THE FLOWERS OF FLAME — A lost valley of evil await sTHE WOUNDED WORM — Injured dragons are the most deadly

IN DEFENSE OF THE LAW — If Chaos wins, everyone loses

An Editor 's LamentDoes anybody read the short quotes that appear beneath th etable of contents in each issue of DUNGEON" Adventures? Ithought that Roger Moore, the widely read (and widely read )editor of this magazine had an inexhaustible supply of theselittle gems until he said, "Well, Barbara, it's your turn now t ocome up with some quotes."

I told him I have a mind like a sieve for interesting quotes ,and all my fantasy books are still packed in storage from m ylast move . . . two years ago .

"Well, haven't you read anything interesting lately?" h easked. Unfortunately, my reading-for-pleasure has decreasedmarkedly now that my reading-for-work has climbed above eigh thours a day.

So help me out . Send in short quotes on the themes of fantasy ,adventure, travel, quests, etc . (including who said it, the boo kit's from, and the author). If we use your quote in a future issue ,we'll send you something special .

The other thing I miss doing for pleasure is playing with m yhome computer. After a day of staring at a video screen an dpounding a keyboard at work, I almost never sit down and hackaway at home . This should change, though, because Roger and Iare becoming more active in the Garners' Forum on Compu -Serve® . We 've participated in one conference on the AD&D sec-ond edition (transcript in the data library) and will be popping i nfrequently as time permits . If you have any questions abouteither DUNGEON Adventures or DRAGON ® Magazine, try tocatch us on line or leave an EasyPlex message (Roger E . Moore :70007,2064 ; Barbara G. Young: 70007,2367) .

I haven ' t quite figured out how to do what I want in Compu -Serve, so if you come upon me in the depths of the computer,please be kind . I'm probably lost .

da,dez. g .

Vol. II, No. 2PUBLISHER: Mike Cook ART DIRECTOR : Roger RauppEDITOR : Roger E . Moore CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS :ASSOCIATE EDITOR : Kevin Davies, Diesel, For to adventure is the lust of Youth ; and to leave Safety is theBarbara G . Young C . Bradford Gorby, MarkEDITORIAL ASSISTANTS : Nelson, Valerie Valusek natural waywardness of the spirit ; and who shall reprove orRobin Jenkins, Eileen Lucas, PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS : regret ; for it were sorrowful that this Spirit of Man should cease .Georgia Moore, Marilyn Favaro, Gloria Habriga The thoughts of XPatrick Lucien Price SUBSCRIPTIONS : Pat Schulz The Night Land, William Hope Hodgson

NOVEMBERIDECEMBER 1987 ISSUE #8

COVER : In atemple in a lostvalley, adventurer smeet their ultimateadversary in fierybattle . Kevi nDavies is the cove rartist for ou rOrientalAdventuresmodule, "TheFlowers of Flame ."

The Readers LETTERS 2

John Nephew

Estes Hammons

Carl Sargent

Thomas Kane

Jay Batista

THE WOUNDED WOR M(ADD 4-8) Crippled, wingless, old —and a thousand times moredangerous 35

MOUNTAIN SANCTUARY(ADD 1-3) Obnoxious little problemscan easily become obnoxious bigones 3

FOR A LADY'S HONO R(ADD 4-7) When the going getstough, the thieves get going 9

IN DEFENSE OF THE LAW(ADD 7-10) They sure don ' t makelawful allies like they used to 1 7

THE FLOWERS OF FLAM E(ADD-OA 5-8) Why are your governor ,your Emperor, and your gods sointerested in a fairy tale? 46

MAP SYMBOLS LETTERSThese symbols are used on mos tmaps in DUNGEON' Adventures .

1^ DOOR

1 DOUBLE DOO R

SECRET DOO R

ONE WAY DOO R

FALSE DOO R

WWI

• I LOCKED DOO R

INI

Qvi►

ARCHWA Y

CONCEALED DOO R

BARRED DOO R

PORTCULLIS OR BARS

ONE WAY SECRET DOO R

WINDO W

ARROW SLI T

FIREPLAC E

COVERED PI T

OPEN PI T

e FOUNTAI N

SPIRAL STAIR S

IIIU1 u '

STAIR S

TRAP DOOR IN CEILING

n TRAP DOOR IN FLOO R

SECRET TRAP DOOR

We used to hang out around the mai lbasket each morning, eagerly awaitingthe morning mail, only to be disappoint-ed . So we asked (well, begged) for lettersand were deluged with responses.Thanks to all of you who wrote. Butdon't stop writing now . We need to kno wwhat you think of DUNGEON"" Adven-tures so that we can continue to make i tyour magazine .

Dear editor :I 'm sick and tired of everyone com-

plaining about the articles you presentand how they want more of a specifictype. Perhaps these people would preferto be spoon-fed . The fact that they cal lthemselves Dungeon Masters shouldguarantee they have some minusculeamount of creativity, but I guess not . Tobetter exemplify my point, here ar esome examples from your first half-dozen issues that show a DM should b eable to work with any resources :

I turned the vampire 's lair in "TheDark Tower of Cabilar " (issue #1) int othe stronghold of a band of dwarvis hassassins . (Who wants undead whe nyour group has no cleric?) All I wantedwas a tower layout, and I got one .

"Blood on the Snow " (issue #3) wastransformed into "Sweat on the Sand"when I turned the arctic adventure int oa desert danger with my group seekin ggiant scorpion venom rather than hunt-ing seal .

I have never played by Orienta lAdventures rules, and one of my grouphad already read "The Kappa of Pachee

Bridge" (issue #5), but that didn ' t makeme dispose of the idea . Instead, itbecame a "Pied Piper " scenario with anevil gnome flutist in a regular D&D®

game village (the gamer who had readit didn't even recognize the adventure) .

"After the Storm" (issue #6) provide dme with a useful galley interior which Iplan to have attacked and searched whileit still floats, without using any othe rpart of the module .

So big deal if you've got an AD&D®

game module and the huge scorpion ha s4 +4 HD and you play with the D&D®

Expert Set rules where it only has 4HD. If you can 't change that, then it'stime to give up role-playing games an dtake up checkers, where the rule sremain constant . Don 't criticize —improvise!

Roy MacEachernInverness, Nova Scotia

Dear editor :I play both AD&D and D&D games . I

have converted a few modules — bothways — and they worked well . I reall ylove the dungeons that present a lot o fside adventures/ideas to make into ne wdungeons . However, I would like to se emore regular D&D® game adventures . Iwould also like more beginners' leve ldungeons (levels 1-4) .

I would also like to say that I like theartwork in the modules . They enhancethe "picture" of the dungeon .

Jim Hecht, Jr.Knoxville, Illinoi s

DUNGEON' (ISSN 0890 .7102) is published bimonthly by TSR, Inc . The mailing address for all material except subscription orders is DUNGEON, P.O .Box 110, Lake Geneva WI 53147 ; the business telephone number is (414) 248-3625. Individual issue price is $3.75. DUNGEON is available bysubscription throughout the world. Subscription rates via second-class mail are as follows : $18 in U .S. funds for one year (six issues) sent to an address i nthe U.S . or Canada, $35 in U.S . funds for surface mail delivery to any other address, and $52 in U .S . funds for air mail delivery to any other address .Payment in full must accompany all subscription orders . Payment should be by check or money order, made payable to TSR, Inc ., or by charges to vali dMasterCard or VISA credit cards . Send subscription orders with payments to: TSR, Inc., PO. Box 72089, Chicago IL 60690 . The issue of expiration ofeach subscription is printed on the mailing label for each subscriber's copy of the magazine . Changes of address for the delivery of subscription copie smust be received at least six weeks prior to the effective date of the change, in order to assure uninterrupted delivery.

A limited number of back issues of this magazine are available from the TSR Mail Order Hobby Shop, PO. Box 756, Lake Geneva WI 53147 . For acopy of the current mail-order catalog, write to the mail order department at the above address .

All material published in DUNGEON becomes the exclusive property of the publisher, unless special arrangements to the contrary are made prior t opublication. DUNGEON welcomes unsolicited submissions of written material and artwork ; however, no responsibility for such submissions can beassumed by the publisher in any event. Any submission accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope of sufficient size will be returned if it canno tbe published. Please write for our writers' guidelines before sending a module to us; send a self-addressed, stamped envelope (9(,Z" long preferred) to:Module Guidelines, DUNGEON, TSR, Inc ., PO. Box 110, Lake Geneva WI 53147 .

DUNGEON is a trademark for the TSR role.playing adventure periodical published by TSR, Inc . All rights to the contents of this publication ar ereserved, and nothing may be reproduced from it in whole or in part, without first obtaining written permission from the publisher . Copyright ® 1987TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved .

AD&D, ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, ADVANCED D&D, AMAZING, D&D, DRAGON, DRAGONLANCE, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ,FIEND FOLIO, GAMMA WORLD, STAR FRONTIERS, TOP SECRET, and TSR are registered trademarks owned by TSR, Inc . GEN CON and RPGA ar eservice marks owned by TSR, Inc . BATTLESYSTEM, BLACKMOOR, DEITIES & DEMIGODS, FORGOTTEN REALMS, GREYHAWK, POLYHEDRON ,WORLD OF GREYHAWK, and the TSR logo are trademarks of TSR, Inc . Copyright e 1987 TSR, Inc . All Rights Reserved. LANKHMAR is a trademar kof Fritz Leiber and is used under license with Fritz Leiber .

Application to mail at second-class postage rates is pending at Lake Geneva, Wisc . Postmaster: Send address changes to DUNGEON, c/o TSR, Inc., P.O .Box 110, 201 Sheridan Springs Road, Lake Geneve WI 53147 .

2 Issue No . 8

Summer 1987 was busy for John. In addi-tion to RPG-writing, he wrote scripts an dwas assistant director for Duluth, Minne-sota's G.O.M. Street Theater. One skit,"Sir Hugo and the Troll," poked fun atknightly stereotypes in addition to satiriz-ing local issues. (John would also like tosay "Hi!" to Credence.)

Mountain Sanctuary is an AD&D°game adventure designed for a party of3-6 characters of 1st-3rd level . Althoughdesigned as a companion to Grakhirt'sLair (which appeared in issue #1), acopy of that module is not required t oenjoy this one .

Adventure BackgroundThe information that follows may b ediscovered from a variety of source ssuch as divination spells (e .g ., legendlore or commune), rumors, and legends .The information may also be found i nthe journals of the late illusionistArham (see Grakhirt 's Lair, lowerdungeon level, encounter 29) .

Arham, a powerful and infamou sillusionist, is best known for his late rnorthern exploits (the domination of th epowerful Ivirwylliw Assassins' Guild ,for example), but his origins are to befound to the south. His parents were ofvastly different heritages — his motherwas the daughter of a nomadic desertchieftain, his father a rugged trappe rfrom the mountains . Their pathscrossed during the conflict betwee ntheir homelands, and these same strug-gles forced them to emigrate westward .

They relocated in Endkynn, a prosper-ous city growing at the confluence oftwo rivers . Arham was born and raisedthere, with all of the experiences andproblems attendant on life in a cityslum. Prejudice against his foreignancestry, clear evidence of which was i nhis appearance and accent, contributedto an overwhelmingly negative environ-ment . Arham grew up to be vicious ,distrustful of others, and always seek-ing power and control .

One old man, however, took pity o nthe young pariah . The man also sawpotential in the lad — an aptitude forthe arcane . Arham's schooling in thearts of illusion began at this point . Theyoung man quickly absorbed what hewas taught and made good use of it . Heallied himself with a band of roughyoung thieves, using his illusions todistract victims while his companion srelieved them of their valuables .

MOUNTAI NSANCTUARYBY JOHN NEPHE W

It's the little things tha tcount .

Artwork by C . Bradford GorbyCartography by Diesel

DUNGEON 3

MOUNTAIN SANCTUAR Y

Adventuring provided an additionaloccupation. The nearby mountains hel dmany opportunities, and there he foundhis father's legacy of mountain wisdo mmost valuable . While others used theirresources to spearhead civilization'sdrive into the wilderness, Arham foun dit more profitable to join with the indig-enous races . He knew several humanoidlanguages and learned more as he ledthe counterattack on human settle-ments . As a result, he gained thestaunch support of the humanoids, plusconsiderable wealth. With these assets,he was able to construct a collection ofrefuges throughout the wilderness .

The antipathy of his fellow humanswas another acquisition. He returned toEndkynn from time to time, often asso-ciating with his former compatriots ofthe light-fingered variety. On one suchoccasion, he had the misfortune of bein gcaught . The actual offense was minor,but (quite accurate) rumors linkedArham to the raids on Endkynn 's outly-ing settlements . Because the rumorscould not be substantiated, Arhamreceived a relatively light sentence : t obe forever exiled from Endkynn, it slands, settlements, and tributary states .

His wilderness sanctuaries provedquite useful at this point . After continu-ing his activities with the humanoidsfor some time, Arham moved on to newurban activities in the north, associat-ing himself with the Ivirwylliw Assas-sins ' Guild . He continued his policy ofestablishing good personal relationswith humanoid groups and establishingsanctuaries in the wilderness . Fromthat point, Arham ' s story becomes partof another tale .

This adventure concerns one ofArham 's earlier dens, a mountain sanc-tuary that he constructed with the hel pof goblins . After moving north, Arhamhad little use for this hideout . Groups ofsnyads and pesties discovered the sanc-tuary and made it into their own resi-dence . Other small creatures now livethere as well . Apart from these diminu-tive denizens — and a brief visit b yArham 's son, Grakhirt — the sanctuaryhas been untouched for the past fivedecades or so.

For the Dungeon MasterThere are at least three ways to utilizethis short adventure . First, it may beused as a sequel to Grakhirt's Lair. If so ,the information listed in the back-

ground, as well as the sanctuary's loca-tion, will have been found in Arham' sjournals . The discovery of a treasuremap is a second way of bringing charac-ters to the sanctuary. Finally, thi smight simply be used as an encounter toliven up an otherwise drab journeyacross a mountain range . InventiveDMs are certain to dream up other way sof using the Mountain Sanctuary intheir campaigns.

The SanctuaryRead or paraphrase the following to th eplayers :

Traveling a path along a steep moun-tainside, you find the area aheadobstructed by rubble . Evidently,there has been a rockslide of largeproportions, since much more rubble ,as well as larger rocks and boulders ,lay below the path. With your routeblocked, you find yourselves obligedto remove the debris. To your sur-prise, the excavation reveals a pas -sage entering the mountain .

A dwarf or any other character famil-iar with stone and construction wil lnotice that the passage did not occurnaturally. Also, the passage ' s entrancewas once concealed . The camouflagedportal was destroyed by the heavie rboulders that accompanied the rubble inthe rockslide down the mountain ' s face .

Wandering monsters may be found i nthe dungeon complex . An encounte roccurs on a roll of 1 or 2 on 1d6. Checkeach turn that the party is in the com-plex . If an encounter occurs, roll ld6and consult the Wandering Monsterstable on page 8 to determine what i sencountered .

In running random encounters (andeven the set ones), the key thing toremember is the size of the creature scompared to the player characters . It isalmost certain that the party member swill be much larger than those crea-tures they encounter. This will not ren-der the party safe from attack ; ifanything, it will stir greater antipath ytoward the intruders . The intelligent ,diminutive denizens will simply have touse methods of stealth and cleverly laidtraps to defend their home . The follow-ing notes should be useful in managingthe wandering monsters .

Cave crickets are more a nuisancethan a threat . When the party comes

within 20', the crickets begin to chirploudly. Although there aren't any largepredators to be attracted by the noise ,all residents of the sanctuary are alert-ed to the presence of intruders . The oddsof encountering a wandering monsterincrease to 4 in 6 for the next twochecks . Characters who approach with-in 10' of the crickets are likely to b ejumped at and kicked (see Monster Man-ual II, page 23) .

Huge centipedes are basically mind-less and hungry. They will attack theparty without hesitation . Fire is effec-tive for holding them at bay .

Mites are malicious but cautious . Arandomly encountered group will actu-ally be seen only on a roll of 1 on 1d6 . I fseen, the mites will turn to flee, and thePCs may try to attack or pursue them .Otherwise, the characters merely hea rthe scurrying of tiny feet and manytwittering voices. The mites will hav eavoided the party, but will prepare foran offensive, cooperating with the otherdenizens of the lair (see The Offensive ,below). Each mite carries 3-12 sp .

Giant rats are more aggressive tha ntheir smaller cousins. They are cau-tious, but 50% of the time are hungr yenough to attack a party of adventurers.Food thrown to giant rats is enough t oprevent or halt an attack .

Ordinary rats will avoid the party ,squeaking as they run away down thepassages . They will fight if cornered butstill flee if possible .

Snyads behave much like their cous-ins, the mites, in at first avoidingintruders . They will only be seen on aroll of 1 on 1d6 . If seen, flight will betheir immediate course of action . On aroll of 2, 3, or 4 the snyads attempt tosneak up on the party and pilfer availa-ble possessions . Treat each snyad as a7th-level thief for its chance of success-ful pickpocketing (base 60% chance ofsuccess). On a roll of 5 or 6, the snyadsmerely observe the party's presence andwithdraw to create a strategy. Eachsnyad carries 3-24 cp on its person .

The OffensiveAs noted above, the residents of th esanctuary will prepare and execute anoffensive to drive off the intruders . Themonsters will begin to plan their strik eas soon as they are alerted to the part y ' spresence. Planning and preparationstake 1-3 turns (so be sure to keep trackof time). After that, the diminutive

4 Issue No. 8

MOUNTAIN SANCTUARY

creatures just watch and wait for themost opportune moment to make theirmove. Some guidelines and suggestionsfor the plan of attack are provide dhereafter.

Three sorts of creatures will engage inthe offensive : mites (from area 13 ; up tosix will participate); giant rats (area 10;up to four); and snyads (area 11 ; up tofive). Be sure to note which creature sare killed in the offensive and reducethe number to be found in their respec-tive encounter areas accordingly . Mitescontribute to the effort by setting trap sand engaging in melee . Half of themcarry three throwing darts each fo rmissile combat (one dart may be thrownper round, doing 1-3 hp damage) . Sny-ads serve to distract the PCs and pilfe rtheir pockets . Giant rats function pri-marily in a combat role, although thei rsqueaking can be used for a distraction.

The first part of the offensive will b eaimed at splitting up the party, sinc eindividuals are easier prey for traps an dhand-to-hand combat . To divide theparty, several ploys may be tried . Theyinclude making noises (rat squeaks ,footsteps, clanking, dropping things ,etc .) in several passageways, hoping the

party will split up to seek out the sourc eof the clatter. Or, several snyads maysneak up and pick the characters ' pock-ets, then run away in different direc-tions . The DM should invent otherdevices which the monsters migh temploy. Determined parties might sticktogether indefinitely ; if the PCs appearto be cohesive, the monsters will just goahead with the next phase .

Once split up, the party will be sub-jected to the main part of the offensive .The basic plan is to lead the PCs intotraps, then move in for hand-to-handstruggles . The mites might set up net sto drop on the adventurers, or they an dthe snyads might try to lead or driv ethe party into an area strewn withsmall caltrops. Tripwires are a favoriteof the mites ; the confusion of PCs fall-ing all over each other is the perfec tsituation for an ambush .

Combat tactics are as follows: Giantrats and melee-mites attack the partyfrom all sides, while the mites wit hdarts attack from a distance . (Becauseof the PCs' size, the mites have littledifficulty aiming over their compatriots 'heads.) In all this confusion, the pestie srun in and around, being a nuisance to

the PCs and making off with theirgoods .

The monsters are fairly brave indefending their homes but are far fromsuicidal . The offensive is likely tobecome a major melee, but as the mon-sters sustain casualties there will be a nabundance of deserters . They can beexpected to regroup, however, andambush the party from time to timewith guerilla-like tactics. The idea is tokeep the players paranoid ; they won' tknow how many of the creatures areleft, and the little buggers will pop outof a secret passage and attack wheneve ra PC lets his guard down .

Dungeon Encounter Key

1.Mountainside Passage . The firstportion of the passageway is crudelyhewn from the mountainside . Small pilesof loose stones are scattered about . Thequality of craftsmanship improves as onetravels further into the sanctuary .

2. Small Entrances . These littl etunnels (2 1/2' high, 1 1/2' wide) are con-cealed behind piles of loose stones .Because there are similar piles all along

DUNGEON 5

MOUNTAIN SANCTUAR Y

the passage, these will not seem unusu-al to the PCs . Unless the adventurersare actively searching the corridor (inwhich case the tunnels will be found) ,there is a 2 in 10 chance per characte r(4 in 10 for halflings, gnomes, elves, an ddwarves) of noticing these entrances b ycasual inspection . Check for eachindividual .

3. Workshop. Arham used this work-shop for making and repairing things .Most of the room's items are neatl yplaced in the southwest corner. A work -bench stands there with two sawhorse sbeside it . Assorted carpentry tools lie o nthe workbench and hang on the walls .Also on the wall is a hooded lantern ; i tis not lit and is empty of fuel . Sawdus tand small scraps of wood litter the floor.

In the northeast corner of the room i sa large, study, iron-banded woode nchest . The chest is locked and trapped ;the trigger mechanism is a small leverset in the floor beneath the chest . If thechest is moved or violently disturbed, aceiling block slides open to dump asmall vat of acid in front of the chest .Anyone standing there must roll hi sdexterity or less on 1d20 or suffer 4-1 6hp damage . If the roll is successful, thecharacter manages to dodge the causticfluid and is only splashed for 1-2 h pdamage. Other people in the room mustroll their dexterity or less also, but theroll is modified in their favor by sub-tracting 2. If the roll is missed, a char-acter suffers splash damage (1-2 hp) . Al ldamage is avoided if the roll is success-ful . This little trap might, early in theircareers, deter PCs from habituall yhacking apart chests with locks theycannot pick . (When Grakhirt was here,he successfully detected the trap on th echest ; not knowing how to disarm it, heleft the chest alone . )

The chest is not very full, and what isthere consists of bottles, vials, andflasks. There are two glass vials ofunholy water, one of holy water, andfour of acid . All seven vials appearidentical . A small green bottle contain san ingestive poison, a watery greenliquid smelling like pine needles . Imbib-ing this poison first causes dizziness an ddisorientation ( -3 on "to hit " rolls) fo rone round; the character must then savevs . poison . If the saving throw is made,the dizziness continues for 2-5 rounds ,but no other effects are suffered . If theroll fails, the PC passes out and suffer s3-18 hp damage as the toxin runs its

course . The character awakens after 4-16 rounds . Another flask holds sover-eign glue . This substance is useless andworthless because it has bonded to itscontainer. Arham used the glue for hiscarpentry until he ran out of the oil ofslipperiness required for the containe revery time the glue is used .

Also to be found in the chest are threepotions of diminution . Beings wishingto enter the small tunnels need no timbibe an entire dose . Halflings an dgnomes might be able to function nor-mally in the 3'-high passages, or a tmost would require a couple of sips ofpotion . The fraction of a dose that i sdrunk is the fraction of height that i slost; for example, a 6'-tall human whodrinks two-thirds of a dose wouldbecome 2' tall . A character cannotshrink to less than 5% of his originalheight . The potions work for only nineturns per dose, so keep careful record o fthe passage of game time . Large charac-ters could easily become trapped if theyare in the small tunnels when the effec twears off.

4. Dining Room . In the center of thi sroom is an oak table surrounded by fourchairs . Arham dined here and occasion -ally entertained humanoid leaderswhom he sought to influence . There i snothing of significance in this room . Amildewy curtain of blue cloth dividesthis area from the adjacent kitchen .

5. Kitchen. In the kitchen 's northwes tcorner is a fountain of briskly runningwater. The water comes from an under -ground stream that surfaces fartherdown the mountainside . A stone projec-tion from the wall, carved into theshape of a horse's head, delivers th ewater from its mouth . The liquid the nfalls into a stone basin, also hewn fromthe rock . A bronze grill covers the 3" -wide drain. The grill can be removed,revealing a buckle knife +1 wedge dbetween the sides of the drain . Anycharacter attempting to dislodge an dretrieve the knife must roll his dexteri-ty or less on 1d20, modified by + 2 onthe roll, or the knife will slip from hi sgrasp and be carried down into thestream — lost for all practical purposes.

The table by the curtain was for foo dpreparation . Rusty ladles, knives, and ameat cleaver are on it, as well as sev-eral small jars of decaying herbs andspices .

A fire pit, over which is suspended a

cauldron of foul-smelling water, is in thesouthwest corner. A smoke vent is inthe ceiling above the pit . This was acrucial part of the ventilation system ;hot air and smoke would rise to thesurface through this vent, and fresh ai rwould be drawn down through the ven tin the bedroom (area 8) . Ashes an dcinders lie beneath the cauldron . With-in them can be found 3 pp, 8 ep, and aplatinum earring set with a peridot(worth 235 gp total ; its mate is in thegiant rats' nest, area 10) . Beneath theashes is a loose stone that functions as atrap door ; it leads to the mites' lai r(area 13) .

6. Lavatory. The fixtures in this roomare a toilet (in the southwest corner)and a bathtub (along the north wall) .The toilet empties into the undergroun dstream past the point from which th ewater flows into the kitchen (room 5), a sdoes the bathtub's drain . Water for thetub was taken from the spring in thekitchen and was heated over the firepit . Lying on the floor beside the tub i sa pile of rotting, moldy towels an dwashcloths . Concealed behind the tub i sa small tunnel entrance . There is noth-ing of value in the room .

7. Storage . This room was used pri-marily for the storage of foodstuffs ,although some timber (for use in theworkshop) is also to be found . Most ofthe food has been taken away and eatenby the snyads, mites, rats, and th eroom's current residents . What remainsis fairly decayed and entirely unfit forconsumption .

Living in the room, having made theirnests in the sacks of rotting grain piledby the north wall, are six spectramice(AC 8 ; MV9" ; HD 1/4 ; hp 2 ( x 3), 1 ( x 3) ;#AT 1 ; Dmg 1 ; SA illusion; AL N; seeend of module for complete description) .Anyone looking around the room wil lobserve an albino mouse or two comingout to see the visitors and squeak a tthem. The mice are hostile only if theyare attacked or if their homes are dis-turbed (for example, if the PCs begin toprod with weapons or search throughthe grain sacks) . In such a situation, themice attempt to create a phantasmalkiller against the first person to disturbthem, and follow with other illusions (orbiting) as appropriate . In designingillusions, the DM should keep in mindthe experiencesthat these mice would have had . For

6 Issue No . 8

MOUNTAIN SANCTUAR Y

example, they would not create adragon because they have never see none . On the other hand, illusions of suchmonsters as mites, giant rats, hug ecentipedes, and cave crickets would bequite logical and appropriate .

Nothing of value to the adventurers i sto be found here.

8. Bedroom. The door to this room i sopen . Cobwebs cover most of the cham-ber. Along the southern wall is a bed inpoor condition, having a large amountof mold (not of the monstrous type) onits covers and assorted boring insect sinfesting its wood. Three things ar eunder the bed : a trapdoor leading to th emites ' den (area 13) and two huge spi-ders (AC 6; MV 18" ; HD 2+2 ; hp 13 ,11 ; NAT 1 ; Dmg 1-6 ; SA surprise on 1- 5on 1d6, leap up to 3", poison (save at + 1or die) ; AL N) . The huge spiders ar epatiently waiting for their dinner —presumed to be the next mite that ven-tures out of the trapdoor. When theadventurers enter the room, however,the spiders will instead attempt t omake them their next victims .

Several other items and features ofinterest to the party can be discovered i fthe cobwebs are cleared away. In thenorthwest corner of the room is a small ,circular table with a brass lamp sittin gupon it . The lamp is bejeweled with fiv eblue gems (an azurite, a blue quartz, ajasper, a spinel, and a turquoise) and i sworth 600 gp. Lying on the floor by thetable is a rusty dagger with runesinscribed upon the blade, reading"Arham" in the common tongue. Thedagger is nonmagical .

Hanging on the north wall is a tapes -try depicting Arham on the trail out-side, viewing the mountains . Thetapestry is enchanted to make theimage of Arham appear in three dimen-sions ; it quite literally stands out fro mthe rest of the picture . The tapestry i sworth 700 gp. It is 6' high, 10' long, andweighs 55 lbs . Concealed behind thetapestry is an entrance to the tunnel sinhabited by snyads and giant rats (se eareas 10-12).

A small air vent leading to the surfaceis located in the ceiling in the room 'snortheast corner. Nearby, on the eastwall, is a secret door leading to Arham'sstudy.

9. Secret Study. Located 10' down thesecret passage from the bedroom, thi schamber was Arham's study. The north

and east walls are covered with book -shelves that reach to the ceiling. Mostof the shelves are barren and dusty . Afew scattered titles, however, were leftwhen the illusionist moved on: a trea-tise on tropical weather patterns, amanual detailing the construction ofcanoes and rafts, an astronomy hand-book of constellations, several volume son humanoid anatomy and physiology(goblins, hobgoblins, ores, gnolls, andkobolds), and four more texts on what-ever topics the DM can dream up. Eachbook is worth 2-12 gp to a collector .

In the northern part of the room is acushioned chair that, despite its age andthick covering of dust, is in quite goodcondition. A small wooden table holdinga bejeweled goblet and a blank parch-ment scroll is in front of the chair. Thegoblet, set with six banded agates, i sworth 80 gp .

Against the south wall is Arham'smahogany desk . An oil lamp is on top o fit, along with several feather pens, aninkwell, and five sheets of blank parch-ment . The desk has four drawers : onecontains more blank parchment (3 7sheets) and three empty ivory scrol ltubes, another holds bottles of coloredinks (black, white, red, blue, and yel-low), the third is empty, and the lastdrawer holds a large book . This i sArham's third-level spell book. It con-tains the following illusionist spells :delude, hallucinatory terrain, paralyza-tion, phantom steed, spectral force, sug-gestion, and wraith form.

10.Giant Rat Nest. This chamber isthe lair of the sanctuary's giant rats (AC7; MV 12" ; HD 1/2 ; hp 3 ( x 4), 2 ( x 4); NAT1 ; Dmg 1-3 ; SA disease; AL NE). From 1-8of the rodents can be found here when thePCs arrive . An assortment of shinyobjects collected by the rats is gatheredhere . Most items are worthless (brokenglass, for example), but the valuabl ethings are 12 pp, 9 gp, 13 ep, 8 sp, 40 cp ,three gems worth 40 gp each (a carnelian ,a citrine, and a zircon), and a single plati-num earring set with a small perido t(worth 235 gp total ; its mate is in thekitchen, room 5).

11.Snyad Den. From 2-7 snyads (AC-4; MV 21" ; HD 1-1 ; hp 4 each ; NATnil ; Dmg nil ; SD + 3 on saving throwsvs. spells that can be dodged ; AL N) canbe found here, depending on what hap-pens in The Offensive (see page 4) . Evenif confronted in their lair, the pesties

will flee rather than fight, escapingoutside to the mountains if it provesnecessary and possible . The DM mayallow a biting attack (for 1 hp damage)for snyads who are cornered by PCs .Each snyad carries 3-24 cp . Any itemstolen from the PCs by snyads will befound here 90% of the time ; otherwise,the item in question was in the posses-sion of a pestie who fled the sanctuary.(It would be possible, as a continuationof this adventure, to track the thief ,although it would certainly be difficult— and perhaps dangerous — if one run sacross other hostile inhabitants of themountains . )

12.Tiny Trap . This is a simple cov-ered pit trap, of a size appropriate to thecreatures who roam the small passages .The bones of the little beings (snyads, acouple of jermlaine, and some rats )litter the floor of the 3'-wide, 5'-deep pit .Also in the trap, alive, is an osquip (AC7; MV 12" ( 1/2" through stone); HD 3 + 1 ;hp 15 ; NAT 1 ; Dmg 2-12 ; AL N). Theosquip is engaged in burrowing its wayout, but it will quickly stop to attac kanyone who drops in . It arrived her erecently, after taking the wrong passagein its search for a repast of rat or pestie .

Among the bones and litter are 12 ep ,22 sp, 14 cp, and a small aquamarine(worth 210 gp).

13. Mite Den . The mites, renownedfor their use of traps and snares, natu-rally have their lair protected by suc hdevices .

East Entrance. This is a manuallyoperated trap ; it is set off by the cuttin gof a cord inside the lair. One end of thiscord is fastened to the floor, and th eother goes into the ceiling where itholds up a heavy blade. Cutting thecord allows the blade to fall and, i ndoing so, cut several wires which sus-pend a heavy stone block over the pas-sageway from the east . Each person inthe passageway must roll his dexterityor less on 1d20 . If successful, the charac-ter jumps out of the way. Be certain t onote whether the player desires hi scharacter to jump forward or back, a sthe store will completely block the corri-dor and may separate PCs who jump i nopposite directions. A PC that roll shigher than his dexterity is struck bythe block and suffers 3-18 hp damage .In addition, the character will be pinnedbeneath the stone. (Poles to be used aslevers are invaluable in this situation . )

DUNGEON 7

MOUNTAIN SANCTUARY

Wandering MonstersAlthough the trap helps the mites byblocking the party's progress and per-haps by wounding or killing a PC, it als oeliminates one of their escape routes .Therefore, after triggering the trap, themites abandon their lair. If it seems thatthe party remains strong, the mites exi ttheir tunnels by way of the trap door inthe fire pit of the kitchen (room 5) andflee the sanctuary. If they are led t obelieve that they still have a reasonablechance of defeating the characters, theywill engage in melee in the tunnels .Because of the tunnels ' size and shape ,only one creature from each force ma yfight at one time, and the only weaponsusable are those of the thrusting andstabbing variety. (Other weapons maystill be used for parrying by cavaliersand paladins . )

West Entrance . A strong silk filamentis stretched across the west entrance . Iftripped, a small poisoned dart flies outof the wall on either side of the passage .Each of the two darts makes an attac kroll as if thrown by a mite (i .e ., as a 1- 1HD monster) and does 1-2 hp damage ifit hits . A character struck by a dar tmust also make a saving throw vs .poison at +2 . If the save is successful ,the PC performs as if under a hastespell for two rounds; then, being verytired, the character acts as if under aslow spell for the four subsequentrounds . If the saving throw fails, theaffected character goes berserk . Hemoves as if under a haste spell andassaults the nearest creature, be itfriend or foe . After four rounds of thisactivity, the character collapses ,exhausted, and is immobile for 1-4turns. In addition, the character suffers-1 on "to hit " and damage rolls for thenext 1-4 hours because of exhaustion .

The mites of the sanctuary knowabout this trap, of course, and will nev-er be so foolish as to spring it them -selves . It is worth noting that the mitesand their kin (i .e ., snyads an djermlaine) are immune to the poisonmentioned above .

From 2-8 mites (AC 8; MV 3" ; HD1 -1 ; hp 4 each; #AT 1 ; Dmg 1-3 ; AL LE ;three carry darts as missile weapons for1-3 hp damage), depending on whathappens in The Offensive (see page 4) ,can be found in the lair itself. Theirtreasure hoard is also to be found here ,kept in small sacks . It consists of 189cp, 546 sp, 205 ep, and a gold-platedsilver brooch set with five amber stones ,worth 515 gp .

ld6 Encounter1 Cave cricket (1-2) : AC 4; MV

6", hop 3" ; HD 1+3 ; hp 8 each ;#AT nil ; Dmg nil ; SA jump/kick ;AL N .

2 Centipede, huge (2-12) : AC 9 ;MV 21" ; hp 1 each ; #AT 1 ; Dmgnil ; SA poison (save at +4 ortake 4-16 hp damage); AL N .

3 Mite (1-4) : AC 8 ; MV 3" ; HD1—1; hp 4 each ; #AT 1 ; Dmg 1 -3 ; AL LE .

ld6 Encounter4 Rat, giant (1-6 : AC 7 ; MV 12" /

6" ; HD 1/2; hp 3 each; #AT 1 ;Dmg 1-3; SA disease ; AL N(E) .

5 Rat, normal (1-20): AC 7; MV15" ; HD 1/4 ; hp 1 each ; #AT 1 ;Dmg 1; SA disease ; AL N(E).

6 Snyad (1-2) : AC -4 ; MV 21" ;HD 1—1 ; hp 4 each; #AT nil ;Dmg nil ; SD +3 on savin gthrows vs . spells which can bedodged; AL N .

Spectramouse

FREQUENCY: RareNO. APPEARING : 1-12ARMOR CLASS : 8MOVE : 9 "HIT DICE : 1/4% IN LAIR: 70%TREASURE TYPE : Ni lNO. OF ATTACKS : 1DAMAGE/ATTACK : 1 hit pointSPECIAL ATTACKS: Illusions (see

below)SPECIAL DEFENSES : NilMAGIC RESISTANCE : StandardINTELLIGENCE : Very or betterALIGNMENT: Neutra lSIZE : SPSIONIC ABILITY: Ni lLEVEL/XP VALUE : 11/30 +1 per hp

The spectramouse — also known a sthe terror mouse and illusion mouse— appears to be a perfectly normalrodent of the albino sort . Curiously,all recorded specimens have beenalbino ; this leads many sages tospeculate that there is a connectionbetween the lack of pigment and thecreature 's magical powers.

Spectramice are generally peacefu lherbivores, concerned only with food,shelter, and reproduction . Perhaps asa result of a magical mutation, thes eintelligent rodents can utilize

remarkable powers of illusion whenprovoked. When more than one spec-tramouse is encountered, the grou pis able to cooperate and create evenmore potent phantasms . The powersare as follows :

A single spectramouse is able toevoke an audible glamer (as per th espell of the same name) and can als omake itself appear larger. This illuso-ry enlargement can make the spec-tramouse seem the size of awolfhound, but it grants no abilitie sbeyond deterring less-daring preda-tors . Two 'mice in cooperation canduplicate a phantasmal force spell ,four can effect a spectral force, andsix can create a phantasmal killer.The limits to the exercising of thei rillusory powers are the number of'mice required and 1-3 segments of"casting time" for the 'mice to com-municate and create the illusion ;also, the spectramice must concen-trate to maintain an illusion .

It appears that spectramice com-municate through squeaking sounds .Judging by the complexity of someillusions that have been witnessed ,this squeak-language must be verycomplicated. It is believed to havesubtle pitch inflections, unable to bedistinguished by human ears, thatcan convey much information veryquickly.

S 2

8 Issue No . 8

FOR ALADY'SHONOR

BY ESTES R . HAMMON S

When theGuildmaster speaks ,everybody listens .

