Ettal Valley
Located in the heart of the Cyrűk Mountains, the Ettal Valley stretches east where the Ettal River joins the Swift River four miles northeast of Castle Stieglitz. Where the tributary meets the white water of the raging river, the thirty-year-old Harlsbridge provides across the span. A road heads east along the north edge of the river, paralleling the river on the floor of the valley for 12 miles, where the town of Garlston rests at the base of a cliff beneath Kloster Fint, home of about 20 monks who scribe tomes and work as vintners. A mountain stream falls over 400 feet from the steep wine fields down to the town, where it powers mills before joining the Ettal River. Garlsbridge crosses the Ettal and the road continues east on the south side of the river.
Over the mountains to the south of the Ettal Valley, lie the Ettin homelands. Their chants can be heard late at night in the valley. They can be occasionally encountered, but it is rare. Other encounters include natural creatures and others as per the random encounter chart for mountain valleys.
The relatively sparse humanoid traffic allows the natural creatures in the valley including wolves, foxes, and deer, to trive. The valley’s foliage is mostly conifers which cover the mountains up to the tree line a few hundred feet from their summits, though some deciduous trees (maple, oak, dogwood) grow in dense clusters along the river. Snow caps many of the mountains for much of the year.
Some Wyndm folk live in small communities in the trees halfway up the mountains on the north edge of the valley. With their natural lifestyle, they maintain a small ecological footprint.
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged Location, Northbay by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.
Lair of the Begotten
This encounter marks the penultimate encounter of the Horror of the Old Ones adventure.
1 Entrance
The walls run with a dark mucous that pools along the floor, making it difficult to navigate the space without it oozing or dripping all over. Nose hairs curl as the bile-like smell grows rises in visible clouds above the pools.
Characters failing a DC 10 Balance check will likely fall into one of these acid pools over the course of their traversal. They are denoted on the map. Above each pool is a stinking cloud. In addition, characters will inevitably walk into an area that rapidly fills with the equivalence of a weak stinking cloud, and if they fail saves, will double over in pain, and can suffer the effects very much like the spell. These encounters increase the tension and raise the stakes.
Heading up the steep passage takes the party to the Pirate Cove, though this is not likely to be an available travel option, as the passage only opens for a brief few seconds, during which thousands of gallons of water and other refuse flow into the tract. That is the only way out, save the passage behind 11.
In addition, every two minutes a new gush of water, complete with flotsam and jetsom, enters from here and passes through the tract, quickly dissipating as the water is absorbed by the walls. As soon as the party feels they will drown, the water retracts in to the walls.
2 Homes of the Begotten
Translucent sheets dominate the space, hanging in the way of the passage. The profiles of humanoid shapes amble behind them.
The begotten have taken up refuge behind little membranous tent-flaps, where they take rest here in the tract. They will attack the party if they are awakened.
Primitive tablets with indecipherable, outerworldly script litter the floors of some of the homes. The characters will only find them if they search for them though, as they are below the murky steamline. Some of these will also wash ashore after the party defeats the old one, to help bring to closure any final mysteries.
3 Begotten Warrens
Tiny begotten spew forth from slimy mounds, slithering across the acidic floor.
These young pose no threat to the party, but if attacked, twelve begotten will swarm the party from each direction down the hall.
4 Equipment Cache
In a drier spot in the tract, there is a small mound of moldy leather equipment in the far end of the chamber.
This consists of leather armor, shredded backpacks, a few rings and other adornments of the begotten, largely necklaces that they wore to hide their gills when they lived in the human colonies to avoid being outcast. There is also an amulet of water breathing among the loot.
5 Packed Bulb (Pack’d in Like Sardines)
This bulb is packed with a strange, pus-colored mucous. Within the gelatin are the compressed bodies of men with fish-like heads.
This is a diseased part of the Old One. This god has a tumor, which has spread to other parts of its colossal body. This is what makes a 10th/11th level party able to challenge it. A gelatinous blob has filled the chamber.
6 Antechamber
There are multiple mutilated skeletons of fishmen here in at the end of the chamber.
The bodies are eaten by the begotten, then cleaned off by the gelatinous rug at 7. Buried in the corpses of the fishmen are a ring of acid resistance and a wand of paralyzation.
