8

ADVENTURES FOR TSR® »?LE-PLAY!NG GAMES ’^ANUARY/FEBRUARY #9

'
JE
VOLII. 97^ 5 USA

0-J!803«““327—

46363 19545 e
 ADVENTURES FOR TSR' ROLE-PLAYING GAMES
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1988 ISSUE #9

COVER: The cloud

castle of the
Arch-Mage looms
high above the
jungle. To get
Inside, however,
our Intrepid
adventurers must
first get past
Ezoran*s demon.
Valerie Valusek's
first color cover
Illustrates a pivotal
scene In “The
Plight of CIrrIa.”

The More Things Change...

If you look in the box below this column, you’ll notice that
The Readers LEHERS . . . / .2

Roger Moore and I have switched hats. As of this issue, I now

have the title of editor, reflecting the fact that I have had the Patricia Elrod THE LURKERS IN THE LIBRARY
major responsibility for producing DUNGEON™ Adventures (ADD 1-3) The quest for knowledge
for the la^ several issues. can be as dangerous as any other. . A
If I tell you a bit about how we produce our magazines, you’ll
understand that this isn’t a major shake-up. If you look at our
other two publications, you’ll see the same names ap^aring in Richard Fichera THE CRYPT OF ISTARIS
different roles on each. Roger has primary responsibility for (ADD 3-5) It’s all over (and literally
DRAGKDN® Magazine, Patrick Price is the editor of so) after midnight .10
AMAZING® Stories, and now I’m in charge of DUNGEON
Adventures. But we check and crosscheck and proofread each
other’s magazines, so that it’s more a community effort than
Vince Garcia THE DJINNI’S RING
one persons sole responsibility. (DD 3-SOLO) Our first solo
So, if vou have any words of praise for this issue, send them adventure — no DM required! ... .24
to me. All complaints, however, will be passed along to the rest
of the guys.
We’ve tried something new in this issue: a solo module that
Rick Swan THE GOLDEN BOWL OF ASHU
you can play without a Dungeon Master. In Vince Garcia’s H’SAN
“The I)jinni’s Ring,” you play Moonstone, an elf who is (ADD-OA 2-4) What angers the
whisked away on an Arabian Nights adventure. Everything spirits? You don’t have long to find
you need to Imow is right in the module. Let us know how you out
like the idea of individual-play adventures.
35
We received lots of letters after my last plea for feedback fi^m
readers, but don’t stop sending them now. Even though we don’t Randy Maxwell THE GHOSTSHIP GAMBIT
have space to print all your letters, we read every single one and (DD 3-6) Help wanted: Fearless crew
listen to what you have to say. Suggestions for interesting quotes to stop undead pirates. Pay bills
for this page are still being eagerly accepted.
before applying 44

Grant and THE PLIGHT OF CIRRIA

David Boucher (ADD 8-12) Definitely not for those
who are afraid of heights 50

P.S. Welcome to the world, Ihsha Joan Hickman. May all your
dragons be good ones.

Vol. il, No. 3

“Unless something goes terribly wrong we’ll have you back
PUBLISHER: Mike Cook EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS: about five minutes before you left, so there’ll be time to spare
EDITOR: Barbara G. Y)ung Robin Jenkins, Eileen Lucas, and nobody’ll ever need to know you were gone at all. And . . .

ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Georgia Moore, if something goes terribly wrong it won’t matter whether we
Roger E. Moore Patrick Lucien Price ever get back at all.”
ART DIRECTOR: Roger Raupp PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS: Mrs Whatsit
Marilyn Favaro, Lori Svikel
SUBSCRIPTIONS: Pat Schulz
A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine UEngle
LEHERS
Dear editor: We would definitely like to get some be played under either set of rules. But,
I have one small complaint with adventures based on Manual of the since we don't know yet what the
DUNGEON™ Magazine. Most adven- Planes, but please remember the scope of changes will be, we can't really speculate
tures call upon the greed and egoism of our magazine. Huge adventures wherein on how we will handle the problem of
PCs to motivate them into action. I am the PCs scoot about among the planes (or some of our readers having one set of
no moralist, but if my PCs are going to even cover a great deal of one plane) just rules and other readers going by another.
kill and risk their own lives, it will not won*t fit. Use a specific plane as a
be because they are greedy. I would detailed adventure setting, but keep the Dear editor:
much rather play a bored halfling who adventure of manageable proportions. So the dungeon I have most
far,
is forced to risk his welfare because his You can also set adventures in the enjoyed is the non-euclidean geometry
homeland, family, or friends are endan- World ofGreyhawk, the Forgotten dungeon, “Forbidden Mountain,” by
gered by a dragon than a greedy bunch Realms, Kara-Tur, the Known World of Larry Chxu*ch (issue #6). After reading
of dwarves that just want the dragon’s the D&D^ universe (especially as it a few more times to become familiar
wealth. detailed in the Gazetteer series), Black- with it, I plan to try it on my players. I
Monetary wealth is the most predomi- moor, or Krynn. However, even though think they’ll really enjoy it. Still, I am
nant motivation in DUNGEON Adven- most future TSR, Inc., AD&D game confused about one part of the dungeon.
tures. Emotional, religious, and heroic adventures will be set in the Forgotten On page 36, the PCs find the skeleton of
motivations are constantly overlooked. Realms, we do not intend to insist on Lord Barnabus, but on page 39, under
Druids, clerics, elves, paladins, and this in DUNGEON Adventures. Feel free section 11 (“Hallowed Ground”), it says
such would never justify risking their to detailyour own settings, as always. “. this is the room where Barnabus
.

lives, the lives of their companions, or you can use information in the
Yes, [met] his end. ...” I don’t think that is
even the lives of their enemies in some Survival Guides, but remember that not correct, because it goes on to talk about
cases, for the pxirpose of monetary of everyone owns these books. If your entire Chelson’s rod of resurrection. Please
magical wealth. module is a series of references to pages clarify this for me. Thanks!
Let’s start playing good guys and, in the guides, you may need to do a bit of Another thing I would like to see
better yet, writing adventures for them. paraphrasing for those without access to presented in your pages is a city. A
Robin Kaczmarczyk the books. If you prefer to detail your large city, to be exact, that could con-
Beverly Hills, California own methods for handling weather, tain many dungeons. What I was think-
terrain, etc., you can give DMs the option ing was that, in one issue you would
Dear editor: of using either your system or a system detail the city in general and present
The AD&D® game is growing very from one of the books. the players with a map of the city. You
fast. The Wilderness and Dungeoneer*s To be honest, we don't know how the would also list special places in the city
Survival Guides, the Manual of the AD&D game's second edition will such as temples, thieves’ guild, castle,
Planes, the FORGOTTEN REALMS™ change what we look for in a module, and other interesting places that could
setting, and the upcoming second edi- but we suspect it will actually change be detailed in later issues.
tion of the AD&D game have been (or very little at DUNGEON Adventures. Mark Alan Schaffer
soon will be) released. What will this do There will probably be a period of time Raleigh, North Carolina
to DUNGEON Adventures? Will we be after the second edition is released when
able to use the Survival Guides in our we are still printing modules accepted As stated on page 35 of **Forbidden
submissions? Will the restriction on the months (sometimes even a year or more) Mountain," the Evil One annihilated
outer planes be lifted with the release of before — modules written under the (that is, disintegrated) Chelson; no body
the Manual of the Planes? Can we place **old" rules. We don't even expect every- was left. Chelson dropped his rod of
adventures in the Forgotten Realms? body to rush right out and buy the resurrection before that occurred. The
How will the second edition change the game's second edition (although we hope reference to Barnabus in room 11 should
submission rules? Are we allowed to you will). There will be a transition have said: **This is the room where
submit modules based in the WORLD period during which we will probably Chelson met his end .” Sorry about
. . .

OF GREYHAWK™ setting now? ask authors to make any needed adjust- that.
Jason Tnissell ments so that their adventures can We've had quite a lot of people ask for
No address given detailed city adventures, but I'm not sure

DUNGEON™ (ISSN 0890-7102) is published bimonthly by TSR, Inc. The mailing address for all material except subscription orders is DUNGEON, RO. Box 110, Lake Geneva WI 53147; the business telephone number is (414)
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AD&D, ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, ADVANCED D&D, AMAZING, D&D, DRAGON, DRAGONLANCE, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, FIEND FOLIO, GAMMA WORLD, STfUl FRONTIERS, TOP SECRET,
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2 Issue No. 9
 .

we*re ready to tackle a long-term project scare people away. If it becomes obvious sures that befit his fighting style and
such as you describe. Besides, something that a player has read the adventure, the needs. The is clued in on their DM
very similar is being done by the RPGA^ DM should feel free to make enough favored modes of attack. They also have
Network in POLYHEDRON^ Newszine, changes to keep that player on his toes. It added depth because of their age. One
It's called **The Living City," and if can often be much worse to be sure of can imagine them overhearing invading
you'd like to get involved in its creation what's going to happen — and be wrong PCs and complaining to one another
or learn more about the RPGA Network, — than to be unsure but wary. about how their joints ache. After carv-
write to: RPGA Network, TSR, Inc., PO. ing up a party, they slump to the ground
Box 509, Lake Geneva WI 53147, Dear editor: and talk about how much easier this all
The key to getting the most out of was in the old days.
Dear editor: gaming is creativity. Short, thoughtful- Overall, the cast in “Trouble at
I have some worries about the levels ly prepared adventures will be remem- Grog's” was probably the best conceived
you are assigning adventures. The bered well after lengthy and trite ones. bunch to appear within your pages. All
range in toughness for the same Here is my checklist of aspects that the NPCs have motivations that give
strength party seems pretty wide. Take make a great module. the DM
insight on how to role-play their
'‘White Death” and “House of the Dungeon, wilderness, and city adven- characters, as well as their own distinct
Brothers” (issue #6). In “White Death,” tures all enjoy benefits, but to me a traits. The better a role-plays, the DM
4-8 players of 4th-7th level (a party combination of any two or all three is a better the players will also.
averaging 33 levels) takes on 36 hp of better mix. Get out of the dungeon and One doesn't need a psychiatric dossier
dragon. In “Brothers,” 3-6 players of discover variety. Let PCs interact with on every NPC to play them properly,
6th-10th level (36 levels) take on 200 hp NPCs. This sort of variety has been but carefully preparing a character who
of giants plus 61 hp of hell hounds. Tb found in DUNGEON Adventures in plays a major role in an adventure adds
make matters worse, “Brothers” is such modules as “Caermoor” (issue #2), distinct flavor. If a writer has any crea-
heavily trapped, and the PCs don't “Trouble at Grog's” (issue #4), and “The tive thought to begin with, he won’t
know what they are facing until proba- Jingling Mordo Circus” (issue #7). leave things for the to flesh out. DM
bly too late, while the PCs in “White These adventures contain buildings or Modules are purchased for the writer's
Death” know from the start they are dungeons of sorts, but their focus is ideas, not to create more work for the
after a white dragon and may well meet more on story and unique locations than DM.
him when they are at full power. on mindless killing. Cory S. Kammer
So, we have one adventure where the The composition of buildings and Glendale Heights, Illinois
party is an easy winner, and another dungeons is the second area that con-
where the party is going to be lucky to cerns me. Everything within a structure
survive. Consistent bias is easily han- should be there for a purpose. If there
dled by the DM, but this erratic evalua- are not enough encounters to fill up a
tion is worse than useless. The party dungeon or building, it should be
will get bored with easy wins and even smaller. In “After the Storm” (issue #6),
more distressed by disasters. Hopefully, we discover The Phantom, a sunken
you don't have this problem too often. ship with nearly 30 rooms, including a 1 * rribf Oi
|

David Carl Argali cabin for each deck hand and six cargo 1 fniautiic. Of tHuc
I
k !uUy
tm/i?
1.
1

La Puente, California holds. Other than considerable mapping iii.oo

and treasure finding, not much happens

Dear editor: here. A couple of holds with a hodge- ro. 1.. uk. c«... Mur

First of all, I feel your performance podge of contents would be more realis- Hlelwai H. C9ok, P.O. Btm Lalu Canm, tfiMmia 5)^47

this past year has been tremendous!! tic and could keep PCs busy longer. ItMC, IM Uk« 5)1*?
•••r K. r.o. IIOi

The balance of long and short modules While they are digging through crates
has been well maintained. Normally the is the time when underwater nasties , ^ —
levels of the modules are balanced as will spring upon them.
well. (Normally, mind you. I noticed An example of creative dungeon com-
that issue #6 had no low-level modules.) position is found in “The House of the
I plan to run most of the modules I Brothers” (issue #6). This natural
read (I wish I had a group that played so cavern contains only seven encounter
often), but I like to read the modules for areas, which are laid out credibly and WiLk af fflll 1 i
'

ideas, too. As for dealing with players contain a point of interest or encounter
who have read the modules, I prefer in each. * mtum m wcintuM

using the rack or the gibbet, but thumb- Well-developed monsters and NPCs l«.77i fOtfl?

—
screws are quite effective also. are what an adventure hinges on. Mon- 4»74f

Tbdd Barkus sters and villains should be special, lest it.») M.4M

Minneapolis, Minnesota the encounters become decided by a die IM m

1I.M) lk«W
roll on a wandering monsters chart. In
Well . . the rack and thumbscrews issue 6, the fog giant brothers Erdol and -
seem a bit too severe. We do want to Karzahk have enough spice to make
increase our readership, you know, not them unique. Each has unusual trea-

DUNGEON 3
 Patricia Elrod tells us that she receives
help with her writing from her husband,
Mark, and their dog, Ben Beagle. Mark
gives support and inspiration, while Ben
makes sure she doesn^t overwork by
insisting (several times a day) that she
lob his tennis ball across the yard. This
exercises not only the feet but the fingers,
helping Patricia avoid writers cramp.
This is Patricia's third appearance in
DUNGEON^ Adventures.
“The Lurkers in the Libraiy” is an
AD&D® game adventure suitable for 3-5
characters of lst-3rd level and of any
class or alignment, although there
should be at least one fighter in the
party. The town of Ferrantio and its
surroundings may be tailored to fit a
DM^s world, for the library is the prime
concern of the players. The DMshould
keep in mind that, until recently, this
area has been in a cultural slump.
Books are still rare, and technical
knowledge is valued. Newcomers
attract the attention and interest of the
locals and are plied with questions. This
scenario may be used when PCs seek
the services of a sage, or as a link
between major campaigns.

For the Dungeon Master

THE LURKERS of Umbak are well

The northern regions
populated and almost civilized, but the
only true cultural center of the land is
the famous old university town of Fer-

IN THE rantio* Sitting on a wide, flat shelf of

land butting against the side of low
Ferrantio Mountain, the town is sur-
rounded on its exposed three sides by
stone walls, but these are very old and

LIBRARY
BY PATRICIA N£AD ELROD
have not been kept in good repair. After
it was besieged and burned 200 years

ago by ores, the town ceased to be a

military center, but it recovered and
resumed its ancient tradition as a cen-
ter for education.
Aside from the odd brawl that occurs
Some monsters near the alehouses, there is little crime
and no need for a city guard. A few of

don’t have any the wealthier citizens carry swords, but

these are worn more for status than for
self-defense, though the players need

class. not know this. The university empha-

sizes academics over physical education,
and most of the students have little free
time to devote to learning combat skills.
The local noble, who lives 20 miles
Artwork by Larry Dtxon away, is very enlightened in regard to
Cartography by Diesel education and, contributes support to
the various colleges in Ferrantio. This
generosity is firmly rooted in common

4 Issue No. 9
 THE LURKERS IN THE LIBRARY

sense; the university attracts students,

and students bring in outside money to
delight the taxpaying merchants and
innkeepers of the town. Nearly all of
FERRANTIO LIBRARY
Ferrantio'seconomy and reputation
depend on the school in some way.
Each year, scholars and teachers from Ground Floor
far and wide make the long trek
through the mountains for the privilege
of studying at the university, for unlike
other educational centers, Ferrantio
boasts the only true library in the whole
north. Past wars with orcish and human
nations destroyed nearly all the old
libraries and their contents; books and
old scrolls of any kind are extremely
rare. Thelast 200 years have been
peaceful, though (except for an occasion-
al ore or kobold raid), and a slow
rebuilding of the old knowledge has
taken place.

The Town
About 1,000 adults live in Ferrantio
and the lands around, and a quarter of
the town dwellers are students. The
locals are kept busy with paper and ink
manufacture, as well as the usual home
industries of producing food and cloth-
ing, and providing lodging. Ferrantio is
an old town, and its citizens are proud
of their heritage. They know their home
was once the capital of culture and
learning of the north, and was much
larger and grander than it is now, but
they look forward to the day when they
can surpass their ancestors. Knowledge
is the way to progress (and prosperity),
so the whole town is alert to acquiring
and preserving any books that come by.
Travelers discovered to be carrying
books are strongly urged to visit the
library in the center of town.

The Library 1 square = 5'

The library a large building, 50' x

is
100' in size, made
entirely out of white
ing and a strong dedication to learning. shelves dominate the east and west
stone and brick with a gray slate roof.
The reading and copy room takes up sides of the room, and though sparsely
Its most expensive and noticeable fea-
all of the library's huge interior; its 20'- populated, all the shelves contain some
tures are the many glass windows on all
tall ceiling is supported by lofty books. More shelves than needed have
four sides of the structure. These are
columns. On passing through the two 5'- been provided to allow for growth of the
made up of hundreds of diamond-shaped
wide front doors, the first thing one sees collection. In the center of the room, a
panes, each no more than a handspan
is the head librarian's large desk and, waist-high railing protects a 5 '-wide,
across, held in place by strips of lead.
behind the desk, a -semicircular bank of stone-flagged spiral staircase leading
The glass allows the maximum amount
of light inside, eliminating the need for
files. 'These files are the catalog and down to the basement. Just behind the
complete cross-index for the 1,500 books stairs, two smaller bookshelves hold
candles and oil lamps. 'The librarians
in the library. books waiting to be copied or repaired.
are justifiably paranoid about fire, and
Flanking this area and along the Usually, 10-20 people are kept busy
it is forbidden even for heating. During
walls (to benefit from the windows) are from morning till dark at copying.
the winter months, they and the stu-
long wooden tables and numerous Many of them are students who are
dents are kept warm only by their cloth-
chairs and stools. Six lO'-tall book- hard up for money after paying tuition

DUNGEON 5
 ;

THE LURKERS IN THE LIBRARY

costs. Those who need the work (and can long study tables, and their chairs. 'The 100 books barely fill up even a
write neatly and quickly) can earn 5-7 The desk belongs to the assistant quarter of one bookcase, but as in the
gp per month in their spare time, if they librarian, Ngu’do d’Ferranta, Portia’s 25- reading room above, these shelves were
are diligent. In Ferrantio, this is suffi- year-old son. He is also a sage, well constructed in anticipation of acquiring
cient for food, clothes, and lodging if a versed in general history but specializ- more books in the future. All of Aliba-
student isn’t too hungry, too fashion ing in mathematics and physics. He tar’s books are on the shelf farthest
conscious, or too particular. Whenever shares his mother’s love of books and is from the door but closest to Thom-
possible, students are allowed to copy custodian in charge of the library’s green’s work area at the table.
books within their fields of study, thus newest and most valuable volumes.
extending and enriching their personal Nardo dTerranta: AC 10; MV 12"; The Problem
knowledge of their chosen subjects. NPC sage (HD 8d4); hp 14; #AT 1; Dmg
The PCs hear glowing praise of the local
The head librarian is Portia d’Ferran- by weapon type (unarmed); S 15, 1 18, W library almost as soon as they get into
ta, whose ancient family helped to 15,D8,C ll,Ch 12; AL LN. town. take the hint from the
If they
found the town. She is a sage learned in Beyond the oak door is a slightly
locals and the library, they arrive
visit
humankind — legends and folklore, smaller brick-lined chamber, 30' x 45',
in time to see dozens of people milling
theology and myth — and is a specialist also lighted by foiu* continual light
around nervously outside, peering
in local history, politics, and genealogy. globes. 'Two hang from the 10' ceiling
through the windows and craning their
Portia dTerranta: AC 10; MV 12" and two are in removable brackets on
necks to see over the crowd at the front
NPC sage (HD 8d4); hp 18; #AT 1; Dmg the far wall. Beneath them is a long
doors. No one knows for sure what is
by weapon type (unarmed); S 10, 1 18, W study table and six chairs.
going on, except that there is some kind
17, D 11, C 12, Ch 13; AL LN. Three 20 '-long bookshelves going up
of serious disturbance within.
Portia is an energetic woman in her to the ceiling fill the rest of the room.
No one is posted to keep people out, so
fifties, with short, iron-gray hair and a They contain the most valuable trea-
the PCs can easily push their way into
no-nonsense manner. She lives for her sure in the whole region: a collection of
the front lobby of the building. A heated
library and her work there, and most of books about magic. 'There are over 100
eurgument is in progress at the front
the money she earns as a sage goes to books, scrolls, and pamphlets, all
desk between some senior teachers and
purchase new books. She has also been donated to the library according to the
the head librarian, Portia d’Ferranta —
known to make a straight trade of her will of the late mage Alibatar d’Brinnel,
and Portia is losing. She insists she be
knowledge for a coveted volume or an alumnus of the University of Ferran- allowed to go downstairs, but the others
scroll. She is highly regarded in Ferran- tio. Alibatar had other things on his
are equally insistent she remain where
tio and is important enough in local mind than neatness, and so the tedious
she is until the situation can be proper-
politics to wield no small power of her job of cataloging and indexing his collec-
ly investigated.
own. Her insatiable desire for more tion has fallen to the library,
A yoimg male halfling, lying stretched
books is common knowledge in town, 'The university has but one specialist
out on the desk with a damp cloth on his
and her book-buying quirks are treated in magic, the elderly Doctor Waldus
forehead, loudly agrees with the teachers.
with good-natured and helpful tolerance Thorngreen. When he is not busy teach-
'Their worried looks and tense postures
by the citizens. ing, Doctor 'Thorngreen can usually be
indicate they are out of their depth. If the
Book-bearing travelers are made very found in this section of the library base-
PCs ask some obvious questions or volim-
welcome in Portia’s library, and she has ment, trying to sort Alibatar’s legacy.
teer to help, their services will be grate-
been known to keep the nobility waiting He is a slow worker, though, and not fiilly accepted. Julius, the halfling
while haggling over the price of a tome much better at organization than the student presently on the desk, tells his
with a humble peddler. If she is unable dead mage whose books have become
story quicklyand with more than a trace
to buy a book, she offers the owner a fee his responsibility. The library has had
of terror.
to allow her scribes to copy it. Her base the collection for nearly a year, and the
rate is 1 sp per page of writing. A 30- good doctor has barely managed to
Julius: AC 9; MV
9" zero-level half-
;

divide the books up into the most gen-

ling; hp 3; Dmg by weapon type
#AT 1;
page book on the medicinal properties of
(unarmed); S 12, 1 14, W 10, D 15, C 14,
fungi, with writing on both sides of its eral categories.
Ch 12; AL NG.
pages, will net its owner 60 sp or 3 gp. Doctor Waldus Thorngreen: AC 10;
Until a few minutes ago, all was quiet
A six-page pamphlet outlining the histo- MV 6" (arthritic); MU 3; hp 7; #AT 1;
and normal in the library. Then Julius
ry of the village of Little-Hutney-on-the- Dmg by spell or weapon type (unarmed); came staggering up the spiral stairs
Chute will earn 6 sp, and so on. S 8, 1 15, W 12, D 14, C 9, Ch 12; AL
from the basement, yelling blue murder.
In the basement, at the bottom of the CN; spells: detect magic, continual light,
Only a moment before, he had been
spiral stair, is a 30' x 55' brick-lined read magic.
taking some blank paper down to Nar-
chamber. Just to the left of the stair Just two of the books actually contain
do, the assistant libreurian. Julius
landing is a single heavy oak door that and these are kept in the inner
spells,
rounded the last turn of the steps and
opens inward. Suspended in holders chamber and never allowed upstairs. 'The
noticed that Nardo was not at his desk
from the 10' ceiling are four glowing rest, in their various languages, deal with
as usual, and the big oak door to the
copper globes (6" across, 5 lbs. weight) magic theory, philosophy, ethics, history,
inner chamber was wide open. Because
which have continual light cast upon applications and research, legends, and
of the nature of the books there, that
them, providing the only kind of artifi- biographies of famous magic-users of the
door is always kept shut. 'The halfling
cial illumination allowed in the library. past, including a colorful autobiography
thought something might be wrong, but
The room contains a desk, chair, four of Alibatar himself.

6 Issue No. 9
 THE LURKERS IN THE LIBRARY

was not sure if he should investigate. least, she briefly outlines Doctor Thom- the stairs lead or why they’re there.
Just as he cleared the bottom landing green’s cataloging activities and men- Signs in the dust indicate several sets of
and could see a little into the book tions that some of the books and scrolls footprints going down and out of sight.
chamber, he heard a rumbling crash came from the Alibatar collection. The table against the far wall is cov-
within; a flood of white smoke filled the As part of the general knowledge of ered with several open books, stacks of
rooms, and Nardo and Doctor Thom- the area, the PCs have a 25% chance to blank and written-upon paper, pots of
green began shouting an alarm. Nardo have heard of Alibatar. Magic-users ink, some used-up quill pens, and a
emerged briefly from the smoke, but have a 50% chance to know he was rich penknife with Thomgreen’s initials on
something like a tentacle wrapped itself and famous, and a 10% chance to know it. The chair at the center is pushed
around his head and neck, and with a he specialized in conjuration and sum- away from the table, far out of line from
cut-off cry, he was yanked backward out moning spells. Portia knows he had a the rest. An open book and a sheet of
of sight. Tbrrified, Julius tore up the monster summoning I spell from read- paper partially covered with writing lie
stairs to get help and now flatly refuses ing his autobiography, but she won’t on the table here. Unless someone can
to go down again. mention this for fear of frightening off re<zd magic, the language in the book is
Portia thinks there is nothing to the the adventurers. She also knows about unfamiliar. The paper is written in
distiirbance but a student prank and Doctor Thoragreen’s unfortunate and Common, though, and contains a listing
wants to have a look for herself. The possibly dangerous habit of reading of the book’s contents. A magic-user can
others think something more sinister is aloud to himself. At some point in the identify the spell on the page as detect
afoot and try to persuade the PCs to proceedings, the DM might let Portia magic, matching it with the last nota-
check things first. If the adventurers do drop this alarming detail into the ears tion on the paper list.
not volunteer out of altruism or curiosi- of the party and let them draw their
ty, Portia promises to pay them a rea- own conclusions. Stairs into Darkness
sonable sum for services rendered,
either in gold or information, but only if The Book Chamber The stairs are 10’ wide, but the hole is

there is any true danger awaiting less than half that in height and width,
below. She insists on accompanying the
There is little to be seen upon opening so tall characters will have to stoop to
the oaken door except a slightly thicker get inside. The stairs descend 30’ to a
PCs into the basement, and other NPCs
layer of dust on the floor and a confus- dark chamber filled with stale but not
reluctantly allow her to do so.
ing number of footprints in it. One clear, foul air; theworkmanship of the stairs
Downstairs, they find the oak door
partial print appears to have been made is excellent but obviously very old.
has been shut and there is a quantity of
fine white dust fanning out from it over
by a large, heavy boot. Thorngreen and Portia thinks that the staircase is part
the floor. There are vague marks in the
Nardo, as far as Portia can recall, wore of the original foundation of the old city
only low, soft slippers. of Ferrantio, a remnant of the time
dust, perhaps footprints, but these have
been made unreadable by the arcing
The room is darker than it should be, before it was destroyed centuries ago
for all the light globes have been during the orcish siege and fire.
scrape of the bottom of the door as it
swung shut. The door can only be locked removed. Any PC producing a torch or 'The room at the foot of the stairs is
candle and attempting to light it 20' X 30’, with a 10’ ceiling and open-
from the outside and is easily opened by
receives a sharp reprimand from Portia. ings to the north, south, and west (see
anyone pulling the handle. The rest of
the chamber The only other alternative light sources The Lost Labyrinth map). There are no
is deserted.
are the globes hanging in the outer doors across these openings. The walls
On Nardo*s deskis an open book on
room, which may be removed from their are actually shelves going up to the
mathematics and a paper half covered
holders. If used as a club or thrown, ceiling and filled to overflowing with
with numbers and notations. He was
apparently interrupted, for his work is
these globes can cause 1-6 hp damage, books — more books in this one section
but any sudden shock or impact has a alone than in the entire library
broken off in midword. His quill pen has
been dropped on the floor; the ink on it
5% chance of causing the light to fade upstairs. 'The complete chamber is 80’
and go out. The globes are library prop- X 130'. Its walls and floor area are
is still wet. The faint powdering of
erty, the spells on them donated by divided by rows and rows of linked and
white dust lies undisturbed over every-
thing, and some of the finer particles
Thorngreen. Portia will certainly notice freestanding bookcases. 'The cases are 1’
still hang in the air. This powder is
and discourage any abuse of them. wide, and all are crammed to the limit
chalky in texture and taste. Anyone
The first long shelf is 10’ away from with books accessible from either side of
with masonry experience can identify it the door; its empty surfaces have only a the bookcases. The sight of all these
little white dust on them. Do the right, thousands of books is so overwhelming
as plaster dust. Portia will know what it
is but might not mention it, being wor-
more footmarks are visible, but all to Portia that she faints dead away (no
ried about her son Nardo and anxious to
mixed together and unclear. Just off the saving throw) and doesn’t revive for 2-5
find him.
center of the north wall is a gaping rounds.
If asked about the room beyond the
black hole in the brickwork, and beyond On the stone floor in the north open-
is a wide flight of stone steps spiraling ing of the room at the bottom of the
door, Portia’s gives information accord-
ing to her personal reaction to the party.
down. There is a lot of rubble on the new goose-quill pen. The ink
stairs is a
If they are a rough-looking, untrust-
floorand steps, its position indicating isdry by now, but its stained end points
that something broke through into the deeper into the stacks of books. Anyone
worthy lot, she divulges as little as
necessary. A clean-cut group with good
room at this point. Portia is utterly making a successful hear noise roll at
mystified and unable to explain where this opening (using the thief ability or
manners gets more cooperation. At the

DUNGEON 7
 ;

THE LURKERS IN THE LIBRARY

THE LOST LABYRINTH

1 square = 5

that on page 60 of the DMG) hears muf- used several volumes to feed their fire best volumes for themselves and are
fled voices from somewhere ahead. in the cave. When they explored the forcing their captives to look for them.
A little background is helpful here. book storage area, they found the stairs Having stolen the light globes from the
Long, long ago, when the original going up and began gouging their way upper chamber, the ores are using them
librarians of Ferrantio knew the city through yet another plaster wall. instead of torches so their human cap-
was going to be invaded, they prepared The noise they made was faint at first. tives can see.
this huge chamber for the safekeeping Doctor Thomgreen was concentrating The ore leader is a scarred half-ore
of their books. They were in haste to set so deeply on his work that he did not warrior named Pulcut (AC 4; 9" MV
up the shelving and unintentionally notice an5dihing odd until the ores were F2; hp 17; #AT 1; Dmg by weapon type;
created a labyrinth as they worked. nearly through the wall. When the S 17, 1 11, W 10, D 14, C 16, Ch 5; AL
They blocked off the stair entrance from scrapes and knockings became loud LE; chain mail, shield, scimitar, dagger,
above so well that later builders used enough to disturb him, he quickly called whip, light crossbow). His second-in-
the wall as a foundation for the new for Nardo in the next room to listen. command is his orcish half-brother,
library. There was one other exit, in the Having led rather sheltered academic Guggle (AC 6; MV 9" HD 1; hp 8; #AT
;

northeast comer, which led to an escape lives, neither of them could understand 1; Dmg by weapon type; AL LE; ring
timnel. This was plastered up as well, the cause of the noises until the ores mail, shield, short sword, horseman’s
sealing the books up for the future. suddenly broke through the wall in a mace, dagger, short bow, quiver with 13
With the burning of the city, none of the billowing cloud of plaster dust. Nardo arrows). Pulcut and Guggle get along
librarians bothered to return. turned to run for help, but the ore lead- with each other about as well as oil and
A few days prior to the arrival of the er's whip caught him around the neck water. Guggle especially enjoys baiting
PCs, a small band of roving ores found a and dragged him back. This was the his older half-brother and never seems
cave on the other side of Ferrantio “tentacle*’ that Julius saw. to learn that the thumps he draws down
Mountain and sheltered in it for the The ores are holding Thomgreen and on his thick skull are his own fault.
day. Poking around the back wall of the Nardo prisoner somewhere in the laby- Pulcut is a belligerent bully and is
cave, the ores discovered some artificial rinth of books. Having questioned the highly sensitive about his name. If
construction; they soon had it down and librarians in Common, the ores now anyone makes fun of it, like corrupting
began exploring the tunnel beyond. It know they are under the Ferrantio the pronunciation to “Polecat,” he goes
led to yet another blank wall, which Library and that the books around them berserk and immediately attacks the
they broke through to discover the are probably valuable enough to ransom offender, even if it is a fellow ore. This
books. Having no use for them, the ores or sell. The ores want to carry off the rage gives him + 1 to his damage but

8 Issue No. 9
 ;

THE LURKERS IN THE LIBRARY

-2 to hit. The other ores (AC 6; MV 9" stop and draw maps. Signs may be left upstairs for help. The presence of large
HD 1; hp 5 each; #AT 1; Dmg by weapon on the floor to mark their passage, but numbers of people even imarmed
type; AL LE; ring mail, shield, broad the ores may find these and use them to people — will give the ores second
sword, dagger each) should equal in locate the party. thoughts and require them to make a
number the PCs in the party, thus giv- The PCs should keep in mind the high morale check.
ing the PCs a good fight in a free-for-all. flammability of the surroundings. Any
The ores’ location in the maze is up to sort of flame attack has a 75% chance to Concluding the Adventure
the DM and the playing situation. At ignite the books around them, whether
The entire town of Ferrantio — and
first, they may not even be aware of the the attack hits its target or not. The
especially Portia —
will be grateful to
presence of the party, unless the PCs borrowed light globes should provide
the PCs for their efforts to rescue the
make a lot of unnecessary noise. The the PCs with sufficient illumination,
hostages and their help in discovering
books and shelves tend to absorb sound though the ores will immediately dis-
the old books. Their financial reward
and distort it, making it difficult to card their globes in favor of 60' infra-
should be reasonable but not outra-
trace a noise to its source. Neither side vision from the moment they are aware
geous, for this is a small academic town
is going to know how many are in the of the PCs, to surprise someone by
that does not have a lot of money to
labyrinth, causing a maximum amount attacking out of the dark.
throw around.
of confusion for all concerned. The ores PCs who defeat the ores and recover
are on the move, so the action may the hostages merit the usual number of
The DM should determine what is fair
and feel free to substitute services or
resemble a cross between running com- experience points, but a bonus of extra
goods for cash, but the PCs should
bat and a game of hide-and-seek. points should be awarded to characters
retain the experience-point value for
Thorngreen and Nardo have their doing the least amount of damage to the
their records. If the PCs came to Ferran-
hands tied, but can still walk smd are books. Though the temperature and
tio to consult the sage, Portia is only too
being herded by Pulcut and Guggle. If humidity have been constant in the
happy to answer their questions for
the odds really move against them, the underground chamber, preserving many
free, but only up to a point. She is going
ores try to escape out the northeast of the books, these volumes are still old
to be an extremely busy librarian for
tunnel, taking the prisoners along as and fragile, and must be treated gently.
the next few years as she supervises the
hostages. If the odds go against the PCs and
organization of all her new books, and
The players may determine the PCs’ they need help, one way to get them out
and run
she is very anxious to get to work. Q
movements, but they won’t have time to alive is for Portia to revive

•I

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DUNGEON 9
 We finally tracked Richard Fichem
down in Orange, California to tell Mm
thisadventure would soon be puMisked,
When not producing adueniures and
game-related articies, Michard is a tecM
nieal writer for Northrop Corpomiiom
This Ms first appeamme in BUM-
is
GEON'™ Adyentures, but Ms artides
have appeared in pmt issues of
DRAGON® Magazine CVrm&we Curs-
ingT m; ^^The Gypsy TrainT mX
In
addition to gaming, Richard enjoys such
diverse pursuits as French cuMm
and
wUdemess backpacking.