Artwork by Valerie Valuse kCartography by Diesel

Estes Hammons sent the following i nanswer to our request for a short biogra-phy: "I am a high-school English andhistory teacher and administrator, an dhave been involved in role-playing gamesfor seven years, mainly as a DM. I amcurrently working on a historical nove labout the Crusades, and have writte nand submitted several fantasy andscience-fiction stories to various publica-tions. I am grateful to the origina lAssassins of Ansbach (Reid, Scott, Tom ,and Charlie) for their playtesting an dadvice ." This is Estes's first appearanc ein DUNGEON' Adventures .

For a Lady's Honor is designed to give3-6 thieves of levels 4-7 the opportunit yto practice their unique skills in a set-ting conducive to the art of thievery.While only thieves should participate inthis adventure, multiclassed character smay be used, but their primary focusshould be directed toward their thievingabilities. It is recommended that a tleast one of the adventurers have somespell-casting ability (a thief/magic-useror a thief/cleric, or both) .

Stealth, secrecy, and cleverness arevalued above force and bloodshed in thismodule ; a successful venture would fin dthe mission accomplished without th eloss of a single life . This adventure isdesigned to be played in a single sessionand can therefore be used between ongo-ing campaigns, or by changing th ename of Ansbach and relevant NPCs ifnecessary to fit the current campaign .

Adventure BackgroundRead or paraphrase the following to th eplayers :

You've just completed another some -what successful trek into the wilder-ness, and now you seek a moment o frepose in the city of Ansbach at noon -time. As you sit in the Aardvar kLounge enjoying the lunch specia land floor show, you see a beggarpeering in through the windo wacross from your table . He signalsyou with the sign language of thelocal thieves ' guild . As the managerchases the beggar from the premises ,you pay your bill and leave for theclandestine meeting to which yo uhave been summoned . The backstreets of Ansbach have swallowedup Blind Tom, the beggar, but fortu-nately you know the location wher e

DUNGEON 9

FOR A LADY'S HONO R

you are to meet with the guildmasterwho has called you .

After being admitted to one of th e"safe houses " of the guild, you findyourselves facing the guildmasterthrough the darkness of shadows i nwhich the order prefers all its meet-ings to be held . The shadows ar efixed so that only the guildmaster 'sdesk, the parchments before him ,and the ritual dagger can be seen .The guildmaster's face is in shadow ;his identity must remain a secre teven from you .

The master acknowledges your pres-ence but continues to peruse a docu-ment before him. Upon completion ofhis reading, he raises his head to loo kat you in silence, and you wonder if hecan see you clearly enough in the darkto recognize you. After what seems aneternity, he breaks the quiet by speak-ing in Thieves ' Cant . You realize thenthat you are being given a job of th ehighest importance, as the cant i sspoken only to prevent detection ofone's self or purpose .

"The guild has been contacted by aperson of some wealth and influencewithin the city, one who seeks aid ofa particular nature which you broth-ers may be able to provide . Contact i sto be made at the Club Ettin with ago-between for this person. You willneed to be at the Ettin within half a nhour. Once inside the club, orderBlue Dragon ale in short mugs andremain there for one hour, duringwhich time the go-between will con -tact you . A code phrase has beenestablished for identification. Yourcontact will say, `The long sobs of theviolins of autumn . . .' to which yo uwill reply, ` . . . wound my heart wit ha monotonous languor.' Once contac tis established, the go-between wil lcomplete the briefing for the mission.

"I must add that I believe the mis-sion will involve the recovery of someitem. No matter what other instruc-tions are given to you by your con -tact, you must bring the item to me . Iwill see to its delivery to the contact .Your deadline for delivery is daw ntomorrow morning — and no later.

"You were chosen because of yourreputations . I trust you won't le tyour guild down . Unless there areany questions, this meeting is at anend. Farewell, and may your reac hbe long and quick this evening ."

If the players ask questions, the DMshould not reveal any informatio nexcept that the thieves ' share of the fe ewill be substantial, and that successfu lperformance of this venture will ingrati-ate the PCs with the guildmaster. If thePCs have no questions, the meeting i sended. The PCs exit into the alley bythe same door through which theyentered. The PCs have just enough timeto walk quickly to the Club Ettin, withperhaps one random encounter of th eDM's own devising, if he so wishes .

For the Dungeon Maste rThe city of Ansbach is a medium-size dinland town with a population of sev-eral thousand. Sitting astride the cross-roads of two major trade highways i nthe region, it is a market center with ahigh volume of caravan traffic an dintense competition among local busi-nesses . In some cases, actual violencehas been the result of these competitiv eforays . Because of this corporate war -fare, thieves (either local guild member sor independents) have managed to gainsome influence in the marketplace . Thi sparticular mission will give the Ans-bach thieves' guild a stronger positionwithin the town hierarchy and lessenlaw-enforcement pressures against theguild as well .

The city is ruled by a governor -general, who is supported by a ta xadministrator and the lawful highpriestess of the dominant faith of th ecity. A council of 12 elected official s(chosen by districts) handle day-to-dayadministrative activities and patronage— building permits, business stamps ,etc . There is a 10% city sales tax on al lpurchases (including adventuring gear) .

No map of the city of Ansbach hasbeen included in this adventure ; theDM may either play out encounters in afree-style manner or provide his ownmaps, based upon a generic or specifi ccity from an existing campaign world .The Aardvark Lounge and other specifi careas may be given a precise location ona city map, or the assumption may bemade that 20-50 rounds are required t omove from location to location in town,through main streets, secondary roads ,side streets, or alleys . Random encount-ers are described in the "Ansbach Ran-dom Encounters" section . Pursuit ,evasion, and escape attempts may b egoverned in a free-style manner usin gthe Pursuit Results Table .

Finally, the DM should rememberthat the focus of this adventure is th euse of stealth and cleverness in accom-plishing the mission . Experience pointsshould be calculated with this concep tin mind . Encourage the PCs to plot andplan, disguise and devise to theirhearts' content . Remember, the absenceof bloodshed is almost essential for th emission to succeed ; the PCs should beresourceful, clever, and careful .

The ContactThe Club Ettin is in one of the lowes tand dingiest parts of town. The playe rcharacters are assumed to have visite dthe club previously and know its loca-tion. They may also know some of thepersonages who frequent the place . TheDM may provide a floor plan of the clubif desired . During the hour that the PCsare present, they will have 1-3 encount-ers with various bar patrons — mos tunfamiliar, as caravan traffic has bee nhigh and many new faces are in town .Roll for encounters as per the section"Ansbach Random Encounters," assum-ing there is a 20% chance that the per-sons involved are known to one or morePCs (as determined by the DM).

The PCs know that few people orderBlue Dragon ale in short mugs because ,even though the mugs are short, theyare extremely wide and hold a full literand a half of liquid . The ale itself is sopotent that any PCs who drink it mus tsave vs. poison at +1 or, upon finishingthe first mug, become greatly intoxi-cated and subject to the penalties o npage 82 of the DMG. A successful sav-ing throw means the PC is slightl yintoxicated . The bonus to saving throwsdisappears after the second drink (lead-ing to moderate intoxication if the sav eis made), and subsequent mugs incur acumulative -1 penalty to the savingthrow (the PC remains moderatelyintoxicated if the save is made) . WisePCs will merely sip at their drinks oravoid drinking altogether, allowing th emugs to sit before them untouched o rdisposing of the liquid somehow .

Five minutes before the hour is up, adrunken laborer reels away from thebar, bumping into several patrons andcoming to rest half-draped in chummyoverfamiliarity on the back of one of th ePCs' chairs . In a breathy whisper suspi-ciously free of alcohol fumes, the seedyfellow intones familiar words into theadventurer's ear : "The long sobs of the

10 Issue No. 8

FOR A LADY'S HONO R

violins of autumn. . ."The seedy "drunk" is Corrin of the

Dark Blade (AC 6 ; MV 12" ; A5 ; hp 21 ;NAT 1 ; Dmg by weapon type ; S 13, I 16 ,W 13, D 16, C 12, Ch 14 ; AL NE; dagger+2, ring of protection +2, short sword) ,an assassin whose foreign guild wasdestroyed by paladins some six month searlier. He escaped, survived, and flour-ished in the feverishly competitiv eatmosphere of Ansbach, and is pres-ently employed in the capacity of "lossprevention advisor" for certain mer-chants, as well serving as a bodyguardat times for Iago, the well-known citytax administrator.

If no response (or the wrong one) isgiven to Corrin, he shrugs and leave sthe Club Ettin — and the PCs are out o fluck with their guild . Once the correctresponse is made to Corrin's phrase, hearranges with quick hand signals tohave the characters join him in a backroom of the club to receive the specific sof their mission .

The MissionAfter the characters and Corrin are

reunited in the dingy back room of theClub Ettin, he fills them in on thedetails of their mission :

" In my role as advisor to some ofthe more influential citizens of Ans-bach, I ' ve found myself privy to cer-tain information . One recentlyoverheard tidbit has led me to callupon your association. It seems thatone of our city councilmen has com einto possession of a certain item of arather personal nature, belonging t oLady Miranda, the wife of Chief TaxAdministrator Iago — my boss . Need-less to say, the lady desires thereturn of the item . However, thecouncilman has refused to return itand is attempting to compromise thelady's honor by threatening to revea lthe item 's existence — and the identi-ty of the person who gave the ladysuch an expensive and personal gift— to her husband, Lord Iago . Milordis not noted for either understandingor forgiveness, as you may wel lknow .

"Very simply, it is necessary torecover the item from the council -man 's possession and return it qui-etly to Lady Miranda. This must bedone with extreme care and haste ,for the councilman is now attempting

to force his attentions upon the ladyunder the threat of exposing he rformer imprudent love affair shouldthe blackmailer 's odious overtures b erejected. Stealth and a minimum ofviolence are necessary to avoi dattracting the attention of the cit yauthorities . Additionally, I would notwant Lord Iago to learn of this littl eescapade from someone captured bythe councilman's guards or the citymilitia. Surely you understand why.

"I have quoted your guild a fee o f5,000 gold pieces, but if you cansuccessfully perform the operation ,I ' ll include a bonus of 500 gold piecesfor each of you . Once you have theitem, contact me immediately a tLord Iago's office in the governmen-tal buildings .

"As for the nature of the item andthe man who has it — Lady Mirand areceived this item by courier yester-day morning . It should answer al lyour questions . I must take my leaveof you, as I have other appointment sto make tonight . Good luck ."

With this, Corrin produces a smal lwooden box and places it before thecharacters . He then rises and leaves insilence . Once the door is closed, th echaracters may open the box to find aminiature painting of a garter, inlai dwith six gems that appear to be jet .Lying under the painting is a car dinscribed with the words : "You havelittle time left . I await your reply. —Haster Brunt ."

Ansbach Random EncountersIf no city map is used for this adven-ture, the DM may (as previously noted )assume that 20-50 minutes are requiredfor movement from one location t oanother. The major areas of interest i ntown are the Aardvark Lounge, the"safe house " where the guildmaster 'sbriefing occurred, any supply and equip-ment shops visited by the PCs, the Clu bEttin, and Haster Brunt's manor. Anyother locations that the PCs desire t ovisit (such as the offices of Lord Iago)may be similarly treated .

Random encounters in Ansbach ar emet on a roll of 1 on 1d6, rolled ever ythree game turns (half hour) . If a nencounter is indicated, another ld6 i srolled . A roll of 1-2 indicates a meetingwith a group from the selection givenbelow; these are encounters specific to

this adventure and the city of Ansbach.If the ld6 roll is 3-6, make another rol lusing percentile dice and check theCity/Town Encounters Matrix on pag e191 of the DMG. Extremely toug hencounters (as with vampires, demons ,etc . should be rerolled to avoid disrupt-ing the adventure .

The encounters below are designed t oaid the DM in running an interestinggame as the characters try to gain infor-mation concerning their mission . Someencounters are more detailed than nor-mal random encounters because of thei rspecific purposes .

Since this is not a simple hack-and-slash adventure, the characters shoul dattempt to handle each encounter ascleverly as possible . It is recommendedthat there should be at least fourencounters before the actual theft i sattempted, as this will allow the PCs tointeract with some of the diverse char-acters who inhabit Ansbach . Eachencounter should occur in an appropri-ate location (i .e ., a street, alley, bar ,etc .) .

The DM should also plot out severa lminor, mundane incidents for the char-acters to cope with while in the city.These encounters are left to the individ-ual DM to create to fit within his ow nsystem .

1. The Young Turks . Eleven of thes estreet-gang delinquents have the follow-ing statistics : AC 10; MV 12" ; Fl ; hp 7 ;MT 1; Dmg by weapon type ; AL CN -CE; small clubs, daggers . Their leader,Oliver, has : AC 8 ; MV 12" ; A5 ; hp 20 ;NAT 1 ; Dmg by weapon type ; D 16; ALCE ; dagger +1 . Each gang member hasld6 coins on his person, with th eremainder of the group's wealth hiddenin their clubhouse .

On the streets, the gang members ar eabusive and rude toward anyone wh oappears weaker than themselves . Thi sdescription could include the PCs, wh oas thieves are generally considered tobe nondescript persons . Any jostling bythe Turks is always followed by a nattempt to pick pockets (22% chance ofsuccess) . If an actual scuffle breaks out ,the city guard arrives in 2-5 rounds .(See encounter 6 for guard statistics . )

The Turks are not controlled by any o fthe independent thieves in Ansbach ,nor do they work for the characters 'guild . However, if approached in theproper manner, they may divulge apiece or two of information about Haster

DUNGEON 11

FOR A LADY'S HONO R

Brunt . (The DM should choose some bitof information from the section o nBrunt for the Turks to know . )

2. City Official — Haster Brunt.While it is true that Brunt is the targe tof the mission, there should be no rea-son for the characters to accost himbefore they raid his manor. See "TheVillain" for Haster Brunt 's statistics .The DM may choose his destination i fthe characters want to follow him . Onthe streets, Brunt is guarded by fourbodyguards (AC 5; MV 9" ; F3 ; hp 18each ; #AT 1 ; Dmg by weapon type : dag-ger, long sword; AL N) .

There is a 5% chance that the PCswill be noticed for each turn that theyfollow Brunt . This chance is cumula-tive, increasing the risk for lengthyshadowing .

3. City Watch. A city watch patrolconsists of 3-8 guardsmen (AC 5; MV9" ; F2 ; hp 11 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg by weapontype; AL LG-LN ; chain mail, shor tswords) commanded by a sergeant (AC5; MV 9" ; F3 ; hp 17 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg byweapon type ; AL LG-LN ; long sword+1; chain mail) . Each patrol also hasthe support of a patrol cleric (AC 4 ;MV 9" ; C5 ; hp 29; #AT 1 ; Dmg by weap-on or spell type ; AL LG-LN ; hammer+1, banded armor; spells : bless, com-mand (x 2), hold person (x 2), silence 15 'radius, and cause paralysis).

There is a 10% chance that any patro lstops and questions the PCs in a ver ygeneral way, asking questions abouttheir plans and occupations, etc. TheDM should use a charisma check durin geach round of questioning to see if thewatch is unusually suspicious of th ePCs. If so, they take one or more of th egroup to the watch house for 30-18 0rounds of questioning.

4. Pilgrims . These five pilgrims areon their way to a shrine in the far west .They wear no armor, carry no weapons ,and have only traveling expenses(approximately 100 gp) on their persons .As with all true pilgrims, they are with-out horses or provisions, as they trus ttheir deity to supply all their needs. Ifthe PCs initiate a conversation, thepilgrims attempt to convert them t otheir religion. They have no usefu linformation, but this encounter serve sto keep the characters on their toes .

Five pilgrims: AC 10 ; MV 12" ; Cl ;hp 5 ; #AT nil (unarmed and pacifistic) ;

AL CG; spells : cure light wounds each .

5. City Merchant . This particularindividual is familiar to the PCs. He i sa retired thief, now a fence for stolenarticles. The merchant (AC 9; MV 12" ;T3 ; hp 12 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg by weapon type ;AL CN ; ring of protection +1, dagger,belt pouch with 75 gp and two smal lgems worth 50 gp each) may be able t ogive the PCs some information aboutBrunt and the type of person he is . TheDM must decide what pieces of informa-tion he has .

6. City Guard. This patrol consists o f11 individuals . There are nine regularsoldiers (AC 5; MV 9" ; F1 ; hp 5 each ;#AT 1 ; Dmg by weapon type ; AL LG ;chain mail, crossbows, long swords) .They are led by a lieutenant (AC 3; MV6" ; F5 ; hp 35 ; #AT 1; Dmg by weapo ntype; AL LG; long sword +1, platemail) . The patrol is accompanied by amagic-user (AC 8 ; MV 12" ; MU2; hp 7 ;#AT 1 ; Dmg by spell or weapon type ; D16; AL LN; dagger ; spells: sleep andfriends) . The DM may add a few minorscrolls to the magic-user's possessions i fhe chooses, as well as allocating 1-10 gpworth of coins to each individual .

This type of patrol arrives first at theoutbreak of any disturbance, anywherein the city. The patrol's magic-user cast shis spells from a safe distance to neu-tralize as many opponents as possible ,while the guards use their crossbow sbefore going into melee .

7. Laborers . These six men are typi-cal workers (AC 10 ; MV 12" ; zero-levelhumans; hp 4 each; #AT 1 ; Dmg byweapon type ; small clubs). There is a10% chance that one of the laborers als oserves on the city watch. The laborer scan be polite or ready to brawl, depend-ing on the situation confronting them . Ifthey are treated decently by the PCs ,they may volunteer information aboutBrunt (especially about the house inwhich he lives) or other informationconcerning the city or its people . Thisencounter can be extremely importantfor the PCs, as it is one of the safest an dsurest means of gaining some informa-tion about their victim and the highregard in which he is held by the city 'sinhabitants .

8. Doppleganger. This creature ha staken on the persona of one Olcry Mun-chen, a coppersmith in good standing in

the city. Having slain the coppersmit hseveral months ago, the dopplegange rhas acquired a taste for the mercantil epolitics of Ansbach, and plans to main-tain and improve his position . Unlessthe PCs are protected in some way fromhis ESP ability, the doppleganger readstheir minds and discovers their truenature and mission . It is possible thathe may try to hire one or more of thePCs to perform a minor robbery of arival in town. (Remember that there i sintense competition between merchant sin the city, and it is not uncommon fo rthem to make use of thieves against on eanother. )

The doppleganger offers 300 gp for thejob, which will be no real problem forthe PCs to accomplish. If the character srefuse the job, the doppleganger relay shis suspicions about them to the prope rauthorities, thereby putting the thievesin an extremely tenuous situation .There is also a good chance that thedoppleganger can give the character ssome information about security mea-sures at Brunt's home (see "HasterBrunt 's Manor"), as he has been a gues tthere several times . Under no circum-stances will the doppleganger reveal histrue nature .

Doppleganger : AC 5 ; MV 9" ; HD 4 ;hp 22 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg 1-12 ; SA surprise on1-4 ; SD save as 10th-level fighter, notsubject to sleep or charm spells; AL N.

9. Mumph, an Independent Thief .Mumph and his three accomplice sappear to be nondescript individuals . Asindependents, they follow no rules excep tthose of the profit motive . Mumph (AC4; MV 12" ; T6 ; hp 19 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg byweapon type ; S 12, I 15, W 10, D18, C 12 ,Ch 14; AL CN) wears leather armor + 1and carries a short sword +1 and a dag-ger. His three accomplices (AC 10 ; MV12" ; T1 ; hp 3, 4, 6; #AT 1 ; Dmg by weap-on type ; AL N-CE-CN) are armed wit htwo daggers each .

These thieves watch the PCs and wai tfor an opportunity to attempt a robbery.The DM should allow a 10% chance pe rround for the characters to becomeaware of Mumph and company. If Mum -ph is spotted and questioned, he may beable to bribe himself out of any conflictby offering information to the charac-ters . The DM should decide what infor-mation Mumph knows and ho waccurate it is. Mumph and his associ-ates will not work with the PCs or aidthem in their mission .

12 Issue No . 8

FOR A LADY'S HONO R

10. Wolgar Kin, a Wine Merchant .Kin is one of the wealthier merchant sin the city, and for this reason he mayattract the thieving interests of thePCs. This encounter is designed as atemptation for the players, to swaythem from their mission. Kin is alway saccompanied by 2-5 guards (AC 5 ; MV9" ; F4 ; hp 22 each ; #AT 1 ; Dmg byweapon type ; AL N; chain mail, broadsword, dagger) . The guards ' presenceshould make any attempt at robbingKin difficult. However, if the character sapproach the wine merchant carefull yand in a businesslike manner, they maylearn a few bits of information that theDM chooses to reveal concerning Bruntand his home. The PCs might learn thatKin has been paying bribes to Brunt fo ryears concerning an unrevealed an dillegal business deal .

The Villai nHaster Brunt (AC 2; MV 12" ; F7/MU6 ;hp 24 ; NAT 3/2 ; Dmg by weapon type; S9, I 13, W 12, D 15, C 13, Ch 16 ; AL CN ;bracers of defense AC 4, ring of protec-tion +1, dagger +1, long sword) is oneof the 12 councilmen who govern thecity of Ansbach. This makes him a pow-erful force to be dealt with . Because h eis often seen in public, and his move-ments are closely watched by both th ecurious and the envious, he must b eextremely careful of his behavior or riskdefeat in a future election . Brunt i sserving the third year of his second five -year term. He is a 40-year-old widowerwhose wife left him a huge fortune . Hehas continued to add to this considera-ble sum through his position in th egovernment and by other means, includ-ing blackmail . Brunt is discreetlyinvolved with two mistresses and hopesto make Lady Miranda the third . Hehas a passion for fine art and good wine ,is very supportive of the local temples ,and is well respected by the magicalcommunity of the city, having had someexperience with magic himself. He livesin his district, near the east wall of th ecity, where he employs a small body -guard force. Recently, Brunt had a ne wsafe installed in his home by dwarvenmetallurgists .

The above details about Haster Bruntshould be given out to the characters asthe DM sees fit, though most of th einformation should come from carefuland deliberate inquiries made durin gthe remaining hours before sunset. The

Haster Brunt's ManorBrunt 's home is located on the east sid eof Ansbach in his upper-class electoraldistrict, one of the more fashionablesections of the city. It is a two-story,wood-frame house, similar to manyothers in Ansbach . The grounds ar esurrounded by a smooth, 10'-high, stonewall which is canted outward at such anangle that any climb walls attemptmust be made with a -15% modifier.Grapples can catch the top of the wallon a roll of 13 or higher on 1d2 0(bonuses for dexterity-based missile fir eallowed). Continual light spells havebeen cast upon small stones atop eachcorner of the wall .

Each turn that the characters areengaged at the wall and not hidden,there is a 40% chance that they are seenby guards inside the grounds or bypatrols outside the walls . If the PC sremain at the wall or attempt to per-form their mission after being spotted ,they are attacked and might be over-whelmed by the sheer numerical super-iority of the forces against them. Thereis a 5% chance per game turn for arandom encounter outside the walls of

information on Haster Brunt's two mis-tresses comes from numerous rumors ,not all of them unfavorable as Haste rBrunt is, after all, a single man . He has,however, been seen to favor LadyMiranda 's attentions, to her husband' sburning jealousy (and, it is said, to LadyMiranda 's revulsion). The exact natur eof any magical possessions he ha sshould only be hinted at, not given ou tfreely. The DM should add a fe wuntruths to confuse the situation aboutHaster Brunt 's personal powers as awarrior or spell-caster.

Brunt was formerly a 6th-level magic-user before entering the military on acommission and gaining some actualcombat experience . Additionally, he canhear noise, move silently, and hide i nshadows as an 8th-level thief, as a resultof guerilla activities he was involved withduring his time in service . He keeps thespells alarm, charm person, light, magicmissile, detect invisibility, web, hold per-son, and suggestion memorized . Thoughhe is not evil, he has little mercy for thos ewho fall into his clutches. Rather thanslaying captured foes outright, he mayquietly ransom them or sell them int oslavery elsewhere.

DUNGEON 13

FOR A LADY'S HONO R

Brunt's manor at night (see "Ansbac hRandom Encounters" ) . If an alarm i sgiven, 1-6 city guards arrive 1-3 turnslater.

There is an iron gate on the west sideof the wall which is the only visibleentrance or exit into the courtyard . (Theconcealed exit in the east wall can befound only from inside the complex.)The iron gate is always locked ( – 15% t opick the lock) and is guarded by two ofBrunt 's bodyguards (see AnsbachEncounter 2 for statistics) .

At its closest point, the house is 30 'from the wall and is surrounded by acourtyard planted with ornamenta ltrees and shrubs . As added protection ,Brunt purchased five trained war dogs(AC 6; MV 12" ; HD 2+2 ; hp 13 each ;#AT 1 ; Dmg 2-8 ; AL N) to constantlypatrol the courtyard. These dogs cansmell intruders within 90' with 80%accuracy and have an 80% chance tohear any movement except a thief mov-ing silently. Each animal wears a stud-ded leather collar and light leathe rarmor. The dogs will not maul an unre-sisting opponent, but will bark andgrowl loudly instead, awakening every-one in the neighborhood. The dogs ar ewolflike in appearance .

A barracks for the guards has bee nerected on the north side of the house . Itis a single-story building, 15' wide and30' long. There is a 7' gap between thetop of the wall and the roof of the bar -racks . From the barracks, it is only 13 'to the house . The barracks are hiddenby several leafy shrubs from the view o fanyone standing at the front gate . Atthe rear of the barracks are the dogkennels, one cage for each dog.

The guards at the house have a fixedorder for patrolling the grounds . Fiveguards are on active patrol on themanor grounds at all times ; the guardshift is changed every six hours (start-ing at midnight), when a new group ofguards leaves the guard house and th eold shift comes in for a rest . Of the fiv eguards on duty, two stand outside thewall of the manor grounds, weapons notdrawn or unslung but kept fully at theready (one segment reaction time) . Asone guard stays at the gate, the othertakes a full turn to walk around thewall, then stands by the gate for a turnas his partner walks around the wall .

The other three guards patrol thegrounds inside the wall, playing withthe dogs or inspecting the trees andshrubs. Their positions within the

grounds at any time are quite random ,though they do tend to wander (Raste rwill fire them if they stand in one plac eall day) . Because of two attemptedbreak-ins in the past year (one a possi-ble assassination attempt), the guardsstay fairly alert and have norma lchances for being surprised, even whe nthey appear quite bored or tired .

Of the guards who are not on duty, 10are on the grounds, asleep or resting inthe barracks ; the other five are off-dutyand elsewhere in town, to return whe nthe next guard-shift changes .

The main door of the house faces westtoward the iron gate. It is made ofheavy oak and is locked (norma lchances to pick) . It is also trapped witha poisoned arrow, which fires through asmall space just below the keyhole andstrikes its target as if fired from a 6th-level fighter (1-6 hp damage; save vs .poison or take 4-24 hp damage, or 2-1 2hp if save is made) .

There are various windows about thehouse on both stories . All windows arelocked from the inside but may beforced open on a bend bars roll with a+15% modifier (roll score to removetraps to avoid making noise) . Of course ,the windows may be broken open byrocks or weapons, but the splintering ofglass is 80% likely to be heard byguards or dogs. There is a 10% chanc eper window that one of the upper-stor ywindows has been accidentally leftunlocked . Lower windows are checke don a 20% chance per hour by the thre eguards on the grounds .

First Floor

Several rooms are noted to have curio sin them. To generate the type and valueof a curio, roll 1d6 . On a roll of 1, thecurio is from the Magic-User Furnish-ings table, on page 218 of the DMG, andhas a value of 2-40 gp . On a roll of 2-5 ,the curio is from the MiscellaneousUtensils and Personal Items table, p .219, DMG, and is worth 1-20 sp . On aroll of 6, the curio is from the Jewelryand Items Typically Bejewelled table, p .219, DMG, and the item is worth 1-10 0gp . In all cases, make the item rolle dconsistent with the area in which it i sfound, and detail it as desired.

1 . Entry Hall . This is a 5' x 20' areawith light curtains dividing the nort hand south 5' to create cloak rooms .There are always several coats, cloaks,

and hats in these areas ; any treasurefound here is minor (a few coins at best) .One curio can be found here in a cloakpocket. The area is illuminated by tw olamps set on the east wall to either sid eof the opening which leads into area 2 .Stairs going up can be seen through theopening to the east . The floor in thisentry hall is constructed in such a waythat any weight placed upon the boardsproduces squeaks, causing attempts t omove silently to function at -20%. Anynoise from this area alerts the occu-pants of areas 3 and 4 . A detect trapsroll will locate this "trap." See area 8 ifa PC causes a "squeak ."

2. Vestibule. This small hallwayopens north to area 4, south to area 3 ,and onto a flight of stairs up to area 8 .These stairs have been constructed t osqueak when weight is placed uponthem (like the entry hall, area 1), s othat any attempt to move silently suffer sa -15% penalty. See area 8 if the PC sclimb the stairs at night .

A small table in the southeast cornerof the vestibule holds a crystal ball(nonmagical) as a decoration, worth 400gp . Above the table is a painting ofHaster Brunt ' s deceased wife . On thenorth wall is a painting of Haster in hi smilitary armor, done some years ago .Either painting is worth 10-40 gp .

3. Sitting Room . This is a 20'-squarechamber with two windows (south an dwest) and one door leading east to are a6. It is furnished with two couches an dseveral chairs and tables. Three oilportraits (20-50 gp each) hang on thewalls, and four curios are locate dthroughout the room . There is a 35 %chance that Brunt's personal servant ,Ygori (AC 8 ; MV 12" ; F3 ; hp 19 ; #AT 1 ;Dmg by weapon type ; S 17, D 16, Ch 7 ;AL N; dagger +2), is here . Otherwise ,he is found in room 9, his bedchamber .If Ygori is here, his first action is toalert the guards outside with a shout ;then he attacks intruders . He carries 5ep and 4 gp in a belt pouch . Ygori i sincredibly loyal to Raster Brunt (he i san old military buddy whose life Rastersaved), and cannot be bribed . He is veryshort and may, at a distance, appear tobe a beardless dwarf.

4. Library. There is a window in th ewest wall and a single door on the eastwall of this 20' square chamber. Theroom contains high shelves holding

14 Issue No. 8

FOR A LADY'S HONOR

various tomes and parchments . The DMmay fill these shelves with volume swhich are applicable to his campaign ,although the majority of the booksshould be of little use to the PCs . Thereare several chairs and one table locate din the room, as well as five curios placedhere and there .

In the northeast corner of the roo mstands a full suit of plate armor whichhas been enchanted by one of Brunt 'smagic-user friends to serve as a guard-ian for the library. With any sound fromarea 1 or with the entry of any perso nbut Haster into the library, th eenchanted armor (AC 3 ; MV 6" ; HD 4 ;hp 25 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg 1-10 with its hal-berd; AL N) animates and begins tomove into position to attack . Because ofthe armor 's size and composition, th ePCs (and any other nearby occupants )can hear it moving and will not be sur-prised . This armor can be dismissed byBrunt or by any other person by simpl ysaying, "Go away, Harold," in whichcase the armor returns to its corner. Thearmor has no mind of its own, and so isimmune to all spells involving mind -control or mental influences. If thearmor moves at any time, see area 8 .

5 and 5A. Hallway and Bathroom.Each of these areas is 10' square . Theyare simply what they appear to be . Twopastoral paintings adorn the hallwaywalls (10-40 gp each) as well as amounted curio . The bathroom has abowl-and-table sink, a large wooden tubwith a bucket beside it, and an innova-tive flush toilet . A mirror and twomounted curios hang on the wall by thesink .

6. Dining Room . This is a 20' x 30 'room with two doors (west and north )and three windows (two south and oneeast). The chamber serves as Brunt'spersonal dining room as well as a smal lbanquet room for important visitors .Therefore, there are two full sets o fchina, crystal, and silverware here . Oneset is for everyday use and worth 325 gptotal ; the other set is much more ornat eand therefore more valuable (wort h1,450 gp) . A huge chandelier hangsabove a large oak table which can com-fortably seat 10 people . The china,glassware, and utensils are kept in alarge cabinet on the north wall . Eitherset of dinnerware has a total encum-brance value of about 1,000 gp (sprea dover five boxes, at 200 gp per box) and is

extremely fragile . The chandelier,which is made of glass, is too heavy an dcumbersome to transport in any mannersave by wagon and draft horses .

The door to the west leads to area 3 ,and the door on the north leads int oarea 7. There is a 20% chance to find aservant (AC 10 ; MV 12" ; zero-levelhuman; hp 4 ; #AT nil ; AL N) in thischamber during the day (5% at night) . Ifhe gets the opportunity, the servantflees to warn the guards in the court-yard (who in turn alert the city watchand city guard) .

The dining table is in the center of theroom. Three curios sit upon it when it i snot in use for dining . Four paintings ofRaster 's ancestors hang on the wall s(value 20-50 gp each) .

7. Kitchen . The kitchen is 30' x 20' ,with entries from areas 5 and 6 . A con-cealed door, behind a mobile cabinet o nthe east wall, leads out into the court -yard . The chimney, oven, and fireplac eare built against the north wall of th echamber. The usual kinds of cookingutensils and implements found inkitchens are neatly stored about th eroom. Four curios are present here .

A door in the west wall leads to a 10 'square pantry (7A) which is filled withvarious foodstuffs and wines. The DMmay place specific foods and wines her eas he desires, but at least some of theprovender should be exotic and expen-sive . Use the Food & Drink table on p .219 of the DMG for randomly examinedcontainers or items found here . Threecurios are present in the pantry .

During the day a cook, 1-3 servants ,and 1-3 guards are present . At night ,there is only a 15% chance of the cook, aservant, or a guard being here . The cookand servants have the same statistics a sthose of the servant in area 6 . Anyon ein the kitchen after midnight is eithe rcleaning up or getting a snack. HasterBrunt has a 5% chance of being here atnight, pouring himself a drink .

Second Floor

8. Upstairs Hall. This hallway leadsto all the rooms on the second floor .There are five doors leading to the fiv eseparate chambers . At any time afterdark, there is an 80% chance that aspecial guardian is present in the hall -way, taking it easy for the night : Petey,Brunt's favorite guard dog (AC 6 ; MV12" ; HD 2+2 ; hp 18 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg 2-8 ;

AL N). He has a 95% chance of beingalerted to any unusual noises down -stairs or on the stairwell during theevening, but he has been trained not t oattack until all intruders have reachedthe top of the stairs . Like the courtyarddogs, Petey wears a spiked collar an dleather armor. Petey, who is much like aGreat Dane, will be in room 13 if he isnot in the hall . Because he is a solidblack in color, Petey looks remarkabl ylike a hell hound in dim light .

Any noise in this area alerts the occu-pants of the other rooms 30% of thetime. They arrive to investigate or alertthe guards in the courtyard . Brunt, ifawakened in his bedroom (room 13) ,makes sure that his door is locked, the nscreams for help from his window .

Five paintings of Raster Brunt 'sancestors (10-40 gp each), three mount-ed curios, and three small corner table sin the northeast, northwest, and south -east corners of the hall (each table withthree curios) are present . The hall andall other rooms on this level are car-peted (+ 10% to move silently attempts) .

9. Ygori's Chamber. This 10' x 15 'room is furnished in spartan simplicit ycompared to the rest of the house . It

DUNGEON 15

FOR A LADY'S HONO R

contains a bed, a small table, and twochairs . A small chest under the bed i slocked and trapped with a poison needl e(save vs. poison at +2 or be paralyze dfor 10-60 rounds) . Inside the chest ar e45 pp, 61 gp, and five curios of a person -al nature . There is a 65% chance thatBrunt 's manservant, Ygori, is in thi sroom at night (see room 3 for his statis-tics).

10.Servants ' Quarters . This 15' x30' chamber has two windows on thesouth and a single window on the west .Six servants live in this sparsely fur-nished chamber which contains six cot swith straw mattresses, one large table ,six wooden chairs, and six small chest s(one at the foot of each cot) . The chest scontain all the servants' worldly posses-sions (which is to say, not much) : extrawoolen clothing, 1-20 coins (copper,silver and electrum), etc. One minorcurio per servant is also present .

Any servant in this chamber (1- 6present at any time, the rest beingelsewhere in the house or off-duty i ntown) has the same statistics as listed inroom 6 . Their response to any intrusio nis fear and timidity. If given the oppor-tunity, they flee and alert the guards i nthe courtyard . If taken prisoner by thePCs, they are of no use in telling wher ethe garter can be found, though there i sa 15% chance for any of them to hav eknowledge of the wall safe in Brunt' schamber. If threatened, they breakdown into hysterics if they fail a savin gthrow vs. paralyzation. All are lower-class residents of Ansbach who aretrying to improve their stations in life .

It might be possible for the PCs t ocapture one of these servants outsidethe house complex and gain entranc ethrough him. Each DM should decide ifthis is possible or desirable and the ncreate the appropriate encounter.

11.Guest Room. This is a 15' x 20 'chamber with a single entry from area 8and windows on the south and east) . Itcontains a bed, a wardrobe, a desk, atable, and two chairs . The walls arehung with some of the less expensiv epieces of Brunt's art collection (fiv epaintings worth 10-40 gp each) . Theroom is unoccupied in the evenings .

12.Haster Brunt's Private Study.This room is 20' x 25', with windows onthe north and west and a secret door inthe east wall, leading to room 13 . The

door from area 8 is locked ( — 10% topick) and trapped with four darts set tofire into the back of the PC in the hal lclosest to the door when the trap i sactivated; the darts are fired from theceiling, coming down at an angle . Thesedarts cause 1-4 hp damage each, an deach has the same chance to hit a door -opening PC in the back as a 2nd-leve lfighter (note that dexterity and shieldbonuses are of no help here). None ofthe servants will open this door, as theyall know of the trap . However, they alsoknow that the trap can be deactivate d(as can the one on the door to room 13)by pressing a button under the carpet ,in the northeastern corner of the roo munder the hall table . Unknown to allservants, the trap has already beendeactivated by Brunt (to prevent acci-dents), and won't be activated unless h eleaves the house .