7 Gelatinous Rug
This chamber dead ends in a gelatinous bulb, or rather a gelatinous rug, that spreads out into the corridor. Boots begin to stick to the floor.
The gelatinous rug attacks immediately, or as immediately as a rug is capable. The rug is actually spread across the floor, and curls up to trap its prey.
8 Cool Opening
The passage opens here into a swampy drum. The sounds of chewing resound against the cylindrical walls, rounded at the top and bottom of the chamber. The low chewing gives way to a rising crescendo of ululating, mud-encrusted bodies of half men, half-fish which rise out of the muck. Their rows of razor-sharp teeth chomping at the bit.
The fish men have been sucked in by the god, and what few are left are standing up for themselves, fighting off the begotten. They serve as an analog to the tumor which ails this elder god. they do not attack the party, as long as they are shown an alternative. Some of these fish-men will follow the party into battle against the Old One once the party passes through 11.
9 Fleshy Flap
A large, pink, fleshy flap opens and closes at regular intervals, and dung slides from the heaps and shoots out an opening.
This flap, unfortunately, blocks the only way out. Luckily it does open, and can be slashed open as well, causing internal bleeding and hemorrhaging of the body the characters are spelunking.
10 Dung Heaps
The piles of dung here seem to move.
In the dung heaps are six otyughs which attack as the players draw near, their flailing arms covered in feces.
11 Dank Passage
The players will pass very quickly through this passage on their way out the poop chute, which opens of its own volition overy ten minutes or so. Thousands of tiny cilia line the walls, and help force solid objects out to the Old One.
This passage leads to the final encounter with the Old One (add link here).
Posted in Encounter and tagged Horror of the Old Ones, Location by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.
The Lands of Northbay
The Lands of Northbay area covers the stretch of land beginning from the Olde Bay and leading north to the Nagy Tömeg mountains, over which lies the Central Valley. On the northeast edge of the Lands of Northbay, over the Cyrűk Mountains we find the rough fishing towns of the Jæruel a merchant coalition, which to the north begin the Fjordlands, the first part of the Northlands. On the west end of the lands of Northbay past the Great Marsh lies Elsemere Wood, a forest which is mostly pristine, but in recent years has grown partially corrupt on its southeast side.
The Northlands do not have a central government; Onuago and Elsemere are too much on the decline, and the local robber baron Baron von Stieglitz has even disappeared from the public eye. The towns of the Jæruel are the best hope for this region.
Notable locations:
Towns:
* The Port of Onuago – colonial port town which has seen hard times
* Elsemere – Old logging town also on the decline
* Talook – Hamlet on the road through the Cyrűk Mountains and Castle von Stieglitz
* The towns of Jæruel:
– Tannen – capital of Jæruel – bustling port town – what Onuago was built after
– Flego – fishing village
– Uppwint – named for the strong winds that bring fog and quick shifts in the weather to this quaint fishing village
– Trover – fishing town
– Alabaster – inland named for the stone mined from its cliffs
– Arwyonne – abandoned fishing town ten miles east of Onuago
Rivers:
* Lazy River – the source has never been found somewhere within the Elsemere Mountains, passing through Elsemere Wood where it makes its way lazily through the Great Marsh to Onuago where it is channeled around the town and out to the Olde Bay. This river has been known to change course many times over the years, leaving traces of past flows as it does.
* Swift River – passes swiftly, hence the name, out of the Cyrűk Mountains, past Talook, depositing into the Olde Bay a few miles east of Onuago.
Other Geographic Features:
* The Great Marsh – a large, mostly unexplored marsh that occupies most of the land from Elsemere to Onuago.
* Goduanil – bleak moors where the sky is always overcast, which end in cliffs that overlook the Olde Bay in the center of its north shore.
* The Great Elsemere Wood – large forest, mostly unexplored by humans. The upper two-thirds is pristine forest, but the lower third has been corrupted by a tainted cult working out of the Shada Monastery in a clearing in the forest.
* Cyrűk Mountains – these begin as rocky hills and quickly become treacherous crags. The safest route through the mountains follows the road. In winter, this pass is completely impassable.
Posted in Region and tagged Horror of the Old Ones, Location by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.
