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Summary:

The PCs must deal with a celestial who is compelled to aid a coven of evil warlocks by stealing an artifact that will allow fiends to remain on the Material Plane.

Assumptions:

None

Location:

Fezen-tir

Historical Date:

706 A.C. early winter.

DM's Introduction:

Note: This scenario was devised utilizing the PC background of an aasimar party member named Esha. The text of the scenario below assumes the presence of Esha and his parental heritage. However, it is not necessary for one of the PCs to share Esha's background or even be an aasimar. The scenario can be run by PCs having no relationship with the celestial in question or her husband. In this case, the PCs, as known heroes presumably of good alignment, might simply be contacted because of their reptuation.

Also, this scenario is based partially around the prestige class Enlightened Spirit from Complete Mage.

Esha's Story:

Esha, the aasimar paladin/sorcerer has been a staunch member of the PCs for several years now. His father was an Azotchtlan warrior priest of Uemac (the god of war) named Ahltliconcho (ah-tlee-Kahn-show), who would call at great times of need a beautiful celestial named Tiriss-ra. Over the course of these callings, Ahtliconcho fell in love with Tiriss-ra and she with him. Finally, the warrior priest travelled the netherworld to meet his love in person, and they shared a night of passion. That union led to Esha's birth. Ahltliconcho returned to the Material Plane.

Esha grew up in the celestial realm of his mother. Normally for a mortal the planes can be a source of problems, afftecting him in many different ways, but Esha's celestial heritage seemed proof against any ill effects. As he grew up, he tried to fit into the society of immortals as best he could and was generally successful. While his other celestial friends developed both their mystical and combat abilities that came naturally to them, Esha had to work harder at it. At first he took up the way of the sword and became a paladin. When his magical abilities began to lag behind his peers, he began to focus on his sorcerous abilities. Eventually he would begin to focus on his ability to divine the unknown, finally seeking esoteric ways to merge his triumverate of talents into a single whole.

It is while he was finishing his latest training that he and other around him began to notice that the planes were finally beginning to affect him in the ways that they would affect any mortal. He had spent many years with his mother’s people but it became clear he would have to leave his home and return to the mortal lands of Therra. Before he left his mother asked him one favor, to find out the fate of his father and let her know what had become of him. With a last loving hug from his mother and the encouragement of his good friends, Esha ventured into the portal that would take him to the lands of his father.

Esha's father departed not knowing that he had conceived a child. When Tiriss-ra became aware she bore his son, she elected to keep this knowledge from him, for she knew that Ahltliconcho was honourable and would deem it his duty to stay and raise the child rather than to continue his fight against evil on the Material Plane. Even when Ahltliconcho sought to return to the netherplanes to visit Tiriss-ra or to call her to the Material Plane, she refused, fearing that he would learn of the child or that she would not be able to contain her secret should she see him face to face. And so she painfully rebuffed Esha's father, feigning indifference when she was actually deeply in love with him. For his part, Ahltliconcho never fell out of love for Tiriss-ra, although eventually enough years passed that he immersed himself in his religious duties and a life of crusading against evil and deceit. His duties, coupled with Tiriss-ra's gentle but insistent rebuffs, eventually caused Ahltliconcho to bury his love and live his life without Tiriss-ra.

The Trimvirzunn:

In ancient times, when the Deceiver had erected his barrier protecting the Material Plane from incursions from outsiders, a group of evil demon cultists in Jerranq who were not aligned with the Deceiver and worried at the thought of the god ruling the Material Plane completely and utterly, spent centuries consorting with various demon lords and other fiendish nobles who were also wroth at being locked out of the material realm. Eventually, these cultists gained enough power and lore to fashion a powerful artifact whose original name has been lost to time. This artifact contained the essences of several demonlords and devil princes who had not come to serve the Deceiver, most of them having been tricked by the cultists and others of their ilk to sacrifice themselves to the artifact's creation; eventually the device accumulated enough power to activate.

The device appears as a 1 ft diameter stone seal with a glowing indigo crystal in its center, surrounded by eldritch runes and carvings of extremely ancient and powerful lineage. Its function is to serve as a ritual anchor to the Material Plane. An outsider or elemental with the extraplanar subtype can use the device to undergo a ritual that would actually circumvent the divine will of the Deceiver and breach the cosmic barrier. Of course, thwarting the will of a god is not an easy thing, and the device was difficult to use, but it did function, especially for fiendish outsiders.

The device was used to begin to raise an army of fiends to one day oppose the Deceiver, and such activity fell beneath his notice until the cultists attempted to bring a very powerful fiend to the Material Plane. This activity did not escape the notice of the Deceiver, and he sent his Maugs to destroy the cult, slay any fiends anchored to the Material Plane, and to destroy the device. The Deceiver sternly admonished his servants not to keep the device, for fear that they would be tempted to use it for the very purpose for which they were sent to obliterate the cult.

The first two goals were accomplished, but the last proved more difficult, for the device was a powerful artifact and not easily destroyed. The Maugs combined their magical might and blasted the device, which seemed to be utterly obliterated, for no sign of it remained where it lay, and any and all divinations could no longer divine its existence. Satisfied, the Maugs reported their success to the Deceiver and the device was forgotten.

But the device was not destroyed. The Maugs' disjunction should have ripped the artifact apart by effectively scattering it in pieces to every corner of the multiverse simultaneously. However, the device's inherent nature as an anchor to the Material Plane meant that it could not be so disjoined. Instead, the entire device was shunted for a time into a null reality, a rip in the fabric of the multiverse...a place of nonexistence where even the Maugs could not sense its presence. Here, too, the device should have possibly remained, lost forever, except that its powerful anchor to the Material Plane eventually pulled it back from unreality and to Therra.

The device ended up in Sazhansiir, where a fell group of Fezen warlocks discovered the artifact and, divining its purpose and giving it the name Trimvirzunn, sought to use it to raise their own fiendish army. These were thwarted when a group of celestials, including Tiriss-ra, discovered the device and the foul use its new owners were putting it to and attacked the warlock coven with the help of goodly mortal servants. The coven was destroyed and all of the fiends anchored were slain. Furthermore, the celestials made every effort to track down and destroy every mention of the device and its purpose. Finally, the celestials, realizing they could not destroy the device nor remove it from the Material Plane, hid it in a remote and secret location that even their mortal allies did not know of. They then created an object that was both a map and key to access the device and broke the object into three pieces, each of which they entrusted to a keeper. And so the device once again drifted into obscurity. Why the celestials created a key to access the device, as opposed to simply sealing it away forever, might seem puzzling at first glance. However, they felt that the device, which could be used to bring and anchor celestials and beings more benign than fiends, might be needed at some time in the future and so they wished to preserve access to the artifact...just in case.

The Current Situation:

A group of Fezen warlocks known as a Inzir Coven has recently come upon an ancient Fezen treatise that describes the Trimvirzunn and its history (only since its discovery by the initial Fezen coven). The treatise not only describes the device and how to use it, but it also details the celestial raid on the ancient Fezen coven and that the celestials took the device and hid it somewhere...they did not destroy it. The group now covets the Trimvirzunn as a means to increase their own power in Fezen-tir, eventually raise an army of fiends, and perhaps even overthrow the current ruler of the land and eventually conquer the Azotchtlan Lands as well! While the treatise did not mention the three-part key, it did mention some of the celestials involved in securing the artifact by name. And although Triss-ra's name was not one mentioned, the group's subsequent lengthy and magical investigations determined her participation in securing the device and the fact that the rest of the celestials involved were either long missing or dead. Even better for the group, Tiriss-ra's lover (Esha's father) was divined and located. Ahltliconcho could be used, the group surmised, as leverage to assist in binding Tiriss-ra to a pact that would force her to recover the tri-part key and allow them to access the device.

The Inzir Coven kidnapped Ahltliconcho and now holds him captive. In the meantime, a cleric of the coven has bound Tiriss-ra using planar binding spells and her truename, and has bargained with her for the life of Ahltliconcho. Given the charisma of the cleric and the threat of death to her beloved Ahltliconcho, Tiriss-ra could not resist the magic of the binding, and is now compelled to recover the three pieces of the key and bring them to the coven. Should she do so, the coven has sworn to free Ahltliconcho as part of the binding pact. Should she fail, then the coven has promised to sacrifce Ahltliconcho to their demonic masters.

Fortunately for those who would oppose the coven, Tiriss-ra's familiar, a pseudodragon named Azkhan, was brought to the Material Plane with his master and managed to escape the coven. The familiar now uses its sending to contact the only person it can think of who might be willing and able to help his master...her son, Esha.

Coven Amulets:

Members of the Inzir Coven wear an amulet to identify themselves and to bypass dangers in their headquarters (such as a the clay golems in the entrance chamber). These amulets are comprised of a silver chain with a pendant shaped like an upthrust cone with a yellow quartz crystal shaped like a starburst set into it. These amulets are worth 50 gp and are nonmagical. They require a DC 20 Craft (jewelry) check to create.

Part One - A Shock to the System

The PCs will likely be resting between adventures, possibly in their stronghold, when Esha will receive a sending. The sending is from Azkhan, a creature with which Esha is not familiar (for his mother did not have the familiar when Esha lived with her) and it will be worded as follows:

You don't know me but I know you. You must come to Guirilzen'ir (gweer-ILL-zen-eer) immediately to stop a great evil. Don't delay or all is lost!

Esha can respond with up to 25 words of his own, but the pseudodragon cannot respond again until the next day. Should 24 hours pass and Esha not arrive, he will send another even more urgent-sounding sending.

If you delay further, events will overtake us and a great good will be sullied forever. Evil must be stopped at Guirilzen'ir! Please come immediately!

Presumably, Esha, being a paladin, would be eager to comply...even if he suspects a trick. If an augury or similar spell is cast in advance of the PCs teleporting to Guirilzen'ir, the divination will reveal weal and woe should they travel there or woe should they refrain from responding (depending upon how the augury query is framed).

Azkhan has specifically avoided telling Esha that his mother is involved in perpetrating the evil, or even that she is involved. The pseudodragon feels that doing so would possibly cause confusion or consternation in the aasimar and cause a delay in his arrival.

The first obstacle to responding is knowing where Guirilzen'ir is. A DC 25 Knowledge (geography) check by someone with a basic familiarity with Fezen-tir (e.g. grew up or spent time in that land, has access to books from that land or pertaining to that land) will reveal the location of Guirilzen'ir and some basic information about its nature. Apply a -5 penalty to the DC (i.e. a DC 30 check is required) if the person making the check has no basic familarity with Fezen-tir. If a PC is a warlock, then the DC will only be 10, allowing the check to be made untrained. Finally, any enlightened spirit (the prestige class from Complete Mage) will automatically know of Guirilzen'ir since it is integral to the history of the prestige class.

In theory, the PCs should be able to travel quickly to Guirilzen'ir by means of a spell like greater teleport. This would require someone to know enough about Guirilzen'ir to describe it and its general location. Making the required Knowledge (geography) check described above would suffice for this purpose. Otherwise, if the location is known, a shadow walk spell would allow the PCs to travel there fairly quickly (in a matter of hours rather than days or weeks). From the PC stronghold in Aladur to Guirilzen'ir is approximately 1,500 miles, which would take 30 hours of travel in shadow walk mode. Other means of rapid travel (such as wind walk) will almost certainly be available to high level PCs. As long as the PCs make an effort to arrive at Guirilzen'ir as soon as possible, then the DM should allow events to unfold as set forth below. Should the PCs wait too long, then the DM could have Tiriss-ra have already gained access to the first piece of the key.

If the PCs cannot locate Guirilzen'ir, they should not be completely stumped. Again, PCs of this level should have access to various means to discover te location, including divinatory spells or even calling or summoning outsiders who might know of the place. In short, the DM should allow the PCs, if they are determined and clever, to find the place.

Guirilzen'ir:

Guirilzen'ir is located in the southeastern frontier of Fezen-tir, near the Coatlizin Jungle. It is a holy site to enlightened spirits, for it is the place where the first coterie of warlocks summoned the ancient celestial who agreed to plea for his kind to pact with the warlocks and provide them with cleansing so that they could eventually become the first enlightened spirits. The place is known to the Fezen, who on occasion have sent large parties of warlocks to desecrate the location and slay any enlightened spirits they find there, but due to its remoteness and the fact that the enlightened spirits eventually return to the area, many years can pass without any sort of molestation of the area.

The First Battle:

When the PCs arrive at Guirilzen'ir, Tiriss-ra and her forces will be in the last stages of a running battle of several days with the scattered enlightened spirits in the area. When the PCs first arrive, it should be a rough area of light woods. From here, they will hear the sounds of distant shouts and screams including a loud, high-pitched screech as if from some massive bird. The sounds are perhaps a mile or so distant.

As the PCs travel towards the noise, they will see signs of previous battle, some a few days old (if the PCs took a few days to arrive) or fresh signs (if the PCs arrived fairly quickly after the sending). These signs will include blast marks on trees and rocks (a DC 25 Knowledge [arcana] check will reveal these to be warlock eldritch blast marks [warlocks should automatically recognize them]). Eventually, a body or two will be found, one a Fezen warlock (use the coven warlock statistics below, but all of the valuables have been stripped from the body) and the other an enlightened spirit (with valuables removed as well). From the clothing and other nonvaluable trappings, a DC 15 Knowledge (local) or Knowledge (arcana) will allow the Fezen warlock body to be recognized as a Fezen warlock. Since the enlightened spirits are not an actual organization and wear no insignia, there is little way to recognize the other body for what it is. Appropriate checks to recognize eldritch blast marks on the bodies (see above) will reveal how they were killed.

Eventually, the PCs will arrive at the site of the current battle, where the last of the enlightened spirits hold the approach to the monument of Guirilzen'ir. This battle has just been joined, and due to Triss-ra's reluctance to join the fray and slay goodly beings, she holds back as long as she is able. This will have the dramatic effect of having the PCs first note a battle between the Fezen coven and demons against the enlightened spirits. If they observe the battle, very quicklu one of the enlightened spirits will use a spirit blast with eldritch spear to attack undead animated by the coven. Even to the unititated, there will be a palpable difference between the eldritch blasts of the warlocks, which are malefic black beams of crackling energy, and the spirit blasts of the enightened spirits, which are golden beams of light. A DC 25 Knowledge (arcana) check will reveal the specifics of the difference as well as the fact that the golden beams seem to be attuned specifically against undead.

The differences between the blasts, and the fact that undead and demons seem to be fighting for one side only, should allow goodly PCs to quickly establish which side they should be fighting for. Attempts to halt the fight to parley will be fruitless.

The fight should go on for a few rounds, the precise timing left to the DM for maximum dramatic effect, before Tiriss-ra makes her appearance. The arrival of a celestial will likely cause the PCs some amount of joy for a moment, but she will immediately begin to attack the enlightened spirits and is obviously coordinating with and commanding the demons. Should Esha be amongst the PCs and clearly visible, the the moment Tiriss-ra sees him, she will suddenly falter and be dazed until her next turn, a single tear rolling down her cheek. Thereafter, she will take up the fight.

Also, note the presence both of Azkhan and the evil familiar below.

The battle sight is not mapped out, since it is likely to roam over a large area given the flying abilities of some of the combatants and, likely, the PCs. The terrain is rolling hills covered by shrubs and sparse woodlands. For all intents and purposes, the DM should assume that the battle has just commenced and that no combatants have taken damage or used up spells beyond what is indicated below.

Creatures: The enlightened spirits represent what is left of the small group of pilgrims and hermits who happened to be in the area when the warlocks attacked. While, technically, each enlightened spirit would tend to have different invocations known, they have been unified for ease of running the battle. If the DM wants, once the PCs establish who the enlightened spirits are and the PCs side with them, he can have the PCs run the enlightened spirits.

The englightened spirits are holed up in thick brush and a copse of trees at the top of a hill. They know about the hezrous' blasphemy ability and are somewhat spread out because of it, although they have enough hit dice that it will only weaken and daze them (and being weakened doesn't really harm their attacks).

Items and spells marked with (*) are in use at the start of the battle, though their effects are not reflected in the statistic blocks. Invocations that are in use are reflected in the statistic blocks. Items with charges show the number of charges before the battle begins (and so any in use at the start of the battle should have charges subtracted).

ENLIGHTENED SPIRITS (6) CR 9 Complete Arcane page 5 and Complete Mage page 60 Male and female human Warlock 5/Enlightened Spirit 4 NG Medium humanoid (human) Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft, see invisibility; Listen +0, Spot +0 Languages Azotlan, Abyssal, Celestial, Infernal, tongues AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 13; Dodge, Mobility; Miss 20% ranged (entropic warding) hp 52 (9 HD); DR 1/cold iron Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +8 Spd 30 ft (6 squares), fly 30 ft (6 squares) (good) Melee spear +6/+1 (1d8) Ranged eldritch blast +9 (5d6) Space 5 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +6; Grp +6 Atk Options Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot Combat Gear spear, potion of cure moderate wounds (2) (CL 3), divine scrolls of true strike (2) (CL 1) Warlock Invocations Known (CL 5): Lesser - celestial flight (*), spirit blast Least - eldritch spear, entropic warding (*), see the unseen (*) Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5): At will - detect magic Abilities Str 10, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 11, Cha 14 SQ deceive item Feats Dodge, Mobility, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Focus (eldritch blast) Skills Bluff +7, Concentration +10, Diplomacy +11, Disguise +6 (+8 acting), Intimidate +4, Knowledge (arcana) +7, Knowledge (planes) +10, Knowledge (religion) +7, Sense Motive +7, Spellcraft +9 (+11 to decipher scrolls), Survival +0 (+2 on other planes), Use Magic Device +10 (+12 with scrolls) Possessions combat gear plus leather armour Deceive Item (Ex) At 4th level and higher, a warlock has the ability to more easily commandeer magic items made for the use of other characters. When making a Use Magic Device check, a warlock can take 10 even if distracted or threatened. Spirit Armour (Su) Beginning at 2nd level, you gain a +1 sacred bonus to Armour Class. The bonus improves to +2 at 6th level and +3 at 10th level. Tongues (Su) Beginning at 4th level, you can speak any language. This ability works as the tongues spell, except that it is continuously active. You can suppress or resume the effect as a free action.

INVOCATIONS: celestial flight (CM p61) - fly equal to land speed with good maneuverability for 24 hours. eldritch spear (CA p133) - BS; increases range of eldritch blast to 250 ft. entropic warding (CA p134) - entropic shield effect, pass without trace effect, and cannot be tracked by scent. see the unseen (CA p135) - see invisibility effect, darkvision 60 ft for 24 hours. spirit blast (CM p61) - EE; change eldritch blast to deal an extra 1 point of dmg per die to undead; affects incorporeal creatures without miss chance.

The coven warlocks' invocations have been standardized to allow the combat to be run more easily. They represent the elite troops of the coven, sent on this mission because of its ultimate importance to the coven.

COVEN WARLOCKS (8) CR 9 Complete Arcane page 5 Male and female human Warlock 9 NE Medium humanoid (human) Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft, see invisibility; Listen +0, Spot +0 Languages Azotlan, Abyssal, Infernal AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 12; Dodge, Mobility; Miss 20% ranged (entropic warding) hp 52 (9 HD), fiendish resilience 1; DR 2/cold iron Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +6 Spd 30 ft (6 squares) Melee mwk spear +7/+2 (1d8) Ranged eldritch blast +10 (5d6) Space 5 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +6; Grp +6 Atk Options Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot Combat Gear masterwork spear, potions of cure moderate wounds (3) (CL 3), potions of eagle's splendour (3) (CL 3) (*), potions of lesser restoration (2) (CL 3), wand of true strike (CL 1, 30 charges), wand of shield of faith (CL 1, 24 charges), wand of protection from good (CL 1, 17 charges) (*), divine scroll of dimensional anchor (CL 7) Warlock Invocations Known (CL 9): Lesser - beshadowed blast (DC 17), relentless dispelling Least - eldritch spear, entropic warding (*), see the unseen (*) Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9): At will - detect magic Abilities Str 10, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 16 SQ deceive item Feats Dodge, Mobility, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Focus (eldritch blast) Skills Concentration +14, Intimidate +8, Knowledge (arcana) +6, Knowledge (planes) +6, Sense Motive +4, Spellcraft +8 (+10 to decipher scrolls), Survival +0 (+2 other planes), Use Magic Device +15 (+17 scrolls) Possessions combat gear plus leather armour, masterwork potion belt, Coven amulet Deceive Item (Ex) At 4th level and higher, a warlock has the ability to more easily commandeer magic items made for the use of other characters. When making a Use Magic Device check, a warlock can take 10 even if distracted or threatened. Fiendish Resilience (Su) Beginning at 8th level, a warlock knows the trick of fiendish resilience. Once per day, as a free action, he can enter a state that lasts for 2 minutes. While in this state, the warlock gains fast healing 1.

INVOCATIONS: beshadowed blast (CA p132) - EE; living creature struck must make Fort save or be blinded for 1 rd. eldritch spear (CA p133) - BS; increases range of eldritch blast to 250 ft. entropic warding (CA p134) - entropic shield effect, pass without trace effect, and cannot be tracked by scent. relentless dispelling (CM p124) - targeted dispel magic that repeats the next round. see the unseen (CA p135) - see invisibility effect, darkvision 60 ft for 24 hours.

The coven strike group is led by a commander, one of the top action leaders in the coven whose position is one of the coven hierarchs.

Note: Demonbinders are, per the rules, a Drow only prestige class. However, in Therra, since drow do not practice warlockry and have never even heard of it, the class is available to the Fezen.

COVEN COMMANDER CR 14 Complete Arcane page 5 and Drow of the Underdark page 72 Female human Warlock 9/Demonbinder 5 CE Medium humanoid (human) Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft, see invisibility; Listen +0, Spot +0 Languages Azotlan, Abyssal, Infernal AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 14; Dodge, Mobility; Miss 20% ranged (entropic warding) hp 75 (14 HD), fiendish resilience 1; DR 2/good and 2/cold iron Resist electricity 10 Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +10 Spd 30 ft (6 squares) Melee warlock's scepter (+2 light mace) +10/+5 (1d6+2) Ranged eldritch blast +14 (6d6) Space 5 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +8; Grp +8 Atk Options Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot Special Actions demonbind 5/day Combat Gear warlock's scepter (28 charges), chasuble of fell power (lesser), potions of cure moderate wounds (3) (CL 3), potions of eagle's splendour (3) (CL 3) (*), potions of lesser restoration (4) (CL 3), wand of nightshield (CL 3, 26 charges) (*), wand of true strike (CL 1, 30 charges), wand of shield of faith (CL 3, 22 charges), wand of protection from good (CL 3, 27 charges) (*), wand of cat's grace (CL 3, 19 charges) (*), wand of bear's endurance (CL 3, 18 charges) (*), divine scroll of dimensional anchor (CL 7) Warlock Invocations Known (CL 13): Greater - eldritch line, noxious blast (DC 20) Lesser - beshadowed blast (DC 18), dead walk, relentless dispelling Least - baleful utterance,(DC 16), eldritch spear, entropic warding (*), see the unseen (*) Damnation Points 9 Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9): At will - detect magic Abilities Str 10, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 18 SQ deceive item Feats Dodge, Extra Invocation, Mobility, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Focus (eldritch blast) Skills Bluff +9, Concentration +17, Diplomacy +6, Disguise +4 (+6 acting), Intimidate +11, Knowledge (arcana) +6, Knowledge (planes) +11, Sense Motive +4, Spellcraft +8 (+10 to decipher scrolls), Survival +0 (+2 other planes), Use Magic Device +18 (+20 scrolls) Possessions combat gear plus +2 leather armour, masterwork potion belt, Coven amulet, key to chest in Coven headquarters. Damnation Points (Ex) You gain a number of damnation points equal to your Charisma modifier plus your class level. You use damnation points to activate your demonbind abilities. You cannot spend damnation points when in the area of a consecrate, hallow, or magic circle against evil spell. You regain all spent damnation points after 5 minutes of rest. Deceive Item (Ex) At 4th level and higher, a warlock has the ability to more easily commandeer magic items made for the use of other characters. When making a Use Magic Device check, a warlock can take 10 even if distracted or threatened. Demonbind (Sp) Once per day per class level, you can spend damnation points to invoke the essence of a demon and bind it to your soul. This changes your general appearance (which has no significant game effect unless stated otherwise) and also grants you certain benefits. Binding a demon in this way is a full-round action and lasts for 10 rounds. If you invoke a second demonbind when another is still active, the new one replaces the old one. Temporary hit points granted by a demonbind vanish when the demonbind ends (or is replaced by a new demonbind). Some demonbinds allow you to spend additional damnation points to gain an extra benefit. You can use this option only when affected by the demonbind, and the benefit lasts until the start of your next turn or until the demonbind ends, whichever comes first. Any saving throw allowed has a DC of 10 + class level + Cha modifier. When under the effect of a demonbind, you gain telepathy out to 100 feet and the evil subtype if you don't have it already. If you are targeted by a banishment or dismissal spell, you instantly lose your demonbind. If you enter an area protected by a hallow or consecrate spell, the demonbind is suppressed for as long as you remain in the area. Each demonbind is the equivalent of a spell whose level equals the damnation point cost for invoking the demonbind. Fiendish Resilience (Su) Beginning at 8th level, a warlock knows the trick of fiendish resilience. Once per day, as a free action, he can enter a state that lasts for 2 minutes. While in this state, the warlock gains fast healing 1.

INVOCATIONS: baleful utterance (CA p132) - as shatter spell; if creature holding or wearing object that is destroyed, must make Fort sv or be dazed for 1 rd and deafened for 1 min. beshadowed blast (CA p132) - EE; living creature struck must make Fort save or be blinded for 1 rd. dead walk (CA p133) - as animate dead, but unless normal material component used, undead crumble to dust after 1 minute. eldritch line (DrM p82) - BS; eldritch blast becomes a 60 ft line (Ref sv 1/2). eldritch spear (CA p133) - BS; increases range of eldritch blast to 250 ft. entropic warding (CA p134) - entropic shield effect, pass without trace effect, and cannot be tracked by scent. noxious blast (CA p135) - EE; creature struck by eldritch blast must make Fort sv or be nauseated for 1 min. relentless dispelling (CM p124) - targeted dispel magic that repeats the next round. see the unseen (CA p135) - see invisibility effect, darkvision 60 ft for 24 hours. DEMONBINDS: Dretch (1 point) -You gain 5 temporary hit points and resistance to acid 5, cold 5, and fire 5. Babau (2 points) - You gain 10 temporary hit points and sneak attack +1d6. You can spend 1 damnation point as a swift action to lace your eldritch blast with caustic slime, dealing an extra 5 points of acid damage. Succubus (3 points) - You gain 15 temporary hit points and the benefits of the tongues spell. You can spend 1 damnation point as a swift action to gain a +5 competence bonus on Bluff and Diplomacy checks. Yochlol (4 points) - You gain 20 temporary hit points, and you have a 25% chance to ignore the extra damage from a critical hit or sneak attack. You can spend one damnation point as a swift action to use gaseous form on yourself. Bebilith (4 points) -You gain 20 temporary hit points and the scent ability. You can spend 1 damnation point as a swift action to gain a climb speed equal to your land speed. Vrock (5 points) - You gain 25 temporary hit points. You can spend 1 damnation point as a swift action to augment your eldritch blast with screeching sonic energy. A target struck by this eldritch blast takes an additional 10 points of sonic damage and becomes deafened for 5 rounds (Fort negates deafness). Glabrezu (6 points) - You gain 30 temporary hit points and a +5 competence bonus on Bluff checks. You can spend 1 damnation point as a swift action to gain the benefit of a true seeing spell. Nalfeshnee (7 points) - You gain 35 temporary hit points and resistance to acid 5, cold 5, and fire 5. You can spend 1 damnation point as a swift action to lace your eldritch blast with a nalfeshnee's smite. Non-evil targets with fewer HD than your character level who are struck by the eldritch blast are dazed for 1 round, overwhelmed by horrid visions (Will negates). Marilith (8 points) - You gain 40 temporary hit points. Your original arms (if any) are your primary arms, and the new limbs are secondary limbs. You can wield extra weapons with these new limbs, but all such attacks are treated as offhand attacks. You can spend 1 damnation point as a swift action to use one of your new limbs to fire an eldritch blast at a -5 penalty on the attack roll; you can't apply any eldritch essence or blast shape invocations (or any other modifications) to this eldritch blast. Balor (9 points) - You gain 45 temporary hit points and a fly speed equal to your land speed (good maneuverability). You can spend 1 damnation point as a swift action to make a melee touch attack that deals fire damage equal to the damage normally dealt by your eldritch blast. SPELLS: nightshield (SC p148) - r pers, 1 min/lvl; +1 resistance bonus to saves and negates magic missile attacks. FEATS: Extra Invocation (CA p79) - you learn an extra invocation of a type one less than the maximum you can know. MAGIC ITEMS: chasuble of fell power (lesser) (MiC p85) - adds +1d6 dmg to eldritch blast or any spell that causes dmg and has the chaotic descriptor. warlock's scepter (CA p145) - +2 light mace providing +2 profane bonus to ranged touch attacks, spend up to 5 ch/day to increase eldritch blast dmg by +1d6 = 1 ch, +2d6 = 2 ch, +3d6 = 3 ch, +4d6 = 5 ch, after all charges used remains a normal +2 light mace.

