The first adventure was inspired by Niklas Wistedt's dunegon map, The Black Tomb of the Wight Knight. A dungeon map can an inspire so much about the location being explored. This map was so awesome, it's inspired a good chunk of the campaign! I prayed one of the PCs would take a piece of bone from the skull out of the dungeon. If they don't, an NPC, certainly will at some point in the future to set of the events related to the Frost Giants.
Below is the write up for the adventure location. I don't do this type of write up for my online games, I don't have the time but because this is an every other month game I tend to put in the time with the adventure locations.
The Hook:
· Kiakos, an Xian thief and explorer, (has a map with the location of the Black Tomb of
the White Knight marked), is at Fionn’s tavern (use the Quiet Margose tavern map). He will stumble out onto the
street clutching the black candle.
o
Leather armour, short sword, backpack (inside
it: soft leather pouch (9gp, 48sp, 14cp, mastercraft green banded malachite -20
gp and an orange amber 100pg), chalk, dice, fishing hooks and string, grappling
hook, silk rope, thieves tools, tinderbox, torches x2, wineskin half full,
spool of wire, writing stick, iron rations x 4), dagger +1 (engraved on the hilt with a curved stylized horn: worth
250xp, 1250 pg, more to a follower of Thaumagorga)
·
The tavern is occupied by a variety of farmers
and locals from the village.
o
Big Morgan, the blacksmith
o
Dye maker
o
Enku, the local coot, wild eyed. Gossiper. He
knows things. Not always true.
o
A scout
o
Miners x2 and loggers x4
·
Kiakos is shivering, clutching a black candle. Blood encrusted bandages
cover his left arm. Underneath there is a festering bite mark. Kiakos is
suffering from the dust of nightmares
and visions (p. 474) which was released from the candle, along with the
infection from being bitten by the ghoul in the tomb. The visons are of the
Necromancer, Madame Pryor, and the Death Knight Zygoth.
o
Kiakos will be muttering loudly, “Daemons.
Death. Hair like fire! She yearns for him!”
· The candle light flickers and goes out causing
Kiakos to have a heart attack (system shock). The thief shudders, screams in
his death throes and crashes to the ground. The black candle, which rolls out
of his hand onto the street, is little more then a stub at this point. It
possesses faint traces of magic and can still be identified.
1d4+1 rounds after he dies, Kiakos “awakens” a “ghoul” and will attack whoever is
closest, including NPCs. This may cause other ghouls to arise in short order.
Special: Immune to poison, paralysis,
fear, and cold. Protection from evil holds
them at bay. Hit causes paralysis for 2d6 turns unless death save is made. Slain victims later become ghouls.
Rumours and
clues:
·
The thief is recognized by the tavern keeper, Cathal
Fionn, a brew master with a prodigious belly, wisps of grey hair tied into a
pony tail and a bulbous blood shot nose. He has a ready smile, missing many
teeth, for paying customers.
o
The Xian, Kiakos, was part of a group of three
explorers which included a Viking warrior and woman in strange, purple robes,
almost purple that hurt the eyes too look at for too long. They ventured out
from Scardin on unknown business 4 or 5 days ago.
·
The
Necromancer (picture the priest from Vikings)
will come to claim the body. She will offer a silver piece for the body to be
delivered to her tower.
o
She is
interested in the black candle and will offer a reward to the players if they
are able to bring her one.
· If the party inquire about the area on the map it
is known to consist of ancient barrow mounds. The local druids warn people away
from them, actively discourage looting. (They are not currently in the area.
They are at the druid moot. To the east)
Location of the Tomb: Refer to the map
provided.
Backstory: 500 hundred years ago, Morakul Shoon, a Hyperborean Warlock born of a prominent family returned to the city of Khromarium from an expedition. Morakul was a Knight of Mordezzan who fell from the god of death’s grace after being seduced by the daemon succubus, Baelaza, a follower of Madame Pryor and the Death Knight Zygoth. Under the daemon’s manipulations Morakul took his family to the Gal Hills, and squandered the family fortune as he hunted down and killed Ymir’s Son to support the rituals of Pryor and Zygoth, leaving his family in ruin. His wife, Shavanizur Traal, a powerful magician was too late in unraveling the true nature of her husbands mistress. After the death of her husband and children at the hands of the daemon succubus, Baelaza Korzhuu, Shavanizur Traal unlocked the means to magically trap Baelaza in a mirror for eternity. The mirror was placed in the tomb, along with the bodies of her husband and children. Shavanizur Traal’s ghost haunts the tomb, protecting it from any who would attempt to free the daemon or disturb the final resting place of her children.