“The Crypt of Maris” is a to'iirnainent

module for the AD&D® game that was
used at the GATEWAY ’85 game con¥en.»
tioB, It isintended to be played by eight
players ewer a period of four hours, with
scores based on the party’s achie¥ein.eiit
of certain goals and ayoidance of unnec-
essary hazards. In regular campaigns,
6“8 eharacters of 3rd-5th leyel may
participate. Ibumament player charac”'
ters should be of the same ley els, form-
ing a mixed group of good- or neutral-
aligned fighters, clerics, thieyes, and
magic-users. All PCs, for toumamant
purposes, should worship the Finnish
deities described in Legends Lore; in

THE CRYPT
campaign .play, this is not necessary as
the religions in.¥ol¥ed may be altered.
This particular scenario was designed
with two types of players in mind: the
thinking player who wants tricky puz-

OF
B¥ RICHARD FICHERA
jSTARIS
zles and mysteries to sol,¥e, and the
adventurous player who wants excite-
ment and fast-paced action,. “The Crypt
of Istaris” should satisfy both types..
If eonverted from, tournament use to
campaign use, the DM may ma.ke other
adjustments. For instance, instcjad of

A mission with an the evil brotherhood of Hiisi holding the

town of Hornboro for ransom with a
four-hour time limit, the evil clerics
unforgiving could charge the tow.n exorbitant “pro-
tection” money or enslave some of the

Hpnrilinp
ill \aii^ I 1
townspeople. The party of adventurers
eould then receive a message from the
town, telling of its oppression. This
would give the PCs reason to sneak into
Hornboro, makes contact with Father
Verdain, and quietly make their way to
Artwork by C. Bradford ©orby the ce:m.etery As long as the adventur-
Cartography by Dleml
ers are careful to keep under cover, the
priests of Hiisi should have no reason to
bri.ng on the destruction.
This adventure would also serve as an
excellent introduction to a long under-
ground campaign, given the subsurface
river and the troglodyta realms to
which it runs. An inventive DMwith, a
 THE CRYPT OF ISTARIS

copy of the Dungeoneer's Survival Guide

another, the unholy rites recited. they also intensified, increasing its
could start an Under dark campaign
(much like that introduced in the super- These were the deeds of an obsessed power until it is now so filled with
module GDQ 1-7, Queen of the Spiders, and unbalanced man. energy that to evoke its simplest
“It is said that in the end he failed, powers would consume the caster.
Adventure Background and that for the last hundred years “This night, the planets will align
he has rested, body and soul. But themselves in such a way as to trig-
The following text should be read or before he was sealed in his ssircopha- ger the magic of the corpse and the
given to the players before the start of a gus, great magics were poured over medallion, which working together
tournament game. It may be altered as his body, as per his wishes. Even will cause an explosion that will
desired in regular campaign play. today, that magical power awaits the wipe this town from the land. For
hand of some other being to find a this, the priests of Hiisi hold our
You and your allies have adventured use for it —
and, indeed, we all fear town in ransom. They say that
together for some time now, earning that this has happened. unless we produce 20,000 gold pieces,
a few gold pieces and a bit of fame. “We have recently discovered that they will let the magic run its course,
But adventure does not last long in his tomb has been entered many and the town will be destroyed. They
one place, so eventually you found times during the last three months do not lie; I have cast spells myself
yourselves heading home to the town by priests of Hiisi, god of evil. This and know they speak the truth.
of Hornboro — just in time to see group is known as the Dark Brother- Already, homes have been emptied
caravans of overstuffed wagons and hood, reputed to be the beloved of and people flee, knowing that we can
carts being hastily hauled out of Hiisi, for they inflict more misfor- never pay such a bounty.
town by panic-stricken villagers. The tune upon mankind than any other “But now there is hope! You have
few travelers you spoke to whispered of his followers. Ib show his grati- returned home with increased power
quickly of evil men with magic that tude to these most malign of clerics, and knowledge at your command. I
put the entire city in danger. It Hiisi gave them the location of a ask you, for the sake of your town,
wasn’t long before messengers came forbidden relic, which the clerics please help us.”
to you, begging you all to come to the then acquired. This talisman is You and your party discuss it, but
high temple of Ahto, god of the seas, known as the Scepter of Dir-yabon, the final decision is obvious. You
to see the high priest. Father Ver- who in ancient times was a thor- know you must try to save your
dain. Once at the temple, you were oughly wicked sorcerer whose goals town.
rushed to the study of the high priest were complete control of both men Father Verdain breathes a deep
for a brief conversation. and magic. Tb these ends, Dir-yabon sigh. “There is no hope of fighting
“Many have been the times when created a magical scepter that would the Dark Brotherhood directly. Even
you have come to me for help that allow him to take complete control of if we could discover their secret lair,
fell outside your own capabilities,” a person’s body, beyond the reach of they would easily control you with
said Father Verdain. “Now, it is time the victim’s mind. With that scepter, the power of the scepter and destroy
for me to come to you. Dir-yabon could cripple or slay men you all. Instead, you must enter the
“Hundreds of years ago, in Horn- — even force any being to take its crypt of Istaris at the north edge of
boro, there lived a great and power- own Over magic, he also had
life. town. Once inside, be wary, for it is
mage named Istaris. While for
ful some an item of magical
control. If said that Istaris did not intend his
many years he provided great benefit nature was near the scepter, he could resting place to be disturbed. Many
to this city, in his later years the fear use the device to increase the magi- and deadly the traps must be, and
of death took him, and his good na- cal item’s potency, drawing upon the caretakers were left behind as
ture twisted toward evil. He became magic flux about the item and mag- guards. Still, you must recover the
obsessed with the idea of escaping nifying it to fearful proportions. body of Istaris and his medallion.
the grim judgment of the god of “It is the Dark Brotherhood’s pos- “Once you have these, you must
death, Tuoni, and so began a number session of this malignant relic that take them outside and subject them
of experiments in the black arts, brings us to this dire situation. The to flame, thereby destroying the
hoping to find some key to immortal- Brotherhood has used the scepter of magic therein. I have read all that I
ity. After much work in the area, he Dir-yabon upon the magical residue can find on this matter from the
knew that there would be no way to left in Istaris’s body. The body of the deepest parts of our libraries, and
preserve his body indefinitely, but mage bore only a small flux of magic, this should be sufficient. While the
that he might be able to keep his but the power of the relic multiplied dusty scrolls were not clear on this, I
soul alive to continue his existence if that flux. Upon each additional visit believe that you should not try to
his remains were properly handled. to the tomb, the Brotherhood multi- destroy the corpse or the medallion
To accomplish this, he built himself a plied that power again, until Istaris’s while inside the crypt, for that is too
home beneath the cemetery here in corpse is now boiling with vast ener- close to the center of Istaris’s magic.
town. The motif of this house was gies waiting to burst out. The flames could turn magical and
death, so that in every room, death “Also within the crypt, the Broth- consume you all. Now hurry! The two
would be the main subject. In one erhood found a medallion of Istaris, must be destroyed before midnight,
room the body would be prepared; in an item in which the mage once or the prayers of Hiisi will be
another, the coffin built; and in yet stored magical power and spells. This answered, and we will all join Tuoni

DUNGEON 11
THE CRYPT OF ISTARIS

branches a few leagues from town, and were still better than the dirty caves in
in the underworld/’ which they had worshiped Laogzed
that one of the forks passes beneath the
You hurry outside into the early earth, from which it does not reappear previously.
evening and agree that you will need at all. The townsfolk had always In recent times, the Dark Brotherhood
a few things to complete this danger- assumed that this branch of the river has entered the crypt looking for magic
ous task. You split up, and it is just passed through some natural caverns on left by the dead sorcerer. What they
shy of eight o’clock that night when its way to an underground sea. As the found, instead, was an occupied complex
your party meets at the gates of the gods would have it, Istaris’s construc- with several rooms dedicated to Laogzed
cemetery. and followers determined to assure
tion broke through into a small section
of these caverns, providing him with a their sanctity.
For the Dungeon Master water supply in his “palace of death,” The evil humans contrived a story for
Father Verdain, though he will not But that was not all the old mage the troglodytes, telling them that sev-
approach the tomb unless the PCs utter- uncovered, for in the caverns lived a eral other humans had discovered the
ly fail in their mission, is willing to give small tribe of troglod3^es who watched nonhuman presence in the crypt and
assistance to the PCs in the form of over a large clump of rock in the under- would arrive in a few weeks to destroy
curative spells if needed. ground river. They felt it to be holy the place. The Dark Brotherhood, how-
Father Verdain: AC 4; MV 12" C9; ;
ground, having once been stepped on by ever, offered to help the troglodytes in
hp 37; #AT 1; Dmg by weapon type Laogzed, god of the troglodytes. With exchange for access to Istaris’s burial
(mace); S 12, 1 16, W
16, D 10, C 9, Ch them was their holy leader, a troglodyte place. This, they explained, would allow

15; AL NG; bracers of defense 4,AC shaman named Rachgar-zed. them to tap the power needed to help
mace +2; spells: command, cure light At first, it looked like battle was the troglod3rtes and also further the
wounds ( X 3), detect evil, detect magic, imminent. But Istaris had spent too causes of their own god. The lizard-
aid, detect life, know alignment, slow much time on his project to abandon it; beings agreed, but insisted that mem-
poison ( X 2), speak with animals, cure he tried to make peace with the mon- bers of the Brotherhood were not to stay
blindness, cure disease, speak with dead, sters. Rachgar-zed was not foolish and within the complex; they could enter
cure serious wounds, neutralize poison, surmised that something could be only when they wished to work with
raise dead. gained from this wizard. The shaman Istaris’s body.

The good research and spell-

cleric’s suggested that trogs and mage could Over the last four months, the fol-
casting revealed much, but there is coexist if Istaris would agree to a few lowers of Hiisi visited the cr3rpt a dozen
more to the story of the death-fearing compromises. times, performing unholy rites, reciting
magic-user. As Istgiris saw his years Istaris was to turn part of his complex strange incantations, and using the
advancing, the wizard began to feel over to the worshipers of Laogzed, Scepter of Dir-yabon to leash and con-
cheated by time. Maybe he had been too including construction of a sanctuary trol the magic that once belonged to the

devoted to his eldritch pursuits and had similar to that for human gods and a wizard. They have also placed a few
not fully enjoyed more earthly plea- special place around their holy ground traps of their own to protect their work.
sures. Maybe he didn’t have the time to where troglodytes could easily come and With their efforts complete, the
create the ultimate spell or finish a worship. In return, the troglod3d;es humans delivered a letter to the town
series of magical tomes. Whatever the would act as caretakers of the place, council of Hornboro, saying that on the
case, he was troubled by the nearing of even after Istaris’s demise, and would night of the new moon, at exactly mid-
the end of his natural life. guard it for generations to come. As this night, the crypt would explode with
His concerns brought to mind the idea was to be a holy place, the troglod3rte enough force to level the entire town
that he needed some place where his families would remain in their current and burn all of the farmlands in the
spirit might be preserved; if he could homes, deeper in the caverns, but cer- surrounding countryside. If the commu-
continue to function mentally, he could tain select individuals would be provid- nity decided to storm the crypt, the
possess some other body and continue ed with quarters within the sanctuary. Brotherhood would detonate the spell
his endeavors. So, Istaris began a new In the end, Istaris did not keep fully to immediately. lb convince the townspeo-
line of experiments, producing spells his promise. He distrusted the troglo- ple of the truth of their danger, the
that would preserve his spirit. For such dytes —
as they did him — and he Dark Brotherhood marched into.town,
work, he felt he needed a laboratory treacherously closed off parts of the calling a challenge to the town council.
that would inspire him with an aware- complex from the troglod5rtes using Those members of the council who were
ness of death’s nearing presence. What magical protection (particularly the present bravely stepped forward to
better place than a cemetery? statue in room 3). This enraged the discount the threats. All of these town
Construction started as a small false reptile-men, because one of the inacces- officials died horribly by their own

crypt that would hide stairs leading sible areas was their new sanctuary. In hands moments later, as the evil
down to his domain dedicated to the their anger, they attempted to defile the humans brought the power of the scep-
study of death. If he should fail, there wizard’s remains but quickly found ter into force. The remaining crowd,
would at least be rooms to accommodate them too well protected. There was gripped by panic, scattered.
his funeral and burial —
and these close much debate at this point as to whether The village’s only hope, before the
at hand to remind him of the cost of they should abandon the whole com- timely return of the traveling adventur-
failure. plex, but Rachgar-zed held sway over ers, would be to deliver 20,000 gp before

It is known that a small, swift river the troglodytes and eventually con- the appointed time to the Brotherhood.
named the Greenbriar divides into two vinced them that the areas left to them For this ransom, the evil humans prom-

12 Issue No. 9
 THE CRYPT OF ISTARIS

ised to disarm and remove the magics tomb, they notice a delicate inscription
that they had cast and leave the town in on the top of the sarcophagus which
peace. A ransom of this amount would reads: “Tb my dear wife, Lindrana, who
impoverish the entire population of died of the black plague." This sarcoph-
Hornboro, and there are no guarantees agus is actually the entrance to the
that the Brotherhood will leave as crypt. Opening the coffin releases a gas
promised. which causes a loss of 1-6 points of
strength three turns later unless a
The Crypt saving throw vs. poison is made. This
strength loss is recovered sifter one
All rooms in the crypt, unless otherwise
hour. All within the crypt are affected.
noted, have lO'-high ceilings. Walls,
Once the gas has cleared, a staircase
floor, and ceilings are constructed of cut
can be seen within the coffin, leading
and mortared stone, with small cracks
down and east, 50' into the ground.
between the individual blocks. Only one
room (room 34) has any light source;
2. Anteroom. The stairs end in a
light is not required by any of the
small room with disturbing decor.
crypt's inhabitants. Walls are 1' thick.
Murals have been painted and etched
Doors are banded with iron and, though
on the walls, depicting dark-robed
wooden, have been treated with chemi-
priests praying to a faceless god.
cals to make them stronger (treat as
Screaming men and women are being
thick wood + 4 on the saving-throw
dragged before the deity. Elsewhere on
table on page 80 of the DMG). Unless
the walls, human figures are seen suf-
otherwise mentioned, doors Eire not
fering terrible deaths in ghastly rituals.
locked but must be forced open by
1. The frescoes on the walls are grim indi-
strength. Most doors are actually double
cations of where Istaris's mind wander-
doors, each 3' wide and 7' tall, set in a
ed as his final days approached. The
stone wall.
room is otherwise empty, but there is a
Since this is the hometown of the
secret door in the east wall. The door
player characters, it is assumed that
opens with a simple push.
they already know the location of the
cemetery and are familiar enough with
3. Chamber of Directions. A forbid- from the back of the corridor, however,
its layout to find the crypt of the legend-
ding iron statue stands atop a 2 '-high the wall will not come down until that
ary wizard without trouble. The Dark
pedestal in the center of this eight-sided person is between the statue and the
Brotherhood has completely abandoned
room. It is the figure of an angry wiz- wall slot.) If two or more corridors are
the crypt at this point, anticipating the
ard, 7' tall, who faces the door to area 2 entered, the statue fires at PCs at ran-
magical explosion later in the evening,
with obvious condemnation. The right dom. This trap is capable of closing all
but has left some guardians and traps to
hand points directly at the door; in the corridors at once if necessary. Only if the
discourage intruders.
other, clenched to his chest, are held two PCs leave the corridors and reenter room
10" -long wands. 3 can the barrage be stopped.
Upper Level
Corridors exit this room from each of Herein lies the statue’s weakness.
its eight walls except the one from While the hand points in one direction,
The Crypt. On the surface, the
which the party entered. This is the an elongated spike on the base of the
crypt of Istaris looks like a small, white
central junction of the crypt and is well statue points in the other direction (see
marble mausoleum, simple in design,
with a black iron-rod door barring its
armed to destroy intruders. If the PCs diagram IX Holes have been drilled
head down any corridor for at least 10', around the perimeter of the statue’s
single entrance. The only markings are
a solid stone wall slams down, blocking base just below this pointer. If the rods
large letters carved into the stone above
the path at the 20' msirk (indicated on are removed from the statue’s other
the door, letters which spell “ISTARIS."
the map as dashed lines). hand and placed in the holes along the
Peeking through the bars, the PCs can
If the PCs look back at the statue, they statue’s base, movement of the pointer
see a white-stone sarcophagus resting
notice that it is now pointing in their is blocked, restricting the statue’s move-
on a marble dais. The interior is as
direction. The statue can sense whenever ment and freeing one or all of the corri-
unadorned as the exterior. The bars
any living thing enters one of the corri- dors, depending on how the rods are
may be bent or the lock on the door
dors (including living beings which are positioned. If completely blocked, the
picked. Any thief who examines the
invisible, flying, floating, or traveling on statue neither fires magic missiles nor
lock can tell from the number of
the walls or ceiling). Once such life is causes the corridors to be sealed off.
scratches around the keyhole that it has
been recently used. The Dark Brother-
detected, the statue spins Eiround to Because of the construction and mate-
point down that corridor, a wsdl is low- rial of this statue, it is nesirly impervi-
hood made entry into the cr3rpt here in
ered to block off the passage, and the ous to any physical or magical damage
the night, using spells and devices to
statue launches magic missiles at the the PCs could deal to it (saves as hsird
hide their movements.
rate of one per round at random charac- metal +2 on the table on page 80 of the
Once the PCs gain entrance to the
ters within the corridor. (If anyone enters DMG). Weapons used to batter or break

DUNGEON 13
THE CRYPT OF ISTARIS
 THE CRYPT OF ISTARIS

the statue are just as likely to break In this workshop Istaris studied death things found in this room. A few labels
and should have appropriate saving and its effects, but he never learned to are visible, mostly faded and brown
throws rolled vs. normal blow. Only the master them. The room is clean, and with age. Ever3rthing here is covered
special rods held by the statue can pre- characters will find no powders or fluids with a thin layer of dust. The spell
vent it from turning on its base. All in the beedters and vials. The workbench components for eight randomly deter-
other objects are too fragile to stop the on the west wall is actuedly an examin- mined magic-user or illusionist spells
statue’s momentum and are completely ing table, and the strange panel once are present in this room, and may all be
destroyed if placed in the holes when harnessed and controlled magical energy found within three turns if the PCs
the statue turns. The entire right arm in the laboratory freezer (room 6). search for any treasure.
of the statue would have to be removed On a bare spot of wall, in the south-
to stop its magic missile capability. 6. Laboratory Freezer. This small west corner of the room, three gas noz-
Dispel magic causes the statue to room, in which stand four large blocks zles are mounted in the stone: one
become dormant for one round. of ice, is very cold. Each ice block is green, one gold, one blue.
about 8' tall, 3’ wide, and 3' deep; char- If the green nozzle is turned, chlorine
4. Smoking Room. The dimensions of acters may notice that these blocks are gas sprays out to slowly fill the room.
this room are completely undetectable very dense in the middle. A closer look Each PC in this area must make a save
behind a wall of boiling smoke. If the reveals a large, dark, humanoid shape vs. poison or lose consciousness and
door is left open, the smoke drifts out in the center of each block. Characters 8. 1-6 hp damage per round that the
take
into the corridor. are unable to identify the type of crea- PC is exposed to the gas. The gas con-
This room contains an unending sup- tures so icily imprisoned. tinues to pour out for 10 rounds, filling
ply of smoke, for on the floor in the There are four ogres (AC 5; MV 9" the room and billowing 10' beyond any
middle of the room is an open eversmok- HD 4 + 1; hp 30, 22, 19, 18; #AT 1; Dmg open door.
ing bottle. If the party leaves the door by weapon type (currently unarmed) or If theblue nozzle is turned,an electric
open long enough, it soon finds the by fists (2-5/2-5); AL CE) frozen inside bolt shoots out, doing 3-36 hpdamage to a
hallway filling with smoke while the these ice blocks. They are left over from random person within the room unless a
room continues to be obscured. Visibil- some of Istaris’s experiments. The char- save vs. wands is made for half damage.
ity in this room is zero. acters also notice two matching gold If the gold nozzle is turned, a section
The solution is to find and use the probes stuck in either side of each block, of the wall slides away to expose a
bottle’s magical stopper, which has the close to the head of the creature. Thin secret tunnel Geading to area 8).
command word “fumEU’” inscribed on it. wires run from the probes to holes in
This enchanted cork has been tossed the ceiling. If a block is removed from An Odd Ceiling. A portcullis
into the northeast corner of the room. the freezer and thawed, its inhabitant blocks the path through this chamber,
Nothing else will stop the bottle from comes to life in ld6 +4 turns (half this and a second portcullis can be seen on
heaving clouds of smoke into the air time if the characters help by chipping the opposite side of the room where the
wherever it goes. away some of the ice or start a fire). The corridor continues. A bend bars/lift
But the bottle is only the first prob- PCs then find they have unleashed an gates roll is required to open either of
lem. Hidden in the smoke, clinging to angry ogre who blames everyone in these gates. The walls are otherwise
the ceiling, is a group of eight piercers sight for tricking him into being frozen. bare.
(AC 3; MV 1" ;
1 HD; hp 5 each; #AT 1; There is a 25% chance to calm an ogre If the PCs look up with a good light
Dmg 1-6; SA 95% surprise; AL N). Since and stop its mindless attack, but it may source, they notice another feature of
the smoke is not generated by a heat want to defrost the other ogres as well. this room: a large hook in the center of
source, the creatures are able to rely on Once the ogres have that kind of advan- the ceiling. If the PCs examine the
their heat-detection ability to find char- tage, there could be trouble (80% chance ceiling more closely, there is a 20%
acters groping around the room. Each that the ogres attack right away). chance to notice that the stonework on
piercer gets one attack, but then The gold probes are worth 20 gp each, the ceiling has a slightly odd tint to it,
requires three rounds to inch its way but if they are removed, the ogres wake just a touch of orange or yellow.
back up a wall to the ceiling. The pierc- up and try to break free of the ice (the This odd coloration is due to this
ers are a recent feature, put here by the wiring that kept them unconscious has room’s previous occupant which,
Dark Brotherhood. been disconnected). They completely although long dead from starvation, is
break out in ld6 + 12 turns on their stuck to the ceiling. It was a lurker
5. Laboratory of Death. Two bench- own. The freezing process permits the above of rectangular shape (10' x 20')
es standing in this room are covered ogres to survive without oxygen until that Istaris had surgically altered, cut-
with glass tubes, vials, and burners they are freed. ting a hole in its middle through which
supported by small metal frameworks, the ceiling hook protruded.
giving the room the look of an arcane 7. Spell Component Storage. Stacks If a PC notices something strange
laboratory. On the west wall is another, of shelves fillroom and line the
this about the ceiling and decides to poke at
smaller, workbench with a white linen walls, giving the room a maze effect. it with a pole or long weapon (or if a
cloth draped over it and a small table Bottles and vials of every possible thief climbs up to investigate), the life-
next to it. In the southwest corner, there description can be seen as light is cast less carcass crashes to the floor, reveal-
is a large panel covered with small inside the door. Dried pieces of animals, ing the true danger; the surface of the
round buttons, knobs, and handles. The extra equipment, and sealed flasks of creature that was held to the ceiling is
panel radiates magic. strange gases £u:e just a few of the infested with yellow mold (AC 9; MV

DUNGEON 15
THE CRYPT OF ISTARIS

9; MV nil; HD 2; hp 10 each; #AT nil;

SA consumes living creatures in 1-4
rounds, eats wood and metal; SD
removed only by burning, freezing,
cutting away, or using a cure disease
spell; AL N), The statues are protected
from the slime by thick inner coatings
of glass. Any detection for traps has a
chance to reveal a thin wire strung
across the archway and may also reveal
that the two gargoyle statues are
hinged at their feet so as to fall forward.
They are set off center on their bases, so
little effortwould be needed for them to
drop over. The base platforms rotate and
may be turned around.
The tripwire connects to mechanisms
which automatically cause the statues
to fall forward and disgorge their con-
tents; green slime pours out over the
floor and onto the feet of all PCs within
10' to either side of the gateway. Cut-
ting the tripwire will not trigger the
trap, but any push against the statues
causes one or both to fall over. No one
will be hurt if struck by a falling statue,
as they don't have far to fall forward.
If the statues disgorge their cargoes of
slime, affected party members have
three rounds to remove their boots if
they are wearing metallic armor or two
rounds for other types of footwear, A
nil; HD nil; #AT 1 (if touched); Dmg 1-8; two chrysoprase gems (50
lion of Istaris, dexterity check on ld20 is made each
SA poisonous spore save vs, poison or gp value each), and a scroll with two round. If the check is successful, the
die; continual light produces dormancy, magic-user spells at 16th level (affect shoes have been removed and no further
fire alone destroys it; AL N), There is a normal fires, web). rolls are needed. If any of the allowable
90% chance that this collapse releases a The medallion in this chest is the true checks are missed, the green slime has
cloud of spores that fills the room and medallion of Istaris (as opposed to the attached itself to the character's feet,
spills out 10' into the corridors. If this one buried with the body in room 39), with predictable results.
happens, anyone within range must which was originally a medallion of Even if the tripwire is cut, the statues
save vs. poison or die a horrible death spell storing. A detect magic spell indi- are dangerous. When any one person in
as the spores fill his lungs. cates incredibly strong magic of an the party enters room 11, the gargoyles
If the lurker's fall does not set off the evocation nature, pulsing as if alive, tip forward and green slime pouj^ out of
spore cloud) then movement beneath their mouths* It takes one round for the
the fallen lurker has a 20% chance per 10* Gates of Death. The corridor statues to empty and tilt back to their
round to do so. Anyone caught beneath narrows here, passing through an arch- original positions. The green slime
the fallen lurker automatically takes way, Guarding the portal, squatting on covers a 10' K 20' area as noted above.
1-8 hp damage from touching the mold. I'-high pedestals in alcoves on either If the party is in a hurry, it might not
The hook in the ceiling was used to side, are two life-size iron gargoyles notice the change (normal surprise roll
control an overhead shield (protecting which appear to be reading the inscrip- if walking, surprised on 1-3 if fleeing

those beneath it from the lurker above) tion above the arch. Their expressions pursuit).
that was removed by Istaris's personal reveal shock, as their eyes and mouths The green slime can be avoided if the
servants shortly before the wizard's are wide and gaping. The words read: statues are pivoted on their stands to
demise. Imaginative characters might “Fear death, for it will seek you out completely turn them around. With
find some use for the remaining fixture, even as you read these words “ The their backs to the corridor, they will not
corridor beyond the arch widens to pour out their contents.
9. The Medallion's Room. This normal width and turns to the left.
small, circular room holds a single item: If anyone taps on one of the statues 11. Statue Chamber The aisle
an iron-bound wooden chest in the mid- and makes a hear noise roll (as per thief through this large chamber forms a
dle of the floor The chest contains what or the DMGj page 60), he finds that the path between two columns of evil-
is left of Istaris's wealth: a gold chain statue is hollow but possibly filled with looking stone statues sculpted by
(1,400 gp value) attached to the Medal- something — in truth, green slime (AC Istaris* The closest two statues look like

