The
artifact rock finally in place, united with its stand, begins to spin
again. The glyphs covering the entire
surface begin to glow as the rock’s spinning increases. The glyphs meld together as the spinning
rock’s spinning increases more and more.
The rock begins to glow even brighter.
The ground groans and the world trembles as the air grows hot from the
spinning rock. A thunderously loud crack
resounds through the air, echoing of the opposite side of the valley and
avalanches simultaneously fall from every mountain slope you can see. The shaking becomes so intense that some of
you lose footing and fall to the ground.
Trees shake loose their gathered snows and some of these topple in the
massive earthquake that fills the valley.
The winds pick up as if the earthquake is summoning them, blowing as
strongly as the strongest wind; much greater than the winds that blow in the
mountains. The rock spins through all
this and wavers not. The point it stands
upon erodes not a bit and the rock itself stays firm and does not shatter. The
glyphs dim as the spinning slows and the earthquake stops. The wind calms and the trees cease
trembling. A silence falls upon the
valley. Then you hear it, the mighty
roar of a distant dragon. Dusting
yourself off you look on the valley and see a great change. The dead forest has been split in two and
there is a river flowing through the gap.
There is a tower that stands in the middle, near the river. There is a valley that looks to be filled
with full summer a few months more advanced than the valley where you are. The wide valley appears to contain a bounty
with roving herds of reindeer and mountain sheep. There appears to be a dwarven citadel and
many forests. There are some quite high mountains
too and one is tall and very distinct with the split in the mountain side, a
crack that splits the peak thousands of meters above the valley. The mountain looks just like the one on the
map. The map says that you must climb
this mountain and position the Chasamfiend heartstone in that cleft and shine
sunlight through it to get the location of Relic’s last treasure. Your quest is nearing its end.
The
Dragons. There are four dragons. The Death Dragon if it has not been dealt
with has recently been tossed from its home and it is pissed. There is a Red dragon who knocked the
Balancing stone from its perch accidentally trapping itself in stasis in its
attempt to kill the Green dragon. The
Green dragon who controls the forests in this valley and has battling the red
dragon for decades before the valley was lost.
The Storm dragon who is bigger and more powerful than the red and the
green, but who is more concerned with the storms on the mountains. And this last dragon resides on the split
mountain.
The Tower
in the mouth of the valley, more recently, a few decades before the valley was
lost a mage set up in this tower a powerful necromancer it was his
consciousness that infected the forests and created the Death Dragon
The dwarven
citadel, which is just the tip of the dwarven city below. They are at war with an invasion of an
alliance of hobgoblins, and giants and critters from deeper within the mountain
range. There are a component of gnolls
and demons, and underdark horrors. That
were in league with the red dragon. The
red dragon has made its lair in the mountain across from the Storm dragon. The sides of the mountain are filled with
caves that pepper the edges of the mountain, there is a cave dragon and
mindflayers and a regular sized aboleth.
The dwarves
are trying to organize a resistance with the Lake Elves, the stone giants, the
various halfling types and gnome types as well as the various dwarf types, and
elf types. The Green dragon was allied
with them as much as it was against the destruction of the forests that the
other forces threatened to do and not because it liked the dwarves.
The dark
forces lead by the Red dragon thought that knocking off the balancing stone was
key to darkening the power of the good beings and did not know that it would
darken both sides equally. Both sides
were set back for centuries. The best of
the Mountain Elves, the Lake Elves, the Stone Giants and the rest was here
preparing for the war when they entered stasis, the Druegar were mostly lost
along with the cream of the Kou-toa, the Mind flayers, and the rest. The attacks that were nearing full readiness
when the valley was locked off.
Enter the
wild cards, the PCs and the Death dragon.
The Death Dragon is a far better fit for the alliance of evil than the
red dragon was. The death dragon is
bigger and more powerful. But its base
has been sundered and the Necromancer has been restored as a failed lich and
its tower is made now of a dracolich encased with stones that is semi sentient
and malicious.
The PCs may
or may not want to enter the battle. If
they do, they will have many sorties launched against many of the caves in the
area and fights against the aboleth, the mind flayers, and the armies arrayed
against the dwarves and their allies.
There are a couple dragons, the red dragon and the cave dragon. There are Gnolls, goblins and many others
arrayed against them. Demons too. There are also a few neutral monsters located
nearby, rhemoraz, beholders, purple worms.
There are deep gnomes and flumph too.
Gith too.
If the PCs
attempt to ignore the things around them and just complete the quest, they will
still encounter these things. Many of
them are aware of the legends of treasure buried in this region by the Famed
adventurer Relic, stories that he slew a Dragon and took the hoard and buried
half of it somewhere near to here. These
rumors are a thousand years closer to these people.
The PCs
need to climb the tallest peak hereabouts place the gem in the right spot and
summon a ray of sunlight to pass through it at the right angle to point out the
right spot, but there will be many on the ground that will see the beam of
light and attempt to get the treasure first.
But the key to enter the lost treasure is the hammer artifact that they
already own. And there is also another
treasure map. The treasure map leads the
PCs to the Map south of the continent, a place where the weather is hot to an
extreme. Where people farm at night, and
sleep during the day. Where the Great
River has its roots summers are deadly and the mountains are tolerable. And to the city of the First Ones. Six white monoliths that rise above the
jungle floor where six great profits reside.
Except there are only three now.
The three prophets tell you that one of their numbers abandoned reason
and decided the they would go off on their own to rule the world. Two others went off to stop the rogue prophet
and they died trying to stop the first.
Those two were destroyed and their power was added to the rogue prophet. They also reveal that the prophets are all
dragons that have taken an oath to keep the world safe and the dragons safe
from the devastating weapons developed in the Human Dragon wars from a time
long lost. They reveal that the Hammer
of Dragon Kind is one such weapon as is the Orb of Dragonkind that they also
possess. The Last weapon they need is
the Dragon Lance, the most terrible weapon because it requires the will of a
dragon to use it, meaning a dragon must wield it in part. The wielder must be mounted on a willing
dragon, whose life force is used in part to fuel its effects. The Dragon Lance channels the life force of
the dragon and the dragon rider through the dragon lance to cause damage to the
offending dragon. The Dragon must
willingly use its life force, give it up, to damage the other dragon. But it only works if the Human rider
willingly sacrifices their own life force too.
When this happens the hp lost by rider and dragon is converted into
direct damage to the other dragon and the target dragon gets a Con Saving throw
DC 30 (if it is a maximum sized dragon it fails on a 11 or lower because Con
save is +18) for half damage. Maximum
sized Dragons have 1326 hp on average, 2074 max. this means the safest time to attack the
dragon would be when it is bloodied, but that is a difficult enough
prospect.
The Orb of
Dragon KInd 5 charges
·
clouds
the mind or dragons. Honeyed words aimed
at dragons double the proficiency bonus of the attuned. As a bonus action the attuned may suppress a
dragon’s saving throws by the attuner’s own attribute bonus. So if the attuned had a Constitution of 20,
they could suppress the Dragon’s Con save by +5 and by spending a charge double
the effect for a round.
·
The
Orb also adds +4 to a caster’s casting attribute for casting spells and spell
saves.
·
Allows
the attuned to attempt to see through the eyes of the nearest dragon, provokes
a contested wisdom challenge with the dragon and the attuned. If the winner has the dragon orb, the orb
shows what the dragon sees and if the PC wins by more than 10, the dragon is
not aware of the contest. If the Dragon
wins the dragon is aware of the PC and where they might be. If the Dragon wins by 10 or more the dragon
knows where the PCs are and has the option of letting the PCs see through it
eyes and seeing through the Orb, the Dragon must make an Intelligence check of
20 to realize this option.
·
Can
be used as a regular crystal ball and can be used to spy on any dragon that the
PC has seen or encountered.