Pirate Cove
1 Floating Tunnel
The only entrance to the cove is through a small tunnel in the rocky base of the island of Harpy Point, among the choppy water. This tunnel is only passable or even visible during low tide when the water receeds. A ratty rope has been installed along the top of the tunnel — the most ideal entrance is in a small skiff, where one of the boaters pulls the rope for leverage, propelling the boat into the grotto within. The passage is 300′ long.
2 Grotto
The light that filters into this grotto makes the water a translucent light blue. The space opens into a rounded 100’x100′ room. Along one end is a sturdy wooden dock, back from which stretches a tunnel deeper into the rock.
If the characters study the dock, they realize that the timbers are ancient and the wide trunks that make up the posts must have come from Elsemere Wood. If the characters search the grotto floor at the bottom of the 50′ of water, they discover an old pirate vessel, the Hierotecles. The ship contains around 10,000 gold dubloons as well as the skeletal remains of the pirate crew, complete with rapiers and cutlasses. Three of the pirates have on their remains a cutless cutlass. Everything seems relatively well preserved by the location in the sheltered saltwater grotto.
3 Back of Grotto
Near the back of the grotto, a bunch of split boards have been cast aside and a thousand muddy footprints head into the tunnel.
Any time that the party spends here will shed more light onto the situation. It’s obvious that this is where the begotten of the old ones have ended up, climbing out of the water and heading into the deep passage within.
4 Long Tunnel
Part-way down the tunnel, there is a branch to the left. The main tunnel continues downward, taking on more natural cavernous form.
5 Pirate Cache
This 10’x15′ niche in the rock is packed with corpses, treasures and other goods.
This niche is also where the begotten, digging over the long centuries of their labor, have come to finally die. As such it is littered with horrible corpses of almost-man-things in various stages of decay.
Anyone clambering over or moving aside the dead fish-men’s bodies to examine the treasure runs the risk of catching the shakes (DC 13 Fortitude) or slimy doom (DC 14 Fortitude). The incubation period for each is one day, so characters will not notice if they are infected right away.
Among the goods are crates of shovels, picks, and other implements of destruction, including torches and two rare powder kegs.
6 Deeper tunnel
The tunnel runs deeper here, and the ground grows ever muddier.
As the characters enter, they feel a cold draft. The smell of lemon and brine wafts in from the deeper depths.
7 Steep slope
The tunnel grows very steep here, the walls ever more moist and the ground ever more slick. A low murmuring can be heard down the corridor.
This tunnel continues down to the Lair of the Old Ones. Everyone should roll a significant Balance check (DC 30) to avoid sliding down the shaft into the lair.
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged Horror of the Old Ones, Location by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.
Harpy Point
8 Feeding Ground
A strewn pile of bones serves as a centerpiece to this enclosure in the rocks. A low stone overhang provides a partial shelter from falling rain.
Among the bones are a collection of small trinkets from nearby towns and a few adventures packs which have been ransacked. The party will have to thoroughly search the bones (DC 20) to find all the items:
- masterwork leather armor that’s survived the thrashing
- ring of resistance +1 on a skeletal finger
- moldy boots of speed at the very bottom of the pile
- 100gp in coins at various strata
9 Lounge
A set of smooth stones encircles an ash-filled firepit. Two trees have struggled to grow up through the cracks in the rocks, their low limbs curled back in toward the trunks. A sliver of smoke wafts up and out to sea against a backdrop of falling rain.
The firepit is still warm, a sign that this location is still used. If the party stays in the area for more than a minute, they will likely hear the high shrill screeches of harpies in the nest.
This concavity in the rock forms a smooth surface, which has been padded with many layers of twigs, hay, bits of hide and great greasy feathers.
The nicer items are here, along with three harpies who have grown fat off the nearby townsfolk, and who have also begun to develop sorcerous powers due to proximity to the old one and also from some small teachings from the gargoyles in the nearby lighthouse. They are haughty and aggressive, leaping to attack unless convinced otherwise.
Creatures: Harpy Sorcerers HP 38, 50, 48
Harpy Sorcerer CR 8
CE Sex Race sorcerer 3
size Medium Monstrous Humanoid
Init: +2 Senses: Darkvision 60 ft.
