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Author's Note:
This scenario is inspired very heavily by a Lhankmar story by Fritz Lieber wherein Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser investigate a tower that is alive.
Introduction:
This scenario involves a treasure hunt into the Upland Marshes in Sartar, such treasure hunt having been spawned by an ancient map. The GM may introduce the map in any manner desired. In the official campaign, the map was given to the party by the lost ghost of a Lhankor Mhy sage who was rescued by the PCs from the Heroplane. Of course, the map could turn up in the hands of the PCs by any number of ways. Also, the scenario assumes the PCs are commencing from Sartar, specifically the area of the Greydog Clan. PCs commencing from other locations will have to negotiate a different route to the Marshes.
The Situation:
The Holwing Tower is the former residence of a very powerful Empire of the Wyrms' Friends sorcerer who, by way of heroquests, succeeded in recovering a piece of Living Stone. Before this sorcerer could tap into the powers of this Living Stone, the Dragonkill War commenced and he was fried from existence.
In the many long years that have followed, the Living Stone has imbued its will into the surrounding lifeless stone of the sorcerer's tower. Thus, the tower istelf has become living. Unfortunately, the Living Stone is in extreme "pain", both becase of its seperation from its mythical source, the dead god Stone, and because of its presence within the confines of Time.
Additionally, the Living Stone is suffering psychic agonies, both because it has now seen that the World Machine is broken, and because it has now seen what has become of the fate of stone in the world of Glorantha, that of a lifeless and inert substance.
This physical pain and psychic agony has caused the Living Stone to become insane with frustration at its predicament and anger towards those whom it preceives has caused its woes...mortals. The Howling Tower is so named because of the strange howling sounds that come from it...the wailings of the Living Stone.
The Map:
The map shows the area around the Upland Marshes as they were during the EWF (i.e. before they became the marshes). On the back of the map is a verse, written in Auld Wyrmish:
Beware and seek the Tower that
Howls
For that which is dead, lives still
and in life, encounters death and bewails
its ultimate fate, and can kill
Within find the portal sanguine
of stone
laced with gems that sparkle and gleam
and there be careful of bars and gates
that are not what they at first might seem
And hidden below treasures
of yore
and knowledge ancient and bold
lie the bones of the Maker dead, yet alive
with power mighty untold
But ask yourself why after
all these long years
the tower still stands and abides
though the marshes be deadly and fearful and chill
death comes from what is alive
No exact drawing of the map is presented in this scenario. The GM can fabricate one from the details presented in this scenario or just assume the party is following the map.
The Journey to the Marshes:
The journey to the Howling Tower should not take too long. The road up from Greydog passes through Swordvale and the Hare Woods and thence through the small settlements of Ostor Colymar and onto Runegate. At Runegate, information about the Marshes can be gotten, but such information will be of a general nature, concering rumours of giant swamp beasts and the like. All persons will generally regard the Marshes with dread and superstition.
During this time, a random encounter appropriate to Sartar may be rolled for if such tables are available.
Past Runegate, the rest of the day's journey carries the travellers past Old Top and to the village of Two Sisters. Here they will see the naiaids of the pool and their shrine and, since it is dark, may abide at the Sisters' Inn for sup and respite.
At the Inn, if they inquire around, they may be able to gain some more pertinent information about the Marsh, and a few grizzled oldtimers can even tell about the howlgins of the Tower, and a local legend that states that the Tower's howling is caused by strange spirit hounds which haunt the tower and the area, these hounds having been locked in the tower to starve with thier master. The hounds pleased to Brother Dog to save them, but when he did not answer them the hounds prayed to other, less wholesome gods (some say even gods of Chaos) and they were not spared by those unwholesome gods but were given life as wraiths by which to exact revenge on all mankind.
If the party does not seem to want to ask around town, the GM can still introduce this colourful tale by having an inquisitive oldster simply sidle up to the party and ask where they're headed. If the Tower is mentioned, the for a drink, he will offer to tell them the above tale.
Upon hearing the tale being told, a duck sitting nearby will quack in disdain and proclaim that story to be hogwash. Although the duck cannot say what causes the howlings associated withg the Tower, he certainly doubts that it is undead dogs, since everyone knows that dogs howl at the moon and the Tower has certainly been known to sport howls during daylight hours.
This will elicit a chorus of arguments, some pointing out that whales ain't supposed to live in swamps either, but the duck will scoff at the lot of them, get up, and introduce himself to the PCs as Erasthmus Quark, of the widely respected Quark family newly reinstated to the stewardship of Duck Tower (yes, of Judges' Guild fame). It will certainly come out that Erasthmus is the late Nezal Quark's cousin by a drake and if the PCs claim to have known Nezal Quark, Erasthmus will question them and, once convinced of their versimilitude, will ask their busines in the Marshes.
GM Note: Nezal Quark was a famous PC who died before this adventure. In running this scenario, assume Nezal Quark is a well known, recently deceased Humakti Runeduck, and as long as the party seems earnest and respectful of the memory of Nezal Quark, Erasthmus will regard them as friendly.
Having heard the PC's quest, Erasthmus will warn them that the Marshes are extremely treacherous and say that inexperienced travelers have sometimes not gone more than five steps into the Marshes before being swallowed up by a loose peat bog pit, or worse. Quark will note that his family has been shielding Duckdom from the perversions of the Marsh for centuries, and that he personally has led many a raid into the Marshes. For the honour of his cousin, he will offer to guide the PCs to the Tower for the price of 1000L. This can be negotiated down to 500L, but then Erasthmus will require a share of any magic items found.