·
Can
cast any divination spell through the Orb by spending a number of charges equal
to the level of the spell -1.
·
The
PC will become possessive of the Orb of Dragon Kind
·
The longer that one is in
possession of the Orb the more dragon like they become. Every time the number of charges is reduced
to 0, the attuned adds a count of one.
Every time the attuned uses it against a dragon, one is added to the
count. When the count reaches the wisdom
score of the PC, they add one idiosyncratic dragon behaviour. Like only eats meat raw or burnt, like to
hoard shiny objects, listens to flattery positively, seeks to be alone, seeks
out (charisma modifier) monstrous allies, advances in level as a sorcerer,
learns draconic etc.
·
If the PC loses a wisdom battle
by more than 10, the dragon can cast spells through the orb on the attuned. Any attempts to affect the PC or his allies
can cause the PC to wrench themselves from the dragon’s control in a successful
wisdom save DC depending on the dragon, success the wrenching does half damage
and failure results in full damage (half the PC’s level in d10 Psychic damage)
·
Any dragon that dies while in
contact with the Orb, there is a chance for the dragon to possess the PC, if
the PC lost a battle of the minds with the dragon.
The Orb of
Dragon kind is a powerful tool that can be used to scout out a dragon’s lair
and defenses, weaken the dragon and give great advantage over the dragon, but
it can also turn the tables on the PCs if the dragon is stronger.
The Dragon
Lance does not require attunement as it is a single use weapon. The Dragon Saddle is a magical item that must
be attuned to sit in, however, and it enables the rider and dragon to use a
Dragon Lance. The Dragon allows the
Character to attune to a fourth slot.
When the dragon lance is sitting in the saddle it is considered set and
any damage that it does will add the strength of the dragon to the damage in
addition to the PC extra damage. While
set in a dragon saddle the lance will do an additional d12 of damage and when
set against a dragon a second additional damage. While set, the lance is a one-handed
weapon. The lance does 3d12 damage +
strength damage of the PC + strength damage of the dragon. When the PC desires, the PC can channel the
life force of the DRAGON and the PC into the lance as extra damage; this effect
only occurs if the PC fully commits to the action. The Dragon’s and PC’s hit points are totaled
and divided by 2 and added to the damage of the weapon (this means that the in
a critical this damage is doubled too) A PC that dies this way cannot be raised
or resurrected by anything less than a wish cast at higher than 9th
level (or resurrection cast higher than 9th level)
What was
lost Has been Found
-
1200
years ago, the Red Dragon tried to break the Alliance, but instead broke the
valley.
-
The
valley river vanished and the millions living in the cities there.
-
The
Southern most city of the Northern Dwarf Empire and the principal City of the
Stone elves in the area, and a Civilized clan of Stone Giants, the cream of the
neighboring Lake elves too, were all gone.
-
The
water going to Devil’s Forge was halved.
The overflow cut off to the valley below it.
The Mage’s
Tower
-
Necromancer
-
At
the foot of a mountain
-
In
a forest on the edge of the Death Forest
-
Source
of the death that created the Death Forest
Lake Elves
-
Led
by the king of the lake elves from the Lake of Three Rivers Kingdom
-
Is
here to bolster an ancient alliance with the Dwarves and Stone Elves
-
There
are 200 elves plus leaders and the King and Queen.
-
They
include a small number of water casters, trained by the Sea elves far away to
the Map North there are five here, one 10th and four 6thlevel.
-
The
loss of the valley meant the royalty and the mages were lost to the lake and
the lake began to decline. With the
reopening of the Valley, if the mages and the Roalty survives, the Lake will be
great again.
City of the
Dwarves
-
The
southern lost city of the Northern Dwarven Empire
-
Isolated
before the “cataclysm” by an attack by the Druegar
-
Druegar
joined by allies
-
A
group of demons leads the attack including a Balor demon
The Stone
Giants
-
There
is a clan of Stone giants that lives in this valley has lived here for
generations, they are the creators of the Balancing Rock and the Codex of the
Earth, but that was thousands of years ago.
-
The
stone giants have three 10th level geomancers and they have come to
the aid of the Mountain Elves in exchange for the Codex, as the Stone elves
recognize that prior rights
-
The
Geomancers wear cloth of woven stone AC15+dex
-
There
are thirty of them, 6 groups of five, led by the Mages, the King, Queen and
Regent with four guards each to make up the five.
The Seat of
the Stone Elves
-
The
city is beset by a force of Illithids attacking with a slave army of gith
-
The
Red dragon is attacking too—coordinated attacks
-
Cut
off connection with the Dwarf city with
-
The
loss of the Stone elf city here left the university as the only Stone elf
complex in the area. With the return of
the city, the power of the valley will return.
The Green
Dragon CR15
-
Jumps
between on forest and the other
-
Has
a fortress from long ago on the south side in the forest.
-
Has
roosting spaces in the other forests
-
Goals
are against the dwarves and the elves in the long term
-
Goals
are against the Red dragon and its
allies in the short term.
-
Dragon’s
5 allies include Treants, Shambling mounds, a tribe of Myconides, A Greenman, and
an evil Druid.
-
The
main goal of the group is to return the valley to nature.
Red Dragon
CR15
-
Dragon
has promised to help all the factions against the Elves and the Dwarves
-
Red
is actually trying to do as little as it can to aid them, and is trying to make
all the sides more balanced
-
Dragon’s
goals are to wipe all species out
-
Dragon
has 5 allies, a small tribe of Fire giants, a clan of Duergar, a nation of
Illithids, a Balor Demon, and the Necromancer.
-
The
allies are strangely loyal to each other and tier goals, the Dragon is the
common element.
-
The
major goal is to remove all life from the valley
Death
Dragon CR18-23
-
Wants
to recreate the forest it had, assuming it was not destroyed already.
-
Reduce
every enemy into an undead or skeletal version of the original.
Storm
Dragon CR18
-
Create
storms and freeze anyone that gets too high in the mountains.
-
Lives
at the pinnacle of the Cracked Mountain.
Neutral Evil. Can see through
storms
-
Allies
include Air Elementals, Ice Elementals, Roc, Cloud Giant, Ice birds
The Termite
Mound
-
Hundreds
of small caves the permeate a soft rock seam in one of the mountains. Includes many solitary monsters as well as
many dens for animals.
-
The
quest bore from the light of the sun through the Chasmfiend Heartstone, bores a
hole through a glacier to the entrance of lost cave entrance.
o
Lost
entrance includes an requirement of a Knight of (that city) in the end
o
Bypass
a Scarab guardian
o
A
door golem (literally a golem that is a door and the walls slam anyone who is
not a knight and physical damage deals damage and spell damage heals physical
damage.
o
A
bypass that requires the Hammer to activate
-
Purple
Worm tunnels between many of the caves
-
Some
of the caves have dungeons attached to the caves.
-
Monsters
here Rhemorazes, beholders, smaller dragons, Umber hulks, ropers, ogres,
owlbears, ettins, Sphinx, demons, devils, Hydra, Naga, Manticore, trolls, lamia,
Harpy, hags, Gorgon, Grell, basilisk, medusa, single form undead, banshee,
wright, wraith, lich, etc.
-
Some
dungeons, purple worm holes used to access deeper into the mountain. Mines that follow veins of ore.
