The Chamber of the Old One
Now that The Horror of the Old Ones has been released, here is the final encounter in the adventure. To see more, check out the 56 page adventure at RPGnow.com here!
The short, slick slope leading from the last chamber ends here at the shore of a pool of briny water. The water surges with the pulse of the ocean, small waves lapping at your feet. To the left a large cavern stretches out.
This dark cavern swirls with strange mists, and high above the ceiling seems to fade and reappear in patches with the mist, revealing distant, bright, hard pinpoints of light in an inky blackness above.
At the far end of the chamber, in a crater shaped pool, stands an immense oval-shaped mass. It’s irregular surface is streaked with veins of purple, black and green minerals, and broken by a crack large enough for an ogre to pass through. Fragments of the strange oblong lie below the crack.
This 100 ft by 50 ft ovular cavern is the chamber of the Old One. Before the dawn of man, the old one’s cocoon traversed the spaces between the worlds. It crashed into the sea here, creating the Onuago bay and the mountain of rock called harpy point with it’s impact. DC 30 knowledge arcana or craft metalworking will reveal that the cocoon is made of iron, with veins of adamantium and magesilver throughout.
In the eaons since then, the sea’s ceaseless crashing and later the scrabbling of the Children of the Sea have excavated this place. Then, with his ritual, Ernaldus fully wakened the Old One, who burst out of it’s cocoon to sew madness and ruin in Onuago.
The pool of water leads to the sea at the west side deep below harpy point. The old one’s will has prevented the water from flooding in to fill this chamber up to this point.
The roof of this chamber is shiftingly transparent, and reveals the stars that wheel above regardless of the time of day or night.
Creature: the Old One dwells here, and is likely either in it’s vessel or out at the bottom of the bay. If in the bay, it should emerge from the briny pool and attack the party from behind as they examine the chamber and the cocoon.
Old One: HP: 175
Tactics: The Old One will likely begin it’s assault with a chain lightning and dominate person and then cast blink as it strides towards the party, allowing it’s wisdom draining gaze attack and it’s slow aura to do their work. As long as the party is not being particularly effective, it will use it’s melee attacks to slay them. If seriously threatened, it will retreat via dimension door, summon a chaos beast, and use lightning bolts to eliminate the most effective foe, be it spellcaster or warrior. The Old One will fight to the death.
Treasure: There are Adamantium and Magesilver deposits in veins in the interstellar asteroid. If somehow retrieved, they are worth approximately 50,000 gold.
Development: After the defeat of the old one, the sea rushes in to cleanse the chamber. The body of the old ones floats strangely and is washed out. As it passes, the players can make a DC 12 Strength check to grab it and hold on as they are carried out by the surging water. The body will quickly rise to the surface of the bay, and begin to drift towards Onuago on the now calm water.
Failing this, the party must swim (DC 13 swim checks, to travel 100 ft. to the surface of the Bay) or leave by magic.
The empty husk is deposited like a beached whale near the near the shore of Onuago.
Posted in Encounter and tagged Horror of the Old Ones, Location, Old One by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
Elsemere Wood Cemetery
These encounters will be appearing in the upcoming adventure The Horror of the Old Ones. In the meantime, feel free to drop them into your game wherever you need a creepy old cemetery. And who doesn’t need a monster-filled cemetery?
Cemetery (EL 5)
creatures: begotten of the old one (1): HP: 70 A begotten of the old ones lives here. Born a child of the sea to one of the families in Elsemere, he grew up as a shut-in, hidden by his parents from the rest of the village. Upon his patents death he was discovered and driven out of the village. The maddening dreams of the wood have made him quite mad, and now he will viciously attack anyone entering the cemetery.
Mausoleum (EL 9)
Inside the crypt there are four carved stone coffins. Two of the sarcophagus lids have been pushed open by tree roots, and an intricate brass sword stand lies toppled over at the head of one of them.
Several shriveled corpses with various armors and dusty equipment lie scattered on the ground here.