Erasthmus Quark - Initiate of Humakt
| Strength |
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Move: | 2 | |
| Constitution |
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Hit Points: | 16 | |
| Size |
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Fatigue: | 26 - 18 = 8 | |
| Intelligence |
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Magic Points: | 16 | |
| Power |
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| Dexterity |
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| Appearance |
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| Damage Bonus: |
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RL (1-4)/(1-3) |
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| ENC: |
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LL (5-8)/(4-6) |
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| AB (9-11)/(7-10) |
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| CH (12)/(11-15) |
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| RA (13-15)/(16-17) |
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| LA (16-18)/(18-19) |
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| HD (19-20)/(20) |
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Weapon Skills:
| Bastard Sword |
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| Dagger |
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| Target Shield |
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Magic Skills and Spells:
| Ceremony |
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Spirit Magic (89%-18%=71%): Heal 2, Bladesharp 4, Disrupt, |
| Enchant |
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Repair 1, Demoralize, Strength 3 |
| Summon |
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Divine Magic (109%-18%=91%): Release Zombie (one use), |
| Turn Undead (one use), Shield 1 (one use) |
Other Skills:
| Boat 74%, Swim 127%, Dodge 57%, Scout Swamp 58%, Swamp Lore 63% |
Magic Items:
| Bracelet of teeth that can cast Protection 3 and Vigour 4 each 1/day (a Quark family heirloom) |
| Bastard Sword of Sharpness (+5% to hit, +1 damage, +1 ap, already included in weapons skills above) |
| Bastard Sword is enchanted with a 1 point Armouring Enchantment (+2 ap) |
| Body has tattoo with 2 points of Strengthening Enchantment (+5 hp) |
Gifts:
| Detect Undead by concentrating at no MP cost |
Geases:
| Never use non-cult spells |
Erasthmus Quark is overbearing and very self-confident, and will protray himself as THE foremost expert on the Marshes (or any other subject likely to come up). In combat, he is rather impulsive and reckless.
The next morning, the party can travel over the easternmost portion of the Spinosaurus Flats to the entry point of the Marshes. Along the way, they have more chances for an encounter, and will certainly observe a dinosaur or two from some distance. As a quick table, roll for each map hex (8km) traversed from Two Sisters to the Dragonewt Plinth just to the the north of the Howling Tower (i.e. 5 rolls). If the party stops, roll again for each hour that passes):
The chance of an encounter in each hex is 25%
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Magisaurs (D10) |
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Brontosaurs (D3) |
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Triceratops (D2) |
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Pterandon (1) |
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Allosaur (1) |
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Trachadon (1) |
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Small Dinosaurs (D20) |
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Dragonewts (varies) |
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Sartarite Encounter (use the normal Sartar Encounter tables) |
By afternoon, the party should reach the Dragonewt Plinth. Here, Quark will explain to the party how to use the Plinths (see Snake Pipe Hollow for details) but will also warn the PCs of possible penalties for doing so. Quark will advise the party to rest here, for he says it will take about 6 hours to arrive at the Tower, and it would not do well to be within the Marshes at night. Roll for encounters throughout the rest of the day and night and allow for strange howls and calls from the Marshes to the south.
Sometime during the night, the wind will shift from the south and will blow the stuffy, hit, foetid air from the Marsh past the party, and almost charnel smell. Following this, a small pack of 4 ghouls will attack the watch. These will attempt to sneak up on the party and grab watch members away, to be consumed in the swamp. The ghouls will attempt to distract a watcher by rustling a twig in one direction while another rushes up behind, clamps a hand over the victim's mouth, and drags him away.
Crafty Swamp Ghouls:
Ghoul One
| Strength |
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Move: | 3 | |
| Constitution |
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Hit Points: | 14 | |
| Size |
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Fatigue: | 32 - 6 = 26 | |
| Intelligence |
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Magic Points: | 12 | |
| Power |
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| Dexterity |
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| Appearance |
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| Damage Bonus: |
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RL (1-4)/(1-3) |
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| ENC: |
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LL (5-8)/(4-6) |
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| AB (9-11)/(7-10) |
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| CH (12)/(11-15) |
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| RA (13-15)/(16-17) |
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| LA (16-18)/(18-19) |
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| HD (19-20)/(20) |
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Weapon Skills:
| Claw |
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| Bite |
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| Howl |
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| Grapple |
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Other Skills:
| Sneak 57%, Hide 43%, Dodge 44% |
Ghoul Two
| Strength |
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Move: | 3 | |
| Constitution |
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Hit Points: | 15 | |
| Size |
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Fatigue: | 33 - 6 = 27 | |
| Intelligence |
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Magic Points: | 12 | |
| Power |
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| Dexterity |
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| Appearance |
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| Damage Bonus: |
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RL (1-4)/(1-3) |
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| ENC: |
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LL (5-8)/(4-6) |
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| AB (9-11)/(7-10) |
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| CH (12)/(11-15) |
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| RA (13-15)/(16-17) |
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| LA (16-18)/(18-19) |
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| HD (19-20)/(20) |
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Weapon Skills:
| Claw |
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| Bite |
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| Howl |
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| Grapple |
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Other Skills:
| Sneak 49%, Hide 45%, Dodge 32% |
Ghoul Three
| Strength |
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Move: | 3 | |
| Constitution |
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Hit Points: | 12 | |
| Size |
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Fatigue: | 26 - 6 = 20 | |
| Intelligence |
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Magic Points: | 13 | |
| Power |
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| Dexterity |
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| Appearance |
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| Damage Bonus: |
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RL (1-4)/(1-3) |
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| ENC: |
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LL (5-8)/(4-6) |
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| AB (9-11)/(7-10) |
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| CH (12)/(11-15) |
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| RA (13-15)/(16-17) |
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| LA (16-18)/(18-19) |
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| HD (19-20)/(20) |
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Weapon Skills:
| Claw |
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| Bite |
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| Howl |
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| Grapple |
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Other Skills:
| Sneak 34%, Hide 40%, Dodge 28% |
Ghoul Four
| Strength |
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Move: | 3 | |
| Constitution |
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Hit Points: | 17 | |
| Size |
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Fatigue: | 31 - 6 = 25 | |
| Intelligence |
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Magic Points: | 16 | |
| Power |
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| Dexterity |
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| Appearance |
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| Damage Bonus: |
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RL (1-4)/(1-3) |
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| ENC: |
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LL (5-8)/(4-6) |
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| AB (9-11)/(7-10) |
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| CH (12)/(11-15) |
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| RA (13-15)/(16-17) |
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| LA (16-18)/(18-19) |
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| HD (19-20)/(20) |
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Weapon Skills:
| Claw |
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| Bite |
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| Howl |
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| Grapple |
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Other Skills:
| Sneak 59%, Hide 34%, Dodge 53% |
Each ghoul carries a water craft (as mentioned further along in the section on ghouls) tied to his back.