GAME
PLAY
|
round |
Inner
barrier |
Middle
barrier |
Outer
barrier |
|
1 |
1 |
5 |
3 |
|
2 |
2 |
6 |
4 |
|
3 |
3 |
7 |
5 |
|
4 |
4 |
8 |
6 |
|
5 |
5 |
9 |
7 |
|
6 |
6 |
10 |
8 |
|
7 |
7 |
1 |
9 |
|
8 |
8 |
2 |
10 |
|
9 |
1 |
3 |
11 |
|
10 |
2 |
4 |
12 |
|
11 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
|
12 |
4 |
6 |
2 |
|
13 |
5 |
7 |
3 |
|
14 |
6 |
8 |
4 |
|
15 |
7 |
9 |
5 |
|
16 |
8 |
10 |
6 |
|
17 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
|
18 |
2 |
2 |
8 |
|
19 |
3 |
3 |
9 |
|
20 |
4 |
4 |
10 |
|
21 |
5 |
5 |
11 |
|
22 |
6 |
6 |
12 |
|
23 |
7 |
7 |
1 |
|
24 |
8 |
8 |
2 |
|
25 |
1 |
9 |
3 |
|
26 |
2 |
10 |
4 |
|
27 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
|
28 |
4 |
2 |
6 |
|
29 |
5 |
3 |
7 |
|
30 |
6 |
4 |
8 |
|
31 |
7 |
5 |
9 |
|
32 |
8 |
6 |
10 |
|
33 |
1 |
7 |
11 |
|
34 |
2 |
8 |
12 |
|
35 |
3 |
9 |
1 |
|
36 |
4 |
10 |
2 |
Players
want to get to the mountain scale the mountain cast the spell and spot the
destination and grab the treasure and leave.
Obstacles. First the Necromancer lich, ally of the red
dragon is going to prevent anyone from entering the vale. The necromantic barrier, purple lightning
arcing from the tower to the two peaks and a ‘C’ shaped barrier around the
tower. The barrier causes black
lightning to arc through the air and hit anything living on the ground or in
the air, and for that matter in the ground.
PCs will witness a flock of ducks turned to zombies and then down to
harry the party. The lightning causes
10d6 necrotic damage and the space is 100’ wide. The PCs likely have a means to get through
the barrier and live and let the taking down of this barrier be someone else’s
problem, maybe some heroes. The barrier
around the tower is incomplete on the PC’s side three layers that each have a
hole, but they move every round. Each barrier moves one space every round, but
the inside space only has two spaces, and the middle has three spaces, and the
outer has four spaces. It is possible to
plan it out or the PCs can make an Intelligence check no DC instead subtract
the dice roll from 20 and the players take that many d6 in damage as they run
in. Each space is 100’ wide and deep,
the waves are moving at 50’per round.
And then there are monsters.
Swarms of undead critters, undead bears, deer and such, then undead
amalgams—giants composed of zombies and skeletons, attacks with its “feet” and
throws swarms of critter undead as ranged attacks. Also, the door is locked. When they get to the edge of the tower they
will have to unlock, break down the door, climb up to an open window above,
something, anything, all the while being attacked. When they get in, they get a breather, on
round. The entrance hall is two stories tall and there is a large oak door
reinforced with steel and covered with glyphs that are meant hold the door in
place. And some that go boom. The door is arcane locked, bolted, barred and
locked from the other side. The walls
are filled with arrow slits, the room is 30’x30’ so there are 6 per side per
level, 34 crossbows raining down on the party, and above there are murder
holes, 9 of them rocks and boiling oil and acid are dropped through the holes,
lastly fire is dropped to ignite the fire.
There are 50 duergar directing these attacks. Six plus the four at arrow slits are behind
the doors ready to change into their giant form and attack. Whichever side the PCs break through to get
out of this killing field, they had better do it quickly.
The Duergar
will regroup in three locations. The
survivors of the bottom level converge in the main hall where the doors lead,
six per side, they will arrive after the last PC enters the hallway, then
arrive to the battle on the second round.
The 18 archers from the second level move at the same time, and reach
the battle 10 turns later, giving the party a chance to heal a bit. the last wave of 10 duergar include the
leader and they will arrive 2 rounds after the second wave gets to the fight. Each of the Duergar has been loaded up with
money from the alliance. Each duergar
has a bag of gems totaling 150gp and 50gp and 10pp. the leader had that and a gem of 1000gp. Total treasure is 8,500gp in gems, 2500gp,
and 500pp. (16kgp). The PCs will be allowed to have a short or a
long rest as there is a place to do this.
If they do a long rest the lich will have raised all the Duergar as
zombies and let the amalgam into the main hall to fight the party, otherwise
they can head up to fight the Lich. The
halls and the passages in the tower have the effects of Guards and Wards. Passageways up the tower will be free of many
creatures. There will be a few undead
creations that the lich had created years ago, but nothing else. The lich will engage the characters from a
distance and drop spells on them from above, fireballs and the like, then
retreat beyond when its spells are depleted.
It will cast globe of invulnerability and wait out the characters then
it will do battle to the death to protect the ritual cast on the roof.
The Lich is
casting a Ritual on the top of the tower.
Any character with Arcana will recognize the rise and the fall of ending
stanzas of every ritual the rising crescendo to the final word. Requires a DC30 to recognize that this is a level
12 ritual, DC20 that it is a ritual above Level 9. Start a count of 10 on a die and every full
round of climbing stairs opening doors fighting monsters remove one from the
number. Every move plus action removes one
from the count down. If they move and
open the door to the next level and move up the tower; they will reach the top
of the tower with 2 left. Every time
they are delayed fighting or searching for treasure, they move closer to
0. The First treasure they find is on
the second level, there is a room filled with a ball of inky darkness, arcana
check DC15, a Sphere of Annihilation.
The room has two doors and there is a skeletal amalgam with 5 attacks
and 50 hp. If they try to hold the Sphere they must make a DC15 arcana check and
move at half rate. The next level they
find a Bone Golem with six arms wielding 6 swords, AC18 and two doors. The second door there is Staff of the Magi locked
in place in a contraption locked to the ceiling and the floor. It will take some time to get it out, three actions
to be precise. If the PCs arrive too
late to stop the ritual it becomes self-sustaining. And they will have to fight a Lich, granted
with no 8th and 9th level spells. If one of the characters brings the staff, it
thanks them and if flies to its hands. If
they reach the top with time left they can attempt to disrupt the spell. The globe of invulnerability is around the
lich, but attacks may distract it. Every
round of attacks will have a cumulative chance to distract it. Any damage to the lich will make the lich
roll a d20 where he will always fail on a 1, but at the end of two rounds of
attacks he will lose concentration anyways.
From the
top of the Tower the PCs will see the stability of the Spell that made the wall
of necromantic energy has stabilized and there are no breaks in it
anymore. The Ritual that the lich is
casting will make the wall permanent, and nothing not even a simple wish
will break it.
If the
globe fails, or he is near death he will attempt to bargain or flee to the
roof. On the roof he will point to the Dragon that is above and reason with
them that the only thing preventing the dragon from attacking is the barrier, if
they kill him, the dragon will kill them as well. The lich believes this, but the dragon will
not risk itself for a dead ally. It will
breathe on the structure causing the collapse of the building, initiating a
skill challenge to escape the building, the wards will still be in effect. They need to get 4 successful challenges in 5
attempts or they will be near the blast zone of a hidden staff of the magi when
it explodes and they need to succeed on eight of ten challenges when the tower
is sucked into a singularity and a Sphere of Annihilation sinks into the ground
or rests floating in the air above where the roof used to be.
If they
attempted to free the sphere of Annihilation, the sphere will be moving up the
tower towards the players. If the
players discovered the staff on the way up they see now the staff is bending as
the tower falls and is about to break. Any
attempt to free the staff will have to involve relieving the stress on the
staff. Otherwise it will break in their presence. If the sphere is used to eat the staff it
will succeed and the tower will not explode, it will still fall, but it will
not explode too.
The red
Dragon will breathe on any players that survived the attack on the lich, but it
won’t stay. If the PCs attempt to fight
the Green Dragon makes an attack on the Red, and the red flees. The green offers to set them down beyond the
tower as it begins to collapse. If they accept the tower explodes, then
implodes and the PCs hear the proposal of the Green Dragon.
