthe thorny cover.

The patch is 100 feet wide. Closee x a m i n a t i o n r e v e a l s a t a n g l e o fblonde hair snagged on a brambleproving the child passed this way,Toward the center of the grove, thebuzz of flies is loudest as if dancingabout some rotting delight.

To enter the brambles requires that

36



one e i ther hacks one s way in , orcrawls through. Someone who hacksmay be caught by a thorny branch

that snaps back (THAC0 16, Dmg 1-2). Someone crawling may becomesnared, requiring a number of roundsto tear free equal to 18 minus thecharacters Strength. The PC suffers 1point of damage and tearing clothes.Fighting while in the brambles entailsa penalty of -2 to attacks and a +2penalty to the characters AC.

The heroes need not penetrate thebriars to ascertain that the lad exitedbeneath a tangled root. But to detectthis requires two Tracking checks.

Thcrc is something blue and redlying in the midst of the grove thatcan be viewed from 20 feet away. It is

the strangled remains of a hobgoblin,with a rusting dagger and the livery ofThrotyl hobgoblins. There are 10 sil-ver pieces and a flask of oil in a pouch.

N o m a t t e r w h a t t h e h e r o e s actions, just as they prepare to leavethe grove, a leafy tentacle snakes outand drags one of the characters backin. There is a single choke creeper inthe heart of the grove. It can attackwith six vines each round if the char-

acters enter the grove. Otherwise, itattacks outside the grove with onlytwo vines at a time.

3. Waries

A muted warbling sounds fromahead. Here the woods thin as thefoothills arise, forming a grassy

vale at the foot of the mountains.To the west, rugged outcroppings

of rock stud the land, and beyond asheer cliff rises 100 feet or so to a

barren ridge.A f l o c k o f b r o n z e a n d g o l dwaries, the great flightless birds ofthe foothills, is foraging up ahead.Renowned for their stupidity andunpredictability, waries let even awolf walk amidst them withoutalarm.

Waries have great clawed feet and

hard, bony beaks with which theymay attack if so inclined. In the midst

of this f lock is one of those rarebreeds, a blue wary, and the PCssight the flash of blue wandering here

and there in the flock.Waries are spooked by loud noises

and the smell of blood. They are curi-ous ye t s tupid and eat anyth ing ,including small lizards and rodents,fruit, bright objects, and hats.

If waries are spooked, they stam-pede away. Any creature caught intheir path is trampled for 1d10 + 2points of damage each round, unlessit finds some sort of cover.

An old wolf has crept down wind ofthe waries and slain one of theirnumber. After a turn for the party toexamine the birds (and note the flashof blue in the flock), the wind shiftsand brings the scent of blood, stam-peding the creatures. Characters mayclimb trees to escape the stampede.

Master Lors trail continues up thevalley to the south and into the rockyfoothills.

4. Watcher in the Woods

The stony slope rises quickly, swift-ly tiring those who climb uphill. A

cold mountain wind stirs the tow-ering pines, which groan and creakas they sway. Occasionally, themountain quiet is broken by thesound of crackl ing branches orcrunch-crunch of feet on pine nee-dles. The eeriness of the lonelymountainside brings the feeling ofbeing watched, as if some tirelesseyes study your every move.

The heroes are indeed being watch-ed. They have an uninvited guest.

The gully dwarf Magpie has followedthem, still desiring to help the partyin some way. However, scared of rejec-tion, she scurries from cover to cover,at best being sighted only as a small,dark, f igure in the shadows of thewoods.

There are others watching the partyat this time. A patrol of hobgoblins,searching the countryside for the secretlair of an ogress shaman, has sightedthe party and is creeping closer.

This encounter is intended to be

played as a game of cat and mouseunti l the players corner Magpie .

Begin by having one of the partycatch a fleeting glimpse of her as shedashes for cover. If the party moves toinvestigate, she has moved to anotherlocation, or climbed to hide in a treeby the time the reach her last notedhiding lace. If the heroes stop andwait and watch, they see her scurry toa new location, always one step aheadof them.

M e a n w h i l e , t h e h o b g o b l i n sbecome incautious, and one may bespotted watching from cover and thenrunning away. The creature is as uni-dentifiable as Magpie, and the heroesmay think they are one and the same.

Finally, there is a fourth watcher,totally unseen-a large mountain catthat pads quie t ly a long the leafyg r o u n d o r l e a p s f r o m b r a n c h t obranch.

Since there are several hobgoblinsand Magpie hiding here, and sincethe first half dozen times that the par-ty closes with Magpie she has moved,the party may well now be following ascurrying hobgoblin, instead of still

being on the trail of Magpie.Eventually, you should build the

feeling that the PCs are closing in ontheir pursuer and let them tightentheir cordon. If they fire at the crea-ture, a hit actually indicates that theyhave pinned their preys clothing to atree with an arrow, or nicked an ear,causing a squeal of dismay, but nodamage.

The chase should end wi th theheroes treeing Magpie. As they orderher to come down, she falls from the

tree, crashing through the branchesto land on any character who is nearby(1d4 points of damage) unless hemakes a successful Dexterity Check toavoid the plummeting gully dwarf.Here is a suggested sequence of eventsfor the game of cat-and-mouse.

1. The prey is spotted and she dodg-es behind a boulder. Upon inves-tigation, the PCs find the creaturehas s l ipped through a burrowbeneath the stone.

38



2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

A hobgoblin is indiscreet andsnaps a branch, then dives forcover. As the heroes approach,

Magpie sneezes from behind atree to their right and then dodg-es into some undergrowth.Dodging behind some rocks ,Magpie scurries across the trail

about 100 feet away and rushesinto the trees, giggling nervous-

ly.One hobgoblin dodges from one

tree to a clump of bushes 100 feetto the right of Magpie. A secondhobgoblin then makes a scurryand dive from the far end of thebushes to a pile of boulders.As a hero approaches the lastsighting, he startles a hobgoblinas he rounds a tree and is himself

surprised. The hobgoblin snarls,trips the hero, and makes a half-hear ted s tabbing a t tack , thenflees into the woods. The heromay be able to identify what hesaw (Intelligence Check at ½ thecharacters Intelligence).Magpie is sighted scurrying downthe trail away from them andthen behind a small ridge.

The mountain cat yowls from thewoods to the left.A hobgoblin growls, steps fromcover and fires a bow at the catslocation. There is a dismayed cryf r o m t h e c a t . T h e h o b g o b l i nthen rushes into the bushes toinvestigate. There comes a sud-den shriek.Arriving at the last site of activity,the PCs find the hobgoblin lyingtorn to shreds. A bloody trailleads away into dense under-

growth.Magpie rustles in the branchesoverhead. The bloody trail leadsto the tree.Magpie falls out of the branchesand greets the party.

At this point, Magpie is flusteredand apologetic, happy that the nastyslime man is dead. However, she nowwants to warn the party of the hob-goblins , though this may take a while

to work out of her, and she is adamantin her desire to help with the searchfor Master Lor. She begs, pleads, and

grovels for the party to let her help. Ifthe party orders her away, she justgoes into the bushes and starts follow-ing them all over again.

Just as the argument is being set-

tled, the hobgoblin patrol closes toattack. There are 12 hobgoblins andtwo wolf mounts. If the party is notpaying attention, the hobgoblinslaunch a flight of arrows with sur-prise. Otherwise, the heroes spot thehobgoblins and can ready their weap-ons.

The patrol leader croaks out ordersin Goblin to surround and captureone of the heroes and to slay the rest.He also notes to one soldier that rein-

forcements will be here shortly! Thiscan be understood by someone whospeaks Goblin, though the messagemay be somewhat garbled.

Four of the hobgoblins fire arrowsat the party from cover of the woods(gaining -4 to their AC versus returnfire, due to 50% cover), while six oth-ers charge the left flank of the party.While chaos follows in the issuing

melee, the remaining two hobgoblinsthen charge in on wol f back andattack.

Once the meleed hobgoblins aredispatched, the archers flee to bringreinforcements. O n e h o b g o b l i nshould escape.

If queried as to how many otherh o b g o b l i n s t h e r e m i g h t b e ,Magpie-who like most other gullydwarfs can only count to two-doesher best to assert that there are twoand two and two and two and two and

two, etc. Indeed there are three dozenmore hobgoblins, plus a couple ofoutlaw draconians, and special com-panion beasts. Any watch mountedto alert the party to the arrival of rein-forcements sights the hobgoblins intime to provide a sense of an over-whelming force. The watch also givesheroes enough advanced warning tohave time to retreat.

Magpie does not know what thehobgoblins want. A captured hob-

39

g o b l i n m a y b e q u e s t i o n e d ; a f t e rgrowling in torment and snarlingsomething about finding one who

can tell the future, he dies from hiswounds.

Magpie then pulls the heroes backto her hiding tree, where in the bush-es is the crumpled form of a large,white mountain panther, a red stainblossoming on her shoulder from agoblin warshaft.

Magpie insists that the party helpthe great cat-it helped Magpie, andit deserves tit for tat. If the partyrefuses, Magpie bandages the woundas best she can. The cat licks the handof the one who helps it. Then it triesto get the party to follow it, until theparty agrees. It l imps off into thewoods toward a cliff face.

5. flight

The injured mountain cat leadsyou to the foot of a stony cliff.Scraggly brush and thin trailingvines cling precariously to the barerock providing treacherous support

at best. The mountain wind hasrisen in power and grey clouds

darken the horizon.A hunting horn sounds in the

valley behind, and you can see alarge, armed party of hobgoblinsin hot pursuit. But the trail appar-ently ends in this dead end.

If the party uses tracking here, theydiscover that Master Lor passed thisway before them and that he appar-ently found someway to climb thei m p o s i n g c l i f f , s i n c e t h e c h i l d sweight could easily be supported by

the vines.The characters may at tempt toclimb the 80-foot cliff here, but theyhave to make three Dexterity Checksto successfully climb the cliff. The lasttwo characters have just begun toclimb when the hobgoblins arrive andstart to fire arrows.

If the heroes pay attention to themountain cat guide before ascendingthe cliff, it leads them to an outcrop-ping of rock. Behind the rock is a nat-



ural stairstep of stone rising 30 feetand ending in a stone chimney shaftup which ascent is easier (only oneDexterity Check is needed to reachthe top).

The cat bounds up the rocks to thechimney, looks suggestively upward,and then scrambles up the escarp-ment using its claws to cling to thestone. It then runs off.

T h e h o b g o b l i n s a r r i v e i n f i v erounds. This is not the time for thep a r t y t o f i g h t , a n d y o u s h o u l dencourage the heroes to choose flightas the better part of valor. Magpieass i s ts anyone h a v i n g p r o b l e m s

climbing, climbing back to rescue

anyone who slips. Then from the topof the cliff, she hurls insults at theirpursuers, until an arrow comes tooclose.

If the characters insist on a fight,there are 36 hobgoblins, two Baaz,one Bozak (spells: magic missile (x2),burning hands, levitation, web), andtwo giant weasels. They seek cover (-4 bonus to AC) and pepper the heroeswith arrows. If any hobgoblins die,they are replaced on a basis of one forevery two slain.

6. an Unexpected encounter

At last your heart stops poundingand a cool mountain breeze rises torefreshen you. Grey clouds scudacross the sky. A dirt game trailleads away from the cliffs edgealong the ridge of this mountainfinger.

The trail of Master Lor leads up them o u n t a i n t o a h i d d e n m o u n t a i nmeadow. A patch of sunlight trans-

forms the meadow into a faerie landa s h o n e y b e e s d a n c e a b o v e t h eexpanse of swaying golden blossomsand lush green grasses, all about hiphigh. From beyond comes a muffledroar of water, and a spume of mista t tes ts to a water fa l l beyond themeadow.

Magpies keen eyes sight a figure inthe middle of the grove with longblonde hair, about the height of a

child. In delight, she declares thatthey have found him, Master Lor.Tugging at the party, she hurries for-ward to wade through the meadow tothe childs side. If the party listenscare ful ly they hear sn i f f l ing andsnorting as if someone were crying.

It is difficult to talk in the gustymountain breeze, and voices dontseem to carry very far, so it should beno surprise that the figure does notrespond to shouts.

This is really a great golden grizzlybear, in the process of ripping open abeehive buried in the ground, to getat the honey.

Magpie rushes up to the bear and

slaps it on the rump, happy to at lastfind the child. At which point thebear rears up on hind legs and roars,

petrifying the poor gully dwarf withfear.

Now Magpie is in jeopardy and thePCs should try to rescue her (unlessthey are totally evil). However, theheroes should not be allowed to standback and just pepper the poor bearwith arrows without risking them-selves, so one of two ploys should beused.

Either the bear sweeps Magpie upbeneath one arm and lurches towardthe party, or the bear lurches to attackthe party and Magpie bravely leaps onits back and attempts to beat the poorcreature to death. Either way, the par-ty is faced with the dif f iculty ofdefeating the bear without causingharm to Magpie . There i s a 50%chance that any missiles hit Magpieinstead of the bear.

To create even more jeopardy, youcould have the bear fight beside theedge of the cliff, and point out to the

heroes that if they arent careful,Magpie may fall to her death, if thebear falls.

To make matters worse, anyoneapproaching within 10 feet of thebear is attacked by a swarm of angrybees. Magpie suffers only half dam-age from the bees. The bear is unaf-fected by the bees. Smoke, fire, andpoison gases inflict full damage to theswarm. Any blows cause only mini-

m u m d a m a g e w i t h o u t S t r e n g t hbonuses.

Eventually the bear should drop,a n d M a g p i e escapes relativelyu n h a r m e d . I n v e s t i g a t i o n o f t h emeadow, despite the-swarm of bees,uncovers something of Master Lors, asandal or some such, showing that he

passed this way.

7. Waterfall Crossing

The sound of crashing water growslouder as you approach the spumeof rising mist. The white, clingingmist dampens clothes and brings ach i l l wi th the r i s ing mounta in

breeze. Grey clouds mantle the skyand reflect off the grey waters of amounta in s t ream where i t ro i l samong rocks only to go crashing 60feet to a deep, icy pool far below.

A precariously balanced log liesacross the stream, one end thrust-ing up into the air, like a giant see-saw, dripping icy waters . Withsome luck, this makeshift bridgecould be used to cross the swift-flowing stream to reach the otherside.

Tracking check reveals a muddybare footprint of a child beside thelog and also mud tracked across thelog. This is the path of Master Lor.

All the heroes must do is cross the

waterfall . This is not as easy as itmight seem. The stream, though onlychest deep, is very swift and requires asuccessful Strength Check (with a -4penal ty) to wade . Fur ther the i cywaters are so numbing that halfwayacross, a Constitution Check must bem a d e . I f t h i s i s f a i l e d , a s e c o n d

Strength Check (also at -4) must bemade or the character is swept towardthe falls. If a fallen character canmake a successful Dexterity Check ashe passes the log, he can grab on, butcan only maintain his grip for a num-ber of rounds equal to 1/3 his Consti-tution score. Otherwise the characteris swept over the falls.

Crossing the stream via the logr e q u i r e s t e a m c o o p e r a t i o n . I t i s

41



indeed a giant seesaw, and as soon assomeone reaches the far end of thelog, it topples over and the character

must make a Dexterity Check (vs. ½his Dexterity score) or fall into thewater, and suffer as if wading. The logthen crashes back into the original

position, sending up a spray of icywater.

If a character stands or sits on thenear end of the log while someoneelse crosses, this causes the log tolower gently as the crossing characternears the far side. The character onthe near end of the log suffers 1d3points of damage as his end of the logsmashes down when the cross ingcharacter leaps off the far end (Dex-terity Check for no damage).

Any character swept over the fallssuffers 2d6 points of damage (Dexter-i t y C h e c k f o r h a l f d a m a g e ) a n dplunges into the icy mountain pool.He must then make a ConstitutionCheck each round or fall unconscious.The roiling waters of the pool preventa character from escaping the watersu n a i d e d f o r a n u m b e r o f r o u n d s

equal to 18 minus the character sS trength . Each round sent in the

water inflicts another 1d4 points ofd a m a g e . E s c a p e f r o m t h e w a t e rmeans the character has managed toclimb onto a boulder for safety.

If a character falls unconscious, hesinks under the water and has to startmaking drowning checks (Constitu-tion Check, minus 1 per round afterthe initial round) or die after a num-ber of rounds equal to 1/6 his Consti-tution have elapsed. Thus a characterwith a Constitution of 12 must startmaking drowning checks on the third

round and thereafter.A rescuer may intentionally diveinto the pool , suffering only 1d6points of damage from the plunge(Dexterity Check for no damage). Ifunprotected from the cold, he muststart making Constitution Checks forfatigue starting on the third round inthe water.

8. avalanche

Beyond the crashing waters stands

a small copse of trees huddledagainst the cliff face. A harvest ofwinter apples swings f rom thebranches and litters the ground.The grey mist has turned to a bleakdrizzle as the mountain air dropsin temperature with the approachof evening.

Here is a moment for the party torest and recover. Master Lor stoppedhere too, and the heroes may findsigns of his passing. The drizzle per-sists as the PCs path turns to wandernorth and west; they should realizethat if they dont move fast, they willlose the trail.

After a turn of rest, the groundshudders , and characters may bethrown off balance. The sounds of lifeon the mountain cease for a moment,and then slowly resume.

Two turns down the trail, the partydiscovers a rockslide that blocks thepath between a steep cliff wall andthe river gorge. Rocks still shift androll down the slope to drop into the

canyon.The rockslide remains unstable,

and new rock has just fallen again.The trail of Master Lor leads beneaththe rockslide, and searching revealshis knapsack wedged beneath somerock.

Magpie is in a panic that the childis buried beneath the rock. Indeed,careful listening detects a muffled,frightened bleating from beneath therock. Magpie tries to dig out the childf r o m b e n e a t h t h e r u b b l e . T h e

chi ld i s a baby mounta in goattrapped by the rockfall. Master Lorwas not trapped here.

The difficulty of this situation isthat the rubble remains unstable. Inorder to cross the rubble, a successfulDexterity Check must be rolled or thecharacter slips and suffers 1-2 pointsof damage and must make a success-ful saving throw vs. petrification.Failure indicates the character haspinned a leg or arm beneath a rock

and must be freed. A Strength Check(with a -2 penalty) can be used tofree oneself, but then the character

must make a Constitution Check orsuffer a sprain for the rest of theadventure (reduces movement rate toh a l f a n d c a u s e s a - 2 p e n a l t y t oat tacks and a +2 penal ty to AC) .Another character may free a pinnedcharacter with a successful StrengthCheck.

To dig out the rubble requires as e r i e s o f s i x s u c c e s s f u l S t r e n g t hChecks and failure results in damagesimilar to a failed Dexterity Check asabove.

The real danger is in setting offanother rockslide. Sudden loud nois-es and digging without bracing therock in some manner requires the

offending character to make a savingthrow vs. petrification. If the rollfails, a 20-foot-wide rockfall comescrashing down causing 4d6 points ofdamage (saving throw vs. petrifica-tion for half damage) and may eitherbury victims who failed to dive forcover, or knock victims over the cliff-face to land on a ledge 20 feet downthe canyon wall (suffer an additional

1d6 points of damage).In the knapsack are some apples, a

piece of cheese and black bread, andthe sheath for a small dagger.

9. the Cave

The rockslide now at your back,the trai l continues up the pathobscured by the veil of rain. Thetrail is soon lost in the buildingstreams of water cascading downthe cliff-face and all you can do is

continue up the path.To your right the cliff leans backinto a steep rocky slope, pockedwith cracks and crevices. Perhapsyou can find some shelter whileyou take council.

Scanning the hillside, a shoutfrom Magpie turns your attentionto a thin curl of smoke rising from adark hole 50 yards up the slope.Suddenly lightning flashes, and a

42



thunderous peal answers, shakingthe ground as the sky rips open andthe land is obscured by a deluge.

The slope is slippery and waters p l a s h e s o v e r t h e r o c k s i n e v e r -increasing streams. Though the climbto the cave entrance need not causeany damage, you might create someturmoil by having a character slip andfall in a stream, or wind up on a wetand wild water slide back to the baseof the slope before they reach theshelter of the cave.

Inside the cave is warm and dry,and there comes the dull flickeringglow of a fire from deeper within.

Careful examination of the floor mayreveal a partial print of a childs barefoot, if it has not been obscured by

the partys milling about.L i s t e n i n g r e v e a l s t h e m u f f l e d

sounds of bubbling liquid. The inte-rior of the cave is smoke-filled andconsists of two linked chambers.

In the center of the first room is avast , bubbling cauldron, the f irebeneath mere glowing coals, occa-sionally flaring up. A cord of woodstands against one wall. Sleeping in

t h e s h a d o w s b e s i d e t h e w o o d ,obscured by the smoke, is a rat.Those looking into the cauldron

may th ink they see a l l manner ofth ings , odd i tems f loat ing in thebroth, things they once lost, faces ofo l d f r i e n d s , a n d p e r h a p s e v e n a

glimpse of the hobgoblins waitingout the rain beneath a stand of pinein the valley below. Someone lookingin the cauldron accidentally steps onthe rat, awakening it, and it scurriesinto the next chamber.

Within the second chamber, in a

pile of smelly furs, sleeps Grisling. Ifthe heroes surprise her, she appears tobe a comely wench in rags. However,this image bends and f lows uponawakening, into that of an ogrishhag, with hunched shoulders, brokenfangs, milky eyes, and scabby skin.Anyone watching carefully noticesthat she favors her right shoulder.

Her hair is a wet stringy mess, andattests that she has been out in the rain.

Grisling speaks in a growly oldw o m a n v o i c e , and occas ional lystrokes her hair as she talks.

She welcomes the strangers, pick-ing up and stroking the rat like a cat.She tries to learn why they have come.If they wont tell her, she wandersover to her pot and gazes into itsdepths, afterward calling the stran-gers by name and showing knowledgeof the trials of their journey.

She will happily feed the charactersa spicy rabbit stew drawn from thecauldron. If Magpie is injured, Grisl-ing heals the gully dwarfs wounds,mutter ing someth ing about Poorchild, there now, a debt repaid.

She offers to provide advice andguidance to help them find the onethey seek in return for a small service

to her. Her white shawl, given to herby her dear grandmama, bless hersoul, has been stolen by some nastybirds and dropped in their nest. Shegreatly desires the shawl be regainedto warm her from the cold of thenight, but she is too old and frail toattempt the climb to retrieve it. Thebirds roost atop the cliff at the back ofthis slope, on a spire of rock.

Grisling says it will take her a whileto divine the childs path and shebegins the reparat ions whi le theheroes are off running her errand.

The party really doesnt have achoice but to accept. Threats make theold lady cower, but she states she cantwork her augury without the shawl.Grisling is actually a 7th-level shamanwith druidical ability. The shawl givesthe owner the power to transform into avariety of animal shapes if you speakthe command word-which only sheknows-but all these animal shapes are

white in coloration.If the party complains of the rain,

the ogress points out that it endedsome time ago. Indeed, upon looking

out it appears that it has; the moun-tainside is now blanketed with a thickwhite mist that swirls in the wind,obscuring vision more than 20 feetdistant. As the characters climb, thefog slowly clears.

Gris l ing can cast the fol lowing

43

spells: detect snares & pits, cure fightwounds, cure disease, entangle, neu-tralize poison, in visibility to animals,

f l a m e b l a d e , p r o t e c t i o n f r o m f i r e ,s p e a k w i t h a n i m a l s , o b s c u r e m e n t ,cure serious wounds.

The cl imb to the stony spire istreacherous. The characters must firstclimb 150 feet of steepening slope,and then another 100 feet to the topof a stone spire. The way is mostlybarren stone, with only a few twistedshrubs worming into the cracks andcrevices. Ropes may be used to assistthe climb and add 5% to the chanceof success, though a roll of 00 stillf a i l s . T h e f i r s t 1 5 0 f e e t m a y b e

climbed by the entire party, but onlythose with climbing ability, includingMagpie, can attempt to climb the last100 feet of the spire.

Every time that unusual stress (fouror more characters, or three or morecharacters and one caught after a fall)is put on a rope there is 1 chance in 10that it breaks. Se e the DungeoneersSurvival Guide, pages 18 and 19, forrules on catching falling characterswhile roped together.

The obstacles on the way include

the following:* Treacherous ground: The pathends with no path, or only a narrowledge to inch across. Dexterity Checkto cross.

* Loose rock: The rock here is looseand shifts suddenly, causing a charac-t e r t o l o s e a h a n d - o r f o o t - h o l dabruptly. The character must roll aStrength Check to avoid falling.