The ghouls obviously will not howl until the jig is up. Once the party is roused (if ever), they will howl and then attempt to flee unless it is very obvious to these ghouls that they will win a melee. Once the ghouls have one victim of at least SIZ 12, they will flee and devour their catch.
Should the party wish to track the ghouls, they may do so in a straight line to the swamp. Thereafter, Quark will warn the party not to enter the swamp in darkness, lest all of the PCs perish. He will certainly not enter the Marshes by night for any reason.
The next day the party will be able to enter the Marshes. Even before reaching the huge valley that is the Upland Marshes, they will notice the ground becoming soft and muddy, as if the Marsh were attempting to worm its way uphill and into the dry, fairer lands above. Finally, after creating a small rise, they will view the immense expanse that is the Upland Marshes.
The Upland Marshes:
The bowl surrounding the Marshes is not very high, being about 2m to 3m above the swamp floor. Therefore, visibility from the top of the bowl is not very far. The Marshes are rank and foetid, with a deep charnel smell as if many thousands of things had died and rotted here, but had not quite been consumed by time. The air is stifling at best, and thick and humid, and exerting oneself is difficult. All fatigue costs within the confines of the swamp are doubled. In addition, for each hour spent in armour, reduce all skills by 1/10th the ENC of the armour worn due to humidity and uncomfortableness. On the other hand, the stinging insects that swarm around make the prospect of wearing no armour risky as well. Treat the insects as a Small Swarm every hour (i.e. 2D6 stings) with a venom factor of 10.
Finally, due to a constant gassy mist or haze, and trees and reeds, visibility is quite reduced herein.
Other risks abound. Quicksand, hidden pools with no bottom, and plant-covered sinkholes present a hazard to all. In addition, the need to stay on dry land and the thick vegetation make travel here immensely slow, even with a guide like Erasthmus. Travel is reduced to about 1/4th of nromal speed. Thus, it will take most of a day to traverse to the Tower and back. This leaves about 1.5 hours to explore the Tower. Erasthmus will abandon any party that wishes to stay overnight in the swamp.
Encounters:
Encounter rolls are made on two separate charts, one for natural hazards and the other for creatures. Each chart is rolled for each hour (the hourney is 6 hours up and 6 hours back). If a roll indicates an encounter, then another roll is made at one-half chance to see if another encounter occurs, and so forth until a roll is failed. At the GM's option, if two or more encounters occur within the same hour, a D6 may be rolled for each and if they result in the same roll then the encounters may occur simultaneously.
Natural Encounters (90% per hour, then 45%/25%/15%/10%/5%)
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Quicksand |
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Sinkhole |
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Hidden Pool |
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Falling Tree |
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Swamp Gas |
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Swamp Gas Explosion |
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Structure Ruins |
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Muck Geyser |
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Necrotic Zone |
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Curse Spot |
Creature Encounters (75% per hour, then 40%/20%/10%/5%)
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Zombies |
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Ghouls |
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Snakes |
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Insect Swarm |
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Dinosaurs |
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Ghosts |
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Wraiths |
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Giant Insects |
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Tendril Vine |
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Hellions |
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Banshees |
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Hags |
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Will-o'-Wisps |
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Gorp |
Encounter Descriptions:
Quicksand:
Quicksand will have a Strength Value (SV) between 1-50 and a Conceal of 1%-100%. Quicksand will drag an object down at a rate equal to SV/10+ENC/10 (count each SIZ as 6 ENC) in ENC points of SIZ per MR (round all fractions). This, a SIZ 12 man wearing 25 ENC in a SV 50 pool would be drawn in at a rate of (50/10+97/10) or (5+10) = 15 ENC per MR. 15 ENC per MR means the 72 END represented by his SIZ will be swallowed whole in less than 5 MR.
Stuggling doubles the sink rate. Lying flat and still halves the sink rate. Any object flat enough or very light (less than 1/20th the SV of the pool) will float and not sink.
Anyone trying to pull an object out of a pool must overcome the SV of the pool plus that portion of the person's TOTAL ENC swallowed by the pool (assume that carried ENC is swallowed proportionately to SIZ based ENC). Thus, in the above example, after 2 MR, the resistance to pull the victim out would be 50+49=99. This means it would probably require at least 6 men to pull him out.