The
Green Dragon’s Proposal. The green dragon will offer them
aid in one of two ways in exchange for half the treasure of the Red dragon’s
hoard. The Green dragon will aid them in
the fight against the red dragon when they decide to attack its lair, or the
Green dragon will offer aid against three challenges of the valley. The Green Dragon will say that the Red dragon
had five allies, four now, as the Necromancer is now dead. The Dragon will answer any question about the
valley unless it is about the red Dragon and its allies, or its allies and
itself. All its knowledge is 1500 years
out of date outside the valley. It will also
say there is a storm dragon lairing at the top of the Needle, the tall mountain
with the split. The players might try to
ask questions about its motivation. They
will need to succeed in an opposed Insight vs Deception check. The Dragon does not hate the Stone Giants nor
the elves, but it detests their cities.
The Dragon detests the Dwarves though.
Any question about the things it hates are more difficult to hide. The Dragon’s Deception rolls are at +10
except for the things it hates, then they are at +10, but disadvantaged. The green Dragon wants to return the Valley
to a state of natural perfection. Wherever
the dragon touches the ground, a plant growth effect occurs.
THREE
CITIES
The
mountains in this pass are the tallest that you have ever seen, the tops must
never get warm enough for the snow to melt them. There are five mountains on each side and one
at the end of the valley, the smallest here is the bigger than average of all
the mountains you saw before a year ago, but the rest dwarf the biggest. There is one here that is clearly taller than
the rest, and by the deep cleave in its summit, this is your goal. The second most striking is the fourth
mountain in on the right side—its glacier is marred with black soot and recent
lava flows. The top smoke is black, full
of ash, from its most recent eruption; lightning crackles in the cloud. The mountain beside it, one closer, you
recognize another type of lava flow, the flow of foundry tailings that marks a
productive dwarven city beneath. The
second mountain in from you on this side also looks like it has been
worked. There are houses and a wall
carved out of the stone. It is the third
tallest mountain in this valley, but the structures make it seem like it is the
smallest, then you realize the scale of the town, the buildings three times the
height, depth and width of standard buildings, and the figures wearing bright
clothing must be giants. The left side
of the valley appears to be undeveloped.
The alpine reaches are dotted with villages and there is a few trails of
smoke coming through the trees in the valley, but nothing substantial. At night, your reasoning is put on its head,
the left side is filled with light, the third mountain up, the smallest
mountain of the valley is covered with lights, so much so that the mountains to
each side glow like they reflect the light of Hestium the third moon. This must be a city of Elves. It is a spectacular sight, marred only by the
pyrotechnic display from the large volcano across the way.
The
Bridges.
The bridges
are made from solid stone, as if carved from the rock that was found here
already, except that could not be the case.
The bridges look to be the work of an army of craftsmen over a lifetime. Each bridge shows two huge giants, back to
back, legs splayed wide apart, naked except for a loincloth, lifting the
surface up over the water. Giant elves
stand on the bent legs to help raise the surface up. Giant gnomes and halflings stand upon the
arms of the giants to lift it higher.
Beside the elves stand dwarves, and elves and dwarves stand past the
giant’s legs to hold the bridge aloft.
Beneath the feet of the giant, you see the feet are supported by lake
elves. The railings are made of children
of all the races holding the railing up, some standing on the shoulders of
others, one is a halfling holding on the railing standing half flailing on a
tree, while its support halfling gazes at a butterfly. Each of the faces of all the figures seems
unique and as flawed as a mortal’s face that you feel you might run into the
models sometime later in your stay here.
Battle
in the Dwarven City
-
The
battle will occur on the lower levels below that Transport levels, in the
mushroom levels
-
The
Diviners predicted that in the Year that Spring follows Summer, the City shall
be attacked by a foe beyond reckoning, Great Heroes will come from the distant
Future to save the city.
-
The
Earthquakes caused by the opening and closing of the Valley cause the lower
levels of the city to collapse—the mushroom farm levels.
-
Creates
a massive hall that is 120 feet tall and 400’ x 400’—every 100’ is a massive
support column, if three are destroyed dex save DC17 or take 10d6 damage or
half from a falling ceiling
-
The
floor of the cavern is uneven ground so ½ movement except for rangers et al.
-
There
is word there is an army about to poor through the into the field—small
passages are held against to horde by elite Dwarven Guard troops.
-
As
the PCs enter the field of battle, the wide wall explodes out and a wave of 40
Duergar already enlarged charge through, behind them are 160 more charge behind
them. There are 3 waves of 200 Duergar
in total for the first attack.
-
The
Dwarves have 1000 Heavy infantry and 1000 heavy archers (crossbows) and 20
Stone Giant artillerists. Plus, the PCs
-
The
Dwarves have 1000 Medium Infantry and 1000 light archers in reserve and 100
Engineers and 200 sappers.
-
The
enemy has another 400 duergar and a Balor demon waiting. He is served by 10 Vrock demons who charge
out in the middle of the first attack.
The red Dragon will appear on the field after the Balor is committed and
attack the troops with Dragon Fire.
The Trials
of the Stone Giant City
The Might of
the Stone giants has spread through the mountains. The might has spread tales of the wonders of
the community. Ancient and powerful
order of Mages and Druids, the two classes have joined in synergy. The renown has attracted the attention of
Fire Giants. These Giants want to
enslave the stone giants and make them work the mines, the steel mills and the
smiths. They want to take their lands
and their flocks.
The Red
dragon saw their greed and supported them.
The Red dragon does not think the Fire Giants will win, the Red dragon
does not believe any of his allies will win, but it believes that the outcome
will result in all the kingdoms weakening and being conquered. If one of them or even all of them win, it
will be pleased.
The Fire
Giants will lead the assault on the home of the Stone Giants after the call for
aid heads out. They snuck through the backways
that the red dragon found, right next to the edge of the realm. The PCs happen upon a Fire Giant blind with a
squad of Fire Giants. 4 regular Giants
with a leader with 3 levels of fighter. They
are able to look through some of the notes that suggest that ten groups of fire
Giants will attack at once when the dragon flies by. A few minutes later the dragon flies by. They will know that there are Eleven more
groups of Fire Giants attacking and they are going to be supported by the Dragon. If they go warn the Stone Giant King, the
attack will be over and the Fire Giants might hold the city, but if they were warn
the village they might turn the battle in favor of the Stone Giants.
There are
60 Fire Giants attacking, 12 groups of 5.
The PCs already took out one group.
There are fifty regular Stone Giants in the village and many non-combatants. If the PCs are able to remove another group
of 5 if they attack the attackers. And
then they will get to fight in the town.
When they
get to the town the dragon will be there and it will cast spells and breathe
Fire on the city and then fly off. It
will stay away from the PCs for now. If
the PCs engage they will join desperate battles five Fire Giants attacking a
lone Giant with 6 juveniles, or three with five elderly. If the win two of these battles they will be
attacked by the Fire giant king and his guard, the 4 guards are slightly
wounded, but they attack with 5 levels of Fighter, and the king with 11 levels
of fighter. If it is close the Green
dragon will put in an appearance.
The Stone
Elves
They are
attacked by a group of mind flayers with Gith soldiers. The city has been infiltrated with intellect
devourers and the leaders are making bad choices because they are controlled by
the Intellect devourers.
The leaders
of the city called for help about a week ago, asking for assistance from other
races in the valley saying that they had uncovered a coordinated plot against
the valley residents by the allies of the red dragon. They did not have any other information other
than it would involve the dragon, and his allies that included a band of Fire
Giants, a clan of Duergar with some sort of Demonic assistance. The call went out to their allies giving them
some warning, but only a few hours later, the king of the Elves retracted his
statement and sent formal apologies to the other rulers, saying that threat was
more fragile than he thought, and the alliance fell apart in a fight for
control of the group. The danger had
been averted.