The study contains a large desk, sev-eral cushions, three lamps, six pieces ofartwork, two small tables, and a coatrack . Papers and writing implements li eon the desk . The papers are of no inter-est, but the writing kit is worth 150 gp .Three of the desk's five drawers are notlocked and contain extra paper, scrollcases, and other writing supplies . Theother two drawers are locked ( — 10% topick) and trapped with poison needle s(save vs . poison or sleep for 2-5 turns).Twelve curios are present in the room .Each artwork piece is worth 20-120 gp .

In the first drawer opened, the PCsfind Brunt's legal documents : his will ,property papers, two sets of accountbooks, and IOUs from various peoplewithin the city (including Olcry Mun-chen and Wolgar Kin) . The seconddrawer contains three scrolls : protectionfrom edged weapons, protection fro mpoison, and a cursed scroll which cause sall paper within 10' to disintegrate(magical parchments receive a savingthrow vs. disintegration at +4 to avoiddestruction) .

There is a 15% chance that Haste rBrunt is present in this room during th enight, working on governmen tpaperwork .

13.Brunt's Bedroom . The door intothis chamber is locked (–15% to pick)and trapped with darts similar to thoseused on the door into room 12 . Thereare windows on the north and east, an da secret door on the west leading intoroom 12 . The button in the hall (men-tioned in room 12's description) also

deactivates the darts aimed at thi sroom's door. As noted before, this trap isdeactivated unless Haster Brunt is no tat home .

This room is elegantly furnished wit hthe best and most expensive pieces ofBrunt's artwork and furniture : a largebed, ornate tables, comfortable chairs, anightstand, two lamps, and a room ywardrobe . Twenty curios are presen tthroughout the room .

There are two paintings (1,000 gpeach) on each wall ; behind one of them(DM's choice) is a wall safe which can bediscovered only if a character activel ysearches behind the pictures . The safe i slocked (— 20% to open) and is trappe dwith a sleeping gas which spews intothe room for a radius of 15' . The PCclosest to the gas suffers a -1 to hi ssaving throw vs . poison, but other swithin the area of effect are allowedregular rolls . Failure to save causessleep for 3-12 turns and a reduction o fall hit points by half for 4-16 turnsafterwards .

Inside the safe are a pouch with 1 0gems (each worth 100 gp) and four piec-es of jewelry (worth 2,500 gp, 1,900 gp ,1,000 gp, and 750 gp) . There is no signof the jewelled garter that is the objectof the quest .

The four-poster bed is hung with sid edrapes and covered by a canopy so tha tPCs cannot immediately see within . Atnight, there is a 75% chance that Brun tis sound asleep in the bed . If he is nothere, he has a 5% chance of being in th ekitchen (room 7), a 15% chance of beingin room 12, and a 5% chance of not evenbeing home .

H<,ster Brunt keeps a dagger +2under his pillow, and he will not hesi-tate to use it on any lone intruder . He isnot, however, willing to risk his life formaterial goods, and if obviously at adisadvantage he cooperates with thethieves in locating the safe and empty-ing its contents . He will not willinglyhand over the garter and will disavowany knowledge of such an item, suggest-ing that the PCs have been duped b ysome person who is envious of his posi-tion . If the PCs choose to listen to Hast-er Brunt, he may attempt to make asuggestion to them ( "Let 's go meet myguards.") .

Haster Brunt's spell books are hidde nin a false panel on the underside of hi sbed. In addition to the spells he hasmemorized, he knows read magic, write,and 2-5 random spells of levels 1-3, al l

(continued on page 34 )

16 Issue No. 8

fr

c

~r ~ 1

tl

/ 60'47.

14 'r

/

.1

rvf ~ C ref, i%~

i

C

JL/t )

y -~~` ; ` r

" .

)y

c

rnw

'

o

Yy11Y

V

1

I.,

+s.wuai ' ..~ âr +r ~

!PPP

tWINrxiIaTiSSrst sw

17/

it

I

~

s+~rst

_ir r

x

!

1f

M W

la,f

"

}a

° I:. ttic,.

.hi .0_0 ~1~111

ICI)

/(AilIII

,

/yI

~ d'.II

N 1P i`i1 u

driNiNpAlFAINATIMIllL

IN DEFENSE

OF THE LAW

BY CARL SARGENT

A question of

morality versus

ethics — made

lethal .

Artwork by C . Bradford GorbyCartography by Diesel

Carl Sargent was born in Carleon, the

Roman capital of South Wales which

may have been the real Camelot. He has

a Ph.D . in psychology from Cambridge

University and writes gaming articles

for DRAGON') Magazine and White

Dwarf, and publicity releases for TSR,

UK. This is his first appearance in

DUNGEON' Adventures.

In Defense of the Law is an AD&D°

game adventure for 6-8 characters of

levels 7-10 who must be of nonchaoti c

alignments . A balanced party including

two clerics (or a cleric and a druid), with

a total of 55-60 experience levels and

moderate magical-item possession, is

suggested .

In this adventure, the PCs must com-

bat a group of allied chaotic-evil crea-

tures who seek (with demonic

assistance) to destroy an artifact of Law.

It is therefore obvious that lawfully

aligned PCs will be strongly preferred

by those responsible for requesting their

help (see "Adventure Background"), but

neutral PCs might also be approache d

and be willing to adventure, for the

artifact maintains a law/chaos balance

and has a strong affinity with natural

forces (thus, a druid might be eager t o

combat the chaotics) . While the PCs '

enemies are chaotic-evil, it is important

to remember that this is fundamentally

a law-versus-chaos conflict .

There is, however, one complication . A

party of predominantly lawful-evil and

lawful-neutral NPCs is also seeking to

combat the chaotic forces; thus, there

may be a triangular conflict. If the PC

party is predominantly of lawful-good

and lawful-neutral alignments, the DM

and the players should gain maximu m

enjoyment from the complexities of

adventuring and role-playing whic h

may arise .

The DM should have access to a cop y

of Unearthed Arcana, as several of th e

chaotic clerics have spells described i n

that book. Other spells can be substi -

tuted at the DM's discretion . Also, sev-

eral of the wandering monsters ar e

described in the FIEND FOLIO® Tome

but can be switched with equivalent

monsters from other books .

Adventure Background

Read or paraphrase the following to the

players :

DUNGEON 1 7

IN DEFENSE OF THE LAW

You are only passing through th ecoastal town of Ranaan, seekingadventure in more exciting places —or so you think . A young manapproaches you in the tavern whereyou have taken rooms and politelyasks if the mayor might have a wordwith you. It would certainly be churl-ish to refuse .

Maralan, the mayor, is seated wit hyou in a back room of the inn withinminutes . His expression is grave, hi smanner somber as he explains th etown's predicament:

For many years, Ranaan wa saffected by severe weather conditions— late spring frosts, storms, evenflooding — which made life verydifficult for its people . By magicalscrying, it was discovered that achaotic-evil magician had enchantedtwo great, subterranean banes t odistort the forces of nature in thearea. (No statistics are given — o rpossible — for these banes as the yare primeval essences with no intelli-gence or form of their own .) Thetownspeople suffered in silence until ,20 years ago, mutated animals anddeformed monsters were seen in thenorthern foothills . That was the laststraw, and help was sought.

Lord Paladin Justinian and agroup of lawful-good adventurersentered the catacombs wherein themagician dwelt and slew him, an dthey placed there an artifact, the Orbof Law, which countered and neutral-ized the effects of the chaotic banes.Nature returned to its normal pat -tern, and the people of Ranaan coul donce again farm, fish, and carry ontheir normal business .

But now there is fear in the townonce again . Varek the Mage discov-ered that a group of chaotic creature shad entered the catacombs bent ondestroying the Orb and making cha-os supreme once more. Varek spok eof chaotic-evil clerics and the involve-ment of a powerful demon . Hewarned that, at the new moon, th eOrb would be destroyed unless hel pcould be found. The very next day, h ewas assassinated by an unknownperson who escaped capture .

It is now only five days until th enew moon, and Mayor Maralan i sdesperate . Messengers sent out torecruit assistance have not returned,

and matters seem hopeless. Maralanhas a map which pinpoints theentrance to the catacombs, and he i sprepared to give all the magical aidthe town has (not much, but thi sillustrates his desperation) to a part yof adventurers who will swear to d oall in their power to overcome th echaotic forces and protect the town .He also promises as reward a gem -encrusted mace which is the mayo r 'straditional symbol of authority, andthe town council has agreed to this(the value of the mace is 7,000 gp) .Will you take on the adventure?

For the Dungeon MasterMaralan, a 3rd-level cleric of lawful-good alignment, is mayor of Ranaan(AC 10 ; MV 12" ; C3 ; hp 9 ; #AT 1 ; Dmgby weapon type (mace) ; S 10, I 12, W 13 ,D 12, C 11, Ch 16 ; AL LG; spells : light,detect evil, sanctuary, know alignment) .He casts his know alignment spell fromthe adjoining room before requestingthe PCs' aid . Maralan wishes to becertain that there are no chaotic or evilPCs in the group before requesting theirhelp . Even chaotic-good characters arenot acceptable .

The magical items he donates arethree potions of healing, two of extra-healing, and a scroll of three clericalspells (at 9th level of magic use) : curelight wounds, cure serious wounds, anddispel magic . These are given when th ePCs promise to do all they can to over-come the chaotic forces . The mace willbe given over when they return.

If inquiries are made about the mageVarek, the adventurers can learn tha this possessions were stolen by his assas-sin . He has been buried close by therectory where Maralan lives . If the PC scarefully ask permission to "dig up" themage, and if the PCs are able to us espeak with dead or a similar spell, theycan question Varek and learn tha tchaotic-evil clerics revering Siinkinar a(the regional goddess of bloodlust,marauding beasts, and mayhem) haveoccupied the catacombs . These cleric sare accompanied by chaotic-evil undea dand humanoids, and they also keep wil danimals . A powerful demon will b esummoned at the new moon to destroythe Orb of Law . Varek does not specifyhis sources of information but is ada-mant on these points . If the PCs some-how have the resources to bring the

mage back to life, the mage will b eexhausted and require weeks of restbefore he can even speak (he has alsobeen poisoned, so the toxin will have tobe dealt with as well). The DM maycreate his statistics, making Varek anaged, lawful-good, 16th-level magic-use rwith very few hit points .

Maralan can give the PCs the map ofRanaan and environs showing the loca-tion of the entrance to the catacombs.He arranges for normal supplies (food,packs, oil, ropes, and nonmagical weap-ons such as arrows, bolts, daggers, etc . )to be provided at no charge .

The nature, disposition, and strategie sof the chaotic forces in the dungeon ar edescribed for each level . The chaotic-evi lclerics are far from stupid, but thei rorganization is not all it might be(reflecting their chaotic nature), andthey are beset by internal rivalries .However, the highest-level cleric amongthem is a formidable opponent : a 10th-level cleric vampire . A group of drowhas also learned about the activities ofthe clerics, and a representative of thedark elves is present as the drow arenaturally interested in liberating th echaotic banes to evil effect .

The clerics are served by a rabble o fchaotic-evil humanoids and undead wh operform guard duties and menial tasks .And, as marauding beasts are reveredby Siinkinara's clerics, a number of wil danimals of rather savage disposition arealso to be found in the dungeon. Whilethere is some strength in the structureof the chaotic forces, these forces ar erendered less formidable in some case sby virtue of poor organization, low intel-ligence, factional disputes, or pettyjealousies and hatreds. Descriptions ofmonsters and their strategies reflec tthese factors, and you should keep themin mind in confrontations with the PCs .

The distance from Ranaan to th ecatacombs is about 13 miles as the crowflies . The land has low, rolling hill scovered by light woodlands after thefirst four miles of fields . Use the DMGtravel-time tables on page 58 . Wander-ing monster checks should be dispensedwith so that the PCs reach the cata-combs unharmed, but if an encounte r(beyond the first four miles) is desired ,the Catacombs Random Encounter sTable may be used in reduced scale. Rol lld6 and translate 1 = 1, 2 = 5, 3 = 9, 4= 16, 5 = 17, and 6 = 18 to select amonster from the 20 listed in the table .

Within the catacombs themselves, a

18 Issue No . 8

IN DEFENSE OF THE LAW

RANAAN AND ENVIRON S0_ v v V 4 4 Y

tit O. ;r 4, S'

Vr 4 4y v~~4~4 4 4 4 4 `

04 w 4

4 V5.

4 4

'~~: y1~ U

4v 4 44 S~ S!

ti^ 4o,

4 5 ,44S 0 Entrance to Catacomb s

(; 9 W U V~

4 Q 4 V V 4V 4

p"~ ^ 4

°1 Y Y v r 9

0

:0o

m

v,

(

(

5V ~r 4 v 4 °? U 4 ! 4 4 4 x 4 4

0 0 0 5 4 0 44 0 4 4 44 4 0, c (i'4( 4 4' ' (r ( v 4 U v

4 4 4 0 4 S' 4 4~ 4 4 4 0) 4 4 4 411-i

0

q)

s

Miles

i oI

Foothill s

wandering monster check should bemade every game hour (six turns) wit ha 10% chance of an encounter takin gplace . If an encounter is indicated, rol lld6 to determine which turn during thehour the encounter takes place, an dconsult the Catacombs RandomEncounters Table. These monsters maybe found roaming the corridors, a seither wanderers from outside, "pets" o fthe inhabitants, hired guards, or a ssudden underground encounters (umberhulks can tunnel through earth andbreak into the catacombs, for example) .Be careful with such encounters, how-ever; if a random roll indicates a trickyencounter for a beleaguered party, yo umay decide that it should not takeplace .

The catacombs have been developedby human construction work and magic ,accounting for the regularity of cham-bers and corridors . Ceiling height varie sbetween 12' and 16' ; important excep-tions are noted. Chambers are lit withoil-burning lamps, corridors with brack-eted wall torches unless otherwis estated . Metal armor clanking downstone stairs and corridors (unless som eprecaution such as magical silence i sused) creates a lot of noise and alertsguards (+3 on surprise rolls).

Note that some NPCs can mov earound, reorganize forces, and so forth .Likewise, the final combat is tough, a sthe NPCs are smart and powerful(many with permanent magical itemscommensurate with their experienc elevels) . If you feel that possession ofthese items by your PCs would unbal-ance your campaign, you may wish todevise a cover story to claw some ofthem back (e .g ., many have been stolenand must be returned), but experiencepoints for these items should be award-ed if they are used and kept.

The Lawful NPC OpponentsThis group of adventurers will beencountered by PCs on the seconddungeon level . Statistics are given i nfull for the six NPCs, but details ofnormal, nonmagical equipment is nottabulated (you may assume the normalrange of such possessions or outfit themas you like) .

These NPCs are vital to this adven-ture . They can be used to help, hinder,delay, or combat the PCs . Their individ-ual descriptions should help you pla ntheir actions in specific circumstances .

What do the NPCs want? The law-fully aligned members of this party(three LE, two LN) wish to combat thechaotics just as the PCs do . However,the lawful-evil characters (particularlythe cleric) will also want to do awa ywith the PCs, given the chance . Con-sider carefully if and when they attac kand what risks different individual swithin this group are prepared to take ,as per the individual NPC descriptionselsewhere in this adventure .

Why are the NPCs here? They weretraveling in the locale when their thief ,while on a scouting mission, chanced

upon one of Maralan's messengers . Shesurprised him and stabbed him in th eback, but the other NPCs caught upwith her before she could check all th emessenger's possessions . Thus, Mara-lan's plea for help fell into the NPCs 'hands . This note informed them of th eactivities in the catacombs, generatin ga desire among the lawful NPCs t ocombat the chaotic clerics .

Making their way to Ranaan to fin dmore information (notably, how to locat ethe catacombs), they were attacked by asmall group of ogres and made shor twork of them. The cleric Suzerean cast

DUNGEON 19

IN DEFENSE OF THE LAW

a detect magic spell at the ogres' posses -sions, since these included some item sclearly taken from deceased adventur-ers . By chance, she detected a magicall ycamouflaged portal in a nearby hillside .

The portal led to a passage which, i nturn, led down to the second level of thedungeon . The NPCs did not know thatthis was an entrance to the catacomb sthey were seeking, but it seemed dis-tinctly possible, and they decided toinvestigate .

The NPCs have just entered thedungeon when they encounter the PCs .They have killed one set of guards, and

the unholy symbol worn by the junio rcleric they have slain has warned the mthat they have overcome a chaotic-evi lcleric .

What do the NPCs know? Onlywhat they learned in the note — that agroup of chaotic clerics are active incatacombs of unspecified location nea rRanaan, and that an artifact of Law isthreatened (no details on how it i sthreatened are given) . They decided t oburn the note after reading its contents ,since if they entered Ranaan and pro-duced it they would have to explai nwhat happened to the messenger. They

will, if appropriate, tell the PCs tha tthey met one of Maralan's messengersand have responded to his plea for help .They state that they did not know th elocation of the catacombs and are truth-ful about their stroke of luck in gettin ginto the dungeon.

Role-playing the NPCs. The leaderof the party, the lawful-evil cleric Kan-driasin, is both strongly lawful andintensely evil . He certainly wants to doaway with good-aligned PCs if at al lpossible and attempts to do this unles sthe odds are badly stacked against him .Some of the other NPCs are likely toally themselves firmly with him (se eindividual descriptions) . He may als owish to destroy or subjugate lawful -neutral characters .

There are two lawful-neutral charac-ters in the NPC party. The cleric Suze-rean, in particular, is here only toovercome the chaotics. She does what -ever seems necessary to maximize he rchances of doing this . She will ally withKandriasin if the PCs are incompetent ,weak, or careless . However, if the PCparty is clearly stronger than the NPCparty, and if the PCs have fought wiselyand shown good tactical sense, Suzereanresponds well to them and joins them ifthe PCs state that they cannot accep tthe presence of the evil NPCs .

Dungedan Stoneheart, the dwarvenNPC, is too dumb for such an approach ,but if a trace of anything less than fairtreatment and honesty from his fellowNPCs can be demonstrated, he will jointhe PCs in allying against the evi lNPCs and may demand that the PC sjoin him in fighting his former group . Itis even possible that the magic-user an dthief in the NPC party might join th ePCs against the other evil NPCs, butneither is trustworthy.

These NPCs should be played careful-ly, taking into account both the overal lstate of play and their individual char-acteristics . For example, Kandriasin i sintelligent and charismatic . He won ' tmake unnecessarily hostile remarks toPCs. He tries to persuade his associate sto take on the PCs at the best possibletime, and he plots quietly and secretly,in whispers and out of earshot . Youshould foster suspicion and paranoia o nthe part of the PCs about him, but noth-ing too overt.

If the demon Ki-Baaz is present dur-ing the final combat, the PCs may nee dthe assistance of Suzerean the cleric .Persuasiveness and good role-playing b y

20 Issue No . 8

IN DEFENSE OF THE LAW

the players will certainly affect latercombat strength .

Armor-class note : In the statisticsprovided for some of the NPCs encoun-tered in this adventure, two armor-clas sfigures are given separated by a slash .The first figure is the being's armorclass from the front, counting all magi -cal, shield, and dexterity bonuses . Thesecond figure is the being ' s armor clas sfrom the rear, without shield or dexteri-ty bonuses or certain magical ones (a swould be encountered in surprise orrear-attack situations) . Special bonusesfor attacking these characters, such a sfrom surprise attacks, attacks on pronecharacters, charge attacks, rear attack sby thieves, etc ., must be added on .

Dungeon Level One1.Entrance Passage . This tunnel ,

cut into the hillside (though somewhatovergrown and crudely camouflaged )can be readily found . A ranger or otherPC with tracking skills may observe thefootprints of several large humanoid sand two humans near the entrance . Thepassage slopes down at a 30° angle fo rthe first 80' and is very dark once pastthe area where sunlight can penetrate .The main east-west passage (connectin gareas 2, 3, 4, and 6) is dimly lit .

2. Ogre Guards . The door to thischamber is always open . One of theguards is asleep at any given time bu tmay be roused in one round ; he is readyto fight one round later. The chambercontains only poor-quality bedding, acrude table and chairs, pewter tan-kards, copper eating utensils, and thelike .

Ogres (4) : AC 5; MV 9" ; HD 4+1 ; hp26, 23, 20, 14 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg by weapontype (two-handed swords) +2 ; AL CE .

3. Ghouls . This chamber containsonly bones, shards and fragments ofpottery, rotting cloth and wood, and theundead guards that have been traine dnot to attack the ogres (but will attac kintruders when alerted by any sound i nthe corridor) . If alerted, one of th eghouls flees to tell the clerics in area 4 ,and the rest move to attack . They havebeen trained to divide their forces, halfof them attacking the rear of an invad-ing party via the west door, corridor ,and secret door.

Ghouls (8): AC 6; MV 9" ; HD 2 ; hp 14(x 4), 12 (x 4) ; #AT 3 ; Dmg 1-3/1-3/1-6 ;

SA paralyzation; SD immune to sleepand charm ; AL CE .

4. Junior Clerics . This living cham-ber is furnished with plain tables ,chairs, a bearskin rug (value 180 gp), awall mirror, silvered pewter eating anddrinking utensils (value 30 gp), andshelving holding minor bric-a-brac (pot-tery jugs, pipes, etc .) of trivial value .Several evil clerics reside here .

Shuvaka, human female : AC -1/4 ;MV 9" ; C3; hp 17 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg by weap-on type ; S 15, I 13, W 16, D 18, C 10, Ch14; AL CE; banded mail, shield, foot-man 's mace ; spells : command, cure ligh twounds, darkness, sanctuary, aid, augu-ry, hold person . She wears silver ear-rings (value 40 gp) and has a belt pouc hwith five tigereye gems (value 10 gpeach) and a small silver key (this opensthe coffer in area 5) .

Marras, human male : AC 1/4 ; MV 9" ;C3; hp 16 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg by weapon type ;S 17, I 9, W 12, D 15, C 16, Ch 9 ; ALCE; banded mail, shield +1, footman'smace ; spells : darkness (x 2), silence 15 'radius; 5% chance of spell failure .

When alerted, Shuvaka casts hersanctuary and aid spells upon herself,and the pair come out to support theogres and ghouls. But, if the PCs ar eobviously powerful (e .g ., the clerics seea magic-user PC firing off four or moremagic missiles at once), the chaoti cclerics retreat and alert Magath (area 8)and Rhadesse (area 11) .

5. Bedchambers . The private roomsof Shuvaka (5A) and Marras (5B) arehumbly decorated (pallet beds, poor-quality wall hangings, minor icons, asmall collection of bestiaries of trivia lvalue, cotton robes, etc.). UnderneathShuvaka's bed is a small coffer, locke dbut untrapped (Shuvaka carries th ekey), containing two gold bracelets(values 125 gp, 75 gp) and 12 pp .

6. Falling Slab Trap. This north-south corridor is unlit . A door is cun-ningly painted on an unstable standingrock slab that fills the corridor fromside to side . The slab stands 10' outfrom the dead-end wall . Any attempt t oopen the fake door causes the slab t ofall and crush all those within 10 ' infront (3-18 hp damage ; saving throw vs.wands negates damage only if the P Cwas at least 5' from the slab when itbegan to fall) . Past intruders have beenchased into this cul-de-sac, which

appears to be an escape route north ,only to be crushed by the slab . Anycharacter taking damage from the fall-ing slab is pinned beneath it for 5- 8rounds unless other PCs help to fre ehim. One helper reduces the escapetime to two rounds ; two or more helperscan extricate a trapped PC in oneround. Anyone with the means to detectnormal traps or unsafe stonework has achance to find this trap .

7. Storage Chamber. This unli tchamber contains extensive wall shelv-ing filled with 86 flasks of oil, 12 lamps ,sixteen 10' poles, fourteen each 50' an d20' ropes, and many tins and sacks o ftacks, iron spikes, etc .

8. Magath's Chamber. This well -appointed room contains a good bear-skin rug (value 240 gp), a solid-toppedwriting table by the north wall (withinks, quills, paper, and a crystal paper -weight; total value 140 gp), comfortabl echairs, silver cutlery and plates (value80 gp), two silvered goblets (value 60 gpeach), a crystal decanter of averagequality wine (value 200 gp), and a be dwith a silk coverlet (worth 180 gp )beside which stands a table holding asilvered mirror and an ivory comb se t(value 100 gp).

Magath, human male : AC 1/4 ; MV9" ; C5 ; hp 32 ; #AT 2 ; Dmg by weapo ntype; S 14, I 13, W 17, D 16, C 17, Ch 8 ;AL CE; banded mail, shield, ham-mer+1 ; spells : command, darkness(x 2), detect magic, sanctuary, aid, holdperson (x 2), know alignment, silence 15 'radius, bestow curse, cause blindness .He possesses potions of extra-healingand fire resistance, and wears a zirconand silver ring (value 125 gp), a goldbracelet (value 70 gp), a silver broochset with a moonstone (value 100 gp) ,and a small silver dagger with a lapi slazuli in the hilt that he uses as a letteropener (value 90 gp) .

If Magath is attacked without warn-ing, he fights as best he can . If givenwarning of the intruders, he joins Rha-desse (area 11 ; see strategy notes forthat location) .

9. Chapel. This room is dominated bya statue of Siinkinara in werewolf form ,which stands behind an altar that is 10 'away from the west wall . The alta rbears silver-threaded black cotton cloth s(value 50 gp), two bronze candlesticks(value 4 sp each), gray tallow candles ,

DUNGEON 21

IN DEFENSE OF THE LAW

and the tails of wild animals . Cottonwall hangings show scenes of wild crea-tures attacking and devouring men an delves . The chapel is always occupied b ythree huge worgs (AC 6; MV 18" ; HD4 +4; hp 32, 30, 27 ; NAT 1 ; Dmg 2-8 ; ALNE), creatures revered by Siinkinara'sclerics, that attack any intruders withgreat ferocity. They sit quietly unlessdisturbed, awaiting their next meal .

10.Ghast Chamber. In this irregu-larly shaped and undecorated chamber,four ghasts (AC 4; MV 15" ; HD 4 ; hp23, 20 (x 2), 13 ; NAT 3 ; Dmg 1-4/1-4/1-8 ;SA paralyzation, stench ; SD immune tosleep and charm spells; AL CE) areengaged in excavation work, usingpicks, along the north wall . Rhadesse(room 11) got a positive reading herewith a detect good spell and wishes tolocate and destroy the anathema . If thePCs are able to penetrate 6' of solid rockin the correct location (the middle of th enorth wall), they find an old tomb inwhich lies an ancient skeleton in corrod-ed chain mail bearing a mace +1 . Themace, if used by a character of goodalignment, is a +3 magical weaponagainst all evil-aligned beings .

11. Rhadesse's Chamber. This roomis decorated both lavishly and religious-ly. Rhadesse is fanatical and is also thesenior cleric on this level . Above thetables, chairs, wolf-skin rugs (two, each120 gp value), and pallet bed are manyanimal heads mounted on wooden wallplaques, all posed in attitudes of feroci-ty. There is a small wall alcove with asecret door in the western wall, 2' x 3 'in size and 7' above the floor, about 4 'from the south wall . The secret door i scovered with a bear skin (value 200 gp )pinned to the wall . The door is als otrapped with a glyph of warding whichinflicts 14 hp cold damage (save vs .spells for half damage) and paralyzes a sa hold person spell for 11 rounds unles sa successful save vs . spells is made . Thealcove contains a small, locked woodencoffer (Rhadesse has the key) containin gpouches with 65 pp, 320 gp, 120 ep, and14 gems (value 10 gp each) .

Rhadesse, human female : AC 1/3 ;MV 6" ; C7 ; hp 44 ; NAT 1 ; Dmg by weap-on type; S 12, I 12, W 17, D 16, C 16, Ch14; AL CE; plate mail, footman's flail ;spells: command, curse, darkness, detec tgood, detect magic, aid, detect charm,hold person, silence 15' radius, wyvernwatch, animate dead, dispel magic, meld

into stone, obscure tongues . She has apotion of healing and a scroll of tw ospells (at 9th level of magic use) : besto wcurse and cure serious wounds . Rha-desse wears silk robes with ermine trim(value 200 gp) over her armor, a silverneckchain with a wolf's-head amulet(value 100 gp), and a belt pouch with 45gp and a small silver key (which opensthe coffer in the secret alcove) .

If the alarm is raised, Rhadesse an dMagath (if alive) command the ghast sfrom area 10 to enter the north-southcorridor and attack intruders headin gnorth from area 4 . The clerics liberatethe worgs from area 9 after the ghast shave gone to attack the PCs (so that theanimals are not affected by the stenc hof the ghasts) and stand, with the worg sbefore them, just south of the corrido rleading to area 10, preparing thei rdefensive spells . The chaotic cleric sattack with offensive spells and use thewolves as cover. However, despite Rha-desse 's training of the wolves, thes eanimals are so ferocious that they are50% likely to break ranks and attack alikely PC target .

If the ghasts are overcome, the worg sattack at once down the corridor. Theclerics will not surrender, but if Rha-desse is in serious trouble she tries t oretreat into area 10 and use her meldinto stone spell (if she can do this with -out suffering an attack in the back fro ma melee opponent), hoping that the PC swill head west (through the glyph -covered door at area 12) . She can thenescape north via the secret door andalert the guards on level two .

Rhadesse will not immediately send amessenger to the lower level, becaus eshe hates the commander of level twoand hopes to overcome any intruder swith her own forces . She wants to clai mthe credit from Siobhana, her com-mander on level three, for herself. Herzeal and evil convictions are so strongthat she continues to believe she cantriumph until her position is clearlyquite hopeless . Her subordinates fightto the death, fearful of Rhadesse's wrat hif they do anything less .

12. Parting of the Ways. The door tothe west is unusually stout (of thickwood, with heavy black iron hinges andfittings which may be seen to be slight-ly rusted if a very careful visual checkis made) and is trapped with a glyph ofwarding that inflicts 14 hp electricaldamage (save vs . spells for half damage)

and paralysis for 11 rounds. Severalsets of footprints aproach this door an dreturn the way they came but do no tenter the room . The tunnels beyond th edoor are unlit, as are the chambers i nthis area . Any remaining torches arebroken and rotted in their wall brack-ets . The floors are dusty and strewnwith small rocks at irregular intervals .It should be obvious that this part of thecatacombs is not occupied by the chaoticclerics or their vassals, and it has no tbeen explored or renovated by them .

There is a secret door in the northwall of the corridor at area 12 . Behin dthis door, a staircase leads down to leveltwo of the catacombs .

13. Margoyle Chamber. These tw omargoyles (AC 2 ; MV 6"/12" ; HD 6 ; hp24, 19 ; NAT 4 ; Dmg 1-6/1-6/2-8/2-8 ; SDcamouflage, magical weapon to hit ; ALCE) were originally attracted by a (nowdecayed) sympathy spell designed t oattract beings of chaotic-evil alignment .They remain here, unable to escape pastthe glyph that was placed at area 12 t okeep them out of the main living areas .Having triggered a glyph there once ,they learned to avoid the door.

The margoyles live in a state of per-petual conflict with the meazels to thesouth. Being outnumbered by the latter,they have become very cunning in orderto survive . Given their camouflageability and cunning, they surprise fiv etimes in six unless the PCs have someadvantage negating this. The margoylesfight fiercely, hoping to slay the PC sand escape east . This chamber is unre-markable, its only treasure a pile ofcoins (85 gp, 330 sp) hidden behind arock in the southeast corner.

Having lived upon scraps tossedthrough the door at area 12 by the cha-otic clerics, these monsters would relis ha meal of adventurers, and attack with-out question or thought .

14.Pool Chamber. Stalactites dripwater from the ceiling of this rock -strewn cavern. A hairline fault can b edetected in the chamber ceiling duringa careful check . The pool in the centerof the cavern (maximum depth 9' i ncenter) contains 15 small, sightless ,albino fish which are quite harmless .There is nothing of value here .

15.Skulk Chamber. This chambe rcontains the skeleton of a humanoidbody, covered in rusted chain mail an d

22 Issue No . 8

IN DEFENSE OF THE LAW

almost wholly rotted scraps of cloth ,lying by the middle of the south wall .The body bears a gold bracelet (value200 gp), a horseman 's flail, a rustedshield, and a split and rotten leathe rpouch which has spilled coins over th efloor (8 pp, 4 gp, 20 ep) .

By the entrance lurk the two crea-tures who did in this foolish adventurer .They were once two elderly retainers ofthe magician who dwelt in these cata-combs long ago . By virtue of their cow-ardly, embittered nature and residua lmagical effects, they have becom eskulks (AC 7; MV 12" ; HD 2 ; hp 10, 7 ;/#AT 1 ; Dmg by weapon type ; SA +4 tohit from behind for triple damage; SDcamouflage ; AL CE) .

The skulks will not attack a sizeabl ePC party but have a 50% chance tobackstab a PC who is not wearingmetallic armor if such a PC is at therear of the group as the adventurer sleave this area. They may try to settraps for fleeing or injured adventurers .

16.Rockfalls. At these points, rock -falls block the passages . These block-ages are of varying thickness (5-30 'each), and it should be obvious that themethod of ingress to the deeper levels o fthe catacombs is not to be found here .

17.Secret Door. This is only 4' wid eand 4 1/2' high. The corridor beyond is n ohigher.

18.Meazel Chamber. This chamberhas a ceiling height of 9' . Stretchedacross the entrance is a trip wire whic hthe two meazels (AC 8; MV 12" ; HD 4 ;hp 17, 16 ; NAT 2; Dmg 1-4/1-4 ; SAstrangulation ; SD 4th-level thief abili-ties ; AL CE) that lair here are wel laware of. They leap over this trap i frunning in retreat . Since the trip wireis only 12" off the ground, this leap isonly 50% likely to be noticed by anypursuing PC. The occupants havesharp hearing, and if the PCs walkpast the secret door the meazels ar e75% likely to hear them and emerge . I fthe meazels gain surprise, they areequally likely to try to rob a PC usin gtheir thief talents or to attempt astrangulation attack .

One of the meazels has a silver rin g(value 40 gp) and the other carries apouch with seven gems (value 10 g peach) and a small peridot (value 200gp) . A small borehole near the southwall of this chamber is a 3' diameter

tunnel leading 8' straight down to acrawlway, also of 3' diameter, whichdescends at a 25 ° angle to the south -west . PCs would have to be very foolis hto enter the hole ; if they do so, theywill meet almost certain death . Atintervals, small chambers open outabove the crawlway ; a meazel residesin each, ready to strangle any inquisi-tive explorers . The crawlway eventu-ally leads to a warren of meaze ltunnels (not shown on map) inhabitedby a total of 20 unusually socia lmeazels . The DM may map out andpopulate this area as desired .

Dungeon Level TwoIf Rhadesse escaped to level two andraised the alarm, she and the thre ejunior clerics on this level (rooms 21, 26 ,and 29) organize their defenses in andaround room 25, using the worgs ther eas physical protection while they deployspells to their best advantage . Lifarian ,the half-drow (area 26), seals off areas26-30 with wizard lock spells . One of thebugbear guards in area 19 is instructedto get word to the junior clerics whe nthe PCs attack this level . The junio rclerics cast defensive spells and wait i nambush . If the PCs do not attack them

DUNGEON 23

IN DEFENSE OF THE LAW

and the advantages of these spell pro-tections might be lost (spell expiratio nwith time), the junior clerics emerge ,with the worgs, to attack . They do notinform Haranian, Siobhana's second-in-command (area 34), of the PCs' presenc esince they all hate and fear him .

If the PCs enter area 23, theyencounter the NPC party that is alsoinvading the catacombs. If not, the D Mshould arrange for the NPCs to meetthe PCs after the PCs have met th ejunior clerics on this level but beforethey meet Haranian . If the PCs are inserious trouble in battle against th ejunior clerics (without having previous-ly encountered the NPCs) the DM can ,of course, send in the NPCs as a rescueparty. Should this happen, the juniorclerics focus their attacks on the NP Cparty so far as possible . However, if thePC party is greatly weakened, th eNPCs may attack them after overcom-ing the chaotic forces, which may leadto an unfortunate demise for the PC s(see individual NPC descriptions for th eNPCs ' reactions).

The steps leading down to this levelfrom level one descend 80' over a 270 'distance and are unlit . Metal armorclanking down the stairs can alert theguards to the PCs' presence .

19.Humanoid Guards . This largechamber contains only crude furnish-ings, spare clubs and weapons, and thepallet beds of four bugbears (AC 5 ; MV9" ; HD 3+1 ; hp 19, 17, 16, 14 ; #AT 1 ;Dmg 2-8 or by weapon type ; SA 50 %surprise ; AL CE; morning stars) . A hil lgiant (AC 4; MV 12" ; HD 8 1/4 ; hp 51 ;#AT 1; Dmg 2-16 ; SA hurl rocks (but no there, he doesn't!); SD 30% chance t ocatch large missiles ; AL CE) is used formoving heavy objects, and has assiste dthe clerics with locating and trainingthe worgs (area 25) . He also tyrannize sthe bugbear guards and keeps thatfractious rabble in terrified order. If th egiant is slain, any surviving bugbear ssurrender at once .

20.Giant's Lair. This chamber (ceil-ing height 18') contains: poor quality,lice-infested, animal-skin bedding ; twospare giant-size clubs ; two large potter yjugs (of water) on a plain-topped table ;and, a crude chest (unlocked an duntrapped) containing the giant's wage sand those which it has appropriate dfrom the bugbears (110 gp, 920 sp, 1,15 0cp). A badly mounted dwarfs head on a

wood plaque decorates the east wall .

21.Fallirani's Quarters . Haranian(see area 34) particularly dislikes thishalf-elf and has given him the unenvia-ble job of supervising the giant an dbugbears (room 19), who scorn him anddispute everything he says. Fallirani isdeeply embittered and would betrayHaranian at the drop of a hat ; he mighteven join the PCs, but he is completelyuntrustworthy. He will not, in anyevent, betray anyone else on this levelsave for Haranian and his bodyguard .His quarters are fastidiously decorated,with cotton covers on his bed along th enorthern half of the west wall, a silver -fox patchwork rug (value 500 gp), pol-ished table and chairs, silvered utensil s(value 150 gp), and the like .

Fallirani, half elf male : AC 1/4; MV9" ; C4/MU4 ; hp 21; #AT 1 ; Dmg by spel lor weapon type ; S 16, I 16, W 16, D 17 ,C 16, Ch 10 ; AL CE; chain mail, ring ofprotection +1, dagger +3, footman'sflail ; spells : cure light wounds (x 3),darkness, sanctuary, aid, hold perso n(x 3), magic missile (x 2), shield, detectinvisibility, invisibility . He has a potio nof levitation and a scroll with two spell s(at the 9th level of magic use) : Melt'sacid arrow and mirror image. Falliran iwears silk-lined robes (300 gp value), anamethyst and silver neck pendant (val-ue 400 gp), and a gold ring set with atourmaline (value 200 gp) .