Anyone fully under takes drowning damage as normal RQ3 rules.
Sinkholes:
These are crusts of earth and mud over naturally formed pits. They have a Conceal of 1%-100% and a D6m deep. If a 6 is rolled, then add another D6-1 and keep rerolling and adding as long as consecutive 6's are rolled. Falling into a sinkhole does normal falling damage.
Hidden Pools:
These are pools hidden by mud or plants. They have a Conceal of 1%-100%. They are as deep as sinkholes but are filled with water. Therefore, they result in no falling damage, but do carry drowning potential if a Swim roll is failed the first MR or if subsequent rolls are fumbled.
Falling Trees:
Not a rare occurance in a place with no firm footing, especially after a Curse Spot has passed, falling trees are dangerous. First, assume a 25% chance that a tree falls amidst the party. Otherwise, it merely crashes nearby. When a tree is about to fall, allow a Listen roll to hear the creaking beforehand. If the listen roll fails, then roll POW x5% for surprise. If the first roll succeeds, the tree may be avoided on anything but a fumbled Jump or Dodge roll. If the second roll is made, then allow a normal Jump or Dodge roll. If both rolls are failed, the tree hits. If the Jump or Dodge roll is failed, the tree hits.
When a tree hits, roll D100 for SIZ and apply falling damage from a height equal to SIZ divided by 10 in meters. Then use the normal falling damage rules. A SIZ 10 or less tree can only trip a person, it can never cause damage. The ENC of the fallen tree is calculated using 1/10th of its total SIZ x 6.
Swamp Gas:
Sometimes the swamp gas congeals into a thick fog, limiting visibility to D6m. This will last for a patch equal to D100x10 in square meters and is D100m tall. Anyone using fire in such a place has a 5% per minute chance of causing a direct explosion (see below).
Swamp Gas Explosions:
Same effects as swamp gas, but sometimes these coalesce into balls which ignite. These will be D3 explosions in that gas patch. Allow a 25% chance that each is close enough to affect the party. Others merely set off nearby and can be heard but not felt.
An explosion that is close enough to the party to affect it has a further 25% of being a direct explosion, bursting right amidst the party. Otherwise, the explosion is near enough to cause D6 damage to D3 locations to all party members within 20m of the closest member to the explosion.
A direct explosion will target a certain party member, who will take 5D6 to 3 locations of his body. For each 5m away (including the first 5m), reduce damage by 1D6, except the final D6 does damage for another 20m.
Structure Ruins:
These are merely the remains of some EWF structure. Sometimes creatures lair in them, but they present no direct danger.
Muck Geysers:
These represent blasts of hot muck, heated by some unknown source. Since much of the swamp muck bubbles from gases, it is impossible to tell just when a muck geyser is about to erupt. Unless a geyser erupts directly under someone (allow a 25% chance for this to happen to a party member), the only effect is a loud noise and the party will then be coated with incredibly stinky sulfurous muck. Someone directly atop a geyser will be knocked off of his feet (and probably thrown into the air) and will suffer D6 damage to the legs and abdomen.
Necrotic Zone:
When the Dragons cursed the Marshes with their Rotting Curse, Delecti tried to fight back with his magicks. Instead of reversing the rotting, he merely reanimated it. The Necrotic Zones are wandering pieces of Delecti's magicks. Where they pass, rotted or dead things tend to animate. This will manifest to the party as they feel a strange, icy wind and see dead plants and birds and bugs begin to animate as zombies and trundle listlessly away. This process takes about one minute for an insect and about 5 minutes for a small bird. The only danger to the party is if dead bodies lie about. These will begin to animate as the Zone passes over and, in 1 hour for each SIZ, the corpse will transform into a zombie. Only hacking the corpse into small pieces will halt this process. The zombie, once fully formed, will attack all living creatures.
Curse Spot:
The Dragons cursed this center of the EWF by way of their Rotting Curse, which even now still wanders the swamp in little fragments, fighting the Necrotic Zones and maintaining the Marshes. It is known that Dragonewts often perform strange rituals near the swamp, perhaps to keep up the curse. Whenever a Curse Spot meets a Necrotic Zone, the two cancel each other out with a blue-green flash of light.
The Rotting Curse turns things into muck. This is what happened to create the Upland Marshes in the first place, and these Curse Spots make certain that the swamp will remain in its present shape. The spots are about 100m in diameter and wander the swamp. Any region contacted by it (it moves at a rate of about 3m per MR until it finds unrotted items, in which case it slows or pauses to rot them) will begin to rot. Plants will die and become a jumble of rotting logs and twigs, animals will sicken and die, etc. Any party members caught in the Spot must resist CON + POW versus a POW of 30 of become affected. For each MR affected, 1 point in each characteristic is lost. The Spot will not chase people around, so it is easy to flee from a Spot. In addition, undead and life forms indigenous to the swamps are not affected by the Spots.
Sometimes, at night, ghouls will follow such a Spot awaiting creatures to flee its confines.
Zombies:
Zombies are created by the Necrotic Zones and therefore come in all shapes and varieties. Furthermore, Delecti constantly experiments with various animals in the hopes of overcoming the Rotting Curse, and therefore, he often sets his failed (i.e. zombie) experiments free into the Marsh. Thus, zombie octopi, killer whales, warriors of wood, trolls, ducks, humans, etc. roam this place. Because of the varied nature, an exact table cannot be given. Instead, general categories are given:
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Humanoid Zombies |
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Normal Animal Zombies |
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Normal Monster Zombies |
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Dinosaur Zombies |
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Huge Strange Zombies |
Ghouls:
Ghouls are usually out of sight during daylight hours, but an encounter with them during daylight represents the chance of stumbling upon a ghoul den or encountering them in a place shaded from the sun.