16 Issue No. 9
 THE CRYPT OF ISTARIS

sturdy warriors, saluting with their sight in here is disturbing, and the air bend bars/lift gates percentages togeth-
swords. The next two resemble similar in this room is foul with old decay. On er,but each person must wait 10 min-
fighters, but their armor is battered and either side of the door on the opposite utes between tries (whether as an
the fighters’ faces look thin and fright- side of the room is a high, narrow table individual or part of a group).
ened. The third set of statues depicts draped with a white linen blanket cov-
another pair of men whose armor is ering something vaguely humanoid. 15. Carpentry Workshop. Sawdust
falling to pieces. Several plates are Next to each table is a smaller wooden and wood chips are scattered about this
missing from their mail exposing emaci- table with some unhealthy looking tools room. Hammers, mallets, an adz, and
ated bodies beneath, the faces showing arranged on top. A large iron door is small metal nails lie jumbled around
an image of pain. The fourth pair is mounted in the far wall and leads to a the work table. On top of the table is a
hideously contorted, teeth bared in storage area (room 14). This was the half-finished wooden coffin.
pain, fists clenched, eyes bulging and examining room where Istaris dissected If the sawdust is examined, the group
filled with hate. The last pair look very the bodies of creatures that had died and that
finds that the top layer is fresh
deformed, with clawlike hands extend- during his experiments. But the Dark the coffin on the worktable shows signs
ing from crooked arms. Brotherhood has left a surprise here. of recent carving. Nothing else of inter-
Istaris had this gallery, showing the Any character moving 10' into the est is here.
transformations of men into manes room animates the two coffer corpses
demons, built as an acknowledgement (AC 8; MV 6" ;
HD
2; hp 12, 10; #AT 1; 16. Sleeping Chamber. The only
of his descent into evil. Mounted on the Dmg 1-6; SA automatic strangulation furnishings here are a bed and a small
wall, in the southwest corner of the after first successful hit, fear genera- table; there is little room for an3rthing
chamber, is a penance box; it is empty. tion; SD turned as a wraith, immune to else. The bed is unmade, as if someone
A magical ward is placed at the nonmagical weapons although others only recently got up from resting. There
entrance to this room from area 10. appear to do damage; AL CE) lying on is nothing of value here.
Anyone crossing the entryway into the examining tables. If these creatures If the PCs pull back the covers and
room 11 triggers the ward (which may are hit with normal weapons for 6 hp examine the bed, they find that the
be detected as it radiates magic), caus- damage or more in a single round, they blankets are full of short, black hairs
ing the ward to vanish and the gar- fall to the ground for one round, then (rat hairs). This room is being used by
goyles in area 10 to tip over (see get back up and resume fighting. When Mordeus, the accursed and overly curi-
description of area 10). these undead reanimate, all characters ous son of a cabinetmaker in Hornboro.
The corridor heading west out of room must save vs. spells or flee in panic. After Mordeus is a wererat. His father desper-
11 turns into a gently sloping ramp its first successful hit, a coffer corpse ately hides the secret, but also fears the
14.
which leads down to room 32 on the locks its hands around its victim’s young man and lets him do as he
second level of this dungeon complex. throat and strangles that person for 1-6 pleases. Because of this, the lycanthrope
The slope is roughly 1:3 (it drops 1' for hp damage/round until the corpse is son roams about town most of the time
every 3' traveled forward). The sounds destroyed or the victim dies. causing trouble and picking fights. On
of a waterfall can be heard as one enters If the tools are examined, PCs find a one of his late-night wanderings, about
the ramp from area 11 and heads down. small saw, hammer, chisels, and a knife; two weeks ago, Mordeus spotted the
all are stained with old blood. A drawer Dark Brotherhood in the cemetery. He
12. Lumber Room. Racks of lumber in the northern tool table holds a wood- watched from a safe distance, hidden
run from east to west in this crowded en box containing 150 gp of recent mint- behind a tombstone, and eventually
room. Storage bins contain extra tools, age (stored here by one of the Brother- followed the secretive priests into the
nails, iron spikes, and small iron hinges hood and forgotten until it was too late crypt of Istaris.
and handles. In the southeast corner to retrieve them). Mordeus lost the clerics’ trail at the
stands a wooden cabinet with a heavy chamber with Istaris’s guardian statue
lock on its doors. This cabinet, when Iron Room. The iron doors to this (room 3) while the statue was blocked,
opened, ejects a barrage of 20 thin steel room are hinged so that they open in but decided to go exploring in a random
spikes. The first character in line with both directions, but the hinges are so direction. He became so involved in his
the front of the cabinet is attacked by corroded that it is much easier to get in own investigation that the Dark Broth-
each of the spikes (which roll to hit as if than to get out. It is noticeably cold in erhood left before he could escape. Since
hurled by a 4th-level fighter). Any of this small room. The walls, floor, and his first encounter with the statue in
the projectiles which miss proceed on to ceiling are all made of iron. This place room 3, Mordeus has been afraid to try
attack the next PCs in line. Continue is empty except for an unimportant pile to leave. He sleeps in this room when
rolling for all characters in the flight of stained rags in the northeast comer. tired,but is usually found in the
path until all the spikes have either hit The iron doors close automatically if kitchen (room 23) scavenging for food.
a target or hit the back wall. Each spike not held open. Anyone locked inside Out of boredom, he occasionally tinkers
does ld4 hp damage. needs to make his bend hars/lift gates around in the workshop (room 15),
Inside the cabinet are numerous gold roll in order to open the doors and experimenting with some of the tools he
and brass fittings (handles, hinges, escape. Only one roll per individual is has seen his father use.
latches, etc.) for coffins, worth 300 gp allowed per turn; failure indicates that A further search of the room reveals a
and weighing 10 lbs. in all. no amount of striving by this person concealed passage behind the head of
alone will open the door during that the bed. The tunnel is rather small (2'
13. Dissection Laboratory. The turn. Groups of people may add their wide, about the right size for a crawling

DUNGEON 17
THE CRYPT OF ISTARIS

Any combatant pushed or hurled over

the railing of the bridge plummets past
room 35 (30^ below) and into the under-
ground rapids (20' deep and freezing
cold), where he is swept along under
area 36 to the island at area 37. still F
alive, the character may attempt to
grab the rocky island and pull himself
out of the water (65% chance of success,
F
85% for troglodytes). this attempt
fails, the character is swept along for
about a mile (to drown if without swim-
ming skill or if wearing heavy armor)
before the stream takes a sharp turn
and dumps the character on a small
piece of shoreline inside a cavern. This
cavern is very large and opens up to
reveal a troglodyte village. (Good luck to
anyone who gets this farl) The may DM
populate the village for further adven-
turing. The sudden appearance of a live
or dead human at the village may lead
to the appearance of a war party of
troglodytes (statistics to be determined
by the DM) at area 37 in 2-5 hours.

18* Robe Closet, Four golden-yellow

velvet robes hang on the west wall,
suspended from hooks. Lying on the
floor in the northeast corner is a coiled
30 '-long rope ladder with hooks
attached to one end.
The significance of these robes is
explained in the description for room
19. The ladder can be used in room 17.
F the hooks are attached to the rails of
the bridge there, the bottom of the lad-
der touches the rails of the lower bridge
in room 35.

19, The Moving Idol. This strange

hexagonal room contains a bizarre
bronze statue of a reptilian humanoid.
It stands on its back legs, arms out-
stretched as F to embrace a victim. This
6 '-tall statue stands on a small dais of
stone on the east side of the room.

But the party's attention will be

F any character enters 20' into the
halfling or gnome), close to the floor, chamber without wearing a priest's robe
and very roughly dug, hut Mordeus quickly drawn to the occupants of the
from room 18, the idol animates and
finds it just right for his purposes. After bridge. Standing on the east end are six
troglodyte sentries (AC 5; MV 12"
attacks (AC 4; MY 9" ; HD 8 +2; hp 39;
about 20\ the passage slopes downward AT 2; Dmg 1-8/1 -8; SD immune to all
and winds its way toward the pantry HD 2; hp 14, 9 (x2), 8 (x3); ^AT 3 or 1;
tf

spells; AL N). The idol will not attack

(room 24). Dmg 1-3/1-3/2-5 or by weapon type any character who is wearing a robe
(morning stars); SA revulsion odor; SD
from room 18. This statue was origi-
17*Lizard Bridge, The sound of a hide using chameleon skin, surprise
nally animated by Laogzed, in grati-
swiftunderground river can be heard as opponents on 1-4; AL CE) guarding the
tude for the troglodytes' efforts in the
soon as the door to this room is opened. sanctity of the shrine of Laogzed (room
crypt and to improve their ability to
The hexagonal room has no floor, and 19). They attack with their morning
make sacrifices.
spanning this chasm is a narrow bridge stars if anyone attempts to cross the
Beneath the idol is a small latch
with iron rails on either side. Over the bridge. None of these creatures speaks
which is exposed if the statue animates
edge there is only blackness — and the Common, so parleying is difficult.
or is knocked off the dais. If this latch is
sound of rushing water from 60^ below.

18 Issue No. 9
 THE CRYPT OF ISTARIS

pulled, a secret door opens in the front 22. Conference Room. A huge oak
face of the dais, exposing a compart* table runs the length of this room, sur-
ment containing two large leather rounded by 17 straight-backed chairs.
sacks. The sacks, left behind by the Atop the long table sits a complex, artis-
troglodytes many years ago, contain tic centerpiece composed of heather,
300 ep each. branches, and leaves, and displaying
stuffed pheasants and quails. The cen-
20. Old Vaults. This long chamber is terpiece is very attractive but it cannot
lined with rotting wooden burial vaults be removed without disintegrating to
stacked three high from floor to ceiling. dust. There is nothing else of impor-
All is old and dusty here except the tance in this room.
vault to the immediate left, which has a
large hole torn through the wooden
23. Kitchen. Pots and pans hang from
door. Closer inspection reveals that,
the ceiling, dangling over two tables
although the name plate dedicates the
that run down the center of this room.
desecrated vault to someone, there is no
body within. There is a second hole in
An iron, wood-burning stove stands in
the southeast corner. Scuttling noises
the east wall of the interior of the vault.
can be heard all about the room, under
The destruction continues through the
scattered heaps of rubbish, under and
next five vaults, one hole in each of the
on top of the tables, and behind the
two interior walls. The invader can be
stove. Crouched down in the southwest
found in the sixth vault: a carrion
corner of the room is a wererat (AC 6;
crawler (AC 3/7; MV
12" HD 3 + 1; hp
;
MV 12" HD 3 + 1; hp 14; #AT 1; Dmg 1-
18; #AT 8; Dmg
nil; SA paralysis; AL ;

8; SA bite causes lycanthropy; SD can

N). If any cheuracter of dwarf size or
only be hit by magical or silver weap-
smaller crawls into the fifth vault, he
ons; AL LE) who is angry at being
may do automatic damage to the soft
trapped in here. This lycanthrope is
flanks of the carrion crawler every
accompanied by eight giant rats (AC 7;
round that the party attacks from the
front. Party members outside will not
MV 12"; HD V2 hp 3 each; /(^AT 1; Dmg
;

1-3; SA disease; AL NE) who obey him

be able to strike at the creature’s AC 7
to the death.
body, as only its head sticks out of the way leads to the coffin maker’s quarters
The unfortunate lycanthrope is actu-
wooden vault door (which is unlatched). (room 16), now the wererat’s room.
ally Mordeus, the wererat described in
The body of Istaris’s wife lies in the In ajar marked “Cookies,” set on the
room 16. He is currently in his rat form
last vault on the south side. Across her highest shelf, PCs can find 200 sp, the
(about the size of a large dog), which
chest is a brass dagger +i, +2 vs. cook’s rainy-day money. Any food found
was necessary so that he could crawl
undead. here is not fit for consumption by
through the concealed passage from his
humans, elves, dwarves, etc. Rats might
lair (room 16) to the pantry (room 24).
21. Burial Chamber. This musty feel otherwise.
The despair of being imprisoned in the
room is lined with coffins: seven along
crypt for many days with little hope of
the west wall and three along the south 25. Anteroom. This room has been
escape — and very little food — has
wall. The floor in here is packed dirt. tiled with colorful ceramic mosaics.
driven him to the brink of insanity.
This is the room where Istaris buried Green and yellow are the dominant
Seeing the PCs makes him very hostile
his faithful servants. If a ranger or colors, and most of the patterns give the
and aggressive.
barbarian examines the floor, he might impression of waves or the ocean. Care-
Mordeus’s pocket contains a sardonyx
notice the recent tracks of Dark Broth- ful examination reveals a picture on the
erhood members who have cast a few
gem (50 gp value). There is nothing else
mosaic. The illustration depicts some
spells in this area as a trap for unwary
in the kitchen except pots, pans, and
sort of half-lizard, half-toad creature
cooking utensils.
adventurers. If any of the dead are wallowing in a deep puddle of slime.
disturbed, seven zombies (AC 8; MV This is actually a mosaic of Laogzed,
6"; HD 2; hp 14, 10 (x2), 9 (x3), 7; /i^AT 1; 24. Pantry. This tiny room is filled god of the troglod3rtes.
Dmg 1-8; SD immune to sleep, charm, with shelves on every wall, crowded
hold, and cold-based spells; AL N) leave with bottles, jars, and bags of various 26. Robing Chamber. The walls and
their coffins against the west wall and sizes and shapes. Some of the jars have floor of this room are covered with tiny
attack all living beings. faded labels that can still be read: flour, yellow and green ceramic tiles. Along
In the northernmost coffin is hidden a sug£U“, salt, yeast, cinnamon, pepper, etc. the south wall there is a wooden bench
magical brass dagger +i, +2 vs. The debris of torn sacks and broken with a small orange robe lying across
undead. Its presence indicates that this ceramic crockery litters the floor. one end. The robe is the appropriate size
servant was very much in favor. If the Underneath the bottom shelf on the for a child (human or otherwise) and
PCs investigate the other three coffins, west wall is a hole large enough for a does not appear to have been touched in
it finds that the bodies that did not halfling, gnome, or an unburdened a long time. There is nothing else of
animate were troglod3rtes, not humans. dwarf to crawl through. This passage- importance here.

DUNGEON 19
THE CRYPT OF ISTARIS

27. Sanctuary. By the furnishings in shelves on the south wall is a locked about 40'. The with misty
floor glistens
this room, the PCs can tell that this is a panel that resembles a liquor cabinet. spray. The drop another 20' past
falls
religious sanctuary. Rotting yellow Inside are six normal wine bottles of the bridge into a lO'-deep pool, which
draperies adorn most of the walls in this various types (including an untouched spills out into a river that drops another
room, and the floor is carpeted in a bottle of a rare orcish spirit, “Ogmar’s 10' by the time it reaches area 35, then
similar color. A raised platform on the Finest”). Hidden at the back of this evens out for a long underground run.
west side of this hall is faced by two cabinet is a small panel with three The areas on the map behind the
rows of wooden benches. An aisle nms large push-buttons: red above white waterfalls can be reached by leaping
down the center of these benches mak- above black. The red button opens the through the curtains of water (but PCs
ing a path toward the platform. In the secret door on the west side of the room. must make a dexterity check on ld20 to
center of this platform is a wooden podi- The white button raises the elevator cross the 3' gap or else fall down to the
um with two ornately carved doors, one from room 40 to room 31. The black pool below). Each of these areas behind
on either side. button lowers the elevator to room 40. the falls can also be reached via a corri-
On careful inspection, it appears that Each time the elevator is activated, dor that enters from the rear.
some kind of symbol was pulled off of there is a chance that someone in the Guarding the bridge from behind the
the front of the podium. The holy sym- party will hear the faint sound of stone falls is a band of eight troglodytes (hp
bol of Laogzed was mounted here at one grinding against stone as the elevator 12, 11, 10 (x4), 8, 7; see area 17 for com-
time, but has now been stolen by the moves (as per the thief skill hear noise plete statistics). These troglodytes leap
Dark Brotherhood as a souvenir. There or the DMG, page 60). through the water and onto the bridge
is nothing else of interest in this room, If this cabinet is smashed open (as to attack as soon as the party reaches
but two doors lead into alcoves on the opposed to pried or picked), there is a the midpoint of the span. Immediately
left and right of the platform. 75% chance that the elevator will not after the first round of combat, they are
work after being lowered the first time. joined by their 3rd-level troglodyte
28. Priest’s Quarters. As the PCs Investigating this cabinet and pushing shaman (AC 5; MV
12" fights as 4 HD
;

draw the tattered curtain aside, they the buttons does not trigger the iron monster; hp 18; #AT 1; Dmg by weapon
see a room that once served as private cobra; it is activated only if the books type (morning star); S 18, see other data
quarters for one of the priests. A small are touched. at area 17; AL CE; spells: cause light
l^d is pushed against the north wall The parchment scroll on the table wounds, darkness, protection from
while a desk and chair occupy the contains the following poem: “Palms of good). These guards gain surprise (even
northwest comer. There is nothing else flame, lights and smoke, fiery death, if the PCs are using a light source) on a
of interest in this room. hellfire broke.” These are actually the roll of 1-5 on ld6, as the water covers
command words for the wand that is their movements and sounds. 'The
29. Priest’s Quarters. This room is a hidden with Istaris’s body. bridge has no railings and the floor is
mirror image of room 28, similar in all The collection of books here consists slick, but the troglod3rtes have great
respects. mostly of troglodyte prayer and psalm skill at jumping across the gaps to the
books. While the text is incomprehensi- bridge (only 5% chance of falling per
30. Study. Bookshelves line the north, ble to most characters, the grotesque jump, with the troglodyte eventually
west, and south walls of this small pictures of Laogzed’s worship rites being washed up alive at the village
room. A table with two chairs stands in should be enough to inform them of the mentioned at area 17).
the center, with a rolled scroll on the nature of these tomes. 'These are the descendants of Istaris’s
tabletop. Adventurers won’t be examin- guards, who were supported by him
ing any books for very long, because if 31. Upper Elevator Room. There are while he lived. Now that the wizard is
any volume in the room is handled, an two possible situations in this room dead, they still hold this place as their
iron cobra (AC 0; MV 12" HD 1; hp 8;
;
depending on the PCs’ actions in room 30. holy sanctuary. They fight with morn-
#AT 1; Dmg SA poison bite, attacks
1-3; If the elevator is raised, the short corridor ing stars and immediately attack with
from surprise; SD saves as 12th-level behind the secret door leads to a circular their revulsion odor. 'The only treasure
magic-user, limited spell and weapon room with very smooth walls. A small to be found in this area is the headband
resistance; AL N) crawls out of a com- crack, barely visible, traces a 10'- adorning the shaman. It is leather set
partment located in a lower shelf and diameter circle in the center of the floor. If with a poorly cut topaz (200 gp value).
attacks the intruders. the elevator is lowered, a lO'-diameter
If the PCs can keep from destroying hole in the center of the floor reveals 33. 'Troll’s Room. 'This room contains
this creature and the proper command another cmmlar room 30' below (room a broken table along the south wall and
word can be found, the iron cobra is 40). The room is otherwise featureless. a very large bed in the northwest cor-
worth 2,000 gp to most magic-users. ner. The bed is obviously too big for a
There is a 5% chance per turn per Lower Level troglodyte, for it belongs to Uzglut, the
searcher (rolled individually, not com- troll who lives with the troglod3rtes (see
bined) to And the book that contains the 32. Waterfall Bridge. The roar of area 36 for information on Uzglut). The
command word (“slither”) for the iron twin waterfalls drowns out all other condition of the table is the result of one
cobra. This guardian was originally sounds in this strange corridor. Instead of his temper tantrums.
placed here by Istaris as a gift to the of cut stone walls, barriers of water,
troglodyte priests. formed by lO'-high waterfalls on either 34. Guards’ Room. Four torches
Also built into part of the bottom side of the hall, border the path for bum dimly about this large room.

20 Issue No. 9
 square =
1 CRYPT OF ISTARIS 1 6'

4 er Level
THE CRYPT OF ISTARIS

revealing nine crude leather beds: four There at the dock is Uzglut the troll attacks. 'This lizard can also swim quite
along the north wall and five along the (AC 4; MV 12" HD 6 +6; hp 38; #AT 3;
;
well and pursues prey as far as the pier.
south wall. Each bed has a small chest Dmg 6-8/5-8/2-12; SA attacks three When swimming, it attacks at - 2 to
placed at its foot. In the remaining targets at once; SD regeneration; AL hit. The lizard won’t bother troglod3rtes
space along the north wall, on the far CE). Heis standing at the rail of the (they taste bad).
side of the room, sits a small stone altar. pier,looking out over the surging, dark The metal seen from the pier is actu-
Atop it stands a small statue of green water. Light shining onto the pier ally scattered coins, the inedible
stone (possibly jade), made in the image instantly attracts Uzglut’s attention remains of the troglodytes’ offerings to
of Laogzed. and brings the party face-to-face with their god’s representative; there are 98
The beds are used by whichever the 9'-tall troll. Uzglut is a ferocious sp to be found here. Smaller characters
guards are currently off-duty. Only the creatiireeven when in one of his better could crawl into the lizard’s lair, but
bed in the southwest corner is perma- moods, and he will not hesitate to they would find nothing but droppings
nently assigned; it belongs to the troglo- attack the adventurers (or any creature and crushed bones from past meals.
dyte shaman. The altar across the room other than a troglod3rte). Anyone on the island with a strong
is dedicated to Laogzed, as evidenced by Uzglut is an adopted member of the light source {continual light or better)
the small statue of the god sitting on troglodyte village. He was washed down has a 25% chance per round to notice
top. While the idol is of good quality, the the Greenbriar River during a flood two the low ledge on the west side of the
material is actually serpentine (an months prior to this adventure. Bat- river’s cavern. Just high enough for a
ornamental stone commonly found in tered and tired, he did not even have crawling man to move safely along, the
the underground river) and is worth the energy to eat the troglod)d;es. The ledge has served as the main pathway
only 20 gp. The chests contain old rags, relationship was touchy at this point, for troglod5d:es coming from or going to
pieces of weapons or enemies, and 2-20 but the troglodyte chieftain saw the their village (see area 17) farther down
ep each (taken from the temple above, benefit of befriending such a creature. in the caverns. 'The troglod3rtes are
area 27). The shaman’s trunk also holds So, food was brought out and Uzglut hauled to the dock at area 36 by either
an extra iron holy symbol of Laogzed. was welcomed into the tribe. He has the troll or other troglodytes using the
never fit in well, but he has become ropes on the dock. A check is made
35. Lower Bridge. The sound of rush- aware, after several attempts, that he every few hours by the guards of the
ing water is very loud here as the doesn’t know how to get back to the crypt for any new arrivals.
underground river is 30' below it. The surface world. Besides, now he eats
cavern is basically hexagonal, but the regularly
37. and doesn’t have to hunt to 38. Anteroom. The only obvious
floor is onlya narrow bridge with metal survive. Still, the beast in him surfaces feature of this room is a set of richly
rails supporting either side. If the PCs now and then, and he erupts into a fury carved and engraved double doors with
have already been in room 17, they will of anger. The troglodytes learned this Isurge brass handles and inlays of pre-
find this room quite familiar. In fact, painfully enough and now put Uzglut cious woods. Otherwise, there is nothing
they are now directly below room 17. on lone guard duty in various parts of of interest here. Anyone with tracking
This bridge is supposed to be guarded the complex. Uzglut has nothing of skill will notice that, although the dried
by Uzglut the troll, but he has wander- value, as he wouldn’t know treasure if footprints of reptilian beings (the troglo-
ed from his duties to the pier (area 36) it bit him. dytes) come up to this room’s doorway,
and has left the door on the east side of If the PCs stand at the rail of the pier, none have ever passed through into
the bridge ajar. If the PCs begin yelling the DM should describe the island rock room 38 or beyond.
and screaming, they might (30% chance) (area 37) to the PCs.
attract his attention over the noise of 39. Istaris’s Tomb. Only a place as
the river. Otherwise, he won’t hear Laogzed’s Island. From the rail- majestic as this could house the body of
them. The corridor heading east toward ing, the water can be seen clearly, for its the once-great wizard. Numerous paint-
area 36 drops 30' down a series of stairs, dark rapids rush from beneath the pier, ings of banner-wielding soldiers and
with one landing in the middle. past a large chunk of rock poking out of undead adorn the walls, while a large,
the stream, and disappear through a carved white-and-black marble dais
36. The River Dock. A pair of ornate large hole in the north end of the supports a highly decorated coffin in the
teak doors open out to an arc-shaped cavern. The chunk of rock glistens and center of the room. The dais is sur-
stone pier jutting into the darkness. The shines with precious metals and water rounded by four grinning gargoyles,
sound of crashing rapids can be heard spray. The PCs can see what seems to be wings folded, facing the resting place.
ahead. Looking beyond the pier, the a hole or large depression on top of the Each of the gargoyles is watched by
area seems to be a natural cavern rock, hard to distinguish in the shadows another statue standing in the north
formed by the work of rushing water. of the cavern. and south corners of the room, but these
Light reveals that the dock juts out over PCs dive into the water and try
If the other statues appear melted, as if
the river; the dock is supported on toswim to the island, they have an 80% exposed to great heat. Only their bone-
heavy stone struts just 1' above the chance of success. But movement on the white claws and grinning, demonic
surface of the 10 '-deep river. A number island attracts its occupant: a giant faces can be discerned.
of leathery ropes, each 70-100' long, lie lizard (AC 5; MV
15" ; HD
3 + 1; hp 18; A wizard of Istaris’s caliber does not
in piles around the dock; each is #AT Dmg 1-8; SA double damage
1 bite; leave his tomb unguarded. Any charac-
attached to an iron bar set into the rock on roll of 20; AL N) which crawls out of ter entering 20' into the chamber causes
(see area 37 for details). the small cave atop the island and the four gargoyles (AC 5; MV 9"/15";

22 Issue No. 9
 THE CRYPT OF ISTARIS

HD 4 +4; hp 24, 21, 19, 17; #AT 4; Dmg of which is filled with a large, smooth During this time, the PCs witness the
1-3/1-3/1-6/1-4; SD + 1 or better weapon stone column. The walls in this room sudden coagulation of the magical flux,
to hit; AL CE) to become flesh, animate, are also noticeably smoother than in see this cloud hurl itself north toward
and attack to defend the coffin. The other places, showing no seams between the hills near Hornboro, then spot a
ceiling in this room is high enough (26' the cut blocks of stone (a result of care- blinding flash of violet light deep within
in the center) to allow limited flight. ful workmanship and nothing else). the hills, the location of the evil priests'
The second set of statues remains If the elevator is lowered, there is a secret hideaway. Any investigation of
motionless unless one is touched or all lO'-diameter hole in the ceiling through this area in regular campaign play
of the gargoyles are dispatched. At that which can be seen an upper level cham- should reveal little other than the blast-
point, these figures of four lemure ber. The only other feature of this room ed ground and a few mortal remains,
devils (AC 7; MV3" ; HD
3; hp 22, 18, is a circle etched into the floor directly though one or two cult members may
13, 11; #AT 1; Dmg 1-3; SD silver or below the hole. have been far enough away from the
magical weapons to hit, regenerate 1 blast to survive.
hp/round, permanently killed only by Ending the Adventure Although the PCs have information to
holy items; limited spell immunity; AL the contrary, it is perfectly safe to bum
during tournament play, the PCs use
If,
LE) animate and fight the PCs. the body, the medallion, or both within
up too much of their time searching for the confines of the cr3rpt. Father Ver-
The gargoyles do not pursue charac- the crypt, sleeping, eating, or with other
ters, but the lemures will. On the other dain's information is incorrect. Only the
time-consuming tasks, the DM should
destruction of these items matters.
hand, the gargoyles use their flying deduct this from the foiu* hours availa-
ability to its best advantage. DM
ble. If the four hours expire, the
The coffin itself is fire trapped. Any- Tournament Scoring
should announce that the cr}^t has
one within 5' of the coffin when its lid is exploded and that the adventurers been Main Objectives
raised suffers ld4 + 10 hp damage + 100 points for recovering Istaris's
destroyed.
(unless a save vs. spells is made for half body in room 39.
Eliminating either the body or the
damage) if the trap is not successfully medallion decreases the power of the + 100 points for recovering Istaris's
removed first. There is only half the explosion considerably. If only one of the medallion in room 9.
normal chance to detect such a trap. items remains, the destruction is lim- + 50 points for destroying both items
Biu*ied with the body is a potion {extra
ited to the crypt, its inhabitants, and outside the cr3q>t.
healing), a wand {wand of fire, 22
the cemetery grounds; Homboro will be
charges, command words are in room Level 1
safe. The P(^s, being unaware of this,
30), and an exact replica of the Medal- + 10 points for leaving only one corri-
should continue their search. Even the dor open in the Chamber of Directions,
lion of Istaris (700 gp value). This
reduced explosion is enough to kill the room 3.
medallion does not radiate magic; this adventurers if they are still inside the
could be the only clue the PCs have that + 10 points for recovering the ever-
blast area.
this medallion is a fake. Istaris’s skele- smoking bottle (with stopper), room 4.
The destruction of the body, the “ 10 points for destroying the ever-
tal body, wearing its rotting robes and
medallion, or both releases a great deal
clutching the wand and potion bottle in smoking bottle in room 4,
of volatile magical flux. This should be - 10 points for bringing down the
its crossed arms, strongly resembles the
described to the players as a swirling
body of a lich. It radiates an incredible dead lurker above in room 8.
mass of green, blue, and purple vapor, + 10 points for turning the gargoyles
amount of magical power in an unstable cascading and pooling almost like liq-
pattern, noticeable if a detect magic in the Gates of Death, room 10.
uid. An occasional flash of dim, colored - 10 points for knocking over the
spell or the like is used on it.
light can be seen within the depths of
As explained earlier, failure to gargoyles in the Gates of Death.
these mists. This magical flux floats - 5 points for every character locked
retrieve and destroy both Istaris's body
about close to the ground without evi- in the supply room, room 14.
and the authentic medallion (hidden in dent purpose. But at the stroke of mid-
room 9) means that the crypt explodes night, things begin to move. On this Level 2
at midnight and destroys much of the + 5 points if the PCs use the ladder
particular night, the planets are to
surrounding area. If only the body or from room 18 on the Lizard Bridge,
align and set off the detonation. If the
only the medallion is destroyed, the magical flux has been released, that room 17.
crypt still explodes but the blast radius + 10 points if the PCs use the priests'
part of the spell is then ruined. As the
is greatly reduced.
planets align, the loose flux is suddenly elevator, room 31.
drawn to the item that called it into - 5 points for swimming to the island
40. Lower Elevator Room. The ^ rock (37) from the River Dock, area 36.
existence on this plane: the scepter of
description of this room varies, depend-
Dir-yabon. This massive svirge of power,
ing on whether the elevator is raised or Final condition of the party
when it reaches the relic, causes a huge + 1 point for every hit point remain-
lowered when the PCs enter. The loca-
overload that destroys the scepter with
tion of the elevator depends on the PCs' ing at the end of the adventure (total of
considerable force. All members of the
actions in room 30. If the adventurers all party members).
Dark Brotherhood within 100 yards of “5 points for each dead PC. Q
have not been to room 30, the elevator the relic are instantly killed, and the
is in its raised position.
Brotherhood ceases to exist with the
the corridor
If the elevator is raised,
destruction of its symbol of power.
leads to a small circular chamber, most

DUNGEON 23
 Vince Garcia*s 20-year dream of salvag-
ing the Titanic was recently crushed.
Nevertheless, he continues to send in
module proposals and is a frequent
contributor to DRAGrON® Magazine.
Vince is designing the thief, assassin,
and merchant guilds for the Living City
in POLYHEDRON™, the magazine of the 4
Role-Playing Game Association^ Net-
work. In his spare time, Vince*s main
interests in life are Stevie Nicks, Jan
and Dean, and Victoria Principal. Look
for more of his work in DUNGEON™
Adventures soon.

‘‘The Djinni’s Ring” is a Basic D&D®

scenario for a single player taking the
role of Moonstone, a 3rd-level elf caught
up in an Arabian Nights adventure.
This module is presented in a format
new to DUNGEON Adventures — no
Dungeon Master required! The text
directs you through numbered sections
based on Moonstone’s actions and the
results of combat. It is also possible to
use one of your own D&D characters, or
even an AD&D® fighter/magic-user, but
there may be some conflict between the
actions your character attempts and the
choices given. If so, use your own good
judgment to determine the results in
each situation, and follow the paths of

THE success or failure as Moonstone would.

At times your character will be called
upon to test a characteristic such as
Strength or Dexterity to determine
success in a particular task, lb do so,

DJINNI’S roll three six-sided dice (3d6); a score

equal to or less than the characteristic
indicates success.
When an initiative roll is called for in

RING
BY VINCE GARCIA
combat, roll one six-sided die (ld6) for
each side in the fight; the side rolling
the higher number attacks first.
lb determine whether you hit your
foe, rolla 20-sided die (ld20). If the total
is equal to or higher than the roll
required to hit the monster (as listed in

A djinni in need can the text), your blow connects. Now roll
one six-sided die and add 1 point
(ld6 + 1) to see how many points of dam-

be trouble, indeed. age you have

number from the
inflicted. Deduct this
total hit points listed
for the monster. When the creature’s hit
points reach zero, you have killed it!
The monster, of course, is also attack-
Artwork by Daniel R. Horne ing you. Roll attacks alternately after
the first initiative roll, and deduct any
damage on you from your total.
inflicted
If your hit points
reach zero well,. . .

you can always start again and try a

different path.