Entrance to the Tomb of the Wight Knight
·
Outside. A weatherworn stone pillar depicting horrible
skull effigies. There are more recent carvings into the stone.
o
Clerics may recognize them as being associated
with darker aspects of Mordezzan, ghouls, charnel houses and carrion. Hidden
amongst them is an image of the “Horned God”, Thaumagorga
o
The more recent images depict the symbol of Yug
·
A rope is tied around the base of the pillar,
leading into a hole into the tomb below.
·
A rock, on the opposite side of the pillar, has
been carved to resemble a skull of Mordezzan. It has been defiled with carvings
of Thaaumagorga on the sides of it head.
·
A sacrificial table is on the far side of the
hole between the pillar and the stone. It is faintly stained with dried blood. The
elements have worn much of it away in the last few hundred years.
·
The hole appears to be freshly dug. The rope
goes down 30 ft. into the dark tomb below.
·
If the players search the area they will find
archaeological evidence of human sacrifices, some very old, others much more
recent.
Room 1: The Skull Chamber
·
In the middle of the room is the partially
excavated skull of a huge giant or titan (the son of Ymir).
o
Taking a fragment of the skull out of the tomb could
possibly curse the player (S.T. vs Spell). They will experience horrible dreams
of a jagged, solitary mountain peak partially shrouded by a fierce blizzard.
Within the blizzard are hints of Ymir’s visage, malevolent eyes, projecting
baleful hate at the cursed victim. This will prevent the player from recovering
hit points naturally. The only way to remove the curse is through magic or
returning the bone to the tomb. If the bone gets passed on, the curse is not
removed, however whoever comes into possession of it must also make a S.T. vs
Spell or they too will begin to experience nightmares.
·
Slumped on the floor, leaning against the door
is a tattooed woman in a purple robe. (Equipment p. 128). She was attacked and
mortally wounded by the ghoul. She is unconscious, her breathing is shallow. If
she dies she will become one in 1d6 turns. (P.349)
o
Secrets
of the Blasted Waste - Necromancy spell book: 1st: Detect magic,
Detect Malady, Extermination, Invisibility to Undead, Shoking Grasp, Sorcerer
Mark. 2nd: Danse Macabre,
Ray of Enfeeblement, Spectral Hand (1200
xp and 4800gp)
o
2 necromancy scrolls (i) cursed scroll – violent illness for 24
hours, -4 to all rolls if fail ST, bright red string ties off scroll, XP-
and 1000gp and ii) Wyvern Warden scroll 200xp and 600gp)
o
Ring of
lightning resistance (made of a strange black stone etched with gold dust: )
o
Travel
journal in backpack describing the journey from Khromarium, seeking Shoon’s
tomb. Provides info from the introduction.
·
3 braziers on iron tripods. Burnt offerings
within.
·
2 stone statues of knights flank a bronze door. Skulls
are craved into there chests and each holds a giant stone mace.
o
The statues will animate and attack any who try
to open the door who don’t praise Mordezzan. Dust will shift off the shoulders
of the statues warning they are about to animate. They will respond if attacked
o
AC 4, HD 3 (17, 10 hp), Att 1 x mace (1d8+1), MV
30’, SV 15, ML 12, XP 90, Immune: Sleep and Charm.
·
Stamped onto the bronze door is the image of a
Hyperborean knight with a skull emblazoned on its mail armour. The skull looks
like the symbol of Mordezzan (p. 109).
Room 2: The North Crypt
·
A bronze offering bowl engraved with skeletons
(100gp) is on the floor. Dried out flowers are inside it.
·
An iron torch sconce is on the wall. A burned
out torch is in the sconce.
·
There is a trail of blood leading to the
southern door.
·
A plain stone crypt lies in the middle of the
room. There are carvings in the stone of skeletons marching away from a winged
figure, a female based on the breasts and hips. Two darts lie on the floor near
the tomb, along with an iron crowbar.
o
Read magic
reveals on the crypt the phrase, “Shall serve Her always.”
o
The stone lid looks like it has been recently shifted;
there are fresh looking scrape marks where the stone lid war pried open with
the crowbar. It also appears that the lid was put back into place. There are
bloody fingerprints on the lid. Opening the crypt requires a test of strength.
o
Resting within is a ghoul in a tattered dress. Fresh
blood stains her claws, mouth and dress. She dragged the Viking warrior to the
sewer grate before sealing herself back into her crypt.