Snakes:
Snakes include normal pythons and water snakes, as well as Chaos snakes, which have migrated here. Many of these latter turn into zombie snakes.
Insect Swarms:
Roll on the normal chart for SIZ. Duration w3ill be for D20 attacks. Many insects become zombie insects.
Dinosaurs:
These are creatures that roam these lands. Use the table from Spinosaurus Flats, but only roll a D10 and replace a result of 1-2 with brontosaurs.
Ghosts:
These are the souls of the EWF dead. They will be encountered in groups od D#, although on rare occasions (5%) they thrive in packs of D100. 75% of ghosts are hostile, having gone insane from repeated exposure to Rotting Zones. The rest will be neutral or will actually converse with the party in Auld Wyrmish about the bygone glory days of the EWF.
Wraiths:
These are the more virulent souls of the dead EWF citizens. Usually, they will be attached to some object, such as a tree that grew over their body and sucked up their essence over time. All are hateful and will attack. On rare occasions (5%), more than one will be encountered (D3).
Gaint Insects:
Mostly escaped from troll lairs or created by Delecti as experiments, these now wander the swamp. The most common varieties are listed below:
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Grampus |
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Scorpion |
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Spider |
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Fly |
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Sting Worm |
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Mosquito |
These malignant plants somehow mutated into their present form from the complex interactions of the Rotting Spots and the Necrotic Zones. Treat them as warriors of wood, but with D8 long green tendrils (between 10-100m) which act in all respects as pythons (including separate hit points). Since the tendrils usually snake under rocks, mud, and undergrowth back to the main tree, it may be impossible to tell on longer growths that they are attached to anything.
Hellions:
A single standard hellion will be encountered, often with a pack of zombies in tow. Most of these hellions have learnt the spell Dominate Zombie.
Banshees:
These unique creatures are treated exactly like ghosts, except that they cannot engage in spirit combat directly, and their howl causes an MP vs. MP roll to resist, otherwise the victim is given a fearshock exactly as if he had been engulfed by a shade. Once a banshee has made a person unconscious, it may then neld with the victim and feed from his essence (at a rate of 1 POW per 5 MR). In order to interact thusly on the mundane plane, banshees are slightly material. Each has hit points equal to twice its MP and may be affected by magical damage.
Hags:
Some of the naiads and other benign spirits of the once beautiful Upland Valley have become twisted by the Curse and are now hags. Although shunners of daylight, they will still attack if there is enough tree cover.
Will-o'-Wisps:
In the daylight, these spirits are harmless balls of glowing light barely discernible in direct sunlight. At night, they can hypnotize viewers and lead them to their doom. A will-o'-wips might be mistaken for a hellion.
Gorp:
Although rare, some gorp have made their way into the swamp.
A note about ghouls:
The ghouls dwelling herein are craftier than most of their species. Although they have no armour, they have developed the skill of taking animal skins and bladders and filling them with swamp gas. They then attach a spoke of bones to the large central bag and attach smaller bladders to the ends of these spokes for stability. With long poles, the ghouls then use these things as rafts. Each ghoul rides a single craft, which is tied to his back by a vine. The rafts are incredible light wieght (6 ENC) and can be quickly hoisted up for running along dry ground. Their only disadvantage is that the craft can be punctured by taking more than 4 points of impaling or 8 points of slicing damage (from a single hit). Novices cannot easily maintain their balance upon these craft. Finally, the swamp gas within is flammable.
Going About it at Night or Without Quark:
This is best not done.
In daylight without Quark, travel times are doubled. In addition, Quark's Scout Swamp skill is rolled each time a natural hazard is encountered. A successful roll defeats any surprise of Conceal skill present. Finally, without Quark, there is a 10% chance per hour that the party will become lost and miss the Tower. This is very not-good, to say the least.
At night the swamp is even more dangerous. All Conceal values are tripled, making every step taken a danger. Creature encounters are at a +10% chance, and there is a straight 15% chance (before the encounter type is determined on the table) that the encounter is with ghouls, which will be out in packs of D20. Furthermore, if no ghouls are indicated in the pre-table chance, then allow a 5% chance of encountering a hag (before the encounter type is determined on the table).
In general, it should be made apparent to players that they made a BIG mistake in coming into the swamp at night and/or without Quark.
The Tower:
From about 1.5km away, an occasional blood-curdling howl can be heard coming from the direction of the Tower. These howls are strange and agonizing, and they occur about twice per hour. The Tower itself can be viewed from about .5 to .75km away, its top poking up over the screening foliage. The structure is some 35m tall and looks to be made of stone which is shot through with strange, black onyx-like veins running up and down its entire length. Refer to the map of the Tower for an outside view.
The Tower is perched on a 500m by 250m island that rises steeply some 10m above the swamp morass. This was once a steep hill before the swamps arose. The hill is covered with normal trees and shrubs, since the Living Stone keeps at bay both the Necrotic Zones and the Curse Spots. However, in an area 25m around the Tower, no plants or shrubs grow. In addition, the ground hereinabouts is pocked with indentations measuing approximately 3m x 3m. Large boulders as stones cover this clear area.