24 Issue No. 9
 THE DJINNrS RING

Saving Throws are made by rolling a Then yo\ir name is called again,
visible. too faint of heeirt to aid me.
20-sided die (ld20). A throw is success- and you realize it comes from your ring, “And I would tell you last of all that,
which emits a ghostly white glimmer- because I am separated from the other
ful if it is equal to or above the number
for that type of Saving Throw on Moon- ing in the moon’s radiance. half of my soul, my powers are weak
stone’s character sheet. “Who are you?” you ask in surprise, and may be used only during the times
Keep a separate tally of any damage “I am Rafii,” comes the soft answer, of full moon. Even so, I am empowered
taken as a result of poison, disease, or “a (yinni whose soul was long ago to aid you one time if you call upon me
heat exposure. Opportunities may arise divided and bound into two rings by — but do so wisely, for the cost to both of
to heal these types of injuries in this Abu Iblis, master of dark sorceries. For us could be great. Will you now aid this
adventime. years, he forced me to obey his com- unwilling slave to be set free?”
Most adjustments for ability scores mands, until his enemies at last ended Goto 1.

have been already been added to Moon- his reign of evil by sealing him alive
stone’s statistics or otherwise taken into within a chamber of his ivory palace far 1

account in this adventure, but don’t away in the great desert. In the battle, “I don’t care about any reward,” you

forget to add 1 point to the elfs damage his right hand —and the ring you now reply, “I wouldn’t want to be a slave,

rolls to reflect above average Strength. wear — was sundered from him, and I bound in a ring. I’m willing to help you,
fellto a succession of owners until you but are you certain I can do the job?
Adventure Background took me from the bandits. And how will I find the room that holds
“Because I sense you are one of good the other half of the ring?”
Nearly two years ago, you left your heart, I have revealed my existence to “^ur courage alone is a great weap-
home in the Canolbarth Forest and you, to beg your help in setting me free. on,” the ring replies. “Use it together
joined a party of adventurers to seek If you are willing, I can take you to Abu with wisdom, and no enemy will prevail
your fortune. For a time, there was Iblis’s palace. There you could free me over you. As to the chamber holding my
much adventure to be had within the by finding the chamber in which Abu other self, I am blinded to its location. I
Grand Duchy of Karameikos, but the Iblis died, joining the two rings, and know only that it lies within the palace
discovery of a treasvire map eventually reuniting me with my other half. where I shall take you. Now hurry! My
led your group to the deserts of the far- “I will not lie to you, and I warn you power weakens with the dawn, and we
away Emirates of Ylaruam, where that the palace may yet be guarded by have far to go before then. Step onto the
adventuring was much different from the remnants of his evil sorceries. But carpet lying before your bed.”
back home. while there may be great danger, there Looking down at the foot of the bed,
The harsh, merciless environment may also be great reward for you if you you see a carpet some 6' long and 4'
was like nothing you had ever experi- succeed in your quest. I have thus wide. If you obey the djinni and immedi-
enced, and soon you longed for home. revealed my secret, which I have kept ately step onto the carpet, go to 10. If
When the opportunity presented itself, from all the others who have owned me you get dressed first and retrieve your
you explained your feelings to your — those who did evil or were selfish or equipment, go to 13.
friends and bid them farewell. Refusing
to take a magical sword offered you
Moonstone mirror, one week’s iron rations, two
because the party had greater need of it,
3rd-level Lawful Elf full waterskins, 50' rope with grap-
you asked for nothing more than money
pling hook, three small sacks, 12 iron
enough to get home — and a bandit
chieftain’s moonstone ring fashioned in S I w D c Ch spikes, a small hammer, tinder box,
13 16 14 16 13 14 two torches, spare tunic and boots,
the shape of a cobra.
spare dagger, spell book.
After many days of travel across the Saving Throws:
hot sands, you began the long sea jour- Death Ray or Poison: 12
Valuables:
ney home, eventually landing in the Magic Wands: 13
port of Serendib, one of the cities of the
Moonstone ring valued at 500 gp;
Paralysis or Turn to Stone: 13
purse containing 30 pp, 15 gp, 12 sp.
Minrothad Guilds. With a three-day Dragon Breath: 15
wait until the next vessel sailed for the Rods or Staves: 15
Spells: Two first-level spells and one
city of Specularum, you paid for lodg- Spells: 14
second-level spell from the spell book
ings in one of the city’s better inns.
Armor Class: 5 (leather armor) below. Choose wisely. Moonstone
Wearied from the long, restless voyage,
you stored most of your gear in a closet Hit points: 15 may not have the opportunity to
and collapsed into bed, falling deeply Chance to find secret or concealed change these spells dviring the course
doors: 1 or 2 on ld6 of the adventure.
asleep.
With a start, you awake, certain that Weapons: Spell book:
someone has called your name. Grasp- Normal sword (Dmg 1-8), silverdag- First Level Spells: Detect magic,
ing the hilt of the silver dagger you ger (Dmg 1-4), short bow and quiver magic missile, read Ihnguages, read
always keep beneath your pillow, you with 10 arrows (Dmg 1-6). magic, sleep.
turn to see who has entered yomr room. Second-level spells: knock, levitate,
The entire chamber is bathed in the Equipment: mirror image, web.
silvery light of the full moon gleaming Leather armor, backpack, flask of oil.
through an open window, yet no one is

DUNGEON 25
THE DJINNI’S RING

2 the obstruction. You have a very uncom- don’t have any of my gear,” you call out
As you near the city, becomes clear
it fortable feeling. while grasping tightly to the edges of
that once many people must have lived If you wish to continue exploring, go the rug.
here, for there are remains of quite a to 18. If you decide that whatever evil The 4jinni in the ring chuckles. “Y)u
few structures, although most of the doubtlessly awaits can go on waiting didn’t think I would ask you to face Abu
smaller buildings have fallen to rubble while you leave the p5n*amid, go to 25. Iblis’s palace in your nightclothes, I
from the long period of neglect. While hope? Look back.”
passage is somewhat difficult as most 6 Glancing behind, you notice your pack
streets are filled with rubble, the wide You begin what you hope will not be and the rest of your gecu* floating in
stone avenue you are now approaching too long a walk, for the sun is rapidly mid-air. Keeping one hand tightly
extends almost unobstructed to the becoming unbearable. Check your Intel- secured to the carpet, you snag every-
intact pyramid. ligence. If the roll is successful, go to 40. thing and start to dress.
If you want to explore the areas of Otherwise, go to 23. “Remember,” Rafii warns, “my
rubble, go to 28. If you would rather powers weaken with the coming of
explore the area around the pyramid, go 7 dawn, but I can aid you one time. May
to 16. If you turn around and walk east You find yourself looking at a giant your quest be successful for us both.”
in the direction the carpet was last scorpion behind a mound of rubble. It Go to 31.
heading, go to 6. notices you and begins to approach,
pincers clacking and needle-sharp tail 11
3 quivering. You realize that this is a fearsome foe,
YouVe not going to risk life and limb If you draw your sword and fight, go but your sword arm has never failed
on anything that’s not directly related to 11. If you prefer to cast a sleep spell, you yet. Roll for initiative and begin
to the quest — the city’s probably haunt- go to 17. If you’d rather cast a mirror combat. The scorpion needs an 11 to hit
ed anyway! The carpet, meanwhile, image spell and attack, go to 15. Or, if you. It makes two attacks with its pin-
continues on toward the rising sun, and you call on Rafii for aid, go to 19. cers for 1-10 hit points damage each,
eventually heads downward, landing along with 1-4 hit points damage from
upon a sand dune. 8 its stinging tail. If you are stung, you
“We are here,” comes Rafii’s voice. “The You swing your trusty blade in the must make a Saving Throw vs. Poison
palace lies beyond this mo\mtain of sand. mummy’s face, but your blows glance or take 8 additional hit points of dam-
With the dawn, I weaken and can give impotently off the supernaturally pow- age. You need to roll 16 or higher to hit
you little aid. If you find the chamber erful creature. If you now use your torch the scorpion, which has 16 hit points.
containing my other self, place the rings against the mummy, go to 43. If you If you kill the scorpion, go to 9. If the
together and conunand my release, and I have picked up the glowing sword and scorpion kills you, go to 108. If the fight
shall be fireed. But be wise —
the enchant- try it against the foul monster, go to 26. looks hopeless and you decide to call on
ments yet protecting the palace may Or maybe you should call on Rafii for Rafii for help, go to 19.
prove deadly. Proceed cautiously, and may aid (go to 19).
fortime smile upon our quest.” 12
Go to 40. 9 Check your Dexterity to snag the
The scorpion swarms at you with its grapple on a secure anchorage. If you
4 pincers and deadly tail. Dodging as best succeed, go to 42. If your Dexterity fails
Cxiriosity has always been one of your you can, you make several lunges at it, you, try the hanging rope (go to 34), use
traits, and this is too good an opportuni- each failing to penetrate the creature’s a levitate spell (go to 42), or give up and
ty to miss. If you climb the rope hang- thick body armor. Then, at last, you head eastward (go to 6).
ing down from the opening, go to 34. If discover a soft spot in the chitin and,
you prefer to use your own rope and making a perfectly timed lunge, you 13
grapple, go to 12. If you have memo- thrust your sword upward through its “First things first,”you answer. “It
rized a levitate spell and wish to use it, jaw and into the brain cavity. wouldn’t do to go on an adventure in my
go to 42. For a moment, the monster stares at nightclothes with nothing more than a
you with unseeing eyes. 'Then it falls to dagger! You’ll have to wait a minute.”
5 the ground with a thud. You prod it After dressing and hurriedly grabbing
The gallery leads you 30’ into the with the toe of your boot to satisfy your- your things, you jump aboard and bare-
pyramid before you discover it has been self that it is quite dead, then proceed to ly have time to toss a platinum piece
sealed off with gigantic blocks of lime- search the area. onto the bed to cover the carpet’s cost as
stone weighing many tons. But to the Your scrutiny reveals no treasure of you lift up ftom the floor and begin
side, a small passage has been chiseled any sort. If you now choose to explore moving out the window.
away. Squeezing through and upward, near the pjnramid, go to 16. If you think “At least you could have waited for
you discover another gallery, the floor of it’s time to leave the city and head east, me to put my boots on,” you exclaim,
which must be the tops of the limestone go to 6. peering down upon the darkened city.
blocks preventing passage from below. “There is no time to waste,” the djinni
You continue on for about 100' until you 10 answers. “Before the dawn comes and
reach a dead end where another tight Swiftly, the carpet rises and floats out my powers wane, I want to make sure
passage leads down, presumably beyond the window, “I hope you know that I you arrive safely at Abu Iblis’s ivory

26 Issue No. 9
 THE OJINNrS RING

palace. But at worst, I shall at least get depart, go to 27. If you decide to exam-
you near it” ine the S6u:cophagus, go to 37.
Go to 20.
19
14 Instantly, a whirlwind engulfs you,
The hieroglyphics read, “The hand of carrying you out of the city and high
death be upon those who disturb the into the sky. Over the desert you sail
sleep of the entombed.” Go back to 37 until you are deposited before what is
and decide what to do next. obviously Abu Iblis's ivory palace.
“You should have avoided the city,”
15 Rafii's feeble voice speaks. “I am great-
Several mirror images of yourself ly weakened now, and I fear my
appear, confusing the scorpion so that strength will not return until I am
you may make two free attacks before reunited with my other self. I can do no
rolling initiative. Go to 11 and conduct more now than wish you luck. When
combat. you find the other portion of the ring,
place the two together and command
16 my release. Then I shall be free.”
As you draw near the pyramid, you With that, Rafii's voice fades away,
discover something interesting. An leaving you alone. Go to 40.
opening exists halfway up the structure,
from which hangs an old rope. The 20
bones of a few camels lie on the ground You night on the carpet, cross-
fly all
below the pyramid, where they appar> ing the sea and penetrating deep into
ently were securely tethered and then the deserts you so eagerly departed just
abandoned. a few days ago. Then, as dawn starts to
If you try to find a way up the
pyra- break ahead of you, the carpet begins to
mid, go to 4. If you'd
rather leave the shake and quickly loses altitude. Hold-
city and head east, go to 6. ing on for dear life, you are unceremoni-
ously dumped on top of a sand dune.
17 While shaking the sand from your
With the calm you've learned from clothes, you notice the remnants of an mummy, go to 43. If you call on Rafii for
hard experience, you intone a droning ancient city below you. There is no sign aid, go to 19.
even as the scorpion
series of syllables of any ivory palace, but at the center of
advances toward you. Then, just as it the city lies an intact p3rramid amid the 22
rears up to strike, the creature sinks ruins of what may have been temples. Inside the sarcophagus you discover a
downward into the sand and lies still. If you decide to explore the city go to golden headband fashioned —
like your
Quickly, you bury your sword in its 2. If you start walking eastward, the ring —in the shape of a cobra. A
copper
head. After satisfying yourself that direction the carpet was flying before it scepter capped by a golden eagle lies on
the scorpion is quite dead, you search crashed, go to 6. a mouldering pillow. As you grasp the
the area but find no treasure. If you scepter, knowledge comes to you that it
choose to explore near the pyramid, go 21 holds several clerical spells which you
to 16. If you decide to leave the city, go With a grating sound, the lid begins may cast at your desire (remember to
to 6. to slide away. Then, to your horror, a cross off each one after it is cast):
bandaged hand reaches out from the Resist fire
18 coffin and grabs hold of your arm. Make Snake charm
Nervously, you creep down, coming a Saving Throw vs. Paralysis. If you Cure serious wounds (heals 2d6 +2 hit
out before a large copper doorway with fail, you are paralyzed with fear for one points damage)
many strange hieroglyphs and symbols round, allowing the mummy to attack Striking (You may cast this spell on a
etched into its surface. Three wax seals first. If your Saving Throw is successful, weapon of your choice prior to any com-
upon the door have been broken, and a roll initiative and conduct combat. bat. For five rounds of combat, the
rope binding the double door handles The mummy needs a 9 to hit you, and weapon will do an additional 1-6 hit
has been cut and tossed aside. makes a single attack per round which points damage on each successful hit.
Prepared for danger, you pull one of does 1-12 hit points damage. In addi- The spell duration expires after one
the handles and the door pivots open. In tion, a successful attack transmits a hour).
the torchlight, you see the remains of disease which prevents your wounds Go to 25.
four tomb robbers spread around a stone from being magically healed. You must
sarcophagus at the chamber's center. roll 15 or higher to hit the mummy. It 23
Next to the doorway lies a glowing has 15 hit points. Unlike the no mossy
forest, there are
sword. If you attack with your own sword, go trees here to help you tell the direction
If you go in and search the bodies, go to 8. If you have the glowing sword, go you're heading, and soon you begin to
to 32. If you retrieve the sword and to 26. If you swing your torch at the stray. The heat is made bearable only

DUNGEON 27
THE DJINNI’S RING

by sipping water as you trudge along, sun's arrival, the carpet quivers weakly, either side of you,two wings of the palace
but you soon realize you have been evidently unable to fly. firontedby open, roofed galleries extend
driidcing too much. Cross one waterskin If you step off again and explore the up to the towers in the wall. Each tower
off your list. If you have no more water, city, go to 2. If your judgment tells you has an entryway at ground level through
take 2 hit points damage from exposure. to start walking in the direction the which you can see a flight of winding
If your hit points fall to zero or lower, go carpet was flying, go to 6. stairs. Go to 52,
to 108. If you survive, go back to 6
still
and check your Intelligence again. 30 34
Your backtracking returns you to the The rope seems and tattered, but
old
24 avenue leading to the pyramid. If you it will probably hold your light weight.
The carpet obeys your command to explore the area around the pyramid, go You make it almost all the way up and

land and gently sets down on the out- to 16. If you leave the city and walk are getting ready to swing onto the
skirts of an ancient city abandoned east, go to 6. ledge before the opening when the rope
perhaps for centuries. Most of the build- finally parts.
ings are now rubble, yet at the center of 31 Tbst your Strength to hold onto the lip
the city rises an inta^ pyramid. Hour after hour passes, and as you of the ledge and climb over. If you are
If you want to explore the city, go to 2. look down it seems as though you have strong enough, go to 42. If your Strength
If you think it is better to forget the city been flying over the sea forever, for roll fails, you slip and fall, plummeting
and fly on, go to 29. you're certain that you detect waves toward the ground 100' below. With cer-
and whitecaps below. Finally, however, tain death a heartbeat away, you call on
25 the first signs of dawn appear ahead, Rafii for help. Go to 19.
You make it back to the outside with- and in the pale light you realize you
out incident. It is now early afternoon, have crossed the sea and have been 35
and you pause to take a drink of water flying over an expanse of rolling desert. As you pause a moment, your keen
for
before fastening your grappling hook The carpet still flies well, and as the hearing detects a snapping and scraping
and descending. Evidently, you've been sun begins to appear on the horizon, you sound on the other side of a large pile of
sipping without noticing, for the notice the remnants of some sort of city rubble. If you investigate, go to 7. If you
waterskin is now empty. Cross it off lying below. prefer to retreat cautiously, go to 30.
your list, leaving you a single If you attempt to land and investigate,
waterskin. You free your grapple with a go to 24. If you decide to keep going, go 36
flick of your wrist, coil your rope, and to 3. Through an open archway in the left
begin walking east, the last direction wing of the palace, you discover a well
the carpet was heading. Go to 6. 32 filledwith water! Drinking from the
The robbers must have discovered this well will cure all damage you have
26 tomb fairly recently, for their corpses suffered from thirst and heat exposure.
The sword does half damage against are still bloated and rotting. It takes You may also fill both your waterskins
the creature, with a + 1 bonus to hit only a few minutes for you to decide if you wish. Go to 53.
and to damage. If you kill the mummy, that the bodies contain nothing of val-
go to 46. If the mummy kills you, go to ue. The glowing sword near the door- 37
168. If you wish to call on Rafii's aid, go way catches your eye as you turn away, Approaching the sarcophagus, you
to 19. so you thrust it through your belt next observe it has an outer casing of stone,
to your own sheathed blade. Add it to possibly protecting an inner casket
27 your list of weapons. beneath its heavy lid. Hieroglyphics are
Through the glow, you can see that If you want to examine the sarcopha- inscribed upon the lid's surface, and
the sword is quite plain. A simple gus now, go to 37. If you've had quite lying on the floor nearby is an iron bar.
leather-wrapped hilt and steel quillon enough of the smell and only wish to If you cast a read languages spell, go
are attached to a thin, flexible blade. leave, turn to 25. to 14. If you use the bar to attempt to
(This sword gives you a + 1 bonus to hit open the sarcophagus, go to 41. If you
and to damage.) Add the sword to yoiur 33 search the bodies for valuables before
list of weapons and go to 25. The “ivory palace,'* you notice, is departing, go to 32. If you decide to
really made of bleached limestone leave the room as it is and exit, go to 25.
28 attractively decorated with mosaic tiles.
As you move through the fallen On approaching the gateway in the 38
masonry, nothing of special interest is wall, you discover its thick iron portcul- “I am the true Rafii,'' a voice speaks
appcurent. Roll one six-sided die (ld6). lis has been battered down and lies on from the ruby as the face of a 4jinni
On a score of 1 or 2, go to 35. If you roll the ground before you. As you step appears in the gem. “Earlier, I sensed
3 or higher, go to 7. through the opening, you feel a magical your arrival and knew you meant to do
tingle play over your skin. good. You carry Abu Iblis's soul in the
29 Beyond the fallen portcullis, a long pool tome you carry. Cast the book into the
“Fm not here to explore dead cities,” faces the palace, reflecting its silver dome flames and he will be destroyed!*'
you say you step aboard
to yourself as within shimmering blue waters. Ringing
the carpet again. But now, with the the pool are several stone benches. Tb

28 Issue No. 9
 THE DJINNrS RING

Not hesitating, you drop the locket, 41

cracking the ruby on the floor, and tear You pick up the iron bar, wedge it
at your pack to pull out the book. From under the lid, and try to slide the heavy
the fire pit, the almost-complete Abu stone aside. 'Ifest your Strength.
If the
Iblis screams in terror as you hurl the roll is successful,go to 21. Otherwise,
tome into the flames. In an instant, the you cannot open the sarcophagus and
fire pit explodes, shattering the re- may either search the bodies and depart
forming mage like a broken mirror. (go to 32) or you can depart and leave
Then, from deep below the earth, a the room as it is (go to 25).
rumbling begins and the palace starts
to shake. 42
The legs of the huge statue crack and You have made it safely onto a ledge
it topples forward, forcing you to duck halfway up the pyramid. Several feet
away from the locket holding the 4jinni. away, an aperture is roughly chiseled
You make your way back upstairs and into its limestone shell, and beyond
stagger out of the pavilion just as its stretches a long gallery some 20' in
silver dome collapses inward, sealing off height and breadth. Hesitating to trust
the lower portions of the palace. Out- iniravision, you decide to light one of
side, the flagstone courtyard rolls like a your torches before entering. Cross one
choppy sea, and you barely make it past torch off your list and go to 5.
the gateway before the pedace and its
grounds begin to sink beneath the des- 43
ert sands. The cataclysm lasts for sev- As you swing the torch, you see your
eral minutes, and you duck low behind opponent’s wrapped appendages begin
a small dune in case some other explo- You inflict 1-6 hit points
to catch fire.
sion ravages the area. Finally the din damage with each successful hit. If you
stops, and all is quiet. win the fight, go to 46. If you are killed,
“Well done!” a voice booms. go to 108, If you wish to call Rafii for
You look up to see Rafii — now a 10' help, go to 19.
humanoid whose lower portion is
formed of a shimmering whirlwind ~ 44
floating above you. 'The pool glistens in the sweltering of the sarcophagus has been partially
“Fm glad you’re all right,” you heat like a sparkling blue jewel reflect- slid aside by the miimmy’s emergence.
answer while getting to your feet. ing the palace as though its surface If you decide to search the sarcopha-
“And I am pleased that you have were a mirror. As you approach the edge gus, go to 22. If you’d rather search the
destroyed the Accursed One and set me of the pool, you can see its tiled bottom tomb robbers’ b^ies, go to 32.
free! You have earned your reward a foot below the surface of the water.
indeed. I cannot joiirney farther than If you taste the water (especially 47
the edge of the desert, but the means is tempting if you’ve been suffering from Moving toward the right wing of the
at hand to get you home. I shall journey heat exposure), go to 39. If you ignore palace, you note that quite a bit of rub-
with you at least as far as I may. Come!” the pool and explore somewhere else, ble litters the walkway, as though vari-
Go to 115. return to 52. ous items were dumped onto the tiles
for inspection. It’s shady here, though.
39 45 As you move to peer through a door left
Check yovir Dexterity. If the roll is Roll for initiative and conduct combat. slightly sgar, three snakes slither out
successful, go to 49. Otherwise, go to 59. The cobras need a 14 (16 if you now from a pile of refuse next to you.
wear chain mail) to hit you. Each cobra If you decide to fight them, go to 45. If
40 makes a single bite for 1-3 hit points you have memorized a sleep spell and
The heat of the sun
is almost blister- damage. Further, you must make a would like to cast it, go to 61. If you’ve
ing, but you trudge onward for almost Saving Throw vs. Poison if you are found a magical scepter and would like
an hour. Then you climb a large hill and bitten, or take an additional 2 hit points to use it, go to 57.
pause to look down. Resting in a valley of poison damage. You need to roll 11 or
below the sand dune you now stand higher to hit a serpent, and each has 3 48
upon is a white palace. A wall sur- hit points. You dance and dodge as you meet the
rounds its perimeter, with a pair of tall, If you kill all three cobras, go to 48. If cobras attack for attack. Finally, the
slim towers at the two corners nearest they kill you, go to 108. If you wish to last of your foes lies cut in two, quiver-
you. A gateway at the center apparently call on Rafii’s aid, go to 65. ing in its death throes.
allows entry onto the grounds facing the Continuing your exploration, you
domed palace itself, which is set back 46 decide the rightwing of the palace was
100' from the wall. Go to 33. As you fall back against the wall, once a barracks for Abu Iblis’s men-at-
exhausted and relieved that the mon- arms. A few skeletons show where the
ster is destroyed, you notice that the lid men must have fallen during battle, but

DUNGEON 29
THE DJINNI'S RING

the barracks appear to have been successful, go to 63. Otherwise, return snakes rise up and begin to sway. With
already (and thoroughly) searched). to 52. the tip of your sword, you gently lift
Return to 52. each one and drop it into an old clay jar,
52 covering it with a loose tile when all the
49 Will you: snakes have been deposited.
You lean over to touch the bottom of — Examine the pool? (Go to 44.) Continuing to explore, you find a few
the pool and catch yourself before tum- — Check out the right wing of the pal- bodies and what was once a barracks.
bling in. This is an illusion! There is no ace? (Go to 47.) From the wanton destruction of bunks,
water —nor a bottom within immediate — Check out the left wing of the palace? footlockers,and shelving, you decide not
reach. (Go to 36.) to waste your time looking for treasure
If you use your rope and grapple to — Investigate the towers? (Go to 51.) here. The room has obviously been
descend into the pool, to see what lies — Ignore everything else and head for thoroughly searched. Return to 52.
beneath the illusion, go to 55. If you'd the main palace? (Go to 50.)
rather explore elsewhere, go to 52. 58
53 Will you:
50 An opening next to the well leads to — Explore the right (southern) wing?
The main palace octagonally
is stables and a blacksmith’s shop. Near (Go to 71.)
shaped, and you enter through an arch- the forge lies an ancient but complete — Explore the left (northern) wing?
way. Its interior is an open pavilion set of chain mail. You may don it, if you (Gro to 62.)
richly tiled in green and yellow mosaics wish, changing your armor class to 3. — Ignore the rear area and check the
beneath a huge silver dome. Four sets of Return to 52. main palace? (Return to 50 and make
bronze double doors exit the pavilion. a different choice.)
You quickly peek through the crack 54
between each set of double doors. Through these doors, a stairway 59
Behind the northwest and southwest winds up and around the northern side As you lean down to submerge your
doors, stairs leadupward to the second of the pavilion, emerging onto a hall- arm in the water, you lose your balance
floor.The other two doors, on the north- way. Several doorways lead to bed- and fall forward. The water and the
east and southe£ist, lead to stairs going rooms, all ransacked and abandoned. At pool’sbottom are obviously an illusion!
down. Across from the pavilion’s entry- the hallway’s end lie a pair of broken Take 2 hit points damage and go to 55.
way, a fifth exit leads through an arch- bronze doors leading into what you
way to the back of the palace grounds. presume was Abu Iblis’s bedchamber. 60
Through the arch, you can see two more Once sumptuously furnished, it now lies Behind a tapestry you notice the door
wings of the palace, each two stories in tattered ruin, its silken tapestries to a secret compartment. Boy, would a
high. Will you: and fine rugs slashed and throvm about thief be handy about now to check for
— Go through the northeast doors? in disarray. traps! If you’d like to open the door, go
(Go to 73.) Roll one six-sided die (ld6). If the to 70. Otherwise, go to 58.
— Go through the northwest doors? result is 1 or 2, go to 75. Otherwise, go
(Go to 54.) to 111. 61
— Go through the southeast doors? As you chant the ancient syllables of
{Go to 67.) 55 the sleep spell, the cobras’ hoods relax.
— Go through the southwest doors? Twenty feet below the lip of the pool, They rest their heads on scaly backs
(Go to 69.) you reach bottom. At the eastern end of arid lie still. After cutting each one in
— Go through the far archway and the pit, a passage leads forward toward half, you advance to the doorway and
explore the back of the palace the pavilion. Tb either side of this tun- look in. You decide this was once a bar-
grounds? (Go to 56.) nel, stairs lead up to the courtyard. The racks, but now it contains only a few
illusion above is not visible, and the sun skeletons. Return to 52.
51 shines clearly through.
Cautiously, you ascend the right tower If you decide to explore the passage, 62
to its top. In a room at the very height go to 100. If you’d rather leave and Walking through an archway, you
of the tower, a skeleton lies next to its explore elsewhere, return to 52. emerge into a long dining hall, once
broken sword. There is nothing else of richly furnished. Rotting tapestries of
value here, so you descend. 56 green, scarlet, and gold hang along the
The left tower is similar to the right, Through the back archway, you dis- chamber’s white marble walls, and
but totally empty. The topmost room in cover the remains of four men, tied and once-fine rugs lie beneath a layer of
this tower has an unglazed window that beheaded. Between the right and left dust on the floor. Running down the
looks back into the palace grounds, wings of the palace lie the remnants of center of the dining chamber is a sunk-
providing a good view of the entire a garden and vineyard, long withered en area, three steps below floor level. A
complex. From your lofty perch, you can away, (jo to 58. short stairway at either end leads down.
see two more wings of the palace Here meals were enjoyed, as you discern
extending out to the rear of the two- 57 from the remnants of cushions and low
story structure. You grasp the scepter and cast its tables, dishes and serving pots.
Check your Intelligence. If the roll is snake charm spell. Immediately, the Roll one six-sided die (ld6). If the

30 Issue No. 9
 THE DJINNfS RING

result is 1 or 2, go to ii* Otherwise, you. th,oiigh, it i.s coiiiiCMi^ted to ao.me sort of

may search elsewhcjre (go to 5§) or east spring. You press the- stone, and a small,
a. detect magic spell (if you have one door pops opm-, to reveal, a, lidded crystal
memorized.) ob the carpc^ts to .see if they chalice. As you gra^p th,e chalice, it
are magical (go to 74). 'begi,.BB to glow, changing colors each

round...
63 Opening the 11, d, you di,scover wliat
As you, gla.a.ce down
into the pool, you looks and. smells li.ke pu,re water. If you
notice that the sun, wdiich should be wish, to dri,B,k the waller n.ow, go- to 66*
reflecting off its surlacc^, is not visible in -Otherw^i.se, dose the chali.ce and. careful
the wBter. Eetiirn to i.2« ly pack it away Go to 58*

64 71
The symbols on the door read, “Bless- A.S you walk to the righ.t wiii.g of th.e
ings upon the true believer Death to pala.ce, it becomes a.pparent that this
the infidel” Go back to Si* portion of the building contained
kitchen, fadliti.es, i.ncIud,iBg a fun,ction-
65 ing well along wi.th, a small wi.ne press
If you have previously ca.lied on Eafli a.nd an e:mpty wine storage room.
for assistance, go to 1111 Otlicirwise, go If yo-u h.ave su.ffered, daio,a.ge from heat
to 1.14.* exposure, d.rin.k from, the w^^II to cure it.

then retu,rri. to 58 a.n-d .ma.ke a di.fferent

66 choice.
The liquid, tastes delicious and
refreshing. If you have sustained poison, 7.2
damage, the cures it. Put the
wa,.ter Cautiously you draw :n.ear to the- a,l.tar

chalice carefully away in your pack and a,n,ddiscover it is of bla,ck obsidi,an. The
go to 58* blu.e-hl.ack leather cover of the book
resting upo-n. it glows with a .se.ri.es of
67 magical runes. Will you:
Through the doors are .stai.rs leadi.iig — -Cast a read magic spell (if you h.a.ve
down.- Halfway dow.n, you come upon a one memori-zed)? (Go to- 82*) 77
sk.eletoi::i lying across the stairs, a, cross- — Check for traps as best you can, then You. don't see any traps, but you're
bow bolt through its cliest.. The skeleton take the book? (Go to -80,) certain there must be one, most likely
has nothing of value, and you co,!itinue — .E.xami.ne the- statue? (Go to 07*) focusecl through the light beams. First
on. Go to 8.1. * — Leave tills p]..ace before eit]ie.r the you try shooting out the windows with
book, or the statue that's bound to your bow% but they won't shatter. Then,
68 animate, kills you? (Go to 112*) remembering Rafii's exhortation to use
The faint glow of .magic comes .from a wisdom, you puli the mirror from your
portion of the wall behi.iid one of the 73 p&ck and use it to direct one shaft of
tapestries. Go to §0* The sta,irs lead d.o-wn, a.nd you eiB.erge light away from the altar. With your
onto a. lower level. Go to 81* other ha.nd. you reach in, grasp the
69 tome, and pull it free. Go to 112*
Through the doors, a stairway winds 74
up and around the southern circumfer- The carpets are not magi,caL Eoll on.e 78
ence of the palace, ending at a, pair of six-sided die (ld-6). If the result is 1, go Test your Strength. If the roll is suc-
bras.s doors inscribed with many clesign.s to 68* Otherwise, go to 5S* cessful, go to 8i« Otherwise., return to
and symbols. .Lightly testing the door ii and. try something -else.
handies., you discover the doors are 75
€uther stuck or barred from within. You have -d,i.scovered. a. secret d,oor 79
If you can cast a read languages .spell, tehind the 'bed.! If you wi.sh to open, it, go .From what you hope is a .safe dis-
go to i4* If you have memorized a. knock to S4* Otherwise, you m.a,y depart and ta,iice, you hit the chest with your spell.
spell and. would like to cast it, go to sea,rcli elsewhere in. tlie pa.lace (go to- 111). The lock Ihlls aw^ay, its top swi.iigs open,
If you. have neither spell, you can go to and a cloud of gre€)n gas fills the area
78 to try and force the doors. If opening 76 arouB.d the chest 'but soon dissipates.
the doors 8eein.s like too much trouble, Each tentacle au.tomati€ally does 1 hi,t You move forward, pleased at having
why not explore elsewhere? Go to 11,2* point d,a.Mage c-^ac-h :ro-unc! until you are avoided the trap. Go to 87.
dead. You n,eed to roll a 9 -or higher to
70 h.it, a.nd each tenta-€J,e h.a.s 3 hit p-olB,ts.. 80
Yom hands range over the section of If you destroy all the teiita,cl.es, go to Ca,utioiisly, you try edging the book
wall, feeling for seams or loose masonry 101* .If the tentacles kill you, go to IdS* out onto the floor with the tip of your
Mnalljf; you detect .a. stone which feels as If you call, on; BalM for a:icl, go to 0S*

DUNGEON 31
 protected by a b'uge brass padlock. If
yo'u enter the chamber and investigate,
go to §1* If your judgment tells you to
leave this area, go to 111.