Listen +7 Spot +3
AC: 21 (+4 shield spell, +4 mage armor, +2 Dex, +1 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 11
HP: 38, 50, 48 (HD 7d8 and 3d4)
Fort +3, Ref +8, Will +9
MV: 20 ft. (4 squares), fly 80 ft. (average)
Attack: +9 masterwork spear (1d8)
Full Attack: +9/+4 masterwork spear (1d8) and +3 claws(2) (1d3)
Atk Options: Flyby attack, 1 wand of acid arrow: ranged touch +10, 2d4 acid + 2d4 acid next round
Space / Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft.
Base Attack: +8 Grp: +8
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 7, Wis 12, Cha 18
Feats: Dodge, Flyby Attack, Persuasive, Ability Focus (Captivating Song)
Skills: Bluff +11, Concentration +3, Intimidate +7, Listen +7, Perform (oratory) +5, Spot +3
SA: Captivating Song (DC 19)
SQ: Darkvision 60 ft.
Spells Prepared or Available:
0th (6/day): detect magic, ghost sound, ray of frost, resistance, touch of fatigue
1st (6/day, 4 remain): shield, mage armor, and either shocking grasp, burning hands, or magic missile
Posessions: masterwork spear.
Captivating Song (Su): The most insidious ability of the harpy is its song. When a harpy sings, all creatures (other than harpies) within a 300-foot spread must succeed on a DC 19 Will save or become captivated. This is a sonic mind-affecting charm effect. A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected again by the same harpy’s song for 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma-based.
A captivated victim walks toward the harpy, taking the most direct route available. If the path leads into a dangerous area (through flame, off a cliff, or the like), that creature gets a second saving throw. Captivated creatures can take no actions other than to defend themselves. (Thus, a fighter cannot run away or attack but takes no defensive penalties.) A victim within 5 feet of the harpy stands there and offers no resistance to the monster’s attacks. The effect continues for as long as the harpy sings and for 1 round thereafter. A bard’s countersong ability allows the captivated creature to attempt a new Will save.
Tactics: The harpies are likely aware of the party’s approach and will cast mage armor and shield on themselves as soon as they see that they are armed (already included in above stats). The harpies are hostile, and will attack immediately, using their song one at a time to attempt to lure party members off the high cliffs (DC 19 Will save). Failing that they will attack with their spells and use their spears in flyby attacks. In addition, one of them wields the wand of acid arrow (ranged touch +10, 2d4 acid + 2d4 acid next round) listed in the treasure below.
Vicious, the harpies will fight to the death.
Treasure: a battered sea chest with 7,000 silver coins, six large chests stamped with a tax collector’s seal containing 70,000 copper coins, 3 gems in a leather pouch: a black agate worth 10 gold, a galena worth 25 gold, and an octel worth 98 gold, 4 gems in a soggy, gouged velvet-lined jewel case: a brandeen worth 90 gold, a clear topaz worth 825 gold, a brown diopside worth 9 gold, and a pink tourmaline worth 105 gold, a potion of blur, a wand of acid arrow with 33 charges, a +1 quarterstaff, a +1 large steel shield, a ring of climbing, a hand of the mage, and a potion of expiditious retreat.
Posted in 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons / d20 fantasy / Pathfinder, Encounter and tagged Horror of the Old Ones, Location by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.
Lighthouse Ruins
After launching their vessel with Old Man Thorenson, the players have crossed Onuago Bay and approach Harpy Point. According to the locals, the only accessible landing on all of Harpy Point is at the base of the cliffs below the abandoned lighthouse. This location details that area and the lighthouse above.
The ruins of an old lighthouse adorn the promontory at the top of Harpy Point. Gargoyles have occupied the stony structure, where they rest upon the domed lamp at the top of the structure.
1 Rocky Shore
Waves beat upon the rocks, the sound conjuring up the blacksmith’s hammer against an anvil. The wide island has nary a entry point, even from the air. Sharp rocks line the shore like pikes set against an invading army.
After some time floating in the water and making successful search checks vs. DC 25 (35 or more if night) the party spies a narrow slit in the rocks, just large enough for a skiff to skirt the spikes. A DC 25 profession (sailing) check is required to successfully navigate the passage without damage to the vessel. Should their ship flounder, DC 15 swim checks are required to traverse the channel leading to the tiny shore and steps.
2 Stony Steps
On the other side of the narrow passage, a 10′ shore provides a landing at the bottom of a set of stones set into the cliff.
If the players land and climb the steps, they find that they are slick. Every 60′ along this 240′ natural staircase, players must make a DC 10 climb check or slip.