22.Jackalweres. This bare chambersmells slightly musky (10% chance perPC of detecting this from outside) and i sunlit . The three jackalweres (AC 4 ;MV 12" ; HD 4 ; hp 27, 13 (x 2) ; #AT 1 ;Dmg 2-8; SA sleep gaze ; SD iron or + 1or better weapon to hit ; AL CE) thatlair here are important to the clerica lcult at certain religious rites, but areregarded as unpredictable and danger-ous, and will not be pressed into guardservice automatically. However, if thejunior clerics (rooms 21, 26, 29) ar ewarned by a bugbear (from area 19) o fthe PCs' entry into this level, they dis-patch that bugbear with instructions toopen the door to this chamber. The jack-alweres promptly put the bugbear tosleep and eat him, then prowl around i nthe east-west corridor outside this room.

23.Ghast Chamber. Along the eastand west walls are four tombs, open an dempty ; the undead forms of their formeroccupants guard this largely bare cham-

ber. Wall etchings and murals, mostl yfaded, bear a variety of sigils which th eoriginal catacomb inhabitants believedhastened the souls of the dead on theirjourney to the Outer Planes .

If the PCs are in combat with the fou rghasts (AC 4 ; MV 15" ; HD 4 ; hp 2 3(x 3), 11; #AT 3 ; Dmg 1-4/1-4/1-8 ; SAparalyzation, stench ; SD immune tosleep and charm spells ; AL CE) in thi schamber, the door leading to room 2 4bursts open after 2-5 rounds of combat ,and the NPC party (see individualdescriptions) enters the chamber, weap-ons at the ready. They spend one roundfiguring out what is going on, obviouslysurprised . They then aid the PCs with -out taking any unnecessary risks . Afterthe combat is over, they heal thei rwounds (assume that their fighters an dclerics are 10-50% down from maximumhit-point totals) and begin discussions .This is a good point for the PCs t o(guardedly) rest and recuperate .

24.Guard Chamber. This room con-tains four pallet beds and two plain-topped tables with chairs . The NPCparty has killed the guards here (fourbugbears and one junior cleric) . Thesecret door in the east wall was origi-nally trapped with a glyph of warding,but the passage out is now clear . It leadsup to a magically concealed exit on th enorth side of the foothills, 200' away.

25.Worgs . This large chamber ismostly bare except for two large statue sof huge wolves in the northeast an dnorthwest corners . The seven worgs(AC 6; MV 18" ; HD 4 +4 ; hp 28, 2 6(x 2), 25, 24 (x 2), 22 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg 2-8 ;AL NE) that lair here are large speci-mens and very aggressive, but theyhave been trained to respond to simpl ehand signals given by the cleric s(instructions such as "attack this crea-ture," "defend me against attack," andthe like) . The worgs are sacred toSiinkinara and are well treated by th eclerics ; they will fight to the last toprotect the clerics if so instructed .

The leader of the pack is a chaotic-evil, animal-form werewolf (AC 5; MV15" ; HD 4 + 3 ; hp 30 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg 2-8;SA surprise on 1-3 ; bite causes lycan-thropy ; SD silver or magical weapon tohit; AL CE), a savage creature thatattempts to engage any PC cleric inmelee .

Each of these eight creatures wears aleather collar with bronze studs and a

24 Issue No . 8

IN DEFENSE OF THE LAW

silver pendant with an etched sigil ; thependants are each worth 10 gp .

26. Lifarian's Chamber. This cham-ber is unlit and decorated with macabr ehumor. Outlandish self-parodyingscenes of triumphant evil are depicte don two wall tapestries (value 1 gp each )and three oil paintings hung on thewest wall (gilt frames worth a total of240 gp) . There are standard room fur-nishings: table, chairs, footstool, uten-sils on table, etc .

Lifarian, half-drow male : AC -1/2 ;MV 12" ; F7/C7/MU7 ; hp 50 ; #AT 3/2 ;Dmg by spell or weapon type; S 17, I 16 ,W 16, D 17, C 17, Ch 15 ; AL CE; drow-made elfin chain +3, long sword +2 ,dagger +2; spells : command, cure lightwounds (x 2), resist cold, sanctuary, aid,hold person, know alignment, resist fire ,silence 15' radius, dispel magic, prayer,spell immunity (cast against hold per-son), alarm, magic missile (x 2), shield,invisibility, Melt's acid arrow, wizardlock, lightning bolt, Melt's minute mete -ors, minor globe of invulnerability.Lifarian can fight with two weapons ,incurring no penalty on "to hit" roll swith the long sword and a -2 penaltywith the dagger. He has several magicalitems: a dart of the hornets' nest whichdivides into seven darts (each +3 to hit ,Dmg 1-3/1-2, can be used but once (non-magical afterward), XP Value 500, gpValue 4,000); potions of extra-healing(x 2) ; a wand ofnegation (11 charges) ;winged boots; and, a scroll of thre espells (at 8th level of magic use) : detectinvisibility, wizard eye, and wizard lock .

Lifarian is a cynical, ambitious half-elf who despises virtually everyone els ein Siinkinara 's cult but who has alliedhimself with the other junior clericsagainst Haranian, hoping that in tim ehe will rise to Haranian 's position . He i salso a distant relative of Xintilla, thedrow envoy (area 37) . It was he whoalerted the drow to the goings-on here ,hoping to acquire some credit in theeyes of powerful drow which might beuseful in the future. He is courageous ,but if seriously injured in combat hemay seek to escape to level three of th edungeon, taking refuge with Xintilla .

27. Lifarian's Lair. The door to thischamber (which is also unlit) is wizardlocked at the 7th level of ability. Thisbedroom contains a silk-covered be d(covers worth 300 gp), a wardrobe withspare clothes (robes, boots, belts, etc . ;

total value 500 gp), a small table wit hornaments (marble snails, conches ,three silver-banded crystal vials ofunholy water, and the like; total value300 gp), a commode, and a wizardlocked (7th level) coffer beneath the bed .

Three hematite plaques are set int othe top of the coffer (which is not physi-cally trapped) . Unless these plaques ar edepressed in the correct order (right t oleft), the coffer, when touched, simpl ydisappears into the Ethereal Plane ,reappearing 24 hours later. The spellbooks of both Lifarian and Fallirani ar enormally kept in this coffer, but a care -fully worded limited wish ensures thatPCs will not be able to obtain them. Thespell causes the books to disappear intothe Ethereal Plane for 24 hours if any-one other than Lifarian opens the coffer.The other items in the coffer are bag scontaining 150 pp, 350 gp and 550 sp ,and a casket containing two gold ring swith diverse gem settings (values 70 0gp, 650 gp) . Clarissa's treasures (area30) are within this coffer if the juniorclerics here received warning of th ePCs ' incursions from guards on the firs tdungeon level .

28. Lounge . This cozy room is used byall the junior clerics on this level . Com-fortable chairs and a table bearing fin esilver utensils, two silvered crystaldecanters (total value 650 gp), a chais elounge, and scatter cushions decorat ethis chamber. The southern door i swizard locked (7th level) .

29. Clarissa 's Chamber. Althoughthis room contains standard furnishings(including a bearskin rug worth 240 gp) ,a great copper bowl filled with waterand set on a stout table dominates th echamber. The bowl is surrounded by 1 2crystal vials (value 40 gp each) an dbundles of herbs, two blocks of incense ,an oil burner, an unholy symbol o fSiinkinara, and similar implements .Clarissa has been engaged in the manu-facture of unholy water for the demon -summoning ceremony.

Clarissa, human female : AC 1/4 ; MV12" ; C6; hp 38 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg by spell orweapon type ; S 16, I 11, W 16, D 15, C16, Ch 11 ; AL CE ; chain mail +1 ,shield +2, hammer +1, quarterstaff;spells : bless, curse, darkness, cause fear,protection from good, aid, hold person,resist fire, silence 15' radius, spiritua lhammer, continual darkness, dispe lmagic. She possesses a scroll of protec-

tion from electricity, and a second scrol lwith two spells (at 8th level of magicuse): animate dead and spell immunity(which she will cast against a magi cmissile spell). She wears a silver tiar aset with moonstones (value 1,200 gp),silver earrings (value 40 gp), and match-ing silver bracelets (value 100 gp each) .

30. Clarissa's Bedchamber. Thi sroom holds a notably luxurious bed wit hsilk and fur covers (total value 1,100gp), a wardrobe with robes, blouses, etc . ,of silk and cotton (total value 400 gp), atable with crystal vials and jars o funguents and perfumes (total value 30 0gp), and a casket containing five diverseminor jewelry items (values 200 gp(x 3), 300 gp, 450 gp). Finally, there is awall-mounted (and very heavy) mirrorwith silver filigree edging (300 gp val-ue). If there is time, Clarissa may mov ethe more portable items of treasure toLifarian 's lair (see room 27).

31. Great Chamber. The ceilingheight in this room is 20', so echoes areespecially loud here . Two great stonepillars, with sculptured wolves andwolverines upon them, support the roof.Wall and floor mosaics show scenes ofSiinkinara's clerics commanding legion sof snarling wild beasts and groups o fundead, pouring down hillsides towardhuman settlements . The two room slocated through the east and west arch -ways contain undead attendants whic hadvance and attack any who enter, sav efor clerics of Siinkinara or character saccompanied by same .

Six ghouls (AC 6 ; MV 9" ; HD 2; hp 1 2(x 2), 9 (x 2), 7 (x 2); #AT 3 ; Dmg 1-3/1-3/1-6 ; SA paralyzation ; SD immune to sleepand charm spells; AL CE) hide in roo m31A, and four ghasts (AC4 ; MV 15" ; Hd4 ; hp 27, 15, 13, 9 ; #AT 3 ; Dmg 1-4/14/1-8 ;SA paralyzation, stench ; SD immune tosleep and charm spells ; AL CE) lurk in31B, eager for warm, living prey .

The height of the archways is 8', an dthe ceiling is 12' high in the side cham-bers. The main chamber is dimly lit bytwo small lamps burning along th enorth wall, but two great oil-burningbraziers stand against each of the eastand west walls to either side of th earchways, with four vials of oil and si xtorches on wall shelves beside eachbrazier.

32. Bodyguard . This antechamber i smostly bare, containing but two chairs

DUNGEON 25

IN DEFENSE OF THE LAW

and a table located before the northdoor. It is occupied by Shirek, Hara-nian's brutal bodyguard, a massive an dvicious half-orc mercenary. He is pai dwell and is sometimes allowed to exe-cute sacrificial victims, so he is happ ywith his lot . Shirek has a special hatredof elves and half-elves which feeds thejunior clerics ' hatred of Haranian .Shirek will, if possible, focus meleeattacks on elf and half-elf PCs . Thesound of combat in area 31 alerts him,and he in turn alerts Haranian (area 34 )who casts suitable defensive andinformation-gathering spells before thetwo come out to attack . The half-or cuses his oil of sharpness on his sword sin preparation for battle .

Shirek, half-orc male : AC -1/1 ; MV6" ; F7 ; hp 80 ; NAT 3/2 ; Dmg by weapontype; S 18/70, I 8, W 8, D 16, C 18, Ch 7 ;AL NE; full plate armor, bastard sword ,two-handed sword, oil of sharpness + 3(2 doses) . Shirek prefers the bastardsword for its speed against small andmedium targets . He possesses a periaptof proof against poison +2 and a scrollofprotection from paralyzation, whichhe reads immediately before engagingin combat .

33.Shirek's Chamber. This smallbedroom contains a pallet bed; a tabl ewith pottery vessels, pewter tankard sand utensils ; a medium-sized firkin ofdreadful ale ; and, a coffer (with a poiso nneedle ; save vs . poison or die) contain-ing Shirek's accumulated wages (120gp, 550 sp, 400 cp).

34.Haranian's Quarters . Decoratedwith an opulence exceeded only by itstastelessness, this lurid room is posi-tively repellent. Hanging above Hara-nian's silk-and-fur-covered bed (value o fcovers 900 gp) in the northeast corne rare two silver statuettes of succubi ,affixed to the walls by silver chains(value 300 gp each). A badly stuffe dbear stands holding a pewter tray ofpottery fruit in the northwest corner,and the southwest corner contains amarble bust of the occupant (absurdl yflattering) . Close by the bed is a ward -robe housing a collection of very brigh tfabrics and clothes, most of which aretoo tight to fit Haranian's gross framenow (total value 700 gp). Shelves andtables bear other tasteless ornamenta-tion (skull paperweight, waste basketfashioned from a humanoid rib-cage ,etc .). After some searching, silver uten-

sils, filigree-decorated quills, and th elike can be gathered (total value 300gp) . There is no chest or coffer ; Hara-nian keeps his treasure on his person inthe form of jewelry.

Haranian, human male : AC -3/-1 ;MV 9" ; C9 ; hp 70; NAT 1 ; Dmg by spel lor weapon type ; S 18, I 9, W 16, D 16, C17, Ch 12 ; AL CE; full plate armor +1 ,ring of protection +1, footman 's mace+1; spells : bless, command, detect good,detect magic, cause fear, resist cold,detect charm, detect life, hold person ,resist fire, silence 15' radius, withdraw,animate dead, continual darkness, dis-pel magic, detect lie, poison, flame strike.He possesses a ring of mind shielding,three beads of force, one potion each ofextra-healing and invisibility, and ascroll of three spells (at 9th level o fmagic use): dispel good, protection fro mgood, and true seeing. He wears a hugegold neckchain (value 1,200 gp), thre egold rings with diverse gem settings(values 715 gp, 450 gp, 400 gp), a soli dplatinum bracelet (value 240 gp), and abelt pouch with eight assorted gems(values 500 gp (x 2), 100 gp (x 5), 50 gp) .

Haranian is large (6'3", 245 lbs .) andis an arrogant bully. He is the perfectsecond-in-command for Siobhana (leve lthree) — too dumb to ask awkwardquestions or be a threat to her, butstrong enough to keep his place an dbully subordinates into submission . IfHaranian cannot reach level three an draise the alarm, he will fight to thedeath here — and will probably enjoy it .

Dungeon Level Three

This level is dangerous indeed . Thereare two powerful enemies here, and onthe day of the new moon there will be athird — a summoned demon. If Lifarianescaped to this level from level two ,Siobhana will summon the demon Ki -Baaz, on the morning of the game dayafter Lifarian's retreat, even if this dayis not the day of the new moon . Threat-ened by the attack of a strong PC party ,Siobhana has no other choice.

If Lifarian did not escape from leve ltwo, the DM may wish to delay the PC suntil the day of the new moon . Some (oreven all) of the NPC party membersmay decide that they can risk attackingthe PCs . Keep in mind that Xavandra,the NPC magic-user, and Eldoriel, th eNPC thief, have high regard for thei rpersonal safety, and that Suzerean, th eNPC cleric, wishes to overcome the

chaotics above everything else . It i slikely that if any serious damage i ssuffered by members of the NPC party ,there may be defections from theirranks or a determined attempt at peace -making by Suzerean . Combat with theNPC party might not decimate the PCs ,but it can be used to delay them and se tthem up for further bargaining, role -playing, and ultimatums .

It may be that the PCs have alreadydealt with the NPC party by expellin gthe evil adventurers or forcing them t oleave, and may have recruited one o rboth of the neutral NPCs . If this hashappened, Suzerean the cleric suggestswaiting until the day of the new moonto attack the third dungeon level . Sh ecautions that if the problem is to b edealt with finally, it may well be thatthe demon will have to be encountere dand overcome, and that any othercourse of action may only delay thechaotics . She will, of course, stress tha tresting for a time will permit physica lrecovery, the casting of information -gathering spells, and so on .

If the PCs, with some help from theNPC party, attack level three before th edemon arrives, the final combat maynot be terribly difficult for them . Hence ,greater enjoyment of a closer combatmay be had if the demon is present .However, if the occupants of level thre ehave not been warned of an invadin gforce and the PCs have made very goo dtime, the DM should allow them toenjoy their good fortune .

Alternatively, it is possible that th ePCs have been so slow that the night ofthe new moon passes before they reachlevel three . If this happens, the demonand Xintilla the drow have departed, ashas Siobhana (in gaseous form, hertreasure buried somewhere outside).Only the mindless undead guardsremain (together with any lucklessrefugees from level two). The Orb ofLaw has been destroyed (see area 43) ,and the PCs' mission has failed .

The steps leading down to this levelfrom level two descend 40' over a 160 'distance, but the guards in area 35 donot respond to armor clanking dow nthem or to any other noise ; they onlyrespond to entry into room 35 .

35.Monster Zombies . In this barechamber, four monster (bugbear) zom-bies stand guard (AC 6 ; MV 9" ; HD 6 ;hp 30, 29, 28, 25 ; NAT 1 ; Dmg 4-16; SDlimited spell immunity, half damag e

26 Issue No. 8

IN DEFENSE OF THE LAW

DUNGEON LEVEL 3

1 square = 10'

44

from blunt weapons; AL N) . They werecreated by Siobhana with her animat edead monsters spell . One zombie hold sthe rope of a great brass bell fixed to theceiling. In the event that anyone otherthan a cleric of Siinkinara (or accompa-nied by same) enters from the east door,the monster zombie at once rings th ebell . If the occupants of this level havebeen warned of the PCs' presence, thezombie rings the bell if anyone enters .

The noise made by the bell is deafen-ing. All within 150' can hear it, andanyone present within the chambe rwhen it is rung must save vs . spells o rbe unable to cast spells for 2-5 rounds .The zombie rings the bell for just on eround, then joins its fellows in mindless-ly attacking the intruders. The rope canbe severed if it receives 10 hp damage ,causing the bell to drop on the zombi eand destroy it .

36.Troll Guard . This room is undec-orated and malodorous, dark, and utter-ly filthy. The huge troll (AC 4; MV 12" ;HD 6+6; hp 40 ; NAT 3 ; Dmg 5-8/5-8/2 -12 ; SA attacks multiple opponents ; SDregeneration; AL CE) that lives herewas captured in the hills by the hil lgiant and bugbears (level two), whowere able to beat him unconscious andbind him. Siobhana decided not to sacri-fice the troll by fire but to use it as anextra guard .

The very few visitors here are usuallyshown to Siobhana's quarters (room 41 )by the troll, who gives them meaningfu lglances as it licks its lips en route.Siobhana has found that this intimida-tion helps her to get what she wants innegotiations. Xintilla the drow repre-sentative, for one, was intimidated b ythe huge humanoid . The troll is give ntreasure (and an occasional bugbear) tokeep it happy, and — being smarte rthan the average troll — it accepts it slot . It attacks at once upon hearing th esound of combat from area 35, but i freduced to 8 hp or less, it attempts toflee east up the stairs to level two andthe outside world beyond .

Among the filth on the floor can befound 145 gp, 420 sp, 760 cp, and twogems (values 200 gp, 100 gp). There isalso a gold bracelet (worth 160 gp )around the wrist of a partially eatenbugbear.

37.Drow Envoy. Xintilla has beenhere only a week. He is an old acquaint-ance of Siobhana (room 41) and was

warned of what was going on here b yLifarian (room 26). He is here as anunofficial representative of the drow ,who are not displeased with the activi-ties of Siobhana 's group but want moreinformation . He and Siobhana ar efriendly but a little wary of each other.

Xintilla 's chamber is modestly fur-nished with a cotton-covered bed, awardrobe holding spare garments, atable and chairs, two cotton wall -hangings depicting desolate landscapes ,and the like . Minor ornamentation andsilver utensils (total value 200 gp) ca nbe garnered after searching .

Xintilla, drow male : AC -3/1; MV12" ; F6/MU11 ; hp 38 ; NAT 1 ; Dmg byspell or weapon type; S 11, I 17, W 9, D18, C 15, Ch 10 ; AL CE; drow-madechain mail +4, short sword +3, twojavelins +3; spells : charm person,grease, magic missile, read magic, con-tinual darkness, detect invisibility, invis-ibility, stinking cloud, dispel magic, fly,phantasmal force, protection from nor-mal missiles, ice storm, minor globe ofinvulnerability, wall of fire, feeblemind,hold monster, teleport . The two javelins+3 are tipped with paralyzing venom(save vs . poison at -1 negates effects)

that lasts for 3-30 rounds.Xintilla has a ring ofshocking grasp

(7-14 hp damage by touch), a wand ofmagic missiles (10 charges), and twoscrolls (at 11th level of magic use) . Thefirst contains Melt's minute meteors andsepia snake sigil; the second has teleportand detect illusion . His pack holds twosmall traveling spell books which con-tain all of his listed spells plus 2-8 oth-ers (randomly chosen) . Xintilla wears afine platinum and opal neckchain (value3,000 gp), a gold and sapphire ring(value 4,000 gp), and fine silk robeswith silver embroidery (value 1,600 gp).In one belt pouch, he has five gems (100gp each) and a silver ring with a smal ldiamond (value 2,100 gp) ; in a secondpouch he has four small vials of analkaloid drug (colorless and odorless )which causes nausea (half norma lstrength for 5-8 hours) if ingested b yanyone not habituated to the drug'seffects . Xintilla is addicted to this drug .It has affected his metabolism so tha this magic resistance is only half normal(now 25%). The drug will affect him i nworse ways in time, but this is its onl yeffect to date .

If Xintilla is warned or hears th e

DUNGEON 27

IN DEFENSE OF THE LAW

sound of the bell from room 35, he fleesat once to room 43, alerting Siobhana(room 41) en route . If trapped withinthis chamber, he will teleport to area 43(which he has studied very closely) .

38. Great Chapel . This chamber isvast and forbidding, with a ceilingheight of 30' . Wall frescoes and murals ,tapestries and hangings portray scenesof chaos in nature : volcanoes, tidalwaves, savage electrical storms, herdsof marauding wild beasts . A massivealtar set before the east wall i sengraved with similar scenes and moreabstract sigils and arabesques . Twohuge altar cloths, two massive silverchalices (nonmagical and harmless ,worth 1,500 gp each but very heavy) fullof unholy water, bronze candlesticks ,and a range of ceremonial candles deco-rate the altar. A row of 12 black cottonrobes (six with silk linings, worth 200gp each) hang on pegs along the southwall . Large pews are arranged at irreg-ular intervals to face the altar. Evi lthough this place is, it is simply to b eused in preparation for the rituals need-ed to destroy the Orb ofLaw. A success-ful exorcism effectively destroys theusefulness of this place to evil forces for2-8 weeks, or a wish can be used toremove all evil influence .

39. Secret Chamber. The secret doorbears a glyph of warding that inflicts 2 0hp cold damage on anyone opening thedoor (save vs . spells for half damage).The 10'-square cubicle behind the doorholds a coffin whose bottom contains alayer of earth. This is one of Siobhana' scoffins (see also areas numbered 40) .This coffin contains some of Siobhana 'snonmagical treasures : a silver tiara se twith bloodstones (value 2,000 gp), a sil kchoker with a silver and citrine pendan t(value 570 gp), two silver bracelets wit hspinel and sapphire inlays (values 1,700gp each), and an opal and gold rin g(worth 4,000 gp) .

40. Vampire Coffins. Each of thes esmall rooms is identical, barren of al ltreasure and possessions except for asingle large coffin placed in the cente rof each room. The doorways have bee nlocked and barred from the inside ,requiring a bend bars/lift gates roll t obreak down (one attempt only per PC) ,but a small hole 1 " in diameter wasdrilled through the top of each doorway— through which Siobhana, in gaseous

form, could travel in an emergency.Siobhana will use these rooms as neces-sary if attacked and unable to escape inany other manner.

41. Siobhana's Chamber. This roomcontains standard furnishings and fit-tings but is only very dimly lit . Thewall hangings are of unusually finequality (value 900 gp, but bulky). Thereis no bed and no mirror. A bearskin rug(worth 200 gp) and a patchwork quilt ofgreat cat furs (value 700 gp) lend an ai rof barbaric splendor to the room . Thereis a collection of silver and crystal gob -lets (eight pieces, total value 1,000 gp )on a silver tray (value 120 gp), and a(nonmagical) crystal ball on a silverbase, held by silver claws with tigerey eand topaz settings (value 1,200 gp).

Siobhana (pronounced shu-vah-nuh) ,female vampire : AC -1 ; MV 12"/18" ;C10; HD 8+3 ; hp 50 ; NAT 1 ; Dmg 5-10or by weapon or spell type ; SA energydrain, charm gaze; SD magical weapo nto hit ; immune to sleep, charm, holdspells, poison and paralyzation ; halfdamage from cold and electricity ; savesas 10th-level cleric ; W 18, D 17 forsaving-throw purposes ; AL CE ; cloak ofdisplacement; spells : darkness (x 4) ,detect good, detect magic, hold perso n(x 2), know alignment, silence 15' radiu s(x 2), withdraw, animate dead, contin-ual darkness, dispel magic, glyph ofwarding, detect lie, cloak of fear, poison,protection from good 10' radius, animatedead monsters, slay living.

Siobhana possesses three scrolls o fspells (all at 10th level of magic use) .Scroll 1 has continual darkness (X 2) .Scroll 2 has dispel good and true seeing.Scroll 3 has flame strike and magic font .For scrying purposes with the magicfont spell, assume that Siobhana i sfamiliar with all areas occupied by herclerics . She wears fine, flowing violetrobes of silk with ermine trim (valu e2,000 gp) and magnificent silver an dmoonstone necklace, earrings, andbracelets (total value 4,000 gp) .

Siobhana is the commander of theentire catacombs and is a ruthless ,ingenious, and fast-thinking enemy. Shewill most certainly fight until destroye dand will make her last stand in area 43with the guards (and Xintilla and Ki -Baaz, if summoned) . For her tactics incombat, see area 43 .

42. Antechamber. Attached to thedoor inside this room are two ropes

connected to huge bells . Any creatur eentering automatically announces itspresence. This "doorbell" is not a trapand cannot be detected by a find trapsspell or a thief's find traps skill .

This chamber is quite bare, save for atrestle table along the east wall ,although wall and floor mosaics ofabstract design cover every flat surface .

43. Chamber of the Orb . This vastchamber has a ceiling height of 35' andhas been cunningly constructed . Thegreat landing area at the south end ofthe chamber is 20' above ground level ,and the only ways to reach it are byusing the stairs or by a spell such as fly(a thief using his climb walls ability isin for a nasty surprise — see below).Two great, hemispherical, marble pil-lars stand in the middle of the southwall, each 5' wide and set into the wall .There is a 10' gap between them . Thepillars are carved with many runes an dsigils of an extinct chaotic cult .

Between the pillars, motionless inmid-air, floats a bronze sphere abou t10 " in diameter. This is the Orb ofLaw(see description at end of module), and itis protected by a wall offorce thatstretches between the pillars and can-not be dispelled (by the PCs, at anyrate) . Both the wall of force and the Orbcan be assumed to be immune to magi -cal damage in the context of PC 'sactions here (except for obvious spellslike disintegrate) .

The defense of this chamber has beencarefully planned . At the bottom of each10'-wide staircase stands a monster(bugbear) zombie guard (see room 35 forstatistics), able to block the bottom of thestairs . If Xintilla is here, he uses hisgrease spell to make running up one se tof stairs (determine randomly) extremelyhazardous. Further, the entire shadedarea of the main ground section (seeDungeon Level 3 map) is a covered pit ,20' deep and filled with spikes . Anyonefalling into the pit takes 3-18 hp fallin gdamage and is impaled on 0-5 (ld6 -1)spikes, each of which inflicts a further 1 -4 hp damage . If a character is impaledon four or more spikes, he is unable t oescape without aid . Since the main illu-mination in this chamber comes fromtwo large, oil-burning lamps at the top o fthe stairs, the shadows cast by the pro-jecting landing area make it difficult tosee the covered pit for what it is (hal fnormal scores for nonmagical trap detec -tion abilities) .

28 Issue No . 8

IN DEFENSE OF THE LAW

If mechanical means, a thief usingclimb walls, or a PC with gauntlets o fswimming and climbing, are used toclimb the 20' sheer face of the projectinglanding area, an unpleasant surprise i sin store . As soon as the wall is touched,the stones immediately below those atthe top of the wall project outwards ,expelling an organic acid which showersover all below and within 5' of the wall ,causing 1-6 hp damage per round andmaking the wall slippery and unclimb-able . The acid gushes forth for one tur nafter the trap is activated, but does notadhere to characters after a round o fcontact if they move away from the areainto which acid is pouring .

There is a further mechanical protect-ive device here . At the points on th emap marked by arrows, there are cylin-drical holes in the stones at the top o fthe wall . When the lever at the pointmarked X is pulled, a spear is shot fro meach hole, striking as a 6 HD monsterfor 1-8 hp damage . Each spear wil lstrike medium-size characters in its lin eof flight within 15' of the northern wal lof the chamber. After discharging si xspears, the lever must be pulled agai nin the following round to recharge the

device, so that the effective fire rate is avolley of six spears once per two rounds .After firing a total of 18 spears, ther eare none remaining in the device . Athird monster zombie mindlessly oper-ates the lever until commanded to stopby one of the chaotics .

If the demon has been summoned, h eis within this chamber. The demon is aterrifying opponent : a marquis cambion .

Ki-Baaz, marquis cambion withabilities of a 14th-level cleric : AC -2 ;MV 15" ; C14 ; HD 14 ; hp 96; #AT 2 ;Dmg by spell or weapon type ; S 18(97), I17, W 17, D 18, C 17, Ch 16 ; SA caus efear; SD polymorph self, AL CE ; bastardsword +2; spells : curse, darkness (x 3),detect good, penetrate disguise, protec-tion from good, sanctuary, aid, hol dperson (x 5), know alignment, silence 15 'radius, animate dead, continual dark-ness (x 2), dispel magic (x 2), praye r(x 2), cloak of fear, cure serious wounds ,poison (x 2), spell immunity (castagainst magic missiles), dispel good ,flame strike, true seeing, harm, heal .

Ki-Baaz carries a large silver andbone scroll holder set with gems (tota lvalue 3,000 gp) which contains a scrol lwith the lengthy and complex recitation

necessary for the destruction of the Orb.The demon also carries pouches of mate-rial components to aid in working th espell : vials of spectre dust, opaqu eichors, etc .) . He wears a resplendentplatinum neckchain with a diamon dpendant (value 6,300 gp) and gold brac-ers set with jaspers and citrines (tota lvalue 2,250 gp), as befits his positio nwithin the demonic hierarchy.

The chaotic forces (Siobhana, Xintilla ,and possibly Ki-Baaz and Lifarian) wil lbe spread out across the landing are awhen the PCs arrive . The monster zom-bie atop the landing will be commandedto pull the lever to activate the speartrap. The DM will need to keep a care-ful check on which preparatory defen-sive and information-gathering spellshave been cast by the chaotics ; time -keeping is crucial for this combat .

The chaotics are smart ; they fire off abarrage of their more powerful spellsinitially, attacking any obvious spell -casters among their enemies and dis-rupting the concentration of clericsattempting to turn the monster zom-bies . They then keep back one or two oftheir most powerful spells for late rmagical combat, partly for self-

DUNGEON 29

IN DEFENSE OF THE LAW

protection and partly to attempt to dup etheir enemies into believing that their"bolt has been shot "

However, not all the chaotics willfight to the death. Ki-Baaz wishes toavoid the ignominy of being destroyedon the Prime Material Plane at al lcosts . If reduced to 15 hp or below, heattempts to teleport back to the Abyss .Xintilla, likewise, attempts to teleportback to his lair within the realms of th edrow (thus playing no further part inthis adventure) if reduced to 10 hp orbelow. Lifarian fights to the death ifSiobhana is still alive, but if she i skilled, he seeks any possible opportuni-ty for escape and may even surrender.And, even though Siobhana will fight t othe end, she is no fool . If reduced to alow hit-point total, she tries to escape ingaseous form, reforming to summon ratsand bats to cover her retreat, thenregenerating and returning to the fray.

This combat is very challenging . Ifthree or four opponents are involved(especially if the demon is present), it ispossible that one or more PCs mayperish despite good or at least reason-able play. If this is the case, you maywish to consider adding to the magicaltreasure in area 44 some means ofrestoring those characters — a scrol lwith a raise dead spell, or even a ring ofone wish if a character cannot be raised .This should not be done if PCs hav eperished because of poor play, inade-quate precautions, etc .

It may be that, after an initial roundor two of combat here, a number ofunlucky dice rolls leave the PC party i nserious difficulties and they decide t oflee . If they flee, the chaotics pursuethem but not to attack (unless the PCsturn to fight as they retreat) . The cha-otics simply chase them out of thedungeon and ensure that the PCs fle ewell away from the locale . The chaoticsthen return to the dungeon to get onwith their work.

44. Concealed Treasure. The secretdoor under the west staircase opens acubic alcove in which Siobhana hasstored treasure . The door is protected bya glyph of warding (20 hp cold damage ,save vs . spells for half damage) .

The cubicle contains a locked chestthat shocks the first person touching i tfor 4-40 hp damage ; the next one totouch it gets 2-20 hp, then no damage atall . Inside the chest are the followin gitems: a sack with 2,200 gp ; a bag of 480

pp ; a diamond-and-silver brooch (valu e6,500 gp) ; a casket containing two se ahorses sculpted in jade (1,000 gp each) ; ablack wooden mace with platinum band-ing and moonstone settings (radiate sevil faintly but is harmless, value 60 0gp); and, a set of silver scales used forweighing material components forspells (but the scales are so accurat ethat an alchemist would pay 1,200 gpfor the set) .

A secret bottom in the chest hides aspectacular gold-and-platinum chain se twith emeralds (value 24,000 gp). Bu tthis item is cursed so that the first per-son to touch it must save vs . spells at —4 or lose 1-4 points from his primeattribute score. If the character has nosuch score, or more than one, determinerandomly which ability is affected .Remove curse cast upon the item or thevictim (as against 14th level of magicuse) negates the effect . If cast on a char-acter, only one such application of th espell may be attempted. If the first spel lfails, only a full wish or an alter realityspell can undo the baneful effect . Dispelmagic may affect only the item, but thespell is weaker than remove curse. Incasting it against the 14th level of mag-ic use, the spell-caster should be treate das three levels lower than actual level .Any individual spell-caster mayattempt the use of dispel magic onlyonce ; subsequent attempts automati -cally fail .

Concluding the Adventur eIf the PCs have been successful and

overcome the chaotic forces, they maynonetheless wonder whether the yshould do something about the Orb . Ifthey are concerned about this, you ma ywish to have the Orb communicateusing empathy with a lawful character(lawful-neutral preferred) . The Or brelates that, with the decimation of th echaotic clerics, its safety is secured an dthere is nothing more the PCs need do .

When the successful PCs return toRanaan, the townsfolk and Maralan aredelighted at their efforts and hold afeast night for them. Maralan offers th emayor's mace as reward . If the PC sdecline the mace (after all, they mayhave taken a fair amount of treasur efrom the dungeon, and it is obvious thatRanaan is not a rich community), awardthem the experience point value of themace as monetary treasure, with abonus if such behavior fits with align-

ment, personality, or convictions (good -aligned PCs might well wish not to takethe mace, and a lawful-neutral charac-ter might feel it wrong to take a symbo lof authority as reward, for example) .

If the PCs are defeated, they may beforced to retreat and be unable to pre -vent the chaotic forces from destroyin gthe Orb. If this happens, the PCs willnot, of course, receive the mayor ' s maceas reward for their efforts, and whil eMaralan and the townspeople than kthem for doing what they could (shouldthe PCs return to Ranaan), they are coo ltoward the PCs unless it is clear thatthe adventurers have suffered seriou slosses in attempting to overcome thechaotics . Maralan expresses fears forthe future, and states his intention oftraveling himself to recruit furthe rhelp. It is understood that the PC sshould travel on their way before long .

You may wish to use this adventure asa springboard for setting up others i fthis suits your campaign. For example ,if Xintilla the drow escaped, it is possi-ble that informed drow might investi-gate the catacombs with an explorator yforce at some later time .

If the party has fought Ki-Baaz and h ewas forced to flee, his hurt pride canmake him a dangerous nemesis for anyPC group. He has powerful friends an dseveral vassals . Even if the demon ha sbeen slain, you may wish to considerthat he has only been destroyed i nmaterial form . Although only demons ofType V status or higher are able toreturn to the Abyss after such a fat eand reform a material body on thePrime Material at a later time, Ki -Baaz's powers are great. He is as formi-dable an opponent as a Type V demon ,so you may wish to consider the possi-bility of his return . Of course, unde rsuch circumstances, he will certainlywish to exact full revenge for his defeat .

Finally, if members of the NPC partyhave been expelled by the PCs, over -come in combat and forced to flee, etc. ,they too may seek revenge. They mighttry to ambush a weakened PC party a sit emerges from the catacombs, or the ymay seek to gain allies from other com-munities in your campaign to persecut ethe PCs .

And if the PCs wish to borrow or stea lthe Orb . . . they are fooling with powersgreater than they, and the gods them-selves might become interested — per-haps the worst fate of all, if properl yhandled .

30 Issue No . 8

IN DEFENSE OF THE LAW

The Orb of Law

The powers of the Orb of Law are usabl eonly by a lawfully aligned creature ,with an intelligence of 9 or higher, whograsps the Orb. Any chaotic creaturetouching the Orb sustains 6-36 hp col ddamage and is paralyzed for 6-36 rounds(no saving throw, no magic resistance) .Neutral creatures take half damage andhalf-duration paralysis from touchingthe Orb (no saving throw, as above).

A lawfully aligned wielder of theOrb has an effective charisma of 1 8when dealing with lawful creatures an dreceives the benefits of a -2 armorclass bonus and a +2 bonus to all sav-ing throws against attacks from chaoticopponents .

No creature native to the OuterPlanes of chaotic alignments (Olympus ,Limbo, the Abyss, etc .) can approach

within 10' of the Orb-wielder. No savingthrow is granted here, but magic resist-ance does apply if the creature is atleast a greater demon or of equivalen tstatus. Check magic resistance against18th-level magic use for the Orb.

The Orb-wielder may attempt to dis-pel any elemental within 60', up to amaximum of four elementals per day.The elemental is permitted a savingthrow vs . wands to avoid returning atonce to its native plane . Only one suchattempted dispelling is possible for anyindividual elemental . It is this power,magnified and extended by specialenchantments placed around the Orb,which makes this artifact so potent aprotective device .