Anyone approaching within 30 ft of the death root becomes subject to it’s fatiguing radiance and must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or become fatigued.
Investigating the bodies, a DC 20 heal or spot check, reveals that they were crushed and drained of blood through many tiny wounds.
creatures: death root (1): HP: 63 A death root – the tree – is on top and inside the crypt and will attack anyone entering once they have come inside.
treasure: Here there are several dead adventurers and their gear, plus loot from the sarcophagus. All together it amounts to 1,200 gold, a smooth marble scepter worth 600gp, an intricate brass sword-stand worth 90gp, an arcane scroll containing: gentle repose (lvl 3, cast 5), sleep (lvl 1, cast 1), and undetectable alignment (lvl 1, cast 1) (450gp value). Additionally there is a +1 longsword (2,315gp) and another arcane scroll containing: feather fall (lvl 1, cast 1), bull’s strength (lvl 2, cast 3) and glitterdust (lvl 2, cast 3) (150gp) (325gp value).
Posted in 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons / d20 fantasy / Pathfinder, Encounter and tagged Elsemere Wood, Horror of the Old Ones, Location by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
Horror of the Old Ones: Epilogue
After defeating the remnants of the Old One, the party returns to Onuago to a heroes welcome. Unfortunately there are not many colonists left, but those that remain seem uplifted by the demise of the old one. The next few years will be difficult, but at least the immediate menace has been taken care of. The party should receive an amount of experience needed to bring most of them to the next level, unless they have just reached the level. Read the next section aloud.
The remaining denizens of Onuago stand along the docks, watching the action unfold. Under the guiding current of high tide, the hollow carcass floats into port. The once cloud-filled sky which dropped rain only hour before is now clear, illuminated by thousands of stars. Through the crisp night air, the bellows of the Old One gives way to the baying of dogs in the alleys of the port town. A crescendo of cheers rises in intensity as the carcass nudges the docks.
As the party enters the town streets, they are followed by the townspeople in a procession leading to the Old Town Hall. There they are greeted by the ex-lieutenants. If the party brought the Baron’s lieutenants together, they are now united in a cause to help the poor town, to bring about an economic resurgence in the Lands of Northbay. If not, the remaining lieutenents become the final encounter of Horror of the Old Ones. The people decide they want these lieutenants to form the new town council, an sentiment which has been gaining support while the party has been away at, in, and below Elsemere Wood and Harpy Point. If the party returns to Onuago six months or or longer in the future, they find the city streets clean, the river continuing to flow in its normal place, and an established trade route between Onuago, Elsemere, and the Jæruel. The sea trade route is also re-established, opening up the south side of the bay, approporiately named Southbay.
Possible solutions/changes to the Lands of Northbay:
* Castle von Stieglitz has returnd to its former glory, the Baron under recovery from his near-undeath experience. Trade continues with the towns of the Jæruel, over the Cyrűk Mountains.
* Onuago streets have returned to normal after the river recedes to its old course. Merchants are opening up businesses.
* Shada Monastery freed from tainted cult, and the surrounding forest no longer encroaching upon Elsemere. The people log only very selectively out of respect for the wood, choosing trees on their way out rather than clear-cutting.
* Harpy Point is clear and there is talk of the lighthouse returning to use to improve sailing. The people of Onuago are looking for a new name for the island and want to use something related to the party.
* Mothers no longer give birth to the begotten of the old ones.
* The weather seems, on the whole, a little bit nicer. Flowers are more fragrant. The party has never noticed just how beautiful is the moon.
Unchanged are:
* The Great Marsh is still the Great Marsh, though the course of the Lazy River has returned to normal.
* Goduanil is still a region of dark moors.
They each contain their own horrors which must be dealt with separate from the Old Ones. But that is another story…
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged Horror of the Old Ones by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.