The commander has used her dead walk invocation to raise several undead. These have been animated using material components, and so are permanent until destroyed. They also count their CR for experience point purposes. In a pinch, the warlocks can ride the zombie dire bats into battle.

ZOMBIE DIRE BATS (4) CR 3 NE Large undead Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft; Listen +0, Spot +0 AC 22, touch 14, flat-footed 17 hp 55 (8 HD); DR 5/slashing Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +6 Spd 20 ft (4 squares), fly 40 ft (8 squares) (clumsy) Melee bite +8 (1d8+6) Space 10 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +4; Grp +12 Abilities Str 19, Dex 20, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 1 SQ single actions only, undead traits Feats Toughness Single Actions Only (Ex) Zombies have poor reflexes and can perform only a single move action or attack action each round. A zombie can move up to its speed and attack in the same round, but only if it attempts a charge.

ZOMBIE DIRE APES (2) CR 3 NE Large undead Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft; Listen +0, Spot +0 AC 17, touch 10, flat-footed 16 hp 68 (10 HD); DR 5/slashing Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +7 Spd 30 ft (6 squares), climb 15 ft (3 squares) Melee 2 claws +12 (1d6+7) and bite +7 (1d8+3) Space 10 ft; Reach 10 ft Base Atk +5; Grp +16 Abilities Str 24, Dex 13, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 1 SQ single actions only, undead traits Feats Toughness Single Actions Only (Ex) Zombies have poor reflexes and can perform only a single move action or attack action each round. A zombie can move up to its speed and attack in the same round, but only if it attempts a charge.

The six demons present were called by one of the coven hierarchs using planar ally to assist in obtaining the 3 key pieces. They despise the protectar, but understand that she is bound into the service of evil and they take great delight in mocking her because of it.

HEZROUS (2) CR 11 CE Large outsider (chaotic, extraplanar, evil, tanar'ri) Init +0; Senses Blind-Fight, darkvision 60 ft; Listen +23, Spot +23 Aura stench (10 ft, DC 24) Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic, telepathy 100 ft AC 23, touch 9, flat-footed 23 hp 138 (10 HD); DR 10/good Immune electricity, poison Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 19 Fort +16, Ref +7, Will +9 Spd 30 ft (6 squares) Melee bite +14 (4d4+5) and 2 claws +9 (1d8+2) Space 10 ft; Reach 10 ft Base Atk +10; Grp +19 Atk Options Improved Grab, Power Attack Special Actions Cleave, summon demon Spell-Like Abilities (CL 13): 3/day - blasphemy (DC 21), gaseous form At will - chaos hammer (DC 18), greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs of objects only), unholy blight (DC 18) Abilities Str 21, Dex 10, Con 29, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 18 Feats Blind-Fight, Cleave, Power Attack, Toughness Skills Climb +18, Concentration +22, Hide +13, Escape Artist +13, Intimidate +17, Listen +23, Move Silently +13, Search +15, Spellcraft +15, Spot +23, Survival +2 (+4 following tracks), Use Rope +0 (+2 with bindings) Improved Grab (Ex) To use this ability, a hezrou must hit with both claw attacks. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. Stench (Ex) A hezrou’s skin produces a foul-smelling, toxic liquid whenever it fights. Any living creature (except other demons) within 10 feet must succeed on a DC 24 Fortitude save or be nauseated for as long as it remains within the affected area and for 1d4 rounds afterward. Creatures that successfully save are sickened for as long as they remain in the area. A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected again by the same hezrou’s stench for 24 hours. A delay poison or neutralize poison spell removes either condition from one creature. Creatures that have immunity to poison are unaffected, and creatures resistant to poison receive their normal bonus on their saving throws. The save DC is Constitution-based. Summon Demon (Sp) Once per day a hezrou can attempt to summon 4d10 dretches or another hezrou with a 35% chance of success. This ability is the equivalent of a 4th-level spell.

VROCKS (4) CR 9 CE Large outsider (chaotic, extraplanar, evil, tanar'ri) Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft; Listen +24, Spot +24 Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic, telepathy 100 ft AC 22, touch 11, flat-footed 20 hp 138 (10 HD); DR 10/good Immune electricity, poison Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 17 Fort +14, Ref +9, Will +10 Spd 30 ft (6 squares), fly 50 ft (10 squares) (average) Melee 2 claws +15 (2d6+6) and bite +13 (1d8+3) and 2 talons +13 (1d6+3) Space 10 ft; Reach 10 ft Base Atk +10; Grp +19 Atk Options Power Attack Special Actions Cleave, Combat Reflexes, dance of ruin, spores, stunning screech, summon demon Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12): 1/day - heroism (*) At will - mirror image (*), telekinesis (DC 18), greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs of objects only) Abilities Str 23, Dex 15, Con 25, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 16 Feats Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Multiattack, Power Attack Skills Concentration +20, Diplomacy +5, Hide +11, Intimidate +16, Knowledge (any one) +15, Listen +24, Move Silently +15, Search +15, Sense Motive +16, Spellcraft +15, Spot +24, Survival +3 (+5 following tracks) Dance of Ruin (Su) To use this ability, a group of at least three vrocks must join hands in a circle, dancing wildly and chanting. At the end of 3 rounds of dancing, a wave of crackling energy flashes outward in a 100-foot radius. All creatures except for demons within the radius take 20d6 points of damage (Reflex DC 18 half). Stunning, paralyzing, or slaying one of the vrocks stops the dance. The save DC is Charisma-based. Spores (Ex) A vrock can release masses of spores from its body once every 3 rounds as a free action. The spores automatically deal 1d8 points of damage to all creatures adjacent to the vrock. They then penetrate the skin and grow, dealing an additional 1d4 points of damage each round for 10 rounds. At the end of this time, the victim is covered with a tangle of viny growths. (The vines are harmless and wither away in 1d4 days.) A delay poison spell stops the spores’ growth for its duration. Bless, neutralize poison, or remove disease kills the spores, as does sprinkling the victim with a vial of holy water. Stunning Screech (Su) Once per hour a vrock can emit a piercing screech. All creatures except for demons within a 30-foot radius must succeed on a DC 22 Fortitude save or be stunned for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution-based. Summon Demon (Sp) Once per day a vrock can attempt to summon 2d10 dretches or another vrock with a 35% chance of success. This ability is the equivalent of a 3rd-level spell.

The coven's Binder (Cleric 3/Warlock 3/Eldritch Disciple 10) has sent along his familiar, a quasit named Buligzar, to keep an eye on Tiriss-ra and to make sure the demons don't kill her. It travels as a bat or toad, always invisible. The warlocks do not know it has followed the group, and the demons cannot see it. Buligzar is generally in bat form when the group travels, but is a toad when it stops or, as in this case, when it fights.

The quasit is hiding in some bushes at least 100 ft from the battle (behind the warlock lines).

BULIGZAR CR - Quasit CE Tiny outsider (chaotic, extraplanar, evil) Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft; Listen +7, Spot +6 Languages Abyssal, Azotlan AC 24, touch 15, flat-footed 21; improved evasion hp 49 (16 HD), fast healing 2; DR 5/cold iron or good Immune poison Resist fire 10; SR 2` Fort +11, Ref +8, Will +14 Spd 20 ft (4 squares), fly 50 ft (10 squares) (perfect) Melee 2 claws +15 (1d3-1 plus poison) and bite +10 (1d4-1) Space 2.5 ft; Reach 0 ft Base Atk +10; Grp +1 Spell-Like Abillites (CL 6, except commune CL 12): 1/week - commune (6 questions) 1/day - cause fear (30 ft radius from quasit, DC 11) At will - detect good, detect magic, invisibility (self only) Abilities Str 8, Dex 17, Con 10, Int 11, Wis 12, Cha 10 SQ alternate form, familiar (Alertness, deliver touch spells, empathic link, share spells, speak with master) Feats Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse Skills Bluff +6, Concentration +18, Diplomacy +10, Disguise +0 (+2 acting), Hide +17, Intimidate +5, Knowledge (nature) +6, Knowledge (planes) +19, Knowledge (religion) +10, Listen +7, Move Silently +9, Search +6, Sense Motive +8, Spellcraft +15, Spot +6 Alternate Form (Su) A quasit can assume another form at will as a standard action. Each quasit can assume one or two forms from the following list: bat, Small or Medium monstrous centipede, toad, and wolf. This one can choose a bat or toad. Poison (Ex) Injury, Fortitude DC 19, initial damage 1d4 Dex, secondary damage 2d4 Dex. The save DC is Constitution-based and includes a +2 racial bonus.

Tiriss-ra is under the compulsion of a planar binding spell. She unwillingly seeks to retrieve the 3 key pieces for the coven.

TIRISS-RA CR 11 Miniatures Handbook page 66 Female protectar Paladin 2/Sorcerer 8 LG Medium outsider (extraplanar, good) Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft; Listen +6**, Spot +6** Aura good Languages Celestial, Draconic, Infernal, tongues AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14 hp 76 (12 HD) Fort +17, Ref +12, Will +16 Spd 30 ft (6 squares), fly 60 ft (12 squares) (good) Melee +1 holy spear +12/+7 (1d8+4 [+2d6 vs evil]) Space 5 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +8; Grp +11 Atk Options smite evil 1/day (+4 att/+2 dmg) Special Actions lay on hands (8 hp/day) Combat Gear +1 holy spear, wand of cure moderate wounds (CL 3, 44 charges), wand of invisibility (CL 3, 16 charges), wand of sending (CL 7, 5 charges), potions of lesser restoration (2) (CL 3) Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 8): 4th (4/day) - dancing web (DC 18) 3rd (6/day) - dispel magic, lightning bolt (DC 17) 2nd (7/day) - mirror image, resist energy, scorching ray 1st (7/day) - orb of electricity, protection from evil, resist planar alignment, shield (*), targeting ray 0 (6/day) - detect magic, detect poison, disrupt undead, light, mage hand, message, read magic, resistance Spell-Like Abilities (CL 2): 3/day - cure light wounds At will - detect evil, tongues Abilities Str 16, Dex 13, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 18 SQ familiar (Alertness, deliver touch spells, empathic link, share spells, speak with master), weapons treated as good-aligned Feats Combat Casting, Improved Familiar, Energy Substitution (cold), Nonlethal Substitution (cold), Silent Spell Skills Concentration +10 (+14 casting defensively), Diplomacy +10, Heal +7, Knowledge (arcana) +5, Knowledge (planes) +5, Knowledge (religion) +5, Listen +6**, Sense Motive +7, Spellcraft +12, Spot +6**, Survival +1 (+3 on other planes) Possessions combat gear plus bracers of armour +4, cloak of resistance +2, spell component pouch ** Alertness from familiar not included in these skill bonuses.

FEATS: Energy Substitution (CA p79) - modify any spell with energy descriptor to chosen type of energy. Nonlethal Substitution (CA p81) - modify any spell with energy descriptor chosen to nonlethal damage for +1 spell level. SPELLS: dancing web (BoED p96) - r med, 20 ft r burst, sv R 1/2, SR; 1d6 nonlethal dmg/lvl (max 10d6), evil creatures failing save entangled for 1d6 rds. orb of electricity (SC p151) - r cl; ranged touch deals 1d8 electricity dmg +1d8 per 2 CL above 1st (max 5d8). resist planar alignment (SC p174) - r touch, 10 min/lvl, SR; subject immune to Cha-based checks from mildly aligned planes and check penalties from strongly aligned planes are halved. targeting ray (SC p219) - r med, 1 rd/lvl; ranged touch provides +1/3 CL on ranged attacks at subject.

Azkhan is Tiriss-ra's familiar. When Tiriss-ra was summoned to the Material Plane via planar binding, her familiar was called with her (as it is a class feature and comes with the subject). The creature managed to use its Hide skill to avoid detection and fled the area. It watched the binding from a distance and when it was able it snuck to within 60 ft of Tiriss-ra and learned from her what had happened. Tiriss-ra could not instruct her familiar as to what to do, as that would be thwarting her pact, but she did give him leave to do whatever he thought best. Since sending the sending to Esha, Azkhan has shadowed his master, staying well away from the demons, whom it knows have excellent senses.

AZKHAN CR - Male pseudodragon NG Tiny dragon Init +2; Senses blindsense 60 ft, darkvision 60 ft, low-light vision; Listen +9, Spot +9 Languages telepathy (Celestial or Sazhan only) 60 ft AC 22, touch 14, flat-footed 20; improved evasion hp 38 (12 HD) Immune paralysis, sleep SR 19 Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +10 Spd 15 ft (3 squares), fly 60 ft (12 squares) (good) Melee sting +12 (1d3-2 plus poison) and bite +7 (1) Space 2.5 ft; Reach 0 ft (5 ft with tail) Base Atk +8; Grp -2 Abilities Str 6, Dex 15, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 10 SQ familiar (Alertness, deliver touch spells, empathic link, share spells, speak with master) Feats Alertness, Weapon Finesse Skills Diplomacy +6, Hide +20**, Listen +9, Search +6, Sense Motive +7, Spot +9, Survival +1 (+3 following tracks) Possessions messenger medallion Blindsense (Ex) A pseudodragon can locate creatures within 60 feet by nonvisual means (mostly hearing and scent, but also by noticing vibration and other environmental clues). Opponents the pseudodragon can’t actually see still have total concealment against the pseudodragon. Poison (Ex) Injury, Fortitude DC 19, initial damage sleep for 1 minute, secondary damage sleep for 1d3 hours. The save DC is Constitution-based and includes a +2 racial bonus. Telepathy (Su) Pseudodragons can communicate telepathically with creatures that speak Celestial or Sazhan, provided they are within 60 feet. **In forests or overgrown areas they gain a +4 racial bonus on Hide checks.

MAGIC ITEMS: messenger medallion (UD p75) - sending 1/day.

Tactics: The enlightened spirits simply want to survive, or at least cause enough pain to sell their lives dearly. They have no way of knowing that their enemies know about and are seeking a piece of the key. Instead, they just assume that this is one of the infrequent sweeps of the area by the Fezen warlocks. However, the presence of powerful tanar'ri and ultimately the celestial might alert them that this is not an ordinary raid.

The enlightened spirits will welcome any aid by the PCs, although until the PCs show where their allegiences lie, the enlightened spirits will be cautious at first. However, they will not attack the PCs unless the latter are somehow disguised as Fezen, seem demonic looking, or they take some hostile action against the enlightened spirits.

The Fezen and their forces will attack the enlightened spirits with relish, seeking to slay them utterly. They are not interested in giving or receiving quarter. The demons, eager for blood, will lead the way, while the warlocks stay back and attack with eldritch blasts. The undead animated by the commander will be used to protected the warlocks and as mounts if necessary.

The warlocks are a cohesive group and trained in warlock battle tactics; they do not seek to take prisoners, as it is the key piece they are after. As such, should a threat present itself, the commander will call out a target in Abyssal and all of the warlocks will concentrate their eldritch blasts at the target. This can have a devestating effect. The Fezen are also well trained to fight Scaled One spellcasters, and that means that once they see they are up against spellcasters, at least one warlock per caster will ready an eldritch blast with eldritch spear to attack a spellcaster who casts a spell, seeking to disrupt the spell.

Tiriss-ra is in a unique situation. She is bound to pursue her task efficiently, but otherwise can act as she likes. As such, she will endeavour to use nonlethal attacks against the enlightened spirits Of course, she knows that any such persons she renders knocked out will be killed or eaten by the demons, but this one gesture is all she can do. Against all nonevil foes, she will cast her spells modified by Nonlethal Substitution. If the spell being modified is not a cold spell, she will change the energy type to cold using her Energy Substitution feat. This will raise the spell level by a total of +1 for the Nonlethal Substitution (the Energy Substitution has no spell level adjustment). Fortunately, her highest level spell naturally does nonlethal damage, so she doesn't have to worry about casting that.

The demons and Tiriss-ra will not flee. They are mystically bound to pursue their tasks and, should they be defeated, they will simply return to their bodies on their respective demiplanes. The coven warlocks will also sell their lives to the coven's cause and will fight to the death. Only the commander will try to escape, and only after fighting hard enough and long enough so as not to be blamed for cowardice upon his return to the coven. He will attempt to flee a losing situation in order to report to the coven about the intervention of the PCs.

Developments: When Tiriss-ra sees Esha, there will be a moment of shocked recognition. The celestial will attempt to immediately hide it, both in the hope that Esha does not recognize her in this horrible and humiliating situation, and to protect him from further repurcussions. She already knows how the coven used her lover to secure her service, and she shudders to think what they could do with her son as a captive. As such, she will make a Bluff check (untrained, bonus of +4) against a Sense Motive check by Esha. Other PCs in sight of her the moment she sees Esha must make a DC 10 Spot check (modified by distance to her) and, if successful, then a Sense Motive check against her Bluff check. Failure means the observer(s) did not catch the momentary recognition. Success means they saw some instant of startled recognition pass her features as she glanced at Esha (or in his direction if there are many people near him).

Should Esha call out to his mother or otherwise express his recognition, Tiriss-ra will tearfully urge her son to flee, for she is bound to commit evil deeds and she neither wishes to harm her child nor have him see her in such a state. Tiriss-ra can and will explain how she was bound if pressed, but she will desire to wait until after the combat to do so. If the PCs attack her, she will urge them to not slay her, as her binders will then slay her lover (Esha's father); instead she will tell them to slay the demons and warlocks and spare her so that she can at least explain to them what is going on.

Assuming the PCs and the enlightened spirits prevail in the combat, and Tiriss-ra is still alive, she will pause for a moment and speak with the PCs. She will explain her predicament... that the coven seeks the tripart key to gain access to the device, and that they have captured Esha's father and used him as a bargaining chip while planar binding her into their service. She will be quite distraught and embarassed that she has been so bound, but will blame her longstanding love of Ahltliconcho as the driving force behind the binding. She will say that the binding requires her to obtain and bring the three key pieces to the coven at a specified location in exchange for the life of her husband. If asked whether the coven can be trusted to turn over Ahltliconcho, she will say that the same mystic powers that bind her also bind them. They cannot go against the intent of the bargain without suffering horrendous consequences (if asked, the DM can think of some, including attacks by inevitables, divine retribution from Meredros or other gods, or perhaps the inability to ever bind an outsider ever again [or even more amusingly, allowing outsiders to bind the pact breaker!]).

The PCs now have choices to make. Tiriss-ra must continue her quest...even if it means attacking the PCs to do so. She will state as much. But she also does not wish the device to fall into the coven's hands. But while she is bound by the pact, the PCs are not. Perhaps they can think of something to do.

If Tiriss-ra is dead (i.e. sent back to her own plane), then the coven will instantly know she has failed and that the pact is ended. At the DM's option the coven could then slay Esha's father, or Tiriss-ra will be summoned, questioned, and once it is learned that she did not violate her pact, bound again by the coven and sent to retrieve the first key piece again, with another force of Fezen and even more demons. This process will take some time (the exact amount is up to the DM), but the next force should be even more powerful than the first attack force.

Azhan will emerge from hiding when the battle is over and greet his mistress and the PCs. He will ask his mistress for advice, but she will decline, for fear of breaking her pact, and instead counsel the pseudodragon to do what he thinks is right. As long as the PCs are trustworthy and act goodly, he will follow their orders (especially Esha).

Buligzar will not flee the combat, even if it goes badly. As long as it is not observed, it will simply continue to trail the PCs and Tiriss-ra, following the latter should they separate. Even if observed (not easy, as it has a normal Hide check of 27, is invisible, and follows at a distance) and chased away, it will seek to return and trail the celestial as soon as possible. If the quasit is slain, its master will know something has happened (and suffer the penalties accordingly) and might even summon forth the quasit again using lesser planar ally and question him as to what killed him. Tiriss-ra does not know Buligzar is following her, as she cannot see invisible obects.

Once per day, the Binder scries on Buligzar using his scry on familiar ability. Such scrying occurs somewhat randomly, at any time of day or night due to the Binder's darkvision and see invisibility abilities. The DM should roll a d6 to determine whether a given scrying will happen during AM (1-3) or PM (4-6) and then can roll a d12 to determine the precise hour. Obviously, what the Binder observes of Buligzar's situation can have a great effect on how the scenario proceeds.

Should the PCs attempt to attack Tiriss-ra, the enlightened spirits will be confused for a round trying to figure out what to do. They will then tend to attack the PCs in order to defend Tiriss-ra. However, if the PCs can convince the enlightened spirits of their good intents and Tiriss-ra's skewed intent, they should be able to get the enlightened spirits to desist. If the PCs aided the enlightened spirits in fighting off the warlocks and demons, then they will be indifferent to the PCs attacking Tiriss-ra and will simply observe, worried and bemused. If the PCs did not attack the warlocks and demons (in a manner the enlightened spirits could observe), then the enlightened spirits will be unfriendly to the PCs should they attack Tiriss-ra. If the enlightened spirits are made friendly, they will allow the PCs to proceed if they do not seem to be intent on slaying Tiriss-ra. If made helpful, the enlightened spirits might (at the DM's option) accompany the PCs for the remainder of this scenario.

Part Two - Options

The remainder of this scenario is somewhat open and free form. The idea is to present the PCs with a problem and then allow them to figure out how to solve it. The DM should not feel compelled to force the PCs to run through all of the content in this scenario. If the PCs figure out a reasonable shortcut, then so be it!

The PCs have a dilemma. Tiriss-ra is bound to continue on her attempt to secure the key pieces for the coven. If the PCs simply propose slaying her material form as a way to release her from her pact, she will say that the pact requires her to succeed if Ahltliconcho's life is to be spared. Should she divert or break the pact or allow it to be broken, then Ahltliconcho will be forfeit. So, the PCs want to save Ahltliconcho while not allowing Tiriss-ra to break the pact. There are several ways that the PCs could deal with this problem.

1. The PCs could attempt a rescue of Ahltliconcho. This is not easy. Tiriss-ra knows very little about the coven. She only knows that a group of Fezen warlocks summoned her specifically by name, bound her, showed her that they have Ahltliconcho captive, and threatend to slay him if she did not retrieve the key pieces. She does not know if the place she was summoned is where the coven is headquartered or where Ahltliconcho is being kept. She was told to return the key pieces to a specific location southeastern Fezen, but again she doubts they would be foolish enough to make the dropoff spot the place where Ahltliconcho is being held.

PCs could attempt to question a captured warlock or even the commander, or question a slain warlock using speak with dead. The normal warlocks know the location of their headquarters, but all will die rather than divulge it. Of course, they could be compelled by various means such as charm or dominate spells.

Divination attempts to locate the headquarters will have to overcome the various wards against such activities (see Part Six below).

Additionally, directly assaulting the headquarters has its own risks, which are dealt with in Part Six below.

In any event, even if the PCs have Ahltliconcho, Tiriss-ra will still be bound to fulfill the pact. As such, the PCs would have to slay her to break her end of the pact. She will be forced to resist any attempt to slay her.

2. The PCs could attempt to dupe the coven somehow by returning with decoy key pieces. This is also not easy, as the coven will sense that the planar binding pact has not been fulfilled. While the pact cannot be itself check whether the key pieces are real or not, it will sense whether Tiriss-ra believes them to be real. The only feasible way to accomplish this would be to somehow dupe Tiriss-ra into believing she has found the key pieces when she really has not. Given that only she knows how to access each piece, and she is no dummy by any means, this is likely to only be accomplished with powerful magic that can alter the memories and perception of the celestial. Should this be accomplished, then Tiriss-ra could bring the decoy pieces back to the drop off point and exchange them for Ahltliconcho.

It will likely not occur to the coven that Tiriss-ra could possibly bring in false pieces, since the pact binds her to bring in the real pieces. Presumably no one really knows the task she is engaging in, and so no one would have reason to deceive her. The coven is not aware that Tiriss-ra has a familiar or that Azkhan came with her and fled the scene. As such, as long as the PCs are discrete they may believe they can pull it off. However, the wild card is the quasit. It will try to listen in on any plans like this that the PCs have, and it will follow the PCs and Tiriss-ra back to the drop off point and then alert its masters to the deception. This will force Tiriss-ra to continue on her mission, and will bring down possible coven retribution on the PCs.

Tiriss-ra is tasked with gaining all 3 pieces before returning them to the coven.

3. The PCs could aid Tiriss-ra in recovering the pieces, exchange them for Ahltliconcho, and then attack the coven to regain the pieces. This is the most likely means of success. It ideally involves the PCs defeating Tiriss-ra's demonic and warlock escort, finding and slaying the quasit (or better yet, imprisoning it so that the master is not aware of its demise [although the PCs will have to deal with the Binder scrying on the quasit once per day]), and then helping her to gain access to all 3 key pieces (presumably convincing the enlightened spirits to stand down and allow this to happen). She would then take the key pieces to the drop off point (with the PCs in hiding, or teleporting in since the Fezen likely can see invisible) and the exchange would be made. Tiriss-ra would then take Ahltliconcho to a safe place (their pact included provision that Ahltliconcho and Tiriss-ra would not be harmed or detained for 2 weeks and could leave safely, and that the celestial and her lover would not attack the coven for 2 weeks) while the PCs attacked the coven and regained the key pieces, which could then be returned to their places of rest.

If the PCs have slain the warlocks and demons, then Tiriss-ra will need their help, somewhat with gaining the second key piece and definitely gaining the final key piece. Tiriss-ra had always expected her demonic escort to attack and overwhelm the gold dragon to gain the third key piece. With them gone, she will absolutely need the PCs' help in defeating the dragon (see Part Five below).

Finally, the PCs could allow it or it could simply happen that the coven manages to get away with their key pieces. Or the PCs might simply deem it better to ambush the coven when it is together and has all the key pieces at hand. In either case, the PCs could arrange to ambush the coven as it seeks to open the vault containing the Trimvirzunn (see Part Seven below).

Dealing with Tiriss-ra:

Tiriss-ra in no way wants to complete her task. But she is compelled ultimately by the magic of the planar binding spell and also by her concern for Ahltliconcho. That said, without the compulsion of the spell, she would never consider turning over the key pieces in exchange for Ahltliconcho's life.

The DM should carefully adjudicate the PCs' interaction with Tiriss-ra. She will certainly use only the least amout of force against the PCs in order to complere her mission, but the magic that compels er forces her to act as intelligently and vehemently as she would apply herself to any desired task. If push came to shove, she would even have to slay her own son and the rest of the PCs in order to complete her mission. She will not act the dupe and willingly fall captive to the PCs or fall for ploys intentionally.That said, she is by no means a genius and a clever foe could certainly trick her or maneuver her to his advantage.

Tiriss-ra is not bound by any sort of oath of secrecy, and so she can certainly speak to the PCs and tell them what she is doing, as long as doing so will not directly compromise her task. She cannot offer the PCs any advice, however. There is no way, short of magical compulsion, to convince Tiriss-ra to abate her task. Specifically, the magic involved in the planar binding is not an enchantement of any sort and protection from evil and the like will not affect it. Planar binding is in instantaneous spell and so it cannot be dispelled nor will antimagic field affect it.

Tiriss-ra cannot divulge any infrmation about those who bound her, other than to say that they are a coven of warlocks. She can tell the PCs the location of the drop off point, as well as what her instructions are, what the terms of her pact are, and that she was called to this plane by name by one of the Coven members and bound by a planar binding spell.

Tiriss-ra can divulge the locations of the keys to the PCs, but she is reluctant to do so independently of her planar binding, since she does not know all of the PCs and might fear that they would seek the keys themselves. If the PCs can fully gain her trust, she might be willing to tell them, but she will mention that without her, the keys cannot be accessed or moved.

In any event, Tiriss-ra will proceed to retrieve each key piece in the locations set forth below. She knows precisely how to gain access to each key. Tiriss-ra will have no issue with the PCs accompanying her into the key locations and watching her obtain the key pieces, as long as they do not interfere in any way whatsoever.

Part Three - The First Key

The frst key is located near the site of the battle at Guirilzen'ir. None of the enlightened spirits knows it is here. They are aware of the historical significance of the place, but not that one of the three key pieces resides here.

The key resides in a vault located beneath a small hillock.The vault is hidden under the surface of the hillside, buried beneath 3 ft of rock, earth, and grass. The vault is essentially a hollow 50 ft metal cube made of some sort of silvery celestial metal not found on Therra. This metal acts as lead for purposes of foiling divinations, and the walls of the cube are 3 ft thick. The walls are treated like magically hardened iron that quickly repairs itself (hardness 20, 4320 hp, break DC 600, save bonus +15, fast healing 5). When damaged, portions of the walls around the damage gather the surrounding environment into a quicksilver-like liquid that flows into the damage and solidifes, repairing the damage.