3 Ledge
Most of the way (180′) up the stone steps there is a ledge that overlooks the sea. Screeches echo across the sky, but no visible creatures descend. An old lighthouse looms above, the solemn destination of this rocky climb.
4 Promontory
The steps end here at the tip of a promontory which juts out over the sea. A lighthouse looms at hand here, the far end of this level of the island. A passable trail appears to descend down into the lower interior of the island beyond the lighthouse.
5 Lighthouse Entry
The lighthouse has fallen into disrepair. The door hangs on to its last rotting fibers, revealing a small room behind.
As the players approach, read:
The door falls off its hinges, splintering into multiple half-boards. The cracking wood echoes up and back down the staircase up in to the darkness, followed by a faint screech.
The doorway enters into a cloak room, at the far end of which is set of steps, leading up. The cloak room has been vandalized; anything that may have had value has been gone for some time now.
6 Narrow Spiral Staircase
This narrow staircase is very poorly lit, and the crumbling walls reveal severe rot in the mortar. The place is absent of all smell; not even the salty sea penetrates the porous walls.
The steps can only support a small amount of weight at a time, so they creak and moan as the players ascend. If the party weight exceeds 1,000 pounds, they collapse at a weak point 40′ up the ascent and the party falls, taking 4d6 points of falling damage. A DC 15 search check and a DC 10 knowledge (engineering or architecture) check will allow the players to spot the weak point as they approach it.
7 Lamp
The staircase opens out into a platform overlooking the bay. Stone gargoyles adorn the rooftop, an odd adornment for such a utilitarian structure. The lamp unit itself has long since disappeared, and the glass dome is all broken.
Creatures (EL 11): The gargoyles are (of course!) alive, and move once the players are in range of their surprise attacks. From their vantage atop the lighthouse, they have been aware of the party ever since they set foot on Harpy Point.
If the encounter with the party of initially unfriendly gargoyles goes well (DC 25 Diplomacy check to modify their attitude from unfriendly to friendly) the party can gain a valuable source of information about the lay of Harpy Point and it’s namesakes. They are on more or less friendly terms with the harpies, and if the gargoyles are convinced to be helpful (DC 40 Diplomacy check) they will be given a token that will help them negotiate later encounters with the harpies: the ritual greeting the gargoyles use whenever beginning a conversation with them, “Winged wretches, all on rock, gaze at morsels on the dock, sea foam splash, thunder clash, on the stones their bodies crash.” Opening a conversation with the harpies using this rhyme will give a +4 circumstance bonus on Diplomacy checks.
If the party is hostile or threatening, however, they gargoyles will gladly attempt to rend them limb from limb.
A party of gargoyles has taken up residence in this abandoned lighthouse. They have traveled far together over the years from their people’s home in the wastelands to the east of the Middle Kingdoms. Seasoned adventurers, they have lived here for some months in relative comfort, picking off the citizens of Onuago and the other towns around the bay. They are single-handedly the most responsible force for decimating the population of the nearby settlements. Their names are pronounced with a trilled r, and double consonants are pronounced twice.
Partaxis CR 7
Male gargoyle fighter 3
CE Medium-Size monstrous humanoid (earth)
Init: +3 Senses: darkvision 60 ft. Listen +4, Spot +4
Languages: common
AC: 22 (+5 armor, +4 natural, +3 dex) touch 13, flatfooted 19
HP: 81 (HD 4d8 + 3d10 + 42) DR 10/Magic
Fort: +10 Ref: +8 Will: +6
MV: 40 ft., fly 60 ft (average)
Attack: overclaw gauntlet +13 (1d6+5 / 19-20 x 2)
Full Attack: overclaw gauntlet +14 (1d6+5 / 19-20 x 2) and claw +12 (1d4+4) and bite +10 (1d6+2) and gore +10 (1d6+2)
Space / Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft.
Base Attack: +7 Grapple: +15
Abilities Str 19 Dex 17 Con 22 Int 7 Wis 12 Cha 4
SQ: freeze
Feats: Multiattack, Improved Critical (overclaw gauntlet), Improved Unarmed Strike, Improved Grapple, Weapon Focus (overclaw gauntlet)
Skills: Hide +7*, Swim +7, Listen +4, Spot +4
possessions: breastplate, +1 overclaw gauntlet.