What really
had happened was intellect devourers had infiltrated the city, taking control
of key players and the announcement by the king took them at unawares and they
had to quickly move to take the king placing five Intellect Devourers in his
room to take control of him. Then he issued
the second decree. The Evil Alliance had
to move earlier than they were ready, to capitalize on the confusion if not
surprise. The Dragon knocked the
Balancing rock off its stand, which caused massive Earthquakes as the realm disappeared
and was restored 1200 years later by the PCs, which for the residents of the
valley appeared to all happen at once. The
call from the Elf King mobilized their allies the Lake Elves and a large group
including the king left the Lake and was trapped for 1200 years. The strong Geomancers of the Stone Giants,
having stabilized the Stone Giant city went out to help the other cities,
especially the Dwarves. Then the
Necromancer threw up the Necro Wall to block off more movement between the valleys. Which was the sign that everyone should begin
their attacks.
After
breaching the Necro Wall the PCs accidentally walk upon a squad of Fire giants in
a makeshift blind watching a huge stone road, between the Stone Giant town and
the rest of the valley. Therein they
discover plans that include a battle plan for attacking the Stone Giant
city. 12 squads attacking at a
prearranged signal, a red dragon flyby, 60 Fire giants vs a city of 100 Stone
Giants, filled with non-combatants and a few dozen others. If there is a
Martial type in the party, they will see that the plan is very fragile, 60 fire
giants vs 100 mixed children, teens and infirm with some mature giants would be
a rout, but if there were less than 50 Fire Giants, the tables would turn. The PCs have already defeated five. Just then the Red Dragon flies by, the
prearranged signal. The PCs can find
another squad before they close with the Town and can engage in a 3rd
inside the town. Inside the town they
will be attacked by two Vrocks and allow them to fight the Fire Giant King as
he and his guards attack a group of non-combatants. Give them a chance to be heroes.
The next
choice is for them to investigate the Stone elf city or the Empire Dwarf City. There is a bridge between both cities and
there are two armies on either side and two people conferring on the bridge,
one is an elf woman wearing a crown. The
other is a Stone Giant who wears a grey circlet on his head.
The Giant
thanks the group for the timely intervention at his city and tells them when this
crisis is over he will find them a suitable reward. Right now, he is off to the Dwarven city. He has heard that the lower halls have
collapsed down to the bottom level in a Large Earthquake. They will need help digging for survivors and
shoring up the walls, will you come and help?
The elf
woman before you tells a story about how her husband the King, had scouts
return saying that the Red dragon on yonder peak had reached an alliance with
nefarious forces, a King of Fire Giants, a powerful Demon and the Mage at the
entrance to the valley. There was a
sense that there was another group in that alliance, but the spy could not
determine who they were before he was discovered. I was with the King when he heard the news
and he consulted with his diviners and had determined the veracity of the claim. He then raised the alarm and sent for his
allies, the Lake Elves and the Elves of the University and he sent warnings to
the Dwarves and to the Stone Giants and then he, himself, began to mobilize for
war. The next morning, he sent out a new
message that he had been wrong, and that the unholy alliance had fallen
apart. He said the demon and the dragon
fell upon each other and killed the Fire Giant King, there is no need to worry
and he has recalled the warning and apologized to the leaders of the Elves and
Dwarves. He no longer seems to be the man
knew, he remembers everything, but he is colder to me and the rest of the court,
they man who was full of laughter has been replaced by a grumpy person. Can you please Help me?
If the PCs
offer to help the Dwarves the Giants will lead them to the city. If the PCs go with the Elf, the Giants tell
them good luck and to meet them in the Dwarf city when they are done, and they
head off to the dwarf city. The Queen
introduces them to the King of the Lake Elves and he says he will be heading
there with them.
When the PCs
and the Lake elf king enter into the city they are greeted by the stone elf
king and his elite guard of Pikemen. The
Lake elves number 100 with 10 mages and 90 warriors, but the Stone elf Honor
guard numbers 200 and is backed by 20 geomancers and 30 other mages. The King addresses the group, welcoming the
King of the Lake elves by name, and wishes to renew his friendship with
him. He also greets the Heroes of the
valley who defeated the foul art of the Wizard at the mouth of the Valley and defeated
the King of the fire Giants, saving the great ally of the elves. For this reason, I decree a feast in the name
of these honored guests, and with that the Honor guard stamp their pikes in
unison twice and cheer. The King then
gives each of the PCs a medal that he says is only given out when someone does
a great service for the Elves. He also
gives them a coffer to hold the medal with 1000pp under the felt lining. The Medal requires attunement and works like
a Ring of protection. Until the feast
the party is allowed to roam the city.
There is a large bustling marketplace filled with fine weapons and
magical gear drawn from the contacts of the grand Dwarven Empire and from the Far
Northern Sea, the great river nation of Gutral Mastekeena and from the ocean
side countries on the lands on the other side of the mountains. There are humans here that speak Dwarf Common
and an odd singsong language. They sell
strange foods and spices and strange jewelry.
There is a cold weather supplier who speaks dwarf common and will say he
is from the secret land of his people far to the north where the mountains
end. If the PCs wear the medal, they
will receive free food and other free gifts.
At the
feast the PCs are put at ease and offered an assortment of foods and a lot of drinks,
many of which are very intoxicating especially for elves and dwarves. If the PCs are looking to speak to the king, they
say that he is carefully rethinking his response to the attack on the Stone
Giant city by the Fire Giants and he will speak to you in the morning, at
sunrise, but not before then, have a good night.
In the
night each PC as well as the King of the Lake elves will be attacked by an
Intellect Devourer. The Medals are
particularly conductive of psychic attacks and the Save which normally would be
Intelligence 12, are now 14. Anyone who
fails the save has their Intelligence reduced to 0 and the intellect Devourer
will attempt to devour their brain and take control. Wizards, Rogues, Artificers, and Druids
should succeed. They have a Int save of (+5
+intelligence modifier) which means they should easily save. Who ever makes their save will get a chance
to kill their Intellect devourer. An
arcana check will be enough to know enough to know how to remove an intellect
devourer from someone, protection from evil spell. There is a doctor station near by that can
administer this spell along with Revivify if needed.
The
adventure begins.
The invasion
of illithids with Gith, Merlochs and other ilithid creatures. 20 mind flayers attacking the city from below:
troglodytes with an Ogre leader, 10 ogres with Mind flayer leader, 10 gith with
one mind flayer (5 of each type of gith, four common with one leader)
5 Nyraala
golems with a Brain Golem
5 mind
flayers and 1 Alhoon
Large
cavern deep under the earth, 260’ in diameter. There is a large brain in the center 20’
across. There is a demarcation 30’ from
the brain and 60’ from the brain. Cranium
rats and intellect devourers populate next to the brain.
Neothelid
Gargantuan aberration, chaotic evil
Armor
Class 17 (natural armor)
Hit Points 313 (19d20 + 114)
Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft.
|
STR |
DEX |
CON |
INT |
WIS |
CHA |
|
29 (+9) |
7 (-2) |
23 (+6) |
9 (-1) |
17 (+3) |
10 (+0) |
Saving
Throws Intelligence +4, Wisdom +8, Charisma +5
Senses blindsight 120 ft.,
passive Perception 13
Languages –
Challenge 15 (13,000 XP)
Special
Traits
Mindsense.
The neothelid is aware of the presence of creatures within 1 mile of it that
have an Intelligence of 3 or higher.
It knows the distance and direction of each creature, as well as the creature’s
approximate Intelligence (within 3
points), regardless of physical barriers. Creatures under the effects of magic
that protects the mind or protects from divination cannot be
detected by the neothelid.