* Falling rock: A stone comes crash-ing down from above. Any characterswithin five feet of it must roll a savingthrow vs. petrification or suffer 1d6

points of damage; they must also rollsuccessful Dexterity Checks to retaintheir holds on the mountain.

* M o u n t a i n g o a t : A s t u b b o r nmountain goat blocks their way andcharges, trying to knock a characterover and off the slope. Use the samestats as wolf for a mountain goat. Ac h a r a c t e r m u s t m a k e a S t r e n g t hCheck to hang on after attacked bythe goat.



* High winds: This causes all savesfrom this point on to be made at a -4(-20%) penalty.

* Dangerous climb: From the baseof the spire to the nest near its toprequires two successful climbing rollsand then a th i rd to re turn to theground. The white shawl can be seenfluttering from the nest. The featuresof this climb include a series of smallhandholds, a narrow ledge walk to ac r a c k i n t h e r o c k , a n d t h e n a nopposed hands crawl up the rock faceusing the crevice to hold on, andfinally a desperate reach to snag theshawl while maintaining a singlehand grip on the cliff.

* Squirrel: After the first climbingcheck, a squirrel startles the leadclimber causing him to make a Wis-

dom Check or lose his grip.* Eagles: Two golden eagles nest on

the summit and the shawl lies in theirnest. They attack trespassers whoapproach within 50 feet of their nestand must be distracted long enoughfor someone to grab the shawl. Fight-ing the eagles while climbing thespire requires a Dexterity Check foreach attack and each time the eagles

attack. Failure means that the charac-ter slips and must make a Strength

Check (with a -4 penalty) to recoveror fall . A character attempting tofight while climbing attacks with a -4 penalty to his attack rolls.

For sake of this climb, Magpie is notsubject to the high wind modifier.

When the heroes have retrieved theshawl and return, old Grisling calls tothem from the cave not to enter, butto lay the shawl on a rock in front ofthe cave. Then she calls forth what shehas learned:

The childs path has lead him intodanger. There are those who seek todo him ill. Journey north and crossthe great divide on the back of afallen giant. The path leads then tothe brink of despair and you mustdescend swiftly into the gatheringdusk or the child, I fear, will fall preyto the slathering pack!

She then answers any other ques-tions the heroes may pose, except tointerpret her message. Just as the

questioning ends, the shawl movesquickly into the cave (her rat hassneaked out of a hole in the rock andgrabbed the shawl).

No further answers come from the

cave. If the heroes try to search it, awhite dove darts out of the cavemouth as they enter and flies off .There is no sign of the old witch.

10. Log Bridge

The land rises as the trail leadsnorth. The scant vegetation aban-

dons the land, leaving only baregrey rock and hard-packed earth.The high mountain wind moansloudly , whipping s t inging gr i tagainst bare skin, and scouring thelonesome boulders.

A d a r k s o m e g a s h s p l i t s t h emountainside with a river gorge.Black waters crash and boil in itsdepths. Yet fortune seems to smile,for a once-mighty forest giant hasfallen to bridge the gap to the bluffon the far side.

The floor of the ravine drops away80 feet to the roaring waters below.The mountain wind sets wisps of mistw r i t h i n g a n d d a n c i n g a b o v e t h eravine.

A Tracking check reveals freshlybroken bark and an apple core. Theapple has been eaten by a humanoidwith a small mouth and normal teeth.

The trick is to cross the log in thehigh winds. It is only wide enough tocross one at a time. The ravine is 65feet wide and requires two Dexterity

Checks, with -4 penalt ies due tohigh winds, to successfully cross. Arope railing held sturdy on each sidereduces the penalty to -2.

Failure of a Dexterity Check resultsin the character slipping. If he is hold-ing onto a rope railing, he falls off thelog and hangs in space, swaying backand for th , and must now make aStrength Check for every 25 feet hehas to climb up the rope. Failing the

check by 4 or less indicates that thecharacter slips back 10 feet; failing bymore than 4 points indicates that the

character falls.If a rope is tied to the character andheld by one end, the character swingsinto the canyon wall, suffering 2d8points of damage (successful Dexteri-

ty Check cuts this in half).A crawling character reduces the

wind penalty to -2, but may need tomake more than two checks to cross,depending on speed of movement.

A levitating character is carriedsouthward at 24 per round.

If a character is not roped for safety,his first fall means he is hanging onto

the log and must make a StrengthCheck with a -4 penalty. to climbback up. If he fails the check, he fallsinto the raging water, suffering 4d6points of damage and requiring aConstitution Check to remain con-scious. Conscious and unconsciousvictims are swept to a boulder in thestream and then suffer 1d4 points ofdamage each round until rescued.

11. Precarious Precipice

The cliff is 80 feet tall and bears

shrubs and vines that would supportthe weight of a child, but not one ofthe heroes. Two Dexterity Checks arerequired to climb down the cliff face.If a rope that is long enough to reach

the base can be fashioned, the charac-ters can s l ide down the rope andrequire only one Dexterity Check toreach the base.

The path leads to the edge of asteep cliff that drops to the valleybelow. The bitter wind whips ourhair and cloak; your exposed fleshgrows numb as a sinking feelingovercomes you as you study the sit-uation.

Even as the party studies the situa-t i o n , t h e h o w l o f a w o l f e c h o e sthrough the valley and several wolvesrace across the clearing at the base ofthe cliff and into the woods. Threerounds later there is a high-pitchedshriek from the woods as the wolves

44



fall on their prey.There are 13 wolves in the pack rav-

enously devouring a young deer,dragging the head and legs off intothe woods so that nothing remainsthat could identify it as a deer. Near-by, two younger cubs wrestle over abloodied blue tunic while they awaittheir chance at the kill. The wolvesresent intruders and attack any whoventure within 50 feet or who attackthem. Once eight of the wolves havefallen, the rest flee into the woods,leaving the tragic scene behind, amute testimony to the heroes tardi-ness.

The wolves den is at the base of

the cliff the characters descended.Master Lor actually climbed down thecliff and discovered the wolf cubs

while the pack was out hunting. Hewrestled and played with the cubs,picking up the wolf scent. When thepack returned, this scent brought

them to accept the mancub. Wres-tling with the cubs resulted in theboys tunic being torn off and leftbehind. One of the cubs has been car-rying the shirt around as a playthingsince.

This encounter should leave thePCs thinking that they have failedand they should turn homeward indespair.

If someone wants to carefullyexamine the remains, they determinethat the body is not that of a human ifthey succeed wi th an In te l l igenceCheck (vs. ½ the characters Intelli-gence score).

12. a Sad Return

The trip home is made in silence

through the va l leys , seeminglylonger and more arduous than theprevious trials even though it is alldown hill. Each of you keeps hiso w n c o u n c i l , p o n d e r i n g w h a tmight have been.

At the mouth of the vale thesound of warbling fills the air, andthe familiar forms of the stupid,flightless wary flock is sighted..

T h e p a r t y s h o u l d p r o b a b l y b ebloodied at this point and the PCsshould quickly realize that the scentwill panic the creatures and causethem to stampede. If they do not real-ize this, have the waries chase theparty back into the canyon they have jus t lef t , without causing a lot ofharm. The birds then return to grazeat the mouth of the valley.

The wind is blowing at such anangle that if the party could climb asmall side ridge to the right, they canmove downwind to avoid the crea-tures.

Once they crest the ridge, one oft h e p a r t y h e a r s s o m e t h i n g . T h e

sounds of several gulping, garglinghobgoblin voices can be heard and adiscriminating listener (Intelligence

Check) also hears a soft whimper.The hobgoblins seem to be threat-

ening all sorts of dire consequences,though their subject does not seem to

answer. Investigation of the noiseuncovers a band of five hobgoblinsinterrogating a shorter figure. Unlessthe heroes take the time to check,they are unable to determine who isthe subject of the questioning. It is

Master Lorwith bare feet , dirtyb lond hai r , sh i r t less , and tota l lyfilthy.

If the partof the hobgoblins is alerted at the last

attempts a rescue, one

minute and places a whistle to his lipsand blows. In response to the whistle,a horn sounds, and then a secondmore distant horn. A hobgoblin ani-mal handler and three large wolvesarrive in one round and harass theparty. However, the heroes shoulddiscern that reinforcements are on theway and that they had best make a

run for it. If need be, Magpie willpoint out this course of action.

Flight should lead them deeperinto the box canyon, and after threeturns, they should realize they aretrapped between 200-foot-tall cliffsand the advancing enemy.

M a s t e r L o r i s s h a k e n , b u tunharmed and happy to see familiarfaces. He doesnt know why the meanmen are after him.

45

Whenever the heroes dec ide tostand and fight, they have three turnsto prepare. If they attempt to use thetime to cl imb out of the canyon,begin the melee when the first groupis halfway up the canyon wall. This isthe grand finale of the adventure andshould not be avoidable.

13. dire Straits

The place you have chosen to standand fight is the best that you couldfind. It forms a swell in the land,fronted by a bowl-shaped clearingwith steep sides that the enemy hast o c r o s s b e f o r e e n g a g i n g y o u .

There is only minimal cover withinthe bowl: several rock outcrop-pings and a few f ir trees . Theground is carpeted with dried nee-dles and pine cones. A game trailleads across the clearing and thenwinds up the rocky slope on yourside.

Flanking the bowl on the right,a mere 100 feet away, is the moun-tainside, while on the left is a steepslope down the mountain. Thebowl is surrounded on all sides by

stands of pine trees marked withoccasional rocky outcroppings.

The enemy force comprises 36 hob-goblins, six Baaz, two spell-castingBozak draconians, two giant weasels,and the forces commander. The lead-er of the hobgoblins looks exactly likethat famous coward, Lord Toede, whois said to have died in the great War ofthe Lance. But that cant be, can it?

The commander is a bully and abraggart, but is not a bad tactician.He speaks with a croaking, gulping

voice, l icking his l ips often with abroad tongue and generally actinguncouth.

He is searching for the ogress, inhopes of getting her to scry the loca-tion of a legendary sceptre of com-mand that was lost ages ago. He hasno idea that Master Lor is also a bud-d in g p re sc ie nt . T h e c o m m a n d e rassumes that the heroes are protectingthe Oracle and he wants to get her



location out of one once he has elimi-nated the others.

For purposes of this combat, the

following special features should beused:* Cover: The brush provides con-

cealment and +3 to AC vs. missiles.Rocks provide cover and +3 to AC vs

missiles.* Movement: Most of the terrain,

whether on the game trail or off, istreated as open terrain and normalmovement ra tes are used . Shrubscluster near the base of some trees andon the edge of the bowl, providingsome concealment.

Use indoor ground scale for this

outdoor encounter (every inch ofmovement equals 10 fee t ) . Rockyoutcroppings and brush slow move-ment to half normal.

* S l o p e s : C h a r g i n g u p a s l o p ereduces the characters movement tohalf normal. Charging down a slopedoubles the movement rate.

* Battlefield Dimensions: The sizeof the clearing is 120 feet across by200 feet long. The slope is a total of30 feet wide on both sides of thebowl. The area of trees within sight of

the bowl is no more than 150 feetwide. There are six boulders in theclearing and nine outcroppings ofrock on either side of the bowl, withone outcropping on each side beingtriple sized. The standard dimensionsof an outcropping or boulder are ninefeet wide by 15 feet long; they vary inheight from six to nine feet tall. Thelarge outcroppings are 27 feet long by45 feet wide and tower 15 feet tall.

* Time of Day: The time of day isdusk. Shadows are long and plentifulfor hiding. The enemy does not sufferany penalties if the battle lasts intodarkness.

* Detection: The commander, dra-conians, and weasels are able to detectthe presence of invisible creatureswithin 100 feet and are able to pin-point location and suffer only a -2penalty when attacking invisible crea-tures within 50 feet, because of theirheightened sense of smell.

The hobgoblins use the following

pattern of tactics to fight the heroes,always attacking in a spread-out for-mation to prevent the effective use of

area-effect spells.The hobgoblin patrol marches upthe trail with 18 hobgoblins and oneBozak acting in command. The sec-ond squad, comprising the other halfof the force , is about f ive roundsbehind the first.

Magpie is unable to hold back andflings stones and insults once the ene-my is within range. The draconian hasalready alerted his squad to the pres-ence of intruders in the woods usinghand signs and they move to engageany they can sight. Only eight hob-

goblins can be meleed at a time.You should position the Bozak to

strategically use his spells to catch asmany characters as possible. He mayuse levitate to lift off the ground so hecan gain a charging attack by swoop-ing down on wing. When you thinkthe Bozak is about to die, be sure tomove him within 10 feet of as manycharacters as possible so that when heexplodes he harms as many as he can.

Once the Bozak, or eight of thehobgoblins, has fallen in battle, the

rest make an orderly retreat to theother side of the vale to rejoin the sec-ond squad.

Second wave of attack: The PCs seethe hobgoblins seeking cover andattempting to regroup on the otherside of the bowl. If any of the heroessteps out in the open, eight hobgob-lins fire arrows at him.

Once the troops have found cover,the commander shouts for the villainsto surrender the Oracle. He continuesto talk until , stopping abruptly inmidsentence, he waves his archers to

lay down a hail of fire as he sendsthree of the hobgoblins dodgingacross the clearing as a distractionfrom the real attack.

Charging up the left flank comes aforce comprising half the remainingBaaz and eight hobgoblins withoutbows.

When the hobgoblins or the Baazdie, the rest retreat.

Third wave of attacks: The com-

46

mander is furious that his attacks havefa i led and he shouts and s tompsabout, kicking his troops and gener-

ally working out his frustrations.Then he signals for a horn to blowafter a moment of thought, and itsounds its long and moaning anthemacross the vale.

Then he appears to boldly stepforth atop a rock outcropping anddeclare that this is the heroes lastchance for a peaceful surrender. Heh a s s e n t f o r r e i n f o r c e m e n t s ! H eattempts to ply them with gui le ,assuring that he means no harm, andis upset that they have, as usual,struck without giving him a chance to

parley. All he wants to do is talk to theOracle and get the answer to a simplequestion. He will then gladly leaveeveryone alone.

The commander states that if anyfurther aggression is made against hisparty, any survivors will make surethat the entire clan hears of this out-rage and they will come hunting theheroes.

The commander is trying to be as

convincing as possible while actuallystalling for time. He has sent the ani-

mal handlers and the two giant wea-sels around to the right flank and isawaiting their attack to sound thecharge.

The commander is not really stand-ing out in the open-the f igure isonly a hapless hobgoblin standing atb o w p o i n t , a c t i n g l i k e t h e c o m -mander, who is shouting from behindthe boulders.

W h en t he a tt a ck b e i n s o n t h eright flank, he sends half the remain-ing hobgoblins and two Baaz acrossthe clearing, including the hobgoblin(or another if the first is killed) who ismasquerading as the commander.

Once over two-thirds of the attackfalls to the defenders, the rest run.Magpie proves a bi t bloodthirstyshouting, Dont let any get away!Theyl l bring others , we can stopthem now! and goes chasing afterthe hobgoblins.

This pursuit is just what the com-mander hopes for, for he has hidden



the last of his troops on either side of anarrow defile with outcroppings ofr o c k s t o e i t h e r s i d e , w a i t i n g i n

ambush.If no one pursues the retreating vil-lains, they appear to run away, andjoin the ambush. The characters willencounter this last battle as they leavethe valley!

Ambush: The ambush begins withthe last Bozak casting a web spell infront of the heroes. The remainingB a a z t h e n a t t a c k s f r o m t h e g a pbehind, while the hobgoblins throwsrocks (1d4 points of damage) andshoot the last of their arrows (five

flights) at the trapped characters andthen descend to melee. There is somecover (-2 bonus to AC) in the defile.

The commander himself joins the

attack, but he flees, leaping away likethe coward he is, when he suffers halfdamage.

If the battle is going against thecharacters or only three hobgoblinsremain, a white panther will join thebattle, terrifying the hobgoblins andchas ing them away. This pantherfavors its right shoulder and is thesame one the PCs saved earlier.

14. Rewarded

The great cat pads back into thecenter of the defile, licks Magpiesface with its big tongue, and grinsat the rest of the party licking theblood from its chops.

Then the creatures form seems

t o b e n d a n d s h i f t a n d f o r amoment; there stands a beautifulmaiden, and then it is only oldGrisling, the ogress. Silence fillsthe glade.

Master Lor comes forward to greethis friend and Magpie is very aston-ished and babbles to herself and any-one else who will listen about where

did the pretty kitty go?Grisling twists her ugly face into a

snagletoothed smile, and rubs herhands together in appreciation.

Well done, well done indeed. Wehave vanquished the villains who

sought to force my service. But thishas been trying, very trying fory o u , a n d a t w h a t p r i c e ? S h eshakes her head sadly.

A reward then, that is whatscalled for, a reward. Ah, but I amweakened and can not hold thisform long, so you must choose.Her form shudders, but her eye iskeen and shrewd. What will itbe? Will you accept my thanks andgratitude? Perhaps someday I canbring you good or-tune and offersome boon you seek. Or perhaps Ican magic my most prized posses-s i o n h e r e f o r y o u , a t r e a s u r ebeyond compare, payment enoughfor all the agony you have sufferedand perhaps you can buy someease? Still, you have suffered longand hard perhaps twere best youhad avoided this i l l adventure.Would you have me turn back timeso you will be healed of all harmssuffered and this adventure willhave never been? For this too, I cando. What shal l i t be? The o ld

hags milky eyes look at you withcalculating intelligence, awaitingyour decision.

If the PCs think to seek the councilof the prescient Master Lor, he makesa little speech.

He concentrates, and then his eyesroll up into his head and he intonesi n a h o l l o w v o i c e , C h o i c e i salways difficult; the way is murky.In the past lies succor, but all thathas been done will be undone. The

present is f leeting and of ever-shifting substance. But the futureholds both promise and risk. MoreI cannot say.

The result of each choice is detailedas follows.

Turn Back Time:

The old hag shakes her head in dis-may. But then with a pass of her

hand, as if cleaning a slate, shesays, It is done. The sands of timehave been turned back! Then, ina flurry of wind driven leaves she isgone, or perhaps she was neverthere. You rub your watering eyesand stretch in the morning air,savoring the aroma of fresh bakedbread, spiced potatoes, and boiledsausage. It will be a fine breakfastwith good friends and then youmust be about the business youhave planned for this glorious day.

You glance at your five compan-ions and pause a moment as if youwere recalling a shared dream, anadventure that might have been.

All the heroes are back in the inn,alive and well despite their fates dur-ing the adventure. They are havingdifficulty remembering their adven-ture. During the confusion that fol-lows, Magpie comes rushing in allf lustered. She does not rememberanything about the adventure, butshe does bring important news.

Have you heard?.. .Um...Theresa celebration for the heroes...Youknow...Carlotti, and that snobFrendren . . .an them guys ! . . . Yas e e . . . t h e y j u s t r e s c u e d . . . M - m -master Lor-r-r...and stopped somen a s t y n a s t i e s . . . t h e m g l o b u l i n -s...and they got jus heaps andheaps of treasure...

The flustered gully dwarf thenspins and bounds out of the roomto share the tale with others. A

sinking feeling fills your hearts asyou fight to recall fleeting memo-ries of the past hours, and dream ofsome some reward you might havewon!

Yo u h a v e w o n t h e c o w a r d sreward! Certainly all are well andwhole again, as if nothing had everhappened, for indeed it did not!You never accepted the mission,you never took the risk, and now

47



It seems that fate is not yet donetoying with you. You are drawn tothe foot of the cliff. The dark band

of strata etched in the cliff f irstseems black in the failing light,then glints silvery in the twilight,like a beacon drawing you in.

There is something oddly famil-iar about the band of ore. You canscarcely contain your wonder whenfurther examination confirms yoursuspicions. This is one of the larg-est veins of silver you have everh e a r d o f ! W h a t v a l u e m a y b emined from this rock you can onlybegin to calculate, but it should

e a s i l y b e e n o u g h t o m a k e t h eentire town wealthy!The wind in the pines seems to

share your delight, hooting withlaughter at your discovery. Somereward indeed! As the old hag hadsaid, perhaps she could bring yougood fortune! Now the debt is paidin full.

Random events

* Startled Birds: A flock of birdsflutters into the sky some distance

away, amidst a flurry of wings andcries. Something has disturbed themfrom their roost.

* Fog Rising: In the foothills of theTirhan mountains, a fog arises with-out warning, blanketing the valleys ina veil of white, causing the unwary towander in circles, to stumble to theedge of a drop-off (ten-foot fall), or tocollide with a barrier.

* Tree Fall: In these woods the treesare old and rotten with age; a branchor entire tree may snap and fall at any

time. And in these woods, if someoneis near enough to hear the sound,they may be a victima successfulsaving throw vs. wands to jump asideor else suffer 2d6 points of damage.

* Broken Path: The path ahead isbroken by a raw-edged ditch, as if theearth could no longer bear to be trodon. Shudders of horror fill all whocross it.

the reward belongs to someoneelse! It seems that with every trea-sure, some price must be paid,

some challenge met to reap thebounty. Ah well, a hard lessonlearned.

Treasure:

The old hag rubs her hands togeth-er in delight and chuckles to her-self, So it will be! Ever the samewith the children of adventure!

She stirs the air with a finger anda dark whirlwind as tall as a mansprings into being and races off

over the treetops. Then motioningMaster Lor to her side she embracesthe child and says, My blessing onthee, child. May your eyes open asthe weight of your years gives youthe strength to bear that which youmust see . . . A wracking coughovercomes the crone, and with asad smile, she becomes transparentand fades in the dying sunlight.

The roar of the returning whirl-wind echoes through the valley asit descends before you, its strandsof wind unraveling to reveal its

precious bundle. The white statu-ette is carved from the finest ivoryyou have ever seen, into a life-sizedstatue of a great horned owl. Trulythis is worth a kings ransom.

The statuette is about two feet talland weighs about as much as a half-ling. The PCs may load the treasureinto any properly sized container andturn their steps homeward. As theytravel, the burden seems to becomelighter and lighter, until it feels like it

weighs nothing at all. When the char-acters open their bundle, they make asad discovery.

Perplexed by the mystery of yourl ighten ing burden , you at las tuntie the bindings and unwrapyour precious bundle. To your dis-may, where once was an ivorystatue of an owl is now a living owl.It spreads its wings and leaps into

the sky before you can overcomeyour shock.

Shaking your head in d isap-

pointment, you watch as yourreward vanishes over the treetops.You have learned a lesson, that for-tune, like the present, is fleeting.At least you have the satisfaction ofknowing that you completed yourmission and have reunited MasterLor and his parents.

Future Favor:

The old hag cackles her delight.An so it will be! Nothing fornow, but a debt to be repaid! Herlaughter echoes off the canyonwalls. She turns and tosses a teas-ing wink a t Master Lor . Yourchampions are heroes of foresight.Why strip a poor ladys larder bareto pay a debt for a life. They shallhave their reward yet!

Her laughter seems to swallowher and noth ing remains but adancing wind that swirls abouteach hero with a parting gentlecaress and then races off over thetrees. Strength floods your limbs

and you feel whole again, as ifsome mighty weight had been lift-ed from your shoulders.

The heroes have been healed of any

wounds they may have suffered. Inaddition, any of their comrades whofell in the final battles are found stir-ring weakly, alive again.

In high spirits the party shouldturn toward town, though the sun hassunk below the horizon and paintsthe sky crimson. The path leads the

party toward the mouth of the can-yon, but as they approach, someones i g h t s t h e o d d e s t b a n d o f b l a c ketched in the strata of the near rightcanyon wall. If the PCs are not drawnto investigate the stone, the windtosses someones hat into the air andblows it to the base of the cliff.

48



quest accepted

I f the party accepts the quest ,Prophet Siswik holds his medallion of

Mishakal at arms length and casts thequest spell on the party. No savingthrows are made. Bergg then pulls along hair from his head and ties it

around the wrist of the most experi-enced non-evil cleric in the party.Break this hair for limited divine aidor to return the entire party to ushere.

D o y o u n e e d a n y s u p p l i e s ? Siswik asks. If the party needs any-thing reasonable , l ike rope, holywater, etc., Bergg goes into one of the

o t h e r h u t s a n d r e t u r n s w i t h t h erequired items. Food and water canalso be supplied. Nothing magical is

available.T h e n t h e P C s a r e d i r e c t e d t o

another path that leads to the road tothe keep. It is a 20-minute walk to the

road and a two-hour walk uphill tothe keep.

the two clerics

Siswik is a 17th-level cleric and thechosen Prophet of Mishakal (Misha-

kal is the Goddess of Healing). Siswikis capable of healing the entire partywhen it returns to the clearing duringthe adventure. He will not join theparty, nor will he enter the keep.