The interior of the vault is located in an extradimensional pocket similar to that created by a rope trick spell. This planar pocket has the following effects:

• The interior is considered to be on another plane, and most divination spells will not penetrate into the vault.
• Teleport and other similar means of travel, including plane shift or ethereal travel, will not function within the vault.
• No creatures can be summoned, called, or gated into the vault.
• Incorporeal creatures cannot enter the vault by passing through the exterior walls.
• Any other effects that do not work across different planes will not function within the vault.
• Any effects that require access to the natural world will not function within the vault.
• Any extradimensional effects brought into the vault can have unintended consequences (this is left to the DM but can include destroying the extradimensional items or having them not function).

Access to the vault is accomplished by accessing the top of the hillock where the vault is located. At the peak of the hillock is a small spike of silvery celestial metal some 3 ft tall and surmounted by a disc of similar metal 1 ft in diameter that depicts angelic beings blasting fiends with cones and rays of energy. This metal monument is well known to the enlightened spirits (hardness 20, 140 hp, break DC 50, save bonus +15, fast heaing 5) and since it is a part of the vault and runs down into the hilltop and merges with the top of the vault even if the spike is completely destroyed, it will grow back quickly and fully repair itself. The spike radiates strong evocation magic.

The spike can be used in two ways to open the vault.

The first way requires one of the group of celestials that obtained the Trimvirzunn (including Tiriss-ra) to spill his blood upon the spike. When this vault was created, the celestials attuned it to their blood by means of an ancient ritual. To open the vault, the celestial would ram his hand on the top of the spike and blood would flow down to cover the disc. When the disc is fully coated in celestial blood, the celestial then utters a phrase in Celestial ("may the fiendish covens never again work their hidden evil"). This causes the blood to quickly absorb into the metal of the spike and run down into the hilltop. Eventually, the blood reaches the vault and with a great shuddering as if from an earthhquake the hillside covering the southern face of the vault will fall away revealing that wall of the vault.

The second method is likely not accessible by the PCs. The celestials set up a way for someone not of their number to open the vault should the need to use the Trimvirzunn become unavoidable and none of the original group of celestials be available. The blood of a good-aligned outsider is still required, and the password in Celestial must be uttered by the outsider as described above (it is significant to note that the outsider sacrificing the blood must be the one uttering the pass phrase, so simply harvesting the blood of an outsider and saying the password will not suffice). However, the outsider must also have in his possession one of a limited number of special amulets that are currently in the possession of various powerful good aligned outsiders in the netherplanes. The amulet must be touched to the spike's disc as it is covered in blood and the pass phrase uttered. Should this happen, the earthquake as described above will occur and the vault face will be exposed. The magic of this vault is of epic origin and as such can unfaillibly detect the alignment and type of anyone attempting to open the vault unless his alignment and/or type is altered by epic magic.

The outsider who activated the earthquake must then merely touch the face of the vault, and a 10 ft square opening will appear in the center of the bottom of the vault face, allowing ingress into the vault.

The vault is comprised of two levels. Each level is 25 ft high and the floor between the two levels is 3 ft thick. Interior walls are made of the same metal as the vault walls and are 6 inches thick (hardness 20, 360 hp, break DC 100, save bonus +15, fast healing 5).

The entire vault radiates an argent light that has the effect of both a daylight spell (CL 20) and a celestial brilliance spell (CL 20) [BoED p94].

1. Entry Chamber (EL 13)

The entrance way to the north is completely blocked by a permanent wall of force effect (CL 20). This is a magical effect and not a spell and so functions as a magic item (meaning a dispel magic will negate it for 1d4 rounds only). However, since the item generating the effect is in area 2, only a dispel magic cast on the device will negate the effect. If the effect is brought down by other means (e.g. disintegrate), it will reappear after 1d4 rounds.

The wall of force effect can also be negated by a good-aligned outsider placing his hands on the wall of force and willing it to go down. This will open the way for 4 rounds. The magic of this vault is of epic origin and as such can unfaillibly detect the alignment and type of anyone attempting to open the vault unless his alignment and/or type is altered by epic magic.

Traps: There are 3 greater glyphs of warding (CL 20) and 3 symbol spells in this chamber. Each is indicated on the map and the colour corresponds to the colour of the inscription on the floor. The glyphs are all set to activate if any creature that is not a good outsider comes within 10 ft of the glyph (i.e. enters any of the squares surrounding the glyph or the square of the glyph itself). The affect reaches all the way up to the ceiling, so that each glyph covers an area of 9 squares all the way up to the ceiling.

g1 invokes a blade barrier spell in a 10 ft radius ring centered on the point of the map where the "1" is located. Thus the ring effectively blocks access to the wall of force and requires an Escape Artist check for a Medium or Small creature to squeeze by the 2 ft wide space between the blade barrier and the southern exit. The blade barrier is only 20 ft high, and so PCs flying near the ceiling are safe if they are not size Large or larger.

Greater Glyph of Warding (Spell) CR 7; spell; spell trigger; no reset; spell effect (greater glyph of warding [spell], 20th-level cleric, blade barrier, 10 ft radius ring, 15d6 damage, DC 24 Reflex save half damage); Search DC 31; Disable Device DC 31.

g2 invokes a Searing flame strike spell centered on the person activating the glyph. A spell affected by Searing metamagic (Sand p53) ignores fire resistance and does half damage to fire immune creatures. Cold creaturs take double damage. With regard to the flame strike spell the Searing effect only applies to that portion of the spell that does fire damage.

Greater Glyph of Warding (Spell) CR 7; spell; spell trigger; no reset; spell effect (greater glyph of warding [spell], 20th-level cleric, Searing flame strike, 10 ft radius, 15d6 damage, DC 24 Reflex save half damage); Search DC 31; Disable Device DC 31.

g3 invokes a conjure ice beast VI spell (FB p91). It will conjure an ice beast dire bear that will appear right next to the person who activated the glyph.

Greater Glyph of Warding (Spell) CR 7; spell; spell trigger; no reset; spell effect (greater glyph of warding [spell], 20th-level cleric, conjure ice beast VI); Search DC 31; Disable Device DC 31.

ICE BEAST DIRE BEAR CR 7* Frostburn page 138 N Large construct (cold) Init +1; Senses low-light vision, scent; Listen +0, Spot +0 AC 23, touch 10, flat-footed 22 hp 96 (12 HD); DR 10/magic Immune cold Vulnerable fire Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +4 Spd 40 ft (8 squares) Melee 2 claws +19 (2d4+10) and bite +13 (2d8+5) Space 10 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +9; Grp +23 Special Actions ice breath (6d6 cold damage, DC 16) Abilities Str 31, Dex 13, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 1 SQ construct traits Feats Weapon Focus (claw) Ice Breath (Su) As a standard action, the ice beast can breathe cold. Its breath weapon deals 1d6 points of cold damage per 2 HD it possesses (minimum 1d6, maximum 10d6) in a 30 ft cone (DC 10 + 1/2 the ice beast's HD, Reflex save half). Once an ice beast uses its ice breath, it must wait 1d4 rounds before it can use its breath weapon again. * No XP should be granted for this creature, since it is included in the CR of the trap that conjures it.

s1 is a symbol of death made permanent by a permanency spell. It activates whenever a creature not attuned to the symbol enters a square inside the vault within 60 ft of it without speaking the password, which is "death is only a beginning" in Celestial. Once activated, the symbol affects all within 60 ft (though it does not extend outside of the vault). The original celestials were attuned to the symbol.

Symbol of Death CR 9; spell; spell trigger; premanency reset; spell effect (symbol of death, 20th-level cleric, DC 26 Fort negates); Search DC 33; Disable Device DC 33.

s2 is a symbol of insanity made permanent by a permanency spell. It activates whenever a creature not attuned to the symbol enters a square inside the vault within 60 ft of it without speaking the password, which is "insanity is not evil, but evil is insanity" in Celestial. Once activated, the symbol affects all within 60 ft (though it does not extend outside of the vault). The original celestials were attuned to the symbol.

Symbol of Insanity CR 9; spell; spell trigger; premanency reset; spell effect (symbol of insanity, 20th-level cleric, DC 26 Will negates); Search DC 33; Disable Device DC 33.

s3 is a symbol of spell loss (SC p218). It activates whenever a creature not attuned to the symbol enters a square inside the vault within 60 ft of it without speaking the password, which is "no balm can soothe a true loss" in Celestial. Once activated, the symbol affects all within 60 ft (though it does not extend outside of the vault). The original celestials were attuned to the symbol.

Symbol of Spell Loss CR 6; spell; spell trigger; permanency reset; spell effect (symbol of spell loss, 20th-level cleric, DC 23 Will negates); Search DC 30; Disable Device DC 30.

2. Chamber of the Device

Additionally, the device generates the extradimensional effect that surrounds the vault. This effect cannot be dispelled.

The device is impervious to most attempts to damage it. It is an integral part of the vault and attached to the floor and cannot be removed from the device. Assume it has the same hardness, hit points, save bonus, and fast healing as the vault walls.

The various levers and knobs of the device can be fiddled with. Normally, this will have a random effect, although once a certain combination of pulls and twists is noted the effect can be replicated. Otherwise, roll randomly on the chart below. Assume manipulating the device takes 1d6 rounds.

D100	Effect
01-15	A pulsating, 10 ft diameter beam of golden light emerges from the device and flows straight up through the opening in the ceiling above. Anyone entering the beam is gently levitated up to the upper level. This effect lasts for 10 rounds.
16-18	The device emits an electrical discharge in a 20 ft radius sphere centered on the device. This is identical to a scintillating sphere effect. Caster level is equal to 1d6+4. Save DC is 13 + caster level.
19-20	The device discharges a sound lance effect at a random person within line of effect within 100 ft. Caster level is equal to 1d6+4. Save DC is 13 + caster level.
21-26	The wall of force effect lowers for 10 rounds.
27-39	The device hums and sparks emerge at various places for 1d3 rounds.
40-43	The person activating the device is subject to a cure light wounds effect (caster level 5th, DC 19).
44-46	The person activating the device is subject to a spell effect as follows: 1 = bull's strength, 2 = bear's endurance, 3 = cat's grace, 4 = fox's cunning, 5 = owl's wisdom, 6 = eagle's splendour at caster level 20th.
47-48	An undeath to death effect is activated (caster level 20th) centered on the device.
49-50	The person activating the device is subject to a protection from evil effect (caster level 20th).
51-52	The person activating the device is subject to a searing light effect (caster level 20th, ranged touch +14).
53	The person activating the device is subect to a disintegrate effect (caster level 20th, ranged touch +14).
54	Earthquake (as the spell, caster level 20th) centered on the device (but not extending beyond the vault). No structures in the vault will be harmed.
55-56	Dispel evil effect on the activating creature. If the creature is good aligned, then he will gain the benefits of the spell. If the creature is evil and extraplanar, he is subject to the banashing effect (caster level 20th, save DC 23).
57	Holy word centered on the device (caster level 20th, save DC 25).
60-69	An image of an otherworldly landscape appears in the air above the device. The landscape is beautiful, the colours sharper than natural, the shapes more perfect than natural, etc. This image of a celestial netherplane lasts for 10 rounds.
70-74	The device plays a series of otherworldly chords for 10 rounds. Good-aligned creatures will be fascinated during this time unless they succeed on a DC 23 Will save.
75-76	The image of a celestial appears above the device (Knowledge [planes] DC 25 reveals it as a planetar). The creature stares at the various persons within sight of the device and mouths something silently before disappearing after 3 rounds. If this result is indicated again, a blank grey mist will appear above the device for 10 rounds.
77-83	The device goes dormant for 20 rounds and cannot be activated during this time. There is nothing that happens to indicate the device has gone dormant nor when becomes activatable again.
84-85	Mass cure light wounds effect (caster level 20th, DC 23) centered on the device and affecting creatures closest to the device first.
86-98	No effect.
99-00	Multiple effects. Roll twice on this chart and if this result is rolled again, continue twice again.

3. Upper Chamber (EL 18)

The shimmering wall is a permanent prismatic wall (CL 20). There are, in fact, two such walls, one blocking the northern entry into the central chamber and another blocking the southern entry into the same. Although planar travel is normally not possible in this vault, the prismatic walls are specially attuned to the ritual that created the vault and this allows the violet effect to function. Creatures that are affected by the violet effect are transported to the celestial demiplane of the creators of the vault (which is also Esha's plane of birth).

The first key piece is contained in the central chamber. It hovers over a silver pedestal 4 ft high and 2 ft in diameter. A golden light ascends up from the pedestal to the ceiling and the key is bathed within this column of light.

Creatures: A prismatic golem has been set to guard the key piece. The golem is attuned to the prismatic walls in this chamber such that it can be healed by them (as set forth in the creature description below) but doing so does not negate the walls in any way.

PRISMATIC GOLEM CR 18 Monster Manual III page 71 NG Large construct (extraplanar, good, incorporeal) Init +11; Senses blindsight 60 ft, darkvision 60 ft, low-light vision; Listen +0, Spot +0 Auras prismatic body (illumination, blindness) AC 23, touch 10, flat-footed 22; prismatic body; Miss 50% (incorporeal) hp 140 (20 HD); DR 10/evil Immune magic Fort +6, Ref +17, Will +6 Spd fly 50 ft (10 squares) (perfect) Melee 2 incorporeal touches +14 (prismatic touch) Space 10 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +15; Grp - Abilities Str -, Dex 33, Con -, Int -, Wis 11, Cha 11 SQ construct traits, incorporeal traits, moral code Immunity to Magic (Ex) A prismatic golem is immune to any spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance. In addition some spells and effects function differently against the creature as noted here. A prismatic spray heals the golem of 3d8 points of damage +1 per caster level (maximum 3d8+15). Contact with a prismatic wall or prismatic sphere also heals the golem in this way, and ends the spell's effects (but see above for details regarding this chamber). Moral Code Though unintelligent, a prismatic golem is imprinted with the oral code of its creator. It will cease to function on its controller's behalf if given any instructions that conflict with that moral code, regardless of whether the creator's ethics change. Prismatic Body (Su) A prismatic golem's body is comprised of scintillating colours. Creatures with 8 HD or fewer within 20 feet of a prismatic golem are blinded for 2d4 rounds by the flashing colours (no save). Any creature that touches a prismatc golem is treated as though the golem had hit it with its prismatic touch attack. A prismatic golem can be seen from miles away, and provides illumination as a daylight spell at all times. Prismatic Touch (Su) A prismatic golem attacks with luminous tendrils that extend from its body. A tendril's colour is determined randomly, since the golem lacks the intelligence to choose colours on its own. The effect of the touch attack is based on the tendril's colour, as shown on the following table. The save DCs are Charisma-based. d8 Colour Effect 1 Red 5d6 points of fire damage 2 Orange 5d6 points of acid damage 3 Yellow 5d6 points of electricity damage 4 Green 10d6 points of damage (as disintegrate spell; Fortitude DC 20 half) 5 Blue 5d6 points of cold damage 6 Indigo Insanity (as spell; Will DC 20 negates) 7 Violet 5d6 points of sonic damage 8 White 5d6 points of force damage

Tactics: The golem is programmed to emerge from the central chamber when it senses intruders. It will emerge from the southern prismatic wall and float to the other side to confront intruders. If any of the intruders are bathed in red light (i.e. detected as evil), the golem will attack. It will attack any and all creatures within the structure (including the lower level) until all evil creatures have exited the vault.

If it encounters no evil creatures and at least one good creature, the golem will nod to the good creature with the highest Charisma. It will then await the password in Celestial ("in the trinity does great evil wait for greater good"). If the password is uttered by any good-aligned creature, the golem will enter the central chamber, take the key piece, and hand it to the creature.

If any creature attempts to enter the inner chamber by any means whatsoever, the golem will attack and continue to attack until all creatures have left the vault.

Remember that the golem can pass through the interior walls of the vault (by means of its incorporealness). It can heal itself by passing through the prismatic walls though it can only do so once per round at most. While the golem is unintelligent, it is clever enough to use its incorporeality to advantage an to take refuge within the central chamber in order to heal or, in a last ditch effort, to await intruders.

Developments: The golden light that bathes the key piece imparts a special ghost touch property to the key which not only causes it to float above the pedestal, but also allows the prismatic golem to grab the key. The ghost touch property lasts for 10 rounds after the key leaves the light. Should the golem take the key, it will always be sure to return the key to the light if it has not given it to a worthy bearer.

Treasure: The key piece appears as a one third shard of a metal disc that was originally 6 inches in diameter. The shard's faces are covered in intricate glyphs and runes with silver traceries, and the piece radiates dim evocation magic.

Part Four - The Second Key

The second key is held in a hidden location called The Spiral, because of its shape. The Spiral is located in the foothills of the southwestern Serpent's Tongue peaks, at the back of a cave that was once hidden but has, in the ensuing years, been uncovered and inhabited by a tribe of dire corbies who worship a pair of smoke drakes.

Tiriss-ra knows the location of The Spiral and will proceed to the location shown by whatever method is most expedient. If any of the warlocks survived then she will walk so that thy can accompany her. If all of the warlocks are defeated, then she can fly (even if demons survived, they can fly [vrocks] or constantly greater teleport [hezrous] to keep up with her), and will do so. Tiriss-ra flying will present a bit of a problem for Buligzar, as its fly speed is 50 ft in quasit form while the celestial travels at a fly speed of 60 ft. This means the qausit will have to hustle somewhat.

Normally, hustling doubles your movement speed. However, Buligzar does not have to move that fast. It has to increase its speed by 20% to keep up. That means the quasit is doing a 1/5th hustle and is penalized accordingly. Normally, hustling causes 1 point of nonlethal damage per hour for the second hour and double the previous hour's damage for each hour thereafter. Hustling for a full 8 hours would result in 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64 = 127 points of nonlethal damage. At 20% this translates innto 25 points of nonlethal damage for the quasit, who will also be fatigued.

It is 475 miles as the crow flies from Guirilzen'ir to The Spiral. At a flight rate of 60 ft travelling 12 hours a day (8 hours in flight and 4 hours resting) the journey will take just under 8 days. It is up to the DM if the PCs, should they accompany her, have any encounters en route.

Tiriss-ra will not consent to be transported or teleported by the PCs. She will explain that it would put her at their mercy and that is forbidden by her pact. She will assent to spells that would speed her travel (such as spells that increase fly speed) but will not allow herself to be transformed into a different shape, even if that shape is faster than her normal shape.

Once Tiriss-ra arrives at the vicinity of The Spiral, she will need to wait until 3 PM (possibly the next day) to line up a specific peak with the sun and determine, thereby, the location of The Spiral. Since there is no axial tilt to Therra, the time of year does not change the path of the sun. It will take her 1d4 hours after 3 PM to reach the site.

If the warlocks and/or demons accompany Tiriss-ra, they will simply assault the dire corbies, slaying them all and eventually overcoming the drakes (although the DM can allocate casualties if the PCs merely watch and do not participate). Tiriss-ra will participate in the fight, but will always attempt to stay out of harm's way.

The Stone Cauldron:

The site is located at the base of a crater known as The Stone Cauldron. This crater is an oval about 400 ft wide and 800 ft long and walls that are about 45 degrees steep and 40 - 50 ft tall. It is nestled between several steep ridges, so that it is difficult to locate or reach except from the air. If the PCs intend to go on foot, the DM should allocate time spent clambouring up the ridges with some Climb checks possibly needed to safely negotiate the route. Given that most PCs of this level have the means to easily fly to the location in question, exact details are left to the DM.

The entrance to the caves that lead to The Spiral was blocked by stones from a magically-induced collapse of one of the walls of the crater. This was intended to help seal off access to The Spiral, but over the centuries, earthquakes and erosion caused another slide that exposed the entrance. The entrance is located at the north end of the crater, at its bottom, amongst a vast collection of tumbled and cracked boulders that make it clear slide activity happened here at some point. The opening is set into the ground itself and is a horizontal hole about 20 ft by 10 ft. Set next to the opening are four wooden stakes driven into the rocky ground. Each stake is decorated with feathers, bones, and skulls and a closer examination of these show that the skulls are of large birdlike creatures. If the skulls and bones are closely examined, a DC 25 Knowledge (nature) check will determine that they belong to raptorans (+10 bonus if the examiner is a raptoran).

The hole leads to a sloping natural passageway that descends steeply (45 degree angle) into the darkness below.

Note: DMs should be aware of the false vision spell in area 3 should the PCs attempt to scry the caverns.

Unless otherwise stated, all walls in the Stone Cauldron are of unworked stone (per 5 ft, hardness 8, 900 hp, break DC 65, Climb DC 15) and the floors are hewn stone. Ceilings are generally devoid of large mineral formations, these having long ago been removed by the earthquake and slide.

Hewn Stone Floor A DC 10 Balance check is required to run or charge across such a floor. Failure means the character can still act, but can’t run or charge in this round.

Where rubble is indicated, it is dense rubble (actually detritus of ceiling mineral formations fallen during the quakes and slides). In a pinch the dire corbies can pick up fist-sized stones from these areas and throw them at enemies (treat as an improvised weapon with a 10 ft range increment doing 1d3 points of damage [plus Strength modifier]).

Dense Rubble It costs 2 squares of movement to enter a square with dense rubble. Dense rubble adds 5 to the DC of Balance and Tumble checks, and it adds 2 to the DC of Move Silently checks.

There is no light within the caves, unless stated otherwise. The passageways between areas 2 and 3 are 15 ft to 20 ft tall.

Note: The dire corbies dwelling within these caves are not meant to present a serious challenge to the PCs. They are, instead, a means for the PCs to decide whether to parley or fight their way through and, if they choose to fight, to really feel the power of their stature. They should be able to mow the corbies down in fairly quick order, although the smoke drakes might present a bit of a problem.

1. Entrance

2. Common Area (EL 9)

The pit is about 20 ft in diameter and roughly 15 ft deep before ending in a pile of leaves, twigs, branches, and grass arrayed around a central bare area about 10 ft in diameter, looking almost like some massive nest except for the fact that it contains droppings and offal of all sorts and emits a horrific stench that will be apparent to anyone who stand adjacent to it. This pit serves as a middens. Its walls are sheer (Climb DC 25).

Creatures: The bulk of the dire corby population dwells here. There are 20 dire corby adults here, along with half a dozen younglings who cuddle close to their mothers (the younglings are size Small noncombatants).

DIRE CORBIES (20) CR 1 Tome of Horrors 3.5 page 159 NE Medium monstrous humanoid Init +1; Senses Blind-Fight, darkvision 60 ft; Listen +3, Spot +3 Languages Dire Corby AC 14, touch 11, flat-footed 13 hp 11 (2 HD) Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +3 Spd 30 ft (6 squares) Melee 2 claws +5 (1d4+3) Space 5 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +2; Grp +5 Abilities Str 16, Dex 12, Con 13, Int 6, Wis 10, Cha 8 Feats Blind-Fight Skills Climb +5, Hide +2, Listen +3, Spot +3

In the pit is a gelatinous cube, which the dire corbies herded into the pit to serve as a garbage disposal. The cube has grown large with its feedings.

ADVANCED GELATINOUS CUBE CR 5 N Large ooze Init -4; Senses blindsight 60 ft AC 5, touch 5, flat-footed 4 hp 162 (12 HD) Fort +16, Ref +0, Will -1 Spd 15 ft (3 squares) Melee slam +8 (1d6 plus 1d6 acid) Space 5 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +9; Grp +13 Abilities Str 11, Dex 2, Con 26, Int -, Wis 1, Cha 1 SQ ooze traits Acid (Ex) A gelatinous cube’s acid does not harm metal or stone. Engulf (Ex) Although it moves slowly, a gelatinous cube can simply mow down Large or smaller creatures as a standard action. It cannot make a slam attack during a round in which it engulfs. The gelatinous cube merely has to move over the opponents, affecting as many as it can cover. Opponents can make opportunity attacks against the cube, but if they do so they are not entitled to a saving throw. Those who do not attempt attacks of opportunity must succeed on a DC 17 Reflex save or be engulfed; on a success, they are pushed back or aside (opponent’s choice) as the cube moves forward. Engulfed creatures are subject to the cube’s paralysis and acid, and are considered to be grappled and trapped within its body. The save DC is Strength-based and includes a +1 racial bonus. Paralysis (Ex) A gelatinous cube secretes an anesthetizing slime. A target hit by a cube’s melee or engulf attack must succeed on a DC 24 Fortitude save or be paralyzed for 3d6 rounds. The cube can automatically engulf a paralyzed opponent. The save DC is Constitution-based. Transparent (Ex) Gelatinous cubes are hard to see, even under ideal conditions, and it takes a DC 15 Spot check to notice one. Creatures who fail to notice a cube and walk into it are automatically engulfed.

Tactics: The dire corbies hate raptorans, and are certainly cruel creatures, but they do not have much experience with humans and their ilk and can be approached peacefully if done so with strength and restraint. Even so, 6 mother corbies will hustle the 6 younglings into area 3.

If the dire corbies are aroused, 6 mothers will take their younglings into area 3 to safety, while the remainder attack enemies en masse, simply seeking to overwhelm them. While not especially clever, the dire corbies will flank and will use the aid another action to help attack opponents who seem difficult to hit. The dire corbies will fight to protect their lair to the death as long as they perceive that their young and eggs (see below) are in danger.

If possible, and if they are near enough to the pit, the dire corbies will attempt to grapple a victim en masse and throw him into the pit, where the gelatinous cube can dispose of them.

Developments: Fighting in this area will likely bring the dire corbies from area 3 here to aid in the defense of the tribe. Such fighting will almost certainly be noted by the smoke drakes in area 4, but they will react as set forth in the description of that area.

3. Warrens (EL 9)

The pearly white glow emanates from a globe in the hatchery. The light only illuminates the area in shadowy illumination, and only covers the hatchery itself and the immediate cavelet to the southeast.

Creatures: 10 normal dire corbies dwell here along with 3 leaders and a tribal chieftain. The chieftain and his 4 consorts dwell in the cavelet to the southwest (with the secret door).

DIRE CORBIES (10) CR 1 Tome of Horrors 3.5 page 159 NE Medium monstrous humanoid Init +1; Senses Blind-Fight, darkvision 60 ft; Listen +3, Spot +3 Languages Dire Corby AC 14, touch 11, flat-footed 13 hp 11 (2 HD) Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +3 Spd 30 ft (6 squares) Melee 2 claws +5 (1d4+3) Space 5 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +2; Grp +5 Abilities Str 16, Dex 12, Con 13, Int 6, Wis 10, Cha 8 Feats Blind-Fight Skills Climb +5, Hide +2, Listen +3, Spot +3

DIRE CORBY LEADERS (3) CR 4 Tome of Horrors 3.5 page 159 Male dire corby Fighter 3 NE Medium monstrous humanoid Init +1; Senses Blind-Fight, darkvision 60 ft; Listen +3, Spot +3 Languages Dire Corby AC 14, touch 11, flat-footed 13; Dodge, Mobility hp 36 (5 HD) Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +4 Spd 30 ft (6 squares) Melee 2 claws +9 (1d4+3) Space 5 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +5; Grp +8 Abilities Str 16, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 6, Wis 10, Cha 8 Feats Blind-Fight, Dodge, Mobility, Weapon Focus (claw) Skills Climb +8, Hide +2, Listen +3, Spot +3

DIRE CORBY CHIEFTAIN CR 6 Tome of Horrors 3.5 page 159 Male dire corby Fighter 5 NE Medium monstrous humanoid Init +1; Senses Blind-Fight, darkvision 60 ft; Listen +3, Spot +3 Languages Dire Corby, Auran AC 14, touch 11, flat-footed 13; Dodge, Mobility hp 51 (7 HD) Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +6 Spd 30 ft (6 squares) Melee 2 claws +11 (1d4+5) Space 5 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +7; Grp +10 Abilities Str 16, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 6, Wis 10, Cha 8 Feats Blind-Fight, Dodge, Iron Will, Mobility, Weapon Focus (claw), Weapon Specialization (claw) Skills Climb +8, Hide +2, Listen +3, Spot +3 Possessions bone and ivory necklace (25gp), bone and beak crown with raw garnets and amethysts (50 gp)

The chieftain is a fierce example of his kind, not used to being stood up to and certainly not willing to lose face (or beak) to the PCs. In a fight he will lead by example, attacking the PCs furiously.

The dire corbies will fight to the death to protect their younglings and eggs.

Developments:

Fighting in area 2 will likely bring the dire corbies here into that area to aid in the fighting. The cave with the glowing light is being used as a hatchery by the superstitious dire corbies, who consider the glass globe there to be the divine influence of the two smoke gods who dwell in area 4.

The globe radiates moderate illusion magic and emits a Widened false vision effect (as the spell, CL 20). The entire area within 80 ft of the globe is set to make all of areas 3 and 5 of the caves appear to be solid stone. This globe is considered wondrous architecture and cannot be moved without destroying the effect.

Additionally, the globe serves as an unlocking mechanism for the secret door (see below).

Obviously, Tiriss-ra knows of the globe and the secret door and how to open them.

Secret Doors: The secret door to area 5 is well constructed by the celestials (Search DC 30). It bears a magical lock that can be opened by any good-aligned outsider who places both hands on the globe. Without this mechanism, the door must be broken through (treat as a 5 ft thick section of unworked stone wall) or otherwise bypassed.

4. Drake Lair (EL 15)

This entire cavern is filled with wisps of smoke, providing concealment to all within. The drakes continually renew their breath weapons, filling the cavern with a single breath from the center of the place. The following description may have to wait until the place has been cleared of smoke.