Will you:
Surrender, hoping for merciful treat-
ment? (Go to im.)
- Search, the body in the hope of finding
something that will help? (Go to ii.)
Run and don't look back? (Go to 1§5«)

The magically held doors burst open

to reveal a temple of some sort, with
twin rows of pillars ranning down its
length. Mo pews such as youVe seen in
more conventional temples a,re present.
Instead, many prayer rugs are spread
about the room. A.long the walls, tapes-
tries that reach from floor to ceiling
depict creatures of fire and the nether
regions.
Atop an altar at the far end of the
cha,.mber is a large black book illumi-
nated by scarlet sh.afts that beam
through a. series of stained-glass win-
dows nea,r the roof. In an alcove directly
behind the book, a 10'4all stone statue
of a Jackahheaded man, holds a skull-
sword, but a jolt of inagica! energy slaying him. shaped scepter.
envelops you, and you scream. Ma.k:.e a Using the tip of your sword, you prod If you investigate
the altar and its
Saving Throw vs. Spells. If the roil is the body to expose the left hand, u,pon .m,ysterious book,go to 72. If you search
successful, you succeed in, knockin,g th,e wh.ich is a golden m,oonston.e ri.ng the statue and the area near it, go to W7.
book off the altar. Pack, it away and lar to the- one you. possess. .Rem.oving i,t, If you'd rather leave this pla.ee of evil,
depart immediately (go to 112). ,If you you see that tlie two cobra-shaped rings go to 112*
fail the Saving Throw, go to §4. will entwine and lit^ together Remem-
bering Rall,.i’s word.s, you interloc.k th,e
ri.ngs and place th,em on your linger.
You have entered a chamber contain.- *T' release you.'' you. speak.
Within the coffer lie two small vials of
tug a large iB.arble pool set into the Go to IM. liquid. Ihste tests reveal them to be
floor. T) oii€^ side, a.n.oth.er staircase
potions of healmf (heal 2-7 hit points
leads upward — back, you're certain., to
per dose). There is also a spell book
the navilitm ahrwe.. thft rrmrn a At ’%inriT f:niir*K nf tha wall eontaiBi,B,g many incantations you hope

In th.e very bottom of the €.he.st, you.

discover a small, silken handkerchief,
which to your surprise unfolds to a. 7'
X 10^ area. Suspecting it has 8om.e
interesting powers, you pack, it away
with the rest of your booty. Go to 111*

If you'd, like to:

hurl a dagger into the corpse - Explore the pool closely, go to 1§2*
- Investigate the double brass doors, go
tote*
Leave the bath chamber and return
to- the level above, go to 10i.

I.SSI
 THE DJINNI’S RING

89 95
Ibo bad you*re not a thief! Check your Tharing at the body, you find a locket 101
Wisdom. If the roll is successful, go to on a golden chain around its neck. You You swing your sword again and
77. Otherwise, go to 80. jerk the locket free, and instantly a again, hacking your captors in half with
large, red ruby at its center begins to each blow. The last of the horrid —
90 glow with a soft light. A voice speEiks. creatures? — drops away, and you stum-
Within the maze of pipes, you find an If you have the book from the temple ble to the far wall, safely out of reach of
oddity: a small glass little securely upstairs, go to 38. Otherwise, go to 106. any others that may be lying in wait.
attached to one pipe by a harness. Skirting the sides of the room, you
Removing the bottle and tipping it 96 make it to the far end and lay claim to
slightly, you discover a constant stream The lock breaks away and the lid pops quite a fortune in booty! You pack away
of life-giving water flows from its spout. open, spraying the area with a green many thousands of gold pieces’ worth of
The water completely cures any damage gas. Y)u fall unconscious, awakening rubies, emeralds, and gold. Then you
you have suffered from heat exposure. hours later with a dull headache. turn your attention to the chest. Visions
You cap the bottle with an improvised Since you haven’t been harmed while of the fantastic treasure within tanta-
plug cut from the end of a torch, and unconscious, it occurs to you that it may lize your imagination. Will you:
return to the courtyard. Go to 52. be safe to stay here and study your spell — Attack the lock with a hsimmer and
book without fear of wandering mon- spike to break it open? (Gro to 93.)
91 sters. You may rememorize or change — Cast a knock spell (if you have one
Scanning the ceiling and floor for any spells as you desire. When you are memorized)? (Gio to 79.)
obvious sources of danger, you step through, don’t forget to check the con- — Ignore the chest and return to the
through the doorway and l^gin edging tents of the chest. Go to 87. ground floor of the palace? (Go to
toward the waiting treasure. Suddenly, 111 .)
a nightmare arises from the floor! 97
Writhing black tentacles reach up to The statue certainly seems fearsome, 102
entwine you in their iron grip. and you hope it won’t come to life. But The water in the pool is fresh and
Roll one six-sided die (ld6) to see how as you near it, nothing happens. A clear,revealing several skeletons at its
many tentacles have you in their grip. search of the statue and the alcove bottom. Steps lead down into the water,
You may fight the tentacles (go to 76) or reveals nothing. Go back to 86 and and the bottom of the pool may be clear-
call on Rafii for help (go to 98). make a different choice. ly seen 4' below. Two small drains are
set into the tiles on the bottom, one at
92 98 each end of the pool. Return to 88.
With an ominous creaking, the doors If you have previously called upon
begin to swing outward. Instantly, you Rafii for aid, go to 113. Otherwise, go to 103
grab your sword. Beyond the doors, a 110 . A brilliant green glow shines through
huge chamber is revealed, lit only by your pack as you near the chest. It’s
the eerie glow of the fire pit nestled in 99 your magical chalice, but is it warning
the hands of a 15'-tall statue of a jackal- Drawing near to the doors, you sense you of danger or pointing the way to a
headed man. Columns surround the magic. And lying before them is a black- fantastic treasure?
templelike auditorium, possibly hiding ened, shriveled hand —
minus a finger. If you try to open the chest, go to 96. If
other areas from view in the shadows. With a chill, you wonder if the remains you feel the chalice is warning you to
Lying on the floor just below the fire of Abu Iblis await discovery beyond this leave the chamber, go to 111.
pit is a robed body. Cautiously, you portal. Tbsting the doors, you conclude a
advance toward it, keeping your eyes knock spell will be required to open 104
any ambush or danger. As you
active for them. If you do not have one in readi- Instantly both moonstones shatter,
draw near the body, you note that its ness, you may sit down and memorize and the flames of the fire pit rise to the
right arm ends abruptly at the wrist, this spell (go to 92). Or, you may return roof of the chamber. Amid the roaring
while the other arm lies hidden from to the upper level of the palace and thunder of the fire, a humanoid figure
view. Go to 83. explore elsewhere (go to 50, but you begins to form. You step toward the
may return to this section at any time statue to observe this fascinating sight,
93 you feel confident enough to penetrate but in moments your fascination turns
Removing a hammer and spike from the doors). to horror. Taking shape in the flames is
your pack, you edge toward the chest. If a figure identical to the body on the
you have a magical chalice, go to 103. 100 floor. You’ve been tricked into releasing
Otherwise, go to 96. The passage leads forward about 100' the captive spirit of Abu Iblis!
to a small room filled with pipes. You ‘‘Well-meaning fool,” the coalescing
94 feel certain some are drains, while oth- figure hisses down at you with an evil
With your last breath, your screaming ers must serve purposes unknown. leer. “You have freed me from the
abruptly ceases. Were anyone else Roll one six-sided die (ld6). If the entrapment I have endured for so long.
present, he would notice a moonstone result is 1 or 2, go to 90. Otherwise, you How easy it was to trick your puny
ring lying on the floor atop a pile of may return to the courtyard and explore intellect into helping defeat those who
ashes. Your adventure has ended. Q elsewhere. Go to 52. bound me.

DUNGEON 33
 .

THE DJINNI’S RING

**Centuries ago, I trEoisferred the releasing a shimmering whirlwind grasp and depositing you back down-
essence of my magical powers into two which carries you out of the chamber stairs. Will you:
rings so that my stren^h would never and away from the palace as Abu Iblis — Go through the northeast doors?
wane, no matter how time might wither curses. You fly across the sand like a (Go to 73.)
my bodily shell. My soul was entrusted shooting star to land safely at the des- — Go through the southeast doors?
to the care of He-Vihio-Must-Not-Be- ert’s edge on a hill overlooking a small ((jo to 67.)
Named; it resides elsewhere in safety. I village. — Gro through the southwest doors?
was invincible until my enemies tricked A shadow falls, and you look up to see (Gro to 69.)
me into using nearly all my stored a bearded, lO’-tall, muscular humanoid “ Explore the back of the palace
power. Then my true enemies launched whose lower portions are shrouded in grounds? ((jro to 56.)
their forces against me, and in my the dust of a whirlwind. “This is as far
weakened state I was overcome and as I may take you,” the ^jinni speaks. 111
driven into this chamber. But my con- “I dito’t mean to~” you begin. You return downstairs. Would you
sciousness remained, and so I did not The 4jinni hold up his hand to stop care to:
truly die. your words. “I know you meant only -- Go through the northeast doors?
“My enemies were wise to remove but good,” his voice booms. “You were (Gio to 73.)
one ring — one portion of my magical deceived into serving evil. Yet you have — Go through the southeast doors?
essence — for that act blinded and freed me from Abu Iblis’s bondage. (GrO to 67.)
weakened me more than if they had Though his power is again great, his — Go through the southwest doors?
removed both halves of the ring. They reign is not fully established. I will seek (Go to 69.)
knew that, with only a part of my magic out those who can face him on equal — Explore the back of the palace
separated from my body and soul, I terms — and in time he shall fall. For grounds? (Gro to 56.)
would never be able to muster my ener- now, fare you well, and my thanks for
gies over the centuries and re-form. freeing me.” 112
“My enemies cast all manner of With that, the djinni fully assumes Back downstairs, you must decide
enchantments over the palace to keep the form of a whirlwind and flies off, whether to:
out those of evil or greed who might aid leaving you alone. If you want, you can — Go through the northeast doors?
me, but overlooked what I had realized: begin to make your way back home. But (Go to 73.)
One of unselfish heart might be seduced if you can find a way, perhaps you’ll — Go through the southeast doors?
into coming here and reuniting my head back into the desert to help fight (Go to 67.)
magical essences, giving me the power Abu Iblis. -- Go through the northwest doors?
to form a new bodily shell and reclaim Dejected, you begin walking down ((jk) to 54.)
my soul. You, in your beguiled inno- toward the town below. Q — Explore the back of the palace
cence, were able to enter the grounds grounds? ((jO to 56.)
and accomplish that task. And shortly, 107
when I am fully re-formed in my new You receive no mercy, and what you do 113
body, I shall thank you properly.” receive is too unpleasant to describe. Desperately, you hope that Rafii’s
Go to 95. Consider your adventure over! Q powers are great enough to help you a
second time, but there is no response.
105 108 Go to 108.
You bolt from the room, leaving Abu As your vision begins to grow dark,
Iblis to complete his re-formation. As you realize that you are dying. The 114
you leave the palace grounds and run sounds of the world around you fade A whirlwind engulfs the serpents,
blindly into the desert, you hear his away, replaced by a loud ringing in your sweeping them away into the desert.
laughter echoing behind you. Tb your ears. The peace of death comes a With the whirlwind’s coming, you sense
relief, he doesn’t seem to be following . moment later, and your last thoughts Rafii weakening.
.but perhaps he doesn’t need to. You’re are the realization that yoxir quest has Inside this wing of the building are
all alone in the most forbidding land failed. O only some skeletons in what was once
your world has to offer, with no idea of their barracks. Return to 52.
how to find civilization. Your chances of 109
survival are virtually nil, and Abu Iblis Back upstairs, you have several
knows this. That’s why he’s not follow- choices. Will you: 115
ing — your death will be much slower — Go through the northwest doors? It’s great to be home — and it’s not
this way. Q (Go to 54.) bad being rich, either. You’ve a pack full
— Go through the southwest doors? of gold and jewels, Abu Iblis’s spell
106 (Go to 69.) book, and a flying carpet that folds
“I am the true Rafii,” the voice — Explore the back of the palace down into a silken handkerchief, among
speaks. “It is too late now to stop Abu grounds? (Go to 56.) other treasures. But coming home with
Iblis. Hurl me into the flames while the tale of a great adventure surely is
there is yet time!” 110 the best treasure.
Without hesitating, you hurl the lock- A whirlwind begins to fill the room, After all, how many elves can count a
et into the frre pit and it explodes. pulling you away from the tentacles’ 4jinni as a friend? Q

34 Issue No. 9
II j Acive;
, ACIO Bi
and OPl
others, h
aper for J
5 IJi,icier 1

indsey, li;

iku I'FSai
^ Orieritai
i 2nd;4tli
"u 'ieii or s
THE GOLDEN BOWL OF ASHU H’SAN

who goes there; so far, none of the vil- chest and runs away. Instantly, 2-20 the villagers has been willing to go.
lagers has been able to summon the more ragged children appear. They “Perhaps it was foolish of me to reveal
make the trip.
courage to clamor for food, clutch at the PCs’ cloth- this aspect of my divination to the citi-
Unknown to Hichima, the site of the ing, and even rummage through the zens,” he says. “But to withhold the full
Gk)lden Bowl has been desecrated by a adventurers’ belongings if not sternly truth I felt would be dishonorable.”
tribe of shan sao who decided that it chased away. Hichima has contemplated making the
would be a good area to homestead. Tb Any citizen can direct the PCs to the journey himself, but feels that only his
get material for their houses, the shan home of Tambiro Hichima, located in daily presence in the village has pre-
sao demolished a number of small the center of the village. Except for the vented the growing discontent among
shrines on the perimeter of the Golden small symbols on the door designating the citizens from developing into a full-
Bowl. The shrines, unfortunately, had the home of a local official, the shack is scale uprising.
been dedicated to a powerful p'oh; the similar to all the others. At this point, Hichima asks if the PCs
p’oh has retaliated against their The daimyo has sent advance word of are willing to make the journey. Assum-
destruction by creating the drought. the PCs’ arrival, so Hichima is expect- ing they agree, Hichima then tells them
The shan sao have no intention of aban- ing them. A small man of about 80 what they must do to get an audience
doning their new settlement. The p^oh years, Hichima has a bald head, kind with the spirits at the Golden Bowl.
stubbornly intends to continue the brown eyes, and wears a long brown In the wilderness between the village
drought until this offense is rectified. Tb cotton robe. He graciously welcomes the and the Golden Bowl, explains Hichima,
PCs must rid the area of
restore order, the PCs and invites them inside. are three small golden shrines erected
the shan sao, make an offering of sacred Tambiro Hichima, 2nd-level shuken- in honor of the spirits who watch over
waters at the Golden Bowl to summon ja: AC 10; MV 9" hp 8; #AT 1; Dmg by
;
the province. In each shrine is an ivory
the p’oh, and make peace with him. weapon type; S 9, 1 12, W
14, D 6, C 9, bowl containing a small amount of
Ch 12; AL LG; spells: augury, detect sacred water. If one spoonful of sacred
Adventure Background harmony, detect poison, omen; proficien- water from each of these ivory bowls is
cies: agriculture, calligraphy, jo stick, deposited on the ground in the Golden
The PCs have been ordered by their religion, tea ceremony. Bowl, the spirits will grant an audience.
daimyo to journey to Ashu H’San, to Furnishings are very sparse, and (Unknown to Hichima, the waters from
investigate the (bought and search for
Hichima seats the PCs on tattered bam- the ivory bowls also have their own
solutions. The motives of the daimyo
boo floor mats. He apologizes for not magical properties, which are explained
are twofold: he has genuine compassion DM
offering them tea after their long jour- in detail in the note to the following
for the plight of the villagers, but he
ney, but says that the drought has made encounter 3.)
also is concerned about an uprising if
such pleasures “an impossible extrava- Hichima then rummages through an
their situation is not improved. The
gance.” old trunk made of thatched bamboo and
daimyo instructs the PCs to meet with Hichima then explains the grim situa- produces three jade bowls and an ivory
Tkmbiro Hichima, who will provide spoon. He gives these items to the PCs,
Ashu H’San. The principal liveli-
tion in
them with details upon their arrival in hood here is the harvesting of baurley. instructing them to remove the ivory
Ashu H’San. Although the barley has little value as bowls from the shrines and replace
The journey to Ashu H’San is an easy them with these jade bowls so as not to
a commodity, enough can be grown to
one, though uneventful. It is well
keep the community fed; the citizens further upset the spirits. He tells them
known that Ashu H’San is virtually have learned to make do with few of the to carry the sacred waters in their ivory
destitute, so travelers to the isolated
luxuries taken for granted in other bowls. When they complete their jour-
community are few. As the PCs near parts of the province. ney, they should use the ivory spoon to
Ashu H*San, they notice that the vege- The farmers count on regular monthly deposit one spoonful of water from each
tation is withered and the earth is dry
rains to nourish the barley crops, but of the ivory bowls into the Golden Bowl.
and cracked. Clearly, it has been a long If the PCs show concern about leaving
when none had fallen during the first
time since this part of the country has the jade bowls empty in the shrines,
two months of the growing season, they
tasted rain.
began to worry. After another rainless Hichima reassures them that it is not
The community of Ashu H’San is necessary to fill them. If Hichima later
month, Hichima used his modest shu-
little more than a collection of one-room
keiya abilities to divine the reason. He divines that the gods desire the jade
shacks with thatched roofs and rickety
determined that the spirits were angry bowls to be filled with holy water or
wooden walls. Peasants dressed in some other substance, he will attend to
about something, but he was unable to
cheap cotton robes trudge through the
discover why. it himself.
dusty streets, some carrying sobbing
Hichima tells the PCs that the spirit- Hichima gives the PCs sufficient food
babies, some pushing empty carts. Some for their journey. He also gives each PC
ual focus for Ashu H’San is the Golden
are huddled against buildings, their
Bowl, a valley of yellow poppies located a hollow gourd filled with a gallon of
heads buried in their arms. If the PCs
in the hills several miles beyond the water, cautioning them that they should
linger in any one place for more than a
outskirts of the village. A journey to the use it sparingly, as water is impossible
few seconds, a small filthy boy
Golden Bowl to commune with the spir- to find outside the village.
approaches them and begs for food. If
its could possibly provide some answers, The PCs may question Hichima, but
they ignore him, he hangs his head and
but Hichima had a premonition that he has no other information for them.
slinks away. If they give him a morsel
anyone making the trip would encoun- He suggests they get some rest so they
to eat, he clutches this treasure to his
ter great danger. Consequently, none of can get an early start in the morning.

36 Issue No. 9
 THE GOLDEN BOWL OF ASHU H’SAN

The Journey
Shortly after dawn the next day, Hichi-
ma escorts the PCs to the edge of the
village. The Golden Bowl lies about 15
miles to the northeast in a valley entire-
ly encircled by high hills. Hichima
points out a crude dirt pathway that
winds through the wilderness. He sug-
gests they follow this trail as it will
take them directly to the Golden Bowl.
They will also be able to see the golden
shrines if they stay on this trail. Hichi-
ma neglects to mention that there are
several forks in the trail, as he has
made the journey to the Golden Bowl so
many times that he ignores these side
paths. There is little to recommend one
fork of the path over another to trav-
elers who have not previously journeyed
from Ashu H’San to the Golden Bowl.
Even accounting for detours, the PCs
should be able to make the journey on
foot in a day. Hichima discourages them
from taking horses or any other mounts,
as these animals will use too much of
their precious water supply.
Before the PCs depart, Hichima again
warns them to beware of danger. He
offers a brief prayer and then sends
them on their way.
If the PCs stay on the trail and head
northeast, they have little chance of with the PCs, introducing himself as
getting lost. They will find the country- As you approach the base of a steep
one of Ashu H’San’s most honored
side to be quite pleasant, with clear the silence is broken by a voice
hill,
explorers. At great personal risk, he
skies and rolling hills. In better times, coming from a shallow valley to the
says, he has journeyed into the wilder-
north. ‘‘Friends!” cries the voice.
much of this area was used for farming, ness in search of desperately needed
“Please wait! I have something for
but it is now mostly barren. Grasses water for his people. “I was most fortu-
you!”
and weeds, once tall and green, are now nate to collect this modest amount from
stunted and brown. Willow and ginkgo a shallow pool before the sun drank it
trees occasionally dot the hills, but The voice belongs to an overweight all up.”
these too are withered and cracked. man dressed in grimy cotton clothing. Regardless of what the PCs share
Throughout the day, the temperature He is pulling an equally grimy donkey with him about themselves or their
never rises above 75°, but the air is dry behind him. Two large barrels are
quest, Himadi insists that they are
and there are no breezes. There are few secxired to the donkey’s back. The man
seriously undersupplied with water. He
signs of animals or birds, as most of pants and puffs as he drags the reluc-
has prepared several leather pouches,
these creatures have long since aban- tant donkey toward the party, frantical-
each containing about a cup of his ran-
doned the area for a more hospitable ly crying for them to wait.
cid water, and offers to sell them to the
environment. The man is Miko Himadi (AC 10; MV party for 10 tael each. If the PCs balk at
12"; zero-level human; hp 4; #AT 1; the price, he quickly lowers it to five
Encoimter Key Dmg by weapon type (walking staff/bo tael. Himadi will ultimately settle for
stick); AL CN), a derelict from Ashu
one tael or will trade a pouch for any
1. The Water Peddlen H’San who has been involved in more item worth at least that much.
than his share of shady deals. Himadi
Himadi continues to badger the PCs
recently discovered a pool of contami-
The first half-hour of the journey has until they buy some of his water. If they
nated water in a remote forest and has ignore him and leave, he follows. If they
been uneventful, even relaxing,
filled these barrels with the rancid
thanks to the warm rays of the rising threaten him, he backs off, only to
sun and the stillness of the country- liquid. He plans to return to the village return later. The easiest way to get rid
and the water at premium prices.
sell
of him is to give in; a single purchase,
side. The easy to follow
dxisty trail is
Spotting the PCs, he thinks he has
as it winds over the barren hills even one tael’s worth, will satisfy him
found his first customers.
toward a small mountain range bare- and send him on his way. If attacked by
ly visible in the distance.
Himadi makes pleasant conversation the PCs, Himadi flees for his life.

DUNGEON 37
 THE GOLDEN BOWL OF ASHU H’SAN

The contaminated water has no unusual would pounce, robbing him and possibly 3. The First Golden Shrine.
taste or odor, although detect poison or a draining his life-force.
similar spell could reveal its nature. However, the plan backfired when a The path winds gently up the slope of
Any PC who drinks it must make a curious li lung (see encounter 8) a high hill. From its summit, you see
saving throw vs. poison or suffer ld4 hp swooped in to check out the barking a small structme in the valley below.
damage one turn later. sounds. Not wishing to risk tangling It is surrounded by bushes and other
with a dragon, the two hu hsien in the vegetation, and the sun glistens from
2. Trapped Fox. tree used polymorph self to transform
its golden walls.
into birds and fly away. The li lung
The monotony of the barren land- subsequently lost interest and flew
This is the first of the golden shrines
scape is interrupted by a single large away too, but the two frightened hu which contain the ivory bowls of sacred
willow tree. This tree looks much hsien never returned, leaving their
water.
healthier than the few others seen so trapped companion to fend for itself.
The shrine is modest by Kara-Tur
far, apparently because of its size. This remaining hu hsien is getting
standards. It is about 20’ square with
The long, leafy branches which panicky. There has been no sign of its
wooden walls imbedded with golden
stretch to the sky suggest deep roots friends for hours, and it is unable to free
flecks to make it sparkle in the sun. The
capable of seeking water from far itself from the trap without their help.
shrine rests on a raised stone founda-
beneath the surface. Even in its human form, it is not strong tion surrounded by a variety of bushes
A sound is coming from near the enough to pry open the steel jaws.
and small trees.
base of the tree, a desperate rasping When the hu hsien sees the PCs, it Inside the shrine are a number of small
bark that sounds like the cries of a pretends to be dying, gasping and bark-
wooden carvings of farmers, millers, and
wounded animal. ing pathetically in an attempt to lure
other laborers. A
dotaku (bronze bell)
them closer. If they hesitate, it uses hangs from the center of the ceiling.
If the PCs approach the tree, they see ventriloquism to cause them to hear a
Against the north wall is a wooden pedes-
that the sounds are coming from a deep, commanding voice whisper in
tal containing an ivory bowl engraved
trapped fox. Its leg appears to be tightly their ears: ‘‘You must not stand by and
with numerovis sutras (religious scrip-
clamped between the jaws of a large allow this helpless creature to perish. It,
tures). This is the bowl the PCs are seek-
iron trap which is secured by a chain to like you, is a child of the gods. If it
ing. If a PC removes the lid from the
the tree trunk. There is no blood, but should die, a curse awaits you and your
bowl, he will see that it contains four
the fox seems to be in bad shape. It is descendants!”
spoonsful of sacred water.
lying on its side, its tongue lolling from The hu hsien continues with similar
party removes the ivory bowl
If the
its mouth. The fox barks weakly at the warnings until one or more PCs
and replaces it with the jade bowl, then
party as if crying for help. approach. The hu hsien lies still while
leaves the shrine without disturbing
Although the party has no immediate the PCs free it. If they hesitate, it uses
anything else, the party will be blessed.
way of knowing this, the creature is hypnotism to command them to set it
The effects of this spell will last for 24
actually a hu hsien in its fox form. free. Any two PCs with strengths of 11 hours. They will not receive this benefit
Hu hsien: AC 7; MV15"; HD
6; hp
or better are able to open the trap. If the
at either of the other two golden shrines.
36; #AT 1; Dmg
ld6 or by weapon type; party has heavy weapons or appropriate
SA fascination when in human form (18 tools, the trap could also be smashed.
Note to the DM
charisma, 25 comeliness); SD hit only Once free, the hu hsien takes the first
by +3 weapons or better, heals 2 hp per opportunity to hypnotize a PC and whis- Unknown to the PCs, the water in the
hour, immune to fire, half damage from per to him to give up his water gourd. If ivory bowl at each of the golden shrines
cold attacks;AL CE; spells: apparition, it gets this far, the hu hsien commands has its own unique magical properties.
become invisible, chameleon, compre- the PC to accompany it back to its lair; A spoonful of water from the ivory bowl
hend languages, disguise, ESP, hypnotic the hu hsien plans to drain the PC’s life in the first shrine is equal to one dose of
pattern, hypnotism, know history, poly- force at its leisure. a potion of sweet water. One spoonful
morph self,read magic, ventriloquism, If any party members threaten to from the bowl in the second shrine is
all once per round; major creation, pos- interfere with this plan, thehu hsien equal to a dose of a potion of healing,
sess, servant horde, all once per day; uses hypnbtic pattern to keep them at and one spoonful from the bowl in the
ancient curse, reward three times per bay. The hu hsien also has a wakizashi third shrine is equal to a dose of a
week. concealed in the grass and will change potion of heroism. If the party discovers
Earlier in the day, three hu hsien tohuman form and engage in ferocious the magical properties of the waters,
planned an ambush here for unwary combat with any attacking PC. As the they are free to use them at will.
passers-by. One of the hu hsien was hu hsien can only be hit by + 3 weap- One spoonful of water from each of the
carefully secured in this iron trap to ons, it is a formidable foe. ivory bowls poured on the ground in the
make him appear to be the hapless If at any point the tide turns against Golden Bowl will summon the p’oh;
victim of a hunter’s snare (the trap’s the hu hsien, it uses polymorph self to attempting this elsewhere has no effect.
jaws are strong but have no teeth). The transform into an eagle and fly away, If the PCs mix the waters from the

other two hid in the branches of the preferably with one or more of the PCs’ three bowls together before pouring
tree. When a curious traveler heard the water gourds. them into the (jolden Bowl, the p’oh
helpless animal in the trap and came to will still be summoned, but the waters
investigate, the hu hsien in the tree will not retain their special magical
properties.