Ghoul:
AL CE; SZ M; MV 40; DX 11; AC 6; HD 2 (hp 9); A 3/1
(claw/claw/bite); D 1d3 / 1d3 / 1d6; SV 16; ML 10; XP 68.
Special: Immune to poison, paralysis,
fear, and cold. Protection from evil holds
them at bay. Hit causes paralysis for 2d6 turns unless death save is made. Slain victims later become ghouls.
Room 3: Sewer to Underborea
·
Opening the door to room 3 releases a horrible
stench. (test of constitution or the player vomits)
·
The trail of blood from room 2 leads to the iron
sewer grate.
·
Atop the sewer grate is a Viking warrior, face
down. The body appears to be twitching.
o
It is being picked at and eat by daemon i
maggots (p.325) from under the grate. His armour and clothes are shredded, as
are parts of his body. It is a gory, bloody mess. On his right hand is a silver
ring. (ring of sustenance: 500xp, 3000gp)
·
Underneath the sewer is teeming with daemon i maggots. The walls beneath the
sewer are glistening with slime, blood and filth. The stench in the room
emanates from within.
·
The sewer is bolted and locked. The lock is
rusted shut. It would take an open locks
check or a test of extraordinary strength
to unlock it. Sigils are engraved on the metal.
·
A wooden shelf, covered in cobwebs and
mouldering, ancient texts and scrolls. The texts are sacred to Mordezzan (p.
109). Scholars or priests of the god would pay handsome for the collection (500gp).
o
Amongst the collection is a book of prayers
devoted to Mordezzan, The Grey Veil,
and a magic tome of necromancy written by Ashnazar Plaigi. It contains a
collection of low level spells. Possible spells include Animate Carrion, Locate the Dead, Scare, Scythe of the Reaper, Speak
with Dead. (800 XP and 4000gp)
o
A stone tablet describes a horrible, unnmaed
city in Underborea. The city is apparently empty except for a Tower Keep, ruled
by a lich and his undead servants. (150 XP, 300gp)
o
Map made of rotting skin, written in Hellenic (Amazon dialect). It claims to lead to a
lost Atlantean Treasure, The Lig… …tor. The location suggests it is somewhere
towards the outer portion of the Crab Archipelago. (250XP, 500gp)
Room 4: The South Crypt, Mirror and Barrel
of Blood
The Crypt
·
A silver offering bowl, engraved with the Eye of Xathoqqua on the floor. Dried
blood is inside of it. It was part of the ritual used to rip the daemon
succubus’s soul from her body and store it before it was put in the mirror.
·
An iron torch sconce is on the wall. A burned
out torch is in the sconce.
·
A stone crypt engraved with sensual winged
daemons coupling with men and women lies in the middle of the room inscribed
with warding runes. Read magic reveals they act as a barrier meant to prevent
spirits from being able to enter or exit the stone. The crypt is warded to
prevent Baelaza’s soul from reuniting with her body.
·
Opening the crypt requires a test of strength.
·
Resting within is the desiccated corpse of the
daemonic succubus, Baelaza.
The
Silver Mirror
·
Inside the mirror is the trapped soul of the
succubus, Baelaza. She will appear as a red haired woman, and identify herself
as Kiara, the victim of a jealous sorcerous, the ghost Shavanizur Trall, who
imprisoned her as punishment for seducing her husband. She offers to help the
players find the secret treasure horde of the Wight Knight if she is freed. If
the players fail in their initial attempts, Baelaza will suggest the use of
magic to break the mirror. If the players don’t have magic available to them,
she will suggest they bring the mirror with them and attempt to find someone
who will be able to free her.
·
If threatened or it appears the players will
leave without helping her, Baelaza will attempt to charm anyone in front of the
mirror, Saving Throw vs Avoidance. The
silver mirror can’t be broken by normal steel. 10 points of magical damage will
cause the mirror to break, freeing Baelaza’s soul. Baelaza will whisper into
the victim’s mind the location of a magic dagger
+1 in the Cabinet. Once in the
charmed persons possession, she will compel the victim to break the mirror with
the dagger +1.
·
If the daemon is unable
to reunite with its body (the body is still sealed in its crypt) the daemon will
compel the charm person to remove
the lid of their crypt so that Baelaza’s soul can reunite with her body. If
that occurs, the daemon will need 1d4+2 rounds to full regenerate.