Creatures: Two smoke drakes came upon the dire corbies and set themselves up as gods by devouring the previous chieftain. Having cowed the dire corbies, the dragons set up in this cavern, and the corbies now bring them offerings of food in exchange for allowing access to the pool of fresh water.

ADVANCED SMOKE DRAKES (2) CR 13 Draconomicon page 157 CE Large dragon (air, fire) Init +4; Senses blindsight 60 ft, darkvision 60 ft, low-light vision, Track; Listen +26, Spot +26 Languages Draconic, Auran AC 19, touch 13, flat-footed 15; Flyby Attack hp 184 (19 HD) Immune fire, paralysis, sleep Vulnerable cold Fort +14, Ref +17, Will +13 Spd 40 ft (8 squares), fly 120 ft (24 squares) (good) Melee bite +23 (3d6+5) and 2 claws +21 (1d8+2) and tail slap +14 (1d8+7) Space 10 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +19; Grp +28 Atk Options Power Attack Special Action breath weapon (see below), Flyby Attack Abilities Str 20, Dex 18, Con 17, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 13 Feats Alertness, Flyby Attack, Improved Natural Attack (bite), Lightning Reflexes, Multiattack, Power Attack, Track Skills Escape Artist +26, Hide +22*, Listen +26, Move Silently +28, Search +22, Spot +26 Breath Weapon (Su) As a standard action once every 1d4 rounds, a smoke drake can breathe a hazy cloud of smoke in a 30 ft radius spread that provides concealment (20% miss chance) to all creatures within. Thanks to its blindsight, the drake ignores this miss chance. The haze lasts for 1 minute, but can be blown away by a moderate wind (11+ mph) in 4 rounds or a strong wind (21+ mph) in 1 round. This breath weapon is not usable underwater. Once per day, a smoke drake can exhale an incendiary cloud rather than a hazy cloud. The cloud provides concealment as the hazy cloud does, but the white-hot embers suspended withinn the incendiary cloud deal 2d6 points of fire damage to everything within it each round (Reflex DC 22 half). The incendiary breath is otherwise identical to the hazy breath. * +4 racial bonus on Hide checks in areas of shadow or darkness.

Tactics: The smoke drakes will attempt to use their hazy breath to best effect, attempting to fill the entire area around them with concealing smoke and then striking in melee with as much Power Attack as possible to allow them a decent chance to hit their foes. Because they can only use thier incendiary breaths once per day, they will save those until in extremis, possibly in the hope that their foes do not realize that they are limited in how many times they can use that breath weapon.

While drakes like to engage in Flyby Attacks, in the caves this will likely not be possible. The drakes will attack in coordination, flanking whenever possible.

Developments: The drakes will not immediately enter area 2 if fighting erupts. They want to take a few rounds to learn about their opponents and to let the dire corbies handle the foes or at least absorb some of their spells. The blindsight and keen hearing of the drakes should allow them to remain hidden in their smoke-filled den and observe or listen to the combat without. They will then emerge breathing smoke, knowing that the corbies can use their Blind-Fight feat to offset some of the smoke's concealment.

While dragons, elemental drakes are not as obsessive over treasure as true dragons. What they have going here with the dire corbies is a nice setup, but if and when it is proven the drakes are not gods and cannot defeat a given foe (i.e. the PCs) then they know the dire corbies will stop worshipping them and it will be time to move on. As such, they are not about to throw their lives away in a fight against the PCs. If either is reduced to less than 25% of their total hit points, both drakes will seek to flee. If one can flee, it will leave the other behind. The drakes will even agree to surrender if they cannot flee, and will make whatever promises they need to make. However, due to their Chaotic Evil nature, they will gleefully breach any oaths as soon as it is expedient to do so.

While the smoke drakes are not willing to throw their lives away to defend this place, smoke drakes are amongst the most territorial and vindictive of all of the elemental drakes. As such, if driven away by the PCs, they will seek revenge, even if it takes them years to do so. The DM can and should feel free to have the drakes stalk the PCs over time and confront them (possibly at a moment of disadvantage for the PCs) and attempt to extract fitting vengeance.

Despite any bargain the PCs may derive with the drakes, should they enter The Spiral and emerge in very wounded condition, the drakes will have no compunctions about attacking the PCs.

Treasure: The drakes' treasure is contained amongst their nests and includes the following in total (roughly divided equally between the two nests):

• A silver and lapis crown shaped like waves of water (450 gp)
• A turquoise and silver bracelet (75 gp)
• 3 raw diamonds (1,000 gp each uncut)
• 7 raw emeralds (1,200 gp each uncut)
• A large animal horn (from a dinosaur) that has silver filagree around its rim and runes carved into its face. This is a horn of blasting taken from a goliath bard

5. Entrance to The Spiral

Treating with the Dire Corbies:

The dire corbies do not have to be fought. They can be parleyed with as long as no raptorans are present. The sight of any raptoran will immediately turn the dire corbies hostile.

Otherwise, if the PCs approach the dire corbies from a position of wary strength, the creatures will begin as unfriendly. In this state, the dire corbies will allow the PCs into the passageway between areas 1 and 2 and then call for the chieftain to arrive, at which point, assuming communication can be made, Diplomacy or Intimidation can be used (or Bluff if the PCs can find a good excuse to use it). The chieftain responds well to offers of wealth, but the dire corbies do not value coins. Jewelry, gems, interesting trinkets, and magic items are welcome. The dire corbies will not wear armour or use weapons of any sort. The DM should provide a circumstance bonus of between +2 and +5 to a Diplomacy roll if such items are given. Should the PCs give the dire corbies raptoran trophies (e.g. the head of a raptoran) then the bonus should be +10.

If the dire corbies are made indifferent, they will allow the PCs to enter area 2, but not area 3. Attempts to enter area 3 (where the eggs and younglings are) will turn the dire corbies unfriendly or even hostile if the PCs persist.

If the dire corbies are made friendly, they will take the PCs to meet their gods (the smoke drakes - see below).

If the dire corbies are made helpful, they will allow the PCs warily to poke around the complex, but not to enter the hatchery at all. Attempts to enter the hatchery will be met with warnings and then hostility.

If the PCs enter area 2 peacefully, the smoke drakes will simply observe them. They do not wish to play their hand and expose themselves to the PCs unecessarily.

For the PCs to gain access to the globe that opens the secret door to The Spiral, they will have to have the drakes convince/intimidate the dire corbies into allowing the PCs to access the orb in the hatchery.

If the PCs are friendly to the dire corbies, then they will be taken to meet the drakes. The PCs will be brought before the smoky entrance to area 4 and the dragons, standing 50 ft away, will speak with them, attempting to determine who they are and what they seek. The drakes know nothing of The Spiral beneath these caves, nor of the purpose of the glowing globe or the presence of the secret door. In fact, they will be a bit skeptical at first.

If the dire corbies are helpful to the PCs, then if the PCs insist they must access the globe (and Tiriss-ra will insist) the dire corbies will begin to protest loudly that the globe is a holy altar of their gods, who lurk nearby and will be angry if the globe is profaned. If the PCs inquire as to the nearby gods, they will be brought before the entrance to area 4 as described above.

The PCs will need to convince the drakes to force the dire corbies to allow the PCs access to the glowing globe. At first the drakes will want a share of whatever treasure is down there. Tiriss-ra will assure the PCs that there is likely to be no treasure at all down there (and if not restrained, will say so in front of the drakes). In this case the drakes will demand that the PCs promise not to harm any eggs, that they conduct their business and leave with no harm to the cave inhabitants, and that they pay a tribute to the drakes. This tribute is initially an attempt by the drakes to extort bribes from the PCs and they will demand a fairly steep price (left to the DM to devise). If the PCs bargain persuasively (perhaps using Diplomacy or Intimidate or Bluff), then the pricce will lower, although it must still be enough to satsify the dire corbies that their gods have gained suitable obeisance from the newcomers. In a pinch, the drakes might even directly inform the PCs that they need something from them lest the dire corbies think the drakes are not gods worthy of worship and supplication.

The Spiral:

The Spiral is essentially a magical combination lock for the second piece of the key. As usual, Tiriss-ra knows how to operate The Spiral to gain the key piece. The same amulets used to access the vault of the first key piece contain a clue to The Spiral. On the back of the amulet is a spiral designed engraved into the center of the jewelry. Along the edges are groupings of notches that correspond to the spiral numbers of the activation pylons. The notches are arranged in the order of proper activation. For example, the first group of notches starting from the top of the back of the amulet is III (i.e. three notches grouped together) which signifies that the pylon on level 3 of the spiral is the first to be activated. None of this is of any use to the PCs of course.

The Spiral map above shows a vertical cross section of The Spiral and then a top down view. In the cross section, each level of the spiral is numbered. A level of a spiral consists of a single revolution of the spiralling pathway from the point of entrance around 360 degrees. Of course, the spirals get tighter and steeper as one goes down the structure.

On the top down view are letters corresponding to the locations of the pylons. Pylon A is on level 1, pylon B on level 2, and so forth. Note that the letters denote the location of the pylon in terms of their position in degrees on the spiral. It does not show their actual position, as the lower pylons would, by definition, be scrunched in towards the center as the diameter of the structure decreases as one descends.

When the PCs reach the structure proper from the entryway from area 5 of the caves above, read the following:

In order to activate the place properly and gain access to the key piece, each pylon must be approached and touched by a good aligned outsider in proper order. The proper order is: C - A - E - B - D. If this is done, a secret trap door (see Secret Doors below) at the bottom of the place will lose its sequester effect, allowing it to be detected and opened. Within is a lead chest that holds the key piece (see Treasure below).

If a pylon is touched out of order, several things will happen simultaneously:

A. The entire structure will be bathed in a brilliant blinding light. This is energy conduited directly from the Positive Energy Plane and the effect is to infuse the entire structure interior with a major positive-dominant trait. This has the following effects:

1. Creatures must make a DC 15 Fortitude every round or become blinded for 10 rounds.

2. Creatures gain fast healing 5 as an extraordinary ability.

3. Those at full hit points gain 5 temporary hit points per round which fade in 1d20 rounds.

4. Any creature whose temporary hit points exceed its normal hit point total must make a DC 20 Fortitude save each round or explode, killing it.

B. The three glowing will-o-wisp like motes will burst brightly, activating 3 dimensional lock traps. These are sufficient to cover the entire interior of the structure and prevents extradimensional travel, including summoning spells.

Dimensional Lock Trap CR 9; magic device; visual trigger (clairvoyance); automatic reset; multiple traps (three simultaneous dimensional lock traps); spell effect (Widened dimensional lock, 20th-level sorcerer); Search DC 33; Disable Device DC 33.

D. A wall of force will appear blocking the exit from the spiral (CL 20). The trap for this effect is located where the entry hall meets the circular spiral chamber, on the ceiling, and the wall of force itself is cast 5 ft down the entry hall.

Wall of Force Trap CR 6; magic device; visual trigger (clairvoyance); automatic reset; spell effect (wall of force, 20th-level sorcerer); Search DC 30; Disable Device DC 30.

E. A xag-ya will emerge from each pylon and attack all those within the spiral. Being native to the Positive Energy Plane, the xag-yas are not affected by the major positive-dominant trait of the chamber.

ADVANCED XAG-YA ENERGONS (5) CR 8 Manual of the Planes page 169 N Large elemental (extraplanar, incorporeal) Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft; Listen +0, Spot +4 AC 16, touch 16, flat-footed 13; Dodge, Mobility; Miss 50% (incorporeal) hp 111 (15 HD) Fort +12, Ref +12, Will +9 Spd fly 20 ft (4 squares) (good); Hover Melee 4 incorporeal touches +21 (1d8 and positive energy) Ranged positive energy ray +20 (2d6) Space 10 ft; Reach 10 ft Base Atk +18; Grp - Special Actions Combat Reflexes, positive energy lash, turn undead Abilities Str -, Dex 16, Con 17, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 18 SQ elemental traits, incorporeal traits Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Extra Turning, Hover, Mobility, Weapon Focus (incorporeal touch) Skills Hide +3, Search +5, Sense Motive +8, Spot +4 Positive Energy Lash (Su) A xag-ya can make a ranged touch attack or hit with an incorporeal touc attack to infuse a target with positive energy. Undead foes (even incorporeal ones) take an additional 2d8+5 points of damage. The xag-ya can channel this positive energy into living creatures as well, healing up to 2d8+5 points of damage. The xag-ya can control its positive energy enough to avoid healing living foes (dealing only the base damage). This power can be used up to 5 times per day. Turn Undead (Su) By suffusing a 60 ft radius area with positive energy, a xag-ya can make the undead rcoil. It turns undead as a 15th-level cleric and can do so five times per day. It cannot destroy undead.

Tactics: The xag-yas will use their positive energy lashes to attempt to heal their victims so that they succumb to the major positive-dominant trait and explode.

All of these effects will last for 20 rounds. Thereafter, the entire trap sequence will reset and the chamber will be as it was before. Any xag-yas that are killed will be replaced the next time the traps are activated.

Secret Doors: At the bottom of the place is a secret trap door (DC 30) that is protected by a permanent sequester effect (CL 20). The door, the 2 ft cube niche beneath it, and the key piece within are all protected by the sequester effect. If the pylons are touched in the proper sequence, the sequester effect will end, although the secret door still has to be located. 20 rounds after the effect ends, it will reset.

Treasure: Within the 2 ft cube niche beyond the secret trap door is a small lead chest. It is unlocked and within is the second key piece, which appears to fit with the first piece to form two-thirds of a circular disc. The key piece appears as a one third shard of a metal disc that was originally 6 inches in diameter. The shard's faces are covered in intricate glyphs and runes with silver traceries, and the piece radiates dim evocation magic.

Part Five - The Third Key

The last key piece is held under the watchful eye of a draconic guardian. This key will be the most difficult for Tiriss-ra to obtain, sincce the guardian is neither a mindless trap nor an automaton but is, instead, an intelligent creature.

The final key piece is located in the Serpent's Tongue Mountains about 275 miles north of The Spiral. The Golden Sphere is a spherical chamber set beneath the mountainside at an elevation of roughly 4,000 ft. It is located at the end of a secret tunnel hidden behind a mountain waterfall.

Tiriss-ra knows the location of The Golden Shere and will proceed to the location shown by whatever method is most expedient. If any of the warlocks survived then she will walk so that thy can accompany her. If all of the warlocks are defeated, then she can fly (even if demons survived, they can fly [vrocks] or constantly greater teleport [hezrous] to keep up with her), and will do so. Tiriss-ra flying will present a bit of a problem for Buligzar, as its fly speed is 50 ft in quasit form while the celestial travels at a fly speed of 60 ft. This means the qausit will have to hustle somewhat.

Normally, hustling doubles your movement speed. However, Buligzar does not have to move that fast. It has to increase its speed by 20% to keep up. That means the quasit is doing a 1/5th hustle and is penalized accordingly. Normally, hustling causes 1 point of nonlethal damage per hour for the second hour and double the previous hour's damage for each hour thereafter. Hustling for a full 8 hours would result in 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64 = 127 points of nonlethal damage. At 20% this translates innto 25 points of nonlethal damage for the quasit, who will also be fatigued.

It is 275 miles as the crow flies from The Spiral to The Golden Sphere. At a flight rate of 60 ft travelling 12 hours a day (8 hours in fliight and 4 hours resting) the journey will take just about 4.5 days. It is up to the DM if the PCs, should they accompany her, have any encounters en route.

Tiriss-ra will not consent to be transported or teleported by the PCs. She will explain that it would put her at their mercy and that is forbidden by her pact. She will assent to spells that would speed her travel (such as spells that increase fly speed) but will not allow herself to be transformed into a different shape, even if that shape is faster than her normal shape.

Before Entering:

Tiriss-ra knows she cannot gain the thid key piece by herself. If the demons and warlocks are not with her, then her actions will depend upon whether the PCs will help her. She will request such help if they seem amenable to helping her in general. The celestial will explain that a gold dragon guards the last key piece. If the demons and warlocks are present, then she will open the entrance to the Golden Sphere and they will enter and fight the gold dragon to gain the key piece. If Tiriss-ra does not have sufficient demonic and/or warlock aid to defeat the dragon, and if the PCs will not help, then she will be compelled to attempt to gain the key piece alone. She knows she cannot prevail at this and will gladly go to her doom knowing that she will fail and the artifact will be safe from the Fezen (for the time being). Nevertheless, Tiriss-ra will not give any inkling to the PCs that she would prefer to fail. The pact compels her to genuinely attempt to gain the aid of the PCs.

The PCs, especially if they are good aligned, might be inclined to attempt to reason with the gold dragon and convince him to turn over the key piece. If the PCs express this desire to Tiriss-ra, she will welcome the attempt, but warn the PCs that it is almost certain to fail. The gold dragons are not capricious and prone to emotion like the copper and brass dragons. They tend to make their decisions solely on the basis of the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Appeals to love and familial loyalty will be understood and even empathized with but will not sway these regal creatures.

The Entrance:

The entrance to the Golden Sphere is located at a mountain lake that is fed by a plunging waterfall. The lake is smallish, about 200 ft wide and 600 ft long, with a small rocky island in the center that bears several squat trees and bushes upon it.

Behind the waterfall is what appears to be the cliff face down which it tumbles. However, a secret door has been carved into the rock face there (Search DC 30).

Thee secret door opens upon a 5 ft square hewn stone tunnel that winds roughly eastward and slightly upward for about 150 ft before ending in a small cavern some 40 ft in diameter and 20 ft tall. Within the cavern is a pile of treasure, consisting of bars of silver and gold worth a total of 15,000 sp and 10,000 gp respectively. Intermingled amongst this treasure are about two dozen gems of various sorts with a total value of 6,000 gp.

The treasure is a ruse, placed here by the celestials to cause anyone who found the secret door behind the falls to assume it was placed there to hide the treasure. The treasure is real, and is not trapped or cursed in any way. Should the PCs desire to take it, Tiriss-ra will not stop them.

About 50 ft down the tunnel from the entrance is another secret door. This one is much more cunningly crafted (Search DC 40) and is warded with a permanent sequester effect (CL 20) so that it is unlikely to be discovered by accident. However, if one knows precisely where the secret door is located, it can be opened by pressing on certain stone cracks and slight protrusions upon the door.

Behind the second secret door is a 10 ft square passageway that is fully worked and leads downward and to the south for 60 ft before ending in a blank stone wall. This entire passageway is fulled with a permanent image spell (CL 20) that is programmed to appear to be solid rock. This illusion is designed to fool scrying or any other remote viewing behind the walls. Unless the illusion is pierced, looking through the walls or having an incorporeal creature or a creature with earth glide passing through the tunnel will seem as if it is just more solid stone.

The wall at the end of this passageway is curved slightly outward and made of pure white marble and is absolutely smooth and cool to the tough. This is because it is the wall of the Golden Sphere chamber, which is, in fact, shaped like a massive sphere.

Entry into the Golden Sphere requires that a good aligned outsider or dragon place both hands on the outside of the Sphere and then kiss the sphere. Doing so will open a 10 ft square opening into the sphere. The opening will be at mid sphere.

The entire Sphere is protected by a forbiddance spell (CL 20, DC 23) aligned towards good. The spell prevents the entry of anyone of any alignment unless they utter the password which is "golden light" in Celestial (this is one word in that language). Non-good aligned creatures will suffer damage even with the password. Good-aligned creatures who fail to utter the password suffer 6d6 damage. Of course, the spell also limits extraplanar travel into and out of the Sphere as well as the ability to summon creatures within.

The Sphere:

The Sphere is a hollow sphere of celestial white marble some 200 ft in diameter. The marble walls of the sphere are 5 ft thick and are supernaturally tough and magically enhanced (hardness 20, 900 hp, break DC 85, Climb DC 25 or -, save bonus +10) and gain a save against all magical effects directed towards it. The walls of the interior are amazingly smooth, such that balance checks even on a non-sloped portion is at +2 DC. A golden light suffuses the entire place, seemingly emanating from the air itself. This golden light has the effect of a consecrate spell (CL 20) throughout the interior of the Sphere, as well as completely illuminating the place as if under the effects of a daylight spell (CL 20).

The map above shows the sphere. The dashed lines denote various slopes of the walls in relation to the bottom of the sphere.

The 4 squares indicated in purple are considered flat terrain. There is no effect on movement or combat other than the general smoothness of the marble floor (+2 to Balance check DCs).

The rest of the bottom squares up to the green line are considered gradual sloped terrain.

Gradual Slope This incline isn’t steep enough to affect movement, but characters gain a +1 bonus on melee attacks against foes downhill from them.

The squares from the green line to the orange line are steep slopes.

Steep Slope Characters moving uphill (to an adjacent square of higher elevation) must spend 2 squares of movement to enter each square of steep slope. Characters running or charging downhill (moving to an adjacent square of lower elevation) must succeed on a DC 10 Balance check upon entering the first steep slope square. Mounted characters make a DC 10 Ride check instead. Characters who fail this check stumble and must end their movement 1d2×5 feet later. Characters who fail by 5 or more fall prone in the square where they end their movement. A steep slope increases the DC of Tumble checks by 2 and Balance checks by 2.

The squares from the orange line to the grey line are considered climbable. The Climb DC is 25.

Any squares above the grey line are considered unclimbable without magical means or a climb speed. Even then, those squares more than halfway up the sphere are considered overhangs and require even more specialized ability to climb.

Falling in the Sphere depends upon whether the subject falls down a sloped portion of the sphere or directly through space from one end to another. Basically, unless the subject falls past or through an area that requires a Climb check or is unclimbable, then the fall is considered a slide rather than a fall. A slide causes no damage, but will propel the subject down to the bottom of the Sphere and up the other side about half the distance of the original slide. Each round thereafter the subject will slide back half the distance of the previous slide until the slide does not take him into or through a steep slope area.

A fall will cause normal fall damage, with -1d6 if the fall ends in an area of steep slope (which will then precipitate a immediate slide as above).

Creatures: A single guardian wards the final key piece. This is a half-celestial gold dragon. There are actually three such gold dragons who serve as wardens of the Golden Sphere, but they take turns, each one serving for a period of a year before relinquishing the duty to his kin. The dragons serve out of an ancient pact forged between these dragons and the solar who originally led the celestials against the Fezen.

CLYTANMORREX CR 19 Male half-celestial mature adult gold dragon LG Huge dragon (fire) Init +0; Senses blindsense 60 ft, darkvision 120 ft, keen senses, low-light vision; Listen +31, Spot +31 Aura frightful presence (210 ft, DC 28) Languages Draconic, Abyssal, Auran, Celestial, Ignan, Infernal AC 33, touch 8, flat-footed 33 hp 325 (26 HD); DR 10/magic Immune fire, paralysis, sleep SR 25 Vulnerable cold Fort +21, Ref +15, Will +20 Spd 60 ft (12 squares), fly 200 ft (40 squares) (poor), swim 60 ft (12 squares); Hover Melee bite +36 (2d8+12) and 2 claws +34 (2d6+6) and 2 wings +34 (1d8+6) and tail slap +34 (2d6+18) Space 15 ft; Reach 10 ft (15 ft with bite and wings and 30 ft with tail slap) Base Atk +26; Grp +46 Atk Options Improved Snatch, Power Attack, Snatch, Tail Constrict Special Actions breath weapon (14d10 or 1 Str, DC 29), crush (2d8+18, DC 29), Enlarge Breath, Tail Constrict Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 9, ranged touch +24, melee touch +36): 4th (5/day) - freedom of movement 3rd (7/day) - create food and water*, slow (DC 18), stinking cloud (DC 18) 2nd (7/day) - cure moderate wounds, levitate, mirror image, resist energy 1st (8/day) - cure light wounds, detect good, mage armour, shield, shield of faith 0 (6/day) - create water, cure minor wounds, detect magic, detect poison, mage hand, mending, message, purify food and drink Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9): 3/day - bless Abilities Str 35, Dex 10, Con 23, Int 20, Wis 21, Cha 20 SQ alternate form (3/day), luck bonus**, water breathing Feats Enlarge Breath, Hover, Improved Snatch, Multiattack, Power Attack, Recover Breath, Snatch, Tail Constrict Skills Appraise +11 (+13 to study physical aspects), Concentration +19, Diplomacy +24, Disguise +17, Escape Artist +26, Heal +15, Intimidate +15, Knowledge (arcana) +16, Knowledge (planes) +17, Knowledge (religion) +10, Listen +31, Search +31, Sense Motive +31, Spellcraft +20 (+22 to decipher scrolls), Spot +31, Survival +5 (+7 on other planes, +2 bonus to follow tracks), Swim +20, Use Magic Device +15 (+27 with scrolls), Use Rope +0 (+4 to bind) Alternate Form (Su) A gold dragon can assume any animal or humanoid form of Medium size or smaller as a standard action three times per day. The dragon can remain in its animal or humanoid form until it chooses to assume a new one or return to its natural form. Breath Weapon (Su) 1 every 1d4 rounds, a gold dragon has two types of breath weapon, a cone of fire and a cone of weakening gas. Creatures within a cone of weakening gas must succeed on a DC 29 Fortitude save or take 6 points of Strength damage. Crush (Ex) This special attack allows a flying or jumping dragon of at least Huge size to land on opponents as a standard action, using its whole body to crush them. Crush attacks are effective only against opponents three or more size categories smaller than the dragon (though it can attempt normal overrun or grapple attacks against larger opponents). A crush attack affects as many creatures as can fit under the dragon’s body. Creatures in the affected area must succeed on a DC 29 Reflex save or be pinned, automatically taking bludgeoning damage during the next round unless the dragon moves off them. If the dragon chooses to maintain the pin, treat it as a normal grapple attack. Pinned opponents take damage from the crush each round if they don’t escape. A crush attack deals the indicated damage. Frightful Presence (Ex) A young adult or older dragon can unsettle foes with its mere presence. The ability takes effect automatically whenever the dragon attacks, charges, or flies overhead. Creatures within a radius of 210 feet are subject to the effect if they have fewer HD than the dragon. A potentially affected creature that succeeds on a Will save (DC 28) remains immune to that dragon’s frightful presence for 24 hours. On a failure, creatures with 4 or less HD become panicked for 4d6 rounds and those with 5 or more HD become shaken for 4d6 rounds. Dragons ignore the frightful presence of other dragons. Keen Senses (Ex) A dragon sees four times as well as a human in shadowy illumination and twice as well in normal light. It also has darkvision out to 120 feet. Luck Bonus (Sp) Once per day an adult or older gold dragon can touch a gem, usually one embedded in the dragon’s hide, and enspell it to bring good luck. As long as the dragon carries the gem, it and every good creature in a 60-foot radius receives a +1 luck bonus on all saving throws and similar rolls, as for a stone of good luck. If the dragon gives an enspelled gem to another creature, only that bearer gets the bonus. The effect lasts 1d3+21 hours but ends if the gem is destroyed. This ability is the equivalent of a 2nd-level spell. Water Breathing (Ex) A gold dragon can breathe underwater indefinitely and can freely use its breath weapon, spells, and other abilities while submerged (the cone of fire becomes a cone of superheated steam underwater). *This spell is cast at the start of each day. ** This ability is used at the start of each day (at dawn). Any hours of use short of 24 hours will occur at the end of each day.

FEATS: Englarge Breath (Drac p69) - +50% to breath weapon length for +1 round recovery. Improved Snatch (Drac p71) - Use Snatch feat on foe 2 sizes smaller instead of 3 sizes smaller. Recover Breath (Drac p73) - -1 round to recovery time for breath weapon. Tail Constrict (Drac p74) - Grab and constrict foes hit with tail attack, against any smaller foes, deal tail slap dmg on grab and each round thereafter, cannot make tail slap attacks while constricting opponent.

Tactics: The dragon will certainly parley with any non-evil types. While doing so, he will also prepare his longterm defenses, as once it becomes apparent what the PCs want, he will know that he will refuse and that the PCs will then have to decide whether to flee or fight.

He will, while dealing with the PCs in conversation, cast levitate, freedom of movement, mage armour, shield, and shield of faith (in that order). He will not hide these castings and if asked about them will say that he is taking precautions should negotiations break down.

If a fight starts, he will cast mirror image first thing and then resort to his breath weapon and prodigous melee attacks. With an AC of 44 with all of his defensive spell up, he will rely on that and his good saves to protect him while he uses his tail constrict to take out one opponent while using his enalrged strength damaging breath on others. Other spells will be used as appopriate.

If foes attempt to engage the dragon from outside of the Sphere, the dragon will try to get out of sight of the PCs in order to avoid their ranged attacks.

The dragon will also make use of the Sphere itself (see below).

If fighting obviously good aligned foes, the dragon will attempt to defeat then without killing them the first time. However, should those foes return, he will then reluctantly resort to lethal force, as he cannot subject himself to repeated attacks by the same group f foes.

If the PCs have explained enough of the situation so that the dragon can determine that killing Tiriss-ra will disrupt the pact, then it will concentrate on slaying her, knowing she will simply return to her home plane. The dragon will know that the binder of Tiriss-ra will know she has failed and may slay Ahltliconcho, but he will still do this for the good of the world.