Bergg is a 15th-level cleric and theArchmaster of S i r r ion . He a l so i scapable of healing the party duringthe adventure. He has a crystal ballthat permits him to watch the areasurrounding the cleric he tied hishair-charm onto. At the DMs discre-tion, he may even windwalk into the

keep to aid the party in a desperatesituation. Do not let the party thinkthat he will appear every time they arein trouble. Wait until things are reallydesperate to use him in this way. Hewill not attack anything, but he willattempt to turn undead if necessary.He will leave the party as soon as hehas improved the situation (probablyby doing healing or resurrecting).

B e r g g w i l l n o t t h e t h e p a r t yanother hair-charm if they break it. Iteither returns them (dead or alive) to

the clearing or summons Bergg to thekeep.Siswik and Bergg are greatly bless-

ed and protected by their deities. Noharm can come to them.

Background ondargaard keep

The War of the Lance has long beenwon, but i ts tol l on the people ofKrynn was great. The civilizations ofAnsalon are slowly rebuilding. TheKnights of Solamnia have regained

their role as the guardians of Good.But the small circles of Knights in thescattered towns and villages can bare-ly keep up with the lawlessness thatpervades Ansalon.

Remnants of the once-powerfuldragonarmies still roam the wilder-ness, scavenging off the land and itspeoples. The best-known strongholdof evil forces, Dargaard Keep, stands

50



at the nor th end of the DargaardMountains, to the west of Kalaman.

The legends say that a thick, ray

fog covers the northern reaches of theDargaard Mountains. The fog radi-ates fear and evil. Goatherds tell sto-ries of brigades of Knights that wereeaten by the fog itself . The hillbandits are said to camp outside thefog, surrounding themselves with

b o n f i r e b a r r i e r s a t n i g h t . S m a l lgroups have ventured into the fogand returned with tales of wolfmenroaming the forests, giant bats in thesky, and zombies sprouting from the

earth.The keep was built by the Knights

in homage to Paladine, the God ofGood. As the strategic headquartersof the Knights of the Rose, the keepwas built of a very rare rose-coloredgranite.

The rose-colored walls rise from therock in the very likeness of a rosei tsel f . Complete with a beauti fultemple to Paladine, the keep servedas the northeastern outpost of Solam-nic justice. Built on the northern rimof a 1,000-foot-deep chasm, the keepi s n e a r l y i m p r e g n a b l e . T h e o n l y

entrance is across a sturdy bridge overthe chasm and through the wel l -guarded outer gates.

Several years before the Cataclysm,Lord Loren Soth, a Knight of theR o s e , c a m e t o f a m e a m o n g t h eKnights of Solamnia. Born a leader,Soth rose through the ranks of theKnights by winning many battles inthe name of justice.

Upon his promotion to the rank ofA r c h k n i g h t , h e m a r r i e d L a d yKorinne of Palanthus. Soon after, heaccepted the command of DargaardKeep to escape the court intriguest h a t s u r r o u n d e d L a d y K o r i n n e snoble family. Five years passed, andKorinne still had not given Soth anychildren.

While on a mission far to the east,Soth, an intensely passionate man,met and fell in love with a beautifulelfmaiden cleric. Denissa was a disci-

knowing that Soth was married, sheple of the Kingpriest of Istar. Not

fell under the spell of Soths saintlystrength. A fortnight later, he left herwith a promise to return within the

year.Upon returning to his keep, Denis-sa haunted h is thoughts . A planemerged out of tormented passion forhis elven cleric: Lady Korinne had to

d i s a p p e a r - p e r m a n e n t l y . K o r i n n ewas no longer seen in the keep. It wasrumored that she was pregnant andhad taken to bed.

The Knights and regular servantswere told that it was a difficult preg-nancy. Special attendants were hiredby Soth to care for his wife. Onlythese hand-picked servants were

allowed to see Korinne. Then camethe announcement that Soths wifeand the baby died in childbirth. Thetruth was that she was strangled by anassassin hired by Soth himself.

She was buried in the huge ceme-tery across the chasm from the keep.Her hired attendants were quicklydismissed and sent packing. Soth, inhis apparent grief, rode off to theeast.

Weeks later he returned with agroup of elfmaiden clerics, disciples

of the Kingpriest.His closest friends knew that Soth

was not the same man they had cam-p a i g n e d w i t h . S o m e t h i n g h a dchanged since his wife died. Theywatched as he quickly became enam-ored of one of the elfmaidens. In thespring they were married. Within theyear she gave birth to a handsome lit-tle boy.

Lady Denissa earned the love andrespect of the Knights and servantsquickly. She was very wise, very kind,and never showed the grief she feltwhen she learned of the sinful deedsof her husband. In commune withher goddess, she was told that a holo-caust would occur, that the Gods weredispleased with the selfishness of therulers of Ansalon and the very clergyi t s e l f ! S h e w a r n e d S o t h o f t h eimpending disaster, but he scoffed ather religious hysteria.

She prayed to the Goddess Misha-kal that Soth be allowed to redeem

51

himself. Her prayers were answered,Mishakal told her how Soth couldstop the great Cataclysm that was to

occur. Through her love and spell-induced visions, she convinced Soththat he could redeem himself by find-ing the rod of omniscient wisdom andp u t t i n g i t i n t o t h e h a n d s o f t h e

Kingpriest at the Temple of Istar.Quest ing deep in to the DargaardMountains, Soth and his hand-pickedband of Knights fought their waydown to the bottom of a maze of vol-canic caverns to claim the legendaryrod.

The adamantite coffer that heldthe rod bore the inscription He who

removes this artifact from its restingplace shall replace it with his soul.Believing himself on a holy quest,Soth cracked open the coffer lid andpeeked inside. He was the only one tosee the purple drawstring bag, bear-ing the five segments of the rod, and

13 gold circlets. He reached in andremoved the purple bag. Suddenly,the room became unbearably hot.Soth and his thirteen Knights passedo u t i n a d e l i r i u m . W h e n t h e yregained consciousness, Soth could

not help but wonder if he had justlost his soul. He went to the cofferwhich was now closed. It would notopen. So they left the caves and set offtoward Istar with the holy artifact.

Hal fway across Thoradin , theymade camp by a shallow river. Therewere no moons visible in the sky whenthe group was approached by fourdark elven maidens, all disciples ofthe Kingpr ies t of I s tar . They hadsought him out after learning of hismurderous deed and h is presentquest.

Here he was, risking his l ife toreach Istar and the Gods were tellingevery female cleric of his sins! Thenthe elfmaidens threatened to betrayhim to the Kingpriest and destroy hisquest. His dear wife Denissa, theysaid, was at that very moment sleep-i n g w i t h G r e y s p a w n , K n i g h t o fHeart.

This was more than Soth couldbear! He ordered his men to break



camp at once and to bring the womenwith them. They were returning toDargaard Keep.

If these accursed elves knew of hiscrimes, how could they be wrongabout his wife? This was his ironicfate-he had been unfaithful to hisfirst wife and now his second wife hadbeen unfaithful to him. As he hadmurdered Korinne, Denissa had senthim on a deadly quest so she could bealone with her lover! Had he lost hissoul? And she was cavorting with hislong-standing friend! Betrayal anddouble betrayal!

Soon after their arrival, the rod was

placed on the temple altar and councilmeeting was called in the great circularEntry Hall. His wife was summonedbefore all and accused of infidelity by

the treacherous dark elves.Innocent , s tunned, and shamed

before all, she ran to him, clutching heryoung child to her breast. At thatmoment, the world shook and every-one was knocked to the floor. The greatchandelier fell from the ceiling abovethe hall and caused a blazing inferno inthe heart of the keep. No one escapedthe deadly flames. But before Denissa

died, she called down a curse uponS o t h , c o n d e m n i n g h i m a n d h i sKnights to eternal dreadful life. Sothand his men were reborn as a deathknight and 13 skeletal warriors.

The keep was largely left intact afterthe Cataclysm. The fire scorched thelower floors and charred the outside ofthe tower. The southeastern wall of thekeep had crumbled and fallen into thechasm as a result of the earthquake.From a distance, the keep now lookedlike a withered black rose.

Forever wear ing h is enchantedarmor, Soth became the Knight of theBlack Rose. Soth soon found that hewas quite different in form and powerfrom his loyal followers. The men

who had accompanied him on hisquest had become skeletal warriorsand the rest of his men had becomeundead creatures of every type.

Feeling the awesome holy power ofthe rod, which had been placed onthe temple altar, none of the undead

entered the temple for nearly 200years. Lord Soth spent this time learn-ing dark magical spells. He now wor-

sh iped Takhis i s , the f ive -headedGoddess of Evil. It was she who gavehim the spell that allowed him totemporarily handle the pieces of the

rod. So he sealed the five parts of therod in five separate but similar placesin the keep where no one would everf i n d t h e m . T h e a u r a o f h o l i n e s swould forever be kept scattered anddiffused.

Each night, for hundreds of years,Soth surrounded himself with his loy-al knights, and listened again and

again to the four dark elven bansheeclerics who wail his tale of horror. Liv-ing creatures who hear the wail of thebanshees will most likely die. So thekee could only be inhabited by theundead.

During the War Soth spent time inthe serv ice of the female humanDragon Highlord, Kitiara, who com-manded the Blue Dragonarmy. Overtime, he came to desire her. Kitiaraand the draconians were terrified butotherwise unaffected by the ban-shees song. Years later when Kitiara

died, Lord Soth came to take her bodyaway with him.

No one has seen either of themsince.

Lord Soth

Lord Loren Soth of the Black Rose isa death knight. He will appear to theparty at opportune times chosen bythe DM to add tension and suspense.He will first appear and command theparty to leave at once with their livesand souls intact. Then he will create awall of ice between himself and theparty.

The next time he appears, he willwarn the party that they have chosento ignore his generosity so they shouldenjoy his keep while they can becausethey are about to die. He will thencreate a wall of ice behind the party,gate in 20 Baaz (hp 12) with shortswords, and vanish. From this pointuntil the final encounter, Soth will

53

occasionally surprise the party b cast-ing a spell around a corner or from ahidden place.

The third and final encounter willbe in Soths lair on level 7. Here hewill attack on sight. If his hit pointsgo to 0, he dissipates and does notreturn. He will try to escape by goingethereal when his hit points get low.He cannot be killed because he haslost his soul and is under a powerfulcurse.

Soths abilities are as follows: Hecannot be turned or dispelled. He has75% magic res i s tance and a 55%chance of reflecting any spells cast on

him back at the caster. He generatesfear in a 5 radius. He can create a wallof i ce a t wi l l and has the innatepowers of detect magic and detectinvisibility Twice a day he can dispelmagic and gate in draconians : 20Baaz (30%) or 15 Kapaks (25%) or 10Sivaks (25%) or 10 Bozaks (15%) orthree Auraks (5%), with a 75%chance of success. Once per day hecan use any one of the power wordspells, he can use one symbol of pain/

fe ar , and he can generate a 20-dice fireball whose blast area he can con-trol. In addition, he can cast all magi-cal spells at the 2d experience level.

As a type of lich, he is immune to(and will thus reflect) the followings p e l l s : c h a r m , s l e e p , e n f e e b l e m e n t ,

polymorph, cold , e l ec tr ic i ty , insanity(and any other mind spe l l s ) , anddeath spells and symbols.

Lord Soth

Solamnic Death Knight

Strength 18/99

Intelligence 10Wisdom 9Dexterity 14Constitution 17Charisma 17

AC 0T H A C 0 1 2

HD 9hp 59AL CE



H e w e a r s p l a t e ma i l + 3 w i t h ahelm of etherealness that is mentallytriggered; the helm allows him to

mater ia l ize and d iss ipate a t wi l l ,making him practically invulnerable.He carr ies a two-handed sword +3and the legendary rod of elementalfire that only Soth can use.

The rod of elemental fire was wonby Lord Soth in a battle long ago inthe plane of Fire. The rod is three feetlong, decorated with carved skullsand learing faces. It exudes a greysmoke from its top end constantly.When manually triggered by Soth, itrandomly does one of the following

(roll 1d10):

D 1 0Roll Result

Fireball (10 dice)2 Fire Shield3 Wall of Fire4 Summon 4 Fire Elementals5 Summon 4 Efreeti6 Summon 10 Magmen7 Summon 5 Salamanders8 Summon 20 Fire Bats9 S um mo n 1 0 A zer (H D 5 +4 )

10 Summon 1 Imix

Fire elementals, efreeti, and sala-

manders are found in the Mo ns te r Manual. Magmen, fire bats, and azera r e f o u n d i n Mo n s t e r Ma n ua l I I .Imix, the Prince of Evil Fire Crea-tures, is found in the FlEND FOLIO®

tome. All but Imix will fight to thedeath.

Soths nightmare, Moggi, is in thestable on level 11.

Soths 13 skeletal warriors are onlevels 7, 9, and 11. They are only

af fected by magica l weapons , are90% magic resistant, and cannot beturned or dispelled! Their appearanceis similar to that of a lich. Each war-riors soul is trapped in a golden cir-c l e t . T h e s e c i r c l e t s a r e i n a nadamantite coffer with Soths soul,hidden deep in the Dargaard Moun-tains. The Knights are not aware ofthe location of these circlets, nor isSoth aware of their significance, eventhough he saw them briefly in his

haste to secure the rod of omniscientwisdom. The mere sight of a skeletalwarrior will cause a creature below 5

Hit Dice to flee in panic. They are + 3to hit with any weapon.

the Undead of dargaard keep

Dargaard Keep is a very unholyplace. All attempts by clerics to turnor dispel undead suffer a two-rowshift down on the Clerics TurningUndead table. This means that a cler-ic turns a mummy on the vampireline, which is two rows down.

Use the following common undeadequivalents when consul t ing theturning table for the unusual undeadmonsters in this adventure.

Ghast = Monster ZombieWraith = Coffer Corpse Huecuva

Sheet Phantom

Mummy = Son of KyussSpectre = Apparition

Ju ju Zo mbi eSheet Ghoul

Revenants, skeletal warriors, andthe death knight cannot be turned or

dispelled.

Wandering Undead table

Use this table in the courtyards andterraces of the keep. Also use it atyour discretion in the halls and corri-dors of the keep, day or night.

D10 Roll Undead1 20 Skeletons2 20 Zombies

3 10 Ghouls4 8 Shadows

5 6 Wights6 6 Ghasts

7 4 Wraiths

9

4 Mummies2 Spectres

10 2 Ghosts

Cemetery

T h e k e e p c e m e t e r y i s h u g e . I textends from the bridge across thechasm for 1,000 feet on both sides of

55

the keep road. The party has threerandom encounters in the cemeteryon the road to the keep, if they hurry.

As soon as they destroy one group ofmonsters , ro l l for another groupapproaching them from the directionof the keep. When they reach thebridge, be sure to have them beingpursued by monsters. No cemeterymonsters will set foot on the bridge orcross the chasm in any way. They allknow about Jariket (see The MainGate, following).

D10 Roll Monsters

1 3 Were bears

2 4 Wereboars3 7 Wererats4 3 Weretigers

5 5 Werewolves

6 20 Zombies

7 10 Juju Zombies

8

9

5 Monster Zombies4 Storopers

10 12 Vargouilles

the exterior of the Keep

The keeps exterior consists of themain gate point, five wall-top points

(A-E), four courtyard areas (F-I), thefour wall-top level (level 6) terraces (J-

M), and the three level-10 balconies(N-P) . The exterior of the keep isguarded by draconian troops duringthe day and by random wanderingundead at night.

the Main gate

The main gate stands open duringthe day and is closed at dusk. Overthe gate doors is carved, Est SularusOth Mithas, which means My Hon-or is my Life. During the day, thereare four Baaz draconian guards at theouter end of the bridge (across thechasm from the keep).

T h e r e a r e a l s o f o u r d r a c o n i a nguards (three Sivaks and one Bozak)standing outside the main gate doors,which open wide enough to permit ahorse to pass through.

There is little chance that the partycan approach the bridge unobserved.The outer guards stop the PCs and ask



what their business is and who theyare. There is a 50 % chance that one ofthe eight gatetop draconian guards

(Baaz-hp 12, 12, 11, 10, 10, 10, 9,9) runs into the keep to announce thepresence of strangers.

At night, the main gate is closedand guarded by a lich who sits withhis back against the outer doors andfancies he can handle just about any-one who survives the walk throughthe cemetery. During the day he canbe found in Room 7 on level 8.

Emerging from the cemetery, you

approach the bridge. Close exami-nation reveals claw marks in the

dirt at the edge of the bridge. Thefog rises heavily out of the chasm.

Visibility is low. You can barely seethe massive doors to the keepframed by two torches.

Any character who gets to the keepend of the bridge sees a dark lump infront of the keep door. It could be arock, a piece of wood, a large bag, ora n a n i m a l . C l o s e r e x a m i n a t i o nreveals a lich (roll saving throws vs.fear) with a spell already prepared.

Lich (Jariket) : AC 0; MV 6; MU20; HD 11 + 9; hp 60; #AT 1; Dmg1d10 and paralyze by touch; AL NE;affected only by magical attacks; sightcauses fear; immune to mind spells,

p o l y mo r p h , c o l d , e l e c t r i c i t y , a n ddeath spells/symbols.

Jariket warns the PCs to stay on thebridge if they want to talk. He doesnot tell them anything useful or true,but he does try to find out why theyare here. Then he offers them theopportunity to turn back. He doesnot let them pass. And he wins initia-tive each round. He escapes to hisroom by any number of spells if he isbested by the party.

Wall Points a-e

The only access to the main gatewall top, and to keep levels 5 and up,is to climb the stairs from the court-y a r d u p a n y w a l l p o i n t ( u p f i v e

flights). The troops at the wall pointsare responsible for guarding the wallshalfway out from their wall point in

both directions toward the adjacentwall points.

During the day, each intact wallpoint is patrolled by 11 Baaz (hp 12)and one Bozak (hp 22). Wall point Eis a hollow shell-its stairs are crum-bling and strewn with rubble.

At night, each of the intact wallpoints is occupied by 10 skeletons (hp6) and 10 ghouls (hp 15). These low-level undead carry spears. They can beseen standing on the wall tops, sway-ing back and forth in the moonlit fog.

Courtyards

These courtyards are overgrownwith grass and weeds. Against thewalls are the weathered remains ofhorse stables and merchant stalls. Inthe center areas are scattered gravesites. During the day, each grave has a

shabby spear stuck in the ground nextto it. At night the spears are used by

the skeletons and zombies that crawlup out of their graves to guard thewalls. The ground over each grave

contains a pile of loose dirt, as if eachgrave had been recently dug up.

During the day each courtyard areais patrolled by six Baaz draconians (hp12). At night, roll on the Wandering

Undead table in each area (F-I).

terraces

During the day , each te rrace i spatrolled by 11 Kapak draconians (hp17) and one Bozak (hp 22). At night,roll on the Wandering Undead tablefor each terrace. Characters should be

in range of the obliviax moss on thekeeps walls and roll saving throwseach round (see obliviax stats follow-ing).

Outer Stairs

These stairways up the outside ofthe tower are never used by the dra-conians. They and most of the keepabove the fifth level are covered with

57



black obliviax moss that gives theKeep the look of a burnt black rose.T h e d r a c o n i a n s a n d u n d e a d a r e

immune to this moss.The way to run this encounter is to

occasionally have the players makesaving throws for no reason. When aplayer fails the moss saving throw,pass him a message that says You arec o n f u s e d . Y o u c a n n o t s e e m t oremember the events of the last day.Should the players PC try to cast a

spell, tell the player, You cant seemto remember the spell.

Balconies (N-P)

The balconies are empty except fora covering of obliviax moss.

Level 1

Level 1 contains the massive entryhall , the kitchen, storerooms, offi-cers tavern, mess and dining halls,war room, barracks for the guards ofLevel 1 to 4, and servants quarters.

1. entry hall

During the day there are two Sivak(hp 31) guards standing at the frontdoors. The entry hall is empty.

The grand entry hall is a huge cir-cular room full of burnt, charredpews facing the great throne at thefar end of the hall. Four huge cir-cular daises stand four feet high,two on each side of the room. Theburnt and twisted remains of a verylarge chandelier sit in the center ofthe room where it fell long agofrom above. The ceiling is four

levels above. Circular stairways risefrom each side of the wall, ascend-ing to a landing on the third level.Black rubble is strewn along thewalls. Bones and skulls can be seenunder the chandelier. Footprintsare visible up and down the out-side aisles. The soot on the tops ofthe daises has been rubbed off.

At night, the entry hall contains fourbanshees (from rooms 21-24, Level 4),

three skeletal warriors (from eitherLevel 3 or Level 11they alternatenights), and Lord Soth himself. The

banshees (also called groaning spirits)are all wailing the Song of Soth frompages 148-9 of the paperback version ofVolume 3 of the DRAGONLANCE®

Chronicles. The sight of a bansheecauses fear unless a saving throw ismade. If the characters are in the hall-ways of Level 1 or 3 at night, they mustsave vs. spell or die from hearing thewail of the banshees.

2. Soths throne

The throne is empty during theday, but at night Soth is sitting on histhrone. The nightly festivities may becut short if the party is wreaking hav-

oc in the keep.

Up several semicircular steps is agreat black, bat-winged throne.Hideous carved black skulls adornthe ends of each arm of the throne.The throne area is scrubbed clean.

There is a clean purple velvet cush-ion on the seat. There is a strangehuman-shaped red stain draped

across several steps. It appears to bepermanent in spite of some abra-sive scrubbing.

3. Coat Room

This room is full of coats, cloaks,robes, and other clothing.

A detect magic spell will reveal a

robe of useful items an d cloak of poi-sonousness, and a robe of powerless-ness.

4. Cooks Room

The heavy door to this room isalways locked.

This smelly room contains a table

and four bench-chairs. Dirty dishesare on the table. There are coatsand aprons hanging on pegs by thedoor and colorful , empty foodsacks hanging like pictures on thewall above the bed.

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5. family Room

There is a dirty human female (hp

4), a large bed, a chest, and a tablein this room.

The chest is full of clothes. Thewomans name is Brenda. She is thecooks wife. She only knows about thef i r s t l e v e l . S h e h a s n e v e r b e e nupstairs. Her husband, Al, is workingin the kitchen.

6. Barmaidss Room

During the day, this room is empty.At night, six human slave barmaids

(hp3) sleep here. There are no Weap-ons or gold here. They do not want to

leave as they are under a permanent

geas to serve here.

There are six dirty beds, dresses

and aprons hanging f rom wal lpegs, and wooden boxes ful l offolded clothing under each bed.

7. Waiters Room

During the day, this room is empty.At night, the six male human waiters

(hp 5) sleep here. There are no weap-ons or treasure here. They are under a

permanent geas to serve here.

There are six dirty beds, pants, andshirts hanging from wall pegs, and

w o o d e n b o x e s f u l l o f c l o t h i n g

under each bed.

8. arms Rooms

There are two of these rooms, oneoff hall 12 and one off hall 52. Theserooms are filled with normal weap-

ons, arrows, and shields. The weap-ons are passed through the slot at theend of the hallway to the warningrooms (rooms 9). The characters canc h o o s e a n y t y p e o f n o r m a l n o n -magical weapons from here.

9. Warning Rooms

The heavy iron door to this roomhas a large barred window in it.



The Bozak guard inside casts webat the party through the window,then casts invisibility on himself. So

when the party finally gets into one ofthese rooms, read the following:

The heavy door slowly opens and

the room is dark and smelly. Closerexamination reveals the room to beempty except for a half-eaten mealin one corner. Opposite the door is

a slot in the far wall. The slot runsvertically from the floor; it is 12inches wide and three feet tall. Noh u m a n o r d r a c o n i a n c o u l d f i tthrough it.

These rooms serve as false entrances(to draw attackers away from the frontdoors). They also serve as conduits foradditional weapons and supplies totroops in the courtyard. The guards inthese rooms can quickly pass informa-tion into the keep from outside with-out opening any doors.

10. Sick Waiter

The heavy door to this room islocked. There is a splotch of dried

purple dye on the door. The roomgives off a horrendous stench.

If the room is opened, read the fol-lowing:

There is a figure in bed with dirtycovers pulled over its head.

U p o n c l o s e r e x a m i n a t i o n , i tturns out to be a comatose humanmale in the bed. He has purplesores all over his body.

This man has a plague virus. Hew i l l r e m a i n u n c o n s c i o u s e v e n i fcured. The members of the partymust save vs. poison or contract thesame disease. Diseased charactersdevelop the purple pox in 24 hoursand go into a coma 24 hours later.Death comes on the third day.