The following powers are available tothe Orb-wielder (once per day each, oneper round) : beguiling and rulership (asthe rods, effective on nonchaotic crea -

tures only), and fear and paralyzation(as the wands, effective on chaotic crea-tures only ; save at -2 against theseeffects).

The Orb can communicate by empathywithin a 60'-range, but only with law-fully aligned creatures .

The Orb also possesses undefinedpowers which allow it to counteract th eforces of Chaos in all its forms. Ratherthan specify what these powers are, th eDM should be prepared to improvise thei ruse and appearance, as appropriate with -in the campaign . For instance, a PC hold-ing the Orb in the direction of achaotic-evil wizard might suddenly seethe wizard struck by a burst of magicmissiles, or see the powers of one of thewizard's favorite evil devices neutralized .This "undefined" power is what protectsthe local region from the chaotic banesplaced underground .

Catacombs Random Encounters Table

1d20 Monster AC MV HD hp #AT Dmg SA

1 Ettin 3 12" 10 62 2 2-16/3-18 Non e2 Ghouls (8) 6 9" 2 11 (x4), 3 1-3/1-3/1-6 Paralyzation

9(x4)3 Gray Oozes (2) 8 1" 3+3 22, 15 1 2-16 Corrosion

4 Subterranean Lizard 5 12" 6 19, 34 1 2-12 Double dmg. on 2 05 Ogres (8) 5 9" 4+1 14(x3),19 1 1-10 or by Non e

(x3),20(x2) weapon6 Roper 0 3" 10 44 1 5-20 Poison strands

7 Ochre Jellies (2) 8 3" 6 37, 27 1 3-12 None8 Shadows (7) 7 12" 3+3 21,16(x3), 1 2-5 Strength drai n

18(x3 )

9 Troll 4 12" 6+6 44 3 5-8/5-8/ 2-12 3 opponents at onc e

10 Umber Hulk 2 6" 8+8 47 3 3-12/3-12/2-10 Confusion gaz e11 Xorn -2 7+7 42 4 1-3 (x 3)/6-24 Surprise 5 in 6

12 Grell 4 12" 5 22 11 1-6/1-4 (x 10) Paralyzatio n13 Sons of Kyuss (2) 10 9" 4 27, 16 1 1-8 Disease, worm s

14 Gibbering Mouther 1 3"/6" 4+3 26 6 + 1 (x 6) plu s1/round

Spit, confusion

15 Mustard Jelly 4 9" 7 + 14 45 1 or 2 5-20 or 2-8/2-8 Toxic gas slows ,divides in two

16 Margoyles (2) 2 6"/12" 6 21, 36 4 1-6/1-6/2-8/2-8 80% surpris e

17 Giant Pedipalp 2 6" 4+4 20 3 1-8/1-8/2-8 Toxic gas, grip18 Rock Reptiles

(2) 3 6" 5+6 21, 32 1 7-10 Surprise on 1- 319 Storoper 0 1" 6 30 1 1-10 6 poison strands

20 Tunnel Worm 4 6" 9+3 40 1 2-16 +2 to hit on lunge,eats armor

SD

AL

Surprised only on 1 C ESleep, charm CEimmunit yHeat, cold, spell

Nimmunitie sNone

NNone

CE

Immune to electricity, C Ehalf damage from col dLightning immunity NSleep, charm, hold

CEimmunity ; magic tohit ; camouflag eRegeneration ; fire or CEacid to kil lNone

CEImmune to cold, fire ; Nelectricity causes halfor no damage ; phaseexi tLightning immunity NERegeneration ; fire, CEacid, holy water tokill ; fear to 30 'Controls ground

Ndensity 5' radiusMagic to hit ; magic Nmissile and electricitycause growthCamouflage ; magic to CEhitNone NChameleon powers NImmune to normal C EmissilesNone

N

DUNGEON 3 1

IN DEFENSE OF THE LAW

N PC PartyManstrin7th-level fighterHuman mal e

AC: -1/1 (plate mail +1, large shield)MV: 9 "hp: 63S : 17I : 9 (speaks Common, orcish, lawful -

evil)W: 9D: 16C: 17Ch: 12Co : 12AL: Lawful-evil

Weapons: long sword +2 (#AT 3/2) ,dagger +2 (#AT 3/2 in melee only),composite short bow (#AT 2) .

Other magical items: ring of fre eaction; potions of polymorph self, extra-healing; vial of oil of etherealness.

Other items : gold earring in left ear (30gp) ; silver charm bracelet (60 gp) ; sil-vered belt buckle (20 gp) ; belt pouchwith 40 sp, 40 gp, 9 pp .

Manstrin is dour, says little, and is aharsh and cruel man, giving no quarterto opponents . He is intensely loyal toKandriasin and obeys his orders with -out question. He will fight to the deathto protect Kandriasin, but if the cleric isslain and the other NPCs are disorgan-ized or disloyal, he will try to escapeusing his oil of etherealness . He is par-ticularly suspicious and distrustful ofEldoriel and has a powerful dislike ofelves and half-elves generally.

Dungedan Stoneheart7th-level fighterMountain dwarf mal e

AC: 0/2 (dwarven plate mail +1, smal lshield +1 )

MV: 9 "hp : 58S: 18(27)I: 7 (speaks Common, dwarvish, gnome ,

goblin, kobold, orcish, lawful-neutral)W: 14D: 14C: 16Ch: 9 (10 to dwarves )Co : 7AL: Lawful-neutral

Weapons: short sword +2 (#AT 3/2) ,throwing axe +1 (#AT 1).

Other magical items : potions of invisi-bility and flying.

Other items : belt pouches (four) wit h140 gp, 61 pp, four zircons and tw omoonstones (50 gp each) ; two silverrings with spinel settings (600 gp, 40 0gp) ; and a gold bracelet with a peridot(600 gp).

Dungedan is a mercenary, hired byKandriasin. However, now that heknows that Law is threatened, he i seager to see the adventure through . Heis intensely loyal and will not desert hi scolleagues under any circumstance sunless betrayed . But if he is not fairlyand honestly treated, he will attac kwith utter ferocity those who betraye dhim. If such a (real or planned) betraya lcan be demonstrated to him, he wil lcertainly join any other group of pre -dominantly lawful alignment . He ha srespect for Manstrin and shares th ehuman fighter 's dislike for elves andhalf-elves . He is slow to think and makedecisions, but he is not stupid . Hi sgreatest weakness is his legendarymeanness, hence his proudly adopte dsurname . He is not, however, bribable .

Kandriasin7th-level clericHuman mal e

AC : 0 (plate mail +1, cloak ofdisplacement)

MV: 9 "hp: 3 8S: 16I : 15 (speaks Common, dwarvish, orcish ,

lawful-evil )W: 16D: 1 1C: 1 5Ch: 1 7Co: 1 7AL: Lawful-evi l

Weapons: footman 's mace +2 (#AT 1) ,staff-sling (#AT 1/2) .

Spells : curse, darkness, detect good,resist cold, sanctuary, aid, hold person(X 2), know alignment, silence 15 ' radi-us, continual darkness, dispel magic,poison .Other magical items : amulet of proofagainst detection and location; potions ofinvisibility and speed; scroll of protectionfrom magical edged weapons; scroll ofthree spells (at 12th level) : dispel magic,heal, negative plane protection .

Other items : pouch with 30 pp, 15 gp,three bloodstones (50 gp each), and on eaquamarine (500 gp) ; gold ring withgarnet (140 gp) ; ivory comb (15 gp).

Kandriasin worships a deity who glori-fies rulership through guile and excel-lence of intellect . He is adept atappearing mediocre (sometimes affect-ing a slight limp), but he is fast-wittedand resourceful . He is highly persua-sive, cultured, and urbane, emphasizinghis words with graceful gestures an dusing his exceptional charisma to thehilt . He is a gifted tactician and alway sminimizes risks to himself.

Kandriasin will certainly wish to kil lgood-aligned PCs, by (1) attacking thePCs outright; (2) talking the PCs intotaking the most dangerous actions t oweaken them, then attacking ; or (3)cooperating to overcome the chaoti cforces, then attacking the PCs .

Kandriasin needs time to assess thePCs, time to prove to his neutral associ-ates that the PCs should be killed, andtime to plan his attack . He may eve ntry to swing PCs who are not of goodalignment to his side, although thi scould be risky.

32 Issue No . 8

IN DEFENSE OF THE LAW

Suzerean8th-level clericHuman female

AC: 0/1 (chain mail +2, ring of protec-tion +2)

MV: 12 "hp: 4 6S: 13I : 13 (speaks Common, lawful-neutral)W: 17D: 15C: 15Ch: 13Co: 13AL: Lawful-neutral

Weapons : footman 's flail +2 (#AT 1),quarterstaff (#AT 1 )

Spells : bless, cure light wounds (x 3) ,detect magic, aid, find traps, hold per -son, know alignment, silence 15' radius,continual light, dispel magic (x 2), pray-er, divination, neutralize poison .

Other magical items : necklace ofadap-tation, staffofcuring (7 charges), potio nof levitation.

Other items: silver neck chain withamber and peridot settings (550 gp);silver earrings with jet inlays (200 gp) ;small silver bracelet (45 gp) ; belt pouchwith 27 gp, 20 sp, two small gold rings(50 gp each), and a chrysoberyl (100 gp) .

Suzerean worships a deity of self-control, meditation, and inner strength .She is a disciplined and resilient womanwho detests all beings of chaotic align-ment. It is difficult to prevent her fro mattacking to kill any such chaoti cbeings . Her lawful ethics, however,extend only to lawfully or neutrallyaligned creatures (and the latter aresuspect) . She feels agreements madewith chaotics may be broken if desired .

Suzerean is completely indifferent t ogood and evil, and solely concerned wit hcombatting the chaotic clerics and theirminions. She respects Kandriasin fo rhis excellent judgment and guilefulness,but she will do whatever maximizes th echances of overcoming chaos . She wil lurge joining forces with the PCs toovercome the chaotics but will be readyto join the side which is the more power-ful in her view, if cooperation becomesimpossible .

Eldorie l9th-level thiefHalf-elf female

AC: 1/5 (leather armor +3)MV: 12 "hp : 40S: 15 (open doors 1-2, bend bars 7% )I : 13 (speaks Common, elvish, gnome ,

halfling, hobgoblin, orcish, neutral-evil)W: 9D: 18C: 15Ch: 10Co: 16AL: Neutral-evil

Weapons: short sword ofquickness + 2(#AT 1), short bow (#AT 2 with si xarrows +1), four throwing daggers (#AT2, 1 if used in melee) .

Thief abilities : PP 90%, OL 77%, FT65%, MS 80%, HS 71%, HN 30%, C W98%, RL 45% .

Other magical items : gold ring se twith pale lavender ioun stone whichabsorbs 19 spell levels of 1st-4th levelspells (not worn on hand when undereffects of protective/defensive spells) ,ring of feather falling, potions of ESPand extra-healing.

Other items: silver earrings with tour-malines (250 gp) ; silver brooch (40 gp )and belt buckle (15 gp); belt pouch with20 sp, 30 ep, 20 gp, 20 pp ; secret com-partments in heels of both boots, on ewith two topazes (500 gp each) and onewith an emerald (2,000 gp) .

Eldoriel is prudent, fast-thinking, andquick-acting. She does not take unneces-sary risks . She is bright, amusing i nconversation, and easily bored . How-ever, she is extremely evil and sadistic ,particularly intrigued by destructiveand evil magic . She trusts no one, andfew people in their right minds woul dtrust her. Eldoriel is pleasant to Xavan-dra, since the magic-user protects he rwith invisibility and supports her if sheis caught in melee . In return, the thiefrefrains from stealing from Xavandra .

Eldoriel also respects Kandriasin forhis sharp wits . At his urging, she willtry to kill the PCs, but her own personalsurvival is her main concern. If thing sgo badly in a fight, she will try toescape, surrender, or offer her own(untrustworthy) allegiance to the PCs .

Xavandra8th-level magic-userHuman female

AC: 1/4 (bracers of defense AC 4)MV: 12 "hp: 31S: 7I: 17 (speaks Common, elvish, drow,

illithid, lawful-evil )W: 1 6D: 17C: 15Ch: 10Co: 1 4AL: Lawful-evil

Weapons : dagger +2 (#AT 1, used inmelee only), six darts +1 (#AT 3) .

Spells (in traveling spell book trappedwith explosive runes on first page):charm person, magic missile, read mag-ic, shield, ESP, invisibility, stinkingcloud, fireball, fly, suggestion, mino rglobe of invulnerability, wall offire.

Other magical items : wand of illusion(4 charges); brooch of shielding (wil labsorb 46 hp magic missile damagebefore cracking) ; pouch of accessibility;potion of extra-healing.

Other items : silver brooch with blood -stones (350 gp); silk choker with goldthreading and a pearl (700 gp) ; silkrobes (240 gp) ; silver signet ring (20 gp);belt pouch with 20 sp, 20 gp, and tw otopazes (500 gp each) .

Xavandra is a seeker after power, out togain magical rewards and experience .She admires and respects Kandriasi nfor his intelligence and persuasiveness ,and because he understands her valueas the sole magic-user in this group.

She will be happy to attack the PCs ,especially if there is a magic-use ramong their number whose spell boo kshe could have, but she will not agree t oany attack until she has had time t oassess the PCs . If they appear strong ,she will be reluctant to attack. She willtry to gain initial advantage over anunsuspecting PC party using her charmand suggestion spells .

Xavandra regards the fighters in he rparty as uncouth and does not speakwith them.

S2

DUNGEON 33

Read this with ALLthe lights onWatch out for those monsters that lurk i

nh for them in the

dark

atcCINEMONS

Tdaplaces .

from TSR, Inc .

dC

STnew collect' on of eeri etheThis brans stories reveals the beginn ings

eatures that are now moviehorrible crties by Theodore

tostars—sorRobbRert Bloch, and ROYname a few .

lights ,And after you turn on ALL th e don't forget to check under the bed .

CINEMONSTERS

Edited by

Frank

DWaugh Martin H . Greenberg

Charles G . Waugh, Jr.

D .

The TSR logo is a trademark owned by TSR, Inc.

All Rights Reserved .o1987 TSR . Inc.

FOR A LADY'S HONOR

(contined from page 16)

written in his books .The final piece of furniture in the

chamber is the large wardrobe . Insideit, PCs can find the usual pieces of extraclothing as well as hats and boots . Onthe floor of the wardrobe is a small iro nchest . It is locked with a padlock ( — 15%to pick), weighs 35 lbs ., and contain s350 sp and 400 gp . A false bottom in thechest can be found with a find traps roll .The velvet and jet garter (worth 8,70 0gp) which is the object of the thieves 'mission lies under this false bottom . Onthe inside of the garter, the name"MIRANDA" is sewn in gold thread . Inletters so small that they will only b enoticed on a 10% chance (or a 60 %chance if a careful search is made), thename "CORRIN " is sewn below.

After they recover the garter, all thatremains for the thieves to do is toescape from the house, which they mustaccomplish with as much stealth as wa sused upon entry. The DM shoul dremember not to end the game until thePCs are safely outside of Brunt's com-plex and have delivered the garter t otheir guildmaster.

Concluding the Adventur eThere are many ways in which thi sadventure may be run, and each DMshould feel free to alter any section t ofit his campaign and style . In any event,basic thieving skills should be empha-sized over killing . Blundering thieveswho simply plan to attack and raid th ehouse should meet considerable opposi-tion (as you would expect), and the ymost definitely would face punishmen tfrom the city and their guild, as well a sfrom survivors of their raid, citizens 'defense groups, etc . Experience point sshould be awarded for creativity an dingenuity, perhaps up to 100 xp per act ,as the DM sees fit .

Any number of spin-off adventure smay occur. Corrin will be furious tohear that the PCs turned the garte rover to their guildmaster rather than tohim, but he is not likely to act directl yagainst the PCs as the situation wil lquickly resolve in Lady Miranda's favo r(assuming the PCs were successful) .Any of the above NPCs could somedayfigure prominently in the lives of th ePCs once again — for better or worse! S 2

34 Issue No . 8

Thomas Kane writes: "I live in ruralMaine amid pits, forests . . . and fero-cious bears. Furthermore, my parentstaught me at home until college, an dthese two factors gave me the ideas andenthusiasm to want to write . Luckily forme, some of my work has ended up inprint." Thomas has written numerousarticles for DRAGON® Magazine. Hislast module in DUNGEON'" Adventureswas "Blood on the Snow" (issue #3).Look for his work in future TSRproducts.

The Wounded Worm is suitable for agroup of 4-10 characters of 4th-8th level ,with one experienced magic-user. Theassistance of one or two higher-leve lcharacters (up to 12th level) might behelpful to smaller parties . A cleric wit ha widely known reputation would behelpful but not necessary.

The DM should have access toUnearthed Arcana for the full explana-tion of some of the spells and magicalitems used in this adventure . Otherspells can be substituted at the DM'sdiscretion.

TH EWOUNDE DWORMBY THOMAS M . KAN E

Surely, a crippleddragon is lessdangerous than ahealthy one. . . .

Artwork by Mark Nelso nCartography by Diesel

Adventure BackgroundThe PCs (particularly any well-knownclerics) are contacted by letter to meet ascholar in a small wayside inn . No otherinformation is available . When the PC sarrive at the proper address, read orparaphrase the following to the players :

Rain beats on the windows of thelittle inn. Scrolls and woodcuts li ehaphazardly about the gray-bearde dman' s second-floor room . A piece ofoak etched and painted with theimage of a huge red dragon hangs onthe far wall . The little man you havecome to see fumbles with a leather-bound book as he speaks.

"Foul weather, is it not? Let us b ebrief. I am known as Marcu sSkinscribe, a student of great worms ,and I must ask your assistance withmy research. I have long desired todissect the corpse of a great drake —once it is safely dead, of course. Thu sI might find the answers to many ofthe riddles which hereto have beenknown only to dragons themselves —or, indeed, to none at all . "

For a moment you detect some -thing stilted in his voice, as if he hadrehearsed those lines many times ."On the Sparock Peninsula, a war-rior of my acquaintance has hunted

DUNGEON 35

THE WOUNDED WOR M

out and fought a dragon . From hisdescription, I believe it was a speci-men of Draco conflagratio horriblis .He sheared off the drake 's wing swith his mighty blade . Not only didthe beast suffer this loss, but th ewarrior 's priestly companion bore astaff which could shrivel a victim'slimbs. The dragon lost his two power-ful back legs to this device. However,the party was also sorely wounded ,and the dragon's fiery gout route dthem. The worm now lies upon itshoard, maimed and barely alive .Nonetheless, my friend and his com-panions refuse to return to the lair.

"Here is an opportunity for all o fus. I have no interest in treasure, butI would like the corpse of such aworm. I cannot protect myself fro mits final breath, but you can easil ykill it and take its hoard . So, let usassist one another."

Outside, the rain has stopped and asoft breeze stirs the leaves . The oldman brings out a map showing th elocation of the peninsula . Somewhereon that bit of land lies the dragon —and its treasure .

For the Dungeon Maste rMarcus Skinscribe is not the timidscholar that he appears to be . He i sactually Astain, (AC 8; MV 12" ; F5 ; hp36 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg by weapon type (dag-ger) ; S 17, I 10, W 12, D 16, C 12, Ch 15 ;AL CG), a sailor who has been charmedby the very dragon he described . Astainacts out his role as a sage, but if pressedfor more information, he nervouslychanges the subject . While pretendingto be Marcus, Astain refuses to trave lwith the PCs.

If his charm is detected and removed ,Astain admits that he is not a sage buta sailor who was lifted from the deck o fhis ship by a flying black dragon . Hestill maintains that there is a dismem-bered red dragon on the peninsula, th every one that enspelled him . In hi scharmed state, he gave the dragon hi sring of water walking. He also remem-bers that the bugbears who guarded th edragon could make water breathabl ewith "a silver baton ." Being somewha taddled from his capture, he recalls littl eelse about the dragon's lair. The wood -cuts, all of red dragons, were given t ohim before he left the lair, to further hisimage as a scholar of dragonkind .

If offered a share of treasure and the

return of his ring (if it is found), Astainwill travel with the party. During theadventure, he is helpful ; the dragon o rits servants may believe him to still becharmed, although Astain will notthink of this tactic . If betrayed or mis-treated, he attempts to flee . Astain islusty and likes to drink, becoming ras hand violent when intoxicated. He coul dmake serious trouble if the PCs tak ehim to an inn or tavern. Also, he wil lattack any opponent who provokes him .Aside from this, he is a good and loyalcompanion.

If the PCs make inquiries along theway, they should hear rumors about th emaimed dragon . What "Marcus" said i soften repeated : a maimed dragon miss-ing its wings and both back legs is spo-ken of by gnolls and bugbears roamin gSparock Peninsula . Also, the scorchedbodies of several armed men have wash-ed ashore nearby. Presumably, theyfought the dragon and lost . A few sail-ors have sighted a large black dragonflying about the peninsula, leading t ospeculation that there may be at leasttwo dragons residing there. Old-timer srecall that a red dragon used to makethe peninsula his home, but som ebelieve he was slain by adventurers fiv edecades ago (the adventurers were als obelieved slain) . No further (correct)information is available .

Although Ancagaling, the red dragon ,was maimed many years ago in a fightsimilar to that which Astain described,he is far from defenseless . The attackerswere slain to the last hireling, but notwithout taking a dreadful toll on themarauding dragon. A cleric ' s staff ofwithering not only shrivelled thedragon 's legs, it increased his age . Thedragon's enforced immobility ha senabled him to master spell-castingmore effectively than other dragons ,though his absence from sight led to th erumors of his death .

Ancagaling's ultimate hope is tocharm various creatures, mustering agroup powerful enough to coerce regen-erate spells from a high-level cleric .Then, with his magic and renewed phys-ical might, he would be almost indomi-table over a vast region of the world .Therefore, Ancagaling's servantsattempt to take prisoners . He hasalready forced Cathan, a fog giant, toserve as guard on the peninsula . Thegiant is supposed to bring all intruder sunharmed directly to Ancagaling. It i simportant to play these episodes with

Peninsula Random Encounters Tabl e

1d6

Encounter01-05

Cathan*06-10

2-8 wild firedrakes (AC 5; MV 6"//18" ; HD 4 ; hp 18 each ; #AT1;Dmg 2-8; SA breath weapon; AL N) .

11-58

Patrol* *59-79 Patrol*" or 2-12 land lampreys (AC 7; MV 12" ; HD 1 +2 ; hp

7 each ; #AT 1 ; Dmg 1 hp/round ; SA drain blood, encumber; ALN).

80-95

2-12 crabmen (AC 4; MV 9"//6" ; HD 3 ; hp 14 each ; #AT 2 ;Dmg 1-4/1-4; AL N).

96-97

2-12 witherstenches (AC 7; MV 6" ; HD 2+2 ; hp 11 each; #AT2; Dmg 1-6/1-6; SD nauseating odor ; AL N) .

98-00

1-6 thorks (AC 3; MV 6"//6" ; HD 3 ; hp 13 each; #AT 1 ; Dmg 1 -6 ; SA breath weapon; AL N).

* See area P6 for details of Cathan and his bodyguards .** The patrol is made up of 2-8 gnolls from area P4 . Each has a spear and anaklys . The patrol is led by a Hind (see area P4), who wields a flindbar a sdescribed in the FIEND FOLIO° Rime . A group of six or more gnolls has atame firedrake (see stats for wild firedrake above) . If the PCs seem too strongfor the patrol, one gnoll flees to get help from areas P4, P5, and P6 . If possible ,the patrol tries to capture the PCs rather than kill them . When a patrol isencountered near area P1, it attempts to drive PCs into the boiling pools .*** This patrol is identical to the one described above . It is encountered onlyon the paths in the forest. Elsewhere, 2-12 land lampreys appear .

36 Issue No . 8

THE WOUNDED WOR M

SPAROCKPENINSULA

ForestBuildin g

care . Captivity is not the end of theadventure for PCs. Not only is thereample chance for escape, but the PCsmay gain much important information(such as the location of Ancagaling' slair) as prisoners . It is quite possible fo rthem to be charmed and escape the spelllater in the adventure .

In order to protect himself in hiswounded state, Ancagaling used moveearth and wall of stone spells (and muchmanual labor from his servants) to buil dan underwater lair in the lee of th eSparock Peninsula . Then he researchedand created a magical plant, whoseroots extend through the ether to th eElemental Plane of Air. The bush there-by keeps the lair filled with a breath -able atmosphere . Ancagaling now live sbeneath the ocean. The dragon's old lair,in a partly flooded cave, provides aneasy path to the sea floor . It may help t oreview the Dungeon Masters Guiderules for underwater adventure befor eplaying this module .

The Sparock PeninsulaExcept for several hours in the afternoon ,the peninsula is shrouded in fog . A warm ,sulfurous vapor seems to arise from bot hthe sea and the land. During most of theday, vision is reduced to 30 yards by thismist . Starting at noon, the bright sunbegins to clear the air for 1-4 hours .

Most of the peninsula is covered i nwoods dominated by poplar trees andthorny bushes. A druid, ranger, elf, orhalfling is able to tell that the lan dthere was burned over about 50 year sago but has since regrown. The peninsu-la has no gentle beaches ; 180'-high cliffsdrop sharply to the sea . PCs will proba-bly need magic to survive a jump fromthe peninsula into the ocean if they donot find the cave that provides easyaccess to the sea floor.

Check for random encounters everyhour. An encounter occurs on a roll of 1on 1d6 ; use the Peninsula Rando mEncounters Table.

Set Peninsular Encounters

Pl. Boiling Springs . The pools inthis area contain boiling water and giv eoff steam which does 1-8 hp damage pe rround to any creature in the water, an d1 hp damage to any creature splashed .Any object dropped into the water cre-ates a splash that affects all creature sin a 3' radius . Some pools are coveredwith a thin, solid-looking, limestone

crust over the hot water. Character swho walk here have a one in six chanceper round to break the crust and fal lthrough, being burned for 1-4 hp dam -age. Crawling characters may avoi dthis chance as their weight is spread ou ton the crust . This is a favorite ambushspot for Cathan's gnolls . Searches ofthis area yield a few broken weaponsand old bloodstains on the ground .

P2. Prison. This is a sturdily built logcabin. A heavy beam is used to latch thedoor shut. The beam requires at least 1 9points of combined strength to lift from

the outside . If locked, the door may notbe opened from within without magic .This building is used to hold those wh ooffend Cathan . Held prisoner inside arethree gnolls (AC 5 ; MV 9" ; HD 2 ; hp 11 ,9, 8 ; NAT 1 ; Dmg by weapon type ; ALCE) and two crabmen (AC 4 ; MV 9"//6" ;HD 3 ; hp 18, 14 ; NAT 2 ; Dmg 1-4/1-4; ALN) . The gnolls and crabmen hate eachother but avoid fighting . The gnolls ar earmed with sturdy clubs made frompieces of furniture .

The gnolls are being punished forstealing food ; the crabmen were caughtby a patrol . If the PCs release theseprisoners, the crabmen flee . The gnoll s

DUNGEON 37

THE WOUNDED WORM

also leave, but they report the PCs toCathan to get in his good graces . If thePCs are imprisoned here, there is a 10%chance each hour that the gnolls wil lattack an individual PC, using theirclubs. The crabmen ignore any suc hconflict . A patrol (see random encount-ers) brings food to these prisoners onceeach day.

P3. Berry Patch. A path leaves th emain trail and winds among the busheshere so that berries may be harvested inthe appropriate season. For every turnthat PCs spend in this area, there is a20% chance that they are attacked by aforester's bane (AC 4 (stalks)/7(leaves)/9 (bush) ; MV nil ; HD 5 (plusspecial); hp 23 (main plant); HAT 3-6 ;Dmg 2-5 each ; SA trap ; AL N). Theleaves of this plant can sustain 10 hpdamage and the stalk 24 hp. The gnoll sknow where the bane is and avoid it .The DM can locate the plant in thespace where it is first encountered .

P4. Gnoll Barracks. This stockade isa barracks for the gnolls that serv eCathan. There are 14 gnolls within (AC5; MV 9" ; HD 2 ; hp 10 each ; NAT 1 ;

Dmg by weapon type ; AL CE) . They ar eeach armed with a spear and aklys .Three funds (AC 5 ; MV 12" ; HD 2 + 3 ;hp 18, 13, 12 (x 2); HAT 2 ; Dmg 1-4 plusdisarming; AL LE) wield flindbars andrule the gnolls . The belongings of 20gnolls and four Hinds are here, but atany given time some are out on patrol .These humanoids attempt to capturethe PCs alive. If in dire straits, the Hindleader (18 hp) uses two of his threebeads of force on the PCs. They arehidden in a hollow section of his flind-bars . Then, he runs to area P6 for help .

The gnolls' sacks of personal items arestrewn around the room. Most of theirbelongings are disgusting, but eac hgnoll has 10-1,000 cp and 1-100 sp . EachHind has a locked wooden chest with 10 -40 ep and a fur cloak worth 10 gp . If theroom is searched, a cleverly carve dwooden dragon is found abandoned in acorner. It was recently made and isworth 1 sp . If the PCs state (withoutprompting by the DM) that they areexamining the flindbars, they find theremaining bead of force .

P5. Storehouse . This building wasobviously once richly furnished but now

has been stripped. The walls are cov-ered with frescoes of a mighty drago nlaying waste to villages — the samedragon seen on Marcus's woodcut and i narea P4 . A large, ironbound chest hold sonly grain . Food equal to 500 portions ofiron rations and 10 flasks of wine(worth 1 gp each) is stored in this build-ing. Any PC who eats the food must rol lhis constitution or lower on 1d20 toavoid a mild but acute gastrointestina ldisease (see the DMG, page 14). ThePCs may also find 2-20 items from theMiscellaneous Utensils and Persona lItems table on page 219 of the DMG.

One to four tame firedrakes (hp 17 ,15, 14, 13 ; see Peninsula Rando mEncounters Table) are chained to the farwall . They will not attack unless molest-ed, and they have been trained not to usetheir breath weapons indoors . Withinthe firedrakes' bedding is a wooden bo xcovered with paintings which appear tohave been done by the same artist whopainted the frescoes on the walls . Thebox depicts a group of gnolls face-to-fac ewith a fish. One gnoll holds a torch fromwhich bubbles issue forth to surroundthe monsters . On the other side of thebox, a dragon lies beneath fancifu lwaves . Within the box are three buds ofa black herb . This material will fuel thetorch ofairy water found in area G4 .Elvish runes spell out the name "Barva-rius" across the bottom of the box . Thefiredrakes will attack any character whoattempts to remove this container fromthe building.

P6. Fortress . This sturdy log house i smuch larger than the others, almost 20 'high . PCs may at first believe that it ison fire, since foggy vapors leak fromcracks in its walls . Two piles of boul-ders, or possibly catapult missiles, stan don either side of the entry. Each pil econtains five rocks .

This is the home of Cathan the foggiant (AC 1; MV 15" ; HD 14 ; hp 76 ;HAT 1 ; Dmg 4-24 ; SA hurl rocks to 24 0yards for 2-20 hp; SD surprised only o n1 on 1d6 ; AL NE). Two funds (AC 5 ;MV 12" ; HD 2 + 3 ; hp 18 each ; NAT 1 ;Dmg 1-6; AL LE) serve Cathan as body -guards. Each wields a long sword +1 .In addition, two trained firedrakes (hp21, 18 ; see Peninsula Random Encount-ers Table) are within the building an dassist Cathan in combat . If a majorbattle breaks out, one gnoll runs to are aP5 to get help . In the center of th ecabin 's stony floor is a geothermal rift

38 Issue No. 8

THE WOUNDED WOR M

which emits the steam .When Ancagaling first came to th e

peninsula, Cathan fought the drago nand was defeated . But rather than kill-ing Cathan, Ancagaling forced him toserve as guard for the peninsula. Nowthat the dragon is wounded and isolate din his underwater lair, Cathan hastaken control of the area once more —but he fears Ancagaling's helpers, espe-cially the black dragon Sinequist.

Cathan greatly desires live prisoners ,since Ancagaling calls on him for trib-ute and he still fears to refuse thi srequest . However, he will bargain withstrong PCs, especially if he knows thatthey oppose Ancagaling . He may askpowerful characters to destroy the ebli slair at area P8 as a test of skill . IfCathan feels that there is any chancethat the PCs could actually destroyAncagaling, he gives them two piecesof information : He describes the torchin area G3 (but not the trap) an dexplains the nature of Ancagaling'sunderwater fortress . If Cathan or hi sgnolls capture a PC party, the adven-turers are stripped and held at area P2for 1-4 days . After that, they are leftbound at area P9. From there, thebugbears from the geothermal cavetake them to Sinequist, the blac kdragon who is Ancagaling's ally, thento Ancagaling himself.

The log cabin is roughly furnished.Characters who search the steam ventfind a thick cord hanging down into th ehole . Suspended from it is a heavywooden chest . In the chest are 2,500 gpand six silver flasks. Two flasks hol dpotions of extra-healing (worth 100 gpeach) . Cathan hid these from the dragonafter Ancagaling was wounded. Foursimilar flasks contain watered wine .

P7. Geysers . This area is bare lime-stone . Steaming cracks and pools o fgarishly colored boiling water are visi-ble here and there . See area P1 fordetails of the boiling pools . Every fewminutes, a steaming geyser spout swater 60' or more in the air. Six thorks(hp 22, 21, 16, 15 (x 2), 14 ; see Peninsu-la Random Encounters Table) live in thepools . Characters who search the stone snear the edges of pools have a one i nfour chance per round to find a plati-num piece dropped by a previous adven-turer. A maximum of 30 pieces can befound. The thorks attack any characterwho takes these coins. Cathan's ser-vants collect this metal, and at random

spots, the greatly decayed bodies o fgnolls may be found . Their corpses havebeen looted .

P8.Eblis Lair. This is a chaotic are aof pale stone . A few steam vents ar evisible, but the area is dominated byirregular boulders, depressions, ravines ,and partially concealed pools . Thesepuddles are quite warm, but not hotenough to cause damage . The jaggedterrain is confusing, and anyone wh oattempts to hide gains a +2 onattempts to surprise . Characters wh owalk along the edge of the cliff (abovethe water) have a 30% chance per tur nof being attacked by kelpies (se eencounter U6) .

Nine eblis nest here (AC 3; MV 12" /12" ; HD 4 +4; hp 27 each ; NAT 4 ; Dmg1-4 (x 4); SA limited spell use ; SD lim-ited immunity to fire ; AL NE) . Theirillusionist leader has these spells : spook(x 2), hypnotic pattern (x 2), blur, hypno-tism, and whispering wind — each us-able once per day at 3rd-level ability.

The eblis were brought to the peninsu-la by Ancagaling and are loyal to thedragon . They are angry at Cathan forneglecting Ancagaling and have kille dseveral gnolls . The eblis will try toambush any PCs in the area . If the ycapture PCs alive, they send for th ebugbears from the geothermal cave totake the prisoners to Ancagaling .

Each of the five eblis nests contains 1pp and 1-10 cp . PCs have only a 10 %chance per nest to discover these lairs .Each nest has a 30% chance of holdingan egg.

P9. Entry to the GeothermalCavern . The cliffs here are bare lime -stone with many depressions . Some ofthese hollows are filled with water, bu tnone are hot . A wooden building standsalmost at the edge of the cliff. Illegibl etraces of elaborate murals still decorat eits walls . Characters who enter th ebuilding find that the inside is als opainted and has been better preserved .The drawings are of a red drago nperched on piles of treasure . A humanhand dangles from the monster 's maw .Fanciful waves appear above thedragon . All the drawings appear to beby the same artist as Marcus's woodcutand the box from area P5 . The mural i ssigned "Barvarius ."

In the center of the hut is a 5'-widecircular hole . Warm, humid, sulfurousair rises from it, obscuring the bottom of

the hole. Aside from the hole and th emural, the building is bare . This is theentrance to the geothermal cave . Thereis a 10% chance per turn that the bug -bears from area G2 climb out of the hol ewhile fleeing a minor tidal flood . Anarrow, rough staircase carved fromliving stone circles the hole, descendin g10' into the earth to area Gl .

The Geothermal CaveThis is a natural cave, created by th ehot springs in the limestone . Ancagal-ing once had a lair here, but since hewas wounded, he has abandoned thi scave as unsafe . This is, however, th emost efficient way to reach th edragon 's underwater lair and avoid along drop down the peninsula's highcliffs . Random encounters do not occurin the geothermal cave . Most creature sin the cave tend to stay in areas thatare protected from flooding .

These caves open into the ocean, an dsome areas are always underwater.Every hour, there is a one in six chancethat the hot spring eruptions withi nthe cave coincide with the tidal condi-tions, causing the entire cave system toflood. Such a flood swamps the cave 5' -10' above the normal water line . Theflood rushes in rapidly and remains for1-4 hours . Each staircase is 10' high ,and certain areas will never floo dbecause they are protected by specia ldoors .

Geothermal Cave Encounters

Gl. Entry Hall . This corridor is dampand appears to be uninhabited save fo rthe evidence of the rough-hewn stair-cases . Characters who venture to theeast pass over two areas of weak crust(treat as pit traps) . The eastern trapdrops PCs 30' down a natural chute tothe corridor outside area G8, doing 2-1 2hp damage . The western trap dropsthem in to a very warm pool of 10'-deepwater. No damage is taken, but charac-ters who are wearing normal armor o rheavy backpacks may drown . A mineralcrust forms on any item which is sub -merged in this pool for more than on esegment. One round of cleaningremoves this crust . The crust will bindweapons into scabbards, seal pouchopenings, etc . These items can be freedin one round, but this may be trouble -some, especially if the characters ar eunaware of the crust .

DUNGEON 39

THE WOUNDED WORM

G2. Bugbear Guards. Six bugbears(AC 5; MV 9" ; HD 3 + 1 ; hp 21(x 2), 20 ,18, 16, 10 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg 2-8 or by weapo ntype; SA surprise on 1-3 ; AL CE) standguard here . They serve Ancagaling an dtry to capture any strangers who entertheir lair. Each wields a man catcher,but if an enemy seems too strong tocapture, they attack to kill with theirbattle axes . Each bugbear carries apouch containing 10-40 sp and a paintedcarving of a dragon (worth 1 sp) . Thesecarvings appear similar to the one inbuilding P14 on the peninsula .