Developments: The DM should keep in mind the alignment, intelligence, wisdom, and charisma of the gold dragon. Additionally, the dragon has a prodigious, almost epic-level Sense Motive skill. As such, bluffing or lying or dissembling by the PCs is not onnly unlikely to work, but will anger the lawful dragon and cause him to be more suspicious.

Barring powerful magic, there is no practical way for the PCs to convince the dragon to give up the key piece. While the gold dragon keenly understands and empathizes with the notion of Tiriss-ra's love being threatened and the PCs' desire to attempt to save Ahltliconcho from the Fezen coven, there is no way he will risk the Trimvirzunn falling into evil hands. He will listen patiently to PC arguments (while readying his defensive spells as indicated (see Tactics above), but will counter with even more cogent arguments of his own:

• Is the life of one man, even a goodly man, worth putting the whole world at risk?
• While it may be possible to defeat the Fezen in combat, all they need to do is escape to make good their plan. It is very difficult to stop magic users from escaping a place.
• If the PCs were in his place and people came to them and asked them to give up the key piece would they do so?
• Do you think Ahltliconcho would want the PCs to give up the Trimvirzunn in order to save him?

In a fight with the dragon, Tiriss-ra will remain as safe as possible to avoid being slain by the dragon. Her pact means she has to consider the PCs expendable. If the dragon realizes that she is the key to the whole endeavour, it may target her, in which case she might even flee the Sphere as long as the PCs are still fighting the dragon.

Treasure: The third key piece is held in a treasure gizzard possessed by all gold dragons (they usually hold gems there). While he can regurgitate the piece at will, most likely the PCs will have to remove it from his corpse or at least take it out of his unconscious body. The key piece appears as a one third shard of a metal disc that was originally 6 inches in diameter. The shard's faces are covered in intricate glyphs and runes with silver traceries, and the piece radiates dim evocation magic.

Wielding the Sphere: The Sphere can be moved by the mental commands of the gold dragon. Doing so is a swift action. During a swift action, the gold dragon can move the sphere in a single direction up to 90 degrees. The sphere abruptly starts moving and abruptly ends moving in a matter of a couple of seconds. This movement is sufficient in and of itself to cause vigourous motion if moved 11-30 degrees (Concentration DC 10), violent motion if moved 31-60 degrees (Concentration DC 15) and extraordinarily violent motion if moved 61-90 degrees (Concentration DC 20). Additionally, such movement may alter the slope of any given portion of the Sphere. it could, for example, turn flat ground into a steep slope or even unclimbable. Refer to the rules for sliding and falling above.

The dragon will almost certainly move the Sphere every round. He has no spells that require swift actions and with his levitate spell and Hover feat he can stay aloft indefinitely. The Sphere will be rotated for several reasons:

1. If foes are on the surface of the Sphere, to unbalance them.

2. If foes are shooting at the dragon through the entrance, to block off the entrance.

3. If foes flee and then return, to trap them within the Sphere.

Part Six - Decisions and Exchanges

Decisions:

The PCs have several very important decisions to make with regard to this scenario.

The first is whether they should obtain the key pieces and risk unleashing the Trimvirzunn on the world. For the first two key pieces, there is really no one to convince them that they should not take this risk. Tiriss-ra cannot dissaude them from helpiing her, and Azkhan is simply not worldly or sophisticated enough to present such an argument. Of course, the PCs themselves might come up with this option, in which case they could slay Tiriss-ra to send her back to her home plane. Then the PCs could concentrate on taking revenge on the Coven for the death of Ahltliconcho.

Certainly, if the DM has done a good job role playing the gold dragon, and the PCs parley with him, then they should be seriously reconsidering their plan to hand over the key pieces to the Coven.

The second is how they will deal with the Coven. If they have convinced Tiriss-ra that she has the three key pieces (whether she does or does not actually have the true pieces), then she will be compelled to immediately head to the drop-off point. The PCs will need to formulate a plan of action, presumably to stop the Coven from escaping the area once the ambush is sprung. Spells like dimensional lock, dimensional anchor, and zone of respite can serve this purpose.

The Exchange (EL 19):

The drop-off point is a location known to the Coven. It is located on the northeastern outskirts of Fezen-tir as indicated below. There is nothing particulary remarkable abou the drop-off point. It is identifiable only because of a small stream that runs through it that is near to a lake nestled between two steep hills. The precise spot is near a large willow tree next to the stream.

Tiriss-ra knows the location of the drop-off point and will proceed to the location shown by whatever method is most expedient. If any of the warlocks survived then she will walk so that they can accompany her. If all of the warlocks are defeated, then she can fly (even if demons survived, they can fly [vrocks] or constantly greater teleport [hezrous] to keep up with her), and will do so. Tiriss-ra flying will present a bit of a problem for Buligzar, as its fly speed is 50 ft in quasit form while the celestial travels at a fly speed of 60 ft. This means the qausit will have to hustle somewhat.

Normally, hustling doubles your movement speed. However, Buligzar does not have to move that fast. It has to increase its speed by 20% to keep up. That means the quasit is doing a 1/5th hustle and is penalized accordingly. Normally, hustling causes 1 point of nonlethal damage per hour for the second hour and double the previous hour's damage for each hour thereafter. Hustling for a full 8 hours would result in 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64 = 127 points of nonlethal damage. At 20% this translates innto 25 points of nonlethal damage for the quasit, who will also be fatigued.

The journey from the Golden Sphere to the drop-off point is approximtely 850 miles. At a flight rate of 60 ft travelling 12 hours a day (8 hours in fliight and 4 hours resting) the journey will take just about 14 days. It is up to the DM if the PCs, should they accompany her, have any encounters en route.

Tiriss-ra will not consent to be transported or teleported by the PCs. She will explain that it would put her at their mercy and that is forbidden by her pact. She will assent to spells that would speed her travel (such as spells that increase fly speed) but will not allow herself to be transformed into a different shape, even if that shape is faster than her normal shape.

The Coven monitors the drop-off point, waiting for Tiriss-ra to arrive. When Tiriss-ra arrives with all three key pieces, she is instructed to use her wand of sending to send word to the Coven that she is ready to make the exchange. It takes her 10 minutes to cast the spell from the wand. The Coven eldritch disciple has already prepared a stone walk spell (CL 16) [Player's Guide to Faerun page 113] to teleport from the Coven headquarters to the drop-off point. The stones at each end have been prepared and the spell itself (which lasts until discharged) was cast before Tiriss-ra was even bound.

Using the stone walk spell, teleportation can be done 4 times. Each teleportation can carry 6 Medium creatures. Thus, 24 individuals could come to the drop-off point over the course of 4 rounds. However, since the Binder wants to be able to recall his forces with word of recall and greater teleport, the exchange force will only include the Binder, Ahltliconcho, 4 glabezrus (which count as 4 individuals due to their size), and 5 warlocks.

Below is a map of the drop-off point. Each contour lines represents a 15 ft elevation increase. None of the slopes are steep. All of the smaller trees are standard trees. The single large willow in the center of the map is a massive tree.

The stream is about 5-6 ft wide and only about 2-3 ft deep. It flows slowly to the east and does not represent anything more than an impediment to running or charging to creatures that are size Small or larger. For such creatures, it costs 2 squares of movement to move through across or along the stream bottom, but that will cause a DC 5 Balance check (failure means movement stops, failure by 5 or more means a slip and fall). If an individual takes 4 squares to move into or through a stream square, then there is no chance to slip and no Balance check needed. A Small creature doubles these costs or can swim across. A Tiny or smaller creature must swim across (Swim DC 10).

The large tree in the center of the map north of the stream is the willow. A small stone stele about 3 inches in diameter and 3 ft tall stands under the eaves of that tree. This is the precise spot at which Tiriss-ra was instructed to wait.

The copse of trees on the rise to the southwest of the stream conceals a 5 ft square flat stone inscribed with red and golden whorls and runes. It radiates moderate conjuration magic and is the stone for the stone walk spell that leads to and from the Coven headquarters. The command word to use the stone is "servitor" in Azotlan. The stone is covered by grass, leaves, and branches so that it effectively has a Hide check of 25.

Creatures: The exchange party consists of the Coven Binder, accompanied by four glabezru tanar'ri, and 5 coven warlocks. One of the glabezrus carries Ahltliconcho in a bound sack. The war priest is drugged and effectively unconscious.

Items and spells marked with (*) are in use at the start of the battle, though their effects are not reflected in the statistic blocks. Invocations that are in use are reflected in the statistic blocks.

COVEN BINDER CR 16 Complete Arcane page 5 and Complete Mage 53 Male human Cleric 3/Warlock 3/Eldritch Disciple 10 CE Medium humanoid (human) Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft, see invisibility; Listen +0, Spot +0 Languages Azotlan, Abyssal, Infernal AC 22, touch 13, flat-footed 19; Miss 20% ranged (entropic warding) hp 98 (16 HD), Divine Vigour, wild frenzy; DR 1/cold iron Resist fiendish resistance Fort +13, Ref +8, Will +19 Spd 30 ft (6 squares), fly 30 ft (6 squares) (good) Melee +2 heavy bone unholy mace +13/+8/+3 (1d8+2) Ranged eldritch blast +14 (6d6) Space 5 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +11; Grp +11 Atk Options corrupting blast, wild frenzy Special Actions Divine Vigour, eldritch spellweave, rebuke undead (6/day, +2 synergy bonus) Combat Gear +2 heavy bone unholy mace, wand of wieldskill (CL 3, 36 charges), divine scrolls of greater dispel magic (CL 12) (2), divine scroll of heal (CL 12), potions of owl's wisdom (CL 3) (4), potion of remove blindness/deafness (CL 5), potions of resist energy (CL 7) (2), potions of cure moderate wounds (CL 3) (3) Warlock Invocations Known (CL 13): Greater - eldritch cone, vitriolic blast Lesser - fell flight (*), flee the scene, relentless dispelling Least - eldritch spear, entropic warding (*), see the unseen (*) Cleric Spell Prepared (CL 16 [17 evil spells], melee touch +11, ranged touch +14): 6th - blade barrier (DC 22), create undead(d)(e), heal, word of recall 5th - bear's heart, dispel good(d)(e) (DC 21), divine retribution (DC 21), righteous wrath of the faithful, spell resistance 4th - assay spell resistance, cure critical wounds, death ward, dimensional anchor(d), freedom of movement 3rd - battlemagic perception, magic circle against good(d)(e), mass conviction, mass resist energy, mystic lash(e) (DC 19), prayer 2nd - cure moderate wounds, demoncall(d)(e), eagle's splendour, elation, hold person (DC 18), resist energy, silence (DC 18) 1st - bless, blessed aim, command (DC 17), demonflesh(d)(e), detect good, nightshield, protection from good(e), shield of faith 0 - cure minor wounds, detect poison, guidance, mending, preserve organ, read magic Domains Demonic (+1 profane bonus to attack and damage with unarmed strikes and natural weapons), Evil (+1 CL to evil spells) Utterances Known (CL 1): Lexicon of the Evolving Mind 1st - inertia surge Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3): At will - detect magic Abilities Str 10, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 23, Cha 16 SQ deceive item, familiar (alertness, empathic link, share spells, speak with master, scry on familiar), spontaneous inflict Feats Divine Vigour, Improved Familiar, Minor Utterance of the Evolving Mind, Obtain Familiar, Practiced Spellcaster (cleric), Truename Training Skills Concentration +20, Diplomacy +7, Intimidate +8, Knowledge (arcana) +5, Knowledge (planes) +13, Knowledge (religion) +19, Sense Motive +13, Spellcraft +16, Survival +6 (+8 on other planes), Truespeak +31 Possessions combat gear plus +2 studded leather armour, +2 heavy wooden shield, periapt of wisdom +2, headband of truespeak +10, masterwork potion belt, spell component pouch, unholy symbol to unknown demonlord, Coven amulet, key to personal chest Eldritch Spellweave (Su) Beginning at 5th level, you can apply an eldritch essence invocation you know to any divine spell that affects a target or that requires a melee or ranged touch attack. The spell's level must be at least as high as the level of the eldritch essence. If the essence requires a saving throw, use the normal save DC for that essence. If an eldritch essence invocation changes the damage of the spell, it can be applied only to a spell that deals damage. Using this ability increases the spell's casting time to 1 full-round action. A spell that has a normal casting time of 1 full round or longer takes an extra full-round action to cast. If the spell has more than one target or allows more than one attack, you must choose one target to be affected by the invocation; all other targets take only the normal effect of the spell. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Cha modifier (minimum 1). Gift of the Divine Patron (Su) At 1st level you gain a sacred gift of power from your divine patron (who is the source of your cleric spells and, directly or indirectly, your warlock invocations). You can spend one of your turn/rebuke undead attempts as a swift action to activate the chosen power. Corrupting blast: In place of applying an eldritch essence invocation to your eldritch blast, you can change it into a corrupting blast. In addition to its normal effect, the blast applies a penalty on the target's next Will save equal to 1/2 your class level (minimum -1). If the target doesn't attempt a Will save before the end of your next turn, the effect fades. Fiendish resistance: You gain resistance to acid and fire equal to 10 + your class level. This resistance stacks with the energy resistance granted by the warlock class. This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + your Cha modifier (minimum of 1 round). Your deity must be evil for you to select this gift. Wild frenzy: You gain a +2 bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls with melee weapons and eldritch blasts, along with temporary hit points equal to twice your class level. This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + your Cha modifier (minimum 1 round). Your deity must be chaotic for you to select this gift. (e) = evil spells (cast at +1 CL)

FEATS: Divine Vigour (CW p108) - turn or rebuke as standard action to gain +10 to base spd and +2 temp hp per level for 1 min per Cha mod. Minor Utterance of the Evolving Mind (ToM p229) - you learn one 1st level utterance from the Lexicon of the Evolving Mind. Obtain Familiar (CA p81) - you can gain a familiar as a sorcerer, all arcane casting classes count for familair abilities. Practiced Spellcaster (CA p82) - +4 to caster level for chosen class up to character level. Truename Training (ToM p229) - Truespeak is a class skill. INVOCATIONS: eldritch cone (CA p133) - BS; eldritch blast becomes 30 ft cone, Ref sv 1/2 dmg. eldritch spear (CA p133) - BS; increases range of eldritch blast to 250 ft. entropic warding (CA p134) - entropic shield effect, pass without trace effect, and cannot be tracked by scent. flee the scene (CA p134) - dimension door up to close range, leaves behind a major image or warlock in your place for 1 round, the image reacts appropriately to attacks as if you were concentrating on it. relentless dispelling (CM p124) - targeted dispel magic that repeats the next round. see the unseen (CA p135) - see invisibility effect, darkvision 60 ft for 24 hours. vitriolic blast (CA p136) - EE; does acid dmg and no SR, does 2d6 acid dmg per round for 1 rd/5 lvls. SPELLS: assay spell resistance (SC p17) - swift, pers, 1 rd/lvl; +10 bonus to CL checks to overcome SR on single creature you can see when cast. battlemagic perception (HoB p125) - pers, 10 min/lvl; +5 bonus to Spellcraft to ID spell being cast, if you have 5 ranks in Spellcraft sense any spell or spell-like ability within 100 ft (and ID spell with DC 15 + spell lvl Spellcraft check), counterspell as free action but ends spell immediately. bear's heart (DoTF p81) - 20 ft radius, 1 rd/lvl; 1 ally/CL gains +4 enchancement to Str and +1d4 temp hp/CL, when spell ends temp hp remaining are lost and subjects take 1 nonlethal dmg/CL. blessed aim (SC p31) - 50 ft spread on caster, 1 min/lvl; allies gain +2 morale bonus on ranged attacks. demoncall (FCHoA p92) - swift, pers; +10 profane bonus to a single Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (planes) or Knowledge (religion) check. demonflesh (FCHoA p92) - pers, 1 min/lvl; +1 natural armour/5 CL (min +1 max +4). divine retribution (CC p119) - pers, 10min/lvl or discharge, W part, SR; creature attacking you takes 1d6 electricity dmg/lvl (max 15d6) and 1d4 Cha dmg (save for 1/2 dmg and no ability dmg), spell ends once damage is caused. mass conviction (SC p52) - r med, allies in 20 ft burst, 10 min/lvl; +2 morale bonus on saves +1 per 6 CL you have (max +5). mass resist energy (SC p174) -r cl, 1 creature/lvl not more than 30 ft apart; resist chosen energy type 10 (20 at 7th and 30 at 11th). mystic lash (PGF p106) - r 15 ft, 1 rd/lvl, F part, SR; creates whip in hand caster is proficient with, causes 1d6 dmg/3CL (max 4d6) on ranged touch with dmg bonus equal to Cha bonus, target hit must sv or be stunned for 1 rd, once whip hits can be released and continue to attack target 1/rd until target is unconscious or dead when returns to hand, may make disarm or trip attacks if wielded. nightshield (SC p148) - pers, 1 min/lvl; +1 resistance bonus to saves (+2 at CL 6, +3 at CL 9) and immune to magic missiles. preserve organ (BoVD p101) - 10 min, touch; preserve organ for 24 hrs. righteous wrath of the faithful (SC p177) - allies within 30 ft, 1 rd/lvl; allies again additional melee attack during full attack, +3 morale bonus on melee attack and dmg rolls. wieldskill (PGF p118) - touch, 1 min/lvl - +5 competence bonus on a skill check, 1/2 ranks in skill if no ranks, or gain proficiency with a single weapon or armour. UTTERANCES: inertia surge (ToM p240) - target may act normally as if with freedom of movement for 1 rd / target is rooted in place. MAGIC ITEMS: headband of truespeak - +10 competence bonus on Truespeak skill.

GLABEZRUS (4) CR 13 CE Huge outsider (chaotic, evil, extraplanar) Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft, true seeing; Listen +26, Spot +26 Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic, telepathy 100 ft AC 27, touch 8, flat-footed 27 hp 174 (12 HD); DR 10/good Immune electricity, poison Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 21 Fort +18, Ref +8, Will +11 Spd 40 ft (8 squares) Melee 2 pincers +20 (2d8+10) and 2 claws +18 (1d6+5) and bite +18 (1d8+5) Space 15 ft; Reach 15 ft Base Atk +12; Grp +30 Atk Options improved grab, Power Attack Special Actions Cleave, Great Cleave, summon demon Spell-Like Abilities (CL 14): 1/day - power word stun At will - chaos hammer (DC 19), confusion (DC 19), dispel magic, mirror image (*), reverse gravity (DC 22), greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs of objects only), unholy blight (DC 19) Abilities Str 31, Dex 10, Con 31, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 20 SQ wish Feats Cleave, Great Cleave, Multiattack, Persuasive, Power Attack Skills Bluff +22, Concentration +25, Diplomacy +9, Disguise +5 (+7 acting), Intimidate +24, Knowledge (any two) +18, Listen +26, Move Silently +15, Search +18, Sense Motive +18, Spellcraft +18, Spot +26, Survival +3 (+5 following tracks) Improved Grab (Ex) To use this ability, a glabrezu must hit a Medium or smaller opponent with a pincer attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. Summon Demon (Sp) Once per day a glabrezu can attempt to summon 4d10 dretches or 1d2 vrocks with a 50% chance of success, or another glabrezu with a 20% chance of success. This ability is the equivalent of a 4th-level spell. True Seeing (Su) Glabrezu continuously use true seeing as the spell (caster level 14th). Wish (Sp) Once per month, a glabrezu can fulfill a wish for a mortal humanoid. The demon can use this ability to offer a mortal whatever he or she desires - but unless the wish is used to create pain and suffering in the world, the glabrezu demands either terrible evil acts or great sacrifice as compensation.

COVEN WARLOCKS (5) CR 9 Complete Arcane page 5 Male and female human Warlock 9 NE Medium humanoid (human) Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft, see invisibility; Listen +0, Spot +0 Languages Azotlan, Abyssal, Infernal AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 12; Dodge, Mobility; Miss 20% ranged (entropic warding) hp 52 (9 HD), fiendish resilience 1; DR 2/cold iron Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +6 Spd 30 ft (6 squares) Melee mwk spear +7/+2 (1d8) Ranged eldritch blast +10 (5d6) Space 5 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +6; Grp +6 Atk Options Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot Combat Gear masterwork spear, potions of cure moderate wounds (3) (CL 3), potions of eagle's splendour (3) (CL 3), potions of lesser restoration (2) (CL 3), wand of true strike (CL 1, 30 charges), wand of shield of faith (CL 1, 24 charges), wand of protection from good (CL 1, 17 charges), divine scroll of dimensional anchor (CL 7) Warlock Invocations Known (CL 9): Lesser - beshadowed blast (DC 17), relentless dispelling Least - eldritch spear, entropic warding (*), see the unseen (*) Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9): At will - detect magic Abilities Str 10, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 16 SQ deceive item Feats Dodge, Mobility, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Focus (eldritch blast) Skills Concentration +14, Intimidate +8, Knowledge (arcana) +6, Knowledge (planes) +6, Sense Motive +4, Spellcraft +8 (+10 to decipher scrolls), Survival +0 (+2 other planes), Use Magic Device +15 (+17 scrolls) Possessions combat gear plus leather armour, masterwork potion belt, Coven amulet Deceive Item (Ex) At 4th level and higher, a warlock has the ability to more easily commandeer magic items made for the use of other characters. When making a Use Magic Device check, a warlock can take 10 even if distracted or threatened. Fiendish Resilience (Su) Beginning at 8th level, a warlock knows the trick of fiendish resilience. Once per day, as a free action, he can enter a state that lasts for 2 minutes. While in this state, the warlock gains fast healing 1.

INVOCATIONS: beshadowed blast (CA p132) - EE; living creature struck must make Fort save or be blinded for 1 rd. eldritch spear (CA p133) - BS; increases range of eldritch blast to 250 ft. entropic warding (CA p134) - entropic shield effect, pass without trace effect, and cannot be tracked by scent. relentless dispelling (CM p124) - targeted dispel magic that repeats the next round. see the unseen (CA p135) - see invisibility effect, darkvision 60 ft for 24 hours.

Tactics: If attacked during the exchange, the most important goal of the coven group is to obtain the key pieces and return to the Coven headquarters with them. Normally, the Binder will do this using word of recall, which is keyed to return to his chapel in the headquarters (see below). If he can, he will take as many of the coven warlocks with him that are within touch. The glabezrus can return on their own.

If, for some reason, the Binder is unable to do so (e.g. under the effects of a dimensional anchor spell), he will hand the pieces off to a glabezru and order it to use greater teleport to return to the Coven headquarters.

Given the goal of leaving with the key pieces, the tactics of the Coven forces will entirely revolve around escaping with the pieces. All of the forces are expendable in order to accomplish this goal, and the Binder will not let his desire to slay interlopers interfere with his primary mission - revenge can come later!

If the exchange group is not expecting trouble, they will not have their short-term defensive spells cast. Only those indicate as cast in their statistics blocks above will be cast. If they are expecting trouble (for example, if the Binder knows that his quasit has been taken captive), the shorter term defensive spells will be pre-cast and the demons will scout the area of the exchange using greater teleport and telepathy to report whether it is safe to proceed.

Developments: The exchange will proceed as follows unless interrupted by the PCs. The exchange group, after receiving Tiriss-ra's sending, will emerge from the stone walk stone and head as a group across the stream to Tiriss-ra's waiting place. One glabezru will remain at the stone square with Ahltliconcho.

If they are expecting trouble, the glabezrus will scout the area as described above while Ahltliconcho remains with the Binder at the stone square.

They expect the celestial to be accompanied by one or more surviving warlocks or demons from the initial battle with the PCs, and so will not be alarmed should such entities be present. However, given the glabezrus' true seeing ability, which is constantly operative, having PCs pose as such members will be extremely difficult (though not impossible using spells that ward against divination).

The Binder will step forward and demand the key pieces. Tiriss-ra will present the pieces. At this point, the Binder will sense that her side of the pact has been fulfilled. He will then order the glabezru to come from the stone square and give Ahltliconcho to Tirss-ra. The demon will toss the drugged war priest to the ground roughly, still inside the sack. The exchange group will then depart back to the copse of trees. Once at the trees, the Binder will word of recall back to the headquarters, bringing along the 5 coven warlocks The glabezerus will greater teleport back to the headquarters as well.

If, for whatever reason, treachery occurs, the exchange group is likely to slay Ahltliconcho out of hand, especially if deceived by Tiriss-ra somehow. Should the PCs suddenly appear or if they are sensed in the area setting up an ambush, then they will warn Tiriss-ra that such an ambush would violate the pact. This is true. The PCs must not be present or at least their plan to ambush the exchange not be known to Tiriss-ra. The PCs can accomplish this by setting up their ambush hidden from Tiriss-ra, or by simply remaining away and then teleporting in once the exchange is made.

The best way for the PCs to proceed is to attack AFTER Ahltliconcho has been exchanged for the pieces. If the PCs can time it well, they can teleport in or otherwise attack right after the exchange. If Ahltliconcho can be spirited away quickly and the Coven members prevented from teleporting away, then the PCs can certainly save Ahltliconcho and recover the key pieces and/or punish the Coven.

Part Seven - Headquarters and Relic

In theory the scenario can be concluded in Part Six (above) if the PCs manage to rescue Ahltliconcho and save the key pieces from the Coven. However, there are a variety of reasons why the PCs might wish to attack the Coven headquarters.

It could be that the exchange group successfully escaped the PCs with the key pieces and the PCs now deserpately need to recover them before they can be used.

Or, it could be that while the scenario was resolved, the PCs want to take revenge on the Coven for whatever harm has been caused to Tiriss-ra or Ahltliconcho.

Or perhaps they simply wish to eradicate an evil Coven of warlocks or prevent them from attempting something like this ever again.

For this reason, the Coven headquarters is detailed below.

Coven Headquarters:

The Coven headquarters is located as shown on the map below. The Coven has many more members than lair at the headquarters. But most of these others who are offsite are lower level functionaries who act as spies and informants for the Coven. All told, there are probably close to 100 full members of the Coven, and another 200-300 associate members. These are generally spread throughout Fezen-tir.

The headquarters contains the high command of the Coven as well as serving as its treasury and information repository. DMs should note that the whole is warded by a mage's private sanctum effect should the PCs attempt to scry on it or anyone or anything within it.

The headquarters is located about 400 miles to the southeast of the drop-off location. There, in a small vale between two rolling hills is a small wood that contains the ruins of some ancient pyramidal structure. The structure is about 50 ft by 50 ft and the wall of the first tier is 15 ft high. The second tier is only partially present. In some places the wall of the second tier rises 10 ft in from the first tier, but the second wall never makes it beyond a couple of feet before ending in jagged ruins.

Vines and creepers cover the ruined stones, and a disfigured set of stairs rises up to the top of the first tier and then ends in ruins.

The interior of the ruins is a jumble of fallen stones and bushes and grass, with the vines and creepers reaching up from within as well. A few gnarly trees grow from the earth, and here and there bits of the original flagstone floor can be seen.

There does not appear to be any normal way to ingress into the ruined pyramid interior. One would have to jump, fly, or climb the 15 ft down to the earthen floor below. There are plenty of creepers and vines to do so (DC 5 Climb check) as long as the climber is not too heavy (more than 500 lbs on a single vine will cause it to snap). Climbing the stones themselves is not possible since the ceiling of the first tier of the pyramid overhangs the interior walls.

The entrance to the headquarters is hidden below one of the trees. A patch of flagstone there is actually a secret trapdoor (Search DC 30) that opens by pulling down on one of the tree limbs (Search DC 25). The secret trapdoor splits in two and folds downward, revealing a 10 ft square opening with stairs descending into a dark, foggy mass (see below).

Note: The map for the Coven headquarters below was designed by Tugenev of the Cartographers Guild at www.cartographersguild.com.

Each square on the map is 10 ft. North is towards the top of the map.

The entire headquarters is protected by a permanent mages private sanctum effect (CL 14), which emanates from the megaliths in area 14. This is treated as wondrous architecture, which means it can only be dispelled for 1d4 rounds (it can also be disabled as a device, see area 14 for more details).

Unless otherwise indicated, all floors are flagstone. Walls are superior masonry (hardness 8, 90 hp, break DC 35, Climb DC 25). Ceilings are 10 ft high. Doors are strong wooden doors (hardness 5, 20 hp, break DC 25) and secet doors are stone doors (Search DC 30, hardness 8, 60 hp, break DC 28).

Locations are unlit unless indicated otherwise.

With regard to statistics blocks, items and spells marked with (*) are in use at all times, although their effects are not reflected in the statistic blocks. Invocations that are in use are reflected in the statistic blocks.

The location of certain important Coven figures is to be determined randomly when the PCs first enter the place, assuming to alarm has been previously raised and the Coven has no reason to be on alert. Placement is determined by using the table presented at the end of the headquarters description.

NOTE: If Ahltliconcho is still held by the Coven, he will be manacled in area 12 as indicated in the description for that room.

1. Entrance Chamber (EL 13)

When this chamber is entered, a trap will activate (see Traps below) and the creatures (see below) will attack.