11. Cooks Room

The heavy door to this room islocked. If it is opened, the room con-

tains a bed, table, and chairs. There isa kitchen knife under the pillow onthe bed. There is a locked chest in the

corner. If the chest is opened, it con-tains dried beef.

12. hallway

Looking down this 40-foot hallway,you see a door on the le f t andanother door 30 feet down on theright. There is a large vertical slotin the wall at the far end of the

hal l .

13. hallway

The door to the hallway is heavya n d h a s a b r i g h t h o l y s y m b o lpainted on it. There is garlic hang-

ing on the back of the door.

14. Chefs Room

The door to this room is locked and

is covered with contact poison (whichinflicts 2 points of damage per roundfor five rounds, once it is touched by abare hand). The human male chef(hp 6) lives in this room. He is a pris-

oner, but he lives a good life withinthe keep. He will be found in thekitchen by day and here by night. Ifthe door is opened, read the follow-ing :

This room is neat as a pin. Cup-

boards line the walls. They are fullof food and relatively clean cloth-ing. There is a bed with thick blan-kets in the corner. There is a holymedallion of Mishakal under thepillow and a wreath of garlic hang-ing on a peg on the back of the

door. A jar of dried purple flowerssits on the floor by the bed. Thereis a jar of water, two clean plates,and silverware on the table.

The dried flowers are belladonna.

In the bottom of an urn full of flourare three rubies worth 300 stl each. Ina small pouch hidden under one ofthe chair seats there are 51 pp.

There is a dagger +2 under thebeds straw mattress.

15. Bartenders Room

The door to this room is locked.

As the door to this room swingsopen, you smell stale wine. Thereis a bed, table, and chairs and a tallwooden closet in the back of theroom. There are three empty bot-t l e s o n t h e t a b l e , t h e b e d i sunmade, and the closet doors areclosed.

The closet is locked and the lockhas a poison needle trap on it. If thetrap is triggered, the poison will para-lyze the thief for 2d6 hours. There are

clothes, a shield, and a short sword inthe closet. Closer examination of thecloset reveals a secret door that hides400 steel pieces and a dragons tooth.

At night, the bartender (hp 6) canbe found sleeping here. He is a burly,balding man with several black snake-like tattoos on his arms. He has beengeased to serve here and is not inter-ested in escaping.

16. foodmaster

This is the Foodmasters room. He

is in charge of securing food and drinkfor the inhabitants of the keep. Thedoor to his room is locked. Like the

chef, he lives better than the otherhuman servants in the keep.

This room is nicely furnished.There is a carpet on the floor andtapestries on the walls. The silver-ware and plates on the table areclean. There is a wine rack on a sidetable with four unopened bottles.A bookrack on the wall contains

dozens of ledgers. A clay pot holdsseveral quills.

The Foodmaster (hp 6) sleeps hereat night. He would love to escape butknows that escape by night is impos-sible through the cemetery and he hasbeen threatened by one of the keepvampires- i f he tr ies to escape, hewill be sought out and slain. So he israther reluctant to leave.

He carries his treasure in a pouch

60



during the day and hides it in his bootat night. He has 12 small gems wortha total of 600 stl and 32 sp.

17. Banquet hall

The large banquet hall is full oftables and benches. It is empty atn ight . Dur ing the day i t conta ins2d10 Sivaks (hp 31 each) and 1d10Bozaks (hp 22 each). They attack anystrangers they see.

18. dining Closet

This is the tableware and platecloset. The tableware is not valuable.

Sorry.

19. kitchen

The kitchen is empty at night andbustling by day. During the day, thereare about 10 humans cooking foodand cleaning dishes. Most of them aregeased not to leave the keep. There isa Sivak guard (hp 33) at the outerdoor (area 33).

20. Stairwell

This is a stairwell to the elves quar-ters on Level 2. This stairway was usedto bring specially prepared food forthe elves up to the elven dining room.

21-32. Storerooms

Rooms 21 through 26 are full ofan imal carcasses , many par t ia l lybutchered. Rooms 27 an 28 are fullof kitchen utensils, pots, kettles, andspices. Rooms 29 and 30 are full ofgrain. Room 31 contains a well with abucket on a crank. It is 1,000 feet

deep (the work of an earth elemen-tal). Room 32 reeks because it con-tains a 30-foot-deep garbage pit withan otyugh (hp 37) in it. The otyughattacks unless the party is holding atorch or lit lantern.

33. exit

The exit to the kitchen supply areacan be sealed off by a series of slidingmetal doors, bars, latches, bolts, and

locks. There is a guard here duringthe day. All forms of weird carcassesare dragged into the meat lockers

through this door.

34. Mess hall

This is where the Baaz and Kapakseat. It is empty at night, but it con-tains 2d10 Baaz (hp 12 each) and2d10 Kapaks (hp 17 each) during theday. They attack adventurers on sight.

35. tavern

This is the tavern for officers only.It is staffed by a human bartender

who lives in room 15, and by humanwaitresses (all ugly) who live in room6 . I t i s e m p t y a t n i g h t . ( W h y ?Because there are lots of undead walk-ing around at night. The dracs dontl i k e u n d e a d . S o t h d o e s , a n d h i sorders are to leave em be. Got that?)

During the day, there are 1d10Bozaks and 1d10 Sivaks in this room.They dont like adventurers either.

36. hall

This broad hall connects the Level 1

barracks with the mess hall, tavern,kitchen, and banquet hall. There is aSivak guard (hp 31) at each end ofthis hall.

37. Jail Stairs

This spiral staircase leads up to thekeep jail.

38. Corridor

This is the barracks corridor. It iswell-traveled as it is the way all of the

draconian troops get to the mess hall(area 34). There is always a Sivak guard(hp 31) on duty at the outside door.During the day, there are guards out-side each of the inside doors too.

39-46. Barracks

These eight barrack rooms are allthe same. They each contain six beds,a long table, and six chairs. They areempty by day and full of sleepy Sivaks

61

(hp 31) by night. The draconians car-ry their treasure with them. Thesedraconians guard the first four levels

of the keep.

47. War Room

The doors to this room are heavilylocked (-30% to pick the locks). Ifthe PCs get in, read the following:

This is the War Room. The wallsare covered with maps and charts.There is a rack in one corner thatcontains 12 Sivak wicked-edgedswords. A suit of ceremonial plate

mail is in a display case. There are

plans for an attack on the city ofKalaman on a great table in thecenter of the room.

One of the Sivak swords is magical( +2 vs. undead). The plate mail is+2 also.

48. Servants Bath

T h e d o o r t o t h i s r o o m i s n o tlocked, but it can be bolted fromthe inside. This room is where theh u m a n s l a v e s e r v a n t s c a n g e tcleaned up. There is a large pool int h e b a c k o f t h e r o o m , u r n s o fwater, and several sponges on theside of the pool. There is a lot ofclothing hanging from a rope tiedacross the back of the room.

49. Ore Room

The door to this room is not locked.

The room contains bins full of coaland various kinds of ore.

50. SmithyThe door to this room has an unu-

sual lock (-30% to pick).

This room contains a forge, bel-lows, anvils, hammers, and a largebile of coal and wood. The wallsare covered with half - f inished

weaponry, pieces of armor, dentedhelms, and other metal delights.



During the day, the blacksmithfrom room 51 is here (see room 51 forhis stats). His geas has worn off and

he is just waiting for an excuse toleave. He will gladly join the party.

51. Blacksmith

Drig Warhammer i s a 6 th - leve ldwarven fighter. His original geas hasworn off, but he has not let it show.He knows that he cannot escape atnight through the cemetery, nor byday under the eyes of the guards. Sohe is biding his time to escape. He canassemble bits and pieces of chain mailthat will fit him in room 50.

He carr ies a hammer f rom thatroom as his weapon. He does have asecret problem though. There is a100% chance that he runs away,shrieking in terror, from any creaturethat is nonmaterial (spectre, ghost,haunt, shadow, banshee, etc.) . Hewill not admit to this problem, evenafter he has run away and is eventu-ally found.

52. hallway

There are three doors off this 40-foot hallway. At the end of the hall

is a three-foot-tall vertical slot,

approximately 12 inches wide.

53. hallway

The door to this hallway is not

locked, but it has a large holy sym-

bol hanging on the outside.

Level two

Level Two is made up of four wings:the elven wing, the jail wing, theCrown wing, and the Sword wing. Allguards on this level are Sivaks (hp 3 1).

The elven wing (rooms 38-54) wasreserved for the elven residents of thekeep. The elves preferred to keep tothemselves and ate a different dietthan the Solamnic Knights who onceoccupied the keep. The two entrancesto this wing are the kitchen stairs (area20) and the stairs from the landing

(area 36). Now this wing is occupiedby drow.

DM NOTE: Stair areas 20 and 37

are listed in numerical order but arenot listed under the correct wings.This was done to give the stairs thesame room number on both levels.

The jail wing (rooms 1-35) is acces-

sible only by the stairs (area 37).There are five Sivak guards in the jailwing.

The Sword and Crown wings werefor Knights of the Sword and Knightsof the Crown who visited the keep.These areas extend upward to Level 3via stairways.

the Jail Wing

1-34. Jail Cells

Cells 1-32 appear to be 10 feet by

20 feet, but actually the thick wallsmean that the cells actually measure 8feet by 16 feet. Each cell contains aheavy stone urn filled with water, achamber pot, and two stone shelves(one on each side of the cell) thatserve as beds. Cells 1-9 have heavyiron doors with no windows and no

food slots. Cells 10-32 have heavywooden doors with a small barredwindow and enough room under thedoor to slide a plate of food under it.It is also just the right size for a rat tocrawl under. Cells 33 and 34 are spe-cial. The doors to these cells are madeof pure steel (too heavy to lift butworth 5,000 stl each). These roomswere meant for captive royalty. Allcells are locked. No jailed creaturehave any gold or weapons.

1. Cell

There are two men lying on theirbacks on their beds in this room.As the party opens the door, theysee two naked human man-shapessit up and turn to look at the party.A moments scrutiny reveals thatthey are not human and appear tobe made of sand!

These are two sandmen (hp 2 5).The party members must all make

62

saving throws vs. spell or go to sleep,regardless of level. The sandmen tryto touch each party member to put

him to sleep and then try to escapethe jail.

2. Cell

This cell is empty.

3. Cell

This room contains an eight-foot-tall disfigured humanoid creaturethat turns to attack the party andescape.

The creature is a flesh golem (hp31).

4. Cell

Upon opening this cell, the partyhears a faint chirping sound com-ing from somewhere in the back ofthe cell.

The ch i rping i s coming f rom acommon cricket. The floor of this cellis covered with a thin layer of gray

ooze (hp 20).

5. Cell

As the door to this cell is opened,the party smells a noxious vaporand a gorgon (hp 48) crashes out ofthe cell into the hallway. Anyones t a n d i n g n e a r t h e d o o r w a y i sknocked over for 2 points of dam-

age.

6. Cell

This cell contains two men dressedas Knights of the Sword. One manis blonde and the other has blackhair. They both have beards. Theycover their eyes as the light entersthe room.

These are two doppelgangers (hp24 each).



bish is searched, a note is found thatreads I sensed powerful good as Icame up the stairs!

26. Cell

There is a gibbering, insane man inthis cell. He is a werewolf at night (hp

23).

27. Cell

There is a large bearded man in thisroom. He cannot speak and is too stu-pid to communicate. He is a werebear

at night (hp 37).

28. Cell

are wererats at night (hp 15 each).

There are four dirty children in thiscell. They know no language. They

29. Cell

This room is empty . There arebones and rubbish on the floor.

If the rubbish is searched, a note isfound that reads The guard saystheres a big black snake in the roomaround the corner!

30. Cell

There are two sickly lizard men (hp6) in this cell. They were captured atthe bottom of the chasm.

31. Cell

This cell is empty. There are bonesand rubbish on the floor.

32. Cell

This cell is empty. There are bones

and rubbish on the floor.

33. Cell

W h e n t h e d o o r t o t h i s c e l l i sunlocked, a giant creature burstsout of the cell into the hall. Thecreature looks like a headless ape,moving on all four limbs. As itmoves you hear a gentle dronings o n g , l i k e t h e s o u n d o f w i n d

The two females will not stir, no mat-ter how much noise the party makes.They are illusions. There is a trapper (hp

70) on the floor of the room.

16. Cell

There is a Baaz draconian (hp 12)in this cell. He was caught sleeping onduty.

17. Cell


18. Cell

There is a Baaz draconian (hp 11)in this cell. He was caught stealingfood from the kitchen.

19. Cell


20. Stairs

These stairs are in the elven wing.They connect the Level 1 kitchen withthe Level 2 elven dining room (area48).

21. Cell

There are two skeletons (hp 5) inthis cell. They reach out and grab atanything that passes.

22. Cell

Same as Cell 2 1.

23. Cell


24. Cell

There is a Sivak draconian (hp 33)in this cell. He was accused of assault-ing an officer.

25. Cell

This cell is empty. There are bonesand rubbish on the floor. If the rub-

7. Cell

As the door to this cell is opened, a

black panther-like beast pushes itsway into the hallway. Then it turnsand snarls as black tentacles writheon its back.

This is a displacer beast (hp 38).

8. Cell

There are four rooster-like birds in

serpentine tails.this cell with long yellow green

These are four cockatrices (hp 26

each).

9. teleportal

This cel l appears to be empty.There is a black snakelike markingon the far wall.

The black mark is an S-shaped sym,bol of Soth. Those who touch it areteleported to rod room 1 on this level.

10. Cell

There is a troglodyte (hp 12) in thisroom.

11. Cell

There is a troglodyte (hp 10) in thiscell.

12. Cell

There is a troll (hp 35) in this cell.

13. Cell

There is a troll (hp 3 1) in this cell.

14. Cell

This cell is empty.

15. Cell

There are two s leeping humanfemales in this room. There is acrude chest in the center of the cell.

64



through the t rees . I t turns andattacks the nearest party memberwho is carrying a torch or lantern.

The creature is a sussurus (hp 50).

34. Cell

There are eight tentamorts (hp 8each) in this small cell.

35. Guard Room

There is a Sivak guard (hp 30) herewith his two pet disenchanters (hp 28each). The guard will ring a bell andhen attack the party. The creatures

will stand passively by. Each will zap avisible magical item (such as a sword,hield, helm, or armor) and drain it ofts magical powers as a player passes

by. The item gets a save vs. crushingblow to avoid being drained. Theplayer is unaware of this effect.

Sitting behind a table is a Sivakguard stroking the trunk of a tall,our-legged creature that looks likea small camel with an elephantstrunk. Another similar creature is

in the corner. The guard rings abell and pushes the creature aside.G r a b b i n g t w o w i c k e d - e d g e dswords, he attacks.

dark elven Wing

This wing is inhabited by drow.When the party enters room 38 or 48,he dark elves are alerted and the hall-

way be tween rooms 48 and 38 i sooded with green slime from room0. The halls of this wing have a per-

manent continual darkness cast on

hem. The elves gather in two groups,ne at the intersection between rooms4 and 45, and the other at the inter-ection between rooms 5 1 and 52.pells and weapons ready, they attackhe PCs if the party steps into the arean front of the door to room 48. Thisefensive maneuver has been prac-ced regularly as the drow distrust theraconians.

All of the living quarters on thisevel are furnished similarly: bed,

table, chairs, wall pegs for clothing,some shelves, a desk, etc. Thus theywill not be described individually.

36. Landing

This is a landing. Stairs go up anddown from here. There is a heavy

unlocked door off each end of thelanding.

37. Circular Stairs

These stairs are in the jail wing.They connect the Level 1 barrackswith the Level 2 jail.

38. guard RoomThere are two Sivak guards (hp 3 1)

in this room. As the party enters the

room, one of the guards pulls a leverthat alerts the drow an floods thehallway behind the room with greenslime from room 40.

39. Powder Room

The hallway outside this room is inc o n t i n u a l d a r k n e s s . T h i s r o o m i sfilled with wooden crates. If the cratesare opened, they contain a red dustypowder. Any character who handlesor gets close enough to breath the

powder must roll a saving throw vs.poison at a -2 penalty or lose half hishit points over the next ten rounds.The powder kills green slime on con-tact.

40. Slime Room

The hallway outside this room is incontinual darkness. This roomis not magically dark) is full oI

whichgreen

slimes. If the door is opened by theparty or by the lever in room 38, theslimes spill out into the hallway. Theamount the party would have to dealwith is the equivalent of ten greenslimes. There is a Symbol of Soth onthe back wall. It teleports anyone whotouches it to rod room 2 on Level 3.

41. drow

The drow who lives in this room is

65

eating in room 48 when the partyinvades this level.

This is a well-furnished room. Asword and a shield hang on thewal l .

There is a silver coffer (worth 300stl alone) under the bed with a poisongas trap on the lock (-20% penaltyto pick). Inside the coffer are 35 ppand four gems worth 800 stl each. Ashield +2 hangs on the wall next to ablack scabbard. The sword inside is along sword +3 vs. draconians with acurse on it. If a non-drow handles thesword, the creature immediately tries

to cut its own throat, hitting auto-matically and doing maximum dam-

age each round.

42. Bath

This is the bathing area for thedrow. There is a murky pool here with

floating sponges. Towels hang on wall

pegs.

43. fighter/thief

This i s the room of a 7 th - leve l

f i g h t e r / t h i e f . H e i s m o s t l i k e l yencountered in the hall battle.

Fardik Fleetfingers: F/T 7; AC 0;MV 12; HD 7 + 7; hp 35; #AT 2;Dmg 1d6+2 (x2) from long dagger +2 an d short sword +2; AL CE; 75%

chance to surprise; all saves at +2

If the party enters his room, whichis unlocked if there was a battle, readthe following:

The door opens easily. The room isnot presently inhabited. It con-t a i n s a b e d , t a b l e , c h a i r s e t c .There are well-made tapestries onthe wal l showing dark cavernsfilled with icy stalactites. There is abox of daggers on a shelf.

T h e P C s f i n d n o t r e a s u r e h e r eunless they move the bed and notice aloose brick low in the wall behind thebed. If they remove the brick, they



find a sack with coins in it. There are90 pp, 592 stl, and 5 goldbugs in thebag. Watch out for those bugs!

44. fighters

This is the room of an 8th-levelfemale fighter. If she is not fought inthe hallway, she will be here. Theroom is furnished as usual. She carriesher treasure in a bag around her neck:four gems worth 1,000 stl each.

Fleega Neckbreaker: F8; AC -1;M V 1 2 ; H D 8 ; h p 4 6 ; # A T 3 / 2 ;D m g 1 d 6 + 3 f r o m s h o r t s w o r d + 3 ;AL CE; saves at + 2; 75% chance to

surprise

45. fighter

This is the room of a 6th-level malefighter and his pet hellhound. If thefighter is engaged in the hall , thehellhound is shut inside this room.The dog sleeps on a dirty bearskin.Inside the bearskin are two rubies(800 stl each), three sapphires (300 stleach), and a diamond worth 2,000stl.

Glento Kil lbride: F6; AC 1; MV

1 2 ; H D 6 ; h p 3 4 ; # A T 1 ; D m g1d6+2 by short sword +2 vs.humans; AL CE; 75% surprise; savesa t + 2

Hellhound (Shoobark): AC 4; MV12; HD 6; hp 34: #AT 1; Dmg 1d10(bite) and 7 hp/breath attack; AL LE;breathes fire.

46. empty Room

This room is empty.

47. Penanggalan Lair This room, behind a secret door, is

one of Kitiaras several penanggalan

lairs.

The odor of vinegar nearly over-whelms you as the door opens.This room contains one chair andone bed. The floor is littered withrefuse. In the corner of the room,

away from the window slit, is a vat

filled with acrid vinegarish liquid.Strange fungus coats the edges ofthis vessel.

48. dining Room

There is one Sivak guard (hp 31) atthe stairway door and one dark elf eat-ing here. The room contains manytables and dozens of chairs.

Davud Gilliwocken: F5/MU5; AC0, MV 12; hp 30; #AT 1; Dmg 6d6(cone of cold from wand of frost withfour charges left); AL CE; MR 60%;75% surpr i se ; Spe l l s memorized :

slow, invisibility, web, charm, dark,sleep, and magic missile.

Davud tries to web the party, goinvisible, and leave the room beforethe hallway fills with slime.

49. Magic-User

This is the room of a 7th-level maledrow MU. At the alarm he rushes outinto the hallway.

Jake Doorand: MU7; AC 4 (bracers

AC 4) ; MV 12; hp 22; #AT 1; Dmg1d6 by dagger +2; AL CE; MR 64%;surprise 75%; saves at +2; Spellsmemorized: minor globe of invulner-ability, fireball, lightning bolt, detect

good, continual darkness , pyro tech-nics, spider climb, shrink, magic mis-sile (x2). His treasure is a necklace of adaptation, which he is wearing.

50. Magic-User

This room belongs to a 6th-levelmale drow MU. At the a larm, he

opens his door and peers out. He hasa cautious disposition.

Waynoh Castermaster: MU6; AC8 ; M V 1 2 ; h p 1 7 ; # A T 1 ; D m g1d4+1 (dagger o f venom); AL CE;MR 62%; Saves at +2; surprise 75%;Spells memorized: fly, lightning bolt ,invisibility, wizard lock, feather fall,sleep, dark, magic missile. His trea-sure is a scarab of enraging enemies

which he wears proudly, enragingeven his friends sometimes.

51. Magic-User This room belongs to a 12th-level

male drow MU.

Larr i Harr iharr i : MU12; AC 2 ;

(bracers AC 2); MV 12; hp 37: #AT1; Dmg 1d4+4 (dagger +4); AL CE;MR 74%; surprise 75%; saves at +2;Spells memorized: globe of invulner-

a b i l i t y , w a l l o f f o r c e , t e l e p o r t ,c loudki l l , conjure e lemental , wizardeye, polymorph self, ice storm, poly-m o r p h o t h e r , f l y f i r e b a l l , l i g h t n i n g

bolt , d ispel magic , invisibi l i ty , web,wizard lock, ESP continual darkness,sleep, magic missile (x3).

Larri responds to the alarm by run-ning out of his room and throwing upa wall of force. Then he and the othermagic-users wait to see what happens.

Larri has dozens of small black S-shaped markings on his arms. Hekeeps his treasure in a pouch tied tohis belt. He carries a 3,000-stl dia-

mond with the initials A&A carvedthe face, a gem of seeing, and a cube

of force.

52 & 53. fighter/thief

Each room is occupied by a 7th-level female drow fighter/thief. Hertreasure is kept in a bag around hern e c k . S h e c a r r i e s t h r e e 1 , 5 0 0 - s t lemeralds. She has a collection of threemagically cursed swords on her wall.

The sword on the left causes paralysis(no save) for 1d8 hours if held. Themiddle sword steals 1d4 hit pointspermanently (no save) if held. The

rightmost sword causes blindness for1d4 hours (no save) if held.

Two female thieves: F7/T7; AC 1;

M V 1 5 ; h p 5 0 : # A T 3 / 2 ; D m g1 d 8 + 3 ( l o n g s w o r d + 5 v s . l a w f u lgood) ; AL CE: MR 64%; surprise75%; saves at +2

Each responds to the alarm imme-diately, sword in hand, and waitsbehind the wall of force.

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54. Locked Room

The door to this room has a 12th-evel wizard lock on it. Inside is the

room of a 12th-level drow MU who isoff on his own adventure. There is annvisible stalker (hp 46) in the room,

guarding i t unti l the magic-userreturns.

Crown Wing

55. guard Room

This room is guarded by two Sivakdraconians (hp 32). The door to theCrown wing is wizard locked (at 6th-evel) and has a large medallion of

M i s h a k a l p a i n t e d o n i t ( o n b o t hsides). Neither of the guards has ever

been through that door. They donteven have a key. The hallway behindhis door is completely mold-free.

56. Closet

This closet has some moldy coatswith yellow mold on them.

57. Bath

This was once the bath for the

Knights of the Crown who lived here.Now it is empty.

58. Closet

This closet has three shelves in it.On the top shelf are some folded tow-els. There is yellow mold on the top

owel.

59. Stairs Room

This room has a circular stairway upo Level 3 in it. There is a secret door

n the far corner.

60. Closet

This closet is empty. (Whew!)

61. treasury

This long, narrow room containsdozens of large chests. Every tenfeet from the door, against the left

wall , is a large iron statue of aKnight of the Crown, each carry-ing a giant broadsword. There arefour of these statues.