G3. Geyser. The large pool in the

floor of this room gives off a terriblestench . There is a one in six chance pe rround that a steam geyser erupts fromthe pool, doing 1-4 hp damage to all i nthe room. An eruption is preceded byone segment of steaming and hissing .

G4. Torch Room . Fanciful waveshave been painted around the first 10 'of this room . Beneath the waves isdrawn a well-muscled red dragon . Thework was apparently done by the sam eartist who decorated other areas of thepeninsula . A blackened metal torc hhung with two leather drawstring bagsis affixed to the west wall . Closer exam-

ination shows that the torch is made o fpure silver, but it is tarnished and salt -encrusted . Each leather bag contains asmelly plant bud . The southern 20' ofthe room appear to be a warm, saltypool . This area actually leads to more ofthe complex that has been flooded byseawater.

A careful examination of the wes twall reveals a 3' X 3' crack around thetorch. A peg in the wall fits neatly int othe side of the torch . The torch can bedetached from the peg with one round ofwork . If the torch is merely taken, thepeg comes away from the wall with it ,releasing a catch in the secret portal ,which falls out (doing 2-8 hp damage toanyone standing under it) and opens astone pipe leading up to an under-ground pool of boiling mineral water.Anyone standing in the room is blaste dby the broad water jet for 2-8 hp pe rround for 6-36 rounds, until the boilin gpool above the room is emptied. Onlyflight down the corridor toward area G2is useful in escaping the jet . Anyonestanding next to the stairs leading downinto the water toward G5 must save vs .dexterity on 1d20 or be swept into thewater ; hot-water damage is the nreduced by half, but drowning mayoccur. No matter how much water pour sinto this room, the water level does no trise because the water below connectsdirectly to the sea at area G10 .

If a bud from the leather bags i splaced in the torch and ignited, a smellygust comes forth. This gas is breathabl eand contains enough oxygen to supportcombustion, even underwater. Thedevice (a torch of airy water) may beused to create an effect similar to anairy water spell with a 30' radius, light-ing the same area. Each bud provide senough breathable air to support 10human-sized creatures for one hour orone such creature for 10 hours of under -water activity. A normal torch or oi lflask requires as much of this air as abreathing person . Magical fire uses onehour of air for every 5 hp damage done .The torch itself is worth 5,000 gp . If it issold with the buds, an additional 500 g pfor each bud should be added to th eprice . The buds are worthless withoutthe torch, and the torch encumbers acharacter with 25 lbs . (250 gp) ofweight . If the torch and buds are take nand used, 400 xp are gained (the torch i smagical in nature) .

This torch was made by Ancagalingfor his servants, so any servant of thedragon recognizes the torch . If it is

40 Issue No. 8

THE WOUNDED WOR M

stolen, these creatures make everyattempt to regain it and punish th ethieves . Cathan is aware of the torch ,but his gnolls can only have guessed i texists from scraps of overheard conver-sations. The fog giant will be ratherimpressed by any PCs that gain thi sitem, and he will certainly try to recruitthem in a bid against Ancagaling .Cathan himself cannot use the torchbecause of his large size and high oxy-gen requirements .

G5. Mudpot . The water here isextremely murky and very warm. Char-acters cannot see farther than 5' . Dur-ing the first round spent in this area ,random party members see gleamingeyes, scaly appendages, and similarunwelcome sights which rapidly disap-pear into the murky water. A saltwatermarine troll (AC 2; MV 3"//12" ; HD6 + 12 ; hp 32 ; #AT 3 ; Dmg 1-4/1-4/9-16 ;SD regeneration ; AL CE) lives underwa-ter in this room and attacks al lintruders. The floating silt restrict svision, reducing all " to hit" rolls by 2 .Gnawed bones litter the floor of thi sarea. A search lasting one turn revealsa human arm bone wearing a bracele tof braided gold (worth 50 gp).

G6. Flood Barrier. The door at the topof these stairs is molded into the wall . Itacts as a valve, preventing certain area sof the geothermal cave from flooding . Ifthe water level rises this far, from tide sor other causes, pressure on the sout hside of the door will be greater than onthe north, jamming the door unless 4 0combined strength points and one roun dare used to open it. At other times, thedoor opens to the south easily .

G7. Guard Chambers. The two sid eguard rooms are each the post of fivebugbears (hp 19 each; see area G2 forstatistics), armed with man catchersand bastard swords . Each wears anembossed leather cap worth 10 sp andcarries a belt pouch containing 50 sp .

The bugbears try to capture intruder salive and hand them over to Sinequist ,Ancagaling's black dragon ally, in are aG8.A secret door made from a loose bitof rock which slides on a track blocksthe corridor leading north and west .

G8. Black Dragon's Lair. This is thelair of Sinequist, an average adul tblack dragon (AC 3; MV 12"/24" ; HD7; hp 35 ; #AT 3 ; Dmg 1-4/1-4/3-18 ; SA

breath weapon, fear aura at +5 onattacking (60' radius); SD 60' infravis-ion, detect hidden/invisible objects with -in 50 yards, save as 9-HD monster ;attackers receive + 1 to hit if usin gearth- or water-based attacks ; AL CE) .He is a loyal ally of Ancagaling, and h emanages affairs above the ocean . Bothdragons are members of the same "cir-cle," a loosely organized dragon frater-nity devoted to Tiamat . Sinequistcannot use any spells, but he can speakthe common tongue .

Five empty cages hang from the ceil-ing of the cavern . If the PCs are broughthere as captives, they are imprisoned i nthese cages for 2-24 hours . After thattime, Sinequist orders the bugbear sfrom area G2 to take them to Ancagal-ing's lair (breathing underwater thanksto the spells of a captured magic-user inarea G9) . If any combat takes placehere, the bugbears from area G7 com eto Sinequist's aid .

This room's floor is soft and muddy.The slimy earth is liberally mixed withSinequist 's bed of treasure. Due to themud, his 526 gp and 243 pp are indistin-guishable from the 20,194 cp that litterthe floor. It requires 28 man-hours of

work to clean and sort all the coins . Amass of muddy coins is transported a tthree times its normal encumbrance .Sinequist has lined his nest with 10 richfur robes . These are filthy and somauled as to be worth but 5 gp each .The black dragon also has a wand ofsteam and vapor which he uses in com-bat. It has 83 charges when the PC sfirst encounter the dragon. The com-mand word is a spluttering and hissin gnoise made in the throat. A pouch withfive buds for the torch of airy water (seearea G4) is buried in Sinequist 's heap oftreasure.

Sinequist 's lair is rather treasure poorright now as he has been serving sooften as a sentry and helper to Ancagal-ing. However, he knows that he willgain tremendous riches if the re ddragon is healed and allowed to ram -page across the world, so he works fo rthe day when his "sacrifices" will payoff in infinite wealth .

G9.Barvarius's Hallway. Themagic-user and artist Barvarius is kepthere in semi-imprisonment (AC 6 ; MV12" ; MU 10; hp 36; AT 1 ; Dmg by spel lor weapon type ; S 15, I 16, W 12, D 18 ,

DUNGEON 41

THE WOUNDED WOR M

C 15, Ch 14, Co 16; AL CE). He is a tall ,dark, bearded man who came to th epeninsula in hopes of robbing Ancagal-ing. When the dragon's servants cap-tured Barvarius, he was so terrifiedthat he pledged service to the beast .Although he officially serves Sinequis tand Ancagaling, the magic-user will notattack the PCs without provocation ,although he will betray the party if i tserves his interests . Barvarius is basi-cally a coward and is terrified of fleeingwithout his major spell book, whichhave been confiscated . Who wants torun from a dragon?

Barvarius constantly complains of hi spoor treatment by the dragons . Anca-galing and Sinequist put up with himbecause they have found him to be quiteuseful . He is not only a spell-caster butthe excellent painter and woodcarverwhose work adorns many of Ancagal-ing's buildings (as Barvarius is only to oglad to point out) . The mage-artist feel sthat the paintings demonstrate Anca-galing's unbearable vanity. Every featof the dragon's strength and every mag-ical item he constructs must be immor-talized in picture . However, the dragondoes not allow depictions that show hismaimed condition . Barvarius has ofte nbeen to Ancagaling's underwater lairand can guide PCs to it . He will try toconvince the PCs to escort him there s othat he can regain his spell book (no win area L3 of Ancagaling's lair) .

Barvarius is only allowed to use hi sspell book when it suits Ancagaling 'spurposes . He is allowed to memorizesome spells so that he can help th edragons ' research and defend Sine-quist 's lair. When the PCs encounterhim, Barvarius has memorized thefollowing cantrips and spells : clean,hide, palm, present, identify, read magic ,sleep, preserve, ray of enfeeblement, web(x 2), water breathing ( x 3), stoneski n(x 2), and airy water (x 2) . Any spellswhich Barvarius uses against the PC scan be relearned on the following day i fhe survives the encounter .

Although he is less than conscientiousabout it, Barvarius is supposed to cap-ture intruders in the geothermal cave .To protect the magic-user from enemie swhile he casts spells, he is allowed t okeep five armored guard dogs (AC 6 ;MV 12" ; HD 2+2; hp 16, 14, 12, 11, 10 ;MT 1 ; Dmg 2-8 ; AL N) . These creature sattack the PCs only if Barvarius s oorders them or if the PCs enter whe nBarvarius is not present . Bugbear ser -

vants of the dragons gather food for th edogs and dispose of their wastes . Barva-rius has no money, but he has tools andpaints that are worth 100 gp to an artis tor carver. His simple bed and othe rminor furnishings are also present .Barvarius is not a neat housekeeper ashe is depressed over his captivity. Hehas not been charmed as his high intel-ligence allows him to cast off the spell' seffects too quickly ; besides, Sinequis tcan read the magic-user's moods wel lenough and has little fear that he wil lwork against the dragons at present .

G10. Morkoth's Lair. This area is thelair of a morkoth (AC 3; MV 18" ; HD 7 ;hp 39; #AT 1 ; Dmg 1-10 ; SA hypnosis ,charm; SD spell reflection ; AL CE). Themorkoth's hypnotic pattern centers o nan open pit which is 30' deep . Since thi sarea is underwater, no damage is take nfor falling into the pit . The morkoth i sneither a friend nor an enemy of Anca-galing ; he has merely found that livingin the geothermal caves allows him t oobtain victims with ease . Sinequistconsiders any plan to drive the morkot haway too dangerous. Besides, the crea-ture makes a good guard .

The morkoth does not always eat hi svictims immediately, so the area i sfavored by lampreys that drain bloodfrom hypnotized captives . Some of theseeels have attained giant size . There are10 normal lampreys in this lair whe nthe PCs arrive (AC 7 ; MV 12" ); HD1+2; hp 7 each ; #AT 1 ; Dmg 1-2 ; SAdrain blood ; AL N) . Two giant lam-preys are also present (AC 6 ; MV 9" ;HD 5 ; hp 23, 21 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg 1-6 ; SAdrain blood ; AL N) . All the lampreysattack any warm-blooded creature .

The muddy floor of the lair hides apacket holding a bud that will burn i nthe torch ofairy water (from area G4).No other treasure is here except for arotting sack from which spill 10 pp . Astaircase leads down to the sea floor.

The Undersea Worl dAncagaling 's lair is located on the se abed approximately 720 yards from th egeothermal cave . The water is roughly40' deep in the area around the peninsu-la, and masses of seaweed dominat esome areas of the sea floor. In thes eareas, PCs are able to see only 5' ahead .Each turn, there is a one in eigh tchance that a PC becomes entangled inthe weeds for 1-8 turns.

Normal sighting distance in broa ddaylight is 60' . During twilight orstormy conditions on the surface, sight-ing distance drops to 30' . Visibility i szero during nighttime without a lightsource, which the torch of airy waterprovides within a 30' radius .

There is a one in six chance of a ran-dom encounter every hour the PCs ar eunderwater. Roll percentile dice (d100 )and consult the Undersea Rando mEncounters Table, using statistics fromthe various monster handbooks for th eAD&D° game .

Undersea RandomEncounters Table

dlOO Encounter01-10 Red urchin (1-4 )11-20 Lampreys (2-20)21-25 Lamprey, giant (1-4 )26-30 Bunyip (1 )31-32 Whale, killer (1 )33-43 Spider, water (1-6)44-50 Portuguese man-o-war (1-6 )51-60 Seawolf (1-8 lesser plus 1

greater61-64 Shark (1-6 )

65 Bugbear (2-8) (using Barvarius 'swater breathing spells;see area G8 )

66-70 Eel, giant (1-4 )71-72 Marine troll (from U4)73-83 Crab, giant (1-6)84-88 Manta ray (1-2 )89-90 Sting ray (1-10 )91-00 Bubble, 10' diameter *

* The gas in Ancagaling's lair is slight-ly heavier than normal air and some -times drifts for some distanceunderwater before dissolving . Whenthis encounter occurs, the PCs see abubble coming toward them from thedirection of area U3 .

Set Undersea Encounters

Ul. Seaweed Bed. This area i sinhabited by six strangle weeds (AC 6 ;MV nil ; HD 4 ; hp 22, 20, 18, 15, 11 ; #AT1; Dmg special ; SA constriction ; AL N) .Any PCs that enter this hex areattacked by the strangle weeds . PCs inthe kelp have a 40% chance of finding abugbear skeleton of unusual size thatstill wears an agate and silver wais tchain (worth 100 gp) . Hooked to thi sbelt is a box containing one bud for thetorch of airy water (from area G4) .

42 Issue No . 8

THE WOUNDED WORM

Ancagaling's servants (but not Barva-rius) know a special path through theseaweed bed that avoids the strangl eweeds .

ANCAGALING'S LAIR

/' piI

_ lt, //3iii //=

U2. Sunken Ship. The gutted wreckof a merchant ship lies here on theocean floor. It is upside down, with th etorn sail and broken rigging obscuringthe inside . The hull is 25' wide and 80 'long. If the PCs have an underwaterlight source, they can see the gleam ofgold from inside the ship . It takes oneround for a character to pick his way i nor out of the ship . Amid the destroyedrigging are four floating eyes (AC 9 ;MV 30" ; HD 1/2 ; hp 3 each ; MT nil ; SAhypnotism; AL N) which go after th ePCs as they pick their way into th eship .

There is indeed a heap of gold-coloredcoins inside . On it sits a giant octopus(AC 7; MV 3"//12" ; HD 8 ; hp 45 ; NAT 7 ;Dmg 1-4 (x 6)/2-12 ; SA constriction; SDink cloud, camouflage ; AL N) whic himmediately attacks the PCs . At firstsight, about 40,000 gp appear to be inthe pile, but they are only copper coinsunder the effect of a permanent illusion,cast by an unknown person or being.Anyone caught by the floating eyes ha sa 30% chance per round to be notice dand captured by the giant octopus.

If Barvarius is with the party, he canwarn the PCs about the dangers of theship, as he has come this way manytimes when summoned by Ancagaling .

U3. Ancagaling's Lair. A shimmer-ing bubble rises from a 10'-wide gapinghole in the center of a large cone ofmud. Every round, an air bubble lift sfrom the hole and floats upward . Thehole opens into area L1 on the map ofAncagaling 's lair. If the PCs stay in thearea for more than one turn, they areattacked by 12 mud-men (AC 10; MV3" ; HD 2 ; hp 15 each ; NAT 1 ; Dmg nil ;SD magical weapon to hit, limited spel limmunity; AL N) . These creature sform more slowly than usual and maynot hurl mud underwater . However, inthis environment, the mud-men slow avictim by 8" speed when they hurlthemselves on a character. Ancagal-ing's servants (including Barvarius)know to hurry into the lair to avoidthese creatures .

Anyone watching this area for som etime notes the presence of many foot -prints in the silt on the ocean floor,though most have been filled in and

worn away. The giant air bubbles whichperiodically form and float away do no tmove quickly upward ; sometimes theylazily bump along the ocean botto mbefore rising, as if the gas within the mwas heavy and thick .

U4. Troll Hovel . The coral reef isstrewn with seaweed here. This slimymass is the home of a female aquati cogre (AC 4; MV 6"//12" ; HD 4+4 ; hp21 ; NAT 3 or 1 ; Dmg 1-6/1-6/2-8 or byweapon type ; SA swimming chargegives +1 to hit, surprise 4 in 6 ; SDcamouflage ; AL CE) and her four adopt -ed "sons," saltwater marine trollswhich she raised and fed until the ybecame completely loyal to her (AC 2 ;MV 3"//12" HD 6 +12 ; hp 45, 39, 30 ,24; NAT 3 ; Dmg 1-4/1-4/9-16 ; SA attackthree different opponents in one round;SD regeneration ; AL CE) . Each has a40% chance of being "home" when thePCs arrive; others arrive 3-30 round slater in a group.

If the party is within the sphere of anairy water spell (making slashing weap -ons useful), the ogre attacks with he rsword of sharpness (see below) . The ogr eand the trolls are not servants of Anca-

galing, but they do cooperate with him ,sending him any characters who surren -der. PCs who can communicate withthese creatures may be able to bribethem, but the party will probably haveto fight .

Characters who enter the seaweedfind a large, open hovel has been con-structed under the kelp . It is furnishe drather nicely, with seashells hung onthe walls, a coral table, and (if the ogreis not at home) a sword hanging on onewall . This blade is the sword of sharp-ness that maimed Ancagaling . Theblade was given to the trolls by the reddragon to insure their loyalty. Strun gon the walls are 2,000 shells, eachworth 1 sp . Because of their sharp edgesand fragility, these shells have anencumbrance of 2 gp each.

U5. Giant Marine Spiders. Thewater in these areas is noticeablywarmer than the surrounding ocean.Characters who search find small vent sin the ocean floor from which heatedwater flows . If PCs remain in a U5 hexfor more than one turn, they ar eattacked by 1-6 giant marine spider s(AC 4; MV 15" ; HD 7 + 7 ; hp 40 each;

1 square = 10'

DUNGEON 43

THE WOUNDED WOR M

#AT 1 ; Dmg 3-12 ; SA poison ; AL N) thatbuild their bubble nests near theseducts .

U6. Kelpie Lair. Three kelpies (AC3; MV 9"//12" ; HD 5 ; hp 25 (x 2), 19 ;#AT nil ; Dmg nil ; SA charm and drown-ing; SD fire attacks do half or no dam -age; AL NE) make their lair here . Theyare not aligned with Ancagaling, butthey attempt to break up any underwa-ter party by charming members . If theycannot drown anyone, they try to driv ethe PCs into hexes inhabited by gian tmarine spiders (see area U5) . The kel-pies may also attack parties on the cliffabove (see area P8) . Amid the kelp, is asack containing 500 sp and 25 pp .

U7. Underwater Graveyard .Corpses and bones protrude from thesilt of this ghastly area . Ancagaling 'sservants, both above and below thewater, throw unwanted corpses into thesea here . Thirteen lacedon ghouls (AC6; MV 9" ; HD 2 ; hp 10 each ; #AT 3 ;Dmg 1-3/1-3/1-6 ; SA paralyzation ; SDimmune to sleep and charm spells; ALCE) attempt to corner living beings anddevour them . Many of the partiallyburied bodies are also undead . The PC smight be attacked by 1-4 ghoul arms(AC 5; MV nil ; HD 1/2 ; hp 4 each ; #AT 1 ;Dmg 1-3 plus paralyzation) which pro-trude from the sea floor. A blow doing 4hp damage or more severs one of thesearms. The arms belong to partiallyanimated lacedons, which will not ariseto attack the PCs .

Ancagaling's Lai rAnyone looking down into the muddycone forming the entrance of Ancagal-ing's lair notes a series of stairs whic hdescend 10' into a large, open, air ychamber below . Movement into and outof the airy membrane at the top of thecone is effortless and does not cause th e"seal" to be broken, as Ancagaling hasenchanted the entrance with a variantairy water spell . Air does escape fro mthe lair as the plant constantly produce smore air all the time. Because the ai rcreated is especially thick, it has astrange and undefinable smell and fee lto it which only those who have visite dthe Elemental Plane of Air can recog-nize as atmosphere native to that plane.

Ll . Entrance . This area is guarde dby six bugbears (AC 5; MV 9" ; HD

3 + 1 ; hp 17 each; #AT 1 ; Dmg 2-8 or byweapon type ; SA surprise on 1-3; ALCE) . Each has a man catcher, a battl eaxe, and three darts . They attempt tocapture the PCs but not kill them. Theocean is clearly visible above this room ,and here the lair may be exited orentered at will . The door in the southwall may be locked from either side . Ifthe bugbears are forced to flee, theylock the door to keep PCs from enteringthe lair. The door latch requires 38combined strength points to break, or athief may try to pick the lock with nor-mal chances to do so .

L2. Prison . These areas are used a straps or prison cells . The doors may beopened from the outside but cannot beopened from within. Fifty points ofcombined strength will break one ofthese doors, but there are no aperturesfor lockpicks . The PCs are held here i fthey are brought to Ancagaling as pris-oners and his charm spells fail . Anca-galing has no NPC prisoners here atthis time.

L3. Library. This room is lined withwooden book shelves . An old man liveshere, and his personal effects are scat-tered about the room. He is the realMarcus Skinscribe (AC 10 ; MV 12" ;NPC sage (HD 8d4) ; hp 17; #AT 1 ; Dmgby weapon type ; S 7, I 18, W 16, D 12, C11, Ch 12, Co 10 ; AL CN), who actuall ysought out the red dragon to offer hi sservices . The sage's major fields of studyare fauna and the supernatural, and h especializes in dweomercraft and dra-gonkind . He doesn't know about th eother "Marcus Skinscribe ." Marcus wil lnot do anything he feels is agains tAncagaling's wishes . Otherwise, heignores the PCs . The sage tends to ge tquite excited about things that interesthim (like dragons). His primary func-tion is reading aloud to Ancagaling,which he enjoys . If the PCs attempt t osteal any books, Marcus runs to get th ebugbears in area Ll . He doesn't likehumans or humanoids, but puts up wit hthem for Ancagaling's sake. Marcuscarries a dagger in his belt but uses itonly to eat with. Because the sage is s oloyal to dragons in general, Ancagalin gdoes not bother to charm him.

Spell books, scrolls, tomes of ancien tlore, and metal plates of inscribed textare scattered throughout the room. Atfirst glance, the books appear to b epriceless . However, the library is infest-

ed with bookworms (AC 2, 9 if motion-less ; MV 12"(3") ; HD 1/4 ; hp 2; #AT nil ;Dmg nil ; SA eats paper ; SD camouflage ;AL N), and most of the works areruined. Any written matter brough tinto this room has an 80% chance o fbeing attacked by 1-6 worms . Any bookthe PCs examine has a 90% chance o fhaving been eaten .

Ten books of lore are still useful butindistinguishable from the others . Eachis worth 20 gp to a sage, or 10 gp to amagic-user or alchemist . Four inscribe dbronze plates, each weighing 50 lbs . ,may be treated as spell scrolls . Theplates bear the spells web, identify,armor, and grease. Hidden behind onebookcase is Barvarius 's spell book,which may be found after three turns ofsearching. It is sprinkled with lye todiscourage bookworms, and any charac-ter who handles it with wet skin takes 1hp damage . This tome is protected bysecret page spells, making it appear t obe a collection of bad poetry. The book isalso trapped with explosive runes . Thisbook contains all the spells that Barva-rius can cast (see area G9) plus write,dispel magic, explosive runes, ice storm,and secret page . Several other spells(like charm monster) have been rippe dfrom the book by Ancagaling, and Bar-varius may accuse the PCs of doing this .Barvarius will use any means necessaryto recover his book and escape .

L4.Barracks/Storeroom . Two bug-bears (AC 5; MV 9" ; HD 3 + 1 ; hp 16 ,15 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg 2-8 or by weapon type ;SA surprise on 1-3 ; AL CE) guard thi sroom. They each wield a halberd and abroad sword . The bugbears try to cap-ture intruders for Ancagaling but wil lkill them if necessary .

The personal belongings of all thebugbears in the lair are kept in thisroom; PCs can find a total of 50 sp pe rbugbear present (400 sp total) . This areais also a storeroom . Salted carcasses o fmany creatures (mostly cattle, deer, andpigs, but a few still-clothed humans a swell) lie about the area, ready for eat-ing. PCs can garner enough food for 100people to eat in one month if they ca ncarry it . Magic may be detected on thi smeat, as much of it is under the effect sof a preserve spell . One of the humancorpses wears an iron holy symbol ; in aside pocket is a scrap of paper with th eword "Narone" written on it . This is thecommand word for the staff of witheringfound among Ancagaling 's treasures i n

44 Issue No . 8

THE WOUNDED WOR M

his lair (room L6) . The cleric was theson of the one who withered thedragon's legs; his quest to find hi sfather obviously failed .

L5. Ethereal Trap. This room is shutwith a one-way door like the one in areaL2 . Each turn, there is a 30% chanc ethat a random minor creature from th eEthereal Random Encounter Table(Monster Manual II, page 138) wil lappear ; no monster with more than 8HD will show up. These monsters van-ish again after 1-10 rounds. The magi-cal plant which fills the lair withbreathable air attracts these creatures .Rather than constantly repel them ,Ancagaling developed spells to divertthem into this area. If intruders aretrapped here, so much the better .

L6. Ancagaling's Dwelling . Ancagal-ing is stretched out full length on hishoard and dominates the room. Hiswings and hind legs have beendestroyed, and the rest of his body i scovered with scars . He looks almostpitiful — but he is not . As soon as thePCs arrive, he weaves his agile foreclaw sin the air to cast spells, beginning wit heyebite. Ancagaling attempts to contro lthe party and uses suggestions to deterPCs from attacking him . He can use hisbreath weapon normally, if he must, an dis allowed to decide when to breathe andwhen to attack otherwise as the D Mdesires, without use of a die roll .

Ancagaling is a huge, ancient re ddragon (AC -1; MV 9"//24" ; HD 11 ; hp88 ; NAT 3 ; Dmg 1-8/1-8/3-30 ; SA breathweapon, spell use, fear aura uponattacking (60' radius) ; SD 60' infravis-ion, detect hidden/invisible objects with -in 80 yards, save as 22-HD monster ,immune to subdual attacks, attacker sreceive -1 to hit if using air- or fire -based attacks, -1 hp/HD damage take nfrom air- or fire-based attacks ; +1 to behit by water- or earth-based attacks, + 1hp/HD taken from water- or earth-basedattacks; AL CE).

Ancagaling has the spell powers of a16th-level magic-user, as his studies andmagical experimentation have giftedhim with superior abilities in this area .His spells are : charm person (x 2), detectmagic, read magic, write, deeppockets,forget, invisibility, scare, wizard lock ,hold person, protection from normalmissiles, suggestion (x 3), charm mon-ster (x 4), fear, airy water, fabricate,feeblemind, hold monster, telekinesis,

enchant an item, eyebite (x 2), limitedwish, truename, and mass charm. Heunderstands dig, preserve, wall ofstone,move earth, and permanency, but doesnot have these memorized when thePCs encounter him . Ancagaling canmemorize spells selectively, like ahuman magic-user using a spell book ;his own spell books, written on thic kparchment and bound by heavy metalcovers, lie under his treasure "bed ."Ancagaling is also very knowledgeabl eon the subject of crafting magical items ,but unless it directly benefits the DM 'scampaign (and Ancagaling), he shoul dnot give the PCs any such lore .

A character who falls into Ancagal-ing's power suffers a fate rolled on theCaptured PC Events Table . Mostcharmed characters are summoned backperiodically so that the dragon mayrenew the spell . Roll percentile dice(dlOO) to discover how each PC is affect-ed by Ancagaling 's spells .

The dragon's hoard contains 27,00 0cp ; 744 sp, 575 ep, 1,120 gp, 326 pp, andthe seaman Astain's ring of water walk-ing. Ancagaling has a huge leatherflask containing a potion ofextra-healing, which he will bite, chew, an dswallow if he needs it . Also in the pile i san elderwood staffofwithering with 10charges left . The staffs command wordis "Narone ." Near the center of the pil eis a mother-of-pearl-encrusted scabbard .From this scabbard hangs a gold chai nattached to a merman figurine made o fsolid pearl with silver decorations ,emerald eyes, and a ruby-encrusted tai l(worth 4,000 gp) . The sword that this

scabbard held is now in area U4 .Also within the pile are a few magica l

items which Ancagaling may use in hi sdefense if attacked . A cube offrostresistance, eversmoking bottle, net ofentrapment, and a spear +5 are presentbeneath the treasure, within easy gras pshould the dragon need them in a pinch .Note that Ancagaling can easily seethrough the smoke from the eversmok-ing bottle due to his incredible senses .

Ancagaling's lair is filled with air bya black, leafy plant in the southwestcorner of the room. This odd plant growsout of a brazier of hot coals and requiresno maintenance . Each month, it pro-duces one bud (useful in the torch ofairy water, see area G4). Because it wa sbrought to life through Ancagaling' smagic, it will perish shortly after hi sdeath . The air from these plants sup -ports all air-breathing life in the under -sea lair.

Concluding the AdventureAbout one hour after Ancagaling 'sdeath, the plant which fills his lair wit hair shrivels and dies, but the PCs ar eable to recover 2-16 buds from it . After5-8 hours, the air in the lair will hav ebubbled out, to be replaced with se awater. Sinequist and Cathan will con-tinue to struggle for power after Anca-galing's death, and the DM may wish t odesign future adventures around thisconflict. Astain returns to his formerseafaring life and may convince the PC sto ship out with him on a voyage todistant lands .

Captured PC Events TabledlOO Event during time of captur e01-35 PC recovers from charm 1-10 weeks later in a random nearby city. PC

has no memories of events following the encounter with Ancagalin gexcept that he left all of his possessions behind for "safekeeping ."

36-55 PC is kept for mundane service, spending 1-100 weeks in Ancagaling'slair. If the PC has not been rescued after this time, roll again forfate during next period of captivity .

56-60 PC is ambushed, to be killed and eaten by Ancagaling or his servants ;set-up to be determined by DM .

61-65 PC is sent to coerce Catha n 's gnolls to Ancagaling's service .*66-76 PC is sent to dupe NPCs into being charmed by Ancagaling.77-87 PC is sent to "collect " (i .e ., steal) items which Ancagaling desires .* *88-00 PC is sent to persuade a high-level cleric to cast a regenerate spell on

Ancagaling.*

* When an adventure is assigned, the PC may be allowed to role-play theaffair, with possible DM intervention if a player forgets the charmed state ofhis character.** If this would offend the PC's alignment, he may save vs . spells to cast offthe charm. Ancagaling is unaware of this sort of resistance .

DUNGEON 45

TH EFLOWERSOF FLAM EBY JAY BATISTA

In search of adangerous fairytale.

Artwork by Kevin DaviesCartography by Diesel

An 8th-grade class in Oriental historyfirst enticed Jay into the mysteries of theEast. Years later, when he became a DM,Oriental lands were always in hi sworlds, even if the PCs wouldn ' t gothere! Recently, Jay gave an engineeringseminar in Mexico, where he ate "poliocon sausa de Montezuma ." We hope herecovers soon .

The Flowers ofFlame is an AD&D°game Oriental Adventures moduledesigned for a group of 4-8 player char-acters of levels 5-8 . The party shoul dinclude a samurai who is a jito or has apost in the provincial government, an da learned and respected shukenja ; ayakuza would also be helpful . Thisadventure gives the groundwork for anew Oriental campaign area (Tabot, th efantasy analog for ancient Tibet) andoffers some high-level intrigue as well .The adventure begins in Shou Lung, inKara-Tur. Note the time of year an dtime limit for the adventure, as given i nthe next section .

Adventure BackgroundGovernor Chan Sung Yu has spent thelast few months at the capital of ShouLung, in pursuit of one of the Emperor'snieces . He recently returned home indisgrace, banished from court for annoy-ing the Emperor. The humiliation of hisdisgrace so upset Governor Chan tha the ordered the execution of all hi sattendants who witnessed the event .

In this angry state of mind, Chan isinformed that, while traveling throughhis province, a visiting ambassador andhis companions were caught in a stam-pede of cattle . The ambassador wasthrown in the mud, and his wife wasfrightened by a pack of hounds thatchased the herd . Two of the party wereinjured, and the ambassador's wifetwisted her ankle while trying to climba tree .

The governor, furious at this furthe rblot on his honor, calls for the samurai(a player character!) in charge of thedistrict where this fiasco occurred . Chanthen gives the samurai an impossibletask — the very task that the Empero rhas decreed Chan must complete i norder to be welcome at court again . Thesamurai must travel to Wu Pi Te Sha rMo — the Peerless Mountains — to findthe legendary Flowers of Flame an dbring back their seeds . The governormakes it clear that he expects his jito tocomplete this absolutely ridiculou squest or die trying .

46 Issue No . 8

THE FLOWERS OF FLAM E

The seeds are from flowers spoken ofin tales told to children . The tales men-tion a secret valley, a beautiful paradisewhere people never grow old. It is saidthat these flowers grow and thrive onl ywithin the heat of a flame. They areboth beautiful and extremely rare ,because they die immediately upo nbeing removed from the fire . The seed sof these flowers, however, can be gath-ered and planted later in another fire ,recreating the aesthetic beauty of theseexotic blooms .

The governor gives the samurai ascroll that guarantees safe passagethrough the barbarian lands that lie a tthe base of the Peerless Mountains ,south of Shou Lung and west of T 'uLung. He demands that the warrior andhis party leave tomorrow, the fourt hday in the month of Ju, and retur nbefore the Dragon Boat Festival in themonth of Kao II — 90 days away. Thescroll is bound in leather, and two setsof ornate wax seals are strung to it bylong silk ribbons . The samurai mayrecognize the imperial seals (80%chance) but does not know the origin ofthe other set of seals . A yakuza may usehis connections to discover the origin o fthe unknown seals ; a wu jen or shuken-ja may have spells that will dispel themystery of the seals (see below).

The PCs are offered ample opportuni-ty to gather gear for the trek as theypass through civilized lands, and the yare given a rudimentary map to themost accessible slopes of the "Moun-tains that Touch the Heavens," but noone knows anything more about theFlowers of Flame.

For the Dungeon Maste rThere is much more going on behind th escenes of this bizarre quest than firs tmeets the eye, as both heavenly an dearthly powers are involved . Part of thebackground to this story can b erevealed if a wu jen or shukenjaresearches the matter, or if a well -connected yakuza uses his contacts inthe capital city to glean information(35% chance) . It is common knowledg ethat the mountainous land to the sout his called Tabot, and it is ruled by monk s(lamas) and landed nobility. Centurie sago, the Lord of Oceans — the HighLama, believed by his followers to be areincarnated god on earth — took com-plete control of Tabot, establishing hi sown government and appointing his

own spokesman, the Chi-kyap Khempo ,to represent the nobles.

Unknown to the PCs, the current Chi-kyap Khempo (also called the LordChamberlain) has been bribed by th enobility, who plan to usurp the power ofthe centuries-old Lord of Oceans . Thenobles have amassed an army to attackT'u Lung and garrison the closest citiesin the neighboring province. Their plotis based on two solid truths : the peopleof Tabot love the Lord of Oceans, andthey hate the inhabitants of T'u Lung.(Of course, if the Lord of Oceans reallyis a god, the plan will either neatlymanipulate this foreign power intotransferring the government back intothe hands of the " innocent" nobility —or it will fail miserably. The nobles haveaccepted the risk . )

Unfortunately, T'u Lung is more pow-erful militarily than Tabot, though it smain troops are committed to borde rskirmishes in the south. With a littl eoutside aid (see below), the men of Tabo tcould hold off T 'u Lung's armies for afew months, but the capital of T'u Lun gis too distant to conquer, and all o fTabot could not provide the manpower .Eventually, T'u Lung could bring all it smight to bear and slaughter the Tabo-tans, invading Tabot afterwards on apunishment raid .

Just before that happens, it is theLord Chamberlain ' s plan to send envoy sto the court of T 'u Lung to sue for peace ,demanding that Tabot be established a sa district of the T 'u Lung governmentunder the control of the Tabot nobility.He plans to send his most persuasiv eambassadors, who will imply that th einvasion was planned by the Lord ofOceans, swearing that the nobilitywould never let such a thing happen i fthey were put in command . The Lor dChamberlain has collected a huge bribefrom the nobles to be given to the ruler sof T'u Lung as an example of the tith-ings Tabot would pay as a province o ftheir strong neighbor.

T'u Lung needs the tax revenues an dwould welcome saving its army for moreimportant threats . With much coaxingand promises of retribution from th eTabotan ambassadors, T 'u Lung mightagree to the plan. The Lord Chamber-lain could then hail the agreement as agrace from heaven, saving their countr yfrom the savage reprisals T'u Lung hadundoubtedly planned . The nobilitywould replace the clergy as rulers ofTabot, hopefully without offending the

people of the country or implicatin ganyone in the coup, and a more definitedivision of church and state would comeabout. As for the Lord of Oceans — if heis a god, he will do as he pleases ; if he i sa man, he will be able to do nothing .

The emperor of Shou Lung secretlywelcomes the chance to influence thegovernment of T'u Lung through apowerful internal district (Tabot) and sosupports the nobles of Tabot in theirplans. He had decided to provide addi-tional manpower for the Tabotan raid sinto T 'u Lung if the nobles allow Sho uLung to place spies posing as Tabota ndelegates in the high council of T'uLung, once the plan has borne fruit .Even if the plan fails, it allows theemperor of Shou Lung to harass th eforces of T 'u Lung without causing war,as would happen if he attacked openly.

The Lord Chamberlain was recentl yat the Shou Lung court securing troop sto back up the Tabotan armies . Whilethe Emperor of Shou Lung was willin gto provide the troops, he was concerne dthat their movement across the borde rinto Tabot would endanger certain trea-ties between the two countries . Such amass movement of men with no visibl epurpose would also alert the Lord o fOceans to the plot against him . The twowily old politicians — emperor andchamberlain — put their heads togethe rand came up with a daring idea to allowfree movement across the border sbetween Shou Lung and Tabot .

The Lord Chamberlain composed adocument permitting free passageacross the borders "for all traffic neces -sary to complete the task of finding andretrieving the Flowers of Flame," anidea that popped into his head fro msome long-suppressed childhood mem-ory. The Emperor, playing along wit hthis ridiculous cover-up, gave the non-sensical task to the bothersome an dinept (but conveniently handy) Gover-nor Chan. Meanwhile, court scribesworked night and day to produce hun-dreds of copies of the document, each t obe given to a company of soldiers toallow them to cross the border undercover of this ridiculous quest .