Rexx-r CR 7
Male Gargoyle sorcerer 3
AL Medium Size monstrous humanoid (earth)
Init: +3 Senses: darkvision 60 ft. Listen +6, Spot +6
Languages: terran, some common
AC: 21 (+4 natural, +4 mage armor, +3 dex) touch 13, flatfooted 18
HP: 54 (HD 4d8+3d4+28) DR 10/Magic
Fort: +7 Ref: +9 Will: +10 – with resistance
MV: 40 ft., fly 60 ft (average)
Attack: claw + 9 (1d4)
Full Attack: 2 claws +9 (1d4+3) and bite +7 (1d6+1) and gore +7 (1d6+1)
Space / Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft.
Base Attack: +5 Grapple: +8
Abilities Str 16 Dex 17 Con 19 Int 4 Wis 14 Cha 11
SQ: freeze
Feats: Multiattack, Still Spell, Combat Casting
Skills: Concentration +8, Hide +7*, Listen +6, Sense Motive +3, Spot +6
Spells Available:
0th (6 per day): detect magic, daze, ghost sound, ray of frost, resistance
1st (5 per day): mage armor, ray of enfeeblement, shocking grasp
Possessions: spell component pouch on a lanyard.
Tortt CR 7
Female Gargoyle rogue 3
LE Medium Size monstrous humanoid (earth)
Init: +5 Senses: darkvision 60 ft. Listen +4, Spot +8
Languages: common
AC: 21 (+4 natural, +5 dex, +1 dodge, +1 deflection) touch 16, flatfooted 16
HP: 71 (HD 4d8+3d6+35) DR 10/Magic
Fort: +7 Ref: +11 Will: +5, Evasion
MV: 40 ft., fly 60 ft (average)
Attack: short sword + 11 (1d6+4)
Full Attack: short sword + 11 (1d6+4) and claw +10 (1d4+3) and bite +8 (1d6+1) and gore +8 (1d6+1)
Attack Options: Sneak Attack +2d6
Space / Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft.
Base Attack: +6 Grapple: +9
Abilities Str 17 Dex 19 Con 20 Int 10 Wis 11 Cha 4
SQ: Freeze, Evasion
SA: Trap Sense +1, Trapfinding
Feats: Multiattack, Dodge, Mobility
Skills: Craft (trapmaking) +3, Disable Device +8, Hide +7*, Listen +4, Sense Motive +5, Search +6, Spot +8, Tumble +6
Possessions: +1 Short Sword, Ring of Protection +1.
Kattaxx CR 7
Female Gargoyle cleric 3
NE Medium Size monstrous humanoid (earth)
Init: +1 Senses: darkvision 60 ft. Listen +4, Spot +4
Languages: common, some terran
AC: 19 (+4 natural, +5 armor, +1 dex) touch 11, flatfooted 19
HP: (HD 4d8+?) DR 10/Magic
Fort: +8 Ref: +5 Will: +9
MV: 40 ft., fly 60 ft (average)
Attack: claw + 13 (1d4+6)
Full Attack: claw +13 (1d4+6) and claw +12 (1d4+6) and bite +10 (1d6+3) and gore +10 (1d6+3)
Space / Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft.
Base Attack: +6 Grapple: +12
Abilities Str 19 (23) Dex 12 Con 19 Int 8 Wis 14 Cha 9
SQ: freeze,
SA: command or rebuke undead, turn air creatures, rebuke or command earth creatures, scent
Feats: Multiattack, Combat Casting, Power Attack
Skills: Concentration +8, Hide +7*, Knowledge (religion) +2, Listen +4, Spot +4
Spells Prepared or Available:
1st: bless (already cast), cure light wounds, magic fang* (already cast)
2nd: cure moderate wounds, bull’s strength (already cast)
Domains: domain (bestial, earth)
Possessions: chain mail, holy symbol of Kerilia, Major Elemental Spirit: a piece of unworked granite on a lead chain.
Tactics: The gargoyles have prepared with some spells as the PCs have approached their roost, already included in their stats above. The gargoyles’ close-quarter tactics include well-coordinated attacks especially between the sorcerer, rogue and fighter. The fighter will often grapple an opponent, who the rogue will quickly slay with a flurry of sneak attacks. Spellcasters who draw attention to themselves will be countered with bull rushes or grapples followed by a drop from the heights onto wave-beaten rocks 400 feet below. They be tight.