Baelaza Korzhuu, Daemon, Succubus: AL
CE; SZ M; MV 40 (fly 60); DX 17; AC 0; HD 6+6 (hp 35); A 2/1 (claw/claw); D 1d6
/ 1d6; SV 14; ML 9; XP 1590.
Special: refer to Referee’s Manual for
more info
Barrel
of Holy Water
·
The wooden barrel is engraved with necromantic
runes, of a skull being bathed with water. Read magic or knowledge of
Mordezzan’s religion reveal the barrel is designed to facilitate the brewing of
holy water. It is a valuable relic of the god of death’s faith and wold be
highly coveted by his priests (1000 gp).
·
The barrel is a quarter full of holy water,
enough to fill 4 bottles. The remaining water in the barrel has special
properties having the ability to restore lost hit points or attributes like a
lesser restoration spell.
The Cabinet
·
Across from the barrel is a cabinet. Inside the
cabinet are skulls of all types of creatures, ape men, humans, Vhuurmis, Hyperboreans,
lizard and snake men and other strange, unknown specimens.
o
The skulls contain various gemstones in the
eyesockets.
§
Blackish green obsidian, fine craftsmanship
(15gp), greyish blue chalcedony (50gp), pale blue quartz (10gp), blue opal,
cracked flaw (25gp), pink spinel (100gp), deep blue spinal (500gp)
o
There is a dagger
+1 on the shelf. It is engraved with a skull on the pummel.
o
Jewellery, copper earing with a celtic engraving
(20gp), and silver chain necklace (60gp) with a deep black obsidian (10gp) and
red garnet (100gp).
o
Along with the skulls is a scroll, fragile with
age. It describes the ritual used to imprison Baelaza’s soul in the mirror.
Without read magic, the scroll appears as a series of magical runes, and
archaic drawings of a demonic woman. With read magic, the scroll describes the
ritual to remove the soul of daemon from its body (some similarity to Magic
Jar). This is a homebrew spell, 6th level.
Room 5: Hall of Blood Candles
·
Candle light flickers down the hall.
·
In each alcove stands a lit black candle
releasing lotus infused smoke which acts like dust of nightmares and visions
(p. 474). So long as the candles remain in the alcoves they will never stop burning.
Once removed they begin to burn down.
·
The candle in the 3rd alcove is
missing. It was taken by the thief, Kiakos.
·
There is a relief painting on the wall of
Mordezzan and the Titan, Ymir’s son. The Titan challenged Mordezzan to see who
could kill more sheep with a single action. If the Titan won, he would be free
from death. If he lost, he would die immediately. The relief suggests Mordezzan tricked the
Titan into taking the challenge. The Titan used its brute strength while
Mordezzan used a single word of power breathing death on the flock, spreading
disease, and slew then all. Losing the challenge, the Ymir’s son was slain by
Mordezzan with a kiss on the forehead, the kiss of death.
Room 6: Tomb of the Wight Knight
·
The lid of Morakul’s tomb is carved to resemble
a proud Hyborean knight. Iron bars prevent the lid from being opened unless
they are removed
· The tomb is haunted by Shavanizur Traal, Morakul’s wife, a powerful magician. She seeks to torment her husband for his stupidity for eternity. Roll for reaction to determine the ghost’s mood. If she finds out the players seek to free the daemon from the mirror she will try and kill them.
·
Small crypts. The resting place of Shavanizur
Traal’s children who were poisoned by the daemon. The ghost will order the
crypts remain untouched on pain of death. If the players do open the crypts of
the children she will attack. “There are other treasures in this crypt. Leave
the mirror and take the rest. I care not. However, this room will not be
despoiled. Ever.”
·
The ghost will debase her husband in front of
the players for his stupidity. Morakul will bang on the lid of the crypt, a
muffled voice yelling at her to shut up and let him sleep. It is an eternal
quarrel between the couple.
· All Morakul wants is to be left alone in peace. He knows he cannot atone for his crimes, nor does he want to. The only thing the knight remains proud of his the equipment he wears in death. He will not allow anyone to take it from him. In the crypt is the Eye of Zygax which can be used to locate the tomb of Zygoth.
Shavanizur has the ghost stats with 9 levels of magic user for her spells and Morakul had the Wight stats with plate mail armor and a magic sword. (To be honest I didn't have these two NPCs stated out. I winged the ghost and if the party was stupid enough to fight her it would have been a TPK.)
Next I'll share the session notes for the adventure.
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