No troops, however, are to move befor eKao II, which gives the Tabotan noble stime to prepare their invasion . Thescroll the PCs carry is the original docu-ment drawn up by the Lord Chamber-lain . It is written in the Tabotan cour tlanguage as well as an indecipherabl escript, a direct translation into the

DUNGEON 47

THE FLOWERS OF FLAME

unknowingly upset all of the aboveplans. News of the successful recoveryof the Flowers of Flame will spreadquickly, and later documents will thusbe disregarded by border officials . See"Concluding the Adventure " for moreinformation .

NPC statistics: The statistics givenfor many NPCs in this adventure havebeen abbreviated and standardized forease of reference. All personal statistics ,unless otherwise noted, are assumed tobe either average (11) or the minimumrequired score (if higher than 11); seethe table for further information . No k ipowers, special attacks or defenses,

NPC Statistics : Tabotan Encounters

Class S I W D C Ch AL

Barbarian 15 11 11 14 15 11 N-CNSushi 11 11 11 11 11 11 Variabl eBushi/ninja 11 15 11 14 11 14 LNKensai 12 11 12 14 11 11 LNMonk 15 11 15 15 11 11 LG-LNShukenja 11 11 12 11 11 11 LGSohei 13 11 11 11 11 11 LG-LN

combat bonuses, and so forth are give nfor NPCs if such are integral to a partic-ular character of a given level (such as akensai's immunity to fear) .

Travel Through TabotIt will take 2-7 uneventful days onhorseback to reach the border with th elands of Tabot — but even before thePCs leave Shou Lung, the secret agentsof Tabot are alerted . The Lord of Oceansand his loyal government in the Tabo-tan capital of Koko Nur are aware tha tthe Lord Chamberlain and the noble sare plotting a coup . The CouncilKashag, ruled by one monk and thre elaymen who report directly to the HighLama, has mobilized three separatearms of the government to determin ethe real purpose of this fairy-tale searchinto their lands (see The Government o fTabot chart) . The actual status andstatistics of the long-lived High Lama ,as deity or mortal, are left to the DM ' sdiscretion, though they will not be need-ed for this adventure.

As the PCs travel through Tabot ,there is a chance that they encounterrepresentatives of the Tabotan govern-ment, with the results listed below . Rollpercentile dice for each governmentbranch whenever the PCs enter a town .Modify the chance to encounter by+ 15% when reentering any city .

The Chi-gye Le-Khung (ForeignBureau). The PCs have a 40% chance toencounter Foreign Bureau agents beforethe adventurers reach the mountains .Two or three agents (4th-level bushi /ninja) trail the party (90% effective) ,following all the way to the guard sta-tion at the entrance to the hidden valley(encounter 6) where they accuse the PC sof being thieves, thus ruining anychances the adventurers have of gain-ing surprise . The chance to encounteragents of the Foreign Bureau on thereturn trip is 20%, when 3-8 4th-leve lkensai guards attempt to arrest the PC sand confiscate the seeds (and any trea-sure) . When the kensai, who are loyal t othe Lord of Oceans, read the PCs' docu-ments and realize that the border wil lbe closed once the task of finding th eseeds is completed, they return twoseeds to the PCs and escort the party t oShou Lung .

Bushi/ninja agents : AC 7 (leatherscale); MV 9" ; bus4/nin4 ; hp 28 each ;#AT 1 ; Dmg by weapon type (lon gsword) or martial art (karate) ; AL N .

Kensai agents : AC 8 ; MV 12" ; ken4 ;

THE GOVERNMENT O FTABOT

The Lord of Oceans

IThe Lord Chamberlai n

(Chi-Kyap Khempo)

IThe Nobles

1Chief Ministers

(Lon Chen)

Monastic(Tse-Khor)

Foreign Bureau(Chi-Gye Le-Khung )

Treasurers(La-Cha)

Council Kashag(1 monk, 3 laymen )

District Officers(Dzong-Pon)

1Monk Counci l

(Yig-Tsang )

Military Office(Mag-Chi Le-Khung )

National Assembly(Tsong-Du )

common tongue of Tabot . The scrollcarries Tabotan and Shou Lung imperi-al seals.

The DM should use discretion inallowing the PCs to discover any or al lof this information . It need not all belearned in one lump, but may b erevealed in the course of their travels ,in conversation with local villagers ,army troops, drunken diplomats, andthe like . Rather than playing out eachencounter separately, general informa-tion may be distributed to PCs whocheck for rumors on the way to Tabot .

Note that if the PCs actually completethe quest by the deadline, they will

48 Issue No . 8

THE FLOWERS OF FLAM E

hp 23 each ; #AT 3/2; Dmg by weapo ntype (long sword) or martial art (karate) ;AL LN .

The Mag-chi Le-Khung (MilitaryOffice) . The PCs have a 10% chance t oencounter soldiers of the Military Offic ebefore the party reaches the mountains .One 6th-level bushi commanding 2- 5barbarian warriors attempts to arres tthe PCs on suspicion of plotting agains tthe High Lama. If overpowered, the PC sare held in separate detention cells forthree days, then released and hande dall their belongings . Some noble inauthority has ordered the soldiers not tointerfere . On the return trip, the PC shave a 20% chance to encounter sol-diers . The same size force tries to arrestthe party on sight . If successful, all th eadventurers' possessions are confis-cated, and they are held in separat ecells for two weeks, effectively prevent-ing them from completing their queston time . The PCs are then sentenced t ohard labor in the quarries for unspeci-fied illegal activities — only to bereleased two weeks later, with all pos-sessions returned and without explana-tions for why this happened .

Bushi commander : AC 4 (chainmail) ; MV 9" ; bush ; hp 29 ; #AT 3/2 ;Dmg by weapon type (katana) or mar-tial art (karate); AL LN.

Barbarian warriors : AC 8 (leather) ;MV 12" ; bar3; hp 24 each; #AT 1 ; Dmgby weapon type (broad sword) ; AL N .

The Dzong-Pon (District Officer) .Before the PCs reach the mountains ,there is a 20% chance to encounter th elocal "sheriff," a 6th-level barbarian . Hefollows the PCs and attempts to detai nthem with legal papers, threats, an dlocal laws, but only succeeds in makin ga nuisance of himself. If the DistrictOfficer meets the PCs on their retur ntrip (50% chance), he deputizes a posseof 5-8 5th-level barbarians, and theyride horses out to arrest the party. Theofficer can be bribed to leave the PC salone, but he immediately reports th ePCs actions to the Military Office (giv-ing the soldiers + 35% to their roll t oencounter the PCs).

Barbarian "sheriff": AC 2 (leather);MV 12" ; barb ; hp 47 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg byweapon type (long sword) ; S 17, D 17 ;AL N.

Barbarian deputies : AC 7 (studdedleather); MV 12" ; bar5; hp 42 each ; #AT1; Dmg by weapon type (broad sword) ;AL N .

Of course, player reaction can avertany of these outcomes. Player charac-ters have the opportunity to learn an dbe wary of these government agents —the government structure is commonlyknown, and all the PCs need do is as keven a peasant .

The PCs travel from their homethrough civilized lands until they reac hthe heavily guarded border betwee nTabot and Shou Lung. There, they mayconsult the crude map the governo rprovided (the DM can trace the map o fthe Peerless Mountains) and note a roadto the mountains that passes throughthree Tabotan towns — Darka, Khampo ,and Thok — each about one day's rid efrom the next . These towns offer thecomforts of warm, dry beds, but the PC sare sure to stand out as foreignersthere . The towns might be avoided ifthe group decides against questionin gthe natives and the possible side-effect sof alerting the authorities .

The land is filled with many peasant stoiling in the fields and paddies, andchasing herds of goats. The terrainbecomes increasingly more rugged a sthe PCs push on farther. Most peasant slive in low, circular huts of clay bricksand thatched roofs, and they dress i ndull-colored wools and pounded leath-ers . They speak a common Tabota nlanguage with thick local accents an dknow very little of the trade tongue . Aninterpreter is needed for more tha nsuperficial conversation. There is a 60 %chance to find an interpreter in eachvillage ; interpreters commonly charge10 yuan per day for their services, butwill not leave their villages.

Bushi interpreter: AC 10; MV 12" ;bus2 ; hp 15 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg by weapo ntype or martial art (kung fu) ; AL LN .

The Tabotan nobles live in two-storyhouses made of heavy stone and brick ,rough-hewn beams, and tiled roofs .While the noblemen dress in somber-colored silk gowns and style their hai rin jeweled knots, their women wearelaborate gowns and rainbow-colore dheaddresses decorated with bells andchimes . All children and the ever -present lamas have shaved heads, butwarriors sport long braids and dress inmail shirts and bronze skullcaps, oftendecorated with the eye of a peacockfeather. Most nobles can understand th elanguage of Shou Lung.

Pressed into the sides of hills along th eroute are monasteries, large stone con-structions rivaling the largest castles of

Shou Lung. The lamas — whethermonks, sohei, or shukenja — wande reverywhere, on the roads and through-out the towns . They provide a network ofspies for the Lord of Oceans, but they donot report to the Council Kashag andremain relatively aloof to the party' spassing . The lamas, especially the sohei ,do not hesitate to attack any "foreigninvaders " if provoked . The DM shouldprovide encounters as desired .

Finding a GuideBefore entering the mountains, the

adventurers should find a guide . If thePCs do not think to do this, the D Mshould subtly encourage them to do so .It would be easiest to find a guide inThok, at the foot of the Peerless Moun-tains . Thok is a small village of goat-herds, a single trading post, and thehomes of three minor nobles . Thei rmanor houses form the town cente rabout a cobbled court and a shallow ,spring-fed well . In Thok, the adventur-ers can sell their horses for goats orburros, and stock up on climbing toolsand supplies for the journey. The swa pof fine horses for slower beasts of bur-den may rankle some of the PCs, but a sthe slopes become narrow paths to osteep and tight for a horse, a nimbl egoat or cautious pack burro will prove abetter climber.

No one in Thok knows how to find th efairy-tale valley or the Flowers of Flame ,but all advise the PCs to get a good guide .When the adventurers decide to hire aguide, six applicants present themselve sto the group when they are at the tradin gpost. The PCs, especially any yakuza inthe group, must exercise their ability t ojudge the local men and determine th ebest choice .

Guide 1 .

"My name is Chang-chub . I havemany recommendations, for I am th ebest mountain guide in these parts . Iwill not work for less than 20 tae lper week? '

This guide increases the party'schance of a safe trip and helps the groupmove quickly. Although quiet and wise ,he is a poor fighter. He will lead theparty past the old shrine at encounter 1 .

Chang-chub : AC 10; MV 12" ; busl ;hp 4 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg by weapon typ e(katana) ; I 15, W 15 ; AL LG .

DUNGEON 49

THE FLOWERS OF FLAME

1 large hex = 20 miles1 small hex = 5 miles

Contour lines show1,000' changes i n

elevation.

Shaded areas aremountainous

terrain .

Unshaded areas inmountains are

glaciers .

TABOT: THE "ROOF OF THE WORLD"Guide 2.

"I am Sakya, a poor farmer. Thi syear has been very bad, and I need t ofeed my family. I have no recommen-dations, but I have lived here all mylife and can guide you through thesehills . My wages are 10 tael per week ,but we can discuss it ."

This guide is a liability to safety andspeed. He is nervous and awkward ,leading the party south, then west .Each day in the mountains, he has acumulative 5% chance of dying in a naccidental fall .

Sakya : AC 6 (brigandine) ; MV 9" ;bus2 ; hp 11; #AT 1 ; Dmg by weapontype (kama and two javelins) or martialart (karate); W 7, D 7 ; AL N .

Guide 3 .

"They call me Tshal, and I wantabout 18 tael a week . I have thi swritten recommendation, and I gre wup in these mountains."

The recommendation is forged, and

this barbarian is a liar. Cocksure, hewill lead the party south and waste twoweeks getting them thoroughly lost .Then he will steal all he can carry andruns away.

Tshal : AC 8 (leather); MV 12" ; bar2 ;hp 17; #AT 1 ; Dmg by weapon typ e(club) ; W 6 ; AL CE .

Guide 4 .

"My name is Pagmotru, and I havetraveled and traded with the fros tbarbarians . I want 16 tael per wee kto lead you through the mountains . Ihave two good recommendations ,including one from the owner of thi strading post."

Pagmotru speaks the truth, and he ca nensure safe passage through the fros ttribes' territories. Most of the time on thetrail, he sulks — he's only happy after agood battle! While he brings no bonusesto safety or speed, he will lead the partypast the old shrine at encounter 1 .

Pangmotru : AC 8 (leather); MV 12" ;bar3 ; hp 25 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg by weapo ntype (tetsubo); AL CN .

Guide 5 .

"My name is Gedun, and I must hav e18 tael a week. I studied as a monk inthese hills, and I know them well . Ihave these three recommendations ."

This NPC is a bushi/ninja who i ssearching for a lost group of adventur-ers (see encounter 4). He knows there issafety in numbers, and he will lead th ePCs past the shrine (encounter 1) . He isvery quiet and watchful, always search-ing for the lost party. Three days int othe journey, he starts to lead the adven-turers in circles while he looks for th elost group.

Gedun: AC 8 (leather) ; MV 12" ; bus/nin4; hp 28 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg by weapo ntype (katana and jitte) or martial art(tae kwon do) ; AL LE .

Guide 6 .

" I am Karmapa, and I guess I need15 tael a week. I used to be a shep-herd, and I'd chase my flocks acrossthe glaciers and mountains. I knowI'm young, but I work hard — justask anyone."

50 Issue No . 8

THE FLOWERS OF FLAM E

While this young man has no recom-mendations, he is energetic, work shard, and offers suggestions . He wil llead the party past the shrine (encount-er 1) and will find the tunnel to th ehidden valley (encounter 6) immedi-ately. Cautious during battles, Karma -pa has the best chance of accompanyingthe group through the entire journey .

Karmapa : AC 7 (studded leather);MV 12" ; bus3 ; hp 12 ; NAT 1 ; Dmg byweapon type (katana) ; I 13, W 17, D 15 ;AL LG .

All of the guides appear confident intheir choice of direction, and all wh ovisit the shrine (area 1) cut north int othe mountains. The rest take moresoutherly paths. Once into the moun-tains, the trails disappear and all th eguides head west. All believe the quest isridiculous, but will guide the party aslong as the adventurers' money hold sout .

Mountain Encounter sTable 1, Mountain Encounters (see en dof module) should be used to determin erandom encounters . Roll percentile dic eand check the table once each day andonce each night. If the dice roll calls foran encounter, it is best to fit it into thejourney. A day encounter, for example ,may happen just as the party stops forlunch or after a grueling climb to anarrow ledge . A nocturnal monstermight find the group as the PCs gathertwigs and branches for their eveningfire . These wandering monsters addexcitement to the plodding toils o fclimbing but aren ' t the main adventure ,so it's best not to get carried away.

Mountain and Glacier Climbin gThe following three-step system allow sthe DM to gauge the PCs' trave lthrough the Peerless Mountains .Whether the day's move is over moun-tain or glacier is determined by thegroup's location on the map and isessentially a judgment call by the DM .Above all, don ' t get bogged down in"chart chasing" but apply the spirit o fthe rules . The purpose of this system i sto keep the PCs moving quickly, kee pthe game exciting, and test the players 'common sense and judgment . (Optional-ly, the DM can use various pages in theWilderness Survival Guide and theDungeoneer 's Survival Guide that applyto mountain and glacier travel .)

It is assumed that the party finishes aclimbing turn at a suitable restin gplace, a ledge or rock chimney, to giveshelter. The maximum a group canmove before collapsing from fatigue i stwo mountain climbs, three glacierclimbs, or one mountain and one glacierclimb. Traveling with haste (to escap epursuit) halves this maximum move-ment . Glacier traveling is blinding; ithurts the eyes and causes cuts fro msharp ice . Mountain climbing leads tocold fingers and toes, and windburn o nany exposed skin surfaces.

Repeat the following three steps asmany times as necessary until th egroup reaches their goal . The basechance of becoming lost is 30%, with thefollowing modifications : -28% if led byguide 1, +20% if led by guide 2, -15%for all other guides . Check for becomin glost every three moves .

Step 1 . Using tables 2 and 3 at th eend of the module, determine the slopeahead and the weather for the day andinform the PCs .

Step 2 . Notify the PCs of conditionsahead and allow them to discuss theirtravel plans . Determine the group'stravel mode (for example, "haste, withropes, leaving animals behind " or "withropes and pitons, using slow diligence " ) .The players may opt to wait out ba dweather or turn back to look for a betterroute . The following modifiers apply t odice rolls in step 3 .

Modifiers to

AdjustClimbing

Safety/Distance

With ropes + 15/ - 1With pitons +25/— 2With animals -51— 1With slow diligence +30/— 2With haste — 30/ — 2Party fatigued — 20/ — 2Guide 1 leads +50/+ 2Guide 2 leads -10/— 1Korobokuru with party* +35/+ 3Slope adjustment see chartWeather adjustment see char tHigh altitude (above 25,000') — 5/ - 1Party size > 10 -31— 1Party size > 20 — 7/ — 2Party size > 3 5

* See encounter 2 .

-12/ — 3

Step 3. Ask one player to roll percen-tile dice for the group 's unmodified

safety roll . Modify this score by th eresults of steps 1 and 2, and see tables 4and 5 at the end of the module . Tell theadventurers how the climb went, the nmake the distance roll, modify it, andmove the party on the map . With alittle preparation, you should be able tomove your players across the Peerles sMountains with excitement, momen-tum, and speed . Remember, it's impor-tant to keep track of the game tim espent in crossing these mountain sbecause of the governor's deadline .

Glaciers are often eroded by the win dinto fantastic shapes, caverns, and tun-nels, forming perfect hiding places fornasty monsters . Travel on glaciers isslower and demands more attention .Use your imagination to create a trulyepic journey for the players .

Set Encounters in the Mountain sThe following are set encounters in th emountains . The first and sixth are themost important, with the fourth beingnoteworthy if a PC ninja is present .

1. The Shrine . Four of the guide s(numbers 1, 4, 5, and 6) lead the PCspast an ancient shrine as the groupbegins its trek into the mountains . Th ebricks of the altar are tumbled, and th eroof leans precariously forward over th eentrance . Birds roost in the eaves an dcaw at the passing adventurers, an dgrass sprouts up between the floor tiles .The shrine seems to have been aban-doned for a long time .

If a shukenja PC stops at the shrine ,repairs the altar, and prays to themountain spirits, a spirit appears t ohim. All others see only a bright flash oflight shining from the altar, but th eshukenja sees a tall, copper-skinnedman with shimmering red hair. Hi sgown is embroidered with fantasti cdragons and tangled flames . The spiritsmiles at the priest and recites th efollowing :

"By the hand of Celestium, Bureau-crat Supreme, and by the Emperor ofHeavens, I am sent among you! Yourquest is ordained by above, andthrough mortal means you havearrived to bring harmony to the land.

"To the west lies Fire Ring . Seek it !Hidden in its misty green heart arethe blossoms you desire and dee pmines of pure gold . Be wings on the

DUNGEON 51

THE FLOWERS OF FLAM E

wind, for a spirit hath broken thesky 's rules; it festers in silence andplots evil, and it has spawned a nabomination that must be wipedclean. Beware of the fiery garden ; it smaster has poisoned men's souls . Gowest where the icelands are split bythe flames and, with the blessing o fheaven, find the Valley of Wings.And take ye my thumb, luck fro mcopper forged — with a glyph of aname, a bottle and stopper . Open thebottle and speak the name. It is writ-ten a wise man will always triumphover vain and evil vipers ."

As the spirit recites the last few lines ,his thumb glows red hot and falls off toform a small copper bottle with a tightstopper. On one side of the bottle is astrange and unrecognizable glyph . Th espirit disappears in a puff of smoke an dthe smell of ozone, leaving the shukenj awith the distinct impression that he ha sspoken with an important spirit — per-haps a dragon. None of the other adven-turers see anything but the bright light .

The spirit cannot be attacked by an ymember of the party, as it is a holy

emissary from the Celestial Emperorand simply vanishes without a trac eupon the fall of the first blow . Attempt-ing to strike the spirit brings instantreprisal as the power of the attack i smagically reflected into the attacker' schest! Let the PC roll his damage, thentell him he did it to himself .

This spirit was sent by the CelestialEmperor to aid the PCs in defeating hi swayward minion, the fire spiri tdescribed at area G9. The bottle hasbeen forged in the heavens and holds a nirresistible compulsion for the spiri twhose name it carries . Anyone whocalls out the spirit's name can compel i tinto the bottle with the weight of theCelestial Empire behind the command .Once inside, the spirit cannot escapeagain. The "abomination " refers to th eshukenja Ko Hung Cho (area G4) wh ohas fallen prey to the monster's influ-ence and become evil .

2. The Destitute Korobokuru . Onthe second day of the trip, one of th ePCs spots a short, manlike figure highup the mountainside, waving his cape t ocatch their attention and rushing downthe slope to overtake the party. As the

figure approaches, it becomes obviousthat he is not a man at all but a korobo-kuru . When he is about 100 yards away,he collapses from hunger and weakness ,unable to go any farther. He lies on theground, calling for aid in the tradin glanguage . Upon examination, theadventurers find that this dwarf i scompletely destitute . He owns nothin gbut his cape and a thin, patched robe .His scrawny frame is feverish, and hebegs for food and water. If given suste-nance, he thanks the PCs and promptlyfalls asleep . The korobokuru remainscomatose for the rest of the day and allthe next night .

In the morning, the korobokuruawakens and asks for more food . Heexplains that he is Loni Dormarku fromthe far south . Loni tells of becoming lostwhile trading with the frost tribes fo rcertain rare herbs . He expresses hi sgratefulness for the PCs' fine treatmen tand explains that he is indebted to th egroup for saving his life . According tothe code of his people, Loni says, hemust repay his rescuers in some man-ner. It will take two days' rest for him tobe well enough to travel, but he claimsto be a very good guide (note his modifi-cations to climbing safety and distance) .He can tell the party the approximat elocation of the two closest frost tribes ,but he warns them that these tribes arecannibals and very dangerous . Loni ha snever heard of a " fire ring," but he hasfriends in a frost tribe many days' jour-ney away who have told him of a volca-no that lies far to the west.

The real reason the korobokuru i sdestitute is because he recently escape dfrom one of the frost tribes (encounter 3 )where he is known as a cheat and a liar ,and there is a price on his head! If th eparty decides to take him along, two ofthe frost tribes will attempt to kill all o fthem on sight for associating with Lon iDormarku. He can, however, help themto reach the tribe far to the west, wher ehis welcome is assured for cheating th eother two tribes . Along the way, Lon isteals from the party if given thechance . True to his race, the korobo-kuru delights in pranks and practica ljokes (like dropping messy food onclimbers below) but his jokes are neverfatal . If the party arms him, he fights —but only to save himself. Once h eregains his strength, he is able to runaway and will take flight if a battle i sgoing against the group .

Loni Dormarku : AC 8; MV 12" ;

52 Issue No. 8

THE FLOWERS OF FLAM E

bus3 ; hp 24 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg by weapontype (if given any); S 10 ; I 14 ; W 8 ; D 16 ;C 16 ; Ch 12 ; AL CN .

3. The Frost Tribes . Rumored to becannibals, these warlike barbarians liv ein hidden villages in the mountains .They attack any party that enters thei rterritory (approaches within 15 miles)unless the group travels with guide 4 ,who can speak their language and ha sbrought beads and jewelry to buy safepassage . The frost barbarians fightvaliantly but will run from a superio rforce unless their enemy, Loni the koro-bokuru, is among the party ; then theyfight to the death. Two eastern tribeswere cheated by Loni Dormarku andhave been hunting him for weeks . Theywill rest only when his head hangs froma pole .

The 20-80 tribesmen of each tribe whoappear are short and stocky, have mat-ted hair and beards, and dress in pad-ded armor from arctic animal skins ,rendering the men almost invisibl eagainst the snow and ice (surprise 5 in 6times) . The warriors are armed withclubs, spears, and stone axes. (Note :These are not the frost men described inthe FIEND FOLIO ® Tome . )

The northeastern tribe is ruled byHorj the Deadly (AC 4 (leather); MV12" ; bar4; hp 30; #AT 1 ; Dmg by weapo ntype; D 16; AL CN ; long sword +2), ahuge brute easily impressed by wealth .The southeastern tribe is controlled byNakar the Rider (AC 8 (leather) ; MV12" ; bar3 ; hp 29 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg by weapontype (hand axe) ; AL CE) who owns agreat herd of shaggy white sheep . Thesetwo tribes know nothing of the Valley o fWings, but they know of the volcano t othe west .

If the players reach the western fros tbarbarians in the company of the koro-bokuru, that tribe gives them a heroes 'welcome with a feast, wrestling per -formances, and fire-eaters. This tribebenefitted from the other tribes ' prob-lems and encouraged the korobokuru towreak his mischief on their neighbors .The village is a series of rock and snow -block huts — cold, drafty, smoky, an ddirty — filled with goats and toothles swomen. The tribe is lead by Choton theCold Eater (AC 6 (leather) ; MV 12" ;bar4 ; hp 38; #AT 1 ; Dmg by weapo ntype (club) ; I 17, D 15 ; AL N), an ol dpatriarch who watches and listens mor ethan he speaks .

This tribe knows where the entrance

to the hidden valley may be found, butthe tribesmen consider the valle ycursed because none who have venture din have ever returned . Sixteen menhave disappeared while hunting nea rthat area in the last three years . Thetribesmen believe there is a horribl ecurse associated with the valley but willvery reluctantly lead the friends of LoniDormarku to the place they seek .

4. The Dead Travelers. While climb-ing these arduous slopes, the PCs stum-ble across frozen travelers, lost anddead for some time . They appear to b eadventurers who came to a gruesomeend. Their clothes and personal equip-ment are frozen to their bodies, andpossessions must be pried loose .

If Gedun the ninja (guide 5) is wit hthe group, he quietly steals an enam-eled box and a scroll from one of th ebodies, then disappears . If the PCsattempt to stop him, he fights to escape .The box contains a small amount ofdeadly poison and two scrolls . One ofthe scrolls is written in a secret code .Each PC who is not a ninja has a 15%chance to decipher the code after 1-6hours . The second scroll contains afinely detailed drawing of a man's face .

If there is a ninja PC in the group, herealizes that the coded scroll contain sthe commands of a rival ninja clan an dhas a 70% chance to read the scroll . Th etext of the scroll reads as follows :

"Member of the Tankaro family, sus-tain our honor. The face of our enemy isfound ; his feet pass through our moun-tains . The poison of the marrow rootshall prolong his cursed death . When ithas happened, bring his head to ador nthe pole . "

This message calls for the death of awell-known enemy of all ninja, TuHsein Lo, believed to be hiding in thesevery mountains . Driven by conceit, T uHsein Lo hunts and reveals ninja clans ,causing the downfall of the Kwai an dHojuru families . Any ninja PC will haveheard of him but may not know his face .The sketch of the man's face is recogniz-able from stories told of Tu, but a ninj aPC will not have heard where he mightbe found. It would be a pleasure as wel las an honor for a ninja of any family topresent Tu Hsein Lo's head at the feet ofhis clan master.

Except for the items the ninja seeks ,the dead travelers have nothing of val-ue except a few coins and some jewelry.If used on a weapon or in a drink, the

poison forces a victim to save vs . poiso nor else suffer the effects of a symbol ofpain for 2-20 turns before dying ; a suc-cessful save causes suffering, but athalf-strength effects and doubled dura-tion, though with eventual recovery .

5.The Dying Monk. If the PC sapproach from the east and have no tcontacted the third frost tribe, theydiscover a dying monk, freezing in asnowdrift. His bare hands and feet arebloody stumps . He has lost much bloodand is frostbitten so badly that there i sno way to save him short of a heal spell .The PCs can otherwise only comfor thim as he passes on . Before he dies, h egasps out the following tale :

"My name is Phags-pa, and I hav efled the cruelty of Ko Hung Cho, wh ohunts my gentle people in the forestsof Lo Chi, the Valley of Wings . Fo rgenerations, my people lived in therain forest and were happy. Thencame the men who perverted thegood monks of Lo Chi . Greed reignsover the valley, and my people hid elest they be caught and forced t owork in the mines . I took this formand joined the hunters to learn theirsecrets, only to be cast out into thi sfrozen wasteland by those murderers .Beware Ko Hung Cho and his ava-rice . Beware the fire spirit, he ofmany names . My people lie to th eeast within the valley. Once throug hthe gate . . . find them . . . go west . . .to the gate . . . west . . ."

The monk shudders and transformsinto a hare . The small creature breathe sonce deeply and dies . Phags-pa's peopl eare the hengeyokai of encounter C inthe valley. The shape-changer leavesbehind only a yellow habit and a beltfashioned from the bark of a tree . Aspeak with dead spell yields no furtherinformation . If saved by a heal spell orthe like (such as a wish), the monk mustrest for two weeks before being able t omove again . In this case, he must b ecarried by the PCs back to his home .

6.The Gate to the Valley. Smoke ca nbe seen rising in the northwest . As thePCs approach, a huge volcano (area 7)can be discerned in the distance . Ifguide 6 or the frost barbarians lead th eparty, the PCs travel directly to thetunnel gate at the base of the volcani cmountain. If not, for every hour they

DUNGEON 53

THE FLOWERS OF FLAME

Strange writings, which time and thewinds have eroded past any decipher-ing, are carved into the walls of theentrance .

This tunnel is over six miles long and-meanders up through the mountain t oopen into the hidden valley at encount-er A on the Lo Chi map. The tempera-ture gets hotter as the party movesdeeper into the mountain, leveling off atabout 85° F. and causing all PCs toremove their winter gear or suffer a – 1penalty to "to hit " and saving throwsfrom their discomfort . For every mil ethe PCs travel, roll on table 6, Tunnel

Encounters, for random monsters .Though the tunnel is fairly straight, th eDM may introduce branches, dead ends ,etc . if he decides to draw the entiretunnel out. However, the tunnel shoul dnot daunt the party greatly, as the realmission lies beyond in the Valley o fWings .

The way is clear of obstructions . Anycorridors that break off from the mai ntunnel are narrow and foreboding, an dany character investigating a side pas -sage encounters one of the tunnel mon-sters in its lair. As the end of the tunnelgrows near, the adventurers hear asound, a rushing chatter that gets loud-er until it can be recognized as the nois emade by thousands of birds .

Though the tropical valley rests in th emiddle of a volcano's crater, the centralthroat of the volcano has ceased to beactive . A number of smaller coneswhich put out amounts of steam an dsmoke ring the parapet of the crater ;various earth spirits have created thi seffect to hide and protect the valley,leaving the main crater floor habitabl edespite occasional light falls of ash . Theparapet is slightly over 16,000' abovesea level ; the entrance to the tunnel andthe valley floor in the central crater ar eabout 9,000' in altitude .

Lo Chi : The Valley of Wing sAs noted earlier, statistics for the NPC sin this adventure have been abbrevi-ated . The following notes apply specifi-cally to inhabitants of the valley.

The rulers of the valley are lawful-evi lin nature, and as a result are highlyorganized . The monks and kensai wearonly simple clothing with no distinctionbetween them. Sohei wear studde dleather armor. Monks, kensai, and sohe ieach carry a single 7' spear ; all weaponsspecialization and weapons of choic eapply to the use of the spear .

Monks, kensai, and sohei have takenproficiency with tae kwon do as well . Th eDM should assign special maneuvers t ovarious NPCs as desired (NAT 1 ; Dmg 1-8 ;AC 8; Principal Attack = feet) .

Because the weapons and martial art straining received by the lawful-evi lrulers of the Valley of Wings is so stand-ardized, the abbreviation "spear/TKD"is used to describe damage ("Dmg") instatistical groups .

All slaves here are male humans cap-tured from local tribes and villages, an dforced to work at menial tasks. Slaveswear only loincloths, and (of course) none

search, there is a 20% cumulativ echance that the adventurers find th egate. Neither the frost barbarians northe korobokuru will travel any farther.They may await the party's return here .

The gate is a huge arch, ornatelycarved with birds and scrollings, tha topens into a dark tunnel . The tunne lappears to delve underneath the grea tvolcano, and the passage narrows to a10'-wide corridor immediately insid ethe entrance . Only one set of footprint s(belonging to the monk in encounter 5above), almost drifted over with snow ,leads out of the cavernous mouth .

54 Issue No. 8

THE FLOWERS OF FLAM E

of them are armed . Slaves have thefollowing statistics: AC 10; MV 9" (hob -bled by chains on feet) ; zero-levelhuman males ; hp 1-6 (4 average) ; HATnil ; unarmed and unarmored ; AL varia-ble but usually lawful ; no possessions .

A. Gateway to Paradise . At night, ahuge stone is levered into place frominside the valley to block the tunnelmouth. This rock keeps monsters out o f(and slaves in) the Valley of Wings . Atdaybreak, the stone is rolled away by 2 5slaves who then go to area F, and theentrance is guarded by five 5th-leve lsohei from the Lo Chi monastery . Thejob of tunnel guard is not very exciting ;these guards are bored with their pos tand easily surprised on a 1-4 on 1d6 .

Solei guards : AC 6; MV 9" ; soh5 ; h p33, 31, 30, 29, 22 ; HAT 1 ; Dmg spear /TKD.

Even before the adventurers see th elight of the entrance, they hear thenoises of the birds that fill this Shangri-la. Not only wild birds live in the valley,for the warrior priests who live herehave domesticated birds to aid them .Each sohei guard has tethered anostrich, used for transportation, by th emouth of the cavern . The five ostriche sare completely domesticated and wea rblinders, carrying up to 200 lbs . each(AC 7 ; MV 18" ; HD 3 ; hp 16, 14, 13, 13 ,10 ; HAT 1 peck or 1 kick; Dmg 1-4 perpeck or 1-8 per kick ; AL N) . A homingpigeon (AC 8; MV 1"/24" ; HD 1/4; hp 1 -2 ; HAT nil ; AL N) in a cage is brough tout from the monastery each day andcan be released to carry messages bac kin emergencies . Five trained herons ,their bills armored with sharp meta lcuffs, are also leashed to the gateway .The 4'-tall herons wield their metal -clad bills like small swords (AC 7 ; MV15" ; HD 2 ; hp 15, 14, 11, 10 ; HAT 1peck ; Dmg 1-6 ; AL N) .

Upon noticing intruders, one sohe iimmediately releases the caged pigeo nto raise the alarm . All the sohei fight t osubdue the invaders and enslave themfor digging in the gold mines . (Thepigeon doesn't get far; see encounter B . )

Once the guards are overcome, thePCs may survey the valley. A roadstretches off to the northwest betwee nthe tall, thick foliage of a tropical rainforest . The trees are filled with everytype of bird imaginable, from tiny hum-mingbirds and multicolored finches t opeacocks and fancy parrots . One type ofbird, however, is missing; there are no

hawks or vultures, no birds of prey. Thebirds seem to be the only wildlifearound . They are friendly and easilycoaxed down to play and feed from aPC's hand. The warm air is filled withthe noises of these avian singers as the ycrowd the vines and branches and flut-ter through the air.

Behind the party is a steep basalt wal lrising up to a volcanic crest thousandsof feet above, a fiery ring that encircle sthis hidden valley. The sky above i sfilled with smoke boiling from the cra-ters around the parapet of the volcano .

At this point, guide 6 suggests thatthe party covers its tracks by draggingthe sohei bodies into the tunnel andmaking it look like some monsterattacked the guard post. Then theadventurers can slip off into the rai nforest to observe this land before caus-ing more trouble . Any other guide willbe of no help in planning a course ofaction .

B. The Shan Sao . About a quarter ofa mile down the dirt road, the partycomes upon a large black crow that hascaught a pigeon . (If a messenger pigeonwas released by the guards, it is theunlucky bird.) The crow holds the strug-gling captive by the neck and wing as i twatches the PCs approach down thelane . While the adventurers approach ,the crow blinds the bird with two quickbeak thrusts, then releases it to flutteruselessly about the roadway. With aflick of its foot-long wings, the crowperches on a limb before the PCs an dcocks its head to the side . "Greetings,"it rasps in a rough approximation of thecommon tongue.

A wu jen using a detect magic spell cansense a magical aura about the creature .This bird is Bai Tso-bo, a shan sao . H eand his kind live in this forest. Bai hatesthe monks and warriors of the monastery,but he can only plague them by stoppingtheir communications or stealing thei rfood and trinkets. He knows much, but isgreedy and demands a jewel for every bi tof information .

Bai knows only a few words in thecommon tongue . "Follow" and "payme" are his most commonly used phras-es . The only words he has to describ eanything are "monks, " "dark," " fire,""green," and "pretty." To supplementhis meager vocabulary, the crow ges-tures and points, coaxing out answersfrom the PCs as in a game of charades .He answers yes-or-no questions with anod or a shake of his shiny black head .Bai can count by tapping or countingout the number with cawing sounds (forexample, "caw-caw-caw monks " meansthree monks) .

If sufficiently paid, the shan sao willshow the players a map of the monks 'valley by drawing with his beak in th edust of the road . He tries to convey theroutine of life in the valley : work in th erice paddies and herding the slaves into

NPC Statistics : Lo Chi MonasteryClass S I W D C Ch AL

Kensai 12 11 12 14 11 11 LEMonk 15 11 15 15 11 11 LESlave 11 11 11 11 11 11 VariableSohei 13 11 11 11 11 11 LE

DUNGEON 55

THE FLOWERS OF FLAM E

the mines by day, worshiping in thepagoda and protecting the compound b ynight . If he is given even more jewelry ,he will lead the PCs through the wood sto the monastery and point out theguards, avoiding all other encounters .He will go no farther, but he does knowtwo more important facts: All the gol dis offered up to the spirit in the pagoda ,and the pagoda is where strange flowersgrow in eternal flames . These last tw osecrets he tells are the hardest to con-vey, and the PCs as a group have only a40% chance to understand .

Bai Tso-bo, a shan sao : AC 4; MV6"/15" ; HD 3 ; hp 18; #AT 1 ; Dmg 1-6 ;SA disease ; SD summon tigers, immun eto fear ; AL CN .