38 Issue No. 9
 THE GOLDEN BOWL OF ASHU H*SAN

4« Snarling Death The PCs may keep the weapons of any jishin mushi relocates within 5' of the
slainbakemono. They have nothing else largest group of PCs and commences a
The path ends in a vast meadow of of value. second sequence of tremor attacks. If
brown and brittle weeds. You have this fails to secure an unconscious PC,
obviously taken a wrong turn. The 5. Abandoned Well. or if at any point it loses more than half
sound of howling rises in the dis- its hit points, it attempts to escape by

tance, growing louder with each The countryside here is flat and flying away.
passing moment. furrowed. In better times, it would be There is nothing of value in the pit.
A trio of large gray wolves darts ideal farmland, but now the rich However, the ichor of the jishin mushi
from the bushes. They sprint across topsoil is little more than dry powder. can be sold for two tael per pint to most
the meadow in yo\ir direction, stop- Just off the pathway is a large hole incense makers.
ping about 10' in front of you. The in the ground about 12' in disimeter.
wolves are snarling and their fangs A mountain of dirt is piled beside it. 6. The Old Man and the Stick.
are bared. They are poised to spring.
Shortly after the drought began, a Some distance away on the path is
The wolves are the trained hunting group of farmers from Ashu H'San tried an old man dressed in rags, stagger-
animals of a group of bakemono who are to dig a well here in hopes of finding a ing and weaving in random direc-
searching the area for victims to rob. new source of water to irrigate their tions, holding a pointed branch in
The wolves caught the scent of the PCs, fields. But after digging to a depth of front of him. He abruptly spins on
and they were sent ahead to hold them 15', there was no trace of moisture and his heels, points the stick in your
until the bakemono catch up. the project was abandoned. direction, and hobbles toward you.
Wolves (3): AC 7; MV
18"; HD 2 +2; A jishin mushi has taken up residence
hp 16, 14, 13; #AT 1; Dmg 2-5; AL N. in the hole and has built a nest of sticks The old man’s name is Chomei Karo
As long as the PCs remain motionless and leaves in the bottom. It is always (AC 10; MV 9" zero-level human; hp 3;
;

and take no hostile actions, the wolves hungry and would welcome the opportu- #AT 1; Dmg by weapon t5rpe; AL CN).
stand their ground and continue to nity to have a PC for its next meal. He is a hermit who lives in the wilder-
snarl. If the PCs back away or retreat, Jishin Mushi: AC 3; MV 9"/3 HD " ;
ness with his companion, a li limg. The
the wolves follow. If the PCs attempt to 5 +4; hp 34; #AT 1; Dmg 2-16; SA trem- li lung is currently off attending to

move ahead, the wolves snap at them, or; AL N. business of his own (scaring the hu
attacking if necessary to get them to The jishin mushi is extremely sensi- hsien at encounter 2 in the process)
stay put. The wolves will not attack tive and will be aware of the party while Karo searches for water.
unless provoked, but they will defend (through vibrations in the ground) when Karo is carrying a ginkgo branch. A
themselves viciously if attacked. they walk within 25' of the hole. It special divining rod spell has been cast
A group of six bakemono emerge waits quietly, hoping one of them will on the branch, giving it the permanent
from the meadow 10 minutes after the come closer to the hole before it attacks. ability to locate water. Sensing the
appearance of the wolves. One is armed A PC peering into the hole sees noth- water in the possession of the party, the
with a katana, two with naginatas, and ing but darkness. As soon as a PC branch is pulling Karo toward them.
three with spears. The bakemono comes within 3' of the hole, the jishin Karo approaches the party wide-eyed,
intend to rob the PCs and have no mushi begins to use its tremor ability, the branch quivering in his hands, and
qualms about killing them. Once the continuing the tremors for five rounds. demands that they give him their water.
robbery is completed, the bakemono In the sixth round of tremors, when the ‘‘Give it to me!” he screeches. “Give me
plan to turn the PCs over to their hun- effects of earthquake begin, the jishin that water, or you’ll be sorry!”
gry wolves. mushi flies out of the hole before its Karo is somewhat feeble-minded, and
Bakemono (6): AC 6; MV 6" HD ; walls collapse. (The DM is advised to any attempt by the party to reason with
1 - 1; hp 7, 6, 5( X 2), 4, 3; #AT 1; Dmg review the effects of the jishin mushi's him falls on deaf ears. Giving him a
1-6 or by weapon type; AL CE. tremor attack on page 123 of Oriental little water won’t satisfy him. He wants
When the bakemono emerge from the Adventures.) At any point during the it all. “I found it! It belongs to me!”
meadow, the one with the katana whis- tremor attack, any PC within 3' of the Karo has no weapons, and he is too
and the wolves leap at the PCs and
tles, hole will fall in on a roll of 1-4 on ld6 feeble to attack the party. If the PCs
attack with their fangs. One round (check each round). threaten him or even raise their voices,
later,the six bakemono join the wolves Once out of the pit, the jishin mushi Karo shrieks and runs away in terror,
in attacking the party. tries to captvire a PC in its mandibles; it calling back, “You’ll be sorry! I’ll get you
The bakemono will not negotiate, and will go after the PC who appears to be for this!” He trips, scrapes his leg, and
they pursue if the PCs attempt to the most incapacitated from the trem- then stumbles off intothe wilderness.
escape. All of the wolves fight to the ors. 'The jishin mushi has no desire to The PCs may pursue him if they wish,
death, but if more than two of the bake- ftght it out with the rest of the party. It but Karo will not freely assist or accom-
mono are killed, the rest of the bake- just wants to fly away with a PC and pany them. He has no information and
mono retreat into the meadow. If they eat him in peace. gives no hint about the existence of the
wish, the PCs can probably catch the It should be easy to frustrate the li lung. (The li lung will turn up in

slow-moving bakemono, but if the PCs jishin mushi, as conscious PCs will have encounter 8 along with Karo, assuming
let them escape, the bakemono will not little trouble slipping free from its man- he gets safely away.)
be seen again. dibles. If the PCs continue to resist, the

DUNGEON 39
 7

7* The Sec€«id Golden. Shrines* she tends to 'be- sm.ug w'he:n dealing' 'with will see you destroyed!''' TM.s is an idle
others, even with other sh;o.k.enjas. 'Her threat, but the PCs- have .no immediate
tl'iist'beyond a, bamboo g:rove i.s a. ti;me in the wil.d.emess may teach her way of knowing it.

siB..al! structure, halfr'hidd.en. by wil- humili'ly, but she has a long way to go. If the PCs persi.st, K.iki s'uggests a..ri.

'low tre€?s a.n.d thick bushes. Its gold- EIM Km AC '7; MV 12^^ ; Shu 1; hp 5; honorabk? coMpromise. She challenges £

e:o. vralls sparkle in. the bright lAr 1; I)mg: by weapon type; S 10, 1 15, PC of the party'^s choice to a contest is
suiishme. W 12, D 10, -C 14, Ch 16;^ AL LG; stud^ either dan.ee or poetry Any single PC
ded lea'ther armor; spear; spells: know with a proficiency in either area may
Thisthe second golden .shri:n€K It is
is history; proficiencies: spear, religion, participate in the contest. If :no PC '.lia.s b

;racturally ident:ical to the shrine in calligr^iphy, poetry, dance. prolicie'scy i.n e:ither area, Ki'ki
declares
ac0u:nter 3. When the PCs approach, Kiki looks he:rseif the .auto:oiatic winner. (For
This shrine occupied by a yo'ii:rig
is up at them disgustedly, obviously upset details on h.ow to '.run a co;i,i.test., see page
'o:maii dressed in black .silk :robes. She by the intrusion. 'Tlea.se go awayC she 52 of Oriental Adventures.)
.
sitting with her leg.s crossed i.n. front says .'rally *'My comiB.'ii:rii 0 n with, the
fi, If Kiki wins, she laug.hs heartily and
"'the pedestal contai'iiing 'the ivory sp'irits must- .not be i,nterrapt:ed.7 mocks the? PCs' i:aeptitude. 'Her day
iwi, Hei‘ head, 'is bowed... If ask,.ed., Ei.ki proudly tells them liar m.ade, she then allows them to ta.ke the
The young 'woman's name is Kiki Ku. iia.me her purpose h-ere. Slie listen,.s
.a.B.ci ivo:ry bowl, but on'iy if s'he ca.n accompa.'
b.e is a. 0vice shukenp, on religio'us
:ii
i'mpati,ently 'to th.e PCs' story 'tale riy them on their journey "You ob'vio'u.s-

‘/treat.. Kiki K'u has journeyed far from is interesting, bu,t your mi.s.Bio.'n. is less ly have a '.lot to lea:rnr she says. "It is

home in thc^ east, drawn by the importan't th.an the spiritual 'nou.ri.B-h*” Biy duty to aid those inca.pable of help-
olation. a.:nd ser€Ui:ity of this part of the of o'ue such as my self ing tliem.sel.ves7' If the PCs refuse, she
She has. :no knowledge? of the
ratiiient. Kik.i. is 'immo'ved by any r8cpi.ests- for wo'n't let them take the bowl.
shu HkSan drmight or 'the significa.B.ce cooperati-on.. If as.ked 'how long she If Kiki she .hangs her head in
loses,
"the golden shrine. She? has stopped intends to stay, slie says, ''Th,e- rest -of sha:iB.e. She? allows thein to take the

re to iiieditate, a.s sIm? does at every the day And p€rh,aps the nex't.”' ivory bowl and the:o, humbly asks if she
sly place. Kiki is 'imarme-d.. If the PCs thr'ea'ten can, acco:mpany the.ro.. "It appears the
.Kiki :is e:sdxe:mel.y arrogant and pride- her or move 'to take tlie i'v<iry b-owl in gods h.ave se'nt you to- teach :me IriimiM-
,

il. She believes her shiikei.ii,ja status spite of 'tier opposition, she warn,s tliem, tjf she s.ay.s. "Perhaps there is :more I
itoiii.a:fcical!j ;ma.kes her S'uperioi:^ smd '"C 0 ntifi.u,e with, 'this desecration a,iicl ca'ii learn fro.m yoii.7' If the PCs refuse,
you risk: the 'wrat'h of the- god.s. I swear I she accepts their decisio:?! and leaves.
 THE GOLDEN BOWL OF ASHU H’SAN

In spite of their awkward introduc- cause earthquake; SD continual ESP, The bisan spends most of her time in
tion, Kiki proves to be a pleasant and invisible and polymorph into human at the form of a wasp. When the party
helpful traveling companion. She is will; AL N. comes within 30 yards of the tree, she
very knowledgeable about nature, and After his earlier encounter with the commences harassing them. As she
her know history spell can also be use- PCs, Karo raced back to the li lung and angrily buzzes above their heads, she
8. However, she
ful. will not participate in claimed they had tried to kill him, dis- first castigates them with rebuke for
combat in deference to her religious playing his bruised leg as evidence. 'The their neglect, then animates wood to
vows. li lung is now seeking revenge. (If Karo cause the fallen branches to twist
There are about four spoonsful of didn’t return to the li lung due to his around their feet, then causes paralysis
water in this shrine’s ivory bowl. Each capture or death, the li Ixmg has been on a randomly chosen PC. If the PCs
spoonful is equal to one dose of a potion looking for him. Using his ESP ability, run, the bisan pursues them. If the
of healing. the li lung has determined that the bisan is swatted or otherwise attacked
party is responsible for Karo’s disap- while in her wasp form, she quickly
The Old Man’s Revenge. If the old pearance.) converts back to her hximanoid form
man from encounter 6 successfully The charging li lung attacks as many before taking damage.
escaped, read both boxed sections below. PCs as he can reach with his claws and If Kiki is with the party, after three
If hewas killed or taken along, read teeth.The li lung is furious and tries to rounds of harassment she uses her know
only the second boxed section. If the kill
9.them all. After three rounds of history spell to reveal the reason behind
PCs managed to avoid encounter 6 and combat, the li lung backs off and uses the attack. At this point, the bisan
thus haven’t met the old man, skip this his special talent to cause an earth- ceases her assault and appears before
encounter entirely. quake. He then resumes his attack. them in the form of a beautiful woman.
If Karo is present, he flees as soon as If Kiki is not present, the bisan con-

Continuing down the trail through combat begins. The li lung cannot be tinues her harassment for six rounds,
this open area, you hear a shriek of appeased and is willing to fight to the then appears before them as a woman.
recognition coming from behind you, death if he feels it is necessary to If the PCs ask, she tells them the reason

followed by a familiar voice. “There avenge his friend. However, if the li behind her attack.
they are! That’s who tried to kill me! lung sees that Karo has fled to safety, 'The bisan is not entirely unreasona-
Get them!” he stops fighting if he loses more than ble. If thePCs sincerely explain the
half his hit points. He becomes invisible nature of their quest and assure her
If the party turns to look, they see the and flies away. that they are not responsible for the
drought, she will not renew her attacks.
tattered figure of Chomei Karo ninning 10.
after them. He is waving frantically and The Camphor Tree. However, as proof of their sincerity, she
insists that they offer one gourd of
pointing in their direction.
Large hills line the horizon. A vast water to her tree. 'This will not save the
expanse of flat land stretches before tree, but the bisan accepts it as a sym-
You feel a warm breeze, the first that bolic gesture of goodwill.
has disturbed the still air since this you, barren except for a single large
camphor tree not far from the trail. If the PCs water the tree as asked, the
journey began. The breeze increases
The tree appears to be yet another bisan allows them to continue without
in intensity, and the sound of flap-
casualty of the drought. It has no interference. If they refuse, the bisan
ping wings can be heard. You see
foliage, and its branches are shriv- reverts to her insect form and continues
nothing, but the flapping soimd
eled and cracked. her attacks as outlined above until the
passes overhead, blowing up the dust
party is 100 yards away. She then
at your feet.
A bisan occupies this camphor tree. In returns to her dying tree.
The source of these disturbances
abruptly becomes clear. A horrible better times, villagers would journey to
the tree and harvest its sap to make The Third Golden Shrine.
creature appears on the path before
you. It is nearly 18' long, with the potions and ointments. The bisan
body of a lion, the head of a dragon, allowed this harvesting in return for Barely concealed in the brush near
the villagers’ respect and care for her the base of a range of large hills is a
and large leathery wings. It hovers
about 10' off the ground, then tree. However, since the drought set in, small structure with golden walls.
charges. no villagers have been to the tree for
months. The bisan is angry, feeling that This is the third golden shrine. It is
a li lung, the compan-
'This creature is
the villagers have betrayed her trust by structurally identical to the shrine in
ion of Karo. Many years ago, the li lung neglecting her tree, which is now on the encounter 3.
verge of dying from lack of water. is unoccupied, and the PCs
The shrine
was severely wounded by a group of
himters. He was discovered by Karo, Bisan: AC 0; MV 24"; HD 10; hp 55; will have no difficulties taking the ivory
who nursed him back to health. 'The li #AT 1; Dmg 1-10 or by spells; AL N; bowl from its pedestal. However, once
spells: polymorph self, turn invisible, inside, they hear a faint voice coming
lung has been loyal to the old man ever
since.
both at will; bless (and its reverse), from behind the shrine. It is a male
castigate, cause paralysis, pacify, ani- voice, weakly chanting, “Bless this day
Li lung, adult, average oriental
.” followed by seem-
mate wood, wood shape, elemental turn- bless this day
dragon: AC 4; MV
9"/24"//6"(l"-6"); HD . . . . .

hp 40; #AT Dmg 2-8/2-8/1-20; SA ing, quickgrowth, ironwood, once per ingly random portions of sutras. 'There
8; 3;
round. is no apparent source for the voice; in

DUNGEON 41
THE GOLDEN BOWL OF ASHU H*SAN

fact, it seems to be coming from the pass not far from the end of the trail respond by attacking.
that will lead them through the hills. 'The six humanoid shan sao attack
ground outside.
The actual source of the voice is a When the PCs reach the summit, read with their short swords. After one round
the following: of combat, one of the shan sao cries out
goblin spider hidden behind the shrine
loudly in a series of sharp, high-pitched
in a tunnel covered by a trapdoor of
shouts. 'This shouting summons a tiger
sticks and weeds. The goblin spider is From this vantage, you see a vast
mimicking voices it has heard from valley below you filled with golden
who arrives six rounds later. In the
third round of combat, the sparrows
worshipers. It has no idea what it is poppies. 'The poppy field is roughly
saying; it is using its mimicry to lure a circular and completely surrounded
polymorph back into their hxxmanoid
A number of small forms and attempt to attack the PCs
victim close enough to grab. by high hills.
Goblin spider: AC 4; 18" MV 9; HD and wood are evenly
piles of rubble
from behind with cause disease.
Tiger: AC 6; MV 12"; HD 5+5; hp 35;
;

hp 63; #AT 2; Dmg 1-8/1-8; SA surprise, spaced aroxmd the valley's perimeter.
grasp; SD + 1 or better weapon to hit; #AT 3; Dmg 2-5/2-5/1-10; SA rear claws
ALNE. SD surprised on 1 only; AL N.
for 2-8Z2-8;
'This valley of poppies is the Golden
The goblin spider is aware of the loca- Any shan sao who is disarmed also
Bowl. It is about 200 yards in diameter
attempts to cause disease. 'The shan sao
tion of the PCs from the vibrations of and is located about 200' below the
fight fiercely, but if more than half of
their movements. If a PC comes within peaks of the hills.
them are killed, the rest polymorph into
3' of its trapdoor, the spider springs out, 'The piles of rubble are the remnants
sparrows and fly away, never to be seen
surprising on a roll of 1-4 on ld6. It of holy shrines which were demolished
attempts to grab the PC and drag him again. When it arrives, the tiger attacks
by the shan sao for materials to build continues to
with its teeth and claws. It
into its lair. tlxeir homes.
fight as long as there are shan sao
If no PC comes close to the trapdoor,
present to fight with it.
and if the PCs linger in the area for About midway down the hillside is a If the PCs kill or drive off the shan
more than 10 minutes, the goblin spider dense bamboo grove. A group of 1'- sao and continue down the hillside, they
scrambles from its tunnel and attempts tall men emerge from the grove,
see the crude houses of the shan sao as
to snatch a PC. If the goblin spider loses gibbering in a strange language and they pass near the bamboo grove. 'There
more than half its hit points, it retreats waving swords. 'They shout in your is nothing of interest in the houses, but
back into its lair.
direction and run toward you.
The entrance to the goblin spider*s PCs may notice that some of the wooden
planks used to make the walls are
a hole in the ground about 8' in
lair is
'The men are the last remaining mem- engraved with sutras.
diameter. This leads to a tunnel 15'
bers of a shan sao tribe who months ago
deep which ends in an underground migrated from the north to seek a new 12. The Golden Bowl. As the party
cave about 25' in diameter and 15' high. homestead. nears the perimeter of the Golden Bowl,
Any PC brave enough to battle the Life here proved to be harsh, however, it becomes clear to them that the piles
goblin spider in its lair does so at a
due to the scarcity of water, and most of of rubble are actually the remnants of
penalty of - 2 due to the stench and
the tribe has long since left. Only the demolished shrines, equally spaced
slippery surfaces in the cave.
hardiest and most stubborn still around the poppy field. Although the
Rximmaging through the filth in the remain, and they intend to guard their majority of the shrines have been
cave reveals a number of treasure items hard-earned territory to the death if destroyed, there are several still stand-
taken from previous victims: a leather necessary. ing. All of the shrines are similar; they
purse containing 55 tael, a katana +2, Shan sao (9): AC MV 6"/15" HD 4;
4; ;
are humble wooden structures about 5'
and a pearl of the rising tide. hp 28( X 24( X 4), 2(X x 2), 16; #AT 1;
2), square with sutras engraved in the
'There are about four spoonsful of
Dmg ld6 or by weapon type; SA disease; walls and a single figure of a 2' human-
water in the ivory bowl. Each is equal SD summon tigers, immune to fear; AL oid carved from a piece of wood centered
to one dose of a potion of heroism.
CN. in the floor.
Armed with short swords, six of these 'The PCs may now carry out their
11. Homestead in the Hills.
nine remaining shan sao race up the instructions and deposit one spoonful of
hill to meet the trespassing PCs. 'The water from each of the ivory bowls into
'The trail ends at the base of a range other three have polymorphed into the Golden Bowl. It makes no difference
of towering hills. 'The rocky hillsides sparrows and circle behind the party. where they deposit the water as long as
are sparsely covered With stunted 'The six humanoid shan sao stop in it is inside the perimeter. If they do this,
trees and drying vegetation. soli- A front of the party and demand in the read the following:
tary sparrow circles overhead. 'There trade language that they leave immedi-
are no other signs of life. ately. Any friendly overtures or
When the last spoonful of water
attempts at explanation are cut off by
touches the poppies in the Golden
'The sparrow is actually one of the the shan sao; they are in no mood to
Bowl, the sky begins to darken and
shan sao who have established a home- negotiate.
fill with clouds. 'Though there is no
stead in these hills. He is in this poly- 'The shan sao thoroughly mistrust all
breeze, the poppies begin to sway
morphed form to watch for intruders. outsiders, and any action taken by the
back and forth.
Having seen the party, he soars over the PCs, including their hesitation, is taken
Bolts of lightning criss-cross the
hills to warn the other shan sao. as a threat to which the shan sao
sky, accompanied by loud cracks of
A little searching by the PCs reveals a

42 Issue No. 9
 .

better 'weapons to hit; become immible Con-oludlng the Advenfura

th.uB.cier An. win.d begiB.s to blast,
at -wil!; AL CE.
and the clouds rapi.d!y change color; If the .PCs are unable to make peac
.If asked., t;h.e p'oh m..at1;€^ra)fdactly
first gray, then golcl, then p.i.t€h b.l.ack. with th.e p'oli or aren't able to suiii:
takes credit .'for th.e dro'U:.gh.t.. “What did
The black cIcmcIs slowly clescen.d him. i.n the first place, but a,re able
you expect?” he si.ii.flk. The p'oh i.g:o,ores
until tli.€jy € 0¥«sr the entire 'valley. An driv€!i off the shan .sao and rcq>a.ir ti
ail, ex'p!a..n.ations: or r'eques'ts for h.elp
enormo'iis crack of timncler lilts you shrines, the p'oh relents a.ii'yway m
from t.h.e PCs. “Your p:roblei:n.s are of tm)
with the force of a,;ii esrplosicni, theii calls off the drought a month Mbt.
concern to me. Besides, you are hardly
the 'wind begins to 'fade as the cio'iids th.€^ shrines go unrepa.lred and 'the i

sh.owi.ng the proper respect for a spirit

gradually dissipate sao stay put, the drought co'etimiei
of my stature Y
When the last of 'the clouds are Th,e pfoh, .i.B- ve;ry susceptible 'to fl.atte'iy;
indefiiiiteiy
gone, a small h'u.iiian.oM lig'ure The journey back to 'the village o
On,!y wh.e'i.i lie feels h.e liaS: recei'ved. sufilc-
s'ta'nds before^ you* He is .2' tall, wi'tli
'ient liipcilogies for th.e dest:ru€t.'loB. of his
aithoug
.Ash'u H'San. is un.eveiit.f\ih
broims skin a:ri.cl long red hair. The shriB.es he relent.. If 'the PCs arc^if t
DM is free to have the party experi
ligiire holds a ^vooclen chfo. 'Well, any enco'U'ntc^rs they might have
wi.ilin,g to play along- a.n:d d.o a i'ittte ip’O'v-
here I am,'' hc^ says in a high, bypassed or battle any nioiisters th
ellin.g.,, or i,-f tliey at'teropt 'to attack, tlie
squeaky voice. “What do yo'u. -want?”' Unk^ss PCs have
didn't finish off
p'oh '¥-a:rii.sheB. 'the
The party may keep any of the .S€
eii.o'i:igh. sacrcxl 'waters to n^eall him, he
This is thcj p'o.li., the .spirit responsible and use their
m^aters they .ha.ve left
will not reap-p}.a.r.
'the dro'iight.. .Altho'iigh he has wa'fccli' potions in future adveiitor
i.i.iagic.al
>:r
If the PCs do make an. efibrt to soothe
I o'ver thi.s area for rii.a.'ny he
ee'rituries, They may also keep thc^ ivory bowl
Ms ego with ptrfuse apologies or .suitaMe
»ca:me fiiricnis when 'the shrines dedh the ivory spoo'ii; the bo'wls are wort
00bri.ngs of 'Focm! o.i* valuables (he i.s partial,
I'ted to him wem clei.n.o.li.8hecl. The to precious gems and inetalB), the pfoh
30'0 chhe'n -each and the spoon is wt

for their clestraction. arc^ irrele*

Miso'iis. I'CM) ch'ie'iL
smiles broadly and says, “¥ery 'welL I
liltto him., and. he has iiid,igi'iant.iy If the PCs s'liccc^ed in. en.di.iig the
forgive ycmC If th.ey p:ro'mi.se 'to repair hia
da.liated. by 'ii.siiig his power to create drought, they :rece.ive 'the heartfelt
shrines., lie 'wi,il end the dro'uglit.
mught for iiicli.scxii:ri.in.ate pu'iii.slimen.t. thanks of a graMij.1 comm'iinity an
The p^oh. t,he;o. va.'nJ;shes. Wit.hi'ii '.min-
Folu AC
...
4;
.
MW
.
HI)
.
5; hp 30; lAf utes, th.e f^Cs .see fat storm clo'uds ga'th-
reward of 1,000 ch'ien. from their
..u. J.
 THE GHOSTSHIP GAMBIT

Mastens Of tl7C poRt of Koll

X:t7 c
off€R, picDqe, aND otp€Rwis€ Quan-
QNtee atota] of 10,000 qp to a^y
QROup Of bnavc aNO NOPlc souls
willtNQ to RlO tpe local sea laNCs of
a DRcab MCNacc. Pa^MCNt of bouN>
ty ON pROOf Of OestRuctiON of saib
MCNace. Apply PORt MastcRs’ Offic-
es, WateRfRONt, Koll.

DMs may wish to copy the poster on a

separate piece of paper and hand it to
the players. It is common knowledge
that the rumored ghostship is the “men-
ace’* mentioned in the poster.

For the Dungeon Master

Koll is a busy but rather out-of-the-way
trade port. It has an excellent deep-
water harbor and is a stopping-off point
on a major caravan route. The docks are
almost always busy as inland goods are
loaded on ships bound up and down the
coast, while other ships unload goods to
be carried overland to the interior.
Ships leave and arrive daily, and the
land caravans do the same.
All this activity makes Koll appear
richer than it actually is. Adventurers
examining the ships and their cargoes
notice many in poor condition. While
tion in every tavern, ship, and inn. DMs the ghostship. Shortly after the first
some of the merchandise is valuable, a attack, a troop of militia set out in a
should not simply give players the infor-
great deal is not. Many of the cargoes
mation, but should role-play the parts of harbor patrol boat to find the menace.
waiting on the docks are cheap goods: —
shopkeepers, bartenders, and patrons of And they did find it or rather, it
large kegs of rotgut mead; thin, watery
various establishments. By asking found them. The troopers reported that
wine and sour beer; piles of poorly made
polite questions, the PCs can discover a dead silence fell just before a grisly
furniture; bolts of coarse cloth; boxes of
the following factual information: craft, all rotting and hung with sea-
inexpensive earthenware; etc.
— The ghostship attacks only weak, weed, breached the surface of the water
Most of the ships hauling these goods
unprotected vessels and seems to be about 50' off their starboard bow. The
are no better than tramp freighters.
able to tell these from better armed ship appeared to be abandoned; there
These ships are of many t}^es (sailing
ships. was no one on deck. It merely bobbed up
ships, galleys, etc.) but are all in poor
— The port masters are in a hurry to and down in the water for several min-
condition. With well-patched sails,
be rid of the ghostship because port utes, as if it were looking them over,
warped deck planking, and barnacle-
business is falling off, resulting in a loss then silently sank below the waves
encrusted sides, these homely but still
of revenues. again. After that, no more patrol boats
seaworthy vessels run the coastal trade — Merchants, craftsmen, and the were sent out, but one or two harbor
routes, eking out a living for their cap-
seamen’s guild are complaining loudly patrollmen were added to the crew of
tains and crews.
about the rise in freight rates, loss of each ship that put out of Koll harbor.
But not all cargo leaving and entering
merchandise, and danger to crews. No ship carrying a harbor patrolman
the port of Koll comes by tramp ship.
There have been calls for the ouster of has ever been attacked by the ghost-
Occasionally, a war galley arrives as
the port masters. ship, although it has been sighted sev-
escort for prosperous ships carrying
— The ghostship is interested in ships’ eral times.
valuable goods. Or alone, a fearless,
cargo only. Ships are never destroyed, The PCs hear this information repeat-
well-kept, and trim merchantman
and seamen are not taken as slaves or ed wherever they go, and the need for
leaves with a valuable load. If, however,
food. Crews are allowed to abandon haste in dealing with this menace
PCs try to hire a ship to pursue the
their vessels, and the ships themselves comes across loud and clear. The adven-
ghostship, only tramps are available,
are usually found the next day, floating turers can easily check out the truth of
never a well-kept vessel.
lifeless with empty holds. all the above information.
As the ghostship is the talk of the — The local militia has tried several When the PCs first visit the water-
town, PCs are able to pick up informa-
times — unsuccessfully — to deal with

DUNGEON 45
THE GHOSTSHIP GAMBIT

an abandoned freighter is being

front, a dispel evil spell followed by a bless
from us, matching us speed for speed,
towed into port. Longshoremen on the spell. (False.)
turn for ttirn.
docks reveal that many of the crewmen 18.There are only 10 of the creatures
“Then, in the almost dark, a light
who abandoned the vessel were sighted (whatever they are) aboard the ghost-
flared bright and clear on the
ghost-
two days ago on a beach many miles ship. (True.)
away; a rescue ship has been dispatched 19. The ghostship uses trained sharks ship. And I could
see then, plain as
plain can be. There they was, as
to pick them up. to attack any victims they find in the
terrible and cold as anything I’d ever
PCs also hear many rumors about the water. (False.)
ghostship and its terrible crew. The 20. The masters of the port of Roll
imagined —
the crew of Old Ghosty.
have secretly sent for a high-level Eyes all aglittering, hair all wet and
ghostship is a hot topic in town, but the
green and slimy, they just stared at
party has no way to check the validity magic-user, in the hope that the wizard
us. Then, one of the grizzly things
of these rumors as no one in town can can rid them of the ghostship by some
points at us and that was the end of
give positive confirmation or denial. powerful blast of sorcery. (False.)
it. We went mad. All I remember
Roll ld20 and consult the following
after that is terror. We was all
table twice per PC per game day. Sev- The adventurers will probably want to
gripped by the blackest fear, you
eral PCs may hear the same rumor, or a talk to a survivor of one of the ghoUt-
wouldn’t wish it on your worst ene-
single character may hear the same ship’s attacks. PCs who ask the where-
my. Over the side we went, even the
rumor twice or more. abouts of an eyewitness are directed to
captain, and I wouldn’t be surprised
a local tavern to talk to Jackie Bar^
if some of them poor lads aren’t run-
Rumor Table barosa (AC 9; F2; hp 11; MV120’ (400;
ning yet.
#AT 1; Dmg by weapon type; Save F2;
ML “They found the Efreet next day,
1. The ghostship’s crew is led by a 8; AL LN).
her hold empty. They found most of
powerful vampire. (False.) Jackie tells his story with frequent
interruptions to call loudly for more ale.
us the day after and brought us in. I
2. Clerics have no power over the
believe one or two of the lads was
undead crew of the ghostship. (True.) He sometimes drains his tankard and
never found. No more can I tell you,
3. Magic of any kind will not work states simply, “My cup’s empty.” Then
for no more do I know.”
against the ghostship. (False.) he will not continue with his tale until
4. The ghostship is in league with a the PCs have refilled his cup. Here,
storm giant, and the two share the loot. minus the interruptions, is the old sea- Jackie is a seaman, not an adventurer.
(False.) man’s story: He is unable to tell the PCs what type
5. The ghostship attacks only at night. of creatures, living or dead, crewed the
(False.) “We were a day out from Roll, on a
ghostship. K
the PCs press Jackie hard
6. There is more than one ghostship. on the t3q>e of creatures that attacked
filthy barge of a galley called Effete
(False.)
his ship, he simply repeats that part of
Efreet. She was hauling ingots of tin
The ghostship’s crew can control his tale describing them. Ifell the PCs
7. and bars of unworked iron upcoast
the weather. (False.) that the creatures were terrible and
aways. We kept close in, as near the
cold, grizzly things. Give the PCs only
8. The crew of the ghostship use maj^- shore as was safe, so you could spit
cal items. (True.) the most general of information. If play-
and hit sand. It was sundown, and
9. At least half the ghostship’s crew
ers grumble about this, remind them
we was s\ire we’d given Old Ghosty
are bone golems. (False.) that Jackie is a seaman, not an expert
the slip and it’d be easy going from
10. The leader of the ghostship’s crew
on monsters, and that he was, by his
there on. I was relaxing aft, and I’d
can coiyure and control water elemen- own account, terrified during the
just shut my eyes for a wink or two.
tals. (False.)
encounter, thus clouding his memory.
Then it haM>ened, all at once like.
11. Somewhere on the bottom of the “A dead silence fell. You could just
ocean is a huge pile of treasure collected Hiring a Boat
make out in the last light of the sun,
by the ghostship. (False.) men opening their mouths to holler PCs willhave to rent a vessel of some
12. There is a large amount of gold and no noise coming out. Nor sound kind they do not already own one.
if
and jewels on the ghostship itself. of sea, nor creak of the ship .just
. . Even if the PCs have a ship, they may
(False.) silence. Then I could see a gurgling wish to rent another rather than risk
13. The ghostship can be diverted and a swirling in the water to star- their own. The owners of idle freighters
from attacking by throwing a small board, and rising up alongside a — can be found in taverns, inns, and eat-
amount of treasure overboard. (False.) ship! eries near the docks. Ships can be
14. The ghostship is equipped with a “All gray she was, worm-eaten and rented by the month at 10% of their
large catapult. (False.) rotten. Slime and ooze slithering cost, plus a sizeable deposit. The DM
15. Only several patriarchs working down her rigging, water pouring off should check the Water Transport Thble
together will be able to destroy the her deck. When the lads saw that, on page 19 of the Expert Rulebook to
ghostship. (False.) most of ’em were off and away, over find the cost of any vessel. For example,
16. The creatures on the ghostship are the port side and heading for shore. the table lists the cost of a small sailing
from another plane of existence and are Me, the captain, and a few more ship at 5,600 gp. Thus, one month’s
immune to both normal and magical stout lads tried to make a stand rental of a small sailing ship is 500 gp
weapons. (False.) amidship. Old Ghosty just stood off (10% of 5,000 gp). Ship owners rent
17. The ghostship can be destroyed by their vessels at only the monthly rate,

46 Issue No. 9
 THE GHOSTSHIP GAMBIT

not for weekly or daily rates, although

the DM may wish to make an exception
for PCs on a tight budget.
If PCs wish to buy rather than rent a
ship, refer to the Water Transport Table.
The price of any vessel, regardless of its
condition, is as listed.
All of the idle ships in Koll harbor
available for rent or purchase are of the
tramp variety. PCs will want to know
the names, costs, and capacities of the
available tramp freighters, so the DM
should prepare a short list.
The cost of renting or purchasing a
ship covers the vessel only; captains,
navigators, and crews must be hired
separately, and at premium wages.
Seamen of all types can be found virtu-
ally anywhere in Koll. The DM should
consult the specialist section of the
Expert Rulebook (page 26) for the cost of
hiring sesunen. As the hunt for the
ghostship is regarded as dangerous
duty, the cost of hiring seamen is twice
the amounts listed. PCs will be unable
to hire mercenaries. Any mercenaries in
Koll are not interested in fighting a
ghostship at any price.
The captain or a spokesman for the
crew will make it plain to the adventur-
ers that any difficulties the PCs get
themselves into, the PCs will have to
get themselves out of. Under no circum- The Ghostship Sork is the undisputed captain of the
stances will a hired crew fight in place undersea boat. He is intelligent and
The ghostship plaguing Koll is, in reali-
of the PCs, and the DM should not allow
an undersea boat (see end
ty, of module).
greedy, but will seldom let his greed
PCs to use NPCs as cannon fodder. A overcome his common sense. Sork cares
Pirates have disguised the boat as a
hired crew will take care of the ship and little what damage he does or evil he
ghostship, using pieces of rotting hulks
fight only if attacked. The crewmen causes, so long as his own desires for
they found on the ocean bottom. Garbed
defend themselves in a fighting with- wealth and comfort are met.
in old, rotten clothing and greasepaint,
drawal until they may safely quit the
the pirates disguise themselves to
Sork the Enchanter: AC 8; MU 5; hp
battle. A hired crew will not pursue a
appear as a crew of undead. So far, their
14; MV 120' (40'); #AT 1; Dmg by spell
beaten enemy. or weapon t3rpe; Save MU5; ML 9; AL C;
The number of seamen needed
secret has never been discovered.
It is important that theDM make no
S 9, 1 16, W 14, D 10, C 11, Ch 12;
depends directly on the size of the vessel spells: charm person, magic missile,
mention of pirates until the PCs discov-
acquired by the PCs. Consult the Water web, hold person; magical
invisibility,
er the nature of the ghostship’s crew for
Movement Chart on page 43 of the items: ring of protection +1, wand of
themselves. It is also very important to
Expert Rulebook. All seamen hired by fear.
avoid deliberately misleading the play-
the PCs are Ist-level fighters with no The secondin command of the pirates
armor, average morale (7), and only
ers. The DM should say only that the
is Bryndle, a 4th-level human cleric.
ghostship’s crew “look like zombies,” or
daggers for weapons. The DM may that they “appear to be undead,” not
Vicar Bryndle is also the ship’s naviga-
allow higher-level NPCs —2nd-, 3rd-, or
“the zombies are led by two ghouls,” or
tor. Bryndle serves Sork because it

4th-level fighters — as navigators and

“the undead attack.” If any players
serves his own interests. Like Sork,
captains. Higher-level NPCs also have Bryndle is greedy, but unlike Sork, his
complain of being deceived, remind
no armor, average morale (7), and are greed often overcomes his better judg-
them that no one in Koll, even eyewit- ment. If the price is right, Bryndle is
armed with daggers. Most of the sea- nesses, had ever seen through the
men in Koll are of Lawful alignment. willing to do just about an3fthing.
pirates’ disguises. It was, therefore,
Once the PCs have secured a ship and Bryndle the Vicar: AC 5; C4; hp 18;
impossible for the people of Koll to
crew, they are ready to search for the
describe the msurauder as anything
MV 120' (40'); #AT 1; Dmg by spell or
ghostship. Weather factors can either be
other than a ghostship.
weapon t3rpe; Save C4; ML 9; AL C; S
ignored or the DM can use the Water
The pirates are led by a 5th-level
12, 1 10, W 15, D 9, C 12, Ch 8; leather
Movement Modification Chart on page hmnan magic-user, Sork the Enchanter.
44 of the Expert Rulebook.