Mad Treant
Suddenly a tree to the side of the path ahead falls and crashes onto the trail, blocking it. The tree then begins to move strangely as though writhing, and a low groan can be heard. After a few moments the tree is upright again, but swaying violently. It’s lower trunk separates into two leg-like appendages and it begins lurching slowly towards you. A face can be made out on it’s trunk and it babbles incoherently in a mix of common and sylvan.
Creatures: This normally benevolent forest creature has been driven mad by the evil influence of the woods. When it reaches the party it acts as though under the effects of a confusion spell: each round it has a 40% chance of attacking the nearest creature, a 10% chance to act normally, bemoaning the evil in the forest, a 20% chance of fleeing, and a 30% chance to babble incoherently.
If the players cast remove curse, break enchantment, or heal the wisdom damage it has suffered, the treant becomes friendly.
Darkmoss the Treant: HP: 77
Development: If the players manage to cure Darkmoss’s insanity, it may become a valuable ally. It knows about Father Ernaldus and the Shada Monks, and believes they are somehow tied to the evil in these woods. If asked it will join the players in tracking down and fighting them, and can lead them to the monestary by way of the ruins. It is not interested in helping the party beyond the woods.
Posted in Encounter and tagged Elsemere Wood, Horror of the Old Ones by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
Native Camp
Gathered here on this dry hilltop under a twisting tree is a group of wyndm. Several patchwork tents are circled around a large cooking fire. Hounds stand and eye you warily as they catch sight of you.
The native population of this region has been forced to live nomadic lives. They travel in two-to-three-family groups, so they will be encountered in groups of 8-32. Feel free to include them if it is useful, otherwise you can omit them.
Creatures: Wyndm folk commoners (8d4), wyndm-wolves (1d4): these nomadic people are wary, as they live in this dangerous swamp, but if approached peacefully they are friendly. With a DC 15 diplomacy check they become helpful, and will offer travelers warm food and a place to rest if they like. They know the swamps well, and can give the characters accurate directions to Elsemere: follow the river upstream. Altogether half of the people in the camp are combatants, and have the stats below.
Wyndm-folk: CR 1, usually NG, commoner 2, AC: 13 (leather armor +2, dex +1) touch 11 flatfooted 12, HD: 2d4+2, HP: 9, Attack: +2 spear 1d8+2 or +2 shortbow 1d6, Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +0
Tactics: If attacked the men and women will fight with spears and shortbows, the wyndm-wolves will circle and flank and trip, while the children hide or flee into the swamps. If the battle goes badly for them, they will abandon the camp and attempt to flee into the swamp.
Treasure: if the camp is looted, roll for treasure for a CR 1 creature for each combatant in the camp.
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged Horror of the Old Ones, Wyndm by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
Segaric Wandariks
Segaric grew up in the Kingdom of Vandor, working as a tradesman until joining the church in his mid-30s. When the kingdom disintegrated into the Ten Princedoms, he left his homeland and set off with the church’s blessing to find adventure and spread the word. After five years abroad in the neighboring nation-states, he honed his skills through a series of encounters with danger. However, in his travels, he developed a nasty habit of drinking himself to sleep, and often begins his days with a residual buzz from the night before. Now in his late 40s, his study of the domains of water and destruction drive his conscious thought, those few times he’s not intoxicated, though arguably the booze is the intersection of water and destruction, a sort of destructive water…
Segaric Wandariks
Medium-size Male Human
Cleric10
Hit Dice: (10d8)+30
Hit Points: 91
Initiative: +0
Speed: Walk 20 ft.
AC: 18 (flatfooted 18, touch 10)
Attacks: Crossbow +3 (Repeating Light) +10/+5;*Mace +2 (Light) +9/+4; ;
Damage: Crossbow +3 (Repeating Light) 1d8+3;*Mace +2 (Light) 1d6+2; ;
Vision:
Face / Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft.