C. The Hengeyokai . If the PCs headnorth along the wall of the great craterand walk for about a mile, they round aspur of rock and come upon a smal ltemple hemmed in by the thick forest .Inside the temple sits an old man wh owatches the adventurers, nodding andsmiling as if expecting them. Two largehares scamper out the back of the tem-ple as the PCs enter.

This old man is Notia T'ong, a 9th -level hengeyokai wu jen with the follow-ing spells: cloud ladder, hypnotism ,know history, magic missile, wall of fog,hypnotic pattern, smoke shape, stinkingcloud, haste, hold person, steam breath ,dancing blade, polymorph other, andconjure elemental. He is the guardian ofthe hengeyokai tribe that lives in thisforest and protects the temple from th eevil shukenja, Ko Hung Cho, and hi smonks . Notia T'ong sent his son Phags-pa to learn of the ways of the monastery(set encounter 5 in the Peerless Moun-tains) . The old man will fight any wh oenter the temple with intent to disturbor destroy, and hiding in the forest ar e10 hengeyokai in human form, awaitingNotia's call .

The wu jen questions the adventurers ,nodding at each of their answers . Hewants to know their place of origin, thepurpose of their journey, and details ofthe trek . He compares this informationto the knowledge he gained from a knowhistory spell . Notia is looking for right-eous men of good manners . If he judge sthe PCs not to his liking, he ordersthem to leave or else calls his warrior sand attacks . If he feels the PCs are ofgood appearance and presentation, h eoffers them food and lodging for th enight . Notia knows immediately that

the PCs are not from the monastery. Hehas labored for years to keep the monk sfrom raiding this temple, and his con-stant vigilance and mental concentra-tion has aged him prematurely . He criesif told of the death of his brave son .

The other people of the tribe neve rshow themselves. The next morning ,the old wu jen leads the PCs throughthe woods and shows them areas D andE Notia will travel no farther, his dutybeing to his temple and his tribe . H eknows only rumors of the Flowers o fFlame and almost nothing about th emonks of the Lo Chi monastery .

Notia T'ong : AC 10 or 5 (hare form) ;MV 12" or 18" (hare form) ; wuj9 ; hp 34;#AT 1 ; Dmg by weapon type (dagger) orspells ; S 8, I 16, W 12, D 13, C 11, Ch14; AL LG.Hengeyokai guards: AC 8 (leather )

or 5 (hare form) ; MV 12" or 18" (har eform); bus4 ; hp 20 each; #AT 1 ; Dmg byweapon type (katana) ; AL LG.

D. The Rice Paddies . At night, thelong house at the end of the floode dfields stands empty, but during the dayits roof provides shade for the guardsthat watch over the slaves who workknee-deep in mud . Mosquito clouds buz zabove the stagnant water of the pad-dies, and birds swoop down to raid th eseedlings . Two 7th-level monks sit a tease within the wall-less building .

Interestingly, a slave oversees theplanting, a cruel straw boss trading hisown kind's misery for favors . This slaveis the infamous ninja-hunter Tu Hsei nLo, who was caught in a slave raid som etime ago. The 14 slaves in the fields ar ethose men who were deemed too weakfor the mines . They will run and hide inthe forest if set free.

One or more of the PCs may recogniz ethe straw boss as the person mentionedin the scrolls found with the dead trav-elers (encounter 4) . Allow a 60% chancefor a ninja (15% for others) to recogniz ehim. A ninja can effect this man 's deathin typical ninja style if he wishes, butcompleting this task may mean leavingthe group . Tu Hsein Lo has his ownshack, with a real bed and good food, inthe slave compound outside the walls o fthe monastery. He is universallydespised. His fellow slaves hate him,and the monks find him contemptible .Tu Hsein Lo is paranoid and will raisean alarm at the slightest sound . He sitsawake late into the night, worryin gover his past and his dismal future . He

is surprised only on a roll of one in six .If he does call for help, the guards tak e2-8 rounds to respond due to theirintense dislike for him .

Monk guards: AC 5; MV 21" ; mon7 ;hp 21, 19 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg spear/TKD .

Tu Hsein Lo : AC 9; MV 12" ; bush ; h p37 ; #AT 3/2 ; Dmg by weapon type(spear) ; S 16, I 15, W 6, D 11, C 12, Ch10; AL NE .

E. The Crossroads . Two 7th-levelkensai sit at the intersection of themain trail with a smaller path thatleads northeast. The two kensai wearonly loincloths and sit perfectly still ,meditating day and night . They do no tfeel the rain's damp or the sun'swarmth in their silent and watchfu lvigil, and their elaborately designe dspears lie in ceremonial fashion on theground before them. These two warrior sare guards of a sort, although theirposition is more honorary than function -al. If they are approached by the PCs,the kensai grasp their weapons and ris efluidly to their feet, their rigid postureand menacing glares an unspoken chal-lenge to a psychic duel (see OrientalAdventures, pages 100-101) .

Whatever the outcome of the psychicduel, the kensai attack with thei rspears as soon as concentration is bro-ken. They use their ki powers to domaximum damage for their first seve nstrikes .

Kensai guards : AC 7 ; MV 12" ; ken7 ;hp 39, 36 ; #AT 3/2 ; Dmg spear/TKD .

F.The Smithy and Mines . By theearliest light of dawn, four 5th-leve lsohei and five 6th-level monks lead 5 0slaves to the ore refinery and mines .Cracks with spear butts rule over th emotley crew of diggers, who move wit hpurposely slow and clumsy steps, seeth-ing with hatred for their captors . Theseslaves are ripe for a revolt and will fightif given any weapons . However, theywill not assault the monastery for fearof Ko Hung Cho, the evil shukenja whohas taken over the valley, and his lieu-tenant, the sohei Mo Tsung .

Sohei guards : AC 6; MV 9" ; soh5 ; hp28 each ; #AT 1 ; Dmg spear/TKD .

Monk guards: AC 6; MV 20" ; mon6 ;hp 18; #AT 1 ; Dmg spear/TKD .

The refinery is a wooden utility build-ing housing the fires and bellows fo rpurifying the ore . A pall of gray smokehangs over the building, and the smel land noise of the machinery drowns ou t

56 Issue No . 8

THE FLOWERS OF FLAM E

the joy of the birds' singing . The slave swork in five groups of 10, each watche dclosely by an armed guard. One grouptends the machinery, another groupchops wood for the furnaces, and th eother three groups go down the shaftsinto the hot volcanic rock .

Beatings are frequent, and cave-in soccur with awful regularity, sometimesburying two or three helpless menunder tons of earth. When the slav epopulation drops off, the monks cap-ture replacements from the frost tribe sas they wander the barren mountainshunting for meat . Ko Hung Cho con-siders the slaves lazy and raises thei rore quota weekly, cutting back food ifthe gold isn't brought up fast enoughto suit him. The slaves also dig forexotic gems and stones, though the yare rare . Often, a slave will hide th ebest stones from the monks . Some ofthe more brazen slaves may attempt t obribe the PCs to take them out of thevalley.

The mines are simple shafts followinghaphazard veins of ore through therock. At night, the shafts afford a haventhat 's warm, dry, and deserted. Anescaped slave might be hiding here

(20% chance) ; if fed by a thoughtful PC,he can give a description of the monas-tery buildings . He knows nothing moreand only wishes to escape and return tohis own tribe . It would be an honorabledeed to lever the boulder away from th etunnel mouth and escort this peasan tand his fellows to freedom . . . and whata formidable and loyal escort throughTabot they would make !

The Lo Chi MonasteryDiscipline is the lesson of Ko HungCho, the sohei Mo Tsung, and the hea dmonk, Makow Tzu — the three thattend the Pagoda of Fire . The monksand sohei revel in their discipline, withthe entire compound up before dawn i nmeditation or practicing ceremonies inthe courtyard . Mo Tsung assigns dutie sat the meager breakfast, served on th everanda of the barracks and often leftuntouched by fasting initiates an dmonks . As the sun rises, the monksand warriors scatter, leaving the mon-astery to see to their prescribed duties .

The monastery comes alive at night .In the evening, lanterns are lit and th epractice field is filled with sohei train-

ing in their warrior arts . The slavecompound and the monastery precinct sare guarded by eight sohei who sleep inthe barracks by day. Each evening, themonks take part in the shukenja cere-monies honoring the fire spirit. Manymonks and initiates wander the formalgardens at late hours, forsaking sleep incontemplation . Nighttime encountersare met on a 10% chance per turn in thegardens (choose a random monk orinitiate for the encounter itself) .

Sohei night guards : AC 6 ; MV 9" ;soh3 ; hp 17 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg spear/TKD .

If guide 6 is with the adventurers, headvises hiding in the jungle to observethe routine of the monastery. Thegroup's actions, of course, should b edecided by the players and must takeinto account the time already spent onthe journey and the PCs general level o ffatigue . Contrary to typical monas-teries, the Lo Chi stands weakest dur-ing the day, when its inhabitants ar ebusy with tasks outside the 30'-hig hstone walls . Those left behind rest ,meditate, and study throughout the day,creating a false "deserted" atmospher eto any who might spy.

DUNGEON 57

THE FLOWERS OF FLAM E

G1. The Slave Compound . Emptyby day, six long buildings huddle togeth-er behind 15'-high walls of sharpenedbamboo staves . Four high platforms ,one at each corner of the compound, areaccessible by rickety ladders and over -look the squalor within . Tu Hsein Lo'sprivate house is the building to the leftas one enters the gate . The open areaswithin the walls are gravel covered an dbarren. As the sun sets, the slaves ar emarched back, and food is passedthrough the gate (Tu Hsein Lo takingthe first and largest portion) . Themonks call these slaves "unbelievers"and hobble the men with iron shackle sas punishment . Four 3rd-level sohe imount the platforms for long vigil sunder a smoke-clouded sky. Exhausted ,the slaves fall immediately into a deepsleep .

Sohei slave guards: AC 6; MV 9" ;soh3 ; hp 17 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg spear/TKD .

G2. The Gate and the Towers. Tw o3rd-level monks armed with spearsstand guard by the gate, in shadedalcoves to either side of the heavy,brass-banded door. The key to unloc kthe door is held by a 4th-level monkwho stands on the north tower, a solidplatform overlooking the gate, with aspear in his grasp and two more close a thand. He is the "gate-eye" and i sresponsible for the safety of the com-pound. Once an hour, he walks the topof the wall, circling the compound tocheck all areas for trouble . A finalguard, a 3rd-level monk armed with tw ospears, stands on the south tower. Thedoor can be unlocked and unbarred fro mthe inside only (unless magic is used) . I tis opened only after the "gate-eye " haslooked over those who wish to enter .

The "gate-eye" : AC 7; MV 18" ;mon4 ; hp 13; #AT 1 ; Dmg spear/TKD .

Monk guards : AC 8; MV 17" ; mon3 ;hp 10 each ; #AT 1 ; Dmg spear/TKD .

The towers and walls of this fortifica-tion are made of rough-hewn volcani cblocks, giving the massive structure adirty-gray appearance under the cloudysky. Wide steps lead up to the towers .The walls can be scaled, but unless th e"gate-eye" is distracted, he has a 60%chance (30% at night) to spot invader sand sound the alarm.

If the gate is opened, the PCs can seedown the avenue between the building sto the pagoda at the back of the fortress .Tb the right of the gate is Ko Hun gCho's private house, and behind it is the

hulk of the monastery. To the left arethe verandas of two long, one-storybuildings .

G3.The Aviary and Stables . Eightstable doors face the south tower acros sthe practice field . During the day, one5th-level monk is assigned to tend thebirds in the aviary, with two slaves ofweak disposition to clean out the stall sand collect fresh eggs for meals . Thefour main rooms are filled with domesti-cated and wild fowl, and the secre trooms hide feed grain and fresh waterfrom the slaves . The monk in chargecarries a spear to keep the slaves in lineand a dagger to slaughter the birds .There is food here and a few ostric hmounts (see statistics in area A of th evalley), but nothing else of value .

Aviary keeper : AC 7; MV 19" ; mon5 ;hp 16; #AT 1 ; Dmg spear/TKD .

G4. Ko Hung Cho's Residence. Thespiritual leader of the monastery is theshukenja Ko Hung Cho .

Prolonged contact with the fire spirithas warped Ko Hung Cho 's mind andcaused him to become an evil shukenja— an abomination and outrage to theCelestial Bureaucracy (hence, the truepurpose of this mission : to destroy KoHung Cho and punish the evil fire spiritthat corrupted him) . Ko Hung Cho nowgains his spells from an unspecified evi ldeity, an enemy of the benevolent god sof Kara-Tur.

Ko Hung Cho : AC 1; MV 9" ; shulO ;hp 58; #AT 1 ; Dmg by spell or weapo ntype; S 17, I 14, W 12, D 16, C 17, Ch 7 ;AL LE (once CG); spells : cause lightwounds, curse, snake charm, benefi-cence, attraction, hold person, knowmotivation, snake summoning, warning,cause blindness, prayer, cause seriou swounds, protection from good 10' radi-us, slay living; 5% chance of spell fail-ure . Ko is armed with a bo staff and apoisoned sai (two uses ; save vs . poisonor take 6-36 hp damage, or 3-18 hpdamage with a saving throw), and h ewears studded leather armor and a ringof protection + 3 .

During the day, Ko stays closeted inhis residence, working on his spells andincantations . He has created fourundead sohei that are treated as skele-tons for attack purposes (AC 7 ; MV 12" ;HD 1 ; hp 7, 6, 5, 5 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg 1-6 ; ALN) . He keeps them hidden in the bac krooms of his house .

Fifteen years earlier, Ko Hung Cho

arrived at the solemn monastery as avagabond shukenja carrying a hugeglass bottle strapped to his back . Thepoor and holy monks were then led bythe lama Hein Chung and his pupils ,Tbipan and Makow Tzu. The Lo Ch imonastery was a quiet collection ofbuildings by a small village, and th epeaceful valley was truly a Shangri-la .

Welcomed as a holy man, Ko HungCho was given the guest house for hi sbrief stay. The unsuspecting monk sdidn ' t know that the once-pure shuken-ja had been tricked and slowly pervert-ed by the evil spirit who resided in thebottle. Ages ago, the spirit had beentrapped in the bottle, then abandoned i nthe wilds . When Ko found the bottle ,the spirit was desperate to escape. Itoffered him anything he desired, wit hno success. Finally, the spirit trickilypleaded : " I' ll do anything you ask, butplease don 't take me to the Valley of LoChi and throw me in the eternal flames ,or I will be destroyed! "

The good shukenja of course immedi-ately set out to find the hidden valleyand dispose of the evil spirit he carried .But the way was long, and the spiri tpreyed on Ko's mind, searching out hi sweaknesses and describing scenes ofincomparable riches, power, and author-ity. At first, Ko listened to the spirit t olearn ways to use this power to mor eeffectively work for good, but soon thespirit had poisoned his thoughts .Months later, the evil being had com-pletely converted the shukenja . Stil lthey traveled on, seeking the valley ofLo Chi, their goal now to release th efire spirit into its natural habitat in theeternal flames .

The very night he arrived in the val-ley, Ko was an honored guest at ceremo-nies in the Pagoda of Fire, wher esparkling orange roses grew in th eeternal blue flames of a volcanic ga svent. Later that night, Ko led th eunsuspecting head lama to the pagod aand freed the spirit into the flames. Thespirit brought forth his flame tigers an dslew the good monk . In what remainedof the night, Ko Hung Cho concocted acharm poison, then served it to th emonks and sohei in their breakfast . Itwas a subtle potion made from a bit o fKo's blood and a very addictive drug.Later that day, as the men lay moanin gin deathlike pains, Ko offered them a nantidote good for one week, and he toldthem their lives were now his — if h edied, they would all die as well . The

58 Issue No. 8

THE FLOWERS OF FLAM E

confused men called on their lama fo raid, but he was nowhere to be found .

Ko Hung Cho took control of the mon-astery that day, and when he calledforth the fire spirit before the amazedholy men, they fell to their knees andworshiped his power. Makow Tzu wasallowed to continue his study and teach-ing, but Toipan spoke against the evilshukenja and was placed under "housearrest?' The few good warriors whoraised arms were destroyed by Ko Hun gCho's magic . Over the next year, thelocal villagers were rounded up asslaves, and hunting began in the valley.The fortifications were started and, afew years later, the mines were opened .The evil spirit began to pervert others ,like the sohei leader Mo Tsung, influ-encing his training and deadly skills .More and more of the men had beenweaned from Ko's blood poison and nowwillingly serve the evil spirit .

Soon, Ko Hung Cho's evil arts wil lallow him to call forth an army ofundead monsters to fight for the firespirit, and he is mad with desire fo rpower and riches . He is devoted to thefire spirit and will try to destroy an ywho attempt to harass it, especially

anyone trying to catch it in a bottle !Unless called by the fire spirit or

disturbed in some other way, Ko Hun gCho can be found studying in his houseby day. The building is roomy, with awide veranda overlooking the formalgardens . Secret panels open from theveranda onto his bed mat room an dfrom the house's central room onto th ecloset where the undead hide . His resi-dence has spartan furnishings, wit honly a few scrolls of religious writingsand personal items to be found . Theshukenja, by his own decree, has al lvaluables offered up to the fire spiritand kept in the pagoda.

G5. The Monastery. The Lo Chimonastery is a wide, two-story buildingof somber black rock and timber. Its roofis tiled and decorated with iron andcopper awnings, each carved into pat -terns and gargoyles . Gongs hang fromthe main veranda and chimes jingl efrom the open doorways . the entiresecond floor is one large classroom .During the day, Makow Tzu can b efound there with 10 1st-level monks and12 young initiates . All wear loincloth sand study their lessons intently.

Low-level monks: AC 8; MV 15" ;monl ; hp 2-8 each; NAT 1 ; Dmg spear/TKD .

Initiates : AC 10; MV 12" ; zero-levelhumans; hp 2-5 each; Dmg by weapontype (spear); AL LE .

Makow Tzu is a Master of the SouthWind who never carries weapons, rely-ing on his mastery of tae kwon do . Hehas mastered a unique special maneu-ver, a flying kick that allows him torebound off a primary target and attacka second target in the same round . Theprimary target can be damaged for 2-1 6hp or used as a springboard and leftunharmed. The second target can be upto 15' away and receives the same leve lof damage . This martial art form isquite acrobatic and often involves flip sand twists in midair (AC -2 in motion) .Makow Tzu will not teach this maneu-ver to anyone .

Makow Tzu: AC 2; MV 25" ; monll ;hp 32 ; NAT 1 ; Dmg by martial art(TKD) ; S 18, I 13, W 17, D 17, C 13, Ch11; AL LE .

If aroused, Makow Tzu organizes hi snovices and leads them in a charge . Hi sfollowers respect his leadership andfight fearlessly until he falls . Then their

DUNGEON 59

THE FLOWERS OF FLAM E

morale drops by 10% per round until amorale check is failed and they runaway to hide .

The monastery's first floor is deserte dduring the day except for an occasiona lslave sweeping (5% chance to encount-er) . Along the east wall are four identi-cal prayer chambers for the higher-leve lmonks, each with a shuttered windowand a leather mat for sleeping . Thenorth door opens on steps that leaddown to the formal gardens, and th esouth door exits onto the long frontporch that faces the main avenue of thecompound. Two staircases lead from th emain room to the second floor. Sleepingmats for the novice monks are pile dneatly against the northeast wall . Foodis cooked in the barracks and carrie dover by initiates and slaves . At night ,the monks sleep in this main chamber .

The two wooden doors on the west sid eof the room are kept locked . The smallerroom holds sacred scrolls of the monas-tery, including many beautiful tapes -tries and paintings (worth 10-60 ch ' ieneach in civilization), but they are largeand awkward to carry. The second roomappears empty, but secret doors in tw opanels conceal a hidden chamber thatholds the ceremonial gowns of the mon-astery. These heavy robes are of sil kbrocade decorated in gold thread, multi -colored embroidery, and jewels . Thereare also helmets of hammered copperwith fantastic plumes and savage ant-lers . The farthest end of this room is acloset that holds the ceremonial wine sand offerings not yet consecrated — fou rsolid-gold trays holding gold and silve ringots piled into pyramids .The eightgowns and helmets are worth 200 ch'ieneach, and the trays and ingots ar eworth 800 ch ' ien per tray.

G6.The Formal Gardens . The gar -dens contain shrines and juniper bonsa itrees forced into fantastic shapes overhundreds of years. The sparse, rakedgravel is swirled into stylized wavepatterns, gleaming white in contrast t othe dark bulk of the monastery and thefortress wall . During the day the gar-dens are vacant, but this is a favorit eresting place for some of the monks andsohei in the evening (20% chance pe rhour for 1-4 of either class bein gpresent ; if so, choose at random) .

G7.The Barracks . Long and somber,the barracks are wrapped on three side sby a 10'-wide porch. This is a simple,

one-story, long house with a plank roof .The structure has no windows . The tw orooms that face the south wall are thekitchen and food stores for the com-pound . By day, they are manned by tw oslaves under the direction of a lam emonk . The two large rooms also haveoccupants ; four sohei sleep in the dar kof the closed room, and Ko Hung Cho ' slieutenant, Mo Tsung, and his compan-ions can be found in the front hall prac-ticing mental and physical exercises .The four sleeping warriors are thos ethat guard the slaves by night, and theysleep soundly (see area G1 for thei rstatistics) .

Mo Tsung investigates any distur-bances . He is an 8th-level sohei whoenjoys tae kwon do and will use it an dhis spells after hurling his spear at thenearest foe . If called on to defend thefire spirit or his leader, Mo Tsung fightsto the death, inspiring all who see himwith his battle lust, adding +15% totheir morale . There are three compan-ions with him, 5th-level sohei arme dwith spears, who follow him into battle .Unless the PCs are hungry, the bar -racks hold nothing of value .

Lame Monk: AC 8; MV 6" (lame) ;monl ; hp 3 ; #AT 1 ; Dmg by weapon typ e(spear; cannot use martial arts).

Mo Tsung: AC 3; MV 9" ; soh8 ; hp 41 ;#AT 1; Dmg spear/TKD or by spell ; S17, I 12, W 13, D 17, C 13, Ch 12 ; spell sknown : augury, curse, cause ligh twounds, hold person .

Sohei : AC 6; MV 9" ; soh5 ; hp 28 each ;#AT 1; Dmg spear/TKD .

G8.The Master's House . Toipan, MoTsung, and their teacher, the murdere dlama Hein Chung, once lived in thi smanor house, and it is believed to b ehaunted by the spirit of the missingmaster. Only Toipan lives here now, ahermit within the monastery, neverleaving his shuttered rooms . The sohe ithink him mad and avoid him, butsometimes the older monks leave foodfor him on the veranda . The house i sroomy, and buried under the floorboard sare weapons that the old monk has bee ncollecting over the years since Ko HungCho came to power.The weapons are inaverage condition and include 22 knivesand 13 bamboo spears .

lbipan's visage is ancient . He onc espoke with the now-departed spirit o fHein Chung and knows the truth abou tKo Hung Cho and his powerful fire spir-it . This truth gives him the power to

resist the spirit's evil influence . Throughdeep meditation and years of learning tocontrol his internal functions, Toipan ha sweaned his blood of Ko's poisonous brew,and he awaits an opportunity to avengethe murder of his master.

Toipan is a Master of the North Windwho uses no weapons . He has prayed fora way to unseat the tyrant fire spiri tand Ko Hung Cho for 15 long years . KoHung Cho ignores Toipan in his dilapi-dated house, believing the monk to be asenile coward . This is the only haven orally the PCs will find inside the Lo Chimonastery. Toipan will conceal PCs inhis house, although he knows nothin gmore than the history of the monas-tery's fall into disgrace and avoids thefire spirit since he was once attacked bythe flame tigers .

Drawn to the noise of any fighting i nthe courtyard, Toipan attempts to ai danyone losing a battle with Ko HungCho or Mo Tsung . There is a 45 %chance that the sight of Toipan sidin gwith the PCs will stop Makow Tzu an dthe monks from defending the shukenja ,leaving only the sohei in the fray.

Toipan: AC 3; MV 23" ; mon9 ; hp 24 ;#AT 1; Dmg by martial art (tae kwondo) ; AL LG .

G9.The Pagoda of Fire . A pagoda ofpolished obsidian squats at the rear ofthe compound . Elegantly fluted column ssupport the arches over the fourentrances, one black hole framed i neach of the walls . The building is ringedwith brilliant quartz lettering set intothe shining black rock . The building ismade of solid rock; each doorway is ashallow landing at the top of a curlingset of stairs leading down .

If a shukenja examines the writings ,he realizes that all the words are asingle name translated into manytongues. The name is "Karkung" — thename of the fire spirit — spread every -where in vain display. The glyph on thesmall copper bottle received from thespirit of the dilapidated shrine matchesone of the translations . Each PC has apercentage chance equal to five time shis intelligence score to match up th enames .

The four staircases circle down to anopen room, a 40' x 40' squarecavern lit by a huge blue flame thatspouts 30' into the air from a jagged riftin the center of the floor. Inside theflames are little sparkles of orange . Tenfeet in front of each entrance is a blac k

60 Issue No . 8

THE FLOWERS OF FLAM E

stone altar. An enameled box stands oneach altar. Each box is of exquisiteworkmanship, engraved with designs o ffire dragons, and possessing a magi caura.

The boxes to the north and south arenot trapped and appear to be very ligh tand small . They are identical in size ,shape, and markings — all 1' square andonly 2" deep. When a PC removes the li dof a box, he finds another box . The sec-ond box fits snugly into the first, butwhen the PC pulls on the handle inset inits top, a 6" deep box pulls out! Insidethis box is another box — this one 18 "deep . Inside the third box is yet anotherbox; this container is difficult to pull out ,requiring incredible strength (19 o rhigher total strength points) . This fina lbox is 4' deep and is filled with gold ,silver, and gemstone offerings. When thefull box is slipped magically into thesmaller ones, the enameled outer box(itself a treasure) weighs only a fe wpounds and is easily carried . The trea-sure inside is worth 4,000 ch'ien, and theboxes are priceless — gifts for an emper-or. The DM should create the contents ofthe treasure trove as desired, adding a smuch variety as possible .

The other two boxes are taller and ar etrapped with poisoned needles . One boxholds magic items gathered from lostadventurers now enslaved : scrolls ofmind blank, commune with greaterspirit, and ironwood, and a ring of fly-ing. The other box contains a katana + 2of ancient design that possesses theability to warn its owner of approachin gdanger (within 60') by rattling its scab -bard (AL NG, ego 15).

Along the four walls hang nine gold -inlaid suits of armor and nine heavymasks of gold and silver . All are orna-mental and of high value, each objectworth 120-180 ch'ien, but they areunwieldy and do not fit into the magicboxes. Each suit of armor weighs 5 0lbs ., and each mask weighs 10 lbs .

The fire spirit attacks anyone enter-ing his temple and getting within 20' ofhis fiery pit . He appears as an angry redflaming torso within the blue flamesaround him . He conjures two flametigers to attack anyone in the temple .

Any character attempting to hi tKarkung has a 10% chance per round ofslipping and falling into the flaming riftto disappear, burned to ashes. If thespirit seems to be losing the battle, h epretends to cast a curse upon the nextone to attack him. Though this appears

to be a genuine curse, it is meaningless .Any PC can command the fire spiri t

by name into the copper bottle if withi n20' of him. The fire spirit cries out an dbegs to be allowed his freedom, but he i scompelled by the Celestial Heavens t oobey. Like a howling whirlwind, the fir espirit swirls smaller and smaller until itis entirely sucked into the bottle, whichthen caps itself tightly. The bottle, whe nit contains the spirit, is warm to thetouch.

The Flowers of Flame, resemblin gflaming orange rosebuds, seem to growon vines that snake up from the fire sbelow . Their seeds can be harvested byplucking a bloom (causing ld4 hp bur ndamage) . As soon as it leaves the flame ,the bloom turns to black ash. The cooledashes of each flower yield 2d6 smal lblack pellets, the seeds of the Flowers ofFlame . If the flame is stopped for anyreason, the flowers all turn to ash andfall down into the pit .

Karkung: AC -2; MV 9" ; HD 14 ; hp83 ; NAT 2 fists ; Dmg 4-24/4-24 ; SD + 1or better weapon to hit ; AL NE .Karkung has the following spells at hiscommand, useable at the 7th level o fability and once per melee round (on espell at a time): animate fire, fireenchantment, fire shuriken, fire rain ,wall of fire, true sight, and vanish.

Flame tigers: (AC 0 ; MV 12" ; HD 6 ;hp 35, 32 ; NAT 3 ; Dmg 1-4/1-4/1-6 + 1- 6flame damage; SD hit only by magi cweapons, immune to fire ; water doe sdouble damage ; AL NE .

Concluding the AdventureOutside the temple, the evil shukenj adirects his forces to set up an ambush ,fighting to recover or avenge the firespirit and hampering any escape plans .The PCs must escape with the seeds an dreturn through the mountains an dacross the lands of Tabot to Shou Lung.They can escort the slaves to freedom ifthey so desire . If they have gathere dsome treasure, a yakuza might bribetheir way through Tabot to safety(assume a 10% chance of success per 10 0tael expended on bribes) .

It may be possible for the PCs to buyback their horses at Thok, but the ymust enter the city to do this . If theguide is brought back alive, he part scompany here after being paid . How -ever, until the PCs reach Shou Lung,they are wanted men — sought after b ysecret agents and Tabotan soldiers . The

Tabotan nobility wants to stop the PC sfrom completing their task and thu sclosing the borders prematurely, andthe Lord of Oceans' men will act asoutlined in "Travel through Tabot ."Time is important as well, for th eadventurers must return with the seedsbefore three months have passed .

When the seeds are given to the gov-ernor and their authenticity is assure dby a court wu jen, the governor ride simmediately to present himself to th eEmperor and reclaim his place at court .It will not matter that he did not com-plete the task himself, as it was beneat hhis dignity to personally pursue th equest . The success of his loyal men hasthe same effect as if he himself hadfound the Flowers of Flame . The happygovernor gives each adventurer, regard-less of birth or station, 100 ch ' ien and afine war horse . The samurai leader ofthe group is honored by assuming con-trol of one of the largest and most profit-able districts in the province . Any othe rPCs of honorable families are givenestates within that district .

Later, the samurai and PCs of properstanding are invited to Governor Chan'swedding to the Emperor ' s niece . Moreimportant, the samurai receives aninvitation to spend the Moon Festival a tthe Emperor's court as the guest of aminor official . The true reason for theinvitation is that the Emperor wishes t omeet the person who can make fairy-tales come true . The Emperor's politicalmachinations may have been thwarte dby this unknowing and loyal warriorwho made the impossible happen —truly a sign from the heavens that thepolitical endeavor involving Tabot wa sworthless and ill-advised . The Emperoris a shrewd leader ; he was impressed b ythe feat and will want to evaluate thi ssamurai with his own eyes and not fro mthe tongues of court, which are notori-ously full of gossip and false stories. TheMoon Festival provides a good excuse t oinvite the samurai indirectly . TheEmperor's personal statistics are left t othe DM 's invention ; he should obviouslybe very powerful and intelligent.

The dispersal of honor points followsthe successful completion of the adven-ture . Of course, all the awards listed i nOriental Adventures apply to P Cactions, so if a bushi saves the life of acompanion on the glacier, he receivesthe honor points he deserves . Additiona laids for awarding honor points to thecharacters appear in table 7 .

DUNGEON 61

THE FLOWERS OF FAM E

Table 1: Mountain EncountersdlOO

Encounters01-10 1-2 yeti (AC 6 ; MV 15" ; HD 4+4 ; hp 22, 20 ; NAT 2; Dmg 1-6/1-6 ;

SA squeeze and chill, paralyze with eye contact ; SD imperviousto cold ; AL N) .

11-20

1-4 wolves (AC 7 ; MV 18" ; HD 2 +2 ; hp 14, 11, 10, 7 ; NAT 1 ; Dmg2-5; AL N).

21-25 1-3 snow monkeys (as per baboons) (AC 7 ; MV 12" ; HD 1 + 1 ; hp8, 6, 4 ; NAT 1; Dmg 1-4; SA can climb and pick pockets as 8th -level thief; AL N).

26-30

1-2 tigbanua buso (AC 4; MV 12" ; HD 8+2; hp 38, 29; NAT 3 ;Dmg 1-6/1-6/1-10 ; SA fear aura, disease ; AL CE) .

31-60

No encounter.61-75

1-3 mountain goats (AC 7 ; MV 18" ; HD 3 + 1 ; hp 16 each ; NAT 1 ;Dmg 2-16; SA +4 hp damage if charging; AL N).

76-85 1-2 snow tigers (AC 6 ; MV 12" ; HD 5 +5 ; hp 29, 22 ; NAT 3 ; Dmg2-5/2-5/1-10 ; SA rear claws for 2-8/2-8 ; SD surprised only on a 1 ;AL N).

86-95

1-6 bakemono (AC 6 ; MV 6" ; HD 1-1 ; hp 1-7 each ; NAT 1 ; Dmg 1 -6 or by weapon type ; AL CE) .

96-00

1-2 cave kala (AC -1; MV 9" ; HD 8 ; hp 35, 31 ; NAT 2 ; Dmg 1-8/1 -8 ; SA pain; AL N).

Table 2: Slope Adjustment s

ldlOO Slope (Mountain or Glacier) Adjust Safety Adjust Distanc e0-10 Easy slope +5 + 2

11-30 Steep grade — —31-60 Treacherous slope -10 - 161-85 Hand and toe holds - 20 - 386-97 Sheer cliff -30 1 mile *98-00 Overhanging cliff -40 1 mile*

* This set distance overrides any distance roll . After each climb on these slopes, a1-4 hour rest is required.

Table 3: Weather Adjustments

1d6 Weather for DayAdjust MountainSafety/Distance

Adjust Glacie rSafety/Distanc e

1 Snow; wind 20-30 mph ; high 0° F., low 20° F. -20/-3 -20/- 12 Misty, overcast ; wind 20-30 mph ; high -10° F., low -40° F.* 0/-1 0/03 Sunny ; no wind; high 25° F., low -10° F. +15/+1 +10/04 Sunny; wind 20-30 mph ; high -10° F., low - 45 ° F.* +10/0 +15/+ 15 Overcast; wind 20-30 mph; high 35° F., low -10° F. 0/0 -20/- 16 Storm, rain, sleet ; wind 30-45 mph ; high 40° F., low 20° F. -20/ — 1 -50/ — 3

* Danger of frostbite : 20% chance per day (Dmg 1-2 hp, 5% chance to lose a digit if no gloves are worn . )

Table 4: Mountain Climbing (1 move = 8 hours)

Modified safety Result Distance traveledLess than -10% Party member falls (10-100 hp) No movement *-10% to 5% Party member falls (2-20 hp) No movement *6% to 10% Party member falls (1-6 hp) 1-2 mile s11% to 15% Tumbles and slips, no damage 1-4 mile s16% to 24% Dangerous but no accidents 2-8 mile s25% to 75% Normal travel 2-12 mile s76% to 85% Many hand- and toeholds 3-13 mile s86% to 91% Animal paths, easy climbing 2-16 mile s92% up Teamwork and stamina (optimum day) 4-22 mile s

62 Issue No . 8

THE FLOWERS OF FAM E

Table 5: Glacier Climbing(1 move = 6 hours)

Modified safety Result

Distance traveled

Party member lost in rift

No movement *Party member falls (1-10 hp)

No movement *Party separated by crumbling ice floes No movement *Dangerous travel, sinkholes

1-4 mile sNormal travel

2-8 mile sFlat terrain, easy travel

2-12 mile sHard, smooth ice

3-13 mile sRocky surface, sure footing

2-20 mile s

Table 6: Tunnel Encounters

d100

Monsters encountere d

1-15

1-8 bakemono (AC 6 ; MV 6" ; HD 1-1 ; hp 1-7 each, #AT 1 ; Dmg 1 -6 or by weapon type ; AL CE) .

16-25

1-10 skeletons (AC 7 ; MV 12" ; HD 1 ; hp 1-8 each ; #AT 1 ; Dmg 1 -6 ; AL N) .

26-35

No encounter.36-45

1-10 goblin rats (AC 7 ; MV 9" ; HD 3 ; hp 11-16 each ; #AT 1 ; Dmg1-8 or by weapon type ; AL LE).

46-54

1-2 cave kala (AC -1; MV 9" ; HD 8 ; hp 46, 32 ; #AT 2 ; Dmg 1-8/1 -8 ; AL N) .

55-69

No encounter.70-80

1-4 giant spiders (AC 4 ; MV 3" *12" ; HD 4+4 ; hp 22 each ; #AT1; Dmg 2-8 + poison ; AL CE) .

81-90

No encounter.91-00

1 common oni (AC 4 ; MV 9" ; HD 8 ; hp 43 ; #AT 2 ; Dmg 3-10/3-10+ spells ; AL LE) .

Table 7: Additional Honor-Point Awards

Award to : For: Honor Point s

Each PC Successfully completing the journey + 1Each PC Guide returned safely home + 1/2

Sohei Defeating warrior-priests of Lo Chi + 1Any PC Winning psychic duel against :

—Opponent of higher level + 2—Opponent of equal level + 1—Opponent of lower level + 0

Any PC Losing psychic duel against :—Opponent of higher level - 0—Opponent of equal level - 1—Opponent of lower level — 2

Yakuza Choosing guide 1 or 6 + 1/2

Yakuza Choosing guide 2 or 3 - 1/2

Yakuza Consulting contacts and discovering + 1/2

Ninjatrue reason for quest

Eliminating Tu Hsein Lo + 2

Shukenja(family honor increases by 1 point)

Contacting friendly spirit in shrine + 1Any PC Commanding fire spirit into bottle + 1Samurai Leading successful expedition + 3

(entire clan honor increases by 1 point) S2

DUNGEON 63

Less than -10%-10% to 5%6% to 10%11% to 30 %31% to 70%71% to 85%86% to 96%97% up

* Turn is spent recovering body or injured person, resting, or regrouping .

The next time your players get bored . . .

.Add these short adventures that feature the meanest, ugliest, andtoughest giants and dragons imaginable .

Then watch your players squirm .Played as part of a

campaign or as individua ladventures, they'r e

guaranteed nasty.

AC70 Bestiary of Giants and Dragons

by Jim Ward

TSR, Inc.

DUNGEONS Er DRAGONS fand the TSR logo are Qtrademarks owned b yTSR, Inc . © 1987 TSR, Inc .

All Rights Reserved .