Innate
Spellcasting. The neothelid’s innate spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC
16, +8 to hit with spell attacks). It can innately cast the following spells
requiring no components:
At
will: clairvoyance, detect thoughts, levitate, suggestion
1/day
each: charm monster, confusion, feeblemind, telekinesis
Magic
Resistance. The neothelid has advantage on saving throws against spells and
other magical effects.
Actions
Multiattack.
The neothelid makes two tentacular tongue attacks.
Tentacular
Tongue. Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 30 ft., one
target. Hit: 23 (4d6 + 9) bludgeoning damage plus 18 (4d8) psychic
damage. If the target is a Large or smaller creature, it must succeed on a DC
18 Strength saving throw or
be swallowed by the neothelid. A swallowed creature is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks
and other effects outside the neothelid, and it takes 42 (12d6) acid damage at
the start of each of the neothelid’s turns. If the neothelid takes 40 damage or
more on a single turn from a creature inside it, the neothelid must succeed on
a DC 18 Constitution saving throw at
the end of that turn or regurgitate all swallowed creatures, which fall prone in a space within
10 feet of the neothelid. If the neothelid dies, a swallowed creature is no
longer restrained by it and can
escape from the corpse by using 20 feet of movement, exiting prone.
Acid
Breath (Recharge 5-6). The neothelid exhales acid in a 60-foot cone. Each
creature in that area must make a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw,
taking 42 (12d6) acid damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a
successful one.
Consume
Mind. The neothelid chooses one creature it can see within 30 feet of it that
has an Intelligence of 3 or higher.
The target must succeed on a DC 13 Intelligence saving throw or
take 16 (3d10) psychic damage. If the target fails the saving throw by 5 or
more, its Intelligence score is reduced
to 0. The target is incapacitated until it regains at least 1 point of Intelligence (either from
completing a long rest or from a lesser restoration spell).
Elder Brain Lair actions on Initiative 20, Legendary
actions after first three characters moves.
Large aberration Lawful Evil AC 10 Hp 210 (20d10 + 100) Speed:
5ft., swim 10ft.
Str 15 Dex 10 Con 20 Wis 19 Int
21 Cha 24
Saving Throws: Int: +10,
Wis: +9, Cha: +12
Skills: Arcana +10,
Deception +12, Insight +14, Intimidation +12, Persuasion +12
Senses: blindsight 120
ft., passive perception 14
Languages: understands
Common, Deep Speech, and Undercommon but cant speak, telepathy 5 miles
Challenge: 14
Traits
Creature Sense. The elder brain is aware of the presence of creatures
within 5 miles of it that have an Intelligence score of 4 or higher. It knows
the distance and direction to each creature, as well as each one's intelligence
score, but can't sense anything else about it. A creature protected by a mind
blank spell. a nondetection spell, or similar magic can't be perceived in this
manner.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the elder brain fails a saving throw, it can choose to
succeed instead.
Magic Resistance. The elder brain has advantage on saving throws against
spells and other magical effects.
Telepathic Hub. The elder brain can use its telepathy to initiate and
maintain telepathic conversations with up to ten creatures at a time. The elder
brain can let those creatures telepathically hear each other while connected in
this way.
Actions
Tentacle. Melee
Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 30 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (4d8 + 2)
bludgeoning damage. If the target is a Huge or smaller creature, it is grappled
(escape DC: 15) and takes 9 (1d8 + 5) psychic damage at the start of each of
its turns until the grapple ends. The elder brain can have up to four targets
grappled at a time.
Mind Blast - Recharge 5. The elder brain magically emits psychic energy. Creatures
of the elder brain's choice within 60 feet of it must succeed on a DC: 18
Intelligence saving throw or take 32 (5d10 + 5) psychic damage and be stunned
for 1 minute. A target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its
turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Psychic Link. The elder brain targets one incapacitated creature it can
perceive with its Creature Sense trait and establishes a psychic link with that
creature. Until the psychic link ends, the elder brain can perceive everything
the target senses. The target becomes aware that something is linked to its
mind once it is no longer incapacitated, and the elder brain can terminate the
link at any time (no action required). The target can use an action on its turn
to attempt to break the psychic link, doing so with a successful DC: 18
Charisma saving throw. On a successful save, the target takes 10 (3d6) psychic
damage. The psychic link also ends if the target and the elder brain are more
than 5 miles apart, with no consequences to the target. The elder brain can
form psychic links with up to ten creatures at a time.
Sense Thoughts. The elder brain targets a creature with which it has a
psychic link. The elder brain gains insight into the target's reasoning, its
emotional state, and thoughts that loom large in its mind (including things the
target worries about, loves, or hates). The elder brain can also make a
Charisma (Deception) check with advantage to deceive the target's mind into
thinking it believes one idea or feels a particular emotion. The target
contests this attempt with a Wisdom (Insight) check. If the elder brain
succeeds, the mind believes the deception for 1 hour or until evidence of the
lie is presented to the target.
Legendary Actions
Tentacle. :
Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 30 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (4d8 + 2)
bludgeoning damage. If the target is a Huge or smaller creature, it is grappled
(escape DC: 15) and takes 9 (1d8 + 5) psychic damage at the start of each of
its turns until the grapple ends. The elder brain can have up to four targets
grappled at a time.
Mind Blast - Recharge 5. : The elder brain magically emits psychic energy.
Creatures of the elder brain's choice within 60 feet of it must succeed on a
DC: 18 Intelligence saving throw or take 32 (5d10 + 5) psychic damage and be
stunned for 1 minute. A target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each
of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Psychic Link. : The elder brain targets one incapacitated creature it
can perceive with its Creature Sense trait and establishes a psychic link with
that creature. Until the psychic link ends, the elder brain can perceive
everything the target senses. The target becomes aware that something is linked
to its mind once it is no longer incapacitated, and the elder brain can
terminate the link at any time (no action required). The target can use an
action on its turn to attempt to break the psychic link, doing so with a
successful DC: 18 Charisma saving throw. On a successful save, the target takes
10 (3d6) psychic damage. The psychic link also ends if the target and the elder
brain are more than 5 miles apart, with no consequences to the target. The
elder brain can form psychic links with up to ten creatures at a time.
Sense Thoughts. : The elder brain targets a creature with which it has a
psychic link. The elder brain gains insight into the target's reasoning, its
emotional state, and thoughts that loom large in its mind (including things the
target worries about, loves, or hates). The elder brain can also make a
Charisma (Deception) check with advantage to deceive the target's mind into
thinking it believes one idea or feels a particular emotion. The target
contests this attempt with a Wisdom (Insight) check. If the elder brain
succeeds, the mind believes the deception for 1 hour or until evidence of the
lie is presented to the target.
Create ally, creates a swarm of
cranium rats or Intellect devourer.
Lair Actions
When fighting inside its lair,
an elder brain can use lair actions. On initiative count 20 (losing initiative
ties), an elder brain can take one lair action to cause one of the following
effects; the elder brain can't use the same lair action two rounds in a row:
The elder brain casts wall of
force.
The elder brain targets one
friendly creature it can sense within 120 feet of it. The target has a flash of
inspiration and gains advantage on one attack roll, ability check, or saving
throw it makes before the end of its next turn. If the target doesn't or can't
use this benefit in that time, the inspiration is lost.
The elder brain targets one
creature it can sense within 120 feet of it and anchors it by sheer force of
will. The target must succeed on a DC 18 Charisma saving throw or be unable to
leave its current space. It can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of
its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Regional Effects
The territory within 5 miles of
an elder brain is altered by the creature's psionic presence, which creates one
or more of the following effects:
Creatures within 5 miles of an
elder brain feel as if they are being followed, even when they are not.
The elder brain can overhear any
telepathic conversation happening within 5 miles of it. The creature that
initiated the telepathic conversation makes a DC 18 Wisdom (Insight) check when
telepathic contact is first established. If the check succeeds, the creature is
aware that something is eavesdropping on the conversation. The nature of the
eavesdropper isn't revealed, and the elder brain can't participate in the
telepathic conversation unless it has formed a psychic link with the creature
that initiated it.