The chests contain thousands ofcopper, silver, and electrum pieces,2 , 5 5 0 s t l , 2 3 5 p p , a n d 2 5 , 0 0 0 s t lworth of various gems. Everything ismixed together so it would take hoursto find the gems. The statues are irongolems (hp 80) that stand guard overthe treasure. Anyone who touches achest is attacked by the nearest golem(the others attack the rest of the par-ty). These golems do not leave the

treasury room, but they try their bestt o p r e v e n t a n y t h i n g f r o m b e i n g

stolen. They move only if a chest istouched.

62. Pennanggalan Lair

This room is similar to room 47. Itreeks from the vinegar vat in the cor-ner. The window is cracked open.

63-67. Mummies

These five locked rooms, once well-

furn ished for the warr iors of theCrown, are each occupied by a mum-my (hp 35) that rises up out of a sar-cophagus as the door is opened. Eachof the sarcophagi is cake with brownmold. No treasure here!

Sword Wing

68. Landing

This landing has a secret door atone end and a regular, unlocked doorat the other end. Stairs lead up and

down from here.

69. Pennanggalan Lair

This room reeks of vinegar likerooms 47 and 62. The vinegar vat is inthe corner.

70. guard Room

There are two Sivak guards (hp 3 1)in this room. They are unaware of thesecret door. The other door that leads

to the Sword Wing is locked (-30%penalty to pick) and even they do nothave a key to it. Occasionally they

have been asked to wait on the land-ing with orders to let no one enter theguard room. Their superior officersdisappear into the guard room and donot return for at least 15 minutes.

71. dracodrug Cache

There is a steel chest on top of awooden table in this room.

This room contains a large table

that has a wizard-locked (4th level),

sturdy, steel chest on it. The chestcontains pouches filled with a pun-gent purple herb. These pouches con-

tain a narcotic that causes powerfulhallucinations in draconians. The PCsdo not know what it is. But if theytake any with them, draconians willsmell it and attack in a berserk rage( + 4 bonus to attack and damagerolls).

72. drug Money

This room is empty except for amedium-sized iron strongbox atthe back of the room.

T h e b o x i s w i z a r d - l o c k e d ( 4 t hlevel). In the box are 4,535 cp, 2,346sp, and 982 stl . This money repre-sents the collective drug profits ofsmall cadre of Bozak officers.

73. hallway

This hallway is deserted.

74. Closet There are old moldy coats in this

closet.

75. Bath

The door is unlocked.

This room was once the bathroomo f t h e K n i g h t s o f S w o r d w h o

lived at the keep. It has not been

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used for centuries. A thick red andgreen scum fills the empty stonepool. There is a door in the backcorner.

76. Closet

This closet contains moth-eaten,moldy towels.

77-82. huecuvas

Each of these locked rooms is inhab-ited by a huecuva (hp 12) that has poly-m o r p h e d i t s e l f i n t o a t h i n a n dragged-looking Knight of the Sword.Each man looks different and has adifferent name. But all are wearing rag-ged and torn Solamnic garb. They haveno weapons and claim to have beenprisoners for about three weeks. Theystate that they were captured by dra-conians in an ear ly morning fog .Release me and my companions andwe will fight for you!

Play it up as if these were six realKnights. When they are all released,or when the party gets suspicious,they attack, spreading disease to allthey touch. They have no treasure, so

they are eager to take the possessionsof the party.

Knight Names:Room 77 : Sir Michael KaffreyRoom 78: Sir Marcus HouserRoom 79: Sir Mycos PitruskaRoom 80: Sir Geoffrey ChambertRoom 8 1: Sir Edvard VoodRoom 82: Sir Kristos Kongry

They claim to have been with the23rd Sword Elite Cavalry.

Rod Room 1

This room is dark. If there is asource of light, read the box below.Otherwise, the PCs sense somethingelse in the darkness with them, butthey dont know what or where it is!

There is a hooded, man-sized fig-ure in this large room. It stands by

a circular stone pedestal that is four

feet high and 12 inches in diame-ter. There is a pentagram inscribedon the top of this pedestal. Juttingout of the center of the pentagramis a ten-inch-long section of a redrod. You notice that the interiorwalls of the room and the ceiling(which is 20 feet above) are coveredwith black soot. The faceless figure

turns to greet you.

The hooded figure is an eye of fearand flame (hp 80). It commands eachlawful or neutral oriented player toslay the others . I f they disobey, itpulls back its hood to reveal a bare

skull with a red jewel in one eye sock-et and a black jewel in the other.These gems are worth 1,500 stl each.

After the rod part is removed fromthe pedestal, the pentagram on thetop of the pedestal vanishes and aSymbol of Soth appears. Touchingthis Symbol sends the toucher to the

jail cell (area 9) on Level 2.

Level three

This level is accessible from sidestairs and from the great circular stair-well to the Entry Hall on the firstlevel. No living creature comes out atnight for fear of hearing the horriblewail of the banshee women. All of theregular inhabitants of the keep do nothave to make saving throws to survivethe wail. The party has to. All theguards (labeled G on the map) onthis level are Sivaks (hp 31).

1. Kitiaras Room

This has been Kitiaras room sincethe War of the Lance. She is now apenanggalan, though the party mightnot know this, even after discoveringthe vinegar vats in rooms with windowaccess throughout the keep.

There are guards outside this roomand a big heavy lock on the door. Sup-posedly only Soth has the key. Actu-ally, Kitiara has the key on a chainaround her neck where it cannot beseen.

As the door opens you see a well-furnished room. Candles are lit onthe table, which is covered with avelvet tablecloth. The table is setfor two, but only one plate hasf o o d o n i t - a l a r g e p r i m e r i bcooked rare . A beauti ful dark-haired woman with a pretty butcrooked smile looks up at you insurprise. Who are you? she asks.

Play it by ear. She wants to comewith the PCs. She is Kitiara, a formerDragon Highlord who claims to havebeen healed or resurrected by thedark elven clerics who live upstairs.

She has been held captive in the keepfor years as a slave companion for LordSoth himself.

She shudders as she mentions hisname. She begins to weep as sheremembers the awful things he hasdone to her! Give me a sword andshield and I will fight with you. Herreputation as a fighter is renowned.

You should now read the section inthe FIEND FOLIO® tome (a page anda half) on the penanggalan. Kitiaraknows the keep well. This is a great

opportunity for the DM to lead theplayers around using her suggestions.She doesnt know where the rod partsare or how to get to them.

If you have trouble extracting herfrom the party at night when shemust leave her body, have Soth popin, trigger his fiery rod, and spirit heraway behind a wall of ice! Have fun!

2. Bedroom

This locked, empty room is cleanand well-furnished. It is a spare guest

room.

This room is full of weapons andarmor of all nonmagical types.

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4. Corpse

This locked room reeks of deatha n d d e c a y . T h e r e i s a s k e l e t a l

corpse sitting in a chair behind adesk. The papers on the desk arecovered with dried blood and dust.

If the papers are examined, onesection is readable: ...rod parts arehere in the castle! I can sense themwithin the walls. Overheard someguards talking about Soth coming inthrough the bathroom window. Have

looked for a bathroom with a win-dow. Cant find one. Must be in oneof the Sword or Crown wings or upabove somewhere.

5. temple Warehouse

This room is full of holy robes of thegood and neutral gods. They are oldand moldy. However there are sev-eral silver-coated iron holy symbolshere, as well as some medallions andhand-held standards.

6. Sheet ghoul

This locked room smells of decayand death. There is a moldy bed,long unused, in the corner of theroom. A desk covered with paperssits in the center of the room. Thedesk chair is on its side behind thedesk.

There is a large sheet ghoul (hp 28)hanging on the ceiling of this room. Itattacks the party member with the

highest Armor Class in the room.

7. Cot Room

This locked room is f i l led withwooden cots, stacked together andleaning against the wall. If the PCsexamine the room, they see a few goldpieces in the corner behind some cots.

8. guest Bedroom

This locked room is well-furnishedbut unoccupied. It is another spareguest bedroom.

9. Cleric

This unlocked room is dark inside,b u t t h e l i g h t f r o m y o u r t o r c hreveals the form of a dark elvenfemale cleric kneeling with her faceaway from the door. She is mum-bling a prayer to a small shrineagainst the far wall. There is a size-a pile pile of platinum pieces next tothe shrine.

If a character enters the room, hemight notice that the shrine is dedi-

cated to Paladine. No dark elf wouldbe praying to Paladine, so somethingshould seem wrong here. If the PCstry to get her attention, she raises herleft hand with one finger in the air(guess which one) then lowers it andcontinues mumbling.

The cleric (a juju zombie, hp 27)and the platinum are illusions cast bya glob of symbiotic jelly (hp 9) on theceiling. The zombie and the jelly ares tarv ing . The ju ju zombie a t tackswhen a character is standing rightnext to or behind it.

10. Sons of Kyuss

If the party opens this locked door,all must make saving throws vs. spell

or flee in panic. Read the following ifthe party looks in.

This locked room is a bathroom.There are clean towels on a tablenext to the door and footprints canbe seen leading from the table tothe pool and back. The water inthe pool is clean.

Closer approach to the pool revealsthe glint of metal (perhaps a coin?) atthe bottom of the pool. At an oppor-tune moment, three sons of Kyuss(hp 22 each) surprise the party bysplashing up from the front part ofthe pool to attack. If the party ignoresthe pool and leaves the room, the sonsemerge from the room and make anattack from behind when the partyhas gone down the corridor outsiderooms 12-13-14.

The treasure in the pool amounts

to three shiny silver pieces.

11. Sheet Phantom

This locked , regal ly - furn ishedroom is empty. There is a beautifulwoven carpet on the floor and thebed is covered in silk. There is aniron chest by the bed.

There is a sheet phantom on theceiling where it cannot be seen. Itattacks the first player to enter theroom. The chest is empty.

dm Notes for Rooms 12-13-14

These rooms are inhabited by threes k e l e t a l w a r r i o r s ( h p 6 3 , 6 2 , 6 0 ,respectively). All of the doors arelocked and coated with a powerfulcontact poison (saving throw vs poi-son at a -2 penalty or die). If any ofthe doors or locks is fiddled with, readthe following boxed text, then theother two doors open and the othertwo skeletal warriors appear in theirdoorways, ready to fight.

12-14. Skeletons

When this doors lock is fiddledwith, the door opens and the PCssee a tall skeleton clad in faded androtting fighters garb, holding afine-looking two-handed sword.Looking for us? it says with anundead hiss. Two other doors openon the same side of the hall. Younow face three of these fellows.

The three of them step out into the

hall, closing the doors behind them.The doors automatically lock. Thesecreatures are three of Soths skeletalwarriors.

They attack the party with the planof knocking each player out withoutkilling him. The final blow is always asmack with the flat of the sword,knocking the player unconscious.(Live beings sell for a premium to thevampires in the keep.)

These warriors are under a power-ful curse. They cannot be killed. The

killing blow will result in a puff of

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smoke and the creature vanishes. Itwi l l re form over the next month .Only by finding their souls can they

Treasure in the three rooms i slocated in chests in the back of eachregally furnished room.

Room 12 contains 26 various gems

(worth 20,000 stl) in a small coffer(poison needle), 19 pieces of precious

ewelry (worth 12,000 stl ) in a smallcoffer (contact poison), a ring of spellturning on a table, and a staff of strik-ing.

Room 13 holds 6 ,000 cp in onechest (no trap), 5,000 sp in another

chest (no trap), 22 gems worth 11,200s t l in a smal l s tee l cof fer (wizardl o c k e d a t 1 2 t h l e v e l ) , a s h i e l d - 4 ,and a cursed mace +3 that changes its

wielders alignment to Chaotic Evil.Room 14 contains 500 sp in one

chest (no trap), 5,000 ep in anotherchest (no trap), 3,000 stl in anotherlarger chest (poison gas trap, acts ascloudkill), 200 pp in a small coffer(wizard locked at 3rd level), and sixpotions of healing.

If the party members get killed,and no one uses the hair-charms to

teleport the party back to the highclerics, have the PCs wake up the nextmorning in room 2, each with 1 hp,bound hand and foot. Everythingthey owned is gone, except for theirclothes. They should know where tofind normal weapons by now-room3 is an armory. The spell books aret o r n u p a n d s t r e w n a r o u n d t h eroom-messy, but still quite useable.After they have suffered a bit and fig-ured out what theyre going to do,have Bergg pop in and heal them,

even if they dont use a hair-charm.

15-18. Baaz

These four rooms are the quartersof four high-ranking Baaz draconiancommanders (hp 16 each). Each roomis sparsely furnished for the com-mander who lives there. Treasure ineach room is in a small chest: 1d10 cp,1d10 sp, 1d10 stl , 1d10 pp, and a50% chance of a 300-stl gem. The

commanders are in their locked quar-ters only at night. If confronted, theywill probably surrender to a powerful

party.

19-22. Kapaks

These four locked rooms are thesparsely furnished quarters of fourhigh-ranking Kapak draconian com-manders (hp 24 each). Their treasuresare found around their necks, in vel-vet bags. Each has several small gemsworth 2d10 x 100 stl total. They tooare in their quarters only at night andwill probably surrender to a powerfulparty.

23-25. Skeletons

These three regal ly - furn ished ,locked rooms are the same as rooms12-14. They belong to three more ofSoths skeletal warriors. Read the DMNote listed before rooms 12-14 andconduct the hallway battle as before,with all three skeletal warriors fight-ing. There is one significant differ-ence, however. One of the warriorshurls a flask of slow gas onto the floorin the hall. The party members mustrol l successful saving throws vs.breath weapon or be slowed.

Room 23 has 3,000 cp in a wooden

unlocked chest, 6,000 ep in a lockedmetal chest (no trap), 22 gems worth8,000 stl in a small coffer (acid blasttrap, 2d10 points of damage, -2 per-m a n e n t C h a r i s m a l o s s ) , a n d aplatinum-gilded sword worth at least7 ,000 s t l ( rad iates magic , cursed :owner will use and never sell, -6 toattack roll, +10 to damage).

Room 24 contains a sack with 2,000

cp, a sack with 4,000 sp, an iron chestwith 2,500 stl (locked, -40% penal-ty to pick), 21 gems worth 14,000 stlin a wizard locked (10th level) steeltube, a potion of extra healing, a ringof const i tut ion steal ing (cursed, -1Constitution per day until dead, can-not remove).

Room 25 holds no real treasure; thewarrior keeps it hidden in the moun-tains. There is a locked chest contain-ing 4,000 gold-painted lead pieces, a

71

l o c k e d c o f f e r c o n t a i n i n g 3 2 4platinum-painted lead pieces (poisonneedle, save or die), a burlap bag full

of costume jewelry (looks like itsworth a fortune!) , two carved rodsradiate magic, no powers), and a six-foot-long black wooden staff (whichdoes nothing).

26. Vampire

This room contains a spare coffinfor one of the vampires that l ivesabove.

As the door to this room is opened,hundreds of common rats s tar t

pouring out of the room. Then apre-set clerical spell, insect plague(11th-level caster), is set off at thenearby end of the hall.

The squalid room contains ratsand bugs crawling over a largeblack coffin that rests against thewall near the open window.

The coffin is full of black dirt.

27. Bath

This abandoned bathroom has adry pool at one end and a windowin the far wall.

The window is an illusion. The wallbehind the window illusion is coveredwith stunjelly (hp 23).

28. empty Room

This room is completely bare.

Upper Crown Wing

29. Bath

This room is locked. The windowto this room is special: The lower sillslants downward so its lip cannot beseen unless someone is standing at thewindow and looking down at the sill.There is a 75% chance that a playerwho looks out of the window sees theSymbol of Soth on the sill. Touchingthe Symbol te leports the p layer toRod Room 3 (page 73).



This was the upper bath for the

c o m m a n d i n g K n i g h t s o f t h eCrown. The stone pool is bone dry.

Fresh air blows in from the openwindow.

30. Shadows

T h i s l o c k e d r o o m c o n t a i n s 1 2shadows (hp 19 each) and no treasure.

31. Wights

This locked room contains eightwights (hp 25 each) and no treasure.

32. Wraiths

T h i s l o c k e d r o o m c o n t a i n s s i xwraiths (hp 32 each). A banner is heldup by a golden rod that is resting ver-tically on two wall pegs. The gold rodis a rod of restoration ( 15 chargesleft).

As you peer into this room, thelight from the window reveals avery attractive banner on the wallthat reads Welcome. Then yousee the wraiths that are here to wel-come you!

33. Silent hall

This ha l lway has a permanentsilence spell cast on it. The spell doesnot extend into any of the rooms. Thecharacters notice the lack of noiseright away. Do not let them commu-nicate. Also, when they are fightingthe undead in rooms 30-32, a spell-caster has to be inside a room to suc-cessfully vocalize a spell.

Upper Sword Wing 34. top of the Stairs

As the PCs reach the top of thestairs, they find the hall above tobe very dark and completely over-grown by a light-green ivy-likeplant. The doorway at the top ofthe stairs is completely blocked.The plant has bright yellow buds.

There are four of these yellow muskcreeper plant systems (hp 15 each) inthe area. The plants can be hacked

away, but the only way to kill themand keep them from rapidly regener-ating is to hack and stab at the bul-bous roots that are buried beneathone foot of soil in the bath pool in

room 3 5. Normal fire will not work.Players within ten feet are subject

to a hypnotic dust attack by the 3-HDplants. Victims must roll successfulsaving throws vs. spell or walk into theheart of the plant where their Intelli-gence stats are reduced by 1d4 pointsper round. Reduction to 1 or 2 Intelli-gence results in a yellow musk zom-bie. Reduction to 0 or less results indeath. The party could hack its way torooms 35 and 36 fairly easily. But to

get to rooms 37 and 38, the PCs haveto hack their way into room 35 andkill the four bulbs.

35. Bath

This room is crammed full of yel-low musk creeper vines. The old poolin the bathroom has been filled withdirt and there are four creeper bulbs

buried in the dirt. If these our bulbsare hacked up, the vines die.

A heal spell restores all lost mem-o to a character who is not dead. Ittakes a neutralize poison spell fol-lowed by a heal spell to return a yel-low musk zombie to human form,but it will take four weeks for the vic-tim to get back to normal.

36. haunt

This locked room is still furnished,but it is very dusty. A translucent

image of a Knight of the Sword sitsin a chair by the bed.

This creature looks like it could be abanshee, spectre, or ghost. But it doesnot rise to attack. It is a haunt (hp 45)and it has been waiting for adventurers.

If the characters try to communi-

cate with it, rather than ignore it orattack it immediately, it tells them, Ihave been waiting to give you this

message: One is on two, by trice. Ifyou achieve your quest, I will finallydie in peace. It smiles and will com-

municate no more.The message means that the first

Symbol of Soth, which leads to the firstpart of the Rod, is on the second levelin the cell next to the cockatrices.

37. haunt

Same as in room 36 except the mes-sage i s The second i s dark then

green. This means that the secondSymbol of Soth (which leads to thesecond rod part) is in the continuallydark hallway (in the dark elven wing)

in the green slime room.

38. haunt

This i s the same as 36 and 37 ,except that the message is The thirdon the third past the bath isobserved. This means that the thirdSymbol of Soth (which leads to thethird rod room) is on Level 3 past theCrown bath pool at the window. Thisis the only bath with a window on the

third floor.

39. haunt

Same as the others. Here the mes-sage is Takhisis is the logical solu-tion. This means that to assemblethe rod properly, put it in the sameorder as the heads of Takhisis on herbody. (Do not reveal the order!) ThePCs have to figure it out from a pic-ture in the keep or by looking into therift on Level 7.

(The correct rod order is White-Black-Green-Blue-Red.)

Rod Room 2

This room is dark. If there is asource of light, read the box below.Otherwise, the PCs hear very heavybreathing in the dark.

You are in an oddly shaped room.There is a circular stone pedestal,four feet high and one foot wide,i n t h e n o r t h e a s t c o r n e r o f t h e

72



room. The top surface of the pedes-tal is inscribe with a pentagram and

out of the pentagram rises a ten-inch-long black rod. Lying on thefloor in front of the pedestal is a

strange, eight-legged black dragonwith a horn on its snout. It will notlet you approach the pedestal. Infact, it smells you and seems to thinkyou might taste good.

Chances of meeting the basilisksgaze are as follows:

f the character is:

Completely surprised 90%Surprised 70%Viewing monster 50%Attacking normally 30%Avoiding gaze 10 %

Once the rod is lifted from the ped-estal, the pentagram vanishes and iseplaced by a Symbol of Soth, whichends its toucher to room 40 on Level 2.

Rod Room 3

This room is dark. If there is a light

ource, read the box below. Otherwise,he PCs are attacked (by wraiths) from

all sides in the darkness.

You are in an oddly shaped room.There is a four-foot-high circularpedestal in the southwestern cor-ner of the room. Inserted verticallyin the top of the pedestal is a smallwhite rod part. Hovering near thepedestal are five wispy shapes thatlook remarkably like wraiths! Theymove quickly to surround you!

Once the rod part is lifted from thepedestal, the pentagram on top of thepedestal vanishes and a Symbol ofSoth appears in its place. Touchinghe Symbol sends the toucher to room

29 of Level 3.

Level four

The fourth level is divided into fivesections: four wings and the Temple.

The four wings are the library wing,the living dark elven clerics wing, thebanshee dark elven clerics wing, andthe museum wing.

1. the temple

This was once a beautiful temple ofPaladine. Now it is a filthy desecra-tion. The rose-colored statues aresmashed and broken . The wal lfrescoes are splattered with excre-ment. On the altar is the rottingcorpse of a Rose Knight with itschest cut open. Black snakes slitherover and under the wooden pews.

Though rotten and foul, there is aparchment note on the sleeve of thedead knight. It reads Grayspawn,while doing research for my new booklast night, I was mysteriously trans-ported with a small candle in myhand from the library to a large, odd-ly shaped room wi th in the keep.When my candle went out I pan-icked! There were no doors or win-dows in the room. I thought I wastrapped in a tomb! Search ing thewalls for a hidden door, I suddenlyfound myself back in the dark library.Through commune, I have learnedthat Soth will return to the Keep latertoday. He has forsaken his holy quest!What shall we do? SignedPietroKristofsky, Prefect of Paladine.

2. Landing

There i s a S ivak guard (hp 31)sleeping in a chair in the indicatedcorner of this room. Behind thechair is a wooden door with an

open book carved on it.

3. Recording Room

This room has survived a small fire.

Most of the back of the room is fullof racks of scrolls and record books.A B o z a k ( h p 2 2 ) s t a n d s r e a d y(behind a bookshelf) to greet theparty with a web spell.

4. Reading Room

This room has several chairs andtables in it. A sign on the wall reads R e a d i n g R o o m . T h e r e i s afemale dark elven cleric reading abook in the back of the room.Oh! she exc la ims . How didyou get past the guards?

This encounter should be fun. Itwill require some preparation and aflair for role play. The female cleric isactually an Aurak draconian who haschanged self into this form. It will act

intelligently and will not fight an

entire party of adventurers. It willadmit to being an evil cleric, but notto being a stupid one. It will try to

find out as much as possible beforeacting aggressively. An Aurak has alot of options at its disposal: it candimension door out, go in vi sib le , oruse mind control on one of the char-acters. You decide. Its mission is top r e v e n t t h e m f r o m e n t e r i n g t h elibrary. It has 10 potions of extra heal-ing stored on a high shelf in the backof the library. If seriously injured, itwill dimension door there and quick-

ly heal himself to ambush the PCsback in room 4 as they attempt toleave the library.

5. Library

This huge room is full of musty,

dusty books. There are tables andchairs between the bookshelvesand in front of each window.

This is a wonderful library. There

are many rare and beautiful books

here. The more intelligent membersof the party wil l notice this veryquickly. The only thing worth doingin this library is to find the book thatthe Prefect (see Room 1) was readingwhen he mysteriously teleported toRod Room 4. The book is called theU n d e a d C o m p e n d i u m . I t i s o n t h etop shelf (five feet off the ground) inthe lower right corner of the room.On this shelf, right under the book, isthe Symbol of Soth. If this is touched,

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engraved with a very unholy holysymbol . Lawful good creatures

shr ink f rom th is door . Undeadavoid it like the plague. Chaoticevil worshipers of Takhisis find itindescribably beautiful.

From the door, a bright red car-pet leads up to a desk-sized shrineto Takhisis. On the altar are miner-

a l c a r v i n g s o f t w i s t e d a n ddeformed beings from the Abyss.The wall is decorated with paint-ings of a beaut i ful dark-hai redwoman and of a fearsome chromat-ic dragon. There is a large blackburning candle on each end of theshrine. Human skulls are imbed-ded in the candle wax, skeletalfaces leering out from the slickblack surface.