DUNGEON 47
THE GHOSTSHIP GAMBIT

armor + 2; mace; spells: cause fear, light, — by PCs or pirates — within the If the PCs defeat the pirates, they find
silence 15' radius. silenced aurea. a locked chest bolted to the floor of the
Sork and Bryndle disguise themselves Only after most of the crew has aban- captain’s cabin on the undersea boat
as ghouls. The crew of the fake ghost- doned ship will the pirates grapple and ’This chest is not trapped, and Sork has
ship consists entirely of eight aquatic board (see page 44 of the Expert Rule- the key hidden in his robes. ’The chest
elves (see end of module) disguised as book). The DM can use the deck plan contains Sork’s spell book, with all
zombies. These particular aquatic elves provided for the undersea boat or create those spells he has memorized plus read
are exiles, outlawed from their ocean his own using the same dimensions. magic and light 'There is also a scroll
clan for allowing some ipjury to come to Plans PCs’ boat will have to be
for the containing the command words for the
its revered frond keeper. Even an elf PC drawn depending on the vessel rented undersea boat (see end of module). The
will not be able to get the full story or purchased. scroll lists only the command words, not
from these aquatic elves. The morale of In combat, the aquatic elves’ favorite what each word does, so PCs will have
the exiles is very low. They serve Sork tactic is to bear hug an opponent (nor- to use trial and error if they use this
out of fear and because they have no mal “to hit” roll), then dive into the sea. scroll. ’The chest also contains five gems
place else to go. Once in the water, the victim is released in a leather pouch (500 gp each), a small
The aquatic elves have spells that are to either sink or swim. 'The pirates do silver statue of a horse and rider (worth
primarily defensive {shield, invisibility, not take captives; anyone surrendering 500 gp), a ruby ring (1,000 gp), and a
etc.) or for detection {detect magic, locate is stripped of valuables and tossed over- sack containing 600 gp.
object, etc.). If the adventuring party is board. Heavily enciunbered PCs who 'The wand of fear and the ring of pro-
very strong, the DM can beef up the dive or are dragged into the sea must tection + 1 can be taken from Sork. As
elves’ spells with more offensive ones or rid themselves of heavy objects and Sork has used the wand often, there are
raise the level of some of the elves. The armor before they can safely swim to only five charges left. 'The command
2HD elves have short swords, and the 3 shore. word (“Phobos”) for the wand is written
HD elves carry spears. Once the pirates take control of a ship on its shaft, but a read magic spell is
Aquatic Elves (8): AC 5; HD 3 ( x 4), they loot it, throwing overboard any- required to understand the script.
2 ( X 4); hp 16, 14, 12 ( x 2), 10, 8 ( x 2), 6; thing they cannot use or carry. 'The
MV 120’ (400; #AT 1; Dmg by spell or empty freighter is then set adrift, and Concluding the Adventure
weapon type; Save E3 or E2; ML 5; the booty is hidden on some deserted
If attacked by Sork, the PCs are likely
ALN. stretch of shore until a buyer can be
The to find themselves abandoned by their
pirates attack exactly the same found for the goods.
way every time. They position the It is during combat with the pirates
hired crew (DM should make a morale
check at -2). As all attacks take place
undersea boat directly below the ship that PCs should realize they are not
near busy sea lanes, PCs who cannot
they are about to attack. Bryndle then dealing with undead. Adventurers
sail the ship themselves can hail
casts his silence spell onto a starfish or should notice that the so-called zombies
another vessel and be towed to the near-
some other small ocean dweller. The are attacking with normal initiative.
est port. Local ships are especially glad
silenced starfish is then pinned to the When describing the fake zombies, the
to help the PCs if they have defeated
hull of the hapless merchant ship with a DM should point out their blue or green
what was believed to be the ghostship.
dagger. The attacked vessel only knows hair and tell the PCs that all the zom-
that a sudden dead silence has fallen.
PCs unable to defeat Sork and his
bielike beings appear to have neck
crew but discovering that they are
The pirates then rise slowly out of the wounds. Any character who examines
pirates, not undead, are paid 1,000 gp
sea about 50’ away from their victim. one of these wounds realizes it is a gill
by the port masters of Roll for this
At first, the merchant seamen see only slit. Also, the false undead bleed when
information. PCs unable to defeat the
a rotting and worm-eaten wreck rising cut. Zombies with bleeding wounds
pirates or discover the secret of the
slowly from the depths. 'The pirates should be a dead giveaway to even the
ghostship should probably move on to
remain hidden below deck until their most inexperienced adventurers.
simpler adventures.
craft has fully surfaced. 'They then rush It will be obvious when Sork and
forth in their hideous disguises and let
PCs must bring the undersea boat
Bryndle attack with weapons and not
their victims get a good look at what is
back to Roll as proof that they have
claws that they are not ghouls. Also,
defeated the menace. With this proof,
attacking. At this point, most crews their attacks do not cause paralysis as
the port masters gladly pay the bounty.
begin abandoning ship. ghoul attacks, although Sork may use
’The masters also allow the PCs to keep
If any sailors attempt to stand and his hold person spell to fake this effect.
defend their ship, Sork uses his wand of
any and all treasure they took from the
If the battle turns against Sork, he
pirates, but claim the undersea boat in
fear, effectively breaking any resistance. attempts to cut the grappling ropes and
If the defenders somehow still hold their
recompense for damages done by Sork
get away. If Sork is able to cut free the
ground and appear to be well armed and and Bryndle. If the PCs refuse to turn
lines and submerge, the elves dive over-
over the undersea boat and its command
armored, Sork avoids the battle. In the board and join him underwater. If Sork
words, the port masters order their
face of stout opposition, Sork submerges is killed or captured, the elves immedi-
arrest. Roll has a well-trained civil
his boat without attempting a fight. ately surrender. Killing or capturing
PCs will need to remain hidden, invisi- guard, so the adventurers have little
Bryndle has no great effect on the elves.
choice but to turn over the boat
ble, or disguised if they wish to battle Only Sork and Bryndle know the com-
Aquatic elves surviving as prisoners
Sork and his crew. Remember, no spells mand words for controlling the under-
are sentenced by the authorities to work
may be cast or command words spoken sea boat
in the port. With their water-breathing

48 Issue No. 9
 Elf^ Aquatic
has a. large seaweed .frond
.ineiit

Armor ClaBs: (equivalent of a Tree of .Life) which is

Hit Dice: 1*^’
or more nurtured and, cared for by the Iroiid

nf Move:
EwinamiBg
Attacks:
Damage:
1 hand
14 -or
or 1
120^(4C)^)
24OXBO0-
weapon
by weapon
keeper, a lOth-ievel aquatic elf. Their
sp.a€ious homes .are always aestheti-
cally pleasing; man,y difforent type.s
of seaweed are planted and -culti-
No. Appearing: \S (4^M) vated to crea.te beautiful undersea
Save As: Elf:l groves and forests,
Morale: 10 Aq'o,.atic elves can hide bo well in
Intelligeiice: 13 weeds and reefs that they are ellee-
AligBment: Neutral tively invisible (only a 6% chance of
XPYahie: 13 b€d:n.g seen) as long as they rein.aiii
motionless,.
Aquati.c elves live in the vast oceans .Although, they can breathe both,
of the world, making their hoiB,es in- water and air, aquatic elves rarely

great caverns in lagoon bottoms and leave the safety of the .seas. However,
reefs. They resemble land, elves in. they have been, known to trade with
their facial feat;ure.s, b'u,t th.e gill slits land elves, exchanging pearls and
i.n the:i.r necks and thei.r green or blue potions of water breathing .for iiietal
h.a.i,r set them apart from-. ot;her elves. goods, Tliey are the mortal eiiemic^s
Iik.e normal elves, th.ey ca,n ail use of sh.a.rks an,d sahiiagiii, and, dislike
magical spells. Aquatic elves use the fishermen., especially those who
same spell a.s normal elves. (often, unknowingly) bother them by
Their culture is si,.milar to their air-” fishing near their lairs. They are
breathing counterparts. Each settle- quite friendly with ciolphin.s.

Start = .Eatts
Undersea Boat Stop - Opts
Turn to port - Rimt potrot
This item appears i,d.eiiti.cal. to a 30'-
lb starboard = Burnt toast odarr
Ion.g sta.n,dard riverboat (see- Expert
Stop tu.rain.g = .Piston grunt
Ruiebook, page- 42) and c-an be u..sed
SubiBerge = Rubes gem
a.s one-. As i.t is iB.agical, however, its
Level off = Elf ov elf
armor cla,ss is 4 and, it ha.s 40 Imll
Surface = .Pur aces
points.. No rowers or sailors are
Wh.en underwatei^ the boat radi-
required i;f the command. word,s are
ates a water breathing effoct, protect-
kB,OWII.
ing all passen-gers and crew as long
Th.e command words for the under-
as they toiieh. the boat The undersea
sea boat are simple anagrams:
boat can. be fitted livith grips so tha.t
passengers won.'t drift aw^ay. O
50 Issue No, 9
 .

THE PLIGHT OF CIRRIA

He quickly lost the battle and was Cirria has no way to trace her hus-
imprisoned in his own dungeon.
Ezoran now had his own cloud castle,
band except one lone clue torn from the
mage in the earlier battle: a small, EZORAN’S
but he was not satisfied. He desired
still
to know how the castle was built and
what kept it afloat, and he tortured
symbol-laden map. Wanting to go sifter
the mage herself, but unable to leave
her children alone, she must swallow
MAP
Imperion to learn what spells were her pride and enlist the aid of others . ,

needed for such a construction. Impe- namely, adventurers.

rion hadn’t lived so long just to reveal
the secret of the clouds to an evil wiz- Starting the Adventure
ard; giants are made of stem stuff.
Cirria drinks a potion of polymorph
Despite Ezoran’s best efforts, he was
unable to break Imperion’s will. Even self from her treasure hoard and
his mind-reading spells
assumes the form of a sad young woman
were ineffective
against such an ancient and well-
with pale-gray skin, desperately in need
of powerful assistance. She attempts to
conditioned mind. The giant’s body,
however, was not in as good shape as contact a druid or ranger before any
was his mind, and eventually Ezoran ’s other PC classes. Once in touch with the
tortures took their toll. Imperion died,
PCs and in a relatively private place,
Cirria reveals her true nature and the
robbing the mage of any chance to gain
general events of the past few days. She
the giant’s secrets.
Beaten but not out, Ezoran searched knows only that a human mage
attacked her family a few days before
his books and his memory for days until
an idea came to him. Many years ago, her mate’s disappearance. She did not
see the mage’s face and knows nothing
when he was still young and inexperi-
enced, he had come upon the lair of
about him. “He” could even be female
Cumulus, a cloud dragon. Ezoran was
— Cirria just doesn’t know. Her only
initially friendly with the dragon, but
hope is that the map leads to the mage’s
stronghold.
his greed soon overtook him and he was
caught stealing from the hoard. The The map is on ordinary parchment,
dragon soundly defeated the young drawn by Ezoran when he first set out to
mage. Ezoran may have lost then — locate Irnperion’s fortress. He has no idea
that he left it in the dragons’ lair and
“But now,” he thought, “I can kill that
dragon with a snap of my fingers. Bet- assumes that he has misplaced it
ter yet, I could capture the dragon and amongst his numerous papers and tomes.
get the secret of the cloud castles from
There is no scale on the map and no
descriptions to accompany the otherwise
him.”
straightforward symbols (see Ezoran’s
Ezoran easily located the ancient
dragon’s cloud lair and prepared for the Map). The map can be followed only by
going from landmark to landmark.
assault. Later that evening, he flew in
Cirria offers the PCs anything within
with spells ready. Unfortunately for the
mage, he’d been a bit too presumptuous her power to grant as payment for the
safe return of Cumulus. If the party
about the dragon’s current status. Since
their last meeting, the ancient male
decides to help, her pale-gray complex-
ion noticeably changes to rosy -pink, and
dragon had found a mate and now had
two children as well. The battle nearly she eagerly hands over the map. (The
cost the evil mage his life, and he again
DM should make a copy of Ezoran’s
retreated in defeat. Map for the PCs.) Cirria then arranges
The dragons believed Ezoran was a meeting place where a message can be
left as to the mission’s success or fail-
gone forever —but the Arch-Mage was
ure. She will not, under any circum-
not so easily discouraged. He had
stances, give the location of her lair.
learned much about the dragons, and
after preparing new spells and fully Cirria, a medium-sized, very old,
equipping himself for another battle, he female cloud dragon: ACO or -3; MV
set about to ambush Cumulus. With 6V39"; HD 13; hp 91; #AT 4; Dmg 1-10/
relatively little effort, he followed 1-10/3-36/3-12; SA breath weapon, mag-
Cumulus from his cave one morning, ic use; SD magic use, 50% magic
defeated him in single combat, and resistance when gaseous; AL N. Her
imprisoned his vanquished foe in a two children are twins, one male and
prison of Zagyg. He fled with the dragon one female. Dragon twins are com-
pletely unheard of among human sages,
to parts unknown, leaving Cumulus’s
mate, Cirria, and their children. Nim- though some demi-human sages have
bus and Stratos, confused and alone. lived long enough to hear of such an Not to scale

DUNGEON 51
THE PLIGHT OF CIRRIA 1-

1-

Daytime
1- Encounters party is unable to teleport, travel ethere-
ally,or otherwise use magic to reach
4 cifals (AC 6; MV 6" HD 8 or
1. ;
1- their destination quickly. The PCs will
10;hp 51-60; #AT 1; Dmg 1-12; SD
have to travel overland to the fortress,
reduced
1- damage from edged weapons;
landmark by landmark. The party
AL N). should have little difficulty following
2. 3 shambling mounds (AC 0; MV the map or recognizing the landmarks.
6" ;
HD 9; hp 54 each; #AT 2; Dmg 2-16/ The PCs may travel by horse, unless
2-16; SA suffocation; SD weapons do
they possess enough magical devices
half damage; AL N).
1- and spells to fly about. Remember, the
3. 2 wiD-o-(the)-wisps (AC -8; MV party travels only as fast as its slowest
18" ;
HD
9; hp 60 each; #AT 1; Dmg 2-
member. If traveling by horseback, the
16; SA lures prey; SD immune to most
1- rate of travel through the jungle is
spells;
1- AL CE). recommended to be 20 miles per day.
4. 4 giant poisonous snakes (AC 5;
The roughly 400-mile journey should
MV
1- 15"; HD 4 + 2; hp 25 each; #AT 1;
take around 20 days on horseback, not
Dmg 1-3; SA poison; AL N). including possible encounters or rest
5. 4 algoids (AC 5; 6" HD 5; hp MV ;
stops. This does not give the PCs much
25 each; #AT 2; Dmg 1-10/1-10; SD
time to hesitate or get sidetracked, and
immune to edged weapons of less than
1-
+ 2 bonus, immune to fireballs and
the DM
should do his utmost to urge the

lightning;
1- AL CN). party on its way quickly. The DM
should give PCs the benefit of the doubt
6. 2-8 wyvems (AC 3; MV 6"/24" HD ;
when it comes to time spent in encoun-
7 + 7; hp 41-60; #AT 2; 1-6/1-6; SA Dmg ters, searching lairs, gathering trea-
poison; AL NE).
sure, etc. If the party manages to obtain
7. 2-5 giant scorpions (AC 3; MV a faster movement rate, the DM
should
15"; HD
5 +5; hp 35 each; #AT 3; Dmg
refer to pages 50-52 and page 58 of the
10/1-10/1-4; SA poison sting; AL N).
Dungeon Masters Guide to determine
8. 4 boggarts (AC -6; MV 18" HD ;
new travel times.
6; hp 35 each; #AT 1; Dmg 2-12; SA Each of the following encounters on
energy bolt; SD confusion and invisibili-
occurrence. The twins require very the Great Jungle Map is represented, in
ty, immune to most spells; AL CE).
special care and feeding. They are very order, by a symbol on Ezoran’s Map.
weak and helpless for their age (around 2-
four years old) and cannot be left alone
Nighttime Encounters
Laujarita, City of the Three
1.
for very long. Cirria, therefore, cannot 1. 2 will-o-(the)-wisps (as above). Towers (symbol: three towers). This
join the party in its quest. 2. 4 boggarts (as above). city, famous for the ancient triangle of
As time goes on, Cumulus grows 3. 1 ghost (AC 0 or 8; MV 9" ;
HD 10; towers that surrounds its walls, has
weaker and weaker from Ezoran’s tor- hp 60; #AT 1; Dmg age
10-40 years; SA long been plagued by strange beasts
tures. Left with 90 hp by the time he aging; SD etherealness; AL LE). from the nearby unexplored jungle. The
arrived at Ezoran’s cloud fortress, he 4. 2-7 giant bats (AC 8; 3"/18"; MV party should recognize the three-tower
loses 3 hp more per day of captivity. HD V2 hp 4 each; #AT 1; Dmg 1-2; SA
; symbol and begin their quest here.
This gives the PCs 29 days to rescue rabies (1% chance); AL N). The PCs can purchase, at standard
him from a fate worse than death: 5. 1 magnesium spirit (AC 0; MV prices, any normal equipment they need
Should Cumulus fall to 3 hp, Ezoran 36" HD 6 + 1; hp 35; #AT 1; Dmg 3-12;
; for the jungle. There is little, if any,
polymorphs him into a kelubar demon- SA energy and strength drain; SD only magical assistance available.
dand. There is a 5% chance per day hit by silver or magical weapons, lim-
therefidter that Cumulus’s mind ited spellimmunity; AL LE). 2. Tyrasi River (symbol: flowing
changes to that of a demondand. If this 4 jackalweres (AC 4;
6. 12"; MV water). A
mighty, raging river blocks
occurs, Ezoran enslaves him for use as HD 4; hp 25 each; #AT 1; Dmg 2-8; SA the party’s path, running southeast and
another guard for the fortress. gaze causes sleep; SD iron or + 1 weap- cutting deep into the jungle. The river
on to hit; AL CE). is almost a mile across at this point and
Jungle Random Encounters 4 minotaur lizards (AC-5; MV
7. cannot be crossed by normal means. If
6"; HD 8; hp 50 each; #AT 3; Dmg 2-12/ the party tries to use a magical boat or
Random encounters in the jungle occur
on a roll of 1 on ld6. Check each six-
12/3-18; AL N). raft to facilitate travel to the next land-

hour period (roll twice each day and

displacer beasts (AC 4;
8. 2-5 MV mark, the DM
should judge the feasibil-
15"; HD 6; hp 35 each; #AT 2; Dmg 2-8/ ity of the attempt, keeping in mind the
twice each night) or at the discretion of
2-8; SD opponents are -2 on attacks; horses, provisions, and men. If the
the DM. If an encounter is indicated,
roll Ids to see what occurs, or the DM AL N). water route is used successfully, the
journey to the waterfall takes only half
may choose an encounter. Each encount*
The Journey the usual time (one and a half days
er occurs only once. The DM should feel
instead of three by horse). Thke care
free to add to or modify these tables to Since there are no distance markers on
that the party minds the waterfall!
suit the party involved and the nature Ezoran’s map, and the cloud fortress is
of the campaign. magically protected against scrying, the

62 Issue No. 9
 THE PLIGHT OF CIRRIA

3.

5.

Tyrasi Waterfall (symbol: a horse- The playful creature is Wispus, a

finally givesway and begins to clear.
shoe). The raging Tyrasi River becomes huge, young adult mist dragon (AC 1
Ahead, a colossal gorge cuts across
the magnificent Tyrasi Waterfall here. or4.-2; MV 6"/33" HD 11; hp 44; #AT 4;
;
the land. Five hundred feet below
The waterfall, almost a mile wide and Dmg 1-4/14/2-24/2-8; SA dense mist
you, another raging jungle river
over 1,000' high, is semicircular in breath weapon, magic use; SD magic
flows eastward.
shape and is usually arched by rain- use; AL N). Wispus lives 20 miles to the
bows caused by the mists below. It is north but loves to explore and have a
also quite deadly. If the party has taken good time. He is very wEiry of strangers The gorge is 400' wide at this point.
the water route, the DM should amend but will not attack unless he is forced to The party should be encouraged to tra-
vel east from here. See area 2 for move-
the following description accordingly. do so. If the PCs somehow manage to
converse with Wispus, he speaks only of ment adjustments if the party decides to
the joys of riding the thermals and travel by water.
The mighty river begins flowing
faster and faster, and the sounds of cannot tell them anything useful
regarding their quest. Rope Bridge (symbol: a bridge).
crashing water become louder ahead.
As you round the next bend, a mag- The characters should not descend the
cliff face; they should proceed south to After traveling for days through
nificent sight greets your eyes. The
huge river gives way to a fantastic the Kidpery Gorge. unremarkable jungle, you see an
If any character tumbles down the ancient rope-and-board bridge span-
semicircular waterfall. Mists rise
from a thousand feet below to form a he suffers 20d6 hp damage and
falls, ning the gorge ahead of you. 'The
beautiful rainbow over the horseshoe must roll his constitution or less on bridge sways slightly in the wind
falls. Flying through the clouds and ld20 to remain conscious. The DM and does not inspire a sense of trust.
mists is a very large dragon that should also determine drowning
begins a perilous dive toward the percentages. The gorge is 300' across and 400' deep
bottom of the waterfall. Plunging at this point. 'The bridge, actually 350'
faster and faster, he is just about to Kidpery Gorge (symbol: a crack in long due to the great dip in it, is about
the earth). 20' wide and relatively sturdy. It can
hit the water when he suddenly
dissolves away into the mist. Surely, hold up to 2,000 lbs. before showing
this is no ordinary dragon. Again, the sound of rushing water obvious signs of stress. The party and
meets your ears. The jungle growth its horses can cross safely at half their
normal movement rates, but each horse
is 90% likely to panic and refuse to step

DUNGEON 53
THE PLIGHT OF CIRRIA

8.
the east, the Kidpery River to the north,
and only jungle and more jungle to the
west and south.

Cyclopskin Lake (symbol: an eye).

A band of renegade cyclopskin, led by a
gigantic lesser cyclops, live here on an
island in the center of a jungle lake.

'The trees part, and a beautiful jungle

lake lies before you. In the center of
the lake, on an island, stand the
ruins of an ancient keep. However,
the large canoe on the beach in front
of you and a similar canoe on the
island indicate that perhaps the
ruins are not deserted.

See the map of Cyclopskin Lake to

locate the following areas:

8A. Beach. enough

'The canoe is large
humanoids or four
to carry three large
normal-sized humans. 'There are only
three large sets of oars, however. 'The
canoe has been left here by the
cyclopskin from the island (area 8C) in
7. order to lure potential victims to them.
The beach is made of pure white sand.
6. Numerous small freshwater crabs crawl
along the surface, diving into their
onto the bridge (war horses panic only The creature the party sees high burrows when an3rthing approaches.
10% of the time). Additional panic above the plateau is a pteranodon, a
checks can be made every six turns large, flying dinosaur (AC 7; MV 3"/
8B. Jungle Lake. The lake, although
until the horse is more cooperative. 15" HD 3 +3; hp 25; #AT 1; Dmg 2-8;
;
very beautiful, is also very dangerous.
There is only a 5% chance per crossing AL N). There is only a 30% chance that A shoal of 40 warm-water quippers
that a board will collapse under a PC. it will descend to attack; otherwise, it
inhabit the water's depths (AC 8; MV
The stricken character can make a remains well out of reach of the party. 9"; HD V2 hp 3 each; #AT 1; Dmg 1-2;
;

dexterity roll to avoid falling. If unsuc> The plateau rises 2,000' above the AL N). 'These piranha will not attack
cessful, he can also make a strength roll jungle floor, and the cliffs cannot be the canoes. They have no treasure.
to catch the bridge. A second strength scaled by any normal means, even by a If the PCs approach the ruins during
roll or another person's aid is required party does manage to
thief. If the
the da3Ttime or use a bright light source
to pull the fallen adventurer to safety. ascend to the plateau, the DM
must while approaching at night, the
Only one board (if any) collapses during create the inhabitants of this region. cyclopskin on watch at area 8C are
this crossing of the bridge. 'The party should be encomaged to fol- alerted (there is only a 20% chance
Anyone who falls from the bridge low the path. otherwise). If the party is spotted, the
t6tkes 20d6 hp damage and must save to cyclopskin prepare a trap. When the
avoid unconsciousness and drowning The Great Tree (symbol: a tree).
party reaches the midpoint of the jour-
(see area 3).
ney across the lake, the lesser cyclops,
Standing like a god of the jungle, a Relon the Bloody, throws boulders at
The Plateau (symbol: a cliff). tree looms before you. Perhaps 30' in them. If he misses his intended target,
diameter, it dwarfs all that stands there is still a 60% chance for the boul-
A clearing opens in the dense foliage, beside it. 'The tree could easily be the der to smash the boat. 'There is a 25%
and you gaze upward at the immense largest and oldest living thing for chance per hit of capsizing the canoe.
ahead of you. There appears to
cliff hundreds of miles around. After three hits the canoe sinks anyway,
be a massive plateau here, in the having been smashed to bits by the
middle of nowhere. A path hugs the 'This conifer is 430' tall and com- force of the blows. The other cyclopskin
bottom of the cliff. Hundreds of feet pletely harmless. Should any character hurl heavy spears and sling bullets at
above you, a strange, dragonlike climb the tree to get a better view of the the party. Any PCs who fall into the
creature is circling. jungle, he is able to see the cliff wall to lake must now deal with the piranha.

54 Issue No. 9
 THE PLIGHT OF CIRRIA

80. Island of the Eye. A small, col-

lapsed keep sits atop this rocky island.
The main portcullis is rusty and lies
amid the rocky debris of the entrance. A
YUAN-TI TEMPLE
band of cyclopskin uses this island as a Main Level
base for their raiding and killing. Their
leader, a rogue lesser cyclops, found this
island many years ago and slowly unit-
ed four different bands of cyclopskin
under his cruel and domineering rule.
Two of the creatures are always on
guard near the collapsed northern gate
and at either side of the collapsed tower
to the southwest of the complex. These
four guards are always armed, and
they Ve piled up numerous boulders
around the island for use by their lead-
er. Unless sderted to the party’s pres-
ence, the rest of the cyclopskin can be
found inside the keep’s main building Roof Level
(area 8D).

8D. Keep. This building has a large,

bloody eye painted over the front door.
The only other entrance is a large hole
to the southwest which Relon, the lesser
cyclops, uses as an entrance. All of the
interior walls of the building have been
knocked down for space. Unless alerted
to the party’s intrusion, the rest of the
cyclopskin band is found here.
Cyclopskin (24): AC 3; MV 12”; HD
6; hp 21-30; #AT 1; Dmg by weapon type
+2; ALCE.
Relon the Bloody, lesser cyclops:
AC 2; MV 15" HD 13; hp 94; #AT 1;
;

Dmg 6-36; SA hurl rocks; AL CE.