Any creature with which the
elder brain has formed a psychic link hears faint, incomprehensible whispers in
the deepest recesses of its mind. This psychic detritus consists of the elder
brain's stray thoughts commingled with those of other creatures to which it is
linked.
If the elder brain dies, these
effects immediately end.
The Lich’s
Tower
The Litch
is the first ally of the red dragon in the valley that the players will
encounter. The job that the lich was to
do was seal the valley off from the rest of the world. The dragon attack against the balancing
stone, days previously had set up a
wobble in the stone that caused it to launch off its pedestal sealing the
valley in space and time until the stone was reset. But the Dragon did not know that. The time sealed away in stasis nearly
destroyed the valley outside effectively sealing it off from the outside world,
but not knowing this the necromancer began casting a great wall of necromancy
that would seal the valley of better than any wall. When the wall went up the attacks were to
commence. The breaking of the valley
with the balancing stone nearly disrupted the casting of the wall of
necromancy. Such that when it was cast there
were holes in the wall. Any can make an
Arcana check to calculate when the holes will align to allow travel through the
gaps when they align. The answer will be
at the main wall a year and at the tower within the hour. Digging under the wall will result in finding
the wall extends as far under as above the wall. The wall goes all the way up past the peak of
the tall mountains.
The holes in
the wall are narrow, 60’ deep and 100’ wide, the cracks move 30’ per action,
with an arcana check the players will determine that they can travel to next
ring of the wall that the wall has wider crack but the wall moves faster 100’
deep and 200’ wide, but move 100’per action, the third ring is much more smaller
and faster too. The wall is 60’ deep and
60’ wide and moves 60’ per action. The
effect is that the players have three actions to get to the end of the first
ring, two actions to the second and only one action for the third. The zombie monsters in the wall will be
attacking the all the while. Zombie
critters and zombie monsters.
When the
players get to the inside next to the pocket next to the tower they will see a
large group of critters and monsters milling around in the courtyard, they are
at some natural truce, there are lions and elk, bears, cave bears, grizzlies,
deer and many other creatures, there are free kobolds, orcs, bugbears, owlbears
and other monstrous creatures milling her looking at the walls of
necromancy. The tower is part of a great
fortress. The far outside walls of the fortress
kiss the edges of the necromantic wall. The
fortress seems to rise three stories above the ground and is covered with
crenelations and gargoyles at points.
Before you is The Great House with a large double door before you. The arrow slits on the third floor does not
appear to be manned, the lack of arrows seems to suggest, there are no other
windows except in the tower. The tower
rises ten or more floors, at the top there is a swirl of magic and dark words
cast into the air. Acana check reveals
that this is a ritual that may be 2 hours from being complete, or it might be a
few minutes. Since you first emerged from
the wall you notice that the wall has creeped across the outer walls a foot on
each side, the animals are crowding back, 20.
19.
The halls
and the passages in the tower have the effects of Guards and Wards. Passageways up the tower will be free of many
creatures. There will be a few undead
creations that the lich created years ago, but nothing else. The lich will engage the characters with its
Simulacrum from a distance and drop spells on them from above, fireballs and
the like, then retreat beyond when its spells are depleted. It will cast globe of invulnerability and
wait out the characters then it will do battle to the death to protect the
ritual cast on the roof.
The
Simulacrum of the lich will cast spells at the PCs as it moves through the
tower uninhibited. It was cast with a
full roster of spells, but it has cast its ninth, eight and seventh level
spells to aid the true lich. But for
that reason, it has 5 1st, 4 2nd, 4 3rd, 3 4th,
3 5th, and 2 6th level spells and unlimited cantrips. It
will drop fireballs and Magic Missiles as if they are going out of style. Whoever opens the door on a level, they
should expect a fireball, at the top of a web filled passage, Magic Missile. The Simulacrum and the lich is immune to fire
damage.
The Lich is
casting a Ritual on the top of the tower.
Any character with Arcana will recognize the rise and the fall of ending
stanzas of every ritual the rising crescendo to the final word. Requires a DC30 to recognize that this is a
level 12 ritual, DC20 that it is a ritual above Level 9. Start a count of 20 on a die and every
full round of climbing stairs opening doors fighting monsters remove one from
the number. Every move plus action
removes one from the count down. If they
move and open the door to the next level and move up the tower; they will reach
the top of the tower if they cooperate, they can move almost as fast as the simulacrum
who will reach the top in 13 rounds.
Every time they are delayed fighting or searching for treasure, they
move closer to 0. Let them see or
question a Duergar for information. They will learn there are 4 levels in the
tower and a surprise on each one.
For the
Simulacrum it takes an action to climb the stairs and open the door, it takes
and action to close a door and cross the floor, open the door and close it. It
can cast a spell at any time in these steps.
The first
floor is filled with skeletons, if the Simulacrum cast fireball there will be
less skeletons but there still will be 10.
If they fight them keep track of the rounds used.
The First
treasure they find is on the second level, there is a small room filled with a
ball of inky darkness, arcana check DC15, a Sphere of Annihilation. The room has two doors and there is a
skeletal amalgam with 5 attacks and 50 hp. If they try to hold the Sphere they
must make a DC15 arcana check and move at half rate.
The third
level is they find a Bone Golem with six arms wielding 6 swords, AC18 and it is
resistant to piercing and immune to magical attacks except Magic Missile.
If the PCs
arrive too late to stop the ritual it becomes self-sustaining. And they will have to fight a Lich, granted
with no 8th and 9th level spells. If one of the characters brings the staff, it
thanks them and if flies to its hands.
If they reach the top with time left they can attempt to disrupt the
spell. The globe of invulnerability is
around the lich, but attacks may distract it.
Every round of attacks will have a cumulative chance to distract it. Any damage to the lich will make the lich
roll a d20 where he will always fail on a 1, but at the end of two rounds of
attacks he will lose concentration anyways.
From the
top of the Tower the PCs will see the stability of the Spell that made the wall
of necromantic energy has stabilized and there are no breaks in it
anymore. The Ritual that the lich is
casting will make the wall permanent, and nothing not even a simple wish
will break it.
If the
globe fails, or he is near death he will attempt to bargain or flee to the
roof. On the roof he will point to the Dragon that is above and reason with
them that the only thing preventing the dragon from attacking is the barrier,
if they kill him, the dragon will kill them as well. The lich believes this, but the dragon will
not risk itself for a dead ally. It will
breathe on the structure causing the collapse of the building, initiating a
skill challenge to escape the building, the wards will still be in effect. They need to get 4 successful challenges in 5
attempts or they will be near the blast zone of a hidden staff of the magi when
it explodes and they need to succeed on eight of ten challenges when the tower
is sucked into a singularity and a Sphere of Annihilation sinks into the ground
or rests floating in the air above where the roof used to be.
If they
attempted to free the sphere of Annihilation, the sphere will be moving up the
tower towards the players. If the
players discovered the staff on the way up they see now the staff is bending as
the tower falls and is about to break.
Any attempt to free the staff will have to involve relieving the stress
on the staff. Otherwise it will break in their presence. If the sphere is used to eat the staff it
will succeed and the tower will not explode, it will still fall, but it will
not explode too.
The red
Dragon will breathe on any players that survived the attack on the lich, but it
won’t stay. If the PCs attempt to fight
the Green Dragon makes an attack on the Red, and the red flees. The green offers to set them down beyond the
tower as it begins to collapse. If they accept the tower explodes, then
implodes and the PCs hear the proposal of the Green Dragon.