Special Qualities: Rebuke Water (Su) 6/day (turn level 10) (turn damage 2d6+13), Smite 1/day (Su), Spontaneous casting, Turn Fire (Su) 6/day (turn level 10) (turn damage 2d6+13), Turn Undead (Su) 6/day (turn level 10) (turn damage 2d6+13)
Saves: Fortitude: +10, Reflex: +3, Will: +11
Abilities: STR 11 (+0), DEX 10 (+0), CON 16 (+3), INT 10 (+0), WIS 18 (+4), CHA 16 (+3)
Skills: Appraise 0; Balance -6; Bluff 3; Climb -6; Concentration 7; Craft (Alchemy) 6; Craft (Untrained) 0; Diplomacy 16; Disguise 3; Escape Artist -6; Forgery 0; Gather Information 3; Heal 7; Hide -6; Intimidate 3; Jump -12; Knowledge (Arcana) 2; Knowledge (History) 2; Knowledge (Religion) 4; Listen 4; Move Silently -6; Ride 0; Search 0; Sense Motive 4; Spellcraft 5; Spot 4; Survival 4; Swim -12;
Feats: Armor Proficiency (Heavy), Armor Proficiency (Light), Armor Proficiency (Medium), Brew Potion, Combat Casting, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Crossbow (Repeating Light)), Far Shot, Point Blank Shot, Shield Proficiency, Simple Weapon Proficiency
Challenge Rating: 10
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Possessions: Ale (Gallon); Boots (BOOT); Backpack; Bedroll; Bell; Belt (BELT); Bit and Bridle; Bolts, Repeating, Crossbow (50); Caltrops; Candle; Case (Map or Scroll); Case (Map or Scroll); Chalk (1 piece); Cheese (Hunk); Crossbow +3 (Repeating Light); Elven Chain +3; Fishing Net (25 Sq. Ft.); Flask (Empty); Ginger (Per Lb.); Healer’s Kit; Holy Symbol (Silver); Holy Water (Flask); Hourglass; Ink (1 Oz. Vial); Inkpen; Jug (Clay); Jug (Clay); Mace +2 (Light); Meals (Good/Per Day); Mirror (Small/Steel); Mug or Tankard (Clay); Mule; Oil (1 Pt. Flask); Outfit (Traveler’s); Paper (Sheet); Parchment (Sheet); Pepper (Per Lb.); Pitcher (Clay); Piton; Pouch (Belt); Quiver; Rations (Trail/Per Day); Robe (ROBE); Rope (Hempen/50 Ft.); Sack; Sack; Saddle (Riding); Saddlebags; Salt (Per Lb.); Scale (Merchant’s); Sealing Wax; Sewing Needle; Signal Whistle; Soap (Per Lb.); Spell Component Pouch; Tent; Tobacco (Per Lb.); Torch; Cleric’s Vestments; Vial; Waterskin; Waterskin (Filled); Wine (Common/Pitcher); Wine (Fine/Bottle);
Deity: None Domains: Water(Turn or destroy fire creatures as a good cleric turns undead. Rebuke, command, or bolster water creatures as an evil cleric rebukes undead. Use these abilities a total number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier. This granted power is a supernatural ability.) Destruction(You gain the smite power, the supernatural ability to make a single melee attack with a +4 bonus on attack rolls and a bonus on damage rolls equal to your cleric level (if you hit). You must declare the smite before making the attack. This ability is usable once per day.)