The First Guards:
As the party enters the clear zone around the Tower, the Living Stone will animate rocks and throw them at the PCs. Roll a D6 for rock SIZ (x6 to calculate ENC). Each rock will cause D4 of damage for force and another D3 for each SIZ above 1. Rocks have an accuracy of 75% and will launch at a rate of D3 per MR. Only going outside of the clear circle 25m around the Tower or entering the Tower will halt this attack. Each attack costs the Living Stone 1 MP. When it has used 20 MP in this manner it will stop the attack.
The Tower Key:
A. Entryway: This area looks as if once a set of double doors had separated it from the outside. These are now gone. The hallway is full of mud and much and two doorways off of each side are also missing their doors. However, the northernmost wall has a set of bronze double doors that are slightly ajar but still intact, although they show dents and signs of forced entry. The walls seem to have once been decorated, but are now fully weathered and such ornamentation is unrecognizable.
B. Anteroom: This area is full of mud, dirt, water droplets, and vermin. Included here are the rotted remains of furnishings and pieces of cloth which indicate that rich appointments may have decorated this place. Searching further will turn up a duck skeleton, his leather armur and spear long since having rotted away.
C. Anteroom: Similar in appearance to Room B, this chamber boasts an intact buckler beneath the mud which is of duckish design. The buckler bears the coat of arms of a duckish noble house since decimated by the Lunars, but the shield also bears a matrix for Shimmer 5, usably only by ducks. Erasthmus will try to choose this magic item as his share before any others.
D. Inner Hallway: This inner hallway is less cluttered with mud and debris, forming only a centimeter thick layer in most places, with bare floor in others. The decoration shere are slightly less weathered and show scenes of dragons flying and cavorting with humans. The door to the west is bronze, with wooden fittings having rotted away, and it opens easily with a push. The doorway to the north is a double doorway of bronze decorated with Dragonewt and Man Runes interspersed with the Rune of Law.
The northern doors have a sorcerous trap upon them. Anyone opening them without saying "I will pass" in Auld Wyrmish will be subject to a Venom spell of Intensity 12. Then, a Phantom Sound spell will activate, saying in Tradetongue:
Seek ye not to defile this tower, for though the master be away, he is powerful, and his vengeance shall surely smite thee. What you have just tasted is the least of his powers. That you have survived is your good fortune. Now flee!
This trap is powered by a bound power spirit. Both enchantments are bound into the doorway. The power spirit has a POW of 16 and has access to a matrix holding another 10 MP.
E. Stairway Room: A spiral staircase of stone winds up to the next level. At several places, large chunks of stone have been smashed away from the steps so that footing is tricky (but manageable). About halfway up the stairs is the skeleton of a human sprawled so that his head is lower than his feet. He wears a SIZ 14 ringmail hauberk and used to wear a helm, but the helm and entire head have been smashed apart, as if pummeled by a heavy mace. In the skeleton's pouch are some rotted utensils, flint and steel, and 27L and 3W of modern minting. Around his neck is a bronze holy symbol to Humakt. Erasthmus will say a small prayer blessing this man's death before continuing.
The room itself contains rotting remnants of tapestries and the like, but nothing of value.
F. Stone Snake Room: This room contains more remnants of furnishings and the like, including what was probably a bed. In addition, bits of mirror lie scattered around the place. Lairing amid the debris are 3 stone snakes, servants of the Living Stone. These will attack mortals on sight. All are about 3m long and made entirely of stone.
Stone Snakes
| Strength |
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Move: | 4 |
| Damage Bonus: |
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Body (1-20)/(1-20) |
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Weapon Skills:
| Bite |
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| Constrict |
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Notes:
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The stone snake must successfully bite in a prior MR in order to constrict. The MR it tries to constrict, it may not bite. Thereafter, it may attempt both attacks, and the bite attack may affect someone close to the constricted individual. The constriction starts by doing D6 damage to the enveloped location in the MR after successful constriction. Each MR thereafter it does an extra D6 additional damage up to 8D6 per round. Armour will absorb up to twice its protective value before becoming useless if it is hard armour. Soft armour is useless in any case. The snake has a bite STR of 19 and a constriction STR of 38 if someone wants to attempt to remove it from around someone or something. The snake, being made of stone, has no hit points. Rather, it has armour points much like a jolanti. Fire does no extra damage to them, nor does magic damage such as Disruption. |
G. Common Room: This was the sorcerer's common room. The remains of a large table lie smashed and pulverized, and a crumbled hearth is against the east wall. Closely examining the hearth will reveal some warmth in the rocks beneath the first few layers. Buried under about a meter of fallen rocks is an iron cauldron, the hearth pot. SIZ 4 and weighing 50 ENC, this pot has a matrix with a bound fire elemental within it. The salamander is 1m cubic in size.
Other furnishings lie smashed and scattered about, including the remains of a pantry in the west section. Under the debris of the pantry is a secret trap door, which is now slightly akilter. The door is now concealed only at 25%. This door leads down to Room P and is guarded by traps (see Room P below).
H. Stairway Room: This place is empty except for a stone table that has been cunningly crafted to have the appearance (but not the colour) and texture of wood. In actuality, it was wood before the Living Stone converted it to stone. Smashed wooden chairs surround the table.
In addition, stone stairs spiral up to the next level. Three of the steps are trapped, and these steps are in a row, so at least one will be touched by each person. When stepped upon, an enchantment is triggered. The enchantment is in the form of a matrix for the spell Implant at Intensity 3, coupled with Multispell 10. The spell will affect anyone on the steps, and as the trigger steps are a fair way up to the next level, all of the party should be affected if all are ascending at the same time. A Power Spirit bound into a bronze rod inside the steps with a POW of 24 controls the spells. As such, 10 Implants will be cast simultaneously at a MP value of 16. If this defeats each person's INT, then the memory of why they came to this place is taken from them. The spirit can cast this spell twice.