The marble of this chamber is an exotic material that has been enchanted to make it highly resistance to acid (resist acid 40). The marble gives off a faint dweomer of abjuration, but the magic is part of the marble itself and cannot be dispelled.

The statues are of a hezrou (west), marilith (east), and balor (north). A DC 15 Knowledge (planes) check will identify each.

Creatures: The 3 statues are actually clay golems, covered in a thin veneer of stone except for small holes where the eyes would be. While their forms differ, functionally they are all standard clay golems. The golems are programmed to break through their veneer and attack any visible intruders not wearing and displaying a Coven amulet. The Inzir Coven members always display their amulets as they enter the chamber.

The golems are also programmed to emerge and attack if any of the clay golems is damaged or otherwise attacked.

Should the PCs wear the amulets, but not specifically display them, then the DM should roll Spot checks for the golems. Each golem must make a DC 5 Spot check for each amulet to see it. If any check is missed, the golem in question will burst out and attack. If amulets are then shown, unless a golem has gone berserk, it will stop attacking the amulet wearer.

The golems are also instructed to attempt to prevent intruders from leaving the chamber by either of the two exits. Therefore, to the best of their limited intellect, the golems will try to block the passageway to the northeast and the staircase to the south.

The golems will not leave the chamber. Once all intruders are gone from the chamber or once a golem stops attacking, it will resume its position in its alcove (although the stone veneer will be gone). If a clay golem goes berserk, it will leave the chamber to pursue its foes.

CLAY GOLEMS (3) CR 10 N Neutral construct Init -1; Senses darkvision 60 ft, low-light vision; Listen +0, Spot +0 AC 22, touch 8, flat-footed 22 hp 90 (11 HD); DR 10/adamantine and bludgeoning Immune magic Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 21 Fort +18, Ref +8, Will +11 Spd 20 ft (4 squares) Melee 2 slams +14 (2d10+7 plus cursed wound) Space 10 ft; Reach 10 ft Base Atk +8; Grp +19 Special Actions haste Abilities Str 25, Dex 9, Con -, Int -, Wis 11, Cha 1 SQ berserk, construct traits Berserk (Ex) When a clay golem enters combat, there is a noncumulative 1% chance each round that its elemental spirit breaks free and the golem goes berserk. The uncontrolled golem goes on a rampage, attacking the nearest living creature or smashing some object smaller than itself if no creature is within reach, then moving on to spread more destruction. Once a clay golem goes berserk, no known method can reestablish control. Cursed Wound (Ex) The damage a clay golem deals doesn’t heal naturally and resists healing spells. A character attempting to cast a conjuration (healing) spell on a creature damaged by a clay golem must succeed on a DC 26 caster level check, or the spell has no effect on the injured character. Haste (Su) After it has engaged in at least 1 round of combat, a clay golem can haste itself once per day as a free action. The effect lasts 3 rounds and is otherwise the same as the spell. Immunity to Magic (Ex) A clay golem is immune to any spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance. In addition, certain spells and effects function differently against the creature, as noted below. A move earth spell drives the golem back 120 feet and deals 3d12 points of damage to it. A disintegrate spell slows the golem (as the slow spell) for 1d6 rounds and deals 1d12 points of damage. An earthquake spell cast directly at a clay golem stops it from moving on its next turn and deals 5d10 points of damage. The golem gets no saving throw against any of these effects. Any magical attack against a clay golem that deals acid damage heals 1 point of damage for every 3 points of damage it would otherwise deal. If the amount of healing would cause the golem to exceed its full normal hit points, it gains any excess as temporary hit points. For example, a clay golem hit by the breath weapon of a black dragon heals 7 points of damage if the attack would have dealt 22 points of damage. A clay golem golem gets no saving throw against magical attacks that deal acid damage.

Traps: There are two magical traps in this chamber. The first is a greater glyph of warding (CL 16) set into the middle of the floor. This glyph is set to activate whenever any nonmember of the Inzir Coven passes a line running across the center of the chamber from west to east. This activation line goes all the way up to the ceiling. The trap will set off an area effect greater dispel magic (CL 16) that covers the entire chamber except for the top 1 ft space of the center of the dome (where the other magical trap is located).

Greater Glyph of Warding (Spell) CR 7; spell; spell trigger; no reset; spell effect (greater glyph of warding [spell], 16th-level cleric, greater dispel magic [area effect], 20 ft radius sphere); Search DC 31; Disable Device DC 31.

The second trap is a magical trap set into the ceiling. It activates whenever any clay golem is in the chamber out of its alcove. The trap activates every round that its triggering condition is met. The cone fires downward from the center of the ceiling. As such, it will reach every place in the chamber except for the alcoves and small portions of the domes ceiling. Any Medium or Small creature that can squeeze up against the portion of the domed ceiling not consisting of the central square will be out of the cone effect, but is considered squeezing. A Tiny or smaller creature can simply be against the domed ceiling without squeezing and be safe.

The purpose of this acid trap is two-fold. First, it will damage intruders who are fighting the clay golems in this chamber. Second, it will heal or grant the clay golems temporary hit points.

Eldritch Cone Vitriolic Blast Trap CR 7; magic device; visual trigger (true seeing); automatic reset; spell effect (eldritch cone vitriolic blast [invocation], 13th-level warlock, 6d6 acid damage [plus 2d6 per round for 2 rounds], 30 ft cone, DC 19 Ref half); Search DC 31; Disable Device DC 31.

2. Storeroom

3. Slave Quarters

The covered wooden buckets contain human waste.

There are a dozen wax candles and some flint and steel amongst the slaves, which they use to see.

Creatures: The Coven has a dozen slaves at any given time, but normally some of them are out of the headquarters accompanying Coven members. There will be 1d3+5 slaves here. All are human, a mixture of male and female with ages raging from teens to middle age. Slaves wear plain, dirt-smudged sackloth garments. Statistics are not given for the slaves. Assume they are Azotchtlan humans with 1d3 levels of Commoner and Neutral alignment; farmers and other peasants.

The slaves are not kept shackled or otherwsie restrained. The golems in area 1 are more than sufficient to keep the slaves in check, and any who disobey or sow any sign of rebellion are sacrificed to the Coven's patron demons.

The slaves are cowed and will not easily be convinced to even flee the place. Attempting to get them to turn on their masters will require magic or some very impressive Intimidate, Diplomacy, or Bluff. Assume the slaves are unfriendly to the idea of fleeing and hostile to the idea of actively turning on their masters. They must be made friendly to flee and helpful to actively aid the PCs. If they remain or are made hostile, they will call out to the Coven and betray the PCs.

If the slaves do turn on their masters, they will be willing to give the PCs a description of the general layout of the headquarters, as well as what purpose each room serves. Of course, the slaves do not know of any secret locations or hidden items. The slaves can also describe in general terms the capabilities of the Coven hierarchs as well as the fact that it is not uncommong to see horrible demons roaming the halls.

4. Chapel (EL 8 or 13)

The altar has an unhallow spell cast on it (CL 16) that has a freedom of movement spell tied to it. The freedom of movement effect ony benefits Coven members (not including slaves or even demons that serve the Coven). The unhallow covers the entire chapel.

Creatures: If one of the four glabezrus in Part Six above survived, it will be here, keeping a watch on the chapel. The glabezrus are tasked with remaining on station and in service of the Binder for 2 weeks after the key pieces have been retrieved. If 2 weeks have passed or all of the glabezrus were defeated in Part Six, then no glabezru will be found here unless the Coven has some reason to believe the PCs will be coming after them, in which case the Binder will begin to replace the four lost glabezrus using planar binding and the first such replacement will be found here.

GLABEZRU CR 13 CE Huge outsider (chaotic, evil, extraplanar) Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft, true seeing; Listen +26, Spot +26 Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic, telepathy 100 ft AC 27, touch 8, flat-footed 27 hp 174 (12 HD); DR 10/good Immune electricity, poison Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 21 Fort +18, Ref +8, Will +11 Spd 40 ft (8 squares) Melee 2 pincers +20 (2d8+10) and 2 claws +18 (1d6+5) and bite +18 (1d8+5) Space 15 ft; Reach 15 ft Base Atk +12; Grp +30 Atk Options improved grab, Power Attack Special Actions Cleave, Great Cleave, summon demon Spell-Like Abilities (CL 14): 1/day - power word stun At will - chaos hammer (DC 19), confusion (DC 19), dispel magic, mirror image (*), reverse gravity (DC 22), greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs of objects only), unholy blight (DC 19) Abilities Str 31, Dex 10, Con 31, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 20 SQ wish Feats Cleave, Great Cleave, Multiattack, Persuasive, Power Attack Skills Bluff +22, Concentration +25, Diplomacy +9, Disguise +5 (+7 acting), Intimidate +24, Knowledge (any two) +18, Listen +26, Move Silently +15, Search +18, Sense Motive +18, Spellcraft +18, Spot +26, Survival +3 (+5 following tracks) Improved Grab (Ex) To use this ability, a glabrezu must hit a Medium or smaller opponent with a pincer attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. Summon Demon (Sp) Once per day a glabrezu can attempt to summon 4d10 dretches or 1d2 vrocks with a 50% chance of success, or another glabrezu with a 20% chance of success. This ability is the equivalent of a 4th-level spell. True Seeing (Su) Glabrezu continuously use true seeing as the spell (caster level 14th). Wish (Sp) Once per month, a glabrezu can fulfill a wish for a mortal humanoid. The demon can use this ability to offer a mortal whatever he or she desires - but unless the wish is used to create pain and suffering in the world, the glabrezu demands either terrible evil acts or great sacrifice as compensation.

Normally, the zombies created by the Coven Commander are here. These are the same encountered in the first battle of this scenario. If the Coven Commander #1 survived the battle, then the undead will be here (any that were destroyed will have been replaced as long as a week or more has passed).

If the Coven Commander #1 was defeated, then the Coven Binder will have created replacement undead. So, under almost any conditions, the zombies will be present.

These zombies are programmed to follow the orders of their creator, and then either the Binder or the Commander #1. They will also attack any creatures attacking any of them. Otherwise, they will remain quiescent, standing silently along the temple walls relatively evenly spaced.

ZOMBIE DIRE BATS (4) CR 3 NE Large undead Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft; Listen +0, Spot +0 AC 22, touch 14, flat-footed 17 hp 55 (8 HD); DR 5/slashing Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +6 Spd 20 ft (4 squares), fly 40 ft (8 squares) (clumsy) Melee bite +8 (1d8+6) Space 10 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +4; Grp +12 Abilities Str 19, Dex 20, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 1 SQ single actions only, undead traits Feats Toughness Single Actions Only (Ex) Zombies have poor reflexes and can perform only a single move action or attack action each round. A zombie can move up to its speed and attack in the same round, but only if it attempts a charge.

ZOMBIE DIRE APES (2) CR 3 NE Large undead Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft; Listen +0, Spot +0 AC 17, touch 10, flat-footed 16 hp 68 (10 HD); DR 5/slashing Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +7 Spd 30 ft (6 squares), climb 15 ft (3 squares) Melee 2 claws +12 (1d6+7) and bite +7 (1d8+3) Space 10 ft; Reach 10 ft Base Atk +5; Grp +16 Abilities Str 24, Dex 13, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 1 SQ single actions only, undead traits Feats Toughness Single Actions Only (Ex) Zombies have poor reflexes and can perform only a single move action or attack action each round. A zombie can move up to its speed and attack in the same round, but only if it attempts a charge.

Developments: If given enough time, the Coven binder (see area 15), if present, can sacrifice a slave or even a captured PC on the altar here in order to receive a sacrificial reward. Refer to Book of Vile Darkness page 26 for details.

Treasure: The dagger on the altar is a +2 sacrificial unholy knife (provides a +3 bonus on sacrifice checks).

5. Teleportation Chamber (EL 0 or 13)

The slab radiates moderate conjuration magic and is the stone for the stone walk spell that leads to and from the drop-off point.

The gong is a specialized plane shift amplifier attuned to the home plane of the demonic triumverate that the Coven worships. If a plane shift spell is cast using the gong as the focus, the spell will be amplified into a greater plane shift, but only to the demiplane of the triumverate. The gong is considered wondrous architecture. It can be moved, but weighs a good 750 lbs. It radiates strong conjuration magic and operates at caster level 13th.

Creatures: If at least two of the four glabezrus in Part Six above survived, one will be here, keeping a watch on the place. The glabezrus are tasked with remaining on station and in service of the Binder for 2 weeks after the key pieces have been retrieved. If 2 weeks have passed or all of the glabezrus were defeated in Part Six, then no glabezru will be found here unless the Coven has some reason to believe the PCs will be coming after them, in which case the Binder will begin to replace the four lost glabezrus using planar binding and the second such replacement will be found here.

GLABEZRU CR 13 CE Huge outsider (chaotic, evil, extraplanar) Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft, true seeing; Listen +26, Spot +26 Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic, telepathy 100 ft AC 27, touch 8, flat-footed 27 hp 174 (12 HD); DR 10/good Immune electricity, poison Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 21 Fort +18, Ref +8, Will +11 Spd 40 ft (8 squares) Melee 2 pincers +20 (2d8+10) and 2 claws +18 (1d6+5) and bite +18 (1d8+5) Space 15 ft; Reach 15 ft Base Atk +12; Grp +30 Atk Options improved grab, Power Attack Special Actions Cleave, Great Cleave, summon demon Spell-Like Abilities (CL 14): 1/day - power word stun At will - chaos hammer (DC 19), confusion (DC 19), dispel magic, mirror image (*), reverse gravity (DC 22), greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs of objects only), unholy blight (DC 19) Abilities Str 31, Dex 10, Con 31, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 20 SQ wish Feats Cleave, Great Cleave, Multiattack, Persuasive, Power Attack Skills Bluff +22, Concentration +25, Diplomacy +9, Disguise +5 (+7 acting), Intimidate +24, Knowledge (any two) +18, Listen +26, Move Silently +15, Search +18, Sense Motive +18, Spellcraft +18, Spot +26, Survival +3 (+5 following tracks) Improved Grab (Ex) To use this ability, a glabrezu must hit a Medium or smaller opponent with a pincer attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. Summon Demon (Sp) Once per day a glabrezu can attempt to summon 4d10 dretches or 1d2 vrocks with a 50% chance of success, or another glabrezu with a 20% chance of success. This ability is the equivalent of a 4th-level spell. True Seeing (Su) Glabrezu continuously use true seeing as the spell (caster level 14th). Wish (Sp) Once per month, a glabrezu can fulfill a wish for a mortal humanoid. The demon can use this ability to offer a mortal whatever he or she desires - but unless the wish is used to create pain and suffering in the world, the glabrezu demands either terrible evil acts or great sacrifice as compensation.

Developments: If the gong is utilized and the PCs travel to the demiplane of the triumverate, the DM will have to prepare a scenario. The triumverate is likely too powerful for PCs of the current level, so the DM should encourage the PCs to pursue the demons at a later time when they are better prepared to face them.

Treasure: The 12 vials are all potions of cure serious wounds (CL 5), placed here so that fleeing or arriving Coven members can quickly heal if they have just fled an attack. The closed wooden box contains 2 wands. The first is a wand of lesser restoration (CL 3, 47 charges) and the second is a wand of dispel magic (CL 9, 13 charges). The first is present to remove ability damage that may have been incurred by the persons fleeing back to this chamber. The second wand is present to remove effects like dimensional anchor in preparation for fleeing.

6. Well Chamber and Larder

The glowing rock is a special stone retrieved from the Elemental Plane of Fire. It is always hot, comparable to a small hearth fire. The stone weighs about 50 lbs and can be moved. The stone produces a smokeless heat that allows cooking without need for a chimney.

The hole in the floor is a well. The well is 50 ft deep and contains about 20 ft of potable water.

7. Common Barracks (EL 13)

COVEN SOLDIERS (18) CR 5 Complete Arcane page 5 Male and female human Rogue 2/Warlock 3 NE Medium humanoid (human) Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft, see invisibility; Listen +0, Spot +0 Languages Azotlan, Abyssal, Infernal AC 16, touch 14, flat-footed 12; Miss 20% ranged (entropic warding) hp 28 (5 HD); DR 1/cold iron Fort +3, Ref +8, Will +3; evasion Spd 30 ft (6 squares) Melee mwk obsidian dagger +4 (1d4) Ranged eldritch blast +7 (2d6) Space 5 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +3; Grp +3 Atk Options Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot Special Actions sneak attack +1d6 Combat Gear masterwork obsidian dagger, potions of cure light wounds (3) (CL 1), potion of protection of good (CL 1), potion of aid (CL 3), potion of cat's grace (CL 3), wand of curse of ill fortune (CL 3, 15 charges) Warlock Invocations Known (CL 3): Least - entropic warding (*), see the unseen (*) Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3): At will - detect magic Abilities Str 10, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 14 Feats Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot Skills Balance +6, Bluff +7, Concentration +8, Diplomacy +6, Disable Device +6, Disguise +7 (+9 acting), Hide +8, Intimidate +4, Jump +2, Knowledge (arcana) +3, Knowledge (planes) +3, Move Silently +8, Open Lock +9, Search +6, Sense Motive +5, Sleight of Hand +8, Spellcraft +3 (+5 to decipher scrolls), Tumble +9, Survival +0 (+2 to find or follow tracks), Use Magic Device +7 Possessions combat gear plus leather armour, potion belt, Coven amulet, 150 cp, 120 sp, 57 gp.

INVOCATIONS: entropic warding (CA p134) - entropic shield effect, pass without trace effect, and cannot be tracked by scent. see the unseen (CA p135) - see invisibility effect, darkvision 60 ft for 24 hours. SPELLS: curse of ill fortune (SC p56) - r med, 1 living creature, 1 min/lvl, Will neg, SR; target suffers -3 to attack, saves, ability, and skill checks, negated by any remove curse effect.

8. Elite Barracks (EL 15+)

COVEN WARLOCKS (7+) CR 9 Complete Arcane page 5 Male and female human Warlock 9 NE Medium humanoid (human) Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft, see invisibility; Listen +0, Spot +0 Languages Azotlan, Abyssal, Infernal AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 12; Dodge, Mobility; Miss 20% ranged (entropic warding) hp 52 (9 HD), fiendish resilience 1; DR 2/cold iron Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +6 Spd 30 ft (6 squares) Melee mwk spear +7/+2 (1d8) Ranged eldritch blast +10 (5d6) Space 5 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +6; Grp +6 Atk Options Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot Combat Gear masterwork spear, potions of cure moderate wounds (3) (CL 3), potions of eagle's splendour (3) (CL 3), potions of lesser restoration (2) (CL 3), wand of true strike (CL 1, 30 charges), wand of shield of faith (CL 1, 24 charges), wand of protection from good (CL 1, 17 charges), divine scroll of dimensional anchor (CL 7) Warlock Invocations Known (CL 9): Lesser - beshadowed blast (DC 17), relentless dispelling Least - eldritch spear, entropic warding (*), see the unseen (*) Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9): At will - detect magic Abilities Str 10, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 16 SQ deceive item Feats Dodge, Mobility, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Focus (eldritch blast) Skills Concentration +14, Intimidate +8, Knowledge (arcana) +6, Knowledge (planes) +6, Sense Motive +4, Spellcraft +8 (+10 to decipher scrolls), Survival +0 (+2 other planes), Use Magic Device +15 (+17 scrolls) Possessions combat gear plus leather armour, masterwork potion belt, Coven amulet, 240 cp, 57 sp, 170 gp. Deceive Item (Ex) At 4th level and higher, a warlock has the ability to more easily commandeer magic items made for the use of other characters. When making a Use Magic Device check, a warlock can take 10 even if distracted or threatened. Fiendish Resilience (Su) Beginning at 8th level, a warlock knows the trick of fiendish resilience. Once per day, as a free action, he can enter a state that lasts for 2 minutes. While in this state, the warlock gains fast healing 1.

INVOCATIONS: beshadowed blast (CA p132) - EE; living creature struck must make Fort save or be blinded for 1 rd. eldritch spear (CA p133) - BS; increases range of eldritch blast to 250 ft. entropic warding (CA p134) - entropic shield effect, pass without trace effect, and cannot be tracked by scent. relentless dispelling (CM p124) - targeted dispel magic that repeats the next round. see the unseen (CA p135) - see invisibility effect, darkvision 60 ft for 24 hours.

9. Commanders' Quarters (EL 14 or 16)

The tablets and scrolls on the table relate mostly to the functioning of the Coven. Careful study of these documents will reveal the name and aliases of Coven spies throughout Fezen-tir, reports on the missions undertaken by various Coven members, evaluations and reports of Coven members, and reports received from the field to be reviewed.

Creatures: 2 Coven Commanders normally dwell here. Commander #1 will have been encountered in the initial battle of this scenario. If she survived the initial encounter with the PCs, then she will be here along with her colleague. Otherwise, only 1 Coven Commander will be present.

The Coven Commanders are lovers, although neither trusts the other much. But given their status as least of the four Coven hierarchs, they have pooled their allegiences for now. Both are middle aged Fezens.

Note: Demonbinders are, per the rules, a drow only prestige class. However, in Therra, since drow do not practice warlockry and have never even heard of it, the class is available to the Fezen.

COVEN COMMANDER #1 CR 14 Complete Arcane page 5 and Drow of the Underdark page 72 Female human Warlock 9/Demonbinder 5 CE Medium humanoid (human) Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft, see invisibility; Listen +0, Spot +0 Languages Azotlan, Abyssal, Infernal AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 14; Dodge, Mobility; Miss 20% ranged (entropic warding) hp 75 (14 HD), fiendish resilience 1; DR 2/good and 2/cold iron Resist electricity 10 Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +10 Spd 30 ft (6 squares) Melee warlock's scepter (+2 light mace) +10/+5 (1d6+2) Ranged eldritch blast +14 (6d6) Space 5 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +8; Grp +8 Atk Options Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot Special Actions demonbind 5/day Combat Gear warlock's scepter (28 charges), chasuble of fell power (lesser), potions of cure moderate wounds (3) (CL 3), potions of eagle's splendour (3) (CL 3) (*), potions of lesser restoration (4) (CL 3), wand of nightshield (CL 3, 26 charges) (*), wand of true strike (CL 1, 30 charges), wand of shield of faith (CL 3, 22 charges), wand of protection from good (CL 3, 27 charges) (*), wand of cat's grace (CL 3, 19 charges) (*), wand of bear's endurance (CL 3, 18 charges) (*), divine scroll of dimensional anchor (CL 7) Warlock Invocations Known (CL 13): Greater - eldritch line, noxious blast (DC 20) Lesser - beshadowed blast (DC 18), dead walk, relentless dispelling Least - baleful utterance,(DC 16), eldritch spear, entropic warding (*), see the unseen (*) Damnation Points 9 Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9): At will - detect magic Abilities Str 10, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 18 SQ deceive item Feats Dodge, Extra Invocation, Mobility, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Focus (eldritch blast) Skills Bluff +9, Concentration +17, Diplomacy +6, Disguise +4 (+6 acting), Intimidate +11, Knowledge (arcana) +6, Knowledge (planes) +11, Sense Motive +4, Spellcraft +8 (+10 to decipher scrolls), Survival +0 (+2 other planes), Use Magic Device +18 (+20 scrolls) Possessions combat gear plus +2 leather armour, masterwork potion belt, Coven amulet, key to chest. Damnation Points (Ex) You gain a number of damnation points equal to your Charisma modifier plus your class level. You use damnation points to activate your demonbind abilities. You cannot spend damnation points when in the area of a consecrate, hallow, or magic circle against evil spell. You regain all spent damnation points after 5 minutes of rest. Deceive Item (Ex) At 4th level and higher, a warlock has the ability to more easily commandeer magic items made for the use of other characters. When making a Use Magic Device check, a warlock can take 10 even if distracted or threatened. Demonbind (Sp) Once per day per class level, you can spend damnation points to invoke the essence of a demon and bind it to your soul. This changes your general appearance (which has no significant game effect unless stated otherwise) and also grants you certain benefits. Binding a demon in this way is a full-round action and lasts for 10 rounds. If you invoke a second demonbind when another is still active, the new one replaces the old one. Temporary hit points granted by a demonbind vanish when the demonbind ends (or is replaced by a new demonbind). Some demonbinds allow you to spend additional damnation points to gain an extra benefit. You can use this option only when affected by the demonbind, and the benefit lasts until the start of your next turn or until the demonbind ends, whichever comes first. Any saving throw allowed has a DC of 10 + class level + Cha modifier. When under the effect of a demonbind, you gain telepathy out to 100 feet and the evil subtype if you don't have it already. If you are targeted by a banishment or dismissal spell, you instantly lose your demonbind. If you enter an area protected by a hallow or consecrate spell, the demonbind is suppressed for as long as you remain in the area. Each demonbind is the equivalent of a spell whose level equals the damnation point cost for invoking the demonbind. Fiendish Resilience (Su) Beginning at 8th level, a warlock knows the trick of fiendish resilience. Once per day, as a free action, he can enter a state that lasts for 2 minutes. While in this state, the warlock gains fast healing 1.

INVOCATIONS: baleful utterance (CA p132) - as shatter spell; if creature holding or wearing object that is destroyed, must make Fort sv or be dazed for 1 rd and deafened for 1 min. beshadowed blast (CA p132) - EE; living creature struck must make Fort save or be blinded for 1 rd. dead walk (CA p133) - as animate dead, but unless normal material component used, undead crumble to dust after 1 minute. eldritch line (DrM p82) - BS; eldritch blast becomes a 60 ft line (Ref sv 1/2). eldritch spear (CA p133) - BS; increases range of eldritch blast to 250 ft. entropic warding (CA p134) - entropic shield effect, pass without trace effect, and cannot be tracked by scent. noxious blast (CA p135) - EE; creature struck by eldritch blast must make Fort sv or be nauseated for 1 min. relentless dispelling (CM p124) - targeted dispel magic that repeats the next round. see the unseen (CA p135) - see invisibility effect, darkvision 60 ft for 24 hours. DEMONBINDS: Dretch (1 point) -You gain 5 temporary hit points and resistance to acid 5, cold 5, and fire 5. Babau (2 points) - You gain 10 temporary hit points and sneak attack +1d6. You can spend 1 damnation point as a swift action to lace your eldritch blast with caustic slime, dealing an extra 5 points of acid damage. Succubus (3 points) - You gain 15 temporary hit points and the benefits of the tongues spell. You can spend 1 damnation point as a swift action to gain a +5 competence bonus on Bluff and Diplomacy checks. Yochlol (4 points) - You gain 20 temporary hit points, and you have a 25% chance to ignore the extra damage from a critical hit or sneak attack. You can spend one damnation point as a swift action to use gaseous form on yourself. Bebilith (4 points) -You gain 20 temporary hit points and the scent ability. You can spend 1 damnation point as a swift action to gain a climb speed equal to your land speed. Vrock (5 points) - You gain 25 temporary hit points. You can spend 1 damnation point as a swift action to augment your eldritch blast with screeching sonic energy. A target struck by this eldritch blast takes an additional 10 points of sonic damage and becomes deafened for 5 rounds (Fort negates deafness). Glabrezu (6 points) - You gain 30 temporary hit points and a +5 competence bonus on Bluff checks. You can spend 1 damnation point as a swift action to gain the benefit of a true seeing spell. Nalfeshnee (7 points) - You gain 35 temporary hit points and resistance to acid 5, cold 5, and fire 5. You can spend 1 damnation point as a swift action to lace your eldritch blast with a nalfeshnee's smite. Non-evil targets with fewer HD than your character level who are struck by the eldritch blast are dazed for 1 round, overwhelmed by horrid visions (Will negates). Marilith (8 points) - You gain 40 temporary hit points. Your original arms (if any) are your primary arms, and the new limbs are secondary limbs. You can wield extra weapons with these new limbs, but all such attacks are treated as offhand attacks. You can spend 1 damnation point as a swift action to use one of your new limbs to fire an eldritch blast at a -5 penalty on the attack roll; you can't apply any eldritch essence or blast shape invocations (or any other modifications) to this eldritch blast. Balor (9 points) - You gain 45 temporary hit points and a fly speed equal to your land speed (good maneuverability). You can spend 1 damnation point as a swift action to make a melee touch attack that deals fire damage equal to the damage normally dealt by your eldritch blast. SPELLS: nightshield (SC p148) - r pers, 1 min/lvl; +1 resistance bonus to saves and negates magic missile attacks. FEATS: Extra Invocation (CA p79) - you learn an extra invocation of a type one less than the maximum you can know. MAGIC ITEMS: chasuble of fell power (lesser) (MiC p85) - adds +1d6 dmg to eldritch blast or any spell that causes dmg and has the chaotic descriptor. warlock's scepter (CA p145) - +2 light mace providing +2 profane bonus to ranged touch attacks, spend up to 5 ch/day to increase eldritch blast dmg by +1d6 = 1 ch, +2d6 = 2 ch, +3d6 = 3 ch, +4d6 = 5 ch, after all charges used remains a normal +2 light mace.