Spells:
Spells per Day: (6/5+1/5+1/4+1/4+1/2+1/0/0/0/ DC:14+spell level)
Cleric – Known:
Level 0: Cipher, Create Water, Cure Minor Wounds, Decode, Detect Magic, Detect Poison, Dim, Dim Illumination, Guidance, Inflict Minor Wounds, Light, Light My Fire, Mending, Pain Touch, Puff of Wind, Purify Food and Drink, Read Magic, Resistance, Sort, Startle, Virtue
Level 1: Bane, Bless, Bless Water, Cause Fear, Command, Comprehend Languages, Cure Light Wounds, Detect Chaos, Detect Corruption, Detect Evil, Detect Good, Detect Law, Detect Undead, Divine Favor, Doom, Emotional Stability, Endure Elements, Entropic Shield, Glass Shape, Hide from Undead, Inflict Light Wounds, Inflict Light Wounds, Magic Stone, Magic Weapon, Obscuring Mist, Obscuring Mist, Protection from Evil, Protection from Law, Purge Inner Darkness, Remove Fear, Sanctuary, Shield of Faith, Stabilize, Summon Monster I, Wall of Darkness
Level 2: Aid, Align Weapon, Augury, Bear’s Endurance, Bull’s Strength, Calm Emotions, Consecrate, Cure Moderate Wounds, Darkness, Delay Poison, Eagle’s Splendor, Enthrall, Find Traps, Fog Cloud, Gentle Repose, Hold Person, Inflict Moderate Wounds, Make Whole, Owl’s Wisdom, Remove Paralysis, Resist Energy, Restoration, Lesser, Shatter, Shatter, Shield Other, Silence, Sound Burst, Spiritual Weapon, Status, Summon Monster II, Undetectable Alignment, Weaken Stone, Zone of Truth
Level 3: Armor of Light, Bestow Curse, Blindness/Deafness, Contagion, Continual Flame, Create Food and Water, Cure Serious Wounds, Daylight, Deeper Darkness, Dispel Magic, Forced Manifestation, Gas Mask, Ghost Touch, Glyph of Warding, Helping Hand, Inflict Serious Wounds, Invisibility Purge, Locate Object, Magic Circle against Evil, Magic Circle against Law, Magic Vestment, Meld into Stone, Obscure Object, Prayer, Protection from Energy, Remove Blindness/Deafness, Remove Curse, Remove Disease, Repeat Action, Searing Light, Speak with Dead, Stone Shape, Summon Monster III, Track Target, Water Breathing, Water Breathing, Water Walk, Wind Wall
Level 4: Air Walk, Blinding Light, Control Water, Control Water, Cure Critical Wounds, Death Link, Death Ward, Dimensional Anchor, Discern Lies, Dismissal, Divination, Divine Power, Eternal Shadow, Freedom of Movement, Giant Vermin, Haunting Melody, Imbue with Spell Ability, Inflict Critical Wounds, Inflict Critical Wounds, Magic Weapon, Greater, Neutralize Poison, Planar Ally, Lesser, Poison, Repel Vermin, Restoration, Sending, Spell Immunity, Summon Monster IV, Tongues
Level 5: Atonement, Break Enchantment, Command, Greater, Commune, Cure Light Wounds, Mass, Dispel Evil, Dispel Law, Disrupting Weapon, Flame Strike, Ghost Bomb, Hallow, Ice Storm, Inflict Light Wounds, Mass, Inflict Light Wounds, Mass, Insect Plague, Mark of Justice, Plane Shift, Raise Dead, Righteous Might, Scrying, Slay Living, Spell Resistance, Summon Monster V, Symbol of Sleep, True Seeing, Wall of Stone
Posted in Character and tagged Horror of the Old Ones by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.
Horror of the Old Ones: Introduction
Horror of the Old Ones is the upcoming module (June 2007) by Unicorn Rampant Publishing. This serves as a preliminary version of its introduction.
Background
Major Issues and Themes
* Baron von Stieglitz has lost control of his lieutenants and become a pale wight
* Onuago has multiple troubles
* Elsemere is bring overrun by the forest
* Shada Monastery has poisoned the forest
* Great Elsemere Wood has been poisoned
* The Great Marsh is full of trolls and other beasts, having overgrown the old road
* The Lazy River has changed course, an inauspicious event
Flow of Events
Part 1: Ominous Beginnings – party learns of what has happened in and around Onuago
Part 2: Travels Abroad – party travels to Elsemere and possibly Castle Stieglitz
Part 3: World in Chaos – party returns to an overrun Onuago and then Harpy Point, culminatng in an encounter with an Old One
Introduction to Part 1: Ominous Beginnings
Your wounded vessel, the Pelagic Bounty, thuds against the dark pier. Sailors leap off the gunwale and begin securing the ship to the dock with ropes. Captain Tarquen lets out a sigh of relief, which you share. For several tense moments there you were not sure if the mainmast of the vessel would hold. Even with the sails furled, it had creaked and groaned ominously as you entered the harbor. The fireball blast had nearly felled it during the battle with the corsairs two hours ago and you can see long splinters of wood slivering off from the mast. The mizzenmast is completely destroyed. Its riggings, sails, and top third section are so much flotsam floating in the open sea now.