Uttering the word "step" in Auld Wyrmish will negate the trap for that person for one passage up or down the stairs.
I. Living Room: Here is the sorcerer's bed chamber (the one below was for his apprentice and/or guests). Remains of a huge beg decorated with dragon-shaped posts are here, along with many mouldy feather stems from the cushionings and pillows. Fabric is also everywhere, some of it appearing cut with sharp objects. Several large gouges in the floor and stone walls suggest a pummeling by a large club or mace. The remains of many fine items of bronze and brass are here, most twisted and smashed flat beyond recognition.
J. Entry Room: At the top of the stairs is a smallish room again filled with smashed wooden furnishings. Nothing can be divined of the room's purpose.
K. Entry Room: The stairs from below exit here. Upon the ceiling is a deep red mark in a blob about 3m in diameter.
L. Laboratory: This room contains smashed wooden tables and much broken glass. Careful and studious examination can determine that this was a laboratory of some sort.
M. Magic Chamber: Remnants of magic circles and protective devices still cover the floor here, although all have been marred or broken. A ladder of bronze leads up to a trapdoor. This ladder is strangely twisted and crinkled, and many of the rungs are snapped in two.
N. Topmost Chamber: Here, a smashed bronze telescope lies on the floor. In the sill of each arrow slit is a brass ring attached to the sill, allowing the telescope to be mounted in any of the four windows. A ladder of bronze leads up to the trap door. This ladder is in much the same condition as the ladder in Room M.
O. Battlement: This place is exposed to the outside. Drawn around the trapdoor here is an intact Homing Circle which has been attuned to the long-dead sorcerer.
P. Treasury: The trapdoor to this location is guarded by a matrix inscribed in the door which is linked to a Spell Spirit which will cast its spell on any but the long-dead sorcerer who opens the trapdoor. The matrix for the spirit is on the underside of the door and is thus invisible to Second Sight from above until the door is opened.
Spell Spirit
| POW 17 INT 17 Sorcery: Intensity 100%, Smother 100%, Range 100% |
The spirit will cast Smother on whomever is furthest along the passage to Room O. All Smothers will be cast at Intensity 4 and Range 40m.
After the trapdoor, steps lead down some 15m. About halfway down is another trapped area, this time the entire 4 cubic meter area is enchanted. The enchantment will attack any but the long-dead sorcerer with a Shapechange Human to Frog spell coupled with a Diminish SIZ spell. The Shapechange spell is at Intensity 12 as is the Diminish spell, and both are coupled with a Multispell 1. Duration on the whole is Duration 12. This enchantment attacks with a strength of 25 MP.
At the entrance into Room P is a final trap, this time merchanical in nature (well...almost), but this trap does not work anymore. An Animate Bronze spell will trigger, causing a bronze fate to swing shut across the hallway after a person has passed without uttering "remain open" in Auld Wyrmish. However, since the Tower has twisted around so often, the bronze is now warped and, although a weird sound will be heard from inside a slot in the wall, nothing will happen.
Within the chamber is a menagerie of smashed and overturned bookshelves. Scrolls and books, many smashed and pages scattered, lie on the floor. Anyone searching and gathering up pages will probably find some useful information. Roll for each handful (1 MR per person) scooped up:
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Uninteresting or illegible |
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Historical Value (worth D100L to a Lhankor Mhy) |
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Sorcery Spell |
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Spirit Information |
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Stone Information |
Pages found above include:
Sorcery Spell Pages:
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Comprehend |
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Teleport |
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Mind Probe |
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Summon Peace Demon |
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Cool |
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Create Lycanthrope |
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Shapechange Human to Dragon |
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Sense North |
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Form/Set Wood |
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Drain Intelligence |
Spirit Pages:
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Cholaangghol, a POW 18 Pain Passion Spirit |
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Ungummmm, a Shade of 4 cubic meters |
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Wisss'tarr'a, a Hellion |
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Jembolm, a Magic
Spirit with POW 14 and INT 12 with the following spells: Spirit Magic (76%): Detect Air, Detect Water, Detect Iron, Detect Gold, Detect Gems, Detect Silver, Detect Copper, Detect Truestone, Detect Poison, Detect Illusion |
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Fleera, an Intellect Spirit with a POW of 13 and an INT of 7 |
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Bloara-nesht, a Spell Spirit with a POW of 13 and an INT of 9 and the spell Tap Strength at 100%, Intensity of 65% and Free INT of 8 |
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Ungehor, a 3 cubic meter Selene |
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Athadramma, a Magic
Spirit with POW 16 and INT 10 with the following spells: Sorcery: Fade 73%, Warm 27%, Damage Boosting 45%, and Skin of Life 36%. Knows Intensity at 47% and Duration at 33% with a Free INT of 6. |
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Bulonn, a Spell Spirit with a POW of 10 and an INT of 6 who knows the Shimmer 6 spell. |
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Moorgal-i, a Jungle Troll Magic Spirit which knows the Divine Magic spell of Black Breath |
Also around the room are many stone objects, like pieces of statues. Behind one smashed bookshelf is a relatively intact statue of a human, although missing its left arm. If uncovered, or if the room is searched for more than 5 minutes (it takes longer than that to search the room well), the statue will arise and proclaim in Tradetongue:
Get out while you still can. He hates you, for you live while his children lie dead about him. Flee, or I shall slay you.