COVEN COMMANDER #2 CR 14 Complete Arcane pages 5 and 19 Male human Warlock 5/Acolyte of the Skin (demonic) 9 NE Medium humanoid (human) Init +4; Senses darkvision 120 ft, see invisibility; Listen +0, Spot +0 Languages Azotlan, Abyssal, Infernal AC 21, touch 14, flat-footed 17; Dodge, Mobility; Miss 20% ranged (entropic warding) hp 101 (14 HD); DR 1/cold iron Resist cold 10, fire 10 Fort +13, Ref +11, Will +13 Spd 30 ft (6 squares) Melee mwk spear +10/+5 (1d8) Ranged eldritch blast +13 (5d6/19) Space 5 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +9; Grp +9 Atk Options Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot Special Actions fiendish glare (1/day, DC 22), glare of the pit (1/day, 8d6 fire damage), poison (2/day, DC 17), summon fiend (1/day, babau) Combat Gear masterwork spear, flesheater, potions of cure serious wounds (3) (CL 5), potions of eagle's splendour (3) (CL 3), potions of lesser restoration (2) (CL 3), wand of true strike (CL 1, 30 charges), wand of shield of faith (CL 6, 24 charges), wand of protection from good (CL 1, 17 charges), divine scroll of dimensional anchor (CL 7) Warlock Invocations Known (CL 9): Lesser - flee the scene, relentless dispelling Least - eldritch spear, entropic warding (*), see the unseen (*) Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5): At will - detect magic Abilities Str 10, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 16 SQ deceive item, skin adaption, wear fiend Feats Dodge, Improved Critical (eldritch blast), Mobility, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Focus (eldritch blast) Skills Concentration +20, Diplomacy +5, Knowledge (arcana) +10, Knowledge (planes) +15, Sense Motive +5, Spellcraft +18 (+20 to decipher scrolls), Survival +0 (+2 on other planes), Use Magic Device +11 (+13 scrolls) Possessions combat gear plus leather armour, cloak of resistance +3, masterwork potion belt, Coven amulet, key to chest. Deceive Item (Ex) At 4th level and higher, a warlock has the ability to more easily commandeer magic items made for the use of other characters. When making a Use Magic Device check, a warlock can take 10 even if distracted or threatened. Fiendish Glare (Su) From 3rd level on, an acolyte of the skin has the supernatural ability to unnerve opponents with a ferocious glare once per day. This is not a gaze attack, and the target need not meet the acolyte's eyes of even see the acolyte (although the acolyte must have line of effect to the target). Glaring is a standard action that affects any creature the acolyte can see within 100 ft. The target becomes shaken for 10 minutes, and must also attempt a Will save (DC 10 + acolyte's class level + Cha modifier) or be stunned. The duration of the stun effect depends on the target's hit points: 50 or less = 10 rounds 51 to 100 = 3 rounds 101 to 150 = 2 rounds 151 or more = 1 round Fiendish glare is a mind-affecting fear effect. Glare of the Pit (Su) At 7th level and higher, an acolyte has the supernatural ability to produce fiery rays from his eyes. Once per day as a standard action, he can project two rays (one from each eye) with a range of 100 feet. Each ray requires a ranged touch attack to hit and deals 8d6 points of fire damage. The rays can be aimed at two different targets within range, but the target of each ray must be designated simultaneously. Poison (Sp) An acolyte of the skin can use poison once per day as an 8th-level caster. The save DC is 14 + the acolyte's primary spellcastring ability modifier (Intelligence for wizards, Charisma for sorcerers and warlocks, Wisdom for clerics, and so forth). At 5th level, an acolyte can use this ability two times per day. Skin Adaption (Su) By 5th level, an acolyte's skin and its wearer have grown more comfortable together, as if they had never been separate. The increase to natural armour granted by the fiendish skin improves to +2, the acolyte gains a +2 inherent bonus to Constitution, and the acolyte's darkvision is effective out to 120 ft. Summon Fiend (Sp) At 9th level, an acolyte learns to draw on another power of his fiendish skin, If the skin is demonic, once per day he can summon a babau; if devilish, once per day he can summon a chain devil. The summoned creature does the acolyte's bidding, but it automatically returns whence it came after 1 hour. A summoned creature cannot use any inate summoning abilities it might have. An acolyte's caster level for this ability is equal to his spellcaster level. Wear Fiend (Su) An acolyte of the skin summons the essence of a fiend and wears it like a second skin. The bonded fiendish skin is for all intents and purposes the character's own. It increases the acolyte of the skin's natural armour bonus by 1 and grants a +2 inherent bonus to Dexterity. The acolyte also gains darkvision out to 60 ft.

INVOCATIONS: eldritch spear (CA p133) - BS; increases range of eldritch blast to 250 ft. entropic warding (CA p134) - entropic shield effect, pass without trace effect, and cannot be tracked by scent. flee the scene (CA p134) - dimension door up to close range, leaves behind a major image or warlock in your place for 1 round, the image reacts appropriately to attacks as if you were concentrating on it. relentless dispelling (CM p124) - targeted dispel magic that repeats the next round. see the unseen (CA p135) - see invisibility effect, darkvision 60 ft for 24 hours. MAGIC ITEMS: flesheater (BoVD p114) - 1/day tiny green energy quasits swarm over target who must succeed at a DC 18 Fort save or suffer 3d6 dmg per round for 1d6+1 rounds, quasits can be dispelled but not attacked.

BABAU CR 6* CE Medium outsider (chaotic, evil, extraplanar) Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft, see invisibility; Listen +19, Spot +1 Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic, telepathy 100 ft AC 19, touch 11, flat-footed 18 hp 66 (7 HD), protective slime; DR 10/cold iron or good Immune electricity, poison Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 14 Fort +10, Ref +6, Will +6 Spd 30 ft (6 squares) Melee 2 claws +12 (1d6+5) amd bite +7 (1d6+2) Space 5 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +7; Grp +12 Atk Options Power Attack Special Actions Cleave, sneak attack +2d6 Spell-Like Abilities (CL 7): At will - darkness, dispel magic, greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs of objects only), see invisibility (*) Abilities Str 21, Dex 12, Con 20, Int 14, Wis 13, Cha 16 Feats Cleave, Multiattack, Power Attack Skills Climb +15, Disable Device +12, Disguise +13, Escape Artist +11, Hide +19, Listen +19, Move Silently +19, Open Lock +11, Search +20, Sleight of Hand +11, Survival +1 (+3 following tracks), Use Rope +1 (+3 with bindings) Protective Slime (Su) A slimy red jelly coats the babau’s skin. Any weapon that touches it takes 1d8 points of acid damage from the corrosive goo, and the weapon’s hardness does not reduce this damage. A magic weapon may attempt a DC 18 Reflex save to avoid taking this damage. A creature who strikes the babau with an unarmed attack, unarmed strike, touch spell, or natural weapon takes this damage as well but can negate the damage with a DC 18 Reflex save. The save DCs are Constitution-based. Summon Demon (Sp) Once per day a babau can attempt to summon 1 babau with a 40% chance of success. This ability is the equivalent of a 3rd-level spell. * This demon is summoned by the acolyte of the skin and no XP should be given for defeating it, as it is included in the CR of its summoner.

Treasure: The two chests are each locked (Open Lock DC 30, keys on the Commanders).

Chest #1 (beloning to Commander #1) contains 1,270 cp, 1,600 sp, 1,750 gp, a +1 venomous scimitar (MIC p45) with a serpent motif on the hilt, an arcane scroll of ruby ray of reversal (CL 11) that the Commander has not yet had a chance to decipher, and onyx gems totalling 550 gp.

Chest #2 (belonging to Commander #2) contains 475 cp, 600 sp, 2,000 gp, 4 divine scrolls of magic circle against evil (CL 7), and 2 divine scrolls of magic circle against good (CL 7).

10. Meeting Chamber

This is the planning and council chamber for the Coven. The scrolls in the case are maps of various areas in and around Fezen-tir. Several of them include the locations of the key pieces and one contains the location of the Trimvirzunn itself (see below).

11. Library

12. Covenmaster's Quarters (EL 19)

The torture victim is a slave who did not obey an order quickly enough for the Covenmaster. He is unconscious (at -4 hp) and stabilized. The Covenmaster intended for him to bleed out, and he may still die from his wounds unless tended. Unlike the other slaves, this one (a CN Rogue 3) will eagerly follow the PCs and even seek whatever revenge he can if rescued and healed. If a PC has the Leadership feat, he can even be taken as a follower. The captive's name is Xiverzun (SHEE-ver-zuhn); he was caught stealing bread from a Fezen marketplace and the jailer sold him to a Coven follower.

The manacles set in the wall are masterwork manacles and the key to them is on the Covenmaster's person. Ahltliconcho was drugged, hooded, gagged, and imprisoned in one set while he was being held at the headquarters.

None of the trinkets or gew gaws on the northern shelves are valuable, though they represent an exotic variety of materials and sources; sort of a collection of souvenirs from someone who travels the planes or knows those who do.

Creatures: Amongst the hierarchs of the Coven, the Covenmaster is the leader amongst equals. She wields tremendous power, although her rule can be challenged. Her grip on power is held solely by force of will, exercise of power and guile, and acceptance by the rest of the hierarchs. She has been blessed with fiendish blood in her ancestry, which has bred true and runs strong in her blood. She is of somewhat indeterminate age, anywhere from late 30s to early 50s and at times her age seems to vary depending upon her mood or possibly her whim.

Her fiendish heritage manifests in very vestigal horns (only noticeable if her hair is brushed aside) and red coloured irises.

COVENMASTER ERENZIN CR 19 Complete Arcane page 5 Female fiendish human Warlock 17 NE Medium humanoid (human) Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft, see invisibility; Listen +1, Spot +1 Languages Azotlan, Abyssal, Infernal AC 19, touch 14, flat-footed 15; Dodge, Mobility; Miss 20% ranged (entropic warding) hp 96 (17 HD), fiendish resilience 2; DR 4/cold iron and 10/magic Resist acid 10, cold 10, electricity 5, fire 10, sonic 5; SR 22 Fort +7, Ref +9, Will +11 Spd 30 ft (6 squares) Melee +1 spear +14/+9/+4 (1d8+1) Ranged eldritch blast +17 (8d6/19) Space 5 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +12; Grp +12 Atk Options Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot Special Actions smite good (1/day, +17 damage) Combat Gear +1 spear, potions of cure serious wounds (3) (CL 5), potions of lesser restoration (2) (CL 3), wand of true strike (CL 1, 30 charges), wand of shield of faith (CL 6, 24 charges), wand of protection from good (CL 5, 17 charges), wand of blur (CL 3, 26 charges), wand of shield (CL 3, 16 charges), wand of barkskin (CL 3, 22 charges), wand of mirror image (CL 3, 39 charges), divine scrolls of dimensional anchor (2) (CL 7), divine scrolls of heal (2) (CL 11) Warlock Invocations Known (CL 17): Dark - impenetrable barrier Greater - chilling tentacles, eldritch line, wall of perilous flame (DC 21) Lesser - beshadowed blast (DC 20), flee the scene, relentless dispelling Least - eldritch spear, entropic warding (*), see the unseen (*) Spell-Like Abilities (CL 17): At will - detect magic Abilities Str 10, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 22 SQ deceive item, imbue item Feats Craft Wand, Dodge, Improved Critical (eldritch blast), Mobility, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Focus (eldritch blast) Skills Concentration +22, Intimidate +11, Knowledge (arcana) +12, Knowledge (planes) +11, Sense Motive +5, Spellcraft +13 (+15 to decipher scrolls), Survival +0 (+2 other planes), Use Magic Device +26 (+28 scrolls) Possessions combat gear plus +3 acidic leather armour, cloak of charisma +6, bone ring, ring of minor acid resistance, bracers of accuracy, masterwork potion belt, Coven amulet, key to manacles, key to treasury door, keys to chests in treasury (6). Deceive Item (Ex) At 4th level and higher, a warlock has the ability to more easily commandeer magic items made for the use of other characters. When making a Use Magic Device check, a warlock can take 10 even if distracted or threatened. Fiendish Resilience (Su) Beginning at 8th level, a warlock knows the trick of fiendish resilience. Once per day, as a free action, he can enter a state that lasts for 2 minutes. While in this state, the warlock gains fast healing 1. At 13th level, a warlock's fiendish resilience improves. When in his fiendish resilience state, he gains fast healing 2 instead. Imbue Item (Su) A warlock of 12th level or higher can use his spuernatural power to create magic items, even if he does not know the spells required to make an item (although he must know the appropriate item creation feat). He can substitute a Use Magic Device check (DC 15 + spell level for arcane spells or 25 + spell level for divine spells) in place of a required spell he doesn't know or can't cast. If the check succeeds, the warlock can create the item as if he had cast the required spell. If it fails, he cannot complete the item. He does not expend the XP or gp costs for making the item; his progress is simply arrested. He cannot retry this Use Magic Device check for that spell until he gains a new level.

INVOCATIONS: beshadowed blast (CA p132) - EE; living creature struck must make Fort save or be blinded for 1 rd. chilling tentacles (CA p132) - black tentacles plus each creature within the area takes 2d6 cold damage each round whether grappled or not. eldritch line (DrM p82) - BS; eldritch blast becomes 60 ft line, Ref sv 1/2 dmg. eldritch spear (CA p133) - BS; increases range of eldritch blast to 250 ft. entropic warding (CA p134) - entropic shield effect, pass without trace effect, and cannot be tracked by scent. flee the scene (CA p134) - dimension door up to close range, leaves behind a major image or warlock in your place for 1 round, the image reacts appropriately to attacks as if you were concentrating on it. impenetrable barrier (DrM p82) - wall of forcee but opaque, can only have 1 up at a time, if barrier destroyed you take 1d10 dmg. relentless dispelling (CM p124) - targeted dispel magic that repeats the next round. see the unseen (CA p135) - see invisibility effect, darkvision 60 ft for 24 hours. wall of perilous flame (CA p136) - wall of fire where half the damage is supernatural rather than fire damage, if creature reduced to 0 hp or less by the wall, its remains are completely consumed 1 round later (as if by a destruction spell). MAGIC ITEMS: acidic (MIC p6) - deals 2d4 acid dmg per full round of contact to each grappling opponent or objects contacting you except for items in your possession or that you are holding. bone ring (MIC p75) - 3 charges/day, each charge negates 1 negative level or 1 point of ability drain (but not ability damage). bracers of accuracy (MIC p79) - 3 ch/day, 1 ch = ignore cover less than total, 2 ch = ignore miss chance except total or from incorporeal, 3 ch = ignore both.

Secret Doors: The stone block under the sleeping mat can be pivoted to the side if a hidden catch is depressed (Search DC 30). Underneath is a cache in the floor (3 ft wide by 6 ft long by 3 ft deep). It holds the Covenmaster's personal treasure (see below).

Treasure: Within the hidden cache are 3 leather sacks holding a total of 1,600 cp, 3,400 sp, and 3,200 gp.

Also here is an aspect mirror (CS p113) that appears as a circular mirror 1.5 ft in diameter. This mirror is attuned to another such mirror that is within a house in the Fezen capital in the possession of a well-to-do merchant who is actually a spy for the Coven. The mirror is contained in a secret closet next to the merchant's bedroom. These mirrors allow the Covenmaster to communicate with the merchant and give orders and receive information from the capital city quickly.

13. Coven Treasury (EL 11)

The hallway between area 12 and 13 proper is warded by a dual trap. At the end of the 10 ft long hallway that leads south is a symbol of weakness that is set to activate if anyone other than the Covenmaster or the Binder views or touches the symbol.

A greater glyph of warding is inscribed on the ceiling at the three-way intersection. It is set to go off if the symbol is activated. The glyph of warding conjures an ice beast megaraptor that will attack anyone but the Binder. The megaraptor will appear in the square to the north of the intersection, warding the treasury.

Symbol of Weakness CR 8; spell; spell trigger; no reset; spell effect (symbol of weakness, 16th-level cleric, DC 23 Fort negates); Search DC 32; Disable Device DC 32.

Greater Glyph of Warding (Spell) CR 7; spell; spell trigger; no reset; spell effect (greater glyph of warding [spell], 16th-level cleric, conjure ice beast VI [megaraptor]); Search DC 31; Disable Device DC 31.

ICE BEAST MEGARAPTOR CR 5* Frostburn page 138 N Large construct (cold) Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft, low-light vision; Listen +0, Spot +0 AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 15 hp 79 (8 HD); DR 5/magic Immune cold Vulnerable fire Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +4 Spd 60 ft (12 squares) Melee talons +10 (2d6+5) and 2 foreclaws +5 (1d4+2) and bite +5 (1d8+2) Space 10 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +6; Grp +15 Special Actions engulf (DC 19) Abilities Str 21, Dex 15, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 1 SQ construct traits Engulf (Su) As a standard action, the ice beast can attempt to engulf a single opponent it threatens. The opponent must be one size or more smaller than the ice beast. The target is entitled to a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 the ice beast's Hit Dice + the ice beast's Str modifier) to avoid being engulfed. A creature engulfed by the ice beast is considered to be pinned and trapped inside its body. The engulfed creature takes 2d6 points of cold damage per round on its turn, and may begin to drown (although it can hold its breath). An ice beast can only engulf one victim at a time. To escape, the victim must escape the pin and then escape the grapple by winning grapple checks against the ice beast. The victim can choose to make Escape Artist checks in place of grapple checks. If the ice beast is killed, any engulfed victims are freed. * No XP is granted for defeating this creature, as it is included in the CR of the trap that summons it.

The door to area 13 is locked (Open Lock DC 30) with the key on the Covenmaster. The lock has a poison needle trap that will activate if the lock is picked or if the key is not turned counterclockwise when placed in the lock.

Poison Needle Trap CR 8; mechanical; touch trigger; repair reset; lock bypass (key turned counterclockwise); Atk +17 melee (1 plus poison, needle); poison (lifebane, DC 20 Fortitude save resists (poison only), 1d6 Con/1d6 Con, vile damage); Search DC 29; Disable Device DC 29.

Within the chamber is the treasure of the Coven.

Treasure: The chests are locked (Open Lock DC 30), with the keys on the Covenmaster. They hold the following (many of these are components for spells):

Chest #1 = 2,300 sp, 1,400 gp, bags of powdered diamonds totalling 4,500 gp, and a clay golem manual

Chest #2 = 5,600 cp, 3,700 sp, 410 gp

Chest #3 = lumps of onyx worth 1,500 gp, obsidian chunks worth 750 gp, and bags full of powdered silver worth 500 gp (100 lbs)

Chest #4 = 4 bottles of paste made from rubies and amber (each worth 2,500 gp) for the stone walk spell, incense worth 500 gp, a cloth bag with 5 diamonds worth 2,500 gp each, a bag of rubies worth 5,000 gp, and a bag of amber worth 1,500 gp

Chest #5 = herbs, oils, and incense suitable for casting an unhallow spell worth 5,000 gp

Chest #6 = chunks of ivory worth a total of 1,700 gp (used to craft wands)

The clay blocks each weigh about 1,200 lbs. The bottle contain oils and the boxes contain rare powders suitable for creation of a clay golem (worth 3,000 gp).

Amongst the scrolls on the stone shelves are several magic ones saved by the Covenmaster for her use. Included amongst these are several scrolls of mass teleport which she intends to use to travel to the location of the Trimvirzunn and return. There are a total of 8 magic scrolls:

2 arcane scrolls of mass teleport (CL 13) (Tome and Blood page 93)

2 divine scrolls of greater teleport (CL 13)

An arcane scroll of simulacrum (CL 13)

An arcane scroll of sequester (CL 13)

An arcane scroll of seal portal (CL 11)

An arcane scroll of shadow walk (CL 11)

Secret Doors: To the north is a secret door leading to section C of area 14 (Search DC 35). The door is locked from this side and is meant to be an escape passage for the Covenmaster rather than a means of egress into the treasury. The lock is engaged via a hidden catch near the door (Search DC 35). There is no means to open the secret door from the other side.

14. Summoning Chamber (EL 7+)

First, the stone ring acts as wondrous architecture providing the mage's private sanctum effect for the headquarters. This precise runes powering this effect can be located with a DC 30 Search check by someone with the trapfinding ability. Once located, they can be disabled with a DC 30 Disable Device check. Refer to page 70 of the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook for details regarding the effects of disabling.

Second, the stone ring acts as an inward focused magic circle against good/evil and a special diagram for use in planar binding spells.

The interior of the stone ring is divided into two halves by a stone wall that rises 15 ft to match the top of the stone ring. There is a stone door set into the southern end of the stone ring and another in the middle of the interior wall. When closed, the doors complete the special diagram and cannot be opened by a being conjured and trapped within.

Each half of the stone ring is treated as its own special diagram. This allows two separate beings to be called and bound at the same time.

Creatures: If at least three of the four glabezrus in Part Six above survived, one will be here, keeping a watch on the place. The glabezrus are tasked with remaining on station and in service of the Binder for 2 weeks after the key pieces have been retrieved. If 2 weeks have passed or all of the glabezrus were defeated in Part Six, then no glabezru will be found here unless the Coven has some reason to believe the PCs will be coming after them, in which case the Binder will begin to replace the four lost glabezrus using planar binding and the third such replacement will be found here.

GLABEZRU CR 13 CE Huge outsider (chaotic, evil, extraplanar) Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft, true seeing; Listen +26, Spot +26 Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic, telepathy 100 ft AC 27, touch 8, flat-footed 27 hp 174 (12 HD); DR 10/good Immune electricity, poison Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 21 Fort +18, Ref +8, Will +11 Spd 40 ft (8 squares) Melee 2 pincers +20 (2d8+10) and 2 claws +18 (1d6+5) and bite +18 (1d8+5) Space 15 ft; Reach 15 ft Base Atk +12; Grp +30 Atk Options improved grab, Power Attack Special Actions Cleave, Great Cleave, summon demon Spell-Like Abilities (CL 14): 1/day - power word stun At will - chaos hammer (DC 19), confusion (DC 19), dispel magic, mirror image (*), reverse gravity (DC 22), greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs of objects only), unholy blight (DC 19) Abilities Str 31, Dex 10, Con 31, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 20 SQ wish Feats Cleave, Great Cleave, Multiattack, Persuasive, Power Attack Skills Bluff +22, Concentration +25, Diplomacy +9, Disguise +5 (+7 acting), Intimidate +24, Knowledge (any two) +18, Listen +26, Move Silently +15, Search +18, Sense Motive +18, Spellcraft +18, Spot +26, Survival +3 (+5 following tracks) Improved Grab (Ex) To use this ability, a glabrezu must hit a Medium or smaller opponent with a pincer attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. Summon Demon (Sp) Once per day a glabrezu can attempt to summon 4d10 dretches or 1d2 vrocks with a 50% chance of success, or another glabrezu with a 20% chance of success. This ability is the equivalent of a 4th-level spell. True Seeing (Su) Glabrezu continuously use true seeing as the spell (caster level 14th). Wish (Sp) Once per month, a glabrezu can fulfill a wish for a mortal humanoid. The demon can use this ability to offer a mortal whatever he or she desires - but unless the wish is used to create pain and suffering in the world, the glabrezu demands either terrible evil acts or great sacrifice as compensation.

There is a creature trapped within each section of the stone ring. These creatures have been called but not yet fully bound to a purpose.

Section A holds a large air elemental, which the Binder intends to use as a steed when they travel to the site of the Trimvirzunn. The elemental wants only to return to its home plane and will not be hostile to the PCs unless provoked.

LARGE AIR ELEMENTAL CR 5 N Large elemental (air, extraplanar) Init +11; Senses darkvision 60 ft; Listen +5, Spot +6 Languages Auran AC 20, touch 16, flat-footed 13; Dodge hp 60 (8 HD); DR 5/- Fort +5, Ref +13, Will +2 Spd fly 100 ft (20 squares) (perfect) Melee 2 slams +12 (2d6+2) Space 10 ft; Reach 10 ft Base Atk +6; Grp +12 Special Actions Combat Reflexes, Flyby Attack, whirlwind Abilities Str 14, Dex 25, Con 16, Int 6, Wis 11, Cha 11 SQ air mastery, elemental traits Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Flyby Attack, Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse Skills Listen +5, Spot +6 Air Mastery (Ex) Airborne creatures take a -1 penalty on attack and damage rolls against an air elemental. Whirlwind (Su) The elemental can transform itself into a whirlwind once every 10 minutes and remain in that form for up to 1 round for every 2 HD it has. In this form, the elemental can move through the air or along a surface at its fly speed. The whirlwind is 5 feet wide at the base, up to 30 feet wide at the top, and up to 40 feet tall, depending on the elemental’s size. The elemental controls the exact height, but it must be at least 10 feet. The elemental’s movement while in whirlwind form does not provoke attacks of opportunity, even if the elemental enters the space another creature occupies. Another creature might be caught in the whirlwind if it touches or enters the whirlwind, or if the elemental moves into or through the creature’s space. Creatures one or more size categories smaller than the elemental might take 2d6 points of damage when caught in the whirlwind and may be lifted into the air. An affected creature must succeed on a DC 16 Reflex save when it comes into contact with the whirlwind or take the indicated damage. It must also succeed on a second DC 16 Reflex save or be picked up bodily and held suspended in the powerful winds, automatically taking the indicated damage each round. A creature that can fly is allowed a Reflex save each round to escape the whirlwind. The creature still takes damage but can leave if the save is successful. The save DC is Strength based. Creatures trapped in the whirlwind cannot move except to go where the elemental carries them or to escape the whirlwind. Creatures caught in the whirlwind can otherwise act normally, but must succeed on a Concentration check (DC 15 + spell level) to cast a spell. Creatures caught in the whirlwind take a -4 penalty to Dexterity and a -2 penalty on attack rolls. The elemental can have only as many creatures trapped inside the whirlwind at one time as will fit inside the whirlwind’s volume. The elemental can eject any carried creatures whenever it wishes, depositing them wherever the whirlwind happens to be. A summoned elemental always ejects trapped creatures before returning to its home plane. If the whirlwind’s base touches the ground, it creates a swirling cloud of debris. This cloud is centered on the elemental and has a diameter equal to half the whirlwind’s height. The cloud obscures all vision, including darkvision, beyond 5 feet. Creatures 5 feet away have concealment, while those farther away have total concealment. Those caught in the cloud must succeed on a Concentration check (DC 15 + spell level) to cast a spell. An elemental in whirlwind form cannot make slam attacks and does not threaten the area around it.

Section B holds a salamander, which the Binder intends to question regarding blacksmithing and other knowledge relating to the potential crafting of iron golems. This is a longterm project and the Binder intends to get basic knowledge from the salamander, whom he believes may have been involved in the creation of such an item. The salamander is not happy having been summoned and being the evil vegneful sort is willing to aid the PCs in slaughtering the Coven, epecially the Binder. However, should the PCs present a golden opportunity for betrayal, the salamander will waste no time or thought in doing so, especially since it's astral form is only at risk.

SALAMANDER CR 6 CE Medium outsider (extraplanar, fire) Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft; Listen +8, Spot +8 Languages Ignan AC 18, touch 11, flat-footed 17 hp 58 (9 HD); DR 10/magic Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +8 Spd 20 ft (4 squares) Melee spear +11/+6 (1d8+3 plus 1d6 fire) and tail slap +9 (2d6+1 plus 1d6 fire) Space 5 ft; Reach 5 ft (10 ft with tail) Base Atk +9; Grp +11 Atk Options heat, improved grab Special Actions constrict Abilities Str 14, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 15, Cha 13 Feats Alertness, Multiattack, Power Attack Skills Bluff +11, Craft (blacksmithing) +19, Diplomacy +3, Disguise +1 (+3 acting), Hide +11, Intimidate +3, Listen +8, Move Silently +11,Search +12, Spot +8 Constrict (Ex) A salamander deals automatic tail slap damage (including fire damage) with a successful grapple check. A noble salamander can constrict multiple creatures simultaneously, provided they are all at least two sizes smaller than it. Heat (Ex) A salamander generates so much heat that its mere touch deals additional fire damage. Salamanders’ metallic weapons also conduct this heat. Improved Grab (Ex) To use this ability, a salamander must hit a creature of up to one size larger than itself with its tail slap attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can constrict.

Developments: Circumstances may dictate that the Binder wish to utilize on of the summoning chambers to resummon glabezrus. This will only happen if all of the other glabezrus have been defeated or departed two weeks after the key pieces have been obtained and the Coven suspects an impending assault by the PCs. In this case, if the air elemental has not been successfully bound by the Binder, then it will be dismissed and the glabezrus will be resummoned and bound for 1 day per caster level of the Binder.

The Binder will not dismiss the salamander, intending to fully bind him into service to provide advice and knowledge for a time. As such, if the Binder has time to finish binding the salamander, then it will be found residing in area 15 (below). The salamander has not been bound to fight and although it will not harm the Binder once bound, neither will it defend him or even itself (as it wishes to be destroyed and returned to its home plane). However, the advantage to the Coven will be that the salamander's binding will free up both summoning chambers and allow glabezrus to be bound more quickly (i.e. two at a time). It should be assumed that the salamander's binding attempts will begin after the PCs first enter the Coven headquarters.

It will be up to the DM to track the Binder's progress and success in binding the elemental, salamander, and/or glabezrus.