This is a very evil place. In fact, the

entire room is permanently protectedby the 6th-level clerical spell (fromU A ) f o r b i d d a n c e . C a s t b y a 1 2 t h -level chaotic evil dark elven cleric, thespell is meant to secure this conse-crated area. The effects of this shrineis based on the ethics (law/chaos) and

morality (good/evil) of those tryingto enter . Chaotic evi l PCs cannotenter unless they know the password.Those of different ethics must roll asuccessful saving throw vs. spell toenter , otherwise , they suffer 2d6points of damage and can never enter.Those of different morality must rolla successful saving throw vs. spell toenter , otherwise they suffer 4d6points of damage and can never enter.Effects are cumulative and both sav-ing throws might have to be made.

There is a secret door on the rightside of the altar that leads to the clois-ter.

9. Cloister hallway

This hallway (and the insides ofrooms 10-14) has a permanent renew-ing cont inual darkness spel l on i t .Players without infravision will have atough time in areas like this. Darkelves prefer it.

t teleports the character to Rod Room4 (see page 78).

The books are arranged alphabeti-cal ly by t i t le , so the book can beound in the U section. There is a

60% chance that a PC who is at least56 tall sees the black, snakelike Sas soon as the book is removed fromhe shelf. Clues to the books exist-

ence are found in Kristofskys roomroom 15).

dark elven Cleric Wing

This cloister is occupied by six darkelven female clerics. These women are

rarely seen by anyone other than thedark elves from Level 2 who bringfood up to them twice a day. Meals areserved in room 7.

6. hallway

This is a highly magical hallway. Thedoors at either end automatically closein 30 seconds if they are not spiked ortied open. The hallway has permanentand renewing cold and continual dark-

ness spells cast on it. So it will forever bedark and very cold (20 degrees F). The

inside of the doors are shielded in ashiny silver sheet of metal. If anythingother than a chaotic evil dark elf entersthis hallway, one minute later a 6d8flame strike spell rushes down the corri-dor. Damage is halved if a saving throwis made.

7. dining Room

There are eight chairs around a

black obsidian table in this room.There are silver candelabra withblack candles on the table, alongwith silver plates and tableware.There are swirling, murky-coloredpaintings hanging on the walls.

The room is incredibly clean.

8. Shrine

The door leading into this roomfrom the long hall is made of puresilver. The outside surface is like a

m i r r o r . T h e i n s i d e s u r f a c e i s

Rooms 10-14

These rooms are sparsely furnished

and in perpetual darkness. Each roomcontains a straw mat, a water jar, asmall table and a chair, a hairbrush onthe table, and wall pegs with robeshung on them. A female dark elvencleric lives in each room.

All five clerics know some magicalspells (see the FIEND FOLIO® tome).They are all wearing heavy robes (AC8 ) , b u t a l l h a v e + 3 D e x t e r i t ybonuses, so they are all AC 5 beforeany magical adjustments.

10. Cleric

Katrin Oakenfeld: Cl 7; AC 3; MV12 ; H D 7 ; h p 4 2 ; # A T 1 ; D m g

1 d 6 + 2 ( f r o m + 2 m a c e ) ; M R 6 4 % ;surprises 75%; AL CE; knows somemagical spells; clerical spells: causes e r i o u s w o u n d s , c a u s e b l i n d n e s s ,cause disease, s i l ence, hold person,a u g u r y , d e t e c t g o o d , c a u s e l i g h twounds, sanctuary. She has a mace+2, bracers AC 3, a necklace of pray-

er beads, and some incense of obses-sion. She is short for a drow, but

sturdy, and has a humorous disposi-tion.

11. Cleric

Dorodot Hardingstone: Cl 6; AC5; MV 12 ; HD 6 ; HP 35 ; #AT 1 ;D m g 1 d 6 + 3 ( f r o m m a c e + 3 ) ; M R62%; surprises 75%; AL CE; knowssome magical spells; clerical spells:c u r s e , d i s p e l m a g i c , s i l e n c e , c a u s e

f ight wounds (x3) . She has a mace+ 3 , a r i n g o f i n v i s i b i l i t y , b o o t s o f e lvenkind, and a wand of f ear with

nine charges. She is tall, thin, has redhair and takes no guff from strangers.

12. Cleric

Sheri Robineater: Cl 12; AC 1; MV12 ; HD 9+6 ; hp 60 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg1 d 6 + 4 ( f r o m m a c e + 4 ) ; M R 7 4 % ;

surprises 75%; knows some magicalspells; clerical spells: blade barrier harm, cause cri t ical wounds, d ispel

g o o d , f l a m e s t r i k e , c a u s e s e r i o u s

75



wounds (x3) , cause bl indness, causedisease, dispel magic (x3), cure lightwounds (x6), causelight wounds (x5).

She has a mace +4, bracers AC 3, ar i n g o f p r o t e c t i o n + 4 , a c u b e o f fo rc e, and a rod of resurrection with24 charges left.

13. Cleric

Florencia Moranistan: Cl 9; AC 5;

MV 12; HD 9; hp 50; #AT 1; Dmg1d6+2 (from mace +2); AL CE; MR68%; surprises 75%; knows somemagical spells; clerical spells: insectp l a g u e , p o i s o n , c a u s e s e r i o u s

wounds, curse, dispel magic, animate

d e a d , c h a n t , s i l e n c e , f i n d t r a p s ,detect magic (x2), darkness (x2). Shehas a mace +2, a scarab of death, ata l i sman of u l t imate evi l , a wand of magic missiles, and a ring of humaninf luence.

14. Cleric

Katrid Consolinus: Cl 7; AC 0; MV1 2 ; H D 7 ; h p 4 0 ; # A T 1 ; D m g1d6+3 (from mace +3); AL CE; MR64%; surprises 75%; knows somemagical spel ls ; clerical spel ls: cure

s e r i o u s w o u n d s , s p e a k w i t h d e a d ,curse, silence, hold person, cure lightw o u n d s ( x 3 ) . S h e h a s a m a c e + 3 ,bracers AC 2, a ring ofprotection + 2,boots of speed, dust of d isappearance, a potion of gaseousform, and a ring of vampiric regener-ation.

15. Revenant

This room is not under a continualdarkness spell like rooms 10-14. Thedoor to this room is locked and has alarge wooden bar across it-on theoutside!

Unlike in the hallway, you can seein this room. The window is sealedshut. The furniture in the room isvery dusty. Sitting on the bed is apale, corpse-like male human cler-ic. His weird hair stands up as if ithas never been combed. His head

turns. When he sees the party, hiseyes blaze with unnatural intensi-ty. In his rotting left hand is a holysymbol of Paladine. A powerfulmagical force field prevents you

from entering the room. No soundpasses through the field either.

The force field can be dispelled bya dispel magic spell from a spellcasterof 8th level or higher.

The creature is the revenant of Pie-tro Kristofsky, Prefect of Paladine. He

has waited for over 300 years to getrevenge on Lord Soth and his skeletalwarriors for killing him. He attacks

only in defense. He will gladly accom-pany the party, staying in the back outof action until he sees a skeletal war-rior or Soththen he attacks. If thePCs attack him, he will not join them.

Pietro Kristofsky (Revenant): C7;AC 10; MV 9; HD 8; hp 60; #AT 1;Dmg 2d8 (strangle); AL N; cannot bet u r n e d o r d e s t r o y e d b y c l e r i c s ;immune to all normal and magicalweapons; immune to mind and bodycontrol spells; limbs function inde-pendently if severed, regenerate 3

hp/round even after death (unlessdeath is by burning, which is perma-nent); stare causes paralysis or 2d8rounds to Soth and warriors if savingthrow vs. spell is not made.

If asked about the teleporting busi-ness, he will say that he was pulling abook called the Undead Compendi-um from a shelf when he was trans-

ported to the strange burial room ofLady Korinne. If the party destroysPietro, there are papers on a desk thatare part of a treatise on undead. Anote on the top sheet is circled. It

reads Check Undead Compendiumfor any information on revenants.

16. Bath Room

This unlocked room is unoccupied.It contains a large stone pool filledwith cold soapy water, a long tablewith combs and brushes on it, anda strip of polished silver on the wallover the table.

Banshee Wing

The door to this wing has a parch-

ment note on it. The message iswritten in good, evil, and dracon-ian dialects. It reads This is a one-way door. It leads to your death. Itis signed Marantha.

17. hallway

This hallway smells strange andyou are unable to hear here.

The hall has a permanent renewingsilence spell cast on it.

18. Shrine

Emerging from the silent hall, youenter an unlocked door into a dark20-foot-long hall that opens up toa larger room. There is a door onthe north wall of the hallway.

Entering the room you see it is aperfectly preserved shrine to Mis-hakal. A large wooden medallionof Mishakal hangs on the wall oneach side of the small altar on theback wall.

Heavy pressure on the left wallmedallion opens a secret door intobanshee territory.

19. dining Room

This musty room contains the trap-pings of a dining room. There isnothing of value here.

20. Cross hall

As you open the secret door behind

the medallion, you hear the soundof a seal cracking open. That doormust have remained closed for along, long time.

If it is nighttime, read the follow-ing:

At this point you all get a nauseat-ing feeling in the pits of your stom-achs and your bra ins ree l wi th

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27. Bath Roompain. You hear a terrible, horrible, corner.unbearable wailing coming fromthe rooms beyond. You are hearingthe wail of the banshee! 24. Banshee Museum Wing

Each character must make a suc-cessful saving throw vs. spell or die.

If it is daytime, the PCs hear noth-ing.

total. There is a broom of flying in the

Nothing here but a dry stone pool.

There is a banshee named Leedarahere. Leedaras treasure is in a chest

This wing has four Sivak guards (G)

that is adhered to the outside wall ofin it. The museum is dusty. No one

the keep, outside of her window. Thehas been in it for over 300 years.

chest is locked ( -35% penalty topick). Inside the chest is a scarab of 28. Landing

Rooms 21-24

Each of these roomsa banshee (groaning spirit, hp 39).

is inhabited by

The rooms are dusty? and the windows 25. Bat Roomare open. The banshees enter and

leave through the windows. Thesebanshees were once the dark elvencleric maidens who came to deterSoth f rom h is holy miss ion . Eachnight they float down to the entry hall 26. Basidirondsand sit on the four daises to wail theSong of Soth for Soth himself.

These banshees are very intelligent 29. Waiting Room

and will escape through the windowsif necessary.

insanity (all must save vs. spell at a -2 penalty or go insane), 300 pp, and ascroll with six passwall spells on it.

This room is occupied by fourmobats (hp 34 each). If the door isopened, they rush out into the hallway.

This is the landing at the top of thestairs. There is a Kapak guard (hp17) in the far right corner of thisroom. As you reach the top of thestairs, you see the Kapak disappearbehind the door and you hear this

door click shut, locked from theother side. Then you hear a wood-en bolt being dropped in the nextroom. Two draconians are arguingloudly.

There are two basidironds (hp 34each) in the room. Spore clouds spillout of the room and into the hall toaffect the whole party. There are two draconians in this

room. one with sword raised high.Hallucinations (roll 1d8): the other is readying a spell. The

21. Banshee room is furn ished wi th padded

There is a banshee named MaranthaD8 Roll Effect

1 Sinking in swamp, removebenches, chairs and tables.

here. Maranthas treasure is in an ironstrongbox. The lock is trapped with a 2poison needle (save or die). Inside are1,500 stl , a fl as k of cu rse s, a ring of 3giant strength, and a magic scroll with 30. Mummiesdelayed blast fireball, stone to flesh, 4disintegrate, an d phase door.

armorBeing attacked by tiny spi-ders, attack floorsThink youve shrunk in size,

call for helpT h i n k y o u r e h o l d i n g a

v i p e r , d r o p w h a t y o u r eholding

There are a Kapak (hp 17) and aBozak guard (hp 22) here.

This room is full of decorated cof-fins and diagrams on the walls.

22. Banshee The coffins are empty, however, as5there are four mummies (hp 3 5each) waiting behind the door!There is a banshee named Gisela

here. Giselas treasure is in a brass6

chest. The lock is wizard locked shut 31. Museum(3d level) . Inside are 2 ,589 ep, a

7

potion of healing, a potion of neu-tral ize poison, a r i n g o f p r o t e c t i o n

f r o m l y c a n t h r o p e s , a n d a r o d o f b e g u i l i n g . T h e r e i s a n o r d i n a r ybroom in the corner.

23. Banshee

There is a banshee named Joaneehere. Joanees treasure is stuffed inher mattress. She has 200 pp, a pearlof power, and 12 gems worth 8,000 stl

8

Suffocating, run around in

panicThink party is diseased, runaway from partyThink youre melting, howl

and moan about holdingtogether.Leech on your back, tear offanything on your back andattack it

As you open the door, you see aS ivak draconian guard (hp 31)s tanding , sword ra i sed , 30 fee taway. It warns you to go back.

You see two seven-foot-tall crea-tures that look like upturned bowlssupported by five wooden legs.Then you start to feel woozy.. .

attacks.If the party approaches, the Sivak

The following paragraphs describethe museum exhibits.

No treasure, sorry!

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32. geography

This display shows a large pre-Catac lysm map of Ansalon . Each

nation is described in a faded coloredbox.

33. knights

This display describes the history ofthe Knights of Solamnia.

34. the gods

This display discusses the gods ofAnsalon and their places in the eve-ning sky.

35. Races of ansalonThis display shows pictures of the

many intelligent races that dwell in

Ansalon, detailing where they liveand their special traits and customs.

36. Legend of huma

This display tells the legend ofHuma and his silver dragon.

37. Soths quest

This display was prepared by LadyDenissa (in Soths absence) to honorhim for his acceptance of the deadlyquest to recover the rod of omniscientwisdom from the volcanic labyrinthdeep in the Dargaard Mountains. Amap of the area where the rod wassupposed to be buried is shown.

This map is crucial to complete afuture quest.

38. Weapons of ansalon

Here are all the weapons of Ansa-

lon, from the draconians wicked-edged swords to the kenders hoopak.

39. knights of the Rose

Here is a history of the greatest menand deeds of the Knights of the Rose.Several Soth exploits are depicted.

Rod Room 4

This room is dark. If there is a lightsource, read the box below. Other-

wise, the PCs hear several whip-likelashes and some slithering.

You find yourselves in the center ofan oddly shaped room. In each ofthe three corners of the room is al a r g e m o u n d . S u d d e n l y t h em o u n d s m o v e . L o n g t e n t a c l e swhip out to grab you!

There are three storopers here (hp35 each). Behind one of the creaturesis a four-foot-high circular pedestalwith a blue lo- inch-long rod partstuck in it. The top of the pedestal is

inscribed with a pentagram. Whenthe rod part is removed, the penta-gram vanishes and a Symbol of Sothappears in its place. Touching thes y m b o l s e n d s t h e t o u c h e r t o t h elibrary (room 5, this level).

Rod Room 5

This room is dark. If there is asource of light, read the box below.Otherwise. the PCs should prepare to

die!

You are in an oddly shaped room.In one corner is a pedestal with agreen rod part protruding from thetop of it. Hovering nearby is a fear-some demonic creature. It has agreat horned head with a gapingmouth filled with rows of sharpfangs. Its powerful arms and clawsseem to be tingling with negativeelectrical forces. It roars at you andmoves to engage....

If the guardian daemon (hp SO) isstruck by the four parts of the rod(screwed together in any way), it dis-appears, freed of its commitment toguard the green rod part.

Once the green rod part is liftedfrom the pedestal, the pentagram ontop of the pedestal disappears and isreplaced by a Symbol of Soth. Touch-ing the symbol sends the toucher tothe top of the tower on Level 12.

Level five

Level 5 is a barracks level. Duringthe day it is mostly deserted; at night

it is full of sleepy draconians.

1. Crypt thing

This large hall at the bottom of thestairs is empty during the day, but atnight it is guarded by a crypt thing

(hp 41).

As you reach the bottom of the cir-cular stairway, you see a lone fig-ure . I t i s a pa le ske le ta l be ingwearing a brown hooded robe. Itturns to face the party, mumbling

in some strange tongue.

Have each member of the party

make a saving throw vs. spell with a-4 penalty. Those who fail are tele-

ported to training rooms 2, 3, 4, or 5as directed below. Those who succeed

must roll again with a -2 penalty.Those who fail this second savingthrow are turned invisible and arep a r a l y z e d f o r 3 d 6 r o u n d s . T h eremainder may attack or conversewith the crypt thing. It is only harmed

by magical weapons.The crypt thing can communicate

in the neutral tongue. If asked, it saysthat the party members have beendisintegrated. In truth, party mem-bers have gone to ancient trainingrooms where they must fight exactduplicates of themselves. This is alldone magically.

The process should be handled asfol lows. Magic-users f ight in therooms labeled 2, fighters in rooms3, thieves in rooms 4, and clerics inrooms 5. If there are more than two ofany class, have them wait in line.

When the one-on-one battles areover, the characters are dumped intothe hallways through one-way doors.

In the battles, the DM is fightingeach character against himself. Thefight is done until one participantgoes unconscious. The wounds arenot real. If the real character wins,then he immediately gains enoughexperience points to rise one level. If

78



the character loses to the DM, he losesall experience points above the mini-mum for his current level and loses

one random magical item or weapon.Win or lose, the character is dumpedoutside the room to wake up ourr o u n d s l a t e r . W h e n t h e p l a y e r semerge into the barracks area again,the crypt thing has either been killedby the remaining players or has left on

its own.

2-5. training Rooms

These rooms can only be enteredvia teleportarion from the crypt thingin room 1. Once a PC leaves one of

these rooms, he can never enter thatroom or another training room again.When a character materializes in oneof these rooms, he sees a duplicate ofhimself standing in an aggressive pos-ture, poised for attack. The doubledoes not communicate. Doubles ofspellcasters know the spells of theiroriginals. The first round of combat issimultaneous. Killing or neutralizingserves as a victory.

a-I. Barrack Rooms

These rooms are empty by day andcontain six sleeping Baaz at night.Each room contains six smelly bedsand assorted draconian armor andweaponry, but no treasure.

a*-I* Leaders Rooms

The A* room belongs to the Bozakeader who commands the troops who

sleep in the A barracks. Likewiseor the other starred rooms.

BC, DF, GH, aI. BathroomsThese rooms contain pools of dirty,

soapy water and wet towels.

Level Six

This level is also a barracks level. Its at the same height as the wall top. It

contains Kapak barracks J, K, L, andM, a tavern, a medical room, a casino,and an armory. In the center of theevel is a circular stairway that leads

down to the Baaz barracks. All doorshave lawful good holy symbols onthem (to keep the undead out).

I. Medical Room

During the day there is a dark elvenfemale cleric here to heal the woundsof any human slave or draconian sol-dier who is ill or wounded. At nightthe room is empty and the iron door isheavily locked (-40% penalty to

pick).

2. Supply Room

This locked room contains clean

linen, sharp knives for surgery, andother medical necessities.

3. drug Room

This locked room contains drugs ofa ll k i n ds . E ve r y th i n g f r o m p a i n-killers to poisons to hallucinogens.

80



4. tavern

From noon until midnight, this

room is full of draconians, waited onby human slave barmaids. At anytime, there are 2d10 Baaz, 2d8 Kap-aks, 2d6 Sivaks, and 1d10 Bozakshere, drinking their little brains out.

Behind the bar is a human bar-tender, geased to serve. There is achest with 368 stl, 288 ep, 167 sp, 449cp, and 3 pp in it behind the bar.

5. keg Room

This room is full of kegs of ale.There is a permanent cold spell cast

on the room.

6. Records Room

There is a table and chairs in thisroom and a large immovable ironlockbox in the corner. This is the safe.It is loaded with money that is depos-ited in a slot at the top. The box iswizard locked shut (12th level) . Itcontains 1d6 x 1,000 coins of eachtype, except there are only 1d6 x 10

PP .

7. armory

This locked room contains weaponsand armor of all types useable by dra-conians and humans. No magic.

8. Weapons

This room contains magical weap-ons, all + 1. Take your pick.

9. armor

This room contains magical armor,

all +1. Only human and elven sizesare available.

10. Casino

This room reeks of draconians andale. Loud voices and laughter fillthe air. Dozens of draconians ares i t t ing on s tools around tab lesplaying at card and dice games.

There are 2d8 Baaz, 2d8 Kapaks,

2d6 Sivaks, and 1d6 Bozaks in heregambling. Most of the coins on thetables are silver and electrum.

11. Supply Room

This unlocked room contains cards,dice, cleaning supplies, and otheruseful items.

12. Bank

This is the bank for the casino.There is a large lockbox here that con-tains 1d6 x 2,000 cp, 1d6 x 1,000 sp,1d6 x 1,000 ep, 841 stl and 36 pp.

J-M. Barrack RoomsThese rooms are empty by day and

filled with sleeping Kapaks by night.The room letters correspond to theassigned outside posts of the troopswithin. Each room contains six bedsand var ious c loth ing , armor , and

weapons. No treasure.

J *-M *. Leaders Rooms

These rooms are occupied by theBozak leaders of troops J, K, L, and

M, respectively.

JJ-MM. Bath Rooms

T h e s e r o o m s c o n t a i n p o o l s o fsoapy, dirty water and wet towels.

Level Seven

The puzzle on this level is to figureout how to get across the anti-magicalbarrier that nearly isolates Soths lairfrom the rest of the level. By mapping

the level it should be obvious thatthere is a hole between rooms 2, 7,and 8. A few passwall spells shouldeventually gain the players entry tothe cross-shaped hallway that leads(through the wall) to room 9.

Rooms 2 through 8 each contain ablack ebony coffin. In each coffin is avampire. The vampires come and goin gaseous form through the t inycracks in the walls of this level. Theyfeel quite safe from vampire-hunters,

81

but not from each other. So they hidetheir treasures in caves in the Dar-gaard Mountains, not in the keep.

Nothing is easy. The doors to thislevel are magical, to provide someentertainment.

Upon opening the trapped doors to

rooms 2 through 8, the party actuallysees a different room. Then when acharacter steps through the doorway,he is teleported to the room that theother PCs are looking into.

For example, opening the door toroom 6, the characters are actualllooking into room 8. And if they walkinto room 6, they are actually walking

into room 8. When they leave room8, they see the corridor outside room8. Nothing happens when the PCsexit a room, only when they enter it.However, PCs who enter room 8 (viaroom 6) and then walk out of room 8and look back into room 8 from thehall actually see the inside of room 6.If they left other party members inroom 8, these PCs will not be seen.Then if they attempt to reenter theroom they just left (room 8), theyreally walk into room 6.

The teleport code is as follows:Enter 2, go to 3Enter 3, go to 4Enter 4 , go to 5

Enter 5, go to 7

Enter 6, go to 8Enter 7, go to 2

Enter 8, go to 6

1. Pentagram Room

This room has a large pentagramon the floor. In the pentagram is astar. In the center of the star is asmall hole in the floor. There aref o u r d o o r s l e a d i n g o u t o f t h i sroom.

If the five-part rod is assembledand inserted into the hole in the pen-tagram, everything inside the penta-gram (including the rod) is teleportedto room 7 on Level 8.

All of the doors on this level aretrapped with magic missiles. When a



door is opened, each player gets hit bya magic missile-no saves, no chanceto disarm except by casting a dispelmagic on the door.

2. Vampire

Entering this room takes a playerinto room 3. You can only get to thisroom by entering room 7.

This vampire (hp 50) is alert. Assoon as the PCs enter the room, heopens his coffin and attacks.

This vampire has an ioun stonewhirling about his head. It absorbs 26spell levels before it burns out.

3. Vampire This room can only be entered by

entering room 2. Entering this roomvia the door takes you to room 4.

The vampire (h 48) in this roomhas a black, upside-down medallionof Mishakal on a black chain aroundhis neck. This magical item makeshim immune to holy symbols.

4. Vampire

This room can only be entered byentering room 3. Entering this roomvia the door takes you to room 5.

There are 50 bats (hp 2 each) hang-ing from the ceiling. The vampire (hp51) has no special attributes.

5. Vampire

This room can only be entered byentering room 4. Entering this roomvia the door takes you to room 7.

The vampire (hp 45) in this roomhas a ring of regeneration that aug-ments his regeneration per round

from 3 hp to 6 hp.

6. Vampire/ghost

This room can only be reached byentering room 8. Entering this roomvia the door will take you to room 8.

The vampire in this room has novampiric powers. He is a ghost (hp 58)and looks like a transparent vampire.

7. Vampire wears a ring of haste. The room has a

This room can only be reached bypermanentsilence spell cast on it.

entering room 5. Entering this room

via the door takes you to room 2. 9. Soths Lair The vampire (hp 49) in this room

cannot be turned or dispelled.I f S o t h h a s n o t a l r e a d y b e e n

destroyed, he is here. If he is nolonger in physical form, the PCs are

8. Vampire greeted by a magic mouth emanating

This room can only be reached byentering room 6. Entering this roomvia the door takes you to room 6.