You step gingerly over gaping holes, the bodies of sailors and corsairs, and charred and bloody sections of the maindeck, making your way across the gangway and onto the pier. Standing on the dock, you can see more of the damage to the Pelagic Bounty’s hull. A cold and bitter wind blows clouds across the night sky and the moon’s gleam is briefly obscured. It begins raining again.
After awhile, you realize that you have seen no curious fisherman, crew from other ships, merchants, or late-night carousers-anyone at all from this harbor city. Through the rain however, you spot some lights in the buildings further into town.
Captain Tarquen suggests looking for supplies and repair materials there. In particular, he needs materials to repair the mainmast and the worst of the hull damage. You look towards the lights in the town and hope that you will find what you need quickly. You have an urgent appointment with the Viceroy of Galorad by the next full moon.
Drawing your cloak tight about you, you begin walking up the pier on this uneasy night of the 13th day of autumn in the Year of the Salamander.
The wharves are completely deserted as well as you can discern. You walk past dark edifices that might have been used as warehouses or merchant offices once. They are in severe disrepair now. Not a single light gleams from their windows, many of which were shattered long ago. Rats scurry from under your feet, and squeak indignantly at you from the safety of crannies and junk piles as you intrude through their territory. After a few minutes, you come out of the warehouse district and find yourself walking up a hill. The cobblestone street runs west from the docks. At the crest of the hill, you can look back and see the Pelagic Bounty some distance away against the surging darkness that is the unquiet ocean.
Here the buildings appear to be more like habitations. Tenements sit shoulder to shoulder with a few alley and side streets relieving the stifling closeness. All of them are in advanced stages of ruin. Some have shutters that hang askew from their hinges and broken windows, doors that stand wide open and hang loosely from the frames, and a few buildings have large sections of wall and roof that have collapsed. Just when you despair of finding anyone in this desolate place, you see a building ahead of you with lights coming from its unshattered windows. As you approach closer you can hear the faint din of conversation and some music.
You pass one of the windows on your way to the entrance and take a glance inside. There are a surprising number of people inside (or perhaps not so many but that they stand in sharp contrast to the desolation outside). Above the door you see a weathered plank hanging from rusty wire with the words “Snug Harbor Inn” in fresh black paint. You open the door and step inside.
The smell of fried fish assails your nose. Cheap tobacco smoke too. The noise of the conversation subsides as everyone turns to see who these new arrivals are. One and all, they regard you carefully for a moment. The sight of your gear, weapons, and armor seem to convince them that you aren’t worth robbing, bullying, or killing…and you don’t pose any immediate threat to them. After a moment they return to their conversations. In the corner of the room to your right, a bard goes back to plucking chords on his lyre. You scan the room and see a few faces. Most of these locals have protruding ears and noses that are more bulbous than what your people look like. At one end of the bar you notice a woman in her sixties. She looks at you and arches an eyebrow.
A greasy man with dark hair, mutton chops, bulbous nose and protruding ears walks up to you, wiping his hands on a splotchy apron. You can see lice squirming in his beard and hair when he walks up to. He does not seem to have a concept of personal space as he gets right in your face and says, “I’m Caad. I own this here inn. You’s strangers be wanting some ale, chow, a room, or what?”
The party begins at the Snug Harbor Inn located in the Wharf District. A longer description of Onuago is also available.
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged Horror of the Old Ones 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.