If reduced to less than 1/4 HP, the gargoyles will attempt to flee the scene, and will probably move off to less hostile pastures, perhaps in the mountains near castle Steiglitz.
Treasure: The gargoyles have managed to collect a fair amount of wealth from their victims, and have hidden it within rotating mechanism upon which the broken lamp rests. It consists of several leather sacks and a backpack with 53 platinum coins, 200 gold coins, 525 silver coins, a small gold bracelet worth 4 gold, a solid gold sculpture of tritons on hippocampus worth 750 gold, a freshwater pearl worth 10 gold, a black pearl worth 550 gold, a polished obsidian worth 15 gold, and a golden yellow topaz worth 450 gold. Tortt, the rogue, has rigged it with a crude crossbow trap, however, as a precaution against her friends stealing what she considers hers.
Basic Arrow Trap: CR 1; mechanical; proximity trigger; manual reset; Atk +10 ranged (1d6/×3, arrow); Search DC 20; Disable Device DC 20.
Posted in Encounter and tagged Horror of the Old Ones, Location by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.
Location: Onuago In Chaos
This post gives an overview of the state of Onuago at the start of the third part of The Horror of the Old Ones: the Begotten of the Old Ones have overrun the town and it lies in chaos.
Introduction
At this point the PCs have discovered the source of the strange mutations that have plagued this area for centuries: some type of horrific aberration that slumbers beneath the rocky Harpy Point in Onuago Bay.
The players cross the swamp to Onuago to find the dismal swampy town overrun with misshapen, mutated Begotten of the Old Ones. While the players were traveling back, the Old One, awakened by the priest Ernaldus’s ritual, emerged from its cocoon where it had slumbered beneath Harpy Point, crossed the bay, and lumbered out of the sea onto the wharfs.
As it emerged from the sea the sullen clouds began to rumble and release a heavy rain. Lightning and thunder accompanied the enormous monstrosity as it wandered through the town, and its very presence caused reality to run and melt like wax. Buildings, inhabitants, and the land itself have been twisted into alien, nightmare versions of themselves. This trail of chaos winds through the town like the path of a tornado of twisting unreality, before returning to the sea.
As the players come upon the scene, the town is in complete pandemonium. Begotten of the Old Ones are scattered throughout, most of them raving mad from the trauma of their transformations from lifelong townsfolk. Those who were not changed and have not been able or willing to flee the town for the wilderness of the swamps are either cowering or fighting across the town. When the players encounter these townsfolk, they should learn of the last nights events from them.
The weather has also turned for the worst — wet pellets assault the party, a mixture of rain and hail. The precip has definitely hit the fan!
Encounters
Encounters in the location include several run-ins with The Begotten of the Old Ones.
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged Horror of the Old Ones, Location by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
Location: The Great Elsemere Wood
(distance from Cathedral of St. Carlos to Shada Monastery as the crow flies 10 miles, on foot 15-20 miles)
In the Great Elsemere Wood the forest is so thick that is it almost as dark as night. No sounds echo through the underbrush; no sky is visible through the tightly-woven canopy which towers fifty feet above. Cedars and other trees are leafless except in the canopy; the dry limbs in the interim have grown craggly and with sinister corrpution. A fire could easily destroy the forest in a matter of moments, but luckily in the rarified air of the wood, there is little oxygen to keep a flame aflame.
The soil in the forest is primarily dry earth, with substantial cracking and exposed root systems gasping for sustenance, except along the river, where the soil is muddy and in parts swamp-like. Along the river, thick spanish moss dangles from the drooping limbs, which seem to bend over the water as if to take a sip.
A small maze of a trail leads through the forest. It is by and large the only path through the thick undergrowth. The path is the above-ground manifestation of the paths the underground river has taken through the wood, attempting to avoid the evils within.
Locations
Mausoleum – Once a part of Elsemere, this mausoleum is now overgrown by forest underbrush and is barely noticable.
Fitted stones and mortar poke through the exposed root system of a stand of trees, revealing a weathered structure. There is no obvious entrance.