Secret Doors: The secret door to the east (Search DC 35) is locked from the other side. It cannot normally be opened from this side (there is no lock to pick from this side). It is meant to allow the Covenmaster an escape route from area 12 via area 13. From the section C side, it can be opened via a hidden catch near the door (Search DC 35).

The secret door in the southern end of section C (Search DC 35) is locked from the other side for the same reason. It cannot normally be opened from this side (there is no lock to pick from this side).

Traps: Set into the end of the eastern hallway in section C is a greater glyph of warding set to activate if anyone passes into or out of the southern hallway. The glyph activates a flame strike spell centered on the intersection to the southeast of the letter "C" on the map.

Greater Glyph of Warding (Spell) CR 7; spell; spell trigger; no reset; spell effect (greater glyph of warding [spell], 15th-level cleric, flame strike 15d6 damage [half fire half holy], DC 21 Reflex half); Search DC 31; Disable Device DC 31.

15. Binder's Quarters (EL 16 or 17)

A thick black curtain blocks the way into this chamber. Embrdoidered onto the southern face of the curtain is a a circular diagram with stars and runes inscribed within. A DC 15 Knowledge (arcana) check will reveal that it is a representation of a summoning/binding diagram. The curtain bears lead threading woven into its interior, making it quite heavy and blocking many detect spells from penetrating it.

A close inspection of the iron rod that holds the curtain and a DC 15 Knowledge (architecture and engineering) check will reveal that it is extremely stout, as if made to hold a weight that would be more than the curtain appears weigh.

Trap: The northern face of the curtain bears a greater glyph of warding. Since the glyph is inscribed on the northern side of the curtain and since the curtain is interwoven with lead, it will not be easily detected by most magical means before it has been triggered.

The glyph is set to trigger if the curtain is moved aside by more than an inch or so (given the heavy weight of the curtain, even a moderate wind would not sway it) by any creature that is not a Coven member. Even bound demons such as the glabezru will trigger the glyph, although any in the service of the Binder will have been warned of it and will use greater teleport to bypass the trap.

Greater Glyph of Warding (Spell) CR 7; spell; spell trigger; no reset; spell effect (greater glyph of warding [spell], 16th-level cleric, harm 150 damage [but not lower than 1 hp], DC 22 Will half); Search DC 31; Disable Device DC 31.

Additionally, there is a mechanical trap set in the hallway that has, as its trigger, the harm spell from the greater glyh of warding. A split second after the glyph is activated, a 20 ft by 10 ft section of the ceiling just before the curtain will sprout spikes and smash down, presumably on the victim of the harm spell. The block is 10 ft tall and will entirely block the entrance into area 15 (treat as superior masonry (hardness 8, 90 hp, break DC 35).

Spiked Blocks from Ceiling CR 6; mechanical; visual trigger (arcane eye); repair reset; Atk +20 melee (6d6, spikes); multiple targets (all targets in a 20 ft by 10 ft area); Search DC 24; Disable Device DC 20.

The scrolls on the table mainly deal with fiends and celestials and are written in Abyssal. They include illustrations, descriptions of characteristics, and in many cases truenames (which become outdated immediately but serve as a foundation for research). Other scrolls deal with truenaming, including the rudiments of the practice as well as a catalogue of the truenames of various objects, places, and items. Altogether, these scrolls would comprise a library that would allow a +5 circumstance bonus to any Knowledge check dealing with truenamers or utterances. Additionally, they would provide a similar bonus to Knowledge (planes) checks to learn the capabilities of fiends or celestials. Finally, these scrolls would provide a +2 circumstance bonus to research the truename of a fiend or celestial or a +1 bonus to research the truename of anything or anyone else.

Of note, Tiriss-ra's truename is contained within the notes accompanying an illustration of a celestial that looks very much like her.

The bottles above the bath contain not only unguents and bathing oils, but also unholy water (7 vials) and a variety of other ceremonial bathing poultices that are of profane nature and suitable only for evil purification (or putrefaction) rituals.

The tarnished silver bowl (worth 100 gp) holds unholy water (12 vials) and is suitable for use as a focus for a clerical scrying spell.

Creatures: If the Coven Binder survived Part Six (above), then he will be present in the headquarters. The Binder is an older man, in his late 50s, with a short, pointed grey beard and grey nustache. He is currently loyal to the Covenmaster, but only because of her grand scheme to recover the Trimvirzunn. Should that endeavour fail, the Binder may turn on the Covenmaster. Should it succeed, then he may as well in order to take possession of the artifact and rule his own fiendish army. For now, however, he is content to serve the cause.

COVEN BINDER CR 16 Complete Arcane page 5 and Complete Mage 53 Male human Cleric 3/Warlock 3/Eldritch Disciple 10 CE Medium humanoid (human) Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft, see invisibility; Listen +0, Spot +0 Languages Azotlan, Abyssal, Infernal AC 22, touch 13, flat-footed 19; Miss 20% ranged (entropic warding) hp 98 (16 HD), Divine Vigour, wild frenzy; DR 1/cold iron Resist fiendish resistance Fort +13, Ref +8, Will +19 Spd 30 ft (6 squares), fly 30 ft (6 squares) (good) Melee +2 heavy bone unholy mace +13/+8/+3 (1d8+2) Ranged eldritch blast +14 (6d6) Space 5 ft; Reach 5 ft Base Atk +11; Grp +11 Atk Options corrupting blast, wild frenzy Special Actions Divine Vigour, eldritch spellweave, rebuke undead (6/day, +2 synergy bonus) Combat Gear +2 heavy bone unholy mace, wand of wieldskill (CL 3, 36 charges), divine scrolls of greater dispel magic (CL 12) (2), divine scroll of heal (CL 12), potions of owl's wisdom (CL 3) (4), potion of remove blindness/deafness (CL 5), potions of resist energy (fire) (CL 7) (2), potions of cure moderate wounds (CL 3) (3) Warlock Invocations Known (CL 13): Greater - eldritch cone, vitriolic blast Lesser - fell flight (*), flee the scene, relentless dispelling Least - eldritch spear, entropic warding (*), see the unseen (*) Cleric Spell Prepared (CL 16 [17 evil spells], melee touch +11, ranged touch +14): 6th - blade barrier (DC 22), create undead(d)(e), heal, word of recall 5th - bear's heart, dispel good(d)(e) (DC 21), divine retribution (DC 21), righteous wrath of the faithful, spell resistance 4th - assay spell resistance, cure critical wounds, death ward, dimensional anchor(d), freedom of movement 3rd - battlemagic perception, magic circle against good(d)(e), mass conviction, mass resist energy, mystic lash(e) (DC 19), prayer 2nd - cure moderate wounds, demoncall(d)(e), eagle's splendour, elation, hold person (DC 18), resist energy, silence (DC 18) 1st - bless, blessed aim, command (DC 17), demonflesh(d)(e), detect good, nightshield, protection from good(e), shield of faith 0 - cure minor wounds, detect poison, guidance, mending, preserve organ, read magic Domains Demonic (+1 profane bonus to attack and damage with unarmed strikes and natural weapons), Evil (+1 CL to evil spells) Utterances Known (CL 1): Lexicon of the Evolving Mind 1st - inertia surge Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3): At will - detect magic Abilities Str 10, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 23, Cha 16 SQ deceive item, familiar (alertness, empathic link, share spells, speak with master, scry on familiar), spontaneous inflict Feats Divine Vigour, Improved Familiar, Minor Utterance of the Evolving Mind, Obtain Familiar, Practiced Spellcaster (cleric), Truename Training Skills Concentration +20, Diplomacy +7, Intimidate +8, Knowledge (arcana) +5, Knowledge (planes) +13, Knowledge (religion) +19, Sense Motive +13, Spellcraft +16, Survival +6 (+8 on other planes), Truespeak +31 Possessions combat gear plus +2 studded leather armour, +2 heavy wooden shield, periapt of wisdom +2, headband of truespeak +10, masterwork potion belt, spell component pouch, unholy symbol to unknown demonlord, Coven amulet, key to personal chest Eldritch Spellweave (Su) Beginning at 5th level, you can apply an eldritch essence invocation you know to any divine spell that affects a target or that requires a melee or ranged touch attack. The spell's level must be at least as high as the level of the eldritch essence. If the essence requires a saving throw, use the normal save DC for that essence. If an eldritch essence invocation changes the damage of the spell, it can be applied only to a spell that deals damage. Using this ability increases the spell's casting time to 1 full-round action. A spell that has a normal casting time of 1 full round or longer takes an extra full-round action to cast. If the spell has more than one target or allows more than one attack, you must choose one target to be affected by the invocation; all other targets take only the normal effect of the spell. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Cha modifier (minimum 1). Gift of the Divine Patron (Su) At 1st level you gain a sacred gift of power from your divine patron (who is the source of your cleric spells and, directly or indirectly, your warlock invocations). You can spend one of your turn/rebuke undead attempts as a swift action to activate the chosen power. Corrupting blast: In place of applying an eldritch essence invocation to your eldritch blast, you can change it into a corrupting blast. In addition to its normal effect, the blast applies a penalty on the target's next Will save equal to 1/2 your class level (minimum -1). If the target doesn't attempt a Will save before the end of your next turn, the effect fades. Fiendish resistance: You gain resistance to acid and fire equal to 10 + your class level. This resistance stacks with the energy resistance granted by the warlock class. This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + your Cha modifier (minimum of 1 round). Your deity must be evil for you to select this gift. Wild frenzy: You gain a +2 bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls with melee weapons and eldritch blasts, along with temporary hit points equal to twice your class level. This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + your Cha modifier (minimum 1 round). Your deity must be chaotic for you to select this gift. (e) = evil spells (cast at +1 CL)

FEATS: Divine Vigour (CW p108) - turn or rebuke as standard action to gain +10 to base spd and +2 temp hp per level for 1 min per Cha mod. Minor Utterance of the Evolving Mind (ToM p229) - you learn one 1st level utterance from the Lexicon of the Evolving Mind. Obtain Familiar (CA p81) - you can gain a familiar as a sorcerer, all arcane casting classes count for familair abilities. Practiced Spellcaster (CA p82) - +4 to caster level for chosen class up to character level. Truename Training (ToM p229) - Truespeak is a class skill. INVOCATIONS: eldritch cone (CA p133) - BS; eldritch blast becomes 30 ft cone, Ref sv 1/2 dmg. eldritch spear (CA p133) - BS; increases range of eldritch blast to 250 ft. entropic warding (CA p134) - entropic shield effect, pass without trace effect, and cannot be tracked by scent. flee the scene (CA p134) - dimension door up to close range, leaves behind a major image or warlock in your place for 1 round, the image reacts appropriately to attacks as if you were concentrating on it. relentless dispelling (CM p124) - targeted dispel magic that repeats the next round. see the unseen (CA p135) - see invisibility effect, darkvision 60 ft for 24 hours. vitriolic blast (CA p136) - EE; does acid dmg and no SR, does 2d6 acid dmg per round for 1 rd/5 lvls. SPELLS: assay spell resistance (SC p17) - swift, pers, 1 rd/lvl; +10 bonus to CL checks to overcome SR on single creature you can see when cast. battlemagic perception (HoB p125) - pers, 10 min/lvl; +5 bonus to Spellcraft to ID spell being cast, if you have 5 ranks in Spellcraft sense any spell or spell-like ability within 100 ft (and ID spell with DC 15 + spell lvl Spellcraft check), counterspell as free action but ends spell immediately. bear's heart (DoTF p81) - 20 ft radius, 1 rd/lvl; 1 ally/CL gains +4 enchancement to Str and +1d4 temp hp/CL, when spell ends temp hp remaining are lost and subjects take 1 nonlethal dmg/CL. blessed aim (SC p31) - 50 ft spread on caster, 1 min/lvl; allies gain +2 morale bonus on ranged attacks. demoncall (FCHoA p92) - swift, pers; +10 profane bonus to a single Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (planes) or Knowledge (religion) check. demonflesh (FCHoA p92) - pers, 1 min/lvl; +1 natural armour/5 CL (min +1 max +4). divine retribution (CC p119) - pers, 10min/lvl or discharge, W part, SR; creature attacking you takes 1d6 electricity dmg/lvl (max 15d6) and 1d4 Cha dmg (save for 1/2 dmg and no ability dmg), spell ends once damage is caused. mass conviction (SC p52) - r med, allies in 20 ft burst, 10 min/lvl; +2 morale bonus on saves +1 per 6 CL you have (max +5). mass resist energy (SC p174) -r cl, 1 creature/lvl not more than 30 ft apart; resist chosen energy type 10 (20 at 7th and 30 at 11th). mystic lash (PGF p106) - r 15 ft, 1 rd/lvl, F part, SR; creates whip in hand caster is proficient with, causes 1d6 dmg/3CL (max 4d6) on ranged touch with dmg bonus equal to Cha bonus, target hit must sv or be stunned for 1 rd, once whip hits can be released and continue to attack target 1/rd until target is unconscious or dead when returns to hand, may make disarm or trip attacks if wielded. nightshield (SC p148) - pers, 1 min/lvl; +1 resistance bonus to saves (+2 at CL 6, +3 at CL 9) and immune to magic missiles. preserve organ (BoVD p101) - 10 min, touch; preserve organ for 24 hrs. righteous wrath of the faithful (SC p177) - allies within 30 ft, 1 rd/lvl; allies again additional melee attack during full attack, +3 morale bonus on melee attack and dmg rolls. wieldskill (PGF p118) - touch, 1 min/lvl - +5 competence bonus on a skill check, 1/2 ranks in skill if no ranks, or gain proficiency with a single weapon or armour. UTTERANCES: inertia surge (ToM p240) - target may act normally as if with freedom of movement for 1 rd / target is rooted in place. MAGIC ITEMS: headband of truespeak - +10 competence bonus on Truespeak skill.

If all four of the glabezrus in Part Six above survived, one will be here, keeping a watch on the place. The glabezrus are tasked with remaining on station and in service of the Binder for 2 weeks after the key pieces have been retrieved. If 2 weeks have passed or all of the glabezrus were defeated in Part Six, then no glabezru will be found here unless the Coven has some reason to believe the PCs will be coming after them, in which case the Binder will begin to replace the four lost glabezrus using planar binding and the fourth such replacement will be found here.

GLABEZRU CR 13 CE Huge outsider (chaotic, evil, extraplanar) Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft, true seeing; Listen +26, Spot +26 Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic, telepathy 100 ft AC 27, touch 8, flat-footed 27 hp 174 (12 HD); DR 10/good Immune electricity, poison Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 21 Fort +18, Ref +8, Will +11 Spd 40 ft (8 squares) Melee 2 pincers +20 (2d8+10) and 2 claws +18 (1d6+5) and bite +18 (1d8+5) Space 15 ft; Reach 15 ft Base Atk +12; Grp +30 Atk Options improved grab, Power Attack Special Actions Cleave, Great Cleave, summon demon Spell-Like Abilities (CL 14): 1/day - power word stun At will - chaos hammer (DC 19), confusion (DC 19), dispel magic, mirror image (*), reverse gravity (DC 22), greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs of objects only), unholy blight (DC 19) Abilities Str 31, Dex 10, Con 31, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 20 SQ wish Feats Cleave, Great Cleave, Multiattack, Persuasive, Power Attack Skills Bluff +22, Concentration +25, Diplomacy +9, Disguise +5 (+7 acting), Intimidate +24, Knowledge (any two) +18, Listen +26, Move Silently +15, Search +18, Sense Motive +18, Spellcraft +18, Spot +26, Survival +3 (+5 following tracks) Improved Grab (Ex) To use this ability, a glabrezu must hit a Medium or smaller opponent with a pincer attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. Summon Demon (Sp) Once per day a glabrezu can attempt to summon 4d10 dretches or 1d2 vrocks with a 50% chance of success, or another glabrezu with a 20% chance of success. This ability is the equivalent of a 4th-level spell. True Seeing (Su) Glabrezu continuously use true seeing as the spell (caster level 14th). Wish (Sp) Once per month, a glabrezu can fulfill a wish for a mortal humanoid. The demon can use this ability to offer a mortal whatever he or she desires - but unless the wish is used to create pain and suffering in the world, the glabrezu demands either terrible evil acts or great sacrifice as compensation.

Treasure: The chest is locked (Open Lock DC 30) with the key on the person of the Binder. Within is his personal treasure consisting of:

1,350 cp

2,770 sp

3,100 gp

A set of ornately carved wooden bones suitable as an augury focus worth 250 gp

460 gp worth of incense suitable for material components for cleric spells.

24 pieces of onyx worth 50 gp each

A bone scroll tube that is sealed with wax. Inside is a black parchment bound with a silver cord. The parchment contains a ritual in Infernal that takes 1 minute to read and requires the reader to spill blood on the parchment (requiring 1 point of Constitution damage). At the end of the ritual, a night hag mounted on a nightmare will appear. Anyone who can read Infernal can determine the purpose and parameters of the ritual. The night hag will serve the reader for 1 day (24 hours) and will do anything the reader requires. This is a conjuration calling effect but the magic is not contained in the scroll (which does not radiate magic). Instead, this is a form of pact magic and the ritual merely completes the long ago cast magical pact that allows the calling forth of the night hag. The hag will obey any command, including self-destructive ones. While it could bestow its heartstone, since the hag is merely a projection of the real hag who resides on another plane, when the hag is killed or the ritual expires, the heartstone will likewise disappear. When the 24 hours are over, the parchment will burn away in a fiery flash and the night hag and her mount will disappear. If the hag is brought to 0 hp it, the mount, and the parchment will disappear in a fiery flash.

A wooden box containing a periapt of foul rotting (will identify as a periapt of health if the 1% per caster level check is failed) and a memento magica (3rd level) (Races of the Dragon page 124) shaped like an amethyst serpent or dragon scale.

An ornate iron flask stoppered in runed covered brass. This is a flask of curses (will identify as an iron flask if the 1% per caster level check is failed).

Roster Table:

Certain of the major figures of the headquarters will move around the place and one cannot be certain where to find them at any given moment. The table below should be used to set the initial position of these figures whenever the PCs enter the place and the Coven is not on alert.

Person	Area 4	Area 9	Area 10	Area 11	Area 12	Area 14	Area 15
Commander #1	01-05	06-80*	81-00+	-	-	-	-
Commander #2	01-05	06-80*	81-00+	-	-	-	-
Binder	01-15	-	16-20+	21-30	-	31-50	51-00**
Covenmaster	01-05	-	06-25+	26-35	36-00*	-	-

* = The individual will be asleep 40% of the time.

** = The individual will be asleep 50% of the time.

+ = If any individual is in the meeting chamber (area 10), then allow a 25% chance that each other individual is present despite what the table above may indicate.

Defense of the Headquarters:

No specific plan of defense is delineated herein and no tactics have been presented in the room descriptions above. This because the defenders are, for the most part, intelligent and canny and will respond to most incursions in the most efficient and ruthless manner.

Like most warlocks, the soldiery have been trained to coordinate their eldritch blasts on one or a few opponents to take them down. At least a quarter of warlocks present will ready their blasts to strike spellcasters as they cast.

DMs should nake special note of the flee the scene invocation known by most of the Coven hierarchs. This allows them to conduct short ranged teleportation with themselves and a few of their minions. They will use this ability to maximum effect, inncluding flanking intruders and to bypass spells such as wall of stone or wall of force.

The leaders are not above using flee the scene to teleport to a safe location in the headquarters and to heal up using spells, wands, potions, or scrolls before striking back at intruders.

The Coven will fight to the death to preserve the key pieces or the Trimvirzunn, should they ever obtain it. Although the hierarchs are an untrustworthy lot and each plots against the other, they all are banking their careers on the current scheme, which has consumed many years of research and planning, and none of them is willing to let it go even in the face of death. However, should they have the pieces, then saving them will be of the highest priority and if things look bad the hierarchs will simply leave using flee the scene with the key pieces (or the fakes).

Likewise, the Coven soldiers are fanatic, inducted and brainwashed into complete loyalty to the Coven (backed by threats of hideous fiendish tortures should they betray the Coven). They, too, will fight to the death.

If the Coven has reason to believe that the PCs will be attacking them at their headquarters, then they will go on alert. Guards will patrol the place and any glabezrus that were lost will be replaced.

Should the PCs assault the place and then retire, the Coven will be on full alert and it is possible slaves will be sacrificed in order to gain benefits should an attack be imminent.

The DM should, in general, run the Coven for what it is, a highly specialized and capable organization. It will eventually work to track down and attack any who oppose it or seek to harm it, whether that includes PCs who are or have assaulted to headquarters to PCs who have duped or thwarted the Coven in some fashion. The only way to stop the Coven is to slay all four of its hierarchs. This will effectively decapitate the Coven and cause it to eventually disband.

Ongoing Issues:

The scenario can end in a variety of ways. It might be that the PCs stopped the Coven from gaining some or all of the key pieces. Furthermore, Ahltliconcho may have been saved from the Coven or he might have been put to death. The Coven might have returned to the headquarters with fake key pieces or it might have the real things.

There are a variety of outcomes whereby the PCs never even enter the headquarters. For example, if they gave Tiriss-ra fake key pieces and she handed them over to the Coven during the exchange and Ahltliconcho was returned to her, then the PCs could simply declare victory and return home to pursue other adventures. In this case, however, the Coven would quickly find out that the pieces were fakes and be free to take revenge on the PCs and to resume the entire process over again (perhaps using Tiriss-ra's son or daughter as a hostage should one of the PCs be her progeny).

If fake key pieces were given, then the PCs have a bit of time before it will become known. Under normal circumstances, the Coven does not plan to join the pieces together until it is ready to go. They fear that joining the pieces may send some sort of alert to powerful celestials and allow them to track the location of the reformed key. Tiriss-ra cannot do anything that would endanger the Coven for 2 weeks after the exchange (and that includes alerting allies). While, in theory, Ahltliconcho or the pseudodragon could attempt to alert allies, none would believe them without Tiriss-ra's own words and she cannot do so during the 2 week period.

If the Coven has no reason to believe the PCs are involved in this affair, and if they believe they have the key pieces, then they plan on having two weeks to recover the artifact. They will certainly spend a few days preparing for the journey, issuing orders for their minions who remain behind, and the Binder will wish to bind the air elemental and renew their glabezru strength to four (if any have been defeated).

During this time, the key pieces will be in the possession of the Covenmaster, who will not let them out of her sight.

No matter what, after a week they will place the key pieces together. If the key pieces are fake, then this will become immediately apparent since the pieces will not meld together and there will be no vision showing the location of the artifact. If this happens, then the Coven will be perplexed and immediately set about casting divination spells the next day to figure out what happened. Assume in a week's time they will have a good idea and will then set about trying to locate the PCs and exact some sort of revenge. Such action is outside the scope of this scenario, but can make for some good, recurring villainy.

If the Coven becomes aware of the PCs' involvement then they will realize they have almost no time to lose, as the PCs may learn their location and come after them. In this case the headquarters will be on full alert and the key pieces will be assembled the next day after spells have been rememorized.

The Key Pieces:

If the three key pieces are fit together, they will merge into a single disc in a brief flash of light. The holder of the key will receive a mental image of the location of the Trimvirzunn. He will know the location well enough to teleport to it as if it were studied carefully.

The Covenmaster will retrieve two arcane scrolls of mass teleport and 2 divine scrolls of greater teleport from his treasury (area 13). He will then use the first mass teleport to teleport 1,300 lbs of troops to the artifact location. This will, assuming 200 lbs per person, consist of any hierarchs who are present, plus the air elemental (100 lbs), plus coven warlocks enough to round out the spell capacity. The Covenmaster's Use Magic Device skill will allow the spell to be cast successfully on a roll of 5+. If a roll of 1 occurs then he will have to use the other scroll.

The second mass teleport scroll will be used to transport back to the Coven headquarters.

Should the first teleport go awry, the Covenmaster will use the second mass teleport to transport his troops back to the headquarters and the hierarchs will proceed using ther greater teleport scrolls to travel to and from the artifact location. In the latter case, any unused greater teleport capacity will be used to take some coven warlocks with them.

The glabezrus will use their greater teleport to accompany the expedition to the artifact.

The Trimvirzunn (EL 21):

The Trimvirzunn is located on one of the Venom's Drops islands far to the south. It is located on one of the smaller major islands in the middle of the chain as shown on the map below.

The location of the artifact is in a sealed cavern several hundred feet below the rocky surface of the island. The artifact is located in a chamber that is a 30 ft cube and there are no exits into or out of the chamber. Additionally, the chamber is warded from all forms of non-epic divination magic by means of its own epic enchantments. Only the holder of the key can see into the chamber.

Access to the chamber is generally accomplished via teleportation magic. Alternatively, movement such as earth glide or xorn movement can also allow access.

A DC 25 Knowledge (arcana) check will reveal that the runes on the pedestal are wards against divination. A DC 35 Knowledge (arcana) check will reveal these wards to be epic level magic.

A DC 30 Knowledge (arcana) check on the seal atop the pedestal will reveal that the eldritch runes and carvings are of extremely ancient and powerful lineage, though their precise purpose cannot be determined.

Traps: If the pedestal is touched or the device atop it is touched or either are affected in any way by any magic (even innocuous spells, but not divinations since those will not function here anyways), the trap will activate. If, however, the key is placed into the indentation near the top of the pedestal, the trap will deactivate for as long as the key remains there.

The trap is a multipart trap. It is designed primarily to slay creatures who inadvertantly stray into the chamber without the key. This is not a trap in the conventional sense and cannot be disarmed or even searched for. It is, instead, an epic magic effect. Once the trap is activated, it can be deactivated by placing the key in the indentation.

First, a forbiddance spell (CL 20) will cover the entire chamber for 1 hour. All those within will suffer 12d6 damage unless they are good aligned, in which case they will suffer 6d6 damage (DC 24 Will save for half damage).

Second, from the pedestal will spew forth a stream of bronze locusts. These will form into 4 swarms which will attack all intruders until they are gone from the chamber or dead.

BRONZE LOCUST SWARMS (4) CR 17 Book of Exalted Deeds page 188 N Fine construct (swarm) Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft, low-light vision; Listen +0, Spot +0 AC 27, touch 22, flat-footed 23 hp 82 (15 HD) Immune fire, weapon damage SR 24 Vulnerable area effects Fort +5, Ref +9, Will +5 Spd 20 ft (4 squares), fly 60 ft (12 squares) (good) Melee swarm 3d6 Space 10 ft; Reach 0 ft Base Atk +11; Grp - Special Actions distraction, divine fire Abilities Str 1, Dex 19, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 2 SQ admantine bite, construct traits, swarm traits Adamantine Bite (Ex) The bronze locusts are treated as adamantine weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Distraction (Ex) Any living creature that begins its turn with a bronze locust swarm in its square must make a DC 17 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution-based. Divine Fire (Su) Once every 1d4 rounds, as a free action, the broonze locusts can spew forth tiny gouts of divine fire that collectively deal 2d6 points of damage to any creature or object in the swarm's squares. Half of the damage is fire damage, but the other half results directly from divine power and is therefore not subject to being reduced by resistance to fire-based attacks. The fire also ignites combustibles.

Treasure: The seal on the top of the pedestal is the Trimvirzunn. It radiates overwhelming conjuration magic. The precise effects are outside the scope of this scenario.

Part Eight - Resolving Issues

In most cases, the DM is going to have to adjudicate how things play out after all is said and done. However, some guidelines can be provided.

It has already been mentioned that should the Coven realize they have been thwarted by the PCs, any hierarchs that remain will rally their supporters and exact revenge on the PCs. This will likely not be an immediate retaliation. The Coven is a secret organization that will first want to lick its wounds, then figure out what went wrong, then investigate the PCs and their capabilities and vulnerabilities, and then lay a careful foundation to strike. It may be that the Coven allies with others of the PCs' enemies. In any case, the Coven is a good opportunity to have a recurring villain in the campaign.

Tiriss-ra will be very despondent after the event. Even if everything works out well and her lover is saved and the key pieces preserved and the Coven decapitated. She will worry that, given enough time, someone will eventuallu figure everything out again and bind her to repeat the process. putting her loved ones and the whole world at risk. To that end, she will suggest that it be best if she killed herself (on her home plane). She will say that she has lived a long, full life and that she has had the pleasure of seeing her progeny grow into a fine, goodly being. Furthermore, she will note that a mortal guardian would not be subject to a planat binding. To that end, she will suggest that her son (or a goodly PC) be made the new guardian and shown the means to gain access to the key pieces (if they have not learned already). Whether Tiriss-ra des kill herself or can be convined not to is left to the DM.

Should the Coven gain the Trimvirzunn, they will bring it to their headquarters if their headquarters has not been violated. Otherwise, they will abandon their headquarters and take the relic to a new location and secure it (in effect, building a new headquarters). What the Coven eventially does with the artifact is up to the DM, but of a certain it will be for nefarious purposes...possibly a first step woud be a coup attempt on Fezen-tir.

Experience Points:

In addition to normal experience (which in Therra is half of that recommended in the DMG), each party member should be rewarded as follows:

The PCs rescue Ahltliconcho: 500 XP

The PCs stop the Coven from gaining the Trimvirzunn: 1,000 XP

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