The
Green Dragon’s Proposal. The green dragon will offer them
aid in one of two ways in exchange for half the treasure of the Red dragon’s
hoard. The Green dragon will aid them in
the fight against the red dragon when they decide to attack its lair, or the
Green dragon will offer aid against three challenges of the valley. The Green Dragon will say that the Red dragon
had five allies, four now, as the Necromancer is now dead. The Dragon will answer any question about the
valley unless it is about the red Dragon and its allies, or its allies and
itself. All its knowledge is 1500 years
out of date outside the valley. It will
also say there is a storm dragon lairing at the top of the Needle, the tall
mountain with the split. The players
might try to ask questions about its motivation. They will need to succeed in an opposed
Insight vs Deception check. The Dragon
does not hate the Stone Giants nor the elves, but it detests their cities. The Dragon detests the Dwarves though. Any question about the things it hates are
more difficult to hide. The Dragon’s
Deception rolls are at +10 except for the things it hates, then they are at
+10, but disadvantaged. The green Dragon
wants to return the Valley to a state of natural perfection. Wherever the dragon touches the ground, a
plant growth effect occurs.
The Trials
of the Stone Giant City
In the
Ancient days, the stone giants were a power in the region. They were able to learn from the Dragons and
tame the secrets of the Earth. They made
great wonders and built cities, those with long memories have forgotten these
times but the Earth remembers still. The
last great city of the Stone Giants in the area rests not too far from the
entrance of the valley. The city was
that last great city built and one forged wholly with magic. A city made from magic in a valley made with
magic, it was to be the new city to train geomancers. It was the home for the Codex of Earth for
millennia before there were stone elves.
It was to be a new beginning rather than the last city before the
end.
More
recently, The Might of the Stone giants has spread through the mountains. The might has spread tales of the wonders of
the community. Ancient and powerful
order of Mages and Druids, the two classes have joined in synergy. The renown has attracted the attention of
Fire Giants. These Giants want to
enslave the stone giants and make them work the mines, the steel mills and the
smiths. They want to take their lands
and their flocks.
The Red
dragon saw their greed and supported them.
The Red dragon does not think the Fire Giants will win, the Red dragon
does not believe any of his allies will win, but it believes that the outcome
will result in all the kingdoms weakening and being conquered by it. If one of them or even all of them win, it
will be pleased.
The Fire
Giants will lead the assault on the home of the Stone Giants after the call for
aid heads out. They snuck through the
backways that the red dragon found, right next to the edge of the realm. The PCs happen upon a Fire Giant blind with a
squad of Fire Giants. 4 regular Giants
with a leader with 3 levels of fighter.
They can look through some of the notes that suggest that ten groups of
fire Giants will attack at once when the dragon flies by. A few minutes later the dragon flies by. They will know that there are Eleven more
groups of Fire Giants attacking and they are going to be supported by the
Dragon. If they go warn the Stone Giant
King, the attack will be over and the Fire Giants might hold the city, but if
they were warn the village they might turn the battle in favor of the Stone
Giants.
There are
60 Fire Giants attacking, 12 groups of 5.
The PCs already took out one group.
There are fifty regular Stone Giants in the village and many
non-combatants. If the PCs are able to
remove another group of 5 if they attack the attackers. And then they will get to fight in the
town.
Fire Giant
attack groups:
1) 4-6 troopers hp 19—requires second
hit to cause 19 or more damage to kill it, one Lightbearer Fire Giant
2) 4-6 troopers hp 19—requires second
hit to cause 19 or more damage to kill it, one Fire Giant Red Fist
3) 4-6 troopers hp 19—requires second
hit to cause 19 or more damage to kill it, one regular 5E Fire Giant
4) Command group, 8 Troopers, one
Lightbearer, 2 Red Fist and Zenith Aastrika there will be 2 standard Fire
Giants too. If the Dragon makes an
appearance it will breathe on the group killing the standard Giants., but healing
the others.
The
City/Village appears to be a small-scale rocky mountain with wide stairs and
pathways moving between the many peaks and valleys. Along the pathways there are many openings
where families live. Three of the tall
peaks are joined to neighbouring mountains with slender aqueducts who empty on
to the slopes forming streamlets that divert and disappear into the
mountains. There is a thick encircling
wall around the town with a large open gate where the road begins. There are deep grottos exiting the walls at
points with rushing water streaming through that form into a stream that passes
through the valley.
The red
dragon will act more as a signal to the giants to attack, but it will breathe
fire on some areas where the fighting is the most intense. The Dragon will typically only come within
120 feet of the characters. They will
see the dragon immolate giants. When
they get to the town the dragon will be there and it will cast spells and
breathe Fire on the city and then fly off.
It will stay away from the PCs for now.
If the PCs engage, they will join desperate battles with five Fire
Giants attacking a lone Giant with 6 juveniles, or three with five
elderly. If they win two of these battles,
they will be attacked by the Fire giant king and his guard. The 4 guards are
slightly wounded, but they attack with 5 levels of Fighter, and the king with
11 levels of fighter. If it is close the
Green dragon will put in an appearance.
|
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
5th |
6th |
7th |
8th |
|
4 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
CR16 |
Prof +5 |
Stat +6 |
Bite 3d12 |
Clawx2 2d10 |
|
Tail 2d6 |
Wings 2d4 |
Breath 26d6 |
HD40 |
|||||||
|
H |
12 |
260 |
Hp500 |
AC19 |
Spell 19 |
Att mod 11 |
Sorcery 15 |
|
||||||||
Red dragon fire
spells Legendary action make save 1/day, legendary action immolates 30’ radius
from self 13d6 damage 1/day
Green
dragon plant like spells or druid like spells, legendary save 1/day, legendary
action plant growth walk for an hour
The Red
Dragon can appear to have infinite Breath weapons as it can cast the Fiery
spells with its breath, it can cast them at the same time as it uses its breath
weapon, or its breath will fill the pattern of the spell. For example, it will spit a fire ball or
after it breaths out a gout of fire, that wall of fire is left in the fire’s
wake. The Red dragon has some unique
spells:
8th
level spell, Fire Cyclone a 40’ fire storm that rains 10d6 fire damage on
everyone affected, but it moves 30’ per round at random, or with concentration
in a direction the caster wishes. The
spell will move at random until the caster takes control of the location in
exchange for a single attack. Otherwise,
no concentration.
6th
level spell Jumpgout, a 5’ radius twisting pillar of fire causes 8d6 damage to
any touching the fire, dex save for half.
The gout of fire reaches up 30 into the air. The gout disappears on even rounds and
reappears on odd rounds. The gout will
reappear up to 60’ away from the last location. (roll 2d12 the first d12
determines the direction and the second d12 x 5 determines the direction.) the
flame will move at random unless the caster takes control of the spell for a
round in exchange of an single attack. Otherwise,
no concentration.
Summon
Fiery Creatures. This is a first level
spell that will summon fiery creatures of an elemental nature to the field of
battle. The caster can determine the
size of the creature that forms. The
creature is mindless and will head towards the closest creature friend or foe
and detonate against them in a 5’ radius explosion. Any creature immune to or resistant to fire
damage is instead healed by the explosion.
Each creature has a speed of 30’ and can explode as a bonus action, each
creature is not affected by fire or other Fiery Creature explosions. Those not immune to fire can make a dexterity
save to take half damage.
|
Size |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
5th |
6th |
7th |
8th |
9th |
hp |
ac |
damage |
|
Tiny |
2 |
4 |
8 |
10 |
12 |
16 |
20 |
30 |
40 |
1 |
18 |
d6 |
|
Small |
1 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
8 |
10 |
15 |
20 |
8 |
16 |
2d6 |
|
Medium |
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
8 |
10 |
15 |
16 |
14 |
4d6 |
|
Large |
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
8 |
10 |
24 |
12 |
8d6 |
|
Huge |
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
8 |
48 |
10 |
16d6 |