The vampire (hp 46) in this room

from the back of Soths throne.

The room smells of vinegar. On the

back wall is a great black throne,

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just like the one in the entry hall, batwings and all. Sitting in the throne is a

death knight. A quick look aroundreveals a doorway at each far end of theroom.

So. Youve recovered the rod! Itsemanations are fouling my room. Pre-pare to fight your final battle! Sothwaves his hand and the door to hisright bangs open and an incrediblebehemoth lurches forward. Everyonemust roll a saving throw vs. paralyza-tion upon sighting the thing. Then ina flash, there is a wall of ice behindyou, sealing you in the room. Sothvanishes with an evil chuckle.

The room that the tarrasque (hp 300)came from is empty. The other room islocked and trapped with a poison needle(-30% to disarm). Inside the PCs findLord Soth standing, sword raised in frontof a strange black jagged gash in the air.This is the rift that must be closed. Sothorders the first player through the door todie by power word. He avoids the touchof the rod, which can inflict 10 points ofdamage to him. If he is struck twice bythe rod, he flees into the rift. (Remember

that he cannot be killed. ) Also rememberthat he can cast any magical spells.

If a character looks into the rift, he seesa great chromatic dragon. If the rod isscrewed together in the same order as theheads of the dragon, and then insertedinto the rift, the rift closes around therod, sucks it in, and then disappears.

If the rod is incorrectly assembled, theholder suffers 10 points of energy damageas the rod touches the rift. If the partydoesnt know what to do, have Sargonnas

appear after a while and say Takhisis isthe key!

Level eight

This odd level is the home of Jari-ket the lich. To get to Jarikets lair(room 7), you need a passwall spell.

When the characters have finishedthe level (except for room 7) and dontknow what to do, the evil god Sargon-nas (a consort of Takhisis) materializesin room 6 and begins to laugh. It is a

loud, booming laugh that echoesthrough the corridors until the partycomes to room 6 to investigate. So do

not read the boxed text in room 6 untilthe level has been completely cleared(except for room 7).

1. darkroom

T h i s r o o m h a s a p e r m a n e n t l yrenewing cont inual darkness spe l lcast on it. It is in the shape of a rodroom. There is even a pedestal in theroom with a crystal rod in it. But thecrystal rod is a false rod part. If it isscrewed onto any other part of therod, all connected pieces vanish and

magically return to their originalrooms. Thus, the crystal rod is foundback in its pedestal in the darkness.The false rod part is meant to foilplayers who have only four or fewerrod parts at this point. There is asecret door in the corner of this room.

A three-foot-wide hole in the ceil-ing leads to room 9) in Level 9.

2. Lightning

The locked door to this room has a jagged white line running diagonally

across it. Anyone who touches themetal doorknob receives a 2d6 pointelectrical jolt.

Inside this room, hovering near an

open window, is a small ball oflightning about one foot in diam-

eter, with lightning-like tentaclesthat zap in and out.

The th ing i s a quas i -e lementa l

lightning (hp 55). It has no treasure.

3. Potion RoomThere are four stone vats in thisroom. Each is eight feet in diame-ter and stands our feet up fromthe floor. Each vat is filled to thebrim with a thick substance. Ineach vat, just below the surface, aresix potion flasks with labels onthem. Unfortunately, the labels arenot readable through the goo.

Vat A is full of a black, oily, tar-like substance.

Vat B is full of an olive green,

pea soup substance.Vat C is full of white, creamy,

lotion-like substance.Vat D is full of a brown, thick,

muddy substance.

Vat A is a black pudding (hp 60).Floating in it are six potions of extraheal ing.

Vat B is an olive slime (hp 12).Floating in it are six potions of hero-ism.

Vat C is a white pudding (hp 57).

Floating in it are six potions of heal-ing.

Vat D contains brown pudding (hp70). Floating in it are six potions: twoof speed, two of gi an t st reng th , andtw o of invisibility

4. Beholder

There is a beholder (hp 60) in thisroom. It calls itself Lanjiri and offers

to let the party go if each charactergives it two magical items and onepotion. It says its treasure hoard was

s tolen by a cursed l i ch that l ivesbehind the wall down the hall. Notethat it can escape out the window.

5. Vargouilles

T h i s r o o m i s u n l o c k e d . U p o nopening the door, 15 bat-like crea-tures fly out into the hallway toattack you. They look like hideousflying heads with tentacles.

The vargouilles (hp 7 each) have no

treasure.

6. Sargonnas

Read this encounter only after thecharacters have explored the wholelevel (except for room 7).

You hear a loud crack, like a light-ning bolt, and then you hear loud,booming laughter coming fromthe hallway of this level.

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When the players reach area 6, read vs. undead. a scroll of protection fromthe following:

You see an eight-foot-tall, hand-some black male humanoid withtiny horns sprouting from his tem-ples. He glares at you with flamingred eyes and says, So youve cometo close the gap, eh? Well, well,well. Takhisis has been spendingfar too much time on this secondforay into this plane and far too lit-tle time with me! So I bring a giftand some information.

You must have all five parts oft h e r o d a n d m u s t s c r e w t h e m

together in the correct sequence forthe rod to work. I truly dont knowwhat the correct sequence is, but Ido know where the five parts arehidden. Youll need all five to getto the next level. The entry is in thelichs lair. You 11 also need this (hehands a wand to one of yours PCs)to reach the lich and get to Sothsi n n e r s a n c t u m . T h e r e a r e t e n

passwall charges on this wand. Thetrigger is the word xi t . Goodluck!

He disappears in smoke.

7. Lich

J a r i k e t i s h e r e i f h e w a s n tdestroyed earlier in the adventure.See the Exterior section (page 57)for his stats. He orders that the partyleave his room or face the conse-quences. He is already protected by amajor globe of invulnerability

There are four stone sarcophagi inthis room. They are labeled Mey-er, Keifer, Donie, and Gil-bert. Each large coffin is carvedwith demonic faces and bat-likegrotesqueries.

There is a ghost in each sarcopha-gus. Jarikets treasure is in the bottomof the sarcophagus labeled Keiferbeneath a thick layer of velvet. Itincludes 3,600 ep, 4,750 stl, 345 pp,30 gems worth 20,000 stl, 17 pieces ofjewelry worth 23 ,000 st l, a sword +4

demons, a pot ion of g iant control ,and a wand of wonder.

There is a pentagram inscribed onthe floor against the outside wall.In the center of this pentagram is astar. In the center of the star is around hole in the floor approxi-mately an inch and a half in diame-ter.

By screwing the f ive rod par tstogether and putting one end in thehole, all players within the penta-

gram will be teleported to room 1 onLevel 7. The rod teleports with them.

8. Skeletal Warrior

This room is occupied by a skeletalwarrior (hp 55) of high rank. Charac-ters below 6th level have to roll a suc-cessful saving throw vs. paralyzation

or flee in terror. In a centuries-old

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common tongue he says, Leave thisplace or you will die. He then blowsa whistle and turns invisible. Then, if

any of the nightmares on Level 10 arestill alive, within a minute the partysees a black horse hovering outsidethe window and then soaring away.The warrior is gone. The room con-tains nothing of value.

9. Skeletal Warrior

This room also contains a skeletalwarrior (hp 65) of high rank. Charac-ters below 6th level have to roll a suc-cessful saving throw vs. paralyzationor flee in fear. In an ancient tongue he

says, Prepare to die, mortals! andattacks.

Level Nine

This should be a terrifying levelthe players have to crawl through it!Torches are impractical in the three-foot-high crawlspace. Crawling char-acters suffer a -3 penalty to attacksand damage.

1. Entrance

At the bottom of the stairs is adoorway with no door. As you peerinside the doorway, you see thatthis level is filled with rock anddirt! A dirt ramp angles upward forabout 30 feet to a crawlspace that isonly three feet from the ceiling.

2. Nexus

The ramp leads up to this 40-foot-by-20-foot open area. This room isonly three fee t h igh . I t makes

everyone claustrophobic. There aref o u r o p e n i n g s ( o t h e r t h a n t h e

r a m p w a y ) l e a d i n g o u t o f t h i sroom.

Most characters have to crawl ontheir stomachs, dragging any back-packs or larger items (though kendermight be able to walk bent over).

3. ant Lion

A f t e r c r a w l i n g a b o u t 6 0 f e e t

through a dirty, insect-laden tun-nel, you come to a circular openingthat is deeper in the center thanaround the edges. You notice thatthe tunnel continues on across theroom.

As the first player enters the openarea, there is a 50% chance that hesl ides down to the center of thedepression. Players must roll eachround that they are in the area. Whenthis eventually happens, an ant lion(hp 43) bursts up out of the sand and

attempts to grab its prey in its hugemandibles.

The treasure is buried six feetbelow the center of the lair: 38 stl, 12pp, a shield +1, two normal longswords, and a ring of protection +2.

The tunnel on the other side of thelair goes nowhere.

4. Slicer Beetle

As you enter a 20-foot, circularopening, you see a room full of

bones, old rusted armor, and smallbeetles. You look across the open-ing and see that the tunnel con-tinues beyond. Suddenly, a large,smooth-sided red beetle burstsfrom the wall to attack with razorsharp mandibles.

This is a slicer beetle (hp 36). Thereis no treasure.

5. Rust Monsters

As you crawl into this area, you see

hundreds of bones in the chamber.The chamber twists to the left.

If the players poke around, theyfind a silver cross, a ring worth 10 stl,a bag of 75 sp, and a scroll with fivecure fight wound spells. At this point,the rust monsters (hp 25) attack.

6. Zombies

As you crawl into this opening, you

find it clear of bones and debrisThe floor is smooth and sandy.

As soon as the lead player reachesthe other side of this chamber, zom-bies (hp 12 each) sprout up from theground to attack the players. Eachplayer is attacked by two zombies.

7. gambados

There is a hole in the center of this

dead-end chamber. No sound canbe heard coming from the hole.

Then an e ight - inch- long roachcrawls out of the hole and thengoes back in, fleeing the light.

In the hole are two gambados. Asthe party approaches the hole, twoskull-headed gambados (hp 20 each)pop up to stare at the lead players.

Treasure consists of 34 cp, 23 sp, 16stl, and gaunt lets of ogre power.

8. death Beetle

As you approach the opening inthis part of the tunnel, you see theground shudder in the clearingahead of you. Then you hear a loudsound that pierces your ears withsonic-induced pain. Through thepain you see a giant death watchbeetle scuttling forward, mandi-bles gleaming.

Each character must roll a savingthrow vs. death magic.

There is no treasure.

9. Necrophidius

This tunnel slowly descends andheightens so that a human canstand up by the time the tunnelopens into a large room with open-ings to the right and left. There isnothing menacing in sight.

This is the lair of the necrophidius(hp 12) that was put here to guard the

85



entrance to Level 8. If the necrophi-dius surprises the party, if does itsDance o Death to hypnotize any par-

ty member who does not roll a suc-cessful saving throw vs. spell.

Suddenly a large skeletal snake jumps out of the corr idor on theright and snaps its fangs at you.Then it does a weird snake dancethat holds you entranced.

There is another crawlspace at theend of the right corridor. It leads to adark hole in a stone floor. The holeleads down to room 1 on Level 8.

Level ten

Do not forget the obliviax mossthat grows on the stairs up to this

level! This level serves as the stable forthe 14 nightmares (hp 40 each) thatare ridden by Soth and his 13 war-riors. The hallways are patrolled by sixhellhounds (hp 35 each).

Upon opening the door, you arepounced on by six snarling blackdogs with flaming jaws!

1. Store Room

This room contains saddles, horsearmor, horse food, dog food, etc.

2. Nightmares

T h e s e r o o m s e a c h c o n t a i n o n enightmare (hp 40 each).

Inside the very large unlocked door

to this room is a very large, gauntblack horse with glowing red eyes,

f l a m i n g o r a n g e n o s t r i l s , a n dhooves that burn like embers.

Level Eleven

Dont forget the obliviax moss thatgrows over the steps up to this level.

The outer door to this level has asymbol of pain on it. Inside is a halll eading to a spi ra l s ta i rcase thatascends and descends from it. Thereare two doors on each side of the hall.

1. Warrior


has a symbol of discord on it. Inside isa skeletal warrior (hp 61). It walksthrough the wall to room 2 like aghost. If the PCs search for 20 min-utes, they find a hollow bed post withan ivory scroll tube in it. There is amagical scroll inside. The spells onthe scroll are meteor swarm, clone,

po we r wo rd stu n, and stone to flesh.

2. Warrior

The door to this room is locked andhas a symbol o f d iscord on i t . The

warrior from room 1 may be here.(There is an illusionary wall betweenthe two rooms. ) This room is occu-pied by a skeletal warrior (hp 64) whochecks the size of the party and thenwalks through the wall to room 1. Ifthe warrior from room 1 is here, thenthe two of them stay and fight.

There is a locked chest in the cor-ner. The chest is trapped with a poi-son gas trap; all characters must rollsaving throws vs. poison at a -3 pen-alty or lose half their hit points. The

chest contains 2,000 stl and a cursedring. The player who puts it on isreduced in size to six inches tall. Thering cannot be removed except by aremove curse spell . Damage causedby this tiny character is reduced to hisweapons magical pluses only.

3. Warrior

The door to this room is locked andhas a symbol o f hopelessness on i t .Inside is a skeletal warrior (h 62) whoblasts them with his ring of frost. His

treasure is hidden in the wall under along piece of stone that serves as thewindow sill. It includes a pouch thatconta ins 15 ,000 s t l worth of rareg e m s , a r i n g o f d e l u s i o n , a b a g o f devouring, a f lask o f curses, and ahorn of bubbles .

4. Warrior


has a symbol of insanity on it. Insideis a skeletal warrior (hp 58) who is notinterested in fighting a large party byhimself. So he will pick up a small sil-ver coffer and walk through the wallto room 3. If he is followed, he goesoutside and climbs the wall to Level10, where he gets on his nightmareand rides away.

Level twelve

There is a fog giant living on thislevel. He controls the evil fog that

plagues the countryside. He does thiswith the aid of a giant-sized ring of fog control that he won from a cloudgiant in a bad breath contest.

1. giant room

When you reach the top of thestairs, you are in a huge roundroom with a 30-foot-high ceiling.The smell of rotting meat pervadesthe room, as you see the huge,half-eaten carcass of a giant winged

creature lying against the wall .There are two 20-foot-long bedsbeside the stairwell and a 12-foot-long ornately carved sword leaningup against the wall next to a 20-foot-tall door.

The door is not latched shut, so ifeveryone pushes on it, it might move just a crack so that the players can getoutside.

2. fog giant

Outside on the great round view-ing deck is a fog giant (hp 100). Heattacks intruders at once.

The giants treasure is a 10,000-stldiamond that is embedded in an ear-ring that weighs 100 lbs.

Going out the door, and moving allthe way around to the back of thetower, there is a symbol of Soth on thewall. It teleports each character whotouches it to Rod Room 5 on Level 4.

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This is a short (but very deadly)adventure for 5-7 characters, levels 6-8.

Of all the cities of Ansalon, the onethat fared best through the dark yearsof the War of the Lance was Palan-thus . Whi le Kalaman endured i tssiege, Tarsis suffered its conquest, andSanction, Neraka, and Flotsam allsquirmed under the boot of occupy-i n g D r a g o n a r m i e s , P a l a n t h u sremained free. Untouched by death,Palanthus remained a loof to thewar-indeed, most of the residentsstill do not know how close they cameto disaster when the Blue Dragonar-my attempted to invade through themountains. Only the heroism andsacrifice of the Knights of Solamnia,who s tood and d ied a t the HighClerists Tower, saved the city fromthe invaders sword.

But of all this, Palanthians remainby and large ignorant. The commonattitude is that the city was sparedbecause it deserved to be spared. Thelogical extension of this thought is

that the other cities got what theydeserved.Naturally, Palanthians are not well

liked among the other folk of Krynn.They still remain aloof in their arro-gance, convinced that they are thepeople destined to carry civilizationinto its next century-to save the cul-ture and heritage of Krynn that theother nations so foolishly would havesquandered.

In the context of this adventure,the Palanthians currently have a rath-er embarrassing problem. It seems

that a huge, ancient red dragon bythe name of Flagratius has taken upresidence in a dormant volcano over-looking the very heart of the city! ThePalanthians, of course, know that

they dont deserve this scourge, andthis shakes their faith in the overallscheme of things. Also, the dragon isprone to performing acts that tend totarnish the citys progressive image.

After all, its hard to convince peo-ple that your city is the harbinger offuture civilization and culture when

88

theres a fire-breathing dragon tear-ing through your marketplace, seiz-ing maidens, and toasting the fewfighters bold enough to try to stop it.

So Palanthus needs help. The callhas gone out, across the land: Dra-gonslayers needed, short hours, goodpay. Many brave heroes have alreadyanswered the summons , and th ismuch has proven true: The hourshave been very short , about longenough to get into the volcano, findthe dragon , and ge t breathed on .Consequently, the reward offered has

gone up, but fewer and fewer heroeshave been showing up to attempt thedeed.

Palanthuss image as an unscathedand beautiful city is suffering, asm o r e a n d m o r e b u i l d i n g s g e ttorched, and the prime of youngwomanhood ge ts snatched away,invited to the volcano for dinner-orworse.

The going rate is up to 50,000 stl.T h e y r e l o o k i n g f o r a f e w g o o dadventurers-are you up for the job?



Starting Off

Word has spread throughout Ansa-

on of the little problem being sufferedby Palanthus. In most corners of theand, of course, the news is greeted

with r im humorIt s about t imethose foppish dandies got a taste of thereal world is a common sentiment.

Because the dragon is such com-mon knowledge, the PCs can hearabout him (and the reward, of course)ust about anywhere. I f they are

already in town, it can be effective tohave them witness a raid.

When the PCs arrive in town, and

et it be known they are prepared toclaim the reward and deal with thedragon, they are courted by Palan-thian nobility. They are wined anddined in the best possible style, andhoused in the finest of the privatemanors around the fringes of the city.For one night.

After this, they are expected to pro-duce results. The most recent raid isdescribed in gory detail, and can beassumed to have occurred 1d6 daysbefore the characters arrival in Palan-thus (or their offer to take the job).

flagratius, the dragon

Huge, Ancient Red Dragon

A C : - 1Move: 3/24Hit Dice: 11hit points: 88% in lair: (see below)# Attacks: 3Damage/Attack: 1d8/1d8/3d10Special Attacks: Breath weapon and

spellsAlignment: Chaotic EvilSize: 50 longChance of Sleeping: 20%

Spells:

1st Level: charm person, read magic2nd Level: darkness 15 radius, magic

m o u t h3rd Level: dispel magic, hold person4th Level: fu mb le , po ly mo rp h oth er

Of course, he speaks too.Flagratius has lived a long, rich life,

full of the kinds of things dragons

love. (I dont have to go into details,do I?) Never in all those years has hehad as much evil fun as since he hastaken residence here in Dragon Peak.Not only are the Palanthians incredi-bly easy to terrorize, but they are farand away the best-fed humans ever toserve as his food supply. In short,things have never been better.

But Flagratius hasnt lived to thisripe old age by being careless andinattentive. He knows that the Palan-thians are eager to be rid of him, andhe has taken some precautions to seethat they dont get their wish. Hislair, for example, is designed to weedout the less adept adventurers beforethey ever reach the dragons chamber.Those who find him there have tocontend not only with Flagratius, butwith his servants as well.

The dragon a lways leaves andenters his lair by night, except whenreturning from a raid upon Palanthusitself , so the humans in the valleyhave no way to keep t rack of h i shours. In fact, he leaves the lair once

every 10 days, and is gone for 1d4days, flying over western Ansalon.Every fortnight or so he stages anotherraid on the city returning with a cap-tive whom he keeps alive for 1d6 daysbefore hunger gets the best of him.

Like all great dragons, Flagratiusloves flattery and witty conversation.If he feels he has the upper hand overintruders, he postpones the coup de

gr ac e indefinitely, as long as theykeep him entertained with compli-ments and humor.

the Volcano

This formerly nameless mountain(now, of course, its called DragonPeak) is one of the smaller mountainsthat fringe Palanthus on three sides.It lies to the west of the city, and itssummit is a mere four hours walkfrom the city limits.

The slopes are barren and rocky,but not difficult to climbno thiev-

ing skills or Climbing checks are nec-essary to reach the crest. The caldera isa narrow shaft, about 100 feet across

at the summit but tapering to a muchnarrower tunnel below.

The dragon has not posted any ofhis minions outside of the lair, partlyout of arrogance and partly becauset h e y w o u l d b e v u l n e r a b l e t o t h etroops of Palanthus.

1. the Shaft

The volcano has long been dor-mant, but wisps of steam and sul-phur gasses still drift upward from

the long shaft. The walls are roughand rocky and very steep. The bot-tom of the shaft is invisible in the

darkness below, but the openingplummets at least 100 feet beforelack of l ight blocks any furtherinspection.

The shaft actually plummets 300feet, growing narrower all the waydown until it ends when the wallsmeet in the center. Along the way aretwo tunnel mouths leading into the

mountain. The first of these, leadingto area 2, is about halfway down theshaft. The other, to area 4, lies within10 feet of the bottom.

Though the walls do not make forextremely difficult climbing, charac-ters must have thieving skills, makeClimbing checks, or use a rope inorder to have a chance of descendingsafely. They also have to contend withthe first of the dragons minions, awyvern .

This creature lurks just inside theupper of the two tunnel mouths. It

waits until intruders get to within 40feet or so of its tunnel mouth, andthen it emerges, striving to attack

characters on the wall with its stingerand its bite. Any character struckwhi le on the wal l must make animmediate Dexterity check or fall.

Because of the cramped confines ofthe tunnel, the wyvern cannot makesustained attacks. Instead, it emergesand attacks immediately, and thensoars upward for a round, turns and

89



dives for another round, and attacksagain. Thus, it essentially attacks onlyone round out of every three.

2. gorgeous grotto

A glittering array of stalactites andstalagmites grace this chamber,which is illuminated by a yellowishphosphorescence emanating fromthe rocks themselves. In several plac-es the rock formations have met toform giant pillars, but most of thecavern is filled with the pointedcolumns rising from the floor orhanging from the ceiling like gigan-

tic fangs.

A number of the stalactites on theceiling are actually piercers, waitingfor prey to pass beneath them. Theyare indistinguishable from real rockformations.

In normal circumstances a piercersurprises its prey 95% of the time. Ifthe characters suspect the existence ofthese monsters, however, and watchthe ceiling as they walk, there is only a50% chance that a piercer surprises

them. In crossing the chamber, eachcharacter passes beneath 1d4+1 pierc-ers .

Of course, characters who are look-ing up cannot watch where they step,which brings us to the second hazardin this grotto-the yellow phospho-rescence actually emanates from amagical type of yellow mold. Thisdeadly fungus reacts like normal yel-low mold in all respects; the onlyeffect of the magic is the glow thatilluminates the chamber. Patches ofthe mold are all over. There is a 50%

chance, per character, that a charactersteps in yellow mold if he decides towatch the ceiling.

The only exit from this chamber is asecret door that Flagratius ordered acaptured stonemason to create for him.It is exactly opposite the entrance, andis opened by twisting a small stalagmiteon the floor next to the door.

Characters passing through the doornotice a reddish glow down the corridorto their right (area 6) and hear a faint

droning or buzzing noise from thechamber to their left (area 3).

3. Beehive

This chamber has a dank, earthysmell, very unlike the rock passagesthroughout the rest of the lair. Thebuzzing s o u n d h a s c e a s e d ,replaced by a much quieter crack-ling, as if someone is crumpling asheet of parchment.

If the party has light of 40-foot range

or greater, they can see the ceiling ofthis chamber. (Infravision also enables

this.) There they note a number oflarge, bulb-like objects hanging from

the rock itself. The outside of the bulbsseems to be covered with damp mud.

These bulbs are the nests of eightgiant wasps, which together withtheir larvae have claimed this room astheir own. The wasps buzz aroundthe chamber when no one is here, butat the first sound of intrusion theyretreat to their nests-the cause of therustling sound as the party enters theroom. If the PCs try to pass through

the room, the wasps attack them inthe center of the chamber.

4. enchanted fall

A brilliant shower of water tum-bles across the far wal l of th i schamber. Hues of orange, red,blue, green-all the colors of ther a i n b o w - p o u r i n a g r a c e f u l

stream across the wall, disappear-ing through a hole in the floor. Thewater casts its own illumination,fil l ing the room with light thatspills into the corridor beyond.