This is the remains of a human who was turned to stone by the Living Stone and now, as a statue, is under its control. Treat is as a Jolanti.
Jolanti
| Strength |
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Move: | 2 | |
| Size |
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Armour Points: | 16 | |
| Intelligence |
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Magic Points: | 55 | |
| Dexterity |
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| Damage Bonus: |
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RL (1-4)/(1-3) |
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| LL (5-8)/(4-6) |
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| AB (9-11)/(7-10) |
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| CH (12)/(11-15) |
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| RA (13-15)/(16-17) |
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| LA (16-18)/(18-19) |
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| HD (19-20)/(20) |
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Weapon Skills:
| Fist |
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Notes:
| Hits to the left arm do no damage (i.e. they miss entirely) |
To the southeast is an archway with a blood red stone lintel studded with crystal-like gemstones. Strange stone bars block the portal (see below for details regarding the portal).
From past that portal comes a howling.
Q. Living Stone Room: This room is entered via a blood red portal studded with crystalline gemstones on the lintel. Stone bars descend vertically, blocking the way. The portal, essentially, the mouth of the Tower, the gemstones its teeth, and the bars its tongue(s). Any enchantments that the sorcerer had placed on this portal are long since destroyed. Touching the bars will cause them to quiver and raise up into the lintel. Anyone peering through the 1m high portal will be attacked.
Within the room, the walls, floor, and ceiling are rippled with huge black onyx-like veins which are sometimes .5m in diameter. These radiate from a pedestal in the room center and spread out, finally plunging into the walls of the room and, from there, out into the walls of the Tower. Upon the pedestal, attached to the veins, is a pulsating, quivering piece of black stone. The stone seems almost alive, and it is since it is the Living Stone. Around the Stone is a ring of smashed wooden chips, remnants of the wooden box within which it was imprisoned. It was this wooden box that kept the Stone quiescent, but this box was tipped over by the cataclysm of the Dragonkill War and the Stone was freed.
The Ston ewill attempt to slay any non-mostali it meets. As an adjunct goal, it wished to turn humans into jolanti to serve it.
The stone has 6 free tentacles which form its tongues (in addition to the bars over the archway). These will emanate from the stone and may pass through any stone at will. The tentacles may reach up to 20m away.
The Stone will grab as many people as it can in 1 MR with its tentacles. Having grabbed at least one person, it will drag its victims into this room and then shut the portal, preferrably on someone trying to follow the victims in.
The portal will champ down at a 70% attack and will do 3D6 damage and will pin someone hit with a STR of 60. When shut, the portal has an STR of 60 to resist opening.
The tentacles are treated as separate beings as far as attacks go, each having 12 armour points and a STR of 25. Each attacks with a Grapple of 75% or may flail like a whip at 75% doing 3D6 damage. Each may also harden into a javelin attacking at 50% and doing 2D6+2 damage with impale possibilities. All attacks occur in SR 7.
If the Stone is able to drag something into contact with it, it will imbue the victim with its essence. This costs the Stone 1 MP for the attempt and then a MP vs MP roll must be made. The Stone's MP are 55 when starting this scenario (be sure to deduct for attacks made outside the tower with animated rocks). If the MP roll is successful, then the Stone must spend MP equal to the victim's SIZ. This takes 1 MR per SIZ starting with the location touched to the Stone and working out from there. Such affected areas become stone and fall under control of the Living Stone. Once a victim's head is stone, the entire being comes under the Living Stone's control. No defensive magics may stop this attack.
The Stone itself cannot be destroyed by mere weapons, being a piece of a god. However, touching wood to the Stone will cause it immense pain. Continuous touching of wood to the Stone will eventually cause it to recoil completely, its tentacles retracting into its body. In this same way, the Stone may be picked up.
Outside the Tower:
Anyone attempting to the the Stone outside the Tower will be attacked by the entire Tower, which will bend its top down to strike at them. The Tower attacks until the Ston eis taken outside of the 25m clear area around the Tower. The Tower may strike once per MR in SR D10. It attacks at 50% and does 5D6 damage to D6 locations. Anyone in the tope levels (+1 to the top) are likely to be buffeted around and injured by the moving tower.
Attacks Within the Tower:
The Stone may manipulate the inside walls of the Tower to attack intruders. Each attack costs 1 MP. On the average, allow a 5% per MR that an attack will bemade. However, the Ston ewill not use its last 14 MP for these attacks.
An inside attack involves the wall, floor, or ceiling pushing against another wall, floor, or ceiling. Sometimes the attack is in the form of a stone hand or mouth emerging from the walls. In any case, damage is always 7D3 and attacks at 75%. Special damage (i.e. crush or impale) is up to the form of attack used at the Stone's whim.
Reward:
A Lhankor Mhy will eventually divine the nature of the Stone and will suggest that the mostali would pay handsomely for it. In fact, any mostali (such as the dwarf Lucky) would pay an amazingly rich reward for this item, although he would at first tend to lessen its importance to drive the price down. A first offer would likely be around 1000L. The mostali can be shrewdly bargained to:
A SIZ 12 Mostali Glove
10 ENC of iron fashioned into anything desired which is not a
mostali secret (i.e. no repeating crossbows or bombs or guns)
A Jolanti
Of course, if the Stone is foolishly brought the the mostali before the bargain is struck, they are likely to offer the 1000L and slay any who will not take their offer. A shrewd group of PCs will send a representative without the Stone to strike a bargain and then take precautions to conduct the bargain on neutral or friendly ground...
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