If the characters search around enough (DC 20, with bonuses for wilderness lore), they’ll discover what was once the door, now overgrown with exposed roots. After hacking some wood, they may enter the structure, discovering a single 25’x25′ room, which has been overgrown (or undergrown) by some sort of plantlife, as there is significant foliage in the chamber. The plants are undead, having consumed the haunted souls of the living. They will be detailed in a separate post. The plants will attack once the characters are fully within the structure. After dispensing of the plants, the characters discover coffins lining hte outer walls. In two of the coffins, the characters find skeletons that have not been consumed. One one’s finger, there is a ring of protection+2 and on another’s in a rotting bag, there is a dagger+2.
If the party casts speak with dead they will hear a first hand account of the forest’s consumption of the northwest edge of Elsemere. The people became so downtrodden that many succumbed to mental illnesses, which, after burial, led to an undead state. The plants sucked the undead out of the corpses and fed on the moonlight streaming in through cracks in the ceiling, becoming the monstrosities that the characters so recently encountered.
Clearing – During certain seasons and to commemorate certain holy and unholy days, the tainted Shada Monks perform their ritual acts in the only clearing in the forest. A typical encounter with the monks and clerics will be detailed in a later post.
Small Temple – Four adepts catetake this small temple to Nerull. The details can be found in a later post.
Shada Monastery – This tall, dark building built over an underground cistern is where the Shada Monks hone their nefarious craft. The monastery will be detailed in a later post.
The black squares on the map in the wood are huts of monks and adepts who have moved out of the monastery for one reason or another. Most of them just prefer living outside the overcrowded monastery, but a few wish to leave the ranks of Shada. They may be conscripted or convinced to leave the wood altogether if the party plays their encounters right.
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged Horror of the Old Ones, Location by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.
Location: The Hamlet of Elsemere
(note, this map contains locations within The Great Elsemere Wood as well)
Stats:
The Hamlet of Elsemere, pop 90ish
Wealth: Gold Piece Limit: 100 gp
Ready Cash: 450 gp
Power Center: Magical: chaotic evil priest of St. Cuthbert / The Old Ones
Community Authority: 2nd level warrior
Highest level NPCs in the community:
Barbarian: 1st
Bard: 2nd
Commoner: 9th
Druid: 4th
Expert: 7th
Fighter: 3rd
Rogue: 4th
Sorcerer: 1st
Warrior: 2nd
Part of the village of Elsemere has been reclaimed by the forest. The mausoleum was once the edge of town, but it is now hundereds of feet inside the forest. If the party investigates close enough, they will find old tracks leading into the forest – what was once the road through town.
The present-day town is surrounded on three sides by farmland and on one by Elsemere Wood. Corrupted fey creatures have their own nefarious names for the dark forest they call home.
Notable locations:
C: Once the center of town, the Cathedral of St. Carlos has been taken defiled and corrupted by a priest of St. Cuthbert.
F: The Fallen Lumber Inn is the last operating inn in this dwindling economy.
M: This makeshift mill processes the remaining lumber produced by the townspeople of Elsemere.
Entrances to the Wood: Dark and foreboding, these narrow creases in the forest provide a crawlspace into the interior. Characters taking these paths should beware.
Notable characters:
Morbane the Mad Monk (CR3)
Another important person in town is the scholar’s mentor, who is studying the forest. Perhaps she is the 4th level druid.
Another is the cleric who didn’t make the list. His level should be around 10ish +2 for the begotten of the old ones template…
Pava the Wise occasionally visits this hamlet, so she may be present. Also Temas Falkor sometimes makes his bardly way here to gain knowledge. He is writing a song about the encroaching forest brought on by the sadness of the Elsemereans.
Other:
If the characters seek a vantage point from which to view the forest, they spy the stony towers of the Shada Monastery, which from its position on a hill in the Wood, peeks through the overgrown canopy.
If the characters ask around enough, they may learn some facts about the monks who study in the monastery, including Morbane, the Mad Monk of Elsemere, who splits his time between the hallowed halls of Shada and the muddied streets of Elsemere.
Another post will cover the locations within the Wood.
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged Horror of the Old Ones, Location by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
Location: Shada Monastery
Located in the center of the impassable Elsemere Wood, the Shada Monastery is shrouded in mystery. Most people leave it alone. Get it? The monastery juts out from the canopy of the forest, andon a clear day, is visible from the edge of the ever-expanding wood.
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged Location by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.