Cyclopskin are 7 V2 tall; Relon is 20’
’

tall. Each cyclopskin carries a large

club (equal to a morning star), a great
sling, and a heavy throwing spear.
Relon always stands behind his forces,
hurling boulders for maximum effect.
The creatures’ treasure lies in a giant
oaken chest under the southeast floor-
boairds of the building. The key is
around Relon’s neck on a heavy silver
chain worth 50 gp. Inside the chest are
11,000 cp; 2,000 sp; 2,000 ep; five gems strange, double-headed monster with tures stands beside the eastern altar
worth 2,500 gp each; three potions; and two tails and tentacles in place of atop the temple. One creature, who is
any two miscellaneous magical items arms. A massive staircase, 30’ wide chanting an evil-sounding ritual, has
imusable by cyclopskin. The DM
should and just as tall, leads upward past a body of a man with a large snake
roll or choose these items based on the two bloodstained altars to the base of tail on his backside. The other
party and their circumstances. the statue. A very large portcullis appears to be human but has scaly
stands closed on each side of the hands and vaguely reptilian fea-
9. Yuan-ti Temple, (symbol: a snake’s main with large poles sticking
level, tures. This person is st€mding over a
head). out of the ground in front of each. young wood elf, preparing to drive a
'Two strange leopards with medusa- knife into the unfortunate being’s
The jungle begins to thin out into a like snakes sprouting from their heart.
clearing. In the center stands a large, shoulders are chained to each post.
ancient temple. From atop the tem- A pair of strange humanoid crea- This outpost of yuan-ti is used for
ple rises the gigantic statue of a some of their major ceremonies in which

DUNGEON 55
THE PLIGHT OF CIRRIA

they worship Demogorgon. They have 8word)/l-10 (bite); SA spells and psio- from good, light, chant, hold person
long plagued the innocent creatures of nics; SD 20% magic resistance; AL CE). ( X
2), curse). Each priest carries 5-50 sp
the forest. A major city of yuan-ti lies These are the most dangerous of the £uid a gem of 1,000 gp value.
many miles to the east. yuan-ti. Each wears a silver necklace
If the party attacks, the yuan-ti unchain with an electrum medallion (value 60 9N, Storeroom and Larder. This
the kamadans at areas 9A and 9B, then gp) and carries an elfskin pouch room is the main storeroom for food and
release those in area 9C. Next, the thes- containing 2-20 ep. weapons. Several partially dismem-
salhydra in area 9D is let loose upon the bered bodies of varying races are hung
party.As a last resort, the yuan-ti them- 9G-H. Abomination Chambers. from meat hooks on the south wall.
selves attack (see areas 9E, 9F, 9M, 9Q). If Each of these rooms contains two grass Casks of wine and spices line the east
the kamadans, thessalhydra, and abomi- beds, which the abominations rest upon. wall. Tb the north, a dozen or so swords
nation yuan-ti are all killed, the priests The rooms are otherwise empty. and daggers are neatly arranged. There
retreat into the jungle to bring reinforce- is nothing else of value here.
ments in 2-8 days. Dining Room. This room contains
91.
See the map of the yuan-ti temple to a dining table and seven grass mats for 90. Kitchen. This is a rather crude
locate the following areas: seating. On the table lie the remains of kitchen, containing a large cauldron
a man — last night’s dinner. A small and a rough stone fireplace. Meat of
9A-B. Guard Posts. Two kamadans statue of Demogorgon is the table’s suspicious origin lies on a table, and a
(AC 4; MV 18"; HD 4 +2; hp 30 each; #AT centerpiece. Made of solid jade inlaid disgusting soup is being prepared in the
3 plus 4-7 snake heads; Dmg 1-3/1-3/1-6 with silver, it’s worth 3,000 gp. cauldron. There is nothing of value
plus 1-4 per snake head; SA breath here.
weapon; AL CE) are chained to each of 9J. Worship Pool. This pool of
these two posts. They are used by the water sacred to the yuan-ti. They
is 9P. Empty Altai: This bloodstained
yuan-ti as the temple watchdogs. are currently raising Slimetooth, a altar is dedicated to Demogorgon, the
If the party enters the clearing, the young, male water naga here (AC 5; Prince of Demons. Aceremonial dagger
four kamadans growl loudly. The yuan- MV 9"//18"; HD 4; hp 26; If AT 1; Dmg and chalice lie at the head of the altar.
ti at the altar (area 9Q) will not stop the 1-2; SA spells; AL N; spells (cast at The dagger and chalice are a matched
service, however. If the party continues 3rd level): magic missile, sleep, mirror set and are worth 1,000 gp together, 200
to approach, the kamadans go into a image). gp separately.
frenzy and alert the entire temple to the Slimetooth has been raised since
presence of intruders. The yuan-ti birth by the yuan-ti and considers 9Q, Altar. This altar is identical to
abominations (see areas 9E-F) immedi- them to be his friends. They have fed the one at area 9P. The high priest of
ately unchain the kamadans and him well and hope to use him as the the 3Tuan-ti and one of the lower priests
prepare for battle. temple’s guardian. The party will (from area 9L) are sacrificing a wood elf.
have a hard time convincing the Yissera, female yuan-ti (pureblood)
9C. Kamadan Kennel. This is the young naga that the yuan-ti are evil AC 4; MV 12"; HD 6; hp 43; »NT
cleric:
kennel for the kamadans. There are six and cruel. He only attacks in self- 2;Dmg by weapon type; SA spells; SD
kamadans inside here, waiting to take defense. At the bottom of the pool are magic resistance 20%; AL CE; clerical
their turns at the guard posts (see areas 530 gp. spells (cast at 9th level) in addition to
9A-B for statistics). regular yuan-ti spells: command ( x 2),
The portcullis is opened by a winch 9K. High Priest’s Quarters. This is protection from good, ceremony, chant,
mechanism located outside, to the left of the room of Yissera, high priest of the know alignment, silence 15' radius, hold
the room. There is nothing of value here. yuan-ti, who is currently conducting the person, curse, cause blindness, dispel
ceremony at area 9Q. There is a normal magic, cause serious wounds, cloak of
9D. Thessalhydra Lair. A large, bed, table, and bureau in this room, but fear, air walk). Yissera has lived in the
eight-headed thessalhydra (AC 0; MV nothing else of value. outside world for many years, acquiring
12"; HD 12 (body); hp 74; #AT 10; Dmg
great knowledge and power. Yissera
1-6 X 8)71-12/1-20; SA acid saliva and
(
9L-M. Lower Priests’ Quarters. recognizes adventurers as such on sight
spitting;SD immune to acid; AL N) is Each of these rooms contains a flat and takes no chances. After alerting the
kept here by the yuan-ti. Because it is grass bed, with otherwise human fur- temple, she casts silence 15' radius on
well treated, it will not attack the 30ian- nishings. Two lower priests live in these the ceremonial dagger and throws it at
ti or the kamadans. rooms. Each has a human body and the leading party member. Even if she
The portcullis here is opened in the head, but a large snake tail grows from misses the character, the silence pre-
same manner as in area 9C. The bars its backside. Currently, one is resting in vents any spell use by the party. The
have been protected against the area 9M; the other is at area 9Q. abominations in areas 9E-F understand
thessalhydra’s acid. Yuan-ti (half-breed) clerics (2): AC 4 the implications of this action and sur-
(tail 0); MV
12" HD 8; hp 54 each; #AT
; round the party within the silenced
9E-F. Entrance Chambers. These 3; Dmg 1-8 (long sword)/14 (dagger)/l-4 area. The priests laimch spells from
are the only entrances to the temple. (tail constriction); SA spells; SD 20% atop the altars.
There are two yuan-ti abominations magic resistance; AL CE; clerical spells Yissera possesses a long sword +2,
guarding each chamber (AC 0; MV
9" (cast at 5th level) in addition to normal dagger +1, staff of swarming insects (22
HD 9; hp 64 each; #AT 2; Dmg 1-8 (long yuan-ti spells: command, protection charges), and a small snakeskin pouch

56 Issue No. 9
 1

THE PLIGHT OF CIRRIA

containing 100 pp, 50 gp, and a large The body is that of a half-elven rang- The Cloud Fortress
emerald worth 4,000 gp. er,Hytorir the Courageous. He was out
Ezoran captured this cloud fortress from
Should the party rescue the elf on the honing his tracking abilities when he
Imperion, the now-dead cloud giant.
altar, he will be very grateful but will discovered this strange clearing. After a
Combined with his own magical
wish to return immediately to his home few days here, he noticed the cloud
enchantments and those of his lady-
deep in the jungle. The elf tells them above never moved and used his wings
love, Draxella, it will eventually be
that he is called TVmar. He is a master of flying to investigate. He safely
quite a formidable stronghold. But,
craftsman of fine wood statues and will entered Ezoran’s cloud fortress but fell
fortunately for the PCs, he has not yet
gladly reward the peuty with some of to his death through the pit trap in area
completed his work.
his work if they wish. Although Tymar 8 (wings of flying canJbe used only once
Draxella is a sorceress who recently
is not a nobleman, his friendship with per day).
returned to Ezoran’s side after a long
the PCs is enough to make them *'elf- If the PCs check the body more closely
and arduous quest for rare spell compo-
friends.” The DM can use this NPC to they can discern that he was a male
nents. She has just reached the cloud
lead to further adventures in the Great half-elf of impressive bearing, dead
fortress after following clues left for her
Jungle, should the party be successful about a week. Ezoran and his mistress,
by Ezoran at their old rooms (in a large
in their current mission. Draxella, were too busy to notice
city in the DM’s campaign). Because she
Tymai; wood elf: AC 10; MV 3" (12" Hytorir's intrusion and have no idea
has not been here long, she knows very
when healed); F4; hp 8 (30 when fully that his remains lie below.
little about the castle, the dragon, or
healed); #AT 1; Dmg by weapon type; S Even if the party manages to bring
an5fthing else of use. She is currently
16, 1 14, W10, D 19, C 12, Ch 15, Cm Hytorir back to life, he is unable to go
within the castle, appointing her new
14; AL NG; multiple nonweapon profi- with them to the fortress as he requires
chambers and equipping her laboratory
ciencies in woodcraft; prefers to wield a at least a week of bed rest before he can
(see room 13 for Draxella’s statistics).
long sword or dagger. adventure again. He will, however,
The fortress is only 800' above the
provide the location and general nature
jungle floor at its lowest point. Ezoran’s
9R. Statue of Demogorgon. On this of the fortress. Hytorir asks for all his
early tampering with the structure
platform rests a 20 '-tall statue of the remaining magical items in order to
caused it to drop almost 1,000' before he
demon prince Demogorgon. It is covered protect himself while alone, and for
could stop its descent. He still has no
with slime and blood in tribute to the some temporary shelter away from the
idea how to control the cloud it rests
deity. There are four giant rubies clearing where he can be safe. He will
upon and therefore has inadvertently
imbedded in the eyes of the statue, each lend the PCs his wings of flying if they
blocked most of the sunlight from reach-
worth 5,000 gp. promise to return the cloak when they
ing the groimd below. Ezoran is current-
are through with it.
ly torturing Cumulus, the captured
10. Clearing Below the Cloud For- The PCs might use a speak with dead
cloud dragon, for the secret of how to
tress (symbol: a fortress) spell or similar magic on the dead rang-
control the castle.
er. TheDM should keep in mind the
'The entire structure radiates magic of
This clearing is a bit unusual. It short duration of this spell and how
an indeterminable nature and is under
appears that some kind of plant little information Hytorir possesses.
the influence of a permanent non-
blight has struck here; most of the Hytorir the Courageous, male half-
detection-type spell placed on the keep
vegetation is dead or dying. Only the elf:AC 2; MV 12" R9; hp 74; S 18/56,
;

15, W 16, D 17, C 18, Ch 14, Co 14; #AT

as part of Ezoran’s renovation. (There is
mushrooms and other fiingi seem to very little an Arch-Mage cannot do,
be thriving. The glint of metal can be 3/2; Dmg by weapon type; AL NG; spells
given enough time and gold.) No loca-
seen in the near distance. It is hard speak with animals, protection from evil;
tion or information-gathering spells
to see more clearly as the clouds magical items not destroyed in the fall:
operate within the confines of the cloud
above block out most of the light. wings of flying (covering body); two-
fortress.
handed sword +2, giant slayer (sticking
The walls and flooring of the fortress
The plant blight is the result of the in the ground); bag of holding, 1,000 lb.
appear to be made of stone, but PCs will
permanent cloud cover, as Ezoran has capacity (under body); ring of animal
find that spells and items that should
yet to learn how to control the move- friendship (on right hand).
affect stonework will not affect the
ment of the cloud fortress. H 5Ttorir wears elfin chain mail, a gift
castle. This material cannot be broken
If the party investigates the clearing from some wood elves. All of his potions,
or passed through by any means (even
further, continue with the following: a ring of X-ray vision, and a long bow
ethereally). No teleporting is allowed in
+ 1 were destroyed in the fall. The bag
or out, and magical scrying cannot see
The gleam of holding still holds 1,000 pp, a couple
of metal comes from a inside the cloud fortress. 'The walls
of low-level spell books, and some
sword standing upright in the themselves are actually only 1" thick.
greater mistletoe. Scattered around the
ground at your feet. Beside it lie the The ceilings are usually 30' high, and
body are 50 gp and three gems (100 gp,
remains of a man, crushed and man- the entire fortress is lighted by indirect
gled beyond recognition. This unfor-
200 gp, and 550 gp value).
continual light spells.
tunate is wrapped in a plain black 'The doors are actually lighted panels
cloak, and his personal belongings lie which temporarily disappear when
scattered around his body. touched. Secret doors appear as normal
walls and only disappear when their

DUNGEON 57
THE PLIGHT OF CIRRIA 1.

Vapor Rat Lair,

This appears to be an unremarkable

room, except for the strange cloud
pillar in its center. The pillar undu-
lates strangely but otherwise
remains stationary. Out of the comer
of your eye, you see a strange little
cloud moving closer to you. It stops
and begins to take form. More cloud
bodies move closer ....

This room is identical to the rest of

the level, except for the cloud pillar
standing in the middle of the room. It is
a natural occurrence and quite harm-
less. The pillar, however, serves as cover
for a lair of 15 vapor rats (AC 6 (or
special); MV12'7/16"(1"); HD 2; hp 15
each; #AT 1; Dmg 1-2; SA stinking
cloud; SD gaseous form; AL CN). The
rats attack on sight and continue to
fight until half of them are dead or
severely wounded. They then turn gas-
eous and retreat to the clouds. The rats
possess no treasure.

2. Map Room. This room is filled

with racks and racks of maps and charts
that Imperion used for navigating the
cloud castle. Most of the names and
descriptions are written in the language
of the cloud giants, but the maps con-
tain a wealth of information about the
entire planet. The DM can use these
maps to provide the characters with
clues for any ongoing quests or as a
means of leading the party to greater
and greater adventures and mysteries.

3. Observatory. The floor of this

room completely transparent. The
is
effect is similar to the sirth-level magic-
user spell glassee. Observers can see
down, but those below cannot gaze in.
The floor is made of the same material
as the rest of the fortress, so characters
comers are touched in the proper magical protections (and Draxel-
let his may step onto the window with no fear
sequence (the DM should create the la) weaken the party
before he has to of falling through (a fascinating yet
sequences beforehand). Such doors can engage in outright combat. unnerving experience, to be sure).
be found by normal but not magical Through the window, the PCs should be
means. Since these doors are 24' tall, Fortress Level One able to see the clearing below.
characters must find some way to reach The semicircular wall opposite the
This level is to be Ezoran’s guard level entrance is covered with engraved sky
the upper comers in order to activate
and the site of future expansion. Impe- and constellation charts as well as a
them. The only doors that appear wood-
rion, the cloud giant, planned to expand large-scale map of the planet’s conti-
en and are of normal human size can be
his castle further but stopped once the nents (DM’s world). The engravings are
found in the trap-rooms of area 8. They
upper levels reached a coi^ortable size inlaid with gem dust, with different
were put there by Ezoran when he
for only one giant. The lower level is, types of gems used to represent differ-
increased the defenses of the fortress.
If the party’s presence is discovered,
DM
therefore, only half a level. The ent features. The engravings cannot be
Ezoran casts a guards and wards spell
may expand on the fortress here or on removed, but the dust can be scraped
any other level, if such is desired. out (DM’s discretion as to how much,
upon the fortress. He takes no other
aggressive action, preferring instead to and what value can be recovered).

58 Issue No. 9
 THE PLIGHT OF CIRRIA

4. Cloud Room. This room has cloud

material permanently covering the
walls. A natural cloud pillar undulates
in the center of the room. Unlike the
similar pillar in room 1, this pillar
obscures the chute that leads downward
from the pit trap in room 8. If any char-
acter puts a hand or sword into the
cloud material of the pillar, he can
touch the outer wall of the chute. Any-
one who falls into the pit trap in room 8
falls through this chute and all the way
down to the clearing, 800' below.

5-6. Storage Rooms. These two

rooms are filled with giant-sized furni-
ture and possessions — Imperion’s
belongings that Ezoran didn’t want.
'The magic-user thought that the mate-
rials might be useful some day, so he
threw them all down here. A huge oak-
en chest contains Imperion’s clothing.
Included in the chest is a pair of purple
silk pagamas and a yellow silk sash of
fire giant strength. Imperion never real-
ized that the sash was magical, since
his strength was already at least as
good naturally. Ezoran foolishly disre-
garded the ensemble when searching
through the giant’s possessions (as
might the PCs). Some oversized pillows
are heaped in one corner along with a
large pile of furs. Other than the magi-
cal sash, there is nothing here of any
significant value.

Fortress Level Two

The PCs will most likely enter the for-
tress on this level, from the landing
stage (area 7). The fortress’s main pro-
tections are found on this level, in areas
8 and 10.

7. Landing and Observation Plat-

form. This gigantic platform is sur-
rounded by a railing. It was primarily
used as an observation deck and as a
landing and receiving area for Impe- but not fly in it. If rescued, the dragon
horse may accompany a PC as a
archways painted in differing colors
rion’s friends and frequent guests. are evenly spaced around the walls.
One such visitor was recently cap- companion/steed after the adventure is
over. 'The ’horse will not enter the for-
You turn around to see that the arch-
tured by Ezoran and has been magically way by which you entered is violet
chained to one of the hitching posts to tress under any circumstances, as it
colored on this side. Directly across
the north. This poor dragon horse (AC must take to the air soon or go insane.
the room to the north is a yellow
0; MV 24"/48"; HD 8; hp 54; #AT 2;
Only physical force can break the chain
archway. Beyond each archway is a
Dmg 1-8/1-8; SA breath (spells); SD (a successful bend bars/lift gates roll will
short corridor ending in a closed door.
etherealness, heightened senses, 25% do it), destroying the enchantment.
magic resistance; AL NG) wears an
8. Rainbow Room. 'This is themajor trap room of the entire
antimagic collar that prevents it from
complex. 'There are many things about
using any of its powers (and repels all
this area that bear notice.
spells used against it). 'The dragon horse Passing through the 20'-high arch-
'The central circular room can rotate
can fly around, but only to the end of way, you enter a large, circular room
about its center, but the rooms beyond
the 50' chain. 'This is Ezoran ’s cruel joke about 150' in diameter. Eight giant
the colored archways remain where
on the beast — that it can see the sky
they are. 'Therefore, an archway of a

DUNGEON 59
THE PLIGHT OF CIRRIA

specific color does notalways lead to the enough, except for the wall of force veneer. 'That character is immediately
same room. Roll dlOO each round to across the pool’s middle. Anyone swing- sliced by a guillotine trap behind the
determine the direction of rotation. The ing or flying across the pool hits the door (the DM
should determine which
party will not notice this motion and wall (which is completely invisible) and part of the cheiracter has been severed,
will never go through a doorway when takes 2d6 hp damage. He must make a noting method of entry). 'The blade does
it is between rooms. successful constitution check to avoid not qualify as a trap and cannot be
01-40 Rotate one room clockwise.
losing consciousness for 1-4 rounds. A detected by a thiefs abilities, but magi-
strength check is also necessary to cal warning is still possible, and any
41-80 Rotate one room counter-
avoid dropping any items held by the character who steps through the broken
clockwise.
PC. Any cheiracter who falls into the door after first checking for traps gets a
81-00 Central room does not rotate
acid takes ld6 hp damage from the heat dexterity check to avoid the blade. 'The
this round.
and 2d6 hp damage from the acid each tiny room beyond the door is empty.
Each archway is 20' tall, color-coded, round. Immersed items must save vs.
and magically trapped against anyone acid every round or dissolve. This acid Southwest Room: Pit Room. 'This trap
passing through from the central room does not affect gems or precious metals. isvery simple. 'The first door is a one-
outward. All the portals are pure white The wall offeree does not extend to the way version of the doors in the rest of
and harmless from the other side. The bottom of the acid pool —it stops 6" the keep, activated by a single touch
archways are similar in effect to a pris- below the surface, 'The door on the other instead of a sequence. When a PC steps
matic sphere spell, and can be neutral- side of the room opens onto a solid wall. beyond the first door, the floor disap-
ized as per that spell. Starting from the pears and the character falls (through
south (when the party first enters the North Room: Teleport Traps. When a the cloud pillar in room 4) to his death
room) and going counterclockwise, the PC enters area A, he is teleported to 800' below. The PC has one chance to
archways are: area B. Materializing in B, he is imme- avoid falling by catching the doorsill he
diately teleported to area C, then to area stepped from (on a successful dexterity
Violet Save vs. spells or become
D. Area D send the character back to check). Failure indicates a fall all the
astral
area A, and so on. Anyone so trapped is way down. 'The other door is a fake.
Black Not trapped; teleport to
flashed from place to place so rapidly he
room 9
appears as a blur to someone standing South Room: Not Trapped. 'This corri-
Red 10 hp damage, no save
in the corridor. dor leads to area 7.
Orange 20 hp damage, no save
'The trapped person cannot move fast
Yellow 40 hp damage, no save
enough to walk, run, or fly out, even if Southeast Room: Empty Room. 'There
Green Save vs. poison or die
using a haste spell. 'The doors in the isnothing whatsoever in this room (or
Blue Save vs. petrification or be
turned to stone
alcoves are fakes. 'The only ways to get the DM
may insert a trap of his own).
out of this trap is to cast a dispel magic
Indigo Save vs. wands or go
insane
A
on area and return to the corridor, or 9. Circular Room. 'This room has a
turn ethereal/astral and step back into black portal on the east side and a nor-
After passing through each su-chway the corridor. mal door on the west side. Entering the
(except the black one), there
is another black portal teleports a character to area
trap waiting: Northwest Room: Crocodile Trap. 'The 8 (in the southern corridor, near the
entry corridor leads to a semicircular main entrance doors).
East Room: Tilting Pit Trap. Thirty ledge 4' above a large pool of water. A
feet past the archway, a stout oak door doorway exits from a similar ledge 10. Guard Room.
blocks the corridor. When a PC opens across the pool.
the door and steps 10' farther in, the The pool is inhabited by 10 normal 'The door opens into a bottle-shaped
entire corridor tilts downward. On a crocodiles (AC 5; MV 6 "//12" HD 3;
; room. You have entered at the neck;
successful dexterity check, the PC runs hp 14 each; #AT 2; Dmg 2-8/1-12; AL N). ahead the corridor fans out into a
quickly uphill and back through the There is no trick to crossing the pool of larger room. Where the corridor
door. Otherwise, the hapless adventurer water; the trap is on the other side. begins to fan out stands a large stone
slides down the ramp toward what once The far door opens near the bottom of statue of a warrior. 'There are doors
appeared to be a door in the far corridor a very large tank of water. When the and right. A large tapestry
to his left
wall. 'This door is actually an illusion door is opened, the force of this flood completely covers the north wall.
covering a Isurge set of spikes. The washes anyone who fails a bend bars/lift
unfortunate PC
takes 3dl0 hp damage gates roll into the pool with the croco- Anyone who enters this room, except
from the plus 3d6 hp damage from
fall diles. 'The additional water will not fill
in the presence of Ezoran or Draxella,
the spikes. The PC is also trapped at the the pool higher than the ledges. activates the statue, a stone golem (AC
bottom of the pit, as the walls are now MV HD
5; 6"; 14; hp 60; #AT 1; 3-Dmg
vertical and too slick to climb. West Room: Guillotine Trap. 'The
24; SA sU>w spell; SD +2 or better
wooden door at the far end of this long weapon to hit, immune to most spells,
Northeast Room: Acid Pit Trap. 'The corridor appears to be very sturdy. 'The limited regeneration, heightened sens-
PCs must cross a 20'-wide pit of boiling doorknob won’t turn. Any character es; AL N).
acid to get to the door on the other side who forces the door discovers that it is impossible to reach the doors
It is
of this long room. This seems simple actually made of very flimsy wood
without either defeating the golem or

60 Issue No. 9
 THE PLIGHT OF CIRRIA

being allowed to pass. Only one person

at a time can engage the golem in
melee due to the narrowness of the
entryway.
CLOUD FORTRESS
This golem has the additional ability
of regeneration. It can repair damage to
Level Three
itself at a rate of 1 hp per turn, but once
taken below “10 hp, it will not rise
again. The golem can also see and
attack on the Ethereal and Astral
planes. It cannot be tricked with dis-
guises. If the party retreats from this
room, the golem does not pursue.
The north end of the room is covered
by a massive tapestry of Ezoran, his
face hidden in shadows. Ibuching the
figure of Ezoran opens the secret door to
room 14. The tapestry itself is of no
value except to Ezoran and Draxella.

11. Draxella’sLaboratory. This

room with new glassware, emp-
is filled
ty bookshelves, and a giant iron caul-
dron. Draxella has just moved in and
has yet to begin her experiments. The
DM should develop the specifics of the
laboratory’s contents in case the PCs
decide to keep some for themselves. All
of the items are of the finest quality.
There is a secret door behind the book-
shelves on the east wall. It leads to
room 12.

12. Draxella’s Treasure Room.

There are nine chests in here. Eight are
closed, unlocked, and empty. The ninth
chest is large and very ornate, but not
empty. Inside this chest are 5,000 pp;
11,000 gp; and four gems worth 5,000
gp each. The rest of Draxella’s treasure
is on her person.

13. Draxella’s Bedroom. This room

contains a bed, a large bureau, a closet,
and a small chest. The room is filled 1 square = 30'

with trinkets and clothing, and its occu-

pant is currently at home.
DraxeUa: AC -4; MV
12" MU14; hp ; ing (500 lb. capacity), a ring of air ele- tive chance per round of combat), she
52; #AT 1; Dmg by spell or weapon type; mental command, a dagger •^2/ -^4 vs. alters her appearance and the condition
S 12, 1 17, W 14, D 18, C 16, Ch 16, Co good creatures, a cloak and boots of of her room to suggest that she is
16; AL NE; magic, magic
spells: detect elvenkind, and robes of protection +1. In Ezoran’s prisoner. She tells any rescuers
missile ( x 6), protection from good, read her bag of holding are her spell books that she is a 9th-level magic-user, forced
magic, detect invisibility, ESP, knock, (normal and traveling), 10 pearls worth to be Ezoran’s slave and kept in this
mirror image, web, dispel magic, fire- 100 gp each (for identify spells), 500 pp, room by the golem.
ball, infravision, lightning bolt, slow, ice and 100 gp. She has spent many years with the
storm, polymorph other, polymorph self, Draxella, Ezoran’s associate and lover, Arch-Mage and will never betray him,
Rary*s mnemonic enhancer (used), con- isa very powerful mage and should be even if charmed. Her knowledge of the
jure air elemental, feeblemind, telekine- played as cunning and dangerous. fortress is currently limited to this level
sis, teleport, globe of invulnerability, Being shrewd and intelligent, she is not and to level one. She knows where the
repulsion, power word stun. above joining the party in order to lead stairs (area 14) are but won’t volunteer
Draxella owns bracers of defense (AC them into a trap. If she hears the battle this information.
3), a ring of protection +2, a bag of hold- with the golem in room 10 (5% cumula-

DUNGEON 61
 ;

THE PLIGHT OF CIRRIA

Secret Stairway. There is a mag-

14. using Ezoran to locate his long-lost when gaseous; AL N).
ic mouthspell on these stairs. Anyone staff, an artifact of extraordinary power. If Cumulus has been changed into a
who steps on them hears a pleasant He has promised Ezoran demonlike demondand (see Starting the Adven-
male voice announce, ‘‘Company’s com- abilities upon the staffs recovery. demon in the circle is replaced
ture), the
ing!” If Ezoran is unaware of the peirty’s The statue itself is over 12’ tall, but by Cumulus, and the birdcage is empty.
intrusion, he will not hear this message harmless unless the party attempts to Cumulus, as a kelubar demon-
in room 20 above. However, if Draxella defile it. For each blow struck or action dand: AC MV 12'724"; HD 13; hp
-2;
has not yet been encountered, she hears taken against the statue, there is a 10% 59; #AT 3; Dmg 2-8/2-8/4-16; SA acid
the voice and attempts to kill the PCs chance that the demon prince will slime, spells; SD + 2 or better weapon to
(especially mages) while they are still in notice the desecration and will make a hit; immune to acid, poison, fear, illu-
the stairwell. She casts fireball first, mental note to cause problems for the sion; half damage from cold or fire; has
then assesses the situation. adventurers later. infravision and ultravision; AL CE.
When the statue’s right arm is pulled
Fortress Level Three down, the entire idol slides to the west 19. Ezoran’s Laboratory. A massive
to reveal a secret passage leading south. laboratory loaded with materials for
15. Ezoran’s Quarters. The stairs
rise into a large living area, complete
The golden jar by the altar is inscribed potions, wands, scrolls, etc. occupies this
with many runes which tell the history of room. This is a treasure trove to any
with a dining table, bed, two closets,
Fraz-Urb’luu. It does not reveal his true mage. There are hundreds of potion
and a nightstand. The closets contain
normal clothing and a small chest. The name, however. The information on the vials, beakers, rods, staves, and wands
vessel is very useful, and a sage might lining the shelves and tables, and 10
chest contains two bottles of fine wine
valued at 300 gp each. There is nothing pay as much as 5,000 gp for it. The jar chests against the far wall. The DM
itself is worth only 500 gp. should detail the contents of this room
else of value here. 18.
There is a matching sacrificial dagger before running the adventxire. The
16. Torture Chamber. Amid a mass in a secret compartment of the altar. chests are either empty or contain val-
of large, wicked instruments of pain and
The dagger is jewel-encrusted and ueless or perishable goods used in mak-
suffering lies the violated body of Impe-
worth 1,000 gp. ing potions. All the items are
If Ezoran has been alerted to the par- nonmagical. There is a secret door
rion, once the neutral-good cloud giant
ty’s presence, he teleports in and attacks behind the southernmost shelves on the
of this fortress. His body, although well
(see room 20 for his statistics). If the west wall; it leads to room 20.
preserved (by preserve spells), bears
battle goes badly for him, he retreats
many gashes and marks indicating
torture. Ezoran has also removed many
through the secret door to room 20. 20. Library. If the party has not
parts of the body for use as spell compo- encountered Ezoran before, he is in this
nents. Imperion has been dead for 15 Summoning Chamber. room. If alerted to the PCs’ presence,
days plus the amount of time it took the Ezoran heads out the secret door to the
party to reach this room. You enter a large, circular, domed south. He has no wish to battle inside
chamber. Four magical diagrams are his library and waits for the adventur-
17. Demon Room. partially inscribed on the floor of this ers in room 17. Otherwise, he is sitting
room. A fifth diagram, at the center at the table in the center of the room
of the room, is complete — and occu- with his back toward the east wall.
This room has only one obvious pur-
pied. A large, hairy, winged, apelike If the party encountered Ezoran in
pose. A
large sacrificial altar occu-
room 17, he has retreated here after the
creature gestures at you. High above
pies the center of the room. Two
the monster, hanging from the ceil- battle and has already gathered his
grooves run down its length, leading
ing, is a small wire birdcage. spell books. He then heads for the near-
to a golden jar at its foot. Looming
est exit and proceeds to circle around
over the altar is a hideous statue, its
The central diagram contains a type the party. If the PCs are obviously too
hulking body and vast wings indicate
demonic origins. The cruel eyes IV demon (AC -1; MV 9 V12"; HD 11; strong for him, he leaves the fortress

appear to be watching you. hp 77; #AT 3; Dmg 1-4/1-4/2-8; SA +2 and, once outside, teleports away.
“to hit” bonus; SD + 1 or better weapon Besides a large collection of valuable

The statue is of the demon Fraz- to hit;AL CE). If the party breaks the reference works, the library contains
diagram’s protective circle, the demon Ezoran’s spell books (unless he has had
Urb’luu, the Prince of Deception (see
attacks immediately. If significantly time to collect them), a manual of bodily
Monster Manual 11, page 39). Ezoran
harmed, it gates in other demons. health, and his diary (containing the
has exchanged services, information,
The birdcage is actually a prison of command words for all of his items and
and treasure with the demon prince
^CLgyS^ Its current prisoner is Cumulus, for the prison ofZagyg). If the PCs page
many times, and worships the demon’s
the cloud dragon. The cage cannot be through the diary, they find a folded
mastery of the art of deceiving his oppo-
retrieved without breaking the circle of piece of parchment. A message, written
nents. Fraz-Urb’luu has great affection
protection around the demon. in charred letters, reads, “What news of
for theArch-Mage (Ezoran acquired his
quasit familiar, Pilthet, through his
Cumulus, a huge, ancient, male my staff? Get busy!” and is signed “F.”
association with the demon prince) and
cloud dragon: AC 0 or -3; MV
6’739" The secret door to the south leads to
appreciates the attention and informa- HD 14; hp 112; #AT 4; Dmg 1-10/1-10/ room 19, and the secret door to the
SA breath weapon, magic use;
3-36/3-12; north leads to a treasure room.
tion Ezoran affords. He is currently
SD magic use, 50% magic resistance

62 Issue No. 9
 L cone tiiring party eveB. more than normal

potion of mumiMUty; two potions of M 0 B,ey a,nd ma,gic can be reward.s, and
extra-healmg; an, d scrolls of monster DM must decide wha,t items are in
the
summommg ¥II and protection from the dragons' poasession,. It should be
magical edged mempom. quite a storehouse, a.nd, even the re.mov»
His other abilities inclii.de permanent^ al of a few minor items or €oiB..s

recommei.Hl.ea me receive no
more than 50,000 gp worth of inagi.cal
items, gem.s, coi.iis, a.nd. jewelry.. How-