From a shadowy niche to theright of the fall, a hideous figuremoves forward. I t is a bulbous

floating mass, wi th a wr i th ingseries of tentacles sprouting like anobscene growth of hair atop it.One great, gleaming eye fixes abaleful glare on the entrance to thechamber.

The monster is a gas spore, but it is90% likely that the thing is mistakenfor a beholder. It moves toward the

PCs as quickly as it can, for it seeks totouch one of them, sacrificing its lifein order to infect that character withits insidious, and potentially fatal,rhizomes.

Any character so infected becomesnauseous and fatigued. All abilityscores are reduced to 1/2 of normal,rounded down. If a cure disease spellis not cast upon the character within24 hours, death results.

If the PCs enter the room, they see,inscribed on the wall behind the gas

spore, the words Flagratius Invitus.This is a password they can use tobypass the iron golem in area 8.

Now the nice part. The waterfall isa fountain of enchanted water withpotent magical properties. It has noeffect upon living creatures, but hasthe ability to enchant nonmagicalitems. If a detect magic spell is used,the fountain radiates powerful magic.

If a mundane weapon, shield, orpiece of armor is placed under thew a t e r a n d i m m e r s e d , i t b e c o m e senchanted. Roll 1d10 on the follow-

ing table to determine the nature ofthe blessing:

Magic Fountain Effects

D10 Roll Effect1-4 + 1

5-7 + 2

8-9 + 310 + 4

If the object immersed is a contain-er of wine, water, or other liquid, thestuff becomes a pot ion of heal ing.

F o o d o f a b r e a d o r g r a i n n a t u r ebecomes enchanted such that it servesas a potion of speed, while food of am e a t o r d a i r y n a t u r e b e c o m e s a

potion of invisibi lity The latter cate-gory includes iron rations.

The fountain has enough enchant-m e n t t o w o r k o n e i g h t d i f f e r e n ti t e m s , w i t h e a c h d o s e o f p o t i o ncounting as one item.

There is a catch, of course. If ani tem that i s a l ready enchanted i s

91



placed under the fountain, the itemexplodes and inflicts 3d6 points ofdamage upon every character within

10 feet, and 1d6 points on every othercharacter in the chamber.

5. fast track to death

A large portion of the floor here hasbeen made into a slide trap. It issprung by the weight of one or morecharacters within 5 feet of the middleof the trap.

The trapdoor is in four sections thatmeet in the middle of the trap. Eachof these sections is a triangle 20 feetwide at the outside (hinged) edge ofthe trap, and 10 feet long from thebase of the triangle to the point.

When the trap is sprung, all char-

acters upon it, except those at the out-s i d e e d g e , a u t o m a t i c a l l y f a l l i n .Those near the edges are allowed aDexterity check, modified by the DMfor their distance from the center ofthe trap. Those succeeding manage tograb the edge and hang on, whilethose failing go down the slide withthe rest of the PCs.

The slide itself is a greased shaft

that plummets into the heart of thedragons lair. Characters plopping outthe low end find themselves landingin front of the dragons bed (in area9), automatically waking him if heshould happen to be asleep. Goodluck from here on in!

The trap does not get reset for sometime after being sprung, so if the playersdo discover it, and return to the area,the trapdoors are still hanging down.The trap spans the corridor, leaving nospace to walk around the edges.

6. Little flagrants

A rich crimson glow fills this roomand spills along the corridor lead-ing here. The glow brightens andthen dies away, only to brightenonce again. A wash of warm airfloats up the passageway.

The corridor opens into a vastcavern. A passage forms a ledge

along the cavern wall, connecting thetunnel to another corridor on the farside. Below, hundreds of feet down ayawning pit, roaring fires bum and asmall pond of lava seethes and bub-bles. Overhead, a ceiling coveredwith stalactites flickers in shadow asthe fires surge and die.

This chamber is the lair of one of Fla-gratiuss offspring, little Flagrantis.This cute tyke is now a average youngadult red dragon. Occasionally Flagra-tius allows his youngster to share in theprey and other spoils of a raid.

flagrantsYoung adult red dragon

A C : - 1Move: 9 124Hit Dice: 10hit points: 40# Attacks: 3Damage/Attack: 1d8/1d8/3d10Special Attacks: Fiery BreathAlignment: Chaotic EvilSize: PDB * (25 ft. long)

* Pretty Darn Big

This one doesnt use magic, but hespeaks.

Flagrantis is a foppish youngdragon, more concerned with appear-ances, treasures, and trinkets than heis with combat. In fact, he is a greatcoward, even for a dragon. He speakswith a lisp, and is very sensitive aboutthis characteristic-if anyone insultshim or mocks him he forgets his doc-ile nature and attacks.

of the mountain, but he knows this

will never happen as long as the oldman is around. Because of this moti-vation, he might be willing to help agroup of PCs overcome his patriarch,

if a plan was presented that offeredlittle risk for Flagrantis and the lionsportion of Flagratiuss treasure.

He desires, very much, to be king

Flagrantis lies on a high ledge, acrossthe cavern from the passageway and wellabove the ledge. He cannot be seenfrom the path, unless he raises his head

to talk. (In which case only his head isvisible). If he is awake, or if intrudersmake a loud noise and awaken him, he

calls attention to himself with a loudAhem. He enjoys conversation, andintimidation-he makes all kinds ofthreats about the fate he will dish out tothe characters if they dont help himout. Then he tries to extort cash or trea-sure from them, in return for their lives.

Play this dragon as a real dandy, not atough customer like his daddy While

the PCs might not be certain this is notFlagratius, Flagrantiss character shouldcertainly make them wonder if theyvecome to the wrong lair. If any character

gets a look at Flagrantiss full length, herealizes for certain that this is not a hugeancient dragon.

If Flagrantis is subdued, bribed, orotherwise coerced into giving infor-mat ion to the PCs , he te l l s themabout the t rap a t area 5 and the

password to neutralize the iron golemin area 8 (Flagratius Invitus).

Flagrantis has little real treasure ofhis own, aside from thousands of sil-ver, copper, and gold coins strewnacross his ledge. Among the coins area bag of holding, a fi gu rin e of wo n-drous power (a serpentine owl), a ringof fire resistance, and a spear +3.

thing ever becomes necessary.

Near the bottom of the fiery pit,inv is ib le in the f lame and smokeunless a character makes a studiedattempt to observe down there andpasses an Intelligence check (vs. ½

his Intelligence score), is a wide tun-nel mouth. This connects to a longpassage leading to Flagratiuss lair,and serves as his back door and escapehatch in the unlikely event that such a

7. Pardon Me

The corridor winds steeply down-ward, fluctuating in width from 40feet or more to less than 10 feetwide. The floor is smooth, but theceiling is marked with occasional sta-lactites. A dull roaring can be heardin the distance.

92



Once every turn, an explosion of hot,poisonous gasses erupts from the bowelsof the volcano, racing upward along this

pair of corridors until it dissipates in area6 and up the chimney-like shaft of 7A,where it collects in a vast chamber andslowly filters through the rock.

There are no effects from the gaseither in area 6 or in area 7A. Nor arethese bursts concentrated enough toaffect anyone in area 8. Between theseareas, however, any characters in thecorridors of area 7 feel the brunt ofthe gas at ten-minute intervals.

To determine when an explosionoccurs, roll 1d10 when the PCs firstenter the area of effect. That many

rounds later, a blast of gas erupts pastthem. (It is possible for fast-movingparties to pass through the area ofeffect in less than a turn, and miss theeruption altogether.)

The round before the gas blast, thePCs hear a roar ing and rumbl ing

sound, and their ears pop from thesuddenly changing air pressure. Anycharacters with the presence of mindto take a deep breath and hold itavoid the poison gas effects, thoughall are affected by the heat.

Characters caught in the rush of hotgas suffer 2d6 points of fire damage,although a successful saving throw vs.breath weapon reduces this to half. Inaddition, characters who have not heldtheir breath inhale the noxious stuff and suffer a further 2d6 points of dam-age. These characters also must make aConstitution check. Failure means that

hey are immobilized by coughing,hoking, gagging, and other fun activi-ies for 1d10 rounds.

8. Iron guardian

This is a chamber of smoke and fire.Blazing gouts of orange flame eruptfrom two deep pits, scorching theceiling and sending clouds of smokerolling in all directions. A heavyhaze lingers in the air, obscuringvision, stinging eyes, and driftinglazily through the thick atmosphere.

During the round before the gas gets

sent into area 7, the two pits shown inthis room erupt with a solid column ofb luish orange f lame. Noise roars

through the room at this time, and fortwo rounds afterward smoke fills the airso thickly that visibility is limited to 20feet.

The room actually consists of threelarge chambers. One of these is theconnecting passage to the rest of thecaverns. The second is a dead-endpassage, with an approach over a haz-

ardous lo-foot-wide rock bridge. Tothe left and right of the bridge areyawning chasms filled with bubblinglava and surging gasses, offering cer-

tain death to those who fall in.

The third passage from the room isthe one that leads to the dragons lair.Before anyone can pass, however,they must cope with the guardian ofthis pathway: a massive iron golem(marked with an X on the map).

The golem attacks and tries to kill

anyone trying to pass it, unless theintruder speaks the passwords: Fla-gratius Invitus.

9. Lair of the dragon

A winding cavern twists back intothe darkness. It is huge-the roof iseasily 50 or 60 feet above the roughfloor. Fiery pits of lava or burning oilseem to be scat tered randomlyaround it, giving the whole place asinister, fiery glob. Long spires dan-gle from the ceiling, while othersreach upward from the floor.

I n t h e d i s t a n c e , a m o n g t h eshadows, gleams a hint of silverand gold. The floor is rough, andwalking isnt easy. On the other

hand, many rock formations offersome scant protection and cover.

The chamber of Flagratius is a long

cavern, replete with stalactites, stalag-mites, and pools of lava. The place iswell lit by underground standards,though the niches and alcoves along the

walls remain in perpetual shadow.The floor is indeed quite rough,

and characters attempting to remainconcealed can move within 70-120

feet of the dragon (marked with the F o n t h e m a p ) b e f o r e b e i n gnoticed. If Flagratius happens to be

asleep, they can get even closer, buthave the players roll Dexterity checksas the PCs approach the s leepingdragon. Failure means one stumblesor clanks a weapon or makes someother noise that awakens the dragon.

Also, if the PCs fought the irongolem, Flagratius is awake and alert.

The locations marked T on themap are treasure piles. Since Flagra-tius has assembled such a large horde,he is forced to keep it in several piles.The one next to his bed is the largest,with the others representing the less

valuable portions of his holdings.Characters exploring the treasure

pile closest to the cavern entrance can

do so without attracting the attentionof the dragon. Any attempt to touchthe two piles in the middle of thec a v e r n i s n o t i c e d b y F l a g r a t i u s ,however-the clinking of a coin or ashifting pattern of reflection alerts him.

The treasure pile closest to area 8contains the usual assortment of gold,silver, and steel coins, with perhaps25,000 stl worth of gems scattered

a m o n g t h e m . I f c h a r a c t e r s s i f tthrough the pile they find a wand of frost near the bottom.

The piles in the middle of the roomcontain similar values in coins andgems. The one to the north also con-tains a polymorph self potion, while tothe south PCs can f ind a potion of speed. Each bottle has two doses, butremember that any attempt to disturbthese piles is noticed by Flagratius.

If Flagratius has a living captive inhere, she is in the cage marked C.

The great pile of treasure beneaththe dragon contains 100,000 stl valuein coins, with a total of over 500,000silver, copper, and steel coins. (Thatsa b o u t 2 5 t o n s ) . T h e r e s a n o t h e r50,000 stl in gems, and the followingmagical items: a medallion of ESP along sword of defending +4, a staff-o f power, a ring of protect ion +3, aclerical scrol l of heal , t rue seeing,Lower water, cure critical wounds, an dregeneration .

93



Combined Monster Statistics Chart

Name AC

Ant Lion 2Banshee 0

Basidirond 4

Basilisk 4

Bat 8Bear, Grizzly 6

Bee 6Beetle, Death Watch 3

Slicer 3Beholder 0/2/7

Bully (Carlotti. etc.) 9Carrion Crawler

Choke CreeperCoati 8

Cockatrice

3/7615

6354

5

3

Crypt ThingDisenchanter

Displacer BeastDopplegangers

DracoliskDraconian

Aurak 0

Baaz 4

Bozak 2

Kapak 4Sivak 1

Drelbs 2

Eagle, Golden 7Eel, Giant 6

Elemental, Fire 2Eye of Fear

and FlameGambadoGas Spore 9GhastGhostGhoul

Ghoul, SheetGiant, FogGoat, Mountain

GoldbugGolem, FleshGolem, Iron

Gorgon

Gray OozeGreen SlimeGrisling

2

6

40/8

6

21

7

99

32

899

MV

9[1]15

66

2412

9/30126

31212

½

96/18

1212

159

9/15

156/[15]/186[15]/186/[15]/186/[15]/18

63/48

9

12

912

315

99915151

86

12

1012

HD hp #AT DMG SA

8 43 1 5d4 Y7 39 1 1d8 Y

5 + 5 32 1 2d4 Y6 + 1 31 1 1d10 Gaze

¼ 2 1 1 N

5 + 5 35 3 1d6/1d6/1d8 Hug3 + 1 10 1 1d3 + poison N

9 50 1 3d4 Y6 3 6 1 2d8 Y10 60 1 2d4 Y2 8 1 1d4 N

3 + 1 14 8 Paralysis N25 100 2 or 6 1d4 Y1 3 1 1 N5 30 1 1d3 Y6 4 1 1 1d8 Y5 30 1 Spc Y6 36 2 2d4/2d4 N4 24 1 1d12 Y

7 + 3 48 3 1d6/1d6/3d4 Y

8 50 2 o r 1 1d8+2(x2) Spell2

41 2 2 o r 1 1d4 or weap. N24 2 or 1 1d4 or weap. Spell

3 18 1 1d4 Poison6 31 3 1d6/1d6/2d6 N

5 + 3 29 1 3d4 Y4 25 3 1d6/1d6/2d6 Dive

5 30 1 3d6 N

16 100 1 3d8 Y

12 80 Nil Nil Y

4 20 3 1d8/1d4/1d4 N 1 14 22 3

Special Y

1d4/1d4/1d8 Y10 52 1 Age 10-40 yrs Y

2 104 + 2 28

3 1d3/1d3/1d6 Paralysis

3 1d3/1d3/1d6 Y

14 100 1 4d6 Y

1 + 2 6 1 1d3 Charge

1 3 1 1d4 Y8 40 2 2d8/2d8 Y

16 80 1 4d10 Y8 48 1 2d6 Y

3 + 3 19 1 2d8 Y2 12 Nil Nil N

7 35 1 1d4 or spell Spell

SD

NYYNNN

NY

NYNN

YN

NYY

YYN

+4 SaveN

+2 SaveAcid

+2 Save

YYN

Y

YN

YYYYY

YN

NYY

N

YNilY

A L

NC E

N(E)N

NN

NNNLENN

NNNNN

NNCE

LELE(C)LE

L EN E

N(E)NNN

CECNNCELECE

CENN

NNNN

NNN

THAC0

12

13131320

131612

13102016

720

151315131513

BOOK

MMII-10MMI-50MMII-15MMI-8MMII-15MMI-9

MMII-17MMII-17MMII-17MMI-10MMI-69MMI-13

MMII-25

MMI-15FF-21

FF27MMI-28MMI-29MMII-55

12 DL14-1516 DL14-16

15 DL14-16

16 DLl4-16

13 DL14-15

15 MMII-6016 MMI-36

15 MMI-36

7 MMI-38

Nil

15Nil

151016

15818

1912

712

16

16

FF-35FF-41MMI-42MMI-43MMI-43MMI-43

FF-78FF-42MMII-70

FF-46MMI-48

MM-48MMI-49

MMI-49MMI-49PH-20

94




Name MV H D

uardian Daemon 9 8 5 0 3 Y Y N 12 FF-49Haunt 0 4 5 -2 Dex

Hellhound 4

HobgoblinLeader

HuecuvaHuman

FishermanPirateShepherd

Slaveydra

nvisible Stalker Y

yrie 5 6/18 4 1

acedonamiaizard Man

Magpie (Aghar) 7 2 2

Manticore 3 9Medusa 5

MinotaurEliteGuardShaman

MissivaMobatMold, YellowMountain LionMummy 3 35

aga, Spiritecrophidius 2 2 12

ightmarebliviaxgrepossum

tyughenanggalan

ercer 3

orcupine 6 3 2 6 5 N N N

udding, Black 6 3d8

Brown 5

White

A C

1

5

3

3

98

9105

3

2

3

5

4

63

5610

7/10

96

4

- 41057

3

10/8

hp #AT DMG SA S D A L T H A C 0 B O O K

6 6 3 1

1d6/1d12/1d12YY

Y Any 13 MMII- 7412 6 35 1 1d10 Y LE 13 MMI-519 1 + 1 6 1 1d8 N N LE 18 MMI-52

9 2 + 2 13 1 1d8 N N LE 16 MMI-529 2 10 1 1d6 Disease Y CE 16 FF-51

12 1 4 1 1d4 N N N12 2 8 1 1d6 N N N12 1 4 1 1d4 N N N12 1 4 1 1d2 N N N

9 5 40 5 1d6 N N N12 8 46 1 4d4 Y N

25

3

1d6 or 1d8 Spell N N9 2 13 1d3/1d3/1d6 Paralysis Y CE24 9 60 1 1d4 Spell N CE6 2 + 1 12 3 1d2/1d2/1d8 Y N N12

6 + 3

7

3

1d4 N Y CN

12/18 1d3/1d3/1d8 N N LE

9 6 40 1 1d4 Gaze N LE12 6 + 3 38 2 Weapon/2d4 or 1d4 N Y CE

9 6 + 3 51 2 Weapon/2d6 or 1d8 N Y CE12 6 + 3 43 2 Weapon/2d4 or 1d6 N Y CE12 6 + 3 34 2 2d4 or 1d4/1d10 + 1 Spell N CE12

69 1 by weapon B a c k s t a b N N C

3/15 34 1 2d4 Y Y N(E)0 Nil Nil 1 1d8 Y N15 3 + 1 20 3 1d3/1d3/1d6 Claws Y N6 6 + 3

60

1 1d12 Fear Y LE

12 101

1d3 Spell N CE96 + 6 40

1 1d8 Paralysis Y N15/36 3 2 d 4 / 2 d 4 + 2 / 2 d 4 + 2 Y Y N(E)

Nil ¼ 2 Nil Nil Y Y NE

9 4 + 1 25 1 1d10 N N CE3 2 6 1 1d3 Y N N6 8 37 1 1d8/1ds/1d4+1 Y Y N

12/12 9 + 2 1 71 or 20 1 1d6+2 or 1d6 Y Y LEor 4

1 3 14 1 3d6 Y N N

6 10 6 0 51d4 (quills)

Y Y N6 11 70 1 5d4 Y Y N

20202020

1512

151612

1616

13131312

131320

13Nil16

13

1016

13Nil

151612

8

16 MMI-7816 -

10 MMI-1010 MMII-102

MMI-69

MMI-67MMI-69MMI-69MMI-53

MMI-55WoK-7MMI-43MMI-59MMI-62DL14-17

MMI-65MMI-66MMI-71MMI-71MMI-71MMI-71

PH-27MMII-15MMI-71MMI-61MMI-72

MMI-72FF-67MMI-74MMII-96MMI-75-

MMI-77

FF-71

8 9 9 57 1 4d8 Y Y N 12 MMII-102

95




Name A C MV HD hp #AT DMG SA SD AL

Quasi-Elem.Lightning 2 18 9 55 1 1 d6 + 9 Y Y NRust Monster 2 18 5 25 2 Nil Y N NSandman 3 9 4 24 Nil Nil Sleep Y N(E)Scrag 2 3//12 6 + 1 2 45 3 1d4/1d4/1d8+8 Y Regen CESea Dragon 0 3//19 12 60 3 1d12/1d12/3d12 Y N NShadow 7 12 3 + 3 19 1 1d4+1 Y Y CE

Sheet Phantom 3 6 3Skeletal Warrior 2 2 9 + 6

1 5 1 1d4 Y N CE60 2 1d8+6 Y Y NE

Skeleton 7 12 1 5 1 1d6 N Y N

Slime, Olive 9 0 2+2 12 Nil Nil Y Y NSon of Kyuss 10 9 4 22 1 1d8 Y Y CE

Spectre 2 15/30 7 + 3 39 1 1d8 Y Y LEStoroper 0 1 6 31 1 1d10 Y Y CE

Stunjelly 8

4

3 4 23 1 1d8 Y N N

Sussurus 15 8 50 2 1d8/1d8 Y Y NSymbiotic Jelly 8 1 66 10 Nil Nil Y Y NTarrasque - 3 9 6 0 300 6 1d12/1d12/2d12/5d10/ Y Y N

1d10/1d10Tentamorts 3/1 1 8 8 2 1d6/1d6 Y N NTrapper 3 3 12 62 4 + 4 + A C Y Y NTroglodyte 5

4

12 2 12 3 1d3/1d3/1d4+1 Y Y CE

Troll 12 6+6 39 3 2 d6 / 1 d4 + 4 / 1 d4 + 4 Y Y CEVampire 1 12/18 8 + 3 50 1 1d6+4 Y Y CEVargouiIIe 8

6

/12 1 + 1 6 1 1d4 Y N NE

Waries 15 3 1 4Wasp, Giant 4 6/21 4 20

1 1d10+2 N N N2 2d4/1d4 Poison N N

Weasel, Giant 6 15 3 + 3 18 1 2d6 Drain N NWerebear 2 9 7 + 3 37 3 1d3/1d3/2d4 Y Y CGWereboar 4 12 5 + 2 25 1 2d6 N Y N

Wererat 6 12 3 + 1 16 1 1d8Weretiger 3 12 6 + 2 31 3 1d4/1d4/1d12

Y Y LEY Y N

Werewolf 5 15 4 + 3 25 1 2d4 Y Y C EWight 5 12 4 + 3 21 1 1d4 Y Y LE

Wolf 7

6

18 2 + 2 11 1 1d4+1 N N NDire (Worg) 18 4+4 24 1 2d4 N N CE

Wraith 4 12/24 5 + 3 26 1 1d6 Y Y LE

Wyvern 3 6/24 7+7 40 2 2d8/1d6 P o i s o n N N ( E )Yellow Musk Creeper 7 0 3 15 2d6 Special N N NYeti 6 15 4 + 4 27 2 1d6/1d6 Squeeze Y NZombie 8 6 2 8 1 1d8 N N N

Ju ju 6 9 3+12 27 1 3d4 Y y N(E)Monster 6 9 6 29 1 4d4 N Y N

T H A C 0 B O O K

12 MMII-103

15 MMI-83Nil FF-7712 MMII-121

9 FF-28

16 MMI-8616 FF-7810 WOK-Var.

19 MMI-87Nil MMII-110

15 FF-83

13 MMI-89

13 MMII-115

15 FF-84

12 FF-84Nil FF-85

7 MMII-117

12 FF-86

9 MMI-9516 MMI-97

13 MMI-9712 MMI-99

18 MMII-123

16 WOK-3815 MMI-9916 MMI-100

13 MMI-63

15 MMI-63

16 MM-6313 MMI-63

15 MMI-63

15 MMI-10016 MMI-101

15 MMI-101

15 MMI-10212 MMI-102

16 FF-9715 MMI-103

16 MMI-103

13 MMII-131

13 MMII-131

Book Abbreviations: FF = FIEND FOLIO® Tome; MMI = Monster Manual; MMII = Monster Manual II; PH = Players Handbook;WOK = World of Krynn.

96



You are cordially invited to enter the dangerousworld of the DRAGONLANCE® saga. TheWorld of Krynn brings you to previouslyu n e x p l o r e d c o r n e r s o f K r y n n w i t h n e w

challenges for your characters.

E x p l o r e D a r g a a r d K e e p , t h e v a s t a n d

perilous lair of Lord Soth, and perhaps you willdiscover what really happened to Kit iara!

Journey into the volcanic lair of a dragon todefend the city of Palanthus. Run a merrychase over hill and heath in search of a lostboy—can you find Master Lor before other,

more sinister searchers? Travel to the far-away

isle of Mithas and save the remnants of a dyingrace of bird-men from the savage minotaurs,

whi le s imul taneously t ry ing to thwar t amassive invasion of Ansalon.

The World of Krynn beckons to you; return

to adventure once again in the wor ld o ffearsome dragons and vile draconians.

tsr 9237 - dl16 - world of krynn

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